Chapter 3. - Elra
Somehow Neferet's tattoos had managed to slip my eye, goodness knows how. They were truly amazing a cluster of pattern and beauty. I was caught gawking, but Neferet simply smiled,
"Miss Calion, if you are about to ask me about your tattoos in relation to mine, I must ensure you again, I'm afraid I have no answers for you" It was as if she had read my mind. Weird.
We rounded a final corner and the realisation hit, I must look an absolute mess, I wasn't about to meet a whole new school looking terrible, I quickly smoothed my long black hair and straightened my favourite tee shirt. I guess it's the best I can do right now, also making sure I had no make-up smudges under my eyes. Finally I stepped into the dining area with Neferet, the whole place was full of chatter and laughter; felt just like high school all over again. But as I walked by with Neferet a cold silence appeared followed by a mass of stares. Fantastic.
As I looked around I noticed all of these fledglings only had a single blue crescent outline, not silver, not filled and defiantly no tattoos. Shit.
Neferet quickly walked ahead of me, smiling at her students as she went, they quickly regained chatter as she went passed, but the glares at me continued. I took my gaze away from the students towards the end of the dining hall, a long table was set up with a statue of a striking woman who I guessed was Nyx, the table was also set with rich fruits and meats. It looked glorious.
I was stopped before a table of five fledglings, who, when all saw Neferet crossed their fists over their hearts, whilst bowing slight and muttering "Merry meet." I noticed one of the fledgling girls also had tattoos and a filled in mark. Thank Goddess now all I need is someone with ears and a tail and I'm all set.
"Elra Calion this is Miss Zoey Redbird, our high priestess in training, as you can see she also possesses the tattoos and mark similar to your own" I could of sworn at that moment Zoey had a glimmer of hate in her eyes towards Neferet, but then again I could be wrong.
"Yeah but at least hers are normal coloured" I had realised I had thought aloud until Neferet laughed softly,
" I shall leave you be to get acquainted, I forgot to mention before but your mentor will be Dragon Lankford, he is currently away on business but will return in a few days, he is very eager to meet you, also all of your uniform will be present in your room when you return, Blessed be Elra"
" Erm blessed be Neferet, thank you, please if you get any answers at all, find me, Goddess knows I need them" With a nod she turned and gracefully strode out of the hall.
I sighed and turned to face the five fledglings who were smiling at me and politely trying not to stare at my ears and tattoos, I felt my ears flatten in embarrassment, better get this over with.
"Hi...I'm Elra, nice to meet you all"
" Damn twin those ears are gorgeous, I wonder where I can find a pair" A girl of a mocha colour was suddenly staring intently at my ears, "ex-excuse me?" I stammered. A rather looking adorable boy piped up and saved me,
"Hello, I'm Damien, don't mind Shaunie she will comment on anything she thinks she can turn into a fashion statement and then worry about their feelings later"
"Oh give it up you queen, you would grab them first if you could"
I was about to jump in, commenting on how harsh they were being to one another, but they burst out laughing, thankfully it was only banter.
" Elra it's nice to meet you, I'm Zoey, feel free to pull up a chair and don't mind this lot, they soon grow on you" she smiled at me
As I sat down I realised I was extremely uncomfortable, my tail was in the way! I fought with it for a moment before giving up and just perching on the end of my seat so it would wrap around me. I sighed and looked up to notice the whole table was stifling giggles.
"Laugh if you have to, you have no idea how much of a pain in the ass it is", only once I realised what I said I burst out laughing myself. At least that's another way to break the ice.
A smaller and even more adorable boy sat next to Damien gave me a short wave, "Hi Elra, I'm Jack, your ears are magnificent and your tattoos are just amazing! I bet Duchess would love you!" This kid was really animated but sweet.
"Thanks Jack, but I'm sorry, who's Duchess?" I scanned the table and my eyes fell on a blonde girl sat next to Shaunie, she gave me a quick look of shock
" Oh no, I'm not that mutt of his, I'm Erin" Oops. " But damn twin you are right about those ears of hers" I was completely lost at this point.
"Who is Duchess? And you two are Twins?" Everyone laughed, but once again Damien saved me,
"Duchess is Jack's dog, Erin and Shaunie may as well be twins, it's as if they were separated at birth, even their cat chose them both"
"What? Cats?" I'm lost again.
"Here in the House of Night cats have always been highly associated with vampires, but here the cat chooses you, not the other way around" As Damien explained I leant back in my chair a little,
"Wow that's quite amazing but I don't think a cat would come anywhere near me" my voice trailed off and I didn't realise a few tears were falling down my face until I felt my ears flatten. Embarrassed I quickly grabbed for a napkin, only to see Jack quickly run off. Great I probably scared him off.
Zoey dropped me a sympathetic look but seemed unsure what to say, I mean, what could she really?
Moments later Jack came back into view accompanied by a mass of golden fur that I could only assume was Duchess.
"Now Duchess, Elra is new here and is feeling a bit on the down side, go help her feel welcome and put a smile back on her face" Jack looked directly at the dog who woofed softly and trotted straight over to me, as if she understood every word the boy had said.
The huge lab jumped up, placed her beastly sized paws on my shoulders and proceeded to lick my face within an inch of my life. I had always liked dogs so this was not a bother to me, I laughed and gave her a good ruffle behind her ears.
"Thank you Duchess, it's lovely to meet you" The lab got down and settled by feet protectively in case I broke out in another crying attack. I looked around the table and everyone gave me a quick smile, then carried on with their conversation. I closed my eyes and relaxed, maybe this place could really be home.