The Academy

[Raven301]

"Anyway, I'll be off! Things to do tomorrow!" Deja shouted over his shoulder as he headed toward his and Luke's room. Pushing open the door Deja smiled at Luke before plopping down on the empty bed Deja unwrapped his egg and set it on the pillow that rested at one end, "Did you know that there is a species of newt that lets its self be eaten and then poisons the thing that ate it while it waits in the stomach. When the predator dies the newt crawls back out of the body and then carries on its merry way." As he said this Deja turned over on his stomach to gaze at his egg,"These are so defenseless, little tiny living creatures that we could smash with ease yet we care for them."

[Drakonspite]

Luke watched Deja come into the room and set his egg down on his pillow. He said a few things straight away which didn't surprise Luke. The newt sounded mildly interesting but did not stay on Luke's mind for long.

 

"These are so defenseless, little tiny living creatures that we could smash with ease yet we care for them."

 

"Huh, yeah... Sure." Luke said, half listening. It was true that the eggs were pretty much defenseless and vulnerable at all times. Why did they even have to take care of these eggs? A clumsy person might even drop it. Wouldn't it be safer if they were given to them as hatchlings? This statement really made Luke think, something that none of Deja's other comments had made him do so far. Luke wondered what happened to the egg's mothers. Had they abandoned them? Questions danced across his mind as he started to get sleepier and sleepier. Luke held the teddy bear closer to himself. Mothers...

 

 

[Raven301]

Seeing that Luke was drifting off Deja promptly shut up and rolled over to his single bag of stuff. Quickly unpacking Deja brought the egg between his hands and warmed it up a bit before rewrapping it and curling up with the orb in his arms. Closing his eyes Deja thoughts quickly turned to dreams as he sank into a restful sleep.

 

[Luckyclaw]

Honestly, Sin was always slightly put off whenever Kaio just took over whatever a student was saying as if he had been the one talking the whole time. Especially when it was her. It felt slightly invasive, somehow. Sin was unable to hear telepathy of any sort, and she sort of assumed that likewise if she tried to enter a telepathic conversation she would be completely inaudible. So that would mean no one could read her thoughts... right?

 

She would have asked Kaio how he did that, but that creepy whatever in black had vanished like he usually did when he was done talking. A chill ran down her spine and she quickly wondered if he was an alien or some kind... or if he was possibly a mass hallucination and he didn't exist at all. These thoughts quickly retreated to the back of her mind, where she hoped the headmaster could possibly not read them, as she heard an older human calling out her name. Good 'ol Linole!

 

He implied she'd gotten rusty over the summer, and to that she had to shake her head. "Wouldn't think of it, sir!" She dashed to him, stopping short a few feet away. She always held herself like a soldier when addressing him, shoulders back, never slouching, eye contact at all times. In fact she seemed more in-line now than she had looked at the end of the year. But she never had a droned expression on her face, Sin still hadn't lost the smile she'd had the entire day. Truthfully, compared to being home the Academy was a pleasant stroll in the park and she had almost completely forgotten that until she went back home over the summer. For the first half of the two-month break she lived like a Spartan, her commanding officer that she called an aunt wanting to know and reinforce every method she had learned at the Academy the previous year; and every other method she had been taught in her life. Like Linole, she wanted to make sure her niece didn't get soft from relaxation.

 

Of course, the other half of the vacation was probably changed from a training regiment by her father demanding to see his daughter for the remaining one month she'd be back from school. It was filled with many tears, hankies and 'my baby's growing up's. Then of course, there were her three friends who had considerably less tears and hankies, but they were still present. It was only that summer that Sin realized how emotional the guys in her life were...

 

Suddenly, the four-armed white demon spoke up from where he was leaning on the wall, much quieter and more controlled than the teacher who had spoken before him. "If you put half as much effort into your teaching methods as you put into drawing a crowd, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. But you shouldn't take it out on the innocent children when you're the one who backed yourself into a corner." Two of his arms, as usual, were crossed behind his head. Another one was rubbing his tipped fingernails against his shirt as if to shine them, and the last one held an apple which he took a bite out of. That was Jubah Burung, the archery teacher. Arch-rival of Trevor Linole... or should we say... Archery-rival? No we shouldn't because that pun was lame.

 

Sin was going to be the one backed into a corner in the end, though. She had to take lessons from both of these teachers and picking one side would mean hell from the other class. Oh boy.

 

~

 

Seamus had long tired of hearing others talk. During the tour his face was starting to hurt from constantly keeping his smile up, and he didn't find any of Sin's offhand references or comments very funny. He enjoyed himself the most when the headmaster took over her sentence mid-word. But during the speech, he had to admit he felt humbled, almost insignificant by the great power the headmaster exuded. It was something he had never felt before, that great surge of power was something that didn't feel as if it was of this earth. Under that blanket of power.... Seamus felt like a worm that could be crushed.

 

After the mysterious power vanished, the overwhelming annoyance and boredom with the orientation and especially the god awful sound of the Azazel's filthy voice came crashing back. Intimidated by the powerful force that was sure to still be someplace nearby mixed with his disdain for the situation made him want to be alone. So after looking over the table for something alive whose soul he could devour, and being disappointed by the absence of which, he grabbed a few slices of pepperoni that had been laying next to some carrots and retreated to his room for the night.

