Skylar Black's Story

Braelyn sat in a bed in Orenda's large infirmary wing, fidgiting impatiently with the edge of the sheet while a young blonde nurse's assistant poked at random parts of her body, giving an occassional "Hmm..." or "Interesting," as she did so. Braelyn had been here since the evening before, having been prompted by her parents to travel to Orenda early to be seen by the school's competent medical staff when she started displaying strange behavior and having dizzy spells to the point of passing out.

"Really, I feel fine now," Braelyn told Blondie, who was now shining the brightly lit tip of her wand in Braelyn's eyes. "I'm sure the feast has already started by now. Can't I just go now?"

The nurse shot a worried glance at the older, more matronly-looking Head Nurse, obviously not knowing exactly what to say. "Madame Chesney?" she asked.

The older nurse walked over, carrying a small vial of some sort of potion. "We don't really know anything conclusive just yet, Miss Blaine," she said. "I am still waiting on the results from the samples we took this morning. But if you will take this now as a precaution, I don't see a reason that you can't go down to the feast for now. The moment you don't feel quite right, I want you to come straight back to the infirmary. Otherwise, I will call you back here when I get the results."

That was all Braelyn needed to hear. She grabbed the vial from Madame Chesney and in an instant was headed for the door. She ran down the torch- and portrait-lined hallways until she reached the doors of the Great Hall. Attempting to not cause a disturbance in the event the the sorting ceremony was still taking place, she quietly opened the door just enough to let herself through. It appeared that the sorting was already finished, and everyone was talking and feasting and some were getting up to walk from table to table, greeting those in other houses. Braelyn hoped that she didn't look totally out of place, in that case, just now walking to the Cerva table now nearly half an hour late.

She made her way down the table, looking for an empty spot on the wooden bench. She saw one just wide enough to squeeze into, right beside a girl with dark hair, who appeared to be looking for someone. Braelyn assumed that the girl was waiting on someone and saving the seat, so she began to pass her by, when suddenly she stopped to do a double take. She hadn't seen that face in two years, but she'd recognize it anywhere. Without warning, Braelyn wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders in a tight bear hug from behind. "Skylar!" Braelyn nearly shrieked. "What are you doing here?!"

The day had been fairly uneventful thus far. After the sorting ceremony and beginning of the year feast, Ryland didn't quite feel like heading back to the dormitories just yet. He had heard some of his house-mates mentioning having some firewhiskey back in the Vulpes common room, and while it sounded like fun, it wasn't really his thing. He looked around the Great Hall at those who still sat at their tables, and noted that Reid must have already gone up to his dormitory, probably locked away in his room with a sketch book.

He noticed Braelyn, a good friend of his since their first year at Orenda. They had Basic Flying class together, and neither of them liked or were very good at it. There was a girl sitting beside Braelyn, and although he thought he recognized the face he couldn't quite place her name at the moment.

Ryland got up from his table and walked over to sit down on the other side of Braelyn, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Hey, Brae, good to see you. How was your summer?" he asked. He waved at the dark-haired girl sitting beside her. "I know you," he said. "I know I do. But, I'm sorry, I can't remember your name."

Braelyn sat down beside Skylar to enjoy the delicious meal as she caught up with her best friend. She still couldn't believe she was back. "What made you come back to Orenda?" she asked her. "I mean, not that I'm complaining or anything. I just thought you said your grandparents wanted to pay for you to attend SWI for the rest of your schooling. What happened?" She hoped that things were okay between Skylar and her grandparents. She remembered that Skylar had only just in recent years begun to develop a relationship with them.

She continued eating, thinking the meat she was now chewing seemed over-cooked for some reason, which was strange because Orenda's food was always prepared to perfection. She frowned slightly, furrowing her brow, then had a sudden thought. "Oh! Before I forget," she said, pulling out the small vial from the pocket of her robes. "Madame Chesney told me I need to take this." She opened the vial and swallowed the potion inside in a quick gulp, wincing at the taste it left behind in her mouth. She shuddered. "Ugh, I don't know exactly what that was, but it wasn't pleasant."

