Ruairi Vaduva's Story

Dark chuckling echoed in a shady room. The origin of this laughter was a small figure that sat crouched upon the bed. He had snuck into this room without anyone noticing by taking on the form of a small grey mouse and crawling through the space under the floors. This was not a random decision. No this mouse boy had a reason for taking such precautions. They were necessary after all the preparations he took the previous year.

Before he returned home during the vacation he took it upon himself to begin his collections. Just what he was collecting is the truly important part however. Mousetraps. The boy had been collecting every mousetrap that had ever been laid around the school for the past year. All of this was part of his elaborate plan for revenge. The year before he had gotten his tail caught in one of these traps and upon the scream of pain he made the immediate decision that someone would pay.

The real hard part was deciding who the victim would have to be. At first he thought a member of the student council would be the best option, but one person made a grave error about a week after he had made his decision of revenge. A certain someone called him a brat and that made the mouse boy angry.

So finally, after a year, he had all the necessary ingredients to execute his divine retribution upon the vampire, Henri. Now all he had to do was sneak into his room and set up the mousetraps and leave before the vampire or his cat returned.

Ruairi hates that leopard. The mere mention of the creature sent shivers down his spine. The boy shook away the goose bumps however and continued his counting, “ninety-eight, ninety-nine…” He set each mousetrap into a paper bag on his bed as he counted them, “one hundred and one. Perfect! If these can’t cover his entire floor then…then…I’m going to be very unhappy.”

The boy climbed out of the bed and crept over to the door. Creaking it open slightly he poked his head out into the hall. Specifically in the direction of Lilith’s room, after all, that’s the first place that the smoke machine would be headed towards after he left his room. Not to mention that the girl’s door was always open giving her a clear view of the hallway.

Somehow he always got caught by her and her guests. It was almost as if he gave off an aura of deceit and trouble that they always picked up on. Plus, that cat of his was sharp and if they were in that room there’s no way they wouldn’t see him make his way into Henri’s room.

Unfortunately, that was exactly where they were located. To make matters worse, no sooner did Ruairi stick his head out the door did the hallway by his target fill up with other students. “Darn it.” His grand master plan would simply have to wait a little longer. However he could be patient. After a year he would happily be patient a little longer.

So for now he would have to stir up some other kind of trouble. No worries, he was good at that.

Finally deciding to emerge from his room, the shirtless boy nonchalantly made his way towards the stairs. A wicked smile crossed his lips as his nose, while not as sensitive as most still picked up the smell of humans in close proximity to the dorm building.

I wonder if they’re new sponsors? Suckers. Before rounding the corner of the steps completely the boy stuck out his head and stole a peek down the stairs. There were most definitely humans outside however the one that caught his attention was the giant boy with fire engine red hair.

He was intimidating to say the least and that made Ruairi’s smile grow wider. The scary ones were always the best suited for pranking. Perhaps, however if Ruairi was better suited to reading moods his personal opinion on the matter would have been a little different. The red head was obviously angry, no doubt after having been fooled into sponsoring vampires, however the mouse boy was oblivious to that fact. He was too caught up in imagining all the pranks he could play on this guy.

First thing first however. He needed a stick of butter, which means that he needed to sneak into the cafeteria and steal a stick of butter. If only his elder brothers hadn’t stolen all his supplies. Then he would already have the ingredients for his cruel and potentially painful prank.

Those brothers of his knew him far too well. Of course, that is to be expected since they taught him everything he knows. Honestly, if they wanted him to stop pranking others they shouldn’t have handed him their fictional guidebook to the world’s best pranks. And the oldest trick in that book is the ancient ‘butter the hardwood and tile floors’ hoax. Still, no matter how old, watching people fall on their butts never goes out of fashion and plus, is there any better way to greet everyone then by buttering the area in front of the front door?

No, obviously not. At least nothing nearly as entertaining. A dark shadow cast itself upon the child’s face as his sadistic snicker echoed on the stairwell. He loved picking on the older folks and newbies.

Ruairi’s ears twitched in response to a rather loudly made entrance into the dorm building. Glancing back down the stairs he caught a glimpse of the rather strange vampire called Abram as he rounded the corner in a somewhat crazy manner.

The boy’s mouse tail stiffened and his ears flattened against his head in response to the thought that ran through the child’s head, that guy is a real nut job and kind of a creepy one at that. Shaking away the unnecessary feelings brought on by the weirdness of the passing image the mouse boy bounded down the stairs only to trip on the final step. After face planting he quickly regained his composure and leapt back onto his feet. “Nobody saw that,” he muttered to himself and glanced around. His gaze fell upon a new face, a very confused new face.

