A Soft Afternoon

[Róisín Brennan]

The well kept grass felt cool and refreshing on their hot necks and limbs. Five youth lay in a makeshift circle, heads close together, breathing heavily. Track practice for the day had been completed and they now laid on the lawn enjoying a moment of rest.

"They'll be killing us, they will," said a boy on Roisin's right after several minutes of silence, "I'm glad I'm not a sprinter like you lot." He turned to face the other three, two of whom laughed while the other looked as though she agreed with him.

"Ye just don't have what it takes, Adrian," the tallest of them said, suddenly sitting up. "I'll be after taking a shower now," he continued, and jumped to his feet. He offered a hand to the girl who had laughed with him and helped her to stand. "Will ye lot be coming?"

"Nah," Adrian replied, waving carelessly, "It's too nice a day to be scampering in doors, isn't it?" Roisin nodded, the third girl seemed to have dozed off. "Thanks though, Seamus."

"All right then," Seamus said, "We'll be seeing ye tomorrow then."

"Roisin," the girl called as she likewise departed, "Don't be staying out too late, mother's expecting us to be home on time."

"I know," Roisin said, not turning to look at her elder sister, "I'll be home on time."

Adrian waited until the sounds of their previous company had completely died away, before sitting up. He looked this way and that, as though suddenly wary of some impending doom. Roisin was watching him with one eye shut, "What are ye on about now, Adrian?" She suppressed a yawn and closed her eyes.

"Nobody's around now," he said in an excited tone, "We should try it now."

"Try what?" Roisin asked, sounding bored, but their companion had opened both her eyes as was looking vaguely excited.

Rolling his eyes Adrian said, "Dancing, of course, what else? Right Kaylee?" He grinned at the other girl, who was now sitting up straight and nodding vigorously.

"So dance, there are two of ye. Ye don't need me to be able to do so, do ye?" She rolled onto her side, cushioning her head on her arm, and appearing completely uninterested.

Unwilling to accept this response Adrian stood and began to pull on Roisin's available limb. "It's not the same, and ye know it. We were after trying it earlier and it didn't work. Maybe it'll be working this time."

And at last Kaylee chipped in, her enthusiasm bubbling over, "Come on Sheen! It doesn't work every time, but it might work this time. And it's so fun- like one of those stories your always after reading. We could have our own victory circle at the meet next week!"

Roisin was valiantly attempting to ignore Adrian's tugging at her arm, but her efforts were in vain. Reluctantly she sat up and blinked, "It won't be much of a ring, will it? Not with the soft days we've had lately. There'll only be mushrooms, ye know." But Kaylee's excitement was beaming noticeably, and Adrian, who seemed to think the battle was half won now that Roisin was no longer laying down had grabbed both of her hands and was now dragging her to her feet. Roisin sighed in a defeated sort of way as she stood and yanked one hand from Adrian's grip. She offered this to Kaylee and as the three created an awkward facsimile of a circle they began to spin.

It was dancing in on the most basic of ways, even when they released each other's hands and moved in their own patterns. This hardly mattered though, and for a few minutes the actual goal was forgotten as they spun and swayed an a most childlike manner. Finally dizzy, and tired from both running and spinning the three youth sat once again on the grass and looked at the ground.

One... two... not quite a dozen small fungi which had not been noticeable minutes before now dotted the area that they had thoroughly trampled. Adrian, Kaylee, and Roisin each laughed as they pointed them out, and wondered aloud about the process. "They're probably waiting to burst through and we just help them a bit," Adrian said matter-of-factly.

"But that doesn't make any sense. They aren't squished like the grass, are they?" Roisin asked, prodding one of the miniature mushrooms.

Adrian opened his mouth, shut it, and then shrugged. Kaylee giggled further. "This will be our spot next week," she announced gleefully, "If we sit here there's no way we can loose. Maybe we can help it grow after each practice!"

"It's not a real fairy ring," Roisin commented, "We may be good, but we're not that good, now are we? Anyway, we probably should be going- the sun is setting." The other two agreed to this, and went to retrieve their packs. Roisin made to follow, but stopped, looking once more at the scrawny circle.

"Oi! Sheen! Come on!" Adrian called from across the track.

Roisin smiled at the ring before moving off.

At the gates of the school they said goodbye: Roisin turning towards the left, Kaylee and Adrian to the right. At the end of the block Roisin broke into a run. It would hardly do to be late for supper.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

A few hours later, after the making of the circle and the great Unseelie escape afterwards, Briarthorn and Talon appeared outside the smashed circle of mushrooms.

"It's this way." Briar said after concentrating a moment with her hand on her deck.

Talon sniffed a few moments and frowned. "I smell...a fox."

"It's not unlikely. We are in Ireland. Not every fox is going to be the capital F variety." Briar said dismissively.

"Yeah. I guess." She did not look convinced, but did not bring it up again.

