Lucas was right. The food was like charcoal, literally. It looked as if the cook had just stuck it outside and told the Dragons to go at it. I took one look at it crinkled my nose, and when Lucas and I sat down next to Stacy and Grace-Ann, I noticed that Stacy was looking at her food in a similar manner. However, Lucas and Stacy were scarfing it down like it was chocolate cake and they hadn't eaten in three days.
Glancing at their plate I looked at mine and noted that they did in fact have the same food. Looking back up at Stacy I noted that she had started pocking her food with her fork, as if she expected it to do something other than sit there, and decided that I needed to eat something. Picking up my own fork I cut off a chunk of whatever burnt husk I was being served and quickly stuffed it into my mouth before I could change my mind about it.
I started gagging a second later.
Reaching for the cup of water that had been thunked onto my tray with such violence that half of the water had splashed out, I quickly downed the other half, swallowing the burnt poison that I had made the mistake of eating. Coughing and hacking I felt Stacy hammering on my back as half of the cafeteria turned to look at me.
After I had finished my little dying situation I whipped off my tearing eyes and peered around to see that most of the cafeteria had gone back to eating, mostly filled with laughter.
"That happens to the best of us." Grace-Ann's voice sounded from beside me as she slid a cup of water across the table to me. "The idea is to cut it into small pieces so that you can swallow it straight. Small sips of water so you take it like some medicine." She told me as she motioned to her plate, where pieces of questionably edible charcoal were cut into minuscule pieces.
Coughing a couple of times more I nodded my head and started cutting my charcoal, seing Stacy out of the corner of my eye doing the same. "So what is this?" I asked, my voice a little hoarse from trying to expel my lung. "Or what is it supposed to be?"
Lucas chuckled, his eyes starting to regain some of the humor they held before whatever had happened in the hallway, which I was still trying to figure out. "It's a fish of some kind. The idea is that if we eat like we're prisoners while at school we wont mind eating like prisoners if we're actually prisoners." Lucas said with a grin as he stuffed a burnt piece of fish into his mouth and quickly followed it with a sip of water.
Nodding at him and completely trying to get the idea of being prisoner, ever, out of my head as I quickly followed Grace-Ann's directions on how to eat eh food I grinned when I didn't actually want to rip my tongue of my mouth, as it was the poor appendage would never be the same again.
Grace-Ann and Lucas started discussing, I don't know something in code, leaving Stacy and I to discuss random things.
"So, have you found a name for your dragon?" I asked as I popped another piece of burnt fish into my mouth and took a sip of water.
Stacy shook her head as worry lines bent her forehead. "No, she's being picky, but I mean she wants her name to mean something, like Opher's." She told me as her fork chased around a piece of fish.
I grinned and shoved her with my shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find the perfect name." I told her as I felt the table sake and shift under me. When I glanced up it was to find that two more men had joined us, one on the left of Lucas and the other on the right of Grace-Ann.
The one on the right of Grace-Ann was a short olive skinned man with deep brown eyes set in a round open face. His head was topped by a buzz cut of black hair and his lips were quick to twist into a smile. "Hey! I'm Dennis, I see you've learned how to eat the poison this place tries to pass off as food." He noted as he glanced down at my mostly empty plate.
I chuckled as I nodded. "Yeah, and this stuff is surprisingly filling." I said as I noted that my stomach no longer felt as if it could contain the whole of the world and still have room for a couple of stars.
The guy on the left of Lucas gave a quick bark of laughter that ended in a bit of a snort as he shook his head, sending his shaggy blond hair into his face so that is covered his grey-blue eyes, which were already almost covered by his bushy eyebrows. His long face matched his lanky body, which was draped in a thin layer of muscle. "Its only filling because your stomach is begging you to stop. I'm Ben by the way." He said earning a shy giggle from Stacy, who blushed when everybody's eyes turned onto her. Her blush matched Ben's nearly perfectly.
Stifling my laughter at their adorableness I glanced at Grace-Ann who was having a similar problem as I was. Lucas was shaking his head, a smile on his face. "Royse, Stacy, I would like you to meet Ben, who happens to be the second best fighter currently enrolled at the Riders School, and Dennis, the best medic we have. If you ever get hurt or sick, Dennis is the one you want to see." Lucas told us as the two men grinned at the compliments they were receiving.
"Second best fighter?" Stacy questioned as she glanced at Ben then back at Lucas.
Ben's smile dropped to be replaced with a scowl, a scowl that was directed at Lucas, whose grin had become smug. "Second only to this asshole, and believe me he likes rubbing it in my face." Ben said as he tried to surreptitiously glance at Stacey, and it would have worked if not for the fact that Stacy was already looking at him.
Both of them quickly bowed their head with bright red cheeks as they made eye contact, causing me to snort with laughter that I tried to cover with a cough as Grace-Ann and Dennis sharing in the same problem.
Lucas was slightly more tactful and had managed to hold himself back with a sharp grin.
Once she had control of herself Grace-Ann piled all of her dishes onto her trey. "Come on, we still have to direct you to your educational studies. Dennis, Ben, would the two of you like to join us?" She asked the two newest members of our small little group.
Dennis shook his head at the same time that Ben quickly blurted out a quick "Yeah!"
Grace-Ann hid another grin as Stacy and Ben once again blushed. Getting tired of their adorableness I piled up my dishes on my try and followed Grace-Ann over to the wash station where we quickly took care of our dishes while laughing over how adorable Stacy and Ben were.
When we were done we met up with Ben, Stacy, and Lucas, who had gone to a different wash station, and then started off down the hall way again. Grace-Ann was in the front while Ben and Stacy awkwardly shuffled in between with Lucas and I bringing up the rear.
"So, when do you expect me to complete those ten miles?" I asked, kind of hopping he would say that he was completely joking about me having to actually run, but knowing that it was unlikely.
Lucas glanced down at me and then glanced straight again. "Tomorrow morning. Meet me at the hatchery exit door and then we'll go for the run before stopping off for some breakfast. Then we can get to work on more flight training." He said as we turned a corner and exited the carpeted hallway in exchange for stone floors that echoed the sound of the five pairs of thick boots hitting them.
I nodded my head as Grace-Ann halted in front of a large wooden door that had words that were carved in a language that I didn't understand. "Scientia est fortitude, in laymen's' terms, Knowledge is strength. Sadly we do actually have to learn Latin." Grace-Ann said as her nose crinkled, causing me to crinkle my own. "Anyways you'll spend from lunch to dinner, about five hours, in the school section. From morning to lunch, about seven hours, you'll spend working on flight and training and then night is group bonding. The rest of your group should be here or getting here tonight." She told us before she glanced at Ben and Lucas. "This is where we leave you! See you in the morning!" She cheered before she turned, grabbed Ben's arm and started pulling him after, forcing him to throw a quick wave in Stacy's direction.
Lucas chuckled before he glanced back at the two of us. "Good luck guys, your Dragons are waiting outside for you when your studies are over. I suggest going and spending some time with them before you head to dinner, which is slightly better than lunch." He told us before he smiled. "Good luck."
With that he turned and walked away, leaving Stacy and I standing in front of the wood doors.
I waited till Lucas was out of earshot before I turned to Stacy. Cocking an eyebrow at her I grinned. "So you and Ben?"
Her cheeks flaring bright red Stacy glared at me before she turned and shoved open the doors.