Conall
Ireth
Ding dong, the witch is dead~
"Please do as I say, or I'll rip your throat out. How does that sound?"
Posts: 576
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Post by Conall on Jul 22, 2009 23:06:55 GMT -5
Conall entered the room full of chattering students like a wolf entering a sheepfold, shutting the door behind him. The clamour ceased at once as every head in the room turned toward him.
"Good morning," he spoke out into the ensuing silence.
A few of the bolder students politely answered in kind, but most of them remained silent and still. The air in the room was thick with the sour smell of their fear.
Conall's gaze roved over the faces of the students: they were a medley of boys and girls, mainly academy seniors, but he noticed a few younger students here and there; mostly mages, he guessed. He noted a purple-haired girl in the third row looking at him as if he were a large and dangerous spider. Well, he thought, he certainly had fangs to suit the part.
He paced back and forth in front of the rows of desks, noting with satisfaction that every eye in the room seemed to be riveted on him.
“My name, for those of you who have not heard it, is Professor Conall,” he went on, pausing where he stood and looking out at the students. “I am your history teacher this year. You may address me as ‘Professor’ or ‘sir’. I require all of you to understand one thing: that upon walking through that door into this room,” he nodded to the only entrance or exit from the room, “you belong to me.”
He picked up a yardstick that leant casually against the wall next to the blackboard, and walked slowly between two columns of desks as he continued.
“There are several rules in my classroom, which you will all follow without question. That is not a request, nor a suggestion. The rules are as follows. Rule number one: when I address you, you will answer accordingly. This goes for individuals as well as the class as a whole. Am I clear?”
A chorus of “Yes, sir,” rose up from the students. Conall smiled and nodded once, his gaze darting left and right over the students’ heads. “Rule number two: if you wish to speak when I have not addressed you, you will raise your hand and wait for me to acknowledge you.”
A snort arose from a desk to his left; Conall pinpointed the sound and approached the perpetrator. A boy sat slumped in his chair with his arms folded on his desk, and his head resting on them as he snored, deeply asleep. Drawing his arm back and bringing it down, Conall smacked the yardstick against the boy’s desk, narrowly missing him, and shouted into his ear at the same time.
“Rule number three!” he roared, and the boy woke with a start. Conall lifted the boy’s chin with the end of the yardstick and gazed into his wide, fearful eyes, while speaking again in a normal voice. “You will remain fully conscious and alert at all times. I don’t teach in your dormitory, and you will not sleep in my classroom.”
He let his arm drop, still holding the yardstick, and walked on. A girl was discreetly nibbling a sandwich, which she hid behind a propped-up textbook; Conall snatched the sandwich from her hand and nodded for her to spit out what she had in her mouth. She did so, and he stalked away.
“Rule number four: no food or drinks are allowed past my threshold. My classroom is not a substitute for the cafeteria.” He tossed the half-eaten sandwich into a garbage can at the far end of the room, and wiped his hands on a handkerchief that he pulled from his sleeve. “That also pertains to chewing gum.” Several students swallowed their gum guiltily as Conall did an about-face and walked back up the aisle.
“Rule number five: all assignments are to be handed in to me upon first entering this room on the day they are due. Late assignments will receive a mark of zero. There will be no extensions, except in the very direst circumstances. Should you fail to hand an assignment in on time, you had better be dying.”
Conall reached the front of the classroom again, still holding the yardstick, and gave the students an innocently cheerful smile. “Any questions?”
There was dead silence. He liked it that way.
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Jul 22, 2009 23:15:11 GMT -5
Dubhiarr felt her breakfast coming sourly up into her throat as she sat and watched Conall in silence. Stephen’s warning—“you might survive”—had been worded all too accurately. There was no telling what the brain behind those piss-coloured eyes was plotting for the class, but she was sure they’d all find out soon enough. She stole a quick glance over her shoulder at Nina, hoping the tiny young mage was doing okay.
Turning her gaze reluctantly back to Conall, Dubhiarr shuddered inwardly. The very sound of the professor’s name, even in her head, left an acrid taste hanging in the back of her mouth. From now on, she decided, his name is Creeps McGee. No ‘Professor’ need apply.
