A portal opened just outside the school compound. Cadence stepped out and held luggage in both hands. The portal shut and she walked up the way to the school. She'd been gone so long she wasn't sure if she still had a job or not. But she was tired of her studies and this was home. She looked a mess... bloodshot eyes, disheaveled hair..... body thin. She looked like someone who'd been up for a hundred years.

Considering she wasn't trying to sneak in or anything, and was completely oblivious to the ward... because she was used to the place always having a bunch of wards to begin with ... she didn't realize anything was zeroed in on her until it was too late.

One minute she was walking up the path without a care. She had a suitcase in each hand and two bags strapped across her shoulders to hang across her back and down to her sides. She looked far too frail to be able to handle all that, but oddly she was managing somehow, albiet a bit breathless and all that. Huff huff... Until the moment her foot broke from the plane of RhyDin and into the Headmaster's schoolish domain.

Her foot stepped down and as her body followed she was whisked into that teleport thing that always left poor Cadence all dizzy. Her second foot landed wrong because of the terrain difference and Cadence tumbled head over heals with her luggage. She landed face down, thankfully... wings flapping trying to gain her balance. Of course, with her body prone over the suitcases and nose hanging just a half inch from the ground, body weighted by the bags.... the wing flapping didn't matter. She could tell right then that something different happened with the wards and she closed her eyes, moaning groaning expecting the worst. She didn't have to look to know she wasn't in front of the school anymore. It was a much quieter place.

"Let me guess.. I'm fired?"

Though bloodshot, her pretty blues sheepishly peer up as she slowly pulled herself to sit up on her knees so she could figure out where she'd been transported to.... as soon as her eyes could focus when the dizzy part was over. She was shifting round a bit wobbly....

"And you are mad at me...."

There were times when he could make her feel so guilty. This was one of them. About the time she was able to focus her eyes on the voice, guilt had her pretty blues shifting back down.

"I'm sorry... I just couldn't take what was happening here and... there were other things.. and I got sidetracked and ... Bob.."

Blink. She realized what he'd just said.

"I dropped it?"

She looked up and saw the medallion held in his fingers. Slowly she shifted the straps from her shoulders, getting up to walk over and stand right beside him for a closer look. Sure enough, it was hers. She had no clue she had dropped it anywhere. Pretty bloodshot blues looked beyond the medallion to him, taking in the sight. She couldn't help but think of Bob again and dropped her now teary gaze. It was plain that she was tired and lonely and hungry and weary with emotion. She still held an air of pure innocence, though.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster. I didn't mean to drop it.. I don't know how that happened. I just want to come home."

Blink. Those eyes were opened again, staring at him and his smiling self. She half frowned and half smirked, looking at him a little suspiciously.

"Are yous twisting my words, Headmaster?" she spoke cautiously slow yet with a hint of amusement. "Cause... if I had quit, you wouldn't have to ask. And if I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be. The question is, do you want me back?"

A wave of her finger sent a zap of magical energy at the medallion, trying to telekenis it out of his grasp and to her hand. Yes, Cadence had been studying her magic in her absence. She was a bit stronger with it now... a lot stronger then he would remember. In fact, if he paused to think about it, the amount of strength in her magic was far more then the time would've allowed her to have normally progress. Still, she knew if he didn't want her back, there's no way the medallion would make it to her hand.

She snatched the medallion, eyeing him again. With a smirk, she put it into her pocket.

"Well, at least yous missed my work."

One, it seemed he didn't miss her. Two, he was happier. She mulled the equation round in her mind, setting it way into the back for now.

"I don't know why you think I didn't notice the newer addition here. I noticed, just not that you noticed. Besides, I just got here. give me some breathing room, okay? Sheesh..."

She rolled her eyes and smirked some more. Yep, he sure was different now.

"It's peaceful for the moment. Oh and.... who is Chaos? I don't know who you mean. The only other mentor besides those here at the school have been Mary and Bob. I think yous ment Bob. So how is Melody? and How is Sha'uri? and Renna? and the other teachers?"

Frown.

"That's very strange. I can't imagine this place without Mistress Lyndra to cook... or Mistress Sha'uri to help you run the place. Even stranger is the portals are closed. She was so adamant about the exchange between here and there... and very devoted to you. I didn't know Mistress Renna very well but I liked her."

Spying a rather large hairy spider crawling up the side of the rock, she reached for it and coaxed it onto her hand. Oddly, it didn't bite her, not even when she began to pet it. She smiled at the insect.

"I would have been back sooner, but I guess more time went by then what I thought. It was almost summer when I left, and now it's nearing spring. I was cooped up in my little domain studying all this time. It just didn't seem that so much time had gone by. I thought only a month or two had passed. I was all ready for fall. Yet here it is. It hasn't been quite a year yet, has it?"

She honestly didn't know how much time had gone by. It could've been years for all she knew. She did seem to be just a tad bit older, an age where the innocence was almost never seen in most people. It clearly was still a part of her.

