[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180609/dc59fbe187fb74385561e8574fedfedd.png[/img] [color=#98AFC7]Hallway Outside Common Room[/color][/center] It didn’t take long for the others to begin arriving; filtering from one dorm hall or the next, or from wherever else in the school if they were particularly early risers. The weeks spent at Marchand let Dawn pick out a few familiar faces as they passed with an idle glance. There was the boy who had the strange tendency to take naps in front of a vent, there was the girl who would bring an entire party sized bottle of Fanta to class and take, slow, leisurely sips of the stuff throughout the hour. Dawn brightened up upon catching sight of a certain pair, however- one Nolan Santora, and Isaiah Parrish. She returned the waves of both with her own and a smile as she slipped out of the common room, stomach snarling a little as she did so. A part of her considered dropping back to chat with one of the other, but she dismissed it. They seemed a bit busy at the moment, and she could always seek them out later. She had only made it a short distance away from the common room’s doors when she ran into another friend she had ended up making. Dawn ended up having to step back a little and tilt her head up to actually meet the other’s eyes, but there was warmth in her smile as she did so. [color=#98AFC7]“Oh, um. Hey, Layne. It’s...definitely been a really nice day so far. Although I feel like you might end up jinxing yourself if you say something like that.”[/color] Dawn herself was aware that it was a bit of an odd friendship, to say the least. Layne was just as large in personality as he was in build, and Dawn was...well. Pretty much the opposite, to say the least. Still, he had easily become one of of her closer- if not clos[i]est[/i]- friends, and it was something she was incredibly grateful for. [color=#98AFC7]“I, um. Was just heading off to the dining hall to get something to eat. The common room’s been filling up pretty fast, so there’s probably going to be more people around...fairly soon, I think. Have you been doing anything interesting, yourself?”[/color] She paused a little as another student passed, bowing her head respectfully. [color=#98AFC7]“Good morning, Lucshen.”[/color] The name hadn’t gone unnoticed. It was the sort that left a bad taste in some mouths, perhaps- those who had been more heavily affected by war and conflict. Dawn was not one of those people, however. The name may have been a more scandalous one, but seeing that her own wasn’t exactly the most reputable, she hardly considered herself one to judge. She watched him go a moment, then turned back to Layne, absently scratching her side as she did so. There was no sensation in the movement, but then again, that wasn’t something all that surprising. [@Oooie][@akirashadow] [hr] [center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180609/23ae5401f60e7382fccc0326648971a0.png[/img] [color=#F87217]Common Room[/color][/center] Percival let out a sort of noise that was a sort of blended mix between a scoff and a laugh. [color=#F87217]“‘Course I do. Who d’you take me for? If I’m not shoving pancakes down my gullet, what am I even doing? What is my identity? Am I still myself, or just some weird doppleganger that wound up taking my place without me even [i]realizing[/i]? Christ, man.”[/color] Shaking his head a little, he followed his roommate all the way to the common room, making a beeline for the vending machine as he did so. He scanned over the options with the eyes of a hawk, pulled a dollar from his pocket, and with deft hands, slid it right in and punched in the number for a bag of Ruffles. The machine grumbled its assent. The coil that pinned his delicious, savory breakfast in place began to unwind. And then the bag fell against the glass and stayed there. [color=#F87217]“Oh, come [i]on[/i]!”[/color] Letting a groan of frustration, Percival pressed his face against the glass, staring longingly at the unnaturally orange cheese on the bag’s cover. [color=#F87217]“You can’t do this to me. This is a scam, I tell you. A fraud. A bamboozle!”[/color] After a few moments of staring at it with enough force to move it if looks could actually move things alone, he drew away, a look of defeat on his face. His frown of shame was replaced by a wide, face-splitting grin as a Professor wandered in, however- not just [i]any[/i] Professor, however, but one that he was taking Defense under. Giving the vending machine a bitter smack (not a particularly hard one or anything, mind you, he’d heard enough horror stories of vending machines killing more than sharks) he sauntered over, settling himself beside Isaiah and in front of Professor Matheos. [color=#F87217]“Oi,”[/color] he said. [color=#F87217]“What am I, here. Chopped liver?”[/color] The grin on his face made it pretty obvious that he didn’t actually feel too offended or anything, so he tried his best to make his “I am an upset and hurt student face” instead, with limited success. You had to put in the effort at least, after all. Fifty percent of the time, effort led to success a hundred percent of the time. [@Prosaic][@Gelatinous Cube] [hr] [center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180609/0c3038d054f8118801942b270e0163ee.png[/img] [color=#8B4513]Dorms → Courtyard[/color][/center] The sparrow in Esperanza’s grp was not in its prime- she knew that well enough. It writhed between her fingers, attempting to kick and peck at the latex covering her hand, but it was weak. Its pulse fluttered weakly in its chest, and its feathers lacked the healthy sort of sheen that its younger company held in full. Its time almost up. Which is why it made things a bit more easier, in more ways than one. Below the elder sparrow was a carefully positioned bowl. There were others sitting nearby just like it- crafted from glazed clay, and painted over with colorful blossoms