The Next Challenge

[Deneli]

Deneli ran haphazardly down the long halls of the castle, blond curls bouncing in pigtails over her shoulders. She was enjoying something of a new-found freedom. She could run! She no longer had to worry about tripping whenever she moved at a pace that was faster than a brisk walk. It was a wonderful feeling. She felt more than ready to take her uncle up on that offer for a race. On land. In the forest! She would definitely win!

Deneli's confidence had skyrocketed, now she could run without tripping. She'd overcome the first challenge of living on land, and she was more than ready to find another one. What was next though? She knew she'd had an idea earlier, but couldn't think of it now.

She slowed down a bit to give and reached a hand into her wicker bag, pulling out a water bottle. She always carried 4 water bottles in her bag, as per her uncle's instructions. As she pulled it though, a slip of paper that had been caught between two of the fell out. She slowed down gradually, coming to a stop about five feet down the hall, not having realized that she'd left the paper behind. She opened the bottle and took a few sips of water.

The slip of paper was something her uncle had given her. He'd wanted her to know at least how to write her own name in English. At the top there was a series of swirl-like symbols, her name in their own written language. Under it was written "Deneli of Sisco" in clear, crisp letters. Then, scattered about the rest of the page were the same letters scrawled out at varying levels of neatness and legibility, her own attempts at writing the name. Their written language was so much complicated. Deneli was six letters long when in her own written language it was only 3.

[Everly]

The headmistress was walking down the halls, of her castle. She had been trying to avoid others for as much as possible since the incident with the intruder, but she had needed to make a trip to the library. Her hope was to find a book that she hadn't read yet, but she was unsuccessful and had decided on Jane Austen's "Emma" instead. It was one of her favorites and she needed something light and happy. The book was pressed against her chest, both arms crossed over it as she walked. Since she had not been intending to see or speak with anyone, she paused when she turned the corner and saw Deneli's back. The girl hadn't seen her, and the headmistress considered turning back the way she came, avoiding the girl altogether. But then she saw the paper.

It was lying on the floor, almost surely an accident, because it was unlikely that anyone would leave a paper on the floor on purpose. And most likely, it belonged to the girl standing just a few feet away. Everly sighed, knowing that she couldn't, in good conscience, let the girl walk away and lose her paper. It could be something important.

Everly took a breath and continued walking forward. As she passed the piece of paper, she aimed one palm to the floor, willing the paper to float up and into her hand. The paper had not originated in the castle, so controlling its movement took a bit more effort than the headmistress was used to. But it was still easier than moving something non-organic, and soon enough it flew up into her grasp. She saw briefly what was written there, but didn't look at it long because she didn't want to be rude. However, seeing the name on the paper, combined with the blonde curls on the girl in front of her, the headmistress was able to guess who the student was.

"Excuse me, Miss Deneli," she called. "Is this yours?" She held out the paper and waited for the girl to turn around and see.

[Deneli]

After drinking about half the bottle in single swig, Deneli placed the cap back on and moved to shove it back into her bag. The four bottles didn't exactly fit inside well, but she managed. Once her hands were free again, she pushed the bag back up to her shoulder and was about to begin her reckless sprint down the corridors again.

She stopped herself when she heard her name called, though, and turned quickly to face the woman who'd spoken. Her posture stiffened a bit, feeling as though she'd just been caught about to break the rules. Deneli still smiled up at Everly sweetly though. They'd met briefly at the cocktail party, but Deneli hardly considered it a meeting at all. "Hi, Headmistress Everly~" True to her nature, she wanted to appear to be the normal, bubbly and happy girl that she always was, even if she did think she was about to be scolded.

Deneli tilted her head curiously at the sheet of paper in Everly's hand, before recognizing it. "Oh!" She was a bit embarrassed that Everly, the literature professor and headmistress of the school of all people, had found the slip, but, she didn't show it on her face. She reached out to accept the paper and gave a light giggle. "Thanks."

Deneli looked the sheet over, something she found herself doing whenever she saw the paper. Anything to help commit those six letters into memory. It felt like they changed everytime she looked it.

