[Kingnoname1]

'Saffron is fine, no worries about the dispenser everyone has a first time after all. But Reinhardt... I've heard of that family, recordings of old Vytal festival matches often find their way around Atlas Academy. You come from a strong line if their performances are anything to go by.' Saffron responded studying Lix a bit closer, intrigued at the differences with that family. But I suppose I look nothing like my half-brothers or half-sisters so maybe it's not all that special. Saffron continued internally

Saffron noticing the store filling up and becoming a bit self-conscious about taking up space near the door way she tried to move their talk outside. 'Maybe you should pay for that before the store gets too crowded, and then we could even help figure out what to do with them while giving Martin here an audience to watch him show off. I remember there being a park nearby that could be a good place if neither of you have any more business hear.' Saffron smiled.

That was a bit as an assumption I suppose, maybe living the a castle has left her ignorant of dust in stores but it still has a place in her arsenal. Saffron thought to herself as she played over their interactions again in her head.

[Lixsayla]

Lix turned to Martin and bows her head in embarrassment while muttering under her breath something about having a very big family. Nontheless she smiled at the idea of someone being interested in her place. Well it belongs to his mum and dad for the time being until she is older enough. But Saffron's comment on her family line made her go red.
"O-oh! Right... My family used to take part in those back in days... They still do but being 'The Shields of Vale' meant only the children can go while the adults manage airships who come in and come out for the festival. As for the strong part... Um... yes... a very strong line..." Lix cleared her throat before looking at Martin with a smile. "Yeah let's move to the park, I want to see what else is there to Vale after moving to Beacon~"

[OmegaX123]

"The park sounds great," Martin smiled. "Vale seems to be a pretty lucky place for me, every time I come here I end up meeting some cool and interesting people. Wonder if living here is going to change that..." He approached the counter, wanting to let his mother know where he was going. "Hey mom, I'm gonna go relax at the park and chat with my new friends," at least he hoped they would be friends, "for a little bit before I head to Beacon to check in. Have a good first day, don't overwork yourself!"

"Alright, Martin, have fun," Blaze replied, and moved off to serve her next customer. "Just don't wait too long, don't want to miss your first day, right?"

"Alright, ladies, now where were we?" Martin grinned a cheesy grin as he returned to Saffron and Lix.

[Kingnoname1]

When Martin walked off Saffron turned to Lix seeing that she seemed bothered Saffron place her hand on the girls shoulder and tried to comfort her in a soft and sypathetic voice. 'You are more than welcome to come of course but if you don't feel up to it don't feel obliged on our account. We have just met after all, it's not unreasonable to be cautious.'

Saffron was back to all smiles by the time Martin got back however, giving a bemused snort to the idea she was a 'lady' by all but the most derivative definitions. Opening the door Saffron stepped out on the the street ruffling her hair, scratching the base of her quills, before turning back to gesture her companions to follow her. Giving another glance to her console Saffron said. 'I've got a park just a few blocks over, should work unless there is somewhere in particular people want to go?'

Because Martin seemed not completely willing to talk about his past and Saffron was still a bit unsure about Lix she decided perhaps keeping the subject on her might be best until they get to the park. 'So do any of you have any questions about Atlas? I'd be happy to answer them. My adopted homeland has a poor reputation but they are good people... well most of them anyway. Saffron asked her grin growing.

[Lixsayla]

Atlas. Lix admitted to herself, there are some nice people in Atlas. Especially those who want to cross the bother into Vale. The Reinhardts have cousins there too. The Gungnirs. Fierce, stinky breath, foul mouthed, they live in the cold of Atlas as amazing mountaineers of the country. But Lix is not going to ask about the family blood in Atlas, but rather something she has been curious about the whole time.

"What kind of Faunus are you? And speaking of Faunus... It is rare to see a faunus from Atlas..." Lix said,
being careful about her wording as she had some semblance of the discrimination being stronger there, somethings she wished being well read did not bring.

