Colette Toliver's Story

"It's nice meeting you too!" Riley said appraisingly.

Don’t lie, really you’re saying ‘God, why are you here’ Aren’t you? saying it so happily…it obviously sounds fake….

Out of no where, he wrapped an arm around each girl's shoulders. Ayas head whipped around to stare at his hand gently relaxed over her shoulder. His hand. On her shoulder. He was touching her. Her fingers flinched. What…was he doing? Her other shoulder touched his side, and she could feel his warmth against her cold skin. She couldn’t breathe. Her bubble….

Pop!

Get him off! Get him off!

”Hey, Aya! " Trista called as she ran over to the three. Glory! Hallelulah! She had never been so happy to see Trista in her entire life! "What's up?" she tried to get a better look of Ayas face and peek through her hair but Aya wouldn’t let her. She bit harder onto her bottom lip and held her hands over her stomach. It almost felt like someone was churning her insides with an egg beater. Her body was on the verge of giving into her uncontrollable shakes, and she was feeling an extreme level of anxiety. She was feeling such a deep level of it that she wanted to run into Tristas arm and bury her head into her. Craving for protection. And what was worse was that she wasn’t sure if she had lost color in her face, or if her cheeks had turned beat red. She would like to assume it was the first assumption. Since the second would be way to embaressing. (She has no idea it’s actually the second. Her cheeks were as red as apples).

”I'm Trista, by the way, it's nice to meet you both, this is my companion Fucuello."
Riley took her hand and immediately shook it. Fucuello blew steam out from his nostrils and looked at him suspiciously, stomping his front legs a bit. He stared at the two hands meeting and then to Rileys face, to the hands, to his face again. Finally, he let go. He held his head high and dug one hoof into the ground.

That’s right, just remove your germ, dirty-filled hands.

Fucuello was not all too sure about Riley. A) Aya seemed uncomfortable around him. B) His over-friendliness was creepy. Fucuello was alright with Tristas friend that she had known for a while, because he knew he could trust them or was used to them or knew their intentions. Some, he had never found a way to get along with. At those times, because he respected Trista, he would do him and her a favor by staying in his stable.

"Delightful to meet you Trista, my name is Riley. And of course, my incredibly awesome dragon, Razeth." He smiled wide at her, his eyes twinkling with as Aya saw, as distaste for anyone intruding on him and his personal friends talking time.

….Calm down Aya, it’s alright” Estabel reassured and rubbed her face against Ayas.

She tried to take a deep breathe. Estabel was right, she was over-reacting. When was the last time she had gone through something like this anyway? Opening ceremony in high school? What would her brother say to her right now?

Gosh, stop over-reacting. Just take his arm off of you if it’s bothering you so much!

That’s it! Deep breathe. Calm down. But..what if he got even more mad at her? She shut her eyes tight, ‘do before you feel; the feelings will come later’ her brother always said! She lifted her right hand up slowly and placed it gently over Rileys. Her hand was small, and delicate. It held a bit of a rough touch to it though because of her practice in martial arts. In one smooth, chill motion, she removed his hand from her shoulder.

”Excuse me, Trista and I should get g-going,” Aya turned her body from Rileys, stuttering just slightly at the end.

Damn it! Stop stuttering!

”We need to find my brother. Excuse us, she bowed quickly to them, keeping herself from meeting eye-contact with Colette, Jay, and Riley and ran off, gripping Tristas hand in the process. Oh God! Oh God! She did it! She was away! She wouldn’t face embarrassment or torture! If she kept this up, maybe he would leave her alone. She didn’t want to face bullying again. She shuddered at the memories of the boys bullying her in high school. She had always thought girls were worse…till that day.

She would have kept running, dragging Trista along in-between the large crowd of people. But her phone had ringed and she came to a halt. Sighing in relief to see Sagas reply, she paid no attention to his joke. She wanted to see him!

Where are you

She gripped the phone tightly, not daring to let go. It took her a few seconds as always to realize she was holding Tristas hand…but…she didn’t want to let go this time. Hesitantly though, she released her hand from Tristas and turned around, meeting her dead in the eyes.

”S-sorry about…back there…I-” she wrapped her arms around herself. She wanted to prepare a speech, but, maybe just saying what was on her heart would be best. Trista had proved herself.

She showed that she cared about me…she noticed…my uncomfortableness…just like brother would…

Both unicorns were surprised by the sudden leave and hurried after their masters. Fucuello said his farewells, while Esta just ran on ahead. When Esta found Aya she was overjoyed and rubbed her face against Ayas. Aya laughed. Estabel felt her fear back there. Memories, flashbacks of even more harsh bullying. Why were kids so mean? Aya placed one hand on top of her nose and the other on the side, hugging her.

Oh, Estabel… she cried in her head through the connection.

It’s ok, I’m here. Estabel reassured, Everything will be ok, I won’t let anyone bully you, ok? Estabel reassured through their minds. Fucuello stared at the two, holding himself upright.

Not to point out the obvious or anything but… Aya seems shaken up, bad. He spoke to Trista through their connection. Fucuello tilted his head, and the two unicorns held eye-contact for a minute before Esta broke it off. Here, Fucuello had thought the girl strong, cold, and shy. But he wondered…was she actually broken inside?

Riley was not breathing before.
Now, he was hyperventilating.
He hands shook as Aya left, running off with her friend Trista.

”Excuse me, Trista and I should get g-going,” Aya had said as she turned away from Riley,”We need to find my brother. Excuse us",then she bowed quickly to them,not making eye contact with anyone, grabbed the girl Trista's hand, and fled.

"Fucking shit!", he screamed into the air as Jay approached, his hands going up into the air.
This scared everyone around him. Except for Colette.

"Someone is back to normal", she remarked, as her little fairy shook on her shoulder, getting into the layers of her glittery hair.
"She just left Colette. God, she hates me, doesn't she?!"
"Maybe she wasn't used to all the body contact. I mean, I know it's normal for me, and maybe everyone else in our town who knows who you are, but not her, ya know?"
He sighed, as his heart seemed to constrict in his chest, and he started to breathe a bit faster.

Razeth, I feel like shit that's been left out in the sun, then stomped on by an alpaca before being drenched in a thunderstorm.
Gross, Razeth responded.
You understand that didn't make me feel better right?
She's probably not used to it, like Colette said.
She hates me, she hates what I did, she will always hate me, her companions will hate me, her friends will hate me, her friends' companions will hate me, she will never speak to me again, she will ignore me as long as I live, she will talk behind my back and call me a freak, a weirdo, a pedophile, a jerk- His fists clenched in his hands.
Calm down Riley. Please do not take this out of hand. All you need is an outlet to take out frustration.
AND WHAT DAMN OUTLET CAN I TAKE OUT MY FRUSTRATION ON?! HOLY SHIT, I AM SO PISSED. HOW COULD I BE SO STUPID!? WHY DID I DO THAT?! WHY DID I DO ANYTHING!?
Ah, what about your duel with Colette?, Razeth asked, and, sensing Riley was heating up again, proceeded to ice his hands and the back of his neck.

"Eh, Riley, are you all right? It was an incredibly rude thing to do, but don't get too stressed out on it ok?", Colette said, concern in her voice.
Then, Jay came up to them.
Aw man, I cannot deal with his and his gargoyle's shit right now, Riley thought, agitated.


"Here dude." He said and held the new bag of chips out to Riley. Jay didn't look at them.

Riley looked at him, astonished.
What a turn of events.
Maybe Jay wasn't so bad. Maybe it was just his gargoyle that was a fucking douche.
Riley tried to compose himself, and learned the ice had made him stop shaking.

He was actually really surprised Jay would go out of his way to reconcile with him, since he seemed to keep to himself.
"Wow...thanks dude...About earlier, kinda sorry I blew up. Although I'm a little kind of not too." He grinned a bit, taking the chips.
"You blew up?", Colette asked, smirking.
"Yes, Colette, I did. Good reason, too, if I might add. Jay, this is Colette."
"Very... nice meeting you Jay. Sorry, I've had to say that a lot today, being introduced to people." At this, she turned her head to Riley. "Some not as nice as others, isn't that right, Riley?"

"I guess."
He didn't have the heart to tell her about what he was thinking about was way more than social rejection.

"Hey, Jay", Riley said, feeling a bit friendlier now. "If you'd like, you can witness Colette and I going head to head in hand-to-hand combat."
"You do realize you said head to head in a hand-to hand combat?", Colette said, giggling slightly.
"Yeah. I do.", Riley grinned at her too, although he certainly didn't feel so happy as to feel amused anymore.
"So, wanna join us Jay?", he asked, trying to reconcile a little as well.

Colette stared off as Aya and Trista hastily left, their companions running off behind them.
And to think, I thought that girl would make a pretty good acquaintance.
She thought there was something off about the way she had left in such a flurry. It was unnerving.

Riley was not faring very well. His hands seem to shake on his shoulders and he screamed, "Fucking shit!" into the sky, and everyone within a short distance could hear him. She was pretty sure the Aya girl couldn't hear, since she had run so far away.

