"Wow, I haven't seen a cave in a while, but I love spelunking. It sounds amazing! Do you have any pictures? I wish I could visit. Ooh we are going to this crag right? I'm all excited now!" She bounced. "Man that bad one sounds fun too." She giggled.

River nodded, "He said he was clumsy but it really is super adorable. And his blushing is so cute. I wanna pinch his cheeks."

"MERLIN!!" The girl beamed when he replied. She giggled when he came up to greet her. The hug made her melancholy mood evaporate. "Oh my goodness! I'm so happy to see you! Terry here said she thought she saw you and so I had to get above the crowd. Lets go down." She had them both slowly descend and pointed to her seat. "Sit, tell me EVERYTHING! I didn't tell you yet. I started to in my letters but I didn't wanna make you sad if you couldn't go. But I'm really happy you are here. Max is here too and Tut and Kiya and oh have you had some food yet? There's some Egyptian veggie dishes at our table if you want em. And I made a Spinx mashed tater sculpture but it would taste okay I think. Oh i can't believe you are here! this is amazing." She finally took a breath as all her words were super fast and hyper.

(and everyone lol River's now very hyper.)

"I can see you like him, huh River? I don't feel like pinching his cheeks at all." Terry giggled, she was so obvious. "So you went to the beach with Merlin, how sweet...and here I am wishing to see the sea." She sighs, they were so lucky.

"Am happy to see you too." When she mentions Terry is when he realizes there are other people there. "OH! Hello Terry, Nathan ( ), and everyone. I'm Merlin from Hogwarts, Slytherin house - the best -despite what Teresa here have probably said, which is obviously wrong." he grins just to tease her.

"In your dreams, everyone knows the best is Ravenclaw, you are lucky we are on the same team this time."

"Well, Slytherin has won the cup two terms in a row now." He knew that would shut her up and it did so he was finally able to pay attention to River who was hyper. "Yeah I was picked to come and I was super excited since I have never left the country before, so I can't believe I'm in America! I brought Spellz and Thunder only but poor Fog was very sad when I left, had to send him home along with the others so mom could look after them." Merlin was happy to see veggie food and took a bite. "GOOD!" He nods. "I didn't expect to see you."

"Well I had no idea you were so popular Merlin." Teresa tease. "Someone thinks your cheeks are cute."

"What's not to like?" River asked. "Well, actually I was bird watching and he stood under the tree I was in. I went to fix my hair so I could meet him and I landed on him. Spent the rest of the holiday with him and his family. He's my boyfriend. We'll get you to the sea, I promise."

"Aww poor guys," River said. She knew he loved his pets. "I bet Spellz and Thunder are happy to be on land. I know Max was. I'm so glad you are here! I've never been to America either." She looked at Terry and said, "His cheeks are and they are mine." Then she turned and kissed Merlin on the cheek.

(ooc: missed a bunch of posts overnight! trying to catch up now - enjoying these long posts.)

Introductions abound, he was suddenly quite welcomed within the group. He recognised Teresa (), a Ravenclaw and Merlin, a fellow Slytherin. "Much better thanks, Terry," he said, a little embarrassed, but glad to see a familiar face.

A boy () spoke up. You could tell straight away that Kai was from 4A with his tanned skin and light green sash. "Slithero's the one! Bran () is right, at Hogwarts we just call it Slytherin, but Slithero's got a definite ring to it." He smiled a lop-sided smile at the other boys as they fist pumped, joking about Slytherin light-heartedly. Nathaniel wasn't too clued up on the rankings at 4A, or Ilvermoney for that matter, but he was looking forward to getting to know the other students over the coming weeks.

Kai was also talking to another girl, River (). She waved at Nathaniel and he realised they were talking about the sea monster Scolopendra. "The water centipede?" He shuddered and pulled a face. Magical creatures were wonderful things, but some were exceedingly dangerous. "Luckily we avoided the sea monsters this time!"

A sporty-looking girl with striking eyes (), high-fived Kai before explaining her jealousy of 'the killer journey' the others had made. Nathaniel frowned. "Trust me, it was killer but not in a good way. I was so sick," he laughed about it now, though. "Not cool."

Kai leapt up to perform his heroic pose but Nathaniel wasn't sure if any of them could really beat the Scolopendra. And then he couldn't help but wonder what the champions might face in the tournament. He let the thought go for now.

