Sweet_waterz

[lycrawaterz14]

Towards the end of a hard and grueling academic career at the Academy, Caleb the satyr is finally nearing graduation. He is called to his patron headmaster, Ito's office, as all of the graduates must do before completion go their schooling. Some of them never return, and some make it back... in pieces. Even fewer pass their 'final exam'. It is different excruciating tasks, some of them foolish, others of great importance. But it must be done before one is even considered 'completely educated'.

 

A gangly teenage boy has his hand in a large cauldron, leaning at the waist, most of his head completely submerged in it. Although there is fire at the bottom of the cauldron, he doesn't seem to be boiling at all. Unlike the odd liquid inside, which writhed and coiled up like it was made of small parchment-covered snakes. The boy quickly recovers whatever was needed. Although to an onlooker, this might seem like trouble, but in fact, wasn't the case at all. A boy wasn't messing in a cauldron, but a professor choosing his next student's final quest. The boy wasn't far from human, but exactly halfway there. Half of his eyes possessed a human and flecked cornflower blue eye, and the other burned green reptilian. There were various scales and patches of draconic features, but most glaringly not-human, was the seven foot wings hidden under his arms. When folded, they merely seemed like two pillars flanking his sides, but when extended proved a strong flying system. Right now the professor was shaking his dark auburn hair out and parchment pieces were flying back into the cauldron. He held a scroll in his hands, and smiled. "Huh... bottom of the barrel it seems this time." He was tempted to open up the scroll, but promised Caleb would open it. Where was he anyway?

Edited February 5, 2014 by lycrawaterz14

[Sweet_Wyvern]

He was late! He was late yet again and he had no one to blame for it save himself. Caleb had been out on the lawn when it occurred to him that his quest would be picked today, and that if he ever wanted to graduate he needed to take the quest and succeed. Down the halls he raced, bleating for people to get back and his hooves clattering noisily. By the time he got to Ito's office he was quite a bit out of breath, his horns visibly nestled in locks of brown hair as he bent double to catch his breath back. "I.. Am here," he wheezed.

[lycrawaterz14]

Ito lifted an eyebrow. "Oh... Good." He waved his hand and a stone slab rose from the floor. Ito was adept in manipulation of the six elements: fire, earth, water, wind, darkness, and light. He seemed to be the only not-born mage that was adept enough to master them all without being born with his powers. He was naturally gifted towards the earth element, but light and fire were harder to him. He placed the scroll on the mesa and fell backwards. As he fell a stone chair arose from the ground, simply a stone slab with a taller portion in the back. Ito relaxed, and waited for Caleb to catch his breath. He made a stalagmite off of his slab-table, and it crumbled into fine sand. A swat of the hand made it molten, and he simply shaped it into a cup. A blast of icy wind to cool it, and he manipulated the spring water from the basin in the floor into it. Ito firmly grasped the cup and broke it off from the stone table, now a finely crafted glass cup of water. "Here." He offered Caleb.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Caleb was always impressed when he saw magic being worked, especially such a complex magic. His powers were over emotions and usually life, meaning he could more or less heal, but for the most part he dealt with plant life. He could make anything grow, which was fine with him, since he didn't usually like to toy with people's emotions. "Thank you sir," he said gratefully, taking the cup and downing its contents. His breath finally caught, he found himself glancing nervously between the scroll and the teacher. What would his quest be?

[lycrawaterz14]

When Ito finally deemed he had recovered enough he nodded at Caleb. "Seems like only yesterday was your first time in here..." He looked around his tower. Ito resideded in a stone tower, with archways making it open all around and quite high up. Ito had to have a large and open space, it was where the elementals could let loose with their powers and be trained.

 

Plus when you were half wyvern, you needed a place to grow full size, and wyverns were not tiny. Ito was born on the other side of the world, his father from a remote desert where the wyverns grew larger than average. His breed of wyvern was muscle bound and about the size of most houses. Launching from the tower was quite a feat, but attainable. He had grown in his time here... He probably needed to stretch out the archways soon.

 

"Now Caleb... you do know I can't make you take your quest. Fate has chosen it, I haven't even looked at it. You know the dangers associated with the quest, and there is no promise of you coming back alive. We have had too many mothers and fathers destroy camp in grief, and we have to hold you responsible. You are free to take as long as you please to get ready. Do know that if you accept your quest, a summoned companion must travel with you. This is not chosen by me, but by the cauldron. Once your quest is over, the companion must return from which it came. The companion may return on its own accord, or may be summoned by you if you so choose." Ito just nodded. "If you choose to accept, simply open the scroll. If you want to keep preparing, you may."