But, finally, the Riley she knew.
"Someone is back to normal", she remarked, and noticed Quinn hiding in her hair.
"Aw it's alright Quinn, but you're gonna have to get used to it."
Quinn shook, and whispered, "I do not like loud people...."
Riley then started to rant,"She just left Colette. God, she hates me, doesn't she?!"
"Maybe she wasn't used to all the body contact. I mean, I know it's normal for me, and maybe everyone else in our town who knows who you are, but not her, ya know?" Colette could see how that was a problem, but there were much more graceful ways of expressing disdain.
He sighed.
I mean, Riley wasn't a bad looking guy, and girls would be ever so lucky if he glanced at them at home.
This brought back a memory from a year ago, over in Kelud.



"Riley, Riley, wait up!", the girl had chased after him in the snow, running across the street to where Riley was sipping a hot chocolate with Colette. They had taken a short break from studying, and were now heading back to a classroom that had been vacated solely for Colette's tutoring purposes.
"Hey." Riley grinned at her, with a hot chocolate mustache on his face.
"Riley, I think you have miraculously grown facial hair over the span of two minutes." Colette commented, and he laughed.
Esther seemed flustered. "Uh...um.....R...Riley..?"
"What's up,Esther?", Riley said in a friendly tone, removing the mustache with his sleeve.
"Oh..uh..wow..you know my name...", Esther looked over longingly at him.
"Uh, yeah we have Math and English together." Riley looked confused.
"Oh, right! Um...anyway...I was wondering...oh, I can't do it!" Esther cried, rummaging in her pocket for a second, then pulling out a crumpled note from her pocket. She handed it to him and hid her hands behind her face. "Just read it!"
"Um....okay...", Riley responded, handing over his hot chocolate to Colette. He opened the note, and Colette sneakily read over his shoulder.
Dear Riley,
I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to the Girl's Choice Spring Dance.
It would mean a lot to me. I mean, I really like you a lot, and I really, really want to go with you.
Love,
Esther Walters.
By this time, Esther was peeking between her fingers. When she saw Riley looking at her, she squeaked and replaced the fingers again.
Riley chuckled a bit nervously, and removed Esther's hands. Esther squeezed his hand, joy lining her face.
"Esther, I would love to, but....well, a few girls have already asked me."
"What!?", she squeaked, her nasally voice making Colette wince.
"Well yeah, and it wouldn't be fair without considering them so..."
"Who are they?!", she demanded, blowing her mousy, brown hair out of her face, and the wind blew it back.
Riley put her hair behind her ears, and she blushed deep red.
"Well,you know Diana Middleton and Sierra from English? Yeah...."
"Oh my goodness!", Esther shrieked."This is unbelievable!" She then turned back to Riley, and her sweet, shy persona was back on again as she bit her lip nervously.
Colette scoffed at her quick change in attitude to seeing Riley.
Please.
"Well, when you make your choice, just let me know, okay?"
"Of course. Bye, Esther."
Riley steered Colette away from her and Colette smirked.
"You're not going with anyone to the Girl's Choice Spring Dance, are you?"
"No, I am not." Riley smiled at her, and took another sip of his hot chocolate."Are you?"
Colette looked down. "No.", she stated.
"Oh....well... I know Katie and Matt are going together. As friends, of course. Do you want to go?"
Colette looked up, touched he would do such a thing for her.
"I actually do want to go the the dance. Would you like to accompany me, BFF?"
"Ugh, don't call me that. But sure."
And they entered the gates of the school.


Colette looked over at Riley, sensing he wasn't thrilled a girl had run away from him.
"Eh, Riley, are you all right? It was an incredibly rude thing to do, but don't get too stressed out on it ok?", Colette said, concern in her voice.
Then, a boy came up to them.
Riley looked surprised to see him.
Colette looked at the boy, who was offering chips, and avoiding eye contact.
He was kinda cute, in the you-need-to-get-a-haircut way. He looked a bit familiar.

"Wow...thanks dude...About earlier, kinda sorry I blew up. Although I'm a little kind of not too." Riley grinned a bit, taking the chips.
"You blew up?", Colette asked, smirking. Just like him.
"Yes, Colette, I did. Good reason, too, if I might add. Jay, this is Colette."
"Very... nice meeting you Jay. Sorry, I've had to say that a lot today, being introduced to people." At this, she turned her head to Riley. "Some not as nice as others, isn't that right, Riley?"
She was tired of all these people. She wanted to be alone!!

"I guess." He didn't sound confident yet.

"Hey, Jay", Riley said. "If you'd like, you can witness Colette and I going head to head in hand-to-hand combat."
"You do realize you said head to head in a hand-to hand combat?", Colette said, giggling slightly. How funny. He was recovering.
"Yeah. I do.", Riley grinned at her too.
"So, wanna join us Jay?", he asked, trying to reconcile a little as well.

"Yes, it wouldn't be very fun if I didn't have an audience while I kicked Riley's ass." Colette said.
"Hey, I am actually feeling pretty strong and agile right now!", Riley teased, but the light in his eyes was out.
Oh, boy.

Jay was slightly confused, yet relieved, once the two girls and their freaky black unicorns left. Thank god. Jay thought, relieve setting in. He looked up cautiously at Riley as he took the chips. Honestly, he was a little scared the guy would hit him or something. What a scardy cat.

He was relieved to here Riley just apologize about earlier. "Nah, man. It's fine." Jay replied, a small half smile appearing on his face. Slayer still had a frown on his face and was lazily laying on his stomach on Jay's shoulder. He let out a small chuckle as he heard Colette, apparently, question Riley about blowing up. He found the way the two interacted to funny, though he was still a little new at meeting new people, if that even makes any since.

Jay gave Colette a smile and tipped his chin up slightly to her in greeting, his usually greeting instead for saying hello. Jay looked back at Riley as he said his name and he raised his eyebrows as the guy said he was going to fight Colette in hand-to-hand combat. That sounds...amusing. Maybe Ash would like to see that. Jay thought as he smirked to himself. "Sure, I'll go with just because I wanna see if this skinny girl can actually kick your ass." He said to Riley, gesturing to Colette.

Just as Jay was about to go get Ash so she can have a little fun seeing some guy getting his ass beat by a girl, Draconem decided to get things going.

"Now that everyone is here, we can finally get training going! As you all can see, we have different stations for you all to try out. You can go to any station you want and you don't need to go to all of them, but keep in mind that you will have all of these as classes throughout the day. At each station, the leader of that station will either be one of the Pooka or one of Pegasus. If you have any questions, just ask them. I know allow you to socialize and go start some training!" Draconem preached before leaning back and talking to Degore, the Great Gryphon, the biggest Pegasus there, and the oldest looking Pooka.

"Well, I gotta go get someone that would also just love to watch some ass beating. Be right back." Jay said quickly then turned around and ran off to where he'd Left Ash. Luckily, she wasn't that far away with Liath on her shoulder, his tail going down to the ground and the fluffy part at the end flipping up off the ground. "Ash!" He yelled as he ran up. Ash looked at him like he was crazy, she didn't even have time to question him before he was pulling her along with him by her wrist. Before she knew it, Jay was walking right up to Riley and Colette. Ash's eyes widened slightly and a smile broke across her face. "Aight, let's go see some ass whopping!" Jay said as he dropped Ash's wrist. Ash didn't know what to say so she just smiled shyly up to Riley and Colette.

Trista placed a hand on Fucuello's cheek and brought the side of his head against hers. Softly stroking his warm silky fur and consoling him. Don't worry Fucuello. You are my one and only, just because I worry for others doesn't mean I have forgotten you. You should take solace in the fact that I can shake away such worries because I know that in the end you'll be there. Ok? She placed a final kiss on his cheek before turning her attention on the matters in front of her.

Something was wrong with Aya. The girl looked like she was on the verge of being sick or even worse a nervous breakdown. The girl was all pale except for her cheeks, which burst out a beat red. When Trista had come closer she had noticed Riley's arms around both girls. That's probably what's making her so uncomfortable. A shy girl like Aya would not be ok with such close physical contact. She was beginning to lose her good opinions of this boy. Before his bashful nature had been sweet but now he seemed very forced and a little to suave. Clearly Fucuello was having the same thoughts since he stomped his hooves and snorted when she shook the boy's hand.

"Delightful to meet you Trista, my name is Riley. And of course, my incredibly awesome dragon, Razeth." His eyes twinkled as he placed his hand back on the other girl's shoulder. He's gripping her shoulder rather tight, she noted.

"Hello, I'm Colette. Also, this is Quinn, my companion." Collets motioned to the Fairy on her shoulder. Ugh, she hoped she wouldn't have to see that little annoyance too often. Fairies were never good news. Trista gave a tense smile to them both. She would be polite if only not to cause a scene so early in the year. Now hopefully nothing else-

"Here dude."

