---

“Ethra.” She said to Ash, “And it’s no bother to ask those sorts of questions. I have a propensity to do the same, myself. Really, I wished to attend Silverspell so I cou-”

As she spoke, she was interrupted by the sound of something heavy and sloppy soaring through the air, and hitting one of the performers dead on. It was covered in various food contents mixed together, as was its instrument. Both of them stopped playing, and immediately afterward, a resounding ‘ha!’ supposedly came from whomever did the throwing.

Obviously, someone didn’t approve. As Ethra and Ash turned their heads towards the source of the sound, they caught the sight of someone being literally thrown away from the crowd. Audible gasps came from several other people as a student was sent flying, landing inside a nearby snow-covered shrubbery. Ethra then turned her attention back towards the performers - who had now went on their way to clean up, calmly walking away from the crowd.

“Unbelievable.” Was all Ethra had to say.

@RoccanIronclad

---

All Viik could gleam from Samantha’s dis-and-reappearance was that she was a thief, honestly. The kind of mage likely to use their ability to be anywhere, anytime on a whimsy - however, something seemed rather lax about her attitude whole. Or maybe, bored was the right term. She didn’t look like she wanted to be here at all.

Well, Viik obviously didn’t think himself the one to try and make friends right away. A gut feeling within him told him that the kitsune just wasn’t having any of that.

“Well then.” Viik said, rotating his shoulders a bit, and stretching his neck. “Acquaintances have been made, presumptions established… Viik is going to tour the grounds now. See University at large.”

He headed for the door.

“Alex and Samantha are free to tag along, it is no bother to Viik!”

Didn’t matter to him if he were alone or not.

@Noxx
@Shard

The conversation between the bandaged man and that owl was rather...interesting, although he found the story extremely hard to believe. But he simply couldn't join in the talk. It would be rude.

Then, eventually, the owl left the library, then the bandaged guy. Ash went deep into the library to study, and got scolded for using cigarettes, leaving only him alone with the Haka-born. It appeared that she was also engulfed in her own study as well. Then there should be no reason for the old dusty skeleton to be idled, right? He was here to study at all, and he was being an outcast now.

He sat down somewhere, anywhere, as there were now no more needs to pick a silent spot. There were only him and his two roommates. For the next hour, he was finally engulfed in the book that the Yg'ntha just gave him. A true piece of art. If he could speak freely, then he would exclaim that. The author's scope of knowledge was breathtaking, as she handled all the era's astrophysics, from ancient Greece to the modern day. Honestly, Yg'ntha is a genius!

His hyper-concentration onto the book was pretty impressive, as he had never gotten so interested in it that much before. It was only until a large commotion among the crowd in the courtyard that knocked Mortem out of it. One student was sent away flying. Or rather, thrown away.

What the-

"What the hell is going on?" Cerberus finished his train of thought as he climbed onto the chair next to him to look out of the window, to the commotions.

How had Samantha established Alex's role as a Reaper? Her ability to fade in and out of sight was perhaps merely the surface of this woman's abilities. At Umbra's instructions however, Alex attempted to remain calm, and collected. He wasn't to be surprised by everything which had a tendency of coming, his way. A kitsune, as Umbra stated, probably hid more beneath the surface than Alex would come to know, anytime soon. "I'm still training." Alex returned, answering her question before shifting his attention towards Viik. Following him out of the room, and exploring the school would perhaps be a reasonable course of action. In either event, the Reaper should probably get dressed before proceeding with the day. "I'll be right there." Alex finished, ascending to his feet before slipping into his room.

Putting a pair of cargo pants on, Alex covered his feet in socks and converse shoes before getting comfortable in a rather over sized hoodie. Of course, his shoulder bag was never too far away, and found home with its strap crossing the young man's chest. Placing his hand on the door, he opened it to rejoin his roommates in the main room and ran his slender fingers through his dark bangs. "Alright, I'm ready."

