Disclaimer: Oh NOES! I don't own Dragon Knights:gasp: Nor do I own Pop Tarts or the song "I Hate Everything About You" by Three Days Grace/Evanescence.
Warnings: Minor swearing, teenagers.
:n:
Rune was awake before his alarm went off, before anyone came to pound on his door, and before anyone else in his too-quiet house had ventured out of their rooms.
Apart from him, that was.
He was in the bathroom, hair still wet and dripping from the shower, small puddles of water forming beneath his form as he leaned on the counter, looking dazedly at his reflection.
A dream had woken him an hour before he needed to be awake, and he had known that he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep.
And yet he was torn between what to do.
It hadn't been, as Rune knew his friends would tease him of having, a sexual dream. Nor had it been prophetic.
Merely a blurred memory, one that he had nearly forgotten about. Well, not entirely. While he didn't remember the surrounding events clearly, the clip itself was clear as his own reflection looking back at him.
And even now as he closed his eyes, white flowers with a tinge of violet wavered behind his vision, high childish laughter echoing in the distance.
Blue eyes faintly glazed over, Rune was lost in thought, running over what to wear, what to do... What to say.
Today was the day, Rune vowed to himself, he was going to force himself to act. He wasn't going to pussyfoot around this any longer. It was tearing at him, had been tearing at him for quite some time now. For longer than he cared to remember, it had been what he had wanted most...
And what he was now somehow nervous about acting towards.
Today was the day...
:n:
Thats rolled over, lazily turning off the insistent beeping of his alarm.
If one did not have a first period class and one was able to get to school later, 6:00 in the morning was far too early for one to be awake.
On the other hand... What day was it? The nagging thought penetrated the sleepy haze surrounding his mind.
It was...
Monday? No. Thankfully.
...Thursday? No...
The answer suddenly registered in his mind with stunning clarity.
Friday!
...Which meant that they had exactly one week and a day before the audition.
The shock of that realization caused Thats to sit straight up in his unmade bed, hair sticking out at an odd angle and green eyes wide.
Shit...
He sighed, getting up and snatching up the sheet of notebook paper from next to his school bag. He glanced at the rough music notes scribbled down and rewritten several times on it, then yanked on a shirt, casting around the room for a pair of pants.
This was so annoying, he reflected as he tugged on a fresh pair over his boxers, He had wanted to sleep in... Not that he would have had an easy time with that.
Thats rolled his eyes as a thunk on the hallway outside his room alerted him to his younger brother tripping over his backpack and slamming into the wall.
"Oy, Ringleys!" Thats shouted through the still-closed door, "You okay?"
There was a muffled yes, and the older boy turned his attention back to the task at hand.
The music was simple enough. And if, as Rune had already decided, this was to be his solo, he wouldn't need to worry about writing out parts for the other two. At most, Thats could just get them something simple and barely noticeable... He really wasn't too sure what exactly his friend had meant by "solo".
"Maybe I should actually read the flyer," he muttered to himself, absentmindedly trying to flatten down the hair on the back of his head.
The attempt was futile, and Thats soon gave it up. He had plenty of time before he had to be at school, and he could smell the lovely and appetizing scent of toasted Pop Tart...
His stomach growled plaintively, and he exited the room, deciding he would dedicate one morning before he left for college to teaching Ringleys how to cook a decent breakfast.
:n:
Metal locker door slamming behind him, Rath kicked on his beat up sneakers and tore out of the lockeroom. It wasn't so much that he was worried about being late, as that he actually enjoyed the physical activity.
It was something to do without having to think.
You could lose yourself in it.
Quickly exiting into the startlingly bright early morning sunlight, he blinked two or three times in quick succession.
7:25 in the morning; six hours to pen down a rough draft for a song, complete with lyrics and a basic melody.
Rune had been the one to come up with the plan. They were each to have a solo ready to hand over to him by the time they had their last class of the day together. He would then glance over them, making sure the words more-or-less flowed, then hand his and Rath's drafts to Thats just as a basic copyright check.
