[IC] The Hidden People

[Emma]

It was a crisp morning today. Whitecross was dressed up with pumpkins, and a slew of Halloween decorations. The town square was in the process of being set up for the annual Fall Festival, for this weekend. It seemed like most of the sheriffs office had volunteered to help the town council hang the banners, and twinkling lights. Whitecross tended to go all out when it came to holidays. People bustled about setting up booths, and covering hay bales in burlap for seating. Tupper farms, donated dozens of pumpkins for the carving contest, and the Mayor was personally putting up a cash prized for the costume contest. Everyone was looking forward to the hay rides, hot apple cider, three legged race, and the high school's float parade. The local PTA were supplying most of the homemade goodies, and desserts for the cake walk.

Back up at Gringore, the new student orientation had just ended. As the students filed out of the auditorium, you could hear their excited chatter, and grumbles. Orientation was one of the few times during the school year, one could catch a glimpse of the famous Headmaster Alfred Gringore himself. Principal Honeycutt and other faculty had informed the newbies about the academies rule, policies, and code of honor. The presidents of each school club then had a few minutes to speak.

The Gringore courtyard was in full bloom as it always was, and it seemed eternal spring was the favorite of the Gardening club who tended to the place. While the surrounding forests looked like fire, with the fall colors, Plants at Gringore didn't see to know it was the beginning of October. Classes started tomorrow, but as for today people were moving into the dorms, and getting settled. Nymphs danced about in the courtyard, and a group of gorgon sisters sat around the fountain gossiping, and making fun of peoples clothing choices. The cafeteria was open, and serving everything you could imagine. Two pixie girls flew overhead giggling as they sprinkled silver confetti over unsuspecting couples. The Fitzroy wolf pack was throwing a party tonight at their abandoned mansion in the woods. It seemed like the whole school was invited, as they had basically just thrown a thousand flyers off the roof.

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

Alice had been at Gringore for twelve years now, as a student, and now this year she had taken up a job as a Librarian in Gringore massive Library. She had woken up around 7:00 am, and gotten ready for the day as the local news droned on the tv in the background. She didn't live in the dorms anymore, she had her own place now in town. It had been her home for the last three years, as she made herself a place among the Human population of Whitecross. Her house was located on a quite street, full of retired people, and couples over 60. The three bedroom, two bath, old yellow colonial was her haven from the chaos of Teemore.

The news anchor man on the tv looked worn out, as he babbled on about the fall festival coming up, the closing of the factory in the town over, where to get flu shots, and that the local police caught the suspects who cherry-bombed all the mailboxes on Magnolia Street. The weather girl was looking way to chipper for seven in the morning, as she explained today would be mild temperatures, 30% chance of rain, and that autumn was in full swing.

She turned the shower on. Undressing as she waited for the water to become hot. Looking in the mirror, a tall plain Jane was what Alice saw starring back at her. She had always liked her dark hazel eyes, and the shape for her lips, but she thought her chin was to big, and that her nose was not quite right. The mirror began to fog from the steam of the shower.

The hot water cascaded down her back, and soaked into her dark brown hair. She wondered what the day would bring. She stayed in shower until the water turned cold, and she stepped out smelling like her favorite fresh lavender, and honey soap. Wrapped in a soft ivory towel she walked into her closet, and sat down on the cushy ottoman. Alice had clothes and shoes from every decade she had been alive. She favored her clothes from the 40s, and missed the time when fancy hats were the norm. She glanced up on the shelves above, at the multitude of dust covered hat boxes. She slipped her pink satin dress of the hanger, and opened the dresser drawer to pull out a pretty cream sweater.

After getting dressed, she put on her flats, and finished styling her hair. She peeked at herself in the mirror, fully dressed and ready for the day. Locking her door she began her walk to Gringore, enjoying the crunch of fallen leaves under foot, and the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls wafting in from the bakery down the street.

[mnkee]

Sapphira started her day early, just as the sun rose lazily into the sky. She had long since established the habit of waking up early, getting ready swiftly, and starting the day with a breath of fresh air. The forests surrounding the Gringore Academy called her name from the moment she arrived in Teemore a few days ago. Since then, she has spent little time in her simple dorm room and has extensively explored what her new home has to offer.

After taking a quick shower, she towel dried her hair and ran a brush through her long platinum blonde locks. She then looked through her relatively small selection of clothes and shoes to find what to wear. She chose one of her go to outfits: skinny jeans, a simple top with a shawl or jacket, and combat boots. The skinny jeans were stretchy enough to be comfortable while accentuating her long legs, and the cream colored tank top had an emblem that reminded her of the mythical Tree of Life. She pulled out a pair of short, light brown boots and a black and cream shawl to wear over her tank top. She braided her hair into a partial French braid that almost completely covered her pointed ears. She left her face free of makeup as she usually does.

She ventured outside to explore until the student orientation began. She strolled through the courtyard, admiring the beautiful flowers and thinking about what the year had to offer. Having already learned a lot from her mother and from the classes she took at the Guardian institute in Timișoara, Romania, her main focus was to go through the Guardian Training Program. She was confident she could pass the test to become an official Guardian.

Time seemed to pass by quickly. She left early for student orientation and found a spot around the middle of the room. She listened intently to the different speakers: Principal Honeycutt, faculty members, and presidents of each school club. She noted that the noise level was a bit loud for her sensitive hearing. Overall, the orientation was informative, and she enjoyed being surrounded by a multitude of Supernatural beings. She may not be a Guardian yet, but she already swore to protect those around her and uphold the peace if the need arose. Her journey to her true calling was just beginning.