Ash watched the slop fly through the air and slam into the musicians, he turned to the direction of the thrower, anger in his eyes, but before he could make a move himself the boy was already soaring, someone else seemingly took offense to the action as well. Ash took a breath and pushed back a loose hair before turning back to Ethra, "Unbelievable." she exclaimed as he looked to her, Ash sighed deeply, and looked back to the performers, they were already making their way out now. "While this place may be full of wonder and magic, it's still has its reprobates that only want to take the joy of others and crush it, with no way to create their own." These words were not veiled with any strength, Ash was clearly hurt by the thought, something about this struck him in a chord deep down. He tried to laugh it off and smiled a bit to Ethra, "Either way, we can do our best right? Make our dreams come about and maybe someone else's too. I'm gonna tell you a secret, I'm here to become an Alpha." he looked at Ethra seriously, then broke the facade into chuckle, "Though, don't all werewolves want that?"

@SepticGentleman

Om was at the tail end of his stretches, pulling his right leg back and grabbing it with his left hand, and was letting out a series of low grunts when Kat brought up the idea of jogging around the campus as apposed to the track. "That is a great idea!!" The coffee skinned young lad exclaimed as he brought his foot down from the stretch with a thunderous thud. Om always preferred running the campus grounds namely do to the fact that he got to see more of the student body that way, that and running the same circle hundreds of times drove the big lug crazy. He strode out of the door that Kat held open for him and Lola, giving her a warming grin and a nod as a thank you. This was turning out to be a great day for Om; he got to help great some new students, he is about to go run for the first time today, and best of all he was paired with some super awesome roommates based on how friendly they were with each other.

@Noxx@Darcs

---

The lycan was being very forthcoming with his intentions regarding this University. Once again, Ethra thanked her emotionless face for not being able to display any signs of social discomfort, because she wasn’t quite too sure how to respond.

“I…” She began, “Wish you luck in that endeavor, I suppose.”

She had an understanding of how lycan hierarchies worked in a general sense, though it tended to vary from pack to pack. Ash’s way of saying it though made it sound like something… a little more personal, however. Ulterior motives just seemed to seep from his words. But hey, what was the bagoyép going to do about it? Not a thing.

“Well…” Ethra said, scanning the crowd as it dispersed due to lack of performance, “It was nice meeting you, Ash. I’ll be on my way, there’s other places on campus I was hoping to see before the day’s out.”

@RoccanIronclad

---

---

“Let us swap backstories while we tour.” Viik said, as the trio proceeded through the dorm hallways, headed for the exit leading out into the grounds. “Like Alex and Viik were planning to do before Samantha made her entrance. Would anyone like to go first?” He asked, turning his head towards the other two. There, however, seemed to be no desire from either of them to start with their own tales. Which, fortunately, Viik was perfectly fine with.

“Okay, Viik will start then.” He said, and then cleared his throat - which Alex and Samantha may have found to be a confusing gesture, given his anatomy - and began, “Viik is from Forgemire. Many know it as the Living Factory. Heard of it?”

Slipping his hands into his pockets as he walked, Alex tilted his head somewhat at the question, before turning towards Umbra. “Not a clue.” The crow pitched in, perched atop Alex’s shoulder, a statement the Reaper then echoed for Viik.

”Can’t say I have.” Alex stated, letting his eyes trace across the myriad of doors stretching across the walls, as they walked.

Walking. Something Samantha rarely did, but the object of teleporting would be a complete waste of energy, being that she was with two other people who couldn’t fly; well the reaper was probably a traveler. She only actually agreed to follow them on the count of being interested in Viik’s body and how he smelled so much like a human just altered in some way. The question came up about Forgemire the Living factory to which her left ear twitched rapidly and the Kitsune wasted no time in pulling out a strange device with a single antenna and a screen, about the size of the average handheld video game.

“Let's see, this is dimension 14, timeline 8 so no I haven’t been there... yet, but I’ve seen it in its hay day in other realities so I’d assume its still the experimentation on animals to create living weapons?” she asked hitting the device a few times forcing the screen to display in her native language.

“No, no experimenting on animals. Forgemire is place of product manufacturing. Golems, limbs, guns, food, toys, many-many things. Viik was reborn there seven years ago, pulled out of muck, made worker. Helped with many tasks - operating machinery, cleaning pipes, going through tunnels and removing creature nests, you know. Basic jobs.”

It was at this point that they had reached the dorm entrance, and were now exiting into the grounds.

