The morning was just beginning for Liviana. After a quick cup of tea, and some fish, she was out the door, and off to get class started. Sure, it was a bit stressful, and certainly fast-paced, but she felt good about it.
As she flew through the halls of one of Connlaoth's older schools, the gryphoness thought for a moment about her students. Most, if not all of them, were the sons of wealthy families and nobles. Spoiled brats, in her opinion. Every year, a new round of them came through her class, laughing, disrespectful, and noisy. And, every year, when they left, they were angels. She smiled, and entered her classroom, and was surprised to find the door unlocked.
With a bit of apprehension, Liviana opened the door, and was relived that there was no one there. Flying over to her desk, she noticed two things that were out of place. First, her nameplate was missing. And, second, there was a sealed envelope on the large oak desk. Her nameplate, as it turned out, was in the drawer, and was quickly returned to its proper place on the desk. The envelope, on the other hand, was a bit of a mystery. Gently taking it in her talons, she began flying up and down the small aisles of empty desks that filled the old stone and wood class room, trying to decide whether or not to open it. Her thoughts were interrupted by the grandfather clock in the corner sounding. It was the start of the first day of school.
New school year, new teacher, same kids, same crap. Xanti slouched into this year's classroom on the first day of school just as the clock began to chime. The hood of her sweater was pulled low over her hair, and aside from a fleeting glance at her new teacher she kept her eyes on the floor as she made her way to a desk in the far back corner of the room. She quietly set her books on the desk and slid into the chair, scooting as far into the corner as she could.
Clea sprinted to the classroom, throwing the door open, upon entering, fell straight down. While she managed to miraculously put her hands out in time to catch her fall, her face was red with embarrassment. Immediately standing up, she quickly and loudly stated, "I am so sorry for being late. I promise you that it won't happen again. I cleaned up the entire room and did all my duties before running off to the bathroom. I know that's not an excuse, and I'm so sorry."
Her breath was still heavy from running, and she silently cursed herself. Why didn't she just wait to use the restroom until some sort of break time? She must have disappointed the teacher from the very first second. And seeing as she was supposed to be a teacher some day, and was currently in training, that wasn't a very good start.
Clea stared intently at the gryphon teacher, trying to be discreet but completely failing. She had heard the teacher was a gryphon, but seeing her was a completely different thing. She looked so noble, tall, and wise... and then there was herself. Anybody looking at Clea would think she was just a girl no older than twelve.
She was wearing an adorable purple dress that she had to buy in the same section as kids. Her pure golden hair wasn't too long nor too short and was kept in two neat braids. Clea was skinny without any apparent muscles, appearing a little scrawny. What really stood out about her, however, was the fact that she was four foot nine. She was, in fact, a full nineteen years old.
Liviana turned at the sound of the door flying open to see a little girl fall into the classroom. She was about to help the young lady up and send her off to any class she might be missing, but then she heard the girl apologize. Since when did I get an assistant? she wondered.
"Well, I suppose that explains why my nameplate was in the drawer instead of on the desk. Although... I do wonder why the headmaster decided to assign a little girl to be my assistant." The teacher said with a calm. It seemed to fall into place for her. This girl, apparently her assistant, must've come in earlier that morning and tidied up the room, hence why the nameplate was out of place. That still didn't explain the unmarked letter, though.
However, she put her thoughts about the letter aside, and put the letter itself in the top drawer in her desk for later reading. For the moment, she turned her attention to the girl in the back, who had come in just moments earlier.
"Excuse me, young lady, but what is your name?" She asked as she flew down the rows of desks to the back corner where the girl sat. She obviously could've just looked on the roll call sheet, but she couldn't put names to faces the first day, so it was practically useless until the rest of the class showed up.
Xanti, who had been more or less ignoring the startling exchange happening at the front of the room, looked up as she became aware of the teacher flying toward her. "Xanti," she replied, her voice soft. Then, remembering that this was school and therefore the teacher would be working off a class list, she added, "Xanti Serseri."
