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Chapter 3: Knowledge is Power
Once the group of nine entered the Garden, they saw Ventus tending sitting on a bench, reading. The students walked up to the Wind Guardian, gaining his attention.
"Is there something you need?" Ventus asked quietly.
"Yes, Voltage wants to learn how to fly. Could you teach him the basics?" Spyro asked politely.
"Sure." the adult wind dragon closed his book and stood up. He led Voltage to a small clearing while the others rested in the shade of a tree nearby.
"Now Voltage, I'd like you to close your eyes and clear your mind." Ventus instructed just above a whisper.
Voltage nodded and closed his eyes.
"Take slow deep breathes and forget. Forget your past; forget now; forget yourself. Only through forgetting can you remember what your ancestors already know." Ventus told him.
Voltage, with doubt, did as instructed. Through his closed eyelids, he saw a forest with a small clearing that contained a village. The village's inhabitants have dark skin and are wearing various animal skins and feathers. They are dancing around an open fire while playing drums and singing. They are performing a ghost dance.
"Now open your eyes." he heard Ventus' faint voice.
Voltage opened his eyes and noticed that he was four feet off the ground and his wings were flapping.
"How did…?" Voltage started.
"Your ancestors have given you the knowledge to fly." the wind dragon smiled.
Voltage just smiled and started to fly around in the air. Umbra decided to play to and flew up to join his flight.
They did basic air tricks and flew around each other in a laughing fit. After a short while, with Umbra's help, they gracefully landed back onto the garden. Their friends walked up to them.
"That was excellent, Voltage. Just keep practicing, and you'll be just a good of flyer as the rest of us." Ventus praised with a proud smile.
"Thanks, but… is it normal to have visions when dragons clear there thoughts like that?" Voltage asked.
"A vision? Usually the ancestors will allow an individual to absorb their knowledge, but to receive a vision is pretty rare." Ventus explained as he sat back down on the bench.
"What did you see?" Flame asked for everyone.
"I uh… I saw a bunch of tribals dancing around a fire while singing." Voltage responded with a claw on his chin in thought.
"I thought the cheetahs were the only ones with tribes. Are you part cheetah?" Ember asked the former human.
"Um no. I'm part Native American. I'm from the Abenaki tribe to be exact." Voltage replied, not wanting to lie about something he is truly prideful for.
Before the others could ask further, Cynder cut them off.
"Maybe we should get Voltage his school supplies." she said.
"Good idea, he should be prepared to learn after all." Ventus agreed, also not wanting to blow the former human's cover.
Voltage nodded in thanks to the two dragons.
"Alrighty then, follow us Voltage." Umbra said with a smile as the group left the garden.
It was starting to get late as the group walked to the sleeping dorms. Voltage has acquired three textbooks, quills, and many writing scrolls. They all ate dinner an hour ago and now they are all tired. After a short walk, they came to a fork in the road.
"The hall to the right leads to the girls' dorms and the left leads to the boys' dorms." Pelko explained to Voltage.
The girls said goodnight to the boys and left for their dorms. Before the boys could continue, Tavilla walked up to the group.
"Hello Voltage. How do you like the Temple so far?" the Fire Guardian asked with a kind smile.
"It's certainly interesting." the black lightning dragon answered honestly.
"That's good to here. I'm here to lead you to your dorm." she informed him.
Voltage nodded and said farewell to his friends. He followed the Fire Guardian until they reached a dorm number 396.
"This is your dorm." she informed him as she opened the door for him.
Voltage entered the room and his jaw felt like it hit the floor.
The room has black and blue striped wallpaper with a blue carpet. There is a closet in the back of the room. A black pillow with a blue pillow that is meant for sleeping, resting in the corner of the room. There is a desk for schoolwork near the window on the opposite side of the room. There are also three seating pillows near the desk.
"It's not much, but it'll do." Tavilla apologized.
"This room is… nice. Thank you." Voltage said with gratitude.
She smiled and took a seat on one of the seating pillows.
"It was no trouble at all. Have a seat please, I like to get to know my students." she smiled warmly.
The black dragon took a seat across from her and got comfortable.
"I'll start by explaining a little about myself. I'm the sister of the previous Fire Guardian, Ignitus. I was born into wealth and studied the element of fire. I also had a good relationship with my parents and I try to help others whenever I can." Tavilla explained as if talking about the weather.
"Now, how about you. What was your life like?" she asked nicely, getting a sigh from Voltage.
"Unlike you, I wasn't born into wealth. My parents were very poor and we could barely afford our own home. I already told you about my family so I won't go into details about that. I would often get into fights because of how different I am from everyone else; that's how I got this scar." Voltage pointed to his scar over his left eye.
"Almost everyone in my life did everything they could to make my life miserable; every girl I tried to ask out would either laugh in my face or tell me to fuck off. I once even tried to kill myself." he continued, receiving a gasp of shock from Tavilla.
"I always felt like my life was a dark tunnel with a light at the end that I could never reach. I even wrote horror novels and stories to express my depression. I also drew the manifestations of my inner demons. I kinda wish I had them with me so I could show you." he laughed sadly.
