[the freydís eiríksdóttir] orinoco flow [hor elementals]

The summer was perhaps the season during which Brynja spent the most time at Inverness. With the holidays for the Discipuli, the greatest amount of intensive training was held during the summer, and it was a good time to review, test, and teach. These last few weeks in July were typically some of the most precious, as they were an opportunity for students from all three schools to meet and mingle. Winter holidays were all well and good, but the students usually preferred to be with their families for some time during those. Here, just after the end of Durmstrang's term and just before the beginning of Beauxbatons' term, they often gathered in most or all students. It was good for all of them, Brynja felt--the students learned of each other and about each other's cultures, and the older of them were reminded of the potential and renewal of youth. Students, while less trained and less helpful from a scholarly perspective, brought a little bit more life to Inverness.

Today, all the Hor Discipuli and Advocates were here, and Brynja had decided to gather them for a small excursion on the Freydís Eiríksdóttir, which tended to sit somewhere in the Moray firth. The ship had been enchanted by her brother when he built it for her, and it had never yet been unduly spotted by anyone who would contest its existence in the waters. The sea, of course, was deeply personal to most water elementals, and she found that at least her students tended to enjoy some time there. It might have been somewhat unorthodox for the Harbinger to be constantly keeping in touch with every student, but Brynja preferred to engage with them often enough as opposed to being a faceless figure. With all of them gathered, Brynja smiled at the younger elementals. It had been a long time since she was their age, but she still remembered a little of what it was like.

"As you know," she said softly, "this is one of the few times during which we are all together at the same time. I wish to congratulate you on achieving what you have in your studies. The elemental path is not always easy." There seemed to have been quite a few rogue elementals lately springing out of areas such as Durmstrang, including those who had decided to join the Council. Brynja logically questioned their attempts, but it was difficult to turn away any student. Better with than against, although their loyalty was suspect. The Council was a larger commitment than she felt some of them were prepared to make. Kanat Zhanalin's presence was a relief, in a way; it was comforting to have a very Council Discipulus at the school, especially in her element. Although she had rarely spoken with the boy, she felt that they had quite a few things in common in disposition and in experiences. She loved Vance and Melusine, but they also had not gone to the Institute, and although it had changed since she had been there, some things stayed the same.

"We honor Vance, in particular, as he is now advancing to Advocate standing." She favored her pupil with a warm smile. He had done well, and she was sure he would continue to do well before he advanced to the rank of Zealot. "I hope you all take this time to connect with one another. I have always believed that good relationships among us should be fostered diligently. However, I'd like to take a moment and test you all individually--merely the most recent spell you have learned, with Vance as an exception. We don't want to disturb the elements too much. Nothing above channeling magical water, please." She ran the gamut quickly, gently giving minor pointers when required, and then nodded in approval. "You are doing well. Now, if you'd like, take free reign of the Freydís Eiríksdóttir for the day. It isn't often we get an excursion such as this all to ourselves. If you need help with the workings of the ship, find me or Vance or Melusine." Those two were quite familiar with it. Unexpected? Well, perhaps. Brynja had been watching Vance and Melusine go through more human parts of life, and she didn't always want to treat the students as tools to be honed. Later in the day perhaps they might attempt a shared morph--there were areas on the ship particularly for water morphing--but right now she would like to give them time. As friends, and equals.

Making her body language clear that she was open to any conversation, the Harbinger stood back. Perhaps she was achieving something good here and now.

OOC: I didn't want to hold up the thread going through everybody's testing, but if you want to elaborate on that I'll reply with the "minor pointers" she would have given, or not if unnecessary. Or they can just hang out, or go swimming, or whatever. Fun = good.

Melusine nothing short of idolized the Harbinger Hor. Brynja was simply wonderful. She had been terrified when she’d received the news a long while ago that she wasn’t a normal witch by any stretch, but Brynja and Vance had made it much easier on her. Mel didn’t think she’d suffered a complete breakdown even once over being sort of... out of the ordinary, and that was an understatement. Most of that was thanks to her friends that were also elementals. It was kind of like having a backbone in a group of people. Mel didn’t believe she had much of one of those in the first place, so it was reassuring to have that kind of support from a group of people just like her or slightly different, like the ice elementals that were generally so friendly to them.

Mel sat on the side of the large watercraft in her bathing suit and sandals. She hadn’t felt comfortable wearing the bikini around by itself -- she even had issues wearing short dresses, still, and she wasn’t about to strut around the ship in something that looked more like a piece of jewelry than a bathing suit. Issue had been that she hadn’t had anything at her father’s house, and she hadn’t had any luck finding anything else to wear, so she’d just made something with her sewing machine to cover herself up with until she got in the water. If she got in the water. The sixteen year old blonde hadn’t decided if she was too embarrassed for that yet or not.

