Things Never Change

## Roleplay

Destiny walked beside a figure in a black cloak, pulling the hood of her own silver cloak further down over her head, her silver eyes full of shy innocence as she glanced around. The two of them were arriving at Shade for the first time and her nerves were at an all time high. For a year, she had not been around so many people, her only company being the figure that walked beside her.

Meanwhile, Jin glanced at Destiny from under the hood of his cloak, his golden eyes filling with sadness. He had enrolled the two of them in Shade in hope that his sister would some how recover her memories and so he could keep a close eye on her. He had failed to protect her that fateful day and he vowed not to fail again. Watching his sister be shy and try to hide herself within her cloak broke his heart, his cat ears lowering slightly under his hood. He had never seen her so shy since they were children and he made a mental note to work with her in overcoming that shyness during whatever free time they would have.

Someone in a black cloak noticed one the other taller figure in a black cloak as well.

The person in question seemed to be wearing a sunhat on top of the hoodie which completely covered its face, making it looking like a shadow lump.

Curiously following the other cloaked figure, it noticed that there was someone behind him.

It didn't know why it was doing the things it was, but did them anyway without much question. At least the day was cooler today...

Going to reach the hat that was on top of its cloak, the little being in question accidentally teleported it on top of the other cloaked figure. "How?" it said with disbelief. Well, details aside, that had needed to come back! Grim sprung to action towards the other cloak!!!

Feeling something upon his head, Jin stopped in his tracks, his ears twitching slightly before slowly reaching up to see just what it might be, blinking slightly in surprise, he lifted the item off of his head and brought it down to inspect it, seeing that it was some sort of sunhat.

"How in Remnant did this get on my head?" he asked himself before hearing something approaching from behind, turning to glance behind his shoulder as he instantly put his guard up.

Destiny had stopped and looked at him in concern, tilting her head to the right ever so slightly.

"I...Is something w..wrong?" She asked before catching some sort of movement in her peripheral, looking towards the cloaked figure who was fast approaching.

"Th...They seem t..to be in s..some sort of h...hurry." She commented softly.

The very tiny not more than four and a half foot tall creature called Grim seemingly sped up or somehow got to them in a very rapid way! Too fast to really react, it started to crawl on top of the other clocked figure to get the hat meanwhile generally flailing around. Its hoodie came down to show a face of teenage years of appearance. It's hair was long and jet black and it's had grey skin and black irises. It didn't seem to notice the hoodie having gone done. That hat was everything to Grim! And poodles... and that flower. Grim wondered about them and stopped flailing so much, "Can I have that back?" it said suddenly.

Jin blinked, looking at who he assumed was a teen as he handed the hat back to him, debating if he should kneel down from his full six feet height so the stranger cold get down easier.

"Of course. You did not have to crawl all over me. Asking at the beginning would have been enough to begin with." He said rather calmly.

Destiny, on the other hand, was trying to hide within her cloak even more. She had not been expecting the individual to run at them like that nor did she expect him to crawl all over her companion in order to retrieve the hat. She did admit to herself that he did seem like a curious individual, having never seen anyone with grey skin before, let alone with black irises.

"U..Umm...E...Excuse me s...sir....b..but, wh...who are you?" She asked the stranger in a soft voice, almost barely audible.

Snatching the hat the second it was given back, Grim held it protectively, as if it was the most important thing in the world to it... It wasn't really paying attention to the cloaked figures until... Suddenly, Grim snapped at attention at being called sir, pouncing back in their direction and waving off their Death Blade, "You dare call me sir?!!!" it hissed. How dare they!!!

"I am The Grim Reaper! I am Death itself!!" it cried out, but then calmed and put the scythe away, "You can just call me Grim though."

"I...I am s...so sorry! I...I didn't kn...know." Destiny said quickly, shying away slightly, afraid she had offended them, not wanting to make a bad first impression, especially on her first day.

"Hey, calm down. She didn't mean any disrespect. She merely called you sir because she didn't know any other way to address you respectfully. Cut her some slack." Jin said, instantly defending his sister.

'Just who is this guy. She was only trying to be nice.' Jin thought, making a mental note to keep a close eye on this Grim person whenever they were around Destiny.

