OOC: Date: Mia 25, 81382; three hours after mid-day; some of the afternoon classes are just beginning to let out their students Character: Cassandra Aeroth Where: In a classroom just letting out. IC: "And one last thing: your project is due next class. Other than that, you are all dismissed. Have a good afternoon." As the final word was leaving the lips of the teacher, her class immediately began to get up and rapidly gather their things. The miscellaneous chatter began just as well; although, somewhat hushed out of respect for the other classes still in session. The class of about thirty dragons, between fourteen and fifteen years of age, was eager to get outside the classroom and enjoy the clear and sunny day. Some of the students had made plans to go out with friends. Others had no plans, but were nevertheless happy to be free of the organized and tedious learning process called "school". However, even in the midst of such excitement, there were some ardens who had plans which were not so innocent. These four dragons appeared no different than the others around them. However, one of them had recently caught wind of a new way to have fun. Bags slung over their backs, the four chatted casually and exchanged a few foolish jokes as they left the building with the rest of the students in their class. The one class which was initially let out was soon joined by other classes which let out soon after. The group of thirty or more dragons grew into a crowd of perhaps three-hundred. Once outside, the large group slowly dispersed in every direction away from the building. The four ardens walked at an easy pace for a while before coming to a grove of trees quite some ways away from the building they had just been in, but still on campus grounds. As they neared the grove, they noticed an older black thill, in her thirties possibly, on her hands and knees scuffling around on the ground as if she was searching for something. This dragon, who seemed somewhat troubled, was wearing dark purple clothing and beside her on the grass was a small leather handbag. The four young dragons looked at each other for a few moments until one of them hesitantly stepped forward and spoke. "Excuse me miss, is something wrong?" The black femme looked up suddenly as if she had been startled, even though she had seen the other four coming from a distance. "Oh, hey guys," she replied quickly. "I was just looking for a hair pen I dropped. Its quite valuable." After speaking, she returned her attention to the ground again and resumed her alleged search. "Well..." said the youth who had originally spoken. He set down his school bag from his shoulder and unzipped it. His friends, who were not entirely sure about what was going on, watched in awe as their friend pulled from his backpack, a small stack of Bhijan. The black thill, Cassandra, looked up and slowly stood up as she heard the jingling of the coins. "If your hair pen was so valuable, why not go and buy a new one?" asked the arden in a tone of voice that sounded as if he had been coached about what to say and how to say it. He stepped towards Cassandra and extended his left paw filled with Bhijan towards her. Cassandra looked thoughtfully to the left and then to the right. No one was nearby. She smiled. "Why, young dragon, that would be a wonderful thing for you to do." She held out her open left paw and felt the money drop into it. She fingered the pieces carefully. They all felt genuine. So far everything was going according to plan. "How could I ever repay you?..." The arden who had given Cassandra the Bhijan stepped back with his friends and waited. The four were a little nervous as they waited in a few moments of silence. Cassndra picked up the black handbag and opened it while speaking. "I know its not much, but I suppose its the least I can do to repay you for your generosity." Cassandra dropped the Bhijan into the purse and pulled out a small package of gum--or at least what appeared to be gum. She stepped foward and handed it to the one who had given her the Bhijan. He snatched it away hastily and put it in his pocket. "I hope you kids have a safe day," spoke Cassandra as she hung the purse on her right shoulder and folded her hands in front of her, smiling once more. "Mmhmm"; "You too"; "Yea"; "Ok" They replied, each saying different things as they turned and walked away. As Cassandra watched them walk away, her smile dissolved. Poor fools--wasting their time, money, and health for a quick thrill... Cassandra sighed and took a quick glance around her location before setting her purse down in front of her, kneeling down, and beginning to search once more for her "lost hair pen".
