Grandmother Tuppy and Scurry

March 21, 2014 12:39 AM
The ranks of prairie elves at Sonora were agitated. Any student who spotted one could see this. While they were not an uncommon sight at the school and on the grounds, they usually appeared in groups that were industriously engaged in some kind of maintenance activity such as tending to the Garden's hedges or dusting all the portrait frames in the hallways. Others kept out of sight entire, either in the kitchens or cleaning up the common rooms and dorms when their occupants were elsewhere. When students did spy them, either alone or in their regiments, they were generally eager to be helpful and, while excitable, it was a mostly cheery excitability unless they happened to have upset somebody or perceived that they might have upset somebody.

Today, on this first day of after the Opening Feast, this was not the case.

Today, they were out in force and seemed to be looking for something with great agitation. Many could be seen looking under tables in the Cascade Hall, more were out in the hallways, checking behind tapestries and inside suits of armor. Others scoured the Gardens and they were not waiting for the dorms to empty before they descended upon the rooms and searched closets, trunks, and under beds.

In the Cascade Hall, an older looking female elf stood on the empty staff table while several of her brethren lifted up the staff chairs to look underneath them. Another elf, this one male, wearing what looked like some kind of homemade badge similar to the ones worn by prefects, Head students, and Quidditch captains but with far more dings and much less shiny, approached the older elf carrying a cat. In a voice that carried to the nearest students, he announced, "Major Scurry is sorry to report to Grandmother Tuppy that the First Order of Janitors is still missing Master Nathan Xavier. Lieutenant Bonny, however, has found his cat." The badge wearing elf held out the white long-haired cat toward her as if it were some kind of prize. The cat did not looked pleased by this. Or perhaps that was just the normal expression on its scrunched up face.

She did not seem to know quite what to do with the cat, opting eventually to ignore it entirely. "Grandmother Tuppy is sorry to report to Major Scurry of the First Order of Janitors that the Kitchen Staff is also still missing Master Brockert. We have searched the Headmaster's office, his quarters, the Cascade Hall and the school corridors."

"The Janitors have searched the Common rooms, - especially Teppenpaw - the Gardens, teacher offices and quarters, and the classrooms," Scurry replied. "The Janitors have found no human staff at all."

"The Kitchen staff have also found no human staff at all," Grandmother Tuppy confirmed sadly. "We have lost our masters."

A general wail came up from the other nearby elves and some of them began banging their heads on the floor or furniture nearest them.

"We will keep searching until we find them!" Major Scurry declared with great fervor.

"Yes, you do that," Grandmother Tuppy told him, "with your First Order of Janitors. The rest need to return to work. When our masters are found, they must not return to a shambles."

"Yes, yes, of course, Grandmother Tuppy," Major Scurry agreed quickly. Then, loudly, so that even distant elves and students could hear, "Everybody back to work right now! First Order of Janitors to me in Master Xavier's Office to coordinate the next search!" And, with a resounding crack, every elf in the Hall vanished.

Only one confused looking cat remained, standing next to the staff table, a small collar around her neck with a tag that read 'Alice'. She mewed pitifully. She hadn't been fed in hours.
Subthreads:
0 Grandmother Tuppy and Scurry Have you seen our Masters? 0 Grandmother Tuppy and Scurry 1 5

Alicia Bauer, Head Girl

March 22, 2014 3:00 PM
Alicia Bauer woke up on her first morning as the school's official Head Girl with a smile on her face. It lasted as long as it took her to realize there was a prairie elf emerging from under her bed, but faded only a little into puzzlement before she recovered it and wished the elf, one she thought she recognized vaguely and which seemed very set on looking for something, a good morning. It was not a time she thought the elves were usually in the dorms, but she was a little off-schedule herself this morning and the elf was hardly anything to get upset about. She hummed to herself as she got dressed, carefully putting on her face and arranging her hair and picking out her jewelry, determined that everything today should look - should be! -  perfect.