-brought down her mood. That voice was the last voice she needed to here. The emo was here. Him and his gargoyle had come over and handed Riley a bag of chips apolageticly. Hmph! Wonder how long he spent moping in his room before deciding to actually dosomething? Fairies she could stand, they were small and insignificant. Emos she could not, they stood out like sore thumbs, drawing all that damn attention to their problems without trying to fix any of it. How weak!She turned away from the emotional one before she said any of that out loud. Aya still seemed very uncomfortable. What should I do? The question turned out unnecessary since in the next moment Aya had taken Riley's arm and twirled it of her in one fluid, trained motion.

”Excuse me, Trista and I should get g-going,” She stuttered and gave Riley the shoulder. A clear but shaky statement of back off!”We need to find my brother. Excuse us." Aya bowed the everyone and ran off with Trista's hand gripped in hers. The raven haired girl followed willingly. It seemed easier to breath the farther they got from that group.

The two girls and two unicorns weaved in and out of crowds and individuals with ease. There seemed to be no destination except for away. Trista didn't blame Aya, though. Riley had stepped past a boundary, inconsiderately, most likely trying to be cool to the girl he clearly liked. There was a very fine line between bashful and uncomfortable and Riley shot himself out of a cannon over it.

Aya stopped so suddenly in front of her that she almost ran into the girl. The brunette had taken a cell phone and was checking it. The poor thing was white knuckling the device as well as Trista's hand which was beginning to hurt. She didn't seem to want to let go, though she finally did and turned to look Trista in the eye.

”S-sorry about…back there…I-” Aya wrapped her arms around herself. A sense of relief flushed through Trista. No cold shoulder or icy voice. She brought the girl into a brief, loose hug. One that Aya could easily reject if she felt uncomfortable.

"It's ok." Trista flashed a smile. "The guy was being a creep anyways." She paused. Not to point out the obvious or anything but… Aya seems shaken up, bad. Trista nodded, Yeah, I wonder if she got bullied when she was younger? Trista had never been bullied, yes there had been people who had disliked her for her popularity or her looks or her grades or heck even for Fucuello, but never had she been alienated or full out bullied.

Even so, she could relate to what Aya might be feeling, even if just a tiny bit.

"Say Aya, about earlier, when you left for your room, was something wrong?" She needed to clear the air about that. "It's ok if you don't want to talk about it, though." She added afterwards.

The Headmaster appeared to finally address his class. "Now that everyone is here, we can finally get training going! As you all can see, we have different stations for you all to try out. You can go to any station you want and you don't need to go to all of them, but keep in mind that you will have all of these as classes throughout the day. At each station, the leader of that station will either be one of the Pooka or one of Pegasus. If you have any questions, just ask them. I know allow you to socialize and go start some training!" Draconem finished his booming speech and another wave of tenuous and cautious commotion began. Trista grumbled a little, she wasn't looking forward to this. She turned to Aya. "So, where shall we begin? You pick."Might as follow her around, she looks like she's already practiced some of this stuff all her life.

There were advantages for not being known in a group of people, Something Solara knew well as she moved from behind the group of two girls and guys (riley and that group) passing close to them with an soft "Excuse me." when she accidentally brushed against Colette, to follow Aya and Trista and the two black unicorns.

She followed the two for only a few moments however before she turned and headed for An obstacle course, wanting to warm up before she started to really work hard. Ravian walked behind Solara easily dodging people and companions as they stumbled, walked, tripped, and flew into her path, causing her to be constantly ducking, sidestepping, and dodging the others.

Solara herself was still heading for the obstacle course she could see over the heads of the mob the Draconen called students, and making progress. Or was until Trista stopped suddenly in front of her. This caused Solara to stop suddenly as well, but before she could back up, Ravian slammed into her from behind, shoving her into Trista.

"Sure, I'll go with just because I wanna see if this skinny girl can actually kick your ass." He said to Riley, gesturing to Colette.
Colette smiled at him confidently. Skinny? Actually kick his ass?
She laughed, remembering some very good fights between the two in ninth grade.

Draconem finally decided to speak, arising from his seat. There were some more screams, and Colette rolled her eyes.

You think you would've screamed back when he wasn't moving much, too.

"Now that everyone is here, we can finally get training going! As you all can see, we have different stations for you all to try out. You can go to any station you want and you don't need to go to all of them, but keep in mind that you will have all of these as classes throughout the day. At each station, the leader of that station will either be one of the Phooka or one of Pegasus. If you have any questions, just ask them. I know allow you to socialize and go start some training!" Draconem preached before leaning back and talking to Degore, the Great Gryphon, the biggest Pegasus there, and the oldest looking Phooka.

"Well, I gotta go get someone that would also just love to watch some ass beating. Be right back." Jay said quickly then turned around and ran off to where he'd Left Ash.
"W...Where is he going?", Colette asked wondrously after him, seeing Jay dodge through people to some unknown location.
"I...have no idea. This is, however, the most animated I've ever seen him." Riley responded.
Jay returned, dragging someone behind him.
It was Ash. Colette, amidst being introduced to practically everyone from everywhere, had almost forgotten about the girl with no regard of personal space from earlier.
"Aight, let's go see some ass whopping!" Jay said as he dropped Ash's wrist. Ash smiled shyly at them.
Colette laughed at Jay. "I enjoy your enthusiasm. You should place bets." She wasn't normally so at ease to laugh among people she'd just met, but that remark was very humorous.
"The smart money's on me." Riley teased, and Colette punched his shoulder. Riley rubbed it, grimacing.
Colette smiled at the two next to them. "Just a sneak preview." She winked at them, caught up in the humor of it all. "Let's make our way over, then?"
"Hey Riley," A boy smiled at him, Jay, and the two girls. There was also another guy, distracted with his phone, trailing behind him. Oh, yeah, the guy whose egg was hatching. How could she forget? But the other guy......
Who is he? I swear I've seen him before, but I don't know where......
He paused slightly so Riley could answer back, and Riley nodded in that hey-bro-what's-up kind of way that boys do.
"Who is he again?", she asked him.
"Don't you remember? That's the Angel guy. Nice guy, unfortunate name."
"Oh yeah. He was there in the morning."
Colette had met so many people her brain was getting mudded.

Colette and Riley led the way, shouldering between people who were chattering and moving excitedly.
God, there were so many people.
She shuddered once, an instinctive thought invading her brain.
Is someone following us?
She shrugged it off. Of course, Jay and Ash were following them.
"Let me die." Quinn groaned, as she just nearly made contact with a dragon's tail that had been whipped at her by some girl turning around quickly to chat to her friends.
"Ah, don't worry Quinn, just a few more hours and we'll return to the peace and quiet."
"I could be beheaded in a few more hours. Are you the type of person that says 'a few more hours' to refer to more than two hours? Because I would prefer if you were not."
Colette laughed, and Riley looked at her.
"What's so funny?", he asked grumpily.
"Oh, lighten up Riley. You can't expect everyone to be okay with you being overly friendly with them, can you?"
Riley looked at the ground, gritting his teeth, and then chewing on his piece of gum again. "I guess not."
"She looked so scared though. Like, I mean yeah, some people could be uncomfortable, but is it courteous to just take off? Not a very coordinated response to a social situation, if you look at it in a clearly objective, third-person view, of course-"
"Just stop talking about it, ok?", Riley barked, and Colette rolled her eyes again.
Touchy, touchy. Someone was going through some major mood swings.

"So, after witnessing the brutal smack-down of a lifetime, where would you like to head next?", she threw this over her shoulder to Ash and Jay. It'd be very rude to just lead them everywhere they wanted, and not give them a chance to speak up over where they wished to train.
They approached a Phooka near the hand-to-hand combat area.
"Hello there, my friend and I would like to go against each other in hand-to-hand combat. If you wouldn't mind, could you please tell us how this works?", Colette asked as she craned her neck up to view the face of the Phooka.
Riley snorted at her severe politeness.

’Geeze, how long have I been out here?’ Minx wandered around the massive enclosure, still looking for her companion. She was almost certain everyone else had found theirs, and here she was, still lazily strolling along in search of one. She had absolutely no idea what she had wanted, so she was trying to keep an open mind, but honestly, she didn’t know what she was doing.

With a very small sigh, a little smile picked at the corners of her lips, and she closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth. Macari blinked a few times, bringing up her hand to shield her eyes from the sun above her. She had gone through the meadows, past the mountains, through the forest, and finally found herself in a field. With a groan, she simply turned around and let herself fall into the grass with a soft chuckle. “Mleh, they should just start without me.” And with that, she closed her eyes for a few moments, letting the grass tickle at her face with the gentle breeze that blew through the area every so often. With the next wave of the grass, Minx paused, it felt a little… different.

Her eyes fluttered open to fall straight into the gaze of a small little animal. She smiled brightly, her eyes practically lighting up with amusement. Lazily, her eyes scanned over the small thing, large ears and legs, a little nose that was wiggling about, curious eyes, and antlers. She laughed good naturedly at the sight of the thing, she’d never really seen one of them before, but she knew this was a Jackalope. Back at her home, she had heard stories from some of the locals about the creatures, they were supposedly really rare. As she laughed, it seemed to perk up and its features smoothly shifted as if it found the situation amusing as well.

