Dragon Academy (Eden and Tad)

[Tad]

Audrey smiles a that comment.  It's quite true... she can't remember any gathering of family that didn't eventually turn to discussions of dragons.  Care of them, fighting tactics, even debates over the different breeds... it seemed that everyone had an opinion that needed expressing.

But his offer to help doesn't go by unnoticed either.  "If you don't mind, I would appreciate that.  I don't think I remember any of this stuff."

[Nadir]

Jonas paused, then said, “I mind. But you’ll owe me a favour, so I’ll do it. That’s how it works here. Politics, you know.” The older boy stretched and yawned. “Do you want to settle in a bit, or shall we continue the tour? We’ve got an hour or so before dinner -”

“Murkmere, have you seen what’s just landed? A Southern Speckled! It has to be Sir Bavain!” The voice cracked alarmingly, squeaking one moment and booming the next.

Jonas grinned and beckoned. “Chiswick, come greet my kinsman. Anthony of Chiswick, Jack Grimsword.”

The boy who peered around the doorframe was dark haired and eyes, an inch or two taller than Audrey. He dipped a shallow bow. “A pleasure to finally meet you, but can we save the greeting for later? This is something I don’t want to miss.”

[Tad]

The two boys tear out of the room and down the hall, leaving Audrey to chase after them.  Their longer legs carry them that much further with each step, and soon she's barely even sure which way they're heading at each corner.  Finally though, they slam through a door and erupt into the courtyard outside it.  There stands a full grown dragon, but one that looks significantly different from Sampson. 

It's height is roughly the same as her father's companion, but it's coloration is all different, being a mottling of deep greens rather than the tan Audrey is used to.  The biggest difference is the bulging belly under the creature.  The dragon's sides bulge out significantly, and it's belly hangs down several feet lower than any other dragon the girl has ever seen.

The two teens are already over by the beast, speaking happily to the man standing next to her.  It's obvious that right now they could care less about the new student.  So Audrey glances around the open area, looking for someone else to explain what's going on here.  She spots a blond boy standing alone in the nearest corner.  Quick-stepping over to him, she gives him a friendly smile then asks "So... is something wrong with this one?"  She gestures to the large dragon.  "Is it sick or something?"

[Nadir]

The blonde turned his head to glance at Audrey quickly, obviously not wanting to take his eyes from the dragon. His voice was quiet and smooth, a well-bred accent that held a lilting cadence of Welsh. “I overhead him say she was egg-heavy. I think they come here to lay, when they can.” He fell silent, enraptured by the massive reptile before them.

The dragon was uncomfortable with her load, shifting her weight fretfully. A moment later she shook her head and gave a low, bone-shivering warble. The faint sounds of the stabled dragons fell silent for a heartbeat, before a reply came followed by a dozen more. Her rider ran his hand up her neck and rubbed her muzzle, his voice calming, his words nonsense.

“It’s so… wonderful,” the boy beside her murmured. A second later, he stiffened, as if he hadn’t realised he spoke aloud. “I mean, you can get close to other animals. Horses rarely, dogs more often, but that… between dragon and knight…” He shook his head, embarrassed by his own admiration. 

[Tad]

She starts to give the embarrassed boy a kind smile before she remembers she's no longer supposed to be the gentle woman she was being raised as.  Stripping the smile from her face she tries to make herself appear indifferent to the boy's discomfort.  "Yeah... it's pretty neat.  I just wish I had one..."

Then turning back to the blond boy, she continues.  "I'm Jack."  Extending her hand in what she hopes in a strong handshake, she waits to find out a bit more about this other youth while still keeping the corner of her eye on the wonderful creature and her knight.

[Nadir]

The boy dipped his head in a nod, smiling in their shared desire. “I’m Fabian. Did you get here today as well?” He shook Audrey’s hand, his palm walk and dry and his fingers applying a polite pressure. “I’m a first-year.” He paused, glancing around then leant close to murmur, “Are you worried about this? The hazings are different each year, I’ve heard.” He bit his lip, worry and excitement making his dark eyes dance.

His restless gaze was drawn back to the dragon, and he sighed at her beauty. “I’ve never seen one so close before,” he admitted. The knight nodded to the older boys and started to walk towards the Eyrie, the egg-heavy dragon following behind him, her discontented hissing carrying across the distance, snapping her jaws at the two boys who didn’t move back fast enough.

