Experiment Log 217-P5 #005 [Selma] | Page 3 | Experiment Logs | Guild Forums

keetabirdy

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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:03 pm

Dear Journal,

I opened the mysterious boxes today. Each one had a flower, three of which were carnations (2 yellow, one blue), and the other box had a rose in it (red). I pinned the blue carnation to my dress cause I thought it would look nice. Moss keeps trying to land on it. I don't think he realizes that his wings get in my face sometimes. I guess someone must have snapped a picture of me with Moss and the carnation, because this was on my bed when I came in tonight.

Anyways, I'm tired, off to bed!

Selma, 005

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 10:36 pm

Log Entry #003A
Subject(s): 005, 016

It appears that my oh so wonderful superiors have decided to saddle me with another experiment to observe. They seem to think I don't have enough to do with dealing with 005 and her teenage life. I think I'm going to have a few words with them about this...

Subject: 016
Name: Gabriella
Gender: Female
Eye color: Hazel
Skin tone: Dark brown
Hair color: Dark brown/black

They had to give me another girl too didn't they? At least they could have given me a male to add a little variety, but oh no. Oh well. 016 seems to be a slightly fussy infant and does not yet sleep though the night. Her current caretaker certainly has her hands full. I think she's only counting down the days until she can leave the care of the female to the matrons in Nandien. Despite my displeasure at having to observe her, it may be interesting to see what kind of child she develops into. At least she's not the same as 005 personality-wise so far....

As far as 005 goes, she had a practice fight with one of the males of her peer-group. 001, I think it was. She never had a chance against him. It was amusing to watch actually. Maybe that will teach her to not pick fights with boys. Not much else to report. I doubt there will be anything too exciting until the new back of children, including 016, are brought among the other children. We shall see how that goes when we get there. Until then, signing off.

Log Entry End
Observer: Keetabirdy

keetabirdy

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keetabirdy

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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 11:48 pm

Niki and Selma

Selma = Green
Nikiana = red

Selma wandered on to the mat and glanced at Niki, waving a little.
"You ready?" she asked, a little nervous after having lost her last fight.

Niki smiled, nodding at Selma as the girl joined her on the practice mat. "Ready!" She noticed that Selma seemed a bit nervous and decided to start off easy, with a punch.

Hearing the word "ready," Selma back up a few steps and attemped to rush at Niki and tackle her to the ground. I hope this works.... she thought to herself.

Niki allowed herself a slight smile as her fist connected with Selma, halting the other girl's tackle attempt. Though maybe she should try a tackle. She hadn't tried using it yet, though she understood what the teacher had showed her.

Selma stepped back from Niki as the punch connected with her collarbone, and rubbed the place a bit. After a few seconds, her attention went back to Niki and she moved closer, suddenly raising her foot, attempting to kick her in the stomach.

Tackling wasn't all that hard, Niki thought to herself as she luckily missed Selma's foot as she knocked the girl over. Maybe she should try that again. It was actually kinda fun.

Selma let out a yelp of surprise as Niki tackled her. She didn't know that anyone else knew that attack! Blinking in surprise, she got up from the mat and eyed Niki warily before rushing in, and attempting another tackle.

The two girls collided in midair and fell to the mat, Niki giggling. That had to have looked funny to anyone watching.

Okay, maybe she should try a kick now.

Selma ran into Niki, and landed on the mat with an "oof." She saw the other girl smiling and gave a tenative grin back. Well at least she had hit that time. Perhaps it would work again? The kick cerainly hadn't. Making a decision, Selma readied herself to tackle again.

002's kick hit Selma, but 005's forward movement caused Nikiana to topple over, with Selma on top of her. This was an interesting fight, at the very least.

Standing back up, 002 decided she wanted to try another tackle. That had been fun.

Selma got Niki's foot in her gut but still managed to land her tackle. With the wind knocked out of her a bit, she got to her feet and faced the other girl once more, deciding that she might change her attack to a punch: something that she hadn't tried yet this match. Rasing her fist, she hoped it would serve her well.

Niki was midtackle when she saw Selma's fist raise up. Too late to dodge it now! The girl's fist connected with her about the time that she tackled Selma. Well... they were both landing hits, at least...

Rubbing her jaw, Niki decided to try another tackle.

Selma landed with a sound thud on the mat, her fist connecting with Niki's jaw. Getting to her feet, she tested her hand, opening and closing it, to make sure she hadn't done damage to herself with that punch. She faced Niki again, rasing her foot at the last second as the other girl rushed towards her, hoping to end her attack with a kick.

Niki managed to somehow avoid Selma's foot and still tackle her. She wasn't exactly sure how... but she did it...

She liked this tackling thing. It was a lot of fun. But, she decided to kick this time, so that Selma wouldn't get used to her tackling over and over.

Selma was thrown to the ground once more and gingerly got to her feet after Niki got off of her. How had she managed to do that? Semla wondered, before shaking her head. Back to tackling it was. Her feet had failed her once again. Taking a breath to prepare herself, Selma went flying at Niki, hoping to bring her down.

This time was just like the last, only reversed. Niki blinked as she was the one tackled to the ground. She got to her feet, deciding to do another kick. One more try. If she missed again, she'd go back to tackling.

Selma felt herself tackle Niki, and then waited for her kick to land, but felt nothing. She got up, a somewhat surprised look on her face. She had managed to attack without getting attacked back? Well then, if the tackle was deciding to work well, she would go for it again.

It had happened again! Scowling, Niki stood up again from where Selma had once again knocked her to the floor while avoiding 002's kick. That was just not working!

Oh well. It was back to kicking now. That had seemed to work, at least.

Selma actually smiled this time, as she made a second attack without being hit. That was definately unusual for her. Maybe she could win this fight yet? She crossed her fingers, before diving at Niki again, hoping her luck with tackling would hold.

Yes. Tackling was much better than kicking, Niki thought to herself as she got up from tackling Selma. Tackling worked.

She would try tackling again.

There was a smack on the mat as Selma fell victim to Niki's tackle once again. She sighed and got to her feet, suddenly feeling a bit weary from the beatings their bodies were taking. She wondered how much longer the fight would go on. Selma decided to try another punch. She hoped it would hit, because it would be nice to rely on something other than just tackling.

Once again, Niki's tackle worked. The girl allowed herself a small smile. Tackling was fun. And it worked. A lot. She'd try it again!

Oy, so much for the punch....By this point, Selma was feeling a few bruises starting to form. She'd need a warm bath later, that was for sure. Selma looked skeptically at Niki. Could she really hope to beat her, even though she was hitting way more often? Well...she would try... For varations sake, she tried kicking Niki again as she came at her.

Oof. They were back to hitting each other at the same time. Niki rubbed her stomach where Selma's foot had connected with her while she had tackled. But tackling was too much fun to try something else. So she'd do it again.

Well at least she had managed to get a kick in, if she was going to get slammed to the ground again. Hm....well tackling seemed to be doing more damage than the other attacks, and Niki didn't seem to be changing her tactics anytime soon. So....back to tackling it was.

Niki sighed as they collided in midair again. Selma was one of the better people she'd fought against. Well, other than Tali. Tali was tough. But Selma was holding her own, that was for sure.

Selma seemed to be guessing what she was going to do, so Niki decided to try a punch. She couldn't remember if she'd tried one this fight or not, but it was a while ago if she had.

Selma felt another bit of her get bruised as they collided again. That almost hust as much as when she didn't manage to get an attack in. Expecting Niki to tackle again, Selma decided to respond in kind, by tackling again herself. She didn't know how much longer she could go at this, as she was starting to feel really sore and tired.

Her punch had worked. Niki lowered her hand, rubbing it slightly. She was starting to hurt now from this fight. It had lasted longer than any other fight so far and it didn't seem to be ending...

Sighing, she decided to try another punch.

Selma visibly winced as the punch connected with her body, feeling the damage take away some of her remaining strength. With effort, she gathered her remaining strength and attempted one last tackle.

Niki sighed as her fist hit nothing. She must be getting tired. It seemed Selma was as well, for both girls had missed. Well, missing wouldn't speed this fight up any.

