Of monotony and secret laughter...

[Totally Manders]

Nathaniel Taite-Kinnear sat on the floor in the main corridors, his knees pulled to his chest. He had a book resting on his knees and he was reading it quietly. As he didn\'t have many friends in the academy, he was very used to sitting on his own with a book.

Who cared that it was a book he\'d already read about ten times over? It helped him waste time between his classes and that was good enough for him. He sighed and moved his bangs out of his eyes before continuing to read the book he knew so well.

He could probably spout off entire chapters from the book without even having to glance at the pages he had read it so much, but such was his life really. He laughed a little at one of the funny parts, coughing into his hand to cover up the laughter. He didn\'t want to appear that approachable, so it was best he kept to himself.

Although if someone were to happen upon him, he\'d make small talk if needed. People always seemed to bug him, especially when he wanted to people alone. But once again, such was his life.

He turned another page in the book, smiling softly to himself. Maybe it wasn\'t so bad that he was re-reading a book he\'d read over and over again, he knew when to scoff, when to cry, and when to be amused. It was monotonous, but he\'d gotten used to it.

[Idrial]

Idrial’s paws pounded against the ground as she moved swiftly back to the Academy, she could cover more ground as a wolf than as a human. The day of all days she decided to take a hike to the other side of the Island was the day it was going to rain. She was soaked to the bone already; she hated getting caught out in the rain especially down pours and snarled as she thought about it. She didn’t know how long she had been running for before she saw the Academy come into view.

Though she felt as she could run for hours on end she was glad to see the Academy and put on a burst of speed. Thunder rumbled above as she raced towards the wooden doors. Slowing down only a little in case the doors were tightly shut again, she had a head ache for weeks after the last run in with the doors. She saw a crack of light coming through on of the doors and pushed it open with her head and walked inside.

Once inside the main corridors she walked towards the middle of the room and violently shook herself off, she looked to the side and saw a boy sitting with his knees up to his chest reading a book and was too engrossed to notice her. She strode over to him silently and when she was two feet away she sat on her haunches and gave a long and piercing howl. She had always loved to scare the unexpected especially those from other Houses. She smiled in a wolf grin waiting for him to acknowledge her.

[Totally Manders]

Nate almost jumped about ten feet as he heard the loud howl.  Just what had that been..? He reached out for his book which had landed a few inches away and looked up into the eyes of something that was definitely not human. He pulled his book to him and placed it behind his back, staring at the creature.

"...Um, hello?" He had definitely not suspected to be broken out of his reverie by a wolf of all things. He\'d seen some pretty odd things since he\'d started at the Academy, but never a wolf. Especially not indoors. Maybe this wolf was a familiar of someone from one of the other houses? Or maybe this wolf actually was someone from one of the other houses?

He blinked and moved his bangs out of his eyes, staring at the wolf still. Just who was this and why did they seem so interested in him? Most people (and creatures for that matter) didn\'t acknowledge him. He was used to blending into the scenery, but now... it didn\'t seem like he\'d be able to do that anymore.

[Idrial]

A low growl came form Idrial’s throat which was actually a laugh when she saw the man jump out of his skin. Obviously he had never heard a wolf howl before, he reached for the book that landed a few inches away from him tucking it behind his back.

"...Um, hello?"

He stared at her as if he didn\'t know what to do in front of a wolf although he didn\'t seem scared just confused. He blinked as he moved his very dark brown hair away form his eyes staring at her still with those big brown eyes. She then got up from her haunches and moved form the front of him to beside him sitting down still looking at him. Then she returned back to human form.

He legs were stretched out with her hood of her cloak still. She looked at the man before taking her hands and pulling the hood back revealing her face. She had a slight smile on her face that was warm and inviting before speaking.

"Hello ... Sorry if I scared you, my name is Idrial."

[Damion_Dark]

Jaq Draco has been known to wnder the corridors during class, most of the time for no good reason. His ruffled hair, untouch since he awaken, his rank 5 robe with no sash on still. He just walks down the hallway when all of a sudden he heard the howl of a wolf. Curious to see if it was that one person he had meet sometime ago, he ventures towards the sound.

"...Um, Hello?"

The words came from a student who dropped his book. Across from him was a large black wolf with a grin. Jaq peered around from the corner of the wall to see the two. The boy Jaq has seen before, always reading some sort of book and by himself most of the time. Well all the time really.

"Hello ... Sorry if I scared you, my name is Idrial."

Said the wolf, well. Not a wolf anymore, more like a shape-shifter. Cool trick something Jaq wishes to learn. The human girl smiles and sat next to the student. Jaq chuckles and hides behind the corner. "So Idrial is scaring students again. This might be fun to watch." He peers once more to the two, watching them if all.

[Totally Manders]

Nate stared at the wolf-turned-human and weakly smiled.

"H-hi. My name\'s Nathaniel, but you can call me Nate."

He really wasn\'t sure what to do in this situation. Especially since he\'d never met someone who could shape-shift from wolf-to-human and vice versa. It was a little weird, but then again, he\'d seen many weird things since he\'d started at the Academy two years previous.

