The Dragonbond Program discussion

Just a place for kids to hang out, study groups, snog, etc.

Kristin walked into an empty classroom, with a book in her hand. A rare sight, as she wasn't one who needed to study but it just seemed as if it were begging to be read when she passed by it at the library. It was old, but well-kept, gilded with a thin gold-plate and handsomely bound. To add to the appeal was the fact that it contained hundreds of myths and legends about adventure-seeking fools, jealous gods, cursed prophets, on and on and on. She sat down at a desk, blew off the dust on the book, and opened it up.

Eliryn walked into one of the classrooms, head bent over something held in her hands. Her short, bright red hair hung down around her face - any attempt to tie it back would have been futile anyways. Stopping once inside, she didn't bother looking up at the girl she saw from the corner of her eyes, instead pausing the hand along a dagger and running a thumb over the oddly shaped piece of wood she was holding. Sitting down on top of one of the wooden table, Ryn pulled her boot clad feet up under herself and blew wood shavings off her dagger.

Kris noticed a girl with red hair come in from the corner of her eye, but didn't pay much attention. The girl didn't seem to want to be bothered, thank the gods. She opened up to a random page, and started reading, tapping her fingers idly on the wooden desk and drinking in the welcoming silence. She pushed the chair back and placed her bare feet on the desk, leaning back and trying to become immersed in the story. She didn't know how she ever thought she'd enjoy something so sedentary. Besides, the story's so-called moral concerned the topic of true love, a theme that was filled with more bullshit than an unkempt cattle ranch.

As Eliryn whittled steadily at the piece of wood, the long snout of a dragon began to take form, and then the sloping back and outstretched wings, ending with the curling tail. The elegant neck, he luster of the scales added with a gentle polishing from her sleeve, and then the legs. But it was here, just as Ryn zoned out, watching but not watching, finally paying the other girl some attention, that she broke off her carving suddenly, scowling at the shape of girl clutched in the dragons claw. Even the rough unfinished features of her body and face didn't disguise the freedom of that flight, and Ryn looked down at it in slight disgust, and also with bitterness.

Looking across the table at the girl, she said, "Think fast," and tossed the figurine, no larger than her palm, towards her in a gentle arc. "What's so amusing?" she inquired nonchalantly, pushing her recent little carving from her mind.

((God, that took forever... Freaking mobile...))

((I'm actually going to head off now; continue tomorrow? Bye!))

((Yep! Bye!))

"Not this book." Kristin muttered as she closed it shut and dropped it on the floor while reflexively catching the figurine with her free hand. The sound of the book hitting the floor echoed in the classroom in an eery way, a nice break to the monotonous silence from before. She studied the figurine. The craftsmanship, while rough, was fine, and while Kris had never been one who enjoyed such precise, concentrate pasttimes such as whittling, she knew the difference between an amateur and an expert and this girl was no amateur. She reached over and set it down on the table, dreading the small talk she presumed would follow from their little interaction.

Must have been a really dull book or a ridiculously happy book to make that long resounding sound from a simple fall to the floor, Ryn thought to herself, though she knew the content of the book had nothing to do with the sound it made when it hit the floor. It definitely had something to do with the sound it made when its words hit your mind, however. Eliryn let herself fall backwards, hands propped up over her closed eyes, and one foot propped up on the table, her riding boot's heel making a short click on the wooden table.

"Are you bonded?" Ryn asked out of the blue.

((Btw, I finished Mezeira! If there's anything you want me to change/add, I don't mind. She just has to be approved and then she's good to go.))

"No." Kris replied, looking at the girl and giving a half-smile to show that her short answer was not spoken in unfriendliness. She picked up the book from the floor and put it in her leather satchel, hoping that this girl wasn't someone who pried into others' personal lives. She didn't seem like it, but you couldn't judge a book by its cover, literally as well as figuratively.
It would be polite of Kris to return the question, to try to carry the conversation, to feign interest, but she was tired of pleasantries and staying in line of proper decorum.

