"By Maker, we must be in the sticks. I haven't seen this much green since that incident back at our old school with the-"
"Please, Snow. I would like to keep that under rasps. The first thing that I don't need is to be known as the new and small cuckoo kid with the weird and experimental attitude." Hope shook his head unfaithfully.
"What're you worrying about, kid? It's just a private school. The way that things should go, you and I will be kicked out within a month or so." Snow leaned back on the train seat with his little friend next to him. He let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes.
Hope, on the other hand, leaned forward and put head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair. "I intend on staying in school this time, Snow. As long as you don't get me mixed up with any of your shenanigans, I'll be fine and things will be completely normal and mediocre with my life. It'll be just the way that I want it."
Snow playfully punched Hope on his shoulder. "Relax, kid. You know that something will happen eventually. I'll convince you and then boom-we're out of there!"
"You must be the most uninspired human being that I know."
"I'm hell of a lot better along than you are. You can't even talk to women and I'm pretty sure it said somewhere in that pamphlet that this year's class is a female majority."
"All I need to be able to do is talk to my teachers and I'll be fine."
"I bet not."
"Sounded off like a true underachiever, Snow."
"Didn't your parents send you to this school for the sole purpose of making friends anyway? You won't be able to shoot down everyone that comes up and says 'hi' to you, y`know?"
Hope took in a deep breath. He hadn't really thought about it, but that was actually it. There were no problem with his grades and certainly no problems with his behavior (other than the occasional scuttle that Snow always dragged him about in). Even if he did do anything worthy of expulsion, Hope's parents were always there to stand up for him. They were highly respected among the community of Palumpolum and across the small world of Cocoon. Any board member of any school who's in their right mind wouldn't do anything to hurt the prospects of their only son who, in his own right, is a genius beyond the capabilities that anyone has ever seen.
His friend on the other hand, a man who could be considered his only friend, was on the exact opposite end of the scale. Snow could never concentrate on his class work or homework long enough to care whether he graduated or not. He saw school as an excuse to fool around without having to deal with any legal matters. While his grades were poor and his behavior during school hours could be even worse, he was always considered an amazing athletic prodigy in the making. If he actually applied himself in any of his classes, Snow would've actually been eligible and team captain of any of the sports offered at their schools. One former coach for the football team once tried to sneak him in during practices and put him in their away games when no-one from the school except for his teammates and cheerleaders was around, but the man was found out about soon enough and fired from his job not only as coach of that team but also as the athletic director for the school.
"Snow, when did you become the smarter one out of the two of us?" Hope said this with a dumbfounded smile.
"I'm not smart, it's just common sense. Your parents have been worried about your social life, so they paid my way along with yours to go to this school. I'll flunk my classes, sure, but the main reason I'm here is to be your friend and help you no matter what the cause is." Snow reached in his satchel and felt around for something in particular. After a little bit of rustling around, he had found that shiny red apple that he had wanted and took a bite of it. The sound of him taking a chomp out of the fruit caused Hope to look up towards the blonde man.
"When were you going to tell me you had food?! I've been starving!" Hope reached across to the man's bag, trying to get a hold on it. Snow just put his giant glove covered hand in Hope's face, making sure he didn't get any further.
"Hold it there, squirt. If you were smart, you would've brought something along with you. You knew this was going to be a long trip." He took another bite out of the apple.
"I am smart though! They tested me with an IQ of 162!"
Snow shrugged lazily. "Then maybe it's just common sense that you're lacking after all."
After about five minutes of many tricks that he tried to pull on Snow in order to get to the bag with food inside of it, Hope gave up and just sat back in his chair. He looked down at his watch on his left wrist which told the time, day, and the day of the week. Currently it was 4:52 P.M. on Wednesday the 14th. He, for a second time on this long trip on the train that he boarded, leaned back and sighed very heavily. Hope thanked the Goddess that he had gotten the window seat to watch the scenery going along the tracks.
He saw the golden sun go along the great plains of Gran Pulse. The landscape wasn't the forsaken area that it once was. It used to be a danger zone to all and all were recommended to stay away from the land no matter what the situation is. Somehow, though, in the last year or two, the government of Cocoon and the numerous, albeit small, villages along Pulse reached an agreement in which the two worlds would finally connect. A large tube was constructed first which was turned into an elevator that could hold upwards of over 500 people at once. That was the very elevator Hope and Snow took to get to these lands. The people of Cocoon quickly took advantage of this and populated the land of Gran Pulse. The villages that were once small and only full of unique tribes were quickly welcoming in new residents. Within a year these villages escalated to cities of over a million people in total population. Businesses took advantage of this factor and created many diners, factories, and also private schools. There were things other than this, but this looked to be what mainly took over the general public in order to create jobs for the growing masses.
Hope put his head up against the window as he watched the still-grassy areas of the plains of Gran Pulse pass by swiftly. He wondered about many things, including what his new life would be like at this private school. An elongated stay with this many other teenagers in his age group would surely make him nauseous unless he found some way to escape it. He would locate the nearest isolated area as quickly as he could and use that as his hiding place for his studies. He wouldn't leave it for the life of him and if he had to, it would be for classes or to go back to his dorm to sleep for the night. Hope had a game plan and he was positive he wasn't going to stray from it.
