The Sanctuary

[Ari Phoenix]

Aori had headed here, after being through a long ordeal, her first day, and so many things had happened, her second day, and even more had happened. She found the library oddly empty. She realized it wasn't right, but she wanted to practice singing, while reading a book. She started to sing wordlessly, as it was one of her main gifts. The song rang out through the empty library, but she knew it wouldn't be heard outside of it. She smiled and sat down, as she started singing words from a book she picked up in the music section, singing songs that she had never heard, practicing both English and song at the same time. She got into it, and sitting down, was doing a little dance in place, as she practiced her skills. This would make things easier for her, as she knew it would. She was a happy Phoenix, even if she was restraining it a little. She felt confident as she did this, knowing that there was no way to stop her for now.

[Iƪƪia]

As much as she'd like to deny it, one thing was becoming increasingly obvious to Ailyth: she was running out of places to explore in this school. She had spent the majority of her time in the academy, exploring every nook and cranny... Well, everyone that she knew existed, at least. There were probably other areas. After all, this was like, an old castle! There were certainly secret passages and stuff... But she'd had no luck in finding them, and her method of knocking on random walls as she walked around the school didn't seem to yield any results.

She needed a better tactic... But where to begin?

Wait... The library! Perfect! She never had spent much time there. Imagine the types of secrets that those shelves could hold!

With that, she entered through the large doors and excitedly sprinted between the rows and rows of shelves. However, it didn't take long before she realized why she had never spent much time in there. It was... Kinda boring. And quiet. Very quiet.

With a shrug, she began removing and replacing multiple books from the various shelves, waiting for one of them to open a secret passage in the wall, or maybe a trapdoor or something... Anything!

Then, as she moved to the fourth shelf, she heard something break the silence. It sounded like someone was singing. Because there weren't many people in the library, she was able to hear the song quite clearly and she was even able to follow it to it's source.

It came from a Japanese-looking girl with dark hair. For a moment, she wondered what kind of creature she was, but sensing other creatures was never Ailyth's strong suit. Maybe she was human? No... With a voice like that, she was probably some sort of bird. That made sense, right?

Well, since there was someone else here who wasn't being quiet, Ailyth took that as an invite to end her own vow of silence. Skipping over to the girl's table, she dropped into the seat across from her.

"Hey, that's a pretty song! You're a singer? That's cool! You're really good!" Her own voice reverberated off of the library walls, not sounding nearly as pretty as this girl's voice, "Oh, my name's Ailyth, by the way!"[/color]

[Ari Phoenix]

She stopped her song when it became apparent she wasn't alone. A girl had came up to her, and seemed rather animated to the phoenix. She looked at her for a moment, before finally speaking. She was blushing as she spoke "Um, Arigatou, my name is Aori, I am surprised that someone else is here, from what I saw this place was deserted." the japanese phoenix spoke, sounding slightly uncertain of herself, though she was still rather confident from her singing. She looked from the book she had been singing from, blushing a little. She wasn't really sure how to react, being caught off guard as she was, but felt a bit better, suddenly knowing that she wasn't the only person in here.

She stood up slowly, and bowed. "I am sorry for disturbing you, I thought I was alone, so I was making myself feel better." She spoke, with a humble tone in her voice. It was obvious that she had been practicing speaking english using the song, and it was working, but she still had a high toned accent. She was still curious, but she was slightly afraid of speaking, as she waited for the girl to speak again.

She was caught off guard by both the girls energy, and her beauty. She didn't seem that bad a girl, but she also wondered, just what the girl was, she needed to seek out a book on sensing other species presences.

[Iƪƪia]

"Huh? You weren't disturbing me!"

Ailyth continued smiling, just a little confused as to why the girl was apologizing. Usually, people seemed to want an apology from Ailyth for some reason. People could be so weird! When had she ever bothered someone? Well, it didn't matter.

She leaned forward on the table, attempting to see the title of the book that she was reading, letting her feet hang several inches off of the floor. Aori was her name? Pretty! And she seemed pretty nice too. But maybe a little shy? Not like that mattered to Ailyth.