Clea bit her tongue to refrain from arguing with Liviana. She was not a little girl, and hated when people called her that. But she couldn't say that in front of the person who was supposed to be her trainer. Instead, she focused all her attention to making a mental note not to put the nameplate in the drawer.
Then she glanced over at the gryphon, then at Xanti, and then quickly searched through her mind. "You live with a foster family, correct?" asked Clea She took it upon herself to learn at least one thing about all the students before she started working.
Xanti bristled a little. "Yeah? So?" Her voice dared the girl to make a big deal out of it. Just try something, I dare you, she thought, all her defenses up. She had been dealing with this crap her whole life. It never changed. Next, she predicted, the girl would say something about a foster kid with weird hair not belonging in a school for wealthy noblemen's children.
"Young lady, asking that kind of question when you first meet someone is rude!" She said, almost angry with her assistant. However, she managed to compose herself before she did anything she'd regret later. As some of the other students started filing into the classroom and began taking their seats, Liviana decided the conversation could wait for the moment, and went to the front of the room to her desk so that she could address the class.
"Now, class, I am Ms. Vivien, and I will be your teacher for the year." She announced, her voice a gentle breeze amidst the silence of the class. If she had to pick a favorite sound, Liviana would pick silence.
Clea missed the challenging tone in Xanti's voice and was about to explain that she had a foster sister, but the teacher cut her off. Great, she thought, sarcastic even in her head. I've already messed up twice and class hasn't even started.
She watched as more students came into the classroom, mentally assigning names and facts to all of them. Clea then followed the gryphon to the front of the class, though she stood off to the side. She wasn't quite sure if she was supposed to introduce herself or not. So, figuring it was better than saying something and making a fool out of herself, Clea merely stayed silent, moving her gaze back and forth between the teacher and the class.
Cherie blinked owlishly at the administrator as he walked her to class. She was not the first Treyburn to attend this school, and the administration expected trouble. Unlike some of the older Treyburns, she was not outwardly a hellion - but she had been going through the same process with the administration on the first day for three years now.
"Here we are," the fat man huffed. "And here is your information packet. Again."
"Thank you," Cherie answered sweetly, accepting the folder from the fat man. She had forgotten his name again, and she didn't have the heart to tell him. He ushered her into the classroom with a polite wave to the teacher...and then he was gone.
Cherie glanced around the room, looking perfectly awkward as she lingered in the doorway. The odd, boyish ensemble she wore did little to help that impression, nor did the way her bun had already fallen flat at the nape of her neck. For the time being, though, at least she was clean! "Sorry. I lost my paperwork and didn't know where to come..."
Xanti glanced up as the door opened again. Oh, there she was. The youngest Treyburn. Xanti was fairly certain her name was Cherie, though they'd never actually spoken. Cherie's family had long attended this school, and her older siblings were something of a legend. "Hellions" the headmaster had once screamed down the hall, Xanti recalled. This one didn't look like much of a hellion. Actually, she looked almost as awkward as Xanti felt. Intriguing.
Liviana was just about to say something else when the door opened. In it was standing one of the Treyburns. Great.... she thought with a sigh. The Treyburns were notorious at the school, being hellions and whatnot. This one, she hoped, at least, wouldn't be as bad as the others.
"It's fine, Cherie. Just go and take a seat next to Xanti over in the corner." She said to the late student, pointing to the empty chair next to Xanti. With a sigh, she hoped there wouldn't be anymore interruptions. After slight shake of her feathered head, she continued informing the class on the rules of her classroom.
"Now, as I was saying, any notes I find getting passed ar-" she saw a note being passed right at the front. With a smile on her face, she gently flew over to the student, took the note, and crumpled it without even reading the message; a loud, wet gulp! following as she swallowed the piece of paper. It must've seemed weird, or even downright gross, but that's how Liviana dealt with the problem.
Xanti choked down a silent laugh when the teacher ate the note. Maybe, just maybe, this class would at least prove to be interesting! She carefully avoided Cherie's eyes as the teacher directed her to Xanti's corner.