"Y-y-y," he cleared his throat, "you didn\'t scare me, not really." He moved some of his hair out of his face again, "Just shocked me is all. I wasn\'t expecting anyone to come through here. Not many people do."

Which is why Nate had chosen this particular corridor to read in. Not many people came by here when he was reading and so he was left alone. Or if people did come, he didn\'t really notice them. But that happened to him a lot, since he always got lost in the worlds in his books.

[Idrial]

"H-hi. My name\'s Nathaniel, but you can call me Nate. Y-y-y, you didn\'t scare me, not really. Just shocked me is all. I wasn\'t expecting anyone to come through here. Not many people do."

Idrial nodded she could see that he was nervous. Well who wouldn\'t be after you just got scared by a wolf only to find out that it was actually a person. He brushed his hair away from his face again. She spoke softly towards Nate.

"Well then I didn\'t mean to shock you Nate."

Idrial could not tell if his hair was black or a really dark brown, she noticed a book behind his back. She wondered what he was reading, she had seen very few in the Academy that loved to read. She wondered what house he came from and spoke again wanting to know.

"What house do you come from ... I am from Confuto."

[Totally Manders]

"It\'s okay." Nate nodded, moving his bangs out of his eyes again. He really should have worn his hair pulled back today if he\'d known it would have been this much of nuisance.

"Which house am I from?" He asked, staring at the woman who had just seconds ago been a wolf. "Um... Eruditio." He nodded again, pulling the book out from behind his back and staring down at the frayed cover. He really had read this one too much.

He couldn\'t exactly make out the face of who was speaking to him, but at least they were speaking softly. Nate didn\'t appreciate the people who yelled at him. He\'d gotten enough of that at home from his older sister Caleigh.

He sighed and flipped the pages in the book. "You know...not many people talk to me. So...why are you doing it...?" He didn\'t want to sound rude, he was just curious.

[Idrial]

"It\'s okay. Which house am I from? Um... Eruditio."

Idrial nodded as Nate moved his bangs out of his eyes again. He then pulled the book tha he was reading out form behind his back, the spine was frayed as well as the cover. A favorite book perhaps and one that was read far to often. She was surprised that he was from the house Eruditio, he looked more like a fighter than a reader though looks could be deceiving. He then spoke again still in the same tone flipping through the pages of the book.

"You know...not many people talk to me. So...why are you doing it...?"

Idrial smiled at this, some people would have thought of him being rude trying to get rid of them but not her for she was an observer and a good one at that, picking up on things others would miss. She now looked at him showing her face speaking in a soft but firmer tone.

"Maybe it was because you were the only one here that I could scare out of thier skin ... So you are from Eruditio that is good we need more people with brains and less brawl. There is a saying, It is curious that physical courage be so common in the world and moral courage so rare."

Idrial smiled at this, she was not like others in tha Academy who frowned on some houses just because of what they practiced like Curcio and Eruditio. She did not agree with this, what house someone chooses their choice should be respected and not frowned upon.

[Totally Manders]

Nate\'s eyes glossed over with a slight coldness at Idrial\'s remark about him being easy to scare out of his skin. Yeah, he\'d always been a bit of a nervous person, but that came from the fact that his older sister and her friends were always picking on him when he was younger. Jumping out from behind walls and scaring him and the like.

"I like my house. It seemed the best for me. I\'m not very strong or very into physical things, so it seemed best for me. ...Why...? Did I strike you as the sort to be from another house?"

Nate smiled a little at this, playing with the pages of the frayed book once more. Was he really making a friend here or was Idrial just playing with him? He hoped it was the former more than the latter, he really didn\'t need someone else to pick on him. He\'d gotten that enough at home.

"...I really like this book, you know." He muttered, smiling softly as he read one of his favourite passages once again. He could probably have recited the passage out loud, but he chose to just read it to himself, not really paying attention to his surroundings...

[Idrial]

"I like my house. It seemed the best for me. I\'m not very strong or very into physical things, so it seemed best for me. ...Why...? Did I strike you as the sort to be from another house?"

Nate smiled after he was done speaking, fingering the pages of his book. He must love that book, the way he held it like it was the only on left of its kind. She had seen that book hundreds of times in the library but had only read it a half a dozen times. She smiled back at him still, trying to be friendly.

"Actually yes you did, you seem more like a Confuto than an Eruditio. They way you have a sort of quiet nature to you. But then again that’s just my opinion, whatever House someone chooses their choice should be respected and not discriminated.”

Nate stuck his face back into the book, smiling quietly as his eyes moved across the page. Idrial leaned in a little to see what page he was reading, she scanned her eyes quickly over the page before leaning back. She could only remember one sentence form that book and it had stuck. She spoke softly as she recited the sentence.

“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the Passion of Life … Page 123, Paragraph, Line 3.”

[Totally Manders]

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I am quiet, mm?" Nate smiled sadly, curling his knees to his chest more. "I guess I just always have been. I open my mouth to speak and people go \'oh, there\'s that smart kid, I bet he\'s gonna tell us everything we don\'t want to know about everything there is to know\' and it just kinda made me not want to speak up as much..."

