[IC] Myth Academy (PG-13)

[Spawnling]

Simon, Zarahk

Grey took a deep breath of the morning air. So many scents...so many students. It's gaze slowly scanned the commons, filled to bursting with booths and stalls and so many many species. The clubs were out in full force to recruit new members. Grey chuckled, descending the steps of the main building to walk through the crowds. Minotaur barkers stood around the wrestling booth, where small skirmishes were being held. In the small ring, two Cyclops' squared off, not trying to win but trying to be as flashy as possible. Near them, Mermaids in swimsuits lounged around the swim team's booth, clearly riding on sex appeal to bring in new members. A kappa handed out flyers nearby as a loud crack rang out, turning heads to the Jousting Booth. A centaur took a heavy blow from a tiger hybrid, their lances ringing out above the hundreds of voices clammering for attention. A gargoyle swooped low, waving at Grey as it trailed a banner for the Astronomy club. Grey grinned, waving back, black eyes slowly sifting through the crowd for familiar faces. Banners of all sorts soared overhead, a brilliant clash of colors. Gardening, Flying, Theater, Fencing, it was boggling to the new students, their heads swiveling this way and that. Grey knew the feeling. Some of these young ones had never left their homes, or even seen creatures outside their own species, let alone this many in such a small space. Fear, excitement, joy, nervousness, confusion...the scents of so many emotions bombarded the Head of Ouroboros. He smiled, eager to meet new faces and reassure them with what he already knew.
It would be one of the best years of their lives.

---

KRACK!
Simon jolted under the hit, hooves skittering to gain footing as he slid to a clumsy halt. Diana gracefully stopped herself at the opposing end, face hidden under the massive helmet. He knew, however, that she was smirking. He chuckled, voice echoing through the heavy helmet as he touched the massive dent she had left in his shield.
"Since when is it common practice to put a lightweight offense against a heavyweight offense?"
Diana pulled the helmet off, sliding one hand through her hair as beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks as she quirked a brow, face unreadable.
"You volunteered for the first bouts to get attention. That paired you with me."
"No one else would be so crazy..."
"What?"
"I said 'Oh right!'"
Simon pulled his helmet off, hair a wild mess as always as he trotted to the side, grabbing his water bottle. Laying the lance in the rack, he watched Diana canter around, shouting to other members of the team to get in the makeshift ring. He walked to the side, leaning on the booth as his eyes roamed the crowds. They had a sizeable crowd watching their little bouts. Diana had managed to convince the academy to give them a double space to allow demonstrations of jousts. It was a clever tactic. But the angry glares from rival clubs suggested it had chafed a bit. Simon grinned, water bottle still between his teeth as he glanced around. Their location still wasn't prime...with the mermaids flaunting their bodies on one side and the ever popular art club on the other, he could tell they wouldn't have a particularly large influx of new members this year. And that made Diana over aggressive to the rest of the team, pushing them harder then normal. The centaur rolled his shoulder, the heavy plating of his uniform starting to wear on his muscles. Diana's voice rang out as two senior jousters took positions.
"Simon! Where's Zarahk?"
"Probably hitting on the mermaids?"
"Find him! He's supposed to be handing out flyers!"
Simon chuckled, opting to simply wear the jousting armor. With it's vibrant colors, worn out appearance, and the large team emblem on the shoulder, it would serve well as advertisement for the team as he searched for his friend. He gave a salute to Diana.
"On it, Horny Spider Search Team is a go."
The centaur trotted towards the swimming booth. Zarahk's habit of flirting with anything and anyone of the female gender made that the first obvious place to look. A loud crash resounded as Simon walked headlong into a pair of Sirens from Choir, tangling himself in quite a jumble.
"Sorry! Sorry! Didn't see-OW-didn't see you guys!"
"Dammit Cloudbrain! Ow! OW! GET OFF!"
"Can't...hoof...under...butt-GAH! Okay, CRAMP CRAMP we're good!"
He cantered off, humming loudly as the Sirens yelled a stream of insults at his back.

