Time for a little mischief ...

Wandering the grounds of Haven Tahi yawned. She was bored. Kal had just left on another one of his mysterious missions, but hadn't taken her along. For that reason alone, she kinda doubted that this was on Hestia's orders. Firstly, taking her along was something he usually did when the mission was important for their lady. Secondly, she had just been to Hestia's temple. If something was wrong, surely the goddess would have sent her some sort of sign. Maybe Kal just wanted to let her have her final year at the Athenaeum in peace. She did have a tournament to prepare for. But she didn't want to think about that now. Lessons had yet to start and all Tahi could do was wander. Okay - she could be practicing on her own too, but that kind of thing just wasn't her style. She'd rather just breeze along if she could.

Maybe there is something I could be doing, Tahi thought. Let's see what's going on in Haven right now... Her eyes turned bright white as she called up her magic. "Is there news?" she whispered into the winds. She waited. After a little while, breezes began circling all around her. Inclining her head she listened to the snippets of conversations they carried. A lot of it was old news.

Mnemosyne was worrying about her eldest daughter. It was about time for the girl to enter the Athenaeum, should she choose, and from what Tahi knew about the girl - she would choose, despite her mother's fears.

Laughter came from Ilios's room. Tahi smiled. She was rather fond of the rascal. They both had gotten in and out of trouble together often. In a way Ilios reminded her of how her childhood should have been. Tahi had taken it upon herself to look out for the little guy when he was out of his mother's watchful eyes. But for now, all seemed well. She moved on.

Splashes and noises came from the bathhouse. It seemed like there was all sorts of ruckus happening there. Tahi chuckled. That was not going to make some of the Nymphs, Naiads, and Nereids there happy.

"...Stupid birthday.." Tahi stopped. Birthday? she thought with a grin. She recognized that voice. It was none other than her dear roommate, Severa. Now that she recalled - it was about time for Sev's birthday. She probably shouldn't have even known about it - a birthday was the kind of thing Sev kept to herself, but then again, it was hard to keep something from a nosy Nephelae like Tahi, and harder still when said nosy Nephelae had been your roommate for the past four years.

Tahi smiled a wicked smile. She had missed the first party. So why not throw a second one in Sev's honor. Yes. This was going to be fun. Pulling out her notebook from her bag, Tahi wrote a bunch of messages, each saying the same thing.

"It has come to my attention that on August 7th, our dear Severa will be celebrating her birthday - since this is her fifth year here, I believe we should all get together and throw a surprise party. Come find me in the mess hall where I will be decorating, and baking a giant birthday cake - Love Tahi"

Folding the messages into miniature birds she quietly chanted a spell Kallistrates had taught her a couple of years ago. Each of the messages sprang to life, soaring into the air and circling around Tahi. "Go!" she shouted to the message-birds. "Tell everyone in Haven - EXCEPT FOR SEVERA!" Giggling to herself, she strolled into the mess hall. It's time to bake a cake! she thought. The only problem was that she had absolutely no idea how to do so. Shrugging, she thought, Well, there's only one way to learn!

Calla was sitting outside in the Fields, smiling as the wind was blowing around. She noticed one of Tahi's messages and listened to the message. She smiled and jumped up, carefully grabbing the message and running toward the mess hall. As she went to run in, she ran into the very girl she was looking for...LITERALLY.
"Oh! Tahi! I got your message," she said smiling.

Tahi grinned as she regained her balance - recognizing Calla. The girl was energetic - Tahi gave her that much credit. But Tahi liked her, and she knew that Calla and Severa weren't on the best of terms. She was sure Calla would appreciate mischief of this caliber.

"Great!" Tahi replied, her grin becoming even wider as she thought of the mischief they were about to get into. "I'm going to need a lot of help if we're going to plan a party and keep it secret from dearest Severa. I think we're going to need people to help decorate, people to help baking, people to set up music of some sort, and of course, people to distract the guest of honor so she doesn't find out. So what do you want to do? I was going to try and bake a cake - but I've never done it before...." Tahi motioned to the giant bowl on the table.

She was holding a scroll in her hands. "It says we need a lot of flowers - so I was going to go get some from the meadows when you came in. I wonder why we'd need flowers though..."

((I'm going to bed now - but I'll see you guys later! Lots of mischief to do!))

