"Elsa. Elsa. Elsa." A voice snapped at me.
I jerked awake, sleep blurred my vision. I blinked constantly as my head, and my eyes cleared. I blinked once more before opening my well-rested eyes, seeing Tina on front of me, poking my face. My cheek was against the pillow, and my fox tail and wings were still out, warming me up, i liked being snugly. I vaguely remember summing them that previous night, just before I fell in the clutches of darkness. Tina interupted my memories and thoughts. "Elsa. Don't freak... But-" "I have a tail as a blanket and wings wrapped around me. Yes I know. I was cold last night, and Zack helped me gain a bit of control." I smiled, retracting my wings first, then shrinking my tail, hiding it completely as it bore into my skin once again.
Tina looked at me, mildly impressed. "Well good. You need to train for tonight. 8 o'clock remember? Come on! Today is our first lesson. Hopefully we will get shown around the school." Tina said, going over and pulling some clothes out of the closet. A light green T-shirt and dark blue jeans. "Come on Elsa!" She turned to me, slipping off her pyjamas and putting on the recently made clothes. I sat up in bed, leaning forward and falling. I gasped before ALMSOT making contact with the ground. I shut my eyes tightly, getting ready for the impact. It didn't come.
I squinted through my eyelashes, I was levitating, around thirty centimetres away from the floor before I felt a drift of wind, dropping me. I stood up, brushing myself off, "how did you do that? You di-didn't transform! At all." Tina remarked, her eyes searching me for any sign of an explanation.
"I. I don't know. If didn't feel like a transformation... It was kind of like... I don't know. A tug?" I suggested to Tina, whose eyes were already calculating what just happened.
"Any-who... Better get ready." I mumbled, before walking over to the closet, pulling out black leather jeans and an electric blue top, matching my eyes. I unzipped my dress, filing it back in the closet which sucked it up like a vacuum. I put on my new clothes, they fit nicely.
"What's the time?" I asked. Tina shrugged, "wait. Maybe..." I turned at the wardrobe again, reaching out, my hands fumbled on a strap. Gotcha. I thought, pulling and revealing a watch. It was light blue with designs etched across it, I didn't bother making them out now.
"We have a few more minutes" I said, grabbing a pair of boots, they weren't particularly high heeled. Which I liked. I jumped through the painting in to the bathroom, opening the draw, many things sat there. Including a new toothbrush and toothpaste. I grabbed them both, wetting the toothbrush with water perforce squirting out the toothpaste. I brushed my teeth quickly, spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing my mouth before I jumped back through the painting, heading out the door with Tina.
Many people were filing out the door already. Josh and Zack were hanging at the lounge, "Elsa!" Josh said, coming over and hugging me.
**Zack knows.** he said to me.
**i know he knows. Trust me. Because I trust him** I didn't really care if that made sense or not.
Remembering my training I turned my fingers into claws. Tiger claws. It seemed so much easier to control, but only in Small amounts. I retracted them and grew my pinky Into a whip. Retracting that as well, "guess what I found Elsa as this morning?" Tina asked the two boys.
"What?" They said in sync.
"well she had a giant fox tail, completely wrapped around her like a sleeping bag and then she had wings!" Tina said, looking at me. Josh's eyes were wide open and Zack was slightly gaping.
"And, also, she fell off her bed and just stopped in mid air without changing. Girl, you have got some powers!" Tina remarked.
"Elsa. Why? How? Can you control it?" Josh asked me. I nodded, "yeah. It depends what it is and how big it is. And also I feel more... In control. See?" I said, thinking about golden feathery angel wings, sprouting from my back.
Then just as easily I folded them up into nothingness. "Shouldn't we be going?" I asked innocently.
"Yeah. The training room is... Uh. Wait I'll show you." Zack said, going out the cabin door. Students were walking through the hall and to the left of the infirmary. All we had to do was follow them.
Near the infirmary was a main flight of stairs, we went down. And down. And down and down further, this school must be pretty big...
We stopped on the ground level, however the stair still ascended in a downwards motion. Still following the line of students we reached out of what looks like the main doors. Big and gold, with designs and drawings etched in it. I had no time to look at it.
The doors were open and bright sunlight shone through, landing on my Lilly White skin. I blinked a few times, adjusting to the light. The group of people kept gathering, going down a brick pathway, finally resting in the middle of a field.
"Okay everyone. My name is Miss Claudel. I will show you around the school." She was very cut and to the point. I got a glimpse of her. She was long. Her neck was long. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, the bones in her back showed though her T-shirt. There was something strange about her. Familiar. Yet strange.
Squished in between Tina and Zack, with Josh on Tina's right side, we were led to a river, with a rock. A big smooth silky rock, the sun shining off of it and the glittering stream was behind it. Zack nudged me.
It was the rock we sat on yesterday.
"Now this here is the SunBaking rock and Stream of good fortune. Follow me." Miss Claudel continued on. The stream and rock were sort of diagonally left of the school entrance. We continued further to the left, reaching a tree.
The Wishing Tree.
"This is the wishing tree, continue." Miss Claudel said hastily, pulling us along. We were walking down the left side of the school, getting a proper look at it now I could see that it was made of a dark silver stone, shining in the sunlight. There were many windows all over the school, big windows that were in an arch shape at the top. It had a modern castle-palace design. Very pretty. "This is the River of Secrets." Miss Claudel seemed slightly bored. It was a bit frustrating not knowing why the places were called the things they were. They must all have a meaning. The river of secrets was flowing behind the school, it reminded me of a moving lake. It was very big.
