Chapter 3
I really hate unpacking…
After coming back to the room, it seemed like a good idea to start unpacking my luggage. Three suitcases, a duffle bag, and a backpack did not strike me as "excessive" when I was at home, but now that I must unpack it all, excessive does seem like the right word.
Lack of space in the room was not an issue, thankfully. My cupboard space near the door was more than adequate to store my school uniforms and a few casual clothes. There were also a few drawers included in the space as well, which served nicely as temporary storage for out of season clothes, namely more casual summer attire. Each suitcase I'd finish unpacking would be stacked inside a small closet in the room, along with everyone else's luggage.
What annoyed me about the process was that each article of clothing reminded me that I was here to stay.
Three years.
That phrase echoed in my mind with each shirt hung, each pant folded and tucked away.
In the grand scheme of things, three years at a prestigious boarding school in a foreign country should not sound that bad. In fact, many of my friends back home expressed as much to me, joking they'd gladly take my place.
You're going to have a great time over there Danny!
Man, you're so lucky!
There's going to be so many hot babes over there, you'll have a blast!
All their comments, their songs of praise and compliments reverberated inside my head. I knew they were right. I understood that I was given the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance that few in this world are afforded: the chance to immerse myself in another culture, the chance to reinvent myself and my world view.
It was the same chance that my father had been given.
You will do this to better the family, Daniel.
He'd always say that, and nothing else. Despite my many words of protests, my many suggestions otherwise, he'd only give that simplest of acknowledgements.
Sending me halfway across the world is such a -
In the middle of my unpacking, a series of knocks on our room's door ripped me from my thoughts.
"I'll get it!" Tony exclaimed, practically lunging across the room. He was followed closely by Pip and Mav, adhering to the age-old trait of many canines: visitors are great.
Only moving slightly from my sitting position, I peered my head around the corner into our entry hall, watching as the three canines fought briefly over who would open the door. Tony, being the largest of the three, and the first to have reached the door, managed to open it, revealing a large Bengal Tiger and almost equally large Bald Eagle. The Tiger had been preparing to knock again, and quickly pulled the hand around to scratch the back of his head.
"Hi! What can we do for you?" Tony asked, eyes beaming and darting between the two carnivores.
"Sorry to interrupt you all!" The Tiger chuckled heartily. "We're second-year students from the Drama Club. We were told there's a new member in this here dorm."
"And we figured he didn't know we were practicing tonight." The eagle added as he peered into the room. "Is uh… Bill, what was his name?"
"Damnit Aoba, I thought you'd have written it down!" The Tiger exclaimed. "I think it starts with a D"-
"DANNY! YOU GOT VISITORS!" Pip shouted.
The vocal range of the small Fox was enough to cause me to fall over from sheer surprise, much to the enjoyment of my roommates, as a round of snickers echoed through the room.
"That's your man." Mav remarked amidst the snickers.
Raising up a single paw, I offered a half-hearted wave as I sat up. Before heading over to the door, I took a moment to close the open drawers under my bunk and placed my still unpacked duffel bag on top of my bed.
"Hi, I'm Danny." I remarked in Japanese as I walked over to the door, extending my paw to the Tiger, Bill.
Bill glanced down at my outstretched paw, then back to me, and then looked at the paw again.
"What? Is that how you address a second-year, newbie?" He remarked coldly. "And what's with the paw? You want something from me?"
My tail and my ears both drooped as I kept my paw outstretched, my thoughts booming against my skull.
Oh God damnit Danny! Great first impression, completely forgetting proper customs and-
After what seemed to be an eternity filled with tension so thick you could cut it with a knife, Bill let out another hearty laugh. His own paw clasped mine in a tight grip, giving it a firm shake as he also gave me a firm pat on the shoulder.
"I'm just screwing with you, newbie." He smiled as my ears and tail returned to their normal, relaxed position. "No worries about being all formal with me. Stick with Bill!"
"And I suppose the same'll work for me." Aoba replied, chuckling lightly along with Bill.
"Well it's nice to meet the both of you," I began, glancing back into our room for a moment, "but I have a bit more unpacking to get done. Any chance I can just go to tom"-
"No chance, newbie!" Bill cut me off. "The Chief wants you involved right this minute."
Aoba nodded in agreement as I sighed softly.
"Alright, give me a second." I stepped back into our room, kneeling next to where I placed my sets of shoes.
I opted to slip on the school uniform loafers rather than my pair of more casual shoes. After slipping them on and ensuring the laces were secure, I sat back up, turning slightly to look back into the room.
"See you guys later."