Interesting enough she put her little device away and scratched the backside of her long fox ear to stop it from twitching so much

“But you were human once, or at least you have a human’s soul….er kind of” Sam interjected, she didn’t want to waste time beating around the bush keeping secrets was a hassle anyway, the Kitsune stretched her hands upward and bent them behind her head like a makeshift pillow.

”That’s...a lot of stuff, Viik.” Of course, many of the words Viik had uttered found their way to Alex’s mind but could a factory focusing on making so many things, at once? It must have been large, and influential. ”So...you were like a janitor?” The Reaper continued, scratching the back of his head. ”I mean...well, where I’m from, a person doing those things is called a janitor.”

“Could say that.” Viik replied, as the trio continued on the pathway, “Forgemire workers are all required to be able to do any task at any time. Equalism, you see - sometimes Viik did simple things like cleaning and maintenance, other times Viik and party of exterminators went down into depths with guns, spears, and flamethrowers. Forgemire is vast, underground, living system you see - and sometimes, it gets sick. Workers make sure it does not stay that way, and when Forgemire is reasonably healthy…”

Viik raised one of his arms and tapped it with his other hand.

“Good things can be made from its bounties. Viik’s limbs are made from petrified Forgemire growths, pressed into durable rock. Enchanted, too.”

The amount of questions piling on was rising quickly, with what Viik was explaining. Trying to narrow it all down to one thing at a time, Alex took a breath and raised his hand. ”Wait...” He began. ”Your workplace was...alive?” Asking that, didn’t scratch the surface of the mysteries Viik had dug up. ”And, you were created, there?”

“Reborn, not created.” Viik said, “Viik was once human, then he was this. Viik was incredibly frail, old limbs were like jelly. Then Viik’s boss cut off his measly limbs, gave him new ones and, voila! Viik walks, and he works.”

”...What!?” That caught Alex off guard, to say the least. Someone actually severed a man’s limbs and replaced them with stone? Just because he was supposed to work better? ”I...I mean...” Alex tried, clearing his throat. ”That sounds a bit much...” The Reaper finished. ”And I thought I had a hard life. Geeze...”

“It took adjusting, yes, but Viik made good from it. After so many years of working though, Viik wanted to do more. Sometimes workers are promoted to official craftsmen - the brains behind manufacturing designs. Viik wishes to be one of them, so he is attending Silverspell to assist him in doing so. Official education looks good on employee profile, yes?”

”That makes sense.” Alex nodded weakly. Wherever Viik called home sounded like a less than pleasant place. He actually wanted to return, there? It sounded almost like he was an expendable tool, from what he had explained. ”You said you used to be human.” Alex continued. ”I mean...they changed more than your arms and legs...” Clearing his throat, the young Reaper tried to phrase his next words carefully. ”Why uh...why did they change your face?”

“This, uh…” Viik began, losing a bit of his pep, “This was not necessarily workers’ doing. The limbs, yes, but… Viik does not have every answer, you see.”

They were passing along the outside of the library by now.

“Ehhhh, enough about Viik, yes? Perhaps Alex would like his turn?”

Had Alex stepped on a sore stop? Lowering his gaze to the floor, he decided not to pursue it. Whatever Viik knew about his changes and didn’t want to share, probably had an uncomfortable backstory accompanying it. ”There isn’t much to say, about me.” Alex shrugged. ”Grew up with my mom, dad and sister.” He began, turning to look at the library for a moment, those disinterested eyes scanning the area for a short moment. ”Dad’s a drunk, and beat the shit out of me. Not much more to say, there. Mom’s always been too afraid to say anything, but at least he left my sister alone.” The more interesting parts came after, that. ”I uh...I decided to leave, and I was offered a job, as a Reaper...” He finished, obviously leaving more than a few things unsaid.

“Ah. Viik understands.” Viik replied, not going any further than that.

This was defiantly her native dimension and timeline; a reaper being offered the job most likely long after death probably due to his father or something, she didn’t know or feel like asking about it. Well seeing as how everyone was in a sharing mood she might as well pay Viik back for disclosing his strange origins.

