Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Jul 26, 2007 16:49:11 GMT
ooc: Tuesday night- this was on Tuesday! As was the whole 'History of War' one... ;D
Dorm 16 was filled with the steady, rhythmical breathing of sleep. Madeleine and Will both slept on, as one breathed out, the other breathed in, keeping a constant inhale and exhale of air buzzing throughout the room. They seemed peaceful- if loud- content, and lost in another world where the impossible was fact; where the fears and hopes were in a constant battle for power; their lives on the outside world the same, and yet so eerily different...
Kira envied them their dream world. She lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with wide, glass-like eyes. Kira's mind wouldn't rest, and refused to be consumed by a smokey, dreamy haze. Her head was swimming in the blood of her brain as her thoughts bounced around her skull like bullets. Each time another struck, she felt that familiar searing pain of guilt she'd come to associate with Macy's disappearance.
Three days.
Three days of absolute nothing. She knew nothing about where Macy was; or who had taken her! Well, at least she knew why. Professor Danton's history lesson earlier had shaken her slightly. People were prepared to go to terrible lengths to achieve their means. The more she dwelt on it, the more she began to feel the possibilities were limitless.
They could do this.
This.
That.
To her.
To him.
To them all...
Stop! she commanded herself, hitting herself on the forehead sharply. Don't go there, Kira. What good will it do Macy?
None. She knew that, but sometimes it was hard to stop herself from letting her imagination run wild; especially since she spent most of her time letting it do just that!
She shouldn't concentrate on Macy's terrible fate- whatever it may be. After all, she knew nothing of what was happening to her. Perhaps Macy had escaped; perhaps she was on her way right back now, with a wonderful tale of victory to dazzle the school-
Kira checked herself just in time. After all, blind optimism was also pointless, however pleasent. Kira groaned loudly, clenching her fists and squeezing her eyelids shut.
Think, don't dream!
It couldn't be this hard. She'd just have to concentrate on the questions she was asking herself. Sitting up, she pulled an open notebook towards her, and a pen. Sometimes, she'd found that writing could help her arrange her thoughts on a page. Maybe it would help this time. Quickly, Kira printed the main questions she'd been asking herself for the past few days. Once she was done, she turned to the first point, and let her mind digest it slowly.
Who?
Again, obvious. It was an enemy of the school. But that hardly narrowed it down. In fact, it made the task seem even more terrifying. Millions of nameless enemies swirled before her eyes in the darkness, and she shivered, pushing them away to the back of her mind.
It was strange though, how someone had managed to get into the school. She knew the Hoodhams were an ancient magical family, and that Professor Hoodham would've put a million kinds of magical protections on the school. After all, if he hadn't, why would the school be so peaceful so often? Attacks must be more constant than this- mustn't they?
She supposed that whoever got into the school and took Macy must've been magical in some way. Hadn't Holden mentioned a man? And he'd said... he'd said they took her. So that meant it was more than one person. However, knowing people the way she did, it no doubt consisted only of humans. Hadn't Prof. Danton said that a lot of the enemies of the school prided themselves on being above non-humans?
So... a group of magical humans, consisting of at least two members, and one was a man.
With a sigh, she realised she wasn't going to get much further with that one, so she jotted down her vague summary and moved onto the next heading.
How?
How indeed! Magic and trickery, no doubt. Of course, they had Marius, who'd grown up in the place, and knew Major better than anybody else. He would know the precautions his brother would put in place... To protect the students...
Who better to attack than a student?!
Student... student... Kira's mind burned for a few moments, a horrible chill settling over her.
Everyone was a suspect in her books, but in Prof. Hoodham's... Well, he wouldn't suspect one of any crimes. Oh, how annoyingly perfect. How bitterly brilliant. Why hadn't she thought of this before?
Someone had infiltrated the school as a student.
That someone would be watching Major's every move.
Including the placement of the new Heads. Could it really be such a coincidence that Macy of all people was taken? She was Head of the Academics- a direct threat to Marius. Perhaps because it was so cliché, she'd overlooked it, but right now, she was coming up with no better suggestions.
Of course, Holden had said a 'man'. She'd need to keep that in mind. No man could've infiltrated the school-
- unless of course they were a shape-shifter. No, but they could be detected, could they not? And people had to bring evidence of their backgrounds to the school...
