Challenge accepted
The first quartier tests came upon the newest cadets faster than they could say "Sky Knight". Three months had passed since they arrived. Aerrow's private lessons with Sensei had ended within a few sessions and his fighting was skyrocketing as quickly as his other skills now. To his surprise, he was starting to enjoy life at the Academy. It was tough, and every day was an uphill battle against mental and physical exhaustion, but the challenge itself gave Aerrow strength and he felt he was now "living up to his potential", as Sensei put it.
The tests were a whole new kind of challenging. Building on the entry examinations, the cadet had to pass all five to continue their training in the Academy. Two were written papers. One verbal debate. One practical skimmer test. And one fight.
Aerrow grit his teeth and scraped his way through the written papers on "Terra Bogaton and its treacherous terrain", but felt he made up some points during the debate of battle plans for reclaiming an enemy military post. He gave some unorthodox tactics, but most of the seven judges seemed to approve of his positive end results.
The fight was tricky. It was against a second year cadet who was clearly expected to win, while allowing the first year time to demonstrate the moves they had developed. And the guy did win the first bout. But not the second, or the third. As Aerrow took him to the ground and stood with his foot on his chest, breathing hard, he looked up at the judges faces. Some were surprised, some were scribbling hastily on their reports, but Commander Marcus grinned widely at Aerrow.
Aerrow knew he had aced the skimmer test. Even the battle element.
When Major Tom announced that the results would be posted on a notice board within the hour, the barracks became distinctly quieter and the atmosphere heavy. Aerrow couldn't help but worry that he hadn't done enough to stay in the Academy. Yes he had a rocky start, but he had pushed himself to his limits in order to improve. He studied night and day, and even spent some of his leisure time training. Damian had laughed at him when he found Aerrow running extra laps one night, but Aerrow now wondered if he could have done more.
After half an hour of waiting, Kipp jumped up with nervous energy and said he was going to run the obstacle course. Aerrow hurried to join him, desperate to be doing something, and Damian followed grumpily saying he would watch.
Kipp and Aerrow raced through the course, trying to focus on anything other than the impending results. On their third run through they both made silly mistakes and ended up headfirst in the river. Harvest time was creeping in, but the summer sun still kept the river at a warm temperature. Laughing, the boys wrestled in the water for a while, splashing Damian when he told them to grow up.
Being outside meant they were the first to see an orderly hang a piece of parchment outside their own barrack. Exchanging looks, the three of them hurried over as the other cadets came out and crowded around the notice.
"Oh thank Atmos." Damian breathed a sigh of relief as he read something on the notice. Aerrow, being shorter than everyone in the group, tried to squeeze his way through to see what it said. He didn't get far through the burly bodies, but he did catch a glimpse of the top line.
12 passes, 0 failures, congratulations.
His breath came out in a rush as Aerrow also relaxed. He had passed, they all had!
"These exams are never going to get less stressful, are they?" Jael stood somewhere to Aerrow's right, and multiple people murmured in agreement.
"What are we all looking at now then?" Aerrow asked.
"Scoreboard. See where you rank." Kipp replied.
Aerrow's nerves returned slightly. It didn't matter where he ranked in the group, he had still passed. But the competitiveness of this lifestyle was wearing off on him. If I'm not last, that'll be enough, Aerrow thought to himself.
There were cries of delight and moans of annoyance as the cadets read their respective scores for each test. Ryder high fived Cole who was looking smug, but Batesson had a scowl on his face as he stomped back into the barracks. Corinna punched the air with a fist and left smiling, as did Kato and Hector. Eva crossed her arms and started talking heatedly with Davey. Jael however, turned to Aerrow with a stunned look.
"Well, fair play short-ass." She gave him a rather tight smile and made way for him.
Anxious, Aerrow stepped forwards to look for his name on the list.
Fifth position.
He checked again, and his name remained in the same place. He was fifth out of twelve.
Getting over his initial surprise, Aerrow looked along to see his scores. He had done exceedingly well on the skimmer test, just as he expected, and just as impressively in the fight. His debate score was good, and even both of his written scores were respectable. He actually was fifth in the group.
Damian clapped him on the back and grinned. "When did you overtake me, huh?"
Aerrow looked back to see Damian in seventh place, with Kipp a close ninth. "I have no idea." He replied honestly.
Damian just laughed and clapped him again. Aerrow grinned and felt a bubble of happiness spreading out from his stomach. He saw Kipp looking slightly downcast, but the Blizzarian smiled when Aerrow looked his way. "Guess I better up my own game now, huh?"
