Heavenly ★ Branches [IC]

[ValidEmotions]

He tossed in his bed, frustration mounting as he rolled onto his side. He couldn't sleep. Why couldn't he sleep? It wasn't the dramatic whispers occurring across the room, though he wished it was that simple. Antonio shot a tired glare in the direction of the voices, recognizing Flint in the gloom but not the girl with him. He barely noticed the third empty bed.

 

Turning to rest on his other side, Antonio rubbed a hand over his face before sighing faintly. Maybe it had just been the whispering. Energy seemed to drain from his body once the room had returned to silence. Heavy eyelids drifted shut -

 

Something was moving, causing the earth to tremble so subtly. A flash of teeth crushed a stone that blocked the way - With a jolt, Antonio opened his eyes. Rubbing his face, he frowned. Was he that exhausted that he was starting to imagine things? Shaking his head, he laid back down and shut his eyes again. The earth was trembling again, this time vibrating through his flesh and quaking in his bones. A glimpse of a massive form flickered here and there, pressing against dirt and stone.

 

Gasping, Antonio sat up abruptly, gripping the fabric of his bedding. The feeling didn't go away this time. It lingered on his skin, causing the hackles on the back of his neck to rise. It clung to his chest, making his bones ache. Something was wrong but he couldn't place his finger on what.

 

Throwing the blanket aside, Antonio hopped out of bed. Grabbing his coat and slipping on his shoes, the boy hurried quietly out of the room.