[Everly]

The headmistress smiled down at the girl. She glanced to the side and then back, watching as the student seemed to study the paper in front of her. Everly found herself unsure of what to do in this situation. She had done her duty in returning the girl's paper, but Deneli showed no signs of leaving, and Everly did not want to be rude and leave first. The polite thing to do would be to have some small talk. Ask her about the weather, politics, her health. Everly continued smiling and took a breath before she spoke.

"So, Deneli. How have you been? Classes are going well?" She raised her eyebrows in an attempt to appear as if she were intensely interested in whatever answer Deneli was about to give. Jane Austen's book was still clutched tightly to the headmistress' mid-section. Her head bent down, as the girl appear to be quite a bit shorter, though the mass of curly hair added to her stature. Once again, the headmistress felt that familiar pang of guilt at not having made the effort to get to know her students better. She resolved that she would stand here and at least get to know this student for the time being.

[Deneli]

Deneli looked up as Everly spoke, suddenly feeling very rude for making her wait around. She shoved the slip back into her bag and grinned up at the woman. She didn't really know ho to answer the question though, not really wanting to sound like she was complaining.

"Well, gym is fun." She said with a giggle. She tilted her head, doing nothing to hide her hesitance. Should she say anything about offense/defense? After a moment she giggled again and shook her head. She seemed totally oblivious to any awkwardness that may have been causing.

[Everly]

Everly nodded, pulling her lips into a tight smile. It wasn't Everly's style to drag information out of people, and she would accept whatever the girl wanted to tell her, and anything that she wanted to keep to herself was her own business. It's not that Everly wasn't curious, just that she didn't want to make anyone embarrassed or uncomfortable.

"Come on, let's take a walk while we talk, okay?" She smiles sweetly down at the girl, and reached out with her free hand towards the girl's shoulder, aiming to guide her down the hallway at a leisurely pace. "So, just gym?" she said, strolling forward, "Aren't you taking any other classes?" While she wouldn't press for information, light questions were both acceptable and necessary for conversation.

[Deneli]

Deneli turned easily in the way Everly had directed her to go. "Okay~." She smiled up at the woman, not realizing that was probably putting of more excitement in her actions and words than the situation really called for. Maybe she was getting hyper off of oxygen again.

Though Deneli was slightly displeased at the speed they were currently going, she didn't show it. It had always been a habit of hers to simply show nothing more than pure happiness in front of other people, especially people she didn't know well, so she let Everly determine their pace without complaint. "Gym and Offense/Defense. Professor Hryshen's really nice, but Professor Blake is kind of mean." She gave a light giggle as she mentioned Professor Blake, but then she realized that she may have been being harsh about it. Nice and mean seemed to be the only two words she could apply to any person, and she wasn't really sure which category Professor Blake belonged in. He wasn't really mean. Only a little. He was kind of nice. She changed her mind. "Well, no, he's kind of nice too~."

[Everly]

Kind of nice and kind of mean? Every furrowed her brow and nodded. "I see. Well, in what ways is he mean exactly?" The statement actually kind of worried her. It was another example of how she hadn't paid enough attention to her students or staff. And she knew Kale was mean, at least. But if the student's found Blake mean as well, then she had less people on her side than she thought.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, of course," she assured the girl. "But, I am here to help." She followed this statement with a bright smile. It felt good, saying something like that. Maybe she was fit for this position after all, no matter what some of the other teachers or staff may think. Yes, she could do it. If she could be there to help at least this one student, then maybe things would be okay. It was symbolic, and she wanted to do it right.

[Deneli]

Deneli took a moment to think of how she could word her answer. Even though Everly had just said she didn't have to answer, Deneli couldn't quite fathom why she wouldn't. It was a simple enough question, and though she was a little embarrassed to be telling the literature professor that she was in no way literary, the feeling wasn't so overpowering that she would deny Everly an answer.

Finally, after deciding "mean" was in fact too harsh a word to describe Professor Blake, Deneli shrugged. "He's not really mean. I think he just 'cause I can't read or write too well." "Mad" wasn't even the correct word for it. More like he simply hadn't expected it. Deneli only noticed the second flaw in her statement and decided to correct it. "Well, not like you do anyway. I write different."

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