This oughta be fun... on Labyrinth Gardens

Caedence Redoak

September 06, 2006 7:06 PM

Morgaine! I CHALLENGE YOU!!! by Caedence Redoak

Caedence stood in the center of the labyrinth, broom tucked safely out of the way. She had flown over the labyrinth, so as to not be late to her duel. She was no good at mazes and wouldnt want to be caught up in one anyway.

She held her wand in her pale hand. Her knuckles were bleached, her grip was too tight. Her hand didn't shake, however. The clip in her hair was glinting in the noon sunlight. Its rubies looked like drops of blood. Caedence was running over her spells in her head. Unfortuantely, the only ones she could do were protego, stupefy, expelliamus, and wingardium leviosa. Most of which were completely usless in a duel. Though she didn't show it, nor would she admit it, she was very scared. She knew a few illegal spells, but they were all deadly and probably would be impossible to pull off.

Caedence sighed heavily. Looking from all directions, she suspected a sneak attack. Morgaine wasn't there yet, and Caedence was expecting to have family in tow. Caedence took on a defiant face; there was no way she'd ever apologize! "MORGAINE!!! GET OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME!!!!" she roared as loud as her two lungs would allow her to.\n\n

0 Caedence Redoak Morgaine! I CHALLENGE YOU!!! 94 Caedence Redoak 1 5

Michael Tallow

September 08, 2006 5:51 PM

A [mildly] disinterested observer. . . by Michael Tallow

Christmas was the sort of holiday that was best spent outdoors and away from anyone over the age of thirty. Michael had come to the sound conclusion that adults, once having met that point in their timelines, began an escalated form of retrograde amnesia: people formerly of great importance in daily life were forgotten and never spoken of; giant pink elephants were left untended to root about in the living room; stockings previously labeled 'Momma' were shunted into an abyss called Evanesco. In short, being as this landmark age of thirty caused more than the usual amount of frustration when dealing with adults, holidays only intensified said frustration.

Which is exactly why Michael had decided being outside, and thus away from any adults, was a much wiser move to take when stuck at home for the holidays.

However, Montana was not the sort of state that particularly lent itself to outdoor activities during the winter. In fact, Montana was of the strong persuasion that one should stay indoors, and frequently sent heavy howls of frigid wind and chipped ice and twelve thousand feet of snow to further emphasize its opinion. Michael suffered from his disagreement with Montana and Lady Winter, and carried the mark of his suffering in the form of a stubborn and persistent cold that sapped much of his usual tenacious laziness. He was left feeling restless and energized; he also was forced to sniff at least twice a minute, if only from the paranoid belief that a dribble of loosened snot was going to ooze its way out from his nose.

Even in Sonora's newly acclimated and affirmedly well tamed climate, his sniffling came promptly every thirty seconds. Adults (hopefully not yet over thirty, had they caught him outdoors in only a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, might have scolded him for not dressing more warmly considering his cold. These same adults (again, rather hopefully not over thirty) might have also felt the need to encourage him to pay a visit the school nurse. And Michael, had such a situation arrived, would have aptly ignored any such advice and next shown up in the Gardens clad with even less. He had never been particularly fond of socks, anyway.

He was in a comfortable spot as it was, tidily tucked between a towering statue depicting some sort of wood nymph and what looked like moss-eaten soldier of some sort. His back was pressed against one of the Labyrinth's many ivy-covered walls, the leaves raspy against the nape of his ever-growing hair. In his hands were cradled a good sized cube of wood. Cherrywood, his father had said when Michael had unwrapped it Christmas morning. The book that had accompanied the cube of wood had suggested that before carving, potential carver first decided upon what the cube was hiding. The book also blathered on about the animals within and some other rubbish.

Still though, Michael considered the cube carefully. He had never carved something before, and if he had to do something, he might as well do it correctly (read as perfectly). His intense study though, was very rudely and harshly interrupted by the sudden roar of some sort of Garden monster. The words landed on his ears very distinctly, but he ignored the speech capability and peered out from between the two statues, convinced that there would be some sort of great, hairy creature with horns and perhaps a bloodied axe waiting beyond.

Instead there was only a girl, her wand clutched, and face looking openly explosive. Michael read the body language briefly: there was going to be a fight. This backed up the girl-beast's earlier yell of: ". . .GET OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME!" (Michael was not a fan of multiple exclaimations and so retained his mental remembrance to merely one instead of four. The volume needed no reminder.)

He considered, for a very short moment, whether or not to crawl out from his comfortable shelter. If he stayed where he was, he might continue his work on the cube. If he left it, he would have to, most likely, deal with what could be a trigger happy witch (or two, if Morgaine ever showed up). Being a self-preservationist, Michael opted to stay hidden. He would wait, and if things escalated to the point where he was bothered, only then would he come out.

Besides, there really was nothing more fun than watching two girls try to kill each other. \n\n

0 Michael Tallow A [mildly] disinterested observer. . . 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Morgaine Carey

September 08, 2006 9:33 PM

This oughta be fun... by Morgaine Carey

When this was all over, Morgaine was going to have a blinding headache. There was really no avoiding it. She'd spent the entire previous evening in bed with one, and the telltale tension was building up near the crown of her head already. The degree of focus she was going to have to put into this would hold it off for a little while, but she'd count herself lucky if she got back to her dorm before the real pain started, never mind before the mudblood came in and left her stuck in bed "asleep" for hours. If she'd spent half the time she pretended she did sleeping, she'd have been the best-rested person at Sonora.

The thought of another headache didn't improve her already less-than-glorious mood, but she couldn't honestly say she felt much at all about the mess she'd gotten herself into. Five minutes to teach the first year brat the lessons she needed to learn in life, then back to bed before curfew, with no acknowledgement, now or ever, that anything had ever happened. Her spellcasting wasn't the best in the world, but she was reasonably confident that a first year, especially one without even the sliver of access to her father's library she had stolen over the holiday, would be the worse off of them. It was all stupid, but most things, from what Morgaine had seen, were.

A smirk played around the corners of Morgaine's mouth when she heard Caedence yelling for her. She hadn't arrived late intentionally - well, not really, anyway, she'd been stuck ducking and dodging in an attempt to keep Pseudo-Pierce from stopping her, as Gwen had no doubt ordered him to do - but that didn't stop her from liking that her delay had apparently messed with the enemy enough for her to make a go-ahead-and-hit-me-from-behind suicide call like that one. The smirk changed to a half-worried, half-annoyed frown as it occurred to her that if she could hear the enemy yelling from a distance, other people might be able to as well. Was the idiot trying to get caught? Connell would kill them if they were...

Still, it couldn't be undone, so there was no reason she could see to not amuse herself a little by messing with the other girl's head. Ignoring a dull-pointed but forceful throb behind and directly between her eyes and a hint of numbness in the back of her neck, she leaned against the bushes, able to see Caedence without being seen herself. "If you really want to be punished for something that badly," she drawled, picking at her skirt, "just go tell Connell you took a swing at my sister and got the tar hexed out of you. Don't take people like me who have a particle of sense down with you." Another throb, this one a little sharper. She forced it back, refused to let it happen. "If you'll consent to begin things in a civilized manner - you do know the meaning of the word, don't you? - I'll come out."

Stupid mudbloods. They shouldn't have been allowed in schools. They shouldn't have been allowed, period. Gwen was just a chip off the iceberg as far as those brainwashed by that sort went, but she was Carey family's chip. She was Morgaine's chip. Gwen had put the nails in her own coffin, but not before the rabble gave her the coffin. If not for them, Gwen never would have gone bad in the first place. At least she stood half a chance of surviving the experience, now that she'd shown signs of having seen the light, but Alasdair being Alasdair...

