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 Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 5:08 pm
Trait Advantage.
What the hell kind of lame class...?
"Grawwr!" Almost as if he'd read her mind (which many thought he could), Muffin growled and snapped at her.
"Shut the hell up, ya bloody beast!"
Major General Lilly Ghardian was the 'battle instructor' at D-Corp. When she'd first accepted the job, she'd assumed her 'instructing' would always involve a dragon, making the child that came with them bareable.
It seemed she hadn't read between the lines, or however that saying went.
Sighing heavily, the pink-haired woman reached up and pulled the clipboard from her dragons mouth. "Aye, let me see now." Snow Leopard. Aged 8 years. Fun, fun.
Sarcasm, sarcasm.
The clipboard fell to the ground with a thud, and Lilly brought a hand to her face. "Aye, why did I 'gree to do this? I hate them damn kids." But she did like her garden, which consisted mostly of white lilly flowers.
There was, however, a fairly large tree toward the back. The teacher contently rested on one of the first branches, and her small dragon sat just above.
At the sound of footsteps, he scurried higher and poked his head out of the mass of leaves. The student was here...
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 5:26 pm
"I'll be fine..." The boy called back to the woman who still seemed to want to follow. "I'm going to class to learn more about what a snow leopard does." He rolled his eyes slightly. His mum still tried to treat him like a kid. Nonsense, he was well onthe way to being a hero now. He didn't need her to dote like that.
"Alright..." Came the sad reply. The woman frowned, wishing she could have stayed, but the boy insisted. He'd been arguing with her about this the entire trip here. Stubborn, he was stubborn. He wasn't one to get hurt, not really... The boy was built sturdy, and as much trouble as he made, he'd never really managed to hurt himself beyond a few cuts. But she couldn't help it, he was her baby no matter what.
"I'll see you after class, mum." The boy said quickly, hoping to drag that frown from her face. He didn't like to listen to her, but he didn't want her depressed either. She seemed to brighten, which was enough for Keanu, and he quickly turned, hurrying down the hall toward the garden. That's where he was meeting the teacher right? Lilly, he'd been signed up for a class with that teacher.
Ymir gave a little chirp before darting along after the boy.
It didn't take too long for him to get there either. A garden filled with white Lillys. That... Had to be it. He walked in, Ymir paddig along behind him.
"Hmm... The flowers match your coat." The boy mumbled, looking for the instructor. He was supposed to meet her here, right? He flicked an ear. He was wearing another of his shirts, bandages along it. Though this one was a pale cream color. The bandages hid the tears it had received over time, and certainly the demin blue jeans where no different than the shirt. Though at least they didn't have stains from grass, or mud. Right?
Still, if his hair hadn't been black, the goggles would actually have stood out as something strange to have on his forehead. They blended a bit though due to his hair color.
"Hello? Miss Lilly?" He called questioningly, glancing around the area. Flower, flower... And a tree.
"Churrr?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 5:35 pm
They didn't pay her enough for this.
...Okay, that wasn't true. Lilly got paid quite a bit, and that alone was what urged her out of her childless spot in the tree. There was the sound of ruffling leaves and a branch lowering then bouncing back up.
Lilly landed only a foot or so infront of her new student and his dragon, after launching out of the tree and doing quite a showy back flip.
Normally, she'd prefer to wear a skirt, which for a reason she didn't know surprised a lot of people. For these situations, pants were much better. Red ones. It was a nice color.
"Aye, m'here ya little--" She caught herself, just barely. "--student."
While she had only one eye, she put it to good use. It swept across Keanu with mild interest, then to his dragon. Lilly spent a noticablely longer amount of time looking of the latter.
A second later, she yanked the whip out and cracked it loudly on the ground to her left. It seemed like a pointless gesture to some, but she felt it served as a warning.
Mess with me and I'll ******** you up. Or something like that.
"Keanu, right? Yer dragon's name wasn't down. What you been callin' that thing?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 5:51 pm
Both creatures heard the noise in the tree before they saw the woman. Well Keanu's ear gave it's usual flick when it caught an unusual sound. Both sets of blue eyes watched the feat presented to them. The boy's soon turned almost to a sparkle eyed joy at it. That... Was just plain awsome. He wanted to learn how to do that. Meanwhile Ymir simple got the idea that this woman wasn't going to be scratching his head. That in itself dissapointed the white dragon a bit. He loved the attention.
