First year dorms then Common Room on Crotalus Commons

Talitha Cumni

April 17, 2007 11:34 PM

First year dorms then Common Room by Talitha Cumni

Talitha had a wonderful Christmas. Her family was proud and delighted that she had found her courage and decided to overcome her initial fears and give this "school thing" a real try. She was spoiled rotten, fed all her favorite foods, and loaded down with presents.

She went on morning rounds with Mother. It was wonderful to talk and share the birds' song greeting the dawn. Together, they laughed and shared enough secrets to last through 'til summer break. Nana led her on dream jouney and she'd had a wonderful vision.

Daddy took her to visit his sister and her family at the Navajo Reservation near the school. There she enjoyed getting to know her cousins again. Together, they danced and played and laughed. She also learned some neat things she could add to her spirituality. Her uncle and aunt held a give away and she was loaded down with finery.

Talitha looked around her room. It was time she made her area a home away from home. She spread a new, rainbow covered blanket her aunt wove for her on her bed. In a nearby window, she hung a dream-catcher her cousins gave her. On her dresser, she placed baskets her grandmother had woven all Autumn, filled with beautiful jewelery that her uncle fashioned with magical gemstones and hand wrought silver. Talitha smiled. Her treasures were so pretty, even Lutice would be green with envy. She set her practice bow and spear next to her cupboard that was bursting with pretty new clothes. She shoved her crafting bag under her bed.

Hands on her hips, she scanned her little corner of the room. Satisfied, she smiled, nodding. Yes, life would be very different from now on. None of her room mates seemed to have arrived yet. It was very late, but she wasn't tired yet. There was one more thing she wanted to do before heading for bed anyway.

Snatching up her wand and carving knive, she headed down to the empty Common Room. Making herself comfortable on the floor in front of the fire, she began to carve another totem on the handle of her wand. It was specially made to allow this. Already, Daddy had carved the first four, now it was her responsibility to add to it.

Intent on her work, she didn't hear the soft footsteps that approached her on the heavy carpeting. Eventually, she felt a pair of eyes watching her. Turning toward her quiet observer, she smiled, her dimples deepening.

"Hello," she said. "Did you have a good holiday?"

\n

0 Talitha Cumni First year dorms then Common Room 102 Talitha Cumni 1 5

Lila St. Martin

April 28, 2007 2:42 PM

Common rooms, cousins, and knives, oh my! by Lila St. Martin

Most of Lila's Christmas presents had been left at Magnolia Grove, excluding things she would need for the new term and could fit in her trunk. Her twin had not been. The bags had been entrusted to the school, the sister had been entrusted to the lunch rush, she had entrusted herself to her memory, and all was calm. For now. The red and silver of the common room had never looked better than they did when she entered after checking that the trunk had made its way to her dorm. Crotalus was a lot of other things, both inside and outside of itself and reality, but it was, at least for her, sane.

Midterm hadn't been fun. Oh, it had started off all right, and Christmas had gone well, and things had gone fine when they left, but there had been two days that ruined it all. For two whole days, Anne Wright had moved back into Lila's family's estate, as if she were one of them, as if she had the right to waltz into Magnolia Grove anytime she wanted. It didn't matter that, as one of the second-generationers, she did. There were lots of things one could do and maybe even would do that one shouldn't do, a fact she'd assumed everyone knew. She had assumed wrongly.

Anne hadn't hurt her. Anne had barely even acknowledged her existence, actually, and that one time had been so bizarre that Lila still wasn't completely sure it had happened. It had all been quiet and over quickly and had rattled Lila's nerves, at least at first. Now, she was just mad. Anne had ruined her holiday just by existing and dropping in to see her grandmother - or so her story went. Two days, early on in the break, had been enough to make her recall the whole thing badly. That was what Anne could do to Lila. That was what Lila let Anne do to her.

She tried not to let herself think about Anne. Anne was and always had been a lost cause, and it was pointless to worry about her. The problem was, the supply of better things for her to focus on was in a sorry state. There was always lots of gossip floating around, but too much of it was about her Housemate Geoffrey Spindler for her taste; she preferred to avoid thinking about that story as much as possible. It was said, at least among the cousins, that the Careys had taken some action in the Gwen matter, but her stepcousin was even higher on the list of things not to think about. She looked at her nails, cross. Such a pity Morgaine hated her...

She looked up automatically, a bright, innocent smile fixed onto her face, when she heard someone enter from the dorms, but didn't bother long. Just one of the first years, and an unimportant, quiet one at that. No one she could talk to on any kind of level beyond condescending politeness, not that she was given to talking to many people any other way. Lila liked status, but not really the people that ensured it. It was a quirk that sometimes troubled her - she was set for a very public life, after all - but not often. Being too deep had never been a big problem for her.

