[b]Arcana, Ajala, Shippo[/b]

Arcana's hands tightened on the arm rest of her seat, sharp crimson talons digging into the silk as the carriage wobbled back and forth, causing the scenery outside to bob with her nauseatingly. Flying would have been preferable to her, but her grandmother's voice rang through her head, [i]"The carriage is representation of hearth, home, and status. You [b]will[/b] ride."[/i] She just hoped she didn't replicate her journey to the An'vian, that would be embarassing. At that thought, Arcana's cheeks took on a dangerously pale tint and she hurriedly looked away from the window to calm her nerves and nausea. No one else shared the space with her, as her grandparents had said that she needed to build strength of character and an approximation of independence, denying her handmaiden to accompany her. Arcana had no idea how they expected her to accomplish that, still shackled by their fineries. The very carriage itself was a direct contradiction to their desires.

The carriage lurched to a stop, an angry voice replacing the wibble-wobble of movement. Arcana hung her head out of the window to see what the commotion was. The winged back and muscular hindquarters of one of the two griffins leading her carriage and the petite but curvaceous form of a siren came into her view, the latter admonishing the former. The griffin managed his usual stoic countenance as the siren complained of them trying to run her over, before swaying away angrily when she realized she wouldn't receive much in the way of a response, let alone anything but a meager apology from either griffin. The carriage settled back into movement more smoothly than it had stopped as soon as the siren was clear of it, but Arcana looked out the window to stare at the siren; she had never seen one in person. The siren gave her a bone chilling glare in return. Arcana ducked her head back in to her carriage, heart thumping in her chest as her hands gripped the arm rests, talons tearing the silk.

It wasn't long before the air was permeated with new sounds and sights. The carriage came to a smooth stop a half mile before the gates to her new school, behind dozens of other vehicles dropping students off. From outside, one of her coachmen managed to make himself heard over the crowd rather easily with his deep, booming voice, "We have arrived, my Lady." Arcana managed to pry her hands off of the now-torn arm rests so she could let herself out. Her body felt like lead as she stepped stiffly from the carriage, every footfall on the small steps arduous. When she reached the bottom, she flexed her crimson wings, making a face as some feathers caught on her chiffon halter dress. She would have preferred something more casual, but one did not argue with her grandmother and live to see the next sunrise. After she had readjusted her clothing to fall more comfortably over her lithe form, she stood in the sun with her wings outstretched. She began to glow from within, as if soaking up the rays, her translucent golden hair in its thick braid floated in the air behind her. She only allowed herself a moment of this before realizing where she was, retracting her wings and casting anxiety-ridden glances this way and that. No one seemed to notice, or care, to her immense relief.

She was about to walk away into the school, before the griffin nearest to her spoke up in his deep voice, "My Lady, your map and card." She made a fretful sound and hurriedly reached back into the carriage, producing a map of the school and her slim Student I.D. card. She gave the two griffins a nervous wave good-bye before she took a deep breath to steel herself. It was mostly ineffective she realized, as her hands were still shaking, but she forced herself to slip into the throng of creatures milling about. Every where there were booths and stalls, their occupants shouting to advertise themselves as they handed out fliers to passerby. It was hard to pick out their voices in the din, but the banners flapping in the breeze above the stalls did a good job of telling her what each was. 

Before she was halfway through the area she had a stack of them one hand, the school map in the other, her attention divided between both when she bumped none-too-softly into someone, causing the papers to go falling from her grip to the ground below. Arcana reached up to cradle her nose, which was beginning to lightly bleed, her teal eyes as big as the full moon as she took in the nagini before her, and shifted then to the shivering boy next to the beautiful raven-haired nagini. [i]'Ohmigodohmigod.'[/i] She thought frantically, her heart rising to her throat. Her normally chime-like voice came out in a gasping wheeze as she began to hyperventilate, [b]"I-I-I'm s-s-so sorry! A-are you o-okay?!"[/b]