[IC] Hikari Academy

[Cerces22]

Circe stood and waited for the Professors answer, the minutes seemed to drag on for an eternity. Just as she neared her limit of silence, a scream ripped the air apart. Quick as a thought her twin short swords popped from her wrists and she looked around for any potential threats. After none could be found she retracted the blades back to their usual spot. The scream came from the forest and she knew she had to be quick, if she wasn't Head Magister Aria would get there first and the school would be locked down.

"I am sure that's your cue to go professor, I will leave it to you." She slipped out of the special room and found a corner out of sight. Circe looked around and found what she was looking for, a semi open vent. The young woman shifted into a small hummingbird and darted through the vents, she noticed that the it was completely spotless. Eventually she found an opening and was outside the school. She concentrated once again and became a hawk, she flew in the canopy of the trees until she found the scene of a gruesome murder.

Circe couldn't believe her eyes, a body torn to shreds lay on the ground. It had no features left to tell of who it was. She landed softly on a branch and watched the exchange between Miss Aria and a professor she did not recognize. After a brief conversation the one she didn't know transformed into a spider like creature and went on the hunt for the person responsible.

"So, there was mystery and intrigue at this school as well, at least I won't be bored here, now let's see what the head Magister does now." She thought to herself upon her branch.

[Conscripts]

Yurius Diencrade

Cafeteria to Entrance

Hearing the shifter explained her power, he was both impressed...and unimpressed. She appeared to be fairly feeble in terms of raw power. She wasn't really well-trained. Honestly speaking, she should have been in the beginner class. But at the notification that she had a fighting style, and that she had the tenacity to go through, he almost . How effective would that be, he would have to see it for himself.

"Ayyy...."

The vampire sighed boringly as he thought deeply. While people often say 'Do not judge a book by its cover', Yurius was the type of person to do so, even when he told himself not to occasionally. The reason was simply because there would be the cover was the thing that impresses most about the subject. While the quality may differ, it was time to look that deeply. Moreover, Yurius had a hefty number of students both attending and wishing to attend his class. Most of these people were like her, trying to convince him with words like this. If hearing it again and again and again wouldn't bore him, he would have been in exile for an eternity without having to get in touch with this damned world anyway.

He pondered for a whole few minutes, seemingly trying to kill the girl with boredom, or tension, or both. He was really considering sending her to a semester down the beginner class, but hesitated at the thought. That was the reason why he wanted to fight that student earlier. Only in true combat environment would the true worth of a fighter be shown under the light. But considering his true power, and what just happened earlier, he hesitated to commit one. But then he wouldn't know. Maybe he could just let her attend one day, and test her there.

As Yurius was about to voice his words, a deafening scream could be heard very clearly. One that could be defined as immediate terror. The eyes of the vampire suddenly glowed like flames, as he alerted himself to the situation. It initially appeared to be nearby, but it wasn't. Whether this was some sort of pranks by the students, the vampire had never been through such incidents before in his whole career here.

Before his curiosity could take him over, the Head Magister had already given a school-wide broadcast.

"I am sure that's your cue to go professor, I will leave it to you." The shifter said to him as she turned away and left. Damn, he hadn't got the chance to arrange her the class schedule.

But nevermind, something was definitely up. The vampire could feel himself sinking. But he already had his orders. And he would deliver it.

The vampire stood up firmly, finishing his bloody drink, but not the steaks, and left. His steps, while boringly and nonchalant when he entered, suddenly became more decisive and fast paced. There wasn't any particular location, so the vampire would just take the main entrance instead. On his way there, he could see a number of students under confusion, and somewhat terrified.

"Go!" He pointed at the building. "The staff will handle this alone."

And then he arrived at the entrance. He did not know what exactly was going on, but he would soon know that. Soon enough...

