(The next morning)
"I am Sturm Brightblade." Sturm's voice, Ariel could tell, was the kind that could put someone to sleep very easily. "Since none of you know how to fight with a sword, I will begin from the basics."
"But I know how to fight with a sword," a snobbish girl Ariel had noted before said.
"What is your name?" Sturm inquired calmly.
"Valiarana Moonglow," she answered. Ariel grinned - the girl had made the name up. Her real name was Gertrude.
Sturm looked at her with a completely straight face. "Ah, you are . Gertrude."
She turned bright red. "That's not my name!" she insisted.
"Of course," Sturm agreed diplomatically. "My chart must be wrong. I will correct it as soon as possible."
Sturm turned to the rest of the class. "All right then. There will be no grades throughout this semester. You begin with 100 points. Anything you do wrong will be deducted from your total score. Things you are graded on include adaptation, concentration, strength, agility, and" - he glared at Valiarana/Gertrude - "class behavior."
"But some of us aren't naturally strong or flexible," commented a beautiful girl from the back. She was rather vain, Ariel knew.
"Too bad for you," Sturm answered. "Now, I know some of you said you could fight with a sword in the questions you filled out earlier. Those of you who did, you will be fighting me today. That includes . Kurt Brownhead, Jim Daven, Katie Haverfield, Sam Ingot, Diane Knoff, and Ger - I mean, Valiarana Moonglow."
His dragon snorted. Ariel hadn't noticed it before, although now that she saw it, she realized it was hard to miss. The dragon was bright blue in color and flapped around lazily. (The students were in the gym, as the platypi had regretfully surrendered it to the school. IT looked very much like a school gym on Earth, but there were no lines on the floor. It was just wood. There were no basketball hoops, or nets for climbing, or . anything. There was just Sturm and his class, who were seated on the ground. Sturm was standing.)
Valiarana raised her hand. "That's mean," she said sulkily. "We shouldn't fight you. We should fight someone more at our level, an . amateur."
"Are you saying you are an amateur?" Sturm said mildly. (Ariel admired his tactics. He was very good at embarrassing people he didn't like.) "Of course, we have some raw trainees who have never fought before, but I thought you were on a higher level."
The haughty girl fell right into his trap. "I am!" she exclaimed.
"Good," he said. "Now, swords."
His dragon flew out through the door and came back in almost instantly. The blue dragon was using his magic to push a large wooden case on wheels through the doors and up to Sturm. Once it got there, the dragon landed on the floor beside the knight.
"Thank you, Azure," Sturm said. He pulled open the case and showed the students a rack with swords hanging from it of varying sizes. He pulled the smallest and the largest off for the practice. Ariel silently commented on the swords, which were wood and obviously weighted with something - lead, Ariel guessed.
Sturm fought each student and shamed them considerably, defeating them almost instantly. As he knew he could beat them, Sturm seemed to have set a kind of a standard for himself: "kill" the student in fewer than five strokes of a sword.
The class ended as he "killed" Valiarana. Dismissing them, he told them to read the first chapter of the book and take notes - Ariel was used to the assignment. She went to her next class quickly, not wanting to be late for "Why Dragonlance Is Not Just Another Stupid Fantasy Series". When she got there, Ariel was shocked.
Tasslehoff Burrfoot stood at the front of the classroom.
Right next to Ladonna.
Ariel sat in a desk at the front and stared. Tas had a shiny brown dragon, who was buzzing among the students, stealing small objects, and in general creating havoc. Ladonna's was a serene grey, and perched on her shoulder. Dragon and sorceress appraised the students.
The bell rang. (Well, it wasn't like a normal school bell. It didn't exactly ring, it just . belled.)
"Your class starts now," Ladonna said clearly. "That means quiet."
There was instant silence.
"Now," she said, "This is the class you probably call 'Why Dragonlance Is Not Just Another Stupid Fantasy Series.' Tasslehoff Burrfoot and I will explain this to you. Tasslehoff, I believe you wished to start?..."
"Hi, I'm Tasslehoff Burrfoot," Tas said. Ladonna looked at the clock and murmured something to her dragon, who nodded.
