Kurumi smiled when she saw Heather and gave her a friendly wave. She then went back to looking at her tent and thinking about what to add. She saw students using stones and decided to use one of the bigger ones she had to make a sort of name plate for her tent. She first carefully carved her name into the stone and then decided to add the three Runes to the stone under her name. When she realized that there probably wasn't going to be enough space...she came up with a quick idea to sort of overlap the three in a manner that you could still tell what the runes were (if you know what they were). She looked down at her work and felt happy with it...but she wasn't sure the professor would approve of such a use of the runes and thought it best to check.

"Professor," she asked carrying her stone. "Is this...an OK use of Runes?"

SPOILER!!: stone design

"You mentioned that runes are best if we make them our own, and the idea of combining three of the runes I felt attracted to came into my mind..." Kurumi trailed off hoping that she hadn't done something offensive. Growing up knowing nothing about the wizarding world was certainly hard once you came to Hogwarts.

" You welcome" Rex told Daisy." You would not have been able to make your tent look awesome" Rex said to Daisy.

" Thanks Anna and Daisy" Rex told them both. " I will be able to paint over these lines" Rex said to them both. " Nice of you to help this not craft boy" Rex explained to Anna.

" Yes, I could use all the help I could get" Rex told Rowan. "Rowan, these our my freinds Daisy and Anna." Rex introduced them. They are helping me paint brcause I am lousy at it" Rex explained to Rowan. "We could always use another hand" Rex smiled.

Anna smiled at Rowan. "He needs help. Trust me! One day We shall make him succeed. That day is far off."

Arya was always reminded of how much bigger Sabel was then her when she wore his jackets or in this case, sweater. Slipping into the thing as she walked back over to her tent, she fussed with the sleeves, rolling them up to her elbows. She didn't know what symbols she wanted to paint on her stones, but she was excited about painting again. Protect my tent....without magic. Pulling the list out of her pocket, she let her eyes wonder over the types of symbols.

The first that came to mind was Eihwaz. If she wasn't gonna have a wand, then this would be good for protection. Picking up one of the left over stones she gathered with Sabel, she grabbed a paint and brush and painted the symbol on the stone. Taking a moment, she then placed the stone beside the opening to her tent. Wunjo was the next symbol she decided to paint on her stone, placing it on the other side of the tent's opening. That was two down.

Awww!

Destiny had to use the chocolates to draw on the tent? That SUCKED! She was hoping to let the chocolate melt in her hands and then when she was done she could lick them clean. Mwaha! But now that plane was ruined. "Fine." she muttered, giving the chocolate in her hands a little shake to try and melt them a little. She was sure she could sneak one and put it in her mouth..Evelyn wasn't looking at her the whole time.

Glancing at the runes that Evelyn had placed, Destiny opened her hands to see if the chocolate was starting to melt. It looked melted.. "I think it's melted enough, so I will draw the Algriz rune first. Alphabetical order and stuff." Not the alphabetical order had anything to do with anything. Walking to the side of the tent, she was just about to start drawing the rune on when she head what her friend had said. Pffft, she didn't know what she was talking about.. "Then why did the Professor call you Flores-Shepard, huh?"

Now look! She had a discombobulated looking Algriz rune on the side of the tent. But who cares? It was made from chocolate!

Hopefully bears aren't attracted to the smell of chocolate. That would be bad, and all the runes they placed on the tent would be for nothing.

Since the first rune was drawn on the tent, Destiny was getting ready to draw the next when someone came up to her and Evelyn holding out more CHOCOLATE!!

Mwahaha!!

Glancing at Evelyn, Destiny took the chocolate from the new girl, Lucy, and quickly shoved them in her pockets. Ha! She'd like to see her friend get them off of her now. And since Lucy brought her chocolate.. "Ugh, sure. You can draw the Pertho rune on if you want. You don't have to draw it with chocolate, though."

Because the chocolate was all Destiny's!

