The "relaxation" time passed surprisingly quickly. Before I knew it I was being told to change into gym clothes, which consisted of a long-sleeve grey hoodie, biker gloves, black sweatpants and durable socks with some off-brand tennis shoes that were a uniform black in color. Then I was led out and through the maze of hallways, stairs, and buildings to a humongous gymnasium. The guy who had led me there, an absolutely silent beast of a man with ginger hair and solemn eyes, had not said a single word the whole time and when we apparently reached the destination, proceeded to shrink into the crowd of kids without another word.
Questions had been burning in my mind, waiting to be asked but I could tell he didn't seem inclined to so much as look at me. I was getting absolutely no good vibes from this place. It seemed my future here was looking pretty grim.
I had no time to sulk about it though, because this had to be the craziest gymnasium I had ever seen in my life. Directly in front of me was a huge tapestry of a gold dragon with a rhino horn, brutish small eyes and the antlers of an elk was featured blasting a stream of scarlet flame through cavernous jaws, which was pretty badass if it didn't have the generic encouragement of 'COURAGE' written in the flames. Below it was the basketball court, which seemed to have recently fallen in disrepair, the metal neck of the basketball hoop completely bent and fractured.
I stepped inside tentatively, very aware of the crowd before me that were probably no happier about me being here than I was. My eyes skimmed over their faces, their uniform attire to the area around them. I wasn't ready for social interaction yet. This all seemed too much like a dream.
Behind the group was a workout area, or a target area. I wasn't sure which. There were punching bags and moveable targets that had crude arms wielding wooden swords. There was a rack of weights of varying sizes under a different tapestry, this one being an ice white dragon that looked like it had pulled itself off a glacier. Its regal profile was featured next to the words 'INGENUITY.'
I turned around, ignoring the hum of conversation, undoubtedly about the new guy with a hissing black dragon on his shoulder. In the very back of the gym was this humongous tank that went halfway up the ceiling. Illuminated from the inside by rays of artificial light, it was stocked by undulating clusters of seaweed and bright pockets of corals. Dark shapes flickered within, some a whole lot larger than your average pet goldfish.
"BLAAAWWDDDCLAWWW!"
Before I could investigate the tank, Caed and I were shook by the most obnoxious drawl we had heard in our lives. We turned to see what the real reason for the gathering crowd was—a little dragon, stuck up in the rafters thirty five feet above our heads.
"Bloodclaw get your bloody rump down here!" The source of the screaming was a girl standing in the center of it all, her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed up at the little beast. She wore the same shorts and shoes as everyone else but her shirt was a loud band shirt with a multicolored zombie and a skeletal raven. She was pointing a black nailed finger at the beast above.
The poor thing. It was clinging to the rafters like it was afraid for its life. Its tail was curled under the underside of the wooden beams. It shook its tiny head and whimpered. The green kitten sized beast didn't look exactly like a 'Bloodclaw.' It was more like a Puff.
"Bloodclaw, if you don't come down here this instant, you're not getting your kibbles tonight!" The loud girl said, her accent decidedly Australian. Her threats seemed to be working because the creature shifted itself forwards, as if about to leap off. Then it dipped too far and meeped in fear, scrambling back for a more secure hold.
When she started screaming again, a guy stepped through the snickering crowd. He wore the tightest surfer suit I've seen in my life, bearing shades of grey and black that made him look sleek as a dolphin. He kinda looked like a superhero. In his arms was a high-tech bow and arrow. "Bet?" He called to some other kids in the crowd, who burst into laughter. He pulled back the arrow on the bowstring and aimed at the quivering beast.
Woah, he was gonna kill it? I flashed a glance at the girl, who had now stopped screaming. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. It wasn't until I spotted the arrowhead that I could let out a short laugh. Instead of a sharp projectile, there was a plunger!
Fwip! He let it fly. The arrow wiggled in the air, soared, then SQUELCH! SQUEEK! The plunger made a sickening sound as it connected with the conifer scales and yanked him clear off the roost. He screamed all the way down like some weird Spongebob character before landing safely in the arms of heavy metal girl.
