Featherwood Halls

The young woman had been heading along the corridor up toward the next class, gripping her bag and keeping a thumb in the pages to save her place, when she heard something and looked back, noticing the young man she had heard in the the previous exchange. She slowed her pace and eventually halted so he could catch her more easily.

She was quite upset by the whole thing, rather taken aback that people would be making such verdicts based on her species, but she reminded herself it was not exactly fair to take it out on this student. He hadn't said anything unpleasant about blood drinkers, if anything he'd offered a dissenting opinion..

"Uh, yeah, thanks." she replied, forcing a smile.
"Honestly I have had worse. It just kinda...took me by surprise. I didn't think there'd be attitudes like that here. Everyone is pretty weird here. Just because my flavour of weird has a name why am I a 'monster' now? I don't bite people and I never ever have done. Just because we can doesn't mean.. ."

Helena sighed.
"I guess maybe I'm just sensitive. Kids I grew up with were mostly supernaturals and they were always cool with it."

Admittedly the kids she knew were a little less cool about the visions, the frightening soft toy and the time she'd stolen a girls' entire collection of nail polish to make a mural on the wall of the family's dining room during a sleepover, but the nosferatu thing had not been a problem. Even within her family, even when the guy she called dad was clearly not a vamp, and neither was her mom. Fortunately Kora Neverwinter was sufficiently well known for her temperament that few people had ever asked her to explain why one of her kids was hybridized.

"Thanks for the concern, appreciate it."

Kojo frowned, he felt bad that that was how Helena was feeling. The school should feel welcoming, all schools should, but this one especially. He didn't understand why some students judged other's for their race, before they even took the chance to get to know them. Naomi had said that she had a bad experience with vampires in her past, but still...

"Well then, can I be your first friend here?" He asked as he stuck out his hand to her for a shake, "My name is Kojo, and don't even bother asking me about my race because I really don't have a clue as to what I am or where the hell I even came from," he snickered.

"I have art class next, what do you have?" Kojo hoped that Helena had art class next too, then they could sit together and get to know each other. Well, if she wanted to.

Before Helena could answer, there was a call in the distance. "Hey, waiiiiittt!!" Naomi stopped running over as soon as she was in front of Helena. After she caught her breath, Naomi looked Helena in the eyes in a serious matter. "... I'm... I'm sorry. When I said 'monster' I didn't mean it in a way as in something vicious and disgusting, but a category.... w-wait, no! That sounds bad too, I-I-I DIDN'T MEAN--" Naomi stopped and took a deep breath. "... What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry for offending you. I was completely idiotic, immature, and absolutely rude to question why you're even here, and to top it off, hurt you by saying 'monster'. I don't know what's gotten into me, I'm never so judgmental like that... maybe it's because I had a rough day, everyone bringing me down all at once, and I ended bringing you down too... but even so, there is no excuse to bully anyone." Naomi bowed her head. "Will you... will you please forgive me for being so ignorant?"

The halfbreed smiled slightly.
"I'd like that, thank you." she replied, shaking his hand.
"I'm Helena, Most people just shorten it to Lena. And honestly I wasn't gonna ask. That kinda thing never worried me much. Pleased to meet you Kojo."

She then turned, hearing the girl from before approaching and apparently trying to explain herself.
"Monster is derogatory.. it isn't a very pleasant thing to call anybody, even variants like vampires, particularly in the historical context." she replied.
"I don't want to fight with you, I just think it's bad to assume. Even if you have had a crappy day. You don't know what my day was like, right?"

She ran her hands across the scar on her chest that ran along her shoulder.
"All this was because some family didn't like the idea of a kid who is half vampire. And one of the people tried to show this dislike uh...directly. So yeah I don't really feel like a person who is harmful."

That whole thing had been pretty terrible, moreso for her family than for her as she'd not really been awake for the vast majority of what had happened. Still it was not a nice matter, that someone had wanted her gone for her genetics.

Helena was fairly conflict averse, but evenso the whole thing bothered her and she didn't really want to drag it out any more than possible, and sought to occupy her mind with something else, namely the next class.

