Late on the first day of school. Television doesn't exist in this universe, but if it did, this would be the kind of scenario that only happens in television shows. Nevertheless, you've arrived on Jalmeray and the great gates to the House of Unyielding Radiance loom up ahead like two giant horns (as you get closer it looks like they may in fact be two giant horns). Finally, you make it to the back of a crowd of students just outside the gates - at least you haven't missed orientation completely.
"...and that, dear students, was how I got banned for life from the entire continent of Tian Xia." The current speaker is a towering, hairless man - or perhaps a giant. His exact figure and dress are difficult to make out owing to the painfully bright light emanating from his form. "Anyhow, hopefully you've paid good attention to all the rules I just explained, especially the ones carrying an automatic expulsion penalty. But enough of such grim talk - if you'll pardon my leave for a few minutes, I have a few administrative matters to attend to. In the mean time, I suggest you fill out those registration forms you received at the beginning of orientation - failure to do so will result in automatic expulsion." The speaker emphasizes these last two words by promptly and unceremoniously vanishing.
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"Excellent!" Shona said with a huge grin, "We missed the boring speech and can start meeting some boys!"
"Actually," interjected the thrush, hovering ever nearby, "that 'boring speech' was very important if you're going to...Hey! Wait up!"
And he flew off in pursuit of Shona was already happily skipping off towards a group of boys, waving and calling out, "Woo hoo! Hello boys"
Chocola ran up to the crowd of people, the bell around her neck jingling loudly as she did so. "Gah! Um.. Does anyone have an extra registration form! Anyone? Please!" When someone did hand her a copy, she fumbled with it, her hands feeling a bit numb from hearing the words automatic expulsion so many times. Finding a firm grasp on it, though crumpling it slightly, she took her backpack off and began to search through it for a pen. "This is not how I imagined my first day going!"
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Skipping and focusing on boys, Shona didn't really see the girl rummaging through a backpack and bumped into her as she skipped past.
"Oppsy daisy!" she said lightly and continued towards the group of boys she'd spied.
"Terribly sorry about that," said a thrush flying up in pursuit of the girl. "She's just terribly unfocused. And clumsy. And a thorn in my side..." he muttered as he continued on.
The girl stopped and whirled on the bird causing it to almost crash into her. "Hey!" she said. "You're my bird, Mr. Thrush, and you're supposed to just talk to me!"
"Again," said the bird in what was an obviously exasperated tome coupled with a strong attempt to maintain composure, "my name is not Mr. Thrush."
The grip Chocola did manage to hold on the paper failed as she was hit by the passing girl. "Oh. Um.. That's alright, Mr. Bird. I was kind of in the way." She fumbled for her paper, losing her backpack in the process. "Seeing the girl stop she smiled, awkwardly. [b]"I.. Im Chocola. Does everyone have a talking animal or is it just us?" Her hand went up to thoughtlessly caress the bell around her neck, her ears twitching slightly.
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As the girl addressed her, Shona's gaze shifted from the bird to the girl, back to the group of boys, then back to the girl.
"Chocola? Like chocolate? That sounds delicious!" Then, looking her over, she seemed to nod contentedly before offering her hand and saying, "I'm Shona. Pleased to meet you."
Meantime, the thrush kept hovering nearby muttering, "I'm not Mr. Thrush nor am I Mr. Bird."
"And as for the animals...actually...I don't know." Then she seemed to ponder it for a beat before adding, "How about we go ask those cute boys about it?"
Chocola shook the girls hand. "Nice to meet- wait. Ask those boys? O- Okay. I guess." Chocola was not used to talking to boys, let alone cute ones, but she was not about to say no to the only person who had talked to her. "Lets go ask them." She attempted a lighthearted smile, still fiddling with her bell.
A timid, unassuming boy - the one who handed Chocola a registration form - watches the two girls. Eyes downcast, he talks to himself in a barely audible mutter. "She...she took my registration form...that wasn't an extra, I was just sh-showing her what it looks like. I knew I sh-should've spoken up."