Morgaine pushed the thoughts away the same way she'd pushed the headache away, only a hair more successfully. Philosophy wasn't for the likes of her, and Gwen wasn't dead or "dead" yet. Unfortunately for her, neither was Caedence, leaving her with other things to worry about for the moment. \n\n

0 Morgaine Carey This oughta be fun... 81 Morgaine Carey 0 5

Caedence

September 09, 2006 5:47 PM

Oh? I think it might be..for me! by Caedence

CAedence growled lowly in her throat. This incompetent girl didn't even know how to arrive on time! Now she was talking about being civilized! Just the thought of that prissy pureblood made her hot in the face. Her grip tightened on the wand, and what color was left in her drained away in her fury.

"CIVILIZED!?!?! SHUT UP AND GET OUT HERE!!!OR DO YOU WANT ME TO DITCH THE WAND AND HUNT YOU DOWN MYSELF!?!?" she roared even louder this time. She glanced around in many different directions. She added in almost a whisper, but one laced wiht deadly intent, "Come out come out wherever you are! Besides, if you're afraid to continue with this, why dont we leave now? And then I can comment about how you dishonor your precious family name by backing down from a duel? Failing to uphold your honor?"

She looked around, feeling like she was being watched. But that was just Morgaine watching her right? No one would come break this up. It was a match of honor, and that was that. She doubted even Elly would burst in on them. But then again....She looked around once more, and waited.\n\n

0 Caedence Oh? I think it might be..for me! 94 Caedence 0 5

caedence

September 09, 2006 5:48 PM

ooc by caedence

Well, that's one way to describe her. lol. very humerous!\n\n

0 caedence ooc 94 caedence 0 5

Michael Tallow

September 09, 2006 9:45 PM

And now slightly less disinterested. . . by Michael Tallow

Michael's nose had begun to itch in a sneaky, tell-tale sort of way that sent the crooked tip of it twitching. He knew what the twitching, itching meant: a sneeze was coming on. He ignored the feeling for the time being; there were far more pressing and possibly threatening matters to deal with. Morgaine had shown up, much to Michael's dislike. His interactions with his housemate and fellow year had been kept to his preferred minimum: none. Yet, he had seen her around, heard her speak on occasion, and had come to the conclusion that she was just nasty and disagreeable enough to be tolerable.

Not that he would ever put himself in such a situation that he would have to excuse the interaction by this observation.

Michael did have a well-founded suspicion though that should the duel come to fruition, the girl who still now continued to yell and holler would probably be the one left maimed and potentially dismembered. This possibility did not bother his conscience, mind you; instead, he was worried that he might possibly be caught in the backlash. A duel was supposed to be conducted in a certain manner, but from what he had seen from his brothers, it'd would easily escalate to the point of duck and cover tactics.

Which meant he could easily be hit. Michael was not a fan of pain.

Unconsciously, his grip on the cherrywood cube tightened; his chest doubled in, and then he sneezed. Vaguely, he realized the sound had erupted quite loudly. Sniffing deeply and then sighing just as deeply, Michael stood up from his perched cradle between the statues and brushed off the odd ivy leaf or two. Morgaine was still hidden somewhere, most likely close by, but the beast-girl that he now recognized as also being a Pecari was in plain view.

"I guess I'll be your witness then," he muttered, his voice flat and bothered. "Carey, come on out. And you," he continued, directing his attention toward the lesser year. "The screaming is really not needed. Carey's not going to attack you. If she was smart at all, she would have made a pit for you to fall in and then leave you there to stew. But she's a normal Pureblood, so she's probably just creeping about, waiting."

He sighed again and propped his cherrywood cube along with the whittle he'd pocketed earlier on the edge of the wood nymph's ankle. He palmed his wand and sniffled. And sneezed again. Stupid cold. . .\n\n

0 Michael Tallow And now slightly less disinterested. . . 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Elly Eriksson

September 10, 2006 4:38 AM

Damn, I gotta stop this interfering! by Elly Eriksson

Following her conversation with Caedence, which had proved extremely unsuccessful, considering Caedence was going to continue with the duel anyway, Elly had waited in the common room yet more nervously than she had awaited Caedence’s arrival therein. Meanwhile, a fierce battle was raging inside Elly’s mind.

You have to go and say or do something.

No I don’t. That would be interfering, which is a habit I’m trying to break.

But Caedence is your friend! Are you just going to stand by while she gets hurt?

She might not get hurt. Besides, Caedence can take care of herself.

Don’t be daft! The other girl’s a second year with a mean streak. Caedence could be slaughtered.

But she doesn’t want me to interfere!

Fine then, just stay here talking to yourself like a loon.

Almost convinced she was in fact going mad, Elly heaved an almighty sigh and headed down to Labyrinth gardens. With any luck by the time she got there both girls would have decided against the duel anyway, and she wouldn’t need to interfere.

Her high hopes were dashed, however, soon after Elly entered the maze, and she heard the distinct roar issuing from Caedence: “SHUT UP AND GET OUT HERE! OR DO YOU WANT ME TO DITCH THE WAND AND HUNT YOU DOWN MYSELF?”

Not good. Elly quickened her stride towards the noise, feeling a little odd as her emotions were torn between trepidation at getting involved in someone else’s fight, and a twinge of disappointment towards Caedence for allowing her anger to control her like this. If she were honest to herself, Elly would also admit to being a touch excited. After all, she’d never seen a magic duel before.

As Elly rounded the corner, she was relieved to find Caedence still standing and, aside from the scowl firmly in place, looking relatively normal. Inwardly smiling in relief, Elly hurried over to her, which is when she noticed the other person in the clearing: another second year Pecari. Elly wondered momentarily if Morgaine had sent him in her place, but seeing as he was doing little more than sneezing, she decided that probably wasn’t the case.

So, Caedence was there, but Morgaine wasn’t, and there was another guy who just seemed to be sneezing. Elly stood awkwardly next to Caedence. She looked at her friend and raised an eyebrow.

“Erm… what’s going on?” Elly asked.
\n\n

0 Elly Eriksson Damn, I gotta stop this interfering! 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Caedence

September 10, 2006 3:22 PM

Well, it is what earned you her friendship by Caedence

Pushing aside her fear, she rounded on the boy who sneezed. "Oh do go on! You honestly think it is simply jsut a matter of her doing a sneak attack? THIS IS A MATCH OF HONOR!" she said the last in a raised voice, but not quite a shout. She wanted Morgaine to hear. "It isn't polite, or honorable to be hinding in the bushes like a scared rabbi-" before the last consinent was out of her mouth, she hear a voice behind her.

Elly! Why was she here? Despite the one embarrasing outburt that Caedence had when she admited fear, she had done everything to show her roomate that she was not welcome ! Obviously she missed the memo. She glared at Elly. "Roomate or not, you are not butting in Elly. This is my buisness, as I said! I need to do this. Go, before you get hurt in the crossfire." She said. What did the girl think? That just because Caedence was scared spitless that she couldn't do it? This was a match to restore honor, and trash it as well. Backing out now would only earn her reputation to be demolished. Sighing heavily, she turned around as if looking, "anyone else want to join us? Should I make some popcorn?! Watch if you two want, but remember that I will not ," she emphasised the 'will not' with a stern look at Elly, "be at all guilty about any injuries. Got it? Now beat it or watch, but butt out!" \n\n

0 Caedence Well, it is what earned you her friendship 94 Caedence 0 5

Echo Elms

September 10, 2006 4:49 PM

First day back from Holiday (ignore the other) by Echo Elms

Echo volted through Pecari Commons to get to his room and out again as quickly as possible. It was almost warm outside and after being in the snowy winter of Wyoming for holiday, he could barely stand being cooped up indoors for another second. He tossed his coat and new gloves he'd gotten for Christmas down on his bed, grabbed his school robe and checked to make sure his wand was still in its pocket, and turned around and left without even looking to see if Mateo was there.

