Elementa's Academy for Gifted Pupils discussion

A forest where it is always autumn (fall) and the leaves stay the beautiful shades of orange, yellow and red.

The falcon descended through the treetops, heading towards the ground. Furling its wings, the golden bird shifted back into Finnick, who glanced at his surroundings. "Robin?" he said tentatively into the wind. "Are you there?"
The breeze picked up and began to swirl the autumn leaves beneath his feet.

Dawn walked through the autumn leaves, humming an old Fae tune. She saw the brick arch and smiled, walking around it in a counter-clockwise circle while humming. She was proving that by humming she could get out of those blasted Fae traps that humans had made to keep them out. Like anyone could keep her out... unless they had iron. She hummed slightly louder.

The breeze died, and Finn's head turned up sharply. Not a sound inhabited the woods, save for the chattering of birds and squirrels. But not a finger of wind. Come on Robin, he thought, exasperated. I'm not in the mood for games.
~
Her attention turned to something more interesting than boring old Finnick. Much more interesting. Robin inhaled the fresh scent of a young Fae woman, along with the vaguest whisper of an ancient tune. She licked her lips and let her essence travel farther down the path, away from Finnick. Leaves gathered and swirled atop the brick archway, materializing into Robin's eccentric form. "Hello," she said. "What have we here?"

Dawn whipped her head around to see Robin and she stopped humming her tune. Who was she? There had been no one there the second before, then poof, there was a new... Fae?
"Dawn Shadows, was once light but now neutral Fae. I don't believe I have a quarrel with you." She answered.

Robin threw her head back and laughed, revealing sharpened, pointed teeth. In a single bound, she jumped from the archway and landed right in front of Dawn, examining the younger Fae like an ethereal hunter. Her eyes widened with glee. "No quarrel with me, you say? Nonsense! Everyone has trouble with Robins," Giggling, Robin backflipped underneath the archway. "So what has the light-but-now-nuetral-Fae come to seek in this part of the woods?"

Dawn stiffened. She did't trust Robin, near feared her in fact. This would probably end up very, very badly.
"Looking for a friend, in fact. Though I believe it is none of your buisness, Lady-Fae. And neutral Fae have taken so sides, so therefor no quarrel."

"Not my business?" Robin quirked her head, her sharpened teeth more prominent than ever. The leaves began to swirl at her feet as she inched closer to the girl. "Oh my. I suppose that you're right. Not my business indeed," she scoffed. The crazed glint in her eyes grew brighter. "You're wrong, you know. So wrong. Everyone finds that out in the end."
~
Finn continued to search for Robin, gliding above the forest in hawk form. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that something was very, very wrong.

Dawn's eyes widened and she slowly took steps back. "Lady-Fae, please, I want no quarrel with you. We are in a time of peace." She clenched her hands together tightly, nervous. She was about ready to shift and fly out of there. Robin was scaring her, something that was rare. Dawn got nervous, but not scared. She reached out to a plant and made the vine wrap around her arm and disconnect from the plant. She now had her slight comfort.

Robin giggled and took several steps closer to Dawn. "You amuse me. That's good. A good thing. But I'm afraid it won't help in the end." The shifting leaves caught up in her wild nest of hair, and she sighed in ecstasy. "It never does."
~
Finn caught the scent of Fae below him and began to descend. Something about it wasn't right; he checked again. The smell made his stomach clench. Intertwined with Robin's sickly sweet aroma was the fresh, earthy mark of Dawn. Heart beating faster than ever, Finn folded his wings inwards and dived towards the ground.

Dawn started to shake slightly in fear and took steps back faster. She saw a hawk and frowned in confusion. She hoped it wasn't someone else like Robin. Her hand drifted to her sword and she kept her eyes on Robin.
"What do you mean?" She asked Robin.

"What do I mean?" Robin let out two harsh laughs. "Of course you know what I mean, silly girl! Isn't that why you've come? To learn your future from the Prophetess?"
~
"ROBIN!" Finn yelled as he transformed back into a Fae. "Get away from her, now!" He grabbed the woman's wrists and led her back to the archway. She struggled for a moment, but calmed as his aura soothed her own reckless spirit. After giving her a pinecone to play with, Finn turned back to Dawn with a distraught look on his face. "God, Dawn. I am so, so sorry. Did she hurt you?"

Dawn shook her head, her eyes still wide. She was shaking still. "I'm fine." She whispered. It was Finn, oh, thank the kings and queens for that. She just wanted to run to him and hide in his arms... wait, did she just think that?

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Finn repeated, coming to her side and gazing into her eyes. "I didn't realize-- I didn't know that . . . that she would . . . she didn't scare you too much, I hope?"

"I'm fine." Dawn repeated and gave into her instincts, hiding her face in his chest.

Finn let himself comfort her, stroking her long hair with a calming hand. "Hey, it's alright. It's okay. I promise that I won't let her hurt you."

Dawn nodded against his chest, putting her hands up next to her face, palms flat against him. He was comforting and made her feel safe.

Placing an arm around Dawn's shoulder, Finn looked over to the archway. Robin rolled around lazily in the grass, catching tiny butterflies and plucking off their wings--something she did quite often. "Ummm. . . I should probably explain myself," he said slowly.

Dawn looked up in Finn's eyes and nodded slowly. "Only if you want to." She said softly. "But first." She gently kissed his cheek.

