The Land of Ice and Snow

[Tami Mullins]

Tami would often find herself marveling at the powers other students of the school possessed, and this was one of those times. When the snow had started getting thicker on the ground after the first of it fell, the students had taken to the outdoors more. Which in turn meant more snowball fights (some that Tami herself had participated in) and a lot more Christmas decorations in the stores (even if Thanksgiving hadn’t even occurred yet).

Tami’s favorite thing to come from this was the snow sculptures though.

The detail of their creation was pretty foggy since Tami hadn’t been there for it, but from the looks of it some of the other kids had used their powers to construct some pretty amazing things with the snow. Now Tami got to walk through this semi-surreal little spot outside the school but still close enough it might as well be in it. There were a number of the snowy creations, some excellently made and some not. Tami wandered among them with awe all the same.

It wasn’t until she found the fort though that her face really lit up.

Okay so it wasn’t the most gorgeous thing to look at, but the fact Tami could actually go inside more than made up for it. Most of it look like it was made of ice, so Tami strongly suspected that powers were at play here. Still it was amazing that she could climb up a level and stare out over the other creations. That was when she noticed she wasn’t alone in this winter wonderland of odd shapes and figures. Smiling from the top of the fort, she sent them a little wave. “It’s amazing to see what people can come up with when they’re free to do what they wish.” She commented with a glance around before settling on them again. “Hello there."

[Devinder Singh]

The unofficial snow sculpture gallery that had popped up since the weather started getting cold was enchanting. Devinder had heard a few of his students talking about it in class, and had been intrigued. The structures were creative, even if the fine craftsmanship wasn't present in all of them. It was a captivating display of talent and dedication, and the teacher part of him whispered about how it was actually a good exercise on control and finesse. Weather and element manipulation powers could be tricky. Devinder was glad that his mutation was so straight-forward: super speed. All he had to do was maintain his health and he was golden. Although, he always had to be more careful in the winter. He had to eat more to keep up his body weight so that his high metabolism didn't burn it all off. He seemed to lose weight much quicker in the cold than in the heat.

Something caught his eye on one of the ice structures. He looked up to be greeted by someone waving. "Hello," he called back, Punjabi accent echoing strongly in the stillness of the space. "That's incredible! You can go inside it?"

[Tami Mullins]

Instead of a fellow student, it turned out to be someone older. Maybe a teacher or at the very least a staff member. One with an interesting accent; maybe another transfer? Tami couldn’t remember seeing him around the school (but then again she was still fairly “new” in relation to some of the other students). He sounded friendly enough though, so Tami’s smile widened.

“You can.” Tami confirmed. She leaned over a little and pointed towards one of the openings in the fort. “The entrance is over there. You can go around downstairs too, or climb up here. Really, they did a great job designing this.” The fact it had two stories was amazing enough. She wasn’t sure how much weight it might support, but it felt pretty sturdy. The fact it was made out of ice probably helped.

“Forgive me if it’s rude, but are you new here?” Tami asked curiously. “I’ve only been here for a year, I can’t tell how long anyone’s stayed in Bellefonte."

[Devinder Singh]

When the girl pointed out the entrance to the structure, Devinder was at it in the blink of an eye. He raced towards it, curious to check out the impressive fort. It was quite large. He wondered how many students had worked on its construction. He slowed down to climb to the top where the girl was, cautious of slipping on ice. He had bad knees already, he didn't need any more injuries to slow him up.

She asked him who he was when he got to the top. He looked at her, thinking if he had seen her around before. She was obviously a student at the school, she was pretty young when he saw her up close. Still, there were a lot of students at the Academy, and he had not been there that long. Devinder couldn't place her face or name at all. "Not rude, it's fine. I'm Devinder Singh, the foreign studies teacher. I only started teaching here at the beginning of the semester."

He presented his hand to shake. "And you?"

[Tami Mullins]

In one blink the man had gone from in front of Tami to the fort’s entrance. She had to blink a few more times, but she was sure of what she’d seen. Speedsters weren’t so much of a surprise by themselves, but Tami simply hadn’t expected it. It was kind of hard to tell who had what powers since the mutant gene seemed to not care much about matching a power with a likely looking host.powers just happened; it was like a lottery.

Tami took the hand Devinder offered her and shook it firmly. Now that she’d pretty much guessed his power, it was no surprise he’d joined her up on the roof so soon. “I’ve only been here a year, so I can hardly call myself experienced.” She answered with a light shrug and warm smile. “I’m Tami Mullins. I’m afraid I’m not in foreign studies, so that may explain it.” With that she dropped the man’s hand.

Tilting her head to the side slightly, Tami had to regard yet another transfer curiously. It was almost like there was a mass exodus to Bellefonte; she felt like she’d met so many people from other places (even if the number might be exaggerated in her head). “Are you from one of the other mutant schools? Accents are still fairly rare here, though I’ve noticed we’ve been quite a few as of late."

[Devinder Singh]

Devinder looked out over the edge of the ice structure, eyes wide with wonder. He had been in the West for almost seven years now, and no winter was or would be as bewildering as his first time seeing snow. But the ice structure was definitely a close second.

"Yeah," Devinder said, leaning on the edge to look down over the snow field and the other ice sculptures, "I went to the academy in England when I was young. But I grew up in India."

He rubbed his chin, scratching his beard. He missed India a lot. He missed his parents, his mother's cooking. Fresh roti and shai paneer for dinner. The dense heat of the country. He brought himself back to the present and asked, "Where are you from?"

[Tami Mullins]

The academy in England? Surprise took over Tami’s face for a brief moment. The mention of India also had her thinking of a certain Turkish trainer (that she likely should contact to actually request a training session, but she’d get to that later). “Does this mean you came from St. Bethany? I believe that’s the academy in England, yes? I know the Ishvaras- or so I think it’s pronounced- Institute is in India. I’ve met some individuals from both institutes.” Tami was really, really getting baffled by how many transfers she seemed to be finding. Was she turning into a magnet for them? Or was it the reverse?

“Where do I come from?” Tami repeated. She shrugged and gestured grandly around them. “I come from here. To be more specific, I come from New York. I’ve always lived in the States.” She answered. Although with all these transfers coming in, Tami was increasingly curious to see what the rest of the world had to offer. Though her adventuring could wait perhaps until after she finished her education.

“Whichever you came from, I hope Bellefonte is to your liking.” Tami added with a warm smile. “I’m curious; how does this place compare to your old academy? I only know so much about St. Bethany’s or Ishvaras."

[Devinder Singh]

"India was colonized by Britain," Devinder said amiably, "So, there are actually a lot of Indian students who end up going to the UK for schooling, mutant or otherwise. And yes, I did go to St. Bethany's." Devinder turned back to look at Tami as she told him where she was from. He wondered how growing up in the US compared to his childhood in India. Tami was younger than him, however, so he though that their childhoods were probably quite different, even if she would have grown up in the same country as him.

"Bellefont is lovely," Devinder told her. "It lives up to St. Bethany's, definitely. I had a really good education from there, and I hope to pass that on as a teacher myself, now." He had actually been enrolled at Ishvaras for a short period of time as a child. He did not fit in there, however. The school had been... well, somewhat dark. The values that Ishvaras held was completely different than how Devinder had been raised, and he could not bring himself to conform to what the school was trying to instil in him. He had begged his parents to let him go somewhere else, and in the end he had been pulled out and sent to St. Bethany's. "How is Bellefont for you?" He asked, "As a student?"