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Gimme guidance? ( Amethyst Rain )
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Post by Amethyst Rain on Feb 5, 2017 16:32:08 GMT -5
"W-we're s-social, we live in g-groups," Elleko told him quietly, referring to her own kind. She had been raised in a group with her parents, brother, and several others, and knew that it was how their kind thrived. They were like humans in that solidarity took a toll on them, which meant that being the only of her kind here was all the more difficult. But having others around alleviated it, when she had it. But it was so hard for her to talk to people. She wished she could be like she used to--back in the ocean, when she'd been the one leading her brother off to adventure and causing trouble, exploring the darkest depths of their home. If she had still been like that making friends here would have been easy, she was sure. But she wasn't. It wasn't that she was scared of people--despite what she had seen when her brother had been taken she wasn't--but she just couldn't. She rubbed again at her scars as she answered his last questions. "N-no. P-people are always n-nervous around m-me."
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Post by Feos on Feb 5, 2017 16:40:43 GMT -5
Van raised an eyebrow again. "I think you might be imagining...or projecting your worry about others being nervous around you, and thinking they are. Or, perhaps you are approaching the wrong kind of "people"." he stated, his tone a bit louder, and he took in two deep puffs from his pipe, to calm down. "Because, I find it hard to believe that if you approached a vampire, a werewolf, a demon, a phoenix or who knows who else from those we have here, they would be scared of you or nervous of you. Your people can be dangerous to humans, but they are nowhere near the top of the true food chain." he stated in a matter of fact tone.
"So...consider those words, and my assumptions." he stated, a bit calmer. "Understand that within Foresta, people look like humans, but they can be surprisingly...dangerous and able to handle themselves. Thus, they won't be easily scared off. And...even if they do, it's up to you to show them why they shouldn't." he said. "You know...prey...or the weak, let's say, is very, very willing to be reassured they shouldn't be worried. Imagine...imagine a huge beast, towering over you. Imagine their hot breath washing against you, their sharp rows of teeth, each one long like a sword to you, so close..." he said, his voice deep, and a certain intensity emanating from him, a strong present. "You'd be nervous...you'd be terrified. Just small fry to it...But if it speaks...carefully, softly, and starts to say how it doesn't mean harm...Trust me, you would feel like the weight of the entire world being lifted off your shoulders." he stated.
He was odd, especially for a professor. He was extremely direct, cutting to the chase. He didn't "Play it safe" and he wasn't being diplomatic like most professors. He didn't seem to be looking at her as a student who needed to be protected, who needed gentle care. At the same time, he didn't seem to be at all worried about her, apaled, weirded out, there was a quiet, total acceptance, an absolute ability to co-exist with her effortlessly.
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Post by Amethyst Rain on Feb 5, 2017 16:55:13 GMT -5
"O-oh," Elleko murmured, digesting this. That made sense. She knew there had to be plenty of people here more dangerous than her. Maybe she really was only projecting. She nodded, still looking down.
He was an odd teacher, she couldn't help but think. She'd never met a teacher like him before and she wasn't entirely sure how to talk to him. She didn't make a habit of being around people as intimidating as him. "W-what are y-you?" she asked suddenly, surprising herself. It had been a thought that just slipped out. "Y-you s-smell...d-different than anything I've s-smelled before," she added meekly, hoping that comment wouldn't disturb him. It wasn't like she'd been smelling him, she just had a predator's sense of smell.
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Post by Feos on Feb 5, 2017 17:03:03 GMT -5
The man knew fully well what she meant with his smell, since his own sense of scent was one of his most powerful assets and sharpest senses. Thus, he didn't mind her remark. Yet, her question was troublesome. If it was someone else, he would have outright denied them a reply. He had done so a few times ago, during class or even when a fellow staff member had asked.
But this time...he realized that this girl was making some sort of leap of faith. She wasn't a socially skilled person, someone who could approach others easily, and now she seemed to be daring to ask such a bold question of him. In a way, he felt that if he denied her the answer now, her leap of faith would meet failure, and this would make her even more of a shut in. Did he care? At least, he cared to the extent that all this talk of more than ten minutes would have been rendered useless perhaps, a waste of his time and effort.
Perhaps he should answer then. "Swear you can keep a secret. I'll know if you don't." he stated, his tone direct and sharp, his eyes fixed on hers. "Dragon." he stated after a long pause to ponder on his decision. "Golden dragon." he further stated, but it was still quite a laconic statement. With dragons having become a relic of the past, with hardly ten of them having survived to this era, he was...quite the rare creature, and dangerous beyond belief as well, even to Elleko's limited knowledge.
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Post by Amethyst Rain on Feb 5, 2017 17:11:44 GMT -5
For a long moment Elleko simply stared, mind racing. A dragon? Dragons existed? Of course dragons existed, if everything else at this school existed dragons must as well. She shouldn't be surprised. But she'd read about dragons, and he definitely didn't look like one. Could dragons shapeshift? Probably. That would make sense. That explained his scent, too, kind of fiery and reptilian now that she thought about it.
At the intensity of the look he gave her she looked away again, nodding. "I-I won't t-tell," she promised.
