Ryder Academy

Letting out a sigh, Jay looked at Riley. "Listen, man, Im'ma be straight with you." Jay started in voice that seemed apologetic. "I suck at obstacle courses. I'll go against you, but it would be the same as going alone." Jay said, and he looked as if he was depressed.As he talked, Slayer flew off to do God knows what.

Riley grinned at him. "Honestly, I don't care man. I just wanna try this out without getting a boulder chasing after me or ink flying into my face." He nodded at this, as if reminiscing. "Colette's family's obstacle courses are brutal."



"Let's go, slow ass!", Colette yelled from in front of him,and she jumped over a hurtle,mud smeared all over her face.
Not like he should be talking, because not only his face, but his arms are legs, were covered from the mud pit they had to swing over. The mud had started spraying like a sprinkler, which made no improvement on Riley's already slipping hands.
Colette and Riley were in two different courses, but they were only divided by a glass panel, so they could easily see what the other was doing, and their progress. Which,of course, did not motivate Riley at all, seeing as Colette was ahead of him.
"I'm trying!", he huffed, jumping over an identical hurtle on his side. He sides hurt, and he really really really needed to go to the bathroom.
Suddenly, the atmosphere seemed quiet.

Too quiet.

And that was a hint that there were booby traps hidden in the faux-jungle, which really only had enough trees for it to be called one. He stepped carefully, avoiding leaves,plants, and anything that might fall to reveal he had set off an alarm. On the other side of the glass, he heard an alarm ring, and grinned as he heard Colette's shout in frustration.

Step.
Step.
Avoid the root.
Step.
Step.
He was gliding with ease now, and as he reached the edge of the jungle, he sighed, letting his guard down as he stepped out.

Which was his biggest mistake.

He stepped on a loose branch, and the sound of it echoed in the enclosed space.
Aw, shit.

He looked behind him to see the boulder rolling straight towards him.
"AHHHHHHH!", he screamed as he ran for his life.


He shuddered a bit, and then looked at Jay.
"If you don't wanna do it man, that's fine, but if you really do suck, then you could use the practice." He said this as they neared the Pegasus, who started relaying the instructions that seemed basic to Riley.

"Fight me, or he dies. What?! This was the lesson? Why had he said yes? Stupid, stupid, stupid! He shouldn't have listened to his gut. Now Saga was in danger! No, nonono! BlueJay couldn't fight, he didn't know how? He had just wanted to learn, not endanger any body.

Crack!

"Ah!" It was Saga!

Ow! A sharp searing feeling lodged itself into his his chest. It became harder to take in air. He had to move, save Saga, but he couldn't! His feet, they wouldn't move! The ground had decided to anchor him to the floor. Why?!

BlueJay..... Wasn't his job to save Saga? So why didn't he? What was stopping him?

BlueJay..... Was it Kirk's size, the challenge, the idea of hurting someone?

BlueJay! No! Kirk was hurting his companion and he WOULD stop him!

A sound, somewhere between a hiss and a mighty roar leapt from BlueJay's chest. The ground released him, instinct took over, and he flew. Body out stretched and reaching for the white thing that was causing Saga harm. Fast as a flash he dug his claws and razor teeth into his opponent. He tasted flesh and fur. Then up, up he went with a powerful flap of his wings, tearing away bits and prices with him.

BlueJay flew towards the clouds now till the figures on the ground were small and insignificant. Snap! he was falling. Wings strapped close to his body. Kirk came closer, closer, closer, now! The dragon snapped his wings out and grazed past Kirk, tearing again at his flesh with his claws. Then he zoomed away.

Get Kirk off Saga! That was the goal. He banked around and came zooming back at Kirk, this time sinking in his teeth before tearing away. He rose up and dove again and again, each time bombing Kirk with claw, tooth, fang, and even full out ramming into his side head on.

No giving up! Was the single thought in the little dragons mind.

The first attack he could handle.

The dragon trapped under Sagas shoulder, strained to force her neck as far as it would go to reach Kirk. She had just managed to reach a nice size of his chin, and clamped her mouth down on the flesh, a determined look on her face. He hissed in annoyance at the petty thing and lifted one paw off of Saga, grabbing her with his claws and threw her to the side and into the ground.

”Stay out of this, this is not your battle.” his voice boomed rather coldly, eyes narrowing down on the smaller dragon. His tail lashed side to side irritably. He rubbed his chin with the back of his paw, smearing blood onto his alabaster coat. Stupid dragons. He whipped his head around with a hot uproar. ”You're going to make others fight your battle for you!? WEAKLING!” he taunted. His eyes bore into Bluejay, convicting terror into his soul. The measly, tiny dragon froze in what Kirk saw as confliction. Right now, the connection was possibly taking effect. And instincts were on the verge of take over.

Come on! Fear is an illusion of the mind, open your eyes to face your fears. Let your heart still. he thought.

”Deep inside, let the feeling of instinct take over! Better now you realize danger hangs around, side by side. You won't be able to call for help, because no one is going to rescue you! You'll have to face it, you'll have to fight! Bluejay!” he snarled when a sound, somewhere between a hiss and a mighty roar leapt from BlueJay's chest. Yes! The ground released him, instinct took over, and he flew. Body out stretched and reaching for him. Fast as a flash he dug his claws and razor teeth into Kirks body. He tasted flesh and fur. Then up, up he went with a powerful flap of his wings, tearing away bits and pierces with him. Kirk attempted to bat the thing away from him, but he was too small...and too fast.

He backed off of Saga, who flailed around on the ground gasping for air pathetically. Kirk tried his best to concentrate on his movement, his pattern, he had to endure a few more of his attacks before he would see it. The opening. He could hear it now, Bluejay diving down at him. Kirk tensed up, ready to take it. The dragon snapped his wings out and grazed past Kirk, tearing again at his flesh with his claws. Then he zoomed away. Kirk took a deep breathe and winced, the pain was little but it still hurt. Bluejay banked around and came zooming back at Kirk again, this time sinking in his teeth before tearing away. Kirk flinched.

Bluejay rose up and dove again and again, each time bombing Kirk with claw, tooth, fang, and even full out ramming into his side head on. Kirk easily took the hits, being full of muscle and durability he was a hit taker. Born in a jungle, he fought stronger and bigger foes then him. When Bluejay repeated the dive pattern again, right before the small dragon was about to rip at him again, he arched his back and flipped. Stretching his claws out to grab the pestering little guy and landed on his back. He sunk his teeth lightly around his neck, just as a warning and held him down with a heavy paw. He then pressed one overly large paw onto Bluejays wing and once sure the dragon couldn't get out, sat up. He got his free-paw and pushed onto Bluejays other wing, holding him down.

”I'm impressed.” he admitted.



At the first chance to breath, he took it! It felt as if a huge weight had been taken off his chest, literally! He had never been so thankful for the oxygen and trees in his entire life! Flailing his arms around he rolled away from the tiger who had backed away at Bluejays minimal damage and numerous attacks. Bluejay! Bluejay! He had saved him! The hyper-ball of many questions...actually saved his life! His sister rushed to his side, flustered and unable to control her shaking hands. She helped him sit upright, hanging onto his arm with a deathly pale face.

”Saga! Saga! Takeshi! Are you ok?” she repeated this over and over again, her voice cracking mid-way through. He laughed nervously and was sent into a coughing fit. Ayas head darted back and forth as she sat up on her knees and patted his back. ”Takeshi?” she hadn't called him by his real name in a very, very long time.

”I'm alright Sis, everything is alright.” he reassured her. Right hand on his chest, he hooked his other arm around her neck and pulled her into a hug against his chest. His heart still pounded madly against his rib-cage like a drum, but he could breathe. And that's all that mattered. He wanted to go kiss a tree! His little sister embraced him tightly, burying her face into his chest like she had done on late stormy nights. This reminded him of the time when she was 14, and she came running into his room and onto his bed, on top of him crying. She was bawling her eyes out, crying about thunder! She would flinch every time at the crack of thunder outside their house. From then on, even now, she comes running to his room. And because of that, she is a constant weather freak and checks the weather constantly. If there was even a slight chance of thunder the next day, she would spend the night in his room.