Grim pulled its hoodie over itself and paced in a circle, "But... why would you want to show me respect?" it asked perplexedly. Then looked up at them, "I didn't feel like I was disrespected either! I just was correcting because it was wrong!!" Grim said, slightly stomping on the ground but then realizing that the hat flew away and reached out their scythe to grab the tip of it before it got too far. Meanwhile Grim was wobbling over their tip toe.

"S...Sorry. I...I didn't know your name at the t..time. A...Allow us to introduce ourselves. M..My name is D.. Destiny Ashnah. I... It's very nice to meet you." Destiny said, watching Grim curiously, wondering if they needed help.

Jin inclined his head slightly in greetings, making sure he was ready if he needed to catch Grim before they fell over when he noticed him wobbling.

"My name is Jin Ehno. I do apologize for us getting off on the wrong foot. Do you, require any assistance?" He said, his eyes trained of Grim's every movement.

Grim was sort of windmilling its other arm still wobbling over that tiptoe. It probably looked outstanding to see someone balance on their very tip of their foot, but Grim was actually trying to spatially keep itself in place with its semblance. "I'm on the wrong foot," Grim said simply which was a false within a true statement. A paradox.

Grim disappeared for a moment.

Then reappeared on top of Jin's head, holding onto it and pulling on his ears to as to not fall.

Jin hissed, closing his eyes tightly, clenching his hands to deal with the sudden pain.

"Are you alright?" Jin asked through gritted teeth, trying to keep the pain from his voice, thankful his hood still hid his face, his ears giving a small twitch in Grim's hands.

Destiny covered her mouth as she watched, her eyes wide before she moved closer to offer Grim help down.

"H...How d...did you d...do that?" She asked, holding a hand out.

Grim was still holding on by the ears then looked down at Destiny, "I'm me," it said before disappearing again, potentially for good.

Destiny blinked and seemed a bit confused, looking towards Jin.

Jin shrugged and began to continue with Destiny following closely.

Neeru had been for the most part just wandering aimlessly around campus. After the events with Auric and Sable, he had sort of completely turned himself on autopilot, unsure of who to switch into and just not doing anything but trying to keep himself away from trouble.

Except on autopilot, he seemed to fail to stay away from ruckuses as he moved towards the commotion with Grim who he recognized subconsciously. But not the other two, "You found your people, Grim..." Neeru said contemplatively referencing that all of them had cloaks on but then confused when Grim was no longer there and had jumped on what looked like a cat-eared faunus then disappeared fully.

Blinking his eyes as he tapped Jin to check if he was okay he motioned with his finger as if asking him to level down with Neeru who was short and only nearly 5 foot tall, wearing a tank top and shorts.

Jin blinked and looked down at Neeru before lowering down some, still keeping Destiny in his peripheral vision.

"Can I help you?" Jin asked softly, not sure who this new person was.

He figured he might as well meet whoever he could so he would know who he needed to keep his eyes on when it came to Destiny's safety. So far, he didn't feel any negativity from this new person, but he also couldn't seem to get an accurate read on them either. His ears gave a small twitch, thankful to no longer being pulled on and listening closely to every little sound as he kept his guard up, which was usual for the likes of him.

Destiny just watched silently, tilting her head slightly as her face remained hidden by the hood of her cloak.

Finally stepping into Neela who was the more air headed and soft person in Neeru, now as Neela, he noticed did not initially hear Jin's words but saw the ear twitch regardless. He was always one to be intrigued by little traits such as those! They looked so soft and they appeared sensitive... Neela knew exactly what to do!

Moving over slightly, he made a motion which was to very lightly rub the side of his ear, petting it delicately and being careful.

Neela was usually unaware of things, but maybe he and Zaffrea had something in common from being siblings, he could sense some things!

Jin's golden eyes widened when the stranger reached up and ever so lightly began to run the side of his ear. No one has ever touched his ears so gently before besides Destiny. The action was so unexpected to the Faunus that he failed to notice how his guard had faltered slightly and his head tilting slightly into the touch. It wasn't until five minutes later that he realized a deep purr resonated from his chest, a light blush of embarrassment making its presence known on his cheek.

