It's a lovely day in Night Raven College, and you are a horrible swan. Part 1.
Summary: You are a swan maiden - a magical being capable of switching between forms of a swan and a human with the help of your feathered cloak. When you're summoned to Night Raven College, everyone is understandably confused and you make it your mission to make this their problem.
You woke up in a wooden box. You were in your human form, wearing your feathered cloak and absolutely nothing underneath. Understandably, you were confused: last you remember you were walking down a garden path at night, taking in the moonlight and the sweet smell of jasmine while the humans were asleep, when a horse drawn carriage came out of nowhere and outright trampled you- or so you thought, you did black out before feeling any pain.
No matter, for now you had to get out of here. There were some sounds outside this box, someone was trying to lift the lid, you supposed. You drew the cloak tighter around you and tugged on the magic deep within - and then, you were a swan. The moment the box - coffin as you'd find out in a moment - opened, you jumped out with all your might, wings flared out, hissing. You didn't exactly expect the 'person' opening the lid to be a... cat. A magical cat. You nearly trampled the poor thing, getting hissed at in return - and then you made for the door, out into the corridor and out the nearest open window you could find.
🦢
You had absolutely no idea where you were. Everything here felt foreign - the land, the sea, even the sky. Unfamiliar stars twinkled absolutely unconcerned for you. One thing was certain, you were far from home. You've once seen a map of constellations around the world, but even that held no sky like this one.
You gave up on flying away pretty quickly after your realisation. Since you didn't even know which way was which, it would be best to remain here and gather information. And also - you would make those people regret ever kidnapping you.
🦢
You woke up in a heap of straw. Right... yesterday you managed to find some stables to spend the night at, and bunked together with one of the horses. The creature was also awake, looking at you with deeply intelligent eyes. Alright, this might be your first chance for mischief. You flew out of the stall and carefully looked around. No humans... perfect. You changed your form, and with newly gained opposable thumbs you opened up the stalls, letting horses loose - though, you made sure to first put the bridle on your sleep buddy first. Next you snuck right up to the stable doors, listened for any outside noise and then opened them too, turning into a swan right after.
Satisfied, you waddled up to the horse you spent the night with, took its reins into your beak and led it out with you. You walked it along the path, taking in the sights. There was a tall tower to one side and a big field of grass (now populated with horses) to the other. Further away, there were various buildings you didn't know much about. You remembered the general layout of stuff from flying overhead though. And so, you led the horse towards the biggest building in this whole fenced off estate.
You were walking down a road with a bunch of statues alongside it when you saw the first humans, joining in from some side path. The ones who noticed you were looking on in shock, whispering between themselves. You smugly raised your head high, scanning the crowd. Who would make a good victim...
"What the shit-?!" A ginger guy with a little heart stopped dead in his tracks, staring at you. You locked eyes. Perfect. "Is that a normal thing in this school or-"
You let go of the reins and charged at him at full speed,hissing. He flinched and instinctively turned to run away. You picked up enough speed to fly a little, a fact you made full use of, gliding at the unlucky bastard while honking. You managed to get some good hits in with your wings, and even a peck or two, before he brought up some very decorative pen and somehow sent a blast of wind that knocked you back. The humans around, all in similar clothes, were laughing at the sight.
Satisfied, you gave one last honk in the retreating boy's general direction before going back to your (stolen) noble steed, retaking the reins.
🦢
You made it all the way onto the cliff the main building was on before anyone dared to try to stop you. There, before you could try to make it indoors, a well built man with soft green hair and a stern face -and equally stern, loud voice for that matter- blocked your way. You could see it in his face though. He was bullyable.
"Stop at once, swan! Horses are not supposed to be taken all the way out here!" The guy yelled. If you could roll your eyes you would have. "And Vorpal! You are Roseheart's steed, how could you follow a mere bird!"
Oh. This guy was asking for it. You let go of the reins, unfurled your wings and started hissing. He did not seems scared though. Displeased, you lunged close to the ground and ran at him. Contrary to your expectations, while he seemed shocked, he would not cower, instead taking out one of those fancy pens. Oh, you did not like where this was going.
In a split second decision, you turned back, took the reins back, and flew onto the horse's back. You tugged the reins, trying to get your steed to move. It, Vorpal?, remained unmoved though. Damn bird body, you bet you could get it running as a human...