[TheIrishJJ]

Séamus was bored. It was the morning of the first day of the new school year at Gringore - around four am. For a school filled with supernatural beings, there weren't many vampires out. Despite already being there for a day, Séamus hadn't bothered to try and find any other vampires. He knew that there was at least one other - that one being his brother. Séamus decided to use this as a good time to explore the school. Thankfully, most corridors were unlocked, presumably for the use of vampire students, and there were certain rooms that students could use. When he was in a corridor that he thought was empty, he began singing at the top of his voice, "Mr. Brightside". Séamus loved punk and rock from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. Unfortunately for Séamus, music just wasn't the same these days. On the other hand, it was still better than music from the 20s. Just as he was about to go through a set of double doors, a teacher, obviously a vampire, stepped out of her classroom.

"Please, be quiet, there are people trying to work," she said with a stern voice.

"Sorry, Miss," Séamus apologised. Just as the teacher stepped back into her room, Séamus muttered "Insegnanti stupidi."

The teacher turned on her heels, replying, "Ho detto tranquillo."

Séamus was shocked that she could speak Italian, and ran out of the building. He saw that it was almost morning, and decided to go to the briefing, and listen to music whilst he waited.

---

Ruaidhrí was sitting at his desk on his and his brother's side of the room, reading The Recruit, by Robert Muchamore. He had decided that he should read a book series whilst he was at school, however, with all the free time that he had, he hadn't realised jsuty how quickly he would be able to read the books. It had taken him four hours to read this book so far, and he was nearing the end. At this rate, he would be done with the entire series within a fortnight. Ruaidhrí decided that he had better get some friends, preferably ones that would be able to stay up during the night with him. Whilst he liked his brother, he didn't like how "psychopathic" he could be sometimes. Ruaidhrí knew that there were two other boys on the other side of the room, however they were sleeping, and he hadn't spoken to them yet, so decided that he wouldn't speak to them until the morning. When the sun came up, and Ruaidhrí had just finished his book, he decided to set off to the briefing, wanting to make sure that he got a good seat.

[FateWeaver]

Morgan rose with the sun, heading as per usual to an immediate hot shower. Shortly thereafter he was tugging on a simple dark blue button-up shirt and buckling a wide leather belt over dark jeans. A homemade knit black scarf went around his neck, followed by a hooded jacket with a thick trim. He was long used to wearing as much or more, to put something between his back and other people. His shoes were black leather, worn with use but heavy and comfortable.

Thus attired, he ducked out of the dorm room and into the hall. There was still time before the orientation, and he wanted to explore a bit. Morgan already knew his way around the buildings to a certain degree, but today he was going out into the forest. Among the trees, he searched for a creek or small river. It didn't take him long to find one, and then find a good spot along it. There was a clearing around a small rocky beach, created as the bed of the waterway shifted over time. With what little time he had left, he made his way back to the Academy proper for the orientation.

Morgan fidgeted impatiently the whole time, and exited as quickly as possible. He didn't like having to sit still for so long and was grateful to stretch his legs again afterward. With a quick glance around to the other gathered students, he considered returning to the clearing he had found earlier. One of the falling flyers landed on his head, and he held it long enough to read it before folding it and tucking it into a jacket pocket. It might be a good idea for later, but he was unsure of what to do for the moment.

[vietmyke]

Tony breathed out heavily, his breath a visible cloud in the early morning air. Up earlier than most people in town had any business being up, Tony could see the first half of the sun as it rose into the sky, tinging the sky a mixture of orange and light purple. The light mixed with the odd mix of orange, and green, blue and purple of Gringore's courtyard against the background of Whitecross. Still catching his breath, Tony bent over, his hands resting on his knees and spat out coagulated spittle, his face dripping with sweat as he watched several others run by. He and the rest of the Aux Company, the entirety of the Guardians Auxilaries, and the majority of the school's Guardians Applicants. had been on the track around the Academy's Courtyard since five in the morning. It was part of the usual schedule, 3 days a week for Guardians Applicants, and 5 days a week for Guardians Auxiliaries were 5am physical training sessions. Guardians were after all, expected to be in peak physical form as well as peak efficiency over their respective abilities.

Shaking his head, sending sweat flying off to his sides, Tony's eyes were drawn to some of the others passing him by. For some, the workout sessions was a walk in the park- physically based demi-gods, shifters, some fae, and even vampires, had it easier than others like him- ESPers, Witches, and other non-physically inclined metahuman races. It mattered not though, all Guardians, human or superhuman were expected to adhere to strict physical regulations, which meant people like Tony were stuck doing near Olympian workouts for mere warmup.

"Hey! Tony! Keep up!"

Whipping his head around, he saw his squad captain running up behind him- meaning that he was about to get lapped. Easy for him to say, his squad captain, Rickard, was a was called by many; the second coming of Hercules. With a deep inhale, Tony got back to running. After a 5km warmup run, the team got straight into pushups, work out circuits, and sprinting drlls, which continued for another half hour before the team practiced power usage, and then finally mock skirmishes and combat drills. While Tony only managed to stay above average when it came to keeping up with demigods and superhumans, he excelled when it came to using his powers and drills. This continued until around 7, at which point they cooled down to the tune of classic pop-rock before the captain finally let them go. After a long, cold shower, and a few muscle relaxing spells from one of the team's Sanabit Witches, Tony was feeling refreshed and ready for the rest of his day.