She smiled again until she was almost at the bottom of the stairs, where she noticed that more prairie elves were turning the common room, and, by the looks of it, Professor Fawcett's office as well, inside out and upside down. She hitched the smile back up almost as quickly as she had the first time, but anyone who'd looked at her dark eyes just then would have realized that this time, she was a little worried, though a quick review of everything she had brought to school convinced her that this had nothing to do with her. She was still tempted to duck back into her room to check the wards and traps she'd cast on her jewelry boxes and parts of her trunk, but at least part of the desire (she told herself very firmly) was just to see if elf magic could break through them - pure intellectual curiosity. That was all. There was nothing to worry about; elves were funny creatures, and probably the whole thing was some big misunderstanding brought on by a new headmaster, which would be resolved before she ever got to breakfast.

A little while later, Alicia walked, after deviating from her usual practice toward underlings she could see and studiously ignoring some elves seeming to look for something behind a tapestry not far from her, into the Cascade Hall to begin her first day as the school's official Head Girl and immediately stopped moving, sure for a second that she was dreaming.

The staff was entirely absent and their table was surrounded by searching prairie elves.

Something was wrong.

She eyed the elves, wondering if they would regard the Head Girl badge gleamng on her robes and her status as a legal adult as reason enough to tell her things if she asked, and was just considering her approach when another one came in with a cat and announced that their groundskeeper and new Head of Teppenpaw was missing. And then, some squeaky discussion later....

"We have lost our masters."

The wailing and head-beating made her jump, on edge as she was already. She instinctively looked for Isaac, to make sure he was far away from the school's elf population as it lost its collective mind, and was just grabbing her wand when an old female gave some orders and they all disappeared, except for the cat, but not before announcing, loud enough for people to hear, that they were going on a search. 

"Wait!" she started to call out, but they were already gone. 

Thinking as fast as she thought, in the moment, she ever had in her life, she strode to the front of the room, standing with only the width of the table between her and the headmaster's chair, and kept smiling as she tapped her wand against her throat, murmuring "sonorus minora,," as she wanted to be clearly audible around the room, not deafeningly loud. 

"Everything's all right!" she announced cheerily. "I'm sure the staff - and the elves - are just playing somebody's idea of a great joke on us." She wasn't amused, and if the staff did not show up in the next ten minutes to explain the lousy punch line, she was tempted to give them a piece of her mind about it when they did reappear however they professored - for that matter, she was tempted already, as it wasn't funny, but the longer it went on, the more irritated she thought she would get - but she was the Head Girl, so if the first years started crying, it would be her job to soothe them down, and if people tried to go wild without supervision, it would be partially her job to restore order. She did not find either prospect very appealing. Better to try everything she could think of to keep everybody calm to begin with. 

"Let's just all go about our business as if we don't even notice they're gone," she suggested. "That'll be a better joke on them." 

She looked down at the cat, wondering if she should pat it to confirm her nonchalance, then around the Hall again. Now, having started it, she knew she should keep an eye on later arrivals so they also knew it was a lame joke, but she badly wanted to go find Thad and Cepheus and Henny, or better yet, for them to come to her. The other senior prefects would not be unwelcome, either, but that was not as emotional a thought. Alex and Waverly and Aria would be useful for controlling their Houses, if anyone got out of hand or refused to accept Alicia's authority, but she wouldn't expect them to personally support her. To them, she would have to be as smiling and confident and authoritative as she was to first years. Her friends could tell her that everything was all right.

She was still smiling as she waved hello to a new arrival and removed the charm from her voice, but she wanted to snarl one second and cry the next. Surely the professors would be waiting for them in their classes - people didn't just disappear, even at a magical school; since kids came here to learn control over their powers, she was sure some of the charms on the place must be to keep large-scale lash-outs from doing something like that, actually - but there was a chance this was going to ruin her first day as Head Girl. 
16 Alicia Bauer, Head Girl Not unless you count me as one of them. 210 Alicia Bauer, Head Girl 0 5


Aria Yale

March 23, 2014 10:23 AM
The morning of classes, Aria had awoken at her usual time to go meditate and work on her Tai Chi. She had rewashed her face, brushed her teeth, and threw her hair into a rather messy, but effective pony tail. Wearing a flowy crop top that she felt gave her more movement than any other sort of top and a type of yoga style pants paired with her usual sandals, Aria had headed out to the gardens.

