She didn't know that her record company was a bunch of aliens that liked human singing, she didn't know she was legally their property and she didn't know the school she snuck off to was now being paid to return her when she 'graduated' from it's 'special' curriculum. All she knew as she slept was that she was away from home and wouldn't be forced to lie to her fans at this school even if someone knew her. She was free to decide things on her own.
As Airi Slept she had a rather curious dream, she had these dreams a lot. she would be hovering over herself watching herself act and react to the world, it would be something she'd never done or experienced before, and later she would live through it and change little details forcefully. Premonitions; she had learned they were called, they were a feature about herself she learned to love, it made her even more special than people told her she was.
In the Dream she watched as she walked from a dock, it was early as best she could tell and it was warm. she could see the school from her brochure but, instead of going to the dorm building she found herself drawn to the forest and a small path off the main road to the beach. she turned down it and saw someone, the figure was vague and she was doing something... it was rare the figure was vague like this. She asked who the figure was and the dream was brought to an abrupt halt as a stewardess shook her by the shoulder.
"Miss wake up, we're approaching the school."
Airi looked out the Window smiling slightly, the island was beautiful to behold. she plane coated along the water to a dock, a very familiar dock though she'd never actually been here before. she disembarked before anyone else. the workers told the new arrivals their things would be brought to their dorms withing 48 hours and they were free to do as they wished until then. Airi looked up at the sky and smoothed her pleated skirt and vest a little before doing the same to her odd arm cuffs she ran an arm over her shoulder tattoo; it had been part of the contract she signed before leaving, and an official mark of property by the Hyria. She decided she should follow the dream as she had had it and began slowly heading to the woods.

It was dawn.

Quite possibly Aurora's favorite time of the day - and today she is again at her favorite spot on the island - the small grove which she has turned into a shrine to her goddess Skadhi.

This place is a small piece of the life that she has left behind - and as such it is solace and home to her here. The small stone altar, on which she has drawn the Nordic runes of her Deity. The overhanging trees which shelter the majority of the grove from view.

The priestess feels safe here.

She knows it's an illusion - this place has been breached by the denizens before - but the illusion still sustains her as she makes her prayers to her goddess.

The day has begun though - and she should really be heading back to campus. But for some reason - she feels like she should be here. This little nagging thought that tells her the she is supposed to be here.. now. She wonders if it is one of the lurkers playing with her mind - but that doesn't feel right either. Of course - if it were a monster, it would try to convince her it wasn't anyway - so she questions whether she can trust her own feelings.

The amazon beauty decides she needs to calm and center her mind - collect her thoughts, relax and concentrate. She slides back the hood of her light robe, letting her snow white hair fall free, except for the two long braids she chose to wear today.

Softly the priestess begins to chant, letting the musical rhythm flow through her body, as she draws on the Storm that lives within her, and begins to build an ice sculpture in the middle of the grove - gradually layering the ice to build up the form of a long, sinuous dragon.

The teal haired girl walked quietly down the path she remembered well from her dream and soon found the path she had turned there. she followed it without a second thought, she didn't know about the island's secrets yet, then she didn't even know about her own set of unique features yet. She placed a hand over her unusual tattoo as she walked the path knowing at some point she'd see someone unique and hear an interesting melody.
Indeed soon her ears began to pick up the same melody that had played in the background of her premonition and then came the figure though unlike the dream it was clear as day, a pale woman in a light robe of some sort. she seemed to be singing, or at least that's what it sounded like to Airi's ears though, she didn't know the language; it certainly wasn't japanese and she was sure it couldn't be english, at least none of the english she knew.
"Anata wa nani o utatte iru?"(What are you singing?))
she asked as she walked up quiet as a mouse behind the woman, the petite teal haired girl was about as intimidating as peacock feather with a bow tied around it and the air about her was much the same, sweet, kindly, forgiving, and more than that gentle.
"Anata wa utsukushii koe o shite iru. Watashi wa Airi Katsuragi gozen, anata wa nanidesu ka?"((you have a beautiful voice. I am Airi Katsuragi and you are?))
normally she'd have spoken in english to someone who she wasn't certain knew japanese but, whenever she was anxious she slipped directly into her native tongue as she did now.

Aurora's concentration was so firmly on controlling the Storm - that she failed to notice the young woman's approach.
The Storm is a wild thing after all, and it does not like to be so constrained for the delicate sculpting Aurora attempts - but that is why she practices it as well.

Still it is a fragile control that the speech from behind her shatters - letting the Storm loose to break and shatter the ice dragon to pieces.

Aurora gasps and quickly regathers the Storm, to draw back the ice so that neither she nor the girl approaching are injured by the shards. The priestess turns with an almost ethereal grace to look at the young girl. Her expression is one of surprise as she sees the petite young woman.

"I am sorry.. I do not speak... Japanese was that?" she asks in a calm, gentle voice - but a voice that seems to carry an air of authority to it, that the soft singing did not.