 

~~~~

 

"Matt! Hey, Matt!" Latoya called, hurrying down the hallway after lunch to catch up with the Earth boy. "Matt! I want to show you something! Come with me!" she urged, grabbing his arm once she got to his side. "It's in the student lounge," she explained, grinning. Dragging him after her, Latoya kept a quick pace until she found the right place. Letting go of his hand, she continued to a cork-board with several thumb tacks decorating its surface. Some held sheets of paper.

 

"Look!" Pointing at one small sheet in particular, Latoya turned her gaze on her backpack and started searching through it. "It's so strange! I wanted to ask some of the teachers earlier if there was any chance of me gaining access to the kitchens whenever I pleased. I like to cook and bake, you know?" she babbled, glancing at Matthew for a second before returning to her bag. "Found it!" She pulled free a book, Cook Everything: A Well-Rounded Cookbook scrawled across the front in cursive typing.

 

Beaming, Latoya continued talking. "Now I don't have to bug the teachers! Someone's read my mind and is pointing me to the kitchens! And look! I've already got a recipe book!" she exclaimed, excited. "Do you want to come with me?" she asked him, looking hopeful.

[Thaelasan]

The massive maelstrom stormed and churned beneath an unforgiving, stormy, and red-black sky. The clouds were nothing but dark and grey. The lightning cracked like a whip across the air and left behind a smell of copper mixed with the smell of salt. He gripped the side of the boat firmly, praying to God almighty for the voyage to survive.

But it was as though he could hear his own words fall into the water like the stones and rocks that were torn from the cliffs nearby, as though the very water had hands to reach to a thousand directions. To tear. To crush.

He remembered it should be loud. But he could hear only a blinding silence. Time seemed to slow, and then a great roar shattered the silence and broke into his thoughts.

 

YOUR EXISTENCE... A BLOT OF INK IN A BOOK WRITTEN A THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE YOUR CONCEPTION.

 

A single, horrendous appendage sprouted from the water like a vine of angry, pulsating flesh and wrapped around the ship, squeezing to pull the entire ship closer.

 

YOUR SURVIVAL... A SAD AND FLEETING HOPE, THE HOPE OF THE IGNORANT.

 

Spikes from the tentacle shoved themselves into the wood of the boat and into the bodies of the crew as they were dragged overboard, kicking, screaming, swearing, and crying into the depths of the red ocean. There was no mercy to be found for them. No prayers given that could save them from the pain and fear they would feel until the last breath was squeezed from water-filled lungs and bloody corpses.

 

YOUR STRENGTH... A DULLED BLADE AGAINST ARMOR STRONGER THAN ANY FORTRESS... ANY MOUNTAIN.

 

The wood of the ship clamored as though it was alive, screaming like the crew as it was torn asunder. The half he was on was thrown to the waves, with water reaching to grab him like the very hands of the damned gone before.

 

YOU WILL LEAVE NO MARK. YOU WILL BE FORGOTTEN. THERE WILL BE NO ONE TO HEAR YOUR FINAL GASP OF AGONY. YOU ARE ALONE.

 

To act. He felt he needed to act. He unsheathed the sword from his belt and shoved it into the tentacle as it lifted itself from the ruins of the ship, the wood becoming nothing more than flotsam as it sailed into the abyss. He hung from the sword as the tentacle thrashed, blood darker than any crimson spilling into the waters below, to become drops in an ocean, to disappear among the red.

 

YOU STRUGGLE FEEBLY AGAINST A FATE ALREADY CHOSEN FOR YOU, CHOSEN EONS BEFORE YOUR WORLD WAS EVEN BORN. YOU BLINDLY THROW YOURSELF INTO THE MAW OF YOUR OWN END, FOR EVEN A MOMENT OF VICTORY.

 

The tentacle began to pull itself down into the depths, another one wrapping around his chest, spikes digging into his ribs and stomach, but still he lived. The pain was too intense. He became dead to it. But he could see the blood, hear the cracks.

 

COME CLOSER. COME CLOSER AND SEE THE HORROR THAT AWAITS YOU, THAT AWAITS ALL WHO LIVE.

 

"...Ch....Charybdis..." he whispered through clenched teeth, unable to believe his eyes as the great beast surfaced.

Tendrils wrapped around stone as it rose from the center of the maelstrom, a single, omnipotent, abyssal maw visible at the front of a gigantic, spike-covered worm, the teeth spiraling around like a vortex with no end visible to the human eye.

 

YOUR COURAGE IS BUT AN OPIATE TO DULL THE PAIN OF FEAR BUT IT IS NO CURE.

 

The tendril dragged him through the waves. Fear and panic would have caused him to scream if he could even breathe. His eyes were wide and seemed to scream for themselves.

 

COME.... CAPTAIN.... SHOW ME YOUR WILL, THE WILL OF A RACE DOOMED TO DIE, TO DROWN IN THE SEA OF THEIR OWN FEAR.

 

He held the sword firmly within the tentacle binding him but his arms were already becoming weak. The loss of blood was making him tired and unable to go on. His eyes began to close as the humidity of the beast's dark breath exhaled upon him. The screams of the dying crew that were devoured before him echoed in the depths of the creature. Was there even an end? Only blackness welcomed him.

 

WHAT A FUTILE ATTEMPT.... EVEN NOW, THE VESTIGES OF YOUR MORTAL LIFE COIL FROM YOU AS YOU LOSE THE WILL TO EVEN STRUGGLE. SUCH A PATHETIC DEATH, FITTING FOR A MORTAL WITH NO HOPE, NO COURAGE.

 

The maw embraced him, and he saw nothing further.

 

I.... HUNGER...

 

----

 

Will awoke, grasping himself all over and hugging his shoulders as he shook back and forth. He couldn't speak. He couldn't think. He could only hope this was reality - not that great abyss which welcomed him with a hundred, fanged arms.

 

"Freyja... Frey. Frey. Frey." he whimpered, kneeling in a fetal position in his bed. He had felt the pain. It had felt so real. His blankets and bed offered little solace as he cried in fear. He grabbed his pillows and blankets and moved from the bed and headed to the dorm room door. He opened it, certain that he had to do this.

He walked down the halls, finally reaching the door he was looking for - Freyja's dorm, the Wind Dorms. He was too tired to think about the repercussions, too scared to think about the consequences. He grabbed the handle and opened the door, stepping within and searching blindly in the dark.

He stumbled along, frightened. A wind user awoke as he brushed past her and she yawned.

"....Wait... aren't you...?"

Will gave her a glance and she froze. He looked like a dead man. Bags under his eyes mixed with a fear that couldn't be explained made her stop for a moment.

"....Are you lookin' for the Scottish girl?" the girl hazarded a guess, confused. "...You shouldn't be in here."

Will nodded. He knew that.

"She's in.. the third bed from the right? Near the window. Made a big deal out of it the first night. Said something about birds..." the girl rubbed her eyes. "Sleep well I guess."

He walked over to the spot she pointed at. In the moonlight, Frey's face was framed by loose hairs, her breath steady and quiet. She always wore her hair up during the day. Will hadn't seen her without it in a long time. He poked her face a moment, afraid. Her eyes moved slightly but she didn't awaken.