"You were close to eighth," Aerrow consoled, "Besides, we've passed! We've got another three months here in the bag."
"Aerrow's right, we should celebrate!" Damian said excitedly. "I heard there's a bar here for the officers, but after quartiers they open it up to cadets too."
"I'm in." Davey said, extracting himself from an angry-looking Eva. "A pass is a pass, no matter what the score is."
It was early in the evening, but over half of the cadets ended up following Aerrow and his friends to the bar. It was barely any different to the mess hall, but there was music playing and barmen handing out drinks to cadets all at different stages of their training.
"Are you even legal?" Kipp joked to Aerrow, who scowled and bought the first round to stop his chuckling.
The beer was strong and bitter, and Aerrow didn't particularly enjoy it. But the atmosphere was lively and he welcomed the change from the intense training that was their new normal. People laughed loudly and the music played, and the evening rolled into night. Small crystals were lit and glowed with a merry warmth.
Aerrow felt quite warm himself. His face was flushed and he knew he was talking louder than normal, but he couldn't seem to control his tongue. He stood up to go to the bathroom and was surprised when he stumbled into the table. The others laughed at his confused expression.
"You're drunk. Haven't you ever been drunk before?" Davey asked.
"Course not. I'm sixteen." The words felt heavy in Aerrow's mouth.
"Oh crap, I totally forgot!" Davey looked ashamed, but Damian laughed again and took Aerrow's current half-finished beer for himself.
"I'm officially cutting you off then."
Aerrow nodded, not particularly caring about the loss of his drink, and stumbled his way to the toilet. Once he had relieved himself he splashed his face with cold water and felt slightly more alert. The other cadets were still laughing at him when he got back.
"So you've really never drunk before?" Kato asked with a grin as Aerrow flopped onto the stool.
"Sure, I've drunk before. I've just never been drunk. Important distinction. Is it always this…wobbly-making?"
"You could put it that way." Kato laughed.
More time passed, and Aerrow's companions polished off another round. Aerrow had a glass of water and felt he wasn't swaying quite so much anymore. Then Damian leaned in with bright eyes.
"How about we take a victory spin on the skimmers?"
Aerrow immediately perked up at the thought of being in the air. Then he remembered his current lack of balance. "Is that a good idea?"
"You're fine! Bit of fresh air will help even more."
"I dunno…"
"Afraid, Aerrow?" Cole's snide voice was distinct even in the noise of the bar. He sat down next to Aerrow with a smirk. "Too scared to take on a challenge?"
"It wasn't exactly a challenge." Kato interjected.
"It is now. I fancy a race, if you reckon you can keep up." Cole stood, casually knocking over Aerrow's glass as he left.
Aerrow thought of the beating he had taken from Cole and the pup he had threatened to kill. He hadn't seen nose or tail of the creature since that day, but he knew if the other cadets had gotten to it they would have let him know. He felt rising anger again and smiled fiercely.
"That is not a good look." Kipp said warily.
"Let's do it." Aerrow stood and was pleased to find his balance had returned. He strode from the bar with Kipp, Damian and Kato in tow.
It was full night now, with the stars twinkling behind intermittent clouds. The group walked towards the hanger bay. Aerrow was silent, but the others chatted excitedly, eager for the competition.
The hanger door was open as they arrived and a few crystals provided enough light to see Cole and the hulking figure of Batesson setting up on their rides.
"Standard rules?" Kato asked with bright eyes. "One lap round the terra, bikes only, non-combat."
"Agreed." The six cadets mounted their bikes and lined up at the hanger entrance. "Three, two, one…go!"
Six bikes shot out into the dark. The race would be short and fast; one lap only took about fifteen minutes. But racing in the dark provided a new challenge as they could barely see the ground around them lit by their headlights.
The rush of night air banished Aerrow's remaining heaviness and he felt the thrill rise within him. Bushes and groups of boulders appeared suddenly out of the dark, causing the bikes to scatter and reform into ranks as they charged toward the north side of the terra.
Cole held the lead as they turned west to follow the dirt track around the Academy grounds. He pulled in sharply, forcing Aerrow to pull back or be knocked off his ride. Even over the engines of the six bikes Aerrow could hear his laughter.
Kato took advantage of the manoeuvre and swiftly overtook Aerrow as well. It was clear he was still feeling the alcohol though, as his bike tilted dangerously side to side until he could right it. Aerrow pushed hard on the throttle and managed to hold his place in front of Batesson and the other two.