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Post by Feos on Feb 5, 2017 17:21:50 GMT -5
Van stared at the girl, his eyes squinting a bit, since he was trying to tell if she believed him or not. His nostrils flared and he took in her scent...he could smell a lie, and she wasn't lying. He nodded then. This was a leap of faith for him as well, to be telling someone about his true nature. It wasn't like he had any natural enemies...well, perhaps in his weakened state he had. But it was more that he preferred to keep a low profile, and he had still shared...he wondered how this would go.
"Good." he said, taking another breath in from his pipe. "Now, what happened to your brother, girl?" he asked. He knew what he was getting to. They had already gone through quite a number of important matters, and he had offered some advice. She also seemed to have quieted down after his revelation, but he asked more. Why? Did he care? Perhaps if they discussed everything, she wouldn't return to talk again, that's how he justified his question and interest to his gruff self.
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Post by Amethyst Rain on Feb 5, 2017 17:33:33 GMT -5
Elleko had no intention of breaking this promise. She could tell by his hesitation that it wasn't something he shared, and she saw no reason to. As interested as she was by the fact that he was a dragon she understood if he wanted to keep something like to himself. It wasn't as if she went around telling everybody every detail of her life. And besides, who would she tell?
At the topic of her brother, though, she seemed to shrink back into her seat again, picking at her claws once more. It was a nervous habit she'd never been able to quite break. "He...S-seven years a-ago, w-when we s-still live in the o-ocean..." She hesitated, shivering slightly, and then continued. "W-we went to the s-surface one n-night to watch the s-sunset. W-we d-didn't realize there were...h-humans th-there. Th-they saw us." It took a long moment before she was able to bring herself to continue, her mind racing with memories of that night. The humans' shouts, the ringing sound of gunshots, the air and water thick with fear and blood...so much blood. Her brothers' screams as they dragged him away from her, and the searing pain as she tried to get away, to get back to her family, and finally the darkness when she'd passed out. She'd woken up washed ashore on the beach and to this day had no idea how far she'd drifted from where it had happened. "They th-thought...I-I don't know w-what they th-thought, m-maybe that we were s-sea m-monsters, but...they sh-shot at us a-and h-he got c-caught in a n-net and they t-took him. I th-think he's d-dead but...I d-don't know." She finished in nearly a whisper.
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Post by Feos on Feb 5, 2017 17:41:26 GMT -5
Van listened carefully, and finally he nodded. Elleko might not be realizing this, but she was quite brave and strong to be able to share such painful, violent memories. There was silence after she was done talking, each one withdrawing into their own thoughts for a while, until the professor broke it and spoke.
"I don't think he's dead." he stated, then paused again. "Humans are creatures of reason...at least, whey they believe they are in control of the situation. And with your brother, they would be. They would know there is more gains to be had if he's alive instead of dead, and human medicine has advanced too. For this reason, I believe it's much more possible for him to be alive out there than dead." he stated, a part of him hoping that the gravity of his centuries of experience would help in persuading the girl. Was he trying to make her feel better? If so, that would be odd for him.
"Your people..." he started, and then his eyes wandered away, as if looking at something in the distance, something not inside their classroom. "Centuries ago, they had the ability to communicate through great, vast distances when in the sea. They could coordinate and communicate with other groups like that. I can't tell if it was through sound, like whales, or if it was some sort of innate magic, and I don't know if you still possess it. Many creatures change with the passing of centuries, losing or gaining skills. But if you can do it, if you can learn how to, this could be a key to lead you to others like you." he stated, leaving it there, not saying it could be enough to find her brother or family...but who could really tell?
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Post by Amethyst Rain on Feb 5, 2017 17:52:24 GMT -5
"W-we c-communicate through s-sound, sometimes," Elleko told him softly, nodding. "Its...it's not a l-language, r-really, but we can." It was by no means a developed language, but there were a set of sounds her kind made to communicate. Scent was by far the best way to communicate in the ocean, and so it was mostly what they used, but the sounds of her kind were like a song to her, something comforting she hadn't heard in a very long time. She'd known her family to contact each other across some distance with it, but she had no idea if it was what he was talking about, or if it was possible to reach her family that way. She didn't know how far it would reach. And she did have her own odd abilities, little developed as they were; she hadn't known of others to have them but perhaps her ancestors had.
"W-what do you know a-about th-them?" she asked, suddenly looking up as she realized the ease with which he'd talked about them. Nobody else she'd ever met had encountered her kind before.
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Post by Feos on Feb 5, 2017 18:14:34 GMT -5
Van looked at Elleko for a long time, finally seeing her looking at him directly. In his mind, it registered as even more progress in the girl's boldness and social skills. It took him a few moments of staying quiet, digging into his memories, and seeing how much it would be wise to share with her, before finally speaking.