Oooh a new class. Beck grins. He walks into the class. He didn't know anyone but he was determained to get to know almost everyone in this awesome class. It seemed like a pretty cool class and he really wanted to learn but he also wanted to make some friends at the same time. Beck sat down. FROWN. He was lonely. He didn't like lonely but he knew that he wouldn't be lonley long. He's never lonely long and he knew that. It had always happened to him.

What were we going to do today in class. He wanted to know very badly. Just thinking about it made a warm grin strech across his face.

Glancing to the other three runes, not really wanting to get her hands all chocolate-y and such now that she thought about it, Evelyn moved them around in alphabetical order so Destiny didn't have to think about it when she came to the next one. Mwaha! Then they could finish their tent faster.

She also wanted this conversation to go faster and get over with too. "Because...Shepard is a better name. Don't you think?" Well, she thought so anyways. Hence the whole Flores-Shepard thing going on. Flicking a small pebble into the water, she stared at the ripples for a moment before turning her attention back to her friend and the drawing. The really, wonky drawing.

Was that supposed to be the algiz rune?

Before she could even go on with her explanation of of the whole last name issue thing, someone else interrupted her thoughts. WHAT!?

The girl...she was like, inviting herself. Pffft, where are her manners!? At least she had introduced herself, regardless that she didn't say her last name either. Plus there was the fact that she looked really really familiar. Had they spoken to eachother before?

However, now that Evelyn finally realized that since there was another person here and she didn't have to draw anything with chocolate then, a small sly smirk appeared on her lips. "Yea, you can draw Pertho..." she muttered, scooting slightly away from Lucy. Sitting too close. Not good.

Besides, she was too busy staring at Destiny who shoved all that chocolate in her pockets to draw. Hehe, she would be getting that back one way or another. Perhaps, secretly letting the hot air charm blow on the girl's pockets and melt all of? Sure, it'll be a mess, but then the chocolate would be full of, linty stuff. Ew. Not eatable then!!

Louisa took one bite of her chocolate as she watched Enya picking the Runes she wanted. "I'm going to read the list and pick my own Runes." She informed the girl coldly. Yeah she didn't forget that Enya burst into tears not long ago, and that annoyed Louisa for some reason.

Louisa dwelt into the list reading it over and over again. After three mins she settled on four Runes that she'd use on her side of the tent.


She picked a brush, and started drawing the first Rune with blue color. The second one in Red. Third was gold. The last one was pink. She stepped further a bit looking at her work, "Hmm. The colors don't match, but they represent what I picked." She turned to see Enya's work. Well, at least they shared one Rune. That was an achievment. A smile.

"Rune-stones, you mean?" Di asked. "If you wish to use these runes later on for an actual reading, it would be better to make them muggle style, Prefect DeVaice. If not, go ahead."

Professor Di? That was... new. Di only smiled, though. She liked Sabel Dakest, he seemed intelligent. "Each rune can bear a negative or 'supressed' will, Mr. Dakest," she said. "Direction is important - a rune that falls upside-down when cast or drawn out is generally accepted to have a 'reversed' meaning. In Runic terminology, that is known as Merkstave."

"Runes 'contribute' to each other. So no, they do not cancel out each other; but yes, their forces can be combined - though in Runic tradition, there are specific things that must be kept in mind when doing so. Placing runes at an obtuse angle to each other, for example, promotes positive interaction among them - sort of what you want, if I'm not mistaken."

Di turned to the student. "That looks beautiful," she said, smiling slightly. "Like I was telling Mr. Dakest here, an in-depth study of runes addresses the placement and combination of runes. But that aside, that combination looks excellent. Good job."

If placed upside down they...."Wait. So, I put the Algiz and the Berkanan Rune beside one another on stones, and then I put the stones upside down on the earth. I was hoping that because they are for growth, it would help the vegetation recover from our disturbances, and by putting them with the rune symbols facing the ground, it would help send the energy into the ground." Because the greatest harm came from the best intentions. "Did I just...Merkstave them?"

Wiping the paint off her hands, Dianna looked at her work.