Rath winced, slowing to a jog.
That had been a huge setback.
Fortunately, they had been able to get some work done. They now had music for two separate songs written down and run through a couple times. Both were, however, lacking words and were far from finished.
A bird flew overhead, casting a small shadow over the dark-haired boy.
He glanced up at it, carefully clearing his mind.
"Some pray for an angel...'
Rath blinked, slightly started at himself.
Where had that come from?
He shook his head.
No matter. He'd been waiting for a line like that to come to him. Pausing in his now-languid jog out to the school track, he pulled a pen from the pocket of his P.E. shorts, scrawling the words down on his upper arm.
Rath stared at it for a moment: at the thin jagged black lines crisscrossing his fair skin. Then he allowed the corners of his mouth to tug up into a wane smile.
You could lose yourself in it.
:n:
Rune sat on the edge of his seat, irritation and tension flowing through him. He was hearing his teacher's voice as a mere mumbling drone in the background instead of the sharply clear note it usually was.
He shifted again, unable to remain still for long.
Holding a pencil tightly in his right hand, he stared down at the blank sheet of folder paper that had been taunting him for the past half-hour, since his arrival at school at seven that morning.
Unable to stand it any longer, he quickly wrote down his name and the date in the upper right hand corner, but found that didn't make it much better.
Now the paper expected to be used, and soon.
He shook his head at that delusional thought.
Maybe if he just made a list of what he wanted...
Rune squashed that idea impatiently.
He knew what he wanted. He wanted something that he could pass off as song lyrics. The melody would come so much faster if he could just scribble down a basic set of lyrics first, and he knew it.
But why, oh why, couldn't he do that?
Mentally hitting himself upside the head, Rune sighed, unaware that the girl seated behind him took any notice of the fact.
Maybe... Maybe if he just started writing... Something, anything...
Apprehensively he touched the tip of his pencil to the paper again, slowly beginning to write.
:n:
"Some pray for an angel, but I..." Rath trailed off, musing to himself as his legs carried him briskly around the school track.
"I pray for a demon."
This wasn't too bad, he thought to himself.
That was one line down, and the morning was just getting started.
The barest inkling of a melody was starting to come to him as well: just a vague rhythm at the moment, but after some serious thought into it...
It looked as though he might actually be able to finish this by the end of the school day.
This was a good thing. A very, very good thing.
The three of them still needed to practice... And now that Rath thought about it, he wasn't sure what they would sound like together. While he was confident that they would be able to blend the instruments together smoothly enough, he realized that he never had ever heard either of the other two sing.
Rath sweatdropped, praying that Rune and Thats could carry a tune.
Well, they should be able to. He couldn't remember hearing that either were tone deaf.
Rounding the curve at one end of the track, Rath let his thoughts die away into the soft pounding crunch of fine gravel under his worn-down sneakers.
He couldn't bear to hope, but it seemed as though they might have a chance: he hoped they did. He wanted it... Wanted the opportunity to do something, to be someone... If only for a moment.
At the same time, however...
Rath kicked a stray rock across the track, sending it bouncing onto the freshly watered grass of the football field it surrounded.
He didn't want to place what he knew was false hope in this dream. It was just a dream, after all... Nothing realistic, and nothing was likely to come of it.
But, a small voice in the back of his mind feebly piped up as Rath quickened his already considerable pace, That didn't mean it was impossible.
He ground suddenly to a halt, a small cloud of dust swirling around his legs and feet.
Rath looked around, noticing that he was the first to be finished. A small smirk twitched at his mouth.
"And now just the melody."
:n:
English was written flowingly down the lines of the paper, and a short struggle with what appeared to be... Spanish? was now ensuing.
What was it?
Rune scowled, annoyed.
There was a phrase that had been tugging belatedly at the sides of his conscious all week long, one that he had once overheard while listening to Thats tardily cram for a Spanish test.
For some reason it had stuck with him, and, while he wasn't too sure of the exact meaning, he had a feeling he would be able to weave it into the song that was lurking in the murky depths of his mind.
