Gently the water from the stream gushed past as a slightly off-key melody filled the air. At the side of the river was a man with short red hair, and two bangs tracing the outside of his face. He relaxed gently, his eyes closed as he hummed to himself, waving his feet with the melody he recited. A stem of grass moved to the other side of his mouth lazily. From this point, you could just barely hear the bustle of Ascalon City, it's walls glowing in the morning sun. On the other side, the bells of Ashford Abbey rang out in the morning air.
From above the young elementalist, a leaf fluttered down, swooping and falling until it landed perfectly on his nose. With an unhurried air, the man sniffed at the leaf, trying to persuade it to go away with the least amount of effort. The leaf proving more resilient than he'd though, Red pulled his hand out from behind his head and swatted at it, knocking it away. With a huge sigh, Red sat up, running his fingers through his hair to clear any grass or dirt. Slowly he clambered to his feet and stretched with a yawn. The teen's robes were a light purple with a red trim around the seams.
"Guess I'd better get going... Don't want to be late." Red murmured to no one in particular. With an air of not wanting to do what he's doing, he set off down the road, his hands stuck firmly in his pockets.
Shortly behind him, ran a smaller girl, her purple hair tied in a sloppy bun. She had a piece of buttered bread sticking out of her mouth as she ran, a worried expression across her face. She wore a light purple skirt with a matching shirt on top, highlighted in blue along the seams. She raced around the trees, nearly tripping over a few roots on her way.
'First day of academy and I wake up late, crap!' She scolded internally. 'Karria, when are you going to buy a new rooster, and why did you have to torch that last one?' She continued her inner monologue, set on autopilot as she sprinted to the capital city. A few moments later, she caught sight of a similarly dressed man, lazily walking in the same direction as her. In moments she caught up to him and stopped to catch her breath.
Red looked at the girl in amusement. She definitely looked like the type who wasn't used to being late to anything. Wearily, Kar looked up at the bemused expression and blushed furiously. Pulling the bread out of her mouth, she stood up and looked him in the eye.
"Aren't you worried that you'll be late?" Her anger wasn't particularly impressive. Red looked down at her, easily a foot taller than she.
"Because I'm in no hurry." Was the simple reply.
"Fine, see you there, maybe. If they let you in." Karria snapped, turning and running again, her shyness blown away by this rude and lazy man.
Red watched as she went, lowering his gaze a bit as she went. He smirked and continued shuffling along the road. He hated the academy; it gets people killed.
Karria sighed, glancing nervously around her. She wasn't used to being near this many people at all. All around her were people her age, and all socializing. All the men seemed to be trying to impress the girls, and the girls were having none of it as they shunned the boys at every pass. She looked around and spotted a man leaning against a wall, dressed similarly to her, only with black lining on his robes. She approached him slowly, stopping about a yard away. He had dirty blond hair cut short around his head. Karria raised her arm in a wave at him.
"Er... Hi there, I'm Karria Darakiin... May I know your name?" She asked awkwardly. The teen looked at her, then looked away silently. It was apparent that he wasn't talking. Karria glared suddenly at him and repressed the surge of fire that had suddenly entered her mind.
'Anger won't solve the issue here.' She thought to herself, turning away from him.
Meanwhile, at the gate on the other side of the courtyard, Red slipped in. As he took his fifth step in, the gates slammed shut behind him, the bell ringing signifying that Academy was in session. Several rugged individuals lined the stage at the front of the court, being the trainers of the classes. The way the Academy worked was each profession was broken into sections, at which point those sections were broken down into groups of three, and a teacher. Eying the crowds movements, Red maneuvered into the group of elementalists, blowing kisses at the female mesmers as he walked. Most glared, while a few giggled.
Karria watched his display with disgust, crossing her arms over her modest bosom. She never got hit on by guys... 'Not that I want to be hit on by that slob!' As they teens all settled down, the eldest of the instructors pulled out scrolls and read out names. Karria eagerly awaited her group, not taking in the scenery around her. The walls were bleached stone, glowing beautifully in the morning sun, not a cloud in the sky. After the third group was called, a small female instructor stepped forward. She had blond hair down to her mid back, and wore exotic black and golden robes. She smiled happily at the crowd of students, white teeth making her even more attractive.
The sage old Elementalist smiled and read from the list, like it was programmed into him: "Miela, Lady of the Willow. Elementalist first class. Students are as follows..." He paused for dramatic effect, grinning beneath his beard as he watched the crowd draw in breath in anticipation.
Karria shivered, she knew she was going to be this woman's student, but who were her partners going to be?
"Karria Darakiin, please come to the front and stand with Miela." Karria bounced a curtsy and hurried to the front, smiling shyly shaking hands with the radiant woman and standing beside her, hands clasped in front of her, eyes towards the ground. The sage smiled and turned to the list again. Running his finger down the page as if he'd lost his place, he had to bite his tongue. The look on every person's face was hilarious, most looked so worried about who this next person would be, they looked like someone had just announced their new sibling was a Bog Skale.
"Jakob Amos, please come to the front and stand with Miela." Karria jumped as the man she'd tried speaking to earlier stood up and walked towards them, a completely expressionless face bestowed. He shook hands with Miela and stood to her other side, crossing his arms and staring away from everyone else.
The sage gave up the whole dramatic bit at this point, simply naming the next name: "Red Talisin come to the front and stand with Miela." Red smiled lazily as he made his way to the front. He looked down at Miela and shook her hand, smiling happily at her before shooting a glance at Karria. He winked.
Internally, Karria was ready to throw this guy down the side of the castle. Not only was he late, cocky, and annoyingly attractive, but now he could make her blush! She humph'd in the opposite direction and raised her nose disapprovingly. Red sighed and shrugged, looking at Jakob as if to say "Women..." Jakob ignored him, turning even further away. Miela laughed at their antics before turning back to the rest of the selection process.
As everyone was sorted into their groups, the instructors began to move their groups out the gate and back into the field. After a short but silent walk, Miela and the three apprentices arrived at the base of a large oak tree next to the river. She turned and sized them up, watching each of their reactions. Karria reacted shyly at first, kicking some dirt gently and staring at the ground. Jakob stared impassively back at her, not challenging nor submissing. Red grinned toothily back at her, a flash of almost ironic intellect behind his eyes for a moment.
'All in all, an interesting group.' She mused, shifting to her other leg and rubbing her chin.
She smiled serenely, "Well, I guess I should introduce myself first. My name is Miela of the Willows, I'm very experienced with magic, and I'm going to be making your life hell for the next three weeks."