Fucuello's Story

"A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand. Today our goal is not to find a hero. But a wise young man or woman that will be coming into this school." Spoke the wise dragon by the name of Draconem. He was the headmaster of a school that gave it's students magical creatures as companions. When first becoming the headmaster, he thought the "companions" were treated as pets, but he found now that they become the best friends and the consciences of many students. Today was the first day. The first day for these students in the life of being a Ryder. Most of the students are of wizard or witch decent. Though, Draconem prefers wizards over witches in the since of the magic type they use. Wizards use the good magic. While witches use dark magic.

Coming out of his resting place that's stationed directly above the school, Drconem greeted some of the students where they returned with a scream. Dragons, in some places, were feared for they were the great rulers in those days. Every king had a dragon telling him what to do. And if a place didn't have a king, they had a ruler. A dragon ruler. A dragons home was among the people in these days. Yet some of the older dragons from centuries before stilled lived in giant caves in giant mountains with there goblin minions. Goblins. Drconem hadn't seen a goblin in two centuries. He had had a group of goblins to himself once, but then, before he was the infamous destroyer of worlds, a dragon by the name of Diablo robbed them all of their lives.

The dragon Diablo. What a vicious dragon he is. He was the companion of the great leader Diablo that all the Ryders are vigorously fighting as he continues to take up part of Cree. Diablo used to be such a good Ryder. Diablo the Ryders name used to be Diabolus. What an agent word that was. Draconem remembered what it meant though. It meant devil in an new yet old langue known as Latin. Cruel as he was, Draconem saw him always as the Ryder he was. Draconem himself was the one to foretell the fall of Diabolus and the raise of an evil Ryder to be known as Diablo with his evil dragon companion that bared the same name.

Draconem put this all out of his head as he entered the stadium. Draconem was so large that his body curled up like a snake in the middle of the stadium. His body and head reaching up into the air. He looked around the stadium at the students. Most of them were nervous or afraid of how large he was. Draconem wouldn't be one to brag, but he was one of the largest and oldest dragons the inhabited Cree. His eyes glowed a smoky bright green as they seemed to have smoke flowing from them. The hair that surrounded his head and part of his neck like a lions swayed in the breeze as he turned himself around and around to face the crowds in different areas of the stadium. Once everyone was seated, he spoke. His voice was old and loud, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and listen. "Welcome, future Ryders, to Ryder Academy! I bet most of you are wondering when you will be greeted by your companions? Well! You'll have to go find them first!" Draco interrupted his own speech by the sound of his ever to loud laughter at the few gasps and moans he heard from the crowd as they realized they were going to need to go out and find there companions.

"Here's what you must do when finding your companions!" Draconem continued, his voice becoming serious and unjoking. "When getting a companion, there is two things you can do. One! You can grab an egg, but you need to realize it could just be a chicken or a bird then you'll have to go out there again! Or two! You could grab a baby! Fairies are located in the forest in tree houses! They're already small beings, so a baby fairy will be extremely small! Smaller than an inch! Unicorns are located in the fields! You'll know it's a baby unicorn if it's laying on the ground and it's eyes are closed! Dragons must be taken while in there eggs! You need to be tricky with these because dragon mothers are very vicious and will come after you if it see's you take her egg! Does everybody understand?" Draconem said in a loud, clear voice to everyone. After receiving nods from everyone, Draconem nodded himself. "Okay! I release you into the companion room to find your companion! Choose wisely where it is you are to go! Once you are done, comeback here and bring your companion to me so I may give you it's name and gender! This goes for everyone including those who choose eggs to make sure you don't have a chicken!" Daconem laughed as he opened two large doors into a large enclosed room that had mountians and forest in the distances. There were dragons and unicorns everywhere, you could see the light of tiny fairies in the background near the forest. It was quite a sight.

Ash smiled at Colette slightly more awkward than she actually felt and looked up as she heard a guy call Colette's name. He came walking up, sitting beside Colette, and commented on the dragon on his shoulder. Ash had to admit to he was cute, but she was too preoccupied to notice that too much. Ash leaned forward some, placing her arms in her lap as she did so, so she could see around Colette and get a better look at the guy. Her smile that she had worn almost the whole time talking to Colette was now faded and more of a small almost forced smile. She watched and listened as the two interacted and smiled when Colette, though hesitant, introduced her as she new friend. More than that is what I'd like to hear. Ash thought, then the thought was completely invaded by Liath as he crawled onto her back and his head slinked up to the side of her head. Right, because you're a fucking creeper and she'd call you more than that after just meeting her. Liath thought to Ash in a very sarcastic way, a big grin (though it was a rather creepy one) forming on his face. "Hi." Ash said to Riley after she shot Liath a look of annoyance.

Before Ash had anything else to say, she was interrupted by the sound of yet more gasps and small screams from the crowd as the huge dragon had returned from his hitch above the school. He came down from the wall, slinking right back to how he was for his first big speech, and looking at everyone as it had grown ever so quiet. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, waiting for him to begin his speech that was most likely going to become a rather long one. Once everyone was quiet, Draconem flew swiftly into the large enclosure, despite the fact he had no wings. Ash guessed aloud that he must be looking to make sure everyone was out and in the stadium. In the enclosure, Draconem was pleased to see that he'd only have to pick up a handful of students and bring them back to the stadium as everyone else was there already. Settling back to into his central spot, Draconem eyed the crowd of new riders. He looked up to the sky to see Degore, the school Gargoyle, and the Great Gryphon who's name has been lost over time. He gave them a bow with his head and turned back the students as he began his speech.

"Today, you entered this academy with nothing. The only thing you had was the title of descendent of a wizard. Descendent of a farmer. Descendent of a baker, a fisher, a sailor. A select few of you may even be a descendent of a Ryder. Today, you came here alone looking for someone that will stay by your side 'til the end of your days. And today, you'll all be leaving and going to your dorms with a life partner. A life friend. A life companion. With you, your companion will grow. And with your companion, you will grow. But, let me explain. When you die, your companion will die. When you hurt, your companion will hurt. The bond between you and your companion is strong. You all may not know it, but from the moment you entered that enclosure, your soul and the soul of the companion were pulling toward each other. You and your companion are bonded for life. You will never get a chance for another companion. You are to protect each other with all your lives. And now, with my powers, I bestow the gift of wisdom onto the companions so they may help you make the right choices as you begin your lives as Ryders!"

Draconem said with a large grin, as he laughed his hearty laugh as the crowd cheered at his words. Ash clapped with a large smile on her face at the giant dragons words. Draconem had such a way to make people feel confident. He could tell with his foretelling insight that there, among him in the crowd, there was a group of young people to become great Ryders one day. Yet, he could also tell that some of these Ryder's were not destined for greatness, but destined to trade sides over to Diablo. But, putting that out of mind, Draconem cut his speech short so he could go take care of business with Degore and the Great Gryphon. "Since I know you all probably want to talk, I shall give you this rest period while I attend some business." And with that, he was gone, flying up into the air and disappearing with his two other flying friends.

A sigh escaped Trista. Not a troubled sigh, but a sigh of pure relief. She was finally here, Ryder Academy. A place where she could breath, be happy, be herself, and most importantly be with her companion Fucuello, her pride and joy since she was seven. It had been awkward coming into the stadium with a companion, and not a new companion either. Fucuello was a full grown black unicorn, tall like her and with big peacock feathers in place of his main, tail, and anywhere else he was supposed to have hair. He wasn't all black either, his underbelly was a burnt orange and there were even darker marks under his eyes. His horn was curved and glowed slightly with its magic. Ugh! The looks they both got were the worst. Don't people know how rude staring is! It's not like she had come in super lat or anything, Draconem had only just started speaking when they arrived. In the end she had turned a blind eye to it and chose a seat in the front row to wait for the speech of the dragon's speech to be done. Whose size had awed her, and she had seen big dragons before, heck she grew up with one! Bach, her father's Terra dragon, would be friggen dwarfed by the headmaster. Trista's ears paid no head to the speech, it wasn't anything relevant to her and besides, she had drilled her dad about everything before she left. No she just stared up at the ginormous freaking dragon trying to wrap her head around his size, his voice, and just how old he probably was till the commotion his final address caused sprung her from her thoughts.

Woah Trista peered around the stadium, which now suffered from a growing chasm of silence. Only a few nervous or lazy slackers stuck around, well except her of course…and the dragon. Would he ask her how she had a companion before everyone else? Would he have a problem with it? The raven haired girl craned her head back to see the dragon staring of, over the walls of the stadium into the enclosure where everyone else had to go out in the muck and find a companion. Another, even more content sigh blew from her lips. But not me she thought with a smile as she began to absentmindedly stroke Fucuello's flank.

"Isn't it great? We're finally away?" She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can finally breath"

It was awhile before the excitement began to come back. Ryder's stumbled, ran, hollered, strolled, and swaggered back with new baby companions of every shape and form. Already groups of potential friends were beginning to form in slightly spaced clumps, some small, some large. One she noticed early on. First it was two girls, came and sat a few seats down the row from her. One with a Fairy blech and another with a dragon. The group soon grew in size when a boy who could only be described as to hot to be on this earth, joined them with his own dragon. After this a shy and pretty adorable girl joined them with a black unicorn foal of her own, shortly followed by her brother. Hm, not my type but cute all the same she assessed. Lastly was a boy who she could say was very easy on the eyes came wearing his dragon comfortably around his neck like a scarf. He seemed to know the girl with the fairy since he called out her name "Colette!"

