The blood red sun rose over the damp green hills deep in the land of wild scarlet macaws. Just as the sun began to cover the moss-strewn treetops, a large white tailed deer erupted from the forest. A tan and silver blur sprinted behind the terrified animal in blinding pursuit. The creature raced though the undergrowth, trying to escape the obstacles that the deer easily avoided with its long graceful leaps. The brook proved treacherous to both the deer and its pursuer with algae covered rocks, rotting driftwood debris and the torrential current. The deer noticed too late that the predator had caught up or the silver arrowhead flying toward it…
"Jaden!" A boy with tousled maple brown hair and amber gold eyes woke with a start, smacking the top of his head on the camp bed above him, hard. Jaden toppled out of bed with a howl of pain and surprise, landing on the wood floor at his roommate's feet. He looked up, stars winking in front of his vision.
"What? Geez, Sy, you don't have to yell. I'm not deaf you know, but I will be if you do that again!" he growled at his roommate, Syrus. Jaden struggled to stand, but fell back, rubbing his sore knees; muttering something along the lines of "I hate wood floors".
"Sorry, Jaden, but we'll be late if you don't get out of bed," Syrus replied, bowing apologetically. Syrus was really short for his age, with overly spiky, pale aqua colored hair and large, round, brownish yellow eyes. "It's the first day at the academy, and we don't want to be late and make a bad impression," The Academy was the newest high school. The students had been grouped into three colors, Slifer red for low levelers on the entrance exams, Ra yellow for the ones who were average to good on the exams, and Obelisk blue for the purely elite or the 'geniuses'.
"I guess I should have studied for the entrance exams, then I wouldn't be cracking my knees on the floor daily. I heard the yellow and blue dorms have actual plush carpet, and a pool," Jaden said in a more cheerful tone as he dressed in his red school uniform and adding on his personal touch, a pair of black cotton fingerless gloves. Syrus had already dressed; he replaced the glasses from his school trunk on the bridge of his nose to finish.
"Well, studying never been my strong point, there's no doubt about that," Syrus replied sheepishly. "I just hope there's a way to increase rank before graduation,"
"There is," a large koala like boy with a round face and a round nose stared down at them from the top bunk. "You have to pass the semester midterm with 80 or better. Best I got was 75 on my fifth attempt, but there are very few exceptions with us Slifer red students. The teachers think all of us are slackers," he murmured the last part under his breath so the other two could barely hear him.
"Thanks for the info Chum. Come on Sy, let's get going." Jaden replied happily as he literally dragged a distraught Syrus out of the dorms and down the road towards the place where classes were held.