@Cerces22

[Silver Carrot]

"Right," Duncan nodded, agreeing with the plan to push him back to the top step, where he could find one of these 'other accessible ways' the girl who'd just jumped down the stairwell was talking about. Duncan didn't know his way around the school yet. Even this stairwell took him by complete surprise. In hindsight, he should have enquired about stairs and elevators and such before he left, but he was too used to his own home, and everything being designed around Centaurs. Also, he was hungry and eager to get to the cafeteria.

When Roland pushed, Duncan grabbed hold of the handrail behind him and pushed up, and at the same time walked backwards. It looked a bit funny to passers by, but with a bit of effort from the both of them, Duncan was back on the landing. "I appreciate the help. Thank you!" He beamed, smiling down at the younger boy who would still be taller than Duncan if Duncan had the legs of a human. "I'm Duncan. Nice to meet you. I think I saw another door out. Maybe that was a lift."

The moment Duncan stopped talking, a scream echoed through the stairwell. Duncan very quickly sharpened up, and moved his head from side to side as if looking around, but he wasn't using his eyes. He was using his ears. "That scream was loud, yet far away. I think it came from outside, in that general direction," he spoke seriously, pointing to the direction of the scream. "Should we go and look? It might be dangerous, but somebody might need help!"

@Awesomoman64@Cerces22@TheWindel

---

"I was getting hungry, actually. Are you a mind reader now?" Akane joked, before she heard the scream. The change was instantaneous, and the Witch became deadly serious. "Did you hear that? Someone's in trouble. Of all the things to happen on the first day...I hope it's not serious, but we should go and make sure anyway." Akane was about to set off, but then both she and Aster, as well as the other faculty, heard voices in their heads.

“Akane, Aster, I want you to make sure there’s no pandemonium among the students. Especially the First Years. Yurius, Lotte, Mitsu, I want you to make sure the entrances are guarded. Tholl, I want you to investigate the disturbance near the forest behind the school. Reiko, you will come with me to the scene.”

Akane stopped in her tracks, and paused in thought for a second, before turning back to Aster. "We could use the Tannoy in the staff room to order the Students to assemble in the Cafeteria, or back in the hall, though there are probably several students already outside and heading to the source of the scream. Asking us to stop Pandemonium amongst teenagers when something exciting and dramatic is happening is a pretty big ask."

@Kalas@TheWindel

[Flood]

Trey Black

@TheWindel

Trey stood in the shadows watching everyone crowd around the body. One of them ran off to pursue the killer, a staff member if he recalled correctly. A hawk landed on the branch above him, likely a shapeshifter of some sort, no animal is brave enough to get close to so many people who are all panicked. And Trey was just, standing there. The Head Magister was there as well, she had likely seen the both of them already despite Trey's attempts to blend in with the shadows. How did he get to this point in his life in his first week here?

Well it started when he had decided to go off campus to find a quiet place to play his guitar. The forest was nice and quiet, most students wouldn't go there in their first week. The silence had been shattered by a scream, he dropped everything and came running only to find the staff had beaten him there. To a dead body, freshly mauled. He could practically see rigor mortis setting in, the life having left their eyes. Honestly Trey was just watching to see what happened at this point.

That and he was too horrified to even move. No shame in admitting that, he was just a student after all.

[KoL]

---

"Very well then, I'll be waiting for you," was Reiko replied to Aria's request to be left alone with the elf girl.

However, an unforeseen incident ensured that the redheaded magician would never arrive at her destination. The psychic message that followed the unearthly scream in the woods confirmed Reiko's suspicions that trouble was happening. Aria didn't even need to order Reiko around; the Scarlet Sage was used to dealing with paranormal investigations on a day-to-day basis, the procedure on how to deal with them had been drilled into her a long while ago.

"This took a turn to the worse faster than I anticipated. That's why I don't like to deal with children," Reiko said to no one in particular as she stepped out of the main building, her formal outfit was momentarily engulfed in bright crimson flames, leaving behind the Scarlet Sage's usual hard-boiled detective atire. "First things first though," she said before producing a handful of paper slips from her coat's pocket and tossing them in the air. The small sheets folded themselves into the form of paper cranes, immediately seeking any students who didn't heed the Staff's message and left the building to see what happened. All of them contained a fairly simple and direct message that would reach their recipients flawlessly:

"This is neither a test nor a game. Return to the Main Building and follow the Staff orientations, for your own safety. Non-compliance will result in detention and a notification to your parents.

