October Event Log

[magicademymods]

October Event Log Fall Cleaning Suddenly and without warning, the lighting in or near every building on campus goes red. A second later, a deep alarm rises in volume as the buildings begin to shake. The faculty barely bat an eye as they direct students to get outside quickly. "Fall cleaning," they explain wearily to those students who have never experienced this phenomenon. Older students offer their own explanation as they move: at some point every fall the buildings of the Magicademy rearrange themselves so the cleaning golems can repair their foundations, tend to the ground around them, keep them from sinking into the caverns, that sort of thing. Totally harmless. Well, until you realize no one knows where your House tower went. Or till you need to get to class promptly except Kedrigan Hall is in the middle of a lake somehow. Or till the Library of Starchime is down in the middle of the lab caverns and you have to try to study while students practice magic in the aisles. But it's okay! This will only last for a couple of days! You can get by, right? The Bonfire To say goodbye to the warmth and hello to the frost, the Magicademy celebrates the changing of seasons with a great bonfire. A massive conglomeration of burning wood sends flame licking up some sixty feet into the air, and the warmth pouring from the huge fire wards off any hint of cold from those nearby. By tradition, the bonfire burns till morning, and many students have bedrolls or tents or even straight-out beds parked nearby so they can take their spot in keeping it lit. Others have brought food and drink, enough to selflessly share with everyone. The whole things is one big party, really; House rivalries and personal animosities and music duels are all set aside for a night as the campus unites in solidarity. It's one of the nicer times you could ask for. This Is Halloween Bad news. Terrible news. The worst news imaginable. Headmaster Birony has found out about Halloween. Diatu Magicademy is nothing but orange and black now. Carved pumpkins wander the campus and aggressively pose for anyone who glances their way (or doesn't...). Spiderwebs litter every hallways and passage, complete with spiders that patiently move their webs out of the way and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience with a sort of weariness that says they know exactly who to blame for this. A twelve-foot-high menorah sits in the Great Hall, leading some to suspect that the Headmaster's Intimations to learn more about the holiday did not produce universally-accurate results. Headmaster Birony herself patrols the grounds like a madwoman, slinging extra spookiness wherever she passes and occasionally Discovering costumes straight onto the innocent students she passes. "Spirit of the season!" she yells before fleeing, candy and toilet paper left behind in her path. If by this point you are questioning whether the Headmaster ever does actual work, rest assured you're not the first, nor will you be the last, to wonder that. Research on the SUNDERDOG! (Sunderdog!) SUNDERDOG! (Sunderdog!) This month's assignment, for those willing to undertake it: actually nothing disastrous! Instead, the researchers ask that you compare your world to another Sundered student's, then report back to them on the differences and similarities. They're most interested in magic styles, but anything you give them will have value!

Comments

[darkenedmoon]

That tidbit of information from Hendrik--that he worked out against Eleven and thus worked off what he ate--surprised Yotsuyu not at all--she was fairly certain she'd met Eleven during one of those sessions, if memory served. So she nodded at Hendrik's words, though she couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"When have you ever known me to overextend myself, ever?" She arched an inquisitive ebony brow at him, lips pursed. "Help how, with supplies or some such, as you've done before?" It wasn't as if he couldn't clean up after--wash the dishes or some such. Hendrik had never struck her as someone who considered himself too good to accomplish a task.

But then he turned away, cheeks reddening. What in the seven hells had she said? Yotsuyu was confused--she hadn't thought she'd offended him somehow, or said something to otherwise embarrass him.

"Hendrik?" she asked, patting at his leg again.

[unswervingcompanion]

The assistance was something he definitely would do. "That seems fair." And he'd help clean up as well. Sharing in the work that it took to prepare a meal and after was very important. Hendrik hadn't responded to the question about overextending, because he'd thought she'd gone well out of her way the time she had herself, Eleven, Jecht and himself there.

Looking back at her when Yotsuyu patted his leg, the knight looked a little surprised. He knew she wanted to know what he was thinking or something. But it had been the look in her eyes when she gazed at him and before he returned such a gaze, he'd turned away.

Knowing he was going to get questioned, Hendrik couldn't figure out how to get out of this particular situation with words. "Yes?"