Keep the idea of infiltration in mind.
Alright- where?
Her immediate guess had been Cardsdale, but she wasn't overly confident about it. Cardsdale was a small village quite close to the school that'd declared outright loyalty to the school. By doing so, it'd earned themselves a lot of enemies; but also the protection of Major Hoodham himself, so she supposed that balanced it out a bit. The villagers of Cardsdale were fierce in their beliefs, and hiding right under their noses seemed a bit risky.
Or was that the ingeniuity of it?
Argh! Why were there always so many possibilities? Life could be such a b*tch- and that was no understatement.
She sighed, setting down her notebook for a few moments to hold her pounding head in her hands. As she leant forward, her blond curls fell past her cheeks, tickling them slightly. She gazed at them; a little surprised by how white they looked in the dark shadows of the room. Eventually, she reckoned she'd just go white, but it wouldn't really make much of a difference to her looks. Her hair shone like the moon at the moment. Did it always shine like this? It was sort of pretty...
Sighing, she stretched and turned to the window, watching the moon's pale, luminous face gazing down at her. Smiling, she crossed the room, and leant against the window, her breath misting the glass as she stared down into the darkened grounds. The hill on which the school perched was fairly large and flat at the top, but as it sloped down it gradually became steeper and steeper before levelling off again as it hit the ground. She gazed down the dark slopes, letting her eyes follow the stony path that marked its way up it.
It was a clear, black night, and the stars dotted the sky, surrounding the moon like tiny little images of it, further away in the universe... Kira squinted, surprised to see just how far she could see- and No Man's Land stretched for at least a couple of miles. There- that was the faint outline of the trenches that surrounded her school, and from it stretched a long and wide expanse of desolate land. Squinting even harder, Kira thought she could make out the dim silhouette of the distant towns that bordered No Man's Land. So the enemy trenches would be around there somewhere...
Wait.
No.
It couldn't be...
Surely...?
'Course not...
Yes.
It was as though she'd just recieved a sharp slap across her face. Kira was an idiot. What was she doing, thinking of the school- of Cardsdale?! The enemy wasn't stupid enough to take those kind of risks with as important a prisoner as Macy! No... they'd bring her somewhere other people would have to come and save her... somewhere where those people would have a much harder chance of escaping themselves...
Kira could've kicked herself. She really, really could've.
She's within enemy lines, came a soft voice from within her head. You know it- Macy is there. But there's a big place. Be specific, Kira.
With a sudden sense of purpose, Kira whipped back the curtains, so that the full force of the moon's light illuminated the room. It lit up the wall opposite with a bright, white light, to which Kira hurried over to and knelt beside.
Kira liked magic okay, but she'd never really gotten much use of her powers. Sure, she could do cool water tricks, and there was no doubt hyponoses came in handy whenever she was late handing in a homework; but those were odd things, infrequently used and hardly a big deal. It was only her new power- super-speed- that she'd begun to really use properly. And- she thought with a sinking feeling- it wasn't really her power... just a gift.
But the weirdest power of all was the fact that she... well... she could talk to shadows. She could control them. And if she ever really wanted- she could become one of them. It was a cool power- good for party tricks, but otherwise pointless...
Or so she'd thought.
As she leant against the wall, her own shadow hit it, long and skinny; slightly sinister in the way it shook back its head and twisted to face her.
"Well, you've been following me," Kira said softly to it. "You know what's been on my mind."
"And you've finally worked out why it's such a good idea to have us around," the shadow replied like a thousand whisperers all spoke at once. "And we know what you ask for. You want our help to save the Macy girl."
Kira nodded, and the shadow's head bobbed with her.
"Give us the command."
"I want you to cross the No Man's Land, and infiltrate enemy lines. Find where they're holding Macy. I'll send some Spies in, so that they can keep an eye on things, and when the time for attack comes, they can let the Warriors through," Kira replied swiftly, in an almost business-like tone. "And for god's sake- be careful. You cannot be found out."
The shadow moved slightly, rippling against the wall. Kira would almost have thought it was laughing. "Who would find us out?" the shadow whispered in reply. "We are shadows; made to hide in the darkness- to be there, but neither seen nor heard. Do not fear for us, Kira Norris."
The shadow bowed its head once more, and with a sudden tremor, it melted down the pure white wall, and skirted across the wooden floors, rushing past Kira and out into the velvety dark night...
