// If you want some insight on Oddleif, read the app here! //
Oddleif let out a tiny sigh escape past her lips as she tried her best not to appear bored, occasionally nodding her head to show that she was indeed listening to what the person behind the Admission Desk was telling her ... though whether her mind was actually at it - now that was a different story. In her mind's eye, she couldn't help but keep on revising the events of the past week now, like her whole consciousness was struggling to keep up with all that has happened so far, while time continued to tick-tick, on and on, without her ...
She sensed that the conversation was finally reaching its end, what with the person handing her a thick dossier with all kinds of papers inside and waved her good luck. Without realizing it, Oddleif could hear her voice answering "Thanks!", before she eagerly (perhaps too eagerly) turned away to exit the place.
"Phew ..." She exhaled loudly as soon as she was outside, glad for the fresh air of this strange new place - she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable inside the Admission Office, like they never bothered to open a window and the stuffy air made her lungs clench uncomfortable in her chest ... but it got better now. She was out and free to do what she wanted ... at least, that's what she thought.
Wait, what was it that guy told me about ... classes?
Oddleif blankly stared at the papery dossier she had been holding, flipping the lid open only to leaf through all the sheets and inspect them briefly - there were all kinds of signs and squiggly lines written all over them, but nothing that she could make sense of. There weren't any pictures, either! How does anyone make sense of something like this without pictures?
Meh. Oddleif shrugged her shoulders, looked around as to make sure that there was nobody around ... and nonchalantly dropped the dossier in a bushel of flowers close to the sidewalk that extended from the Admission Office throughout the whole campus of the Academy.
She tried her best not to show it at first, but she was positively impressed by the general outlook this place had - the buildings looked pretty and solid, unlike the wooden houses she often saw with the caravan whilst passing through some no-name village, and the greenery looked far better than whatever city council gardener could do during the summer ... she suspected that whatever made those flowers look so purple was magic. She then absentmindedly shook her head, looking like she was having a debate with her inner self, which was exactly the case - it's not just probably magic, it's more than certainly magic! This place is ... supposed to be all about magic.
Oddleif stared down at her hands, turning them around in the light of the sun, like she was seeing them for the first time. Her hands ... they were ugly - they were riddled with calluses, small bruises and healing cuts, from all the times she neglected using her protective gloves while working. Her nails were chipped and uneven, with dirt stuck underneath. It was almost hard to believe that these hands could ever do magic ...
And yet ... there, at the river ...
Odd narrowed her eyes and focused on her hands, all the while picturing the past situation, able to recall it from the depth of her memory like it had only happened a few moments ago - and just like that, she felt like she was submerged under a cold current as sensations flooded through her nerves, remembering.
The creaking of the wagons, the hoof-beat of the drag-horses, the shouts of the men and the laughter of the women as they passed time, the caravan moving at a slow but steady pace, the light reflecting against the ice-sheet as they moved over the frozen river ...
And then, a sickening CRACK sound soon followed, managing to silence the entire convoy whilst making Oddleif's stomach turn. It all had happened so fast, but she could still remember how she felt - like something was being sucked from her body, only to go out, ice spreading from her hands and feet at a dazzling speed, filling in the cracks of the river's surface and freezing everything in place.
I did that. Oddleif told herself as a stupid smile bloomed over her lips at the thought. I actually did that ... and I think I can do it again.
She didn't know how, exactly ... but the young woman just closed her eyes, thought very very hard about snow and icicles and winter ... and the next time her lids parted open, she let out a gasp of surprise as there was a thin layer of rime, glistening in the light like glittering gemstones.
"Yes!" Oddleif whooped out loud, only to stare around herself startled, suddenly remembering that she wasn't exactly alone in this place - and yet, she couldn't help herself from grinning like an idiot as she pretended she had to be somewhere else and walked away casually, a happy spring in her step as she abstained from not just doing cartwheels out of joy.
In a way, she did her best not to focus on the repercussions her developing powers had on her - that she had just lost her family and left behind the only world she had known for something else new, and strange, and equally as vast ... Instead, Oddleif decided that if there was any way to learn about this so-called 'Starlight Academy', she would have to explore the place, find out every nook and cranny that could be discovered, and ...
... well, that's where her plan ended. But at least she had a plan rather than nothing at all, right? Oddleif nodded to herself, more than pleased with her train of thought and began striding throughout the campus grounds, sea-green eyes peeled out for everything and everyone, ranging from the mundane to the peculiar.
