The night before it had been agreed that Dekker, Sophia, and Coriliat were to meet before the gates to the inner courtyard. The boys dorm was on the other end of the outer courtyard compared to the girls and so there was no point meeting at one dorm over the other. It was a fairly cold day and Sophia and Coriliat were standing under the gate giggling when Dekker walked up. He was wearing nothing other then boots, jeans, and a sweater over a t-shirt.
"Dekker! How can you walk around in only that?" Coriliat asked, stunned by the simple clothes.
"In only what?" He looked down at himself and then at the girls. They were both wearing coats, hats, and gloves. Sophia even wore sunglasses. "Oh. I'm a wolf. Our body temperature is different." He grinned. "I am your personal heater girls!"
Sophia just rolled her eyes. "Come on, I do not want to be late for our first class."
"Yeah! Hunter 101! We are all going to be famous!" Dekker made a cartwheel, slipped, and fell flat on his ass, laughing. Coriliat giggled.
"Actually," Sophia interrupted. "We have Mythical Creatures first, followed by History, and then Language Arts." She waved a schedule in front of his nose. "Where's yours Dekker?"
The young wolf looked panicky. "There's a class schedule?" Coriliat nodded. "Shit! Where?"
Coriliat answered him. "They would've given it to you last night, along with all your books. Those things were in our rooms after the dinner."
"Oh..." Dekker frowned, then suddenly his face lit up like a lightbulb. "I remember now!" He pulled his backpack off and tossed it in the snow. As he opened it and dove in the girls could hear him mumbling about ice and snowstorms. "Here it is!" With a triumphant pose he held a crumpled piece of paper in his hands. "I have Mythical Creatures with you guys!"
The girls stood there for a moment, gawking at the impossibility of boys. Coriliat shook her head. It was obvious that the only thing going through her mind was the stupidity of men combined with dogs. Sophia on the other hand stood there, staring at him like he was some form of alien creature. Both were making him feel very uncomfortable. Dekker pulled on his backpack and bit his lip looking down.
"We uhm...we should probably get going." He scratched his head and looked down. Girls were impossible.
The three stopped dead once they were actually inside the castle hallway. It was huge and tall. The walls were made of dark bricks, with a few large paintings that did little to brighten the atmosphere. Upon closer inspection the pictures were of heroes slaying some kind of monster, the problem was that the heroes were not exactly human. The paintings weren't painted with bright colours, but darker colours. The blood had been painted in with excruciating detail, and despite the obvious victory, they certainly weren't happy looking. In short, they were creepy. Looking up they could see the two massive, and rather old, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. They were the only source of light in this hallway, but whatever kind of bulbs the headmaster was using, they certainly lit up the area, which hinted at the mastery of the dwarves.
Dekker was the first to speak up. They were surrounded by other students. All had come to a stop. "So does anyone here know where to go?" He asked into the silence and his question echoed strangely around the hall. Then, as if on cue, two large doors opened, one on the left and one on the right.
"Mythical creatures in here please! Mythical Creatures!" A musical voice shouted from the left room. Dekker, Coriliat, and Sophia all turned to the left, along with a bunch of other students. The rest of the students turned to the right when a shout echoed gym throughout the hallway. They entered into a bright classroom that could hold probably a university class of 60 students with ease. If the desks had been arranged differently. The desks were like the typical high-school desks you saw in movies of the USA and arranged in one big circle. Very quickly and quietly everyone fund a seat. There was little chatter. The room was covered in an awkward silence as no one knew what to expect. A few students sat there chatting quietly, but fell silent when they realized no one else was talking.
"Well, I certainly hope that silence does not become a daily thing with you." The high voice belonged to a woman entering the room through a side door. It was immediately obvious that she was a Halfling. Her dress was peculiar to say the least. She wore high fairy like leather boots. Her clothes were formal but brightly coloured with browns and reds. The blouse had frilly sleeves. She was small for a female, and very slender. But she seemed to puff up with authority when she stood still. "Hm." She flitted to her desk. That was the only way on could possibly use to describe her rapid movement. "I am Miss Elana Saturnspinner." She cocked her head, and the brown feathers that were braided in her copper hair spun and twirled with the sudden movement. "Hm." For a moment she stood still and scanned the room. Then rather suddenly, as if on impulse, she sat down on her desk and smiled.
"I see that everyone is here. This is your home room, here you have all your theory classes. Everything except for gym, weapons, TSC, and astronomy, will be in here." She spoke rapidly but surprisingly clearly.