“Afraid mine is just as boring and quite the bother to tell” she said yawning “As you can tell I’m a Kitsune and I have the ability to teleport, well that’s an understatement; I’m a natural born planeswalker and I can create stargate rifts to go to other planets.” She explained looking up at the sky curling her tails around her body to form a sort of fur coat “At ten I had been just about everywhere in the galaxy and at fifteen I mastered my planewalking so dimensions and other realities were just like walking to your next door neighbor’s house for sugar, nothing was ever out of reach or forbidden to me….nothing,” she explained getting a tad solemn at the end taking in another deep breath “As for family well I haven’t seen them too much, couldn’t stay home when there were galaxies to explore, realities to uncover, dimensions to visit, It was different I suppose,” She chuckled

“Eh. Planewalkers are ten a penny to Viik.” Viik said, as the trio continued through the courtyard, past some commotion in the distance, which they didn’t intend to bother themselves with. “He met one in Forgemire market once. Challenged him to game of hide and seek. Was never heard from again.”

Sam chuckled at the comment being called ten a penny was a new one, she’d been worshiped as a god in another dimension but being called common an lame was a first.

“I’ve met other planeswalkers or pseudo walkers in the Nexus, they're a little too optimistic for me” she sighed again

“Viik assumes you have become bored after so much traveling?”

“Nothing's left for me other planewalkers can't go to other planets in any solar system, they are bound to that planet and its multi-realities”

“Perhaps boundaries are good thing then.” Viik responded, “Sounds to Viik like you have desensitized yourself. Unhealthy for one your age.”

“All doors were open to me a birth, so boundaries aren’t something I know of, just like that Neko’s chicken nuggets theres an infinite number realities where I didn’t take them and a infinite more where I did and an infinite more where one of us or both were never born” continued to explain

“Yes, yes, but still, does not change fact that you took them here, on this plane.” Viik interrupted, “So many realities, does not make one you are in now any more or less important. Viik, for one, is thankful for where he is from. Does not matter what others there are. Viik doesn’t care about them.”

They were near the campus store right about now. “Oh, uh, Viik needs to go procure water bottles. Many of them.” Viik said, moving away from Alex and Samantha, towards the store entrance, “Go on without him, he will be back at dorm later. Take care!”

And then he was gone.

Ash

Ash nodded as Ethra gave the sense that she was uncomfortable with social interaction now, "Pleasure meeting you, hope we can do this again sometime." He pulled up his jacket a bit higher and started to walk away down the pathways further along the courtyard before coming to a relatively quiet area. Why are you bothering with talking to all these people, none of them seem to be able to help with your goals, and the more of them you tell like that the more likely Germande will learn of it. the small canary bellowed in Ash's mind, "Well Cas, it is still my choice to exist in this world, I'm not going to just shut away everything to be a monster like that." Ash retorted with a bit of anger himself, "In fact, I'm good right now why don't you go back to the room and eat some seeds or something." The canary let off a string of unsavory words as it flew away from Ash.

Ash took a deep breath, since he arrived at Silverspell three years ago, Cas had been on him constantly to move forward with his plan, but today, with his mood, he just didn't want to deal with it, "I'm so tired of that damn bird." He said as he pulled out another cigarette from his case and held it in his mouth, but when he pulled out his zippo he struck it a couple times and it wouldn't light, "Damnit all!" He took the lighter and chucked it into the snow, as he looked out he sighed, "I liked that lighter."

After a few moments looking at the crowd, Mortem realized that it was just a bunch of idiots unsatisfied with each other.

Immatures... Thought the six hundred years old skeleton.

He shook his head in disappointment. But Cerberus wasn't that surprised.

"You see there, that's how youngsters are. A bunch of immatures wanting to push his anger onto someone else. You'll no doubt encounter one of these in the future."

Really? He thought. That would be bad.

Mortem shook the thought for the moment to continue his study.

XXX

Another hour had passed, and Mortem had already finished the book. It was so interesting that Mortem had wished that it was a little bit longer. Now that he had finished one, normally, he would have to continue a little bit longer, due to Cerberus's nagging that he should be learning instead of doing something else. But today is his first day, and the school year hadn't started yet, so there was no reason to push himself so hard.

He glanced to Mesuka, who was still in her own world right now. He probably shouldn't bother her now. But he should notify her his whereabouts, so that she could easily find him. She had promised him a spar after all.

'I'll be at the campus ground if you want to find me.'

He slipped the paper near her, as he stood up and left, returning the book to Yg'ntha during the process.

