Disney University: Dragonborn
…
Chapter 1: An Invitation Most Grand
A young man who looked to be about twenty-five years but with a weathered and scarred face rode on a horse in the plains of Aspen, Colorado. The man was wearing a sheepskin jacket, chaps and leather riding boots and had an old cowboy hat on his head.
The man was named Martin Storm and he lived with his relatives in Colorado after three years of military service in the Army Rangers. Martin had served his country in Afghanistan after going through basic training then undergoing further training as an Army Ranger before called away to serve in Afghanistan. Some of the things Martin had seen action as one would say during his time in Afghanistan, whether it be a firefight with some ISIS soldiers or rescuing hostages being held for ransom.
Martin gone off to the military a confident almost cocky young man but when he came back, he had changed. He was scarred from his service in the military and Afghanistan. Sometimes Martin had flashbacks to situations he faced in the Middle-East. The doctors and army shrinks had said that it was common for soldiers to have flashbacks especially after the situations they had been in during wartime.
Martin had plenty of scars, both physical and mental and there were times he couldn't handle being in crowds. It was then his relatives had moved out to Colorado where they had bought a ranch/farm and it was there, Martin gained some semblance of peace of mind. There was something about the almost untouched rugged beauty of Colorado that had put Martin's mind at ease.
Martin was an only child; his father had left before he was born and his mother died giving birth to him. But Martin's family on his mother's side were more than happy to take care of him and they raised him as best they could. It hadn't been easy since the entire family had to work to pay the bills and even Martin when he was old enough got a part-time job delivering newspapers and magazines to try and help his family with paying the bills.
It was then by some stroke of luck, that after his service in the military, Martin and his family had won the grand lotto of three-hundred and eighty million dollars. Martin and his relatives couldn't believe their luck and thought it was a scam of some kind. But it was all legitimate as Uncle Louie had one day by chance put his name into some contest because the guy had pressured him into putting his name down and from there it went.
With the money, Martin's family were able to pay off the house and even buy the new house in Aspen. But even with their newfound wealth, they all continued to keep working as they had a slightly paranoid feeling that someone out there was ready to cheat them out of the money. Buying the ranch along with some cattle, sheep and horses, Martin's family had set up a new life for themselves in Colorado. The change of scenery was a welcome change as they had lived in Los Angeles but in one of the less respectable neighbourhoods and again the landscape of Colorado had given Martin a measure of inner peace.
After leaving the military and moving out to Colorado, Martin had been looking to get into College and continue his education. He had been a straight A-B student in school but Martin had been looking to get into a college or even a University since he left the military. But sadly, all the Colleges and universities had rejected Martin for one reason or another, or simply hadn't replied to his application letters.
Riding up to the stables of the ranch, Martin dismounted his horse and led the animal to its stall and took the saddle off the beast's back. Putting the addle with all the other saddles to be cleaned, Martin then headed into the house. Entering the house, Martin took his hat off revealing his dark blonde almost brown hair and hung it up on the hat stand. Walking into the kitchen, Martin was greeted by his Aunt Sally and his Uncle Harold.
"There he is! Lieutenant Thunder!" Uncle Harold announced. Martin smiled a little at the name; he had earned the rank of Lieutenant in the Army Rangers and was nicknamed Thunder because of his last name. Before he left the service, Martin had been offered the rank of captain but he felt had seen enough of the army for one life and turned it down before leaving the service.
"Any letters today?" asked Martin as he sat at the dining table.
Aunt Sally and Uncle Harold glanced at each other before Aunt Sally spoke. "Well, you got another rejection letter," she said sadly.
Martin slumped in his chair and said "I don't get it! I have no criminal record, I was a straight A to B student in school and I've served in the military! Why is every college or university rejecting me?!" he asked though it sounded more like a whine.
"Hey, don't worry about it, kid," Uncle Harold said to Martin "Those idiots don't know what they're missing out on having you as a student," he added.
"Besides, it's not like there's any real rush to go to College is there?" Aunt Sally said "You can always go back into the workforce straight away with a skillset like yours," she suggested.
"yeah, maybe as a bodyguard," Martin muttered sarcastically.
"Hey, bodyguards earn big dollars protecting celebrities from crazy obsessed fans." Uncle Harold chuckled "And some of those female actresses and supermodels would love to have a war hero like you protecting them!" he joked.
