Not as brave as I intended on being... on Labyrinth Gardens

Fae Sinclair

June 13, 2011 10:04 PM

Not as brave as I intended on being... by Fae Sinclair

Fae’s summer had been rather dull. After spending so many months around other, more entertaining, people while at Sonora, Fae realized that her life at home wasn’t very fun at all. She actually missed the constant rumble of chatter that frequented the hall and the scratch of the quill on parchment that she often heard within the common rooms. She even missed the familiar click with every picture Alice took but never developed. At home… it was just silence. Silence that screamed in Fae’s ears. Who knew that after hating to be around so many out of fear of doing something wrong, Fae actually missed it all?

But, she was also aware that she still had a lot to learn when it came to interacting with others.

One day over the summer, Fae had approached her sister for help. Normally, she would have asked Jaiden, but he spent less and less time at home. So, she had to seek out Shelby’s help in this matter.

Shelby had been doing her hair in her bathroom mirror when Fae found her. At first, Shelby hadn’t wanted to be bothered because she was getting ready for her date with Victor Stratford, but something in Fae’s face must have shown because she had put her wand down and looked at her sister directly instead of through the mirror.

Fae had needed help learning to be more social. For a moment, Fae had thought her sister was going to laugh at her but instead, after a moment’s thought, she had pulled Fae completely into the bathroom and closed the door. For the next half hour, Shelby had explained to her that the only way she’ll be successful in anything was if she took pride in exactly who she was. Fae hadn’t understood at first, but then Shelby forced her to look in the mirror. She pointed out all of Fae’s flaws but then told her instead of seeing them as flaws, embrace them.

Shelby had always prided herself in her looks, but she had admitted to Fae that day that she had hated how she looked for a very long time. She had always found something wrong. Something that someone else would hate. And then one day Shelby had realized that no one else really cared. Only Shelby did. And so, she stopped looking so deeply at the surface and found a way to be proud of her looks. That confidence ended up finding its way through everything and that was how she was able to stay on top.

Fae must have looked at a loss because Shelby did laugh. ’Fae Fae, if you stay so scared all the time, you’ll never be important. You’re going to make mistakes, instead of being ashamed of them, just laugh them off. People will like your more that way.’ Shelby had scooted Fae from the bathroom after that. For the rest of summer though, Fae stopped trying to be so perfect and Alice had even come to visit her.

And now school was in session and Fae was trying to follow Shelby’s advice. She needed to stop being so afraid…

Exactly how was she going to do that? First things first, she needed to get over her fear of nature. And so, Fae had put on a skort, a blouse that she wasn’t worried if it ended up ruined, and an older pair of mary-janes and ventured into the labyrinth with a very hesitant couple of steps.

Looking back on this action, Fae would realize this was a mistake. Why? Because she had never entered the gardens before and certainly never alone. And now she was lost. Every hedge, bush or, tree looked exactly like the next. Every path, the same. She had no idea where she was within the gardens or how to get out.

Panic had stricken her the moment she realized she was lost. In her panic, Fae began to frantically search for her way out. Her feet stumbled, her clothing caught on branches, her hair a mess, and tears fell from her eyes. Her panic brought small whimpers from her lips.

A noise from behind startled Fae and she began running full speed through the paths. “Please, please, please, please…” Fae repeated as she ran. And then the inevitable happened, Fae turned a corner and crashed full speed into something solid, sending the twelve year backward with a scream as she landed on her back.

6 Fae Sinclair Not as brave as I intended on being... 194 Fae Sinclair 1 5

Kitty McLevy

June 14, 2011 12:41 PM

Bravery to share by Kitty McLevy

Kitty had been trying to find her way back to the library so she could get into the commons and start working on some homework, but somewhere along the line she ended up outside. Oh well, homework can wait now its time to have some fun! Her twin low midnight pigtails bobbed gently as she walked around the building, then sky blue eyes fell upon the labyrinth. Delight at the sight surged through the tiny girl skipped forward to the opening.

A huge smile pulled at her lips as she entered her wide blue eyes took in all the sights the maze had to offer. It only took a handful of moments before the small girl was hopelessly lost, but that fact didn’t bother her in the slightest. There was just so much to explore, and she was sure that someone would find her eventually, or she would find a way out. Being lost was not a new situation for Kitty and she relished it. It was an adventure, and the heavy scent of flowers filled the air somewhere there was the sound of water dancing over stone.

Skipping, hoping and twirling Kitty was lost in her own little world as she took what ever path caught her fancy. She’d just noticed a huge blue flower blooming near one of the hedges and had turned to look at it when someone came running around the corner and straight into a statue she’d been admiring only moments before.

