the arrival of Synnøve

[Synnøve Nevalainen]

ah, so there's the light at the end of the tunnel... If you can even call that a light. Synnøve was approaching the tree line at the edge of the forest. The dark shadows around her began to fade ever so slightly. A moment later she walked out from under the dark eves of the trees and onto the little stretch of foliage-free land before the dock. "Wow, that looks safe" she muttered, watching the rickety- looking wooden structure. Her steps became shorter and more tentative as she stepped onto it. "I have no desire to go swimming in that". The weather is kind of nice though... She liked the cold dampness; the mist. It reminded her of Finland. Of home. Not that she had any great memories from there. Or even a place that she could really call home. I shouldn't be thinking this now... This is a new start, right? She felt a little anxiety- very unlike her. She usually just went with the flow- Every nightmare had to end sometime; there was no sense in getting worked up about it. She reached into her bag and popped a few pills into her mouth. Can't forget may pills...That would be a real tragety.Synn smirked a bit. Then she turned around, closed her eyes, and listened to the calm, rythmic sounds of the howling wind, and the ocean. Isn't there supposed to be a ship or somthing for me? She wondered. Most of the ships docked didn't look all to inviting; she decided it best not to explore. Besides, most would assume that there would be some one on the Twilight Moon Academy to, greet her maybe? But who knows.... It is a school for the 'gifted'.... She turned her attention back to the water. Huh. I wonder how deep it is. She moved to sit with her legs hanging over the pier's end. The wind whipped her hair around her face, and she shivered a bit. She reached down into her messenger bag again to pull out a cloak; which happened to be in a wrinkled ball. Maybe I should have bothered to fold it after all.... Too late now. She drew it tight around her shoulders and looked to the horizon, humming to herself.

[Creator]

"Look out beloooooooow!"
A faint voice came from the sky, along with the sound of a golf cart. And if anyone decided to look up, that was exactly what they would see: a flying golf cart. The man inside steered carefully, lowering and making a soft landing on the ground near the new student. "Good to see ya," he said, stepping off and extending his hand. "Name's Gamaliel Quezada, but everyone calls me Gammy."
The man was rather peculiar, with dark skin that indicated a hispanic origin. His black hair was fairly short, seeming to lean inward to make a point at the front center. He wore a large, toothy smile that seemed to spill into the rest of his features, waiting for her to shake his hand. He wore a forest green t-shirt with a white stripe up the right half of his chest, and blue jeans that nearly covered a pair of black shoes. He didn't look too old, not out of his twenties for sure. But the most unusual feature was the upside-down PlayStation 2 controller he had hanging as a medallion from his neck, the cord somehow changed into a neck strap. Presumably, it was upside-down so he could grip it like a controller without having to turn it around.
"You are the new kid, right?"

[Synnøve Nevalainen]

Wha-What the.... Synn whipped around and looked to the sky, her expression halfway between amazement and horror. Slightly dazed, she got to her feet and turned to face the man. "Hello umm... Gammy" She wondered if she should be calling him that. Synnøve extended her pale hand, but her attention was more or less on the vehicle. A flying golf cart? Am I on like, acid or something? "Excuse me, but is that a, a golf cart?" She looked him in the face and then noticed he didn't look all too 'normal' either. What am I talking about? Normal. Normal is an abstract idea... nothing is normal. Then she realized he was talking to her again. He did not just ask if I was the new kid, did he?! Her expression turned dry. "No, I'm not the new kid. I just like to sit on decrepit old docks surrounded by haunted ships; doesn't everybody? My name is Synnøve by the way. Synnøve Nevalainen."

[Creator]

"O-ho!" he said with a laugh, "and you know how to use sarcasm!" He turned back to the golf cart, patting its steering wheel. "Yep, this bad boy's my ride. Only geniuses get to fly in pink golf carts." He paused, staring at the ground. "...of course..." He looked up, grinning devilishly. "If you like, we could take something else." He gripped the controller and, in a blur, input a series of button-presses and stick-tilts. He paused, looking up at her once more, before pressing a final button.

