concoursec | getting ready for classes

Entry tags:

dungeons and dragons (oc): rita coulia

getting ready for classes

Character(s): Rita Coulia and Olivia The Dean of Academics
Location: Olivia's Office
Rating: PG (!?)
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: Rita doesn't think she needs Weapons Classes.

This couldn't have been too much of a big deal, right? All she wanted to do was get out of having to take weapons classes. It made sense to her. She'd never picked up a weapon in her life, no, so if she was going to use them any kind of training was going to be appropriate, but she didn't plan to change that part of herself. She didn't need weapons to fight, and if she didn't need them to fight, there was no point to having to take whole classes about them, right? It would just be a waste, especially when there was so much else that she wanted to learn about.

These were the sort of thoughts that were buzzing through her head as she wandered down the halls in search of the Dean of Academics' office. Olivia. Dean of Academics. It didn't take her very long to find it. She knocked three times before waiting outside the door, dressed in her Cadet uniform. Her wings were poking out of two holes that she'd made herself in the back of the top.

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"Come in," Olivia called out, barely looking up from her computer. With finals this week, Olivia was already trying to sort out next quarter.

At her prompting, Rita stepped into Olivia's office and closed the door behind her. She walked up the desk and stopped a few feet from it, hands at her sides.

"Someone told me that I should speak with you if I wanted to get out of having to take weapons classes," she said, without a bit of hesitancy. "I think they're useless for me, and I'd rather spend my time studying other things."

In her late thirties by now, Olivia had been with Garden for way too long and actually somewhat appreciated the way this cadet just got on with her request.

She was, however, distracted for a moment by those wings before she could reply.

"We don't require classes we think are going to be useless," she replied wryly. "You're free to put them off until your last couple of quarters, but the introductory class at least is a requirement for graduation for every specialization. Have you started thinking about your specialization?"

"I think probably something with magic," she answered quickly. That was something that hadn't taken much thought. She was very interested in magic in her homeworld, and that didn't change when she arrived here.

"But why do I need to take the weapons classes? I don't get it, if I'm never going to use one of them." And that was something she was genuinely perplexed by, if not slightly annoyed by it as well.

"The para-magic specialization does require one intermediate-level weapons class," Olivia sighed. "Junction device can get lost or tampered with on the field; we don't want our magic users to be completely defenseless if that happens. And martial arts counts as a weapon too."

She folded her hands on top of her desk and regarded Rita seriously, though in truth she was a little amused by the question. It didn't crop up often, but she'd heard it more than a few times in her career.

"The introductory class is not only a taster of which weapon you might personally use, but also how any weapon can be used against you, and how to fight back against them. A passing familiarity of different weaponry is also important for group missions, where you'll be placed with people who use different weapons, and will have to plan your tactics with them: If you know what their weapons are capable of, it saves time on explaining and lets you get on with strategizing. And for all your intentions to never use a particular weapon, sometimes circumstances force their hand. For example, I have personally been on missions where my weapon of choice was taken from me, but I was able to fight with my fists until I found something more effective for ranged fighting."

"I'm plenty capable of fighting on my own, without that junctioning business or a weapon," she interjected quickly. She wasn't the best of fighters, but she had quite a bit of raw power. Enough for her to confidently rely on. Nevertheless, she listened intently to what Olivia had to say.

Unfortunately, what she was saying did make sense. It would be better if she knew what her allies were capable of doing, and what an enemy might be capable of doing. Still, she wasn't happy with it.

"Can't I just take the introductory class and be done with it, then?"

"We do not make exceptions based on a cadet's say-so," Olivia said flatly. Garden made very few exceptions when it came to the curriculum, really. "Maybe you can fight on your own, but SeeD has a reputation of being trained, refined fighters, not bundles of overconfidence wrapped up in a uniform. You may actually learn something from our classes if you don't dismiss them out of hand, or even be able to show your fellow cadets some different techniques."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she reached for a class list and slid it across her desk, indicating the specialization requirements.

"But if you're really determined to avoid an intermediate level weapons class, the international business, intelligence, covert operations, piloting, battlefield medicine, and computer science specializations do not require one if you take an intermediate para-magic class."

Olivia was pretty good. She'd pretty accurately described the girl before her. She had a bit of a problem with what Olivia was saying, and it was probably clear in way her brows furrowed and her mouth formed a thin line as she listened.

"I don't have a problem proving myself, if you won't accept my word on it," Rita said once Olivia stopped, as she retrieved the class list. "I think that I can learn plenty about them without having to waste time with a class."

But once Olivia started to talk about the other specializations, something about Rita's outward appearance seemed to change. She thought about the other specializations, and then what each one might actually have her doing. If she wasn't going to take the intermediate weapons classes, it was going to limit what she could do.

Rita took a step forward and stared down at the class list for a moment, before looking up at Olivia again.

"What specialization is going to just... let me help this place the most?"

Olivia's eyebrows lifted in surprise. She genuinely hadn't expected this girl to ask what she could do for Garden, not after all her insistence about what Garden couldn't do for her.

The question about specializations was a good one. Olivia had access to a list of current SeeDs and could work out their current specialization shortages at a glance, but it would do no good to push this cadet towards a specialization she wasn't suited to.

"Tell me what you're good at," she suggested, her voice and expression gentler now. "Not just things like fighting or magic, but if you're good with people, with puzzles, with thinking on the fly, whatever. What gets your brain going?"

Olivia did not really consider herself a careers counselor, but she could try and give advice.

