Creatures of Snow (12 page)

“
He is from the Academy.”
Lee mumbled.

“
No, don’t.” Sara hissed
as Lee lifted his arm.

“
Hello!” Lee shouted over
to Sky.

Sky’s dazed expression
turned slowly into a sloppy grin when he spotted Lee waving his
large hand in his direction.

Sara leaned over the table with a pout on
her face. “Why did you call him over here?”

“
Oh, do you know
him?”

“Unfortunately.” She
mumbled.

Sky meandered lazily over to them. She could
have easily made her escape in the time it took him to weave his
way around the courtyard to their table.

“Nice place.” Sky gestured
around to nothing in particular. “It’s Liam, right?”

“
Lee is fine, thank you.
And you are Skyden, correct?”

“You can call me Sky.” Sky
looked down in Sara’s direction. “And Miss Rekkert, so nice to see
you again.”

Sara put on a very forced
smile and looked up at him. “Just Sara is fine. How’s the eye,
champ? Your pride feeling okay too?”

Sky laughed and replied, “You know what they
say. Chicks dig scars.”

Sara gazed up at him with
a totally innocent look. “Well, I’m happy to hit you in the face
anytime.”

“
She hit you?” Lee asked
with confusion.

Sara leaned back, a cocky smile on her face
as she draped an arm over the back of her chair. “I wasn’t aiming
for him. He just got in the line of fire.”

“It’s true.” Sky laughed,
apparently oblivious to her disdain. “It was pretty much my fault.”
The smile faded as he found her glare, “I’m sorta used to using my
face to block stuff, but

you know you really could have hurt that
girl, right?”

Sara stood angrily sending
her chair into an indecisive wobble. “She deserved it and you know
it!” She snarled inches from Sky, barely able to handle how close
she was to breathing the same air as him.

“
Sara…” Lee began with a
bit of confusion over her rapid change in attitude.

Sara’s eyes lit up with a
fiery rage. “Stop acting like you know anything about
me!”

“Don’t be mad at him.” Sky
scoffed. “I’m the one you’re irrationally mad at.”

She exhaled loudly and
shook her head as she let her anger recede. “Irrationally? Oh,
that’s right, it’s not your fault you’re a jerk. You’re just a
product of your environment.” Sara said mockingly.

He looked away quickly,
hopefully embarrassed. “I didn’t mean it to sound like that. It was
a stupid thing to say. So, on that note I think I’ll be
going.”

Lee called out a farewell when all she could
manage was a sneer.

“You were a bit harsh with
him, would you not agree?” Lee seemed genuinely
troubled.

Sara looked up at the
night sky with a slight bit of regret. It had really been one of
her better nights…up until then. “What does it matter…to a guy like
him?”

Chapter
Nine

After three weeks of
classes Sky had settled into the routine easily enough. Keeping up
with the REALM curriculum didn’t seem as hard as he would of
thought, but the lessons from Arche, more specifically any class
Roland taught, was like learning a new language. Luckily, the
classes Con and Ellie headed were enough to get him to school
everyday.

“
You’re holding back,”
Ellie scolded before delivering another round of hits to Sky’s
sides and belly.

He stumbled back, his vision blurring. She
was small and fast and impossible to hit. “Not really.” He slurred
and leaned forward, forcing his body towards her.

He had lost track of how
long she had been beating him, and quite frankly, all he wanted was
for it to be over. She threw another punch, this one headed
straight at his face. He ducked, narrowly avoiding it and saw the
slightest opening – her back was exposed for an instant as her
punch followed through. Sky jabbed a fist towards his small target,
but she spun before he could make the connection.

“Very nice.” Con yelled
from the sidelines. He wasn’t sure which one of them he was rooting
for.

All morning the four of
them had been sparring on and off, Ellie had introduced it that
morning as a team building exercise, but so far all they had done
was get pummeled by their mentors. The onslaught had kept going
right through Roland’s scheduled lecture time, which had obviously
annoyed Roland, but he had given up arguing with Con and Ellie
after their first week. Now, he just stood and watched from the
literal sideline that Con had drawn on the floor near the back of
the warehouse. It was their ‘training circle’ and once you were in,
you weren’t allowed to leave until told.

Sky was at his limit,
which was amazing considering he thought he would never tire of
fighting. Ellie was just too far above his level, it was no wonder
she had landed a hit on Con – she was a far superior fighter. In
fact, he was pretty certain she could wipe the floor with
Con.

“Enough.” Roland announced
with an eye on the time, “Wrap it up. You’ve got Fundamentals of
Trig coming up.”

“
All right.” Ellie looked
disappointed and stepped back. “Lesson’s over.”

Sky let out a sigh of
relief and dropped to the comfort of the concrete floor. He
stretched out on his back, heaving in breaths of stale air. “Thank
the Havens.”

“
Nice work kids.” Con
clapped his hands, “Sky, what did you learn?”

“
Never make Ellie
mad.”

“This wasn’t a lesson of
skill or technique - it was a lesson in observation.” Ellie walked
past Sky, glancing down at him only briefly. “Sara, explain to me
how Sky fights.”

Sara snapped to attention
at the edge of the circle, “Yes, sir. Sky is a sloppy fighter. He
rushes in without thinking and relies mainly on his strength and
ability to take a hit, but, aside from those faults, he does seem
able to think quickly in the midst of battle and he is able to
pinpoint an attacker’s weak points and openings. His form is
unrefined and off balance, but has promise.”

Con nodded with a smile,
“Very good. I would say that is pretty much spot on.” He looked
between Ellie and Roland who both nodded in agreement, “And now,
Sky.” Con walked over to Sky and extended his hand towards him.
“What did you observe about Sara?” He asked as he hoisted Sky to
his feet.

