Look guys, I'm not dead! I literally woke myself up at 5:40 this morning for school routine, and made myself finish this chapter. My school starts up not tomorrow, but the day after, so my updates will be even slower and I'm so sorry. I really should work more on this, but I'm writing a story that isn't a FanFiction, and it's consuming a lot of my time. I'm pushing myself to update this every other week, so hopefully I can make that happen. It might not until Spring though, because of my Cross Country and Basketball seasons. I actually have an idea for next chapter, so hopefully I'll be able to do it quickly. It will be a main storyline chapter in Kinkajou's POV, so even I can't wait to write it! Kinkajou is always a fun character to do POV's in, because I can illustrate the childishness of her mind even though she's in college.
Quickly, I want to finish this author's note with 3 thoughts. 1-I've never been in college, so if my writing is off, I beg you to forgive me, because I'm just going off what I think happens. 2-I do not support the soda remark made in this chapter, which you will understand after you read. And 3-I'm going to keep adding 'Short Story' chapters for what is happening at Jade Mountain College (or whatever the heck I named the school) so you'll know what's going on at school while the four main characters are doing the epic quest to save the world.
Sorry I'm a drag - Have fun reading!
Umber
"Welcome to class," an odd dragon said at the front of the room. He had black hair, tanned skin, and yellow eyes; marking him as either a Hybrid or a hair-dyed Sky. "I'm Celestial; and if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a Hybrid." Several dragons around Umber gawked, but Celestial didn't seem to mind. Umber found it cool; two different types of parents.
"Today, we are having a special guest to help," Celestial said, and on cue a dragon walked in. "Everyone, this is Peril."
The reactions around the room were mixed. Someone squeaked in fear, another dragon hid a snort at the high-pitched sound, and more than one dragon went silent with just a set of wide eyes to explain.
Umber sat there, thinking it over on his head. Sure, Peril was a fire-touch, but wouldn't that just make her a better metal-worker?
"Um, hi?" She questioned from under her soot-grey hoodie, as if she wasn't sure anyone would answer.
"Hi," Umber said, and a few following "hello"s were murmured. Peril looked at Umber from under her hoodie, and it seemed like she gave him a half-smile.
"Today, we're going to have Peril show us how to make a sculpted aluminum tree. Peril, is that ok with you?" Celestial turned to Peril with the question, as well as everyone else. For some reason, Peril looked in Umber's direction before slowly answering.
"Yup, I can do that. It's pretty simple after a while…" Several students seemed to lighten up at this, although a few were still wary. Celestial looked almost amused at their mixed expressions.
"Alright. Permafrost, can you get an aluminum can from the back room?"
A toned Ice stood up from a back seat and disappeared into a back door before coming back into the class and walking to the front. Umber couldn't help but notice the way his shirt was tight, and his muscles only made it look even better. Permafrost got to the front of the room, and when he spoke, his voice was low and steely, but almost a purr to Umber's ears.
"Here you go." He pressed the can into Celestial's palm before going back to his seat and planting his feet firmly once in his chair again.
Umber redirected his gaze back to the front of the room where Celestial was giving Peril the can, trying to fight the blush rising on his cheeks.
"Um, I don't really know how you guys would get the metal hot or whatever, but I can show you what to do after the aluminum is melted." The can in her hand started to melt into itself, until it was just a puddle of liquid metal. Peril swirled it with a finger, and when she took her finger out, a little metal stuck to it. She shook the drop off, and it landed with a sizzle at a Sky's desk. She yelped a little, and Celestial rolled his eyes when Peril muttered an apology.
"You're fine Peregrine. Just watch," Celestial scolded lightly. The Sky - Peregrine - cast an apologetic glance at Peril, who just nodded with twitching lips.
"You wait for the metal to cool down just a bit, but then you have to work really fast so it doesn't harden before you're done. If it does harden, you almost always have to start over." She demonstrated by not touching the metal with a seperate finger for a while and concentrating hard on something.
Then abruptly she picked up the clay-like metal and speedily sculpted a small tree. The branches were twisted and at odd angles, but it surprisingly made the tree even better.
"And then I set the metal down before it melts," she mumbled, and set it down on a table at the front of the room where demonstrations went. Several dragons looked in awe, but Umber just tried to remember the steps for doing it. Melt the metal. Let it harden just enough to sculpt. Design the tree. Let it cool.
