Carried by the wind

[Kyoto Kimura]

Kyoto started awake as something landed on her knee, drawing in sharp breaths as she returned to the waking world.

"Sorry, princess." Rick said with a soft smile. "We're about to pull through the gates and I wanted to give you a chance to wake up before we get to the main building."

Kyoto blinked as she looked out the window, feeling a sudden pang of homesickness when she say the pastures they were driving passed with horses turned out. Her string of ponies were a herd, so she had decided to leave them as such and come to the school without one of her own. Surely they'd have horses she could ride here, right? "A... Thank you, Oji." She said with tiny smile.

She unfastened her seat belt as they pulled into a park near the building where She was to check in. "I can do this." She told her uncle with a slightly shaky smile. "I'll be back soon." She was stiff from being in a vehicle for two days; having left their home in Casper two days earlier and then spending the night in Kansas, before driving here. She was no longer used to remaining still for so long, and was pleased that the journey was over, even if her uncle had to drive home alone.

Walking into the building, she headed down to where it said reception, and offered the person seated behind the desk a self-conscious smile. "Good afternoon." She said, her voice slightly stronger than her smile. "My name is Kyoto Kimura, my acceptance pack said I was to come and speak to a person here to know where I am to go when I arrive." She was suddenly unsure of herself, and wished that she had her uncle to hide behind right now.

[Anne McDermot]

Anne hummed softly to herself as her fingers danced across the keyboard, finishing off a long and somewhat irate email. That was an art form at which she was rather good, if she did say so herself, and there was a certain sense of satisfaction as she hit the final full stop and then sent it. That ought to do the job; she'd had quite enough of late deliveries, and she wasn't about to take any more excuses. What they were going to do now, she didn't know, and neither did she care. She was concerned with ends, not means.

She looked up with a smile as someone walked in, minimising her email window in preparation for dealing with whatever the girl would require. Anne didn't recognise her, which was a pretty good indication that she was going to be a new student, and, as it turned out, none was necessary; the girl continued to explain what it was that she was here for, and the brunette nodded. "Well, that should be no problem." She entered Kyoto's name into the computer, waited a moment for it to return the appropriate results, and then pulled open a drawer in the desk. "Right, then..." Taking out a key and a map, she set them both on the top of the desk. "You'll be in Green Ribbon House, which is here. Room 7." The brunette circled the building on the map. "Now, I see you haven't brought a horse with you. That's fine; just drop in on Ms Carr in the White Oak Barn, and she'll assign you to someone." Again, she circled the appropriate building. "If you get a bit lost, I'm sure any of the students and staff will be happy to help you, though it's a bit quiet on campus over the summer. There are a few of us still around. If you need to speak to anyone, there's a list of useful telephone numbers on the back of this map." She smiled. "Welcome to Blue Ridge, Kyoto. Any questions?"

[Kyoto Kimura]

Ky nodded as she followed what the woman was saying, making a mental note of her room number; pleased that the woman had circled the building on the map, one less thing to remember. She swallowed hard at the mention of horses, once again telling herself she had done what was best for her horses, not for her, and she would be happy to ride one that the Academy owned.

She shook her head as she gathered the map and key. "No, I have no questions, Miss, you have been more than helpful, thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day." She flashed another smile before she headed back out of the building and over to where her uncle was waiting.

"All sorted?"

She nodded as she slipped into the car. "We need to head to the Green House, over there." She pointed in the direction of the building and then handed the man the map. "Then I should bid you goodbye so that you can get to your hotel in Lexington." And if she didn't say her goodbyes soon, she was going to be tempted to tell him she had made a big mistake and wanted to go home with him.