 

~

 

Tatsuke had elected, as usual, to not approach or join in on the discussions of others. Soria seemed to have the students who wanted to leave the premises under control, Sin was talking to Burung and Linole, Felic had filed out for some reason and everyone else was going back to their rooms. Honestly, though, Tatsuke knew the senior students but wasn't particularly close with any of them. Except Devon the siren/naga hybrid, but she wasn't here yet. She must have been held up by travel.

 

He made a plate of food, mostly cheeses and fruits. He would have eaten anything presented unless it was something humans would find inedible. He wasn't a picky eater and those just seemed to be closest at the time. He missed Devon, and he had missed her during the entire summer. He thought going home would be nice after being away for so long, but his summer was incredibly lonely. His Kitsune friend got a girlfriend and spent a lot of time with her, and his human friend had to balance the summer with working in his family's fields and working in the reconstruction of the local city that was destroyed in the war. By the third week of being home, he was ready to go back to school and listen to Devon's cheerful stories and sing folk songs as they both played guitar.

 

A bit of pineapple had fallen off the plate and was laying on the table cloth. He figured it would be useless to let it go to waste, so he popped the sweet cube into his mouth. It was about that time a teacher approached him, one who seemed human but Tatsuke knew full well he wasn't.

 

"Hey," the teacher was reasonably tall, pale skinned with fluffy white hair that sported brown tips. He had chocolate brown eyes that looked at the top of Tatsuke's head. Malk-stillskin was the school doctor and psychiatrist. Tatsuke knew right away what he was here for. "Hey..." he awkwardly greeted the man back. The doctor's voice was low so no one else would hear them speaking, "I heard about the accident earlier. Brave of you to keep going after that." Tatsuke nodded impatiently. He just wanted the doctor to get to the point, because he was still guilty about it and didn't want to think of it anymore. "I'd like you to come down to my office after school tomorrow." Tatsuke just nodded in response, his face slightly betraying his desire to vanish right about now. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Don't be late."

 

Normally Malk-stillskin made a lot of sarcastic remarks, but the matter that he was approaching was knowingly sensitive and the human hadn't done anything to warrant a sarcastic remark on his behalf. Plus, the adult could tell that the student was obviously still shameful of what happened. Because there was a meet-and-greet going on right now, however, the nurse wouldn't retreat to his office as he usually did instead crossing his arms and leaning against a random wall a good distance away from Tatsuke.

 

The human finished his food quickly, and then left for bed hoping no one else would approach him. He was tired at this point, and the first day hadn't gone too well for him.

 

~

 

Once Tatsuke exited the auditorium, not even three minutes later a black wyvern pushed the door open and made a beeline for Sin. He wove around students as he had to, and there were definitely students that he had to avoid due to his size. His body was just big enough that he was about to outgrow sleeping on a student bed, and that was when his wings weren't tightly folded at his sides. He was easily the largest dragon that had yet been seen by the students during their short time at the Academy, and he was now curling his tail around Sin's legs and resting his white face on top of Sin's red-haired head. He had a thin blue horn between his nostrils, and curling blue ram horns circling the side of his head. Most of all, he looked as grumpy as a bear.

 

"Sin, Duordin will not leave me alone!" He growled, just on the border between complaining and whining. It seemed as if he had been waiting this whole time to find his companion, only staying away on Tatsuke's behalf but bursting right in once the human had left. He spread his wings out and wrapped them around Sin's body, hugging her to him. "Mitch! You're too big for this! Stop!" No sign that he was going to let go. In fact he seemed dead-set on never letting her go ever again.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Luckyclaw

[Drakonspite]

Noticing that Deja had fallen asleep curled up around his egg, Luke decided to finally get some sleep too. He layed on his pillow and held the egg tight. He looked at his teddy and placed it next to him. "Sorry bud," he started "you're gonna have to be alone tonight." And with that, Luke packed the teddy bear into his trunk and fell asleep.

[Natevaelle]

"I can manage," Silmarwen replied, picking up the luggage. "But thank you anyway. I truly appreciate your offer." She placed her things by her bed and sat beside the egg. "There were still a good number of people in the auditorium when I left, having snacks and engaging in conversation." Silmarwen's eyes wandered to Cassie's side of the room and noticed how neat and orderly she was. Turning back to look at her, Silmarwen noticed how they mirrored one another, both wearing dresses and sitting with poise. She smiled in amusement. It seemed that they were alike in many ways. But maybe it was too early to tell.

 

Silmarwen stood up. "Alas, no." she said, as she began to unpack her clothes and arrange them inside the nearby dresser. "But perhaps we will find out when music class begins." The colors of the garments that she took from her bag fell to one side of the spectrum. They were various shades of red, orange, and gold. There was an occasional black or white. "Speaking of classes, which ones do you plan to attend?"

 

 

[na82008]

Lorf walked over to Soria just as Deja began walking away. Well, I'm going to go to sleep, i guess going to the village is a bad idea" he said with a fake yawn. He went strait back into the hallway, heading for his room incase someone followed him. then he walked strait passed his room and went to the stairs and hurried down them quickly. I'll just assume Deja was going to say no he thought. Deja had never answered if he wanted to come, but he was probably already in his room. Lorf walked out the front door into the cold night air. As he walked he didn't notice the star spotted dragon watching him. Why would he think there was a dragon that looked like the night sky watching him?

