The Academy [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 2

   My feet touched the stone lightly. As I looked around, I saw that Queen Coral was gone, but the people who were following her was still there.

   "Tsunami! Wait up!" the shortest one called. Oh yeah. Tsunami and Anemone, Queen Corals only two daughters except for Auklet. I looked at the boy. I couldn't hear anything from him. He was wearing a gold armband with some kind of black rocks and carrying a suitcase that looked really heavy.

   "TSUNAMI!" Anemone yelled at her sister. She beckoned at the boy with a hand. C'mon, Turtle. You're so slow, she thought. Oh. So, his name was Turtle. He gave me an amused glance and I smiled back shyly. In a few seconds, they were in the big doors.

   I looked at the entrance where they disappeared and back at the tree where Mother was watching. I could hear one thought; Go on. Show me you can be brave, Moon. I clasped my necklace, a nervous twitch I'd developed. The necklace was a white tear-shaped moonstone on a black rope. Mother never told me where she got it, but it always made me feel safe when I held it. Pushing out a breath, I walked into the building.

   A big foyer welcomed me in. It was a little overwhelming to be honest, with me growing up in a small cabin. The floor was dark oak wood with some kind of lighter wood for the walls and ceiling. Besides that, it was pretty plain. I looked around for the front desk and let out a sigh of relief when I did. Walking up to it, a red head popped up from behind it. If I had to guess, she was a Flameiac. And, guessing by her thoughts, she was a very positive and bouncy person. I winced a little at her loud thoughts.

   "Hi! Welcome to Jade Mountain Academy! I'm Flicker, the secretary, as you can tell." She gestured to the front of her desk where it said in bold words: SECRETARY. I smiled nervously.

   "I'm Moonwatcher," I said, fiddling with the ends of my hair when I let go of my pendant.

   "Ah! Right. You're the girl who lives in a cabin." I looked up at her, surprised and was about to ask how she knew but she was already muttering,

   "Moon. Moon. Ah. Here you are!" She handed me two pieces of paper. I took a quick peek at them and saw that one was a map and the other my schedule. I looked back at Flicker.

   "Thank you," I said quietly. She grinned at me in return.

   "Okay, so. You will be sharing a dorm with two other girls. They didn't make any requests so we figured, 'Hey, you know what? They'd be perfect.' You and the rest of the Jade Winglet have a small wing to yourselves so you won't be bothered by too many people." Winglet? And sharing a dorm? Oh, this was bad. I was going to have a perpetual headache all the time. Flicker grinned at me again.

   "You're by the observatory in the West Wing and in the dorm with the red door. Do you think you can find it?" I nodded and said thank you again. Flicker turned back to whatever she was doing before as I looked at my map. I walked over to a large stairway before halting in my tracks. There were so many students. How in the blazes was I going to make it through this? I decided to fly up to the next floor instead of getting closer to anyone.

   I pushed off with my toes and slowly flew up to the next balcony. I floated over the railing and landed quietly. I looked at my map again. As I tucked it into my back pocket, I pulled out my schedule. Hmm. I started walking to my dorm as I read, Small group discussion class first, then archery, history, hea- My thoughts cut off when I bumped into someone.

   "Oh my stars, I'm so sorry!" I said quickly. I looked at the floor and saw a few books strewn around my feet. I knelt and started picking them up when an icy thought pierced my head.

   A NIGHTFALL?! Of course, they're all that stupid, crashing into royalty. I winced as I stood up, books and papers in hand. I looked at who I bumped into. He had dark blue eyes that looked like arctic pools, white hair, tall, and really good looks. I scolded myself for thinking that last part.

   "Watch where you're going," he snapped. I flinched.

   "Dude. Calm down," someone said behind him. He had dark curly brown hair, darker freckles that ran across his face, a small scar on his nose, and compared to the Blizzard, was a little shorter. I think he was a Sandith. I noted the amber colored gold stud earring in his left ear.

   "What's wrong?" he asked calmly. Then he saw me. He stared at me intently with his very dark brown eyes.

   Nightfall, flashed through his head. Thorn doesn't like them; we have no idea what they can do anywhere. Needs further study. She kind of cool-looking, with those silver highlights at her tips. Seems nervous; holding herself to make her seem smaller. Up to something, or shy? I had never heard a mind like his. It seemed like a rushing river; steady yet unpredictable. I looked down at the pile in my arms. Yep. Definitely shy. I had to smile a little bit at that last thought.

   "I was walking when she bumped into me," the Blizzard said fiercely. The Sandith sighed.

   "I'm Qibli, and my intimidating acquaintance here is Winter. What's your name?" I debated in telling them or turning tail and running as fast as I could. The two gazes bore heavily down on me, as I was shorter than they were. I heard from Qibli, 

   It looks like she's about to run. Better find a way to make her calm down quickly so she doesn't leave with Winters stuff. Wait, what had they asked me?

   "Well? What is it?" Winter demanded. Right, my name.

   "Moon," I whispered. Winter seemed to get angrier about my short answer.

   "Moon what?" he snapped. What did he mean by that? "Mooneater? Mooncrusher? Moondestroyer?" His fingers twitched, emitting ice particles. I stared at his hand for a second before I heard Qibli think,

   She's looking at Winter's hand. Oh, camel farts. He always choses violence over talking it through. He doesn't seem to care that she's scared at all. Hmmm... maybe I can get her to like me if I'm friendly. Wait, too soon. 

   Qibli nudged him.

   "Dude, you need to chill out man. Get it? Chill? I know, I'm hilarious." Oh, three moons, it was terrible to be stared at. I missed the quiet cabin more than ever. I managed,

   "It's Moonwatcher." Winter let out a sigh, deflating a little. 

   "Moonwatcher." Chills ran down my spine, hearing my name coming from Winter. Qibli clapped his hands. 

   "Great. Now that we all know each other, can he have his stuff back?" He gestured at the bundle in my arms. A wave of embarrassment washed over me. I blushed.

   "Oh, yeah. Sorry." I handed it to him. Our fingers brushed and I shivered at the touch. He snatched his hands back as quick as he could. Winter looked me up and down before stomping away. I stared after his retreating back before Qibli brought my attention to him. 

   "It was nice meeting you. I got to go catch up with my roommate now," he said before following Winter. I looked at the ground to pick up my schedule when I saw a black folded piece of leather. I looked at it then peeked inside. I saw a face on the ID card and turned to jog to the pair. 

   "Winter," I called. He stopped dead in his tracks as he heard his name. HOW DARE SHE CALL ME WITHOUT MY TITLE..... but it sounded good... He stopped the thought with a landslide of snow. I reached him as he turned around to face me. 

   "Here." I added the wallet to his pile but he stared at me, surprised. I hid my eyes behind my hair as I headed to where I was going before. Just as I walked around the corner, I heard Winter think,

   Who is she?

   I had the impression that my life was never going to be the same again. 

YEAH! Got the second chapter done!!! Flicker is my own character that I made. I based her off of Fatespeaker as you might have realized. SO! I did use some of Winter and Qibli's thoughts from their first encounters but changed them a bit to my liking. Let me know what you think!