By now the stadium's volume was back to what it had been before the speech. Almost everyone was talking to someone but her. What was happening to her!? She used to be the life of the party back home. Was she going to just sit here like some emo and think to herself while everyone else chatted it up and had fun just because she had spent the summer holed up at home with her stupid mother? No, she was free of that now. Trista looked over into Fucuello's eyes, she knew that they both thought the same thing about this. A new start, a fresh blank slate to write on.

With that swelling hope she stood, and stretched her long legs and showing how surprisingly tall she was. "Time to get out of this silent funk huh, Fucuello?" and was about to go over to them when down came the headmaster into the stadium to address them once again. Trista plopped herself back down into her previous seat with a slight pout settle on her lips well that door closed quickly. Again she drowned out the speech. She knew it all already, you and your companion are bonded for life and if you get hurt they get hurt, you die, they die, blah, blah, blah. It was only the last sentence that caught her attention.

"Since I know that you all want to talk, I shall give you this rest period while I attend to some business."

When he was gone, Trista shot out of her seat. Finally! And with a cheery smile she walked back over to the group. "Hi." she said. "I'm Trista."

As Rowan began to consider a special name just for her, she suddenly felt his finger up at her snout, tapping down on it continuously. She just watched it move, rather fascinated, until she blinked and clambered down from his head to curl in his lap, taking advantage of his free arm, and taking his index finger in her mouth to nibble on it, her little paws resting against the back of his hand as she did so. It was an affectionate sort of display, one that wouldn’t be too uncomfortable. "How about Reeps? You like that?” She stopped the act and turned her head to gaze up at him, another sweet smile on her face. ”Yes!”

She then took this time to glance around her, taking in the two girls next to her. Another dragon of her kind, though drastically different from herself, belonged to the creepy touchy one, and a relaxed looking fairy belonged to the uncomfortable one. Reeps tilted her head, blinking a few times and felt towards the outskirts of their minds just to get a feel for them. She snorted lightly, backing up against Rowan’s stomach and forgetting the two once more.

However, before she could start asking questions of her Ryder, another girl interrupted innocently, asking if the seat next to them was taken. Chi immediately left Rowan’s lap to sit on the chair and look up at her with mischievous eyes. “Certainly it is, by me now!” Just as Rowan said by the new girl herself. She merely grinned up at the girl and reached into her mind to laugh good-naturedly. She would have tried to further put the girl at ease, however she just cut in and restated the obvious.

Reeps silently returned to Rowan’s lap, pushing her head into his hand with a small churr and a happy attitude despite being somewhat ignored. "So Reeps, I'd say I'm quite awkward at making friends, wouldn't you agree?" ”No, I wouldn’t think so, just need a little help maybe. Do girls often tend to flock to you?” She looked straight ahead, reaching out towards other people to gather information of her surroundings while she asked.

Her brother then showed up, holding onto a large blue egg as he sat down. He looked nice enough, and a lot more relaxed and easy than his sister, and definitely seemed to like to tease this Aya. She liked him already.

Reeperchi was once more distracted by yet another newcomer, another male with a Glacies wrapped around him rather comfortably. Reeps tilted her head up to Rowan, ”Does the flow never stop coming? She looked slightly flustered by so many new smells and people so close to her and her new Ryder.

And then the Large Ignis dragon appeared, startling Reechi just slightly because of his mass, and having not ever seen him before. Sure, she had some knowledge of him, but coming face to face with the real thing was a lot to take in. He spoke of the bond and relationship between Ryder and Companion, which she took seriously and rather contently, her tail curling around her body as she lounged on Rowan’s lap.

As soon as he was done, another girl shot up and over to them, which received a look-over from Chi. ”Watch out, this one’s trouble with a capital T.” She then focused on another form, her unicorn following after, analyzing the creature fairly subtly.

Angel

"Do girls often tend to flock to you?"
Angel chuckled slightly poking his dragon playfully his his previously nibbled on finger.
Oh, they're only coming over because you're so cute

Angel felt a moment of unease as the girl explained shyly that she was saving the seat for her brother. Hopefully not someone who would get the wrong idea and try to pick a fight with him. It was always hard to even make friends with girls who had over protective siblings, so , even though he was only thinking of friendship, he still hoped the boy wouldn't over reacted when he showed up. Angel wasn't to keen on bloodying someone else on the first day, not to mention he had no idea if his opponent was a fighter or not.
He tried to put those thoughts away in his mind- Gosh, he was slipping back into his old mindset here. How he used to think, back when he'd been an avid champion for illegal underground and street fights. Back then, you never knew who was single or not single, never knew who had family equally into the fights. He'd gotten into a particularly bad scuffle when a cute boys older brother caught him flirting and severally overreacted.

He blew out a slightly frustrated breath, hitting himself mentally. He was done with all that. Now he was just a student, someone here to learn, and work his way up.

Angel refocused and patiently waited for the girls response, only to find her hanging her head and squeezing her eyes shut. He leaned forward, trying to peer at her face, slightly concerned, but before he could ask if she was alright, a new voice interrupted.

"“Her names Aya,"
Angel looked up- and sat a little straighter. Geez- if he'd known this school would be a majority of attractive people he would have tried to enroll sooner.
This new boy, who Aya promptly introduced as her brother Takeshi, was some sort of pale beauty.
Angel took him in, noting his slightly messy but otherwise perfectly styled hair and peering curiously at the oversized sunglassed perched on his nose. Hazel green eyes flickered down to quickly take in the rest of his appearance in a non-checking out way, simply observatory.

As the siblings interacted in a playful way, Angel took his eyes back to Aya, searching for family resemblance. She was a face of smooth angles and an open expression. Though he couldn't see much of Takeshi's face, He could definitely see how they could be related he supposed, if only for their general auras.
He looked back to Takeshi as he pointed to him, asking his name, but the girl introduced him before Angel got a word in.
Hm, she seemed much more comfortable now.
"Huh, cool name,"

Angel cocked the side of his lips up in a kind of self satisfied way, happy to receive a compliment.
"Thanks, It's actually my middle name, but no one needs to know my first name." He glanced up and fixated Reechi with a look, half playful half serious.
"Here that Reeps? Don't go around telling my name to people," He muttered, then added mentally. "Only you can call me that!"

He watched Takeshi plop down next to Aya, marveling at how short she looked. Or maybe Angel was just tall. He'd always been one of the tallest in his circle of friends and family. He was even a good few inches taller then Takeshi.

“Thanks for looking after my sister while I was gone, sorry if she caused any trouble,”
"Oh, you're no trouble at all, I'm glad to have people to talk to," Angel replied, making sure to address them both.[/b]
“Sorry if I was bothering you, and thank you again, for the seat."

Angel scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, maybe somewhat purposely flexing. "Hey, you're no bother! It's not like I own the seat, of course you're free to sit here."
He fiddled with the pack of cigarette in his back pocket, stopping himself from taking one. He was nervous granted, but thought it might be rude to start smoking. Besides, he wanted to start smoking less- at least until he found out was Reechi thought of the second hand smoke. Being a dragon, Angel didn't think she'd have a problem with it, but she also wasn't an Ignis, so smoke still might bother her lungs.
He ignored the pack and instead occupied his hands with petting Reeps- he swore he'd never get tired of the feel of her fur.
"Does the flow never stop coming?"
Angel glanced down at where Reechi was curled in his lap, looking up at him with a flustered expression, and he pouted slightly.
Sorry Reeps, this is probably pretty overwhelming.

He was about to say something more reassuring then turn back up to the Asians when Draconem come down from the heavens and vibrated the entire stadium with his landing. Feeling Reechi jump slightly, Angel laid an arm around her, slightly curling her to his hard abdomen,stroking her back with his other hand.
The beast gave a long and thoughtful speech about companion ship, during which Angel tenderly held Reechi. Alright, if she would hurt when Angel hurt- well, he didn't know how literal it was, but he was definitely not getting into any unnecessary fights with that statement lingering over him.
When the dragon announced he'd leave them to mingle, Angel turned back to Aya and Takeshi, not having anyone else to go to really. Besides, he'd like to get to know them. It'd be nice to have friends.

"So... you don't look like twins so... if you don't mind me asking, what year are you guys? Might I have classes with either of you?"

Angel assumed he'd be in classes with other 17 year olds and 16 year olds, if this school was anything like normal school, but he wasn't sure how old the adorable Aya was. Anyone just joining the academy would be here today to get their companion, so anything was possible.

Another girl interrupted their conversation- "Hi! I'm Trista!" Angel glanced up at her, not turning his body from how it angled to show his full attention on Takeshi and Aya, but giving her a friendly look and nodding his head in greeting, eyes sparkling slightly with the beauty of a black unicorn who followed her. He turned his attention back to the girl, only to chuckle as Chi added her input.
"Watch out, this one’s trouble with a capital T.”
He shushed her gently, still grinning.
You don't know her you rascal, try not to judge people, though he felt his amusment conveyed greatly enough through his thoughts to where Reeps wouldn't think he was really mad.

"Hey, Trista, I'm Angel." He didn't add anything else, not sure if she meant to join Angel and the siblings conversation, or the two pretty girls and a new guy.
He glanced at the other three, nodding greetings to the boy who'd recently arrived as well.
Dang, Reechi was right. There was really quite a large group in this area.

