[Public] Shoreside Break

[Ela Motley]

Anyone is free to join this thread, but please try to keep a positive atmosphere and limit yourself to one character per writer; otherwise, this thread will get bloated fast.
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The beach, a lovely retreat after school or during the holidays, truely the best place to simply let loose and relax under the shining sun and with the sea breeze in ones hair.
Relaxation was something that Ela desperately needed, life as a huntress, the pep rally still being in full throttle, and all her other tasks were putting a bit too much strain on her.
So, a relaxing day at the beach it was.

But it wouldn't be nearly as nice to spend the day alone, if she could spend it with some classmates.
As such, Ela had made an open invitation on the school's scroll network for a beach party, organized by her.

Speaking of organizing, Ela had just finished.
A campfire was in place, plenty of coal stacked upon itself in a stone ring.
A large folding table and two folding benches sat next to a grill, and an icebox full of goodies stood a bit further off.
Ela also rented a few beach chairs, for a more comfortable sitting opportunity.
All in all, as close to perfect as she could make it, she and Lin, her little sister, had been substantial in helping Ela out, an act of kindness that earned Lin a quick hug. The mute grumbled something before moving away and flying off. Lin would not join in on the fun yet, she had an important project to finish.

Ela waved her off, before finishing her last bit of prep, lifting her shirt over her head and dropping her pants, Ela stood in her swimsuit of choice: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... a81474bf29

Freeing her hair and letting her black locks cascade down her back and then putting on her simple sun hat. Ela felt confident; she looked great!
Now?
It was time to wait.
Ela grabbed herself a soft drink from the ice box and sat in one of the beach chairs, simply waiting for her guests to arrive.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Fortunately for Forrest, he was able to learn how to swim at an early age because of Silvanus's rigorous training regimen. Not only was it a good exercise, but also a perfect social activity. Seeing the invitation on the scroll network, Forrest couldn't pass up the opportunity to see a sandy beach for the first time. Sure, he had read about and heard about beaches on the ocean shore, but there's only so much about them that can be described. He needed to experience it firsthand.

Forrest arrived at the beach in his new button-up shirt and new bathing suit that he bought specifically for this outing. He also sported a pair of plain brown flip flops. On his back was a drawstring backpack which contained many essentials for a trip to the beach.

I hope this is the right beach... Forrest thought, scanning the area for any people enjoying their day on the beach.

[Ela Motley]

Ela was just looking at her scroll, viewing who had responded to her invitation.
A few familiar faces were on the list, but the first one she saw approach was new one, Forest Waldstein? The name sounded familiar, oh yes!
He was also participating in the pep rally, and with an impressive win streak so far, maybe she'd have to face him sometime soon?
No matter, this wasn't the time or place to think of a tournament.
Ela pocketed her scroll, put it into a bag by her side, and got up, rising to her full height she cleared her throat.
"Hello there, Forest, I believe?"
Ela asked, brushing some hair out of her face, inspecting Forest from head to toe as she approached her fellow student, a plant motif for all his items, as on the nose or even cheesy as it was, Ela had watched his previous fights and knew of his semblance, he made the outfit work.
"I'm Ela, glad you could join me on this fine day."
Ela smiled as she gestured for him to approach.
"You can make yourself comfortable on one of the beach chairs, there are also some cold refreshments in the ice box. A few other students should arrive soon, so perhaps you should claim one while they're still unoccupied."
Ela offered with a happy smile on her face, she was honestly just happy someone had arrived this punctually.

[Ethan Sagol]

The beach was the only place in Vale that reminded Ethan of Vacuo, and even then it was only because of the sand. Not that he particularly cared for Vacuo beyond that it was where he'd grown up and he still had friends there.

A major difference between the beach and Vacuo was the existence of the water at one end of it. He'd learned to swim only last week, and he'd paid the Family back for that by teaching a few math lessons to some of the kids. It would be good to practice.

The invitation had come over the school network, so he scanned the beach for people his age. Spying a guy in a button-up shirt and a girl who looked like the profile picture attached to the invite, Ethan headed their way. "Hey there," he called out cheerfully as he approached, tattoos on full display as he strode up the beach in a deep purple swimsuit and sandals. "Is this the beach party?"

