An Evening in the Sunset

Evening. That cool, calm part of the day where everything winds down before one heads to sleep. It was a good time for people like Gabriel, who tended to wander and drift. It was evenings when one was less likely to be bothered. And Gabriel was taking advantage of this. He was wearing simple sleep wear, casual black slacks and a black T-shirt. He'd never been one for more stylized clothes. He could never really find any that fit his personality.

And so he was wandering down the various halls of the dorm, just exploring. The he paused at a window. He was fairly high up now... Looking up he couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. There were clouds on the horizon, catching the orange, red, purple, and blue hues blasted across the sky. Pushing open the window, a breeze hit his face. His smile grew as he climbed into the window so that he was sitting with his feet dangling outside. "Ah... This is so nice..."

Veta was returning to the dorms after a long, hard day of classes and training. She had to try and keep up with the rest of the more talented students, after all. It was a secret where she'd been. She wanted no one to know how hard she was working, both so she wouldn't be seen as an overachiever and so she wouldn't reveal how much worse she felt than the others who trained far less. She passed a few girls, and a guy. Co-ed dorms were weird. She was sharing a room with some boy she barely knew, but at least there were two other girls right now. How things ended up when their teams were formed... she could only guess.

Veta was tired. She wasn't paying too much attention, and didn't notice when someone dropped something that they hadn't spotted yet, and slipped on it with a loud yelp. The books in her arms flew out, scattering around the hall as she landed behind a young man who was staring outside the window. She laid there, stunned. A couple of the kids laughed but none moved to help the faunus girl.

It was silent and no one was paying Gabriel any mind. Which he was fine with... even if he did feel a pang of loneliness from it. He kicked his feet back and fourth and hummed a small tune to himself when he heard a crash behind him. He turned to see a Faunus girl sprawled out on the floor. That's when he heard the laughter and closed his eyes with a sigh. Didn't they all have the same mission? Why couldn't they help each other out when others needed it?

It took him a moment but he managed to move so he could climb back in through the window. No doubt he looked weird just randomly climbing in to give someone a helping hand, but it looked like she'd at least appreciate a hand. So the first thing he decided to do was help her up.

"Need a hand?" he offered his hand down to the fallen Faunus girl. He gave her a warm smile as his tail flicked back and fourth. His ears were strait and added to the general happy look he had about him.

Veta opened her eyes to see an admittedly cute faunus boy standing over her, holding a hand out to help her up. She took his hand, and was lifted to a sitting position She rubbed the back of her head. "Thanks," she told the young man, still holding onto his hand without actually meaning to as she regained her senses. "My head hurts," she chuckled, despite that not actually being funny. It was rather embarrassing. She didn't even know what happened other than one moment she was walking and one moment her legs were in the air and she was laying on the ground staring at the ceiling.

Still not letting go, she looked around at her scattered books and papers. It appeared as if she hadn't secured things tight enough. Great.... She let out a sigh. The first nice guy she meets and it's because she was a klutz. "Well this is embarrassing~"

"I'm glad you're not hurt," He said not releasing his hand. Partially because she hadn't let go either. Now that he had a better look at her, she seemed rather cute. And she was also a Faunus, which was nice. He wasn't racist, but it was always good to have things in common when one met someone new.

"We all trip and fall at some point or another," The smile on his face never wavered. Sure, there were people staring, but he wasn't worried about that. Instead he glanced around at the books and such. "But we should probably get this cleaned up at least."

With that said he let go of her hand to start grabbing books and papers. He had a carefree attitude about it. Things were getting organized to what looked like where they belonged, but Gabriel had a carefree smile plastered on his face as he worked.

When Gabriel let go of her hand she blushed, realizing she'd been holding on. Whoops. She must have hit her head harder than she thought. She got up slowly, thinking that her tailbone was going to hurt a bit later. She gave him a big smile, one that revealed she had two long catlike fangs in addition to her ears (Which were slightly cocked to the side), what might have been a slight purr was present too for a moment. "I'm Veta. Veta Hunter." she introduced herself like she often did lately. Everyone around here was new after all.