"Have fun Danny!" Echoed Chase, Mav, Pip, Ozzi, and Tony, all in varying tones.
The walk to Club Building Three seemed to last forever under the setting sun. Bill, who I have now learned to be an extremely eccentric Tiger, took great pride in talking non-stop. He asked me every question he could: from where I came from to what kind of girls I liked. It truly seemed like this cat had no filter.
Aoba, on the other hand, seemed a complete foil to Bill's antics. He remained quiet for most of the walk from the dorms to the club building. There was a question from him every now and then, but it mostly came whenever Bill stopped to catch his breath. His own questions followed the standard line of dialogue as well, though did stray away from the more personal questions, unlike Bill.
Both, however, seemed to get along well. It was easy to tell they were friends just by looking at the way they spoke and interacted with each other. And it did seem they held a genuine interest in me beyond that required by their position as second year students. I did my best to return their interest with enthusiastic answers, and a few questions of my own.
Our walk provided a good opportunity to learn more about the drama club and its activities. Both Aoba and Bill filled me in on the structure of the club itself, revealing a rather rigid hierarchy not too dissimilar to my own club in junior high. Each of the five main departments were led by one third year student, with the president of the club serving as director for its performances and the general organizer for the club. With me joining the Actor's Pool, I would report directly to Louis for all official matters.
"You may also be shadowing one of the third- or second-year actors as well." Aoba added as the three of us walked down a flight of stairs that led into the club house section of campus.
"Why's that?" I asked, tilting my head to the side slightly.
"It will help you to adjust your own acting style to better fit our audience." Bill replied. "Coming from a foreign country, there's going to be a few nuances you'll have to pick up on if you really want to shine on stage."
"And it will help you ease into how we do things." Aoba said with a smile.
"I… suppose that makes sense." I nodded in agreement, making sure to keep pace with the two upperclassmen as we neared the club house. "I've never actually had to act while speaking your language…"
"What, never?" Aoba asked.
"Never." I replied with a shake of my head. "All our performances were in English."
"So, what made you come to Cherryton, then?" Aoba's tone was laced with curiosity.
Bill nodded in agreement to the question. As we approached building three, the two second-year students were both looking at me, expecting an answer.
"Aha… well… it's sort of a… family thing." I answered nervously, my paw instinctively rubbing the back of my head as I felt their stares driving further into me like a knife. "My uh… great grandfather grew up in this country and… attended this school before moving to Ireland. Family tradition… I suppose."
Aoba and Bill continued staring at me for a moment, before nodding and letting out soft chuckles.
"Make's sense, I suppose." Aoba chuckled as he opened building three's main entrance.
"Your family must be pretty loaded to be able to afford sending you halfway across the world for high school!" Bill remarked in his happy, go-lucky tone.
I followed behind Bill, letting him enter the building first. Aoba brought up the rear, closing the door behind us. The main hall of the building seemed to stretch its entire length, making it the main thoroughfare to get to the other rooms. Both the right and left walls were lined with posters and shelves containing all manner of trophies; it seemed to serve as a living timeline of the clubs' activities, with some of the framed posters and trophies dating back many years. Most of the posters seemed to bear some artistic representation of a singular figure bearing a wide brimmed hat and an imposing mask made up to resemble a skull of a deer or horse-like species. In bold script appeared a single name: Adler.
The more recent series of posters caught my eye, as it seemed for the past few years this Adler character had been played by none other than Louis, the titular Red Deer of the drama club Chase and the others had talked about. No doubt it was Louis' performance as this Adler that had given him so much fame around the school.
"We found the newbie!" Bill exclaimed, stopping abruptly in front of a set of double doors he had swung open on our left side.
His abrupt stop caused me to nearly run into his backside. I managed to just barely stop myself, turning awkwardly towards the now opened door.
"Ah excellent!" An older looking Pelican smiled. "Gather around everyone! We can start the rehearsal now!"
The practice room for the Drama Club erupted into commotion as each member formed a semi-circle around the main entrance. Most everyone had focused their attention on Bill when the door had initially flung open, but I had felt their eyes immediately shift to me as I stood awkwardly in the doorframe. I took the brief respite before introductions were made to glance over the club members, noticing that there was a relatively even spread between herbivore and carnivore students.
Everyone was mostly wearing what appeared to be the school's tracksuit, minus the jacket itself and instead opting for a simple white t-shirt. I seemed to meet the gaze of every member present, with the carnivore students returning my stare and the herbivore students glancing away quickly; quite the common phenomenon in our society. There was one student I did recognize, and we both seemed to stare at each other for an equal amount of time. It was the same wolf I had spoken too in the washroom this morning: Legosi. He had sequestered himself off to the left side of the gathered group, keeping his posture relatively hunched. When our eyes met, we both seemed to offer a slight nod.