 

------

 

The dragon had been about to go to sleep when he heard the sound of the front doors opening. His companion, Relan, didn't want him in the school today. Probably cause Darik loved confusing the students and getting them into trouble. The teacher himself decided not to go to the orientation. Darik quietly watched the lizard pass. Looks like i'll still get a chance the dragon thought.

Edited December 31, 2013 by na82008

[ValidEmotions]

Soria watched Deja leave, a frown crossing her face. Where did Lorf vanish off to? She hoped he wasn't planning any trouble. Quickly, her eyes roamed the auditorium of students, briefly catching sight of the boy at the doorway coming in. Now, where had he gone? She didn't linger long on the question as Mitch soon charged his way into the large room, wailing to Sin. This made the young witch laugh and she hurried over to where the two-legged dragon was causing a commotion. "Come on now, Mitch! You only know he likes to play and you're the only dragon big enough to fend him off!" She was laughing still, turning when she felt Duordin nudge her back with his nose. "There you are boy! You know you have to go to your quarters soon." Duordin was just a bit too wide to fit through the bedroom door.

 

"Stop with the ruckus! We're all right here; no need to holler!" Yet Linole had his own voice lifted a bit. Finally though, he quieted himself down and momentarily turned his gaze on Jubah. "Innocent? Bah! Nobody's ever innocent! Look at their smiling faces! They've got devious thoughts in those fleshy craniums that rest on their shoulders!" The old man was smirking nevertheless, clearly teasing. "And I don't put myself into corners. Even then, I can still swat away those flimsy twigs you call arrows with my little finger!"

 

Duordin slithered his head past Soria and closer towards Mitch who may as well have been a panic shelter for the poor Azazel who stood trapped within the dragon's wings. Noisily, the green dragon sniffed at the back of Mitch's wings, picking up Sin's sent through the leathery smell of her dragon. "Come on Duordin. I need to get you to bed before curfew so I can get to bed as well. See you guys tomorrow!" Soria guided her companion away and out of the auditorium, passing Lorf on the way. "I'm watching you Lizard-Boy!"

 

----

 

Felic returned to a set of loud voices, smiling as he caught Mitch's pity-party. Soria was heading out though, as well as some of the new students but one, a lizard-like being, didn't feel tired; he seemed contempt. What is he up to? The Empath couldn't ask about the matter though because Al'nivte bumped him on the shoulder.

 

"Impressive looking beast... All though, what is it doing?" Al was looking at Mitch, not having a true chance to examine Duordin before the energetic dragon was gone.

 

Approaching the wyvern, Felic gently poked the male's wing. "One of these days, you're going to end up suffocating her.... Al, it's Mitch's way of hugging his Azazel companion, Sin. She's another senior student and definitely a person you'll lose to in a fight."

 

"Easy enough for you to say, Ic; a breath of wind can knock you over!" The boy didn't appear to hear him and he frown through his beak, idly brushing his tail against the ground. The Uccello kept his egg tucked in his left arm, right hand lifting to scratch the underside of his beak. Why was he still hanging out with the fleshy stick? He had no reason to associate with something so easy to break. Besides, the thing seemed more interested in its girlfriend and her dragon. Eh. Maybe there was something good to eat; he could smell the raw beef across the room.

 

Relieved that the Uccello had finally decided to move on, Felic sighed and greeted Mr. Burung. "I might give your class a try this year, Mr. Burung. I'm just not certain of it. I still leave Mr. Linole's class covered in a handful of bruises."

 

Linole smirked, folding his arms across his chest. "That's because you don't take advantage of any openings presented to you! But, I understand. If you want to attend a much easier class, Burung's would be the right fit." Another teasing jab, just to try and ruffle Jubah's feathers.

[Luckyclaw]

Mitch longed for the days where he was a tiny little dragon, too frail to even think of messing with. Back when he could cling to Sin's head like a little bat hat and relax in her arms when he got tired. Really, under the black scales and grumpy face, Mitch was a big baby who just wanted to be cuddled. Which was why Sin didn't have to heart to make him sleep in the dragon stables where he should be at his size. The first time they tried to do that, neither one of them felt safe or content, and they both had a horrible night's sleep. Sin couldn't stop worrying about him and Mitch wanted to be hugged at night.

 

The Tri-horned wyvern snorted at Soria saying Duordin just wanted to play and that because he was the biggest, he was the only one who could fend him off. Why couldn't the little ruffian understand that Mitch didn't like to play? Duordin should get another hobby. Like sitting and staring at the wall, or reading. Heck, why not checkers? That Tatsuke boy was always looking for- oh yeah. Mitch remembered why they didn't go near Tatsuke. Dracophobia, right...

 

A playful glint was present in Burung's golden eyes, "Linole, you couldn't flick away an arrow if they were going in slow motion. Though I wouldn't be surprised if you blew it away with all your hot air." He took a look at the big wyvern who was entrapping the Azazel in its wings. He was thankful to say his own dragon had never been that clingy, but at the same time he was glad to see just how close those two were. In many cases people who were trained to be as obedient and responding as Sin was, snapping into soldier mode without even a command, were emotionally distant even if it wasn't apparent. Sin seemed to be physically trained to be a soldier but almost completely neglected the emotional side of being in combat. That was apparent with how obviously bonded Mitch and Sin were, and he was very happy to see this. It always made him glad to see general happiness between people. He took his mind off of it, knowing he tended to over analyze. "If my class is easier, it's only because I'm a better teacher. I'd be happy to have you in my class, Felic."

