Shen slowly walked into the classroom on the first day of school. After slowly looking around the room he realized this was going to be a long year. Written on the white out board in even small letters said 'Creative Writing'. He took a desk about front and center; he really had wanted to take this course and was not about to miss a thing. After putting his books under his desk he took a deep breath and turned to gaze at the 4 other people in the room. A guy he would soon know as Tadi sat about half way back on the far right side of the room by the window. He had shoulder-length white-blond hair that ruffled as a breeze moved it. It was pulled back into a ponytail and sat on his right shoulder. Light blue eyes stared right back at Shen; embarrassed, he jerked his head away to escape those eyes. On the other side of him, on the same row as Tadi, sat a girl. She was in his homeroom and was named Aithne. Her short red hair stuck out from her neck, looking like little spikes. Her red and orange shirt was sliced on the sleeves into jagged wavy points that looked as though they were burning her tan shoulders. Moving his eyes further to the back of the room he caught sight of another girl. One look at her and his eyes widened. Shen began to believe there was defiantly something wrong with her.
Eathelin saw a guy with a weird expression on his face looking at her. Great, another person who thinks I'm from a different planet. He'll just have to get over it like the rest of them. Her long wavy hair was dyed blue.
Shen saw her take a swig from a water bottle at her feet and decided to try not to judge her. He guessed she might be nice if he got to know her. Or a complete phyco whose parents don't care. He almost laughed at the thought, all she did was dye her hair after all. Finally, he gazed on Kaj. Just looking at him made Shen remember the warning a guy in homeroom had given him. He used to live on the streets with a group of orphan kids, but he got caught and put with some foster home. He left the home to live with the kids again, but he comes to school now. But still, 16 years on his own! 16! His brown hair did look a little messy, and his pale green shirt had a few dirt smudges on it, but he was reading a book. That proved he wasn't a total moron. Kaj's deep jade eyes flicked over to him and back to his book. Shen was going to ask what book it was when a woman burst through the door. Her steady dark eyes and smooth ageless face showed no expression, but the way her dark hair had started to frizz gave her exasperation away.
"Hello class, I am Ms. Damondred." she said in a voice as smooth as milk. "Ms. Liandrin, across the hall, needs more desks for her Algebra class, so I'll be taking away all the chairs we don't need." She threw an exasperated look across the hall. "Well, what are you standing around here for? Move!" The 5 students let to their feet and started pulling desks across the hall.
Upon returning to the room, the 5 slightly tired teens found Ms. Damondred reading a book called How To Manipulate Without Breaking the 3 Oaths for Dummies. "Ok class, first things first; this is not a regular class. I, in fact will let your imagination roam, within reason." She drew out the 'within reason' as she gave a 'don't-even-try-it' to each teen in turn. "Most of the time I will let you do your own thing." As she gazed at the strange star formation the desks had made she instructed the students to turn their desks inward so they could see each other. "Now, I'm going to leave for 6 minutes, you all will get to know each other and when I return you will introduce yourselves to me. Fair?" Again she eyed them with a 'don't-screw-this-up' look and left.
Silence.
Finally Aithne jumped onto the desk and began to swing her legs. With a leadership-like manner she said, "Erm, hey. I'm Aithne, Ai for short." she looked around the group and randomly picked someone. "All right, you're next." she demanded, pointing at Tadi.
Tadi looked around the group and relaxed. "No," he said, completely at ease.
Ai's eyebrows shot up. In a level voice that showed her agitation she stated, "I said, your next!!"
Tadi flinched at the direct reply. Woah, this one's forward. Just do it. "Uh, Tadi," was the reply with a little smile. "You," he finished, pointing at Eathelin.
Eathelin took a breath, "Well, I'm Ea-" for at that moment a crazy tall guy with blue eyes and redish hair jumped in and glared around the room. Surprised by the kids in the room, a blazing sword appeared in his hands. Deciding that they were no threat, the sword disappeared.
"Light, where is she?!" shouted the half-crazed man.
"Erm, excuse me??" Shen said.
"Morine! Blood and ashes!!! Morine!!!" shouted the man.
"Um.... no.... there is no 'Morine' here. Unless you are?" Tadi calmly relied, looking at Eathelin.
Eathelin's eyes widened a little, "No, nonono. I'm Eathelin, Eath." she stuttered.
"Bah, humbug!" the maniac man yelled and stomped out of the room.
