@Jedly@Inertia

Kano Hargor

-----

Kano had been busier than usual during the afternoon. Sei has not made it any easier with his strange and rare request. Paperwork stacked up past his eyes, the headmaster was steadily swiping a sheet from the stack to skim its contents before adding a neat signature or a comment about something he didn't agree with. A smooth process but tedious. Luxury had its costs apparently.

"You would think I'd get a secretary for these things." He sighed.

The knock at the door brought his attention from the daunting paperwork and into the much needed diversion.

"It's unlocked."

The door swung open soundlessly as Luke and a boy he had not seen yet entered politely, both looking like questions needed answering.
Again, it would nice to have some sort of secretary. Or perhaps a buzzer on his desk of some kind.

A familiar sensation beckoned the water Master to stare deeply at the the smaller boy before it clicked in his head.

"Ah, you must be young Zephyr. Element of.. Darkness. Intriguing. You should have been in my class this morning. I assume you got lost so we will forgo any potential punishment for the moment."

Kano flicked his eyes to Luke and continued.

"Ah. Luke. No doubt here to ask about the pools. Or did you have something more important in mind."

--------------------

Augustus Colonel

@Azereiah@FaithsRose

Gus had procured for himself a small feast consisting of mostly meats and grilled veggies, hamburgers, and a pile of crispy fries. The big lad had been shoveling it into his face like every mouthful earned him money, likely to be used for more food if such was the case. Though he didn't quite savor every taste as others might it still tasted like heaven with every bite he took, only further increasing his ravenous gorging.

Until a small girl with a notebook sat down at his table and offered her hand with a greeting. Unused to having anyone, let alone a girl of any sort, willing to stomach sitting near him as he made a pig of himself, Gus was needless to say momentarily stunned. Like a deer caught in headlights the boy giant tried to swallow his food, shake her hand, offer her some of his own food, and say hello, all of which resulted in a croaking cough that had him doubled over pounding a balled fist into his chest until he finally swallowed, taking a gasping breathe. Face fully red, from embarrassment or nearly choking, none could say.

Before the words of greeting could spew from his mouth another girl, now not just one but two! Sat down and said hello.
Now redder than ever, Gus weakly tried to laugh at his own predicament.

"H-hi. I'm Gus. Yeah. No. I uh, sorry." Gus moved his mound of food from the middle of the table to let others have a place for their own food. "By all means, please, feel free."

Maxim looked up when someone finally walked through the door, cocking his head to the side slightly when she took a picture of him. Brushing off the sudden snapshot he stood up and walked towards his student. "You must be Eria then, my name is Maxim, I suppose you already know that you've been transferred to me for Aether training. As you can see..." he gestured around the class "...you are my only student and you needn't be so formal, just calling me Maxim, or even Max if you prefer, will be fine"

Maxim turned and walked back to one side of the room "I suppose we might as well get right into it. I'd like to start with figuring out what you already know and can do" he paused for a second and turned back around to face Eria "now before you start swinging I don't intend to do that with a fight, I know how some of the other teachers here are. I think you should be capable of telling me what you can do, yes? or perhaps and small demonstration" he made another gesture at the center of the room "whenever you're ready"

@The ghost in black

---

---

"Hey, mind if I join you?"

"H-hi. I'm Gus. Yeah. No. I uh, sorry. By all means, please, feel free."

Brunhilde had been so taken in by the impressive sight of Gus consuming what she assumed to be fully half of a cow and a small farm's entire yearly crop quota that she almost didn't notice the new girl taking the seat across from her. The new girl appeared to be a skraeling, but her eyes were too Western and her ears too small, which meant... Native American? Brunhilde threw together an extremely fast and rudimentary (yet still accurate) sketch of each of them in the temporary notebook, trying desperately not to laugh at Gus's choking display at the same time. The sketches didn't nearly meet her usual standards, but she had nothing to compare to, and she had put herself in a social situation anyway. It would be polite to not spend five minutes on each person. While she was working on her sketches, Gus managed to stop choking on the whole pig he'd wolfed down and respond.