—Vice-Principal Reiko Asamiya."

Reiko reached the clearing, and the body, not very long after Aria. She took a moment to glance around and see that the other members of the staff, mainly Tholl, were already in action. The mage also shot a very obvious sideways look at the tree where Circe and Trey were hiding, to ascertain that the messages she sent were meant to be true.

After taking a moment to analyze the corpse, she said, "That's not the kind of commotion that I expected from the first day of the semester," Reiko said as she twirled the shaft of a bloody feather in her hand. "The corpse is very mangled, but it's a student without a doubt. A harpy, if the structure of the remaining leg bones and these feathers are any indication," she added, this time addressing Aria. "Whatever did this is certainly not human. Either a magical beast or another form of apparition. Looks to be small fry, though. I can call Kiara and have her take on this if you want. That said," Reiko took a deep drag of her cigarette, blowing the smoke in a deliberately slow manner before she spoke again, "explaining this to the child's parents won't be easy."

While Reiko waited for a reply, she observed the drifting smoke with great attention as its revealing properties made any leftover traces of magic energy visible as small specs, or wisps, of softly glowing light. They weren't meant to track the creature, but rather to shed some light on the mystery of their identity.

---

Lotte wouldn't have the chance to show her resourcefulness to Tholl. A sharp scream coming from the adjacent woods, followed by a message from the Head Magister ended the whimsical lunchtime.

Just as Tholl and the others got into action, so did Lotte. The silver-haired fox locked the service exit and stood in way of any student who tried to leave the dining hall through the main entrance. She didn't lock the door, for obvious reason but made as much of an effort to forbid anyone from leaving as she could.

"Miss Aria asked for us to keep all of you safe until this incident is under control. Please, stay calm and continue your lunch. Until it's safe to leave, you can have extra desserts," Lotte said to the remaining students. She hoped that the promise of extra sweets would be enough to have the students behave.

---

[Awesomoman64]

Roland Nightbreaker

---

“No problem at all! I'm always glad to-” Roland was cut off by the sound of a horrendous scream echoing through the school. Instinctively Roland ran to the nearest window and surveyed the immediate area. Nothing. The forest was too far and too thick for him to see anything. Even then he only had a vague idea of where the scream came from. Still, he couldn’t just sit around and ignore someone’s cry for help. His strong sense of duty implored him to jump into action.

Duncan must have felt the same as he asked if they should go check it out. “Yeah. If someone’s hurt I've gotta be there. Responsibility as a healer and all.” Roland explained holding up a glowing hand to show his powers. “We can't wait for the elevator. Better use one of the ramps.”

Pulling out his map again, Roland located the nearest set of ramps and made a beeline to the ground floor. Once there he followed the signs to the nearest exit ready to run out the doors and go from there. It never occurred to him, however, that the exits might be guarded by the staff. After all, the scream had only just been heard, no way the faculty could organize that fast unless they could get their orders telepathically or something.

@Silver Carrot

[TheWendil]

Aria left Tiina where she was, hoping the student would follow protocol and keep herself away from the danger. As the Head Magister swiftly made her way through the school, her mind kept track of everyone’s positions moving around. The staff did well in following her command and making sure the exits had been sealed off, although there were quite a few students trying to get to the scene of crime. Aria could only sigh and ponder on their youth, having reached the location in the forest before anyone else. Well, maybe this would be a good learning experience for those who couldn’t do as they were told.

After all, Circe’s presence was no secret to her and she almost considered reprimanding the bird via her mind again. But Reiko had that covered, sending a glare in both her direction and in Trey’s. The Head Magister kneeled to where the reddened body was, frowning as she observed the grisly damage done to the former student. She only nodded to Tholl in response to her pursuit, not needing to tell the spider to be careful of what could have done this.

