WINTER TERM OPENING CEREMONY AND CLASS START

[thewatchers]

WINTER TERM OPENING CEREMONY AND CLASS START
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The snowfall has only intensified as Daybreak moves into the first day of Winter Term classes. A school-wide orientation will be held in the auditorium, followed by an open period where tours will be given to new students by student volunteers. After a noon lunch in the main hall, short introduction classes will be held where the syllabi will be distributed and professors can give a brief overview of what they’ll be covering over the term.

A. ORIENTATION ASSEMBLY

With a new school year comes a fresh address. The orientation assembly is one of the few times that the Headmistress and High Seer, Mila Duchene, speaks to the gathered faculty and students about their purpose and why they’ve been found and gathered here. About how Nightfall looms ever closer, and how together they will be the flames who light the coming darkness.

It is, in the manner of many orientation speeches, fairly long-winded. Those who have been here for more than a year have likely heard this speech before, though it’s slightly more urgent this time. Maybe it’s a good time to get to know the people on either side of you a little better while the Headmistress talks, because you’ll be here for a while. Or maybe you’ve planned ahead, and you have something to entertain you at orientation - much to the shared entertainment or dismay of others in your vicinity, perhaps.

Or you could actually be listening to the speech. It’s up to you.


B. SCHOOL TOUR

For students fresh to the academy, the sprawling nature and architecture of Daybeak Academy can be quite intimidating. Fortunately, helpful student volunteers have been tapped to help escort the new students around and give them a feel for campus. Student volunteers are typically chosen for both their experience on campus and helpful nature. While some scripts are provided, students are encouraged to ad-lib and put their own spin on campus and what they like about it. New students are, of course, encouraged to ask as many questions as they can to make sure they fully understand and familiarize themselves with the campus as quickly as possible.

C. SNACK STATION

During the first three days after the Holiday break, throughout the campus grounds are small stations manned by the kitchen staff and volunteers, the smell of hot chocolate, cider, and frying bread fills the air, stirring the appetite and promising warmth on this cold winter’s day.

Every booth has hot chocolate, some spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, others rich and creamy, but always with an option for marshmallows, peppermint bark or caramel drizzles - with non-alcoholic hot cider for those with an allergy to chocolate. For food options, naturally being France there are crepes of all types and beignets on offer, with jam- or custard-filled berliners, while those looking for a more savory fare will be treated to rissoles - a fried bread stuffed with minced meat or bechamel sauce and cod.

While the drinks are on tap and readily available, it may take a few moments to get the treats out, so might as well make conversation while a fresh batch is made.

code bases by tricklet

Comments

[eyefortrouble]

Aya doesn't immediately notice Rex approach her, so absorbed is she in her cigarette. It's a centring thing mostly, something to focus on and calm her down whenever she gets worked up. She's not addicted - she doesn't think she can get addicted, and the nicotine and smoke surely won't damage her body the way it would a normal person's. It's a victimless crime, really, unless someone gets close enough to inhale the smoke.

And so, it's with a bit of annoyance that Aya stamps out her cig. "Yeah, I'm fine." She tries to temper her voice with a bit of gratitude - this young man clearly saw her in distress and is going out of his way to check on her - but it doesn't really come through. She turns her head away from him to let out the last bit of smoke before continuing. "Just got a little hot under the collar." And then, succeeding in softening up a bit, "Thanks."

[heromedal]

Rex gets that. The music he has in his ears at all times is something of a safety blanket, feeling exposed without it. It helps him focus, something he has in spades. Taking a quick note of everything and filing it away. Examining the smallest of things with razor eyes. It's a bit of a shame the tiny, rare twitch of his lips that's almost a smile is missed with his coat zipped up, but that's what he does when he notes how considerate she is. He wouldn't have minded, though in his typical fashion he wonders if he's to blame with his coat giving the impression of covering up to avoid smoke.

"You're welcome," he says almost on reflex. He draws down the zipper, lips back to their flat, grim state before he continues. "It's understandable. It's... somewhat overwhelming, isn't it?"

Leaning against the wall, Rex turns his attention to the other students filing out. Laughing, stretching. How is it possible to be bored with this? How is it conceivable to do anything but spend every waking moment dedicating yourself to survival in the face of death? He's already trying to work out which of the people he's looking at will be dead this time next year and doing everything he can to not assume all of them.

His articulated thought, however, is, "I always assumed humans would end the world."

[eyefortrouble]

"Well there's no guarantee we won't," Aya replies sardonically, following Rex's gaze. "I mean, I haven't heard anything specific about the whole thing. 'A horde of daemons will descend upon humanity,' isn't the most precise description." She crosses her arms, shrugging. "No telling how they get here."

