A New Beginning

Where in Jendu had Rion traveled to? It was a hopeless feeling more than an actual question he posed to himself. His mother would die of worrying if she knew how lost he'd gotten. Rion didn't know it, but this small town he stumbled upon was actually closer to his destination than he would have guessed. Haven was going to be his new home, a school that could help him fit in and refine his abilities he was born with. He didn't like to talk about his talent, but he did enjoy having it. He had some small power over nature, but that was a bad way to describe it. More of an understanding between him and his environment that allowed them to coexist. Animals were always easier to understand than humans, that's way he always summoned one as a companion if there were none around. With a smile, he looked down at a small rat that appeared normal to everyone else, but it was created out of Rion's brain. Together they sat against a small stone building, resting in the shade, away from people.

The stone made him feel trapped, but he was so tired he had to sit. Resting out in the open was too risky for a boy alone (for the most part) in his travels. His encounters with humans throughout his life have had a low success rate. Many people took Rion for being antisocial simply because he'd rather be alone and outdoors. The animals never judged him, and neither did nature. He never understood why humans couldn't get on the same page. For now, he had his pet rat that he would not give a name for fear of becoming attached. He was just fooling himself though. At some point he needed help... maybe even... a friend to help him find his new home. Maybe... to find himself.

Kira was strolling through a small humble town, the one next to the acadamy, of course. This small town was called Lexaria. It was founded the same time the acadamy biulding was, to act as a home to the researchers who worked at the acadamy before it was refurbished into what it is today. Kira was one of the first students to arrive at the acadamy, so he was learning his way around the town. He was told that this town was also part of the haven that he would be calling home, so he thought it best to explore and get to know the towns people as soon as he could. He walked down the main street, noticing that many of the biuldings them selves needed alot of work done to them, but that would have to wait until another time. He had only just arrived and he didn't have a feeling for the place yet.

Walking around, he soon found himself facing a alley way, and suprisingly the biuldings seemed to become smaller, the further along they where down the alley way. The biuldings where small enough to start off with, never mind now that they where smaller along the outskirts. Walking down the alley, Kira noticed a man, looked younger or about his own age, sitting down against one of the biuldings, and the only thing next to him was a small rodent. From this distance Kira couldn't make it out exactly. Walking closer to the guy, Kira cleared his throat.

At the sound of a cough, Rion's rat companion scurried up his hand and onto his shoulder. The rat tried to hide itself on the side of Rion's neck not facing the rather imposing person. The guy looked to be be near Rion's age and about the same size. Still, he was in much better shape, definitely could beat Rion in a fight if need be. Considering his options, Rion knew he couldn't ignore the man, but he couldn't intimidate him either.

Looking up, a corner of the sun peeked around the broad shoulders of the man, but for the most part he blocked out the soon. Rion was having a hard time keeping eye contact because he was never good with first impressions. Still, he cleared his throat just the same to speak.

Hi, are you a town's member? I am a little lost so if you're from around here maybe you could help me out?

Kira chuckled a little when the other guy said he was lost. How could he get lost in such a small town. Then again Kira was used to such places, being as he was part of a circus until recently. Not everyone is as used to outback towns as he was. No, im not from around here, im from the acadamy just outside of this town. So im guessing your not from around here. Here take this. Kira dug deep into his jeans pocket, found what he was looking for, and took it out. He looked over to the man before throwing the map of the local area to him. Hey, catch.

Kira turned on his heels, then walked back out to wards the street. Before walking back to the acadamy he turned his head back down the alleyway. So you gonna be coming or not, i'll show you around the main street, but its up to you to find out where you need to be.

The map Kira tossed Rion was "caught" by his chest. Maybe Rion could have caught it if he wasn't so stunned. First he was stunned that Kira said he was from the Academy. Could it be Haven? He had mixed emotions about this. It would be great to have met someone because then he had almost made it! But were all the students this big? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, Kira seemed nice.

When Kira began digging in his pocket Rion became a little more worried. What would it be? A weapon? When the paper flew in the air, Rion kept his eyes on Kira until the paper smacked him gently in the chest. He studied it for a while, but was interrupted by Kira's leaving.

Hey... don't go was the end of that sentence. But then Rion realized he was only ready to show him around. He folded up the map and put it in his pocket, and scooted his rat friend under the building. The rat might like this new home. ... Wait up!

How many academies could there be? Kira had to be talking about Haven, and Rion had to find out. Until then, being shown around the town called Lexaria (guessing from the top of the map) could prove fun.

Kira waited until the man caught up to him, then continued walking towards to acadamy. With the slightly taller, Rion behind him, Kira began to explain about the acadamy and the town. Alright then, this town is Lexaria, it was biuld around the same time as Haven, the acadamy, back when it was used by the researchers. Most of these biuldings where once used by those researchers. Has to what they where researching, my guess is the enviroment surrounding Haven and Lexaria. As you may notice on that map there are four very different climates right next to each other, and we happen to be smack bang in the middle of them. Constant storms to the south, the east we have constant heat, and a very active volcanoe, up north we have nothing but ice plains in constant snow storms, and the west is a vast open sea which, according to history, should not be there. As far as we know, they discovered nothing.

