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Away from all the hustle and bustle of the first assembly, the droning noise of busy chattering and flashy eccentric elemental displays, two men resided in a quiet clearing of luscious green grass under a generously giving large full tree.

At the base of the tree the elder of the two sat with perfect posture and his legs crossed beneath him. His eyes were shut and he breathed with perfect discipline. His clothes that appeared some what tattered and aged remained sturdy and strong.
A few steps in front of him was his counter part.

The other lay sprawled out as far as he could, even his long dark brown hair spread out from his head like an open net with feathers braided into it. His pale green eyes stared blankly at the bright blue sky and the passing soft white clouds. His oddly tattooed face was filled with a serene happiness and excitement adding more youth to his already young appearance.

Nothing seemed out of place.
Yet it was.
Between them one was a teacher of Air ready to give their first ever class on the element. Despite their status and role neither of them were present at the welcoming display nor had they located themselves at the formal Air education grounds atop the tower.

It was not a matter of forgetting, or being new, or even that he frowned upon such indulgent theatrical displays, they were here because that's the way the teacher was.
He was a whimsical being, living on the winds. Often spontaneously choosing to act upon the interests of the moment. Had he any less skill and his personality would make him redundant from the role. But alas he held his role because of not only his abilities but the nurturing way he could pass them on along with cultural and moral guidance.

He was not so brash to leave his future students with no clues, besides there were also other teachers available, yet any already tightly attuned to the flow of wind or merely highly observant, would notice that the clouds that drifted over the academy travelled in an opposing direction to the trees surrounding this harmonious location. From atop the tower it only became more obvious as a stray path of defiant yet gentle wind flowed through the yard to their location, causing the folding grass and shrubs to create a narrow snake like path amongst normality.
It was subtle and clever. At least he thought so.

@Xandrya

The opening ceremony was amazing! Kain had heard so much great things about it and been anxiously waiting almost a whole year to see it first hand for himself.
Too bad he missed it...

While at the academy the air filled with exploding magic, fire breathers and flying teachers the only thing above Kain's head were his blankets and a roof. The echoing buzz of his alarm screamed loudly at him for the third time now, finally successful he opened his eyes and yawned.


Kain literally blew his blanket and bed apart and before the charred feathered snow fakes could even float down to the floor he had flung on his coat and was doing up his boot laces. A second later and his feet heavily pounded across the green grass field between his housing and the main hall.

LATE! He was bloody late! And for his first day! This only made him run harder. Despite his misfortune he still wore a wide eager grin. Just another challenge on his road to greatness.
Kain was skidding down a hall heading towards the droning applause of excited cheers when he shot past a young girl sitting on the floor, against the wall, all on her own.
Her unique hazel-ish eyes filled with sad news.

Kain came to a screeching halt as he brought all his wild charging momentum to a sudden stop and doubled back to stand before the young girl. He caught her just as she put her phone away.
Without saying anything he held out a welcoming hand to help her up and offered a simple smile.

He was so close! He knew everyone, including his teachers, were just around the corner. He looked toward the hall and then back to the girl.
"Theres gonna be hundreds more days of classes, no need to rush. You, you're quite young aren't you?
Most people are so busy looking forward we forget what we're leaving behind... Everything alright at home? "

Kain had positioned himself against the opposing wall, getting comfortable, showing he was in no rush. His kind gesture was equal parts compassion and arrogance.
He decided that he could afford to skip a few classes if he so desired.

Madison

"Thanks," she replied, taking his hand with a bleak smile. She got up off of the ground and met eyes with him before deciding to tell him the truth. "The thing is, one of my neighbor's mother passed away. He's the type of person that never takes no for an answer, and I've learned to keep my distance from him. Well, I was rude to him moments before he told me what had happened, and of course I instantly felt like trash. I mean, what are the odds, right?"

She remained quiet for a moment, picking up on the fact that this guy may not want to hear her sob story just as he's supposed to be on his way to meet his teacher.