With his bright orange running shoes changed out for a pair of comfortable basketball shoes of a smooth, clean white, he made an easy walk through the courtyard. His one hand stuck firmly in the pockets of his black soccer/jogger pants, and the other casually tossing and catching a metal cube, edges of the blue and white of his jacket- emblazoned with the crest of the Guardians Auxilaries floating and glowing over the breast, and his last name across its back- whipping and floating lightly in the morning breeze. His amplifier glinted brightly as it was occasionally hit with sunlight, accenting his outfit in a similar manner to a watch, the crystal face dull and unlit. His sling backpack was relatively deflated and hung lazily off his shoulder, currently holding little more than his running shoes, a sweaty pair of shorts and t-shirt, a sweaty towel and a water bottle.

Tony found himself a seat on the central fountain of the courtyard, content to sit here and relax for a bit, Captain Rickard had shown him and a few of the other Auxilaries off briefly at Orientation, Tony had already been moved in and there weren't classes until tomorrow, so there was much little else for him to do other than spend the day relaxing. In a sense, it was his first day off in ages.

He breathed in deeply and spluttered for breath shortly after as a flyer collided with his face and blocked him from breathing. Pulling the flyer off of his face, he saw that the Fitzroy pack was throwing a party. Going was an iffy proposition- Tony was friends with some of the lower rings of the pack, but a few of the wolfpacks thugs had a problem with Tony- with Guardians in general actually, which tended to include him and the Auxes.

[Alina13]

Deseraei Amalthia

---

---

Deseraei's ringtone sounded at 7am that morning. Groaning and turning over, tangled in her mounds of pillows, stuffed animals and covers, she answered her phone lazily, without even taking the time to glance at the screen to see who it was. "Hello?" she said with a crack in her throat.

"Get your ass up! School starts tomorrow and you need to go find all your rooms so you don't look like a lost pony!"

Her aunt was right. However, Deseraei was NOT a morning person. She was in fact, a very strict night person. During the time when school was not in session, on a normal night, she would be awake until 3 or 4am. She had always been more alive at night. Now that she was in college, she had to force herself to go to bed early and wake up early, but her body wasn't having any of it. She stretched her long legs and bent them back over her head as she always did every morning. Stretching was a part of her daily routine and her body didn't feel the same if she went without. She answered her aunt with nostalgic smoothness.

"I'm up Stephanie. Im so tired. My body needs some serious time to adjust to my new sleeping schedule. Why the hell don't they offer night classes here?" she said with slight annoyance. Night classes would work so much better for her. That's what you get for being different I guess. . . she thought. She knew the feeling of being different all too well, and she hated it and loved it at the same time. But she knew she wouldn't have any sort of problems here at Gringore Academy. Everyone here was different from the rest of the population of Whitecross.

"Well now that I know you're up, I have to get to work. I love you Desi and have a good day. Make some friends will you? Call me if you need to talk." And with that, she hung up. Deseraei smiled. Her aunt always knew how to motivate her. And needless to say, without Stephanie as her alarm clock, she would have never even woken up until her usual time, 2pm.

She climbed out of her bed and walked heavily towards the bathroom, stretching her arms behind her back on they way. Looking in the mirror, she was happy to see that her acne was gradually getting better. As the water in the shower got hotter, she undressed. She slept in a t-shirt and underwear only so there wasn't much to take off. Before she stepped into the shower, she put on some nature sounds on her phone to wake her up some more. She always loved the sound of leaves being blown by the wind and birds chirping.

Washing her long black hair, she began to think about her classes. She was most excited for her Demonology class. She was also taking Greek Mythology, Astronomy, Potions, Spells, and Divination. Some may say that she overloaded herself with classes but she had to keep herself busy. She always got bored easily and needed to be doing something at almost all times. She could feel her smoke wanting to be released on account of her excitement, but in her human form, it was usually converted into sweat. Stepping out of the shower, she stretched her neck and back. The steam from the hot room also helped to loosen her muscles. Considering she would be doing mostly exploring that day, she decided she would wear something comfortable instead of fashionable. Looking at the weather outside her window, she judged that it was a little windy but the temperature was tolerable. She picked out a pair of dark grey skinny jeans with rips in the thighs that were loose enough to be flattering but still comfortable, and a long sleeve, maroon colored shirt. The only pair of shoes she has were a pair of old, black vans that she didn't even like. She made a mental note that she had to order some new shoes off Amazon later that day.

After she was dressed, had her usual makeup on and her small bag packed, she ventured out of her dorm room and crept quietly down the hallway and down the stairs. As she stepped outside, she realized her clothing judgement was completely correct. Feeling semi-confident, she walked with her headphones in, casually looking around for anyone else of her type. In the distance, she could see a rather large crowd of people gathered near a water fountain listening to some fuzzy old man talk. She sped up her pace and stood at the back of the crowd, taking one of her headphones out. She couldn't hear the man very well from her position but she assumed he wasn't saying anything that applied directly to her. Putting her other headphone back in, she wandered across the courtyard, intently looking for the buildings in which her classes would be held.

[Sylverblu]

In silence, Alason's eyes opened.

As the cacophony of colors blurred in and out of familiarity, his eyes closed again, wiping away the residual grime of sleep, before opening again to the sight of his bedroom. Odd, the alarm directly across from him read fourteen minutes past his usual wake-up time, yet did not buzz. Then came the memory, and with it, a smile: I have today off. Rolling over, Alason cursed himself for having habitually woken up this early. But, he considered, at least it lets me make more of my day.

Taking a moment to will himself out of bed, Alason headed to the bathroom and after a long, peaceful shower, dressed himself in a fine navy suit. It was only now, perhaps a half hour into a long-awaited day off, that he realized a horrible truth: he had no idea what to do. A family visit would likely be dull and promptly regretted, anything exotic and adventurous was out of the question - Alason was much more of the planning type when it came to such ideas - and there likely wouldn't be enough time in the day to do anything exciting anyway... perhaps it would simply be best to start from the beginning. And what might the beginning be? A familiar grumbling sound signified concurrence from Alason's body with his plan.