Cherie nodded and slid into the seat beside Xanti. Once seated, she took a moment to assess the classroom again, this time from a sitting position.
Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she saw what the teacher did with the note, and it made her grasp her beloved notebook protectively.
She didn't intend to pass it to anybody, but teachers usually didn't like her notebook...and she certainly didn't want it eaten!
It would probably make her pay attention -- for five minutes, anyway -- before she would turn her attention back to the cogs and gears it contained.
Devon walked through the door feeling nervous. He walked through the door with a wicked smile. He quickly walked up to his new teacher and smiled sarcastically." Sorry, I had to attend to some family business.", Devon said still smiling. He then turned and walked to the nearest open seat. As he took his seat he put his notebook on his desk and started drawing. Only hearing every third word the teacher said. He began jotting down the things he had collected that he was going to put up for sale.
Things to sell-
Copy of "Nymphs, and their behavior"
A necklace with a green skull decoration
Golden Ring
Again with interruptions. If these kids don't stop showing up late, I may just hand in my resignation! she thought, annoyed with the constant disturbances. And, to top it all off, the student who just walked in was a sarcastic, pompous twat, one of the Isnars. The way he walked in, the way he smiled, all sarcastic and wicked; it just made her want to throw him through the wall.
"Young man, come into the hall with me." She said, walking up to the boy's desk and sinking her talons into his journal. She didn't care if he was drawing or jotting down a groceries list, her stress was pushed over the edge with just the constant interruptions, and her anger was just about to boil over.. She meant to correct the young twat's behavior not only for her own sanity, but as an example to the class as to what happens when you mess with the wrong people.
As she approached the door, she turned back and nodded to her assistant, basically leaving her in charge of the class until she got done with the Isnar kid.
Devon heard the teacher walk up to his desk. With his eyes still locked on his notebook. "May I help you?", Devon said practicing his best salesman voice. His snarkiness caused a few to giggle in the class. He walked with the teacher still smiling with his crooked smile. He winked and waved to a few girls while Ms. Liviana wasn't looking. Devon walked out the door and put on his best innocent face.
"I'm so sorry...I had to pick up something on the way to school.", Devon said.
Xanti leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, watching in unabashed amusement. Devon was one of the cocky ones. Devon was one of the ones she'd always hated. That snide, entitled, arrogant smirk of his...
Yes, she thought, this was going to be a very interesting year indeed.
As soon as the boy walked out the classroom door, Ms. Vivien shut it. She didn't want any prying eyes in the classroom seeing what she had in store. After checking to make sure no one was coming, she began. She started gathering all the mucus and saliva in the back of her throat, which wasn't as easy as it seemed. After swallowing the note just minutes earlier, she had to be careful not to bring that back up.
After she felt she had a sufficent mass of sticky mucus and spit, she asked the boy one thing:
"Are those clothes made of silk or wool?" There was a sly smile on her face. As the gryphoness flew in place in front of the boy, her throat and mouth suddenly flew open, coating the boy in a thick, sticky layer of mucus and saliva. As her smile returned to her face, the teacher opened the door to let the slime coated student back into the classroom.
With the teacher out of the classroom, it gave Cherie a chance to start playing with something! She glanced at the door furtively, then looked to Xanti. She put a finger over his lips, indicating that the other student should be quiet.
Grinning, she fished around in her pack and fished a gun -- of all things! -- from her pouch. It was a pistol, much smaller than the rifles many were accustomed to seeing -- and she began to strip it apart with a speed that was downright incredible! Gears, cogs, and springs soon littered her desk, and a healthy black smudge had appeared suddenly across her left cheek as she worked.
Xanti's mouth dropped open. First, because another student had initiated communication with her. And second...a gun?! Could this day get ANY weirder?
Devon stood there watching his teacher do something quite peculiar. It wasn't until after the fact did he notice what she was doing. As some sort of vile liquid covered his body he grimaced. After wiping the saliva off his eyes and mouth he looked up. His teacher was holding the door open for him to walk back into class. He let out a sigh and walked back into class. He then sat back down in his seat next to Cherie. His selfish ways and unmistakable doucheyness(if that's a word). Compelled him to take off his shirt because it was slimy. He set his shirt on the ground next to his desk and again opened up his notebook that, now had holes in it.
