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 Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:25 pm
A day or so after having signed up for exams, Riley, Shehk, and Calder each found a note waiting for them in their dorm rooms. Professor Hellma Shox Room B13 during third period. Brief, to the point, and not explaining much beyond the fact that the exam would take place in the basement. A recently burst pipe made the place wonderfully damp and dripping, which went well with the soft flickering of the light bulbs overhead. The door to the room was unlocked and dark within, save for a single candle. "Well? Get in here, snots."
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:30 pm
To say she was excited was an understatement. Unfortunately, Riley's face hardly expressed such excitement, but her heart pounded hard enough to inform her of her delight. She had been looking forward to this day. She had no idea what was in store for her, but she was more than willing to put forth every single ounce of information and experience she had begotten from the day she was born into this occasion.
After all, she was used to being tested for the worth of her life.
Riley heard the voice that launched a thousand tears, and sighed deeply in contentedment. The fear that Professor Shox embedded into the hearts of the students of Amityville made her the one, true role model for Riley to look up to. She wanted to hear that voice, and no other, in the room today.
She had no idea who else would be there, unfortunately.
She stepped into the room with no hesitance, ready to face her obstacles with determination.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:34 pm
There was frowning to be had.
Epic frowning.
Shehk's mood had been fluxuating between depression and anger for some time now and she wasn't in any mood to be 'social' by any means. So when she found the note in her dorm room, she was thinking 'please not a group, please not a group, and please don't let him be there'. It repeated in her mind over and over again as she had paced that day.
She'd finished up by flipping her chair, growling, barking, and then telling herself she'd punch that damned skinwalker in his jackdamned teeth if they were trapped together in exams.
Exams.
Exams.
Exams.
However, a completely different thought invaded the Pricolici's mind as she descended into the basement, tail flicking as she stepped into the squishing damp grossness of it. She was hoping this didn't turn into another incident involving that bathroom. That disgusting. Nasty. Horrible. Rancid. Awful...Awful bathroom.
She nearly shuddered at the thought of it.
The darkness caused her heart to thump against her chest, doubting for less than a second that she wanted to plunge into it, before she did, swallowing all of her doubts.
"Coming." she said, flatly, her brain racing to figure out what horrible task she'd have to fix up before she'd get to take a break from reality. Stop thinking about classes, delve into distraction.
She was ready for a break, but she needed to save the last of her emotional energy for what was happening in this room.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:38 pm
Calder nearly died when he saw the message. When he was more than stressed over Exams, the icing on the cake was seeing who he had it with. After the sort of mishap he had during detention and the horror story of a meeting he had with THE Hellma Shox, he had never, ever, wanted to see her again. To find he had his EXAM WITH HER was enough to make it impossible to think of anything else. He'd been a rigid statue, moving in robotic fashion for the duration the day, watching the clock and wondering if his heart would explode and, if so, he would be excused to take a exam at a later date when he reappeared, and hopefully with someone else.
Approaching the basement, he looked at the note and then at the door number. The smell of water and moist air was the only calming thing about the entire situation, and he took a long, deep breath to steel his nerves. He could do this. He could do this. He was going to die. He was going to be torn into tiny bits and part of him made into glue for the faculty and the other half was going to be fed to Breck's dogs.
Letting out a long whine, he pushed the door open and stepped in to see, "RILEY?!" AH JACK! Why didn't they just chop his head off and call it a day?!