Bad of her that she found the question - the tone, the emphasis, everything - funny. "I don't think so, Mr. Dakest," Di smiled. "Merkstave means a rune that lands or comes out - note that this is not something that one does intentionally - right side up but upside-down. Not to mention, the 'reversal' to the meaning of the rune is not literal - let me say it means that the meaning now has a negative connotation."

Mmhhm.

He nodded slowly. Right side up, upside down equaled Merkstave. Right side up, right side up was well, right. And placed right side up, upside down was...okay? "So it's based on intention then? If you mean well when you put it upside down purposefully, it retains it's original meaning, compared to if you just...drop it?" That, would make sense.

But then, another question came to mind and he folded his arms across his chest. "What about in the Runistic language? I've heard Runes are actually a form of a written language, that books are crafted in them. How would one display the negative side of a rune then? They don't put it upside down, do they?" That would simply make things confusing.

Emmaleigh had already painted on three runes, when she decided to paint a fourth around the section of the tent that was used for storing food. Here she placed the Fehu rune to invoke nourishment. As she was doing this, the girl that helped with the tent's interior returned. Em listened to everything the girl had to say, and nodded her head. "Yeah, that s-seems like a really good Idea," she said with a smile. "Oh, I don't t-think I introduced m-myself. I'm E-emmaleigh, and this is Brit."

"Intentionality is everything," Di said. That could not be emphasized enough. "This is such an in-depth topic that it is impossible to cover it completely at school level, but since you seem interested I will go into some detail, Mr. Dakest. The particulars of Merkstave are often debated. There are rune-casters that refuse to accept the concept altogether. 'To Merkstave or not to Merkstave' is in fact, a question of some consequence if you enter this field professionally."

"It is important to have a personal rune-set, because runes grow on the rune-caster and vice versa - a runes student casts a number of runes and interprets them all; a qualified rune-caster casts a number of runes and can tell you that there are some you need not interpret because they are dormant. In the end, the most important thing to remember is that runic magic is magic - and like a shield charm can be used both offensively and defensively based on the caster's intentions, runic magic is also influenced by the caster's intentions - personal intent and energy is a part of a rune from the moment it is invoked."

Language, yes. "Rune-casting and runic languages are two different aspects of Ancient Runes - simply put, there is a difference between runes that are used for a reading and runes that are used for correspondence or records. If I were to write a letter using a Runic language, there would be no need to invoke the runes because the runes become a simple medium of correspondence then. To use the runes in that fashion, it is enough to know just the language and none of the complicated details."

That, made a bit more sense. Most things in life were simply of intention and the desired outcome. Even words were that way, where it was the perception of them that ended up causing problems in communication. As runes was a language in and of itself, it made sense it would follow the same rules.

"So, in a very general sense, once someone has grown acustomed to their Rune set it...speaks to them in a way?" It reminded him of the Great Rings of Power in Lord of the Rings, although talking rocks were much more amusing. He doubted it was in a literal sense though.

Scratching the side of his neck, he considered the stone in his hand, turning it slowly. "And to clarify, what your saying is that when using the runes as readings, they are assigned a letter like status, so they read like an alphabet? And the symbolism is removed?" It would make a lot more sense as to how Danika was reading a book comprised of runes. "Do you know if there languages that do the reverse? Have script to which symbolism is assigned, and the meaning of the passage is based on the interpretation of those symbols?"

Di nodded. "In a duel, a person can guess an opponent's next move if she or he is familiar with that opponent's duelling style - same thing here. I've used the same rune-set for actual readings, for years. One can tell how a rune fits in; if it doesn't fit in; if it's inactive and so on. Textbooks often state that a personal rune-set projects more accurate readings, but it's not something that can truly be understood until a person gets one and begins to use it."

Simply put... yes. Di nodded, again. "Right you are, Mr. Dakest. Runic alphabets and languages can be just that - alphabets and languages." The reverse? "That falls in the category of Cryptography. I believe it depends more upon the setting than the language itself. There are certain tribes and clans that use the meanings and interpretations of different Runic languages as codes - to a person who knows the runic language but does not know the specific tribe's take on it, something written by a member of that tribe would look like nonsense, or a random string of letters. To another member of that tribe, on the other hand, it would make perfect sense."