She pulled a curled sheet out from the pocket in her bag.
"Looks like I have art too, as well. Probably one of my better subjects, most of the time. Not the best at concentrating for a long while. "

Naomi tried her best to say sorry, and even though she saw that Helena didn't exactly want to forgive her, she just dropped it. "... You're right. You're absolutely right... there is no excuse to just assume someone is going to do something before you know them." Naomi sighed quietly. "Well..... ja nee." She forced a smile, obviously filling up with guilt. She walked away to leave Kojo and Helena alone so she can return to her empty table.

Kojo sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "I have never actually met a vampire up until now... if you do not like the term vampire please let me know how you would like for me to refer to your race... I don't want to upset you or any one else I may meet in the future..." he began blabbering as he walked towards the art room. "So you are good at art? I love art as well!" The young many was very excited for the next class, it was so hands-on!

Opal wasn't in the mood to eat. While the others had gone off the cafeteria, he had cut through the halls to explore more of the school. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, nor was he quite interested in what he saw, but it allowed him to be alone for a bit. Down the halls, he heard some chatter. It would be too obvious for him to try to avoid it, but he could hide behind the wall where they stood. A some-what interesting conversation about connotations of the word "monster" took place, followed by apologies and new friendships.

He nearly threw up.

That being said, Kojo and Namoi weren't all bad. He just didn't like all the talking. What was the big fuss? You are what you are, so deal with it.

He considered skipping the next class to go outside where he could use his powers the most. The others started walking off towards the artroom, nearing him. Opal turned the next corner and decided to distract Kojo from his sad attempt at flirting. The vase nearby contained an ordinary house plant. He wiggled his fingers and it started growing expenentionally--wouldn't his bio teacher just love that?--and its stems extended out to trip Kojo, tangling around his feet.

As Kojo blabbered he lost any instincts he had to watch where he was going. He was too excited for such a fun class, and well, he had found some girls to talk to. He was so distracted that he didn't even take notice of the vines that Opal had trapped his feet in. When he lifted his foot he lost balance. Kojo flailed his arms and fell forward on the floor. With a grunt he rolled over and began trying to kick the vines off of his feet. With no success he looked around for the culprit, his eyes landing on Opal, "..."

"OPAL! I am gonna kill you!" The boy hollered. He turned into his hyena form and chewed the vines off, then with a snarl he leaped to his feet and began a chase.

Opal's chest rattled with laughter at the boy's awful fall. It worked beautifully; in front of the girls, too.

The vines contracted immediately and returned to its form as the original house plant. He jumped at the sight of Kojo's transformation, but recovering quickly, formed an icicle in his hands with sharp, pointed end. Opal held it up in defense even though its bitter cold surface nearly turned his fingers blue. He crouched down, poised and ready for action. Of course it was all play--Opal may have been harsh, but he would never hurt others (phsyically that is) for no reason. A gentle play meant no harm. Plus, it meant less time to be in class.

Kojo snarled and lunged forward. He snatched the icicle in his mouth and shook it violently, growling the entire time. He then dropped it and leaped on top of Opal, his large paws on the other boy's chest. A long string of drool gathered at Kojo's mouth and dripped onto Opal's face. He wasn't exactly a large hyena, but he was strong and muscular.

There was a poof and Kojo returned to his regular form, a foot still resting on Opal's chest. "I win," he said as he crossed his arms across his chest and stared down at him.

Opal fell backwards, his head banging on the cold hard floor. He shook his head, getting rid of the blackness before his eyes. He looked up and saw the creature returned to normal Kojo--of course, with a foot right in his face.

Groaning, Opal slid Kojo's foot off and picked himself up. "Don't be too cocky now," Opal retorted, sealing his words with a smirk. "Don't think this is over yet." Opal had enough for now, but he knew there were other days ahead for him to take some revenge. At least he got to embarass him, even just for a bit.

Opal bent forward and shook his head, his hair flopping this way and that, like grass brushing through the wind. Once he cleared his head he stood back up, his bangs falling just above his lashes. There, he glanced at Helena, and saw that Naomi had vanished.

Kojo laughed and opened the door to the art room, "Im going to class, feel free to join me!" He then went inside.

The art room was a good size and it had everything one would expect, including a dark room for developing photos. There was a pottery wheel, painting isles, stacks of paper, brushes, chalk, charcoal, crayons, ink, pens, molds, and much much more.

Kojo's eye widened. he looked around for the teacher, but no one else was there, so he sat down at one of the tables and waited patiently.

