And he who sat on it had the name Death

[Pan Banks]

"When I catch you, I am turning you into glue!" Pan howled, dodging around a tree in her mad sprint. She was chasing the cantering form of a black horse, though she was certain in his mind, it was less a chase and more an innocent game of tag. Bandit, so named for the white mask of fur over his eyes, had a knack for escaping and causing trouble. She had no real fear that he would run away forever; she fed him too well and sang to him too much for that. But it was annoying. It was very annoying.

"Bandit!" She leaped over a tree root. "I'm going to kill you." Never had she spoken the words with so much emotion, which was rather surprising for her considering how passionate she was. Unfortunately the reason behind her concern was because she recognized her surroundings, and feared she and her runaway thoroughbred were nearing too close to the academy. Bandit stampeding Bellefonte was definitely not going to be a good thing.

She could imagine Ellen's face. It wasn't pretty.
Pan skidded to a halt and braced her hands on her knees, breathing hard. Ahead, Bandit had slowed to a walk and was busily sniffing at someone in the clearing ahead. "Damn horse," she panted, straightening. Pan walked into the clearing with a sigh, ready to give the stallion a scolding of a lifetime. "I'm so sorry. He's possessed by the devil, that's all."

[Bell Connelly]

Bell was curled up on a bench in the clearing. She'd found a safe haven here, just as she had in the local library. Today she was reading one of her favourite tales about daring sword fights, magic spells, and a prince in disguise! It was the same book her mother had read to her so many times as a child, and it gave her a warm, if not slightly painful ache in her heart to think of that time and of her mother Bell could hardly believe it when she found it and kept it close, afraid it would slip away even as she held it in her hands.


She turned a page with delicacy, not wanting to crinkle even the slightest inch. Though Bell knew she would have to return it, she wanted to keep it safe, and selfishly hoped no one else would come across it. She had grown accustomed to the passersby who would browse the shelves and the librarian who would patrol the room like a guard, making sure everyone was behaving themselves and keeping their voices to a reasonable level. It felt nice to get away from his gaze...

However Bell was distracted from an entirely different gaze all together becoming increasingly aware of the horse leaning into her neck to get her scent  Bell laughed uncomfortably at the invasion of her personal space before leaning back and gingerly petting the horse on the nose "Well, aren't you friendly?" She was able to get out before a glamorous looking woman stumbled into the clearing "Oh that's quite alright, he seems ok now...He's quite lovely I th-" Just then "Bandit" took it upon itself to snort hot horse breath in Bell's general direction causing her to flinch 

[Pan Banks]

Pan stopped, drawing her gaze up and down the form of the stranger. The bright scarlet hair was what attracted the most attention. It was a beautiful colour and, Pan suspected, natural, unlike her own. Luckily seeing Bandit snuffling at the stranger's book, and her subsequent flinch, kicked Pan into gear rather quickly.

"Oy, mind your manners," she grumbled, flicking Bandit's nose. He retreated a step with an offended snort but didn't go any farther. Hopefully he'd stay nearby now that he'd been caught. "Please don't encourage him." She laughed, turning to lean her butt against the back of the chair. She looked down at the woman with a cheery smile, still slightly winded. "His head is already big enough, he wont be able to race if you inflate it farther." As if in protest, Bandit let out a snort.

"Are you alright? I hope he didn't startle you," Pan asked, pouting apologetically. The young woman she was staring at seemed the quiet type, and startling or scaring those kinds of people made Pan feel most terrible. "My name is Pan." She lowered her hand in greeting with another smile. "And I'm sure you heard me screaming Bandit's name from half a mile away."