"All right, fess up. Who brought the phyco for show-and-tell? Come on, you've had your show. Now tell." Ai said, a little annoyed. "Was it you, or you? You both seem kinda quiet...Fess up," looking from Shen to Kaj she waited, expecting an answer.
"Um... I think-" Shen started, but was cut off bye another intruder.
Ms. Damondred strode into the room, and caught sight of Eath's worried face. She said with a sigh, "Ok, so what did I miss?"
"Only a madman with a magic sword looking for a 'Morine'." came Eath's calm reply.
Ms. Damondred got a weird look on her face as she gazed into Eath's eyes. She stared at her for a while in a trance-like state. Shaking her head a little, she looked to Shen for an agreement; and found it. "Class dismissed. No homework." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eath's long wavy hair swung side to side as she walked down the hall. She wanted to tell someone about, what was it?, something that happened during class, but she couldn't remember what. That's really weird, why can't I remember? I bet the teacher put a spell on me. Heh. She slowly shook her head. But magic doesn't exist, does it? What about that sword? Sword? He was no magician, and that sword was real, I know that. But how? What? A sword? And that weird teacher. I swear I think she read my mind. But that's not possible, no not possible.
Ai ran up beside her. "Hey are you ok? Ms. D was really looking at you weird." All Eath could do was shake her head up and down. "You sure? All right then." they walked in silence for a little while. Finally, Ai looked up at Eath, who was about 3 inches taller, "I like your hair. You stand up for yourself and don't let people step on you." Eath sighed. "What's up with you?! Why won't you talk to me?! Are you mad?" Eath stopped walking. Ohmygosh! She's right! I can't talk! What's wrong with me?? HELP! I can't talk! HELP!!! She franticly waved her arms around. Ai looked up at her, panic forming in her eyes. She yanked Eath's arm and dragged her into the first bathroom they could find.
The white-tiled walls had long ago turned a dirty gray color, and graffiti was everywhere. The ceiling had turned a sickening yellow color from girls sneaking in here for a smoke. Eath sat on the sink, slowly but surely freaking out. Ai was digging through her button-covered messenger bag like a miner looking for lost gold. To calm herself down she read some of the graffiti. SF+DC 4ever. Kirby wuz here. For a good time call 653-2911. And then she saw a doodle-like picture of a beach. You could see the detailed sand grains and curled waved crashing onto the shore. For a moment she was entrapped in the picture. Inspired, she pulled a pencil from her bag and started looking for a piece of paper when a red notebook was jabbed into her face.
"Oh good, you found one. Now write down what's up." Eath jerked. She had almost forgotten she couldn't talk, or even that Ai was there in the first place. How could I forget something as important as that?! Flipping pages all she saw was squiggly marks with strange words written underneath them. Getting anxious, Ai snagged the book and flipped to a blank page somewhere in the back and shoved it back into Eath's hands.
Eathelin saw a guy with a weird expression on his face looking at her. Great, another person who thinks I'm from a different planet. He'll just have to get over it like the rest of them. Her long wavy hair was dyed blue.
Shen saw her take a swig from a water bottle at her feet and decided to try not to judge her. He guessed she might be nice if he got to know her. Or a complete phyco whose parents don't care. He almost laughed at the thought, all she did was dye her hair after all. Finally, he gazed on Kaj. Just looking at him made Shen remember the warning a guy in homeroom had given him. He used to live on the streets with a group of orphan kids, but he got caught and put with some foster home. He left the home to live with the kids again, but he comes to school now. But still, 16 years on his own! 16! His brown hair did look a little messy, and his pale green shirt had a few dirt smudges on it, but he was reading a book. That proved he wasn't a total moron. Kaj's deep jade eyes flicked over to him and back to his book. Shen was going to ask what book it was when a woman burst through the door. Her steady dark eyes and smooth ageless face showed no expression, but the way her dark hair had started to frizz gave her exasperation away.
"Hello class, I am Ms. Damondred." she said in a voice as smooth as milk. "Ms. Liandrin, across the hall, needs more desks for her Algebra class, so I'll be taking away all the chairs we don't need." She threw an exasperated look across the hall. "Well, what are you standing around here for? Move!" The 5 students let to their feet and started pulling desks across the hall.
Upon returning to the room, the 5 slightly tired teens found Ms. Damondred reading a book called How To Manipulate Without Breaking the 3 Oaths for Dummies. "Ok class, first things first; this is not a regular class. I, in fact will let your imagination roam, within reason." She drew out the 'within reason' as she gave a 'don't-even-try-it' to each teen in turn. "Most of the time I will let you do your own thing." As she gazed at the strange star formation the desks had made she instructed the students to turn their desks inward so they could see each other. "Now, I'm going to leave for 6 minutes, you all will get to know each other and when I return you will introduce yourselves to me. Fair?" Again she eyed them with a 'don't-screw-this-up' look and left.