“Uhhh.” Sky scratched at
the back of his neck, everyone looked at him in a way that told him
they didn’t expect him to have an answer.
Screw them.
“She’s a timid fighter.
She overanalyzes everything - she’s so worried about her next move
she doesn’t concentrate on the moment. She has strength that she
doesn’t use and she has height that she doesn’t take advantage of.”
He said, keeping his eyes low and focused on the ground. “But over
all, she’s got a solid base of potential.”

“Very good.” Con slapped
him on the back. “Now that you know how one another fights,
tomorrow you will fight together. Hopefully you can make up one
another’s short comings and learn a little something from each
other. Understood,” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Good, now go and
get ready for class.”

Sara glared at him as he
limped from the circle and he realized he hadn’t fully thought
through the repercussions of what he had said. He disappeared as
quickly as he could inside one of the side rooms they designated as
changing areas. A quick spray of the evaporator whisked all the
sweat off his body and left him feeling refreshed and a bit more
human.

Did I really have to say
that about her?
He could have just glossed
over her shortcomings and emphasized the good stuff, most of which
he had forgotten to mention. He pulled the jacket of his uniform
back on and picked at the pin on his jacket. He could have said
anything. He could have said she was quick for someone so tall, he
could have mentioned her sheer brute strength, he could have said
anything other than what he did. It was just more fuel for the fire
she had against him.

Sky pulled his bag up from the floor and
slunk back out to the main room.

“A solid base of
potential, huh.” She was waiting near the door and let a calm and
creepy smile turn up the corners of her mouth.

He had no choice but to
walk towards her since she was blocking the only exit, “I was being
honest, not mean, same as you.” But he could have been nicer about
it.

“I
was
being mean.” She shrugged and
pushed open the door, letting in the afternoon sun.

“So, you don’t think I’m
sloppy?”

“No, you’re a mess, but,
you’re a good fighter, you just need to settle down and think
things through more.”

He didn’t understand her.
Was she being nice to him right now? He couldn’t tell since she
wouldn’t look at him, but she was technically talking to him, and
no one was making her.

“I’m only saying this
since we somehow have to manage to work together and be a team.”
She stopped at the door, glancing back at Con and Ellie. They were
talking quietly together back over by the desks, looking
comfortable together, talking and laughing without any malice
between them. “We will be comrades,” She shifted her eyes to him
coldly, “but never friends.” She snapped and walked out the
door.

He followed her out into the courtyard, but
kept his distance as they walked along the path towards the
administration building.

“Why do you hate me so
much?” He had wanted to ask it since that first day. At first he
had thought she was just spiteful to everyone, but that proved to
be untrue. She was kind to Al and seemed a little too friendly with
Lee, she admired Ellie and showed the respect to both Con and
Roland. So what did he ever do to never deserve a chance? But she
didn’t answer. She just kept walking.

“
Whatever.” He shoved his
hands down into his pockets and took off across the
grass.

“
You can’t go that way,
you’ll be late.” She shouted after him.

He ignored her and
continued towards the dining hall. Stealing a look back once he was
far enough away he could see she had already disappeared, scuttling
off to class like a good little girl.

Al should have been on a
break, which meant he was either at the library or eating, and
judging by the time, the Dining Hall was the better bet.

Sky jumped up the steps
and inhaled the hot fumes of convection cooking. He usually ate
alone in the courtyard since their lunch periods didn’t line up,
but it would be nice to sit down with Al for a bit and catch up.
With all the craziness of the first few weeks, they hardly spent
any time together, aside from their commute to and from
school.

He walked casually down
the hall, running a hand along the curved brick wall. He had only
been in the building once before and didn’t like it. He didn’t like
the crowds, the noise, the heat, and especially not the smell that
came along with such a variety of different food. But if Al was in
there, he would put up with it all.

Rounding the corner was
like a slap in the face as the hallway opened up to an enormous
room filled with hundreds of loud, hungry students. He scanned the
crowd, looking for that mop of bright yellow hair, but his eyes
were instead pulled to a neatly braded mass of red that hovered a
good foot above most of the other heads. Lee sat with as much
stiffness as when he stood, and next to him was Al. Judging by the
way Al’s hands were wildly gesturing through the air, the two of
them were engaged in an intense conversation. And it wasn’t just
the two of them either. Al had commanded the attention of the whole
table. Some of the other students were nodding along with whatever
he was saying, while others had looks of astonishment.

A stab of jealously
overtook him, and that was soon followed by the twist of sadness.
Al was doing just fine on his own. He should be happy for him. Al
looked so natural there; finally surrounded by people who were as
smart as he was, and who might actually get what he was talking
about. But, it hurt just the same.

Sky stepped back out into
the hallway, there was no way he could just stroll in there and sit
down like he belonged. With one last peak around the corner, he
silently hoped that Al had tired of the conversation and was no
longer the center of attention…but no, all the kids at the table
were roaring with laughter, with one fellow slapping Al on the
back.

His shoulders dropped in defeat; maybe he
could still sneak into class without being noticed.

“
What are we looking at?”
Con whispered beside him.

Sky jumped and stood up straight, nearly
knocking the back of his head into Con’s nose. “Holy moldy, where
did you come from?” Sky tried to calm the sudden rush of
adrenalin.

Con chuckled and leaned
back into the wall. “A little jumpy there, eh kiddo? You really
live in your own world, don’t cha.”

Sky tried to laugh it off,
“Yeah, sometimes.”

“
So…skipping class, hmmm?
Don’t worry, I’m not going to rat you out, just don’t make a habit
out of it.”