Feeling only slightly better, and smiling slightly to herself at the thought of what Stephen would think of the nickname, Dubhiarr leaned forward in a morbid sort of interest to see what “Creeps” was going to say or do next.
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Jul 22, 2009 23:23:31 GMT -5
Nina watched the Professor pace the same way a mouse might watch a cat. She sat straight-backed, not for fear but simply because impeccable posture in the presence of any kind of teacher had been hard-wired into her over the years.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught Dubhiarr's glance. Her roommate turned back around too quickly for Nina to respond to it, but that was probably for the best anyway.
The tall professor set her on edge-- nonetheless her mischievous side was oh so tempted to ask him something. She decided against it, crossing her arms and settling to watch the excessively tall man's movments.
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Conall
Ireth
Ding dong, the witch is dead~
"Please do as I say, or I'll rip your throat out. How does that sound?"
Posts: 576
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Post by Conall on Jul 23, 2009 0:02:29 GMT -5
Conall gazed out at the students again from the front of the room, pausing briefly before speaking again.
"Given the number of mages who signed up for this elective," he began, "it seemed only fitting to begin the semester with lessons on the witch-hunts of early modern Europe. I thought we might start today with a little skit. A witch-burning."
He moved to one side of the blackboard at the front of the room, directing the students' gazes to something that was currently covered with a heavy white cloth. He pulled the cloth aside, revealing a small raised wooden platform, about four feet long by four feet wide. In the very center was a tall upright pole, also of wood. Coiled loosely around the base of the pole was a length of thick, coarse rope.
Conall turned his wicked smile toward his class again. "Are there any volunteers to be our witch?"
He took a few steps toward the front row of desks. No one moved or spoke.
"Is this a classroom or a wax museum?" he said irritably, eyes darting to and fro as he took a few more steps. "No-one?" His voice melted like warm chocolate as he approached a tiny young mage in the fourth row. "What about you, my lass? Stand up."
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Jul 23, 2009 0:06:51 GMT -5
Nina blinked twice before she craned her head back to look up at Conall. She wasn't much in the vertical department anyway, and seeing as she was currently sitting the professor simply towered over her.
"What would you have me do, sir?" she asked, her raspy voice cracking on 'have'. She stood as she spoke, not gaining much by way of height in doing so.
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Conall
Ireth
Ding dong, the witch is dead~
"Please do as I say, or I'll rip your throat out. How does that sound?"
Posts: 576
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Post by Conall on Jul 23, 2009 0:45:07 GMT -5
Conall smiled at the girl's readiness to obey him; he hadn't even had to apply as much authority as was usual. "Come up here for a minute, if you please... Miss Paem, is it not?" He regarded her curiously. "Paem... hm... isn't that Korean? You certainly don't look Asian. No matter..."
He led her to the front of the room, his hand pushing gently on her back, and guided her up to the ominous platform-and-stake. Easing her gently into position, with her back pressed against the stake, Conall picked up the rope and began tying Nina's wrists (rather tightly) behind her back, her arms wrapped backward around the stake.
"Just hold still and relax... there, good girl." He stepped away from her, coming down from the platform and moving among the students again. He stopped at the desk of the boy who had been sleeping, leaning over and addressing him.
"Your magical speciality is fire, correct?"
The boy nodded, looking confused. Conall smiled, straighening up. "Good. Come."
He led the boy up to the platform, and spoke to him in a voice like spilled oil. "I wonder if you could ignite that for me..."
The boy's face went blank for a moment; then he nodded. Holding out a hand over the platform, he murmured a spell under his breath. In an instant the edge of the platform was alight with crackling, enchanted flames, their orange tongues tipped with bright green.
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Jul 23, 2009 0:52:51 GMT -5
Nina's eyes widened, emitting the smallest of squeaks. Obviously, Professor Conall valued authenticity.... but fire?
No way, Nina thought, forcing herself to not panic. This is a classroom presentation. He wouldn't let a student get seriously hurt on his watch.... right?
She watched the flames creep closer to her skin. The heat from them was certainly convincing-- Nina felt pinpricks of sweat forming at the back of her neck and along her hairline.
