Rowan Academy

Joslyn/Aislyn sighed, wiping her hand over her face. Although it was still Winter, Summer was approaching far too fast for her liking, and the heavy Atlanta air was humid and filled with the sound in cincadas buzzing in the trees. P.E. seemed to be going on forever. It didn't help that she didn't have any close friends in the class to talk to. She continued to jog around the track. Most of the other girls were panting or walking right now- they'd been at it for about an hour. She'd always had more endurance than the girls at her school; she didn't know why and wasn't that curious. Leaving high school, she wasn't ever going to get a job that involved running, so why bother?
But there was no use in complaining. Her P.E. teacher thought highly of her, and she wasn't about to go and shatter that illusion. It got her time off, especially when she outpreformed her classmates in every way.
Muttering to herself, she continued to run, thinking back to the fact that her seventeenth birthday was less than a week away.

Ariel skipped down the sidewalk, happy that school was finally out and everything. Her birthday was less than a week away, and she was so excited! The thought of turning 17 intrigued her in many ways. Oh, the possibilities of what she could do where endless!

Aislyn was grinning. It was the end of the last day...and school was out...and she would be seventeen soon! She didn't care about her party as much as the fact that when she turned seventeen she could join the ranks of captain among the swim team, among other things. Her exitement was building. Little did she know, her dreams were about to be shattered; along with every aspect of things she once considered impossible.

Ryan was in Gym class. They were playing basketball. He ran with the ball to the other side of the court and shot a three pointer. The guys on his team cheered. He was, as usual, the only good(ish) athlete on his team. The bell rang and Ryan sprinted to the locker room. Changing he mumbled to himself "Where shall we go today, Ran?" He always went somewhere new after school to avoid going home. Ryan had exhausted all possible places to go that were close and he hadn't had a job in six months to pay for gas. The boy jogged to his car and just as he was about to get in he stopped, looked up, and a sweep of clouds passed over his head. They were dark grey and his heart sank. Ryan did not want it to rain because he wanted to go to the open field where he had his best thoughts and put the top down on his Geep and do homework or sleep.
He just willed the clouds to pass on. He wished it. Ran willed it. He wanted them to move on. They began to move faster and they passed over his head, rained for a split second and then the sun shown brightly to his left. He had not gotten even a drop on him. (He did not notice.) A smile crossed his face before he thought about it. Did he just make the clouds move? Hell no. He laughed. The students started to slowly spill out of the doors. Laughing and smiling and hanging onto each other. Do they really touch each other that much? Friends, I mean. Ryan shook his head and jumped into the car. Driving slowly he turned onto a dirt road and stopped. Ryan pulled his backpack onto the passenger seat and started homework. When he was done he sighed and fell asleep. He dreamed about his birthday. Seventeen, but he dreamed that he was a wolfe/boy seventeen year old. Ran was swimming in a river with ease. Not at all like a dog would, like he controlled the water and it loved him, respected him. The water kept him up.

Aislyn was driving, her thoughts drifting to a greater world, where she was cleverly important, and...

What is this?
She is walking around, and suddenly the vision shifts to encompany a greater part of the room, and in the middle are two people. Their faces are beautiful; drawn, angular; their gorgeous eyes were slanted; they were fairer than any human Aislyn had seen, even within the airbrushed pages of a magazine. There were ten of them, sitting on high thrones that seemed as if they were made of branches themselves. And it wasn't quite nighttime. The windows shone with the passing of twilight, on the verge of the sun and the moon. The second most peaceful time, in Aislyn's opinion, besides midnight with a full moon. And the vision zoomed in closer. With a huge start, Aislyn thought, that is me, and beside me is Ray!

Just as Aislyn made that connection, the vision shattered. Aislyn jerked her head up. She was parked on the side of the road. How did I get here? wondered Aislyn, shaken. [Little did she know, that was her very first vision.] She started up the car again, on a mission for her twin brother. He was surely on the side of that dirt road right off the school, where he always stopped. She began to drive, unusually exhausted, running a hand through her dark hair in confusion. I just dreamt, obviously. Why am I so tired?
She shook her head and spotted Ray's car near the school, by the oak he enjoyed sitting at. She jumped out of the car and headed out to find him.