The boy stepped back a pace at her landing, the wonder never leaving his eyes. She had good aim too, that was truly fantastic. He likely would have babbled something, but his teacher speaking hushed him, and he stood as about as attentive as the boy ever looked. He tended to look far too carefree for most people's taste, but when he wanted something, liked something. There wasn't anything in the world that would tear him away from watching it, and that was the case now.
A quick nod escaped him at the statement. Respect was always given to those who knew more about helping the world than him. Certainly Lilly fit that sterotype of his perfectly. He waited quietly as she rather quickly looked him over, then took her time eyeing the creature at his side.
Ymir didn't mind, and tilted his head, extending his neck slightly closer to the woman in curiosity. Perhaps he was wrong, perhaps she might give him a nice scratch? Or a bellyrub? "Chrr?" And then it puled back, quickly, as the woman yanked the whip.
Not only the dragon recoiled in surprise, but the boy as well. Actually, the action might have been meant to scare him, but it only dug her up another notch on the 'you're so cool' rating he had. She knew how to use a whip! Wow! He'd never though about using one of those before, maybe he could learn that too...
He quickly looked up from the whip as his name was spoken, an apologetic look crossing his face. Oh dear, he'd already messed up. "Ah... I'm sorry Ma'am. His name is Ymir." He replied quickly. The dragon peered up at the sound of it's name, before looking at the woman again. He deffinitely wasn't getting a bellyrub.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 6:02 pm
"Aye..." Lilly used that word in many ways, in many different tones. Even if it did for some (like pirates?), it didn't seem to really mean anything when she said it, usually. Just a habbit, you might say.
Muffin uncurled his tail around the branch he'd been watching the trio from, soaring onto Lilly's shoulder and landing with a hiss. Children weren't on his good list either.
"Me name is Lilly Ghardian." Yes, lilly garden. Someone made a joke about it once.
They buried them the next day.
"This be Muffin, here. Small, but he'll bite cha hard as any big one, so don't go messin' with 'em if ya wanna keep yer hand. Anyway, guess we should get started."
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:27 pm
Aye? That meant... Yes, right? The boy wasn't entirely sure, but he continued to stand, as if awaiting something. It soon came with... Well Muffin. The little dragon hissed at him, which was odd. A strong little dragon? That would be neat.
Ymir eyed the smaller thing curious, as he did with most new things. Seeming to decide if perhaps... Nope, this one was to small. The dragon lost interest in the tiny creature putting it's hopes back on the woman. It was too bad the orange cat lady hadn't come. She'd have snuggled him while Keanu did whatever this was for. He didn't like sitting around with nothing to do.
"Thank you for your time, Ma'am Ghardian." He replied, bowing his head lightly after her name. Keanu wouldn't have gotten that joke anyway... At least not for ten minutes. Much less come up with it himself. So there wasn't any worry of that.
He stood, listening again as she spoke, looking at the small creature with the same respect. Small, but strong. His mum should see Muffin, then she'd stop treating him like such a kid. "Muffin sounds very neat, Ma'am Ghardian. I hope maybe we can be friends." He continued.
If he hadn't been so sincere, and too simple to understand sucking up to someone, you'd have thought he was. Really though, he just wanted to learn, and this woman could teach him. Thus, he had nothing but respect for her, and he word was law. "And yes ma'am, I would like that." He continued, smiling happily at the prospect of learning whatever it was she had to teach.
Ymir on the other hand, didn't know what they where there for, so... Well he saw things as being rather boring. Maybe he'd take a nap.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:39 pm
Before he'd answered, Lilly had turned around. Muffin, however, hadn't. At least, not completely. His yellow eyes were still narrowed on Ymir, and as if reading his minds he clucked his tounge and made a variety of hissing sounds in the instructors ear.
Rolling her remaining eye, Lilly span around, moving only one leg to do so. She raised an eyebrow and looked Keanu over as if she'd never seen him before. Uh, yeah. "Look kid, I'm not yer friend. Muffin's not yer friend. I'm your teacher. Muffin's... Well, a moocher, really."
The minature dragon growled in protest.
