School : Fighting [ Training in a Strange Land ]

[Windra]

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"You only get one life. There's no need to choose an impossible path. It's fine to live as you like and die as you like, however.. Protecting a precious person.. You must not forget this no matter what path you choose."



Myocar Canyon
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-: Specifics :-
Location: Myocar Canyon
- Approx. two days' walk east of Deep Forest.
- Just beyond the Wastelands.
Weather: Cool with cloudy patches. Possible snow flurries later on.
Gear Needed: Warm clothing. Be sure to bring spare pants and shirts. Empty flasks/canteens. Blankets and sleeping bags are provided. Food will also be provided, but rations will be limited. If the student owns any sort of weapon, he or she is recommended to bring them.
Training: Team formation/dependability. Fighting styles. Energy control. Specialized techniques. Survival skills/test.
Duration: One-Two weeks.

--

It was getting late.

Scratch that. It always was late. The sun shunted itself away from the sky about an hour ago. Not too long after, out rose the moon, shimmering as brightly as ever. Stars dotted the atmosphere one by one. And the temperature ... Well, this was the desert. Evening brings out the coldest. It had to be below freezing by now. Even Naira was shivering beneath her clothes, jacket doing little against the biting cold. Yet Nemo was well-trained: she could tolerate this even if the draconic blood in her system didn't like it too much. It was the students that worried her. Unadapted and learning, she half-expected them to drop before the canyon was in sight.

With Myocar in sight, they were approaching their second night of walking. It amazed the half-dragon to no end that her students tolerated this much exertion already. Well, their hard work in simply getting here was about to pay off. Soon feet plodded not on hard, stiff, cold rock and dirt ... but upon plush (albeit frosty) grass. Before them was scenic beauty. Hills. Pine trees. A rolling river. Steep hills and snow-capped mountains. Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled. Elsewhere moaned the hooting owl.

And Naira, she swept her arms out on either side to convey their location to the others. Its magnitude. Its purity. The perfect training ground.

"We're here, gang."

[Roose Hurro]

The hike's two days actually felt good to Bem's legs, both hind and fore. A chance to rest wings for a bit, to preserve energy, to... well, it felt good to walk with the others. The weather didn't bother him, his kind being adapted both to heat and to cold. Warm summer skies, cold Winter's oceans. No need for clothing. No pants. No shirts. No shoes. No socks. No need for a canteen or blanket or sleeping bag. Food not a problem, when a simple GatePass could take him to a place with food, if no food could be found here. No need for weapons, since his whole body made a most effective weapon. Bem owned nothing but himself, hide, claws and teeth, amongst other parts. He had grown old enough not to need anyone but himself, to survive.

Not that he didn't want or need friends.

Family....

But his family lived Far Away. His friends, those he'd made in Deep Forest, they lived here. And he'd traveled with them these last two days, to a place where Naira would teach them important things. Not that Bem hadn't learned important things from his father... his mother... his drove... or from Roughshod, his mentor. One of the most important things he'd learned from all of them? Never stop learning.........

So, he'd joined this group, walked with them to this Myocar Canyon place, so he could learn from a new mentor. With the sun now down and the moon now up, evening turned into night, Bem couldn't help but feel a bit excited. Couldn't help the deep blue glow from his Mindstone, the glimmer of moonlight off his golden hide. That yawn and stretch after Naira declared their arrival, finally. His words?

Yes, his words...

... "Now what...?"

He took a deep breath of cold night air, and sighed out a cloud of condensation, head turning this way and that, eyes taking in the land round about, and making sure everyone was present and accounted for.........


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[Unicornfoal]

It was the first time Ruby had left Deep Forest since arriving, so the growing filly was doubly excited and scared... but not mainly because they were in the Wastelands.
The lesson they would be learning this time was, she understood, fighting of some kind. This was exciting, because, Ruby reasoned, if she knew how to fight, she could go home on her own and help in the war effort! Her mum would be proud of that, right?
Unfortunately, that was also why it was scary. Her father and grandparents had all disappeared during the war, and she could remember so many people who never came back from a battle. What made it worse was that her mother had never talked about it, and only now, having witnessed a battle first-hand, Ruby was beginning to understand exactly what had happened to them.
So Ruby had strode after their teacher confidently, determined to follow her every instruction and learn like she had never learned before!
Oh, actually, that would be easy. This was only her second lesson at school...
"We're here, gang."
Ruby blinked and look up to catch her first glimpse of their 'classroom'. "Wow," she muttered, ignoring her classmates' questions and comments.

~*~

Kibeti panted heavily as she walked. All around her were horses and humanoids, all with long legs and much larger than her, and she had to trot to simply keep pace with her teacher and class.
Throughout the two-day journey, the wolf pup had fallen back to the rear of the class, and she paid little attention to her surroundings, concentrating simply on keeping up.
It was with a cry of surprise that 'Beti walked into the back of somebody's legs.
Shaking her head to clear the stars, the pup looked up and cried "Sorry!" scurrying to her paws and rushing forward to the teacher. Finally, it was time to learn!

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

Meali wasn't embarassed to admit it: she was thoroughly enjoying herself. This whole school thing had turned out to be not quite as much of a horrible disaster meant for their personal mental and physical torture, but actually informative, and dare she say it, fun. Sure, it was still annoying that the teachers demanded their every spare moment of attention to show em whatever, she wasn't happy that attendance was mandatory -because her aunt said so, not the school- and because she was forced to spend endless enternities of time with her two siblings. Though she had to admit, after about a day into this trip, they had also stopped behaving so, so, so immaturely. They were actually tolerable now, well, as long as they didn't try to speak to her directly anyway.

It had been a while since she'd come this way, and was soon surprise to learn that there was more to the area than she had seen on her journey to find her aunt Gaeva. They'd been traveling in a straight line then, going as fast as possible with bad guys on their tails. She hadn't had much opportunity to really look around and get a feel for the landscape. This canyon they had just arrived to was even completely new to her. Was the world really this big? As her breath escaped her in small little white clouds the young filly trotted around curiously when they came to a stop.

The cold didn't really bother her that much, her species could handle colder temperatures at high altitudes, and all that walking had really warmed her up. Not letting her body heat escape was also a good way to keep warm. It might also give her a cold if she suddenly cooled off too fast now, but that wasn't something she'd even thought of so far. It was odd to be surrounded by so much winter, without any of the little havens found back in Deep Forest due to her elder relatives living there. Smiling a bit she continued to walk around, taking it all in, then turned her head at the questions being asked, but didn't add one of her own. Instead she turned to look at their "teacher" instead. Time for this one to prove herself as something more than just a waster of their time. The two day trip had been fun, so she had better not spoil it with anything boring or stupid like theories and stuff. They were here to learn something far more interesting and importantly after all. sharing a look with Ruby Meali had a feeling she wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Jahran and Zahli on the other hand were not so happy. They did not have that much control over their body temperature yet nor had they developed any kind of measures to endure the coldness. They couldn't fly yet, so their bodies had had no reason to develop anything to protect them with after all. Panting the twins came to a stop when the word came, their heads hanging lower than they should and no amount of pleasure visible on either their faces or their bodylanguage. They had remained near the back, happy to just trod on without paying much attention to what was going on around them.