 

Sin's claws were suddenly visible on top of the wyvern's wing, pulling the scaly appendage down so that at least her face and upper body was visible. "What was said about me being in a fight now?" She managed to push one of Mitch's wings away from herself so that only one wing was hugging on to her. So she could, y'know, see and breathe. One wing she could deal with. Finally, the wyvern gave in and tucked one wing in, but the other was still hugging her and his head didn't move from its spot on top of her head. She looked like some kind of dragon tamer.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Luckyclaw

[Emeraldmay]

Cassie gave a regretful smile. "Well, all of them I suppose – doubt my parents would approve of me having any time to myself. I'm here to learn, and I guess that is what I should do. Always. " Swinging round on the bed, she pulled off her boots, placing them neatly at the foot of her bed, and leaving her feet in only socks. Cassie was unsure of how this would be taken by her roommate, but didn't want to get any outside dirt on the new room.

Reaching over to her dresser, Cassie grabbed a hairband, tying her hair up into a high ponytail with it. She always did this late in the evening, as it prevented her hair from getting messy overnight, and if there was one thing that Cassie couldn't stand it was when her hair got messy. Making a mental note to wash her wings later – the flecked golden pattern was for special occasions only , but she didn't have any spare dye with her– Cassie turned to her roommate.

"Have you any idea how we should keep the eggs?" At the moment, Cassie's egg was balanced on her dresser, but Cassie was worried that she might knock it over in the night, or the hatchling inside would get cold.

 

 

[Marcus Pheonix]

(Happy New Year!)

 

James smiled happily as he tasted all the interesting food that the school staff had laid down. As he ate he could hear several conversations behind him, as well as footsteps as people began to leave for their rooms. He had been particularly intrigued by a conversation between the phoenix, a lizard man and his roommate. He couldn't help but laugh slightly, as he listened to their wishes to leave the school and head down to the village.

 

James stretched, extending his arms above his head and let out a loud yawn. He hadn't realised how tired he was, it had been a big day. He noticed that many of the people had left, but their were a few dragons now in the room. James shrugged, he would be able to look at dragons a lot throughout his time here, he wouldn't need to look at them tonight. However, they did seem to be having a little bit of a commotion at the moment. James slowly let his powers kick in and he slipped into the floor. Due to fears of falling through the world, all Wights were trained to adjust their abilities so that the floor could only be treated, at most, as something like a liquid. James had taken it upon himself to 'swim' through the earth at least once a day. He slowly began paddling past the large wyvern, in a bored backstroke.

"Goodnight!" He cried cheerily as he swam under the dragon, briefly ducking his head under it's foot; he knew that just passing through a being wouldn't cause sleep but the sudden drop in temperature would irritate most.

 

James pulled himself out of the ground when he arrived at his room. He made his way to walk through the door, but then he remembered that he was in a co-ed room. He froze and raised his hand knocking 4 times on the door. He waited. Hearing no answer he figured that Soria mustn't be back yet and strode through. James pulled off his bag and placed it carefully on the floor, when it wasn't in contact with him it wouldn't retain its ethereal properties. He opened the bag and removed the egg from it. He balanced it lightly in his hand and stared at it, wondering what was inside. James smiled and lay back down on the pillow, clutching the egg to his chest. As he felt himself begin to nod away, as he guessed, he slipped through the bed landing onto the floor; another technique trained to those who lived in multistory buildings. His arms remained wrapped around the egg, now the only thing laying on his bed. James let his arms drop down through the mattress and closed his eyes.

 

[sailing101]

Twig wasn't sure exactly what had happened. One moment, he had been with everyone else, picking out eggs, and the next, poof! Everyone had run off somewhere! Perhaps he'd been so enamored with the egg that he hadn't noticed the passing of time. Nevertheless, he now had to find out where everyone had gone.

 

Having made his way back into the entry hall, Twig could hear sounds of activity coming from upstairs. He'd go investigate of course, but there was one obstacle that he didn't foresee.

 

The stairs.

 

Normally climbing such a slope would be simple for him. He'd just toss up a hook and climb along the line. But now thee was the egg to consider. He couldn't just carry it and climb at the same time. There was too great a risk of dropping the egg. He could also place the egg down on the step above and climb up after it, for every step, which was long, boring, and risked having the egg roll off the steps and break.

 

It looked like there was no other option. Swalowing his pride, Twig took a deep breath, and called out, "Hel-LO! Up there?" Hopefully, someone would have heard him and come help.

[jaina]

((Happy new years!))

 

After the lecture in the auditorium, Autumn settled for hitting up the food that was available on the tables at the back of the room. Rather well satisfied with her choices, Autumn munched on pigs-in-a-blanket till she was feeling fairly full, and had some of the drinks that were available before smiling to herself and heading back to her dorm room.

 

When she got to her door, Autumn fished out her key before unlocking the room and going in. Finding her bags beside one of the beds, Autumn sighed happily as she began unpacking the contents of her bags into the dresser next to the bed she had found her stuff at. Satisfied with her set up, Autumn undressed to her underwear before climbing under the covers to sleep, finding her bed to be quite comfortable as she climbed in.