The scrapping of chairs was what woke her up from her dream state. If possible, she was actually sleeping with her eyes open. Having thought that, she wondered if anyone in Ramath ever acheived it. If not, she was the first. Maybe she should tell the media and she could be part of history. "First Pendragon Ever To Sleep With Her Eyes Open" would make a headline. She smiled to herself and diminished the high flying thought. If only. The teacher had already given his students instructions on their current assignment. Unfortunately for her, she was still sleeping at that time. No matter, she could get one of her classmates for the info. Obviously she can't ask her professor. She was about to think who when the teacher called her name and asked her if she was alright. Looking up, she realised she was one of the last strandling students (who were already making their way out) and the only one to be still seated. She cleared her throat. "Yes, sir. I'm fine." Kien replied with a smile and hastily got up, collecting her stuff in one motion. If she were to really, really answer the professor, she would say she was a little nervous. She was to go to the Black Market today, for a mission. But she was not sure if she was up to it. It could, afterall, alter her life forever. She was too bored with her current one. Day in, day out, it was like being in bootcamp. Even bootcamp sounds better! Where was the thrill she was supposed to have? First, though, she had to get that info on the assignment. Stepping out into the hallway, she scanned the crowded area for any one of her classmates that she knew. Honestly, for the many years she had been here, she still did not know all of them. And why does Janardan have to have so many students? Frustrated in the inability to look over the others' heads (not that she was short, the pendragons in Janardan were just taller), she decided to just go through them. Bumping into and being bumped by giants weren't much fun to her. She followed the crowd all the way out to the courtyard. Finally to her relief as crowd cleared a little, she saw a small group of the classmates chatting along with each other some way off. So focused were she to reach them that she failed to watch where she was going. Her brain registered that she had stepped on someone's foot and apologized. But now, she was being clumsy again and she found herself and the floor meeting. Her bag helped the impact and when she looked to see what she had tripped on, she realised it was more of 'who' did she tripped on. There, on her hands and kness, seemingly was searching for something before Kien had tripped on her, was an elder pendragon of ebony cloaked in purple clothes. Which was strange, really, for she knew she saw this same thill searching and then talking to four younger ardens some distance away. She regained herself, gathered her messenger bag to her torso and knelt beside the femme. "Gosh, ma'am. I'm so sorry," she stated. "I'm being not myself all of a sudden. I'm sure I wasn't this clumsy yesterday. Are you alright? Did I hurt you?"
Cassandra heard someone coming too late. Just as she was looking over to see who had managed to sneak up on her, she was stumbled over and Cassandra fell over onto her side. Cassandra, thinking this newcomer to be an attacker, was filled with adrenaline as her subconscious mind began to take over and react so that it might save her from what it thought was danger. As the young thill attempted to show proper courtesy, kneel down, and ask Cassandra if she was alright, Cassandra quickly snatched away her purse and rolled away from the thill before springing onto her feet. Cassandra now looked nothing like the friendly dragon she had acted as while talking with the four ardens earlier. Now acting instinctively, her lips were curled, her ears laid back across her skull, and her eyes were filled with an ominous look which could frighten young pendragons to tears. Cassandra, holding the purse in her left hand, was beginning to fill her right hand with dark energy to defend herself with. Fortunately, her consciousness "caught up" with the events which had just transpired. Cassandra registered the questions "Are you alright? Did I hurt you?" She suddenly realized that this "attacker" was not actually an enemy, but a harmless student who had accidentally stumbled into Cassandra, and Cassandra, putting to use all of her years of training, was about to instinctively kill this student as an act of self-defense (or at least what she thought would have been self-defense; more like dragon-slaughter). The dark violet sphere in Cassandra's right hand immediately dissipated into the air. Cassandra's eyes widened in horror at her mistake, and her ears and lips relaxed into their normal position. "Oh my goodness! I am so very sorry!" Cassandra tried not to speak to loudly so that she would attract attention, but loud enough so that the student, whom she had reacted so violently towards, might understand the sincerity of her apology. "I did not mean to react in such a way, but you startled me very much." Cassandra slowly shook her head and sighed as tension escaped from her body. "I-um..." Cassandra thought of a way to explain herself. This young thill obviously wasn't here for business, otherwise she would have waited for Cassandra to notice her. No doubt, she had stumbled into Cassandra completely by accident. "I'm here waiting for my nephew to finish his classes. He-he is young," Cassandra paused briefly, her mind racing to put together a legitimate story, "so his mother usually asks someone to walk him home. He knows to meet his escort, er, family frie-" Cassandra, still shaken up from her previous adrenaline dump had trouble finding the right word to use; so she stopped herself completely and started again with a new sentence. "He knows he is supposed to meet me at this grove of trees." After finishing delivering her hastily built construction of words, Cassandra smiled at the thill and folded her hands in front of herself.
