(A/N: This fic was written as a roleplay between myself and a friend and is such separated into our respective character parts.)

Chapter 1

To say that he was a bit overwhelmed was... an understatement.

Ostia was so large compared to Caelin, and that wasn't exactly a small town. He had been excited to leave his home in order to pursue a dream, to become a royal guard in the capital of Lycia; but now, alone in a big capital, he couldn't help but second guess himself. It was the first day of both knight training and school. Keeping to himself, he silently walked the halls of the school until he came across the front section of the school that had every student's cubby hole that they could use to store their belongings. With a small sigh, Matthew lifted the bag off his shoulder to put it into the storage, before he felt the folder of papers he was holding slip out of his hands. "Ah...!" He let out a short cry as papers spilled onto the ground, and he dropped to his knees to gather them all up. One paper in particular, had floated away out of his sight without him noticing...

Bright eyed and round-faced Cain was more than excited for his first day of knight training. He'd been in the previous courses in Ostia, but that was all baby stuff- now he was able to learn some real moves. He marched eagerly towards his cubby hole, where a couple textbooks awaited him, and his expression fell. Oh, yeah... there was school too. He wasn't looking forward to that part so much. At least, he reminded himself, it was only for part of the day, and his section got it over with in the morning. With a roll of his eyes, he grabbed the textbook and shoved it in his pack, then started the walk to find his classroom. As he did, he heard the familiar sound of paper shuffling, and when he looked to the side, he saw the source; a smaller kid than he-though that wasn't hard- had dropped what looked like an entire notebook of papers. Cain couldn't help but feel a bit bad, so he stopped to help, and snagged the stray paper that was drifting away. "Need a hand?" He knelt down to scoop up a stack of papers, and then offered a charming smile as he handed them to the other student.

Matthew knew he looked out of place in the school; not many kids came from out of the castletown to enroll in this school. They usually became guards for the marquesses in their own countries. Yet, the teen was different; he didn't want to be any knight. He wanted to be a knight for the capital. He was scrawny and didn't come from the most able-bodied parents around. When he came to Ostia, he had hid in the corner, people easily looking over him as if he weren't there at all. And that's how he liked it. However, he was quite glad when someone did stop to help him, although it surprised him to even be offered. "Hm...?" Matthew glanced up only to be met with a rounder-faced redhead that looked his age. For a moment he only stared at the stranger, seemingly in a daze before he blinked a few times. "Oh, yeah. Thanks," he offered a small smile in return before quickly glancing down at the papers before him, scooping up his share as well.

Cain stood up after the student took his papers back. "No problem," he replied in a friendly voice, then waved goodbye as he continued on his way towards his classroom.

He found it fairly easily, so he was a few minutes early, which was perfectly fine with him; it gave him time to scout out his classmates, and he was incredibly happy with what he saw. "Yes! Abel! Three years in a row!" He high-fived his friend; looks like they'd be classmates yet again. Gordin was there too, but another face was missing. "Aw, no Draug?"

"He got put in the afternoon class with Norne," Gordin explained, already sitting at a desk near the front. He stuck out his tongue cheekily and winked. "I'm sure he's not complaining!"

Cain laughed as he sat at a desk next to his friends. Well, hopefully the lecture this year wouldn't be too bad... as long as he could manage to stay awake, that is.

Matthew waved goodbye to the friendly redhead, watching him go off to his own classroom. Well... that was one way to start the school year. Class hadn't even started yet and he already made a fool of himself... Class... Class. He'd be late to class! Putting his stuff in his hole more quickly now, he held his notebook close to his chest as he hurried to his classroom, desperately looking up at the numbers next to the doors to find the right one...

Once he finally found it, he looked inside at all the unfamiliar faces in the room... Taking a deep breath, he stepped in only to realize there was one familiar face. The boy who had helped him out earlier! Matthew wanted to say hello, to properly thank him for helping, but he seemed to be surrounded by a group of his own friends, so the teen decided against it. Moving to the back of the class, he found a seat next to a stout blue-haired boy. Said boy raised an eyebrow as Matthew sat next to him, and he prayed to the Gods the other wouldn't say anything.

The boy, usually preferring not to be too friendly towards strangers, knew Matthew looked frightened by his surroundings, as he once did; he had moved to Ostia from a small village as well, albeit a longer while ago. "Hey," he said, catching Matthew's attention. "You new here?"

The teen glanced over at his neighbor, before slowly nodding his head. "Yeah. I came here from Caelin."

"Caelin? That's not too small, this place shouldn't feel that out of place for you." But then again, the blue-haired boy had never been to Caelin. He offered Matthew a smile. "I'm Oujay. If you want, I can help show you around once class is done."

Matthew nodded; that'd be a lifesaver. He turned his attention back ahead of him, where Cain sat. Maybe, with any luck, he'll get another chance to properly thank him later on...

Cain didn't notice when Matthew entered the classroom as well; he was too busy teasing Gordin about his youthful appearance, and the green-haired boy blushed furiously in annoyance as Cain reminded him of the time he'd been escorted to a classroom of students years younger than he. Cain laughed loudly, but the sudden, sharp sound of someone clearing their throat caught his attention. It seemed the teacher had joined them; she looked strict, but in the way that meant no-nonsense, not cruelty. Cain had been sitting on Gordin's desk, but he slid back down into his own and begrudgingly pulled out the textbook. Back to the daily grind…

When the teacher appeared and everyone quieted down, Matthew looked ahead and focused on the teacher; he wanted desperately to start out strong in a new place, and this was the time to show it. While she started talking, explaining things as one usually did at the beginning of class, Matthew heard Oujay lean over in his seat, and his whisper was heard: "Welcome to Ostia."