It was then that he noticed Shehk and breathed out. At least he had one friend here. He offered he a miserable look that said he saw no not feeling this exam.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:33 pm
The candlelight glinted off of the professor's glasses and the door abruptly slammed shut behind the kelpie. "You, I would not think to see in exams, ponyboy. Let us see if you... if all of you, can continue rise above any such low expectations, yes?" The room began to grow lighter, revealing the professor in her natural form. Instead of a regular chair, she had chosen to drape herself over the head of a short wooden mannequin. Which had antlers. And a blue scarf. Did she have... plans concerning the school secretary or was it a sign of actual affection? But as the room grew even lighter, it quickly became apparent that now was definitely not the time for idle speculation. Because the light hadn't actually grown stronger, rather, the shows had receded. Smoothly they began to condense in the center of the chamber, growing darker and more solid. The result that loomed above them was similar to her regular shadow yet somehow much more present. The thing's FEAR buzzed softly throughout the room. "Academics...they are of certain importance, but much of that is what we as a society would give them. In the end...it is only so many words. What I want to see is the ability to survive..." The shadow smiled. ". ..against that which will strike you down at the least piece of hesitation and for the smallest misstep." The shadow grinned and gestured as if to say, come at me bro. 99HPThe OOC That's right, this exam is a battle! And the pacing of that battle is... up to you guys. To attack, just roll anywhere from one to five 6-sided die. The amount you roll is the damage you do to the shadow. Sounds pretty easy right? Cake walk right? Unless you roll a one. If any of the dice that you roll is a one, then not only does your character miss, but then the shadow counters. And counters hard. Effectively sending your student's own health to 0. In addition, the shadow's HP then returns to 99. So you can have your students can attack in a hurried flurry, or slowly and carefully. Feel free to have your students plan rather than attack right away. Good news: on a table behind them, Hellma left some pumpkin pills that will enable a student to revive a fallen comrade! Bad news: she only left two.
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Nio Love rolled 5 6-sided dice:
1, 4, 5, 4, 4
Total: 18 (5-30)
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:54 pm
There was only one thing that could dampen this most auspicious of moments. That one thing decided to walk in the door just as it closed behind them. Riley didn't have to look, once she heard her name exclaimed, to know exactly who it was. Her response was nothing but a sigh.
Of course. Riley whispered quietly, which was both an answer to his one worded question, and an exasperated response to his presence. She turned her head, gave him a cautious glance, and slumped her shoulders.
Calder, this is a very important day. For all of us. So let's just say you and I..
Her words trailed off as a sudden realization hit her. She had walked into a darkened room - but that was impossible. She could see in the dark. How could her vision have been impaired? Her answer came as suddenly as the question, as the shadows retreated back and formed their opponent.
Riley turned, lifting her head high as her eyes fell on the Professor, and not the looming shadowy figure. Good evening, Professor Shox. She murmured pleasantly. You're looking as gloriously frightening as always. She murmured, obviously meant to be a compliment.
Finally, Riley decided to give the shadow a look. It felt formidable, and she knew that they were going to have to work together to defeat it. But, that was the point of the exam, wasn't it?
She flickered a side-glance to Calder, and then Shehk, before taking position at the front. Good luck. She whispered to both of them.
Never one to take an enemy slow and steady, Riley crouched down in attack position, and prepared to hit it head on. At the very least, whatever it did to her would show them just what they were up against.
And, true to form, Riley's attack was met with swift justice, as she was thrown back against the wall before ever touching the shadow in the first place. She hit the wall with a solid, sickening thud, and slid down into a pile on the floor, unmoving.
Riley was out, not five minutes into her exam.
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MoonKitsune rolled 5 6-sided dice:
1, 4, 2, 2, 5
Total: 14 (5-30)
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:06 am
Calder jumped when the door slammed behind him, nearly trapping his tail with it. As he stepped away, he froze the second Hellma spoke again and would have sunk back into the shadows if they weren't her playground. Instead, he lingered by the door, wishing he could turn around and paw at it like a cat desperate to go outside. However, he knew he was here to be tested. This was it. The end result of a whole year, and he had to stallion up for it.
Stepping further in, he lined up with Riley and Shehk who all were trapped looking at Hellma and she slinked over to the secretary and leaned on him. Considering how short they were, he found it rather odd, not to mention to see Hellma be friendly with anything that she didtn't intent to rip it's head off the next moment with her teeth.
He had felt they would be given some sort of breakdown of their exam and maybe a warm up, but that was not the case. It was right into the water with this one, no floaties at all, and the shadows rushed in to form a creature that smiled in a way that said, as it's power buzzed, it was assure of it's victory.
