Safety in Books

[Nikora & Mylin]

It had been a hours since he came to this Academy but he was still unable to find his sister, Nini. Sniffling he walked into the Library, he always turned to books when things weren't going right. Without really looking at what he was taking he stared aimlessly at the bookshelf and grabbed the first book he could reach. Being short had its disadvantages, but he wasn't done growing yet. Rubbing his eyes with his free hand he sat down on the ground and opened up the book. Not really paying attention to what he said he opened the cover and began turning pages, quickly reading the words each page held. Although he was young he spent a lot of time reading so he was pretty good at it, though he really wasn't paying attention to what it said. Still sniffling he continued to wipe away his eyes on the sleeve of his uniform. "Nini, I'm sorry." He whispered under his breath, he didn't know what he did but whatever it was he didn't mean it. Hiding in his sorrow he began actually reading the book, it was interesting.. what was it about, a knight? Ignoring the world around him he began to focus on the book, trying to forget about finding his sister. He was now curled up in a ball, sitting in the middle of the isle reading the book; platinum blonde hair falling over his eyes and his hat still on his head. Greenish blue eyes were moving back and forth, scanning over every word on the page. His eyes still looked sad, but were now showing a new, more happier emotion.

[Iƪƪia]

Silently cursing the confusing layout of the school, Hendrix finally managed to find his was back to the library. It was still as empty as when he had left it, a fact which seemed strange at first, before he figured that there must be classes going on. A shame he wasn't able to meet more people yet; he'd just have to be patient.

Running a hand through his hair, he glanced back toward the entrance. Well, he had found one student, at least. She'd looked terribly lonely too, all by herself at a table in the back of the library. It was only right to keep her company. While that may be true, it wasn't quite how she saw it.

The girl seemed terribly skittish, and her human skin continued to flicker, as if she was having trouble controlling it. They hadn't talked long at all before she muttered something about being late for class and then she dashed away. After a brief pursuit and an attempt to get her to skip her classes, he finally gave up. At the moment, he still didn't want to risk getting caught in the halls by one of the teachers here. They could put the entire school on high-alert and make his job fairly difficult. So, he decided he'd just have to wait awhile... He'd find that lonely girl later. Perhaps he'd "run into her" as she made her way to her dorm room...

Smiling, he sauntered over to the wall and fell back onto one of the benches that circled the library. Now this was the hard part. He wasn't a patient guy. Sighing, he leaned back and closed his eyes. Maybe there was something else he could do while he waited...

After several moments, he opened his eyes and for the first time noticed a figure lying on the floor beside one of the bookshelves. Confused, he watched the figure for awhile, but it just seemed to be reading. With a shrug, he looked away, ignoring the kid.

A few moments later, however, having decided that he was bored enough, he stood up and started toward the kid still lying on the floor. He stopped just a foot away from it, looking it over with a frown. It was... A really weird kid. Yeah, sure, the creatures of this planet seemed to enjoy reading, but they didn't usually read while lying on the floor... That was just gross. It didn't matter if they cleaned the floor with fairy dust every hour, it was still gross.

"Um... Hey, kid," He began, lightly kicking its foot, "Look, personally, I'd never lay down on this floor."[/color]

[Nikora & Mylin]

Now reading contently he allowed himself to lay in a more sprawled out position, laying on his stomach with the book on the ground. One of his elbows were planted on the ground while his head rested in his hand. His feet kicked up and down every once in a while to show his excitement. The book was about a knight that set out to save a princess. He enjoyed any kind of adventure books and this one was chalk full of adventure. He had gotten through the first couple of chapters, which hardly even made a dent in the thick book.

Yawning he closed his eyes for a moment, the tears no longer gathering around his eyes. The next thing he knew he heard a voice and felt a soft kick at his feet. Jumping up he felt as though he was about to burst from his skin and fly away, but all that failed on his skin was that his beautiful, white, feathery wings showed for a few seconds and then went back into hiding. Tears began pouring from his eyes as he made a high pitch cry of fear. "AHHHH!" As quickly as his tears had come they soon stopped as he heard the rest of what the tall man had said. Tilting his head he put a finger towards his lips, he does this when he thinks.

"Floor?" He stood there and continued to think, but he could feel the heat grow on his face as the blood rushed to his cheeks causing him to blush heavily. Looking up he saw just how much taller the guy was, Mylin was very puny at only four foot three inches. Gasping he took a few steps back and knocked into the bookshelf. "Why mister?" Even though nothing threatening had happened you could see the fear in his eyes. It was rather pathetic really.