"Are we there yet?" Jahran asked hopefully, afraid he'd misunderstood Naira's words. "No more walking?"

Zahli meanwhile let out an aggresive snort as something small walked into her hindleg. Turning her head she spotted the young wolf Kibeti, but didn't speak to her and just snorted again. This trip was bad enough without having people upset her as well. And on purpose she was sure.

"Can we get this over with so we can go back home where it's warm?" Zahli asked with an exagurated sigh she foolishly thought sounded perfectly natural.

Both twins then shivered in unison and looked up at the darkening sky. Jahran lowered his ears just a bit, Zahli just sighed and lowered her head in misery, and Meali didn't show any sign she was feeling much of anything as she smiled expectantly.

[Windra]

<center>

It was highly amusing, to be sure. Strangely enough she didn't get a lot of students to show up for this class. There was the dragon child, Bem. And the unicorn foals of which one was much older than the other two. Meali, right? Zahli ... and Jahran. Ruby she had never met in person but was hoping to see good results with that one - she seemed to be the introspective type. Understanding oneself was the most powerful thing imaginable, because once you knew your limitations, there really was no limit. And ... Kibeti? One of the wolf pup's from Umber's litter. Shame, really. The darkened canine would be proud of his children. Masquerade ... where had she gone? The mystic pup understood more than most younglings her age. But she kind of up and vanished, another casualty added to the strange, questionable tentacles of Deep Forest's unknown.

There were more students, of course. But her mind listed those that were prominent.

A choir of voices overcame the deadened silence. Zahli's loud complaint stuck out the most. "Can we get this over with so we can go back home where its warm?"

The half-dragon rose a brow. "If you're gonna call that place warm. I'll have to think you're on something. It is, after all, in the middle of Winter. And that won't end for a couple more weeks." One gloved hand splayed out, all five digits spread to contain as much of the scenery as possible. The canyon was dark at this time of night. It was difficult to make out many features aside from what was obvious, like mountain tops and brothels of trees. "We're a good deal away from Deep here. And the climate is different. Only cold because its the middle of the night, and we're still partially in the Wastes ... Deserts always get frigid when the moon's up, no matter what the season."

A look was thrown over her shoulder. That grin, so wide and jovial.

"Come morning, you guys'll be wishing you were shedding." IE: It was gonna get warm. No ... hot. But the group was filled with discontent. They'd been walking around for two days straight with breaks in between. Of course they would be restless! "I hope you guys packed some sleeping bags, or something, if you need them, or can use them. We're gonna head in a little further and set up camp. Gonna get a fire started, have some grub, get some sleep."

And with that she ushered them forth with a gesture of her arm. Trees were stalked past. Grass crumbled beneath their feet. In time they approaching a sizeable clearing where no life but grass grew. I the center was a pile of fresh wood, bone dry. Had Naira been here earlier to set everything up? With twilight blessing their paths and lighting what could be illuminated, Nemo sat down on a tree stump and motioned for the others to do so. She bore in her hands a lighter and had a pyre going in a matter of seconds.

Warmth expanded from the chill. Even Naira leaned forward to absorb what she could. "Now then," she began, slouching into a relaxed posture with hands folded between her knees, "let's begin with simple introductions. I'm sure you've all had time to chat on the way here, but something a little more formal would be refreshing. Ruby?" Naira nodded to the reddened foal. "Would you like to start by telling us a little about yo while I get the rations out?"

Nemo pivoted on her stump and went digging into her backpack, which rested next to her in a messy pile.

[Unicornfoal]

Ruby looked around at the rest of her class, wondering how they were holding up. It was only now they'd stopped to rest that Ruby had noticed how tired and cold it really was. The walking and lingering heat from the day had protected her so far, in addition to the natural protection her crimson coat offered her. Jahran and Zahli were shivering from the cold, almost everybody was panting heavily... Beti the wolf-pup had flopped into the dirt, her tongue almost touching the ground.
The filly almost missed their teacher speaking again:
"If you're gonna call that place warm. I'll have to think you're on something. It is, after all, in the middle of Winter. And that won't end for a couple more weeks. We're a good deal away from Deep here. And the climate is different. Only cold because its the middle of the night, and we're still partially in the Wastes ... Deserts always get frigid when the moon's up, no matter what the season. Come morning, you guys'll be wishing you were shedding. I hope you guys packed some sleeping bags, or something, if you need them, or can use them. We're gonna head in a little further and set up camp. Gonna get a fire started, have some grub, get some sleep."
Ruby smiled at the promise of rest and a meal. Oh, and venturing among the trees. It was in a forest that the unipeg felt most comfortable, and this one, like Star and Deep Forests before it, was unique in its own way. Most obvious was the terrain and size, but Ruby looked forward to exploring the area, regardless of how long the class would be staying.

Beti fumed. She was overheating during the day (thanks to her thick, winter coat), freezing at night and currently running low on energy, her sisters had both seemingly abandoned her, and they were further from her home in the packlands than she'd ever been before. All the focus and strain of their walk had snapped when she finally let her legs fail and dropped to the ground, only then to learn they still had a small way to go.
Complaining to the teacher was unthinkable to the pup; what if she took offence and somehow kicked Beti out of the class and left her to walk home alone and possibly get lost in the desert? Sure, it wasn't entirely logical, but Beti didn't want to take her chances and kept quiet.

Finally, with a gigantic sigh of relief, Beti collapsed on the soft grass by the pile of wood. "REST," she cried, her tail shivering slightly in a weak wag of approval.
Ruby noticed the pup and giggled to herself. Now they had arrived, she had time to pay attention to her classmates more. Oddly enough, she hadn't noticed the small pup during the journey; she had spent more of her time listening to the black and gold foals, Jahran and Zahli they called each other, arguing occassionally with each other and Meali. Apparently they were all siblings, though Meali hadn't mentioned them when they met at the Festival. It was amazing what you could learn by eavesdropping, though.
The filly gingerly lay down and watched their teacher start a fire using a small device in her hands. Magic? Or was it some of Professor Dragonpaw's alchemy? Maybe they were both magic.
Ruby was still puzzling over this when she heard the teacher mention her name. "Would you like to start by telling us a little about yo while I get the rations out?"
"Me first?" Ruby whispered. She looked around at her classmates with wide eyes before blinking and pulling herself together. At least she wasn't expected to say anything fancy, and there weren't too many people here.
"Well, I'm Ruby," she began, feeling it better to start with the basics. "I was born in a faraway place called Star Forest, and there was a big war going on so I never learned to fly, and my mum told me to run away so I wouldn't get hurt." She looked up at the trees. Okay, that was history... personality? What could she say about that? "Um..." She looked down at the grass for a few moments, before embarrassment overtook her and she hurriedly continued "That's it, I guess."

