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Post by Hikalyn Sarello on Jul 6, 2005 7:18:49 GMT
...We shine and then we fade... One evening just like so many others. After a while, they all start to run together, blurring at the edges until you can't tell when one ends and another begins...[/i] One evening just like so many others, slightly overcast and stubbornly clinging to the warm humidity that hinted at another not-so-infrequent summer storm. An evening whose tentative silence was broken by the quietly hollow sound of feet coming lightly against stone stairs. The slender girl who appeared in the stairwell at the top of the winding staircase leading into the Astronomy Tower, appearing not at all winded despite the rather lengthy trek up, was no stranger to this circular, window-adorned room. Hikalyn often came up here when she needed somewhere to stop and clear her head, to think, or just to get away for a little while. The raven-haired Slytherin made her way fully into the Astronomy Tower, her dark-clad form dappled and blurred by the silver-grey light that managed to make its way through the cover of clouds before filtering through one of the many windows that adorned the walls and ceiling of the Astronomy Tower. Hikalyn didn't pause, instead making her way across the diameter of the room. Her fingers caught at the handle of the balcony door, and she pulled it open, absently sliding it shut again even as she finished stepping outside. The night was perhaps a bit too warm and muggy for comfort, yet to Hikalyn, it was far better than spending the same time down in the Slytherin common room, teeming with life and energy and noise, or her room back in London, so surgical and precise despite the personal touches she had put in it. Heedless of the raindrops that were already starting to spill from the boiling clouds in a rapidly darkening sky, she seated herself at the balcony's edge, leaning comfortably against the cool iron railing. The rain was wasting no time in increasing the intensity of its fall, breaking the silence with the consistent drumming of water against stone balcony. Hikalyn didn't even notice the water that was busily plastering her hair to her face, soaking its way through her shirt and her jeans. Her gaze was turned out over the school grounds, combing them through as if searching for some sort of gem to pull from the scenic view. Really, the landscape hadn't changed at all from the first time she'd seen it, which was coming near to two years ago, now. Strange how she could still look out at it, and see something so different than she would have only half a year before.
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Post by Professor Windwaltz on Jul 6, 2005 14:30:26 GMT
OOC: I presume you don't mind?
It had been a tough week for the new Professor. After what seemed to be the roughest job of his life, applying for a calm job such as History Professor at Magic Horizons school appeared to be just what the doctor ordered for the winded Historian. Sadly, however, it was not exactly what he hoped for. First week on the job, and there was apparently a conspiracy and the storm of war on the horizon. He had been dragged into this on the eve of his first day of work, and was still in it. And from that short span of that night to this one, he had become a Lightning Mage, and his affections were stolen by one of his students - affections he had kept locked away for two years.
After the events of the day that had just passed, he felt that he couldn't sleep. Not to mention, the climactic battle in the Entrance Hall wasn't too far either. So the young Professor lifted himself from his bed in his office, put on his robes, and stepped out the door trying his best to make sure Trajan wouldn't hear him. As he pondered where to go, he decided to check out the Astronomy Tower. He felt a little rush of night air and symbolism was good - plus he wanted to see what had become of the tower that he had been on that fateful first eve.
When he reached it, however, he was quite surprised. When he had left the Astronomy Tower last, it had been the equivalent of Baked Alaska. Fire everywhere on cold stone, burning away at everything. Now it looked absolutely no different than it did beforehand. He was surprised, but pleasantly surprised. He would get his night air and symbolism after all. He was then surprised again, but this time it was not pleasant at all. As soon as he happily opened the door to the balcony (which too was completely restored), he found that the night air was not fresh, not peaceful, but pouring rain. The rain dapped at his lightning-rod hair, and the clouds in the sky began to thunder. He moaned, knowing this could have no good results. He decided to stand in the doorway and look out, so as to keep the air flowing into his face, and not get struck by lightning nine times.