Jaster was walking down the sidewalk, having just left school. Some eyed him carefully, others just avoided him. His sharp eyes looked from the ground to the sky with a smile. He felt good, no matter what. After all, his birthday was close at hand. Soon, very soon, he'd be able to say he's 17. I wonder... who I should invite...? He thought. This only made him slightly worried, considering he didn't really have many friends. His eyes glanced forward for a moment, before he saw a park off to one side. He hadn't been in a while, but it certainly would feel nice to walk through the cool park on a hot day. "Homework can wait, I suppose..." He muttered, turning to walk into the park with a slight smile. He made note of the various plants and trees around him. He had always had a green thumb, and it was interesting to see how the plants had grown since the last time he had visited.

Arriving at a bench, he sat down placing his backpack on the ground near him. He leaned back and took a deep breath. It was a nice way to spend any day, let alone his birthday, and soon he was nodding off to the sounds of the wind blowing through the trees and small plants.

((sorry guys, not much time to post, so pardon typos and such))

Ray walked along the gravel towards the quad behind his school, passing the constant crowds of people as he went. Too impersonal to call friends, but they were familiar faces. Unlike playing basketball at lunch like a normal day, he felt like going over to his favorite spot under the big oak tree where he and some friends hung out after school. Drawing nearer, some he recognized waved and motioned him over.
Ray sprinted the rest of the way and perched himself up on a tree branch, facing the small group.
"So, big party plans?" One of them, a guy from the football team, raised his eyebrows expectantly, and instead of answering, Ray shrugged. Odd enough, for the past few weeks his birthday had been the last thing on Ray's mind, especially when it seemed to be on everyone else's. Girls discussing near or far off party plans, guys throwing big celebrations as excuses to get high and drink and go wild. It wasn't as if seventeen was important. Sixteen, drivers license. Twenty one, drinking. But seventeen? What was special about that?
If Ray had it his way, he wouldn't have celebrated at all. There was nothing too fun to do; his parents wouldn't be out of the house, so anything remotely fun was out of the question. Plus then there was Aislyn, who he'd probably do something with to spend time together. It wasn't as if he didn't have friends to hang out with; he had tons. But they were all getting boring; same routine, over and over again.
It had been far time to break away from the school he had his twin had been sent to.
Someday, someday soon, maybe I will.

Walking into a school unnoticed was easy. Now he just had to find who he was looking for. Somebody named Raymond. In his wolf form, he was pretty conspicuous, so he hid on top of the trees. He found somebody sitting by the tree, a group of people in fact. He jumped up and landed on the branch above the small group. He jumped down and landed in front of Raymond. He had stopped time for everybody except for Raymond and himself. "Are you Raymond Montahue?" The strange wolf asked.

It was no easy game of hide n seek to find him. However, he needed to find him, for the great Evil was coming, and Aeon needed to look for the wolves, along with his friend Alice. The balance of the land was turning into the favor of the darkside. We must stop them, Aeon thought. He took a step forward to the boy. "Are you Raymond Montahue?" He asked again. He needed to confirm.

The woman known in her human form as Alice Isabelle Vieira strode down the pathways of the city park. In a light leather jacket, a pair of jeans, and laceless sneakers, Alice certainly didn't seem out of place in this setting. She hadn't exactly had much interaction with the outside world lately--trying to keep the spreading evil in check was, of course, taking precedence to observing the latest trends--but she figured she had done well to seem inconspicuous. At this point Alice did not believe it was necessary to display her wolf form--not when the person she was about to speak with was already going to be severely shocked by what she was going to tell him. A talking wolf would probably cause him to fear for his sanity, and Alice sure as hell did not need that right now.

As she turned the corner of the path wrapping around a grove of trees, she saw a young man seated at a bench--short brown hair and green eyes, that seemed like the one she was seeking. Alice walked up to the young man, who appeared to be dozing off a bit. She walked up to him, looking at his drowsing head, and stated the name. "Jasper Verrow?" An accent was evident in her voice, even with those two words. "Are you Jasper Verrow?"

