The Great Adventure! [open]

This was it. Day two.

After her first night at Beata, Erin was already getting the itch for adventure. She'd already taken all the tours of campus and such the day before, so she was mostly familiar of where everything was. One place she wanted to check out since she saw it was the forest on one side of the campus. After hearing how great they were to go out and relax or do whatever they wanted, Erin really wanted to see for herself. She wanted to explore for herself.

After her classes earlier that afternoon, Erin jumped at the opportunity. Rushing out of her last classroom, she ran across the campus, leaving her shoes somewhere along the way, her eyes dead set on the looming trees growing closer as she felt the wind fly through her long, curly hair. Running as fast as she could, she finally broke through the front line of trees, barely stopping until she looked back and couldn't see where she had come from. When she finally decided she was lost enough, she smiled and continued on in the direction she was originally headed.

This place was gorgeous. Green everywhere. All of the trees were a beautiful color with an assortment of green, brown, and the little bit of orange from the changing season. It had been a very long time since Erin had seen so much nature. She came from Dublin-- the big city of Ireland, so this was very unusual for her. The only time she remembered being in the middle of nature like this was when they would visit her grandparents on the outskirts of town but this was so much better.

Skipping her way through the trees, she took in every sight and every smell she could, climbing over rocks and swinging from branches that hung low enough for her to grasp. This was so much fun! Why didn't she come to this school sooner? This felt like home... in a way. It wasn't anything like Ireland, but it was about as good as it was going to get.

She only stopped again when he feet suddenly hit really cold water. Snapping back to reality, she looked down to see crystal clear water covering her feet and stretched far into the distance. Honestly, a lake was the last thing she expected to see, but it was gorgeous. Everything was so still and peaceful, it was perfect. "I've never seen anything like this.." she breathed before plopping onto the soggy ground, splashing her feet in the shallow water. It was so refreshing. However, she paused suddenly when she heard footsteps crunching on the leaves that scattered across the forest floor. Looking towards the noise, she had no idea what it could be.

The week was turning out to be a really long one. Owen was yearning for the weekend, and it was barely Wednesday. The moment the bell rang to signal the end of the day, he had left the classroom, dropped his bag in his dorm, and left again, walking wherever his feet led him.

He stopped at the front of the line of trees, wondering why on earth he had ended up here. It wasn't that he disliked forests, or even that he wasn't up for walking through the trees, but he had been thinking about home and its wide open fields. This was the exact opposite of what he wanted right then.

Still perplexed, Owen stood still as a breeze ruffled his head of curls, blowing some of them into his face. He finally decided to continue onward. He had heard there was a lake somewhere in the middle, and as he thought about it, he remembered the lake he had spent hot summer days swimming in at home, and, without hardly thinking about it, he began walking forward again, following what looked like the biggest path. The idea of visiting something that was so like home made him feel warm inside, something he knew had nothing to do with the weather around him, as he had just stepped into the shade of the trees.

It was quiet in the forest aside from the occasional chirping birds. Owen breathed in deeply, taking in the musty scents of damp leaves on the forest floor and of moss growing on the trees. He had to admit that it was beautiful in its own way, but it was nothing compared to the openness of his home, mountains standing tall in the distance.

Without warning, the trees disappeared, leaving Owen's view open to a lake, stretching further than he had thought it might. He stumbled a little, surprised at the suddenness with which the trees had stopped. A bright color drew his attention away from the lake, and he saw that there was already someone there. She was sitting on the ground, looking back at him. She had a shock of red hair, and Owen found himself smiling at just how bright it was.

"Hello," he said, taking a couple of steps closer.

"Come on..." Gage muttered to himself. It had been a long boring day of school as it usually was. He kept looking at his watch every few seconds. This had been the longest five minutes of his life. He had already told himself that he would go to the forest and work on his gift. As soon as the teacher had dismissed them, Gage darted out the classroom and out of the building.

