Earlier: Lilly had to pack very little, when the time came for her to leave. She'd known, of course, that she'd be leaving even before she got the message on the radio (and wasn't that clever, the radio message!) and so had been packed for school for a long, long time. When the time came to leave, she simply picked her bag up, and sneaked out the door. It wasn't that hard, considering her arguing parents in the other room. She had left a note, though she knew it would not be read for a while. Though she knew it was dangerous for a girl of her age to hitchhike, she also knew nothing would happen to her (the driver of the car understood her bruised cheek) so she hitched a ride to the next town. She paid her the driver for her kindness with an origami flower and made her way to the bus station, where she followed the instructions of the radio message. As she got on the bus, an unfamiliar uncertainty fell over her. For once, she didn't know, exactly, what lay in store for her. She knew things would be different, sure, but how different? She took a deep breath as the bus took off and stared out the window, waiting to fall asleep. Later: Lilly blinked as she awoke and got off the bus, clutching her bag. Something told her if she stayed where she was, things would get exciting. Well then. Bring on the excitement.
Rifka peered over at the new-looking student coming off of the bus. The tiny redhead had the indefinable look of a newcomer to the school and magic in general. She gestured at Jay to follow her as she walked over to Lilly. "Hey, are you new here?" she asked brightly.
Lilly shifted her luggage so she could tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "New? Yes." She glanced around her. "So new. This place is special, isn't it?"
Jay raised an eyebrow at Rifka. "Jay Rivers. Too young to pick a dorm, but let's be real- I'm Coyote through and through!" She gave the older girl her best cheeky smile. When Rifka gestured for her to follow, however, she froze like a deer in the headlights. She glanced between the other two girls and Santino, trying not too look confused. "Um, sorry," she said, sounding as in control as she could at the moment, "But I got other plans." Shit, was there something else she should say? "...See you later," she finished lamely.
Rifka shrugged. "Sure, have a good day, then. I'll see you around." She turned back to Lilly. Now, what puns to open with... Well, the classics were best! "Oh yes, this school is downright magical!" She grinned with the happiness of the terrible punners. "Anyways, welcome to Sage Canyon, everyone's weird here so don't worry about that. The Headmaster's kind of, um, confusing to new people, but they honestly have the student's best interests at... whatever it is that circulates void-black ichor which smokes and turns dust to flawless obsidian whenever it touches the earth. So if you have any trouble with classmates or teachers or anyone being awful to you, just let them know because they'll help." She thought for a moment. "So, did you have a good bus ride over?"
"I guess so? I slept the whole way here," Lilly said. Did she trust this acquaintance to be a possible friend? That would be nice. She seemed helpful enough. "So, um, what was that about the headmaster?"
Rifka shrugged. "What was what about the Headmaster? If you mean the blood thing, then I was joking about that, because I'm not sure the Headmaster actually has ever bled. But about the other thing - the Headmaster is basically completely fair in mediating and really very polite and helpful. If anyone tells you that they're evil just because they 'aren't human or any recognized species' or 'may have come from the darkness between the stars' or whatever then that person is just being rude." Rifka finger-quoted sarcastically as she spoke.
"Oh. Okay then." Lilly shrugged. It would all make tons of sense later, she was sure. In the meantime, she might as well get to finding out what she could about the people here. She tested the waters a little, extending her hand. "It's Rifka, right? I'm Lilly."
"Nice to meet you, Lilly! And yup, my name's Rifka Callahan." Rifka smiled brightly. "So, do you have any favorite subjects, or clubs, or whatever? I am kind of obligated to recommend the SCA Desert-Gardening and Backcountry clubs, because they are super fun."
Lily thought for a moment. "Well. I was never too involved with clubs or anything back home. But I like art. And writing. I guess I'll have to check the clubs that are here out. Gardening might be really fun for me, I like to be outside."
Santino pulled Jay aside, just far enough for privacy, and dug something out of his pocket. It looked just like a clear marble. He dropped it into Jays hand. It feelt oddly cool for the time it spent near his body on such a hot day. He grins, and takes out another one. If watched long enough, it seems to move on it´s own. "We´re gonna put these into the new kids things." He smirks. "They´ll reset all of their timepieces for a random amount of time.
Jay let the marble circle around her palm and tried to match her breathing to its movement. After a few moments she broke her concentration. "Pretty cool!" she said, sounding chipper. "Do we just need to drop it in their bag?" She suddenly perked up. "Do we get to be super spies?"
Santino laughed. "What, you want to read their diaries?" He tossed a second marble up and caught it one handed. "Naw, we just need to drop it into their stuff somewhere." As he spoke wandered in the direction some of the other students had already gone. "Come on, we don´t have all day."
Without warning, a bright spark shot into the sky from behind one of the buses, followed by another and another. Others arced high into the bright blue desert sky. Moss grinned and leaned back, blocking the sun from their eyes with their hands, since the aviators' lens crack didn't do much to block the bright bright sun. They made a mental note to repair them later. "So it was the fireworks this year," they remarked absently, just as the first bright sparking light popped loudly - and became an enormous, stylized coyote that raced over the heads of students, who were looking up in amazement. ((1. Sorry I left this so long. I got myself stuck and kind of rolled over on it. 2. I'm going with the fireworks as Dorm mascots, but I figure there were probably some Coyote students who snuck some flying pigs into the mix too if that's how anyone wants to go.))
Avery grinned as the fireworks display began. Wow, the Coyotes had really outdone themselves this year. Even in the bright light of day the fireworks were bright and could be seen clearly. He watched as students dodged the spray of sparks, running from the fiery animals that shot forth. "Great job!" he called to a nearby Coyote.
Rifka smiled brightly at the fireworks. "Ahh, wonderful." She skipped aside to avoid a burst of sparks. "So, what do you think?" she said cheerfully, waving to a firework shaped like a jackrabbit.
Lily jumped at the sudden loud bang as the fireworks began, crying out and attempting to cover both her head and her ears. When she realized what the noise was, she laughed. "Oh! I'm impressed!"
Rifka turned back towards Lily. "Heh, yeah! Those represent the dorms. There's Jackrabbit (best dorm by the way), Coyote, Bear, Raven, Eagle, and Turtle dorms. By the way, the Coyotes always do some kind of prank, so keep an eye out! They won't do anything too bad, probably, but it's good to be alert here."
(Also, @peripheral , I think your old posts on here went the way of the dinosaurs so I'm just gonna tag you real quick) Moss watched the brief chaos with a smile. "Anyway, now that it's safe...well, safe-ish." Moss considered their wording and shrugged. "We can probably head inside." They put their wand in their pocket, hefted their bags, and started strolling over to the small group of students closest to the entrance. (I don't know who that is rn because it's 7am right now and I don't pay attention :D )
Avery stood back up, getting ready to go inside and go down to the healer's office to get his arm mended. He had had a good summer, but he was really glad to get back to school, accidents notwithstanding. The fireworks just let him know that the school year had started and he was really back. Really, what a good prank.
