Blast to the Past (Rini; Invitation)

[Arynn Carter]

Arynn inhaled deeply. The smells--some pleasant (like the leather of the tack) and some not so pleasant--brought back a flood of memories from her childhood. A childhood that seemed to be much too long ago. A childhood where she'd been able to know what real love was like. It had been a blessing for her that more and more kids were never able to experience. The sobering thought made her sad. She'd been through her fair share of trials and yet she still knew that there were those out there that had had a life far, far worse than hers. Most were still going through the worst of it. To be honest, barring the death of her parents, most of the crap in her life had been basically self-induced.

Stepping inside the stables, Arynn's crystalline blue eyes raked over the stalls. Almost all of them were occupied by the majestic creatures. The British woman had always adored horses. She had tons of fond memories involving horses. It had also been one of her mother's favorite outdoor activities, and Mrs. Carter had taken her young daughter out for rides on their ridiculously large expanse of property every single Saturday. Sometimes it had been more often through out the week. Everything Arynn knew about horses and riding them had been because of her mother. Deep down, she knew logically that it was the tie to her deceased mother that there was a soft spot in her heart for the animals. It was like every time she rode one, she could feel a piece of her mother. Just like when she practiced and/or taught Martial Arts she felt a piece of her father since he had bee the one so adamant about his daughter learning to defend herself.

Arynn smiled at the memories. They were the good ones. They were the ones she held onto when things in life seemed to get dark and hopeless. They had been what helped her survive living with her aunt. They had been, in part, how she'd managed to pull herself back together and somehow manage to land herself here at Silas Academy. Some people liked to look back on their life and talk about all the things they would change if they had the chance. Arynn, however, liked to look back on her life and be grateful for the things that had happened that had made her into who she was today. Without the crap, she never would have chosen the career she had. She never would have met that little girl in the hospital that day. She never would have known what she was or how to begin learning to control it. She never would have been able to come to Silas Academy--a place where she actually might be able to help others like her. A place where she might actually be able to do some good.

Clapping her hands together and smiling to herself, she pulled her thoughts out of the self-reflection and walked over to the tack room where she found a brush. Right now, she felt like it would do her some good to simply be close to one of the horses and brush its hair. It would be relaxing. She needed to relax in some other way than running through the woods or some other physical exertion.

Choosing out a beautiful Paint, Arynn spoke in low, calming tones to the animal as she entered his stall and began to brush.

[Serinity Dawson]

The blonde rubbed her face letting out a heavy sigh as she sat on the side of her bed. With another sigh, she fell back letting her arms spread out to each side. Serinity made a noise of frustration and sat up again glaring at her wall. She. Was. Bored. “Uuuugh!” she growled to herself standing up pacing back and forth. The white German Shepherd lying on the floor watched her with little interest. It wasn’t long before he fell within her view. “Hewwwwie,” Serinity complained kneeling next to her best friend scratching him behind the ear. “Let’s go for a ride, hm? We haven’t been out to see Lightfoot in a while. Want to go for a walk!? Huh?! Let’s go for a walk!” Excitedly, the girl’s voice rose as she spoke to the dog. The excitement in her voice had Hewie leaping to his feet with his wagging tail thudding against the bed. The sight brought a smile to Rini’s lips.

“Alright boy let’s go!” Serinity was throwing the door open by this point. One good thing about taking Hewie for a walk was that she didn’t need to bring a leash. Hewie was behaved well enough to listen to her… for the most part. Besides, while riding Lightfoot he would be able to do whatever he pleased with nothing to hold him back. “Going out for a ride, bye Alex!” The young woman’s voice echoed in the rather empty apartment. Stopping for a minute, the blonde hit the palm of her hand to her forehead. Alex wasn’t here, right. The brunette was no doubt living it up in the Library or someplace similar studying to no end. Finals would begin soon. They always stressed her roommate out. Rini never bothered with studying much. She was the “cram the night before the test” kind. It had always worked for her. Why change tactics now?

The walk to the barn was uneventful enough. Serinity’s main thought process had been circling around what finals she had coming up. Not that she was worried about any of them. The classes she took now mainly centered on controlling her abilities with the occasional outlying class. Thinking of that, however, had put her in a foul mood. Her classes were basically pointless at this point. Most of them she had already taken at least on other time. In fact, this was the third time taking one of her current classes! Majority of the students always made fun of her for this, too. It always struck the others odd that Serinity was one of the oldest among them and was still stuck at Silas taking classes. She rarely went out of her way to tell them it was by her grandmother’s demands. Let them think her stupid.