Eliryn accepted the fact without further questioning, content with the girl's simple answer. That was all she had wanted to know, anyways. She didn't care why. She rubbed her eyes one last time then let her hands fall out on the table, spread-eagle, and turned her head to study the girl through fallen strands of short red hair. She was curvy, pretty, with a softer face but wiser eyes. Long honey blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders. Ryn remembered seeing her around and had a vague recollection of her name. "Is it... Cassie? Kristy?"

"Kristin." She replied, wrinkling her nose slightly at the mention of Kristy. Some nicknames were flattering or amusing. "Kristy was just annoying. And you're Eliryn, she thought to herself. She'd been at the academy for a long time, and she'd become extremely adept at memorizing faces, linking them to names, rumors, stories. It was good to know your territory. Those you needed to avoid, for their gossiping mouths and prying minds and those who were more than comfortable with the sound of silence.
The girl wasn't looking for a conversation. Or, if she was, she was content with Kris's one word answers. That was a relief in itself, and Kris loosened up, leaning back on the chair.

"Right. You've been here a while." It wasn't a question, just a stated fact. And Eliryn wasn't looking for affirmation. She had been here since she was eleven and had seen Kristin around, only never bothered to really talk to her. It was amazing how in a giant Academy, filled with all manner of students, one could feel so incredibly alone all the time.

But alone didn't bother Ryn. In fact, it was better than the alternative of people always watching, always judging, always understanding her a little bit better with every passing moment. Maybe that was why Ryn didn't bother to learn much about the others at the Academy. Maybe, if she didn't pay them any attention, they would return the favor and keep their judging eyes to themselves and to those who wanted the unspoken words.

Kristin nodded her head in affirmation, although the girl didn't seem to be looking for it. She found a wooden box inside her satchel, opened it, and popped a grape into her mouth, letting the tartness sink in. She could leave. But the girl didn't seem to be looking for trouble. She had rarely seen the girl associating with other people. While Kristin didn't have any actual friends, she had people she was familiar with- people she ate meals with and trained with.
But this girl was almost always completely alone. There were other loners at this school, but Ryn could easily make friends. No, like Kris, she was alone because she chose to be alone. Kris's isolation just wasn't as obvious.

The wooden slats of the table were pressing into Eliryn's shoulder blades and spine, but she didn't shift or try to find a more comfortable position. It didn't matter, anyway. At this point, she was just enjoying the companionable silence she and Kristin had built between themselves, a fragile bridge of solidarity. It was nice to not have to talk, to not feel obliged to fill the silence with words in fear that the other person would instead use the silence. Kristin seemed equally comfortable without words. Her feet propped up on the table, she seemed completely at ease in a way Ryn admired a little, and maybe even envied a little. Eliryn put on the show of cocky confidence, but that's all it was, a show. But Eliryn had never been the best at reading people. There was always something beyond that easy demeanor and slight smile. Ryn could say that from experience.

Kris glanced over at the girl, lying quite painfully on the hard wooden table. It couldn't be comfortable, but who knew, she'd seen people do worse things than lie in an awkward position on a rough, stone-hard desk. She reached over to place the lid of the box on the desk then slumped over even more, so that her head rested on the top rail. She placed the box in between her legs and popped another grape into her mouth, enjoying the companionable silence. It was an unfamiliar sound at this academy, something that ironically seemed louder than the echoing shouts that usually filled up the classrooms and halls, but it was also a welcome sound.

((...she's lying on her back on the table, leg propped up... ;) ))

((OHH okay miscommunication, sorry...))

((Sorry if i wasn't clear))

Eliryn closed her eyes for a moment, letting her guard down and her emotions out onto her face, only if for a moment. It felt good, like jumping into a icy cold river or that feeling of complete abandon when in fight on the back of a dragon. Of not having to worry. Or, at least until someone else, someone not like Ryn or Kristin, decided to show up. A clatter of voices down the hallway, echoing laughs inching closer to the room they were in, but the door didn't open yet. Ryn's face slid back into its customary expression of disinterest and confidence, waiting for those other people. But the voices continued down the hallway, leaving the same, unusual silence of before behind. Eliryn sat up, tucking the short strands of hair behind her ears. She was still getting used to it, but her rash, impudent decision had turned out to be a good one.

((Oh, no, I just read it wrong because I'm doing homework, watching The Princess Diaries 2 for the millionth time, and responding to 3 roleplays at once.))