The autumn air was suddenly something friendly, something crisp and pleasant, to the man not worried about hurrying himself to his little human job with his little human coworkers and explaining to his little human boss why he was late. All too often, Alason would get caught up in the little annoyances, problems that didn't really exist but that he created for himself in his stress. So what if it was a little bit cold outside? The cool air was actually a bit nice, especially as a sweet reprieve from the heat of summer. And the people, some bustling about as they gather supplies for their daily commute, some heading to school, and a handful just sitting on a porch, or on a bench, enjoying their life. It would take a stronger soul than Alason's to restrain a smile. Ay, but there's the grumbling again. Beginning his own commute once again, Alason headed into a place he figured would be the least crowded this time of day: The Tipsy Dragon.

With many of the other breakfast-goers at the local diner, the Tavern was as empty as it would be during the day, with only as many patrons as there were visible staff. Taking a seat on one of the available barstools, he awaited service, and when it came, cheerily ordered a coffee with some generic breakfast sandwich, the ingredients of which he had already forgotten by the time the order came out of his mouth. When the food and coffee arrived in front of him, he thanked the barista and took a long, satisfying sip of the coffee.

"Ah, fantastic."

Almost immediately afterwards, however, having followed up his drink with a bite of the sandwich, Alason grimaced and restrained a retch as he tasted the foulness that was his meal. Perhaps he should've more thoroughly reviewed the ingredients, as it would seem that a large portion of the flavor was donated by a most abhorrent feta cheese. For the sake of maintaining tact, he quickly chewed and swallowed the remainder of the demon-cheese-food-thing and washed it down with the rest of his coffee. It wasn't enough, though, and in a stupor of hatred for the abominable substance, he took a mug of coffee right off of a passing waitress' tray with a hurried "Sorry!" before taking the much-needed sip that totally wiped the remaining taste of crumbly white venom from his tongue. Uncomfortably, he let out a hollow chuckle and placed three dollars on the tray where the coffee had been.

"K-keep the change." Another awkward laugh and he turned back to the counter, hoping only that something would save him from this natural social disaster, and that some force, divine, mystical or otherwise, could wipe this mating of perfectly good bread with this sheepspawn vulgarity off the face of the Earth.

[Lemons]

Anwen was extremely busy with snoring.

She rarely left her house, if one could call it that, early. It was a strange dwelling indeed, the top of an enormous hickory shaped and molded into a smooth little cavity, just large enough for a few pieces of furniture and a single nymph to exist in relative comfort. Bar one or two things that couldn't actually be crafted from wood such as a mattress and other such sundries, much of her surroundings were also formed from the tree, springing from it in what seemed a freak coincidence of the natural world.

Anwen, while she slept very deeply, had never been the calmest sleeper. She tumbled out of bed, knocking her head on a corner of the nearby table. She lay dazedly on the floor for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling. Today is important for some reason. It took her a few more minutes after rising to remember that it was the first day of school for many of the supernatural beings in the area. She herself had never attended Gringore, but there was always an excitement about meeting all the students. She smiled happily, the vines that grew upon the tree twisting up and winding around her as she did so. For as long as she had been alive, she still couldn't quite stop strange things from happening to the nature around her whenever she was emoting without thinking about it (which was most of the time).

After coaxing some wild raspberries from a vine that she had tempted up her tree a few years back, she twitched her finger, slamming open a few dresser drawers, withdrawing undergarments, a pair of white shorts, and a pale green t-shirt before kicking them closed again. As she was sliding into her clothing, she walked to the piece of bark that served as both a disguise and a door for her dwelling and propped it aside. She looked down, forever fascinated by the fact that, while the fall might not kill her since she was in tune with the nature here, it would most definitely hurt a lot.

Tapping her foot on the trunk of the tree, she slid apart the bark in a spiral, exposing a long, narrow staircase that led down to the roots. Sighing, she settled in for the long, boring climb down.

---

As she finally curled her toes into the moss at the base of the tree, Anwen realized with a jolt that she forgot to put on shoes. Casting a desperate glance up the tall...tall...tree, she shrugged and started walking, quickly forgetting all about her glaring lack of footwear.

Humming cheerfully, she made her way into town, careful to dislodge and leave behind any of the leaves that had decided to embed themselves in her hair or the vines that were still attempting to snake their way up her shins and wrap around her kneecaps. She eventually reached her destination, The Tipsy Dragon. Only after seeing the sign 'No shirt, no shoes, no service' did she remember that she'd forgotten her shoes. With the optimistic thought of maybe nobody will notice, she continued happily humming as she worked her way surreptitiously (if surreptitiously is loud humming and occasional whistling) to the back, where she opened up her locker and withdrew her small apron. Taking a notepad and pen for orders, she walked back out towards the all-of-three patrons that were in the tavern at this time of the day.

A few minutes later, she was walking towards the current patron, coffee on tray, when an aggressively average-looking man grabbed it and gulped down a sip, awkwardly placing about twice the cost of the coffee where it had been. Mouth slightly open, Anwen was unable to react in time and instead stood absolutely still as the man turned away from her, lingering over a sandwich. Lacking in all social courtesy and decorum, as soon as she processed what just happened, she blurted loudly, childishly,

"You can't take someone else's coffee! It isn't yours!"