There was a brief moment of silence, then a thunderous boom a short distance away. Just out of Synnøve's field of vision, a tank had appeared about five feet in the air and landed, creating the earth-shaking boom. "Will that do? Or shall I find something else?"

[Synnøve Nevalainen]

Geniuses in pink golf carts- because that's not, random, or anything... But instead of saying that, Synn just nodded and said "Uh-huh"...Why do I not like that grin he's giving me... She didn't even try to follow Gammy's fingers as they flew across the controller buttons.

Having spent nine years old her life living in Finland's capital city, Synnøve was pretty good with loud noises. She didn't like them, but she could live with them. Synn wasn't, however, prepared for such a loud boom. She jump-turned toward the noise, but upon seeing the tank she relaxed. "Yeah, I think that's fine" she replied, almost laughing.

[Creator]

"Alright, hop on. You can just hold on to the top if you like, or get inside, but it's a bit cramped." He climbed up and settled down inside the tank, giggling slightly at what was to come. He poked his head back out an stared at Synn, waiting for her to come aboard.

If one hadn't figured it out by now, Gammy's power was to use cheat codes from video games in the real world. Granted, there were many limitations - he couldn't use any immortality or similar cheats, and as he used more cheats more rapidly, it got harder and harder to remember any of them until he took a break.

Slowly, Gammy rotated the barrel of the tank around so it was facing the forest. "C'mon, hurry!" he said, sounding like a child waiting to get a new toy. "We still have lots of stuff to do!"

[Synnøve Nevalainen]

Synnøve crawled up the side of the tank and swung her legs over to the entrance. Hmmm... It does look a bit cramped... She turned away from the hole. "I think I'll stay up here" she looked at Gammy and raised her eyebrow. "Any particular reason why you're giggling like that?"

As the tank started to turn, Synn yelped then gripped the handle over the entrance. "Okay, I'm ready.... I'm not going to fall off or anything am I? Does this thing fly too?" Synn was fine with heights, it was just the water part she was worried about...

[Creator]

"As a matter of fact, it does. It could drive on the water too, but that's boring and slow." Then the tank fired behind them, thrusting it forward. The blast didn't seem to do any actual damage to the environment, which was strange. He fired again, and again, rapidly, pushing them forward. They smashed down onto the water though they didn't sink, as if it were solid, and they kept on going. It didn't take long for them to gain speed and begin to lift off the ground, soaring up confidently into the sky. He slowed his firing once they were high up in the air so he could talk. "So, regarding your schedule. You have a few electives to choose from." He dug into his pocket and held up a slip of paper to her.

1 - Magic
2 - Weaponry
3 - Alchemy
4 - Beastry
5 - Master
6 - Break
7 - [ ] Music [ ] History [ ] Potionry
8 - [ ] Holy [ ] Flare [ ] Summoning
9 - [ ] Dragoon [ ] Samurai [ ] Thievery
10 - [ ] Puppemaster [ ] Survival

"Just check off whatever you like for each of the last four periods. Just one of each."

[Synnøve Nevalainen]

Synnøve felt herself jolt as the tank pushed forward. Looking back, she expected to see crators from the cannon blasts, but there were none. She didn't dwell on it though- she was more interested in the fact that the tank was driving on the water, then lifted into the air. The whistling of the wind made it almost impossible to hear anything at the speed they were moving.

Once the tank began to slow, Synn turned to Gammy to take the sheet of paper. The wind was slightly less, but she kept a tight grip so as not to let the slip fly away. Examining the first set of choices, she picked music almost immediately. Not too much thought needed there. The second was a little harder. "What exactly is flare?" she asked. If it involves fire, I am *so* there. She added to herself. For period nine she chose thievery, smirking as she checked the box. That sounds like tons of fun..... Synn decided on puppetmaster for period ten. No particular reason really, she just thought it sounded more appealing than survival.

