Macari May's Story

’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.

Macari and Pippin strode up onto the starting platform of the obstacle course. Macari set Pip down on the ground, putting her hands on her hips as she surveyed the area. ”Man, they definitely don’t joke around when it comes to obstacle courses, do they? It looks easy at first, but it looks like the further you go on, the more advanced and strenuous this stuff gets.” She thought at Pippin, shielding her eyes from the sun as she changed head positions, looking in a new direction. Pippin grinned joyfully, his small tail wiggling from side to side, ”But that makes it so much more fun!” Minx grinned down at him in agreement. As for progress, the course made a lot of turns to include all of the different attributes of the course, but every so often it would continue straight or branch off to make for end lines for those who chose to stop there, while allowing others to continue onto more advanced things.

“Well, time’s a’waistin, let’s get started!” Ryder and Companion both walked forward off of the platform and onto the ground where the starting line was located, and Macari got into a runner’s position, a challenging look flashed towards Pippin. He pawed at the ground, crouching low and accepting the challenge. “Let’s see how fast we can get ‘er done.” Pip said, a look of mischief to his features.

“Alright, ready… set…” Macari shifted her eyes forwards, to look at their first challenges. It was a fair stretch of simple ground at first, but it soon receded for tires, then a log balance, furthered by pillars, rope swing, and then climbing wall. The course then curved, and what Macari could see past it was a net climb which went fairly high up, and a large oak tree centered above it, “Go!” The two shot off, making easy work of the first land, quickly making work of the tires. Minxy made certain to keep her legs high so as not to trip, while Pip took the tops of them, doing crescents along the rubber from tire to tire to give himself more of a challenge.

Pippin had an obvious advantage, as he went over rather than through, and thus gained a bit of a lead of his Ryder, but Macari picked up her own speed just a bit, not enough to burn her energy out more quickly, but to catch up. The two soon made their way onto the balancing log, which was set over a sort of large trench. She took a split second to glance down, and it appeared that soft materials were set down there, in case one were to slip off. Pip leapt up onto it, dodging gnarled branches that shot up from the bark in some places, as well as knobs that could easily trip someone if they weren’t paying attention.

”Watch it.” Pippin warned as Macari followed after him, about to hook her toe on one of the knobs, before looking down just in time to see it and alter her footstep just a bit, but wavered on the log, almost managing to lose her balance. She caught herself at the last second, continuing after her Jackalope. “How far are we going?” She called after Pip, keeping her eyes on his form as he headed up towards the pillars, quickly followed by Minxy herself. Someone else appeared to be in the middle of it, causing her to pause for a few moments before hopping onto the first one. Pippin made no hesitation as he leapt from stone pillar to stone pillar, threading through the person’s legs, accidently causing them to lose their balance and fall, ”Sorry!” Macari and Pippin called simultaneously, Pippin hopping off of the area, and Macari overtaking the deserted spot.

However, the Jackalope needed to pause at the rope swing, obviously unable to work at it himself. May wasn’t far behind, and he jumped up onto her shoulder. She didn’t falter as she continued to run, jumping and clutching the rope tightly to herself, letting go as they neared the other side. Pippin had launched himself off of her shoulder to the other side and shot off again as she landed. ”We’ll end the first of it at the exit ahead.” Pip thought back at her with a grin on his face as he sped ahead, legs pumping and kicking up dirt and a bit of grass. ”Oh good, I’d rather not tire myself out so far as to not be able to work at anything else.” She thought back at him as they neared the climbing wall. She grinned, figuring Pip would have to wait for her again. Two other people were working against each other at climbing it, but to Minxy’s surprise, he leapt up, landing on one head and then onto the next, successfully managing to scale the wall. “What!? That’s hardly fair!” She laughed out-of-breath after her Companion as the two made small yells towards the jackalope. She started up next to them, working hard to get up there and keep in line with Pippin.

At the top, she carefully balanced before letting herself drop to the ground and take off running again. By this time, the two were certainly panting for air, and made a simultaneous decision to slow down to keep energy. As she looked ahead, Pip was nowhere to be seen. A look of confusion passed her facials before she continued to the first exit. It was another stretch of land to the end line, and she put on a bit more speed in hopes to beat her Companion.

However, a flash to her right distracted her, and she foolishly turned her head to look at what it was. It appeared to be… a small blue dragon running and dodging rather swiftly, “Wh-“ Macari suddenly tripped, and hit the ground hard with a yelp, rolling at least a foot before she slowed. She looked up a bit dazed, suddenly seeing her companion there. A second passed before they both burst out laughing at each other, Pippin rolling onto his back and holding his stomach, while Macari clutched one of her sides. “You… you tripped over your own feet… and still made it!!” He exclaimed, while Minx tried to catch her breath in the middle of laughing, “You look like you got run over and thrown into several bushes!” Pippin had apparently taken a ‘short cut’ through a couple of bushes, and a small patch of fur was missing along his side, and he had twigs and leaves sticking out of his fur in all sorts of silly places. Macari had a bit of mud smeared on her face and a few minor scratches, and looked rather shaken up from her fall, but Pip knew she was perfectly fine, especially since she was laughing.

After the laughter subsided, both of them beamed at each other, and Pippin hopped a bit to his Ryder’s feet, putting a paw on her shin while a dim, warm light peaked from the tips of his antlers. The missing patch of fur returned, and the cuts on May disappeared. “Haha, that’s brilliant!” She chirped at her Companion, putting her hands on her thighs as she leaned over and looked at him with wide, shining eyes. He grinned up at her, “Isn’t it though?”

Macari wiped the grime from her face away, and swiftly pulled the plethora of random bushy things out of Pippin’s fur. “Hey, race you out of here?” Pippin offered, suddenly on his feet and ears perked while his muscles tensed. “…You’re on, my good sir!” She leapt to her feet, and they shot off, taking the sides of the obstacles instead of going through them again. ”I’ll have to warn you though, I’m part jackrabbit!” He grinned, putting on more speed in his larger back legs. ”Hahaha, well of course, you’re not called a ‘jackalope’ for nothing!” She tried to match his speed, but found it quickly impossible. They soon found themselves back at the starting platform, Pippin having won while Minxy had a look of content defeat on her face with a smile and a laugh threatening to part her lips.

She looked up, scanning about for what they’d head to next. Her eyes fell on the archery area, and she grinned broadly, already excited to see how well she’d do. She had a little bit of experience, having gone on one or two hunting parties with some of the people in her town, and watched one of her friends at archery. Plus something interesting seemed to be going on over there, but she couldn’t tell what.

“Shall we?” Pippin looked up at her, his nose wiggling and one paw up in the air as he asked. “We shall indeed!” The two walked at a nice pace towards the area, getting there just as a rather large guy was getting up off the ground before booking it away with a curse. Pippin and she both tilted their heads to the side curiously, before she looked up to see a guy with dirty blonde hair looking after the guy that had tripped before shaking his head. May grinned brightly, quickly wandering over to him as he let an arrow fly. It hit and stuck somewhat close to the red mark. “Oh hey, pretty nice shot.” She offered with a content smile on her face while looking up at him, her eyes closed just a bit as she did so. “That guy back there…” She began, assuming that the tripped guy had ran away that swiftly because he had done something foolish and rather rude, but she was distracted by another guy there. He was skinny, and somewhat tall, and didn’t hold himself very confidently. She changed her mind about her question, opening her mouth to say hello, before her eyes fell onto the looming, rather intimidating phooka behind him. It definitely didn’t look like the others that were at the lead of the rest of the training areas. She fell silent for a second, a blank look on her face before she broke out into a big eyed, open mouthed look of awe, quickly walking up to the creature and offering a hand in greeting.

“So cool!” She fawned just ever so slightly towards the large creature with no pupils and huge horns, obviously something that was definitely scary, but was otherwise just another awesome characteristic to Macari. She turned to the lanky guy, a cheerful smile on her face, still keeping her otherwise awed look, “He’s yours right?” She looked back up to the tall creature then back to him. “Ah, I’m Macari, last name May, haha.” She usually had to say her introductions this way, her first and last name merged so smoothly together, the two names sometimes were mistaken for one first name. She turned back to the first guy, looking around expectantly for his Companion. Minxy had discovered it was extremely fun and interesting to see what all the companions were. But she didn’t see his, she tilted her head, then gave a sheepish grin, figuring she must look a bit ridiculous.

If Drew was concerned about being near the intense looking blonde, he needn't have been, since he left just as soon as the other boy. He sighed, half in relief and half in exasperation. Of course anyone near him would leave- he wasn't someone people wanted to be around. That was alright he supposed. However much he longed to fit in with people and be social, he just.... wasn't. And he wouldn't deny the sense of comfort and relief when he was left to his own devices.
Drew suddenly got a strange feeling- and with a jolt realized that him and Loki's creepy mental link thing was acting up again and he felt almost a sense of acceptance along with the new knowledge that his companion would also rather choose to be solitary.
"Why'd you have to, to, to go and b-be my companion then?" He asked sourly and was rewarded with another lawn mower noise from Loki. Gosh. Drew did not like that things laugh.

Much to to the lanky teens surprise, he and his companions interest was snagged by two forms as they approached- or rather, returned tot he archery station since it was the intense boy and the one who'd run off. The blonde was glaring death at the other boy who approached Drew with a distasteful look.
Oh lord. Why was he coming over here. He obviously wasn't even remotely someone who might consider Drew as a friend that much was obvious from just a glance.
He stood there for a moment, and Drew stared at him with a lost look. Then the boy behind the one with the big face hissed a command-
”I’m sorry, about before man…so…yeah…Bye!”