Dorm 16 was filled with the steady, rhythmical breathing of sleep. Madeleine and Will both slept on, as one breathed out, the other breathed in, keeping a constant inhale and exhale of air buzzing throughout the room. They seemed peaceful- if loud- content, and lost in another world where the impossible was fact; where the fears and hopes were in a constant battle for power; their lives on the outside world the same, and yet so eerily different...
Kira envied them their dream world. She lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with wide, glass-like eyes. Kira's mind wouldn't rest, and refused to be consumed by a smokey, dreamy haze. Her head was swimming in the blood of her brain as her thoughts bounced around her skull like bullets. Each time another struck, she felt that familiar searing pain of guilt she'd come to associate with Macy's disappearance.
Three days.
Three days of absolute nothing. She knew nothing about where Macy was; or who had taken her! Well, at least she knew why. Professor Danton's history lesson earlier had shaken her slightly. People were prepared to go to terrible lengths to achieve their means. The more she dwelt on it, the more she began to feel the possibilities were limitless.
They could do this.
This.
That.
To her.
To him.
To them all...
Stop! she commanded herself, hitting herself on the forehead sharply. Don't go there, Kira. What good will it do Macy?
None. She knew that, but sometimes it was hard to stop herself from letting her imagination run wild; especially since she spent most of her time letting it do just that!
She shouldn't concentrate on Macy's terrible fate- whatever it may be. After all, she knew nothing of what was happening to her. Perhaps Macy had escaped; perhaps she was on her way right back now, with a wonderful tale of victory to dazzle the school-
Kira checked herself just in time. After all, blind optimism was also pointless, however pleasent. Kira groaned loudly, clenching her fists and squeezing her eyelids shut.
Think, don't dream!
It couldn't be this hard. She'd just have to concentrate on the questions she was asking herself. Sitting up, she pulled an open notebook towards her, and a pen. Sometimes, she'd found that writing could help her arrange her thoughts on a page. Maybe it would help this time. Quickly, Kira printed the main questions she'd been asking herself for the past few days. Once she was done, she turned to the first point, and let her mind digest it slowly.
Who?
Again, obvious. It was an enemy of the school. But that hardly narrowed it down. In fact, it made the task seem even more terrifying. Millions of nameless enemies swirled before her eyes in the darkness, and she shivered, pushing them away to the back of her mind.
It was strange though, how someone had managed to get into the school. She knew the Hoodhams were an ancient magical family, and that Professor Hoodham would've put a million kinds of magical protections on the school. After all, if he hadn't, why would the school be so peaceful so often? Attacks must be more constant than this- mustn't they?
She supposed that whoever got into the school and took Macy must've been magical in some way. Hadn't Holden mentioned a man? And he'd said... he'd said they took her. So that meant it was more than one person. However, knowing people the way she did, it no doubt consisted only of humans. Hadn't Prof. Danton said that a lot of the enemies of the school prided themselves on being above non-humans?
So... a group of magical humans, consisting of at least two members, and one was a man.
With a sigh, she realised she wasn't going to get much further with that one, so she jotted down her vague summary and moved onto the next heading.
How?
How indeed! Magic and trickery, no doubt. Of course, they had Marius, who'd grown up in the place, and knew Major better than anybody else. He would know the precautions his brother would put in place... To protect the students...
Who better to attack than a student?!
Student... student... Kira's mind burned for a few moments, a horrible chill settling over her.
Everyone was a suspect in her books, but in Prof. Hoodham's... Well, he wouldn't suspect one of any crimes. Oh, how annoyingly perfect. How bitterly brilliant. Why hadn't she thought of this before?
Someone had infiltrated the school as a student.
That someone would be watching Major's every move.
Including the placement of the new Heads. Could it really be such a coincidence that Macy of all people was taken? She was Head of the Academics- a direct threat to Marius. Perhaps because it was so cliché, she'd overlooked it, but right now, she was coming up with no better suggestions.
Of course, Holden had said a 'man'. She'd need to keep that in mind. No man could've infiltrated the school-
- unless of course they were a shape-shifter. No, but they could be detected, could they not? And people had to bring evidence of their backgrounds to the school...
Keep the idea of infiltration in mind.
Alright- where?
