The Academy [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 3

   The first thing I wanted to do was check out the observatory, but that would be better at night when the stars were out. When Flicker said 'the red door,' she meant red. It hurt my head to look at it. I turned the doorknob and swung the door open. I saw a small living room with a tv, couch, and a few tables. There were three more doors leading off of the living room, all different types of wood. One dark oak, one cedar, and one jungle.

   I stepped in but didn't bother closing the door. I let out a smile. On one side of the tv, there was a bookshelf filled to the brim. My nervous jumble loosed a bit as I walked over to it. There was a bunch of books that looked interesting but one made me stop: The Sandith Queen Succession. I stopped and puzzled over it, confused. I opened it to the first page and saw that it was only published three months ago. That explained why I didn't know about it.

   I was about to start reading it when something with bright yellow hair bumped into me.

   "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" They put me in with a NIGHTFALL? hollered her brain. Hello, isn't anyone worried about my potential post-traumatic stress? I rubbed my head.

   "Yeah, I'm okay." I winced at her loud and offensive thoughts but tried to quiet them as I studied her. Her hair was a blindingly bright yellow, dark green eyes, and was the same height as I was. She was wearing a bright pink top with cyan leggings; in one word, she was very vibrant.

   "I'm Kinkajou!" she said happily. She grabbed my hand and started to shake it vigorously. "I'm SO excited to be here! There are so many cool things! Like, there's a library, and an observatory, and you haven't SEEN the cafeteria!" I chuckled in spite of myself.

   "I'm Moonwatcher, but please call me Moon," I said quietly. Kinkajou grinned at me and her hair shifted to an icy blue.

   "Hey, you look a lot healthier than all of the other Nightfall's I've met." I looked at her confused.

   "I don't know what you mean." The tips of her hair flickered to a pale orange before reverting back to blue.

   "That's weird. Where did you grow up, Moon?" I fiddled with the cover of the book.

   "I had lived in a cabin for my entire life until I came here. I haven't met anyone except you and four other people." An image of Winter and Qibli popped into my head before I quickly buried them. Again, her hair turned pale orange. If I had to guess, it meant surprise.

   "Wow! That's really cool!" she chirped. "So, I guess you're not at all like a real Nightfall, so everything is going to be okay!" I winced when she said, 'not like a Nightfall,' but I quickly became confused.

   "What do you mean?" I asked. Kinkajou looked confused as her hair shifted to a seafoam green. I looked at my feet quickly.

   Poor thing. Wow, she missed everything, Kinkajou thought. She jumped over to the couch, beckoning me over.

   "Be prepared, you have missed a lot," she cautioned.

   My head was in my hands.

   "Three moons, I had no idea. How long ago did this happen?"

   "A year ago," she answered simply but her mind was bouncing around like crazy.

   I can't believe that she never knew all of that. Although, no other Tropic did either, I suppose. But at least I can be friends with her now that I know she was never involved in any of the abducting stuff!

   "SO! What do you wanna do?" I sighed and was about to answer when the door slammed open. A Flameiac stomped in. She had dark red hair and was very tall. I could see quite a few scars on her arms as she stormed to the room with the dark oak door. It slammed behind her and I heard a few unrepeatable phrases.