A tall young lady with dark brown hair, Vinda is dressed in dark leathers that have been colored in outlandish ways, with pink and green stripes zigzagging across them. On her back hangs a beautiful guitar, colored bright purple.
Vinda finally arrives at the back of the pack. She rolls her eyes at the sight of the glowing man. "Typical. He probably brought us all here to kill each other for his amusement. Or maybe he wants to make us all his harem. I knew I shouldn't have listened to you, Grinta."
Perched on her shoulder, a small, lithe lizard covered in shockingly bright-colored feathers leans over to her ear and seems to be whispering into it.
"He's nice, huh? We'll see. Hey kid... where'd you get the paper? I need one of those."
Vinda snatches one of the forms from a much smaller, timid-looking young girl and begins reading it, causing Grinta to skwawk angrily. "I'm gunna give it back. Don't get your feathers in a bunch. Hmm... we have to list our CUP SIZE? I'm telling you, this guy is a perv." She gives her breasts a squeeze with both hands for emphasis, wrinkling the poor girl's form beyond saving. She's not lacking in the cup size department, and several young men nearby begin bleeding profusely from their noses... or just flat pass out.
She shoves the paper back into the hands of the poor girl. "HEY!" she yells loudly. "LISTEN UP! I'm Vinda. I'm sure you all recognize me... the LEAD SINGER of the Paladins of Reality! Does someone have an extra form? I need one!"
Grinta whispers in her ear again. "Of course they'll recognize me. Everyone recognizes me. Shut up."
Chocola smiles at the girls question, savoring the fact that they haven't gotten to the boys yet. "I'm a cat girl, so yeah, in many ways I am cat like! I've got ears and a tail like a cats and my tongue is--" Chocola starts at the girl who starts to yell, clutching at her bell. "Do you recognize her Shona? I don't... Should I?" Chocola felt strangely rude.
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"I knew you were a cat!" Shona says quite pleased with herself.
"And about the girl?" asks the Thrush.
"Huh?" Shona says, clearly not having paid attention to anyone other than herself and her own conversation. "Oh, that girl. Yeah she's...I don't know. Never seen her before. What's that paper she's yelling about?"
Chocola shook her head to clear it. "Its the registration form. You need to find one fast or you could be automatically expelled! [b]"Oh! My sheet and backpack!" Chocola ran back to pick up her things and, when they were obtained, ran back to Shona to show her the form. "See? We need to fill it out or--" The bell around her neck lit up and began to disassemble, the particles flowing to the ground where it became the shape of a sloth. "AUTOMATIC EXPULSION!" Chocola yelped and quickly bent down to retrieve the grounded sloth.
"Sorry... He doesnt understand volume control... This is Petro... He is my talking animal..." She sighed.
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Shona gave a look that may have been shock or repulsion as the sloth appeared and then screamed at her about the form.
"He is so..." Shona began, then paused, "ADORABLE!!!" Then she turned her head to the thrush. "Why can't you be that cute, Mr. Thrush?!?" She demanded.
"Again, my name is not Mr. Thrush," he began, "It's..."
"Now let's go ask the cute boys if they have extra forms!"
Chocola laughed a timid laugh. "I guess he's kind of cute.." She quickly transferred him from her arms to her backpack where he began to hang and took back her form. "Okay... I hope they have an extra form for you, Shona." With that she followed the girl over to the boys.
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Shona skipped confidently right into the middle of the group of boys and stopped striking a pose with her right hand held aloft and her left out behind her and offered a greeting of, "Hello, boys!" Then flashed a smile all around the group. "I'm Shona and this is my good friend Chocolate," she added gesturing to Chocola.
"So we were both wondering, what's that building over there?" and she pointed off in the distance at what she was guessing was a dormitory.
And as soon as the group turned their heads, she reached out to snatch a form from one of the boys' unattended backpacks.
"By the way, does anyone know who that yelling girl over there is?" Shona asked as an afterthought even as the thrush was staring at her in disbelief.
Chocola, distracted by Shona's pointing and words, looks towards the building. "Uh, Shona, thats not why we came over here." She looked back at Shona, scratching her head.
