Midnight recital (open)

[Calista Leila Rosa]

It was way past curfew. Not that any of the adults cares. The newer prefects were probably doing their rounds which were part of their enlistment details. She remembered having to do the same as a seventh grader. Sometimes she wondered if it was just to screw with them...probably.

It was midnight and a full moon. The lights in the gym were dimmed to the point where practically the only light drifted in from outside. Calista stood in the center of the room, dummies were stood all around. Instead of her normal uniform Calista was wearing a black leotard with a translucent, flowing, mid thigh skirt attached and black lace up ballet shoes

Calista never slept much...maybe it was the reason she was so grouchy in the morning....but, lately she had been insanely stressed. She may have been a spy but she was still a teenager. All she had been doing so far was night after night of work. She was either working for the prefects and secretly sabotaging things and gathering information or running ops for the Battle Front. At this point there was only one thing that would relieve her stress....

She raised a single hand, and with a snap a stereo in the corner sprung alive, emitting the soft sound of Moonlight Sonata. As the music began so did Calista. Each step she took, each graceful move she made, the darkness followed her, mimicking her every step. With every kick the snake like shadows darted out towards the dummies and with every spin they cut them into shreds. All around her sat remains of the once whole dummies. Sometimes she just needed to practice her powers alone....which she was now or so she thought.

[ticklicous]

Ren was tired, but going back to nightmares wasn't his ideal option. So as he headed to the gymnasium, he found it was peaceful for so early in the morning. Oblivious to all other things around him aside of his thoughts, he walked right into the gym. He snapped out of his trance, by slipping on a piece of training dummy. He fell on his behind with a dog-like yelp. The sound echoed against the sound of... music?

He looked around to see a girl dancing in the middle. Great, he wasn't alone after all. He came the the conclusive idea to scuttle off and hide behind the large stack of workout mats. Figuring he would be safe for now he decided to stay there until it was safe enough to leave. Being noticed was the last thing on his list, of course, he already might have been.

[Calista Leila Rosa]

Calista immediately stopped what she was doing when noise interrupted her concentration. She knew she should have locked the door. The dark shadows that were once following her every move seemed to scurry back ino the shadows and with a snap she stopped the stereo. Her hands instinctively moved upwards, one glowing black and the other purple. Darkness and poison were a deadly combination.....slowly she backed up to the nearest light switch and soon enough the entire gym became flooded with light.

Dark eyes scanned the room for any sign of the intruder. She couldn't imagine too many people would be out and about this late at night. Calista narrowed her dark eyes and frowned slightly. "come out. Hiding from me will only make it much worse" she snapped. Didn't people understand that hiding would give them no advantage towards a girl with powers over darkness? Honestely.

"I said. Come out" she demanded. There was no escape. Calista didn't fight civilians but as a spy she had to keep up her act as a prefect. Her cover couldn't be blown. If it was...she would be forced to take drastic measures, no matter what those were.

[ticklicous]

Ren eventually crawled out from his hiding spot due to a seemingly ready-to-kill tone. He, in the manner of a wolf, crouched low with head lowered and a slight submissive whine. He was so used to animal companionship, he had actually adopted some of their habits he learned of. He didn't make eye contact, but saw a girl somewhat off at the light switch. He kept low to spring away if need be.

He crouched there waiting to be told to beat it or something like that. He would prefer getting out if here anyway. Maybe the Battle Front wasn't his fit in this school. He wanted to be treated equal, but it was hard to take action so easily. He figured this could either go smooth and he would leave with a warning, or he could be served on a thanksgiving platter. So, he waited for the next move.

[Calista Leila Rosa]

When he came into the light Calista's harsh gaze softened up very slightly. He wasn't a civilian and he wasn't a prefect either...in fact his face was very familiar......and Calista knew why. The glow on either hand began to fade to nothing and she crossed her arms slightly, looking the boy over. Yes. She knew why he was familiar. She had seen his face amongst countless others....in the battlefront's records. His name was Ren if she remembere correctly. Though, their leader was the one with the enhanced memory, not her. It occured to her that she knew him but he may not know of her despite her rank as battlefront Second in command.