It is worth noting that, months from now, this is the exact moment Talon will look back on while Briar is kicking herself and Talon says, "I told you so." But that is a tale for another day.

The pair walked for a bit, Talon seeming much more aware and relieved now that it was night. "I hate the sun. I am never going to get used to it. Ever."

Briarthorn rolled her eyes and knocked on the door of the house they found themselves at, and were not terribly surprised when the teen with pointed ears and brown hair answered the door.

"Hello?"

"Hello Miss....Brennan? My name is Briarthorn, and this is my employee, Ms. Talon." Briarthorn said, Talon mumbling about Briar enjoying introducing her like that too much. "I am Headmistress of a school in which youth such as yourself are often brought."

"What are ye talking about?" The sidhe replied.

"You are what is often called a sidhe. Perhaps you have crafted a few fairy circles? Such as that trampled ring of mushrooms back that way?" Briar replied, pointing back the way they had came. "I know what you are, and at my Academy, you can get trained in both your inborn powers and how to defend yourself against the other creatures out there in the dark. All I need is for you to both accept wanting to come and for your parents to agree as well."

[Róisín Brennan]

Roisin stepped aside and invited the two women in. While not necessarily believing, and hardly willing to stick her neck into a potentially dangerous situation, it was not at all polite to leave company standing on the front step. After asking them to wait in the front room, Roisin went to find her parents. The house was not so large that finding them was any sort of issue, but upon approaching them Roisin said only that there were two women who wished to speak with them. Her mother and father exchanged looks at this and asked her, “Just what they wanted to be talking about.”

Roisin shrugged. “Something about school, they said,” She replied, thinking it would be much easier to have their visitors explain their being, rather than try to do so herself, “Would you like me to be making some cha?”

“Aye,” her mother said, drying her hands from the washing of dishes, “Do be bringing it quickly, Roisin.”

The time that the making of tea would require gave Roisin a sufficient opportunity to think about what she had been told. Of course, she was hardly unaware of these situations- she was well read after all. The arrival of peculiar visitors with an invitation to a character to join them on some quest or adventure was a fairly common one. “But still,” she said to herself pouring milk into empty tea cups, “I do think I'd rather be Elwin Ransom than Bilbo Baggins if it was ever to happen to me.” She thought on this a moment more, and something else the woman fashioning herself 'Briarthorn' had said: “I know what you are”.

Roisin scowled at this. In truth even she did not know 'what she was'- that is, if she wasn't human. After all, there was no evidence to her being any more abnormal than the next person. Her ears did not have any extreme point to them, and they were not biologically impossible; and the rings, well as those occurred without any pattern, she had passed them off as some peculiar natural occurrence. The woman's continued explanation of her school and all was certainly interesting- and even more so if it was true, but Roisin did not like thinking of odd and unfamiliar people knowing more about her than she did.

“All that aside,” she said to herself, now carrying a tea laden tray from the kitchen, “I would like to be knowing more of these 'creatures of the dark', as she said.”


As soon as a cup had been offered to each person Roisin took a seat next to her parents. Her own cup was nestled safely in her thin hands and she put on a face of innocent, wide-eyed curiosity to listen.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"Our world is full of dangerous things. The Unseelie, fae who rebel against the peace that King Oberon and Queen Titania have carefully constructed with humanity; lycanthropes, people compelled to change into fierce animals in certain circumstances; demons; and, well, Vampires." Briarthorn said, gesturing to Talon again. The elder vampire removed her glasses, her skin going corpse-like, and a smirk crossing her fang-filled mouth. Roisin jumped in a start just a bit, as did her parents.

"No need to worry. At the moment, Talon is quite harmless to you. But there are others of her kind, and also just normal people who use magic harmfully, that are a threat to normals and the supernatural alike." Briar lifted her and and opened her palm. Small balls of multi-colored fire began to swirl around her hand in a chaotic, ever-changing pattern. "Even so, it is your choice whether you wish to attend or not. I can promise you will learn how to protect yourself and also get a proper education by mundane standards as well."

[Róisín Brennan]

Roisin decided to assume that Briarthorn had already discussed the prospects of her attending this school with her parents as she was making the tea. She sipped her tea in a thoughtful way and lowered her eyes to the floor. She liked the sound of it, surely. That is, the concept of such things had always appealed to her. On the other hand, what reason did she have to go about picking fights with demons and the like? The concept of hand to hand combat had never really appealed to her anyway. But it all could be useful, and Roisin was of a practical variety, she liked to be prepared for anything.

She raised her green eyes again and watched their company. She was not keen on vampires, to be sure, if they were like that. Not that she had ever approved of some over-romanticized depiction, but it was intimidating. Roisin turned her gaze to Briarthorn and her handful of flames- what sort of name was Briarthorn anyway?