Beti sighed again. That was stupid. Who was next anyway? She paused for a moment to see if anyone else spoke up. When no one did... "Who's next?" the pup asked in annoyance.
"Um, I dunno, who wants to go next?" Ruby replied.
Beti rolled her eyes and sat up. "You gotta nominate someone or no-one does it, idiot," she lectured the older filly, feeling just a little sorry for calling her an idiot when Ruby looked hurt by the comment. "I'll go next, then."
Beti stood briefly to give herself a shake, then took several steps closer to the fire before sitting back down. "I'm Kibeti, but everyone calls me Beti, and I was born in Deep Forest, which is where my mum and siblings are at the moment. My dad's dead, so he's not there." She glared briefly at the ground. Her siblings had made such a fuss over the loss of their father, even though none of them had known him. Beti personally didn't care; he'd effectively abandoned them, hadn't he? "Anyway, I like hunting, so if I beat you at anything, don't cry, cuz that's just being a baby." She nodded once, then pointed at the golden filly she had run into earlier. "You go next, I s'pose."
With that, the pup lay down by the fire to warm up.

[CrhisaHoa]

<center>Crystal looked around as they walked, observing her classmates. Her legs were a tired and a bit achy from the constant walking over uneven ground, but unlike most of the others she could see, her overall energy levels weren't terribly depleted. Truth be told, if she'd been on her own or just with her siblings, she would have done more trotting than walking; She'd have been more tired, yes, but she likely wouldn't have felt as much strain in her legs due to the natural spring-like nature of the trot. Still, just as in Professor Dragonpaw's Alchemy class, Crystal found herself to be the eldest in terms of maturity and very likely physical age, aside from her teachers and perhaps one or two classmates, namely the dragon, whom she wasn't sure how to judge when it came to age.

Snowy ears pricked as Naira's voice rang through the previously still night, and the mare's head, which she had allowed to droop and bob with her steps in an almost-doze with the slow, steady pace, came up expectantly as she pulled to a halt a few feet away from their leader. Crys had been elated when she realized that her friend was to be the teacher for this excursion, and was looking forward to what the draganoid would have to teach.

The sight of their goal destination took her breath away, and a whicker of excitement that was more a vibration of her throat than an audible sound made her muzzle quiver. The landscape before them was beautiful, with those trees and grasses and mountain slopes visible gilded with liquid silver by the moon. Slowly, Crystal drew in a breath of the clean, chilled air, relishing the lush, open wildlands that called and drew her more than even the depths of the Forest that lay behind her. On exhalation, a ghostly cloud formed before and beside her muzzle, warm breath temporarily fogging her view.

One ear pivoted back, swiveling as the voices of the various young creatures present made their comments and concerns known to their classmates and teacher. One set of words in particular caught the tall unisai's attention - a complaint about the temperature - and Crys swung her head around to face the twin foals just in time to see them shiver in the frosty air. With a snort, she made her way over to them, understanding and empathizing with their discomfort despite her own thick winter coat, since she would find herself in much the same boat should she shift back to her human form.

<font color="ffc309">"Here,"</font> she said quietly, gently draping her wings over their small frames and smiling down at them reassuringly. <font color="ffc309">"This should help a bit."</font> She hoped that they would accept the meager feathery warm she had to offer, though she would not push it if they pulled away. Perhaps when they stopped for the night, she could extend an invitation to them and some of their other, smaller classmates to take advantage of her bulk and wingspan. It wouldn't be much different than her siblings had done for her and she for them, after all, and it might give her a chance to get to know some of the others better.

Ears pricked again as once more Naira's voice carried over the group in response to the golden filly's complaint. "If you're gonna call that place warm. I'll have to think you're on something. It is, after all, in the middle of Winter. And that won't end for a couple more weeks." The halfling waved one hand, ecompassing the entire valley and all it contained with that single, simple gesture. "We're a good deal away from Deep here. And the climate is different. Only cold because its the middle of the night, and we're still partially in the Wastes ... Deserts always get frigid when the moon's up, no matter what the season." A wide grin aimed back at the class. "Come morning, you guys'll be wishing you were shedding."

<font color="ffc309">Does she mean it's not necessarily winter here?</font> Crys wondered, then snorted. <font color="ffc309">Or is that a hint that we'll be working our tails off?</font> she added to herself with amusement.

"I hope you guys packed some sleeping bags, or something, if you need them, or can use them," Naira continued. "We're gonna head in a little further and set up camp. Gonna get a fire started, have some grub, get some sleep."

As they were led to their campsite, Crys decided to spear two fruits with one thrust, as it were, and voice her offer of shelter while attempting to lighten the mood with a bit of humor. <font color="ffc309">"I've got two down-feather sleeping bags built in, if anyone needs them tonight,"</font> she said cheerfully, rustling her feathers a bit without, hopefully, disturbing the two foals should either have remained at her side. <font color="ffc309">"The only thing that's missing are the bags and the zippers!"</font>

When the class finally reached the campsite, Crystal folded her legs and sank to the ground a few feet from Naira's stump, positioning herself so that her right side faced the fire with her head point at the draganoid, sighing in relief as she finally took the weight off her hooves. Gifted she may be in endurance, but she was not used to such long journeys, and especially not at a constant, plodding walk. Then, too, she had become somewhat of a nightbird since she'd become a unicorn, finding the night a peaceful time to run or fly beneath the stars; But she had not yet completely mastered the ability of her halfkin to catnap at a moment's notice, and so had found some trouble trying to sleep during the breaks they'd taken to do so, though it had gotten a bit easier after the second morning.

Crystal allowed herself to fully relax in the warmth of the fire and good company. Her neck stretcheddown and out in a gentle curve to rest her chin upon the cushioning grass aimed at the fire, letting her ears flop lazily as they and her eyes tracked the progress of introductions around the group, awaiting her turn.</center>

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

The twin foals both looked up when Crystal moved to stand between them, using her wings as a blanket to offer them some warmth. Both showed surprise on their faces at the gesture, then Zahli stiffened up at the touch of the feathers on her body and looked away. Jahran on the other hand grinned up widely and a bit sheepishly at the taller equine, then shifted to stand even closer to her, already feeling his body tingle in apreciation of the shelter against the cold of the night. "Thanks!" He sighed and looked over at Naira. So did Zahli, but her eyes glared at their teacher, not apreciating the tone of voice she had used with the filly. It was warmer back at the forest! She snorted softly, doing her best to ignore the warmth now slowly reaching her to the wing kindly draped over her.

