I got my toes in the water....

[Amphitrite Zchechaf]

Amphitrite Zchechaf, or Trite to her friends – if she had any, wandered the grounds of Hogwarts New Zealand, a place that had been her home for almost four years now. Today she decided to explore the whole grounds as she had yet to fully explore the castle and the grounds itself. She had decided to do this today as in the morning post she had received a letter from her father, informing her that she would be taken out of Hogwarts come September so she only had a few short weeks left in the school. It was rather sad to have to leave the place that she had called home for four years now to go to some strange place where she didn’t know anyone and no one knew her. It was mean having to get used to a whole new school, new Professors, different teaching methods, a lot of things that Trite wasn’t looking forward too, it was scary for the young Gryffindor. Taking her white bunny rabbit, Mr. Ferrars, out for some fresh air too she held the fluffy rabbit in her arms and cuddled it lightly whilst softly petting it’s long ears. Walking close to the lakefront Trite let her soft blue eyes land on the crystal clear lake, beautiful as it lay their peacefully, only the lightly of ripples from falling leaves landing on it from nearby trees. Taking a few more steps over to the lake she sat down and took off her heels. Edging over, closer to the lake Trite dipped her feet into the cool water. It took her a few seconds to get used to the low temperature but then again it wasn’t as cold as things she had experienced back home in Bulgaria. A soft smile crossed her lips as she enjoyed the cool water against her bare feet. Setting Mr. Ferrars on her lap she dug into her back and pulled out the book she was currently re-reading for the millionth time, Sense and Sensibility. Whilst reading the book she softly petted her bunny rabbit and enjoyed the random, relaxing moment.

 

[Katsuo Arai]

There was a time when a mysterious figure walked from the shadows and actually out into the sunlight. Ryuu Arai was the name of this fourth year Gryffindor that hardly went out of his way to speak to others. His skin was a light color, as if it was starved for sunlight as he had never seen it before he came to Hogwarts. Perhaps he was tanned by the moonlight. Ryuu wore his Gryffindor robes, but what were most unique about him were his pale, pale blue eyes. They were hollow and almost dead looking when he first arrived, but as time came and went of being outside, they have adapted into a pale, cerulean blue. He did not have much trouble with English as he had before but now things were looking better. He was just informed that his physical training was complete and now he was going to practice medicine. Whilst this was unknown to him, he was also raised to never question his father and his ways. Ryuu’s gaze landed over the lawn as his boots landed on the grass, crushing the plant yet it still does not die. His black hair waved in his face, soft and as delicate as a spider’s web. He did not know what he was wanting to do today, alas he just allowed his body to lead him without his mind taking much part in it at all. His feet had carried him to the lake, and it was not long before he arrived and he stood next to a girl about his age if not in the same year actually. She was sitting down, and he was standing up. Ryuu allowed his eyes to gaze down at what she was doing, and she seemed to be busy reading. If it was one thing that he had never done and that was disturb someone that was reading. Ryuu was not right next to her per say, but there was distance as well. Ryuu bent down and took a pebble into his white fingers, before feeling every crease. Ryuu then flicked his wrist and the rock skipped four times before sinking into the lake abyss below the surface.

 

[Amphitrite Zchechaf]

Amphitrite was getting into her book by now as it was coming to the end. Despite the fact that she had read and re-read the book about a million times she always loved to read it and enjoyed holding her breath as she waited for the climax and to see if the characters that were meant to be ended up with each other and everyone lived happily ever after. Amphitrite was quite the romantic at heart hence why she held to her love stories so dearly and knew it so well that she imagined herself in the shoes of some of the characters, imagining what it would be like to find their one true love and having to go through heaven and hell to get to them but finally end up with them, receiving true loves kiss and living happily ever after. Although whenever she closed her book she was brought back to real life where it was all silly fairytales and having to admit to herself that it would never happen, although she couldn’t help but have some hope that somewhere out there her true love waited for her and she often dreamed of true loves kiss; she was very much in love with the idea of being in love. As she read the last two words of the book ‘The End.’ she closed it over with a soft sigh, looking forward to reading the epic love story once again, she might even start tonight before bed. As she closed the book she looked up at the crystal blue lake, calm and serene. Well that was until she saw a ripple go out through it. Following the direction of the skipping stone to see where it came from she let her eyes coming back over to near where she was sitting. He eyes came back over to the grass and she saw a pair of boots that she was sure wasn’t there before. A little startled she looked up at the boy and recognised him from around the school and she was sure he was in some of her classes. “Oh that’s so cool! How do you that?” she asked enthusiastically. She had never been able to make a stone skip across the lake before and she wanted to be able to do it.