Tavilla stood up, walked over to Voltage, and held him in a comforting embrace. He was shocked, but decided not to say anything once he heard Tavilla sobbing quietly. They just sat there in there embrace in silence.
Once Tavilla stopped sobbing, she released Voltage and looked him in the eyes.
"It's okay now… you're at the light." she smiled and gave him another quick hug.
She released him, stood up, and walked to the door.
"Oh before I forget." she reached into the pack on her side. "I brought you some drawing paper."
She placed it on the desk, next to the textbooks, and opened the door.
"Get some rest. You deserve it." with that, she exited and closed the door behind her.
Instead of going to bed as instructed, Voltage grabbed a sheet of paper and began to draw. After about two hours of drawing, he looked at the drawing so far.
It is a drawing of himself as a human, except he's not wearing a hoodie under his leather jacket. He is looking over his left shoulder at the viewer. His long hair is resting on his back with a slight shine on it. The white of his eyes is completely black and his irises are white instead. His nose has been flattened and the only thing that looks like a nose is two small slits. His mouth is open wide, as if screaming in pain, but his mouth is covered by various strands of skin. Under the strands of skin, are many razor sharp teeth. It is also raining in the background.
Voltage sighed tiredly and placed the drawing on the desk. He got up and layed down into his sleeping pillow. He pulled the blanket over him and gently went to sleep.
The next morning, Voltage woke up from repeated knocks on his door. He groaned and pulled the blanket over his head.
He heard the door open and footsteps approaching his position.
"Get up, Voltage!" he heard Flame's voice.
Not wanting to endure the disruption any longer, he pushed the blanket away from his face and quickly sat up.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT!" Voltage shouted in rage.
Flame didn't even flinch. He just gave him a disapproving look.
"We have classes today and I thought you wouldn't want to miss breakfast." the fire dragon said with a smile.
Voltage stood up and stretched. While he was doing that, Flame noticed the drawing.
"Wow that drawing is scary. Did you do this?" he asked as he took a closer look at the unfinished drawing.
"Yeah, I like drawing monsters." Voltage answered as he grabbed his supplies and walked to the door.
Flame took one last glance at the picture, grabbed it, and placed it in his satchel on his neck. He then left with Voltage
Once everyone had something to eat and were at the table, the group of students started talking.
"Did you sleep well, Volt?" Ember asked kindly.
"Volt?" Voltage asked with confusion.
"She thought it'd be a good idea to shorten your name, or she just wants to annoy you." Petram explained.
He just shrugged at the new nickname.
"I slept well." he answered.
They continued their meal until Flame remembered something.
"Hey guys, Voltage has been holding out on us. Apparently he is an artist." Flame pulled out the drawing so that everyone could see.
"Wow that's really good!" Umbra was the first to comment.
"That drawing gives me ideas for my fear breath." Pelko smiled with thought.
"I don't usually like scary stuff, but that is good." Ember complimented.
"Wowthat'ssocool!" Electra said quickly.
"That thing is awesome!" Petram cried happily.
"It looks like it's in pain…" Cynder observed upon closer inspection.
"Do humans really look like that?" Spyro whispered to Voltage.
"No, it's just a monster based on humans." he whispered back.
Flame gave Voltage his drawing back, who put it in his own school satchel, and everyone talked as they ate.
"What kind of music is there around here?" Voltage asked as they were putting their empty trays away.
"We have folklore music and classy music. What kind of music is there where you come from?" Umbra answered and asked.
"Shit mostly, but there are some good genres back home." Voltage answered as they exited the cafeteria.
"And what would those be?" Ember asked, now curious.
"Heavy, Power, Black, Viking, Nu, Industrial, Doom, and Death Metal. There is also some good Rap out there." he answered.
"This 'metal' music you speak of sounds very dark…" Petram said.
"That's because it is. A famous man named Nathan Explosion once said…" Voltage cleared his throat and made his voice even deeper than usual. " 'We are here to make coffee… metal. We will make everything metal. Blacker than the blackest black… times infinity.' " Everyone in the group just stared at Voltage.
"Sounds like my kind of music!" Pelko laughed.
"I'd give it a listen." Cynder agreed.
After that, the group separated to go to their classes. Voltage is following Spyro, Cynder, and Umbra because they are in the same classes. The group of four entered their history class.
Volteer sat at his desk, watching all the students take their seats. Once he saw Voltage enter, he motioned for him to come closer.
"Alright class, settle down now!" the class stopped talking and looked at Volteer and Voltage.
"If you have not met him yet, this is our new student, Voltage." Volteer introduced. He then turned to face the former human.
"Why don't you sit in that empty seat, there." Volteer pointed with a talon to the empty seat between Umbra and Halu.
Voltage nodded and took his seat.
"Now to pick up where we left off, and to recap what we learned for Voltage, the city of Warfang was founded in…"
As Volteer was teaching, Voltage took out a piece of paper to take notes. History was always one of his favorite classes, although he prefers to learn about Colonial America and World War II.
As he was writing, a crumpled up piece of paper landed on his notes from his left. He took a quick glance to see Halu staring into space as if nothing happened. Voltage shrugged, flattened the paper, and read it.
