Mivuli

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@HaleyTheRandom Haha, go forth! You'd need to find a time all of you can get together though!

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@Celeste Thank you! I really loved getting to talk to Hyacinthus and AJ just now! You guys are fun to post with. And damn, pastel robes, that'd be something to look forward to

@HaleyTheRandom Ohh, well I'd really like to know AJ's response, and also I guess @Aspen Wren would get a chance to speak with you guys a little then. If you'd rather not post right now, would a collaboration post work?

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Thinking about holding a tournament of some sorts? But that's only a suggestion right now. But I do know that there will be a Back to School Ball and everyone's character must dress up. LOL.

Sound good?

@HushedWhispers

Haha, dress robes or tuxedos?

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Location: Train
Interacting With: Alva (@HaleyTheRandom); Hyacinthus (@Celeste); Elize (@Aspen Wren); Ophelia (@PhunkyPhoebe)

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"Anyways, yourself?"

"Hm?" Zeke turned his stare from Hyacinthus to Alva, and caught a bright glint twinkling in her eyes. They were usually a premonition for good fun and mischief with her, and Zeke could always be persuaded to laugh along at it. But when he wasn't in on the joke, it made him immensely wary about where Alva would turn her boundless energy to. He furrowed his brow, and sent her a hasty look of confusion and an unasked question, while Kymmen cocked his head too.

Zeke looked back at Hyacinthus, and caught his expression turn from one of almost comical shock, to one of ease, as he greeted Zeke and offered his hand. It was a beat of hesitation before Zeke clasped the pale hand firmly back. The pace at which he rambled and jumped from one topic to another drew a huff of air through Zeke's nostrils, that passed for a chuckle with him. He would never get used to the preliminary stages of meeting people, and Hyacinthus didn't seem like a typical character to be around. He wondered if those smudges beneath his fingernails were spots of soil, and how they'd gotten there.

"Yeah, my summer was all right," he said, looking at both Alva and Hyacinthus. "And...thanks. Never had it likened to a handsome flower before." He raked fingers through his hair, scratching at the crown of his head. "And no, I'm good. In another compartment, with Ophelia. But thanks." He remembered the boy, vaguely. He had been cornered down by Kemp and his gang last year, and Zeke had passed by and stepped in. He wondered if Hyacinthus was really training his defensive spells, like the rumours said.

"Catch up with you another time, Alva. Got some Transfiguration spells copied from the old library back home I want to show you - think half of 'em are illegal now, but there's one that turns card decks into six-inch humans for five minutes." Preparing to lean out the door again, Zeke glanced over the seated Hufflepuff's pale locks, and paused before adding, "That's a good hair colour too. Suits you. The flower crowns are usually a nice touch."

He raised his hand in good-bye, ready to slip out the way he'd come, when a slender spotted thing came slinking in through the sliding door. Zeke flattened himself against the frame, and seeing the bobbing feline ears, felt his hand reach up at once for his raven. Kymmen cawed hoarsely, as the cat made its merry way to Hyacinthus and snuggled familiarly against him.

When a tall girl came in to find her, she spoke rapidly in a language Zeke guessed was French. But he could recognise an apology when it came in the word pardon. Her eyes swept over the three occupants of the compartment, and Zeke could see the lack of recognition in them when they landed on him. He pointed out the door, muttered, "Just leaving," and let himself out before the Serval made a pounce for Kymmen.

In the walkway Zeke came across the Honeyduke's Express and pulled out his pouch of Galleons to purchase some Drooble's gum and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Squeezing by the trolley so he wouldn't get run over, he strolled back into Ophelia's compartment, sliding the door shut behind him.

"Happy first of September," he said, skimming over Ophelia to see her reading a book with a Cauldron Cake and her cat Thomas for company. Dropping onto the opposite seat, he crossed his legs and began to open the box of jelly beans. Kymmen pecked at the flaps, probably trying to be helpful, more probably trying to earn himself a nibble of the grass bean. He could always pick out the ones that tested like earth and wet soil, and he seemed to like it. Zeke twisted his torso to offer him a spotted one that didn't look very appetising but which Kymmen cawed at and gobbled.

He popped one into his mouth - caramel - and said with a light smirk, "Parents been sentimental on the platform today?" Leaning over, Zeke passed Ophelia the box for her to try her luck. "Something about the first day that makes some of them coo more over offspring."

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If you need a reference on how Zeke sounds! (he says "All right" at around 0.45)
Edit: oh yeah, and this is fitting because of the shameless Harry Potter references. Really great coincidence.

