Resistance to Punishment (Open)

[Leon Loire]

"What are you talking about? I didn't bump into you - at least not on purpose! I refuse to be forced into a detention because some jerk shoved me! You can't make me!" the student's yell was obnoxiously loud, an irritated tone clearly readable, and from the body language, the person felt emotions that leveled to rage.

The scene: Hircine's western lobby hall; the time: just after second period, with hundreds of students now flocking to pass on to their next class in peace. Such a hope was broken, however, as this particular Senior decided to rebel against a hallway Dean. From what Leon Loire - as he passed by - could pick up, the Senior student had been strolling just past the Student Dean with the intent to pass through the hall, when someone unknown to anyone seemed to shove the man into the Dean. The Dean, highly suspicious that the boy was lying, instantly assigned him an after school detention session - the planned torture most likely being several dozen push-ups, holding a set of books in the air for several hours, and perhaps school labor.

And of course, the student refused. What else can the Dean do then? As expected, the Dean suddenly grows red faced with rage, and with a quick retracting of his right hand, strikes the youth straight across the face, forcing him to the ground. With the yell after him, the Dean demoralizes the Senior, "Can't take mopping? Then take time at the hospital you twit, because that's where you'll be going now!"

Suddenly the flow of traffic in the hall ceases to a halt, Hircinian students frighteningly used to the sudden beatings. The Dean was given a ring of bodies to fence his arena, an audience just dying to move on and ignore the guilt rising in them. Could they act? Of course not; they knew the repercussions all too well.

As Leon Loire - a fresh transfer, someone who had forgotten the command of watching another student beaten until lack of consciousness - painfully observed the scene, he felt the terrible silence of rare murmur as many Hircinian students were unable to move on through the hall, leaving those behind them to stand still, or those on the sides to try and force their way past to escape the event. Most seemed adaptive to the showing of Dean authority, as if it was life for them.

It was not for Leon Loire.

Gritting his teeth in frustration as he briefly observed the Dean beat onto his fellow Senior, the kicks forcing first air, then saliva, then blood from the throat of the punished victim, the fists crashing down onto his cheeks and nose, the palm gripping the youth's hair as he was struck once and once more...

Leon Loire - being his fifth day here - had first believed that Hircine High was more laid back then Varron Academy had been, that the teachers were not as cruel, and that the students were not as bloodthirsty. While the latter was clearly proven true, the former was still just as correct as it had been in the infamous Varron Academy.

'I can't just stand here! That guy's on the verge of collapse, and for what?! He accidentally bumped into the Dean and refused a detention? Where's the decency, the Humanity, in that? It's not helping things that the guy's own classmates won't do a damned thing...'

Leon found himself glaring at the Hircinians standing near him, their faces blank or turned away; even if they wanted to help, it seemed fear of inability or repercussion gripped them far too strongly. They were petrified, frozen. They could not bring themselves to aid a fallen friend, or a needing stranger.

'To hell with them! And to hell with this Dean! I'm not going to just stand here; it's time to show these fools why we Varronites are known for our rebelliousness; why this bloody System fears us!'

Finally, his face wrenched in contempt, Leon Loire stepped forward, cracked his gloved fingers, and found his hands gripping the right shoulder of the Dean as he prepared to deliver another strike - most likely far from the final - and flung his weight toward the other end of the 'ring,' Leon's surprise move forcing the man to stumble onward without resistance.

Leon stood there, just a few feet from the fallen student, his back to some Hircinians, his front toward the man who would most likely charge him within a few seconds. The Dean himself was now even more upset over Leon's sudden reaction, but his own body was panting and needing breath from the strikes it had just given to the Senior victim. Without the ability to speak or march for a few moments, Leon knew his time was key.

"What is this?! What is wrong with you Hircinians? You're all just going to stand here and there, watching the damned Dean beat down one of your own? I expected the lot of you to look down on us, the 'Dangerous Varronites', and perhaps help harm us, but I never expected you to be so far lost as to ignore the needs of your own fellows!"

Looking to the sheepish circle around him with a snarl, Leon found his fists were already balled, "You should be ashamed; you all know this Senior was right; he was clearly shoved, and so for an accident, he would have spent hours killing himself over slave labor! So when he refuses, he's beaten for it? God, to make it all worse, you all act like there's just an obstacle preventing your river of blindness to stop! You're allowing that oppressor to dominate you? What happened to your idealism? What happened to defending your own self, and those who deserve help?"

