trans_9 | On your broomsticks! [OPEN]

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On your broomsticks! [OPEN]

Following the instructions given to him by crew members here and there, Cedric stepped through a green archway tucked on a corner of the fifth floor and entered a grey void. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the sort of place that would be perfect for a day of flying. He imagined a bright grassy plain, a large lake, and a forest off to the side. Vague memories turned into vivid images surrounding him, so thoroughly convincing that he really believed he'd been taken from the ship and placed on a field back on Earth. It was quite a convincing illusion
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All it needed now was the key piece: a group of brooms. He thought for a moment on which brooms to provide them with. Firebolts were the world standard, but he'd never known one well enough to be able to picture it accurately. The school brooms, Shooting Stars, were nice and safe for new riders but not quite reliable. In the end, he knew his own broom best: a sleek Nimbus 2001, gifted by his father. As long as he instructed the fliers to go slowly, they should be safe on those brooms.

Visitors would find Cedric side-mounted on a broom in his black and yellow Quidditch robes, gliding just slightly over the grass. As soon as he spotted them, he'd greet them enthusiastically and move to touch down. "Hi!"

((ooc: wide open for everyone to join in! We'll be doing some group exercises too, so thread around! Fly as a group when you're ready!))

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"You're right," Cedric admitted, letting out a heavy sigh. "Dad told me all about it. I was a small child then, and I remember my parents holding me every night, hoping that the protections over our house would hold. Harry lost family, and so did many others. It shouldn't have happened again."

No matter what anyone said, he'd always feel a small twinge of guilt that he'd been there when the war was about to start and hadn't reacted, no matter how big a logical leap it would've been. Maybe he'd find a way to stop it, maybe.

Cedric understood now. It was terrible, but it had been their only comfort. And no matter what might've happened, many of them were now dead and the worst was yet to come.

"...thanks," he said finally. "It's good to get my head straightened out. With someone who wasn't directly involved, I mean."

"Yes, but you were only a baby then. Just like with me, I didn't have a chance to really know how bad the war affected my people and everyone else not in the Poles. But this is our time now: do we stand up and fight, or do we just fade into the background? I don't see that for either of us."

She smiled. "So I'm going to have to insist you cheer up and show me the rest of Hogwarts Cedric! What we can do will be determined in time: for now, let's take the chance to have some fun, and relive some good memories, ok?"

"I can do that," he admitted after a moment, leading her out of the dungeon and up the hall. "We have a library, but I wouldn't be able to remember the books to let you read them. The kitchens are interesting, even though students aren't technically supposed to be there. I can't imagine the hospital wing being interesting, it's just like our medical bay with less equipment and more potions."

Boring, right? She might be interested, but he had a few more things. "Then there's the prefects' bathroom, and the desks in the classrooms. Rumour has it that there are secret passageways as well, though I never found them."

Kaya thought a long time about the places he mentioned. The library would be a waste, obviously, only a shell of what it was and even she knew you couldn't go and preserve books in people's heads. The kitchen sounded interesting but hardy worth going, and since it was her day off, she wanted to avoid hospitals for the time being.

The best option was simple. "Let's go to the Prefect's bathrooms!"

"I thought you might say that," Cedric laughed, quickly leading her up the stairs. "Come on. It's for prefects and Quidditch captains, but as I fill both requirements I think I can let you in."

When they reached the door, tucked away behind a certain statue, he called 'Pine fresh' and it swung open. Just as it did in his memory. Perfect.

Kaya would immediately see that this was no ordinary bathroom. It was a large bath with more taps than you could possibly count, almost the size of a pool. Marble lined the floors, and stained glass windows surrounded them. One of a mermaid even moved, winking down at them.

"I always did like to think in here."

Kaya's eyes widened of course. It reminded her that she wanted to get back to the W.I.T.C.H. bus as soon as possible and spend some time in Irma's classroom. This was, at the very east, a runner up for a place that seemed as grand. Sure, it was different from the Baths had helped to create, but it was still breathtaking, and of course Kaya had to investigate the painting before turning her attention to all of the taps in the bathroom.

"Ok, granted, bathrooms are a pretty modern thing for me," she said, "but this one is so big! And the architecture, it almost reminds me of home except everything has such a nice, pleasnt color! Why are there all these taps though?"

"Would you like to take a look?" Cedric offered, taking note of her wide-eyed expression. Every prefect felt like that the first time they entered. He certainly had. Who knew their good old school had such wonderful places hidden within?

He activated a few taps, watching as water, foam, and bubbles of all colours came streaming out to fill the tub. Kaya could put on an impressive show of her abilities here, he thought to himself. Even better, if there was a place like that here where he could relax...he'd like that.

"I miss this place. I used to come every week, before the main Quidditch practice or a task in the tournament.

Kaya was definitely astounded by the different ways the water started to come out of the faucet, and it then occurred to her that she hadn't yet shown him her water bending ability. She smiled, then brought her arm out, flexing her palm forward.

The water obeyed and jumped high in the air, then fell toward her. Kaya lifted her arm and it jumped again, and now Kaya was moving it around her as if it were a kind of streamer, making it shift into several shapes before Kaya then aimed it toward Cedric slowly. If he held out hsi hand to catch the stream of water, he would find it now solid ice.