"THOSE BUILDINGS ARE LARGE AND IN CHARGE!" Chocola covered her ears, further taking away from her ability to see what was going on.
Tadashi, the short and slightly pudgy boy who's form had been run off with, wipes the blood from his nose and looks down at the black cat by his feet. "Well, Michiba-san," he says to the feline, "we better go find Akira- she's such a perfectionist she probably grabbed extra just in case one of her characters wasn't shaped just right."
"Good idea," Michiba meows back, "you won't get in without one of those!"
Making their way through the crowd, Tadashi spots a beautiful pink-haired girl trying to avoid a group of tall, athletic boys who won't stop talking to her. "Akira!" he calls out running up to her, "Help, I let a girl who was late look at my form and she ran off with it."
Akira smiles and jokingly shakes her head at the boy. "You're too kind, Tadashi. These girls are going to get you expelled before you even get through the door." Handing him a form, and tussling his hair, she adds, "Here, you'll have to erase some but at least you'll have something to turn in."
Tadashi blushes when Akira touches him, even if it is a painfully sibling-like gesture. "Thanks, Akira!" he gushes as he starts erasing furiously.
As the bells ring inside a tall lanky lad rolls slowly into the student stables on a small, brightly painted board mounted on four tiny wheels. He steps back off the board and tilts it smartly to his hand and looks around. The boy is tall dark and lean as if he hasn't grown into his height yet. He might be fourteen or fifteen. Fourteen or fifteen going on forty given his cynical expression, somber studded leather jacket.
"Hmph."
Not seeing anyone he pulls a cigarette from behind his ear. lights it on his finger and takes a long, deep drag. Then he shakes the flame off and looks around again. What a midden.
His parents always drag him to the worst places.
Spying the main building he lazily wanders toward it determined to finish his cigarette and be fashionably late for class at the same time. It's called 'multitasking'.
Inside he looks over the registration papers....
Narly sizes up the opposition.
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After chatting with the boys, enjoying their attention, and paying far more attention to their animal guides than to the boys themselves, Shona turns to Chocola and says, "Well, the boy with the adorable little flying squirrel says the yelling girl is called Vinda. Apparently, she's in a band. Let's go say hi!"
As she goes skipping off in the direction of Vinda, dragging poor Chocola by the hand, they move towards a skateboard-holding boy who seems to have resting hate face and another boy who is furiously wiping at his form with an eraser.
In the distance behind them, Shona hears one of the cute boys saying in a panicked voice, "Where's my form?!?"
"Umm, Shona, shouldn't we..." the thrush begins, only to be cut off by Shona saying, "You are not permitted to speak until you become cuter like the little flying squirrel or the loud sloth!"
"Uh.. Okay. Bye I guess!" Chocola ran behind Shona, trying desperately to keep up with her. "Can you... Slow down... Just a bit?" It was all she could do to keep her balance.
When they finally make it to the girl named Vinda, she but her hands on her knees. Allowing herself some time to recover.
Vinda looks around, waiting for some fan to come forward and offer her their form. "Come on now, chop-chop! I'll sign an autograph for you, if you want!"
She sees two girls running toward her, one of whom is completely winded by the time they get to her. "Ah, finally. Fans, I take it? How should I write out your autographs? You're not gonna sell these on Golario-bay, are you??"
Kayin gasps heavily as he finally arrives at the front gates to the House of Unyielding Radiance. Unfortunately, it seems as though his desperate effort to arrive in time for the orientation was for naught, as he catches only the tail end. The final words spoken by the glowing figure cause Kayin to swallow nervously, and he glances down at the fox who has sauntered up lazily to sit next to him. "Inari, I don't suppose you know where I can get one of these registration forms? And maybe a copy of the rules the big fellow mentioned," he adds with a hopeful tone of voice.