Jaster snapped back into consciousness at the sound of someone's voice. He opened his eyes slowly at first, but quickly as he became more conscious as to the fact that there was standing in front of him. The heat had dropped as a cool breeze had begun. It felt nice, and usually Jaster would be very interested in walking home while letting the breeze hit him, however… he was now staring at a woman who he had never met before… Wait a minute, is she talking to me...? He sat upright, trying not to appear awkward. "Um... It's Jaster actually, but... uh, do I know you?" He asked, running a hand through his hair in slight curiosity. An accent? Where’s this girl from…? What does she want with me, anyways…? These thoughts whirred through his head as he waited for an answer from the woman.

Asking around, turns out nobody had been paying attention to where anyone else was, what with the end of the day and the beginning of the weekend and such. [Sorry if that's godmodding, but needed an excuse.] So she wandered back to her car and placed her head on the steering wheel, content to wait. She knew she had to drive her younger sister to soccer practice, but was determined to talk to Ray about her dream. 'Cause, what the heck had that been about? She shook her head and smiled slightly as the dice bobbed with her shifting movement.

Ryan decided to take a run. Since he lived about fifteen minuets from the park he just drove home and parked the Geep out front. As Ryan began to run with his ipod in his ears a sharp pain ran up his spine. "Shit!" Ryan gasped grabbing his back. Then the pain shot through his arms and legs. Soon the pain was gone and he continued running as fast as possible. He saw dark hair in his eyes ans he realized he was running on four legs. It startled him and Ran headed into the woods to his right. He sat on his bottom ans tried to look at himself. He only saw a tail tucked between the two hind legs in between two front legs. Hary legs. Oh god. Ran began running the same way as before but now he was in the woods. When the trees disappeared behind him he halted suddenly and looked around. Oh god. He thought again. This is school. I'm going to get shot! He couldn't go home because his dad was too handy with his guns. So he sprinted to the edge of the school grounds and kept running. When he saw a tree big enough for him to hide in he jumped onto the branches one by one and sat on the tallest one that would bot conceal him and hold him. He would wait for dark.

The bell rung loudly through campus and Ray hopped off the tree. Time for English Lit. Study hall had been nice while it lasted, but he had wanted to go find his sister before class. However, barely a foot away from the oak tree, a pair of startling yellow eyes peeked out from the green down in the woods. He froze. There weren't wolves on campus. He glanced back at his friends, but they remained unmoving. So they saw him, too. "Are you Raymond Montahue?"
His head jerked back in the direction of the wolf, who had by now approached Ray. "You talk!" He exclaimed. "And, just, Ray, actually... but, um, I have to go- you know. Class." He glanced uncomfortably towards the school, also noticing how all of his friends were still in the same position. "What exactly happened to my friends?"

"Don't fear." Aeon said, taking another step towards the boy. "They've been frozen in time. Anyways, let's get on with business." He started walking around the boy. "Allow me to tell you a story." Aeon sat down in front of Ray. "Once upon a time, there were ten humans who were given powers from the gods. They became the protectors of the Earth. In a matter of time, 8 of those humans eventually decided to live human lives, and to love others."

"Now, there are only two wolves left." Aeon stood up, "However, the world is in danger of Evil. It is coming quickly, nobody senses it, but it is happening and it is happening quickly." He said, "I am Aeon, the Wolf of Time." Aeon sat back down to let Ray take in all of this information. He might not believe him, but given the fact that time all over him was frozen, he would probably believe him. "Ray, how much do you know about the Sun?"

"You do know me," Alice chose her words carefully. "Though you do not remember." Alice knew that if Jaster had become too grounded in the human life he had long ago condemned himself to, perhaps the memories, the senses, perhaps the wolf would be buried down so deep that if Alice told him the truth of what he was, what he had been, then Jaster would think she was trying to joke with him--worse, it was possible he would think she was insane and become concerned for his own safety, which Alice certainly did not need. And she could not make a demonstration of her powers just yet for fear that Jaster would think he was losing his own sanity.

But there was no time--she would have to hope that Jaster could remember, even if hoping was not something Alice was known well for. "My name is Alice Isabelle Vieira. But as the Wolf of Space, I am known as Anjou." She turned to look at the boy, measuring his reaction to her words carefully before continuing. "As for what 'Wolf of Space' means...listen closely. Long ago, ten of the first humans were called to the highest mountain by the gods. They were granted a connection to their element, great abilities, great powers--and a great responsibility to protect the work of the gods from that which would wish to undo their efforts."

