With Nothing Other Than A Cold Glass of Strawberry Milk...

Shadow grinned at her. "Sure. My music...was the only thing that kept me living...if I could create music and make myself happy...then that's all there was. Of course though...hacking into peoples' security was fun, too." His green eyes looked at her, noticing something different about her, something he liked.

Nina rubbed her arms. "I hate my life...music was the only thing that carried me along in the dark world. My parents didn't help, nor the school I went to before this academy. Any music has a deep meaning to it, and I soon found out what they were..." She realized the feeling in her stomach of fear was gone. She had always been scared of people. Why would this suddenly change?

(I meant to tell you last post, but your avie is so sweet~ <3 You like anime? )

She could relate with him on that. If she didn't have the talents she had, thus not being able to stay at the Academy, she surely would have... Kandy shook her head, now was not the time to think about that. "Well, I'm glad it did...otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to meet you and learn all this cool stuff about you." She blinked. "You can hack into people's security...?" She reached out, poking his forehead. "Sorry, had to make sure you weren't some sort of hologram or something. You are James Bond, aren't you? All-talented Secret Agent super-spy." She giggled, shielding her mouth with her hand. "That's so awesome." Her eyes grew wide, "Shadow! I can be your sidekick!" She grinned.

~

"Were...what?" He asked, even though he had a pretty good idea of what she was about to say, but he wanted to know why she had stopped. She looked frozen. "Nina?"

(OOC: Thanks I like anime, but I don't read or watch it. I just like kitsunes and nekos.)

Shadow chuckled. "Yes, I can hack into anything actually. FBI, CIA..anything. I choose not to hack into the CIA or FBI, because that'd get me in a lot of trouble. If I did it to a normal person and said I did it, no one would believe them. I'm not James Bond in disguise or a spy. Just a guy who has the world of technology at his fingertips."

Nina sighed. "I was going to kill myself a couple of days ago. No one stopped me...my music stopped me. I live only for dance and music." She sighed again and sat in the grass.

( <3 It's really cute. )

Chase thought about it. "Sometimes I don't really know why I live...and then, I think about how good it feels to be able to play this, and how pissed I would be at myself for taking that feeling away. There's nothing else like it. Without music...I wouldn't have a purpose for staying around, like you said."

~

Kandy waved a hand. "Whatever. I'm still sticking with the spy thing," she said with a laugh. She looked at him. "Do you think you could come up with something for my recital this afternoon, music-wise?"

( <3 )

Nina nodded. "When I play or hear music....it always speaks to me, no matter what kind or song. There's always a hidden message inside the music and lyrics. I don't know how to explain it..." She stretched her legs out, then quickly remembered her bruises and lay on her stomach so he wouldn't see them.

Shadow chuckled. "I could get something done. What kind of recital? It all depends on the sound and quality." He opened his laptop and turned it back on, then thought about different music for a recital.

"Yeah," he nodded, not having missed the marks, just deciding to avoid bringing them up, as she seemed intent on doing. "I know what you mean. They're aren't many things that can do what music can...the world's turning too shallow. It's disgusting."

~

"A ballet recital," she gave him a small, sheepish smile. "It doesn't have to be something big, just something that I can dance to..."

Nina bit her lip. "Yeah..it is. I have no friends.....I mean seriously. Everyone at my school hated me." She knew he had seen the bruises. "You saw...didn't you...?"

Shadow smiled at her. "I'll have something done in a second here..." He pulled open the program and searched different recordings of music. He opened a couple and mixed them together. "Here...how about this?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-neZL4_O6sQ

(I LOVE her, and that song! <3 )

Her eyes grew wide, lips parting as she breathed out a sigh in awe. Kandy looked up at him. "That's beautiful, thank you..."

~

"School is hell, that's why I didn't go." And he didn't. At all. Chase hadn't ever been registered in a school system...other than this one. He looked at her, nodding that he'd seen them. "It's none of my business, though."