”Bluejay, I'm ok!” he yelled, holding the hand that was against his chest now next to his mouth. He had felt it. In that heated moment when his ribs had-

his ribs...he sucked in a breathe in realization, remembering the pain. He had been so happy about breathing, his adrenaline pumping, that he had forgotten about it. He hunched over, feeling agonizing pain over Ayas sudden tight embrace. She jumped back in shock, a pained expression of what-have-I-done across her face.

”Shit, Aya...I think I broke one of my ribs!”



stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid!!!!!!

”I'll go get a nurse,” She rushed off frantically into a the pile of people, disappearing within the many faces. Searching for some doctor or nurse only to no avail. All she saw were people. People. And more people! Damn it, she didn't care about them! Unless they were a doctor and could help her brother, they were nothing to her right now. She kept turning around in circles, turning, turning, turning. Voices muffled her thoughts, and everything sounded like screeching cars. Hammers banged wildly on the inside of her head, jackhammers buzzing away pain spots and nothing else. Lights and sound were driving her crazy! Ushering the tempo faster on whichever wall, left or right, to knock down, crumple. Everyones whispering was talking, talking was yelling, and screaming was a death sentence for her nerves! She gritted her teeth.

My head is going to explode! And my eyes are on fire! Aya thought as she shut her eyes tight, Estabel neighed for attention and Aya glanced up to see her loving companion. She didn't always notice the unicorn, but she was always there, watching.

You need to calm down, Aya. her voice was soft-spoken, gentle. Reassuring. It cleared a path through all the noise and allowed her to think. Even if it was just for a little bit. She was right. She needed to clam down.

Breathe Aya. Who can help you? Who to go too?

She didn't know why, she couldn't explain it, but she needed to get back to the swords area and tell Angel! She pushed through the crowds, curses and foul language being thrown at her. She ignored them. They weren't important right now. They weren't worth her time! Dashing through the crowd, she came into a clearing, it was the obstacle course area. Going around it would take longer then going through it, is what she concluded. Jumping off the ground, she started to climb the wall with a few grunts. A focused expression, she almost appeared angry. Once at the top, she jumped down. Rolling into a ball, she fell on her right shoulder and rolled up perfectly fine, using the momentum to pull her forward and onto the rope swing. Easily, she made it to the other side and landed on her feet. Pillars were next, running through them she dodged them with grace considering her frantic state. When she arrived at the log balance, no hesitation was used to slow down, and so she ran across it! Lastly, was the tires. She could see the swords in plain sight now! Angel was off talking to Trista, and Solara! Friends! She needed to tell them! They would know what to do!

Trip!

At the end of the obstacle course (which was technically the beginning) she fell face first into the dirt, her foot getting stuck in the tire. She sniffled, adrenaline pumping and feeling no pain except in her heart. She lifted her head up, pushing herself off the ground with her arms.

And saw a Pegasus, talking to two males.

Riley and Jay. But she didn't notice them. Only the horse. Eyebrows furrowed, and dirt splotched all over her face she cried out.

”Pegasus! My brother, he's hurt! P-please go help him! I-he...” Estabel came up out of no where, trotting over. She sent those reassuring thoughts again. ”He broke a rib, and, and.....he's over in the c-companions section......” as soon as she finished her sentence, her cheeks flushed a bright, heated-red. She had over-reacted..... big time!

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He's broken a rib before and lived!

She hung her head low in embarrassment. No reason could be given for this unforgivable action. If Saga saw her now, he would laugh at her....

A burst of applause caused Solara to startle in surprise and look around to see what the commotion was; however, when she could see that they were applauding her she blushed in confusion.

"W-what's going on?" Solara asked embarrassed by the attention.

"They are in awe of what you can do with the blade."

Solara blinked and glanced towards Ravian for a second before turning to see Angel, and Trista approaching their swords in their hands with the same look of awe. Solara ducked her head till she got her face emotions under control before she raised her head to look at them. Solara hadn't meant to make a scene after all she had just be practicing as she always did, though the main difference betweeen the two was that she usually practiced after everyone had gone inside for the academic portion, or for dinner.

Angel still carried his claymore while Trista, with a glance to the staffs, carried her rapier like she was afraid to let it go. Looking them both up and down Solara smiled slightly before speaking.

"How does the claymore feel Angel?" Her voice was slightly breathless, and a fine sheen of sweat covered her brow and arms, but her eyes were steady as she studied Angel and his response.

She then turned her head to look at Trista. "And how does the rapier feel to you?"

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.

Angel

Angel, despite having been distracted by Solara's impressive display, felt a weight lifted off of him when Trista insisted she was alright. He glanced her over critically, afraid there was some injury she wasn't expressing, then decided Fucuelo had gotten into trouble and her pain had been mental. Satisfied, she seemed alright, the tall boy hoisted his claymore into a comfortable position, flat side leaning on his shoulder.
"I don't know when Draconem is going to end this, I assume in time for dinner. But for now," she took back the Rapier with a motioning glance to Solara. "Lets go see what we can learn."

Dinner. Angel ignored the awkward rumble from his stomach. Food. Food. Food was amazing. Food was his first lovee~~

Angel paused his thoughts and tried to refocus. Train now, food later. It was his fault for not eating a bigger breakfast, and skipping lunch.
He nodded encouragingly to Trista, glad she seemed to be sticking with the sword. If she's wanted to go elsewhere he would have probably followed, preferring her company, but it seemed she was giving the rapier another try. Angel had already made up his mind at some point though- he liked this claymore thing, and was going to train with it as his primary weapon. Hand to hand could be a backup.

A chuckle burst from his lips as he noticed Solara glance around with a baffled expression before composing herself and moving over to them.

"How does the claymore feel Angel?" Angel noticed she seemed a little out of breath, but for the most part, he assumed she was an active woman.

He patted the blade on his shoulder. "Feels great- Might not even need to try anything else actually." He grinned giving her a thumbs up. "Good choosing!"

She had been the one who'd shoved the sword in his hands after his inexperienced flailing of hook swords had almost skewered her. The Amazon said something to Trista, but Angel was otherwise distracted now.

What. The. Fudge. Was he feeling from Reechi.
He could almost feel the contain on his chest, the struggle to breath, not physically but mentally choking as Chi felt full blown panic, sending the waves through they're mental link.
But aside that was fury.
and aside that- someone was hurting her.
Who the hell dared to lay a hand/tooth/nail/claw or finger on his darling.

His expression was literally scary calm but his eyes looked furious. Why had this happened when they weren't together!? Why was she facing dangers on her own! This was his fault- he'd let her run off. Even if she was a dragon, she was newly hatched and he's ignored that, ignored that she still knew nothing of fighting or defense or anything and-

"I have to go." Angel said to the girls through clenched teeth, interrupting their conversation. His hand shifted on the sword, debating if he should whack someone upside the head with it, before twirling it and stabbing it into the dirt ground. Reeps no longer seemed in immediate danger but she was still angry and was still probably confronting the threat-

"Like right now. I'll catch up with you two later."

Then he was off, not waiting for a response, tacking the more direct route of getting where he needed to be by not dodging or threading through the crowd, but plowing straight through. Elbows out, straight past irritated faces.

He saw a bit of a commotion going on by the Special abilities area- he went straight past that, following some sense that led him too-

"Reeps! Oh my poor baby what happened!?"
He couldn't help the affectionate talk one often took on with animals- but he talked to Chi like another human, not the baby voice people often had with their pets. His face had fallen when he saw his companion settled among the branches of a shrubbery-

Preening slahes on her side.
He felt violent for a moment, force ably shooting a
"Who hurt you." Through their link as he settled down next to her. Though the more appropriate thought was, who should I kill.
He felt guilty and it wasn't completely masked by anger. This was his fault for not being there. Just like last time. Just like the fire.

He hadn't been there. He should have been there.

Angel sighed and reached out to gently tracing the scratches and removing blood.
"Sorry Chi. I'll be there next time, I promise."

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.