"Excuse me Miss Saturnspinner?" An elf interrupted. Sophia looked over and recognized him as a Plains Elf. The dark skin stood in contrast to his sun bleached hair.
"Yes Neiron?" Miss Elana Saturnspinner turned her head to him, a curious look on her face. Surprise echoed on all the students faces. How did she know their names?
"What kind of Halfling are you?" Everyone gasped at that simple question. One did not simply ask what race another person was. It was considered rude.
"Very good question Neiron." Miss Saturnspinner turned to face the rest of the class. "You will find that asking questions is the only way you will really learn here. Do not be afraid to ask someone what race they are, on the other hand, do not be offended when someone asks. This school is filled with a huge variety of people, of many races, some of which you may not know. Never the less, You must be respectful, but you mustn't be afraid to ask questions." She smiled warmly at the group of students around her. For Elana these students were like little birds about to leave their nest. A perfect metaphor given her race. "To answer your question Neiron, I am a birdfairy Halfling. I am sure that will answer your questions about my curious behaviour am I right?"
Several nods and looks of astonishment followed her as she got back up and flitted to the front of her desk. "Our first lesson will be about gargoyles. What can any of you tell me about gargoyles?" A few hands shot up. Miss Elana Saturnspinner took the time to let everyone answer. She was a fantastic teacher. Sophia learned all about gargoyles in one hour, more then she ever needed to know. Her teacher knew when to crack a joke, and when to be serious. Her lecture was so fun and engaging, it was hard for everyone to leave. When the bell went they had to read 20 pages in their textbooks as well as converse with an actual gargoyle, which only came to live when the sun went down.
The girls' next class was history. Dekker had gym. History was taught by an Orc Scholar. They found out very quickly that not all Orc were mindless brutes, in fact most of them were incredibly smart. The one teaching their all girls class certainly was. He seemed to know everything there was to know about history. It was like he was a walking talking history book.
"It was upon the dawn of the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire that humans decided that our people were evil and meant harm to them. Iroic really, as we were the people protecting them from everything else. Sadly they decided to lock us away, and ban us. We weren't allowed to posses property, or hold jobs. Us fey creatures, and our allies," He stated as he smiled at the humans around the room. "Were hunted down and killed." He paced around the circle of students. Their eyes were fixed upon the orc. His green face was drawn in a deep sadness, but there was a spark in his grey eyes. More was coming. "Due to the constrictions placed upon the fey creatures, heroes rose to defend them." He smiled at the crowd. "Now your assignment is to read through the first chapter of your textbook, choose a hero you admire, and write a three page essay about him or her and why you admire that person. The paper will be on my desk by next class." The classroom filled with groans. "Now now, this is an academy, not kindergarten."
"Professor Sringsbok, what if we have any questions about the assignment?" One of the girls spoke up. She looked like an ancient Egyptian goddess, but her feline features on her human face were enough to let everyone know that they had a werecat in the classroom.
"Well, if you have questions you have a whole dorm filled with students working on the same project, and if that doesn't help come find me. I am usually in the library." He smiled warmly. "Class dismissed. I believe you have language arts next." The tall orc picked up his books and papers and left the classroom. His white robe with long sleeves trailed behind him, as though he was a monk.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. It turned out that the Language Arts teacher was a male centaur, his horse body was a black peculiar steed, and he was of a strong built. But he was well versed in all forms of script and language. At the beginning he quoted Shakespeare and they started learning about the origins of language.
The gym teacher was the same as the weapons teacher. And she was an elf, lean and tall, with skin as pale as winter and hair as black as the midnight sky. She moved with such grace and strength, even an elf would be hard pressed to match her.
- - - - - -
Tiernan stumbled around the room. Where was his flute? It had to be somewhere. A pan flute couldn't just vanish into thin air could it? Unless Erik had taken it on the pretence that he needed rest. Rest. The headmaster huffed. They would all be served better if he would be allowed to continue his work as before. His sight was already starting to return. At least he could slowly start to distinguish things in the gloom of his chambers. His head snapped around as a timid knock grabbed his attention and the door opened. A young servant girl stood shyly in the doorway.
"Sir, there is someone here who wishes to see you." The British voice floated over to him.
"See him isn't the word I would use girl, and I certainly don't wish it. I demand it!" An all to familiar voice spoke up from the office. Then a gypsy woman dressed in bright colours pushed her way past the shocked servant and closed the door on her. Then she turned to him with open arms. "Tiernan, mon ami!" She walked over and embraced the non to willing headmaster in a big squeeze. She let him go,held him by the shoulders at arms length, and kissed him on the cheeks. "You don't look to well. Have any trouble lately." She poured herself a glass of wine and then proceeded to plop down in a massive armchair by the fire.