Destiny continued to silently watch in curiosity. She discreetly pulled out a small scroll as she began to record what was going on once she heard Jin start to purr.

Evelynn flapped her wings as she flew, not far from the ground, to Shade academy. She was focused on the path before her, but at the same time, in a daydream. Semiconscious, thinking about the past events that had just occurred to her. She was lost in thought once again, until she heard a commotion right under her. Out of curiosity, she cautiously landed a safe distance from the new figures in front of her. Making sure she is quiet enough to hopefully go unnoticed. Which was almost impossible, considering she is in a desert. How she missed the forest.. She saw a mysterious cloaked figure disappear to who knows where. There were three people. Two were wearing cloaks, while one of them was holding a scroll towards the other cloaked figure with the third person...petting their ears? Vacuo's people were surely strange. Evelynn shook her head at the display in front of her and decided it would be best to fly away and not intervene. She unfolded her wings and hoped she went unnoticed...

Neela had been petting his ears for a moment more than he should have probably since now it may have been considered a little impolite to be petting someone he had just met in the first place. But he felt sort of happy to hear the purrs and continue to do so. Actually trailing his other hand down his slightly red cheek mostly petting the little marks on his face with intrigue.

He sort of snapped out of it when he heard the sound of wings flapping above and his eyes widened with fear, "Ahh!!!!!" in the light he thought it was some sort of Grimm like how he was captured by one traumatically long ago. He covered his head and tried to hide.

Jin's head snapped up as he quickly drew his hand gun, his ears swiveling to locate the source of the sound before aiming at the winged figure.

"Destiny! Get behind me." Jin said, as he side stepped in front of the stranger who petted his ears, not sure if the new individual was a threat or not.

Destiny let out a small squeak before rushing over to Jin, moving behind him glancing at the winged stranger before kneeling down next to the cowering individual.

"D... Don't w...worry. J..Jin w..will protect u...us if we n..need it." She said softly, trying her best to calm them down.

Evelynn sensed a bullet her way and immediately dodged it. 'Well that was a close call...' she thought worriedly. Forget strange... Vacuo's people were crazy.

She landed again and unfolded her wings, immediately holding her hands up. Scared for her life she said, "Now now, there is no need to fight, I come in peace!" She laughed nervously.

And this folks, is why Evelynn has trust issues!

Neela looked up and seeing as there was nothing in the sky in which the sky ironically (Neela's name means sky in Hindi) was one of his worst fears and sort of looked around confusedly. He had forgotten why the events happened the way they did and merely looked at everyone, "H-hi, I'm N-neela...." he said just scared and unsure since.. there was a gun..? Fight? "I don't want to fight!" he started to cry at the thought of fighting.

Jin stared at the winged figure before putting his gun away.

"My apologies. I didn't know if you were a threat or friend." Jin said, calmly before glancing at the crying Neela with soft eyes, not wanting to scare him more.

Destiny on the other hand was not so calm, Neela's crying making her more nervous than she actually was. She didn't handle others crying that well, always afraid of making things worse.

"I..It's o...ok. S...See? Th...There i..is n..no f..fighting. M...My n..name is D...Destiny. I... It's nice t...to m..meet you N...Neela. A...And this is J...Jin." She said, hoping that her attempt to calm him down would work.

Jin, seeing how the event was affecting everyone, offered a hand to Neela.

"Here, let me help you up. We don't want the faculty to run out and think that you have been harmed." Jin said gently, allowing a small purr to act as a soothing undertone.

Evelynn sighed softly. 'Way to go Evelynn, you just scared them! Lovely first impression!' She thought bitterly to herself. More reasons as to why she will always be alone.

She looked at the commotion that she is pretty sure she just caused. She sent an apologetic smile towards Neela and Destiny. "My name is Evelynn. My apologizies for scaring you like that. It was awfully rude of me to intervene anyways. I should have just ignored the commotion, but curiosity got the best of me. I'm just... really sorry." Evelynn fiddled with the strap of her bag again. An old habit of hers. "I guess it would be for the best that I leave. But if there is anything I can do to make it up to you, feel free to ask." At the same time she said this, she created a beautiful little flower, cupped in between her hands. Another habit of hers to soothe her worries.