As it loomed overhead, Calder's ears dropped and his tail stilled. He in no way exuded the easy confidence of the mindflayer who, seconds ago, seemed to be more concerned Calder was going to mess up her flow. Like he had enough energy to think of doing anything but having a heart attack over their opponent. Still, true to her nature, she stepped forward and charged the creature head on. It was….rather impressive. She had balls of steel for being a ghoul, and he felt a passing, quick thought as she charged. Good luck!
And as if to jinx her, she was thrown back. He winced at the sound of her body smacking the wall, and turned over to see her slump the ground. Rushing over, he crouched down and looked her over. Out cold. He at least had the decency to turn her over on her back and grimaced at the damage. Then he started to hyperventilate. Riley was the strongest student he knew and she had been swatted away like a pesky bug.
Oh jack. OHhhhhhh Jack. JACK! JACK! Jack!
What did he do? What did he do? Riley was their best bet of beating this thing and she was gone! His eyes went to the professor, wondering what was in her head to do this as an exam. But it was looking at her that he saw the pills. Leaping to his hooves, he rushed over and took one. You had to be Jack kidding him. There was...there was hope??
Turning, he raced over and fell down beside the mindflayer. Oh jack. He hoped this worked. If this battle relied on him winning, they were screwed. Breathing deep, he was about to shove the pill into her mouth but paused. Uh.....
And then he remembered the island trip where Riley gobbled up some brains and, rather awkward, he scooted her head into his lap and then took one of her tentacles in his hand. This felt wrong. Uncomfortable, he slipped a pill into the end of one of her tentacles and watched is dissolve. "You better wake up." He whispered, before setting her down. He had to keep this creature distracted in time to get Riley to wake the heck up.
He looked at the shadow that still was waving at them. Rising to his wobbly legs, he looked at the mindflayer and then back at the creature. This was going to hurt, wasn't it? OH JACK IT! He leaned down, letting his hooves grip for a solid starting point, and opened his eyes wide. He just had to charge, and hope natural swiftness of his kind was on his side. If he got close, that thing was hitting hoof stomped. If not….well, he hoped he wasn't thrown on top of Riley.
With that simple game plan, he held his breath and darted forward. In similar fashion, he was brushed away. He was thrown back, tumbling kilt over hooves until he came to a stop, face down and motionless.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:41 am
Death felt kind of nice. Soft, and inviting. Riley remembered nothing from the moment her head hit the wall, until the moment she felt her senses returning to her - but once they did, everything felt soft, and warm, and comforting. She wasn't used to it, and she turned her head slightly, as her eyes just barely slit open. They were blinded by whiteness, and she closed them quickly again.
"-better wake up."
Whose voice was that? Who dared command her to leave the soft and gentle caress of death, just to return to suffering, and conflict, and ultimately defeat?
The softness of death left her in a rush, and she felt the cold of the floor against her cheek. Her eyes opened just in time to watch Calder's hooves as they walked away from her. Her hand pressed down on the floor, as her body turned in his direction, but he was too far away to be stopped. She barely had time to raise her fingers before he was charging the shadow.
No.
She heard him flying through the air, and realized that the sound of his bones breaking against that solid wall was likely exactly what they'd just heard her body do.
Except..
She scrambled up to a seated position, crawling over to sit beside the crumpled form of what was, a moment ago, Calder. Her eyes winced at the twisted body, and she put her hand down against his leg to turn him. She froze at the touch, as her fingers felt the white, soft fur.
It hadn't been death that she'd been comforted by, had it.
Calder had saved her. Calder had saved her. Calder had saved her.
Shehk! Don't get near it. She warned the ghoul, even as she scrambled to her feet and headed for the table. There was their Professor, sitting pretty on top of the mannequin, as if nothing out of place was happening. Riley's hand closed on the final pumpkin pill, but her eyes were on the professor.
Somehow, she got the strangest feeling that things were working out exactly according to Professor Shox's plan.
Riley dropped down, turning Calder carefully and pulling his head into her lap. She tried not to look at him - it wasn't a pretty sight right now. She pried his mouth open with two of her tentacles, placed the pill as far back on his tongue as she could, and let the mouth close. Then her fingers slowly massaged his throat, hoping for the automatic swallow.