Both foals however made it a point to remain beneath Crystal's wings, though one a little happier about it than the other, and followed Naira to wherever it was they were leading them. Both had recovered enough from their cold induced daze to apreciate the pile of dry wood waiting for them, though they did not question where it had come from. Adults provided after all, that's what they did so kids wouldn't have to worry about anything. That's the way things work. Once their larger companion settled down Zahli quickly "escaped" her wing and moved a little away to lie down near the fire so she would remain warm by herself. Jahran on the other hand waited for Crystal to make herself comfortable, then happily lied down next to her to snuggle closer, smiling happily up at her. He then turned his attention to Naira once more as she encouraged them to tell a little bit about themselves. Grinning even wider now he pricked up his ears excitedly. Oooh, this was going to be good! Stories -ok, introductions- by a fire! He couldn't wait till it was his turn!

Zahli watched Ruby passively as she started, then glanced at her twin brother. She saw the obvious look of sympathy on his face, and though she didn't show it, she too suddenly felt a sort of connection with the red filly. Born somewhere else, told to run away by your mother...it was very familiar indeed. And judging by the way Ruby said it, her mother wasn't with her in Deep Forest either. Maybe a bit too familiar... Then came the wolf pup, Kibeti. Though Zahli hadn't looked at her too favourably before, she now couldn't help but smirk at her attitude. It was easier to think better of someone when you were warmer and they weren't walking into you. Surprised Zahli saw the pup's eyes meet her own and she found herself the center of attention next. Her ears flicked back a bit as she quickly looked around, seeing the encouraging and excited look on her brother's face. Clearing her throat the yellow filly looked to the ground for a moment before speaking up.

"I'm Zahli," she started with a shrug, "I wasn't born here either, we," she motioned with her nose at Jahran, "were born in a large herd far away. We came here with our mom but she, eh..." her eyes darted to Ruby for a moment, the filly didn't want to repeat her words, "Well, we got seperated on the way, and now we don't...well, now we're here. Our father lives in Deep Forest but he doesn't want us." Zahli didn't see the odd look on Meali's face at this. She considered mentioning her aunt, then decided she'd already spoken more than she'd liked. "That's all." And because she could see his eagerness practically dripping off of his face she pointed at her brother with her nose, "You go."

Bursting with excitement Jahran jumped up, accidentally knocking Crystal's wing back. Quickly he looked at her, "Sorry!" But then his attention was back on the group as a whole again, his grin wide and his ears slightly tucked back in some nervousness. "Hi everybody! I'm Jahran! I'm Zahli's twin brother, we're twins! I know we don't look alike, but we really are, Zahli looks more like mom and I look like grandad! Anyway, as she already said we were born somewhere else and then we came here to search for our dad." He deliberately skipped the part about getting seperated from their mother. "He's still getting used to us and all, but I think he'll be really nice when he does. And our aunt, that's aunt Gaeva, she's really nice too and she's taking care of us. And that," he pointed at Meali, who was lying near Naira's stump, "That's our older sis, she lives her too!" He quickly looked away from her again as he noticed she was narrowing her eyes at him, "And I'm really, really glad this school was made and that we get to have classes! I'm going to learn a lot!" The last part was directed at Naira.

Looking around happily the black colt looked at the ones gathered, though a small group, he still had to decide who went next. Meali was out of the question as he was afraid to look back her again and to find her glaring back. Quickly he motioned to Bem with his nose. "You go next, Bem!" With that he settled back down.

[Roose Hurro]

Though Bem had seen many odd things in his travels, the fact so many equines made up their group still struck him as strange, given how many different creatures lived in Deep Forest... parents with young to teach. Ever curious, Bem further wondered how a bipedal humanoid would handle training four-leggers. Part of the strangeness. Indeed, he hoped to soon find out exactly how. This explained why he didn't mind not having his question answered, at least in a direct fashion, with words aimed his way. What with all the other voices, his own calmed and softened by his yawn and stretch, perhaps his own question had been lost in that initial stop's hubbub? Well....

Didn't really matter, since Naira's words handled the complaints offered, and indicated they had a bit further to go. Then camp. Then fire. Then food. And sleep. Bem had already packed himself, all he would need to be comfortable anywhere, really. So, a bit more of a walk into the valley, into a meadow of grass, treestump and woodpile. Naira, lighting the fire before he could offer. Then. Then asking for formal introductions. Asking Ruby, first.

Bem again took stock of the group, this time more closely. Crystal had offered her wings and her warmth to the twins, earlier... the colt stayed, the filly not, once settled by the fire's warmth. Ruby offered her story. Kibeti, hers, before she found warmth by the growing fire. Then Zahli, hers... and Jahran, his, in turn. And Naira......... ? *

......... Once the fire had been lit and the stories begun, Bem had used the time not only to listen, but to groom. He'd first walked one way then back around the fire, stock of the group retaken, condition of the growing fire checked. Only then had he settled to one side, out of the way, so he could spread his wings to the warmth as he sat back on his haunches, tongue licked to hands and foreclaws. Claws raked through mane, then hands wiped back over ears, oil glands on the end of his snout rubbed over forelimbs, wing membranes and......... *

Then Jahran had finished his brief story, and passed the "torch" to the young Fyr Fyr. Distracted by his own personal hygiene efforts, the sound of his name being called came as a surprise. A bit of a snort and sheepish look, as his now oil-wet snout suddenly stopped its ministrations. A nervous lick, to clean away the oil around his nostrils. Then...

... "I'm Bem, son and first offspring of Doa and Khan, apprentice GateKeeper of World...."

Bem dropped briefly to all fours, took a step, then settled to his belly in the grass, his shift in position bringing his head... and his teeth, whitely evident in his grin... within reach of Kibeti. And the rest of his body closer to the group, now that he no longer needed the grooming space. He would finish, later. For now? Well, he hesitated, looked down at the small wolfpup in what he hoped was a friendly manner...

... "This place isn't home... wasn't born or raised anywhere near here... just a visitor, a guest from very far away."

His eyes moved from wolfpup to sky, amber gaze locked on the stars overhead, chest heaving out a quiet sigh of homesickness, driven by memories of Gazelle, and a warmth deep inside not originating from the fire that burned outside.........