"Frey.." Will whispered, trying to be quiet. "Frey."

She blinked once, beginning to awaken. She murmured as she turned over to face him, slowly moving her eyes upward.

"....What... am I late fer class?....What time is it?" Frey asked, concerned. She reached for her phone from the bedside table and checked it.

"It's one in the morning and yer in th' Wind Dorm." Frey yawned, putting the phone back down. "What do you need, Will?.."

"Can I... sleep here... with ye?"

She was silent a moment, her eyes half-closed.

"Can you wot?"

"Can I sleep here, with ye?"

"Are ye out of yer bloody mind?" Frey asked quietly, rubbing her head. "We'll get in trouble fer sure."

"But I can't sleep otherwise." Will said flatly.

"The nightmares are gettin ' worse?"

"Much."

She rubbed her face, then laid her head back on her pillow after a moment, patting the bed.

"Fine... fine. Just don't take all the covers. And get some sleep. I'll set an alarm for six, so get out of here 'fore everyone else wakes up."

"Aye... aye..." Will muttered, laying down quietly.

He closed his eyes, listening to Frey's breath relaxing again as she quickly fell back to sleep. But he opened them again as he looked out the window.

Something about the birds.

He could imagine her sitting on the bed, doing homework in her casual shirts as she watched birds fly by outside the window. She'd move her hair out of her eyes. She'd tsk whenever she found a difficult problem.

He closed his eyes again, sighing.

He wasn't sorry for what he'd done so far that ruined his own reputation.

He was truly sorry that Frey had to suffer with him.

[hjy213]

Studying the Branch by raising it up to the lights as she walked, Hyun-hi frowned, still a bit disgruntled by the fact that she's in Heaven's Gate Academy. Considering how selective the academy was, she figured both she and her brother wouldn't be accepted. Yet there they were, walking through the academy without aim and carrying their respective Branches.

 

Taking Hyun-ji's hand and bringing it in front of his own face so she could look at him, Tae-hyun smiled as he spoke, "Now now, Hyun-ji, you should look in front as you walk~. Wouldn't want your pretty face slamming into a wall. Of course, I will always protect you."

 

Raising an eyebrow, Hyun-ji then shook her head, smiling before she looked at Tae-Hyun in the eyes. "Always protect me, huh? How will you do that when we're going to be in different dorms?"

 

Letting go of Hyun-ji's hand Tae-hyun brought his right hand to his wrist, pondering for a moment before shrugging. "I dunno, that's a shame, though. We got into the same school but we're not in the same dorm." Pouting, Tae-hyun extended his arms out to his sister. "Comfort me, Hyun-ji."

 

Taking Tae-hyun's arms and putting them down, Hyun-ji rolled her eyes, "You know, we don't have to do that whole act here yet. And it can be good that we have different elements, since we can be partners."

 

Brightening up, Tae-hyun nodded, snapping his fingers then giving a thumbs up, "Ay, you right. In both aspects. Then let's just wander for a bit. Find a guy to show us around."

 

Nodding in agreement, Hyun-ji put her Branch on, gesturing for Tae-hyun to shout for her.

 

"HEYO!" Tae-hyun shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "Anyone willing to help these latecomers find their way around campus?"

 

[halfsourpickle]

Harcourt

Harcourt was near the fountain. He was practicing his control, making the water bubble and jet into the air with a few flicks of his hand. He'd improved a lot since his first year at Heaven's Gate Academy, and now he was a second-year! Sometimes he still couldn't believe he'd been here for a year already. He definitely still felt like a first-year. Hearing a loud, "HEYO," he turned his head towards the source. He could vaguely make out two people in the distance. One was shouting about needing a guide. He trotted over to the yelling boy, offering the two a warm smile and a wave. "Hi lads!" He chirped. "Er, lad and girl," he quickly corrected. "Heard you from all de way over dere. Name's Harcourt." He made sure to enunciate the t in his name, knowing that his accent made him drop t's. "Harcourt Li-Summerfield. I'm a second-year Water branch. I can show you around if you like." He paused a second to look the two over. They seemed like they were related, maybe twins. The girl was a Water branch, while the boy was Air. "Hey, I've got a buddy here who's an Air branch too," he said, "Dough I don't think dey're goin' ta be too willing to come back outside after taking morning classes."

Edited October 12, 2016 by Chrysophylox

[TehUltimateMage]

((NPC dump. Their profiles will be added into the first post shortly.))

 

Saturday Afternoon - Alistair, Inari, and whatever second years I guess

 

"A-A-Alistair! Sir! Report!" A brown haired boy suddenly stood straight and made a salute when faced with his hero, his round, freckled face pulled into as serious an expression as he could manage. He wasn't too successful, however, and the expression looked closer to a pout. Looking down, he met the young man's eyes with his own, only to look away after a half a second. Then, feeling awkward, he sunk back into a nervous slouch -- and he seemed much more anxious than usual. "There's been a, uh--"

 

"I don't think he really likes you calling him sir," came a higher pitched voice, and the boy felt himself getting tackled from behind by a girl with hair messily bleached a shade of orange. He screamed and she let go, a mischievous and almost cat-like grin gracing her soft and narrow features. "What Daniel is trying to spit out is that someone trashed the dance floor!" she whined. "Winters found out first when she went down to do a sound check, but she hadn't really told anyone yet. People are starting to find out for themselves, though, especially since there's no announcement of a term kickoff party!"

 

Daniel had begun to regain his composure but still looked at the more energetic girl rather cautiously while he twiddled his fingers. "Under inspection it looks like a cave-in or some sort of quake, but might easily have been caused by some earth elementals or even a rogue earth stem. You should probably take a look at the damage and see what can be fixed."

 

 

Friday Night - Will+Frey

 

"She really is your life, isn't she?" came a tenor voice from one of the beds above Will. The figure swung his body around, leaning his lanky figure over the top bunk to talk to the first year in a whisper, his bedhead hair falling partially in his eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was wake up the others and alert some snitch who was going to report the kid.

 

