The Lonely Thoughts of a Snail in Soil

Starting New

Chapter 1: Starting New

The world of the Hidden is a complex one. And one such complexity is that they have this notion of heroes. These 'heroes' are the guardians of the city-polis's of the Hidden, and therefore protect them with their lives, though the provinces have no standing army to protect the heroes.

--Excerpt from 'The Guide to the Realm of the Hidden.'

Hannah

The bright summer sun hit Hannah's eyes, leaving a burning feeling. She never really liked the sun. Well, not the sun per say, but the annoying heat that came with it. How can a ball of fire that supplies all energy and life on Earth be so... aggravating?

Of course there's nothing to be done about it. She just thought that sometimes the thing could be turned down a few degrees. It was noon, when the sun was at its highest. Hannah walked down the street in the smaller part of Grande City. Shops went by, and a few people were out, sipping their coffee or chatting lightly. How strange, to just be a normal Hidden, watching the days go by, like nothing matters.

They don't understand what it means to be a hero.

Mother, give me the strength to be one too.

Hannah paused for a moment, then continued on walking.

The city park finally came up, and sitting at a table was Hannah's two best, and only, friends. Bill was sitting on the edge, kicking his feet back and forth, wearing a long sleeved shirt and jeans, while Lilly was sitting on the inside, clicking away at her laptop, with a pretty red shirt and leggings. The two were talking as she came up.

"This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought," Lilly said.

"We knew it wouldn't be easy," Billy replied. "But we still have a few months before the deadline."

"Hey guys," Hannah said, smiling brightly. "Any luck with the search?"

Billy sighed. "What do you think? Turns out hero's don't just advertise their availability."

"Let me look." Hannah sat down next to Lilly, bumping her shoulder playfully. "We've just got to find the right sites."

"Denver High Academy. You couldn't have picked an easier school huh?" Billy muttered.

"Well, it is my dream school. If you guys want to go somewhere else, I'll understand."

"Ha! Like that'll happen," Lilly laughed.

"Yeah. We're all gonna be heroes. The best there ever was."

Denver High Academy. A school high up in the mountains, and renowned for its ability to produce top notch heroes. It's got world class academics, amazing professors, programs of every kind, and was the school of the Lady of Heroes, who was their matron.

It's also where Hannah's mother went to school.

The only problem though is that you need a hero coach to enter. Someone to mentor you or your team while at the academy. And ever since the Last War ten years ago, coaches have been rather hard to find. They've always been hard to find, but many heroes died in that terrible war. Like Hannah's mother.

Now the search was on to find one before the end of July, when the deadline to apply was. If the three of them couldn't find someone to help sponsor them, then they would have to wait a year before applying again.

"Come on, keep searching the forums," Hannah said. Grabbing the computer, Hannah clicked a few links and was one of the hero forums. It was a place for both fans and heroes alike to interact. They scrolled for a while, but most of the forum today was just stories. Glory stories, tales of the past, future goals. Nothing that really screamed 'I need students!'.