Looking to the Dean now, Leon could see the man was recovering, and ready to strike. He prepared to say something, but Leon cut him off, "But enough of you! Unlike you, we Varronites have at least some sort of code of honor! We help our own, whether they are victims or the defenseless, when they are oppressed by the arrogant and the wrong! We know when we are the oppressed, and we know who is the enemy. So fine, stand there like fools! Like cowards! I'll be the one to stand by this man, and stand against this monster!"

The Dean looked around, his dark glare a clear sign of what he expected. Turning his eyes to Loire now, he cracked his knuckles and slowly tread forward, "So you're one of them Varron kids. Heh, you're as untrained as the news said. I suppose it's time to make an example of you now, and let these good Hircinians know what it's like to forget what they're told!"

Leon's snarl held, his left leg sliding back, his right arm paralleling his body. There was no intention to strike the Dean, no intention to fight him; all Leon knew was strategically possible was to evade, and defend.

"Come on slug, let's see you try and hurt a real fighter."

[Valencia Donahue]

Valencia was once more the last person to finish packing up her things before heading out of the classroom. It wasn’t so much because she was slow, but more so that she was thorough and meticulous, not wanting to leave an inconvenient mess behind for the next period and simply because she didn’t like losing things in general. She sauntered calmly down the hall, following traffic until she arrived upon her locker to lighten her load. She put a few books away and was about to reach for another two until she remembered something crucial. One class was going to spend time in the computer lab today on the project and in other class, they were going to watch a movie. No need for several pounds of paper, ink, and glue and with that, Valencia locked up her belongings and was about to head on her way…

Until she heard a commotion and saw a mass of students blocking her way. However, according to her observation as she simply turned and saw them ogling over something, it wasn’t entirely like how everyone slows down on the freeway just to look at an accident. The silvery-eyed girl meandered toward the sound of screaming, though screaming wouldn’t be the right word to describe it. Hollering? Yeah, hollering. And Valencia soon discovered another way to describe how everyone was stuck in one place, apparently transfixed by the scene. It was a clog in the plumbing system. Not that it was a bad thing though.

Is anyone going to do ANYTHING as that guy over there continues to go on blathering?

Yeah, Valencia was referring to the fella’s preaching about Varron, Hircine, and honor and stuff. Well, while she’s making her way through the crowd, lets explain how this clog in plumbing isn’t such a bad thing. As many ought to know, clogs occur when too many things gather up in one place. This could be all sorts of things, from hair, toenail clippings, mucus, lost jewelry, bath toys, people, to bad feelings and more. In Valencia’s case, as she began to traverse through the outer ring by simply saying “excuse me” and “coming through” for entry, the system was how Hircine High always was and the clog was the last few things on the list given. If you know anything about getting rid of clogs, however, you’ll know that there are several ways of doing it. That guy making a scene and taking a swing at the Dean was smacking the clog so that it would stop being clogged. You know, like how people push things along in a tube (or hallway).

“Pardon me, I need to get through. Thank you. Excuse me…”

As for Valencia, she was that chemical you saw on infomercials like Drain-O or whatever that got rid of clogs by simply going through it. Not against it. By now she finally made it into the inner ring where she could see the action clearly. The guy on the ground was still on the ground figuring out what on earth was happening while the guy who was “helping” him was still… Erm… Helping him verbally. Sorta. Some people noticed Valencia and her faraway look in her eyes and began to feel uneasy about her presence in this situation. The rest didn’t, so the tension in the air was still there. Valencia tried to be discreet yet barely noticeable in helping the other Senior, because the last time she helped someone along by appearing out of the blue… Wasn’t pretty.

“If you’re alright, I’ll take you to your next class. If you need medical attention, I’ll take you to the infirmary.”

The Senior blinked at Valencia as she seemingly looked elsewhere while talking to him, but motioned his head off to the side, as if saying that both his class and the infirmary were in the same direction anyhow. If anything, the Senior was more surprised that she was impartial to what was going on instead of the fact that he was being helped. Valencia nodded quietly and wrapped his arm over her shoulder and held him close to lift him up onto his feet. By now, it should be impossible to remain unnoticed, but she didn’t mind. In life, nothing stays unnoticed forever.

“Excuse me.”

She turned her head to Sir Squawk-a-lot then the Hallway Dean.

“I need to get through.”

So you're probably wondering why a clog in the plumbing system was a good thing. For starters, if you get rid of the old problem in the piping and take better care of the system in general, it'll flow cleaner and smoother... And will least likely happen again if tended to properly. Valencia simply didn't like how people treated eachother in general... Not because of the system or who was who.

Where are the other altruists in this world...