[OmegaX123]

"I mostly just know Vytal Island and the area around the docks, so if you have somewhere in mind, that's all good with me," Martin said. "I don't really know all that much about Atlas beyond the stories, like the whole 'the academy took over the military, then the military took over the country' thing, which I guess I'm probably over-simplifying, and, well... the shameful institutional racism." His eyes darkened. "I just, I can't understand the whole 'if it's different,
 it's lesser' mentality. But yeah... that's completely off-topic, and probably not a topic you really want to be talking about, I'd imagine... Sorry."

[Kingnoname1]

It's never what's the highest mountain in Atlas? Or how is the food? It's always personal questions. Saffron thought to herself as she mentally composed her answers, slightly regretting bringing up the topic in the first place.

'We'll get the easiest one out of the way first, I'm an Echidna Faunus.' Saffron began, once again stiffening her quills. 'As for Faunus in Atlas, there are actually quite a few, they just mostly work in the dust mines rather than in more recognisable positions like combat academy students or diplomats.'

'As for the Atlsian political system, originally, when it was still Mantle, the political system was an elected council just like it is here in Vale. With the fall of Mantle however the capital moved to Alsius Academy and the infrastructure which had grown out of it during the Great War which was then renamed Atlas. People still live in Mantle by the way, it's just used more for housing miners and weapon tests now. But yea the holders of power in old military complex now capital were well military and as such rather than democratically electing council members they maintained their power through military rank' Saffron continued not really looking at either companion, instead the passing buildings or her console.

'Institutionalised racism is definitely present, although getting better, but it's not really about being different. It's not being called animals or half-Grimm or whatever. It's about that the kingdoms, particularly Atlas, relying on a cheap source of labour. That means, it's not about fear or hate or anything so exotic or meaningful that is keeping us from true equality. It's money plain and simple.' Saffron's smile turned sour for a moment as she focused on Martin but she quickly brightened up. 'And I don't mind talking about it, it's the only way things are going to get better after all.... well the only way which is worth it anyway.'

[Lixsayla]

Lix listened to Saffron talk about Atlas, and she felt kind of bitter for asking such a personal question as she followed the echidna faunus through the foreign streets. But another questioncame into mind as they walked after Lix eyed an ice cream stand. Facing the faunus again, Lix asked with a very curious tone,"Is the ice cream in Atlas good?"

Lix then blinked before muttering herself as she blushed. Perhaps thst question was a bit too random. Lix racked her brain, she needed better social skills in life. The girl has no confidence in making friends at all in society, it is more like friends make her.

[OmegaX123]

Martin had to laugh at the sudden awkward innocence of that question. Clearly not a mocking laugh, as his face stayed warm and friendly and the laugh was equally warm. "I never would have thought of that one, you know?" He smiled. "But now I kinda want to know too."

[Kingnoname1]

Joining Martin with a deep laugh which continued for some time before Saffron managed to calm herself down. 'Well I don't think there is really such a thing as bad ice cream.' Saffron answered still chuckling softly. 'Although it is rarely the weather for it I guess it's just another one of those crazy northerner things, eating ice cream when the temperature outside is colder than the treat itself.'

Turning the last corner to the park Saffron made her way to a bench with a pod, not dissimilar to the beacon lockers.Taking out of the locker an old twelve string guitar Saffron sat down and strummed a few cords before look back at her companions. 'So Martin, what did you want to show us?' Saffron asked patting the space next to her for Lix to sit down.

[Lixsayla]

Lix laughed, she could actually understand that idea. Whenever it was winter in Vale the Reinhardt castle will be freezing cold if it was not for the many heaters laid strategically about the building. However her younger brother had an odd habit of eating ice cream while sitting in the snow on a cliff looking over the forest and beyond. Lix then raised an eyebrow as they approached the park. There was a pod there, kind of like the Beacon Rocket Lockers, just there. But it seems Saffron was the owner and Lix was surprised to see it was a guitar inside. Seeing the signal, Lix dusted her dress and held it as she sat down before nearly laying it out on her lap, flicking her head as to get a stray strand of loose hair away from her face, looking curious as to what Martin wanted to show.