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[Gaius]

Devon had been keeping a low profile during the journey, which wasn't too difficult, what with the sea of other equines. The pants were a bit of a giveaway, but no way he was going around without those. Besides, getting them off and on was such a hassle. 'Jebus, I miss hands...' If he said that every time it ran through his head, it might well have been a catchphrase by then. But no, he mostly kept to himself and tried not to stand out. Not antisocial, exactly; he kept up conversations whenever others tried chatting with him, but they were always short ones. He just didn't have a lot to say.

Partly because the hours were passing without much interaction, Devon found the trip less than pleasant. Not from exhaustion, as endurance seemed to be one significant advantage of his new donkey body; despite the long journey, he barely felt tired at all. The elements weren't really getting him down, either; ridiculous as they looked, his ears gave excellent circulation for the heat of the day, and the cold was no match for his fur, especially since it had started getting kinda shaggy in the days he'd spent in Deep Forest. 'A winter coat, I guess. I didn't think they grew in so quickly.' He wondered if the fae magics had anything to do with it. In any case, he was comfy. Just very bored.

It was, after all, a desert. It hadn't been long before it all started to look sort of same-y to Devon. This made it easier for him to find something else annoying about his new body: his head bobbed as he walked. Yes, despite all his initial protests and resistance, he'd spent almost all of the last two days on his four hooves. Two legs was his usual preference, but he would have a) had trouble keeping pace with the rest of the 'herd,' b) probably gotten tired, and, most importantly, c) really stood out. Anyway, the head bobs were annoying. The ex-human had made a special effort to stop them whenever he noticed, but by the second, he'd all but given up. He more-or-less accepted that, in the same way his ears and tail would sometimes move when he'd rather they stay still, his head was going to go up and down when he moved in the traditional equine style. 'Just one more reason to stay upright.'

Thus, it came as a relief to Devon as much as anybody when they finally arrived. And not just an end to the desert, but a picturesque landscape, too. The promise of food didn't hurt, either. "Thank Jebus," he mumbled, getting up on two legs and giving his back, neck, and shoulders some much needed stretching. 'Ohh, that's better...' It occurred to him afterwards that this might earn him some attention. '... Worth it.' Then the teacher basically explained the game plan and led them to a clearing. Devon picked a spot next to a convenient tree stump, resting his left arm on the top as he took a seat, careful about his tail. He crossed his legs beneath him and sighed in relief. 'Guess I'm a little more tired than I thought.' Then he leaned forward in surprise as the fire was lit. "A lighter...?" he mumbled. 'Okay, fantasy world? Could you be a little less schizophrenic about the technology level?' The lighter might have made more sense had he known Naira's origins.

Either way, Devon considered her, and a few others, as introductions began. The teacher put him in mind of a dragon-girl taken straight from an anime, the ninja-esque outfit underscoring this idea. 'She seems like she knows what she's doing, and she's got a sense of humor. Can't ask for much more in a teacher.' She was cute, too. That was always a plus. The first introductions came from four young'ins, a red winged unicorn named Ruby, a brown wolf named Kibeti, and two more winged unicorns, Zahil and Jahran. Devon smiled a bit at the variety of feelings on display, from trepidation, to confidence, to boredom, to excitement. 'I guess kids here are the same as kids anywhere.' Then spoke the dragon-like creature, after having his grooming interrupted. Devon recalled bumping into -- or being nearly crashed into by -- him near the edge of the Forest briefly, but hadn't thought up a non-awkward way to strike up a conversation during the journey. It was good to have a name for the big guy.

After the sigh and wistful expression, Devon gave a small frown. Bem clearly missed something dearly. 'Actually, everyone so far seems like there's been some sadness or loss in their lives. Then again, I'm the same way,' he added, thinking of stolen memories and shape. 'At least I'm... well, theoretically an adult for my problems. I'm glad the kids seem so resilient.'

After a few moments of dead air, the ex-human decided to step up to the plate. 'Just get it over with.' Leaning forward and taking a breath, he said, "Um, guess I'll go next. Hi." Then a dreadful thought struck him, and he tensed up. 'Oh, crap! Please, please don't happen now. C'mon, no braying, no braying, no braying...' He cleared his throat, then gave a weak smile, tail twitching nervously. "The name's Devon, and I've only been in the Forest a few days. I came from a ways off before. ..." The smile broadened a moment. "Which I guess means I fit right in. Anyway, not much else to say. I thought I'd learn some... life skills, I guess, so here I am." He gave a sigh of relief. 'There we go. Willpower, that's the ticket!' A moment later, he said, "Oh, uh..." He pointed at random with his right hoof, "How about you?"

[Windra]

<center>

Naira had been listening to everything that was being said. She wasn't impartial to any one creature, though she did pay notice to the presence of Meali to her right, and Crystal to her left. Ruby was the first one to speak, and she did so without missing a beat. So the filly knew not how to fly? That caused the half-dragon to furrow her eyes a bit. Well, there was now something to work on with her. Then Kibeti, daughter of Umber. Her rugged personality reminded her of Masquerade somehow - it saddened her a bit, but also offered the semblence of pride, renewed hope. Bem she was familiar with and nodded at his intro. Zahli and Jahran piped into the mix somewhere along the line. Children of Gaevan (who did not want them?) and related to Gaeva by blood, with Zahli being more uptight and Jahran being childish, giddy as ever.

She grinned, though mostly to herself. Deft hands dug through her pack. Plenty of food was within her reach. She could smell it and, admittedly, found her own gut growling with the demand for nourishment. Looking back at the cultivated mass that was her group of students, Naira took into account that most of them were of the equine breed, with Bem, possibly Devon, and Kibeti being the only exceptions. There were more, somewhere. But the unisus and pegasus reigned supreme. Lucky for her, Naira had been informed of this situation by the overlords ... Okay, maybe not. She actually did some spying on other classes to see what kind of preparations would be needed, and to learn more about just who she was dealing with. So of the food stored in her pouch, about half of it was fresh greens and fruits, apples and oranges and pomegranates and more. There were other things, too: bread, a little package of butter, and a few wrapped pieces of meat that happened to be venison hunted only a little while ago while the others were sleeping during one their mid-walk breaks. Bem and Beti might appreciate the meat.

Naira had already gone through the effort of packing the vegetables and fruits into moderately-sized individual meals. Setting them out for those who wanted them, Naira took the venison and set a couple pieces to be hung from a spit set-up above the flames. They would be cooked soon. In the meantime a bunch of graham crackers and marshmallows and chocolate bars were on display. S'mores, dude. You know you want them.

"Crys? Meali? You guys wanna give it a go?" inquired she with a gesture to the crowd. They had yet to do their introduction and though Jahran had given a brief look to Meali, the older unisus filly would not escape her own turn. A brief glance towards the Healer. A bo of her head. "By the by, Cry, I owe you a thanks for helping me out when I came back to Deep. That was generous of you."