Alice paused, looking at Jaster for a moment before she went on. "Soon, eight of them were led astray and forgot their duties, choosing instead to live as all other humans did. And thus the ten defenders of the earth become two. That cannot last. The evil those ten humans were tasked with fighting is now rising, threatening this world the gods created." Again she stopped speaking, looking at Jaster for any sign--not that he believed what she was saying, but to ensure he did not disbelieve it. "The earth," she spoke again. "You take great pleasure and interest in the earth, in trees and in plants."

John exited his parents house, after the now customary pat-down which as usual had failed to find his lighters or matches, and began walking down the street holding his teddy-bear loosely in one hand. John walken aimlessly through the neighborhood for thirty minutes, eventually finding a small creek trail that was surrounded by trees. Feeling his pulse begin to rise, John quickly began mumbling his meditation mantra to bring it back down before his parents noticed it and became concerned. After lowering his heartbeat, John pulled out his cell phone and dialed his mothers number, his phone was locked so it could only dial to four numbers: his mother, father, therapist, and 911, the phone rang a few times before his mother picked up, John quickly concocted a lie about deciding to go for a jog so if they see his heart rate elevated not to worry and then hung up and began quickly walking down the creek trail. Seeing so much flamable material in one place, John felt his heart rate spike madly and soon he was dashing wildly down the trail looking for a hidden spot, an urgent need forcing him to look for something to burn. John slid along the ground into a small copse of trees a little ways off of the trail and opened his teddy bear with shaking hands. John pulled out his butane torch and set up a pile of twigs and leaves, carefully clearing an area around his pile so the fire wouldn't spread and get him caught, then flicked on the torch, staring hypnotically at the blue flame for a few seconds before touching it to the leaves and staring intently at the fire he had made, his first in years. *Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear myself, happy birthday to me* John hummed along to his internal singing and at the end of the song blew out the last lingering flame then sat back and stared up at the clouds, wondering if his eighteenth birthday would be more fun because he could leave his parents house.

Keeley was walking to her last class, happy that the day was almost over; plus, this was her last period, and her favorite- Creative Writing. As she walked to the class, she read over her story that was due that day for the umpteenth time that day. She was fairly proud, but by her teacher's standards, it might be a longshot. Relaxing as she walked into the classroom, she sighed and slid into her desk. Once the teacher- Mrs. Burch- took up the papers, she announced the activities for the day, and told them the homework for the weekend. Keeley wasn't truely listening, though; her thoughts were on her 17th birthday coming up the following week.
* * *
When the bell rang, the class quickly packed up and exited, hurrying to their lockers before the mob of students filled the hallways. Keeley hung back, taking her time packing up and walking to her locker. Once finished, she slung her backpack over one shoulder and walked alone to her car. She had been suprised to get one of her own so early- a Mazda 3 stick shift. It was an old car, but she loved it anyways, and took great care of it.
Even though the day was hot, Keeley shivered. She threw on a sweatshirt and relaxed into the driver's seat of her car. She clicked the radio on, and was surprised by her favorite song playing. Driving back home, she sang along, enjoying the beautiful day, but missing the winter that edged away more everyday. One last snow would be enjoyable.

( by the way, not sure if their birthdays' are later in the week or today, but I'll assume today. I won't post anything yet since I'm assuming Time is still paused.)

((It doesn't matter. Okay any ideas on how we should get to Rowan? Or just teleportation? Also, I had this idea that maybe in the Academy, instead of just being the ten of us, there could be other small elements or spirits attending that the ten could be in control of. For instance, Space could be in control of planet elements, Moon and Sun could be in control of stars, Water to naiads, Earth to nymphs and dryads, and other spirits for stuff))

"I know enough..." He paused, raking his fingers through his hair. This was getting really sketch, and by now he was definitely going to have a tardy. Unless, of course, time was frozen in the school as out here. In which case, he might just have to keep this wolf around. He'd come in handy.
He took another look around. It was true, what he had done. Everything in the meadow, from the kids in swings that were immobile, down to each rustling leaf in mid wind was completely still. He felt as if he was standing in a snow globe. Ray looked up, watching stormclouds cave into the sky, and wished it could have been warmer. Summer isn't here yet.
"So you think I'm one of the ten? And two wolves left... you're saying that as if everyone else were wolves. I don't think you have this right..." Ray shook his head. "I'm only seventeen- er, sixteen- and I have a twin sister. And a family. I don't even know what you're asking of me, or what the Evil means... do you want me to follow you or something? Help you find whoever you're looking for?" And then, silently, he added, Cause it certainly isn't me.

