Chapter 5: The First Assembly

Shocker:

"Hey," Alice says, tapping my shoulder as I get up and leave the hover train. I turn toward her. "I really hope to see you again."

Alice smiles as she nods her head. I nod my head as well before we both leave. As I get off the hover traincraft, I look for either Hothead or Jump. The platform is very crowded so I can't see them right away. It takes a while but finally, I see Jump rolling her luggage around. I wave at Jump and she waves back at me.

"Hey Shocker," Jump says with a smile. "How was your trip?"

I shrug my shoulders before pointing at Jump.

"My trip was fine," Jump says while shaking her head. "The student I was traveling with was very quiet. I mean, not as quiet as you, but still. A lot of awkward silences."

"I forget what silence is," Hothead says, sneaking up from behind me. He drops onto my back and lay there. "The person I traveled with wouldn't stop talking about how smart and intelligent she is. Let me tell you this. It was the longest trip I ever had to take, and I really miss you guys."

Hothead starts to cry. He cries into my jacket but I push him away. I raise my arm and point toward the massive crowd of new students walking somewhere. I nudge my head and follow after the students. Jump and I walk while Hothead drags his luggage behind him. Altogether, we all follow this stone path leading us from the platform through a small peaceful forest. After the forest, we find ourselves face to face with Yellow Sun Academy.

"Wow," Jump says, her eyes going wide.

"This is big," Hothead says, dropping his luggage.

Even I must admit, Yellow Sun Academy is unlike anything I have ever seen.

Yellow Sun Academy looks like a giant, shining, white castle. It looks bigger than our hometown. There are dozens of towers, shining as well. They're hidden behind a large stone wall, with the only entrance being a tall iron gate, and painted right on the iron gate is a yellow sun. The stone path we're on leads us through a beautiful courtyard with lush green grass and big red bushes. On the sides of the path are statues of who I can only guess are past fighters of the Yellow Sun Academy and even they are shining.

"Just wait," a student next to me says. This student is carrying a sword and shield and has blonde hair. "One day, one day, they're going to put a statue of me here."

As we students approach the iron gate, we stop when they start to open up. Slowly opening, we see Headmaster Noah and a bunch of teachers and professors standing on the other side. They walk out once the gates are open. They walk for a little bit before stones in the path start to move. They rise up and somehow turn into a platform for the Headmaster and teachers. The Headmaster walks up the new stone stairs and up to a stand. He pulls out his holo-display and displays it for all of us to see.

"Hello everyone," he starts, his face being on the dozens of screens floating around. "And welcome to Yellow Sun Academy."

Immediately, as soon as the Headmaster said those words, the students cheer. They jump up and down and raise their arms.

"Yeah," Hothead says, shaking his fist. "Yeah! Yeah!"

"Wooo," Jump cries, clapping her hands together. 

I keep my hands in my pockets.

The Headmaster chuckles as he goes on.

"Yes. Thank you for your excitement, and know that while I may not seem like it, I am very proud of myself to be the headmaster to all of you."

He adjusts his glasses.

"Here, at Yellow Sun Academy, we push students to be the greatest and finest fighters in all of the world. We teach all of you everything we know and so much more. We show each and every one of you the skills you will need to survive the Wild. The Wild is a dangerous place, filled with vicious animals with powerful gifts. There will be times that you feel like you don't belong here, and times that you feel like running away, but I encourage you to fight through those times. Because you have already completed the hardest steps in your journey to become proud fighters. You have made it into Yellow Sun Academy."

Once more, the crowd of students roars with excitement. It takes a while but the Headmaster is finally able to calm them down.

"As some of you may have noticed, there seems to be quite a lot of 'transfer' students here. Am I right?"

When Headmaster Noah said this, we all start to look around at each other. A few students, including Hothead, start to count heads.

"Hmm," Hothead says after a few minutes. "Now that he mentioned it, there sure are a lot of us here. I wonder why. Aren't we in the middle of the year?"

"Yeah," Jump says, still looking around. "Why are there so many new students here?"

"The reason for this late start is that I, along with the other teachers and professors, were all busy with some government assignments. Nevertheless, Yellow Sun Academy is starting up, and with it, a new generation of fighters."

As if on cue, the teachers and professors standing behind the Headmaster stand up. They raise their arms and somehow, it set off something in the courtyard. The courtyard starts to shake and before any of us students can do anything, it changes from stone to a bright yellow sun, one glowing so bright it burns my feet. Stone pillars then shoot up from the ground surrounding us. They too have the glowing yellow sun on them.

"As beautiful as this is," Hothead says, covering his eyes. "This is starting to blind me."

The yellow sun stops glowing and all the teachers and professors sit back down.

"Now," the Headmaster goes on, "Normally, here at Yellow Sun Academy, we would give all of you new students a day to rest and recover from your long trip, followed shortly by a tour of the academy. This year, however, because of our late start, I'm afraid we will need to skip over that day of rest. Instead, students, prepare yourself for your first exam."

"First exam," Jump repeats, "Already?"

I hear similar whispers among the students.

"A first exam," someone else says. "Is Headmaster Noah being serious?"

"An exam already. My weapon is still packed away. Oh man, I hope it's not time."

"A first-day exam. Wow, I didn't see that coming. Then again, this is Yellow Sun Academy?"

"All students," the Headmaster says, "Please return to your room on the hover traincraft. From there, you will be taken to the academy's private desert where you will find and form your team for the upcoming year. I do hope all of you are up to date on desert survival."

With that, the Headmaster steps away from the stand.

All of us students look at each other before walking back.