[The_Vizir]

Conversation was already started by the time the only true bipeds aside from the teacher finally caught up with the group, trudging wearily into the small circle of firelight. The advantages of four legs were readily evident, as the two Terran Experiments were completely burnt out and aching from head to toe, their insubstantial wings were little more than smoky wisps. Leigh, being the lover of classic phrases she was, had finally settled on "Her blisters' blisters' blisters' blisters' blisters' had blisters", and Lev had been forced to agree. He was more tired than he'd ever been before in his life, and would have likely collapsed or accepted a ride on one of the quadrupeds if he hadn't been so driven to outlast his sister. Well, it was a tie, he supposed, mind not quite able to think clearly now, and that was at least better than loosing and being forced to listen to Leigh do her I win, You loose dance... she now knew it in forty-three languages, which meant she could draw it out to half an hour if she really pushed it. A small smile broke on his face as he realized he wouldn't be subject to that half-hour of humiliation. And all it cost was two days of being sore, miserable, and subsisting on lukewarm ade and trailmix. As one who knew Leigh all too well, it seemed like a fair trade.

And another benefit of all this? Leigh had finally reached the point, about two hours ago, that she had no more films or television shows whose plots she could repeat to Lev without repeating herself... which Lev was deeply thankful for, as he didn't need to know the plot details of every single Batman movie created over the past two hundred and fifty years... that was sixty-three movies! Sixty-three! Including eight remakes of The Dark Knight! Lev had reached the point of plugging his ears by the seventh, which had apparently launched the career of the Hunter actor Tuur Bargon Vaalda Golgen Tey, who played Thug #4, but Leigh wasn't deterred, as Lev had been driven to the point that he forgot his twin was telepathic... oh yes, she had thought the trivial facts into his head! The mental battle that ensued was likely the reason why the two of them were so tired out now, but Lev didn't care. He didn't need her to start on the DC Universe, no... then... then he was afraid things would have died. Some things were more important than being able to create potentially life-saving shields of photonic energy... things like sanity!

But now, after all that walking, all those useless, useless facts which were now cluttering his head, rest! Rest and warmth and rest and sleep and rest and... more rest. And some real food too! Their dad had packed quite the selection meals in their bags, some decent military rations, which the Dominion had finally gotten around to making half-edible around 2300, after the jump gate to Prometheus Station had broken down and left some of the Dominion's top brass and political officers to eat the old-style rations for a month. Now that, that was a fact that Lev should know! Random historical tidbits! Not movies! On that topic... now that they've stopped he could finally get some decent reading done. He'd tried while he was walking, but transmitting the data to his glasses-like Opti-VIHUD made for both difficult walking and reading. However, sitting and reading should be doable, right? No need to pay attention to where your feet are and what you're reading at the same time! Now, if only he could force his sluggish brain to actually-wait, what was that? Lev wearily looked up from the ground and towards the fire, blinking several times before finally realizing the flickering before his eyes was his Opti's thermometer slowly creeping up in temperature. Right, yeah, it's supposed to do that, when you approach something hot like a fire. Yeah, even if he could read tonight, he would have forgotten it all by the time he woke up in the morning. Sighing to himself, the young Terran raised a tired hand to tap the right temple of his Opti, causing the various readouts to blink off as the device shut down. Slipping the optical device off his face and into one of his expedition jacket's pocket, he sat down in an open space close to the fire, across from most of the equines, barely even noticing the chill ground fatigued state. Stretching slightly, he proceed to unclip his backpack from waist and chest, shrugging it off with a great sense of relief... his dad had packed lightly, but still, after two days it really did start to weigh one down.

As Lev finally began to stretch out, his shadowed twin flopped unceremoniously to the earth beside him, falling face-first into the snow, not even bothering to remove her backpack or Opti. “Oh seven, nine, three, and one...” she said to no one in particular, partially muffled by the snow now surrounding her muzzle. Lev would've laughed, but considering he felt as tired as his twin looked, he decided it would be too much energy. Instead, he looked over the other beings in attendance. Now, he knew Naira from his father, who had directed him and his sister to respect Naira as they would him... the manner in which their dad had said it had put not only Lev, but Leigh as well... if their dad treated Naira like that, how powerful was she, and what would she do if they screwed up? She seemed nice enough, but she hadn't shown any of her powers off yet, so for all Lev knew, she could be like a super-ninja or something, like from those old movies of Leigh's... killing a hundred pirates with a single throwing star and badly-dubbed English, or something like that. As for the rest... well, apparently, they were a handful of unicorns, a talking donkey like in that one movie... that famous one about the fairytale with the message that stretched across generations... if Lev remembered correctly that one had the ogre in it as well! A dragon too, and a young wolf, kinda like the ones they'd seen a few weeks back in the swamps... but different as well. Well, not like all the wolves in the world were related, right? No, the world was a big place, as so keenly pointed out by their two day walk going, essentially, nowhere! This valley would likely be extremely close to the Forest in terms of climate, geology, and native life, though to be fair, the files he'd read had been about worlds where magic wasn't known, so it could be very much different here. That would be annoying, though... all this knowledge amassed over centuries about how the universe worked, only to have it invalidated by magic... Lev smiled slightly. No wonder his dad hated magic.

Lev leaned back slightly and stretched his neck, listening to Naira set up the meals... oh shoot! He whipped around to grab his backpack, opening the top, and pulling out the last portion of his day's rations. Lev's dad hadn't been certain about the kind of food that would be provided, most of the intelligent creatures here being perfectly fine with raw food that would at best taste disgusting to the twins, and at worst be potentially fatal. Though it looked like Naira was cooking some things over the fire that could be edible, Lev decided not to risk it. The chances of catching something from a Dominion ration was, well... far, far, far smaller than from whatever Naira was cooking. He took out the round-bottomed tin, labelled “Chicken Parmesan on Fettuccine with Neapolitan Sauce”and plopped it on the ground, next to which he placed a small black ceramic dish... a portable induction heater. Placing the small ferrous canister which contained his dinner into the heater, he opened the top slightly just as their father had shown them, and then flicked on the switch. Within seconds, the magnets within the heater began to spin, and the metallic tin began to heat up rapidly. Only needed about ninety seconds, and then it would be done... or at least that's what dad said...

“Hey, Sis!” Lev leaned over and poked Leigh in the shoulder, eliciting a tired groan, but Lev wasn't about to give up “Hey, Leigh... you want me to grab your dinner as well?”

Leigh grunted and looked up into the fire, arms crossed under her chin “What I'd like is one this is all done, for dad to fly us all back! It'd be real quick-like, only an hour or abouts. FWOOM!”

Lev looked up at the numerous equines, then back at Leigh “Uhh... I don't know if he can fit everyone into a Beluga, Leigh...”

