Calm before the storm2

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline sighed, taking in all that had happened.

Good. This girl was willing to stand up to her, and then another girl came too. Both of them looked like they knew him, but to be honest, there was a very slim chance of her felling the wrath of psycho-guy now. The one, Ailyth seemed so helpful. She didn't look like much, but Caroline figured she had at least a big enough mouth to get them out of here alive. When the other girl showed up... She was so badly wounded. Caroline covered her mouth, gasping. What the...? Who were these weird people?

These people went to school with her?!

A bit of empathy getting the best of her, Caroline looked curiously over at the girl that had just arrived, staring at the bandages and blood covered dress in awe.

"Are... Are you okay? You look like you need a trip hospital."

She could care less that this girl referred to the psycho as Nai. She was just concerned with wellbeing here. Hers, and hopefully everyone else's that wasn't just a wacko. The girl looked like she was about to collapse with all the blood she'd lost, and keeping her distance from the guy and behind Ailyth, Caroline stayed put, to see why th egirl had sought out this Nai character above someone that could actually help her.
[/size]

[rei]

Nai couldn't help but scowl as
he saw the state his sister was
in. He'd rarely seen her this bad,
and seeing that look in her eye,
he knew she wanted him to fix
her up.

He hated doing that.

He didn't specialize in healing
magic, even if he was a pheonix.
He reached out and fiddled with
her hair briefly before speaking
what was on his mind.

"Rei, who was it..?"

His eyes flashed in rage as
he thought of who
exactly would hurt his
baby sister.They must have
been in a fighting class,
because his sister wasn't
weak.

He began working on her
wounds while he waited
for her answer. She'd still
have to go to the hospital
for a splint and such.
-----------------------------
Rei didn't answer at first,
she didn't want Nai killing
someone already. It may
have been weird, but she
wanted to get to know
her opponent more,
and it certainly wouldn't
help if Nai killed him.

She looked at the
sky, not really wishing
to tell Nai exactly who
it was. Although maybe
if she told him now, he
wouldn't here it from
the rumors that were
bound to spread about
the little blood-bath.

"My canine opponent
in Tactical Advantage.."

She did want him to worry.
He had enough on his plate
and she certainly could handle
the situation on her own.

Her eyes flicked over to
Ailyth and the other girl
who had asked if she
was alright. Hmm, she
was standing wasn't she ?

"I've had worse...Nice to
see you again Ailyth."

She wondered if Ailyth would
even recognize her this way.
Her trademark white outfit
was now crimson, and her once
shoulder-length hair was now
jawline length.

[Iƪƪia]

"Rei!"

Startled, Ailyth took a few steps toward her. She could barely recognize her... Actually, she probably wouldn't have if she hadn't spoken to her. She looked like she had been hurt pretty badly. Who could do such a thing?! Even if it was in a class! Someone should have stopped it.

Wait... Canine? Could it have been..? Nah, what were the odds?

"You should go to the infirmary..!"

She took another concerned step forward before she remembered what they had been doing before Rei had gotten here. Instinctively, She stepped back in front of the human and returned her glare to Nai. No, he wasn't getting off that easily!

"And take your homicidal freak of a brother with you!" She growled, staring at the boy.

He seemed strangely angry that his sister had been injured. After all, he wasn't supposed to have emotions. And besides, he was just about to kill the human himself! Oh, that's just fine, but no one can hurt his sister. Talk about a double-standard!

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline heard the words of the girl Ailyth, and all that worry and confusion cleared from her mind.

"Amen!" She agreed, readily, happily, enthusiastically! She really, really, really did not want to die. This she knew, and this she cared about more than....

What was that guy doing to his sister's wounds? What was that...? It didn't make sense....

Forget it! she thought. She was free! free to go and not be nice to any more strangers she encountered. That's how this whole thing started after all. She was nice to a stranger, and she had learned her lesson.

She should mind her own damn business!

Scooting up close to Ailyth, Caroline smiled in an amazingly relieved way.

