Shadows

On The Hunt

Sayedi looked around in confusion. She knew he was there, she could hear his power singing to her more sweetly than Mavamira's enchanting voice ever could. She simply could not find him in the ridiculous and rather rude crowd. Sayedi took the blue jacket from her hips and clasped it around her neck. Like a human Red Sea the green wearing freshmen parted before the sophomore. With a sigh of relief Sayedi called out, "Eriden! Have you found him yet? These stupid freshies are so freakin' annoying!"

The questioned girl turned to her, strawberry blond hair never revealing more than a single sapphire blue eye. "Nah, I can't even find Mira and you'd figure with her hair she'd probably stand out." The way Eriden pronounced the nickname almost made it sound like mirror. "How come when you wear your Blues the brats pull away from you like you're royalty? When I put on my Reds I'm overwhelmed by stupid people asking stupid questions." Eriden looked around pointedly at the milling underclassmen.  It was true; the blue that signified a sophomore looked regal on Sayedi. The red of a junior just clashed with Eriden's hair, which was one of the many reasons she rarely wore it.

Suddenly a pair of tawny arms engulfed the pale girl's stomach, contrasting against her crisp white shirt. The head resting on Eriden's shoulder let out a yawn and a remark,"'There are no stupid questions, only the arrodent think otherwise.' That's what Mesan says." Mavamira's neon purple hair tickled Eriden's neck, and she moved away.

"I think you mean arrogant, Mira. On a more important topic, have you found him?" Sayedi's remark was met with confusion.

"Who? The midget from your dream? He ain't with the new smarties, I can tell you that." She nodded back towards the intelligent looking group she'd been speaking to earlier. "Yum, smarties."

Sayedi didn't know if she was talking about the candy or the students. With Mira, it could have been both. As Mira spoke, the younger students stopped milling around aimlessly and turned to face her with a slightly stunned look on their almost chubby faces.

 "Mira. Shut up. You need to save your voice for choir, remember?" Sayedi's terse voice pierced Mira's rather thick cloak of happiness and she thought attracting a class of unsuspecting around-fourteen-year-olds with her Siren's Call wasn't the best of ideas. Mira snapped her mouth closed and let Sayedi speak. "Alright brats, group up! Boys on the left, girls on the right!" She gestured.

One of the slightly larger girls who hadn't paid much attention raised her, as Sayedi dubbed it 'Talking to a Stranger', voice, "Our right or your right?"

"Yeah, okay, there are stupid questions." Mira muttered to Eriden.

"Go. Away." Sayedi growled.

"Sometimes I forget I'm the werewolf and Sayedi's the witch." Eriden whispered into Mira's abnormally pointed ear, careful to avoid the recently acquired clasp.

The freshmen quickly found a place in the large Greeting Hall. Sayedi immediately dismissed the girls to the corner to huddle and gossip. She inspected the boys, those found not quite up to standards were shuttled off to the girl's corner with an apologetic smile and a, "Hope you have fun here," from the angelically voiced Mira.

After ten minutes and little progress into the vast land of stupid boys Sayedi called in reinforcements. "Okay, from what I saw in my dream, he's short-"

"You short or midget short? Oh wait, there's no difference. Ow, sorry, sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood." Eriden cradled her sore ankle and cowered before the four-foot-eleven fifteen-year-old.

"Finished? Good. Short, brown-hair, pretty blue eyes, and a little black bracelet. He'll have a scar on his neck, but I'm not sure if that's on him yet or not." Sayedi was tapped on the shoulder.

"Um, Miss? Are you talking about Kevin? 'Cause he's over there." The boy pointed to a peer of his that was standing in the semi-shadows, reading one of the long tapestries that hung from the seemingly prehistoric ceiling.  Sayedi growled once more, but Eriden figured this time it was a growl of relief.

Sayedi quickly stalked over to the boy. Eriden followed but not too closely; there was a funny smell coming from the boy's direction. Abruptly Sayedi stopped, turned, and gave a small whistle. Immediately, Mira ceased speaking with the group of boys surrounding her to find the source of the noise. Seeing the rather ticked brunette giving her a medium-strength glare with her blackish brown eyes, Mira gave the boys a quick hug and skipped over to her best of friends. Mira stopped short when she came upon the boy and subconsciously reached for her concealed Manriki,  Sayedi's small hand the only thing that made her pause in pulling out the bladed whip.

As Sayedi attempted to approach the boy, she too was stopped by the strong hold of someone, though it was Eriden that grabbed tightly in worry. "Are you sure this is the one? He smells...repulsive. No, not dirty. Scary. Like I'm the prey. Can we just let him go? Please, Say-Say?" She whispered, feverently into the younger girl's ear, even going so far as to use Sayedi's nickname.

"Eri, I've had three prophetic dreams in my life. One of my father's death, one of my own death, and one of him doing something that affects the balance of our world. One of them has already passed and one will either cause or cancel out the other. We need this boy and we need to get him while we still can. Will you let me go? We're getting an audience." Sayedi pulled out of the junior's limp hand and once again approached the boy that watched them with a detached interest.

"Hello Kevin, I'm Sayedi and this is Eriden and Mavamira. How would you like to join our club? You won't have to stay for Opening Ceremony." Sayedi seemed much friendlier as she spoke to the underclassman.

"Sure."