Finn stiffened. This shouldn't happen; it wouldn't end well for either of them. He'd promised to never again involve himself with another Fae. "Dawn . . ." he exhaled and stroked her hair. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into. You know nothing about me."

"And you know nothing about me." Dawn teased softly. "So we're both fresh slates." She smiled gently.

He grinned at that. Finn realized that he hadn't smiled nearly as much in the last decade as he had since he met Dawn. But could he really start this whole process again? It hadn't worked in the past; there was no guarantee that it would work now. "I suppose you're right," he said finally. Encasing her hand in his, he gently led her over to the archway. "C'mon. Let's start with this."

Dawn nodded and followed him, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She kept her eyes on him, not looking away. Okay, so Oberon had been a nutbag, but this was surely a good choice this time? He was kind.

(gtg, night)

As they approached, Robin looked up and smiled her impish grin. "Oh Finny. Is it dinner time already?"

Finn dropped Dawn's hand and lowered slowly towards Robin's eye-level. "Don't joke like that," he said quietly. "Take my hand. I want you to meet someone."

Robin looked at his palm and frowned, hesitating before she reached for it. At his touch her eyes cooled again, dulling the crazed aura she exuded.

"Robin, this is my friend Dawn. That means she's your friend too, okay?" Robin shrugged. Finn turned to Dawn. "Dawn, this is . . . Robin. The only other Tuath de Danaan in existence."

((night!))

Dawn watched with curiosity. "Um, pleased to meet you, Robin." Dawn said.
Well, this would be interesting.

Alyssa sat up in a tree, reading. Her dirty blonde hair hung down below her feet. Her eyes were focused on the book, the iris never staying the same colour for a milisecond. She had beautiful wings on her back, not like angel wings, more like the thin, light wings of a fairy. Other than that, she had the tail and ears of a cat. Although odd, this was her favourite appearance when she was alone. Oh, and there was a talking, flying black cat with the same eyes as her hovering next to her. "You see, all you have to do is be sneaky! Mice-"
"Kitty, I don't really care about mice. You know that." Alyssa joked.
She was in a good mood.

Alyssa sighed as she closed the book. "I'm going to the courtyard." She said to Kitty, as she grabbed her bag off a nearby tree branch. Her ears and tail dissapeared and her wings became invisible as she slipped down, the cat flying behind her. "I wish that I can make some friends here." She said to herself, smiling. Maybe she could be lifted of this evil witch's curse.

Robin stared into Dawn's eyes and flashed her a smile. "Believe me, the pleasure's all mine. Would you like to know your future?"

"Robin!" Finnick hissed. "Don't."

She ignored him, intent on the girl at his side. Her lime green eyes flashed in glee as a myriad of Dawn's possible futures danced across her mind.

Dawn tilted her head, curious. She couldn't look away from Robin's eyes. "Umm..." She said softly, lost for words.

"May I?" Robin asked, reaching for Dawn's hand. "It makes things so much clearer. And I sense that much clarity is needed, in your case."

"I really don't think that this is a good idea..." Finn began, but Robin ignored him, snatching her hands away from his and reaching out to take Dawn's.

"Oh," she breathed out quickly. Clouds of milky ink muddied the vibrant color of her eyes as they darkened to black. "How interesting."

Dawn tilted her head, confused. "What's happening?" She asked both of them. Was her future good or bad?

Finn stood helplessly to the side, unsure of what to do. Whenever Robin predicted the future, it never ended well. But then again, she hadn't given away a personalized reading in hundreds of years. Why would she choose Dawn, and why now? Had she sensed that Dawn was somehow different? Special? "I don't really know..." he answered truthfully."

Robin shivered and abruptly released Dawn's hand. Her eyes turned back to green, and she looked at Finnick with a shocked, dazed expression. "That's the one," she said quietly.

Dawn tilted her head, confused and interested. "What did you see?" She asked softly.

Robin held her lips shut and shook her head, backing away from the both of them. The wind began to ruffle the autumn leaves beneath her feet. Finnick reached out to stop her, but only met a cloud of air as Robin disappeared into the wind.
"Damn," he whispered, turning back to Dawn. "Ignore what she said," he muttered. "It doesn't mean anything." But Finnick knew, he knew everything Robin meant. And he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled in his stomach.

Dawn frowned. "But what did she mean?" Robin going away had to mean something bad, and well, that was bad. She reached out to take Finn's hand. "Please tell me,"

A thousand thoughts raced through Finn's mind. It couldn't be true; maybe Robin was somehow wrong. But deep down, he knew that she wasn't. The Dark Ones would take them again, and this time, they would also find Dawn. He would lose her the same way he'd lost Urie. Finn shuddered and sighed. There was only one thing he could do. He turned, wrapped an arm around Dawn's waist, and kissed her. On the lips. He kissed her like he'd never kissed Urie, kissed her because he knew he would never see her again after today. "I'm sorry, Dawn," he said after a while. "But I can't stay anymore."

Dawn's heart had gone wild when he kissed her. She'd kissed back and noticed his kiss was filled with... somthing. "Why can't you stay?" She asked, confused. The best thing had just happened to her.

"Because it's better that way," he replied quietly, disentangling himself. The less she knew, the better. He needed to get out of her life as soon as possible. "Because I don't want you to die like the rest of us did."

"I'm too stubborn to die." Dawn said softly, a tear ran down her cheek when he untangled himself from her. "I will look for you." She said softly. "You're the only being to have my heart ever, and I love you." If he left, she would search for him until it killed her.

((hi?))

((hello?))