A bag of carrots by a fountain (Emily)

[Ebony Aria Ryder]

Ebony was bored, that much was obvious. She stood in her dorm with her pajamas still on, her backpack on the floor, her pillow getting ready to fall off of her bed. She didn't take much notice to that, just stood staring off into space, wondering what she could do, having not been at the school long.

She was alone, Skii and Selah, her room mates, were out, so Ebony turned on her CD player full blast, hoping some music would help. She hadn't put a specific CD in it, so she smiled slightly when it started playing the music from her favorite movie, “Racing Stripes.”

Plopping down on her bed, Ebony finally making the pillow fall, where it landed on her bag with a thump. She frowned a little, picking it up, and then decided to rifle through whatever she had in her backpack, not quite sure. Her eyebrows raised high on her face in surprise, she found a bag of carrots and a book of African folk tales. She wasn't quite sure what she would do with them, but was glad that something had finally captured her interest.

Dressed in actual clothes now instead of pajamas, even if they were usually for running, she grabbed the two as she pulled on her sneakers. She usually wore them, she didn't know if she would run, but it was always good to be prepared. She was already outside when she remembered that she'd forgotten to turn off her music. Biting her lip, she turned around and ran back, slower than she would have normally liked to run.

She wasn't out of breath when she arrived back at the dorm, but she grabbed her water bottle anyway, and took off again after turning off the CD player, shutting the door with a slam.

The book, water bottle and carrots in her arms, Ebony decided to run after all. Not very far, or for very long, but just enough to get her blood pumping. The frequency of her steps increased, her sneakers making that oh so satisfying sound as they hit the ground, stirring up dirt considering she was outside.

Ebony wasn't exactly sure where she was, but she liked what she saw so far. She grinned when she saw the fountain, and walked over, taking a drink from her water bottle in the process. Immediately plopping down, Ebony crossed her legs as she opened the bag of carrots, flipping through the pages of her book. It was one she had already read, she needed something new to read, but she started on the story as she took a bite of a carrot, oblivious to everything around her except the sound of the fountain behind her.

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{Tag: Emily/Trist =D
Word count: My muse is a little dead, so the total is 456!
Notes: None that I can think of.
Clothes: Click! (Just without the bag)}

[Emily Holmes]

x

Emily still didn’t really have a clue where she was going. She expected she would still be getting lost a week from now. She didn’t need to be anywhere, though. So it made little difference whether she knew where she was or not. She knew where she was; she was outside the school. What she didn’t know was how she got there or where everything else was in relation to where she was now. Still, getting lost could be fun. She was wearing a simple yellow tee and a pair of white shorts, and of course her large brimmed sun hat, her portable shade, as she liked to think of it.

Taking a look around, Emily was reminded of where she was. She still couldn’t really believe it. She couldn’t really come to terms with the fact that she was actually somewhere near Hawaii. She had almost never left the area where she grew up, and had never been alone. She had that odd feeling inside her, excitement coupled with disbelief, and she loved it. Everything here was so beautiful. She wanted to take some photographs, maybe send some to her parents. She wanted to remember her first days here in as much detail as possible.

As always, Emily’s camera was on a lanyard around her neck, ready in case she ever needed it. She took hold of it and started wandering around, looking for something interesting to take a picture of. Everything looked so lovely she wanted to capture all of it. Picking out any single scene was almost too hard for her. She took a quick snap of a butterfly on a bunch of flowers, just a second before it flew away. Smiling to herself, Emily admired her shot on the little camera screen. It was quite good for a shot taken so quickly. Emily had gotten quite good at taking good quality pictures quickly. She was the master of the Kodak moment. Even if they weren’t all that good quality wise, she rarely ever deleted a photo. Even a simple, poorly taken photo could tell a story. Emily especially liked capturing things as they happened, and you can’t re-take those photos.

Wandering round for a little more, Emily came across a garden, with a fountain right in the middle of it. It looked lovely and was dotted with people relaxing or having fun. Emily’s smile widened, and she lifted her camera again to capture the sight in front of her. She wanted to get a closer look at the fountain, and walked slowly across the lawns, taking her time and making the most of the view. Her camera was still I her hand, just in case anything happened. She arrived at the fountain, where a girl was sat reading. Emily knew that some people didn’t like their photo’s being taken, so she decided to ask if the girl minded her taking pictures. ”Hi, do you mind if I take a few photos of the fountain? I didn’t want to take them without asking, I know some people are camera shy.” She was still smiling, her cheery mood matching her surroundings.

