Zane Barrow's Story

Max Avarus:

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" Max yelled as he walked down the street, casting some attention to himself. His father had been called ton emergency meeting, so he had to finish shopping on his own. He hated shopping. However, most of his shopping was done at least. Phear walked into the Wand store, quickly got his wand, and got out, a feeling of accomplishment running through him.

"Hey Maxy" a familiar voice called to him.

"I told you not to call me that!"

It was his brother, Daniel, who graduated last year. He messed his brother's hair up, and then checked his stuff. "Did he at least say goodby? Or was this like the time he completely forgot about you on the playground because of an important meeting?"

"He did say goodby...he sounded panicked".

"He always sounds panicked about a meeting...oh, I think I see some people I know. Hey, Liam!" He shouted. Max just felt embarrassed now. However, as Max and Daniel walked closer, Max saw a girl bunch this other guy in the face.

Daniel looked at them, wondering what had happened. "Max, this is Liam and Eden Madsen. Guys, this is my brother. He is starting this year. Liam, I forgot Eden had also started this year. Guess they will have company then..."

Max said hello, attempting to jump in after his brother's icebreaker. He was...wary, about making friends. It was the fame and the money, mostly, but also he was smarter then most his age. He couldn't help but worry if the woman was going to punch him next or something. Not afraid, but he would rather not get punched. It was a personal objective not to get punched.

Zeke Barrow:

"C'mon Zane, I don't want to be late!" Zeke impatiently tapped his foot. "Your walking too slow!"

Zeke had this aura about him that you got the feeling he doesn't like to sit still. That was Zeke being Zeke. He hated waiting, standing still, or not doing anything. Zeke simply said he was "a man of action".

Of course, most of his actions usually got him into trouble.

"Come on Zane! We need to get all of our equipment..." He meant the firecrackers and other jokes they had got from some stores. "...loaded before the ship leaves!"

He saw a few others on the street, but he was so centered on not being late to notice anything unless it happened right in front if him or it called to his or Zane's attention.

If there was one thing his father had taught Thomas Decius, it was to be prepared. Thus, he had purchased his school supplies a month earlier and at half price too. It helped that his family owned a quarter of the shops on Rhiamon Way and loaned money to money to many of the ones they did not own. Today, he had decided to visit the broom shop. True, he had never shown any inclination towards joining the Quadpot team. This was for various reasons, two of which amount to the practice times infringing on his already limited supply of free time and the fact that he found it easier to slip into the old school ruins while professors and students alike were distracted by the game. However, he loved the feeling of the wind rushing by him as he flew in the air and he felt that there might come a day where he would be grateful to have a quick broom available to get him away from somewhere quickly.

"Oh, you are very fortunate to come at the time you did, Master Decius," the middle-aged shopkeeper simpered as he brought out an elegant-looking broom, "This is the very last Aether V we have in stock."

"Hmm... I hope Auora managed to get one beforehand," Thomas mused before paying the shopkeeper, wandering if he was being truthful. He had found a couple documents in the old school ruins his father had been keen on getting his hands on. He was so happy, he had agreed to give Thomas the money for this purchase.

Next, Thomas decided to head towards the book store for some recreational reading. He paused, however, when he saw the commotion before him and lo and behold, Aurora was in the midst of it along with several of his classmates and what looked like a couple first years. He smiled politely at Eric, though he could not help but scrutinize Chloe. It wouldn't surprise him that she was the one to give him that bruise on his cheek.

"So, I'm heading over to the broom shop on Main Street if any of you two lovely ladies would do me the greatest pleasure of your company!"

"You should have stopped by there first, Aurora. Someone purchased the last Aether V, though he might be willing to sell or loan it for a price. Or maybe the shopkeeper was lying when he said it was the last one. It's a common marketing trick," Thomas announced with a slight grin on his face as he held the broom in his arms, unwrapped of course. There was no point in wrapping a broom. Everyone knew what kind of item it was.

Odessa found herself walking around the Rhiamon Way, trying to think of any last minute things she needed before going to the ship. She made a mental check list, ‘ ‘Supplies? Yep. Quills? Yep. Books? Yep.’ She honestly couldn’t think of much she had forgotten. She usually had someone with her to help remind her, but she hadn’t really run into any of her friends on the street so far, so she was left alone.

If one was looking at her, they would think she was unprepared. She had a yellow sun dress on, and with her carts already loaded into the ship, she was left with a semi-large red bag. The bag had a ton of things in it, mainly due to the fact she was now legal age to perform magic outside of school, so she had an expansion charm on her bag. It was a hard charm, but she loved it, no longer having to worry about space. She had a crossword book she was going to work on later, but right now she was just wondering.

She did a quick ran into the book store owned by Liam’s family, who she was on friendly terms with, and wanted to see his adorable little sister, but they were out. Finding she couldn’t really find anyone, she began to walk towards the ship, taking the odd ways around. New York magic strips were fine, but she preferred New Orleans’, way more plant life and in her opinion, friendliness. She did see the Barrow twins, and even gave a friendly “ Heya!” To Zane.

