Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I just thought..." Selma whispered. Tali glanced at Selma, frowning slightly at her upset. The teen put an arm around her comfortingly. "It's allright," he said.

Tali was about to say more when Vincent suddenly wedged himself in around the table. For a moment he frowned to himself. There was something that was in his dream.. The half-fragment slipped away, and Tali shifted his gaze quickly back to Selma. Why did he feel like he was always avoiding him lately?

"I know you'll do great on the written test. You know so much more than the rest of us with all those books you read." He continued, hoping the brief distraction wasn't too noticeable.

Gabriella, watched the teacher and 026 intently, while attempts were made to calm the new toddler. After a moment, the teacher was successful in his attempts, by placing a ball in the crying child's lap. She wanted a ball too...how come she couldn't hold one?

Her thoughts about the ball were interupted by the teacher asking her to try the numbers again. She sighed and looked at the board again. Could she do it this time?

"One..." she started carefully. "Two...Fwee...." She paused and studied the symbols. This is where she had gotten stuck last time. "Four?" she asked tenatively.



Selma didn't notice Tali's momantary distraction, as wrapped up as she was in her own worries. She leaned into him a bit as he wrapped his arm around her, glad for the comforting gesture. "I hope things get started soon...I hate this waiting."

No sooner had she spoken than the man attempted to get the group's attention. Selma reached for Tali's hand, squeezing it, before giving him a wry smile and resignedly moving towards one of the desks.

The teacher nodded encouragingly to 016, keeping half an eye on 026. It would do for the boy to suddenly throw the ball at one of his classmates.


Aiko wasn't thinking of that. He was staring at the ball, ignoring everyone in the room. His matron would come back for him, right? She would return soon, right?


Niki sighed and headed towards the desks, butterflies flying around in her stomach. This was nerve racking!

Tali slowly walked over to the desks with one last reassuring smile at Selma. He glanced around minutely before picking up and fiddling with one of the quills. Why did he always get stuck with Vincent? Rooming, testing, they'd probably get sent to the same element and be roommates there as well. Still..

"You may begin!" The teacher said watching the experiments closely. For a while there was nothing but the scratching of quills against paper as the five testee's focused on the exam.

Answer 1: The four elements are Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. The four cities are Acinar, Ceiba, Telphe, and Notuma. Fire/Acinar. Water/Ceiba. Air/Telphe. Earth/Notuma.
Answer 2: One can tell what the job of any elemental (or colorless) is by looking at the color of their sleeve.
Answer 3: The homes in Acinar are made of straw and mud.
Answer 4: One travels in Ceiba by walking across small rafts linking larger rafts together. It is possible that small canoes are used as well since they are also used to travel to and from Ceiba to the shore.
Answer 5: The center of learning in Telphe is on the highest peak of the mountain range the city is on.
Answer 6: One initially gets to a home in Notuma by climbing the ladder set inside a living tree. Otherwise, one gets to a home by jumping across various branches or using vines to swing across gaps too wide to normally jump.
Parmida simply stared for a moment at the test before her before shaking her head to clear it and really reading the questions. Those... didn't sound that hard. She knew these, right? She started to write down the answers. ((Hidden)) She eventually finished writing down her answers and put her quill down with a sigh. She hoped she got them right.

Selma took a deep breath before turning over her paper and looking at it. She blinked in surprise and glanced over the words a second time before beliving them. What she had expected to be some personality or ability analysis was simply a knowledge based thing about the various cities that existed on the planet and what element they belonged to. She knew this! Hadn't it been repeatedly drilled into their heads in classes?

With a confidance she hadn't had since long before the testing process started, Selma began writing down the answers to the questions on the test. Her quill scratching on the parchment along with the others'.

Tali finished quickly, turning his paper face down. The two adults nodded to each other. Quietly the woman walked over to Tali's desk and took the paper. Glancing at the others she walked over to each of them and took the finished papers.

"Allright," the man said. "Next will be a test of your fighting skills. Line up...001 and 002, 003 and 005. 006, you'll be with 945 since there's an odd number of people. Each of you, show us your techniques once and try not to hurt anyone too much."

A broad grin spread against the teens face as he nearly fell over getting out from behind the desk so quickly. He hurried over the matted area and stood impatiently waiting for Niki.


----

"Four..." The teacher prompted gently.

----

Taliesin rushed into the practice room, out of breath. "Sorry I'm late!" he blurted out. "It was...uh.." He blinked, and suddenly the fighting teacher laughed.

"Oh, that. Well, 001 you're just in time." A heavy hand fell on Manelin's shoulder. "This one needs a partner for his first fight. Care to help out? Go easy though, no advanced stuff."

The teen nodded eagerly. "Sure, C'mon Manelin. I'll show you how to do it."