Academy of the Rose

"I don't see why people would freak out when seeing such a beautiful sight as I saw earlier today. It was like watching a rainstorm without getting drenched one self and the beauty of the sun reflecting off the water," Alandria sighed and smiled down at the lake beneath them. The moon had just hit the water and she could feel a swell of misplaced pride at the lake for being so beautiful that night when she'd shared with with another lake lover. She grinned and relaxed a little bit before falling backwards and closing her eyes, letting the moon's glow cover her body.

"At least you found the academy before it was too late right?" she asked as she relaxed. "You could have gone your entire life without knowing it and then never truly gotten training since your mother is only an air elemental--or does she have more than one element? It'd be interesting to know how she works with air. Does she do it like yesterday where she can make little tornados or does she use it in other ways? Or does she even use it at all? It'd be really fun to find the answers to these questions." She paused and opened her eyes to look at him. "Though it'd be interesting to learn the answers to those about you too--like what you can do, how intense you can do it, how long." It didn't occur to her until then that the questions might seem a bit nosy. She giggled a little and looked up at the stars. "Of course, maybe I can get those answers from you later, when we both aren't tired from the day's activities. I'm sure you'll probably want to go back and sleep soon."
 
"Some are just sensitive perhaps," Kyle said with a shrug. He had grown up around these powers but he could imagine the shock his father had got when he met his mother and learned her powers. "You're right in that, mother could have taught me a lot but it's worth much more to have a teacher in your own element. Mother's main element is indeed air but she does know fire and lightning as well and combine them for stronger effects. I've always found it strange how elements chose a person it doesn't seem like it's based on genetics." He explained casting an admiring look over the lake where the moon glittered in the water, the surface was so smooth it even reflected some stars.

"Remember the small whirwind that followed you yesterday? That's childs play for mother, she can create a small breeze and larger storms, the older the elemental the more time they've had to refine their powers and stamina. Just like when swimming or running, the more you train the longer you can endure and the stronger you get." Kyle finished, he could go on forever especially if he would explain somethings of other races and their powers. "It is getting late," Kyle agreed. "I usually don't feel so tired at night, it comes in the morning instead, which makes me less of a morning person. How about you, seen enough to go home?" He asked and looked down at Alandria laying in the grass.
 
"Your mother sounds like a very strong woman. I'd like to meet her someday if only to see her use her powers. I'd like to see what she could do, like I like to see what you can do," she said in a dreamy tone before she sighed and pushed herself up. "And there is never enough to be seen to make me want to go home. But we should get back. We missed the last bus and it'll take some time to walk back tot he Academy. And by the time that we do that and I start walking home I'm sure father at least will be asleep and I'll only have to deal with him in the morning if he's even awake." She brushed off the back of her skirt and looked around for her shoes before picking them up and frowning at the fire. She'd almost forgotten that she'd started it. Then she walked to the edge of the water and cupped the front of the skirt to make a little pouch and scooped some water into it. Then, running as quickly as she could she dumped the water that remained in her skirt onto the fire, extinguishing it in one try. Then she did a victory pose before giggling and starting to pick up her 'fire kit' and put it away in the bag. "It'll only take me a few minutes to put this away. If you want to start walking back, I can catch up with you," She said, not minding that her skirt was sticking to her legs. It would dry on the walk home.
 
"I'm sure she'd like to meet you," Kyle said well aware of his mother's like of strong characters no matter their race. "Plus she's a show off, she loves having others see what she can do, though other special creatures aren't awed enough by her displays." He grinned at the thought of his youthful and eager albeit a bit arrogant mother. Kyle rose up as well, he had to agree with Alandria that no one could see too much of this place but to spend the entire night at the lake Kyle would have to have a some warmer clothes and something to sit on maybe.

While waiting for Alandria, Kyle looked at the fire and the dancing flames, feeling the chill in the air when he didn't stand so close to the fire anymore. It had only been a bit more than a day since he met Alandria, and with all that had happened it felt like much longer really, it had been like a crash course in friendship, learning so much about each other in such a short time and yet it didn't push the other one away. Being around Alandria, either while talking or sitting silent, felt normal, like they'd met far earlier, and strange as it may sound Kyle often judged his comfort level withothers by how easy it was just sitting quiet without it feeling awkward or weird. He snapped his attention back to reality as the fire fizzled out when Aandria poured water on it, having been deep in thought he hadn't even noticed her go to the lake and back.

"I'll wait," he said as Alandria went of with her fire kit. Taking those last moments to take in the lake and forest bathed in moon light, he had a strong connection to nature as well as the moon becasue of his powers and wanted to take in the serene beauty of Alandria's hideout. When she had almost reached him he took notice of her wet skirt, it would not dry quickly in the night air and in a pure relfex Kyle motioned with his hand and dried her skirt almost without thinking about it.
 