The Robin Hood plunger boy turned around, grinning face obviously expecting a huge reaction, but before the other cadets could give him one, the huge doors to the left of the gold dragon tapestry flew open. "ATTENTION!" The voice of a lion preceded a small, squat woman who stood with chest out and hands behind her back. Her green uniform glittered with an assortment of medals and a single patch adorned her left sleeve.
Immediately everyone was standing at attention. The speed at which they assembled into a cohesive line and assumed the stiff standing position of a soldier shocked me. I didn't realize that I was the only one standing awkwardly to the side until she approached me, her stern glance making me wish I could fade into the background permanently. My shoulders shrunk and my eyebrows raised. I was about ready to flee when she grabbed me by my biceps and physically positioned me beside the nearest cadet. "Chest out. Chin high." She grunted.
I was so scared it took me a full moment to realize what that meant. Then I quickly, and awkwardly obeyed. Caedmon hissed at her the whole time and even struck at her fingers, but she pulled them away quickly.
"Today we'll be focusing on strength training." She directed her attention to the rest standing there. I noticed all of them were staring straight ahead, and wasn't sure if I should be relieved or even more embarrassed. She strode to the front of the lot and swiveled on her heel to stare us down. She was a typical gym teacher with the typical gym teacher evil glare. Suddenly I wished I could forge another health slip from my "parents" to get out of this class, but I had an odd feeling that it wouldn't work.
She leaned forward onto her toes before barking out. "I'll split you into four groups. We'll have weight lifting in the Power corner, Planks and Curls to the left, Squats and Chairs to the back, and sprints behind me."
Wow, all of that sounded completely horrible. I looked for somewhere to hide as she split us up into groups and dictated the rules. "Now, let's warm up with ten laps! Go go go!"
I was okay at running. You had to be to be able to get away with the stuff I did. But ab workouts? Not so much. I was light. I was fast. But I wasn't strong. The rest of the kids here clearly took their health seriously. Even the girls had bigger biceps than I did. They didn't even break a sweat after ten laps and jumped straight into the rest of the training.
Minimum effort. There was enough people here, maybe I could pretend to be doing what I was supposed to be, then relax whenever the gym teacher's head was turned.
The plan would have worked well, except she seemed intent on making sure I wasn't slacking off. I'd relax to the floor after an intense plank and she'd scream a second later. I'd chill on the floor for curls a second too long and she was in my face yelling that I had the strength of a Mongolian earthworm and the brains of a putrid tasseled wobbegong... whatever the heck that is. Every time she blew the whistle to move on to the next workout she scribbled something down while looking directly at me. I wondered what she was writing.
It wasn't long when it felt like my body had just given up. I was breathing like a dying donkey, my muscles shaking and sweat just dripping from my body. It didn't help that I was wearing a sweatshirt, but I knew if I took it or the hoodie off I would be feeling the wrath of those overhead lights on my skin. I felt a wave of nausea from my gut, but if I stopped I knew I would be yelled at again. Some kids in my group were shooting me concerned glances, others were snickering, but all of them were doing a whole lot better than I was. Their breathing was controlled, their movements still full of the strength of youth that had so cruelly left me.
Maybe I shouldn't have skipped out on gym classes for all those years.
Caedmon even felt bad for me. After every squat and curl, he'd pat my foot, as if at once congratulating me and giving me condolences. The other hatchlings were in the center of the gymnasium tumbling over each other, play fighting, and sleeping in heaps of vibrant colors. But not Caedmon. My little buddy even tried to mimic me on some of the workouts. When I finally reached the sprints section, he was racing in front of me, scampering over the waxed floor with his tail held high. Even though I felt like I was going to keel over, I couldn't help but laugh.
Finally, she blew the whistle for the last time and I almost collapsed in relief. We were done! Finished! The rest of the cadets filed out, heading out different doors and chatting amongst themselves. I sunk to the ground and reached out to stroke my little dragon's smooth sides. "Prison would be more fun than that. At least they don't make you work out in prison." I mumbled to him.
Caedmon tilted his head, then opened his mouth expectantly. "Meep."
For a second I struggled to understand what he was trying to tell me, then my growling stomach answered. Hungry. We were both starving. I scooped him up. "I guess... we should just... follow the kids huh?" I staggered to my sore legs and looked around. Everyone had already skedaddled.