"But I don't want to bore you to death with the current drama in my life. I'm Madison, by the way," she held out a hand to introduce herself, "And yes, it's my first time in this school. I come equipped with only the basic skills so I have a lot to learn in the upcoming years."

Madison snapped her fingers and a small, bright ball of fire appeared right above her palm, the wisp dancing into the air as it thinned out soon thereafter.

"Not very impressive, but I'm slowly progressing. I can do more, but who has the time now for show and tell," she added as she looked down the hall, wondering whether he wanted to go meet the others or was just stalling.

@Dark Light

Kain listens intently and takes the girls hand when offered.
"Kain, pleasure to meet you."
The small flame brought a hint of excitement to his eyes.
"You're the first fire elementalist I've ever met so its impressive to me!" he exclaims.
"First year lightning student." he adds in with a gesture to himself and a proud grin.
Taking a more serious tone Kain slowly moves away from the bustling noise of the grand hall back towards the entrance and stairs he came from. Encouraging Madison to follow.
"Man, losing a mother must be tough, losing a neighbour ain't no good either. You sure you're gonna be ok? Honestly feel free to talk about it."

As he moved away from the hall he did wonder what was going on in there, but he decided if he was going to be late he might as well be fashionably late. @Xandrya

Madison

Her eyes widened a little as he enthusiastically admitted she was the first fire elementalist he'd come across. The thought alone made her wonder who she had yet to meet.

"Hm, another dangerous element if the user is reckless...but I guess that's why we're both here."

She notices that Kain leads them further away from the ceremony and for a split second, she grew a bit worried as to where they were heading, but she quickly dismissed the thought.

"She was a good lady, there's no denying that, but it's not terribly devastating to me. I mean, I guess I wouldn't know how my friend feels as I've never lost anyone that close to me, but I am empathetic towards his situation. I know I would be a wreck if one of my parents or siblings were to pass away at such a young age." As she finished speaking, Madison tried to gauge Kain's reaction to figure out whether he had lost someone important to him. She didn't want to bring back any painful memories as that was certainly not her intention.

@Dark Light

Kain

"Where's the fun if you're not a little reckless?" Kain said with a devilish grin as he firmly clapped his hands together, and as he pulled them apart a small bolt of electricity arced between them, in a flash of light it vanished as quick as it appeared.

Even though he played it casual and cool, drawing on his element charged his eyes with an excitement he couldn't hide. He noticed a faint look of concern on the girls face as he lead her slightly away.

"Sorry, just the noise."

Kain listened to what Madison had to say. It was followed by a slight awkward silence as she seemed to be waiting for something.
Kain decided to respond by sharing something. It only felt right. He wasn't sure why.

"I kinda lost my parents when I was real young, like too young to remember. But I guess that's a little different anyway.
...
Say, shall we go see what all the fuss is about in there?"

@The ghost in black

Kano watched the Aetherist approach and felt his skin tingle. How long had it been since a proper flesh and blood Aether student had graces these halls and witnessed the swirling energies of the spirits. Too long, Kano mused. From the looks of her, the girl had achieved her ability quite young and it had become second nature to her despite the lack of proper training. A natural talent on top of it! Kano noted the way her eyes traces the markings on his body and suppressed the urge to laugh. So young Eria saw the flow on them as he had planned and was fascinated, riveted by them, thought of the markings likely as tattoos.

""Umm, Master Kano.... I might be making a big assumption but are you the teacher for Aether Elementalist?"

Kano watched the swirl above her head with interest, taking not of their formation and flow. Perhaps the girl was nervous. After his display, that was generally how most students felt. Obviously some exceptions over the years but there was a general mood they all shared.

"Yes, miss Eria, I believe it was? You are very lucky to have such a unique and special gift." His eyes roamed her like a predator as he spoke, seeing the subtle waves of energy radiate from her. "I will take great care to see that you grow into a master of your craft. Until the others arrive, please have a seat on the steps behind me. The lessons will begin when all are gathered."