Her immediate guess had been Cardsdale, but she wasn't overly confident about it. Cardsdale was a small village quite close to the school that'd declared outright loyalty to the school. By doing so, it'd earned themselves a lot of enemies; but also the protection of Major Hoodham himself, so she supposed that balanced it out a bit. The villagers of Cardsdale were fierce in their beliefs, and hiding right under their noses seemed a bit risky.
Or was that the ingeniuity of it?
Argh! Why were there always so many possibilities? Life could be such a b*tch- and that was no understatement.
She sighed, setting down her notebook for a few moments to hold her pounding head in her hands. As she leant forward, her blond curls fell past her cheeks, tickling them slightly. She gazed at them; a little surprised by how white they looked in the dark shadows of the room. Eventually, she reckoned she'd just go white, but it wouldn't really make much of a difference to her looks. Her hair shone like the moon at the moment. Did it always shine like this? It was sort of pretty...
Sighing, she stretched and turned to the window, watching the moon's pale, luminous face gazing down at her. Smiling, she crossed the room, and leant against the window, her breath misting the glass as she stared down into the darkened grounds. The hill on which the school perched was fairly large and flat at the top, but as it sloped down it gradually became steeper and steeper before levelling off again as it hit the ground. She gazed down the dark slopes, letting her eyes follow the stony path that marked its way up it.
It was a clear, black night, and the stars dotted the sky, surrounding the moon like tiny little images of it, further away in the universe... Kira squinted, surprised to see just how far she could see- and No Man's Land stretched for at least a couple of miles. There- that was the faint outline of the trenches that surrounded her school, and from it stretched a long and wide expanse of desolate land. Squinting even harder, Kira thought she could make out the dim silhouette of the distant towns that bordered No Man's Land. So the enemy trenches would be around there somewhere...
Wait.
No.
It couldn't be...
Surely...?
'Course not...
Yes.
It was as though she'd just recieved a sharp slap across her face. Kira was an idiot. What was she doing, thinking of the school- of Cardsdale?! The enemy wasn't stupid enough to take those kind of risks with as important a prisoner as Macy! No... they'd bring her somewhere other people would have to come and save her... somewhere where those people would have a much harder chance of escaping themselves...
Kira could've kicked herself. She really, really could've.
She's within enemy lines, came a soft voice from within her head. You know it- Macy is there. But there's a big place. Be specific, Kira.
With a sudden sense of purpose, Kira whipped back the curtains, so that the full force of the moon's light illuminated the room. It lit up the wall opposite with a bright, white light, to which Kira hurried over to and knelt beside.
Kira liked magic okay, but she'd never really gotten much use of her powers. Sure, she could do cool water tricks, and there was no doubt hyponoses came in handy whenever she was late handing in a homework; but those were odd things, infrequently used and hardly a big deal. It was only her new power- super-speed- that she'd begun to really use properly. And- she thought with a sinking feeling- it wasn't really her power... just a gift.
But the weirdest power of all was the fact that she... well... she could talk to shadows. She could control them. And if she ever really wanted- she could become one of them. It was a cool power- good for party tricks, but otherwise pointless...
Or so she'd thought.
As she leant against the wall, her own shadow hit it, long and skinny; slightly sinister in the way it shook back its head and twisted to face her.
"Well, you've been following me," Kira said softly to it. "You know what's been on my mind."
"And you've finally worked out why it's such a good idea to have us around," the shadow replied like a thousand whisperers all spoke at once. "And we know what you ask for. You want our help to save the Macy girl."
Kira nodded, and the shadow's head bobbed with her.
"Give us the command."
"I want you to cross the No Man's Land, and infiltrate enemy lines. Find where they're holding Macy. I'll send some Spies in, so that they can keep an eye on things, and when the time for attack comes, they can let the Warriors through," Kira replied swiftly, in an almost business-like tone. "And for god's sake- be careful. You cannot be found out."
The shadow moved slightly, rippling against the wall. Kira would almost have thought it was laughing. "Who would find us out?" the shadow whispered in reply. "We are shadows; made to hide in the darkness- to be there, but neither seen nor heard. Do not fear for us, Kira Norris."
The shadow bowed its head once more, and with a sudden tremor, it melted down the pure white wall, and skirted across the wooden floors, rushing past Kira and out into the velvety dark night...