Come on, kelpie. You're not getting away from me that easily.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:04 am
Calder didn't think was all that pleasant. Sure, it stopped, but he didn't like abrupt stops. Soft naps yes. He could go for a nap. Maybe one in Barth's room where he could snuggle on the demon's big couch and just drift into a heavy sleep. That would have been nice. Instead, he had barely slipped into unconsciousness. Of the single end that ended his exam, before he was started to come to. The first signs were a jerky twitch of his left hoof, and then his ears started to slowly animate. Then, his split lip, twitched and let out a very equine whine. He blew once from his nostrils in distress, not at all feeling up for waking. In fact, he was so against waking up that he took a moment to just lay there and not move.
But it was scent that started to stir him into inquiring where he was. He felt in body on the cold, damn ground. Usually a comforting place as he did so enjoy the cold and the damp, but he was slightly reclined on a nice pillow. Was he back at his dorm room, waking up to notice he had fallen asleep on one of his books.
He turned his head a moment and noticed it as a little too warm for a book. A smell he once caught while at the island. Necter. Something sweet. He parted his eyes. For a kelpie to look bad in the slightest degree was a big deal, but getting b****-slapped by a shadow really didn’t anything if you wanted a future in modeling. Groggy, he looked up and first noticed a huge chest, and then …
"Nudle hed?" He said, voice a little raw and thickly lined with a rough accent. His head was pounding, and he felt too heavy to move, but thinking was another challenge. Thinking that revolved around if he died and if so, this after life sucked more than the island one. At least there he was alone. If he had to spend eternity with Riley, there was going to be a lot of shouting.
Slowly, he touched the ground and heaved himself up, touching his head as he looked around and then noticed the shadow from before. The fact he was awake and the creature was still looking as cocky as ever meant he had been knocked out. If he had been knocked out and was awake now….
His eyes went to the desk and noticed it was now barren. He then looked at Riley. "You …..saved me?" What for? He had sucked as much as she had, but in this case, he had been pretty much expecting it. He'd think Riley would have wanted to go for more of the advantage to win this just saved the pill for her or Shehk.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:30 am
Riley's eyes rolled dramatically when she heard the ridiculous nickname. She brushed his matted hair back away from his eyes before he found the strength to get up on his own, and then she pressed her hands against her legs and tilted her her head.
Of course I saved you. She murmured matter-of-factly. You saved me. Why have you convinced yourself that I am some heartless, cold creature that cares for no one but herself?
She chuckled. That did sound like the kind of person she'd set out to be from the beginning. It wasn't too far of a stretch to believe.
Come on. She pushed down to give herself a boost back up to her feet, and once she was standing she held her hand out towards him. I can't beat it. You can't beat it. I really don't want to see Shehk splattered against the wall. If we have any chance at this, we're going to have to work together.
Her hand gripped his once he was ready to accept the offer, and she pulled him up to his feet. Her expression was best expressed as devious determination.
Are you with me?
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:49 am
He looked up at the hand in question, frowning a bit. Why had he convinced Riley was a villain? Well, it had been rather easy. They had first argued over her being a mistress and using Christof, and while some of that was true, it wasn't all bad either. It was just after that point at the start of the school year, he had found little things to throw into that snowball of hatred to make it bigger than it really started out as and should have been that in the end, he made her his enemy. The original dislike for her had all but lost it's meaning to begin with and he had been more angry with her on the principle that she was Riley, the ghoul he hated. She was, however, someone very important to all his friends. Students who, for whatever reason, wanted to be friends in him and, for reasons he hadn't been allowed to see because they had fought with each other, these same people were friends with her. If they could make the same good judgment with him, then it only made sense there was something in Riley. Maybe something small, hard to see, probably microscopic, but there.
Wanting to groan, he looked away but still took her hand. "I guess." He was yanked up to his hooves with such force that he nearly toppled but regained his footing. Hands still clasped, he looked up at their shared opponent and back at the mindflayer. They had both shared failure and were both in agreement that they did not want to end this without at least a decent hit. Their odds looked grim, but the least they could do was pull together to give it their all.