How hard could it be? Umber thought to himself.
"Permafrost, would you go get a bin of aluminum cans for us, please?" Celestial asked the Ice, and the boy grunted before going back into the back room. Umber couldn't help it that his eyes followed the boy until he couldn't see him anymore.
When he came back out with a cardboard box full of aluminum cans, Umber watched him silently as he set them down by the right wall where several lit fires were burning on coals.
"Thank you for helping today," Celestial said, and Permafrost sat back down in his seat with a barely disguised scowl. "Everyone find a group of two and make your way to a fire." Everyone in the class looked around at one another, before a few friends got up and went to each other. A pair of Rain's were first, but that didn't surprise Umber as they were the only Rains in this class.
"Would you like to me my partner?" someone asked from beside Umber, and he turned his head away from the Rain partners to find a pair of black eyes boring into his own brown ones.
"Ummm," Umber stumbled, too caught-up in the appearance of the Sand to say anything. The boy had extremely light brown hair, almost to the point of being blonde. His eyes were a deep, infinite black, and his skin was tanned nearly to yearbook perfection. He had a tan shirt on and light blue skinny jeans, as well as a small-link chain necklace.
"Sorry," the Sand hurriedly said, effectively snapping Umber out of his trance. "I'm Sphinx."
"Umber," Umber said, and stood up while simultaneously sticking out a hand for Sphinx to shake.
The Sand gave a quick, firm shake before letting go and letting his hand fall to his side. "So… do you wanna partner with me?" Sphinx asked again, but this time Umber was less distracted.
"Sure," he said quickly, and walked with Sphinx to a fire.
Celestial came by, passing out one can to every pair. Once Sphinx and Umber got theirs, they found it was a Coke can.
"Pepsi was always better," Umber said, not really expecting a reaction from his partner.
"Yes! Everyone says Coke is all that, but really Pepsi should be the one getting all of attention. I never knew anyone else felt the same way though," Sphinx said, grinning at Umber. The Mud tried to hide his blush; at least they had something in common.
"Alright, now everyone melt your cans in the fire-resistant trays," Celestial said, demonstrating with the big fire at the front of the room where instructions were given. Sphinx set the can in the tray, and he looked almost joyus that they were melting the Coke can.
Umber moved the tray over the fire, and Celestial said it would be about five minutes before they were ready to cool.
"So, Clay's little brother, right?" Sphinx asked, looking at Umber, who had set the tray down on the rack above the hot fire.
"That would be me," Umber said, using a confident but laid-back tone. "Do you have siblings?"
Sphinx shrugged. "I dunno. My parents dropped me at an orphanage the day after I was born. Left a note that said they wanted a little girl. The owner kicked me out when I was fourteen though, because I kept getting into trouble. I got a job at a small store, until one day a rich Sand couple came in and saw me stocking shelves. They asked why I was underage, and the shopkeeper told them I was an orphan who needed the money for food. They took me in after that, and they're not half bad. I didn't even want to go to college, but they convinced me, and here I am."
Umber looked at Sphinx, feeling pity for him, although he tried not to show it. If there was one thing he gathered about Sands; they don't like people feeling bad for them. "Sorry, that was a life story, not an answer to a simple question. So no, I guess I don't, because my adopted parents never had any kids."
"It's fine, I don't mind. Wanna play a game, to help us get to each other?" Umber asked, not really knowing where to take the conversation.
"Fine by me. What game?"
"Five questions," Umber said, and a ghost of a smile crossed Sphinx's face.
"You first," Sphinx said in a polite tone, and Umber decided not to argue with him.
"What's your favorite animal?"
"Hmm," Sphinx said, scratching his arm while he thought. "I guess giraffes. That might sound weird, but I always liked them, because of their long necks and how they have trouble bending to get water. My turn?" Umber nodded, and Sphinx went on. "What's your favorite color?"
"Light red," Umber said, and held back a smile when Sphinx looked confused. This always followed when he told anyone what his favorite color was.
"Do you mean pink, or just a light red?" Wow, usually dragons didn't know what light red was. Umber was slightly impressed.
"Just light red. Not pink; that color makes my eyes hurt." Umber and Sphinx both laughed, and then it was Umber's turn again.
"Favorite song?"
"Home Alone Tonight, by Luke Bryan," Sphinx said with a sheepish smile, and Umber added it to the list of songs he needed to listen to. "Favorite-" Sphinx started to ask, but Celestial interrupted the game.