The fox gives him a long, flat stare before responding. "And how, exactly, would I know where the registration forms are to be found? If you'll recall, I wasn't here either when they were being passed out. And before you ask, no. I had only the information needed to get you here. Anything after that is entirely your responsibility to manage." With a faint growl, the fox jumps up into Kayin's arms, clearly expecting to be caught, and continues, "Now I'm going to get some sleep. Don't wake me unless you get expelled." With those words, the fox fades into a shower of glittering motes that travel to Kayin's head before reforming as a headband with a fox motif.
With a frustrated sigh at the lack of help from his guide, Kayin starts looking around for someone who could be part of the House's staff or, failing that, someone who might have a useful clue to share. He soon realizes, however, that his search might not be as quick or as easy as he hopes--a number of young males of various species in the crowd are throwing him some looks he's all too familiar with, and Kayin feels a faint tremor of fear shake his slender body.
"Oh no, not this, not again," he whines softly to himself as he slowly and cautiously backs away from the largest group of males staring at him. Between the stress of his late arrival and the stares focused on him, the odd nature of the man at the front gates completely slips Kayin's mind.
A beautiful boy, golden haired boy, wearing an elegant, but plain, suit of rich greens and golds enters, a Unicorn the size of a dog trotting along at his side. Although he carries himself with a haughter he cannot be much more than four feet tall, and the sword at his side appears to be in constant danger of tripping him,
"This is the place Hayakaze? It hardly seems fit for purpose, just look at this disorganized rabble, if they cannot organize the entrance ceremony what hope for the rest?"
The Unicorn wicker's, "Brurrhahaur, just wait Aveila, this is destiny it will not be set aside for paperwork."
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Shona looks Vinda up and down, then says, "So you're supposed to be famous or something? And you're some sort of musician or something? But more importantly, do you have a super cute talking animal?"
Then, after an "Ahem" is given by the thrush hovering nearby, Shona adds, "Oh, I'm Shona. This is my friend Chocolate. Her sloth is adorable!"
In his efforts to evade his slowly-growing train of admirers, Kayin finds himself bumping into a young woman with a thrush hovering over her shoulder. As he slips past her and her two friends, he offers a soft apology. "Excuse me, didn't mean to run into you. Just, uh, trying to find one of those registration forms," he continues with a nervous glance back toward his unwanted followers.
He's about to continue deeper into the crowd when he sees something that causes him to stare in confusion at the woman with the cat-like ears. "Is... Is that a sloth hanging off of your pack," he asks in a blend of surprise and disbelief at what he's seeing. "Why do you have a sloth?"
"Beats having a lust on your leg I suppose." Says the tall the athletic black kid cleaning his ear with his pinkie. Wired for mockery he said it automatically. He's rocking a studded, black leather jacket. "Gods, the place smells like an ark."
Finally looking at the group he says: "Say, you guys wouldn't know where the homeroom is?"
"You... didn't come for an autograph? I am Vinda! The lead singer of the Paladins of Reality! I guess you just aren't up to speed on popular music. And yes I have an animal... though 'cute' isn't how I'd describe her. This is Grinta. She only really talks to me though... isn't that how it works for you too?"
Vinda looks defeated, as no one has recognized her. She is obviously not used to not being recognized everywhere she goes.
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"A lizard with feathers?" Shona says, clearly paying more attention to the animal than to the poor gal with the deflated ego. "Mr. Thrush has feathers, but he's just a plain old bird."
"Again, my name is..."
"And he talks all the time. Just goes on and on and doesn't ever stop!"
Beside her, the bird rolls his tiny little eyes.
Then, as if only just registering that they've been addressed by the gruff-looking male, Shona replies with, "Homeroom? What's a homeroom?"
Chocola sighed. "Actually my name is Chocola, and sorry I haven't heard of you or your band. Im sure I would like it though! And my animal... screams at me more than talks to me..." She turns around to show the sloth.
"Homeroom? Its where you go before all your classes start. Umm... I dont know. I just got here." She blushed.
"You... didn't come for an autograph? I am Vinda! The lead singer of the Paladins of Reality! I guess you just aren't up to speed on popular music. And yes I have an animal... though 'cute' isn't how I'd describe her. This is Grinta. She only really talks to me though... isn't that how it works for you too?"
