((ooc: Sorry for the delay. =/ Setting up internet in my dorm seems to be more finicky than I would have guessed.))

As the train slowed to a stop, there were few to stand and welcome the mostly weary travelers. Most stepped of a bit hesitantly after Corrigan, wondering why there was nothing but a group of people standing at the end before it broke into the sand of the beach. No buildings, no signs, nothing to welcome them there. There was hardly any sign of the civilization that rested beyond the trees aside from the rails that led further in to the island, the trees having grown to make a natural tunnel.

Only a few heads had turned to examine the people getting off the train when it had made its arrival. These were the officers, eight of them, who were to test the new applicants. One broke off from the group to wave them over, but whether it was out of a desire to escape the man babbling at her or just eagerness to get this underway wasn't quite easy to tell.

"Hey! Sunadokei applicants, over here!" She called out, continuing to wave her hand for those who were now getting off the train. The train itself let out a puff of steam, a mechanical sigh that practically spoke of its impatience to get back to work.

The situation continued to be puzzling however the person waving to be legit. His bare feet touched the few stones that were around making up the platform. Heated by the sun's rays they felt pleasant under his feet. His eyes watched the older people move together with the woman, he knew none of them, which wasn't surprising.

He didn't think much of the few people that had come off the train with him. From the present applicants he would possible guess himself as one of the eldest, and probably one of the most likely to pass as well.

Corrigan was somewhat fired up about starting something new, most of it seemed to be mysterious as he didn't knew what to expect.

To his best of knowledge he just followed the woman that seemed to know what was going on and what was to happen.

Corrigan was kinda annoyed that he had been stuck with mostly babies. If they couldn't cut it then the young demon would make sure that they weren't going to slow him down.

Following the young woman he snarled at the young occupants of his group "Foreigners".

With the train gone the air had clearly become better and Corrigan was now sniffing it in as he slowly moved. As he moved his indexfinger moved across the metal blade end of his barded dagger. The 40 centimeter long and curved weapon was a traditional weapon within his family, there was water in the hilt and knob of the dagger, both as a reminder and as an advantage in combat. This made the weapon a little less easy to throw, however that was never the intention of this weapon anyway.

This had been far from the homecoming that he had expected. Whatever would be coming next would hopefully be more exciting then it had so far been.

Tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, Dysphoria honestly didn't care who the group was that she traveled with. There had to be good reason as to why the smaller ones were there and chosen to move on. Truthfully though, they much resembled a group of delinquents than a potential group of fighters.

The process ran through her mind, entertaining her and taking the bare feet off her mind. Would there be some special challenge~? Something nice to remember and talk about in the future~? No, probably not but it never hurt to be a bit optimistic at times.

Her uncaring gaze bounced between the small group, each looking just as disappointing as the last, not what she was expecting at all. Unnoticed she hung back a bit, walking behind the group and glancing back at the others who hoped to become part of Sunadokei. Was this group chosen because they looked the weakest or something~?

((ooc: Nnn....If this stupid replacement BSODs one more time when I've finished this post I"m gonna chuck it out the window... Compy's coming back Monday, until then please forgive me. ;_; ))

"So. As always, we've assumed you've come fully prepared. No need for resting or breaks or going to pick up more of daddy's money for protection." Even as she walked, her back to the group, her words poked at the noble and he grumbled quietly before letting go of the clunky phone in his hand. She stopped abruptly, looking up into the sky and ignoring the young demon who had sped up to ask her when they'd get to an interesting part and ended up colliding with her back. Turning as if she had barely noticed, she clapped her hands together and addressed the group.

"Ok, while we wait for our lift to get the actual test underway, here's a little more boring pre-amble. My name's Jena Gaynes, just for future reference. Now, most people are free to give whatever test they please...I don't know what you might think, but I rather detest the written exams and all that boring history stuff, so I've put together a little survival and retrieval exercise for you guys. As with every exam, it's designed to test how you think on your feet, work with a team, blah blah blah..." She was waving her hand to encompass the rest of the drivel she was required by procedure to say when the sound of a helicopter-type machine began to grow in the distance.

Jena only glanced over her shoulder to make sure the machine didn't crash into the tops of the trees as it headed their way. It had been a while since the interest in those things had faded; sure, to those unused to it the dragonfly-like mechanical contraption could look pretty cool, but where she came from, choppers looked better...Or at least looked safer.

"Well, there's our ride..." She had to speak up as it grew closer. "So I'd like to ask has anyone had experience on the uninhabited parts of Sunadokei's island? If not, it's become a sort of corrupted spirit breeding ground, and since our aim isn't completely focused on killing you guys, you had better be a bit prepared."