She helped him pick up her things, and shoved them haphazardly into her backpack. She checked to make sure she hadn't dropped her precious spear, and then said "Thanks again." She rubbed her sore head. She'd taken a pretty hard spill. It was lucky she seemed to be okay. She'd fought a grimm creature or two at this point, but that floor rivaled even the deathstalker in how much it hurt when she was hit by it.

"Veta? That's a cute name. It makes you sound adventurous," Gabriel let out a light hearted chuckle as he handed over what he'd picked up. She shoved it into her bag and double checked herself. As she did that Gabriel stood up and stretched his arms above his head. His ears twitched and his tail slowly drifted back and fourth. "I'm Gabriel Sternan. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Then he glanced around at the people, as if finally noticing them. They quickly glanced away and began moving again. It was as if time was frozen and had begun moving again. Turning from them he moved to close the window. Once it was clicked shut he turned back to Veta.

"So where were you off to in such a hurry?" He looked rather care free as he linked his fingers behind his head slowly. He tilted his head curiously at her, as dark blue eyes gazed at her.

Veta grinned when she was told her name was cute. "Cute huh? Guess it matches me~" she decided in a singsong voice. Her ears wiggled a bit along with her voice, though she was back to acting semi-normal after a moment. Her rather long hair was down rather than in its ponytail, so she flipped some of the stray hair back over her shoulder and gave him a grin. "I uh, wasn't in a hurry though," she said slightly more sheepishly. "Something was just suddenly under my feet."

She couldn't even tell what it had been at this point. Either it had made it into her backpack or it had disappeared when she slipped on it. The pink-haired faunus looked around the hall, but by now people weren't staring anymore, and that was good. "Walk with me?" she asked as she started going again. She was headed towards her room. The others she hadn't actually had a chance to meet properly due to never being in her room wouldn't be there right now. One of them had mentioned as much as she ran outside this morning. They all apparently knew each other and had some sort of plans in town.

At least Veta could take compliments. It was a good start, but uncertainty was creeping into the back of his mind. He quickly pushed it out however. She was cute. Cute enough that she probably got a lot of attention. So the fact that she was asking him to go with her was probably a really good sign. So he shouldn't worry for the time being. Instead he fell into step next to her.

"You're pretty lucky to be up on this floor," Gabriel commented with his hands still behind his head. His tail swished with each step, helping him keep a more graceful walk. Unlike Veta, he actually looked ready to sleep. "You have a nice view of the sky up here. No trees or awning covering it up here."

Veta chuckled and looked out the window. It was a good view she had to admit. But she'd never taken the time to look outside properly. It really was rather pretty. "So do you live on a different floor then?" she asked to make conversation. She figured probably not if he was commenting on it. The truth was she wasn't getting as much attention as she could, both because she was busy with studies and becaue being a faunus put her at a disadvantage automatically. Nothing new.

"Living arrangements are weird here. They have really different priorities." she decided aloud. "i'm living with a guy and two girls I don't even know," she chuckled. She looked  over at Gabe and gave another grin and kept walking. Eventually, they got to her dorm room and she threw it open, simply walking inside and expecting him to follow.

"I got stuck on the ground floor until it's time for the team selection," Gabriel commented with a hint of sadness on his voice. However, it passed rather quickly as he walked along side Veta. "I hope that changes after teams are picked. It'd be nice to unwind with some easy stargazing."

He rounded several corners while talking to Veta, and hadn't noticed she was dragging him to her dorm. Or hadn't really cared. It was hard even for him to tell sometimes. Still, he followed along until they came to her room. He assumed it was all good since she just walked in and followed. "I don't sleep in my dorm. I don't... quite find myself getting along with my current room mates."

As predicted, they were the only ones in the room, which suited Veta fine. Two sets of bunk beds lined the walls, and things were strewn about. Veta's was one of the messier corners, though she hadn't said which stuff was hers, and hadn't really thought about it yet. She opened the curtains, where there was still a decent view of the fading sun, as well as the clouds rolling in. The pink-haired girl let out a sigh. She hadn't turned the light on - being a cat faunus meant she had excellent night vision and she often didn't bother to do so if she didn't have a reason.

