[h2]Francois Jeannotte[/h2]
A sound filled the small, immaculate white room. Francois let out a low hum as he read through the final pages of the novel at his desk. He rolled his swivel chair out, turned on the revolving seat, and slid the book back into place on the bookshelf with the rest of the young adult literature graciously granted to him by his guardians. "Good for the mind," they'd told him. Sliding back across the meticulously organized, sleekly designed dormitory to the desk, the French-American checked the clock on his dresser and got off his seat. It was just about time to head out for 'second phase testing', as the labcoats called it. Personally Francois didn't mind the change. He knew that it required him to attend a Gatekeeper's training academy with other individuals working towards the same goal, a far cry from the solitary testing he'd been doing since... Well, ever. But if it [i]was[/i] anything like his previous testing, it shouldn't be all that complicated, right? Which meant that there was no need to worry as long as he made himself useful, right?

Francois' grip on the back of the chair tightened for a moment as he pushed the seat into place at the desk. 

...And besides, now he'd have the opportunity to stop bothering the labcoats and finally interact with people his own age. Hopefully they wouldn't be as professional and aloof as the former. He... [i]really[/i] didn't like that possibility. The oddly-haired young man strode to the coat closet and donned his army-green blazer. He glanced at the clock again. He still had some time left until he had to leave. Thus what followed was a quick inspection and cleaning of the white room and its sleek, modern furnishings. Francois would rather not inconvenience the scientists who'd taken him by leaving a mess of the room they'd provided him after all. The experiment in nanotechnology took one last look at his 'home' and sighed. He'd already said his goodbyes the night before - they threw him a party and everything! - which meant all that was left was to wait outside for his transportation.

Which, incidentally, was what he was doing right now.

Francois took the moments he had left to bask in the utter lack of scenery in the undefined American southwestern desert. His mind pondered the possibilities of what transport awaited him as the slight breeze pushed a tumbleweed across his field of view. Maybe it'd be some kind of marvel of science, like a hover-car or miniaturized jet or a super advanced VTOL. He knew that the other half had capabilities of their own, so maybe he'd be teleported with some kind of magic? 

A large feather fell from the sky, passing in front of Francois' face. The student glanced upward, mismatched eyes widening a moment later.

"That's incredible...!" he exclaimed, expression utterly incredulous as the hybrid lion-eagle descended before him. The young man unconsciously stepped backwards, as the griffin landed with a beat of its mighty wings. The beast stared at him, eyes practically screaming the words "saddle up kid, you're in for a wild ride." Absolutely giddy with excitement, Francois mounted the creature. There was no saddle, but once he settled into the griffin's soft, feathered back, he realized exactly why that was. This bird was really, [i]really[/i] comfy. It smelled bird-like, sure, but damn it felt good to be on. However, once he was deemed by the griffin to be sufficiently secured, they flew. Poor Francois didn't even get thirty seconds to bask in its comfortability before he was forced to face the high-speeds of griffin-based flight. Isn't it sad?

As they gained altitude, Francois decided to tale a look back at the ground, where the shape of the facility he had left grew smaller and smaller. He'd only flown twice in his life: now, and when he was younger, getting brought over from France. His grip on the griffin tightened, illiciting a squawk that forced him to relax. Even if they were going rather fast, it wasn't prudent to cling too hard to the mount, yeah?

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Francois decided that he rather liked flying.

The sensation of wind flowing through his hair, the freedom of being unfettered by the ground, the blurring of surroundings as they dart through swaths of land... It was all just wonderful. Though he could do away with the chill. They'd already crossed into the Black Gale, and already the frigid cold stung his exposed skin, a vast divergence from the warm winds of the southwestern US. He'd take into account the weather discrepancy for next time around. Fortunately his griffin's body heat was sufficient to keep him from losing fingers or toes. Not that his nanobots couldn't deal with that. Because they could.

Finally the Academy came into view, it's silhouette like a lighthouse on a stormy cliff. Snow bombarded the young man and his mount, bringing back long dead memories of cold Parisian winters. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes to avoid taking a snowflake to cornea. By this point Francois had lost track of the time he'd been clinging to the griffin. Although that was mostly due in part of the fact his griffin thought it a good idea to try and outdo some other unfortunate individual's griffin in the 'give your rider a heart attack' contest. Thank goodness for reinforced gripping ability. Nevertheless, despite that daunting experience, Francois could earnestly say that he still liked flying. 

Rather, the only change was that he now thought his mount was an asshole.

Thankfully the landing was much smoother. The griffin glided down to the landing platform at a nice, smooth, reasonablly consistent speed, which was apparently not the case with certain other individuals. Francois dismounted and nodded at the asshat griffin, as if to say that he accepted that landing as an apology for the griffin's heinous attempt at stunt flying. He retrieved what little luggage he had packed from the griffin and listened to the rather peculiar announcement. He blinked twice. Was this what education among other youths would be like? He shook the thoughts from his head and the gathered snow from his hair. It wasn't his place to judge anyway. And so, snow crunching underfoot, Francois gazed around the surroundings as he made his way to the main hall. Or more accurately, the line of students forming outside the main hall.