"Alright, quickly take your metal off of the fire and hold it to the side for a while, until you think it's read to mold."
Sphinx took the tray off of the rack, holding it. Umber and Sphinx both stared at it, trying to determine what time to shape it into the tree.
"This is prob'ly gonna hurt," Sphinx muttered, before he poked a finger into the metal. When he pulled back, the metal let go with no noise, and Sphinx didn't look burned. "It's ready!" The Sand said excitedly, and he and Umber both started to quickly shape a tree. It's limbs were slightly bowed, and one or two were just plain droopy, but overall it wasn't too bad. They set it on the tray beside the fire to let it cool, and then quickly picked back up their game while Celestial helped other students.
"Favorite book or series?" Sphinx asked Umber, and they both leaned against the wall on opposite sides of the fire.
"39 Clues," Umber admitted, and Sphinx hid a small laugh. "I know it's for like fourth graders, but it was still the best series I ever read. How about yours?"
"Harry Potter, all the way," Sphinx said, and Umber decided not to admit he was a Hufflepuff.
"So, Janus, what's your favorite movie or show?" Sphinx asked, and both he and Umber laughed at the 39 Clues reference.
"Avengers, just all of them. All except the Hulk movie; that one sucked." They both laughed again, and Sphinx agreed. "So, DC or Marvel?"
"Batman lost his belt and fell off a cliff, Superman got hit by a flying kryptonite spear, Flash lost his speed and got hit by a train, Wonder Woman last her lasso and got run over by a stampede of bulls, and Cat Woman lost her agility and fell off a building," Sphinx said in a poetic tone, then grinned while rolling his eyes. "Marvel all the way. I surprised myself there with knowing all of that DC stuff… my dad has a mean taste for Batman. Must've been in the room one or two times when it was on. Now if only I could forget it…" Both of the boys laughed, and Celestial came over to see their work.
"For a first time, very good you two. The structure is a little weak, branches need more support, the design is a little off, but other than those few things, it looks great." He handed them two more aluminum cans. "Try again, but this time focus a bit more on the project than the interesting movie world of superheros." Both Sphinx and Umber looked at the ground, sheepish, but when Celestial walked away, he gave them a wink and mouthed: Marvel.
They high-fived with a look of triumph, then broke down laughing. "Ready?" Sphinx asked, grabbing his can and getting it ready to be melted.
"Sure," Umber said, and put his can next to Sphinx's in the tray. They both waited for them to melt, then cooled them until they were ready.
Sphinx hummed while he worked on his tree, and Umber couldn't help but watch with his quickly-cooling, untouched sculpture in his hands. The Sand's hands were nimble and fast, making branches much better than their earlier attempt. They arched at the right angles, and Umber quickly realized the design was different than Peril's. While Peril's looked like an oak tree in winter with more spindly branches, Sphinx's was quickly taking shape as a weeping willow. Of course the leaves were gone, but the small, delicate branches hung in sweeping billows that swung at first.
"Wow," Umber breath in awe, not really aware that he actually said it until Sphinx blushed/grinned at the floor.
"Sorry. Sometimes my creativity gets the best of me." It sounded to Umber like the sorry had been truly apologetic, which only made the Mud's jaw drop farther.
"What would you be apologizing for?! That's amazing!" Sphinx looked up, a slightly wonderous expression on his face.
"Really? I never knew anyone else thought so…" Sphinx looked sheepish, and Umber couldn't help but smiling.
"Really. Can you teach me how?" Umber hid a blush, but luckily Sphinx didn't see. "I wish. But the thing is, I do these things once and then can't ever do them again. Can I reheat your can for you?" he said in a joking voice, skipping over the other part of the conversation. Umber's blush grew, but this time Sphinx picked up on it.
"Hey, it's ok. You can do it, if you want." Oh; he just thought it was embarrassment that he had let the can cool. Umber let out a silent sigh of relief after he had handed the can to Sphinx. The Sand didn't seem to take any notice of the action, because he turned quickly and started to melt the can again.
"Whose is this?" Celestials asked from near the boys, and they both spun around to where he was pointing at the weeping willow that had been set down on a tray by the fire.
"Sphinx's," Umber blurted, at the same time Sphinx started to make a "Um" sound.