There was suddenly an arm around Braelyn's shoulder, and she was happy to see that it was Ryland coming to say hello. She gave him a quick hug. "Ryland! It's good to see you. I had a good summer; I got to spend a lot of time with my sister. I hope yours was good too." She laughed when he mentioned that he couldn't remember Skylar's name; it seemed like all her friends were having trouble remembering names today. "Oh, come on, Ry. You remember Skylar. It's only been two years since she abandoned us to go to Salem."

Finally, she pushed her plate away. The Great Hall was emptying out. She didn't want to stay in here, but going to the Cerva common room would mean they'd be leaving Ryland behind, which she just didn't feel like doing just yet. "Do you guys want to go outside for a bit before curfew?" she asked the two.

Skylar Black

It was great catching up with Braelyn. Skylar had missed her so much.

She knew that the question was going to come up about her return to Orenda. "My parents and I decided it was time for me to come back. My grandma didn't like the idea much but she didn't argue." Skylar said while looking down at her empty plate fidgiting with a leftover bite. Braelyn looked at her like she knew she was lying. She was going to have to explain that one a little more later.

Orenda food has always been wonderful. No one had ever had any complaints about it. Braelyn looked as she was forcing down a bite of meat. She forgot to take her medicine that Madame Chesney told her to take. It looked like it was flavored Nasty, by the look on Braelyns' face after she drank the vial.

"What's the deal with the medicine? You don't look sick." Skylar asked, hoping that their wasn't anything wrong with her. "You would tell me if you were sick, right?"

Skylar jumped when a guy came over and sat down and put his arm around Braelyn. Skylar remembered this guy. It's Ryland Pierce. It seems he could remember Braelyns name but not Skylar. He came to scope it out, no doubt.

Braelyn pushed her plate away. None of us wanted to go back to the dorms, so we left to roam around outside before curfew. "It's good to see you again, Ryland. I'm a little disappointed you didn't remember my name, though. How is your brother?"

As the three got up from the table to walk outside, Skylar called Ryland out on not remembering her name. He felt his cheeks flush a little as he replied, "I, uh... I'm sorry, Skylar. I do remember you, it was just your name that escaped my memory there for a little while." They rounded a corner and finally exited the castle.
 
They had come out into the courtyard, lined with trees and flowering bushes and dotted with round stone tables and wooden benches for studying or socializing. He led the way over to one of the tables and took a seat. It was a nice night. The end of summer evening air was still warm, with a bit of a breeze telling them that fall was not too far off. The sky, nearly cloudless, was now dark and polkadotted with stars, and the moon, nearly full, shining bright enough that they did not have to strain to see around them. There were some shadowed figures down towards the lake, probably other students out to enjoy the last night before classes.
 
Skylar was asking Ryland about his brother. People usually didn't inquire about him, as they were all generally aware of his need for privacy, but if she was taking the time to see how he was doing Ryland wouldn't argue. "Reid? He's doing well. This is going to be his last year here at Orenda. He spent all summer doing this internship with Talonega Bank as an apprentice Curse Breaker. He got the chance to travel to some really cool places doing it. You should see some of his sketches from the places he visited."
 
"I'm sure they don't want to hear about that," said a voice from somewhere behind him. Reid's voice. Ryland had assumed he was up in his dorm room at this point, but when he turned around, there his brother was, sitting at a nearby table in the shadow of a tree, with his sketchbook in front of him and pencil in hand. Had he not spoken, they probably would not have even noticed he was there. Now they they say him, he lifted his hand in a quick wave. "Braelyn, Skylar, I trust you had a good summer." Without waiting for a response, he turned his attention back to whatever he was sketching. How he was able to do that in the dark, Ryland was never able to understand.

"What's the deal with the medicine? You don't look sick." Skylar had asked Braelyn as they walked outside. Braelyn shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know," she said. "For the past couple of days, I just haven't been feeling quite right and keep getting really dizzy. My parents are convinced that it is something magic-related that their doctors wouldn't understand, so they insisted I come back to school a day early. I've been back since yesterday, in the infirmary. They don't know what it is yet, but Madame Chesney gave me that potion to take just in case."