((OOC: Headache…))

[pinefresh]

~So that dumb-ass Dean finally completely this time...Interesting~ Malikai watched as the hallway Dean beat down the defenseless student to nothing more than a pulp. It was not that he didn't want to help the student but this was what the others needed to see first, the Varronites mostly. They needed to see what was going to happen to them if they did not fight back against these people. The Hircinians were like lambs and just watched not noticing Malikai this time, only focused on the slaughter. It also helped that Malikai was wearing a circa hat black in color low over his face and a slim black many pocketed jacket his aunt picked up for him at Urban Outfitters. His hands sitting in the main pockets watching the scene to see who would step in.

The beatings got worse and just before Malikai had time to step in and end it someone else did. It was none other than Loire and he looked pissed. Malikai smirked slightly as he was sure the Varronite was going to kill the Dean. He was surprised by the amount of restraint he was able to show at the situation, knowing if he were in Loire's place it would be a different story. Instead of attacking he just chided the students standing around looking on as if embarrassed by what he saw. ~Interesting, a Captain he may not be but a politician he is~ He thought to himself as the scene unfolded.

What Malikai did not expect was what came next and his face went pale. Valencia had just entered the circle and picked up the student laying on the ground. "Shit..." He hissed lightly loud enough only for him to hear. As she moved toward the Dean and asked him to move Malikai knew he had to act. Taking off his hat he moved from the edge into the circle to stand beside Valencia who held the boy. His emerald contacts focused solely on the Dean in front of him. "You best do as the lady says...they aren't going to fight you but we both know I will and it won't be the first time either." Malikai hissed at the Dean remember his defeat at the Deans hands last time they fought. The difference now was the Dean looked like he was going to have a heart attack and Malikai was calm and a better fighter then last time. It would be interesting to see what would happen this time.

[king]

"Move it. I'm trying to get to class!"

Kurtz strolled down the hallway, acting as though he were trying to get to his next class. Unlike other Pillars who flaunted their titles constantly, Kurtz only did so on a rare occasion when he wanted to represent the administration. The rest of the time he merely used his presence to get the job done. This presence was enough that the crowd did indeed start moving, though not directly through the circle made by the group. It slowly would shrink as momentum behind it proceeded.

Kurtz, however, didn't hold such reservations. Though he didn't openly flaunt it, he was a Pillar, and walked where he felt like. This time it was right next to the Dean. The Deans face stayed it's shade of red from earlier, this time out of embarrassment. He was being bailed out by a student. Not only a student, one who had knocked him off of his high horse back in freshman year....after just getting back on with Darren's rise to power. Oh yes, he was ashamed of himself. Though three kids giving him lip didn't scare him, Kurtz certainly did.

"Dean, I believe you have a class to get to....I don't there will be any misbehaving students there."

Kurtz's statement was said not in the tone of one who was predicting something, but telling how tings would be. There would be no bad students thier....because if the Dean repeated his performance, he wouldn't appear in class for some time.

Kurt turned to Valencia and gave a nod, albeit with a look of restrained gratitude at best, knowing it was all she would need to move ahead with the wounded student. As loath as Kurtz was to admit inferiority to anyone, Valencia could see things even Kurtz couldn't. He was grateful for her aid, but was still angry at himself for being capable of being helped. If she could get past the apathy and had at least some interest in school politics, she might become a Pillar. Her rescue of the student was actually helping his job immensely, and he was simply returning the favor by eliminating the temporary obstacle that stood before her. He was glad to take make his plan as he walked in, as Malakai had decided to play night in shining armor second before he spoke up. Apparently he assumed he could take the Dean now....and that the Dean would interfere in the actions of a polite student who was respecting his authority while one made a scene in-front of him.

Valencia saw things, and she defiantly saw how defiance was punished in the school. Apparently Malakia assumed because of her actions she wasn't thinking....but was a stereotypical damsel in distress.

Kurtz, having dealt with the immediate problem, moved on to the next one. Leon had made a scene....an emotional one, not a political one. While his action was not going to get him any supporters, he would become popular and get a name for it. That meant if he ever actually did plan his actions beyond the occasional outburst, began making skilled moves, the students may recognize him as a leader with ability instead of just a motivator. He was best dealt with not physically, as that would just make a martyr. Best to play against his own strengths, taking the overestimated path in politics to cause the emotional ability to attack itself. After all, emotions could manipulate a person much better than others.

"You, walk with me for a while."

Kurtz pointed at Loire, indicating him out of the many still in the congested hallway. He wanted to have a small chat with Leon, and he thought some mutual good would come of it.

[Leon Loire]

It's amazing just how rapid a situation can turn. Just under one minute before, Leon had been ready to resist harm from an oppressive Student Dean. Within seconds of that possibility, Leon's choice of words seemed to bring a positive reaction - whether the arriving Hircinian had been influenced by Loire's words or not, however, was another matter.