A blonde boy was standing outside what was probably his dorm room. Ruairi being the immature brat he is did the first thing he thought of, he stuck his tongue out at the boy and spoke, “you look confused, idiot.”

Mara wasn’t one to cling to her parents, but returning to school was never something she enjoyed or did by choice. She was so stubborn and reluctant to leave it took an 800 pound grizzly bear to remove her from her family home. Luckily Marcus was accustom to moving the stubborn Vampire around. He was also familiar with giving her ‘a ride’ around and in fact had to carry the stubborn Witch child all the way to her school gates before she agreed to move for herself. Mara sat upon his back the entire way with her arms folded crossly and her eyes firmly shut in disapproval.

“Mara we’re at the school gates. If you don’t move, I’ll toss you so hard through that gate you’ll get streak marks on your ass.”

Mara opened one golden eye and glanced down, at the back of Marcus’ huge head. He began to count to 10. She quickly slid down with a huff, ignoring the wide eyed looks she was receiving from the human students and the wide birth they were giving her and her familiar. She sniffed her armpits and grinned widely at Marcus.

“Was’ the matter with them eh? Do we smell or something?” She joked, only to receive a moody grunt from the almighty beast as he began to make his way into the school. Mara shrugged at him and hoisted her duffle bag higher up onto her shoulder. In truth she smelt strongly of bear, sawdust and something sweet but that’s how she always smelt, it’d be news to her if someone actually told her.

Making their way further into the compound the couple found it fairly easy to make their way through the crowds, after all people tended to move out of their way long before they came into sight. Word travelled fast when there was a bear on the scene and a girl who looked like she’d been hanging out with Tarzan for the summer holidays. Mara stretched as she cruised through the students, wearing a short black tank top, a pair of swayed red Indian shorts and sandals. Her hair was falling loose and wild all over the place, it was a surprise no nearby students had become entangled in it yet.

Coming up to the vampire dorm, Mara spotted that various individuals had already turned up to nest. Their dorm building really was a tragic little mishap of a building, but it was home for most of the year and she’d rather be cooped up with all the vampires here, than share a shiny, designer dorm room with the human populace where you couldn’t tell the difference between the sink and the toilet.

Striding into the building she hiked the stairs.

“Smells like we’ve got company.” Marcus rumbled behind her as he carefully mounted the stairs. It was a risky business having something as heavy as Marcus in the delicate building.

Mara glanced over her shoulder at him. “Probably Sponsers. They’re not for us and you know it.”

She ignored the first floor entirely wanting to avoid all the unsavoury characters that bedded there, like nutty Abrum, the annoying mouse kid and Edmund; a short blond girl stood blocking the stairwell though. Mara straightened up to her full height before shoving past the girl, sending her flying down the hall.

“Get outta the way DWEEB!” she snarled loudly before continuing up the stairs until she reached the second floor. She sighed in aspiration when she spotted Edmund up here instead already leaning into a bedroom that wasn’t usually used. New student. Next she spotted Henri. Her heart did a few erratic beats before she turned her attention to the girl he was chatting to. Lilth. She shot them both a loaded look before unlocking her bedroom door and tossing her bag straight in.

Marcus paused at the top of the stairs and gave a glance around. “A lot of new faces. Alright Everest?” The bear muttered, giving the leopard a brief nod with his huge head. "Are these humans snacks or sponsers?"

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Sprawling, winding, bustling. An amalgam of decay and decadence. Like the Minotaur's labyrinth had been splattered with various styles from various times, such as Victorian, Greeco-Roman, or Medieval. It looked as though some insane, pack-rat architect tacked onto the structure piece after piece, never satisfied but unwilling to scrap anything.

Reid didn't know quite what to make of the place, this University of Diversity. "Well, gotta give them points for the rhyme scheme," he mumbled to himself. The straps of his bag dug into his hands impatiently. He let it rest on the ground, but absolutely refused to let go of it. Just because he'd yet to have a rock thrown at his head for being a vampire didn't mean he was ignorant of the fact it could happen. And bags were probably fair game for these humans.

"'These humans'," he scoffed under his breath. "Already you've started talking like a vamp."

He sighed again. Reaching into his breast pocket to pull out his pack of cigarettes and his lighter, Reid lit one up. Through the filter and past his lips, delicious smoke probed its seductive tendrils into his lungs. He held it for a moment before releasing it in the form of a smoke ring. Satisfied with his work, he then put away the rest of his stash, picked up his bag, and continued on his way. The map he'd shoved so carelessly in his back pocket was now a crumpled and torn mess, but it would still serve its function well enough. At least he hoped it would. As he stared more and more at the building he was supposed to be in, he began to feel slightly less sure of his map's accuracy.

