The Zodi Academy

[Blind-Fox]

It has been a while since Kiyoshi left the group outside to tend to each other and went in search of his room, "If i remember correctly it should be in the Earth dorm..." he thought as he made his way to the said dorms, weaving his way through hallways and flights of stairs in hope of finding an empty room. It wasn't long before he came across a room that was a decent size and seemed very cozy, with only a few dressers and a bed, "Well this seems pretty nice...". With that said, Kiyoshi carried his belongings into the room and started to unpack, making sure to organize his possessions before leaving his room. Not long after did he hear someone coming down the hallway and draw nearer to his room. Curious, Kiyoshi stole a quick look outside his room and only saw the stranger's back, but that was enough for him to know that it was Kurama, "Great, out of all the people it could have been why did it have to be him ..." Kiyoshi mumbled as he face-palmed. He looked up as more footstep were heard and decided to make a quick retreat back into his room.

Kiyoshi continued to stare at the ceiling from his position on his bed, pondering about why he was here, why he felt a strange attraction to Mizu and what kind of food this academy had. "So hungryy ... But before Kiyoshi could continue with his thinking, he heard the voices either multiply or disappear, perking his interest. Leaving his bed, Kiyoshi made his way to the hallway and found Mizu standing there with Kurama. "What are they up too?" he mumbled as he glared at Kurama, but before he could make his way pver there, he watched as Kurama planted a quick peck on Mizu's cheek which also caused Kiyoshi to stumble a bit. He continued to watch as Kurama turned the corner and left before making his move toward Mizu. Kiyoshi tapped Mizu on the shoulder before asking, "So what was going on between you and Kurama?" Kiyoshi then gave a sweet smile while he waited for an answer.

-ooc- sorry for the late and crappy post but I'm kinda tired and depressed about how bad Canada's doing in the Olympics TT^TT but hopefully I'll have a better post next time-

[Mikoto]

"Don't cry, child." the lion half asked, half demanded. Arisa blinked several times, trying to get herself together, she didn't usually just burst out crying like that, she didn't like to cry; but for some reason this lion being here before her seemed so right, like everything was falling into place like the peices of a puzzle. Most people would have been shocked if a lion appeared before them like that all of the sudden.
"Your confused." the lion stated, a knowing glint in his eyes.

"Who are you?" Arisa said in a soft pleading voice, moving backward slightly. She then proceeded to pinch herself multiple times, causing the lion to smirk slightly.
"I'm Leo." he said, winking one eyes slightly.
"Leo? Like my horoscope sign?" Arisa asked, rubbing her arm that was now red from being pinched so many times.
"Yes." was all Leo said in reply.
"Why are you here?" Arisa asked, burrying her face in her arm as she wiped the tears away. The lion simply gave her one last look, the way she remember her mother would look at her when she was really little...before her mother hated her, and disappeared, a flame consuming it and ashes littering the ground as it vanised.

Arisa bit her lip, trying not to cry any more, she shook her head. Why am I crying like this? And what the hell just happened? she thought. For some reason when that lion had showed up, it felt like she had finally found something she had been looking for...like...another half of her. The lion--Leo seemed to act like and think he was her father; but it felt good to Arisa. She had no mother or father and sometimes felt very lonely, but she tried not to get into that state. She was a very extroverted person, much like her sign and always felt like she needed someone to need her, but she trusted herself too much to ever find herself needing anyone else. Maybe that's why her mother hated her...

[dark-alchemist]

"Don't you get it? You're not doing anything wrong, you're doing everything right."

Mizu was puzzled by Kurama's words, but what shocked him was when Kurama leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. Mizu felt his cheeks got a deep shade of red as his hand instantly flew to his cheek. "W-what just happened?!" Stammering, Mizu clutched his sketch book tightly as his mind was filled with confusion, and was intent on following Kurama in order to interrogate him, with hopes that the kiss was just a friendly greeting... a really friendly greeting.