Taking a deep breath, Serinity walked into the barn and worked her way over to Lightfoot’s stall. Smiling, she was glad to see how happy Lightfoot was to finally see her. It had been too long. “I’m sorry Light. Can you forgive me for not visiting sooner?” Opening the stall door, the blonde went over to her friend and gave him a hearty hug. The girl then proceeded to whisper to him stroking his muzzle letting him get used to her again. After that Rini went to find the tack room and a brush to get started on his quick grooming before taking him out for a ride. However, when she got into the tack room Serinity couldn’t seem to find a brush. “What the heck?” she questioned scratching her head. This was highly unusual for the barn. Firstly, there was no one here and secondly, there had never been a shortage of brushes before. Maybe they were being cleaned…?

Frustrated, the young woman stalked out of the room and began to look around the cleaning stalls. Maybe there was on there. Nope. “Ugh, I swear! Seriously, what the heck!” she cursed stepping back into the main hall of the barn. Her eyes flickered around wondering where to search next. Hewie’s white form entered her vision drawing away her attention. The dog was trotting happily over to another stall. Curious, Serinity followed him only to realize he was approaching another woman. Was this the brush thief? Serinity paused at the stall’s door giving the older woman a small smile. “Hi, I’m sorry to bother you, but do you happen to have another brush? For whatever reason I can’t find one.” Nervously, the girl rubbed the back of her neck. She felt pretty foolish for having to ask something like this. By this point, though, Hewie was already in the stall wary of the horse but eager to meet the other woman. His tail wagged happily as he panted up at her wanting to be petted. Serinity rolled her eyes and muttered something along the lines of ‘attention seeker’ under her breath.

[Arynn Carter]

Patting the Paint tenderly on the front of his snout, Arynn stood close to the muscular animal and continued to brush his coat with the other hand. Long, gentle--and firm at the same time--strokes managed to upset the dust and other things hiding among the horse's coarse hair. She could tell by the way the horse watched her with large, fathomless brown eyes and nuzzled her from time to time that he was enjoying the feeling of a decent brushing. Loads more than she was enjoying giving him one. Arynn smiled to herself and carried on in the same low, calming tones.

"I wish I knew your name. I must catch me someone that is far more in the loop than myself, I'm afraid." Another horse nuzzle widened her smile. "For now, I think I'll simply have to make up a name for you, instead." She pursed her lips while continuing to brush and mulled over some possibilities for a few minutes. Finally, she exclaimed, "A-ha! I've got it. Calico. It doesn't necessarily mean the same thing where I come from as it does here, but I think it's perfect. We aren't in England anyhow." After all, it was used to describe an animal with a multicolored coat and that's just the kind of coats that Paints bragged.

A few more minutes continued on like that--she'd probably brushed Calico to the point of excessiveness--when an annoyed feminine exclamation brought Arynn's head snapping up. From the sound of it, she was no longer alone in the stables. Curiosity tugging at her, Arynn turned to peek out of the stall to see if she could see who had the same idea as her but she hadn't gone a step when an adorable dog trotted around the corner and into the stall. Either the dog was a common visitor to the stables or Calico was accustomed to dogs invading his personal space because the horse barely reacted to the sudden presence of the other animal.

Another smile curled her lips. Arynn enjoyed animals. Crouching down--brush still grasped in one hand--she reached out with her free hand to fondly scratch behind the dog's ears. "Why, hullo there," she greeted. "What brings you to the stables?" The only answer the dog gave was an enthusiastic wagging of his tail, a little yip of pleasure, and to bunt his furry head against her hand.

Noticing the sound and sight of a pair of feet coming into view, she glanced up from petting the dog to see a young blonde woman who had to have been either one of the older generations of students or a young teacher... like herself. But from the way she held herself, Arynn suspected that it was the former. Besides, she'd managed to meet most of the other staff members and she'd also perused the roster for the professors. She couldn't say that she recognized the other woman's pretty face. Standing--the dog whining at the loss of a nice head scratch--and wiping her one hand on the thigh of her skinny jeans, Arynn smiled and held the brush out to her.

"Sorry about that, love. I wasn't aware they only had one in stock." A friendly, welcoming smile further softened Arynn's features. She waited for the other woman to take it and then kept her hand out to her for a handshake. "I'm Arynn Carter. I'm the fresh meat as far as professors go around here." Another disarmingly friendly smile in the woman's direction.