It didn't look all that great. Home, even with those religious anti-vampire nuts roaming around, seemed like a far more appealing option. At least at home there was always hot water. This place looked like it lacked even running water. However, this had to be the place, because it kind of stood to reason that he wouldn't be hanging around in a penthouse or something, and on his map there was a note that marked this as the place. It was in a small font size and a footnote, not a proud, bold, and (possibly) embossed label like the others. The school wasn't proud of its vampire housing facility, that was for sure. They didn't want the vampires to be proud either, it seemed.

And so he entered, crossing the threshold with his back straight, cigarette hanging carelessly between his lips, his shoulders thrown back, and a broad grin on his face.

There was a stairwell in front of him, but he wasn't all too keen on going up just to return down, so he elected to take a short tour. After a quick once around he found to his slight but well hidden chagrin that the dorm he was looking for was obviously on the floor above him. Well, that at least means there has to be windows. But would anyone really notice another stench? Oh, but as soon as he went upstairs, passing by a poor girl who looked like someone'd tossed her aside like some sort of rag-doll, he caught a whiff of lingering cigarette smoke and he forgot all about her. Either someone had just lit one up, or there was someone who lived here and smoked often enough for a buildup of the smell. The possibility of both scenarios made him smile.

He breathed deeply before searching out his own dorm. This time he found it quickly, and along the way he'd seen a few interesting sights, rag-doll girl included. He whistled, "Animals, really! I didn't know they allowed pets." His thoughts revolved around the fact that so many of them had congregated together, as if debating the possibility of something interesting going on.

Well, curiosity killed the cat and all that. Even if he wasn't already dead, he wouldn't care. He crushed his burnt out cigarette under his foot, resolving to finagle a makeshift ashtray later, and walked down the hall. "Hey people," he called out.

Ruairi stared at the blonde for a moment before hopping back to his feet and wiping his pants off, he was quite ready to move on without waiting for the blonde’s response. Of course, he ended up having to dodge out of the pathway when the boy with fire hydrant red hair breezed by him nearly knocking him in the head with his exceedingly large bags in the process.

Immediately a glare formed on his face and he turned to yell at the boy, but poor Ruairi ended up nearly yelling at empty space as the larger boy had already disappeared up the stairs. “What the…where'd he g-YAAAGH!!” All of Ruairi’s hair shot up as he himself launched into the air in response to the sudden explosion of sound from above him. Someone had just dropped something very heavy on the second floor. After regaining his composure the little boy pointed at the ceiling and growled out, “who did that!?”

Ruairi had a sinking suspicion that he already knew who the culprit was: a giant red head with huge bags. The annoyed child crossed his arms and closed his eyes, deep in thought. Should he go execute his revenge against the large boy or should he be the better man and let it go? He was about to let it go until another loud thump echoed from above and caused the mouse boy to jump up in shock again.

The child regained his composure for a few seconds before exploding in annoyance, “That’s it! I’ve had enough of that!” The boy turned towards the staircase and huffed before making the trek back up to the second floor. After reaching the top he came to a stop and scouted the surrounding area. Where did that red-head disappear to?

His answer was quickly received when a door to his left was opened and some furniture was thrown into the hallway. The mouse boy flinched backwards in an unneeded attempt to avoid being hit by the objects. Wah? Who the heck throws furniture into the hallway like that…what if he hit someone…what if he hit me! Anyways, what’s all that noise he’s making?

Tiptoeing over to the boy’s door Ruairi peeked in. His ears twitched a bit in response to all of the noise the boy was making. Once or twice he flinched in response to some loud noise but eventually he managed to catch sight of what it was the boy was doing. The red head was unpacking and arranging exercise equipment left and right, and he certainly wasn’t being quiet about it.

So he’s a muscle-head. All brawn and no brains, not really surprising but that’ll just make it all the more fun. Wonder what poor vampires have to deal with this guy as a sponsor anyways? Ruairi snorted a little at the thought of the ‘suckers’ that got stuck with such a scary and obviously unhappy guy, for once he kind of wished that people became sponsors because they actually cared about the cause behind the sponsorship.

Oh well, Ruairi wasn’t the type of kid to put too much thought into such mature ideas. Nor was he about to let such ideas put him in a bad mood, or rather a worse mood than he was already in. Not that his mood was particularly bad, he just wasn’t a good-natured kid to begin with. Ever since being forced to come to the U of D Ruairi was in a permanent state of unhappiness and troublemaking.