His greenish-blue eyes were locked onto the male before him. He was much older.. 'Wait a minute!' His eyes lit up as he began thinking about the other's age. Perhaps he knew where Nini went. "Hey mister! Have you seen Nini?!" He spoke out loudly this time, as he was overly excited. No longer did he fear the situation he was in, but he was excited for this was the first person on the entire campus that had talked to him.

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[Iƪƪia]

At the sudden, high-pitched scream, Hendrix jumped back, bumping into the opposite bookshelf and knocking down several books in the process. Muttering a string of curses under his breath, he held onto the frame of the bookshelf and forced himself to calm down. He didn't like to be startled. In fact, it was downright stupid to surprise him. Usually, bad things happen to people who surprise him. Finally able to suppress his anger when he looked back down at the kid he managed to only seem slightly annoyed.

Due to its sudden panic attack, Hendrix was able to see that the kid was really some sort of white bird-thing. Made sense. For some reason it was always the birds who were freaked out so easily. Yeah, so that girl he was planning on meeting was probably a bird too, though he couldn't be certain. Most mythical creatures smelled so similar... He'd have to ask Yama how he can tell them apart sometime.

At the kid's question about the floor, Hendrix just stared at him, wondering at what age birds learned common sense. Looking to the floor, he opened his mouth to give a response, but only closed it without saying anything, as if deciding he wouldn't even bother.

Looking back at the kid, he noticed an all too familiar emotion glistening in its eyes. Fear. Naturally, a smile crept onto his face. He always enjoyed having people fear him, yet he wasn't quite sure why he did. On the other hand, it always posed a problem when trying to talk to people. They were always much more alert and guarded when they were afraid. It was a double-edged sword, really.

Unfortunately (Or maybe not; it was too early to tell) as quickly as the fear had come into the kid's eyes, it was gone, replaced with a weird sort of enthusiasm. It seemed to be looking for something called a "nini"... Whatever that was. Hendrix had never heard of it.

"Uh... No. No I haven't," He replied, looking away as he leaned against the bookshelf, "What... Is it your pet or something?"[/color]

[Nikora & Mylin]

Young Mylin looked at the books that had fallen to the ground, he pointed at each of them counting under his breath, "One, Two.. Three. Four..Five?" Blinking he looked back up as the man told him he hadn't seen her. Sniffling tears began to form around his eyes again. "Nini!" he cried out but quieted down when he was asked if it was his pet. Shaking his head he stared at the man, who was now looking away. Rubbing his eyes he spoke out softly. "Nini is my big sister."

It had been a few days since she had came to this school and their caretaker just sent him over. He wondered if his sister even knew he was here. Sighing, Mylin's eyes glanced downward. He felt lost without his sister, and all he wanted was to find her. Sniffling he bent down and picked up the book he had been reading. Looking it over he memorized the title and placed it back where he had found it.

Looking back up to the other he walked over to him slowly. Once at his side he tugged on his sleeve. "Could you help me find her mister?" He looked up into his reddish brown eyes with a half smile on his face. Mylin hoped the person would say yes, but he wasn't sure if anyone would help him find her.

Waiting for his answer he looked back down, tears still filled in his eyes. Noticing the books that had fallen before he whispered under his breath before picking them up. "I'm sorry I scared you Mister..." Feeling really bad about what happened, his skin began failing slightly; allowing some of his white tail feathers to be seen. After putting the books back on the shelves he shook his head, and regained full control of his skin again. This time his skin failure wasn't as notice able but it still happened. Smiling at his job well done, even though he hadn't put the books back in their proper place, he returned his gaze back to the man.

He remembered his sister telling him to never accept help from a stranger, nor to talk to them. Gasping he shook his head back and forth a few times before putting his hand behind his head and chuckling slightly. "I'm Mylin!" He exclaimed, hoping that would count towards the man not being a stranger to him. 'Hehe, I didn't break your rules Nini. See I am smart...' Smiling he thought that to himself, though it was a false statement.

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[Iƪƪia]

Honestly, Hendrix couldn't have cared less about the kid's sad, little plight. He had only been half-listening the entire time after he had confirmed how annoying this kid was. It didn't even have to do anything. It even stood in an annoying manner. It was then he remembered that he had never liked kids.