Edited February 5, 2014 by lycrawaterz14

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Caleb nervously chewed his lower lip. This all sounded ominous and difficult, but the prospect of having a friend to help him did make it seem less threatening. "Okay," he breathed, inhaling and exhaling deeply before he took a few steps towards the quest. Slowly he picked it up, glancing at Ito before he opened it.

[lycrawaterz14]

Ito simply nodded in encouragement. The scroll had letters that seemed to burn onto the page as he read.

 

Satyrs tend to enjoy the chase

for this one, it resides in a long lost place.

Care for the sirens, both gentle and meek

but beware of the one who pecks your cheek

 

Beware also, for there be 'dragons' here,

but the one you seek is the one that lies near

the one who claims king, but not at all

is the one who receives the destined toll.

 

This king is the one who hid this 'golden fleece'

belongs to the king who has the life and death piece

a child's heart and legs are the price he paid

to simply survive and be born this way

 

The child has long past and not made to stay

is the child who made a machine and flown away

his abandoned birth cloth is what you seek

and the life and death king is who will reap.

 

Ito was itching to see what it said, but it was his quest. Caleb would choose if he wanted him to come with him. He wasn't going to mention it unless he invited him. "You alright?" He asked. Sometimes the students fainted at their quest.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Caleb's eyes scanned the page, brows knitting together the further down he went. Oh... This was not going to be easy. The poor satyr wasn't good at puzzles, especially not riddles, and none of it made any sense. "What? O-oh yes, I am fine. Just a bit confused," he answered, scratching between his horns. "You said I could bring a companion with me? How do I pick? And are they the only one I can show the quest to?" He really wanted to ask Ito for help.

[lycrawaterz14]

"Oh yes. Simply throw the scroll." Ito had forgotten that part. "It'll summon your companion. It may even be one of the members of our school... Or a monster from the behemoth depth. It really varies. It will help you on your quest though." Ito smirked. Caleb seemed to be nervous, but he would be fine. "You can ask for help from anyone on your quest, show them, and invite whomever you choose. Just remember you are risking their life too, so pick someone at least competent." He smiled.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Caleb exhaled with a nervous look at Ito. "I don't think I can ask anyone to risk their life for me... but if that was an invitation I'd love to hear your opinion," he replied, holding up the scroll. He'd summon his companion first though. Sighing, he gave it a toss, hoping he got someone kind.

[lycrawaterz14]

Ito quickly darted out of the chair to get out of the way. The scroll bounced before settling a few inches away, a circle and star appearing from the spot. Several runes appeared around the star, and a bright flash grew from within the space contained. It only grew in brightness until it hurt even Ito's eyes. He looked away until it and the purple spots in his eyes faded. He blinked and looked where the circle had sat. A pair of bat like wings were wrapped around a figure, the curled up wings probably came to Ito's waist, and he waited for it to unfold. When it didn't, he motioned for Caleb to get it to come out. He did see light apricot skin of a back where the wings had sprung from, but the overlap of the leathery wrapping hid whatever was hiding within.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Caleb couldn't watch for long until he had to shield his eyes, the light too bright for his eyes. When it died down enough for him to peek again, his gaze grew transfixed on the huddled figure on the floor. Who was that? A demon? He knelt, gently, touching the thing on the arm. "Are you alright?"

[lycrawaterz14]

The wings unfolded like petals, and retracted to expose auburn hair, wavy and long, and a pair of deep garnet colored eyes locked on Caleb. Heavy lashes closed and opened, almost curious, but lazy. "I'm sorry we disturbed your nap." Ito quickly apologized. The girl kept her eyes on Caleb. "It's quite alright." She cooed with an innocent tone, but still almost seductive sounding. Her wings unfolded the rest of the way to expose bare shoulders and a pretty body in a strapless red dress. Her legs were crossed and folded up to her chest, her arms lazily wrapped around them as her wings retracted on her back. "Why was I summoned...?" She asked, yawning. She still stared down Caleb. "I'm Valen."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

(Is she a succubus?)

 

Caleb couldn't help but stare as the girl revealed herself, red springing to his cheeks. Surely someone as pretty as this couldn't be a demon, right? Suddenly more eager about his quest, the satyr gave a nervous bleat and cleared his throat. "Hi, I'm Caleb," he managed to say without stammering. "I'm uh, going on a quest and I needed a um, companion." He straightened so that he wasn't in her personal space anymore.

