Friarridge: RIA
Third person POV:
Ria woke the next morning unable to sleep from the stress of what the day will hold. Rolling over she feels a warm lump pressed against her side, thinking back to yesterday she remembers the pup she rescued.
Titan lay curled up beside her on the bed, tiny whimpers are coming from it's small frame. Gently, as to not scare the poor thing, Ria lays her hand an the small pup's body in hopes of calming it. She successfully manages to stop it's whimpering and instead it emites a happy rumbles similar to a cat's purr.
Rolling over to check the time her clock states it's 7:30, forty-five minutes until Blaze is coming over. Stretching Ria lays back down and cuddles Titan, imagining what the day will entail, hopefully not too much human interactions.
Lyle told them he knew one of the examiners so that's good but what exactly is the 'Glowing' ceremony. How does blood glow? All these questions are racing through Ria's head making her restless.
"RiRi! Are you awake dear?" Ria's mum calls from the kitchen, her parents get up early most days to set up the restaurant.
"Yea..." Ria grumbles not liking waking up this early but unable to fall back asleep.
"I'm coming in." Her mother's grouchy voice comes from outside the door.
"Sure. Whatever." Holding Titan close to her she looks at the door as her mum walks in with a glass of orange juice.
"Here," She hands Ria the glass. "So... Today is the 'glowing' ceremony, have you heard of it?" Her mum stumbles over her words.
Ria just nods her head while sitting up to drink the juice.
Shock crosses Daphne's face. "How? Who told you?" The exclamation confuses Ria, why does it matter if she knew?
"The kid Blaze and I saved in the forest a few days ago." Ria shrugs not seeing the issue.
Daphne grimaces before continuing. "Well, today is the day and it starts at 9... You will go up the front and cut your hand with a dagger and your blood will mix in the cauldron-y bowl thing and if it changes colour you are a rider then a reflection of your Isalor's face will appear. If you are an Isalor the blood shimmers but doesn't change colour."
"Isalor?" Ria looks at her mum in question before dawning realisation sets in but her Mum has already started explaining so she lets her explain..
Sighing Daphne explains, "An Isalor is sort of like a bodyguard, they train and go through all the classes with you so they know how to work with dragons and wyverns but they can't command or mindlink the mount. They can mindlink the rider however only once they have got a dragon and bonded fully. The Isalor gets first pick in jobs and other positions over a normal human because they can work with dragons and riders."
Ria nods understanding all of what she is hearing, but one question plays across her mind. "Can two riders be each others Isalors? Or can the Isalor not be another rider?"
For a hot second they sit in silence Daphne trying to figure out the answer. "It can happen, I have heard of a few cases but not many. I wouldn't get your hopes up Dear." She kisses Ria's cheek and looks at the small pup bundled in Ria's arms. "How's little Titan today?"
"He's better than yesterday, he got his laziness from me." Ria jokes smiling at the ball of fluff.
"It's a boy I see," They smile at each other, they have both always preferred males in dogs and cats they are usually more chill in their experiences. When Ria was younger they adopted a female kitten from a friend of theirs whose cat had given birth to 4 kittens. That cat, pure evil. It hated everyone except her and her mum. It put up with Blaze but hated Ria's father.
She passed away about a year ago from heart failure, they didn't end up getting another pet but now Ria has little Titan.
The little pup lifts his small head and looks at Ria, he leans forwards and boops her cheek with his nose letting out a little yip of happiness. Hopping off the bed he goes to the corner of the room and squats.
"NO! oh no, no, no, no, no." Ria bounds out of bed but is too late. He's already pooped. Ria picks up the puppy and goes outside and places him in the grass. "You go toilet out here." She points at the pup, her butt then the ground to prove her point. Although it had already gone toilet it squatted again and peed.
"Good boy!" Ria pats his head and gives his chin a scratch to emphasize her point to the pup. "Come on Titan... come on." She calls the pup to follow her back inside and he bounds after her. Together they race upstairs and back into the bedroom.
"He peed outside..." Ria finishes the sentence gagging. Her mum had thankfully cleaned up the mess but it still stunk her room out. She quickly opened the windows to air the room hoping the chilly breeze will carry the scent away.
"At least he peed outside, it'll help him learn." Daphne pointed out.
"...Blaze is coming over soon in like half an hour..." Ria says with her head in her cupboard trying to find clothes.
"I guessed when you said you knew." Daphne smiles and leaves the room, gently closing the door behind her.
Ria decides on wearing a simple olive coloured shirt over a white tee and black jeans with her hiking boots. It's simple and she can put her coat over the top. She plops down onto the floor and Titan comes bounding over. She reapplies the gauze and cleans his wound again, Titan just sits still allowing her to help him.