The mouse child watched the older boy rearrange his equipment after apparently deciding he didn’t like the original placement. Admittedly, Ruairi was a little impressed with how easily he managed to shuffle his items around. The little kid was built like a stick so watching the older boy rearrange his dumbbells with such ease was a little intimidating. Still Ruairi wasn’t the type of kid to back down so easily.

Just as the red head began repair work (apparently he is the type to carry around random tools for whatever purpose he needs) Ruairi decided it was his time to make his grand entrance. Carefully sliding into the older boy’s room Ruairi took a really good look around. It’s like a mini gym in here.

The blonde kid was very quiet as he tiptoed towards the first thing that caught his eye: a dumbbell that was probably a little too heavy for a kid his size. Using both arms he picked it up before deciding he didn’t like the amount of weight that he was carrying, so he dropped it. “Whoops.”

The next thing that caught his eye was some rubber band thingy. So he stalked over to it and picked it up. Grabbing both ends he stretched it a bit, “what is this? Some kind of jump rope?” Turning towards his elder the mouse child asked a question, “hey, Red, what’s this stretchy thing?”

Kaiden hadn't heard a thing as he was began his renovations of the place. He started by making sure the entire room was fastened and secure: he really didn't need anything falling on his head while asleep, or falling apart when he was trying to get ready for school. The only thing that broke him from his focus was the slight noise of shuffling, but he ignored that to continue on his in his work. His mind kept him right on track with the jobs he had to do: heck, if one looked at his mind all they would see is a check list of his accomplishments and his 'To get finished' list.

Thump. A dumbbell of his fell to the ground. Kaiden had been on the opposite end of the room, and instantly turned around to see the smallest child he had seen, the dumbbell at his feet and the echo of his 'Whoops' slowly dying out. To be honest, Kaiden wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel extremely pissed off or confused. Here stood some 8 year old - or something, Kaiden couldn't tell - trying to lift a 50 lb dumbbell. The only certainty was that this kid was not supposed to be in his room, and that he was sort of dense. Kaiden raised an eyebrow as the little mousy kid then moved to the one resistance band and looked at extremely confused. After the kid proceeded to stretch it a little, he questioned the resistance band.

what is this? Some kind of jump rope?" Kaiden nearly spat a fit of laughter out when hearing the absurd comment of the child. A Jump Rope? Well, through trying to contain a bit of laughter, he could see the little guy using it as a jump rope. It was then that the kid turned to face Kaiden. “hey, Red, what’s this stretchy thing?” An eyebrow instantly rose up in question as Kaiden looked at the boy a little funny. Red? Not a nickname I get often. Better than DreadDude's nickname.

Instead of answering, Kaiden merely walked up to the kid and grabbed the resistance band, raising both the kid and the band to his eye level at 6'1 before saying anything in his rough, blunt voice. "That be a resistance band, laddie." Yeah, he let his accent cut through this time, merely because the situation was a little too weird. "Stretches out limb muscles. But you could probably use it as a jump rope if you wanted to." He gave a small chuckle before lowering the kid back down.

So he stared at the kid for a second before posing a question of his own. "Gotta reason to be here, or not?" He crossed his arms, the question not really carrying much weight but the entire situation was wasting his time. Well, it was until he noticed that there was a note on the inside of the door. While he didn't have super vision or something, he could read what the larger letters said:

"You will be sponsoring the Shapeshifting Vampires. Hope you enjoy your stay!" Kaiden raised both eyebrows when he read that, and instinctly began to walk towards the note. How had he not noticed the note? Was it because he was distracted by the annoyingly frustrating door? Kaiden narrowed his eyes before turning back to the kid. "What exactly is a shape shifting vampire, laddie?"

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Lilith had just put away the last of her clothes when a blur of motion caught her eye. Turning she was Everest playfully rolling around on the floor. The Snow Leopard was the closest thing she had ever had to a pet and she cared for him as if he were hers. Bending down she gave him a hug rubbing her cheek again the fur of his neck. "It's good to see you too Everest." Looking up she saw Henri standing in her doorway. He was her closest friend and while their personalities were different the got along famously.

Henri grinned at her and opened his arms wide. "So how's me lovely Báthory today?" She gave him a small smile as she stepped into his arms. Her heeled boots may have given her a couple of inches but it was nothing compared to Henri's six foot four inch frame. Lilith didn't find it threatening like most people did, it was actually quite comforting.

"I'm happy to be back, not that I didn't have a good time in the three weeks I was there it was just difficult what with having to hide in plain sight." Any time her parents friends had stopped by she would run to the restroom and put in contacts and stuff her hair under some kind of cap.