A flicker in the tank caught my eye. Caedmon squeaked and wiggled in my arms, obviously wanting to see what it was. I couldn't help but be curious as well. I walked up to the tank curiously, peering into the depths. A guy was in there! I saw the neon stripe of his flippers shimmer as he propelled himself towards the rock formation at the bottom of the tank. The way he sliced through the water was absolutely inhuman. He navigated with a simple flick of his arms and legs, his body moving sinuous as a snake. It was oddly freaky.
Suddenly a tiny creature zoomed from the dark recesses of the floor and pummeled him straight in the face. His mouth opened in a laugh as it darted off with a flash of a crenellated tail.
It was one of the craziest little creatures I had ever seen. With a slim snout and webbed ears, it reminded me a little of a seahorse. Its back was covered in long, webbed spines that it used to direct itself in the water, along with its fins, which had fingers that held the shape of a human's with a thumb and everything. The tail was easily as long as its body, shaped like a sickle and burnished with a shocking gold color. Its entire body was striped with gold, sparkling with every sudden twist and turn it took.
The swimmer chased after it for a moment, before lowering himself behind the rock and waiting.
Caedmon's paws rested on the glass as he peered in, standing on my interconnected fingers. He seemed just as intrigued by this as I was. We watched as the hiding creature waited for the swimmer to find it. When he didn't, it slowly crept out from the seaweed and looked around for him, its tasseled fins swaying in the water like a Beta fish's as its copper eyes darted over the rocks. Then it spotted me.
I jumped when we made eye contact, and Caed made a squeak sound as he almost fell. It seemed just as surprised, its frill between its horns shooting up to make it extra big and scary. That's when the swimmer zoomed from his secret perch, tackling the creature with his mouth open in a laugh. They somersaulted through the water before coming to rest on the sandy bottom with a small spray.
It was super cute, but I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that I'd been watching this for about six minutes and hadn't seen this guy come up for air. Was he okay? He seemed to be okay as he looked up from attacking the aquatic creature with tickles and spotted me. He raised his finger like "wait" before jumping off the bottom with massive force and a cloud of silt, soaring to the surface. Before I could so much as think of what to say, he had broken the surface and thrown his arms over the rim of the tank, crossing them as he leaned over. I stepped back to avoid the rain dripping from his arms. "Yo, Justin!" He called down.
"How does everyone know my name?" I asked, sounding more cynical than I would have liked.
"Around here, everyone knows everything. We don't get new recruits this late in the year and you came with quite the story. Hold up, let me get a towel."
I waited, hearing a couple of splashed before he heaved himself out of the tank, the small beast snugly wrapped around his neck. He snatched a towel and threw it over his shoulder before scaling down the large ladder down towards me. He jumped the final few rungs and threw out his hand at me for a handshake all at the same time. It was a little overwhelming. "Emmit, but most people call me Merman," he said eagerly.
I took his hand and shook it. "Justin," I replied, before remembering he already knew and felt a bit stupid.
He snorted. "You liking our little game of hide and seek?" He booped his little beast's snout with a finger. It went crosseyed.
"Yeah, it looked really cool," I shifted my weight, feeling the full effect of being a Socially Awkward Teenager™. Three gaping holes on either side of his neck caught my attention and I couldn't help but look completely horrified before he assuaged my fears with a laugh.
"Those are my gills, cool right?" He said as they faded into his dark skin. "Everyone here's got powers. We get it from our best friends." He pointed to his dragon.
"Woah, so this is like.... Like... a superhero camp?"
"Pretty much," he laughed. "I like to think of this as the real-life Xavier's school for gifted children." He smirked.
"Except... more militarized." I drawled.
"Yeah," he admitted with a short burst of laughter. "Well, since you're the new kid, I should probably give you the lay of the land." He started walking to the door and I followed him. He held up his hand and pulled at his index finger. "Everyone works really hard to get here, so no one's really happy that you fell into this program. So my advice to you is to be really careful. If you want to survive, you're going to have to know who not to talk to."
He counted them off. The "metalheads" with silver eyes and metallic dragons. Usually the jock types, they could literally "squish you like a bug." He led me to the next room, which was filled with gymnastic equipment and explained that the wyvern crowd usually hung out here. "Gymnasts," he explained. "They're usually chill, but stick to their own. Then there's the fire riders. I think they get their temper from their dragons. Do not engage." He led me back out after I had a good look, and a good whiff. The entire wyvern area smelled like feet.