Drew threw his hands up as the boy began speaking as if to ward off an attack, sending out a stuttering objection but was unable to form a coherent word before the boy ran off, tripping as he went. The blonde shook his head at him and then moved back to continue his shooting practice.

Wait what the heck had just happened. Drew opened his mouth to ask but all he could do was flop his lips open and closed, slightly do intimidated and confused to make a sound.
I do believe the large man child almost shot you, and this one had him seek forgiveness.

Oh. Was that what had happened? At least Loki was good for something other then scaring people away- he seemed to be quite perceptive. Now Drew felt a bit indebted to this boy. The apology definitely hadn't been necessary. Drew was used to people forgetting he was there and stumbling into him and hitting him on accident. A flying arrow didn't seem to different, since it hadn't hit him. But it still felt nice that this boy had thought he deserved an apology.
He stepped towards him, starring at the ground. Better not to meet his eyes after all, they'd seemed rather harsh towards that other boy.
"Uh.. uh, um, t-thanks for-"

He broke off as a girl approached. A rather disgruntled looking girl, with scratches and a bit of mud on her, but none the less a girl. In his general proximity. What.
She made to speak to the boy and Drew quickly stepped back, not knowing how to react or interact. It was hard enough with people in general, how was he supposed to talk to a girl without her thinking he was a freak!? He'd always had Lena and Allison, and their friendship granted being around a lot of girls, but to them he'd just been that weird guy who followed Lena around like a lost soul. He'd been used to all girls avoiding him since grade school. Same with the guys, though there had been a few who'd attempted to get to know him, only to be detoured by something unsatisfactory about Drew's persona. Lena had been the only one to give him a chance, to take him under her wing, try to introduce him to people-

“So cool!” His eyes shot up from the grass, jaw dropping slightly as the girl hopped right on up to Loki, brushing slightly past Drew to extend her arm to the Phooka. Loki tilted his goat head at her slightly, and Drew felt the creatures curiosity at such a friendly person as he wrapped his boney fingers around the girls, careful not to crush her fingers. Though, in Drews experience, her fingers would probably still feel glued together when the devil spawn let go. He supposed he should be nicer to Loki- it was kind of sad that he was surprised at the girls eagerness to shake his hand. Drew should have shown him that eagerness after Loki had made known he'd be his companion (Without Drew having much say in the matter of course.) But all the teen had been doing was complaining about his obvious relation to the devil.

“He’s yours right?”

Drew literally sputtered as h was brought out of his thoughts, unable to answer. One, she had just spoken to him. Two, Loki wasn't exactly his per say, unless by that she meant his companion, which was probably the case and he realized then that he should probably answer but Loki beat him too it.

"In a manner of speaking." He replied in his gravely way-lower-than-should-be-possible voice.

"Ah, I’m Macari, last name May." She giggled slightly and Drew licked his lips and cleared his throat, attempting a friendly smile. This was his chance- she'd even kept him from the horrible endeavor that was trying to talk to someone first! If that wasn't considerate he didn't know what was.

'I-I'm D-d-d-d," He froze in frustration, beginning to feel even worse as his stutter overtook him. Really man, really? He couldn't even get his name out. He took a breath and furrowed his brow.
"I'm Drew. Drew Sh-shar." He said, now addressing Macari and the boy, with stressed enunciation, then grinned a bit in accomplishment. His only stutter in that statement had been on his last name, but he thought it sounded natural enough.
Drew refocused and found that the girl was now scouring the area assumably looking for something, then turned back to them with a grin, seeming to come up empty handed.
Drew glanced around, trying to gather a hint of what she'd been searching for. All he saw was a cute Jackalope a little ways back. If only he'd gotten something like that- he stopped himself. No. He had to stop being so mean to Loki.
Not that it seemed to bother the Phooka- he was beginning to spill his chain-smoker-cough-like laugh again just listening in on Drew's thought process.
What was so dang funny about Drew being scared of his appearance! People these days.

Drew turned to the blonde, trying to keep the light atmosphere Macari had brought with her.
"W-whats your name?"

(This describes her outfit better)

"Short stack, we're baaaaack~ Miss me?" Aya raised her head to see the immensely tall people gather around her. Their inhuman height reflecting in her chestnut eyes. For the first time in a couple of months, she was beginning to feel a bit claustophobic. They were like sky scrapers, intimidating and posing a difficult challenge to her fighting capabilities. No worries though, she would just aim for the legs. She had to crank her neck completely back to have them plus the amazon woman in eye-sight. She was sure that sooner or later her neck would get stuck like this. But it was rude to avoid eye-contact though, so for now she could only hope she would recover from it quickly when it did happen.

”No,” she stated rather harshly, she hadn’t missed them. Was it wrong to be that honest? They were only away from each other for a few seconds, and she had been completely focused on her task and in the moment. If anything, they interrupted her train of thought. She exhaled softly, the thing she couldn’t remember was just on the tip of her tongue before Angel and the rest had arrived. She waved sheepishly to Trista, pressing her katana against her chest with her other hand.

"Hi..."

Be nice. Be friendly.

She encouraged herself. Ok, she had missed Trista a bit. But she wasnt going to say that out loud. She bowed to the new girl, showing her respect even if Trista had not. Aya didn't like conflict, that's all she's ever had at school an she would prefer to avoid it. Whether she liked a person or not, respect and peace were required. There was no other option.

"I'm Ueto Aya, nice to meet you." she rose from the bow and caught a glimpse of her companion. A kitsune! She put her hands together and bowed deeply to the fox. "I pay my respects, sorry about earlier." she said softly and genuinely. Once she finished paying respects to what she called a spirit back home, her attention went back to Angel. She raised an eyebrow at the pathetic display of his handling of swords. He really wasn't joking. He sucked at this.

"You really.... don't know what you're doing, do you?" she placed one hand on her hip and leaned more on her right leg. No wonder Saga and him got along, both weren’t quite at her level. She blinked. Wait. Now that she thought about it... where was her brother?

"Angel, where is my brother?"





Keeping up with Bluejay was honestly…tough! For a small fry he was darting back and forth dodging legs and tails and hoofs. Saga was only human, and running in the middle of a large crowd was definitely strange. And slightly difficult. But he had too. He didn’t want to be separated from BJ, he just had this bad feeling deep in his gut. Like, he would die or get squished or kill himself somehow. He shivered, the dragon mothers words ringing through his head.

I warn you, he’s a late bloomer.

Crap. He hoped she didn’t mean what he thought she did. BAM! Saga heard a yelp ahead of him off in the distance. When he caught up to where the sound had come from, Bluejay was already off scampering to Reechis side. Saga didn’t stop, but he caught a glimpse of the woman who had fallen. Messy brunette hair and a warm smile, he could feel her free-spirit all the way from here. He turned his head back around and debated with himself. Should he turn around and help her up? But what about BlueJay? He peered over his shoulder to see if the soldier was still down.

Nope.

He watched her shoot up to her feet and dart off, racing her rabbit companion. He smiled stupidly; she was a gentle girl. He made a mental note to himself that the next time he saw her, he would apologize properly. Maybe even get her name if he was lucky!

---At the companion station----

In the middle of the companion area was a large circle, about the size of a gym. Other sizes were placed around it for other battles. A phooka stood in the middle of each, ready to address a battle and judge. Reechis claws dug into her skin, and she pointed out that the dragon should grip her mane. Below her, Bluejay bolted around her legs. This area was filled with all kinds of scents: sweet, enchanting, disgusting, horrid, and shocking. Estabel jerked her head back at the sound of a feline roar.

”Come on youngins, to scare to fight an old man?” Kirk taunted. He stood in the middle of the biggest circle. Head high, teeth bared, and the hair on the back sticking up slightly. His white fur glistened in the sun to the point where he almost appeared transparent. Esta was captivated by his beauty. His eyes reminded her of the open sky.

Saga heaved and flung himself over Estabel. Hanging onto her to keep himself up, he sounded like an old man wheezing. Saga had never run so much in his entire life. He was sure he had a couple bruises on his sides from all the elbows he failed to dodge. Stupid dragon, Saga cried in his head. Estabel hung her head to the left, peering up at Saga though the corner of her eyes.

”Saga?”

“Oh hey, pretty nice shot.” Derek eyed the small girl, looking down at her from his peripheral vision. She was (3) inches shorter then him with I-like-to-talk written all over her face. She was probably one of those annoying girls who would chat your ear off if you never interrupted her. Fine by him. He didn’t enjoy talking much anyway. He reached behind him and pulled another arrow out, positing it between his fingers and the bow. He jerked his arm back, pulling back on the string. Already a few cuts were pressing into his fingers. His hands were not used to the texture of the bow yet, but he wouldn’t stop. Even if his fingers bled.

”Thanks.” he let go. The arrow cut through the air in silence, just barely missing the target. He was getting closer. Fighting wasn’t as hard as everyone else made it seem. To him, it was reaching a state in your mind where you could control your instincts and use them to your advantage. You ruled your human senses, not the other way around.

”So cool! He’s yours right? Ah, I’m Macari, last name May, haha.”

” I'm Drew. Drew Sh-shar”

However, the noises buzzing in his ears to the right were making it a bit difficult. He ignored them, barely catching their names. What they had said didn’t reach his ears, what he heard was Macaroni and Drew Sushi. He had made no inclination that he wanted to get to know these people. Their names were strange. All hope of him wishing they would just ignore his presence vanished when the brat, Drew Sushi, had turned to him. Dragging him into Macaronis pace.

"W-whats your name?" he asked. He didn’t seem confident. Nor did he appear like he had any backbone of the sorts. So to put it bluntly, he was surrounded by an insecure little boy and space cadet. Wonderful. He reached for another arrow and repeated the routine. Arrow. Aim. Being rude was pointless.