"Amaranth!" Tahi exclaimed, waiting for the siren to release Calla, before pulling her into a hug of her own.

"It's been such a long time! And you look radiant as well! I can't wait to see that fabric - we can call it a trade since I picked up some rather exotic pieces myself while Kal and I were wandering the world. But right now I'm planning an absolutely... wonderful... surprise for my dearest roomate" she chuckled evil-ly. "And I'm learning how to cook! Only I have no idea why we need to put flowers in a cake mix. I mean cake's not supposed to smell like flowers isn't it? "

"We could use your help if you'd like to assist!"

"But isn't that what the instructions say, Amaranth? See. Add flower." She handed Amaranth the scrap of paper, shrugging.

"Well - I was always a terrible cook. If you can believe it Kal does all the cooking when we travel. He's actually quite good at it." She winked at Amaranth. "I'll work on the decorations then. Wind magic will make it a lot easier."

"Traveling was as adventurous as ever. It only actually took us a couple of days to deal with the rampaging minotaurs Hestia assigned us to only took a couple of days, but Kal decided to take the long way back. He has a terrible sense of time, and direction. But on the plus side it meant that we got to stop through a number of lovely bazaars. There were some absolutely gorgeous dresses there." She sighed contentedly. "I have so many new ideas - some of which I'm not sure Kal or Mnem would approve of ^^!"

"But the downside of traveling is that I'm a little out of range of the haven gossip circle. What's this I hear about you and a student, dearest Amaranth?"

The invitation had been passed around and somehow ended up here with Shayla. Since Severa had given up so much time just too train a first year girl who had wobbly horse like legs for more than 5 hours, then she had to make it up to her.
When she saw the group of girls infront of her something hit her in the chest, making her legs wobble even more and her shoulders nearly reach her jaw. Most of them were much older than her, she barely knew any of them- in fact she didn't know any, but she recognized the girl with the long flowing hair. 'Tahi' that's what they call she thought to herself. She decided to wait for the right moment, if there ever was one. Then she noticed the flowers the stunning girl Tahi put in the bowl. Shayla had always been good with plants, she had been brought up by two great gardeners, one of which owned a greenhouse where they would sell flowers. She had always been close to nature, surely that was mostly because she was a Satyr. She shook her head trying to focus on the flowers. Just what I thought, she sighed, they are poisonous. Shayla wanted to something but walking up saying - you do know those flowers are poisonous and will make you most likely loose a leg would be the worst way to introduce herself. She decided not saying anything would be worse, so she silently trotted her way over to them making them turn their attention to her.

Tahi smiled, and hugged Amaranth again.

"See, that's what I miss when I'm traveling Amaranth. There's nobody to encourage me to... challenge the rules a little! And as long as this third year is handsome - I don't see too much of a problem, though I think you may want to keep it from Mnem for a little while. She really doesn't approve unless they're a liiittle older. But at the feelings are mutual, yes?" Tahi laughed.

"Oh, that reminds me! I think that Hestia's new first year has a bit of a crush on my brother! A first year!" She laughed, placing the flowers she had gathered into the bowl.

Suddenly, a noise interrupted Tahi's thoughts, and she looked up to see a young - centaur? no the faun legs were a Satyr trait - trotting up to them. Tahi didn't recognize the girl - and as the Athenaeum's prime gossip she new pretty much everyone - so she knew that this girl must be a new first year. She noticed that the girl was holding one of the notes that Tahi had sent out in her hand. She must be here to help, Tahi thought. Well - we certainly could use the help.

"Hello!" Tahi called out with a smile. "Here to help us throw the party of the year? I don't believe we've met - so you must be a first year. I'm Tahirah, but my friends call me Tahi." She winked. "Who are you?"