How about a kick...?

Selma felt her arms close around....nothing. She blinked and was shocked to notice that Niki had missed her attack as well. Sighing, she tried to punch Niki. Just this last one, and then you can rest, she kept telling herself.

Her foot connected with something solid about the time that another something solid connected with her jaw. She rubbed her jaw. That hurt. She was starting to get tired. Was this over yet? She prepared another kick.

Selma felt her fist connect somewhere on Niki's body, but she couldn't have said where. The last kick dealt by Niki, left her breathless, and she stumbled to her knees, before laying back on the mat.

"I can't....go another round," she said between breaths. "Good job...Niki," she said, offering a tired smile.

Niki smiled back, her own smile showing her exhaustion. "You're a good fighter..." She plopped down onto the mat next to the other teen.

"Thanks," she said, closing her eyes and trying to catch her breath. "But you're better. I bet you could have gone on for a while...."

She moaned slighly as her leg cramped, as a way of complaining that it had been abused. She sat up to massage the muscle. "I am so taking a long nap as soon as I get back to my room...."

Niki shrugged. "A little, maybe, but those hits were starting to hurt." She almost added, 'You're much better than Vincent' but thought that that might end up worse for her in the long run.

Niki chuckled. "A long bath sounds good as well."

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:04 am

What will the future bring?

Tali = blue
Niki = red
Selma = green
Parmida = brown
Kakashi = silver

There was large comfortable furniture scattered everywhere. Bins full of stuff were built into the walls. Lounging in one of the couches Experiment number 001 was reading his homework book. One lanky leg hung over the back of the couch, while the other dangled over the arm. He was flat on his back taking up the entire space.

Thunk, thunk, thunk, Tali tapped his foot against the side of the couch. The teen sighed and let the heavy book drop against his face. Boredom...

Niki quietly entered, looking for someone to relieve her own boredom. She spotted Tali sprawled on one of the couches, his eyes covered by a book. Grinning, 002 crept over and sat down on the boy's midsection.

"Couch hog!" Niki grinned and wriggled a bit on top of the boy.

"Oof." Tali burst out, "Can you get any heavier?" he grumbled quietly, peeling the textbook off his face. A wicked grin spread across the teens face, as one hand creeped towards Nikiana's mid-section.

The redhead glared at the boy, then quickly changed to a smile, squirming as Tali's hand drew closer. "No! NO!" The girl started to giggle even without the other teen touching her and jumped up.

He took an exagerated deep breath. "Ah.. I can finally breath!" The teen rolled off the couch into a deep crouch and sprang at Nikiana. "I'm gonna get you!" Tali crowed, tickling his friend.

"NOOoo-ahahaha! Hahaha! Sto-ahaha-p!!" Niki squealed, squirming and trying to escape from Tali's grasp. After only a few moments, her legs collapsed below her and she crouched on the floor. "Hahaha! St-st-ahaha-op!"

Selma stepped into the room quietly, and looked at the pair, an eyebrow raised. She had her journal in one hand, having intended to come down here to write in it, but perhaps, this was not the place, if it was going to be so active. Then again, I might have my reasons for staying, she thought, glancing at Tali.

"Having fun?" she asked, just loud enough that she thought they would be able to hear her above their tussling.

He was merciless, finding every ticklish spot on Nikiana. "St-st-ahaha-op!" she cried.

"Having fun?" a voice broke in. Immediatly 001 jumped away from Niki and towards the voice. "Hey Selma! What are you doing?" He grinned disarmingly at the other girl.

That smile......When Tali turned to address her, she returned to her usual flustered, shy self and looked down at her journal, suddenly seeming to find the cover facinating.

"I uh....was going to- I came down here...to write in my journal. I haven't written anything in it since the flower boxes opened...." she responded softly, before looking back up and returning a tenative smile.

"What about you guys?"

Niki sighed with relief as Tali stopped tickling her, still giggling randomly as she tried to catch her breath. Turning, she saw Selma and shrugged. "I was bored..."

"I was trying to study," Tali gestured to the forgotten book and grimaced slightly. "But I just couldn't concentrate today." He shifted from foot to foot. "Oh, uh, by the way.. Thanks for the flower, I really liked it." Tali stumbled over his words for a moment.

"Oh...uh....you're welcome," she replied, blushing slightly. "I liked the ones you gave me too. They're very pretty." She shuffled her feet for a moment before turning to Niki and addressing her, trying to change the subject.

"Why are you bored Niki?"

Niki shrugged. "I guess because we don't have anything to do anymore. Classes are over with. We're just waiting to be tested..." She sighed. She didn't want that day to come. What if they were all split up? Seperate? Spread out across the world to various elements?? They would become enemies. Would make new friends, friends of their own element.

"Yeah....tested..." she repeated, before growing quiet again and sitting down in a nearby chair. She was worried about testing. While she had done fairly well in all her classes, she hadn't noticed herself showing any particular inclination towards any of the elements. What if she was....colorless? She didn't know if any of the others migth be having the same concerns...and maybe it was normal? Inwardly, she sighed, and tried to push the thoughts away. It wouldn't do any good dwelling on what might be, when whatever happened, it was something she couldn't change.

"Hey! Cheer up, Selma. There's no way we could be opposing elements. And I just know that each and every one of us will have an element. You'll see. Maybe," Tali hesitated for a moment. "Maybe we'll even end all the fighting between elements. Wouldn't that be awesome? Think of what could be done if Elementals weren't fighting each other. We could focus more on figuring out stuff. Like how those pad things work in the tower." The teen's eyes fairly glowed with excitement as he spun his dream out for the girls. "Wouldn't that be something?" he sighed.

"That would be amazing if we could stop the fighting," she said, offering Tali a hopeful smile.
"But what pad things are you talking about?" she looked at him confused. "I've never heard of anything like that."

Niki stared at Tali for several moments. Yeah, it was a nice dream. But how could they stop all the fighting? They were just teens. Teens who hadn't even been tested yet. What influence could they have on all the elementals?

Tali flushed slightly. "You know, the flat things next to some of the upper level doors in the tower. Niki and I tried to explore up there one day but we couldn't get in." He started to pace back and forth, a restless energy.

"Oh..." she responded softly. "I guess I didn't know they were there. I don't think I've ever been that far up in the tower." She looked down at her lap again, but watched Tali pacing out of the corner of her eye.

Niki finally tuned back into the conversation at that point. "Yeah, they're like the flat things next to the door to the kitchen. The Matrons can open the doors somehow..."

Tali stopped pacing. "I wonder where everyone else is?" he asked suddenly. "Well, I guess Manelin and the younger ones are in class still... But Parmida should be free. Gah! I want to do something!" He kicked the nearby couch.

Parmida walked in, her nose buried in a book. She didn't even look up as she headed towards the couch. It was only when she slammed into someone and went sprawling did she notice that there were others in the room. She blinked at everyone, and stupidly asked, "What's everyone doing here?" before looking around for her book.

"Do somthing like what?" Selma asked Tali, before giggling as Parmida ran into him.
"You guys ok? That must be a good book Parmida. We're just discussing testing and our futures and such...." she trailed off and shrugged

"And speaking of her..." Niki muttered as Parmida entered, but seemed not to notice them. She looked over at Tali, awaiting his answer to Selma's question. "What could we do?"

Parmida blushed a bright red as she picked up her book. "It's a... ahem, very good book..." She quickly picked herself up, tucked the book away so no one could read the cover, and reached a hand out to Tali to help him to his feet. She looked over at Selma and Niki. "Testing? Futures?" She shuddered. She had been trying to avoid thinking of that. "How so?"

Tali stumbled forward and tripped over the edge of the couch, landing in a strange position with his face nearly kissing the floor. Laughing slightly to cover his embarresment Tali allowed Parmida to help him back up. "I'm fine...Though you should try to make than an attack. Secret Parmida Back Attack or something! Eh, I don't know," he continued in reply to the earlier question, "I just feel... silly, just sitting and waiting to be tested. I mean, we don't even have real classes anymorel. Just books to read..." Experiment 001 shrugged. "The hide and seek game turned out terrible, and I don't really want to do a game anyway. I guess I'm just restless."