She snorted at Skylar giving Ryland a hard time about forgetting her name as they sat down at one of the tables in the courtyard. "Says the girl who just moments ago couldn't remember Chase's name," she said. "Give him a break, Sky." As the other two began talking about Ryland's brother, Braelyn turned around on the bench so that her back rested against the edge of the table. She leaned back, looking up at the sky and breathing in the night air deeply. It was a beautiful night. The waxing moon was almost full, and for a moment Braelyn couldn't seem to take her eyes off of it. She snapped out of her daze suddenly when Reid's voice came from behind them. She returned his wave, but wasn't sure he saw it as he had gone back to sketching rather quickly.

She could see another figure approaching them, and when Braelyn looked hard enough she could tell it was Alison Oglethorpe. She appeared to be headed straight for them, but it was kind of hard to tell because she seemed to be walking more clumsily than normal. Braelyn's eyes widened just a little as the girl greeted them with a smile. Alison had just transferred to the school in the middle of the year last year, and Braelyn had yet to interact with her at all, as they were both in different houses and years. Frankly, she was surprised that Alison knew her name. But she supposed she could easily be acquainted with Ryland, he being a Vulpes as well.

"Hi Alison!" she said, putting on a smile as the girl sat down to join them. She raised an eyebrow as Alison hiccuped, but she didn't say anything about it. "No, you're not interrupting at all," she said. "We just didn't want a night like this to go to waste. It's too nice to be up in the dorms right now." Her nose twitched a little, picking up the distinct scent of firewhiskey and vomit. Well, that would explain Alison's odd behavior. Braelyn had learned a year ago, when she tried alcohol for her first (and last) time, that she could not hold liquor well. She looked sympathetically at the girl. "Enjoying the first night back?" she asked her.

Fortunately, as it turned out, Lyria didn't have to journey all the way down to lake to find out who was sitting down there after all - in fact, they had decided to come back up to school, and she was surprised to see that the mystery person was in fact Alison Oglethorpe. She didn't know the older girl particularly well just yet, but they were in duelling club together, and Sonny had agreed last term to tutor Lyria in duelling skills; a promise Lyria fully intended to hold her to. Lyria's skills at duelling were fairly average, and with such a competitive spirit it really made her burn every time some other kid hit her with a dodgy 'Stupefy' spell, so she had resolved that this would be the year of her winning streak.

Seeing that Alison was headed back to the courtyard, Lyria headed in that direction as well, and seeing the group of people Sonny had approached she strolled cheerfully up to them and was already there by the time she had registered the fact that they were all in years older than her. Of course there was a fair chance they wouldn't really mind at all, but in her time at school she had met far too many people who seemed to be either puzzled or irritated by having some random younger girl appear and start chattering at them... not that Lyria was ever deterred.

Oh well, it was too late to back out now even if she wanted to. Pointless chatter it was.

"Nice night for the first day back at school, isn't it?" she declared cheerfully at the two boys, who she vaguely recognised as being a pair of brothers from the houses Ursus and Vulpes, and a girl she couldn't remember meeting before who wore the blue tie of house Cerva.

Reid looked up, a little annoyed, as not just one but two other girls made their way to the courtyard. The younger of the two said something directed at him and his brother about it being nice night. Well, maybe it would be if people would leave him alone long enough to enjoy the peacefulness of it. As it was, he stood, nodding curtly at the younger girl who had addressed them. "Enjoy what you can of it. It's almost curfew. I'm going to go ahead and go back to my dorm." He picked up his sketchbook, sliding his pencil into the spiral binding, and turned, walking back into the Orenda castle.

Ryland cleared his throat after Reid had left. "You'll have to excuse Reid," he said to Lyria, he said with an apologetic smile. "He's not really a people person. But you are right. It's a fantastic night. It's a shame it's almost over." He sighed, looking over at Alison, who had joined them only moments before. She was all smiles, which Ryland thought was a little strange based on the few encounters he'd had with her last year, but he gave her a smile in return.