(Hmmm.....I've been thinking about that. Maybe there should be a...like a Principal of some sort. But then he would have to be more powerful than the Ten...scratch that. Maybe the second they all turn seventeen [Like the exact minute of their birth] they could be whisked away to Rowan by some uber-powerful force that's the result of the spells previously set to ensure the Ten return to Rowan. Or Space and Time could transport them one by one. But if that happens, they should probably put the "victim" into a deep sleep so they all wake up at the same time. I think the spells one is the easiest to do, though.)

[Sorry for the late appearance and short response… = =]

As the invisible hand lightly ruffled her hair, Tenki could not help but silently giggle and beam in response. Change was in the air and it was evident with each passing day. Though weather was naturally inconstant, today it felt especially riled up. It looks like it might sprinkle a little tonight… she thought absentmindedly as her hand proceeded to lightly press against the sketchpad on her lap. Today she was drawing the park before her with the various people and their children occupying it. It was a happy and lively scene, which was partly the reason Tenki chose to draw it.

Turning her attention back to the paper, she soon became engrossed in the current task at hand, taking great care in sketching in the finer details. Her birthday was coming up really soon but she felt no real need to rush home in order to discuss her plans with her “parents” as most girls did. It was not like her birth would really be celebrated anyways so she was actually spoiling herself by taking the time to sit and thoroughly appreciate the little time she was given outside of her foster parent’s household.

Just a few more hours for me… Enjoy it while it lasts Tenki!!

Jaster blinked slowly, listening to the story with a look of surprise on his face. “Wolf of Space…? Mountain…? Gods? I don’t remember any of that. I mean, that’s just not possible it’s cra-“ He stopped for a moment, as he remembered a dream he had had not too long ago. A wolf, green in color, running among the various plants and trees of a forest before coming to a stop as he sees something… A group of others, nine others, wolfs of various colors… He shook his head a moment, before running a hand through his hair. “Marl…” He muttered under his breath, unaware he had actually said it out loud. That’s just not possible… That dream… What’s going on…? His thoughts whirred through his mind.

Now more intrigued, he continued to listen to the story, until, of course, Alice spoke of his passion… “How’d… How did you know that?” Jaster asked, surprised but starting to believe the woman’s words. “I mean, not many people talk to me… and nobody really knows what I like to do… So how is it that you, someone I don’t recall ever meeting let alone talking to, know that…?” He eyed Alice carefully.

Aeon barked at Ray. "I know it's you." He said, "Use your energy and find the way to Rowan Academy, the paperworks of transferring schools will be done by then." He said. He needed to find the others, and quickly. If Evil was coming as quickly as he predicted, he and Space must hurry up and find the rest. Aeon resumed time, but he was already gone before anybody else could see him. He froze time for himself, once again. And then he went everywhere to find the next person. The travel the world already in less than a second, and he found his old friend Alice. He resumed time before jumping next to Alice. "I found one already, how about you?"

John stood up after putting out his fire and looked around, the smoke from the fire, even though it was a small fire, might have been seen and it wouldn't be good if he was found near where a fire had been lit. John began jogging through the woods in a random direction enjoying the smell of nature, beautiful flammable nature, as he went. After ten minutes of running John came out onto a manicured lawn and saw buildings in the distance. From vague memories of when he was younger John recognized this as a school, probably the one he would be going to in the fall. There were a few kids his age wandering around but John didn't approach them, instead walking along the tree line and looking for a nice quiet place to sit down. As he walked, John started to sweat, a lot. At first he passed it off as delayed response to the running he did and sat down at the base of a tree to cool off. John closed his eyes and relaxed, thinking soothing thoughts, until he started to smell smoke. Johns eyes flew open and he looked around for the source of the smell, and to his surprise the tree behind him was on fire. "eep!" John eloquently declared before passing out.

some time later, John awoke in front of a massive stone building with "Rowan Academy" carved over the doorway, making perfect use of the massive vocabulary of words available to him John wondered aloud "what?"