Pugna Academiae: Beginnings

xxx

"You should really be more friendly with your peers. If you're not who will support you at the Pugna Academiae next month?"

"I can support myself; I'm not nearly as weak as Thomas wa—"

"He was your brother, at least show some respect."

"Tell me, would that make me stronger? Will I gain the strength to eradicate the Titans?"

David was standing around the corner as Alexander stormed by. He decided to let him go as he went to approach Mrs. Weiss. Her expression changed upon seeing David approach. She was obviously changing her expression to hide the conflict David overheard.

"Hello there David, you did well today."

Her smile wasn't genuine at all and could be seen through easily.

"Mrs. Weiss, you kno—"

"I know David. Alex looked up to Thomas more than anyone. It just bothers me how cold he's become… David, I'm going to try and get you and Alex on the same squad for the Pugna Academiae so please look after Alex. Don't let him do anything reckless."

"You know I can't promise you anything Mrs. Weiss."

She just smiled at him and started to make her way back towards the Scouts meeting.

But I'll try my hardest…

xxx

One month later and the town square is filled to the brim with teenagers from all over the mountain range. They've all gathered for the entrance ceremony of the Pugna Academiae. The area is well lit by fires and notorite as the Scouts and instructors make their way to the stage and the last of these new trainees filed into the incredibly crowded town square. Whenever the children head for the start of the Pugna Academiae it makes Vai much more active as it also brings parents, trainers, academy scouts, town officials, and nobles.

Alexander's mother stood behind stage discussing the upcoming trainees with other scouts and legion officers. A particular man wearing a cloak marked with a grey wolf towered over her,

"Diana, there's a lot of meat going through the grinder this year."

His face was stern with his words as he remembered his time at the Pugna Academiae. Diana turned to the large man and cheerfully answered like the optimist she was known to be,

"Yeah, it's a surprisingly large class but that just means there are bound to be more survivors."

Another man from the group, with almost a dark aura around him, joined the conversation:

"There are nearly nine hundred students this year, but that doesn't mean anymore will survive this year than years before."

His pessimistic comment definitely lowered the atmosphere of the scouts. The tall man finally spoke after a second or two of awkward silence,

"Wow… You really know how to bring everyone down huh, Dom…"

"I'm only being a realist Steven. A higher concentration of people leads to a higher concentration of Titans. But Diana said this year is filled with promising prospects so I could be wrong."

Dominick's response sounded dark and insincere. He obviously didn't believe his own words and only said them to get them off his back. Then an older man came back from the stage and went from group to group,

"Okay, everyone get on stage. The last of the recruits are here. The opening ceremony is about to start."

There are many people in the crowd as the Scouts took their places on stage before them. Some of the Scouts stood off to the side scanning the crowd of teenagers in an effort to ensure that top prospects had made their way to the opening ceremony. As they scanned the mess of people in the plaza Alexander's mother began the opening ceremonies,

"Hello children… This is the dreaded day where you step onto the path to adulthood…"

As her speech continued the small group of Scouts off to the side began to locate the high end prospects and discuss them amongst themselves. The first person that they found stood at the back of the plaza. It was Alexander,

"That's Diana's son isn't it?"

"Ah! Yes, he is very promising he is probably the deadliest bow user in the mountains."

"I doubt he'll make it."

"Why would you say that, Dominick?"

"I heard he has a problem with teamwork. The surface is too dangerous to brave alone."

Not to mention that he'll probably be killed off by his teammates before the Titans get him…

After the brief discussion about him concluded they continued to scan the crowd until one of the members noticed Tristan,

"That noble from Terra is here, I expect him to make quite a name for himself."

"Being a noble means nothing to the Titans…"

"Yeah, He's just as vulnerable as the rest of them, but he does have talent."

They ended it on that note and continued to scan the crowd until Dominick noticed an oriental girl standing in the middle of the plaza. An older member of the party when he noticed that Dominick smiled while looking into the crowd of teenagers and inquired,

"Dominick, who are you looking at now?"

"Oh, do you remember that oriental girl that had Diana's son in a pinch a while ago?"

"Ah yes, her name is Rilana… Rilana Wayland if I can remember correctly."

"I think she's going to be the top recruit this year."

