Morning Chill

<font color='silver'>Mia
Day 2
Year 81377

The crisp morning sun shone brilliantly down upon the frosty cobblestones, walkways, and lawns of the courtyard. Each blade of grass was covered with a fine layer of frost, like soft-spun sugar frosting. The leaves were edged in a layer of glittering ice. The sun held no warmth, but already the stone paths and patios had begun to steam with evaporating frost.

Lazuli Tsyjn walked quickly, paying no care to the layers of ice that made him slide slightly. His black, shining claws, two-and-a-half inches long, were fully extended for traction. His gleaming warm pelt was pale silver, gray on a stormy day but glittering today like the frost and ice that surrounded him. His leather satchel jostled under rolling shoulder muscles as he broke into an easy trot. The cold did not seem to affect him in any way. Indeed, the only change whatsoever to appearance or personality, were the cloth bindings that wrapped his legs.

Good, he thought. There were no signs of life in the large yard for the moment. He did not expect there to be, for the day was just dawning, and it was cold. Hardly any 'dragons would have classes this early, and even if they did, they would probably prefer to walk to them indoors, rather than taking the shortcut through the yard.

The muscular male set down his waterproof, oil-rubbed leather satchel on the edge of a long stripe of silver-green grass and then walked out into the middle of it. He lifted each leg in turn, stretching, flexing, making sure the bindings were strong and supportive. Then he rolled his neck and flexed his shoulders, and set off for a brisque five laps around the yard.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned to the grass, warmed up and breathing slightly hard now. He took a moment to sit, letting some of the coolness from the grass flow into him. Then he stood.

Lazuli stood strong, ready, in a slightly slouching position. He stood like this for an entire minute, just breathing. Then, he sat quickly back on his haunches, and struck without warning at the air in front of him. <span style='color:indigo'>"Yma!"</span> At this, he quickly collected himself back into his haunches, and then exploded out in front of him in one pounce, to all fours, with his neck stretched and jaws clenched. <span style='color:indigo'>"Sfy!"</span> he called out, voice clear in the crisp air. Next, he reared up on hinds, and slashed out with both front paws, arms coming down on an imaginary enemy's neck. <span style='color:indigo'>"Shjaa!"</span> And so he went through the attack warmups, one through ten in Ramathian, each one flowing smoothly into another, like clay sculpted rapidly from one shape to the next, under an artist's skillful hands.

Lazuli finished his attack rounds, and then started his defenses, first rolling to the side and then flipping back up onto all fours. <span style='color:indigo'>"Sfy!"</span>

And so it was, that on this clean, fresh morning, Laz Tsyjn practiced his fighting forms, as the sun glinted down upon him and the fog rose all 'round him.</font>

 

<font color='#8D38C9'>Carra was just returning from class. It was true, the majority of students didn't even bother with such things, but she was taking a high-level independant study class in Astronomy, and had spent the entire evening in the observatory. With the sun now coming up, there was nothing left for her in the classroom. She finished writing her logs from the evening and slung her pack across her shoulders, braided-and-beaded main swining loosely around her shoulders.

As far as 'dragons went, she was a little odd. Not too odd... but far more resembling an Earth 'wolf' than most animals. Her tail wasn't long and snakey like most other 'dragons, and her mane grew only out of the top of her head. She had tried to disguise that by growing it very long and wearing it in tight braids, but it was still noticeable. But, all things considered, it didn't even really matter to her. She was in this world to make a mark with her brains, not her appearance.

So it was that she made her away across the courtyard, leather pack shifting heavily against her thick collar, bracelets jangling with every step. It was as she travelled that a voice echoed in her ears. She paused, flicked her ears back against the head, and peered in the direction of the voice. She hadn't almost seen him there, his fur was so pale against the misty courtyard in the wee hours of the morning. She licked her lips once, padded towards him, and sat quietly on her haunches a good five feet away from where he was practicing. After watching him go through several rounds, she canted her head to the side, and allowed her voice to form words in the crisp morning air.

"You're very good at that."</font>

 

<font color='silver'>Lazuli succumbed to the motions that now flowed through him, natural as the air he breathed. He had learned them when he had turned 13oo, back at home, far away from here. And now, the movements were impressed far and deep into him, through his muscles, to his bones. He did not even have to remember, to recount. All he had to do was shout the first Ramathian number, and he instantly fell into the trance of the fight.