Naomi walked into the art room a few minutes later. She looked around, but she was not very impressed. Naomi wasn't the best at art, she even had personal drawing lessons and screwed it up. She didn't make eye contact with Kojo or any of the other students as she took her seat. She took out all the materials she needed for the class and waited for the teacher to enter the classroom. "Everything I did today ended badly for me... lets hope art isn't half as bad." She thought to herself.

Helena watched the tussle with her arms folded, Atzy resting with its front legs draped over them. The whole fighting thing didn't really faze her too much. Her brother was getting into similar scrapes all the time, and that was with friends of his. She regarded the two sceptically and chuckled, before walking in as they did.

"For the record." she added, looking over in Kojo's direction.
"Vampire's not at all offensive, though I'm only half. Hybrid. It's a bit of a long story." she explained as she sat down.

There being no teacher evident she sat down and pulled out a sketchbook from her stuff, setting the form of Atzeal across and opening it up. It was already occupied with
a large number of drawings of peculiar creatures or surreal panoramas in intricate scenery pictures. Helena started to draw, though oddly enough apparently began doing so with her eyes shut.

Opal had no real intention of going to class, but everyone else was filtering in. It wouldn't be his hardest--art came very easily to him. Of course, that would be kept hidden a pocket somewhere else inside. He wasn't much for expressing himself truly. While everyone else seemed to be off to work, Opal set off to walking the perimeter of the classroom, his fingertips glazing the countertops, the desks, and occasionally, the paint brushes. It wasn't anything special, but it was certainly bigger than his class back at home.

He smirked to himself, no teacher in sight. He didn't know which was better--making mental comments about them or not having them around at all. He shrugged. Perhaps it was both or neither. The decision wasn't worth pondering over. He picked up a tool use for carving clay and played with it in his hands.

Fritz ran his hand through his short dark hair as he made his way to his art class. Today would be his first day of teaching and he figured that maybe it would be a good idea to go easy on the students. The other teachers that he had seen around all looked rather strict... and well... unpleasant, to put it in a nicer way.

He entered the classroom with a straight look on his face. he studied each student before turning to the whiteboard and writing his last name on it "Rivera." Fritz turned around around to address them all, "My name is Fritz Rivera, but you may call me Mr.Rivera. I am new to teaching but I am not stupid so do not try to play any tricks on me. I have been studying art for five years at college and have graduated to become an art teacher."

He studied them all closely, "Today's assignment is blind contour line drawing. First, take one of these sheets of paper," he held up quite a large piece of paper, "then, tape it to the desk. Now. What you are going to do is hold one hand out to the side, and look at it. You must not look at your paper. Your goal is to draw your hand without picking up your pencil or looking at the paper. This activity will help incorporate the opposite side of your brain and you will be surprised how much better you will be able to spot mistakes after. You have five minutes. Use the entire time, and remember, do not look at your paper or lift up your drawing utensil!"

Naomi almost looked like she was going to pass out. She had no art skill whatsoever, she can mess up stick figures, let alone drawing her own hand! But, not wanting to upset the teacher, she followed his example and taped down the lined paper on her desk. She then held her hand out in front of her and started her attempt to draw her hand. She took about 11 minutes to do this and placed her pencil down. She looked down at her finished work and almost flinched. There was no way you can even tell it was a hand, it looked like some type of new creature. She really did hate art, she'd much rather do poetry or writing lyrics to a song than drawing.

The teacher appeared to be surprisingly interesting, so Opal didn't say anything in response to him. After grabbing the sheet and taping it down to the nearest table--which also happened to be away from everyone else--he placed his long, lanky hand off to this side for him to observe. He didn't bring a pencil--not a problem. He flicked his hand and formed Brazilwood, a nice replacement for graphite. After a few moments of focusing on his fingers, he quickly but carefully began the outline on the paper.

He thought about his hand as if it were a plant--veins stretching up to his fingernails like the stems of a flower drinking in nutrients and sending them to the petals. It was smooth and easy, detailed and shaded in. After what felt like five minutes he flicked his wrist to let the logwood disappear and sighed. It took energy to use his power and draw at the same time, but when he could, the result was beautiful.

Naomi saw that everyone was still drawing their hands, so she looked around to see who was done. She turned in her chair and looked over to Opal's paper. Her jaw dropped at the sight of his stunning drawing. She looked at hers, then back at his, then at hers, then back at his. "Even Opal can draw better than me!!" She pouted at the thought.