Opening Ceremony!

[principalmouse]

Who: Everybody!
What: Opening Ceremony! Say hi to all your new friends! It's a meet 'n' greet!
When: OPENING DAY!
Where: Just inside the Academic Building
Warnings: None yet. Yet.
[In a wide open hall with banners and a various sundry of celebratory items, the headmaster's rousing speech begins to come to a close.]

In short, you all are here to save our world! There is a threat out there that we must face, but we cannot face it alone. [His demeanor is pleasant, but thinly veiled. His stress is evident in his words, but he is attempting to stay cheerful.] We must do our best to watch over our friends and family and neighbors, no matter who they may be.

We are all responsible for one another. [He lets the silence hang for a moment before letting off and overly cheerful--] HaHa! [Was that a bit forced? Or was it just me?]

Well, guys, it’s time for me t’go, got lotsa stuff to take care of bein’ headmaster and all. But please, get to know one another, go check out classes, and find out where you live on campus! [He gestures to various sections of the room, all labeled with bright colored papers and text.]

I’ll see y’around!

[And with that, the headmaster is off! No, seriously. Watch him go, he’s movin’ fast for such a short guy.]

((OOC: WELCOMING CEREMONY LOG! Feel free to create starters here and tag everyone! Don’t be shy. :) You can use prose or action text, whichever you’re more comfortable with.))

Comments

[shepherdofthefrost]

[ Jack happens to be acquainted with a six foot talking rabbit who also happens to be the protector of Hope and Spring. Talking red pandas with carefully groomed mustaches really aren't that weird, as far as he's concerned, and hey, this guy's even wearing actual clothes. Unlike a certain Easter Bunny.

Still, he has to ask, and pops up from the other side of one of the booths rather abruptly to do it: ]

So are you like, the Easter Raccoon, ooooor....?

[believedinapeach]

[Shifu might not know what he means by “Easter”, but the raccoon comment isn’t a new one. He sighs quietly, rolling up his papers into a tube. If he wasn’t someone who had recently achieved inner peace, he might consider smacking the boy on the head with it... But he’s a changed panda, of course.
He turns to Jack, raising a brow. He can guess by the lack of uniform that he isn’t one for authority. Wonderful.]

I’m not a raccoon. I am a red panda.

[shepherdofthefrost]

[ Jack eyeballs Shifu up and down (which really doesn't take much eye movement, with how tiny he is), looking skeptical. He technically - sort of - knows what a red panda is. And this one doesn't appear to have a sense of humor.

Which of course only means that he's not going to admit he actually knows what a red panda is. He leans on the table, folding his arms and resting his chin on top of them. ]

Are you sure? I thought pandas were...bigger. And rounder. And look, you even have a fuzzy little raccoon tail, with the stripes and all...you're totally a raccoon in denial.

[believedinapeach]

[His tail swipes behind him as soon as Jack points it out. He's been through this a few times before, even prior to leaving the Valley of Peace. His bizarre fur patterns and colors have even caused confusion from members of his own species.

But at this age, he can recognize when someone is trying to rile him up for the sake of his reaction.]

Was there a reason you needed my attention? Because I do, in fact, have some work I need to get back to.

[He unfurls the papers he's been holding, the topmost being the unfilled paperwork for his Kung Fu class.]

[shepherdofthefrost]

[ You know, usually people don't ask those kind of questions, they just get annoyed like they're supposed to. So Jack really doesn't know how to react, and he's kind of at a loss for words for about...three seconds. ]

Uh, no. Not particularly.

[ But being nosy, he peers over the table at Shifu's paper and catches the words Kung Fu. ]

...You're the guy who's doing the Kung Fu class.

[ WELP. And he is in it. Awesome. ]

[believedinapeach]

[It's quick, but there may be a glint of something mischievous and amused in Shifu's eyes as he rolls the papers back up. There's something satisfying about shattering someone's expectations...

Not to mention the sweet sense of revenge in taking the spark out of a prankster.]

I am. And I'm guessing that you signed up for it?

[shepherdofthefrost]

[ Jack folds his hands in front of him and twiddles his thumbs, sinking back down behind the table. He awkwardly glances left, right, down - anywhere but actually at Shifu. ]

I...might remember doing something like that, yeah.

[ Whistling casually. ]

But no promises. I'm only saying I might have. I could be remembering wrong, and actually be in Home Ec or something.

[believedinapeach]

[Jack, if you're intimidated now, you're gonna be in trouble...]

Oh, what a shame if that were the case. People of your age tend to handle the physical challenge fairly well..

[Or they die trying. It's unsaid, but certainly felt.]

[shepherdofthefrost]

[ There's a slight, quick eyeroll there - blink and you'd miss it. ]

Um, yeah, funny story about that - people of my age are also usually dead. So, haha, I'm not sure how to take that.

[ He shrugs. 317 and counting. Yep. ]

[believedinapeach]

[..What? Shifu gives him a good long look.]

How old are you?

[shepherdofthefrost]

[ Yeah, you may have one-upped him on the class, old fuzzy guy, but he can still baffle you with a couple of things. ]

Just a couple of decades over three hundred, give or take a few years.

[believedinapeach]

[Is this entire relationship going to be founded on one-upping each other? Jack's answer successfully throws him for a loop. Shifu's ears fall back as he stares.]

Three hundred?

[He's just a small fraction of that age! He can barely imagine what such a long life must be like.. But even Oogway lived to be a healthy 1,000.

He shakes the thought and looks back up, a little more scrutinizing.]

I'm.. guessing it's something to do with magic, then?

[shepherdofthefrost]

No, I just eat my vegetables and use a strict daily regimen of skincare products to make sure I stay young and healthy-looking. [ The sarcasm isn't biting or malicious - but it's sarcasm all the same, and he quirks an eyebrow with a grin. ]

'Course it's magic. I never heard of anybody living that long without it.

[believedinapeach]

I only ask because I know someone who did. My.. an old friend of mine was well over ten centuries old at the time of his passing.

[shepherdofthefrost]

[ Jack sits up, curious now, and raises his eyebrows. ]

Ten centuries? People don't - live that long. Not normal people, anyway.

[ He's seen enough of them die to know. ]

How?

[believedinapeach]

..Master Oogway wasn't normal. But he wasn't magic.

He was the one who developed Kung Fu. Hundreds of years ago, he mastered the secrets of inner harmony and focus. He lived a life of peace and kindness.. [A soft, heartfelt chuckle escapes him. No sadness or mourning, only fondness.]

I personally believe that he reached his age by sheer force of will.

[shepherdofthefrost]

[ Okay, he admits that's pretty sweet. It earns a faint smile from him, at any rate. ]

Uh-huh. Sounds a little far-fetched, but then, who am I to disbelieve that a guy lived a thousand years on guts alone?

[ Seriously 300-year-old frost spirit resurrected by the Moon he really can't be talking. ]