[mnkee]

Sapphira took a deep breath of the fresh air as she stepped out into the courtyard, having just finished with orientation. Being surrounded by so many magical beings, her innate sixth sense has been buzzing insistently in the back of her mind, alerting her to the large presence of magic. The sensation has the potential to be overwhelming but with years of practice she has learned to manage it. She can push it aside until she can spare her attention long enough to acknowledge it and explore the types of magic it is has detected.

She stopped in the middle of the courtyard and was about to open her mind to her sixth sense when the fluttering of paper caught her attention. She reflexively snatched one of the nearby flyers as it made its slow descent to the ground. The flyer stated that the Fitzroy wolf pack was throwing a party tonight at their abandoned mansion in the woods. She wasn’t much of a partier, but she considered going for the sake of meeting new people and being there if things got out of hand.

I certainly hope they are smart enough not to give people with superhuman abilities too much alcohol. Talk about a disaster waiting to happen. She mentally cringed at the thought. She folded up the flyer and stuffed it into her pocket.

She once again opened her mind to her sixth sense. She felt it immediately surge outward as it focused on different individuals with magic. Her serene crystal blue eyes followed in the directions it lead her. Her gaze landed on the dancing nymphs, and she sensed the connection they have with nature. Her gaze then moved to an Asian man sitting on the central fountain of the courtyard (Tony) @vietmyke. She recognized him as one of the Guardians Auxilaries she had seen at orientation. She could sense that he had telekinetic abilities. Her gaze moved around several more times, and her mind quickly took note of the presence of many other types of magic. Her eyes finally landed on a nearby man wearing a black scarf and hooded jacket (Morgan) @FateWeaver. She sensed that he had power over water. He did not appear to be a Fae elemental, so she assumed he was a witch.

Her mind felt more relaxed after using her power. The annoying buzzing sensation it had caused was gone—for now.

[Nightfury Kat]

@vietmyke

After freshman year living at home and trying to deal with the five in the morning starts to her day, Penelope learned better. Commuting to school for that early was hard on her, especially with how full she made her schedule the first year. A lot of activities all focused on making her better, set on being at the top of the program and all of her classes. So she dormed at the school during the school year now; it meant not having to get up as early for the training, and not having to make use of one of the lockers in the Aux rooms. It also meant she was able to get up and start warming up for the training sessions before anyone else, which she stuck to the Aux rooms rather than trained in the open corridors. Daithi had reassured her the bracelet was charmed to nullify her aura that upset vampires, but she wasn’t entirely convinced and had no desire to put it to the test more than knowing she could walk around the corridors without incident.

She hadn’t given any notice to the beauty of the morning; she never did. Even back in Lusk, she focused on the early morning training and her surroundings than the atmosphere and beauty of it. Penelope just focused on maintaining speed and pace for the laps they ran in warm up. It wasn’t her heritage that made this easy, but all the years she trained as part of the Guardian Applicants and the Guardian Auxiliary, and with her uncles that let her keep pace with some of the physically gifted metahumans. Still, she always hated running. The rest of the training routine was what she really excelled at. Give her short distances to cover and she was there. Give her combat practices, power usage drills - hell, give her workout drills to run - and she could handle it with ease. Well, she felt it was easy. There was always going to be someone better than her, and she was always going to push herself to make it to those standards, but there was always that line where certain supernaturals were just stronger or faster or had better abilities than she did.

The burn of a good workout continued after heading back to her dorm hall, and taking a hot shower. Penelope actually liked it; it marked improvement, but if it didn’t pass before lunch, she would have to do something about it. For now, she was more focused on figuring out what to do with her day. She could head home, visit with her mother - she hadn’t done that since she moved into the dorm a week ago - or head off to see her uncle Connall as he prepped for classes tomorrow. But that all was, well, boring after spending the summer doing more training and hanging out with her mother; besides, Connall had made her promise to get more social.

Dressed in her typical jeans, combat boots, and white tank top under a dark grey long sleeve shirt, Penelope headed out. Her long hair was still damp, but that made it a bit more manageable to leave down; she still wore a ponytail holder on her wrist, just in case. Today, she decided against any makeup, which made getting out to the courtyard faster, even if by only a few minutes. Heading back to her dorm after practice was time consuming, but she preferred that than having a napsack with her training outfit in it. One less thing that could get in the way, just in case. Paranoia? She preferred to think of it as being prepared.

Her hands rested in her leather jacket pockets as she walked, dark gaze drifting over her surroundings. She wasn’t looking for trouble, but more anyone she knew that she could hang out with; that was a very short list. Just as she spotted Tony hanging out on the courtyard fountain, fliers rained down from the roof. Snatching one from the air, she glanced up briefly before reading it. The Fitzroy pack was throwing a party; sounded like an interesting time.

Without a second though, she headed straight for Tony. She held up the flier she had, noticing he had one of his own. “Hey, got any other plans for tonight?”

---

The new setting didn't sit right with Ariel. She didn't understand why Nola wanted them to stay at the school. It wasn't a comfortable place, not for her. She had a hard time finding a quiet place to herself, especially feeling that way in her dorm room. She didn't mind the size, but she just wanted to be out in the open air. Or at least have her roommate be someone she was familiar with already. She wanted to make a good experience out of this, and was determined to get to know the girl she was rooming with, but still. Nola had a reason when she suggested they dorm instead of just make the commute daily to and from the house, a reason she never told them.