"Sooo this is my room!" she told him, her own eyes flicking around it and noting no one had cleaned up... and that included her. She scooted over to her pile of things and started throwing everything in her trunk - she could sort it out later and didn't want the random guy to see all of it. "Heheheh..." she chuckled nervously as she stood back up after her flurry of cleaning. That was better. "So um, yeah. This is it." she said, climbing up to the top bunk on the left side of the room and sitting down with her legs dangling off. "The new home of Veta Hunter: Huntress in training." As she said that, she took her spear out of its loop and sat it on her bed, as well as taking off her bracer that folded into the shield.

When Gabriel made it to the room Veta stepped in wordlessly. He took the invitation for what it was and stepped in too. It took his eyes some time to adjust, and by the time they did, she was throwing stuff hastily into her trunk. HE focused trying to get a grasp of what kind of person she was by the things she had, but quickly blushed slightly and looked to the side as she finished. Thankfully, in the dim lighting, especially with the sunset such a blush was not only hard to spot, but easily written off as lighting.

"It's a nice cozy little space," Gabriel admitted as he walked over to the window, his blush fading as he wasn't thinking about the undergarments and such he'd spotted. He leaned on the the corner of the windowsill, letting the sunset bathe his hair and ears in color as his tail poked up occasionally as it moved. "For a school it's surprisingly free and easy going around here. The training isn't what I thought it'd be either... But maybe that's because we're only just starting."

"Heheh, nice and cozy. Yup." Veta wasn't used to sharing a room with several people. Much less strangers. She flopped back onto the bed for a moment as Gabe looked out the window, stating how he didn't expect the place to be run like it was. "Well this isn't your average academy, for one." she answered as she slid off of her top bunk and landed on her feet. She opened her trunk again, shuffling around for a clean shirt and skirt, pulling them out. "I mean... we're here to learn to fight monsters so they can't run it like your standard place. Right? Not entirely." Veta had gone to school like most people before this, and it had been much more organized, and she'd had a lot less free time then. But she needed that time now just to keep up with the rest of them. It was the real reason she didn't even know her roommates.

"Gimme a sec." Veta went into the bathroom, quickly changing into her favorite top and skirt she'd happened to dig up - the pink long sleeve shirt with the black short sleeved one over it. The black shirt had the words 'love and peace' written on the bottom left side. She made sure her hair was brushed again, then exited the bathroom as she wrapped the scarf back around her neck. She was not a fan of the school uniforms. "Much better! So then..." Veta took a second to push more undesirable articles of clothing back in the box that had poked out when she shut it. "Why did you become a hunter?"

Gabriel nodded slowly and listened to Veta speak. She had a very good point, this wasn't a normal academy or school. After all... it was all about learning how to fight monsters that have terrorized humans and faunus alike for countless generations as far as he knew. Even still... he'd expected stricter rules, and even stricter regiments and training exercises. But maybe that was his own experience with training.

When she left he opened the window and leaned on the windowsill, poking his head out and into the breeze. It pulled at his hair and ears, and he purred quietly as his tail slowly moved back and fourth. When she returned, with a question and another cute outfit on he turned so he could see her, but didn't pull his head inside.

"Why?" He repeated softly with a shrug. Then he turned back to look outside so she couldn't see his eye. If she'd been able to, that creeping sadness would have been hard to miss. "I don't fit anywhere else in life. I can't sit pushing papers, or lifting heavy things, or build things. I'd be miserable if I was trapped like that. This... this gives me the freedom I want out of life."

Veta played with her long pink-tinted hair as she walked closer to Gabriel, who looked out the window as he told her how he couldn't be happy having a normal job. She grinned at him, and let out a small giggle. "Well that makes two of us. I have to do what I can to help people who really need it. Anyone can lift a crate or fill out some papers. But it takes a special kind of dedication to become a huntress, right?" She walked up to her bunk bed, grabbing the spear and shield off of it. She tucked the retracted spear into a spot on the back of her belt, and fastened the bracer to her arm and pulled the sleeve over it. "Now! I'm all ready to face the evening without that scratchy uniform." she told him as she leaned forward to where she was close to him. "Want to go find some trouble to get into?~"

Special dedication? Helping people? It was something much more selfish for Gabriel and he knew it. He wouldn't sugarcoat it or lie to himself. He was in it for his own reasons and his own soul searching. And when the cross roads came again, he might not be a hunter anymore. Of course, saying that was probably a one way ticket to everyone not liking him, and the future wasn't certain. Maybe by then he'd have a reason to still be a hunter. Who knew? So he voiced nothing of his thoughts and instead grinned at his new friend.