Kristin heard the chatter of people passing by but remained nonchalent, still acting relaxed and calm, frowning slightly as she finished her grapes. Unaware to the fact that Ryn's face wasn't always so disinterested and self-assured, she studied the girl out of the corner of her eye, zoning out and becoming immersed in her own thoughts. There was a chance that it was all just a show, but this solitary girl seemed to possess a remarkable amount of confidence. It probably was a show. Everyone here was broken. Cheated on. Lied to. And they, in turn, cheated, lied, and broke others. It was a vicious circle, a cage humanity had thrust itself in. This girl, no matter how lonely, no matter how confident or disinterested, was probably no different. She had been hurt, and hurt others. She had been left, and had left others. And yet, Kristin had never met another so fond as silence.

((And people say multitasking is actually impossible. More often than not, I'm listening to music, doing homework, rping, and on tumblr, all at once. Take that, scientists. XD))

It was liberating to not feel the pressure of having to spoonfeed words into the air, forcing conversation where people wanted it. How some people felt more at ease with useless, irrelevant words in their mouths, Ryn could not understand. It was much simpler to just listen. You learned so much more that way. "Toss me a grape?" she asked Kristin, angling her body towards the other girl and pulling her legs up to cross, Indian style, beneath her. The ends of her hair brushed her jawbone, sliding across her cheeks and throwing her face into slight shadow.

"I'm out." Kris said, shifting lazily so that the empty box was visible to Ryn. Kris's foot had fallen asleep in the short time she had stretched out on the desk. She cursed and sat up, shaking her foot vigorously. No, she had never been meant for a sedentary, still kind of activity. To keep herself from a) falling asleep or b) dying of boredom, she took out three pocketknives out of the sleeve of her olive green leather jacket and juggled them expertly, before catching them all with her hand and stabbing them into the wooden table. She was bored. Almost bored enough to start a conversation.

"Unfortunate," Eliryn drawled lazily, staring cross-eyed at a piece of hair that had fallen across her face for a second, before tilting her head and making it fall away. "You've got nothing to bribe me with now." Her dark green eyes traced the path of the three pocketknives arching though the air momentarily, and when Kristin leaned forward without warning and slammed them, point down, into the wooden table to leave them quivering, Ryn didn't even flinch. But her eyes stayed locked on the trembling hilts of the knives, the image of another knife springing unbidden behind her eyes. That was one of the reasons she preferred to use her sword, though when it came down to it, anything could be a weapon for Ryn.

(( I. hate. math. so. much. right. now. We have a review workbook that I procrastinated on... 120 pages of Algebra review. It's driving me up the wall.))

((Omfg, 120 pages?! That sounds like torture, like Dante's last level of hell torture. When's it due?? Also, urgh, algebra. That was so long ago I don't even remember half of what I "learned"...))

((Well, I sucked it up and finished it. Haha, no, I whined to Hakuna and co. the whole time, but I got it done before midnight.))

((Haha, I'm pretty sure my homework consists half of whining plus procrastinating and half of actual doing.))

"Bribe you?" Kristin asked, somewhat interested. She looked at the quivering knives slowly come to a stop and pulled them out, one by one. They had left deep indents on the already scratched and engraved with random symbols, letters and words. She ran her fingers lightly across the various grafts and ridges, and then swore softly as a loose nail at the bottom of the desk caught on her finger, making a rather deep cut. She wiped the drops of blood with her jacket sleeve and then pressed it against her finger, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Mmhmm," Eliryn nodded her slow affirmation. "Who knows when you need an extra person." For what? For whatever might be needed. Secrets to be kept, favors to be asked. Though Ryn had a feeling Kristin was one of those few people who didn't need anyone else. Kristin made her own way. Like Eliryn.

She wondered faintly if the proper thing to do at this point was to express concern or sympathy - the cut on Kristin's finger was deep for being something done with a nail - but Ryn couldn't muster up the look of concern to her face right this second. Kristin didn't need a show, Ryn decided. A second, and she'd be alright. Thank god ((do they have a god?)) that this wasn't her weapons class. Ryn could have sworn some of the girls in there thought they were princesses. It was pathetic.

