Arrival of Rhea and Moth

[frogmastr1]

A lone white she-wolf walked along the sandy shore as the salty ocean water lapped around her feet, threatening to pull her into its endless rhythmical tides. The wolf's yellow eyes scanned the surrounding area, but the only thing she could see was the vast ocean spanning into oblivion with countless boats rocking in it, the sand in front of her, the letter in her mouth, and the lashing rain that obstructed her view. She also saw her friend, a bat named Moth, struggling to keep up in the headwinds. The wolf growled, and the bat turned it's face toward hers. After a moment, the bat fluttered down, and nestled itself in the thick fur between the wolf's shoulder blades. The journey continued...
After a while however, the wind and rain forced the she-wolf to stop. Finding a slightly secluded area behind a sand-dune, she sat down and reread her letter. It told her that she was to be accepted into Twilight Moon Academy for the Gifted. She was also supposed to meet someone here, but so far nobody had arrived. She had already spent one night out on the wet sand, and it wasn't an experience that she or Moth wished to relive.
The wolf stood up and started to change her shape. A pale, almost translucent pink and green colored aura surrounded her figure. The white fur fell away, and the snouted face of a wolf gave way and changed to that of a human. In the wolf's place stood a young woman with long, spiky white hair, and the same bright, yellow eyes of the wolf. Moth had been clinging to the woman's back through the transformation, but the sudden change from a horizontal bed to vertical woke her up. She climbed up onto the young woman's shoulder, and gave her a little lick on the cheek.
The woman smiled, "You must be hungry Moth. Why don't you go hunt."
The bat rubbed it's cheek against hers, and then flew off into the storm to hunt for what unlucky bugs might be out there.
The woman sighed. She hoped that this person she was supposed to meet, whomever it may be, would hurry up.

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

"Well, aren't you precious?" whispered a voice right in the little wolf-girl's ear. It was a voice both mischievous and charismatic at once. Straightening up, Master Teacher Franco adjusted his top hat with one hand. It was a very old top hat, that one. He had received it in the early 1800's, though he had to get it redone every once in a while. Nothing lasts forever, right?

Franco himself appeared rather old fashioned, with a dark suit jacket closed tightly at the white collar until the waist, where it opened into a modified tail-coat. That along with matching trousers, aged brown sneakers and his sprig-topped top hat would have made Franco seem very old-fashioned indeed. However, the teacher's face was young, not past the hallway point of his twenties on appearance, with molten copper colored hair and eyes just as fervid. The hair was all drawn back into a ponytail at his nape that was curled into a loose bun. There seemed something cocky and rebellious about him with his sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a hand resting on his hip impatiently.

[frogmastr1]

Rhea spun around to confront the person that had just scared her out of her skin. What she saw wasn't what she had been expecting. When your alone in a place your not familiar with, all sorts of thoughts enter your head, most of them unpleasant. Rhea never thought of herself as one who let her imagination run away with her, but it is a simple fact of human nature. Besides, the ships on the water had looked pretty ghastly, and they had sparked a few different ideas in the young womans head.
After finding herself confronted with what looked like a normal human being, Rhea let herself relax a bit. The strange person didn't look evil or mean, but one could never base a person on looks. Her heart was still beating what felt like a thousand times a minute, but Rhea needed to know what this guy wanted.
"Is there something i can help you with?" she said.

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

Franco looked her up and down very slowly, entertained by her skittish reaction. "I seriously doubt it. But that isn't your job, is it? It's mine. Call me Franco, and I'm your teacher for today, Wolfy. You're looking a little wet, so I suggest we get out of this rats'-paradise, hm?" She's more like a rabbit than a wolf, Franco thought, resigning himself to pleasantly frustrating future attempts at teaching.

"So, what'll it be? By sea, by air, or do you just want to run? It doesn't bother me either way." As Franco talked it could be noticed that his teeth seemed slightly sharper than a normal human's, especially his canines.

[frogmastr1]

"Wolfy?" she said, then chuckled to herself. "Something tells me I'm gonna get used to that name." She looked at her teacher with bright, golden-yellow eyes. "We can get to the Academy by air? That would probably be best since Moth has to follow me. By the way Sir, I'm Rhea. Though I'm sure you knew that already."

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

"Eh, if you say so," he shrugged. As if he'd actually waste time reading those boring student briefings. "And when I said by air, I meant you could. I'm not really the flying type." Alright, the little rat with wings was named Moth. Didn't flying rats eat moths? Talk about a confused rat...

Franco glanced out over the Ghost Lake, where the wind playfully thrashed the helpless stormy water against the outcroppings. Random squalls sheeted rain into the mix every now and then from the heavy clouds before ceasing just as suddenly. Normal weather for this part of Twilight Moon. A small boat bobbed like a bath toy next to one of the rickety docks. Or they could always run around the lake. It was only a few miles, after all.