"I also note your Trade Language has improved.."

Her smile brightened proudly and her head nod nod nodded emphatically to this, which caused her wings to unfurl and flap a tad bit just to help her keep her balance. It was something she'd worked so very hard on.

"Yous shoulda seen me practicing! er.. I mean, I practiced very hard to make it more natural. I still slip sometimes, but I am getting much better."

Tired blues paused to study him a moment.

"And I'm interrupting your meditation. I need some serious sleep anyway. I would like to come back and explore this place when I get up. I think I can find my way back. I hope you did not let my room out to anyone. But um... mind if I open up to my own domain from my own room? With all these changes you made, I thought I should check."

With her luck, the place would probably blow up. She was thinking she could probably sleep for a month she was so tired. In fact, a deep yawn plagued her for several moments. blink blink.

"I understand. You want to keep the children safe... and my connection with Bob perhaps causes you some concern."

She watched him for his reaction, slowly speaking after a momentary pause.

"I know what people think of him. I also don't think he would intentionally harm any child, especially helpless ones. I'd like to say he especially wouldn't with me here, but ever since I came back, I don't know.. it feels strange, like he doesn't want to respond to me... ."

Her voice trails, her thoughts were covered, and she gave her attention to the hairy spider. One long delicate and graceful finger stroked it gently and it seemed to lean up against her. Then after a few strokes, it turned away to jump from her hand, spewing a string of web that caught the side of the rock as it swung out of sight.

"He says he'll let you have this as your spot, Headmaster."

Her gaze came back to the Headmaster..

"I mean the rock yous sitting on. Zayo, it was his name... the spider I was just petting. He says this was his favorite site because he caught the best meals here, but he'll let you have it cause he likes me."

Smile.

"He's very poisonous, though I doubt that would be any concern to you. Although, if he feels encrouched upon by others, he might defend himself.... I hope you are taking precautions with the children when they are out here..... Are they allowed to freely roam here?"

Frown. Cringe. She crossed her arms furrowed her brows some more as she considered his chorded expression. It seemed two faced to her... one minute he says Bob can use the front door to see her, and the next he's all but saying Bob isn't welcome there.. cutting her off from her own domain because he's.. what, afraid of Bob? In his own place? Her thoughts weren't so guarded from her expressions.

"Fine."

The tone of that one word was flat. The rest, however... were not. The little one had a sharp sound.

"I'll use the front gates to get to My Own domain. You're not the only one to think of this as their home. I remember someone opening up this place to me.. and giving me a home here, too......"

Oh the pause with the pointed look. Yet it melted in defeat. She didn't like to stay mad.

"I'll make sure Bob knows to use the Front Gates.. if he comes at all. Like I said, something feels strange with him. He usually writes me back right away whenever I send him a note. This time he didn't, but I'm sure he got it. I'm not sure what that means, but hopefully nothing too bad."

She was worried about Bob. Breathe.. change subject.... calming..

"I'm glad the school is expanding and has a seperate building for a hospital. The infirmary was getting pretty small. I see what you mean about hands on, though. That plant over there, the one with the purple and silver leaf.. more like a vine really... that one is an antidote for that particular spider bite. With it there, it would save a life faster then a hospital. Yous just gotta chew it into a pulp and spread it on the bite so it'll dry there. It's bitter, but it will draw out and counter act the poison both already in the blood and still in the wound."

She knew spiders. Perhaps she could even help teach the students here. The thought was worth contemplating. STill, this aggrivation the Headmaster seemed to have for Bob, really bothered her and even angered her. Even so, her tones were caring but hurt, not malicious or hateful.

"You know, I've defended you to him before.. and I think I need to defend Bob here to you. He might not follow all the rules, but he's never given me a reason not to trust him. I don't know what -specifically - he's done wrong to you. He's not the one who took the children to begin with."

Bite. Of course, she would never believe that unless Bob himself held a child in chains - himself... right in front of her eyes and smacked her with the chains. Even then, with Bob, she was sometimes very blind...

"I've never known him to harm anyone here so I don't understand your aversion to him. Okay, maybe he left a little frosty chill once.. So What? Maybe something happened that I don't know about.. or maybe I forgot about it. I don't like holding grudges. Please, tell me what that is, this thing that is so heneous that it's strickly unforgiveable..... What really happened? I need to understand."

Her thought.. might as well get this out in the open and over with. She was sleepy, getting hungry and wanting a nice long bath. But not with this between them.

"He took you away."

Her jaw dropped open and her brain went numb as he continued. She wasn't sure if she was hearing him right, but there was a sense of dark emotions that she swore she could feel flowing from him like the river that flowed past them now ... cold and steady. She wondered how long he had been brewing this for.