Airi paused staring quite shocked at the shattering ice sculpture and then more so as the shards of ice as they gathered again. She looked up to Aurora, a small droplet of blood drips from a very shallow cut from an errant shard of ice but it heals nearly instantly.
"Oh! I am sorry! I did not mean to speak to you in Japanese... I meant to say that your voice is very pretty, whatever you were singing was very nicely done... Again I am Airi Katsuragi, I was wondering what your name was."

she laughed a little nervously her left hand toying with the cloth of her skirt a little.
"Also, I am sorry if I interupted something important... and didn't mean to cause your art to break."
she explain in a slightly more meek tone though she did continue to smile.

Aurora's eyes go wide for a moment as she notes the drop of blood, and the way the wound healed almost immediately, but she says nothing.

"Thank you Airi. I am Aurora Skadhisystir." she says in a soft, gentle voice. "And no - you didn't interrupt anything important. I was just practicing." she says as she walks over to Airi.

"I come out here to practice alone though, just in case I lose control of it." she says with a slightly sad smile. "Like I did." she says reaching out to brush the blood from Airi's cheek with her thumb. Her skin is smooth and cool to the touch, almost chilling one might say. "I am that I am responsible for you getting hurt."

Airi smiled simply at a Aurora listening intently until she felt the hand on her cheek and the drop of blood. she blinked touching her own cheek and finding nothing, she hadn't even felt something scratch her she nodded softly.
"Oh it is alright, I did not even notice a shard touched me. Thank you though Aurora."
she bowed softly in respect her hair touched the ground and piled slightly until she straightened her back. she scratched the back of her neck a little nervously.
"Would it be alright if I asked what you were practicing? I have never seen anything like that."

Aurora smiles reassuringly to the petite newcomer.

"I do not mind at all if you ask. Although, I will warn you, that you may not believe what I tell you." she says with serene sincerity.

"A Storm.. a Blizzard .. lives inside me. It is a gift of my Goddess, Skadhi. I am practicing my control of its power. All storms are primal things.. wild.. uncontrolled.. and potentially dangerous."

"While the power in that form is great - I seek to explore other ways to use it. And so I practice delicate use of its powers - intricate ice sculptures as you saw being one such form. But as you also saw, such a force of nature does not wish to remain so constrained. Such is the battle."

She watches Airi carefully, trying to determine what the new student thinks of her words - she seems almost defensive, as if expecting ridicule or derision for her statements.

((sorry about the delay, real life has been hectic))

Airi listened quietly as the sorceress explained her craft; while she did she only looked on curiously, it was hard to tell what she was thinking really. Finally though when Aurora finished her explanation the blue haired girl's face seemed to light up with awe.
"Sugoi! Magic? is that what you are talking about? That is wonderful! I love talk about things like that, I never imagined I would actually see it!"
of course she didn't know she had a bit of magic of her own in not only her voice but, her natural potential in the arcane arts.

"I find it amazing that you can use such a powerful ferocious thing as a storm for art. you must be fantastically powerful Aurora! I am even more sorry now that I interrupted your concentration!"
she offered a bit of a nervous smile now as she shifted her weight her hands moving to smooth the back of her skirt a little bit; it was a nervous habit of hers.

"Now I am curious why you thought I would not believe you when we live in a world like ours with some things that can not be explained without a word like magic?"
she didn't think anyone would disbelieve in anything, as far as she was concerned 'nothing is impossible' was the grand rule of the universe.

((Sorry - insanely busy lately - really really sorry ))

Aurora raises an eyebrow in surprise and doubt when Airi says she never imagined seeing magic - after all she just healed from a wound that should still be bleeding. Obviously there is more to this new classmate than meets the eye - but if she wishes to deny it so be it. Then again maybe she doesn't think of her 'gift' as magic, any more than Aurora does - it is a 'gift', not a 'spell'. But she is used to others calling it such, and has found it easier to not try and persuade them otherwise.

Airi's comment about the art though will draw a sweet laugh from Aurora. "Oh, if only that were true! As I said, the Storm doesn't like to be so constrained. After all, I am not the Storm's mistress.. I do not command it, any more than it can command me. We need to work together. But sometimes we want different things, or wish to accomplish them in a different manner. It is... complicated." she says with a bit of a rueful smile and a shrug.

It is her last statement though that most interests, and confuses the priestess. "Truly, Airi? I have found that people seem to have a remarkable ability for self-deception and rationalization. People will come up with the most remarkable and unbelievable 'explanations' in order to make something fit the world they want to see. If they don't WANT there to be magick, they will find the most incredible reasons of technology or coincidence to convince themselves that it was, in fact, a trick. Or to convince themselves that the shadow they saw in the woods was a bear, even when it moved nothing like an animal. Or that the scream for help they heard was just an echo or trick of the wind."