[Natevaelle]

Silmarwen looked at the last few things that sat at the bottom of her clothes bag. There were pieces of leather armor, the cuirass on top of the others, and an elven sword in its sheath. She heaved a small sigh, wishing that students of this academy could choose between combat and magic class instead. Back in Astraloth, fire elves specialized in either combat or magic. Born to a family of sages and mages, Silmarwen already began the path of learning to be a sage and a sorceress. She knew very little of combat. There were a few fire elves who were masters of both fields though, fierce warriors that were able to wield a flaming greatsword in each hand, but they were called Chosen Ones or Chosen of the Fire for a reason. Silmarwen never aspired to be one of them. She simply thought that it was not for her. She closed her clothes bag and slid it under her bed.

 

"Have you any idea how we should keep the eggs?"

 

Silmarwen stood up and looked around the room silently for about five seconds before noticing a pair of nests in the far end of the room for the first time. "Over there, I suppose," she replied. Though quite detached from it, Silmarwen wanted the egg by her side. There was something that she wanted to attempt on the egg right before she went to sleep. The nest was farther than she would have preferred it to be. "But I think that I will keep the egg by my side tonight." She opened up another bag and began to unpack several books, a few notebooks, some writing materials, and other scholarly implements.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Natevaelle

[Forsaken Rider of Dreams]

Dain watched the door the the auditorium silently from his perch deep in the darkened hallway. He knew who was leaving and who was entering and specifically waited silently for his friend to leave the grand room. He could feel the presence of the head master as he appeared to make an announcement and then disappear. Dain could remember a time when he first came to the Academy and had challenged the headmaster only to be beaten before he could blink. That fight caused him to have great respect for the man. Finally he watched Tatsuke hurry down the hall as if he wanted to be alone. Before Dain was even able to move a black blur passed by and into the Auditorium. Dain knew that this could only have been Mitch. Dain figured that the black wyvern had been waiting for Tatsuke to leave, out of respect. This realization only made Dain frown and feel even more upset than he already is.

 

Luz left her spot in the ceiling and came to land on her companions shoulder. She knew the pain Dain felt, being able to sense it partially though their bond, but not as well as an empath. Dain lifted his hand up to scratch the top of Luz's head in a sort of hello. Dain decided he would go out tonight, maybe see some of his favorite bartenders, or have a drink with a sweet lady. He turned, making his ay to the stair case only to notice the little creature at the bottom. "Hey there, you need some help?"

[Drakonspite]

Feathers... Blood... A Dark Figure...

 

Luke woke up sweating. He knew instantly that he had just had a nightmare but he couldn't recall anything from it. Deja was sleeping peacefully in his bed still curled around the egg. Luke felt cold. He looked around himself and saw that his blanket had been kicked onto the floor and his bear was halfway across the room. If he had moved around that much, he surely must have either crushed the egg or thrown it on the floor. He looked next to him and saw that the egg had not been moved from where it was. Sighing in relief, Luke headed towards the bathroom and washed his face. After feeling refreshed, he came back, picked up his bear and his blanket then lay in his bed. What was that dream? He asked himself. He tried to find an answer but his memory was too foggy to even recall it. Before he knew it, he was asleep.

[na82008]

Lorf walked around the dark village. He looked into a closed shop with a lot of glittery things in it. It was hard to see cause of the darkness but it looked like a gem shop. moving on he heard movement behind him, but when he turned around all he saw was shadow. He looked at many shops. He even found a shop that had lights on and a lot of people drinking strange liquids in it. He looked through at a clothing shop. He looked at his own ragged cloak. Nah, i like this better than anything in there he thought. He got his cloak when he was young. It use to be way to big, but there were lots of pockets on the inside. Moving through the dark town, he kept hearing a rustling sound behind him. I must be imagining things he thought. Lorf was glad he came to the city today. It was cold, but the city looked very nice in the moon and star light. Again he heard a rustling behind him. Choosing to ignore it he looked at a few more shops and the stables.

 

--------

 

Darik quietly followed the big lizard. He crawled along the floor always about 100 feat behind him. His wings rustled against the ground when he crawled, but if the lizard looked at him, we wasn't going to see his black forum against the ground. Where are you going? Darik thought. He waited for the perfect opportunity to scare the student.

[Luckyclaw]

A frustrated grunt came from Tatsuke's mouth as the string of his guitar snapped. After his crummy day, he had decided that before he wrote his nightly letter and went to bed maybe it would be a good idea to play his guitar. It helped him unwind when he was feeling particularly upset. But bad things come in threes, and apparently the third curse was to have his guitar string snap right when he wanted to play it. Disdainfully, he removed the cloth strap from around his body and placed the guitar to the side. He would have to make a trip to town tomorrow, but he soothed his thoughts by saying now that the third bad thing had happened he could have a good day tomorrow.

 

He had another instrument he enjoyed very much, an old shamisen that was slightly out of tune but pleasantly out of tune, but he had taken that one home over the summer and left it there on accident. He only had his guitar with him now, given to him by his grandfather when he retired from fighting in the war. He remembered the old man sitting him on his knee and telling him all about how he'd gotten it as a gift from a demon whose life he had spared. He remembered the wrinkled old hand lightly tracing over the carving on the back, then taking his small one and guiding it over the indentation in the light wood.

 

Tatsuke moved to his desk, clicking a pen and writing out a heading on his newest letter. He made sure to write about his day every night, sort of like a journal but specifically made out to the people important to him. Though he always made sure to write in his natural language... so no nosy little thief could read them. He wrote about his day, his concerns and every other little thing that came to mind. When he was done, he placed the paper under his mattress, removed his robe and flopped onto his bed. For the next however long he counted sheep and thought about random things until he drifted off to sleep.