"Oh but there was an 'almost-indecent'." Lilith said pulling back slightly and looking up at Henri. "My hair has gotten so long and thick that it's getting harder to hide. Well I tripped bringing in some tea for my mother and a neighbor friend of hers and the hat fell off. She had gotten up in concern at first, then she noticed my hair." Taking some of her hair in her hands and looking at it she frowned. Lilith truly loved her hair and its color, though they were usually Vampire supporters.

"I told her I had some disease that made me gray prematurely and that it had been hard growing up with it." her story had been half lie, half truth and as her mother watched her spin the tale Lilith couldn't help but notice the look of sad understanding and pure love that shone through her eyes.

A sneer formed on Lilith's face, a look not common for her, as she thought of the look of relief the woman gave. "Humans are so strange. They would rather believe an obvious lie than face the truth so long as the lie is prettier." Loud banging in the hallway caught Lilith's attention she watched a moment as the guy with the red hair tossed out the old furniture that had obviously been left by a female tenant, not that she could remember who that was.

She was about to say something to Henri when she spotted a set of mouse ears creeping through the discarded furniture to the room it was expelled from 'Up to no good already I see.' chuckling she shook her head then placing a hand on Henri's arm she looked up at him. "We should go and see if we belong to any of these new sponsors."

Ruairi eyed the boy with the fire red hair when he started to approach the small boy. Admittedly, the closer the larger boy got the more the mouse child considered throwing the stretchy band down and making a mad dash for the door. After all, it wouldn’t be too surprising if the guy were angry with him since he sort of invaded his personal space. Rather than doing such an embarrassing thing, though, the child held his ground and momentarily bit his tongue.

When the red head reached for him Ruairi snapped his eyes closed awaiting for the strike that he was certain was coming but never did. Instead, he felt the boy lift the band up. The mouse child, who was having a slightly dense moment, opened his eyes and let out a slight squeak in surprise when his feet came off the floor. Instinctually he looked down, wide-eyed, and began to flail his feet around in an attempt to find the ground again.

Quickly, Ruairi looked up at the boy only to find himself at eye level with the brute before him. Instantly he felt himself pale slightly, felt his tail stiffen, and his ears laid flat against his head. This is historically not fun. When the red head opened his mouth and spoke Ruairi nearly lost his grip on the stretchy rope due to his slight flinch. ”That be a resistance band, laddie.” In normal Ruairi fashion, the child gave the giant a look that read: ‘are you stupid’ and nearly said: ‘that be improper grammar, Red.’ Fortunately, the older boy spoke before Ruairi could say such a stupid thing. ” Stretches out limb muscles. But you could probably use it as a jump rope if you wanted to.”

Then the boy did something a little unexpected. He chuckled thus causing his mouse ears to twitch slightly. Is he…laughing at me? How dare he. I’m obviously far to awesome to be laughed at. Then the mouse child felt his feet meet the ground once more. A slight sigh of relief escaped his lips. I don’t like being manhandled, he quickly decided.

”Gotta reason to be here, or not?” Ruairi looked up at the boy through his eyelashes and puckered his lips in the normal bratty kid fashion before turning away from the giant, crossing his arms, flicking his tail, and uttering, “Psh. No.” Looking back at the giant he stuck his tongue out only to quickly avert his gaze once more with another flick of the tail.

To Ruairi’s dismay the taller boy ignored him somewhat in order to take a closer look at a note on his floor. Peering at it Ruairi’s mouth fell open and his arms dropped. I’m so unlucky…or lucky. He would be an excellent target. Turning away from the giant a dark shadow covered the boy’s face as a small smirk found it’s way to his face and his eyes gleamed dangerously.

Rauiri was plotting evil actions already.

His devious scheming was interrupted however when his ears twitched in the direction of Red who had spoken again. ”What exactly is a shape shifting vampire, laddie?” Ruairi’s tail fell to the floor and he looked at Red with obvious disappointment and a slight spark of boredom. What? Was this guy raised under a rock? Another devious smile brightened his face pretty soon after his initial shock and his tail trembled with excitement. I guess it’s time for me to introduce myself.

Facing the red-head completely and puffing out his chest proudly, the mouse boy pointed at Red before answering his question, “only your worst nightmare!” Pointing to himself, Ruairi continued, “I’m a shape-shifting vampire!” Ruairi’s devious smirk widened upon finishing his proud tirade, whatcha think of me now, big guy?

Kaiden knew his last statement had done something wrong, since the little kid's expression suddenly changed a little. Now, Kaiden is no expert on that weird science of understanding people's emotions, so he brushed it off as merely a coincidence. Suddenly, the little boy puffed out his chest, and went all 'high and mighty' on Kaiden. “only your worst nightmare!” Kaiden raised an eyebrow at that. His worst nightmare? If this little midget was his worst nightmare, Kaiden would throw in his towel and commit to learning the trumpet. I’m a shape-shifting vampire! That made Kaiden pause. He tilted his head a little, and for the first time actually paid attention to the kid's 'deformities'. The little ears, the tail, all of it Kaiden had just phased out of his brain for simplicity.