William Edwards. In the first week of school, got himself a controversial spotlight the staff were apparently ripping each other to shreds over. Not that he himself really cared about the new kid (at least not outwardly) but it was likely that this wouldn't be the last of Will's midnight visits. At least someone seemed to be sleeping soundly. He himself couldn't sleep. He still wasn't used to it. Hunting habits didn't die easily, and when the life of your partner had to be guarded with the same ferocity as your own... His sister slept like a rock and hit like one too, which meant that his duty was to keep watch and protect her. His skin always tingles when he couldn't make sure that she was safe, and still now he absently scratched his arms. Reason told him that she -- school council president -- was more than capable of handling herself without him watching from the shadows.

 

"At some point you'll have to let her live her own life," he whispered, partly to Will, but mostly to himself, as he rolled over back onto his bed. You can't be at the top of your game when you're constantly tired, Stanley.

Edited October 4, 2016 by TehUltimateMage

[hjy213]

Looking Harcourt over, Hyun-ji raised an eyebrow, glancing at Tae-hyun and whispering. "너무 기뻐 보인 다. 좀 싫다." (He's so cheery. I kind of hate it.)

 

Tae-hyun grinned, whispering back and patting her back, "에이, 같이 놀자." (Come on, let's play along with him.) Turning to Harcourt, Tae-hyun bowed his head slightly. "Hi Harcourt! Cool name you have, my name is Tae-hyun Eum. No other name that could be easier to pronounce, sadly. But I can help you pronounce my name. Tae like the first part of 'terrible', though I can assure you I'm not terrible, and... Oh, I can't think of one for hyun. Oh well, anyway, nice to meet you. As an Air Branch or Stem or whatever you call it, I'd love to meet your friend!" Tae-hyun ended with a thumbs up, looking to his mildly displeased sister to introduce herself.

 

Mustering up a smile, Hyun-ji bowed her head slightly as well. "Hi, Harcourt. I'm Tae-hyun's more well-mannered twin sister. Excuse..." Hyun-ji jabbed Tae-hyun in his gut, but continued to smile at Harcourt, "his abundant energy. He's feeling excited because we rode a helicopter. My name is Hyun-ji Eum. We just got here. We ran late because of some business with our parents. Thank you for offering your time to show us around. If your friend manages to get up, it would be great to meet with them as well."

[halfsourpickle]

Harcourt

Harcourt didn't miss the quiet exchange between the twins. While he couldn't understand Korean, he noticed the girl regarding him and watched silently as she quirked her eyebrow and muttered something to her brother. Ah, well then, he thought. Can't do anything about that. Awkwardly rubbing his neck, Harcourt said, "Cool name, huh? More like archaic. No one has da' name anymore. Ih's more of a surname nowadays." As the boy, Tae-hyun, went on to explain his name's pronunciation, Harcourt quickly said, "Oh, da's alright! I have a few Korean friends back at home, so dey've taugh' me how to more-or-less pronounce names. You don't have to trouble yourself wih da'." Well, anyways. "Let me show you around," he repeated. "De academy's on an island, as you may have noticed, and for some reason things jus' don' like to grow around ih." He pointed in the general direction the beach. "De beach is down dere, though ih's about a 2 kilometer hike. Da's abou'...one and a quarter mile?"

Edited October 12, 2016 by Chrysophylox

[hjy213]

Tae-hyun laughed, nodding as he listened while his sister just listened quietly.

 

"Oh you don't have to convert to miles for us, we're used to the metric system," Tae-hyun replied, adjusting his glasses as they had slid down during his small laughing fit. "We probably won't be going down to the beach either. Poor Hyun-ji here," he patted her head, "hates the ocean."

 

Again, moving Tae-hyun's hand away from her, Hyun-ji sighed before gesturing to the school building. "Could we see what's around here? We know where the dorms are, since we put our stuff down there, but with anything else, it's all new. As an upperclassman, I'm sure you have a better grasp of the school and what to do as a student than a teacher."

[halfsourpickle]

Harcourt

"Da's no problem," Harcourt said, relieved to find another person who used the metric system. The inventor of feet and inches should have a special layer of Hell reserved just for them, he thought. There was not much that he hated with such a fierce passion as he did the imperial system. He brushed his earring as he lowered his hand, almost knocking the cuff off. Whoops. He hastily adjusted the piece of jewelry, remembering the time someone had lost their Branch. It didn't end well for that student, though they did get a replacement Branch. "Alrigh', well righ' diss way is where classes are held." He started heading north where the lecture halls were. "Dere are both lecture halls and classrooms in dis building, and, as you can see, dere's a garden in the center courtyard. Even further nor'h is the Branch Research Institute, where, as you may have guessed, dey study Branches and demons." He had been walking with his back to the twins, but now he turned around and walked a few steps backwards. "Any questions so far?"

Edited October 12, 2016 by Chrysophylox

[HomeForFlowers]

It was hard to see Alistair frown. Not frown when he was goofing around or trying to spur drama into a dull situation, but be so genuinely upset that he could not stop his lips from curling downward. Had he not spent the majority of his life learning how to spin a smile no matter how distressing a situation may be, he might have scowled when Daniel and Tammy broke the bad news.

 

"The dance floor, eh?" Alistair mused aloud, tapping his chin as thoughtfully. "We haven't had any parties there yet, and if any of the teachers found out, they wouldn't have simply destroyed the place without trying to figure out which students were responsible for it." That wasn't necessarily true. It wouldn't surprise Alistair if Robinson knew about all of the secret rooms, but he doubted they would care enough to demolish them. If any of other teachers knew, they were either lenient enough to leave them alone or as perceptive as a worm wriggling in the dirt.

 

Although no one was officially banned from the student-made attractions, there were certain people Alistair and numerous other second years tried to keep at bay. Some students didn't see the good that came out of letting students cook their own meals or dance away those worries. They seemed insistent on ruining everyone else's fun, whether that be through hilariously bad attempts at sabotage or tattling on the teachers, and someone being a pest was not good in Alistair's line of work. Humorously, those students were also the same people who yelled, "Alistair, don't set your partner on fire," or, "Alistair, stop trying to take selfies with the demons." They were a funny bunch, but never intentionally Alistair noted.

 

Clicking his tongue, Alistair sighed softly before turning his gaze to the two second years in front of him.

"Thanks for giving me a head's up," he said as he rolled his shoulders in long languid motions. "The less the public knows, the better. We don't want to start a panic, now do we?" He winked mischievously at the two second years. He walked past them, giving both of them a gentle shoulder squeeze before passing them. "Before you say anything, sir is a bit too formal for me, but if you're not comfort enough to address me by my name, "your highness" is always a good alternative. Now,

