Blackthorn Academy - 1 - In progress

8 - Landser

The last to get changed into their uniform and robes from the group was Rory. She leaned against the compartment door with her satchel, chatting with the others, waiting for Finley to get out.

The door suddenly slipped open and Rory tripped, righting herself, slightly pink. 

Finley stood there in his uniforms, robes slung over his satchel. He looked down at Rory in slight suprise, thinking she would've been taller.

"Bloody hell, you're tiny!" He exclaimed, not in a rude way, more an observing. Rory blushed even more, looking down at her shoes. 

"Oh my days, you really are!" Liam, who didn't notice before, stood up, smirking down at her.

Rory rolled her eyes, still pink, and hurried out of the compartment.

Having not really listened when the Warden was talking, she had forgotten where the bathroom was. She turned right and walked a few steps, then turned the other way as she realised it wasn't there.

Locking the door behind her, she quickly got out of her clothes and into her uniform, sliding sport shorts beneath her skirt. Buttoning up her blouse, Rory realised she couldn't do her tie.

How embarrassing, she thought as the cherry-red and black material hung from under her collar.

Ignoring that, she redid her long, wavy hair in the same ponytail from before, righting her glasses.

Back in the compartment, Liam was jumping about with his tie knotted across his head like a pirate. His overgrown hair was sticking up behind the tie, and he had a rolled up piece of parchment into a telescope form. He stood up on the seat, pretending to fight Finley, who was on the other side, except his tie was around his neck. 

Oliver rolled his eyes at the two of them, smiling. It was obvious how immature the boys were, but it was rather hilarious at the same time.

Rory slid open the door to find a scene of some sort. Her tie was in her hand, her eyebrow was raised at the 2 boys standing on the seats. She was smirking, her eyes twinkling.

"Arrrrr me matey, a landser has entered our ship!" Finley announced, giving his best impression of a pirate.

"Landser?" Oliver laughed as he questioned his grammar.

"WE MUST FIGHTTTTTTTTTT!" Liam roared out, putting down his parchment telescope, which then unfolded.

"Shiver me timbers, is this really what you have been up to?" Rory grinned at them, as the boys grinned, sitting back down on their seats.

"Where's your tie?" William piped up, pointing to her neck, obviously not seeing it in her hand.

Rory blushed at this.

"Alright so funny little story, I don't know how to do a tie." She explained, then sat back down.

"Awwww, do you want me to do it up for you?" Finley gave her a cheeky grin, almost mocking her.

She rolled her eyes, then chucked the tie at him.

Finley tied it around his own neck, then loosened it, handing it back to her.

"Thanks-" Rory said, about to grab it, just as he pulled it back and stood up.

"One must be knighted with this medal of honour."

Liam snorted at that as Finley grinned.

"Idiots" Rory muttered, reaching for the tie again, but Finley only lifted it above her head, out of reach.

Eventually, Finley gave Rory her tie back, his lip caught up on his tooth in that crooked way as he smiled.

In the compartment on the other side of the train, sat a girl. She faced against window, waiting for the train to come to a stop. There were 2 other people in her compartment, all part of Vipercrest, their gold badges polished. They glared at the girl, talking loudly about her looks as well as talking about disgusting things.

The girl was on the verge of tears, and as she went to the bathroom to get changed, she felt a tear roll down her fair, smooth skin. She missed her family, especially her cat, whose grey fur would be as soft as a feather against her finger tips. She didn't know anyone, and it wasn't like she was going to befriend the older boys in the compartment. 

Her normally bright-green eyes were dull and rimmed with red from crying. Her curly ginger hair fell loosely around her shoulders as she ran her fingers through it soothingly, just like her mother would do. 

Rubbing away her tears, she headed back into her compartment, where the 2 boys stopped talking and glared at her. 

Ignoring them, she pulled out her book, The Veil of Shadows, from her satchel, and read. Florence loved the way the book felt in her lap, her tasseled bookmark in her fingers. Reading was her happy place, she thought, forgetting about the other sneering older ones in the compartment. 

The train came out of the tunnel, and the mid afternoon sunlight spilled through. The compartments warmed up, bringing happy spirits. 

Looking out the windows, Rory saw meadows of healthy grasses, some tall and slim, others wider with short blades, colourful wild flowers scattered through. Trees stood bold in the back, and the clear blue sky shone overhead. It sooks so peaceful, she thought, relaxing against the seats.

"It's so peaceful." Oliver breathed in wonder, almost reading her mind.

They all nodded and admired the landscape in front of them, until it disappeared overall as the train went back down into the tunnel.

After a few more minutes, Rory gasped.

The others looked out of the window, where Rory was staring out of.

In the close distance right on top of a hill , stood a massive, black castle. 

The castle had many towers and turrets, as well as sloped, pointed roof's. There were some shorter turrets with an opened area, as well as some pointed towers.

"Those are the House Towers." Oliver informed, pointing to the 5 towers, 2 facing parallel and 1 right in front. The towers were wide and tall, made from dark, weathered stone, making the tower look ancient.

"You see the large and lower area where the slimmer towers are? That's where the Grand Hall will be." Oliver pointed to the area, then pointed to the slimmer towers and stood out from the castle.

As the train neared, a thin iron fence at the bottom of the hill came into view. A slight pain washed over Rory as she looked away, reminded of The Noble House Of The Lost. 

In front of the fence was a massive forest. Trees towered above, covering all glimpses of light.

"That's the Nightshade Grove." Oliver explained as if he was their tour guide.

 The train moved on around the forest, and then back into another tunnel.