Silence.
Finally Aithne jumped onto the desk and began to swing her legs. With a leadership-like manner she said, "Erm, hey. I'm Aithne, Ai for short." she looked around the group and randomly picked someone. "All right, you're next." she demanded, pointing at Tadi.
Tadi looked around the group and relaxed. "No," he said, completely at ease.
Ai's eyebrows shot up. In a level voice that showed her agitation she stated, "I said, your next!!"
Tadi flinched at the direct reply. Woah, this one's forward. Just do it. "Uh, Tadi," was the reply with a little smile. "You," he finished, pointing at Eathelin.
Eathelin took a breath, "Well, I'm Ea-" for at that moment a crazy tall guy with blue eyes and redish hair jumped in and glared around the room. Surprised by the kids in the room, a blazing sword appeared in his hands. Deciding that they were no threat, the sword disappeared.
"Light, where is she?!" shouted the half-crazed man.
"Erm, excuse me??" Shen said.
"Morine! Blood and ashes!!! Morine!!!" shouted the man.
"Um.... no.... there is no 'Morine' here. Unless you are?" Tadi calmly relied, looking at Eathelin.
Eathelin's eyes widened a little, "No, nonono. I'm Eathelin, Eath." she stuttered.
"Bah, humbug!" the maniac man yelled and stomped out of the room.
"All right, fess up. Who brought the phyco for show-and-tell? Come on, you've had your show. Now tell." Ai said, a little annoyed. "Was it you, or you? You both seem kinda quiet...Fess up," looking from Shen to Kaj she waited, expecting an answer.
"Um... I think-" Shen started, but was cut off bye another intruder.
Ms. Damondred strode into the room, and caught sight of Eath's worried face. She said with a sigh, "Ok, so what did I miss?"
"Only a madman with a magic sword looking for a 'Morine'." came Eath's calm reply.
Ms. Damondred got a weird look on her face as she gazed into Eath's eyes. She stared at her for a while in a trance-like state. Shaking her head a little, she looked to Shen for an agreement; and found it. "Class dismissed. No homework." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eath's long wavy hair swung side to side as she walked down the hall. She wanted to tell someone about, what was it?, something that happened during class, but she couldn't remember what. That's really weird, why can't I remember? I bet the teacher put a spell on me. Heh. She slowly shook her head. But magic doesn't exist, does it? What about that sword? Sword? He was no magician, and that sword was real, I know that. But how? What? A sword? And that weird teacher. I swear I think she read my mind. But that's not possible, no not possible.
Ai ran up beside her. "Hey are you ok? Ms. D was really looking at you weird." All Eath could do was shake her head up and down. "You sure? All right then." they walked in silence for a little while. Finally, Ai looked up at Eath, who was about 3 inches taller, "I like your hair. You stand up for yourself and don't let people step on you." Eath sighed. "What's up with you?! Why won't you talk to me?! Are you mad?" Eath stopped walking. Ohmygosh! She's right! I can't talk! What's wrong with me?? HELP! I can't talk! HELP!!! She franticly waved her arms around. Ai looked up at her, panic forming in her eyes. She yanked Eath's arm and dragged her into the first bathroom they could find.
The white-tiled walls had long ago turned a dirty gray color, and graffiti was everywhere. The ceiling had turned a sickening yellow color from girls sneaking in here for a smoke. Eath sat on the sink, slowly but surely freaking out. Ai was digging through her button-covered messenger bag like a miner looking for lost gold. To calm herself down she read some of the graffiti. SF+DC 4ever. Kirby wuz here. For a good time call 653-2911. And then she saw a doodle-like picture of a beach. You could see the detailed sand grains and curled waved crashing onto the shore. For a moment she was entrapped in the picture. Inspired, she pulled a pencil from her bag and started looking for a piece of paper when a red notebook was jabbed into her face.
"Oh good, you found one. Now write down what's up." Eath jerked. She had almost forgotten she couldn't talk, or even that Ai was there in the first place. How could I forget something as important as that?! Flipping pages all she saw was squiggly marks with strange words written underneath them. Getting anxious, Ai snagged the book and flipped to a blank page somewhere in the back and shoved it back into Eath's hands.