The Labrynth Gardens were calling to him.

He'd been meaning to do the maze for ages and now was the time to go. Not in five minutes or after lunch or once he found some people to come with him -- like hopefully maybe Elly -- but now. In five minutes he might get absorbed in his transfiguration text and forget about it again.

"Running after your girlfriend?" the portrait snickered. It was that same painted pixy who misdirected him to the potions room on the first day of class. His friend, the man with the wild white hair wasn't far off, hiding a smile behind a crooked old hand.

Echo kept walking, "I don't have a girlfriend."

"Not even a certain red headed English girl?" the Einstien man prompted.

"You're as bad as my mom."

"Come on, why ya following her then?" the pixy giggled.

"I'm not following anyone," he said. But his step quickened, knowing she'd been through here recently.

"Ah, you must have hit something right, Milsey. Look at him blush. What'd you do, get in a fight and now you're hoping to--"

He didn't hear the rest. He'd made it to the door, and if it slammed a bit on its way closed, well, he had nothing to do with it. It was just the wind.

There was precious little of that, though, unless you counted the shouting in a voice that was very distinctly not Elly's. Echo hurried forward but stopped at the entrance to the courtyard to peek around the corner. He knew better than to approach someone shouting.

It was Caedence.

"... anyone else want to join us? Should I make some popcorn?! Watch if you two want, but remember that I will not be at all guilty about any injuries. Got it? Now beat it or watch, but butt out!"

Echo didn't need any more information. Elly was there, standing next to Caedence, but he sure wasn't going to be. He didn't even like Caedence. She had a way of making him want to jump out of his chair and hurdle chairs and tables to the far end of the room and there press himself into the furthest corner. Unpredictable, that's what she was. Crazy unpredictable.

He crouched behind the corner. There was no way he was going back to face the pixy and the Einstein man, either. He'd just have to scout out a way around the fight and into the maze without being seen. Maybe, if he lucked out, this would all finish quickly and Elly would want to join him on his maze adventure.\n\n

21 Echo Elms First day back from Holiday (ignore the other) 93 Echo Elms 0 5

Morgaine Carey

September 10, 2006 9:02 PM

What is this, the Pecari Tea Party? by Morgaine Carey

Safely obscured by the bushes, Morgaine allowed herself a smile. Caedence's pattern of reactions just reinforced what Morgaine had known all along: that she didn't matter, and that this encounter was no more consequential than one with a fly, so long as she didn't get hurt. "I'll come out when I'm good and ready to," she said, keeping her voice steady despite the slight increase in the pressure on the back of her neck. "And do give over with the threats. You only make yourself sound stupid, which your being here proves you are, but I'm assuming your admission to school means you have enough wit to not want everyone and his owl knowing it."

She opened her mouth, meaning to goad the other girl a little more in the hopes of her breaking down and so leaving Morgaine the winner by default, when a sound made by neither of them cut her off: a sneeze. A very loud, very human-sounding sneeze, shortly followed by the appearance of a sniffing Michael Tallow.

Everything Morgaine knew about him came from Gwen's last letter, which had been little more than an exercise in hysteria and disordered thinking, and from what she'd seen at school. He hadn't been about for much of the previous year for some reason nobody seemed to know, had come back in this year, and sometimes built bizarre-looking models. Gwen claimed their father had hinted to his father about them marrying, and that his sister betrayed her, but given Gwen's mental state at the time of the writing, there was no way to be sure how reliable her account was. His manner of referring to her when he began to speak made it irrelevant - she officially disliked him - but was privately grateful for the effort at stopping Caedence from yelling. Or rather, her skull was grateful.

Then, as the final proof that the gods were not and never would be on Morgaine's side, one of the little gang she'd dubbed the Confederacy of Dunces waltzed in like she owned the joint, the tall redhead. Great. All they needed was for the rest of the Confederacy, Pseudo-Pierce, Saul, that loud-mouthed fourth year, and Clarence to have a Pecari Pride party instead of a duel. Muttering a few choice words picked up from her father's surprisingly, for a supposed gentleman, vivid and wide vocabulary, she got a good grip on her wand and stepped out of her hiding place as Caedence sent out another call for her.

"I'm going to lower myself to agreeing with the mudblood," she said, her face hard and her eyes harder. "Get out of here. This ain't the family reunion." She almost immediately regretted her choice of words, considering that her great-great-uncle and Tallow's great-great-uncle had killed each other back when everyone thought Savannah Careys might stand half a shot at long lives, but doubted he'd be familiar with the fact anyway. The only reason she knew it was because family history was one of the few things that had ever much interested her; the manner of Richard I's passing wasn't something they flaunted.

She addressed herself to Caedence. "You eliminated polite and honorable from the equation when you refused my offer of a normal, civilized beginning to things," she said, almost pleasantly. If this worked, she had inherited the devil's own luck. "Expelliarmus!" \n\n

0 Morgaine Carey What is this, the Pecari Tea Party? 81 Morgaine Carey 0 5

Matt Santoro

September 11, 2006 12:14 AM

Yes it is. Any party and I join. by Matt Santoro

Matt and Josh had left the school together. The Santoro twins were suppose to go out and explore the gardens. Or, at least, that had been their intentions. But, as they moved through the gardens, the voices of fellow classmates had met their ears. Josh wanted to keep exploring while Matt wanted to see what was up. They decided to make their separate ways and meet back up later.

Walking towards the voices, it took Matt some time before he found the correct path that would lead him to where he wanted to go. Upon entering their little party they had going, Matt was there just in time to hear someone say a spell. Surprise registered first and then awe. He was going to witness an actual duel!

His eyes were large as saucers as he looked around the area. Two girls, Elly, whom he'd met and some other girl he had seen around the commons and at class were there, some kid he'd seen around the commons, and Echo were there. The voice of the one who spoke the spell wasn't familiar and he couldn't see her face, but none of that mattered. This was the best moment of his life. The only people he had ever seen duel, were his cousins and those times were only in fun. \n\n

0 Matt Santoro Yes it is. Any party and I join. 0 Matt Santoro 0 5

Elly

September 11, 2006 4:19 AM

Most confusing party I've ever been to by Elly

“Expelliarmus!”

“Hey!”

If someone had told Elly the previous evening that today she would find herself interfering in a duel, even though nobody wanted her to, she surely would have laughed. Though, Elly did tend to laugh at most things, whether appropriate or not. She guessed this was why her immediate response to Caedence’s reprimand was to smile.

“Roommate or not, you are not butting in, Elly…Go before you get hurt in the crossfire.”

Elly could tell that Caedence was upset. True, she could be unpredictable, but Elly had been sharing classes and a bedroom with her for long enough to be able to tell what was real and what was façade. Of course Caedence was upset; anyone would be in her position (though, Elly mused, there were very few other people who would have put themselves in this position in the first place).

“Now beat it or watch, but butt out,” Caedence spat. Elly groaned inwardly. She wasn’t scared of Caedence, even a tiny bit, and she had only come to help her friend out, after all. She knew she was interfering, but she didn’t think she should be yelled at like that. She kept her voice neutral though – the last thing Caedence needed was to have a friend getting annoyed with her, too.

“I’m here as your friend, not your roommate, Caedence...” Elly began, but was cut short as Morgaine finally decided to make an appearance. Elly glanced at her, then did a double take and turned to study her properly. Morgaine looked ill. She certainly didn’t look like she should be out in the gardens, never mind the fact that she was trying to initiate a duel. It took everyone by surprise as Morgaine cast the first spell.

“Expelliarmus!”