@Inertia

"Greetings Headmaster." he said, a tear forming at the corner of his eye because of his earlier yawn, "Uh- and other students who are going to be students, erm, under the tutelage... teaching? Of Headmaster Kano."

"Greetings to you, as well, master Thames. It is a pleasure to have you here. Word of your control over our shared element of Water has already reached my ears. I look forward to seeing how far your potential can go."

Kano reached out and grasped Lukes hand and firmly giving it a shake. On the surface it would look like such a simple gesture, the most basic of all human respects. The contact with the headmasters body was a different matter entirely. Control over water granted other benefits with training, such as the ability to simply sense bodies of water not in sight. To pull moisture from the air. Many varied skills. Simple contact with a body of water was enough for even a budding elementalist to recognize its properties.
Touching the headmasters hand set off a simple command from Luke, the pull in any water around him. Kanos arm wavered for a moment, stuck between his solid form and the more base form trying to answer Lukes command. The handshake ended abrubtly and the call faded back to nothingness as Kano stared at his wrist.

"With patience, and practice, you will learn how to control your gift in ways you might not have realized. For now, I am already impressed. That will come for later, though. For now, please have a seat on the stairs behind me with miss Eria."

@Jangel13

Kano found himself turning again at the crackling of electricity and found himself staring at the necklace worn by one Markus Dugan, an older boy from the looks of him, but still a first year in the eyes of the school. The obvious state of his element was easy to see and had Kano scratching the top of his head. Granted, there were not many people who had the element of lightning, but Kano could have sworn to himself that there had been a teacher assigned to it. A bit more thought into the matter confirmed that there were no other teachers with the affinity on staff or in the village, so it did in fact come down to him to take the boy.

"Very well. I believe your name was Markus, yes? Happy to have you aboard. Though I must ask for the sake of my water attuned, that you keep your displays controlled in the near future. Accidents have been known to happen when lightning strikes." Kano motioned with his hand to where Eria and Luke now were. "As I mentioned to them, please have a seat. We will begin shortly."

Kano looked around the room, waiting for two more students. One of them his adopted son, and the other a survivor of harsh conditions. Both of them shared a common craft that Kano hoped to mature in them both. The ability of Darkness. Waiting for them might be a bit of a hassle he mused, turning to look at the other three.

"Students. While we wait for any last stragglers, how about you all introduce yourselves a little bit more. Perhaps share some hopes for your time here? It need not be about your academic life."

Markus nodded as the headmaster warned him to keep his displays controlled in the future around the lightning users, Markus had to think for a minute before he understood what he meant by that. After all if someone puts a toaster in a tub that's basically suicide by electricity. He saw that on TV once and he nodded at the headmaster letting him know that he will be careful.

When the headmaster asked for them to talk about themselves and what they hope to accomplish Markus waited for a moment before volunteering to go. He stood up from his seat to start "My name is Markus Dugan, im a lightning user. When I was back in my hometown I liked playing pranks on people by making things go haywire around adults. It still cracks me up to see them freak out when a bulb pops nearby Markus said laughing a little at an old memory. "What I hope to accomplish is to gain better control. This necklace I wear keeps my powers in check but when I was born my mother told me she couldn't bring any electrical appliance 15 feet of me otherwise it would, you guessed it go haywire and possibly melt or god forbid explode. I still cant control my power fully and I hope to learn so by being a part of the academy. Markus said as he sat back down so he could let others take their turn to talk...

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Eliza watched the teachers fall before her, barely caring to listen to them when they spoke. The Headmaster was the last to show his power, and when he did he was surrounded by students looking for him to teach them. The shadowmancer of course, didn't move from where she sat in the shadows, a leg outstretched to absorb the light from the sun. Even though she often hid from it, she still felt it's warmth when it touched her skin; still welcomed the energy. She looked back at the sound of foreign voices, those not coming from those in front of her. Emerging from the doors to the school. Someone was late.