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest nodded in affirmation to Ela's question. Forrest remembered Ela from the Beacon Pep rally, and how incredibly strong she as in her bout. Despite her massive strength and towering height, seeing her be such a gentle giant in person was a relief. Forrest standing at his full height only reached Ela's shoulders. It was much easier to make out the rune like markings that stretched across her body in a bathing suit. Ethan, however, was a new face to Forrest.

"Thanks, Ela." Forrest replied, setting his backpack down before his gaze moved over to Ethan.

"I don't believe we met before. I'm Forrest Waldstein." Forrest spoke to Ethan, stretching a hand out for a handshake.

[Ela Motley]

Ela nodded at Forest, showing him a kind smile, turning to Ethan as Forest put away his things, he was...a sight to behold.
Purple hair, purple swimwear and purple tattoos all over his body, well they had the tattoos in common, his being made of a much flashier color, while hers were literally much flashier as they were alight with the power of her semblance.
She yet spoke up, smiling at the new arrival.
"Yes, you are in the right place, welcome to this little beach party!"
She greeted him, motioning towards the party equipment she had assembled.

"Yes, much like Forest I haven't seen you either yet, the names Ela, I'm looking forward to getting to know some more of my fellow students."
Ela said, as she then walked towards the ice box, handing both of them an orange soda, most people like orange soda, right?
"Here's, to a fun afternoon."
She cheered, offering her own can to clink against.

[Ethan Sagol]

"Nice to meet you both," Ethan smiled as he shook Forrest's hand, then noticed that he had no drink to toast with. Spying a cooler, he activated his Semblance for just long enough to snatch a drink and return to his upright position, causing the can to appear spontaneously in his hand. "I'm Ethan," he introduced himself as he cracked the can and clinked it against Ela's. "L'Chaim," he toasted before taking a sip.

In his haste to appear cool by seemingly teleporting a beverage, he had forgotten to check the label of the can - it was some kind of cola. Making a face, he squinted at the label. "I should have thought that through," he commented with a shake of his head. "I always forget I don't like carbonation until it's coming out my nose."

[Asterion Khryseos]

For once, Aster hadn't ventured out with an axe and a pack of supplies. The two cases he carried with him were as heavy as they were cumbersome, of that there could be little doubt. But there was no ammo, weaponry, or combat supplies of any kind in them. In his left hand was a cooler, packed with a variety of meats, from burgers to hotdogs to whatever odds and ends could be skewered and held above a fire. In he other, he gripped the handle for a bag crammed with everything to go with those meats. Buns, condiments, and an assortment of toppings jostled about, though the sheer amount didn't seem to slow him down any.

As tall as he was, and carrying two cases that were as large as could be, few would be blamed for thinking his figure somewhat imposing. However, what few people migh thave thought that would likely be put at ease by the beaming grin he wore, so bright that the sun seemed like shade in comparison.
"Hey!" He called out, as he stepped quickly forward, one hand raising a little to brandish his goods and greet the group. "Is this the Beacon meetup?" As he came closer, it was clear he'd dressed for the occasion as well. Baggy trunks, an open and loose-fitting shirt, and a pair of flip flops were all he wore, though it seemed he was used to the sun.

[Ela Motley]

Ela was once again distracted, turning from Ethan to the new arrival, though they met briefly Aster was actually a familiar face and such as a very pleasant sight, especially with what he was carrying under his arm and that almost too radiant of a smile.
"Hey there Aster, yes you're at the right place especially with all the supplies you're carrying, if these are the supplies we talked about you bringing then you can put them here."
Ela motioned to an empty space next to the grill, letting Aster put the boxes in the shade of a grand sun umbrella, as he did, she offered him the soda she had initially grabbed for Ethan before he grabbed his own, in a strange display that Ela simply guessed to be his semblance, she'd ask him about it later.