Ashes eyes widened slightly feeling Colette grab her forearm and pulling her to the obsticle course. She looked at the course, it's sterdieness looked welcoming. It looked easy and well put together unlike the one's back home that were simplly makeshift obstacles made out of old splintery wood. As if she read Ash's mind and was proving her point of how different this was than the ones back home, Colette told Ash about her's. Ash smiled, a real genuine smile at ths. Ash let out a small laugh. "Yeah, the one's me and Jay trained on where just unstable makeshifts built out of old splintery wood." Ash said. It wasn't said shyly or quietly, but more in a matter-of-factly way with a slightly toned down genuine smile on her face as she recalled the obsticles back home. "The Death Traps" was the nickname Ash's father had given the poorly built things.

So, I gotta do the obstacle too, as I take it. This may be a harder day than I thought. Liath said with a bit of a sigh. Ash smiled at him with a slight nod after the pegasus talked to them. "Okay." Ash said with a smile to the pegasus in an almost eager way. She them stepped up to the start, but not before flashing a grin back at Colette in a rather flirty way. What was that about? Liath said as he jumped off Ash's shoulder and landed on the ground Beside her. He standed to about Ash's knee and looked up at her with a slightly raised eyebrow. Oh, that? That was nothing. Ash replied as she smiled, unable to stop. She then put her hands on her hips and looked ahead into the obstacle course as she waited for the horn to blow.

Once the horn blew, she balted down into the course, leaving Liath in the dust. Liath had to take a double take before he noticed her running then took off after her. Ash seemed to be takeing the course at ease. She easily leapped over the hedges, ducked under the walls, and swinged over spaces on the ropes like an acrobat.

---

"Damn, dude." Jay said with wide eyes as Riley said how brutal Colette's family's obstacle courses were. "Sounds fucked." He added before seeing Riley shudder. That was weird. Jay thought with a raised eyebrow. He let out a chuckle after Riley continued talking. "Alright, man." Jay said then they started walking toward the obstacle course.

As they walked, Jay thought about home and his 'training', if you could call it that, and his friends. Oh, how he missed his friends. He would hang out with them literally 24/7. They'd go everywhere with eachother. They even took turns staying at each other's houses, except for Val of course. She would go off and do her own thing once in a while. But, all in all, him and his friends were unsepreteable. And to think, it was Jay's big idea to leave and come here, alone, without anyone but his cousin. Jay wouldn't say Ash was bad company or anything, he just didn't always like hanging out with her.

As soon as Jay and Riley made it to the pegasus, Jay saw a girl come from the front of the obstacle course. Jay's first reaction, "Da' fuck...?". Jay's second reaction after the chick tripped, hestarical laughter causeing the Pegasus to give him a look. Jay's third reaction after the girl started yelling at the pegasus about her brother breaking a rib, "Damn." with wide eyes of course. Jay's fourth reaction after noticing the girl was from earlier, smirk-smirk-smirk-smrik-smirk like there's no tommorow. The Pegasus walked up to the girl and titled it's head. "Calm down, child. Lead me to him and I'll see what I can do." The pegasus said an a lightbulb went off above Jay's head. "Hey, we'll help!" Jay yelled to the Pagasus and he came closer to him and the girl. "Me and Riley can help walk the guy to the nurse." He added as he came over, a big smile on his face. He smiled at the pegasus, then at the girl, then back at Riley. "Come on, Riley. Let's go save a life!"

Meanwhile, Slayer was at the obstacle course Ash and Colette had just entered getting ready to stir up some trouble. He pulled out some 'invisable' string, which is clear string that's un-noticeable, and pulled it across the course in a clear running section of the course. His laughter was silent as he did so. He them placed some more un-noticeable tripping traps over the rest of the course. Sensing his Ryder was getting ready to leave, Slayer decided not to stay and watch, though he wanted to, and he headed over to his Ryder, perching on his shoudler with a wide smile as he could feel his plans coming into place just as Ash tripped over that first wire.

Derek couldn't have been more than happy when the people left him. Actually, he was ecstatic! The voices grew dimmer, footsteps went farther, he was in complete, beautiful, and utter silence. He ran a hand through his hair and spent a couple more minutes there, shooting arrow after arrow. Pain started to build within every fiber and particle of his body that felt like bubbles through his blood boiling to the point of insanity. He couldn't ignore it. Falling to one knee, he tried to keep himself from falling by gripping onto the side table holding the arrows. His hand slipped, and the bow dropped to the ground on its side along with the arrows flying into the air and scattering onto the ground. He groaned, falling onto his other knee and biting his lip. What was happening!?

The physical pain slowly slipped away, becoming mere stings but the mentality of it still plagued Dereks mind. Pictures of the invasion sped through his mind, the desire to touch and when touched the warmth of his skin turning cold in absence. He was Shaking. Wishing, Wanting to hold what he had lost as his tears were soaked up by auburn wavy hair in the images. He had been groveling. Begging. Pleading for answers as to Why him?....why...Deathly Hallows!? The heat of his mothers-

fathers-

friends-

skin left only in memory. It is the kind of loss that could make a person scream. He had lost everything. It was then that there was not a moment he ignored. Not a moment when he had wished to be happy. Not a moment did he feel safe or loved. Not a moment did he feel. He shut his eyes tightly. Attempting futilely to forget the pain, to only think of the future. But-

But-

The pain is crushing. Bending. The hurt doesn't go away! He sucked in a deep breathe and clenched the grass with a fist. His right hand was shaking.

”Deeeeeerek” a voice smooth as water cut through the chaos of noise in his head and the peoples chatter around him. Go away. Go away. Go away! ”Derek, are you alright? Maybe you should rest?” the voice asked, he felt a small hand rest on his shoulder and he bit into his lip so hard that the skin cracked and it began to bleed. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! ”Come on Der-”

”Shut up!” he hissed lowly, swinging around and slapping the hand away only to look up and see no one there. He felt no hand, just air. He heard no voice. Saw no face. His breathing had grown heavy, his chest lifting up and down in uncontrolled breathes. He exhaled loudly and got to his feat, breaking through the crowds and making a straight bee-line to his dormroom.

The Pegasus walked up to the girl and titled it's head.

"Calm down, child. Lead me to him and I'll see what I can do." She heard the sound of hoofs pick up grass as they neared and the sedative voice bring her back to reality. Cursing herself in her head like an idiot, she got up with the help of Estabal, pulling her up by the collar of her violet Japanese-Samurai attire. She dusted herself off respectfully, cheeks beet red and bowed deeper than ninety-degrees.

”I'm terribly sorry, my behavior was-”

"Hey, we'll help!" A random male with obsidian, emo styled hair yelled, interrupting her. How. Rude. He came closer to the Pegasus and her. "Me and Riley-”

Riley.

Riley.

Riley.

Wha-

Whe-

Ho-
Why-
Wher-???