Rune barely noticed as the chair behind him squeaked across the floor, its occupant rising and slipping out of the room. If he had paid more attention, Rune might have been almost surprised to note that Lim hadn't bothered to push against his seat or step on his bag.
But not really.
She wasn't supposed to be leaving the classroom, and sneaking out(albeit momentarily) is better done if you don't raise havoc.
:n:
Sabel was waiting outside.
"What are you doing here?" Lim Kaana asked, her high voice almost harsh, "Isn't this one of the few periods you have class?"
"Chorale ended early," he said, obviously smug. "So I thought I'd stop by here and drop this off for you," Sabel continued, holding out a slightly blurry picture, covered by a sheet of paper, "Unless, of course, you no longer want them."
"Don't be stupid."
She snatched them from him, turning slightly red.
"And don't think I want to do this, either. We both know that the pay's the only reason either of us are helping."
Sabel nodded, suddenly serious.
"I know."
He regained some of his annoyingly chipper bounce a moment later, however, and spoke up once again.
"By the way, there's rehearsal tonight from ten thirty on," Sabel informed the smaller girl, "He says for all of us to be there. That includes you, Lim," he continued with a smirk at the soft widening of her hazel eyes.
"What's the matter? Past your bedtime?"
She glared at him, turning her face slightly away and giving him a look that clearly said he wasn't worth her time, regardless of the fact that it was currently being stolen from her class.
"Don't be stupid. I'll be there for sure. And don't call me 'Lim'," she added in, her voice dropping slightly and eyes narrowing further, "The name's 'Lim Kaana', not some stupid shortened version."
"Peh," Sabel rolled his eyes, "I don't see why it matters."
"You wouldn't," she muttered.
"No, I suppose not," he said airily, growing obviously bored with the conversation. "Well, I have places to go, people to bother. My work here is done, now that I've delivered that, and there are little girls who should be sitting in class."
Sabel turned to leave, then stopped, speaking over his shoulder.
"I'll see you tonight, Lim Kaana. You'd better remember."
:n:
"Hey."
Rune jumped, his shirt half on as he turned around.
Rath was leaning casually on the row of P.E. lockers directly opposite from his friend, an almost amused expression on his face at Rune's startled reaction.
"...What do you want?" Rune asked, turning away again in a show of modesty as he pulled his shirt on the rest of the way and began storing his normal clothes in the locker.
"Can you sing?"
"What?" He glanced over his shoulder at Rath. "Of course I can. Why else would I be singing in the band?"
"Just checking," Rath shrugged, inwardly relieved. "What about Thats?"
Rune shrugged as well, closing and securing his locker, and stood.
"I assumed so. Why?"
"What do you mean?" Rath asked, "I wanted to make sure. I never heard either of you."
"Oh."
As Rath started to head for his own locker, needing to get changed himself so he could go to his next class, Rune stopped him.
"Wait! I need to talk to Thats, too. Do you know where he is?"
The black haired boy paused, thinking for a moment.
"No clue. We have class with him at 2:30. You could talk to him then."
Rune shifted, uncomfortable with waiting that long, especially as he had insisted that the others be finished with their rough drafts by then.
"I'd rather speak with him earlier."
"Find him during assembly, then," Rath suggested, glancing at the clock on the wall above a list of sports-related announcements and minor graffiti.
"I have to go. I'm already late, and the Japanese teacher's a bitch."
"W-wait!" Rune called back an impatient Rath, stumbling slightly under his annoyed glare. "One more thing. For the redone song? I wanted to know if you had any ideas. Since you were the one who wanted to do this in the first place..."
Rath sighed, turning around for his locker once more.
"I'll think about it."
:n:
Pyore looked up from her homework, staring at the clock on the wall with brown eyes dulled from boredom.
She was the youngest student in this class, all the others being either juniors or slacking seniors. While they were nice, and while she never exactly felt left out, she would prefer if some of her friends were taking it with her.
She gave a soft sigh, her head reeling from processing so many numbers.