[Serinity Dawson]

Feeling the need to apologize for Hewie’s behavior, Serinity said, “I’m sorry if he’s bothering you. He’s nothing but an attention seeker. It’s like I never show him affection or anything.” The girl rolled her blue eyes but had a light smile upon her lips. The woman before her didn’t seem to mind having Hewie come up to her. Not everyone Hewie greeted was happy to meet the mutt, however. It was surprising how many people seemed to be afraid of dogs. When Arynn stood, Hewie whined and pawed at her for more loving. Again Serinity rolled her eyes, “Leave her be you lump of fur,” she muttered. Hewie bounded over to his friend and licked her hand. He was only trying to get attention from her now. Dutifully, the blonde rubbed her hand along his head and ending her affection by ruffling the fur of his neck.

Arynn spoke her accent throwing Serinity for a loop. “Ooh, you’re English!” she exclaimed with surprise. It was true that plenty of people from all over the world came to Silas, but it was always a pleasant surprise to hear an English accent. Her grandmother was born in Britain, after all. It was then that Rini noticed Arynn’s outstretched arm brush in hand. Taking it, she smiled, “Thank you – and no problem. Normally there are plenty to go around. I guess they’re cleaning them. That or the rest of them just got up and walked away.” Rini looked down at the brush now in her possession and frowned at it. Perhaps someone was pulling a prank? It would be a lame prank, though.

“Oh sorry!” Serinity mentally kicked herself the second she saw the professor’s outstretched hands. She was utterly distracted today. Giving a sheepish smile, the blonde took Arynn’s hand and gave it a proper shake. “So, you’re the new teacher then!” Blinking with surprise, Serinity looked Arynn over more closely now. They didn’t appear to be that far apart in age. It seemed like the teachers applying to Silas were becoming younger and younger now days. That was ok for Serinity, though. The old teachers used to be mean and uptight. The younger ones always had better, more interesting classes. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Serinity Dawson and unfortunately I’m still a student here. You’re the new English and Writing teacher, right? Don’t be surprised to see me in one of your classes.” She gave a pleasant smile happy to meet her possible new teacher. Although she had taken plenty of the English classes, it was the Writing ones that interested her the most.

“I’m sure you’ll fit right in. Although I do admit, it’s a shame we lost our previous English professor. He was quite the hunk. I’m pretty sure all the girls were crushing on him. I guess it’s the boy’s turn now,” giggling Serinity looked over to the horse Arynn was brushing down. “Are you going for a ride? I was about to head out myself. Would you like to accompany me?” It was a bold question coming from Serinity. More often than not, she preferred to be alone and rarely asked strangers to go places with her. Arynn seemed too nice to pass up on a chance to get to know her, though. Besides, who could think of a better way to starve off boredom than meeting a new friend?

[Arynn Carter]

"Oh, no. Not at all. I quite adore animals. Dogs in particular. No apologies are necessary." Eyes glancing down to watch the dog trot back to his mistress, Arynn smiled slightly to herself. Maybe she ought to look into getting another pet. Preferably a dog or a cat. But she yet against decided that now wasn't the best time. Most of her schedule was full to the brim. It wasn't easy being the new teacher and trying to settle how things worked at Silas. Not to mention it wasn't like her several classes full of students were full of the normal kind of shenanigans. Nooooo, of course not. Now she had to deal with all sorts of strange--usually bothersome--activities. She could probably say that mostly half of which were completely accidentaly, but the rest were entirely on purpose. It was the purposeful ones that annoyed her. So, she was glad for the opportunity to run the advanced use of the simulation rooms. It was a chance to put those same kids into their place for one reason or another. And she meant putting them in their place in a very professional, I-only-care-about-you-learning-control sort of way.

She laughed in good humor at the way the other woman reacted to hearing her accented voice. "Why, yes, I am. Born in London, of all places. Certainly not the most beautiful city, but certainly never boring if you know where to look. Believe you me, I always knew where to look." Arynn winked playfully at her. As she talked, Arynn studied her with a friendly smile. From the looks of it, she was a good 4-ish inches taller than her, but they both had similar builds. Arynn's was slightly more toned and muscular obviously due to her weightlifting on top of the other exercise--mainly running--that she did--unless something more important came up--on a daily basis. On the whole, Serenity Dawson (as she'd just shared her name) was a beautiful girl with willful and intelligent eyes. That much was plain to see. And her name suddenly connected to a piece of knowledge somewhere in the back of Arynn's mind that this same Serenity Dawson also happened to be the Headmistress' granddaughter. Not that that knowledge was going to change her treatment of her any. She hardly thought that would be fair to Miss Dawson if it did. She knew what special treatment from others felt like based solely on who your family happened to be.

