Crackling Embers (Open)

[Person]

There had been some kind of gathering for something or other, and Chase had been in the area at the time. Without an invitation and knowledge of any of the partygoers, he had made his way into the party and set up camp near the refreshments which included punch, a plethora of different sodas and other carbonated drinks, and all of the food. The meat was prepared on a traditional open, half-spherical grill, and the meat being prepared just so happened to include cheesesteaks, being one of the main reasons that Chase had been lured to the party in the first place. Interaction with the others was minimal, although that would be exaggerating, as the occassional nod to someone who approached his base camp could hardly count as interaction. The only interaction of any sort he had was ordering massive amounts of cheese steaks from the chef of the day and bickering with the crow that presided over his right shoulder.

The gathering had lasted for the better part of the afternoon, and it was only until the sun began painting a fiery background in the distance did the partygoers begin to disperse back to various other parts of their lives. Chase, however, decided that he did not feel like leaving quite yet. Thanatos had decided not to question him on his seemingly antisocial behavior of the day, as he had decided enough arguing for the moment had been done. As the final person left, Chase's only pleasant company was the crackling embers which still quietly roared in the pit and that fought the dousing liquids that had been poured onto them.

[Sea]

A small shadow slipped through the trees, and took its place beside Chase. It was a tortie cat, mottled red, with bright blue eyes. It watch the embers quietly. Within the cat's head, the owner of the guise was unnaturally subdued. She was tired. She was in one of her favorite forms, unwilling to show her true face for now. She didn't know why, but she felt sad and lethargic. She lazily flopped to the side, resting her head against the boy's leg.
Normally, she would have batted at the embers, and tustled in the dust with imaginary opponents, but not today. She looked up at him, blue eyes dull, as if to offer a quiet hello. She rested her head back down, and stretched out more, her forepaws making small marks in the dirt.

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

While the fire was quiet, contemplative, the person striding toward it was certainly not. His face was a shining example of happiness, friendly. Actually, Lorien had just made a new friend by the name of Seiko Drake, and the elf was coming right along with him.

"Hello again, Chase!" the paladin called merrily. "What are you doing all alone out here? And Thanatos, too?" At this point he noticed the cat and carefully crouched down, offering his hand out for her to sniff. Cats tended to get angry if you pet them without letting them sniff you first. Maybe in a school like this and in the presence of an intelligent raven Lorien might have imagined that the cat was not all that she seemed, but it never occurred to him.

[seiko drake]

A man in a odd armor with some type of purple jewels engraved in the armor walked through the tree's. A white light illuminating from the tip of his staff as bright as a spot light, but not bright enough to bother anyone's eyes. He was wearing a helmet of some kind with his hair slipping through a slit in the back. His long white glossy hair shining from the light of the fire and his light spell. A owl flew near by landing in a tree above the camp fire staring down at them.

The owl hooted a couple times a minute. Razor was the owls name and she was soon about to go hunting for her nightly meal. Her big round golden like eyes glowing bright yellow almost from the fire. "Ah, Sorry I'm late Lorien I had gotten lost so I had to get my owl to scope over the woods to be able to the party" He smiled as he diminished the light seeing as there was a fire providing enough light.

"So, now what is there for fun to do at a party like this?" He has asked the people around him to try and lighten up the mood. The people here seemed a bit out of steam except lorien. Lorien seemed to be in a real good mood.

[Person]

((Sorry for the late posting. Been busy with fifty-million projects))

Chase looked down at the cat with a puzzled look, like he was asking it "Why?", but he wasn't telepathic, nor could he do any extraordinary mind feats besides turning any number into five with the same equation, so his question went unheard. He seemed to be perturbed by the cat, as he never was one for cats, or dogs for that matter. Had he had his scythe, Chase would have poked the creature away with the butt of the farming apparatus, but alas, he did not, so he had to live with the feline around his leg.

"Hey, Lorien," Chase said as if he had been daydreaming in vacant space. Obviously, having people around to socialize with took him out of his dreaming world where centipedes weren't measured in feet and had feathers, and where lakes weren't full of spirits. It wasn't that he disliked the school, it was just that he was taking a bit more time to adjust to its eccentricity. He responded to the paladin's preceding questions, "Eating cheesesteaks, although I think I've eaten enough to feed all of Africa."

He looked over at the newcomer, "Well, I guess this is Seiko, huh Lorien?" he asked in one of the groups attempt to spark up conversation.