Because of Teppenpaws central location in the school, the windows were magic and showed a scenery that was not the school grounds, so Aria had left the school without any idea of how the weather was. Typically, if the weather was poor, she would use a MARS room. The water room would have been idea as she could have found a tranquil place for her meditation, but it was always in use by another student who also found the dawn hours the best time to do anything, so, instead she used the dance room and played music off the box while she meditated and did Tai Chi. However, she could never determine where she would be that morning until she was out of the school.

When she stepped out of the doors, Aria’s blue eyes looked up and found the strangest looking purple clouds. Sonora, she knew, had charms around it that kept the weather seasonable, but she had never seen it produce clouds such as those. She tentatively stuck her hand out but found that it was not rainy. The clouds seemed quite dense and gave the grounds a hazy look to them. She wondered if it meant that a huge storm was coming? Since it was of no harm to her currently, Aria had continued on into the maze to complete her morning ritual. Her only disturbance throughout this was the packs of prairie elves that came and went, seeming upset and looking for a lost item. They did not speak to her despite her greeting, but she let them be since they seemed so upset.

Upon returning to her dorm room, Aria never mentioned the strange clouds to any of her roommates. Instead, she continued with her morning routine by showering, attempting to straighten her wild curls, rolling on the dark eye makeup, dressing in a bohemian styled dress, and headed off to breakfast. As she wandered the school towards the hall, she saw more of the elves still looking for whatever they had lost. Aria had never seen them so open in her years of being at the school. She always popped down to visit them in the kitchens or stop to say hello if she saw them about, but today they seemed quite different. She would see them after breakfast in the kitchen to make sure they were alright.

Aria had entered the hall just as the wailing and bodily damage had begun. “No no, you must not do that.” She tried, attempting to calm down some of the elves nearest her. She had no idea why they were so upset. She hated seeing when they did self-harm. Rather suddenly, Aria heard Miss Tuppy call out to the elves and all of them vanished. Before Aria had any time to digest what happened, the new Head Girl was talking. Aria frowned, why would the staff and the elves play such a trick on the first day of classes? That did not make any sense at all.

“Elves do not know how to play jokes.” Aria commented to Alicia when she made her way to the staff table. When she was there, she saw the abandoned cat. “Hello Alice.” Aria greeted, bending down to pick her up. “This is Mr. Xavier’s cat.” Aria had become acquainted with her the previous year during her time out in the gardens. “I thought you might want to know that sky outside is a strange purple color of clouds. I’m not sure if it means anything, but perhaps the school is playing tricks again?” two years ago the Mirage Chamber had played tricks on them. Was the school upset again? “Are you hungry, Alice? We let’s go find you some food.” Aria smiled politely to Alicia, seemingly not at all perplexed by the current situation.
6 Aria Yale You're A Master but not THE Masters 228 Aria Yale 0 5

Alicia Bauer

March 23, 2014 1:35 PM
Alicia started to scowl when Aria Yale casually contradicted her cover story for the strangeness, but she forced the expression off her face. Keep smiling, she thought grimly. A woman is only worth as much as her ability to smile under pressure. Dealing with all of this nonsense on her first day as Head Girl - what should have been a wonderful time - certainly counted as pressure, and Aria was not being helpful, which just made it more important to seem serene and confident and unaffected. It meant more, the worse things were. 

"I had to say something," she said levelly, and very quietly so her voice wouldn't carry to the other students, hating having to explain herself to someone who was not a friend and who was too close to an equal. She was uncomfortably aware that she had not been raised from the prefects herself just now, something she had dedicated a lot of the summer to trying to forget. "I didn't want anyone to panic, and I'm willing to bet that most of the others - especially most of the first years - haven't made a study of elf behavior." A better response occurred to her, and she added, "besides, they'd probably obey the professors if they gave them direct orders, even if they didn't understand them. It's as good a story for the younger ones as any right this second." 

She bit her tongue before she could add something about not noticing Aria putting her neck out to maintain order and keeping her mouth shut unless she planned to offer an actual suggestion for controlling the situation. Hostility was not the way. Not ladylike. Not effective management for anyone. She had gotten through six years without falling to the point of bullying and snapping at people who were irritating her at any given second. With luck, she'd barely remember this conversation in a few hours. She just had to stay calm until then, because if she ever once cracked, the whole show would slip away from her, and she refused to allow that to happen.

