Initiation (Open to Wyrdwood Characters)

[platonicluv]

If every school had a sarcastic wishing well, then Q was ready to admit that he had been missing out.

The past day seemed to have passed in a whirlwind, quick enough to give even him a little whiplash. Clutching a limp sack of his sparse belongings, the boy stood before the mercy of the famed Wrydwood Academy. Of course, he smiled.

Following the recruiter who had managed to convince Q that he had underlying potential and absolutely needed to attend the school of magic, the male observed his surroundings with wide eyes, and an even wider grin. The adult had told the boy to help himself and take a small tour, while they focused on processing his application and acceptance.

Never one to say no to exploring, Q set off, his gray teacup dragon occasionally chirping from his perch on the boy's shoulder. The violet haired boy unknowingly turned heads, while he observed the architecture and design of the institution. His own attire stuck out sorely, and was vividly reminiscent of a very recent circus home, with eccentric patterns and colors, clashed together senselessly to produce an eye-dazzling effect.

A class had seemed to end, as the halls filled up with a throng of students, and Q found himself caught right in the middle. He beamed brighter, and made sure to cling tightly on his pointy hat. A farewell gift from his magician mentor, the hat was glamoured to portray the wearer's mood, and on Q it emphasized the baffling glee.

Q was amazed at the sheer amount of kids stuffed into one building, were these all students too? He even went so far as to start waving at those that stared too obvious, oblivious to their confusion or disdain.

The crowd was giving him an itch to perform, should he pull out his cards and show off? Q was still unsure of what exactly happened in a school, but if he had been wanted due to his "magic" skills, maybe these kids were all trying to learn the same?

Before the train of thought could continue and entice him to open his bag of tricks and start entertaining right then, Nat flew off from his shoulder and flew over the mob of kids, down the hall. Concerned of losing his only friend, Q put aside the lure of the spotlight for now and pushed past to follow the mini dragon, his grin flashing without rest.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"So then I called him a zit-munching queer, and pushed him off the dock! Then he was eaten by a shark."

Aahva Chatterjee walked down the crowded hall, a spring in his step. Beatrix Evans followed closely behind him, a smirk on her face. The two had been trading stories of home the entire afternoon, attempting to one-up each other with how ridiculous they could be. By this point they were both lying out of their asses- but that was part of the fun.

"Well, I was the hero of my orphanage growing up!" exclaimed Beatrix, throwing her hands into air. "I'd don a cape and become "The Masked- ooh, a dragon!"

Aahva was about to tell her just what a stupid name that was, but then he saw it too- a tiny dragon flying high above the crowd.  The students nearby had seen it too, and chattering and pointing excitedly. The Thanati boy sneered- he couldn't figure out for the life of him why everybody went crazy over these flying lizards.

Pulling his slingshot out of his robe pocket, Aahva loaded it with a rock he'd taken from outside. "Trixie, check it." he said smugly. "Betcha I can knock it right out of the sky!"

The boy took aim and fired...

[platonicluv]

Q was honestly feeling a bit clusterphobic, a feeling he'd never really experienced before. The boy was used to standing in front of crowds, not trying to navigate his way through them. Or at least, he'd always had an alley or tent flap to escape through, here the stone walls felt almost caging.

The boy managed to keep an eye on Nat as he flew down the hall, and students around him turning to watch as well. His smile stayed strong as many of the kids made comments of awe and delight, attention on the dragon was by extension attention to him too, right?

Suddenly a rock shot up and just narrowly missed Nat, the small dragon hooting in fear and fluttering rapidly to steady itself in air. Q's grin lessened considerably and he pushed through the crowd, finding a gap and inserting himself in front of a laughing duo, one holding an incriminating slingshot.

Q gave a sharp whistle and Nat thankfully heard and returned to his shoulder. The circus boy gave the two students in front of him a unreadable look, "Did you shoot that?" he asked calmly, his smile almost unnerving.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Aahva snorted with laughter as the tiny dragon nearly fell out of the air in fright, rock missing it by mere inches. "Awww..." he groaned playfully. "I was so close, too!"