"I do want to pay that shadow back...." Not only for beating the stuffing out of him with one strike, but forcing him to come and make the decision to save Riley. They were being chummy. CHUMMY?!!! CURSE YOU SHADOW!
Smiling, he gripped the hand tighter. "Screw it. I'm with ya." He could kick himself later and if not, well, he'd be too dead to think about this rare moment of comradery.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:42 am
Shehk frowned at the shadow.
She frowned at it hard. It looked like Arel. Arel with the busted give-a-damn. So busted. And Broken. And busted. This exam wassss...special, to say the least. However, she frowned more at who she was in the room with. Shehk looked exhausted, and angry, and exhausted, and like she was ready to just walk over to that mannequin and flip it into a wall and call it a day.
A day.
Get it over with. Deal with whatever repercussions came from failing like a baws, whatever happened. She wanted to go home. Not back to her dorm room. Home.
First of all, however, it would have seemed that it wasn't the mannequin they were worried about, but rather the shadow that stood in the middle of the room. Judging them. She frowned at it.
It seemed she wasn't the first to act, however, as Riley and Calder both got their butts handed to them...and proceeded to use up whatever supplies they had been given to start with in an instant. Well, there went any sort of opportunity she'd had to fail them all in an instant, how hadn't it?
"Smart." She said. It was a succinct word, harsh. To the point that she wasn't really receptive of what had just happened.
The pricolici approached the shadow carefully, one step at a time....
but seemed to lose her nerve over attacking too quickly, instead pacing around it; judging it with a harsh eye. She looked to Riley and Calder.
"I hate to break up your touching moment you two seem to be having over there, but I'd love to hear what you are thinking we should do now that you've both managed to ******** up in such a short period of time."
Shehk did not sound nice.
She did not sound happy.
Then again, Shehk hadn't sounded happy ever as of late. It was like the Pricolici from the Open House was completely gone. Hidden somewhere. Or just hiding behind a layer of anger. Anger and betrayal.
Maybe she was just being dramatic, though. Chances were the first one to call her out on it would get socked, however.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:12 am
Of the two people she'd been put together with in this room, Riley would not have expected herself to be aligned with Calder in some sort of strange, freakish bond - and misaligned with Shehk, who seemed to be radiating unhappiness.
Unfortunately, Riley had an inkling as to why.
She led Calder over, and reached her hand out to Shehk. We really only have one choice left, I think. We hit it together. Her brow furrowed deeply as she analyzed Shehk's reaction. Maybe then, we stand a chance.
It was a big maybe.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:20 am
Had Shehk known that Riley knew it was coming, the pricolici would have probably disowned any kinship with the mindflayer in an instant. Not to say she didn't want to know things had gone down, but Shehk had made a point not to say anything about it. Then again, Shehk didn't care at this point that it happened. She was just hateful.
Towards everybody (so how had she been wrangled into going to prom with....?).
She bit her lower lip to keep the thought of if only you had thought before... to herself, looking to the offered hand, then to Riley, then crinkling her nose a bit. Unhappiness. Pure unhappiness. It wasn't like suddenly being magic happy fun-time-super-duper-rescue-squad-go-friends would help them out against the shadow.
Shehk was sure that Hellma was sitting in the shadows laughing at their little exchanges happening.
None the less, Shehk forced herself to swallow her current distaste and took the offered out hand.
"And not attack in a rush, would be wise." Shehk said carefully, her eyes darting back towards the shadow, a light flickering on in her eyes, illuminating momentarily, before shutting out again.
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Nio Love rolled 1 6-sided dice:
5
Total: 5 (1-6)
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:34 am
There was so much pain in those eyes. Riley wished she didn't have to look at them. She squeezed Shehk's hand gently, and nodded at her words.
It's not my style, but I am forced to concede to your advice. We'll take it a bit slower this time.
She briefly adjusted her grip on Calder, and Shehk, before leading them towards the shadow. Her eyes glared in a calculating glance, before she squeezed both of her companions hands in warning.
On three. One.. two..
Her leg lifted, ready to kick some shadowed a**.
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