The merry band that had assembled was looking mighty fine already, a lot of people that were most likely quite fun to hang out with and while her current company was fine, Ela was just a bit disgruntled that all attendants besides herself were men, Ela would ignore it, simply thinking of what could start the party of with, maybe just getting to know one another with a simple game?
She'd think on it while Aster got settled in.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest gladly took the orange soda from Ela after finishing the handshake with Ethan. Drinks like these would be considered a rare delicacy back in Oakhearth, which really speaks volumes about the backwardness of his hometown. Forrest had developed an affinity for carbonated beverages during his time at Beacon. To be fair, who couldn't resist such a sweet, fizzy, cold drink on a day like this?

"To a fun afternoon." Forrest toasted happily, clinking his can against the other ones before taking a sip.

Another one showed up, Asterion Khryseos to be precise. Though Forrest hadn't met Asterion in person, he remembered him from the pep rally. Despite only being the second tallest one here, his presence alone was still quite imposing to Forrest, whose build was relatively average yet slim. His beaming smile and easygoing nature somewhat counteracted his intimidatingly large and broad stature. Still, Aster seemed friendly enough. Forrest greeted the towering man with a warm smile and a friendly wave.

"Nice to officially meet you, Asterion! I'm Forrest." he said amicably.

[Asterion Khryseos]

The supplies were placed unceremoniously where she'd indicated, and Aster turned his attention quickly back to the group once he was sure no wayward crabs would be making off with their lunch. The soda was grabbed, and after thanking her quickly and with a beaming smile, the tab was popped open and the drink poured down his gullet. There were a couple of bottles of water that he'd taken with him, of course, but he'd only thrown them in there in case he got thirsty on the way over. As such, they were left where they were, along with whatever meats, breads, and brews were by the grill.

"Good to meet you too!" Aster said, turning at the greeting and extending his hand without a second thought. Up close, the difference between them was only emphasised further. Still, for all that his build made him look imposing, his manner didn't match. Smiling, sociable, and ready for a good time, Aster's only concern seemed to be making the most of the time off they had. "Feel free to help yourself to anything in the bags. There's plenty of food and fuel for the grill, so don't be shy!" He laughed a short, but loud, laugh, and released his grip.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Next to all the current studies going on and the pep rally still in full gear there was some needed time to simply relax. So Vlithra, in her predictable manner, decided to do the exact opposite first and went wakeboarding. Donning a black wetsuit with green sides above her usual swimwear, a one-piece swimsuit in black decorated with green stripes that had a cutout around where the bellybutton was, she went with an old friend of hers. Tanya and her father ran sort of a watersports shop near the beach and regularly offered training courses for all sorts of waterpsorts. With them she went onto the water via a small speed boat of theirs and there they took turns riding the wave it left in it‘s wake. Though when it came time for them to take a break Vlithra did excuse herself. There was another event for today she wanted to, at the very least, check out.

There was an open invitation on the school network for a beach party today. Either Bartok‘s beach party had softened the tigress up to join in on events such as this, or she was genuinely curious to see who would attend. Whatever may be the case, she grabbed her sports bag containing her clothing, towels, a few water bottles and her scroll and said her goodbyes to Tanya for today, walking from their building near the beach across the shoreline in search of something that would be akin to a beach party organized by a beacon student. And looky there, there was a girl matching the picture on the invitation surrounded by a few more unfamiliar faces… aside from one.

“Hey Aster!“ she called out to him as she approached the merry group with a hand raised to wave at them. As she comes closer she extends that same hand for a fist bump to the big lug, sporting a little friendly grin. “Couldn‘t stay away from the ocean, could you?“ she continued, afterwards looking into the round, a few faces among them that she had probably seen at some point. She certainly had never interacted with them that was for sure. “I assume this is the Beacon Beach Party then? Name‘s Vlithra Qing Long. Nice to meet ya‘ll.“ she exclaimed, her grin having made way for a warm smile instead.

[Ethan Sagol]

And just like that, the beach was filling up with people. It was never a good party without guests, after all.

"That's quite the haul," he commented as Aster(ion?) deposited his bags on the beach. "Almost enough to make a guy feel bad for not bringing anything himself." He gave an easy handshake to the tall young man before turning to the new arrival and offering her his hand as well.