"I can't say that I share the sentiment that your still being a student here is unfortunate. I say that solely because if you were not, our meeting would never have happened." She smiled, the expression lighting up her eyes."But now I'll have the opportunity to have you in one of my English or Writing classes, as you've said. I personally think that's a win-win. Insane as this may sound, I actually enjoy teaching, and I even more so enjoy excellent students which I can tell you are."

"Is that so?" she asked about what a shame it was to have lost the previous English teacher. A man who hadn't left her very good notes or anything particularly organized with which she could ease her transition into his role. But this wasn't the first time she'd been told that he had been easy on the eyes. From the looks of her other coworkers, it would seem that Silas had this uncanny knack for attracting only the most handsome of educators. Herself, included, of course. At the thought, Carson Brooks popped unbidden into her thoughts. She smiled in response to the image, but quickly tucked that away for a more appropriate time. Right now, she should be focusing on her current conversation. "I fear that it's too late for me. They all seem to be crushing already." Her expression showed that she was playing along, not particularly serious. Although, it did hold a lot of truth.

Following Serenity's eyes, Arynn also looked back at the horse she'd been brushing and then returned her attention back to her when she'd asked her to accompany her. Smiling, she asked, "May I? It seems like forever since I've ridden, and I find that I've sorely missed it." Patting Calico's neck, she added, "Seeing as how I'm frightfully new around here, you wouldn't happen to know his name, would you? I haven't the foggiest what it is, so I took the liberty of naming him Calico, but I would like to know his real name. That is, if you're privy to that information."

[Serinity Dawson]

A small relief was lifted from the blonde’s shoulder when Arynn said it was no big deal about Hewie coming over to say hi. The conversation then turned to talk of London. Serinity smiled wishfully. “I’ve always wanted to go to London. Heck, I’ve always wanted to just go somewhere.” Giving a snort she realized what she said and looked away rubbing the upper part of her arm. She really needed to learn how to keep some things to herself. No one cared about her being trapped in Silas for the rest of her life. Arynn’s next words, however, caused a warm and fuzzy feeling in Serinity. She gave an embarrassed smile not expecting such words from a stranger. She even had Rini giving a chuckle, “You actually enjoy teaching? I honestly could never understand how anyone could. Kids drive me nuts and the students here can be… unruly? I guess that’s what happens when you mix school and people who have the ability to blow things up or something of that nature.” Her smile lit up her face reaching her eyes. Arynn had proven to be a joy to talk to. Rini had a feeling their trail ride would go well.

“Oh and more than likely, it’ll be one of your writing classes. I’ve kind of taken all the English classes here. No offense, but more than likely the books you would assign would be books I’ve already read. Twice.” Again, there was an air of bitterness surrounding the young woman. She could never escape from the anger that always built up inside her over the matter. She would never be able to let it go, or at least, not until she accomplished her dream of seeing the world outside of Silas. Arynn confirmed what Serinity had at least expected about the boys crushing on her. Chuckling lightly she smiled knowingly, “I’m sure they are. All the boys here seem to be horn dogs if you ask me.” She shook her head tossing her hair from side to side.

Arynn asked if she could indeed accompany Rini on a trail ride. She replied, “Certainly! It’s always better to have someone along for a ride. It’s been a while since I’ve been down here, too. I feel bad for poor Lightfoot. At least I know the stable hands take good care of him. Life’s been crazy lately.” Listening, Serinity snickered at Arynn’s request. “His name is Chili Pepper. I think he’s mellowed out some, but when he was younger, he thought he was just some hot stuff trotting around here like he owned the place.” The girl smirked thinking back to those younger days when the paint was brought here. The student who brought him here wasn’t able to take him with her when she left. It was a sad day for Chili, but he had been well taken care of since then. The little stud had been something of a legacy here at Silas stables. “Although Calico is a pretty cute name. I’m going to get Lightfoot ready. Meet you at the barn entrance. Come on Hewie.” Serinity nodded to Arynn and backed out of the stable and walked over to her horses’.