"Not helping!" snapped Martin.
Then the rest of the family trickled into the house; Uncle Jaime and his partner Robbie and their adopted daughter Jenna, Uncle Louie and his wife Aunt Crystal, Aunt Amy and her infant son Richard and Granny Jennifer and Grandpa Joe. Martin's family was open-minded and accepting of others, considering that Uncle Jaime was openly gay and had Robbie for a partner and that Aunt Amy was a single mother but they all loved each other regardless.
The family then began to have lunch and talk over what they did during the morning. Then the topic came up of how Martin had been sent another rejection letter.
"I just don't get every college and university keeps rejecting me or doesn't even reply to my application letters!" grumbled Martin feeling very confused as to why he wasn't being accepted into any tertiary education institution.
"Hey, don't worry about, Marty!" Grandpa Joe said to him "Everything will turn out just it's supposed to, you'll see."
"Not soon enough though," mumbled Martin as he bit into his sandwich.
"Well, you don't have to look for an education here in the states," Uncle Jaime said "You could always go overseas to go to College like the UK or Canada?" he offered. "Robbie went to College over in the UK, didn't you?" Jaime said looking at his partner who smiled and nodded confirming what Jaime said.
"Yeah, but I don't want to be too far away from you all," replied Martin "It was bad enough when I served in Afghanistan and you were all worried sick about me, calling me night and day asking me if I was alright," he said.
"Well, just as well we were!" retorted Aunt Amy "We know what you went through over in the Middle-East!" she stated.
"I get that!" Martin cut her off, not seeing any need to be reminded of the Middle-East "But I'd rather find some College here in the states so I can come home to you all much more easily instead of having to go through border control and TSA," he said.
"We get that, we do," Uncle Louie replied "But you don't have to stay in the US to go to College is all we're saying," he said.
"I know," Martin mumbled.
The family continued to eat their lunch when the doorbell to the house rang.
"Are we expecting anyone today?" asked Martin.
"What do we look like? Fucking celebrities?" Uncle Jaime replied and was then swatted by Aunt Sally for swearing in front of Jenna and baby Richard. Martin got up from his chair and headed to the front door and opened. What surprised Martin was the oddest dressed man he had ever seen.
The man was tall and thin, almost to the point of being gaunt with grey hair and pale almost colourless eyes like he was blind. Then there was the man's dress sense. He was wearing a deep purple suit jacket with an orange button-up shirt and purple trousers with black patent leather shoes and finally a cravat around his neck.
"Good day!" the man exclaimed in voice that was either Irish or Scottish in accent though it was hard to tell "Is this the residence of Martin Storm?" the man asked.
"It is and I am Martin Storm," Martin replied feeling a little confused as to who this man is and why he was here.
The man then exhaled in relief and exclaimed "Finally! Do you know how many houses I had to go to, to find you?! I was almost eaten by bears at one point!" he complained.
"Hey, Marty? Who's at the door?" Uncle Harold called out from the kitchen/dining room.
"Might I come in?" the odd man asked politely.
"Ummm… sure, I guess?" Martin replied as he let the man into the house.
The man walked with a skip in his step as he walked into the kitchen and greeted everyone.
"Who the fuck is that? And what the fuck is he wearing?" Robert asked as he looked at the oddly dressed man and was swatted on the arm for swearing by Aunt Amy.
"Good day to you all," the oddly dressed man said to Martin's family "My name is Sheogorath Cheeseman, and I'm here to give Martin an offer," he announced.
"The fuck kind of name is that?" Grandpa Joe asked and was whacked across the head by Granny Jennifer for swearing as well.
"Yes, my parents were deep into their cups when they named me," Sheogorath chuckled "But I'm here with an offer for Martin," he said in a more serious voice as he pulled out from his jacket pocket an envelope and handed it to Martin.
Martin took the letter and opened it to reveal a letter inside. "Dear Mr Storm, we here at Disney University have decided to extend to you the offer of a scholarship to our University because we feel that you would do well at our institution and go on to do great things," Martin said reading the letter out loud.
"Holy shit! A scholarship!" Aunt Sally yelled "Martin, this could the chance you're looking for!" she shouted.