"One more thing," Lilly continued. Before she said anything else, her whip shot out again, the top smacking louding on the ground only a few inches away from Ymir's front leg. "You. Pay. Attention. Ya understand me? This is YER friend right here, this kid, ya got me? Good dragons need to be keepin' an eye on 'em and watchin' stuff they do incase they need to know some of it later or some danger comes up or somethin'. I don't deal with useless dragons in me class. D-Corp prolly won't have much patience for 'em, either. So ship or shape out, understood?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:53 pm
The boys ears fell slightly. Ah yes... Not friends. Well he didn't really expect it, but... He nodded slowly, to show he'd heard, and understand. "Right, Ma'am Ghardian. Sorry to have mistaken anything." He replied, not looking at the dragon, or mentioning the remark about it being a moocher. He didn't think it was one, it seemed to talk too, kind of? He didn't understand any of it, just garbled nonsense, but he could hear it making noises. Much more like speech than the curious little chirps that Ymir came up with when spoken to. Or questioning anything.
Muffin seemed smart. And that in itself was a reason to consider him something above a moocher.
Ymir was starting to look away whent he whip shot out again, and the paw the thing had come so close to hitting withdrew. Steel blue eyes turned to look up at the woman, and as she spoke. Yes, yes. He knew that, why did the woman think he was here? His tail flicked slightly, and he nudged the boys leg slightly, giving the usual half chirp, half grunt of achknowledgment he did. Before looking back up at the woman. He'd listen, he'd watch. Maybe there would be something to do, just maybe. He stretched his wings, and moved as if to prepare for whatever it was they where doing. Well at least he wasn't thinking of napping. Not that he could. What with the woman with the whip, most certainly not.
Keanu looked a little flustered to have Ymir yelled at, because that might get him in some trouble as well. He looked down as the dragon's head nudged his leg, giving the thing a light stroke on one side of the fin, before looking back up. Ok, so obviously they had a ways to go, but they'd get better, right? "I'm sorry ma'am... He means he'll be good now." He said a bit quietly. Oh, so he actually did want to look good in front of his teacher, well that wasn't far from what he desired around the martial arts instructors either. Another thing to be expected...
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:00 pm
Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am.
This kid sounded like he'd spent way to much time with Raven. She seemed like the type to smack someone in the hands with a ruler if they didn't adress her like that. Who really knew what made her and Lilly, weird as though they may be, friends.
"Just call me Lilly, mmkay? No more of this 'ma'am' stuff." She nodded to acknowledge she'd understood what the dragon was implying, but glared warningly at him afterwards. Nothing more was said about it, though, and she turned back around, continuing to... somewhere.
The look on her face was thoughtful, not that Ymir or Keanu would know with her back turned to them. There was silence, and then she eventually began to mutter some things.
"Snow Leopard... Snow Leopard..." It was five minutes of pacing and one of repeating those two words over and over before she finally stopped. "Aye, I know, then. Yer gonna have to learn to pounce."
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:12 pm
Well, Keanu hadn't meant Raven, but certainly when he did... He wouldn't be getting his hand smacked. Any teacher he liked the subject of... Well they'd be treated with as much respect as the boy knew. Which was what Lilly was getting a dose of. Be it that she wanted it, or not.
"Yes, M-," He paused mid-word to correct himself. "yes, Lilly." He restarted, nodding his head, and glad the issue of Ymir's little thoughts of resting where forgotten.
The dragon didn't flinch at the glare, but simply kept watching, it's gaze more, or less passive. That would keep it out of trouble, not too eager, but still attentive. His job was to keep an eye on Keanu, and not be hit with the whip at the same time. Right. Study, protect, watch, avoid. Then beg some love off the adult cat later. That would work.
Keanu watched at the woman turned, standing quietly at first, then partially kneeling to stroke the dragon's head. Though his eyes remained on the teacher. It was idly stroking, a habit he was forming. With always having the dragon there, he tended to fill the empty moments with stroking it's head, or side. He'd had a bit of a fight with Raja until she'd let Ymir sleep on the bed even. She claimed he wouldn't fit. Well now they both fit.
'Snow leopard, snow leopard.' She was obviously thinking. About what to teach him? That had to be it. A smile drew on the boy's face, so she was still going to teach him, yay. He quickly stood up as the woman paused, and spoke.
To pounce? A confused look crossed his face, but he gave a quick nod. To pounce, like Ichigo did on the... He frowned, shaking the thought formhis head. No, no. He'd pounce on bad things, not little birds. "Alright, where should I start?" He asked, his tail waving to, and fro. He'd show that cats could do things for good reasons. Yes, he was going to be an excellent hero. Another step on the way.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:21 pm
Where should he start...? Oh, s**t, she hadn't thought that far ahead.
WELL, no need for him to know that, right? Lilly glanced around in such a way you'd never know she had no idea what she was looking for. There...really wasn't much to pounce here. Maybe she should ask the boss man for a spring board or something?