Since she was a spy, they had decided that her identity would be kept secret even from those in the battle front. They knew that of she was a spy for them it was quite possible that there were spies amongst the battle front as well. To many, she was just the mysterious second. The one who only appeared when needed and her identity always kept a secret. Though her status as a prefect was common knowledge

"you should be more careful" her voice, though still slightly cold had lost that biting edge it once had. "You would be in huge trouble if a Prefect, especially Une, saw you out this late" she stated. He would have been tossed in the dungeon they use for detention for sure.

[ticklicous]

Ren looked up at her to take in fragile details. He felt a kind if familiarity with her, and figured she was in the Battle Front. His dark eyes flicked from her to the surrounding environment. He was very cautious at this point, but moved into a kneeling position. He felt like there was other presence in the gym, but he could figure out who it was.

A small rattling came from the bin to hold the basketballs, thus changing "who" to "what" was around. He was curious at this point, so putting the thought if the girl aside he went over to the bin. Shuffling through the balls he immediately started dancing around with a girlish "squee". He had at this point obviously found something really cute.

Remembering another person was in the gym, he calmed himself quickly. Shifting his gaze to and from various random places. All the while sticking near the basketball bin. He would need to work the details out later, but for now, he would keep the object safe.

[Calista Leila Rosa]

Calista's cool gaze met his. He wasn't very bold was he? Then why was he in the battlefront, a rebellion, anyways? It didn't matter, as long as their numbers remained above that of the prefects.......

She watched as he seemed to ignore her and hurried towards the basketball bin. Calista couldn't help but feel the slight frustration at being ignored. It was a pet peeve of hers, honestely. More than likely it stemmed from being neglected most of her childhood. Though Calista herself would nt admit it r bother to go into some long spiel of how she despises her parents, everything they did. It was already hard enough to get the Battle Front to overlook her less than desirable heritage. But let's get back to the topic.

She studied him, watching as his face lit up at the sight of something in the bin and she wandered over. "what have you found Ren?" she said using the name she assumed was his.

[ticklicous]

Ren didn't reply to her, but instead made a quick nod before reaching into the bin. What he pulled out was the main part, it was an injured bird. He had already spoken with her, the bird that is. He told the bird that he was no threat, so that's why she was so calm under his touch. He looked back to the girl, a faint shy smile plastered to his face.

"My name..." He said randomly to the girl who was near him. "You know it?" He asked in a quiet voice. Normal of him to be quiet or evasive in a new human encounter. He stood there cradling the bird as he awaited a reply from the girl.

[Calista Leila Rosa]

Calista stared at the injured bird....his power had to do with animals no doubt....it sure explained a lot. At least it wasn't a rat. Rats always sent her running for the hills, freaking out. But....rats possessed so many diseases...It was odd really....she was fine with mice...........She shook her head a bit at her own thoughts. Speaking of mice....he gave her a shy smile and asked why she knew his name. Why? Well she couldn't tell him that she knew almost every member of the Battle Front and Prefects, that it was necessary to he not being caught so she simply said one thing.

"it's kinda my job. My name's Calista" she wasn't as defensive as she used to be but, still wary. It was a habit she guessed....being so guarded.....it would serve the other party well to be wary of her too but, this boy wasn't a threat.

"you're lucky you got to it instead of one the adults or one of he other prefects" the adults here surely would dispose of it.....They didn't really seem to care about anyone let alone anything's lives, only their own paychecks....And knowing some of te prefects, they may use it as a target.....

[ticklicous]

Ren nodded in agreement at the idea he got to the bird first. He wondered how it got in here in the first place though. There was the doors leading outside or the holes in the roof, so he didn't worry too much. He kept an eye on... Calista was it? Well, either way, he didn't need to remember too much of her beside her name.