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Tagged: Ebony
Words: 523
Note: Not sure if it’s a good reply, hope it’s something you can work with

[Ebony Aria Ryder]

Ebony brushed her hair out of her face as she turned the page, eating another carrot as she did so. Her eyes flitted across the pages, taking all of the information in, word by word, sentence by sentence, she really did like the book, took a drink from her water bottle, then she saw someone in front of her.

The girl was young, definitely younger than herself, and had a camera with her. She hoped she hadn't been standing there long, she'd feel horrible if that was the case. But when the girl spoke, she realized that she wasn't wrong to hope, it didn't seem like she'd been there too long at least.

“Hi, do you mind if I take a few photos of the fountain? I didn’t want to take them without asking, I know some people are camera shy,” she heard her say, and Ebony resisted the urge to pinch her cheeks or something. Ebony's protective instincts flared, and she smiled at her, her eyes off of her book.

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“Do you need me to move?” Ebony asked cocking her head, not quite sure of the girl's question. It was straight forward, but she just wasn't sure. And it was always good to double check. Ebony closed her book, memorizing the page number, then moved so that she was sitting on her knees, ready to stand up if need be. “It's no problem if that's the case,” she added with a smile, trying to put the girl a little at ease. She didn't look nervous, but Ebony hoped she'd appreciate it, she knew she would if she were in her position.

Not that Ebony was the most intimidating person, of course. Though people often said things about her eyes. The clear blue eyes that were now looking at the girl with an open mind as she said, “I'm Ebony, by the way.” She decided to stand up after all, and sat her book down on the ground, her head cocked at the girl again. Her long legs made her tower over the girl, making Ebony feel a little awkward, so she tried to slouch, but to no avail.

She picked up her book, she thought she'd seen a raindrop, but she wasn't completely sure. The wind was picking up a little, but she tried to pay it no notice, even though she was starting to get scared. She didn't want to be seen as rude, if she was obvious about her fears at least.[/blockquote]

{Tag: Emily.
Word count: 419.
Notes: <-- that's my muse currently.
Clothes: Click! (Without the bag)}

[Emily Holmes]

x

Emily returned the older girl’s smile. She seemed nice, it didn’t look like she minded her taking pictures, she seemed to care more about weather she was getting in the way. She was shifting position, rising to her knees and saying she didn’t mind moving. ”Oh, there’s really no need, thank you. I just didn’t want to take pictures here if it made you uncomfortable.” The girl was smiling at her again, and Emily couldn’t help giving another smile of her own.

The other girl was introducing herself. Ebony was a nice name. She was standing up, even though she didn’t have to. She was quite a bit taller than Emily, but that didn’t bother her, she was used to people being taller than her. She was rather hoping to hit a growth spurt at some time, although she had to admit she liked being small. There wasn’t any real reason though, it was just part of who she was. ”I’m Emily, it’s nice to meet you.” She replied. Ebony stooped to pick up her book, which she had left on the floor when she stood.

”Well, thank you for being so nice, I just wanted to get a picture of the fountain.” Emily took a little step back and brought her camera up to her face, pausing to brush her hair over her shoulder. The wind had picked up a little and she didn’t want it getting in the way of her shot. The fountain looked really nice, the water cascading down it, reflecting even a small amount of light. Though Emily liked taking pictures of most things but nature had the most beauty. Things like fire, water, snow and even storms were some of Emily’s favourite things to take pictures of. You never got the same picture twice, and the shapes and colours were always interesting and beautiful. Fire was probably her favourite. It could be dangerous, but if it was controlled it was great to look at. Emily pressed the button on her camera, taking the shot quickly. She didn’t want to get in Ebony’s way for too long if she could help it.

Turning back to Ebony, she smiled and gave a little sort of bow. She hardly even noticed she was doing it. ”Thank you, I’ll let you get back to your reading now. What book is that, if you don’t mind me asking?” She asked, smiling again at the girl. Even though she they had just met, she already liked Ebony. She seemed like a really nice person.

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Tagged: Ebony
Words: 424
Note: My muse was the same for this post actually, no worries.

[Ebony Aria Ryder]

“Oh, there’s really no need, thank you. I just didn’t want to take pictures here if it made you uncomfortable,” the girl said, and Ebony softened more and more. She was a kind person by nature, but this girl was making her a ball of mush! Really, she was just adorable, and Ebony liked her already, she was a lot nicer than the human she had met at the cafe. Ebony shuddered internally thinking of Sophia, but didn't let it affect her facial expression; it was best for her to just put the incident behind her.