She ended up sucking on her finger, looking rather stupid, but finally, finally, the bleeding stopped and Kristin tore off part of her shirt-sleeve to create a make-shift bandage. She looked up at Eliryn, a smirk on her face. "I don't take bribes. And I don't bribe others." She intoned emphathetically, locking her gray eyes with the other girl's green. Maybe it should've disgusted or angered Kris that this girl thought her to be a girl who needed others, who asked favors from others, who bribed others. But why wouldn't she? On the outside, Kris was no different from anyone else. This facade that she had so carefully constructed for herself was something she prided. If she could convince this girl that she was no different from anyone else at the academy, she had a feeling she could convince anyone. It was a thought that both delighted her and frightened her.

"I didn't really think so," Eliryn replied with a small shrug and a slight smile that didn't quite reach her expressionless green eyes. She turned slightly to see where the wall was, and then scooted backwards on her butt until she could lean her back against the cool stone wall, legs stretched out in front of her. From her new vantage point, slightly closer to Kristin but diagonal from her, Ryn studied the other girl, but not her appearance as much as her bearing. She held herself with a sort of relaxed carefulness that led Ryn to believe it wasn't entirely relaxed, or entirely natural. But she could no more fault Kristin for it than she could fault herself. Maybe the only reason Ryn could see it was because she was careful to carry herself in the same manner. Most people were complete enigmas to her, but Kristin... There was something in her eyes, in her easy posture, that struck Eliryn as familiar - familiar enough to be an echo, or maybe a reflection - a parallel of herself.

Kris felt the girl's eyes boring into her frame, and suddenly, she felt naked. This girl knew. This girl knew how fake and unnatural Kristin was, how completely alone she was. And rather than the fear she thought she would've felt if someone ever figured her out, she felt only relief. This girl knew that Kris had put her walls up and this girl would respect them. She wouldn't be offended when Kris inevitably pushed her out, for Eliryn operated the same way. She had found someone who understood her because this girl was like her. Kris glanced at Eliryn and saw that her eyes, while at first vacant and expressionless, were a mask to hide the mistrust and unease within. How Kris ever thought this girl was naturally self-confident, she didn't know. Yes, Ryn was comfortable in being alone and being seen alone, but the confidence, the indifference, the smiles and the shrugs were surely not a part of this girl- no, it was act. Kris stayed absolutely still, her only movement in her eyes before giving her own small, unnatural smile in return.

And with that small smile, with the small flicker in Kristin's eyes, Eliryn knew that she had been figured out, and that Kris knew Ryn had figured her out - and somehow, it was ok. Anybody else, and she would have covered up her missteps, brushing away the telltale footprints in the snow of their minds with a few easy gestures and well-placed words. Anybody else, and Ryn would venture to guess that Kristin would have covered it up with a smile and brushed it off, her friendly enough personality making it seem like a little slip or a half-awake moment. It was ok because all they saw was little flickers of themselves, Ryn thought.

She reached into her tall leather riding boots and pulled out a small dagger, bringing it up to the ends of her red hair and slicing at a few too long strands, left over from her fairly recent, hasty trim of a good many inches. She didn't really feel the need to keep up the mildly interested, cocky facade any longer, and let it slip, just slightly, knowing that if she respected Kristin's boundaries, Kristin would respect hers in return.

((Ack... I don't know what to post. All of yours are so thoughtful and right now my mind is just spazzing.))

((Haha, not really, they're pretty much just whatever random junk pops into my head XD
And I can work with pretty much anything except one liners so... Idk... Ask her... Something... Or I can try to introduce conflict or action or whatever... Yay, conflict! ;) ))

((Btw, Finn and Cat? ^_^ ))

Kristin closed her eyes and spontaneously started whistling a folk tune her sister used to sing to her before they went to bed. The lyrics of the song began replaying her mind and she found herself whisked back to the past, to when she was seven years old and her sister braided her long, tangled blonde hair back every morning and brushed it out at night, to when her brother came home and told stories and jokes, giving her piggybacks and pretending to be a horse that she could ride around...

