The Rankin Boarding School

For Benders and Shifters.

Join here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/role-playing-and-communal-story-building/threads/49453

And begin!

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Isis eyed the new and returning students from her shadowy spot beneath the oak tree by the school. Her hands were crossed inside of her long sleeves. 'Lot of large cats this year...' She thought to herself. 'Some students will be missing their pets.' Benders had it easy. They didn't have to worry about others of their own kind like Shifters did. Next, she wondered how pathetic her students would be this year.
There was ice where that woman's heart should be.



Kishi shifted the little wooden cage that held her thorny devil lizard inside. Oto was by no means her choice, and she hated every time the little lizard touched her. She tried to protect herself by wearing long sleeves, gloves, high socks, but whenever the little bugger escaped, he found his way to her skin and the results were painful beyond measure. She was sent here to try to get it under control- the shifting, the pain, the lizard. But she had little hope.



Akuro leaned his back against the wall of the building like he owned the place. It was his third year here. One foot up on the brick and his arms crossed in front, he was already hitting on the new girls. "Benders, eh?" He small-talked as confidently as he ate (like that makes any sense).

Aurana walked into the grounds, a red and gold bird on her covered shoulder. Jax was careful not to touch her skin, as he had been taught, and Aurana was careful not to bump into him. He cooed softly at her, snapping his golden beak. She had been here for four years, four long years, and she still had more training too. Jax could burst into flame, and Aurana wanted to learn how. That was her goal this year, that and to have fun, to loosen up, to enjoy herself. She almost laughed. She didn't have fun.