“I'm Emily, it's nice to meet you,” she heard her add, and Ebony nodded, committing it to memory with a slight smile on her face. Her manners were great, and she sneaked another carrot into her mouth, hoping Emily wouldn't think she was weird. Stomach growling, Ebony was really hungry, but she was content with her carrots for now. That was the one thing that she didn't really like about shifting into a zebra – as a horse, she took an intense like to carrots, some could call it an obsession; most people thought she was weird because of it.

“Well, thank you for being so nice, I just wanted to get a picture of the fountain.”

“Oh, it's no problem,” Ebony replied with a grin. “So is it safe to assume you're a photography major? Or at least like taking pictures,” she added with a cock of her head. When she did that, her hair fell onto her shoulder, so she pulled it behind her ears again, knowing that if she shifted, Emily would probably be able to tell what she was thinking. It was a zebra thing, she knew, but it was yet another thing that got on her nerves sometimes about shifting, that and the actual feeling of shifting. She wondered what Emily's shift was, but wondered if it would be rude to ask.

“Thank you, I’ll let you get back to your reading now. What book is that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Ebony fingered the cover of her book, looking down at it, then she moved her gaze back to Emily, saying, “Oh, it's just a book of African folk tales. I'm a zebra shift, so I've always found them really interesting. I've read this volume before though, it's one of my favorites that I actually own.”

Eating another carrot, Ebony wondered if she should have told her shift so quickly...she hadn't talked to that many people here yet. Was it normal to tell it so quickly? Ebony wasn't sure, so as she took another carrot out of the bag, she bit her lip slightly, so slightly that most people wouldn't be able to tell.

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{Tag: Emily.
Word count: 464.
Notes: Recovering muse, sorry.
Clothes: Too tired to post the link @.@}[/size]

[Emily Holmes]

x

Emily saw the other girl put something in her mouth. She thought it looked like a carrot… Ebony was holding a bag of something. It looked like it was full of carrots. Emily gave another little smile. Carrots weren’t what most people would choose to snack on. A lot of people would think it was weird to eat carrots like that, but not Emily. She personally thought carrots were a nice snack every now and again.

Emily was glad Ebony didn’t mind being disturbed. Some people just liked to be left alone, especially when they were reading. Some people liked to read in their private time, time just for themselves. Emily wondered if she was cutting in to Ebony’s time. She hoped she wasn’t. Sometimes everyone just needed time to be alone, some more than others.

Ebony was asking about her major. It wasn’t hard to guess really, the way she carried her camera constantly and took photographs of almost everything she saw. ”Yep, it is. I love taking pictures, I have for most of my life. It’s nice to keep the memories alive.” Emily wondered what the other girl’s major was. With her it was easy to see, with the camera and all. But with Ebony there weren’t really any clues. She had that book but that was about it. And a lot of people read books, especially when they were relaxing as Ebony had been. ”So… what’s your major? I’m… not that good at guessing…” She said, smiling yet again. She had been in a really smiley mood since she had arrived here.

Ebony looked down for a moment at her book, before looking back to Emily. It sounded like a really interesting book. Emily had no idea about African folk tales, but it sounded like it would be really fascinating. So she could become a zebra. That must be nice. Emily wasn’t used to people telling her what their animal shift was straight away. Although this was because she hadn’t really met anyone else who could shift apart from people in her family. Now that she was here and surrounded by other people with the same ability… well it was amazing. She was so used to keeping it a secret that she and her family could change her shape. She still didn’t know exactly how to talk about it with other people.

”That sounds very interesting, I bet they’re really nice folk tales. I don’t know much about anything like that. I bet your animal form looks lovely too.” Part of her wanted to see it, maybe to take pictures. She actually wanted to try and take pictures of as many animal forms as she could while she was here. But it wasn’t something you could just ask people.

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Tagged: Ebony
Words: 462
Note: Sorry, muse is a bit off at the moment

[Ebony Aria Ryder]

“Yep, it is. I love taking pictures, I have for most of my life. It’s nice to keep the memories alive,” Emily said, and Ebony nodded in response, a little frozen at the thought of memories. She didn't like to face her past often, it wasn't something she liked to remember, at least what happened after her dad died, at least. Everything had gone downhill from there, her sister's cancer, her mom...she didn't let herself think of her mom, but it was hard. It was hard because she let it come into her head in the first place. She felt like she was on the brink of tears, but she sucked it up, like she always had, like she always would. She knew she would have to face it eventually, but she didn't want to today, so she placed a smile on her face and pushed it into the back of her mind.