About ten minutes later while Ria is seated in the kitchen eating breakfast with Titan lying on the floor beside her chewing on one of the deer's bones there's a knock at the door. Hopping up she stalks over to the door and flings it open, in front of her is Blaze and Lola.
"Hey! Come in, what are you doing here Lo?" Ria moves out the way allowing them entry. Titan who was snacking on the deer bone comes bounding over and growls at the newcomers. "It's alright Titan they're friends." As though understanding he moves away back to his half eaten bone.
"Mum and Dad were busy and I was bored so Blaze said I could come... Is that cool?" Lo looks at Ria hopefully, she has always respected and looked up to Ria kinda like a big sister.
"It's fine, I never mind you hanging with us. It's your brother that cares." She gently punches Blaze's shoulder making him pout. "Want anything to eat or drink? I'm eating breakfast still." She wanders back into the spacious kitchen and sits down again.
Blaze who is always over and practically lives there grabs himself a glass of milk, "Want one?" He holds the glass out to Lola who gracefully accepts it. Pouring a second glass he sits opposite Ria on the bench and Lo comes and sits beside her.
"Mum told me all about the 'Glowing' ceremony this morning. Did your parents?" Ria shovels another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.
"Yea woke me up early, which also woke up Lola." Blaze grumbles into his glass of milk making it bubble. Ria snickers, both her and Blaze love sleeping in but Blaze is worse then herself. He refuses point blank to get up if he doesn't need to, where as Ria gets up because she's bored... or hungry.
The three of them sat in the kitchen while Ria quickly finished eating before getting ready. At about ten to nine everyone was ready to leave, Titan would be staying at home while the rest of them go to the ceremony.
"Stay Titan, I'll be home soon ok?" Ria ruffles his ears and walks away, he follows her as she goes to leave. "No, stay Titan." Again she attempts to leave, failing a few times she finally gets him to stay.
Their small group crosses into the square where the ceremony is being held. Standing up the front is two mounts, a wyvern and a dragon as well as two riders. The male rider was lean and tall with glasses and blonde hair, the female was shorter but not by much and was smiling a toothy smile.
As the area started to get packed the people taking part of the ceremony all lined up along the side, about halfway down the line Ria and Blaze stood waiting.
"Well, well, well if it isn't little Miss Dunce. You aren't going to be a rider why are you even trying? On the other hand Blaze will be a rider..." The tall brunette siddles up to Blaze and wraps her slender fingers around his arm, her three lackies stand near the front of the line watching like hawks. I'm holding in a laugh as Blaze prys Julie's fingers off his arm and moves closer to me.
"Good-bye Julie." He turns his attention away from the long legged brunette and grimaces at me making a puking gesture.
Julie the ever pouting girl she is walks away back to her lackies swaying her hips seductively. Blaze stands completely ignoring her while scanning the crowd.
"Well that was interesting." Ria laughs at his complete lack of care. Shrugging Blaze keeps scanning the crowd until he spots his parents. Both are standing to the side watching, his sister is standing over by Ria's parents instead and they appear to be deep in conversation.
The line forms slowly as more kids join, in total there is about 100 kids, give or take. About 2/3 of the way down Blaze and Ria sit awaiting their turn.
"Hello! I'm Scarlett Osborn and this is McGrumpy... just joking! This is actually Ethan Macaroy." A high pitched voice squeaks from the stage. Everyone turns their attention up making the pretty girl blush. The guy smirks and grabs the mic from the girl, they appear to be second years from Drakon.
"Yes, Yes. formalities out the way and onto the good stuff..." The crowd laughs and goes quiet again watching to see what will happen. "Basically one by one you come up here, cut your palm, bleed into the bowl and if it changes colour you are a rider, then a face will appear which is your Isalor, if you are a rider move to the side here and if you aren't leave the stage. If you are an Isalor your blood will shimmer, then stand next to me to wait." The guy, Ethan, keeps his voice monotone as he recites the instructions in an almost bored manner.
"First." One of Blaze's mates goes up on stage the crowd whistles and cheers, a few boos come from his friends before he picks up the dagger on the table. Lifting the sharp dagger up, he slices his palm open. His shoulders tighten showing the small amount of pain before he relaxes again and drips the blood into the clear bowl.
The blood fizzles before disappearing fully not leaving a trace behind.
"Neither, step away. Next!" Ethan ignores the glare sent from the young man before the next person walks onstage. The same process occurs, so far no-one has been an Isalor or Rider.
