Algernon&Gecko - First Impression

[bandit]

"Are we almost there?" the blind boy inquired calmly, as though the animal could actually speak. As if in reply, the mammal gave a tiny mew, warning him of an upcoming obstacle, a log, that might trip him. Algernon quickly walked over it, following the tiny steps that ruffled the grass and snapped a few twigs, the only thing leading him was Gecko, and it was obvious the boy put his life in the hands of this animal. Soon after, Algernon carried on, knowing his companion was listening to him even though he was unable to speak. "I'm not sure about the school, Gecko, though I'm positive the monks wouldn't send us somewhere unsafe. Do you not think the same thing?" he asked, suddenly stopping.

The terrain under his bare feet had begun changing, though in a subtle manner. Gecko mewed, as if asking what was wrong. "My friend," the blind boy said suddenly, reaching down to let the tips of his fingers brush the ground. "I do believe we are nearing our destination." he finished, straightening up again, and nodding as a signal for the cat to lead the way. Gecko once again padded off, Algernon walking behind him. The pace never slowed nor quickened, it all remained the same, and after awhile Algernon was able to avoid all the things in his way without the feline having to make a sound. His cat's pawsteps slowed to a halt, and he stopped as well, now aware that there was water coming up. The wind blew the moisture into his face, and he blinked, then turned around.

"Now," he said, shifting slightly and setting his suitcase onto the sand. "we shall wait."

[L.A.C.R.I.M.O.S.A]

Suddenly, the unfathomable, grey sky split open with a loud clash of thunder and a luminescent bolt of lightning, and from the heavens gracefully descended a large figure that resembled that of a large, winged horse. And on the back of that large winged brute could be observed a large, muscular woman clad in glowing, gold armour, with a helm of similar material that sported two, small wings on either side. Underneath her shimmering, winged helm glistened a thick, long braid of golden blonde hair and long, whispy bangs that framed her chiseled face. As the great horse landed with a loud THUD! on the muddy ground of the Ghost Shipyard and dug its monstrous hooves into the earth, the woman dismounted and peered at her new student.

Standing erect at a sheering height of about 6'0" and grasping a long, golden staff with a talisman of an eagle's head at the top in her gloved hand, she inclined her head politely and spoke with a thick accent as she took out a slip of paper. "You are Algernon, ya? I am Inga Thorshammer, and I 'vill be your intructor for T'vilight Moon Academy." She then slammed her staff into the ground twice and raised it high into the air as a sort of salute. "Come, now. Tell me how you 'vish to get to 'ze academy. 'Ve could always take 'ze boat. Unless you know how to fly or some'ting."

[bandit]

Algernon stood still, not knowing what was happening until a voice spoke. Gecko had, at first, jumped to the boy's defense, even as the thunder boomed loudly, though, when the woman came, the fur on the cat's shoulders flattened, and he sat down next to the boy. The animal was almost on top of the blind male, sitting directly on his feet. Algernon backed away, as if telling Gecko to stop, and stared in the direction from which the voice had come from, assuming he was looking directly at his teacher.

"Let us take the boat, then." he answered quietly, unblinking as he pretended to watch the woman. Gecko took a few tentative steps forward, staring at her with large, black eyes before sitting down and craning his neck backwards so he could gaze at the muscular female in awe. If Algernon had known, he would have told the animal to stop, but instead he remained silent, his suitcase still sitting beside him the sand as he waited for the woman to respond.

[L.A.C.R.I.M.O.S.A]

"Ah," she stated heartily as she pointed at the cat, " Such a cute, 'vittle kitty. 'Vat a beautiful creature" She gave it a fond smile and a soft chuckle as she turned around to the bright, shimmering waters of the lake, her golden armor sending dappled, shimmering colors on the sandy ground.

She raised her golden staff high above her head for a moment, and in an instant, she brought it down to the ground with a large thud, sending out a shock-wave in its wake that shook the nearby ground violently. As if on cue, the wooden tip of a boat emerged from the depths of the lake, its prow carved to resemble the likes of a fearsome dragon head. It was some sort of miniature longboat, and along its sides were pairs of long, wooden oars, that gleamed in the sunlight.