"I was just lookin' around for secrets... Ya know, like cool, old tunnels and stuff like that!" She gestured toward the rows of bookshelves, as if that would mean something to Aori, "So, have ya seen any?"

Probably not... After all, they were called secret passages, not public passages. But, hey, you never know! Maybe this girl came to the library to look for some too and the book was just a ruse to throw the staff off of her trail! After all, who came to a library to read, anyway?[/color]

[Ari Phoenix]

The young phoenix looked at the girl, blushing a little. "I am sorry, but I haven't seen any, I was here studying, learning english better, so as to be able to mix with the crowd easier, I just got here from japan recently." Aori explained, as she looked up. She had been singing from an English textbook, it was probably the strangest thing in the world, but it was what she had been studying. she also hadn't thought to check out for passages and such, for it just didn't occur to her, she had been there mainly because it was a chance to calm down, and find peace. She didn't really know if there was anything else here for her.

She had decided to follow things here though, and the usual rules of the Library. She hadn't thought about the possibility of there being Secret passages and the like here. "Do you really think there could be hidden places in the library?' She was becoming curious, with that thought, as she looked at the girl, blinking every other minute, wondering if that was truly something that the girl was doing ,or if she was pulling a prank.

[Iƪƪia]

Ailyth only smiled as Aori responded; smiled as if she knew what she was talking about. She said she was from Japan... Which was a country, right? Right! She was pretty sure of that as she'd heard many others explain how they were from Japan. Unfortunately, Ailyth was never too good with geography. Let's see... She knew what Europe was. And it had, like... 4 countries on it or something. But all the other continents were well beyond her grasp. She basically knew what movies and music came from there and what the people looked like, but she had no idea if this place was right next door or thousands of miles away. But, hey, that never stopped her from making new friends!

When she heard Aori ask about her mission, she became all the more excited. If she was curious about the secret passages too, maybe she could help find some! After all, two heads are better than one!

"Of course! I bet there's hidden places all over the school!" She proclaimed happily, jumping off of the table, "Why, I remember one time we sneaked into the teacher's lounge and the floor sunk in and we fell into a mad old castle-like basement-thing... It was sooo cool! Ah, good times..."

Still smiling, she wandered away, reminiscing about the raid as if it had happened oh, so long ago. With a nostalgic sigh, she looked up at the large book shelf that she had stopped in front of. Appearing to have suddenly remembered what she was here for, she spun back around to face Aori.

"Yeah, see, this is why I decided to come here and look!" She motioned to the book shelf, "You know how sometimes in movies someone takes a book offa a shelf and then it moves and there's a passage behind it!"

To demonstrate, she jumped up and grabbed a book off of one of the higher shelves. When nothing happened, she simulated the rumbling sound of a bookcase sliding aside with her mouth, making an elaborate gesture to show how it would move. It slid to the right a ways before slowly being lowered into a secret door in the floor.

"... And then there'd be a tunnel right there," She concluded her pantomime, pointing to a nonexistent door beneath the bookcase.

Something wasn't quite right though... Oh, maybe it had to be a bookshelf against the wall? That was how it usually worked. Someone would pull a book-switch and then the wall would come loose and flip around, taking the person who pulled the switch with them. Or maybe that was a trick! Maybe they wanted them to try the wall-bookshelves. Maybe there was a switch in one of the central shelves that triggered some magic portal!

Endless possibilities flowing through her mind, she turned around again, smiling broadly at Aori. Noticing that she still held that non-bookswitch book that she had grabbed from the shelf she looked down to read the title. The Grapes of Wrath. That was dumb. Who'd want to read a book about fruit? And how could fruit be angry, anyway?[/color]

[Ari Phoenix]

Aori looked at the girl, and was slightly confused, but then decided, why not. She started checking shelves, moving random books on shelves, not quite sure if any of them would actually reveal secret passages. She started to sing slightly, as she started looking, trying to make herself feel more confident about this. She didn't really know where a secret passage way would b-"Nani!" She gasped in surprise, as she watched a bookshelf move back, and into the wall, almost taking her hand with it. "I don't know, but I think I found one?" she called, as she looked in, seeing more books. She didn't know what this portion was like, but knew that the girl would want to see it.