”Derek.” he released the arrow and shot, getting the same result as before. He winced in frustration and picked up another arrow. Aim. Shoot. Arrow. Aim. Shoot. Arrow. Aim. Shoot.

At least try to get to know the people you are fighting along side with.
Kirk exasperated.

I did. I’ve profiled them accurately.
He responded robotically.

Or so you think, humans are interesting creatures. They change on you, be more friendly. Friends are important to have in this world.
Kirk said wisely.

Kirk…
Dereks voice trailed off.

Right, I have something better to do right?
Silence.

A single stretch limousine pulled up to the Ryder Academy, and halted right in front of the huge double doors.
The driver's door opened, and a teenage boy got out and looked up, smiling as he rested his arms on top of the limo.

"Isn't it wonderful, SanJee?", JJ asked his 'driver', who was reading a newspaper in the passenger seat.
"Indeed, it is one of the best gifted schools in all of Cree."
"Did you notice how smooth the ride was? The paths are simply luxurious. So well cut, as well."
SanJee looked up from his newspaper. "Indeed,JJ. I think it would have been smoother if you let me, the professional driver take the wheel once in a while. You do understand I am getting paid a large sum of money every hour, don't you?"
JJ grabbed onto the top of the limo and leaned down, giving SanJee one of his best grins. "It's not fun at all when you drive. The driver gets to pick the music, after all."
"Yes, I am aware. And what was it that we were listening to again? High-beat notes accompanied with lyrics repeating themselves over and over?"
JJ pouted. "That was my friend Yin's new single. You have to believe it's so original.The way she expresses her love-"
"For teenage boys with well-styled hair and an alarmingly white smile?" SanJee raised an eyebrow.
"So you were paying attention!", JJ patted SanJee on his head, as the older gentleman raised an eyebrow.

The driver handed the boy a folder. "Here is your new itinerary. We expect you for the recording of your third album in two weeks, along with a song to add onto as your bonus track for the premium deluxe version."
"Of course! How could I not!", here JJ seemed nervous.
Yeah, I don't have a new song. Better get started on that.

"We have already shipped your things to the school. A Phooka was assigned to show you where to go from here." SanJee instructed.
"Thanks.....Well, I guess this is goodbye for now." JJ stuck out his hand, and the driver shook it.
"Good luck with this one, JJ", the man said, changed seats to the driver's side, closed the door after JJ removed his fingers, and then sped off.

JJ took a deep breath, and then walked up into the school, and into the doors to the foyer.
A Phooka approached him now, a half man, half goat variety.
"Hello, you must be the late one."
JJ scratched his head nervously and laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that, I had a practice earlier. It really was my fault, I guess......"
"It is alright. If you would please follow me."

The Phooka walked briskly down a hall, and JJ followed him, his stomach queasy.
The walls seemed to be lined with gold, with very expensive wallpaper.
"Your things have already been shipped to your room. Your television will not be available for use until a few days from now, since someone has to come to set it up."
"Oh...thank you for sending one. I'm sorry if that's too much trouble. I must catch up on current events."
"Of course."
I expect there will be silence when I enter the room. Maybe Draconem, the headmaster will be speaking, and me entering the room will serve as a huge embarrassment on my part. He was prepared for it, and he didn't really mind.

"Here we are." The Phooka led him to a large, spacey auditorium, which was empty.
Ah..., JJ thought relieved, I was too late for any of that, huh?
The Phooka walked over to another huge set of double doors, and, as he opened them, JJ was amazed at the enclosure inside.
"Here is where you will pick your companion. Every Ryder cannot go without one. When you are done, I will be here to escort you to your next location."
"Oh, okay, thank you." JJ was so lucky he had someone showing him around. He knew he would hardly be able to maneuver by himself.


So, I definitely know I do not want a dragon or a gargoyle. Those things are just too big or creepy for me. How about a fairy?
He wandered over to a forest, noticing the fairies there who were whizzing by, laughing. He smiled, remembering the fairies at home, and stepped into the cool trees.
This enclosure is pretty cool. All this magic to create this amazing landscape.
He was glad Ryder training included magic, since he was very good at it.

He spotted a very well crafted blue treehouse, that included three boy fairies who were messing around with some nectar and a horn.
I'll just ask these little fairies, and see if one of them would like to be my companion. No big.
He walked up to them, and the male fairies stopped what they were doing, and looked up at him strangely.
"Can we help you?", one with green hair asked, and JJ balked for a second.

"Well, yes actually. You see, I'm a Ryder now, so I was just wondering if any of you kind gentlemen-"
They interrupted him by laughing, shouting, "Haha, gentlemen?","What a joke this kid is! Who does he think he is!?", and finally, "I'll show you gentlemen!" And then the fairy with the green hair took the nectar and put it in his little horn, and flew up right to JJ's face.
"Uh...um...what are you--ow!", he sputtered, as the fairy shot the nectar in his eye by blowing on the horn.
His friends laughed as he returned,and high-fived him.
No one, not even a little fairy, can get away with that
"Look you jerks!", he seethed angrily, and the three fairies grew quiet, surprised at his new attitude. "I don't care if you think you are someone way better than I am or whatever, but I needed a companion and I thought one of you three could be it! Apparently I was mistaken!"
The fairies stared at him, and JJ stormed off.
"Dude, wait!", the green-haired fairy cried, and JJ looked back to see that they were all flying towards him.
A fairy with copper hair spoke, and he seemed a bit hesitant. "No one has ever asked us to be their companion before....."
"Yeah", a fairy with shocking pink eyes told him,"And we really are flattered. We're not used to it."
JJ lightened up. "So, one of you will be my companion?"
The green-haired fairy spoke, "As much as we want to....we can't. We like that you aren't the pansy we thought you were...."
"Hey!", JJ shouted.
"You know you are. A little bit, maybe. But we realized you could bare your teeth if you wanted to. But... me and my boys", here he pointed to the other fairies,"couldn't bear to be apart from each other. So we can't be your companion, unless two other people asked. We stick together."
"Awwww", JJ smiled, "all fairies are cute!"
"We're not cute!", the pink-eyed fairy shouted, looking as menacing as a baby kitten, and JJ laughed again, his eyes sparkling.
"Of course not. Thank you guys anyway." The little fairies waved, then retreated to their treehouse. JJ sighed.

As he exited the forest, he saw that the sun was sparkling brightly in the sky.
Ah, it's so beautiful. I miss seeing the sunrise.
He trotted on, then started to rub his eyes. The sun seemed to be right in front of him!!
Maybe I stared a little too hard. Seems like there's a fireball right here.
He approached it, and stepped on the fireball, wanting to make it disappear. The fireball shouted, and JJ shouted in return.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"Watch where you step, ignorant boy!", the fireball snapped, and JJ stepped closer.
"Woah! You're a phoenix!"
"What did you think I was, a fireball?!"
JJ shifted his feet. "Um...nooo...."
"I saw what happened there in the forest."
"Oh...did you?"
"Yes, and I am here."
"For what?", JJ asked.
"To be your companion." The phoenix's fiery feathers shone, and JJ was transfixed to them.
"You want to be my companion?"
"Yes, and don't make me regret it! You were not entirely weak and girly out there,so I will accept it."
"Um...ok...my name's JJ."
"My name is Gladiator."
"Hey, that's cool! Let's go back, Gladiator." Gladiator puffed out his feathers and followed JJ out of the enclosure, back to the Phooka.
"Excellent", the Phooka said as he returned. "All the students are in their first training crash course. Follow me."

Oh, boy, time to show off my nonexistent skills.
I really cannot deny that I knew you did not have any talents. Gladiator said in his mind.

JJ retaliated. AHH!How do you do that?!, and Gladiator explained about the connection between Ryder and companion, with a roll of his eyes.
Ah, cool! They finally reached the other enclosure, full of rings with weapons, bleachers, an obstacle course, and many, many people.
"Ooh, wow, this is pretty sweet." He noticed some girls looking at him and whispering. He waved to them, and they grinned fully at him, shouting ,"Hi!!", then looked back at each other and giggled.
"Here is where I will leave you. Please explore whatever you like, as you experiment with things that you may not be used to. Goodbye", the Phooka said.
"Wait, what's your name?!", JJ did not want to forget him.
"Egore."
"Goodbye, Egore!"
JJ walked in a random direction, and found himself at the archery station. He saw some people fighting, and then a girl a little worse for wear stooping down to view a hideous, scary companion. He went up to them, allowing himself to be on the side as they interacted, but then he caught the eye of the girl.

Macari simply grinned brightly to Loki, tilting her head slightly to the side as she felt his fingers wrap around her own. They were hard and definitely boney, but again, it just made the Phooka more interesting overall. She tilted her head back to the lanky boy as she asked her question, and he sputtered just slightly. ”He’s definitely not confident, huh Pip?” Pippin hopped over to where the others stood, and lounged between his Ryder’s legs with a content smile. ”Well, you are kinda scary.” He joked, and Macari shot him a good natured look with a small chuckle before turning back to him as he answered.

"In a manner of speaking.” Minx blinked a bit before shrugging and nodding her head slightly. ”I-I'm D-d-d-d," Macari looked at him expectantly, a confidence to her eyes while she waited for him to speak. ”He’s weird.” Pippin remarked through their connection, tilting his head up to look the boy over. ”Yeah, but weird’s good.”

"I'm Drew. Drew Sh-shar." With his small grin, May could only return one that was brighter, extending her hand. “Nice to meet you!” She jumped slightly as the Phooka began laughing, the noise catching her off guard before she laughed through a breath. “What’s your Companion’s name, Drew?”