Mel’s sunglasses, currently sitting atop her blonde head, weren’t serving their purpose. She slid them down to cover her squinting eyes and listened to Brynja talk, applauding softly at the right times. The Papillonlisse clapped a little louder when her teacher announced Vance’s advancement to the next rank in terms of experience, which really was exciting. She could begin to learn so much from him now, and it would be a little different because of his closeness in age to her.

She was getting a little tan, which made her happy. It was pretty hot in Germany, too, but being out on the water like this made her color twice as fast, because of the reflectiveness and whatnot. Melusine was also glad to be out of school -- it did get tiring not being able to practice her kind of magic as much. Not without peering, judging eyes of other students. Even though elemental magic was fairly common knowledge by now, it didn’t mean people didn’t eye her with scrutiny or even say things about it. One Matthieu Garnier was someone that the thin blonde particularly avoided, not wanting to end up in the same kind of situation that her slightly older, dark haired friend had. The Freydís Eiríksdóttir was a beautiful ship and Mel fully intended to have fun on it that day with people she could feel at least semi-comfortable around without even knowing all that well.

She looked for Kanat and Vance, her eyes skimming the wooden boards and the sails, and her hazel eyes found them both in a matter of seconds. She’d need to go talk to them momentarily, but first, she needed to thank Brynja. It was a relief to be away from both her families, too. Refreshing, even, was a better term. She loved them, but the constant drama and feeling as though she was being pulled in two different directions did get old rather quickly. When it looked as though she was open to steal for conversation, Mel smiled warmly and sauntered up to her mentor. “I hate being in this.. piece of cloth.” She breathed, rolling her eyes. She doubted that Brynja could see that under the tint of her sunglasses, but she had expressed her discontent about it before now. “But even it’s better than being at home with my dad. It’s quite awkward with him lately. He kind of treats me differently, so thanks for coming to get me and bring me here for a bit.”

There was something comforting about having that many Hor elementals in the same place. What they had in common called to one another, and it was a truly harmonious feeling. Brynja loved and sought harmony, and here it was, an almost tangible feeling of humming resonance that connected all the individuals on the Freydís Eiríksdóttir at that time. Brynja had been the Harbinger for enough years that she'd done the initialization for each of them, and she tended to feel...responsible. Not for all of them in the way that she did for Vance and Melusine, of course. Or the way that she'd felt about Flamur, she thought, suppressing a painful twinge of guilt. But responsible nonetheless. It was her duty to ensure the survival and advancement of the Council and its interests, but also for her element. Marin had shown her that. He'd been a good leader. She hoped she was half the leader he had been, insightful, kind, knowledgeable, strong. He'd stopped her from becoming an Acolyte when he'd seen she'd needed human contact, that she had a larger role. The Acolytes did great things in the study of their element, but that had not been her path. It might be the path for some of these, though, and that was good.

Shortly after she set them all free, Melusine approached her, and she favored her pupil with a warm smile. Mel was one of the truly kind people in this world. Although the Council by nature was an institution that maintained the natural balance between good and evil, Brynja valued people like Melusine. Caring was no problem, as long as you could do what needed to be done. In fact, it sometimes enhanced one's ability to do things, and Mel also understood that things were not black and white. Part of their element as they were, they were still...human. That was something Brynja had learned as wife and mother.

Brynja could not help but have a motherly instinct for her pupil, either. Her own mother Alana was, to put it rather gently, less than stable, and while she had her stepmother, she also had quite a few half-siblings to handle. Brynja herself saw Melusine as another daughter, most of the time, when it was appropriate. Since Halla had left--well, they were trying to repair that relationship, but there had been things torn from the both of them when her beloved Geir had died, and some things she did not know if they would ever mend. Melusine was a joy to train and guide, and she occupied a certain special place in her life.

Giving a low melodic laugh at Melusine's opinion of her bathing suit, Brynja commented, "It looks good on you. You might want to consider showing that figure while you still can." Brynja knew that Melusine was a little self-conscious when it came to that sort of thing, so she tried not to embarrass her pupil too much. However, Brynja did understand that there was something nice about being beautiful and taking pride in it once in a while, and well, it was never good for a woman to think poorly of herself. "You're a beautiful young woman. But I agree, it can be somewhat unsettling. I would never have been caught dead in merely the suit at your age," she said reassuringly. "Then again, my perspective has altered somewhat with the years." She smiled.

"And I am glad that I've been of help. What's happened with your father? Anything new that is causing the awkwardness in particular, or just the usual?" Family dynamics were often different when one child was an elemental, and it didn't help that Melusine's family was, well, somewhat broken at times.