She waited, just outside, she had no clue what such a thing was, but the books in there looked older, and slightly more worn. The lights seemed to be a little dimmer there, and also, was that someone reading? She couldn't tell, not at this distance, but she did know that when the girl got there, they would find out. This was really interesting, just what kind of books do they have there?

she thought about going in, but also wondered, if this wasn't supposed to be known about, then would there be traps? Or would that be against the schools regulations? She didn't know, she hadn't been there that long. She thought about re reading the hand book later that day, just to find out more about the rules and regulations. She waited, her blue eyes blinking. She didn't really understand this much at all.

She then realized, most likely, this wasn't a good thing, because her natural ways, seemed to lead her to this, which meant that it was a clumsy move. She started thinking about the books again though, and started to day dream, about finding a book that would help her with her grace, and also talk about her family from herself back. She started smiling softly as she thought about learning a lot from a book, as she stood there, waiting.

[Oren]

Kendryek let his hand glide along the bindings of books and he studied each title as his fingers brushed off the age-old dust. In his other hand he held three books of decent size that he thought would be interesting. Two were in Latin and the other was in Japanese. He had stumbled across this room a few days ago after searching through the back shelves of the library. He loved old books so it was quite nice that he had found this place. There was a large ceder desk in the corner with an unlit candle for light and paper so old he didn't dare touch it.

Sitting in the chair he had brought down(the original one had two broken legs and was sitting off to the side) he looked around the large room. There were scrolls, manuscripts, ancient books, and modern books. There were stories in every language known to man and even some that weren't. There was a section for maps, for blueprints, for history, for 'modern' mathematics and theology, for religions, for mythology, and for simple stories that creative minds couldn't help but write. This place had probably been made and kept by griffins over the centuries before the school was established. It was definitely a bookworm's paradise.

He turned to the books he had on the desk already and added his three new ones to the pile. Taking a lighter out of his pocket, he lit the candle, carefully staying away from the old books. Opening the larger of the two Latin books, he settled down for a few hours of reading.

A sudden noise caused him to look up. Wait, what time was it? He looked at the battery-operated clock he had placed by the candle. He had been reading for three hours already? Time sure did fly when a good book was placed under one's nose. Light was now coming in from the outside room. Two voices too, both femenin. He recognized Aori's immediately and after a few seconds decided the other voice belonged to a girl called Ailyth. He had never met the latter, but he still knew who she was. He new many of the students here at the school, now.

Turning back to his book, he sighed and continued reading. They would get here when they did, which wasn't long, and when they did he would deal with whatever they would do or say, but for now, where was his place on the page?

[thereaper]

Siar had came to the library earlier in the day and was searching for something, records maybe? Or possibly a good history manuscript.

Sair was never really a reader, although he never read much when he was younger. For now he paced back and forth looking through a very old book in a language that he had never seen before, possibly Gallic scripture. He had always admired the old cultures of the world, from the Romance to the begginnings of shakespear.

Siar stopped in his paceing when he heard a odd sound, like a stone grinding on stone. He slowly walked to the end of his favorite section of the library and saw the Japanese-looking girl. He dident recognise her, infact, he dident recognise most others, he prefered to be alone most of the time. He had heard a voice earlier, singing? Was this the girl who had been singing?

For now, he watched from the edge of the section sitting in a oaken chair at the end of the aisle. He opened the book he had gathered from the history section to show the illusion of reading, although in reality he kept the girl in his sights, only looking up for breif seconds.

[Iƪƪia]

At the sound of what could be a bookshelf sliding aside, Ailyth immediately looked up from the angry fruit book to find the source of the sound. And it was a bookshelf sliding aside! It really was! Excited, Ailyth ran over to it, letting the book fall from her hands with a loud THUD!

She skidded to a halt next to Aori, almost barreling into her. She just knew that she'd find a secret if she just looked long enough! Well... Actually, it was Aori who found this one... But she watched! She watched as the bookshelf slid back into the wall... So it was the ones against the wall! Then maybe there were even more secret switches!

