Soft blue eyes, framed by long, feathery lashes, regarded a little white orchid with a profound sense of pity. The lone flower sat despondently in its tiny white clay pot, its buds drooping with melancholy in the warm rays of the late morning sun. Fenris sighed in empathy of her floral companion. Like the little bud, she'd been cooped up inside for too long.

The student's weekend had come at last, and Fenris couldn't wait to be outdoors for a time. She stood up from the desk near her dorm window. Her white blouse constricted about the young woman's firm, full bust. Fenris gasped lightly with annoyance at the uniform that pushed at her chest like a corset. Her slender, agile fingers quickly readjusted her garments until she could manage a full breath without straining the fabric of her shirt.

She snatched some comfortable black walking shoes and a blue blazer to wear over her blouse. Once she was all laced and buttoned, Fenris snatched her orchid from its perch on the windowsill and made her way down out of the dormitories. Traffic was heavy around the entrance of the dorms, but as the student gained more distance from the campus buildings there were less and less girls to compete for walking lanes.

Her flower tucked in one arm, Fenris made straight out towards the looming shadows of the forest. Something gnawed at the back of the students mind. A fleeting sense of apprehension of venturing out into the wilderness alone, but the student had long learned to swallow back such anxiety. She pressed on towards the edge of the woods relentlessly.

There was a bench out there near the edge of the forest and while she had spent the morning at the beach, the warmth calling to her though sadly she could not swim. Her parents had worried to much about her to let her doing anything “dangerous” especially without someone in the event that she had another episode.

Well, there was no one watching over her now though by force of habit she remained out of the water and only got some reading done while she captured some sun. What a waste, she long for a swim. But she packed it in for the day and headed back sitting down for a rest.

She fell asleep and that is where Fenris would find her, waking up, soft whimpers escaping her lips as a clawed demon stroked her hair.

The demon of course was a figment of her mind though learning of this place she realized that sometimes they were real.

“BRIA, SUCH A LOVELY GIRL, I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR SOME TIME NOW …”

Bria whimpered even more, unable to speak, unable to move, God she hoped this was another one of her dreams though she could feel that rank breath washing over her skin as the creature opened it's mouth, a tongue tracking down her neck as a large hand settle on her breast just above her sleeveless top.

Fenris strolled on casually through the sun's rays. She smiled as she walked. Her spirit ached constantly for the outdoors. The young woman had yet to make it even to the treeline, but still she felt invigorated by the anticipation she felt for the coming day.

At first, Fenris noted the tall, slender girl asleep on the bench with a casual glance. The girl was pretty. European, by the looks of it. She could already pass for a fashion model, with her long, sleek lines. Fenris nearly tripped while staring at the girl's long legs draped over the end of the bench. Legs like those made anything look good. Fenris also couldn't help but note the book in her hands.

Now that was something to admire. A kindred spirit. Fenris found reading far more bearable when she did it outdoors. It was just something about letting your body take in the fresh, natural resources of the world that made any activity just more real. Not to mention mid-day napping under a warm, full sun. Beauty sleep indeed. Fenris felt fine as a vixen, after a catnap on a bed of grass under a blanket of the sun's caress.

As the petite half-asian was about to pass the napping fellow student, she heard the whimpering. Fenris froze, and glanced back and down at the girl on the bench. Immediately, she recognized the fear etched in those soft, brown eyes. They were staring straight up, into the sky. Fenris glanced about, searching for threats, but found nothing to support her suspicions.

Now curious, she approached the girl laying frozen with terror. Fenris bent at the waist, placing one hand on her knee and bringing her face down to the other girl's level, but keeping a few feet distance from the bench. "Um, hi," she tried to soften her voice, so as not to startle the stranger, "are you...I'm sorry, are you okay? I heard you crying."

Initially she had seen the bench, needed to catch her breath from the walk from the beach and found the bench doing a little reading until she felt reinvigorated enough to continue but her disorder must have struck and now there was this matter to deal with.

She didn't know if a monster was real or not now. They were getting bolder, her delusions, due to what she had been through. But as she saw Fenris relief burst over her features, this was a delusion, there was no way that the other girl would be so calm.

She cannot answer at first though after a few seconds she nods.

“Yes, that was a bad one.” You know she thought that this wasn't such a bad position to be in. She didn't mind that warm touch on her knee either and only sat up when it was moved though she herself makes no effort to remove it.

“Bad combination of Sleep Paralysis on top of narcolepsy. I'm Bria. Bria Giovanni.” The first year student offers up a smile.

When Bria sat up, Fenris eased herself up to take a seat next to the other girl. She set her orchid down on the far side of her lap, and offered the tall brunette a friendly handshake and returned the warm smile. "I'm Fenris," she replied, "Narcolepsy. Sounds rough. Is that...some sort of disease?"