Letting out a sigh of relief, He began his walk toward the forest.  The Autumn weather was nice. The cool air brushing against his skin and he made his way toward the crowd of trees. A smile formed across his face as he entered the forest. His shoes crunching the fallen leaves with every step he took. What a pleasant sound that was. Without even noticing, he had been stepping on every leaf he came across. Good thing no one was there or else he would look stupid.

After a few minutes of walking, he stopped in the middle of the path. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. Putting both hands out front of him, he put them close together, palms facing up. He opened his eyes and directed to the center of his hands. Taking in one more breathe before he proceeded. His hands began to emit a faint blue glue. The glow then forming into a small orb. He began to focus even more toward the orb. Feeling the natural energy around him and absorbing it into the orb. It had began forming into a bird-like shape. A small head with a beak and then small wings sprouted. It was a light blue Construct of energy in the shape of a dove. The Dove examined the area and began flapping its light blue wings. It flew off of Gage's hands and into the sky above him. A small bead of sweat dripped down from his forehead. He looked up at the construct flying above him and began walking again. His goal was to see how long he would be able to control the Dove.

With the Dove still soaring above him, Gage walked past the last of the trees and into an open area. The lake. It sure was an amazing view. The crystal clear lake and the grassy plain that surrounded it. He took a few more steppe toward the lake until he heard a voice. He looked in the direction of where it had came from and noticed two students to the right of him. A boy and a girl who were about 10 feet away from where he was standing. Damn. He hadn't even noticed they were there. Talk about getting lost in the moment. He had hoped it would only be him there, but deep down he knew the lake attracted people to it.

He stared at them for a good minute, debating whether he should just ignore them and go on about his business. As soon as he made eye contact he gave a smile and a wave. Then turned his attention back to the lake. He held out his hand and the Dove construct rapidly descended from up above and stopped in front of him. Flapping its wings and hovering in place.

Her eyes quickly found where the sound had come from. Upon looking over, she stopped and stared for a moment at Owen who had just walked up with a big smile on his face. Pulling her feet out of the water, she quickly jumped up so that she was standing again, turning towards the boy with a smile in response. "Hello there," she said, her thick Irish accent ever present. Without much thought at all, she quickly stuck her hand out to Owen for him to shake, using her other hand to brush the dirt and mud that had gathered onto her uniform skirt from sitting on the ground. She didn't really care about the skirt. Honestly, she thought it was pretty stupid that girls wore them. If she had her way, she'd be in pants right now... or shorts.

As she waited for Owen, something else caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Looking over for just a moment, she spotted Gage not too far away who quickly smiled and waved. Smiling and waving back for a moment with her dirt-covered hand, she was surprised to see the blue bird that suddenly came to him, simply hovering in place. That was so cool! Was that some kind of bird native to the States? It looked too... supernatural almost, but hey, she couldn't judge. Within just a few moments, she turned back to Owen to get a response.

Owen looked down at the girl's hand, pleased with her eagerness, but admittedly disgusted by the dirt on her hand. He reached out to shake, even if it was only to be polite. Just as his hand reached hers, however, she turned away to look at something. His own gaze followed her, and he raised his eyebrows.

For some reason, he felt a strong urge to show off his own skills. Sure, he couldn't exactly produce a bird shape with his light, but he could put on a pretty good light show. Owen's hand curled away from the girl's and he waved with her at the boy with the dove. It was a stunning power, something he was a bit envious of. Still, he hadn't had the ability to choose his power, and while that other one looked pretty neat, he enjoyed his. It made people happy.

Grabbing the bird and then cradling it in his right hand. He threw the construct straight into the air. The light blue Energy formed itself into the Dove once again and continued to fly up above. Eventually just circling the lake. Gage smiled as he watched it from below. It was slowly getting easier to control and shape. Eventually he'd be able to make more than one with ease. Picking up his left hand to look at his watch, checking the time before putting it back to his side. He glanced over to where the other two students had been. Gage could sense that they weren't friends or had not known each other, the body language made that clear. Perhaps he should go over there and associate with them. He was getting bored just standing there. He casually began walking to where they had been.

