[She hadn't been plucked off the street, but a situation barely a step removed from them. Kaede was a problem, at an orphanage that was already failing. It'd be a noble story, a lost little devil made whole again through the mercy of the academy. But Kaede was a problem case in more than rumor; she'd frightened the staff at the orphanage with her silence, and again with her violence. She was difficult, with her last conflict before that orphanage closed particularly bloody. Even her age was difficult to determine. So with the first years she walked.
But here, she was given a second chance. And they'd been kind to her. Kindness, where she'd known nothing like it in her life. That astonished look when someone had touched her head in gentleness rather than a disciplinary blow was quite possibly the reason she was here at all. Why she was even walking at this ceremony.
Kaede was trying hard, honestly so, to behave. To repay that kindness. To act presentable, to act like she wasn't some half-feral animal shoved into a uniform.
But it came though anyway, though subtly. The stiffness to her legs and stride, the confrontation barely hidden in the confident way her shoulders were raised. The suspicious glances when she could get away with them. Little gestures that hinted at the rage rattling about under the lid, quelled only briefly when a nun she recognized glanced her way.]
[B. Afterpa—Afterwards]
[Kaede didn't seem to relax after all that was over and done with. If she could even relax at all, in a strange place and surrounded by no one she knew. She'd retreated to the greenhouse, but it was difficult to be truly alone here.
In fact, she had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't.]
Who's there.
[It wasn't a question. It was a demand.]
[C. Choose your own adventure]
[Neither of these prompts work, have a different idea, etc? This one's for you!]
((OOC: Standard "please ignore the horns in her icons" here.))
Kaede "probably raised by wolves" (no last name) | First Year
[She hadn't been plucked off the street, but a situation barely a step removed from them. Kaede was a problem, at an orphanage that was already failing. It'd be a noble story, a lost little devil made whole again through the mercy of the academy. But Kaede was a problem case in more than rumor; she'd frightened the staff at the orphanage with her silence, and again with her violence. She was difficult, with her last conflict before that orphanage closed particularly bloody. Even her age was difficult to determine. So with the first years she walked.
But here, she was given a second chance. And they'd been kind to her. Kindness, where she'd known nothing like it in her life. That astonished look when someone had touched her head in gentleness rather than a disciplinary blow was quite possibly the reason she was here at all. Why she was even walking at this ceremony.
Kaede was trying hard, honestly so, to behave. To repay that kindness. To act presentable, to act like she wasn't some half-feral animal shoved into a uniform.
But it came though anyway, though subtly. The stiffness to her legs and stride, the confrontation barely hidden in the confident way her shoulders were raised. The suspicious glances when she could get away with them. Little gestures that hinted at the rage rattling about under the lid, quelled only briefly when a nun she recognized glanced her way.]
[B.
Afterpa—Afterwards][Kaede didn't seem to relax after all that was over and done with. If she could even relax at all, in a strange place and surrounded by no one she knew. She'd retreated to the greenhouse, but it was difficult to be truly alone here.
In fact, she had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't.]
Who's there.
[It wasn't a question. It was a demand.]
[C. Choose your own adventure]
[Neither of these prompts work, have a different idea, etc? This one's for you!]
((OOC: Standard "please ignore the horns in her icons" here.))