Walking towards the very centre of the town, both men where greeted by some of the locals. Kira waved as they went past, and gave them a smile. As you just noticed, the people around here aren't bothered about me, even though they know full well about some of the students at Haven have some sort of talent, or power, hidden inside them. This is why the head master chose to set up here. The towns people helped her refurbish the place. But anyway this is the town centre. This is where all the shops are located. Weapons, armour, food, medicine, what ever you need chances are you can find it here, although thier stocks are very limited.

Kira just noticed at one of his sentences, he just let slip to a total stranger that he had a talent. Stopping and turning to the man, Kira's smile disappeared and was replaced by a serious, sturn face. That reminds me, your new here, and you where quite lost when i found you. So that means you have no idea where this is. So are you against us who have a power hidden inside them, or do you have a reason to be here?

As Kira explained both the town and the academy, it became clear that Kira was indeed a member of Haven. If there were more students that were as helpful as Kira, maybe this would be an easy place to live. However, the description of the surroundings he was viewing on his map seemed really dangerous. He got a feeling that he had the moment he decided to leave. The excitement and fear of a new beginning churned inside of him.

I'm not against anyone, honest! The answer was more of a reflex than an answer. It was the truth, but merely by accident because Rion was taken back by the question. I guess... you could say I have a reason to be here. It's nothing special, you can just say I have a green thumb.

Just great, a green thumb! Here was Kira, looking like he could seriously beat someone to a pulp, and Rion has a green thumb. Hopefully it sounded less dumb than it really did, but Rion doubted it. In truth, it was probably a good description anyways. Rion had a way with nature, being very in tune with the plants and air around him. That was only half the story though.

So Kira, does the Academy have a curfew? When do you think we should be heading back?

Elana was walking through an alleyway, managing to get herself more lost than she had hoped to. She had arrived about ten minutes ago to the town, and she had spent those ten minutes trying to find her way to the academy. She was scared she wouldn't make it in time for classes to start, and she didn't want to be late on her first day. She wanted all the help she could get at being a healer. She knew she had a power and even though she couldn't use it for bad--at least she didn't think healing people was bad--her mother was afraid of her and sent Elana away.

While walking through the alley, she spotted two men around her age talking. One had what looked like a map in his hand, and she realised this was probably one of the other new students to the academy. Elana isn't the type to introduce herself first, but she was lost and if she wanted to get out of the town and to the academy, maybe she'd have to overcome her fear. She waited until the men had seemingly finished their conversation for her to walk up and ask them, summoning the strength from deep inside her.

Elana began shaking as she walked up to the men. She took a deep breath as she neared them, her head bowed and her eyes shut.
Uhm, ex--excuse me. Do you k-k-know the w-way to the a-academy? She squeezed her eyes shut even more as if that was supposed to get the men to not notice the small shy thing beside them.

(All good Ben, and Sarah glad you joined us!)

Not a lot of students could have been good or bad as far as Rion was concerned. This meant that more people would know him, which is good when you're shy. Still, this meant that he'd be getting more attention than he'd planned on. That was scary.

Just before he thought it was impossible, this day proved to be getting stranger by the second. A person who was more shy than he was with Kira came and asked about knowing the way to the academy. Strangely, her discomfort made him more comfortable. Two nervous people would make them a wreck!

Hi, I am finding my way to the academy as well. You can come with me, my name is Rion. This a fellow student of our's. His name is Kira. Kira, will you be joining us at the academy or would you like to stay around town for a bit?

He looked at Kira to see his answer before looking back at the new girl. She looked really nervous even more than she did while sping. He wondered why she'd be headed to the academy. With guys like Kira around, there must be the prospect of danger. This place might not be safe for someone her size, but he'd about started giving up on what might regularly happen.

Kira was smiling at the new girl while Rion was doing the talking. Rion had suddenly became a bit more comfortable, he was guessing that if two nervous people meet, they either talk to each other or become even more nervous, and that would just be awkward. Rion had just finished his sentence with a question aimed at Kira. Before replying to him, Kira thought about it. Does he need anything from the town before heading back to the acadamy. Then he remembered. Yeah sure, i'll walk with the both of you to the acadamy. But can you both give me a minute, i just have to pick something up from the weaponsmith?

Rion remembered a piece of advice his mother had given him before he left, "Be careful around strangers. They might try to trick you so just be smart." Well the thought of a big tough guy asking him to wait outside while he picked up some sort of weapon seemed... well not smart. However, running away from the only person willing to help him seemed... well not smart. Great.