She turned odd coloured eyes to the window next to her, seeing a male and female inside together. Both seemed mildly uncomfortable, and neither wanted to come any closer to the front grounds with all the rowdy and excited students there. Slipping off of the concrete the young woman pushed open the front door, walking inside with barely a sound. No one out front had realized or cared that she was there, so no one was likely to notice her taking off. Inside it was cooler, less sunlight and more privacy. There would be an empty music room, or a library in which she could avoid the eager crowds. After classes she would go find the Headmaster or one of the Light Professors and begin learning the steps to complete control. Without control there was no true power, and one was simply a beast in human skin. Much like what humans believed them to be already.

@ViolentViolet
Eliza's presence and movements had not gone completely unnoticed. A league away, from under the shade of a grand tree, Avarius had caught sight of the woman with the corner of his gaze.
Her actions sat as an oddity amongst all the other students so far, this piqued his interest.
The fact that she was instead reading a book was only further bait on the hook luring his curiosity.

That was one girl he would defiantly keep an eye on. Later. For now Avarius yawns to the sky, his eyes slide over to his meditating friend and then back to the clouds above. With airy thoughts he ponders on what students he may have in his class, if any.

Madison

Oh, you've done it again. Honestly, you need to keep your mouth shut before you make everyone else in this school hate you.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--"

She tightened her free hand into a fist. Get it together...

"Yeah, let's head back before we miss anything else."

She walked alongside Kain back to the big crowd, the closer they got the more noisier everything became. "Good luck on your first day!" Madison added, almost shouting so her voice wasn't drowned out by everyone else's. She gave him a smile and a wave before walking parallel to the wall. Being alone again, she looked at the big crowd and attempted to figure out who she was supposed to meet with.

@Dark Light

The two of them had been reading a book in silence for about 10 minutes or so. They shared a few words but didn't get to know each other any better. Anyway, she enjoyed being with him for a short amount of time and gave him a kind smile as they parted ways to their own classes. She properly sayed her goodbyes and wished him the best of luck on his first day.

The headmaster spoke. A nostalgic aura passed by her as she heard his voice. Goosebumps formed all over her body at the sight of him. She shivered for a moment and immediatly knew his element. She didn't like darkness one bit. Though normally it wouldn't be as bad as this. All this negativity build up arounf the headmaster made her a little anxious. She moved out of his eye sight and calmed herself down a tad. She couldn't judge, maybe he was a nice person too but she just had to get used to it. Emi gave a deep sigh and raised up her chin again with a confident expression glued to her face. She wouldn't go down this easy.

Emi carefully walked up to the light teacher trying to avoid as much negativity she didn't like and ended up near one of the light teachers. They mostly seemed surrounded with light students so it was a nice thing to know they had the same element. She seemed to be the only lonely one in the bunch of students. They all knew someone or were talking to a close friend. Emi kind of stayed close to the teacher and patiently listened to what they had to say. It was nothing to difficult, just some of the basics Emi already knew. She looked around to see if anyone else was a little bored. Non of the light users seemed to be. Her expression became a little sad and lonely. She wished she could enjoy this day a little more. No! This wasn't like her. She balled up her fist and stared at the sun. This was her day!

Emi slowly unbuttoned her shirt and took it off. She stuffed the shirt inside her bag and was only walking around in some shorts and a bikini top. The sun was high enough for her to absorb more light so this was what she usually did at his time of day. She didn't look fluttered whatsoever and just took this as any other day.

"Crap I'm Late!" Derus shouted at the top of his lungs as the rather young teacher sprinted down the streets of the town at full speed. He was in the process of buying materials like rope and random ores a teaching materials for his class but had spent a bit too much time chatting with the store keep on the crazy prices everywhere else in the city.

As he ran Derus quickly created stairs of pertified wood that grew out of the close walls and climbed them until he was ontop of the many buildings. He continued to run and as he came to the ledge of a building a thin bridge of stone extended and from just in front of him and connected to the next roof. After his feet would leave the bridge it would crumble away and the next one would begin to build itself right after it.

