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Post by Caitlin Collins on May 26, 2009 17:25:29 GMT -5
((I figured that since Susan might be coming back soon I should just post an account of this happening rather than having it all played out and take ages. And if people don't fancy reading all of this, it's basically Caity finding the magic needed to transfer powers and Susan getting rid of her powers using that magic, causing the new SW of Earth to be awakened, aka Niobe))
Leaving the Room of Requirement having said goodbye to Susan, Cait hesitated for a moment before heading to the Hufflepuff common room. She should probably do some more studying really, but the knowledge that her friend was leaving, and that a new person had just been brought into this war, not to mention the recent visit home, meant she was not particularly in the mood for homework. It did not take long to get to the common room, and once there she settled in an empty armchair facing a window, which she remembered having previously fallen asleep in before waking up late for class. Sighing, she laid her head back against the headrest and gazed out of the window at the clouds rolling in. It looked like it would be raining again tonight, she mused for a moment, before thinking back to the events of the past week. It had all happened so fast it was a little hard to take in.
She had flooed home on Saturday morning, with only a few days warning to her parents and not really with any given reason. She spent a good two hours trying to answer and get around their questions about why she had returned and whether there had been any more deaths – that one she had just had to lie straight through. She couldn't risk being pulled out again, not just after she was starting to get her act together and catch up on all the schoolwork she had missed before. Besides, she really didn't want to think about that subject. At least the visions of burning had stopped now, for whatever reason. She didn't bring up the subject of someone not being dead, either... because she doubted her parents would be too keen on vampires.
Finally, she escaped upstairs. Her brothers were both at a football match with one of her cousins so she didn't have to worry about them. She had ended up just telling her parents that she wanted some books she'd left behind, but that it might take a while to find. She didn't want them to know the significance of this one particular book, nor that it was related to the Shadow Wars. As she made her way upstairs, though, she noticed the pendant beneath her shirt begin to warm a little. At first she wasn't sure if it was real or just her imagination, or a convoluted version of the visions of fire she'd been getting. But no, she looked, and the tiny gem in the place of the elephant's eye was definitely glowing red. Making her way the rest of the way up the stairs it continued to brighten, but faded again a little when she made her way into her room. The books had certainly been right... this charm was linked to the book. The question was, where was the book? She wasn't sure how long she searched before establishing it wasn't in her room, but at least along the way she did find a couple of books buried that she had been planning to read at some point or other which she might as well take back with her.
Standing on her bed to check one higher shelf, she felt the pendant grow warmer again. But it wasn't on the shelf... stepping down from the bed, it cooled. Stepping up again – warm again. She glanced upwards and saw one of the several trapdoor entrances to the attic above her head. Pausing for a second, she checked that the door was still closed and grabbed the chair from next to her desk, standing on it so that she could reach up to dislodge the trapdoor. Dust fell down on her as she did so, but standing higher up the pendant was glowing more again which only made her more certain. Picking up a torch she had also found buried in the recesses of her room, she pushed it into the attic and then reached up, hooking her arms around something solid to pull herself upwards.
It was certainly very dark and dusty... the torchlight only went so far, but she found that she didn't really need it. The pendant was glowing out a vibrant red light now as she crawled her way further in. It was like the kind of treasure hunt that she remembered having at primary school one time, but so much harder. Whenever she noticed the light or heat fading, she took a step back and tried a different direction, occasionally opening up a box here or there to see what was inside. She made sure to keep to the wooden beams, not wanting to go crashing through the ceiling below. Eventually it got to the point where the pendant was so hot she had to take it off to avoid burning herself. Holding the it by its chain, she finally reached a box that contained books – all of them ones she had read or owned in India. Tying the pendant around a beam above her head so that it illuminated the titles, she began digging through. There were certainly a lot of books here... had she really read all of these? There were a few at the bottom of the box which looked as if they had never been unpacked to start with, let alone repacked to come back to England, and as Cait picked one of them up the pendant's light suddenly became blinding, forcing her to close her eyes as she held the book.
Finally sensing that the light had faded, she cautiously inched her eyes open to see that the red light was gone. Luckily the torch was still next to her, and she lifted it up to try and find the pendant. It wasn't where she had hung it... frantically checking the floor, Caitlin finally noticed the book she was holding. The chain was wrapped around it, preventing it from being opened, and a suspiciously familiar elephant was now visible on the front cover.
After coming down from the attic and quickly cleaning herself up she had left again – much to her parents' protest, who wanted her to stay for longer – with the excuse that she had homework that needed doing back at school. However, when she did return she did not get on with that potions essay or the transfiguration practice or some herbology reading. Instead, she curled up on her bed in the empty dormitory and tried to get the chain off the book she had just retrieved. The other books she had just brought with her were dropped in her suitcase under the bed. Finally, she gave up on removing the chain with her hands and grabbed her wand. A simple unlocking spell worked, it turned out.
The writing in the book was illegible in some places, but the content where it was readable was certainly interesting enough to keep her attention. Oh yes, her great-grandmother had certainly been a witch, and a Shadow Warrior too. Of fire, it seemed... her Elemental Master had been an American named Edwin. Unlike her great-grandma, it seemed his family had not travelled with him to India to face the threat of the growing number of shadows there and were still in Arkansas. He had a young daughter, Irene – who was god-daughter to Cait's great-grandma – and his wife, Ruth.
