Out with a bang, in with a whimper

[Aislin Phyre]

Aislin exited the building and looked up at a clear blue sky. She was aware of the police officers standing in the foyer of the grand old building that served as their main office here in Alvecote, she knew they watched her. some with pity, others with suspicion.

She didn't care. Not anymore.

She had applied for a name change that morning. Was it really a week ago that it had all happened? Shaking her head at her own melancholy, she dug her hands into the pockets of her jacket and walked on. Her reflection in a window as she passed told her what she had already known for a week; her eyes were such a deep brown they appeared black.

'Gotta get out of this one on my own, if i don't i might just get trapped this time.'

A bitter chuckle made its way up her throat. Before it was always her mother . . . no, Mrs James couldn't be her mother. No human could have created her, and deep down her heart already knew what she was. Thankfully it had taken a few days for her ears to change shape slightly, a little more pointed at the top, and she was even more thankful for her thick hair that hid them during the questioning.

"Miss James, we understand your grief, but you have to answer the questions. What was he doing to them? Why didn't they run? What did he kill them with? We found no weapon at the scene."

"I'm sorry, I've told you all i can." the hundredth time she said that, in a fair few hours.

Silence. For a long while silence, laced with suspicion, anger and even a little fear. "If you remember anything else, this is my number." he wrote it down. "Call me, even if you just want to talk. My cousin is a psychologist, a therapist. She works cases like yours, traumatic ones. She'll help if you need her." a second number was written.

"If i want to talk, and if i remember anything else you can help with, I'll call."

He'd known she was avoiding the promise, just as she always avoided promises. The faeren were known for two things; they didn't lie and they were bound by their words. So they learned to play with words the way a bird plays with currents of air, something that was instinctive as well as learned by experience.

He couldn't help this case though. Poor detective.

She didn't need to go home now. The only thing she wanted from that house she wore around her throat; her human mother's necklace, a beautiful grade A tear drop amethyst. The only other thing she could want she always wore; her armband.

Her mothers screams when Aislin had tried to go nearer to her still rang in her head if she didn't keep her mind busy.

"What are you? You are not my daughter! You're a Changeling!"

Another bitter laugh. Yes, a Changeling. A creature of the fey left in place of a human child, except she had just been dumped.

She shook herself and sat down on the nearest park bench. Where now? No money, only the clothes she wore - black boot-cut jeans, black ankle boots and a red camisole under a sheer, loose shirt the colour of fire, and her armband, and a dark, burnt orange silk jacket - and nowhere to go.

"Aislin, you've really gotten yourself into the fire this time." she chuckled to herself. She sat there and watched humans move around her, once or twice she saw a small pixie or some other creature the humans couldn't see. Her eyes lightened slightly to deep chocolate, and she waited.

For what she couldn't say, but she had no desire to move.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

Suddenly, there was a tall, elegant woman in front of Aislin, dressed in a stately forest green gown, which was trimmed with charcoal grey and blood red. She smiled at the girl.

"Hello, Aislin, correct? My name is Briarthorn. I can offer you a place to stay and to hone your abilities, if you wish." She said, sitting down next to the teen.

[Aislin Phyre]

Sorely wishing that she had been able to resist jumping about a foot off her bench at the sudden voice, Aislin gave the woman a look. "Aislin is correct. Soon to be Aislin Phyre" she replied slowly. "But what would be the catch?"

There was always a catch, life had taught her recently. To save her adoptive parents, she had to drive them away and insane. To save herself and the few survivors left behind, she had to bring suspicion upon herself.

Always a catch, which is why Aislin rarely gave her word on anything to anyone.

Of course, the other question in her mind hung unspoken in the air, almost tangible. What abilities? But of course, she knew damn well what they were; she could only go so far into denial before the act became completely ridiculous.

And almost before she could stop herself, the words flowed fom her her lips in a quiet, almost frightened plea. "What am i? Really. What name is there for something like me?" She swallowed, and her voice became firmer, stronger. "I have this word echoing around in my head in time to my mother's screams. One word, Fae. I've read enough of the old stories to know what it means but . . ." Her eyes darkened slightly in pain as they looked at the ageless face of the woman sitting beside her.

That she wasn't human she could gather, that much was obvious to her. That she was a being of flame was also very clear. but she had no name to work with, and without a name she was like a lost lamb. No direction. Names had power, and she needed some back, desperately, to feel even halfway normal again.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"The only catch would be that, while at the Academy, you follow my rules. Nothing more, nothing less. All your needs would be cared for." Briarthorn turned slightly towards her, a warm smile on her face.

"As for what you are, you're a child of the Seelie Court, a faerie, more specifically, a Salamander. A child of fire." Briarthorn removed a card from the deck in her pocket and glanced at it before turning back to the girl. Knight of Wands, reversed, the Knight in question bearing more than a casual resemblance to Aislin. "But I believe you suspected as much already. You will not be the only faerie at the Academy either, Ms. Phyre. Others in your position, and similar positions, are there as well. We even have a few elves on staff."

She stood and extended a gloved hand. "I cannot promise it will not be without its trials--indeed, the teenage years never are--but I can promise you this: While at my Academy, no one will judge you by your birth. No one will accuse you of being a monster. No one will cast you out just because you happen to have been born fae."