"Hold on, hold on!" Uncle Harold said "Disney University? Never heard of the place. How do we know this isn't some scam?" he asked looking at Sheogorath shrewdly.
"Oh, we do have a website that you can peruse," replied Sheogorath "And we have a very good success rate with our students," he then said "It's very rare that we make an offer like this, but it's well worth it if you take it," he added.
"Unless of course, you are already in another university?" Sheogorath then asked Martin who shook his head and replied "No, all the other colleges and universities rejected my applications letters."
"HAH! That's mean they haven't gotten you yet! Wonderful!" Sheogorath cackled before saying "Well, as I said, we don't make this offer very often," he said. "But I would highly recommend that you take this offer, because you may not get another chance like this," he warned.
Martin then looked at the address of the letter. "Storybrooke, Maine. That's pretty far away," he murmured "Guess I'll have to leave the car behind," he then said.
"Well, here's the next best thing!" Sheogorath said "We'll ship all your possessions and your car all the way to Storybrooke free of charge!" he announced.
"You're shitting me!" exclaimed Martin and was swatted on the arm for swearing as well.
"Oh, I wish!" Sheogorath grinned "You'd be a fool to not accept this chance to go to Disney University, Where Dreams Come True!" he said.
"Eh?"
"The Slogan of Disney University," said Sheogorath.
Martin turned to his family. "What do you guys think?" he asked them.
"I'd say go for it!" Uncle Harold said encouragingly "If this guy is telling the truth, then you'd be stupid to not take the chance!" he declared and the others all voiced their agreement.
Martin then turned Sheogorath and said to him "Okay. I'll do it!" he said.
"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!" Sheogorath said "You'll find in the letter your identification number and password so you can set up your account with Disney University and inside you'll have a plane ticket, first class might I add, for next month," he explained "So I suggest you start packing what you need," he advised.
"Thanks you for this opportunity, Mr Cheeseman," Martin then said Sheogorath who smiled and replied "You can thank me when you get you graduate." Nodding his head to everyone, Mr Cheeseman then left the house and got into a limo that was parked outside.
"Can you actually believe it?!" Martin asked everyone "I'm going to University!" he exclaimed.
"Okay, okay, let's simmer down now!" Uncle Louie said "First let's check out this website and see if the Mr Cheese-wheel or whatever his name is, is telling the truth," he suggested.
Everyone then agreed to look up the university website and found that Mr Cheeseman was telling the truth.
…
With Mr Cheeseman.
Sheogorath sat in the back of the limo with a satisfied smiled on his lips.
"Well? Did you find him?" a voice demanded across from Sheogorath who smiled at the limo's other occupant and replied "Oh, I believe I find him alright!"
"You'd better have!" a woman wearing a deep black dress with an amulet in the shape of a spider hanging around her neck said. "The last time you claimed you found our champion, he got himself killed by that good for nothing fairy!" she spat.
"Relax, sister!" Sheogorath said to the woman reassuringly "This time I'm most definitely sure that I've found our champion," he added "He even looked like him this time!" he then said.
"Looks aren't everything!" the spider amulet wearing woman retorted "As you well know!" she accused.
"Oh, will you relax?" Sheogorath said to the woman "Apart from those other times, when I have I been wrong?" he asked. The woman gave him a deadpan look that said All the time.
"Regardless, I am most definitely sure that Martin Storm is our champion reborn," Sheogorath then said. "And now the curse can finally be broken!" he announced with a manic grin on his face and he began to laugh raucously.
…
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: well, there it is everyone, the first chapter of the rewrite of Disney University. I do apologise if this chapter is similar to Dario's story but hopefully some details are a bit different to Dario's such as my Dragonborn having something close to PTSD which is fairly common among soldiers who have been to warzones. I have a few good ideas regarding the PTSD and how it affects the story and the characters. I may even have Martin have flashbacks to when he was in the Middle-East fighting ISIS and if any of you have ever read or heard of former soldiers who have 'flashbacks' then you can guess what might happen.
So, this is just a short chapter to set the stage and hopefully the next chapter will be much longer and hopefully I can pump it as soon as possible.
So, leave a review telling me what you liked or didn't like and any suggestions, and I'll try to do better in the next chapter.
Kind regards,
Angry lil' elf.