"I um- I really have to thank you..." She looked over Ailyth's shoulder, glaring at the dude. "but, if you don't mind, can I ask you something?"

She smiled, trying to look nice. Truth was, she was running on leftover brave-juice. she didn't have a strong-willed bone in her body anymore. She was shaking, and she kept her hands behind her so that it wasn't too noticeable. Still, her brain was all fuzzy and she was on the verge of tears. So much pressure! She sucked it all up and tried to look brave for speaking to Ailyth.
[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

Ailyth continued to stare angrily at Nai. Nothing would distract her from her strong feelings of disgust right now! Well, maybe the human girl's words distracted her a little...

At her question about asking a question, Ailyth spun around to face her, still watching Nai over her shoulder. He certainly seemed like the type to attack her when she had her back turned right now.

"Sure! What is it?"

The girl still seemed pretty shaken up. Well, she was almost killed, after all! Ailyth was sure that she'd be pretty shaken up too... Well, actually... She was almost killed one time... But she had a means of escape! She had wings. What did this girl have... Wait, what did this girl have? Man, it must suck to be human. Well, it's not like she knew any better so... Everything's good, right?

[ωΘĿƒ]

"Um..."

She tried to make it quick, before she could forget, before this weird icky feeling made her curl up in a ball and start crying, and before that damned psycho finished with his sister and decided to tab poor Ailyth in the back.

"Why... Why did you call me a... human?"

As odd as the question sounded, she felt she had a right to know. What, was she too stupid to be called a girl? Sheesh! That was a rude way of referring to people! What was Ailyth then, a female?

Somehow, her brain was telling her she was missing the point in asking this question, but she really didn't care. She was tired, and she wanted to go curl up and cry now. She didn't want to listen to her brain!
[/size]

[rei]

Nai glared at Caroline and didn't even bother
looking at Ailyth. They were pointlessly
irritating. He didn't like the way Ailyth simply
yelled at him for the human's stupidity.

It stung.

He had fixed his sister up enough that she
could get to the hospital. He needed to
leave. He probably wouldn't be talking to
anyone for a while.

Maybe not ever..
-------------------------------------------
Rei watched him leave, worry in her eyes
as she watched him walk off wordlessly.
She felt her anger rising up in her, and her
heart hurt. Nai had finally been opening up,
and now... he was worse than he was before.
She knew he needed to be alone right now..

She didn't even feel the tears start dripping
down her face.

The next thing she knew, her shoulders were
starting to shake slightly. She felt helpless.
Nai was hurting and she couldn't do anything.
She didn't know what Nai could have done
to deserve those words. They must have done
something to him !

They must have !

"How dare you hurt him !"

She whipped around, still crying, and fixed
them an icy stare. They had done something.
He was fine earlier. Something caused him
to snap.

"You know nothing about him ! Where do
you get off acting like you know everything !
He's the only reason I've even lived this long !"

She furiously wiped the tears
off of her face, not bothering
to hold them back anymore.
Her tears mixed with the blood
on her cheeks making them
crimson. Tears of blood. How
appropriate.

"Everyone hurts him for
what he is.... !"

She wasn't even talking to
them anymore. She was simply
sobbing to herself, hoping she'd
see her brother again.

"Nai"

[Iƪƪia]

"Oh..."

Crap. How to explain this? Just one, little slip up, and now.... Could she even explain? Well, she had to say something... There had to be some reason that would sound almost plausible!

"Um, well... We are humans! It... It's like saying 'this person' but I just substituted person for human... I mean, it means the same thing and-"

Before she could continue her poorly thought out response, she was interrupted by a sudden outburst from Rei. Normally, she might have felt relieved that she had an excuse to get off of such a topic, but not now... Rei seemed just as upset as the human girl. But she was upset about... Nai? Wait, shouldn't she be worried about the two of them?

"What..? But he- He tried to kill her!" She gestured toward the human, "Then I came in and tried to get him to back off!"