Also, he had the girl to consider. Could he just leave her like this? If Kira was dangerous, he'd be a coward to flee and leave a girl alone with him to die. If Kira wasn't dangerous, the first girl he ever ecountered at Haven would know he was a coward. That, and Kira would never respect him again.

Not sure what to do, Rion just reacted, and froze. He nodded at Kira, but it more out of fear than assuredness. Either way, he was too frozen to really move. As Kira left to the weaponsmith, Rion stood there like a statue peering off past the girl, which certainly seemed either weird, rude, or both.

Kira stepped up to the man running the weapon smith. Kira and him spoke for a few seconds before showing Kira inside the biulding. As soon as kira stepped inside, the heat of the smelting furnice slapped him in the face. The heat from it was extraordinary, it was no wonder why the man inside the place was sweating buckets. The weaponsmith was a very large, muscular, bald man who was hitting a red hot blade with his hammer, shaping it, sharpening it. Every bead of sweat that landed on the blade gave of a faint fizzing noise. The smithy stopped hitting the blade and dunked it into a bucket filled with water. This time the noise was continuous, and lasted a few minutes, while the smithy wiped his forehead with a nearby towel.

Tossing the towel aside, the smithy turned to Kira. Reconizing Kira, the smithy walked right up to him and shook his hand. Kira, my friend, how are you? Kira shook hands with the man while smiling, this man was once part of his circus troop, was the one who had crafted his own blades. This man was more like a brother then a friend to Kira, and someone who Kira had alot of respect for. He was the only one in the circus troop who knew of Kira's power.

I'm good Markus, i thought i'll pop in and see how you are doing. How are those blades doing?

Ah straight to business i see. Very well, i'll send my partner to collect them while i finish this sword.

As he said this, his nodded to the man who had shown him in, and straight away, he walked back out of the door and shut it behind him. Kira assumed that the store house must be the biulding next door to this one.

Its good to see you so well Markus, and its good to see your still handy with that hammer.

Yes, ever since those days, crafting weapons has been my life. You know that. By the way, just what did you do to those blades i gave you? They look like they had just been through two world wars?

Don't ask. Long story. A very long story.

As Kira finished his sentence, the man who had shown him in to the room just re-entered the room, carrying to blades that quite clearly where bigger then himself. Walking over to him Kira took a look at them, and his face turnned into one massive smile. The blades that the smithy had gave him where repaired. And better then ever.

Elana stood next to the man who had introduced himself as Rion and the other man walked into the weaponsmith. Elana always fought with her hands if she ever had to, since she always hurt herself when she tried any type of weapon. Unfortunately, her power only reached to others and not herself.

Uhm...I'm Elana. She had calmed down a little, but she was still on edge about waiting for someone to come out of a weapons shop. From where Elana was from, those who used weapons weren't really that trustworthy at all, which is another reason Elana hated to fight. She tried to keep an open mind, however, and not judge anyone until she got to know them. She'd do the same for the two men she just met. I'm sorry if I interrupted anything. I hate doing that... I'll be out of your way as soon as we get to the academy if you were talking about something private. I hate ruining people's conversations.

Elana was never sure of herself walking up to anyone, so this was no exception. She waited for the man to reply before talking anymore, not wanting to seem like she liked talking any more than she had to.

Huh? Oh not it's alright. Nice to meet you Elana, I'm Rion.

Twelve words! Impressive. He was talking to a girl... alone. He spoke a whole twelve words. Who was this new Rion? Well either way, she still seemed more afraid of him than he was of her, so it made him feel kind of bad. Why would anyone be afraid of him? He was tall, but that couldn't be enough. Maybe he wasn't the only shy person in the world. Maybe everyone was like him and Kira was the weird one for being outgoing... nah!

Well I think we're going back to the academy soon, but you don't have to leave. Maybe... maybe we can be lost together?

Great, that was real smooth. What girl doesn't want to get lost with an idiot? All hail Rion the champion of smooth talking! The battle going on in his head was going to drive him crazy. He was being way too self critical but he couldn't help it. For the first time, he kind of wanted to be more shy so he would shut his mouth. Although, company at the academy might not be such a bad suggestion.

Elana gulped when she saw the size of the swords, and thought it would be extremely hard, if not impossible, for her to heal Rion if those swords were to be used against them. Then again, Elana didn't think she would survive getting attacked by them.

She looked up to Rion with a nervous glance and turned her attention back to Kira.
Su...sure. Are you g-going there too? She asked, trying not to sound as nervous as she really was. She didn't want to seem like a wimp in front of the men, but she realised she wasn't doing a very good job at that.


((Sorry it's so short. It's been a long day))

Rion peered out at a girl walking very hastily off in the distance. From the look of her, perhaps he'd be seeing her again at the academy. Well, it was about time they found out.

You guys are right, we should be heading back now. Let's get going.

((Sorry so short, but we need to move on from this thread. Let's progress into James' thread so he can make it to the academy too. That means this is continued over at "Surviving the Arrival", thanks guys))