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. Her throat felt dry. She ran her tongue over her lips, and she almost dared to speak but kept her mouth closed. Her chest felt heavy. She could feel the heart beat in her neck. Her face remains unfazed, and her posture is stiff as a statue. She gripped the edge of her short kimono, rubbing the sweat piling up in her palms against the fabric.

~~~~Freshmen year~~~~~3rd Quarter~~~~

When the lunch bell rings freedom throughout the hallways, she walks to her locker and she walks fast. Hitomis boyfriend Yashamaru and his friends were walking behind her....

'They're not following you...'

The footsteps grew heavier. One of his friends pushed her to the ground. She falls to her knees and drops her binders and books. Loose papers fall out and she quickly tries to gather her papers off the ground.

”Are you having a bad day, Scarbod?” Yashamaru Gou says. Aya grabs her arm, hugging herself defensively. She hated that name. Hitomi had ripped her clothes off one day after P.E. And her and all her friends had cornered her. Mocking her about the scar on her chest. She'd gotten it when on a bike-ride with Saga during the summer in middle school and had fell. She had fallen on some metal from the bike. Hitomi had sent the picture of her scar to all her friends. Shes never told her brother about it, way to embarrassed to tell him all the boys at her school knew how she looks under her clothes. She never wore pretty clothes like all the other girls, and so wore sweatshirts and pants and tennie shoes and or boots.

"Just leave me alone, Yashamaru..."

When Aya stands up, his crew blocks her way. She sighs and looks at Yashamaru, and he smiles as he steps forward.

”Why are you in such a rush to leave?” Six guys surround her, and she knew there was no chance to escape if she didn't want the bullying to get worse. ”Open your locker.” he commands. Aya stares at him blankly.

"No." she states.

”Open it, Scarbod.” he says. With steady fingers, she tries to open her locker. She messes up on the combination six times. What would happen to her? Would they slam her fingers in the locker? Shove her in there? Yashamaru tapps his fingers impatiently against his knee. When she opens the door, one of his friends tries to shove her in. She grips the sides with her hands and puts her feet against the bottom edge of the locker, pushing against it and his hands. All of them join in and she feels more then 10 hands on her back push her forward. She yelps. The door closes and then she is enclosed in complete, and total darkness. She bites her lips. If she wasn't trying so hard to keep peace, she'd snap their petty necks or break their ugly bones! When she closes her eyes, she can hear Yashamaru and his friends laughing. Hitomi would laugh for days if she knew Yashamaru had stuffed her into her own locker. Her brother wouldn't be able to find her. No one could save her. Her parents would be so worried. She slouches back against the locker and slids down, hugging herself.

'Just try to sleep'

+++1 day later+++

Her eyes open to a sea darkness. She can't breathe. She can't move. The walls become smaller and smaller. Her throat feels dry and she rauns her tongue over her lips over and over again. She almost dares to speak but keeps her mouth shut. Her chest feels heavy, and she's cold. She can even feel her heart beat in her neck.

'I can't breathe'

She braces her hands against the small walls of the locker and struggles to find her own breathe. Her hands begin to shake. And then her entire arm.

'Don't let this happen!'

Suddenly, her body has a mind of it's own and she couldn't control it. She was shaking, her body was convulsing, flailing itself between both walls and her ribcage burning. WHY HER!? WHAT HAD SHE DONE!? WHY WAS SHE BORN!? WHAT WAS THE POINT ANYMORE!? Her eyes fall shut, and she falls.

+++a couple hours later+++

When she woke up she was still trapped in the dark locker. It is stil hard to breathe. She gets on her knees and starts to bang on the locker. Again and again! She didn't care if her fists ware bleeding! She just wants to get out of here!

'Let me out of here!'

Tears spring to her eyes.

'I hate people. I hate all people!' Her fists are raw, and she just couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't fight anymore...Her bod goes numb as she closes her eyes again. She was sick of this...When she opens her eyes for the third time, she sees a light and hears voices! She thought she was imaging things at first, the sound of footsteps gathering together. Loud chatter, and conversations decorating the halls. She can hear them talking, but she couldn't make out their words. She thinks of banging her fists against the locker again, but was suddenly...afraid. She didn't want people to know she was stuck in this locker for hours. She didn't know how many minutes, hours, or even days have passed. But, the door springs open and she jumps out instinctively. AIR! She breathes in fresh air for the first time since being stuck in there. Her eyes are filled with tears of joy, she was happy yet also disappointed to be alive.

”Scarbod.” a voice says. She flinches. She wipes her tears with the sleeves of her shirt. She would recognize that voice from anywhere. Yashamaru. Aya scans the area, looking for witnesses. The hall is empty and there is no one there to see her. Yashamaru grabs her hand and she yanks it away.

”Get away from me!” she whispers darkly. Finding her voice is hard, she hasn't spoken in who knows how long. Aya steps away from him and gets ready to run away but he grabs her hand and sinks his nails into her skin. She wraps her other hand over his wrist. She casts him a scary glare, and for a slight second he flinches. ”HEL-” He puts his hand around her mouth and drags her off to the bathroom. She kicks her feet and grabs his arm, ready to flip him and escape his pathetic grip till-

”Shut up. If you dont obey, then I'll make it worse for you!” he whispers into her ear, his lips barely touching her earlobe and she felt like she was going to be sick! ”I can make your life a living hell.” he threatens. She laughed to herself.

'My life is already a living hell! There isn't much more you can do to make it worse.'

Yashamaru pulls her into the boys bathroom and pushes her into a stall, locking it. He then pushes Aya down to her knees and her eyes widened. Dear God, please no! Aya reaches for the lock of the door, throwing him off guard. Gritting her teeth and pushing him to the side with all the strength she could muster. He grips both of her arms like steel.

”Stop, I dont wan't to hurt you more then I have too.” he says. She scoffed.

”LET. ME. GO. What the hell do you want with me!?” she asks. She's been pushed into lockers, knocked down, pelted with stones, hit with bats, hit and cornered into worse things, but no one has ever dragged her into the boys bathroom. She kicks him in the shin. Hard. And fumbles with the lock, her hands are shaking and she curses at herself. He grabs her by the hair and pulls her down, she hits her head on the edge of the toilet and sucks in a deep breath. She turns on her side, holding her head and he re-locks the door. BASTARD! He knots her hair into his fists and pushes her face into the toilet. She's never felt so dirty! She couldn't breathe! And at this point, she was battling caring and the enjoyment of possibly suffocating from water filling her lungs and dyeing. He pulls her out of the water and air enters her lungs. Torture.

”You know why I'm doing this don't you?” He whispers.

' No, I don't'

She says nothing, glaring at him through the corner of her eyes. She doesn't look away. He runs his hands through his hair and opens the door.

”You can go,” He looks confused and almost as lost as I do.

'Why don't you finish the job, Yashamaru?' she thinks.

”I said you can go!” he yells, ”Are you stupid or something!? I said fucking leave!” A part of her wants to ran his face into the side of the bathroom door but forced herself not too. So she starts running and running. When she had gotten home, she'd told her parents that she had stayed over at a friends class from martial arts. Her brother could tell she was lying and confronted her about it. He had hugged her for hours and invited the crew over to help cheer her up. They said they had looked everywhere for her. She had gone missing for almost two days, but it felt like so much longer....

~~~~~~~~End~~~~~~~



”We can help walk the guy to the nurse." He added as he came over, a big smile on his face. He smiled at the pegasus, then at the girl, then back at Riley. "Come on, Riley. Let's go save a life!" How was she suppose to get out of this? She raised herself on her tip-toes, trying to peek past the two males to the sword area. Angel wasn't there. Shoot...Who was suppose to help her!? She didn't want their help. They could do something to her brother...Estabel nudged her shoulder and grinned strangely, as strange as it is for a horse to grin and neighed. Right! Estabel could take him!

"Er, thanks." She instinctively put a hand over the back of her neck, sounding annoyed. It's a bad habit when she felt uneasy. Something the two siblings shared. She had to calm down, that horrible flashback put her on edge and she wasn't sure why being around Riley brought back such horrid memories she had tried to hard to forget and let go. Maybe, because he wasn't doing anything scared her more. AS if, he had a bigger plan and scheme. She spotted the stone gargoyle perch itself on Jays shoulder and felt a horrid gut feeling wrench and twist itself into her stomach. ”But I can take care of it myself.” she stated rather coldly. She got up onto Estabel rather easily since in her village travel was taken either by foot or horse, and looked down at the Pegasus finally regaining her compose. ”This way.”

"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.”

"Clunky with a side of awkward, 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!" Trista smiled at her, "Perhaps if you help me we can have that sparing match you wanted?"

"I have to go."

Angel spoke tersely, his jaw clenched tight and body tense with his hand firm around the handle of his Claymore as he interrupted Solara before she could speak.

"What's-" Trista began before he spoke again.

"Like right now. I'll catch up with you two later." With that Angel turned and began to plow straight through the crowd while Solara watched his back with a slight frown on her face as she tried to figure out what could have caused him to take of so suddenly.

"His companion must be in trouble." Trista muttered.

Ah, that explains it Solara thought.

"So tell me, what's the trick with a Rapier?" Schooling her features again she smiled before looking at the woman and the way she held the weapon.

