Under Shadowed Wings

Genre: Action/Adventure, General

Rating: PG-13

Warnings/Spoilers: Cursing, some violence

Summary: Red Fountain reigns as a school for specialists, with a fine turnout for centuries. However... all goes to chaos when for the first time in years... a girl enters the scarlet doors as a student.

Yes... I have succumbed to this.

I am writing Winx Club fiction.

The horror, the horror.

There is reason behind the madness... just not the best. /rolls eyes/ Yeah...

Well, this was based on watching Winx Club and getting irritated at the options given to girls. You're either a sweet fairy at Alfea or you're a nasty witch at Cloud Tower.

Plus, let's admit it. All of the Winx Club girls are anorexic and focus on... well, too stereotypical interests. Plus sometimes they're not the brightest.

/sighs/

Hence, this awkward concoction.

She's a completely original character, yes. And she's going to kick butt. But she's going to have a hell of a time trying to get to that level.

/grins wryly/ See any resemblance to a certain fantasy series for girls?

Well... here we go. This tidbit is more of a teaser than anything else, a rod put out into the open waters, so to speak.

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Professor Codatorta, lieutenant headmaster and co-armsmaster of Red Fountain, stared at the parchment on his desk. The magically drawn ink portrait upon it stared right back at him stoically. Master Saladin glanced at him sharply with those penetrating, ancient eyes of his, one wrinkled hand upon the gold dragon on his cane.

The armsmaster took a deep breath, running a hand through his dark hair and pulling lightly at his beard. Then he looked back to the petite form of Alfea's headmistress, Miss Feragonda, upon his holo-monitor.

"This girl wants to be in Red Fountain?" he asked finally.

The sweet, frail looking woman sighed, nodding. "I am afraid so," she replied. "We had sent her family a letter inviting her to our school, before Cloud Tower could track her down, and she latched onto the idea of Red Fountain."

General Harding scowled, looking down at the black ink picture again. "Another one of those woman warrior types, eh?" he said dryly.

The headmistress shrugged helplessly. "She's been refusing all attempts to come to Alfea, Codatorta. But we can't let her go about with all her power-"

"Lest the witches or others get to her," Master Saladin finished for her. "And it's unethical and illegal to send someone to her to drain all of her power, not without her consent." He stroked the gold dragon upon his walking stick.

Codatorta scowled again, before ruffling through the file the headmistress had sent them.

"She's got better background than some of our lads here," he admitted grudgingly. "Some creed of martial arts, military based family, passion for history. It's not a bad thing. But she's a female."

The headmistress huffed. "Indeed. She seems the type who would at least know how to dress modestly as a young woman should." She muttered something about starting uniforms.

Codatorta stroked at his beard. The girl in the picture stared mercilessly up at him, black ink eyes slightly narrowed. He continued to read over her profile.

An Earth girl, he noted. Sole girl of four children and second youngest. Had shown signs of magic since infancy, though rather subdued and miniscule incidents, incurred in times of anger (though not petulance, it noted).

He tapped at the ink picture and like a flame eating paper, color bled into the parchment. A girl with black hair and dark eyes stared at him. She wasn't pretty at all, like fairy students in Alfea; her face was a touch too round, her lips a bit too small. Her tanned skin bespoke of constant sun and her black shirt was functional, not fashionable. That decidedly stubborn chin did not bode well either, or those almost insolent dark brown eyes...

Codatorta frowned.

Master Saladin said quietly, "These girls are of two categories: stubborn-willed, harsh females going against males simply to win and prove superiority, or... Well, I haven't met or seen too many of the latter. It's partially up to you, Codatorta. I may run this school but you teach them."

He scowled when weighing his options. This girl could not be allowed to walk about, not with wild powers. But she positively refused to go to Alfea and nothing short of mind control (which was most unethical, and illegal to boot) would persuade her. Yet if she came to Red Fountain... The school rested upon thousands upon thousands of years of tradition and prestige. No female had ever stepped foot in it, as a student.

The headmistress looked at him somewhat impatiently from her position on the holo-projector. "Well? What is your decision?" she asked, her sweet voice sounding somewhat strained.

He grimaced. Why did he have the feeling this would be the first of headaches this girl would be giving him?

Professor Codatorta, seasoned veteran and teacher and venerable military figure, took a deep breath as he looked to the hologram of the headmistress. "Fine, we'll take this Mara Frey. But only for a probation period. If she doesn't meet our standards, she's going straight to you."

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Sixteen-year-old Mara Frey hefted up her duffel bag onto her shoulder (those packing spells that they had sent had been very useful indeed) as her mother shot questions at her to make sure that everything was packed. Her black hair was still light on her head, freshly cropped short, her bangs still stubbornly falling into her dark eyes. She was dressed casually, in jeans and a plain gray shirt, comfortable sneakers on her feet.

"Shoes?"

"Sneakers, boots and slippers, Mom."

"Stationary and journal?"

"Tucked away and locked."

"Underwear?"

"Packed away neatly."

"Last hug to your family?"

Mara managed a smile for her mother. "Taking care of it now." She then pulled her mother in an enormous bear hug, engulfing the already smaller woman in her arms and kissing at the graying brown hair.

"Don't choke me, girl!" her mother said, lightly hitting at her. "Now take care of yourself." Her eyes were worried. "Are you sure about going to this school, Mara?"

Mara nodded. "I am, Mama. I'll take care of myself... and I'll try to come as often as I can on holidays. I promise."

"Those boys better not try anything funny with my daughter," her father said. He managed a smile.

"Tell you what, Dad, don't punish me if I have to castrate them and get detention for it." She went over to him and kissed him on the cheek, patting at his gray hair.

"All right, all right." He ruffled her hair playfully before pulling her into a tight hug.

Her two older brothers grinned at her before grabbing her in a double attack.

"Write to us, will you?" demanded the oldest, nineteen-year-old Roland, tall and gangly with startling ice blue eyes and a mop of dark brown hair.

"Tell us everything," said the next oldest, seventeen-year-old Matthew, shorter and stockier with short black hair and mischievous black eyes.

"Including how bad the boys are so we can go beat them up for you."

"Har har har, boys," Mara said darkly, wriggling out of their grasp to punch them both in the stomach.

Her younger brother hesitated before coming up to her. "Be careful, okay, Mara?" he said softly. Thirteen-year-old Daniel, the youngest and the most delicate, with long curls of pale brown hair and expressive, enormous hazel eyes, the brother Mara was closest to.

She hugged him close. "Of course."

"Maybe I can go too, and we can train together," he said.

Mara smiled and ruffled his curls. "Maybe... and I'll take care of you."

He kissed her cheek. "Write to me, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will." She shifted her duffel bag. Most of her life, stuffed into magically enhanced luggage... She took a deep breath, a bird flapping madly in her stomach (or so it seemed). 'I'm finally going to Red Fountain... I get to be a knight!'

She checked her watch. It was nearly time to go. She walked a few steps from the house, near the street sign they had indicated for her to wait at. The seconds counted off and at the exact moment of twelve, she felt a ghostly sensation over her skin and knew nothing for what seemed like an eternity.

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So, what do you all think? It's just a teaser really. The twisted part is though, I've already written the later chapters. That's me for you, jumping around with scenes and trying to connect them together. Well... let me know if you like this.