<strong>Russell Davis,<br/>Academy Entrance<br/>Tagged: Sashira,  Zitka, Tyson, Any at entrance near the carriages</strong><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://kokugamer.com/wp-content/upload/2012/02/Contractor.jpg)</div><br/><br/>Russell fought to keep his hormones under control as Miss Masters returned his greeting with a warm smile of her own. He made a mental note of her warning that the school could be scary for the boys on their first visit, although he couldn't help raising an eyebrow at her warning that the girls might start trouble. Starting at a new school due to following his dad on deployments around the world was nothing new for Russell, and every time there had been someone who got off on making trouble for the new arrivals just to prove their own power and rub it in the newbies' faces. Still, it didn't explain why Miss Masters had warned him specifically about the girls.<em>Probably there's more girls here than guys,</em>he reasoned.<em>It's still known as Madame Arachne's Academy for Girls even though it's co-ed, after all. </em>The young man did make a mental note of Mr Gage's name, however - he wasn't an invalid child to drop his problems off to a teacher as soon as things got tough, but it was always good to know who to go to if you needed backup.<br/><br/>Miss Masters' final warning to go straight to the school nurse if he started bleeding wiped the smile off his face.<em>Why the hell do they think I'd end up bleeding? Do they have a free policy on packing weapons?</em>Russell wondered uneasily. If that was the case then maybe when decided to bring protection he should have brought an Interceptor bulletproof vest instead of several packs of condoms. Still it was too late to worry about it now...<br/><br/>As the teacher raised her book and began flicking through its pages, looking for Russell's information, the blue-eyed student's willpower slipped a shade and he gave her cleavage a long hungry look. With a herculean effort of will he managed to drag his eyes back to Amanda's face, hoping that she hadn't seen him doing his best to ravish her with a single glance. A slight flush rose in his cheeks as she told him of his room assignment, pointed out his new roommate and suggested he say hello.<br/><br/>Russell Davis liked to think of himself as fairly hard to surprise. In truth he'd travelled over more of the world than the vast majority of people his age and had studied in schools on three continents due to being a military brat. But the person that Miss Masters indicated was his roommate was like no other he'd seen. At first glance she appeared to be clad in a fur bikini a shade lighter than her shoulder-length red hair. However while the small horns could at a pinch be passed off as cosplay ornaments there was no such explanation for the batlike wings sprouting from her shoulderblades. The real clincher, however, was her tail, twitching and moving on its own.<em> Modern prosthetics don't have that level of precision,</em>Russell told himself silently. His<em>And the spinal cord can't coordinate more than four limbs. This girl's got seven - arms, legs, wings and tail, and they all seem to be okay. So now apply Holmes' Dictum, that once you eliminate the impossible whatever remains must be the truth, no matter how improbable it may seem. And that means...</em>The dark-haired youth swallowed nervously as the truth hit him like a bucket of ice water.<br/><br/><em>She isn't human.</em><br/><br/>It was the only conclusion that made sense.<em>So who or what is she? And how many of the others aren't human?</em>Russell's mind flashed back to the girl with the fox ears and tails, the harpy and the green-skinned girl who had gotten out of the first carriage, and a quick look around revealed the presence of several other girls and women. With the exception of Miss Masters none of them looked entirely human. In contrast Mr Gage and the other males he could see looked like relatively normal humans, with not a wing or claw in sight, leaving one question in Russell's mind.<em>What do they want with us?</em><br/><br/>The wiry youth sighed and ran his fingers through his brown hair nervously.<em>Not much I can do about it right now. I'm stuck who knows how many miles away from anywhere else, and I have no idea on which way to go to get to civilisation. Besides, I need information before I decide what to do. </em>Russell hoisted his duffel bag over his shoulder, grabbed one of his suitcases in each hand and, with a polite but preoccupied nod to Miss Masters, started walking towards the girl with the reddish fur and bat wings she had pointed out. As he approached she leaned close to a human boy with long pale hair, whom Russell recognised as one who had been travelling on the same carriage as himself, and sniffed at his neck. A bubble of unease rose in Russell's stomach as the girl's actions suddenly reminded him of a hunting dog memorising a scent before following a trail. The red-haired girl - he suddenly recalled that Miss Masters had told him her name was Sashira -  suddenly pulled back before leaning closer to him and scratching a ball of black fur the long-haired boy held in his arms.<br/><br/>An instant later one of the carriage drivers called her name and Sashira called out to him that she'd pick her bag up in a moment.<em>That's my cue!</em>Russell thought as he closed in on the bat-winged girl. "Excuse me, Sashira?" he asked as he moved next to her. "I'm Russell Davis. Miss Masters said I've been assigned as your roommate," he introduced himself. Greeting her with a friendly smile his blue eyes met her red ones as he set down one of his suitcases and offered his free hand to her. "Anyway I heard you tell the driver that you'd pick up your bag in a minute, and I was thinking I could carry it up to our room. Problem is," he indicated the suitcase he'd set down and the one he still held, "my hands are full so I'd need someone to open the door for me. Any chance you could help out?"<br/><br/><br/>OOC: And now Russell starts getting the picture. Heh heh heh...<br/>