Di stopped speaking and smiled at the boy. "Take two points for all the insightful questions, Mr. Dakest."

Two points? He blinked rapidly at that and the whole 'take two'. It reminded him of his first feast at Hogwarts where two points were taken for his smart mouth. It was a moment before he realized she had been saying that to all the students who provided answers. So...he got two points. It wasn't the reason he had been asking, and he was a little flabbergasted by it. "Thank you...Professor."

He didn't leave just yet though. While the talk of Cryptography was absolutely fascinating, there was still one last question that poked to the surface. "So...if someone has a personalized set of runes, and another learns how that person interrpets them and gets the general basis of how to understand them, could they in turn mimic the owner of the runes, or anticipate the outcome rather? Like in the duel situation you were talking about, say perhaps to understand a fortune they are not supposed to know, or read a set of runes placed for protection or a trap?" He wasn't sure if he was even heading in a logical direction anymore.

Painting the symbol Dagaz on her stone, she peeked over at Sabel when she noticed him in deep conversation with the new professor. If she cared for runes then she might have listened in, as it was, she wasn't that intrigued by them to pay the pair any mind. Eyes back on her runes, she placed this one in between her and Ivy's sleeping bag. The next rune's symbol she painted on the tarp beside her deformed badger. Ingwaz. Because she wanted to sleep peacefully while out on the grounds. Though she doubted she would do any sleeping, so maybe it would make their night peaceful.

Freya looked at her tent. 'What runes should I put in my tent?' she thought. She sat down in front of her tent thinking. She then pulled out a piece of parchment to write down what runes she'd use in her tent.



She then stood up and began to paint her tent with the runes she already choose.



After finished painting her tent, she looked around and saw most of the student already finished too. The she saw a familiar face. Beck..

She walked approaching her cousin "Beck. Hey" she tapped his cousin shoulder. "How's your tent goes?" she asked smiling.

Combination of runes...that sounded rather interesting. She listened as the professor spoke with an older Gryffindor boy with great interest taking a few notes here and there. Runes were starting to sound more and more like a puzzle by the minute. Kurumi scratched her head for a moment thinking about combining runes. "Professor, is it possible to create an entirely new set of runes by combining already existing ones?" She wasn't sure if this was going to be covered in a class later or not. "Like...if you were to combine two runes that had opposite meanings, kind of like the notion of yin and yang, would that create a rune with a neutral meaning or something entirely different?" Kurumi's head was beginning to swirl a bit and she tried to make sense of the question she had just asked. Maybe she had eaten one too many smores. "I...well...I mean the three runes I used and overlapped, has their meaning changed because I did so? Are they any stronger or weaker because of it?"

Lucy was happy to join them both in decorating the tent "Wowwwwww, you guys are awesome! Thanks!!" she said hugging them tightly "Ok so i'll start" she said smiling.

"So if i don't use the chocolate to make the rune, then what am i going to do?" she thought to herself and then removed some more chocolates from her other pocket that he had "Ok so i'll be using this" "Pertho rune sounds good to me" she said and began with her work she didn't want them be anger.

"Oh, now I get it!" Cass said enthusiastically, then she gestured to the rocks that she had collected from the riverside a while ago where she had painstakingly carved the runes that she had chosen to protect her tent "Will the runes that I carved earlier work better for me compared to the ones from a store?"

Enya looked over at Louisa, rolling her eye's at the younger girl. Gosh what was her problem? She was working wasn't she? Sigh. She shook her head slightly and looked back at her work. She had painted only one rune on her tent - the rest were around the tent in various places - but it was painted in green. Her favourite colour. Smile.

"What's wrong with you Louisa?" She asked peeking at the girl after she saw she had finished. It wouldn't hurt to talk a little right? She actually didn't want a repeat of Divination class. Sigh. Enya sat back on her legs and waited for her best friend to answer.

"Thanks for letting me join in. I already know Anna, Rex. Did you see where she put her rune?" Rowan asked him. She still thought it was the coolest idea ever. "It's okay, Anna. We'll straighten him out...eventually," she laughed.