[Tad]

"Yes... I just got here a few minutes ago.  I'm a first year as well.  But what do you mean 'hazings'?"  Aubrey had never heard the term before, but the way Fabian said it she felt they couldn't be a good thing.  Her eyes are drawn back to the pregnant form as well, and she stifles a slight laugh as the giant creature snaps at the two boys.  She responds to his comment with "Me neither...", believing him to be referring to the fertile fullness of the creature or maybe it's breed.  After all, everyone admitted to the school had to come from the knighting families.  So the boy couldn't possibly mean dragons in general.

"Have you been here very long?  I just got run through the building, and now I'm not even sure where I am.  I figure I might as well do some exploring while I try to get back to my room.  Care to come along?"

[Nadir]

“Ah, hazings… sort of a welcome for the first years. It’s only play. They never do anything too rough.” By the tightness in his tone, he was still worried about what may happen, but he shrugged helplessly. “Still, it’s worth it.” He grinned and nodded towards the moody dragon. “Just like my mother gets when she’s near her time.”

As the dragon went out of sight, Fabian turned his attention fully to ‘Jack’, running his gaze over her travel-rumpled clothes. “Oh, a day or so. I wanted to get to know the place before classes. Well, that was the plan.” He grinned at her and nodded, his blonde hair flicking his face. “That’d be brilliant. The only places I know are my dorm and the kitchens.” He glanced towards the two other students, but they were deep in discussion. He shot her a grin and asked, “The Academy or the grounds?”

[Tad]

She takes a minute to think about this.  "Well... the grounds would let us see more of the dragons.... but I have a feeling the Academy is gonna be a bit more confusing to try and navigate.  So maybe we should work on that one before everyone else shows up.  Then we can be the knowledgeable ones!"

Audrey returns his grin, and feels like maybe she won't be so alone here after all.  Sure, not everyone is gonna be her friend, but if she met a nice person this quick then things can't be too bad then.

[Nadir]

Fabian nodded, trying and failing to hide his excitement at finding a kindred spirit so far from his home. "Good plan." He cast a glance at the two older students, and gave Audrey a side-on smile. "Come on. I'd rather not have them try to give us a tour. Who knows where they'd led us."

He walked at a quick pace, though he was easy enough for her to keep up with. They went back inside via a side door, not the massive iron-bound doors in front. The corridor was narrow, a servant's passageway, connecting almost immediately with the kitchen. Like all old manor houses, the kitchen was  half-underground, making it cooler than the rest of the house. A massive fire was blazing at the far wall and a dozen people worked to prepare a meal. "One of my servants at home has an aunt working here. It's quite a boon." He grinned and patted a pocket before moving away from the long busy room quickly.

He glanced over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't gone into the kitchen, and nodded at the diverging corridor. The narrow passage led in separate directions. "One goes to the wizard's hall, the other to the knight's. I heard they shared a banquet hall once, but there were quite a lot of food fights that ended badly, so they had a divide built." He grinned at the idea. "I have always wanted a food fight... pity about that wall."

[Tad]

Audrey jogs just a bit to keep up with her new friend.  His sure steps and knowledge of at least some of the layout lets him travel much faster than her... especially since she can't help but gauk at all the wonderful architecture and historical pieces. 

She almost does enter the kitchen, but pauses just long enough to see that Fabian decides to keep on moving.  With a reluctant gaze into the wonderful smelling room, 'Jack' keeps on walking as well.  But the hallway's division provides an issue.  Which way should the pair go?  Then the mention of a food fight happens, and she can't help but laugh out loud.  All the regal looking dragon knights, throwing mashed potatoes at wizards in long robes was quite the sight in her mind.  "Maybe we can find some way to tear it down and restore the fun of dinner-time?"

[Nadir]

Fabian turned his grin to her, eyes dancing in glee. "Now that would be fun. It's not like they can expel us for a bit or redecorating..." his grin turned quizzical as he said, "Actually, what can you be expelled for? I never asked..." His eyes when from Audrey to the two separate corridors. There was two etchings in the wall - one a shield and the other a star, clear marking which led where.

He flicked her a daring smile and headed off, towards the knight's dining hall.

The corridor was short, to make sure the food that was carried didn't become cold on the journey. The doors into the dinning hall were double, letting two or more people through the doorway at once. Fabian tried than handles and pushed, the heavy doors swinging open with a slow grace.