[Creator]

"Flare is dark magic. Fire, lightning, offensive stuff. Holy is light magic, stuff to help people. And summoning is fairly self-explanatory." They began a slow descent, TMA appearing through the mist in the distance. The tank shifted just slightly to head to the side of the school, not wanting to run right into it. For a moment they were tilted a few degrees to the right, but it was soon back to slow and steady.
"Your master class will be with me. That's where we focus on you time, get your powers down and everything. It's cool if I call you Synn, right?" He paused for a moment, then looked at her.
"Which would you rather have as a weapon, some balls covered in spikes, or some hammers? Just a question of opinion, no right or wrong answer."

[Synnøve Nevalainen]

"OK, so I guess I'm taking flare then" Synn said, checking it off on the list. She slid a little as the tank tilted, but she barely noticed. She was more distracted by the school. Wow... Without taking her eyes off the school, she responded to Gammy. "Yeah, Synn is fine. Most people call me that; and almost nobody who read it off paper pronounces it correctly anyway." She paused to think. "I guess I would prefer balls with spikes... sharp things are more fun than just a weapon that uses blunt force." Plus, with spikes I could do more damage with less effort.... Wow. I am lazy.

[Creator]

"Ok, that's it." He took the paper and stuffed it into his pocket before turning the tank the other way, coming down to land softly and roll along for a moment before they came to a complete stop. He climbed up and out, landing on the grass and brushing himself off. "Now there's just one more thing. Your present." He held out a baseball-sized opaque red orb with wide, blunt spikes coming out here and there. The spikes weren't capable of doing any damage, but that wasn't the use of this particular item. "This can summon a being known as Lakitu, you may or may not know who he is." The orb shimmered in his hand and smoke began to pour out, collecting into a 3x3x2 cloud that thickened and rose up into the air. A vague shape became visible in the cloud, some sort of anthropomorphic turtle. It began to fly around, tossing down larger, soccer ball-sized versions of the orb that summoned it, all with significantly sharp spikes. As the balls hit the ground, they uncurled and began to creep around with no particular place to go. They seemed to be turtles, with red, spiky shells that covered their head as well as their body.
"He has a limited supply, and the more energy you put into summoning him, the more he'll have." In a blur, they all faded into cloud and sucked back into the orb, which he held out to Synn. "They won't just stick around though, they'll wander, so you'll have to watch your step."

[Synnøve Nevalainen]

Synn half-slid, half-fell off of the tank, landing on her feet. oooh presents, I like presents.....and I sound like a five year old.... Synnøve eyes lit up when she saw the orb, and, much like a small child, her first thought was ooooo shiny... She stared at it for a few moments, as she thought over where she had heard that name before... hmmmm....Lakitu, Lakitu....wait a minute... "Isn't Lakitu that turtle thing from that video game series? what was the name... ummm... Mario?". Synnøve had never played many video games at home, with the exception of Mortal Combat, but she remembered Tuomas mentioning it a few times. She was momentarily distracted again by the shower of larger orbs. "Should I watch out because they can do damage to me, or is there some other reason?"

[Creator]

"No, you just wouldn't want to step on one. And yes, they're from the Mario series. This can also save you if you're falling," he added. "It was either him or one of the Hammer Brothers, and you picked spikes." He led her toward the building, and more importantly, away from the tank. "Well, that's all you need, you're free to go settle into your room and everything. If you need me, I guess Lakitu could probably come get me, too." He clicked a series of buttons and the tank exploded in a massive fireball, though the fire didn't actually spread to the ground, or even affect it at all. "It'll disappear in a minute, as long as nobody watches it." He fumbled through a few controls, trying to remember the commands, but soon had made a second pink golf cart appear. "Have fun." He drove off, quickly spiraling up into the air and out of sight.

[Synnøve Nevalainen]

"okay" Synnøve nodded slowly as she followed Gammy away from the tank. good thing I chose spikes, as I have no idea who the hammer brothers are.....

Once the tank burst into flames, she tried her best to avert her attention from it. As fun as it was to watch things burn, she assumed that a blazeing tank on the school lawn would not be appreciated by everyone. By the time the second golf cart appeared, Synn was getting used to seeing 'magical' things happen. Her old family had been quite narrow minded; everything had a scientific explination. She wondered for a moment if she would be one of the only students with no real magical background; she supposed it was possible. Synn looked up and waved to Gammy, then turned and started walking twoards the school.