“Hey little guy, wouldya like to be my companion?” It tilted its head to the side, then stood up on her chest. “Sure.” Macari sat up, causing him to roll softly into her lap, and she rested her head on her shoulder, admiring the little thing. Suddenly, she heard Draconem’s voice somewhere within the area, talking about the connection between a Ryder and its Companion. “Shoot! Gotta get back.” She scooped the Jackalope up into her arms, making a hard sprint back towards the building, but she had travelled far, and thus she knew she wouldn’t make it in time.

Eventually she grew tired, and paused, her sides heaving as she panted from the long distance she had already conquered. Her companion squirmed in her arms a bit before she quickly leaned down and let him sit, joining him once her breathing rate had returned to normal. “So, what’s your name then?” Minxy spoke lightly, her hands resting on her legs as she gave the little guy her full attention. He had already begun to grow. “I have no name.” He looked up at her into her eyes with a look of humor in his own. “Hmm, guess I get the honor to name you then!” Macari grew silent for a little while, rubbing her chin as she thought. “I like Pippin, what about you?” The Jackalope grinned and nodded his head. “It fits nicely, methinks.” He stated lightly, and she laughed before looking up at the sky. “We really should continue on, can’t lose the whole day, y’know?” Pippin nodded, getting up and stretching. Macari soon joined him, picking him up under the arms and holding him lightly in her own arms to where his head and arms were above hers, but the rest of the body was pretty much free. It wasn’t uncomfortable for him, so he made no complaints, rather preferring the vantage point.

He seemed to do well enough, and she grinned brightly, taking a casual pace as they walked along through the different areas, chatting with each other and strengthening their bond, getting to know one another. Eventually they made it back to the large doors that led back into the stadium, which was absolutely empty. Like, literally, no one was to be seen for miles. Macari stood there for a few seconds with a poker face, swearing she could hear a cricket chirping somewhere in the background. She pretty much expected a tumble weed to come rolling across the scene. Pippin looked up at her, his antlers pressing gently into her stomach. At the new pressure, Minxy looked down at him with a bemused look on her face, “Any idea which way to go?” Pip looked back down and scanned the area, soon shrugging. “Uhh, I don’t know… why don’t we just go that way.” He raised a paw and pointed out towards a large door. Macari shrugged with a grin, “As good a guess as any!” And with that the two began their journey.

As they walked down a corridor lined with a bit of armor, the two continued their conversation. “So what do Jackalopes do exactly?” May asked lightly, keeping her eyes straight ahead to make unconfident turns. Pip looked up at her with a little smirk, “All sorts of things. We’re especially good at mimicking pretty much anything, voices, sounds, the likes. We can do healing magics, some of us have the ability to do pressuring when it comes to emotions, and we’re certainly good at hiding.” Minx laughed, taking a moment to look down at him. “Explains why you guys are so hard to find.” Suddenly, she heard voices, and quickly shifted her course towards them.

“Yep! But those aren’t the only things, I’m sure. We’ll just have to figure it out, huh?” She nodded towards the question, and suddenly came out into a large hallway where she figured every girl in the academy was located at that moment, suddenly distracted by what was at the head of the mass. The Great Gryphon himself was there, and appeared to shoot her a glance saying, Join in on the fun, to which she obliged happily, keeping her distance from most people, more interested in her Companion.

After awhile, they came out into a new enclosure, where many things were located. From all of the chatter around her, she had already figured out they were headed to training, having left their rooms and changed. A quizzical look appeared on her face, but she shrugged lightly with a defeated grin. She hadn’t met her roommate, gotten to see her room, understand what was going on, or meet anyone, really, but she had found her companion, which drowned out everything else with absolutely no resistance whatsoever. Despite not being able to change, Macari was perfectly fine for the task at hand, having been dressed in camo capris and a simple black t-shirt, with simple multipurpose boots, and her signature necklace. She figured it went nicely with her most recent hair color, dark brown with red highlights at her bangs, even though she didn’t really have a mind for fashiony things.

She suddenly glanced up out of her thoughts as the boy’s group entered the area, and the two suddenly merged into one. She shrugged lightly, easily going with the flow as she looked around at all the training areas. ”Let’s see… there’s archery, wrestling, obstacle courses, martial arts, gymnastics, swords, hand to hand, and the Companion’s area of training.” She thought lightly towards Pip, having discovered their mental connection after having first found the girl’s group. ”I don’t really want to go to the special abilities, I’d rather stick with you. I’m sure I could do more good by your side than trying to find something to do on my own. Once you’re done, we can both go together.” He wiggled his nose, his long ears twitching a bit as he spoke to her through the connection.

Macari grinned lightly, nodding in agreement, ”Makes sense, I think I’d do well at gymnastics and especially the obstacle course, but I think I should try my hand at some actual combat techniques. I know the basics and a bit more, and I’d like to work more on defense, I think.”

Draconem suddenly spoke out, announcing that training would begin, and most of the training areas would be done throughout the day through classes and the likes. She smiled brightly at the fact before looking around at the people in her vicinity. There was a group with quite a few people in it, talking loudly about combat. She blinked in thought, considering her options again. ”Uh, I’m definitely not going to do well in wrestling, so I think that’s out for sure. M-maybe I should just stick to the obstacle course for today.” She thought with a slightly exasperated look. She’d rather not get pummeled, now that she thought about it, and she’d get to go through them all anyway. ”Right, I agree that you should start the day off with something you’re good at, besides, I could use a good run as well.” Pippin looked up at her with bright, laughing eyes.

“Guess that’s settled then, perfect! Let’s go.” She grinned, keeping Pip in her arms for now. They were still close to the large group, even though it was beginning to dissipate, and putting him down might risk him getting separated or stepped on. Better safe than sorry. The two made their way over towards the obstacle course, joking a bit and poking at each other as they went.

Jay looked at Ash who seemed to be staring off into space, which happened to be in the general direction of Colette. With a confused look on his face, Jay looked at Ash, then Colette, then back to Ash with a smirk on his face. What is it, master? Slayer broke into his thought as he noticed the sly look on Jays face. Jay raised a sly eyebrow at him and looked to Ash. Slayer then followed Jay's eyes to Ash and followed her eyes to Colette. That's when it all clicked and broke out into demon-child sounding laughter that indicated he had a devilish little plan forming.

Jay laughed slightly at this then stopped and looked at Ash who was staring at him with a rather scared look on her face. To which Jay just stopped, got a blank face, and said "What?" with a slight shrug. Now Ash knew something was up. Upon hearing Colette speak again, Ash smiled at her and Jay and Slayer began laughing again. When hearing bets, Jay began.

"Aight then. I place..." He paused and took some money out of his pocket. "Okay, I place a Benny on Riley here." Jay said to Ash as he waved a hundred dollar bill in Ash's face. Ash crossed her arms and looked at him with an oh, really look on her face.
"Then I place a hundred on Colette." Ash replied, Colette's name rolling off her tongue beautifully and Jay smirked at her.

Before they knew it, they were following Riley and Colette to see the fight. Jay was excited. He liked seeing people fight. He found it amusing. And he found it amusing the way Ash was looking at Colette. It was weird and cute and hilarious all at the same time to Jay. When Colette ask where they wanted to head after the fight, Jay took a quick look around. Nothing really sparked his interest.

"I don't know. What about you, Ash. Where do you wanna go next?" Jay said as he smirked at Ash. She looked at him confused slightly then got slightly wide eyes as Jay glanced at Colette causing Ash to glance at her as well and blush slightly. Ash took a look around and saw swords, one thing she's actually good at.
"How about swords." Ash offered a bit shyly.
"Typical." Jay said with a smirk on his face, wondering if she was just wanting to show off. Jay and Ash then went to stand on the sidelines as they watched Riley and Colette get ready to begin, Ash watching what Jay would be right to assume was Colette.

The Phooka stared down at them, his height a bit intimidating, although he seemed friendly.
"You both shall participate in a three-round match, the best out of three winning. The goal is to get your opponent to fall to the ground, and a knockout is legitimate if they stay on the ground for nine seconds or declare defeat. You are both allowed to use hybrid forms of martial arts. No choking or cruel uses of skill to completely black-out an opponent. If a round lasts for more than eight minutes, the round is considered a tie."

He looked behind the two to Jay and Ash. "Spectators may sit up in the bleachers." He pointed to a set of temporary-type bleachers, the easily assembled type.They looked new and shiny, but at the same time didn't look very stable, so Riley hoped they'd be smart and stayed low on the ground. He was happy Jay had bet on him. It gave him a little bit of confidence to know that someone thought he could win. But, then again, Jay had never seen Colette, so it really was because Riley was tall, and he was a guy. Still.