 

[Katsuo Arai]

Ryuu did not even notice that the Gryffindor girl had finished her book about the very thing that he did not know about but needed to learn for his training. That hint haunted him all the times of the day. Merlina constantly came into his thoughts as well, but he did not mind it. Taking another rock into his fingers, a flick of the wrist, Ryuu set the flat rock free as it skipped happily across the waters of the lake a total of three times before sinking into the abyss of the lakes below. His mind wondered if any mermaids were catching the rocks as they sank into the water. Ryuu’s head slowly cocked to the side as he thought of those creatures. Never had he heard them or seen them. Ryuu did not swim, and for a good reason. Ryuu did not know how to swim, but he could learn real fast if Merlina or someone he was close to was drowning – which would probably be Merlina anyway because she was the only person he did care about. Ryuu’s cold and empty gaze landed on the girl that had asked a question with so much enthusiasm it left Ryuu confused. He did not hear that from really anyone and did not know what exactly it meant. Then it had hit him, she was wondering about skipping rocks because she thought it was interesting. Ryuu took a pebble into his fingers and he broke eye contact for a moment. He murmured, his English a little slow but not nearly as bad as when he first arrived to Hogwarts New Zealand, “Take a rock… With edges that are flat. And flick the wrist.” Ryuu was not even trying the last few times. This time, when he decided to demonstrate, he made the rock skip a total of six times before sinking into the abyss. That was the highest he could get when he was not with someone or rather, in someone’s presence. It was not his fault he was not used to human contact. Just with certain people, and he did not even know what this girl was called. “Skipping rocks take practice,” which was the truth but he did not know what else to really say.

 

[Amphitrite Zchechaf]

Amphitrite’s soft blue eyes looked up at the boy, whose name escaped her right now; his eyes immediately caught her attention. As she looked into them she suddenly got shivers running up and down her back. His gaze was cold and empty, never has Amphitrite seen a gaze like it and there was a number of not so nice people in her family were had somewhat cold gazes but this was different. The boy was only 15 at the most, what could have made his gaze the way it was, she almost felt sorry for the boy for he must have gone through something or seen something maybe, she didn’t know so she wouldn’t ask. Amphitrite watched as the boy picked up another pebble. As he spoke she found his accident interesting, one she hadn’t heard before. She, herself, had an unusual accent for someone attending a school in New Zealand, although she was surprised at the number of people that were from Bulgaria or retained the accent after moving, although it was a fairly strong accent and not one to get rid of easily. She watched his movements closely as he went to skip the rock again, taking his words in as well. Watching the rock skip across the lake she watched in amazement. “I bet it does, I can never get it too work for me.” she said with a small frown. Taking her bunny off she lap she stood up and began to look around for a rock. Finding a small round rock with some jaggy edges she lifted and turned to the boy, “Would this worked?” she asked, suddenly finding the urge to try and skip rocks and get it to work for her.

 

[Katsuo Arai]

The girl looked like any typical girl would, the common ones around Hogwarts, yet there was something about her that made Ryuu want to speak at least a little to her. Though she would not be so special in his eyes as Merlina Caliburn would. He may never see her again, so he could easily teach her how to skip rocks, and just be that weird boy from Hogwarts that had taught her this trick, if she were able to learn it that is. The fact that her eyes had more life to them than his was normal for what he saw on a daily basis. The things that he were able to do was extraordinary, but alas, his magic was not exceeding at all. He was barely considered average, but then again, he did not really believe in using magic when one could use physical force or something to take out an opponent. His eyes glanced down at her rock and then her rabbit, before his gaze landed on her rock once more. This would take a little time. Ryuu murmured, "No," as he bent down and took a jagged rock similar to her own into his hand, "jagged rocks sink. Like so." Ryuu attempted to skip the rock, but it just landed in the water, no skipping or skimming across the surface. A jagged rock would just never work. Ryuu continued, his voice soft still, "Flat rocks work perfectly. But they are hard to find." Ryuu could not even recognize her accent, and did not know the difference between accents. Alas, the people he hung around with were from Europe anyhow, and he did not recognize which area was which. Ryuu found a flat rock, and he held it out to her. "Try this rock." His words and sentences were short on purpose because he wished that others would not ask him about his heritage, as if it were not obvious enough.

 

[Amphitrite Zchechaf]

Amphitrite didn’t dwell on the boys accent as she wasn’t one to discriminate against people unlike some of her not-so-nice family members, but she wasn’t really that close to them so she didn’t let their views affect her own personal views on life. Granted it was an interesting accent but it didn’t matter all that much to her, if she remained curious she would maybe ask him later; actually if she did remain curious she would definitely ask him as Amphitrite wasn’t one to think that there was such a thing as too many questions, be they silly or impertinent because she never believed that there was such things. If someone wanted to know something then how were they to do that if they didn’t ask? Even people who have all the answers surely had to ask a few in their lifetimes to get to where they were. Looking down at her rock she wondered if she’d ever be able to skip the rock even if she did have someone to teach her? She had normally tried it at the lake down behind her house before after watching a few of the other local children try it but she never had any luck. When the boy simply said ‘no’ in reply to her question a small frown broke her smile.