Wait...Why was the girl sitting in the floor like that? It wasn't like the room was so crowded that no one else could sit down or anything. It wasn't proper, sitting on the rug like she-didn't-even-know-what. And why did she have what, from where Lila was sitting, looked like a knife? That had to be against some rule, especially with all the political hooplah surrounding a student getting kidnapped. As if all that wasn't bad enough, now the girl was cutting up her own wand! It was ridiculous, not to mention...she didn't think that 'disrespectful' was quite the right word, but what it was called was a slightly moot point.

She walked over and glared until the girl spoke to her. The question about her holiday was ignored, both because it was irrelevant to why she was there and because she didn't want to have to think about Anne any more. How anyone she shared a grandfather with could be so socially unacceptable was beyond her; she never referred to Anne as her cousin at all anymore, and had done so only when forced to when she'd lived with them full-time. "What are you doing?" she asked, tone sharp and demanding. "If you don't want to be here, there's better ways of getting out than chopping up your wand."

16 Lila St. Martin Common rooms, cousins, and knives, oh my! 80 Lila St. Martin 0 5

Talita Cumni

April 29, 2007 2:38 AM

Cultural Lesson for the Ignorant by Talita Cumni

Talitha did a double take. Her perfectly friendly greeting was totally shot down. Then she remembered where she was. Crotalus students weren’t exactly known for their friendliness. At first, her instinct was to crawl in her shell she’d made for herself last term and avoid a confrontation. It would be easier, safer, and completely against her new resolve. Her other problem was her proud nature was having a wrestling match with the way she had been raised.

On the one hand, she was just as good as these society girls. In her community, she might even outrank them. After all, both her parents came from a long line of powerful witches and wizards. In the past century or so, that was not planned as her more recent ancestors married for love, not for politics, it just worked out that way.

Her grandmother was on the Counsel of Elders, her mother was the community’s Healer and Medicine Woman, her father, an amazingly talented wizard, was the community’s History Keeper. As their child, she’d always held the happy privilege of holding a fair amount of status. She was just as good-bloodline wise- as any of the snobs that walked the halls of Sonora.

On the other hand, the laws governing her community…the Rules of Right Relationship… was taught to her from almost the moment she’d been born. It was a list of laws and guidelines that insisted on attempting to co-exist with all of creation in peace and harmony. It was very powerful medicine. Talitha could recite them by heart.

The rule that was repeating in her head at the moment the girl (what was her name? Oh, yeah, Lila) made her ignorant comment was, “Always approach another with an open hand of friendship, not a closed fist full of anger and judgmental-ism.” Okay, Daddy, I’ll try your way first.

“I’m not trying to chop it up, I’m adding a totem. See?” Talitha smiled what she’d hoped was a friendly smile and held up her wand, eleven and three-quarters inches; crafted from Rhododendron wood with a Sasquatch hair core. “The handles of the Wizards back home are made like this so we can add totems during special times in our lives. They‘re a lot like Runes, each of the totems have special meaning.”

She held the wand up so that Lila could see. “Daddy carved the first four. The otter on top is our family totem, the owl, fox and squirrel are my first spirit guides. Over the holidays, I went on a dream journey with my grandmother. Nana has the Sight and she’s a natural Legilimens. Well, I had a vision to help me on my life path.

“I saw a bat. They have the power to help me find the right directions I should take during the dark times of my life when I feel lost. When I told Mother and Daddy about it, they said I was old enough to start carving my own.” Talitha studied her handy work critically and frowned a bit. “I’m not as good at carving as Daddy yet, still, it looks more like a bat than a bird.”

A fleeting feeling of embarrassment colored her cheeks. No, she’d done nothing wrong,this was important to her heart and to her people. She would not feel stupid. Squaring her little shoulders, she looked Lila in the eye proudly. \n

0 Talita Cumni Cultural Lesson for the Ignorant 0 Talita Cumni 0 5

Lila St. Martin

May 05, 2007 5:36 PM

And closedminded. Don't forget that part. by Lila St. Martin

When the first year started talking, Lila stared blankly at her, as if she didn't understand a word of it. Either there were some mighty dense girls in the year two below hers, to go so long not living with her and still mistake for one of them, or this girl was crazy-odd instead of just odd in the regular way, because first years didn't talk to third years like that. Well, maybe they did in Pecari or Aladren, where hardly anyone respectable was anyway, but not in her House. The girl was talking to her like an inferior - like she was stupid or something.

Well, she wasn't stupid. Her sister could be, every now and then, but Lila was the smart twin. She was the one who took back after Daddy. Everyone knew that, and most everyone had even before getting into Crotalus had proven it. She didn't have to put up with anyone, much less a first year not even important enough for her to recognize, talking down to her. Not even her tutors, who had some license to do so, had not routinely insulted her intelligence by speaking to her like they would a two-year-old.