Frankly, Fenris hated medicine. She was blessed enough throughout her young life to not be plagued with any serious disorders, or even allergies. She rarely got sick, and as such remained rather ignorant of medical conditions. That, and let's be harsh: Fenris was not at Shokushu because of a stellar academic record. She hoped she wasn't making herself sound like an ass, and ruining a potential friendship. As soon as it was past her lips, Fenris immediately regretted asking the question.

"I'm sorry," she tried to backpedal before the other girl could respond, "that was a really awful thing to ask. I was just concerned because you looked scared to death here on the bench, and noone should look like that on such a beautiful day."

She took the offered hand, nice and warm like that smile she sported. Bria had not minded the question though and shook her head.

“No, it's alright really. It's more like a mental disorder where you can fall asleep suddenly without warning. In mid sentence I could nod off though usually after an episode I'm good for a while. If that wasn't bad enough I got really by Sleep Paralysis too.

“It paralyzes me so I can't move for a few minutes upon waking and I often but not always hallucinate too, hear and see things. That time there was even a tactile element to matters. That never happened before and I was thinking it was real until I saw how calm you were inches away from the beast and knew that I just had to endure matters.

“So, yeah a combination of the two can be no fun at times,” she smiled and glanced to the potted plant. “Did you get that out of the green house?”

A pang of empathic pity needled Fenris' heart as Bria related the details of her condition. To this day, her young mind could not fathom the purpose or equality of mental disorders within the grand scheme of the universe. Fenris was secretly infuriated to think that such a lovely young woman would be forced to suffer so unnecessarily for no reason at all. For all her life, this girl would be plagued by living nightmares that she could not escape from, and would experience them on a frequent basis due to her disorder.

She fought the urge to hug the other girl. They'd just met, but already Fenris felt very strongly for this young lady's plight. It was probably her hero complex: damsels in distress needed to be rescued. Only, Fenris couldn't think of any way she could rescue this girl from her demons.

Thankfully, Bria changed the subject before Fenris had to struggle for an appropriate response to such an awful subject as mental disorders. "Oh! This?" Fenris reached around and presented her sad little flower pot to her fellow student, "yeah, I took him to my dorm room in an attempt to add some color and life to the place. I don't understand. It was so healthy at the green house, but it's just miserable up in my window. What's embarrassing is I usually have quite the green thumb when it comes to flowers. Anyways, I was off to go find my old grove in the forest and see if I can't rescue the poor thing before it dies altogether on me.

"I'm not in a hurry, though. If you'd like, I could walk you up to your dorm, or just to the commons. It might be good for you to stay close to others in case something like this happens again soon."

“It might be that they have special food pellets or something at the green house, I've never been but there are than a few plants in the forest that are nice. I'm no botanist but I've never seen them before.”

She was a little worried, not once but twice she had been attacked out in the forest, once during a camping trip and the other time when she got lost. She could steer her clear from those areas though in the last case she had to be there to steer her clear from the mistakes she made.

Bria glanced at her watch then looked in the direction of the dorms before rising and taking up her back and slipping the book back inside.

“Last I check you were a person. Besides, it should be a few hours at least before I have another attack, unless … well … unless your planning on taking advantage of me or something and can't resist,” she teased. “Joking of course … maybe ...” She grins. “But seriously I'll go with you unless you rather not have the company the only thing waiting for me at the dorm is a short story I'm finishing up. Oh, I didn't tell you that I'm a novelist yet, did I?”

Fenris burst into genuine laughter at Bria's joke. Okay, sex jokes. Now she was in familiar territory. Fenris was definitely beginning to dig the vibe she was getting from this tall beauty. She was quickly getting the sense that she had just chanced upon a new friend, possibly with benefits. All because of a little common courtesy. Now that's a good deed properly rewarded.

Fenris stood, dusted off her blue uniform skirt, and offered Bria the crook of her arm as invitation. "C'mon, you're more than welcome to tag along," she smiled to assure the other girl of her sincerity, "You can tell me all about your stories. I don't read a whole awful lot, but that's mostly because a lot of books choose really 'bleh' subjects, if you ask me. What do you write about?"

It was a risky opening gambit though it seemed to work to brake the ice. She was even offered the crook of her arm which Bria readily grabbed before the pair had been on their way. She ha wondered what was going through Fenris attractive little head about then, did she think she was straight because of that joke or a lesbian to even consider such a thing?

Bria was uncertain at that as the pair of them walked along. This time she would get things right drawing the girl away from the path that she got lost down … that lead to the home of a creature and she re-evaluated the campsite that she had been at. The monsters that had set upon them there didn't seem to have laired there.

No, better play it safe. She went another way altogether not suspecting that it would lead them into any trouble.

