Wind Rain and Flowers[open]

[Aria Anitka Rae]

The recently rained on grass, were shining in patches where the sunlight was peaking through the clouds. It was time like these that Aria took advantage of a time to think and bond with her dragon, Naraj. Sure the wind was whipping and it felt like a dozen bees stinging you at once with each blow of the wind across your face. But, it was fine to Aria.

Aria was sitting next to her dragon, Naraj curled around her, his wings tucked in. His head laying on Aria's legs. The only sounds were of them breathing at the same rythm. In....out....in....out. The warmth from Naraj was comforting as she thought about her next two years with a new apprentice. Blayce was his name, his father was a Dragon Rider, a well known one at that. He should have been a elder but, If Aria had that chance she would turn it down. Your dragon gets weak you lose the thrill of the fight. All you did as a elder was sit on your ass in a room.

Another short blast of wind, and Aria shuddered a bit. Naraj raised a great black eye at her. She shook her head wanting to just be in nature. She thought about that night that had changed her life... both their lives. The night they had been attacked it was nothing but fear for her. Seeing her master getting a sword shoved in her gut, and then a seering pain to come across her body.

Aria lifted her hair which was braided down the side, she lifted it off her shoulder, looking at the scar. Naraj nudged his head against her chest.

"Don't think about it Aria."The great red giant spoke to her in thought speak as all dragons did. She raised her hand and layed it on his head scratching behind his horns. She moved her hair back into place, looking around at the grassy area that seemed to go on for miles. And it proably did.

[Blayce Orion White]

Nag, nag, nag. That was all Blayce had heard today and eventually he was sick of it. If it wasn't his mother who was following him, who assumed he cared about her problems, it was Chance, his little sister. He wasn't in the mood to hear it from anyone. He snarled under his breath at them. Snarky comments abound if they didn't leave him alone. He didn't want to be mean to anyone, he just wanted peace and quiet and to be left alone. He was sick of hearing people talk. So, he left his last class early, thinking people would assume he was sick. He wasn't, or not ill sort of sick. He was though, in fact sick of THEM. He stomped up to his dorm to see Chezaa. The little black dragon that had hatched only a few days ago, once she saw him, blinked playfully and tried to get up to her feet but failed miserably. Blayce went over to her and teased her, laughing. "What's up, teddy bear? Want to go outside?" he said, scratching her head gently. Looking outside to see just a few sunrays escaping the clouds he turned to Chezaa. "Perfect." He then stomped from his dorm with her (who apparently once hearing the possibility of going outside had sprung on her feet in an instant), and went on about his business.

He left his dorm to be outside, and he hoped, away from people. He kept his head down, in hopes no one, for once, would notice him. He got his wish. Those who normally would have stopped him for a chat, he walked past without a second thought. Blayce lifted his head as he got away from the castle, and he tossed his head back as he walked. His feelings were lightened slightly as he got away from people and after looking at Chezaa's playful face. He usually was a happy person, but today he just wanted to be away. He wasn't angry at anyone really, he just wanted to be alone.

But, it seemed that wasn't meant to be. Down by the grass was a woman with a dragon. He wanted to turn around and run off, but that would have been rude. Not that he cared about being rude, but he decided to just try to get past her without being seen. Blayce smiled playfully at Chezaa whispering in her ear "Shhhh baby doll, today's just for you and me" He started to walk slowly, casually and he got behind her and stepped on a stick. He froze, looked down at his shoe, and he sighed. He didn't say anything, just stood behind her, in mid stride, looking at his foot. He was sure he looked ridiculous, but he really couldn't bring himself to care. After a while of just standing, he spoke finally. "Hello." He didn't recognize his own voice, he sounded shy and stuff. Today was just an off day for him.

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[Saya Annamarie]

The mage sat in the glossy grass with a frustrated expression. Serma despised having to get Meadow duty, for it wasn't even required in her job or mentioned her application. Damn those headmasters and their idiotic reasons. If only they didn't rule Ferin and pay her check, Saya would've easily whupped their asses already and make their dragons into a hundred pairs of boots and handbags. But, they were the dip-poop headmasters. The mage sighed loudly and cursed silently to herself.

Saya jogged around the place, keeping a close eye to anything unusual and maintaining her magic just at her fingertips for defense. The brown locks were tightly pulled at the sides of her head, bouncing at each movement made. Saya found them still annoying as her locks still began to get into her eyes and face as she ran the whole thing. Besides that, her bangs still stuck to her sweaty head, so no matter what she does with her hair, it'll eventually find its' way back to her face. She should cut it... Nah. It's too pretty. The wind was to blame too. The pounding against the mage felt like a hammer pounding a nail, trying to be pinned down. "If only weather could bend to a mage's will then I wouldn't have to put with any of my hair." Saya flipped her bangs to the side and continued jogging around the place again, pacing herself.