"Hmm...." Selma leaned back in the chair, thinking. "Well, we should try and do something we won't be able to do after we've been tested..." she said softly. "I don't know exactly what though..."

Parmida pulled Tali to his feet with a small grunt, and looked around for a place to sit before going over and sitting down. She looked at each of the others before replying to Selma's half-question. "Well, I suppose we could do a few more fights..." she said hesitantly.

None of her fights have really gone well thus far, making her wary of actual fighting. Another reason she didn't want to be tested. You had to fight out there and she wasn't very good at it. There were a few other things they could do, but they could do that after being tested. Actually, the matrons would prefer if they did some things after being tested. Drat her body for making her feel oddly about being around boys! She off-handly wondered if she could keep her current book with her after testing, then dismissed it out of mind to think some more about what to do, her face scrunched up in thought.

"Too bad we can't leave the tower and explore the other cities before we got tested..." she thought out loud. She rather know what she was getting into before she was thrown into it.

Niki sat down in a chair, sighing. "It would be nice to visit the other cities, but there's no way we could manage that! Sneaking out of the city wall when we were only kids was hard enough..." She thought for a moment. "Besides, we'll get to see one of the cities, at least, after being tested..."

Parmida sighed before leaning back. "Yeah, but once we're out of the city, how are we to know just where our city is? How are we to know we would be accepted into the city? I'm afraid..." she trailed off, gulped, and finished, "I'm afraid that we'd been seen as trespassers and killed on sight if we tried to enter any of the other cities..."

"Well it'd be just as bad if we tried to visit now," Selma pointed out. "But once we're determinded to belong to one element or another, I'm sure they'll let the city in question know, so they'll be expecting us."

Niki shrugged. "I'm sure they've got it worked out, somehow. Maybe they give us a letter or something to give to someone...?"

Tali grimaced. "I don't know. Sending new students out just seems risky. Maybe they send someone to collect us, like peices of baggage." Tali shifted on his feet still standing. "You think the Air elementals could fly and pick their kids up? That would really be something to see."

Niki's face lit up. "That would be cool, Tali! But what about the others? They'd all have to walk..." Surely something was worked out? Tali's idea made sense. After all, how where they to know how to get to the cities??

"Maybe that's something secret that we're told, only after we're tested..." Selma suggested softly

Parmida shuddered slightly. "See the Air elementals fly? Sure. Be one of those to be picked up? Rather not..." Her eyes became slightly unfocused for a moment. She then blinked and looked around the room. "Not to mentain, anyone have any guesses as to which of us will be which element?"

Niki nodded at Selma. "Probably. But it's fun to try and guess..."

She then chuckled at Parmida's comment, then pondered. "I dunno... I like Air. The wind... not that we get much of that in the city... stupid tall walls..."

Tali brightened. "I hope I'm a Water Elemental. I got this book all about under water plants and animals and it's really cool! Did you know they found a fish that had a light growing out of it's head? And there are these huge turtles that live for hundreds of years. Plus, just think of what you could do with water. Anything really." He turned to Niki, "I could see you as a wind elemental. And....Selma... Maybe Earth? Vincent, " Tali flushed slightly, just for a moment, remembering that not so long ago humiliation when he had actually *hugged* his roommate. "I would guess air...Or maybe fire. Parmida...I would guess Air or Earth...Maybe."

Selma shrugged. "I have no idea what I'll be really." She dragged her feet back and forth on the floor. "Sometimes I worry if I'll be colorless..."

Niki chuckled. "Well, after Parmida's reaction to the thought of being picked up by a flying Air elemental, I would strike that out. But," she turned to Parmida, "I could see you as an Earth."

"Selma seems like a Water elemental... Vincent.. I don't know. Air sounds like a possibility, maybe fire..."

Niki turned back to Tali. "I could definately see you as a Water elemental... Though not Manelin!" She grinned.

Parmida shivered at Tali's suggestions for her. "I'm afraid of heights. I don't think I'll be Air. Earth more likely. Perhaps Water... I can even distantly see Fire..." She couldn't help but grin at Niki's statement about Manelin. "Manelin most surely would not be Water. He's more likely to be Fire..." She looked at the others, and spoke to herself. "I was thinking Selma would be Air, Tali Water, and Niki also Air... Vincent... I don't know... Air? That or Fire, with the temper he has..."

Selma laughed a little. "Well you guys all have a different opinion as to what you think I'll be. I thought that Tali would be water or air....Niki fire....Parmida....earth....Vincent air, maybe? I wish I knew him better.."

Tali barely heard Selma's second comment. Quickly he crossed the room and kneeled in front of her, hands on her knees. "You are *not* going to be colorless," the teen stated firmly catching her eyes and staring straight into them. "Got it? You are one of the better students in our class. Don't doubt yourself."

She looked up at Tali and gave him a grateful smile, before leaning forward and giving him a gentle hug. "Thanks Tali," she said softly.

Niki blinked at Tali. "I wonder... would it actually be a bad thing to be colorless? Sure, Elementals are stronger. So everyone says. But the colorless don't have to fight all the time..." She shrugged. "Not that I'm volunteering to be colorless or anything like that..."

Parmida blinked and looked at Niki. "The colorless have to fight sometimes?" She knew that there were soldiers around the gates, but she thought they were just for show. After all, elemental powers quit working around the tower and surrounding city...

Tali blushed hotly and rocked back a slightly goofy grin on his face. "You're welcome..." he muttered before coughing and getting back to his feet. This time he perched on the couch side.

"But...It's so bland here. I don't know. I like fighting...Or at least the fighting we do here. I don't know if I want to kill anyone...or even knock them out. The boy shrugged. "Every colorless I've met, other than the Matron's, seems to really hate being colorless. And I know I wouldn't want to have to take care of kids all the time. It's nice on occasion but.." Tali made a slight face.

Selma looked over at Tali when he talked about taking care of the children. "I don't know that I would mind so much watching the kids. I like them well enough." She shrugged, growing quiet again.

"Maybe you'll be a teacher then and teach all the new Elementals. They must have a lot of patience, and I know you do too." Tali winced inwardly at the botched complement. "I mean.. You're really good around the toddlers and--"

"Thanks Tali," she said, smiling shyly. "I'm sure you'll be good at whatever you choose to do. You're good at lot of things, and you're friendly."

Niki blinked. "Well, I suppose the Colorless fight if they want to. But at least they're not caught up in the whole war..."

Tali sighed and leaned back, forgetting there wasn't a back to the side. For a moment he flailed his arms before getting his balance back. "Eh..heh...Ooops."

Kakashi slowly opened the Common Room door, peering into the room warily before stepping in, closing the door behind him quietly. Unconsciencly, his left hand had moved to his face, and his index finger was lightly rubbing the almost-healed slash across his once-brown eye. Mismatched eyes going over each person in the room, he sighed and let his left hand fall back to his side, showing in full his single once-brown red eye.

Niki looked up as well as 015 entered the room. Smiling, she waved at the little boy

Parmida glanced at Kakashi as he came in. "'Ello." She greeted simply. Wasn't he suppose to be in class? Hm. Maybe class was out already... How long have they been here talking?

Selma giggled quietly at Tali's near-miss with falling off the couch, while waving at Kakashi as he came in.

"You ok Tali?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah!" Tali laughed uneasily. "Is it really late enough that class is over already? Wow. Time does fly when you're having fun."

to be cont...

keetabirdy

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keetabirdy

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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:21 pm

Dear Journal,

I went to the common room today, intending to write in you, and ended up seeing Tali and Niki there, and then Parmida wandered in shortly afterwards. I was going to tell you about the practice fight I had with Niki, but I think this is more interesting.

We talked about what our futures are going to be like, and speculated as to what our elements would be. No one agreed on what they thought I would be. Whch brings me to this. For a while now, I've been wondering whether I will really be an elemental, or if I will be....colorless. And the fact that I seem to show no real propensity for a particular element makes me worry. I kinda muttered something about that while we were talking today. Tali heard me I guess, and was very adament about saying that I would not be colorless. I hope he's right....he's such a nice guy....