Everything was happening so fast. That was the only thought that went through Clea's head as people kept coming and leaving and everything. First there was the late Cherie, and then that note eating fiasco. Did gryphons like to snack on paper? She wasn't quite sure, but it was quite upsetting to her stomach to see. She looked away from the teacher as she grimaced. And then that boy came in, distracting her from the disgusting note eating. She remembered that he was one of the bigger troublemakers in the class. But then Liviana took the boy out of the class, and the students started whispering among themselves. She wasn't really sure what to do, but figured introductions were in order.
Clea had just taken a couple steps forwards when Devon returned back into the room, covered in slime. She watched him as he sat down and took off his shirt. That was against the rules, right? She was pretty sure it was, but wasn't sure what to do. So after throwing a desperate glance over at Liviana, Clea decided to at least attempt to distract the class from whatever drama was about to go down.
"Hello," Clea started, with nobody listening to her. Then, raising her voice, she repeated, "Hello! My name is Clea and I will be your assistant teacher. And before ANYBODY asks, I am not twelve. I am older than all of you, unless you managed to be held back. Which, for some of you"—she looked directly at Devon—"would not surprise me." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. It took a lot of effort for her to talk as loudly as she did, which wasn't even terribly loud.
Little could distract Cherie from her beloved mechanics -- but the sight of a slime-covered boy certainly did the trick. She stared at him a moment, then delved back into her bag for a piece of cloth that normally would have been a handkerchief to most. The sad truth was she only dirtied the pretty things, and so she made due with something much simpler and more disposable.
Offering it to the boy beside her, she said, "You have a little something. Right here." She indicated her face, smudging it further.
When the small woman up front began to speak, Cherie turned a curious eye in that direction as well. "Hello!" she chirped politely, admiring the woman's outfit with a girlish fancy that would surprise most who knew her.
Assistant teacher?
Oh, right.
She swept her hand over the mess on her desk, neatly disposing the entire pile into her bag with a series of clunks, clangs, and bangs. The top of her desk and her face were much dirtier than they had been upon her entry, now; she didn't seem to mind at all.
As Liviana returned to the classroom, she smiled, and returned to her desk, hoping that perhaps she would have an opportunity to read the unmarked letter she found earlier. Taking the otter out of the drawer, she was about to open it, but then looked at the class, looking for any troublemakers, or just anything that didn't quite look right.
However, she didn't see anything, but rather, heard it. Putting the letter down, she flew to the ball of the room, towards where Xanti and Cherie were sitting. And, sure enough, Cherie had just put the pieces and parts of something back into her bag. Shrugging her shoulders, she went back to her desk, and opened the letter. Upon reading it, her heart sank like a rock, and the gryphoness let out a pained cry. She was going to be replaced!
Devon was surprised by the offering of a handlerchief but took it gladly. With a quiet "thanks" he grabbed the handkerchief. He looked back a minute later...A gun in school definitely did not look right to Devon. He was pretty sure that was not allowed but, well... He wasn't really one to talk. He instead kept writing in his journal. The cry the teacher let out surprised Devon and he knew something was wrong. Lets be clear here, Devin was a douche, but he was not a mean person. He tilted his head,"What's wrong?", he said sincerely.
Xanti turned from watching Cherie at the sound of the teacher's cry. What was she doing? Reading mail? Xanti glanced at the clock. It was well past time for class to start, and she wished the gryphoness would hurry up and get one with it. She didn't like just sitting here waiting for something to happen.
Clea wasn't too surprised by the lack of reaction from the students, though she did sigh when Cherie dumped the contents of her bag onto the table. She had heard that Cherie was a noble girl gone wrong... though Clea liked to think that maybe nobility just wasn't her niche.
Luckily, Liviana dealt with it without causing too much of an uproar. But once the teacher read the letter, Clea got the feeling that things weren't so lucky after all.
