Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aurora listened avidly to Professor Markums as she spoke of the pretty cat--a Sphinx, apparently--in front of her. The cat purred happily at Markums, a cat-like nod of sorts following some of her statements. He greatly enjoyed her praise; that much was evident.

"That's very nice of them," Aurora said. She hadn't thought people would be so nice to creatures, especially since she would've thought that people would consider themselves above 'animals', but this made her happy. Then, showing her wrist and the ankh now marked there, she asked, "What does this mean?" Of course, she wasn't actually speaking of the ankh itself; she knew that the ankh represented life in ancient Egypt.

While this was all going on, Ever had finally walked slowly and carefully into the fenced in area. Not only was she nervous that no creature would want to be her familiar, but she was also very cautious of the Immortal Horses. She had seen them on Mt. Olympus and they were fierce. They had drawn many of the Gods' chariots or had carried the God directly to the Mount. You did not even look at the horse the wrong way if that horse did not belong to you. They were temperamental around Gods, and rightfully so.

And just as she had feared, the horses didn't seem to appreciate her, either. They probably sensed the blood of the Gods inside of her and some probably even recognized her. They neighed loudly, shook their heads, and began to walk backwards, to get away from Ever.

Ever sighed in frustration and shook her head. She mumbled, "Great... As if I wasn't feeling self conscious enough already today."

However, one of the horses did not back up. He did not show apprehension toward her. Nope. He showed anger. Passionate anger. And it was one of the fire horses. Oh hell... Ever knew who it was. She recognized him now and knew exactly whose horse it was. Ares....

Ever put up her hands and started to back up slowly. "Phobos... No. Phobos, calm down. I never once hurt you or even threatened you. I'm not like the rest of them. Your hatred toward me is totally unjustified and quite ridiculous."

Then, Phobos neighed loudly and reared onto his hind legs. Fire blazed from him and Ever shouted in fear. She covered her head and then ran out of the fenced area. Phobos chased her until she was well out of the class area and running toward the forest. Still hearing Ever's screams as she entered the forest, Phobos shook his fiery mane and neighed. The neigh almost seemed to sound like a laugh! He was quite proud of himself.

((Crap! I have to get off now. I don't know when I'll get back on, but hopefully it'll be before my booth sale tonight; if not, I'll probably be back around nine-thirty-ish.))

Altan let out a snort at that statement, but did not deny it. You are mine. It was a simple declaration, but Aurora raised an eyebrow, to which he simply tilted his head. Ah well, she supposed it did not matter at the moment.

"I think it will be fine. I can't imagine what would keep me from spending time with my own familiar, to be honest," she said, and then she held out her arms to pick the Sphinx up. He leapt into them happily, and she stood, holding him as if he were something truly precious.

You know, he mentioned, we could uphold a permanent connection, like what we had earlier, that would be easier on both of us. And if you were ever in trouble, I could come to your aid.

Glancing at Professor Markums, she paraphrased what he said. "...and that sounds very nice. How does--oh." Suddenly, she was very acutely aware of the fact that Altan was there, and of him as a sentient being. He was very happy, but seemed to be rather hungry.

Though she was not initially aware, Altan also could feel her in this acutely personal way; he knew that she was actually feeling quite happy on the inside, and that she was a shapeshifter. She seemed to maybe not be a full shapeshifter, though, but he could not quite place what else she was. He supposed that, at least for now, it did not matter. He very much liked this human. She was simple and straightforward, but still took the time to appreciate those other things like art and sewing.

He also learned much of her family, something that very, very few other people knew of for the simple fact that no one bothered to ask, so she never bothered to say. Of course, the flood of information slowed eventually, as she began to learn from him how to filter it and keep it to just a connection rather than a combination.

"This is nice," she commented.

Professor Markums smiled softly down at Aurora. "I'm very glad you are enjoying this. Do you have any other questions, Aurora?"

{{Sorry so short. Didn't know what else the professor could say.}}

((lol, it's alright!))

Aurora thought for a moment, before nodding. "This connection... will there be any side-effects?"

Altan's tail tapped her hand. I could've told you that, he muttered, though she already knew that he wasn't completely sure of what all it would do himself. That is exactly why she had decided to ask.

Professor Markums tilted her head to the side, letting her blond hair fall over her shoulder in long curly tendrils. "Well, there are side effects that could develop. It's up to you if you view them as bad or not. I find them quite interesting."

She looked at the Sphinx and smiled. "If you spend enough time with him and connect with him enough, which I already see happening between you two, you could develop some of his characteristics and mannerisms, such as his cat eyes."