Sounds.
That was all he ever heard while in that warm place. Curled up and content he would listen. Listen to the woosh of something fast, to the chirps of small fluttering things, to a voice, his mother, who spoke to him in the smoothest voice. She always told him glorious stories, of things called Ryders who went on big adventures out in the big wild world to fight an evil dragon called Diablo. Of companions and things called humans to which the creatures were bound by life and soul. These stories always got him excited, he would become wrestles in his confines. There was only one thing that could settle him, his mothers solace, that came in a simple coo. "Do not fret my son, for one day you will go on adventures to with a companion of your own."

Now it seemed that day had come!

His mother had been telling one of her stories when she had suddenly gone silent. He heard her leave a little while later. There was rustling, muffled voices, one was unfamiliar. Then a woosh and his mother came back for a second, then left again. Now he was very confused, what was wrong? There was now silence, except of the occasional mysterious crunch or crack. What was going on? The noises were coming closer, was something or someone coming? Wait, was that his mother? He heard her wings flapping and causing more wooshes. There were more voices and he could almost make out what they were saying.

"Giving up….Not like your culture…..hurt the baby…risk…….No….get another than kill this one…" Were they talking about him? Surely no-WOAH! What was that?! The world around him was suddenly dark, he started to feel dizzy. He was moving. Why? Thud

"What?" a voice asked. He was moving again and placed on another surface that crunched under him. The voice spoke again. "I thought…"

"You may have him;" It was his mom. "I know you will take good care of my baby. I warn you, he's a late bloomer though." She chuckled.

"Thank you! Really!" Once again he was moving, not very far though for he was soon settled again. Not perfectly still but he wasn't dizzy anymore. Was he with the other voice now? Where was his mother?

There was a new amount of moving, an undulation of dark and light. Where was he going? Why was his peace suddenly shattered? Was he with a human, a Ryder? Was he going to be a companion!? Yes! That had to be it! Why else would his mother give him to someone else? He was going to be a Ryder!

"Her names Aya" called his companion.

"Saga!" called out a new voice, a feminine one. It was high pitched and tense. Was Saga his person's name?

There was then a jumble of new voices. Some kind, some harsh, some loud, others quiet, all new. He wanted to meet them, the owners of these new and strange voices. He wanted see them and for them to see him. He wanted to talk with all of them, he wanted to talk to his companion! See him, smell him, learn everything about him! He wanted out of this cocoon that now kept him from the outside world, and he wanted out NOW! He raised his leg to kick, to break the barrier when something interrupted him. Something big, and booming, like the lights that danced across the sky when it was mad. It spoke to all of them of the things he had only heard in his mother's tales. Of the bond between Ryder and companion. It rose and rose in power and confidence, bigger and bigger, compelling him and his being to come! Come out and meet the brave new world! Oh, he wanted to, he really wanted to!

The booming died down, and was gone, but its words still rang clear in his ears. Out! He needed out! He once again lifted his leg back like a trigger of a gun and... CRACK!

”Oh, mysterious!” Saga grinned cheekily at him, this guy seemed cool. His overly good looks were bound to attract attention and cause ladies to flock but hey, he was used to that. Back home, girls were always taking time out of their day to chat with him a little bit. He openly returned their kindness, even if he felt annoyed by their ridiculous high pitched voices. If there was one thing Aya and he shared, it was their hate for high pitched screams and voices. It was one of their biggest pet peeves. Saga pointed at Angels dragon.

”And your dragons name?” he asked, the little guy seemed cute. He’d never seen such a cute lil’ dragon up close before.

The smallest of creatures were always the most troublesome. he thought and laughed mentally; the small dragon reminded him of one of his old friends back in school. Nao. That guy was crazy, always yelling his name like he hadn’t seen him in years. Man, he missed his pals. Suddenly, the room shook and rumbled at the entrance of Draconem. The overly large Ignis Dragon laughed as before and gave one of the best speeches Saga had ever heard. He was mesmerized. He looked down at his egg in his hand and his eyes shined.

What is it going to be like? he wondered, Ah, but what if he doesn’t like me? he covered the egg with his large hands gently, shielding it from any mishaps. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a Ryder. Maybe he can’t do it. He sighed, why were all these worries coming at him NOW? He had worked hard for this dragon! Shoot, he’d taken his pants off for this thing!



”I am here too…” Estabel sulked, speaking as if she sounded dead. Aya had been so nervous that she had forgotten to introduce her along with her brother. How depressing.

”S-sorry! This is Estabel,” she bent down to pet the unicorn, running her frail hands through her thick fur. She had grown a lot bigger all of a sudden, was this how things worked? She was already half of Ayas size, and that wasn’t hard to do. How much bigger would she get?

”WOAH! Aya! You got a bad-ass unicorn!” he stuck his hand out to her and she perked up at his attention. She pressed her head against his and he felt his stomach bubble up. Estabel reminded him of a cat he had had when he was younger. Her name was Hooks and she was a Himalayan cat. He could still feel her soft fur and loud purrs against his fingertips. He had the most idiotic and pleased expression on his face. Saga was far too distracted by the intriguing unicorn to answer Angel’s question. Aya half-smiled at her brother. She sat up and gave Angel her full attention.

”I’m 16 and my brother here is a year older than me,” she replied and added ”Although he does not act like it,”

”And don’t forget it!” he noted, ”I am all wise, you should listen to me more you know.” He lay back in his seat and crossed his legs. He was actually having quite a bit of fun, and Estabel had warmed up to him nicely which was reassuring.

”if I listened to you…who would be able to get you out of trouble?” Aya shook her head and cast her gaze to Angel. She looked up at him and laughed, craning her neck. God, he was tall. She hoped that if they became friends, that her neck didn’t get stuck like this.

wait…friends?......Did I just say that?

”you need me. Without me, no fun for you!” he tapped his sisters leg with his foot that was crossed over his other slender, long legs.

”yeah…” Aya responded, to shocked to really give a proper reply or retort.

”Yay! She agreed!” he threw his hands up in the air, being the weirdo he is. Estabel looked up at Aya and tilted her head. Aya was socially awkward, but then again, so was Estabel. She liked that Aya was so much like her, because then they could relate. While Aya was off dazing into space, a black-hair beauty had made her way over and greeted them. Saga waved.

”Yo, I’m Ueto Takeshi. Nice to meet you.” he looked at her and then Angel, and then at the cute little dragon on Angels shoulders. He had decided something. ”But you can call me Saga,” he looked at Angel from the corner of his eye, ”You too. It’s what all my friends call me,”

Crack....!

Saga noticed the nervous energy coming from the baby dragon and a bit from Angel himself. Looking around, he hadn’t even noticed the other people gather since none of them were socializing with him. He had just been minding his own business. Regretfully, he couldn’t do anything to ease the little one.

”Oi, Aya, don’t be rude.” he jabbed her lightly with his elbow and she cast a glance towards her brother and then up at a stunningly beautiful girl in front of her.

”Oh, um..I’m Ueto Aya, nice to meet you.” the words had just rolled off her tongue. Her second self-introduction! She wanted to cry, she was so proud of herself. She caught a smile of approval from her brother from the corner of her eye.

CRACK!

Saga blinked and looked down, was that a leg sticking out of his egg?

"What the hell?"

Ash looked up as she heard a new voice come up and introduce themselves to the group. Ash looked around, astonished by the amount of people all sitting in a row. To be truthful, Ash would say there was two groups now as not everyone was interacting. Becoming a bit awkward and shy just sitting there, she hoped that Drconem would be back soon to dismiss them to where ever was next. She looked the girl, Trista, up and down. She was tall and beautiful, just like this row of people. Ash didn't count herself in those numbers though. She'd already made her mind up about Colette and this Riley guy that had his arm around Colette, which made Ash slightly jealous, but she pushed that out of her mind awhile ago. She saw the guy that had the small dragon that resembled a slightly smaller and girly-er version of Liath. Then she saw a girl and a guy on the side of him that favored each other slightly.

Liath noticed Ash's little observing she was doing and decided she'd better quit it before everyone thought she was a creep. So, he decided to go on a little tour. He climbed off Ash's shoulder and onto the back of the chairs. Ash watched him with wide and curious eye's, not too sure what to do. He crawled on the back of the chairs, his tail following with a swoosh, and politely asking people to watch out. "Excuse me, Colette." He said and steeped behind her on the chair. "Excuse me, Riley." He added as he reached the chair Riley was sitting in. "Thank-you." He added back to the two. "If you'd be so kind to let me through, sir." He said as he reached a tall guys chair who had a small dragon like himself. "Why, hello there, Reechi." Liath said as if he's known the dragon forever, leaning his head over the guys shoulder to see the small dragon. "Ma'am." He said with a nod to the short girl beside the tall guy. "And, what do we have here? An egg? Sir, I believe your egg is hatching." Liath said as he looked down at a blue egg that was being held by yet another tall male then turned to the guy to look him in the face.