"Sorry. Transfer student." Narly says putting his hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders. Something is off but he can't quite figure out what....
A dead, slack-jawed pufferfish stares pathetically at an unseeing viewer.
....
Narly shrugs. Whatever. "I guess it doesn't really matter."
Kayin shakes his head in response to the question. "No, no idea where a homeroom is. I've only just arrived myself, and missed pretty much all of the orientation." With another glance at the sloth, his expression mingling amusement and disbelief at the unusual sight, he prepares to head back into the crowd. "Well, I really need to get back to hunting down a spare registration form. So I'll see you all later, hopefully," he adds with a polite nod to the three young women, their respective critters--does everyone here have an animal guide, he wonders--and the other man.
He doesn't get more than a few steps from the small group before an attempt to dodge another student hurrying elsewhere causes him to get his feet crossed, and he goes down with a startled yell, followed by a hard thump as he hits the ground in a sprawl. With a muffled groan, he picks himself up slowly, then resumes his search at a limp instead of his previous run.
A coalition seems to have formed out of the less assertive students who've had their registration forms "borrowed" by the late arrivals. The appointed leader of the coalition is a slightly pudgy boy wearing a rather ornate pair of glasses. "Will everyone please return all registration forms to their original owners? The headmaster handed out an exact number at the beginning of orientation, and I'm afraid those who didn't get one will just have to suffer the consequences." Perhaps a more useful accessory would be a bicycle pump, for the boy seems perpetually out of breath, as if he has an unpatched leak somewhere.
Kayin visibly shrinks as he learns that there are no extra forms to be had. He then spends several frantic minutes fending off offers of a form from a number of male applicants who make clear the cost attached to their generosity.
Managing to evade the most dogged of his unwelcome suitors, he finds himself standing next to a disturbingly pretty young man and his... unicorn? Kayin rubs his eyes and takes a second, closer look to confirm that, yes, he's looking at a half-size unicorn. "First sloths, now unicorns," he mutters in a slight daze. "This has to be the weirdest place I've ever been to, without exception."
Then he recalls that he has no registration form, and faces expulsion as a consequence, and all thoughts of the weirdness on display outside of the House of Unyielding Radiance fade into insignificance before that lone fact. He doesn't have the funds to return home, and he doesn't think that lingering on Jalmeray as a destitute beggar is a very good idea.
A small bookish looking girl with white hair hanging around the back of the crowd pipes up "Could we maybe, you know, make some more forms, as there aren't enough? I have some paper here, and some different colours of ink and stuff, I'm sure we could make something that looked sorta like the forms, if we tried" A slow blush spread across Tre's face as she realised that she had attracted attention towards herself.
"Has anyone actually tried ASKING for more forms? Idiots."
Vinda marches to the front of the group, shoving others out of the way only as much as she needs to and casting a quick spell. She turns on the charms to any adult she sees. "Could we PLEASSSSE have ten more forms for myself and my fans who missed out on them while I was performing an exciting rock ballad?"
For emphasis, she slings her guitar over her shoulder and plays a complicated riff. The sound seems to be amplified even without any amplifier.
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Shona seems to have missed most of this discussion as she was looking as if she was pondering things.
"So...if homeroom is where you go before you go to classes, and we haven't gone to classes yet, but this is where we are...this must be homeroom!" Then she nods in self-satisfaction.
She then seems to gain awareness of the yelling and fussing about forms happening around her.
"Huh, looks like other people weren't responsible like us in getting their forms, Chocolate. Come on, let's go borrow pencils from some cute boys so we can start filling these out."
Approaching the first cute boys who grab her attention (and not remembering for sure if she'd approached them before or not) while somewhat dragging Chocola along by the wrist, she flashes a charming smile and says, "Can my friend and I borrow some pencils to fill out our forms? We'd hate to be in trouble with the grumpy glowy man!"
Chocola sighs as she is once again dragged across to another group of people. "But I have a pencil right here..." Chocola shows Shona the pencil in her hand along with her form. "I think maybe I should give my form back to the person who gave it to me... But I dont want to be expelled..."