"Trouble sounds adventurous," He stated as his tail began twitching mischievously. He moved so he was leaning backwards against the window sill, and a breeze blew in, pulling at his ears and hair. The sunset seemed to dye his hair, reflecting the orange and purples in a spectacular view through his hair and behind him. This, with his grin that now exposed his own fangs, made him look like he was really ready to pounce on some trouble. "What do you have in mind?"

Veta leaned back as Gabriel turned back around and gave her a surprisingly cat-like grin. Veta honestly didn't look all that cat-like aside from her large ears and slightly elongated canines. It was easy to pass off as human if she wanted. And she did, sometimes, when she was by herself. Not out of shame or anything, but simply because she didn't like to have trouble with people. She'd stand up for anyone, but saw no reason to push her luck for herself. She grinned back with her own mischievous smile as she leaned, her ears turning back a bit to enhance the look. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and she looked like she was about to say something. But instead she abruptly turned around. "Guess you'll have to find ooooout~" she said in a singsong voice as she started to march out of her own room without him.

There it was, the faunus catlike grin he'd been hoping to see. She looked rather pretty and natural grinning like that. A far cry from how he'd initially found her in the hall not more than a half hour prior. He tilted his ears forward to focus on what she had to say when it looked like she'd speak, but then she spun around. Her coy line perked his curiosity further, and as she started walking he pushed himself off the windowsill.

She seemed to have this habit of wanting others to come after her. Not surprising, seeing how being a more outgoing faunus could be... dangerous at times. As her luck would have it, he liked having to pursue things he liked. He liked having to earn what he ended up with, and so for him, this was rather enjoyable.

"I guess I will." He said with a slight purr to his voice. His own catlike grin was still there as he moved to catch up with her.

The Faunus led Gabriel down the hallway, humming to herself as she went. This was Veta at her truest self, without the weight of responsibility of watching out for people on her shoulders. She was a mischevious, playful, center of attention type girl who loved when people focused on her. Even if it was just one or two people. Though more was certainly fine. As long as that attention was positive. In the past though, she'd dealt almost as happily with negative until she'd grown up a bit more before she'd joined the academy.

Before long, They came across a set of doors that Veta stopped in front of, She flung her scarf over her shoulder, turning around to give him another mischievous grin, though it was less catlike than before. "Aaaand here we are~" she said, grabbing one of the double doors and flinging it open, stepping inside before Gabriel. Inside was what appeared to be a simple set of stairs. The stairs led upward in a spiral, and seemed to lead all the way to the roof. She took the stairs two at a time, stopping at random intervals to spin and grin back at him and make sure he was still coming.

She made it up before him, and when he arrived he would see her standing at the edge of the roof of the massive building, completely unaffected by the heights, at least as far as appearances went. She did have catlike balance after all, even if she often made a show of flailing her arms like humans did when forced to balance on something. "I know a secret," she told him before jumping down to a ledge about 3 feet below that was easily wide enough for a person, but not somewhere you could see if you didn't lean over the edge of the building.

Gabriel followed feeling strangely at ease. Most people might be suspicious of a person they just met. But he was more easy going than that. It wasn't fun to be stressed over details in his opinion. It tied you down and took your freedom. More than that you were giving up your own freedom to your worries at that point.

And maybe that's what was making him feel so comfortable around Veta right now. She seemed free of such anti-freedom worries. And while deep down he knew that was most likely the case, that she could be so happy and eager to just have fun called out to a part of him. Where had such feelings been when he was younger? Well, better later than never he figured.