As she walked, she noticed someone’s back, who she could honestly tell from any angle; Eric Greene. She honestly considered him to be one of her closest friends, and he had spent the summer with her family, up until he left a couple of weeks ago. Her family saw what a mess she was after, her mom started to tell her to ask him out, and if they got married, to not take his last name. Her sister was a major player in that, having drawn up several pictures, which made Odessa sigh at her family. She actually did have a picture form his stay to give him; It was him and her standing beside each other, laughing in front of an old theater she loved. She walked close to him, and once she was close enough, she went “ Guess who?” while covering his eyes. Not waiting for a proper response, she got in front of him, still walking forward. ”Eric! ‘ow ya been? W’at has it been; now and a half weeks? I got some food in my bag, if ya wanna share on t’e ride over.” She said in her rapid fire style. She was glad to see him again, made a little part of her extra happy.



Zane was walking with his twin, his very hasty twin, his twin who this morning had tried to slip an itching cream into his bag, but was caught and busted by Zane. That stuff spilled too often for his liking, and not in the beginning of the year was he going to risk that.

“You are being melodramatic again, Zeke!” Zane said, while rolling his eyes. He was walking slower than his brother, and only for around 28% because of the itching thing, the rest because he was calmer, however slightly, more than Zeke. He saw a group of students near where they were, both older and younger. He was planning a prank when that Odessa girl had said hello.

Zane looked at his brother. “You know we have some time, and most of the stuff is already loaded, right? You see that group up there?” He pointed at the group, and then noticing the girl running away, he saw it was Chloe, the only girl who shared him slightly. She hated them, mainly because she couldn’t appreciate a good joke. “It’s little miss joke killer. You know it’s her last year? Maybe she should start it out with a bang, you have any mini dung bombs?” A completely stinky Chloe is something that mad Zane smile, plus the small size of a dungbomb would be harder to tie to them, all they needed was to light the fuse and throw.

Zeke Barrow:

"Am not! We don't have any other form of transportation to get there! Besides, we can't risk missing it!"

Zeke said hello. And when Zane mentioned Chloe, his head started spinning with ideas. "Yeah they are next to the..." He started, when a large firecracker dropped out of his bag. The kind of firecracker that explodes spectacularly when it hits the ground. "Shit....LOOK OUT!"

Awkward turned away as the Firecracker went off, a large portion of the blast going everywhere. Not so much an explosion as a magical light show, but it knocked Zeke backwards, distracted everyone, and sent this one kid (Max) flying backward. A large portion of the firecracker also went in the way of Chloe and Eric.

Zeke, of course, broke out into laughter. "That was awesome! Zane, did you see that? Those firecrackers are going to be a blast! We should have gotten more!" He stood up, and looked at Zane. "Those are going to be great".

He then looked at everyone else, and his mind immediately realized something. "Uhh...sorry....accidental firecracker use". He was still smiling though, clearly enjoying what the firecracker caused.

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C H L O E

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It is true enough when they say that there is no rest for the wicked. As for herself, she could not say that she even had a lick of sleep these past two nights. This was all fine, she was used to it. She usually just laid herself down in bed and shut her eyes because she assumed that it was what most people did, whether she was tired or not. Where most people needed sleep every night, Chloe found that as long as she made sure to recharge herself every now and then she could keep herself going for much longer.

But right now, in this moment, her eyes were lead weights. They flickered like a candlelight that was near extinguished, closing shut and then opening wide. She'd really never been more tired. The sad fact is, they were not even at Gaol yet, but really so many things had happened in the space of an hour. She was aware at this point that it was her fault the events had unfolded the way they had. Well, it was really the Lord's wrongdoings that put her in this position, but she had acted accordingly. Was there really a choice, Chloe?

"You've improved your punches since I last saw you."

She really knew that a remark like that could have only came from one person. Marcus Altius to be exact, and really one of the only people that she could class as a 'friend'. Sure, there were acquaintances that came and went by the day, but they were often false friends brought only by the notion that they could 'change her'. Fuck changing.

"Was that a smile, Marcus?" Chloe teased, letting one corner of her mouth perk up. She pushed her palms on to the ground and got up off of the wall. "But was there really that many people? God damn it..." She bit her lip, leaning against the wall once more.

Just as she did there was a familiar sound of an explosion- not one on a large scale, granted- and sniggering came afterwards. Obviously, it was those dreadful Barrow twins. With a look of disgust she muttered "How immature can you get?" before turning back to Marcus.

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L U K E

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Truthfully, Luke was worried.

It was not exactly a good idea to leave exactly four hundred and ninety one animals on their own. One would be bad enough- imagine the complete mess of his room and the state of the self-crafted sketches that graced his walls. But four hundred and ninety one... you are basically asking for trouble to be laid in front of you. Not to mention these animals are not exactly those of sorts. They are beasts or creatures or whatever you want to call them. They are wild. Luke knew he could trust them on their own, though, but there was a twinge of worry running through his mind. What if. It was a simple enough question, but one that caused most to worry, as there is not definite answer.

Stop it Luke. You came here and you will stay here. It was your own decision. The only thing you should be worried about is the goofiness of your Hawaiian style board shorts. Really, though, nothing made him worry like the endangerment of his 'pets'. They were his pride and joy, his responsibility.

Elbows rested against the railing of the ship, he stared out on to the sea. He liked the sea. Knowing that when they left New York that all they would see for miles is the ocean comforted him in a strange way. He was glad he'd shoved on some sunglasses, though, as the sun was shining directly on to the ship and setting the water ablaze with light as navy waves crossed over each other in a battle for space.

Sighing in mild contentedness, he sat back on a sun-lounger and closed his eyes, slipping in to a light sleep.