As Braelyn spoke with Alison, Ryland turned to face the younger girl. She was a year below him in school, and in Aquila, but he had seen her around. "It's Lyria, right?" he asked. "I'm Ryland. And, as much as I hate to admit it, my brother is right. Time got away faster than I realized tonight, and it's nearly curfew. We'd better start heading back to the dorms." He stood, offering a hand to help Lyria up. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other around."

He turned to face the other three girls at the table. "Ladies, always a pleasure to see you all," he said. "Skylar, I'm glad you're back. I'll see you and Braelyn in class tomorrow." He looked over at Alison, whose cheeks were reddening as she hiccupped. He recalled hearing some of his housemates discussing having some firewhiskey back in the Vulpes common room, and he assumed Alison must have joined in with them. "Can I help you get back to the Vulpes dorm, Alison?" he asked her.

As another, more gangly shape approached them, Sonny squinted at the newcomer. She knew she recognized the face, but had a little problem with the name. Once the girl spoke, however, Sonny knew who it was instantly. “Lyria!” Sonny said with a beaming smile, throwing her hands into the air with enthusiasm. “Oh, how was your summer, love? Are you ready for a vigorous year for dueling?” She asked, giving a lopsided smile. Dueling was perhaps the one that that Alison had over her brother, in her third year she began to beat him, and she immediately was a rising star. Although pressure from her family was constant to succeed in all areas, she was pressure free as far as dueling went - it was the one thing she was naturally good at.

Reid dismissed himself, causing Sonny to narrow her eyes after him as he left. “You know, Sterling says he’s a good chap but he always seems like he’s got a stick up his arse.” She said a little crudely, then giggling as she looked back to Ryland, “No offense, people say I’m like that sometimes too.” He then apologized on his brother’s behalf, to which she waved off immediately, “No harm done on my part, if the boy wants to be left alone - leave ‘em be, I say!” The firewhiskey had made her unusually chatty, her accent stronger than ever she worried briefly if they could understand her as she began to pick up the pace of her words. It always seemed like Americans spoke so slow compared to people back home.

Ryland then dismissed himself, offering to help Alison back to their house. She meant to protest, but as she hopped onto her feet and felt a familiar twist in her gut she nodded curtly, pursing her lips in distaste. “Thank you, Ryland, ever the gentleman.” She said, linking her arm through his and waving good bye to the girls that would stay behind. “Sleep well, poppets.” Sonny said sweetly, letting Ryland direct her into the castle.

Out of the cool air, she really began to recognize her level of intoxication. Fanning herself, her cheeks ruddied with embarrassment, “I can’t thank you enough, I must look like such a fool - but I really don’t drink...I mean I didn’t but - well you probably know Sterling smuggled some in, I shouldn’t have indulged but I did and now...well I suppose this is what you’d call natural consequences.” She said with a giggle, erupting another hiccup, which forced her to laugh again. Covering her mouth with her hand, she was appalled by her own crudeness, averting her eyes she shook her head at herself. “Again I apologize.”

Of course he was every bit the gentleman she assumed he would be, and as they entered the common room of their house they were met by Sterling who seemed dressed to leave. “Curfew is any minute now, dummy.” She said brusquely, to which he narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between the two. Then a smile broke his expression.

“Whatever you little lightweight, get your ass to bed.” He said, taking her from Ryland and passing her off to her roommate who had just recently taken claim of a seat in the common room. Alison looked back to Ryland one last time with gratitude, ‘Good night my fair knight!’ she called out to him with yet another giggle.

Sterling looked to Ryland with admiration, “She’s a pistol, I’m surprised she let you help her, she must be a lot more sensitive than I thought.” He looked back to the girls on the couch, who had probably grown to drunk to explore and create an adventure, “Alright ladies, let’s rendezvous tomorrow.” He said with a wink, heading to his dorm. “Night partna.” He added to Ryland, disappearing down the stairs and into his dorm room where he would sleep a heavy slumber with the firewhiskey warming him from the inside out.