“No. There’s no need to get her involved in this,” Aria said to her Vice Principal about Kiara, staring at the once harpy with dismay. They could handle this on their own and bringing that girl here would cause more problems than solve them if she was to be honest with herself. The Head Magister continued to frown, making sure to lower her voice. “Reiko, handle the students who are watching and make sure the corpse is out of sight. Don’t be too hard on them; I’ll handle Trey.”

Rising to her feet, the Head Magister turned her gaze on Trey. She tried not to look too frightening, smiling for the student as she walked up to him. “I don’t think we’ve met yet Trey. I’m Aria, the Head Magister of the academy. You were the first person here, weren’t you?” Her eyes scanned the area briefly, confirming that Trey had been very close when the crime had occurred. “I know it must have been scary Trey. But you’re the closest we have to a witness right now. Can you tell me what you know?”

Meanwhile, Tholl’s search would prove to be interesting. More hoof marks were seen embedded into the ground, the tracks of the culprit at large. Was it a centaur? A minotaur? Perhaps, but Tholl wouldn’t get to find out on this day. Because as the tracks became redder and redder, as if burning the ground where they had trodden, they were soon gone from sight. The trail had gone cold.

At the heart of the darkened forest, there was no creature to fit the description of their beastly suspect. Instead, Tholl would find a simple gray wolf in the clearing, startled by her sudden appearance. No more hoof marks could be found, and the spiders would tell her this was just a native wolf. Still, the creature was growling at her with its belly to the ground ready to launch, aggravated by something. Maybe the culprit had passed by and spooked the natural wildlife?

[Cerces22]

Circe knew she had been spotted, Vice Principal Reiko stared right at her, there was no getting away with his one. She hated to think of the mountain of homework that would be supplied to her for this snafu. So the young woman did the only thing she could think of that might work. She dropped to the ground once again becoming herself.

"Headmistress, Vice Principal, I offer my sincerest apologies for this monumental intrusion. My intention was to never be disrespectful, but I was hoping that I could offer my services to the professor who had went tracking moments before." While not the whole truth of her being there, she wanted to examine the body as well. She gave the corpse a clinical side glance before returning to the head mistress.

"I am fairly decent at tracking myself with some of the forms I can make. I read the schools history texts and saw no mention of anything like this ever happening before, and despite it being my first day I know this is somewhere I can truly fit in. I don't want some maniac or rabid beast ruining my chances at finding a real and stable home."

Circe kept her thoughts on that subject alone, wondering just how powerful Miss Aria was at mind reading. Sooner rather later she would have to find a way to block her from entering her mind so easily, if not for more privacy alone. She waited to hear the Head Mistress's verdict.

@thewindel

[chukklehed]

Alice was almost to the edge of the forest behind the school when she felt rather than saw a small origami bird land in her open hand. Startled, she brought it closer to examine it and found a crane, perfectly folded and with writing decorating part of it's wing. She could feel some kind of energy from the bird as she carefully unfolded it, a slight warmth that spread along her fingers before dissipating, but dismissed the thought as she called her beast to stop and put her down. The hulk gingerly returned her to her feet and then stood still, awaiting her next command as she read the note she had captured.

"This is neither a test nor a game. Return to the Main Building and follow the Staff orientations, for your own safety. Non-compliance will result in detention and a notification to your parents.

—Vice-Principal Reiko Asamiya."

The instruction was clear and came from a direct figure of authority, but Alice found herself torn even so. Sure, she wanted to help, but as she pondered the feeling she realized that was only part of what she was doing. Alice was physically weak, and her power was the only thing that set her apart from normal people. She had struggled to get where she was today, and she wanted people to know that she could handle herself, that she wasn't just another innocent in need of protection. She was going to be a Dawn Slayer!