Arriving at the campus ground, he saw a tall, coffee-skinned man who was running casually around the ground, happily.

---

---

Lola walked to her room before the trio departed, grabbing a parasol to protect her from the sun's deadly rays. She felt herself give an audible 'gasp' as she brushed up against Kat on her way out the door. This was fun. She felt like a gay mom going out with her clearly horny wife, taking the dog out for a walk. Except, Kat would probably make a horrible partner in any relationship that wasn't easily comparable to sport-- she was gathering. And Om was clearly a fully grown man, but still! Dogs are basically just really needy roommates, anyway. Lola sighed, in an aside to herself... she always was a cat person anyway. Wait fuck I can use that!

"You know..." Lola twirled her umbrella as the trio walked down the hall, the horror that was sunlight appeared in the distance, "I've always considered myself a cat person, Kat." Batting her eye for a moment, she opened the question. "Random thought; but what about you two?"

Lola felt Voodoo pecking at her neck from inside her waterfalls of golden locks.

Maintaining a pristine smile, she muttered, _{"Shut uuup..."}

---

@Saarebas@Noxx

Griffin

---

The books fell onto the floor with a loud thump as Griffin finally reached his bedroom, a palpable sigh of relief escaping his lips as he stretched out his hands. Those iron clasps were no joke and while Griffin was no stranger to manual labor carrying around all that weight wore him down quickly. Shaking off the last of the ache, Griffin decided it was time for a smoke break and grabbed his coat. It was a big black Carhartt, tough, warm, and undeniably the most expensive thing in his wardrobe. The smell of cigarette smoke and weed dug deep into its fabric and while it didn't bother him personally he knew better than to let it linger for long. He'd need to do a bigger laundry day than he thought.

Giving Poe a small pile of potato chips and a scratch under the chin, Griffin made his way outside into that winter air. It hadn't warmed up much but it wasn't miserable and that's all that really mattered to Griffin, enjoying the sky as afternoon began edging into evening. Unfortunately he was pulled out of his reverie by a loud "Dammit all!" followed by a small square getting chucked somewhere into the snow. Turning to the source Griffin was met with quite possibly the most attractive man he'd ever seen and it would be a lie to say that it didn't catch him off guard. However he shook it off quickly and put together the context clues of unlit cigarette and small square object chucked into oblivion. Walking over to the guy Griffin was able to recognize him as one of the people in the Library he saw earlier.

Pulling out a pink lighter and flicking a flame to life, Griffin held it over to the man in a relaxed manner as he began fishing in his pockets for his own pack of smokes.

"Rough day at the office bud?"

---

Ethra had moved well away from the prior event now. She was content on walking around the University grounds for a bit longer, if only to get a feel for where everything was. Her memory was solid, so she was already starting to form a proper layout in her head. Could’ve been achieved more easily with a map, yes, but oh well. She was already outside. Might as well explore.

As she went, it occurred to her that she hadn’t spoken to Irsk in a good while. Honestly, to her, Irsk was more of faculty member than a Familiar. Someone who was just, on hand, in case she had a technical or practical question. She truly didn’t see herself socializing with him very much - which made her wonder if other Familiars behaved in such a manner. Ethra wanted to know more about what they were, collectively, as she hadn’t seen mention of them in any books so far. Yet at the same time, she didn’t suppose questioning her little half-dead mouse friend would produce any satisfactory answers.

She passed by the campus store. Someplace to procure more-than-basic necessities. Didn’t look to be very active, though. As she thought that however, she watched someone exit the store - a lean, stark-skinned figure, with a featureless face barring one unsightly orifice. His limbs were dark, thin, and segmented, and he was clad in a loose, slate purple robe.

And he was carrying two large plastic packets of average water bottles over his shoulders. Ethra didn’t realize right away that she had stopped walking entirely to stare at the figure.

“Good day to you!” He said to the bagoyép. Ethra snapped out of her gaze, shaking her head rather quickly for a split second. “Uh, yes, hello.” She replied, as the figure approached. Another social interaction about to take place - she was fairly certain she’d set a personal record today.

“Viik is surprised to see rare creature such as bagoyép here. Has only ever met one other working in Forgemire.”