He sighed and then glanced up at Idrial when she recited a line from the book he was reading. "\'And the Passion of Life is what keeps us all alive to live for another better day.\' ...You\'ve read The Passion of Life? I thought I was the only one." He\'d seen the library\'s copy of the book was hardly even touched unlike his own slightly battered copy so he thought no one else had read it.

"What was your favourite part? I especially like the line \'Without darkness there cannot be light, but without the darkness, the light cannot flourish\' Page 246, Paragraph 4, Line 6." He smiled a little happier now, glad to have found someone else who had read the book.

It was probably pretty lame of him to be happy about such a thing, but as the book had only had a few dozen copies made, he figured he was probably the only one who\'d ever really read it. At least from cover to cover. Maybe she really was being nice to him, or maybe she was just fooling him and had read that line over his shoulder.

But the text in the book was rather small, so maybe she wasn\'t fooling him. He wasn\'t really sure what to think now. He was just glad he wasn\'t the only one in the world to have read this book.

[Idrial]

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I am quiet, mm, I guess I just always have been. I open my mouth to speak and people go \'oh, there\'s that smart kid, I bet he\'s gonna tell us everything we don\'t want to know about everything there is to know\' and it just kinda made me not want to speak up as much..."

He curled his knees to his chest as he spoke, it made Idrial sad that that just because of someones intelligance they were picked on for it. She usually kept to herself but when someone was being bullied about what house they came from and those that were weaker she came to thier aid, it was just one of those things that Idrial did not tolerate.

Idrial saw the Nate glanced up at her when she was done reciting the line from the book, his face shined with happiness. He smiled at her speaking in high tone that amused Idrial.  

"\'And the Passion of Life is what keeps us all alive to live for another better day.\' ...You\'ve read The Passion of Life? I thought I was the only one. What was your favourite part? I especially like the line \'Without darkness there cannot be light, but without the darkness, the light cannot flourish\' Page 246, Paragraph 4, Line 6."

Idrial chuckled a little at this, the one in the Libaray hadent been touched for years. Others had probably read it but not from front to back or payed any attention to the little details in the story. Slowly now lines from the book were coming back to her, she had to think for a little bit before answering him in a delightful tone.

"Yes I have read the book though not as many times as you, maybe half a dozen times but when I read a book I pay attention to the details plus it\'s one of my favorite things to do when I\'m not on a assignment. Lets see well I have two favorite parts.
The first one would have to be ... Never apoligize for showing your true feelings, when you do you apoligize for the truth Page 23, Paragragh 1, Line 5.
The second one would be ... We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light. Page 345, Paragragh 6, Line 3."

[Totally Manders]

Nate watched Idrial as she recited more lines from his favourite book. Someone besides him had actually memorized lines from it? Well, he actually knew the whole book, but that was besides the point.

"I can\'t believe you know the book. No one I know has ever read it." Nate smiled then, remembering when he\'d bought his own copy. He\'d been at a small market in his hometown of Athlone when he\'d discovered what appeared to be a brand new copy of The Passion of Life. He\'d picked it up, glanced through it and thought it was a pretty good read so he\'d paid for it and took it home.

He sat on his bed in the room he shared with his younger brother and read the book twice without leaving the room. By the time he\'d left his room, he knew most of the book and vowed to learn the whole thing. And now that he knew it all, he felt like he\'d accomplished something.

"Those are two of my other favourite lines, Idrial." He smiled, glancing down at the book again. "What do you think of \'Our dreams are the only place we can escape from our life, but our life is the only place we can escape from our dreams\' Page 67, Paragraph 3, Line 12?" It was one that he\'d always held true, but he wanted to know what someone else thought of it.

And to have found someone who had actually read the book the whole way through? Nate very well may have found an actual friend. He\'d had to leave his friend Merilyn behind in Athlone when he\'d left for the Academy, so it would be nice to have someone to talk to here. If Idrial would want to talk to him past just today, that is.

[Idrial]

"I can\'t believe you know the book. No one I know has ever read it. Those are two of my other favorite lines, Idrial."

Nate smiled as he spoke; it was nice that Idrial had something in common with the boy. The conversation always seemed to flow better that way; she was surprised to hear that someone had the same favorite quotes as her. It was a rare occurrence but it did happen though not usually to her.

She had remembered the first time she had seen the book, almost a six months after she had entered the Academy still having a tough time coping with the loss of her family. It had helped her a lot through those tough times and the book had made her stronger as a person. Lost in her thoughts she almost did not hear him speak.

"What do you think of \'Our dreams are the only place we can escape from our life, but our life is the only place we can escape from our dreams\' Page 67, Paragraph 3, Line 12?"

Idrial looked at him as he once more stared down at the book, she had to think carefully of the what she thought of the sentence. She looked at Nate with a thinkful smile. She spoke slowly but fast enough as not to look like a total idiot.

“I guess it would mean to me that … In our dreams away from life we are able to form and shape an existence that we can control … But in life our dreams are something that we cannot control due to the realities of life.”