"Let me try!" Beatrix exclaimed, irises rippling excitedly. "I used to be the best sharpshooter in Summervale you know, so there's no way I'll miss!" It was, of course, a lie- it was almost instinctual at this point. Just as her friend opened his mouth to call her bluff, however, the dragon had swooped onto the shoulder of a student she didn't recognize. Was he in a costume? Students around them began to walk more quickly, not wanting to get involved in whatever conflict was about to transpire.

Aahva broke into raucous, mocking laughter. "Get a load of this fag, Beatrix!" he said, gleefully pointing at the strangely dressed boy. "Who the fuck dressed you, retard?"

"We didn't shoot anything!" Beatrix lied. "It was probably that Rainfeather girl, she's always causing trouble!"

[platonicluv]

"My mistake, I must've jumped to conclusions because your delightful companion here is holding a slingshot," Q told the girl with a grin, tipping the brim of his head in a courteous fashion.

"But I doubt you would be much skilled with your toy, my friend," Q continued, turning now to the dark-skinned boy, petting Nat's head as the dragon leaned against Q's cheek. "Judging from your debilitated wrists, I suspect it would be difficult to master such a formidable weapon."

Q's hands never seemed to stop fiddling as he spoke, nor did his grin lessen, and as he conversed with the duo he had pulled out a deck of cards from the many pockets haphazardly sewn onto his baggy trousers, shuffling them continuously.

"Where might I find this Rainfeather attacker, then?" the circus boy asked, looking around the now considerably less busy hallway.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Aahva stared at the boy in disbelief, a stupified grin on his face. It took everything he had not to keel over laughing- the mere sight of the stranger tipping his hat had nearly broken him. And what the hell did "debilitated" mean? While his grasp on the Serenian language wasn't awful, the Thanati boy still had trouble with some of the longer words. "Uh... Thanks?" he said, instinctively touching his wrist. He turned to look at his friend. "...Rainfeather is Susie, right?"

"Uh-huh!"

If Beatrix was at all put off by the newcomer, she did a very good job at hiding it. "She's probably in the library. She always does homework this time of day." Without so much as skipping a beat, she continued. "At least, she pretends that she does. She's actually enchanting rocks to fly around and hit people." The pug-faced girl shook her head, folding her arms in disapproval. "She's a real piece of work..."

[platonicluv]

Q had never attended school before, so comprehending the words homework and library were foreign concepts, though he did recall hearing many youth complain about the words when visiting the circus, so they were most likely some form of torture contraption. No wonder so many students would skip school to watch them perform.

"Would you be kind enough to lead me towards this library, my fine lady?" Q asked, punctuating his request with a deep bow, his dragon hooting softly in protest at the boy's sudden movement and flying off again to hover over the trio. As he straightened up, the violet haired male's expression exuded genuine sincerity, betraying no other response to Beatrix's words.

Before receiving an answer Q fished out a dragon treat from another bulging pocket, and tossed it up to Nat, the dragon happily performing an aerial twirl and snapping up the treat, before settling down on his human friend's large hat.

"You know, at my circus- I mean, old circus, we actually have a few mages that enchant elephant dung to fly around and hit the audience. Is this Susie planning to join the circus too?"

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Why of couse I can!" Beatrix purred, giving a strange little curtsy with her school robe. She clearly was enjoying the attention, and she beamed happily at the boy. "It's right this way!"

Aahva glanced at his friend, an amused grin on his face as he began to follow her. Was this kid really that gullible? Made sense he was a carnie, he supposed. "I don't know. Trixie, is Susie joining the circus?"

"Oh yes, she comes from a circus family!" Beatrix warbled. "Her parents are clown, actually- you should see her juggle!"

Aahva snorted. "Yeah. You should really see her!"