Elly hadn’t had time to get out of the way and was still standing relatively close to Caedence (though she had taken a couple of involuntary steps back when Caedence had turned on her). She hadn’t heard that spell before and didn’t know what it would do. In the split second of silence that followed, Elly found time to allow a small amount of panic to surface. Her own wand was held limply at her side, but even if she were ready and prepared for a duel, it occurred to her that she wouldn’t know any useful magic, anyway.

Bewildered, Elly felt her wand spring itself from her hand. If she hadn’t been immersed in her own thoughts she might have had the strength of mind to keep hold of it. As it was, she watched her wand soar half-heartedly towards Morgaine, but give up and clatter to the ground midway between them.

“Hey!” Elly shouted. At that moment, she felt a lot of things: annoyance that she had allowed herself to interfere again, pity for Caedence as she was so obviously nervous and upset, yet unable to back down, anger at being on the receiving end of Morgaine’s spell, which, she assumed, had been intended for Caedence, and embarrassment at standing wandless in a clearing with a whole load of Pecaris looking at her (she was sure she’d seen Echo peer out from round a corner, and now Mateo had joined them, too). As she glared up at Morgaine, she also felt sorry for her. Momentarily forgetting she was standing between two bloodthirsty housemates with her wand out of reach on the floor, Elly asked Morgaine, “Are you alright? You don’t look too well.” Mentally she slapped herself and wondered why on earth her common sense had decided to desert her at this particular juncture.\n\n

0 Elly Most confusing party I've ever been to 0 Elly 0 5

Michael Tallow

September 11, 2006 5:13 AM

Statistically speaking, there's bound to be a injury. . . by Michael Tallow

And then there were six.

Michael found a headache forming in the dull blackness right behind his eyes. He did not appreciate the discovery and quickly blamed the arrival of the three additional interlopers as being its birthparents. All first year Pecari at that. He had seen them in the common room; one of them might have even been responsible for the destruction of a very important and time-consuming module he had built. He had never bothered to learn their names; his mind had generously thrown a generic label of Easily-Ignored-and-Generally-Dismissable at them at the beginning of the year.

Interloper One sounded partially sensible outside of the apparent fact that she presented herself as a friend to the fierce girl-beast named 'Caedance,' formally of the EIGD crowd. Despite that detraction, the girl appeared to be of the right mindset: the girl-beast would best be taken elsewhere and put down. Michael would have no issues with that being forcibly done. But then Interloper Two showed up; if Interloper Two thought no one had seen him crouch back behind the wall, he was exceptionally mistaken. Michael was mildly thankful that Interloper Two at least had the good sense not to bounce on in and join the fray.

Interloper Three lacked this same good sense. Obviously, it was not a house trait.

Michael was all for pulling rank- he was a second year, and while he couldn't order Carey around, he could threaten and blackmail the first years into retreat. His mind skirted briefly over the idea of possibly managing some homework duties out of the first years in return for not turning them all in- that might actually be enough of an inticement to draw Carey over. Such machinations were tossed aside though when Carey forgot whatever Pureblood breeding she supposedly had, came out, threatened him, and then attacked.

Granted, it was just a disarming spell, but still: this simply wasn't how one did a Wizarding Duel- Carey of all people should know that. What was even more surprising, though, than Carey's disreputable sneak attack was Michael's involuntary reaction- he actually knocked the Caedance girl aside. He hardly realized it as he moved; one moment he was scowling in the direction of Carey's voiced spell, and the next he was tackling the fierce first year to the side. She cushioned his fall nicely, so he managed not to scrape his palms- his hands were tools after all, important ones.

He sprang up from where he landed and came upon another discovery, this one being slightly humiliating: the spell actually missed the supposed target all of its own accord. It had torn Interloper One's wand out from her hands without much if any apparent recoil. Michael then watched, his thoughts having completely forgotten the girl he had crushed to the ground in an involuntary moment of something he normally disdained of, as Interloper One, instead of throwing a fit of some sort or running for cover, approached Carey with words of concern.

Michael truly did not understand his housemates sometimes. They really did seem to lack any and all common sense. Purposely, he drew out his wand and thought of the seven or so defensive spells he knew. If Carey was off the track enough to break the rules of a Wizarding Duel, chances were that she wasn't going to care who she attacked. Interloper One wouldn't stand a chance.

He, however, just might. "Carey," he began; his voice surprised him: it was just as flat as it was minutes earlier, only now there was a round sound of cheerfulness to it that was decidedly out of character. "Last I checked, you weren't entirely stupid. So either you do this duel as you're supposed to, or you're going to have a free-for-all with half the wands here pointed at you. I said it before, I'll be your witness."

His stupid nose took the opportunity to begin dribbling again, and he wiped at its crooked length with his free hand, irritated. "So last chance: are you going to do this. . .honorably," the word came out too sarcastically for anyone to think he actually cared, "or what?"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Michael Tallow Statistically speaking, there's bound to be a injury. . . 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Morgaine Carey

September 12, 2006 7:57 PM

Could've already happened. by Morgaine Carey

For a long moment, Morgaine stared at Elly's wand, lying there between them. The spell was supposed to be simple. Basic. Her headaches could make concentrating impossible, but this one was nowhere near as bad as some of the ones she'd worked through a class with - not yet, anyway. The spell, therefore, should have worked, even on the wrong person. How she'd gotten that far off the target was a mystery, too. Target practice wasn't one of her preferred pastimes, but she didn't think she was so incompetent that she couldn't hit a first-year-sized target at close range.

Then she saw Michael getting up, Caedence lying on the ground, and put two and two together. Ignoring Elly's exclamation, she glared furiously at Michael, her free hand clenching into a fist. "Tallow," she started to splutter, her head beating time with her heart, when Elly, glaring at her, did the most bizarre thing Morgaine could imagine her doing, something that confirmed, once and for all, that the entire first year was bereft of its senses: she asked if Morgaine was all right.

There was no reason whatsoever for Elly to ask after Morgaine's health or lack thereof. She was Elly's enemy. She was fighting with Elly's friend, or would have been but for Michael's attempt at heroics, and had deprived Elly of her wand. Morgaine smelled a trap. "Fine," she said stiffly, keeping one eye on Caedence and daring to hope that Tallow had inadvertently knocked the younger girl out cold. "You stay where you are." She was smaller than some of the first years, but she was still the eldest here, excepting Tallow. The year's difference messed with people's heads a lot more here than it did at home with her cousins. Hopefully, Elly would be one of the messed-with ones and so obedient.

Turning at the sound of her surname, she immediately raised her wand when she saw that Michael had his out, and only lowered it a fraction when he showed no other signs of doing anything more aggressive than talking. Yearmate or not, Michael wasn't an ally of hers, as he'd just gone out of his way to prove. He was as likely as anyone else out here to attack her, and while she wasn't sure how much use she would be against someone roughly on a level with or a bit above herself when it came to skill with a wand, she wasn't going to stand there like a ninny and let it happen without trying to put up a fight.

Her first, instinctual, reaction was to come back with a bluff, sarcasm, or both, but stopped short of actually doing it. Unfortunately, no matter which way she tried to look at it, he was right. She couldn't win. She wasn't likely to turn her wand on herself and Michael was likely to beat it the minute the hexes or what passed for them started flying, but Elly or the Spanish-looking boy would either stay out of it or attack her, the latter seeming more likely than the former. Caedence, if she was conscious, was bound to attack, possibly physically. The hiding boy might take up arms, too. Numbers might make up for lack of experience, and she and even Tallow were proof that purebloods, who might have experience, sometimes got into their pathetic excuse for a House...