"Sebek?! What's going on?" A bewildered boy with silver hair ran up to the two of you, other students pointing and snickering but giving you a wide berth.
"This swan! It's... it's riding Vorpal!" Sebek was still looking at you in disbelief.
You took the moment to give a sharp tug at the reins again. This time, Vorpal apparently approved of your decision and leisurely turned and started walking. Right at the silver haired man. You would normally consider hissing at him, but you got momentarily distracted - his eyes were... really pretty. You've always loved pretty things, especially sparkly stuff.
Before you knew it, the guy was gently petting your horse. And reaching his other hand towards you. No! You were not going to get caught like that just because he was a pretty boy! You started hissing, feathers puffed and wings outstreched to assert dominance. The vile human was undeterred though.
"Here, here. There's nothing to be scared of." He murmured, flipping his hand so it was palm up for you. You were wise to his tricks though, reaching out and pecking him with the speed and grace of a snake! "Ah, you must be hungry..."
"Silver, you can't seriously be thinking about feeding this... this demonic bird!" Sebek yelled. To which the other one, Silver, sighed.
"It's just a swan." He said, taking out a sandwich from his bag. You... were admittedly hungry.
"It's riding a horse, and it was clearly leading it by the reins earlier!" Sebek argued. "I doubt it's a normal swan."
"Animals can be much smarter than you give them credit for." Silver smiled lopsidedly, tearing off the rind off the bread, and holding it out.
You calmly folded your wings, feathers smoothing out seemingly on their own, before you gracefully accepted his offering. Bread wasn't really all that healthy for you in that form, but any food was better than no food. Plus, it tasted satisfying. To the point you couldn't stop your croup from wagging a little.
"There you are." Silver cooed at you, before turning to Sebek. "You should go to class, or you will be late on your first day. I'll take Vorpal back to the stables."
Take your noble steed?! You think not. You were considering how to scare him off from this idea, but then quicker than you could register, you got grabbed. Silver carefully kept your wings to your body, and you could only swing your feet in panic and peck at his hand as he gently tucked you under one arm. Such humiliation...
🦢
Being carried back was admittedly more comfortable than you'd thought it'd be. Silver was warm, and while he kept you contained, he didn't squish you at all. You gave up on pecking him and hissing pretty early on, instead resting your long neck along his arm, head on his shoulder as you stared at the side of his face.
He was leading Vorpal by the reins with the hand he wasn't holding you with. You peacefully made your way to the stable. That's when he saw the full extent of your actions.
"All the horses are out..." He murmured in shock, before sighing.
He let go of Vorpal for the moment, and then set you down. You got some delicate petting on the head before he moved on, leading Vorpal into the stables. He would probably get busy taking care of all the horses... Yes! Freedom! You took the chance to fly right out of there.
🦢
"A horse riding swan...?" Malleus stared at Sebek as they chatted in the cafeteria over lunch.
"Hmm, I think I've heard some of my classmate talk about it." Lilia pipped up. "I assumed it was some sort of new joke, but maybe not..."
"I am certainly not joking! Silver saw it too!" Sebek yelled.
"Ah, yes." Silver confirmed, blinking as he was brought out of a daze. "It was peculiar. I wonder if Coach Vargas taught it to do that."
"Hmm, yes, that man has some rather... unique ideas." Lilia mused.
"If it was trained, it sure wasn't proper training!" Sebek huffed. "That infernal creature had absolutely no respect for people! It just kept hissing, and trying to bite!"
"It attacked you?" Malleus questioned, suddenly gloomy. "How insolent..."
"Calm down, it's just a bird!" Lilia patted his shoulder, though he too appeared a bit displeased. "We can always go hunting later."
"Uhm, well, it didn't actually attack me. It only bit Silver when reached for it." Sebek admitted, slightly put off by the anger.
"I see, that's good then." Malleus nodded. "Animals do tend to react poorly when one gets too close without warning, so it doesn't strike me as overly aggressive.."
Silver only sighed at the noticeably improved mood of his upperclassmen. He knew they were overprotective of Sebek - so was he, in some ways- but getting mad at a bird? That was a bit too much for him, and it seemed like Sebek himself shared this sentiment.
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