"Right then! Sorry for keeping you all waiting," the Pelican began, having positioned himself in the center of the gathered students. "As Bill announced, we have a new member joining us. Daniel – san, why don't you introduce yourself?"
My ears perked up as I stepped out from the doorframe, entering the room fully.
"H-hello clubmates, I'm Daniel O'Conner, though you can just call me Danny." I said with a smile, bowing slightly. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you all during my time here."
A resounding "Hi Danny" echoed from the gathered students, with a mixture of simple "Yo's" or "Hello's" just barely heard.
"As you all can probably tell from his accent, Danny is one of the new foreign students at the school. I am sure you will all do your best to give him a warm welcome and make him feel at home." The Pelican said with a firm nod, looking over the students. "He will be joining the actors pool, though with the roles cast for the Welcome Performance, we'll keep him as a 'floater'… Dom, your department still needs assistance with the costumes, correct?"
A brightly colored and rather tall Peafowl perked up.
"Yes, we do, Sanu – sensei!" He exclaimed happily; his voice was quite high in pitch but oddly soothing. "I'll make good use of you, Danny – san."
I chuckled lightly along with a few others.
"Excellent." Sanu, the Pelican, replied. "Aside from that, Danny will also be shadowing a more senior member of the actors pool. Japanese is not his native language, so observing our rehearsals closely will better help him to adjust his own styles and mannerisms. Would anyone like to volunteer?"
The gathered students remained quiet for a moment, everyone glancing around, waiting to see who would put their paw up. Personally, I half expected either Bill or Aoba to raise their hand, but looking to my right and left, I saw them remain quiet. I cleared my throat softly, casting a sideways, "what gives" glance to Bill. As he responded with a shrug, I noticed a paw go up out of the corner of my eye.
"I'll let Danny shadow me." Stated a timid, yet affirmative voice from an older looking male Alpaca.
Oh no…
"Thank you, Tem!" Sanu smiled. "I couldn't have asked for someone more suited."
"It's no biggy!" Tem, the Alpaca student, laughed, lowering his hand
Why'd it have to be an herbivore…
Fidgeting slightly, I clearing my throat again as I offered a reserved, almost meek smile to Tem. He returned it with a friendly one.
Why…. Why did it have to be an herbivore?!
"Alright, that's our announcements out of the way!" Sanu nodded, lowering the clipboard he had been holding. "We'll take a quick fifteen minutes to setup for Act 3 Scene 1's rehearsal!"
My fur bristled as everyone began to go about their preparations. I turned to my right and left, watching as Bill and Aoba entered the practice room, both giving me a friendly smile.
"I hope I didn't send Bill and Aoba for you at an inopportune time, Danny – san." Sanu smiled as he walked over to me, extending his right wing for a proper greeting.
"Ah… i-it was no problem, Sanu – sensei." I chuckled lightly, taking his wing in paw and giving a firm shake. "I was basically done unpacking when they arrived at my dorm."
"Ohhh, your Japanese is so refined!" He remarked happily. "The last foreign student we had in the club could barely manage more than a few of the basics! We spent more time teaching him the language than we did having him act."
"You're too kind." I smiled, rubbing the back of my head. "My parents made certain I was well prepared to attend Cherryton… though I'm unsure of how I'll do up on the stage when the time comes…"
"I think you'll do great, Danny – san." Tem interjected, having walked over to Sanu and I while we spoke. "You have a very… noble appearance about you."
I've never had a working relationship with an herbivore! I've barely talked to one for longer than a few minutes!
"Well put, Tem." Sanu nodded in agreement. "Danny – san, this is who you'll be shadowing. Tem is one of our top second year actors. I'd dare say he'll be the next Louis!"
"Oh, thank you Sanu – sensei!" Tem chuckled. "That means a lot!"
"It's the truth." Sanu replied, chuckling along with the Alpaca. "I'll leave you two to get to know each other while I go speak with Louis. Why don't you tell him more about the show we will be putting on, Tem?"
What do I do?! I don't want to make him nervous!
"Okay, Sensei!" Tem said with a nod as Sanu headed back into the practice room, walking towards a lone door on the left side of the elevated stage. "Danny – san, have you ever seen a performance of Adler? Do they do shows of it in your country?"
How do I talk to him?! Oh god, don't stutter!
"I-I think they put on a few in Dublin." I stuttered. "I… uh… haven't read into it much…"
Fuck! Do I maintain eye contact with him?!