You won't be anything if you willfully disobey a direct command. The logical part of her mind told her. That one sentence of logic immediately overruled every other objection in her head, and with a sigh Alice turned where she stood and began walking back the way she had come at a sedate pace, waving at her familiar to follow her. She would do as she was told, she reasoned, and there would be plenty of time to prove herself that didn't involve detention.

[Flood]

Trey Black

@TheWindel@Cerces22@KoL

Trey met Reiko's eyes with a grim expression, not even bothering to read the message that floated down to him. He wasn't supposed to be here, so it was time to make his exit. Life wasn't that simple though as the Headmistress herself walked over to him.

“I don’t think we’ve met yet Trey. I’m Aria, the Head Magister of the academy. You were the first person here, weren’t you? I know it must have been scary Trey. But you’re the closest we have to a witness right now. Can you tell me what you know?” Trey appreciated her attempts to look nonthreatening, but his comfort was the least of her concerns honestly. He gulped and straightened up from his usual slouch.

"Yes Ms. Aria. I was playing my guitar a few minutes away from here when I heard this scream. I dropped everything and rushed over here and found her dead." He fiddled with his sleeves as he looked away from the body. "It was dark, so it was kind of hard to see what was happening. I think I saw who... killed her. They were standing on two legs. I don't think they used a weapon. Just their hands." Trey shuddered as he remembered her screams. "It was messy. Drawn out. No normal person could do what that thing did. That was a monster." He had unconsciously wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to stop the shaking, but it wasn't working.

"That's all I can remember. I'm sorry I wasn't useful." Trey looked pale, even paler than usual. The shadows around him were moving, some if them even rising off the ground as his heart pounded faster than a heavy metal bass line. What a first day.

[Lonewolf685]

Tholl

---

Hurtling through the undergrowth with a speed born of a fresh vendetta on her mind, Tholl carved a swath through the wilderness in pursuit of the cloven hoof prints. The red impression upon the ground a firm path seemingly certain to lead to a culprit, and her claws gnashed together in anticipation of the conflict. It was not with blood lust and savagery she hunted the killer, but a sense of being grossly affronted by a murder under her supervision. She'd be just as upset if a Wal-Mart opened across from her store, more so because murdering the owner of a rival franchise didn't solve anyone's problems that a lawyer couldn't and with less of a mess.

However aspirations of carving several pounds of flesh from the campus' assailant withered on the spot when she and all her extra eyes found the path before them evaporate into thin air. Rather then cloven hooves and bloody claws, she came to find a perfectly average wolf. Which in and of itself was rather suspect given Hikari academy wasn't that far removed from society to have wolves casually roaming in the back woods. Coyotes or feral dogs? Sure. But a wolf carried connotations of its own.

"Easy there." Tholl spoke to the beast in a calm and soothing fashion honed well in her scholastic pursuits of education. At a thought one hand shifted back into a more human fashion and she extended it forward, palm upwards for the beast to approach and sniff. All the while she kept the claw at her side and began to weave a collar of silk to fit around the beast. "I don't see any blood on ya' but I can't really just let a wolf wander around behind the school. Why don't you come over here and I'll take you back to the nice Head Mistress so she can read your mind and find you a good home~"

At least, Tholl hoped Aria's skills extended to beasts of all kinds. As far as she knew, this Wolf was a potential witness to the killer fleeing the scene.

[Awesomoman64]

Roland Nightbreaker

---

Bursting through the exit at full speed, Roland ran across the campus towards the tree line where he believed the scream originated. The rush of adrenaline tunneled his senses solely on reaching the person in danger to the point that the paper crane stubbornly trying to gain his attention was simply batted away. He didn’t have time for some random origami litter. Someone out there was hurt, he could feel it. He just had to hope he wasn’t too late.

As he neared forest’s edge, his laser focus was finally broken by the sight of a monster he had never seen before holding another student. It looked as though this girl had been grabbed by this beast and was being taken into the forest. She must have been the one who screamed! In an instant Roland’s mindset switched from healing to fighting. He quickly changed direction towards the monster he thought was kidnapping the girl, his hand engulfed in a white flame as he hastily cast Celestial Strike.