Oddleif let out a tiny sigh escape past her lips as she tried her best not to appear bored, occasionally nodding her head to show that she was indeed listening to what the person behind the Admission Desk was telling her ... though whether her mind was actually at it - now that was a different story. In her mind's eye, she couldn't help but keep on revising the events of the past week now, like her whole consciousness was struggling to keep up with all that has happened so far, while time continued to tick-tick, on and on, without her ...
She sensed that the conversation was finally reaching its end, what with the person handing her a thick dossier with all kinds of papers inside and waved her good luck. Without realizing it, Oddleif could hear her voice answering "Thanks!", before she eagerly (perhaps too eagerly) turned away to exit the place.
"Phew ..." She exhaled loudly as soon as she was outside, glad for the fresh air of this strange new place - she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable inside the Admission Office, like they never bothered to open a window and the stuffy air made her lungs clench uncomfortable in her chest ... but it got better now. She was out and free to do what she wanted ... at least, that's what she thought.
Wait, what was it that guy told me about ... classes?
Oddleif blankly stared at the papery dossier she had been holding, flipping the lid open only to leaf through all the sheets and inspect them briefly - there were all kinds of signs and squiggly lines written all over them, but nothing that she could make sense of. There weren't any pictures, either! How does anyone make sense of something like this without pictures?
Meh. Oddleif shrugged her shoulders, looked around as to make sure that there was nobody around ... and nonchalantly dropped the dossier in a bushel of flowers close to the sidewalk that extended from the Admission Office throughout the whole campus of the Academy.
She tried her best not to show it at first, but she was positively impressed by the general outlook this place had - the buildings looked pretty and solid, unlike the wooden houses she often saw with the caravan whilst passing through some no-name village, and the greenery looked far better than whatever city council gardener could do during the summer ... she suspected that whatever made those flowers look so purple was magic. She then absentmindedly shook her head, looking like she was having a debate with her inner self, which was exactly the case - it's not just probably magic, it's more than certainly magic! This place is ... supposed to be all about magic.
Oddleif stared down at her hands, turning them around in the light of the sun, like she was seeing them for the first time. Her hands ... they were ugly - they were riddled with calluses, small bruises and healing cuts, from all the times she neglected using her protective gloves while working. Her nails were chipped and uneven, with dirt stuck underneath. It was almost hard to believe that these hands could ever do magic ...
And yet ... there, at the river ...
Odd narrowed her eyes and focused on her hands, all the while picturing the past situation, able to recall it from the depth of her memory like it had only happened a few moments ago - and just like that, she felt like she was submerged under a cold current as sensations flooded through her nerves, remembering.
The creaking of the wagons, the hoof-beat of the drag-horses, the shouts of the men and the laughter of the women as they passed time, the caravan moving at a slow but steady pace, the light reflecting against the ice-sheet as they moved over the frozen river ...
And then, a sickening CRACK sound soon followed, managing to silence the entire convoy whilst making Oddleif's stomach turn. It all had happened so fast, but she could still remember how she felt - like something was being sucked from her body, only to go out, ice spreading from her hands and feet at a dazzling speed, filling in the cracks of the river's surface and freezing everything in place.
I did that. Oddleif told herself as a stupid smile bloomed over her lips at the thought. I actually did that ... and I think I can do it again.
She didn't know how, exactly ... but the young woman just closed her eyes, thought very very hard about snow and icicles and winter ... and the next time her lids parted open, she let out a gasp of surprise as there was a thin layer of rime, glistening in the light like glittering gemstones.
"Yes!" Oddleif whooped out loud, only to stare around herself startled, suddenly remembering that she wasn't exactly alone in this place - and yet, she couldn't help herself from grinning like an idiot as she pretended she had to be somewhere else and walked away casually, a happy spring in her step as she abstained from not just doing cartwheels out of joy.
In a way, she did her best not to focus on the repercussions her developing powers had on her - that she had just lost her family and left behind the only world she had known for something else new, and strange, and equally as vast ... Instead, Oddleif decided that if there was any way to learn about this so-called 'Starlight Academy', she would have to explore the place, find out every nook and cranny that could be discovered, and ...
... well, that's where her plan ended. But at least she had a plan rather than nothing at all, right? Oddleif nodded to herself, more than pleased with her train of thought and began striding throughout the campus grounds, sea-green eyes peeled out for everything and everyone, ranging from the mundane to the peculiar.