Ellie couldn't believe it.
Parchment in hand, seal gleaming in the sunlight, her heart swelling as porcelain blue eyes skidded over every word, her mind was too busy buzzing around to comprehend the situation. Such an arcane school, Kinealle of all the schools in White Asnye, invited her. To roam its candle-lit halls, to learn and teach others, to care for her dragon friend for years to come. It's everything the fourteen-year old ever hoped for, ever wished. Ever since she was born, she yearned to fly, to meld herself with magic, light, hope and adventure. She wasn't the happiest teenager in the world, and only seeing snow for a lifetime was like a nightmare to her. That's why she latched onto this opportunity, the fancy words written on paper, and held it close to her heart, tears of joy forming in her eyes. Nothing ever felt as exciting, and her heart began to thump in her chest, childishly squealing before she descended the stairs to the kitchen, dress almost making her trip on her way down before she told her sisters, her youngest brother and her mother. And as she had already guessed, her mother had that hunch.

Days passed, and soon came the morn of the first of September. It was 9 in the morning, 2 hours prior to where she had to be in Central Whitecrest. She lived in the neighborhood, so the ride to the southern gate wouldn't take too long of her precious time. Once outside her door, Ellie-Mai skipped over to the stables and grabbed Osla, her lifelong horse and friend. If it hadn't been for the slight change of weather, there would have been heavy snow gracing the land in its entirety, but thankfully the snow was low enough for a horse to gallop through. Giving her a small treat for the ride, she wasted no time in mounting her, eventually taking off. 15 minutes, as she'd calculated, and two boys and one girl bumped into her when she dismounted. Fairly close to giving them a piece of her mind, Ellie decided against it. She had other things to worry about. "Okay.." she hummed to herself, bringing out the letter and reading aloud:

As she read, the crowds beside her in the bustling city didn't make her flinch for a second. She'd gotten quite to this. The people of Asnye barely let the cold stop them, and 300 years ago people used to battle dragons on this very land. This land of snow and ice, with one color on the spectrum; white. They were usually the loud kind of people, people nobody would love being surrounded by when awoken at five in the morning, yet it never stopped them. Ellie used to hate this about her people, but soon she grew warmer to it. It made her feel less alone. So, with the guidance of the children, women and men's voices outside at the moment, the blonde moved through the snow in her skirt, her brown stockings doing little to warm her up as she ventured through. Her eyes came across the first shop she met in the marketplace, and she wasted no time in pushing the door open, eyes curiously looking inside.

As soon as she entered the shop, her nose took in the delicate yet still remarkably strong scents filling this cozy place. There were books everywhere, shelves reflecting off tall mirrors. She only slightly leaned against the door when she heard the clink of the bell dissipate from loud to something akin to a faint whisper, and felt strongly nostalgic to the way her home feels in Christmas, once they gather round the fire with hot chocolate in their mugs, telling stories and spreading rumors. She was growing up much too quickly, but one thing remained the same to her; the warmth of home, and she knew instantly that whenever she felt that feeling somewhere, it meant good things were about to happen. Silly, she knew, but she could care less. It was her own mind, her own innocent thoughts, and that same mind was what dragged her eyes over to the raven.

She stared at him with a slight excited grin that took seconds to completely form, and she analyzed the raven as much as it analyzed her. It looked absolutely beautiful, mysterious yet still giving off the vibe of a wise, old man who had lots of stories to tell. If only he could speak, Ellie-Mai would grill him, know anything and everything of his voyages over cities and buildings, but alas, this raven was a mute unlike the ones in the books she read. A boom of a voice startled her out of her fascination, and she jumped lightly in place, instinctively tugging locks of long, blonde hair behind a pale ear. It was probably the shopkeeper, she said to herself, cursing at her jittery personality.

Though Ellie did not plan on stopping her analysis of this bird until the man came out, and she shyly approached, the golden gleam of light the jewelry reflected only succeeding in catching her eye for seconds before she yearned to touch his wing, softly stroke it. But she snapped her hand back immediately upon seeing the grey-haired old man come out of the backroom, and she stood in place, parchment held to heart. "Frostwing.." She mumbled to herself in amusement, the wordplay serving to stimulate her ever active brain, before she let out quiet giggles to herself. That was a nice one. Belonged to a raven in Asnye, anyway.

"I thought I was going to be the first one," she playfully frowned, before her expression became neutral once more. As neutral as her mischievous face could look. "I'm Elle-Mai. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lindhall." She said with a soft smile before looking down at the list in hand. "We can start with the uniform first.. erm, I'll need three sets of black plain work robes," she began counting on her fingers so they could both keep track. "One black plain pointed hat..for day wear," she almost forgot that last part as she read, raising a second finger. "One pair of protective leather gloves, one black winter cloak with silver fastenings and a pair of black leather boots." With a tone of finality, she stared up at the man again, hoping that wasn't too much information at once. She was a fast reader.