THe young woman halted as she noticed her skirt drying and looked over at Kyle for a few seconds before moving off up the hill. She would have been fine with the damn skirt. She would have had to get herself wet somehow if the were to see her parents soon. After all, hadn't she gone 'swimming' when her mother had shown up? Shrugging it off she hid her fire kit and walked back, silently pondering the evenings events before stopping at the top of the hill. She gasped softly at the beauty before her, unable to help it.

The scene of the boy looking out over the river imprinted itself on her mind and she couldn't help but feel the urge to get a picture or a sketch of it. Her eyes widened as her mind altered the scene before her, making the water rise up and form into some sort of creature that was reaching out to the young man that was looking at it with awe and love. Pictures flashed through her mind as she stared, ideas appearing and flicking away as more came to her. She could have stood there all night just staring and creating more and more mental pictures like that.

Instead she blinked out of her daydream and walked down to Kyle, a smile on her face. She hadn't thought that she would be so comfortable around him after the scene with her mother. It seemed so weird that they had only met the day before and Alandria regretted not knowing him longer. She almost feared that he wouldn't want to speak with her any more after that evening. "Ready to go when you are Kyle," she said, looking up at the moon and sighing.

"Moonlights grace seeks only that of a true believer," she muttered and giggled a little at the silly line came through her mind. That's what I'll call it she thought suddenly, her mouth falling to a 'o' form as she stared, the image of the boy reaching for the water woman appearing in her minds eye again.
 
"That is actually a quite good saying," Kyle said, this girl was full of surprises and deep thoughts when you got to know her. "Only someone who truly appreciates the moon and its beauty will get the full experience, or something like it I guess. What are you seeing?" He asked curiously, eyebrow raised and a smile playing on his lips, meaning more what she imagined than actually saw, as he noticed Alandria space off.

As they headed back the way they had come what must have been hours earlier Kyle walked in silence for awhile, taking in the silent forest, its dark shapes looming over the two making him feel quite small and insignificant before the might of nature. The vague scents of the forest, earth and moss with the faint smell of flowers still linguiring in the air, a owl hooted moving through the night on silent wings, a slight rustle deeper into the woods gave away some small woodland animal on its nightly rounds.

"The animals here are not used to humans I take it," he said. "They don't seem bothered by our prescence, normally I forest is very quiet except for birds." He commented, seeing more of the dark forest after his eyes got used to the small amount of light, the dark shapes of tree trunks or the wide spread branches of fir trees.
 
Alandria shook her head and smiled up at the moon before it disappeared behind the trees that they walked underneath. "You'll see what I see when I get it upon paper Kyle. That is if you want to see it after I've drawn or painted it. I'm not quiet sure which would serve the color pallet better--paints, water paints or chalk pastels," she told him before looking around and smiling even brighter at the trees that surrounded them. "I've never given the animals a reason to fear me. I've never brought anyone here, but they seem to know you won't hurt them. I once had a buck, his deer and their calf walk by me as I was resting to take a drink from the lake. I ended up drawing it when I got home. If you want I could show you next time we decide to meet up." If you aren't completely repelled by me, Alandria added in her mind though the thought didn't bug her as it normally did.

After all there was a pretty decent explanation to why someone of his stature might not wish to associate with her. He was an elemental and she was a nosy human. And according to the rules of the Academy of the Rose humans and students weren't to interact on a personal level. This did bother her--why could a student not interact with a human if the human did not freak out as she had? If the human could be proven capable of keeping their secret, would it not then be all right to encourage the student to become friends? Would it not help the students to become integrated into normal society if they could interact?

She blinked out of her confused thoughts just as they reached the road and she looked around to make sure that no one was there. After the scare with her mother she wouldn't have been surprised if her mother had brought her father here to take her back home and punish her. "It's that way," she said, pointing towards the left where an old trail was cut into the side of the road.
 
"So you're an artist Alandria," Kyle said and looked at her, impressed. "I would really like to see your works, and the one you plan to do as well. Not to decide for you but I'd go for water paints or chalk pastels, of course my expertise with art goes as far as my skill in physics, which isn't much." He finished with a slight grin. If he were to preserve a scene on paper he needed a camera first as he was probably on par with a three-year old when it came to drawing.

Walking silently beside Alandria along side the desolate road, hands in his jeans pockets. "I wonder why the school is so strict," he thought out loud. "I mean I know why it is crucial for some students to be kept away from humans the first year or so but then it should be okay, many grow up without knowing about the academies and they do fine enough to not be noticed." Kyle had thought about it before but not too much, some teachers and the gardener Henry was more relaxed when it came to rules but the majority still prefered things the way they were.