He then addressed the blonde guy, asking of his name. Her eyes lit up, and she gave him her attention as he continued to launch arrows at the target. ”Derek.” Was his reply, and she responded with the same, “Wonderful to meet your acquaintance.” She smiled, before watching him loose a few more arrows. “Oh yeah, I should try too.” Her tone made it sound like a kind of side note, and Macari scanned the weapons rack, picking up a few bows before testing the resistance of the string. She knew she couldn’t use a newer one, as it would be a bit too tough to draw it back, so she searched for one that was broken in already.

Finding what she sought, she quickly returned to her place, the next row over from Derek. She positioned her feet a bit so she’d have more balance, and Pip cheerfully walked up to her, settling down beside her with a content look, excited to see how well his Ryder could use the bow.

She grabbed an arrow from the sheath to her side, notching it into the bowstring and holding it there. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes with a focused look on her face, pulling back on the bowstring and tuning out those around her.


”Heh, alright, focus on your target now, get it into your mind where you want your arrow to fly, keep a steady hand, keep your arms taut, and that elbow up, Little Minx~” Kennedy teased lightly, Macari always seemed to forget to keep her elbow up and her hand at her chin. The wind kicked up a bit, making the leaves shift, and she smiled brightly.

”Since you’re smaller, you want to keep your feet parted a bit more, it should help you keep your balance. Good, now, close your eyes, take a deep breath, in through the nostrils out through the mouth, calm your hands so they don’t waver. Open then up, focus on the mark on the tree, pull back, aaaand, release!”



Macari released the tensed bow after following her old friend’s instructions, a grin on her face. She could almost feel the cool wind from the forests back home. The arrow flew true, lodging itself on the outer area of the red circle on the target. “Haha, bulls-eye, that was great!” Pippin chirped up at her with a shining, excited look. She laughed brightly, returning the bow to its place before walking back over to where Pippin sat, joining him on the ground with a bright look, running her fingers through his soft fur and messing with his ears.

“Hey, cut that out!” He quipped with a grin and a laugh, not actually minding it. “Haha, never!” She responded, making his long ears move from side to side, back and forth, and around, with small chuckles and clicks at her Companion.

She suddenly paused, hearing someone else come up behind them. She turned to look up at an Asian boy. Macari covered her mouth with her wrist, a good natured half smirk half grin on her face, her eyes closing a bit as she laughed. Pippin ’snrked’ and snorted, having looked up as well, laughing at the boy there, covering his mouth just slightly with his paw, mimicking his Ryder so as to try not to offend the new guy. “Hey guy, you appear to have something dribbling out of your eye.” She offered, explaining their response to his appearance. She looked down at Pip as he looked up at her, and they both grinned and simultaneously said, ”Fairies.” She offered an open hand, and Pippin patted his paw down onto it in a high-five.

Minx looked up at Drew and his companion, shielding her eyes from the sun again, and smiled, motioning for them to join she and Pip in sitting, if they so desired.

Check mate. Derek turned his head slowly, staring at Macari with a blank expression. The space cadet had hit the bulls-eye dead on, a calm expression laid upon her foundation. He didn’t think someone like her could ever display a serious expression. His eyes followed her as he watched her adore her companion and then go sit next to him, inviting Drew over to sit with them and giggle at the fairy dew in the pretty boys eyes. A new entrée. He stared at him for 5 seconds before concluding that he was, indeed, a pretty boy.

Haven’t you leaned your lesson yet, boy? Your profiling can be off and misleading. Still needs some work.
Kirk corrected, an old mans laugh following soon after. Derek rubbed his temples; he wasn’t even going to respond this time. He cocked his head to the side, shoulders relaxed, and called out to the talented archer.

”Hey…Macaroni right? Could you help me with this?” he asked. He still wondered…what kind of parents named their kid after a food?



What’s this?

Kirks wise eyes met those of the same color, but different experience. Young. Inexperienced. The white beast towered over the little guy, most beasts his size or greater would have to squint their eyes to see him. But he was a cat. His pupils dilated, he could see between his feathers, the rise of his chest as he breathed, his hunting instincts were rising. He pawed at the little guy, pushing him around rather gently but with some force. He licked his lips and chuckled.

”Hey little guy, far from your nest are you not?” the blue dragon reminded him that of a Bluejay, a bird. ”Will you be challenging me? What’s your name?” Kirk asked. He had to admit, there was a bit of an impulse to eat the guy…

Pretty boy..
Kirks ears flinched and shook his head lightly, for a silent kid, he thought a lot.

Haven’t you leaned your lesson yet, boy? Your profiling can be off and misleading. Still needs some work.
He corrected, but with no response. Ah, so the guy was giving him the silent treatment. So be it. Humans never listened to cats anyway. By most people in the world, cats were not adored. They were seen as evil, rude, and emotional. Well, how do you think cats view humans? Felines can sense things most can’t, and when Derek starts to listen to him…he will become stronger. He hated it when people tried to do things on their own. Heh, what was he saying. He was the same way. That's why he liked the guy.




”Saga, your companion…and Reechi…” Estabel gestured towards the big ring where the tiger was pushing his companion around. Reechi merely just watched and than looked back at Saga. Almost pitying him. He huffed; maybe he should cut back on the smokes. Nao’s words about how bad cigarettes were for you were actually starting to make sense now. He picked up his feet and put his arms behind his head to get a better breath and walked over casually. Almost tiredly. What was Bluejay doing? Did he seriously want to fight the feline? Saga couldn’t stop him but…he hoped the cat would go easy on him. BJ had to learn things on his own or else he would never grow up and mature, Saga knew this. He had to let Bloo take his own course. He bent down beside Reechi, scratching her behind the ears.

”Hey girl,” he charmed.

Drew starred as Macari extended her hand to him. She was so.. so... so friendly!
He eagerly accepted the handshake, not used to such blind kindness; as a result, he might have shaken a bit overzealously. She asked his companions name whilst he was doing so, and he let go quickly, blushing.
"Th-thats Loki."

the blonde, still shooting arrows, then decided to answer Drews question, tossing his name into the mix. Derek and Macari
He had to refrain from throwing a party.
What's a party? Loki asked mentally, and Drew was unable to stop the flashes of memory that came to mind, somewhat explaining the concept to the phooka.
His eleventh birthday party, old relatives standing around; him, Lena, and Allison gathered around a small cake, the girls grinning as he blew out the candles, feeling content-
Last years homecoming, the pulse of the music in the gym, groups of people jumping and mingling, Drew floating around in the shadows, shooing Lena away from him with an order to have fun-
One of Jonathan's crazy house parties, while their parents were out of town, lights flickering and music spilling into the streets, girls and guys intwined on the couches, grinding on the open space of their living room, Drew trying to stay out of the way in his room but constantly being interrupted by couples looking for a quiet place-

Loki's confusion broke through his memories and Drew tried to focus on the here and now, on Derek repeatedly shooting arrows and Macari moving over to join him, easily notching and letting loose a bullseye. Drew watched in awe. She was good. Derek was good too, he was pretty close to a bullseye as well.
Drew wished he had half their skill, wanted to learn,wanted to be useful and before he knew it he was rushing over, stammering a quite "Excuse me," hoping to snag at least Dereks attention. Maybe he would help him! He was distracted by the giggles from Macari as she and her companion greeted a new boy, and before Drews eyes she patted the grass next to them, obviously intending it to be an invitation to Drew. And invitation. To sit by her?! Wait where they friends!? Would he really have to throw a party now!?

Of course, watching her with a shocked face and trying to walk towards Derek didn't fare well for him. A rock or something evil and foul decided to spring out of the flat grass and trip him. Before he could even contemplate her invite, he was down.
And he was rolling and rolling, in a rather painful way, a trip straight out of the cartoons, and then Loki was stopping him,picking him up and setting him down on his backside.

Drew sat on his bottom, reeling, face bright red. How had that happened. Just how. He wasn't even that clumsy. He took a breath waiting for the world to stop spinning. The gods were against him thats what this was. He was cursed by the great dragons. The world was out to kill him. Destiny required him to have no friends that was what this was.

The teen sighed, sweeping grass off his blue hoodie. Loki seemed remarkably light on his feet, to have intercepted his tragic roll to the death before he'd gotten to far. He shot a mental thank you to the phooka, before pushing a hand through his hair. It always refused to 'unpoof' yet here it was getting in his face. He just wanted to put his hood on and curl up and die.

Drew just hoped Derek and Marcari hadn't seen that- well, they probably had, since, as Drew looked up, he was just feet away from the area Macari and the boy were sitting in.
The new asian kid looked familiar for some reason and Macari was next to him, the giggle frozen on her face, and Derek was looking over with an unreadable expression, looking like he'd just asked something but Drew had missed it.
He assumed his entire face was red at this point, when he was distracted by something weird on the Asians eye.
"Um..." Drew said, feeling the unreasonable urge to apologize for tripping, even though he hadn't even run into anyone. Instead he pulled a pocket sized pack of tissues from his pocket, offering it to the new boy with near shaking, embarrassed fingers.
"Th-there's s-something on your face,"

He blinked at them innocently with his deer eyes, unaware that his own face was now rather disgruntled and dirty, just trying to change this first impression he was giving off to the group.
Behind him, Loki shook his head in a way that almost screamed, 'we have a lot of work to do.'