After a moment, Draconem came back down from his hitch on the school. As Drconem was settleing in and waiting for people to return to their seats, Liath made his way back to Ash. "Oh, my dear. It's seem I must take my leave. If you'd excuse me, I must be going. We may chat another time in the meantime. You could find me with miss Ash Parker over there." He said to mostly everyone as he walked over the back of the tall guys chair and jumped into the empty, his long tail following behind him. He jumped onto the floor and walked with his head up and he smiled (though it was a rather creepy smile) and nodded as he passed everyone and their companions. "Good day, madam." He said as he passed Trista and gave a nod to the unicorn beside her. He climbed back up onto Ash's lap, his tail wrapping around him as he folded his legs to sit. He took up the look of a cat almost as he sat in her lap, legs folded under him and a tail wrapped around him twice but still long enough for the fluffy part at the end to hang down to the ground. Ash looked at him with a confused face not able to come up with words. Liath's neck was long enough to still look ash in the eye at her level, which he did. "What?" He asked as if nothing had happened. "What was that about?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, that? That was me making myself known." Liath said nonchalantly and went back to looking at Draconem.

"At this time, I would like everyone to please pay attention. Today has been a great day as the we have two great visitors with us today. Degore!" Draconem said, pausing as a rather large gargoyle flew into the stadium and flew around over the students. He poked a few of the new dragon companions noses along with slapping a few boys who kept talking in the side of the heads. Draconem laughed his hearty laugh at the gargoyles tough-love actions. "And the Great Gryphon!" At this familiar title, the whole student body arises in a loud roar of cheers and clapping. A large Gryphon then appeared and gracefully swooshed down and over the audience. It then flew down without a word or sound and gently landed on the ground in front of the group of people. He didn't say hello, just bowed it's head and looked up at Draconem with everyone else. "They will be showing you to your dormatores and giving you your rooms. I would like all the men to please go with Degore and the women please follow the great Gryphon. I shall see you all once again at training!" At that, Draconem was gone, returning to his hitch above the school. Degore flew around the stadium saying in a loud nasty voice "Come on, men! Let's get this over with!" While, the Great Gryphon just pantiently waited for all the girls to follow as he waited by the exit.

Ash stood up from her seat and smiled back at the group then walked with the rest of the crowd over to the Great Gryphon, who Ash and Liath had decided years ago to call Gee-Gee. Liath was hanging on her back, his tail stretched out and still long enough to slightly drag on the ground.

Ash's eyes widened slightly when she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. It wasn't that she wasn't used to it. I mean, she had a dragon hanging on to her other shoulder. But this didn't feel like one of Liath's claws. No, this was human. Great, your love has returned. Liath teased through his and Ash's connection. Ash shot him a quick look before turning to see Colette. At the sight of her, Ash smiled widely. "Oh, hey, sorry." Ash said after she registered what Colette had said. Ash was confused slightly, and so was Liath, that Colette even talked to Ash again. But Ash kept a smile on her face, until she saw Jay in the corner of her eye. Ash turned to glare at him slightly.

Happy at the fact that Jay hadn't happened to see her, Ash turned back to Colette. Her smile instantly returning. She stared a moment at Colette's eyes before looking forward again and looking at the Great Gryphon. He was big and beautiful, to say the least. Ash liked his wings the most. So big and enchanting. Cree to Ash, come in Ash. Liath said through the connection and Ash sent him an annoyed look.



After Drconem left...again, Jay shot up from his seat, wanting to be the first one to meet Degore face to face. Jay always liked gargoyles, and now he had one of his own, Slayer, and he was about to meet a legend, Degore. "Come one, guy! Let's get outa' here!" He yelled as he passed a group of guys who were just sitting around talking. He didn't bother them too much, though. They were muscular and tall looking. As he walked, he heard some guy as some other guy to walk with him. Seriously? Jay thought. He looked at Slayer who, in a kid like voice, said "Let's go make friends!" and starting laughing mischievously.

So Jay then walked up to the guy and punched him friendly in the arm while saying "Hey, dude! What's up? Haven't seen you in a while." Jay said with a passing smile to the guy who was trying to talk to a muscular guy which made Jay regret coming over here. Slyer sat on his shoulder and watched the guys with wide eyes and a mischievous smile, just like every other little gargoyle you see. Jay hadn't even noticed the two girls with black unicorns, his worse fear. Ever since he was a kid he hated unicorns. He had loved black unicorns, but when he was feeding a baby black unicorn an apple, it mother had came and chased Jay up into a tree. Jay was up in that tree for hours, the unicorn kept circling the tree waiting for him to come down. Jay was finally able to come down once his father chased the creature away. He stared at the unicorns with wide eye before he snapped back to reality and shot the guy a grin and a "Well, see ya' later, man." And headed toward the group of guys in front of Degore. He hadn't even paid attention to the little dragon that was just born.

“And, what do we have here? An egg? Sir, I believe your egg is hatching.” A dragon no bigger than a feline perched itself on Sagas chair and stared straight into his eyes. Its tail was more than 2/3 its size, and had a lot of poof at the end. It reminded him of a feather duster! Man…where was this guy when his Ma had asked him to dust the living room? He returned his attention back to the egg that was exploding its shell wall.

”Really?” Pieces of the shell were flying out onto the floor. He kept seeing the leg kick again and again. What a ball of energy! ”My hearts racing a little!” he laughed.

”I think everyone’s is,” Aya chuckled and pressed her elbows on her knees to look at the egg sideways. She was trying to give the hatching her full attention, but out of no where Reechi had launched herself at Ayas back. She balanced herself on her shoulders, and rubbed her head against Ayas cheek. She blushed and admired the softness of the small dragon’s skin. Dragons were so strange…but, it felt kind of nice~

” I'M HEEEEERE!!" the tiny dragon cried and practically jumped out of the egg. A grand performance! Saga reached his long arms out, grabbed him, and pulled him close to his chest. He didn’t want his lil’ guy getting hurt the first day. Reechi skidded away and ran to her human companion’s side when the new dragon came into the world. She was so pressed up against him, that Aya could have sworn that Reechi was trying to get into Angels skin. Her heart felt strange. Did she feel bad? But…it’s not like SHE had been the one to scare the dragon….

”Wow, wow, wow…that was a close one,” he opened his hands and stared into his baby dragons cerulean eyes. Wow.

”Aww, he’s cute!” Aya chimed ”isn’t that good? You have a dragon now,”

”Very cute,” Estabel concurred and started to get up. She put the weight on her front legs so she could lift her back legs, and then straightened her front legs. She shook her small mane that had begun to develop. Saga ran his hand over his dragons head and started to play with the two feathers sticking up on his head. Haha, he had cowlicks.

”What’s your name lil’ guy? I’m Ueto Takeshi, but call me Saga, alright?” he paused, ” He looks a bit like an alien,” he grinned stupidly and his sister kicked his shin, causing his face to contract.

”Ow, ow, ow! Not cute Aya! Not cute!” he groaned and rubbed his ankle against his shin. There would be a bruise there tomorrow for sure. He and his sister bickered back and forth until whispers and hushes filled the energetic room. One girl was screaming so high-pitched in the background that both siblings covered their ears. Well, Saga tried too…but his hands were occupied by his baby dragon. ”Aya! Save me!” he whined. She turned her back to him and laughed quietly to herself. ”You as-“ Aya brought her leg up to kick him in the shin again and he cursed.

Speech over and dealt with, the Raven girl continued to chat away. Introducing her companion, Saga gasped melodramatically. The thing had feathers! Peacock feathers! He nodded in the direction of Fucuello, unable to say his improper yo-greeting. He felt like the elegant stallion deserved some respect for his unnatural beauty.



Fucuello returned the nod and turned his head away after. He was taller than Trista-who was abnormally tall for a girl-and she stood at 6’1”. To give an image of his height, her head was at the bump of his back where a saddle would go. He found the location of the female gryphon and the girls who crowded over. Urgh, he hated large crowds.

Throughout the commotion, Aya had tried to ignore this strange feeling that someone was watching her. After everything calmed down a bit and the two beautiful ladies left, she had figured out whom. It was that, that.. Riley guy, stealing glances of her... 7 times. She had brushed it off at first, thinking nothing of it. But when he started talking, stuttering and throwing out words, it was obvious he was uncomfortable. A revelation dawned on her.

He was uncomfortable....because of her.

He probably wanted her to leave, that's why he was looking at her so much. 'no one wants you here. Just go. You're in my way.' she kept hearing these words over and over again in her head. It was like school back home all over again. Fine! If he wanted her gone, gone she was.

"I'm going to go," she closed her eyes as she sat up and tugged down at her red and white striped tank-top. Her toned muscles across her flat stomach had shown for just a split second. Saga reached out and clasped her thin wrist.

"What about your friend?" he looked up at her, and she noticed just how long his eyelashes were.

"Excuse me? Friend?" she cocked her head to the side, her silky brunette hair swayed to the right. When had she befriended someone?

"Trista silly!" he half-smiled at his dear sister and slowly let his hand brush off from hers.

"Oh..right." she looked up at Trista and stared at her for a couple seconds. She brought her hands behind her back and clenched her fists. Her cheeks were flushed pink again.

Come on stupid! Say something!

"U-um.." she looked down to the right and met the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. Riley. She quickly turned away and spun around on her heels. Her back now to the group. She mustered up the courage to speak to Trista and opened her lips, only to be shot down.

"Come on, men! Let's get this over with!" Takeshi quickly turned his head to where the sound was coming from. Damn, he got the boot-camp dormitory leader? Already he could tell this was going to be a tough year. And damn, the thing was just friggin creepy. He shivered.