All sounds were blocked out, nothing marring the peace except for his heartbeat, which coursed with adreneline through him and drove his pounding rounds. He flew through the defense motions, and then moved into Low Attack. Low Attack were used when fighting took place in a location in which breathing room was scarce, and so were quick, compact, and efficiant; unlike the other, more energetic excersises.

Lazuli kept doing Low Attack and was on number five when he heard the femme behind him voice her comment. Indeed, the voice rang clear, magnifyed by the ice and crisp air. The male stopped mid-move, and then rose from a Low-Attack customary crouch to a normal sitting position on his haunches. He faced the female. His breath still came quickly, and dark marks of sweat streaked his silver fur. He shook his touseled indigo crest from his eyes, and then, as usual, used his paw to sweep the hair back. He had to catch his breath before he could respond.

<span style='color:indigo'>"Thank you."</span> Adrenaline still pounded through him, so before he could stop himself and give a polite introduction, he said, <span style='color:indigo'>"How come you're out so early?"</span> Then he stopped speaking to draw some more air into his lungs. Eventually his breathing quietened. He studied her, a canine-built femme with an intelligent gaze. He awaited her response.</font>

 

<font color='#8D38C9'>She canted her head to the side, licking her lips and glancing around the still-icy courtyard. Her breath rose from her nostrils in several visible puffs as she offered up a friendly smile.

"The stars aren't out after the sun rises."

She shook her head once, braided mane jangling against heavy collar, and shouldered her pack to the ground for a moment. The papers inside slid around, the top left quarter of one sliding out of her pack. She glanced down at it, shoved it back in, and then looked at him again. Her answer was, perhaps, a bit cryptic. She hadn't meant for it to be, but it was. She gave another shake of her head, and gave him a clearer answer and a name to place with the face.

"Name's Carra, I'm studying Advanced Astronomy, so I spend most of my nights in the Observatory. And you? Your technique is very nice."

She looked him over, taking in all the information that her eyes could give her. He had obviously been doing this a long time. She knew that's the way it was - she could still recall her brother doing his exercises in the early morning. He had been taken away to apprenticeship when he was 1300, and she hadn't seen him since. He sent letters some times, and her parents said he was doing really well, but she hadn't seen him in a long, long time. Oh well.

She lifted her head, turning her attention back to the stranger.</font>

 

<font color='silver'>Lazuli listened with head cocked to the femme's strange reply. The stars aren't out in the morning... All right, then, he thought. With a shrug and a blink of his heavily lashed indigo eyes, he said, not unkindly, <span style='color:indigo'>"No, they're not,"</span>, for lack of a wittier comment. But soon after he said so, she explained further her answer. So, she studies astronomy, he thought. <span style='color:indigo'>"That's interesting... I'm in basics for just about everything except for fighting. I don't take astronomy; do you like it?"</span> he asked her inquisitively.

The male studied her green oculars with his aubergine ones, and liked what he saw. This female was not like the others, he suspected. <span style='color:indigo'>"I'm Lazuli Tsyjn."</span></font>

 

<font color='#8D38C9'>A small smile flickered across her muzzle. Tsyjn. Storm. Cute. Her own name meant nothing in Ramathian. Her family was an old one, but not that old. They were well known, even if they weren't so wealthy, as a family of scholars. She had grown up speaking Ramathian in the home as was traditional, and was only allowed to speak English to her friends and outside of the house. She didn't know if she would raise her own children that way, but she was sometimes very thankful for it. It allowed her the freedom to take more classes when she first entered the school, and spend much less time doing basics.

"I love it... it is my entire life. I finished all of my basics very early. I spent my first few years in school taking all of the classes they would let me. I didn't start until I was 1300, but I was able to skip some classes. Like Ramathian, and some math classes. The rest I just knocked out of the way right off the bat.."

She flushed slightly, realizing that she had been prattling on, and glanced around the courtyard again before bringing her eyes to rest on him. It was odd for her to talk to a stranger like this. She was usually outgoing and talkative... but not to a stranger in the courtyard. She knew most of the Astronomy students (that came from being a teacher's aide), but didn't really ever find the time to socialize outside of that. Even in the dorms, she lived alone, one of few. Her old roommate had changed rooms, and the school hadn't yet put anyone in his place. Not that she minded...