The amount of blackmail material she'd merrily handed her fellow second year over the past minutes was the deciding factor. Scowling, she lowered her wand. "Fine," she said, her voice tight with pain and annoyance. "I'll play nice if she will." Her chin went up involuntarily. It probably wasn't a good idea to totally antagonize someone who was probably going to be holding things over her head in the near future... "You heard it all, though, Tallow. I offered to begin things in the normal way, and she turned it down. I won't apologize for defending myself from a madgirl a foot taller than me who's already been threatening to beat up me and my sister, but I'll place as nice as she does this time." \n\n

0 Morgaine Carey Could've already happened. 81 Morgaine Carey 0 5

Caedence

September 12, 2006 9:49 PM

Now, now, lets play nice... by Caedence

Caedence shaked her head vigorously to clear the darkness out of the corners of her eyes. A large bruise welled up in between her shoulder blades. "see Elly? We'll take it nicely. I wont get hurt. Now go! You've already been hit by a spell meant for me! Get to the side!" She said.

Then Morgaine defended herself. Caedence's temper once again got to her. "I did not! You are the only one I want to destroy!" she snapped at her when she stood up. "And I will get my revenge. Forget the 'lets play nice'! I perfer it to be free-for-all. Listen, boy, you stay out of this! I dont care how older you are to me, I dont even care if you could hexmy nose off and replace it with a toe, this is our battle! Not yours! And now, thanks to you, I have a movement impending bruise! Thanks, boy!" she growled.

"But, to start things niceley, lets go on three then? One...two...three...EXPELLIAMUS!" she cried mimicing the girls spell. she was happy to see a red beam of light issue forth from her wand. Now for this one to make its mark. \n\n

0 Caedence Now, now, lets play nice... 94 Caedence 0 5

Matt Santoro

September 13, 2006 1:45 AM

You've lost me. by Matt Santoro

So much had happened in the small moments that he had entered their little area that Matt had no idea what was even going on anymore. This was nothing like the duels that he had seen his family get into. They were doing far more talking than anything else. And, but the looks on their faces, they were all very serious about it all.

Some how, the girl with the braid, ended up on the ground. Elly was standing there asking the other girl if she were alright and then the boy got involved. Matt, who was standing there looking rather dumbfounded now instead of excited, remained silent trying to figure out what happened, why this was happening, and when the actual fun dueling would begin.

Of course, that went flying out the window when the girl with the braid stood up and started shouting out random things. Or, they sounded random to Matt. He had to blink a few times and even stepped back and away from them all when she shouted. Matt didn't have his wand on him, had no intentions of using it on anyone, but the idea that a spell could accidently be thrown his way was enough for Matt to want to not be anywhere near them.

"Tell me how it ends!" Matt chimed out and then took off, grinning at Echo (who was apparently hiding) as he made his way out of the maze of the gardens. He had no idea which way Josh had gone off to, but that didn't matter. He had no intention of being around the area when a Professor came around, which he was sure there would certainly be one. He wanted to look as innocent as he could until Josh and him were absolutely ready to let loose on some pranks. Until then, he had to lay low.\n\n

0 Matt Santoro You've lost me. 0 Matt Santoro 0 5

Elly

September 13, 2006 2:49 AM

Hey, Echo! by Elly

Elly had had enough. She obviously shouldn’t have bothered following Caedence. Morgaine had said she was ‘fine’, even though she really did look quite awful, Caedence was still trying to get Elly to leave, so really, she thought she had better. Suddenly everyone started yelling again. Ignoring them all, Elly took a few steps forward, retrieved her wand, and headed over to the bushes where she thought she’d seen Echo.

She stood and looked down at him, crouched round the corner, a safe distance from where Caedence was now trying to duel Morgaine.
“Hi,” Elly said, trying hard to keep the agitation out of her voice. “I feel like I need a swing. You wanna join me?” Elly smiled, but she wasn’t sure it reached her eyes. All she had been trying to do was be a good friend. That obviously hadn’t turned out too well.
\n\n

0 Elly Hey, Echo! 0 Elly 0 5

Ginger Silverstein

September 13, 2006 5:26 PM

Oh this gets more interesting by the second. by Ginger Silverstein

Ginger had been reading her new Johnny the Homicidal Maniac comic book on a bench in the Labyrinth. She didn't think it was way too cold to be outside. She figured that she had spent way too much time in the common room and the library anyway. She was wearing her brand new hoody. It was black and it said Pink Floyd On it.

She continuted to sit there and read until she heard one of the firsties scream for Morgain. Oh this was going to be amusing! For once she wanted to see a firstie triumph. Ginger really disliked Morgain. She didn't like how she thought that her for lack of better term "fecies didn't stink." She acted like she was the queen of the universe just because she was a pureblood. It personally sickened Ginger. She hated it when people acted like that.

Ginger knew that there was always going to be a rivalry between the muggle borns and the snobby purebloods. Ginger knew that not all purebloods were snobby, but she just wished that the snobs would all go to a deserted island, and save the greif. Ginger just wished that Morgain had been sorted into another house away from her. She felt uneasy that she even had to share a room with her.

Ginger was suprised that Morgain had not tried to kill her. She was siding with the firstie on this one, even though she was ignorant and rather annoying. Anything that would be a pain in Morgain's ass was worth watching. She watched as spells were thrown and more people showed off. She sat there and watched with her hood up, and comic book on her lap.
\n\n

0 Ginger Silverstein Oh this gets more interesting by the second. 1484 Ginger Silverstein 0 5

Echo Elms

September 13, 2006 9:52 PM

Hey Elly, let's take it to another thread by Echo Elms

First, he could have sworn Matt looked right at him before he left, and now, as he blinked up at Elly in surprise, Echo had to conclude his hiding spot much not have been very hidden. He'd known that, but he assumed it wouldn't matter because everyone's attention was clearly on Caedence and that other girl. And then that guy. And then that girl.

Not that he was complaining. Any event that led Elly to asking him to go somewhere with her was a good event. And he hadn't seen Elly's swing yet.

He grinned and motioned for her to lead on, belated thinking that maybe it would have been better to have tagged after Matt and Josh. Echo was starting to pick up on when people wanted to talk and he didn't like to... talk. He'd had to endure a lot of talking from his friend at home over break and it was awful.

But then there would be a swing, and swings were good. Maybe Elly would tell him about how she built it. Or what she did over break. That would be nice and safe and good. That would be great, actually. And then he could tell her how he'd made soap at home and how his dad made him write a report about some dinosaur over break.

Come to think of it, if it was like that, talking might be just the thing to do while swinging.

OOC: Elly and Echo shall now move on to a swing oriented thread.\n\n

21 Echo Elms Hey Elly, let's take it to another thread 93 Echo Elms 0 5

Michael Tallow

September 13, 2006 11:33 PM

And they just keep coming in. . . by Michael Tallow

OOC- Slight preface to stave off any possible injured feelings or the like: a curse word is a curse word is a curse word is a curse word. Or so I follow. Please keep in mind that any injuries accrued were not meant to be purposely or personally inflicted. Basically, sorry if the obvious offends you.

BIC-

Michael lowered his wand once Morgaine appeared to agree to his terms. And she did have a point. The first year girl-beast didn't exactly inspire faith; who was to say that had Morgaine walked openly into the hedgeway that she wouldn't have been immediately attacked? Grudgingly, Michael mentally agreed with his yearmate; in the same situation- not that he would have ever allowed himself to be put in such a situation, especially with a first year girl-beast like this one- but had he been in the same situation, he might have been tempted to come out, wand blasting, and consider the rules later.

He allowed his chin to move just the slightest, a nod that if observed would show his agreement with Morgaine's words. He had little time to vocalize anything, though, because the girl-beast flared up again. He listened, in slack jawed amazement and disbelief at the girl-beast's words. Was this for real? "You are the only one I want to destroy!" and "Listen, boy, you stay out of this!" The girl-beast spoke like she had been cloistered all her life from normal speech and raised on the same vernacular as Robert Louis Stevenson. He was briefly distracted by the visual her comment on whatever possible hex he might pull off- distracted enough to not notice the sure to be obvious extraction of her wand and then quickly voiced spell.