Pulling up the fallen Senior without even glancing for approval by the Dean, the new arrival brought the victim into a standing position, before glancing to Leon and the Dean with a desire to leave.

'Glad to see one of these Hircinians is actually willing to help their own around here. I was starting to get worried how far lost they'd be.'

Still tense with concern of a fight, however, Leon held his stance, expecting the Dean to suddenly charge; it was possible too, considering the bright red flush of frustration now wrenching across his face. It was clear the Dean had not desired Leon's involvement; it was even more clear he didn't want one of his Hircinian students to actually act upon the exact thing Leon was expecting.

'It seems my ploy worked; show up, play some guilt into them all, and act upon what they should be doing so they get the right idea. With the Dean's eyes on me, it would leave plenty of space for a Hircinian to bring up the courage and help the Senior. All it took was a bit of emotional emphasis...'

However, even Leon could recognize that something was different about the new arrival; she seemed to carry a strong, careless weight, as if there was nothing different or wrong with her actions. She expected both Leon and the Dean to just drop what they were doing and help her clear a way out.

It was clear the Dean expected quite the opposite. Leon expected the man to soon begin bantering orders to the woman for her to drop the Senior and simply leave, considering the beating had been under 'his' authority, and that helping the student would not solve the 'punishment' as it was meant to be dealt with.

'This student's helping my case in more ways than she knows...'

Still, Leon was soon surprised to see another Hircinian arrive on the scene; but this was one similar to the girl: not afraid, and quite the strength of individualism within him. At the same time, Leon had come to realize how familiar the Hircinian was. It was none other than the Sophomore by the name of Malikai, the student Leon had met just earlier that week.

'Interesting... so Mal has a past with this Dean? This is just getting better and better!'

Easing his stance at the arrival of 'The Benedict,' Loire glanced with a victorious smirk at the face of the Dean. His expectations were satisfied: the man was now furious with the situation. A Varronite rebel, a Hircinian with honor, and another Hircinian with a past history of resisting the Dean. It all added up, and now the Dean was in a situation no one in his place would ever wish to be.

"I suggest you let her go on through; that way we can settle the issue now and move on." Loire stated with a calm smirk, the arena now clearly in his favor. He had a Dean in fear, two Hircinians on his side, and the entire school supposedly watching. The politics were playing out; Hircine High had it's taste of rebellion against the oppression.

'The seed has been planted...'

Yet, quickly enough, Loire's ears caught the noise of someone quickly breaking through the crowd behind him. The voice was rather commanding, yet not in the sense of necessary authority or leadership, but more of demands and intentions. The crowd, which had given effort to preventing others from passing through, now cleared a path as if Moses himself had arrived, giving way to the sight of a tall, red headed male, his age looking to be a Junior, and his form looking just as built as any other 'fighter' of the school.

'Ah hell...'

The latest arrival quickly found himself standing next to the Dean as if his own form held even more authority, and after a share of words, Leon Loire knew something different was in this one.

'He speaks as if he is authority, and the students look at him with recognition... could this be one of the Pillars to Blayne?'

The Dean seemed to listen to the arriving Junior with contempt and the desire to say a final word, but his own face was so compressed by anger and the inability to act that he could not brings words to his lips; the only thing leaving his body at the moment was a heat of breath and air.

Without a reply, the Dean suddenly turned on his heel, and marching toward the opposing side of the 'ring', and in one fluid motion, rushed all those watching from that end to quickly and sheepishly rush off down the hall, escaping the Dean's wrath. Leon noted the Junior gave a nod to the girl helping her fellow Senior, seeming to accknowledge her ability to leave. Still, Leon couldn't help but fear the idea of the Dean hunting down the student later on to finish the job, and hoped to request Malikai to look after him. Yet he was unable to; the arriving Junior suddenly mentioned a wish to speak with Loire, particularly in a fashion that would bring him away from the situation.

'Just great; this one has to be clever.'

Quickly glancing around him, Leon could see the expecting eyes of the Hircinian audience. Many of them must have suspected he'd resist the intention, instead deciding to argue with the Junior inside the ring, or even worse, attack him.

'He's trying to see if my rant was a sign of anger rather than calculation... he's trying to see if I'm just here to rebel without thought.'

Leon could tell that refusing the request was a terrible idea; to come across as zealous and instinct-driven was the worst possible place to stand, and right now the Junior seemed to have him in place of only one possiblity to gain from his actions.

Sighing with a light grin, Leon nodded to the man, "You dealt with the Dean and cleared a way for the Senior; for that, I think you deserve as much time to speak as you want. I only ask that our walk is taken outside, so the noise of the hallway is out of hearing. Is that too much to ask?"

