The Outside - SkyDoesMinecraft Fanfiction

Chapter 7

The Outside
Part One

Chapter 7

Arc #2 - Team 77

The day came. Sky's eyes had light bags underneath them from getting zero sleep and his lip was frail from the worrying of his teeth to it. He looked in the mirror, wearing the same thing he wore every day, the generic trainee uniform, and shakily breathed in and out. It hadn't quite bothered him until now when the realization finally hit. Things were going to change. He was going to see his parents even less, he was going to have to meet new people, and he would have even more work than he had before.

His mother and father had been allowed to take time off to see him leave and wish him luck before they headed off to watch the event. His father stood behind him, giving a knowing smirk. He laid his hands on Sky's shoulders and spoke. "It's like ripping off a bandage or taking a test." He said. "It's all in your head." Sky nodded slowly.

"Doesn't feel like it." He admitted, clenching the end of his sleeves and fiddling idly with his jacket collar. His father stopped his hands and brought them to his sides.

He laughed. "Alright. Take a deep breath for four seconds." Sky inhaled. "Hold it for seven seconds." Sky stared into his reflection's eyes as he counted. "Exhale for eight seconds. Slowly." Sky did as told, feeling his heartbeat slow down ever so much. "Use that tactic whenever you're nervous. It works."

Sky nodded, his gaze traveling around the mirror. His father spoke again. "Trust me, everything is going to be okay." The knowing smirk returned and Sky's eyes widened.

"You know!" He said. "Who-?!"

His father playfully covered his mouth. "I'm not supposed to tell." He said. "But everything is going to be fine." Sky relaxed slightly.

"I guess it helps a little bit." He sighed. His father ruffled his hair.

"Your mom and I have a surprise for you." His father said, seeing Sky's mother walk into the room with a box in her hand. She smiled at her son, eyes the same warm brown as his. She came over to them and stood on Sky's right. He turned to her, his father joining her side.

"This has been in the family for several generations. Your great, great grandfather came across it in an abandoned home outside the walls. It belonged to a family that wasn't able to get to the community on time." His mother told him, giving Sky the small box. "It's real."

Sky gave a small smile, beginning to open the box. Inside the tight space was an iron chain resting on a gray cushion. He gently picked it up and pulled it out. The chain was weighed down by a talisman of a neatly cut, purple gem surrounded in gold. It was smooth on the back, allowing it to be able to lay flat against the person and it was light in his hand. He smiled at the gleam it made in the sunlight coming through the windows. "It's so pretty." He thought aloud. His mother smiled.

"Put it on." She said. "It's always given an omen of luck to the family. You'll be able to wear it freely after the teams are announced."

"Just hide it under your shirt until then." Sky's father finished. "We need to start heading out. Don't want to be late."

Sky slipped the chain over his head and the necklace hung comfortably around his neck. He tucked it away below the fabric of his shirt and followed his parents from the room. They left together and began down the road towards the auditorium. Sky separated from his parents to join the other trainees in the back, them lining up by alphabetical order of last name, Sky being near the left end of the setup.

There was a bustle of talking and chatting together around him, though he knew no one nearby, not that he'd talk anyway. There were worried words and egotistical boasts in the conversations nearby, anxious breaths and deep sighs. All noises just added to his own distorted thoughts in his head. He sat silently, observing everyone else. Trainees that had already been given a team had said that the teachers and instructors would be nearby, finishing up everything, but also be watching the new students. Sky had heard that some of the soldiers standing with them would stare intently at a trainee and decipher them just by how they acted and looked. Those trainees being watched like a hawk ended up being the personal pupils of the soldiers watching them.