Kitty’s lips formed a wide O of surprise as she quickly padded over to the fallen girl. “Hay…are you alright?” she asked worriedly, Kitty could see tears on the girl’s face and she looked terribly afraid. For one fleeting moment Kitty wondered if there were dangerous beasts in the gardens and she couldn’t quite suppress the tingle of excitement that walked down her spine.

0 Kitty McLevy Bravery to share 0 Kitty McLevy 0 5

Fae

June 19, 2011 9:52 PM

It Might Not Be Enough by Fae

Fae felt as though she couldn’t breathe. She knew that whatever she had run into had knocked the wind out of her. Laying on the ground, Fae struggled for a moment, her normally creamy complexion blotchy and turning red. After a few seconds (although it felt like a millennium to Fae), Fae finally caught her breath and panted for a moment, fully enjoying the taste of the air in her burning lungs.

When she was finally able to feel her other senses, she realized she had this unrelenting pain shooting up both arms. Fae sat up and assessed the situation. She was now dirty (fantastic…), her hair was a mess (even better), her sking was splotchy (her mother would kill her if anyone saw it), and both her front forearms were scratched up and bleeding from smashing into the statue. Great. How could this get any worse?

And then Fae realized that there was a girl near her looking down at her. Fae mentally gave a cry of frustration. No one should be allowed to see her in such a state. Ever. But here was a girl Fae had never seen before asking her if she was okay. Even though Fae should be relieved that she was no longer alone, she was only feeling worse. For one thing, she looked like a complete mess. For another, this girl had to be a first year because Fae had never seen her before and that meant that the girl probably had no idea how to get back to the school either.

Fae wished she had asked Arnold to come explore with her. She wasn’t sure if he would have said yes or not, but he had promised to keep her safe outside and she trusted him enough to do just that. Of course, if he was with her that would defeat the whole purpose of her doing this in the first place. She needed to be strong and relying on Arnold would not allow that for her.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Fae gingerly got back to her feet. Her whole front body hurt from slamming into the statue. She shot a glare at the statue. “Yes, I’m okay.” Fae finally told the girl. “I panicked when I heard something and started running. Definitely learned my lesson on that one.” Fae joked, sending the girl a rather pathetic smile. “I’m Fae Sinclair of the Connecticut Sinclairs.” Fae introduced, giving a little curtsy. “I do not fair well outside, so this is really just my fault.”

0 Fae It Might Not Be Enough 0 Fae 0 5

Kitty

June 20, 2011 10:32 AM

We’ll never know until we try by Kitty

Kitty watched as the girl slowly got back up. A slight hiss of sympathy escaped her at the sight of the bleeding scratches on the other girl’s arms. “Hi Fae, I’m Kitty McLevy. Are you sure you’re ok? That looks pretty bad. There was a fountain not to far back, we could go that way and rinse it off if you want.” Her large blue eyes were full of worry and for one moment she felt real anger at her inability to find her way.

“When we get out of here you should probably go to the school nurse.” She said, the tone of her voice stating quite clearly that the getting out part might take some time. Normally this wouldn’t have bothered Kitty in the least, but she didn’t want the other girl to have to wander around for what could be hours while she was hurt.

“I’m sure that we’ll find someone who knows the way soon.” Kitty offered, hoping to reassure the other girl. At least the fear she’d first seen in the girl’s face had faded. That was good. They’d be able to get out of here together, and get Fae’s arms looked at. Kitty offered another bright smile.

0 Kitty We’ll never know until we try 0 Kitty 0 5

Fae

June 21, 2011 8:47 PM

You do make a good point by Fae

Kitty? The girl’s name was Kitty? What a strange name to give a child. Not that Fae hadn’t heard of even stranger names, but still. Kitty? Maybe her parents were into cats and wanted their daughter to have a name to show it? Parents were strange. Adults in general were strange. Still, if that was what the girl was named, that was what Fae needed to call her. Her introduction seemed pretty low key, so Fae took that to mean that she was not from an important family.

And this left Fae in a predicament. If the girl was not a Pureblood (or at least, not from an important Pureblood family), than Fae was not supposed to be talking to her. Her family still expected her to be proper and perfect and even though she planned on taking everything into her own hands instead of listening to her Great Grandfather, she still needed to play by the rules if she was ever going to be who they wanted her to be. But Fae couldn’t just dismiss this girl because that would be rude. Plus, it would leave Fae by herself again and she wasn’t so sure she could handle that.