Another shout of "Expelliarmus!" reverberated, and Michael missed entirely the exits of Interlopers One and Two, and the apparent observation of what might become Interloper Four. The shock of the spell's red light was enough to finally grate whatever ill-tempered tolerant patience his taciturn nature granted him. He firmly jabbed his wand into his jeans' pocket and snatched at the girl-beast's outstretched wand.

It fit neatly into his palm, although he felt a keen displeasure at having a foreign wand, with its foreign core and foreign attributes against his skin. He ignored the prickling of it and firmly cursed. "Jesus Christ." Michael took a slightly perverse pleasure in using the occasional more Muggle-fied expletives. This one was one was purposely chosen. He repeated it for good measure. "Jesus Christ."

Michael considered letting his eyes switch to where Morgaine might possibly be stretched out on the ground, depending upon whether the spell missed her or not, but decided that the girl-beast was a more likely threat, wandless or not. Trading places with the girl-beast's wand, his palm reassured itself with the returned presence of a more comfortable and familiar piece of wood. This he held tightly.

"Now listen. I don't know what your family's like, or how you've been raised. I don't know or care. But there are rules that you're supposed to follow if you're going to duel with wands." His disagreeable mouth flattened into a look of disgust. "You'll get your wand back when I'm convinced you're not going to go about frothing at the mouth like some kind of beast."

Eyes still steadily trained on the girl-beast, he stretched his voice over to Morgaine. "Carey, you alive?"\n\n

0 Michael Tallow And they just keep coming in. . . 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Caedence

September 14, 2006 7:01 PM

yup....maybe she shouldn't have yelled? by Caedence

OOC: ...huh?

IC: Caedence's hand suddenly was grabbed by the boy. After a few seconds she realized why. His wand was in her hand. The sudden loss of her wand left her feeling drained. She couldn't even feel angry. She just felt...exposed without it.

That quickly subsided replaced by the, now increasingly normal, sense of rage. "You...I...AGH!!!!" she sputtered speechless. All she could do is yell like some sort of animal. She yelled untill her lungs were completely empty, trying to let out her anger with each sylable she uttered, "GIVE ME BACK MY WAND! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE! GIVE IT TO ME! LET US BE! GO AWAY! WE CAN DO THIS OURSELVES! GO! GO! GO!" When her breath was out, she quickly swallowed moutfuls of air, almost choking on it. Her face was cherry red from oxigen deprivation. After a while, however, it resumed its pale color.

"Go....now....please...just...drop...the...wand" She gasped when she recieved enough air to do so. "She called me a...mudblood" she spit out the word as if it were dirt in her mouth, "I am not even muggle born. I deny my father. If she ever, EVER calls me that again, I will forget that I am a witch and use my wand to attack her and I wont bother uttering any spells. I am being reasonable, I gave her the count of three. What do you want us to do? Bow, count, and take turns uttering spells? Do you think that real life plays that nicely? Huh? It doesn't.

"People will come up from behind and try and kill you. Try and bow, they'll attack your exposed back. There is no allies ever. Only will there be enemies. Sure, there are those to get along with, but you may never know what they'll do. It is their right to form aliances with whomever they choose. If they want to be an ally, let them be. Don't ever let your guard down, however. Never. Now please go and let me and...Ms. Carey handle it?" The polite way to say the name tasted vile on her tounge. It itched to say every thought Caedence had over winter break. It longed to throw the most despicable curses and watch her twitch. She couldn't do that, however, and she needed to act as nice as possible to get her wand back.

OOC: By the way, i'll post my additions to her background, but this post gives a good idea to what her life was like. \n\n

0 Caedence yup....maybe she shouldn't have yelled? 94 Caedence 0 5

Morgaine Carey

September 14, 2006 10:50 PM

That might have been wise. by Morgaine Carey

Morgaine almost reached the level of optimism that would allow her to believe that matters might go off, if not strictly speaking smoothly, at least in a manner resembling that of the bit of the book on dueling she'd read when Michael lowered his wand. Unfortunately for her, Caedence began babbling again moments later, tossing that hope out the window. Her head was pounding, now, and she didn't follow most of the younger girl's speech further than it took to ascertain that she really did have a death wish, but she wasn't yet far enough out of it that she really expected a suicidal mudblood with a chip on her shoulder to go all the way to three on a count. When Caedence said 'two', Morgaine did the only thing any reasonable person could do: she moved.

When she picked up on Caedence's attempt to copy her own botched spell, she silently begged her head to forgive her and threw herself backwards and sideways, Michael now helpfully between her and the first year. Somehow doubting he'd willingly remain a human shield for very long, she racked through her small selection of potential spells as quickly as she could, settled on one, and was about to give it a shot when the other second year swore. Squinting at them both in search of some reason for this, she found herself staring openly, near heedless of the increasingly painfully bright light, at discovering that Caedence was no longer pointing a wand at her. As Michael began talking, she figured out why.

Thinking of a wandless Caedence, as she figured out only seconds later, wasn't much more comforting than thinking of an armed one. With a wand, she was bound to be at least borderline incompetent on account of her age unless she was some kind of prodigy, which she wasn't, or she'd be in Aladren with the other annoyingly smart people. With her bare hands, she would have had Morgaine beaten even if she didn't have a headache, which she did. Morgaine didn't relish the thought of her skull or any other part of her anatomy making contact with first the ground and then Caedence's fists. Another abrupt attack, however, was out of the question. The matter was taken out of her hands when a question was directed specifically to her.

"For the moment," she said, walking back into both of their lines of sight warily. Caedence's rant, all at the top of her lungs, left Morgaine white-faced and wondering just how literally she was going to wind up meaning that. Every word felt driven into the side of her head with a Strike Spell, and the younger girl was almost to the end of her somewhat quieter follow-up before Morgaine managed to fight it off and switch her focus back from the pain to the potential danger of the scene at hand. The pain sank back down to the level where, instead of detaching her from emotion, it made her more annoyed than ever.

"Give over with the shouting, and drop the melodramatics," she gritted out, still rubbing her left temple without realizing it. She barely noticed that Caedence had granted her the 'miss' she'd found the absence of so infuriating moments earlier. "This has nothing to do with your parents or my parents or Tallow's parents or the Headmaster's parents or anyone else's. My roommate could tell you that my reaction to your sort over that is to ignore you unless you're stupid enough to make a nuisance out of yourself. You harassed, threatened, and made a show of insulting several members of my family, and as the only one of the lot with enough sense to tie my own shoes, I'm getting you back for it. End of story. And for the record, girls curtsy." \n\n

0 Morgaine Carey That might have been wise. 81 Morgaine Carey 0 5

Michael Tallow

September 15, 2006 1:27 AM

Kind of like sneezing in a den of sleeping lions. . . by Michael Tallow

Michael was becoming perplexed. His older sister, while rather moody and emblematic of her species at times, had never quite crossed over to the realm of the insane. Girl-beast here, though, was sounding more and more like she belonged in said realm. The small part of his psyche that managed to retain some sensitivity mildy noted that the girl must have, at some point in her life, been victimized in some way. Granted, that did not quite explain her oddly formal vernacular, but it did help to explain her manner.

This realization, however, did little to invoke sympathy from Michael. He had no reason to care if the girl-beast had been beaten as a toddler with dragon scales or dangled over open pits of ashwinders. What he did care about was that her voice was beginning to grate heavily against his brain, and his eyes had begun to squint involuntarily. He decided to ignore the first year's pleas for his exit; he took a very exact pleasure in being contrary that way.

