genessia | 1st Aura | Video/Action

[The video begins with Jaune looking very confused about something.]

I just saw someone I know which doesn't make any sense because it hasn't been that long since I saw her.

Uhm. Hi, name's Jaune Arc. [There's no need to panic because he did that already. He tries to smile and look confident but the fact that he's soaked and the way his smile twitches like he's barely holding it together kind of detracts from his effort.]

And I guess I'm here. Like...everyone else who's here!

Does anyone here know Weiss Schnee? We go to the same school, which is why it's really weird to see a hologram of her and find out that she's running a company here. Is there anyone else from Remnant here too? Otherwise, I guess I'll look into employment. Yeah. There's no reason to freak out over it or anything. I'm definitely not doing that right now.

[Action]

[He turns off the video and his expression becomes much more obviously unsure as soon as he does. He leaves the Bay, attempting to use the map to navigate to Schnee Company. He's glad to have his weapon and shield on him, regardless of what Hologram Weiss said. Eventually he starts aimlessly wandering through Genessia. It's not that he can't read a map he can ~~easily~~ read a map. But he's distracted by the fact that he's in a different world. Feel free to run into him.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I don't either. But here I am. That's okay though. I like it here well enough." She was beaming. "And yeah. Hearing thoughts is really noisy. But that's not why I got rid of my power. People don't like it when you read their mind and sometimes they throw rocks when they get mad. Sometimes they get really really mad and come after you with farm tools. I didn't like that."

"And, no. I wasn't trying to scare you. I wasn't even trying to be sneaky. I just tend to do that to people."

The sphere drifted down, nudging Jaune's cheek a little bit... Wait, that sphere was an eye. Literally a closed eye. Koishi tilted her head to the side. "I don't expect you to understand the subconcious. It's not something that's easy to grasp for satori youkai, much less humans. It's illogical and must be accepted as-is. That's what makes it so interesting though."

"That's..." That was awful. It reminded Jaune of Cardin, only worse. "They were being cruel. I'm sorry. I'd probably be embarrassed if someone read my mind and I was thinking something embarrassing, but otherwise I think it's cool. Are the people here like that?"

"Oh." He grinned, trying to cheer Koishi up. "I bet you'd always win at hide-and-seek."

Jaune blinked, thinking it was like some sort of tail. He didn't process it might have been her eye. "Is it kind of like...your soul?" It was still too nebulous for him to wrap his head around, but it was the closest thing he could think to compare it to.

Koishi waved his sympathy away. "When you've read minds for hundreds of years, you've seen all their is to see. Good and bad. Humans just can't understand that their personal sins aren't any more or less special than the sins of another individual. And there are a few other psychics, and a few other youkai, but sis and I are the only psychic youkai."

She didn't know what hide-and-seek was, and was about to ask when he commented on her eye. "My Soul?" She tilted her head. "Oh... OH!" That had her laughing. Pretty hard, in fact. "Noo. No my third eye is part of my brain. It's not connected to my head anymore. That's why I can't read minds anymore." She tilted her eye forward, pointing to a depression on top of it where another cord had once been, lifting her hat and showing a very old looking scar above her left temple. Neither scar looked like the wound had been clean cut.

"Besides, I'm a youkai. I don't have a soul."

Maybe sympathy but there's also some empathy even though he can't honestly compare what he experienced at Beacon to that. "Are all youkai born with different abilities? Since it's just you and your sister."

What was so funny? He stood there blinking uselessly, but he got a sinking feeling when Koishi explained what happened. He leaned forward a little to see the depression and scar.

"That must have been painful." His voice was quiet, but he shouted suddenly, shocked by her statement.

"What do you mean? You seem like you have a soul."

"It hurt but it was a long time ago. And I didn't wake up for a long time after so by the time I did it was already healed." Koishi actually leaned forward a bit, letting him look. It probably wasn't a good idea to touch though. It looked like she was missing some bone.

"Mm? Of course I don't have a soul. Youkai in general don't have souls with the exception of some humans turned youkai. But I suppose that depends on the process." She put her hat back on, adjusting it. The lopsided inner ring was perfect for protecting the scar. "It makes sense though. Humans are creatures with both a body and a soul. But I'm a spirit creature. If I had a soul it would just be weird."

The little youkai looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose, by that logic, I technically don't have a body either. I am emotion, superstition, and belief made physical. Satori are fear of the mountain's wrath and fear of getting lost. Fear of getting lost. The fear of madness and inescapability."

She tilted her head the other way. "But," she continued, "we're also symbols of safety. Protection for those who understand the mountain and know their way and pleasant emotions around campfires, roasting meat, singing songs, and telling stories."

She finally shook her head, brightening a bit. Her third eye had opened just slightly, a sliver of white visible. "Of course there are hundreds of different types of youkai and we're all different. A 'satori' is just one of them."