Suddenly, he began to feel that maybe the hot dog wasn't such a good idea after all: another boy () seemed to notice and Nathaniel gladly took up the offer of tea. "Seb, isn't it?" It was hard to keep up with all the new names and faces. "I'm looking forward to the tournament," He said as they poured snakeweed tea into cups. "Are you a champion nominee? I'm not. There are some really strong potential champions this year though."

[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/268167.png[/img] Zala moved to give Kai a quick hug from behind. "Hello you." she greeted back and seated herself beside him. She giggled softly at his terrible joke. Sitting with the familiar students helped her feel comfortable in the group and with Kai's abundant energy the focus wouldn't be on her. For some reason she hadn't enjoyed staying alone in the new dorm so to her this was much better. Zala smiled contently at that. The boy's enthusiasm always put a smile on her face.

"Fast and deadly..." Zala hummed River's idea. The description sounded a bit like her. She knew people wouldn't always notice her and she liked being efficient. Thus a quick and decisive blow would be her most likely strategy used in a duel. However Zala would always prefer healing magic over the 'deadly', unless someone would deliberately disturb her peace. She could and she would lash out when needed. River was explaining about the tomb exploring she had done. She listened at the stories about mummies and banshees. Those she liked. The way River told them tended to paint a brilliant picture of adventure in her mind.

Zala inclined her head to Seba . He had been right, she hadn't been able to stay away in a sense. She sighed softly and glanced around. The Hall felt a little less crowded. Perhaps some students had finished eating and gone to their dorms. This group was growing larger though as another Hogwarts student joined . Zala waved quickly to greet him and placed her hands back in her lap. She fiddled with her fingers below the table, stood up and stepped away to fetch a cup of tea. She quickly returned with hers and sipped slowly so it wouldn't burn her tongue.

"Mostly in the sea." she answered Lynnie . The young girl continued asking questions. This evening Zala would talk more than she'd usually do in a whole week. She resigned herself to that and tried to answer all her questions. "Merpeople and Hippocampi generally. The usual sort of creatures you can find in the Mediterranean Sea I guess. Don't know about monsters, maybe a Sea Serpent or two?" she added the question. Zala figured she should write more often to her dad. She hadn't seen her father in quite some time and they didn't talk all that much. Often their letters were about how she did in school and that she should talk to people more. Since reaching the Skilled level the letters had also contained her plans for the future and where she'd want to go. She only had 2 years left at the Academy. "Anything which allows him to swim. He likes the sea more though. I sometimes think he's part Mer or something..." she trailed off. Her tea had cooled down to a perfect temperature and she needed the moisture. All that talking had dried her mouth so she drank a few big gulps.

Catching her breath she watched Merlin approach the group and noticed River's reaction. She eyed the two curiously. She didn't know the were a couple and her eyes widened as River kissed his cheek. The girl had gotten all energetic when he joined and the happiness rolled off her in waves. Zala smiled down at her tea cup. "I hope you feel better now." Zala said softly to the other Slytherin student @/alex as he mentioned his trip had made him sick. "I can help if you still feel bad." she uttered.

((am I caught up now..? I hope so))

Lenore yawned and stretched as she plunked down a little less gracefully than normal into a seat at the table. "What did I miss?" she asked the crowd in general, "Something about Sea Serpents?" The girl had gone out to the grounds and fallen asleep in a large tree with her owl. She plucked a stray feather from her hair and looked about as though searching from something specific, craning her neck to look down the table around the other students.

((ooc: Not sure what's been going on. I got hit with a second wave of the flu and been asleep for a day. Hopefully I've pinged everyone))

"Oh, a freezing charm is a clever idea, that might work!" Rain grinned. "Wow, that sounds really cool, you must have explored a lot of tombs! The banshee sounds a bit scary, I'm glad the locals got rid of her," she shuddered. "Haha yes, we'll have to make you a badge that says "honorary Thunderbird"" she said, giggling. Fade had fallen asleep on her shoulder, and was making quiet little snoring noises. "Yeah, she's beat," Rain said, stifling a chuckle.

Rain's eyes opened wide with surprise as River levitated herself to look for Merlin, then she broke into a fit of laughter, which woke Fade. The bird gave her a reproachful look, then tucked her head back under her wing. "Sorry Fade," she said quietly. "Wow River, this guy must be something special," she giggled. () After he introduced himself and mentioned Terry , Rain said "Hello Merlin and Terry, I'm Rain from Ilvermorny, Thunderbird house. This sleepy bird is my augurey, Fade. It's nice to meet you both" she beamed.