"Well, first, it isn't going to fly away, so you can release the death grip you have on it." Solara's voice had a twinge of humor to it, as she noted Trista's over tight grip on the handle of the rapier. "Second, the rapier isn't a slashing weapon, but a piercing and parrying one instead."

Almost as an after thought, she added, "then I guess i should watch out that you might be better that me when this is through."

He heard a frantic scream from behind him, this time a cold voice he knew from not too long ago was sounding frightened, and he turned around very suddenly.
”Pegasus! My brother, he's hurt! P-please go help him! I-he...
Aya....
Emotions flooded back too quickly, despair shot through him as he looked at her small, beautiful face....
”He broke a rib, and, and.....he's over in the c-companions section......” as soon as she finished her sentence, her cheeks flushed a bright, heated-red. Riley's heart beat quicker, in time with some running he heard to the left of him.
The Pegasus walked up to the girl and tiltled its head. "Calm down, child. Lead me to him and I'll see what I can do."
"Hey, we'll help!" Jay yelled to the Pagasus and he came closer to him and Aya.
No, what are you doing?!?!?!
"Me and Riley can help walk the guy to the nurse." He added as he came over, a big smile on his face.
What the fuck man, no we aren't! He smiled at the pegasus, then at the girl, then back at Riley. "Come on, Riley. Let's go save a life!"
I need to save my own goddamn life!
Anger boiled inside Riley, and also guilt, along with a sense of explicable hurt. He really wasn't one of those 'feel multiple emotions at any given time' kind of guys,so all these emotions just made him feel angrier, and this wasn't a very good emotion to feel in this particular situation.
"Er, thanks."Aya put a hand to the back of her neck, sounding annoyed.
Of course, it's because I'm here, isn't it? More hurt was felt, and therefore more frustration. He didn't feel wounded often,either.
”But I can take care of it myself.” she stated rather coldly.
She got up onto her companion and looked down at the Pegasus she was talking to earlier.”This way.”
Great,still a threat.
He looked over at Jay. "You probably only offered to get out of the obstacle course, huh?" He spat these words out and rolled his eyes.
Calm down, Riley, his dragon thought to him, and Riley snarled in response.
I can't do this forever, can't you see that?! I can't have an aneurism every time I see her! I should just focus on studying for my family, and even Jay won't let me do that!!
WHAT
DO
I
HAVE
TO
DO
?!
What about...., the dragon responded calmly, you try to redeem yourself? He sprayed cold ice on Riley's face, and Riley's anger boiled down a bit.
How?! If I approach her, she'll just run away again.
Just try to be as gentle and as friendly as possible. Don't touch her, don't tease her, don't do anything suggestibly uncomfortable or mean.
Why should I? The consequences are too steep.
Dude, you have nothing to lose. And much to gain.
Gain.....hm....
Riley rubbed his shoulders, his anger momentarily forgotten. He looked at Jay, and apologized.
"Eh,sorry man... I just have kind of a short fuse. And..uh...ya know, I'm looking out for the best interest of my education.. and all that.Hey, why don't we go and help them anyway? I mean, I know Aya was kind of cold to us, but who are we not to be good Samaritans?" He smiled a bit awkwardly. "Right?"
Well, I'm gonna go even if he doesn't. The chance of redeeming himself was very loud in his mind, and he wasn't going to wait around for Jay's consent while Aya was getting away.
"Aya!", he called out to her. "Wait up!" He ran a bit to where they were, which was not very far away.
"Look, I know you don't like me and everything", it pained him to say that, "b..b..but I want to help your brother out. Also, you looked undeniably frantic earlier, and I...I just feel the need to help you. And I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable before...."
He looked down at the ground, embarrassment running through him, his companion behind him cheering him on through the silence of thought.

"Er, thanks." The girl had said, and Jay watched with a cocked eyebrow and a smile. Jay can't really tell the difference from a person that sounds irritated or annoyed unless he knew them for a while. So, though she obviously sounded a bit annoyed and such, Jay couldn't tell whatsoever. Though, he did associate the action of her putting a hand on the back of her neck with irritation. But Jay doesn't really give a fuck about that, he was just offering to help. "But I can take care of it myself." She had said after a moment, and a bit coldly. The smile dropped from Jay's face and he shrugged. "Okay, just trying to help." He mumbled and watched as she got on her unicorn, to which Jay's eyes widened.

Damn, unicorns are fucking scary... He thought just as Slayer perched himself on top of his shoulder. "You probably only offered to get out of the obstacle course, huh?" Jay turned slightly to look at Riley, letting out a small "Huh?" as he was pulled away from the sight of his one true fear. He shrugged at the question instead of getting on Riley's nerves even more and saying that that was partially true. After a moment, Riley spoke again. "Eh,sorry man... I just have kind of a short fuse. And..uh...ya know, I'm looking out for the best interest of my education.. and all that. Hey, why don't we go and help them anyway? I mean, I know Aya was kind of cold to us, but who are we not to be good Samaritans? Right?" Jay rolled his head back slightly to look at Riley with an almost bored look as he apologized then went on about his education. But, though all this talk about education and shit like that made Jay tired, a smirk cross across his face at the question of going and helping Aya, apparently, out with her brother.

"Yeah, let's go be good Samaritans." He said it with a slight chuckle before continuing. "We can come pick up the girls after." He added, referring to Ash and Colette. He simply walked after Riley as he caught up with Aya and the Pegasus, whom was stopped watching Aya and Riley. Once he caught up with them, Jay just stood next to the Pegasus and, nonchalantly, nodded to him. "Hey, how's it goin'?" The Pegasus just looked at Jay for a moment and blinked twice then looked back at the two. Jay let out a huff and looked around. After a moment, he decided to speak up. "So, we gonna' go help this guy or just stand her like a bunch of pansies? No offense." Jay said the last part to the Pegasus who actually responded with a "None taken." making Jay smile in an accomplished way.

"Aya!" a voice all too familiar to her on such short notice called out to her. She never forgot a face, a voice and took pride in her photographic memory but in Rileys case...she would gladly make an exception. She clenched Esta's rough, obsidian mane and tried not to lose her breakfast. "Wait up!"

Go faster Esta! Faster! They picked up their pace but came to a stop when she noticed the Pegasus halt at his call. She glanced back at the Pegasus and her energy depleted. Noooo...Riley caught up to her quick. He was coming after her now. How did he even get here in the first place!? Did someone leave his cage open?

"Look, I know you don't like me and everything.” he paused.

Just drop dead already.

"B..b..but I want to help your brother out. Also, you looked undeniably frantic earlier, and I...I just feel the need to help you. And I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable before...." He looked down at the ground, not like Aya would notice. He saw her in such a state! How embarrassing! Now he knew she was weak, and what her weak point was. Was he aiming to-

he couldn't possibly-

he wouldn't dare-

”D-do what you want.” She snapped her head back to straight ahead and continued on, Pegasus, a random boy, and Plague 2 close behind. The crew made it to her brother rather quick and she hopped off her companion. Oh her glorious, perfect brother! She made her way over to his side and to her surprise, found someone else by his side. She narrowed her eyes. Who was she? And why was her brother displaying that expression on his face. She bent down and clenched his hand. ”This is him.” she noted to the Pegasus before turning her attention to the blushing brunette. ”Who are you?” she questioned a bit touchy.



Saga wrapped his hand over Ayas and grinned stupidly.

”That's May.” he said her name with ease and a certain softness, responding for Macari. ”Her and her Companion watched over me while you went for help. Her companion, Pippin dulled the pain.” He looked up at the Pegasus. ”Haha, so what are you going to do? Am I going to be out for a couple weeks?” Not like he wouldn't mind. Saga wasn't too fond of training in this death course from the beginning and being injured might give him an excuse to avoid his insecurity and fear for a bit longer. Man, he thought he had gotten past this. One minute he is all for this and excited, the next he is ready to get back into his bed and under the covers with his bass in hand.



”Oh...” her voice trailed off. When her eyes met her brother, they both knew. And her heart hurt. She stole a glance of Riley and clicked her tongue, turning away. He was still here. Just go. Disappear. Her hands grasp tightened around her brothers. This day truly sucks. What was he talking about, sorry? Feel the need to help? Lies! Those were all excuses, excuses disguising his true motive. Just like Yoyogi Hitomi. Hitomi.