"Hey, dude! What's up? Haven't seen you in a while." Takeshi turned his head back around to the crew, adjusting his seating position to his legs spread out but ankles touching. He sat the baby dragon in-between his legs. Looking the emo boy up and down, his height reminded him of his friend, Hiroto, back home. Although this guy was taller, whoever he was. He had a cut that resembled that of an emo and jet black hair. And before Saga could think more of him, he was gone.

”Weird…” Saga scratched the back of his head. Suddenly everyone was acting strange. This Riley guy and then the emo kid. Oh well, must be the nervous bug. Saga shot up and scooped his companion up in his hands at the sight of Riley and Angel getting comfortable with one another and leaving him behind. But then Angel stopped and walked backwards waiting for him, what a nice guy. ”Let’s head in! And give the poor guy a break! He’s excited is all,” Takeshi made his way to Angels side and poked Reechis nose

”Ah, ah, call me Saga, Reechi.” Saga looked back at his sister with a slight sadden expression, ”See ya later Aya! Call or text me for anything!”

"Yeah” she replied to both of them and took Tristas hand ”…Let’s go Trista," and at that, she was on her way. Swaying her hips ever so slightly in her white shorts with her head held high. What was his(Rileys) problem!?

Estabel followed after and stuck to Ayas side like glue. Fucuello was eying Aya and hoped she would feel his tension. After a few moments though he sighed and let it go. It was good for Trista to make friends, he couldn’t keep her confined. She had to fly.

That’s when she shines the brightest, Fucuello thought and smiled to himself, holding his head even higher if possible with his tail swaying side to side proud-fully.

Once all the students, or the rather called Ryders and their companions, were all lined up - or more like grouped up - in front of their said leaders, it was time to go.


The men took their leave first for the fact that a few of the boys began to argue and fight, while the girls stood and talked as they waited to go. Degore turned around uttering curses at the men as he did, and opened the tall and wide doors. The doors revealed a big long hallway made of stone. It had high ceilings and wide walls. It was obvious the academy was made to be a castle for Draconem. Degore walked the group down the corridor as he spoke and introduced each night suit and room as he passed. "That there, boys, was Sir Ryan. He had come here to try and kill Draconem, obviously, he failed." Degore said with a terrifying smile and hideous laugh as he pointed to a suit of armor. Everyone started looking at the suit, waiting for it to move.

The mask of the suit began to move and everyone stopped. A boy walked up to the suit and slowly opened the mask. When the mask was opened half way, out popped a little gargoyle with a loud terrifying scream that turned into a laugh as the boy and all who were watching jumped back with a yell. Degore stopped and glared at everyone. He walked over to the little gargoyle who was rolling around in the air laughing. He grabbed the little guy by the wings and the small gargoyle crossed it's arms and arched it's eyebrows. It was a funny sight coming from a little gargoyle like himself. "What's your name, kid." Degore said to the small thing. Degore was much bigger than the little gargoyle as he was 6 and a half feet tall, almost seven feet tall, and the little guy was only about one foot tall. "Slayer." The little gargoyle said, he sounded like a little kid. "Who's is this!?" Degore yelled and held slayer up in the air by his wings. Jay then slowly raised his hand and made his way through the crowd. "He's my companion, Sir." He said blandly. Degore dropped little Slayer in Jay's arms and said "You need to watch him, boy. You don't want him to always get you in trouble, 'cause that's what he'll do, boy. That's what he'll do." Degore said calmly then made his way back up to the front of the group. He slapped a kid that was staring off into space on the back of the head while adding "Alright, men! Let's get going! We want to make it to training before the ladies, don't we?! Then let's go!" Degore said doing a lot of hand gesturing then turned around and lifted up into the air and began to fly.

He flew the rest of the way there and landed in front of the doors. He turned to face the crowd as he waited for them to catch up. His hands were behind he back as he waited. Once everyone was caught up, he stared them all down. "Men, I give you our lounge!" He said and turned around and pushed the large doors open with some force. As they opened, they revealed a large room with tall ceiling, it wasn't big enough for all of Draconem to sit, bit he could still fit his head in it. There was couches, tables, chairs, bookcases with various books, candles, a fire place and on top of the fire case was a dragon egg in a glass case. Degore stepped in the room and the group followed. "Okay, listen up! Over on that table is a list with everyone's name on it. It shows your name and the room you're in!" Degore said loudly as he pointed to the sheets of paper spread out on a large table. It didn't fill up the whole table, but it filled up the end of the table. He then turned his position and pointed down two hallways on either side of the fireplace. "The rooms are down there. All of your luggage is already in your rooms along with stuff given to you by Draconem for your companions. I believe it's a few toys, treats, a bed and other stuff considering what you have. I believe he used his all-knowing sense to see who you all chose. Anyways, just go to your rooms, meet your roommates, unpack your luggage, then come back out here as soon as possible! So we can go and get training over with." Degore said then sat in a chair and watched the fire as he waited for all the men to return.

The guys then went straight to the papers. Jay found his name and room, Slayer sitting on his shoulder. He headed down a hallway and found his room. The hallway was big enough still for Draconem to fit through, and it made Jay feel like he was in a giant giants house. The door to the rooms were only big enough for Draconem to look in with one of his eyes and the room itself was only big enough to fit Draconem's nose and part of his snout. It was still a large room, but it was big enough for two people and their companions. There was a door at the opposite end of the room that led into the enclosure. Jay saw his stuff on the bed on the left side of the room, and someone else's stuff on the bed on the right side of the room. At the end of Jay's bed was a stone podium that had the name Slayer chiseled into a stone plague part of the podium. At the sight of it, Slayer flew over and perched on it becoming as still as stone as he did so. Jay then went and began to unpack his stuff.


After the men took their leave, it was the girls turn to go. Gracefully, the Gryphon turned from the group and opened doors to reveal a big long hallway made of stone. It had high ceilings and wide walls. It was obvious the academy was made to be a castle for Draconem. The Gryphon silently walked out onto the stone floor, the girls following. The hallway to the girls side of the building was lined with suites of armor as well, but there was less rooms. Each of the rooms were big and gym like rooms. The had plagues to the side of each room that said what class was held there. They passed Magic, Swords, Hand-to-Hand, and combat. Ash looked in each room with a smile on her face and Liath looking bored as ever. She was amazed by the size of the rooms.

When they made it to the dorm lounge, the Great Gryphon gracefully opened the doors and walked in the room. The room was big enough for Draconem to squeeze into. The Gryphon turned and finally spoke to the group. "Over on the table is a few papers. On one of those papers you will find your name and the room you are in. The rooms are down those two hallways. All of your luggage and a few gifts form Draconem will be located in your rooms. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me." He ended with a smile and slow nod then stepped back to watch everyone. He voice was clear and slick and comforting. Liath jumped off Ash's shoulder and went to find her name then returned to her saying "I have found our room, Ash." Ash just shot him a quick glance.

As Aya followed the others, she hadn’t noticed that words were just rolling off her tongue. Trista had asked Aya about her favorite subject. She loved to talk about where she came from.

”We don’t call ourselves Japan anymore. Takeshi and I come from Nippon Village, which translates into land of the Rising sun, or some people call it Nihon, Origin of the sun, either is fine. The general area we come from is Wyvernbourne, a place on the farthest most side of Vesper. We are all of Japanese descent. We took Japan away from our name when horrible earthquakes, tsunamis, and Diablo forces had struck us and made us into smaller villages. Killing a lot of our population. There is a few villages spread out, but the village I’m from is the main homeland. You could say we are like the Tokyo of Japan. There is also Osaka, Nagasaki, and Sapporo to name a few of our villages. “ Already they were at the dorms and Aya had still not let go of Tristas hand. She had been so caught up in talking, she didn’t even notice.

”There is one elder for each along with a shogun. Do you know what a shogun is?” Aya asked and didn’t even wait for an answer. ”To sum it up plainly, it is a military and political leader. Anyway, the most respected and known in the village is out Elder though. Her name is Ai and she is very wise and gentle, she is about 110.She is the kindest lady you will ever meet and tells the most intricate and mesmerizing stories of our origins and such. However, she has become deathly ill though and will soon pass away, passing all the oral stories down to someone specifically in the village that she will chose. usually it is passed down to the Elders children but she does not have any. “ they were walking down the huge hallways now. She couldn’t help but stop talking for a few seconds to take in the view and take a breath. Everything was so big. There was so much space! After she regained her breath, she continued on.

”Ai says our village is like the Samurai District of “kakunodate.” Very old fashioned with lots of greens and many weeping cherry blossom trees. Japanese traditions, ceremonies, and festivals are performed here. We are like the Japan of Cree; we are even beginning to become very populated. We walk everywhere and also use bikes, so a lot of us stay in shape. Not only that but Kakunodate is known to truly capture Japans food taste.” her eyes quickly scanned over the room plaques, checking out what they would be doing. Hand-to-hand combat stood out to her the most. She might even continue practicing the samurai arts since she had time. She was confident she would do this! She would excel! She would not fall behind, she was not going to let the fact that she was a memorizing facts person and not a ‘feel it, do it person’ get in her way.