The new girl broke the very short silence, which Brunhilde greatly appreciated. It saved her the effort of being the forward one for once. "It's my first day here," the dramatically taller girl said. Brunhilde gave her a short wave and a smile before flipping back a page on the temporary notebook to where Emi had written the daily instructions, and she pulled the copy of the first day's log entry out, taking a quick scan of the page before replying, but the new girl beat her to the punch.

"Have either of you been here long?"

Brunhilde held up one finger to Saqui, indicating that she was very slightly busy at the second and would be with her momentarily. The diary page, which had a wealth of information including small map sketches, a few tiny pictures of situations she had been in, and diagrams of all sorts, was roughly half of the page, with each individual line taking up roughly 1/6th of an inch and well over four hundred lines of high density descriptive text, dates, and change logs. It took a couple seconds to find the information she needed, as without the familiar weight of the entire diary in her hand, her habits were thrown off. A quick comparison between the copied page and the temporary notebook told her what she needed to know.

It was strange speaking for the first time to a native American who wasn't Inuit. Brunhilde tried to throw away any misconceptions she had before they started up, as Saqui seemed normal enough. "Nope. This is my second day here, it seems. I'm Brunhilde, by the way. Nice to meet you both."

Brunhilde returned to the notebook page with the sketches and clicked her pen a couple times. "May I ask your names, years, and elements?" she asked, twirling the pen a couple of times. Turning her head toward Saqui, she added, "I'm a first year air user, myself. If you're new here, I might end up with you in some of my classes."

It crossed Brunhilde's mind that some people might be a little put-off by the journalist act, and at the first strange look she received, she explanatorily raised the back of her left hand to both Saqui and Gus to reveal the reminder tattoo stating that she had amnesia. A quick tap of the tip of the pen upon the tattooed message and the notebook pages indicated that she had a very, very good reason for writing and drawing things about people she had only just met. It also crossed her mind that if either of them were ill-tempered, then one of them may try to damage the notebook - and it really didn't matter to her at all, as it was a temporary one. She suspected that that Emi girl had the real thing in her possession.

@FaithsRose@Zelosse

Augustus Colonel

Gus' appetite had gone from ravenous pack of feral wolves to something along the lines of a tortoise. Nervous and a tiny bit shy, he simply sat in his seat with both hands neatly in front of him shifting his eyes between the mound of food he now feared would go to waste and the two girls idly chatting. It wasn't until Brunhilde showed the tattoo that his interest was peaked and diverted almost entirely from the more base urges of 'grab food tray and slowly walk away'. As the son of a medical practitioner and a blood student, Augustus Colonel was dedicated to not only his own body and minds well being but that of others. Amnesia was often caused by brain damage but looking at Brunhilde making her sketches and writing in the book he quickly surmised this might be something she had been living with either her whole life or very early in her youth. Habitually writing down her experiences was one way of controlling her issue and fixing the neural pathways of the mind, even if only slightly. Though she could not likely remember events that occurred she had likely forcibly trained her mind to instinctively reach for and record everything she saw or said in some way.
Based on the unflattering portrait he could only surmise was himself, Gus figured her notebook was how she coped.

It wasn't until the little writer responded to the other girl, then asked for information that he snapped out of his trance.

"I was raised in the city area near here but this is my first time being allowed in the schoolgrounds. Names Augustus Colonel, first year blood element. Technically I'm the uh... schools junior nurse.."

For whatever reason that the big man could not clearly identify, stating that was more than a little embarrassing.

Saqui's eyebrows jolted up as she caught the tail end of the blonde giant's coughing fit, she was in two minds as to whether or not to get back up and give him a few hard slaps on the back...when it did pass she inwardly gave a sigh of relief. Noticing that his face had gone an impressive shade of red, it took a tremendous amount of effort to keep her smile from dipping towards the I-want-to-laugh end of the scale. "Thanks, Gus" Saqui quipped as she settled into her seat.

Her eyes flickered from Gus to Brunhilde, clearly intrigued by the notebook she had been scribbling in. Unfortunately her curiosity couldn't be sated with a quick peek, mainly because from where she was sat everything was upside down and her eyesight just wasn't good enough to read the girls writing. One of her brow's twitched up when she was given the hold your horses signal, though she complied without complaint. She couldn't help but squint at the notebook, trying to make out what it was Brunhilde was reading. In the short pause, she reached for her fork and peered back over at Gus noticing the ginger way he was looking between them and his food.