“They sting.” Fae said, looking at her arms again. She would definitely need to see the school nurse, if nothing else, but to make sure she didn’t scar up her arms. “I probably should rinse them in the water.” Fae was fairly sure it would be awhile before she saw the school Medic and it was better to keep the wounds clean so that she didn’t get an infection.

“I hope so.” Fae commented. “Being lost in this place is the last thing I wanted.” Fae explained. “I was just trying to prove to myself that I could do this without help, but clearly I was wrong.” Fae frowned and ran a hand through her blonde hair to try and smooth it out again. Her blue eyes flickered to the girl, “You’re a first year, correct?” Fae said to make conversation. “What house are you in?”

0 Fae You do make a good point 0 Fae 0 5

Kitty

June 22, 2011 1:28 PM

Absolutely by Kitty

“Oh yes, this is my first year. I’m an Aladren. What house are you in? Are you a first year too?” Kitty asked excitedly, hoping that the other girl wasn’t so that she could tell her more about the school. With a friendly smile she began to lead the way to the fountain she’d seen earlier. It was difficult for the small girl to just lead the way with out becoming distracted by other things, but she knew Fae was hurt and now wasn’t the time to indulge her curiosity and continue exploring.

They made a final turn and the path opened up into a small square, at the center was a large fountain with a bench in front of it. The fountain was of a gryphon reared up on its hind legs, wings spread wide, water poured from its open beak. Another smile brightened Kitty’s face as she half ran over to it, reaching out with one small hand to let the water poor over it before turning around to offer Fae an encouraging grin.

“See, this is perfect! I’m sorry you got hurt, but the labyrinth isn’t that bad. It’s full of all sorts of pretty stuff. There wouldn’t be anything really dangerous in here, because the grown ups wouldn’t let us explore alone if there was.” She said mater of factly. Kitty had grown up the youngest, and was from an upper middle income family, nothing really bad had ever happened to the young girl. This had left her with a firm trust in the adults around her to make sure things were safe, and not allow her to get into too much mischief.

0 Kitty Absolutely 0 Kitty 0 5

Fae

June 28, 2011 8:57 PM

You're sure of yourself. by Fae

The girl’s excitement was sort of draining. Especially now when all Fae wanted to do was go back to the dorm room and cry. Just bawl her eyes out. She didn’t even mind if Alice was in the room as she did it and taking pictures of her. Fae just wanted to get out of the gardens, fix her arms, and feel completely miserable just for a little while. She couldn’t stay in her funk forever, of course, because that was never the best scenario for anyone. Her mother said being positive and having a good attitude would get her farther in life than being sad or angry all the time.

Fae hated nature. That was enough for her to live by. She couldn’t dwell on it and from what she had discovered today on her little adventure, she was never meant to conquer nature either. She could live with that. She just would never willingly enter nature on her own ever again. She felt that was a fair agreement between herself and Mother Nature.

“I’m in Crotalus, and no, I’m not a First Year.” Fae advised her. “I’m a Second Year. This is my first time in the gardens though.” Fae explained to her. “Nature doesn’t seem to agree with me so much.” Still, the sight of the fountain made Fae feel better so she eagerly followed Kitty to the fountain and stuck her hands beneath the water. She hissed as the water began to clean the wounds. Her wounds were throbbing, but otherwise didn’t look too bad and the water was clearing out any dirt and blood, so Fae was already feeling better.

She laughed a little at Kitty’s comment. “You aren’t from the magical world, are you?” She asked, her amusement still clear on her face and in her voice. “Adults like to make things complicated. It doesn’t matter if its dangerous or not, they just expect for you to know how to make your way out of it.” At least, that was how Fae was beginning to understand it all. “Anyway, I think this will be my last outing for awhile. Unless I can convince Arnold to come with me.”

0 Fae You're sure of yourself. 0 Fae 0 5

Kitty

June 29, 2011 8:38 PM

What’s not to be sure of? by Kitty

Kitty watched as Fae let the water run over her arms. Summers spent recklessly trying to keep up with three older brothers made sure that Kitty was no stranger to scrapes, bumps and burses. The scrapes on Fae’s arms were pretty good ones, but if she didn’t pick at the scabs they probably wouldn’t scar or anything.

“Nope, I’m from the regular world. But my mom’s a lawyer, so and I’m pretty darn sure that if the magic world is anything at all like the regular one then the teachers at this school will make sure we’re safe. If not they’re likely to be sued from here to kingdom come. And no school wants that kind of bad publicity.” She said as she tossed a hand full of pebbles into the water.