He burst through the front gates and rushed to the area where most of the students were, Derus walked over to the ring where the earth oriented teachers where he waited for the students.




When Headmaster Kano greeted her, Eria was set on edge and had prepared for a more intimidating voice but instead was met with a pretty nice tone. She nodded in confirmation of what Master Kano said and walked to sit behind him on the stairs. When the other students began showing up Eria constantly checked the amount of energy radiating off of each one of them and was not disappointed to see that there were definitely differences in them from other elementlist.

After the boy Markus introduced himself and explained to them that he was a lightning elementalist. Eria stood up and dusted off the back of her pants, "I should introduce myself as well," she started before bowing. "My name is Eria Alexi Grandous and I am an Aetheric Elementalist, I home from a small town in Italy where my family has lived as elementalist for a few generations". She held out her hand and visibly consentrated on the flow of Aether surrounding her to create a gust of wind to move the few pebbles at her feet but after a few seconds the small stones cracked and crumbled in a small flash of light. "As you can see, my power is very unstable, so my hope for being here is to stabilize my element and become the best in my family.

@Xandrya

The middle aged man woke up with a start "Mmnuh!? Oh right. It's... the first day of school." Elbritas shook his head groggily. "Oh well, I doubt they'll be too mad at me all things considered." He pulled himself off the couch in his office as he had not had the opportunity to go back to his room the night before, and stretched, various bones and joints cracking and popping to get rid of the stiffness of sleeping. He groaned as he did so and grabbed the half-full cup of coffee on his desk, sticking a finger in and stirring it until it started to bubble. He pulled on his coat and walked out the door with his coffee, towards the opening ceremony he deigned to have no part of.

He walked down the winding corridors, taking in the head of the morning sun to revitalize him. Smiling serenely, he turned the corner into the darker area of the room where the entrance ceremony was being held, leaning against the wall. Dunno why Kano has to be all flashy about this stuff, elements are elements. He stayed quiet as the ceremony proceeded, letting everyone have their fun. As it ended and the students began filtering off to their teachers, he remained where he was and finished his coffee at his own pace, placing the empty cup on a nearby banister, and made his way over to his new student. "Madison, right? My name is Elbritas Kessinger, but feel free to really call me whatever you want." He said with a genuine grin on his face. "So, ready to face the day and learn just how elegant fire can be?""

@liferusher@zelosse@The ghost in black

After directing another female student, the headmaster turned towards Luke,

"Greetings to you, as well, master Thames. It is a pleasure to have you here. Word of your control over our shared element of Water has already reached my ears. I look forward to seeing how far your potential can go."

A curious eyebrow lifted, there were word of his control? Luke sincerely thinks that his control is average at best, so he found that a bit off. Luke shook it of as hyperbole at best. He returned the handshake between him and the headmaster tightly. Although for some odd reason he could feel that something was off, his energy seemed to drain for some reason. He didn't know why, and before he could discern the reason the headmaster released the handshake quickly.

"With patience, and practice, you will learn how to control your gift in ways you might not have realized. For now, I am already impressed. That will come for later, though. For now, please have a seat on the stairs behind me with miss Eria."

"I hope that I would be worth being under your tutelage headmaster." Luke said, a swift, small bow taking place after he said those words.

Students then began introducing themselves, Luke mentally noted two students in his mind. The Electric Elementalist and Aetheric Elementalist. During their introductions Luke kept an open ear, silently listening and being impressed about the rarity of their powers. Taking a special note not to get close to the Electric magician with his gadgets. Luke could somewhat sympathize with Aeheric magician, but Luke didn't really strive to improve for his family, rather, for his Uncle.

Then his turn came, he looked up, somewhat abash and surprised. "... I'm Luke Thames." he said shortly, relaxing his posture whilst sitting on the staircase. A bitter expression washed his smiling self, "I'd rather not say where I'm from, nor the reason I'm here." he continued, unexpectedly cold and foreboding,
"It's nice to meet you all."