Before he could follow through with his plan, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was Kiyoshi. "Hi Kiyoshi, sorry but I'm sort of in a hurry at the moment," just when he was about to leave, Kiyoshi asked him something.

"So what was going on between you and Kurama?"

When he saw Kiyoshi's sweet smile, Mizu knew that something was wrong, especially when he asked him that question. Sighing, Mizu answered the question. "There's nothing going on between us, we're just friends, really good friend...I hope." Mizu whispered that last part quietly to himself as he turned around and ran in the direction he saw Kurama go in hopes of clearing things up, leaving Kiyoshi by himself.

[AngelDreams]

Angel by now was a little bit confused. Maybe going back to the dorm was going to help a little bit. She knew that there had to be a reason for all of them to be here in this academy or whatever it was. She headed to the fire dorms. It was the only place where she felt peace and free from reality. When she walked in she heard faint sobs coming from one of the beds. She took a closer looks and noticed that it was Arisa. Angel noticed that the fire in the middle of the room was gone as if someone had put it out. When she stepped closer to it it came back to life. But the fire was kind of low than usual.

She walked up to Arisa and sat at the edge of her bed. "Arisa, is everything ok?" she asked .

[Mikoto]

Arisa looked up as Angel came into the room. Quickly wiping away the tears of the sleeve of her shirt, she gave a weak smile.
"Yeah, of course!" she said, trying to sound cheerful, but she knew she wasn't fooling anyone. "Eh, yeah I was crying. I'll admit it, but really, I don't do that very often...for the record." she said, defending herself as she sat up straight in bed, placing her hands on her hips.
"But now that I have...it kinda feels good...ya know? Like I've been hiding all of this inside." she said with a sigh.

"Anyways, if you are wondering what I'm crying about, to tell you the truth I really don't know." she said laughing to herself slightly.

[FrostbittenAngel]

Aquarius kept a hurt and serious face ,but bursted out laughing. "It's alright. I'm just screwing with you." Her tail split in two and the scales seemed to peel off and turned into greening blue vails that hung off her hips, exposing long legs. She walked over to Zane and sighed.
"Don't you think it's strange that all of you were catagorized by element? And Kaida controls water so how was she put in the wind dorms." she smiled and put a hand on Zanes shoulder. "It will all become clear soon." she looked at Kaida. "You're awfully quiet. Tell me what your thinking." Kaida nodded. "It's just alot to take in." Aquarius smiled. "It is, I know, but you'll seen soon enough."

[zen_ink]

Zane perked up. "Wait a minute... We were all categorized by element... Of course! Our zodiac signs! Libra is a wind sign. So is Aquarius, despite it's name. So then that means...." In a moment of epiphany, he was finally beginning to understand why these 12 people had been brought to this remote location, but before he could finish his thought, a loud chiming bell echoed through the entire valley in a melodious, oriental tone. Following the chimes came a booming, elderly sounding voice.

"Attention students.... Please gather in the central meditation room. I repeat, all students to the central meditation room."

And that was all the voice had to say.

Zane looked around, wondering what and who on earth was that and why they were all being called to the meditation room. He didn't even know there was a meditation room. He looked over at Kaida as his eyes met with hers, eyebrows still arched in confusion and shrugged. He walked out of the room and made his way down the tower, into the dojo, and found a big circular room outside in the center courtyard. There ground was stone, and there was water landscaped into small square shaped patches throughout the area. Several asian-style cushions sat on the stone flooring. There was a huge gong in front of the small cushions next to a larger cushion at the front of the area. Bamboo decorated the area and tall willow trees drooped overhead, casting several lines of shadows across the ground. In a larger pond-like patch of water behind the teacher's cushion and gong at the front of the "class" was a complex bamboo-constructed fountain, which offered it's soothing sound to the tranquil aura of the entire garden. All in all, it was needless to say that the area had been designed for focus and relaxation.

