The staring was unnerving, uncanny, and it wasn't because of the reptilian eyes. No, it was because Ayaka never really looked people in the eyes. She was more of a look-down-on-them-and-scoff type of person. She turned away, not because she was hiding a blush, but because she found her weird. Totally.

"Whatever," Ayaka murmured, and it didn't take more than a second before she put up airs again. However, she couldn't help but feel self-conscious about her pants. was that a compliment or sarcasm? She decided to ignore it but not without the occasional glance at her thighs.

"Hey you." She said, "How are you going to fight while holding that thing around? Don't expect me to come running if you get in trouble."

Hey, what's your name? Hey I'm Ayaka. Hey, we're partners now! Any of these would have been a better line, maybe. Not that she really cared.

Movement on the periphery of her vision alerted her in the middle of her pondering. Black. Grimm. Without a  word Ayaka rushed to the side and drew her blade. Claws came from the shadows to meet her head on but soon found themselves falling onto the ground, detached from their limb. Another swing and a gnarled grin followed suit.

"Beowolves. typical." Ayaka said, spotting more rustling as she flicked black vaporizing dirt off her blade. "Get ready, you. We've got more company."

Nathan waited for everyone to pass in front of him and brought up the rear, wordlessly flicking his sight to and fro around him. There wasn't much around, though and as the team moved forward, there came to be even less around - the canopy broke apart and the trees broke away to reveal what could have very probably been a site of archeological significance if it hadn't been slated as a testing grounds for new Beacon students.

There wasn't much to look at here, either - various every day commodities were strewn about in equally varied states of distress, broken wood beams jutted out from collapsed piles of mortarless masonry... Dilapidated, that's the word. But maybe even more than that... disrepair? Yeah, sure, let's go with that. Fits better, anyway.

He took a gander at the occasional passing stone - very cleanly assembled bricks, much more tightly fitted than he would've expected from a random village. Nothing out of the ordinary otherwise, apart from one of his teammates taking what he assumed was a memento of the event. Small shiny thing with a chain was all he could tell. On his end, he found a thick, lush moss carpet draped over what was left of a wall and splayed his hand in it. Very soft. Worth it. He'd be back for that one, mentally taking a note of its location as he filed behind everyone again, the de facto leader striding off into an opening leading to what appeared to be a man-made, underground construct.

After taking a last good scan of the surroundings, he entered and removed his sunglasses, unceremoniously shoving them in his left jeans pocket. Even if he did consider that he had pretty damn good senses for a human, it was nothing compared to a Faunus and unlike them, he'd have difficulty seeing clearly enough to keep pace - or keep watch for that matter. He could light his vicinity himself - Ergia could be made to glow to an extent - but it'd cost him Dust, which was in limited supply. This is what prompted him to ask "Uuh, hey, Pyre, you mind sticking close and being my lantern? I'm not nearly as sharp-sighted as Faunus..."

Prism throws an arm over her face as the the clearing detonates in a kingdom-come pillar of fuschia fire. The wave of heat and ash that rolls off is strong enough to make her take a step back, quietly grateful that she left her goggles down. All of those Grimm, cleanly eviscerated in a single attack. Her new team's synergy isn't just astonishing, it's astounding, amazing, some other positively-denoted a-word she doesn't have enough concentration to remember right now. They won. Simply, cleanly, without any messiness or serious aura damage. Just swift exacting communication and execution.

This team had some real hope after all.

As the dust in the clearing finally dies out, the hummingbird pushes back her goggles and approaches the rest of the group with a wide grin. Juno Varia, Lucas Meridiem, and Cloe Z... They were going to have an interesting time coming up with an acronym off all of that.

"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Prism." She offers simply, giving a little wave. "Cloe's right, that went really well for a spontaneous plan of attack. Kind of reassuring, since it looks like we'll be working together from here on out."

"... Oh... Were you talking to me?"

A puzzled Iris tilted her head curiously as she suddenly noticed the other girl. When did this chick show up? What the hell was she saying? Iris had been too spaced out to catch anything from her, but at the very least she realized that the two of them were now partners.

Without a word, Iris suddenly swerved to stand in front of Ayaka, leaning in very closely so that the two of them were face-to-face. She stared the other woman down, locking eyes with her for a few prolonged seconds. The faunus woman had an eerie gaze; reptilian-looking pupils, dark black sclera and piercingly white irises that were currently staring into Ayaka's soul. After what felt like ages, Iris eventually took a step back to scan the rest of the woman's appearance. She nodded approvingly.

"You've got sweet pants, sis."

With that, Iris casually turned and walked away. As far as she was concerned, she had performed this social interaction with flying colors and had successfully acquired herself yet another friend. Two new pals in the span of a minute? That had to be some kind of record... Even if one of those friends was only two inches tall and presently trapped in a jar in her backpack. She would have to introduce the two of them later, but for now she was focused on her next mission objective: Get the hell out of the woods.

Ayaka wanted action. It had been weeks since she last got into a fight and even that one ended in less than a second. Grimm, a roudy student, anything would suffice, really. She scratched her head as she walked, really wishing she landed somewhere with more visibility. Would her annoyance attract grimm? Who knows, she wasn't really all too sure how grimm attraction worked, but if it did at least she'd be able to cut something down.

Hearing shuffling nearby she drew her sword in a flash. A grimm? Her sulking did work after all! Running in the direction of the sound she readied to swing only to come face to face with...a lizard? Or rather, a girl with a purple scarf, holding a lizard. Were pets allowed during initiations? Whatever, it wasn't an enemy and she was the first person she saw. And that lizard was looking pretty cute...Shaking her head, Ayaka sheathed her sword and cocked her head to the side, leering at Iris.

"First person I run into and it's some kid collecting critters." Ayaka said, turning away while clenching her fist. She had to resist the urge to inspect the little critter, she had an image to keep. "Guess I'm stuck with you now, according to these stupid rules. Come on, let's look for something to fight, all this walking is going to put me to sleep."