"This seems like a great place to relax," Kaya commented, as if she had only been casually engaging in idle conversation and had NOT just shifted water to Cedric.

It was almost like magic! Cedric watched, transfixed as it danced before the waterbender. His reflexes kicked straight into gear and he reached out, shivering as his hand touched the ice. It was such a perfect, beautiful shape. And she'd done it all with her gift.

"It is," he remarked, sounding odd---as if he'd just remembered they were talking about something, having been successfully distracted. "I miss it. Real water and warmth. The sonic showers aren't quite the same---I wish we had something like this here."

Kaya smiled. She pretty much figured that Cedric would be thinking it was magic, but that at least made sense: his world was full of magic, after all.

"Well, there are the baths on the ship too," Kaya said. "My friend Billy was able to make one for people who missed actual baths, and there's even a sauna place, with steam and everything! And if you want a pool, there's always the one at the hotel!"

Both of those places sounded wonderful. Cedric could almost feel his expression lightening. The Quidditch exercises today hadn't been real, but he'd worn his body down all the same.

"I'd love to use them. Are they open?"

"I should hope so," Kaya said. "I know for sure the pool is open of course, since I'm the one that maintains it, but the baths should still be working, I think. I guess you must have worked up a sweat with all of the other people who came to this, right?"

She was right, of course. Cedric laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. I hope it hasn't bothered you. I'll be cleaning up as soon as possible."

With that, though, he tried to smile. "So would you like to head back into the open air?"

Kaya laughed. "As much as I train and make sure that I stay in fit shape? Trust me, I'd have no room to stand on. But why not visit the baths with me> You can clean up and we can relax and talk."

She nodded. "Definitely! I think I'm starting to get a hang of this whole flying thing!"

"You're sure?" Cedric lifted an eyebrow. "It's short notice, isn't it? Someone like you is very busy, I'm sure. Can't picture you lying around."

It did sound very tempting, though. He'd deal with certain other issues when they came up.

"Trust me, I wouldn't make the offer if I didn't have the time!" Kaya said, laughing. "I do my share of lying around, just not lately. I am pretty active on the ship though: I try to manage as much as I can, within reason."

She gave him a hand. "So what do you say? I should at least have a chance to repay you for all the wonderful things you've shown me."

"It's a deal," Cedric agreed, shaking her hand and dismissing the illusion. They now stood in the grey void once more, right next to the exit into the rest of the ship. He edged toward it.

"Should I stop to pick up anything, though? I've just moved into the bus down in the city. My things are there, but I don't know what I'll need."

"Excellent," Kaya said, smiling. "Yes, I think you'd want to go and pick up some trunks or some.."

She trailed off. "Wait, WHAT? You live on the bus!? I do too! I must not have been going home enough, if I didn't notice that you live there!"

Kaya's expression of shock amused him. He laughed as they made their way down to the City, toward said bus.

"Negi invited me to stay. It's not quite the same as my home dormitory, but I don't mind it. It's nice to live around other people. Not quite as lonely."

Soon enough, they were at said bus and he was scrambling to pick up his things. "It's a bit of a mess, I apologise."

Kaya did feel a little surprised that even something would have passed under her notice.
"I'm glad you have a place to stay then! There's no place better than the bus!"

She laughed. "I think I can stand a little bit of mess, I'm sturdy enough! I should show you the other classrooms in this place though: the last person who lived there, the onw how owned the bus, gave me the key cards."

She did look slightly sad, saying that.

By then, Cedric had re-emerged in a loose shirt and the trunks he'd bought on Happy Happy Fun World, towel slung over his shoulder. He leaned forward, sensing pain there.

"The owner's not here anymore?"

Kaya shook her head. "No, and he had been here on the ship for a long time too. But he was one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet, willing to give you the shirt right off his back. He's the one who made it possible for all of the people that live here to live here in the first place. His name was Matt Olsen."

She smiled sadly, then made herself brighten. "And that's another story for another time. Come on, let's get you to the baths!"

"You can tell me about him while we're there. If you'd like to, that is," Cedric suggested gently, walking with her toward their destination. Out of the bus, down some streets...oh, it'd be worth seeing for sure.

"I could go on fora awhile. He was a good guy: he even served on the council for a little while, you've heard of it, right? The governing body that makes decisions on the ship. Their equivalent would be, um, I think Luna called it your ministry? Before the corruption, of course."

She had him by the hand, of course, getting him closer to the baths until they reached the entrance. "Ok, there are the baths, and there is the sauna. If you want to get clean, just go to the boy's part, and I'll be waiting for you in the coed sauna part, all right?"

"Sounds like he was a good friend to you," Cedric said innocently, not knowing the half of it. But they were at the entrance then, and he warmly squeezed Kaya's hand before releasing it. He hadn't said it, but he appreciated the small comforts she provided. Something anchoring him to the world, subtly letting him know that life went on.

"All right. I won't be too long, there's still more I have to know!" With one more smile, he disappeared down the appropriate hallway into the baths, where he lingered for as long as he could get way with. The taps weren't quite up to the standards of the prefects' bathroom, but it was comfortable. After some quiet contemplation as he washed, he cleaned up, tied one of the conveniently provided towels, and shuffled over to the sauna.

"Are you still here?" he called through the doorway. "I might've gotten a little carried away."

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