"Who wants in swimming with me?" he asked the group. "I just learned how last week, so I probably shouldn't go in by myself just yet." Such an admission might provoke slight embarrassment from others, but from Ethan it was genuine and upbeat, his easygoing smile not being displaced even for a moment.

[Bastion Sandstone]

Off in the distance, blurred by the heat waves coming off the sunlit sand, was a boy walking steady. Wide-brimmed hat on his head and a white-tan stripped poncho over his body, he walked. And walked, and walked, and walked.

"Where is this dang beach party?" He asked himself, alone. Bastion had supposed the beach to be small, and had gone to the one spot on the beach he knew of. And nobody showed up. Even worse, actually arriving on the beach he found it to be vast, stretching on in both directions. Worse yet, despite coming via the invitation sent, his scroll had died on the way here. He was still getting used to the technology and remembering to charge it was proving difficult. He was lost.

"Man, if only I could drink that water..." He complained, looking out at the rolling waves. Bastion licked his parched lips. "Water..."

And he kept on walking, the sun beating down on him and his hat. Eyes narrowed and to the ground, he walked and walked and walked, unsure of just how far he had gone. Until he unknowingly walked about twenty feet off from them, toes dragging in the sand with each step.

[Ela Motley]

Well, now things were looking much more lively, Aster had brought food, introductions were out of the way, everyone seemed to be getting a long just fine and everything had been arranged perfectly now that Aster supplied more drinks and the food.
Then, a tint of black and green caught Ela's eye, a tigress faunus approached the party, greeting Aster, she introduced herself as Vlithra and finally Ela recognized why that wetsuit caught her eye this easily, she had seen Vlithra's and Asters match in the pep rally, both of them were ferocious and yet Vlithra mixed in some very clever tactic into the brutality of her assault, something that had not only earned the tigress Ela's attention but also respect.

Ela, approached the pair of faunus, extending a hand holding a can of soda towards the tigress.
"Welcome to the beach party Vlithra, the name's Ela, I'm glad you could join us."
She flashed Vlithra a friendly smile.
"I saw the bout the two of you had at the ralley, well fought, both of you, it was a truely beautiful duel. I'm looking forward to facing one of you in the ralley. But more on that later, make yourself comfortable.
Ela turned to point at the benches, table, grill and campfire she had organized.
Yet, turning around, Ela could see another figure approaching the party, a young man in a wide brimmed hat, seeming to struggle quite a bit.
Ela tilted her head, she could not see his face, but she was not going to leave him be.
"Oh, excuse me for just a moment."
Ela moved away, grabbing one of the large bottles of water that Aster had brought, she stepped in front of the young man, extending the bottle forward and into his field of view.
"Care for a drink, cowboy?"
Ela asked, smiling at him, as the wind blew over the beach, letting her long hair and skirt flutter in it as the sun shone from behind her.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Despite the fact that it was only a normal handshake, Forrest could still feel the sheer strength Aster possessed. Of course, feeling his strength really puts it into perspective.

What a nice guy... Forrest mused to himself as he took another sip from his soda. Just then, he had noticed the tigress Faunus that introduced herself as Vlithra. He also remembered her from the Beacon Pep Rally, and how she triumphed over Aster in that bout. She proved herself to be quite a capable combatant. Being both intimidating and attractive (to Forrest, at least) lead to a somewhat comical moment.

By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. Forrest began coughing on the soda, desperately trying to clear his throat while keeping what was left of the beverage within his mouth. After a brief battle with his own body, Forrest managed to stop the coughing and swallow the soda, only being able to manage a shy, adorkable wave to Vlithra before going off in another direction, embarrassed at himself for looking a bit stupid in that moment. Thankfully, Forrest noticed someone who could (hopefully) help him save face.

"Bastion! It's so good to see you!" Forrest said with a wide grin as he made his way over to the cowboy.

[Ethan Sagol]

Another guy showed up, drawing the attention of several attendees. Ethan chose to focus on the wetsuit-clad arrival, because he recognized her from somewhere...