Reece stared at the grounds, and rolled her eyes. After being here for two years, she hated it. She hated how the stupid shifters ran around with their annoying animals either out of their cages or throwing a fit because they were in a cage. It drove Reece absolutely up the wall crazy. She HATED shifters, almost as much as she hated water. Water was terrible, she shuddered.


~~~~

Lisa and Michael walked in together, Michael leading a huge male lion on a leash, Lisa carrying a cat carrier. Mittens was throwing a fit about being in the cage, but Simba was happy to be out of the vehicle. He roared, sending birds scattering and Mittens into a hissing fit. Lisa rolled her eyes, Simba and Michael were scarily alike, wanting the whole world to know they were there. She shivered, this was her first year at the school, and touching Mittens was still painful. Michael had been going to the school for years, and was getting good at shifting without Simba touching him. She wanted to be like her older brother.

Seth strolled confidently across campus with his cougar, Daisy, by his side. He saw a bender harassing some freshmen and felt a surge of anger at the injustice. But he kept his cool an moved on. He made a resolution to get into less fights with the benders and try to keep the peace between them. Unless, that is, if one of them messes with his friends. Daisy growled in agreement.

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Sacha kept and eye out for this years new batch of troublemakers and miscreants. He wondered if it was wise to leave farm life for teaching not for the first time. Children were evil, he decided a long time ago which is why he preferred the company of his plants over people.

((That's all from me for now.))

Lycon and Eastern arrived at the school for another year in training. They exited Lycons van and opened the back doors to let out Leon and Sasha. The wolves climbed out into the crisp autumn air and looked at all the other animals. More here this year than last year, most defiantly. Leon rubbed up against Lycon, and the tall man smiled slightly, rubbing the large silver wolfs head. Sasha refrained from doing to same with Eastern, as the smaller girl hadn't quite mastered being able to touch without shifting like her brother had. Instead, the small amber wolf started to sniff around the grounds, looking for another animal, one she had met last year. She found the scent, and looked up to see the phoenix, to whom she barked a happy greeting.
Eastern remained quietly at Lycons side, her small frame even smaller next to him. She wore a sleeveless v-neck shirt, and some tight black jeans and a pair of black and red sneakers, as well as a simple golden chain with a small ring on it. Lycon was dressed in nothing more than a pair of black jeans and combat boots.

(Dark it's the medieval setting of the last airbender so the GM said. van and sneakers and jeans dn quite fit in)

"Fresher?", Reya asked kindly with a smile a girl just stepping through the gate uncertain.

"Sure am. And... you're not.", Alexandra replied after examining the girl who just called her.

"Not at all. Stick with me if you don't know anybody around here. Reya, btw, waterbender.", Reya introduced herself being unusually friendly. Guess she felt a bit protective with that girl for a reason or another.

"Whoa we could make a hurricane together.", Alex laughed. "Alexandra, airbender, but you can call me Alexa, Lex or Alex.", she smiled kindly at Reya.

---

From a window Maya was watching the entire chaos that was starting. She couldn't wait to go to them, she was running out of patience and was wondering when the teachers will be summoned to take over the students.

Reuvan strode into the school grounds, dragging her bags carelessly behind her. She glanced around, looking for someone interesting, and spotted a confident-looking guy leaning against a building. Despite having spent a few years at this school, she still didn't know many people. She smiled to herself. That would change this year. This year, she would make people notice her. It was time to have some fun.

She walked over the guy and tried to remember his name. He looked vaguely familiar. Akura? Akiro? Something like that. Giving up, she settled with a flirtatious smile and a, "Hey, what's your name?"

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Kenmei glanced over the students, keeping an eye out for troublemakers. There didn't seem to be any around yet. Sighing, she wondered how long it would take before she and the other teachers would get started. As far as she was concerned, leaving the students to their own devices was just begging for trouble,

Kisah walked into the school grounds, her footsteps uncertain. She hugged the little tiger cub that her foster family had given her tighter. She hadn't understodd why they insisted they take the animal to school, or why they told her multiple times not to touch it directly. Was it dangerous? Would it bite her? So far, the answer would be no, all the tiger had done so far was purr, as it was doing right now. She looked down at the creature in her arms (covered, of course) and gave a small smile. The cub gave her a sense of stability, comfort. Something she hadn't felt in years.

Azrael strode into the school which she had called home for the past three years of her life. Unlike other students, she didn't go home for the summer; there was no home to go to, so why leave, right? Armageddon, her panther, nuged her arm, beggeing to be pet. She smiled down at him. "Sorry boy, can't pet you now." The panther bared its teeth slightly, he had as much fire as his owner. Azrael gave a one-shouldered shrug and continued on, adjusting the strap of the bag she had slung over one shoulder.

((Sorry, just realized time frame.))

Lycon and Eastern arrived at the school for another year in training. They exited the cart and waited for Sasha and Leon to join them on the ground. The wolves climbed out into the crisp autumn air and looked at all the other animals. More here this year than last year, most defiantly. Leon rubbed up against Lycon, and the tall man smiled slightly, rubbing the large silver wolfs head. Sasha refrained from doing to same with Eastern, as the smaller girl hadn't quite mastered being able to touch without shifting like her brother had. Instead, the small amber wolf started to sniff around the grounds, looking for another animal, one she had met last year. She found the scent, and looked up to see the phoenix, to whom she barked a happy greeting.
Eastern remained quietly at Lycons side, her small frame even smaller next to him. She wore a sleeveless v-neck shirt, some tight black leggings and a pair of small red and black leather boots, as well as a simple golden chain with a small ring on it. Lycon was dressed in nothing more than a pair of black pants and heavy boots.

(no worries :) )

Jax looked up and let out a caw to the wolf, Aurana turned her head to stare at a red brown wolf barking at the red-gold Phoenix. She smiled and walked over, careful not to touch Jax. He flitted from her wing to land beside the wolf and crooned a greeting.
Aurana nodded, "Hello Eastern, Lycon."

Easten nodded a shy greeting to Aurana. Lycon responded with slightly more. "Hello Aurana." he called over. Sasha yipped to Jax, sharing with him everything that had happened over the summer. His mistress had finally shifted with no pain. Leon wandered over to his younger sister and nodded greeting to the phoenix.