She kind of liked being alone. She liked the company of select few and, for some reason or another, she found herself seeking the company of Lazuli, this morning. She offered him up a warm smile, and waited for his response.</font>

 

<font color='silver'>He caught her glimmer of a smile and grinned back. It seemed then that she went into a brief spat of thought, first looking at him, then seeming to go off into older memories. Then she began to talk about her life, going on for a moment before trailing off as quickly as she'd begun. Then a soft smile touched her mouth as she looked at him. Something about her flustered him, but not in an unpleasant way. He grinned again, but it was not his normal confident smile, but rather a more understated one, shy even. Well. Shy was NOT a word one would decide to describe Laz Tsyjn with. But that was exactly how he acted at the moment, and it was strange even to him.

He swallowed briefly and said, <span style='color:indigo'>"Do go on. It's interesting... I wish I had a clue what I was doing in school..."</span> He grimaced then. Actually, Lazuli was quite smart, but didn't let on and didn't feel he had a particular advantage over others intelligence-wise. In fact, he just didn't realize his potential. There were few that did, and they could bring out a scholar in the muscular 'dragon. But at the moment his thoughts were no longer on school. There was something so... vibrant... about Carra... something he wanted to explore. He said hesitantly, <span style='color:indigo'>"So you dorm here...?"</span></font>

 

<font color='#8D38C9'>She nodded, the faint smile still gracing her muzzle. Her eyes flickered over him again, more a force of habit than anything, she thought, as her eyes moved back up to meet his. She liked to know who she talked to, and she'd always considered every aspect of someone to be part of them, part of what she should know in a conversation. While only a minimal part of this could be gleaned by surveying someone's physical appearance, it was usually an important part. They way they held themself, carried themself. They way they stood, breathed, moved - it was all indicative of things about them that might be useful.

"Don't feel bad if you don't know what you want from school. A lot of people don't..."

She nodded once, reiterating the idea, before answering his question.

"Yeah... but I don't have a roommate. Nobody will room with me, anymore. I've been through four, so far. I had okay luck at first... but when I started staying late in the observatory, people started moving out. They didn't like being woken up, you know? So they just... stopped placing people with me."

There was almost a hit of regret in her voice when she spoke. She didn't mind having a room all to herself - in fact, she knew of quite a few others that were downright jealous of her - but she did miss the company. She missed having someone to talk to in the middle of the night - that was the kind of thing that one got used to when they grew up with as many siblings as she had.</font>

 

<font color='silver'>Lazuli gave her a look that was equal parts sympathy and understanding. With a sigh, he shook himself, a ripple moving through his mist-coloured back fur from shoulders to haunches. <span style='color:indigo'>"That bites...</span>" he said, shifting his purple eyes to look off into the distance. His aubergine tailflame guttered a bit and reduced itself to more of a royal purple. <span style='color:indigo'>"They roomed me up too... some female, just about my age. But I've not seen her since I got here. Always out... So I know what it's like, somewhat.</span>" His expression brightened; flickering fire flared to a pale violet once again. <span style='color:indigo'>"I've met lots of people from classes though... everyone's quite nice here."</span> One side of his predator's mouth turned up in a quick smile, baring just a centimetre of glimmering white teeth. Then, he whipped his head around to clear his hair from his eyes.

Yawning, he sat back on his haunches and began to unwrap his arms and legs, using his paws, whose digits were humanoid in their dexterity. As he worked, he looked up at the canine, wolf-like femme before him. Somehow, his usual social skills evaded him, and he was at a loss of what to say. Something about those eyes, perhaps. They were hypnotizing in their greenness, in the intelligence that rested behind them. After a spell of studying them, he broke off and said, <span style='color:indigo'>"So... what other classes do you take? Do you fight? You've the build for it, I think."</span> After this inqusition, he finished up his front paws and stood up and reached around him awkwardly to do the back. He carefully held his tail-flame away from his nimble paws.

He kept silent while unbinding the back legs, 'till he finished them. Then he took the long ribbons of cloth and rolled them up. <span style='color:indigo'>"They're for tendon strain,"</span> he said as he awaited her reply.</font>