'Meet me in my room tonight after curfew. My room number is 302.' he read to himself with a frown.
He put the note in his pouch and continued to take notes.
'I mine as well see what the skank wants.' he thought without much care.
For the rest of class, Volteer explained Warfang's history and government. Once the bell rang, everyone exited the class. Voltage, Umbra, Spyro, and Cynder are now walking to their writing class.
"Gah I hate history, it's not as fun as breathe and hunting training." Cynder complained.
"I actually like history. It's good to know the past so you don't repeat past mistakes." Voltage replied wisely.
"I like history too, especially past wars and cultures." Umbra smiled.
They entered their writing class to see Tenebris, the Shadow Guardian, writing on the board
"Sit wherever you want." he told Voltage without turning around.
'Did someone knee him in the balls? What's got him in a bad mood?' Voltage thought as he sat between Umbra and Spyro in the first row.
The other students, including Culus, entered and took their seats.
Tenebris finally turned around and faced the class, occasionally glancing at Voltage.
"Now class, I'd like you all to write a six paragraph essay on your opinion on darkness. For those of you who don't understand what I mean by that, darkness is the inner evil within all of us. I have written down the basics of what everyone's inner darkness is on the board. If you do not finish by the end of class, then it is homework. If you finish, then you can work on other schoolwork quietly." the Shadow Guardian explained.
As Tenebris took his seat, everyone took out multiple sheets of paper and started writing.
After about forty-five minutes, Voltage put his papers to the side, took out his drawing, and commenced shading it.
Tenebris got up from his seat and calmly walked over to Voltage until he was leaning over him.
"What are you doing?" he asked calmly, yet with a disapproving frown. Everyone stopped writing to see what's going on.
"I'm drawing, I finished my essay." Voltage held out his essay for the Guardian to read.
Tenebris took the paper and read it quietly to himself, not moving an inch. After a short wait, he slammed the paper on the desk and glared at Voltage.
"What is this garbage?" he asked heatedly, pointing at the essay.
"It's my essay. I wrote about my opinion on darkness." Voltage replied, not understanding the sudden hostility.
"I asked you to write about darkness, not praise evil like it's something to be proud about!" Tenebris barked.
"To be fair, you asked us to write about our opinion on darkness. Voltage was doing what you asked." Umbra defended.
"Stay out of this! I don't need my A+ student to defend someone who supports the forces of evil." Tenebris told the dragoness.
"I say we have Voltage expelled for his practice of darkness." Culus sneered, receiving an angry glare from Tenebris.
"You do not tell me how to do my job! Now stop talking and continue writing!" he shouted angrily.
He turned to face Voltage again.
"I want to see you after class so we can discuss this further." he said as he took the essay and sat back down.
Voltage nodded in understanding and continued his drawing.
'That could've gone better.' he thought.
Once the bell rang, everyone but Voltage and Tenebris left for lunch.
"Good luck." Umbra whispered as she left.
The Shadow Guardian got up and walked up to Voltage.
"I don't know what kind of stuff you did as a human, but you are a dragon now. You must know that the forces of evil are bad and that you can never praise it in any way." he told Voltage calmly.
"Do you honestly think I'd go around trying to swallow people's souls or something? I like the evil style, but that doesn't mean that I actually support that kind of thing." Voltage defended.
Tenebris rested a paw on Voltage's desk and leaned in closer, invading his comfort zone.
"I will not tolerate that kind of behavior in my class or in my presence. I let you do as you pleased yesterday because you weren't a student, but now that you are one, you will have to be respectful." he told Voltage, less than four inches from his face.
"What's your problem anyway? I didn't do anything to you or anyone. I may be a dark person, but that doesn't mean I'm a bad guy. I have nothing against you." Voltage said, feeling uneasy about his position.
Tenebris leaned back and took his paw off the desk.
"I don't like the fact that I'm being forced to teach a creature that I know nothing about, I don't like that you have been strutting around as if you own the place, and I don't like how I don't know if you are even trustworthy." the shadow dragon explained.
Voltage took his stuff and stood up.
"Maybe instead of jumping to conclusions, you should get to know someone before a scene like this happens." with that said, Voltage exited and headed for lunch.
Tenebris sat down and sighed heavily.
"He's right you know." Tavilla said as she entered the classroom.
"How much of that did you see?" Tenebris asked tiredly.
"I heard more than I saw." she stated as she walked up to his desk.
"How are we supposed to trust him? He doesn't know our ways or what kind of loses we've experienced." he said angrily.
"I talked to him last night and trust me, he's experienced pain." she said calmly.
"Oooh his family wasn't nice to him. At least he never had to deal with losing someone." Tenebris growled.
"At least you had someone! He had no one throughout his whole life!" she fired back with tears in her eyes.
"What would your mate think of you now?" she yelled angrily and stomped out before he could respond.
Tenebris sat there in silence for a long while, thinking about what he was told.
He sighed heavily, got up, and left to find Voltage.
I actually did draw a drawing very similar to what Voltage drew except I based it off my dad and it was a denim jacket instead of leather. And yes, he did like the drawing.