“Hey! Let her go!” Roland yelled as he raised his fist to attack. The moment he pulled his arm back, however, the monster set the girl down per her command and stood there with no reaction to the guy with a burning hand. “Wait… Is this thing yours? It’s not trying to kidnap you?” He asked completely bewildered. Not only had he completely misjudged the situation, but he had now wasted time in finding the real person in danger.

None of that would really matter, though. Now that Roland was standing still, the origami crane was able to catch up to him. The paper bird flew straight into Roland’s face getting his attention as well as payback for swatting it aside earlier. Seeing writing on the wings, Roland unfolded the paper and read the note from the vice principal.

“Are you kidding me? They want us to just sit and do nothing? This is total horseshiii-” Despite his frustration, Roland refrained from finishing his equestrian based curse in front of his centaur friend. Instead he angrily crinkled up the note and tossed it to the ground.

@Silver Carrot@chukklehed

[Silver Carrot]

In the confining doors and halls of the school, Duncan started to lag behind Roland as he navigated, even with the ramps to aid him. It was only when he reached the doors outside that he races towards the frame of Roland. A paper crane floated towards him in an unnatural way and he grabbed it mid-gallop, though didn't open it yet. He was too busy heading towards Roland, who changed mid-direction towards a large creature holding a girl. Unlike Roland, Duncan did not immeditaly assume the worst about the two, as there were several points he quickly considered; One, they wasn't quite the direction of the scream. Two, Donald had grown up in a community of inhumans so the sight of one wasn't alarming to him. Three, That girl did not seem to be hurt or resisting from this distance, and he couldn't sense any fear. As part animal, Duncan had a heightened sensitivity for fear and aggression from other people.

So Duncan carried on his original path instead of following Roland, but stopped dead in his tracks once he reached the forest and saw hoofprints. They looked big enough, but when he tried comparing their size to his own hooves, he gulped and turned right back around, heading towards Roland briskly. On the way, he remembered about the paper crane and opened it to read the contents.

"This is neither a test nor a game. Return to the Main Building and follow the Staff orientations, for your own safety. Non-compliance will result in detention and a notification to your parents.

—Vice-Principal Reiko Asamiya."

Yeah, no kidding.

When Duncan reached Roland again, he was just in time to see the young wizard open and read his own crane. "Hey, you can say that word in front of me if you want. I say it often enough. And the Vice-Prinipal's right. I just found some hoofprints that make mine look like the pawprints of a Pomeranian. There's something big out there and we're way in over her heads. We need to get back inside the school right now."

Without waiting for a response, Duncan started trotting swiftly back towards the school. He didn't want to run and leave Roland behind, but he was spooked, and would be much happier knowing he was under the Teachers' protection.

@Awesomoman64@KoL

[chukklehed]

Alice patiently waited for her chance to speak, since she no longer felt the urgency she had before. She still wanted to be inside, but without the need to hurry to someone's rescue, she could wait for a few more seconds.

"I agree with the centaur, we should trust the teachers to be able to handle things better than we can. If we don't, why would we even be here in the first place?" She had quickly come to terms with the decision she had made, and with her decision to trust the faculty, her worry was starting to ease as well. She moved to follow the centaur, turning her head to speak to her familiar. "Follow me and protect us from danger"

She trusted the teachers, but she didn't want to be defenceless right now.

She quickly tried to catch up to her new equine companion, but soon found herself short of breath and still lagging behind. "Wait up!" She gasped after him, "Don't leave me behind..."

@Awesomoman64@Silver Carrot

[Conscripts]

Yurius Diencrade

Main Entrance

While the main commotions were at the back of the school, the front entrance wasn't free from chaos.

"Get back in here. Immediately!"

Yurius pointed at a student, who was trying to sneak out of the gate using a some kind of invisible spell. That did not go through the vampire's eyes of course. His eyes maybe fooling him now, but his combat instinct was as powerful as ever. No one would go out of his sight that easily.