Maybe she should take a break to get a drink... She might run into one of her friends...
Pyore shook her head, giving a determined glare to the writing before her.
No. She would not skip class for no good reason.
A soft blush crept to her cheeks, and left her flustered.
She shook her head.
This was so weird...
:n:
Rath was seated on the dirty ground, black-clad legs crossed.
If one looked closely, they could see the large anime-style sweatdrop that still hovered above his head.
The door a couple down from where he was dropped was his Japanese class... Or it normally was.
"I've got to remember when I have breaks," he muttered to himself, still faintly embarrassed from having walked in to an honors course, mistaking it for his own.
But this was a nice turn of luck.
He finished copying down the writing on his arm to the sheet of folder paper he had ripped out of a binder and placed it on the ground in front of him.
Cupping his chin momentarily in his hand, Rath slowly began to write down another line, continuing the vague train of thought.
He paused, looked at it consideringly, then added a third(or was it fourth?) sentence.
Drumming his fingers on the hard ground to try and recapture the beat he had originally envisioned going along with it, Rath closed his eyes in concentration.
...It was slowly beginning to form.
:n:
A young boy, fourteen at most and small for his age was sitting on the edge of the short rock wall that wound its way about the academy library. A silver Gameboy was in his hands, and they jerked from side to side slightly as he attempted to gain mastery at the new game.
Short green-tipped hair blew in the light breeze, ruffling over his backpack and the thick textbook next to it.
"Hey, Ringleys!"
He looked up, startled and wincing as a computerized scream from the video game signaled the death of his character.
"Oh... Hi," he responded, a little confused.
There was an older girl standing in front of him, grinning broadly and obviously pleased with herself for remembering him.
"You know who I am, right? I was behind you in detention," she continued without any apparent shame.
Ringleys nodded, immediately recalling her name.
"Yeah... You're Kitchel. You're friends with my friend's sister," he said, not quite liking the awkward flow to that statement.
"Cesia, yeah!" Kitchel laughed.
Ringleys suddenly remembered that there had been a message he had been supposed to pass on... Although he still was unable to recall what.
He brushed that aside as she continued speaking.
"You on break? I'm not... I got another minute before I need to get to class, though."
The freshman had nodded at her first question, then asked, "Where're you going?"
"Trig," she made a teasingly disgusted face.
"Really?" Ringleys' large eyes lit up, "I have a friend in there... Are you in regular? Or honors?"
"Regular," Kitchel stole a glance at the Trigonometry Honors book on the ground, "That must be theirs. Who's is it?"
"I don't think you know her..." Ringleys flipped his game off, "Her name's Pyore."
Kitchel's jaw metaphorically dropped in amazement as her eyes widened.
"What! I do know her; she's a sophomore now, right? She came to one of the performances we put on last year. How'd she get into that class?"
She shook her head, still shocked, but a hint of a smile on her face.
"Man. Some people."
:n:
Thats ignored the soothing drone of the teacher in the background. He could catch up on this class later, borrow some notes, or something.
But this he needed to finish.
He had nearly a full page written, although most of that was crossed off.
That morning, while hastily eating breakfast, his mistake had been pointed out to him. Not by his younger brother who had had to sprint to catch up with the leaving school bus, but by his father.
The aging man, white haired, but still tall and clear-eyed, had inquired to what he was working on.
Thats had always found him strangely easy to talk to, even more so when he needed advice.
The help invariably tended to be good, as well. Working as a bartender seemed to have made him into a jack-of-all-trades, and he knew everything.
After being shown the sheet of rough music, he had pointed out that Thats wouldn't be able to write traditional lyrics to it, as the beat and rhythm jumped around so much. Not that this was bad, he had continued, but definitely unusual, and would force the words to change midstream as well.
Thats had been delighted to realize that he would be able to justify sticking in a stream of nonsense... Only to find himself now sitting in class and struggling to keep it from turning into a pile of nonsensical garble.
It had the potential to sound amazing, as he already knew, but if the words were wrong... Instead of sounding whimsical, it would simply turn out stupid.