((Sorry for short post, I'm not sure where to go with this now.))

Naja walked around the campus campus, looking smug. A small fireball danced above his outstretched palm as he looked for an unfortunate water bender to be his next victim. He didn't consider himself to be a bully, per se, just having a spot of fun.

Gabe sprinted across campus, hotly pursued by his hawk. "Hey Lycon" he called, stopping to wave to the group that was gradually forming. The hawk landed on Gabe's head, pecking his forehead.

Seth followed a girl shifter into the school. "That's a nice panther you've got," He smiled, "They say cougars and panthers are one of the same." He stuck his hands into his pockets and watched Daisy brush up against the stranger. He had seen her around the school before, but never really spoke to her. "I'm Seth, by the way."

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Sacha moved from his place by the school doors to tend to some sad looking flowers in the garden next to it. He caught a glimpse of Isis standing in the shade of an oak tree and nodded curtly to her. He crouched down with his back facing her and touched the flowers so they bloomed some more.

Azrael continued walking, shooting a glare at Armageddon as he growled at the cougar. "Not now," she scolded the pather before addressing Seth. "Well, Seth, if you want my opinion, they're completely different. Pathers tend to stick to themselves and can't stand others. Cougars, on the other hand, are more open to others even though they don't mind being on their own." She shrugged, absently scrathing the cougar behind the ears.

"Would you please move!" Athena snapped, jerking away from her sister.
"What in the world is the matter with you?" Althea shot back, yanking the small bag she held back up onto her shoulder, "You've been snapping my head off ever since this morning!"
"Excuse me!" Athena lifted her hands, eyebrows arched, voice snotty, "Personal space invaded! I can't even walk more than three feet away from you!"
Althea sighed and refocused her gaze on the group of buildings they were approaching. They'd been at it all morning, effectively getting on each others nerves and working themselves up into a frenzy.
She dropped back a few feet, realizing that if she didn't let Athena be they were going to make some rather. . . .interesting impressions on their fellow students. Not that they weren't going to do that anyway.

They had almost reached the school when Athena broke the silence. Her tone telling her sister that she wasn't feeling quite so hemmed in, the heat and anger finally fading.
"Do you think they'll hate us?" She asked, a rather odd question for her. Usually it would have been Althea asking that particular question.
"Who knows," Althea shrugged, her eyes clouding slightly, "but we made a deal, remember? Not to tell anyone what we do unless we have to."
"Yea, yea, whatever." Athena wasn't going to admit it, but she was feeling nervous. Just the fact that she and her sister had different abilities was enough to turn quite a few people against them. Especially in a place like this. "I suppose we could pretend to hate each other." She finally said, a sly gleam in her eyes.
"Right," Althea snorted, "Like it would be hard to believe with the way we've been acting all morning."
"I told you I wanted to be left alone this morning," Athena answered indignantly, "But you wanted to start your weird psychoanalyzing thing. Asking me how I felt, what I was thinking, if I was nervous. No wonder I got mad!"
"You only got mad once you discovered we were wearing the same outfit." Althea grinned, "Can I help it if we've got good taste?"
Athena grudgingly admitted that they did, indeed have good taste. Being identical twins only heightened the fact that they often thought exactly alike. This morning had been no different. Still, Athena had been quick to change into a different outfit, they were identical as it was, she didn't want to match entirely!
"I wonder where we're supposed to go," Althea murmured, glancing around at all the others wandering about.

"Well hello beautiful," Akuro took her hand gently and kissed it like a baws. The two girls who had been talking to him rolled their eyes and walked away in a huff. "What gorgeous eyes you have. My name is Akuro, but you could call me anything your sweet heart desires, like Aki. What's your name?" He smirked. Such lovely ladies this year.


Isis winked at Sacha. The one thing she loved more than water was making the Earthbending teacher feel uncomfortable.
After a few minutes and when the last students trinkled in, she called out. "All students to the Great Hall for ground rules and area assignments!" She repeated, "All students to...!!"

Kishi jumped at the call but she new the teacher's reputation. They didn't call her the Ice Queen for nothing.


The Great Hall was a large auditorium space with intricate column-work, stone ivies growing up the sides, statues of previous famous benders and shifters from times long past watching over the students, and other stuff I'll leave you to describe. The shifting teachers were already there. As well as the current Head of the school, who was also the teacher for the Advanced shifting class, Zirus Talmazr. He was in his great bird from, quite literally. Scientifically, for any of those who would like to look it up- Argentavis magnificens. ( http://www.oddee.com/_media/imgs/contrib/c6345.jpg ) The great bird who feasted upon cattle-sized animals. His piercing bird eyes scanned the students as they entered before transforming in a poof of feathers into the old man he was. Some students said he was over 700 years old, others said much more, but he was a kind old man, if vague and unhelpful any other way.

"Welcome all." He said in his shaky old man voice.

Isis got straight to business.
"Fighting will not be tolerated. The forest is off limits- no exceptions. Girls and boys do not room together, no if's- and's- or but's about it. The waterbending classes will take place at the lake. It's a twenty minute walk from here and I do not tolerate lateness." She left the floor open for the next teacher's place and rules.

"Well, I guess that answers that question." Althea muttered as everyone moved to the Great Hall.
She and Athena slipped in among the others, listening as the rules were laid down.

"Ooo, twenty minute walk," Athena whispered, her silver eyes glowing, "Poor you, I feel so sorry for you. I'd get there in five minutes." She leaned closer with a devilish smile, "Too bad I'm going to be too busy to take you."
Althea rolled her eyes and smiled at the jab, she didn't mind, at least Athena was in a better mood.
"I wonder where you'll be going." She whispered back, watching the group of teachers. She could already tell her class was going to be hard, the teacher was not going to take any funny business, that was for sure.

Sacha nervously pulled on his collar and stepped up to the stage. "Earthbending class will be at the expanse of land across from the lake by the edge of the forest." And then he added, "Curfew is at 11 o'clock. All the doors will be locked so no one gets in or out."
Sacha stepped back for anyone else to take the floor.

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Daisy purred appreciatively. Seth titled his head curiously, "Won't you get lonely? Everyone needs company every once in a while." He walked with her to the auditorium.