AN: Hey, it's been a while. Just to tell you all in advance, I will eventually be adapting the Bildungsroman (? chapter) into a future chapter, but that won't be for a while. I've been sitting on half a chapter for a very long time, and I figured I should finish it up and get working on the next one, especially since I got the attention of a pretty successful A&O writer. Also, I noticed that I tend to end my chapters with sleeping, wonder if it means something (I don't get much anymore, with a 7:00 class)? I hope you like emotional stuff, 'cause that's what you're getting. Enjoy :)
Reaching Out
Bildungsroman
A little over a month had passed since the accident and Connor's leg had healed completely, leaving no sign that it had been broken in the first place. The First day of Alpha School began with a brisk morning, all the students gathered together at a preordained location, the teachers waiting on the edge of a clearing for the new students to arrive, and the students trickling in and grouping together in front of the teachers. Connor arrived with the first group of students and wandered around, looking at nothing in particular, while the rest sat together and talked. As the last few stragglers made their way into the clearing, Connor made his way back to the teachers, sitting outside the group and near them, waiting for the first day to start.
When the last student arrived, one of the teachers stood up and walked forward. He was taller than the rest by a good margin, and far stronger than any of the students. His walk showed a self assuredness and grace that only came from skill, practice, and patience.
"Alright," He said in a voice too loud for normal talking, but too quiet to be a shout, "everyone is here so we will begin. I will be your head teacher and trainer while you are in Alpha School, you will call me Teacher. You will all be split up into groups, and each group will go with one of the instructors. They will be your instructor for the rest of your time here. They will work with you individually, and I will lead in group lessons."
After that, he had the instructors separate and divided the students up into groups around each instructor. The groups were small, only two or three students per instructor; Connor's group consisting of him and two others, a male and a female. The male was well built and confident, obviously an Alpha, but the female was much smaller, her frame very slight and thin; she could be either an Alpha or an Omega. Their instructor was a female of average size for an adult Alpha, though she didn't carry herself as if she was superior to the students. she had a very kind expression, a smile always pulling at the corners of her mouth and a happiness brightly showing in her eyes.
Once the commotion of being split up died down, the instructor introduced herself, "Hello, my name is Morgan, and I'll be your instructor. So, lets all get to know each other, we'll start with you." she then pointed at the male," Tell us your name and why you came to Alpha School."
"I'm Garth, and I'm here to see how the Western pack runs its Alpha School." Everyones attention then shifted to the female.
"I'm Hayley, and I'm here to work on strength training." Everyone then looked at Connor.
"I'm Connor, and I'm here to find out if I'm an Alpha or an Omega." At this, Garth looked over at him with indignation.
"How do you not know which you are? Didn't your parents tell you?" Garth asked, almost accusingly.
In response, Connor just looked down and muttered "I don't want to talk about it."
"What do you mean you don't want to talk about it, I have to know. I'm not going to be in a group with an Omega." Garth spat out the word Omega like curse, leaving no doubt that Lilly was the only exception to his distaste for Omegas.
"Alright, that's enough; we're starting." Morgan interjected. Teacher was standing in front of the groups and waiting for everyone's attention.
When the talking died down, Teacher spoke. "Today we will be testing you to see how well you perform and what you need to work on. Your first test will be a test of your speed. You will all line up on the line I have scratched in the dirt and, when I say, you will sprint to the second line here where I am standing." The distance between the two was roughly 200 meters.
All the groups lined up on the line and waited for Teacher to call the start.
"Ready."
Connor relaxed and looked straight across at the finish.
"Set."
Connor lowered himself slightly and prepared to leap forward.
"Go!"
Connor dug his claws into the ground and lunged forward, getting a slight lead on Garth and the majority of the others. Unlike most of the others, he knew not to start with everything he had, but save some for a burst of speed about half way. He was around the middle of the group by the time he reached the midline, and when he got there, he flew ahead of the pack. None of the others were even near him, save Hayley. Hayley had stayed slightly ahead of Connor throughout, and she held onto that lead to the very end, Hayley in first, and Connor a close second.