Turning her attention back to Brunhilde as she spoke, Saqui gave her a nod of acknowledgement coupled with a brief smile. She couldn't help but wonder why Brunhilde had searched through the notebook, which from what she saw was chock-a-block with information, before answering such a simple question. Listening to Brunhilde, she pushed her fork through the food on her plate and peeked over at the open notebook to admire the rough sketch work. Her attention was pulled away by the rather direct set of questions she was asked. Her eyes narrowed and her eyebrow twitched up questioningly as she looked up at Brunhilde.

"I'm a first year air user, myself. If you're new here, I might end up with you in some of my classes."

Though her expression softened somewhat at that snippet of news "Ditto" She chimed in with another warm yet relieved smile. Alongside this, seeing the tattoo on the air users hand settled a few of the questions floating around her mind, namely that she probably wasn't doing a piece for the school paper. Saqui had heard of Amnesia before but only a small amount, not enough to truly understand the weight of it. Lifting her fork hand up, she rested the side of her hand against her mouth and turned to look at Gus as he answered first.

"Blood element? You can manipulate blood?" Saqui blurted out, her eyes alight with curiosity as she dropped her hand from her mouth barely allowing Gus to finish what he was saying. Realising how sudden her outburst had been, Saqui cleared her throat and leant back in her chair, adopting a rather sheepish look she gingerly added "I mean, that sounds like a...nifty element". She glanced down at her untouched food, absently reaching up to push her braid back behind her ear before looking back up at Gus and then Brunhilde "Oh! I'm Saqui, Saqui Shikoba...a few people prefer to call me Feather though. I've just moved here from South Dakota"

Saqui watched for their reactions, curious as to whether either of them would attempt to pronounce her name and half expecting Brunhilde to ask how it was spelt. Allowing another breather before hand, Saqui asked"How long have you both been practising?". It was only after she'd asked that she questioned whether the small girl opposite her would have even kept track of something like that. Licking at her lower lip, she shuffled in her chair and glanced up at Brunhilde "With your elements that is. Though...Gus, if you're technically the junior nurse are you studying medicine as well?" She queried turning to Gus, her curiosity knew no bounds... and she didn't seem to know how to stagger her questions.

@Azereiah@Zelosse

---

”Master.” Zephyr greeted the hooded co-headmaster with a courteous nod while he adjusted the sorry excuse that was his posture. His back was straightened to the point that it emulated a flawless one-eighty degree angle. It obviously wasn’t showing on his face, but he was straining to maintain this comportment. A quick glance was cast over to the other boy to check his current bearing. Based upon past experiences with random townsfolk, acquaintances, and even his own blood, the element of darkness was one universally met with animosity. Even if they had only caught a mere whiff of a rumor, there would be an instantaneous disconnect purely out of fear propagated by infamy.

Sure, there would be a few open-minded individuals who would meet the umbra of the element spectrum with open arms, yet those who made up the majority of the academy's residents felt unanimous contempt for the same reasons. To them, he was a threat whose existence alone could derail the halcyon days they cared for so dearly. Something better secluded to a remote place far, far off the beaten path.

The student who Kano had indirectly introduced as Luke had the privilege to be the first one to know of Zephyr’s power. The spectacled boy didn’t strike him as somebody who would purely act of malice. Then again, he had been betrayed by people who had relied upon, wolves who guised themselves in sheep coats they had harvested from prior victims. He could compose a short novel off of the elaborate and seemingly ruthless ways he has been excised from a community like a malignant tumor. But once again, Zephyr would lean on his hopes, bolstered by an optimistic outlook on life. He was almost certain that the same events wouldn’t pan out this time. Almost. Perhaps Kano would be the first step towards breaking this continuous loop of one-sided farewells.

”My apologies. Still getting used to this new setting.” He offered to justify his absence. His schedule was still a mess, but with some spit and elbow grease he could organize agenda. ”Is there anything you require from me in particular? I will answer any questions to the fullest of my ability.”

