The sky was bright with afternoon light as I stepped onto the teleport pad, leaving my home world of Lostralia for the first time in my fifteen years. The space around me blurred and distorted, and I was instantly in a bustling city center. I was surrounded by people and noise, and the sheer magnitude of it all was overwhelming after the quiet, simple villages of Lostralia.
However, among the chaos, a sign nearby caught my eye. It was a large banner, only temporarily erected, and it read, "New Students This Way", with a small arrow pointing down the street. Not knowing where else to go, I followed the sign to a group of young teens about my age gathered around a man in a dark blue robe with yellow stars. On his shoulder sat a monocled owl, and he held a wooden staff with a glittering golden spiral emblem on the end.
It seemed he was just about to begin speaking, so I quickly moved up and took a place in the crowd of presumably new students.' "Welcome, all, to the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts!" announced the man. "I know that we'll all have a great year, it before we can get you settled we have a few things to take care of."
"It won't take long," he added, hearing the groans of a few of the most eager students. "I am Merle Ambrose, your headmaster, and the founder of the school. Firstly, I would like to say that Ravenwood is very prestigious, and you all must show much potential, since you have been accepted to one of our seven specialized schools. Congratulations are in order. Secondly, I would like to lay out a few basic rules, although the full code of conduct can be found on the bulletin board in the front of campus. You may not go anywhere in Wizard City that is deemed too dangerous. Next, there will not be any out of control partying, and if any boys are found in the female dormitories past 10 PM, disciplinary action will be taken. The same goes for you ladies. Finally, you will be split into groups for the tour. You will not be in a group with those of your school, so make friends now, as you won't often be put into groups with students from other schools. In the first group are: Andrew Beckenson, Sierra Truden, Scot McLaughin, and James Conda. They will be shown around by Rebecca Jannis."
He continued to list off names. After he had finished calling out all 23 new students, he explained "Your student guides will explain more. Thank you all for tolerating my dragging on, and have a good year." In a flash of light, the headmaster and his owl were gone.
I glanced around me, wondering how I would identify my group, when there was a flash of light in the corner of my eyes. I looked down to see that around my chest hung a small brass plate with the words Scot McLaughlin on it that had not been there before. Name tags, I realized. Works for me.
I moved towards a group of two boys and a girl, and stuck out my hand. "Scot," I greeted them cheerfully. A boy about my height, slightly above average, with short dark hair and bright green eyes grabbed my hand and shook it. "James." he said, a grin on his face. "James Conda." Next to him stood a tall boy who towered above the rest of us, with blue eyes, and short, curly tan hair. He too put out his hand and grasped mine. "I'm Andrew." he said simply, seemingly even more stunned by the city than the rest of us were, if that was possible.
At last I turned to the third member of the group, a girl who seemed to be the same age as the rest of us, and therefore must be the last member of our group rather than our guide, a fact which her name tag confirmed. Her eyes were almond brown, and she was petite, but not short. Her brown hair flowed down to her waist, and it hung loosely, not in a bun or ponytail but just drifting.
I realized after a moment that she too had put her hand out, but I had just let my hand sit while I examined her. I blushed slightly as I shook her hand, and she smiled shyly and said, "Hi. I'm Sierra." before cutting off quickly and looking away at an older student who approached our group. The other girl looked at us, squinted her eyes to read our name tags, and called out to us, "Hey. You guys my group? I'm Rebecca."
No one said anything for a moment, but James finally stepped forward and explained, "I think so. Rebecca Jannis?" She nodded her affirmation, her bright red ponytail bobbing. Rebecca turned and began a brisk walk, then turned when no one followed. "What are you waiting for? A personal invitation? C'mon." she said, gesturing impatiently in front of her. "We've got a lot to see before tonight."
To be continued next time... Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to get his out and hopefully see what anyone thinks to make a few revisions before releasing the next chapter.