”The customs and such are still the same here which is why a lot of women are very lady-like, and the men are strong. In our villages, we brought back the use of Samurai. All of them live in the villages ‘castle’ or around it. They protect our village, along with the Wizards. Magic and pure strength/pride work together to protect our home. “ By this time they had gathered in the lounge and Aya had noticed just HOW much she had talked. Wow..A record. She frantically turned around to see Tristas face, ”I’m SO sorry! Somtimes I get carried away, um…” she brought her head down and saw that she was still holding Tristas hand. She quickly drew it back and put her hands behind her back. ”S-sorry.” Why was she talking so much? Why was she getting nervous? She only got nervous when she actually CARED about what the other person thought.

What about your friend? Who? Trista Silly!

I tell me friends everything! I can’t stop talking to them!

Was that why Saga? Was she talking so much because she saw Trista as a friend? What this what a friend was like? She looked back up and stared in Trista eyes. She didn’t seem like a bad person. On the contrary, she was being very patient with her. She had a friendly smile. And she got no bad vibes from her. But even so…a lot of people are just pretty faces and fake kindness. The only thing she had on Trista was that Saga liked her. But...how could she get the evidence that Trista was worth it? Worth risking Ayas heart?

Gears clicked in her brain.

She could use school! Aya found it hard to talk unless reading a school speech or talking about her home. She made a mental note to write a speech about what her expectations are for friendship. If she thought of it that way, maybe she wouldn’t get as nervous.

”Aya, I’m going to go look for your room,” Estabel broke into Ayas mind reality and she snapped her head around to see Estabel had grown fully to her peak. She was about the same height as Fucuello now, but her head was not as long, so she seemed shorter. She was bulky and held a lot of muscle, every inch of her was so sharp due to all the muscle. She was covered in fluffy black fur around her legs and a mane like a lions surrounded her face. She was beautiful!

”As I. I will be back Trista,” Fucuello nudged his head gently against Tristas shoulder and trotted elegantly beside Estabel.

”yeah…” Aya responded and watched Esta trot over to the list. She had to get through some kids and was a couple of people away from the list. Both looked over the children and found the information. They returned to their companion’s side in no time at all.

”I found the room,” the two black unicorns said in unison.

”I should go….” her voice trailed off, and once again she heard her brothers voice echo in her head.

Catch you guys later!

I’m not doing it. She is probably only talking to me because I was the only one there. She thought to herself. Well, her risky nature was gone. her logical mind was catching up with her quickly and catching faults in her idiotic thinking. She was hung around her brother way too much....

”bye,” Her voice came out rather coldly. She left at that and put her arm on Estabels side and walked away. What was she thinking!? Friends…she hardly knew the girl! She had to focus on school. On becoming better. On accomplishing her brothers dream! She wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of that.

But…you are still going to write that speech aren’t you? Estabel spoke into her mind, a worried expression across her face. Aya blushed and looked away.

”Hmpm!” a few seconds of silence and she spoke again. Of course… Estabel smiled to herself. Just in case….she proves herself..

-----

Once in the comfort of their room, Aya went into shock. Across her roommates wall was a collage of sticky notes. On closer inspection, she saw words such as academic accomplishments, family photos, and favorite bands. Analyzing it, Aya could use something like that to organize her school work. It was a good idea. However, she already liked her system. She walked to her box of stuff and read the incredibly long letter this, Colette, person had left her.

“Don't be freaked out over the wall. That's just a comfort to me when I get back, that I have things organized.”

I’m not she thought to herself.

I have a very large desk in one of my boxes, which needs putting together, which I will do as soon as I get back, which will go between our two beds and respective spaces, on the wall opposite the door. It's a specially customized two-person desk, and there's a divider between. I hope you like it, and I offer it as a gift. Anyway, I was thinking the wall in the middle could be painted striped purple and then whatever color you wish, just for fairness. And if you go for purple as much as I do, then I'll go blue. Anyway, I hope you don't mind all of this, and am eager to meet you and hope we don't cause each other trouble.

Desk…hmm…wall colors?

”I don’t care, do what you want,” she said to herself out-loud. About to throw the sticky note away, she noticed a side note.

I hope we can become very good friends.
Sincerely,
Colette Toliver

Aya winced. Friends. Friends. Friends. SheesH! People just threw this word around. She rubbed her temples and than threw the note away casually. No need for it now.

”Don’t you want to save it? Someone wants to be friends with you!” Estabel exclaimed and tried to dig into the trashcan with her head but…it was too big.

”No need. I don’t have time for that. Simple politeness is as far as I will go to keep peace.” Aya paused and glared at Esta, "Leave it," she ordered/ Estabel slowly started to back away from the trashcan, her head hung low with trash all in her mane. Aya sighed and went over to pick up the trash on the floor and in Estas hair and than stated to unpack. She pulled out her alarm clock and plugged it into the wall and set it on the small table next to her bed. She took out all her textbooks and notebooks and shoved them onto a bookcase she had asked to be brought here specifically. It was next to the foot of her bed against the wall. She started placing the books and notebooks one by one in an orderly fashion.

”but, you’re giving Trista a chance.” Estabel added and walked around the room, she found a stable like area with hey and such on the ground for her. She wasn’t ready to sit down just yet though. S

”Tristas a different story.” Aya replied matter-of-factually. She quickly finished that and then packed her clothes and hung her samurai swords on the wall over where the head of her bed is. Lastly, as respect to her village, she hung up their flag and symbols around her swords. A couple of cherry blossom flags/posters, and a white flag with a red dot in the middle. Lamps and bed sheets and such were already given which was nice. She would organize Estabels things later.

”Why?” Estabel asked.

”just because…” she replied childishly. She ripped a piece of paper neatly from one of her notebooks and wrote on it.

Choose what you want for the wall. I'll help you set up the desk.

Aya Ueto.

After she set the note on her roommates bed, she started to change. Smoothly, she removed her clothes in one swipe and put training clothes on. A tank top along with work-out shorts. She wrapped bandages around her wrist, hands, and ankles. She put running shoes on and that was that. Her attire. She started to stretch so she would be warmed up.

”is it because of Saga?’ Estabel continued to prude.

”We’re done talking about this. Now let’s go.” She cracked her neck and headed out the door. Estabel followed suit, and wondered if it was ok that she had already read Ayas mind before she answered. From what Esta could tell, she HIGHLY valued her brother’s opinion.

In no time at all she was outside and caught sight of a girl with long brunette locks talk to their dorm leader. He walked away soon after though. Her eyes followed him, what was he doing? She turned her head to the mysterious girl.

"Do we wait?" she asked. the girl was already in training attire, so she must have asked him something about the topic. Plus, she was the only person here and Aya didn't like to NOT know what was going on. She was a planner.

Trista followed her new friend along with everyone else. It seemed she had struck the right cord with her question, since the words flowed easily out of the girls mouth.

”We don’t call ourselves Japan anymore. Takeshi and I come from Nippon Village, which translates into land of the Rising sun, or some people call it Nihon, Origin of the sun, either is fine. We are all of Japanese descent. We took Japan away from our name when horrible earthquakes, tsunamis, and Diablo forces had struck us and made us into smaller villages. Killing a lot of our population. There is a few villages spread out, but the village I’m from is the main homeland. You could say we are like the Tokyo of Japan. There is also Osaka, Nagasaki, and Sapporo to name a few of our villages. “ Their hands were still linked, she noticed and it made her glad. It was a sign of friendship.

”There is one elder for each along with a shogun. Do you know what a shogun is?” Trista was about to say that she had heard of them from one of her Father's stories about his adventures. But she was cut off, much to her slight annoyance. ”To sum it up plainly, it is a military and political leader. Anyway, the most respected and known in the village is out Elder though. Her name is Ai and she is very wise and gentle, she is about 110.She is the kindest lady you will ever meet and tells the most intricate and mesmerizing stories of our origins and such. However, she has become deathly ill though and will soon pass away, passing all the oral stories down to someone specifically in the village that she will chose. usually it is passed down to the Elders children but she does not have any. “ She paused to catch her breath and Trista took this time to absorb her surroundings.

Wow……this place is freaking HUGE! The walls towered high above them, almost beyond the reach of the light. Old things lined the walls giving of an air of respect, dignity, and honor. Suddenly everything became surreal. Once upon a time her dad had been here. Well not exactly here but still… he had been at this academy, following the gargoyle, with a young Bach, starting a new adventure in his life…..

”As says our village is like the Samurai District of “kakunodate.” Very old fashioned with lots of greens and many weeping cherry blossom trees. Japanese traditions, ceremonies, and festivals are performed here. We are like the Japan of Cree; we are even beginning to become very populated. We walk everywhere and also use bikes, so a lot of us stay in shape. Not only that but Kakunodate is known to truly capture Japans food taste.”

"Sounds beautiful." Trista noted, along with the plaques spelling out the things they would be training in.
Magic
SwordsThats what dad uses…
Hand-to-Hand
Combat
Ugh, none of that sounds the least bit enjoyable.

”The customs and such are still the same here which is why a lot of women are very lady-like, and the men are strong. In our villages, we brought back the use of Samurai. All of them live in the villages ‘castle’ or around it. They protect our village, along with the Wizards. Magic and pure strength/pride work together to protect our home. “ The lounge had come into sight and they all crowded in to the space.

"Over on the table is a few papers. On one of those papers you find your name and the room you are in. The rooms are down those two hallways. All of your luggage and a few gifts from Draconem will be located in your rooms. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me." called the Great Gryphon in a majestic voice. Gifts, I wonder what kind of gifts? I really hope I get Aya as a roommate, that would be nice.

