The breeze was a chilly one with the first snow flakes drifting down from the heavens. It was still too warm for it to accumulate but it marked the first snowfall of the year. Hot, cold ... it really didn't matter much to Aegir though during the colder months the water ways that he used tended to freeze up forcing him to take alternative measures.

He had been sleeping perched up in the branches of his favorite tree when he heard a gaggle of students moving along one of the hiking trails he tended to monitor from time to time. White eyes partially opened as he looked down below on the forest floor.

His flesh was brown now, better to match in with the terrain and his mind actively scanned the students below him, lazily checking them to see if they were interesting or not. Most weren't having a rather bland back story that led them here, and it had been those that he tended to avoid given that his interests wouldn't be piqued.

Nothing. Nothing stood out and he had been about ready to return to sleep when an idea struck him. Something that might be interesting ... an experiment of sorts ...

What would it be like taking a more reclusive student and pairing them with a more out going one. He pondered some interesting scenarios in his head, then going through all the memories of the gaggle beneath him he came up with something he could use, something that would be interesting for a time at least.

To make matters work, cue Phebe, a popular blond, a junior with green eyes, a modest chest and curly hair. He usurped her mind. controlling her like a puppet. It wasn't often take he took control of a person but there were only a few suggestions that he was going to make for her to follow.

And that was why Phebe drifted to the rear of the class, her pace slowing and eventually falling in stride along Shaerta's. "Hi, I'm Phebe? New here? I don't see you with many people so you must be with the new class of freshmen, right?"

It was commanded by Aegir that Phebe act in such a way, introduce herself and chat to the other student. About what, he did not care nor command, it was just the initial stage that he was setting anyway.

It seemed this island did experience a winter, even it is was comparably mild. The snow was a surprise, though it was practically a cold rain by the time it reached their heads. Shareta breathed out a steamy little breath, watching it vanish amidst the falling drizzle of rain drops. She had no idea why it was decided for the lot of their class to choose today of all days to go on a nature hike and she was per her usual style, holding back near the end of the line, her expression matching the cool temperatures as she glanced this way and that as they walked. She liked the rain truth be told and was so focused on it she hardly registered that another student had peeled away and was approaching her. Head turned as Phebe spoke to her, glancing left as if believing there would be another student beside her. She recognized the blond. Phebe, pretty and fairly popular. Yes she did have eyes and ears, it wasn't hard to pick these things up if all you did was watch and listen. In fact, in the short amount of time she had been on campus thus far she knew the majority of the names of people in her classes and on her floor. It reminded her of her parent's social gatherings, where she was supposed to say hi and greet the guests by name. It was a little talent of hers. Still, Phebe hadn't struck her as the type to reach out to someone else though. It was an admittedly pleasant surprise.

"Shareta..." She replied faintly, nodding to the woman with a half Japanese style bow before catching herself and raising back up. Decorum was different here. She often forgot that. "A pleasure to meet you Phebe. And yes, I am new here. Transferred in a few days ago." Words died off then from the girl, Shareta not being the loquacious of individuals. Still she kept Phebe within her peripheral and did not pull away from her. That would be rude and just having someone present near her was somewhat of a treat. Most ignored her and she wasn't sure whether she was happy or upset about that fact.

"Shareta, what an unusual name. Well, judging from your bow and the fact you transferred in recently, not to mention the exotic appearance indicating that your most likely of mixed ancestory then I'd say that your from Japan. Am I right? I'd consider China too though I'm not sure if they do that bowing thing out there.

"I'm rather certain they do in Japan, my dad was stationed out in Okinawa for four years so I lived out there for a small while. Kanichi wa and all that," she smiled softly. "So, what made you decide on Shokushu? I came because of the sports program, though I got a little disappointed seeing that the school is rather isolated and doesn't do team sports at least in that they don't compete against other schools but they make up for it, they've got a mean lacrosse program."

It seemed that Phebe was determined to balance out the amount of words in their conversation to one held between normal people... well 3 normal people. Shareta's eyes widened slightly at the sheer barrage of information sent her way. She had no time to respond to Phebe as the girl bounded from subject to subject like a hyper kid with ADHD. It started on Japan and ended with lacrosse... where was she supposed to start? Finally with a faint shake of her head and the faintest upturn of her lips she responded "You are lucky I speak English so fluently..." Taking in a small breath and after a moment's longer deliberation stated "I am Japanese, no mixed ancestry. No, the Chinese do not 'do the bow thing'" Was that a touch of mockery or teasing in her tone? "Okinawa is a nice city, but I only went there a few times. I was raised in Yokohama, it's in a different region of Japan." She left the girl's pronunciation of the traditional Japanese greeting alone, most who didn't speak the language as their first ome never quite grasped it fully. "And what made me choose Shokushu... I really just wanted to get away from home... I got in on an academic grant and am uncertain as to my focus yet, though I enjoy the sciences." She paused "I'm certain speaking about that would bore you though. Perhaps you could tell me more about lacrosse? I haven't even heard of the sport."