Now that Kaiden actually thought about it, the little mouse man was quite an interesting fellow. Besides the fact that he was a midget, his ears and tail were exactly what he remembered a mouse to have. So, did this kid just have mousey features for fun, or did they do something? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that dwelling on something so trivial was useless. The kid was a mouse, and he was his supposed sponsor. Nothing much else to it.

After giving the kid a blank stare, Kaiden raised an eyebrow to speak. "So you're a mouse." Kaiden was stating the obvious, but it was just what he did sometimes. Made it simpler for everybody to be on the same page. "So, you shape shifting vampires turn into animals, and you're a mouse." Kaiden gave another pause, before shaking his head. "Well, this is a first. Never met a shifter before." That was the honest truth right there. The only real vampires that Kaiden had ever run into was that one (who was, in fact, a normal vampire) and the random few that he unknowingly came across on the streets. It was just that Kaiden found it simpler to zone everybody that wasn't himself or his family into one group: them. Who needs to have differences when they never bothered him?

Kaiden shrugged his massive shoulders slightly, before grabbing a cigarette to put in his mouth. He made no movement to light it, since he had no intentions of smoking inside of a public building: those were the rules, regardless of how destroyed the building was, and it was a lot simpler to follow the rules. "Well, I'm your sponsor then. Since I'm stuck here, might as well find the rest of them. And you, little man, are gunna direct me, unless you wanna be stuck in here." Kaiden looked back at the kid, a look that conveyed that he meant business, before walking to the door that was still stuck open. It still needed to be fixed, but Kaiden changed the priorities of his mental check list: instead of getting settled in as first, he moved 'figure out what the hell being a sponsor means, and who I'm gunna be stuck with' to the top.

His massive 210 frame moving through the door, Kaiden now noticed, with almost utmost shock, a bear to his left. The thing was a huge grizzly, roughly the size of the last one he had saw back home. What made it worse was that it was seemingly listening to the snow leopard, who had also just seemingly finished talking. It wasn't normal. In fact, nothing seemed normal.

Straight-minded Kaiden nearly lost himself in his confussion. First a snow leopard, now a bear, and from Kaiden could hear, they could both talk. Something in this world was seriously effed up, and Kaiden didn't know how to handle that. Sure, he saw that loser DreadDude walking in his general direction, but he ignored him. He turned back to the kid, regardless of where MouseMan was, and spoke again. "So, do talking animals wander these halls a lot, or have I been shipped home?" His confusion was quite obvious, but his voice was slightly muffled from the cigarette. The only time he had ever seen a bear in a building was when one broke into the old barn behind their house and Gregor wrestled it to the ground easily. But that was in Scotland. This was supposed to be America.

Ruairi was quite unhappy with the reaction of the huge red-head before him. He most certainly did not take the mouse-boy seriously when he said that he was his worst nightmare. Ruairi would make him regret that. With time of course, nothing could ever be done immediately and have the proper affect. No worries though, the mouse child could drive anyone crazy with his irritating antics and this Scottish fellow would be no different. If anything he would be a very easy mark, almost as easy Henri. Oh I'm sorry, I meant OHN-REE.

The boy’s tail twitched slightly and his ears stiffened on his head as the older boy obviously started to analyze Ruairi and his inhuman features. From the look on his face it seemed as though he had only just noticed them. Great, I’m stuck with the brute that is about as dense as a rock, he sighed slightly, at least this means I can probably get away with just about anything. This pleased him ever so slightly. Okay, it pleased him more than just slightly.

"So you're a mouse." Ruairi glared at the large boy before him. He really did not like his tone when he said that. Did he have an issue with his being a mouse? He wasn't about to point fun at his mousiness was he? "So, you shape shifting vampires turn into animals, and you're a mouse." In about two seconds Ruairi was going to pounce on Red and scratch his eyes out. The mouse boy visibly fumed at the insulting way in which Red pointed out the fact that yes, he could have been born as a powerful creature like a wolf or panther, but was instead born as a pathetic mouse. It was something Ruairi had always had to live with. "Well, this is a first. Never met a shifter before."