Thanatos began to put his two hundred cents into the matter, "Chase, you should have at least introduced yourself to this new boy. If he has half the manners that the young Master Lorien has, maybe he will teach you some as well. Obviously I can't. And honestly! Why are you being followed by cats? I understand if you want a pet, but this is ridiculous! Please pick an animal companion and stick with it!" Thanatos stated. In the long, continuous paragraph of speech, the raven had barely stopped to take a breath, and so he was panting lightly afterward. The raven hopped down from his shoulder and down upon the ground in front of the cat. He began to swung his feathers at the cat and yelled, "Shoo scavenger! There is no food for you here!".

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

(Brandon, I can relate. I can relate. ¤_¤)

"Where is Africa?" Lorien asked blankly, but he was soon distracted by Chase's feathered friend. "I have already told Seiko all about Chase. We're all friends," he said reassuringly to Thanatos.

"Oh no, Thanatos!" the young paladin exclaimed. "You should not do that. Cats are good luck." Lorien picked up the cat in his leather gloved hands, taking care to avoid any of the spikes on his armor. It was an adorable pussy-cat, and his heart melted at its tired eyes. "Cats usually look so surly, but this seems to be very weary. Are you okay, Puss?" He tilted his head to the side, eyebrows furrowing in concern. "Maybe you should come home with me tonight. Cats enjoy milk, right? I could find some."

He turned his gaze back to Chase enthusiastically. "Did you name him? He is precious!" Lorien should never be exposed to animals of any kind, but those of the small furry variety had the greatest effect on him.

[Sea]

"Hello, Lorien. That sounds lovely, actually," the cat purred. "I've already met you two, but I don't believe I've met you yet... Chase, was it? I'm Sanet." The cat snuggled against Lorien, tired. "I'm afraid I can't show my real form today. I've found it overtly difficult to change back to human form of late."

The way San was talking was, wihout a doubt, different from her normal, gruff, city-way of speech. She was suddenly polite and somewhat eloquent, as though she suddenly was actually thinking before speaking. Very out of character.

"Oh, and tell that Raven to shut its trap. I haven't eaten yet tonight, and I'm somewhat hungry," the cat continued, only half joking. "Besides, cats are way better than ravens," she added in a mutter.

[Armana]

The sounds of commotion drew Armana towards the crowd. She was lost, hopelessly lost. And the funny part was that she was certain that she had been to these hills before! In fact, Armana believed that the last time she had gotten lost had also been in these hills. Well, maybe someone here would know the way back to school. Most of them looked like decently friendly people, though their equipment did seem a bit intimidating.

Armana gracefully walked over to the group, her soft kimono flowing with her movements. "Um . . . ." she said at first, a bit nervously. Armana never was good at conversation, or association in general, but sometimes she had no other choice. "I was kinda wondering . . . do any of you know the way back to Twilight Academy?" Armana hoped that they would say yes. It was getting dark out, and she had learned that horrible creatures liked to come out at night here. Plus it was also starting to get cold, and Armana shivered in her thin kimono.

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

"Sanet!" he said in shock, almost dropping her in surprise. He a young woman of that name once before, in Master Terent's classroom, and had marveled at her catlike ears and shapeshifting powers. But never did he expect to meet her so suddenly. Lorien hugged her to him warmly, delighted to see see Sanet again. The young paladin stroked her absently while he spoke. "I did not recognize you. Please forgive me."

At her comments to Thanatos, he shook his head rapidly and laughed as if she had made a jest that was near to crossing the line, like a dead baby joke. "Sanettttt, be polite to Thanatos. He is a very nice raven, and you two have no reason to fight," he chided gently, a smile still on his face.

He greeted the newcomer with a respectful, "Good evening, Lady. My name is Lorien Albronda. It's funny, actually, for Drake and I just had the same problem." The paladin looked to Drake and nodded, reflecting on their recent loss in direction. "But his owl led us back. If you stayed a while, you could walk back with all of us when we return." It seemed reasonable to him.

[Person]

"Well, I had named him--" Chase said as he was trying to think up some kind of clever unisex or wrong gender name to name the cat, completely unaware of the fact that it was a girl. "Err, I was going to name her Sanet," he said as he quickly recovered. He was caught offguard by the talking cats. Yay, talking cats, what else are we going to have today, TMA? he though to himself, still not accepting the facts that persisted here at Twilight Moon Academy as the true face on the going-ons of reality. "Well, yeah, I'm Chase, like Lorien said. Umm, nice to meet you?" he said as he extended his hand and tried to find any greeting for a cat resembling a handshake.