I wish I had a piece of paper to write down all that he was telling me. From ice dragons (shy but deadly) with the pale blue eyes to sand dragons (love pizza?) with the copper eyes, he went down the list of several types of dragon Riders. At the end, I realized he had said nothing about the only dragon type I knew about—shadow dragons. When I asked him about it, he shook his head.
"Yeah, you're the only one we've had. Doubt even they know what to do with you," Merman admitted. He looked at Caedmon who was starting to get fussy with the lack of good eats he was getting. "He's really one of the cutest I've ever seen though, honestly."
"Thanks," I realized we had stopped right in front of the door leading to the hallway.
He looked at me seriously. "Stay away from Avery, okay? She'll kick your butt if she gets the chance. Okay?"
Like I needed reminding of that. I nodded anyway.
"I need to go take a shower. If you want to go eat first, just keep going straight, the cafeteria is at the end of the hall." He said before walking out and veering left. "See you later!" He waved.
"Thanks!" I called after him. I keenly wished that he would have gone with me to the cafeteria. Aside from the padding of his feet on the floor, the hallways seemed oddly quiet, but I could hear the riffraff in the cafeteria behind the heavy duty double doors guarding it.
I took a deep breath. I could do this.
When I reached the door, I first peeked into the tall rectangular windows on either side. I could spot the groups he had talked about and could tell they all hung out according to their dragon type. There, on the far side were the metalheads, all big guys with buzzcuts and beautiful Amazonian ladies looking straight out of G.I Joe digging into their food with relish. Their dragons sat on their laps or beside them like faithful dogs, stiff and obedient. Then the Fire table, full of the more raucous types. A small red dragon was running all over the table, stepping on everyone's food before it was slapped off by the back of a hand.
In the back I could spot the motley crew that Merman encouraged me to join. Sporting different dragons and different eye colors, they munched on pizza as they played what looked to be some kind of nerdy board game. One guy was feeding a fat copper hatchling pizza on his lap. They seemed kind of lame.
My gaze returned to the other, cooler tables. Maybe they'd accept me when they find out how cool I am, if I can hide the fact that I am a Socially Awkward Teenager™. Yeah, I can do this!
Caedmon chirped, reminding me that the purpose for cafeterias was for eating, not people watching.
I inhaled sharply before pushing open the door.
No one noticed my entrance. Especially not what Merman called the "Zaps" who were—you guessed it—electric types. One guy was chugging Sprite from a large bottle as the others cheered him on. "Chug chug chug chug!" The burly guy almost got down to the very last drop before he swung down the bottle with a look of alarm, then turned away from his fellow cadets and vomited it all over my shoes.
I looked down in complete horror as the carbonated liquid soaked into my socks. This couldn't be happening.
"Ooops!" the guy said. "Sorry about that man!"
"It's alright," I said, shuffling along. I heard a couple girls giggle at me and felt my face redden as I headed to the food line.
A Fire Rider jumped up from his table just to block me from getting there. He pulled out a mini flashlight attached to his keychain and blinked it in my face. I hissed in pain and turned away. "Oh look! The witch is melting!" He smirked. "Look at him! He's so pathetic!"
If I wasn't so mad and embarrassed I would have said that holy water melts witches, not lights. Vampire might have been a better comparison, but kudos for effort, buddy. I ducked my head and tried to maneuver around him with Caedmon close to my chest but I was met with his blocky chest. "Hey, I'm talkin to you."
"Hey! Leave him alone!" A sharp voice called out from behind me. I didn't dare look back. "Do you want to be reported? One more strike on your ledger and you'll have pig duty for the rest of the year." He warned.
"Do you want to be reported?" The Grade A Typical Bully™ mimicked his voice in a girlish way to his comrades, who snickered. "You watch out, Dusty. When nobody's around to report to, I'll..."
"You'll what?" The other male shot back.
The bully didn't answer. He just delivered an angry glare and sat down.
"Hey, I'm Dustin," the guy said as he walked up to me. "Come sit with us."
And that is how I made my first friends.