"Ah!" he snapped his fingers as he remembered, turning to speak to both Vlithra and Aster. "Your fight was rather exciting. I'm not sure which of you I'd rather fight less," he commented. "I'm confident enough in my skills against Grimm, but that was something else entirely."

[Asterion Khryseos]

Aster could only give a deep, loud, laugh at everyone's comments on his and Vlithra's fight. Despite it having been a loss for him, he didn't seem to care much about that - he was as jovial as anything, with a smile so bright that it ran the risk of blinding anyone looking too closely. One hand on his hip, the other lifting the drink up so that he could slam it back, he gave his response with a cheery tone to match the bold, boisterous look he'd established for himself. "Hah! Then maybe you should spar with us to figure that one out!"

The idea was one that he was evidently quite enthusiastic about, but the beach was hardly the place to start it - especially given that they were there to relax, not to throw hands. "But that's gonna have to wait - unless you want to see who cooks the best hotdogs." A smaller laugh was given at his own joke, but he settled down far more quickly this time, glancing between everyone in their conversation. "Or maybe we should do that thing they do in Mistral... You know, the watermelon-splitting thing! I think everyone'd want some in this heat!"

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra moved next to Aster, coming face to face with the host of the event, Ela who proceeded to complement her‘s and Aster‘s performance in the ralley. A prideful grin came across her face for a moment. She planned that fight out and had executed that plan without issue, as intended. She answered with a simple “Thanks.“
Sudden coughing had caught her attention then. Looking to the source she saw a young boy that seemed to have gotten their soda down the wrong pipe mid-drink. She raised an eyebrow at the boy, her gaze concerned for a moment until he managed to swallow the drink and waved at her in a shy manner before turning away to another arrival. The tigress paid it not much mind as she walked on over to a bench. She claims a spot as her own, dropping her bag and pushing it beneath her spot on the bench as she walked over to get a soda herself.

With her strong gait she walked back over to Aster, opened the can, raised it for a moment and slammed it back like the big lug did. Man, that hit the spot. This stuff was refreshing. “Oh definetly. I wanted to do that for the longest of times now! Do we have watermelons?“ she added onto Asters suggestion after sighing with absolute satisfaction of her fizzy drink. Though, she did take the opportunity to once more look at the rest of the participants.
She had registered the praise from the purple fellow before aswell, though she didn‘t catch the guys name at all. Guess she was too late to hear it. His tattoos were a very much interesting point of note for the tigress, a potential topic to bring up later.
Then there was that comboy that had approached after her. The guy looked almost dried out by the sun. Good thing he was being tended to by Ela.
But then there was that boy that appraoched the wide brimmed guy aswell. There was something, lurking on the tip of her tongue. Why was this guy so familiar? He was probably at the pep rally that‘s why, but why was he in particular stuck in her head for the moment? Surely not because he almost choked on his own soda that‘s for sure.

[Bastion Sandstone]

The sound of feet on sand came near, with a bottle of water moving into his field of view. Bastion looked up to see... Ela, was her name, he had watched her Pep Rally fight and knew her sister, Lin. The way her skirt fluttered in the wind, her dark hair dancing with the sunlight, her smile and kind eyes. "You... are way too pretty to be real, miss. Not bad for a desert mirage though. Would have preferred Lillia or Scarlet though, to be hone-"

"Bastion! It's so good to see you!"

Bastion blinked at the familiar voice. It was Forrest. And he had a soda in his hand. And past him were some others. He blinked and rubbed his eyes again. His hazy vision cleared up and... Yup. There was Ela, still holding out the water. And Forrest. And some others. And the water bottle was real.

He snatched it from her hands and tore the top off, taking a couple of gulps before splashing some into his face. Wet, dripping and sputtering he said, "Tarnation's, I went to the wrong part of the beach at first. Glad I finally found you guys! And good to see you too, Forrest!" Still holding onto the bottle of water he moved to hug the guy. Sure, Forrest had beat him in the Rally but it was a fairly won battle and there were no hard feelings. "There are more of those soda pops, right?"