As the thing flew overhead and began to settle to the ground a few feet from her, she gave up trying to talk and only sighed, moving over to the side of the flying machine. Nearly the entire side swung open as she pulled the handle, motioning for the group to hop on. The other side was easily visible; another giant door made of glass so you could easily see through to whatever you were flying above.

As soon as the door had opened, Corrigan was the first to jump in. Although he was born and raised on the island, he couldn't remember ever being out there.

The young demon took a seat as far as you could call a seat. He should remember the woman's name: Jena Gaynes. Corrigan glanced back to see the others getting in. Now why had she mentioned the word 'teamwork' and with this lot. Even at his age and with his training he had great troubles with his spirit contol, now with this lot he could only assume that it was far worse. If he had to depend on them to pass then he sure hoped that these children weren't going to cry and run to mama.

Looking around the group as the door was closed again, he tried to make out if any of them had brought any real weapons, not that most of them would know how to actually use them, but it was the thought that counted. In his mind he checked the contents of his own bag, it wasn't much, but it would have to do.

Leaving solid wasn't really Corrigan's choice, however if this was the way they travelled then it would have to do.

Jena shooed the lingering applicants onto the machine, pulling the door shut behind them as she hopped on herself. Immediately as the door sealed, the noise from the motor cut out and left the group sitting--with the exception of Jena, who was standing in the middle--in a rather eerie silence compared to the previous background noise.

When they lifted off the ground, it was a bit of a sudden and swift movement, forcing her to put out her hand and steady herself on the edge of the door. The figures on the beach grew tiny as they pushed forward over the trees, and soon all that was visible underneath was the dense jungle-like forest. But just as suddenly it disappeared, the green expanse broken by a wall which opened up to become the order's buildings.

"You'll want to be heading back here." Her finger pointed out a gateway along the wall, which they had swerved to follow. It wasn't long before they struck out over the wild again and the structures disappeared once more. "You'll be wanting to find this, which I'm going to just fire randomly into the woods. Then bring it back to that gate and you'll be picked up. Simple enough, right?"

As she spoke, she pulled an arrow out of the quiver at her side. She held it up between two fingers so everyone could inspect it. It wasn't much, just a simple, ordinary piece of wood. But that was a bit of an error on her part, actually. After a moment's thought she realized her mistake.

"...Oh, oops, I forgot, this'll never last." She frowned, feeling in her pockets for a knife. Coming up empty handed, she simply settled for scratching a design in the side of the wood with her fingernail. As the symbol was completed, the arrow pulsed and began to glimmer, tiny lines spreading out as the rune activated. "There. Now you'll be able to find it before it breaks." And it would serve as a beacon to draw spirits but she kept quiet about that part. What was life without challenges?

By now the flying machine had slowed to a halt, hovering above a tiny clearing in the trees, so she slipped her bow off her shoulder and looked around at the group.

"Any questions before you get started?"

As the vehicle passed over the compound he noticed that the house he used to live in was still there, there was noone outside that he recognised from this height thou.

His view turned back to the woman who was holding out an arrow. The moment she marked it with a rune was the confirmation that she was indeed human, the rune was not something someone like him would recognise thou.

Quote:

"Any questions before you get started?"

"Do they all have to make it?" Corrigan spoke in his native tongue. Seeing his error that not all would understand he spoke again. "Sorry, what I meant was do all of them need to make it back?"

Although he didn't actually meant it like that, it was the way it was coming out. The correct words on his mind where if he needed to return with all of them, cause he'd leave them if they were holding him back in any way.

Jena's gaze settled on the one who had asked the question. Ah, yes, there was always one of those. Ah well, it was a pretty common trait, she guessed, to not want the apparently younger and inexperienced applicants to slow you down.

"Well, all of your tests will be graded, and I use that term loosely, on an individual basis. Whether or not everyone actually makes it to the finish line. So, to answer directly, no." She smiled, something that did hardly anything to reassure the two in the group that were quite uneasy with this notion. Only two because the tattooed demon had a pretty cocky smile on his face. He was incredibly confident in his abilities."Though of course, if you run off and abandon everyone, keeping the arrow for your own use at the goal, it's not exactly going to reflect well, wouldn't you think?"

"...What if we don't make it then?" The noble spoke up, keeping his voice from wavering. He was the one most at risk for this, having no abilities to speak of and generally being the most useless of the group Jena had assembled.

"Well, it's not like we'll be monitoring you while you're outside of the gates, so you'll just have to hope you can." Her voice was cheerful, which again, did little to reassure anyone. "Though it's not as if we don't have a certain time limit, so if you go over that we'll send out a search or something. Just stay alive, is my advice. There are enough things in those woods without adding something silly like unsettled ghosts."

"Anything else?"

