A Hero's Tale

Chapter Ten: The Start of Something New

With one final heave, Shane shoved the last box into his new closet. He dusted his hands off as he looked around. The day had finally arrived for all new students at the Hero's University to move into their dorms. Each student was given their own room, and although it wasn't that big. Shane didn't care. He was still feeling great from being accepted into the University to begin with.

Well, Shane thought, I guess I'll start unpacking. As he moved to open one of the various boxes placed around the room, he heard someone knock at his door. With a sigh, he walked over to the door and opened it to find Robyn outside.

"Hey, Shane, you finished unpacking yet?" she asked with a grin. Shane shook his head.

"I just finished throwing everything into whatever free space it fit in, but all the stuff's in boxes still," he said.

"Well, want me to lend a hand with opening and moving stuff around? I finished my room already, so I've got nothing to do," Robyn said. Shane shrugged and moved to allow her into the room.

"Sure, why not," he said. She walked in, and when she saw all of the boxes stacked around, her eyes widened.

"Man, you brought a lot of stuff," she said. Shane shrugged.

"What can I say, I like the comforts of home," he said. He gestured around the room. "Feel free to pick any box and open it. I don't really know where I'm gonna put everything yet, but I'll figure that out as we pull stuff out," he said as he grabbed a pair of scissors and cut open one of the larger boxes. Robyn moved to open a random box when she spotted a folder sitting on the desk.

"Ooh, are those your entry forms?"she asked as she walked over and picked up the folder.Shane turned and looked at what Robyn was talking about, then nodded.

"Yeah, I haven't finished them completely, that's why I haven't turned them in yet," he said. Robyn flicked through the pages before she looked up at Shane with a raised eyebrow.

"It seems pretty complete to me. You have all the essay responses filled in, all biographical information and that stuff. The only thing you seem to be missing-"

"Is my name," Shane finished for her. He placed two different figurines onto the nearby shelf. "My hero name, I mean. I know my actual name," he said. Robyn frowned.

"I suppose that would be a hard part. I mean, we're choosing the names that will follow us along our whole career as heroes, so I guess it's something that should be given careful thought," she said. Shane nodded.

"Some people have had their hero names in their head for years. But I never thought I could be any kind of hero, so I never really thought about what I would call myself. Plus I haven't really been able to think of anything that sounds good to me," he said. Robyn sat down on the bed as she took up a thoughtful pose.

"Well, why don't we try and think of one now?" she suggested. Shane glanced over at her with a skeptical look.

"Right now? Weren't we just about to start unpacking my stuff?" he asked as he held up a book he had pulled out from a box. Robyn shrugged.

"Why not? This is more important than moving stuff around, and we can come back to that after we think of something anyway. Heck, you can even keep unpacking as we work on this. Come on, it'll be fun!" Robyn exclaimed. Shane sighed as he placed more books up on his shelves.

"Fine, fine, let's think of my hero name," Shane said as he gave in. Robyn threw her fist into the air in victory before she once again took on a thoughtful expression.

"Alright, now, for your hero name... Hmm... Do you have any ideas what you want it to be?"Robyn asked. Shane shook his head.

"I don't have any preferences. That's kind of why I haven't been able to think of anything thus far," he said. Robyn hummed.