[Vocalia]

Ajala, Simon (cameo), Zarahk (cameo)

Sighing softly, Ajala turned around to see Simon, the centaur from the Jousting club, making his first crash of the year with a couple of students, the latter of which were quite unhappy to be on the receiving end of the full force of a running centaur. It seemed that he was looking for someone, most likely one of the more infamous members of the club, the Casanova Wannabe Zarahk, if the Jousting club captain's loud command was anything to go by. Having known the arachnid student as a classmate for a while, she was not surprised in the least to find out that he had wandered away, scouting for anything of the opposite gender. Still, she didn't see a need to be involved in the Jousting club's shenanigans, not when she had her own club to deal with.

Just a week prior to the first day of school, Nathalia suddenly came up to her and asked her to help with tending the stall of the Gardening club. Considering that she had only joined the club for a year and she had been keeping what she considered to be a low profile, she wasn't expecting the nymph to actually notice her, let alone ask her to help around, but despite whatever thoughts she had at that moment, she was now here with that responsibility on her shoulders. With the brief distraction gone, the nagini turned back to her prior object of attention: several pots of flowering plants of different varieties and color that she had painstakingly pruned and cared for.

After making sure that they had been properly watered and placed around to be shown to visiting students, she slithered away and picked up a stack of flyers before leaving to distribute them to the new students. Her decorated hair and her skin-hugging floral dress, with a bit of cleavage window and the club's insignia on it, should be sufficient to identify her affiliation with the club. Thankfully, it didn't bother her at all as her attire was still comparably tame to what the Swimming club members were wearing, at least in her opinion.

[Sam12435]

Jack, Simon (cameo), Ajala

Jack let out a long yawn as he awoke in the shade under a tree. He slid his headphones off to listen to the gentle sounds of the wind through the trees, but instead heard the bustling crowds around him. He stood up and stretched himself out as he surveyed the crowd. Most people would be looking at the booths and stalls, but Jack was more interested in the people. He saw gargoyles, sirens, harpies, werewolves, vampires and any other creature he could think of. His face lit up as he picked his guitar case that was resting on the tree with him, put his headphones around his neck, and made his way towards his own booth. As he got to his booth he looked around to see a few of his fellow club members there, handing out flyers.

“Morning!” Jack calls out enthusiastically as he walks past his booth “I’m going to go look at the new people.” He calls over his shoulder more interested in seeing the new faces rather than handing out flyers. He walks through the crowd, gawking like an idiot at the people he passes. Any creature, big or small, was interesting to Jack, as long as they were strange. As he enjoyed his sightseeing he heard a slight commotion. He looked over to see a centaur and some sirens involved in some kind of mess. ‘That has to be Simon’ Jack thinks, laughing slightly before he continues on his way. He nears the gardening club area as he notices someone in the crowd that he recognized. After all, it’s hard for Jack forget someone as unique as a Naga. He grabs a flier as he walks past them.

“Welcome back.” He says with a smile before continuing on his way. He looks around to see a slightly denser crowd. Understandably, Jack becomes interested and makes his way over. He pushes his way through the crowd before reaching the front of the group. To his surprise he was at the front of the crowd to see the Swimming club. Jack reached out and took a flier from one of the friendly mermaids.

“Welcome back, ladies. Hope you have a fun year.” He says with a smile as he turns and walks away, pushing himself back through the crowd. He comes out on the other side, exhausted from having to make his way through a crowd like that. He decides to go back to his own booth and see how things are going. As he makes his way back to his booth, he grabs an apple from a nearby table, assuming it was free. He gets back to his booth and takes a seat on the other side. He kicks his feet up onto the table and gets out his guitar. He smiles as he leisurely strums away on his guitar without a care in the world.

[Iluvatar]

Gideon, Grey (cameo)

Gideon awoke in a puddle.

It wasn't unusual for him to sleep inside a body of water, but never before had he phased into water while sleeping. An never, EVER, had he fallen asleep while starting a new school. As far as he could remember, he had lain down as a human. Oh well, never mind. I was probably just, *shudders*, the 'teenage years' again.

Reaching out into the Gardens with his mind, he felt the familiar tingling, fuzzy sensation as he disassociated his atomic structure from the water molecules and manifested in human form. He sighed as he hefted his rucksack onto his shoulders (slightly muddy), and let his gaze wander towards the school building.