The girl covered her mouth with her wrist, and laughed, her blue eyes twinkling mischievously at him.
That's confusing. Why is she laughing at me? I haven't even done anything.
Maybe, Gladiator offered, You have an awkward standing position.
Ahhh! Oh, wait, yeah,you can read my thoughts now.That is going to take some getting used to. Wait.....I don't stand funny!
JJ moved his shoulders a bit just to make sure.
Her jackalope mimicked her, and now they were both laughing at him.
This is getting quite annoying.
“Hey guy, you appear to have something dribbling out of your eye.” She offered.
She looked down at the jackalope as he looked up at her, and they both grinned and simultaneously said, ”Fairies.” She offered an open hand, and the jackalope patted his paw down onto it in a high-five.
Wha....
What she had said still hadn't resonated in his brain.

She then turned away from him,and called over to the guy that seemed to have a horrifying, demon spawn as a companion.
As the boy was walking, he tripped over a rock and then started rolling and rolling rather awkwardly, until the personification of hell stopped him, right next to JJ.
Ouch. At least I'm not as clumsy as that boy. Now....what is dribbling from my eye?
He touched his left eye, but nothing seemed to be there.

The boy was now beet red as a sigh escaped his lips, and then started fixing himself up.
He then looked up, and JJ could see the streaks of dirt on his face.

"Um...", the boy sputtered, then he pulled a pocket sized pack of tissues from his pocket.
I should tell him that I don't think those tiny tissues will clean the mess off of his face.
But instead, he offered it to to JJ with embarrassed,shaking fingers.
"Th-there's s-something on your face."
The second person to say there is something on my face! Why....
But by then, JJ had located the liquid he had forgotten about, the nectar from the horn the three male fairies had blown into his eye.
Aw, man I forgot about this. How embarrassing...
Oh yes, I probably should have warned you that the nectar was still rolling down your face. Gladiator chimed in, nonchantaly.
I see you are a contender for the Companion of the Year, JJ thought sarcastically.
Ooh, you can be sarcastic. At least you are not entirely delicate.
Hey!
The boy was still offering the tissues, and JJ smiled down at him, and took them.
The boy was trying to be friendly, or at least JJ thought so, and he wouldn't mind at all making friends here. The boy seemed to have an innocent, naive look about him, and he was very lanky.
"Thank you, my trials in the fairy forest had nearly escaped my mind. If you ask, I'll tell you all about it."
He opened the pack and cleaned his face carefully. Gosh, those fairies.
He extended his hand, so the boy could shake it. "Hello, nice to meet you, my name is JJ." He looked at the girl who still looked amused. "What are your names?"

"Th-thats Loki." Pippin practically bounced with glee, sharing his Ryder’s feeling of high energy and how great that seemed to fit the Phooka, and Macari grinned, “That is a fantastic name.” She said seriously, looking up to the Phooka with another look of appreciation.

”Hey…Macaroni right? Could you help me with this?” May turned her attention up at Derek, a smile wriggling onto her lips, and her eyes lit up. She laughed good-naturedly, poking him in the leg. Pippin merely looked up at him with a lopsided grin, one ear falling to the side. “It’s Macari, but that was one of the most brilliant name mistakes I’ve ever heard.” She grinned brightly at him, and Pippin chirped up at her, “I should call you that~” He spoke without any seriousness, but grinned nonetheless.

“Oh, ah, I’m not really that good with archery, I just had a friend back home who was great, and showed me a bit about what to do. I think that was more of a lucky shot, but hey, I made it! Anyway, I think you’re too tensed up, you should relax a bit more, and keep your elbow straight.” She smiled softly to herself, remembering how Kennedy would always have to correct her about that. She felt she did him proud today, and she returned her attention back up at Derek, her eyes bright and friendly.

Suddenly, her head shifted quickly to the side as she heard a loud ’thump’ and took in the sight of Drew rolling along the ground. Her eyes widened in surprise, a flash of worry blossoming, before Loki picked up the boy before he damaged himself too badly. His face was beet red, and Minxy tried to keep the frown of worry on her face, but was struggling not to smile. If she did, it would probably make the boy feel bad, even though she hardly ever made fun of anyone unless it was light teasing.

“Are… are you okay, Drew?” She asked, clearing her throat a bit to rid herself of any higher pitched tones because of the laugh that threatened to make itself known. He then looked up at the Asian boy, remarking on what May had already notified him about, but offering him a tissue this time.

Speaking of the Asian kid, he had been giving her a funny look, which turned slightly irritable, which made her uncomfortable, she didn’t think she came across as mocking. She turned to Pip with a questioning gaze, and he simply shrugged, ”Ah, don’t worry about it!” He offered with a reassuring grin, patting her shins happily.

He seemed to then look down at Drew, and just stare at him for a few moments, before taking the offered tissue and dabbing at his eye. "Thank you, my trials in the fairy forest had nearly escaped my mind. If you ask, I'll tell you all about it." May blinked at him, one eye squinting just slightly, ”Ah, he seems a little high on his horse there….” She thought at Pippin with a look of slight despair on her face, such things didn’t really bother her normally, but he seemed to make her a bit uncomfortable.

"Hello, nice to meet you, my name is JJ." She blinked, smiling once again as he introduced himself, ”Maybe it’s just a bad first impression.” Pip smiled up at her, echoing her thoughts. “What are your names?" Minx rested back on one hand, looking up at him. “Macari May.” She spoke lightly, a grin on her face as she patted Pippin with her free hand.

Pippin suddenly jumped up a bit, tilting his head up to look at May with big eyes, patting at her leg to get her attention. “We should go train!” He said, his tail wiggling a bit, “I kinda wanna go see what this ‘Special Abilities’ place looks like!” He bounced up and down just slightly, not actually leaving the ground as he did so.

Macari got up from her seated position, brushing off the back of her legs and such, before putting her hands on her hips brightly, as if accepting a new adventure. “Sounds like a good idea to me! Anyone wanna join us?” She glanced at the faces around her, waiting for their answers with a nice smile.

”….I’m. so sorry,” his cheeks became flushed at the horrible name mistake he had done. He felt like the shittiest guy in the world. He should have known, he should have known! No one names their friggin kid MACARONI! He ran his fingers through his hair irritably, Kirk had been right. If he had focused more on getting to know them, he would have figured out at least one of them had some talent sooner. Still, even with his rudeness, she addressed him kindly and smiled. She paid no mind to it, and her and her companion appeared too actually like the nickname. He felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time, warmness. The warmness of an August afternoon. Back in Dark Hallows, it was all about being rough and tough love. She reminded him too much of….

He tossed that thought away in the trash can before it could even finish.

” Oh, ah, I’m not really that good with archery, I just had a friend back home who was great, and showed me a bit about what to do. I think that was more of a lucky shot, but hey, I made it! Anyway, I think you’re too tensed up; you should relax a bit more, and keep your elbow straight.” she replied sweetly. Derek stood in silence, before saying

”Thanks,” and turned his back to her and took up the bow and arrow again. As he straightened his elbow and relaxed he felt that he needed to say more to her. Like he owed her something, you know?

No, I don’t know Kirk said.

Shut up.. Derek had groaned in his head and rolled his head. He could hear the faint noise of a chuckle in the background.

”You know, Macari, You aren’t half bad….” he spoke softly, almost as if he was embarrassed to say something so kind to someone. Sure, his only focus was revenge so he might come off as someone-

With a stick up their ass Kirk injected. Derek took a deep breathe.

Who was cold, he continued. However, he did have a sense of civilly and respect to the people he would be fighting along side with. Everyone here would be helping him get his revenge, whether he liked it or not. It wasn’t just him he had to work on; he would have to help others too if no one else would.

Are you going to shoot? Or not? Kirk questioned.

Oh..right Kirk snapped back into reality and peered through his pin. After aiming, and sure that it would go head on into the bull-eyes, he released the arrow. And it hit. The. Bulls. Eye. Half of his mouth curved up into a grin of pleasure. Yes!

“Sounds like a good idea to me! Anyone wanna join us?” Macari asked. Derek glanced over his shoulder at the three. Somehow, their conversation had progressed into a hang-out session while his mind had been off into who knows where. He scratched his nose, and responded only because it had been Macari who asked.

”I’ll stick here. I want to do some more training with this.” he raised the bow up slightly, to bring attention to it. He wanted to feel that joy of accomplishment again. And again. And again!

“Are… are you okay, Drew?”Macari asked, and Drew didn't glanced up from the intense stare he was giving to the grass in front of him to give her an appreciative smile.

"N-n-no actually, I think my w-wounds are fatal." He said sarcastically, surprising himself. Then he threw another mental party. He felt comfortable around these people- he'd made something akin to a joke. On the first day he'd barely even met them. This was good! Maybe the academy would offer him a new social start after all!
The boy had stopped giving him a look and took the tissues from Drews hand, cleaning the goo from his face.
"Thank you, my trials in the fairy forest had nearly escaped my mind. If you ask, I'll tell you all about it."