As she continued reading, Cait felt herself being drawn in to the story. It was like all the adventure and fantasy books she used to read all the time before getting overdosed with how bad life could get and she lost the time for them. Except this time, she could relate. She could understand what they were feeling when they received word that Josia, the Shadow Warrior of Earth, had been killed. She understood the effect that the shadows had on you far better than it could ever be put into words on a page. She was reading all that trained Shadow Warriors and Elemental Masters could do – powers like turning to shadow form, that she had never imagined. All she really knew was that she could chant to destroy shadows and had some power over an element. She read about her great-grandma being worried that her daughter hadn't shown any signs of magic yet; thinking that perhaps she had inherited her husband's muggle genes.
Cait was still curled up on her bed reading when her dorm mates began to traipse up the stairs for bed. When the light was turned off, she grabbed her wand and performed a lumos spell to keep the page illuminated so she could continue reading. Now it really was getting interesting... it seemed that it wasn't just coincidence that Caity was a Shadow Warrior as well as her great-grandma; it travelled in other families as well. Because apparently, the new Shadow Warrior of Earth had emerged... Edwin's 5-year-old daughter, Irene. Ruth wanted them to take the powers away, knowing how dangerous it was even for grown adults trained for years, and the pair agreed to search for a method to do so, even while thinking it futile.
But, apparently they did succeed... Cait blinked a few times when she got to the end of the passage and started again at the top, sure she must have read wrong. Powers couldn't be transferred without death... she was sure of it. No, she hadn't read wrong... they actually had found a method in a very old book. The original author seemed fairly sure it would only work on Shadow Warriors who hadn't endured their trauma, but that wasn't an issue for Irene. It was obviously a handmade spell, so to speak, Cait's great-grandma was quite sure. The chanting was made up of rudimentary latin and was nowhere near grammatically correct, she explained in a slightly critical manner. She quoted the chant to prove her point:
Permissum terra elementum amitto umbra vinco per lux lecis ut tunc. Vox transeo. Vinco transeo. Elementum transeo. Transeo ut novus umbra proeliator et solvo.
The method was complicated, and it wasn't mentioned in much detail here, but in an entry shortly afterwards Irene was being brought over to India by her mother. There was a reunion with a slightly tense edge to it because of knowing what was coming soon, and then it was just Edwin, Irene and Cait's great-grandma in a greenhouse. Irene was relishing the plant life surrounding her, and Cait's great-grandma seemed upset as she was writing... she kept talking about how she could never have imagined it going so wrong. Totally drawn in and slightly anxious about what had happened, Caitlin read on.
And of course, it had gone horribly wrong... worse than she had expected. She had been thinking it simply would not work. But no... the little girl had, on clear instructions, transformed into Shadow Form so that the final transfer could take place while the words were being chanted. The magic flowing out of her was obvious, and when it was nearly all gone Edwin called for her to come back to human form. Except... she didn't. And by the time the blinding magic had disappeared enough for them to see Irene, she had no Shadow Warrior magic left to transform back with... she was stuck in shadow form. The new shadow didn't try to attack, but it didn't stay either – within a few moments it had fled. Irene was gone.
Caitlin stared at the book again, this time not wanting to take in what had just been described. The horrible thing was, she realised, that this wasn't a story made up in someone's head... this had actually happened. Edwin had actually had to go tell his wife that they no longer had a daughter... he ordered that they cover up that this happened, in case of government interference, and burn the book it came from. Cait's great-grandma had done the burning herself, but apparently she had forgotten about the chanting she'd quoted earlier. It seemed she was holding herself responsible for it, since she had been the one to first find the extract. They had come to the conclusion that fighting her way back from shadow form had been too much for the young body to take without clear instructions. It wasn't long after this that she returned to England and Edwin and Ruth travelled back to America, and the journal entries stopped. Again, the Shadow Wars had torn people's lives apart.
Cait wasn't sure what time it was when she finally shut her eyes, but all through the next two days she was debating with herself whether to tell one of the other lightfighters about the book or not. Then it turned out her mind was made up for her. Susan came to her, saying how she was leaving to go home – Caitlin had been in a bit of a haze by this point, so she didn't really catch the reason why – and how she was worried about leaving them another Shadow Warrior down, and whether Dark Phoenix might trace her back to her family. So of course, Caitlin had felt obligated to explain what she had discovered, and despite her misgivings Susan apparently wanted to take the risk. She had found out from D'rorah how to transform back from Shadow Form, and had gone for it earlier today.
And now, here she was sitting in the common room. Susan was no longer a Shadow Warrior, and would be leaving within the hour to head home. Cait couldn't help but feel a little bit more alone than she had before... Susan had seemed quite similar to her, really. She didn't apparently have a lot of training nor did she seem ready to take part in a war... And now, someone else was going to have that obligation. Caitlin couldn't help but feel guilty that someone else would be dragged in, even if it meant that Susan escaped the whole situation safely, without any real losses. As she pondered this, she didn't even notice the raindrops start to patter on the window, staring blankly out and thinking inward.
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Post by Ethan Lacroix on May 27, 2009 11:49:55 GMT -5
Being soaked had flattened Ethan's normally somewhat curly hair to his head, and now it lay against his forehead, dripping water into his eyes. He been outside when it started raining and had ignored it at first, enjoying the light drizzle. Soon enough though it had began pouring down more forcefully. He hadn't been dressed for rain, all his clothing cotton and now as soaked as his hair, and before long he was hurrying inside looking for a change of clothes and maybe a hot bath. Despite having spent so much time in the UK, it still hadn't gotten through his skull that it could almost always start raining. Of course he found his situation rather amusing even if he was shivering slightly.