As the mage was going to resort to her magic skills, two figures caught her eyes. They were both dragon riders if she remembered correctly. Saya couldn't use her magic to search the miles of grass without hurting them; besides, it was a bit early for anyone to wander around here. If she did use it, it could had possibly been the end for those dragon riders and their dragons. Good thing Saya's a curious kitten. It had been quite awhile since she actually seen anyone come to the meadow except the newbies who are always needing a tour all over the campus.Early risers. One figure was actually very similar to... Aria! How long was has it been since Saya spoke to her? Who cares. The excited mage sprinted at full speed towards her dragon rider friend , screaming,"ARIA!"

[Aria Anitka Rae]

The soft breathing in and out of her dragon, almost put her to sleep. Almost. Then she sensed a rider..not yet a master and their small hatchling. She was going to leave them alone, until SNAP, a twig broke just behind Naraj. She sprung up and climbed over Naraj, whose head had already whipped around to look at the pair. She sat ontop of her dragon, her head to the side, the apprentice was frozen in midstride, like a deer caught in lamplight.

For a while nothing was said, until a shy soft spoken,Hello came from the boy. She slid off of Naraj and looked at him. This was interesting, this was the scrawny apprentice she was assigned too. "You're Blayce arn't you-"

Then like a wild banshee she heard her name yelled..no screamed at the top of someones lungs. She froze slowly looked around Blayce. There she was in all her glory Saya, running at full speed towards her ready to tackle her to the ground. With no where to turn she braced herself as the figure tackled her to the ground hard. Naraj chuckled as Aria squirmed under Saya.

Saya....gerrofff!"Her words muffled by Saya's body ontop of hers.

[Blayce Orion White]

Normally, Blayce wasn't one to just run from things. Except dances, social situations in general, classes and now to add to that list, everyone that wanted to talk to him. He didn't really want to think about it. It wasn't so much out of fear he'd run, just more out of the fact he didn't really know what to do in that situation. If all else fails, run. That was his father in him talking, he guessed. Loyalty was his big trait, not bravery and so whenever he felt the need to run, more often then not he did. Whether that was good or not he didn't know, but it was his plan, and he'd gotten through life thus far living by it, so he guessed he was doing alright.

Though, if the rumors were true, running wasn't going to be an option for much longer. Dark riders and their followers were supposedly growing restless and running wasn't possible from a force like that of the dark. Run all you want, but eventually it would catch up to you, and you'd have to stand, or let yourself die. Either of which sounded scary to the young rider. He didn't like the idea of dying, but he didn't want to fight either. Sad state the world was coming to. Truly depressing indeed. But, there were positives to it really. He was protected, for the time being. He was healthy and happy. He had a decent amount of friends and even a little baby dragon.

There was a woman there. A Pretty woman. And he'd just broken his thoughts with a stick. She didn't really relate to the stick, but he'd broken a stick near the pretty woman and now she was looking at him. She knew his name. Did he know her name? She didn't sound familiar, but then again when his thoughts were like this everything sounded like it was underwater. Maybe he was under water. He didn't like water. She was a pretty woman, but she wasn't under water. He needed to stop this train of thought. And, she spoke and broke his rampant thoughts. For that he was happy. He sat without say anything, and kept his feet together, his knees splayed outwards, and his head low. "Blayce White it is." he said looking at her and a fully-grown dragon. Her own dragon probably.

Silence surrounded him. He looked at her finally. He looked away again, and began pulling blades of grass out of the ground from between his knees. Then, Chezaa's head came out of nowhere. He laughed and petted her head. "And this is Chezaa" he added laughing. Then, out of nowhere came someone that grabbed the other rider. Blayce looked at both figures, now on the ground, amused. So much for wanting some peace and quiet.

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[Saya Annamarie]

Saya wrapped her thin arms around Aria, squeezing tighter as each second passed. She has to smother her friend and her adorable dragon before returning back to the usual boring work; eventually, she'll have to. "It's been so long!" The mage loosened her hold and looked at the dragon rider with sadness. Work had stressed Serma so badly, and her schedule didn't even allow her to squeeze some social time. Man, did she need a vacation. "How have you been?" The mage extended a finger out and nudged Naraj on the head. "How 'bout you? Is Aria being nice?"

As Saya was going to talk more, a familiar boy stood there, gazing at them, well at her as if she interrupted something which she probably did. "You're, um, Blayce, right?" The Mage got back onto her feet and extended a hand towards the boy, a small smile on her face. Then, her attentions shifted toward his dragon, another adorable thing to smother against her chest. "Your dragon's awfully cute. What's the cutie-pie's name?"

[Aria Anitka Rae]

Smushed, smothered, couldn't breath thats what Aria was. She struggled under her Mage friend whom seemed content with smushing the life out of her. She was relieved when Saya had gotten off of her, she stood up brushing herself off.
She cracked her neck a bit and fixed her braid.

I've been well Saya. Focusing on my studies, and work. Same old. Wish you could say the same for yourself, but then again you mages have time to tackle people out of no where."

Naraj gave a glance at Aria, he rolled his black eyes at her, sometimes she was just....Aria. He glanced over at Saya he loved but at the same time was annoyed by her. She was a interesting character to watch, she extended a finger to pet him. And to be courteous he let her, with a warm hum in his throat as she did. He thought spoke to her chuckling, As nice as any moody elf can be.

Aria raised a eyebrow she knew Naraj was gossiping, she shook her head and turned towards Blayce.