@Zelosse@Inertia

---

((Morning))
They were let in preemptively. It seemed that the Headmaster was busy, and he appeared to not have a secretary of sorts. Stacks upon stacks of paper can be seen, and the darkness seemed to illuminate and dance around the headmaster's face. Quaint and eerie, with a slight tinge of mystique are what could describe the atmosphere of the room altogether. The other odd student, whom Luke didn't seem to know, or atleast didn't see around during the first day, greeted the headmaster;

"Ah, you must be young Zephyr. Element of.. Darkness. Intriguing. You should have been in my class this morning. I assume you got lost so we will forgo any potential punishment for the moment."

The headmaster nonchalantly revealed, was Luke suppose to hear that, probably not. Would he react like how his superstitious and paranoid relatives (save his Uncle) would? Not really, he knew what it was like to be put under false scrutiny and unfounded rumours. So Luke could sympathize with him pretty well. Rather than just becoming scared and fearful, a curious eyebrow lifted upwards in its stead,

"That's..." Luke paused, "Really cool, I heard it was rare and pretty powerful. I've heard from my Uncle that it's very likely to not meet- let alone be acquainted with a darkness Elementalist in your entire lifetime. In fact my Uncle had never met-" he stopped his prattle, and recomposed himself as he was getting entirely off-topic, "Ehm- sorry for the babble, don't worry, I have experience with prejudice and its lovely nature, I also know how easily people keel over and believe fabrications easily, so I'll keep this to myself."

A surprised look overtook him, he's not one to prate and ramble like that, maybe it was because he found a kindred soul of sorts. Well- he didn't know for sure, but the apathetic looking student seemed harmless enough, even though they had just met a few minutes ago, bonding over the door. Jokes aside and with a nervous cough he turned back to the headmaster, who surely enjoyed Luke wasting his time,

"Ah. Luke. No doubt here to ask about the pools. Or did you have something more important in mind."

How did he know that? Was he some sort of wizard, well technically all the Elementalist are sorta like wizards but he's never heard of mind reading, perhaps a Kappa sent from the future? Probably a lucky guess, "You're... Right Headmaster." he said, taking a short stop in between his words, he arched his head downwards in the form of an apologetic bow, "And sorry for wasting your time, but may I use the pools for some more training of control- my failure last time was entirely because of my lack of skill."

@Inertia@Jedly





Standing up from his seat, the master made his way around the desk and crossed the room to the boys. To accentuate his point, the shadows around the room crawled across the floor and walls like snakes as they writhed and slithered to the silent call. The darkness of the room only seemed to intensify as Kano manifested the darkness into a solid ball of utter black hovering an inch over his open palm. Its surface was smooth and devoid of reflection that was only broken by the soft ripples across its surface, like waves. Arm outstretched, the master offered the ball of manifested energy to young Zephyr.

"What I require is merely to see how you handle yourself and your element. When you are ready, please collect the orb and keep it with you at all times until I give you further notice. It will not dissipate until I will it to, so until then just try manipulating it as you see fit to gain a stronger familiarity. I will see you in class bright and early from here on. We meet at the front doors of the academy."

Kano transferred the swirling darkness to the young boy and turned to Luke.

"Ah yes. Your Uncle Gregory, if memory serves. You must be feeling a tad homesick to bring him up so fervently. Your family had a great deal of unflattering things to say about him when I received your application forms..." Kano brought a hand into his cowl, the unnatural darkness swallowing it to just a stump as he presumably scratched his chin in thought. "If it would better put you at ease, I will have him visit you here at the academy. Though the choice is up to you. In the meantime, yes. By all means practice your craft at the pools. But I will have you remember one important thing, Master Thames. You are neither a waste of my time nor a failure. Growth cannot occur without overcoming your mistakes. When you get to the pools I want you to remember that. Also," Kano turned to address Zephyr. "I'd like you to accompany Luke to the pools as well. See if you can learn more about the Dark as you bask in the sun."