Nodding to Malikai for a goodbye, and quickly glancing to the helping Senior, Leon strolled over to the Junior, wondering just what the man would wish to speak about - outside of the halls, of course.

'If he's a Pillar, then it's possible he'll try to strike down my words - just like Blayne would.'

[king]

"Sure, it is a lovely day outside."

Kurtz walked toward the nearest exit, everything returning to normal almost instantly. He didn't bother to check if Leon was following him....he would eventually. Curiosity would get to him most likely, though, but Kurtz could think of many reasons for him to follow.

As they stepped out the doors outside, Kurtz made his way over to a small bench and sat down. It was a modest thing, made of cheap plastics and wood. It was, however, a nice spot to watch the flow of people cut across from one side to another. Kurtz motioned Loire to sit. Whether he decided to or not was not Kurtz's concern. As long as he saw those walking around him, he was fine.

"Tell me Leon, alleged former captain of Varron, what you think you just accomplished just now? Be honest, explain what you intended to do and what, if any, of those goals you accomplished. Don't bother to leave out those lovely surprise bonuses life seems to hand us as well, I really want to know your take on what happened."

[Valencia Donahue]

Drain-O! Brought to you by Valencia Evinrude Donahue! But seriously now, it was almost astonishing how smoothly things went after a while. Almost, of course, because somehow… Just somehow, Valencia knew that things would work out in the end anyways and if it didn’t, there was definitely enough room for improvisation. What transpired was similar to watching some sort of chemical reaction, like how most pipe cleaning solutions tend to function anyhow, however not solely by her actions. The first notable action her attention flew to was the sound of Malikai’s voice and this surprised her enough for her to tilt her head slightly to see him tell off the dean. She blinked and her eyes sparked with mild puzzlement before she shifted her orbs elsewhere.

Huh…?

Okay, Valencia knew that her actions weren’t going to go unnoticed, but THAT was pretty unexpected. After all, she simply needed Sir Squawk-a-lot and the Hallway Dean to make way and—Amidst her confusion, another presence arrives! Although you may think it’d be difficult to not notice a person who was a head or two taller than you to suddenly appear, let’s just say that anything was possible as far as she was concerned about the current predicament. Hey, Malikai poofed outta nowhere, so perhaps it WAS possible for Valencia to flinch as if an elephant materialized outta nowhere, right there, also telling the dean to take a hike after Sir Squawk-a-lot said his piece too. You can say that if anyone took a long enough glimpse at her face instead of focusing their attention on what the three were doing, it looked like this:

; “…”

Her eyes simply read: Can I go now?

Does it really take more than one person to ask for someone to MOVE? I appreciate the help though… It’s a bit… Much… But I appreciate it…

They were right. She has absolutely no idea what kind of help she just provided. She sensed that she did good of some sort, but more so for the Senior she was helping at the moment than for the other good fellows here. As long as Valencia was permitted to take her leave… It. Was. Fine. With. Her. Her gaze started on her right, then scanned to the left to show that she was addressing the whole lot of them her gratitude when she nodded respectfully then spoke…

“Thank you.”

…And she made her exit with the Senior. There were a few soft murmurs here and there, but the event didn’t exactly throw the hallway into its usual roar of conversations, so Valencia was able to pick up snippets of what was exchanged between “Sir Squawk-a-lot” and the “elephant”. But priorities were priorities and she knew that this episode would be a short one anyways. Nonetheless, she absorbed the whole experience and the gears began to turn in her head as she wandered away. "Sir-Squawk-a-lot" had something about him that showed that the identification tag she mentally gave him may need to be changed sometime. And the "elephant" had authority and a big aura about him at that. Valencia can't quite get into their skulls to make any more observations than that, but she treated this meeting like she treated every meeting... It told a thousand stories.

((OOC: Catching up with the time-space continuum is… Wonky. Pardon if any of it is chronologically crazy. Almost dinner time over here.))

[pinefresh]

~So Mr. Hero what do you think your doing now?~ That little voice in Malikai's head asked him as he stood there trying to intimidate the Dean. Malikai thought about it for a few seconds when he realized that perhaps he should have stopped and thought about his actions before acting. He now stood at a greater chance of provoking the damn Dean than intimidating him. From where Malikai stood now he knew that there was a major flaw in his actions and that was the people he was trying to protect were only a few inches away from him.