"I met some of your people centuries ago. Back then, they had a big, remarkable city down at the depths of the sea." he started, his tone a narrating one. "In their language, they called it "Andravida", I don't know if you speak it anymore and if it means anything to you though. I learned about them, but they were secretive with their language and I don't speak it." he narrated. "They had their own writing system, culture, songs, myths and history, and they were flourishing. They were allies to the mermen through most of their history, and enemies to humans whose greed was taking the best of them. But they were known to aid humans in need, who were not identified as "enemies of the sea". Now..." he said, pausing for a moment, drawing more from the ancient vault of his memory.
"At some point, their city was attacked and destroyed by a vast, dark horror that came from unknown depths, the Abyss. They fought it off in the end, but suffered a tremendous amount of casualties, and their city was ruined. Those remaining, less than one tenth of the original population...I think they deduced that their concentrated presence had drawn the primordial Enemy from its slumber. They decided to spread through the seas in groups and live as nomads, and so they did. They used some sort of magic and song to communicate through vast distances and entire seas...and legends say they also weaved a harmony, a deep song to keep the Enemy trapped in its dark, unfathomable depths." he said, with that ending his narration of what he knew of Elleko's people.
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Post by Amethyst Rain on Feb 5, 2017 18:29:21 GMT -5
Elleko listened, enthralled, her dark eyes wide with interest. With no language there was no history or stories for her people to tell. With no home but the ocean as a whole there were no possessions to tell them about their pasts. All she learned from them was through actions. She learned the rules of the wild, not the rules of a civilization. She learned how to hunt from afar, striking with lightning-quick attacks that killed her prey before they had a chance to fight back. She learned how to avoid sharks and dance with dolphins. She learned when to move on and how to find a safe place to sleep. This story he told seemed like a fairytale to her. "Th-that sounds a-amazing," she murmured.
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Post by Feos on Feb 5, 2017 18:34:37 GMT -5
Van nodded slowly, if a bit solemnly at that remark. "It was quite impressive...the old days were a time when magical creatures flourished. Since then, we've withdrawn and live in secrecy and limitations imposed by ourselves, in order to live in some sort of order. Today...today is the time of man." he stated in a somber tone once more, and somehow, his eyes and voice felt like they were overflowing with endless memories of centuries long past. If he knew so much about Elleko's people, one could only imagine what he knew about other kind of creatures.
"But this might mean the way to find your family and brother again is inside you. Search inside you for remnants, instinctive fragments of that ancient seasong. The library seems like a good place to look as well...you probably can't imagine the wealth it has." he further directed. "You might find more about your people and their language, their song and heritage. You might even find some sort of clue about the location of the city, and there, you might find more about your ancestors and how they lived. That...sounds like something you could do after the Academy, correct?" he pointed out, rubbing his jawline thoughtfully.
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Post by Amethyst Rain on Feb 5, 2017 18:56:55 GMT -5
Elleko nodded solemnly, considering this. He was right, this was a time of man. People like her had to hide; nobody outside of Foresta would accept her existence, except perhaps for a few rare individuals like the ones who had taken her in. She was just a monster to them, and she was sure that went for others as well.
"I-I spend a...a l-lot of t-time at the l-library," she told Van, nodding again. When she wasn't swimming or reading her own collection of books she was usually in library scouring theirs for something interesting. She never tired of reading about new things, always trying to better familiarize herself with this still-odd world on land, but naturally had never thought to research the history of her people. As far as she had been aware until just now, they had never been anything more than a few scattered groups of wild people, avoiding interaction with everybody but other sea animals. She had assumed there wouldn't be much, if anything, but now she had something to focus in on. And that was something to do after she left the school, perhaps, if she had the resources.
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Post by Feos on Feb 6, 2017 11:26:46 GMT -5
The professor nodded slowly. "That's a good thing. Try searching for your people, or the city of Andravida. There's a chance you might find something interesting, something that can guide your steps after you graduate. And next time when you swim, try to look inside you for remnants of that ancient magic, the seasong, that allowed your people to communicate." he stated.
"Overall, don't be too concerned about the current state of things. People here are not endangered by you more than you are endangered by them, and the presence of the staff makes that danger much lower anyway. If one can shatter tree trunks or spit fire, they won't be worried about a girl who looks like a shark, and vice versa. So, don't force yourself to socialize, but when you feel some person is worth the effort and time, don't hesitate too much to approach them."
In this manner, and this was reflected in his tone of voice, he felt he had addressed the girl's worries and the reasons she had stated for the visit, and given her a general direction to head towards regarding the social and self-reflective aspect of her life.
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Post by Amethyst Rain on Feb 11, 2017 17:30:26 GMT -5
Elleko sat and listened in silence, absorbing his words. Her panicky nervousness had faded away, leaving behind the usual passively worrying thoughts that ran through the back of her mind. Now, in fact, she was mostly just embarrassed that she'd freaked out so much and run to a teacher. But she was glad, in a way. She'd found someone who at least knew something about her people, that was nice. And she felt better now.
She finally nodded, flicking her tail back and forth thoughtfully. "O-okay. Th-thank you. I mean, I-I'm s-sorry I f-freaked out, I just...um...th-that probably wasn't a g-good first impression b-but th-that helped a lot...so s-sorry...but th-thank you." God, she needed to learn to quit babbling. Why couldn't her thoughts just come out in coherent sentences like a normal person?
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