Selma, 005

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:23 pm

A Walk and a Talk

Tali caught sight of Selma in the yard and hurried down the steps towards her. He had been planning on this for a while, ever since he had talked to his Matron. She found it funny but Tali..there was nothing to laugh at. Still, every time he tried something went wrong. Either he'd chicken out, or everyone else was there.

"Selma!" The dark haired teen rushed towards the girl, arriving out of breath. "Would, uh.., Wouldyouliketotakeawalkwithme?" Tali finally rushed out, still slightly out of breath. He shifted from foot to foot waiting on the girl's answer.

Selma whirrled when she heard someone call her name, and was surprised to see it was Tali. She was even more surprised to seem him rushing towards her and arriving out of breath. It took her a second to proccess his request, having to seperate the words that had been all strung together.

When she realized what he said, she unconsiously turned a little pink. "I...um...sure..." she said, smiling shyly, wondering why he seemed to be so nervous.

Tali's face lit up. "Great!" He started off towards the city, taking care to walk alongside Selma. Now what was it his Matron suggested he do? Oh yeah...Try to hold her hand... Tali blushed, thinking about it. How was he supposed to do that? An idle thought popped into his head. It was soo much easier when they were little.

"So..um..Nice weather we're having?" Tali's voice squeaked a little from nervousness. He glanced at Selma out of the corner of his eyes. Would she mind if he tried to hold her hand?

Selma walked beside him, wondering what was up. It wasn't like him to just randomly ask her for a walk. It was a little strange being alone with him. She had been kind of alone with him when they had played hide and seek....but that wasn't the same thing.

"Yeah, I like it when it's sunny out, with a slight breeze. There are a few clouds in the sky, so maybe we'll get a nice sunset." She tooked to look at him and gave him a smile, studying his face, and his eyes. She felt herself turning red again and she looked back forward, hoping Tali hadn't noticed. She had to get her blushing under control!

Tali relaxed a little smiled back at the other teen. "Yeah, it's been a great day out. I'm really glad you agreed to come with me." He glanced sideways at Selma. "You look...really pretty today..With the sun in your hair and all." Tali inched his hand towards Selma's as they walked down one of the broad streets.

So much for not blushing! When Tali told her she looked pretty, it took a lot for her not to hide her face in her hands. Damn her shyness!

"I...uh....thank you Tali." She took a deep breath before continuing. "You're looking handsome as well." She almost stopped in her tracks after she said that. Did I really just say that? she thought.

Now it was Tali's turn to want to hide his face. She thought he was handsome! Tali wasn't sure if he wanted to jump up and down with excitement or try to melt the window with the heat from his face. Maybe she really would let him hold her hand. "Thank you Selma.." Should he try now? Maybe.. He noticed Selma had faltered for a moment and made an attempt on her hand, aborting part way.

"What have you been doing to keep busy, besides writing?" He asked, trying to keep up the conversation.

Glad for the topic change, Selma mentally willed her face to turn back to a normal color, before answering his question, completely oblivious to his attempts to hold her hand.

"Not too much. I've been reading some, and lately I've been going down to help the matrons with the younger ones a bit." She smiled and glanced at him in curiosity. "What about yourself?"

Tali grinned, "Me, I've been helping the fighting teacher. There's an even number of kids in the current group so I get to be the demonstration dummy. It's pretty fun, Manelin's in there." Tali took a deep breath, and reached out to grab Selma's hand. He stared straight ahead and tried to continue the conversation with a straight face. "You're helping the Matron's with the kids? What do you do? Any interesting new toddlers around?"

Selma let out a small gasp of surprise as she felt Tali take her hand in his. She looked down at it for a second to make sure her senses weren't playing tricks on her. Yup there it was. Her hand in his. She looked back up at him as they continued walking, a shy, but pleased smile on her face.
That was unexprected....but not unwelcome, she thought, giving his hand a squeeze, before looking forward again and doing her best to continue the conversation.

"Sounds like you have a good time in there. As for helping the matrons, I sometimes change diapers, help the kinds get dressed, read them stories, that kind of thing. There are a few interesteing ones, though the only ones I could say I 'know' right now are Xenres and Gabriella, or Gabby as she calls herself. 016 and 018 I think...Gabby can be quite a brat sometimes..." She made a face, indicating her displeasure at the times when the toddler acted up.

Tali grinned when Selma just squeezed his hand. He glanced over at her. "I'm sure she'll learn not to act up with you're around." Tali paused for a moment. "It must be really hard to give up the babies to the Matron's," he mused quietly.

"That would be nice if she did..." she agreed, looking over at Tali to respond to his second statement, her expression a little sad. "Yeah.... I've wondered how the mothers handle it. What if they want to keep their child or children? Are they just forcibly taken away?"

Tali thought for a moment. "I think the kids get taken away anyway. My matron told me that Vincent's mother didn't want to give him up which was why he was late coming to the dorms. It seems kind of mean to do that thorugh.." Tali sighed. "I guess it's so we don't really form strong ties before we go to the Elementals. What if you were an Earth and your mom was air? I guess it's good in that sense.." Tali's voice trailed off slightly. On one hand it made sense considering the constant warfare but on the other...What would it be like to have a Mother? Perhaps it would be like having a Matron all to himself.

"Its sad though....I imagine it must have been really hard for her. I wonder how they make sure they get every child?" She sighed and squeezed his hand again, secretly wondering if anyone had ever succeeded in keeping their baby and raising it. She shook her head, trying to push the thoughts from her mind. Its not like she had to worry about that any time soon.

"Maybe we should talk about something happier...." she gave him a small smile. "It does no good for us to dwell on these things." Selma added the last bit as much for her benefit as his.

"You're right," he said with a smile. "Hmm...Happier subjects. I could talk about how pretty you are." He teased, remembering how she had blushed at his compliment before. Perhaps this 'dating' stuff wasn't that hard after all. "I know!" He continued as a throught struck him. "Have you explored much around Nanedin?" Secretly he hoped she'd say no. He and Niki had done most of their exploring around the tower when they were younger but since Tali had been a teen he'd done some looking around on his own. There was one place that should be georgous this time of year.

The blush returned at the compliment, a soft smile appearing on her lips. She brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she tried to regain her composure slightly. At his question about Nanedin, she shook her head.

"I'm afraid I haven't. I was too 'good' to go off and wander on my own when I was younger," she said with a slight chuckle. "And books have allowed my imagination to explore and travel even if I wasn't physically."

"Well, sometimes you need to go out and actually see things. C'mon," he tugged gently at her hand. "Just follow me." Personally Tali was quite happy with the answer Selma had given. It gave him a chance to show her something quite special.

The two wound through the streets until they reached a section close to the wall, towards the Earth section. A low half wall wound down several blocks, sectioning out a beautiful park. Most of the flowers were in bloom and the blossoms sometimes spread out to drip over the path. Towards the center of the park was a small grove of old trees. "What do you think?"

Selma followed Tali in curious amusement. It made her smile to see that he was excited to be able to show her whatever it was he was taking her to see. She wondered what it was, and began to grow more curious the further they went.

When they reached the park, Selma let out a small gasp of delight. She let her eyes feast on the beauty of it before turning to Tali and smiling.
"Oh Tali, its beautiful! I had no idea there was something like this in Nanedin!"
She smiled and tugged on his hand like he had hers, encouraging him to walk with her, while she explored the beauty of the area.

The teen gladly walked with Selma through the park. "I thought you'd like it," he commented, voice quiet in the natural surroundings. "Supposedly there's one based on each of the other Elements but I've only found this and the Water one."

"One for each of the four elements huh? Well maybe you'll have to show me tha water one sometime, or we can search for the air and fire ones...." She trailed off, hoping her words were indicative of a desire to spend more time with Tali.

"How did you come upon this one?"

"I'd love to look for the other two with you. It'd be fun." He had the urge to jump up and down and clap his hands. At least, if he was reading things right.