He stood for a while examining the bird. He soon realized that it was a tufted titmouse, a small bird known for eating from human hands. "I can leave..." He offered the idea to the girl, figuring she would want to be alone now. He nodded his head towards the door and slowly started walking away.

[Calista Leila Rosa]

He seemed fascinated by the bird and for a moment, Calista considered just leaving him to it. He may have been a battle front member but, she still didn't have anything really to do with him. It wasn't as if they were friends, comrades, sure. Then he began to speak to her again, offering to leave and beginning to walk away.

Calista shrugged. "doesn't matter. I was just about done anyways." She should probably try and at least get some sleep. If she started sleeping in class, it would definitely be suspicious. Sighing, she walked to the corner, and grabbed her bag along with the jacket from her uniform, it's silver prefect embroidery catching the light a bit.

"I would get back to your dorm if I were you, prefects are doing patrols right now." She should be helping out too...but.....she'd rather do...just about anything.

[ticklicous]

Ren looked at her and shook his head in response to go back to the dorm. "Hide and protect..." He said lightly, referring to the small bird. At this point, nothing was going to phase him from his duty. He looked around a bit for a decent hiding spot. Coming to the decision that atop a tree-like climbing platform would be perfect.

He quickly moved over to the bottom. It was like a tree, just man-made with a platform on top. He placed the bird in a small crook in his hoodie. He had part of it in his mouth so the hoodie would be a makeshift pouch. Grabbing the pole, he used his legs to thrust upwards. Using the way he had been taught to climb like a black bear, he was at the top in no time.

He looked down to Calista, and felt kind of odd. For some reason, he wanted her to stay. He figured he was going senile, but he felt fine. So why did he want human company all of a sudden? Well, whatever the reason, he kept staring at her.

[Calista Leila Rosa]

She raised an eyebrow slightly when he refused to go back to his dorm due to the bird. It was something she could respect, but, the choice seemed pretty bold considering what the prefects could do if they caught him out at night, especially depending on who it was. Lady Une would definitely show no hesistation in throwing him into that dungeon....

She watched intrigued as he made his way up the pole and towards the platform. "Impressive." She stated in a single word compliment. Calista wasn't one to compliment skills very easily, in a school filled with 'gifted' students, she found that everyone was special to the point where no one was.

With a sigh, she dropped her bag and sat down on the ground. She might as well stay here and talk to the boy...it wasn't like she had anything...scratch that...she did have a lot to do. But, right now, she rather not deal with it. Pulling her legs up to her chest she looked up at him.

"So what are you doing out this late anyways?"

[ticklicous]

"Couldn't sleep." He said peeking over the platform down at her. He noticed that she was actually sitting down now. He was expecting her to end up bored and leave, but that wasn't so. Good enough, he could probably sleep up here on the platform anyways. His enhanced agility helped him to fight in odd places, mainly because he had learned many things from the animals to use his skill with.

He felt safer with a vantage point anyways. The height gave him a lookout zone for any intruders or danger. He liked being on the ground mostly, but for safety, the platform was perfect. He brought the bird close to him, in a protective way. He laid his chin on his arms as he watched the surrounding area.

[Calista Leila Rosa]

"Yeah. Neither could I. But, I normally don't anyways." One might not have noticed this but, Cali didn't even yawn despite how late it was. She was already used to few hours of sleep and it was why she sometimes seen napping the day away. Of course, no one bothered to wake her because if they did there would be hell to pay. What? Living a double life was hard work. She had to be the perfect prefect sometimes, the cool headed second in command other times, the good girl for Seth......and really...she was none of those.

"Your power has to do with animals doesn't it?" She asked with a small tilt of her head. Sure, she could remember names but, she couldn't quite remember everyone powers. It's just there were so m any and they varied so much....it would take a lifetime to memorize them all.