It was as he looked around the balcony that he noticed he was not alone at all. A smile creeped across his face, for he found that the person who was there was someone who he had never met before. But on second glance, he found that it was someone who he had heard quite a lot about. "Hikalyn Sarello!" He shouted over the thunder. "Head Auror, Head Girl, et cetera et cetera!" He continued to shout. "Want to come inside for a moment?"
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Post by Hikalyn Sarello on Jul 6, 2005 15:37:11 GMT
OOC: Naturally not, old friend. ^&^
IC: Hikalyn watched as the storm grew deeper, more violent. Rainwater was, by this time, rolling down her face in rivulet; her clothes had completely soaked through. She still didn't pay it any mind, however. Her attention was by now focused on another aspect of the storm, the lightning that forked along a blackened sky. Thrills of electricity laced along the cloudy background, almost playful in the way they lit up the world with their flickering illumunation for just an instant before vanishing into a heavy thunderclap.
So absorbed was she in watching the spectacle that at first, she didn't even register the fact that someone was calling her name over the thunder. When at last she turned around, she was a little surprised to see that the person hailing her was a young man whom she didn't know, although studying his features, she found that he looked rather familiar.
It took a moment to place him as one Talon Windwaltz, the new History of Magic teacher, and someone she had likewise heard of, but never actually met. Catching the rest of his words, even over the din of the storm, she rose to her feet and crossed the balcony, wiping rain-slicked hair out of her face as she ducked inside. Once away from the inclemence of the elements, she turned back to the blond-haired young man, a politely inquiring eyebrow raised. "Professor?"
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Post by Professor Windwaltz on Jul 6, 2005 22:49:57 GMT
Talon smiled as the woman finally realized who he was. Or, at the very least, had a general idea. He knew quite well that he had never met her before, but if he was planning on talking to her, he would have to stay inside. "Heh, you must excuse me, Miss Sarello. See..." He began, but decided to gesture to his obscenely spiked hair, radiating with electricity that resonated with the lightning above. "Lightning Magic. Leaves a lasting imprint on your figure until you get the hang of it..." Deciding not to go into a subject until he introduced himself, he smiled and bowed. "As you seem to have already guessed, I am Professor Talon A. Windwaltz. But seeing how it's rather unnecessary for one such as you - who was at school with me when I was - to refer to me such a title, just call me Talon."
He gestured to his right hand with his left, "I would shake your hand, but everytime I shake a hand it's like a Russian roulette. You never know when a bolt is going to shoot out of my hand and blow you to pieces." His smile turned into a sly one as he said the next phrase, "Though I'm sure you understand the elements quite well. We took the same class...and you were taught by Meriel too...tell me, for my Historian knowledge does not extend this far - what elemental are you again?"
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Post by Hikalyn Sarello on Jul 7, 2005 3:30:37 GMT
Hikalyn blinked a little bit, rather surprised by the sudden turn this conversation had taken. "Earth," she answered quietly, after taking just a moment to recover her equilibrium. Lightning magic, was it? A blend of Fire and Air, then. Idly she wondered which of the two was his element innately. So far as she knew, no witch or wizard was born with the talent for more than one. Well, it explained the hair at least, she supposed; she'd been wondering just how much gel he must have used to get it to stick up that way. "And not to worry, I completely understand," she added smoothly, and there was something buried deep within her slightly crooked smile that said she really did. She could sympathize with the feeling of being in the possession of a magic that she couldn't completely control. More than sympathize.
Her smile expanded to become a friendly smirk. "Talon it is then, if you'll call me Hikalyn." She fixed him with a mildly curious gaze. "So what brings you out here tonight?"