let's go assess the damage them, shall we?"

 

---------------------------------

 

When Daniel had said there was a cave-in in the dance floor, Alistair hadn't expected to see the entire dance room to be absolutely shredded. The tiles of the colorful floor were mostly obscured by a disheveled mound of rocks of disproportionately sizes, most of which seemed to be piled towards the north side of the room. The few visible tiles were irreparably cracked. Most of the lights had fallen to the ground, leaving shattered glass in their wake. The audio equipment on the east side of the room hadn't taken the full brunt of the damage, it was clear that they were not entirely intact. Alistair could imagine Winters reaction when she saw the entire club completely wrecked. A normal person might brush the cave-in off as a simple accident, perhaps some kids fooling around or the fault of an actual natural phenomenon. Alistair was not a normal person.

 

"Well this won't do," Alistair said as he kicked a nearby pebble, watching as it skidded across the ground. "I was already planning out the parties for this year! Whose going to give me back the five hours of my life spent scheduling parties?" Alistair crossed his arms and let out an exasperated huff. Of course someone would up and make his life more difficult. He had a job to do, several jobs actually, and he didn't have time to be fooled around with.

 

"Sol!" Alistair cried suddenly. Within mere moments, the fellow second year marched into view as though she were just waiting to be called upon.

"'Sup?"

"Assemble the squad!" Sol blinked at Alistair who was looking at her expectantly.

"You're going to have to be more specific," she said. "You have a lot of squads, man." Alistair rolled his eyes theatrically as though he couldn't believe she was making him clarify.

"The squad, Sol," Alistair said with a shake of his head. "You know, Miss Dancer, Sami Gal, my we-don't-want-to-use-labels-but-we-are-in-an-established-relationship friend among others?" Sol stared at Alistair dumbly. "Just--gather some second years and bring them to me." Alistair waved nonchalantly. "As long as they aren't going to run off and tattle on us for having a dance floor, I'll have them. As much as I love playing with fire, setting fires to redirect the teachers' attention isn't fun when I have to do it, you feel?" Sol rolled her eyes, but nodded anyway. "Lovely!" Alistair chimed as he clapped his hands together. "Hop off to it! I'm going to stand here and stare at the wreckage wistfully until someone arrives. Well, that or I'll get bored and see if any of these rocks are flammable." A sharp chortle rose up in Sol's throat, but she silenced it once she saw Alistair grin widely.

"I'll get you your 'squad'," Sol said as she spun around, waving her fingers in farewell. "See you in a few." She marched out of sight, leaving Alistair to dramatically stand in front of the rocks, gazing down at them like he was deep in thought when really he was wondering just how he could set one of them ablaze.

[hjy213]

Behind Harcourt, the twin were grinning, muttering as they chuckled every so often. Noticing Harcourt turn back, both straightened up slightly, especially Hyun-ji, whose expression went right back to her usual neutral look of slight distaste. To answer Harcourt's question, Tae-hyun piped up, "Yeah, we heard about training here. Where would we do that, and will we get to spar? Maybe even on our own?"

 

Hyun-ji nodded, brushing a stray hair out of her vision as she spoke, "This school is about fighting demons after all. As martial arts practitioners, it would be nice to make sure our skills don't fade." Looking Harcourt in the eyes, Hyun-ji smiled, no warmth in her gesture, more just demanding a quick answer. The faster this tour, the longer time she would have away from all these other people, and that's what really mattered for her.

[halfsourpickle]

Harcourt

Harcourt nodded. "Dere are combat classes, of course," he replied. "But dere's an official sparring club too. A fight club of sor's, I suppose. Ih's usually in the back field so dere's enough room for all the fighting." He looked the twins over. They seemed like they were raring to go. "I generally don' like to use violence to solve problems, but de sparring club is a good way to relieve stress and practice control." He suddenly remembered something. "Dey meet Saturday afternoons. Which is...right now, actually. If you two want to go check ih ou', I can take y' dere. Dough if you haven' really learned to control your elements ye', dey migh' no' le' ye figh'."

Edited October 12, 2016 by Chrysophylox

[hjy213]

"Ah what a shame," Hyun-ji remarked. "We happened to have missed the first few days. Like we mentioned earlier, we only just got here."

 

Nodding, Tae-hyun tapped the white Branch on the ring of his right middle finger. "We just got these today, so there's definitely no way we can use them just yet. How about you tea-" he was smacked on the back by Hyun-ji- "uh, how about a demonstration?"

 

Hyun-ji nodded in agreement. "We're fairly good observers. A little demonstration could give us a chance to catch up a bit. Though you may be a second year, I'm sure you could at least show us a basic move, right?"

[TehUltimateMage]

((Short Harold post before I update a few FTEs.))

 

A long pause with her staring into space, then the girl suddenly grabbed his extended hand and yanked it for a closer look. He yelped at the unexpected movement that nearly threaned to tear his shoulder out of its socket.

 

"Sure, sure," Harold answered. He doubted that she would have suceeded on her first try anyway, though she didn't even attempt it. "It won't hurt for you to watch and learn." Dispelling his weapon, he hovered two fingers above his wound, which was bathed in a soft white light while the damage was reversed. There was a little soreness, but he flexed his fingers to confirm that everything was in working order.

 

"That satisfy your curiosity? Looks like people are beginning to break up now," he remarked. "I think I heard something about homework? Either way, watching people over the weekend should benefit your..." -- he searched for a better word, but failed to find one -- "your research."

 

[Esko]

((I wasn't sure how to respond to Aiden, so assuming she agreed without much dialogue.))

 

Friday Night

 

That infernal snoring! Her eyes snapped open once again after another attempt to get a good night's rest. She glared at the large form that sourced the racket, and she scanned over the other sleeping students, amazed that they weren't awake. Emitting a low growl in her throat, she leaned over the frame of her bed and stretched her long arm to grab her laptop bag. If she couldn't sleep, at least she could do something to pass the time. At least until she was too tired to function; then she could hopefully sleep like a rock through the noise. She reached to drag her blanket over her when something caught her eye. A bunk containing no person. It belonged to that short girl, she was pretty sure. Of course, the girl was not in her bed for most of the time, and Jess was awfully curious about what she could possibly be doing. And tonight she would finally find out.

 