"I'm about to win you a hundred dollars." Colette confidently said to Ash. She was about 99% sure she would win.
"Don't be so assured of your ability this time." Riley said, hauntingly. "I've been practicing."
Colette scoffed. "Of course I know that. You've been practicing with me, you idiot.Which, really, is just another disadvantage towards you, since I know all your moves."
Riley glowered at Colette grinned cheekily.

"We'll meet up with you guys later, so Ash can collect her winnings." Colette told them, completely calm about it.
"We haven't even started yet!", Riley whined, and Colette laughed. He grinned at her. Even though he was in a bad mood, Colette knew this and teased him to try to make him feel better.
It was slowly working, and he was touched she thought they were such good friends that she would try to comfort him in her own, weird way.
"Razeth, can you and Colette's little fairy go to the bleachers?", he nodded, and, after a gesture of acceptance by Colette, the fairy went to sit on his back. They made their way over.
"Her name is Quinn."
"Whatever."

They stepped into the ring, a dusty thing with a fence made of dulled wood around them.
"Not like the snow back home, huh?", he asked, and she smiled sadly.
"I hear the families are supposed to come in a few days." She informed him.
He lit up. "Really?" He smiled brightly, thinking about his grandmother and Oenone.
"Yeah. I guess that made you feel better,huh? Now I'm sure to win."
He darkened. "How sly of you." She laughed, and he had to chuckle a bit himself.
The Phooka came over between them, and asked them to shake hands. When they did, he stepped back out of the ring and shouted,

"Start!"

They circled each other, and Riley tried to make an intimidating stare, but failed as he grinned stupidly.
"Stop it, you doof, you're making me lose concentration." Colette said as she bit her lip, immersed in the 'Ryder'ness of the situation,and Riley rolled his eyes.
She threw a straight punch at him, and he blocked it by making an 'x' with his arms. She blew hair out of her face.
Riley went for a Jab, but Colette blocked him by squeezing his fist between her fingers.
"Ow!", and Colette smiled maliciously.
"You're starting to get sadistic, and it scares me."
"Prepare to be terrified."
She took one step, two steps forward, then kicked him in the gut.

"Hi-yah!", she said as she propelled her leg forward as her body swept down to knock him off his feet. The front kick worked.

"Ugh!", Riley screamed as he fell to the ground. The dust on the ground stuck to one of his arms, which he had landed on awkwardly.
God, this hurts like a bitch!, he thought.
"Five.....six....seven....eight....nine!", Colette counted triumphantly, and the Phooka observing them shouted, "Round One! Point to.....what's your name?"
"Colette, and he's Riley." She responded.
"Round one goes to Colette! Round two.....start!"
Colette offered him a hand up, and he went to take it.
As soon as he reached, she let her hand fall away, and he fell again.
"God!", he shouted, as he fell into the dust again, and felt it settle in his mouth.
"Why do you always fall for that?", she tutted at him. She did that every other hand-to-hand she had with him.

Riley got up again. Things were serious now.
He thought about what had happened only about ten minutes ago, and his eyes heated.
She hates you, she wants nothing to do with you, you scared her, you're a menace, you're stupid, you're ugly, you're creepy.....
He repeated these thoughts over and over to himself and side-kicked Colette in the stomach.
"Ahh!", she screamed as she fell face-first into the ground.
Oh my gosh, what was that?! Ow!, she screamed in her head.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
She got up again, wiping dust off her shoulders. I will not be beat., she thought, and repeated the mantra to herself.
"Aw, man", Riley whispered, and she sent a champion grin at him.

As they kept circling each other, Riley threw a punch at her, sending a forceful hit to her shoulder, making her stumble back.
She will never speak to you again.
She will make all her friends hate you.
, he now thought.
She sent a twist punch to his gut, and he doubled back.
Shit, that hurts.
But he composed himself.
"Weak." Riley threw at her, and she make that little high pitched scream I'm-so-frustrated-just-die squeak girls do.
"I'll show you weak!", she started to try a butterfly kick, but Riley grabbed her leg and spun her to the ground.
"Oh.....", she moaned, and Riley started to count the seconds.
At nine seconds, the Phooka raised his hands up. "Round Two goes to Riley! Round three-start!"

This was the round that would decide everything.
"I underestimated you, grasshopper." She said, as she grinned at him, and he grinned back.
When training, they didn't care they were hurting each other. It didn't create much strife, except maybe the rare occasion when Colette lost, and she huddled in a corner.

When she thinks about you, she'll be disgusted., he lamented to himself.
She tried to send a hook punch his way, but he blocked it.
Colette glared at him, her eyes narrowed in a way that made him squirm in his pose. She was menacing when she got like this.
Knowing he was intimidated, she made two straight punches to his neck, and succeeded.
"Shit, that stings."
But he reciprocated with a punch of his own, and Colette felt frustrated.
She had both her fists up, and he cupped the fists in his hands, and send her down to the ground.
They were wrestling on the ground now, and couldn't hear anything.
She kneed his stomach, and he howled in pain.
He was on top of her now, and he had his teeth bared as he tried to force her fists to the ground.
What was driving all this power from him?, Colette thought,Ah, yes, the girl.
"Give up now?", he now cast his own evil smile at her. "It's worse when it's someone you're close to, right?"

What.
She breathed heavily.
How dare he.

"You know what's even worse than her hating you, Riley? Her not thinking about you at all."
She felt no sympathy as he went white, and she reversed the position, straddling his waist now.
She had no trouble lowering his arms so they were above his head.
She stood up, and kicked him in the gut.

The seconds passed,and the Phooka pronounced her the winner.
They looked at each other, and realized what they both had done.
Colette now realized Riley wouldn't have made such a big fuss unless he liked the girl. Oh no.
Riley stood up quickly, and hugged her tightly. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean it, are you ok, you're ok right, please don't hate me, ok?"
"I'm sorry too, I didn't want to." She also breathed her apologies, returning his hug, not even noticing people who were giving them looks.
"I know." He said as he breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't meant to bring that up, but what she said had also hurt him, more than she knew.
They both knew it was the heat of the moment, and their competitiveness that had gotten in the way, and they both knew they were genuinely sorry.

They exited the ring, and waited for Jay, Ash, and their companions.

Jay laughed at Riley and Colette as they bickered on about who was going to win. Jay, who betted on Riley, honesty thought Riley would lose. Why do you think man shall lose? Slayer said to Jay through their little connection with a confused look on his face. He looks like the type of guy to go easy on a girl. Jay said back and small smile appearing on his face. Him and Slayer laughed slightly, almost like two girls giggling, which caused a few people to stare.

They stopped laughing when Ash punched Jay in the arm. "Ow! What the fuck was that for!?" He said loudly. Ash pointed to the pooka who was addressing Colette and Riley. Ash listened intently, not really wanting to miss anything, but Jay, on the other hand, looked around like he was lost. When the Pooka then addressed himself and Ash, he hardly heard a word the guy said and just nodded with a blank look on his face.

Jay and Ash were just about to go sit on the benches to watch the fight. When Colette addressed Ash and said she was about to win her a hundred dollars, a small smile appeared on Ash's face and she blushed slightly. Jay rolled his eyes at the sight of his cousin blushing over some girl. Liath did almost the exact same thing as Jay except he crossed his front arms and looked into the crowd, his tail hanging down to the ground as before. Slayer, unlike Jay and Liath, was looking at everyone with a confused look as he said "What? What's going on?"

As Colette and Riley began to enter the ring, Jay and Ash, along with their companions, walked to the temporary bleachers, Ash blushed slightly again as Colette spoke to her again. Though it was just about collecting the winnings, Ash still blushed at it. "Oooh, what's that?" Jay said to Ash as they walked, pointing up into the air. Ash looked at him with a confused look on her face and looked up. "What are you talking about? Are you seeing things again?" Ash said in a very serious voice, and she was being serious too. Jay narrowed his eyes at her. "No, I am not seeing things." He said in a similar serious voice. "But I do see lu-ve!" Jay said mockingly. Ash raised an eyebrow and Liath looked at him with a raised eyebrow as well. Slayer was, as always, was in a confused state. "What?" Ash asked as she sat down on the bleachers, the one the was closer to the ground and Jay sat down beside her. "You know, l-ove. Love. It's that thing that happens between two people wen they like-like each other. You know what that is!" Jay said loudly, not caring that people were starting to stare. Ash just looked at him with wide eyes and slayer decided to just give up on trying to figure out what was going on. Liath was just uninterested.

Eventually, Jay quit going on about seeing, and I quote, "magical love in the air!" and enjoyed the fight. He cheered and shouted for each hit, punch, kick, and tackle, weither it was from Colette or Riley. Ash, on the other hand watched in discomforted and winched slightly each time Colette took one. Liath sat on Ash's shoulder reading a book with little glasses on, Zeus only knows where the hell he got them from, and Slayer was flying around in the air hollering and throwing punches and kicks as he enjoyed the fight. When it was over, Jay was crushed. He started this day with three hundred bucks he had saved from working and he's going to end up ending the day with a little more than 100 bucks out of his pocket. Ash was happy though, yet very confused when Riley and Colette hugged. Liath looked up from his book and eyed the two then looked back to his book. They're just rather close friends. Don't let it worry your mind. Ash let out a sigh and stood up, Jay following behind her.