Emi had gotten back to her room quite quickly and suspected her room mate to be there but what she found was an empty room. There was not stuff no nothing. There was no indication on her roommate having arrived or whatsoever so it made her kind of wonder what had happened to them. Then it came to mind that perhaps she didn't get a roommate at all. Thinking about that made her a tad sad. It had its plus sides but also its downsides. She wouldn't be doing fun stuff till late at night with her roommate and had to sit all alone in her room in the evening not doing anything in particular.

Emi gave a heavy sigh and dropped her bag next to the door. She did her things like change her clothes do her hair, make up and eat some food before she was completely ready. She was wearing shorts again, slightly ripped up this time with a blue sleeveless blouse. She wore the same sneakers as yesterday and underneath her blouse a white swimsuit top with cherry blossom flowers on them. She gave herself a quick look in the mirror adjusting some things before she headed out again. She had placed the giant book with all the pages on the table and decided to work on it when she got home.

Emi darted off towards the last place she was at before she fell asleep to see if there were any pages left behind last evening. She could only find two more stuck under other objects. She had placed them in her bag again and decided she had to stop searching. There was no way she was gonna find each and every bit so this would suffice. A slight loss was already taken in consideration. With a proud smile she went on to her classes. Her eyes had fallen on two people who were talking pretty loudly. They seemed to be having fun though. The girl suddenly called out to her. Emi felt a little startled and slightly jumped. The girl didn't sound all that happy about Emi looking at the both of them.



Emi awkwardly rubbed the back of her head and let out a quiet laugh knowing that the whole situation was awkward for her. Why did she have to say that out loud, it just flopped out like that.

---

---

"Blood element? You can manipulate blood?"
"Blood?"

Brunhilde blurted out her own questioning comment at the exact same time as Saqui had, and raised an eyebrow at the other girl. It was good to see they were on the same wavelength, even though Saqui was clearly running at a much higher amplitude. She gave a short nod to Feather and continued writing in the notebook, listening as the larger girl continued chattering away.

Both of her lunchtime companions seemed to be rather stable, if slightly odd. Brunhilde found herself scribbling down thoughts regarding both of them as Saqui very nearly carried on the conversation solo. Augustus was level-headed, but was unused to company, it seemed - and seemed to have some sort of complex about doing medical work. His girth was the most astonishing thing about him, though - perhaps some sort of hormonal disorder. Saqui was... Well, your typical excitable teenager, save for the fact that she was in an elemental academy packed to the brim with oddballs and edgy shitheads that think they're somehow better than everyone else. Her relative normality made her stand out in the crowd. Periodically she added something to the short descriptive text at the top of each portrait rather than merely writing down the conversation.

Saki(?)_______ Shikoba, or Feather. First year. Air user. Airhead. Excitable. Friendly. Curious. South Dakota.
Augustus Colonel. First year. Blood user. Anxious? Wall of muscle. Friendly. Nurse. Medicine. Local.

Brunhilde's head lifted from the notebook at Saqui's question. "How long have you both been practising?" - it was a very simple one that Brunhilde didn't need her diary for at all, which was good, because it wasn't there in the first place.

"I'm from Tukturjuk, around fifty miles off the coast of Baffin Island. I've been practicing my air manipulation since I was six years old or so."

Augustus's statement that he was the junior nurse came as a mild surprise to Brunhilde, who hadn't even considered that there would be doctors of any sort on the school grounds. It made sense, of course, given the sheer volume of mortal wounds that students must get here on a day to day basis. Almost the instant the thought crossed her mind, a fourth student intruded by tapping her on the left shoulder. He appeared to be holding a notepad of his own, as well as wearing some sort of goofy uniform. Hall Monitor was printed in colorful 90s Word Art on a sticker he wore on his sleeve. The sticker didn't look remotely official, and seemed to be about to fall off.

"You're Brunhilde, right? Arthur sent me to check up on you, make sure you're doing alright after the incident yesterday."
"...Who, and what?"
"Hm. Thank you for your time."

The supposed hall monitor sighed and scribbled a few things down in his notepad before scurrying off dejectedly to leave the others to their business. It had been a very short conversation, and he seemed to have expected Brunhilde's response. Brunhilde took a quick look at the notepad to get back on track with the students at the lunch table.

