Beach exploration trip!

[Michelle Wilcox]

Michelle saw Aurora's dress morph into a bathing suit. She ran over to where Aurora and Kahlen were working on some sort of sculpture, and asked Aurora, "Nice dress. Where can I get one of those?"

[Verin Vetis Malphus]

Verin burst out of the water some way down the beach, soaking wet and not at all in a good mood. He'd spent an indeterminate amount of time in a locked casket at the bottom of the sea for breaking some curse he didn't know about. A fate most likely deadly for humans, but he managed to survive. Whatever the case, the casket was old and rotting and summoning up a little physical strength allowed him to knock a hole in the wood, which had immediately flooded the small box. Some time later, he emerged from his prisn and escaped, swimming dazed to the surface.

Verin took a few steps onto the beach, and collapsed to his knees. Now that the panic was gone, there was only confusion and relief. He let out something between a scream and a laugh, falling forward onto his hands. The sun hurt his eyes even more than usual, so he kept his gaze away from it. He lay there on the beach, not breathing, trying to recover.

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less stopped trying to splash Scott and carefully sniffed the air. He recognized that scent, and he didn't like it at all. Following his nose, he loped to the part of the beach on which Verin had arrived. If Verin looks up, he'll likely see a large wolf standing in front of him with his ears back and eyes narrowed. It was the wolf equivalent of giving someone a suspicious look.

Less isn't growling or baring his teeth yet; he won't make an outright threat unless the other boy prompts him to.

[Aurora Lumina Robinson]

"Oh, I..." she couldn't tell them about her father, because she was on the run from him. Or could she? They probably hadn't heard of him, he was so far away. That is why she came here. "Oh, I got it from my father as a... um... gift, yeah. Although it probably wouldn't work that way for anyone. He told me I have a talent for using them - the nanites, that is."

Oh, she frowned, this was probably coming out very confusing.

[Michelle Wilcox]

Michelle knew what nanites were, or at least, what they were supposed to be. However, she wondered why it would take a special person to control them. However, she but doubted that she could get any answers from Aurora, who seemed to be hiding something. Michelle shrugged and went to join the water fight against Melliane.

[Mellianne Joss]

As more people joined the water fight, Mellianne slowly added more and more water balls to lob at people and was firing them at people three at a time. If anyone was in a few feet of her, the balls were more likely to hit. Further than that, and her poor eyesight made it hard to aim properly.

[Ada Turing]

Deciding that Mellianne was getting far too uppity with her powers, Ada decided to give her a good, old-school ducking - sneak up from behind, and then a quick jump out of the water to put as much weight on Mellianne's shoulders as possible. Despite her usually formidable intelligence, she failed to consider the fact that sneaking through the water would probably not work very well against someone in tune with the water to Mellianne's level.

[Mellianne Joss]

With her concentration on the front, and the first time in ages that someone had decided to actually splash with her in the water, Mellianne forgot to keep an eye out, or in this case an ear and her senses out.

Not noticing that Ada was sneaking up behind her, Mellianne was surprised when she was dunked under the water. However, she quickly moved out of the way and rose above the surface again.

Now Mellianne only did normal splashing, though she had a few water balls in the air in case she found a good target. Though she did aim at Ada with the first splash.

[Somariel Lamaron]

Noticing the water fight, Somariel shifted her attention from sketching the scenery to sketching the people. After filling the page, she took of her clothes to reveal a dark blue bathing suit and joined the water fight. Deciding that Mellianne needed some help, she crept up behind Ada, intending to dunk her in the same manner that she had dunked Mellianne.

[Verin Vetis Malphus]

Verin looked up slowly, noticing something moving at the edges of his vision. Great, wolfman was here. The Gods must be smiling on me, he thought. Here I am completely powerless and this event's been double-booked. Slowly, carefully, he forced himself to his feet. I will not let it end this way. I can't. There are still so many things to do, so many vendettas to fulfill.

"Can I not escape you anywhere?" verin said weakly, taking a few steps to the side of Less, attempting to go around him. "Leave me alone, wolfman. I'm not looking for a fight today." As he made it past Less, he struggled to maintain his balance, but kept walking. He made it a bit further before he had to stop, struggling even to stay upright. There's more to this... whatever that was, it's having some lingering effects...

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less took the time to leisurely stretch before shifting to human form. "You are injured," he said as he slung one of Verin's arms over his shoulder. "Lean on me; I will help you to the school." It didn't seem like the werewolf would take no for an answer, for he immediately began walking in the general direction of the trail.

[Verin Vetis Malphus]

"You'll do nothing of the sort." Verin forced himself away from Less. "I'd have to kill you when I was strong enough. It's an honor thing. And right now honor is hard for me to find."

What the hell is this? he wondered. Nothing felt right. His physical form ached. He tried to summon some magic, but barely succeeded in conjuring a few measly embers. Something had gone wrong. This was not weariness, this was another aspect of this curse, no doubt intended to prevent the victim from escaping their prison using magic. He'd survived, but this aspect remained...

How humiliating. To be completely at the mercy of these things... Verin forced himself to continue, off of the beach and seeking some shade. He was blinded in his right eye as part of his scar opened up, but he continued staggering towards the school.