"Well," Hayley said between pants, "It's been awhile since I've met anyone as fast as me. What was your name again?"
"Connor, nice to meet you." he panted back.
"You're definitely fast enough to be an Alpha, how much do you train to get that fast?" Hayley asked.
"Actually, I don't, never have. That was about as far as I can go that fast." Connor replied, still breathing raggedly from the exertion.
"Wow, imagine if you actually practiced!" Hayley replied, a bit of awe in her voice.
"I could've beat him if I'd actually tried." Garth interjected as he walked over with Morgan, arrogance practically dripping from the words.
'Why is he being so mean, I never did anything to him. Maybe he just doesn't like being beaten.' Connor thought to himself, watching Garth as he walked over.
"Will the three fastest runners step forward." Teacher commanded. Morgan nudged Connor and Hayley forward and they stepped out, joined by another female a bit off to their left.
"You three have the option to skip sprint exercises if you want." Teacher said to the three winners, then addressed the rest of the students. "These three are the ones to beat, your ability will be judged by their standard. Our next exercise will be a test of you problem solving ability and dexterity, everyone follow me."
Teacher lead the group a short ways through the trees to another small clearing. In the center stood three large trees, descending in height. In the tallest tree, a brightly colored cloth hung and waved in the breeze.
"Your challenge is to be the first to retrieve the cloth and bring it to me." Teacher announced.
At once, many of the wolves tried to simply jump and climb the trunk, with little success. A smaller number stood back and tried to help each other climb by raising one on the back of another to reach the lower branches, and they were more successful but couldn't get further than halfway to the cloth. While the rest of the wolves struggled to climb the trunk of the tree, Connor stood back and looked at the other two trees and tried to devise a plan. The furthest tree from the cloth dipped down, one of the lower branches around jumping height, and because of their close proximity, it was not unbelievable that he could make his way through the branches to the cloth and back.
Connor walked over to nudged Hayley, "I have an idea, but I might need some help."
Curious, Hayley followed Connor around behind the trees to a place where a large branch nearly touched the ground, reaching down to about 3 feet above the ground.
"So, my idea is, if I can get up on that branch, I can use this and the other tree to climb to the cloth, but I can't get ontop of that branch without falling off. I was also watching how they were lifting each other up, and I thought that you might help me. You can have the cloth if you want, I don't really care about winning that much." Connor proposed.
"Alright, I'll help. You can have the cloth, it's your idea" Hayley responded
"Thanks, so just stand here and I'll step on your back and get up on the branch." Connor said, gesturing at a place just to the side of the low branch. Hayley crouched down slightly and Connor gently jumped from the ground to her back to the branch, wobbling a little when he landed.
"Thanks, I'll be coming back this way. We can turn the cloth in together." Connor said, looking down at Hayley.
"Just don't fall." Hayley joked.
Unbeknownst to them, Garth had been watching the whole thing. With the help of his friends, Garth pushed Hayley out of the way and leapt off his friends back to the branch Connor had been on only a minute ago.
Hayley jogged over to a spot below Connor and called up "Garth copied us. He's coming after you."
"Hmm... thanks" Connor replied, glancing back over his shoulder to see Garth making his way after him. Connor nimbly stepped from branch to branch, picking his way through the three dimensional maze of the middle tree. Eventually, he reached a point where he could cross over to the tree with the cloth, but he would have to cross a wide gap on a relatively unstable branch, and Garth wasn't far behind. Connor slowly began to cross, every step making the branch sink and sway slightly. When he was nearly to the end, he felt the branch jolt, nearly knocking him off. Looking back, he discovered that Garth had caught up with him and was partially standing on the base of the branch. Garth gave Connor an evil smile and shook the branch, forcing Connor to stop his progress and crouch low to keep from falling off.