"Well, no need to worry! It's a pretty simple story." Tem smiled. "Here, follow me. I left my copy of the script near the stage. Reading it will help you understand it better!"
Should I crouch down when talking to him?! Would that be rude since he's smaller than me?! Oh, he's moving! Don't overtake him!
Tem walked across the practice room without a care as I followed behind him while I thought about each step I took, ensuring I was not going to step in front of the Alpaca. His script was sitting on the edge of the room's stage, resting open on a heavily highlighted page. In one fluid motion, Tem picked up the script and handed it to me.
"Sorry for all the highlighting." Tem chuckled, hoisting himself up onto the stage, his feet dangling over the edge as he watched me look it over. "It helps me keep track of my parts, and with my note taking."
"N-no it's fine… my scripts usually look like t-this after some time." I chuckled slightly, keeping my eyes focused on the script, squatting down on the padded floor.
Stop your stuttering! He's going to think you're nervous… wait why am I nervous?!
"So, the main plot of the story follows Adler the Reaper, a grim reaper sent to fetch the soul of a girl, Ellen, destined to die. However, Ellen manages to convince Adler to grant her a death in a place of her choosing, which gets the spirit world all riled up. Spirits of the three main elements, fire, water, and air are tasked to hunt them down to restore the natural order as Adler and Ellen travel to find the perfect place for her to die. In the end, they both perish, though not after learning to appreciate life." Tem explained the plot with a clear understanding. He did not stumble over his words and recalled it as if having written it himself.
"It's a tragedy…" I observed, looking up from the script to Tem, our eyes meeting.
Most herbivores, when meeting eye to eye with someone they don't really know or a carnivore, look away quickly. But not Tem. He held his gaze to mine without fear or hesitation, just a simple smile.
"A very popular one at that." Tem added. "Kind of like… Rameo and Jackalet or MacBark! You must have heard of those plays, seeing as it was written by Snakespeare."
He's not looking away…
I lowered the script as we continued to speak, my nerves calming as we looked each other eye to eye, beast to beast.
"I was actually in a production of MacBark."
I didn't stutter…
"Oh, you were?" Tem asked, leaning forward slightly.
"It was the last play I acted in back home." I nodded. "I played Barquo, MacBark's close friend who he ended up murdering due to the prophecy they both heard."
"Wow, that's a pretty big role! Was there any footage of the performance?"
"Mhmm, though I'll have to find it on my computer… what about you? You're playing this 'Water Spirit Odea' character… what's the role like?" I asked, looking at the script again to get the name right.
I don't feel nervous anymore…
Tem paused a moment, tapping his chin as he considered the question.
"Well, it is a very fun role. Water Spirit Odea is sort of the 'boss' of the three spirits sent after Adler and Ellen. He's the main villain, as he sees Adlers treatment of Ellen to be a great slight against the natural order. It's not really a role you'd expect an Alpaca to get, so I'm trying my best to live up to it."
I don't have a reason to be nervous…
"Sounds like you have the right motivation behind it." I smiled, handing the script back to Tem. "My old chief always stressed that actors should… how's the best way to put this…"
The proper phrasing was not coming to me with the Japanese language, and I resorted to speaking English.
"Find the soul of their performance." I nodded firmly, the change to my native language feeling quite refreshing. "Oh… can you understand me?"
Tem let out a laugh as he nodded.
"Most of us learned to speak English in grade school." He replied, the Japanese accent, while thick, not hindering his pronunciation of the foreign language.
I laughed along with him as I shifted into a more comfortable seated position, my head just barely level with Tem as he continued to let his feet dangle from the edge of the stage.
"That's refreshing to hear… I've been learning your language since I was in grade school, but it still takes a lot of focus for me to speak it constantly. It feels like I've taken my shoes off after a long, hard day's work right now!"
"If it is more comfortable… we can speak English when… together." Tem offered, taking more time to consider his words as he continued to speak English.
"No, no! I don't want to be that much of a burden." I waved my hand dismissively, having cleared my throat before switching back to Japanese.
"Every now and then… then?" Tem asked in English.
I let a small laugh out at his choice of words before giving a firm nod.
"Every now and then."
"Tem – kun!" A female Zebra called from a little way across the room, near a wall lined with mirrors. "I want to do a dry run of our scene before Sanu gets back!"
While both Tem and I had turned to look at the calling student, I noticed she remained fixated on Tem alone. Her eyes strained to only look at Tem, refusing to even notice me looking at her.
"Ah! Of course, Ellen – chan!" Tem replied in Japanese, hoping down from the stage as I sat up from the floor. "You don't mind, do you Danny?"
"No, not at all." I smiled, offering Ellen a small, simple wave.