The guy, busted from his disguise, quickly retreated back into the courtyard.

It wasn't entirely out of order though, as it was simply most students being curious of what was going on. They were all in their youthful years, with their rebellious attitudes and so on.

Soon, both the vice principal and the Head Magister had to deliver their orders to the students to calm them down. A little bit it seemed.

But still, what the hell is going on?

Yurius was far from the scene, as he remembered clearly that the scream came from the back of the school. He was not sure where though, as it could happen inside or outside. While it wasn't much related to his current task right now, the curiosity within the vampire resurfaced. What dark creatures could be threatening the academy now? Or maybe assassins from some agendas?

Whatever it is...

"Ms Aria. I know you can hear me. The gate is secure, but what devilry is going on there?"
@KoL

[KoL]

---

"Confidential information isn't stored in public places, kid. That said, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but there's nothing to see here, kid," Reiko said to Circe before taking off her coat and covering the body, shielding it from the redheaded girl's prying eyes. "The best that a freshman like you can do is follow our instructions. For everyone's well being," she added in a voice as friendly sounding as Reiko could do.

Having finished her tasks, Reiko left the rest of the disposal to Aria and nudged Circe back to Academy. It wouldn't be good if they allowed a second student to be ambushed, after all. While she waited for a reply, Reiko stared intently at Circe. What the Scarlet Sage's eyes saw was known only to her, though. A strong wind blew through the clearing a moment later, sweeping a number of dry leaves. "Let's go, kid, nothing good will come from lingering here," Reiko emphasized as soon as it was over. Whether she felt something unnatural lurking nearby or had just grown tired of waiting was anyone's guess.

---

[Cerces22]

@KoL@chukklehed@Silver Carrot@Awesomoman64

Circe listened to the Vice Principal tell her to take a hike as she covered the body with her coat. The shifter knew when she lost, and threw her hands up in surrender. But she also looked at the Vice Principal Reiko with determination in her eyes. She mused over her words carefully before she spoke, sounding as diplomatic as possible.

"Your right Miss. Reiko, although I think the student body should be informed of what it is that's attacking them, so that we can better defend ourselves. That is the whole point of this school is it not??" She knew she bordered insubordination, but any information could save lives if the creature came back.

Before Miss. Reiko could discipline her any further Circe stuck her hands into her pockets, turned on her heel and went back towards the school. As she exited the woods she caught a glimpse of a girl, and a golem of some sort walking back towards the school with the boy and centaur she saw earlier. She could use a clique right now, if homelessness taught her anything, there was strength in numbers. She picked up her pace and called out to them, trying her best to put a pleasant smile on her face.

"Hey guys wait up!!"

[TheWendil]

“A student has been attacked on school grounds. Dead on arrival,” was all Aria would give Yurius, projecting her thoughts to the vampire. That was more than enough to give him a clue to how grave the situation was and how it was most essential to keep the students from wandering off. She further instructed her message back to the teachers remaining inside the school and followed with, “Reiko and some students are returning to you now. Be sure to retrieve them.”

With that done, she focused back on Trey. Her smile slowly faded away as the student gave her the information she asked for, eyes flicking back to the great hoof-prints embedded in the dirt. “Two legs. Is that right,” the Head Magister said, more to herself then to Trey. Her eyes briefly lingered on the tracks before looking Duncan’s direction. Whether the centaur knew he was being watched or not was known only by Aria and she wasn’t telling.

“Still, I’m glad you’re safe and sound, Trey. Heaven forbid we lose two students in a single hour,” she said, offering up her hand for the student to hold. She smiled once again, hoping to calm him down enough to where his powers would be brought under control. “No one will blame you; you did the right thing in keeping yourself hidden.”

A quick mental message was shot to Tholl, instructing her to deal with the body. The teacher’s spiders would be able to move and conceal it without public eyes watching. “Now, let’s head back into the school. It’s not safe out here,” Aria said, a hint of seriousness in her voice. Something with a conscience had attacked her school, and it was not an action she would be taking lightly.