She watched him bend down and pick up a rock similar to her own. She listened to his words and watched him demonstrate. She felt a little silly now. She didn’t know that there had to be a specific sort of rock. For being so book smart she really didn’t have a lot of common sense she might have been able to figure that out. When she saw the boy search of another rock she threw the one she had picked up and threw it into the lake with a soft plop. Looking back round she saw the boy with a rock in his hand, “Thank you!” she said with a smile as she took his from his hands. Taking a position she noticed just how smooth it was, rolling it around in her hand she set it so it would be easy to throw. “Take a rock and flick your wrist.” she repeated the boys instructions as she did each part. As she let the rock go she saw it skip only once across the lake but it was better than just falling in on the first go so she was more than happy. Smiling, she jumped up and down a bit. “Wow! Thank you so much…” she said turning to the boy before her face softened just a tad. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.” she said, her cheeks turning a light pink in embarrassment.

 

[Katsuo Arai]

Ryuu did not mind much when the smile fades from the girl’s face. Smiles never meant much to him, and he did not understand it as much as a normal person. Ryuu took another flat and smooth rock into his hand, before he skipped it across the lake three times before sinking into the water where the floor will have one more rock on the bottom. Ryuu folded his arms over his chest and he took a step to the side to allow the girl to attempt to throw one into the lake, the rock that he had given her. His pale eyes gazed at her hand and her technique before the rock was released from her hand. It skipped across the water once before it sank. Ryuu nodded, “Young gakusei, good job.” Ryuu was not expecting someone to jump up and down though in happiness and joy, the emotions that he perceived. Ryuu moved his hair from his face that had fallen and he glanced down at his boots. “I don’t know your name either, so it is mutual.” Ryuu shrugged lightly, before his ghostly stare leveled upon her colorful face, “Ryuu Arai.” Saying his name was enough to make his accent stand out even more than before. Japanese was his heritage, and he was attracted to someone that was from the Italian heritage. At least, he thought it was Italian. He was almost sure of it actually. Ryuu would have to visit that country one day eventually.

Out of Character:

Sorry it is lame :/

 

[Amphitrite Zchechaf]

Out of Character:

You better be sorry <.< I jokez

Amphitrite was more than happy with what she had accomplished today. The rock may have only skipped once across the lake but it was one more time than she had ever been able to manage before so for that she was happy. Amphitrite was quite the Ravenclaw in some sense as she loved to learn. She would always be reading various books, learning about different things that she might not even have to know for homework and the like. So the fact that today she got to learn how to skip a rock across the lake she would be forever grateful to the boy for showing her how to do it properly; granted it would need some more work for her to perfect it but no doubt Amphitrite would be down at the lake behind her house for most of the summer, giving her plenty of time to perfect her new little trick. When the boy spoke again Amphitrite softly raised her eyebrow and looked at the boy with a curious look. She didn’t quite catch the word he said but she was pretty sure that she didn’t hear it right because she never heard the word before. “Sorry, what did you say?” she questioned cautiously, hoping not to offend him in the case that she simply hadn’t heard what he said and it was a perfectly legit English word. When he commented that the situation with their names was mutual she felt slightly relieved but not surprised as the two had never spoken before today and even if they were in the same year not everyone knew the names of the pupils in their year. “That’s a very interesting name.” she commented, his accent seemed to stand out even more now and it made her all the more curious as to where he was from. “Amphitrite Zchechaf.” she repeated her own name, her Bulgarian accent playing on her words, as she held out her hand for a hand shake, a way that she was brought up to believe was a way to greet a new friend.

 

[Katsuo Arai]

Ryuu was in some way confused with how enthusiastic this girl was being. She was a Gryffindor, same as he. Ryuu raised an eyebrow at her. She would have to work hard and practice on skipping rocks for a while before she would get better. That would go without saying, actually. Ryuu mused on just how long it would take to get better at skipping rocks. Himself, it had taken him since his first year, and he had practiced every chance he got. Ryuu brushed his hair to the side, and he explained, “It means student. It is Japanese, and it is my native tongue. A form of respect from a teacher to a student. I was using it when it concerns teaching you to skip rocks.” He had not really explained why he had used the term, as it just came naturally to him. Ryuu was not a good speaker of English, and when things come naturally, his native tongue slips in with his sentences. It was nothing he could really help. She complimented on his name, and it was something that he was not used to. It was interesting? He did not see how, and then it occurred to him that she was not around these parts thus not used to hearing his type of name. Her accent was most unusual as well. Ryuu nodded, not even a fraction of smile on his face, “Pleasure to meet you.” He did not even pretend to know how to say her name. It was too difficult to really say so he would not say anything. He shifted a bit in his shoes, and an awkward silence filled the air. It was so contrasting to see a quiet and emotionless boy next to a bubbly and happy girl. It made Ryuu almost uncomfortable. He glanced down at her rabbit that seemed to have taken a liking to his robes. He bent down and lifted it, and held it out for Amphritrite to take. He was not an animal lover at all. In fact, he did not have a single animal of his own.