In a flash, the stranger that Kien had knocked down leapt to her feet and was showing signs of aggression. She saw the flash of white teeth when the stranger's lips curled, saw the deadly look in her eyes and the dark orb of energy that was slowly building up in her hand. Kien's first instinct was to reach for the dagger strapped to the side of her leg, near the ankle. Her muscles tensed, her poise ready with her hand hovering over the strapped dagger, and her auds were pinned to her cranium like the older thill. She was confused. Who was this? Why was she behaving that way in a school no less? As far as she knew, Janardan pose no real threats. But just as the tension built, it subsided. Kien saw the look the stranger gave like one had made a big mistake. Now she was apologizing and Kien was glad she had not yet taken out the dagger and throw it at the older thill. Her muscles then relaxed together with her stance. Kien sighed her tension out and in relief. She slowly stood up. "No, it's alright. It's understandable." She politely waited as the ebony stranger explained herself. She was definitely not a professor in Janardan. The way she had started to construct her words and a slight stammering left Kien just a little inconvinced. There was a switch in her brain that had clicked and turned on the curiousity in her. Who was this thill? Kien had convinced herself that she might be a secret agent on a mission. And the way she reacted to Kien knocking her down would be that she had expected an enemy in Janardan. But then, her thoughts had always like to run wild. All thoughts of her small mission to get information on her assignment had flew away towards the sky. Her interest now lay on the pendragon standing in front on her. "Well then," Kien said. She paused a few seconds to think of anything that will make her stay long enough to figure the ebony thill out. She looked towards the hallway. "Classes just let out but there are almost no one along the hallway by now, I'm quite sure. Would you like me to go look for him?" She tilted her head in question, offering a small smile. "Think of it as an apology for knocking you down."
Cassandra listened to the proposal of this newcomer. While Cassandra listened, her posture and facial expression remained constant. Although she was relieved that the dragon whom she had nearly killed was not running, screaming, and creating commotion, she was somewhat troubled by this dragon's persistence and desire to help Cassandra with a nonexistent problem. "Classes just let out but there are almost no one along the hallway by now, I'm quite sure. Would you like me to go look for him? Think of it as an apology for knocking you down." Cassandra let out a half-hearted chuckle. "That would be a kind thing for you to do. However, my nephew always shows up." At this point, Cassandra had pretty much regained control over her mind and now carefully construed her words together, trying to think of a way to get rid of this youngster. Shrugging, Cassandra added on to her previous sentence. "However, if you truly want to help me out, I suppose you could go ahead and check the other side.. of the campus grounds." Cassandra pointed far off on the other side of some of the school buildings. "Sometimes my nephew lingers over there and talks with his friends a little before coming to meet me. If you went over there and spotted him, maybe.. you could tell him that I was waiting for him and that it was time to go home." Cassandra folded her hands in front of her again, waiting a few seconds before continuing. "You will know my nephew if you spot him. He always carries around a neon green backpack. He is about thirteen years of age with dark brown fur.. and is, um, about five feet tall. His name is Jack, and.. he will most likely be wearing a pair of blue jeans, and.. a light blue sweater." Cassandra, who felt that she had given an adequate description of her imaginary nephew, finished talking. "If you don't find him, though, and you come back here and I'm not around anymore.. it probably means that he found me and that we left together for home." A pleasant smile appeared on Cassandra's face after she finished. She had very neatly and carefully stacked one lie on top of another, creating a wall of what could possibly be mistaken for truth.
Kien had met tons of pendragons in her years of travels. There were the weird, the normal, the utterly boring, and even some who got her into some wild plot that she was lucky enough she was still alive today. But none of them seemed as intriguing as the purple eyed stranger talking to her. Kien nodded in reply and set to look for said 'nephew' at the direction the older thill had pointed to. She did not quite believe what this stranger had told her. She was somehow, half skeptical. In fact, there was this small, nagging feeling at the back of her head that there was more to this situation than just a simple aunt waiting for her nephew. Kien was one who was ever ready to help anyone whether or not the person was close to her. But she was wise enough not to go on a wild goose chase. Previous experiences had taught her that. Improvising a given task to fit a situation was something she had picked up along her years of travels. A small smile played on her maw and her back was already towards the stranger. She would happily go look for the nephew, only after she had confirmed that the ebony femme was just an ordinary aunt actually waiting for said nephew. If she was telling the truth, Kien could very easily find the nephew and reunite him with his relative in just a few minutes. If she was not, Kien's track of normal daily routine would be broken and she was ready to welcome the break with a big banner. She stole a quick glance back to see if the stranger was still there, observing her. Then, reaching a corner, she took a turn. And stopped. By now, Kien was already out of sight from the older thill. Looking left, then right, she saw that the hallway was completely empty. Spreading her wings, she tensed the muscles in her legs and prepared to jump. Her wings lifted her up, up, up until she lightly bumped her head against the ceiling. Then, she took a peek around the corner she had come from, alert eyes searching the grounds. Finally, she found her target, just as she had left her. Hoping that the older thill was convinced Kien had already gone looking for her 'nephew', she remained at her position to find out who this pendragon was and what exactly was she doing in Janardan.