"I was unlucky enough to be the first it seems." Ruairi grumbled, his voice dripping with spite and animosity. The mouse child grumbled as he watched Red grab a cigarette and put it in his mouth. "Oh great another one." Ruairi's sense of smell was slightly more sensitive than the average human's or vampire's, thus the smell of smoke really bothered him. The mouse boy, had he have been slightly less aggravated may have made a note of the fact that the elder boy did not put any effort into lighting it, but alas he was far past being slightly aggravated and didn't not notice Red's attempt to follow the rules.

Ruairi was about to crawl back to his room when Red opened his mouth to speak again, "Well, I'm your sponsor then. Since I'm stuck here, might as well find the rest of them. And you, little man, are gunna direct me, unless you wanna be stuck in here." The look on his face was obviously meant to inform the mouse-boy that he was being serious, but Ruairi was hardly in the mood to be ordered around. Especially by him.

"And you're going to make me, huh Red?" Ruairi scowled at the red head, then gave him a smirk obviously meant to be a challenge. Unfortunately for the small child the giant teenager had already been distracted and relatively shocked by the two wild animals that roamed the halls. Marcus and Everest. YUCK. Surprisingly, however, he didn't seem scared of either beast, more like he simply wasn't expecting to see either one of them inside the building. Taking advantage of Red's distraction with the two animals, Ruairi scampered to him, still on all fours.

"So, do talking animals wander these halls a lot, or have I been shipped home?" Finding no way around his massive frame, Ruairi crawled underneath the boy's legs and began to continue in the general direction of his room. He was a little wary of continuing his journey, however, due to the feline that prowled the floor.

Once he was a a few feet away from his sponsor Ruairi finally looked back at him and responded to his question. "Why don't you figure it out yourself, stupid." Sticking his tongue out he moved his hands and legs as fast as he could in high hopes of making it to the safety of his room without being beaten into a pulp or eaten by the snow leopard only a ways off. Although, if push comes to shove, Ruairi was sure that Lilith, which he could see from here would offer some kind of safety even if he didn't necessarily want it.

“Oh, they don’t, but I’m peculiar so I do. But, honestly, there you go being inconsiderate again, Kaiden. Stereotyping me like that.” Kaiden couldn't help but give Laz another grin: for a girl with a handicap, she knew how to put others in their place if they tried picking on her. Strong, fierce willed - Oddly reminds me of Mum. Weird. Kaiden mentally shook that idea from his head, as now wasn't the time for trivial, stupid thoughts as those. He still had a schedule to follow, and his training wasn't going to do itself. However, as much as he wanted to leave, another part of him wanted to stay. Wasn't often Kaiden got to socialize with somebody that actually had a spine.

Kaiden heard a soft growl to his right after he spoke to Laz about being a sponsor. Thing was, he was now able to see both of them at once, so he knew that it was the girl that had yet to introduce herself. His eyes glanced over to her sidways, his head never moving as Kaiden watched the mystery girl slowly react; in reality, he couldn't tell much. Kaiden wasn't that big on reading people, so he hadn't a clue what was rushing through her head. What he did know was that her stance had stiffened, as if she was preparing for a fight; that he knew easily. It was then that she spoke in that odd tone, which Kaiden couldn't quite catch. "Your a sponsor? For the shapeshifters?"

Kaiden's right eyebrow raised in curiousity at her statement, and his lips tugged a little to form a slight smirk before falling back. "Aye lass, and I'm going to guess your one of 'em shapeshifters, like Mouseman over there." Kaiden's head nodded in the direction that Ruari had gone scampering off - if memory served him right, mice had good hearing so Ruari would probably hear him and start complaining or something. Afterwards he brought his head back and gave the mystery girl a quick once over to memorize her for later: if he was to watch over these people, it would be best if he knew them. Though that eyepatch would be pretty damn hard to miss.

Lucky you, Miss… Kaiden raised an eyebrow at the double-edged comment. If Kaiden truly cared about socialization, he could have been offended as Laz would be one to throw sarcasm in. However, Kaiden didn't like to read into words that much, as their face value always seemed to suffice for him. Sarcasm was only used in conversations such as these. Instead, Kaiden heard Laz's comment the way the words stated, and the lack of ending was probably due to the fact that neither Kaiden nor Laz knew her name.

“Now now, Kaiden, at least I have a reasonable excuse for not reading the paper before I signed it.” Again with blind joke: Kaiden was amazed that people with spines AND humor could exist. He needed more of these people, and fast - maybe then he would be able to socialize better. He did have to admit ignorance and naivety, but the jab still stung slightly at the fact that he was stupid enough to get himself into this situation. As he turned back to Laz, she was leaning in towards him as if she were about to whisper. Odd, Kaiden never really partook in such conversations. “Of course, I’m fully aware of what I signed on for. What can I say, I enjoy a good adventure from time to time and that’s exactly what this is.” A quick tongue and a chuckle before she leaned back, and Kaiden was back to smiling again. There was something about Laz that could actually engage Kaiden in conversation without him just leaving after the important parts were done.

