A Silent Scar

Chapter 4

Silen quietly entered her room- no one noticed she was from a morning run, her steps soundless. A white crisp long-sleeved shirt she slipped into, following a blue vest buttoned over the shirt. A black blazer she tucked her arms into, letting the buttons off to reveal her dorm vest. Silen even tied a blue, black armband with Ignihyde emblem below her left shoulder. Finally, as a final touch, a pair of pointy slippers she slipped her toes into.

Fetching her backpack, Silen exited her room, heading straight to the lounge when she bumped into Idia and Ortho.

"Good morning, Silen," Ortho greeted with hand gestures.

Silen pleasantly replied his greetings with hand gestures too. The mute girl signed, asking Ortho and Idia where they were heading.

"We are heading to the cafeteria for breakfast. Do you wanna join us?" Ortho answered, signing.

Silen nodded with a warm smile. She signed, thanking Ortho for the breakfast invitation.

Idia approached Silen, nervously and insecure. Although the Ignihyde house warden was taller than her, he looked up to meet  her ebony eyes to catch her attention. With his hands raised, he signed but unsure on his hand gestures. "I am... going to join you...for breakfast." He nervously said while signing following his said words.

Silen signed, expressing her gratitude through hand gestures.

"Y'see...I am an introvert. I'm afraid to face people. So, please bear with me, " Idia explained, still signing.

Silen, however, understood his feelings. She signed, telling him that she understood him and she would be fine even if he had gone nervous.

The sign she gestured warmed the heart of the man with long blue locks that he was overwhelmed with joy. His lips with blue lipstick curved into a small smile. His right hand clenched on his under left arm, a body language that means he is feeling comfortable and a little confident.

Ortho observed the interaction of Silen and his brother with keen eyes- they blinked happily. Soon after, Silen, Idia and Ortho left their dorm, passing down the main street and entering Night Raven College building. The three headed to the cafeteria.

They ordered their breakfast from the order counter. Once they paid, they settled down on an empty table. Idia had a quick snack of noodle soup, and Silen had a rice set with a bowl of Tom Yum soup for herself.

She clapped once both her hands, a sign of her appreciation for the meal she had in the morning. Then, she gestured Idia to eat, in which Idia responded her with a slight acknowledging nod of his head. Together, the house warden and the mute freshman savored their breakfast. Ortho, in the meanwhile, was watching them eating breakfast with an excitement written on his cute face, like a curious toddler watching the adults eating when they are weakly unabled to eat solid food.

Ortho did grew curious about the Tom Yum soup Silen was having because to him, it was an exotic food for students to ever savor in Night Raven College cafeteria. So, he asked." What is the red soup with lots of vegetables you're having, Silen?" His tone volumes his eagerness to learn about the exotic dish.

The mute Silen explained through hand gestures, signing graciously. Using his advanced scanner, Ortho abled to translate every signs Silen made. In her signs, Silen explained to her humanoid friend that the red, hot soup she had was called Tom Yum soup, a popular dish of her homeland. She also added that the Tom Yum soup was cooked using  spicy herbs and fresh ingredients like vegetables and chicken, beef or seafood. The one she savored was a beef Tom Yum soup.

Idia overheard the two conversed, watching them signing at each other. He peered at the steaming Tom Yum in the bowl." Does it tastes spicy?"

Silen nodded. She even suggested that people with low spice tolerance will not handle the Tom Yum originally cooked by the locals of her homeland. This is because her homeland was specialized in spicy dishes cooking as her homeland has the richness of flora and fauna .

"Wow, your homeland sounds fascinating!" Ortho said in awe, excited." Anyway, what is your homeland?"

That simple question stumped Silen momentarily. There were two feelings; sadness and regret tingling in her throat. Her eyes flickered to brush off the terrible torrent of memories blinding her sight with those negative emotions. Her lips twirled. Maintaining her composure, Silen curved a small smile, reassuring. She signed, explaining about her homeland that is Kumandra, a tropical country rich in green flora and colorful fauna.

Ortho used his intelligence browser, searching for images of Kumandra. His robotic eyes then projected a holographic vinyl picturing a land surrounded by rainforests, a city and an outstanding castle. Idia and Ortho who witnessed the beautiful country from the holographic vinyl were taken by their breaths, speechless.

"Kumandra is such a beautiful country!" Ortho said, amazed.

"It is a beautiful country but I bet the citizens there do not have access to recent technologies or worldwide Internet," Idia guessed.

Silen signed that it was true for the poor citizens of her country but not for the rich and capable citizens, as these lucky people easily gained the access to Internet and updated worldwide technologies.

"Oh, it must be hard for those unfortunate citizens," Ortho expressed sympathy, to which Silen replied with a nod of her head and then momentarily dropped her gaze to the table in reaction to her sadness about the harsh fate of her beloved homeland.

Silen then signed." I have finished my breakfast. Can we move to our classes?"

" Sure," Ortho replied." What class are you in, Silen?"

Silen pointed a finger and signed the letter C, which means she is in Class 1C.

" Oh, so we're in the same. Nice to become your classmate, Silen," Ortho winked, giggling in enthusiasm.

Idia observed at the interaction between his humanoid brother and Silen. He smiled a little. Then, he turned at the time on his smart tablet, showing it was almost time to enter the first class of the day.

"You two, it's time to go to your class. I'm going ahead to mine," Idia reminded the pair.

" Okay, study well, Idia!" Ortho nodded and cheered for Idia. He whipped his head to Silen and asked her to join him to Class 1C through hand gestures, to which she replied with a nod of her head.