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

"Do you even know the way there?" Less asked pointedly, but he did not reach for Verin's arm again. He did, however, follow the other boy. "I do not like you, but you are a fellow student and therefore are almost-pack. What has attacked you? A member of a rival family, maybe?" If so, he would have to tell one of the teachers about it. Enemies could not be allowed to attack another student. He took note of the failed attempt at magic, and assumed that the Verin was simply suffering from exhaustion.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen paused in her sand turtle sculpting to watch the water fight. She giggled as Mellianne was dunked under the water and cheered for both sides.

Chuckling, Kahlen returned to making eyes for the turtle. She listened to Aurora talk about the nanites her dress was made of. 'Interesting,' she thought. 'I think nanites are little robot things.'

[Verin Vetis Malphus]

"If one of the other houses had seen fit to make their way to this world solely to kill me, they would not have left the job half finished. No, this is a curse. A very old one, most likely, and whoever put it together certainly did not want the victim to survive." The sun's light had become unbearable, and Verin had to raise a hand to his eyes.

"Now, let's see... The physical aspects are tied to the body, and its corruption, but the magical ones are tied to something deeper. That can wait 'till later. For now I must focus on survival." Verin's focus was fading, and he had to blink constantly to see. "I will find myself a place in the woods and cleanse myself. You will not want to be around, wolfman."

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

A wary look appeared on Less' face. Curses were trouble, that was certain. And the thought that someone had been careless enough to let one go for so long without ensuring that only the intended target would trigger it was even more troubling. "You can barely walk, demon-boy. I would be a poor East Tundra if I let an almost-pack die, so I must give what help I can. I know some strength spells, but I lack the magic needed." They were surrounded by sand and a stick could easily be found, so the materials needed were available. Of course, that was moot unless there was a naturally occurring source of magic nearby, or someone willing to give theirs up. "You said after the bus ride that you had trouble in the light. If you slouch down I will be able to shield you from the sun."

[Verin Vetis Malphus]

"I. Will. Not. Die. Not here. Not now." Verin fell to his knees, deliberately this time. There were far better ways to do this, especially for one of his moral integrity, but there was no time and he could always find a God willing to help him. The wolfman was right, he would never make it.

He began scrawling sigils in the sand, slowly as it took him a while to remember these even at the best of times. "There is no need for that. I would prefer that this could be done in conventional methods, but survival must come first." When he was done, he collected some of the blood from his face and let it drip onto the sand. He began praying to Gods whom his existence served, Gods of fear and chaos. Asking them for help was a risky move at the best of times, and any assistance had strings attached, but those could wait.

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less sat down so that the shift to wolf form would not result in him falling, then took up residence behind Verin. He was worried that whomever had cast the curse would return once he or she realized it had been set off, and wanted to be in his stronger form should something unfortunate happen. Y'know, like evil spirits being summoned to finish off the victim.

[Verin Vetis Malphus]

Verin felt his strength returning to him as he finished praying. However, he was in immense pain. Praying was not a good thing for any demon to do. But the weakening blight was gone. "Hah! Success. Not even death could stop me." he laughed. Slowly, carefully, he rose to his feet and tried again to call some magic. With the physical weakness gone, his will manifested more easily, but the magic still felt far away, bound slightly by some other element of the curse. It took more concentration than usual, but after a few flashes he his hand was alight.

"That's not good..." The flame was weak, and his control was erratic. Turning to Less, he said "You tried to help, at least. A foolish decision, definitely, but I've just staved off death and I guess I'm feeling a little, dare I say, generous. You get exactly one favour wolfman, use it whenever you see fit. There, I'm already regretting that." The sun still hurt his eyes, moreso than usual, and it left a buning pain on his skin. He walked towards the woods to escape the light. "Now I have a goal. I'm going to find whoever set that curse up and kill them. Or desecrate their remains. Hell, I think I'd learn necromancy just so I could kill them over and over..."

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

A favor could be useful, and Less filed it back in his brain to think about later. Agreed, he signaled, though he didn't expect that Verin could understand were-speak. He took a casual sniff of the air around Verin, but noticed nothing unusual save the sharp scent of magic. Well, it was foolish of him to think that a curse-maker would leave behind such a distinct trace that it could be smelled. He would have to find another way of investigating. Unfortunately, most of the school smelled of magic from the sheer number of magical students and teachers. It would be hard to pick out a trail based on that alone.

After checking to make sure that the other boy was capable of walking properly, Less loped back to the part of the beach where the other students were. He settled down in his makeshift den, intending to keep an eye on the other students until they were ready to return to the school.

[Ada Turing]

Tiring of splashing, Ada caught a passing wave and body-surfed towards shore, finally giving up and wading the rest of the way as the wave petered out into surf. After pausing for a moment to re-tie her hair, she hiked across the sand to her backpack, and pulled out her towel.

Once dry, she draped the towel over a driftwood log and sat back, content to watch the sinking sun.

[Somariel Lamaron]

Noticing the approaching sunset, Somariel abandoned the water fight and swam back to the beach. Getting out of the water, she dried herself off with a towel pulled from her backpack, then sat down on the dry towel already on the ground and pulled out her colored pencils to sketch the sunset.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen finished with her side of the sand turtle. "You can finish the other side if you want," she said to Aurora. "I'm going to start another sculpture."

Kahlen moved over a couple of feet and began piling up sand. She looked up and squinted at the sunset. It was pretty- but not as nice as the ones at home. Looking back down, Kahlen got to work on shaping a dolphin. She wondered how long everyone else would stay. She was used to staying up late, so she'd leave with the crowd, especially since she didn't really want to walk back by herself.