((Just as a note - make sure you read everything that's going on before you reply to a scene. Tahi was leaving to go get the flowers when she ran into Calla, so she didn't actually get the flowers. And Amaranth actually knows how to cook, so she took over that job from Tahi - who was going to decorate when Shayla came in. It's okay - and I've pretended that Tahi did get the flowers, and is still trying to cook, but just for future reference. Don't worry about it for now. Everyone's new once ))

((Omg sorry! D: okay ill just pretend you have the flowers, lol, i'm so clumsy. Sorry- this is where Shayla reminds you of me ..[Oh yeh and she is part horse lol, it's like rare or something ] ))
Shayla smiled as she saw how nice and calm the older girl Tahi was.
"I'm Shayla, and yes, i am a first year" She smiled back at the pretty girl.
"Well, I stumbled along this, this morning.." Shayla pulled out the piece of paper clutched tightly in her strong grip.
"I thought you might need some help.. And I noticed you were using flowers umm.." She said silently while the girls looked at her curiously.
"Well, I thought I might as well tell you that the flowers you are using are poisonous, but not to worry !" She hesitated and pulled out A bunch of her favorite edible flowers that she had picked this morning from her small bag always close by her side.
"Use these, i'm sure they will taste just as good as the ones you were intending to use." She said nervously, hoping they would accept her and agree with her.

Tahi blushed pink - an interesting contrast to her Egyptian skin. "Really? I didn't... I mean I'm not... I'm not a very good cook. My brother Kallistrates was always the one who did that sort of thing... I didn't know what not to use."

She took the bag Shayla offered, and opened it, pulling one out. Nibbling on the edged she smiled. "That's fantastic! Where did you find these!? How did you know?! Oh - you've got to help us finish this cake! Otherwise I'd probably end up poisoning someone again." Tahi finished sheepishly.

"Oh it's not your fault !There aren't many that know the difference between all flowers." She reassured her new friend. Reminding herself of the time her little sister made the whole family sick for weeks because she had picked the wrong flowers, she missed her family so much.
She watched Tahi take a nibble of the flowers and her eyes widened when she tasted the pure sweetness of the flowers. "That's fantastic! Where did you find these!? How did you know?! Oh - you've got to help us finish this cake! Otherwise I'd probably end up poisoning someone again."Shayla flushed bright red by the compliments Tahi gave her.
"Well, my father and mother know alot about plants.."She hadn't yet gotten used to the fact that her parents weren't her real parents. "And of course I'll help you!" She smiled at the girl, happy that she had made a great new friend.

"Great!" Tahi replied, smiling. "We need all the help we can get if we're going to be ready in time for her birthday. Have you met Severa yet? She's my... dearest... roommate." Tahi asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she said the word dearest.

She had decided to let Amaranth and Shayla deal with the cooking, and had moved on to decorating. Her wind magic made it simple to hang the colored fabrics and banners that she had purchased the last time she and her brother had been traveling together.

"Yes, Severa has been giving me a taste of sword fighting. I thought I owed her because she spent so much of her time training me." Shayla replied shyly.

Shayla walked over to a girl that looked abit younger than the others with bright blue hair. She made the decision to start grinding the flowers to make the flavour stronger and started her small search for a spice grinder.

Tahi turned from her decorating to look at Shayla. "Severa helped you learn to fight? My dear Lady, I'm surprised you can even walk! Severa's got a bit of a mean streak in her. She's been making my life difficult for the past five years. Just because I like picking out clothing more than I do fighting doesn't make me less of a person than she is! The local grumpy Roman we sometimes call her..." Tahi's voice quieted. "Not that she doesn't have her reasons..." With her powers over the winds Tahi knew a lot more than she let on most of the time. Anything said into the air, Tahi could ask the breezes to bring to her.

Her voice got louder again. "But, I'm complaining... I guess I shouldn't do that. I'm surprised Severa decided to help you though. She usually doesn't like people too much. I guess you're something special miss Shayla. Who's your sponsor anyway? Mine's Hestia." Tahi returned to decorating, picking up another big banner.

Shayla giggled her girly laugh. " Yes, i was extremely nervous after hearing all the rumours" Remembering how she nearly broke Severa's hand made her feel guilty.
"No, i'm nothing special. I think Mnemosyne had something to do with it." Well, She thought that she might be wrong about not being special. No she was right she's not special, she is different. I mean a female Satyr, is definitely different, she thought to herself.

"My sponsor is Dionysus." She smiled back and noticed the spice grinder was right in front of her.

"Ah - that makes sense." Tahi replied. "Not even Severa's obnoxious enough to annoy Mnem. She's my mentor most of the time. Officially my brother's Hestia's mentor - but Kal - he's a full blooded Nephelae. It's just not in his nature to stay in one place for so long. So Mi'lady sends him out to do her will in the world a lot. Sometimes I even go with him. That's where we got all of these fabrics here."

