Behind the scenes

Orphans

The room I walked into was instantly silent. Not just, people-aren't-talking silent. They'd stopped talking, moving, some were trying not to breathe, even. I looked back at the boy who let me in, one eyebrow raised. The fear in the room was so strong I could almost taste it. The redhead still had his chest puffed out, trying to maintain his pride. I cleared my throat, "So, what's my job details?"

"We want to learn magic to defend ourselves. We're tired of being beat up. It's not our faults we have to beg or steal in order to eat. It's not our faults we were left with nothing! It's not our faults nobody wants us! It's not-" he suddenly stopped, choking back tears that I don't think he meant to let me see. I turned back to the room to give him a chance to get control. There were about fifteen kids, looking to be from six to fourteen; the boy behind me was probably the oldest.

"Does anyone already have any skill with magic?" I asked, assessing my new students. There wasn't any doubt in my mind that I would teach these kids. I would have been just like them, if it hadn't been for Metalicana. He'd found me wandering around when I was five, I don't know anything about my life before that. He may have been a bastard, and a tyrant, but it was because he'd taught me that I could survive on my own.

A small boy with black hair raised his hand. "I can use magic," he muttered quietly. He looked about ten years old, but he was still tiny. I beckoned him forward, and looked around to see if anyone else said anything. "Me too!" chirped a little voice, and the girl who opened the door earlier popped back up next to me.

"Alright, not a bad start. What kind of magic do ya have, and what kind are ya brats wantin' to learn?" I found a chair and sat in it as the room exploded into noise. The fear started to leave them immediately, which surprised me. My multiple piercings paired with my red eyes and my height usually had people afraid of me for a long time, if they ever actually stopped being scared. But these kids... Well, they'd probably seen worse than me before. I raised a hand to get them to stop babbling.

"I can use d- um... shadow magic" the black haired boy said. I looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out what he'd almost said at first. He met my gaze with red eyes. It felt like I was looking into a mirror. "Okay, show me. And what's yer name?"

"I'm Ryos." He stepped back, and I saw his brow furrow in concentration. After a few second, a shadow started to hover around him, making it hard to see him. He stopped his demonstration, and I could see that he was proud of what he could do. The ring leader spoke up, "Ryos is the reason we're all here, really. He can make his shadows big enough to hide more than one person, and he's used that to help bring in new kids." He seemed awfully proud of his young friend.

"And I help too!" The little voice chirped. "How'sat, little bird?" I really liked this perky little kid. She stuck her tongue out at me. "I'm not a bird! But, I can fly! Sort of." I just watched her for a minute, waiting for her demonstration. She huffed, then jumped a little, and disappeared. I smelled her on my other side, but waited for her to say something. "Boo!" I pretended to jump when she yelled, making her giggle.

"So, little bird, ya teleport? That's useful, fer sure." She puffed out her cheeks at me, "I'm not a bird! My name's Sam!" She shook her red hair out of her eyes, and looked at me defiantly. "Gihi, okay Sam. But, I think you'll still be my little bird, 'cause ya chirp like one, and ya fly. Sort of." I gave her a grin, careful not to show her how sharp my teeth are. They tend to scare kids too.

"Right!" I looked at the kids surrounding me. "Can any of ya read? Or write?" Their eyes all dropped to their bare feet. "Nossir..." Ryos muttered. I frowned, and did a count while they were so still. There were twelve of these brats, altogether. And not one of them could read or write. "Okay, I can do somethin' about that. Do ya have some paper, for now? I want to write yer names and what kind of magic ya wanna learn." Redhead gave me a piece of paper and a stub of charcoal. "This'll work." I spent the next twenty minutes talking to them one on one, getting their ages, their names, and what they wanted to learn. Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into?