If she wasn't playing computer games, trying to sleep or studying, she was planning. Planning to find out the truth about the matter. Well, she didn't originally plan on doing it tonight, but she decided against putting it off. Placing her computer bag back into its little niche, she prepared to climb down the ladder...when she realized something. She was too scared to do it alone. She didn't want to face the possibility of getting in trouble without backup. But how could she find someone to help her snoop around? She barely interacted with anyone! Jess quietly swore under her breath, but then got an idea. She turned her head to look at the bleach-haired boy who was snoring. Why not wake up him? He was the reason she was awake for this at all.

 

As gingerly as she could, she climbed down the ladder and grabbed her camera bag. Tiptoeing to the boy's bed, she put her hands on one side and tried gently shaking him awake.

[TehUltimateMage]

((SPECIAL TECHNIQUE: BULLET POST))

 

Flint had no worries. Or at least, that's what he told himself so he could have a good night's sleep. The assignment assigned on Thursday wasn't due until the following Monday, and this would be the first official weekend on academy grounds (even if it wasn't really a true weekend due to some people having scheduled classes Saturday morning) and that meant more time to explore, party, and meet new people. He'd only really been tailing Anto so far.

 

His sleeping body was splayed across the bed, half under the sheets and the other half out. He was thankfully clothed, although only in uncharacteristically plain boxers and a loose t-shirt. His head was tilted back, leaving his throat exposed, and a low but always sudden and surprising rumbling snore periodically escaped him. His dreams were always vague adventure stories he had trouble remembering in the morning, but which inspired him to apply to the school in the first place.

 

He felt a nudge and he stirred, but did not wake.

[Esko]

The shaking didn't seem to work. The boy shuffled a little, but other then that he was still out like a rock. Jess softly swore, trying to think of other methods to wake him up. What was the most efficient manner of waking someone up in their sleep? It didn't take too much thinking for her to come up with an idea. If someone couldn't breathe in their sleep, the brain would kick in and wake that person up. Simple science. Of course it ran along the side of dangerous, but she was sure he would wake up before dying of suffocation. Well, pretty sure, anyway.

 

Even in the dark, she was still able to locate the nose and mouth of the boy. She slowly grasped the mouth with two fingers, making sure there were no openings for air to slip in. Then, in one swift movement, she pinched his nostrils together and waited. How long would it take? She hoped he would wake up; she didn't have any intention of murdering him, even though he kept her awake all the time.

[halfsourpickle]

Harcourt

Though he may be a second year...he frowned very slightly. What was that supposed to mean? Second years were well on their way in their training, and--well. Maybe he was reading too much into it. He blinked once to clear his head, putting on his easy smile again. "Yeah, I can show you guys something. I think I can give you a demo," he said slowly, "But it won' exactly help you, Tae-hyun. I'm a Water branch, after all. But here, just step back a bih so I don't hit you--you're in the splash zone," he quipped. He raised his left hand in front his face, and at a quick snap of his fingers, suddenly the area around the three students seemed a lot more humid. "Water branches can pull moisture out of de surrounding air and use ih," he explained, as he spread his fingers outwards and gathered a small globe of water in his palm. "Of course, first-years have a little trouble with ih, but water is a very versatile element, as any Water branch will tell you if you ask dem." He swung his finger in an arc before him, the water gathering and trailing behind. He twirled his finger, and the water broke off his finger, shattering on the ground. Looking down, he moved his finger in a swirl as if he were stirring coffee, and the water quickly dispersed over the tiles, rapidly evaporating.

 

"Well, da's all for now," he said to the twins. "I could do some more but I wan' to ge' to de sparring club before ih's over. If my partner's dere, we're planning on challenging de studen' council presiden'." The area around them returned to its previous humidity, and Harcourt grinned at the twins. "So wha'd ya think of da'?" He asked.

Edited October 13, 2016 by Chrysophylox

[ValidEmotions]

Saturday Afternoon

 

He hadn't slept so soundly last night. Not when the pirate boy was making such a ruckus lately. Rubbing at a tired eye, Thel idly tapped his foot as he perused the collection of papers tacked to the bulletin board. Several of them were sign up sheets for clubs like Journalism and Retro Gaming. A few seemed interesting to him while others barely earned his attention. Walking away from the board, he looked around for a pen on a nearby table or something. Spotting a pencil with a chewed eraser, he picked it up and started back for the board.

 

Only to collide with a yielding object.

 

Stumbling, Thel caught his balance before he might fall over. "Ah, excuse me," he said quickly, straightening out his t-shirt. Blinking, he examined the brown-haired girl, book in hand. "Oh, I've seen you around. You're a Water Stem," he commented. A faint grin stretched across his face. "My name's Thel. What's yours, sweetheart?"

[TehUltimateMage]

Saturday Afternoon - Chi, Aria, and eventually inevitably Harcourt and co.

The back field was a patch of beaten dirt the length of a gymnasium, bounded by grass and cut down the middle with a white line and a circle. To the side were wood bleachers framed by where a number of students were sitting, some silent, some cheering, but the seating was far from full. A few more students loitered near the bottom, most of them there to assist if something should go terribly wrong.

 

Four figures stood on the playing field, two on each side, already wearing their battle clothes which meant they were Linked and ready to go. Lucy the Student President, standing confidently with her chest puffed out, had a short gothic styled dress in black and white and red; her link partner and brother Stanley stood to her side, one foot behind the other with his outfit and pose reminiscent of some kind of demonic butler.

 

Their opponents seemed more mismatched, with the taller one with dark hair wearing a suit as well, paired with a cape with red facing and a white half-mask; his partner wore form-concealing tan trench coat, singed jeans, and sleek machine-like armor on parts of her body: their feet, their thighs, and metal fans on their shoulders and back which resembled some sort of robotic angel's wings. The atmosphere was relatively tense with them, as opposed to how Lucy doing relaxed arm rotations to loosen her joints in preparation.

 

