[center][h3]Zarbaha[/h3][/center]
[i]Khayal[/i] sat in pieces before Zar, a component in her hand and a cloth in the other as she cleaned her beloved weapon. Suitcases sat beside the table, her modified school uniform among the items. The base was quiet, the snow outside absorbing all sound. Her golden brown eyes would occasionally flicker to the window—this was silly of her, of course, because she wouldn’t see the griffin before its presence was announced. Especially in the dark. Still, she was eager to return to the Academy and she kept her eyes and ears open.

 Zarbaha Umar would be entering the Academy for her fifth year, so her break was spent in the field with other Gatekeepers to be. She had spent her time over the last few months putting to use the technical knowledge received at the Academy and developing it beyond the textbooks. She was ready to show off her strength as a graduating student and become a Gatekeeper. 

Finally, the monitor beside her figure came to life, a woman’s face looking through the screen. “Umar, your…escort to the Academy has arrived.” 

Zar’s heart skipped a beat in excitement, but she remained passive in expression and tone. “Thank you,” she spoke clearly through her accent, one that has grown through multiple languages and would be hard to properly distinguish its origin if not for her appearance. “I’ll be out in a moment.” She carefully set the cloth aside and cautiously, methodically put [i]Khayal[/i] together piece by piece—until the monitor shut off and she rushed to put her weapon back together, a smile coming to her face. 

Once fully assembled, she pressed a button and watched as the large rifle shifted into a polearm: a glaive. Satisfied, she slung the weapon over her back and piled her bags on after. Zar took a final glance around the small room she had called home for a while; on her departure, it looked so bare. It lacked personality. And that was fine with her. Zar turned her back on the room and headed for the exit. It was still the middle of the night where she was stationed and most of the personal was still asleep. She had said her goodbyes when the sun was still up and had gotten a couple hours of sleep before waking up to prepare for the ride. 

“Hello, lovely,” Zar greeted the griffin, who puffed up at the given compliment as she stepped into the cold. She set her bags in the snow and adjusted the strap on her chest and then her headdress (she had lost it her first year, not prepared for the speed at which these beasts could fly).  Zar rose a hand to groom back the feathers on his head before hopping gracefully onto his back. “Ready when you are,” she said as she latched herself onto the griffin’s warmth.

Its claws gripped her bags, and the beast let out a warning caw. And then they were off. 

The cold stung at Zar’s face, but she forced herself to watch the sky as they rose. Her eyes narrowed and watered thanks to the speed, but she loved the ride. The beating of the griffin’s wings echoed in her eardrums, and suddenly there were more. Sure enough, when she turned her head to look around, other students were riding on their own griffins. Zar couldn’t help the large, white grin on her face; the experience was exhilarating every time. 

Suddenly, the sky shifted to a bright white and she knew that beyond this would be the Academy. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[center][h3]Dagny[/h3][/center]
 “Yah-hooooooo, mother fuckers!” Dagny’s voice interrupted the beating of the dozens of wings as the beasts and riders were sucked into the portal connecting Earth to the Black Gale. Her griffin was particularly large, speaking volumes about the weight compacted into her muscular build. Clearly, the woman liked to fly, but it was only during the school year was she able to ride so [i]fast[/i]. 

Her initial departure had been far less dramatic…

[center]☼☼☼[/center]
“When’s it gonna get here?” the young woman beside her asked between shivers. 

“Here” was a small house in the middle of a tundra. Dagny’s family home was terribly isolated from the rest of Sweden, Earth, and the only sign that there was life outside of the property was the road. The road, incidentally, was covered in snow and ice and therefore blended in with the rest of the landscape. As snow continued to fall, her luggage—only a couple bags—was becoming covered in it. Noticing this, the purple eyed woman brushed the powder off with a gloved hand.

“Whenever,” Dagny offered unhelpfully, placing her hands on her hips as she gazed up at the stars.

The two appeared to be different in every way: the woman was slim, dark skinned, and had dyed her hair blue to contrast her violet eyes. Dagny was bulky, pale, and blonde, her eyes a bright blue—though they looked far darker under the night sky. Not to mention the former was dressed in heavy, warm clothes and [i]still[/i] shivered next to Dagny, who wore shorts and a tank top without so much as a goose bump.

Dagny spit some fire into the air, warming her companion for a brief moment. “Bet you can’t wait to get back to bed,” she teased. 

“I’m sorry we’re not all walking furnaces,” came the retort, the woman sticking her nose into the air. 

The dragon chuckled and opened her mouth to respond, but a screech broke the silence and the women looked up as a griffin fell from the sky. “Well, this is me,” Dagny stated casually. “See ya later.” She offered a wave as the griffon gathered up her things. Though the hand she waved with was grabbed and she was pulled back into a hug. The dragon girl felt her face flush red and she hesitantly hugged the other back.

“Write me or something,” the purple-eyed woman ordered as she pulled away to wink at the dragon. 

Dagny glanced away, then back, and nodded. “Y-yeah,” she responded as she cleared her throat, coughing up smoke. “I’ll do that.” And with that, she climbed onto the griffon and waved once more as they took off.