"I'm SO sorry! Sometimes I get carried away, um…." Woah! What was this? Aya snatched her hands back. "S-sorry." Trista blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean, sorry?" She asked, getting no answer from the girl.

What was she sorry for?

Surely not talking to long! Trista liked to hear from her friends. Yeah she liked to talk a lot to but she could listen as well. Besides she had a deep respect for other cultures and their costumes. Her Father had nurtured that respect with his tales and treasures and she found it a huge opportunity to learn more. What on earth was going on with her?

A nudge broke Trista's thoughts. "As will I. I will be back Trista," She turned to see Fucuello trotting over to the table beside Estabal. Wow, he's all grown up all of a sudden. The unicorn was like a bulkier, shaggy version of Fucuello, minus the feathers, of course.

The unicorns had left the girls alone, in an ever growing silence. Say something to break the ice, you dolt!

"Hey-"

"I found the room." The two unicorns returned in perfect unison.

"I should go…" Aya trailed of.

"W-wait a sec-" Trista held out a hand to catch her. To try and not leave things on such a negative note.

"Bye." The brunettes voice was ice, she turned away, and was gone. But before she disappeared, for a second, a split second,…. the visage of Trista's mother flashed in place of Aya. The raven haired girl recoiled mentally in fear.

Someone else had left her with that cold shoulder. Completely cutting her off.

No…She thought shakily Thats not certain…yet. She's just shy, right?

"Where's our room?" She asked Fucuello, more to the change the subject than out of actual interest.

When she heard she headed in that direction. Half hoping, half dreading that it would be with Aya. She wanted to set things right with the girl, but at the same time….. that cold rejection. No! It didn't matter! She wouldn't let this ruin her day! Whether or not Aya was her roommate was irrelevant, she would settle things when the time came. For now she had a new person to meet. Besides whatever happened she would always be with her.

With her mood sightly elevated, Trista opened the door to her new room. She wouldn't call it home, that word, that ideal, had been to tainted to be put up to anything else. This place was big, not as big as the halls, but still big. The right side of the room was already occupied but the left had an identical bed and a semi-large stall in the corner for Fucuello. Trista's bags were already on her side as well.

A new smile set upon her lips, she turned to meet her roommate and stopped when she spotted the dragon. It's the polite one from earlier. Then the owner must be…

"Your Ash Parker, aren't you?" She immediately noticed how weird that sounded. "Your dragon came by earlier, when Saga's egg was hatching, but he only gave your name." She explained.

"Either way, its nice to meet you." Trista turned to her bags and fished out a hoof pick. "I'm Trista by the way. In case you didn't catch my name earlier." She would need to check Fucuello's hooves for rocks before training. There shouldn't be any, the dirt in the stadium was loose and fine, but she always checked anyway. She wouldn't have her companion go lame over something so trivial. And while she did that she could get to know her roommate.

"So," she asked, picking up on of Fucuello's front hooves. No rocks. "Where you from?"

Ash was just chilling out on her bed looking at the ceiling and thinking. She was wondering what training would be like. She wondered if she would see anyone she knew from home, which wasn't really likely. She came from the West side of Cree where most of the farm land was. She came from the main place there, Vesper, which is what all the west is called. She didn't exactly like it there. There was mostly just unicorns and then western fairies in almost every tree, and those fairies were mean. Ash looked up with wide eyes as she heard someone come in the room. A smile appeared on her face right away as she saw the girl who had came up and introduced herself earlier. Ash sat all the way up and crisscrossed her legs on the bed as she watched the girl then her gaze turned to the black unicorn that followed after the girl. Ash was amazed. She's seen many unicorns in Vesper, even black ones, but this one was different with peacock feathers for a mane. Ash smiled at it. Liath didn't seem the least bit impressed as he laid on his little bed, his tail wrapped around him once then the puff falling to the ground.

When the girl had turned to face Ash and Liath, she stopped when she saw Liath. Ash smiled and shook her head slightly at Liath as he said Oh, look how popular I am through their connection. "Yeah." Ash smiled and gave a small no to answer the girls questions. She then listened to the girl as she spoke. Trista. Huhmm, what an unordinary name. Liath decided to note through the mind as Trista reintroduced herself. Ash had a little now I remember moment before Trista went and got out a pick of some sort. Ash leaned in some and tilted her head slightly as she watched Trista go over to her unicorn with the pick.

When she asked Ash where she was from, Ash had a are-you-reading-my-mind moment since she was just thinking about it before the girl walked in. "I'm from over west in Vesper." Ash said, wrinkling her nose slightly. "It's basically all farm land over there." She added with a small laugh. She was trying to be as careful as possible, but that's hard for her to do especially in the presence of someone she's just meant.

Liath, not wanting to not be included in the girls little chat, he stood up with a sigh. He gracefully walked off his little bed and down onto the floor. He quietly walked over to Trista and watched what she was doing to the unicorns feet. "Huhmm, quite. It's nice to meet you, miss Trista. I am Sir Liath. But you may have the pleasure to call be Liath." He said, his tail slightly swooshing behind him. His voice already sounded grown and a bit British. Spoken like a true gentleman. Ash thought as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Quite. He thought back flashing her a glance and a small smile. Ash shook her head slightly before turning her gaze back to Trista with a small smile.

"In my back hoof, Trista." Fucuello put his leg down that Trista was holding and turned around gracefully. He perked his hoof up on the tip and would let Trista do the rest and lift his leg up. He felt no desire to join in their conversation and decided to just bathe in Tristas care. Ah, he was spoiled. He closed his eyes and knew Trista would want him to say hello and be friendly.

"Good day," he said, both to Liath and Ash. After that, he took in his surroundings. The room was large and allowed Fucuello quite a bit of walking space. He was relieved it was not so cramped, and even more relieved he didn't have to be separated from Trista while they rested. He found his little rest area fast and didn't mind it. He was not even remotely tired yet, so he made a mental note to tire himself out during training. If he didn't rest tonight, he'd regret it in the morning. He wanted to be in tip-top shape for his human companion.

They are a bit strange. Don't mind me if I speak hardly. Fucuello said through his connection with Trista. He swooped his thick tail to the side and out of the way, the flurry of peacock feathers at the tip standing out. He didn't want it to get in the way of what Trista was doing.

Ash listened and smiled at Trista as she spoke. Ash wasn't the best judge of character, but her first impression of the girl was that she was nice. She was good looking and tall, but nice. Her smile faded slightly as Liath had made his way over to her and the unicorn. He was the oddest dragon Ash had came encountered with, he didn't even look a thing like the dragon that claimed he was hers. But, in a way, it was quiet pleasurable to have a dragon of his...personality.

Ash's smile grew a little when the unicorn, Fucuello, made his way over and greeted Liath and herself with the same manners Liath did. Though, Liath sounded the way you'd think the guy from the like a sir memes would speak. His voice was even deeply sounding and nothing how you'd expect a newly hatched dragon to speak.

Ash's smile, now faded slightly from lack of urge to keep it on, was accompanied by wide eyes that seemed to stare into space. She watched Trista for a moment, her smile well faded and replaced by a no-longer-on-earth look. Her mind was just blank of thoughts for a moment. When she realized she was staring slightly, she turned her head and looked out the window. The sun was shinning in, her eye's glistened a emerald green in the light. It looked so peaceful outside, in the enclosure. The breeze was slightly blowing while the baby unicorns that weren't chosen grazed in the wide open area of grass. She saw a small group of dragons that were hatched earlier playing around, not growing as face as the ones that had gained companions that day. Cree to Ash, come in Ash. Liath's voice entered her thoughts with a raised eyebrow on his face. He took a glance back at Trista then looked back at Ash. Ash looked down and looked at her shirt, pulling it out slightly.

She was already in a black tank-top (though, the way it was made resembled a wife-beater) and some white jean short-shorts. So, all she really needed to changed was her shoes (which were sandals). She looked through one of her suitcases and found her pare of converse which she has preferably named her Sexy Converse. Ash put them on and, while still sitting on the bed, she looked down at her shoes with a small smile. She looked back at Trista before standing up with a sigh. "Well, she should really get going." She paused and let out a small nervous laugh. "We don't want to be the ones making everyone else wait, now do we?" It wasn't really a question but more as a small joke of sorts to get out of this slightly awkward situation. "I'll see ya' later then, Trista and Fucuello." Ash ended with a small wave before heading to the door, Liath behind her, and walking gracefully out into the corridor, gently closing the door behind her.


Jay looked over at the door as he heard someone come in. Though, he was obviously more interested in unpacking his shit, the guy, that was now his roommate, kept talking. He nodded at the guy when he introduced himself and he turned around crossing his arms and leaning back on the bed. He chuckled a little at the guy when he mentioned the incident.

"Yeah, but that wasn't my idea, it was his." Jay said, nodding his chin up slightly at Slayer who was perched like stone on his podium. "I'm Jay, by the way. And that there's Slayer. Mischievous little devil he is." Jay said, giving another nod to Slayer before chuckling slightly. When Riley walked away, Jay went right back to unpacking, putting his things in an dresser that was beside his bed. When he heard Riley ask him a question, he turned and looked at the guy, a blank expression on his face, looked the guy in the eye and shook his head slightly "Nah" he said and went back to putting his stuff away.