The young girl felt relief that this man could even catch her reading speed, a habit everyone chastised her for and told her to slow down, and it made her give a soft smile as she listened to Mr. Lindhall. Though when mentioned, Ellie's jaw could have dropped down to the floor. Spells for resizing objects and changing colors? She'd only heard passing whispers of magic, consider it being a quite feared subject of conversation, so she only knew about the existence of mundane spells like light spells and such. But this, although a simple detail thrown inbetween the conversation, it only made her heart thump in excitement and anticipation for what's to come. And, warming charms?!

Of course, Ellie silently agreed to taking the wool instead of leather, a shiver coursing through her at the mere thought of there being a place colder than White Asnye, a nickname it won for the most obvious reasons, and let herself be led through the warren of products the man sold in his cozy shop. Such pretty things, big and small, and the sight appealed to her hoarding nature. She didn't even need candles at home or at the school, but the sight of them still attracted her. She had a child's fascination, she did, and she reprimanded herself for it so many times after seeing poised adults who didn't go wide-eyed at the mere sight of baby white wolves playing in the snow.

She let her eyes now trail over the various pieces of attire being sold, admiring the embroidery on one and the way the cotton felt between her fingers on the other, half-listening to the man and half-lost in her own thoughts, but she still followed as he walked, and stopped in her tracks when he stopped, taking the garment from his hand and nodding when she took the accompanying black wool belt that came with it. She slipped it over her snowy dress, having no problem with that at all, but wondered if it would feel like a weight over her chest when closed. She decided to test this hypothesis, tying it closed with her belt. She sprinted over to the nearest mirror, brushing any dust off it, twirling left and right. Very comfortable.

"It's a perfect fit. Three sets of this size then please," she said, glancing at the man through the mirror before she turned, facing him. "And I'd like to try on one of your under-robes too."

Once she felt that she gazed at herself in the clean mirror enough, Ellie knew she made a choice and she glanced at the shopkeeper, taking the prices from him. Thankfully, she'd packed enough wramoras for the reasonable price that turned out to be her total until she picked out the rest of her requirements. A currency exclusive to only Asnye citizens, she made sure to bring enough for her shopping spree, and for any extra objects she found particularly fascinating. A hoarder by nature.

"Thank you, Mr. Lindhall. I'll take things from here," she smiled at him with a curt nod, and waited for him to leave her to herself before she began to look around the way she usually would on her own. That meant staring at the mannequin before her, cocking her head to the side as she turned, attempting to tie her belt around the middle and give it a stylish shape. When she felt she was quite done with that, still unable to master them perfectly by just looking, she began to stand on her tiptoes to inspect the collars, still not quite tall enough to see them clearly.

These were certainly new, unmatched styles of clothing, and not many of them existed in Asnye. Only the usual collar filled the stores since clothing was, although a necessity, not really important in terms of style. Which made Ellie-Mai long to go somewhere else, treat her eyes to a change after spending 14 years in the same country. But those had a new touch. She enjoyed that. It felt unique to be wearing something like this, and she made a mental note to learn these styles if she ever got free time at the school. For now, though, she settled with looking for something similar in the racks, until she found what easily caught her eyes. Remembering where Mr Lindhall pointed out the changing 'rooms', she walked over to one and closed the curtain behind her.

As soon as she entered the closed off space, she already began to feel suffocated as if she entered an entirely new realm, and she realized she had a new fear after all. Closed spaces. Even if it wasn't that closed off, she began to rush her changing, taking off her dress and wearing her under-robe of choice with her black wool robe over it. It wasn't too tight nor too big for her, and once again it was a perfect fit, almost like magic was attached to these clothes, easily detecting the wearer's size as soon as they wear it. She felt amused at the thought, grinning lightly, before she flipped her hair to the side to adjust her collar. Perfect.

Ready to finally leave the changing space, she changed back to her dress, the three sets of black wool robes and three sets of under-robes to accompany them over her arm. Afterwards, she turned her constantly divided attention to the gloves and boots. Picking out the black ones that felt more like wool than leather, she tried them on. Once again, perfect size, and warmed her up to the point of sweating. So, she took them on her other free hand, walking out to the counter where she came at the start, eyes immediately catching the familiar Mr Lindhall.. and someone new? She raised a brow, tentatively approaching with her items still in hand.