So he was going up the stairs. He took more time following after her. Neither were in a rush, classes were over for the day. And she was having fun leading him around, so why ruin that fun. At the top she spoke of a secret before jumping down. Curiosity took him and he grinned as he leaned over to look down. The ledge was wide enough for a body, and she'd landed gracefully. He'd expect nothing from a faunus seeking to be a huntress. After he hoped down behind her he gave her a fanged grin. "What kinda secet?"

On the ledge, it was clear that people weren't really supposed to be down here. It wasn't the safest place on the castle - the ledges weren't nearly as high on the roof proper. Veta was crouched down, as if to keep herself more steady. She was still grinning. "I found a spot." she said simply. This wasn't the spot. She kept going, following the ledge around a corner, to where there was a ventelation shaft with a loose grate.

She lifted up on it, since it was hinged, and entered back into the building. It was dark in the shaft, but the faunus could see well enough with her night vision. After a bit, she stopped where some light was peeking through yet another grate, and she pushed down on it gently, holding onto it so that it wouldn't clatter to the ground. She pulled it into the vent sideways, then dropped down into the dark room. What it was wasn't immediately noticeable, but if one spent a moment looking, they could tell - This was a currently unused wing of the dorms. It was probably even locked from wherever the entrance was, and it was bare bones, dark, and a little dusty. Not to mention truly quiet compared to the rest of the academy. And every level of the dorms had a balcony somewhere people could go out and enjoy the fresh air on.

This one would be people free. She led him to the place - a balcony that wasn't in view of any other balconies. It was on the topmost floor, and was just waiting for syne to be filled with even more students. But for now, it was secluded. "I know it was a weird way to take. But it's more fun than just going and jumping off the right side of the roof~" she told him when they finally stopped and she leaned over to see the blue-tinted forest below. "This is how I found it. And the empty dorms. On the third day of class."

She found a spot. A secret place that few knew of... this was the sort of thing Gabriel loved the most in life. Finding little things, or mysterious places. Even better was the route they were taking. It was out of the way, and required some getting around, even entering a duct. His tail helped him balance until they got to the duct, but once inside he could make out her figure well enough to follow after her. Though, he did feel his face flush slightly as he was stuck looking at her backside. However, the thought of the adventure pushed teenage hormones to the back of his mind.

Once they were inside he resisted the sneeze that almost happened from the dust being picked up. He also twisted his ears to focus on Veta when she spoke. And in response he gave a small chuckle. "Adventurous name indeed!"

"Still this is an amazing find," He said as he spun around in awe and marveled. Sure, it was just another room, but it was a hidden place. A secret that he was led to, and could return to for a time. Then he turned back to her. "Why show me this? We barely know each other."

Veta leaned over the railing for a moment before Gabriel spoke up again. "Well you were nice to me when I fell," she said with a shrug as she sat back up and tilted her head at him with a grin. Her scarf blew a bit in the wind outside on the balcony, and her large ears were caught slightly in the wind as well, before she flattened them down a bit. "I wanted to adventure with someone. So that's what I did. Besides, you seem to enjoy ledges and following cute girls around." she said matter-of-factly.

It was windy this high up on the academy this high up in the mountains. Very windy. After a moment she had to keep her skirt from flying up as the wind changed direction, but since she managed it it didn't seem to bother her much as she stood there facing him rather than the scenery around her. She moved closer to the wall to get out of the wind. "Besides, what fun is a private place if you can't share it with someone else?"

"You're right on all accounts," Gabriel chuckled and spun around again, taking in all the sights. Then when she moved he stepped up to the railing on the balcony. He let the wind crash into him with closed eyes and a grin. He was silent until the wind died down.

"Adventuring like this is more fun," Gabriel said in a light tone as he stood there. Looking at himself now, he could hardly tell he'd been handling many responsibilities, or even that he was there to learn how to be a proper hunter. "When you have a cute companion with you whom also enjoys a good adventure. Thank you for showing me this!"

He could taste night on the air. The sun was mostly set and giving way to the twilight as the first stars were starting to pop out in the night sky, finally revealed as the burning sun's light waned. He looked up seeing the night sky slowly coming to life and grinned more. "It looks like those clouds won't obscure the view until later."