[OmegaX123]

"Alright," Martin said, unslinging the blade from his back. "I introduced her at the shop, but now's the time to show her off a bit. This is Gradus Bellum." He made a couple of quick (very quick, for the size of the sword) test swings, before tapping a button on the hilt and spinning it like a staff while it began its transformation into polearm form. "The base two forms - which I just showed off - are kind of a family heirloom, the sword form goes way back, and my grandpa was kind of a weapon nut -
 which I guess I inherited a bit of - and stripped it down and added the polearm form. I myself," he continued, "added this." Tapping another button on the polearm's shaft, he tossed it gently into the air as the weapon contracted, unfolded, opened up at one end, and fell back into his hands in a less bladed/pointed form.

"This is a 7.62 caliber, mid-long range, battle rifle. Or, as I'm sure I've heard somewhere before, 'it's also a gun'." He gave a short laugh, and resumed. "All three of the forms have gotten me out of some scrapes both at Vytal, Shade, and in the deserts of home." He shifted the gun back into polearm form, did a short demonstration of staff/spear combat kata, snd shifted it back to sword form to sling back on his back. "You may be wondering why I'm showing you all this," he said quietly. "Well, I like my friends to know what I'm capable of, and my opponents to know what's coming. I'm honestly hoping you two will be both of those, my grandpa had a saying, 'you'll never know another person as well as when you meet them on the fields of love or war'."

[Kingnoname1]

Saffron sat still during Martin's entire speech her facial expressions shifting from bemusement, to anticipation and then to apprehension. Placing the guitar carefully on it's back on the bench Saffron stood up and brushed herself off before turning to face Martin. 'Which one of those makes it more likely for me to get a box of chocolates.' Saffron remarked with loop-sided smile.

Drawing one of her hatchets, Saffron held it in two open hands so both Lix and Martin can see them clearly. 'Regardless, so you aren't at too much of a disadvantage these are my weapons, I have four of these hatchets which together I call Black Blizzard. In the head of the axes lies a quad-barrels shotgun which normally fires dust augmented slugs. Their secondary form are boomerangs but their shotguns are still active in this form controlled by the console I have here.' Saffron explained, pointing at the inbuilt barrels, showing a slug which glowed blue, how the hatchets looked in their boomerang form as well as pointing to the console on her wrist.

Sheathing her weapon Saffron looked at Lix and gave her an encouraging smile so she would hopefully have a bit more confidence if she would like to share.

[OmegaX123]

Martin stared intently at the display of Saffron's weapon(s?), amazed by the craftsmanship and technical impressiveness. When she finished, his mouth was somewhere between 'agape' and 'grinning madly'. "That... is... AWESOME!" He rambled for a moment, a mostly-unintelligible rapid-fire burst of words, but every now and then something snuck through ('awesome', 'guns', 'does it come back', 'aiming', and such), before regaining composure. "Sorry, I just kinda lose myself when I see cool weapons. Always had a thing for great workmanship and function, and yours has that in spades, as far as I can see." He turned to Lix with as charming a grin as his excited, geeked-out self could muster. "No pressure, if you don't want to show off that's cool, but I'd sure love to see what you've got." Realizing how that could be taken, he stammers a bit before correcting himself, "I-I-I mean, I mean your weapon!"

[Lixsayla]

Lix barely understood Martin's showcase, mostly because it was mind boggling mechanic stuff only her uncle Eugen would understand. Lix however tried to look not so confused as she nods at certain points of his presentation, and at least Martin did not delve even deeper into the mechanics.

The girl then jumps in her seat when Saffron stood up. Wiping her brow she listened to Saffron, which was much easier to follow compared to Martin's. However something told her she would have a go as well, when Saffron smiled at her small stature. Lix gulp before taking a stand herself and after adjusting the neck area of her shawl, she grabbed hold of the metal box that hung on her belt before flickking a switch with a small click, and it a short birst of movement from the box it revealed itself to rhe two as a large heater shield but small enough for Lix.

"Well um... obviously it is a big yellow heater shield that is made from you know stuff. Anyway um... It has dust functions to charge an impact hammer at the end here, as you can see by that protrusion. Just be careful its sharp. Anyway um... It's a pogo stick as well... Yeah and.." Lix drives her shield into the ground and leans on it, and took off her left hand glove. "This is Incutio, my main weapon of choice... N-not much really other than it uses dust crystals rather than dust powder, a large chunk too. But the main reason... Is my semblance, it can draw energy from dust crystals..."