Silent in the trees [open]

It was a nice day to be outside. The sun was out, there were some perfectly fluffy clouds in the sky, the birds were chirping...all in all, an idyllic nature scene, like out of a Bob Ross painting. Saorise had let Morrigan and Aine free, seeing as how there was no one around them. She felt bad that Morrigan got more time off-skin than Aine, but it was a lot harder to see a snake and therefore a lot easier to scare people with one. With Morrigan, people were often equally intimidated and fascinated--after all, you didn't often just see a tiger walking around your island. Then again, this wasn't exactly any old island. 

Saorise was barefoot, her shoes packed into a small backpack she had brought with her along with a bottle of water and some throwing knives. It was a day off, but it could never hurt to bring some toys, right? Back during her stint as an assassin, she hadn't really needed to practice with any sort of weaponry, as she had her "pets" to do the hard work for her. Her uncle had only focused on the development of her magical powers, not her physical prowess. She had started training herself, though. Mostly out of boredom; she didn't actively intend to go back to being an assassin, but hey. Backup plans, right?

With Morrigan leaping through the grass beside her, and Aine off slithering somewhere (probably hunting for food), she sprinted through the meadow, relishing the feeling of dirt and grass beneath her feet and wind in her hair. As she neared the tree, instead of slowing down to stop like a normal person, Saoirse bunched her muscles and threw herself upwards, scrambling up the trunk and onto the lowest branch, about eight feet up. Morrigan followed her up, crawling onto the adjacent branch. This willow was so old that the branches were like chairs, holding them without even a little sway. 

She looped the backpack onto one of the smaller branches growing from the one she was sitting on, and swung her body off the branch, knees hooked tightly so that she was hanging upside down. Saoirse closed her eyes, and looked for all the world as if she were sleeping or meditating. 

With the sun flooding through the leafy canopy, Kemp exhaled softly as he examined the meadow before him. He looked a bit out of place with his black tinted sunglasses covering his eyes and noise cancelling headphones set comfortable over his ears. His powers had been causing his issues the last few days, which wasn't exactly a surprise since he was still learning to control them. Reaching up with both hands, he carefully lifted the headphones from his ears, pausing to check the volume of sounds around him. The melody of songbirds called echoed gently from the branches above him and a relieved sound escaped while removing the headphones completely and stashed them away in a small carry bag. What a relief it was to be able to hear things without first being filtered through his headphones. It was a very rare occasion that Kemp hoped to improve on while at the Academy.



He hadn't planned on coming out to the meadow, in fact he didn't really remember leaving his dorm or making the walk out here. He had been doing things like this more frequently, finding himself in quiet, secluded areas sometimes still wearing his pajamas or lounge clothes. This was one of those days. His clothes suggested he had been hiding in his room for a majority of the day- a pair of light gray sweatpants and a blue t-shirt confirming his intentions of being lazy and not wandering through the sun bathed meadow. At least he had managed to put shoes on before going out.



A gentle breeze tussled Kemp's hair as he made his way through the trees filled with songbirds and cackling robins. If he wasn't mistaken, there was an old willow tree around here somewhere. He had heard other students mention it before and figured he could sit beneath it for a while- perhaps do some reading. After several stops to admire the soothing sounds of the meadow and greenery, the grand willow emerged. It was much larger that Kemp had expected and he stopped briefly to take in the majestic scene, his head tipping back slowly to take in the full height.



“I wonder where the other students are at..” Kemp thought briefly to himself. Having been told by several students to come out here, he figured he would have come across at least one other person. Perhaps today he had the tree to himself. A nice change of pace from the constant bustling of the hallways and classes on campus.


ebonynightmare

Saoirse was enjoying the quiet of the meadow, nearly asleep, when Morrigan let out a low rumble. It wasn't aggressive, but she was warning Saoirse that someone was near. The girl opened one eye just in time to see the tiger leap down from the tree. She sighed, and figured that she should go investigate too. The tree was large enough that she couldn't see through the canopy of leaves from where she was, so she grabbed onto the branch with both hands and pushed her legs over her head, flipping off and landing in a crouch with a soft oof.

She glanced around and spotted Morrigan heading for a boy a few yards away. Belatedly, she realized she'd left her bag up in the tree, but there were more urgent matters right now. Saoirse snapped her fingers to get Morrigan's attention, and the tiger paused, looking back at her. "Good girl," she murmured, striding up to the tiger's side to stand in front of the boy. "Don't worry, she won't hurt you. Or at least, I'll stop her if she tries to."

"I'm Saoirse, what's your name?" She had no idea where Aine was, and figured it was better to avoid scaring the boy with the sudden appearance of a snake. She recalled Aine in her mind, and soon felt the distinctive tingle up her right arm that indicated the snake was once more just ink. Saoirse stuck her right hand out, offering a handshake. It was belated, as she would have normally offered it before giving her name, and thus a little awkward. But at least now she could see the tattoo snake on her arm, and ensure that the boy wasn't about to die from a mamba attack. 

You would think that someone with exceptional hearing-like Kemp- would have heard Saoirse when she jumped from her perch among the branches. Having allowed himself to be captivated by the soothing rustle of leaves and the distant sigh of wind through the canopy, he didn't realize he had been spotted until nearly walking into Morrigan. His mind reeled briefly, wondering if he was imagining the animal standing in front of him before  realizing a young girl standing just beside the beast.  He stopped abruptly, his eyebrows raising above his dark tinted glasses in surprise. 

"Ah...h-hey.." He stammered, trying to process the scene as quickly as his mind would allow. His startled heart calmed when the girl stepped in front of the massive cat and introduced herself. "Don't worry, she won't hurt you. Or at least, I'll stop her if she tries to."
  The comment didn't bring much comfort to Kemp as he tipped his head to the side slightly, looking past the girl to her pet and nervously rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand. Was she going to send the tiger after him for coming across their hiding spot? Could he even out run a tiger? Could he even run?  He found it hard to get a reading on the girl.  She seemed tense, or maybe  unprepared? He couldn't blame her though, nobody is prepared to almost get run over by a guy looking up at birds instead of where he's walking. The awkward pause lasted momentarily before she extended her hand to Kemp. "I'm Saoirse, what's your name?" She asked him as he looked down at her hand, suddenly remembering his manners and reaching out to complete the handshake. 

"M-My name is Kemp." He answered returning his eyes to her's, the glint from the sun reflecting off his glasses and masking his eyes behind a wall of black tint. " Sorry if I'm intruding. I was just out for a walk...I've never been out here before.." gesturing vaguely towards the willow and its low sweeping branches,his words trailing off while quietly cursing himself for being so awkward.


ebonynightmare