The skimmers spread out as they arced round to the south side where the river flowed strongly and larger trees and foliage grew more plentiful. It was slower going than on the open plain, but worth it to avoid a wipe out. Kato and Cole were close together in the lead with Aerrow within their sights, but when he looked back he could only just see three other headlights in the darkness.
Cole sped up as they approached the river and used an upturned log to leap into the air over the water. His bike started to drop, but suddenly the wings deployed and he gained a new burst of speed in the air.
Aerrow scowled angrily. Cheating was not the Sky Knight way!
"You coward!" Kato yelled with a slur as he jumped the river and landed his bike on the other side, mirroring Aerrow's sentiments. The muddy bank slowed him down enough to let Aerrow catch up after also jumping the river.
"Forget him, it's not a victory if you cheat to get it!" Aerrow called as he pulled up next to Kato. The older boy shook his head at the words though, and grinned widely.
"He just changed the rules."
The sudden extension of his own wings nearly knocked Aerrow from his seat. He pulled away sharply and looked up as Kato gained altitude. "But we aren't allowed to fly out here!"
His words were drowned out in the wind of Kato's departure and a second skimmer passing overhead. Aerrow heard Batesson's guffawing laugh as he passed.
"Damn it!"
He hesitated for a moment. He knew the rule about flying at night outside of patrol, and he knew it was heavily enforced. No-nonsense Kato must be more drunk than he looked to so quickly break the rules. But Aerrow couldn't blame him: the urge to win and wipe the smirk off of Cole's face, combined with his love of flying, was too strong to deny. He soared into the air with a whoop of joy.
As good as Aerrow was getting on the ground, he knew he was built for the sky. He overtook Batesson effortlessly, passing underneath and coming up on his other side before the wallop even knew what was happening.
It took less than a minute to catch up with Cole and Kato, who were flying neck and neck, wingtips almost touching. The noise of his skimmer made Kato glance back in irritation and Cole used the distraction to creep ahead.
"Didn't realise you were such a sore loser you'd resort to cheating." Aerrow yelled over the wind.
"Oh I'm not," Cole called back, staying low over his controls to maintain his lead, "But it's a guaranteed victory for me now no matter who wins."
Without warning, his wings retracted and Cole landed his bike roughly on the ground. He turned sharply to the left and blasted off into the night. A second later a heavy thud announced Batesson's landing and he too drove away.
"What the –" Aerrow slowed slightly to watch their receding figures. Kato however put on a burst of speed with a laugh. Aerrow turned back to see him heading towards the Academy, and only then realised the angle they were approaching from.
"Kato wait! Stop!"
Somehow in the confusion of the dark Cole had turned the race around. Instead of returning to the hanger from the open plains, they were about to fly in to the Academy from the opposite direction. In particular, over the bar where most of the cadets and officers were currently gathered to celebrate the end of quartiers.
Aerrow heard two more skimmers approaching from behind and quickly called out for them to land as he did so himself, converting from skimmer to bike mode in a moment. He increased his speed again, trying to catch up to Kato.
"Stop Kato! You have to land!" He was too far ahead and still hadn't noticed the layout of the barracks, too caught up in the thrill of an imminent win.
But before they were even close, two skimmers intercepted Kato and fired without warning. The sudden attack dropped Kato several feet until he regained control of his skimmer and pulled to a halt. Aerrow sucked in a shocked breath as his bike ground to a halt, Damian and Kipp stopping beside him.
"Stop intruders!" The firm, familiar voice turned Aerrow's blood cold and he recognised the poised figure on the first skimmer, weapon pointed at Kato's chest. "Who are you?"
"Wait Sir, please!" Kato held up his hands in surrender, "It's just us!"
Frowning, Major Tom hit a switch that increased the crystal light from his ride, illuminating the four cadets in front of him. His frown turned into a deep scowl.
"Cadets! What do you think you're doing?" He yelled. Shouted orders had Kato land and they all lined up away from the rides. "What in Atmos name do you think you're doing? Out at night, one of you flying into the barracks? And have you been drinking?! I want an explanation, and I want it now!"
Aerrow could barely speak, but he made himself back up the others as they all told the same story. They explained about Cole's challenge and the race, how Cole had cheated, and then how the two cadets had driven off. But Major Tom wasn't having any of it.
"You're trying to put the blame on another cadet? One who isn't even here? No, no more excuses! This is a serious offence. We have rules about not flying at night for a reason. If the Cyclonians attack it will most likely be at night, we can't be wasting our time defending against our own cadets! No, you are all in a whole heap of trouble," His glare stopped firmly on Kato, "Some more than others."
All Aerrow could think of was Cole's smug grin.