OOC: gah, sorry. x.x
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Post by Professor Windwaltz on Jul 7, 2005 9:18:05 GMT
An almost knowing smile crept across Talon's face when Hikalyn said she completely understood. He had forgotten which element she was, but he was almost sure that she had gained a secondary element - and secondary elements were often hard to control. "Oh you know," he said blandly, leaning against the wall of the tower, "Fresh air and what not...turns out I'm not going to get anything tonight." A large thundercrack was heard from outside, and his hair seemed to rise even more. "Thank God we're inside enchanted stone walls...or else one of those things would come down and blow us to Kingdom Come."
He sighed deeply. He really wanted just a time of peace in the fresh air before the war began, which, according to intelligence, was probably going to happen the following day. "It really is a shame, that such a storm would arise...I was hoping for a calm before the real storm. I guess it's started before we could tell." He realized what he was talking about, and then suddenly decided to shut up. Though Hikalyn was Head Auror, he wasn't sure whether or not she had truly joined with the school on this. After all, from what he learned of Justin Cobalt earlier that day, the Ministry didn't care what happened to Kiki or anyone else. They were planning on destroying the school completely.
Perhaps Hikalyn had loyalties to her job above her alma mater.
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Post by Hikalyn Sarello on Jul 8, 2005 7:48:26 GMT
Hikalyn shrugged her shoulders, her gaze drifting back outside to the rain-lashed balcony and the grounds beyond. The smile on her lips remained, but now it twisted to become something humorless, faintly bitter with experience. "That's what we all want, isn't it?" she murmured, her tone musing. One hand moved in a swift, negating gesture, dismissing the notion. By the absent expression that touched her amythest eyes, it was obvious that the words weren't really directed at the Professor as much as they were directed towards herself.
Suddenly realizing that she had let her attention wander--something that could usually be pinned as uncharacteristic for her, but was happening more and more often of late--Hikalyn pulled herself back to the present with a visible effort, giving herself a mental shake. She turned back to Talon, and now that same smile had turned apologetic. "Sorry. But it'll blow over, eventually." That last was said, of course, in reference to the storm; but whether she meant the literal storm that was working through its fury before them now, or the more dangerous one that was brewing on the horizon, she didn't bother to clarify.
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Post by Professor Windwaltz on Jul 8, 2005 21:50:09 GMT
Whether Hikalyn had meant the first phrase to herself instead of him, Talon never realized. He simply shrugged, thinking it a casual statement. He didn't like the look of the rain or the storm at all. Ironically, he could not be in literal storms even though his transformation had been to end the symbolic one. Though now it made him wonder of his priorities. Was he trying to defeat Danawi? Or was he trying to protect...
"Maybe we do," he said dreamily, "Those in storms yearn for the fresh air and tranquility. Then once the storm ends, there's a pretty rainbow that makes us all happy...but when there's no storms...we begin to yearn for the next one." His dreamy state disappeared. If anyone had listened to his words, they could tell that he didn't mean the actual storm at all. It was entirely a metaphor for the War of Danawi about to occur.
'But it'll blow over eventually.' Talon looked up at her in a disbelieving way. He had almost forgotten in his trance-like philosophy that the real storm had been the subject of his speech. Yet now he realized that the real storm would indeed blow over eventually. Would the war blow over as well? "I'm sure it will," he laughed, "And like the concept goes, it'll only be a matter of time before we yearn for the next one."
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Post by Hikalyn Sarello on Jul 17, 2005 10:11:07 GMT
If Hikalyn noticed the somewhat astounded look that Talon gave her, she gave no outward sign of it. But then, she never did. Instead she laughed along with him, saying, "No doubt you're right. That's just the way people are--only satisfied with a situation as long as it's the status quo." Though her tone was light, she knew the truth of Talon's words probably better than most. She was all too well acquainted with that very sentiment.
Suddenly growing tired of this conversation whose content was cloaked entirely by a too-obvious metaphor, and figuring it was likely to cause a few awkward moments if it continued much longer anyway, Hikalyn changed the thread of the conversation entirely. "So, what are your impressions of the school, now that you've come back?"
OOC: *beats muse with a stick* Damn fickle thing.
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