She was obviously careful with her words, rather precise in answering each of Phebe's points and even added in some tidbits of her own of her own volition. For Shareta that was a rarity. Yet as she spoke her attention wavered less and less, more focused on the conversation between them rather than the scenery. Phebe was far more of an influence in keeping the conversation going though.

Aegir had selected Phebe for just that. True she had a common link with her but that link wasn't the strongest after all. It was more the transitions in her speech for Phebe could be a bit of a chatter bug and it was this that Aegir hoped would prove benefical in inspiring conversation. He watched on from his perch at the two noticing that they moved slower as they chatted to one another.

"A good thing, my vocabulary is limited to, oh, 30 words or so. Most places near or on the base used English so there wasn't a huge draw to learn anything new in that respect. Science? I never like the physics course I had last year but biology was quiet good. Chemistry, well I didn't do so well with it. Mixing and combining things wasn't my forte. Remembering what elements combined with one another to form different sort of stuff, well I wasn't good at that sort of thing. I remember H2O but that's about all.

"Lacrosse? Oh, it's sort of like soccer but you have sticks with little nets on them so you can catch balls and toss them to one another. The ball is smaller too and there's a goalie and such to try to stop you from scoring, quiet fun though a lot of high schools don't do lacrosse these days, then again female sports are lacking in most places so unless you get lucky you get stuck with cheer leading and swimming."

The conversation between them was progressing quite smoothly and Shareta found she was actually enjoying speaking with the woman. She wasn't trying to push into her past, was seemingly genuinely friendly and had a cheerful disposition that was infectious. Even if it still wasn't quite enough to break her expression, it was enough to warm her tone to something warmer than her usual cool and relatively curt statements. Her attention was now entirely drawn away from her surroundings, just chatting with Phebe and focusing solely on her. She wasn't even aware the rest of the class had gone much further ahead of them, leaving the two of them behind by a fairly good amount of distance.

"Ah, well I loved all three of those subjects. Even took an anatomy class once. It was interesting. Still, can't be a science major, have to pick a field eventually." She nodded faintly to the woman's description of the sport and glanced upwards for a time, trying to envision the sport and finally gave up "I can't even begin to try and picture that Phebe. I'd have to see it I guess." She nodded offhandedly and continued, "And I agree that female sports programs are hard to come by. A sad truth, though I am glad this school at least has something for those who are athletically minded. For me, well I like my books. Never was allowed to play sports..." Her words trailed off and she glanced away from Phebe due to the slip. Thinking about her parents was a good way to put herself in a bad mood and she was genuinely enjoying this rare moment to speak with someone. Changing the subject she asked "So... what all do you do for fun besides play lacrosse?"

"Yuck! You like that stuff? I failed high school biology because I wouldn't cut up a frog, well that was a huge part of it I guess. For those of us that didn't want to cut into frogs we could use a computer program. I think what did it was me stealing then releasing the frogs. The principle and my teacher didn't like that too much but back then I was big into PETA and animal rights.

"But that's long past. Still I don't go out of my way to cut things up. It's different with anatomy since the people are already dead. Still, I'm a bit squeamish with all that blood. Gross." She smiled a little at her.

"Then no question, you've got to see a game some time, we're playing at 5 this Wednesday probably indoors if the snow keeps up though I doubt it, things usual don't accumulate too much here. Anyway I hope it's an outdoors game, more space.

"But I guess it's good that you didn't get to play sports, no sports related injuries that way," she smiled then something caught her eye and she tracked movement. "Is that? No way - a fox ..."

She watched the animal for a second, tracking it's movement in the underbrush unaware that it was an illusion generated by Aegir to gather their attention as the rest of the class got further away from them.

"Oh, what else do I do? Bird watching mostly, I've been a nature freak for awhile now steaming since, well before my PETA days." Her eyes focused on the fox though as she spoke watching it move about. She took a few tenative steps off of the hiking trail to get a better look at it.