"That cloth is mine, so get out of my way" Garth demanded.
Connor watched in fear as Garth put more of his weight on the branch, preparing to shove it with as much force as he could muster. Panicked, Connor looked back at the tree with the cloth, but he could never make a jump like that. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a branch from the cloth tree, below and to the side of the branch he was currently standing on. At that moment, Garth shook the branch, and Connor was forced to jump for that other branch or fall. He leapt, landing on the lower branch and just barely managing to keep his balance. From here, there was no way to continue upward, and Connor just watched as Garth crossed the gap and retrieved the cloth.
"You should know by now, I always win, especialy against some Omega." Garth taunted as he made his way back across the gap with the cloth in his mouth. Connor said nothing, just watching as Garth traversed the branches and eventually hopped down. Once the others began to notice Garth with the cloth, they crowded around him, asking "how did you do it?" and "where did you go?". Connor made his way down the tree, dropping from branch to branch to the ground. Hayley was waiting for him when he reached the ground.
"Are you okay?" Hayley asked, "I saw him knock you off, but I couldn't see where you landed."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I caught another branch below." Connor responded, obviously irritated. "God, I hate how he thinks he's better than everyone, he's just a pompous, cheating coward who can't think for himself." He grumbled to himself as they walked back to the group that had formed around teacher and Garth.
"You know Morgan was watching the whole thing." Hayley added, "I don't think she's going to do anything though, Garth is the pack leader's son."
"No, she has to, it's her job to lead us and follow the rules." Connor replied, outwardly disbelieving, but inwardly scared of the idea that he could be wrong.
Connor and Hayley watched as Garth gave the cloth to Teacher, and Connor stared in disbelief and horror as Morgan stood by, saying nothing of what Garth had done. He could hardly believe that she would just sit there, she was in charge because she was older, she was supposed to be smarter, more mature, a symbol of both authority and friendship. Morgan had betrayed him as a friend and as a leader; she had bent to the threat of angering Garth's father, and had failed to stand up for Connor when he needed her to do what was right.
"It's not like there's much we can do, he is Tony's kid. He's as ruthless as his father." Hayley commented, resigned.
'It's horrible, that all these Alphas have such a high place that they think they can get away with anything, that they lose all respect for Omegas, that they treat us like we're nothing and I'm not even an Omega. I don't get how such a hateful system can exist.' Connor thought to himself.
As the crowd dispersed, Teacher called Connor and Hayley over.
"You two showed superior initiative and teamwork, you have earned your places on our first hunt of the season." Teacher told Connor and Hayley.
"But Garth is the one who gave you the cloth! We didn't win." Hayley replied
"The purpose of the challenge was to find the most clever and creative. Connor, Hayley, by finding a way to retrieve the cloth before anyone else even thought to try another approach, you have proven yourself to be capable. Hayley, by being willing to help someone, knowing that you would not be guaranteed to reap the reward, you too have shown yourself to be an excelent teammate. I saw what Garth did, I know he copied you and would have likely injured you if you had not been quick and caught yourself." Teacher told them.
"Why didn't you stop Garth if you saw what he did, why did you let him win?" Connor asked, bewildered.
"There are certain things that you don't do, and one of them is anger the pack leader. If I were to punish Garth, Tony would hear about it and would not be pleased to put it lightly." Teacher answered, "The hunt will begin tomorrow morning at sunrise, don't be late." And with that, Teacher left.
The next morning, Connor and Hayley waited together in the clearing for the arrival of Teacher and the rest of the students who were chosen to participate in the hunt.
"You know," Connor commented, "I've always wondered where the caribou come from, I mean I've never seen them outside the valley but they can't just be coming from nowhere, and why do the caribou still use the valley if they know we live here?"
" I don't know, I never really thought about that before, it never seemed that important." Hayley replied, finishing just as Teacher, Garth, and a couple others walked into the clearing.