Drew beamed at the thank you, but his smile faded as he pondered this. Did that mean he wanted them to ask? Or was that a way of saying he didn't feel like explaining unless he or Macari wanted to hear? He wiped at the dirt irritating his face with the back of his hand, like a cat. He seems rather formal too.... Do I know him from somewhere!?
Before he could mull over it, the Asian was extending his hand and Drew shook it, careful not to overdo it like he had with Macari.
"Hello, nice to meet you, my name is JJ. What are your names?"
"Macari May,"

JJ? Now that was definitely familiar, especially paired with the face. He ignored it,

"I'm Drew," He pointed a finger upward where Loki loomed overhead. "Th-that's Loki," Satans spirit animal. He added mentally. Loki snorted in response to the thought and Drew cowered away from the noise. The phooka's mental connection to the boy served to transfer his extreme amusement, something the Phooka was feeling for and more since meeting Drew.
"I don't see whats so funy...oh... I was going to try to stop the mental abuse.... sorry Loki."
"Heheh, What is a spirit animal?"
"Er... Kind of a form of companion I suppose,"
"But I am your companion?"
"Never mind Loki,"

Drew refocused as May's companion hopped excitedly about Special Abilities. For companions then? Drew glanced up at Loki from the corner of his eye. He wondered what types of things the phooka could do. Again came that amusement.
The teen whacked the phooka in the hairy leg, ignoring his fear in slight annoyance. He didn't like being laughed at. He'd been laughed at enough in life.
"Loki stop!"
The phooka laughed heartily and Drew punched him again, not minding that he was now yelling outloud. (Though his noodle arms caused hardly a feeling to Loki). He rolled his eyes, crawling over to sit next to JJ and Macari's companion Pippin.
"G-go away." He said stubbornly to Loki as Macari stood up,

“Sounds like a good idea to me! Anyone wanna join us?”

Drew paused for a moment, thinking. He'd like to stay with these people, since he knew them now. But would special abilities mean he'd have to work with Loki? He was a bit annoyed at the beast. He seemed to find amusement in everything Drew did, which just made the human feel incompetent and foolhardy.

“”I’ll stick here. I want to do some more training with this.”

Drew sighed. Derek seemed to be staying then. The blond didn't seem to talk much, at least not to him. But he felt rude leaving him alone. He'd wait until JJ answered then- he didn't know if Derek would even take kindly to Drew hanging around.
So, with an annoyed look at satans pet, Drew also stood up, brushing more grass off himself. He'd collected quite a bit from his tumble.

"I g-guess I should g-go to found out more about phhhooka's." He said with a nervous smile to the girl. Did she even want him along? The invite was probably more towards the other boys.It usually was after all.
Anyway, the teenfigured he should at least get something accomplished before classes. He doubted he'd be able to pull back the bow strings on those bows, or lift any sword, so focusing on Loki seemed a good enough way to go.

“Macari May.” The girl said, her voice light as she petted her jackalope. Her companion started to jump a bit,looking at Macari May with big eyes that JJ thought was to plead with her over something,and started patting her leg to get her attention.
"I'm Drew," the dirty boy on the ground said, pointing a finger upward where his satanic companion was. "Th-that's Loki."
Loki.How fitting. He noticed how Drew stuttered as he mentioned Loki, and safely assumed Drew was scared at him.
He leaned down towards Drew,whispering, "Honestly,your companion scares me. A lot.He's pretty much the incarnation of the devil." He grinned to show he was joking around.
“We should go train!” Macari May's jackalope said, his tail wiggling a bit, “I kinda wanna go see what this ‘Special Abilities’ place looks like!” He bounced up and down just slightly, as if rocking on his heels.
Macari May got up and brushed off the dirt from her pants and such, and then said brightly,
“Sounds like a good idea to me! Anyone wanna join us?” She glanced at the boys, waiting for their responses with an expectant smile.

Hm...I have studied much about companions, especially about their magical capabilities. Maybe I can make friends with these people if they are impressed by my knowledge.
"Loki stop!" Drew shouted, punching his Phooka, and JJ didn't know why. Must be that stupid connection.
Are you embarrassed that now I can read your every thought and emotion?So when someone points a sword at you and you shriek in terror on the inside, I can laugh?,Gladiator thought.
JJ threw a grimace at him. Yes. he admitted grudgingly. Loki went to go sit next to JJ and the jackalope. His very presence sent JJ on end.

“I’ll stick here. I want to do some more training with this.” Some guy next to them said, and JJ thought he wasn't even paying attention to the group. JJ had observed him arguing with people earlier, but didn't know he was still part of the scene. He had thought the guy just wanted to be some kind of loner,and he didn't introduce himself either.

Drew seemed to sigh at this, and then got up to try to brush some of the grass stains.
"You really are going to need some major cleaning up later." JJ offered.
He thought Drew and Macari May were good people and he'd like to be friends with them, so he decided to go with them.

"I'd love to accompany you actually", he said to Macari May,smiled, and then pointed behind him to the phoenix.
"That is Gladiator, by the way, my companion." The phoenix's feathers puffed out at this and they seemed to blaze in the sun.

"I g-guess I should g-go to found out more about phhhooka's." Drew said with a nervous smile, and JJ had to shake his head,grinning, at the skinny boy's hesitation and stutter. Rather endearing it was.

"Well then, I guess we are off then!", he said enthusiastically. He was way more excited for magic training than,say,shooting an arrow at a target.

Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, he saw the two girls from earlier, and a third girl, chatting excitedly as they looked at him. He turned around and waved at them, a good-natured smile on his face, and the girls shrieked.
Well, I guess some things never change.
What is going on?Do you know those girls, JJ? Gladiator asked, and JJ shook his head,grinning.
No, but they know me, he responded as the group of girls approached him, and their expressions brimmed with excitement. JJ loved that he had so many fans, and their reactions to seeing him. Maybe he'd hang out with these girls as well.
"J...J..", some girl stuttered, and the other girls pushed her towards him.
JJ chuckled, and put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. She looked giddy.
"C..can we t..t..take a picture with you?", the blonde whispered.
"Of course." he responded, and her friends yelled again, taking out their phones and going to pose with him.
As they took pictures with him, they chatted endlessly, and JJ was relieved there was some familiarity in all of this Ryder stuff.
"I just loved Butterfly Kiss, I bought the deluxe and the premium album and-"
"We ordered some of your shirts too-"
"I didn't know you were coming here, it's just a dream-"
He laughed as they put their phones away, and hugged each of them.
"Thank you," he said as he looked in the girls' eyes,"Not just for buying my album, but for this moment right now."
The girls shouted again, and waved to him as they left. And JJ truly was thankful,because he loved his fans.

Oh,wait,what am I doing right now?
He turned back to who he hoped were his new Ryder friends, and smiled sheepishly, running his hand over the back of his head.
"Sorry I delayed us. Shall we go?"

As Reechi was thrown to the side, she glared right back at the tiger, ignoring the blood pooling and dripping down her sides from Kirk’s claws. ”Stay out of this, this is not your battle. Her tail straightened out behind her, and she hissed lowly. “Idiot, you made it my battle when you decided to inadvertently attack me.” Her nostrils flared, ’Clinically insane tiger.’

”You're going to make others fight your battle for you!? WEAKLING!” Reeps merely rolled her eyes in exasperation, this tiger was definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed, this was a downright unfair fight in many aspects, and she had merely gone in for self defense. Bluejay definitely showed him as he started flying in and ripping chunks out of the animal’s body, fur flying everywhere. Reechi’s ears plopped backwards onto her head, and her body regained normal functioning. Kirk finally let go of Saga at Bluejay’s… insistence… and Reeperchi quickly made her way over to him to check to make sure he was okay. However, Aya beat her to it, and she quickly withdrew.

She turned back to watch the two fight for a few moments, for that was as long as it lasted, before Kirk ended it as he had before. Reechi slunk off away from the group, figuring she could go ‘explore’ the enclosure further away from the special abilities area, and find a nice shrub to hide under until she felt ready to come out. The day had pretty much caught up with her, and she would rather get away from all of the people for as long as she possibly could.

She darted carefully under hooves and paws, shoes and claws, talons and snatchers, pausing constantly before moving again. Eventually the distance between souls and herself grew drastically, and she relished the feeling of untouched grass beneath her paws and in between her toes. She glanced around before finding a suitable shrubbery, and crawled into it with wide eyes. She settled down, beginning to preen and dab away at the blood. She’d locate Angel later, for now she was more interested in what she was doing.



She grinned up at Derek, her eyes wide and bright as he gave her that soft almost awkward compliment. May’s eyes soon widened as he finally released the arrow, and it stuck right into the bulls-eye, and she clapped lightly for him, a stupid smile on her face. “Nice shot.” Her tone was enthusiastic, and she turned to look at the others, to see what they had been up to in those few moments she had left them with.

Drew flashed her a quick, sarcastic comment, and she stifled a laugh, ”So he isn’t as awkward as we thought, Pip.” The Jackalope merely grinned, his back legs tensing and ready to zip off to the companion’s area. However, Derek made it clear he would not be joining them, and Macari swiveled around on one foot with a large pout, “Aww, come on, you know you want to! You can train laterrr~” A soft whine escaped her lips, and she gave him large puppy dog eyes. “Pah.” She waved him off, returning to Drew and JJ, ” I g-guess I should g-go to found out more about phhhooka's." Minxy clapped her hands together excitedly, glad someone was at least willing to go with her. She patted him on the back a little hard, “That’s the spirit!”

"I'd love to accompany you actually.” JJ then confirmed he would be coming as well, and she laughed with excitement, it was great to have some people she’d befriended already, or at least one of the two she knew was her friend. “Groovy.” She stuck her tongue out with a grin, and Pippin groaned at the expression before giving chattery laughter at his companion, he actually really liked the word now that he thought about it. He’d definitely be using it a lot. JJ then introduced his companion, the phoenix, and she covered another grin as the bird puffed out with pride.

"Well then, I guess we are off then!" A mischievous look flickered across May’s features, and she was about to dart of with, “Race ya,” before she noticed JJ’s attention was elsewhere. Three girls to be exact, and they seemed to faun over him for some reason. A sheepish look took residence on her facials, and she laughed a little good naturedly. “Well, guess JJ’s busy.” She spoke to Drew, and then half smirked half beamed, and poked his shoulder. “Betcha Pip and I can beat you there~” And with that, she practically dragged him to his feet and forward just a bit before letting go with a laugh and darting off with Pippin in tow.

