"Yeah yeah yeah, game! Get that thing away from my throat!" Sharuu growled, I removed first the swordtip at his throat then my foot from his chest. He sat up, slumping kind of forward and scratched at his thickly maned head with a paw. "Man, you hit hard! Don't get so serious about it, yeez... Who knows what that sword does, Venir already said it's cursed!"

Venir chuckled as he stepped into our little sectioned off arena, Iulia close behind. "Yes, it is...but so far, it hasn't been effecting him," the Schimite turned his gaze on me. "With others who have tried it they would start to get bloodthirsty and dangerous within the first few minutes... That sparring match lasted fairly long, but you seem to be doing excellently Jasien... I suppose this means, the sword is yours."

I grinned a bit, admiring the flame-shaped golden blade of the sword and the obsidian dragon hilt. It was a good weapon, especially with the auto-drain magic effects on it. Of course, many good weapons have curses... I would have to watch myself as long as it was in my possession, but his words gave me confidence. So far I had handled the sword better than anyone else, and Venir had particularly asked me try it for whatever reason. "Thanks, Venir...thanks a lot."

"Yeah, yeah, just keep it away from me," Sharuu growled, still rubbing the back of his head where I'd elbowed him. "If you start going nutty, I don't want to be anywhere in the general vicinity. You're dangerous, man!"

"No, you're just a wuss and a coward. He did excellent, you heard that," Iulia said with a smirk aimed at Sharuu. At times I wonder what she really thinks of him, if she means what she says or if she just likes to gripe at him because he's so annoying. It's hard to tell in a way, but I don't think she means to be serious or mean about it. Mostly it seems like good-natured ribbing...unless Sharuu does something really stupid.

Sharuu blinked, gave the back of his head another rub then stuck his tongue out at Iulia in a very childish manner. "Oh, does the little princess like the nutcase with the cursed sword?" That earned him a whack across the head from Venir, who didn't seem too happy about Sharuu taunting his favorite pupil. Sharuu merely winced and cursed under his breath.

Glaring at Sharuu who still sat on the floor, cursing, Venir gave off an 'ahem'. "It is nice to teach you....two." Evidently he'd rethought the number to give after glancing at Sharuu who after that comment looked like he wanted to give Venir a piece of his mind. "But I am afraid that I have other...students...to teach, so I think it's time that I bid you good day."

I nodded and picked the sword belt that went along with my new weapon up off a shelf to fasten it over my shoulder and around the waist. It was a little loose, but I could put another notch in it so that it would fit correctly. "Thanks again, Venir... This is going to come in very handy next time Mixed Media has a battle."

Venir nodded, kind of smiling with his eyes. "Good day to you Jasien and Iulia...and to you, annoying dragon-cat-boy."

Sharuu snorted and pushed himself up into a standing position as Venir left the room. "Man...that guy really gets on my nerves," he growled, snapping his tail back and forth in irritation.

"Only because he scolds you everytime you act or do something stupid," I said, trying to smother a half-grin. "If you didn't act like such a moron all the time you'd probably get along better with him."

Now Sharuu was glaring at me looking like he wanted to punch me out, though. I knew he wouldn't though... We were good friends, even if we did have differing views quite frequently. Of course, that's the way good relationships of all types work. Accepting and dealing with the viewpoints of others and putting up with their sarcasm and stupidity. Instead of hitting me, he just gave me a dirty kind of half-joking look. "Well don't just stand there, the old coot told us to leave. So let's scram."

"He didn't tell us to leave, he told us politely that he needed to go teach classes," Iulia responded. "Well, that's what he told us....he indirectly told you to leave, Sharuu. Since you were sitting on the floor acting like a five-year-old."

I cleared my throat,"Maybe we'd better just go before Venir ends up coming into a room that looks like thousands of people were massacred in it, okay?" Sharuu and Iulia both turned and looked and me, instead of acting like they were going to tear each other's hearts out their throats.

"Okay," Iulia said, shrugging her shoulders. "Let's head home, together part of the way and then split up as we reach our destinations."

I nodded hesitantly. "Yes..." I confessed. "They broke into a house and stole a bunch of stuff... A lot of them got arrested and they were naming names...some of the people weren't even involved in it. So Mom made me go to another school in attempt to keep me from getting into trouble. I didn't do anything, though... Just guilt by association, I guess." I sighed heavilly, shaking my head. "I really need to learn to be more careful about the people I hang around with."

Sharuu nodded. "Yeah, you do...Even I'M not that bad," he admitted sheepishly. "Anyway, good luck tomorrow with your new preps and all that!" He gave me a friendly clasp of the shoulder then padded off down a different hallway to his own quarters. I continued on to mine.

As I stepped into my quarters a streak of silver and red pounced on my face, squeaking loudly as he managed to position himself on my shoulder.

Marizpa cheeped, giving me an unbelievably pathetic look that I couldn't help just laugh at. Whenever I came home from school or other places that he couldn't accompany me to he was always eagerly waiting for me back in my room. It's not exactly enjoyable to have a small dragon-like creature flying right in your face whenever you walk in; but it is nice to know that you mean the world to something.

"Yeah yeah, I know you miss me..." I laughed, rubbing my thumb on his muzzle. "Let's get you fed, alright? I know you don't eat all day while I'm gone." Marizpa chirped in agreement, climbing up to his perch on my shoulder as I took off the swordbelt and hung it on the wall. Then I walked over to the dresser and took out a plastic box with a few mice I saved for the little wyvern to eat. I pulled one from its nest and sat it down on the floor. Almost immediately, Marizpa pounced upon it and killed it beginning to eat...and....make a bloody mess doing so. I put the box away.

"You should really learn not to make such a mess," I told the wyvern with a smirk, but he ignored me. He was too busy making a bloody mess as he ate the mouse. I sighed and laid down in my hamock, taking a look around my room.

I've never been much of a collector of any sort, unless it comes to books. My room's mostly bare and doesn't have a proper bed--I like the hanging hamock better. Other than that it had a dresser that had my alarm clock with shelves above it holding books and a pewter dragon figurine with ruby eyes. A punching bag wass on the opposite side of the room with more shelves with baskets to hold hand wraps and some first aid supplies, to the right was a wrack where I hung my weapons and jackets.

I rolled onto my side in the hammock and reached out to pick up the alarm clock. It was fairly late already, 10:30 pm. I hadn't been able to tell the time because Sharuu and I had phased straight from the temple-school on Novonnia to the Ring of Fire. Basically, teleported from inside one place to the inside of the other. No wonder I felt tired, evidently my sparring match with Sharuu had gone on longer than I expected.

Pulling a book from the shelf, I sat and read for some time while Marizpa finished his messy meal then cleaned himself. Of course, I was the one to clean up the mess he'd made when eating. Sometimes wyverns can be a bit of a pain, but they're really wonderful companions. After shedding my shirt and shoes, I flopped back down in the hammock and put the book on the floor making sure to mark my place. It was a fascinating murder mystery, and I would likely finish in the next night...err...morning, the time had hit 12:46 by the time I was actually ready to sleep for the next day. Marizpa jumped down off the shelves to curl up on my chest after I'd pulled the blanket up. I smiled, stroking his head before settling down to sleep.

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