Ailyth took a step into the room, examining her surroundings. There were... Books. A lot of them. Well that was boring!

Frowning, she walked further into the room, staring at the shelves. That wasn't fair! Where were all the traps? And the guard monsters? And the secret treasure chests that are guarded by Sphinxes whose riddles you have to solve or else you can't have the treasure?

No, there were just a bunch of boring books. And a desk. And a... Person? Wait, someone was already here? And they were reading? Gosh, what a bookworm... But that was beside the point!

"Hey! Someone beat us here!" Ailyth called out accusingly, her hands on her hips, "That's.... So unfair!"

It was unfair! Discovering secret tunnels was always fun, but it was even cooler when you're the first to discover them! Then you could be talking to someone and they'll be like, "Gee, I wonder if there are any secret passages in this school."[/i] And then you'll be like, "Hehe... I know a secret passage!"[/i] Then they'll be like, "Really?! That's so cool! Where is it?"[/i] And then... Well, you get the point.

But wait... Wouldn't the people who built this passage have known about it first? Well... Being second or third was still pretty cool![/size][/color]

[Ari Phoenix]

Aori was surprised, to have seen that it was Kendryek in the vault they had found, as well as that Ailith was able to catch up so quickly. "I guess this one isn't that hard to find." she spoke, slightly sad. She had been happy to have found it, but not sure if she was now, being it wasn't the best. The Japanese phoenix sighed softly, but then looked up. "Well, before we move on, maybe we should ask the person who was here before us, if he knows of any Rumors, or maybe any more Secrets, or even a map?" she suggested, as she walked into the hidden place they had found.

She looked at the Dragon, and smiled softly. "Kendryek-sempai, you wouldn't happen to know of any more Hidden places in this Library, would you...ooh, is that!?" she asked, pointing at a book in Japanese that Kendryek had, she was really seriously stunned. She thought that book had been lost, and would never be reprinted, but yep, there it was. It was one written by a human who had seen two Phoenix's in Japan flying around the moon. It held many history of the people, as well as their relationship with the Phoenix, back in Early Japan. She looked like she had seen the most beautiful painting in the world. That book, technically talked about her ancestors.

She was jumping back and forth, barely able to contain herself, which, of course let off some of her skin on her arms and legs and face, revealing the sapphire blue feathers and light from underneath. This wasn't a minor thing, this was a major excitement to her.

[Oren]

Kendryek didn't look up at them, or even pay attention to them, until Aori exclaimed something about the book on the top of the stack. The title must have caught her attention. He raised his eyebrows. "Hm? This thing?" He picked it up and offered it to her. "You want to read it? Please, be my guest. I have a copy in my room. A very good book, that one is. I can always read it over and over."

He was aware that the book hadn't been printed in a very long time, but he wasn't lying. He had received the volume as a gift a while back, five hundred years or so, and had always kept it. He had seen the value of the book, even in his immaturity. Aori would definitely find it an interesting read.

He reached for another book, but just as he picked it up he remembered that Aori had asked if he knew of more hidden places. Putting the book back where it was he stood. He looked at Ailyth for a few second before turning his eyes to Aori. Something told him that Ailyth probably wouldn't keep any secret passage a secret for long, so he decided to show her only one.

"Yes, I do. On the other side of the library, the northern wall, there is a set of crimson books. It's a good series; a fiction one about a dragon named Canice and a griffin named Lule as they try to survive the Upland War." He paused for a second before continuing. "Anyway, one of the books has a double. It was titled... give me a second..." He closed his eyes and brought up the mental picture of the shelf. Smiling at Ailyth, he said, "Oh! That's right! It was titled Kaden's Call. I believe Kaden was King of the Dragons at the time... but that doesn't matter right now. Its near the middle of the selection."

He waited a few second before sitting back down and waved for them to leave. "Well, off you go. Though one more thing. I would rather keep this place to myself and the few others in the school that would truly enjoy it. Keep this one secret. Blab about the other one all you want." The comment was directed toward Ailyth, but he hoped she wouldn't notice. He didn't like being rude. If the situation called for it, though, he would do what was necessary.