[ValidEmotions]

"We'll see about that!" Linole grunted dismissing Burung's statement with an offhanded flick of his wrist. "Orion's calling for me. He's been wanting to try something new this year for class but it's been in the planning stages." Without another word, the old man bid good night to the company he kept and left the auditorium.

 

"Who was the walking fossil?" Al'nivte came to stand somewhere within the lingering group, idly tearing at a bloody piece of muscle. A strip of sinew wasn't breaking easily so he resorted to using one of his free claws to cut through it, quickly slurping it up like a spaghetti noodle.

 

Felic frowned slightly, glancing at the Uccello. "Mr. Linole isn't a fossil. He teaches hand-to-hand combat."

 

Al snorted, the sound more closely resembling a choked hiss. "Sure. While he's got some meat on his bones, I don't think he's teaching anything other than how to grow plants."

 

The Empath sighed quietly, turning his gaze back towards Sin. "I told Al that he wouldn't stand a chance against you in a fight Sin."

 

"Oh! That's what your girlfriend looks like! Again, Ic, a breath of wind could knock you over. I'm surprised, given how she looks, that she would even hang around with a toothpick like you. But, maybe looks truly don't mean anything, given the pathetic dragon that's clinging to her." Al'nivte swallowed the rest of the meat in his clawed hand, all but unaware of Jubah's presence. Did he feel a cold stare on him?

 

Glancing over, he scoffed at the hard look Felic was giving him. "What? A rat got stuck in your ? You look like you're body's plugged up on both ends!" And then his head snapped sideways. ! That boy had a right hook for looking so scrawny. The Uccello laughed, tenderly brushing his offended jaw. "Not bad. That all you got?"

 

Felic felt sick to his stomach. The animalistic male held so much contempt, he didn't need to read thoughts to know that the Uccello would sneer and pick at almost any little detail. The Empath's second punch was caught in a tight grip, claw tips threatening to puncture through the old bandages wrapped around his hand and into pink flesh. " you...." More laughter from the humanoid bird and then he was released.

 

"I'm going to bed then since you seem to be of no true fun." Ignoring anything that was bound to come up from Sin, Mitch, or Jubah, Al'nivte left and made for his room.

 

The senior student was burning inside. Over the past year, not much had set him off and away from his quiet demeanor. However, his ability to stay calm wasn't perfect, especially in the matters of someone trying to degrade the self-worth of anyone but himself. He knew that Sin wouldn't stand for Al's words but, the Empath was just closest and acted on whim faster than he could actually think. It simply took a bit more control than he would have liked to contain himself for the most part.

 

Cooling off quickly, Felic turned his gaze to the ground, absently rubbing his knuckles. "Sorry... I need sleep... Between sudden changes in emotions from other students and that creature's behavior, I'm kind of done with today... Good night..." Promptly, he followed the example of everyone else before him, and left for his bedroom.

 

----

 

Soria lightly patted Duordin's neck before exiting his assigned quarters and mumbling a soft word. Hurried, she made her way back inside the Academy and up to the second floor. She didn't see Dain and Twig on her way (having used the opposite set of stairs). In the hallway, she passed some gryphon-like student but sought no interaction and crossed paths with no one else. Reaching the door to her bedroom, she knocked and waited momentarily for a response. Receiving none, she proceeded to withdraw her key from her pocket and unlock the door.

 

Upon entry, she spotted James's egg resting on his bed some moments later. But no James. Odd.... Shrugging the matter away for a few seconds, she snatched up her pajamas and entered her part of the two-sided bathroom to change incase James walked into the room. When she was finished cleaning up for sleep, she saw that he still wasn't there and frowned. Well, so long as he made it back before curfew finally struck which was in... a few minutes? Ah well. Climbing into bed, she pulled the covers up to her shoulders and rolled onto her side with her back to the door.

 

----

 

So he was sharing a room with someone else then....

 

Al'nivte didn't make any comment about this fact, spotting the female curled up in bed almost as soon as he entered the room. Now, should he wake her or let her sleep till morning? Nah, he'd had his bout of fun for the night. He simply rested his egg in the nest closest to the open bed, unclasped his ring blade from his back and leaned it against the wall where it would be in arm's reach, and unceremoniously tossed his coat onto one of the desks. Following that, he plopped himself onto the open bed and fell asleep on his back with his hands under his head.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Narvix

[Luckyclaw]

Sin was always known for her loyalty to friends, in fact most Azazels were known for it. It was a part of her culture to revere pack mentality, and that the group was always more important than individual needs. Sin was easily offended by strangers who simply said the wrong thing the wrong way... Al outright insulted both of her best friends and one of her mentors. That was a greater offense to her than any physical declaration of war.

 

At being called pathetic, even Mitch's normally grumpy expression turned venomous. The wing came off of his partner and assumed a position slightly spread. It was natural for dragons to make themselves appear larger when insulted, it was an instinctual act of intimidation. Sin's silver eyes were like daggers at first, just at hearing Felic being called a toothpick and having Mitch called pathetic. Her lips drew back when he continued to insult Felic, and then she almost lunged at the student she had by now labeled as an enemy when Felic threw a punch.