~~~~

 

Aria

 

Aria expected them to at least welcome new members to the sparring club, but watching some shmucks getting beaten down by the top fighters was a pleasant enough surprise event. It wasn't very advertised, judging by the small turnout, or maybe this kind of thing was common enough to not warrant any attention.

 

People, mostly first years, had been talking about the Student President with some degree of fear. It wasn't hard to miss that girl in the fire dorms, since her bed had been decorated, draped, and polished like a queen's. Aria didn't understand the hype. She was strong, and the strong ruled the rest. And the strong had to defend their title. This, however, would be the first time she would see Lucy Cadmus in action and she couldn't help but get a little excited.

 

"That's Lucy," Aria pointed, "but who are the others?" she asked the person who she just happened to be standing beside. It was an open-ended question that wasn't really directed to anyone in particular, but the guy with the mean-looking face and the bleached hair was conveniently close.

[hjy213]

"Mm..." Leaning over to Tae-hyun, Hyun-ji muttered, "생각보다 잘하네. 신기하기도하고. 재밌겠네, 이 학교. 같이온것을 후회하지 않다, 이제." (Better than I thought he'd do. Cool too. Looks like this school might be fun. I don't regret coming here with you now.) Then smiling, Hyun-ji looked back at Harcourt to address him. "Impressive, just like I thought. Manipulating the elements is still such an odd thing to witness, but you certainly impressed us. Now, would you mind if we joined you to watch? We might not be able to use our branches just yet but it's always good to see more users, don't you think? Learn a bit before we actually go to classes for this."

 

Agreeing, Tae-hyun nodded, walking over and casually putting an arm around Harcourt's shoulder and looking him in the eyes (after adjusting his glasses once, appearances must be kept). "Yeah, we're pretty damn good observers. Visual learners and all. If anyone's willing, we'd like a regular hand-to-hand fight too. Lot of adrenaline, pretty exciting, wouldn't you say, sunbae? Or do you understand senpai better? You get what we mean though, right?"

[TehUltimateMage]

Saturday Morning/Afternoon - Will+Frey and the future ship

Unlike many other students, Will and Freya's special circumstances meant that they had Saturday mornings free to themselves. Fifteen minutes' walk would bring them to the shore. The ocean breeze was crisp, the waves gently teasing the shore as the water ebbed and flowed, and the horizon was flat, calm, and tame, a far cry from the wild beast with white fangs that tore at Will's dreams.

 

The moment, from the hot sand to the cool wind against the skin, the rhythmic sounds of the waves and the cries of the gulls... The moment seemed endless.

 

Then Mr. Randall Knight stumbled through the brush, scaring away the birds and animals in the trees. "We're here!" He seemed ready for a vacation, with reflective sunglasses, a brightly colored hawaiian shirt, and a foam surfboard under his arm.

 

Dr. Robinson followed lightly, their office-like blouse and blazer seeming entirely out of place in the sandscape. The professor paused. "...Why are we here?"

 

"To wind down!"

 

"That's not the reason."

 

"Super sharp! We're training Will!" He gave a wink, but it wasn't apparent since he had his sunglasses on.

 

Robinson stopped, then turned 180 degrees before walking back the way they came. "None of this we business." They threw up their arms. "Your jurisdiction, right?"

 

"Wait," said Randall. "At least take a look to make sure he's working through it alright."

 

That made Robinson stop. They turned around again, compelled to stay because of some grand responsibility involving the technology they had created. "Fine. I'll take a look to see how he's doing."

 

[Mikasa361]

Saturday Afternoon

 

 

Ev, I’m gonna go take a nap, is that okay? Lavender looked at her newfound friend,unsure if Evonna would be okay going to the club signups alone. Evonna shrugged and pulled a book out of her bag. Yeah, sure. It’s just writing my name on a piece of paper, right? How hard can it be? Lavender beamed at her. Okay, Evee! I just didn’t sleep well at all last night. Evonna shrugged again. Eh. Knock yourself out. Enjoy your nap or something. Lavender grinned at her. Well maybe I will! Bye Ev~ Evonna waved as Lavender walked away. She sighed and opened up her book… Usually she read classics or some sort of sci-fi thriller. This week? The Scarlet Letter. Evonna buried her nose into the book as she headed down the hallway.

 

She had no idea how to explain it, but reading for her was like being on the phone for others- she couldn’t help but read while walking. And although she never particularly wanted to say it, she was proud of her ability to do both. Caramel brown curls floating behind her, Evonna subtly smiled as she read about Hester Prynne and her struggle to make it as an outcast.

 

Just as she approached the board (or she had hoped so, she had been walking for a while), she collided with something-

 

Thump.

 

Evonna fell back in the typical anime-schoolgirl manner. Only instead of blushing and gasping, Evonna muttered a few colorful French words under her breath. She stood up and straightened out her black pleated skirt and adjusted her red V-neck to try and maintain some degree of dignity. Ev looked to see a tall-ish boy with short black hair, olive skin, and narrow black eyes. Hm. Not bad- she let herself think. “Ah, excuse me,” he had said to her. Ah and he’s remotely polite. That’s nice- She mentally swore in French when he grinned at her. He was looking her over. “Oh, I've seen you around. You're a Water Stem. My name's Thel. What's yours, sweetheart?” Evonna sighed. Omelette du fromage. That means, “Back off”. She dusted herself off, took the pencil in her right hand and approached the board.

 

-----

 

Peridot always enjoyed rapping in the shower. Whether it was something he had heard on the radio or just freestyling, it was very therapeutic. This time, Perri was freestyling, rapping whatever poetry that ran through his mind. He ran shampoo through his jet-black hair, jamming away.