((I just happened to stumble across just the piano one. I played Kingdom Hearts so I know the music))

Shadow nodded. "Welcome. I can set it up in there on my laptop so when you're ready, it'll automatically play." He messed with the computer, and in a few minutes, it would auto play. "Now it'll sense your emotions and when you're ready to start, it'll play."

Nina stretched out again. "I might as well tell someone. No one knows....usually I wear jeans, but I decided to wear shorts today..." She sighed. "When I was little, half of the time my parents were drunk, and because I was little, I screamed and all that. They wandered over to me and with their eyes bloodshot, they smacked me as hard as they could."

Chase looked at her. "That's just sorry. It must have been touch." He couldn't really empathized, because once again, he was just a bratty orphan kid. "Well, do you like it here, then?"

~

A smile found her lips as she began to stand up. "I'm going to go gather my stuff and head over there. Do...you wanna come with...?"

Name: Maya
Age: 16
Gender: Female
*Talent: Music - violin
*Condition/Ailment: Extreme anxiety (displays some underlying irrational fear/paranoia, but they arent quite so prevelant.)
*Back story: Maya began playing violin at a very early age. She absolutely loved to create music, found comfort in the sounds of the violin. She was always very shy, quiet, and withdrawn. She had difficulty making friends because she found it hard to talk to people and often posessed fear of other children for no apparent reason. Worried constantly about everything, even small, insignificant things, would often blow things out of proportion. Would find any means possible of getting out of school. After a while, she started having panic attacks. She took to hiding in her room, avoiding contact with the outside world, simply playing, sometimes until her fingers bled. Eventually her parents shipped her off, not knowing what else they should do with her.
New student or 'veteran' : New student
*Image/description: Average height/build, fair skin, perpetually wide ice-blue eyes, long straight dark brown hair, bangs that frame her face. She has a few healing scabs on her fingers from where the strings of her violin split the skin.
Other: N/A



Name: Darren
Age: 17
Gender: Male
*Talent: Drawing/painting
*Condition/Ailment: Bipolar disorder (has a slight underlying attention problem as well)
*Back story: Growing up, Darren was always very very unsettled. He was all over the place, all the time. His moods seemed to change in the blink of an eye, hyper and excited one minute, angry the next, depressed the next, then happy again, and so on. Had a hard time focusing on things with all of these changes, was fequently distracted. Eventually shipped off. Expresses his ever-changing emotions through his art, but has a hard time finishing projects since when he shifts moods, he often finds himself forced to move onto something else.
New student or 'veteran' : Veteran
*Image/description: Tall, some muscular definition, pale skinned, stormy grey eyes, shaggy black hair that hides most of his face (stereotypical emo-cut, i guess).
Other: Nope.

Lemme know if i need to change anything.

Shadow organized his music into his folder. "Sure." He picked up his laptop and carried them both. He walked beside her, glad to have at least one friend. She was really nice, funny...beautiful.... His thoughts made him step a few steps back mentally. One day at the academy and he had already found a friend? Hm. He followed her.

Nina looked at him. "Yeah...I do. It's beautiful, peaceful....and it has the two things I love as classes....usually I wouldn't even be close to people right now... I would be in a corner somewhere...hiding from everyone."

( @ Ravyn - Nope, everything looks ship-shape, love! Welcome! =D I'm going to be making some new characters soon as well, so...)

(Excellent! Now then.... i dont know how i should come in O.o what's happening right now? Id read through but im having one of those days where i cant think straight or focus on anything >.O so id probably miss a bunch of stuff.... i still have to review the character formats of all characters currently involved... garr....)

He nodded. "This place will do that to you," he said, "Make you open up, I mean. Like you're at home. It's a place where you can be yourself..."

~

(Aww. 'Beautiful.' :3 )

Kandy walked along the halls, humming softly. It excited her and wracked her nerves all the same, having Shadow sit in on one of her recitals. She felt as if she couldn't let him down... Why this was, however, was beyond her.