She continued to avert her gaze, staying focused on Tem as he walked over.
He's not like the other herbivores…
"You'll learn a lot from Tem." A familiar reserved, yet deep voice said from behind me.
Turning on a heel, I came face to face with Legosi, that same strange Grey Wolf who spoke to me in the dormitory washroom.
"Ah… Legosi, right?" I asked, offering a friendly smile to the hunched over carnivore. Though he was only a few inches taller than me, he seemed to have a habit of slouching to speak with those shorter than him.
"Mmhm." He nodded once. "All the other carnivores are busy… so I was wondering if you could help me move that light up into place?"
His long, bony finger pointed over to a brand-new spotlight just a few feet away from us. It was already wired into the lighting fixture above, and simply needed to be hoisted up and secured to the rafter.
"Sure! I'd be happy to help."
Legosi's lips curled into a slight smile before he too turned on a heel, his longer stride carrying him over to a small ladder nestled against the back wall. I followed closely behind him, watching as he climbed the ladder with relative ease before mounting it myself.
"Be careful on the last rung." He called from the rafter. "I fell my first time climbing it…"
Heeding his advice, I made sure my footing was firm before climbing the final bit, pulling my body up onto the narrow catwalk. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dimmer lighting as I swung my legs up onto the walkway.
"Wow, this is a lot higher up than it looked…" I mused, looking over the small, waist height railing and down onto the practice floor.
"It's nice though… you get a good view of everyone working." Legosi replied, checking the cables that were running down to the light we would be pulling up. "I spend most of my time up here during practices…"
"What, all alone? I'd have taken you for one of the actors."
I noticed Legosi's fur bristle slightly. He let out a strained chuckle and rubbed the back of his head.
"No no no, I'm not an actor… I'm way to awkward for that!" He waved one of his paws dismissively, his tone flustered and a bit louder than what I've heard. "I'd probably mess up all my lines anyway. No, I'm in charge of the lighting… let's get this light in place."
Both of us sat up, with Legosi grabbing hold of a large black cable. I followed suit, gripping the cable just behind Legosi.
"Ah… that would explain you installing the lights." I nodded. "How long have you been at Cherryton, then?"
Legosi began to pull back on the cable, causing the light to slowly rise off the padded ground. I mimicked his movements closely, making sure I kept a firm grip as we began to move in tandem.
"Since junior high." He huffed, the light now dangling freely as we pulled it up further. "I'm a second year."
"So that'd make you my… senpai, right?" I grunted.
This light is a lot heavier than I thought…
"You don't have to call me that." Legosi replied, the softest of chuckles slipping out amidst our huffs and puffs. "Just Legosi is fine, Danny – san."
"Well, then don't worry about the formalities with me either… just call me Dan- WOAH"
The light had nearly reached the rafters when a knot in the cabling managed to hook itself around a piece of the lighting fixture. Legosi and I failed to notice until we both continued trying to pull it up, and had the black cable slip out of our combined grasp. In a scramble to catch the light fixture, we both reached over the waist high railing, managing to catch the light at the same time.
"Eh – What're you two doing up there?" A female Cheetah called from below, having heard my shout that drew most everyone's attention up to the rafters.
"S-sorry for the disruption Shiira – senpai!" Legosi called as we both breathed a sigh of relief, our bodies dangling over the railing as we began to pull the light back up.
"Y-yeah, sorry!" I called out, slowly pulling myself back over the railing and turning to look at Legosi. "Hells bells… t-that was close."
Legosi had a firm grip on the light, resting it on the top railing as he took a moment to catch his breath.
"S-sorry… I should have noticed the knot in the cables…"
"We both should have." I chuckled softly. "You… need any more help?"
He shook his head quietly, having begun attaching the light fixture to the railing.
With a single nod, I walked back over to the ladder, sitting myself down on the catwalk before I placed my feet on the rungs.
"Oh… thank you for the help, Danny." Legosi called, looking over to me as I had begun to climb down the ladder.
"Anytime, Legosi." I smiled before continuing the climb down.
Nearing the bottom, I heard a door open over near the stage and turned my head to the source. From the backroom Sanu had entered, a dignified figure emerged, his antlers an unmistakable feature, and his face filled with a stoic resolve.
Louis…
"Let's begin rehearsal."
Apologies for the slow updates. Expect at least a chapter every month! I am very interested in hearing how folks think I am writing the personalities of the main cast, as I've found that's been a hard thing to nail down for some characters (specifically Legosi, as I feel his personality before he met Haru was a lot more introverted than what we saw. It's been a challenge conveying that!)
Enjoy!