Inga rubbed her hands together enthusiastically as she returned to Algernon's side with a grin. " 'Vell, I 'vill grab 'zis,"-she snatched up his suitcase-" and 'zen 've 'vill be off." She gave him a rather unintentional rough clap on the back but seemed not to notice what her strength might have done, so she sauntered back to her boat and set the suitcase gently down on one side, followed shortly after by her getting inside.

She slapped the side of the boat once and called out, "I'm ready 'ven you are!"

[bandit]

Hearing the woman speak, Gecko gave a cute mewl, relishing the praise she gave him before watching her swoop up the suitcase, give his owner a pat on the back, and head toward the boat. He remained silent, still sitting down and not moving from his place, as if waiting for someone or something to give him the demand to move, though he cocked his head to one side in a curious manner, ears twitching.

As the teacher gave Algernon an unintentional hard clap on the back, he staggered forward, flailing his arms desperatly in the air as he tried to regain his footing. Even so, the blind male lost his balance and fell down, his face meeting the sand with a muffled thud. It was not, or so he'd like to believe, that he wasn't strong enough to take the hit, but because he wasn't aware it was about to happen. He quickly got up, brushed the sand off his face, and reached down to grab his suitcase, only to find it wasn't there. Algernon assumed the lady had picked it up, remembering her saying something about it before, though he obviously hadn't been listening so well.

Hearing her loud voice again, he took a tentative step forward, wishing desperately that he could see. Slowly, he made his way over to the boat, and once the cool water lapped at his feet, he bent his knees slightly and reached out, his hands meeting the edge of the canoe. In a meticulous manner, he climbed into it, surpressing a surprised gasp as it rocked with his weight. "Eh? Gecko." he called quietly, quickly as he sat cross legged and slapped his knees lightly, a sign for the cat to join him.

The animal, small for it's size, quickly padded over and jumped onto the boat with ease, immediatly settling on Algernon's lap. His hands rested upon it's back, stroking the warm, familiar pelt of his companion, feeling slightly more cautious because of the fact he had only been near the water once or twice before. The feeling was new to him, but because he was with the cat, and he was sure his younger self was watching from somewhere else from which no one, not even his new teacher, could see, helped him out a bit.

Algernon said nothing, assuming his teacher knew that he was ready to go.

[L.A.C.R.I.M.O.S.A]

It was then that a realization dawned upon the woman, and she tilted her head slightly to the side, her braid of golden curls falling elegantly over her broad shoulder. Her brows furrowed as she waved a hand slowly in front of Algernon's face, recoiling soon after with a frown on her face. She leaned her weight against her staff as she stared almost apologetically at him for a moment, her storm-gray eyes scanning his person thoughtfully.

She spoke softly, "My apologies. I 'vas unavare of your... disability." She trailed off, feeling a pang of guilt for not noticing earlier. She leisurely took a deep breath, a cloud of awkward silence lingering about the air and choking her in its inescapable grasp.

"'Vell, I guess 've should get going."

On unspoken command, the boat gave a great whine and shuddered profusely, the oars protesting as they slowly began moving simultaneously. Soon enough, the long boat was well away from the shores of the lake.

Inga idly strummed her fingers on her staff as she stared around, not particularly enjoying the silence. "So," she began, staring at the two companions, "how long 'ave you two known one another?"

[bandit]

Algernon blinked under the covering of his eyes when she waved a hand in his face. He bit back a protest, unsure if she was trying to make fun of him or just testing something out. When she spoke later on, he assumed he knew he answer. "It's alright." he said quietly, his hand stopped moving for one second before he addded, "But please don't ever do that again." the male finished. His voice held no trace of anger, and his nonchalant expression gave nothing away. The soothsayer's voice was quiet and caring as always, speaking softly as though talking any louder would cause something undesirable to happen.

Even so, he never liked to think of it as a disability, even though he already knew that most people would probably do so anyway, no matter how he happened to feel about it. It wasn't the first time, however, he would have been treated as though he were less, and he hoped his new teacher would be different from a majority of people he had encountered. Hopefully she would understand he could do things the way everyone else could, just maybe not with the same speed or skill at first. It might take him longer to learn how to do a task that would take someone else a shorter amount of time to do, but he just hoped she didn't decide to go easy on him because of his blindness.