Sure the Dean had a vicious temper and was not thinking straight but perhaps he would have just given Valencia a detention and not attack. He felt a little like a hypocrite for his actions as he assumed Valencia was insane for her actions. His thoughts on the subject had not changed but now he was doing something equally if not more stupid than her getting involved like she did. It was a noble gesture there was no doubt about that, but she had jumped in the path of an angry bear and now Malikai had done the same. He began to slide his feet into position to attack the Dean should he charge when an unexpected Allie showed up.

~Oh shit not Kurtz...Why of all the damn so called authority figures to show did it have to be him~ He did not like Kurtz to any degree but at this moment he was a welcome asset to the situation. What happened next however made no sense at all to any aspect of human logic. Kurtz told the Dean to piss off and he did without a word. In no real world situation would anyone in such an unstable frame of mind just leave without any type of protest.

Fear was a dangerous deterrent without a doubt. Fear however can only stop a reasonable person from acting. The Dean was not in a reasonable state of mind and should have offered some sort of protest even if it was verbal. He had beaten a person to a pulp and then been thrown around by a Varron student before Malikai threatened him. His face was still a bright red and he was barely able to control his temper there was no way this should have ended the way it did. Malikai was forced to stand there dumbfounded for a few seconds until Leon got his attention again.

Leon's nod was met with another nod from Malikai who then pulled out his phone and flipped it open. Though to most people it may have seemed like Malikai was checking his time but his eyes were still on Loire. His message if he was understood was to say "If there is a problem call me, you have the number." He came to Loire's aid this time and it was clear he would not hesitate to do so again if need be. After all, he just stood against the Dean, a Pillar was not too much of a step up.

He turned back to the person still more or less standing beside him, Valencia. She had said something he did not catch and turned to leave with the student . Malikai was not sure what to do now besides leave, but to where was the question. The question at hand was really where was the Dean. If he wanted now that the Pillar was preoccupied he could continue to attack the injured student. Usually Malikai would not bother with such things as injured others if they did not benefit him especially if they had an escort. Though he had no way to gage Valencia's ability to fight and protect herself and the injured student should the need arise. Putting his hat back on Malikai decided he would follow Valencia at a bit of a distance just to make sure she made it to her destination.

[Leon Loire]

Without quarrel to Loire's request, the unnamed Junior-classed Pillar comfortably led himself and his new companion to the reaches of the hall, his intent agreeably to the outside air. Admittingly, Leon quickly stopped himself from following, listening intently to the hum of a thousand footsteps, happy to hear that effect had been recognized, yet so subtle...

Satisfied that the Pillar was no trap or decoy, Leon returned to his chase of the figure, quickly regaining pace and following him outward in an equal stroll of patience. Still, Leon could not help but confirm that his own wonder was edging from the same.

'Typically when people believe their authority gives them the right to simply walk me around places, they also believe that they can rant and convince me 'why I was wrong' to do whatever they caught me 'committing.' I better be ready, this one may be no different.'

Watching the Pillar sit down on a school bench and wave Loire to join him, the Senior found no reason to decline. Sitting down and leaning against the backrest, Leon expected the man to take time and allow the surroundings affect him, but instead the Pillar decided to begin the entire meeting with a rather unusually simple question.

Of course, he happened to now know Leon's identity, as well as the claim that he was Varron's former Captain. While the former was no surprise - since two had done the same - the latter was beginning to concern him.

'I'm starting to wish I had been Captain; that way I wouldn't have to embarrassingly correct everyone...'

Sighing a bit to let the question filter through his head, Leon looked to his host in the corner of his eye, but not making direct contact unless the Pillar made effort to; Leon was trying to be honest, not persuasive.

"Well to start, I was in the hallway with everyone else, and of course I was attempting to reach class. I was strolling through, and things seemed to be a little slower than normal, and when I looked ahead of me by around twelve paces, I saw the Dean and the Senior student arguing. I didn't pick up the entire conversation, I admit, but I did recognize that the student had supposedly bumped into the Dean, but the force had been so heavy that it seemed more than he had been shoved by someone. The Dean didn't seem to care though, and instantly signed the guy up for after school detention - and, as I suspect you know, those things can be extremely brutal. The Senior refused, and so without hesitation, the Dean started beating on him as if he had attacked him.

"I've been trying to keep low the past few days, but seeing someone who I felt was innocent be suddenly abused for a small reason angered me. I was frustrated the other students didn't help the Senior to get away - even if just a few words with the Dean - and so I grew tired of it and stepped in myself. I grabbed the Dean and shoved him off, and the sudden end of his punishment suddenly reminded his body that he had exhausted himself, so he took a few vital seconds to breath and recover. In those seconds I started confessing my anger to the students around me, telling them how ashamed they should have been for not helping the attacked Senior, even when anyone within my range would have been able to tell he was innocent if they needed a reason.