He slipped a water bottle out of his bag and took a sip. Why did communicating with people take so much talking?

[Iƪƪia]

(OOC: Ah, Illia's not in this thread ^^; I think you mean Ailyth)
(OOC Again: Sorry about the suckish post ^^; My muse isn't performing as good as it should)

After managing to calm her feelings of disappointment, Ailyth managed to hear that the cheating guy who stole her shot at being the first to discover a secret passage had even found another! That was so... Unfair! Why'd he get to find two?! Shoot, he'd probably found more than two! And that was... Unfair!

Well, she'd show him! She'd find a place that no one knew about! A place that even the people who built it didn't know about! She wasn't quite sure how that was possible... But she'd do it! Somehow! And she'd start... Um...

Hey! Maybe the other secret passage has another secret passage branching off of it! Yeah!

Pleased with her thoughts, she turned toward the entrance to the passage, stopping for a moment to see if Ari was going to follow. At the moment, she seemed to be all excited about some old book. Though Ailyth couldn't see why. It was just words. On paper. Boring.

Ah, well. She would catch up after she had her book. And... After she stopped turning blue.

Ailyth gave her one last curious look, wondering if the blue was caused by something about her race or if she was suffering from a lack of oxygen. Deciding that it wasn't the latter, she took off down the library, in search of the second passage.[/color]

[Ari Phoenix]

She had freaked out more when he handed her the copy of the book, holding it to her in glee. She was happy about the book, and started to read it, when she heard more on secret passages, and then that the girl wanted to find more. "Alright Ailyth-san, I'll keep up." she spoke, before bowing to Kendryek, she then ran to catch up, hoping no humans were in the area. She wasn't repairing the human skin she had, so her true self was showing, in it's glowing blue, and sapphire blue mannerisms, as the heart of a Phoenix, she wasn't certain how this would effect Ailyth.

She didn't realize it, but her eyes had become able to be seen, as they were glowing now, she didn't realize the extent of the excitement's ability to force her out of her hiding form, and would panic later, when she would be trying to get of the library, though this dark and huge place would be interesting to fly around, when no one else was actually there. She had a set of feathers sticking out, she knew. She felt herself feeling energetic, but then the worse thing happen, she became clumsy again, and fell, knocking over a small cart full of books.

She sat there a moment, trying to figure out what happened, and where the book she was carrying went.

[Oren]

Kendryek watched as Aori ran out of the room to catch up to Ailyth. She was splitting her skin and she wasn't going to fix it? He shook his head in amusement. She was a funny thing, all right. Normally she would have been flustered. He guessed that the book he had given her was much more important than her skin showing, for now, at least. Later she would care, and a lot, too.

Maybe even to the point of losing her skin entirely. Now that would be bothersome.

Staring at his bag for a second he debated on whether he should do something about this little problem. It wasn't his problem, of course, but because she was Japanese and she was new, mainly because she was Japanese, he felt like he should help her. He took in a deep breath before turning back to the large book on the desk. What a good novel, never mind that it was written in Latin. Any language was a good language. Slowly exhaling, he found his place on the page.

There was a sudden crash. Well, it wasn't quite a crash. More of a bang... and then some thuds. Rolling his eyes, he stood, shouldered his bag, and slowly walked to where the sound had come from. As he had suspected, the cause was Aori. She had run into a cart of books. He sighed and chuckled, watching as she looked around, dazed for a moment, before looking at the pile of books. He noticed that she wasn't holding the one he had given her and in a literal split second he saw it, almost completely covered by the other books.

Bending down, he lifted it free effortlessly before offering a hand to Aori. "You must be more careful. Running in to carts can't be good for one's heath, now can it? And speaking of health, our last encounter... convinced me? No, that's not it." He paused before slowly continuing. "It's more of a mix between 'convinced' and 'roused'. I can't think of it right now. Anyway, I decided to start carrying some medical supplies with me. Not a ton, but enough to... supply any needs that might arise." Holding up three small bandages, he raised his eyebrows. "Would you like them?"