"Sorry, did we ruin your project that you worked soooo hard on?" Hitomi cackled.

Stupid mocking, condescending tone. She bit her lower lip, fear gripping her heart strong. Was she going to have to face another year like before or even worse than last year? She noticed the concern in her brothers eyes as he gazed into hers.

”You alright?” he asked. She forced a smile and nodded.

”Haha, silly. You're the one who isn't alright.” she put the attention on him. He put his hand over her head and ruffled her hair.

”Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.” he reassured. She nodded cutely. She couldn't act this way in front of her brother right now, when he's the one in true pain.

May’s attention split as she shifted a bit, her legs beginning to feel uncomfortable underneath her. When she returned back to Takeshi, she flinched back a bit as he seemed to be analyzing her. It made her highly uneasy, and Pip immediately returned all of his attention to her and away from the tiger that was walking away from the scene. He glanced between the two, his ears twitching in thought. Macari had quickly detached herself from previous thoughts, rubbing the side of her head ever so lightly as she figured it wasn’t something she should bother herself with anyway.

”Aya, she's my little sister.” May looked back up at him and blinked before nodding. “Ah, I see. Makes sense.” Her comment was rather bland, but she grinned anyway. Pip’s large ears flicked backwards an inch, he didn’t like how this guy was making his Ryder feel negative emotions. ”Don't worry, she always knows what to do; she’s probably on the verge of tears right now,” Once more, the answer was received by a blink from Minx as she processed the information. ’So they both seem to rely on each other, then. That’s good, means they have a close relationship with one another.’

”So, May right? You're cute,” Both Pippin and Macari’s heads snapped towards him, Pippin with his mouth dropping open and his eyes knitting together in disbelief, and May with huge eyes, a wary countenance, and one eyebrow raised.

Want to hang out sometime? Once I can move around of course.” Pippin slapped a paw down on the ground silently, fury plainly written on his face before he concealed it better, lest his Ryder see. ’Woah woah woah, hold up holdupHoldUp. Is this guy hitting on my Ryder!? Who does this idiot think he is?!’ Pip clenched his jaw, tilting his chin up and keeping his eyes down on this Takeshi guy. ’Not happenin’ bud.’

“Ehhh?” Macari blurted out, completely confused. No one had ever, seriously never, been so blunt with her, furthermore when it comes to her physical appearance. Sure, she’d had a few guys compliment her before, but… this guy seemed to have no restraints on him. Her head sorta tilted to the side on its own, still in shock from that little social bomb. Her cheeks flushed, and she remained silent for a few seconds, trying to grab onto some words in order to respond to him… somehow.

She was interrupted though as a group of people and a Pegasus arrived on the scene. The girl she had seen before came up swiftly and grabbed Takeshi’s hand. May respectfully scooted backwards from the two, also a little glad to put some space between herself and Takeshi. The girl turned back to the Pegasus before informing him that the one who was injured was the boy on the ground. She suddenly looked up at May, ”Who are you?” Her tone seemed to be rather short and forced. It instinctively made Macari want to back up just a bit more, but she kept her ground. Opening her mouth to respond, May was beat to the chase as Takeshi seemed to answer for her with a foolish grin to his face at the sight of his sister. ”Well, it should seem he’s perfectly fine now.” Pippin commented, ready to turn and get going with their day, and get away from this guy. But unfortunately his Ryder remained where she was, ’Oh right, she still has to answer that uncouth question.’ He rolled his eyes and sat back on his haunches. Takeshi explained what had been going on, and at the mention of himself healing the boy, Pippin almost wished he hadn’t, and that’s where a mischievous little idea popped into his head.

The two then spoke reassuringly to each other, and May felt more and more out of place, and certainly felt like she was interrupting. “Er, maybe some other time, yeah? Pippin and I should really be going anyway….” She quickly rose to her feet, stooping down to pick Pip up and drape him over one of her shoulders before blinking once and turning around to walk off, removing herself from the situation. “Um, feel better then.” She waved with a slight sheepishness before truly departing.

However, as she was walking away, Pippin looked backwards, waiting for his Ryder to get out of earshot from the twins. As soon as he deemed it safe, his antlers began to glow a shadowy tone, and it seemed as if little droplets of pitch black dripped from the tips. With his job of removing the dulling, he rested his head against the crook of May’s neck, glaring backwards at the scene. ’Not happenin’.’

“Maymay, let’s go get some lunch, huh?” He pulled back and looked up at her excitedly, his tail wriggling this way and that.



The little blue dragon had remained rather silent, overwhelmed by the emotions and feelings darting between he and his Ryder, and when Aya got up to run to get help, he would have jumped to go help her do that, but then a strange girl appeared by their side. His eyes were focused more on her and the strange little creature beside her rather than on Takeshi, so he missed what had gone on between the two. When Takeshi’s pain was dulled so was his, and he could finally begin to deconstruct this situation properly. “Who are you? What kind of companion is that? Are you okay Takeshi, I tried really hard to get you out of that, did I do okay? I’m kind of hungry, are you hungry? When’s Aya getting back? What are you doing? Why are you not paying any attention to me?” However, he seemed to go unnoticed, which was actually okay with him for now, as long as Takeshi was okay. Bluejay was suddenly distracted by a grasshopper, and, with one more glance over his Ryder to assure he was indeed okay, he wandered away to go chase it.

He looked up though as soon as he heard a group of five coming back, and he could smell Aya, so he bounced back to Takeshi and this May girl. He grinned up at Aya, his tail wagging back and forth and slapping the ground happily. Takeshi took a moment to share a glance with Aya, and Bluejay tilted his head curiously. He shrugged though, and crawled next to Takeshi’s neck. "Who are those people with you Aya? What is that horsey thing?" He asked, looking at the Pegasus and the two boys.

”Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.” He watched the two again, then snapped his attention up towards May as she departed. Once they were pretty much out of sight he looked back at Saga. But suddenly, a searing pain returned around his stomach, and he let out a loud squeak of pain, wincing.

“それが痛い!” He slipped back into his native tongue from the shock. Saga sucked in a sharp breath as he laid his head back. Biting his lower lip and clenching his eyes shut. The snapping pain from his ribs rushed back into his nerves senses, shooting bolts of what felt like electricity through his veins. He placed one hand over his rib and clenched the grass with the other. What the hell was happening? Did Pippins ability wear off the farther the distance? He turned his head to the side, tapping the tips of his finger tips hurriedly against the ground. He concluded that it was highly plausible. Magic effects could wear off demanding on the distance and magical ability they had. He shouldn't have expected a perfect dulling spell. Pippin was just as new as all the other Companions.

“AAAAAH!” Bluejay and him yelled in agonizing unison. Aya whipped her head to the Pegasus.

Help him!” she exclaimed. The edge of Sagas mouth tipped up for a split second, he could hear his sisters inner heart speaking. Really she meant, what the hell are you doing!? Are you just going to stand there? Through half-lidded eyes he searched for Bluejay, finding the scale creature at his side withering in pain. He lifted the hand over his rib and spooned up the little guy into the tuck of his arm. He hated this. Honestly, he just wanted to sit back and sleep in his bed with BJ. Was fighting always going to be like this? How many broken bones would he acquire in training? In war? How would either of the two be able to continue if Bluejay was reckless and hurt himself severely. There would be no way for them to protect one another. Would he even survive school?

Maybe it would be possible to use some spells that could dull the pain. He let out a sharp groan. Aya death gripped his hand, hushing reassuring words to him. He could feel her sweat seep onto him.

“You only die once, right?” she forced a pained laugh. He needed to distract himself, think more about magic. Think how it doesn't hurt. He petted Bluejay with his index finger and forced himself to be strong. Magic. Protection. Lesson pain. He was sure Green Magic mainly focused on such things. What were some of the spells? Protect? Shell? How many times had his father tried to force that chapter of the Grimoire down his throat and he had flatly refused? What had he told jijii(Old man)? Right, he wouldn't need it. He'd kill them in the offense because defense was for weaklings. Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Well, guess what. Saga is a weakling, guess he better brush up on Green magic at his recovery.