By the time JJ had apologized, she was already off and running, dodging a few people who were switching areas, and Pip weaved between legs, tending to trip someone on an off occasion. But their progress was swift, and Macari and Pip sauntered over to the special abilities area, suddenly turning around to announce a successful win, “Be-“ however, she didn’t get far, as her eyes suddenly locked onto a small form trapped under a large tiger, and the tiger appeared to be keen on strangling the stranger. Her eyes widened, and all play left from her form. The tiger quickly left the figure as something small and blue whirled around it.

Suddenly, a small Asian girl was at the figure’s side, quickly wrapping her arms around the person, before frantically getting up and leaving at a run. She caught just the last bit of broken ribs. May looked down at Pippin worriedly, before quickly jogging over.

As soon as she reached him, she knelt down on the grass and leaned over his head, large eyes peering down at him. As soon as she got a good view of him, she inhaled somewhat sharply before blinking and looking away for just a second. Minx then turned back to him and gave a really tentative, small smile, “Hey, guy, you look like you’ve seen better.” She joked carefully, trying to make light of the situation, but not be insensitive. She then turned to Pip, and poked the little Jackalope on the forehead. “Hey Pip, think you can work your magic on him?” Pippin tilted his head, looking at the male with worry himself. “I can try, but the best I’d be able to do was dull the pain until he actually gets some medical assistance.” She bit her lower lip, glancing over her companion before giving a quick nod.

May turned back to the guy, and gave him a reassuring smile. “You’ll be fine.” Pip quickly hopped over, the dull, warm light returning to his antlers. He carefully poked the tips of them into the boy’s side in attempts to dull the pain. ”I sure hope this works.” He thought silently at his Ryder.

Saga used one hand to lay himself on his back and clench the patch of grass. His chest arose and dropped achingly, something felt misplaced. Obviously, something was misplaced! He rested one hand over his stomach, closing his eyes to take in the sun. Going through his short filing cabinet, he recollected a memory similar to this one. As his family and dearest friends knew, Saga could be a bit of a klutz. During his freshmen year of high school, he had fallen out of bed horridly onto the ground. He'd noticed he had bruises the next day when he had gotten out of the shower, and went to go ask Aya if it was possible to get them from from what had happened. She had convinced he probably did something else strenuous and didn't remember, and he believed her. She was smarter then him! The second day, his rib hurt to breathe and exhale! So, the next day he went to the doctors and get an x-ray, just in case. The entire ride he had to deal with his father calling him a sissy and the females awkward silence. Turned out that he had a non-displaced fractured seventh rib. He gloated inside and revelled in his fathers apology. Even if it was a bad one. They couldn't do anything for it and just gave him pain medication till he healed after a few weeks. Aya had come to his beck and call during that event, probably because she felt slightly responsible.

Saga attempted to take a deep breathe, only to cough up some blood in the process. He didn't want to open his eyes and have to battle between light and darkness. At least with his eyes closed it was just dark, and that was that. Sooner or later Aya would come to his rescue anyway.

“Hey, guy, you look like you’ve seen better.” a sweet, gentle voice filtered itself through his ears. Who was this? He didn't recognize the voice...He opened his cerulean eyes to see a girl with autumn hair that curled into thin ringlets and eyes much like the ocean on a stormy day. Saga felt a jolt go through him straight to his core, leaving him breathless. She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. They were a soft, cobalt blue with specs of faint turquoise that seemed to swirl in motion around her pupils like two tiny solar systems. She broke the gaze first as she turned to face a rabbit-looking creature.

What.

Was.

That!?

“Hey Pip, think you can work your magic on him?” the creature, known as Pippin, tilted his head, looking at the male with worry himself.

“I can try, but the best I’d be able to do was dull the pain until he actually gets some medical assistance.” He noticed the bite of her lower lip, before giving a quick nod. Why was he thinking about how sexy that was just now in his situation!? He sucked in a sudden deep breathe, somewhere along the way his breathing had picked up and it was lighting his lungs and ribs on fire. The brunette turned back to the guy, and gave him a reassuring smile.

“You’ll be fine.” her smile was beautiful! Pip quickly hopped over, a dull, warm light going to his antlers. He carefully poked the tips of them into his side in attempt to nullify the pain. It worked. Saga exhaled in relief, but didn't force himself to move around in fear it would wear off the healing effect. This would do till Aya got here. Gazing up at his hero, he realized who she was....

She was the one Bluejay had tripped!

Lucky!

”I'm sorry, about before...my dragon tripped you over by the....obstacle course I think,” he laughed sheepishly and lightly, ”You saved me, may I ask the name of my heroine? I'm Ueto Takeshi.” he joked half-seriously and half-lightly.

"Honestly,your companion scares me. A lot.He's pretty much the incarnation of the devil."

Drew's eyes widened at JJ and his head furiously shook up and down in agreement. "I k-know!"

"Well then, I guess we are off then!" The lanky teen smiled at his enthusiasm. The both kind of reminded him of Lena, with her talk-and-treat-everyone-like-friends attitude. Maybe that was why he was so comfortable; it felt natural to blend with these people.

But, at JJ's comment about needing major cleaning up, Drew flushed again. Oh no, the asian was right; how would first impressions go over now if he looked like a mess! He felt despair, but quickly perked up a bit when he realized, who needed more first impressions when he'd already made some? He'd never had more then maybe two friends in his life, so this limited socialization wasn't new!

They'd begun to move, but suddenly Drew's ears were invaded with high pitched screaming. Who was dying!? Was there a fire?!

"Well, guess JJ’s busy.” Macari said, and he turned in surprise to see the boy had teleported a few feet over to a small group of girls who who looked completely infatuated. He glance dback at Macari who shrugged his departure off and poked him him the shoulder. He flinched back slightly at the pop of his bubble, bu recovered quickly since it wasn't to bad of an invasion -
She grabbed his arm and pulled, like she was trying to make him move and this time he paled and was about to snatch his arm away when she was running, throwing a challenge over her shoulder.

“Betcha Pip and I can beat you there~”
"W-wait! What about J-JJ?!"

But she was gone and running and Drew stood awkwardly watching her disappear. He turned to peer over at JJ, able to distinguish words from the excited girls.
"I just loved Butterfly Kiss, I bought the deluxe-"
"...shirts-"
"it's just a dream-"

Drew felt very uncomfortable. Macari had moved much to fast for him to process what she was doing and JJ seemed to be some kind of player, which good for him if people liked him but that meant if they were friends there would always be people around and well, Drew was worried he'd scare the blonds friends away.
Wait a moment.

"...Not just for buying my album..." Drew heard JJ saying, then practically fell over. He was still reeling when the boy approached, apologizing for the delay.
The brunet completely ignored the apology, raising a hand straight out to point at the boy with wide eyes. His pointer finger almost almost touched right between his eyes.

"You-you-you- You're th-that JJ!?!?"

Drew wasn't sure if he was about to start fangirling or disregard it completely. He wasn't exactly a fan, but if this was that JJ, he definitely had his songs on his playlist, and come one, one was bound to be surprised when meeting someone famous.
Suddenly, Drew's face fell. Obviously he wouldn't want to be friends with someone like him- he was famous and popular and probably had a whole line of people just dying to hang out with him. Better yet, those people probably worshipped him- Drew couldn't even remember any of his lyrics.

He sighed, putting his hands in his pockets, then pulling them out, then putting them back, then pulling them out- and scuffling his feet.

"I... I'll let you g-go find pop-pular p-people like you then!" He said loudly starring at the ground. Once again Loki's shadow was there, overtaking his own.
He didn't need his own shadow anyway- he was insignificant and that didn't change despite new surroundings.

"W-what's going on?" Solar glanced around in confusion when she noticed everyone around her clapping. Aaaw! It was kinda cute to see that expression on such a cool face. Shame it disappeared in a few moments as Solara composed herself."How does the claymore feel Angel?" Her words were slightly strained, she must have still been catching her breath.

"Feels great- Might not even need to try anything else actually." Angel said while patting the blade and gave her a thumbs up. "Good choosing!" He should be giving us that thumbs up! OOOOOH MY GOOOOSH! Would he jealousy just shut up already! Really, this was no time nor place, she was here to train! Even as much as she disliked the activity it was still something that needed to be done. Ugh!

She then turned her gaze on Trista, who quickly swallowed the bile that had congealed at the base of her throat. "And how does the rapier feel to you?" To which the girl decided to answer wittily, if only to hide her still heavy heart and green gut. The stabbing was gone, and now replaced by a slow throb. Her stomach was still set on being vengeful towards Solara. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get used to holding grudges... All this turmoil was making it smiling a bit difficult.

"Clunky with a side of awekward, I have no clue how to use this thing. It's different than my dads swords. But you seem to have great feel for it!" She smiled to Solara, "Perhaps if you help me we can have that sparing match you wanted?"

"I have to go." Trista whipped around the Angel. His jaw was tight and body tense with his hand firm around the handle of his claymore.

"What's-" but Trista wasn't able to finish.

"Like right now. I'll catch up with you two later." With that he began to plow straight through the crowd. Trista watched in slight awe, Angel's serious side was very intriguing if not a little intimidating. Thought she did have an idea of why he might have left so suddenly.

"His companion must be in trouble." She muttered. The same expression had come across his face back at the dummies. Her stomach only twisted with more worry. To it she just shook her head. Now Trista why are you worrying about Angel, don't you have enough to bother you with Fucuello? Besides he can take care of himself and his companion just fine I'm sure? She turned back to Solara. "So tell me, what's the trick with a Rapier?"