Alicia felt her knees go weak under her when Aria said, as though just identifying another cat, that the clouds outside were purple, but tried to make leaning back to perch on the edge of the staff table a casual gesture. She wanted to shout at the other girl and ask why she hadn't mentioned this bit first, as it seemed a lot more important than the groundskeeper's cat, but didn't. Calm. I did want more intelligence on the situation. Take what you can get in a crisis. 

"That may be the case," she said, as calmly as she could. "If - the professors aren't in our lessons, then we should look in the library and see what we can find out about the history of - unusual events. The weather charms melted down when my Latin teacher was a student." She stopped talking, annoyed that she was explaining so much before she had her thoughts organized, before she even knew if it would be necessary. The professors might be in their classes yet. They might be. "If the professors aren't in our classes, we'll decide on a couple of prefects, or other Advanced students, to supervise the younger students and the rest of us meet to decide what to do," she said, as firmly as she could while remaining pleasant. She returned the Teppenpaw's smile. "For now, yes, please do go find something to feed Alice, Aria."
16 Alicia Bauer Yes, that's why I included the 'one of' part. 210 Alicia Bauer 0 5


Alexandra Devereux

March 23, 2014 5:24 PM
Alex had realized something was wrong as soon as she got up, but it had taken her a few minutes to really put her finger on it. At first, she had thought it might just be the strange, noticeable – strange in that it was very noticeable – behavior of the prairie elves, but the niggling feeling of something off, something just profoundly wrong, did not go away until she was out of the common room and making her way down a corridor, where she happened, for the first time that day, to look directly out of a window.

The sky was purple.

As far as sky colors went, that was not one she routinely expected to see. Maybe parts of the sky would look funny if a thunderstorm was about to blow up, but not all of it, not like that. Frowning, she picked up her pace, not even really sure why, and soon entered the Cascade Hall, where she found the staff table completely empty except for Alicia Bauer and Aria Yale, who seemed to be having a nice chat about a cat as though nothing were strange at all.

Clearly, this meant they knew more than she did about what was going on. Her best guess was that the weather was going a little funny – which, she guessed, had to happen every now and then, since the weather was entirely controlled by charms here; there was no way those wouldn’t take maintenance every now and then, though she did think it should have been done over the summer instead of now and problems noticed before the sky turned purple – and that the staff was busy fixing it, and had decided to leave Alicia in charge, or at least until the other prefects arrived and they could all pay attention to what was going on. The other girl was an early riser, she thought, and Head Girl besides, now; whether she deserved it was a matter of personal taste, but now that she had the badge, Alex would respect the position regardless of her thoughts on the witch who held it, and it wasn’t as if Alicia had ever displayed any astonishing lack of competence. Just not as much as Waverly or Henny.

With that in mind, and wanting to know the details whether she was supposed to help out or not, Alex approached the staff table as well. “I’d say good morning, but I’m beginning to think that might be a misnomer,” she said. “What’s going on? Are the teachers out fixing the sky?”
0 Alexandra Devereux Still doesn't make you who they're looking for 0 Alexandra Devereux 0 5


Aria

March 23, 2014 7:05 PM
Aria was thoughtful for a moment as she took in what Alicia was saying. Aria did not lie and she did not like to be a part of lies. She felt that they soiled the soul. Lying betrayed a person’s relationship with oneself and with others. She could understand why Alicia might felt it necessary to lie about the staff and elves to the younger students (although Aria had been here long enough to know the majority of the student body had elves at home and would already know the statement she had proclaimed about them), but she also didn’t see why Alicia couldn’t just say something closer to the truth. “I suppose if that’s how you feel is the proper way of handling it.” Aria commented lightly. Of course, if it’s found out that there really is a situation and the school was without staff, Aria wasn’t sure how likely the younger students were going to trust Alicia since she had brushed them off with a lie. Then again, Aria doubted eleven year olds away from home for the first time would likely follow along with a seventeen year old and her peers as it was. Aria didn’t mention any of this. She didn’t want the Head Girl’s wrath.

Aria let her ramble on about things. She had seen this happen quite often with other people and found it best to remain quiet during their thought process. She did frown though, at the ending order. “I’ve already said I’ll look after her.” She didn’t think that was a very nice thing for Alicia to do. Aria was neither hysterical or in need of order. There was no reason for Alicia to feel like putting a decision that Aria made for herself into an order that Alicia dictates. Alice mewed in her arms and Aria brought her up close to give her a small hug. “It’s alright kitty, we’ll head to the kitchens soon enough.”

