Best Laid Plans
A shining box of steel and glass cruised above the arid landscape. It wasn't a large ship but it was versatile. Seating was in rows of four with a wide aisle down the center all facing a rear cargo door. Twenty-eight souls could fill the onboard chairs. Today the cabin was filled with heavily armed teenagers, excited for their first day of school. A lone figure sat quietly in the back of the student transport, using the seating to face him away from the rest, ignoring all attempts the other kids made to strike up a conversation. Some took longer than others to get the hint. Adjusting his hood the young man pulled the deep black cloak tighter around himself, huddling ever further into the shadow of his garment. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized this close to achieving his goal. Fourteen long months had gone into the planning of this moment, the secret training and studying. the easy part was getting the fake documents and ID. Being from Mistral everybody knew somebody that could get what you wanted for a price and he could afford the price. By now his absence would have been noticed and they would be looking for him. Using his bank account at this time would only alert them to his location. Getting nervous he went through the mental check list in his head. For the last week he had been committing to memory all the steps he needed to accomplish to bring his plan to fruition. The fallout he would suffer for failure was not something he wanted to dwell on.
Excitement among the youth pulled the young man from his musings. Many of the young passengers had gathered to one side of the bulkhead eyes wide as they came within sight of their final destination. Through the ships windows could be seen a massive stepped pyramid of polished black marble shining like a giant black pearl in a ocean of sand. The click of the ships PA system activating caught the young man's attention as the ships pilot prepared to address the juvenile passengers aboard his vessel. "Everybody please take your seats. we will be setting down in just a moment, and then please stay seated as headmaster Umber will be coming aboard to address you before you depart the vessel". With that every one made their way back to their seats all a buzz with the excitement of having long time hopes and dreams finally held within their grasp. Turning to make its final approach this airship of dreams promised all that and more to the young hunters. Sadly not all dreams turn out to be happy and some can even become nightmares.
The bulkhead door hissed open like the mouth of a great beast stretching wide to ingest a meal larger than normal. Stepping off the tarmac into that great maw was a mountain of a man that filled the doorway with his commanding presence. Covered head to toe in all black from his leather vest to the thick heeled boots that peeked out from his long pant legs. Even the man's shoulder length hair and beard, that extended halfway down his torso, were black as the night. As imposing as his visage, it was his eyes that haunted your dreams or rather the lack of eyes. Instead of bright circles of color, empty sockets stare back at you. The true disturbing thing was how even without the orbs it seemed that he could look directly into your soul. It was that stare that locked on the juvenile incognito. The crooked finger made it clear that the young man was supposed to follow. How does that saying go about the best laid plans. Rising from his seat the youth followed the man out the door and around the corner.He had hardly taken three steps off the bulkhead ramp when the young man was startled to a halt as the larger man whirled on the kid jabbing a meaty finger into his chest. " Using the Blanco name on your application, really, the last of the Blanco family died out three years ago. You need to get up pretty early to pull the wool over my eyes. Do you really think that you are the first to try to sneak into my academy. What do you have to say for yourself?".
Getting found out this soon was not really part of the plan, but revealing himself to the headmaster was. "The plan was to have this discussion in your office latter today but having our talk now will have to suffice. First off for logistics reasons". Pulling a very large envelope from under his cloak, the youth extend it out to the other man. Reaching out to receive the packet the big man's scowl grew less intense as a single eyebrow raised in interest, the kid spoke with a confidence the headmaster was not accustomed to seeing in one so young. Reaching up the young man edged back the hood of his cloak revealing a lean face all to familiar to everyone in Remnant. "My real name is Solen Negro, yes that Solen Negro". Umber was now fully shocked to realize that Remnant's hottest child actor was standing before him without any fanfare or flashing lights. He couldn't help wonder how this kid had made it this far from home without his usual staff or a missing person bulletin chasseing him. "Inside you will find a full student application under my real name. If you look, the education and skills are the same, the only difference is that I have had private tutors all my life. Also the parental consent form is filled out by my father. At this time my father, a private lawyer and now you are the only ones that know my actual location and I would like to keep it that way. We both know that the media would turn this place into a circus and that won't help anybody attending this school, which is the reason for all the cloak and dagger". The headmaster was now deep in thought, arms crossed, stroking his beard in contemplation. The lad had did his homework, taking into account the broader repercussions of his actions. "Now I know my standard education didn't cover the standard weapon shop class so I have been eating and sleeping armaments and dust application for the past six months under my father's instruction and I made this". From within his garment Solen pulled a short wide blade and held it before him. It was a simple looking weapon about two feet in length and five inches wide. The blade did have a horizontal segmented design along the length. Taking the offered blade, headmaster Umber examined the weapon turning it over and flipping it in his hands he found it underwhelming. "Pretty to look at but I don't see any actuation knobs or dust storage, I am not about to send anybody out to take on the creatures of grim with nothing but an over sized dagger to protect themselves". Holding forth the blade he was taken aback by the subtle laughter emanating from the young Mr. Negro. " Sir, my semblance manipulates sonic wavelengths. all of the functionaries are hidden. everything is internal. On the off chance that someone takes my weapon they can't use all of its capabilities against me." Seeing the skepticism in the headmasters eyes he reached out a hand to adjust the angle of the blade and then held it just above the handle. To the headmasters surprise the blade unfolded halving the width and more than doubling the length. "and it doesn't stop there sir". This time the blade collapsed to the ground into a segmented chain that lit ablaze. Umber was stunned, six months, the kid before him had studied, engineered, and built a device this complicated in six months. "Now hold tight when I remove my hand, it will retract to its base form". True to what he said, without the presence of Solen's hand, the blade snapped back to its original shape. "Any questions Sir?" Handing the young man back his weapon, headmaster Umber could tell the kid had done his homework. Even though Solen had covered the requirements, there was still one more thing the headmaster needed to know. "You have thirty seconds to tell me why you want to leave the world of fame and fortune for a life of pain and heartache". The question was not unexpected but Solen still took a moment to chose his words carefully. "A year and a half ago when Corela village was nearly wiped out, I went to help in the relief efforts. My publicist thought it would be good idea. When I got there I was rushed to a little girls room. She was all clawed up and missing a leg and all she could do was gush over seeing me. Her room was covered with every picture and article of me she could find. I couldn't do anything but hold her hand as she died. I sat there surrounded by the story of my life and realized it was a waste. I can't stand by and let another child die". The young man spoke clearly but the headmaster could hear the underling rage in his voice, but it was enough for Umber to make up his mind. "Get onboard and get ready". And with that the two of them returned to the bulkhead, Solen again taking his seat.
As they entered the ship a wave of whispers flooded the ships cabin. Nobody was quite sure what had just transpired outside but the headmaster made it clear the delay was over. "Listen up. From this point on, you are grim chow. This is not your mommies sewing circle. Here we deal with life and death. There is no sugar coating here. Twenty-five percent of you will not live to see the age of thirty-five another twenty-eight percent will retire early do to injury. When all is said and done, only about three percent of you will live long enough to die of old age. Sooner or later almost all of us will have been a snack for the creatures of grim. We suffer that death so others can live and have a normal life. This is the reality we live with as huntsmen. If you can't handle that, the door is behind me, get out". Two kids got up and made their way to the door, looking around at those they were leaving behind, heads hung low in shame, as they exited. A third jumped to her feet and ran out of the ship tears falling in her wake. With a gesture from the big man the door closed again and the ship took to the air.