“If... If I go, and decide it is not something that I want to be participating in,” she asked in a small voice, “Will I be allowed to return here without any problems?” Afterall, this was not something you could just research and determine whether or not it was true.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"If you dislike the curriculum, then my first impulse will be to talk to you about it and see what you would want changed." Briarthorn replied. "However, if you wish to return here, then I will be willing to return you and provide the necessary paperwork for you to return to school here. Though I would rather no one left. Just because you have not heard of demons attacking people does not mean it does not happen. At least one of our incoming freshmen had his entire family killed by a demon through no fault of their own."

She took a sip of the tea and dismissed the fire, which faded and flickered slowly away. "Every person aware of what is out there in the dark is one more person, one more family, that can fight back if something wicked decides to victimize them. This schol and its training is not simply for your own good, but the good of the entire human race."

[Róisín Brennan]

The offer to allow her some say and input into her own education was intriguing, and Roisin felt that this was fairly indicative of Briarthorn's actual desire to have her at this school. Perhaps this was the closest to proof that could have been offered, given the situation, and Roisin felt more comfortable about the concept knowing she would be allowed to leave should she so desire. Furthermore, the point that one being unaware of a situation does not mean that said situation does not exist was certainly a true on. Ignorance is bliss, it was said, but Roisin hated ignorance.

She turned and looked at her parents, a gleam of hope now residing in her eyes. Now decidedly interested, there were undoubtedly some logistics to work out.

“Ye do be wanting to go, don't ye?” Her mother asked, unsurprised, but obviously reluctant. “Why be ye thinking,” she asked Briarthorn, “That we ought to be sending our girl into danger like that while we be doing nothing ourselves? As parents, you understand, that is not a situation the we like being in.”

Her father looked pensive, and as though he had something to say on the matter. In truth he was wondering what could befall their family as a whole if anyone of them were caught up in some sort of 'inter-mythological argument'. Such involvements, after all, do not generally stay with one person, but they were hardly willing to cut all contact either. And there was no use, he knew, in denying that Roisin was unique in her own ways, and would probably handle such events well. In the end, he determined, there was probably little reason to restrict her going. This would probably not be the only advance, and he would definitely prefer her having proper supervision, instruction and care, than be dragged into it all in a less desirable manner. To this end he asked, “What sort of financial arrangements will we be needing to make? And what ought we to be getting for her by way of supplies and uniforms and all?”

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"As for financial concerns, absolutely none. I run the school as a service, not for any profit. Uniforms, books, food, etc, are all supplied by the Academy. She will be returning for holidays and the like but, for the most part, we will provide everything she needs during the school year. In that respect, the Academy actually saves you money." Briarthorn turn to her mother. "As for your question, with all due respect, you send your daughter into possible danger every time she leaves the house. We can never know what can happen anywhere. But if you want something you can do to ensure her safety when seperated from you, and something you can do to recieve much the same information she has...."

Briar reached into her suitcase and rumaged around for a few moment before pulling out a foot-thick heavy, ancient leatherbound tome, the cover of which was tight and cracking with age. The book should have left a bulge in the suitcase, but it was removed freely with no indication it had ever been there. She put it down, rumaged further, and removed an Amulet that consisted of a silver chain with a glowing red orb at the end.

"This book will have in it, on a week-by-week basis, what Róisín is learning. You can skim it or look it over at your leasure. I only ask that once she graduates I have it back. This amulet has an enchantment on it identical to the one in the uniforms--that is, should she be in a potentially fatal accident, it will shatter and send her to the nurse's office instead of being injured. In this way, she will have two ways to escape danger." Briarthorn replied. "Is that sufficient?"

[Róisín Brennan]

Roisin was impressed; at the very least this woman thought of everything, and that was something she could certainly respect. Being a philanthropist was hardly improper. And she certainly satiated her parent's concerns.

She turned to look at her mother and father. The former was eyeing the book that was before them, while the latter was examining the amulet. "Ye certainly were after covering all bases, Ms. Briarthorn," Roisin's father stated, "If Roisin be wanting to go, she may. And we appreciate your efforts in protecting her, so we do."

"Well so," Roisin said, her voice brimming with innocent enthusiasm, "If it is agreeable, I would like to attend your school."

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"Of course. Gather your things and I will drop you off at the school. I still have more students to gather before this day is overwith." Briar said with a smile.

"There are more?" Talon whined.

"Yes, but don't worry. The last on my list is your own." Briarthorn replied. That statement made Talon's mood do a complete turn-around.

[Róisín Brennan]

Roisin nodded, and left the room quickly. Packing... packing... not to much, but not bare bones either. If they were where uniforms, normal clothes would obviously not be as prominent in their lives. She was not running in any uniform like that though, and with this thought in mind she began to collect her possessions.

A while later, with her mother's assistance, one moderate bag was packed full. A small selection of her favorite apparel (which had not been easy to narrow down), a few articles of gym-style clothing, her favorite books, basic toiletries, and one stuffed owl had all been chosen. She shouldered this pack and grabbed a thin, leather cover, book-like object from her desk.

After a fond farewell to her family, Roisin was ready to depart.