"P-Professor?" she rasped, looking through her hair at the man.
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Conall
Ireth
Ding dong, the witch is dead~
"Please do as I say, or I'll rip your throat out. How does that sound?"
Posts: 576
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Post by Conall on Jul 23, 2009 0:57:12 GMT -5
Conall stood a safe distance away, his head tilted slightly, innocently to the side as he watched the raspy-voiced mage girl staring at him in fear. "Is everything all right, my lass?"
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Jul 23, 2009 1:09:18 GMT -5
Nina's wide-eyed stare melted into a look of disbelief. He knew exactly what he was doing! She opened her mouth to yell at him, but the flames reached her first. She hissed at the initial pain.
Looking down, she saw that the flames were not actually burning her. Her skin was undamaged, but it felt like a thousand hornets were attacking her skin at once. Nina bit her lip, determined not to give Conall the satisfaction of knowing how much it hurt. The stinging didn't stop, though. She panicked as the enchanted fire began to crawl higher on her person, and that panic burst from her throat in a single, half-heard word, the force of the sound taking most of her her voice out:
"Eonni!"
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Jul 23, 2009 1:22:02 GMT -5
Dubhiarr had seen more than enough. She was fine with the stake... The ropes were iffy... but REAL fire?! Creeps had gone miles too far! Dubhiarr was out of her seat and halfway across the room before she even heard Nina's desperate squeak, "Eonni!" Big sister!
Lunging into action, she charged past Conall and threw her hand into the enchanted flames, almost shouting an incantation. Water spouted from her fingertips and engulfed the platform and Nina in a cloud of smoke. Leaping forward again, she darted behind Nina and began clawing at the ropes binding her to the stake, all the while whispering soothingly under her breath as tears of fright and anger ran down her face, and the smoke cleared.
"It's alright, Nina. I'm here. You're okay. I'm here." She managed to loosen the ropes enough for Nina to slide her wrists out, then cupped the younger girl's face in her hands and stared urgently into her eyes. "Talk to me. Are you hurt?"
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Jul 23, 2009 1:27:07 GMT -5
Nina could only shake her head-- she was coughing from the lingering smoke she had breathed in. Her skin no longer felt like it was being ripped apart-- that pain had dissipated with the flames.
She balled her hands into fists to stop their shaking.
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Conall
Ireth
Ding dong, the witch is dead~
"Please do as I say, or I'll rip your throat out. How does that sound?"
Posts: 576
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Post by Conall on Jul 23, 2009 1:36:42 GMT -5
"She's perfectly fine!" Conall snapped, stepping up to shove Dubhiarr away from Nina and to free the smaller mage himself. "Do you honestly think I would let anyone come to serious harm in my own classroom? As noble as your intentions were, my lass, I had everything under control."
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Jul 23, 2009 1:41:29 GMT -5
"Yes, I can see that," Dubhiarr replied acidly, reaching out and pulling Nina away from the professor. "Obviously Nina's terror meant that she trusted you completely." She hooked an arm around Nina and began guiding her gently back to her seat.
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Conall
Ireth
Ding dong, the witch is dead~
"Please do as I say, or I'll rip your throat out. How does that sound?"
Posts: 576
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Post by Conall on Jul 23, 2009 1:51:01 GMT -5
Conall's already pallid face paled further in anger. He reached out with one long arm and gripped Dubhiarr's shoulder, spinning her around to face him.
"You have earned yourself detention for every weekend until the end of the month," he growled. "And I will be seeing you after class, Miss MacNamara."
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Jul 23, 2009 1:59:30 GMT -5
Unafraid, Dubhiarr stared up into Conall's eyes--yes, they were indeed the color of urine--and spoke in a voice as slow, weighty and cold as a glacier.
"With all due respect..." meaning none, "sir... the only person I will be seeing after class is the Headmistress."
With that, she turned around again, breaking free of Conall's grasp and returning to her seat as though nothing had happened.
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Conall
Ireth
Ding dong, the witch is dead~
"Please do as I say, or I'll rip your throat out. How does that sound?"
