[hider=Coco+Alaira] Alaira wasn't really sure what to think. The creature here seemed harmless enough, afraid of her even. The thing backed away, and it spoke! Or... holy crap it has no mouth! how did it do that?! This thing was [i]terrifying.[/i] But it didn't seem to be hostile (seemed kind of weak even), so obviously violence wouldn't do much. You know, now that she got a good look at it looked less like a plant-person and more like a creature of nightmares. Anyhow, it spoke... somehow. Apparently it was a... Foreas? Wait... there's [i]more[/i] of them?! Still, it was best to at least act tough. [b]"That... that tells me less than nuthin'..."[/b] She said. [b]"Why are you here, what are you doing, why?! just whyAAAAH!"[/b] In the middle of her little tirade on the poor defenseless shrubbery-lady, Alaira's mind was assaulted with the usual effect psychomancy tended to have on her. She Slowly lowered, clutching her head. Any faculty in the area would recognise this from the time the psychomancy teacher poked around in her head, and would probably be readying to take action. Luckily, whatever poor bastard that done tried reading her mind stopped pretty quickly, so it passed before things could get ugly. Alaira herself however, was left almost on the ground, clutching her forehead as the migraine subsided. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]"I-I'm just..."[/b] Suddenly the huge female screamed, spooking the sap out of Coco! She took a couple more steps backward and tried to make herself as small as possible, not knowing how in the world she was even remotely supposed to [i]defend herself[/i] against this huge thing! But yet the woman seemed like she was... In pain. Something, whatever had made her scream and pretty much blow Coco's alarm levels through the roof, was painful to her. This made her curious to some extent, for sure... But not enough to risk her leaves by getting too close to the woman. So she just stood there, leaves quivering as she listened for any activity on the woman's part. [b]"You seem to be... In discomfort?"[/b] Coco half-asked half-affirmed, completely unsure of what she was even saying. [b]"Do you, uh... Uh..."[/b] Just as quickly as she was spooked, she trailed off, her scared thoughts not letting her form any sort of word to speak, and instead focusing on showing that she wasn't hostile, and that she wasn't to be treated so roughly. It could be a funny scene, if someone saw it from afar. A small, merely 5'5 Foreas that was trying to make itself [i]smaller[/i] scared out of her wits of a woman that was having some kind of mental trauma in front of her. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just as the headache was finally starting to subside, another, leafier headache was approaching. The thing was clearly frightened, and wasn't getting [i]too[/i] close, but Alaira was too addled to notice. Booze and Psychomancy is not exactly chocolate and peanut butter. Clutching her forehead, she held up her arm in between the two of them. [b]"Stay back... Argh..."[/b] For a moment, tendrils of energy danced about her arm, more as a sort of involuntary warning than anything. [b]"Was it you?... Did you have something to do with this?..."[/b] Her voice was low, but the rage was clear. Of course, if it weren't for the pounding in her head, she'd be well into the violence phase by now. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coco was told to stay back, and so she did. But each time the thing spoke, she felt more and more nervous, she even grew somewhat annoyed at the female's tone and words. [b]"Maybe..? I-I don't know... Don't you like my scent?"[/b] She asked, barely noticing the tendrils of energy dancing on her arm, and just dismissing them as a product of her own fear. Why did this female have to be so... Rough, rude, mean? She would [i]never[/i] find a word that fit the bill, or at least she thought so at the moment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]"Scent? The hell are you talking about?"[/b] Alaira asked. The only thing Alaira could smell was the ale. Alaira wasn't sure what the hell the plant was thinking, but she probably wasn't a psychomancer, since she didn't know if she did anything or not. [b]"Well, you're probably not a mind mage, at least..."[/b] Alaira said as she got back up. [b]"So I'm sorry, I guess."[/b] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The female was... Apologizing? After scaring her so much by randomly screaming, speaking to her in one of the most awful tones she had ever heard, and finally acting like she hadn't done anything wrong? Coco's hands balled up into fists and she assumed an angry posture, followed by her leaves puffing out to look sharp enough to pierce skin. Her body twitched lightly before she made a sound akin to an indignant huff and turned away from the female. "Apology not accepted. You've treated me awfully!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ugh. This thing was the wierdest damn thing she'd ever seen. And she'd seen her fair share of wierd! Apparently it was mad. Or something. What?! it doesn't have a face! How would she tell? And then it spoke again. How did it do that? [b]"Uhh..."[/b] she wasn't sure what to say. This little scene must be hilarious to the casual observer. [B]"Well, I'm sorry some psychomancer gave me a gods-damn migraine. Imagine if your brain was on fire and there was this screech loud enough to break glass in your head. That's what some guy did to me! So excuse me if I'm being a bitch!"[/b] For some reason, she hadn't figured out she could simply walk away. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]"Well-"[/b] Coco started, crossing her arms over her chest and standing as straight as she could, pushing out her chest and lifting her head slightly, just to look even more indignified. [b]"Well, you don't see me rubbing myself against any light source, do you?!" [/b] [b]"I'm exhausted, I haven't gotten enough sunlight, and it feels like I'm running low on energy, but you don't see me clinging to warm things or standing right besides the torches!"[/b] She half-yelled, the artifact failing to deliver the emotion in the voice very effectively, even with the exceptional rune fix. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alright, now it was definately pissed! And it was getting indignant! [b]"Well, boo hoo, you're tired. I'm in agony!"[/b] Alright, the walking vegetable was taking an unwise course of action, albeit unintentionally: Goading Alaira into violence. [b]"And I'm not above punching trees, shrub!"