Checking in (Ostrich)

There had been quite a few students registering lately, which was good for the school and kept Kaylen on her feet. It kept her from thinking too much about what had happened with Rhage, and about what was going to happen at their wedding. She had been putting off thinking about it at all; no date was set and no plans had been made...every time she had brought it up something seemed to happen, so she was just going to wait until he did himself. Now wasn't the time though, as there was a student waiting.
She strode into the office and gave a quick look to the receptionist, who waved their hand to the girl, and Kaylen turned to her and smiled, reaching her hand out toward her.
"You must be Rose, welcome to Quasar Academy. I am Miss Kaylen, the headmistress."
She noticed how tense the girl was, and her smile only widened a little. The office staff did a wonderful job, but they were not trained like Kaylen and Megan to deal with some of the more...unusual students. She shook the girl's hand and drew in a breath, then led her toward the office, a spacious room with two comfy chairs sitting in front of the desk. There was quite a bit of room even behind the chairs.
While Kaylen was not able to tell what kind of magic user the girl was, she knew the signs of nervousness in one. Judging by what she had smelled of the girl when she had been shaking her hand, there was definitely the smell of horse sweat. She'd know that scent anywhere from being around Desdemona so often. She went to sit behind her desk, pulling out a few forms from her drawer as well as a notebook.
"Please, Miss Riven, have a seat. Or, if you prefer..."
She glanced up and gave her a little half smile,
"You may stand there, in a more comfortable position."
She didn't want to give anything away, in case she was wrong about the girl being a magic user. It would not do to scare the regular students by introducing the magic of the world too quickly or haphazardly. There was a bit of a twinkle of mischief in Kaylen's eyes though as she said it, hoping that the girl would show her what she was.
@mouse

Kaylen couldn't help but clap her hands in awe as the girl changed, her own eyes glinted a bit of purple as she watched; calling out to Des. The girl would certainly need help adjusting. The best way to do that would be to slowly acclimate her to the human environment, get her around a horse who had done the same. She smiled to her.
"I think you are beautiful in your horse form, do not apologize love. This school is intended for people like you."
The horse that now stood before her was probably not used to humans being able to talk to her, which only made the headmistress smile widen. She was always excited when she found another student with special abilities; they seemed so few and far between anymore that she worried if some of them had been killed or worse. Not caring about the horse standing before her, she turned to the notes in front of her, and the applications.
"Tell me about yourself Rose, as you truly are."
She looked up to her briefly to her with a smile and then turned look to the papers.

Kaylen's eyes lit up a bit when the girl seemed surprised by her being able to speak back to her. She even let out a light giggle, unable to contain her excitement of not only a magical student, but a magical horse shifter student. She would be the first animal to come to the school and try to conform to society; but Kaylen hoped that it would not dampen her spirit. She could not help but stand and come around to the front of her desk, leaning against it a moment as she looked upon the horse in aw. Part of her wanted to reach out and let Duchess sniff her, part of her felt it might be seen as disrespectful.
"Yes, the rumors are all true. "
She smiled as she bowed her head to her, thinking of the best way to tell her all the story without boring her.
"My great grandfather was a unicorn shifter, and he opened the school as a way to create a safe haven for all others like us who might have been shunned or hunted by society. The old tribe, you may have seen them in the woods in your travels as a young horse, created a glamour spell that protects all the humans and all the magical creatures; hence why you cannot transform in front of regulars. Your mother, being your mother obviously would have been an exception."
She smiled to her, and turned to look at her desk. She leaned over it and in the upper drawer pulled out a few mints, which she unwrapped and placed into a wide mouthed but small candy dish that had been sitting on her desk, and then offered them to Duchess.
"We like everyone to go by there true names here, so if you wish you can go by Duchess Rose; we'll put Rose as your last name."
She gave her another gentle smile as she asked if she was a shifter, and another light giggle escaped her.
"Ah, no. I wish I was. Being stuck in this human form all the time..."
She sighed, half joking, and shrugged.
"I am what they would call a warg. I can share the mind of other creatures. The first creature which allowed me to do so was a horse, and so she also taught me equine speech. I have grown over the years fluent in many other animal languages, including draconic."
She drew in a sharp breath; hoping that no one would ever have to meet The Beast, the only dragon she knew of on campus. She still did not quite understand what all was going on with Rhage, and it was beginning to disturb her how little she knew. She knew how her parents would react to this news. She knew how they'd react to what she wanted to do about it.

She pushed the thought from her mind and focused her attention back on Duchess.
"Tell me, Duchess, would you prefer to live in the dorm, or the stable? The other students would just assume you lived with your family off campus."

Kaylen's smile faltered slightly when she noticed the pony's unrest. She might never understand why others preferred to go by multiple names in different situations, but then...Kaylen had always been quite comfortable in her own skin and never questioned her ability to get out of sticky situations. What further upset her was the girl's unease at her explaining what she was. If the girl was going to react to a teacher explaining her ability in such a manner...how might she react to a student? An empath or an actual telepath? Those that had little or no control over who they saw and unless you were guarded, they could get in. No, she couldn't see her thoughts right now, but seeing the look in the girl's eye, the fear, she knew it well enough. She'd felt it enough with Des.
"Wargs cannot enter the minds of intellectuals. Most of us can not share the mind of anything much larger than a true wolf unless given permission. There are others, though, that cannot control their abilities and can see all..."
Her voice trailed off. There would be a lot of the human ways this girl would need to understand before Kaylen could let her around the regular students. Kaylen, deep in thought, whirled around and went back behind her desk, taking her seat. She did not want to appear frustrated to the student...but she was worried for her and the others. As a horse shifter, she could significantly hurt someone with a kick in the right place. She let out a sigh, and looked to the girl again.
"You will need to attend all campus activities in human form, so to have a dorm room you will need to be able to retain your human form for a full day. Not all the students here understand magic, not even all of the teachers. And, as I'm sure you are aware, the protection spell upon the island does not allow shifters to shift forms in the presence of regulars."
She pulled out a book from a drawer in her desk, opening it up.
"There is staff housing at the western barns, and there appears to be an empty cabin, would this be suitable for you? We could pretend you were a working student. You would be able to interact with all of the people out at the barn, and on campus, but also have a place well away from others that you can practice your shifting on your own terms."
Kaylen wanted to help the girl, but there were her other students to protect as well.