[Ela Motley]

Ela tilted her head, her, was too pretty?
Desert Mirage?
Had this poor guy, Bastion, already gotten heatstroke this bad?

Considering it took him a solid minute to even take the water bottle, he must have had it pretty bad, Ela was considering checking him over, but instead she simply wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"Well, I am glad you found your way here, Bastion, there's indeed more pop, just come over here."
Ela laid an arm around his shoulder and lead him to the ice box, also, very gently, getting Bastion to sit on the bench in the shade, if he was indeed doing as bad as she feared he had to stay there, Ela looked to Forest, nodding to the young man, to take a seat next to the cowboy, keep him company, since the two of them seemed to know each other.

Ela then returned to Vlithra and Aster, she had heard their idea for a game in passing, it did sound fun, kind of, it left her a bit confused.
"We did pack a few yes, mostly to eat, but we could use them for your game idea, which...explain to me, how does this work? Splitting a melon is quite easy, is there another restriction?"
Ela then turned back to Ethan, she had not forgotten about his suggestion.
"Regardless of how this game is actually played, swimming sounds like a lovely idea to clean off any melony bits, so perhaps that's the order we shall do it in?"
Ela was doing her best to coordinate the party, with all these people present.

[Forrest Waldstein]

"Glad to see that you made it alright. " Forrest replied.

Forrest wrapped his free arm around Bastion, warmly embracing his good friend for a moment. He followed Ela and Bastion over towards the bench in the shade, his gaze briefly drifting back to the others in the group. He felt someone's eyes on him by now, and eventually he met Vlithra's curious gaze. For the incredibly short moment they had locked eyes, he could have sworn that she was trying to remember something, but could not place it. Who knows what it was to be certain? Forrest was the first to break his gaze away, taking another drink of his soda to hopefully hide the warm, subtle blush that appeared on his cheeks. This time the soda went down without issue. Forrest sat down next to Bastion on the bench in the shade.

"I can see how this heat can get to you. At least my hometown has the luxury of a dense forest canopy to provide plenty of shade on days like this..." Forrest said as he reached into the ice box and offered a can of soda to Bastion.

[Ethan Sagol]

"Hah! Then maybe you should spar with us to figure that one out!"

"I might just take you up on that," Ethan replied with a good-natured chuckle.

Their host saw to the cowboy's disposition before proposing an order of operations. "A game, you say?" he asked Aster with genuine curiosity. "That sounds interesting. How do you play?"

[Asterion Khryseos]

Aster had, in his haste to elaborate upon the game, forgotten to actually mention one of the most crucial parts of it. A slightly sheepish look crossed his face for all of a moment at Ela's question, before he nodded firmly and tapped his finger near his eye.
"Blindfolds!" He said suddenly, before realising that a single word probably wasn't sufficient explanation for most, even if they could probably intuit what the rest of the game involved, so, his fist beat into his palm, and Aster began to explain what exactly the game entailed.

"So, first things first, you gotta put the melon on a towel or a sheet or something. Y'know, so the sand doesn't get on it. Then you gotta wear a blindfold and try to hit the melon with something like a big stick, or a wooden sword. Just try not to hit anyone!" He hoped that that much sufficed - it was a simple game, after all. Or, at least, it sounded simple. Getting blindfolded, turned around, and then told to hit something that wasn't a particularly large target didn't always prove to be the easiest of feats.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra kept her gaze upon Forrest the entire time, even as he briefly locked eyes with her. Her brain was rattling trying to figure out why he had stuck out among the others in her mind. Only when he broke eye contact and Aster went on to ellaborate on the rules of the game did her gaze wander back to the big lug next to her, calmly sipping from her soda.

“Well, blindfolds are easy enough. But has anyone even brought something we could use to smash the melons with? If I had known this could have been an option, I would have brought my bat.“ she asked into the round, waiting for anyone to chime in with an answer.