Leaving a trail of wet footprints, Ethan crossed through the castle foyer. His pace had slowed as soon as he was inside, no longer needing to get out of the rain and not wishing to slide into something or somebody on the hard floor. As he finally entered the Hufflepuff commons, still chuckling to himself, he immediately turned toward his dorm to get that change of clothes. Something gave him pause however and he stopped before taking two steps. Caitlin Collins, so far the only Hufflepuff Prefect, was sitting in a large armchair and just staring out the window. He could see a bit of her expression from off to the side where he stood, but not enough to be sure. Still, she looked perhaps even more melancholy than seemed typical. Biting his lip, Ethan looked from the girl to his waiting dorm and back a few times before making up his mind.
Instead heading over to stand dripping beside her chair (but not nearly close enough to drip on her or the chair), Ethan spoke up softly, not wanting to startle the girl. "Caitlin? Hey, I'm Ethan. Um, are you alright? No, sorry, forget I asked that. I can plainly see that you're not. What's wrong? Can I get you some hot cocoa or something?" His mind had immediately run through a short list of things that might make her feel better, and hot cocoa seemed a good option that he could actually provide.
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Post by Caitlin Collins on May 27, 2009 19:34:14 GMT -5
Totally caught up in her thoughts, Caitlin was paying absolutely no attention to those around her nor the occasional person who was visible through the window running towards the main entrance, trying to get out of the rain before they were soaked. So preoccupied was she that she didn't even put any effort into keeping a neutral expression on her face as she generally tried to do nowadays to avoid questions as to whether she was alright. Her thoughts turned to who the next Shadow Warrior of Earth would be... was it too much to hope that they were already involved in the Shadow Wars and wouldn't be overly effected except for the sudden gain of powers? It seemed too much to hope for. She also wondered who her new Elemental Master would be... she felt a tinge of sadness which she quickly blocked away as she remembered feeling the previous Elemental Master's death only a few days ago... she had never even found out who he was. She didn't know how he'd died. Was it of natural causes, or had the Shadow Mage gotten to him?
Despite his soft voice, Caity still jumped as Ethan broke her out of her reverie when he spoke, her head swivelling round with wide eyes to see who it was. It was Ethan... another Hufflepuff from her year, apparently worried about what was the matter. She wasn't sure what to make of that to start with – she was used to being ignored by her housemates, even encouraged it because it meant less questions. She couldn't recall ever properly exchanging words with him before, although she did recognise him.
Blinking, she finally took in his saturated state and glanced outside to find that it was raining. She was surprised she had missed that... but then, none of the windows were open so she had not been able to feel it at all. [yellow]"Ethan? You're soaking..."[/yellow] Realising she was stating the obvious, Cait continued speaking. [yellow]"I think you need hot chocolate more,"[/yellow] she replied to his actual comment, remembering when she had gone to the kitchens with Kai when he had been soaking and had warmed up on the same hot drink. She didn't actually answer his question about what was wrong, more preoccupied with his dripping water everywhere and looking more than a little cold to actually process that part.
Fishing out her wand from a pocket, Caity gestured it at Ethan, now standing. Of course, he was taller than her, but not quite as much as some people in her year, or even in the years below were. [yellow]"This should help... Tergeo."[/yellow] Using that spell really did take her back... to the first time she'd met Alessandro, she remembered sadly. She helped along the drying effects with some of her own magic, drawing the magic off his clothes using the apparently unusual amount of control she had over water. She wouldn't have done so if she hadn't been sure it would blend into the spell so it was unnoticeable, but it just helped in case her magic wasn't up to it. Unfortunately, she now had a big pile of water hovering near the end of her wand which she couldn't really drop on the floor... glancing around, she tried to find somewhere she could put it that wouldn't cause an annoyance to the other occupants of the room.
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Post by Ethan Lacroix on May 28, 2009 11:07:15 GMT -5
The tiny frown that had already appeared on Ethan's face as a result of his concern deepened slightly as the girl jumped. He'd tried so hard not to do that. Ah well, not much he could do about it now, and it hadn't likely caused any real harm. His eyes diverted from her apparently confused face down to his own form and his frown flipped into an amused smile. She was right; out of the two of them he looked to be in far greater need of a hot drink, at least from a superficial standpoint. Looking back at Caity with his miniature grin he lifted one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. Concern flashed across his face again though, it looking to him as though she had purposefully returned her expression to a generally blank state now that she knew he was aware of her. It was evident she was hiding something, bottling it up.
He remained there passively as she stood and drew her wand on him. Again though a brief smile crossed his features as he realized what she was doing. She seemed stunningly selfless, or perhaps she was just working hard to distract him from his initial questioning. It wasn't exactly working, as her emotional state was still at the forefront of his mind. Ethan was not however one to push himself on someone who didn't want help, so for the moment he played along.
Of course a moment later he truly was distracted as he ran a hand through his hair to find it not even damp. Pulling his shirt a bit as the rapid drying had caused it to stick to his skin, he nodded slightly to himself, a bit impressed with her spellwork. Opening his mouth to comment as such, he instead simply let out a "Hmm," and looked about for a solution to the obvious problem of what to do with all the water. Stepping over to the window, he unlatched it and swung it out, holding it open with one arm and shifting to the side so Caity would have room to dump her spell. Of course that arm along with part of his neck and side rapidly became soaked again, but he'd worry about that later.