Once she came upon the double doors that let to the theatre, she pushed them open, stepping inside to hold them so Shadow could come in. When he was, she let them fall shut with an echoing 'thud' that reverberated throughout the large, hollow room. There were at least sixteen rows of seats that sat before a curtain-framed grand wooden stage, then of course there were the four balconies perched high among the marble walls, nestled in the corners. The stairs were at the basement floor, located beneath the the stage itself.

"All right," she said, resting a hand on his shoulder, "Make yourself comfortable while I go and change." And with that, she turned, her slim frame disappearing behind a door at the back of the vast theatre.

( @ Ravyn - Well, Chase and Nina are talking outside at the back of the school, aaaaaaaaaaaaand Kandy and Shadow are in the Theatre room for Kandy's ballet recital. I'll make some more people here in a few minutes. )

Nina looked around. "I feel that. Already...I feel this academy changing me. Perhaps I'll find my true self here...one that will become the best at dance and music." She looked back at him. He was really something to look at...

----

Shadow watched her go backstage. Her touch sent an unknown feeling through him. What was it? He looked around; the theatre was huge. Shadow walked down and sat in the third row, so he could see better. He set up his laptop while she was changing. It was ready to go. Shadow played a little bit of it to make sure it was the correct song and slid the cursor to the beginning. The music was all ready.

She reappeared some time later, adorned in a thin, sleek, almost airy looking white cloth. It appeared to be almost like a second skin, contrasting beautifully with her bronzed flesh, painted with shimmering glitter. Her legs were left bare as it curved between her thighs. Lace threaded her chest, down her abdomen and back, over her hips in a subtle, elegant fashion. At her waist, spawned collections of thread tendril feathers that circled entirely, creating a shroud that swayed as she moved, no matter how faintly. Kandy looked about, finding Shadow after a moment and approaching him. "What do you think?"

~

"I have a feeling you will." Chase nodded, looking at her. She looked like a doll, very petite and pretty.

Shadow had to blink hard when she came out. He closed his laptop, staring at the sight that had come out. "You look very beautiful." He couldn't believe what he was saying, he had known this girl for how long and he was already giving out compliments? His green eyes lightened when he saw the way the outfit was made, as if it was made just for her.

---

Nina wondered if there was a second meaning behind what he said, as though she was supposed to decipher his sentence. She closed her eyes and took in the sun, hoping she wouldn't look so pale anymore.

Heat colored her face. Oh, come on... Blushing so easily? Grow a backbone! She shook her head and smiled. "Well, thank you. Oh! Hold on a second." She sprinted up to the front of the stage, positioning and setting up the video camera she had kept in here, almost dropping it. Turning back to Shadow, she was at his side again in less than 45 seconds. "There we go! See, I have to record it for her, my Great Aunt Lillian, since she's too busy with everything else to come and actually see it herself. Are we ready...?"

~

Pulling his guitar straighter, he decided to play again. Closing his eyes, he hummed along.

Darren: I wandered through the long, cold, empty hallways. Hallways were strange places, so desolate, so alien, yet filled with the ghosts of the many students who had once stepped here. It was easy to picture this current hallway as full, the footsteps of hundreds of students seeming almost audible despite the almost-silence. Only one set of footsteps echoed through this hall right now - mine. It seemed a lonely sound. Although i was wandering aimlessly, my attentions unwilling to settle on any one thing, today had been a good day. I was neither up nor was i down, not quite on top of the world but not feeling defeated by it to the point where i would think about hurting myself, but then, as always, i would remind myself to go back to my art. My canvas had not yet become my skin, my paint was not yet my blood, my brush or pencil not yet a blade. I hoped i never got to that point. My sketchbook and pencil case were tucked in my black messenger bag that bumped my hip with every lonesome step, a constant reminder not to go there, a constant comfort, a light when all i could see was darkness. And now that i thought of it, my fingers itched to draw, longing for the feel of pencil on paper. So, unable to resist, i moved to the side of the cold, lonely hallway, sitting down against a wall. The lonely sound of my footsteps stopped, and silence momentarily filled the hallway. Until, finally, it was not footsteps that echoed this corridor, but the scratching of pencil on paper.