"Very impressive," Celestial said, carefully running his fingers over the delicate, still-slightly-warm branches. "Could use a bit more support at the top of the branches as well as the base, but it looks better than I would ever expect from a college student. Good job, Sphinx." The Sand almost seemed to glow at the teacher's praise, and Celestial chuckled. "How about you, Umber?" Umber pointed to the almost-melted can, a sheepish look on his face.
"Umber's can was thicker than mine, so when we took them off, his wasn't quite ready yet," Sphinx supplied, even though both boys knew it wasn't true in the least.
"Well, make sure you give support to the branches and the base, and design the tips of the branches to look like points and not rounded." Celestial walked off after the advice, and Sphinx and Umber high-fived.
"One awesome sculpture down, my horrible junky one to go," Umber said, and Sphinx smiled in spite of himself.
"It can't be that bad…" he said, but when Umber was finally done, he changed his mind.
"It can be that bad," Sphinx said, jokingly turning his head to the side as if the sight alone horrified him. The tree had crooked, drooping branches, even though Umber had been trying for Peril's design. The base was malformed, lobs dripping down the side due to the metal being too hot when Umber started.
"That's… well, it could improve," Celestial said from behind them, and Umber didn't even seemed shocked at his sudden presence as Sphinx still was. The Mud had a feeling the Hybrid was good at timing things and just appearing.
"It was better as a can," Umber groaned, and Celestial put a hand on his shoulder. "You just need to work on it," Celestial said, a smile hiding under his features. "All pros began as beginners. You just have to practice." Umber squinted at the teacher's choice of words before turning to the older dragon.
"Isn't that a baseball encouraging line?" Celestial laughed, and one head turned their way before turning quickly away.
"So I've been caught. Just try, I was worse when I started." The Hybrid winked before going to another station, and soon more cans were passed around.
"So that was exhausting," Sphinx said six hours later. Umber wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his dirty hand, and he sighed.
"Very exhausting. I would actually invite you to my dorm, but not only is there a killer Sky there, and I mean she literally tried to kill someone, but I'm so tired I would probably pass out before I crossed into the boy's room." They both laughed, and quickly exchanged phone numbers before heading back to their dorms. They only had Metal Working once every week, but it was an all-day class.
When Umber got back, nobody was in the dorm. Which would be pretty normal, except he was already thirty minutes later than normal, and everyone was always back by now. He started walking in, before feet clomped in the hallway, and Umber quickly recognized Carnelian's stomping tread.
Umber raced into the boy's room, forgetting about the plan to take a shower. He shut the door at the exact time Carnelian came in, and he heard her pause before continuing to her room and slamming the door.
Umber slowly left the boy's room and took a shower, but when he came back out, his jaw dropped.
If my jaw wasn't attached to my skull, it would be on the floor, he thought, as there was no way he was going to think about what he was seeing.
Finally though, he had to face it.
"What?" he choked, and the two dragons he was looking at whipped to face him. Carnelian was pinned to the wall, but not in an aggressive way. Her hands were locked in a dark blue head of head, and paler hands were on her hips pushing her to the wall.
Dark, brooding Permafrost and evil, killing Carnelian were making out in Umber's dorm hallway.
"Get out!" Carnelian snarled at Umber, and the Mud quickly ducked into the laundry room. He closed the door but left it unlocked, and went to the secret hidden room he was using as his escape from college. He locked it, and worked his way around the paper-riddled floor, sighing as he sat down in the soft chair. He distractedly picked up his notebook and unhooked his pencil from the rings, drawing a random picture he was sure was going to turn out as nothing.
Seven minutes and a half-a-drawing later, Umber started to hear Carnelian yell at Permafrost to leave, and Umber got a better picture of what was going on.
Even though it seemed unlikely, it appeared to Umber as if Carnelian was a player. He had never seen Carnelian with any boy before, in fact, she always gave the boys in the dorm death glares when she saw them.
With another sudden thought, Umber pulled out his phone and started to record the fight. Permafrost was yelling back at her, clearly mad he was being ordered to leave after their make out session.
Umber wondered if he knew anyone who could get this leaked anonymously. No, Umber didn't go around sharing little dirty secrets for everyone to share, but somehow the idea came to him anyways. And a name popped up, too.
Sphinx.
TwIsT eNdInG ;) Don't forget to (afterthought) go to my profile and vote on my poll! What story should I work on more? Only 7 days left... hurry before it's down!