“The Forgemire… I’ve heard of that, I think. I can’t recall where, though.”

“Perhaps in The Engineers’ Doctrine: A Collection of Accounts from the Forgemire? Author being Late Foreman Epiad Jerga III?”

“I… haven’t read that one.”

“Well, Viik has extra copy back in dorm, if you are interested in borrowing it? Pardon Viik for being presumptuous, but you look the book-reading sort.”

“You have a good… eye, I suppose. I would appreciate that.”

“Splendid! Viik can give you firsthand account along the way. Tell him, what is your name?”

“Ethra.”

“Ethra…?”

“Just, Ethra. I… don’t have a surname.”

“Ha! A thing Viik and Ethra have in common!”

And without even realizing it, the two were walking together along the pathway towards the dorms.

Ash

"Rough day at the office bud?"

The voice came out of nowhere but when the lighter popped to life, it didn't really matter, "A saint if I ever saw one." Ash stuck the cigarette in the flame and drew hard, he noticed that the man was now fishing for his own so Ash held out his case and opened it, "My treat for the light, just don't take the black one, odd flavor." Ash was glad to see a friendly and inviting face, even if it were completely covered in wrappings. The man had a faint scent of smoke himself and a kind tone to his voice, and truly Ash was happy to have a voice that wasn't that insufferable bird.

After another decent puff Ash looked at the man and said, "Honestly I tell you, this is my most difficult arrival here I have had. One of my roommates looks like she may kill me in my sleep, and the other... well I don't know him well yet, but all that on top of my Familiar giving me hell, no way. I hope you have had better luck adjusting." Ash seemed to be a bit distant as all of the occurrences are taking a minor toll on his mind today, almost feeling more monster than man.

Griffin

---

Griffin accepted the offer and picked a cigarette from the opposite side of the black one, taking a second to pull a bandage low enough to expose his invisible mouth. He lit it up while listening to what the guy had to say, taking a deep drag and immediately noticing the difference in quality. Griffin could do nothing but nod at the cloud of smoke that he exhaled, silently praising it as he kept a hidden eye on the provider. The man seemed to relax a bit but the events of the day still had a grip on his shoulders, leaving Griffin little else but to grunt a little in acknowledgement.

"Ain't that a bummer. First year here myself, haven't been able to really stand on solid ground ya know? My roommates are certainly a pair of cards, a Warlock and a giant Owl. They seem like decent folk though, 'sides I can't complain too much. I ain't exactly the roundest grape in the bunch myself."

A shallower drag than before passed his lips as Griffin eyed the man up and down now that he was closer. He was just as hot up close as he was far away and Griffin just soaked it all in as a smaller cloud left his lungs.

"Names Griffin by the way, nice to meetcha."

Extending his hand out in greeting.

---

interactions: @Darcs@Saarebas

The conversation between Kat wasn’t extremely stimulating, but honestly, she liked that in her future work out buddies, better to let the
guns do the talking. On the other hand, Lola was trying her best to get her to pick her up and attempt things that would require a higher rating and could get them kicked out. Being part Oni her more feral side was always a care to keep in check, she was always in need of something be it booze, food, sex, or to fight her body burned for one of these four things at all times without fail. Working out and staying in shape was a good way to clear her head and keep her primitive brain from taking over her evolved one; Lola was making it difficult, but she liked it in a way like teasing yourself before the actual act. Kat sighed internally and made a mental note to talk to a professional about it all but for right now workout first and probably get hands on with Lola later. The trio had just cleared their way into the sunlight when the golden-haired girl mentioned something about pets using a cat as a play on words for her own nickname Kat.

“Never had a pet before but I’ve always loved the canary bird, something about those gold feathers and they're singing” she answered back as the group came up with a crowd.

The three simply decided to walk through it to get to the very edge of the school faster, there were some performers entertaining the new school students. It was a nice gesture and fairly welcome, if she wasn’t on her own way to run she’d have stopped and partied hopefully get drunk, but still, she liked the music and it would make for a good run. As they neared the end she caught the sight of some jackass throwing spitballs at the performers, causing them to stop which pissed her off leading to Kat grabbing the student by the collar and tossing him as far as she could behind her.

