Sylvester Montgomery | He/Him | Avian | Dorm 2 | M: Open

The flight was a long and grueling one, from the familiar cool surroundings of his mountainous located home, to the overcast grounds of the academy. He'd spent a few days and nights traveling on his own, taking breaks and avoiding populated areas along the way as his snowy owl wings carried him long and far, through finer weather and the direct opposite.

His father had sat him down merely less than a week ago, expressing to Sylvester how he believed this academy could do well for him. For him to learn more about humans, what it means to embrace that humanity and to blend in. Without a doubt, of course the white haired boy had scoffed at the very idea.

"And why pray tell, would I want to "Blend In"? I don't have to prove anything by acting like them." His voice had carried such disdain, as if the very idea of being near humans disgusted him, his hands held up as he air quoted the words he spoke. His father, a gentle and kindhearted man had simply grasped his hands in his, offering the same soft smile he always did.

"Because 'Vester... The humans can be mighty wonderful... They can invent incredible creations... Feel such powerful emotions... They make mistakes, but it's how they can learn from them and adapt that makes it all alright... You could stand to learn a thing or two from their ways. Perhaps you might even find some hobbies that feel more like... you."

And that was how the conversation had to end. With reluctant agreement. Because how was Sylvester supposed to counter that?

How could he refuse his father and risk destroying the dream the old man carried with all the love he had for his son and his future?

"Fine... But don't expect me to be singing the places praises when I get back... Bloody waste of time if you ask me." Sylvester had grumbled under his breath, yet the way his fingers had softly squeezed his father's hands portrayed the way that despite his stoic and somewhat grumpy exterior, he still cared enough to give it a shot.

Fast forward to now as he swoops in down from the sky, descending to the academy grounds with a silence and speed that would take many off guard, he finds himself landing among a sea of students he's never seen the faces of before.

The first things he noticed were the varying appearances... Eyes, ears, hair... even skin tones.

Some seemed more human, while others seemed more... Unnatural.

Standing up straighter, Sylvester ran a quick hand over his uniform, working out the wrinkles that had formed during the last stretch of his flight there.

Great. Just great. New place. New people. Zero familiarity.

And no way of getting home without enduring another few days of flying and hiding like a damn coward from the humans.

His golden eyes scanned over the crowd as he tried to think about what to do first now he was here. Did he try talking to people? No. Terrible idea. He didn't know what half these people might be and there was no telling how dangerous they could be. So, Sylvester went with the next best option. Standing off to the side with his arms crossed, looking broody, unapproachable and grumpy as hell.

Daniel of the Iron Crown | He/him, Pup/pupself, any/all | Elf-kitsune | Dorm: 3

Daniel doesn't even know how he got here. He feels disconnected from his own body, like the harsh breaths echoing in his ears aren't his, like his heavy limbs have been cut free from his torso and float seperate of his own volition. This is... strange. He does not like it.

Wherever he is, there are far too many bodies far too close, and too many eyes on him. The only thing keeping him from lashing out is the feeling that his entire body has fallen asleep. He thinks they did that to him, whoever these people staring at him are. He forces his lips into a snarl, a weak growl rattling from his throat. The people don't even flinch. He swears one smirks at him. He can't even lunge forward, snap his teeth in their face, make them afraid. No, all he can manage is a slight lurch forward, quickly followed by one of the other people grabbing his shoulder and shoving him back into his seat. There is no thrashing, no fangs and claws sinking into flesh. No, there is only a hitch in his breath and a twitch of his fingers.

The ride is long. Daniel can only sit, and breathe, and panic, and rage. He feels a little bit better, less drifty, more connected, by the time the car swerves onto a long drive. He sways with the motion, grunting softly as it bumps him into one of the people and they push him away. He's not sure when the car stops, but it does, and the people open the doors. One of them drags him out of the car, and he wobbles, raising an uncoordinated arm to shield his eyes from the early morning light. It's still too bright for him. But he's standing.