It was surrounded by a sea of students, flapping leaflets and swiping the early morning flies with textbooks. Gideon's hand shot up. His watch said 10 o'clock. He had been asleep for two hours. Hurrying forward, he made for the school doors, diving between Cyclopes and Werewolves, and narrowly avoiding treading on an Imp procession.

He noticed many tents, presumably clubs seeking new members, tightly packed around the entrance. A rainbow of colours and names filled his mind, The Astronomy Club, The Jousting Tournament, The Inter-House Flying competition. The only one that genuinely interested Gideon was the Swimming Team, but he had his doubts as to whether he would be accepted because of his ability to inhabit, or commingle (as his mother called it) with any body of water. Nearby, a crash had apparently occurred in the Jousting Area. He avoided turning in that direction and changed course.

Coming to a halt, he noticed Grey, the Headmaster/Mistress/Principle, watching over the ever growing gaggle of Freshmen , and made a beeline for him/her/it. This was going to be an interesting first term...

OOC: I hope I was supposed to write in past tense, please inform me if I'm wrong. And if I have made a mistake in how the school is organised, sorry, I'm British, and our schooling system is different. I hope I got the American one right!

[Card Captor]

Shippo

Shippo was scared; he was in a new school surrounded my strangers. We was in the sea of freshmen that was seemingly waiting for a word from the head of the school. There were just so many people. Yet despite the vast number of people here, he still felt all alone. It was a strange and disconcerting sensation. 'I want to go home' he thought to himself as he shivered in place. Despite the fact that no one was looking at him, he felt countless eyes on him, watching him. It made him feel sick.

Gabriel

Landing in front of the school gate, Gabriel walked through with his heart of his sleeve; his energy and enthusiasm was clear to anyone who looked at him. He took a good look around the place, taking in the sights. When he was thoroughly satisfied, he took a deep breath, and yelled "high schoolllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" With attention now on him, he continued "My name is Gabriel Aequitas, but you can all call be Gabe. I'm the guy who's going to become friends with as many people in this as possible" he finished as he pounded his chest twice before flashing a peace sign

[Iluvatar]

Gideon, Grey (cameo), Gabriel

Gideon stopped dead when he heard the loud shout; "high schoolllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". Turning his head away from Grey and the Freshmen, he espied an angel standing, who looked about 18 at the school gates.

A silence descended over the school, with every head and, um, feeler? turned towards the newcomer. He saw at least one gargoyle loose concentration mid-flight, and crashed into the fork of a tree. Gideon, being new, had no idea who he was or whether he had been here before, but he got the feeling that everyone was slightly bemused by his behaviour.

The angel seemed young and energetic, but naive. He was clearly the 'over-friendly' sort

OOC: I removed the character reading

[Supreme Vampiric Evil]

Zarahk, Simon

Zarahk wore his Jousting armor. Well, except for the helmet, of course. Since he was trying to drum up interest in the team, it was best to be in his gear. Not only that, but the armor gave the illusion that he was far more muscular than he actually was. Which was way better for first impressions in so many ways. Not that he looked scrawny without it, but as a middlewieght Jouster he hadn't quite grown into his full potential yet.

The spiderboy was indeed hanging out at the mermaids at the swimteam booth, flexing and making the girls giggle with comments about how skilled he was with his lance. His stack of flyers clutched in one hand, neglected. 

"...Seriously, you should come watch. It's going to be an awesome year for us. And I know I'm going to be keeping track of the swim team this year. I mean I can already see that the talent is undeniably" He paused with an impish smile, looking the one mermaid up and down with his main pair of eyes while not breaking eye contact with the other three pairs. "...enthralling."

He heard a commotion and turned to see Simon entangled with a group of siren dudes after falling into them. He wasn't the most graceful centaur, but he was a good Jouster and a loyal teammate. And a pretty decent wingman.

But then he got out of it and made his way over toward Zarahk, who waved him over. "Simon! C'mere." When the centaur arrived he introduced him to the two Mermaids he'd been talking to.

"Simon, I'd like you to meet Valerie and Vanessa. They're twins." That fact seemed to make the arachnid boy extremely happy. "And this, I'm sure you ladies know is our local star lightwieght Jouster."