“Fucking hate bullies man, ruined my whole mood now” she complained leading Om and Lola to the very edge of the campus where she could run laps without people getting run over. “Alright big guy no one can get in the way unless they want to so there’s no reason to hold back” Kat explained tightening up her shoes and getting into the running position.

“First three laps let’s see whose faster,” she said issuing a challenge, accept it or not she was going to go all out on those first three so much so her back foot was physically breaking the crust on the ground. “Ready!” she shouted, muscles tightening up “Set!” much louder this time so much so it shook the ground slightly “GO!!” the lift off was so powerful from the two the ground itself unearthed itself creating a large crater.

---

---

interactions: @SepticGentleman@Shard

Another person who was too busy looking at the ground collecting specs of dirt to completely grasp the futility of infinite selves and the overall grand scheme of all, but at the same time taking in the beauty of staring at the great stygian void. It seemed she that she was paired with someone who was the opposite of her which might cure her constant boredom from not being able to actually jump from place to place.

“Well whatever” she sighed continuing to walk with the reaper "So well too?" she asked

---

---

At Viik's absence, Alex turned towards the kitsune with a soft smile, his eyes lingering for but a moment before feeling a bird's wing patting his temple. "We should go, and practice some." Umbra spoke, stealing the young Reaper's attention.

Turning back towards Sam, after the short distraction, Alex offered a gentle nod. "It was really nice meeting you, Sam." He began. "Heh, I seem to have some things I need to take care of, though." The Reaper excused himself, raising a hand in friendly gesture before turning to leave the area. There was still a myriad of things he didn't know, or understand. When Umbra claimed it time to start training, Alex wasn't about to deny it. He had, after all, signed up for this.

Moving down the hallway, Alex stepped into the main lobby before eventually placing a hand on the entrance door, pushing it open.

The shining sun, the fresh air, the laughing people, and the amazing music! Om breathed in all the vibrant air as the campus life buzzed around him and his two roommates. The giant was supporting his agreement to this jog more and more the further he moved out into the heart of the university. Om had always loved the campus life here, it was always something going on, be it new students trying to figure their way around or a group of friends playing a game in the quad. But it seemed that the big attraction on campus today was a small band of sorts giving a show. A part of Om wanted to join the crowd that the show was attracting, but with his promise he made to his new living companions took priority at the moment.

The big lug was pulled from his thoughts of the show by Lola asking what Om considered a nearly impossible question. "....How could you only pick one?!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air with a hearty chuckle. "I mean all animals are adorable in their own way; whether they have scales, fur, feathers, or anything else really." Om may have continued rambling on if his attention was drawn to a spit ball slinging fiend that was disrupting the show. A grimace formed on the young man's coffee colored lips, to say the least Om was not happy about the actions he was seeing before him. Though before he could act Kat sent the culprit sailing through the air, earning quite the laugh from Om, in all honesty he probably would of done the same thing.

It wasn't too long that the trio had reached the edge of the campus, a pretty clear track that the two could get a good jog in. It was maybe a moment later that Kat was in a running stance and issued a challenge to Om, she wanted to see who was faster eh? "Oh you are so on K!!" He exclaimed as he got into his stance right next to her. As he got into position a slight flash came across his eyes and the air around him started to buzz and crackle, some people close enough may even start to notice their hair stand up on ends and a certain metallic taste in their mouths. And just with a simple word they were off, shaking the earth around them. "Woo Hoo!!!" Om's voice boomed with literal thunder as they began, this without a doubt was going to be quite the sight.

Ash

Ash smiled and took the Griffins hand, "I'm Ash, nice to meet you Griffin. I think I may have actually met your roommate, the owl, Ethra I believe. Ball of enthusiasm that one, I seemed to do most of the talking in that conversation." As chuckled a bit, finally letting some of his stress go now that he had a chance to cool down. Griffin seemed almost a bit familiar to Ash but he was sure that they had never met before, but for whatever reason his presence was a comfort. He looked Griffin up and down and saw that the man was wrapped in bandages, but when he pulled the cloth from his mouth, there was nothing there to be seen. "Gotta say, being invisible must be one hell of a double edged sword, ever use it for some mischief?"
Ash couldn't help but think that if he could be invisible then all his problems would be easier to deal with but it seemed that Griffin didn't have choice in the matter, Ash wanted to know the details but from experience he knew that many times when someone is outwardly different, it isn't a topic they share well. "How you like that tack, it's a secret blend I brought with me from back home with my pack, my sister loved to mess around with the recipes, these are hers, the black ones mine." He smiled now having a fond memory of his sister and something they shared, now hopefully sharing it further.

