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Lin had actually had fun playing in the mud, throwing it at students. She NEVER aimed one at the teachers, though.

When she looked up after awhile, though, she saw that the sky was getting darker. She hadn't felt that rush since the day she had left. Sure, it had gotten dark at her home, but she knew there was no way she could have seen Dymetri then. Sure, she wouldn't be surprised if she DIDN'T see him tonight. Even if there was a small chance that he could sense that she was back, he probably wouldn't come and see her. He was probably, understandably, quite upset with her. But there was still that rush she felt when she saw the sky darkening.

She quietly excused herself from the mud fight, leaving quietly. She took her long-ago-discarded suitcases with her to her room. She had seen Athena outside in the mud fight, so she knew she wasn't in the room.

She was covered in mud and knew that taking a bath would just make that tub filthy. So, she took her necklace off, tilted the pendant upside down over her head, and a single drop of the magical spring water from her forest home fell onto her head and seemed to absorb into her skin all over her body. There was a momentary glow all over her, and then she was completely clean, cleaner than she could have been soaking in soapy water that would eventually turn dirty because of the mud on her body.

After she had unpacked her clothes, she went over to her bed on her side of the room and laid back against it. She wasn't tired, obviously, but she didn't mind the quiet.

Athena hadn't had such a good time in a while--nor had she gotten dirty on purpose in a long time. It felt so wonderful. At some point, she'd laid down and actually rolled in the wonderful mud without any reason--she'd almost rolled right into three seniors, but she managed to smell them before she did. So now she was standing, tail wagging, at some random place in the courtyard. It hadn't taken her long to realize that if she just put a bunch of mud on her tail and wagged it, everyone (including herself) within a ten-foot radius got splattered. Thusly, she would wag, roll, wag, roll, wag, roll... on and on like so. Now, though, her tail was wagging more out of happiness (and weakly, at that) because she was dead tired. She would sit, but she didn't feel like it...

Her nose twitched lightly and she smelled Lin--she hadn't actually seen the elf yet that day, though she'd smelled her scent (quite distinctly flowery--but like real flowers, not that weird shampoo kind) often enough. Had she noticed, she would have greeted Lin, but she figured she'd just do that when she got back to the dorm room.

Just thinking of her bed made her fall back in delusional happiness. She was tired, dirty, and a bit beat-up from some fast (and hard) mudballs. Yet, the war was not over, so she could not stop. She threw some mud (not even mudballs, just mud) up in the air, random directions, anywhere her hands went. Of course, this inadvertedly meant she hit herself, but that didn't matter at the moment. She was soaking through to the bone with the stuff anyway.

((Hope you get to feeling better, Neo!))

Lin had heard the fighting outside die down for awhile. She thought they had finished, noticing that the sky was darkening outside. However, a few moments later, she heard the commotion pick up again.

She laughed softly and went to the window to watch the fight in the courtyard. They all looked like mud monsters instead of people, and that made her laugh even more. It was so wonderful to see such large smiles on everyone's face and to hear such joyous laughter. Another wonderful benefit of Spring time... or approaching Spring time.

When she turned her head to the side, away from the window, to glance around the room for a few brief moments, her eyes snapped to her desk, something white and glittery catching them.

She slowly and silently moved toward her desk until she was looking right down onto the top of it. Her heart had caught in her throat as she reached her hand out toward the ice rose... the rose that Dymetri had made for her. She had not had a chance to take it with her when she left so suddenly. She hadn't taken anything. Her suitcases that she had brought back to the school with her were filled with clothes that she had obtained from home and pictures of her sister's wedding.

When her hand slowly grasped the delicate, cold rose, a soft smile appeared on her face. She gently picked it up with her hand and brought it to her chest, cradling it with both hands over her heart.

She gasped, though, when a flood of images quickly entered her brain as soon as the rose rested against her chest above her heart. They were images of herself and Dymetri in the coffee shop where they had first spoken civilly to each other, the garden outside of the school, the night he had come to her room and given her this rose, that terrifying afternoon when he had transformed in the sun and she had rushed him back to his suite with Professor Akakios and had treated him, and, even, the image of when they first met when she had been wandering the halls with her roommate Athena, trying to find the Headmaster. Her words had been so biting and cruel, yet somehow respectful as well, and his were guarded but still sensual. The last image that played in her mind, though, the one that was the longest and had the most impact was the one that showed herself and Dymetri lying on the grass on that secluded cliff he had taken her to, that night they had been completely alone for the first time.

Elves were able to get small images in their mind sometimes due to such rigorous and focused routines of meditation, opening their minds to whatever came their way and to be receptive to nature's message. So this process was not entirely new to her, but receiving such intimate images in her mind during a vision were.

She smiled again as she brought the rose up and brushed her lips gently across the icy, smooth petals of the rose. While doing this, she mentally called out a name, not even realizing she had sent it out and had not just thought it to herself....

"Dymetri..."

((Hey guys I'm back from Florida mind if i get an update on whats happening with my characters?))

((Hey, Silverwings! Good to have you back! You didn't miss much at all, just an epic mudbattle in the school courtyard. Your characters should be right where you left them, unless you say otherwise. Wait, you did see the post about the timeskip, right?))

((So we're in March, yes, you're on the same page, good. Whew. You're good as gold then.))