[Major Ursa]

Andrej

The end of his tail was awake much before Andrej himself was, the sound of it splashing at the surface of the water was what stirred him from his slumber. His eyes fluttered open, and he peered down at dragon portions of his body still coiled underwater. The ticking of a wall clock became more noticeable as he became more aware, he realised at this moment that he slept in. For a moment, he might have panicked...but then, he remembered that it was...uhhmmm...not a regularly scheduled school day. Still, taking a moment to rub one or two sore horns (likely growing pains), he pushed himself out of pool of water and morphed into an almost entirely human form...save for his many horns. He needed these. Though he lacked the magical ability most dragons had in order to use their horns to predict the weather most accurately...he still proudly wore them as a member of his clan. Pulling a white, fluffy towel off the wooden rack, he dried himself off carefully before going over to the clothing he had laid out the night before.

Ah, yes, the night before...he had met with his roommate the previous night, but only briefly. It had been late into the night when he first entered into the academy, then later when he went in search of his dorm. The accommodations were...quite interesting. He had volunteered to share a room, but was surprised to find it entirely fitting for both him and his roommate. Before immediately heading off to sleep, Andrej took time to pick out a white uniform dress shirt, as well as black slacks. Now, the first official day for him, he dressed quickly and slipped on his shoes before leaving and locking his dorm.

Leaving the dormitories to go to the commons, he was a little bit shocked at how crowded it had suddenly become. Many stalls, many students, many flyers being handed out. They were all recruiting for different sorts of sports teams, or clubs. Taking a moment to walk towards some interesting stalls, he took note of a very blue and water themed stall in particular. Approaching it directly now, three girls in swim suits turned to gape up at him. The first one stared up at his many horns, the second gaped at him, and the third was absolutely delighted to see him, "You're a water dragon!"

Andrej was caught off guard by such an exclamation by this girl, but smiled and nodded, answering her smoothly, "Your assessment would be correct. Yes, I am a water dragon."

All three girls, and a guy coming over in swim trucks, all exchanged a certain look...before going on to insist that he join the sport he's most familiar with, a sport he would be great in. Of the clan, it wasn't in their nature to right off the bat reject...of course, he was stuck politely trying to work around their insistence. It didn't sit right with him to join solely because he would exceed. Eventually, he was able to negotiate for a partial membership...he did actually like swimming, but to their disappointment, he declined the chance to enter competitions. Moving past a few more stalls, unable to reject the many fliers handed to him, his hands were soon full.

Still, he caught sight of a dark blue banner with many golden stars dotting it. 'Astronomy Club'...? Debating on whether he should indulge this curiosity and search for the stall, he stepped upon a flier that he had not yet seen or picked up yet. Tucking the other flyers under his arms, he reached down and picked up this stray flier. Wiping off some dust...'Come in. Wear many masks, different hats. Come join the Theater Club Today!' 'Different...hats? What a strange thing to mention on paper in order to recruit members.' Looking around, the stall wasn't too far away.

The stall was decorated with velvet red curtains onto the left and right side, with a fedora and an interesting 'Oni mask' sitting on the surface of the table. Picking up the mask, he held it over his face before turning around and finding a reflection..."Hmmm...what a particular looking mask..." He muttered to the reflection...his reflection let out a low growl in response. Removing the mask slowly, he found himself staring into the face of a very annoyed, six-armed oni wearing a polo and jeans. Realising how rude his statement was, Andrej stepped back and bowed apologetically, "My apologies, fellow student...I've been rude." The Oni sort of just let out a loud snort before stalking off to the wrestling team's stall. The water dragon hoped the fellow student did take his apology to heart, and didn't see Andrej in a bad light...

[FoxFireOfDawn]

Kuro

Kuro awoke with a yawn and a stretch, nearly falling off of the large oak tree he had slept on. He looked around drowsily, his body straightening when he saw the huge crowd of people and the different clubs trying desperately to get new members. Oh....It must be the freshman's welcoming......thing... he thought. Kuro never knew what to call it. It was a thing he was always bothered about. He looked down to see that the oak was higher up than expected. Lucky him that he could shape-shift into a bat to gently fly down. He slowly got up and morphed into a pitch black bat along with the usual blue, fiery chains around his neck that rattled whenever he made a step. He glided down to the ground before turning back to normal and walking through the crowd of people. Some moved out of his way while others tried their best to ignore him. Only the freshman really stared, wondering why others moved away. They'd fin out soon enough. He took a glance at the music club and sighed, managing to sneak away with one of the fallen flyers. He was quite good at playing the piano although most didn't know about it. He dashed back towards the oak tree and sat underneath it, reading it carefully while singing Alive. He could easily be mistaken for a girl with his singing voice. Normally, it's quite low pitched, but when he's singing, his voice jumps to a higher pitch.