Rita wasn't some paragon of altruism, but she wanted to do what she could to help. It was what she was sent there to do, after all, or at the very least that's what she believed. Plus, if she was stuck there, she might as well do what she could to make the place better.

"I'm a quick learner," she answered first, but that was all she had right off the bat. And it was a pretty terrible answer, she thought, as she tried to think of what other useful skills she had. But, on the subject of what got her brain going?

"I just like to learn. Reading books about anything." She'd never really been put into a situation where she needed to think quickly. Any time she was in danger, her solutions were fairly simple. Fire tended to solve a lot of problems. She'd also not had very many interactions with other people.

"I don't know what else I might be good at."

Ah, a fresh slate. Olivia had already mentally crossed off the weapons specializations and covert operations (even if Rita had said "I'm good at lying to people", she'd never be able to blend in here with those wings), but otherwise she still had a lot of choices.

"Well, you have the chance to read about and try a lot of things here," she said. "You're sure to find something. Is there a particular subject you're really interested in?"

She expected 'magic', but wondered if there was anything else.

Covert operations wouldn't have actually been entirely out of Rita's skillset. The ability to shapeshift tended to lend oneself to being good at concealment. That's not to say she'd be any good at acting out a role, however.

"Magic," Olivia had guessed correctly, "I've studied my world's magic for a little while, but it's hard to really learn without a teacher. I want to learn more about this world, also. Its history and... well, whatever I can learn about it, I guess. I'm not really interested in fighting, but I'm strong, so I'll fight if it means it will help."

"Para-magic is likely to be different from the magic you've studied," Olivia cautioned her.

History and the world... Olivia absently spun her pen in her hand as she thought about it. She was considering intelligence or perhaps international business, but hesitated to recommend them just yet without knowing how this girl would take to tactics, to leadership, to negotiations.

"I'm assuming the wings aren't just for show," she added, nodding to them. "Do you have any other properties or abilities we'd consider unusual?"

Rita nods in response to Olivia's warning. "It's very different," she confirmed, having already read into the magic of this world.

As for her question... it was certainly a broad one, but one that was probably easier to answer than what she was interested in.

"My abilities are akin to a dragon's," she answered plainly. That was the easiest way to put all of it. "I have magic breath, and I can invoke their magic. There are also some lesser spells that I can cast."

Olivia wrinkled her nose. She'd fought this world's dragons - Ruby Dragons, Blue Dragons, and Hexadragons - so finding one of the cadets had similar abilities brought back a few unpleasant memories of their breath attacks. It also still didn't really help her with a direction for this girl.

"I know you probably want a straight answer, but frankly, it would help the most if you're in a specialization you're good at and interested in," she said. She offered Rita a pen so she could, if she wanted, mark things down on the class list. "You want to learn about our world; take Cultural Studies, International Relations, Political Science, and International Law. Between them, those four are also required classes for a good few specializations. You're interested in magic, by all means take the magic classes.

"And from what you've said, it sounds like you also need to try things to find your strengths and your direction. If you do well in Physics class," a required class for graduation, "give Aerodynamics a go; for all we know you could turn out to be a good pilot. If you do well in Speech and Conduct and Leadership Development, consider the International Business or Intelligence specializations. That kind of thing."

She regarded the girl like she was a particularly interesting book (and Olivia loved a good book), thinking back on her own time as a cadet, many, many years ago.

"You have months to reconsider your stance on an intermediate weapons class," she added. "Don't let one class stop you from graduating in something you're passionate about. If I'd done that, I wouldn't be in this office today: I hated Political Science class, but I worked through it because I knew that at the end of it, I'd be doing something I loved."

Rita stood as attentive as she'd been throughout the rest of their conversation, taking in and really considering what Olivia was saying. Cultural Studies, International Relations, Political Science, and International Law. Political Science sounded a bit strange, but she would at least look into it. She was certainly going to take Magic, as well.

Physics was something she wasn't familiar with. She was familiar with the concept, of course, but not its actual name. She didn't know aerodynamics, either. Things to look up later, that she made note of in her head.

She was in agreement, though, that she wasn't going to let one class stop her from doing something she wanted, giving a nod of affirmation.

"I guess I have a lot to think about," she said at the end, raising a hand to ruffle the back of her own hair before pulling her fingers through it. "I still have the course catalog from when I arrived. I'll look through that again, and figure out what I want to do."

"Oh," she said, remembering something. "Bahamut. How can I speak to him in this world?"

She nodded in approval, glad that this cadet was going to give it more thought. Specializations were a big decision.

The question about Bahamut, however, made Olivia raise her eyebrows.

"The Guardian Force?" she wanted to clarify. "Why do you ask?"

"Yes," she said, though she wasn't wholly sure if that's really who she meant. She had only read that there was a Guardian Force named Bahamut; there was no way for her to know if hers and this were one and the same.

"He was the one who sent me from my world to this one. I was hoping to speak with him."

Of all the reactions to ending up in her world that Olivia had seen, this was a new one, bizarre enough that Olivia failed to keep her incredulity from her face. How in the world (worlds?) had she come to this conclusion?

"Bahamut does not have that kind of power," she said. "No Guardian Force does. You were not purposefully sent here; you were caught up in an aftershock of a powerful spell which affected all time and space."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

getting ready for classes

this'll be slow today, sorry; I'm heading out

no worries!

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your mods would like to apologize for writing you a novel

it's okay! it is a cute tag

the ironic thing is I never listened to my high school careers counselor...

neither did I :V

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