Maya: This school, like most of the outside world, terrified me. Here i was, standing at the main gates with my bags, literally trembling with fear. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears, my breath coming faster. The building was like a wolf, watching the poor scared rabbit that was my lonesome self. What if i failed all my classes?! What if noone liked me, what if i couldnt deal with the other kids, what if, what if WHAT IF?! STOP. I halted my out of control fearful thought train, desperately attempting to calm myself, willing my feet to move forward, to enter the school grounds. I couldnt stand outside the doors forever, i told myself rationally. But neither could i go in, at least not yet. My fear was too great. So i moved off to teh side and pulled my violin out of its case, perching on my suitcase and beginning to play, to dot he one thing that steadied my nerves. I hoped that once i played a while, i would be able to bring myself to enter the school.

.Fragile_Wishes. wrote:Heat colored her face. Oh, come on... Blushing so easily? Grow a backbone! She shook her head and smiled. "Well, thank you. Oh! Hold on a second." She sprinted up to the front of the stage, positioning and setting up the video camera she had kept in here, almost dropping it. Turning back to Shadow, she was at his side again in less than 45 seconds. "There we go! See, I have to record it for her, my Great Aunt Lillian, since she's too busy with everything else to come and actually see it herself. Are we ready...?"

~

Pulling his guitar straighter, he decided to play again. Closing his eyes, he hummed along.

Shadow smiled at her. "We are." The music started to play by itself. "Ok that's kind of creepy in a way." He paused the music and set it to the beginning. She was beautiful. He growled at himself mentally. She wouldn't want him anyway, so it was for the best.

Nina was drawn into the music, her eyes closing and her ears taking in the sweet sound of the guitar's strings vibration. She moved a little closer, not even realizing it, to take in the sound more. Soon enough, she was right in front of him, her legs crossed and listening to the music.

((srry had to repack my stuff))

(Ugh.... my characters.... need people to talk to.)

( @ Ravyn - I know. I'm working on it. :/ I'm so slow.)
( @ ✦εαgιε {Đεαđ Ιηѕіđε}✦ - You're fine, love. :3 )

Kandy laughed, "Yeah...it is. All right, well...I hope you like it." She turned, gliding back up the aisle and taking deep breaths, trying to get her heart to slow down as it rammed heavily against her rib cage. She could hear her blood rushing in her ears as she made it to the stage. What was going on with her...? She got into her starting position, and once the music started, her mind floated away, taking all of her stresses with it...

Her movements were fluid with the grace of a silk ribbon twirling in the wind, light on her feet as if gravity itself had fallen nonexistent in the midst of her performance. She swayed and twirled, bowing and leaping with her limbs in perfect sync. She looked like a painting, that with just the right light and environment, you could bring to life; unreal.

~

As he came to a finish, his eyes slid open as if waking from a daze. "Woah,"
he spoke, suddenly jolting right back to reality when he realized how close she had gotten to him. "You're stealthy."

Shadow watched her graceful movements. It was amazing with the music; it had played right away when she stepped on the stage. He couldn't take his eyes off the dancer on the stage, captivated by way her clothing fitted her in the ballet of it all. He watched her closely.

Nina opened her eyes as the music stopped and realized how close she was. Her mind was on the music, and her body took the advantage and scooted closer to the music, and him. "Yeah...I'm a ninja..." She said meekly, scooting back.

((just make one character and I'll make another. male or female for you?))

( Female for me. ^^; Sorry... )

The song trailed off, and she was frozen in place, slowly opening her eyes to meet with Shadow's deep jade ones. She let her body relax, standing on the stage, back in reality, with an awkward smile on her face. "So...?"

~

Chase blinked, bowing his head. His shoulders slowly began to tremble as his fist came to his mouth, snickers soon filling the air. He was actually laughing... Him, laughing! He sighed, looking back at her. "A ninja..." he mused, shaking his head. "I like you, Nina."