Kristin's whistled melody struck a chord in Ryn's mind, but she couldn't quite remember where she'd heard the tune before. She supposed it had been somewhere around the Academy; there was no lack of musicians. By itself, her foot started tapping lightly to the rhythm, a quiet, barely noticeable sound. Eliryn didn't want to interrupt Kristin's song, so kept trimming down the irregular ends of her bright red hair.

((Sorry, I was exhausted last night.))

((no problem.))

Kristin suddenly looked at Eliryn pointedly and stopped whistling. This companionable silence was too comfortable. Too nice. Too natural. If Kristin continued this any longer, travelling back to moments of her past she had vowed to forget, whistling tunes she now despised, sitting next to people who knew all too much about her, she would start letting people in again.

This girl understood her, yes, but that just gave her more of an advantage over the others to hurt her. She shook herself from the daze she was in and grabbed her knives which were scattered across the table, picked up her satchel, and stood up. It was time to go. Enough was enough. She didn't even know why she came here in the first place- oh wait, now she remembered. It was to get away from people. And now, here she was, with another person. Her eyes flashed with disgust before she recomposed herself, striding quickly towards the door.

Eliryn's green eyes followed Kristin's angry, hasty path from her chair to the door, flickering from her face to the floor and back to the ends of her hair, which now seemed so much more interesting than they had been a second ago. Maybe their second of "understanding," their tacit agreement of "you respect my boundaries, I'll respect yours," had only been thought up in Ryn's mind, had only been a one-sided conversation. Maybe it had just been a tiny part of Ryn, a part she never let out, hoping that there was someone who would understand her and not use that understanding against her. But here it was, just one more person who had seen Ryn and decided their was nothing worthwhile there, only a risk. The risk of being found out, of placing their trust, or just a pinch of it, in someone who didn't deserve trust. But here it was, someone seeing a mere millimeter below the facade, and leaving. Ryn knew it had been simply false hope before.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, Ryn thought as Kristin made for the door. Understanding only brought pain, to both sides. It wasn't worth anything at all. She wasn't worth anything at all. But Ryn kept her face in its collected, disinterested mask, her green eyes betraying nothing beyond that one flicker, on.h gazing coolly and expressionlessly at Krsitin. Slicing through a few strands of hair and watching the thin red strands catch the golden light and throw it back away in shades of blood, Ryn remarked lightly at Kristin's retreating back, "See you 'round."

((I'm going to apologize in advance for the infernally slow replies; I'm multitasking ;) ))

"Or not." Kristin replied just as lightly, but there was a warning in her voice. This interaction, this natural silence, this understanding never happened. Ryn was just another stranger, and if they ever met again, Kris would feign ignorance of all that she knew of this girl, probably go so far as to blatantly ignore the other girl.

There were boundaries. She had let Eliryn break them. But now, they were back, stronger than ever, and she knew this girl understood by the expressionless, disinterested tone of her voice. Kris would never be comfortable in being natural- in not pretending, as ironic as that sounded, and to further permeate her fake aura of friendliness, she glanced back and grinned at the girl, a grin that masked all her frustration, confusion, anger, and doubt.

To leave rudely or to disagree with the sentiment of meeting again was one thing, something Ryn would do herself with no second thought, but to throw everything back on her face with a smile that said "nice meeting you!" but whispered "f*ck off" was another. Ryn doubted she would be so callous as to go so far. But she understood. Kristin was simply telling her that if she saw Ryn again, there would be no familiarity. There would be no recognizing of faces, no hellos. And that was perfectly alright. Obviously. Understanding always ends in pain, she repeated to herself, running her thumb over the worn hilt of her dagger. And she was done with pain, or at least with pain that came from herself. The scars on her arms said that at one time she hadn't been done with that pain, but now Ryn was. Other's opinions didn't matter to her, she told herself, knowing in the darkest part of her mind that they always would, just a little. It was a shame, that. But nothing Ryn could tell herself, nothing she could do, would change it.

Eliryn didn't return the grin, or even smile back, but instead raised one eyebrow contemptuously, in a way that asked "are you going to dally around some more or are you going to leave me in peace now?" Evening out the last few strands of hair she could see, Ryn turned her gaze away from Kristin, in essence dismissing her. No doubt there were more strands at the back of her head that she couldn't reach.

((...?))