Slayer, on the other hand, wasn't one to turn down food. He slowly looked at Jay, a mischievous smiling appearing on his face, before jolting through the air straight at Riley saying "GIVEME-GIVEME-GIVEME!" in a demon-child voice. He grabbed the bag right out of Riley's hands and swooped up into the air. He began eating the chips messily, crumbs and even whole chips falling out of the bag and onto the floor. As he ate, his demon-child voice laughed and giggled. Jay turned around as he crossed his arms and looked up at the little gargoyle that was almost as high as the ceiling. "Dude," He started, shifting his eyes to Riley. "How much do you want those chips back?"

As Ash walked out of the hallway and looked around with a blank expression on her face and slightly wide eyes, the Great Gryphon decided to speed things up. He went around and told everyone in the lounge to get ready to leave. He then went down the hallways and stopped in each room to let people know they were going to be leaving soon.

It was the same for the boys, but with more of a harsher tone. "Hurry your asses up! I bet the girls are working faster then you guys!" He yelled at everyone in the longue who was sitting around them decided to make his way done the hallways and personally yell and curse at everyone who was just sitting around or changing. He went into everyone yelling "Hurry up, you maggots!" then continued to curse at the few men who were just sitting around talking. "Why are you just sitting there?! We have training to get to and girls to beat! Hurry up!" He would say as he hurried everyone along.

Most of the guys were scared of what would happen if they didn't listen to the gargoyle that was bigger then most gargoyles. They all came into the longue and waited for instructions. "Alright, maggots! Listen up!" Degore yelled in there faces and went around to slap a few people on the back of their heads for laughing, talking, or being on a cellphone. He then scolded them all and turned to the door. He opened it and flew out, the men all following him as he did so. He walked back down the hallway and out a door to the enclosure where a bunch of equipment was set up. There was targets with bow-and-arrows, mats for wrestling, an obstacle course with tires to run through, a climbing wall, a slide to run up and climb down, and other things. There was martial arts area, gymnastics, swords fighting, and then, for the companions mostly, special abilities. Sitting behind all the obstacles was noneother than Draconem sitting up straight. His tail was laid out behind him and went all the way back to the forest and mountains then out of sight. Beside him was a group of Pegasus, though more could be seen grazing in the pasture, and a small group of shirtless men with goat horns wrapping around there heads, revealing that they were Pooka in the shape of muscular men.

After scanning the sight, Degore smiled hideously, though he was truly proud, they had made it there before the girls. But, not so long after he thought that, the Great Gryphon can up, his beck twisting up slightly into a smile, knowing that he just ruined Degore's little moment. Degore crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the Great Gryphon. Upon seeing this, Draconem let out a hearty laugh along with a few of the Pegasus and Pooka. He found the tension between the two funny, part of the reason why he choose the two to become dorm leaders for the year.

Meanwhile, Ash and Jay ran into each other as both groups seemed to become one. Jay kept bumping into Ash as Slayer kept wrapping Liath's tail around his neck like a scarf and saying in his demon-child voice "Oh, look at me, I'm gay!" But, at the sound of that, Jay flicked him in the nose. Jay liked joking and messing with his cousin as much as Slayer enjoyed bothering Liath at the moment, but one thing Jay did not tolerate was homophobic jokes for the fact that it was not only making fun of Ash but most of his friends as well. Ash crossed her arms over and chest and looked up at Degore and the Great Gryphon, Jay did the same. Slayer and Liath sat on their shoulders and kept bickering and messing with each other as their Ryders waited for something to happen.

((Sorry, PC messed up & posted twice))

Trista began to explore more after putting away the pick. She hung a pack with all Fucuello's grooming supplies on a hook in his stall. Then packed all her clothes into a grand looking wardrobe on her side of the room. Even with all of the clothes hung up there was still loads of room. Perhaps there's a village near by that I can get more clothes at. I only brought half my clothes since I left the rest as hand me downs for Memmy, though... I doubt she'll get them. Trista closed the wardrobe and pulled open the heavy maroon draperies to the windows across the room.

"Lets let some light in shall we?" Sun filtered in through the clear windows. The view stole her breath away. A meadow spread out before her, ringed with a large and dark forest. A wide creek cut through the grass. Flora and fauna both magical and non could be seen. Already she could imagine coming out here at free time just to ride.

"It's perfect." She whispered privately to Fucuello. Another bout of surreal thoughts swam through her mind. She wondered if her dad had similar thoughts when he first saw the view. Had he too had a nice roommate, got along with his other classmates? Did he look forward to training? Had he cared about the war with Diablo?

I never thought to ask him before.

"Well, she should really get going." A nervous laugh brought her attention away from the scenery. She looked over to Ash. "We don't want to be the ones making everyone else wait, now do we?"

"Wait for-" Trista stopped herself. "Oh right training." She grumbled. Not what I was looking forward to.

"I'll see ya' later then, Trista and Fucuello." Trista popped out of her disgruntlement for a second and smiled and waved to Ash as she left with Liath.

"They were nice, weren't they?" She asked Fucuello. Trista turned back to the outside one last time before sighing. I don't want to go train... she whined. Maybe I should ditch.... But if I go, maybe I'll meet Aya again and we can straighten things out between us.....I hope. Another sigh escaped her and she shook her head. No! No bad thoughts. Even if Aya doesn't warm up to you, at least you got a nice roommate.

With that in mind Trista shucked of her blue flannel , revealing a navy v-necked t-shirt. She kept her pants and combat boots on though. There were some packages she then noticed on her bed. Those must be the gifts. Trista decided she would open them later. "C'mon, Fucuello," she said to her steed as she opened the door to the hall."Let's go."

Out in the common room it seemed most of the girls were already out and about chatting and talking. She had come just in time, since the Gryphon came to lead them out into the enclosure right then. Trista took note of the array of weapons and courses laid out before them. Some, like the swords and bows and arrows, were slightly familiar as she had seen them once or twice in her father's weapons shed. Others, such as the courses and strange goat men, were new. A new feeling settled upon Trista as she walked among the girls, isolation. Or at least in the context of other people. At her old school she had known everybody, and everybody had known her, so to be in an environment where she knew almost no one and only a few knew her was strange. I wonder if any of any of them will hate me to? Aya's and her mom's images immediately popped up but Trista shooed them away.

Speaking of Aya the raven haired teen spotted the girl of her worries over by that girl with the fairy and the bashful boy from earlier. She couldn't remember if she had met either of them or if they had caught her name earlier. Oh well, the more people she knew the better.

"Hey, Aya! " she called and ran over to her friend. She looked so neevous for some reason? "What's up?" She waited for Aya's answer before turned to the other two.

"I'm Trista, by the way, it's nice to meet you both, this is my companion Fucuello."

"They were nice, weren't they?" She asked Fucuello. He stared at her dully.

"If you say so.." he responded. Trista turned back to the outside one last time before sighing.

I don't want to go train... she whined. What was this that he was hearing? Complaining!?


Maybe I should ditch.... But if I go, maybe I'll meet Aya again and we can straighten things out between us.....I hope.

Ditching is out of the question. I will not stand a lazy Ryder!" he exclaimed through their connection. He nudged her back with his nose and egged her on to hurry up and get ready. He was in no mood to be late the first day. he was looking forward to getting back into the game. As Trista got ready, he snuck a look outside. Man, she was right. It was so nice. He couldn't lie, it did look appealing to him. A nice place to run, bathe in the sun, feel the wind against his skin. Race! Jump! Explore! His spirit was calling out to the said nature!

He turned his back on the view and eased his way to the door. Later, at another time, he could enjoy that vast and out-standing enclosure.

"C'mon, Fucuello," she said to her steed as she opened the door to the hall."Let's go."

"Right away," he trotted to her side and slowed down as he followed her in the immense crowd. This was unpleasurable. he could handle the presence of the humans, since most were so tiny and barely compared to him. However, the presence of the dragons were a bother. They had rubbed their nasty sweat or weird feeling skin against his fur and feathers that sent a creeped out chill down his spine. And he could had sworn that some fairies had played with the hair around his ears and were making them flap. he shook his head.

Knock it off! he muttered under his breathe. He could faintly hear the giggles of those pesky fairies. One day...he was gonna stomp on those stupid, pesky, tiny wings of theirs. If you could say Fucuello had a pet peeve, it was fairies. or more specifically, anyone or thing that is over-borderline rude and commits pointless pranks. While experiencing his minor dilemma, Tristas thoughts had transpired into his own. His ears shot up at her insecurity-which was a rare sight- and swatted her back with his tail sharply.

None of this. Knowing everyone isn't everything. You always have me, so cheer up. he sighed and turned his head away from her, pouting. How offending. Am I not enough? Not enjoyable enough for you? he questioned. The sunlight slowly came into Fucuellos eye sight, almost blinding him once they got out of the building. It was even brighter outside and it took him only a few seconds to get used to the change of lighting. Admiring all the activities, he was highly looking forward to his station and watching Trista ease her way through all of these 'obstacles.' Hah! He could barely call them that! To Trista, they would seem like kiddy games.

Fucuello bowed his head at the sight of Estabel, greeting his fellow unicorn. She returned the gesture and looked up at him sorrowfully. He shook his head, Esta was an...interesting character. He greeted Aya as well, her discomfort was not too noticeable but Trista had sharp eyes. It seemed both of them cared about each other deeply, but both also had their own baggage. He wondered what Ayas was.