OOC: Ask me if you want to listen to the song and I'll post it in the ooc for you.

[Iluvatar]

Gideon, Andrej (cameo),Gabriel (cameo), Grey(cameo)

Gideon turned from the angel at the gate, and looked back towards Grey and the freshmen. They were clearly being assigned rooms, and handing in club pamphlets to the bemused headmaster/mistress/principal at a rapid speed. Gideon sighed. He reckoned he would be considered like the Year Sevens back in Britain - the lowest of the low, who always seemed to be swarming around your ankles. He remember the cool waters of the River Stour, from which he was born, and a tide of homesickness welled up in his throat.

Almost gagging, he drew up the hood of his fleece (blue) and dashed off into the trees. The sunlight through the leaves, though of infinite beauty to one of his kin, the Dryads, did little to raise his spirits. He needed water. The fresh embrace of a running stream or the lap of the oncoming tide.

Suddenly, he burst back into the ring of tents, only this time, he was next to the Swimming Club gazebo. A few freshmen and a couple of sophomores were clustered at the entrance, receiving leaflets and forms from eager members. There appeared to be several different species - at least three Naiads, a Nereid, and what appeared to be a water dragon in human form, just making off. Sighing, he wandered towards them - after all, they were the ones most likely to know what he wanted to know - the location of water.

[Berzie]

Anais and Xander | Kuro (Cameo) | Jack (Cameo)

"You can't touch anything though?" Anais replied to a whining Xander. "I know, but I want to help! Being a ghost is the worst," he said, almost pouting as he glided around a concentrating Anais. Picking up the stack of flyers, she made sure to divide them equally amongst the members of the Music Club. Looking up, she counted, "One, two," counting herself and Alexander, "three .. " she added, spotting Kuro in a nearby oaktree, snoozing away. "Four .. Four? Where's the werewolf?" Anais sniffed the air, unable to detect Jack's scent. Shrugging, she continued dividing the flyers until it was all even. "OK! I ... Yup, I think we can go and hand out flyers now." Picking up her stack of paper, Anais strolled through the sunlight - well she would have anyway, if it weren't for the UV umbrella above her. Only 15 minutes out and she had already managed to pique the interest of about 4 students so far for the music club, some taking flyers, others politely declining - but a majority taking the flyers - even the ones that didn't have time to speak.

"Join the music club! We have booze, curses and illegal charms!" A bored Alexander called out as Anais tried to hush him. "W-What? No we don't!" Anais said frantically as the pair caught some weird looks from passers-by. "We don't, it's just a n-normal music club!" She said, explaining herself to a teacher who had stopped to witness the commotion. Raised eyebrow and a cup of coffee in hand, the professor continued on his course. Smiling as the gentleman walked away, when he was out of distance, Anais spun around with a piercing hiss and eyes blood red for a nano-second before changing back to their ebony colour.

"What was that all about!?" she questioned a grinning Xander whom shrugged in response. "I 'unno. I can't hand out flyers so I thought it'd amp up the advertising, and whats more professional advertising than stretching the truth?" Anais sighed, her face buried in the palm of her hand. "Well, we have like two flyers left, so I guess we can make our way back." The two walked past various clubs advertising themselves - jousting? Look good but neither Xander nor Anais can throw very well ... or at all. Gardening, that would have been Anais's third choice if it wasn't for music or art. Swimming was definitely off the list for the pair, Astronomy wouldn't have been such a bad choice. All the clubs were like their own personal countries, it was interesting, but Xander and Anais were more happy to have chosen music. "We're back!" Xander called out as Anais returned the left over flyers to the table.