She motioned along for them to start walking in the direction of the building, hoping Tholl had kept herself careful like she said. And indeed, the spider woman had found nothing serious but the wolf. The wild animal still snarled but less so as Tholl made her piece said, its jaws closing to hide its sharp teeth. It was very much agitated, but not so to the point of biting the teacher’s hand off without cause of reason.

[Gummy1295]

Tiina Bouquet

"Dammit, shut up!" Tiina cried out to the heavens, but despite the damage that the scream had left on her throat, it was absolutely ineffective, since the throng of students surrounding her in the first floor cafeteria were just as agitated. Resigning herself to the cacophony of screams and whimpers, she decided to take a seat in a corner, away from the tables and any area densely occupied by random students. "Honestly, I know it's a skill that I inherited from my mother, but I wish I could at least toggle the effects of my enhanced hearing," she sighed, fishing a pair of earbuds and her cellphone from her breast pocket. "This should tune everything out... hopefully."

She hadn't even placed her earbuds on her when a particular sound echoed throughout the hallway. Again, Tiina's ears perked up as she tried to pinpoint the location of the noise."This is... galloping? And I hear human footprints, too; fast ones." she muttered to herself, rushing over to the courtyard in search of some kind of information.

As she turned the corner to the courtyard, the rhythmic, yet muffled thumping of hooves stomping against the thick grass was gradually becoming louder and louder, until her other superhuman skill--her enhanced eyesight--could make out the silhouette of a centaur and a human, both of which were dashing away from the forest, in the direction of the Academy's building. The two of them were actually quite far away from her current position, but making out their faces was second nature after they started getting closer to her line of sight. "These guys look way too young to be professors here. Just by looking at the human's face, I can tell there's very little reason to worry about them for now." Just as she started turning on her heel, she caught wind of a third series of footsteps... Familiar ones. "Circe..."

With a loud sigh, Tiina tried to take a seat in a remote corner of the courtyard when her ears perked up again. This time, the noise that caught her attention was much more threatening.

Grr...

She couldn't pick up the species of whatever was making that intimidating snarl, but Tiina could only imagine that whatever it was wasn't very friendly...

"Was that... a wolf?"

[Awesomoman64]

Roland Nightbreaker

---

Roland stood for a moment looking back at the forest. Duncan and the girl had both decided to retreat to the school as instructed, but Roland was still fighting the urge to venture out. His common sense eventually claimed victory over his emotions and the young student was able to break his gaze from the forest. With a sigh he followed his classmates as they hustled back to the school.

The other two’s lack of hesitation had given them a head start, but Duncan’s natural speed had especially left Roland in the dust. Seeing no chance of ever catching up to a centaur, Roland decided to catch up with the girl and her golem instead. This was not a difficult task as the girl made the mistake of actually trying to match the speed of a horse and had almost immediately tired herself out. After a quick sprint put Roland at her side, he slowed to keep pace with her and follow her pleas to not be left behind.

“You alright?” He asked with genuine concern. “I think you’re only supposed to run that fast if you have four legs.” The girl’s heavy breathing was most likely just her being worn out, but he had to make sure it wasn’t an asthma attack or something a bit more serious.

Before he got a response, however, a familiar voice called out for them to wait up. Looking back to the forest, Roland was surprised to see the “super helpful” girl from earlier running towards them. Where did she come from? Seeing as there was no immediate danger, Roland held out his hand in front of golem girl and stopped moving. “Here. Let's wait for her while you catch your breath. Don't need you passing out in the school.”

As the newest edition to their group closed the distance, Roland called out to her. “Are you following us or so you just have impeccable timing?”

One could argue standing still and yelling wouldn’t be wise with an unknown threat looming, but come on. It wasn't like someone was secretly watching and listening to them, right?

@Silver Carrot@chukklehed@Cerces22@Gummy1295