Lynnie listened with an excited smile as Zala () explained about her dad’s work. “I think that would be amazing to work and swim with merpeople and hippocampi,” she said. “Both of them are beautiful in their own way and it must be an unforgettable experience to see them, let alone interact with them. Have you ever been able to go with him and see any of them yourself?” she wondered.

Shaking his head at River’s () questions, Bran said, “No, I don’t have any pictures, at least not with me. Mom might have taken a few outside of some of the caves that we explored as a family, but none inside and not the ones I told you about.

He smiled at Nathaniel (). “Glad you made it safely back to land. Now you can recover and be able to enjoy your time here.” So far no one was saying that they had added their name to the Goblet and Bran was really wondering who might have from all the people he’d been making friends with.

When Merlin () joined their group…and even floated up to meet River in the air…Bran watched quietly. The way River went hyper and then mushy had the teen rolling his eyes. He stood up and said, “Be back in a sec. I think it’s time for a refill.” Taking his plate and cup, bran headed back to the food tables.

Lynnie watched River and Merlin as well and once they were seated, she said quietly, “Hi Merlin. I’m Lynnie. So are you named after THE Merlin?”

[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/268167.png[/img] "When I was little I often went swimming with him and diving. I met a couple mer back then. I think I once rode on the back of a hippocampus, but that might have been a dream. I was 7 or 8 years old at the time. So who knows..." Zala told remembering those few summers. Her father had tried very hard to help her open up and connect after adopting her and the time they spent swimming together was most effective. Her dad would use the bubble-head charm so she could safely swim down to the sea floor and easily spend time with him.

"What sort of creatures does your mom work with? You meet any of them?" Zala asked her as she recalled Lynnie mentioning a sanctuary earlier. She wondered if her mom worked with a specific species or many. She figured their home would be close to some of the creatures as was hers. Zala and her father had moved from a large apartment in Athens to a beach side villa on the island Alonnisos, one of the north-eastern islands of Greece. The large marine park was their back garden, a significant part belonging to the magical beasts her father watched over.

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/269197.png[/img] Watching River () levitiate and locate Merlin made Lydia smile with admiration. They were so cute together! Lydia caught River's eyes and winked at her, happy for her new friend, then turned to some of the other students to try to give the little lovebrids some privacy.

Upon first glance, Lydia thought Nathaniel () was from 4A, because of his olive skin tone, but at a second glance she then noticed his uniform was Hogwarts. "Aw," she pouted at Nathaniel's comment on traveling. "Boat ride here didn't sit well with you, huh? Roughly how long did it take to travel here?"

Lydia nodded to a new girl ( )who joined the group, figuring she was probably another Alexandrian student (there seemed to be a lot of them).

[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/268143.png[/img] Niamh smiled back at Rain (), "I've never seen an augurey before," she admitted, "does Fade know any neat tricks?" She spotted the salmon that Rain had mentioned, but decided that if the smell was anything to go by, then the taste wouldn't be all that great either - it smelt more like something her cats would enjoy, so she took a small piece and wrapped it in a napkin before putting it into her pocket.

"I'd better go and pick my bed now then, before there's only the one left," she replied to River () and Seb (), "I think Lick and Rish are already in the dorm, so I'd better check up on them too."

Heading to the door on the right, Niamh made her way to the dormitory and was pleased to see there were still several untaken beds. Picking out one near the window, she tapoped her wand on the name plate and watched as "Niamh Doyle" appeared. As her luggage arrived on the bed, both cats were twining themselves around her feet. Taking the piece of salmon from her pocket, she broke it into small pieces before handing it to Lick and Rish. "Now behave you two, and maybe tomorrow you'll be allowed into the Great Hall."

Checking they were both tucking into the food, she made her way back to the Great Hall to rejoin the students, wondering if she'd missed any conversation while she'd been gone.

"I'd've love to see it, but Kai doesn't like them." River shrugged. "So...Hogwarts huh? What's your favourite thing about the school?"

Zala seemed pleased with the idea at least that's what River surmised because her friend was rather quiet. River saw Zala take in her joy when Merlin joined them, which pleased the teen. "Tea good?"

(feel better!) "Ah, well nothing much. Kai () isn't a fan of them and then we got silly saying we'd defend the boy from the danger."

River beamed, happy that Rain liked her idea. Shen nodded. "Lots. I used to be a lot more scared because I was little but I got rather bored just sitting there so I'd wander all and explore. I love it. I like to think about how they were in the time they were built and I'd think of scary stories as I went around. Sometimes I rode my magic carpet and a couple times I hit a booby trap or two and had to get out quickly. Yeah she was scary at the time..." River smiled. "Oh I'd love an honourary badge. I love her little snores, so cute."