The priestess suddenly looks at Airi very seriously - with an intensity that goes beyond her age. "You will find that many at this school have learned such ability at self-deception Airi. Some might even call it a survival trait at this school." Then she smiles, and gives a little shrug. "If you are very lucky, though, you'll just consider me a crazy, or naive, gullible young woman from the middle of nowhere."

Aurora leans down and begins to draw the pieces of the shattered ice sculpture back together.

Airi hadn't even noticed the cut had bled for even a second, she never noticed tiny wounds like that, more lasting wounds like a bad burn would certainly be noticed, in fact she didn't even know she had a 'gift' even though people had called her singing one, she'd never believe it as anything more than a talent.
She took in everything Aurora said. what she said last confused her quite a bit, she wouldn't see aurora as just a crazy woman, that would be rude certainly and it made no sense to anyway.
"Perhaps I only believe in magic because of my home then... In japan there are many traditions and legends and what others would call superstitions. My family did not own anything over ninety years old for fear that on the hundredth it would become a Tsukumogami and I believe much the same."

she blushed slightly admitting that belief of hers. she looked to the ground and a shard of ice. she picked it up and turned it around in her fingers nervously
"Now May I ask you about what you mean when you said many at this school have learned such ability at self-deception? I do not understand what you mean... why would they do something like that?"
she spoke quietly still feeling as though she was being judged for her superstition.

Aurora just nods understandingly when Airi 'confesses' her family's "superstition".

"A true fear, and a Faith that many do not share now. I do not understand why Airi - my village still honors Faith and tradition. But since I have left, I have found that many people seem to ridicule Faith and Belief and Tradition now. I do not understand that - and I feel that it must leave their lives emptier. To not see the Wonder that is around us.. both the beautiful and the terrible. It is not how I would wish to live."

Aurora smiles slightly as Airi picks up the ice crystal. The ice is pure, almost flawless. The clarity and precision of the lines almost gem-like in its quality.

"What I mean - is that it is not safe here to ask too many questions - or to look at things too closely. If you get 'noticed', you may find yourself in a situation you would not enjoy. Or worse - in one you will find yourself enjoying all too much." Aurora closes her eyes - and her body quivers as she remembers such encounters herself.. drawing a little lustful whimper from her lips, and causing her breathing to come in ragged little gasps.

If Airi looks very closely, there seems to be a shadow surrounding and flowing over Aurora - even though she is standing in the open sunlight.

She looked over the beauty of the ice crystal with a smile crossing her face as she did, she couldn't help but find it absolutely beautiful; never before had she seen anything like it, it was too bad it would melt.


Airi was definitely confused now scratching her jawline just under her ear. she hummed softly to herself in thought before she finally decided it best to just ask.
"I don't understand Aurora, Why would it be bad to ask questions? I know It would be bad to be noticed for me... I want to do my best to not be noticed."
she sighed gently shaking her head a little uncomfortably as she heard the lustful whimper from aurora and noticed the shadow over her current acquaintance.
"and what situations would be bad or too good at a college... uhm... Are you alright Aurora? You seem uncomfortable..."

Aurora's eyes are a bit unfocused as the Shadow toys with her body while she is forced to recall some of her encounters on the island.



And just like that Aurora's head snaps forward and her eyes go wide with a gasp as the shadow that had passed over her disappears. The priestess takes several deep breaths - her body flushed with embarrassment and arousal. The blush seems to cover her entire body - even down to the hint of cleavage showing from her robe.

"I... I... sorry.. Airi." she gasps softly, still trying to get control of herself. She gives a weak chuckle.. "Uncomfortable... that's a polite.. word for it." With another deep breath and a shake of her head, she again turns to her new acquaintance with a smile.

"What would be bad? Detention. Whatever you do - avoid Detention if you can. Shokushu has very.. liberal.. ideas about what comes under the category of corporal punishment. As for too good - that's hard to explain. Surely you've heard the idea of too much of a good thing? Or perhaps you've had things that you KNOW you shouldn't want.. but that you love it SOOO much you can't resist it? That you almost crave it... like a drug... and you know you have to stop.. that you can't... shouldn't... continue.. but.. you NEED it so badly!"

Aurora's eyes get intense on Airi as she speaks, a fierce, almost desperate look, as if the priestess were an addict in need of a fix.

Airi watched with quite the worried gaze as Aurora seemed to begin having a psychotic breakdown right in front of her. she looked on uncomfortably shifting as she stood. She thought she understood, she'd been that way with cheesecake for awhile, actually... she was like that with most sweets now and it hadn't yet ended. she watched the blushing woman as her expression shifted to one of desperation. she couldn't help, but feel a bit sorry for whatever this woman was going through right now.
"Is there anything that I may be able to do to assist you? You look horrible right now Aurora... It is disheartening to watch you like this."
she seemed genuinely upset about what she was seeing.