The Academy

Orientation

Archer and AJ followed the large crowd of students out of the station and up the stairs to a cold iron gate. Beyond it, he could vaguely make out the outline of a large building, and a grassy oval. He craned his neck to try and see past that, but before he saw anything else a chime sounded and the wrought iron gates swung open revealing ...

Archer's jaw sprung open. Standing before him was the grandest building he'd ever seen, with sweeping arches and towers surrounding the conical rooftop, standing tall and strong. There was another, smaller building, the dormitory Archer guessed, with impressive oak double doors opening out to a grand wooden staircase. Suddenly, Archer felt a hand grab his shoulder, and he whirled around, a blade he'd pulled from a hidden sheath in his hand when he realised he was looking into AJ's startled eyes. Suddenly embarresed, he quickly sheathed the knife again and picked up his fallen luggage. AJ was still staring at him in shock and ... was that awe? No. No way. He'd just pulled a goddamn knife on the poor boy! But any other thoughts were wiped from mind by Ajax's next comment;

"Dude! That was awesome. I was about to tell you we should go to the reception in the dorms, and you just like, pinned me to a wall with a dagger! Talk about skill." Archer stared at him like he was crazy.

 "AJ, I just tried to stab you. WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WAS AWESOME?!" But Ajax just looked at Archer like he was the crazy one. After a few moments he just laughed and turned around to continue towards the dormitories, mumbling something about how Archer wouldn't be able to understand. Suddenly he broke into a sprint, an impressive feat considering the weight of the bags he was holding. 

"Come on man! We've gotta meet our new room-mate!" Invigorated by the idea of knowing someone else, especially someone who didn't think almost getting stab was cool, (Not that there was anything wrong with AJ, of course) gave Archer returned excitment about living at The Academy. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all.

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After stepping into the dormitory, the two boys went to the young, bored-looking receptionest working at the lavish wooden desk in the foyer. Archer was pleasently surprised to see that he shared a room with Ajax (luckily), and another grade one boy called 'Spike'. Weird name, thought Archer, but he just shrugged it off, not wanting to judge to quickly. He and AJ hiked up the steep staircase towards their dorm-room. Upon entering, Archer felt his eyes widen in amazement. A view of the magnificent lake next to The Academy was boarded by expensive-looking heavy Persian curtains. The king-sized canopy beds, curtained off by thin netting. There where armoires next to each bed, and three desks with drawers built in for the students. One of the beds was occupide by a thin, slight boy with pale-gold hair that stuck up in all directions. Spike, Archer guessed. Spike had pale skin and was on a laptop, typing furiously. He barely looked up when Archer and Ajax entered the room. Something about his sharp, pointed face, or the way his threadbare hand-me-down uniform hung loosely off his small frame, reminded Archer about his youngest cousin, Sammuel. The thought of little Sammy made tears well up in his eyes, and he looked away quickly. AJ gave a whoop of excitment as he bounded over to a bed in the corner and plopped his luggage down before throwing himself onto the feather-down mattress and sighing contentedly. Archer laughed at the obvious display of exhaustion. As he made his way towards the remaining bed, he felt a pang of longing for the life he left behind. For the family waiting for him. He was still remaniscing about his past as his mind succumbed to the welcoming nothingness of sleep.