[darkenedmoon]

Was he playing coy? Despite her extensive experience (desired or not) with men, he confounded her now, and Yotsuyu furrowed her brows at him.

"What in the seven hells did I say?" It was not as if he normally turned crimson as the licking flames of the bonfire, after all. "I did not mean to embarrass you..."

She frowned a bit, confused, and wracked her brain for something she might ask the knight that would not have Hendrik hurrying away. Not much came immediately to mind--oh surely she could ask about Jasper, but like as not that would have him sealing his lips entirely, and Yotsuyu really did not want to lance old wounds at the moment.

"What was your childhood like?" Surely his had to be better than hers, she thought...

[unswervingcompanion]

How could he explain it was the look she gave him? And then he'd have to explain what the look looked like. His head turned away. "It was nothing, please do not trouble yourself. The fault is mine" How could he tell her without making it sound like he was blaming her for it? There just wasn't a way, so he'd take the blame.

The question gave him pause though and he looked at the ground thoughtfully. "The truth is that I lost everyone in my hometown. I was brought to Heliodor as a child and trained as a knight." He wasn't sure what else to add at the moment because a thought entered his mind and he was trying his very best to shake it.

[darkenedmoon]

"Oh." Yotsuyu was not happy about Hendrik's non-answer when she'd asked what she'd said...and when he relayed the tale of his childhood, she frowned. "Ah. Clearly I have stuck my foot in it again." Displeased was certainly not the word.

"You know my parents died of sickness when I was but a child--it was my aunt and uncle who became my stepparents and adopted me. That was bad enough, but their treatment of me certainly did not improve after Asahi was born."

It was the least offensive and horrific way she could think of to describe it. And it was not a good thing either...but at least that far, she could understand the sorrow of losing one's family, if not the entire village one had grown up in...

[unswervingcompanion]

Hendrik shook his head and hesitantly reached a hand out to gently and briefly touch Yotsuyu's shoulder. "You could not have known." He never would blame her for not knowing something.

When she spoke of her childhood, this time he frowned. Her family was the reason he'd bought her the knife that he saw hanging from her belt. It was self defense certainly and the knight had faith in Yotsuyu's abilities to defend herself. Certainly her mastery of magic proved that.

The knife was also a means to help her defend herself until he could reach her. Not that she couldn't more than protect herself but it was the way that Hendrik showed that he cared.

[darkenedmoon]

"No, I suppose I could not. And yet I wanted to know. I do want to know about you. We do not talk much about...our pasts." Though truly, Yotsuyu had fairly admitted everything to Hendrik--and let him listen to her, as he did, and never pried into his own past, letting him take shelter in his inscrutability.

Clearly, she should not continue to do that, but Yotsuyu did not want to do more in the way of lancing old wounds. She was still curious about Hendrik's past, and about Jasper and what that one had meant, but now did not seem the time. The younger students were quieting as they rested, and most of the noise now was simply the snapping and popping of wood as the bonfire burned.

[unswervingcompanion]

Blue green eyes looked at Yotsuyu and he shook his head. "No, but if that would help you understand me better than I am open to discussing it." Hendrik wouldn't deny Yotsuyu anything, even if that meant delving into his past and the people he'd known. It wasn't going to be easy, but if it was something that meant that much to her, he'd do it.

He took a sip of his cider and pondered, enjoying the silence and peace around them. Though for some reason the knight wondered if Yotsuyu wanted to go over this now, the air seemed heavy with it.

Looking back over at her, Hendrik nodded. "Is that something that you wish to discuss now?"

[darkenedmoon]

"No. The night is nice; I do not want to ruin such peace with a topic that is clearly painful for the both of us." While it was not the first time that Yotsuyu passed on such a discussion, it was for similar reasons. This was a pleasant time, and a celebration, even if it had not been such a personal one as when they'd celebrated her nameday. She was not about to mar this night, either.

So she simply moved a bit closer to him. "Tell me then, has Eleven's swordplay improved since his disappearance? He mentioned that he had spent months back on Erdrea...and in your presence, as odd as that seems to me." Considering Hendrik had still been here! "I figure no one would know his skill so well as you, considering how you two train together." As he'd mentioned. Yotsuyu wanted to turn the conversation to more pleasant topics, and they both at least were fond of the Luminary and saw him as no less than their son. Even if neither of them were his parents, proper.