Tali bent down and picked a flower, careful to snap it off where at the stem so a new one could grow in it's place. Casually he offered the white bloom to Selma. "Actually, " Tali chuckled. "I was kinda...hiding from the Matron's.." He shrugged a little. "Vincent and I had had a fight and well, I didn't feel like apologizing so I ran off and got lost."

Selma accepted the flower with a smile, bringing it to her nose so she could smell the fragrant blossom. After a moment, she tucked it behind her ear, the white standing out against the red of her hair.

"Oh? What were you fighting about?" she asked curiously.

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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:25 pm

Dear Journal,

Today as I was heading across the yard on my way back to the dormatory, Tali came after me and asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. Well...blurted it out is more like it. I agreed, and we started talking as we walked.

We touched on the weather for a little, but ended up talking about how we thought the other was beautiful or handsome accordingly. I'm still blushing just thinking about it. I can't believe I told him he looked handsome! I need to figure out how to get this blushing thing under control...its embarassing, which only tends to make me blush more.

You'll never believe what happened after we said the pretty/handsome thing though! He held my hand, and took me to a garden that I had never seen before, that is dedicated to the Earth Elementals. It was so beautiful! I didn't know that there was anything like that. Apparently there is one for each of the elements.

I really think (hope) that since he tried to hold my hand, and took me to that beautiful garden that he likes me in that special way the matrons have told me about. I think I like him that way too. We'll see what happens as time passes. But for tonight at least, I'll be dreaming about him.

Selma, 005

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:26 pm

A most unusual meal

The sun was shining in the small cafeteria for the teens in the tower. Normally the older teens were allowed to wander whereever they desired to go, and could certainly go to the dorms for their meals but today a note had been slipped under everyone's door.

"*Insert Exp. # here*

Please report to the tower cafeteria for lunch today, along with the rest of your age set," the perfectly neat letters wrote out. Steaming hot bowls of oatmeal already sat at the tables waiting for the five teens, along with glasses of some sort of iced tea. The place was empty waiting for the teens.

Selma picked up the note that had been slipped under hor door and read it curiously. The cafeteria, huh? She shrugged and looked at the position of the sun out her window. It looked to be almost lunch time. Might as well head over now, she thought. Slipping on her shoes, she headed out the door towards the cafeteria, wondering what the occasion was.

Her hair fixed, 002 headed towards the tower cafeteria, nabbing a spot by Tali as she entered. Oatmeal? Eh... that was okay. Tea was nasty. Niki sighed. But she didn't see anyone around, so she couldn't request a glass of water. She'd suffer through the horrible tasting tea. Then drink a lot of water later.

She started eating, listening to the various conversations, occasionally submitting her own entry to the chatter. Soon she began to feel tired. That was weird. She hadn't done anything to make her really tired today...

And that was the last thought that she had as she managed to avoid falling asleep in her bowl of oatmeal.

Parmida slid into a spot near the others as she eyed the meal. Eh, she supposed. She drank some of the tea, and ate a few bites of the oatmeal before managing to push away the bowl and yawn as she fell asleep, her head nestled in her arms.

Tali wasn't the first in the room, and he wasn't the last. Still he waited for Niki to arrive before trying the oatmeal. He took but a bite before glancing around at the others. "Anyone know why it's oatmeal-" the teen surprised himself with a yawn in the middle of his sentence, "Sorry.. Oatmeal for lunch? And tea?" Speaking of tea, suddenly Tali was really thirsty. He nearly downed the whole glass in one gulp.

Suddenly Niki laid her head down and started breathing deeply. Strange..It was afternoon. Tali blinked and bit back another yawn. "Sleepy..." he muttered to himself as the table looked more and more inviting. He pushed the oatmeal away from him and glanced around the table, barely able to keep his eyes open. "Really..sleepy....." 001 yawned again, and pillowed his head with arms on the table. He would just lay his head down. He wouldn't actually....sleep......

Selma arrived in the cafeteria a little after Niki and Parmida, a little surprised to see no one else around. Shrugging, she sat down next to Parmida and pulled a bowl of oatmeal towards herself. It wasn't one of her favorite things to eat, but it would do.

She took a few good-sized bites and a couple sips of the teas, before she saw Niki and Parmida fall asleep at the table. I wonder why they're so tired? she thought. A moment later, however, her own eyes felt heavy and she pushed her bowl to the side.
"Maybe they have the right idea... after....all....." she muttered, as she closed her eyes.

Vincent was trailing behind Tali as they went for their special lunch. He carefully kept his eyes averted and took the furthes seat he could away from him when they sat down for lunch. He refrained from making a face when he saw what lunch consisted of. Oatmeal? He hated mushy food. What was worse was the unappitizing gray color. Why'd he skip breakfast again? Oh yeah, 'cause Tali was there. Man, how confusing...

~*~
Vincent flung the door open and was overwhelmed quickly as someone virtually leaped onto him and clung crying. Sarcasm, relief, and some other things were hurled at him but this was a person, not a word. Faintly wondering if one of the girls were afraid of the dark he looked down to find a familiar white streak and chocolate brown hair. He thought he was going to choke, the color draining from his face and his eyes widening. Tali? Tali was thanking him over and over. Yes...he was afraid of the dark wasn't he? He made Vincent leave the light on when they were kids, but still?
A detached part of him though this should be funny. He finally landed a blow that counted and reduced his enemy to a crying child clinging to him for support but why wasn't it? It was sad, it wasn't even fun. It felt almost inhumane
"Tali, you're acting ridiculous..." He muttered, attempting to straitened the boy up. "Just like a girl." Did anyone even hear him? "Listen, I'm going to go...go get a Matron...no...do you want some water?" He was mummering, his voice faint and somewhat distant. What had Tali said he...
~*~
Vincent was jolted out of his revorie when he actually tasted his oatmeal. He made a face. His daydreaming had forced his body to feed himself with or without his consent. Sighing he forced down a few more quick spoonfuls to sate his growling stomach then...yawned? He went to bed early last night...if only to avoid talking to Tali but he had had plenty of sleep. He yawned again and swayed. He looked over to notice the others were looking blearly eyed and then Niki nearly faceplanted in her oatmeal. What was going on? He swayed again then caught himself falling forward, with one last halfhearted yawn he gently layed his head down and was gone.

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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:28 pm

Log Entry #004A
Subject(s): 005

Well I've been so busy trying to keep up with 005 lately, that I haven't had time to update this. Right now, however, 016 is taking a nap, and 005 has been giving a hallucinogenic sleeping drug, so I suppose I have a few minutes to write something up.

Since I last recorded information regarding 005, she has had another practice fight with 002, had a talk with her agemates about the upcoming testing and, has developed a bit of a romance with 001. All-in-all its been a bit crazy around here trying to keep everything straight, because on top of this I of course still have to keep tabs on 016. I hear tell they might be giving me a third one soon. They better make it a boy...

Anyways, it should be interesting to see where this romance leads, as my best indicators of which element will be assigned to which experiement leads me to believe that 001 and 005 will not be paired with the same element. I suppose I don't have long to wait to see if my prediction is true though. The testing has begun and soon all will know.

Log Entry End
Observer: Keetabirdy

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:43 pm

The Testing Begins....

The teens awoke in a large white room. They had been placed onto couches placed along one wall. There were two adults present, a middle aged man and a slightly older woman. Both had quills and a pad in their hands. Once all of the teens awoke, the man spoke up.

"Alright, now to begin your testing. First off, we apologize for your lunch. We gave you a drug in your food that was supposed to help us with this testing process, but we accidentally gave you too much of it and you all fell asleep on us."

The woman stepped forth and spoke then. "We hope you aren't too drowsy. First off, we are going to have you take a test over there." She pointed to an area to her right and the teens' left where five desks were set up.

The man spoke again. "Then we'll have a few, very short, spars to determine your fighting abilities."