 

Jubah held her by the shoulder, keeping her back from the fight going on. He looked at the Ucello with disappointment, but said nothing. If the fight escalated any further, the four-armed demon would step in to break up the fight himself. But having the Azazel leap into the fray now would only make the situation worse. Sin watched Al'nivte clutch Felic's hand in his own tightly, her own fists tightening further and further, the claws digging into the pale flesh. She was overflowing with protective wrath and outright anger when suddenly, the beast let her friend go and exited, leaving what he must have thought was a remark he thought made him sound cool and tough. She stared at the door long after he had left, and if looks could kill the door would have lit on fire and exploded.

 

Her lips settled back together, hiding her gleaming fangs once more. Felic cooled quickly and explained that he was tired and going to his room, but Sin could only nod at him and cast an apologetic glance. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry she didn't leap in and wrestle the jerk to the ground, but no words came from her mouth. Felic exited, and Sin was left feeling angry and vengeful with a pang of regret.

 

Jubah patted her shoulder, bringing her out of her doldrums for a moment. "What did I tell you about archers, Sin?" She looked at the Ashura teacher, who was lazily looking at the door the way she had been. What a random question to ask! Now, of all times? She thought about it though, not wanting to disappoint her teacher. Then it hit her, "...an archer waits."

 

He patted the Azazel on the back, "Atta girl." Then, like a mysterious sage, he left. Oddly enough, she had a feeling she understood what he was getting at now. Likewise, she left the auditorium and headed for her room, Mitch trailing right behind her.

 

~

 

She closed the door behind her, and looked down at her hand. No, her claws hadn't punctured the tough skin of her palm. To deal with having claws as well as handling various tools and weapons during her training, the skin of her palms was littered with callouses and lined with thick skin. But she made quick work of a small sliver of her palm by biting into part of it with her sharp teeth. A little bit of blood was now trickling just under the curve of her palm. Gently she wiped it under her eye, blotting out her freckles on that side, and asked for strength and patience. There was a lot of blood-related incantations and charms in her odd religion, but it couldn't be anything other than psyche-up since Azazels had no magic.

 

She hit the bed, only bothering to kick off her boots. The blood remained under her eye as she laid her head on the pillow and stared up at the bottom of the top bunk. She heard a creak and saw the mattress above sag as Mitch climbed on the top bed, and held in a chuckle as his tail, leg and wing all hung limply off the side of the bed making a kind of half-tent for her. He let out a deep sigh as if he was pouting, and she knew the Uccello's insult had gone to his heart.

 

So she did what Mitch always did when he wanted to cheer her up. She climbed to the top bunk and laid on top of him, hugging his neck and cuddling her clean cheek on the top of his head. It seemed to work, as it elicited one of his rare smiles. They had a lot ahead of them in the days ahead, and Sin would need her strength and patience not only for the antagonistic birdman but for the entire student body. Huddled together on the top bunk, the tri-horned wyvern and the Azel drifted off into dreamless rest.

[Emeraldmay]

"Oh. Yes. Thanks" Cassie muttered, slightly embarrassed that she hadn't noticed it herself. Walking quickly across the room, Cassie reluctantly but purposefully left the egg in the spot provided. While she would have liked to keep the egg with her, she assumed that this would be best for it, so she placed it down there. While Cassie moved back to sit on her bed, her eyes kept on drifting back to the egg.

 

Quickly, she did a check of her most precious possessions. Egg was where she left it, key on the desk, ring on her finger. Check. Everything was ok. Breathing a slight sigh of relief, Cassie hid under the duvet in order to change into her nightdress, then brushed her hair through, so what was once curls now fell straight down in neat lines.

 

Taking out a sponge from the dresser, Cassie wetted it slightly, then started to rub down the feathers on her wings. As the gold was a temporary dye, it easily ran out and was absorbed by the sponge. Slowly, her wings lost their previous shine as the gloss and gold faded out, into a softer white down. As Cassie washed them down, she neatly brushed down each feather with her hand so they were all smooth.

Cassie was so self-absorbed in her pampering, that she paid little attention to her roommate that was sorting out her stuff. Once she had finished her wings, she slowly wiped down her face and hands, then put away her stuff. Cassie needed order, and only once everything was in what she had decided was the correct place was she able to lie down in bed with a clear mind.

 

[sailing101]

Ah, finally someone had come to help. The stranger seemed oddly pale, but twig guessed it was just a skin condition or something.

 

"Ah, yes," Twig replied bashfully. "I was left behind at the hatchery and am a bit lost as to what to next do and where to go. and then there's the question on how to get upstairs. I can climb up m'self all right, but I'd most likely drop the egg"

 

((Sorry shortpost is short, but that's all I got at the moment))

[na82008]

Lorf began heading back to the academy. Again, he heard a rustling that sounded like it was following him. He turned around. Following him was a black dragon with a lot of stars covering its body. The dragon said "You won't get back very fast walking, do you want me to fly you back?" Who's dragon is that? Lorf thought. If he got back quickly, he was less likely to get caught, so why not?

 

-------

 

"ok, but why are you helping me?" the red lizard asked. Its working Darik thought. "Why, i only want you to think of me as a friend" He replied.

 

He waited for the lizard to get on to his back. He'll fall of easily Darik thought. The lizard didn't seem to know how to ride a dragon yet. Not that a normal person would know. Darik started flying slowly, he didn't want the student to fall of yet.