Ink On Your Soul - New Beginnings

Hahahah the most excitement ever to be had over rain XD

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@OfficerHeadbutt Yup, pretty much! Thanks, then, and sorry for any confusion

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@Mivuli Err... Coates is a boarding school designed for bad kids. It'd be very hard to get outside of Coates to truant.

@OfficerHeadbutt

Oh, yeah, this was something I wanted to ask about! Ming Hua isn't necessarily a 'bad kid' - just a little wild in a more literal sense. So I initially thought he might attend the public school. And I know the factions were traditionally split up according to which school the children had come from, but what if Ming Hua doesn't entirely believe in order without adults, or some of the more organised Townie principles, but identifies more with chaos and at times intimidation to get what he wants? A bit like the Coates, just that so far he hasn't acted on such impulses and gotten caught. Ming Hua's personality was a bit more on-the-fence, and he doesn't really lean one way more than the other, but is a little more malevolent than good.

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Ming Hua/Noah

The night before, Ming Hua had returned to the streets.

Or, perhaps rather, he had dreamt about it. The memory of a thing that hadn't been was foggy in his mind, but he could remember bare feet slapping against gravel paths, stinging as they bled and left crimson footprints in their wake, but the pain bearable because he was laughing, and silhouettes around him were too. He thought there was an angry voice behind them, but their chuckles and boisterous giggles were too loud for them to hear, or indeed care. They had cut across the road as one fleet, one flock of runaway geese, and right before them was a stream. They had jumped right in - five children, wearing their only set of clothes, without a care because there was no one to scold them for it - and before Ming Hua could feel the slap of water against his face, he had started awake.

His blood was pumping, and his forehead was dotted with perspiration. He could hear his heart thundering in his ears, and as he focused on the room around him - safe, four-walled, and closed - Ming Hua felt a smile come to his face.

Five hours later, with the sun well up and fierce in the sky, Ming Hua was strolling down the streets, with his hands in his pockets. It was a good day to be outdoors, and he passed by a woman in a biking helmet, her bicycle propped up against a tree as she tended to her toddler in the attached pram beneath the shade. Most, however, were at work or school. But the weather and the dream that had had Ming Hua's blood rushing in his sleep had lured him out of the classroom.

So far he had haunted the roads, sprinted barefoot with his shoes in his hands as he felt the callouses on his soles being beaten alive again. But it wasn't the same. Not when he knew Mrs Rochester was likely to ask him about his truancy when they reconvened in her home again, and he would be expected to be indebted and remorseful for his behaviour. It was her roof after all, and Ming Hua was nothing but an intruder.

Ming Hua turned into the beach, grains of sand coming to stick between his toes. He wouldn't stay too long, or else risk having his skin rubbed raw. He thought he saw a napping figure resting in the yawning shadow of a moored boat, but he wasn't close enough to see. He walked the length of the beach for a while, seeing a fishing boat out in the distance, lulled by the crystalline waves of the sea into a gentle rock. With nothing left to see, Ming Hua began to turn around and head aimlessly to another place.

And then he heard a scream.

Ming Hua whirled around. The boat that had had two figures standing on it was now empty, and he felt a sinking feeling of ominosity in the pit of his stomach. Around its hull, he could see a body splashing in the water in a bid to recover from going overboard. But where was the other one?

There was a cry from the road, and Ming Hua looked over his shoulder to see the pram, unattended, chubby fists waving at nothing from inside.

Something's not right, Ming Hua thought, his mouth turning dry. Before he could reconsider - and regain his senses - Ming Hua chucked his shoes on the shore, and began to run into the sea.

He jumped in, and felt the cold lick of water he didn't know until now he had been craving.

Stroking the water with clean cuts, Ming Hua swam his way over to the boat, going against the current but keeping his eyes fixed on the floundering shape ahead. When at last he reached, he gripped shoulders tightly so the person would know he was there. His heart was beating wildly again, and Ming Hua would have smiled at the wonderful, tight feeling in his chest, too small to contain the powerful organ.

Wrapping his arms around the girl - he could see it was a girl now, with light blonde hair that was now matted with seawater - he began to kick them towards the boat. With the last of his strength he hauled the girl over the hull of the boat so she could pull herself back on.

Ming Hua crossed his arms over the side of the boat, keeping himself afloat by hanging onto its wooden side. His feet lazily pedalled in the current of the water, and slowly he felt his breath return to him.

He looked over at the girl. "Were you going to look for mermaids, or did you just fall in?" he asked between low pants, his eyes sweeping the bottom of the boat. "Decent-sized fish. Would make a good dinner." He swept his sopping fringe out his eyes, before he squinted at her, as though it was the first time he was peering closely at her. "What's your name?"