Parmida groaned softly and put a hand to her head as she started to sit up. She cracked one eye opened as she settled back down and tried to glare at whoever was attempting to talk to her without much success. The light hurt her eyes too much. "My head hurts to the point I rather it just finish exploding and you want me to do what?" She - softly - complained. Note to self: stay away from drugs. They make your head feel like it will only quit hurting if it exploded. she thought grimly. She wondered idly if they had something for her head. "I don't suppose you have anything for headaches and dry throats, do you? There was a brief flash of panic somewhere in her mind - she shouldn't eat or drink anything she was given. She kicked that thought away, wanting to get rid of the pain over dealing with an unreasonable fear

The man glanced at the woman. "We can get all of you some water," she told the group, moving to the door on her left side of the room. She opened it a small amount and poked her head out, obviously talking to someone just outside of the room. She stood at the door for a few moments, then opened it as a younger woman, not far out of her teens, came in with a pitcher of water and several glasses. This was set at a table, where two chairs were set to look at the empty part of the room. Probably for the older woman and the man to sit at during the sparring.

The younger woman left after putting the tray down, followed by the older woman, who opened and closed the door for the younger girl.

Selma's eyes fluttered open once more and she squinted into the bright lights. She had been having a strange dream. Some guy was in it...and well, she couldn't remember much else. Weird stuff...but just a dream. She shook it off and looked around her.

Blinking, she found herself on a couch next to Parmida, with Niki, Tali and Vincent not far away. A moment later, she heard a man start speaking about why they had all fallen asleep and then about testing. Ah, so that's what's going on. Inwardly she nodded a moment before freezing. Testing? A knot began to form in her stomach as she looked around at her agemates. She was still afraid of what they might tell her when she was finished being tested.

She looked towards the desks where the women pointed, wondering exactly what kind of test they were to take. And then....fighting...ugh. Her sudden nerves brought on by the idea of being tested here and now make the fighting even less appealing than it normally was. She hoped that it wouldn't affect her performance in anything. Unconsiously, she began to play with the ends of her hair: the physical manefestation of her nerves.

Parmida spoke up then, asking for water, which was promtly brought, and was a very welcome sight. Hesitantly, Selma got up and walked to the glasses to pour herself some water, hoping the man and woman wouldn't object.

Nikiana awoke, recalling bits and pieces of her dream. Which seemed to have a rather frustrated and panicky man in it... But she didn't recall why he was like that. Or even why she was talking to him. But she remembered that he was weird. Very weird.

The redhead sat up, blinking sleep from her eyes as a voice spoke up suddenly. She looked over at the two adults, listening to what they said, then glancing over at the desks.

They stopped talking and Parmida asked for something to drink. Some water was brought in. It made Niki remember.... something. But she was thirsty, so she followed Selma to get a glass before going to take this test. It didn't sound like fun.

Tali jumped from sleeping to waking in a second, mildly jerking at the sudden transition. He sat up cautiously and swallowed, trying to wet his dry throat. His body still felt heavy and his eyes drooped a bit, trying to regain the slumber he had been in. However, his mind was quite possibly more alert than it had ever been. The teen slowly streached out and followed Selma to the water.

Experiment 001 filled a glass with water and gulped it down thirstily. He quickly did the same with a second and finally slowed down on his third. Thirst slaked, Tali swished the water around his mouth, trying to rid himself of the acrid taste that seemed to linger. "A test and a fight?" he asked Selma quietly. "Doesn't this seem..anti-climatic for all the mystery over testing?" he continued to think outloud. "Huh...but maybe that's the point. Hype us up and try to rattle us.." He glanced over at Selma and nearly swallowed his tounge. Probably not the best thoughts to be thinking outloud around someone that nervous.

"Don't be nervous. You'll do fine. We all will." Gently he placed his hand on her arm and squeezed reassuringly.

Parmida sniffed the air. She could almost swear she smelled the water. Such lovely smelling water... She lurched upright, flailing for a moment to stay upright, then lurched to her feet. She wasn't quite certain if she managed to avoid hitting anyone during that rather long process, but she had high hopes considering she didn't feel herself hitting anyone... Then again, she didn't feel herself hitting the couch on her way up either... She started to shake her head then stopped when pain threatened to drown her again, so she sighed and stumbled over to where Niki, Selma, and Tali were to get herself a glass... Well, she decided as her vision blurred that perhaps just maybe she should have one of the others get her a glass since it seemed her balance and aim were off at the moment...

Selma downed almost two glasses before she felt her throat to be comfortable again, returning to playing with her hair as soon as she set down her glass. Her hands stopped moving, but still clung to her hair when Tali made the comment about trying to rattle up the testees. When he placed his hand on her arm, it seemed to break the trance-like state she was in. She turned to look at him, and tried to smile, but only the corners of her mouth twitched slightly.

"I-I hope so Tali..." she said, more quietly than usual, her face gone slightly pale. "I thought...there would be some warning...to prepare...."

Parmida mumbled something under her breath about it not being testing if you were warned before she finally nabbed a glass, poured water into it, and threw it back to swallow in one gulp. A small part of her mind was shrieking with fear, but she kicked it back into it's corner before pouring herself another and throwing it back too. She finally rubbed her face and seemed to wake up some more. She made a face and got a third glass of water which she sipped at as she listened to the others.

She wondered if they would start testing without Vincent, and hoped Vincent didn't wake for awhile. She was still groggy and her head pulsed it time with her heart. She was hungry, come to think of it. After all, they really didn't get much lunch, but was it safe to fight on a full stomach? Her stomach growled, not caring about safe later and wanted fed now

Selma's head snapped in Parmida's direction when she heard her comment. A hurt expression came over her face as she looked at Parmida, before dropping her gaze to the floor.
"I just thought..." she started, not sure how to finish her sentence. Because she was so stressed out, nervous and confused, the simple comment was like a slap in the face, and almost brought Selma to tears. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, willing them back, all the while thinking: I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry.....

Parmida blinked and stared at Selma. She just thought what? Who said what? She tried to clear confusion from her face even though she had no clue what Selma was going on about... Maybe a half-clue. Did she go mumbling something under her breath again? She tended to mumble things when stressed and not remember them afterwards. This had to be one of those times. Elements only know she had reason to be stressed. She winced internally even as she tried to figure out how to calm Selma's nerves while her own were jangling so bad she could almost hear them... Her increasingly louder stomach growls only added to her worries

Vincent had rolled over on his side, facing the wall. He woke up to the man's voice and the sloshing of water and his body decided that would be a good idea. He could hear the rest of them in the center mummbling and heard the adults shuffling around the other side of the room. Eh, he had to get up eventually.
His hair had fallen out of it's braid and he pushed it out of his eyes and got up, silently pouring himself a glass of water. He had to wedge himself between Parmida and Selma to do so and he ended up downing three glasses without much effort. They gave them too much of the drug? Vincent didn't believe for a second that that was an accident. Now where were they? It must be the tower... but was it really time for testing yet? He glanced over the group, his eyes lingering on Tali. What was everyone thinking?

Oh, by the elements. Vincent was awake and she was still feeling the last traces of the drug in her system. She had hoped she would have more time to cleanse her system before they started testing. Of course, she kept having the kick the curious part of her in a corner before it got her attention. Too bad it kept coming back and asking all sorts of questions about what they were to be tested on. The worried part of her constantly thought about the fighting part. She knew she wasn't the greatest at fighting and hoped that losing didn't reflect badly on her score, more so if she was paired with an "agemate" as those around her were called. At least all of her agreed that what they really wanted right now was out of here and to be seated somewhere else with a heap of yummy food in front of them so they could silent her annoying stomach.

"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.

Niki sipped her glass of water, watching the antics of her agemates around her.

The man coughed to get the group's attention. "If you would..." He gestured to the desks.

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.

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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 9:46 pm

Testing Part 2

Parmida shifted nervously, trying to say sorry to Selma, before one of the adults ask them to take their seats. She squirmed for a moment before taking one last sip of water, setting the glass down, and eventually moving towards a desk.

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

Vincent finished his glass then moved with the others. He ended up in the desk next to Tali, the paper turned over on it's front so he couldn't see what was on it. Arithmatic, astronomy, literature, and life sciences, he knew those and they hadn't been taught much else, what could this possibly be?

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.

Test:

1. Name the four elements and their corresponding cities?
2. How does one tell the job of another Elemental?
3. What are the homes in Acinar made of?
4. How does one travel in Ceiba?
5. Where is the center of learning in Telphe?
6. How does one get to a home on Notuma?

