Overprotected

It was hard to believe that a whole year has passed from the moment that Ksenia found herself standing in this very place with a girl that was no longer alive. The summer months themselves have passed rather quickly. They were quiet, mundane, not something that the girl was use to in the last few years of her life. At least her dear brother did not bother her that much.

The feeling of always being stalked has grown to be more and more annoying. That was why she had chosen to stay inside most of the summer. Not to be followed by a guard everywhere she went. Not to be observed constantly by those around her.

Ksenia's eyes were as cold as the water she was looking at as the ship slowly sailed on to the school, with every minute getting closer and closer to a place where there would be little place to hide from those who insisted that she needed their protection every second of the day.

Caius had taken to restlessly wandering the deck. Why had he decided to take the ship to the isle, again? He ought to have taken advantage of the offer to apparate or portkey directly to the school. The ship was just so... confined, and the ride was already taking forever.

He was about to go insane with boredom. The man deliberated jumping overboard and swimming the rest of the way, but even he knew the distance was further than he should wisely attempt.

Taking out his pocket knife, Cai drew out the blade and wound it between his fingers as he walked. The movement was flawless, an impressive feat considering the speed at which he did so without so much as looking. He noticed a girl standing on deck, gazing out over the water. She probably wasn't much younger than he was, actually, perhaps a year or two. The man flipped the knife up into the air, where it continued to turn end over end in the arc that it traveled.

"You don't look very happy," he remarked, leaning back against the side of the boat beside the girl. "Is going to school really that bad?" Cai's hand reached out, action almost casual, to grab the knife from the air as it started to pass between them. He still hadn't been watching it.

Ksenia turned her head as she heard someone approaching her. Was it Dameon? Had he decided to start his childish teasing early this time. A year ago the girl did not even know she had a brother and now she was trying to employ techniques to actually avoid him. Though that was not actually done very well this time as she was standing on the lower deck, right where everyone could see her. It was the water that the Slushatel enjoyed watching. The freedom that the waves below her possessed was something she knew she could never have, but the strength that they carried within them fed her own.

Her expression remained stoic as she glanced at the wizard who had stationed himself beside her. A part of her was glad that he was not someone she knew. That decreased the likelihood that he was actually stalking her. She blinked a few times at his skills with the nice, quite surprised at how easily he manipulated the blade. There were not a lot of people who could do that and she had met quite a few of those in the last few years. "Oh, it is not the school that is bad," she said simply, her voice carrying only a slight trickle of emotion. "It's the people in it, Everyone has their own intentions, their own goals that they are moving towards. A lot of people in this school simply focus on the end result," she said as she turned her head back towards the water. A part of her couldn't help but admit to herself that at least a part of her resembled the people she was describing.

Caius laughed. "Isn't that most of the people in the world?" he queried. "Everyone's focused on their own goals. If you focus on somebody else's goals, where does that get you? Not very far, I would think."

He hopped up to sit on the railing, balancing effortlessly as he regarded her.

"So, I am assuming that you are a student," Caius stated. "What are there, seven years? You'll have to forgive me. 'School' is very new to me. The way you talk about it, though, it's a rather onerous ordeal."

"I suppose it is," Ksenia nodded her head slightly, agreeing wit him. "People are blind to the needs of the ones around them. Though that may be for the best," she said, her tone contemplative.

"Are you not afraid of falling into the water?" the question left her lips before she had given it much thought. The girl's eyebrows rose slightly as she watched him balance easily on the railing. He was very handsome, she supposed. The Sluhatel blinked a few times, clearing her mind.

"I am. Ksenia Sokol. Sixth year Slushatel Prefect," she introduced herself, the words sliding smoothly from her mouth. "Yes, there are seven years. Are you not a student yourself?" she asked him.

"School is a very closed off space where they stick more then an appropriate number of children and expect them to coexist happily with each other," she replied drily. "Though there are some advantages to it."

"Falling?" Caius gave a small amused smile. "The only way I would fall is if I wanted to. I've got perfect balance. Besides, swimming might be better than being stuck on this ship for several hours."

"Right. I think Sa-the Highmaster mentioned that Slushatel is one of the student groups. No idea what a prefect is, however. Sounds important enough." He shook his head. "I'm not. I finished my schooling this past year. I'm a groundsman. Some sort of guard, I suppose. It's outdoors and I'm paid to do it, so that's more than adequate for me."

The man looked at her dubiously. "I think I'd much prefer studying at home," he stated frankly. "Getting along with my siblings can be a task, sometimes, let alone a bunch of other people."