"Yes, Saya this is Blayce White. My newly appointed apprentice. Blayce White, you are now hereby appointed to Apprenticeship. I am Master Aria. Saya you are witness." Aria spoke reciting the sentence she was to say any time when meeting her assigned apprentice. She glanced at Chezaa, "you're dragon looks tad dry have you learned how to properly oil its hide?"

[Blayce Orion White]

He sometimes wondered if his teachers ever wanted him when it came to his studies. Maybe when Chezaa popped out they realized he'd be a problem rider. Was he really a problem? His family didn't seem to think so. They let him live with them regardless at any rate. He liked to think they didn't think he was a problem child. Sure, he had his fair share of mischief, but he wasn't a bad person. He wasn't, was he? He didn't want to be a bad person. He would almost asked the woman in front of him if she thought he was a bad person. He wouldn't though, she didn't know him. He didn't want anyone to know him, beyond his realm of comfort. They could see what he let them see.

No, he wasn't going to ask her anything. He should just get up and leave. He didn't need to be out here. He needed to be tucked away inside. This wasn't him, he was not the right person anymore. But, at the same time, he was a good person, a good friend, a good son and a good brother. He tried to be. He didn't like to just let people know he cared, but he did. He didn't care about a lot of people, but he did care sometimes.

He heard the other woman speak, the voices didn't sound as far away this time. Perhaps he was snapping out of it a bit. He looked at her, only moving his eyes. He didn't smile, or frown really. He didn't do much, "Her name's Chezaa" He said, his voice happy. Why was he always happy when it came to Chezaa?

Then, the dragon rider spoke. He could see her look at him. He knew he knew her name. Rae something. Aria Rae, that was it. She was supposed to become his master . He swallowed, and he looked at her, finally moving his head. He blinked, and he didn't really feel like himself still, but he didn't want to tell her that. He didn't really want to tell her anything. He didn't know her and she didn't really know him. She probably thought she did, most people thought she did. She might not have thought that, but most people did so he just assumed. "Um...Thanks, master" he said, bowing in respect. His eyes fell on Chezaa. She wasn't bowing. She was just standing there, eyeing both dragon and rider with curiosity. "Chezaa, we've talked about this" Blayce said. Chezaa pouted her face and bowed her head for a second. Then, she turned to face Blayce quite enraged. "Forgive my dragon master, she can be quite vain at times." he said, looking at Aria. "Yes, but I neglected it this morning. She just wanted to get out, that's all." Blayce said apologetically, replying to his master's question.

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[Saya Annamarie]

"That's a fitting name for someone so lovable." The mage nodded approvingly, suppressing the laughter in her throat. One thing she new was that dragon's are extremely proud of themselves and can beat any breathing being that insults them in anyway. Well, that's what Sayama thought. "Also, don't be so formal with us, Blayce." The brunette pouted her lips and crossed her arm. It was annoying for her to listen to these students losing their free personality and acting all calm, mature, and well, not themselves. Saya would had preferred them being themselves and having their maturity to an all time low. They were more enjoyable that way and a delight to talk to. This Blayce didn't seem to be one them too. Saya turned away, fearing that he would see her obviously judging him from her blank stare.

"Please," she snapped her fingers."those headmasters are total asswipes. Giving me more work than usual ain't such a great thing to do for no extra money. I just can't believe that they assigned me Meadow duty! I mean, can't a freakin' student teacher do this instead? I have papers to grade and sort!" Sayama just wanted to rip something to shred but couldn't risk breaking a nail. I hate being pretty As she was about to rant even more, Aria cut her off with the dragon talk. "Honestly, you people could go on forever with that dragon business and never get tired of it. By the way, I'd advise you two to back away ten feet." The mage's fingertips glowed brighter as she raised it above her head, chanting the ancient language and slowly tracing the symbols in the air. "I'm going to take a quick scan of the place and eradicate anything that's not human or elf."

[Aria Anitka Rae]

Aria watched her apprentice, she watched his how he acted, the way his body language was she ran a hand through her hair she could tell that this boy was going to be hard to train. He had a outer shell that he needed to chip away. Blayce reminded Aria of herself, she had a outer shell. Her feelings locked inside and the outside mask of cold, cruel, and blunt stood proudly in front of her.

She saw him swallow as he realized how she was his master, she backed a smile and still watched him. The only way she knew how extensively. Every move was cataloged in her mind. Most of the way she got to know her riders was of the way they moved, and then eventually the talking came yes. But, the talking with this one would come later. Much later.

She shooke her head when Aria heard the words master pop out of his mouth. "Aria. Call me Aria. And don't bow to me unless you do something stupid and your apologizing to me for it. The only one that should bow is your dragon to mine. Dragons have different respect levels, its more disrespectful to a fully grown dragon if a new hatchling doesn't bow. "

"Saya, it helps the Ferin.And the mage headmasters assigned you a job."


Aria then listened to her as she warned them to back ten feet, as she did she looked to Blayce.

"Don't ever forget to oil your dragon. It causes cracked hides. Here I have dragon oil in my pack while Saya is doing her stuff. I want you to oil your dragon."