Morgaine finally voiced her continued existence, and he shifted his squinted gaze to her direction. Her wand was still intact so she must have dodged the spell, but if not for that fact, she all but looked the victim of a curse. Not that he was one to voice concern over such things. He nodded though as she continued to speak. "I second that," he agreed. "There's no one here stalking about, waiting to rip open your back or poison you in your sleep. The Headmaster's not likely to let maniacs run loose to kill all the students."

When Morgaine finished, he nodded again, his sullen features twisting in his typical grimace. "If you want your wand back, you're going to have to convince me that you're not insane-" He broke off and reconsidered. The chances of the girl-beast showing any signs of sanity were most likely slim to nil. Who was he kidding? The first year was a beast, plain and simple. You don't reason with beasts, and you certainly don't rearm them. "Actually, nevermind. Carey, you done with this for now? 'Cause I'm good with just leaving, ditching the wand at the entrance, and calling it a day."
\n\n

0 Michael Tallow Kind of like sneezing in a den of sleeping lions. . . 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Caedence

September 15, 2006 6:36 PM

Gee...how about sneazing near a Carey and a girl-beast? by Caedence

Caedence was breathing heavily now, as if running a marathon. These stupid purebloods were getting on her nerves. "Prove I'm not insane?! Gah! You people!" She kept her voice low. However much she wanted to lash out and beat every inch of these incompetent oafs, she had to take notes of her opponent. First, she had to admit that Morgaine was pretty gaunt. Second, her repeated pleas were obviously a sign of a headache. Caedence herself could fee one pounding at her temples. Third, her stomach was grumbling; she hadn't eaten due to her nerves.

"All right. Why don't we do this in a nice way then? Put all our differences aside? Listen, I sincerely mean this in the best possible way, Miss Carey, you seem to have a headache. Why not go to the nurse? We can contunue later today if you'd like. Oh and as to curtsying , no one says we have to really. Just those of us who were born to a higher scociety than others. I am not ashamed of my parentage, and, you are right, it isn't about what our blood type is. It's about how things were said and honors broken. So, why don't we both just take five, and meet at sunset again? We can even have your friend here as a judge. Why not?"

She still showed all signs of snapping, and true her fists were balled as tight as possible, but it wasn't right to Morgaine or Caedence to have to fight eachother when both were not in top shape. Even though that meant that she was losing her one chance to beat Morgaine. She sighed deeply, and it made her feel no better. She took the toe of her shoe, and used it to drill a small dip in the ground. She noticed that she had grass staines on the jeans that poked out from under her robes. Oh well, that's what laundry soap was for!\n\n

0 Caedence Gee...how about sneazing near a Carey and a girl-beast? 94 Caedence 0 5

Morgaine Carey

September 16, 2006 10:38 PM

Can't think of a title tonight. by Morgaine Carey

Morgaine almost felt like laughing. One minute, there had been enough people out here to have a small convention, and they had all been at each other's throats. Now, the party was down to three unless one counted Morgaine's weirdo of a roommate on the sidelines, and they were all calm, or maybe tired. She was, anyway; Morgaine had given up on trying to figure out what Michael's deal was several minutes earlier. If she had been in his shoes, she thought she might have very well left them to it quite a while earlier and gone back to building her...whatever those things he built were. Caedence was the one whose behavior she was halfheartedly still trying to analyze, but since she never intended to acknowledge that the first year existed again, it didn't really matter. She lowered her wand, but didn't put it away. If Michael accepted Caedence's all-for-the-best speech and gave her her wand back, she might attack again.

"I'm fine," she said flatly, not even bothering to snap. There was no point in it. Caedence Redoak wasn't worth the energy it would take right now to stay furious with her, much less to keep fighting her. "No Healers. The rules are the rules, though. The bow - girls aren't supposed to do this sort of thing at all, it's not seemly - is necessary if it's formal, and this was supposed to be formal." Why was she bothering to explain that? It wasn't like Caedence was likely to listen to reason or follow rules. She considered noting, too, that Michael wasn't her friend, but if Caedence was willing to believe that the other second year was an ally of Morgaine's and that they were presenting a united front, so much the better for her. She instead picked up the other clearly toss-downable point of the younger girl's speech.

"Meeting at sunset's out of the question. Connell would kill us, and she'd bring us back to kill us again when she figured out what we were doing. I don't know and don't care about you, but I've never felt even a little suicidal." Her head gave a sharp, slightly nauseating throb, expressing its displeasure with the sudden calm rationality of the scene. Caedence still looked like she intended to give up the ghost and make a few other things hurt as well, but Morgaine figured she could always poke the other girl in the eye with her wand if push came to absolute shove. "I'm with Tallow," she said, rubbing her temple again. "I've got what I wanted out of this, so I'm not up for risking putting myself in detention again." Caedence hadn't exactly apologized, but at the moment, Morgaine was willing to settle for acknowledgement for herself, since Gwen and Allie had been apologized to.

Oddly-balanced situation and a headache or none of the above, she still dimly registered that she might have made a serious tactical error. Caedence and Ginger, who Morgaine assumed was still standing around waiting to watch as her roommate and the first year tried to kill each other, were nonentities - even if they tried to spread it around that she'd ducked out of a fight with a half-blooded first year, the other purebloods who mattered weren't likely to listen or give it much credit, because she was one of them. A pureblood. Some probably wouldn't believe a Carey girl could have gotten herself into such a position, even one with an immediate family like hers. Tallow was the problem. If he took it into his head to run his mouth, even just to Eddie and Saul, Morgaine's reputation was probably a lost cause.

The thought didn't make her head hurt any less, and her mood was such that she was inclined to think that it had started hurting more. "If you two're willing to leave it," she said, trying to muster all the dignity she had in her possession, "I'll just go on to bed and we can pretend none of this ever happened." If they expected her to give any more ground, she expected to disappoint them. It had been hard enough to make that offer, never mind one that even more blatantly suggested she might have been in the wrong, even if that wasn't how she'd meant it. \n\n

0 Morgaine Carey Can't think of a title tonight. 81 Morgaine Carey 0 5

Professor K.

September 17, 2006 12:49 PM

Time to intervene by Professor K.

Kiva walked among the paths of the Labyrinth Gardens. She rather liked it outdoors, even with the gardens cold and covered in snow. The air was fresh and the chill kept her at ease. Ever since she found out that Bulla wanted her for the position of Deputy Head, Kiva had been at odds with herself. Was she good enough for such a position? Would the students respect her enough? Did she have enough force behind her incase they didn't? Her last lesson with the older students were proof enough that some thought she was easy to walk on. Hopefully Kiva's reprimand was enough to put them in their place.

She walked the gardens as she did everyday to check up on the creatures that resided there. As she walked, she could hear voices in another path, angry voices. Kiva visibly frowned. She was too far away to actually hear the words said, but one voice in particular, seemed to want to be heard. Kiva changed her normal route and began looking for the source of the voices. The closer she came to them, the better she was able to hear the topic of their discussion.

Kiva rolled her eyes. They were talking about fighting or meeting somewhere to fight. She couldn't quite figure out which of the two they were discussing, but it was about fighting. Kiva rounded the corner and spotted three students: Caedence, Morgaine, and Michael. All three of them were Pecaris. Kiva wasn't sure if she should be all that surprised by the fact that they were Pecaris or shocked that it seemed to be one first year against two second years. Unless Michael (who looked as though he was standing between the two) was trying to prevent a fight.

"Fighting?" Kiva asked, she pulled out her wand and gave it a whirl. Silently, in her head, Kiva called for the students wands and, as expected, they flew out of the respective hands and into her own. The joys of being an educated adult had its perks when it came to nonverbal magic. Kiva eyed each of them, trying to decide what to do with them. "I'm disappointed that you three decided that dueling each other was the way to work things out. There are better solutions than fighting." Kiva spoke, her words soft, but stern.