“Oh Arnold Carey? I talked to him in the commons a few nights ago. He was really nice, I think that he would probably be a really great person to show you around. If you have questions or whatever he doesn’t mind answering them, even if they do ruffle his feathers some times. I’m going to try out for the Quidditch team, and he’s on it too. So is one of the other Carey’s but I don’t remember which state that one belonged to. So…do you remember which way you came from, or how we might find our way out of here?” Kitty asked a bit hopefully.

She was completely lost, though not bothered by the fact. But, she figured they should probably get back to the school so that Fae could get looked at by the nurse. “Maybe we could use our wands and send up a flair or something? Regular people have flair guns that they use when their lost to get other people’s attention. We could do something like that.” She offered, figuring that the other girl was as lost as she was.

0 Kitty What’s not to be sure of? 0 Kitty 0 5

Fae

July 11, 2011 7:53 PM

Um... everything. by Fae

Fae didn’t understand why the girl said ‘regular world’ instead of ‘muggle world’. To Fae, the Magical world was the regular world. Either way, the girl clearly didn’t understand how things worked in this world. “I never said anything about not being safe.” Fae commented, grimacing at the throb in her arms. “I just said that things can be dangerous. Especially when it comes to lessons when we get towards CATS level and higher.” Fae explained to the girl. “at least, that is what my brother and sister have told me. They’ve been through all of this. Shelby says that with every year come more dangerous challenges. They’ll keep you safe, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get injured. It’s all part of being a Witch.” Fae shrugged. She always just figured that when they start doing spells that involved themselves or other classmates they were bound to get hurt.

“Besides, the school can’t be too concerned about safety if they allow for Quidditch to be played here.” Fae said lightly as she turned away from the fountain now that her arms were no longer red from the blood. “Those games are a complete bloodbath.”

Although it shouldn’t have bothered her as much as it did, Fae felt herself becoming annoyed when Kitty started talking about Arnold as though she knew him better than Fae did. Fae honestly didn’t know everything about Arnold, but she felt that the two of them had some sort of relationship. At least one that she trusted him with her outdoors and he was always willing to help her out. It just bothered her that the first year who had only just met Arnold felt the need to explain about him to Fae. “Edmond and Arthur Carey are also on the team.” Fae said quietly, fighting the bite that she heard in her tone.

She shook her head and in doing so, she also shook of any annoyance she had. Kitty was just energetic. She seemed overly excitable and probably just happy to say anything on something she was relatively familiar with. “I do not know the flair spell yet. I do know the point me spell though.” Fae said with a little bit of her own enthusiasm. She pulled out her maple wood wand with a unicorn tail hair as the core and laid it flat in her palm. “Point Me” Fae said confidently and watched as her wand swiveled in her hand until it was pointing North. “Okay, so that way is North… does that help?”

OOC: Sorry for the delay, I was on vacation!

0 Fae Um... everything. 0 Fae 0 5

Kitty

July 11, 2011 10:55 PM

You must be sure of something by Kitty

“Besides, the school can’t be too concerned about safety if they allow for Quidditch to be played here. Those games are a complete bloodbath.” Words that might send fear into another first year Quidditch only sparked a tingle of excitement down Kitty’s spine. She practically bounced with delight at Fae’s words.

“Really! Have you seen any of the games? What were they like? Where they totally awesome?” she chirped, blue eyes sparkled, a large grin on her face. Kitty really hoped she made it on the team. What Fae described sounded way more fun than any regular sport she’d ever played. That and she got to fly while doing it. How could anything be better?

Fae admitted that she didn’t know the flair spell, but it looked like she had a way to make her wand be a compass. That would work. Hopefully, maybe…well it couldn’t really hurt anything. “Well, I guess if we just keep heading North we should get somewhere right? I mean at least we won’t be going in circles or anything. So that should help. Other people probably come out here all the time anyway, we’re bound to run into someone sooner or later. Sorry I’m not much help.” Kitty said, feeling a bit bad that she couldn’t just lead Fae out of the maze and get her to the nurse. Even if they got out of the maze she probably wouldn’t be able to find the nurse’s office, Kitty was hoping Fae would know the way once they were free of the Labyrinth.

OOC: No problem I hope you had fun!

0 Kitty You must be sure of something 0 Kitty 0 5

Fae

July 14, 2011 8:19 PM

Only that I'm terrible at everything by Fae

The minute Fae mentioned quidditch, she wished she could take it back. The girl’s reaction to her words was not at all what she was expected. The amount of energy and enthusiasm that Kitty had was oozing out of her that it was almost completely overwhelming to Fae. She had no idea about what to do with so much of it that she had to stop herself from physically taking a step back from the girl. She knew that everyone was different, but she had yet to meet anyone like Kitty.