He muttered under his breath, scratching off another line and substituting an alternative.
While none of this had been his idea, it was Rath's dream, his current fueling inspiration, and Thats didn't want to be the one to screw it up.
:n:
It was several classes and a break for lunch later when Rune ran across Thats.
Literally ran across, as both of them were in the midst of scurrying off to class.
"Wait, Thats!" The blonde boy called, realizing belatedly that his friend had just hurried by him. "I need to ask you something!"
Thats stopped impatiently waiting and taking the opportunity to shove the folder he was holding in his arms into his bag.
"Is this about the music? I thought you said we needed to be done by the end of the day!"
"No... Yes... Wait," Rune panted lightly, catching his breath from pushing hurriedly through the crowded hallway. "It is about the music, but not your song. I need help, Thats."
The tanned junior shot his friend a startled look, seemingly unaware that Rune would ever need his help with this sort of thing.
"Mine? Why?"
Rune grinned embarrassedly, a light blush creeping up his face.
"When you were cramming for your last Spanish test, there was one phrase you reviewed... I really liked it, but I can't remember what it was exactly. I was hoping you would know..."
"Wait," Thats shook his head in disbelief, "You expect me to remember that? That was a month ago, Rune! I'm sure I still know the line, but I don't know what it was off hand. Hell," he continued, "I don't even remember you being there when I was studying. Besides, I've got to get ta class. What about I bring my textbook back to rehearsal? You can look it up then."
Rune nodded grudgingly.
Of course the other wouldn't have remembered the exact line, especially when he had nothing to go off of, just a vague note that it was somewhere in his textbook.
Guilt edged into his thoughts, and Rune admitted, "That will be fine, Thats. It's just that... I wanted to build around it for my solo. I... I'm sorry, but if I don't have it..."
"Then you'll write a group number," Thats cut him off impatiently, noting the quick emptying of the hall, "We're late for class."
Rune's face lit up as he realized that there was something productive he could do instead, then a look of horror hit him as he realized that his friend was right, and he was supposed to be in his classroom two buildings over about a minute ago.
"Great," Rune moaned, and sprinted off.
He didn't want to be late.
More so than usual, he didn't want to be late.
As Rune slid into his classroom, right before the teacher closed the door on the trickle of students, that thought was ringing in his mind.
He smoothed down his shirt, wiping beads of sweat off his forehead, and took a seat next to an old friend in the very front of the class.
:n:
"'I Hate Everything About You.'"
Rune stared at Rath, trying to remember what they had last been talking about that could make him say something like that to him.
"Well, that's polite," Thats remarked, dropping into a seat behind the other two for their last class of the day.
Rath scowled, dark eyes glaring at his friends behind his black bangs.
"It's a song. Rune asked me to think of one that we should play."
"Oh," the blonde junior relaxed, their conversation clicking into place, "Right. You want to use that one?"
Rath nodded, and Thats added in, "Not bad. It's not too hard, though it'll still be a challenge."
He paused, then glanced at his friend, "You're singing."
Rath was about to agree, then suddenly switched gears.
"Hey, can you even carry a tune?"
Thats looked faintly insulted.
"What? Of course I can. I'd just rather not have to bother learning the vocals," he defended himself, "Besides, the song was your choice, so you should get the glory of the lead."
"And the fans," Rune added in in a random teasing note.
"Oh!" Rune spoke up again, "I'm sorry, Rath, Thats. I haven't finished yet," he turned bright red as the other two sent him highly annoyed stares, "But I'm close! I'll look over yours' here, then finish mine on the bus."
"You're not giving us a ride?" Rath asked curiously.
He shook his head.
"I wanted to talk to someone on the bus."
Thats and Rath glanced at each other, then at their friend, obviously struggling to prevent himself from flushing brighter.
"Wait--" Rath was cut off as their teacher entered the room, and instead quickly handed Rune his crumpled sheet of paper, watching Thats do the same.
Whatever it was, he consoled himself, He would be able to find out in an hour.