"You can call me Tas." Tas grinned and bounced up and down. This was extremely amusing, as he was only about four feet tall. "We're teaching you about Dragonlance. See, we're not just part of a normal fantasy series. One very important reason is, you see, Dragonlance has kender. We're very important, did you know? There was that time when I stole the gem we needed, or when I got killed by Chaos, and I came back . that was fun, wasn't it, Ladonna? Anyway, there are all sorts of cool things in Dragonlance that are not in other things, like . draconians. Except they aren't really cool. They're just . not nice. But there are also cool people, or elves, except they are people. And a lot of stories have elves, but we have special elves. Like Dalamar, who totally freaked me out. He really did want to kill me, Ladonna, remember? But anyway, you don't have towers with evil people in them that sink through cities into the realms of the dead in your normal fantasy series, do you? I didn't think so. But then, you see, it's because."
"Time's up, kender," Ladonna said firmly as her dragon nudged her. Disappointed, Tasslehoff fell silent.
"As Tasslehoff was attempting to explain," Ladonna said, "We will be teaching you about the unique aspects of the Dragonlance saga. This will not be an easy class, so those of you who are not prepared to work very hard should leave right now." Ladonna glared icily at a few people (Ariel was amused to see Valiarana Moonglow among the victims of Ladonna's evil stare).
Ladonna continued, "I would also like to point out that you need to be actually interested in Dragonlance for this class. Those of you who only like Dragonlance because it has fighting, or elves, or magic, should get out of here, because I dislike people with that kind of closed mind immensely." Ladonna pointed at Katie, an ordinary-looking girl who lived next to Ariel and Lily. She was very nice, but also extremely quiet. "Why do you like Dragonlance." Ladonna checked her list of names. ".Katie Anderson?"
Katie turned a little red and mumbled, "I like . fantasy stuff, and they are good books, I guess."
The Black Robe nodded. "That is a perfectly acceptable reason." Ladonna looked at her list. "Hmm, how about.Ariel Nellen. Why do you like Dragonlance?"
Ariel groaned inwardly. Better get it over with, she thought. "I like it because, um, I like the way it's written, and the characters and the plot and stuff."
"Yes, very good, that's right," Ladonna said. "Since assigning things from textbooks seems to be the fashion lately, you can do, let's say three chapters and write an essay on what is in the chapters. Three pages per chapter. Dismissed," she added as the bell tolled.
Ariel picked up her books with a sigh and went to her third, and last, class of the day.
^_^ To answer AngelDragonStar: a Mary Sue is when an author takes a story plot and manipulates it so that the author's favorite character falls in love with the author in the fic. They are very annoying. R&R!!!!
"I am Sturm Brightblade." Sturm's voice, Ariel could tell, was the kind that could put someone to sleep very easily. "Since none of you know how to fight with a sword, I will begin from the basics."
"But I know how to fight with a sword," a snobbish girl Ariel had noted before said.
"What is your name?" Sturm inquired calmly.
"Valiarana Moonglow," she answered. Ariel grinned - the girl had made the name up. Her real name was Gertrude.
Sturm looked at her with a completely straight face. "Ah, you are . Gertrude."
She turned bright red. "That's not my name!" she insisted.
"Of course," Sturm agreed diplomatically. "My chart must be wrong. I will correct it as soon as possible."
Sturm turned to the rest of the class. "All right then. There will be no grades throughout this semester. You begin with 100 points. Anything you do wrong will be deducted from your total score. Things you are graded on include adaptation, concentration, strength, agility, and" - he glared at Valiarana/Gertrude - "class behavior."
"But some of us aren't naturally strong or flexible," commented a beautiful girl from the back. She was rather vain, Ariel knew.
"Too bad for you," Sturm answered. "Now, I know some of you said you could fight with a sword in the questions you filled out earlier. Those of you who did, you will be fighting me today. That includes . Kurt Brownhead, Jim Daven, Katie Haverfield, Sam Ingot, Diane Knoff, and Ger - I mean, Valiarana Moonglow."
His dragon snorted. Ariel hadn't noticed it before, although now that she saw it, she realized it was hard to miss. The dragon was bright blue in color and flapped around lazily. (The students were in the gym, as the platypi had regretfully surrendered it to the school. IT looked very much like a school gym on Earth, but there were no lines on the floor. It was just wood. There were no basketball hoops, or nets for climbing, or . anything. There was just Sturm and his class, who were seated on the ground. Sturm was standing.)
Valiarana raised her hand. "That's mean," she said sulkily. "We shouldn't fight you. We should fight someone more at our level, an . amateur."
"Are you saying you are an amateur?" Sturm said mildly. (Ariel admired his tactics. He was very good at embarrassing people he didn't like.) "Of course, we have some raw trainees who have never fought before, but I thought you were on a higher level."
The haughty girl fell right into his trap. "I am!" she exclaimed.