Leigh's face disappeared back into the snow, and quite grumblings directed at nobody and everybody began to filter out from the white powder. Lev sighed, and grabbed Leigh's canned ration as well from the top of her pack... she'd complain either way, best cook it and have her grumble some more than not cook it and have her glare at him for the next day for being lazy. Lev idly wondered if all girls were as confusing as his sister, or if he'd just gotten lucky...

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

Meali looked back at Naira at the mention of her name and gave a little smile. Yeah, no way she was going to escape this, but she could keep it short anyway.

"Ok, I'll go," she spoke up, then paused to looked around while glances were switched to her from Naira, "Hey, I'm Meali. I'm their half sister as you just heard," she said as she motioned towards the equine twins without looking at them. "I was born in the same herd as them but I moved to Deep Forest soon after with my dad and aunt, and this is pretty much the only home I can really remember."

She looked around then shrugged, "I guess that's really everything you need to know about me," she snickered at last, then motioned at the next to take their turn.

[Gaius]

((Just thought I'd go ahead and take my turn))

Devon noted the labored breaths that accompanied the arrival of the other pair of twins. Leigh's in particular, what with the punctuating collapse. 'Heh. Wow, tough little guys. I'm not sure I could have survived the trip on two legs.' Much as he wished they didn't come at others' expense, he rather liked such moments; they underscored the idea that his new body wasn't all bad. Looking at them, he couldn't help thinking of the Nism. Not to say Thoee and Deen looked much like the two experiments present, but the apparent blending of, among others, mammalian and reptilian traits into humanoid form struck him as familiar. 'Then again, I guess Naira technically fits that description. Heh, fat chance those three species are related.' Had he paid enough attention to note the experiments' technological savvy (that eyepiece should have been a clue), it would have been another parallel to draw. It was a shame the ex-human had been resisting the temptation to eavesdrop with his new ears; almost any given sentence of Leigh's would have caught his interest, at which point Lev would have probably been relieved to let Dev tag in as her conversation buddy.

Unaware of this missed chance to make two others plus himself quite a bit happier, the donkey's attention turned to the food Naira was getting out for everyone. Not completely, of course. For one thing, he didn't seem to get too hungry. He'd been the same way before the change, but, though his portions were now definitely larger, he was surprised how little he really needed. 'I know the phrase, "hungry as a horse," and I know it doesn't quite apply, but... I expected more of an appetite. I kinda thought my body would need more.' And so Devon experienced the perks of being an "easy keeper" equine, better adapted for a harsher climate. As for the drawbacks... well, it was good he hadn't been raised to clear his plate, or he might have found himself looking a little chubby with great speed.

In any case, Devon's other reason for not going right at the veggies arose from a great force within him, one that governed many of his actions: politeness. He couldn't really justify to himself snatching up a meal ahead of all the herbivorous kids. Besides, this way he got to see how relatively veteran equines got around the 'no hands' issue. It gave him a better idea of the mouth technique required, certainly. 'Buuuut, all the same, I think I'll just push it closer with my hooves.'

That would come later. While waiting for the youngsters to get their dinners, he gave the ongoing introductions his attention. After the expected lull, Meali gave it a go. She kept it short and sweet, like everyone else's. Well, other than her half-brother's; Devon hadn't seen a kid that enthusiastic in a long time, and he smiled at the thought as he'd smiled at the sight. 'It's kind of contagious, actually.'

Once the light-blue filly had taken her turn, however, Devon found himself distracted. He was getting used to that, but this was new, in that it caught his nose instead of his ears. Well, not just his ears. There was a sound of... some active mechanism he couldn't place, and the smell of something appealing and... familiar. Both originated about 90 degrees around the circle, where the twin experiments were... well, where Lev was sitting and where Leigh continued to enjoy the taste of snow. Now that Devon looked, a fairly small device was clearly operating. He stared at it a bit. Then got very close to throwing up his hooves, and giving up on trying to place the new world's tech level. 'They have portable microwaves!?' He'd thought the Nism were the exception (close; they were an exception). However, the real sidewinder for the donkey came when he finally placed the smell: chicken parmesan, his favorite Italian dish. A thing he'd never expected to find in this world, and knew he could not presently eat. Devon then began to wonder, half-serious, if the universe was making fun of him. He couldn't do much other than stare, slack-jawed, droop-eared, and twitch-tailed, at the warming meal.

[Roose Hurro]

Meanwhile.........

Thoee felt pleased with her work. So much so, she just couldn't wait for Devon to get back from his little schooling adventure. Having just fininshed the last stitch, she couldn't help holding up her work in front of her mate, Deen, for his approval...

... "Real snazzy!" he'd said.

And she'd been even more pleased. Not only because his comment had been honest, as his comments always were, but... well, the way he'd rolled over on the bedpillows, and the way he'd looked at her, and... well, he looked... ummm... and his scent was so... male. And playful. The way he waved both forelimbs and tail towards her work, along with his words. Shame the Winter's snuggle season still enveloped the Forest outside, or she would have been ohhh so tempted! Not that she couldn't still admire... everything about him, from tip of nose to tip of... ahem!... tail. Oh, yes, he could be so cute and cuddly, at such odd moments!

However...

... "Such a shame Devon will have to wait...."

To which Deen replied, with a grin...

... "Sweetness, if you really want to go... go."

"Really, My Love...?"

"Sure... I'll keep the bed warm for ya...."

And so, Thoee, with warm smile in place, paced quickly over to her mate, gave him a lick and a hug, and headed out, to deliver her gift to Devon.........

Meanwhile.........

The group of teacher and students had arrived at the valley about ten or fifteen minutes later, and were settling in. Intros had passed from one to the other, until...

... well.

It may have been quicker to jump Threshhold, but Threshhold was better suited to WorldWalking, very awkward and unreliable point to point, on a planetary surface. Within the same gravity well. So, Thoee had simply grabbed a pack, after her affections towards Deen, neatly folded Devon's gift, slid it inside, secured the pack around her shoulders, and headed for the valley at a dead run. Which for her... same as any Nism, really... turned out to be quite rapid. How rapid? Well, Devon presently stared, slack-jawed, droop-eared, and twitch-tailed, at Lev's warming meal. Before either jaw or drool could hit the ground, a warm breeze washed over the group, fanned the fire a bit, and brought with it a swirl of dust and...

... Thoee.

Her rapid pace had quite suddenly slowed, and her form stepped out of the dissipating cloud with barely a ruffle of fur, her warm smile directed at Devon as she gracefully stepped his way, slipped pack from her shoulders, and removed...

... a pair of brand new pants from within.