"Junior nurse? That's pretty awesome. Not a lot of guys are willing to do that sort of thing."

@Zelosse
@FaithsRose

---

Expecting to be met with enmity or apprehension, it was much to Zephyr’s surprise when what should be considered the polar opposite of such a temperament cropped up. His hair practically curled back on itself as a fusillade of words flew forth. Operating by a preemptive policy he had already braced himself to be pierced by verbal shards of heated glass, though nothing could have possibly prepared him for the response that effortlessly breached his defenses. The same feeling from that distant day had suddenly overcome his frame of mind.

Peace.

It was there, albeit just a sliver, yet it was enough for Zephyr to relax his shoulders slightly in response. ”Th-thanks” He managed to stammer through choked words as he compensated for the neurological gap that had formed between his brain and larynx. His gaze locked to the floor in an effort to condense his thoughts. Luke spoke in the identical manner that those two did years ago. Speaking of the duo, neither of them had responded to his text as of yet.

As it was soon revealed by the headmaster when the man shifted his attention, his classmate too has walked barefoot through a rocky path. This revelation only added to the relief he had already been experiencing. Yet Zephyr would wish for one to never live through the hardships that let up to here, the world was ultimately indifferent. It blessed and screwed over people all the like as it abided by an aimless process. If he had a say, he would wish for nobody to be subjugated to anything resembling heartbreak, but that was a quixotic mentality. The struggle he’s faced forged and melded him into the person he is today, and the same theorem applied to Luke. He wouldn't have wanted to change a single thing. Empathy has always been a fruitful foundation for friendships after all.

Before he took the orb of compressed darkness, Zephyr slipped the headphones resting soundly around his neck and slipped them over his ears. The boy was faced with evident perplexion, which he quickly proceeded to clear up, ”Just a quirk of mine.” He felt it as soon as a mere molecule of his skin came into contact with the ball. It was a lot more to control than the usual, but it was manageable. He could sense the darkness wanting to follow the fundamentals of entropy and return to its original locations, and that urge would only grow stronger as the two young souls would make their way to the pools, as the inexpressive student found out after Kano gave his blessing.

The orb gradually levitated from his palm and floated to his jutted pointer finger. The black pearl began to circle phalanx, heeding to the darkness user’s whim. Although it looked like that Zephyr was in his own little world entirely detached from the conversation, he actually hung onto every word that left Kano’s concealed mouth. Even Luke had his own inhibitions and hurdles to overcome, some of his own and others caused by his bloodline. The student spun on the fulcrum of his heel with the orb in tow, ”See you in the morning, sir, and thank you allowing my admittance.” He proffered for parting words as he stood by the door ajar. Even though not even a speck of emotion resided within those eyes, Luke could probably draw the conclusion that Zephyr didn’t have the slightest clue where the pools were.

@Zelosse@Inertia

Madison

"Oh...us?" The girl's comment had completely caught Madison off guard. She felt herself grow a little warm, knowing that she was blushing at this point in front of Vlad and the girl. "We're not a couple, but we are in the same class, that's why we're heading that way together.

She turned her head to look at Vlad, her rosy cheeks still glowing. "Say something!" she mouthed to him with an expression of urgency on her face. If rumours were already going to start flying around the school, then she would have to shut them down before they saw the light of day. Instead of giving a response like Madison expected, Vlad waved them off as he said "We're not together. Trust me, she's not my type."

And just like that, he was off, although he wasn't necessarily heading towards the classroom. Madison turned back to the girl.

"Sorry for being rude to you, by the way. I was just a little on edge. I'm Madison," she said, extending a hand to formally introduce herself.

@liferusher

---

With his face still facing the floor, the Headmaster seemed stand up and the shadows seemed to follow each of his steps, the room seeming to engulf in a pitch blackness akin to nothingness. The headmaster conjured the darkness around him, into a spherical form, smooth and reflectionless. It looked endless, limitless and immeasurable as if one would never be able to grasp the very depth of it even if they tried for many years. Is this the power of the Dark element? Luke thought, impressed by its aura and energy.