"And you must be something special, or Dionysus wouldn't have chosen you. I've never seen a Satyr quite like yourself before, and I've traveled all over. How did you end up coming here? I can't say Dionysus is the kindest of the great lords and ladies. Milady has often sent my brother and I to clean up some of his messes." Realizing Amaranth was helping Shayla cook, she used a little of her magic to carry her words on the winds - barely a whisper. "Earlier this year, at the kickoff dance, he assaulted Amaranth. If Hermes, Apollo, and Aphrodite hadn't intervened..."

Tahi frowned. Things got complicated quick when the gods were involved. Furthermore to hang this one banner she would need to go up to the top and actually physically stick a pin in the wall. However it was too high to reach - and while her wind could bring the decorations up to the top - her skill with throwing things was terrible... Tahi pondered what she could do.

((Amaranth is the blue haired girl. She's actually a mentor))

((Ooo, that's kool well I wasn't sure so I didn't say if she was or not ))
She heard Tahi talking to her and caught most of it but then Amaranth which is what she thinks her name is, started explaining the first step to making the cake. Multitasking wasn't one of Shay's talents so she didn't hear a lot from what Tahi said until her voice reached inside her head. A Nephelae! She thought to herself, she had a good friend called Anemos who was also a Nephelae and she couldn't even tell Tahi was one. Once again Shayla had missed the obvious.
"Well, I guess I'm something different " Shayla replied changing special to different.
"It must be a lot of fun to travel the world with your brother." She said trying to change the subject and it sounded a lot more interesting to hear about adventures then about Shayla. "Well, would you believe me if I said I grew horse legs?" She asked Tahi.
"So, of course the Athenaeum found a lot of interest in me" She muttered.

((Sorry gotta go, I will be back on later but. Nice talking talking to you. I like Tahi she is really nice ))

Tahi turned, surprised. "Yes - some of us are born to magic, and some of us have it thrust upon us - kicking and screaming. I'm a Nephelae. Well - actually I'm only half Nephelae. I was raised by my human mother and the man... The man... well anyway. I didn't know what magic was - and until I started hearing voices on the winds, I was pretty normal. My brother found me - and taught me... But I was reluctant to learn at first. I know what it's like to have magic thrust upon you."

Okay - so maybe that was the abridged version of what had happened, but Tahi didn't want to tell the girl the horror story that was how her mother died when her 'father' found out that she had cuckolded him, and how she was forced to leave her home.

"When Kal found me I was too young to come to the Athenaeum, and so we traveled for a while until I was old enough." she sighed. "There's nothing like it. The places I've been... Though traveling with my brother can be... trying at times... You know how family can be. It's nice to return here too. And there's no warm baths on the road!"

((Okay - It's nearly midnight here anyway ^^; Nice talking to you too!))

"Oh, well, I don't know if you can say it got thrust upon me." She replied, hoping the kicking and screaming was a joke.
"I had always been a strange little girl. I was to strong, i mean a 4 year old isn't suppose to be chopping down trees with her dad using a big heavy axe." She said silently, feeling that she was mostly talking to herself.

She heard Amaranth giggle in the background and smiled at her.
"Hello, Shayla. How are you?" Amaranth asked her in her beautiful voice.
"I'm very good, thank you," Shayla smiled back at the girl who was stacking plates and checking the recipe over and over.
"I've got the flowers ready," She tilted the small bowl to show her.
"What's next on the recipe?" She said quickly.

......
((Today's the day guys! I'm speeding this up))

They worked the rest of the day getting ready. Finally everything was done. All they had to do now was hide and wait for the guest of honor - while Tahi went to go tease Severa into coming.

It shouldn't be that hard... Tahi thought with a grin

((sorry, I didn't go home yesterday until 4 in the morning, and by then it was sleep time (and not the 7th anymore anyway) but we'll pretend it still is 8D))

Severa was not in an incredibly good mood entering the Mess Hall -and something told her it wouldn't improve over time either. Tahi had told her she'd hidden her sword here, devil that she was.

Why couldn't she just leave her alone? Sure, Severa hadn't been the picture of hospitality toward Tahi either, but the theft of a weapon was punishable in the Athenaeum.

"Tahi, if I find you you're dead!" she called out as she entered the Mess Hall.