Burnt Wick

Close Contact

He calls the names off as if he can recite it, even without knowing the dead beforehand. Captain Fitzgibbons reads off more than a handful of names which I don't pay attention to as I stare out over the formations around me, now all in riders black. With the sun coming down in bright rays, I can distinctly see the changes and alterations in peoples uniforms; it isn't the Infantry after all. I bore a fourth wing patch on my right shoulder and a four pointed silver star just under my tunic collar on my collar bone, to show I'm a first year. The uniform and patches we got yesterday after the Wing leaders and the rest of the professors decided to have a dramatic scare off between us and their bonded dragons. Tunics fitted at the waist, same goes for the trousers, tucked into the rubber boots I wore crossing over to get here. Only difference in the standard issue was the corset I wore underneath, While not as tough as dragon scale, tight ringlets of chainmail between black tarnished leather hooking up closed in the front.

Makes changing in the morning a hell of a lot easier.

Formation continues as the Captain and two other scribes stand before us calling names which will be presented to Malek and I continue to look around, already recognising some of the people from the joint room. I cannot wait to finally have a private room, being quiet is easy enough to do but a pain in the arse when you're sleeping in the top bunk. But we don't get 'awarded' them until after we have a full day of almost dying for a dragon... Though I feel like that's going to be an everyday thing so to be more specific- the Threshing.

"We commend their souls to Malek." Great, that was all from yesterday alone and there will still be more to come throughout the years. The dead silence of this mornings formation is broken by Dain, who sharply turns around to address our squad. "Hopefully you all ate breakfast, because you aren't going to get another chance before lunch." Beside me is Violet and her new ally who I found out was the women from yesterday, Rhiannon. Not so subtly, I see Dain glance over Violet before pretending to do a once over for the whole squad. I just shake my head slightly. Those two have been close friends since childhood, if someone was genuinely out for him or Violet it is very easily noticeable and isn't going to be a good start for Violet at all. She's already at a disadvantage, being too overprotective of her won't do her any good.

"He's good at pretending he doesn't know you." I hear the two new friends behind me whisper about him as he speaks. "He is." I look down to Violet and raise a brow. "If he was, he wouldn't of even looked over in the first place. It's a dangerous distraction Vi." She shrugs me off, seeming to be in her own little world, staring off at Dain. 

He does on to speak towards the higher years and we wait our turn till his attention are on the ones that got just got here. "First years, at least one of you should've memorized the map and timetable for you all? It was handed out yesterday." I nod along with one other, the rest seem to just be clinging to his last word. I'm not surprised, his voice seems to boom over us, as if trying to address the room when really its just the huddle of us. While I wasn't as close to him as Violet is, even I can tell he's changed from before, though I've got a gut feeling it won't be in my favour. I just can't shake it. Always trust a gut feeling, even in the long runs.

"-His afternoon in the sparring gym." Only catching the end of his last sentence I get the jist from remembering our squads timetable. I'm excited, I've always thought I was very good when it came to sparring, always being put up against opponents with some sort of advantage over me- it trains you to think, and to learn. I want to see how easily people give away their character on the mat. How easy or difficult their movements will be to read. How they tick. Or crack.