Alexandra, another Prefect, joined them at the staff table. “Oh, that’s an idea, maybe the staff has gone to fix the problem with the purple clouds and the elves just weren’t informed?” Although, Aria couldn’t imagine why all of the staff needed to work on this and not leave at least one here for order, but it was still something to go on. “All the elves had quite the fit just a few moments ago in front of the students.” Aria informed Alexandra. “Alicia took charge though. Hopefully, the staff is back in time for lessons. I have to go take care of Alice now, there’s no telling how long Mr. Xavier has been gone. I’ll see you both in class.” Aria smiled politely to the both of them and put Alice down onto the floor. “Come along, Alice, let’s see how Ms. Tuppy is coping in the kitchens.” Aria walked away, calling to the cat’s attention to make sure she was following.
6 Aria Exactly because they are looking for 'the' masters. 0 Aria 0 5

Alicia

March 24, 2014 2:00 PM
A minor irritant, Alicia reminded herself when Aria very carefully, she imagined, worded her response to undercut Alicia. She supposed? What would she have done, acknowledged that the only authority figures still in evidence didn’t have a clue what was going on? Let everyone just sit and come up with their own ideas? If it blew up in her face, Alicia would think of something else, but it was all she’d been able to think of in that moment, scared herself but knowing that she would be a lot more scared if anyone broke from one of the tables and set it off. She had thought of several better things she could have said, better ways to have handled it, just since she’d spoken, but in that moment, she had done the best she could.

Her teeth ground together just a little behind her smile when Aria pointed out that her order had been unnecessary, at least from Aria’s perspective, but not loudly enough to be heard. Her jaw did tighten visibly for a second, though. She was not going to give the good explanation, which was that her previous comments had not been an attempt to stop Aria from feeding the cat right now, or the actual one, which was that she’d hoped it would seem her permission was necessary. Because she would have order. When the staff came back, the only way someone would be held up to public shame because the place had degenerated into a madhouse would be over her literally-dead body.

Before she could reply in any fashion, though, Alex Devereux joined them, and Alicia considered the possibility that Aria was actually, in a most un-Teppenpaw-like fashion, trying to manipulate her into paranoia, so she either broke down or at the very least said more than she meant to. All that, and then she just acknowledged that Alicia was in charge? Not in glowing terms, true, but she had said it. She had acknowledged it. Alicia Bauer was in charge.

Sometimes, Alicia reflected, it was really inconvenient, not believing in anything which could be prayed to. If she had, she would have asked it to help her in the moment she realized what that acknowledgment meant, but she didn’t, so she couldn’t, not in good conscience. She’d lie to anyone’s face, if the need arose, except Thad’s in one very specific context, but she didn’t like lying to herself.

“I’m just trying to maintain order, Alex,” she said, a little coolly, as Aria wandered off with the cat. She was not going to let Aria Yale get to her. “The elves said they’ve lost their masters, which makes me think they’re not here at all, not after the way the elves have been looking - though admittedly, I did see some who seemed to think the teachers were behind a tapestry. I’m hoping they’ll be back before breakfast is over, too, but I was just – trying to make plans with Aria about what we should do, how the prefects should meet, if they aren’t.”

It was too much – the elves, the sky, the ominously empty table behind her – but she wasn’t going to tell Alex that, either. Alex was not, by virtue of being Cepheus' friend, her enemy, but she had never come even as close to their larger group as Theresa had, much less to being Alicia’s personal friend. Alicia could not tell her she was unnerved. She was the Head Girl. Thad was her equal in authority, but as he wasn't here at the moment, she had to keep doing the best she could.