The fabric resembled denim, but it wasn't. Had that bluegray, stonewashed look, with patches of contrasting brown on seat and knees, matched to a sturdy belt. A sturdy layer of dark grey on thighs and crotch, to boot. No zippers, no buttons. Every clasp and seal, designed for hoofed manipulation, even the belt's buckle. And not a seem or stitch out of place. Loose enough in fit to allow freedom of movement, enough stretch in the fabric, it could adjust to size around the waist, should Devon need it, without causing a wedgie in... uncomfortable places. Secure enough, it wouldn't slide down around his ankles, no matter how active he got. Yet easy to remove, even while standing. Room for his tail. Able to repell both dirt and water, while allowing his body to breathe. The most perfect pants any donkey-fied person could want! Thoee felt proud of her work, as she presented her gift...

... "Hello and good evening, Devon. Are you ready to try them on...?"

This little scene caught Bem's full attention... in all his travels, he'd never seen a clothed creature clothe or unclothe. So, he felt very curious to see and know just how it was done.........


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Gaius]

((Wow, almost 2 months since Roose's post, but it's done! Man, does it feel good to post again. ))

Some eyes may have caught Devon gawking at the chicken parmesan. While a comical sight, it was quickly outdone, as the tips of his long ears jumped from their lowest points to their highest in record time. Luckily, by that point everyone in the clearing was probably less focused on him than on the sudden gust, and the one who had brought it. And there he was less fortunate: attention paid to the recently meteoric Nism quickly became attention paid to the confused donkeyboy. On the bright side, the guy at least manged to first wipe the spot of drool away with a wrist/fetlock to the muzzle. With it gone, there was no chance of any embarrassment in the coming moments. Incidentally, for parties who believe that, have I got a bridge deal for you.

Anyway, there was Thoee. She was beaming, clearly pleased with herself and her handiwork. Devon could understand why; if they were anything like what he'd been promised when the Nism volunteered her tailoring, he was going to be pleased himself. Deen and Thoee had told him the buttons and zipper on his current jeans were going to be... troublesome for his needs. Without going into specifics, the last two weeks had underscored this, put it in bold, and cranked the font size up to something Mr. Magoo could comfortably read from across a football field -- American, Association, whatever. The sight of them had got his eyes and mouth smiling as much as his transformed head allowed, and his tail swishing unabashedly.

Not that Devon hadn't cheered up once he'd spotted Thoee, and greeted her with a cheerful, if surprised, "Thoee! Good evening to you," even sitting up straighter. She and her mate had been among his first acquaintances in the Forest, and had showed him far more kindness and generosity than he'd dared expect. Honestly, she struck him as something of a mother. She had helped prepare his first meal as a donkey, and even admonished him while they ate. Not for the mess of his first muzzle-to-plate dining experience, but for the excessive apologies about his manners.

Actually, the resemblance to a mother was beginning to erode his smile and his tail's enthusiasm. He knew it was stupid, but for the breakdown... 'She's made a long' -- or short -- 'journey out here to deliver me something at school, in front of all my classmates.' Yeah, that was... familiar. And, as when it had happened all those years ago, it put a blush on Devon's face. The only differences were that the blush now had some fur in its way, but still got through, and that it was happening to him as a technical adult in a class of mostly children, which made the blush burn all the fiercer.

However, while there was a tug from that, the man-turned-donkey wasn't too bent out of shape about it. "Thank you," he told her, enthusiasm dampened by childish feelings, but still very clear. But after a moment, something struck him about her question of putting his pants on. Maybe he completely mistook her inflection, maybe it was just the plain interest on Bem's face, or maybe there was no misunderstanding at all, but Devon got an idea into his head. And once it was there, the effects were obvious: the ears slackened, the smile faded, the tail slowed to a halt, and the blush almost burned hot enough to make the fire superfluous.

The donkey gave a little cough, and, with a nervous grin, decided to clarify, "Err, you don't mean right now, do you?"

[The_Vizir]

((Let's see if we can't pull off a rez here, eh?))

Lev was completely oblivious to the salivating of the donkey-boy, but given the fact that his brain was running at speeds slower than an old dial-up modem trying to download state-of-the-art flash games, it was excusable. The XIV groggily counted down the seconds in his head... 37, 36, 35, 34 *FWOOSH* 32, 31, 30, 29, 28... wait... 26... why... 24... why was the tin in the snow like that? Uhh... what second was he on again? And why was the tin in the snow like that? Lev blinked a few times, before announcing to no one in particular "Because it fell out of the induction heater, genius". Blinking a few times and shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, he moved to place the partially spilt dinner back on the heater, before his mind finally realized there had been a rather annoying fwoosh of wind. He pulled his jacket tight and looked up around to see how the other students were dealing with the chill... hmm, that was odd. He didn't remember that... wait... what, hunh? Ooooooooookay... what? Lev's datastream eyes flickered a bit as his core nearly crashed from the severe lag the sudden appearance of the Nism had caused. Instead, he held up his hand and looked at Naira "Uhh... teacher? Permission to undergo system reboot?" And then, without waiting for Naira's reply, he flopped back into the snow, his eyes flickering a solid black for a moment, before the data stream slowly restored itself.

Lev's restart caused a slight shock to Leigh's own system, and her weary head popped back out of the snow. The dark fur of her muzzle was caked in now, giving her a slightly more comical appearance than normal. Looking at the scene before her, of a fully grown more bestial version of herself handing over a pair of pants to the talking donkey dude, she could only shake her head in confusion. "I've really gotta stop watching so many movies..." she sighed, but hauled herself to her feet nonetheless. Picking up the unpleasantly lukewarm Chicken Parmesan and sticking a fork into it, she walked over to the Nism and the donkey. "Okay, don't worry, I've got this..." she mumbled as she shoved a fork-full of the precooked poultry into her mouth, completely ignoring it's temperature in her teetering daze. Holding out her spare hand toward the shorts in the Nism's hands, she began to bend the flow of photons around them, shifting some into hyperspace. Slowly, very slowly, and with a great deal of effort on the young Terran experiments' part, the shorts were shrouded in a cloud of shadows. "There ya go!" she smiled rather foolishly at Devon "There ya go, donkey! Hehe... donkey..." *FWOOMP* and she returned to the snow, the effort of manifesting the darkening power finally draining her... "Wow... shouldn't have done that..." she giggled, before squinting discerningly up at Thoee "Uhh... hey, you wouldn't happen to be my mom, would you? 'Cause if you are, I'm really not in the mood for a lightsaber battle, okay? Not tonight. Uhh... come back after I've found the crazy little green dude, okay? Okay..." she sighed "I think... I think I should reboot as well... uhh... yeah. Don't touch me for the next few minutes, alright? Alright, love you too..." And with that, Leigh's glowing green eyes flickered off as well, becoming a dull black before her eyes to began to refill with symbols.