My intentions were simple: I was angry that even in a school that seems to follow the System, the students would simply sit there and act mindless as one of their own was being beaten to unconsciousness for being shoved into a Dean and resisting a punishment that he didn't earn. It was clear that if a small handful of the students had just stood up and debated the fact with the Dean, then the issue could have been resolved more peacefully, or at least less violently.

"But they all just stood there, as if there was a rock in their path. I wanted to break the shield around their senses and try to plant a perspective to them; I wanted them to understand why those of us from Varron resist the punishments given to us; not all of us deserved them, after all. I feel that, even if you do not care to argue against the System, or follow civil disobedience, then you should at least have the human decency to protect those you know are innocent from anyone. I'd expect a student to help another in any way if they were bleeding profusely from a fall; so why is that different when someone is beating that student into submission for something they did not commit?

"So in truth, it's simple: I intended to make them all feel guilty for what I felt was a sin that they were acting upon, and I wished to stop them from committing it through action, through words. Yes, I was about to be forced into a fight with the Dean, and I was fully willing to accept harm for it. All I wanted was to open a new perspective to them all, and I sincerely believe that while they're all not changed now, it'll be the first piece to lead them into a new look on this school - perhaps one that can help lead to peace between us all, and a change we all need."

[king]

"Hmmm...is that so."

Kurtz did not immediately respond to Leon's comments, instead taking the time to brood on them swiftly. His head turned several angles over his thought process, as if moving to gave on individual points that were made or rolling the topic back and forth over his mind. When he started up again, he began to spout a different story than the one they had just born witness to.

"You walk across a crime scene. A police officer is arresting a suspect, who he has substantial evidence against. As you watch the scene unfold, you hear talking about a rumor that, if true, would make the arrest unnecessary. You can't prove this rumor to be true yourself. Is that grounds to stop the arrest from happening? Most rational people would say no, but that is exactly the same situation that was happening there...and that was the way the system was designed to emulate society as a whole. As in normal society as well, higher authorities would have punished the officer if he acted inappropriately, as he would have wronged as well. That is how every rational student in there saw these events. Now that you know how we Hircines see things, what of the goals that you just mentioned do you think you actually accomplished?

[Leon Loire]

'I knew it... I goddamn knew it...'

Leon sighed in a bit of frustration at the Pillar's of the scene; admittingly, while his own version of the event was clearly attempting to make Loire seem ignorant, the problem itself was that Leon could be far from agreeing that the event he had intervened on was the same as a police officer merely arresting someone.

'He had taken seconds to think that up, so let's see what happens if I hit him straight back...'

"So I'll play off your version of the events: if you saw that Police officer suddenly start beating down on that suspect 'unnecessarily' to ease their arms into the cuffs, then you'd just stand there and ignore it? Our country believes that Police cannot beat down a suspect in any form comparable to what that Dean attempted on that student. So why the hell is it that a teenager, barely even in adulthood, is now considered a dangerous felon with a weapon, and beaten down to such a degree that he could have been in a coma?"

Leon looked to this 'Pillar' with a small scoff, but soon stopped his passion from taking over; he didn't want an argument, and he knew that attempting to snap back at a school Pillar was far from an intelligent move.

Sighing again to prevent his anger from rising, Leon quickly slipped in to prevent the Pillar from having ammunition, "I admit, if I were in that position that you described, then I'd never commit what I had. But your story was far from what happened there. I wasn't working from a rumor, I was working on my own thought out opinions, which I have the right to act upon if I feel the situation demands it. If I feel someone is innocent, and is being beaten to a dangerous degree for no reason, then I'll stand in and do something, and I'd damn well hope other Humans, Hircinian or Varronian, would also feel the need to do the same. So what was I trying to accomplish? I was doing what I felt was right, and if those Hircinians feel it's not, then I hope to prove them wrong, and influence them to agree with me. That's how I work. I won't stand there and watch; I won't conform. It was wrong, and I won't act like a sheep."

[king]

Leon began to argue against Kurtz, but unfortunately he didn't realize that he stopped to think of his arguments, but whether there were any rational arguments against it. After Leon finished his emotional speech, Kurtz chided back quickly, showing that the argument didn't really require much thought to argue. His tone was not that of one who was really arguing though, but was softly agreeing, and sympathetic to what Leon was saying.

"Very well then, I'll accept your terms as well. If a police officer beats someone, to a degree beyond necessary, who is resisting arrest, and you view of the evidence says that no legal action is founded, is it right to interfere? Keep in mind that Dean will be punished just like regular society, but by someone who has been given authority over him. You evidence is not absolute, and you have no authority over the Dean. I'll admit I would feel the desire to kick the Deans face in....and I probably will later, as I have been given that authority. Feeling that is perfectly normal, and commendable."