“I'm sure you'll both get to have a good laugh at me later for overreacting," she added. "But prepare for the worst, and all of your surprises will be pleasant ones."
16 Alicia Well, I appear to be what they've got. 210 Alicia 0 5


Alex

March 24, 2014 5:31 PM
Alex’s eyebrows both climbed much closer to her hairline than she was sure they were usually capable of when Aria explained the situation and had barely came down before Alicia’s elaboration sent them up again. Apart from finding the wording strange – they had lost their masters? That implied more management of the adults than Alex liked to think of, though a second thought made her think it was just an uncomfortable side effect of their efficiency; elves, regardless of type, couldn’t provide the instantaneous service, or serve things before their owners even knew they wanted them, if they didn’t keep track of the humans around them at all times – she had no idea what to make of it. Why would the entire staff leave? Even if it was to fix the weather, there had to be at least a few who would have no facility, or at least not the background, to help with that, who might have been left to watch them instead of leaving them entirely to the management of an untried Head Girl, apparently without telling her ahead of time that they were going to do it, either.

“Not necessarily,” she said to Alicia’s proverb. There were some things, like this, just so unexpected that she didn’t think anyone could or would plan for them, and others which were simply neutral. “But closer to right than not,” she added absently, not wanting to insult the Aladren for the same reason she had warned Theresa, repeatedly, to be careful in her dealings with that whole clique.

Alex would have said she didn’t like Alicia Bauer, but the truth was, she didn’t know anything about her. Nothing she trusted, anyway. The girl smiled too much for Alex to believe in it. Her father always said never to trust anyone who smiled too much, because the world wasn’t that happy of a place, so people who always seemed cheerful were either insane or hiding something. Aria was another one whose serenity could be disconcerting, but Lucille said she was in a lifestyle community (Alex had mentally abbreviated this to ‘cult’) and Jay had confirmed that he’d had to explain social norms to her before, so Alex was willing to give her more of a pass. Alicia was a different story, and while she might be like Theresa, a pretty thing with a head almost as empty as a flowerpot and easy to boot, she might not be, either. At the very least, if she threw a sulk like Theresa sometimes did over an imagined slight, then it would no doubt cause problems with everyone they both happened to know, and while Alex had no objections to watching tantrums and machinations and all the other things that happened when bored rich kids found something to amuse themselves with, she had no interest in getting swept up in it. So she’d keep the peace.

“So, what do you propose we do if our caretakers don’t come back before classes start?” she asked.
0 Alex Part of it, anyway 0 Alex 0 5

Alicia

March 26, 2014 11:06 AM
Alicia was not in the mood to argue semantics, so she didn’t reply to Alex’s correction of her proverb. The next bit was more important, anyway.

“We’ll need to see to it that the younger ones are properly supervised,” she said. She didn’t know if there was actually a law which said that they were the responsibility of whichever of-age people were around, but she didn’t want to take the chance any more than she wanted to take a chance on them getting clever. This was not a time for cleverness, at least not that kind. “The first years, at the very least, have to be taught – they’ve got to learn control – and it would be better if the others were as well.”

There was no one left to teach her classes, but Alicia wasn’t too worried about that. As long as no one attempted to wreak destruction in her library, she could continue her own studies, perhaps better than she could have while worrying about teachers noticing some of the things which caught her interest and wondering about how those fit in with the image she had spent six years selling them. If she had time to do so around herding geese, anyway. Teaching the younger years herself, if that fell to her, wouldn’t be fun, but it would be good review of the spells which might crop up on the RATS in an attempt to catch her out forgetting the basics. And she had reasons to keep an eye on the beginners’ class, anyway.

“If we can get them into a routine, I’m sure things will be simple enough from there, but we’ll need prefects on watch constantly,” she continued. “Here – we might as well sit.” She considered just ducking under the table to get to the other side, as she might have when she was little, but instead walked around properly before, after only a small hesitation, sitting in Brockert’s chair. If he wanted it, he ought to have come to breakfast. “To keep everyone calm, and we’ll need to set up…some system of punishment for people who break the rules, if this goes on long. I’m not sure how well detentions will work anymore, since some people never cared about them in the first place….”

So much to do. She refused to think like that, though, instead lifting her bag to her lap and drawing a sheet of parchment from a folder. If there was too much to do there was nothing to do for it but start doing something to shorten the list. Once she made it. Just having a list, she knew, would make her feel much better.

"There will be order," she said flatly as she got a quill out. "I refuse to accept anything else. When they get back, I don't want them to even realize they were gone. Excuse me, I need to make some notes."
16 Alicia As you say. 210 Alicia 0 5