and skulls and beauty. The one sitting in front of her had had most of its insides washed to fading, however, much more so than the others. Taking a deep breath, Esp lifted the knife up to the sparrow’s throat, and in one clean swipe, tore it open and let the blood flow free. Her thumb ran circles against the back of the bird’s head as its movements grew slower, and the bowl grew fuller, until it had gone completely still. She whispered an apology to it as she wrung it for the last drops, thanks for the life she had been able to give Death, and then gently lowered the body onto the plastic sheet beside her. The procedure was routine from there on out. A medical scalpel split the bird open from neck to legs, making a neat “I” incision. It dove deeper, in and out, as Esperanza systematically removed the parts that had let it eat, breathe, [i]live[/i]. Stomach, lungs, heart, liver- all that and more, she placed in their own, separate bowl for the time being. With that done, she packed the now hollow body with sawdust, then sewed it back up with an expert hand. Three separate aspects. Without even one, life couldn’t exist. And without life, there was no death. Esp stared at all for a moment, taking the sight in. Putting it to memory. Then, gently running her fingers once more against the sparrow’s head, she picked it up and passed it over to Chu for safekeeping. The body. Without the soul, without the meat of the flesh, it was nothing but a husk. She would be the one to bring purpose upon it once again, when the time came. This was passed to Chu for safekeeping. The meat. The vital parts of a being when alive, no longer needed in death. They, too, would hold a new purpose, in bringing life anew. Sliding open her window, Esp set the bowl neatly on the sill and closed it again. She would retrieve it later, after it was emptied. After it had fed the hungry, becoming a part of a living being again, rejoining the cycle of life. She smiled, then moved onto the most important part of the ceremony. The blood. The essence of life. Holding it carefully, so as to not spill a single drop, she lifted it over her statuette of Death herself and poured. She watched with reverence as it trailed over the painted, merciful face of bone. It soaked into the clothes, puddled at the feet. It was one with Death now, and she would treasure it. Esp stared upon Death, her Lady, the Mother of the Ciervos, with a sense of uttermost reverence. Whispered prayers tumbled from her lips. She gave thanks for her newfound friends, for the joy she had found at Marchand, and her wishes that the future would grow even brighter. The candles surrounding the Ceremony flickered, rising and falling and dancing with fervor. The room plunged in temperature. The lights dimmed. She could feel them- she could feel her family, those who followed them, years upon years of life and death connected to her in this short, beautiful moment, and they were all watching and they were all connected and she could [i]hear[/i] them, her voice rising and joining them in a glorious choir, tears running down her face, her voice raw as she chanted and screamed out her love and joy and soul- And then the candles were snuffed into smoke, thin strands of gray fading lazily into the air. The room was back to normal. Sobbing, letting Chu lick her tears away, Esperanza began to clean the statue with shaking hands. It was only when it was completely clean that she planted a kiss on its feet- feet that had been worn smooth by years and years of practice. The procedure of cleaning up helped ease Esperanza back from the clouds. The plastic was discarded, her arms freshly bandaged, and the silence ward she had placed down washed away. She felt calm. Rejuvenated. Smiling brightly, Esp swept Chu into her arms, and strode out of her room. Death was always with her, always waiting for her, and it was the ceremonies that helped take away some of the homesickness that sometimes gnawed in her heart. It also helped to have Chu with her. Her best, and dearest friend. Her best and dearest friend who had also just squirmed loose of her grasp, leaping onto the floor with a bright squeal and dashing off down the hall. Esp blinked. Her eyes went wide. And then she was stumbling on after him, trying to pursue the much faster Familiar as he bounded off. [color=#8B4513]“Chu! Chu, wait!”[/color] She nearly tripped over her own two feet in her hurry, and almost ran into a few people in the common room- gasping out a few [color=#8B4513]“Sorry!”[/color]s as she did so- but still kept up a close pursuit as he bounced down the stairs and led her off to wonders unknown. These wonders unknown, as it turned out, wound up being the courtyard- which was currently being filled with the most lovely music. Esp slowed, head cocked to the side as she listened, then slipped outside and into the crisp morning air. She broke out in a cheerful smile as she caught sight of the two already there, and gave a enthusiastic wave to them as she approached. [color=#8B4513]“Hello Tatia and Vanya!”[/color] She beamed even brighter as she looked over to Tatia, eyeing the violin in her grasp. [color=#8B4513]“Your song is very beautiful. I am sorry for interrupting. I was just following my Chu, because I was not wanting him to be lost.”[/color] At the moment, Chu seemed in hardly of any danger of being lost. Digging into the bark of one of the trees with his paws- or, rather, hands- he shimmied up the tree, letting out a sharp cry of [b]“Van!”[/b] as he attempted to work his way up to Vanya’s branch. It might have been a bit alarming to have a grinning beast from another dimension climb towards you like some sort of horror movie monster, but as Chu was Chu, and not a human being, he was more concerned with delightedly trying to get pets from the nice, funny-smelling person than his self image. Chu was a good boy. Such a good boy. [@LorelleQuips][@Furiosa]