Roleplay

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After sixteen years to get used to the idea, you would think that Celeste Evergreen was more than ready to be unveiled to the general populace. That she would prepared for the cameras, the expectations, and the risks.

You would also be thinking wrong.

Back and forth she went, pacing along the length of the hallway. Servants had shown her to her rooms not long ago, but the extravagance had soon driven her out and she'd taken to marching up and down the hall instead. Even after so much preparation, the reality of having her every move recorded still sent gooseflesh racing down her arms. It had been bad enough when only the Trainers had been monitoring her around the clock. Now it would be an entire city's worth of people.

In the back of her mind, Celeste registered that she was probably disturbing any of the Hunters that had rooms nearby, what with her stomping and grumbling. But she was far past the point of caring. If they had an issue, they could come and talk to her about it.

Smash.

Celeste looked down in surprise, realizing too late that she'd forgotten to keep an eye on her hounds. Mercury, Helios, and Jupiter were still in her rooms, but the other three had come with her. Now Juno was shooting her a shameful grin, the remains of a vase scattered on the carpet around her.

"Honestly, Juno," Celeste sighed, running her fingers through her long black hair. "Come on, we should go." A servant had come to see what the commotion was about, and Celeste wanted to get out of their way.

The Hunter led her three hounds away from the scene of the crime and in the direction of what she hoped was the lounge. The general layout of this wing of the palace had been explained to her when she'd arrived, but Celeste had been too overwhelmed at the time to remember much.

All I have to do is survive one day at a time, she told herself as she walked. That, and make sure I don't break anything else.

(Note: The Hunters will vaguely recognize each other, but most of their training was done separately)

Chase smiled as took in the news. He was going out there, fighting monsters and proving himself. Everyone would adore him even more. He sat on a desk in his room. The chair was hand painted with small gold spirals and the desk was freshly polished. He was loving every moment of it.

His hound sat on his bed, kneading the sheets into shreds. Flash let out a happy chirp. Chase spun around on his chair to face his hound. “Aren’t you excited? We finally get to go out and fight!” Flash let out a content purr. “We are also going to need new sheets.” He heaved out a sigh.

He slid on his jacket. It was lovely and comfortable, plus it brandished his colors. He walked into his bathroom and splashed some water on his face. He looked into the mirror, his own smile making him even more happy. He patted down his hair to look a bit nicer. “You can do this! You are awesome! Everyone loves you!” He didn’t need the pep-talk but it still felt nice.

He strode out of his room with an ear to ear smile. He waved to every servant he met. He wanted to check this place out on his own. He found himself in a room full of couches and tables. It was a sitting room if he remembered right. It was a perfect time to meet more hunters like him!

"Loki!" Diana's muffled voice called from inside her room, "I swear, why are you always like that!? Ugh! No–Hades! Hey! Put that down! Ey–My sock! Give that back!"

Diana had finally managed to wrestle her sock free from Hades and put it away. One of the servants waited outside with her clothing for the day. Diana hated the uniform she always wore in the public eye. It represented her powers but that didn't mean she liked it.

With a sigh after her hounds finally calmed down, Diana slipped on her clothes, pulling her cloak around her shoulders. She braided two strands of hair and tied them back, letting the rest of her raven black hair tumble down her shoulders. She pulled up her hood and looked in the mirror. She looked like Storm, her public alias.

She took a deep breath, taking off her glasses and putting in her contacts, and grabbed her bow and silver arrows, and started off down the hallway as instructed by a servant, her platformed boots echoing on the tile.

Loki and Hades were at her heels, on either side of Diana. She was ready for whatever was thrown at her... Or so she thought.

Kado watched as his hounds explored the room that they had been given with sharp blue eyes. From the large bed, the shape round and large enough for both him and his hounds to lay upon comfortably, all the way to the fireplace and the numerous other items, his hounds jumped to and fro in their excitement. Soundtrack currently sniffing at what he could only assume was his new desk while Mardark laid sprawled over the bed, massive head rubbing against one of the sturdier looking pillows as he purred. Dour mood lightening only a little at just how happy the two looked.

Kado had listened with half an ear as the servants had explained his new quarters and the place that they were now located in. Mood growing worse at just how loud this place was compared to the Training Facility. The humming of the electricity as it passed through the wires of the wall and even the sound of the cars passing by outside in conjuncture to the increase of people were too much. Add that with his guides rather grating voice and he had been just about ready to punch them in the throat to get them to stop talking. The Facility had been loud, but he had had years to get used to it and he wasn't expected to live in such close quarters to the others like he was now.

He couldn't wait to leave this place, to get to the quiet of nature and do what he had been training for so long for. To feel the wind and the whip of branches against his face as his partners and himself hunted their prey down. Taste fresh blood against his tongue and feel his blades sink through scale and flesh alike. For now he would have to get used to the feeling of being watched and hope that it wouldn't mess him up and get him killed later on.

Deciding to start getting acclimated to the sound of everything and the constant feeling of being watched, Kado stood. The action immediately drawing his hounds attention and sending them into action as they moved to stand on either side of him. Allowing him just enough room to grab his blades and hook them around his waist so that he could do some maintenance while he acclimated to everything.

"Find other hounds Soundtrack." He whispered, voice sounding too loud amongst everything else, as he ran his free hand against the hounds hood, the reptilian beast giving a nod of agreement along with a small burst of quiet static before leading the way. Kado followed as quietly as he could, but even then the sounds of everything echoed in his ears as they approached what he could tell from not only sight but also by smell what was probably a hang out spot. Already he could see two of his fellow hunters and their hounds, their colors only slightly more familiar than the hounds that accompanied them. Soundtrack let out a nervous little burst of static at all the other hounds as Mardark nudged them, carefully brushing his horned head against Soundtracks much smoother one.