"You're right," she agreed, looking at the batty-bird thing the younger girl was hacking into her wand. The whole thing sounded like Divination to her, and Divination was the most ridiculous class Lila could think of. It had no solid, real base to stand on, which was probably, now that Lila thought about it, why the subgroup she called the Crazy Crotali had a representative or three in the class. She wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this girl joined that subgroup soon. She could replace Gwen as the school's leading crazy child, once Lila's fallen-star stepcousin graduated.

"That's very interesting," she said sweetly, smiling as she tried to hide how annoyed she was. If it didn't work on her father, then he did a good impression of falling for it. It was hard, always playing everything the right ways. "But if you keep talking to your betters like they aren't, then you aren't going to do very well here." She didn't feel she had to say her name or, indeed, say anything to explain why she felt comfortable making an assertion like that; she had the idea that everyone already knew who she was. It had always, after all, been that way at home.

16 Lila St. Martin And closedminded. Don't forget that part. 80 Lila St. Martin 0 5

Talitha Cumi

May 06, 2007 1:51 AM

And a mind is a terrible thing to waste by Talitha Cumi

Talitha blinked hard. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Even though Lila had sweetened her wards with a sugar coated smile, the message was clear. She told Talitha she was not worthy to speak to her. She totally did not care about what Talitha told her, even though she did ask. She probably expected her to curtsy and apologize for breathing the same air as Lila and scurry off to her lowly firstie dorm. Her betters? Her betters? Where in Mother Earth did she get off? She was only two years older than her at the most. She wasn’t a prefect. She wasn’t any better than Talitha was.

Still not lowering her gaze, Talitha stood. She was aware that she was at the physical disadvantage, being as tiny as she was. Her mother, who was only 5’ 3” had this thing she did when she got mad or needed to be listened to. She would pull herself up to her full height and give this intense look that gave everyone around her the impression that she was much taller and far more powerful than she actually was. Her mother’s magic would radiate from her like a warning breeze just before a thunderstorm. It caused many a patient to lie back and behave themselves. Talitha tried with all her might to do the same thing right now. Her black eyes flashed.

Well, the open hand was quickly closing into a fist. Sorry, Daddy Talitha saw the Crotalus coat of arms from over Lila’s shoulder. The snake was the cleverest of creatures and she tried to draw on its medicine as she needed to be clever and quick thinking if she was to come out of this battle of wits on top. Is if in answer, she suddenly remembered one of the rattlesnake’s strengths was that it gave fair warning before it struck to allow its opponent a chance to back off. But if it had to strike, it would strike with perfect aim and lightening speed. Not to mention the deadly venom. For safety’s sake, Talitha deliberately lowered her wand.

“I’m doing just fine here, Lila.” Talitha amazed herself. She delivered her words evenly and strong, instead of shaking. “And you are not my better just ‘cause you’re older than me. I’m just as good as you!”

A pitcher of cold water standing on a table next to them began to vibrate and the warning prickly feeling ran down the back of her neck, but Talitha was concentrating too hard on her adversary to notice. There was no way she was going to allow herself to back down now.
\n

0 Talitha Cumi And a mind is a terrible thing to waste 0 Talitha Cumi 0 5

Lila St. Martin

May 06, 2007 7:40 PM

The author will agree. by Lila St. Martin

If the first year had been Morgaine, Lila would have been a little afraid. Morgaine had an unpredictable temper, and no one would argue that her stepcousin had both the upper hand when it came to magic and an occasional disregard for rules she didn't like. The reason she wouldn't have gotten really worried was Morgaine's born-of-necessity fear of her father and how he'd react to her hexing someone from a family both an ally to and more respectable than the Savannah Careys.

If the first year had been anyone (except Allie) who lacked any such hinderance, Lila would have been afraid. She was a decent student, and decent with a wand, but she wasn't very well-versed in defensive spells. They weren't ladylike, and she only learned those that O'Leary made them learn for his class. Besides, she was practically the heiress of Jordanna Howard, set to take over the school the minute the reigning queen of Sonora left. Other girls would give their eyeteeth to be her. Morgaine certainly would.

If the first year had been an older student, particularly Gwen or Anne, Lila would have been running. Anne had long since proven that she had few scruples about doing damage to the family, and Lila had betrayed Gwen for reasons of, by her lights, practicality. Gwen would have done exactly the same thing to her, had their positions been reversed, but they hadn't been, and that might make a difference. A popular rumor had her stepcousin half-crazy. Others in an upper year wouldn't have as much motive, but they had the same amount or more extra training.