The elder walked out from the dojo and assumed his place at the large cushion next to the fountain and gong. He looked around with a slightly smiling, yet enigmatic and ultimately unexpressive face. He seemed so serene, humble, and wise; yet at the same time, regal, powerful, patient - and exuding a sense of comfort around him which made Zane feel at ease in his presence; he felt protected.

Zane waited patiently as did the elder for the rest of the students to arrive. He didn't know if he was allowed to take a seat on one of the twelve cushions in the area, so instead he just stood.

[AngelDreams]

Angel was about to say someting when suddenly she heard that she had to go to the meditation room. Meditation room? She didn't even know where that was. She stepped in the hallway and just kept on walking. She didn't know where to go, it was just as if she was being pulled. She walked around corners till she came out and saw a room. It was one of the prittiest. And then she saw Zane, they both made eye contact and she blushed. Angel stop this, just stay calm ok she said to herself. "So do you have any idea what we should do" she asked looking at the pillows and the stone. "Mmm should we sit down?"

[Mikoto]

"Attention students.... Please gather in the central meditation room. I repeat, all students to the central meditation room."
"Holy crap! We have a meditation room?" Arisa cheered, leaping off of the bed, a broad smile on her face as she trotted after Angel as she left the room. She really was not concerned about what the meeting was about, she guessed it was nothing other than an innocent introduction to the school...or academy, whatever this place was, Arisa really was not sure.

As she entered the room, her eyes grew wide and she surveyed to room with great interest.
"Wow...this place has got everything!" she said with a smile, walking toward Zane and Angel who were standing in a small group.

[chaostempest]

Walking along, seeing Angel run off to the meditation room, Kurama sighed not sure if he had any chance with Mizu or not. He looked around the Academy one final time before heading to the meditation room.

As he turned around, he noticed Mizu running to catch up with him. Kurama tilted his head to the side and didn't smile. He could feel rejection coming, could feel it running down his spine and it made him tense up and put um a wall around his heart. He didn't want to go through the entire process again, after losing his boyfriend to that damned homophobe. A tear escaped his eyes as the memories flashed again. He quickly wiped them, "I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry," He kept repeating softly to himself as he watched Mizu get closer and closer.

He thought about running away or just ignoring him completely and head for the meditation room was one thought he wished he would have gone through with instead he simply crossed his arms and met Mizu halfway.

Looking at Mizu, he sighed, "I already know what you are going to say, of course we can be friends Mizu," Kurama said softly as he smiled gently to Mizu and walked off towards the meditation room. Once there, and still with his arms crossed and tucked beneath his arm pits, he walked in slowly seeing Zane, Angel and Arisa already there.

Kurama didn't want to get into association with anyone at the moment so he stayed off a bit from the group and leaned against the wall awaiting the rest of them to come and the Elder to speak wherever the Elder was.

[FrostbittenAngel]

Kaida walked to the meditation room with Zane, still confused. She some other students join them and sighed. She wondered what this meeting was about.

[Traveler]

Chloe burst away from the rest of the group when Kurama seemed to have his hands full with Mizu and Angel had left them to enter another hallway that branched from the current. Perhaps now would’ve been a good time to explore a bit more of the academy, to learn a bit more about the grounds she was going to be living on for the next few weeks at the least. She, however, planned to be here as long as possible. Sometimes, things back home became a bit too chaotic, and Chloe was sure that she didn’t want to re-enter that chaos voluntarily.

Back at her dorm, Chloe started to open windows and look at the view outside of the giant room. Her camera in hand, she got a few shots of the sun, high above the horizon, through the grassy leaves of a tree that rested against the side of the academy. The leaves hanging from it had a bluish tint that seemed to be lined with golden veins. The branches were pale, but strikingly bright in a contradicting manner. Chloe took a few shots of the tree from the few available angles that the window gave her, then she was disturbed from her artistic bliss. A loud-speaker she had never noticed before started to speak after a bell chimed, echoing in her eardrums:

“Attention students.... Please gather in the central meditation room. I repeat, all students to the central meditation room."