Next up is Julie, she has always treated Ria cruelly. She was actually the reason Ria and Blaze are friends. Julie was the girl who led her crew to tip paint all over Ria when they were 5. Although she is Blaze-obsessed he has no time for her since that day, alway ending conversations before they begin and ignoring her desperate pleas. It's kinda really sad how much she wants him.
Quickly she walks up on stage and over to the bowl. Ethan hands her the clean dagger and she bats her long eyelashes at him, he, much like Blaze, completely ignores her.
"Hurry up." He growls at her causing Julie to flinch slightly.
She gracefully drags the dagger along her palm and cups her hand pooling blood in the centre before tipping it into the bowl. Her blood shimmers in the bowl slowly changing colour. According to Ria's parents the faster the colour changes the stronger your bond will be with your dragon. If that is true Julie's bond with her dragon will be weak.
The blood fully changes colour and now sits as a swirl of silver and gold. The blood quickly shimmers to reveal a face. The bouncy ginger hair and bright green eyes show a portrait of her closest comrad, Elle. Elle is fierce and always protects Julie when people get mad at her, they have known each other since before school as they are neighbours so they grew up together.
Elle steps towards the stage when she realises its her face in the blood. The blood in the bowl disappears and the dagger is cleaned rather quickly. Elle steps up to the bowl and slices her hand with the blade, she doesn't flinch which offers the concept she's used to pain. At school she often had bandages on her wrists, or cuts and bruises on her face and dark circles under her eyes. Thinking back she was the only one Julie never treated horribly at school. Apparently, Elle had a terrible life, her parents were usually drunk and screaming at each other and I guess it must've gotten violent a few times.
Elle's blood splashes into the bowl and produces a broad shimmer before settling down and disappearing. Looking up she sees Julie watching her, she smiles and stands behind and to the left of Julie. The crowd all cheers except for Ria and Blaze who just watch in interest.
o-o
Snow is falling and the ground is beginning to freeze. Everyone has been watching the ceremony for about an hour and it is finally Ria's turn.
Silently she walks up onstage and into the centre, she turns around and sees Blaze smiling happily at her. She continues turning and spots her parents and Lola giving her the thumbs up, encouraging her to continue. Facing the bowl again she spots Julie scowling and giving a crude gesture. Ria being Ria smiles sweetly and waves at Julie as she picks the dagger up by the simple engraved handle.
Ethan stands on stage seemingly holding his breath, up close he looks familiar, the height and way he holds himself. Narrowing her eyes she looks at Ethan, he definitely looks familiar. He doesn't hold eye contact and looks away making Ria suspicious.
Without breaking her glare at Ethan she touches it to her palm, breathing in and slashes it across her palm with a flick of her wrist. The sensation of the tearing of her skin causes her to flinch back, but Ria steps back up to the bowl. She pools the blood into her small hand and tips it into the clear bowl.
As soon as the blood touches the bowl in a matter of a few seconds the bowl has changed to a silver and gold swirl. The now gold and silver blood shimmers creating an image of a young man with tousled auburn hair and golden eyes. Ria turns and looks at Blaze with a huge smile, he is her Isalor. He returns her smile and walks up on stage.
"Please step back here rider, and wait to see if he is an Isalor." Ethan gestures next to him, Ria being Ria walks up and stares at him with undisguised curiosity. Ethan refuses to look at Ria so she moves her attention back to Blaze.
Quickly the blood drains from the bowl and Ria's hand knits itself back together leaving no scar or even mark other then red skin like when you run hot water on your hand.
Blaze steps up taking the dagger from Ethan and grins at Ria before slitting his hand. The warm crimson blood flows into the bowl and faster than Julie's produces a swirl of gold and silver. Everyone around the area gasps, the blood changes to reflect an image of Ria.
Somehow both Ria and Blaze are Riders and also one anothers Isalor.
"Well... It appears that these two are both riders..." Scarlett looks over at Ethan who shrugs and steps forward.
"This is a rare occurrence, however they will both attend the academy as a Rider and Isalor." Ethan's blank emotionless face stays there before he gestures for the pair to step aside. Instead of either one standing behind they stand side by side at the back of the stage.
"This is so amazing!" Ria whispers to Blaze, "We get to fly together!" Ria grins like a madwomen and Blaze chuckles at her unabashed excitement.
However although everyone else is excited Julie scowls, if she's cruel to Ria then Blaze won't even look at her now. Blaze and Ria will be even closer than before.
A scream comes from somewhere in the centre of the crowd... the large crowd parts like the sea, revealing...
o-o
What does everyone think is there?
Comment below ;D
- Brax Xx