Sleep wasn't restful last night, but at least she got some. It wasn't a lot, but it was there, bookended by drawing or working on her ASL lessons using a booklight carefully angled to stay in her own bed. She desperately wanted to practice on her violin, but the first night she found what she thought was an empty hall, a vampire had come along. It wasn’t a horrible experience - nothing aggressive about it anyways - but it was unexpected and she still wasn’t exactly comfortable being around most of the other races at the school. With how many enemies the coven - save for Nola - had made, she wasn’t sure who would end up harboring a grudge against her family and who wouldn’t. So she had spent her other free days this past week practicing outside with the company of her brother.

When her alarm howled that it was time to get her day started, she made no attempt to get to the shower first. Instead, she sat and brushed all the snarls out of her hair. If she didn't, it would be a tangled mess and never wash properly anyways. Or at least that was the reason her mother got her in the habit of doing so when she was little. Most of the habits she was trained into by their parents were broken, but it had been so many years it was one of the habits that she would never break. Besides, it meant there was no fight to get a shower; after all, it didn't matter to her if there was hot water or not. It gave her time to deal with her hair, pick out what she would wear, and still have time for breakfast before the assembly.

By the time that half of her morning routine was done, the showers were free. Better yet, there was still warm water left. Shower finished, her off the shoulders sweater over a cream colored tank top matched to a nice pair of jeans all put on, just a touch of makeup on (mostly just to give her lips a hint of color and downplay the color of her eyes just a hair while all making it look like there was no makeup applied) and putting on all her various jewelry - save for the locket she never took off - she gathered her sketchbook and few other things she might need for her day in her messenger bag and put on a comfortable pair of sneakers.

She grabbed a quick breakfast, her usual of just a piece of fruit to go, then headed off to the assembly. Her sketchbook rested on her lap throughout it, making quick sketches of each speaker with a brief note here and there about what they were talking about or who they were. A few of the clubs sounded interesting, and she had consideration of going for them, but that would depend on how she really adjusted to school.

---

@mnkee

Dorm rooms sucked. No, not literally, and most of the others would disagree, but as far as Jack was concerned it sucked. The beds were uncomfortable, the rooms claustrophobic, and he would have preferred if he could have dormed with his sister, but that wasn’t what happened. He’d live, but he didn’t have to be happy about it. It wasn’t that his dorm mates were horrible, he just - they weren’t familiar, and he was more than a little cautious with who he got close to even four years after his parents’ deaths.

At least sleep was getting easier. The first night he barely slept, but stubbornly tried. The second night, he got a bit more, but was too restless to even try to fake it and ended up in an empty classroom practicing a spell from his father’s grimoire. It wasn't magic he practiced regularly - hell, it wasn't magic he had any affinity for whatsoever - but he liked a challenge; he couldn't help it. It was rather unsuccessful; illusions weren’t anywhere close to his specialty, but he was close enough to getting it work that smoke billowed in the approximate form that he had been trying to manifest.

Sleep came easier last night, though he still woke up extremely early for when his day needed to start. Rather than attempt to fall back to sleep and wake up tired, he just settled for showering - four in the morning seemed a good time anyways since only the vampires at the school were really up to use the facilities at that hour. Dressed in jeans matched to a black t-shirt and a heavy, cream colored hoodie, he packed his grimoires into his sling backpack and headed out to see what the campus had to offer so early. Which brought him to the field a group of kids were training in.

He decided to watch - he had nothing better to do anyways - until they dispersed. It looked like some tough stuff. Challenging and interesting - just his favorite combination of things. He made note of what the guy leading the group looked like, and made sure to keep it in mind for the assembly.

Which was exactly what he did when sitting in the assembly. He had looked for Ariel, but the room was pretty crowded by the time he finally figured out where he was going. So he just sat, did his best not to fidget, and listened as patiently as he could. The Guardians Auxiliary seemed interesting, extremely so, but had the catch of kind of needing to be interested in becoming a Guardian. Maybe that was what he should do with his life; he hadn’t considered what he would be doing after Gringore, not in earnest anyways. Ariel seemed like she had it figured out, her proficiency naturally leaned toward a profession. Him, well he could be in rather uninspired jobs, or he could do something challenging and fun. Maybe. Maybe he’d seek out someone that was part of the program for their thoughts.

Which was what he was planning to do until he spotted the flier floating down from the roof. Today was shaping out great. He might not have personally known anyone in the Fitzroy pack, but he knew enough to know this would be an interesting party. One he didn’t want to miss.

A smile on his face, he looked up from the flier to spot a beautiful fae also leaving orientation. White hair, fair skin - if she wasn’t fae, then that was an amazing dye job. Well, no time like the present to start making acquaintances with new faces. Jack walked up to the woman, offering her a broad grin. “That was quite the thing, huh? Excited for the year to come?”

[Sylverblu]

"You can't take someone else's coffee! It isn't yours!"

Her face, blushed, childishly searching for some form of indignation. The manager's face, flabbergasted, still searching for an appropriate emotional response. Alason turned back to the waitress.

"Sorry, I don't know what that was about, I'm usually much more reasonable. I just really hate-"

Centuries old, family dead, lives in a tree, socially inept

Alason grinned as he perused the hidden truths hidden in the lines of this waitress' face. "-Feta. I assume you won't want the coffee back, but really, do keep the change. Or maybe give it to the poor sod who's coffee I stole. I... sorry, I'm rambling." This was rather uncomfortable; Alason had to find some way to change the pressure of the conversation. Adopting a more casual stance and tone, quieting a bit so as to be inaudible to the manager:

"So, Ms. Oakbough, what do you think of the opening of the new school year? I'm not a fan of the inevitable influx of undergrads, but hey, if it helps the local economy and gets these kids some quality education, I suppose I can't complain, no?" Alason took an extended sip of his commandeered coffee, and awaited response while making a persistent eye contact with this... Anwen Oakbough... and delving through her personal history.