Posts: 576
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Post by Conall on Jul 23, 2009 2:13:08 GMT -5
Conall reached out again, this time pulling Dubhiarr up close to himself and forcing her eyes to meet his.
"Leave this classroom immediately," he intoned, forcing his authority upon her. "You are forbidden to tell the Headmistress, or any other professor, about what has happened here today. What goes on in this room stays in this room."
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Post by Meriel "Dubhiarr" MacNamara on Jul 23, 2009 13:19:42 GMT -5
Dubhiarr stiffened as the professor's voice oozed into her mind, curling around her own thoughts and stifling them. This will be our little secret, it purred.
He was awfully persuasive... maybe this wasn't so important after all, Dubhiarr thought. Nina hadn't been really hurt. No lasting harm done.
But the memory of Nina's terrified face flashed across her mind, resisting Conall's influence. The fear and pain had been real, even if the danger had been false. Dubhiarr growled in her throat and turned her face away from the professor, breaking his eye contact. She put a hand to her head as his voice faded from her mind, then looked up, eyes narrowed to angry slits.
"I suppose this means I shouldn't come back after class, then?" she asked scornfully.
She could see a vein pulsing in Conall's temple, and wisely decided to quit while she was ahead. With one last look at Nina and a whisper of "Be strong, mo piuthrag," she turned, picked up her books and left the room, closing the door behind herself with a loud, satisfying slam.
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Jul 23, 2009 13:49:10 GMT -5
Nina knew not to draw any more attention to herself. She smiled at Dubhiarr before scurrying back to her own desk, sitting down just as the door slammed shut and making a mental note to hunt down her roommate as soon as the bell rang.
No one had told her not to speak with the Headmistress.
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Conall
Ireth
Ding dong, the witch is dead~
"Please do as I say, or I'll rip your throat out. How does that sound?"
Posts: 576
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Post by Conall on Jul 23, 2009 14:00:58 GMT -5
Conall breathed hard through his nose to calm himself. The peppery scent of Dubhiarr’s anger still lingered heavily in the air, aggravating him. He turned on his heel to look out at the rest of the students, who were all staring at him, some with their mouths hanging open.
“What are you staring at?” he snapped. “Take out your books. Class will resume as intended, without further inter--ugh... agh... ah-CHOO!”
Unable to reach his handkerchief in time to stifle the sneeze, he wound up spraying every student within two feet of him with mucus. Pulling out his handkerchief and wiping his nose, he sniffed and finished the butchered sentence. “Without further interruptions!”
He stalked to the front of the classroom, snatched a book from his desk and opened it, beginning a lecture on the differences between the witch-hunts in Europe and those in Salem. When the lunch bell rang an hour later, his foul mood hadn’t let up in the slightest. Spying Nina rising from her desk, he suddenly remembered that he had neglected to forbid the tiny mage to tell anyone about the incident. He fairly swooped toward her like a large, vicious bird of prey, grabbing her arm as she stood up.
“I’ll have a word with you as well, Miss Paem.”
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Nina Paem
Keme
Academy Junior: Mage
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Posts: 427
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Post by Nina Paem on Jul 23, 2009 14:08:57 GMT -5
Nina snaked her arm easily out of his grip, giving him the sweetest smile she could muster. she knew what was coming. "Sorry Professor but I have a meeting set up with another teacher..." she inched towards the door, turning and breaking into a full sprint while yelling over her shoulder in a rush, "I apologize butI'llbesuretospeakwithyoulaterit'sveryimportanthavetorunnowKTHNXBAI!"
She made it out the door, her small size allowing her to effortlessly dart between the older/larger students. No sooner had she reached the next door down when she collided with something warm and solid.
"Oof! Oh, hi Haneul-oppa."
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Conall
Ireth
Ding dong, the witch is dead~
"Please do as I say, or I'll rip your throat out. How does that sound?"
Posts: 576
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Post by Conall on Jul 23, 2009 14:17:10 GMT -5
"Shite!" Conall hissed under his breath, seeing Nina vanish into the crowd of students pressing toward the door. He'd never be able to find her now, much less hinder her. Seething, he edged through the mass of students' bodies and out into the hallway, heading toward the cafeteria for a glass of type O before going back to the library.
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