Chapter 4: Travel Companions

Hothead:

"Attention all passengers," the announcer says through the speakers above. "The hover traincraft to Yellow Sun Academy will be arriving shortly. Please remember to stand behind the barrier until the traincraft had come to a complete stop."

Looking at the blue barrier as it keeps everyone away from the tracks, I shake off the weariness in my arms. It's early in the morning and the hover traincraft station is crowded with a bunch of other students. Unlike me, they look happy and awake. Surprisingly, even Jump and Shocker look awake.

"Ahh," I cry out, "I hope the traincraft gets here soon. My bags are getting heavy."

Besides the two large bags I'm already carrying, I also have to shake the weariness off my back.

"I don't get it. Jump and I are both at least carrying a few months' worths of clothing. How come you only have a small bag on your back?"

Shocker replies with a shrug of his shoulders. He shows me the strap across his jacket and the small black bag on his back. It's not even half the size of one of the bags I'm holding.

"I still can't believe it," Jump says, pulling the cart with all her luggage closer. "We're actually going to Yellow Sun Academy. I mean, this is for real. This isn't a dream. Even my parents couldn't believe it."

"Same here," I say. "When I got home, my parents didn't even let me sit down before they started to ask me a bunch of questions. They wanted to know everything, and I mean everything."

"What did you tell them," Jump asks.

"I told them Headmaster Noah offered the three of us a scholarship to Yellow Sun Academy, and that he wanted us to start packing. The moment my parents heard that they grabbed everything I had and threw it into these bags."

"Likewise," Jump says with a nod of her head. "Only, my parents got me a cart."

I shake my head at the cart.

"Lucky," I say.

It's only a few minutes later when the massive, black and red hover traincraft arrives, riding on the single track above it. As it comes to a complete stop, the barrier drops down and everyone starts to head inside.

"So where are we sitting," I ask, dragging my bags with me. I let them go and reach into my jacket pocket for the ticket the Headmaster send us. "Uhh, train number 3. Room number 12. Alright, let's go."

"Wait, what," Jump says, stopping me. "I don't train number 3. I have train number 2. Room number 10."

"No way," I say. "That can't be right."

Jump shakes her head and shows me her ticket.

"You're right," I say. "Hold on. Shocker, let me see your ticket."

Shocker reaches into his pocket and hands me his traincraft ticket.

"Train number 5. Room number 7. Shoot! I can't believe this. We all have different rooms. Heck, we all have train numbers. That's suck."

Shocker shrugs his shoulder. He takes back his ticket and starts to walk off.

"Well," Jump says with a sigh. "I'll guess I'll see you when we get to Yellow Sun Academy."

Jump disappears through a door pulling her luggage behind her. Meanwhile, I have to take a deep breath before carrying my heavy bags again.

Shocker:

I walk into the last train of the hover traincraft. Finding room number 7  in the very back after I walk past all the other rooms, I step onto the mat on the floor. The wooden door slides open and I enter a large room with white walls and a single window. Beside the window, I see a girl already sitting in one of the red seats.

"Oh hello," the girl says when she sees me. The girl, about the same age as me, had very long red hair with shining skin. She's also wearing orange and brown armor. I recognize the model of the armor. It's a very expensive kind of light armor that is incredibly durable and can withstand most attacks.

I nod my head at the girl as I take my seat and look out the window.

"Uhh," the girl says. I turn toward her. "I'm Alice. What's your name?"

I don't answer the girl. Instead, I point to the name on my backpack's strap.

"Shocker," she slowly says. "Is that really your name?"

Once again, I nod my head.

"Hmm. Do you not talk?"

This time, I shake my head.

For some reason, I think I start to see a smile grow across her face. She nods her head and looks out the window. I do the exact same. We both look out the window, enjoying the beautiful blue sky as the hover traincraft flies through the air toward the academy.

Jump:

Stepping onto the mat and the door sliding open, I pull the cart with all my luggage on it into the empty room. Picking a seat, I sit down while setting the stopper so the cart wouldn't roll away. As I step on the stopper, I hear the door slide open and turn around.

"Oh, hello," a young woman with long black hair says. "I'm sorry. I thought this was room number 10."

"Oh, it is," I say. "Train number 2, room number 10. Hello."

"Hello," the woman says, nodding her head back. She lets out a small chuckle and turns away from me."I, uhh, I thought asked for a private room but I guess the staff couldn't do it."

"Yeah," I say with a small laugh. "I thought the platform was a bit crowded. Especially for the best private fighter academy in the world."

The woman shows me a shaking smile. Dressed in a black and white shirt and skirt, I notice she also had sheathes with sword handles on them. What I also notice is her lack of wheels. She had three large cases but no carts. I immediately think of Hothead.

"I have to remember to thank my parents," I say, looking over to the cart I have. I watch for a few seconds as the woman stacks her cases on top of each other near her seats.

"You know," I say, pushing my cart closer to the woman. "If you want, we can share this cart."

"Are you sure," she asks.

"Yeah," I reply. "There's more than enough room for your cases."

I had expected the woman to say yes and throw the suitcases on but she doesn't.

"No," she says after a while. "It's fine. I don't want to burden you."

"You won't burden me. It's just three more cases."

"No, no, no. It's fine. Thank you though."

"Okay," I say.

Hothead:

"Ahh," I cry, actual tears falling as I can finally drop my bags. Falling onto the seat, I spread out my arms and legs and sigh. "Finally. I can rest."

"Can you rest over there," a voice asks.

"What the," I scream, jumping out of my seat. Reaching for my sword, I'm about to pull it but stop when I realize the voice belongs to a person. A girl to be exact. A girl with very long yellow hair and in what I can only guess is an expensive dress with plates of armor covering it.

"Oh," I say, wiping some sweat from my forehead. "Sorry about that. I didn't see you."

"How could you not see me," the girl asks, "Do you know who I am?"

"Excuse me?"

"I am Alodia Darreth," the girl says, holding her hand over her chest. "Does that sound familiar to you?"

"No," I say with a shake of my head.

"You have never heard of the Darreth Family," Alodia asks.

Again, I shake my head.

"Really? You have never heard of the Darreth Family? Who are you? How did you get into Yellow Sun?"

"Scholarship."

"Scholarship," Alodia repeats. She then looks at me, her head bobbing up and down.

"You don't look much like a student. More like a troublemaker. What was the scholarship for? Who offers it to you?"

"Headmaster Noah."

Headmaster Noah offered you a scholarship to Yellow Sun Academy? You? There's no way that's possible. You're lying."

"Fine then, I'm lying."

"I knew it! You are lying. Seriously, why are you here?"

"Because Headmaster Noah offered me a scholarship. Believe me or not, that's the truth."

"But how did a troublemaker like you, who by the way, looks way too young, get a scholarship when I, Alodia Darreth, never got one?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"I mean, I'm an excellent fighter, a skilled tactician, and I even memorize some basic plant life from the Wild. Any academy would be lucky to have me."

"Yup," I say with a nod of my head. Eyeing my bags beside her own shining bags, I grab them and move them to the opposite seat. There, I sit down peacefully, using one of my bags as a pillow. While I rest, Alodia goes on and on.

"Oh, this is going to be a very long trip."