Retrieving his tiny smile since staring at the girl with obvious concern wasn't likely to put her in a better mood, he quietly spoke up, joking a bit. "So I try and see what assistance I can offer and end up getting doubly saved myself from catching a cold. Don't tell the Gryffindors. I'd never hear the end of it. And thanks, you're good with that spell. So do you wanna go get that hot cocoa? Or, no, you could just stay here and I'll go get it and bring it back."
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Post by Caitlin Collins on May 28, 2009 14:30:54 GMT -5
The mixture of tergeo and her elemental control had apparently worked quite well on Ethan – both his clothes and skin were now practically dry. She hadn't actually practiced that spell at lot recently, because whenever she needed to dry herself she simply used it as an opportunity to practice her control over water. Since apparently her control was more than was typical of a Shadow Warrior – much more, according to D'rorah – she figured that it made sense to hone it as often as she could, in an effort to make herself somewhat useful to the lightfighters. Although before that, she had certainly had plenty of opportunities to practice due to the amount of times she ended up soaked for some reason of other. Even before she had known she was a Shadow Warrior, that particular element had seemed to like her a lot for some reason.
As he moved over to open the window latch, Cait took a step forward and directed the hovering pool of water so it was outside of the common room before releasing the spell and her control, so it deposited on the floor outside. She would have liked to get a feel of the rain on her fingers, but that would involve getting her wand damp, something she wasn't too keen on. [yellow]"Thanks."[/yellow]
Taking a step back, she noticed his arm was wet again from holding the window open and motioned for him to bring it back in so she could perform another tergeo. It seemed slightly pointless for him to be dried then get all wet again as she dumped the water that had been on him previously. A mere moment after she had got rid of the extra water out of the window, a gust of wind caught it and slammed it shut, making her jump yet again. A slight spray of water came off it and onto the pair standing next to it, but there was no denying that Ethan was at least a lot dryer than he had been when first entering the common room. She didn't worry about clearing that off, feeling even the small touch of water relax her somewhat. At least it slamming had saved either of them having to get even more damp by reaching out quickly to close it.
She gave a small smile in return to his joke about not telling the Gryffindors. [yellow]"Thanks,"[/yellow] she replied to his compliment at her spellwork, feeling a little guilty at accepting it knowing that it wasn't completely the spell that had done that. But still, she could hardly explain it wasn't wholly the spell that had dried him. [yellow]"It's fine, I'll come. The house elves will probably try and give you a load of biscuits or cakes as well, so you might need the extra hands."[/yellow] The house elves at Hogwarts certainly seemed more than content in their position, and had always been very willing to offer whatever they could when she had come across them before – which had been quite a few times, really. One time had been with Susan when neither of them could sleep, and she had ended up explaining Mallan's death... Her smile faded a little at the thought of both those people and she averted her gaze from Ethan's face to some degree, at least so she didn't have to look him in the eye.
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Post by Ethan Lacroix on May 28, 2009 15:27:35 GMT -5
Complying with her direction that resulted in his arm once again drying, Ethan couldn't help but let out a brief chuckle as the slamming window again made Caity jump and yet again prevented him from being fully dry. He seemed fated to remain at least slightly damp. His smile grew as she agreed to accompany him and mentioned the house elves in what would likely come to be a prophetic statement. Turning for the exit and taking a few steps, he then looked back to ensure she was following. His smile faded, following her own, as he caught the return of the sad look and the diverting of her eyes.
She did follow though and so they exited the common room in silence. He'd considered holding the portrait open for her, but it felt a ridiculous gesture since the thing certainly wouldn't close on her, and he might offend the objects in the picture if he implied otherwise. That's all he'd need, to have the still life painting refuse him access to his own common room. As they followed the corridor back up to the kitchens, Ethan gazed with mild amusement at the moist trail he'd left just minutes before on his way down. He looked back to Caity and pointed down at it with a little smirk. "I guess I should have thought to dry myself off at the front doors. I don't usually think of little conveniences of magic like that. I'd just planned on using a towel when I got to my dorm. Oh well, that's a muggle upbringing for you."
Again giving a half shrug, he continued until they reached the large fruit painting and extended his hand toward the pear. It was fortunate that he'd followed Dylan Cooper here just the other day or he wouldn't have known how to get in. His hand paused though and he gave Caity a look that seemed a bit conflicted. He hesitated a moment longer before quietly addressing his growing concerns. "You know Caitlin, it's ok if you don't want to answer my questions. You have the right to tell me it's not my business. I won't be offended or angry or anything. I just think... you used to seem so much happier. I don't know what happened that hurt you so badly, but I don't think holding it all inside all the time will help. Were you thinking about Ma-? No, I dunno. Nevermind. I didn't mean to pry. Let's see about that cocoa."
Offering a smile that seemed slightly tinged with sorrow, he tickled the pear and gestured welcomingly to the opened doorway, out of which came the sound of many pairs of little pattering feet. He'd heard of course all the rumors surrounding the disappearance and supposed death of Mallan, some Gryffindor boy he'd not known. He'd also noticed that it was about that time that Caty lost what had before seemed an ever present smile. He'd wondered about it ever since but didn't dare broach the subject. Who was he after all that she should confess her feelings to him? And bringing it up would likely just push her deeper into whatever agony she was trying to keep hidden.
