Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr.
Keme
Academy Freshman: Were-Korean
No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.
Posts: 229
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AWOL
Nov 1, 2009 12:56:04 GMT -5
Post by Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr. on Nov 1, 2009 12:56:04 GMT -5
Kemekin pushed through the doors of the sickbay for the umpteenth time, hoping to find that his aunt had returned, but knowing that she would not be there. The desk was empty. The lights were off and the windows shut. The place was spotlessly clean, as always, but now that made the room seem uninhabited. The only signs that Ellie had been there at all were the lingering scent of lavender, and the narrow section of wall behind her desk, which she had overlaid with cork and covered with memos, bits and pieces from different Shakespeare works, and notes scrawled onto brightly-colored scraps of paper in her sporadic, bubbly handwriting.
Kemekin sat in the desk chair, propping his chin with the palm of one hand while the fingertips of the other drummed against the desktop. “Where did you go?” he asked aloud, his hands balling into fists. He felt a tingling sensation blossom in his wrists and forearms and took a deep breath, willing his magic away. Ellie’s lessons had done him well—At least now he had the control to prevent his power from taking on a mind of its own. Most of the time.
Why was he checking in the Bay again, anyway? No one had seen his aunt for... how long had it been? And in that time several incidents had occurred. Incidents that called for a practiced healer.
“Dammit, Elliestraaeln,” he cursed, glaring now at the collage of information on the wall. He should leave. He would be punished if he was found skipping classes. Again. Which was exactly what he was doing. But who could focus on Geometry when family had disappeared without a trace? Kemekin crossed his arms and frowned, feeling hot tears welling in his eyes. He blinked furiously, and a single droplet escaped from the corner of one eye, traveling past his cheek and along his jaw line to his chin, where it hesitated before falling. It left a streak of warmth along his skin that almost instantly turned cold.
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AWOL
Nov 2, 2009 17:24:04 GMT -5
Post by Hoshi Yogo on Nov 2, 2009 17:24:04 GMT -5
Hoshi sighed heavily, his footsteps echoing solemnly through the corridor. For a week, he had made the short trek from his classroom to the infirmary in vain. It was strange how gloomy the time without her had been, when he had only known her a few short months. He had come to depend on her, in a way, and her sudden absence felt much the same as losing a watch. Continually he looked up, expecting her presence, and finding nothing.
But this was not the most worrisome part. No, Ellie had left before, but always for some reason, and she had always mentioned it ahead of time. And even the headmaster was unsure of her whereabouts. There was something terribly wrong, but no matter how long he searched for her, no matter how they scoured the grounds, she was nowhere to be found.
The door creaked open, ushering him into the chill, sickly white of the infirmary. Had this place truly once seemed so warm and welcoming? How, he wondered, could one person's presence make all the difference?
For a long moment, he trailed his fingers over the files on the desk, filled with a melancholy nostalgia. But something flickered in the corner of his eye, and he halted. He glanced back, though he hardly needed to. He could already guess.
"Aren't you supposed to be getting an education at the moment?" he asked, folding his arms and leaning back onto the desk.
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Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr.
Keme
Academy Freshman: Were-Korean
No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.
Posts: 229
|
AWOL
Nov 2, 2009 17:35:36 GMT -5
Post by Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr. on Nov 2, 2009 17:35:36 GMT -5
Kemekin sniffed and rubbed his face with his sleeves. "Aren't you supposed to be giving educations at the moment?" he retorted automatically, tousling his hair so that it fell in his face more. He pushed the chair closer to the desk so that he could rest his elbows atop it, and watched Hoshi with eyes made all the bluer by a now-vibrant tinge of red.
"What are you doing here, anyway, H-- Professor Yogo?"
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AWOL
Nov 2, 2009 17:45:55 GMT -5
Post by Hoshi Yogo on Nov 2, 2009 17:45:55 GMT -5
Hoshi smiled humorlessly, sliding up so that he was completely sitting on the desk.
"Probably the same thing as you are," he replied. "Skipping classes, being a delinquent, deciding which part of the school to graffiti."
Hoshi picked a ballpoint pen off of the desk, tapping it on the palm of his hand. He breathed heavily, staring away at the door. "I suppose I don't need to ask if you've heard anything from her?" he said quietly, almost as an aside.
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Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr.
Keme
Academy Freshman: Were-Korean
No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.
Posts: 229
|
AWOL
Nov 2, 2009 17:53:14 GMT -5
Post by Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr. on Nov 2, 2009 17:53:14 GMT -5
A single chuckle escaped from Kemekin. Almost immediately he sobered up.
"I haven't," he confessed, and had to take second to squeeze his eyes shut and wait for the burning in his eyes to subside. He was not going to cry again. Especially not in front of Hoshi. "I haven't heard from her since our last tutoring session. Maybe ten days ago." He rubbed his eyes again. "I know you and Professor Smoke have been looking.... have you seen anything? Like, at all?"
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AWOL
Nov 2, 2009 18:04:57 GMT -5
Post by Hoshi Yogo on Nov 2, 2009 18:04:57 GMT -5
Hoshi clicked the pen a few times absently. He shook his head. "Professor Smoke gave some cryptic tarot reading that didn't seem to actually tell us anything we didn't already know, and Michael managed to track her to the edge of the wards, but after that..." Hoshi rubbed his forehead. "Nothing. It was like she just...vanished. We've had a team searching what we can of the forest, but it doesn't do any good. You don't find anything out there unless the forest wants you to."
He looked up at Kemekin. Somewhere, underneath the insolent sixteen year old boy, there was Ellie's nephew, and he was beginning to appreciate just how important they were to each other. He squeezed the boy's shoulder. "Even so," he replied solidly, "we're not going to give up."
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Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr.
Keme
Academy Freshman: Were-Korean
No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.
Posts: 229
|
AWOL
Nov 2, 2009 18:16:16 GMT -5
Post by Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr. on Nov 2, 2009 18:16:16 GMT -5
Kemekin managed to smile at the Professor. He liked Hoshi, he decided.
"That's good to hear," he said. "That you're not giving up." He paused, then was struck by a sudden idea. "Wait, you said that you could only track to edge of the wards? Aren't the wards like... those anti-fae things? Auntie E is behind them?!"
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AWOL
Nov 2, 2009 18:57:03 GMT -5
Post by Hoshi Yogo on Nov 2, 2009 18:57:03 GMT -5
"The wards are a bit more complicated than that," he replied evasively. He shook his head slightly. "But yes, all evidence seems to suggest that your aunt is beyond the grounds, somewhere in the forest. Even the people who have the most experience with this sort of thing don't have a clue how to find her."
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Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr.
Keme
Academy Freshman: Were-Korean
No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.
Posts: 229
|
AWOL
Nov 2, 2009 19:19:46 GMT -5
Post by Kemekin Evans-Barros, Jr. on Nov 2, 2009 19:19:46 GMT -5
Kemekin swore colorfully under his breath. He stood up and approached one of the windows-- one that just happened to face the forest. His mouth hardened into a thin line and he asked of Hoshi's reflection in the pane, "When did you last see her? Maybe... maybe she'll just show up. Sometime soon. I hope."
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AWOL
Nov 2, 2009 20:05:24 GMT -5
Post by Hoshi Yogo on Nov 2, 2009 20:05:24 GMT -5
"The forest works strangely," he replied cryptically. "She might, but we shouldn't rest out hopes on it." He sighed. "I haven't seen her in over a week."
Hoshi watched the window. Though there was no wind -- this strange place never held natural wind -- the trees seemed to dance.
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