They walked from the bleachers in silence, Jay with a grin on his face and Ash with a small fake smile on her face. Jay saw this but chose to ignore it. It's for a good reason. It's for a good reason. Jay thought. They eventually found Colette and Riley. Ash just smiled a little more in greeting, but Jay perked up. "That fight was sick! It's said that you lost though, dude. But that fight was sick!" Jay said with a big grin as he jumped around slightly, Slayer was struggling to stay on his shoulder. "Huhmm, quite." Liath said as he looked up from his book then went back to reading. Ash was just standing by the small group with a small smile on her face. "Lets go to the next place now!" Jay said as he started walking off.

Eventually, the two made their way back from the bleachers, Colette and Riley's companions behind them. Razeth joined Riley at his side again, and Quinn came back onto Colette's shoulder.
Ash smiled a bit as Jay talked enthusiastically."That fight was sick! It's said that you lost though, dude. But that fight was sick!"
Jay had a big grin on his face and was jumping around excitedly, and Colette and Riley could not help but share a laugh.
"Huhmm, quite." Ash's dragon Liath said as he looked up from a book.

Where did he get a book from!?

There was also a little gargoyle who was struggling to stay on Jay's shoulder. Colette hadn't noticed him before. He looked like a little baby one, and Colette smiled at him. She noticed Riley grimaced, though.
Colette also noticed Ash hadn't been talking much, and that was weird. Was she uncomfortable in group situations?
"Lets go to the next place now!" Jay said as he started walking off. Colette shook her head at him, smiling, and Riley ran to catch up with him, Razeth rolling his eyes. Ash was walking a regular pace, and Colette fell into step beside her.

She looked up to see Jay and Riley dodging people ahead, and Riley seemed to be in a better mood.
Riley likes that girl......Aya.And it hasn't even been a full day yet and she hates him.
This saddened her, and Colette was truly sorry for what she said. She wondered if she should confront him about it, but then voted against it.
Maybe when there's more evidence I'll approach him.
However, she was still thinking about what Riley had said.

It is worse when it's someone you're close to.
And she was transported to another time, briefly.

"Don't be so weak!", he shouted at her as he cast a Ventus Murus at her, making it hard to breathe.
"I am not weak!", she shouted as she tried to get out of it, but received a bloody, deep cut on her hand.
"Foolish child, do you not remember you cannot simply walk out of a wind wall?", he scolded.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember!", she shrieked into the wind, and fell to the ground, the blood running down her arm, as she closed her eyes and thought of a way out of it.


Her chest hurt for a little bit, as if she was still there, struggling to breathe.
Get over yourself.
She supposed she would try to make conversation with Ash. She was friendly, really, and Colette knew she needed to have some friends other than Riley.
"Haha", she laughed good-naturedly. "Is he your friend? And is he always this hyper?" The fairy dust in her hair glowed when she smiled in a friendly way.

They approached the ring where the swords were, and saw a crowd had already started to form.
It was all those people from the bench, along with some new people.

Sheesh, are they everywhere?

She slipped into the area, surveying the swords in the area.
Hey, a Shashka!
She showed the sword to Ash, and talked animatedly.
"This was one of my first swords,since it's really favored in Aquilonis. Of course, I've graduated to using varieties of swords, since my family has a collection of them from when we go on vacation." She held the sword gingerly in her hand, and looked down at the shiny finery.

She noticed a few people.
Angel, the guy with the egg,oh wait he ran away, Aya.....
Oh boy, Aya's here. She saw her speaking to that Angel guy, probably showing him how to use the swords.
She looked for Riley and found him smiling, looking off into the distance towards the sunny obstacle course. He hadn't noticed her yet. She bit her lip, looking between the two.
Plan A: I will steer Riley away from Aya so he will not see Aya, and again become super depressed and moody.
Plan B: I will approach Aya, and demand to spar with her, so Riley will come over and see me, and redeem himself.

"Quinn", she whispered.
"Yes?", Quinn's whisper was so soft even the breeze could not carry it.
"Pick a letter: A or B."
"A."
"Kay, thanks."
"Wait! What did I do?"

It's for the best anyway. She looks preoccupied. Maybe another time.
She looked to Ash. "I think it's too full at this time. Would you like to go against me in the obstacle course?"
She hoped she didn't mind.

Eventually, the two made their way back from the bleachers, Colette and Riley's companions behind them. Razeth joined Riley at his side again, and Quinn came back onto Colette's shoulder.
Ash smiled a bit as Jay talked enthusiastically."That fight was sick! It's said that you lost though, dude. But that fight was sick!"
Jay had a big grin on his face and was jumping around excitedly, and Colette and Riley could not help but share a laugh.
"Huhmm, quite." Ash's dragon Liath said as he looked up from a book.

Riley saw Colette smiling at Slayer, and he grimaced.
She probably thinks he's, like, a cute baby gargoyle. What a sick joke.
"Lets go to the next place now!" Jay said as he started walking off. Riley decided to leave the girls to themselves and chased after Jay, narrowly avoiding a dragon's tail.
Am I going to be running into things all day?!

He didn't really care. After that fight with Colette, he had released all his anger out, and he felt freer. All he needed was an emotional outlet, and he found one in a personification of his newfound ability when he was angry, and that personification was Colette. She really was incredibly strong and agile, and it never seemed anything was wrong with her at all. Riley had had short glimpses into her life, however, and knew what was bubbling under the surface. He didn't know what made him say that back there in the ring, but he truly was sorry for it.

He suspected Colette knew he found an intrest in Aya, since she had said what she said. She was too perceptive.
He remembered his old girlfriend, and how it hadn't started like this. Or the one before. Or the one before that. They all seemed genuinely happy to see him.

He thrust those thoughts out of his mind as he finally caught up with Jay.
"Didn't think you were so energetic man. You seemed kind of...." How do I put this?
Floaty and introverted, Razeth prompted.
"Floaty and introverted." Riley finished. Thanks, man. Riley grinned at him.
No problem, Razeth responded.

They made their way to the swords place, and Riley admired all the different types they had. Colette had only taught him to use five kinds of swords, and he picked up his favorite among them.
"I love this sword, man. Arming swords have to be my favorite, and they can work two different ways, for offense and defense." He smiled.
He heard a sound to his left, and looked up at what he assumed was the obstacle course. It seemed to have a lot of challenges, with a climbing wall, logs, and even a rope swing.
He appreciated it from afar, and pointed to it to Jay. "That looks sick man, wanna go there later?"
He put the sword down, marveling at the sparkling sunshine reflecting off of the obstacle course.
That is some awesome shit.

Ash sighed quietly as Jay took off, Riley following behind. She just hoped he wouldn't get into any trouble like he usually does. The last time Ash saw Jay around swords, he almost took a guys head off before losing the sword on a back swing and making it stick into the wall of the barn. That was a funny day, especially because it was Mark who almost got his head chopped off by his best friend.

He's rather odd. Liath intervened Ash's thoughts. Who? Jay? Ash replied through there connection. She had to admit that the whole connection thing was pretty cool. Yes. Liath said slowly. He was beginning to sound ever more 'wise' and old, in Ash's opinion. But she wouldn't try to point that out. Yes, Liath, yes he is odd. Ash said with a small smile.

Upon hearing Colette laugh, Ash was pulled from her little connection chat with Liath and looked at Colette with a small smile. Hearing Colette's question, Ash smiled at the ground and shook her head slightly. She then looked up and looked over at Jay and Riley, who were further ahead now and dodging people. "Nah, we're not friends. He's my cousin. And yeah, he's always this hyper. Around me he is anyways." Ash said a little broadly. She didn't like talking about Jay. Back home, the conversation was always about Jay or one of his friends.

When they made it to the swords, Ash was a little awe struck by all the swords. She'd only ever trained with a sword from a poor Ryder or the hook swords, which she was rather good at, but there was so many different kinds now. She looked at the sword Colette held out as she talked about it. It was a bit crowded and all Ash wanted to do was go somewhere else. Too. Many. People. When Colette mentioned the obstacle course, Ash perked up a bit as she thought Thank god! "Sure. Too many people here for my comfort anyways." Ash said with a slight shrug of her shoulder. She was happy she was good at obstacle course though, or she would've regretted agreeing to that.

---

---

"Duck. Dodge. Dodge. Watch out for that tail!" Slayer said to Jay as Jay quickly swerved through the crowd of people and up to the swords. He pushed through a crowd of people who were right in front of the swords and grabbed a shotel. Shotel's were his favorite sword for it's cool curved blade. He might have almost have cut Mark's and Val's heads off with it, but it was his favorite nonetheless.