She glared at the loudspeaker before responding with a snappy, “And where the hell is that?” Chloe smiled, then left the dorm, searching for any signs of life that could assist her into finding the right hallways. She heard nothing except for the calming patter of the stream. Making a mental note to figure where it came from and where it went later, Chloe brought her head out the Water Dorm lobby, then entered the main sector of the school. This familiar area brought out an unfamiliar feeling from Chloe. She felt lost, more lost than ever before, but not simply from not knowing which way to go, but for why. Perhaps this meditation room would come in handy.

After a few minutes of searching dead-end hallways, she heard a faint conversation. It was just enough to lead her into a room with 12 cushions on the floor. The rest of the room had a very oriental vibe to it and reminded her of what all of those old movies depicted Japan to look like. However, from personal experiences, Chloe had never actually thought to trust the television. All it gave up were lies, and that would remain to be as such for the remainder of her life.

On one of the larger cushions in the room was the elder who had greeted them at the beginning of their journey here before they spread out and invaded their dorms. She felt a little sorry for not introducing herself properly, but she was almost sure- oddly sure- that he already knew who she was and wouldn’t benefit from her telling him. Instead, she took note of the fact that Kaida, Zane, Angel, and Arisa were already standing about. Some further inspection revealed Kurama hiding himself by leaning against a wall and acting unapproachable, but Chloe knew better than to let these things go.

Chloe approached him with a look on her face that read: “Really?”. She nodded, then tried to see what was going on, “You okay?” She started, “You seem… disappointed. No, that’s not the word. Afraid? Upset? Insecure? Discouraged? Yes, that’s the word. Discouraged.”

[chaostempest]

Leaning against the wall, he was fairly at peace as he stood there using the wall as leverage. He hadn't seen Chloe walk in and was deep in thought about Mizu when she started talking.

"You okay?" She started, "You seem...disappointed. No, that's not the word. Afraid? Upset? Insecure? Discouraged? Yes, that's the word. Discouraged?" She finished and left Kurama feeling both depressed and confused. Depressed because he allowed his emotions to show ever so brightly on his persona and confused because she had named so many different feelings that actually fit what he was feeling at the time.

He forced a smile, "I'm fine Chloe, just thinking about Jason, my ex, He was killed before I came here, he protected me from some homophobe with his underwear on too tight," He said a tear escaping his eye, "I don't think I'll ever understand how he loved me so much to sacrifice himself for me. I think about it everyday, the look in his eyes, the way he kissed me before he died, I......I.....," Kurama was tired of holding back the tears and he simply broke down in front of Chloe showing weakness.

He slowly fell to the floor, holding his face in his hands as he cried, "I loved him and he was taken away from me, why does everyone I care about get taken away from me?" He asked trying to regain control of the situation.

[Traveler]

Chloe felt an instant sympathy for Kurama. He had lost a loved one, just as Chloe had several years earlier when her younger brother had been murdered before her very eyes. She, on the other hand, held herself together. It was her job to be strong when those around her couldn't be. Now was no exception to her rule, and she was sure that she was needed in this way more than ever. Things were changing too fast and bringing out the truth from people who would have normally never opened up as easily.

He just self-destructed before her very eyes, and she felt her eyes glaze as he continued explaining his situation. It must've been so painful for him to lose the one person he truly loved, to know that it was done to protect him. Chloe gripped her nails into her flesh, keeping herself from bursting out in tears as he was doing. Then Kurama fell to the ground, the hard flooring that was bound to be uncomfortable. But she didn't care. Chloe sat down next to him and gave him a hug, something she didn't give people often, but was starting to get used to from all of the events that were unveiling themselves within their first day here.