"I'd rather not say where I'm from, nor the reason I'm here."
"It's nice to meet you all.".

"Cold...You couldn't 'ave just told a lie or said something usual and boring could ya? Dark and mysterious might interest the girls but it ain't gonna help you become a master elementalist.".
Kains loud cocky voice preceded him as he pushed through the other students to get to the front of the crowd.
Despite his words he wore a playful daring grin and his tone held no malice only a friendly teasing taunt.

He brushes down his coat and looks to the hooded headmaster, peering intently and curiously at the darkness covering his face.

"Hey teach, sorry I'm late. Kain, adopted name, from the smaller cities, future lightning master!"

Feint sparks jumped across his odd coloured irises as unintentionally his element rose along with his eager excitement and determination.

Kain's gaze reached over the other students one by one as he seemed to be sizing them up, only when he passed Eria did his gaze alter and linger a little longer.

Quickly Kain's eyes fall back on the headmaster, a puzzled amusement takes his face.
"So uhh, what element are you teaching exactly?"

@Inertia@The ghost in black@Jangel13

Madison

"Mr. Kessinger, nice to meet you." Right away, Madison noticed his eccentric clothes. The colorful ensemble coupled with his seemingly easy-going attitude let her to believe that she was rather lucky to have gotten one of the good teachers assigned to her. If there was one thing in the world she hated, it'd be having strict and close-minded adults in charge of her.

"I have a quick question," she added, "aside from learning how to work with the element itself, how much time are we going to spend on combative techniques?"

Madison's question was purely out of curiosity, but she did want to learn how to defend herself.

@Sif

@Dark Light

Markus smiled as he watched the new guy show up apparently his name was kain and markus smiled when he said he would be a lightning master. Guess markus found a kindred spirit in him so he right he would need with him a bit. Markus had a small spark appear near his foot so he would notice the other lightning user in the room. "Don't think your the only one vying for the master lightning title friend names markus" markus said with a grin at his new rival.

@Jangel13
"Markus ay, glad I'm not the only lightning user here."
Kain looks down to the spark at Markus's foot then back up to his eyes.
"I would hate to be the only one vying for the position, victory will be so much better now. Need someone to be better than. You know, just try keep up, keep things interesting 'n' all."
He teases as he takes a spot amongst every one else.

Brunhilde

A tiny girl carrying at least half her weight in a large leather travel pack silently and quickly slid through the gates to the courtyard, looking rather dazed - with a hint of curiosity. Light very slightly bent in small spheres around her hands, which any experienced wind elementalist would be able to identify as tiny, violent cyclones of semi-stable compressed air. Tucked under her arm was a book the size of a library dictionary. The girl seemed to be skating across the ground - her feet hovering just an inch above it, lightly tapping the pavement with her toes to keep moving.

She stopped in the middle of the courtyard, standing firmly on the paving stones, and opened the book. She smiled, realizing that she had reached her destination. She could get settled in a room later - for now, judging by the position of the sun, she was probably slightly late to her first class, and she searched for a teacher of air. Preferably one who seemed competent. Meeting the other students could wait until later, as could getting her schedule in order.

The air smelled like people and power in all directions, and she felt that she had missed something very impressive. Further in one direction, the air smelled more energetic in a different way - as though it was being actively tampered with, and the motions of some trees caught her eye. Their leaves were swaying in the wind, counter to the other trees in the area. Two people appeared to be under one tree, and she assumed one of them was a teacher of Air elementalism. Not seeing other students in their direction, she breathed a sigh of relief - she wasn't quite as late as the sun indicated. As she skated towards the tree, she noticed one last, extremely subtle hint just before reaching who she assumed to be the teacher and two aides - a narrow trail of loosely rustling grass.

She felt that she would like these people.

"Hello. I'm Brunhilde, and I'm new around here. Is one of you a teacher?"

@Dark Light