You Asked For It: The Beach Trip

[magicademymods]

Be Careful What You Wish For: A Beach Adventure Crowded Quarters To the joy and delight of the Sundered students who feel joy and delight over going to the beach, the Sundered students get to go to the beach in celebration of their completed midterms! Professor Trammel has graciously paid their way on the local airship, which runs regular routes on summer days to the ocean some 45 minutes away, and so every student who so desires can pack up and head onto it to enjoy a fantastic day of fun and adventure! Slight downside: the airship is small and packed, as it keeps its fees low by relying on volume to turn a profit. The crowded travel compartment is standing-room-only, and even those who are lucky enough to get seats won't find themselves with much shoulder room. Some people may even find themselves in the lap of a fellow student, which only the most cynical and bitter of minds would abuse as a way to ship-tease (right?). The trip isn't long, just hot and stuffy. You can make it, students! Wave Your Hands If You're Shore The beach at last! Though the hot sun beats down from above, a gentle breeze blows in from the ocean and the water itself is delightfully cool without being icy cold. Waves run about five to six feet in height, enough to be forceful without dominating like some giant curl suitable only for surfing. Though scores of people have set up tents, umbrellas, blankets, and towels across the sands, the Diatu contingent has plenty of space to conjure up tables and chairs, an awning and plenty of shade. Professor Trammel politely deploys Spells of Sunscreening, as well as directing students to the swimwear the school has obtained and the screened canvas changing areas where they can don them. Helpfully, he's obtained all manner of suits to fit any taste, so... choose wisely? Baskets of sandwiches and drinks kept magically chilled offer sustenance for the busy swimmers, and all manner of balls, nets, and beach toys to enjoy. The Sand Castle Contest Early in the afternoon, Professor Trammel announces that a sand castle contest is open to all participants! The rules are as follows: 1. Headmaster Birony is forbidden from competing. (At this, Headmaster Birony sulkily turns Makerion Keep back into stone and sends it back to the Magicademy Campus. Ka students will be finding sand in odd places for a while.) 2. Students may work in teams of no more than 2. 3. You will have an hour to work with any of the sand-castle tools available. 4. Judging will be on creativity, quality, and durability. 5. 'Bedmaster Hirony' is forbidden from competing. (Headmaster Birony rips her fake mustache off and throws it to the ground in frustration.) You have a few minutes to form pairs and get ready. Who will win the competition? Teachers' Day Off Some of the Professors, too, have taken the day off! Students are treated to the sight of Professor Trammel digging a hole in the surf so his own knocked-together sand structure goes up against the waves, leaving him to improve its walls and channels each time to make for a better hope of surviving. Professor King is teaching anyone who will listen about a new game she calls Sunder-inlota, which involved lobbing a ball through portals to get it into the other team's goal. Headmaster Birony occupies herself doing a Sorcerer's Apprentice thing with the waves, making them smash and crash against each other with glee, while Professors Porfsin and Trent fail to put campus politics aside and both spend the day trying to attract an audience with their own personal performances. And Professor Kith just... swims and enjoys herself, like a normal human being, which is probably in violation of the Adequate Wackiness In Teaching Staff Proclamation, but no one seems inclined to call her on it. Fire in the Sky As darkness falls over the beach, swimming comes to an end as the gathered people move to get home, their day off done. The Magicademy, however, still has some tricks up its organizational sleeve. With fires conjured along the sands, the Professors take turns cooking -- simple fare like sausages and hamburger patties, that even the less adept among them (coughCamBironycough) can't screw up. And as the last vestiges of sunlight vanish behind the horizon and the beach and ocean are both swept in darkness, Professor Trammel pulls off his final flourish: a Discovery of beautiful lights exploding in the sky, a mixture between fireworks and aurora borealis that paints the night in glory. All in all, not a bad day.

Comments

crowded

[woo_oo]

After Yotsuyu man-handled the latest would-be pervert, she would hear applause and cheering...

"Nice moves! You gotta teach me that sometimes!"

... Coming from above, as Webby was hanging from the ceiling.

[darkenedmoon]

"That was only punching him and then hitting him in the head with my fan." Though the other passengers had surrounded the fool when he'd practically fallen to the floor, and then parted to allow the idiot to scramble away.

Good riddance.