With others leaving the class room, an orange pelted pendragon, Pendzez, stood up quickly with his bag on the floor next to him and his books on the desk. He picked up each book that was there, not leaving one behind then put them in the bag. He zipped shut his carefully so he break it off. He had another item on the desk, a kind of MP3 player. He picked it up by the neck band then put it around his neck with the player just covering his Sol Crest. He lifted up the earphones, carefully placing one in his left ear and the other in his right ear. He pushed the power button then choose a song to listen to. Pendzez choose a song with the sound almost danceable. He picked up his bag by the nylon strap then swung over his back, making he didn't anyone. Just placing placing the bags under his yellow furry wings, he started walk and dance at the same time. He sat in the fourth row from the front then walked down to the second row from the front where he stopped then pretended that he was playing a keyboard. He was moving sideways, controlling each arm swing and tapping of his finger. The music stopped and Pendzez was motionless. He reached for his MP3 Player then switched it off. He tucked it under his shirt, revealing his Sol Crest. He headed for the door but was halted by someone coming in. "Hi, you can come in." He examined her. She's a bit too old for this class room I must say, he thought.
Cassandra watched as the thill walked away to the buildings. Cassandra's smile remained all the while; she was pleased with herself for cooking up an ingenious plan to get rid of the thill. After the nosy youth was out of sight, Cassandra looked around the area she was in to make sure that she had not forgotten anything and to also insure that she had not dropped anything while performing her defensive roll. Everything looked fine and normal, save the flattened patches of grass here and there where dragons had been standing. Cassandra pulled a pair of slender sunglasses out of the purse she was still holding in her left hand and slipped them on.The narrow black lenses covered her eyes and the area around them, but nothing more. The frame of the glasses was made of black plastic. The glasses were cheap, but they served their purpose and reflected much of the unwanted sunlight as Cassandra stepped out from the shade of the trees into the glaring sunlight. Cassandra's shop was now closed for the day. While she walked, Cassandra placed her purse so that it hung off of her left shoulder. She kept her left hand on top of it, though, to insure that nothing happened to it and its valuable contents. Today had gone pretty well considering her encounter with the overly-curious student. Meeting with another client wouldn't have been bad for the business, but what can you do... After briefly ruminating the events of the afternoon sale, Cassandra refocused her mind on her surroundings and utilized her awareness as well as she could muster. Cassandra's only purpose now was to make her way out of the Janardan campus without attracting any more attention--and to make sure that no one was following her.. Cassandra walked down a road which meandered away from the campus courtyards and away from the buildings in which Cassandra had sent the troublesome student. A few other various students walked the same road. Cassandra took note of them and continued walking. The road was surrounded by semi-dense trees which made it difficult to look at from the Janardan school buildings. The road was about six feet wide and made up of rocks and gravel. It was mostly used for pedestrians.
There was a voice behind her coming from one of the classes along the hallway. Kien turned, just a small second, to see an orange pelted arden, letting someone else in the class. When she turned back to look at her target, she started to panic a little. The older thill had already moved and now Kien needed to scan the area again to spot where she was. Realising that from this angle she could not get a good scan and cursing the distraction a moment ago, Kien emerged from her hiding spot and flew towards where she last left the nameless thill. Then, further off where the road began to lead out of the campus, she saw the tall, winged, ebony femme. But she was almost out and Kien had to catch her before she loose sight of her again. One big flap of her wings, Kien was catapult towards her target. Then there were trees, which obscured her line of view. Lowering herself down, she peek through the leaves. Hard though it was, she managed to spot the stranger walking on the rough path, passing by a few students. She then poked through the trees, bringin herself down lower and without thinking, she landed right in front of the older thill. "Oh, hey. Took some time finding you," Kien started. "But I can't seem to find your nephew anywhere. I don't see him with you either. You aren't leaving him here, are you?" Kien realised she should have just stalked this person throughout the journey and not spoil the surprise. She was pretty sure now she would not be able to find out who this stranger was. Nevermind, she'll find a chance.
As the student walked into the class room, Pendzez walked out afterwards. He walked along the stone hallway with the courtyard outside. He eventually got to an opening to the courtyard then walked out onto the gravel road. With each step he took, the crunching sound of the gravel rocks was quite irritating, but the only path leading out to the parking space. He continued until he heard the sound of loud engines and aircraft sound. He turned to the left of him to a large shadow overlapping half of the courtyard. He looked up and saw a large airship flying over the Academy. Pendzez saw it before as he is part of the crew. It was the Olsenu. He continued to stare up at it as it flew overhead. The airship disappeared in the distance then Pendzez continued to walk on. He was almost to the exit until he saw two 'dragons talking to each other. It was between the two of them, so he thought he should walk by, minding his own business. He just walked by until, "But I can't seem to find your nephew anywhere. I don't see him with you either. You aren't leaving him here, are you?" He paused then turned to face them. He walked up then said, "Are one of you missing a nioti?"