[Lemons]

Anwen didn't quite expect the response that she received. Her face was bright red with indignation and her breathing was slightly accelerated, her hands clenched upon her apron. Her mouth worked emptily for a moment before she tried to stutter out a response, finding herself interrupted by the man as he gave a surprisingly calm reason for his outburst. She was ready to chastise him again, but then he immediately changed the topic to the incoming students.

Unable to switch conversational and emotional gears quickly and forgetting what it meant that he knew of the entirely supernatural school, she found herself swept along in the tide of his dialogue, trailing after him and unsure of whether to be angry or friendly. She continued to stutter throughout. Finally, she managed to speak, finding purchase in something wholly unrelated to either of his topics of conversion:

"...How do you know my last name? Have I meet you?" Her voice dropped to a mumble as she spoke to herself, "Did I forget about someone again?"

[mnkee]

As more people filed out into the courtyard, Sapphira’s power attempted to tug her in different directions towards all of the unexplored sources of magic. However, she didn’t feel like indulging its relentless pursuit any longer. She was about to close her mind off to it when a particular sensation buzzed louder than the rest, making her muscles instinctively tense.

Dark magic. An unsettling feeling, an inborn reaction, always washed over her when she sensed darker forms of magic. Her Fae magic seemingly didn’t get along with dark magic. Truthfully, she hated the instinctive reaction, knowing full well that the type of magic one has does not define the intentions of the person. Any magic can be abused.

Her eyes landed on the source of the dark magic, a red haired woman walking across the courtyard to the Asian man with telekinesis. She could sense that the woman had multiple powers within the realm of what she knew as dark magic. Fortunately, the woman’s demeanor seemed nonthreatening at the moment. Sapphira relaxed, letting go of her sudden uneasiness. Holding onto tension only ended up causing her to react without thinking. While useful in combat, it’s simply embarrassing in any other setting. She didn’t feel like having to explain to someone why she just body slammed them to the ground.

She sensed someone coming up to her, an individual with power over weather. She shut her mind off to her power and turned to face a handsome man with black hair and indigo eyes. His smile was infectious, and she easily returned it with a friendly smile of her own. “That was quite the thing, huh? Excited for the year to come?” he stated.

It took little thought to come up with a response, “I am most certainly excited. The profession I have been training all my life for is just within my grasp. How about you?” @Nightfury Kat

[Nightfury Kat]

@mnkee

Jack's hands slid into his pockets, wading the flier up in the process. He knew where the mansion was, most did if you grew up in the area, so he had little concern with forgetting it. His stance relaxed as he stood facing the beauty. Entrancing voice, slight accent, and - wow, he thought she was beautiful before she fully faced him, but man. He couldn't help but think he made an excellent choice in conversation partner.

His smile spread a bit more, forcing himself to keep his gaze from wandering. There was no telling what she was capable of, and he really wasn't looking to cause trouble yet. "I'm interested to see what this year will hold. I can guarantee it will not be boring." Because he simply would not abide with having a boring year after such mundane experiences as of late.

"What are you studying?" She was the one that brought it up, after all. His smile softened ever so slightly; a glint of light caught his eye just right to betray the wheels turning in his head. "Does it have anything to do with why you looked so serious looking around at the rest of the student body?"

[vietmyke]

Tony was a second close to dozing off when he heard footsteps clacking in his direction, looking over he saw none other then Penelope- fellow Guardian Auxillary, and most likely to be next Aux Captain after he and Rickard graduated this year. She was a bit hot-headed, headstrong, and impulsive, so Rickard had stuck her with Tony- the mellow yet competent 'veteran' senior. The two of them got along well, neither got in the other's hair, and they had even become good friends outside of a Guardians/work atmosphere.

“Hey, got any other plans for tonight?” she asked, waving the same flier that he had.

"No, I don't, and yes, we'll go." Tony answered with a wide stretch and a yawn, answering her question, as well as the inevitable follow-up question before she even asked, sometimes it bothered her, but sometimes that was the reason he did it.

"Lets take it easy tonight yeah? Some of the Fitzroy boys hate you more than they hate me, and I'd rather not explain to the Captain why we got into another fight."

As Tony continued stretching, his stomach audibly rumbled- he was hungry. Unsurprising, seeing as how intense their morning workouts were. Normally he would've eaten breakfast by now, but this morning Captain had dragged him out to Orientation to show off the Auxiliaries to the new freshman. A couple of freshman had come to him with questions, but Tony generally pointed him in the direction of the Aux HQ, or Captain Rickard. The whole awe of being an Auxiliary and a role model to the new potential recruits had worn off Tony about a year ago, most of his efforts were to completing his last year in school, and getting a recommendation for training by Chief Évora or Professor Bianchi. These days, a recommendation was almost required to get yourself noticed in the sea of capable and competent Guardians applicants, as the Guardians training pool was a relatively short list, some applicants had spent years waiting before they got their shot- Tony was aiming to get it on his first try.

"You eat yet? I'm hungry."

[Sylverblu]

Alason grinned. Yes, it was petty to go out of his way, making this "young" woman uncomfortable for the sole purpose of getting rid of his own social discomfort, but as a social creature and as an attorney, he felt little remorse. Ah, but of course, manners.

"No, I'm afraid not; you've not seen me once in your life, so far as I can tell, and I can't recall ever noticing you. Alason." Extending his hand, Alason thought for a moment before retracting it. "On second thought, I somehow doubt you've washed your hands this morning and given the particular circumstances of your living, I think it'd simply be best if I didn't. Nothing personal." Rain check on the manners.

