"Yes?" a tired
voice said.
"Open up, it's
me."
"Oh." There was
scuffle and a ruffled looking man opened the door.
"What is it?" he
said a bit irritably.
"I have a new
student," the woman announced. "Honestly, Joe, will you ever clean up?" Joe
just ushered them in. He was tall, with blue hair. A pair of simple spectacles
was before his calm brown eyes. The room was slightly cluttered, but cozy.
Bookshelves lined the walls, along with a desk and some chairs. "You were
saying new student?" Joe said.
"Yes, he needs
outfitting," Sora said quietly. "Davis, this is Joe. Joe, meet Davis." Joe
shook Davis's hand amiably. He went into a small closet in the corner and
returned with a pile of garments. He shook one of them out. It was a simple
tunic, with loose breeches, colored a simple light beige. He held it to Davis,
muttering.
"Good enough," he
said and handed Davis a few pairs. He eyed Davis with a stern look, "You rip
them, you fix them. Don't come crying to me." He then went back into the
closet. He came back with a simple leather bag. "Everything else is in here,"
he said. "I see that you are outfitted with everything else." "That reminds
me," Sora said, turning to Davis. "Hand over your belongings. Empty your
pockets. I want to inspect your things."
Davis reluctantly
handed over his knapsack and the few things in his pockets. Sora's eyes skipped
over his few coins and spare clothes. But her eyes widened slightly when she
saw his dagger.
"Where did you get
this?" she breathed quietly.
Davis shrugged. "I
don't know exactly. I think it belonged to my father," he looked off into the
distance. "My parents died when I was young, I can't really remember them. But
I found this in a box addressed to me where we used to live."
His voice began to
shake ever so slightly and a tear threatened to spill out. Joe looked
concerned. Sora gently held him in a soft embrace.
"It's okay," she
whispered. He raised his head and quietly thanked Sora.
"What's so special
about it anyway?" he asked.
"Well," then Sora
bit her lip. "This blade is special, somehow." She stopped and went over to a
shelf. She picked out a book and flipped through. She then showed the page to
him. On it was a detailed picture of a sword. It looked almost exactly like his
dagger, only longer and less worn. Davis looked at his dagger, examining it. He
had memorized every worn, scarred inch of it. It was long for a dagger, more
like a very short sword. The bottom was simple; a scratched gold cross guard to
protect the hands and a worn leather-wrapped hilt. But the cross guard had a
faint design on it; too worn to make out completely. The blade was finely
covered in bright silver. Although slightly scratched, it showed the work of a
master sword maker. But, nearly invisible at a first glance, one side had a faint
white streak and the other had a very thin black streak.
"This is a
legendary blade," Sora said solemnly. "A master sword mage created this one. He
put on layers of spells on it. That's what eventually killed him though. But
the sword, in the right hands, could be truly powerful."
Davis showed her
the strange marks on the edges. "What are those for?" he asked nervously.
"According to legend," Sora started. "The sword had two sides, a dark side and
a light side. The dark side could cut into the soul and the light side could
heal any wounds. (A/N: if you read the Young Merlin series by T.A. Barron, you
will know this describes Deepercut) But they say that he created a dagger with
the same magic as the sword; a brother in a way. Both weapons disappeared after
the creator died. But it is wondrous to see it. Have you noticed it seemed
strange?"
Davis thought
hard. "Yes, whenever I touched it, I would sometimes feel a spark coming from
it. And whenever I looked at other weapons, they would seem hard and empty
compared to my dagger."
Sora gave a look.
"May I keep this for a while?" she asked. "I want to do a few tests on it."
Davis wasn't so
sure. He had never really been separated from the weapon but he decided it wouldn't
hurt. He carefully handed it over.
Sora gave him a
smile. "Don't worry, you'll have this back in no time." She then gave Joe a
look that said Will-you-take-the-boy-to-the-dorms? He nodded.
"Come on," he
said, beckoning. Davis got up and grabbed his things. As he went out, he saw a
flash of red fire before the door closed.
"I have to warn
you," Joe said with a smile. "Sora and Yamato are tough teachers. But you can
stop by if you want to talk."
Davis just nodded.
They soon came to a door and Joe opened it. Inside were two beds, a table, some
chairs, a wardrobe, and a few lamps. A small fireplace, crackling with a small
but warm fire, was on the side.
"You'll be sharing
with Takeru," Joe told him. "He's Yamato's brother. He'll be back soon. I'll
get him." Joe shut the door and hurried off. Davis sighed and put down his
things. He laid down on one of the beds and stared up at the ceiling. Maybe
being a hero would be harder than he thought.
"Hi," a cheerful
voice said. Davis looked around and saw a boy in the doorway. He was tall, but
shorter than Davis, and had blond hair and bright blue eyes. He obviously was
related to Yamato. Davis got up and went over to meet him.
Joe appeared.
"Takeru, this is your new roommate Davis. Davis, meet Takeru."
"Nice to meet
you," Davis said, smiling.
"I'll leave you
two alone for now. Takeru, help Davis out all right? He could use some help
learning about here." Joe said.
"No problem,"
Takeru said. Joe smiled and shut the door.
"How's it like
being related to Yamato?" Davis asked curiously.
Takeru grimaced
slightly. "It's alright, but everyone expects you to be good at everything,
like he is. But he is a good older brother. He helps me out here and there. I
just started training, but that doesn't stop him from beating me constantly in
fencing!"