"Though I could probably teach you a few minor Modification spells as well." Ones that might paint a word like 'Loser' on someone's forehead. Not permanently, of course, but a couple of hours tended to suffice for humiliation.

[woo_oo]

"That's just it - I've never used a fan as a weapon before!" Sure, almost everything else under the sun, but a fan was new. "It made you look elegant and dangerous at the same time!"

[darkenedmoon]

"This is a fan I had made for me, though. You see?" Yotsuyu leaned down as best she could to show Webby the fan. Oh, it was covered in silk and painted like many of the others sold near the Academy to simply keep one cool. But the rest, instead of being made of sandalwood or bamboo or some other fancy wood, was made of metal.

"I use it as my focus as well--no one ever told me that I had to use a wand," she sniffed, though Headmaster Birony had certainly made a good argument for one. But if nothing else, Yotsuyu was stubborn. "It has enough heft to deter miscreants, and still do enough to keep me cool as well, should I use it for its intended purpose. I suppose I could sharpen it, but I am only willing to go so far with it as such."

Besides, it wasn't as if she didn't carry a dagger with her, if she needed something for that purpose.

[woo_oo]

A completely metal fan... Yep, Webby still wanted one. Maybe she could ask Granny for one for Christmas.

A momentary flash of sadness - she missed Granny! - before pushing it back.

"Control is a really good thing too! Sometimes I still have trouble telling who's an enemy and who's just trying to play surprise."

[darkenedmoon]

Oh, there was still silk holding it together, but it was more coarse of a weave and clearly not something like...dress material. Very simple in its construction, and not terribly flashy, which was...perhaps a surprise, considering who wielded it.

"Enemies tend to not play surprise," Yotsuyu chuckled. "Then again, I suppose there are some who are stealthy enough, I wager." Like ninjas back on Hydaelyn. Not that she had had a great amount of exchange with them, save when she'd been Tsukuyomi...

[woo_oo]

"In fact, there aren't a lot of enemies here at all." Which, considering the life Webby had been leading up to coming to Diatu, seemed odd to her. "Aside from those knife-wielding plants, and those bullies that I wasn't allowed to threaten anymore."

Louie had made it very clear she was no longer allowed to imply she could make a person bleed to death. Which sucked, but she'd complied.

[darkenedmoon]

"So I have noted, but that does not mean that one should not be wary, in any case." Yotsuyu shrugged a little at that. She chuckled a little--she didn't precisely threaten, herself, but she certainly did her best to seem formidable enough that she didn't get messed with. Likely it was more troublesome when one was a duckling.

"Have you been practicing, at least?"

[woo_oo]

"Of course!" She swung back and forth. "I always make sure to practice my magic, martial arts and weaponry every day! Granny would be disappointed if I didn't."

[darkenedmoon]

"Perhaps I should ask for tips--I do the same with magic, but I was taught in other things rather than martial arts or weaponry. And I have been gifted a katana...so I should be working on my bladework. The sooner, the better."

It was likely that she would get even more of a workout, considering their relative size differences...

[woo_oo]

Webby's eyes practically glittered. "A katana! The ancient dangerous blade of the samurai! You're so lucky!"

[darkenedmoon]

"That, I will grant you. Eleven made it for me...and now I need to work on using it. It was not an unusual blade to see in Doma...but strange for one such as I to own or use."

Because she was a woman. Among other things. But she hadn't found her pistol yet, and even if she had, Yotsuyu wasn't terribly certain it would work here.

[woo_oo]

Another new interesting fact. "Eleven can make swords? Is he some kind of blacksmith?"

[darkenedmoon]

"He is a Forging student, so yes to both of your questions," Yotsuyu said with a nod. There was more than a hint of pride in her words, as well.

"He does take some time with the actual process, but I cannot find any fault in the finished product. My katana is very functional, but he also said that if I had thoughts on adorning it in the future, we could work on it. I haven't come up with anything yet, however."

[woo_oo]

"Adorning it? Like making it different colors and sparkle and carving initials?" Because Webby's already imagining a pink sparkly katana with her friends names on it AND SHE WANTS IT.

[darkenedmoon]

"Something akin to that, yes. Perhaps not sparkles or initials, so much, for me." But Yotsuyu wasn't entirely certain what, save perhaps a moonstone for the pommel...