Lakeside reprieve

[Camilla]

Camilla was by no means a typical girl, but she wasn't so strange that she held no appreciation for beauty. Her green eyes were wide with wonderment, and she looked for a moment extremely childlike for a girl who typically seemed so very serious - at least, she did when she was within the academy walls.

Approaching the lakeshore, she walked, holding her staff with one hand, which was gloved crudely in some loose, worn fabric stitched together in a shape that very poorly fit her fingers, bearing testiment to her disinterest, or at least ineptness, in things which might typically be considered feminine.

Striding as fast as briskly as her short legs would allow, Camilla clutched her cloak about herself, shivering for a moment in the cool, autumn air, before finally taking a seat by the lakeshore. She let her staff fall limply from her cold, numb hand, which she immediately buried in the folds of fabric of her cloak, glancing out over the lake surface to the reflections of a multicolored sky that wavered on its rippling surface. Pinks and oranges streaked the sky, illuminating the clouds brilliantly on the crisp, chill fall morning.

Once probably comfortable and settled, Camilla found herself content to stare out over the seemingly endless horizon, to watch the glowing orange orb make its daily ascent into the sky. Now, removed from the hustle and bustle of the Academy, her usually stern face broke into a soft smile, and she even allowed herself to giggle girlishly, if only to see what doing so felt like, confident that nobody was around to see her break in character.

For once, in a state of total relaxation, Cam's eyes stared blankly ahead, reflecting the magnificence of the scene before her, seeming to forget that this was only a momentary reprieve. This sunrise was a sight worth dedicating a small portion of her already clogged, congested, and overwrought brain to, even if the usually serious girl would never be able to fully accept that somethings in life that you experience are just as important as the things you learn.

[Abram]

'Oh, what a nightmare.'

These were the words that repeatedly went through the teenager's mind as he strolled across the Lake nearby his Academy. The Lake, besides his own home, seemed to be the only place in Avaren where he could get some peace and quiet and contemplate his situation. The teenager had recently finished his mental training as a home-schooled mage by his wealthy Father, and after so many years of preperation, he was finally sent to the big shot Academy of Magic where Apprentices turned into powerful Mages. Not only was that pressure enough, to finally begin the thing he had prepared for all his life; he also realized that a lot of the kids had already been in the Academy the whole time he was home-schooled.

That meant he fit in no place at all. The Warriors in Avaren were mean to him, and if not, they thought he was weird and let him hang around them to amuse him, and his fellow Mages were either snooty or not interesting. He had no friends, and his studies were piling up like mad. What the hell did the length of one's nose have to do with how well you performed magic, anyway? He grumbled this as he walked through the soft grass around the Lake.

Sunrise. At least he had finished all of his studies for the night, though he knew he was just going to get more as soon as he walked in that door for class. And that meant a full day without any friends. And his house was far away, which meant he didn't get to even come home to his family. It really was a nightmare. He was just beginning Apprentice training, after all. If maybe he was closing in on Acolyte, he'd be pleased, because they actually learned things, but as of now it seemed like he was doing nothing he hadn't been doing for the past seventeen years of his life.

As the teen magician contemplated with angst, he heard a giggle from somewhere closer to the Lake. "Undoubtedly a group of girls talking and laughing," he said aloud to himself, but his curiosity got the better of him. Walking briskly but curiously towards the sound, he ended up losing his footing and flipping through the trees before finally falling down and pushing his staff out to help him. He was lucky enough for it to not only keep him up, but land right next to the sound in question. A girl. Lifting his staff up in an embarrassed fashion, he began to apologize. "I'm sorry ma'am, really, I didn't mean to do that, I sorta lost footing and all! Really!"

[Camilla]

Camilla was so lost in her moment of carefree serenity that she didn't notice the sound of movement around her, at least, nothing that she didn't dismiss subciously as the wind or wildlife shifting around. After all, who in their right mind would spy on someone as incredibly dull as everyone must think she was?

As the chill began to bite through her cloak - the best she could afford after paying tuition to the academy - Camilla prepared to stand and take her leave, her poorly covered hand drifting thoughtlessly towards the staff that lay forgotten in the quickly browning grass. The sun was now nearly in its entirety above the horizon, and the brilliant oranges were now fading into a scarcely detectable pink that barely tinged the wispy white clouds.

However, before Cam could find the drive and energy to stand, a dull crashing, unmistakeably something that deserved her immediate attention, shifted her gaze toward the trees, out from which tumbled another mage student such as herself.

Her demeanor remained calm as though his sudden appearance wasn't anything near to out of the ordinary at all, though a slightly amused twinkle in her emerald eyes betrayed the true sentiment that her deadpan facial expression concealed.

"Ah, finally, somebody less coordinated than I!" Camilla exclaimed, the edges of her lips turning up into the very slightest of smirks, but one that was warm-hearted as opposed to cruel. Using her staff as leverage, she got to her feet, and offered her poorly gloved hand to the boy, who must surely have been incredibly embarrassed.

"Well, seeing as you seemed so eager to meet me, I'm Camilla." She allowed herself to smile warmly at the stranger who had so abruptly appeared beside her.