Although it had been a while since Rini had saddled up Lightfoot, she moved through the steps with skill and practice. It didn’t take her long to finish the task and her horse was ready to go. Leading the Haflinger horse by his reins, Serinity walked to the entrance of the barn ready for their ride. Arynn, who had a head start by already grooming Chili down, was already waiting there. “Alright, ready? This is Lightfoot by the way. He’s a good guy, and the only guy I need right now. Right Lightfoot?” Serinity smiled at her friend lovingly rubbing his muzzle. “Oh I found this in the tack room by the way.” Serinity brought out a sugar cube and handed it to the professor making sure to bypass Lightfoot’s eager lips.

Lightfoot

[Arynn Carter]

Arynn caught the hint of bitterness lacing Serenity's words, and it wasn't a difficult thing for her to learn something more about the younger woman with the frustrated sentence. Either Miss Dawson had never really been out of her hometown before, or she had never really been far enough or somewhere exotic enough for her to feel like she had ever been away from her hometown before. But Arynn left it at that and, instead, said, "I know. It's a real shocker." She shrugged and patted Calico on his neck almost absentmindedly. "I am actually not entirely certain how or why I decided to become a teacher in the first place. At least... this type of teacher. I've always excelled at the written word so that bit isn't all that surprising." And only if Serenity knew the kind of trouble her professor of English had involved herself in when she was a teenager, she might very well wonder how she'd managed to end up where she'd ended up, too.

"However, you are right about one thing. They certainly are unruly. But allow me to let you in on a little secret. My cousins were, and I imagine still are, worse. The little hellions." She smiled to show... well, not to show that she was joking, per say. They really were little hellions. Perhaps to show that despite their devil-status, she still loved them. "That would be lovely. Mum's the word, but my writing classes are my favorite English classes to teach. Not the technical bits. That can get drab incredibly quick. But the creative writing. Much more entertaining that."

Arynn's soft, friendly smile, remained curling her lips. It was refreshing to meet a student who knew what manners were, and, not only that, seemed to honestly know what it's like to want to be a decent human being to others. She hadn't been at the academy for very long as of yet, but she had already met plenty of students of all ages who wouldn't know what manners and human decency was if it bit them in their arse. She had gone over their files and so she knew a lot of the reason why they felt they had to be that way, and although she felt for them and wanted to help them, at the same time she couldn't help but feel annoyed. Typically, she hid that annoyance well. She vividly remembered a time in her life where she had pretended to forget what being a decent human being was supposed to be like. It was her own experience with the lifestyle that allowed her to control her irritation--and her temper for that matter--and also gave her, at least in part, empathy for them. The teaching thing was far more complicated if one wanted to be a good one than anyone would probably ever give it credit for being.

"Chilli Pepper?" She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Well, I was waaaaaaay off." She patted the Paint's neck again. "But now I've become attached to the name, Calico. Perhaps it'll be my own personal nickname for you, boy," she mused to the horse. Arynn looked back at Serenity when she announced she was going to get Lightfoot ready and meet her at the front. She nodded and went about actually saddling the handsome Paint instead of just brushing his coat. She also hadn't saddled a horse in almost two years, but there were some things you just never forget. Remembering how to outfit a horse for a ride was one of them... especially when she had grown up basically all her life doing just that on a weekly basis.

Soon, she was leading Calico... Chili Pepper... by the reigns to wait for Serenity at the stables' entrance. As she waiting--which wasn't long at all--she stood with her shoulder leaning against the Paint's flank and idly rubbing the horse's neck. At the sound of the clip-clop of hooves, Arynn glanced up and met eyes with the blonde as she approached. A curious look on her face until she realized it was a sugar cube, she accepted it with a smile. "Why, thank you, love." Turning, she held it up to the Paint's own eager lips, and it was gone in the blink of an eye.

Eyes raking over Lightfoot--he was a gorgeous creature--Arynn nodded in satisfaction. "With a handsome devil like him, why would you need any other guys. On top of that, you don't have to worry about him saying something incredibly stupid or sexist." But that also told Arynn something else about Serenity, just as the comment about the boys at the academy all being horn dogs. She may not realize it, but little things here and there that she was saying was telling the teacher a lot about her potential student. Setting her left foot into the stirrup, she swung herself up into the saddle. Calico/Chili Pepper only shuffled his hooves briefly but settled down as soon as she settled into the saddle. "Shall we? Do you mind too terribly leading the way? I might very well get us frightfully lost."