Walking up behind the teacher, Clea quickly skimmed the letter and, astonished, asked, "You're going to be replaced?!" She said this loud enough so that the entire class would be able to hear it, completely ignorant to the fact that maybe Liviana would have wanted it to stay silent. She had been given the letter early that morning when she arrived to the school, with directions to give it to Liviana. But she had hardly thought it would contain such devastating information!
Cherie blinked at her teacher, then glanced around at the kids near her to see how they were taking the news. Most of them looked as surprised as she felt...
That was good. That meant she hadn't completely misheard the front of the classroom.
Cherie raised her hand -- then, after a moment, slid out of her seat to stand beside her desk, without waiting to be called on.
"Are you our new teacher then? Er..." What in the world had the assistant teacher said her name was? She paused, then smiled sweetly as she guessed, "...Cleo?"
Liviana was upset, but before she could say anything, or bring any sort of clarification to the matter, she heard a small scuffle down the hall.
"No! How many times do I have to tell you people, I DON'T GO HERE!" The voice said from down the hall. The gryphoness couldn't here what the administrator was saying, but she probably had a good guess. And, sure enough, the door opened, and being thrown in was a face Liviana recognized instantly: her younger brother Lucian. As the administrator walked out the door, he noticed the note in the teacher's hand.
"Oh.... I see I gave that to the wrong teacher.... That was meant for the teacher next door. You can just eat the letter, if you want." He said with a smile. And, with that, he added, "Keep an eye on this one. He says he doesn't belong her-"
"I don't belong here! I am a blacksm-" the gryphon got cut off by the teacher, his sister, who clamped his beak shut, and pointed to an empty seat in the back, right in front of Xanti in the corner. With a roll of his eyes, Lucian flew over to the seat, annoyed that his sister, the teacher, is acting like she doesn't know him!
Wrong letter...in spite of herself Xanti was glad. Despite her personal rule of never becoming engaged in school happenings, she was enjoying the excitement this teacher seemed to bring to the classroom. And then...another gryphon? He looked a little like the teacher, but that could have just been because all gryphons looked the same to Xanti.
Ugh... Why did I have to get thrown in here?! Lucian thought, his talons rapping against the desk as he waited for his sister to start class. And, sure enough, he didn't have to wait long. Liviana started the actual teaching with a brief summary of Connlaothian history, which, having lived in Serendipity all his life, he found quite boring.
"Now, can anyone tell me why some of the people that came out of Fell despised magic, and others sought to control it?" She asked, more so as a test to the class. She was sure everyone in the class knew why... Everyone except Lucian, that is. As she waited for an answer, she saw another note being passed, this time, by her dear brother. Calmly flying over to where he sat, she flicked his ear, which he didn't take too kindly, then took the note, crumpled it, with yet another loud gulp! sounding as the piece of paper traveled down her throat.
With a sly smile and a wink towards her little brother, she went back to the front of the class to await an answer to the question she posed to the class.
Clea merely smiled at Cherie when she got her name wrong. She was just about to correct her when the misunderstanding itself got corrected. It seemed like she would be teaching with Liviana, after all. The gryphon escorted into the class, however, surprised Clea. It wasn't one of the students she had read about. A late joining, perhaps? She immediately thought that he must be related to the teacher, but then wondered if that was a bit... creaturist.
Well, Liviana seemed to accept it so Clea figured she didn't have to do anything about it.
She listened as Liviana started teaching, and eventually sat down by the desk. What was the supposed to be doing, anyway? She felt useless. Instead of worrying about this, she let her thoughts wander. She daydreamed about running a school, going on adventures, and her childhood. Clea's eyes followed Liviana when she went to swallow the note, but she didn't react at all. It was still gross, sure, but she was too much into her thoughts to think about this fact.
Xanti settled back in her desk, sliding down a bit so she was half hidden behind the new gryphon student. Of course she knew the answer, but she had never been the type to speak in class unless forced. She subtly glanced around the room, waiting for one of the brown-nosers to reply. One show off or another was bound to speak up eventually, give some brilliant answer to get on the teacher's good side from the start.