Aether did not like all the festivities and flashiness that went into this. All of the publicity, all of the spotlights... it was all just so much. Cameras tracking their every movements as they walked, anything that their mods found interesting was public.

Apparently sensing their agitation, Harbinger butt his head into the human's hand, giving them a smile in the way hounds do. Aether snorted in amusement, petting the hound before getting up, rolling their eyes at the uniform they'd get to wear. Pulling it on quickly, they looked at themselves in the mirror.

"Don't I look fantastic." Their voice was flat, dull. Sarcasm, really. And Harbinger seemed to notice, giving a laugh in the way a hound only can.

"Well. Time to go to the masses." They rolled their eyes, taking a look at this room they'd been told was theirs. It was so much more than they needed, but still. It was really neat.

Walking out the door, their hounds trailing behind them, Aether took in the winding passageways of the palace wing. It was just... so much. They'd been indicated to go to one location by a servant, and so they did, walking into a room with several other hunters and hounds.

They gave a wave at the hunters, pondering to themselves how many cameras were watching them right now. Probably a lot, they figured. Hunters meeting each other would be a marketable moment.

The lounge was an enormous room, and that was saying a lot considering where she was. Sofas and chairs were scattered everywhere, some alone and some in small clusters around low tables. The walls alternated between being plastered with paintings and television screens. On the back wall, a large screen proclaimed the word "Rankings" at the very top, followed by an empty numbered list.

Each corner of the room held a camera on a swiveling stand. Even as Celeste moved further inside the room, she could see the nearest one moving to watch her. The Hunter suppressed a shiver at the thought of unseen people watching her and instead tried to grin confidently. There wasn't a guarantee that citizens were watching her at the moment, since she wasn't doing anything interesting. But that could change at any moment, and she wouldn't even know.

The echoes of footsteps behind her made Celeste whirl, copied by Selene and Diana. Juno didn't react, and moved off to check out the rest of the room. As long as she didn't break anything else, Celeste was content to let the more free spirited hound wander. A guy with dark brown hair, wearing a jacket that bore his colors, walked into the room, accompanied by single hound. He was vaguely familiar, but Celeste recognized him more by his colors than by his face.

The same thing applied for the other two Hunters that entered moments later. One wore red and black, while the other had silvery and dark teal clothes. Celeste waved politely, backing further into the room so that the entrance wasn't overly crowded. She liked her personal space, and didn't really want to interact. But she knew it was also probably expected that the Hunters get to know each other better. They would, after all, be competitors.

Selene sat down adamantly, her jet-black wings looming over the rest of her body. She was eyeing the two strangest hounds, both of which seemed to belong to the red and black Hunter. Diana kept closer to Celeste, her gaze bouncing from one hound to another. "Caelestibus? Alia venatores?"

Celeste glanced down briefly. "Affirmativa," she replied, then faced the others again. "It's nice to meet all of you. I'm Celeste Evergreen."

Storm–as Diana was publicly known as–turned a corner and walked into the meeting room, Loki and Hades at her heels.

Immediately, she took note of the cameras, Loki and Hades sniffing the air. Diana could practically feel the electricity humming, being given off by the cameras.

She stopped herself from sighing as she crossed the room, walking right past Celeste and the other Hunters, and stood in the darker corner of the room, her hounds sitting down in front of her on either side.

Diana felt a crackle of static electricity flicker in her palms but she quickly snuffed it out by clenching her gloved visits and opening them again, flexing her fingers. She dearly hoped no one noticed... The public loved to ask 'Storm' to make light shows.

It wasn't that Diana hated the attention–which she didn't exactly appreciate–it was just that these days, she felt she could never get time alone. She could never go anywhere without cameras or drones following her.

Was it too much to ask to just be alone once in a while?

Soundtrack whined, the sound echoing in their speakers as their antenna flicked every which way, and causing Mardark to let out a rumbling purr in an effort to calm their partner. The hound trying to hide itself behind the much larger form of their darker counterpart who turned its gaze towards the source of its partners discomfort. Lips pulling back to reveal the smaller set of jaws inside of their maw, before calming as Kado stretched over Soundtrack to press his hand between the dark scaled hounds shoulders.

"Calm Mardark. They mean Soundtrack no harm, and are just curious." He whispered this as calmly as possible, even as his head pounded from the assault on his senses and he wanted nothing more than to punch something. It would not do for him to fuel either of his hounds growing discomfort though. Not with all the cameras and all of the other hunters and their partners. The muscles beneath the scales and his hand tensed for a few seconds before relaxing once more as the curled lips dropped and the largest of his hounds went back to calming its smaller partner. One of his massive wings unfolding from his side to drape over Soundtracks back and then using it to drag them close. With that done Kado turned to the one that had not only introduced herself but was also the cause for his hounds discomfort.

"Greetings. I am Kado, Kado Konpaku and these are my partners Soundtrack and Mardark." He replied, blue eyes honing in on her face and ignoring most everything else.

Aether gave a smile with no light behind it at the girl with the six hounds. Silver and grey were her colors, and she seemed stressed. As was everyone else, likely. Aether was, that was for sure.

The camera turned towards them as they walked into the room, freeing up entry space for their fellow hunters. Their hounds followed, Harbinger looking around the room, a little confused but following regardless.

"Aether. Pleasure to meet you." A flat tone, directed at no- one in specific. The cameras, maybe? Silver- grey girl? Black- red boy? The hounds?

Taking a seat in one of the chairs in the room, Aether leaned back in it, delighting in the comfort this was from the training facility they'd grown up in. Their hounds sat next to them, Kyro curling up near their feet with Harbinger sitting next to them, the young hunter petting the smaller hound as they looked around.