He's forced to take a step forward and all aspirations of freedom dissolve. His legs threaten to give out underneath him, and he clings to the arm of the person leading him for support. They do not look pleased by it. Daniel doesn't notice, closing his weak eyes for a moment to prick his ears and taste the air. There are many people here. Terrible smells, terrible sounds. And he's being led right into it.

Tripping over the stairs, he opens his eyes and whines as the people pull him up to his feet. There's only two of them now. Good. Less enemies is always better. Dragging himself up the stairs, Daniel flattens his ears and tries to shrink away as the people lead him along the edge of a crowd. If they try to bring him into that... what a trail of blood would be left in their wake. Thankfully, they pass it, going down an only slightly quieter corridor. One of the people pushes Daniel down onto a bench set against a wall. He can do nothing but fall onto it, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around himself. He'd much prefer to hide under the bench, but somehow, he doesn't think that would be accepted, and he's still in no state to fight back.

So, he waits, and the two people wait with him, keeping critical eyes on him. Daniel shivers, then quiets, resting his chin on his knees and staring at nothing at all.

Nina Krakowiac - F - Sylph - Dorm 1 - mention(s): // (indir: Sylvester, Daniel)

~

Bringing Nina in a metaphorical cage wasn't their smartest idea. Neither was staring at her for the entire journey, like she hadn't already attempted to break out of it already.

Nina had patiencen ,and apparently time too. So she simply stared right back at them as they kept moving in a car with the child safety lock on.

Screw this thing.

This agent seemed to have a bit more backbone than the others though. He'd lasted longer in the staring competition than the others had. And hadn't squirmed too much when she'd just kept staring at the guy, long after he'd backed down, because what else did she have to do to pass her time in the child safety-locked car?

The driver seemed to turn a corner with excessive force, and Nina summoned a brief tinge of air to stop her from slamming into the door. As it was, it reminded her yet again of how stupid and tight this uniform felt as it uncomfortably tightened as she shifted left slightly.

Seriously, screw this thing.

And it did appear that after the hell that Nina had given them over the past week, they were determined to repay her as much as possible in terms of the driver's driving skills. Or maybe he was just that bad at driving. But in any case, the driver abruptly slamming on the brakes did less annoyance to her than it did to them - what they couldn't do was summon an air cushion, and what she could do was summon exactly that.

The driver stabbed a button on the dashboard, and Nina heard the door go *click*.

She didn't even give them a moment before she grabbed her small bag of belongings next to her and wildly thrust herself outwards, not caring of what damage she might have done to the cage door and emerging back out into her element.

Not even a glance back at the agents, she took a step forward and -

- and holy shit but there were a lot of people and a lot of noise as she froze, two steps from the kerb. And there was a castle in front of her, and more of those freaking agents waiting for her.

She didn't need an escort, thank you. Screw this entire thing to hell. Especially as they approached her, and she had to use words.

"I can walk myself."
"I am not an invalid needing support."
"I am not an idiot."
"I am not a simpering lady requiring her bag to be carried."
"You don't need to know my name."
"Kindly mine your own business. Show me your authority permit if you're so determined for my name."

Screw these people.

She managed to leave them behind at the gate - or maybe that was them leaving her behind - and was greeted with an even bigger sea of people and noise in the courtyard.

No, thank you.

Glaring at big crowds generally didn't work, but Nina found a shaded side of the courtyard and did exactly that. She didn't care what was she meant to be doing exactly. She'd barely listened to half of the rules and regulations they'd droned out earlier.

The collar of the uniform chafed, and she wished she could cut the whole thing out as she glared at everything and everyone around her. What looked like a winged guy a couple of meters away looking grumpy. The fountain in the middle that looked far too nice for somewhere she'd been forced to go. Some tall guy with fox ears, still with those stupid agents being escorted past her. She glared at it all, not entirely caring that she was being slightly too agressive and that she should have actually read what the sheet of paper that she'd been given and was now probably still sitting in the back of the cage car so she'd know what she was doing.

But there were too many people, too much noise, and at least glaring at them made her feel slightly better, doing what she usually did.