What? What had happened? Why wasn't he zipping around tearing up the monster anymore? Why was Kirk pressing down on his wings?Woah! Now why was the thing sticking BlueJay with his white sharp things?!

"I'm impressed." Kirk said. What did that mean? What's impressed anyways?! Where was Saga? He's hurt still he can feel it. That sharp pain in his side. Saga! He squirmed around to spot his companion on the ground with Aya over him, leaking water from her eyes. He could feel something wet at the corners of his eyes as well.

"Saga! Saga!" The little dragon only struggled more to get out of Kirk's grip.

"BlueJay, I'm ok!" Yelled his companion. Who stopped struggling for a few moments, till he heard the wince and felt an increase in the searing burn. No, Saga was not ok. He continued to struggle and finally managed to squirm away, running to his companion. The dragon almost pounced but decided not to, and instead trotted over to Saga's neck and nuzzled the teens cheek and face like the two had been reunited after a long absence from each other's company.

"Reeps! Oh my poor baby what happened!?" Reechi suddenly looked up, her tongue sticking out mid-lick and she simply stared at Angel for a few seconds before registering him. The tongue retracted and she blinked, "Who hurt you." She hooked her claws into the ground and pulled herself out, crawling over to Rowan and sitting in front of him.

Reeps stared up at him and let out huff of breath, ”Does that really matter? I’m injured, I don’t want you to run off and pound the living stuffing out of something, I want you to take care of me.” She whined, pouting up at her Ryder and pawing at his leg. As his fingers made contact with her ripped skin, she let out a hiss and a small cough.

"Sorry Chi. I'll be there next time, I promise." Her eyes narrowed up at him and she locked her gaze on his, ”You’d better~” She grinned, and then turned around, indicating a desire to be picked up and carried. ”Can we go eat something now? I’m hungry.” She grinned happily as she felt her Ryder’s hands around her, and internally she felt safety. “I wanna see what kind of things you eat, Rowan.”

Reeperchi paused for a second before putting pressure down on her Ryder’s hands just a bit. ”And don’t abandon me like last time.” She frowned up at him, letting out a little chirp of unhappiness.




May blinked a few times, silence overtaking her as her gaze remained steady on the boy below her. Why was he staring at her so intently? Did she have something on her face? More importantly, why was she staring back at him in just the same way? Warmth flourished at her cheeks, dusting them with a soft rose color. Macari quickly looked down at her companion as he attempted to help the guy, her thoughts reeling. She’d never been this flustered before, or experienced an encounter like this with another person. Minx stole another quick glance from the corner of her eye, and discovered him to still be looking at her before turning his attention to Pippin. She closed her fingers into her palm a bit before distracting her mind with Pip.

A bright smile soon flashed across her lips as Pippin withdrew, a look of confidence to his face. ”Did it!” He looked up at his Ryder excitedly, his mouth open in a grin. “All right, Pippin!” The two exchanged another high five, and Pip responded with a, “Groovy.” May laughed, forgetting her strange feelings completely as Pip reminded her of what was going on.

”I'm sorry, about before....” Macari tilted her head back to the guy before realizing she was still looming over him a bit, and quickly withdrew. Scooting backwards, she had the slightest hints of an embarrassed look as she absently rubbed Pippin’s ear. It wouldn’t do to linger by him if the job she set out to do was already accomplished, thanks to Pip. “Eh-?” She began, only to be answered immediately afterwards. ”My dragon tripped you over by the....obstacle course I think,” He gave a short and hushed laugh, and May returned it with her own sheepish grin. “Ah, that…. He kinda just surprised me is all, I actually tripped over my own feet.” She clutched at the hem of her shirt just a bit, looking down with another blush threatening the ridge of her nose. ’Stupid, since when have I been embarrassed about what I do?’

She looked back up at him with a broad smile, regaining herself. “Can’t really blame me though right? Not every day you get to see a little blue lizard taking down tall mountains of people, I got distracted, haha.”

”You saved me, may I ask the name of my heroine? I'm Ueto Takeshi.” It took her a few moments to realize last name then first after she remembered to key in his appearance and thus where he was from. She smiled with that hint of embarrassment returning to her face before a wry little grin teased at the corners of her lips. “Ah, that would be Pippin, and he’s therefore consequently a hero.” She grinned at him, sticking her tongue out just a bit. “I’m Macari, last name May; have to say that often because the two go so well together.” She placed a hand on her chest, introducing herself. However, she suddenly realized that she hadn’t told JJ that when she exchanged names. She’d probably have to go fix that eventually. And furthermore… May took a few seconds to look around her to confirm her suspicions. Drew didn’t seem to have followed her after all, and she frowned lightly. ”Aww, lame! First Derek, then JJ, and now Drew apparently too. Is it something I said?” She looked down at Pip with a mock look of despair and anxiety.

The jackrabbit simply laughed and patted her knees, something he had already grown accustom to doing, before answering her. ”Nahh, never. You’re way too much fun to be around. We’ll just have to go hunt Derek down later and tackle him.” He grinned, a look of conspiration flickering to life in his eyes as he looked at his Ryder. ”Haha, kay. Maybe not today, maybe not even tomorrow, but the time will come for his reckoning, oh yes.” She shared a good-natured though devious feeling with her companion before she remembered what she had been doing.

May turned back down and blinked, “Ah sorry.” She offered a small apology for her silence, looking over Takeshi before remembering another important fact. “Oh right, where’s the girl who was with you earlier?” Something suddenly struck her, and her eyes widened just a bit before she quickly muffled the thought. She avoided his eye contact for a split second to gaze down at Pip before returning his gaze with curious eyes. “She went to get medical help, I assume. I hope so anyway.”

"Where's that tiger's Ryder anyway?" Pippin huffed, his eyes narrowing as he looked on to the large white tiger who remained over with the little blue dragon whose name was apparently Bluejay. It certainly suited the little guy, but seriously, what was wrong with that tiger? Man, if he had anything to do about it, he'd definitely want to have a word with its Ryder. Pip's nostrils flared before he turned back to Takeshi.

Catching the sight of this girls cheeks darken, he couldn't help but reciprocate the same tone in his own pale skin. Who was this woman? Alright, let's just get this out of the way and clear things up. Saga has never believed in love at first sight, never, till today. He knew within 30 seconds of setting eyes on this girl—who he didn't even know the name of—that he wanted to know her, that there was something special about her, and that he loved her. Maybe that was going a bit to far, but he just knew. ok, ok this was weird.

Let's just focus on getting to know her first. Don't get ahead of yourself.

“Ah, that would be Pippin, and he’s therefore consequently a hero.” She gestured towards her companion and he laughed. She's a kind girl, with a good sense of humor. Here he was, dyeing to know her name and she mentions her companion first, gah!

”Thank you,” the corner of his cerulean eyes crease as he focuses on Pippins face, casting a melting smile. He cocked his dead to the side to re-focus on the mysterious girl.

“I’m Macari, last name May; have to say that often because the two go so well together.”

May. He would call her that from now on, she reminded him of his favorite season. Summer. An evening summer breeze, warm and fleeting. Always wishing for more. His eyes lingered, following her hand placed over her chest. She was beautiful. Everywhere.

He really wanted to get to know her more.

May turned back down and blinked. His mind trailing off elsewhere while her and Pippin had their link conversation.

“Ah sorry.” She offered a small apology for her silence, looking over him. He snapped back into reality.

”What?” in all honesty, he hadn't noticed the silence. He was too bust thinking about-

“Oh right, where’s the girl who was with you earlier?” She asked, and he contemplated his answer, far too busy observing her. Contrary to what others believe, he is very observation. It's part of his culture to figure out what the other likes and dislikes without ever asking. He just hates school. He noticed the slight movement of her features, her eyes widening just a bit and the meager movements of her lips as if she was about to say something. What had she wanted to say? He wanted to know. She avoided looking him in the eyes and stared down at her companion. It was possible.... she.. might be interested in him too. Maybe...she felt what he had when their eyes first met. An electrifying shock.

”Aya, she's my little sister.” he responded simply. Ah, she wasn't looking at him. Come on, turn around. He wanted to see her face. Finally. Finally! She returned her attention to him with curious eyes. This time he didn't look her in the eye though and gazed up at the beautiful blue sky as he was laying down on his back. He was actually getting a bit nervous. He'd never felt this way about anyone before. He's had numerous girlfriends in the past and had sex already, his first time being in middle school. He could have sworn it was sometime in the beginning of the year during the gentle, spring breeze.

“She went to get medical help, I assume. I hope so anyway.” He could hear the tint of worry in her tone and smiled reassuringly.

”Don't worry, Aya always knows what to do.” he paused, spotting a cloud that resembled a fluffy bunny rabbit. It reminded him of Aya. ”She is probably on the verge of tears right now,” he muttered under his breath. He felt horrible, worrying her like this but it couldn't be helped. Maybe coming here would help them both get over their weaknesses. His insecurity and Aya's co-dependence on him.

"Where's that tiger's Ryder anyway?" Pippin huffed, his eyes narrowing as he looked on to the large white tiger who remained over with Bluejay. The feline was licking away his wounds before suddenly perking its head up, ears flapping open, and walking off lazily. Saga didn't respond, and would shrug if he could but he didn't want to bring back the agonizing pain from his ribs that Pippin had dulled. And don't think he was fooled, he caught the sound of nostrils flaring in Pippins direction. He was probably mad. Hmm, maybe he should lighten up the mood. They'd be here for a while anyway, might as well Nanpa. He was sure he had a shot, he was confident in his looks.

”So, May right? You're cute,” he laughed good-heartedly, ”Want to hang out sometime? Once I can move around of course.”