Yes, that was essentially what had happened. But for some reason, it didn't sound as bad now. Maybe it was because Nai had left and taken all the tension with him. Or maybe it was because Rei was crying so much.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline nodded at Ailyth's response, accepting it, taking it down like notes from a class. She didn't bother to think if they were an excuse or not. She just wanted a nice, safe answer.

Hearing the other girl start accusing them of something, she turned around abruptly. Was she... crying? For that guy?

Caroline couldn't explain it. Why was she crying? She didn't do anything! Her old sense of preservation came back for a breif flicker, along with her bold will, and she blurted out an angry and confused answer.

"I tried to be nice to that wacko! He was an ass to me!"

Angry, afraid, and oh so confused, she lashed out. What did this girl know? She had been minding her own business when this guy tried to saver her! She could have been angry - oh so angry. She had had so much of people underestimating her and hiding stuff from her - like she was a stupid little child that couldn't understand what was happening. She didn't get mad at him. She gave him her towel, and apologized. It was her fault, after all...

But it wasn't her fault of what happened next. Trying to start a conversation, trying to get to know the person that was so nice as to try to save her, she instead found a vicious, narcissistic kid who thought of her even worse than others did. He didn't baby her. He just assumed she was a fan-tard for him! Who the hell was he, anyways?!?! The king? He was so rude, and she had tried to be so nice...

She wasn't good at being really nice. She just wasn't, but she'd tried. She'd tried for as long as she could, and when this kid started looking down on her like a servant to step on, that was the last straw.

That was all... That was all! She didn't do anything wrong!

"I don't know anything about him, and he still though he could be nasty to me!" She snapped. "I don't know jack squat about him, even though I tried to find out. And... I'm sorry that he's all you've got, but who did I have when he tired to kill me!?"

She wanted to go on. She wanted to scream and yell and throw a tantrum at this girl who could possibly think that Caroline was in the wrong here. But she didn't. She didn't want to make things worse. She just wanted to go home...
[/size]

[rei]

Her bangs covered her eyes as
the trembling of her shoulders
suddenly stop, the air around her
becoming cold. What did this stupid
girl even know ! She thought she
was so smart, and just decided
she could get to know someone
better.

Nai was not someone you 'tried to
get to know.'

He was far too unstable for that.
At that moment she wished they
would just die, ripped from the
fabric of their own puny existence.
She felt her darkeness wrap around
her wrist in a comforting manner.

"You don't belong here, ignorant
fool. If you accept everything everyone
says as reality your still a child. You
should know you can't trust what
people god damn tell you."


Telling her that it could happen, that
she could eliminate them. She knew
she would just injure herself more.
It would seem fate was on their
side. She felt especially betrayed as
Ailyth stood up for the human.

In a way, she felt to blame. She
introduced Ailyth to Nai. She
decided to stop meeting people.
It was the only way. Or at least
stop introducing them to Nai.
It seemed here....

Betrayal was inevitable.

[ωΘĿƒ]

People...?

She stood there, and she was pretty sure she began to cry. She wasn't sure... She felt so hot, so flushed and tired. People... People and humans... What the hell did that all mean? What was it she was missing here? She knew it was something, and she knew it was obvious, and she knew - beyond a doubt - ift this had been a normal situation then she would have easily known by now. But she didn't know, and that frustrated her so much, even though she wasn't sure she wanted to know why all these "people" here were so weird. Why Ailyth hadn't called Nai or this girl a "human".

"I'm sorry." She said, feebly. "But I don't hang out with people that lie to me."

Somehow, that felt wrong. It felt very wrong, and she didn't know why. These people here were lying to her. She felt it, and she was sure she knew it now. They were all lying, and she didn't want to know why every single one of them was, and only to her, and not to anyone else.

She was normal! But... maybe they weren't...


[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

Great. Just great. Now they were both crying. That wasn't good... Ailyth didn't like it when people were so upset... And especially not if she was a part of the cause! She had never meant to hurt Rei or the human girl, but it looks like that's just what had happened.