He seemed to hand the circular energy of darkness towards the new student, instructing him to keep until told otherwise and to practice and manipulate on it. Being absorbed by its dangerous allure, he caught himself staring, and only snapped out of it when he was called by the headmaster. It was an interesting spectacle to behold.

"Ah yes. Your Uncle Gregory, if memory serves. You must be feeling a tad homesick to bring him up so fervently. Your family had a great deal of unflattering things to say about him when I received your application forms..."
"If it would better put you at ease, I will have him visit you here at the academy. Though the choice is up to you."

Luke conveyed a rare expression of surprise, it seemed that he unconsciously talks about his Uncle, Then a bittersweet but genuine smile etched across his face. It seemed that the Headmaster was actually nice under all the exterior, strict and firm but never unfair. However without a beat or single moment of hesitation, Luke piped up. "I appreciate the offer headmaster but my Uncle is very busy with internal affairs within my family, and bringing him out here because of a selfish desire of mine is something I want to avoid." As these words left his mouth, a sense of elation warmed his heart.

"In the meantime, yes. By all means practice your craft at the pools. But I will have you remember one important thing, Master Thames. You are neither a waste of my time nor a failure. Growth cannot occur without overcoming your mistakes. When you get to the pools I want you to remember that. Also,"

"Thank you Headmaster." Luke replied, his eyes directly inline with him, "I shall take the advice to heart, and I shall take my leave now as I'm sure to have already wasted your time."

"I'd like you to accompany Luke to the pools as well. See if you can learn more about the Dark as you bask in the sun."

Luke nodded at the headmaster, and as soon as the door clicked behind him, he formally acquainted himself with the new student, "I'm Luke Thames, just an average water Elementalist." he vocalized skittishly, a hint of nervousness present in his voice. His hand was outstretched, awaiting a handshake "Surely you, a student whom I suspect arrived today, know where the pools are?' he continued in jest. After they had familiarized themselves, Luke would leave them to the pools.

---

A student with a clipboard and a rather pathetic looking 'Hall Monitor' sticker stuck to his right shoulder sleeve hurriedly walked down the hallway towards Headmaster Kano's office. Upon arrival, he heard three voices inside and decided not to interfere with whatever was happening at the moment. He looked over the paperwork on the clipboard - it appeared to be an incident report. The date was left blank because the incident was not yet completely resolved.



The voices in the Headmaster's room hadn't stopped speaking. The student, unaware that the conversation would likely shortly be over, slid the report off of the clipboard and dropped it into Headmaster Kano's inbox, on top of an indeterminate number of other similar reports of much lesser incidents, including littering of all things. The Hall Monitor club was unnecessary, of course, given that the teachers themselves were more than capable of defending both the facility and its students from harm, and that the school grounds themselves were highly protective as well, but that didn't stop them from trying to maintain order regardless. The current members of the club were known for being nuisances to Academy staff and generally trying to make staff members look bad. This particular member of the club scurried back off to his assigned post to spy on the other students after finishing his mail run.

Emi raised a finger to her chin as she tilted her head in confusion.



Emi gave another awkward giggle. The guy left in a hurry after he made clear that he didn't have any good relationships with the girl. Emi gave him a bit of a confused wave as he disappeared out of sight. The girl talked more as Emi looked away from the girl for a moment. When she looked back the girl pointed a slender hand at her. Emi didn't hesitate a second and gave her a soft hand back.

Madison

"Yeah, we're both fire students," she added before looking down at her arm. "Apparently our attitudes are pretty extreme as well. Yesterday Vlad and I got into a bit of a scuffle early in the morning. I mean, he was being a complete jerk, but I was the one who attacked him. Lesson learned though. Well, you saw us two walking and confused us for a couple, so I guess our rivalry is settled."

"So, are you walking this way?" Madison asked, pointing in the direction she was originally heading with Vlad. "I'm not sure what happened to Vlad just now, but I don't want to be late to class like he was yesterday. And boy did he make an entrance..." Madison suddenly remembered Mr. Kessinger's and Vlad little exchange in the class, but at least Mr. K handled it like a professional. "Yeah, you should have been there," she added with a smile.

@FaithsRose@Azereiah

Augustus Colonel

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Feather. I think I'll call you that instead. I'm.. pretty lousy at pronouncing things sometimes and wouldn't want to offend you."