"It's okay, hon'." She whispered, trying to be as calming as possible while trying to ignore whatever impression she could be getting from the others in the room, "It'll be okay. Just let all of it out and think about it." Chloe braced herself for the greatest bullshitting she had ever done in a while, as much as she wished it was true, "Sometimes the things you desire the most come to you. You can still see him in dreams, in memories, in pictures. He won't fade away. And you won't be separated from him forever. You just have to take things day by day. Shhh..." Chloe slowed her breathing as best she could in order to calm Kurama down. Her embrace around him loosened slightly.

[zen_ink]

Zane stood awkwardly, swaying back and forth, trying to look occupied by observing the interesting decor of the "meditation room". He attempted to avoid direct contact with the elder's observant eyes, who he was becoming increasingly convinced was a slightly more intimidating character than he had previously expected. However, while proving to be intimidating in his own way, the elder retained his old sense of wiseness and comforting energy that Zane had originally picked up from him.

He was rather relieved when Angel suddenly entered the room, asking if they should sit. He was glad she offered, because he didn't know if it would be okay or not, but now, if they got in trouble for sitting, he could say it wasn't his fault. "Yes! Let's." He exclaimed, smiling gently at her. As they took their cushions, Arisa, too, entered.

"Wow...this place has got everything!" she exclaimed. Zane smiled on the brink of laughter. "I KNOW!!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "It seems like we just keep discovering more and more rooms, each one even more breathtaking than the last!! And I have a feeling we haven't even seen all there is to this place, just yet!"

He scooched over a little closer to Kaida, including her into their little circle they had going on as well.

"Right you are." The elder commented out of nowhere, in his regal tone of a struggling, elderly voice. "This temple holds many secrets, and many mysteries which you children are going to uncover, all in due time." Zane looked over at the elder, fascinated by what he was saying considering it was the first time he actually made conversational involvement. He nodded respectfully to the elder's words, positive that he was not exaggerating in his claim. But it made him wonder slightly, that maybe the "mystery" the elder was referring to was something a lot bigger than Zane was expecting.

Just then, Zane realized a commotion behind him, on the other side of the room. Kurama, who Zane hadn't even realized had come into the room, was crying hysterically in Chloe's arms, who he ALSO hadn't realized entered the room. His eyebrow arched up high in confusion, wondering what the heck was going on with them. He looked around at the others, feeling kind of awkward at the scene. He looked over at the elder, who seemed to maintain his perfect composure, and then he spoke again.

"It would seem there are only 6 of you here... Where are the others? Have they gone off and fled from the temple already?" the elder let out a hacking cough of a laugh. "I haven't even told you all the biggest news yet and you're already leaving me!" he let out another hacking laugh.

"Excuse me sir... But just what new's are you talking about..?"

Zane could not have been prepared for what the Elder said next.

[chaostempest]

All the emotion he had held in at the funeral the day before he came to this Academy, all of it was flooding out in one big emotional breakdown. He hadn't cried during the wait, he hadn't cried during the funeral, but now at this moment, he truly felt alone for the first time. The person he thought his soul mate was gone, no one wanted an emotional wreck like him as a friend more or less a companion. He cried and cried shielding his face so that none could see him, as if holding back the world around him.

As he sat on the floor, crying, he felt the gentle embrace of a female. Though he continued to cry, he felt a little more soothed and slowly but surely, he settled down and his crying soon became sobs and then vanished completely.

"It'll be okay. Just let all of it out and think about it." Chloe had started and had paused as if to brace herself or maybe to inform herself of what she would say next. "Sometimes the things you desire the most come to you. You can still see him in dreams, in memories, in pictures. He won't fade away. And you won't be separated from him forever. You just have to take things day by day. Shhh..." She said slowing her breathing which calmed Kurama down. He could only imagine what everyone thought of him now. They would probably snicker behind his back or talk about his emotions being out of whack, but at this moment he would rip their fucking heads off if he ever even heard mention of what had happened today.

He smiled as he managed to hug Chloe back.