Despite this, at the mention of an older sister, Hendrix tipped his head in curiosity. So Nini was its sister... Its older sister. And this place was like a high school, right? So that meant she was still young. Or young-looking, at least. All these mythical creatures had their own, stupid, complex calendars, and they all seemed to live so long that it was hard to keep track. Then again, he really couldn't complain as he was much older than most of the creatures here. And much better looking too.

He flinched slightly as he felt something tug on his jacket and looked down to see the kid asking if he'd help find his sister, before apologizing for frightening him and beginning to set the books back on the shelf. Compulsively fixing the sleeve of his jacket, the sides of his mouth began to twitch into a smile. The poor kid was lost and just wanted to find his big sister... It was only right to help him.

Kneeling down so that he was on eye level with the kid, he made his tone as friendly as he possibly could.

"Hey, no harm done!" He assured it, smiling broadly, "And of course I'll help you look for your sister! Don't worry, I know we'll find her."

Hendrix waited momentarily as the kid introduced itself. He chuckled slightly before he stood up again.

"And I'm Hendrix," He responded, running a hand through his hair. It was strange how often he did that, even when he wasn't trying to impress anyone. Must be habit.[/color]

[Nikora & Mylin]

The last memory of his sister was still fresh in his memories, and it hurt. They had been playing outside, or well he was and she was sitting there under her parasol watching him. And when he came up behind her and took it from her he remembered that hard slap he received to the side of his face. It felt like a thousand needles stinging him all at once, and it left his cheek bright red. He was so shocked that all he could do was stand there and stare at her while she screamed at him. After that their nanny had come out and took him inside. The very next day she was sent away. He could feel the tears form around his eyes at the thought of the memory but they stopped when the man knelt down.

They were now eye level and Mylin was now able to look into the man's reddish brown eyes. Now that he had a closer look he was able to study his features. He had brown hair with some highlights, actually he looked rather charming. He must of had all the women after him. At first his smile looked weird but as the man talked his smile seemed more real. Mylin couldn't help but smile and giggle at his answer. Watching him get back up he smiled and tilting his head. When the man introduced himself he squealed with delight.

"Neyo nay! So now that you aren't a stranger--" Actually he didn't know what that meant. Where would they go? He hadn't the slightest idea of where she would be. Closing his mouth in mid sentence he began to tear up again. The tears began to form around his eyes again and he covered his face with his hands. "Nini where are you? Why is this school so big? Waaahhh!" His words were muffled and barely audible.

Rubbing his eyes he looked back up to the man named Hendrix. Calming down slightly he spoke again, "Where could she be?" Even though he had wanted so badly to be with her, he was scared that she wouldn't want him when he found her. And that thought stung.

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[Iƪƪia]

Emotions were a complex thing with Hendrix. On the one hand, if he had caused anyone to feel a painful emotion - or pain in general, really - there was no limit to the amount of satisfaction and pleasure he felt. He lived for moments like that. Well, not just that, but they certainly made life much more fun. And yet... Whenever someone got all emotional, and he had nothing to do with it, it was no longer entertaining. Actually, it was annoying.

Looking away from the kid, he rolled his eyes, and he would have sighed too if he didn't think that it would here him. He only waited semi-patiently until the kid was just about finished. Then he turned back to the kid, avoiding eye contact in an effort to hide his annoyance. Yet another reason to hate children. They were usually so damn sensitive!

"Uh, okay... Look, enough of that crying. I said we'll find her, okay?"

Of course he would, but the question was, where would he find her at? This was a pretty big school after all, and it wasn't like he could just track her scent like a bloodhound. He could always sneak into the office and find her schedule... On second thought, it was still too early to risk getting caught. Well, they could always just go look in a pretty popular area. That might just work... And he might even make a few other... Friends.

Quickly deciding on his destination, Hendrix took several steps toward the door before remembering to bring the kid with him.

"Oh... Hey, follow me. I have an idea," He informed it before striding out of the library.

As he strolled down the hall, attempting to conjure up a map of the school in his mind, he suddenly realized that there was something he had yet to learn.

"Hey..." He called back to the kid, "What does she look like, anyway? I mean, I need to know what I'm looking for."

Yes... That was the only reason he wanted to know. That and he wanted to make sure he wasn't pursuing some disgusting animal. Even he had standards.[/color]