As the boat started moving, the paddles controlling themselves, he sat in silence, not at all bothered, as he continued to stroke Gecko's back. The cat had remained silent, but now a soft purr was beginning to rumble in the back of his throat, and, hearing this, Algernon moved his hand to scratch behind the animal's ears. A tiny laugh sounded suddenly, though it was very low, and was diminishing to a child's giggle. The blind teenager pretended not to notice, and when the woman spoke again, he moved his head to look in the direction from which the voice had come from.

"Since I was a child." he answered vaguely, running his hand along the cat's spine before rubbing the back of it's neck, causing Gecko to yawn, as though tired. Sensing he didn't give a good answer, he hasitily added onto his sentence. "Before my mother gave birth to my eldest sister. He was just a kitten then."

[L.A.C.R.I.M.O.S.A]

"Sorry," she muttered softly in response to seeing his reaction to her pointing out his lack of vision. She, once again, was reminded of her foolishness as that pang of guilt flooded back to her in the guise of a deep blush that invaded her tanned countenance.

The boat continued on with its journey, gentle waves, which proved a rare sight around this particular lake, lapping at the craft's hull as it pushed onward. The oars never once stopped their monotonous movements, and they continued to beat down upon the water as the clouds of the ominous sky slowly began to part to reveal a bright and merciless afternoon sun. The woman's golden armor reflected the bright rays of light to send a spectrum of color onto the bottom of the boat, dancing beautifully among the waters of the lake in alluring patterns.

Inga was thankful that her student wasn't too upset with her obvious lack in social skill, so she continued the conversation, pleased to finally be getting somewhere. "And 'vat land do you hail from, my friend? Surely it could not be from around here, ya?"

[bandit]

Algernon slowly continued to pet Gecko's back, feeling the new rays that had revealed themselves once the heavy clouds had stopped blocking the sun. He enjoyed their warmth, realizing at just that moment he had been feeling a little chilly before. The boy almost smiled at this, but instead the corners of his mouth turned up just a little as everything began to warm up, and he was obviously grateful for the sun. As his teacher spoke again, he directed his attention to her, his blind gaze settling upon the woman across from him, making it seem like he could actually see her.

"The monks told me I came from somewhere called Azraelie, though I am not sure. I don't think they would lie to me, but my mother never said anything about where we lived..." his voice lowered to a murmur and eventually trailed off as he looked away to the side of the boat, his head tipping slightly to one side, making it seem he were looking at a difficult painting and you had to examine it from different angles to get the picture. For a while he said nothing, the hand motions ceasing as Algernon stared away, almost transfixed.

Gecko, after some time, gave a protesting mew, apparently enjoying the attention he had been recieving from his owner. If the soothsayer heard, he gave no sign that he had, causing Gecko to slide away from his grip and slink towards Inga, settling on her lap instead and looking up at her cutely, ears twitching as he asked for her to do what his owner had done just minutes ago. Depthless black eyes watched her carefully, willing her to pet him.

[L.A.C.R.I.M.O.S.A]

"Azraelie, ya?" Inga tried the foreign word on her tongue, feeling how well it just rolled right off. "Never heard of such a place, but 'zen again, almost all of 'ze students here come from places of which I never even knew existed."

It was true. Some hailed from distant countries far beyond the academy while others, still, originated from other planets even. It was nice to obtain such a variety of people, as each individual had something he or she could contribute, and everyone seemed to get along fairly well. Algernon would be a nice addition to the Twilight Moon "melting pot", she thought, and she was absolutely positive the others would accept them just as easily as they had come to accept one another.

Inga had been staring blankly out at the waters for a while when suddenly she felt something warm and furry pounce onto her lap. Looking down, she smiled warmly at the feline and proceded to scratch behind its ears, later taking to stroking its back soothingly.

Once again, the woman felt herself slipping into the depths of a pleasant daydream as the soft breeze ran its welcoming fingers over her skin. Suddenly, the longboat gave a great jolt before stopping completely, and the woman had to hold onto Gecko to keep him from flying off of her lap.

"Oof! 'Vat the-...Oh! We're here!" She turned around to see that the boat had docked on the white, sandy shores of the academy, the sun being snared by the small pieces of crystal that lie among the tiny, ivory grains.