The room wasn't as large as expected, though the ceiling was high and breath-taking. There were long, narrow windows along one side of the room, allowing a glass-warped view out towards the huge dragon eyrie and a slither of a lake. The room itself had six tables, one at the head and five others, the legs worked into dragon's legs. There were tapestries of battle scenes, flights of dragons and stories retold in woven cloth.

"Well, they don't want to forget what they're here for, I suppose," Fabian said in an amused tone, his voice echoing softly. 

[Tad]

A little disappointed in his choice, Audrey follows.  She'd really rather have seen the wizard's area, having never even seen a wizard before.  But they can head back that way later, and maybe it is better to see where she'll be eating first.  When her new friend pushes open the doors she's glad they were there.  The gorgeous view and magnificent tapestries took her breath away.  In fact, the beauty of it all almost kept her from hearing Fabian's words.  It takes a couple seconds for them to click in her head, but once they do she turns towards the blonde boy.

"Wait... what do you mean 'they'?"

[Nadir]

Fabian's attention was on the tapestry the faintly echoed the painting in the front hall, the pale dragon spreading its wings wide, Audrey's ancestor standing by its side as the smaller dragon defended the youth against a larger, red dragon. He turned his head at her question and nodded at the first Grimsword. "Who else? The dragon knights and their squires. We should get back to the wizard's half. I wouldn't want to be caught over here by them." He started to turn back to the servant's passageways, but stopped, his pale eyebrows coming together as he looked at her expression. "You all right, Jack?"   

[Tad]

Audrey just stares at Fabian.  His words are making it clear he's not a rider.  Really, it had been a poor assumption to believe he was... there are so many other people that reside in the academy.  But he had mentioned servants at home so he couldn't be one of the workers here.  And he'd said he was new, so he wouldn't be a professor's child.  She tried to place him, to figure out what he could be.  Then his mention of returning to the wizard's side is recalled..... was it possible? "Are you a... a wizard?" she asks with a certain amount of reverence in her tone.

[Nadir]

The boy's head tilted to one side, his expression quizzical. "What? No, I told you, this is my first year. We don't get out Journeyman's robes until we gra...u... wait. You're... not here to learn magic, are you?" His eyes moved over her again, his eyebrows drawing together in a frown. He took a step backwards, his expression turning distrustful and his eyes darting to the dinning hall doors, checking no one was waiting in the shadows. His voice held too much Welsh accent for him to sound cold at all, but he did sound undeniably affronted. "You could of had the common decency to say that you're here as a squire! I saw you come out with those two squires, but I thought you were just following them to see what the to-do was about."

His jaw clenched uneasily and he took another step back towards the servant's corridor.   

[Tad]

Audrey takes a step back as well and looks at him with an expression of confusion and a bit of hurt.  "I... I didn't even think about it.  I thought you were one too.  I didn't know they let wizards in so young... I always pictured them being old with beards and such. And why are you so mad?  It's not like there's any reason we can't still be friends is there?  I mean, we're both going to school here...."

She takes several steps forward closing the gap that had formed between them.  There's something here that he isn't telling her, some reason as to why he looks almost scared.  She hopes it's just that tho groups don't normally intermingle... but it seems like more.

[Nadir]

"Because," Fabian said, sounding confused and defensive, "Dragon Squires are thick bodied, slow-witted bashers who would sooner put a fist in your face than say a friendly word..." The blonde boy slid a hand through his thin hair, eyebrows lifting higher as he realised 'Jack' wasn't trying to lure him into trouble - well, not trouble with the other squires, at least. "You didn't hear about how the mages and the knights... don't get on? You didn't hear how they had to rebuild the south wing because of a midnight escapade the squires went on to 'haunt' the dormitories backfired when the whole lower quarter tried to raise a dispelling circle?" He didn't back away again, looking less worried and more thoughtful.

"Don't you feel a bone deep urge to try and dominate my superior form of magic?" he asked after a moment of pondering, as if it was common knowledge all knights and squires felt such a way about their fellow students.   

[Tad]

Audrey looks slightly hurt at his description of the squires.  She doesn't even seem to care about his interesting story or the resulting destruction.  Instead, she just looks at him with sad eyes.  "You...you think that's what I'm like?  What my dad and brother were like?"  She's so busy keeping back the tears that she doesn't notice her slip of the tongue.  Her eyes drift up to the tapestry of her ancestor and tries to picture him as Fabian described.  But that base doesn't fit with the stories she's been told since she can remember.  He'd been caring and compassionate as well as brave and strong.  That's why the dragon had befriended him in the first place... he'd helped it and gained it's trust.  How could he be both that boy and the one described by Fabian?