Cassandra was walking when a dragon landed in front of her and startled her. Cassandra jumped back and held her paws up in front of her in a defensive position before realizing that she had once again encountered the pesky student whom she had just sent off. [What is she doing back already?... How did she find me?...] Wondered Cassandra angrily as she lowered her arms by her side. "Oh, hey. Took some time finding you," the young thill said. "But I can't seem to find your nephew anywhere. I don't see him with you either. You aren't leaving him here, are you?" Cassandra's eyes narrowed. This white dragon who had been asking questions and trying to "help" Cassandra had caused enough mischief for today. Cassandra opened her mouth and was about to speak when an orange dragon suddenly showed up. "Are one of you missing a nioti?" spoke the newcomer. Cassandra turned and looked at the orange fellow and studied him for a few moments before looking around. The other students who had been walking the path had now moved on and were quite a distance away from the three. For the most part, Cassandra was now alone with the orange and black dragons. [This has gone far enough,] thought Cassandra. Cassandra took a step back from the two students and faced them, her back was to the forest off the side of the road. She started to walk back into the forest while talking. "You two are very young, you still have a long life ahead of you. Sometimes its better to know nothing than to know too much and live a life full of danger." Cassandra had almost stepped back into the forest now. She continued to talk while taking steps back towards the trees. "You don't want to get involved in these troubles, trust me.." Cassandra finished speaking just as she had stepped off of the road and into the woods. She then immediately tossed an orb of light into the air which exploded into a thousand splinters, creating a blinding effect to anyone nearby whose eyes were open. Fortunately this blindness would only last a few seconds. This magical ball would also scramble the memories of all who were affected by it. As a result, when the victims regained their vision, they would have difficulty remembering the events which had transpired the past two hours and they would feel somewhat groggy for the next hour. After casting her spell, Cassandra turned and ran into the forest. After running for a few moments, the woods thickened and the amount of sunlight piercing through the trees was significantly lessened. Cassandra casted another spell which melted her body into the shadows created by the trees. The noise created by Cassandra running dissipated, as did Cassandra... Unfortunately for Cassandra, she had left a token by mistake. After throwing up the disorienting ball of light, turning, and running, one of Cassandra's "gum packets" had fallen out of her purse and was left on the side of the foot path. Any dragon who sampled this gum would be surprised by the temporary ecstasy he felt. Nevertheless, that thrill would not last forever... OOC: I'm finished here and am withdrawing Cassandra. You guys can make your final posts if you would like, and I will then close this thread. Thank you for joining this thread.
There was a voice. She turned and saw the orange pelted arden that had distracted her earlier. Here he was again. No, her chance to figure a mystery out was gone. It was slipping away like fine sand through fingers. She was about to tell the newcomer that nothing was wrong. But then a slight noise coming from the other stranger made her turn her head. The youth was about to move, set chase after the stranger in front of her that was slowly edging away. There was a slight breeze that ruffled her ebony hair away from her eyes. And from that second, she saw a flash of light. Splintering, about to pierce into her eye. Her hand instinctively lifted up to sheild herself. But it was too late. She was temporarily blinded, unable to focus right. She had stopped in her tracks and was squeezing her eyes shut in hopes that when she opened them, they could adjust right again. When she did, she was dazed. What was she doing here? She looked around, saw another student like herself. They were the only ones here. She tried to remember and vaguely remembered a figure - tall, dark, enigmatic... Who? Certaintly not this student beside her. Kien shook her head. She concluded that she might have been studying too hard. And didn't she need to go Bhim today? Right. She was about to set for her dorm when the sight of a gum packet caught her eye. It was still full so she picked it up. Then she turned around and face the orange pelted arden. "Here, I would think this is yours." She carelessly thrusted the gum packets into his hands without waiting for his response. She felt tired and too confused to wait for an answer. In fact, she was having a slight headache. "Don't be careless again. Take care." With a small smile, she walked off back towards the campus. Her mind still wondering who was that tall, dark figure that she had imagined. <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class='ooc'><tr><td>Just a little note though ths won't make much a difference, Kien is not white, she's actually black =)</td></tr></table>