But why would Rei be upset with her? After all, the guy's her brother! She should know him better than anyone! She should have known something like this could happen... And if she did know, then she should have tried to stop it!

As for the human girl... She was just so confused. Ailyth supposed she would be too, if the roles were reversed. Trying to think from a human's perspective, they must seem like freaks. Maybe it would be better if she knew? But then, would she believe it? Well, why not? After all she's seen so far...

"I..." She began, searching for the right words, "Maybe... We should head back..."

That stupid rule! What was the point, anyway? Was it there to purposefully separate the races? Things might be better if everyone knew about them. They could work with the humans. After all, they weren't so bad! They were every bit as good as the other races were. So why did they have to know the least?

She should tell the human... Or some human... Someday. But not today.

Here she turned on Rei, actually attempting to get angry again. However, she just couldn't. Not when she was crying like that.

"Rei... I'm sorry. But what he did was wrong! It's just inexcusable..."

Just as Ailyth was finally making friends in this damn school... Apparently meeting people like Nai and Le Cyll was simply inevitable. Yet another reason to continue her magic studies.[/color]

[rei]

She shot Ailyth a dark
look, at this point
completely ignoring the
other girl. She was
beyond irritated right
now. Then she remembered
why she was in this state.

She knew what it was
like to be nearly killed,
but the wimps didn't
have a scratch on them.

Pathetic

"I was nearly killed
by Le Cyll earlier, but
I don't blame him
for what he did ! It's who
he is ! We even had a
conversation, and I would
even consider us friends !"

It was true. She did consider
Le Cyll and herself somewhat
friends. She had talked to him
more than anyone else at this
school, actually. And Le Cyll
certainly hadn't betrayed her
like Ailyth just had.

"And yet, you are so selfish
and inconsiderate that you don't
even bother to think of what Nai
is and you judge him according
to what you think is right !
You disgust me !"

She snarled at the end, fixing them
a glare filled with utter loathing.
If she ever saw them after this
and she was able, it wouldn't be
good.

[Iƪƪia]

"Le Cyll?!"

As much as her anger had subsided, that name immediately brought her to the verge of hysterics. Was she serious?! That was who had hurt her?! Seriously?! And she considered him a... Friend? That was... That was seriously screwed up! A murderer and he was her friend?!

"I hate to break this to you, but your friend is nothing but a monster!" She spat, sneering on the word, "I know because he tried to kill me! And it didn't happen in a controlled, little class! No, it happened where there wouldn't be witnesses!"

She had her teeth clenched so tightly that they threatened to crumble into nothingness. Feeling a pain in her hands, she looked down to see that her hands had turned into fists at some point, her nails digging into her flesh. But that didn't matter. All the anger she felt right now... Nothing much mattered at this point!

"And personally, I don't care about who he is! It doesn't matter what kind of a life these bastards have had! Nothing gives them a license to kill! They're nothing more than disgusting murderers! The scum of the Earth! And I'm sorry that your mentality is so screwed up that you're unable to see that!"

Her entire frame was shaking now. She had never been this angry before... Not when she was abandoned. Not even when she was almost killed. Doing something as terrible as killing or trying to kill someone was awful enough, but defending a murderer? What kind of screwed up mentality is that?![/color]

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline was very quiet. Things had gone... weird now. More weird than they had been before. Both of them were angry, and she didn't know why. They were talking about some guy, and then Ailyth had compared him to this Nai character, said they were murderers, and it didn't excuse them if they were screwed up.

All that Caroline heard, but only one thing filtered through enough for her to react on it.

They were both screwed up?!? What kind of school was this?!?

Her survival instinct kicking in again, she suddenly had the biggest urge to leave. Right now. No one was paying attention to her, and she was sure now that she didn't want them to. She started backing away, trying to be inconspicuous about it, but her resolve didn't last. She started running, and then she turned around and high-tailed it out of there.

She didn't look back, and she didn't stop to wonder if Ailyth was even on her side anymore.
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