"So you wouldn't mind if I pushed you overboard?" Ksenia raised an eyebrow at him, an amused smirk playing on her lips.

"We are the stealthy ones," she inromed him with a slight nod of her head. "I believe that the Highmaster was a Slushatel as well when he was studying."

"Oh," she said, pausing slightly. "Groundsman. How very forthright. And does the new groundsman have a name?"

Cai gave a brief grin. "You could try," he said. "Though, should you succeed, I'd just apparate back onto the ship.

"The stealthy ones, huh? Are you stealthy, then, Miss Ksenia Sokol, sixth year Slushatel Prefect? You seem rather straight-forward for one who is meant to be sneaky."

The man nodded, faint amusement showing in his eyes. "Why, yes, I suppose I do have a name. I ought to have given it when you so courteously gave me yours, oughtn't I?" He extended a hand. "Caius Raske. Eighteen. New Durmstrang groundsman, as has been said."

"You are a Raske, and you are commenting on me being straight-forward?" she raised an eyebrow at him in amusement as they shook hands.

"The ones that look like they are being sneaky are the ones that fail at the craft," she told him simply before turning her gaze back to the sea briefly. This trip back to school was certainly much different then her last one. "I must say that it is quite amusing to watch from the sidelines how people pretend to be something they are not."

"Heard of the Raske family, have you?" asked Caius. It wasn't surprising, really. Many people had heard of the Raskes; it was all part of the illusion - notable, but largely unremarkable as far as prying eyes could see. "Evading public scrutiny does not preclude straight-forwardness," he pointed out.

Caius laughed. Such an interesting girl, so very many ideas and so incredibly prim and proper. He hadn't thought such people actually existed. Though, he supposed Sacha was that way a bit, but it seemed so very different coming from a girl.

"That it is," he agreed, pulling his expression into something more sober. "People-watch often?"

"Well of course. Every educated pureblood must be aware of their allies," Ksenia states imply. It was one of those things that were at the base of her knowledge, something that she had been taught about long ago and couldn't be replaced by another kind of understanding of the pureblood society.

"What's so funny?" she raised an eyebrow in question at him slightly.

"When I get bored. That tends to happen more and more when there is no one to talk to."

"Allies?" Caius raised a brow. "And what if I'm an enemy?" Blue eyes eyes glinted teasingly. Awareness of all other families, friend and foe alike, was at the foundation of a standard pureblood upbringing. Nonetheless, he found himself behaving a bit childishly, unable to resist teasing the girl a bit.

The man gave her a small grin. "You amuse me," he answered frankly. "Some people are not very interesting. Fortunately, you're not one of them."

"Even more important," Ksenia said seriously, though she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him slightly. "It doesn't really matter if you are a friend or an enemy. And honestly, in the pureblood world those words really do not mean a thing. We all think of ourselves first," she said simply.

"Really now? People do not generally say that about me." Her expression remained serious as she studied his own face. "And what is so interesting about me?"

"Everyone, the world over, thinks of themselves first," Cai responded. "It's simply the way the world functions."

He chuckled. "I'm not even certain," the man said. "You just amuse me. You've said at least a dozen amusing things in the past few minutes, and you're so very serious about it." Caius hopped down from the railing, leaning slightly closer to her, his gaze settled upon her own.

"If you're not usually considered interesting, then what is it people generally say about you, Miss Ksenia Sokol, sixth year Slushatel Prefect?" he asked, genuinely curious as to what her answer might be. One could learn just as much from what a person thought others said about them as could be gleaned from what really was spoken outside their hearing.

"True, but I think it is more so in this world."

Ksenia raised her eyebrows at him. "I do not believe I said anything amusing since we have started talking," she said evenly, her voice as emotionless as it was before. The Slushatel remained still, her eyes focused on him as he moved closer to her.

"People generally say that I spend too much time in front of books," she shrugged her shoulders slightly. "What do people generally say about you?" she raised her eyebrow at him once again.

"Believe it or not, you amuse me, Miss Ksenia," Cai replied, turning to lean his elbows against the rail.

His gaze settled on the horizon. So very different it was, being on a ship at this hour. At home he would be training, or he might even have been with his father on one of his commissions. Already, life at Durmstrang seemed very different, and he hadn't even arrived, yet.

A smile play across his face. "'I thought he'd be more like Silas'," Caius answered. "Most find me rather serious and quiet. They all expect me to be like my brother, or even my little sister, I suppose. They're both so... loud. Out there. They love to be surrounded by people, the constant bustle." He gave a shrug of his own.

"I've always preferred to deal with people one on one," he said.