A northern wind blew cold air though the mid-winter vale. Its movement stirred intermittant tornadoes of snow from the floor and resettled them against the side of the small cliff, obscuring from view the dens that riddled its side. The brittle sun above cast a cold, clear light over the scene. In the very corner of the sky, a pale rainbow languidly stretched across the horizon.

The young student mage stood on a ridge, her emerald raiment glittering in the cold sun, her brow furrowed in concentration and her hands tracing strange patterns in the air. A sense of peace permeated the winter scene...

"It's finally here!" Coryl's eyes flashed open as her concentration was broken by a familiar, high-pitched squeal. Wind quieted, air warmed, snow melted beneath her startled gaze. Preservation spells - That had been what she'd forgotten.

Step one: Identify the problem.

The sun shattered, the rainbow drooped, and she frenetically cast haphazard protections, trying to hold some semblance of her project together, but failing utterly.

Step two: Decide what course of action to take.

The sky exploded into azure cloud fragments that quickly dispersed. The remainder of the illusion faded, replaced by a small, exotic figure excitedly jumping around the center of the dull brown dorm room.

Step three: Apply the decision.

Within two steps, she stood towering over her too-exciteable roommate. One grab and two more steps and the elf was hanging out the third story window by her foot.

"Give me one good reason /not/ to drop you."

The smaller girl giggled, completely unfazed by her friend's apparant anger. "Afraid I can't give you /one/ reason," she started. The iron grasp on her foot loosed slightly as Coryl's irritated growl sounded through the room. Tui giggled again, unworried. "How about /twelve/?"

Coryl dropped her head into her free hand. Tui was doing riddles again. With a frustrated snarl, she drew her captive into the room and tossed her onto the empty, messy lower bunk. Clothes and pillows flew as the elf squirmed to divest herself of the covers that had tangled themselves around her limbs.

Muttering *maledictions under her breath, Coryl lowered herself into her chair and studied her small friend. Tui was in an unusually good mood today, evidenced almost as much by the rosy glow on her spritely features and the mischievous spark in her luminous blue eyes as by the fact that she had interrupted, if not /ruined/ the elder student's project.

Actually, she had probably forgotten about it, despite the warnings that covered the door and hallway. Tui was forgetful, and all too often oblivious to the world around her, one reason she was such an unusual student at the magic college.

But there were others who were forgetful. Tui stood out for different reasons.

The fact that she was an elf was unusual. Elves simply did not practice magic... Or at least, they refused to /admit/ they did. The fact that she had sought out the college, much less been admitted, marked her as different.

Her manner of dress was unusual as well. Tui shunned the green robes that the more traditional neophytes wore, favoring instead her own wardrobe of olive leggings and tunics, worn under what appeared to be frayed leather armor. Such dress was typical for sylvan folk, but at the college, they only forced her to stand out more.

Her small size and atypical dress could easily have made Tui the target for bullies. But instead, she was left to her own devices, ignored... and strangely accepted. This was due probably to one of two causes: either her abject fearlessness or the powerful talisman that lay eternally around her neck.

Her fearlessness was actually more aptly described as constant curiosity. How she'd acquired /that/ annoying, protective idiosyncracy was unknown.

The talisman, on the other hand, was readily identifiable. It was powerful, marked with protective runes and sealed with the sign of one of the great necromancers of a bygone era. Its original intent was doubtlessly to protect the mage from the anger of the wraiths he constantly conjured, but it worked just as effectively against the far more mundane school bullies.

A distraught cry issued forth from the bed. Apparantly missing something, the elf had dived back under the covers to search for it. Coryl smiled slightly at the sight. Tui was always in motion; it seemed almost to be her constant state. The sheer energy, though, was amazing.

"Found it!" The triumphant yell came from a large mound of wrinkled covers, which crossed the room toward the other student. After a moment's confusion, the mound gaped and fell apart. In its place stood a slightly disheveled Tui, arm outstretched as she proffered a hollow wooden tube to her friend.

Coryl eyed it distrustfully. "/You/ open it."

Her answer was an exasperated look, quickly replaced by the typical bubbly grin. "If you insist."

She uncapped the end of the tube, revealing a carefully rolled scroll encircling a large amount of nothing. Sliding the scroll from the case, she reverently unrolled it, finally offering it to Coryl with a self-satisfied grin.

The taller girl recoiled from the paper. Who knew what sort of inane scheme Tui was working now?

"Don't you even want to read it?" Her taciturn friend merely shook her head distrustfully. "Alright, fine... you don't have to read it." A sly smile flew across the spritely features and quickly disappeared into a calmer look. "When's your birthday?"

The question caught Coryl by surprise, drawing the words out without conscious thought. "Thirdmoon, Fifthday."

"The Chimera!" Tui immediately consulted the scroll. "It says, 'The stars favor you. This is a good time to make new covenants with old allies. The quality you put in your work is apparant, and will garner praise and acclaim from all corners.' Sounds good so far, doesn't it?"

Tui glanced up, coming face-to-face with a winged wyrm. For a startled moment, she stood frozen, staring at the bestial face inches from her own. Then a warm glow spread over her face as she waved the illusory beast into non-existence and continued blithely. "You know, that was a pretty good one. You're getting a lot better! Have you been practicing?"

The stony look on Coryl's face hardened more. "I haven't the time for /zodiacs./"

Standing, she forcefully escorted her small friend to the door, shoving her out and locking the door behind her. "I do need to practice!"

The empty air gave no response to her assertion.

But still... "Praise and acclaim from all corners..." She glanced furtively at the dropped zodiac scroll, lying on the floor where Tui had left it. Maybe there was something to the star scrolls. After all, if /Tui/ had noticed...