¦¦Specter¦¦(DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 6

Clotted walked back to class, shuffling some papers as he did so. He grinned at Madeleine, giving him a thumbs up.
“Worksheets are ready!” He quipped as he placed the papers on his desk, watching as Madeleine walked over and picked them up.
“I, Madeleine, shall hand these out!” Madeleine informed, he really did want to help Clotted. He didn’t wait for a response before starting to put out the worksheets on each desk, trying his best to make them as neat and tidy looking as possible.

Clotted Cream merely laughed, he appreciated the effort of attempting to help. He knew that's all Madeleine wanted to do, he had taken the role of big brother quite quickly. Perhaps in a way he was trying to stand in for… he dismissed the thought, glancing at his watch and then to the door as the distant noise of laughter and footsteps could be heard. He smiled in relief, he had to admit he was quite excited for this class today!

“That was so weird..! Did you see how—-“ Two students walked in together, gossiping amongst each other as they walked in and sat down, far too engrossed in their conversation to really take note of Clotted or Madeleine. Clotted didn’t pay that much mind though, he enjoyed the background noise of chatter and laughter. Madeleine on the other hand, was not so dismissive of the conversation.
“Soo what are we talking abouut?” Madeleine intruded, scooting up next to the pair. He really needed far better social skills than this..
“Oh! Hi, Sir Madeleine! We were just uh.. talking about—-“ the first student got interrupted by their more excitable friend who pushed them aside.
“We TOTALLY saw something spooky like- JUST NOW!!” They yelled, wrapping an arm around their friend.
“This sword just UP and disappeared in front of us!! And Peanut here said they saw someone's cloak!!” They informed him once again.

Madeleine paused, glancing to his side and his eyes widened momentarily before looking back at them with a nod.
“Wow! Really?? That’s so bizarre!“ He responded with his typical cheerful tone, despite the sudden feeling of anxiety that washed over the paladin, this could not mean anything good.. fortunately Clotted didn’t seem to be paying attention, and if he was.. well he didn’t show it. Madeleine was grateful, he was aware of Clotted’s opinion of the supernatural but ultimately choked that up to be a mix of denial and grief.

Time passed as normal, the class slowly filling in completely as the bell rang to initiate the start of the day. Clotted took a deep breath before smiling at his class, nodding to them all.
“Good morning everyone! I do hope we had a good night's rest after yesterday’s training! Fortunately today we will not be doing anything too strenuous, yet it’ll be just as important.” Clotted informed his students as he stood up, folding his arms behind his back as he looked over his students, mentally calculating who was there.
“Hm! A full class today! I’m surprised, yet that is good!” He chuckled, walking over to his board only to be interrupted by a student raising their hand.

“Yes? What is it?” He questioned as he looked at the student, Blueberry Ice Cream Cookie. A smart yet curious student, one who wouldn’t be afraid to speak his mind, answering his questions could either go really bad or really good - rarely there being an in between.
“Why is teamwork so important?? I understand the points you’ve written on the board, sir! But surely you can't always trust your teammates when protecting and serving?” The student questioned, genuinely curious to see what Clotted Cream would respond with.

“Ah! Well first of all, if you feel such distrust with those you are meant to work with, can they truly be considered as part of your team?” Clotted responded before gesturing to the board, pointing at a subtitle labelled “Bond”, before looking back at his class.
“Logically, you will not always get along with your teammates, and heck! In some cases you may not even like all of your team, such feelings are natural and normal. But even then, you should trust them. Such a bond is incredibly important in this field.” He explained, gesturing back to the board only to be disrupted by the door slamming shut.
Some students jumped in fear, others laughed whereas Madeleine merely cringed.
“GHOST!!” One student screamed, another joining in.
“YEA!! There was no way that was the wind!”

“Now now class! Calm down, it is all right!” Clotted spoke as he walked over to the door, opening it and slipping a wedge under it with his foot.
“The window is open, it was surely the wind. There is no reason to get so worried.” He smiled warmly, laughing at the mere idea that a ghost could be lingering.
“Ghosts do not exist.” He added on, ignoring some students trying to argue against that. He didn’t believe in ghosts, he never had and he never would. Such things were mere.. tricks of the mind in most cases, he wouldn’t fall for it.. although.. no, he shook his head, looking back at his class. He wouldn’t allow them to derail the lesson that easily!

“Anyhow, let us continue!” He continued, gesturing to the worksheets that were laid on the desks.
“I want you all to fill these out alright? They’re discussing what you think is important in a teammate, while you may discuss it with your friends, this is what you think! There is no right or wrong answer, just fill out the boxes. There’s boxes for personality, their morale, their likes, dislikes, and even physical attributes! You don’t need to fill them all out, but please! Don’t be shy. We will go over some people’s answers in ten minutes.” He explained as he took his seat once again, the class soon erupting into constant chatter.

Every now and again he would tell them to quieten down a little, but nothing much happened despite that… that was until a bookshelf was knocked over, the books falling out everywhere.

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As discussed on my tumblr, chapters are now gonna be shorter (800 words - 1500 words) but more frequent updates!

-Cinna