"Make yourself at home." Tiernan whispered under his breath, not impressed by her manners, or lack thereof. Then he settled down on the settee. "Like you wouldn't know, Oracle."
The gypsy woman puffed up like an offended owl. "Well well someone is in a grumpy mood. I'm just trying to make conversation."
"No need to be offended. Just making conversation is not why you are here, and we both know it. What is it that you want?" He simply stated, remaining calm and unimpressed.
"Always straight to business with you isn't it." Her tone was condescending, but her smirk spoke worlds. "Alright, yes I know what happened yesterday. Everyone does. You made quite a spectacle of yourself on tv. But that aside, I know you know I don't have tv and therefor know that I knew it would happen as it did." She paused but continued swiftly upon seeing Tiernan's glare. Despite everything, he was severely unpredictable in spite of her gift. "I know, I could have told you. But that's the problem with having been granted the gift of sight by our Lord of Time." She paused dramatically. "I know when things must come to pass. Otherwise my name wouldn't be Oracle now would it? Seeing the future can be a gift and a curse." She leaned back and crossed her arms. Very slowly the glare from her Lord turned soft and his eyes turned to the fire. She knew then she was allowed to proceed.
"After your...accident I had a peculiar vision. I didn't know where but there was a person, very blurred, standing there. The aura was the same peculiarity as yours."
"What do you mean, 'peculiarity'?" Tiernan frowned, already guessing what would come next.
"She doesn't have one. Or at least not one I can See. Of course I immediately made my way here. You see, it definitely wasn't one of you lot."
The frown deepened."I thought you said everything around the person and the person itself was blurred, how would you know where to go, or know that it was a she?"
"Call it a woman's intuition, also whoever it was was wearing a dress. I mean it could have been a man wearing a robe but I seriously doubt that not that I think about it."
"How do you propose to find her?"
- - - - - -
Sophia and Coriliat sat in the common room together. Piled around them were books, paper, open notebooks, and pens. Sophia face planted into the desk with a groan. It was eight o'clock at night. They had already had supper and since class ended they had been doing nothing but homework.
"To. Much. Homework." She stated.
"Well, there is nothing for it. They did warn us that this wouldn't be easy." Coriliat answered scribbling down some notes. "Besides," She started up again looking up at her new friend, but then stopping. "You know what, we could use a cup of tea."
Sophia looked up. Her gaze was curious but suspicious. "A cup of tea? How is tea supposed to help?"
"Well I find it always helps me relax and clear my head. The homework won't do itself, but a cup of tea does wonders."
They stood up and Coriliat smiled. Sophia sarcastically added. "And here I thought that it would manage itself Cor." Sophia grinned and jokingly bumped Coriliat.
"Yes that would be nice. Make up an offering to the homework! It will finish itself as a thank you!" They were laughing and bumping one another when they noticed that the room had fallen silent. Suddenly embarrassed they looked around to see what was going on.
Standing at the end of the long table was a woman with extremly curly brown hair. Her dress was rich in colour, and she looked like a gypsy that had just stepped out of an older novel. As Sophia's gaze wandered she noticed that the headmaster was standing right beside the woman. He wore black sunglasses, a peculiarity she knew everything about. Something seemed off about him though. His left hand rested on the chair in front of him, but the right hand rested on her shoulder. His shoulders seemed bend and he didn't look around the room but gazed ahead.
"This is Oracle, and yes The Oracle for those of you that are wondering. She is visiting from her home. I want you to treat her with the utmost respect." The headmaster stopped there and looked over at the gypsy.
Oracle waved and smiled warmly. "Tiernan may make a big deal out of the fact that I am visiting, but honestly I am an approachable person that loves to have any type of interaction with you." She lowered her voice. "But quite honestly I am here looking for answers so I'll probably be walking around a lot." She nodded and looked around the room. Suddenly her gaze stopped on Sophia. The girl shrank from the intensity of the gaze. Even the students around her stopped and look. Tiernan followed Oracle's look to Sophia and something dawned on his face.
Tiernan raised his eyebrows and asked Sophia: "Could you come with us please?"
Slowly she took a step forward. Coriliat saw that her friend was trembeling, her face pale, her blue eyes widened with shock. She reached out her hand and squeezed Sophia's. The friends shared a look, everything would be fine.