"Maybe the leaders of the academy have some sort of ulterior motive for keeping students apart from humans or maybe they are just traditional in their way of thinking, I've heard that some of the oldest ahve lived for a few hundred years." There were a lot of rumours about the leaders of the academies around the world and only a few knew who they were, they were shrouded in mystery and they liked to keep it that way it seemed. "Whatever their problem is I know I'm not the only student meeting humans and leading normal lives whenever I'm away from the school grounds and I don't intend for a bunch of old people tell me how to live." Kyle finished, pulling a hand through his hair, though whatever he did his hair would live its own life.
 
Had he read her mind? Alandria listened to his thoughts on it and tilted her head to the side. "It seems to met hat it would be good to introduce a few trusted humans to the students. Even the ones that might need to wait until they could control themselves or those that aren't as 'normal' as others. It would build skills that the students would need in order to survive outside the academy so they aren't stuck as a hermit the rest of their lives or stuck in the Academy," She said before looking up at the sky and letting her feet lead the way down the familiar path.

Without meaning to she bumped into him as she stared up into the sky as if she could find all the answers that she could ever want up there. Blinking and looking over at him she smiled and stepped away again, though she had found the heat from his body nice. She was just cold though and she looked ahead and tried to refrain from looking up at the sky again.

"So you only have one more year at the Academy?" she asked to get the subject on something else. There were so many things that she would have loved to learn--about the stars, about him, about the school about the species. But all of it would have to wait until later.
 
"Try tell that to the stubborn guys leading the academies," Kyle said with a shrug. "I think you are right, that it is a good idea, but these people are stuck in old traditions and times when out kind were hunted and people believed in us. In a way I can understand them as they think of our best but they should think forward a bit and adapt to newer times." He continued, getting a bit intense at the end. "Maybe it would be good to gather a group and try to force them to listen to reason, though it isn't likely they will listen."

Their surroundings dark and the forest all but visible Kyle looked to the sky, though still keeping an eye on the road ahead, he new of past experiences that if he looked up to much he'd stagger and probably fall. It was strange that he did not feel very tired despite the hour, perhaps he'd have to face the consequenses tomorrow but that wasn't such a bad price for having had a good night with amazing scenery.

Snapping out of his train of thoughts as Alandria bumped into him Kyle looked at her, a faint smile visible. "Yes, only a year more. I'm both glad and a bit sad about it, I don't really want to leave the academy and my friends but I also like the opportunity to see more of the world and erhaps use my skills in a job I like." He said, though he had no real idea what to do after school but it was a later question and not one he was going to ponder and loose sleep over. "So do you have any plans after school?" Kyle asked, curious but also understanding if she didn't want to talk about that to a guy she recently met.

(Sorry it's short after my long absence:/)
 
She said the first thing that came to her mind at the idea of being 18 and out of high school. "Move out." It was said with a finality that would not be argued. "That's why I'm working now. I'm saving up money so that the moment I turn eighteen and am out of high school I can get my own apartment--or better yet, if I get enough I might consider traveling. Anything to get me away from that house."

Alandria looked away and blushed a little. "Sorry, it's just I've known what I wanted for a while and most people don't agree or don't believe me. I'm getting out of there. I'm going to get out of there and save myself."

She turned away and started to walk again, her hands clasping behind her back as she remembered just how much trouble she would be when her father found her at home. She didn't really want to go home. If she could, and had any clothes, she would have snuck around on the Academy grounds and slept under a desk in the office--if she wouldn't have been afraid of getting eaten sometime during the night. She giggled at the idea--her sleeping under a desk and waking up to find a hungry vampire leaning over her.

((Dun worry about it :3))
 
It was a bit surprising, to Kyle at least, to find a teenager so sure of what she wanted after school, most people had a dream job or idea but no plan at all like him, but of course with how her life seemed to be it wasn't that strange after all. "I don't see how anyone would disagree with your decision, it seems most logical to me," Kyle said. Silently wondering why some people apparently seemed to wonder why Alandria even would want to leave so strongly, probably people that had no clue about her life. Like most descent people he wanted to help when he saw injustice and violence but he had no clue what to do that could help Alandria.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>
"What's so funny?" He asked an eyebrow raised, looking beside him at the giggling girl, a small smile spreading in his face as well. <o:p></o:p>
 
Alandria turned to him and smiled at him in return, noting despite of herself how nice he looked when he smiled. "I was just imaging what would happen if I slept under a desk at the Academy instead of going home. I could just picture myself waking up and finding a vampire or something hovering over me and me bumping my head on the bottom of the desk as I freaked out," she explained before shaking her head. "I just was being silly and imaginative. I wouldn't ever do it I think. I'm too frightened that my father would go murderous if I didn't come home."