Upon walking there, he got a closer look at them. The boy being really tall and the girl having bright red hair. Those were the first characteristics that caught his eye.he stopped near them and he supposed he should introduce himself. "Hello, My name is Gage."

Erin watched with delight as Gage recalled and reshaped the blue energy he seemed to be controlling. It was beautiful; breathtaking. It was definitely something she'd never seen before. When Gage suddenly walked over and introduced himself, she giggled somewhat stupidly. She certainly enjoyed watching him use his gift. At least she knew what it was now. It was funny how that was always one of the first questions that came to mind when she met someone. "It's a pleasure!" she replied happily, turning so that she was facing both Gage and Owen. "I'm Erin. What brings you both to the lake?"

Not wanting to miss out on the introductions, Owen piped in, "And I'm Owen." He continued to feel envious of the energy that Gage seemed to produce with his hands. For a moment, he stared at Gage, as though waiting for something else to manifest. Erin's question pulled him from his stupor, however, and he directed his attention to her.

"I needed to get away from all the people at the school," he admitted nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders to brush it off.

So, Erin and Owen, he gave a small nod as they introduced themselves. He listened to Owen speak his reason of being there. Needed to get away, huh? He raised a brow at his answer before speaking his own. "Well...I come here often. It's a lot easier to practice my gift when I'm surrounded by nature." He looked over to Erin and smiled. "What brings you here?"

Erin gave Owen a curious look when he had mentioned about getting away from all of the people in the school. He didn't really do that great of a job if he ended up here with her and Gage. But if he was happy, she was happy. Turning back to Gage, she shrugged before her eyes ventured around, looking at all of the trees and out across the lake. "Nature's always been my thing. I like going on adventures ever since I was a wee little thing, and since I've only been on campus for a day, I wanted to check out what else the grounds had to offer," she replied in her strange accent. "I'm glad I did! This place is beautiful!" She smiled, giggling a little, her thick hair bouncing as she moved giddily.

It wasn't necessarily that he had wanted to get away from people. It was more the crowds and the noise that were driving Owen crazy, and the forest walk had provided him with that he wanted. Stumbling across these two had been a complete accident on his part.

As Erin spoke, he found her accent interesting, and he smiled the slightest bit.
"I hope you don't mind my asking," he said, "but where are you from?" He didn't know how far most of the students had come, but he knew he hadn't met any foreign students yet.

Gage watched happily as the giddily Erin was bouncing around as she spoke about her love for nature. She sure was a lively 'wee' thing. Looking up toward the sky, he spotted the blue dove still circling up above him. Flapping its wings and every now and then spinning as it completed its circle. His attention was brought back to Owen when he asked Erin where she was from. He hadn't paid too much attention to her accent. It obviously wasn't from any of the states, but if he had to guess, he would have went with Scottish or Irish. He awaited her answer patiently until a question came into his mind. "So what gift brings you two to Beata?" He asked.

First turning to Owen, Erin calmed down a little when he had asked her about where she was from. Honestly, she thought it was pretty obvious, but maybe some people didn't really know. "Dublin," she said. It took her a minute to remember that they weren't in Ireland. Did they have any places in the States called Dublin? "Ireland," she finished, giggling to herself over how she'd forgotten where she was. "As if there's more than one..."

Just after she had finished her answer, Gage spoke up about gifts. Erin was just about to answer plain and simply when she paused for a moment, thinking over how her last conversation about her gift had gone. It wasn't too pleasant over all, and it had looked like it scared people. For just a moment, uncertain worry flashed across her face but it was gone in a second. "I... I, uh... My ability is actually possession," she said with a lot less confidence than the other day. "But! Don't worry. I can barely possess a mouse right now. And there's no way I'd ever try to possess someone else!" she tried brushing it off with a laugh, but it only made her sound slightly anxious.