“Before coming here I wrote lots of horror stories … now though I write a lot of horror erotica ...” She begins. “Since I've come here I've had tons of weird dreams and, well that's not important. Do you have a boyfriend, I mean before coming to this school. Sorry if I'm being a bit personal, you don't have to answer my questions, I'm just being nosy.”

Now this was the way to spend the weekend! Fenris had been overjoyed at the very thought of spending the next couple of days out of doors, but this new companion was proving to be a cherry topping to the weekend experience. The asian student let her new friend lead her past a couple of old paths. Fenris, even after all the time she'd been away, still remembered where her grove was located within the depths of the Shokushu forest. She had navigated to and from the location in the pitch darkness of the night a couple of years back.

However, she wasn't in any hurry. She made no attempt to dissuade Bria's sudden, passive leadership. It was actually rather nice. Besides, the flower could wait its turn. Fenris planned to milk this little nature walk with her new, beautiful friend for all it was worth.

She noted that Bria led them both down a very old path. She thought for a moment to ask the girl if she knew where the path led, as she had no memory of this one, but decided against it in the end. From the looks of things, the path wound its way into the deep forest. Risky stretch of path, but there might be some gem wilderness spaces hidden along the way. It was certainly worth exploring, especially if Bria was leading them someplace specific. If not, Fenris was woodsy enough to find their way back to the main trail and from there, lead them to her hidden grove.

As Bria talked and led them both, Fenris took the time to passively study her new companion. Now, Fenris wasn't one for reading books, but she could sometimes read body language well. Her keen eyes caught the fearful glances Bria cast at the paths that she had pushed them both away from. The way her body seemed to lean away from wherever those paths led, and the memories or nightmares associated with them. Fenris casually wondered if this was some manifestation of a fear of the woods, or if those places really held bad memories for the girl. She stored the questions away for a later time, maybe when they were out of the woods and the subject wouldn't feel so raw.

When her companion brought up the subject of her horror fiction literature, something lit up in Fenris' memory banks. She scrambled after the little nugget, failing to grasp it fully. Somehow horror fiction, combined with vivid nightmares seemed to connect some thoughts. It must deal with the occult magics. She was lightly versed in her own specialization of magic, and she had never more than glanced at the other forms that magic took.

It was certainly possible, though, that Bria's mental disorders were connected indirectly to her passion for writing horror fiction. The sleep paralysis and vivid, almost living nightmares certainly seemed like the budding sprouts of conjuration, dream magic or even necromancy. Fenris logged a very serious note to force herself to do some extracurricular study into the possibilities of this later. If Bria was an untrained sorceress, her magic could be punishing her because she had no control over it. Of course, it would be a sensitive subject, since this could easily just be a medical disorder without metaphysical conotations. Fenris would have to do some serious homework before she came forward with even the suggestion of magical training.

Then the bombshell. Oof, the boyfriend subject. Well, Fenris figured she at least had gotten a few good minutes of companionship out of Bria. They'd overcome the icky, medical subject, but now the sexual orientation test had to be passed. Fenris had a fabulously high failure rate when it came to keeping friends after this little question.

"Ah...ha...boyfriend, yeah, no. No boyfriend," Fenris always struggled when it came to dropping this bomb, "Okay, look. You don't have to be sorry. It's a normal question. I'll be honest with you. You're cool, and I think we could be friends. That's why I'm going to be very honest with you when I tell you...I'm, sorta...gay."

Now that would be something! Bria had never given thought to the occult matter before as far as her condition went the realm of science that her parents had been a firm believer in had been responsible for getting her diagnosed.

Before she came here though she would have been adverse to such things herself being a firm believer in science rationally explaining things. But since she had been here at this school Bria had encountered all manners o things that science could not truly explain though she could have been stubborn and came up with the matter that she was having delusions Wraith had taught her full well that these weren't delusions after all.

So, if the subject ever came up she would have been open to exploring the possibilities since there might be a solution when the alternative did not hae one in sight.

They had continued along, the question of sexuality was one that she searched around, not to just make pleasant conersation but for alterior reasons. Wrath had stripped away some of her earlier inhiabitations, she was curious and he used that to attack her dreams, then later that Daphnee girl though that girl would hate her so, not for that attack though but or another ... she had misinterpreted that encounter and thought Daphnee was being callous and so paid her back by setting her up after dealing with another monster ...

It was stupid, it was something that she wouldn't do again but the damage seemed to be done and irreverasable at this stage. If only she knew!

She was just about to ask why no boyfriend ... Fenris was pretty enough though the Asian student had not finished. Jackpot ... er ... maybe ...

Bria canted her head to the side, curious though she did not draw away from her. "Oh. Cool ... I don't think anyone has called me cool before though since I tend to be inactive I don't get to know too many people, especially once they find -"

She slumped dragging her down as she went, her eyes closing as i she just had a sudden attack. She opens her eyes and grins, obviously messing around. "They learn that I'm such a liability. Tell me this thin, Fen, mind if I call you en? Tell me this, do you think your girlfriend would mind if I did this?"