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. She eventually finished writing down her answers and put her quill down with a sigh. She hoped she got them right.

Niki blinked as she turned over the test. This wasn't all that hard. Just some simple questions... She shrugged and scribbled down her answers in the spaces provided.

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'.

Vincent snorted. They got all worked up for this? Simple... they learned this in primary classes. He quickly expanded on the answeres pausing only to rearrange his thoughts on a few. Certainly this was just a facade; testing wouldn't be this easy.

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.

Selma actually smiled a little as her quill made the last few strokes on the paper. Almost as soon as she set it down, her paper was picked up by the woman. She had a sudden urge to try and grab it away, and look over her answers again, to make sure they were right, but resisted. She knew that she had done the best she could.

Then the man came forward and announced the fighting portion of the test. Selma began to tense up again with apprehension when she heard who she was to be paired with. Vincent? She hadn't fought him before. She had no idea how good he was, or what to expect. Glancing at him, she approached the mat, trying to keep her stomach from regaining its butterflies.

Parmida blinked and sat back, fighting the urge to grab her test back and look at it again as one of the adults came over and took her test answers. It wasn't as if she suddenly thought of the correct answer for any of those... Now for the fighting. Her heart plummented through her stomach into her feet. She wouldn't even be fighting one of her own classmates, so she hadn't a clue what... 945's?... moves would be like...

Niki sighed as she finished the last question and the woman came by, taking the paper up. She rolled her head about to ease the tension in her neck and shoulders, then looked up as the man spoke about the fighting portion.

She'd be fighting Tali! Yay! Niki grinned. Tali was fun to fight with. He made it challenging for her and it was just fun. She got up and tried not to run over there, but hurried the way it was.

Once there, she glanced back over her shoulder to see if they should just go ahead and start.

Vincent stood to face his partner. He'd never fought Selma before... in fact he seemed to avoid fighting. What was the point after all? Why would they bother to teach them to hurt each other unless they had other motives in mind. This whole testing process seemed off somehow.
Selma was almost as quiet as he was; very rarely could he remember talking to her after the became teens and only a little more when they were children. Perhaps they would be almost equal in a fight...it would all depend.

The man nodded. "You may begin! Remember, one at a time."

Tali grinned at Niki. "You can go first. I don't think it's an actual fight so try to go easy on me." The teen winked, remembering their first fight.

Niki grinned. She remembered their first fight very clearly. "Oh, alright... I suppose so..." She decided to tackle Tali, her new favorite attack.

Tali deliberatly didn't move, letting Niki complete her tackle and send him to the ground with a muffled thud. The teen wriggled a bit. "Oof, you're heavy. What have you been eating Niki?" he demanded, a bit of teasing in his voice, fully ready for a punch or kick from the red head. He couldn't help it. This sparring was putting him in a much better mood (or was it simply a delayed reaction to the drug?).

Niki frowned and glared at Tali's comment about her weight. "Hey, now." She poked him in the sides a few times before she started to get up. Then, deciding against it, stopped getting up and started tickling Tali in revenge.

Selma glanced over at Tali and Niki. They were already fighting? She looked back at Vincent. He didn't look anymore ready than she felt, but....they still had to fight. She tried to offer a smile to him.

"Ready?" she asked tenatively, shifting back and forth on her feet nervously.

Tali howled with laughter, unable to stay serious. "I surrender!!" He gasped around boughts of uncontrollable laughter. "You're as light as a feather! You're going to float off into the sky!"

Parmida was about to attack 945... somehow... when she heard Tali laugh. She jerked backwards and spun her head to see... Just what were they doing in that position? She blushed instantly and spun her head back around, pretending she didn't see that. She shook her head slightly to clear it, then sent a punch her partner's way, not wanting to show how her kicks were.

Niki grinned as Tali howled with laughter and gave up, announcing that she was as light as a feather. The girl stopped tickling the boy. That phrase... something about it made her remember... something. Blinking, she gave a slight shake of her head, as if to rattle that thought on out of there.

Standing, she grinned down at Tali. "Your turn."

"Fine, fine! You'll regret tickling me." Tali muttered as he stood up with a grin. The boy launched himself at Niki, performing his own tackle.

945 caught the punch in one hand. "Good, good." She said. "You can attack me again. After all, I'm not the one being tested." she added voice darking a little.

Niki grinned, letting Tali tackle her. Or so she told herself. She really didn't have that much time to think about reacting and just took the attack, falling under Tali.

Vincent sighed and shifted his weight to his toes and dashed forwad with only a nod for warning. He kicked his foot sailing high in a arc aiming for her shoulder, or somewhere that wouldn't hurt quite as much as a blow to the head or stomach.

Tali stood up, sticking his tounge out quickly before offering Nikiana a hand up. "Your turn now."

Niki took the offered hand and got up, glancing over at the man and woman. Some of the other groups were just getting started, so Niki shrugged. Again, she supposed.

Well, she'd probably better show a different attack. How about... a kick? Yes, a kick this time. She liked that attack, too.

Parmida caught the dark tone of her fighting partner and hesitated. She wasn't sure if that sound meant they had already been tested and deemed colorless, or if they simply hadn't been tested yet. She did a mental shrug and decided she might as well show how bad her kicks were. She took aim and lashed out with one foot, taking care not to land on her tush in the process.

The teens moved thorugh their paces like well trained dogs moving through hoops. More or less.. Tali nearly fell over during his kick at the least. Finally the teens were dismissed, allowed to go where they wished.

Niki sighed as the group was dismissed. She was starting to hurt a bit. Even though Tali had taken it easy on her and she on him, the two had still hit the floor several times. And the floor wasn't taking it easy on them.

So they couldn't tell anyone? Well, that made sense. No one else ever talked about the testing process. Oh well.

Parmida nearly collapsed with relief. They could go now? She thought about how she did, and internally winced. Her kicks were horrible (even if she did manage to keep her balance each time) and her punches could still use work. She sighed, hoping that elementals did other things beyond fight. Everyone else seemed to do better then her. Even Selma, who once thought she could become colorless... That was a sobering thought. One she actually never gave herself time to think about. What if she would become colorless? It was enough to make her pause where she was. Considering how everyone did... Yes. If anyone would be colorless, it would likely be her. Of course, she tried to reason with herself, perhaps no one would become colorless. Yes, no one would be colorless and they would all leave Nanedin and go to the elemental cities... She had to believe that. She had to. And she couldn't talk to anyone about it. She pressed her lips together tightly and walked to her room to think about it some more.

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 5:34 am

Dear Journal,

Well....we were tested today. It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, although they did give us something to make us sleepy. We all woke up on couches in this big white room.

For the testing, they had us simply answer the questions of a written test, and then spar for a little while. I was paired with Vincent, which wasn't a lot of fun, as I had never fought him before, but on well.

At least its over. I can't help but wonder though, if that's really all they are basing our elemental selection on, especially for someone like me. It seems like there would be some other test to see what element we might be the most like, or comfortable with, but no....I guess all we do now is wait and hope...

Selma, 005

keetabirdy

Friendly Gekko

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keetabirdy

Friendly Gekko

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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 5:36 am

The results

Meanwhile, the teens had been summoned back to the tower once again. This time, however, they were led to a rather large, mostly empty room that was well lit. The man and woman from the testing were there again, as well as each teen's Matron standing near the entrance. The group was led forward, to stand in a line before the man and the woman.

That morning, each teen had woken up to find that their tags, which had hung around their necks all of their lives, were missing and were nowhere to be found in their rooms. When questioned, the Matrons told them not to worry, that they'd be getting them back shortly.

Now, the man waited for the room to grow silent before picking up one of the worn tags.

"001, please step forward." The man spoke out with strong tones, waiting for Tali to take the few steps required. "001 has been assigned to Ceiba, where he will study the powers of the Water element."

There was silence as the man draped the modified tags over Tali's head, the dull gem now replaced with one of a deep blue to show his element. The man stepped back and 001 took his spot back among the other teens.

The woman picked up the next tag. "002, please step forward."

