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Though a couple of minutes had passed since the ghouls had left his field of vision Yǐn Cáng was still safely tucked away behind a tree. That is enough, he told himself sternly, and as they were no longer in sight he decided to believe himself. He was already growing antsy, and had for the past full minute been slowly shifting his weight from foot to foot, unable to remain completely still. Now he went back to the path, not actually walking on it but rather beside it, just in case he needed to make a swift dash for one of the various plant forms that spotted the area. He hefted his makeshift bag a little higher onto his shoulder, made from a blanket and sporting several mended holes and patches. It was not that he had not brought his worldly possessions with him; the contents of the bag (two spare changes of clothing and an extra shirt) were all that he actually owned. And even his ownership of that much was debatable.

He glanced down at the scrap of paper in his hand, checking that he was actually headed to the building marked on the map. Monster Dorms. It should be that building just ahead. That was what he was now, a monster. Not one of the Clan, not “male,” but a monster. He could deal with that. What was truly surprising was that the Academy had accepted him at all, a teen struggling to even survive on his own with no real skills other than his martial arts.

As he drew nearer to the building the structure itself began to invade his mind, pushing out the introspective thoughts. He gazed at the dorm in awe. It was massive, easily the largest building he had ever seen. The Great Shrine was three stories tall, and it’s nothing compared to this. The monstrosity loomed before him and he found himself walking on, almost on autopilot until he was standing in front of what seemed to be the main entrance. He simply stared at the doors, unsure of where he was actually supposed to go from here, antennae quivering in anticipation.

Apparently standing in front of the door was not the best thought he had ever had. As the door came at him he barely registered it, pulled his head back just a tad, and still got a pretty decent blow to the face. "I am fine," he assured, as the first red drips began to soak into this shirt. Realizing that he was bleeding he brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. I am ow fine. Nothing ow to see here, he thought to himself, trying his best to stick to not show any pain, though his eye did twitch a time or two.

He tried to distract himself by looking at the person that had slammed the door into his face. A feathered boil, like nothing he had ever seen. He was staring a bit, but this was the first student(?) he had met, so he was determined to make a good impression. "Is this the Monster Dormitory?" he asked politely, ignoring the fact that his nose was continuing to steadily send drips of crimson onto his shirt, and the throbbing that had begun to blossom along his cheekbone.

Yǐn Cáng loathed to soak the small bit of cloth with blood, but it would be rude of him to ignore the kind gesture. He took the proffered handkerchief with a murmured "thank you" and held it up to his nose with his free hand, knowing from many past experiences that the blood would likely stop soon.

Then a bizarre noise came from in front oh him. He watched as the winged boil reached down and picked up what appeared to be dinner, but oddly decorated. Then he began petting it. Bewildered, Yǐn Cáng could not help but stare.

He was still distracted when Ren asked for his name, too distracted if that was Ren as in "to be pregnant" or Ren as in "edge of a blade" of any of the other meanings for the short name."No apologies are necessary Ren. My name is Yǐn Cáng." he stared at the food in Ren's hand before asking the questions that were truly important.

"Why on Halloween would you stroke your dinner? Does it tenderize it?"

What is wrong with this boil? Yǐn Cáng eyed the "lepus," suspicious. "Your Rhys smells like food," he elaborated. "Are you raising him to eat? My clan raised some creatures for the table, but they were not carried about and played with."

He then looked up at the boil, finally lowering his hand from the bridge of his nose, the bleeding mostly stopped. "Of course I do not have a pet. Only females are allowed to have pets. Those pets are normal males, no" he gestured at the lepus, "no creatures that were meant for food. Why would you keep something like that if not for food?"

From his experiences traveling from his hom...no the clan, to school he had began to realize that he had grown up quite differently than many others. So maybe the winged boil in front of him was not actually crazy as he was beginning to think. Maybe growing all of those feathers had just...taken a bit of energy from his brain development.

Yǐn Cáng eyed the "Rhys," a bit hesitant to believe that the creature was really good for that many things. He nodded in an agreement that he did not quite feel until Ren added his question.

He looked at him in surprise. "I surely could not accept such a generous gift," he quickly responded, baffled that someone would be willing to give up a food so--...no, pet, so easily. "I would not know how to take care of one even if I had one." I could not eat a gift after all, and it would be tempting me constantly.