"What's your name?"

[Abram]

Leaning desperately to his staff, words raced through his head. If what was before was a nightmare, then this was something that he really wanted to wake up from. Gazing over at the girl, he tried desperately to keep himself from looking embarrassed. He did smile, however, at the fact that she was alone and not surrounded by a bunch of friends.

Picking his staff up accordingly, he took in a deep breath and smoothed his hair, before saying in a rather exasperated voice, "Camilla, is it? I'm very sorry about this. I've never been the best in coordination, but then, that's why I'm training to be a mage, not a warrior." He pointed to the staff. "My full name is Abraham Von Lickerswitzch, but I go by Abram Von." Feeling a bit more comfortable with both introduced, he said "What are you doing out here so early?"

[Camilla]

Camilla felt almost guilty at Abram's reaction to her gentle teasing. She hadn't meant to make him uncomfortable by any means, but her sarcastic sense of humor seemed to kick in at inopportune moments, which tended to land the otherwise perfect, serious student in the occasional bit of trouble.

"Nice to meet you, Abram," she said, then paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Pardon my mouth, by the way. I didn't mean to make the situation any more uncomfortable for you than it already is." Camilla's cheer faded for a moment, but, knowing that this boy was a mage apprentice such as herself, she felt slightly more at ease.

At his question, Cam smiled softly for a moment, her eyes for a second dreamy as she turned her head slowly to face the sky, which was now for the greater part solid blue.

"Just watching the sunrise," she replied with a shrug, looking towards Abram and cocking an eyebrow.

"What about you?"

[Abram]

Abram could see that Camilla was sorry for teasing him, even if Abram was used to being teased anyhow. He could tell by the way she even put up with him without teasing him even further that she was nicer than most people he had met during his time at the Academy. Especially the Warriors. His eyes glanced down at her own staff, and he exclaimed, "Wow! So you're a Mage Apprentice too! What irony!" happily. But when she turned her interest away from him and back towards its original place, he turned to face it as well.

'I've never quite understood what's so special about sunrises, even if they are beautiful over a lake.'

"I'm not quite sure, actually." Abram said to her question. "I spent most of the night working on my studies, I just felt like I shouldn't go to sleep. I came outside the town instead." He rocked his body back and forth side to side, his feet in the grass and feeling the inundated water from the lake.

[Camilla]

At Abram's outburst about her being a mage student at well, Camilla couldn't help herself from smiling and shaking her head just a tiny bit.

"How astute of you to notice," she stated with a grin, turning her focus again from the sky, which now seemed no more special than it did at any other time, and thus, couldn't hold Camilla's interest.

"I spent most of the night working on my studies, I just felt like I shouldn't go to sleep. I came outside the town instead."

His response to her question made her eyebrows raise to an almost comical height before they fell slowly and furrowed, as though she was concerned for his well-being.

"You know, your studies might not take you so long if you were a little more well rested."

[Abram]

Abram chuckled at Camilla's response. Camilla looked back up at the sky again, but when Abram looked up too, he saw absolutely nothing of interest. When he looked back down again, she was facing him.

"You know, your studies might not take you so long if you were a little more well rested."

Abram sighed, "Nah, it's not that the studies are hard so to speak. I'm just not into them. Being a mage to me isn't about working hard or perspiring. If I wanted that, I'd be some sort of front line warrior for the King. Being a mage for me is learning and being a scholar."

[Camilla]

"Ahhh..." Camilla responded, and for a few moments, she looked very deep in thought. She gnawed for a moment on her chapped lower lip, furrowing her brow and considering what she had to say in response.

"Being a mage, for me... It's... everything," Camilla said at last, her eyes staring unblinkingly at Abram with a nearly frightening intensity, their hue of green seeming to deepen and brighten. Without thinking, she took a couple small steps, her posture improving and her height increased to its maximum, which was still a fair bit shorter than average.

"Growing up, I knew nothing but working hard and perspiring. I would have never dreamed to have the freedom to be watching the sunrise at my leisure instead of fighting back seasickness, baiting fishing hooks on my father's fishing boat." The stern expression on her face could have been mistaken for a stone carving, as rigid as it was.

"Now... Now I have the freedom to dream great things for myself, and I well let nothing, nothing, get between myself and my goals." Camilla seemed entire unaware of the fact that she must seem strangely frightening, though, as quickly as it had come, the spell passed. She stopped suddenly, relaxed, and smiled.

"Not that there's anything wrong with being a scholar. I respect your dedication."

[Abram]

Abram listened intently as Camilla spoke of her childhood and her own view of being a mage. Albeit Abram understood what she was going through, he knew he could never achieve her same perseverance. He had grown up in a place where he was always pressured to do his work, but did it. Perhaps it was the constant pressure that made him so willing to do what little was necessary, or maybe it was just his person.

"Dedication? It isn't dedication. It isn't a chore for me to become a scholar - I like to read." The apprentice laughed, "If it were a chore, likely I wouldn't be one." Seeing how the girl had told her own story, Abram felt ready to tell his own. "My father and mother are very rich aristocrats. They have a large manor far away from here, and they've always wanted me to become a Mage."