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Oz's trip to the states was uneventful. He had expected it to be rife with struggle, assassination attempts or even a little kidnapping. Instead it was far from the adventure he had been hoping for and was quite dull. The trip consisted of a quick helicopter ride to King Kahlid. King Kahlid was not actually a person, rather it was the largest commercial airport in the world. From there it was the longest ride Azhar had ever taken in a plane. Then he and his entourage entered a limousine for the last leg of the journey. Not wanting to be singled out as a freak, Oz forced his people to stay within the car when it reached the gates of the house of night. They only allowed this when he informed them that Hadi was the only form of protection he needed from now on. Hadi, being a cat that was as big as a doberman pinscher, punctuated that fact with a high pitched growl that came from her chest and a yawn that showed considerable fangs.

Oz's garb, when he exited the vehicle was a shining beacon in the moonlight, pushing back the darkness around him. His attire was half billowing silk leggings and half traditional Thobe. All of it was accented by his coal black leather boots and belt straps, glimmering platinum and silver chains and black trim. His hair color matched his Hadi, and was swept behind him in long spikes. He had never figured out why his hair color was different from his siblings but they always teased him and said that it was because Hadi's sire and dam had scared the color right out of his hair. He figured that was why it was always uncontrollable and never wanted to lay flat as well.

Alone with Hadi, Oz started to relax some as he walked up the pathway and past the gate. His eyes took in the large compound, awed by, what in daylight, would be greenery. While the palace had it's gardens, with small lots of forest or tended jungles or even tiny fields of flowers, he saw that the forest surrounding the House of Night might just go on forever. He spotted a white structure through the trees, a pair of large dorms and what must be the main structure in the middle. He made his way through the courtyard slowly, his large cat at his heels, eyes scanning for someone who might be waiting for him to alleviate his confusion and explain how this was all going to work

Oz's eyes caught movement in the night when the priestess stepped into the moonlight. His eyes were wary and calculating as she approached, but when he saw the cat that strode abreast of her he visibly relaxed. He figured that, if Hadi's tastes were any indication, cats ere a good judge of character overall. If her can trusted her enough to walk so close to her, he could alwo trust that she was not going to harm him. The relaxation he had already started to feel flew out the window and his whole body tensed the second her hand raised and was placed on his shoulder.

It wasn't his fault that he had to mentally restrain himself from attempting to hurt the priestess, but instead two things that had been drilled into his very core. First was the fact that no one other than family was allowed to touch any of the royal family. To do so usually resulted in jail time if not much worse consequences.The second fact was his self defense training. He had been trained in both swordplay as well as Kenpo. Azhar's forms and been drilled into his head for three to five hours a day since the day he turned six years old. It was only the woman's warm voice that kept him from from preforming the Falling python.

The falling python was a move designed for maximum damage in minimal time. It involved pinning an assalient's hand when they did as the priestess had. Then with an upward strike from the right hand to overextend or break the elbow. Next would come a kick to the kneecap to break that as well. Nearing the end of the move came the twisting of the wrist and body to break the wrist and remove the grip and throw the assassin onto the ground. The one being assailed would follow to the ground and kneel on the ribcage and at the same time a strike to crush the windpipe. Instead of doing all that, which probably would not work because the woman was actually a vampire anyway, sense prevailed along with the warm voice and the fact that Hadi had not attacked as well.

He did not attack, and instead with a soft deep voice that would remind one of a deep melody, returned that greeting "Assalamu alaikum, Peace be with you, Oh High One. I am Prince Azhar Farah Marid, but please, call me Az." The Az came out sounding something like Oz, which was the Americanized version of his name. "May Allah and Nyx be with you in all your endeavors." He finished, a small and nervous smile turning up the corners of his lips as he looked up at her and studied the curling tattoos that graced her brow.

The cat recipricated her greeting, moving forward to recieve the attention. Hadi's tall head butted against the woman's shoulder and tilting it's great head to the side, her long ear tassels swishing through the air with each step and movement of her head. Seeing as Hadi was about the same size as a medium dog, the priestess did not have to actually fully kneel to have touched her but of course any other action might have been too undignified for her. When the woman had finished greeting her Hadi made her way past the high priestess and nuzzled against the smaller cat at her side. Had Avvera been fully serval they might have been on the same footing as the serval and caracal species were nearly of the same length and weight, the caracal being just a little larger than servals when fully grown.

Oz lowered himself as well, just bending at the knees until rump hit heels. When he had squatted fully, he clicked his tongue twice, calling Hadi to him. As she was returning, he rested his elbow on his knee and held his right hand out. The left hand was for Hadi, which he used to ruffle the fur upon the cat's head, then stroke down her back as she passed him and moved behind him, using her body weight to support his stance as she rubbed against him. He made no movement toward the serval, letting her decide if she wanted a sniff of him or not. "that would make Hadi and Avvera are distant cousins then? I did much research in wild cats after Hadi chose to become my companion." He stated, still smiling, though his smile became broader for the cat's sake.

When he stood again he addressed the priestess again."Please Priestess, the honor is all mine. While I am here, I am nothing more than a student, and I would rather not be treated any differently than any other student by the staff and students alike." He said just before preforming a deep bow that reflected the deep respect he held for those of high religious standing, no matter if it was his own religion or not. When he stood again he continued, " Truthfully, I would rather it not be widely known that I am royalty at all. So please, Just Oz or Ozzy would be perfectly fine to address me by." He said as he made sure no one else was around. When he turned back his smile was filled with chagrin.

"Thank you High lady, it seems perfectly fair to me." Oz said, giving another full bow to show his thanks. He would prefer to earn any respect from the teachers and his classmates,instead of just be given it because of the family he had back home. It was like that with everyone he met back home. Awe, respect, or reverence was given him just because of who his father was. Well it was either that or fear, hatred, and animosity. He had learned that riches and status could buy mostly anything. Anything except what he craved, and that was true friendship.

When he straightened from his bow, he pulled his eyes from the beauty of the High princess. While he liked drinking in the sight of the Priestess, he had his own catlike tendency to be curious. He had already looked over the grounds, he was sure that there were things he had missed when his eyes swept over the area the first time. Noticing the complete lack of people, he figured that he was either early for the schoolyear or late. If he were early, then they had simply yet to arrive on campus, if late they must be ensconced in classrooms, their education already beginning.

He was ready to go inside, to see what the classrooms and dorms had to offer. He even wanted to see the inside of the temple of Nyx. While he might not actually believe in her, or perhaps just her status as a goddess, He thought she just might believe in him and that was why he was here.It was somewhat disturbing to even think about what changes he might face in religion. Everything about his life was changing and he had always thought that would be his rock, the one steady and unchanging thing in his life no matter where he went.

(eww it was a bit short for my tastes to start, had to edit in some length...)