He chuckled at his own ineptitude but tried to keep the rising embarassment off his face. Instead, opting to reach back into the pile of food still sitting in front of him to grab a double cheeseburger with bacon, taking a large bite as Feather asked all kind of questions. The one that caught his attention most was whether or not he was doing traditional medicine as well as his own element. His fathers face came to mind, sitting in his chair back home sifting through all kinds of paperwork. Hunched over scribbling on his notepad as the dutiful doctor went through all kinds of medical applications and forms to keep the hospital running smoothly.

"I do practice traditional medicine, but it is only because my father is a doctor. He started teaching me a few years back when my element finally manifested. It has an advantage though, since a lot of issues can be solved without the use of medicines or pills that are hard to come by. One of the few disadvantages of our location."

---

Zephyr sent himself off with a slight nod before catching up to “Luke Thames, the Water Elementalist” from a closed door and an affirming handshake. He matched the student’s anxiously rhythmic pace and proceeded in tandem through the subterranean realm of the academy, letting the more talkative of the two refer to passing students whenever they lost their way or believed they had. Since they had the collective navigation skills of a rock, this conundrum arose more than they would have liked. After they were steered onto the right course, the conversation was picked back up to fill the emptiness of carved hallways, ”Zephyr Heidrich.” He introduced himself curtly, still in the midst of recording Luke’s full name. The list was growing. Slowly, but surely. Since his element had been made fairly obvious, he forewent the rest of his title and consciously followed his classmate who was still surprisingly contained. Even though he wanted to clear up the misunderstanding the about today being his first day on campus, suddenly correcting the guy like, ”Actually, I was here yesterday! I just slept through most of it, silly me~!” didn’t really seem like the most plausible thing to do at the moment.

But in truth, the academy was a hellish place to navigate. Posing gargantuan walls and intricate networks that expedited the flow of educational traffic, it had to be the size it was to house and cultivate the young minds that resided within its boundaries. Compared to the towns Zephyr strayed to and from like a nomad, he found it daunting settling back down in a place again. At least this time around contingency plans wouldn’t have to be fashioned. Well, he believed as much. A blank stare oscillated between the distance before the duo and itself. Whenever the occasional passerby crossed paths with the two, their eyes would always attempt to subtly gravitate over to the orb of darkness following closely behind the two heading in the opposite direction. ”Funny how some people mistake conniving for smart.” Perhaps it was unintentional, albeit some hints lead Zeph to believe it wasn’t, but the orb floating in tow practically pegged the brunet as a user of darkness. Some may have mistaken him for an air elementalist and the spherical object was polished onyx. In spite of this, those with their wits about them zeroed in on the truth almost instantly, and didn’t think twice before their thoughts bled into their expressions.

Zephyr’s gaze traced the row of light fixtures lining the rocky hallways, which gave off the image that he was lost in his thoughts yet again. ”So, I take it you’re enjoying the academy so far, Luke?” The question that seemed to have come far from out of left field entered the air. He had asked it honestly, but monotonously. Hopefully the inquiry would suffice to fill their leisurely walk.

@Inertia

Rinna cocked her head to the side, examining the man who had interrupted her. She had hyperfocused on thepower resonance that she felt within the valley, and it was slowly exposing her to more current information. She could see Elbritas, clear as day, but the only information she was picking up was the shining copper aura of his power. It was pulsing in a constant rhythm, both calming and reassuring.

But she could see him for only a moment before her attention was drawn back to the sword once more. His sword. Even after so many generations, the blade blazed with his power. The bright red aura demanded her attention, flecks of the same intense green as her eyes dancing throughout, challenging her.

"He's still this active, even after all this time? Urufu must have been a frightening man in person. But why did he leave his sword here, and leave the sheath to be handed down in the Kasai bloodline? Did he expect the family to never leave the valley? That seems so shortsighted of him." Rinna muttered to herself, though she was plenty loud enough for Elbritas to hear every word.

"Well, I wonder if I can find out." Before Elbritas could stop her, she laid her free hand on the bared blade, and in that instant, even he could see the aura that emanated from the blade.