She set her hand uopon her hip. "Or this." She stroked up then down her side. "Or maybe this -" And with the last she moved in with her lips, the intent to kiss her clear ...

Pickings had been slim seeing that his victims tended not to come back all to often. The forest had been his comfort zone though once he had strayed about 80 yards from it but came straight back not more than 60 seconds later.

Ah, sweet Meredith. That memory was fond.

The thing was that he never hunted when he wasn't at least a little hungry. On most occassions he was clear headed for he hated being ravenous. He appreciated a good meal and while none came back thus far he would continue to appreciate them whereas most others took it for grante or did not even feed, the later he could not get for he could never figure out their motivation, it made no sense to him and that was why he misundersttod Slarr a lot.

He was tending his garden, minding his own buisness and while he was hungry it was not an overwhelming hungry. It was a fine weekend day if he remembered right so most of the girls were probably at the beach anyway.

So he tended his garden for a bit, if Ginger returned they would have something to direct her attentions. She should be back but he thought that way about Medeith, about Hel, about Tamoe ...

After working up an appetite he phased from one tree to another searching through the forests as he left one tree and entered another.

Hello! He found a victim ... two girls, he'd probably let one flee and probably decide whoever was fastest. One had fallen, was she hurt? He was concerned that he would probably have to let them both go to let one help the other for he was not callous, not unless he had not eatn in a bit anyway where he could not control himself ...

No wait, he regonized that action, he had seen it on the videos the scients showed him as they tried to give him an extensive education ... that was a kiss, but what purpose did it serve when the saplings were the same gender?

Curios he stepped beneath some cover, glancing out toward the pair and watching for now.

Fenris, to her eternal shame, completely fell for Bria's ploy. When the tall brunette drooped suddenly, Fenris tried to grab her to break her fall. Just as adrenaline shot through her veins, and she began to totally freak out, Bria popped back up grinning. Embarrassed, but humble enough to be honest about it, Fenris just laughed at herself and at Bria's cleverness. To be sure the other girl knew she had taken the joke well, the petite student poked the little minx's side with a playful finger.

Being suddenly a whole lot closer to Bria, and engrossed in her conversation with her, Fenris failed to detect that they now had an audience. She experienced a sharp jolt of pain within her heart when Bria mentioned the word, "girlfriend." Oh, Adena; Fenris missed her lover terribly. When the student had mysteriously returned to the campus, without any memory of the past couple years, she had been heartbroken when she couldn't find the other girl. Whatever had happened to her, was likely still happening to Adena. One day, soon, she was going to find her and rescue her...somehow.

Now wasn't the time or place for such painful memories, though. Fenris brought her focus swiftly to the here and now. Right now she had a tall, sexy brunette with dark, dreamy eyes touching her in more than just a friendly manner. The girl moved quick, she gave her that much. Still, Fenris didn't mind. It was the weekend, and she had every intention to make the most of it.

As Bria invited Fenris to a kiss, the young woman responded gently, and slowly. There was a chance Bria was just being experimental. If that was the case, it would do no good to jump her and scare her off. Their first kiss was just a soft, almost-innocent meeting of lips. After a couple seconds, Fenris pulled away a couple inches to make sure the other girl didn't feel pressured to do any more than what had already happened.

"Wow," Fenris whispered to her new friend, looking up into her soft, brown eyes, "That was...really nice. And yes, you can call me 'Fen,' Bria. And...no, my girlfriend won't mind. I'm sorry for having to ask, but does this mean you're a lesbian too, or are you just a little bi-curious from being away for so long from your own boyfriend? I don't really mind. I'm just curious."

Bria had a contented smile on her lips as they parted from one another. She had been quick for certain and that kiss was contrary to that eagerness, soft and gentle as it swept over her own lips. She had thought she had seen something prior to that kiss, an old memory perhaps. Maybe even a painful one.

She had regretted bringing up such a painful memory and cast her eyes away briefly before they returned. She was unsure if she should apologize or simply gloss it over as if she had not noticed in the first place.

Her heart was beating in her chest though, lust played on her beating heart and there was no denying that the other girl was quite attractive. She figured that Fenris was spoken for given her reply but had not stopped her either.

"That felt good," she smiles and considered the question. "Before I came her I was bi curious, I lost my virginity at a party before coming here and well, all girl's school there were others that were curious too. I've only been with two though, once each.

"I guess I'd be bi with a preference for women considering my first time was that good. It wasn't too bad but ... yeah ..." She figured that Fen either knew or could figure it out. "No boyfriend ... or girlfriend for that matter but if you rather wouldnt I'm fine with that too, I just had to kiss those sweet, sweet lips."