[Vocalia]

Ajala, Jack, Shippo, Gabriel (cameo), Anais and Xander (cameo)

When a familiar student came up to her and greeted her, Ajala gave the young man a polite nod in return. She had never been a woman of words, but seeing someone she knew helped lift her spirit. It wasn't until she heard someone yelling that she turned around, wondering who it was. From where she was standing, she couldn't see the source of the commotion, but she smiled, realizing that she was already starting to see antics and hijinks not even one day into the academic year. She noticed her roommate and a ghost passing by together and busily glancing at the stalls of the other clubs. Despite not being from the same club, she was quite fond of her and looked forward to a year of finally rooming with her.

Looking into the crowd, she noticed a student looking seemingly lost and frightened, most likely a first-year student. She couldn't tell what sort of creature he was from smell alone, especially with his human form up front. Nonetheless, he seemed intimidated amidst the sea of students. The fact that he was shivering only solidified her concern. She knew what it felt like to be in his shoes and felt compelled to help. Taking her flyers with her, the nagini approached the young, shivering student and looked at him, her calm, somewhat flat facial expression belying the concern within. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice containing a thick Indian accent.

[Completlie]

Lilith

Lilith looked around the school entrance, oh boy, it's packed, and I mean packed! Students of all shapes, sizes, and species roam all around getting to classes, she presumed. As a new student, Lilith herself didn't know what to do, so she flew around above the students to see an idea on what should be going on here. She looked around and had two banners that caught her eye, one that seemed to portray something that resembles something about art, and the other seemed to portray something about nature, both of them being topics that Lilith has a high affinity for. She decided to first approach the second banner simply because of her ability to accelerate plant growth, but she decided not just to simply fly there, but to take advantage of the crowdedness and use that as a makeshift obstacle course for her to traverse to the banner. She was flying along, whizzing through tails, looping around horns, and dashing through fur that one might think they were grazed by a light breeze. Lilith was having the time of her life, or at least the time of the five minutes it takes for her to get there due to her small size. Unfortunately, at the last moment, she was distracted by what seems to be an exotic flower and she crashed into the banner.

[The Wanderer]

Xander (cameo)

John sat on the steps leading up to the dorms, reading. He glanced up, face hidden deep within a thick hood, his body equally shielded with a robe, finishing with two layers of heavy gloves over his hands. It would have made page turning much harder, if he wasn't used to it. The festivities were as grand as last years, if not grander. It would have been nice to join in, but he knew better. Closing the book- he memorized his page number- John stood and stretched, stone crunching slightly. He stuffed the book in his pocket and moved into the loud circus of... things.

"Join the music club! We have booze, curses and illegal charms!" The voice barely touched where he was standing.

That brought a smile to his face. Alex. Who else was about from last year? John let the crowds take him where they would. He hadn't chosen a club or sport last year, but it didn't hurt to listen. There weren't many clubs he could do comfortably. Astronomy was the only obvious choice. Noise called his attention. Music. John pulled away from the crowd and stood a distance away from the piano. It sounded nice. Though he knew getting too close would be uncomfortable. However, pianos were no where near as invasive as drums. This was another guy from last year. He didn't remember him much though. Of course, he didn't know if the others remembered him all that well either. Part of him just itched to pull off the cloak. The sun felt so good... But turning into a stone statue in a crowded area was probably not the best idea, and he would miss opening ceremony as well, if he stayed like that. He probably could sneak off an hour before sunset and relax for a bit... yeah... maybe then...

[Card Captor]

Shippo

Shippo 'eeped' when he heard someone talking to him, breaking his concentration briefly and making his fluffy fox ears appear for a second. Turning to see the source of the voice, he replied in a tiny voice with "j-j-just cold." he grabbed his upper arms with both his hand, to help create the illusion that he really was cold. As nice as he thought it was that she cared enough to check up on a total stranger, he was worried about causing some sort of scene and drawing attention

[Spawnling]

Zarahk, Simon

Simon grinned at the mermaids, giving a wave with one arm while simultaneously pulling Zarahk into a headlock with other.
"Excuse me, I believe he got lost on his way to hand out flyers."
Dragging the protesting spider away, Simon gave a chuckle, not loosening his grip as he pulled Zarahk away from the bikinis, bumping into a few students here and there.
"You still have an entire stack of flyers AND you're flirting with the swim team. Diana's gonna be ticked off you know."
The centaur finally released the spider, swiping the flyers with one hand as he counted them quickly.
"Did you hand out any of them or did you immediately head to the mermaids instead?"
The centaur gave a bemused grin at the younger student, already knowing the answer to the question. The boy was undeniably driven by hormones, a source of great friction between him and Diana. Simon was careful to drag him AWAY from the Jousting Booth to help hide the fact that he hadn't passed out the flyers as asked. Simon got along well with Zarahk. He was a good jouster and generally nice to be around. But he did lack focus. Or rather, a focus on anything that wasn't female.

