New Forest Academy (Warriors AU)

Chapter Three

The form that we had to fill out was fairly normal. It was a lot like a field trip permission slip. We had to fill out a section on our healthcare provider and any allergies we might have, and then there was a section about emergency contacts. The contacts were the only odd part - it wanted us to put down our parents, as normal, but after that it asked for two emergency contacts that were students at the school. Pale Breeze had put a small sticky note on the top of my form giving her information and saying that I could put her as one of my emergency contacts. Flora said that I should put Jess as my other emergency contact instead of her, since we'd be in the same club. Flora also swore that if anything happened to her that she'd text me immediately.

Jess and I had handed in our papers and then waited at the cafeteria with Flora, Andy, Chris, and Kristi. The different members of StarClub's Council were picking up their respective Club members. During lunch, we'd made plans for Saturday and I was really excited - lunch and paintball was going to be really fun! Even though I had no idea how to play paintball. Flora said that I'd catch on fast so I hoped it'd work out alright.

Someone finally caught sight of StarClub's Council coming down the hallway, and shouted it loudly for everyone to hear.

I heard Pale Breeze laugh from inside the cafeteria, and soon enough Feather Shine was walking in, with the three others following. Badger Star came in last. "Good afternoon, recruits!" Pale Breeze called cheerfully.

"We'd like to be the first ones to officially welcome you to the Warrior Clubs," Feather Shine continued.

"We'll be escorting everyone to their designated Camps. Your Club's Camp is where you'll be spending a lot of time, and that's where your dorm is, so you better learn how to get there pretty fast."

"Could all the ShadowClub kids follow me?" Soft Flower asked softly. Flora and Kristi gave us all quick hugs and then joined Soft Flower along with another girl, who had brown hair going down to her waist. I watched my temporary roommate leave, and I bit my lip.

"WindClub, I'll be your escort," Badger Star announced, and Andy made a face. We watched three boys leave the room with the grumpy older student.

"ThunderClub, could you please come with me?" Pale Breeze asked. I gave Andy and Chris quick hugs, and Jess gave them both fist bumps before we left. Another girl came with us as we left the cafeteria. She had blonde hair, a few shades darker than mine, and leafy green eyes. We started on our walk through the hallways in silence, before Pale Breeze finally began to speak again. "Okay! Are you guys excited?"

We all responded "Yes," with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"Great! Like Badger Star said before, we're on our way to ThunderClub's Camp. The Club's Camp is the center of most activity. The Camp includes all of the ThunderClub dorms - they all connect to the main room, where a lot of your free time will be spent. Ivy Star will explain more about how the Club works once we get to Camp. Any questions so far? No? That's good. I have one more thing to explain before we get to Camp - Warrior Club names." Someone is finally going to explain these weird names! "When you join the club you get a new name based on something found naturally in the world. Like trees or colors or characteristics. That's what the first part of our names are, and you need to use those names the way you use your normal first name now. Do you understand?"

"Why do we need new names?" the other girl asked.

Pale Breeze laughed. "I honestly couldn't tell you. But we use them anyway. If you really want to know though, you should ask Star. She probably knows. Anyway, the last part of your name is where it gets complicated. All freshman have 'Kit' as their last name. So, for example, my first year here I was Pale Kit. Sophomores have the suffix 'Paw', and are called apprentices - they're training to become warriors."

"Warriors?" Jess asked confusedly.

"I probably sound crazy now, but I promise I'm not. It'll all make sense once you talk to Ivy Star, I promise. Anyway, in your Junior year, you get your warrior name, and everyone gets a different one. I got Breeze as my suffix. Feather Shine has Shine as his. The leaders have the suffix 'Star' on their name. Like Badger Star. Does that make sense?"

"Not at all," Jess replied, laughing. "But if you said we'd understand more when Ivy Something talks to us, then I'll take your word for it."

"That's good!" Pale Breeze said cheerfully.

"What happens if someone has 'Star' as their first name, and then they become leader?" the other girl asked. "Do they become Star Star?"

"I'm not sure," Pale Breeze laughed. "I don't think that would happen, though. 'Star' is reserved for the Council's leader."

We turned another corner, and came upon a hallway ending with a door. Three people were standing in front of it. Pale Breeze stepped out from in front of us, raising an arm to present us. "I'd like to introduce to you the newest members of ThunderClub."

The girl in front took a step forward. Her hair was dyed silver and her eyes were green. She studied us for a moment. "My name is Ivy Star, and I'm the leader of ThunderClub."

Behind her was a redheaded girl that towered above everyone else in the hallway and had cold gray eyes. She took a step forward before introducing herself as well. "My name is Red Stone, and I'm the deputy of ThunderClub," she said.

"I'm Green Breeze," the third person said. He was the youngest-looking out of the three of them, and had sandy brown hair and green eyes. "I'm the nurse for ThunderClub."

Pale Breeze turned towards us. "These three are the leadership of ThunderClub. Ivy Star's word is law, and when she's not around, Red Stone's word is law. Green Breeze is the most important though - if he asks you to do something, you drop everything and do it. Don't hesitate to ask any of them for help if you need it, okay?" We nodded.

"You there, on the end," Ivy Star said, pointing to Jess. "Step forward." Jess followed Ivy Star's orders. "There's a long speech I'm supposed to give here, but I can boil it down to a question: Are you willing to put in the hard work and effort required to be a part of ThunderClub?" Jess nodded confidently. "Then I welcome you into ThunderClub, Gray Kit."

Jess grinned widely and stepped back into line. "Sweet," she muttered.

Ivy Star motioned for me to step forward. "Are you willing to put in the hard work and effort required to be a part of ThunderClub?" she asked. I nodded slowly. I wasn't as sure of myself as Jess was. Was this really something I wanted to be a part of? I didn't have much of a choice, did I? "Then I welcome you into ThunderClub, Sun Kit."

I stepped back and the last girl stepped forward. She was the shortest person in the hallway. "Are you willing to put in the hard work and effort required to be a-"

"Yes!" the girl blurted. "Whoops! Sorry. I'm just excited. Uh, you can finish," she added immediately. Green snorted. Red hid a smile.

"Welcome to ThunderClub, Leaf Kit," Ivy Star laughed. "I'm sure Pale Breeze has already explained the names to you, and tomorrow there will be more about them at the orientation. Today is all about learning names and faces. If you'd like to, you can shorten people's names by just using the first part of their name."

Pale Breeze ruffled Jess' - er, Gray's - hair and waved at Ivy Star. "I'll head out. Enjoy yourselves!" she called back to us. We watched her walk away.

"That's my sister," Je-Gray whispered, pointing at Red Stone.

"She seems like she's important," I whispered back.

"She's second in charge!" Gray whispered back.

"Are you three ready to be introduced to the Club?" Green Breeze asked. We nodded. "Great. We'll be giving you a grand tour of Camp, and introduce you to people as we go."

Ivy Star opened the door, and we went inside.