Besides... Rath glanced at Rune, now a furious red and sending a deadly glare to where their third friend was sitting innocently and scratching out what looked suspiciously like a heart around two names on the paper Thats had handed him. ...He had a feeling that all three of them knew what was going to happen.
:n:
"You going to ask her out?"
"What are you talking about, Thats?" Rune responded calmly, using all of his energy to avoid actually thinking about that question and turning a light shade of pink.
He handed back the rough drafts of the song lyrics to his two friends, passing Rath his own hurriedly finished piece as well.
"Can you both look over that for me?It's a group piece for us."
Rath nodded, then hoisted up his backpack, skimming the paper given to him.
As the three passed out of the classroom, Rune suddenly stopped in his tracks, spinning around.
"Hold on. I left my pencil case on the desk."
Snatching it up, he was about to walk back to his friends waiting somewhat impatiently in the crowded hallway when he overheard a snatch of female conversation.
"Come on, Tintlett," a voice laughed, "I bet Cesia's already waiting for us. If we don't run over there, she'll probably leave without us!"
Tintlett giggled as well, continuing the lightheartedly teasing conversation.
"Of course she will! Remember last summer when we came late and she threatened to leave us at the theater?"
"Yeah," Kitchel finished gathering up her school supplies, spotting their classmate behind them. "Oh, hey, Rune."
Rune paused, one foot about to lift off the ground in another step.
Forcing himself to remain calm, he offered a brief response, then sent an innocently questioning glance at the two girls.
"You're not catching the bus today?"
He watched as Tintlett shook her head, golden tresses bouncing.
"Nope," her friend spoke up, "Ces' is giving us a ride to her place. We're gonna party in honor of our finished science project!"
As great as the disappointment and shock he felt was, Rune was ashamed when a small part of him spoke up in great sincere relief.
He could do this later...
It wasn't his fault... He thought furiously to himself as he left the room.
He'd just have to find another time to speak to her.
:n:
A/N: And school starts up again. Today, actually, is my second day of 10th grade. Wh00t, no longer a little freshman! n-n
:n:
FireyFlames: n-n Thanks:roasts marshmallow over name:
Kat:meeps and ducks glare: No. I'm not. I'm still gonna use it. :shifty eyes: Because that dude sounds eerily like Rath, we have agreed, and it is "T3H C0R3!1!" RxC song. n-n; ...Damn, I shouldn't have put it like that. Now there are horny annoyed people muttering at me about the use of 1337 in a non-"T3H S3X!1!" way. XD
Peophin-chan: Really? No, I don't think you did... That seems to happen a lot, though. :ponders: Like weed, this is a gateway drug... Fic... Whatever...
Hououza:sweatdrop: Uh... Here. :pulls out Tintlett: Ask her for yourself. n-n; (Tintlett:confused:) Thanks for the luck/wishes, as always!
RandomRathFan: Oh, of course they will. Not much of a plot if they don't. ...Mind, how well they actually do is another story entirely... :insane laugh:
Ojosnegro: I REMEMBER HOW TO CONJUGATE SPANISH VERBS:highly pleased: And... Um... Yeah! Go you! Now just to read the others!
Ellabel:accepts ice cream readily: SO hot over here... X.x Well, not that I want something else bad to be happening to you, but I hope this update came at a good time?
Yume-chan29: Hmmm... Well, it's looking better for them and their finishing? And it's her hobby. XD I mean, rather hard to use wind magic in this AU... ...And Kuon Sheena... Umm...
Cairnsy: Of course there's nothing wrong with fangirlism... So long as you don't start angrily going off on rampages when your character dies. :glances at 12 and edges away nervously: ...Mind, I wouldn't blame you. XD
Sage: Gah... I don't like cherries, so I've switched it out for a strawberry, okay? n.n Updated!
Reki-kun: ...Four am? ...Wow... I didn't realize someone would want to stay up reading this... ...Did you know that the stupid pigeons wake up and start cooing at five thirty? Gah... -.-;
:n:
Dance... For the reviews love you.