---

Grey, Anais, Xander

"Mister Xander, inciting bedlam as usual I take it?"
Grey walked up to the music booth, smiling at the students as he approached.
"You're going to attract the wrong type of crowd with such...how did you put it? Stretching of the truth. However, I'm pleased to see you're still bringing such a vibrant...'spirit'...with you on the first day."
Chuckling at his own joke, Grey's obsidian black eyes rested on Anais, a calm warmth radiating from him as he addressed her.
"Doing well I hope Miss Anais? The music club seems rather popular this year."

---

Andrej, Pamela Attenburg

A large spider leg tapped Andrej's shoulder as a hand delicately took the Oni mask from his hand.
"Oh don't mind him my dear, he'll have forgotten you by the time he reaches his stall. Does the stage appeal to you?"
Pamela, a large hybrid spider currently dressed in a gaudy theatrical Harlequin suit, complete with bells on her hat, stepped from behind the booth, placing the Oni mask in front of her own face. A quirked grin as she slid it aside, sizing up Andrej.
"A water dragon? How unique! Wonderful that you were looking at our booth my dear, my name is Ms. Attenburg."
A flurry of movement and her many spider legs pinwheeled the masks across her face. A grinning pig, a dopey treant, the oni mask, a crying human.
"The chance to live a new life every moment the spotlight is upon you. How very dramatic, don't you think? About what you'd expect from me? I do hope I'm meeting expectations, I believe I'm supposed to be suitably...eccentric, as an actress. I don't have the body for black turtlenecks though. Too much hip and not enough hipster."
The masks lowered and she smiled at the dragon.
"Now then dear...what brings you to our little booth?"

[Aphelion]

Arcana, Ajala, Shippo

Arcana's hands tightened on the arm rest of her seat, sharp crimson talons digging into the silk as the carriage wobbled back and forth, causing the scenery outside to bob with her nauseatingly. Flying would have been preferable to her, but her grandmother's voice rang through her head, "The carriage is representation of hearth, home, and status. You will ride." She just hoped she didn't replicate her journey to the An'vian, that would be embarassing. At that thought, Arcana's cheeks took on a dangerously pale tint and she hurriedly looked away from the window to calm her nerves and nausea. No one else shared the space with her, as her grandparents had said that she needed to build strength of character and an approximation of independence, denying her handmaiden to accompany her. Arcana had no idea how they expected her to accomplish that, still shackled by their fineries. The very carriage itself was a direct contradiction to their desires.

The carriage lurched to a stop, an angry voice replacing the wibble-wobble of movement. Arcana hung her head out of the window to see what the commotion was. The winged back and muscular hindquarters of one of the two griffins leading her carriage and the petite but curvaceous form of a siren came into her view, the latter admonishing the former. The griffin managed his usual stoic countenance as the siren complained of them trying to run her over, before swaying away angrily when she realized she wouldn't receive much in the way of a response, let alone anything but a meager apology from either griffin. The carriage settled back into movement more smoothly than it had stopped as soon as the siren was clear of it, but Arcana looked out the window to stare at the siren; she had never seen one in person. The siren gave her a bone chilling glare in return. Arcana ducked her head back in to her carriage, heart thumping in her chest as her hands gripped the arm rests, talons tearing the silk.