Kurtz turned to watch the crowds walk by, the last large groups before the classes started. They had a few more minutes, but unfortunately time is running out.

"If this had happened outside of this property, you would be looking at felony charges...and no one would have helped you. His actions do not justify your own, and you would likely have had his foot over your head right now if it had been another Pillar instead of me. Every student who watched that knew the Dean was going to suffer for what he was doing....and that the student who shoved him shouldn't have resisted. You shouldn't think so low of the students here....they know the situation they live in very well and choose of their own accord to live peacefully, instead of training to be Pillars and escape the scrutiny. I sure you gained some merit for punching that jerk in the face.....but now the people in the school think your a rogue, a violent thug, and that you apparently think you better than them. Your not going to influence anyone like that."

Kurtz sat up straight and raised his hand, giving a thumbs up in which the thumb pointed behind him toward the school.

"That WAS the way you worked, because your going to accomplish nothing if you keep acting like that instead of making yourself public enemy #1. Your not the only one trying to change things around here, and I honestly think I would prefer your vision to this one, seems like I could be lazy. I plan on making some changes myself eventually. I doubt you'd approve of them though. My appreciation for saving that student is the reason I'm speaking to you instead of knocking your teeth out."

Kurtz stood up and bent himself backward, stretching himself to walk to class. There as about a minute to get there, but Kurtz was going to take his sweet time getting there. He had become a Pillar to get what he wanted, and with that came the perks. As Kurtz's guides to living tended to go, a game is much more fun if you play by the rules.

"I heard you were considered the boy scout back at Varron, but if you keep on acting the way you have hear your going to be viewed as a monster. This isn't Varron, things are different. I'd like to see you be one of the heroes in my story, not a villain.'

[Leon Loire]

The Pillar's calm reaction had succeeded in its intention: Leon felt a bit ashamed for acting so rashly toward him, and felt a bit of an embarrassed frown spread over his face for a moment, before he forced it to hide away.

'No time to concern yourself with apologies. That's not what this meeting is meant for.'

Leon leaned forward, reasonably tempted to continue the conversation as he saw fit; there were many ways he could argue with the Pillar at the moment - although, while not winning, he would certainly not lose - yet, Leon's navy eyes caught the Junior's slightly nervous appearance at the thought of how close class was, and it seemed a larger importance to him at the moment was not to drive down a Varronite's ambitions, but to keep to his education.

Smirking a bit, Leon stood up with the man, taking a glance to the cluster of students rushing off to the Music Hall just a short jog away, "I'm glad to hear that Dean will receive a 'punishment' from you earlier then, considering the System itself encourages men like him to continue their occupations in that fashion. I still disagree with you regarding what I accomplished, what all those students saw, and what actually happened there, but I can see two things: one, your itching to hit class, and two, the fact that you seem much more open minded than what I expected of you. I respect that, and for it, I swear that I'll try to find a more... 'strategic' approach to the changes I wish to make. Whether our classmates see me as a thug or a vigilante is not what's important at the moment. What's important is that they see what I see, no matter what cost it is to me."

Turning on his heel toward the Hall, Leon began to tread away, ready to wave his left hand behind him as a goodbye gesture; still, one remark left to be noted. Turning back his head to see the Pillar, Leon nodded, "I'm glad to hear you'd prefer my way of things, and I must admit your own thoughts on change are an interesting thing to hear. I'll have to ask that of you sometime when we have more of it, but for now, I suppose our best option is to part ways. But honestly, while I hope not to be your 'villain', it's yet to be known if I could be. It all depends on how your changes turn out, huh?"

With a smirk, Leon turned his head around and began walking, allowing one last slip to leave his lips before exiting the Pillar's radius of clear hearing, "Just remember Mr. Pillar: while you may think Hircine is very different from Varron, you'll soon come to see how similar we all are, and the system that oppresses us. The only detail that is different, happens to be the reactions we give."

And with that, Leon Loire was gone from sight, off to his third period class, and to play off the day's events with a tune of his musical instrument.

[king]

"Maybe some other time then...but I know what the students in there are thinking, I would't be where I am if I didn't. You need to realize that it isn't the students that are different, but it's the system your facing. Learn that lesson quick, or those your trying to save won't even look you in the eye."

Kurtz strolled off to class, happy with how events had unfolded. Not only did he get a reason to break the Deans nose, but had dealt with a problem he had been meaning to get around to. Right now, the Pillars plans were starting to move quite nicely.

~If I keep it up, all of this will calm down in no time...~