<div class="floatleft">(http://kokugamer.com/wp-content/upload/2012/02/Contractor.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Russell Davis,<br/>Carriage, Academy Entrance<br/>Tagged: Amanda, Tasogare, Zitka, Any at entrance</strong><br/><br/><em>This is <strong>definitely</strong> not what I expected of my new school,</em>Russell Davis mused as he looked out of the carriage window. His father was well on the way to recovery from the injuries that had invalided him out of the Marine Corps, but with his discharge the Davis family was returning from Germany to the United States. Well, all of them except Russell - the invitation to attend a private school in Europe had arrived only a few days after Sergeant Davis had been injured, and the magic words 'full scholarship' had been the clincher. Russell had been a bit apprehensive at being seperated from his parents and sister for so long, but his trepidation was tempered with excitement. Now, however, he was having second thoughts.<em>A trip by horse-drawn carriage to an isolated European estate sounds more like something out of 'Dracula' than an exclusive private school,</em>the dark-haired American boy thought as the carriage rattled to a stop. Rather than getting into a rush with the other occupants of the carriage to be the first one out Russell sat back in the plush seat and took a long look at the estate that would be his new home for the next year.<br/><br/>The outer appearance of the Academy only reinforced the medieval vibe that the carriage ride had given him. The huge stone building looked like a stone manor out of the Middle Ages except  several stories tall with a great tower adding sevral more stories to its height. It reminded Russell of something out of the Lord of the Rings, except this building looked to be in perfect condition even with ivy trailing across its walls.<em>I just hope it isn't a former monastery or convent,</em>he silently grumbled to himself.<em>Getting up for prayers at dawn or midnight would <strong>suck.</strong></em><br/><br/>Definitely not feeling reassured by his first impression of his new home Russell turned his attention to the pair of adults standing in from of the Academy building, obviously waiting for the carriages. Both of them were dressed in professional clothing and were obviously members of the faculty. The man was a slender young man with messy dark hair wearing a black suit and wire-rimmed glasses. However it was the woman standing next to him that took most of the young American's attention. With her blond hair pinned up in a bun, wire-rimmed glasses resting neatly on her nose and a severe expression on her attractive face she looked like an ideal of a female schoolteacher. However her high heels, black miniskirt and mostly-unbuttoned white blouse was more suited to a hooker fulfilling a schoolteacher fantasy. And the body those clothes barely concealed would be the subject of most men's fantasies. Clasping a book in front of her lap the teacher's arms pressed her breasts together, emphasising her cleavage - not that it needed the help. Russell Davis had a fair bit of experience at appraising girls' figures and he guessed that the woman wore an E cup bra at the very least. Well, that would be the case if she wore a bra which, judging by the way her nipples were clearly pressing against her white blouse, wasn't the case today. Her long legs and smooth skin were just icing on the cake.<br/><br/><em>Looks like I might enjoy this place after all,</em>Russell reflected.<br/><br/>Shouldering his duffel bag and picking up his suitcases the intense young man stepped carefully out of the carriage, giving the carriage driver a nod of thanks before turning to join the other new students who had left the carriages and had assembled in front of the teachers. Russell managed three steps before he froze in shock. While he recognised the young men he had travelled with in his carriage he hadn't caught sight of the students in the first carriage. The fact that they were female didn't come as a surprise - the school was namaed Madame Arachne's Academy for Girls, after all - but it was the sight of those girls which stunned him. One was clad in a yellow kimono and wore a hat that looked like a large flower of some sort, but otherwise looked normal except for her light green skin. On the other hand the second girl looked like nothing so much as a harpy out of Greek myth, complete with wings and taloned feet. Three words suddenly raced through the stunned youth's mind.<br/><br/><em>What. The <strong>Hell? ? ? ? </strong></em><br/><br/>There was no way that could be real. Harpies were creatures of legend, not the real world. Russell's mind raced, trying to reconcile what he knew to be true with what his eyes were telling him.<em>Maybe she's an amputee who lost her legs in an accident,</em>he thought.<em>And she's got some custom prosthetics made for her legs. That explains the taloned feet...</em>Almost desperately his eyes shifted to the third girl to leave the carriage, a cute young brunette almost a foot shorter than him. Two foxlike ears, rose from the top of her head, sticking up through her black hair. Just above the waistband of her school skirt two furred tails extended from her back, their silver tips resting just below the skirt's hem.<em>She looks like a kid playing at being a Japanese kitsune,</em>Russell thought faintly. Oddly the thought helped to focus him - this wasn't the first time he'd seen a girl with fox features, after all.<em>I never thought I'd see a school like that in Europe,</em>he marvelled.<br/><br/>"Christ, I thought I left the cosplayer extremists behind when I left Japan," he murmured under his breath as he approached the group. Ahead of him he noticed the delightfully-stacked female teacher talking to the green-skinned girl, asking if she was dehydrated and offering her a drink or... a swim? Russell frowned at that thought - the last thing a person suffering from dehydration should do is anything physcially demanding. Even if a swim would make the girl feel better it wasn't like she could absorb water through her skin like a plant. Instead of commenting, however, he set down his luggage and waited for her to reply to the teacher's question, doing his best not to be too obviously enjoying the view as Amanda bent down to talk to the green-skinned girl.<br/><br/>Once the teacher was no longer busy Russell made sure to speak with her. "Excuse me ma'am," he began politely, making sure to keep his blue eyes looking no lower than her chin. "I'm Russell Davis, and this is my first time here. Would it be best if I take my bags straight to my room, or should I just head straight to the common area?" he asked, giving Amanda a charming smile.<br/><br/><br/>OOC: Yes, Russell still hasn't gotten the fact that he's got non-humans for schoolmates yet :) It's going to be fun dropping the hammer on him....<br/><br/>OOC 2: Guys and girls, tell me if I've described your character incorrectly in the above post. I went by the posted descriptions and picitrues, but I don't mind editing to make things more accurate. ShadowFox, I assumed that Zitka's hair is black in human form because that's how her fur is described in fox form - if it's wrong let me know and I'll fix it.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>