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Post by Caitlin Collins on May 28, 2009 15:51:01 GMT -5
Caity followed Ethan as he made his way towards the portrait that allowed them access and exit from the common room. There were several other people in the common room looking more than a little damp, and she wondered how long it had been raining – and how long she had actually been sitting there before Ethan arrived on the scene. As she exited the common room, she noticed several wet footsteps on the floor. Ethan apparently also noticed and seemed quite amused by it. She returned his smile, if not with quite the same enthusiasm behind it. [yellow]"I'm muggleborn too... I guess I just got used to magic pretty quickly. Plus there is no Trace in India, so I didn't have to worry about doing magic wherever."[/yellow] She supposed that with all the fantasy books she had read when she was younger, the transferral from imagination to reality had not been all that hard for her 11-year-old mind.
It wasn't far to the kitchens and she slowed as they reached the painting of the fruit, turning to look at him rather than the painting when he paused before knocking and began speaking. What was left of the smile faded from her face after the first few phrases and again she changed her line of vision so it wasn't aimed at Ethan. She'd never spoken to the boy before, and he seemed awfully concerned and observant considering they didn't know each other. A slight wince passed over her face when he almost said Mallan's name, which she tried to smooth over as soon as she realised it was there.
She stayed silent when he finished talking and entered the kitchens through the recently summoned doorway, trying to work out how to reply to that. She didn't say anything to the house elf when it scurried over, instead lost in her thoughts. He was probably right that holding it inside wasn't the best way to deal with it, but actually talking about didn't seem to help either and simply brought more pain. At least if she kept it to herself she didn't have to think about anyone else worrying how she was coping and constantly asking painful questions. And he might just be fishing for information... but then, if he was a spy for Dark Phoenix surely he would already know that information.
He really did just seem like he was trying to help, she concluded, although for what reason she couldn't surmise. Closing her eyes for a few seconds, she finally opened her mouth to speak. [yellow]"Yes. He's the reason. But I still don't want to talk about it,"[/yellow] she said, both shortly and quietly. Even saying 'he' in reference to Mallan wasn't pleasant, and she just had to hope that he had been about to say the name she thought he had been and wouldn't have to explain further.
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Post by Ethan Lacroix on May 28, 2009 17:05:26 GMT -5
To quote a phrase he'd heard somewhere at some point in his life, Caity's "silence spoke volumes." He'd either hit the mark, or had gotten close enough to give her pause. Either way he wasn't about to further press the issue. Seeing no answer to the elf's inquiry as to their desires' forthcoming from her, he stepped up to address the friendly creature, whose little face had grown a bit unsettled at Caity's disjointed distress. "Could we just get a couple mugs of hot cocoa please? Little marshmallows in one, the other plain." A smile and nod and the elf turned on its heel and scampered away, sending one last sympathetic glance over its shoulder at Cait.
Turning back to the girl, Ethan quietly nodded as she confirmed both of his suspicions. He of course wasn't sure where to go from there. He couldn't try for more information, even if he hadn't already about said that he wouldn't. Regardless it would have been disrespectful to insist that he knew what was good for her better than she did and try and force it on her. He let out what sounded kind of lame to him, but was all the response he could think of. "Alright." With a small gesture, he took a seat at one of the nearby little tables. Frowning a bit he tacked on an apology. "I didn't mean to mention him. I kinda got away from myself there. Sorry. It's just I used to always see you smiling and laughing but after... Sorry, you said you didn't wanna talk about it. This is me shutting up about it."
Shaking his head, Ethan silently rebuked himself. Usually he was good about simply complying when people asked him to do things, but he seemed to be having a hard time leaving this alone. It was true that at the beginning of the school year Caity had quickly caught his eye, and he'd developed a little crush. She was lovely sure, but there were plenty of pretty girls about. What he'd noticed most was the way she almost always smiled, but never in a malicious way. From all he could tell, she was kind and compassionate. Still, whereas he was typically friendly and open with people, he had actually gone out of his way to avoid ever really meeting this girl. He couldn't really explain it even to himself, but it had something to do with a conflict of interest. Ethan felt that he couldn't approach without feeling like he had some hidden agenda, and so he'd never done so.
Of course after she changed, he thought she could maybe use someone to talk to. But of course if he tried to come riding in right after Mallan died, he'd really feel like an opportunistic weasel. After a couple months Ethan just let the whole thing go, but after seeing her sitting alone that way... Wouldn't it then have been selfish not to try and intervene? At any rate, though little had actually changed other than Caitlin's typical expression, he no longer had that new crush adrenaline rush around her, no longer felt any conflict within himself. He felt free to offer friendship. Though apparently he wasn't quite as over it as he'd thought, given his rambling.
Looking up to her from the table, he once more let a tiny look of amusement form. "So is it okay to talk at all or would you prefer to just sit in silence?"
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Post by Caitlin Collins on May 28, 2009 17:40:25 GMT -5
Caity hadn't at all intended to worry the house elf, and she felt a little guilty when she saw its slight distress as it looked up at her. She tried to smooth over her expression but mostly failed and instead turned her gaze away from the house elf to glance over at the rest of the kitchens. They were just beginning to start getting ready for dinner this evening – the clock on the wall confirmed that it was mid-afternoon. She heard Ethan ask for two hot chocolates, one with marshmallows and hoped that he was ordering them for himself... as she was slowly discovering, there were a whole load of foods that had meat traces in rather than just in the normal main meals. It was slightly annoying at times, but since she wasn't really eating a lot anyway right now it didn't really make that much difference.