"Thank You," He said softly as he took a tissue out of his pocket and wiped the tears away from his face. Once he was released from the hug, he turned around, his face facing the wall and started fixing himself. Afterwards, he turned back around and was completely calm. His eyes weren't puffy at all, and it was as if he hadn't cried at all.

"Chloe, you're a awesome person, I could see us being friends even though we are polar opposites, you got my vote chica," He said softly feeling a lot better possibly because of her.

When the Elder began to speak of the others fleeing the temple and he actually managed to get a visual of everyone fleeing for their lives comically. He laughed just as the Elder laughed. Then the Elder spoke of bigger news, but Kurama wondered what bigger news was there?

He was already sitting, so he rummaged for a cushion that had his symbol on it and he re-sat on the mat.

[AngelDreams]

Angel sat down at one of the cushions. Even thought she wasn't used to it she liked it . It was good when suddeny she was surprised by what the elder had said. She couldn't wait for them to tell her the news. In the middle of the circular table were four circular plates. One had water, another fire, and another one a pile of dirt. The last one was empy, maybe it was for air. She leaned over to Zane, "What do you thinkn those are for?" she asked.

[Mikoto]

Arisa smiled as she saw Zane and Angel seat themselves on separate cushions. She too fell back into one, crossing her arms behind her head and sighing contentedly.
"Ahh...this is more like it." she said, a wide grin spreading across her face. She listened to the elder joke and nodded every once and awhile, the words going through her eyes yet not stick in her mind. She titled her head back slightly and nestled into the cushion.

Suddenly she was aroused when she heard sobs coming from the other side of the room, slowly sitting up, she looked across the room toward Kurama and Chloe. It was definitely not the kind of scene she would have expected to see...Kurama and Chloe...what a strange pairing. Then she remembered the Kurama had been crying before, she wondered what it was all about, but allowed the two their time to hold each other for the moment, Kurama sobbing.

She sunk back into the cushion, pretending she could not see what was happening between them, and fixed her eyes on the elder...a sudden tension had come to his eyes, like he was about to say something important...she waiting patiently for him to speak, leaning in slightly with a look a deep curiosity plain on her face.

[Traveler]

Chloe smiled silently to herself as Kurama started to calm down. It wasn’t often that she got to console people, but she was always the one people turned to when they needed it. Chloe had been there for broken souls, recently dumped, new orphans, friends who lost their pets or relatives, but it seemed as if all of this only went one way. She assumed that they would be there when she broke down. It was always a touching prospect, but there was no way to be sure of how that would work. Friends were always there when they needed you, but when she needed them there was no telling of their support. She felt differently about Kurama. He seemed to know what she had gone through, as he had gone through something of the same. The only difference was that his blow was more devastating. It was one thing to lose a family member, it was another ball park to lose someone you wanted to spend your entire life with.

Her display of teeth turned into a grin as he hugged her back, then released to pull out a tissue to remove the droplets from his cheeks. His thanks went accounted for and it added to the warm fuzzies that Chloe had obtained from helping another kindred spirit through a difficult time.

Then came the time for Kurama to put on his mask, one that could help him pull through whatever the Elder was going to say. However, he had one thing to add onto before joining the ranks of all the rest, Chloe, you're a awesome person, I could see us being friends even though we are polar opposites, you got my vote chica.”

Chloe nodded, “Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself.” She tried to restore the composition to her appearance, one that was much easier to establish that Kurama’s since she had not been sobbing. The only difference was the slight wet spot that was on her shoulder, something that could be brushed off as a water splurge, especially since she resided in the water dorms. Kurama placed himself upon a cushion in the group with the rest, and apparently they had assigned seatings, as a few of the cushions actually had their symbols upon them. Chloe’s own was a pair of fish, signifying Pisces. She spotted it as soon as the lighting in the room became prevalent to her perspective. It was two to the left of Kurama’s spot and there were three on the other side of her before it reached the Elder. She settled in as best she could, though she was never a fan of the floor.