NationStates Jolt Archive

“Now the first thing you need to know about reanimating skeletons is that they have no free will of their own,” Professor Bräck explained. “You control everything they do, they will stand still until they are given orders or their orders are activated in the case of guarding someone or something.”

Professor Bräck clapped his hands and the skeleton stood still. It didn’t move at it, it was just as though it was no longer animated.

“It is now in standby mode and will not do anything.”

The skeleton continued to stand perfectly still.

“Now if I give it a command, the skeleton will carry out said command.”

Professor Bräck leaned forward and said something to the skeleton. Stepping back again, the skeleton began walking the length of the classroom, stopping only once it reached the back. From there it seemed to stand guard.

“And it will stay there until a trigger is set off, something that I told it to watch out for and deal with.”

The headmaster held up his hand and created a fire on the floor in front of all the class. That was when the skeleton leapt into action, it moved to the corner where it picked up a fire extinguisher and headed down to the front of the classroom and promptly used the fire extinguisher to put the fire out.

“And there you have it,” Professor Bräck then said as he gave the skeleton a new order.

The skeleton went behind his desk and went around the classroom passing out boxes to each student.

“Because we don’t have enough human or elven skeletons to go around and I’d rather not let you yield such skeletons, each box contains a complete cat skeleton.”

The headmaster grinned.

“And you will be looking after your cat skeleton for the rest of the year.”

Iris smiled slightly and opened her box, inside was a small skeleton. She looked around the room to see what the other kids were doing; some were just looking at the box of parts and others had taken them out of the box. Iris carfuly tiped the box on its side and let the skeleton slide out onto her desk, a little unsure of what to do next she waited and looked around the room.

Professor Bräck watched over the students, waiting for them to take out their cat skeletons. Robin was the last to take his out, a little problem with some electricity jumping between his fingers to the metal hinges on the box and back again. He knew Elrohir would be laughing if he saw it.

"So, who would like to try their luck first?" the headmaster asked.

"definantly not me" Iris thought to her self as she poked at the small skeleton on the desk infront of her. The skeleton beloning to one of the kids beside her twitched as it lay on the desk,"five bucks to say that it implodes" she thought watching the other cat unaware that her own was now sitting up and apparently looking around the room.

"Seems that someones made theirs sit up already," Professor Bräck smirked.

He watched Iris' skeleton cat looking around the room.

"Miss Darhaven, you are not aware of it are you?"

Iris turned when she heard Professior Bräck speeking to her, as she did so the small cat skeleton collasped back to the desk nothing more than a small pile of bones.
"humm?"

"Ah not entirely there then," Professor Bräck commented. "For a moment there in your daze you brought your skeleton to life. Seems you were too oblivious to it Miss Darhaven."

She looked down at the small pile of bones sheepishly.
"oh..."
she gave the pile a good prod and tried to keep her mind from wondering as she tried to get the skeleton to move again. it just layed there as if to mock her after about ten miniutes of trying she sighed and went back to looking about the room as she did so the cat sat up and licked its paws.

Professor Bräck didn't look to impressed. "Somehow we are going to have to make you pay attention Miss Darhaven," he stated. "Your cat comes to life when you start daydreaming."

“And you will be looking after your cat skeleton for the rest of the year.”

What was that? The Professor's words filtered through Ruari's creative daze. Funny, he was saying it as if it was something nasty. But what would be the problem with looking after a cat skeleton? It wouldn't be too bad at all. A bit lumpy if it wanted to curl up on the bed with you, but all the same ...

Ruari watched eagerly as the animated skeleton went around the class handing out boxes. He'd like a cat, even if it was just bones. Of course, what he'd really like would be a whole cat. A little calico, maybe, like that tribe that lived in the barn over at the Maclarens' place back home ...

He saw the cat in his head. He could imagine how its forehead would have a big black M-for-Moggy marking in its fur, and its tail would be ginger-banded, and it would have a ginger "saddle" marking in the middle of its back and a black "saddlecloth" underneath, and one eye would have a sort of eye-patch ...

His box had arrived while he was off in a day-dream. He pulled it towards him, for once wanting to get on with a lesson. Funny, it was heavier than he'd expected it would be. He'd thought bones would hardly weigh anything at all. And there seemed to be a sort of scrabbling inside ...

The little moggy sat up in the box and licked its front foot, tongue working busily around the pink pads underneath.

Oh Goddess, I've done it again. But the lid of the box was still up, hiding the regrettably un-bony cat from the people in front of him. Perhaps no-one had noticed yet.

Disappear, please disappear, he told the little cat. Go hide in my room. Don't let the Professor see you. Please, please, pleeeaase.

He squinched his eyes tight shut to see if that would help.

As the Professor spoke the cat yawned and stood arching its back with a soft 'pop', it flicked it tail and turned its back and sat resuming its grooming. The sound of a voice speeking to her again pulled Iris of of her train of thought causing the cat to freeze. She sighed as she looked at the small skeleton, at least this time it had not collapsed in to a pile of bones.
"Sorry Professor" she mumbled as she turned her thoughts to the cat befor her.
"i can manipulat blood with out a second though, but when it comes to a lousey pile of bones it only works when iam not paying attention, great"
she glared at the cat skeleton,"hummor me?",the cats tail flicked but that was all.

Professor Bräck's eyes were focused on Iris' cat, but that didn't mean he didn't know about Ruari's cat.

"Interesting," he said, his eyes looking directly at Iris. "It is why you are here, to learn yes? Then we shall work on your evident attention problems."

Professor Bräck's eyes were focused on Iris' cat, but that didn't mean he didn't know about Ruari's cat.

