Shine On Elizabeth [Locke]

[Tommy Goodman]

{{Cop Shoot Cop, 1989.}}

Tommy averted his gaze. The stone in his hand was flat, and it's surface was completely smooth. He'd spent the best part of two hours smoothing it down to a glossy finish with his bare hands. He really wanted to go all-out. He'd read about it, the perfect stone. He just hoped that he wouldn't sun out of space. Maybe if he did, it would be easy to find again. Who knew?

He decided that he had done enough dawdling, and that he should simply throw the stone. So, taking the correct position, and with a flick of the wrist that demonstrated dexterity beyond his apparent youth, he skimmed the stone across the lake watching it speedily hop, skip and bounce across the still surface. He watched it make it all the way across, and just when he thought that he'd be able to do it again, it smashed straight into a rock, and the tempered surface instantly shattered.

He pursed his lips in annoyance. However, there wasn't much dwelling on it. That was just two hours work, which paled in comparison to the approximate 3066000 hours of his life in total. So, he wasn't bothered about it. It would have been nice to be able to show people that he could skim stones well, but, he didn't usually like appearing the showoff, so it was probably better that no-one saw.

However, there were a few along the beach that had seen, and they were pointing and he could hear exited murmurs. He assumed they were talking about him - he had not observed anything else worthy of excitement. However, he also realized, and somewhat hoped, that they were simply talking of their own affairs.

He sat down on a nearby rock, feeling quite lonely and hoping at least one person would talk to him, even though no-one knew him here, due to it being the academy grounds. Not that many people knew him in the university. He chuckled as he thought - the community of gifted, and magical families that chose to send their children here was large, but not that large. Since this place was unique, he would probably know the grandparents of some of the more mortal members of the community.

He felt that there was someone nearby, though who the newcomer was, he had no clue. They seemed to be going somewhere. It had gotten quite misty by now, and the air was bleached red by reflections of the setting sun in the water particles.

He got once more to his feet, and looked around. He couldn't quite make out if there really was anyone there, or even that if there was, if they were going toward or away from him. He felt rather fuddled and lost. He almost felt like turning into a dragon and blowing away all the damned fog.

"Hello?" he called, his voice light and airy. "Is anybody there?" He asked to his surroundings.

{{OOC:If there's anything you wan't me to change, don't hesitate to say so via PM or whatever.}}

[Locke F. Herald]

OOC: Just a little surprised by the topic.

IC: Locke wasn't even thinking straight. He had been so lost in thought about going home with Kiri for the past week that he'd been in a bit of a daze. The weather outside seemed to emulate this quite perfectly, as he was widely unaware of whatever was happening around him. In fact, he wasn't even aware he was near someone until they called out to him. A male by the sound of it, but with the dense fog it was difficult to see.

"Hmm? Someone there?" He responded, looking about. The voice came from the direction of the lake, so Locke cautiously walked towards it. He was finally able to see a figure, appeared male from this distance. Why had this person called to him?

"Did you need something?" He inquired, as the fog seemed to lift slightly to give him a better view.

[Tommy Goodman]

Tommy was just about to shrug and give up, and head in for a mug of cocoa and a book, when he heard a return answer. His ears pricking up as much as a human body's could, he rapidly swung his head around to face the stranger. He vaguely recognized the voice, but with the fog, he couldn't tell who it was. That annoyed him - he hadn't left the academy and university grounds very often, so he usually had a faint clue of who everyone around him was. This was aided by the fact that he had a very good memory - honed by the many times he had committed new facts to his brain, when reading about new things.

He sighed. Sometimes, it seemed like he needed to get a life other than simply pursuing knowledge. Maybe this would be his chance for a new start. He certainly hoped so. The stranger approached cautiously - he could see why with all this fog. He himself had learned the hard way that not everyone here got along. Even if he meant Locke no harm (which, he certainly didn't) there was also a large puddle... lake into which he could fall. And on an already slightly chilly evening, with thickening fog, and a quickly setting sun, falling into a lake was probably not the best thing to do, especially when you appeared to have cat ears.

He asked his question, and Tommy paused for a second. did he need anything? He wasn't quite sure. As he had thrown his stone before the mist set in, he wondered if the stranger had seen. Yes, that was what he would say - just so as not to seem boring, of course.

"Me?" He said, pretending to not know who the question was directed at, so that he didn't seem too egotistical. "Nothing much. However; I was wondering if you had witnessed what I just did." he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I managed to skim the stone to the other side of the lake, I'm actually quite proud of it." he said, chuckling a little. He thought that it was also better to introduce himself and so he continued;

"I'm Tommy, by the way. Tommy Goodman." he smiled and held his hand out, in case Locke wished to come closer and introduce himself. He wondered why he had cat ears. They weren't a characteristic of any one race of humanoids. Maybe he was a demon that just used that shape. Maybe he was a gifted with some ability. He didn't know. Maybe it was just how he looked.Tommy wasn't one to judge. Being a dragon wasn't normal exactly, seeing as the dragon population here was quite low. He only knew of one other; Jadyn Amethyst. He had always meant to say hello but had never really done it. He figured that they both had plenty of time to get acquainted, being long-lived and all. There were others, he was sure, but he just needed to find them.