She blinked a few times at his response, slightly confused at the reaction. He was obviously trying to let the subject go but slightly failing at that task. A bemused expression found its way onto her face – not much of one, but enough that it was visible. His rambling, so long as she didn't pay too much attention to the content of it, had at least proved a distraction from the path her thoughts had taken; a path she generally tied to avoid as much as possible because it just made her feel so miserable. 'What if', 'why', that sort of thing. And it held no purpose whatsoever, she'd found with a very high degree of certainty.
He certainly had been observant though... she and Mallan hadn't really made it into the Hogwarts gossip before he had to leave for China, so the vast majority of people didn't realise they had been together, or even been friends. So either Ethan had managed to find some titbit of gossip she didn't know existed, or he had pieced together the timing. She had probably lost her smile a little before the knowledge of his death became widespread because of receiving the letter, but there hadn't been that much of a time gap between the two. It was still a little odd to think that he had specifically put two and two together, though.
She eventually took a seat at the table, a hint of a smile on her lips at his question although it didn't quite reach her eyes. [yellow]"Yeah... sorry,"[/yellow] she apologised, feeling bad that he had been trying to help and she had just returned silence, basically. [yellow]"Um... why were you out in the rain anyway?"[/yellow] She figured he must have been out there for some time considering the state of his clothes, unless the downpour really had been that sudden and heavy. Although some of the people she'd seen in the common room had looked quite a bit less wet than he had.
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Post by Ethan Lacroix on May 28, 2009 18:20:53 GMT -5
A casual wave of his hand was all Ethan's response to her apology, dismissing it entirely. From what he'd seen of her lately, silence was her default modus operandi, and he wasn't in this for the sake of his own emotions anyway. He wasn't sure what to make of her smile. On the one hand it was clearly not deeply felt and he didn't like the idea of her just putting on a show for his benefit. Still, if she was actively trying to feel better he wasn't going to condemn her for it. Letting it go, he shook his head and answered. "I dunno. I was outside already and it started off light. It was kinda refreshing so I took a walk instead of coming in. Thought it would just be a gentle spring shower. Before I knew it though it started pounding. I came in then, but I'd wandered to the far side of the gardens so it took a bit. Good planning on my part."
His subtle smile appeared again, and grew slightly as he turned it on the then returned elf. "Thanks abunch, this is perfect." The elf smiled and nodded again, deposited the two mugs on the table, fulfilled Caity's prediction by also planting a tray of biscuits between the two students, then scampered off, quite pleased with itself. Ethan gave a little clap as he motioned to the biscuits, smirking. "Brilliant." Then adjusting his gesture to the mugs, he added, "I'm not sure which of these you want." Half-shrugging, he waited for her to take a mug before he'd take the other. He did though go straight for the treats, popping a whole biscuit into his mouth. He managed the social awareness to finish chewing and swallow before he spoke again, unlike the last time he was here.
"So no Trace in India huh? That musta been nice. Every summer, especially the first few, all the other kids begged me to do some tricks. I think they thought I was training to be a magician or something." He laughed lightly, a more honest joy than he'd yet expressed as he thought about his unrelated siblings. He wasn't always this talkative, but silence seemed almost as self-destructive for Caitlin as she believed talking of her troubles would be. So for now, he just tried to keep her distracted. "You came from India just at the beginning of this school year, yeah? Your dialect though says you didn't always live there. How long were you there?" Ethan didn't know much about accents and the like, but he doubted there were many who couldn't tell the difference between British dialects and an Indian accent.
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Post by Caitlin Collins on May 28, 2009 18:56:31 GMT -5
At least Ethan didn't seem to worry about the silence, and a slight blush that had taken hold at his previous comment faded fairly quickly. Her smile wasn't really a conscious effort – it was more automatic. She recognised something she would have previously found amusing or worth a smile, and thus pasted one on her face, genuine or not. It was something she'd developed in an attempt to stop people asking questions – although it didn't always work. The smile widened slightly as he described his antics outside, and remembering how refreshing showers could sometimes be in India, it did just about reach her eyes this time, although not by much.
She sent another smile at the house elf as it arrived, somehow managing to carry the two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of biscuits at the same time without spilling anything. [yellow]"Thank you,"[/yellow] she repeated after Ethan, keeping the smile on her face in an attempt to reassure the house elf, feeling guilty about the worried look it had cast her before. She took the mug without marshmallows, thinking that although they probably had non-gelatine marshmallows somewhere in the kitchen – they seemed to have every food imaginable in here – it seemed unlikely they were used on a regular basis.
She nodded in response to his confirmation of what she had just said. [yellow]"It was nice. It also made it very unpleasant when I came back to England and found I couldn't do magic whenever I wanted,"[/yellow] she remembered. That hadn't been a very nice revelation at all. [yellow]"I used to play tricks on my brothers when we first got there,"[/yellow] she admitted, remembering the glee it had caused when it worked. [yellow]"Then my parents and tutor found out and I had to stop, but it was fun while it lasted."[/yellow] Cait had never been one to purposely flout rules for the sake of it, and there had only been a few, very occasional times when she had tricked her brothers after that. She found that she was talking rather a lot, and assumed it was because of the subject matter – India was the untainted place, where she had grown up and learnt magic. There were very few bad memories attached to it.