[/b] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At first, Coco was about to huff again, but once the thing began growing more and more violent in its speech, Coco was again brought down from her anger, and intead, once her leaves flattened against her skin, she turned around and with a quivering voice, she spoke. [b]"Y-You're mean! I'm not a shrub! I'm a Foreas!"[/b] She clarified, stomping lightly on the floor as she uncrossed her arms. Slowly, her scent was changing from its usual sweet and dominant characteristics to smell more bitter and mellow. But it was still chocolate. She leaned her body forward and stomped again, her head inclined to face the female's, now looking like a soft flower instead of an angry tree. [b]"L-Leave me alone or I'll..."[/b] She sniffled, or at least it seemed like it, [b]"I'll call Rocky!"[/b] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alright, now it was getting difficult to be angry. If nothing else, the shrub was quite adept at making Alaira feel like an asshole. However, the thing was also annoying enough to almost make her break her 'don't attack anything significantly weaker than you' rule. It spoke again, and... Mean? [i]Really?[/i] and then it said something about... Rocky? Alaira was confused beyond words. Nothing the thing said made any sense! [b]"Uh, no, no... that won't be necessary..."[/b] She said. With a sigh, she continued. [b]"Alright I'm sorry. I mean it."[/b] She extended her hand [b]"My name's Alaira..."[/b] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alaira was [i]very[/i] rude, but at least she seemed to have some kind of decency in her, because her tone of voice finally changed to become... Less hostile. It still sounded strange, out of the norm, but Coco could listen past that. But the damage was done, and Coco wasn't sure she could quite trust the female with her hands yet, so as soon as the woman apologized and extended her hand towards Coco, she wrapped her own arms around herself, standing at a normal posture. [b]"I'm... Coco Bean."[/b] She said quietly, before taking a step back once more, just like a while ago. [b]"Please don't eat me. I'm not really chocolate, I just smell like it. I don't want to be eaten."[/b] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wait, what did she say? What the hell was chocolate? Eat her? Well, this 'Coco Bean' was a mystery, but at least she wasn't a threat. [b]"Eat you? wha- Never mind."[/b] She said. She was more than a little insulted. What, did the girl think she was some kind of savage? But she decided now was certainly not the time for verbal retribution. [b]"I'm not going to eat you, don't be silly."[/b] She said. She decided that now was probably a good time to quit standing up, so she sat down on a nearby bench. [b]"so you're a... Foreas? what does that mean?"[/b] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coco rubbed her fingers together nervously as Alaira sat down, leaves still flattened against her skin as she tilted her head at the woman's affrimation and questions. [b]"It means I'm, well... A Foreas? A plant, grew out of the soil in a pod and woke up after a while. I come from the first to awaken from the Great Tree. A long way down the line to me, though."[/b] Coco said, sniffling once more before she noticeably calmed down. Answering questions and making them always worked as a way to lift her mood... Of course, as long as they were questions asked in nice tones. [b]"Are you a human?"[/b] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wha-?! Human?! Can she not see the ea- oh right. No face. [b]"What? No I'm an Elf, of the forest variety. Though I suppose I'm a hell of a lot bigger than the average one..."[/b] She could see it coming a mile away. The 'why aren't you back in the forest?' questions she hated so much would be asked, so it was best to distract the girl with other questions. [b]"And how do you see anyway? or talk?"[/b] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]"I thought elves were much more slender..."[/b] Coco whispered quietly, before perking up lightly at Alaira's questions. [b]"I don't really see... I just listen and smell,"[/b] She said, then pointed at the artifact she wore as a necklace, and the rune slung over it. [b]"As for speaking, the Artifact lets me share selective thoughts, if anybody can call them that.." Coco mentioned, then got her attention forcefully snatched away by a sudden high pitched screech. Instantly, Coco took the opportunity to carefully slip away into the crowd, and get a better sound of what was about to happen. [/hider] [b][i]Coco Bean[/b][/i] As soon as the Headmaster stood up with the loudest chair screech she had ever heard, Coco had made a bee-line straight for the front of the crowd, excited to listen for something good and interesting to happen, and also because in some part, she'd need to ask a couple of the Masters for help on her sunlight problem, as Mar had suggested to her before the huge elf had... Interrupted her path. She was still upset about that encounter, but she tried to ignore the underlying feelings as she listened to the words the Headmaster spoke. And she couldn't believe her luck once he finished, introducing [i]first[/i] the Electromancy teacher! The master stood up and spoke some words, that although they weren't of much interest to Coco, as she knew that she had come to the College to learn how to shock things better, she still had to listen to them. The real deal was the demonstration, though. The moment the human had started to channel electricity onto his arm, Coco felt a light shiver go down her spine, and she couldn't help but perk up greatly and pay her full undivided attention to the show- When the man shot the bolt onto the roof, and the sound nearly blew Coco's whole sense of hearing away, she couldn't help but flinch in pain for a slight second, but she was once more back to listening. Not much happened for a brief moment, but then, things started... Levitating. She knew because of the lingering sound created by the shockwave, and she could just... Somehow, she could [i]feel[/i] a change, as tiny as it was to her, in the Dining Hall's air. Her Artifact itself felt lighter, as if it would levitate too, but it didn't. She couldn't believe that just a tiny bit of electromancy could do that! So when the time came for the demonstration to end, and the man sat down again, she couldn't help but feel giddy and excited, [i]even[/i] when in her actual state of exhaustion! Oh, the things she'd learn to do in this College...