"What are you doing here," Garth asked Connor, "You didn't win anything."
"Connor, Hayley, do either of you know how to hunt?" Teacher asked, stopping any further aggression from Garth.
"No." Connor replied.
"Not first hand, I've watched before." Hayley answered.
"Alright then, the concept is simple. All you have to do is work together to separate one of the caribou then, when it's alone, go for the throat. If all of you work together, this should go well. I will be watching from a distance, if something goes wrong I will help, but otherwise you'll be doing this on your own." Teacher instructed, "The valley is just down that path, good hunting."
Teacher ran off toward the edge of the valley while Connor, Garth, Hayley and two others who appeared to be more of Garth's followers walked down the path to the valley. Garth and his group quickly let it be known that they wanted nothing to do with Connor, but Hayley chose to keep him company.
The group soon reached the edge of the valley, finding that a small herd of caribou was grazing, unaware of the threat that hid in the tall grass and behind bushes. On the way over, they had devised a plan to pick off one of the caribou, Garth and his two friends would run in from the side opposite Connor, and try to separate a small group from the herd, Then Hayley would run from her hiding place and split the small group again. Once everyone was in their position, a howl from Garth initiated the attack. Connor, Garth, and his friends charged, managing to split four away from the group. Hayley them charged in at a full sprint, cutting between one of the caribou and the rest, separating it, condemning it to death. the caribou bolted toward the herd, past Connor, leaving a large gap between everyone but he and it. He quickly gained ground on the weak caribou and lunged, managing to knock it to the ground. As he leaned down, preparing to deal the lethal injury, his eye lit upon a caribou fawn. The terror in it's eyes struck Connor to the very core of his being, he had never realized it before, but even the caribou had families, and even if it was natural to kill their prey to eat, he himself could not bring himself to do it. In that moment of hesitation, Connor was knocked flat by the caribou as it struggled to stand and run. From behind him shot a red-brown streak, Garth landed on the caribou and bit, ending the hunt with one lithe, powerful motion.
"You alright?" Hayley asked, stopping next to Connor as he stood.
"Yeah, I've had much worse" He replied.
Teacher appeared out of the brush and walked over to the group.
"Good job," Teacher congratulated, " now let's bring the kill back to the dens."
Connor walked back, still shaken by what had just happened, and though about why he couldn't finish the job. He realized that that was the very reason for the Alpha-Omega system he so despised. The reason that some were Alphas and others were Omegas was that, while some were too lazy, many were like him so far as that they did not have the personality to lead or the emotional fortitude to kill.
Later that day, just as the sun was beginning to set, Connor returned home to his den. The heavy realization from earlier still weighed on his mind, and in an effort to lessen the burden, he walked out of his den, sat on his little clearing and sang.
"Do you remember how this first begun?
Teeth were white and our skin was young
Eyes as bright as the Spanish Sun
We had nothing we could hide
Now my dear we are two golden leaves
Clinging desperately to winter trees
Got up here like a pair of thieves
While the sirens blare outside
What's left to say when every word's been spoken?
What's left to see when our eyes won't open?
What's left to do when we've lost all hope and
What's left to break when our hearts are broken?
But sometimes...
Do you remember how this started out?
So full of hope and now we're filled with doubt
A dirty joke we used to laugh about
But it's not funny anymore
I fear I choke unless I spit it out
Still smell of smoke, although the fire's gone out
Can't live with you, but I die without
What's left to say when every word's been spoken?
What's left to see when our eyes won't open?
What's left to do when we've lost all hope and
What's left to break when our hearts are broken?
But sometimes...
What's left to say when every word's been spoken?
What's left to see when our eyes won't open?
What's left to do when we've lost all hope and
What's left to break when our hearts are broken?
But sometimes..."
With the last word, Connor slumped, exhausted from both the physical exertion and the emotional turmoil of the day, walked back into his den, and promptly fell asleep.