She pushed back a tiny bit of hair that had fallen into her face and traced the scar on her cheek with a gentle finger. She was too tired to really be self-conscious of the attention she might get over it--not that she actually expected to get any attention. He'd already promised not to feel sorry for her and she trusted him despite only knowing him a few days and him being something other than human. She didn't believe that he'd actually do anything that would hurt her.

"And I don't want to lose my job by doing it either. I wouldn't be able to talk with you if I lost it. And I'd never get another job in time to move out at 18."
 
Chuckling at the image forming in his head at Alandria's words, after how she had been found by a vampire yesterday even before nightfall and in an open garden it was probably not a good idea for her to sleep at the school office. "Nah, you'd be safer if you didn't I believe." He just hoped that his words were true. "I'm guessing that newbie vampire is a bit sore when it comes to you as well, being told off by one of the elders, even if he is just a gardener and not a teacher." When he was new Kyle had actually been afraid of the other creatures, and been very apprehensive around those that hunted, especially the vampires for some reason, those red eyes were creepy to see when the moon lit them up, glowing like blood in the dark.</SPAN></SPAN>

Kyle turned his eyes to Alandria at her last sentence, her words surprising. He wasn't used to that kind off talk from humans, not one that knew the truth at least. Keeping up friendships with humans where hard when you always needed to hide something, maybe it was similar to the feeling Alandria and others in her situation felt with people they met and couldn't trust. A light caught his attention and he looked ahead again seeing tall buildings rise behind the trees. "We are almost back," he said. The walk had kept him warm and it had seemed shorter than it must have, he wondered if he could get back into his dorm without anyone noticing him, but he doubted it In a building housing people with very acute senses that was too much to hope for.</SPAN></SPAN>
 
Alandria looked up at the building that signaled their return to civilization and scowled up at it. If he hadn't needed to get back to his dorms, she would have asked if they could just turn around and take the walk to and from the lake again. "Normally the walk takes longer," she said thoughtfully, "Maybe it's just because I was walking with someone that it didn't feel as long." She turned, her skirt flaring around her as she proceeded to walk backwards, her pace slowing as she looked out over the forest that had been her shelter for so long. Only her shelter, no one else's. In one night it had gone from secret to common knowledge. Her gaze saddened a little and she stopped walking all together, her hands hanging limply by her side. Maybe she would come back out here for the night even though she didn't wear the clothes that suited it? No, she had to return home and get her sketchbook to draw the picture she had imagined.

"I don't want to go back." Her voice was soft, almost like she had only exhaled, not spoken words. She stared up at the moon before shaking her head and turning to face the city. The realization that once this night ended, so too would she most likely not see Kyle again, hit her. Sure, she would continue to work at the Academy, but who in their right mind would want to hang out with someone that was broken? She found herself looking at the young man with her with a sad, but grateful smile.
 
"Time often seems to move faster when you are not alone," Kyle said in agreement. Just as time went slow when you wanted something quick, it went too fast when you were having fun and it seemed to go faster or slower depending on if you were in good company or not. Seeing Alandria walk backwards staring out over to forest Kyle wondered if she wanted to have stayed longer. But to stay outside at night would be much more comfortable with a tent and sleeping bag, without that it would most likely be cold and uncomfortable. Camping did sound fun, Kyle had only been sleeping outside in a tent once when he was a kid and his parents had taken him camping one summer, it was bright memories so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to do it again.</SPAN></SPAN>

Alandria's words were soft and barely audible but in the clear night air Kyle heard her and he knew she didn't mean the forest she was looking at but more likely her home. As she started walking normally again Kyle looked at the girl. "So, when do you have time to meet again?" He asked, hoping she would want to meet again. "Don't forget your rose either, you should take it when you get off work so none of the boring elders can catch you with it." He said with a smile, finally remembering the rose standing on his table himself. </SPAN></SPAN>
 
Alandria came to a halt, staring at him as the memory of him giving the rose to her came back. "My rose, I had forgotten," she said softly, her cheeks brightening which were highlighted by a care that passed by. She looked at the ground and thought about her schedule for the next few days. "Well, tomorrow is Friday, and I won't be working. I'm planning on coming out here over the weekend to get away from Ma and Pa for a while Saturday. If you can get off campus I wouldn't mind if you came to visit," she answered, having decided to go back there that instant really. Her parents wouldn't be happy, but she would return. She always did. In fact, she thought as the idea bloomed in her mind, she might just stay down at the lake after she got out of school on Friday! She was liking the plan even more as she thought about it.

"But if you can't get off campus over the weekend, I suppose we could set up a time to meet some other time, if you really want to meet up," she said softly, realizing that he could just be acting polite and not really want to hang out with her again.
 
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