Having stopped the waterworks, Neela looked over to Jin and Destiny. He had stopped crying when Destiny had comforted him and was very calmed from it but he sort of lightly blushed at the help he received from Jin, feeling a little bit self conscious but taking Jin's hand and accidentally tripping! He sort of fell onto his chest and stayed there, listening to his heart, but then turned over to Evelynn who was talking a lot.

He sort of got lost in thought over Evelynn's words and sort of had a hard time paying attention until she materialized a flower? Curious, he broke away from holding onto Jin and walked towards her, "A flower?" he asked softly.

Jin's eyes were wide, seeming a bit distant as a dark blush covered his whole face, warming his cheeks up. He had not expected Neela to trip or to hold onto them when they fell. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest from the memorable, although brief, moment. He had became so lost in his swarming thoughts, trying to wrap his mind over what just happened that he did not notice Evelynn speaking or even Destiny whenever she had knelt down to gently poke his cheek a few times.

Destiny was a bit confused herself about what just happened, staring at the stunned Jin, kneeling beside him to gently poke his cheek about five times, trying to see if she could snap him out of it. Seeing that it was failing, she decided that he was temporarily broken and looked up at Evelynn curiously, tilting her head slightly, her hood shifting just enough to reveal her silver eyes shine with mild curiousity.

"H...How d...did you do that?" She asked softly, motioning to the flower cupped in Evelynn's hands.

When Evelynn finished fabricating her flower, she looked up to notice no one was listening to her. 'Why do I even bother...' She sighed softly in annoyance. Oh well...it's not like she expected anyone to listen to her anyways. There was only one true person that actually listened to her. But she wasn't here right now.

She looked down at her flower again. Probably the only form of life she can tolerate right now. She gave another sigh, quickly followed by a friendly smile as she looked up at Destiny and Neela. Her smile radiating happiness, but her eyes told a different story. "This is my semblance. I can summon and manipulate plants at will." She gently held the flower towards them as if it were the most fragile thing in the world. "I create life"

Neela stared in awe and was very intrigued by the flower that was created. He was extremely airheaded so he wasn't quite able to notice that there was more to it than just a friendly smile. Though since he did notice the smile, he smiled back. "Your semblance... is so beautiful..." he said still in awe, "All I can do... is slow things down..." he looked away slightly embarrassed but then smiled back at her, seemingly forgetting this, "What's your name?" This was stated even though she had told him before, he had forgotten.

Destiny returned Evelynn's smile before softly frowning, looking directly into her eyes. She tilted her head slightly as she gently poked her two index fingers together.

"U...Umm....M....Miss Evelynn....Y...Your s... semblance is r...really pretty b...but...u...umm...Wh... why are you sad?" She asked softly before looking towards Neela and gave a small smile.

"D... Don't worry N...Neela...Y...your semblance is r...really c...cool t...too! I... Imagine w..what all y...you could d...do when you s...slowed things d...down!" She said, sounding cheerful and upbeat in order to make her words seem even more positive and reassuring.

"My name is Evelynn, and I'm sure your semblance is much better than how you described it," she glanced at the flower before she slowly and gently, as not to scare Neela away, placed it on the side of her head, resting beside her ear. "My name is Evelynn."

She gave a small smile towards Destiny. She had no idea what she was talking about. Well, she did. But she had no idea how she could have saw the sadness behind her eyes. 'I guess the eyes really are a window to the soul, huh?' Not wanting to burden people with her problems, not to mention people she just met, she decided to conceal her sadness as much as she can. "I am in no way sad," she paused for a moment. "Just being in a foreign land with no one you know can sometimes feel..." having no better way to describe it, she ended it with, "lonely."

She shook her head. "Anyways, I'm still really sorry about earlier. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you and Neela?" She said, wanting to at least do something to make up for what she did.

Neela's eyes widened, he had been shocked to feel a flower suddenly on his head, but smiled lightly at the new development. Also, he was confused as to why Evelynn was starting to talk about foreign lands or whatnot, it was true this location was different than what he was used to. But he could have sworn there was a reason behind it, so he couldn't really worry too much about it. "I think I know exactly how you feel, Evelynn," he opted to say, having often feeling lonely himself every time he switched in and no one really talked to him about how it would feel. It always felt like a foreign land every single time and no one he knew at least initially so it did feel... lonely, just like Evelynn said!