"He's sweet and kind and cute," River replied as she was hovering.

"Aww that's a shame about the pictures. Still you'll needa show me cool things around here!" River didn't notice Bran's eyeroll when she was reuniting with Merlin, though she'd not really care about it either.

She winked back to Lydia. River was so much happier she wanted to go hug everyone but she curbed her enthusiasm as best she could and limited it to happy smiles and chattering.

"Nev," River said when her friend returned, "this is Merlin (), he's a friend of mine from Hogwarts. Merlin, this is Niamh, or Nev as I call her. She goes to Alexandria's as well."

[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/269422.png[/img] Niamh heard someone call her name, and looked round. As she expected, it was River (), as she was the only student to call her "Nev". "Hi," she said to Merlin () "I've heard a bit about Hogwarts, what's it like compared to here?"

"Aw" Lenore looks a bit disappointed, "I was hoping there was one here. I've never seen one before." She finally spots coffee at another table and fetches it before coming back. Pulling out a pink teacup from her bag she fills it and breathes in the steam.

  Terry smiled at River's story. “Aww that is sweet, so awkward clumsy Merlin got himself a girlfriend, oh I would love to tease him about it. If you love animals then you are a good match because he is always with pets.” Terry smiles.

Merlin nods. “Yeah, well I couldn't take them all so I said I would only bring Spellz but Thunder made it because he hides on my arm all the time so no one saw him.” Merlin beams with joy. “Thunder is not used to be away from me, neither is Spellz but they didn't mind the boat trip. It was nice to feel the wind on my face, I enjoyed the ride.” Merlin was severely blushing at her claim of his cheeks.

“Oh don't worry you can keep his cheeks all you want girl, my relationship with Merlin is strictly of rivalry.” She chuckles. “But since we are on the same team this time I'll cheer on him if he gets picked as champion, hopefully it will be me.”

“I'm not going to put my name, so no worries.” Merlin shrugs, he didn't care about that, he wanted to explore.

  Terry nods to Nathan and smiles. “Glad to hear that, it would be bad to be sick on new land.”

  Teresa smiled. “Nice to meet you Rain, your name is beautiful you are so lucky. My parents were boring enough to call me Teresa, but I like Terry at least.” To her comment about Merlin being special she rolled her eyes. “He is ok, I guess, but nothing to fuss so much about- he does has nice hair.” She grins and teases Merlin who looked at her blankly.

“Hello rain, nice to meet you, cant wait to see Ilvermorny – I'm super excited to meet people and see the school grounds. Is it very big this school? I think it must be amazing! I've never been in any other school besides Hogwarts and its so ancient I am hoping things here a re more modern, not because I don't like ancient but because I like variety.” Merlin had a big beautiful smile on his face.

  Merlin looked at the girl names Lynnie and smiled. “Love your hair.” He said before answering. “No, I'm not named after THE Merlin, but that is what most people think. I'm named after the merlin falcon which are my mother's favorite birds. My mother is a bird lover so she named me after one.”

  Merlin smiles and takes the girls hand to shake it. “Hello Niamh, Merlin Pendragon from Slytherin house in Hogwarts. This girl here is Terry, from Ravenclaw the second best house since Slytherin is number one.” He sticks his tongue out to her who pushed him playfully.

“Hi Niamh, he is joking of course because I am better than him and is jealous.” She chuckles. “He is only better in Magical Creatures Care.” Terry smiles a bit mischievously.

“Right, that's why I get more points than you and was in the top three scorers in the past term..I never saw your name on the list.” He smirks, he would never brag but Terry was too competitive.

“You were just lucky. River, how do you put up with him? He is bragging.” Terry says with a boring tone.

“You asked for it! Your making me look bad in front of River and everyone else.” Merlin slightly pouts and looks at River. “I don't like bragging, but she gets on my nerves.” He then thinks about Niamh's question. “Well I'm not sure yet because I don't know the school yet or much about it, I'm hoping to find out soon, then I can answer your question better.” He sweetly smiles at her.

((OOC: This took me a while! O_O ))

“That’s a first, but I’ll keep it in mind if my ideal career path doesn’t turn out.” He was grinning again, amused with Lydia’s tone as he dumped a ton of honey into the tea he had prepared. () “But really there are a lot of stone pillars, wide open rooms with small windows at the top to keep the cool air in, heat out. As well as many barrier charms in place to keep the god awful sand out of the classrooms and such.” He shrugged. “There are certainly books in the library with better descriptions than I can give. You do have a library here don’t you?”