 

 

Will the real green Perri please stand up, please stand up.

'Cause all you other Perris are just imitatin...

 

Not his most poetic rap to date, but it certainly made him smile. He bobbed his head to some imaginary beat as he continued rapping.

 

(Yo anyone can interact with him if they’re in the area. Perri’s fair game for now.)

Edited October 13, 2016 by Mikasa361

[padfoot]

Flyn stood on the dock, a rickity wooden structure jutting out into the sea. The waves danced in the morning sun and the wind whipped his dark brown hair around his face. He was uniform clad and had a duffle bag flanking either side of him. He looked up to his father, a tall german man who stared at the approaching vessel coming to whisk his son away to a mysterous school that he had only heard about a week prior when a co worker mentioned it. Flyn knew that even though his dad took great care to hid it, he would be glad his son was leaving home to do something better. A sort of "follow in my great footsteps" gesture that made Flyn anxious to think about.

 

"Alright, Big Guy, that looks like your boat out of Dodge" his dad exclaimed, slapping him on the back "Now your sure you got everything you need? You know I can't send you anything you forgot"

"Yeah dad, I got everything I need" Flyn said flatly. The truth was that he didn't know what he was going to need. His acceptance letter was detailed about the goal of the school, the rules he was expected to follow, and the dress code in place once he got there but it didn't give him much insight on what he might need from his personal affects. All he packed was a few casual cloths, his laptop, and a few electronics supplies he might need to keep himself busy. Well, a few would be an understatement, the duffel bag to his left was heavy with soldering irons, motors, jumpers, breadboards, and whatever else he could fit in the worn bag.

 

The horn on the ship bellowed and caused Flyn to flinch, his dad chuckled in resonse.

"Maybe being away from home will toughen you up" he said with a laugh that didn't make Flyn feel much better. He was going to be on his own on an island god knows where to be trained to fight some sort of hellish monster race and he was making comments on his character flaws? Thanks dad he thought, glancing at the other families on the dock with them. Some kids were huddled in little groups, obviously catching up with old friends or making new ones. Every group had clusters of adults hovering around, ready for heartfelt goodbyes and embarrassing displays of affection. He knew he wouldn't get that from his dad. To prove his point, his father's pager chirped on his belt. He unclipped it and frowned, "Stan? Are you going to be alright getting one the boat by yourself? Work just paged me and I think I need to take this." he said, studying his son's expressionless face.

"Yeah dad, I'll be fine", he said, letting his father embrace him and mess up his hair.

"I know you will, you'll do great things while you there, I can feel it" he said with a knowing smile.

Flyn nodded and gathered his things. Giving his dad one last round of goodbyes, he started down the dock into the undulating flow of other teens boarding the vessel. When he reached the deck of the ship, he looked back to see his dad, who was waving to him while pressing his ear to his cell phone.

 

 

That was almost a week ago. A week since he landed on this small island and looked up at the behemouth of the school he was attending. A week since he had been going to his classes with robotic intention. A week where he had only said a dozen words to the kids around him. A week that he was glad to be over. Well, that was the case until his last teacher assigned him some kind of group homework great, group work.... I hate group work he had thought with his face flushing. Other kids in his class had already began to mingle and pair up for the weekend(((?))) He had gathered his things and got out of there as fast as he could.

 

Now he was sitting alone hunched over a table in the corner of the student lounge. Flyn tuned out the chatter and laughter of the students mingling behind him. He was focused on the dismantled hairdryer he was pouring over. It's guts were strewn around, it's components indistinguishable from his own supplies. he wasn't sure who's hairdryer it was, he had just stubled across it abandoned on day after he got out the shower. After he was done with it , no one will be able to tell what it was anyway. His branch, a vibrant orange stone caged in a corkscrew of copper wire, swung forward off his narrow chest and tapped the table gently with a dull thump. Whips of blue smoke drifted up from the jumper he was soldering to positive lead of a two point rocker. The fumes caused his eyes to water slightly. He wiped his stinging eye and streched his back. He briefly glaced at the small stack of books that he checked out from the library. He really needed to get back to studying how links and branches really worked. He was getting discouraged since he started classes on his "abilities". So far, the only thing he was able to muster was a small controlled flame in the palm of his hand or a equally small puff of blue fire. He was determined that if he couldn't get the hang of this, he was going to do what usually didn't fail, cheat.

 

He flipped the rocker to the on position, causing the naked hairdryer motor to hum to life. A excited smile spread across the small boy's face, the first true smile since he got there. if what he knew about fire was correct (and he knew it was) to achieve a larger flame, add oxygen. This small but powerful motor would funnel more air into his flame, hopefully acting as a turbine and increasing it's intensity. He then moved on to somehow make it wearable and safe to strap to his hand. In the back of his mind, he knew his time would be better spent trying to find a partner to link up with but he pushed the intrusive thought away. He was in his element and his homework could wait. Who knows, Mr, Robinson might be just as impressed if this works than if he actually did his assignment.

[TehUltimateMage]

Friday Night - Flint

 

Suddenly, in his dream, he felt like he couldn't breathe; as if the air was suddenly water. He struggled against his sheets to fight for a breath. Sometimes he would accidentally suffocate himself in his sleep by getting tangled in his bedspread, but this time it was different. His mind was still hazy from being half asleep, but he felt a hand on his face to stop him from breathing, or screaming. Was he getting kidnapped for some hazing ritual? Or was someone just trying to wake him out of his notoriously heavy sleep? Either way, it seemed like a good time for a prank.

 

Flint went completely limp and held what breath he had left, feigning death. Maybe they'd fall for it, but probably not.