Jay remembered that time now. Him, Mark and Val were in Jinx's barn messing around with the swords. Jay had the shotel, Mark had Ash's hook swords, and Val was messing with a scythe. Jay was swinging the sword around when Val came up to him. He didn't notice her coming up and he swung the sword back and it almost cut her head off. Then Ash walked in the barn and Jay spun around and almost took Marks head off in the process. That was not a fun day.

Jay looked up at Riley as he commented about how energetic he was being. Jay chuckled slightly. "Well, you're gonna' find out I can be a very hyper and outgoing person." Jay said to him with a big grin on his face, and it was true too. He looked at the sword Riley was holding and nodded. "Yeah, man, that's a cool sword. But this is my favorite." Jay said as he held up the shotel. He followed Riley's eyes to the obstacle course and made a face. "Dude, I ain't gonna lie but I suck at obstacle courses. Ash is pro at them though."

"Sure. Too many people here for my comfort anyways." Ash said with a slight shrug of her shoulder.
Oh, great, she agreed, Colette thought, relieved.Now we can get out of here before Riley sees the girl.
"Yeah, me too. It makes me feel overwhelmed." Colette paused, as she realized this was actually the truth. Being introduced to all these people made her feel uncomfortable, and she longed for the group of friends she had back home. She would IM them later, maybe bring Riley over and have a group video chat, if her roommate didn't mind.That reminded her, she would have to meet someone else- her new roommate. She groaned internally, although it wasn't fair to a girl she hadn't even met yet.

"Let's go pick up Riley and Jay." She put the sword down, staring at it longingly for a moment, and then started to lead the way to where the boys were.Riley was still looking over at the obstacle course, and he now pointed at it to Jay. Jay didn't seem to like it as much as Riley did. Colette assumed it was a child-like yearning to try the obstacle course, because this was how an obstacle course was supposed to be set up, not like the ones at home that were way more extreme. The ones at home had many revolving spikes, fiery pits, and hidden booby traps.
Colette remembered that the first time Riley had seen one. He had almost fainted, but Colette had to remind him that because there was so much snow outside, the fires would be put out soon, and, if you fell, the impact with the ground would be more cushioned.

She finally got to him, but he was still entranced. She waved a hand in front of his face, and he came to.
She rolled her eyes. "Do you want to go there? It's a bit too crowded here, so I don't think they'll be enough room."


Riley tried to look around a bit, but Colette was in the way, moving ever so slightly when he moved.
Colette tried to get in his way so he wouldn't be able to see Aya.
He didn't really care, he was still thinking about the obstacle course, and he could hear all the people anyway.
There's no cutting, no fancy technology that Colette's family set up. It's just a regular, old-fashioned, muddy obstacle course.
He grinned, and Colette noticed his boyish smile, and couldn't help noticing how it suited his face, and made him look much better-looking than he usually was.
"Hell yeah I wanna go!", he shouted as he bounced a little.
Colette laughed, and looked back at the two cousins. "Let's go. It's rare if he gets like this."
Riley put an arm around her, and quickly steered her over, and soon it became him holding her hand as he made her run.

"You do realize I'm not going against you, right?"
He stopped, and she bumped into his back.
"What?", he asked. "But....I wanted to..." He didn't say he always did these kinds of things with her. It was familiar. It was an unspoken thing that they trained together. It hurt him a little, but he put it out of his mind.
"I asked Ash. You could go against someone else....", Colette realized how weird it was, that she was training with someone else. She had just wanted out, and she guessed she had asked Ash because it would be rude if she had just trained with Riley every time.
"Oh....okay." He started along again, but not with as much enthusiasm.
"Hey, you wont get burned this time." She commented, and he brightened again.
"Yeah, and I won't fall into a pit or get cut by a spike either." He smiled again, and she sighed, relieved.

"Hey, Jay, wanna go against me?", the boy asked as they finally reached the station.
A Pegasus was there, and pointed at the ring of obstacle courses. There were about four for time, and four for Ryder versus Ryder.
Colette walked over to Ash, and pointed to the closest one. "Let's try that one."
Likewise, Riley walked over to Jay.

The girl seemed suprised when Aya bowed to her, but nevertheless returned the bow.
"It is a pleasure to meet you miss Ueto Aya, My name is Arnlar Azamanin; but you may call me Solara. This is my companion Ravian Solariat, who does prefer you to call her by her last name."

Aya smiled at the formal, but familiar greeting. She has just expected a weird look from the girl, but she liked that the girl, Solara, had returned the custom. It brought back a little piece of home to her.

Spying the katana Aya held in her hands, Solara smiled and pointing to the blade asked, "May I?"

Why can't you get your own?, she thought, but forced herself to be nice, because she didn't want to break her promise to herself so quickly.

"Of course", she said through gritted teeth, practically throwing the beloved katana towards her.

At this time, Angel decided to answer her question about the whereabouts of her brother.

"Uh, your brother..." He waved his sword, using it to pointing in a general direction."He's over there somewhere. He said he'd catch up later, so he's bound to show up at some point in time."

Aya fretted over this as Angel seemed to nod,as if trying to discern if assuming this was correct.
Of course he's alright. Why wouldn't he be? He probably just wanted to explore, or check on Bluejay.
Still, she felt her instincts telling her to go look for him. There was no time to pretend to want to be friends with people.

"If you'll excuse me", she said to Solara as she departed.She didn't try to speak to anyone else, as Angel and Trista looked preoccupied in other things. She walked in the direction Angel had pointed in,and didn't really hear anything until she heard a shout of enthusiasm over to her right.

"Hell yeah I wanna go!"

Aya looked towards the yeller, and found herself face to back with none other than Colette, her hair glowing with fairy dust easily recognizable. She also saw a girl from the bench earlier, and the boy that had approached her,
Colette and Riley before she had run away.
What is she doing here? And why is it that I feel like I know that name, before I even met her?

But Colette wasn't the one that had screamed. Of course, it was Riley. Obviously since she was here, he was sure to follow. Aya felt her stomach grow queasy, which she assumed was because if her loathe and disgust for him. Trista was right. He was creepy.
Aya walked quickly now, not that it mattered, as they looked ready to head in the opposite direction, and Colette was blocking her anyway.

Good. I don't want to see him.

But she looked back,once, and caught the boyish smile on Riley's face.

........!!!!!
She went into an almost run, and the group escaped her view. She took deep breaths and closed her eyes for a few moments, and then walked on, remembering she was looking for her brother.

She tread the path until she got to the stations for companions, and she saw him right in the middle of a huge disarray.
On one side, Saga was clinging to Estabel, and on the other, little Bluejay was being challenged by a menacing tiger who looked like he would rip him to shreds.

Aya watched, horrified, as Saga just sat back, scratching Reechi on the head.
Why isn't he doing anything?!

Then, she saw Bluejay begin to dance around the tiger, playful and unafraid. Aya admired his technique, and, now calm that her brother was not in danger, sat next to him.

She supposed this was to teach the little dragon a lesson. "Tough love, huh?" She commented as Bluejay continued whatever he was doing.

Ash nodded slightly with a small smile on her face in agree to Colette's statement of going to get the guys. She could tell Colette didn't want to put the sword down as she stared at it a moment. It was always odd for Ash to see someone look so...longingly at something. That made poor Ash think of her father. Her and her father, Omar, weren't all that close. He was a Ryder and all so he could only visit on holidays or special occasions. The last time she saw him, she told him she wanted to be a Ryder. He didn't want her to, but she didn't want to be stuck in the farm wasteland of Vesper any longer.

Pushing the thoughts of her ever so cherished father out of her mind, Ash looked around as she walked with Colette. There was a lot of people crowding around and the sooner they were away from there the better. Upon finding the guys, Ash noticed the look of disgust on Jay's face. 'Why, what's his problem?' Liath asked. 'He's no good at obstacle courses.' Ash replied matter-of-factly. It was true too. No one, not even Jay himself, would bet for him to win an obstacle course. He would try the first part of the course, and if he even had one simple little trouble, he would give up.

Ash went over to Jay as Colette talked to Riley. She gave her cousin a sly grin as she knew what was bothering him. "Awh, what's wrong? Don't you want to go have fun on the obstacle course?" Ash said, giggling slightly as she did so and Jay stared daggers at her. He really didn't like being picked on by his...fear, if you could call it a fear. Probably more like a very strong dislike. The whole short walk to the obstacle course, Ash picked on poor Jay about it to the point where he was mumbling "Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up." As he pushed her slightly. When Riley walked up, Jay simply pushed Ash causing her to walk right into Colette. Ash glared at him as her face heated slightly and Jay gave her his famous ha-ha-that's-what-you-get smirks that he'll usually point out was a half good thing since it wasn't some random person, but Colette.

Letting out a sigh, Jay looked at Riley. He wasn't totally surprised the guy asked him to go against him since the girls where going together, but Jay wasn't really all into obstacles considering he sucked at them. "Listen, man, Im'ma be straight with you." Jay started in an I'm sorry voice. "I suck at obstacle courses. I'll go against you, but it would be the same as going alone." Jay said, completely putting himself down. As he talked, Slayer flew off to cause some havoc.