[Bastion Sandstone]

Ela and Forrest lead him to a bench and his past opponent got a soda for him. Orange. His favorite! He took the can gratefully and spared no time cracking it open and savoring it's flavor and the sizziling on his tongue. "I grew in the desert, man." He said to Forrest. "I should be able to handle a hot beach. But I hadn't eaten or drank anything today in preparation for this shindig, and I was probably a couple miles upshore..." He shook his head. "Like a squirrel in a new type of forest I suppose."

He raised his eyebrows at the blindfolds and watermelon being brought out. "You gonna use that watermelon like a pinata or something?"

[Ela Motley]

Ah so that's how this game was played, it sounded very fun.
While Vlithra's concern was fair, Ela also had an easy solution, she grabbed a small blie towel from her bag, meant to clean the table afterward, but for now it was clean and good enough to serve as a blindfold.
As for a bat.
Rock began to crawl up Ela's arm, forming a piece of her and the bat they would use, Ela fed more dust into it as she slowly pulled her arm out of the armor. Soon enough, Ela held a stone club in her hand, it was a bit rougher and heavier than a metal bat, even with Ela trying to make it smoother, though she did manage to include a handle.
Using her semblance like this in a fight was impractical to say the least, as Ela needed to steadily feed more aura into the construct to maintain it, but here, where its only target was a melon? Yeah, she could keep this up for hours.
"There we go, that should do for our tools, hold this, please."
Ela said as she gave the bat and blindfold to Aster.
Then, quickly grabbing a watermelon from one of the boxes, looking at what they brought, they had a few more melons.
Ela gingerly placed it down on another towel, a bit further away from the seating, as she didn't want someone to shatter Melon all over the table.
With everything set up, she turned to face the group again.
"Well then, due to the lack of melons, let's go with everyone getting 3 chances to shatter the melon; afterward, they should let someone else try. Sound good?"/color]
Ela asked into the group, before turning to Aster.
"With that out of the way, would you like to go first, Aster?"

[Forrest Waldstein]

"It happens to the best of us, Bastion. The important thing is that you got here safe." Forrest replied.

Forrest noticed Ela's arm became enveloped in rock and stone, forming a stone club that they'd use on the melon. He would have happily used his own Semblance to create a bat or similar instrument to use, but a club like that should work just fine.

Three chances to hit the melon per person... Forrest thought, nodding in agreement to Ela after her announcement. Needless to say, Forrest was intrigued at how Aster would do considering he was going to be first. Surely this would end in bits of melon being spread far and wide...

[Ethan Sagol]

People were so casual with their Semblances here - Ethan had been a little worried that his earlier display had been out of place, but he was happily in the norm.

"Aren't piñatas usually on strings?" he asked the ranchero. He hadn't seen that many, but all the ones he'd seen had been hung from something on a string and moved around while the blindfolded person tried to hit them - this game seemed to take an analogous approach whereupon the whacker was moved around and the whackee was stationary.

[Asterion Khryseos]

"Heck yeah I would!" He said eagerly, before reaching forward to take both the bat and the blindfold. Though he was a little clumsy in his haste, he eventually managed to secure the blindfold over his eyes, and the makeshift bat in his hands. Standing there on the sand, wielding a stone club like it was little more than a lump of wood, looked to truly be the bane of melons everywhere - even more so when he took his first steps forward to where he believed the melon to be. The bat was raised high above his head, his hands tightened, and with a mighty roar…

He missed completely.

He hadn't just misjudged the distance, or whiffed it so closely that he only needed to turn a little. Both the bat and the distance were completely off, to the point that even he - while still wearing a blindfold - could tell how badly he performed. Nevertheless, he still bore a determined grin as he swung again, after squaring himself on the sand once more. The result was much the same - though the towel was a little dirtier from the resulting shower of sand.

With but one try left to him, Aster took a deep breath, and focussed. He squared himself again, and allowed himself a chance to take stock of the situation. The distance of the voices, the distance to the sea, the position of the melon in relation to those and all the things he could feel beneath his feet... He absorbed them all into his mind, and after a lengthy calculation, the bat came cleaving through the air.

He missed again, and when lifting the blindfold to offer it to whoever was next, could only offer a sheepish smile and an even more sheepish shrug.