Kiva didn't actually walk in on them doing anything besides threatening to fight, so there was little she could do, but they didn't know that. However, the best course of action would be to involve their Head of House, O'Connell, she would be better able to handle her three students. "We'll take this up with your Head of House to find the best course of action to reprimand the three of you. I'll give your wands back after we've spoken with her. Come along." Kiva said and turned to walk back through the gardens.\n\n

0 Professor K. Time to intervene 0 Professor K. 0 5

Caedence

September 17, 2006 3:12 PM

Aww, but proff k, we were having FUN! by Caedence

Caedence was prepared to fire a smart-mouthed comment to Morgaine, but all she got out was, "I'll never apologize to you!" before someone spoke behind them. Wheeling around, prepared to fire off any number of insults and threats, she was dissapointed to see Proffeser K behind her. Relief that she had taken her wand from Tallow turned to rage at the fat that she wasn't going to give it back. With an irritated sigh, she tried to explain the situation enough to get her wand back.

"Ma'am, we are done firing our spells. This is a personal matter. We weren't going to hurt each other too bad, and besides, we are at a truce however uneasy. May we please just be on our way and forget this?" she said and added in her mind, 'Before I ditch the idea of wands, run away, and not care if I hurt anyone present'

Her hands were balled so tight into fists that the knuckes stood out white and they would've bled had she not have no fingernails. The bruise on her back throbbed painfully, but she approached the corner where her broom lay at rest. She did this carefully, so as to avoid her proffeser's notice. If she wasn't inclined to just drop it, she was going for the broom and flying away as fast as possible.\n\n

0 Caedence Aww, but proff k, we were having FUN! 94 Caedence 0 5

Michael Tallow

September 20, 2006 7:12 AM

Sometimes, it's like boom! And a week's gone. . . by Michael Tallow

Michael listened to Morgaine speak with a suddenly strong feeling of agitation. What was he doing? He should have left the two to their mutual destruction the moment he realized that the girl-beast only had eyes for Morgaine. Instead, he'd acted like an ally of sorts, if partially neutral in that partnership. The agitation gave way to open jawed disgust though, once the girl-beast spoke up. He shook his head and ignored her words.

"Fine plan by me, Carey. I'll toss the wand at the entrance, and whatever you two decide after that, don't bother telling me. I have better-" He stopped abruptly with the appearence of what was now Interloper Five; this was no ordinary interloper, however. This was, in all its grand capitalization, a Professor. An Adult. An Authority Figure. His disgust tempered into the typical sullen rudeness he adopted around all his professors. Even semi-tolerable ones like Professor Kijewski.

Michael noted the absence of both his wand and the girl-beast's as a minor side-note. He allowed his shoulders to bend forward in a defensive gesture. He defensiveness curled his mouth into an open scowl once he realized that Professor Kijewski had thought him equally reprehensible in what had been a rather pathetic excuse for a Wizard's Duel. The scowl stopped for only a moment once the girl-beast spoke up yet again. She really was a nutcase.

"Ma'am, we are done firing our spells. This is a personal matter. We weren't going to hurt each other too bad, and besides, we are at a truce however uneasy. May we please just be on our way and forget this?"

The girl-beast was not only insane, but an idiot, Michael decided with a firm conviction. He had no doubt that given further investigation, Professors Kijewski and Connell would come to the same conclusion and give adequate leeway to himself and Morgaine. He waited behind a moment for Carey, before speaking curtly under his breath. "My plan: let the girl-beast do all the talking. She'll give enough rope to hang herself twelve times over."

It did not occur to him that a rope of that length, however figurative, would also be long enough to serve as a noose for himself and Morgaine both.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Michael Tallow Sometimes, it's like boom! And a week's gone. . . 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Morgaine Carey

September 21, 2006 6:01 PM

The wonders of fuzzy time never cease. by Morgaine Carey

Tallow was agreeing with her. He was getting himself out of the situation, too, but Morgaine decided to focus on the upside of things: he was agreeing with her, which meant he probably wasn't going to attack her. That was a good thing. Even if Caedence did and Michael proved himself smarter than she'd expected by making a beeline for the exit, the chances of Morgaine sustaining serious injury would be...well, if not halved, at least reduced substantially. Before he could finish whatever it was he was saying, though, one last unwelcome visitor entered the arena: Kiva Kijewski.

Kijewski held and would probably always hold a special place in Morgaine's heart, by the simple expedient of Kijewski having been the first teacher at Sonora Morgaine took a serious aversion to and, by her reckoning, the first teacher she had ostracized. A curt, if perfectly correct, explanation was between her brain and her mouth when her wand was abruptly out of her hand and in the professor's without a spell being uttered. The explanation became a strangled gasp, two-parts fury mixed with one-part surprise and one-part fear.

Several possible responses to Kijewski's little I'm-so-disappointed-in-you-for-fighting speech sprang to mind: 'I think I know better than you do how to deal with people who insult my family' was the immediate one, followed quickly by 'one more word about this and my father will have you fired', which was immediately dismissed as a very easily called bluff. It wound up not mattering at all, because the second Kijewski mentioned Connell, Morgaine became overwhelmed by the conviction that any attempt to open her mouth would result in her making matters worse by throwing up all over the professor's shoes.

The situation could have still been saved, with a little quick talking, but Caedence had to open her mouth. In a very few words, the idiot first year destroyed any hope of getting off scot-free they had been in possession of. They hadn't been doing anything but holding wands and discussing the niceties of dueling and why sunset meetings didn't work before, and there was nothing illegal about that. Kijewski might have known what was going on, but she wouldn't have been able to prove it. The idiot had admitted that they'd used their wands, and Morgaine seriously doubted she had enough favor from every teacher in the school put together for any lie to the contrary she issued to be believed, or even considered.

The only thing she knew to do when she was completely and utterly terrified was to act like she was anything but completely and utterly terrified. If she didn't do anything that made her look guilty - throwing herself on her knees and begging forgiveness definitely fell into the 'don't do it' category because of this - she might be taken for not guilty. Still not trusting herself to speak, she responded to Michael's proposed plan to get out of this with a faint nod of agreement she really hoped Kijewski hadn't caught on to. Anything that involved hanging Caedence, however figuratively, and her not talking sounded pretty darn good to her, at least for the moment. \n\n

0 Morgaine Carey The wonders of fuzzy time never cease. 81 Morgaine Carey 0 5

Professor K.

September 26, 2006 11:43 PM

It is rather nice, isnt it? by Professor K.

Kiva could immediately tell that her being in the same area as the three students was not a welcomed one. At the sight of their faces, Kiva was very glad she had taken away their wands. Teenagers-no, angery teenagers-with wands was never a good thing. Especially ones who didn't know how to shoot spells out properly.

She knew that there would be arguments, however, she was not expecting anything that the young first year threw at her. "Did you just listen to yourself?" Kiva asked, looking incredulously at the young girl. "Caedence, you just admitted to using your wand as a weapon against another student! You expect me to just let you go after such an admitance? Personal matter or not, fighting on school grounds is against school rules." Kiva told her, her eyes flickering over to Morgaine and Michael to make sure they weren't doing anything before turning back to Caedence.

"You're a first year Caedence and still learning the ways of this school, but you can't expect to break the rules without there being a consequence. Now, we'll work this out with your Head of House. The three of you will come with me and we'll get this all settled." Kiva said, stepping aside and indicating for them to walk infront of her that way, there was less likely a chance for them to do anything without her knowing it.\n\n

0 Professor K. It is rather nice, isnt it? 0 Professor K. 0 5

caedence

September 27, 2006 5:07 PM

ooc by caedence

should we move this to the commons?\n\n

0 caedence ooc 94 caedence 0 5

Professor K.

September 28, 2006 2:17 PM

OOC: go ahead (nm) by Professor K.

0 Professor K. OOC: go ahead (nm) 0 Professor K. 0 5