She pauses, a light, mirthless chuckle escaping her lips. "They're already here. They're all over the place. Lord knows how many apocalypses are underway as we speak." If Aya could stumble into one, then anyone could, really. That's a sobering thought.

Following his gaze, Aya shakes her head. "But don't worry about them. Most of them have been here a long time. They're used to the pressure." Aya's hands drop to her hips. "It's a lot easier to be dropped in the middle of armageddon than it is to knowingly prepare for it. It may seem frustrating, but they're arguably handling it better than we are."

[heromedal]

"I suppose. At least it may be more preventable than wars between nations," Rex says as if pointing out the inevitability of human conflict and his belief its escalation it will one day render them extinct is looking at the bright side. For it is by his standards, which is a whole other can of worms.

He does nod along as she discusses that world-destroying calamity could be around the corner continually. Sounds about right. He hasn't personally saved the world as yet, but the heavens split open and told him this particular one is his problem. Literally gave him a medal and told him to solve it- it probably didn't mean alone, but that's how he took it. Another worm in the can. Seal it up, don't let anything out.

"Hmm. Boiling a frog." He leaves that statement by itself for a moment, before quietly realising he has to get used to talking to other people. Which means elaborating on thoughts. He turns towards her as he explains. "The fable is that if you drop a boiling frog into boiling water, it will escape immediately. But if you heat it gradually, it will be boiled to death happily."

He pauses, his lips pursing a little before he adds- "Scientifically inaccurate, but not a bad metaphor."

He gestures towards the others by tilting his head, apparently unwilling to remove his hands from his coat pocket if he can avoid it. It's not the cold, he just likes to keep them hidden.

[eyefortrouble]

"Heh," is what Rex gets in response to that. "That's a little pessimistic, isn't it? Unless it's a French joke." She raises an eyebrow. She's starting to wonder about this kid.

"They're here for the same reason we are. Sure, being in there with everyone on their phones or talking maybe doesn't paint the best picture right off the bat, but...well, try not to let it colour your view of the whole experience." She sighs, crossing her arms. "We're here to train, but you have to live, too. School isn't only about studying."

[heromedal]

It's very pessimistic, but that's Rex. The bright side might as well be the far side of the moon for all he'll see it. He opens his mouth to say he's Bulgarian and doesn't know any French jokes, before he catches up with the meaning. And chuckles back, just as brief as her own but much darker. He doesn't mean for it to be as nasty sounding as it is- that's just how he laughs.

"It is when the studying will determine if you live or die," he sighs the words out, leaning slightly more heavily against the wall. That's the philosophy he's been living even before he came to the school, but he plans to take it to the extreme now he has more resources to learn from. Sleeping once every five days or so gives you a lot of free time, but it doesn't exactly make you a happy bunny.

[eyefortrouble]

Ays sighs audibly. It would seem this young man is hell bent on being a party pooper. Not that Aya cares all that much either way - he's voicing a lot of her own concerns, after all. But hearing it all out loud like that, and paired with that laugh...

"Look...in the end, what's coming is coming. You can study and practice as much as you want, but that won't stop, say, a stray bullet." Or keep you from 'spontaneously' combusting. "Any cop or soldier will tell you that." She puts one hand on her hip, tilting her head in thought. "How'd you just wind up here, anyway? Way you're acting, I'd figure you'd have been on top of all this years ago." There's a lightness in her tone at the end.

[heromedal]

Every party needs a pooper, that's why they invited Rex. If you start at the bottom with the worst possible option and work your way up (but not too far up) you'll be in a better position than otherwise, right?

Still, he has to concede she's correct. There's a certain amount of unpredictability that no one can plan for, no matter how hard they try. But it won't stop him from covering as many bases as he can. He can’t predict a stray bullet but he can keep himself out of the line of fire.

“I’ve had... other business to attend to,” he vaguely answers, but keeps eye contact. Looking away would make him appear even shiftier that he usually does, which is about as shifty as he is. “I’ve only recently heard there was a fight to be fought here. And what was I going to do? Ignore it?”

As unemotional as he is in tone, there’s still a small shade to his voice that implies he’d really rather had done just that. It’s all a pain.

[eyefortrouble]

"Apparently not," is Aya's short, sardonic answer. What a weird kid. Mysterious, sure, but no more mysterious than the rest of this world that didn't exist until a little while ago.

"Well, I should get going. I'm Aya, by the way. Thanks for checking up on me, it was really kind of you."