It wasn't long before the air was permeated with new sounds and sights. The carriage came to a smooth stop a half mile before the gates to her new school, behind dozens of other vehicles dropping students off. From outside, one of her coachmen managed to make himself heard over the crowd rather easily with his deep, booming voice, "We have arrived, my Lady." Arcana managed to pry her hands off of the now-torn arm rests so she could let herself out. Her body felt like lead as she stepped stiffly from the carriage, every footfall on the small steps arduous. When she reached the bottom, she flexed her crimson wings, making a face as some feathers caught on her chiffon halter dress. She would have preferred something more casual, but one did not argue with her grandmother and live to see the next sunrise. After she had readjusted her clothing to fall more comfortably over her lithe form, she stood in the sun with her wings outstretched. She began to glow from within, as if soaking up the rays, her translucent golden hair in its thick braid floated in the air behind her. She only allowed herself a moment of this before realizing where she was, retracting her wings and casting anxiety-ridden glances this way and that. No one seemed to notice, or care, to her immense relief.

She was about to walk away into the school, before the griffin nearest to her spoke up in his deep voice, "My Lady, your map and card." She made a fretful sound and hurriedly reached back into the carriage, producing a map of the school and her slim Student I.D. card. She gave the two griffins a nervous wave good-bye before she took a deep breath to steel herself. It was mostly ineffective she realized, as her hands were still shaking, but she forced herself to slip into the throng of creatures milling about. Every where there were booths and stalls, their occupants shouting to advertise themselves as they handed out fliers to passerby. It was hard to pick out their voices in the din, but the banners flapping in the breeze above the stalls did a good job of telling her what each was.

Before she was halfway through the area she had a stack of them one hand, the school map in the other, her attention divided between both when she bumped none-too-softly into someone, causing the papers to go falling from her grip to the ground below. Arcana reached up to cradle her nose, which was beginning to lightly bleed, her teal eyes as big as the full moon as she took in the nagini before her, and shifted then to the shivering boy next to the beautiful raven-haired nagini. 'Ohmigodohmigod.' She thought frantically, her heart rising to her throat. Her normally chime-like voice came out in a gasping wheeze as she began to hyperventilate, "I-I-I'm s-s-so sorry! A-are you o-okay?!"

[Card Captor]

Arcana, Ajala, Shippo

Shippo squeaked when he felt someone bump into him, the shock causing his twin fluffy tails to appear for a few seconds before he regained control. When he saw the culprit, hyperventilating girl his own age (or so she seemed to be, it was hard to tell with some races), an instinct drilled deep into him by his own mother took control. Bending down he quickly scooped up her papers and handed them back to her. His next course of action was one his father had unknowingly taught him "n-n-no. I-I'm sorry. I'm n-n-not sure what for...b-but I am"

[Berzie]

Anais and Xander | Grey

"Mister Xander, inciting bedlam as usual I take it?" Alexander spun around to find the older gentleman examining the music booth. "You know it! Good morning, by the way, Headmaster Grey," Xander said with a bow. Grey was one of the few people in Xander's life that he truly admired and respected. He was a kindly gentleman, wise and fair. There was something about him that always made Xander feel at home - almost like he had family again - there was a grandfatherly aspect to him. He supposed Grey's appearance played a large role in how Xander responded, but had he have looked any different, Xander wouldn't doubt for a second that he'd show the same respect and admiration. "You're going to attract the wrong type of crowd with such...how did you put it? Stretching of the truth. However, I'm pleased to see you're still bringing such a vibrant...'spirit'...with you on the first day." Xander recoiled at the fact that he hard heard him talk about 'stretching the truth' but let out a chuckle at the 'spirit joke'. "You're a witty one, Headmaster G," Xander said, waggling a finger at him with his other hand on his hip (imagine his face like this).

Quietly listening to the talk as she stood beside Xander, Anais jumped as Grey called on her. Move over garlic, shove off sunlight - if there was one thing that terrified Anais more than anything, it was direct eye-contact with a good looking man. "Doing well I hope Miss Anais? The music club seems rather popular this year." Scrambling to find the words to respond, Anais let out an awkward squeak of noises. "I .. I .. Y-Y-Y" Xander butt in, the second-hand embarrassment almost killing him a second time as he watched the uncomfortably awkward horror. "Yes, it's doing pretty swell! We have four members so far, but there should be more on the way! What, with my advertising and all, y'know." Xander 'nudged' Grey's side jokingly as a pouting Anais stood in the back. A burst of courage exploded as Anais managed to spew the words, "I forgot to say, good morning Headmaster Grey!!" she said, almost shouting at the poor man before bowing.