Griffin

---

Griffin chuckled a bit at Ash's description of Ethra, having come to the same conclusion after their first meeting. "I get the feeling that she's just like that, one of them bookish types." Griffin took another shallow drag and stopped eating Ash with his eyes, seeing all he could with clothes on. Griffin put his free hand in his pocket and was delighted to find the cookie from earlier, pulling it out and unwrapping it from it's saran wrap prison. "Eh, it's got it's own set of ups and downs. If by mischief you mean sneaking into the girl's room then nah, but if you mean streaking down the street and kicking a dirty cop in the nads then yeah."

Griffin didn't even try suppressing the snickers he made at remember the memory as he bit into the cookie. "Oh yeah, that's space cookie." he frowned to himself, the earthy taste catching him off guard. He always did forget what he put in his pockets. Giving a noncommittal shrug, Griffin took another bite as Ash began talking about his smokes. "Yeah man you do some pretty good work, nice change of pace from these Reds. I do some growing myself, just herbs and stuff for my potions."

---

“...and what exactly do you feed it?”

“Cows. Many, many, many cows. Foreman Loyce has deals made with multitude of cattle farmers, ship dozens of cows to Forgemire weekly. Never hold them for more than a week. Corral a seventh of them daily, lower them on platform, and send them out into feeding tunnel. They are eventually grabbed by floor and absorbed into factory. Forgemire devours them, digests them, and diverts stomach contents into several expulsory areas. One such area is large section of black, petrified growths stuck in western wall - like tonsil stones, yes? Do you know what those are?”

“Yes.”

“Well, those stones are very, very large, and are thus removed by team of no less than two dozen Engineers once every month. They are then taken to specialized work area for crushing, separation, sorting, compacting, you know, until finally, you get this.”

Viik held up a small piece of the slate rock he had brought with him to the University. “High quality, very durable, very easy to enchant. Engineers use them for all magic-involved apparatuses, including replacement limbs such as Viik’s.”

“Then the Living Factory employs quite a few enchanters?” Ethra replied.

“Eh. Not as many as you would think. Most of them use rune arts, which Viik does too. Very few use more, ehhh… intricate means. It is beyond Viik how those work, however. He intends to learn one day though.”

“I wish you luck in your pursuits then, Viik.” Ethra said, placing her newly borrowed copy of The Engineers' Doctrine in her satchel.

“Most kind of you to say, Ethra. Viik wishes you good learning as well. Being on your way, then?”

“If that does not offend.”

“Of course it doesn’t!” Viik replied, holding out his arms. The two walked towards the exit to Viik’s dorm as he continued to say, “Please stop by anytime you are having questions about Forgemire. Viik does not sleep, he will be happy to oblige anytime.”

“You don’t… nevermind, another time. Goodbye and, thank you again for the book.” Ethra said, standing outside the doorway. Viik waved his hand in a gesture of farewell and said, “Of course, of course! Viik will go to work now, take care!”

And the door was shut. Ethra turned and made her way back towards her own room, intent on immediately getting into all six of her books while the week was still young.

Varos looks over the snoozing canine. A part of him was annoyed by how little it was paying attention to him, like he was some sort of non-threat. Fortunately the part of him that wanted to not make enemies within the lair won out there so he kept his instinctive attitude at bay. Besides it would be nice having a bit of a more wild roommate like himself. “I suppose that's a good way of putting it, a companion is more valuable than a pet at least.”

He hadn't seen his other roommate yet, he thought he had heard something in the last room earlier but he was too busy messing with his room to investigate further.

He watched as she moved over toward the fridge, taking a semi relaxed seat in one of the other chairs in the room, whichever looked most accommodating to a tail. “So, I have to ask since I'm not too familiar with humans, but you don't look like a normal one to me, so what are you?” he'd ask as the glimmer of the can caught his attention for a moment before he suppressed the urge to inspect it further. It was just some sort of colored metal after all.