"Do you accept?"

[Aislin Phyre]

Aislin looked at the card still being held for her inspection. She allowed a smile.

Salamander . . . the name echoed through her head as she tested it. Firey lizards, or so she had thought. Unless she could become one. Entirely possible, considering her track record lately.

Names have power, and now she had some back. She held out a hand to shake. "I accept. so what's my new uniform? No pink ruffles i hope."

Her eyes had lightened more; now a light brown, verging on a dark orangy amber.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"Fortunately, none of the school colors is pink." Briar replied dryly. Then, the amusement faded slightly from her face. "There is, however, one thing I must address which will, to you, seem like an important fact but is, nonetheless, not. Faeries are not the only thing my school grants refuge."

Briarthorn sighed. "Because my school also accepts other beings, such as were-creatures and, more importantly, vampires."

Pre-empting any response, she added, "I know what you must be thinking, child, but not every vampire is a killer, much like not not every human being is a criminal. With power will always come those who would abuse that power, be they human, vampire or, yes, faerie."

"I hope this does not change your mind."

[Aislin Phyre]

Aislin's face went unreadable at the mention of that one word. The only thing that showed the torrent of emotions were her eyes, shifting from gold to black to orange to brown and back again. finally they returned to the orangy colour, albeit a few shades darker, verging on brown.

"The Faeren have done their fair share of terrible deeds, i guess." she said, tone neutral. She spoke, of course, of the theft of mortal human children and the Faeren's cold meddling in mortals' affairs for their own amusement, often leaving tragedy in their wake. "So long as one doesn't make me see red . . . i can control it."

Before her mind could persuade her to refuse, she shook the gloved hand firmly once.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"Alright then." Briarthorn said with a smile, which faltered just a little. "Now, here comes the hard part. Given the...state of your parents, who is your legal guardian? I was, regrettably unable to find much information on the subject."

[Aislin Phyre]

The girl's face went, if possible, even more unreadable. "I have none. You can ask my parents if you wish, I'm sure they'd love to accept your offer. I am, after all, a Changeling." if a bitter tone crept into her voice at that hated word, Aislin didn't acknowledge it in her expression.

Then, just as suddenly, it was gone, and her tone was neutral again, even amused. "Other than that, i can only think of the police. I just left the station after a round of questioning. Not sure what procedure is, but i daresay they'd love to keep track of me."

She gave a queer little half-shrug with one shoulder, causing a slight, bell-like sound to emit from beneath her silk jacket; the jewel-drops of fire on her armband clinking together. She was so used to the sound by now that it hardly bothered her, having refused to take it off since she was eight, feeling vulnerable without the vine-like gold and small unnameable jewels

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"Hm, that would explain my difficulty. Is there anything you need to gather before we leave, personal effects or the like?" Briar asked, pulling a few more cards from her pocket and glancing at them before putting them back. For some reason, near future had been the Nine of Swords the past three times she had pulled it from the pack of cards.

The Nine of Swords--considered one of the most foreboding cards in the entire deck. The Nightmare, the doomed future, a wanring of an oncoming crisis. Luckily, it did not seem associated with Aislin.

Briarthorn wished she had not burned all of her bridges among the Seelie. Maybe then, she could have asked, seen who Aislin's parents were. However, she knew for a fact that there were still standing orders from Titania for her capture, should she be found in Arcadia.

[Aislin Phyre]

Aislin opened her mouth to automatically reply in the negative, but then slowly closed her mouth again. Her small backpack lay under the bench and she instead picked it up now to rummage through quickly.

When her parents - her human parents - had denied her as their daughter, the police, knowing that she would not be allowed back home, had been kind enough to allow her to return to pick up some things. The only things she had really wanted that she didn't have on her at the time were her small netbook and her MP3, but she had been convinced to take some of her clothes too. A couple of t-shirts, a pair of jeans. socks, underwear, were all stuffed at the bottom beneath the tech items.

Putting a hand to her throat to make sure the silver links hadn't broken, then her left hand to her right upper arm to feel the reassuring goldwork. When she finally raised orange-amber eyes to meet Briarstone's again they were clear and firm, the fire beginning to flicker deep within again.

"No, thank you, i have everything i need." she shouldered the backpack, a slim number, deeper than it looked, in a rich orangey brown. Then she fidgeted. "Will there be a way for me to use the netbook? And to stay in contact with the . . . the institution?"

Despite the pain it caused her to hear her parents' words, she did love them. She wanted to be sure they were safe, doing well and were looked after. They had raised her from a small child; it was difficult not to love them.

[Headmistress Briarthorn]

"I am sure something can be arranged." Briarthorn said with a warm smile, ignoring the portents of the card for a moment. "Now, if you are ready..."

And suddenly, the two of them were in a nearly endless room filled with coat racks, wardrobes, and mirrors.

"Welcome to the Academy" She handed a parcel to the new student. "Here is your first uniform, your room number, and your student manual. I hope you enjoy your first year."

((Okay, feel free to step into the swing of things. Lucky Combat is a good place to start, unless you wanted to do some settling in posts first))