Hoping that the mystery shapeshifter would give her name, but unwilling to really wait Kaiden responded to Laz's little jabs. "Whose being inconsiderate now, hm?" Kaiden's smile fell to a slight grin as he mulled over his options: either get to the point and explain his situation, or stick with the banter approach. He chose both. "I came to this school for the athletics department, so when the Suit said the word scholarship, I see the word 'Money'." He gave a shrug. "Oh well. I'm here, so I'll get used to it so long as I can compete." True, Kaiden knew he was being slightly vague about why he was at this school exactly, but he didn't need to just throw information at Laz on their first meeting, Kaiden knew that much at least about socialization. No, Kaiden would bide his time, as he knew that she would either make a joke or question his athleticism or something, and hopefully the shapeshifting lass would clarify her name.

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Everest tried his best to ignore the fact that he was being ignored. Marcus evidently had no intention of speaking anymore and Henri had gone off to converse with the others. The snow leopard sighed and his ear twitched in annoyance. He realized he hadn’t had breakfast yet. In fact, he hadn’t eaten at all since two days ago. Everest growled. He was starving.

Hungry snow leopards, no matter how chill they usually are, instantly become hunters. So Everest began pacing the ground, his footsteps silent, his movements calculated. He debated gnawing on Henri’s foot, just to make his hunger known, but decided against it at the last second. Instead, he rubbed his head against the legs of those in the group: Henri, Lilith, Adwin, and some other human girl. He then continued on his way, looking for anything that could be food.

There was a half-eaten, moldy, ham and cheese sandwich near one of the rooms. Ew. There were several mothballs lining part of the wall. Ew. There was Ruari planning something devious near the fire truck kid’s room. Everest chuckled. He pounced on the mouse boy, purposefully missing by a few inches. He loved to mess around with Ruari. The boy made a great playmate.

But he was still hungry, so he left Ruari alone and continued down the hall. He looked to the stairs and found himself staring at some guy with curly orange hair. There was something feline about him that Everest couldn’t quite put his paw on. Maybe he was a shapeshifting vampire? Everest wasn’t sure. After all, the kid looked quite pathetic, freaking out over his bleeding finger.

Another kid came up the stairs. He was also a pretty small and skinny, frail-looking person. Not a lot of meat. Everest looked away without even the slightest interest. No food to be found anywhere. He made the short trek back to Henri. The human girl had left and Everest’s master was still gawking after her. Sometimes it was embarrassing to be associated with this particular vampire.

Everest looked up with pleading eyes, hoping his master would recognize his hunger. Unfortunately, Henri still seemed to be stuck in gaga land. So, the snow leopard did the most logical thing a snow leopard would do: he bit Henri’s ankle.

Henri jerked back his foot, snapping suddenly from his stupor. “Wha’s yer problem, Evs?” He reached down to calm his familiar, but Everest bit his hand too. Instead of withdrawing his hand, he went ahead and slapped the snow leopard on the side of his face. “The hell? Haven’t ya heard the phrase, ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds ya’?” He examined his hand and his ankle. Both were bleeding profusely. He’d fix them later with his voodoo.

The familiar glared. “But you haven’t fed me!” Everest retorted venomously. “Henri, I’m hungry! Get me something to eat or else I'll go hunting!”

“Quit yer whinin’! I bought a whole bunch a’ steaks jus’ fer you, but ya said ya weren’t hungry, so I cooked ‘em.”

Everest was aghast. He took an involuntary step back. “You cooked them?” The snow leopard nearly fainted right then and there thinking of those delicious steaks ruined by intense heat. Luckily, he was able to stay conscious and emit a low growl, his tail swaying to and fro.

Ignoring his familiar’s distress, Henri sighed. He looked back towards the stairs where that dazzling human girl had escaped. He hadn’t even asked for her name. Stupid Henri was stupid. How could he get so wrapped up in someone's beauty to the point of speechlessness? This didn’t usually happen. Maybe it was just a symptom of the first day of school.

The snow leopard snorted to catch Henri’s attention. "I'm still hungry." He glanced around, pleading with his eyes. He rested his gaze on Lilith and walked up to her, winding between her legs. "Lilith, food please?" he begged, trying to look as cute as possible. "Pretty please?"

"Honestly, Evs. Yer embarrassing me." Henri let out an exasperated sigh, slowly shaking his head. He rolled his eyes and turned to Lilith. “Jus' ignore ‘im, Bathory. He’s actin’ like a cub.”