"Still, Ms. Anwen Oakbough - lovely name, by the way - there's a whole lot I know about you," Alason hurriedly took a sip of his recently pirated coffee before continuing, "and a little nugget of information I've gathered from the wonderful vault in your head is that if I speak quickly enough," another sip, "and keep on just generally sounding intelligent and not giving you a chance to speak and such," another sip, "you're likely to get lost and forget all about my little social faux pas."

Alason shot another glance over to the manager, looking on with a sense of apparent bewilderment. "No worries sir," Alason began loudly, "I'm just a hungover and flirting with your waitress. Another sandwich please? And without the feta? Thanks, dear."

Wheeling back to his primary subject, Alason smiled and crossed his legs. "Anyway, I'm sure I've wasted enough of your time and that you're hoping to escape my ramblings. Now, I'm sure that your other customer would love his cup of coffee just about now." With that, and a friendly pat on the waitress' arm, Alason spun about for what he hoped to be the last time, praying that he had successfully dismissed this aloof nymph.

Frolicking about naked in the woods, he thought, taking a final sip of coffee and shaking his head, no class.

[Lemons]

So briefly after reacquiring the overall thread of what was going on, Anwen quickly found her head spinning again. She gathered well enough that this man somehow knew her history quite well, and that he had some way of looking directly into her mind. That was about as far as she got before he started rattling off a string of words, speaking extraordinarily quickly. Anwen wasn't an absolute idiot; she could hold a conversation alright if...Well, if it was kept to a reasonable pace. Again, not an absolute idiot, but certainly not particularly smart, even among nymphs.

True to the newly-introduced Alason's observations, it wasn't long before she once again lost the focus of the conversation, and she knew it. Utterly lost, she fought a furious blush of embarrassment, even more so as Alason made the excuse of "flirting" with her. Once again, her fingers began to curl angrily info her apron. Unbeknownst to her, the ivy crawling up the outside of the wall beside them began to writhe closer, finding a window and beginning to strain against it, covering it entirely. Even then, her limited attention was too focused on puzzling out Alason's words to see it. She could hear her blood pumping through her ears, anger clouding her perception, and she reached a hand out towards the man, meaning to turn him around and demand that he explain, this time in plain English, what he meant.

She was almost touching his shoulder when she heard a slight cracking sound and snapped out of her focus, staring in surprise at the window. The ivy immediately retreated, leaving hairline cracks in the glass.

She deflated, all the anger rushing out of her. With a sigh of defeat, she went to fetch another cup of coffee.

[polyatomicbeing]

..

[mnkee]

Oh, boy. I think my Fae genetics have just reeled in my first catch of the day. Sapphira sarcastically thought to herself as a glimmer of amusement passed through her eyes. She wasn’t blind to the fact that the characteristic ethereal beauty of most Fae had a way of entrancing people. As long as they kept their hands to themselves, didn’t spew out any perverted nonsense, and took no for an answer, she would treat them with as much respect as she did anyone else.

She maintained eye contact with the man while he spoke. It was one of many mannerisms that her mother had taught her was polite. “I’m interested to see what this year will hold. I can guarantee it will not be boring,” he stated before adding, “What are you studying?”

“I’m a Guardians applicant, so my focus is on anything extra I can learn from Gringore’s Guardian Training Program until I have the opportunity to take the test.” Sapphira replied to his question.

“Does it have anything to do with why you looked so serious looking around at the rest of the student body?”

Sapphira laughed softly, an unintentionally melodious sound. She inwardly cringed. Not exactly the sound of a warrior. “No, it did not. I don’t know how much you know about elves, apart from the obvious outer appearance.” She tucked her hair back to further reveal her pointed ears, emphasizing her point. “Elves can sense when someone has magic and identify what kind of magic it is. Being surrounded by so many magical beings, my power is working on overdrive. I was releasing some of the tension it had built up after ignoring it during orientation. There is quite a large variety of magic here. It’s astounding. There’s everything from power over nature, telekinesis, dark magic, water manipulation, and your ability to manipulate the weather,” she added. @Nightfury Kat

[Nightfury Kat]

@vietmyke

The scowl that grew on Penelope's face at the answered question she hadn't asked came and went quickly. She couldn't decide whether he was doing it just to bother her, or to move the conversation along. It didn't matter, ultimately. She knew it wasn't worth the fight. Well, it usually wasn't worth the fight, and this was one of those times that it wasn't worth it. Two years ago - yeah, that would have been a fight. Look how much she grew.

"I'll pull my punches, and I'll do my best to not start a fight to protect my ego, but I will not back down if they pick a fight," Penelope stated. It was just a matter of fact. She never backed down from any of the fights she got into; she could never bring herself to do so without someone else intervening. Usually that someone was Tony. But that was still one of the reasons she wasn't up there with others from the Auxiliary showing off for the club; though the part about many finding her unsettling just because of her father was another part that Richard picked up early and often.

"And I will not be apologizing if I step in to keep someone safe, again," she said. That had lost her a lot of good grace with some of the pack members, but she wasn't about to idly stand by when a lousy sod was trying to take advantage of someone barely conscious from intoxication. She'd take on the whole pack if it meant keeping that standard safe, which was why she'd go to the party regardless of if Tony agreed to go or not.

Shaking her head pushed the new scowl from her face. The tiniest bit of a smile pulled the edges of her lips up when Tony's stomach growled. Loud. It kind of made her glad she kept protein bars in her dorm as a quick breakfast before training. "Not yet. Did you want to head into town for a bite, or just get it from the cafeteria?"