"Good," he said. "Now, swords."
His dragon flew out through the door and came back in almost instantly. The blue dragon was using his magic to push a large wooden case on wheels through the doors and up to Sturm. Once it got there, the dragon landed on the floor beside the knight.
"Thank you, Azure," Sturm said. He pulled open the case and showed the students a rack with swords hanging from it of varying sizes. He pulled the smallest and the largest off for the practice. Ariel silently commented on the swords, which were wood and obviously weighted with something - lead, Ariel guessed.
Sturm fought each student and shamed them considerably, defeating them almost instantly. As he knew he could beat them, Sturm seemed to have set a kind of a standard for himself: "kill" the student in fewer than five strokes of a sword.
The class ended as he "killed" Valiarana. Dismissing them, he told them to read the first chapter of the book and take notes - Ariel was used to the assignment. She went to her next class quickly, not wanting to be late for "Why Dragonlance Is Not Just Another Stupid Fantasy Series". When she got there, Ariel was shocked.
Tasslehoff Burrfoot stood at the front of the classroom.
Right next to Ladonna.
Ariel sat in a desk at the front and stared. Tas had a shiny brown dragon, who was buzzing among the students, stealing small objects, and in general creating havoc. Ladonna's was a serene grey, and perched on her shoulder. Dragon and sorceress appraised the students.
The bell rang. (Well, it wasn't like a normal school bell. It didn't exactly ring, it just . belled.)
"Your class starts now," Ladonna said clearly. "That means quiet."
There was instant silence.
"Now," she said, "This is the class you probably call 'Why Dragonlance Is Not Just Another Stupid Fantasy Series.' Tasslehoff Burrfoot and I will explain this to you. Tasslehoff, I believe you wished to start?..."
"Hi, I'm Tasslehoff Burrfoot," Tas said. Ladonna looked at the clock and murmured something to her dragon, who nodded.
"You can call me Tas." Tas grinned and bounced up and down. This was extremely amusing, as he was only about four feet tall. "We're teaching you about Dragonlance. See, we're not just part of a normal fantasy series. One very important reason is, you see, Dragonlance has kender. We're very important, did you know? There was that time when I stole the gem we needed, or when I got killed by Chaos, and I came back . that was fun, wasn't it, Ladonna? Anyway, there are all sorts of cool things in Dragonlance that are not in other things, like . draconians. Except they aren't really cool. They're just . not nice. But there are also cool people, or elves, except they are people. And a lot of stories have elves, but we have special elves. Like Dalamar, who totally freaked me out. He really did want to kill me, Ladonna, remember? But anyway, you don't have towers with evil people in them that sink through cities into the realms of the dead in your normal fantasy series, do you? I didn't think so. But then, you see, it's because."
"Time's up, kender," Ladonna said firmly as her dragon nudged her. Disappointed, Tasslehoff fell silent.
"As Tasslehoff was attempting to explain," Ladonna said, "We will be teaching you about the unique aspects of the Dragonlance saga. This will not be an easy class, so those of you who are not prepared to work very hard should leave right now." Ladonna glared icily at a few people (Ariel was amused to see Valiarana Moonglow among the victims of Ladonna's evil stare).
Ladonna continued, "I would also like to point out that you need to be actually interested in Dragonlance for this class. Those of you who only like Dragonlance because it has fighting, or elves, or magic, should get out of here, because I dislike people with that kind of closed mind immensely." Ladonna pointed at Katie, an ordinary-looking girl who lived next to Ariel and Lily. She was very nice, but also extremely quiet. "Why do you like Dragonlance." Ladonna checked her list of names. ".Katie Anderson?"
Katie turned a little red and mumbled, "I like . fantasy stuff, and they are good books, I guess."
The Black Robe nodded. "That is a perfectly acceptable reason." Ladonna looked at her list. "Hmm, how about.Ariel Nellen. Why do you like Dragonlance?"
Ariel groaned inwardly. Better get it over with, she thought. "I like it because, um, I like the way it's written, and the characters and the plot and stuff."
"Yes, very good, that's right," Ladonna said. "Since assigning things from textbooks seems to be the fashion lately, you can do, let's say three chapters and write an essay on what is in the chapters. Three pages per chapter. Dismissed," she added as the bell tolled.
Ariel picked up her books with a sigh and went to her third, and last, class of the day.
^_^ To answer AngelDragonStar: a Mary Sue is when an author takes a story plot and manipulates it so that the author's favorite character falls in love with the author in the fic. They are very annoying. R&R!!!!