As it was, though, the first year was...a first year. Just a tiny little first year who didn't understand the system. There were, she thought, three types of Crotali: real ones like her, a handful of crazy ones, and the ones who didn't belong at all - not really. They just sort of clang to the edges of House society and caused trouble. There were not, thank Merlin, very many of them, and Lila usually went out of her way to ignore them. It was doubtful that, on a good day, she would have even noticed someone like this. It was just the girl's bad luck to be there when Lila had cousins and stepcousins she was afraid of on the brain.

"I'm your better," she said, tone conversational, "because you know who I am and I don't have a clue who you are." It felt good - satisfying - to say that. The fourth years had an advantage, but it made it sound like she was important, anyway. Maybe there were people who whispered about her in the hallways, too. "And you shouldn't take it so hard when people give you advice. Try talking to one of the girls in fourth year like that, and you'll see what I mean." It was the first time since Morgaine had somehow gotten Lydia and Little Julian on her side that Lila had felt powerful. She gave the first year a cocky little half-smile. "Good day," she said, then turned and walked away.

16 Lila St. Martin The author will agree. 80 Lila St. Martin 0 5

Talitha Cumni

May 06, 2007 8:46 PM

Not so fast sweety by Talitha Cumni

Talitha almost laughed out loud. How stupid! If she’d only asked, only been the least bit polite, Lila would have known who Talitha was. And how dare she cut her down for no reason except that it made herself feel superior? She was so sick of this phony superiority crap!

When Lila turned her back on her, Talitha lost it. Hit and run tactics were not fair. It was cowardly. Well, she may think she was getting away with it, but Talitha would at least have the final say.

“Yes, I know who you are, Lila St. Martin! And I feel sorry for you!” Talitha didn’t even realize that she was shouting at the top of her lungs. “It’s a pity that you and the others like you weigh your self worth by your bloodline instead who you are on the inside. You’re all like pedigreed poodles at a dog show! Oo, I’m better than you ‘cause I’ve got papers up the length of my arm and back down! Oo, That makes me special! Stupid Pureblood plastic princesses! Go ahead and run away, it just proves I’m right!”

She didn’t care if Lila walked away or turned around and hexed her into a little puddle on the floor. All Talitha knew was Lila heard her. Heck, the way she was hollering, the whole house probably heard her.
\n

0 Talitha Cumni Not so fast sweety 102 Talitha Cumni 0 5

Lila St. Martin

May 09, 2007 10:15 PM

Speed up, honey. by Lila St. Martin

Lila stopped dead in her tracks as the first year, who she was immediately reclassifying as a Crazy Crotalus, started yelling and screaming and generally acting howling mad for the whole common room to see. Bad form, that; Mother would have thrown a fit if Lila or her sister had ever conducted themselves in such a manner. Annoyance spiked again. She'd won, and that was all there was to it. Even a nobody first year should have been able to see that, unless they really had gotten a lot stupider since Lila came to Sonora. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd been smarter than that at eleven.

She waited for a moment after the little one finished her rant before turning around again. A strange, twitchy sort of smile crossed her face. The interpretation Lila wanted the first year to make was that it was condescending; the actual affect was almost abstracted and a little cynical. She looked straight at the other girl, but her words were not directed to her, but to the room in general.

"I am glad," she said, to no one in particular, her eyes sliding away to fix on a neutral point above Gunter's painting, "that I outgrew throwing tantrums in public when I don't get my way about ten years ago." Her parents might never let her live it down if she did, and the cousins...A disaster. She had her reasons for not having fits in front of everyone, though the first year didn't need to know it, or that she had no problem whatsoever with stooping to the oldest trick in the book in private if she didn't get what she wanted.

Without further ado, she walked straight out of the common room, her ears buzzing and her brain deliberately blocking out anything from the space to her back. She liked how she had handled the situation, without resorting to the rather indelicate tactics favored by Anne, the bizarre methods of creeping people out Gwen utilized, or Allie's pleading and tears. Yes, she was mad enough to hit something, but she'd kept her head, kept walking, kept up appearances! Crotalus needed all of that it could get these days.

Reaching her single dorm - the first year was the first in two years to have a roommate - Lila locked the door behind her magically. She began brushing her hair out even though it was already neat because the steady movement of her arm and the pressure of the bristles on her scalp was soothing to her strained nerves. She practiced smiling at a mirror, and was criticizing a few sharp lines of her face when the smile suddenly dissolved, the hairbrush came away from her head, and she slammed the back of it down into the dresser as hard as she could. It wasn't very hard, but it did what she wanted.

"Now," she informed the mirror, no longer thinking it odd to talk to such a thing; the habit had developed when she had been almost missing Allie and Two, and that stage had outlived its best days by quite some stretch. "Now I'm feeling better."

16 Lila St. Martin Speed up, honey. 80 Lila St. Martin 0 5