[lycrawaterz14]

Valen twisted her head at the noise, and nodded as he introduced himself. "I'm sorry... but I can't be a companion upon summoning. I have to be at least fully grown before-" "Not that kind." Ito interrupted, he coughed a little. "Valen is a succubus." He explained to Caleb. Valen shrugged. "Not yet. I'm too little. I will be once I'm all grown." She smiled at Caleb, charm already developed. She had perfectly straight white teeth. "He needs assistance with his quest, and you were summoned by the fate's scroll." Ito explained. Valen nodded. "I suppose I shouldn't argue with fate then." she smiled at Caleb, and stood. She seemed physically around sixteen or seventeen tops. "What quest...?"

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Caleb didn't understand at first, but once he did, his entire face turned bright red and his leg started to twitch nervously. He'd never met a succubus before, but he knew what they were capable of, and he was bad enough around women as it was. "I-I-I uh, it's um, right here," he stammered, scrambling to pick up the scroll and holding it out to her. This was going to be a long, long quest.

[lycrawaterz14]

Her delicate hands took it from his. "Thank you." She smiled, and started to read. Ito sighed at Caleb. Perhaps he wasn't ready to be on a quest just yet. But it was a bit late for that, and hopefully Caleb would make it without getting fried by a succubus. Valen lifted her head.

 

"Excuse me... but this doesn't make any sense at all." She pouted a little. "I don't understand." She rustled her wings a little as she moved to face the both of them, trying to keep Ito and Caleb in her vision. Security purposes. "You aren't supposed to. It's a quest. If it just said it outright it could alter how fate is supposed to play out." Ito nodded. Valen just shrugged. "That's okay. I can help I guess."

Edited February 6, 2014 by lycrawaterz14

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Caleb gave Ito a sheepish look, shifting back and forth to try and get rid of some of his nerves. It was just another girl, no reason to flip out. "I didn't get it either," he offered helpfully. "I um, I figured we could take it piece by piece. The first stanza will probably lead us to our first clue."

[lycrawaterz14]

"Maybe stanzas aren't the best way? It mentions things about the location... Long lost, sirens living there, and dragons. But I don't understand why it's in those little quotations?" She twisted her head. No matter what she did she always seemed to look attractive. Her hair always fell perfectly into place after movement.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

"Well, generally things that are in quotations are metaphors. You know, like a quote on quote 'serpent' could be a representation of a snake. But I really don't think those things will be relevant until we pass through the things before them," Caleb suggested, suddenly wishing he was wearing a shirt. He usually went shirtless, as all satyrs did, but right now he felt exposed.

[lycrawaterz14]

"What is a representation of a dragon...?" Suddenly Ito's reaction caught her eye. "He knows something..." Valen walked over to Ito, and came eye to chin with the tall professor. "You know something from our quest...?" She circled him gracefully and lithe. Almost like a big cat with prey. "Can you be of assistance?" Valen asked and Ito shrugged. "I haven't been asked..."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Caleb too was starting to wonder why his professor wasn't helping him. Did Ito really care so little? Or was it against the rules? Then the Wyvern pointed out that the satyr hadn't asked him and he smacked himself in the head. "Of course! I'm an idiot- Ito, can you please help?" He formally asked.

[lycrawaterz14]

Ito simply smiled, and nodded. "I will be right back." He then wandered into his sleeping chambers to get something. Valen moved to circle Caleb now, but she was simply curious. She touched his horns, walked around him, looked him up and down and finally got uncomfortably close in his face. She seemed to be checking the color of his eyes. She put a hand close to his shoulder, before stopping about half and inch above. "...may I?" Valen asked, twisting her head slightly.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Caleb started to get nervous again, his hoof clicking against the stone floor anxiously. He wasn't scared of her, the fact of the matter was simply that he didn't do well around women. He wasn't ugly- far from it, as many girls at the school stared at his chest and abdomen when he went around. But he was a satyr, and shy by nature. "Y-yes? I mean, sure," he stammered, not sure what she was trying to do.

[lycrawaterz14]

She ran her finger down his chest, her nails much sharper than they looked. It looked like a small cut made by glass, clean, but a lot of blood. She let it bead up, and wiped it with her finger, before holding pressure to the wound. "Thank you." She smiled, like it really was nice of him. Valen gently put her lips to her finger and cleaned it off. Pretty soon the wound had closed, and she wiped up the excess and drank that too. "I got... Oh. Sorry?" Ito had lots of maps in his hands and seemed to have walked in on something. Valen just licked her teeth and smiled. "No need to apologize. Caleb is very kind."