((OoC: I'm really sorry x___X I've been sick all week.))

The woman stayed in her seat, the only one in the flying vehicle that kept an indifferent expression and whose voice had not been heard. The only one who had no questions, or serious worries, having understood the instructions completely.

Shifting to the side slightly, she looked out over the forest, making a mental map of her route. She wouldn't have to bring the arrow back, according to the woman, who she would never remember her name. As the others worried about what their fates would be in this forest, the demoness focused more on what she would have to do away with, what sort of demons, and spirits because there was no doubt in her mind that even though this seemed easy...these sort of things were never easy.

Honestly, she didn't want to be on the flying contraption any longer, and was extremely tempted to just hop out the machine. She never was a fan of heights.

((OOC: I think I caught the same thing Dysphoria had.))

"No, I think it's safe to say that this will have to do." Corrigan spoke, "Unless you have any tips that could be useful?"

He didn't expect to get an answer to that, he just wanted to get out and get moving. With these young one's in tow it was going to be a long day whatever would happen. Getting it over as quickly as possible would be a good option, so he could get started for real, without being bogged down by people that were never going to cut it even if there life would depend on it.

He closed his eyes briefly think about what he had to do to get this far, while others had thought that they could cut it short and get in on other people's merit.

Opening his eyes again, he again looked at the woman, "Sounds like it's time to get underway, isn't it?"

((ooc: ...She gave it to both of us, I think. No fair, Fuzzeh. Dx -shakes fist-))

"I guess it is. I can't really give advice, since everyone has their own methods, but I will wish you luck~ And with that, let's get started. If everyone could come over to this side, please." Jena waved her hand at the visible side, urging people to stand up and see. Why they wouldn't want to, she wouldn't get, if she was going to shoot their goal they might as well get an idea of where it landed, right?

Once everyone had gotten into position, she put her foot on the door and kicked it open. At once the space was filled with noise and a gust of the outside air. The air ship took a few seconds to stabilize and so Jena took that opportunity to double check that everything was in place on the arrow. Contrary to the assumption, they would be monitored so it wasn't like anything really bad would show up, but if something happened to the arrow they were essentially out of luck. She wasn't as mean as the other officers so she actually tried to make it possible for them to pass.

Within seconds the arrow was set on the string and ready to go. Jena lifted the bow, pointing the point of the arrow out at the forest in front of the group. Her eyes closed for a moment, just to prod the rune into activity. The corner of her mouth twitched up as she suppressed a grin, and as her eyes snapped open she loosed the string and the arrow flew out into the open air.

Along with the arrow came something that most wouldn't have expected; a huge gust of wind lifted every applicant off their feet and hurled them outside of the machine above the trees. Their descent was less than comfortable as they crashed into the forest floor.

And just like that, they were left alone. The clearing that the machine had been creating was gone and you could hardly see the sky through the trees. The noise faded quickly, muffled by the barrier of foliage between the machine and the group. The three weren't paying much attention to that though, having to get their bearings after being thrown like that.

"The hell!? She nicked me!" The demon boy complained loudly after picking himself out of the bushes he had so unceremoniously been dumped into. When he took his hand from his ear, indeed, there was a thin line along the edge.

'Think fast' had not been the words on his mind at the point that he was thrown clear of the aircraft, he should have expected that to happen thou. Standing up and blaming himself he quickly went to dust all the leaves and branches off his body. At least he was back on solid ground again,

His eyes moved around trying to get barings on where the others had landed. In the distance he heared the aircraft move off. He guessed that that was the direction they would be heading back to the compound, however first they need to get the arrow, wherever that was.

"I hope for that none of you have any broken, if you do then you're out of luck. Any of you capable of standing up are inclined to follow me." The blue eyed demon spoke.

Gauging by the treeline and where they had fallen he quickly gathered the data that he needed to pinpoint the direction the arrow that been fired in. Not waiting for any of the others, he quickly checked if he still had all his gear. Not that it was much, but it was all still there. There wasn't any point in standing around further. He unhooked one of the leatherstraps that was holding down his dagger, so in any event it would be coming out faster, he set a pace and moved away from the site where they had landed in the general direction where he expected the arrow to be.

Though she didn't exactly expect it either, it was how she was going to get off the aircraft anyway. Twisting in mid-air, she caught and leapt off the branches of the trees to slow her fall. Collecting herself quickly, she caught a branch and let it sag close to the ground, just near where the others had landed. Her expression was unamused, and dead as always as she listened to the only one in the group that looked capable of making before she would, even though he was barefoot.

Looking around at the others, she gave them a few minutes to get composed and took off into the trees again. Being thrown out of the flying contraption had shaken her up just enough to make her doubt her sense of direction, and forget the mental map that she had set for herself.