[Nadir]

Fabian looked horrified, his mouth opening and shutting as he searched for something to say, alarmed he had caused such an emotional response. "No! That's... you looked nothing like how I thought... you... I thought you were a mage!" he finally got out, worried and unsure. He took a step closer to her, and lifted a hand to touch her shoulder for an instant before pulling away. "Don't take it so hard, Jack... I don't... I don't think you're like that." His gaze drifted towards the door, his expression turning from worried to steely determination. "You're not like them - not like the other squires, I mean."

He tilted his head and said, "My name is Laird Fabian ap Jenkins ap Hywel, though it's my mother's blood that got me in here. She's a de Guise." He named on of the most powerful magical families of France almost defensively, as if embarrassed by his Welsh heritage. "May I ask your name?"   

[Tad]

His hand on her shoulder brings her out of her deep thoughts.  It feels soothing but also exhilarating to have a boy touch her like that, even if he didn't know she's a girl. Managing to force the tears back deep inside, Audrey gives him a slightly shaky smile.

Hearing his name, her eyes widen slightly.  Coughing once to clear her throat, she replies "Well, I guess you and I have a similar problem then.  My name's A... Jack Grimsword.  Well, I guess Lord Grimsword now."  She lets out a sad sigh, but tries her best to force it behind her and mask it with a smile.  "So you and I both have some big shoes to fill..."

[Nadir]

He gave her a pained smile. "Yeah, but who knows, I might end up not having even a bean of skill. That would make my uncle just drop dead with shame..." His eyes grew misty as he imagined the situation, then blinked twice, refocusing on 'Jack'. "Wait. Grimsword. As in 'Grimsword' Grimsword?" He twisted on his heel to point at the tapestry that was meant to depict her ancestor, though not as smoothly as the painting in the entrance hall. "You're the Grimsword of this generation?" His expression flashed through several different emotions from thoughtful to perplexed to amused. "And in the same year too!" He gave a lopsided grin and said wryly, "This will be interesting, to say the least. Our families have never shared school since the mages moved in." He laughed, very clearly happy. "We're doing something already that our previous generations haven't done. It's a good omen!" It wasn't much, but a tenseness about Fabian's eyes eased, as if knowing he had already gained something his predecessors hadn't lifted a weight from his mind.

His good spirits made his daring attitude return. He looked about the hall again, then lifted a sly eyebrow at Audrey. "Want to see my side?"

[Tad]

Audrey runs her hand through her short hair.  "Yeah... 'Grimsword' Grimsword.  But I didn't know that, about our two families.  My dad never talked much about his time at school, not with me anyways. Or about omens for that matter..."  She laughs.  "So I guess I'll have to take your word for it."

She notes the sense of relief on Fabian's face, and it helps her to return to her previous good mood.  Plus, his offer to show her the mages' side of the school doesn't hurt.  "Of course!  I'd love to see it!  Are they pretty different?  And why do they work so hard to keep the two groups separated?  It seems to me if we could work together it's be better for all of us...."

[Nadir]

Fabian lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "The two greatest strengths of the Empire, working together - my my, Grimsword, you do have progressive notions." He said it with dry amusement, teasing. "Not even the Emperor-king has the power to make wizards and knight act civil towards each other. It gives the broardsheets a field day." He smiled, something nervous working behind his eyes. "Actually... actually, Jack, the reason why we hate each other has more to do with dragons as anything else." He bit his lip as he walked through the door to the servant's passage again, leading Audrey to the wizard's side. "But if I tell you - please don't be angry. All right? I've done as much magic as you've done dragon riding and I'm betting that's hardly any at all."

[Tad]

She gives him a confused glance, but nods.  "Why would I be angry?  Its not like it's going to affect us, right?"  Something about about her new friend's manner is scaring her.  Why would he be so nervous about that simple fact?  It's probably just something about one wizard and one knight being jerks and things escalating from there.

His nervousness is enough to distract her from the excitement of seeing the wizard's side of the castle.  Still, she does catch a glimpse of more tapestries and paintings similar to the other room.  A part of her can't help but wish she'd be able to focus on this new information, but she simply can't with her friend being so distraught.