Ash apologized to Colette saying "Sorry 'bout that. Jay pushed me." She didn't sound as shy as she did earlier, she didn't even have the same body langue as earlier. Ash was slightly more loose and open. Until, of course, she remembered who she was with and she shut up again. She looked up as Colette pointed to the closest course. It looked easy compared to the ones back home. The ones back home weren't as nicely made considering they were ones Jay's dad made for the two minus the one metal course from school. Either way, the ones back home were somewhat unstable where if you hit it the wrong way it would completely fall apart. "Okay." Ash said in agreement, a small smile on her face.

Colette stumbled a little as Ash pushed into her. "Woahh...", she teetered, but then regained her composure again.
Ash had turned around to look over at the boys, so Colette assumed she just hadn't been looking. But when she saw a mischievous smirk on Jay's face, she knew that wasn't the case.

Ash apologized to Colette saying "Sorry 'bout that. Jay pushed me."
"I figured as much." Colette said and grinned a little,knowing a lot herself about teenage boy antics,especially when they were quite close to you, and weren't reserved in their actions. Ash sounded a bit different, and wasn't so tensed as she was before, and Colette was happy that someone was finally warming up to her.
But then, after a moment of thought, her body became rigid again and she looked the same as earlier.
Nevermind. Maybe she just forgot she was speaking to a stranger,Colette thought as she sighed.
"Okay." Ash responded to Colette's previous question about trying the obstacle course.

Colette wanted Ash to have the same friendly stance as she did earlier. She needed to have some friends. She decided she would be the talkative one from now on. It wasn't that easy for her to become relaxed around someone either, so Colette knew at least they had that in common. How to proceed?
Plan A: I will lead Ash over to the obstacle course and become competitive in disposition,and so training together will make her like me.
Hmmm...
Plan B: I will not seem eager to win at all, or I will seem eager to win, but will let Ash win anyway.
Oh, God, no, that hurts too much.
Plan C:I will be friendly, even though I just want to be alone, but still I will want to win.
Colette thought this was the best course of action. She tugged Ash away from the boys, holding her forearm, and began to steer her in what she hoped was a friendly, but still eager way.
As she did this, she spoke, even though she just wanted to be quiet, or, better yet, quiet and on her own. She wanted people to talk to,yes, but she thought so many events had happened, and were still happening, that her mind was muddled.
"This obstacle course looks very placid, considering the ones I have at home. My father loved setting up traps and firey spikes all all around the obstacle course. You would fall into a pit, or be tied up by the legs, or maybe something came after you, and really, this is like a breath of fresh air."
She hoped talking about training would get Ash to talk about training. Or something. Anything, because speaking politely so much was making her grit her teeth.
They approached a Pegasus and the rules were simple.
"You and your companion will enter the obstacle course, and when the horn blows you may begin. The first person to make it to the other side wins."
Colette's mind was clear, and for this she was happy, because training always made her this way. There was one goal, and only one way to go.

Letting out a sigh, Jay looked at Riley. "Listen, man, Im'ma be straight with you." Jay started in voice that seemed apologetic. "I suck at obstacle courses. I'll go against you, but it would be the same as going alone." Jay said, and he looked as if he was depressed.As he talked, Slayer flew off to do God knows what.

Riley grinned at him. "Honestly, I don't care man. I just wanna try this out without getting a boulder chasing after me or ink flying into my face." He nodded at this, as if reminiscing. "Colette's family's obstacle courses are brutal."



"Let's go, slow ass!", Colette yelled from in front of him,and she jumped over a hurtle,mud smeared all over her face.
Not like he should be talking, because not only his face, but his arms are legs, were covered from the mud pit they had to swing over. The mud had started spraying like a sprinkler, which made no improvement on Riley's already slipping hands.
Colette and Riley were in two different courses, but they were only divided by a glass panel, so they could easily see what the other was doing, and their progress. Which,of course, did not motivate Riley at all, seeing as Colette was ahead of him.
"I'm trying!", he huffed, jumping over an identical hurtle on his side. He sides hurt, and he really really really needed to go to the bathroom.
Suddenly, the atmosphere seemed quiet.

Too quiet.

And that was a hint that there were booby traps hidden in the faux-jungle, which really only had enough trees for it to be called one. He stepped carefully, avoiding leaves,plants, and anything that might fall to reveal he had set off an alarm. On the other side of the glass, he heard an alarm ring, and grinned as he heard Colette's shout in frustration.

Step.
Step.
Avoid the root.
Step.
Step.
He was gliding with ease now, and as he reached the edge of the jungle, he sighed, letting his guard down as he stepped out.

Which was his biggest mistake.

He stepped on a loose branch, and the sound of it echoed in the enclosed space.
Aw, shit.

He looked behind him to see the boulder rolling straight towards him.
"AHHHHHHH!", he screamed as he ran for his life.


He shuddered a bit, and then looked at Jay.
"If you don't wanna do it man, that's fine, but if you really do suck, then you could use the practice." He said this as they neared the Pegasus, who started relaying the instructions that seemed basic to Riley.

Ashes eyes widened slightly feeling Colette grab her forearm and pulling her to the obsticle course. She looked at the course, it's sterdieness looked welcoming. It looked easy and well put together unlike the one's back home that were simplly makeshift obstacles made out of old splintery wood. As if she read Ash's mind and was proving her point of how different this was than the ones back home, Colette told Ash about her's. Ash smiled, a real genuine smile at ths. Ash let out a small laugh. "Yeah, the one's me and Jay trained on where just unstable makeshifts built out of old splintery wood." Ash said. It wasn't said shyly or quietly, but more in a matter-of-factly way with a slightly toned down genuine smile on her face as she recalled the obsticles back home. "The Death Traps" was the nickname Ash's father had given the poorly built things.

So, I gotta do the obstacle too, as I take it. This may be a harder day than I thought. Liath said with a bit of a sigh. Ash smiled at him with a slight nod after the pegasus talked to them. "Okay." Ash said with a smile to the pegasus in an almost eager way. She them stepped up to the start, but not before flashing a grin back at Colette in a rather flirty way. What was that about? Liath said as he jumped off Ash's shoulder and landed on the ground Beside her. He standed to about Ash's knee and looked up at her with a slightly raised eyebrow. Oh, that? That was nothing. Ash replied as she smiled, unable to stop. She then put her hands on her hips and looked ahead into the obstacle course as she waited for the horn to blow.

Once the horn blew, she balted down into the course, leaving Liath in the dust. Liath had to take a double take before he noticed her running then took off after her. Ash seemed to be takeing the course at ease. She easily leapped over the hedges, ducked under the walls, and swinged over spaces on the ropes like an acrobat.

---

"Damn, dude." Jay said with wide eyes as Riley said how brutal Colette's family's obstacle courses were. "Sounds fucked." He added before seeing Riley shudder. That was weird. Jay thought with a raised eyebrow. He let out a chuckle after Riley continued talking. "Alright, man." Jay said then they started walking toward the obstacle course.

As they walked, Jay thought about home and his 'training', if you could call it that, and his friends. Oh, how he missed his friends. He would hang out with them literally 24/7. They'd go everywhere with eachother. They even took turns staying at each other's houses, except for Val of course. She would go off and do her own thing once in a while. But, all in all, him and his friends were unsepreteable. And to think, it was Jay's big idea to leave and come here, alone, without anyone but his cousin. Jay wouldn't say Ash was bad company or anything, he just didn't always like hanging out with her.

As soon as Jay and Riley made it to the pegasus, Jay saw a girl come from the front of the obstacle course. Jay's first reaction, "Da' fuck...?". Jay's second reaction after the chick tripped, hestarical laughter causeing the Pegasus to give him a look. Jay's third reaction after the girl started yelling at the pegasus about her brother breaking a rib, "Damn." with wide eyes of course. Jay's fourth reaction after noticing the girl was from earlier, smirk-smirk-smirk-smrik-smirk like there's no tommorow. The Pegasus walked up to the girl and titled it's head. "Calm down, child. Lead me to him and I'll see what I can do." The pegasus said an a lightbulb went off above Jay's head. "Hey, we'll help!" Jay yelled to the Pagasus and he came closer to him and the girl. "Me and Riley can help walk the guy to the nurse." He added as he came over, a big smile on his face. He smiled at the pegasus, then at the girl, then back at Riley. "Come on, Riley. Let's go save a life!"

Meanwhile, Slayer was at the obstacle course Ash and Colette had just entered getting ready to stir up some trouble. He pulled out some 'invisable' string, which is clear string that's un-noticeable, and pulled it across the course in a clear running section of the course. His laughter was silent as he did so. He them placed some more un-noticeable tripping traps over the rest of the course. Sensing his Ryder was getting ready to leave, Slayer decided not to stay and watch, though he wanted to, and he headed over to his Ryder, perching on his shoudler with a wide smile as he could feel his plans coming into place just as Ash tripped over that first wire.