[frogmastr1]

"Well, I don't want to sound ignorant, but,I really didn't know what you meant by fly. I figured you'd be there to...ah..coach." Even though she didn't know how to fly, the prospect of being able to cross the water in the air was exciting. She was eager to learn how, but then again, not so eager to go up into the sky with icy rain pelting her relentlessly. She wished the circumstances could be different.

Rhea too looked out over the lake, following her teachers lead. the weather had been the same for the past two days, and she doubted it would let up.
"Is it really safe to cross by air in the gale?" she asked, trying not to sound meek.

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

"Fly out there? You'd probably die," scoffed the teacher, laughing. "But that's alright. You seem more like the running type anyway. Do you think you could keep up with me?" Franco's amber eyes flashed with a challenge.

She couldn't keep up, of course, but he might let her win if he was feeling well. If not, he'd kick her sorry rump. Random acts of kindness were all well and fine, but only if you felt like it. Out of some random habit, Franco lightly grasped the brim of his hat between two fingers and ran them down it while waiting for her answer.

[frogmastr1]

Rhea looked at her teacher with steady eyes and grinned. "You know, I have serious doubts about winning a race against you. The course is probably rigged, or there are obstacles that only you know about." Her smile grew broader. "I'm still up to the challenge though. A good run will do me good, I think. But wait. Moth's coming back."

And sure enough, Moth came hurtling out of the sky like a bullet, only to land on Rhea's shoulder gracefully.
"How was the hunt?" asked Rhea, watching her fuzzy friend lick it's chops. "Good, I assume."
Moth blinked her big, bright eyes and nodded in a way the was almost human-like.
"Alright, I'm ready if you are, Teacher!"

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

"What course?" he asked dryly. "It's first one to that soggy blot in the horizon wins. That soggy blot will eventually resemble the school as we get closer, so don't be surprised. Let's go then." Franco whipped his hat off with a flourish and bowed to her, revealing two lightly fluffed wolf ears the same hue as his hair. Flicking his hat into the air, it disappeared, and Franco shrunk into a beast of tightly compacted muscle and lithe agility, all covered in his coppery russet fur. His clothes also seemed to have disappeared during the transformation, which was well. A wolf would look quite silly in clothes.

He regarded her with those liquid amber eyes for maybe three seconds before springing across the sandy turf in a steady lope.

[frogmastr1]

"Hang on Moth," said Rhea as, with a huge grin on her face and the stras reflecting in her eyes, she too transformed in to a wolf. Her pure white fur stood out amoung the dull gray and brown of the stormy beach. She took off after her teacher, crossing the beach in large leaps. She whipped past her teacher, enjoying the feeling of her claws sinking into the wet sand. After going ahead, she circled back around and fell in step with her teacher. Poor Moth had been holding on for dear life during the run, and eventually relaxed the hold she had on Rhea's shoulder blades.

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

In the end it wasn't 'niceness' or 'meanness' that played a factor in letting Rhea win.... it was laziness. Franco wasn't one to needlessly exert himself. He followed Rhea at an easy pace, wondering if her rat would petrify permanently to her back with the way it was gripping.

"So," he said in the language of wolves, "tell me about yourself. Are you a psychopath like my last student that turned people's faces inside out?" Oh yes, Twilight Moon accepted all kinds. "You're obviously a flying-rat person," Franco observed.

[frogmastr1]

"First of all, Moth isn't a flying rat," said Rhea calmly. "You might want to be careful. She can understand us and you might hurt her feelings. And second of all, I don't consider myself a psychopath, but I'm sure all of the psychopaths out there think they are quite sane. Personally, I think I'm normal, though that's for others to decide."

Rhea continued to pad along after her teacher, giving him a little space so he could walk in front of her. After all, in the wolf pack, the most respected got regarded more than the underlings. 'flying rat...what was he thinking? Was he trying to be rude, or was he testing me?........' she thought as the "soggy blot" got more clear

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

"He isn't a Moth either," Franco responded, thoroughly amused with her, "so does it matter what I call it?" People were different. Some you could sit there poking them all day until they finally break, while others will round on you before you can even jerk your finger away. Rhea was cautious, he'd give her that, but if this was an anime, you'd see a vein right now. That reminded Franco that a new episode of Death Note was on tonight. Lucky!

"You're about as normal as a squirrel among rabbits. This is Twilight Moon Academy; only freaks come here," he told her in good cheer. The school was much closer now, winking at them with its many lights.

[frogmastr1]

"Well, maybe I'll be a normal freak," said Rhea gazing steadily into her teachers eyes as she ran. "And the only reason my bat's name is Moth, is because when I found her, she was a baby, and as big as a moth. I was still learning the English language, so I didn't have a wide vocabulary. The name stuck though."

Rhea's foot paws got tangled up underneath her as she was talking, and, still being carried by the momentum of her running, went crashing to the ground, or water.
"Ah! Your being klutzy again Rhea," she chided herself as she picked herself up. "Sorry."

Way to go Rhea, you've already managed to embarrass yourself. Oh well...Everything happens for a reason.