[Locke F. Herald]

Locke blinked twice when Tommy spoke...what on earth? Why he thought the need to find someone to tell them he'd just skipped a stone across the lake was beyond his ability to comprehend. "That's...good?" He said, not entirely sure what this character was going for.

"I...see. I'm Locke Herald, nice to meet you Tommy." He said simply, turning from him to look over the lake. A good two hundred feet, or more, not a bad distance to skip a stone. If he could do it, he was either very lucky, had super strength and hit it at the right angle, or had the knowledge to measure the hydraulic rebound and account for it. Either that or he was utilizing another gift to do so, which was also possible.

Locke was not the most polite person, letting a conversation trailed off as his mind mulled over the multiple possibilities of this outcome. He was muttering and moving his hand about slowly, as if thinking with his hands. Why had such a simple thing caused such a great process of thought?

[Tommy Goodman]

Locke's lack of enthusiasm made Tommy sigh. One of the first people that he had met since he had decided to come out of isolation and he hadn't made a particularly good impression. However, the strange cat-person had given him his last name. And, Herald wasn't particularly common a name. In fact, this was only the second Herald he had ever heard of. The first had been a student at the academy years ago, that he vaguely remembered by name. Though his christian name, he could not for the life of him remember.

Tommy mentally chastized himself for the use of "christian name". While he had nothing against that certain religious group particularly, he found that categorizing first names by the name of a single religion was... stupid. It was a simple thing that annoyed him slightly.

He wondered if the "Herald" he knew was indeed a relation of this boy's. How were you supposed to ask something like that, though? "I think I knew your dad, did he come to this school?" was probably an odd question to ask, considering Tommy appeared only slightly older than Locke himself. Well, maybe about six years. However, unless he was some sort of crazy immortal, Tommy was robably at least three hundred and thirty years older than him. Considering Tommy hadn't seen him around much before recently, he probably wasn't all that old.

Tommy slapped his own face. he had trailed off and needed to focus, like an unimportant sub-plot in a book taking prescedence. He pursed his lips, deciding to hazard and ask Locke before he changed his mind.

"Locke... Herald? Did your dad used to go here?" He asked, nervously scratching the back of his head. "I've kinda... been here a while. Your name sparked a memory. Of course, he could be wrong and thinking of someone totally different, but live and let die, as it were.

"I.. I don't want to be rude, but, y'know, curious as all." He laughed a little and shivered as the evening breeze kicked up, sending swirling drizzels of mist about.

[Locke F. Herald]

At the remark of his lineage, Locke snapped out of his thoughts. He studied the boy for a moment, nodding after a few seconds.

"So...that would make you a dragon then. You have too much muscle to be a Fae, you are out in the sunlight which means you cannot be a Vampire, and every Demon in this school is already documented." He said, matter of factly. "You couldn't be a war dragon because you act nothing like them, and you sought me out for conversation, meaning you aren't a forest dragon either. Pegging you from a Silver or Royal though would come down to a coin toss, for now." He concluded, looking over at the person he'd just analyzed.

"It would only be polite of me to answer your question, so yes. Both of my parents, Francis Herald and Miranda Celia, came through the Academy roughly twenty-five years ago."

He turned back to the lake for a moment, before glancing over his shoulder at the dragon, a little bit curious.

"So, I'll bite. Why did you decide to seek me out?"

[Tommy Goodman]

Tommy's mind was boggled. How old was this guy? Twenty, at most? He didn't look that. Well, he couldn't be older than that. And just from the fact that Tommy knew his parents, he had deduced his race almost completely in a matter of less than seconds. He was very impressed. Tommy actually felt that he had met someone for the first time in a long time who was on an intellectual level the same as, or even greater than his own. Perhaps if Locke was his age, his knowledge would be unstoppable, with a brain like that.

Of course, he would probably say it was nothing - just common sense. Which of course it was, however, Tommy looked at a broader spectrum, and his reaction time, and obvious analyctical skills impressed him immensely.

Then, he said his father's name. And his mother's.

"Of course! I remember Francis and Miranda. I didn't talk to them, but I remember them." He ran through his memory. "I take it something happened to your... father? No, mother, for you to have been born with such... interesting, if cute extra features." Having spent over a century holed up with books, Tommy's personal skills weren't the best, and he blushed, as he realized that he may have just said something very offensive without thinking about it. He was so stupid sometimes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just..." he trailed off, his eyes going blank and a frown appearing on his face.

Locke's sudden movement and question snapped him out of his trance. he stared st him, almost stupified, before gathering his thoughts and coming up with a coherent answer. He hadn't exactly done much to seek him out. Just stood there and felt proud of a stone-throw.

"Well, Mr. Herald, I haven't done much to seek you out particularly. I just happened to be proud - that was the first time I ever skimmed a stone. But, you perplex me. You seem very quick. Not many people I've met are quick. Ok, there are many many quick people I've met, but, I've had to look for them. You could give me a run for my money, and I'm almost three hundred and fifty. I've always considered myself bright, because the people around me generally haven't been. What say you to that, eh?" He laughed lightly. He had deliberately not told him what species of dragon he was, to see if Locke could figure it out.