After they got Saga to the medical chamber to get better, Draconem had decided it was enough. This was suppose to be training, no one was suppose to get hurt like this. But, what can he do now? They only thing he could do was use his magical powers to ease the pain of all the students who got hurt during training and heal faster. Draconem seems like such a saint, don't he?

After this, is was time to begin to plan the feast! Draconem had planned to have a feast for all the students after a day or two of being at the school so that they may meet their roommates and become better acquainted with their companions. After a while of preparing, it's finally ready. The grand hall is big enough for Draconem to fit in and curl up at the end behind where the teachers and such will be sitting at a long table facing the tables where the students will be sitting. The tables are long and decked out with a red and gold stitched table cloth that brings out the gold in the bricks of the floor. The bricks of the wall are a devein mix of red and gold with large red and gold stitched drapes that go all the way up to the ceiling that is a glass paneling with a black rim that lets in natural light. Yet, every three feet down the long tables is a magical golden candle that lets off a brilliant blue flame.

Set out on the tables is all kinds of food. There's the normal food in which humans usually eat as they are easy to get for humans. There's turkey, chicken, fish, wheat bread loafs, tomato soup, red and green apples, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, white cake, and the list goes on. But there is also the food that other beings, less likely humans, would it. Like for the dragons there's coal, lava rocks, flying fish, and fireflies (literally fireflies) and then the various human foods. For the fairies there sweet honey, cookie crumbs, sweet jam, nectar, and pieces of the various human foods that can be pinched off of. For the unicorns there's golden apples, golden carrots, orange long carrots, and then the various human foods. And then it goes on to magical apples that are a purple color and can change a humans appearance to a random companion. Draconem put this out there to see how many students wouldn't know what it was and eat it. The effects wouldn't last that long. Only a couple hours or so.

On top of all of this, Draconem also had a friend, Aquarius, and his minions to bring the beautiful northern lights or Cree into the grand hall of Ryders Academy. So, now our scene is set and ready with red and gold walls, floors, and tables. Glowing blue golden candles. Tables decked out with all kinds of food. And now with the open sunlight coming from the windows on the ceiling and the northern lights being right inside, only made brighter and more pink by the light coming in. It was perfect. All that was missing was music. Some kind of music. He got all the little elves together and put them in a little group off to the side of the grand hall, their whole tiny little orchestra. Not only were they tiny to him, but they would've been tiny to humans too. Yes, they were about as tall as a fairy, usually an inch or two taller, but still around the same height. And there was a great amount of them so that their music could fill the whole room, which it did, with the help of Draconem putting an enchantment on them to make them louder. At Draconems go, they will play.

After a moment of looking everything over, he called for the students to come. Once all the students were outside of the grand big door to the grand hall, Draconem opened the door and nodded to the elves, signaling they to play. As the first Ryder stepped foot in the door, 6th Symphony Pastoral started playing from the elves and filled the room brilliantly. "Please, come in and take a seat wherever you like." Draconem said with a smile to the students and watched as they all filed in the room. Once they were all seated, Draconem perched behind the teachers table were a few Pegasus, Degore, and a few Phooka. "Let the feast, begin!" Draconems voice rang out over the grand hall and the students began to eat and talk as the music continued to play. "Oh yeah! Food!" Jay yelled in excitement and grabbed a chicken leg and began eating, Slayer did the same with a small "Yay!" and grabbed a turkey leg. Ash rolled her eyes at her cousin and grabbed a red apple.

Saga checked himself over in the mirror. A black coat was hung over his shoulders, his white dress-up shirt popped open at the top by a few buttons to show off his smooth and pale skin. Pants that shared the same color as his coat hugged his legs and fastened to his waist by a black belt buckle along with his black dress-up shoes. One ring adorned his right index finger, while three bulky and slim rings were on his left hand. He ruffled his curly, styled hair a bit, was it considered a perm? He wasn't sure. He was quiet as he put himself together, not paying attention to his roommate, not sure whether he was still there or had gone off on his own because he was taking so long. The feast had started nearly an hour. He swore he woke up early—only because his sister called him until he woke up this morning—and still he was late. He shrugged. No point in worrying about it now. He looked around the room for Bluejay and found him curled up in his bed, snoozing. The edge of his lips cocked up into a smile as he made his way over and kicked the side of it. The Bjs bed had been hung up over his own before like Reechis was with Angels however Saga moved it to the floor beside his bed. He hit his head too many times, that, and Bluejay always fell out and landed on his face.
”Come on little guy, time to go eat up.” Saga slid his hands in his pockets, slouching back with his head tilted to the side. The phone on his coffee table rung, ringing with the sound of a tigers rawr. He raised an eyebrow, why was the Tiger calling him?



Aya was NOT amused. Adorning her tiny body was a black jumpsuit speckled with miniature white flowers. It was slightly transparent and the collar a V-neck, with a black tank top under it to keep is classy yet modest. Her bangs were pulled back and she wore black flats. Her eyebrows narrowed, glaring at herself in the mirror. It had taken her an hour to force herself into this outfit, and the only reason she was in it in the first was A) Saga had picked it out for her the night before and promised to match her today. Usually, that wouldn't be enough to convince her even WITH her obsession with her brother...but Tora had called. He had called her to check up on her and she vented out her entire frustrations to him. Somehow, she wasn't sure, he had convinced her to get into it. She bit her lip, speaking into the phone now.

”I hate you...” she mumbled. Tora burst into laughter on the other line. ”This is not funny, I'm going to freeze to death!”

”Maybe it will be warm in there.” he suggested.

”And if not, oh brilliant Tiger?” she inquired.

”Ask your brother for his jacket.”

”....” She couldn't see it, but Tora was smiling on the other line. He was laying back on his couch in his sweat pants, his pet cat Chicken rolled up into a ball on his stomach. He scratched his pets head. ”Whatever.” she pouted and grabbed her purse on the bathroom sink, Tora let out a chuckle.

”Oi, you're nervous aren't you? Why?” he asked, knowing her far too well. She was like his little sister.

”Shut up.”

”Come ooon, you can trust me. How long have we been friends for?”

”Felines are of the devil, so no.” She responded. Tora rolled his eyes. She was like his sister, sometimes she even annoyed him.

”How about this, if I guess your favorite animal, you will tell me. Ok?” He scratched his cat behind the ears, hunching in his neck to keep the phone to his ears.

”Fine. Go.”

”Wait, does Saga know what it is?”

”Nope. We don't really talk about that kind of stuff.” she replied. Suddenly, she could hear dialing through the other end. ”Tora, what are you doing?”

”Calling Saga, maybe I will have more of a chance.”

”うそー！ うそつけ！(Uso[No way!], usotsuke[Lier/Cheater!])”



”もしもし！？ (Moshi, Moshi!?)” Takeshi leaned on one leg, one hand still in pocket as he held the cellular device close to his ear. ”虎 ? 何 ? (Tora? Nani[what?])”

”Nee, let's guess Ayas favorite animal.” Tora randomly spouted.

”Heiii?[Ehhh?]” His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, a part of him was tempted to just hang up the phone. Tora explained the situation to him. From the corner of his eyes he took a peek at BJ, who was still asleep and trying to wake up, and sighed agreeing to participate. It would be fun to pick on his sister a bit.

”Ok Aya, some hints. Is it big or small?” Tora questioned.

”Hmm...”

”Definitively small.” Saga added. An awkward silence followed on Ayas end.

”Big.”

”HEEIII!?” Saga and Tora exclaimed.

”Maybe it's massive eh? So surprising.” Saga was a bit shocked honestly. Tora nodded.

”Hmmm, ok ok. Another one. Soft or hard?” Tora asked again. Saga restrained a chuckle, covering his mouth slightly. Tora didn't notice.

”Soft.” she stated matter-of-factly, her tone gentle.

”Oooh, I wonder what it is? Something big and soft huh?” Tora stared up at his ceiling.

