[h1][u]Ciara Ventura[/u][/h1]
[i][color=gray]Wingram Academy, Classroom 103[/color][/i]
[@Nanaya], [@Sifr]
[hr]

[i][b]"I'll kindly ask you to be more careful acting on impulse around demonstrations, Ms. Ventura. In the future, it could be dangerous if you threw unnecessary variables into an otherwise expected - and safe - result. Thank you."[/b][/i]

Ciara looked taken aback as Professor Alto's glare caught her. Quietly, she nodded her head, and sank a little in her seat. A part of her desperately wanted to blend into the wood of her desk and disappear. She knew these kinds of glares all too much. It was always like this. People in the orphanage would give her these glares all the time. Instantly associate her with that dreadful term: Umbralism.

Her brows furrowed in distaste, and she pointedly tuned out the rest of the explanations and lecturing until Professor Also clapped his hands.

It was practice time. Already, from the corner of her eye, she could see Davil waving over Otis. She tilted her head, watching. Weighing her options. Otis was obviously the first option. He was proficient in almost anything he set his eyes to, from what she had seen. But something held her back. When they were at the door, and he shut down her vulnerability, she realized something. 

She had to be stronger. She couldn't rely on others. 

Forming a group with Otis, she would rely on him too much, she knew.

No. She had to forge her own path. She had to choose someone who was as closed off as her. Who, perhaps, had shared a kindness with her.

Ciara's eyes fell on Hildegunde, and she moved to sit behind her. She watched the little stars of white sparkle in her gray aura, but pushed down her Hunger.

A pause. [b]"Wanna practice these barriers with me?"[/b]