Pulling the stub of a pencil and scrap of smudged paper out of her overly-worn book bag, she began to doodle on it. Her drawing was just lines at first, a dash here, a swoosh there, and slowly it blossomed into a truly impressive representation of Liviana, in all her elegant gryphon glory.
Lucian, having lived in Serendipity all his life, was utterly clueless as to how to answer the question. He didn't know a thing about Connlaothian history, and honestly never cared for learning why the Serenians and Connlaothians are on such different terms. And that was what Liviana was hoping for.
"No answers? Too bad.... I guess I'll have to call on people" the teacher said with a grin. Taking out the roll sheet from her desk, she began scrolling down the list of names, and didn't take very long to reach the name she wanted.
"Hmmm.... Lucian! Why don't you tell us why there were two different views on magic?" She called out to the gryphon in the back. She was going to have some fun with him, and this was just the start.
"I- I- don't know..." He stuttered, utterly surprised that his sister decided to call on him when she knew that he didn't care for that. And then it hit him; his sister was trying to toy with him. He covered his head with his wings as he sunk into his seat, his face showing every once of embarrassment he felt. He would never live this down...
Xanti's eyes widened. He didn't know? This was like second year stuff. The teacher almost seemed to be toying with him. This amused Xanti, and she added a mischievous glint to the eye of the gryphon in her drawing. She began to add tiny details and intricate shading, utterly absorbed in her drawing. She obviously had talent.
Clea got snapped out of her thoughts of tree climbing when Liviana neared by her. The teacher was just grabbing the roll sheet, Clea realized, but it got her to focus again nonetheless.
And then the teacher called on the new gryphon. That seemed odd. She was starting to suspect that there was something more going on here... first a gryphon appeared unannounced into the class, and then the gryphon teacher asks him to answer a question. A simple enough question, sure, but he didn't know the answer. And Clea couldn't help but wonder if Liviana knew the other gryphon didn't know the answer.
Well, there was nothing she could do about it. Clea's eyes skimmed the rest of the class, but nothing really stuck out to her. Everybody was just watching the teacher. After all, nobody wanted to get on her bad side. Not after what had happened already. Then she noticed the girl in the back—Xanti—was doing something. At first she suspected she was taking notes, but that wouldn't make sense. The teacher hadn't said anything worth taking notes on. So either she was writing something of her own or drawing. That was Clea's hypothesis, anyway. She didn't really care either way.
Cherie frowned slightly as the gyphon slipped further and further down in his seat. She lacked the common sense, it seemed, most of the rest of the class possessed; instead of staying quiet and watching, she chose to speak.
"Nobody likes bullies," she said simply, neither raising her hand nor waiting for the recognition of the teacher. "People who use their knowledge to make others feel helpless are bullies, and that's all magic-users are too. That, and being a bully makes you lazy, and then you're just soaking up our resources without giving anything back. They're kind of like that too. Big, fat bullying sponges."
As she was about to say something to the upstart, Liviana looked at the clock, and just as she turned around to fly over to Cherie, the old timekeeper chimed at the hour. Class was over.
"Alright, go on to your next class. Just remember we'll pick up on this tomorrow!" She said to the class as students began filing out the door, one after another to their other classes. However, something caught her eye.
She noticed Lucian was still in his seat, wings covering his head in shame. With a sigh, she flew over to her younger sibling and scratched the back of his neck. She wouldn't have a class this hour, as this was her tutoring period. Without regard for any of the other students who might be straggling, she started talking to him.
"You know I was just messing with you, right?" she said, trying to cheer her brother up. Lucian, however, didn't even look at her. With a long, drawn out sigh, she continued her talk, "it's not like you will ever see these kids again, Luc-"
"Just leave me alone...." He finally said, almost sobbing. His feelings were hurt, and his lack of eye contact proved it. First, he was dragged into a school which he never even knew existed, save for a brief mention in one of Liviana's letters, and then he was humiliated in front of the class by his older sister... Today was just not his day....