”マッテイ! マッテイ! (Mattei, mattei[wait, wait.]” Saga burst into laughter but regained himself for a little while, ”Can I ask a question?”

”Sure, go ahead.” Tora replied. Saga laughed again but stopped.

”It is long or short?” he laughed like an immature kid with the giggles and then it clicked in Toras head and he begun to laugh too.

”Oi! Oi! Oi!” Tora exclaimed.

”Buuzz! Buuuzz! Question invalid!” Aya pouted, puffing out her cheeks as they turned beat red.

”No dirty jokes allowed Saga!” Tora laughed and so did Saga.

”Question time is up for you guys. What is the answer?” Aya asked. Both whined in disapproval but sucked it up.

”Hmm, something big and soft...massive...er, a Panda!” Tora gussed, it was quiet. ”Aya? Aya what is the answer?”

”A cat.” She responded.

”Wtf, a cat isn't big!” Saga shook his head and both Tora and Saga laughed in disbelief. ”Who are you, Arietty? You have to be like Arietty for a cat to be considered that!”

”Tough luck Tora, I'm getting off the phone now.” She ended the call.

”Oi! You tricked me! You said cats are of the devil!!!” Tora sat up and Chicken jumped off his lap. Saga laughed.

”Gotta go man, going to head to the party. Sayonara.”

”Sayonara.”

Saga kicked the bed again. ”Ready yet, Jay?”



Aya shoved a smaller version of the Katana, a Wakizashi into the back strap of her Jumper along with her regular Katana she had finally obtained and decided on to be her main weapon. Inside her purse were some shurikens, kunai, pocket size mirror, handkerchiefs, and mints. Just in case...

She stepped out of the bathroom, not sure if her roommate was still there in this large room and called out to her. ”Colette? Do you want to walk to the feast together?” As surprised as she was the first day to realize Colette was her roommate, she was quite happy. For a second the two were weirded out with each other, thinking that they were following one another but soon and quickly realized they were roommates. It was a relief to live with someone so much like herself. They didn't talk much but when they did it always went by well. Polite and intelligent conversations. Random and silly conversations here and there although very rare since Aya never got comfortable enough for that. It did bother her when Riley was always around Colette so she would immediately hurry off somewhere else giving the two of them their space. Even if he DID help her brother, she still didn't trust him. He just...looked untrustworthy and scary and....she was sure he was planning something.

Estabel was out in the enclosure, galloping around with Fucuello and racing one another. Of course Fucuello won but when it came to wrestling one another, Estabel was the champion due to her body type and powers. Currently, they were getting a drink from a nearby stream. Estabel jumped in and kicked water up at Fucuello and he ruffled his feathers in distaste.

”My beautiful feathers!” he screeched. Estabel laughed, seeming to be filled up with much more energy than before and less of a depressing unicorn. Fucuellos ridiculous reactions were most amusing. She kept kicking water up at him and he hid behind a tree.

”Stop it, stop it this instant!” he neighed. Estabel giggled and came after him behind the tree, her fur drenched in water and trying to rub against him. He screamed bloody murder before giving up at this and jumped in the water himself. Both laughed and played in the water, messing around with each other while waiting for their Ryders.

All was quiet in Derek Thorns room, even with all the bustling about in the hallway for the feast it was peaceful in his quarters. The lights were turned off, sunlight peeking in through the shades of the window that looked out onto the enclosure. Bags were under his eyes and they appeared a bit red, he hadn't slept in about a week. He closed his eyes, he was scared. Soon his body wouldn't be able to go on without much sleep like this and he would be forced to see nightmare after nightmare. He gulped, trying to enjoy the peace. Smooth breathing, hands behind his head, gentle breathes. Unexpectedly, he fell into a light sleep.

Then they came, the whispered words screaming like a million birds. Voices calling in his head.
They are taunting. They want him dead. He winced and rolled onto his side, trying to ignore it. It was a sweet calling, always that femanine voice. The one person he was always weak to calling out to him again and again. Inside his head, demons crawl.

"You cannot escape, you cannot run!
We all know what you have done!"

"We all know you like to be alone!
Let us take over and we'll be a clone!"

"You know how to get rid of me.
Maybe I'll just stay for an eternity."

Quiet, quiet! They are not real! They are not real! His breathing began to quicken, his jaw clenching shut tightly. Sweat began to trickle down his bare chest, he was near hyperventilating. Shut up! Shut up! He felt cold hands run down his arms.

”Derek...” it spoke gently. He shot up out of bed, panting heavily already in a sweat. He looked around the room, looking for her.

”No ones here. Relax.” Kirk purred lowly, getting up to his feet and jumping onto Dereks back, laying beside him. ”She's not here.” Derek covered half of his face with a hand. When would the ghosts finally leave him alone?

Macari sat on the end of her bed, holding two dresses out in front of her. Pippin was splayed on his side, looking up at her from the floor with the same look of concentration she had. “Let’s go with that one, I can even wear a matching bowtie!” He pointed up at the dress with a high collar and no sleeves. It was a splatter of blues with a large silver band at the stomach to separate the colors, and it was knee high in the front and came down to her mid thighs. May nodded in agreement, a cheerful smile to her face. The event Draconem had planned for them sounded really exciting, plus it would be good to see those she had met once more. ’Speaking of which….’ She mused lightly, a happy look to her face, and mischief reflected the same way on Pip’s. Macari had no roommate as of yet, and she didn’t entirely expect to be getting one any time soon, either.

Rubbing down the bottom of her dress, Macari smiled confidently, and Pippin stood beside her with a white collar that had a little blue bowtie connected to the front of it. No makeup adorned her face, and she had simple Converse sneakers on. “Well, let’s go find our two person entourage.” And off the pair went, down the corridors of the girl’s wing until they popped out into the room where the two genders split. With a wry grin, May glanced down at Pippin and suddenly darted ahead, forcing her Companion to chase after her.

The two suddenly came to a stop in front of one of the doors, and Minx rapped lightly on it. After a few seconds of waiting, she pressed her ear against the door listening to see if he was even there. It could certainly be a possibility, and May scolded herself for not considering it. However the door suddenly opened and she wobbled forward a bit from the absence of solidity. Luckily, she regained her balance before falling straight onto Derek. She closed her eyes as she tilted her head up to smile at him, “There you-“ As she opened her eyes, her sentence sort of derailed and trailed off into a mumble slash babble. Why did he have no shirt on!? Furthermore why did he have so many muscles!? Her eyes kinda just remained glued there for a few more moments before she coughed awkwardly and broke her daze as he spoke.


”What?” The grouchiness in his tone only made Macari cross her arms with a firm grin, and Pippin sat by her shoe with a small yawn. “What are you doing?? There’s a feast going on and you and I are missing out on it right now! Go get dressed, and do it quickly you ninny.” She stuck her tongue out fractionally in a playful gesture. Pippin looked past Derek’s leg as a dark form emerged from the shadows of his room. It was none other than Kirk, and Pip made a small cough in his direction. Once he had discovered Derek had been the Ryder, Pippin made only short quips at the male, but otherwise remained silent after what Macari had told him. ~’People deal with things differently, and it’s obvious that the two were paired together for a reason.’~
Minx herself had been a little shaken up at the revelation, but had otherwise shrugged it off with a sheepish grin. “Off ya go.” Her eyes looked up into his pleadingly, and the darkness from his room only made her pupils larger as she made a puppy dog face.


May snickered as Kirk sealed the deal, and as Derek turned she did the fastest thumbs up she could as the door slammed right in front of her. She rocked back and forth on her heels, a happy smile on her face as she waited for him. As the door opened once more, her eyes jumped expectantly at the color before her. A tiny smirk wiggled onto one corner of her lips, and she was tempted to speak aloud, but refrained from pushing him too far. ’We seem to match a bit, huh?’ Pippin looked up at her with a smirking grin, and nodded his agreement.

Minxy watched as Kirk padded off ahead of them; she kinda owed the tiger for talking Derek into this, but eh, the cat probably wouldn’t care anyway. “Shall we?” She offered her arm with an excited, though grateful, look.