 

This is your first year at the academy, right? Darik asked, but before the lizard could answer Darik took a sharp turn and flew directly over the lake. Grinning the dragon did a barrel roll causing the lizard to fall of his back, directly into the lake.

 

-------

 

There was water everywhere. Lorf began kicking trying to get up. His feet hit the bottom of the lake and he pushed himself up. He began crawling out of the shallow part of the lake and plopped down on to his back coughing. The dragon flew to the academy laughing. I shouldn't have trusted him Lorf thought. His cloak was soaking wet and his scales were moist all over. He was going to need to dry them or he could get a scale infection. At least he'd left his egg in his room, he might have dropped it in the lake if he took it with him.

 

He got up, still coughing slightly, and walked over to the academy. He put his hands against the wall of the building and began to climb. He reached his window. Luckily it was still opened just a bit. He pulled on it opening it. It's smaller than i thought it was Lorf thought, looking at the open window. He reached through and began bulling himself in. Suddenly he couldn't pull himself in. His stomach was wedged between the window and the wall. What if i get stuck here? he thought. Maybe this wasn't as good of an idea as he thought. He began tugging and trying to pull himself in. Water dripped onto the floor from his scales and his cloak. He pulled harder and finally managed to squeeze himself in landing heavily on the floor with a loud thump that could be heard a room over. He was so tired he simply fell asleep right there on the floor.

Edited January 3, 2014 by na82008

[ValidEmotions]

The janitor made his rounds. As the few remaining "night owls" made for sleep, locking themselves in their rooms and going through their rituals for sleep, the lanky, crooked looking, custodian went through each floor. He picked up what little trash there was, mostly crumpled up bits of paper that had bounced off trashcan rims and came to rest on the floor a few inches away. He cleaned tables and desks, made sure chalkboards had chalk and erasures, counted supplies one last time to verify that there were enough for a full class.

 

The man started from the third floor and worked his way down, turning off any lights along his way, locking then unlocking then locking doors. Down the hall and onto the next floor, making the same repetitions to lock up the stairwell doors. On the second floor, he simply mopped the hallways and cleaned the restrooms, leaving the library in the librarian's hands and letting the students sleep in quiet. Similarly, the stairwell door was shut up, the steps down to the first floor no longer occupied by the vampire boy and Littleputan fairy.

 

On the ground floor, he stuck to cosmetic cleaning, leaving chores such as food preparation and organization of student needs for the senior students. Come next week, they would be left for whomever was in trouble. Below in the basement, he checked the appliances and systems, making sure they worked; he still needed to find a way to fix that bloody dent in the water heater! But magic was far from the answer. No! He preferred non-magical means. Grumbling under his breath, he left the basement and headed for his cozy, crooked, cabin at the back of the school's campus. Along the way, his shoulder brushed the wall and a droplet of water splashed against his balding head. Looking up, he muttered venomously about rotten children and no respect for rules. However, he didn't do anything about it and continued to his cabin for some porridge.

 

~~~~~~~~~~Time Jump to Monday, 6:00 Am~~~~~~~~~~

 

Felic and Sorge

 

Felic stirred in his bed, rolling onto his stomach while pulling the covers up to his head. After a few moments, he made a faint grunt and sluggishly sat up, rubbing an eye. Ow... His right hand was making him know that it hadn't favored coming into strong contact with a large beak. A punching bag was fine but, the hard and rough surface of an avian's beak was another matter. Briefly combing his fingers through his dark hair, the Empath glanced over at Sorge. The female dragon was still sleeping, curled up beside the door as a measure of protecting her human caretaker. For now, he let her continue to sleep, taking a moment to reposition the blanket he had covered her with before falling asleep.

 

Silently, he got dressed into a fresh pair of slacks and a dark purple dress shirt. Oddly enough, his pants were void of hapless wrinkles but his shirt was a war zone for creases. Ignoring that details, he loosely hung his tie around his neck, bringing the knot up to about his collarbone. It was early and Sin never favored being woken up before 7:30. So, to pass the time, he chose to read a little; there was a book he needed to finish soon and return to the library before Miss Sentra worried about it. Typically, he would go through a practice few drills after classes to help him relieve any stress gathered through the day.

 

The book was practically finished when he picked it up again, flipping through the last couple of chapters in less than half an hour. He went to return it then, apologizing to Sorge as he had to wake her but she was ready to get up anyways and chose to accompany him. Down the halls and into the library, Felic was greeted by Miss Sentra in her usual appearance act and she took the book from him happily, handing him another that she managed to find for him after his last visit to locate it failed.

 

Leaving with the new book under his arm, a light frown crossed the boy's facial features. A late arrival? Someone was exuding confusion downstairs, faint from distance, and he went to see why. "Hello, you must be one of the new students we were expecting yesterday. Did you get lost on your way here?" Felic had reached the first floor, moving down the hall and through the foyer where he met a human girl just inside the entrance way. "My name's Felic and this is Sorge. I'm a senior student here and I'll help you through getting acquainted with the school's system."

 

Sorge remained at his side, dipping her scaly head in greeting as he introduced the dragon to the new arrival. There was still time before they needed to wake Sin and Mitch for breakfast and classes.

[Mitzuki505]

The girl replies to Felic: "Yes, I was one of the new students. I arrived here late at night, but I saw that the gates were closed, so I went to the town and spent the night there."

 

"My name is Mizuki Tachibana. Nice to meet you.", she says right after Felic goes down to the foyer.