Then it dawned on her, he was talking about the day she changed because of what happened when Lyndra came back. Cadence still wasn't sure what all happened that day, other then there were definitely dieties involved. The change was sudden, leaving her hair silvery blonde, a reddish starburst tainted around her eyes and black wings upon her back. She had panicked and called out to Bob. He came to her immediately, took her away. She remembered that Briarius tried to stop her from leaving ... he literally tried to force her to stay... That's when she dropped her school pin, the first time she left, so that she could go with Bob.

It was all beginning to make some sense to her, but she didn't want to believe what she was thinking to be true. However, she couldn't deny that the headmaster seemed to be showing signs of jealousy. Was there even a chance that this was true?

He turned away from her.

"So, you will excuse me if I am a bit bitter over your teacher, but I needed someone to talk to after what had happened...and I had no one."


Pretty blues narrowed as she watched him crouch to look into the water. No one? She debated this in her head. She was going to ask him, What about Melody, but refrained from it. Perhaps they weren't as close as she had always thought.

A lot had happened with the kidnappings, and even she had tried to launch her own line of investigation. Though she had cleared Bonnie Corp, at least in her mind, of any connection with the kidnappings, she had come to a dead end to prove anything more. She could sympathize with the frustration over the whole thing. Even so, when the children were rescued, she thought the matter was overwith and done, but apparently from what she was interpretting now, it was seething in him.... or something was.

Dark wings fluttered gently, lifting her just barely off the ground and moving her so that she could peer over his shoulder to see both of their reflections in the water. Her feet touched the ground again as her hand came down on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Her gaze searched for his in the water.

"Please don't be bitter that I left. Bob never took me anywhere I didn't want to go. He's never ever harmed me in any way. And he's not my only teacher. You are, too. So is Sha'uri and Lyndra and all the other teachers here.. Plus Mary and others at Bonnie Corp."

She paused.

"I'm sorry I got caught up in my studies, trying to research all the things you've all been giving me ... I'm sorry I wasn't around when you needed. I didn't think you thought of me that closely, especially after I snapped at your friend, Kairee, so I didn't think you would miss me. In fact, I was just thinking that you really hadn't missed me at all. If you did, it's okay to say that you missed me, Briarius."

She moved to crouch by him, urging him to face her, as if what she had to say was urgently important. Her tones couldn't have been more gentle, as were her fingers gently upon his cheek so that he would look at her cause this was important.

"It's okay to be vulnerable with family. It's not okay to not be vulnerable with no one, for that will surely turn a golden heart into a glob of black ooze."

Wonderful words of wisdom from the little innocent one who's pretty blues were gently pointed....

She frowned, mostly because he wasn't looking at her. She felt totally ignored.

"Yous know.. for someone who was upset about someone taking me away, you sure don't want to look at me. Are you afraid to face the truth, BrIARIUS?"

Oops... she blinked as his name came out a bit more, agressive then she had intended.

"Sorry... Just you need to stop trying to dig up the past, Forgive the past. Go meet some new people, make new friends and start new memories. okay?"

Sigh.

"I'm trying to be your friend but you are confusing, like you shoving me away. Then you get mad at me for you thinking someone else took me away.. and then I'm here and you won't look at me!"

She duck walked a few steps to moved out in front of him... into the water no less.. so he couldn't look at the water any more. The water was cold on her bum end, but thankfully on a few inches deep. Her dress began to cling to her and she was shivering but didn't seem to notice it. She was speaking her heart to heart.

"I wanna be yous friend but I can't stand the tug of war with you! Stop being so difficult!! I'm right here, Damnit! You need to talk? I'm here. You need a hug, I'm here! Cause I need to know that you forgive me."

She was teary eyed too. Her voice softened ever so gently.

"Cause if you do, just shut up and hug me... okay? Cause I need one, too."

She hadn't remembered ever being hugged like that before. He was actually hugging her like a real hug. Of course, she returned the heartfelt *I misses you too* hug, but was consciously aware of their positions and wobbliness.. and especially the cold water that she was realizing had her dress getting soaked.

She didn't want to inadvertently knock them over the wrong way.. but Cadence was a snuggly hugger. And it was, after all, Freezing! So while huggling, snuggling she coaxed them both up to a standing position ... and, finding an opening in his cloak, she snuggled further beneath and into the warmth of that. A thought crossed her mind and she grinned, a snicker escaped her.

"So who's idea was it for this water to be so cold?"

Pretty blues glanced up at him. She was shivering. Even her wings had curled up even tighter, trying to keep warm.

"I'm freezzzzzing!"

Teeth chattering. Of course, her feet were still fully immersed in the cold water and beginning to get numb.

"Okay."

She nodded, and with teeth still chattering, she darted off towards the way she thought was the school. Doing like she was told, she thought of the front area and sure enough, the scenery melded to be near the front steps of the school. She moved out of the school grounds and down the street to the coffee store and bought herself some coffee. Then she stepped out of the shop, opened up a portal to her domain and voila! stepped through. The portal closed with a shower of glittery spray.