But by the time that Evelynn had asked her last question, Neela was back over to Jin and sort of stroking his hair. He was confused as to why he wasn't moving and simply inspected the side of his face with a slight squint. He placed the flower on his head over to Jin's and gave him a kiss on the cheek to see if it would stir him or anything. Meanwhile, he felt he should give a gift of his own. "Can you help me with something?" he asked Evelynn, suddenly thinking of an idea and going over to the lake to grab a huge ball of water then coming back, "I want to freeze this into a shape of a flower. Help?"

Jin blinked for a moment, his ears twitching as he began to regain his senses. He looked up when he felt something light on his head, blinking a few times when he saw the flower.

'How did a flower get on my....wait...did..Neela just....kiss my cheek?' Jin thought, his blush taking on a light scarlet shade of red before he carefully getting up as not to disturb the flower that was now on his head. He turned to look at the others, wondering what all was going on, figuring he had missed out on a lot.

Destiny decided not to press the subject, feeling as if Evelynn was hiding something or at least not telling the full truth. She watched Neela when he began to move, tilting her head curiously, smiling when she saw him put the flower on Jin's head and kissed his cheek. She immediately pulled a small silver journal from a pocket on the inside of her cloak, along with a pen and began to write something down.

She wrote down Jin and Neela's names next to each other before drawing a heart around them, writing OTP up in the right corner of the heart before closing her journal and returning it to the pocket she retrieved it from. Once that was done, she returned to curiously watching Neela and Evelynn.

She felt sympathetic that Neela felt the same way she did. Due to much different circumstances of course, but still felt the same feeling. Evelynn flashed a smile at the sight of Neela grabbing the ball of water. "With pleasure. What kind of flower do you have in mind?" She asked, thinking it would be best to have Neela decide on the flower.

No longer paying attention to Destiny and Jin since he could only focus so much attention at one time, Neela was looking intensely at Evelynn. He thought hard on her question and then suddenly said, "Hibiscus" because he didn't really know any other flower and Cerise's flower was the only one on his mind as of late. He felt sort of bad thinking about it... like it made himself up, "Uhh... I mean.... not.... that.... one...." he looked like he was going to cry again.

Jin looked at Neela and walked over to him, gently hugging him.

"There is no need to cry. Take deep slow breaths and calm yourself. Let the idea come to you." Jin said softly.

He didn't know why but, something about Neela crying bothered him more than any other individual, besides Destiny. Seeing Neela close to tears tugged as his heart and he did not quite understand it. What he did understand though was the need to cheer him up, to ensure that he no longer felt the need to shed another tear. Perhaps he was starting to get soft. Only time would tell

Evelynn sensed negative feelings towards the mentioning of the hibiscus. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to press on the subject, thinking she already caused enough problems. Seeing as Jin was comforting Neela, she subconsciously fabricated another flower in the meantime. A sign of her nervousness.

An oriental lily, resting on the palms of her hands.

She looked down at it. Waves of bittersweet memories crashing into the shores of her mind.

This flower meant so much to her. What was she thinking to make it? Right here and now? 'Maybe,' she thought, 'The hibiscus has more meaning to Neela, just as the lily has so much meaning to me.'

She sighed softly. Why did it matter anymore? Every single time she tried to open up or help someone other than her old friend, it never worked out. All she can do apparently is create problems...well and plants. "I'm sorry if I upset you." She said sadly, though her attempt to apologize was probably in vain. No one would most likely hear her anyways.

Neela looked over to Jin, a little confused since he did not know him but was fully happy to have been comforted and smiled lightly at the calm reassurance. No one was ever really... that gentle with him. It was a very pleasant feeling. Blushing he thought further and turned back to Lily, not necessarily realizing that she was lost in her own thought. "The milfoil flower... a type of daisy..." he said softly, thinking very hard on it since he knew that flower bloomed in the winter when it was icy and also was predominantly around water.