Hope just about fell into a slumber when he smelled something odd all of a sudden. It was a sweeter smell and one that was very fresh. He opened his eyes to see a pear under his nose, being wafted about teasingly. The arm that was doing this came from Snow, who, when Hope made eye contact with him, winked at him and dropped it into his lap. Hope fumbled it about until he finally got a good grasp on it. He looked down at its yellow outside and smiled down at it. He then took a taste of the succulent fruit.
As he gulped it down, he turned to Snow. "Thanks."
Snow put on a smile. "Don't mention it kid. We still have another few hours left and I don't want to hear your moaning about how hungry you are."
Hope rolled his eyes. "Glad to know that you're looking out for me."
"Well isn't that what friends are for?"
Friends. Hope couldn't believe that this man that at one time he had hated with a burning passion was his best friend. He only vaguely recalled the event.
Hope was on his way home from school. He had to stay after for helping teachers clean up various classrooms for an incident that occurred between him and another student. It was a misunderstanding at best in his own mind, but it was still something that needed to be faced with punishment either way.
It was getting dark out. His parents had been informed that he would be coming home late and gave permission for him just to walk home to think about what he had done by himself.
Damn. Damn this to hell. Hope thought this to his self. One little misunderstanding and I'm walking home alone, likely to be mugged. He grabbed his opposite shoulders, shivering a little bit from the brisk and cool air around him. Not to mention it's colder than Lake Bresha during winter right now!
It was at that moment when he passed under a light. It was just a normal street lamp that gave off a hue of orange against the sidewalk that he was on. He stepped under it and stopped in order to warm himself up a little bit. The odds turned against him once again when he saw three big men (in size, perhaps not maturity) walk up under the same street lamp with him from the opposing direction. They all had dumb smirks on their faces as if they knew that they had superiority in this situation. Of course, they did though.
After a thorough checking of Hope's person for a wallet and any other valuables, all of which they just had to take, one of the men grabbed him from behind while one of the others repeatedly starting punching him in the stomach and across the face. Hope was in horrible pain, and didn't know what to do. He was going to die if he didn't do something. It wasn't like he could really do anything really other than beg and plead. Whenever he got a chance to look upward into the night sky, he prayed to Etro for some type of help. It was a few hits in the stomach later that she must've answered his calls.
"Hey guys, let's give the kid a break. He's already given us the money. We don't need to have to add assault to that list of crimes." It was the third man who hadn't really participated at all in the event of stealing or beating Hope up. Hope understood why though: he was a student at the same school. He knew his face.
"What're you talking about, Snow?! We need to cut this kid off before he narks on us!" The man who was holding Hope told his compatriot.
"He's right, Snow. We need to kill him." The other man said.
Kill me? Hope felt fear strike his heart to its innermost core. His eyes widened and he felt sweat run down his cold face.
"Look at the poor kid! He can hardly stand as it is!" Snow pleaded to the other men.
"Who gives a shit?! Let's put him out of his misery then!"
Snow stood there and looked at Hope, the intent in his eye to save the younger student. He pondered what he could do and realized he had no choice.
"So what will it be, Villiers? You gonna help us or are you gonna be a hero?" The man who recently had his fists shoved in Hope's stomach asked this.
In response, Snow quickly threw a right hook at the man and connected, causing him to reel back and try to collect himself. By the time he looked back up, he saw another right jab being thrown at him and once again he was brought aback. Snow then kicked him in the stomach for good measure, knocking the wind out of him. The other man, who was still dumbstruck by the events that had just occurred, watched as his partner went to the ground. By the time he looked back up, he saw nothing but a barrage of fist coming towards his face. Hope had managed to escape before this had happened. Hope fell to the ground and looked at the event unfold in horror while he lay on his back. He saw Snow beat the living daylights out of the man until he finally succumbed to the beating and fell to the ground unconscious. Snow stood there, breathing heavily.
After a little while, he then turned to Hope and went to him. Hope tried to crawl away just out of pure fear of the man of what he was going to do next. If he could do that to two fully grown and buff men, then he didn't want to know what he could do to him.
"C'mon kid. Let's get you to a hospital." Snow picked the smaller student up and put him on his back. Snow started walking down the sidewalk, leaving the two men bloodied and beaten.
"So what's your name? I've seen you around school, but I've never heard of ya." Snow asked honestly of Hope.
Hope paused for a few moments, thinking about whether it would be right or not. "H-Hope. My name is Hope."
"Hope, huh? Sounds a little on the feminine side, if you ask me."
"And Snow's much better?"
Snow let out a small chuckle. "So you know my name, at least."
They continued onwards. It was approaching 8:00 by the time that the duo made it to the hospital. He had given thought to call Hope's parents to tell them about the incident (leaving out the little part that he was involved in the original trio of muggers). Nora had answered the phone and she said that they'd be on their way. Hope was hospitalized for three days and Snow stayed by for every single one of them as he felt the guilt inside of him wrenching at his soul. Once he got out, Snow vowed to protect the tiny genius while Hope secretly promised to his self that he would try his best to become stronger, whether it be through physical endurance or becoming some type of wizard (magic was, in fact, an art that was frowned upon by the general public; many people think of those who can perform it as freaks).
And here we are. Today. Snow's still a fit buff guy and…well, I'm still me. Hope split a grin as he saw them going towards an oncoming tunnel.
They were almost there; a way to a new life in the city of Titanus.