Everyone else she had met, aside from Alice who was completely stoic, seemed to have the same energy level that Fae did. They might be able to express it better than she did, but they certainly weren’t glowing in the way that Kitty seemed to be with certain topics.

“I have seen them but I wouldn’t call them ‘awesome’.” Fae commented. She wasn’t into Quidditch at all. She felt the game was rather barbaric and she wasn’t feeling that way because she’s a Pureblood female. She was feeling that way because she had seen the games at this school and had watched player after player be thrown from their broom after getting rammed by a metal ball. It did not look fun at all and she couldn’t understand why anyone would want to do that. “I go because my friends play on their teams, but it’s very gruesome and I think everyone gets injured in just about every game.” Fae shrugged. Until the girl experienced them for herself, Quidditch was not easily explained.

Looking at her wand which was now currently pointed North, Fae had to wonder what the point of this spell really was. How did they know that the right way to go was North? “Hopefully, unless the school lies South and that would mean we’re going to the complete wrong direction. Of course, I’m not sure if this maze ever ends or if it just will circle us around until we end up where we need to be. Either way, there’s nothing else we can really do, so…” Fae gave a half smile before heading off in the direction her wand was pointing.

0 Fae Only that I'm terrible at everything 0 Fae 0 5

Kitty
July 17, 2011 12:07 PM

Kitty
Peripheral
Written by:

Well I think you’re great company by Kitty
Kitty wasn’t deterred by Fae’s lack of enthusiasm for Quidditch. Sure, it most defiantly had the potential for mishaps. But, with great risk comes great reward. Or so the tiny girl believed. A large smile graced her lips as she closed her eyes and imagined being on the pitch, with all the stands filled full of students cheering for them. She knew that Quiddich games simply had to be more fun, more exiting…just more! More than any other game ever. And she really couldn’t wait for the first game to begin, already she could feel the wind, hear the cheering crowd. Yes, she might be hurt, would most likely be, but it would be worth it.

Large blue eyes snapped open when Fae spoke again. Fae pointed out a bit of silliness that Kitty had pointed out to any one who ever told her she needed to get a compass to find her way. She had no idea what direction anything was in, so what was the point of knowing where north was? Well, at the very least they would be going in a semi straight line, and not in circles. Unless of coarse like Fae suggested the magic messed stuff like that up. That would be kind of a bother, so hopefully it didn’t do that.

Kitty half ran to catch up with the taller girl as she started going north. “No worries, I get lost all the time, and eventually always get to where I need to be. If nothing else, someone will find us, or we’ll find them. Then they can get us back.” She chirped happily. Someone will find me, someone always does the young muggleborn girl thought, completely secure with the belief that everything would be fine. This was just a detour in life for the moment, a time to see and to explore before being retrieved.

0 Kitty Well I think you’re great company 0 Kitty 0 5

Seth Brockert
July 29, 2011 4:00 AM

Seth Brockert
Former Staff
Subject: Groundskeeper
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Birthday: April 4

Need some help? by Seth Brockert
Seth hummed as he trimmed a topiary sculpture of a hawk, prairie dog, rattlesnake and wild boar, all sitting together in perfect harmony. If it could only be like that, all houses getting along, unified. Cooperating instead of competing against each other.

Not that Seth had seen much fighting between them but during his school days, some of his housemates had been the worst offenders in thinking themselves superior. Of course, there were people like that in every house. Except maybe Teppenpaws, as they were too nice. But still, instead of cultivating competition between houses and students at Sonora, maybe they should find another school to compete against in stuff.

The groundskeeper wasn't militantly anti-competition, he just would have preferred the students at Sonora would work together. Or if not that, not have the competitions be by houses all the time. It just suggested that people with one set of traits were better than others and that simply wasn't true. All Houses had their good qualities. Some sort of activity where people from all houses were randomly assigned to two teams or something.

He snipped at the tusks on the wild boar. Sometimes, Seth wished he could experiment with the plants in the gardens. Some exotic plants, nothing dangerous or illicit, but something different. Maybe change it up a little here and there. Seth could put in some plants that were hypoallergenic or some lilacs.

Seth heard footsteps approaching and turned around to see two girls, one of whom he vaguely recognized as Fae Sinclair, whose name he knew because he had attended a party her family had thrown last midterm. The other girl was completely unfamiliar to him. Probably a first year and Seth didn't know who any of them were other than Lilac's niece, Sally and his cousin Charles' daughter, Valerie. "Hello there." Seth greeted them in a friendly tone.

11 Seth Brockert Need some help? 377 Seth Brockert 0 5