[yellow]"The other kids? Is that your brothers or sisters?"[/yellow] she asked, not knowing anything about Ethan's past and so automatically assuming he still lived with his family. [yellow]"And yeah, it was the beginning of the year. We were there for... five years, I think. Because it was just before I got my Hogwarts letter that my parents decided to go."[/yellow]
She certainly knew she didn't have a proper Indian accent – even when speaking Hindi, her Indian friends had told her she sounded weird and very English. By listening to them speak she had gradually got the hang of the accent a little more, but it had never been perfect. Now, having lived in the UK for the last year, it had probably resorted back to how it had sounded originally. [yellow]"Is dhvani aur aap ke lie bhaarateey hai?"[/yellow] she asked, listening to her voice. Yes, definitely with the English accent again. [yellow]"Does this sound more Indian to you?"[/yellow] she translated a moment later. Likely actually speaking in the Hindi language, it would to him. But having spent so long around the people who spoke it every day, she could hear the differences to how they would say it.
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Post by Ethan Lacroix on May 29, 2009 1:32:14 GMT -5
Once Caity had selected her mug, Ethan slid the other one closer to himself and began dipping biscuits into the hot liquid,holding them in long enough to become saturated before blissfully slipping them into his mouth. Nodding along as she spoke, he'd add little things quietly, not in a distracting or interrupting fashion, but to affirm he was listening. "Yeah," when she expressed her disappointment upon returning to the UK. "Ha, I bet," when she told him about how much fun she'd had playing tricks on her brothers.
He again chuckled when she inquired about "the other kids." They obviously weren't technically his siblings, but he'd considered them as such for several years now. "They may as well be, but I guess not if you wanna be literal. I'd have several dozen though if that were the case, and would greatly pity the poor woman who had to go through all those births. But no, I meant the other kids at the orphanage." His tone remained light throughout, showing no hint of reservation to speak of his status as an orphan, but proceeding no further into that story. Ethan had decided a while back that he neither wanted nor deserved pity, and so didn't as a general rule volunteer the tale of his unusual arrival on the continent and his family's death. Of course if asked, he didn't hide it either.
He nodded, impressed at her apparent skill with a different tongue, then nodded again as he found his answer to actually be "yes" to her translated query. Of course he wasn't the least bit familiar with the language, as evidenced by his follow-up statement. "That's cool that you speak Indian." He left it at that, glad that she had begun speaking more and hoping she would continue to do so. Aside from believing it was good for her, he found he rather liked listening to her, particularly when she was speaking of things she loved and sounded more like the girl he'd imagined her as back when she'd first come to his attention.
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Post by Caitlin Collins on May 29, 2009 18:47:11 GMT -5
Ethan seemed content to allow her to talk without interrupting, just saying the occasional word which let her know he was actually listening, rather than just bored and ignoring her. Although that didn't seem likely considering his previous friendliness, it was at least a little reassuring. It was rare for her to talk so much so it was good to know he was listening... if not, she would simply have been more inclined to not talk.
Caity blinked as Ethan explained his 'siblings', thinking at first that he simply had lots of cousins who were close – like she had been discussing with Sam the other day. She hadn't at all been expecting him to mention an orphanage, especially given the cheery tone of his voice in which he spoke of it. [yellow]"Oh... I... sorry. I didn't realise... didn't mean to bring it up. Sorry..."[/yellow] Well aware that now she was the one rambling, Cait diverted her eyes to the mug of hot chocolate, which she had left standing on the table to cool down, her cheeks reddening again a little. Seeing less steam come off of it now, she lifted the mug and took a tiny sip, waiting to make sure it didn't burn her tongue as so many hot foods and drinks did before taking another, slightly longer sip.
She tried to hid a small smile when Ethan replied to her, apparently not knowing the huge variety of languages in India. The idea of just one language called Indian... well, that would have made things a whole lot easier. [yellow]"Hindi. Not Indian. There is no 'Indian' language... the country has like, twenty official languages. Hindi is the main one they teach in all the schools, but in Hyderabad where I lived, Urdu and Telugu were spoken more frequently. And there's loads of different alphabets too... I only know the one, so I can only write Hindi, and just about scrape Urdu with a lot of mistakes based on how it sounds. I can speak the other two main languages okay though. Not fluent, but not completely butchering the language either."[/yellow]
She paused, remembering her trouble with the different languages when she had first arrived – she had thought it would be all Hindi, but no, that was just what she was expected to write in. Communication had eventually ceased to be a problem after the first year or so, when she had picked up enough of the main languages to be able to speak. Hindi was what she was most knowledgeable in, but her Urdu and Telugu were passable too. [yellow]"Is Hindi hai. Hay yeh Urdu. Marinni idi yii Telugu. This is Hindi. This is Urdu. And this is Telugu,"[/yellow] she translated again, demonstrating the differences in how they sounded. It was quite nice to speak them again, really, even if she knew he couldn't understand what she was saying. It reminded her of home... she still considered India her home, even though she knew that she probably wouldn't be going back there for at least several years.