"Interesting," he said, his eyes looking directly at Iris. "It is why you are here, to learn yes? Then we shall work on your evident attention problems."
Iris bit her tongue and nodded slightly," yes Professor."
She glanced around the room and noted that most had not gotten any father with there cats than she had out of her 'not paying attention lapses'. With a sighlent sigh Iris waited to see what Professor Bräck wanted her to do next.

Professor Bräck looked around the room. "So is anyone else willing to give their own demonstration?"

His eyes fell upon Alice and he smirked.

Mierin was unusually quiet in Necromancy class, having taken a seat next to Ruari, who seemed so caught up in his own little world that he did not even notice her casting sinful glances in his direction. She sulked and slouched in her seat.

Acknowledging Alice, she turned her attention back to the front of the classroom as the Assingtonian took her seat. Robin's sudden assault on Elohir did not concern her.

For the next few minutes, her attention was fixated on the headmaster. This was a subject she was most interested in, and she made sure not to miss a word.

Filled with a mixture of glee at finally being able to do this sort of thing and disappointment that it was only a cat skeleton, she nonetheless turned her full efforts towards the goal of reanimating the bones. At first, she was unsuccessful, but soon she was able to move the dead cat's calcium frame. Iris had already reanimated hers twice by the time Mierin got hers up and going. However, the lid to her box was lifted at the front of her desk, partially obscuring the view from the front of the classroom.

Unable to suppress a razor blade smile, she looked towards Ruari to... well... show off. However, her eyes caught on something most unuasual. "Dear... what's that?" she asked the boy, unsure of what exactly he had done.

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Arpad had come in late, after talking over some things with Zero back in his room. He had decided that perhaps he should join this group his roommate was talking about, give it a chance and see if he liked it.

When he arrived he had taken a seat next to Iris, in time to be given a cat skeleton to reanimate. Iris had more luck with hers than he did with his.

<snip>"Dear... what's that?" she asked the boy, unsure of what exactly he had done.

"I've done it again!" he whispered, sounding desperate. "I don't know how and I didn't mean to. I wasn't even trying very hard to do the right thing, and now I've done totally the wrong thing."

Seeing that this really didn't explain much, he wriggled closer to the edge of his seat so they could talk more easily. "I've revived the cat!" he said softly. "Just like Granma! You know how we were just supposed to make the skeleton go back together, so it'd do what we told it to? Well, mine must've somehow got flesh and skin and fur all at once, while it was still in the box, and now it's a cat again. And there's no way a cat is going to do what anyone but itself wants."

Proving his point, the little calico crept out of the box and settled down on his lap. Ruari stroked it absently, glaring at Mierin.

"And no, just in case you're about to suggest it, I don't think there was a live cat in the box all along," he said bitterly. "I think I've done what I always bloody well do! I've mucked everything up again!"

He stared straight ahead, not wanting to see how Mierin would react. She must be sick of putting up with a stupid kid like him. He hadn't been dumb until he came to this stupid school, but now he was hopeless at everything.

Including, it seemed, fooling teachers. He'd always been able to keep out of trouble when he wanted to. But now he had the feeling Professor Brack knew exactly what was going on.

"Master Kereshtur, don't think I don't know you snuck in late," Professor Bräck said, his eyes turning to Arpad. "Perhaps you could show the class your talents since you don't believe you need to turn up on time."

Iris gazed out the window, a small hawk was sitting one a tree just one the other side of the glass she smiled softly and turned back to her cat,"lets give this another shot, shall we?" she reached out tentatively and ran a finger tip over its head and down its back to the tip of its tail. let her face grow blank as the small cat pushed against her hand she opened her eyes open slowly as she looked into the skeletal face before her,"ah...lets dance" the cat turned and slowly slipped off the desk landing on the floor with a soft click of its claws, it moved slowly, taking its time before silently leaping up onto Professor Bräck's desk, sitting it looked around the room.

Professor Bräck looked down at the cat that was now sat upon his desk.

"Now this is what I expect from you all, Master Kereshtur in particular," he said and scratched the cats skull under it's chin. "Well done Miss Darhaven."

The small cat gently batted at the professors hand with kittin like grace then jumped off the desk, slowly winding its way through the room pausing every once and a while to turn its empty eyes on a student or its cat for a moment before moving on. Iris sat quietly and inclined her head slightly as Professor congratulated her, before returning to the small drawing before her. Eventually the cat finished its survey of the room and returned to her desk with a soft click as it landed. It nudged against her then settled curling around so that its head rested on its back feet, the cat yawned and looked at Arpad and his cat.

Arpad sheepishly made his way to the back of the class without a word, somewhat hunched over in embarrassment.

"Now Master Kereshtur, are we going to see what you can do?" Professor Bräck then asked. "Not afraid of not being up to the level of Miss Darhaven are you? Her level is possible but Master Dhurig's level is far too far high a level."

His eyes looked to Ruari having said that.

A loud explosion rocked the mansion, instantly waking those students whom had drifted off into daydreaming.

"That wraps up our lesson for today," Professor Bräck said in a rather calm voice. "Your out of class work is to look after your cat, any problems you can come to me. Class dismissed."

Once class was dismissed Iris slid quietly out of her seat and out the door,before the other students. After making sure that her cat was trotting behind her, Iris paused for a moment and picked it up, continuing on her way. She broke into a brisk jog up the corridor then turned right slipping to to alcove with an open window. Iris set the little cat back on the floor where it sat still waiting. Iris slumped against the wall eyes closed waiting as her thoughts slowly rolled through her head sorting themselves, she hoped for peace and quiet but knew it would not last.