Nodding and then looking up at Evelynn with a tilt to the head, "You didn't upset me..." he said in confusion, "I just... have a history with the hibiscus flower... Time to start something... new?" He broke into a slight smile.

Jin smiled as he watched Neela. He hesitated before slowly releasing Neela from the hug. He didn't know why but, he did not want to let go. Something about having Neela in his arms made him feel at peace. However, he did not wish to overstep any boundaries, especially after just meeting him. He did stay close to Neela, just in case he needed to comfort him once more.

Destiny walked over, standing beside Jin, looking up at him curiously, looking between him and Neela. She pulled her journal out once more, quickly jotting down something along side the heart she had drawn. She briefly wondered why Neela chose the milfoil flower. As for Evelynn, Destiny felt that she that there was still something troubling her. She wanted to help her but she wasn't sure how. She could only make a mental note, in case an opportunity presented itself later on. For now, she opted to just stand beside Jin silently.

So it was true. Neela had history with the hibiscus flower just as Evelynn had history with the lily. She stole one more glance at the oriental lily, before attaching it to the strap of her shoulder bag.

Ah, the milfoil flower! She smiled sweetly at Neela, “The milfoil flower, a lovely choice!” Like magic, a bouquet of beautiful white milfoil flowers appeared in her delicate grasp. “I hope this is enough to inspire your flower ice sculpture. You know, I think these flowers really suit you." She looked down at them. She thought a little about what Neela said. Maybe it was time to start something new. Although she still felt a little wary about opening up to those around her. Like a flower, who has yet to bloom. "I guess there is nothing wrong with a little change." She said. "Anyway, will these do?"

She saw Destiny standing silently beside Jin, and decided to include her by gently placing the lily flower on her head too.

( Song ) A sort of delayed reaction occurred for Neela as he was pausing to watch Evelynn. When Jin moved his hands away from the hug, Neela leaned back into against him. Not too much but it was a natural action that showed he enjoyed the physical contact. He was always very affectionate after all! Or maybe it was just a touchey feely thing? Either way, Neela was too enrapped in the act of the tiny bouquet of milfoil flowers being made and in response, Neela drew water that he already had near him and in the air itself from the lake and started the condensation process slowly and carefully. He moved the particles of water slower and slower to create the water base of the flowers using Evelynn's creation as a mold and added a super condensation action which would suddenly turn the water around the flowers to pure ice.

Neela smiled lightly at his accomplishment and then smiled up at Evelynn.

Destiny blinked slightly in surprise when Evelynn placed the lily flower on her head before gently smiling at her.

"Th...Thank you." She said softly.

Jin smiled at Destiny before looking at Neela in slight surprise when he learned back into him. He softly smiled at Neela, lifting his hands out to rest on his shoulders. He watched as Neela crafted the flowers from water and turned them to pure ice.

"That was very impressive, Neela." Jin said encouragingly, smiling brightly.

Evelynn sent a smile back to Destiny, before holding out the bouquet of flowers to make it easier for Neela to use it as a mold. And soon enough, Evelynn felt her hand turn cold. The bouquet of flowers glistened in the sunlight. "It's very beautiful. The bouquet and your semblance. You should be very proud." Evelynn smiled at Neela and handed the bouquet over. "I think you have a certain someone to impress now." She whispered only to Neela, while sending a friendly wink.

The physical contact felt... comforting? A feeling that was odd and not really expected but Neela of course didn't take any action against the pleasant feeling. Neela's smile furrowed slightly into a confused look as Evelynn whispered to him but then sort of for once putting two and two together as he looked back to Jin, he instantly blushed and made and "Ohh!!" expression.

However... in the process of distraction, he forgot to notice the maintenance of his semblance and how limited it was in actuality. Once frozen, there was nothing he could do to keep it that way and in the heat the flower melted away. Looking down a little surprised but sadly at them, Neela gave a small breath of a laugh, "Oh... sorry. All that work didn't last very long. I'm still glad I did it though! But it's okay... because sometimes... things never change..."

His sad smile turned a little back into a confused look as he glanced up at everyone, "Umm.. Sorry if I asked this before but... I have a hard time remembering things. What were all of your names again?"