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Post by Ethan Lacroix on May 29, 2009 21:00:54 GMT -5
Apparently having had his fill of the biscuits, Ethan instead began taking little sips of his (now somewhat crumb-filled) cocoa. Well, he began taking little sips after his initial swig, which showed him that the liquid was still too uncomfortably warm to be chugged. It didn't truly burn and he played it off with little more than a sharp intake of his breath, but he was more cautious from that point. The mug however was set down on the table as Cait stuttered out an apology, Ethan adopting a pensive pose and an unfathomable expression. He rested his right knuckles against the side of his face, his head tilted slightly to that side as he considered her, sitting there staring at her mug of cocoa and finally taking a small sip.
He'd of course expected she'd react that way, though he'd hoped otherwise. Before he'd decided on exactly how to proceed, she was talking again, which he took as a good thing. His face grew quizzical as she explained about Indian languages. Having grown up in the United states and then moved (sort of) to the United Kingdom, virtually everyone he'd ever known had spoken English, and perhaps one or two other languages as a cultural background or simply a reflection of their studious nature. He'd had no idea there was a country with more than two or maybe three official languages, much less nearly two dozen. A smile and low whistle came from his lips as she displayed ability with three of the different languages, each of which indeed sounded very different. "Definitely impressive. The most I know of any other language are a few basic things like 'hello' and 'yes.' Maybe a few numbers too. And of course the dirty words the older kids taught me when I was nine or ten, my early years at the orphanage. Speaking of which..."
He paused for a moment longer, solidifying in his mind the way he wanted to approach this. With a tiny nod, he proceeded, leaning one elbow on the table. "Caitlin, I do appreciate your aim to spare me a painful memory, but I don't share your regret in the subject coming up. The loss of my family is a part of me, part of what makes me who I am. It hurts sometimes. I still miss them. I imagine I always will. But I don't... I feel that if they could see me..." Here he paused and half-shrugged, glancing briefly toward the ceiling. "If they can see me, I think they would be proud of who I am and what I do. I believe that I honor them with my life, their memory. They're gone yes, but I still have my memories, and I still have their love." Though of course there was a direct correspondence between what he was saying about his family and what he knew of Caity's loss of Mallan, he didn't overtly draw attention to that, not wanting her to feel she was receiving a lecture on how unhappy the deceased boy would be to see her in this state.
At last he took up the mug he'd left sitting since she'd apologized and took a sip, then offered his little smile. "Besides, I don't know that all things happen for a reason, but because of my past, I'm able to offer a very real degree of empathy to others. Compassion is a powerful and wonderful thing, but without suffering I don't think anyone can really understand or experience it." Half-shrugging again, he sipped up the few remaining marshmallows floating in his drink. "But maybe I'm just crazy."
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Post by Caitlin Collins on May 30, 2009 9:48:16 GMT -5
With her eyes now facing downwards at the table, Caity couldn't see what Ethan's expression was in response to her rambling. Daring to glance up for a moment, she found it didn't help at all – the look on his face was impossible to pin down. He was watching her though, and she quickly diverted her eyes away. She began speaking again about India in the hope that she could draw the conversation away from a topic that sounded slightly sensitive. He had seemed happy enough to mention it when she had asked her question about siblings, but then there had been little way to get around it. Maybe he was just better at hiding what he was truly feeling than she was... it had proven difficult to get used to, and judging from his earlier concern and that of Sam the other day, she still didn't have it down very well.
His low whistle almost brought back the blush on her face, but she managed to prevent it from appearing yet again. With the huge lack of ability to communicate she had faced to start with, she really hadn't had much choice when it came to learning the languages. Occasionally she'd get them mixed up and would end up saying the odd Urdu word in a sentence spoken mostly in Telugu, which had certainly amused her Indian friends to no end. But after five years in the country, she had pretty much learnt the language well enough that communication was no longer a problem. Having raised her gaze again as the topic had turned back to a topic she was more comfortable with, a hint of hesitation and uncertainty appeared on her face as he turned the subject back to the orphanage.
She did listen to what he was saying, trying to see his perspective. It was certainly different to her view on Mallan's death – or any of the recent deaths, for that matter. It sounded as though he had been without his parents for years, though... maybe it would get a little easier to deal with after time had passed. Recently, maybe she had been starting to recover... she had been concentrating on schoolwork and her job, just diverting her attention away from any painful thoughts by making sure there was always something else that needed doing. She thought back to what Sam had said the other day about her writing and suddenly realised what made her wary of starting again – doing so would mean letting her mind flow where it liked rather than trying to constantly control it. And that was something she really didn't want to do.
[yellow]"But... they can't see you. They're dead... gone. They can't still love you, and memories only go so far..."[/yellow] Had Caitlin's thoughts not been focussed on Mallan at this point, she might have realised that her words in respect to Ethan's family sounded more than a little insensitive. But since she was more talking about Mallan without actually mentioning him, it didn't occur to her as she frowned at the mug of hot chocolate on the table. She remembered the thoughts she had gone through directly after news came in that letter... thoughts about ensuring she never forgot him, but soon after finding that remembering hurt so much that she wasn't sure what to do.
She considered what he was saying, vaguely understanding the reasoning behind it but not exactly convinced. [yellow]"But if no one went through that, you wouldn't need to empathise with that particular situation anyway."[/yellow] She remembered what Dee had said about a realm like the Shadow Realm, but for creatures of light, and wondering what it would be like there. Plus there was the issue of retaining that 'balance'... [yellow]"Although, that's never really gonna happen anyway..."[/yellow] she added.
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