She hadn't been able to sleep.

And so Nalisia had found herself wandering the gardens just past dawn. For some reason she'd gone to the east gardens, as though drawn by the unkempt beauty. It made little difference at this hour. The galdor slowly made her way towards the north end by the small, inky dark pond. Sitting down on the dewy grass didn't faze her as she arranged her skirts. Nal hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them thoughtfully. I haven't done anything in so long, she mused, at this rate I'll never accomplish anything, and I'll grow up to be a doctor. Her eyes jerked back to life; that was not an option. If the only way out of that was a full-out rebellion, it wasn't her problem.

She idly fingered a stone beneath her, the smooth coolness soothing her slightly. Okay, she asked herself silently, what's my next move? Wracking her head, Nal couldn't come up with any ideas. Good question.

She sighed.

((I hope I did this right....if I didn't, just let me know. And this thread is open to anyone, honestly! Anyone!))

Nathaniel was out before classes, doing his jog around Brunnhold before breakfast. It was always peaceful in the mornings, no hustling or bustling like inside of the campus. It was quiet, except for birds in the distance waking up for the day.

Nathaniel was making his final circuit through the East Gardens before he would get back to his dorm and shower before breakfast, when he caught sight of a small girl that looked around his age. It caught him by surprise, because there was almost no students ever outside this early. She seemed deep in thought, observed Nathaniel as he drew closer.

Hearing faint footsteps, Nalisia was brought back to the present. She grabbed a handful of the cool grass and squeezed it, twisting her head around. The newcomer was a boy she faintly recognized from one of her classes, she thought. Or maybe he wasn't. She couldn't remember at the current hour. Realizing she'd been silent for longer than was probably acceptable, she twitched slightly. "Well, hello," she chirped, "I should know you, shouldn't I?" She ducked her head slightly, looking at the galdor from beneath her eyelashes. "I'm terrible with names this early in the day." Nal unclenched her fistful of grass and patted the spot next to her. "You're welcome to sit down, although it looks like you've got somewhere to be." She pointed vaguely down the pathway, he looked winded....was he late for something? At this hour, she figured not.

The morning's quiet was disturbed by a loud yelp. Shortly after which a furry, blurry brown-and-black mass broke from the bushes nearby and made straight for the pond's edge. Achieving its goal, and brushing up against Nalisia in the process, it resolved into the form of a bander wolf in dire need of a brush. It dunked its head under the water's surface. Twigs, leaves and briars clung to what was visible of the animal's coat.

A voice emanated from the same clump of bushes.
"Wo chet! Dent a mung boch, eh, 'no?"

This last was followed by a stream of mild Tek curses as the speaker made his way noisily through the bramble and brush.

A galdori in student's uniform emerged, his clothing in much the same shape as the bander's coat. Catching sight of Nalisia and Nathan, he brushed a few leaves from his hair and tried to straighten up his jacket before bending to one knee next to his furry friend. The inclination of his head revealed a bird-shaped tattoo, previously hidden by his collar, just behind his left ear. The black marking stood out in stark contrast to his pale, pale skin.

"Please forgive the disturbance," Hunter addressed the girl and boy while tending to the bander, "Streak here chased a mouse into some stinging weeds-"

The explanation was interrupted by Streak as he turned away from the pond and shook out the water from his fur, sending a fine spray in the direction of the students.

Slowing to a stop, Nathaniel smiled at the stranger.
"I'm not in a particular hurry, I'm just out in my morning jog," he cocked his head. The girl looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place a name with a face on her. Recovering his breath, he tried without success to remember who she was.
"Sure. I was almost finished anyway," he took a seat in the slightly dewy grass. "You can call me Nathaniel, by the way. You look familiar, didn't we take a class together at some point?" he looked inquiringly at Nalisia.



Nathaniel looked in interest the the newest arrivals. He had never seen a bander wolf before, much less a tamed one. He regarded the owner with interest, his eyes staying on the tattoo for a moment. Every tattoo has a story behind it. His must be an interesting one.

He was startled by the light spray of water on his face. Taking a moment to wipe away the water with a handkerchief, he grinned with amusement.

He nodded politely at the new boy, cutting off all apologies.
"It's quite all right. Is this bander wolf yours? I've never seen one up close before."

Nalisia started when the wolf burst through the bushes and stiffened as it brushed by her.



Smiling slightly, Nal nodded at the newcomer. He looked awfully disheveled, and the impolite part of her wanted to ask why, but years of being raised in etiquette caused her to hold her tongue. So she resorted to a more neutral topic of conversation: the bander wolf. "He's cute beneath the mud," she remarked idly, "....probably."



Nal turned back to Nathaniel and pursed her lips. "You know, I think we did....oh!" She covered her mouth and blushed self-consciously. "I'm Nalisia." Nodding at the newcomer again, she narrowed her eyes. "Have I had a class with you, too? I'm terribly sorry, but at this hour I could barely recognize my own mother!" She looked from the boy to his wolf and again wondered why they were covered in leaves.

((Gosh, I hope I did that right....responding to both was a bit tricky.))

A sense of relief filled the disheveled student.

They're not mad. Which is as close as I've come to making any friends here thus far.

Normally quite outgoing, Hunter had been putting so much effort into catching up with studies and trying to learn the ways of this new place that he'd been unable to spend much time socializing – which was one of the main reasons he'd been sent to Brunnhold. He recognized an Opportunity here.

"Pleased to meet you Nalisia. I'm Frederick, Frederick Vespasian, but most people call me Hunter."
Not that anyone here calls me much of anything yet.
"I'm new this term and haven't quite learned who everyone is yet."

"You're Nathaniel, right?"
Hunter knew who the other boy was, but they'd never really spoken before. Nathaniel was in most of his classes and Hunter was slightly jealous of the ease with which the other boy seemed to take in the material. Of course, that was mainly because he didn't realize the amount of free time that Nathaniel devoted to his magic studies.

The bander had calmed down by then and come over to investigate, sniffing and snuffling to learn Nalisia and Nathaniel's scents.

"His name's Streak, by the way. And I suppose he is mine, but if you were to ask him he'd likely say that I was his."

Nathaniel grinned at Nalisia. "Pleased to meet you."
He was very sure that he had seen her somewhere before, he just couldn't place where....Hmmmmmmmm....I'll find out later.... he reflected pensively.



Nathaniel snapped out of this thoughts with the voice of "Hunter." This was a pleasant surprise. Not very many people knew his name without him introducing himself.

He pleasantly nodded in affirmation at the new boy. He vaguely recognized him. Maybe he's from a class......
"Pleased to meet you too. I am he. How did you know my name?"



Nathaniel grinned with good spirit at the bander's curiosity. He liked animals. He extended a friendly underhand gesture in the air towards the wolf to sniff to get to know him better.

"He's a beautiful animal. How old is he?"

((BTW i'm soooo sorry about the wait! i admit that i forgot completely! ))