Walking past the lake of secrets at an angle we reached a rink. "And this is the training room, where of you need practice. Go here. But this is where you will learn how to fight and how to use fighting magic." Miss Claudel said, leading us into the training rink. I looked around, the training rink was to the right of the school, and above it was... A forest? Was that a forest? I used eagle vision. It was... However.. There was something. Odd. About it. It seemed hidden away, as if I shouldn't be able to see it.
Suddenly it shimmered and vanished into a faint outline. I shrugged off a tiny feeling, gnawing me away as I follow everyone else in the training room.
It was like an arena, with a storeroom full of weapons. And another storeroom that was locked up. I felt myself moving towards it.
Magic.
Of coarse, that's where they keep magical items and probably potions and things.
"Anyway best be off. Mike will look after you guys, get you trained up." Miss Claudel said before hurrying off. She was slightly weird, and strict.
A buff guy, Mike I presume, walked up to us, he had a belt with many swords, daggers, throwing knifes and more strung across it. "Hey. Well today we will learn how to use a dagger, and just getting the basic technique." There were some excited murmurs traveling around the group. There must have been around fifty to eighty people, it was a bit hard to tell.
"Oh yes. Did I mention that you will all fight me? Whoever does their best wins a weapons belt. Indestructible." He said proudly. I was already examining his weak spots, obviously he would think that we would all be pretty direct, and easy to figure out. Well I'm going to prove him wrong.
"So. Grab a dagger, line up and let's go." Mike said, he was cheerful. Looked about 20... Maybe 25 latest.
Everyone, including me, filed in to the weapons room, grabbing a dagger. They were all the same pretty much.
I reached out, grabbing a silver dagger, nothing special.
I wanted to go last in the line, so I did. Hanging behind and letting other people go first as I watched him fight. Mike was good, really good. He always interpreted the moves before it happened, then he would move swiftly to the weak point of the stance, attacking there. I was already working up strategies when Josh stepped in.
He raised his dagger at the ready, holding it defensively, Mike attacked. Josh dogged it and swung blindly at Mike, the blade just skimming his shoulder. First time someone had actually touched Mike. And it was my brother.
"Not bad." He mumbled, taking advantage of the praise and striker when Josh lost his focus. "Concentrate. Other then that, good reflexes. And the stances weren't to shabby."
Next person in was Zack, holding the blade up confidently. Mike smiled, lunging at him, Zack ducked and drive his blade upwards, rolling and hastily scooting out of the way, pin pointing where the weak spots were. Mike walked up to Josh, looking as if he was going to strike to the left. "He isn't. It's a trap" I muttered to myself, sure enough, I was right. At the last second Mike drove his blade across Zacks right shoulder.
"Don't do the defence before the offence." Mike said, Zack nodded and walked out the arena, some blood stuck to his shirt sleeve.
A few people I don't know went in, some where a little too confident, some were just bad. Some were okay, with the occasional people who knew what they were doing, and the rest were lost.
Tina wasn't a bad fighter, but she always thought everything through before she did it, making the opponent have a chance to strike. "Sometimes, don't think. Just do." Mike told her as she left the rink. Before I knew it, I was the one standing in front of him. "Last one" he smiled. Lunging at me, I leaped to the side as Josh had done, before he could attack me I ducked, rolling to his weak side, slashing his hip with my dagger. "Not bad." He said, I didn't lose concentration, he met me head on. His knife with mine, it's not about strength versus strength. It's about using the opponents strength to his fullest. I thought, not quite sure how I knew that.
I twisted my dagger slightly, so the dagger did more work then I did.
I felt Mike tense, he was going to attack me. Thinking fast, I kicked across his hip, pushing him out of my way.
He staggered slightly, standing up straight, "what's your name?" Mike asked.
"Elsa. Elsa Darknight." I stared evenly at him.
"Well Elsa Darknight, you are the first person out of all the people I have trained, to get two hits on me. In a row as well." He added, there was surprise across his face. "Fight my with this sword." He said, grabbing a sword and handing it to me, just like all weapons, it fitted perfectly in my hand. I held the knife in my other hand, going for a double style. "If you're going to be like that, take this sword as well." He shrugged. Handing me another sword, matching the one in my right hand. The hilt was silver and the sword was steel, glowing faintly. I held them up, adrenalin coursing through my veins as I lunged at him, using on sword to block his defence and my left sword to strike at him, cutting his knee. He held his ground, kicking me with his other leg, I staggered back slightly, raising my sword over my head just as he swung there.
He stopped, his eyes wide as he sheathed his sword. "You amaze me. I, how did you know I was going to attack you like that? It's my own move. You shouldn't have interpreted it that easily." He muttered, half to himself.
I shrugged, "I don't know, that was just the part I felt was in danger."
"Interesting... Well Elsa. I don't doubt that you deserve this belt." He handed it to me. It was back with silver designs woven on, "that belt is magic, it'll hold any weapon you give it. And magic items, making them weightless and easy to carry." Mike said, I took the belt, the silver etchings glowed, just so faintly that only Mike could see. Mike and I. His eyes squinted slightly, "yes I don't doubt that is yours. It told me so.." He muttered, before picking up my two swords and putting them back on the desk.
I strapped the belt around my waist, it adjusted automatically before returning to my wide-eyed, gaping group.