“That's really cool,” Ebony replied with the smile still on her face. “I'm kind of hopeless when it comes to cameras, myself.” And she was, it didn't really have anything to do with her major or shift, and it just wasn't her thing anyways; not that she didn't appreciate other people's talents, because she did, she just never felt any love towards it.

“So… what’s your major? I’m… not that good at guessing…” she heard Emily say, snapping her out of her thoughts a little. She couldn't blame her for asking, it was hard to tell what Ebony's major was, though it was obvious for some people, just by their personalities or they way they looked, or what they had with them, kind of like Emily's camera.

Her mind drew a blank though, and a few seconds passed before she finally remembered, but she didn't let it show on her face; she just said, “Oh, I'm a tourism major. I think I'm the only one, but I'm not sure.” Her smile fell a little, she would have liked it if she knew of someone else with the same major, for it was just another way she stood out, and she didn't like that, not very much at all. Ebony continued with, “I can't stand zoos, so I figured it would be a good choice, you know? 'Cause that way I could get people to go see the animals in their natural habitats instead.” Did that make sense? She thought it did, but her own phrasing confused her a little. She didn't correct herself though, she just hoped that Emily would understand, she was pretty sure she would.

“That sounds very interesting, I bet they’re really nice folk tales. I don’t know much about anything like that. I bet your animal form looks lovely, too,” Emily said, causing Ebony to blink. She didn't expect her to comment on that, most people just looked at her a little strangely when she mentioned African folk tales.

A real grin lit up her face and she said, “Yeah, they are, I think they are at least. Not a lot of people know about them, but my favorites are the ones about how zebras got their stripes.” She blushed a little when Emily commented on her animal form. She'd only shifted once, and she hadn't gotten a very good look at herself, but yes, she thought so too, but only because she loved stripes.

Text
Talking
Someone else talking

Count: 570
Tag: Emily
Clothes: Just without the bag, so, click!
Music: Watching "Wife Swap" :]
Notes: New template xD

Made and coded by Essy for Rachel. Permission given to edit the ooc stuffs~

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[Emily Holmes]

x

The other girl smiled at Emily. The younger girl wondered whether Ebony was the same or was just nodding to show she understood. Emily could remember her past generally but specific details often slipped her mind. That was why she took so many pictures. Looking at just one of them could remind her, not only of what had happened at that moment but of the entire experience, like a chain reaction of memories. Of course Emily’s life had been far from perfect, but even the pictures taken during times when she was unwell provided good memories; After all, she had always survived and recovered, and she had the memories of her family standing by her during those times.

Emily smiled when Ebony said her major was cool. Photography had been Emily’s main passion for most of her life. She had other interests of course, but her camera was the one thing that had stayed with her throughout her whole life. Not this specific one, but from an early age she had owned a camera. Her current camera was by far her favourite, it was a fairly large one with interchangeable lenses and more settings and features than Emily knew what to do with. It had been a birthday present from her whole family on her last birthday and she had fallen in love with it immediately. She would often play around with the different settings and see how photos turned out. They were often awful but occasionally a good one would emerge.

Emily didn’t think Ebony could be that bad with a camera. After all, most were just point and shoot, there wasn’t much that could go wrong. ”You can’t be hopeless, you probably just haven’t practiced. I started taking pictures when I was little, so I’ve had lots of practice. I could help you if you wanted.” She didn’t think that Ebony might just be politely making conversation. She liked helping people, and saying that you couldn’t do something was an open invitation.

Ebony paused for a while when Emily asked her major, and a look of confusion passed over Emily’s face for a moment. It left immediately when the girl responded. She smiled as Ebony gave her reasons. It was probably the best reason for picking a major she’d heard. ”Wow, that sounds fun. So you’re trying to make more people see the animals wild, so that less people will want to go to zoos.” Emily said. She knew that you wouldn’t be able to get rid of zoos that easily, and even if you did most of the animals couldn’t survive in the wild. Personally Emily liked going to zoos and photographing all of the animals, but she could see why people didn’t like them, especially when the animals didn’t have enough space.

Ebony grinned happily at the young girls next comment, causing Emily to smile again in return. She seemed almost embarrassed that Emily had commented on her animal form, though Emily didn’t know why. Most people’s animal forms were nice lo look at, so why not tell them so. ”What are the stories about Zebra’s stripes like?” She asked. She didn’t think the tales would be about things like that. Emily was one of those people who didn’t know anything about African folk tales, though she was interested to learn now that she’d heard a little about them. ”You said that was just one volume, are there many? I’d like to hear some of them.” She added, wondering if maybe Ebony had others that she could borrow.

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Tagged: Ebony
Words: 599
Note: Slow muse day, hope it’s alright