"YOU WILL NOT BE EXPELLED ON MY WATCH! YOU WILL KEEP THE FORM!" Chocola cringed as the sloth yelled in her ear. "But...."
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"Awww, that's so nice, Chocolate, that you want to give some poor lost boy your form, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to keep it. The sloth says so and I'm pretty sure he's magical."
She then begins scratching the sloth behind the ear while baby-talking him, "Who's my good wittle magical boy?"
The thrush, meantime, simply watches and shakes his head.
The sloth nuzzles into Shona's hand. "IM YOUR GOOD MAGICAL BOY!"
Chocola laughs nervously. "I guess so... I just dont want to cause any trouble... And he did give it to me... I think." Quickly she wrote her name on the form, feeling bad with every stroke.
Kayin winces and jerks in surprise as a bellowing voice makes itself heard over the noise of the crowd, and he quickly spots the source, which appears to be the sloth he'd seen earlier. Even as worried as he is over his failure to acquire the registration form, he still manages to feel a bit of awe that such a small creature can produce such an immense volume.
After a bit more time spent stressing futilely, Kayin decides to find a spot to have a seat, calm down, and carefully consider his options. He quickly manages the first part of his plan, and the second soon follows, grudgingly enough. That leaves his mind clear and able to focus. His guide has already told him that he's on his own, and there don't seem to be any spare forms to be had--at least, not without a price that he wants to pay--so the only option that he can see, aside from violently mugging another student which would probably not be looked upon favorably, is to wait for someone to collect the forms and try explaining matters to them.
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"Good job, Chocolate! Now just add the T and E and you'll have your whole name there." Then, turning her attention back to the sloth she was still scratching behind the ear. "Okay, sweet boy, I need my hand back so I can fill out my form."
Meantime, the thrush had flown up beside Chocola and began to address her saying, "I apologize that she can't seem to get your name right. She does the same thing to me and never actually calls me..."
"Hey!" Shona interrupts, "you're my bird, Mr. Thrush! You're only supposed to speak to me! Now come over here and help me fill out this form. I forgot to bring servants along..." and she continues scanning the form with a look of mild confusion.
Disheartened by having her suggestion ignored but determined to stand up for herself and not face automatic expulsion Tre goes from group to group asking "Could I please look at your form for just a minute, I promise I'll give it back, I just need to see what they look like"
If she manages to get hold of a form she immediately sits down cross legged, opens her backpack, methodically lays out her pens and inks and begins trying to make a copy of the form.
A very, very small halfling girl watching from the edge of the crowd quietly mutters to the beachball tucked under her arm, "You didn't tell me the headmaster was a crazy person when I signed up, Boscoe."
The beachball quietly, but indignantly says, with a deep and bassy voice, "Don't speak ill of the Omnesiac! He's a wonderful and glorious man, a genius! I'm not just saying that because he created me either. He put those clothes on your back!"
"Yeah, yeah," says the halfling. "We're going to need a registration paper, though. Stay put." She sets the beachball down, pressing him into the ground so he stays, and then walks into the crowd, passing underneath flailing, panicked arms and concerned faces. Reaching up, she tries to snatch a paper from the most distracted-looking student.
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Shona continues filling out the form. She is given a decent amount of helping knowing what to put and how to put it by the thrush hovering nearby. He also chastises her a time or two as she starts doodling like drawings of wasps along the margin of the page.
Occasionally, when told to put something in a space, she asks the sloth if that is correct or tells Chocola (calling her "Chocolate") that she should do the whole thing. This prompts the thrush to tell Chocola things like, "No, that's Shona's address. you don't want to put that on your form."
As she's almost through the form, Shona suddenly looks up and says, "Wait, if the HominaLeesiac already knows everything, why does he need us to fill out forms with our information?"
Chocola, busy filling out the form before anyone can take it to her, misses the question at first, but soon looks up. "Hmm? Oh. Maybe for a written record or something... Wait, do you think he knows we took these forms instead of receiving them?" Chocola suddenly looked very nervous.