She really didn't like talking to that guy, though. He was weird.
"Muffin," she said suddenly, and the dragon immediatly growled at her. Lilly returned the noise with a glare. There was a pause, and Muffin silently surrendered, guilding to the ground and flexing his wings. "Dun worry, yer not gonna hurt 'em any. Like I told ya, he's a real duriable little thing. He ain't gonna fly on yer first try, and he won't move a lot. We'll work our way up. Go on and get 'em."
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:33 pm
Of course, Keanu hadn't been wishy washy about it. He was ready to learn, and that was that. Besides, he tended to be pretty blunt about things. Usually anyway. Mainly because he tended not to care what others thought of him as long as they did not think him a bad person. You could label him stupid, useless... He'd simply vow to do better, and not let it get him down. He didn't see a point in moping anymore, not since the thing with Paxton. If someone had a problem with you, prove them wrong. It was as simple as that.
Ears perked as she seemed to decide what was going on, or rather, spoke to the small dragon. It didn't look to happy about her decision, but it eventually went to the ground. Eyes turned back to the woman. He wouldn't hurt him? Alright, well... If she said so.
The boy lashed his tail once, leaning forward slightly. How did Ichigo do it? She ran then... Leapt. That was right, shifting slightly before she ran. He'd seen her chase after things, that was how it went.
He let one leg slide backward slightly before suddenly darting a few paces, straight at the smaller dragon. Full out for a few seconds, and then he leapt forward, rather cat-like. Mimicing what he recalled from Ichigo's strikes. Now it was anyones guess if he'd actually hit his target, but at least he was trying.
And the dragon watched as the child sprung off at the thing, half of his attention on the action, the other half making sure the woman didn't try to actually hit him with that whip. He knew better than to doze off as long as that she human had the lashing weapon.
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:53 pm
By now, Muffin knew what Lilly expected of him. It often seemed like the two had some mental contection with each other. Perhaps they did. Almost constantly being together would do that.
For the first try, the 'shoulder dragon' (as Lilly had nicknamed him) allowed himself to be captured with no movement, emitting an annoyed grunt as he was pounced. Lilly had been right in saying he wouldn't be hurt. Being pissed off, though, was another story.
"Aye, that's okay I guess." The one-eyed woman scratched under her chin. Not that she was a cat expert, but it looked...cat enough. "He movin' next time."
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:15 pm
He'd managed to catch it, once. Though the dragon hadn't moved, so there was that note to be said. The boy quickly shifted moving his hands off the small white dragon after hearing the grunt. He'd just wanted to make sure he hadn't hurt it, though it seemed well enough. The boy backed off, so to be prepared for another running start. He might have looked ridiculous when he tried to pounce, but thankfully... He didn't care. At long as he got it right, all was... Well Right.
Ears perked as the mention, and he managed to keep a stern look. It was both good, and bad. He hadn't failed completely, but he hadn't been excellent. The boy's tail lashed out once at the air, eyes focussing on the little white creature again as he learned forward preparing to make anothe run. It would move this time, so he had to be ready to switch course, or pounce again? He wasn't quite sure, Ichigo usually caught her things first try, or gave up. But... He pinned his ears back, trying to decide.
Ymir was still watching, curiously. It seemed like a game to catch the smaller white creature. Something like that. The dragon flicked it's tail lightly, glancing at the woman she voiced her opinion of the action, then back as the boy released, and backed off. Obviously for another run.
Deeming that he hadn't much more to do, but try again. The boy quickly darted forward at the creature again, once more leaping with outstretched hands to try, and catch it. Now the question was, was he fast enough to catch the little creature?
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 5:49 pm
For the moment, it didn't seem so.
In a flash of blurred white, Muffin was gone, and by time Keanu would come to a landing, he'd be on one of the visible tree branches hissing and lashing his tail.
Lilly cleared her throat, nearly choking as she tried to contain what was most likely laughter. The amusement faded soon enough, and she span around to face her dragon, snapping her whip on the ground louder than before. "Muffin ya cheater! Yer not suppose to be goin' that fast with the green ones! Get yer a** down there and play fair!"
Again, she cracked the whip. The white dragon snorted at her, but scurried back down, stopping where he had been and flexing his wings.
"Ya won't hurt him," Lilly repeated. "And he won't be cheatin' again, but is gonna move. Start out slow and then he'll start goin' faster. Next time ya catch him let go of 'em right away and back up so he can get ready. I don't want all this annoyin' a** pauses for every one."
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