Thanatos could have started listing all of the violent and extremely unpleasant diseases that usually infect cats. He could have began to list all of the reasons why ravens are more effective animals than cats were, but then again, he could have said a dead baby joke as well. Instead, Thanatos looked over at the newcomer, pumped his legs over to her feet, and responded, "Good Evening, young miss. My name is Thanatos, and that usually surly fellow over there with the dark eyes who is trying to shake the hand of the filth--cat is Master Chase. I would ask you your name, for the sake of completing pleasantries." With this, he added in a small bow, just for good measure.

With the girl's arrival, Chase realized just how little geographical knowledge of any kind he really knew about the grounds at the Academy. He silently thanked Lady Luck that others who knew the way had arrived, so he didn't have to spend the night sleeping in a party pavillion.

[Sea]

"No reason to fight my arse," Sanet muttered. "I'd pluck off all of his feathers one by one if I weren't so damned tired."

The cat then suddenly recovered from her surly muttering, and extended a dainty paw toward Chase, resting it lightly against his palm. "I'm most sorry I can't show you my human form today. Maybe once I have all this nonsense sorted out."

The cat then turned to the girl. "Sanet. Charmed," San mewed, sweet yet brisk. San didn't like other girls very much, preferring male company, as she preferred father to mother. Of course, she didn't know where Daddy was, but you could be sure that she would find him.

Sanet shot her most deadly glare at Thanatos, but bit back a sharp response. Instead, she snuggled closer to Lorien, trying to find some body heat seeping through the army, but to no avail. She shivered, cold despite her reddish fur. Sanet was, apparently, not in the best of health.

[Armana]

"Well, hello everybody," Armana said softly. She was glad they were all being so friendly. So far - except for the whole getting lost part - Twilight Moon Academy was turning out to be pretty good experience! "I guess I'll stay for a little while, thanks," Armana said gratefully. At least now she didn't have to worry; she could hang out for a little while with them and then she could go back to the academy with them.

After exchanging greetings, Armana gave a short but odd look to the cat. It looked completely normal, yet it was talking! Armana knew of the Kilwagi, a species of cat-like creatures from her homeland that had angelic wings and talked, but they exuded a radiant energy that made it obvious that they weren't normal creatures. But the way this cat talked, it seemed like it was a human in a cat form!

Armana approached the shapeshifter curiously. "High San." That was what it had called itself, right? "Can I . . . hold you?" Armana asked hopefully. She loved every creature in existence, especially cute little animals. And "San" was definitely a cute little animal.

[Person]

Chase was rudely oblivious to Armana's entrance, but he always had been more of an early bird than a night owl. Lapses in memory always seemed more frequent the farther past ten a.m. it became. "Sorry, yeah, what Thanatos said about the names," Chase softly said in a barely coherent jumble of words thrown together after being shaken up by a Yatzee cup. He might have been distracted by the fact that there was a talking cat, and he seemed to be the only one in the group who came from what he considered to be a "normal" place. After realizing that his hand was still up, he dropped it down at his side in an attempted nonchalant manner.

Thanatos looked over at Sanet as she had shot the death glare. From out of the depths of his deep onyx eyes he returned one with the same intenisty that had been given to him. Softly he shot out the words "Filthy feline" underneath his breath like two bullets flying right behind one another. Thanatos did not even particularly like the fact that Lorien had been holding the filthy cat, and was nonchalantly determined not to let it infect Armana with its multitude of diseases. "Miss Armana," Thanatos said as he flew over and rested himself on her shoulder, "Have you tried any of the lovely dishes that still have not yet been eaten by the chefs?" he stated, referring to the remaining food that had been left on the serving table. "I assure you, it is delicious."

[Ladd Russo of the Russo Family]

Now it just so happened that when the planets were aligned, the moon was full, and Putin was in office in not-Soviet Russia, that Lorien received something very rare and special. This thing that he received was called a good idea. With a determined smile, for this required a great deal of concentration, he handed Sanet over to Armana. Then, because he had observed them both shivering, he undid the clips to his blue cloak (largely decorative--armor was designed to stop swords, cloaks were no match against it) and put it around both of them.

"You should not have to be cold," he told them kindly. Now everyone was happy! During his thought process, Lorien had somehow missed the dark mutterings between San and Thanatos.

"Chase, what were you two doing alone out here?" the knight asked curiously.

[Sea]

San purred, snuggling against Armana, warming herself within the cloak.

"Thanks, Lorien," she mewed warmly. Today wasn't turning out too bad, she thought with a smile. She'd met a few new people, found Lorien, found a warm person to snuggle herself against, and Lorien was being such a sweetheart. Plus, she'd gotten one up on Thanatos by being held by Armana. And she would, if the suggestion still held, would be getting some milk and a warm dorm to stay in. She couldn't get into her own dorm, she needed opposible thumbs for that. She yawned quietly, still purring like a motorbike.