His heart sank a bit at River’s comment, but he did well to conceal it behind his grin. () “I feel like there is a challenge in there, somewhere…” But his expression fell when Kai asked if he was entering the tournament. () Nathaniel had also inquired to the status of his entering. () There wasn’t any getting around it this time. Seb let out a sigh and shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. But not because I don’t want to…” He rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, focusing on stirring his tea and not making eye contact with anyone. Hopefully they wouldn’t pry.

The general topic had shifted from what animals would represent the 4A students rankings, to creatures of the sea. Seb was all ears. One of his most favorite books was on the topic of Merpeople. Living underwater sounded both exhilarating and terrifying. Not to say he wouldn’t jump at the chance to spend a day under the sea.

A familiar face rejoined the discussion. () And Niamh returned shortly after. () If it wasn’t for all the strange food smells and dark stone walls he would have thought they were back in Alexandria, what with all the Academy students bustling around.

Lenore glanced curiously at Seb's expression. She could see that he was uncomfortable but as always, she prioritized knowledge above comfort. "So...why aren't you entering then, Seb? You were a little vague there."

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/269197.png[/img] Lydia smirked at Seb's response and knew that she could look forward to having a number of witty banters with him. She narrowed her eyes and wagged her finger at Seb jokingly. "Touché, Seb. Touché." She fell silent as people asked about him entering the tournament. She thought it would be a bit taboo to bring it up, thinking people would be really competitive about it and would want to wait to discuss it until the champions had at least been chosen. Obviously, though, Seb did not want to talk about it and the conversation shifted to other subjects. She noticed Seb looking around at the bustling crowd surrounding them and asked, "Is it really different? Being here, I mean, as opposed to being back at. What do you guys call it? 4A? Clever."

[img align=left]https://i.imgur.com/atSPkyg.png[/img] "I am Kai, slayer of puffs," Kai proclaimed in a deep, low voice and held a fist in the air after Bran named him a slayer.

"I'm going to have to look into that. Explosive, fiery handshakes. It's going to be lit," Kai jumped onto Lydia's and Bran's excitement at the idea.

Kai almost looked like his brain exploded when Terry () explained that students are Hogwarts were sorted into their houses by some kind of sentient hat. "Whoa whoa. So like, they put a hat on your guys...and then the hat decides? WHAT? So many questions! What exactly is that hat doing when you wear it? Is it sucking your brains?!? Is this hat really just a hat or is a wizard who got turned into a hat?!" It was an understatement at how cool Kai thought the sorting ceremony is. "I wonder what house I would be in if I went to Hogwarts."

Kai frowned a bit when Seb () looked away after saying he wasn't entering. The part about it not being by choice was mysterious and truthfully, Kai was curious. However, Kai wasn't about to ask since it didn't look like his friend wanted to talk about it.

It didn't take long before Kai's attention got stolen by River's friend, Merlin. He mostly listened to everyone saying hi to the guy that River seemed very fond of. Kai wanted to say hi, too, but he didn't want to talk over the others or interrupt so he started just stuffing his mouth with salad, almost choking a bit.

((ooc: again, just catching up. Sorry if I ignored some post, just trying to get ones that requires some kind of feedback from Kai. And didn't want to backtrack too much. So yeah. Stuffing his face now so he'll be quiet for a bit xD))

“Er, well I.” He fumbled while trying to think of a way to word it. “I was doing something I shouldn’t have been… Or at least I wasn’t quiet enough while going about it. So they banned me.” He took a big drink of his tea and set the mug down a little harder than intended. ()

Lydia's question was a welcome chance of subject. () “The air is more humid here, and smells different. But I haven’t seen enough of the place to say much beyond that. That’s just what I’ve noticed so far.” He shrugged at Lydia. “Actually I think I should stretch my legs. Get a better look around.” Seb stood and brushed some crumbs from his lap. “It was nice meeting you all.” He said to the table and surrounding students. “I’m guna go walk off some of this food.” First he would stop by the dormitory to grab a jacket, it was getting a little more chilly than his liking this late in the evening. On his way out he nodded a brief acknowledgement to a boy with long silver hair standing with River and Teresa. ( )

(( I wanted sooooo much to bring up the scarf of sexual preference. But Seb is being too much of a bum, it wouldn't really fit in XDD ))