Nikiana moved forward, standing before the woman. The woman spoke again as she draped the girl's tag over her head. "002 has been assigned to Telphe, where she will study the powers of the Air element."

The woman and Nikiana both stepped back to their previous positions as the man took up the next tag.

"003, please step forward." A pause while Vincent moved forward, then the man's tones continued. "003 has also been assigned to Telphe, where he will study the powers of the Air element." Tags were returned as with the others and then both stepped back.

The woman picked up the next tag. "005, please step forward." She guided the chain over Selma's neck as she continued. "005 has been assigned to Notuma, where she will study the powers of the Earth element."

The man picked up the last tag as the woman and Selma took their places again. "006, please step forward." With no change in expression, he continued. "006 has been assigned to stay here in Nanedin." It was the shortest proclaimation and the saddest for the whole group. Parmida had not been made an elemental.

The man stepped back again, addressing the whole group of teens. "Unfortunately, the representatives from the cities of Ceiba, Telphe, and Notuma have not arrived. But you have grown too old to stay under the Matrons' care any longer, so 001, 002, 003, and 005, you will all be staying at the waystation outside of Nanedin. The representatives should be here within a week, so you will not be delayed long in your studies.

"006, you will be given accomodations within Nanedin until you have determined what you wish to focus on. Your former Matron can discuss some of the options that you may enjoy with you."

The woman then stepped even with the man. "Good luck on all your journeys in life."

And with that, they were dismissed.

Their former Matrons met up with them outside, exchanging last farewells. The teens' belongings had been packed up and brought to the tower and were now handed out to each owner.

Selma was confused as she wandered towards the tower that morning. She wondered what it was they were going to be encountering this time. When she entered the room, she was surprised to see her matron there, along with her agemates, and the man and woman that had tested them. She stood in the line next to Tali, reaching over to squeeze his hand, before facing the adults.

When Tali's name was called and he stepped forward to accept his new role as a Water Elemental, Selma smiled. She was happy for him, that he had chosen to be an elemental. She reached over to give him a hug as he walked back to the line. The announcement of his element though, made her nervous. It meant that they had made their final decisions, and in just a few minutes, she would know her fate.

She watched and smiled at Niki and Vincent as they were both assigned to the Air Element, knowing that she would be next. As they called her name and asked her to come forward, she took in a deep breath and walked towards them. Her heart beat nervously until the woman said "005 has been assigned to Notuma, where she will study the powers of the Earth element."

With a surprised and happy grin, Selma let out the breath that she had been holding. She gently lifted her tag from where it lay against her chest, and examined it, making sure she hadn't heard wrong. The new Earth Elemental looked up at the woman and whispered a "thank you" before stepping back into line.

She watched as Parmida was called forward, confident that her friend would recieve a placement. Her confidence was disappointed, however, when the man announced that Parmida would be staying in Nanedin. The smile faded from Selma's face and she wondered how her friend felt, receiving the fate that not long ago, she had been sure awaited herself. The redhead tried to give Parmida a reassuring glance as she made her way back to her spot in line, but she knew it wouldn't help a great deal.

Selma half listened to the man, as he made the remaining announcements. She heard something about them stayng outside of Nanedin, but didn't hear much else, being too preoccupied with her thoughts. Soon they were being led from the tower, and saying their goodbyes. She hugged her matron tightly, surprising herself when she cried a little. She knew she wasn't as close to her matron as some of the other children had been, yet she knew she would miss the woman. As she watched the woman walk away, Selma looked around at the other new adults, wondering what was going through their minds.

Niki wondered why, by all the elements, they were being ushered back to the tower. They didn't have to go through testing again, did they? That wouldn't be much fun... But as they entered the room, Niki knew that they weren't being tested again. Surely not, right? Their Matrons were all there...

Curious, Niki watched the man as he called Tali forward. Tali was a Water elemental! Niki was excited for her friend, but that meant that they had decided all their fates already. And that she would find out hers next.

She stepped forward as the woman called her up, trying to keep from trembling with excitement and fear. What if...

But that thought was not completed as the woman announced that she was now a Air elemental. Niki grinned happily, almost jumping up and down with glee. She stepped back to watch the rest of her agemates get their assignments, her fingers lightly caressing her newly modified tags.

Vincent was also an Air elemental. Great. How thrilling. The redhead sighed and watched as Selma stepped forward. Ah, Selma was an Earth elemental. Cool. And now, which element would Parmida get?

Niki stared with slight shock as Parmida was announced as staying in Nanedin. The girl sighed, now fully realizing that they were splitting. Only she and Vincent would travel together to Telphe, where they would both become Air elementals. Tali and Selma would travel to their cities alone out of their age group and poor Parmida was left behind.

Truthfully, Niki thought she might rather be alone than with Vinnie. The two had never gotten along very well, after all. The teen turned her attention back to the man as he spoke again. Ah, so they wouldn't be leaving right away. Well, they'd be leaving Parmida, but at least she could see Tali a bit longer.

Niki followed her agemates to where their Matrons met up with them, Niki's hugging her and telling her she was proud of the redhead and that Niki would do well. The woman handed Niki a bag of her belongings. Small, because they would be given new clothing to wear once they reached their cities, so it was just the few things that each child owned.

Parmida blinked when she received the summons but came anyways. Her eyes grew round when she saw that they were to receive the results of their tests and listened as each of the others recieved an element. So this was why their tags were taken... She quickly drove her mind back to the event at hand in time to hear her number called forth. Her hopes rose as she stepped forward, only to hear, as the tags were slipped over her head, "006 has been assigned to stay here in Nanedin." She froze for a half second, her hope wavering, refusing to believe what she heard. It finally registered and her hopes plummeted, passing rock bottom without a pause. She automatically stepped back like the others and took her previous place, but her mind was in turmoil the entire time, missing Selma's reassuring glance, seeing only her life falling into tiny pieces too small to pick up. Some small part of her mind noted on the irony that Selma, who wondered if she would be coloress, became the element Parmida dreamed of becoming, while Parmida herself was the one who became colorless. She quickly and violently kicked that thought into the far corners of her mind, just for another to come up with condolences. At least you can stay in Nanedin and watch - mayhaps even help - the newer groups learn and grow. That thought was given just a moment's consideration, long enough for hope to flutter once, before receiving the same fate as the previous one. She would not cry. She could not cry. She was an adult, not a child! But her eyes remained devoid of any emotion as her mind continued to spiral downwards, chanting, It's just a dream... A horrible, awful, nightmare of a dream, but just a dream... A dream... Just a dream...

001 stood calm, cool, and collected as he awaited his fate...Yeah right. He hadn't been able to eat since the notice that they had to report to the tower and had felt close to throwing up numerious times since. It was so much worse than the testing. At least he could do that stuff, this was completely out of his control.

The five of them lined up in front of the same man and woman from testing. The announcers didn't torture the teens for long though, as they started in. As the soon to become adult stepped forward he felt his stomach twist again.

"001 has been assigned to Ceiba, where he will study the powers of the Water element."

001 nearly let out a whoop of joy before restraining himself. Same with the running back to the line and jumping up and down like a little kid. He was however rewarded with a hug from Selma and he beamed back at her as he returned the hug.

The euphoria lasted until Niki was called up and assigned to the air elementals. For the first time in their lives he would be seperated from his best friend. Tali glanced over and mouthed 'congrats' to 002.

Finally it was Selma's turn. Instinctivly he crossed his fingers, this time actually letting out the whoop when she was declared an Earth. All that worrying was useless and null. As she came back to the line Tali leant over towards Selma whispering in her ear, "I told you you could do it. Congradulations!"

For a moment 001 hesitated before awkwardly planting a kiss on her cheek. His face flushed and he glanced away not really listening to the rest of the speech.

"...stay here in Nanedin." His head whipped up in time to see the frozen form of Parmida move jerkily back to the line. Helpless to do anything he glanced at the rest of the teens, no adults, wondering what to do.

Slowly Tali trailed the group back to the Matrons, revieving his things. "Uh.. Parmida....Sorry," was all he could get out before he was chivvied off.

Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gaia Guilds

G. H. E: Project 217-P5

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