"That's quite the prediction; we have at least fifty top prospects this year. We'll have to see"

They continued to find their picked prospects almost like they were already drafting them into units. The list of people they talked about was extensive enough to last the rest of the introduction ceremony that Alexander's mother was finishing up:

"…You will train vigorously for a month before you will undergo The Trial of Eighty-Eight. Regardless of your proficiency you will take part in it, so do well to train and ensure your survival. You are dismissed to pick up your equipment from your assigned armories."

With her ending words the plaza became active again as the teenagers tried to meet up with friends and family, ask for directions, or obtain their equipment. Most of the scouts began to get off stage so that they could provide assistance to those that didn't live in Vai. Those that didn't made their way for the taverns to drink a brew and discuss the upcoming class.

Tristan stood agitated during the speech as he looked around vehemently.

I know she's here somewhere. She'll be mine before she knows it.

His search was seemingly in vain as he hadn't even caught a glimpse of her and the opening ceremony was over. But he did find someone he recognized. He called out to him over the crowd,

"Hey! David! Over here!"

He waved his hand up and made his way for the dirty blonde kid. David looked over in surprise before he started to make his way to Tristan. When they finally got face to face they wrapped their arms around each other like they were brothers coming back from their Trial of Eighty-Eight.

"Hey Tristan, it's been awhile. How have you been?"

"I'm great. Are you still putting up with that Alexander guy?"

"Heh, yeah, I guess you could say that. What have you been up to since last month?"

"You know, the usual for me, drowning in the flocks of women that see my appeal."

Tristan shamelessly bragged about himself and threw out a wink to a group of girls standing off to the side. They giggled and David playfully responded,

"Tristan you flirt, I think we should get our equipment. I'm at Armory Three."

Tristan didn't break eye contact from the group of girls as they continued to look at him and David,

"Ah… yeah. I'm at Armory Three as well."

David just smiled and put Tristan in a head lock as he started to drag him to their destination,

"You sure are hopeless."

After the speech was over Rilana made her way towards Armory One. She tried to avoid the gawkers; minorities were rare since the Titan's appeared. The traffic was high as she swerved her way south from the middle of the plaza. The first person she ran into, to her dismay, was the silver-haired jackass Alexander. She tried to avoid him hoping he'd forgotten their fight but he turned and saw her anyway.

"Hey, we sparred last month didn't we?"

Rilana tried to pretend that she didn't see him but anyone would recognize his silver hair in a crowd,

"What? Oh is that you Alexander?"

She wasn't enthusiastic about meeting him again and it showed in her voice but Alexander ignored it,

"Yes, I'm Alexander Weiss. What might your name be? I didn't get it last time we met."

Rilana was confused; he wasn't hostile like the first time they met. Through her confusion she answered him,

"Maybe you should pay attention better next time someone kicks your ass, I'm Rilana Wayland."

Her sarcasm didn't affect Alexander in the slightest. He nodded and turned to walk away, before leaving he said,

"Thanks for the information. I won't forget it now."

She thought she remembered him saying those words before as she watched him head south to Armory One. Just as she started to step in the same direction a pair of hands covered her eyes and a cute overly excited voice chirped,

"Guess who Rilana?!"

Rilana could only chuckle because there was no need to guess. She knew who it was immediately and lifted the hands away from her eyes as she turned around,

"Vera, you're lucky I knew it was you or you would've gotten hurt."

Vera stood slightly taller than Rilana with her brown shoulder length hair parted to the left and a mischievous smile,

"Sooo, is that your boyfriend? His silver hair is— "

"Yeah, and we live on the surface. Of course not, that guy is a jerk."

"Alright then."

Vera rolled her eyes and Rilana could tell that Vera didn't believe her. She knew that Vera would bug her about it again. So she decided the best way to resolve the problem was to have them meet.

"You know what Vera? You should just meet him for yourself."

Vera's eyes brightened up at the thought of seeing Rilana's "boyfriend."

"Great, I'm sure he'll be nice."

With that Vera began to pull Rilana toward Armory One with the thought that they were dating.

Alexander left Rilana in the plaza to obtain his equipment. He was getting looks from people that weren't from Vai since silver hair was very unusual. But he just made his way through the crowd doing his best to ignore them. He finally reached Armory One and it was accentuated by the line of recruits. He walked past the line and into an alley around the corner. There he slipped through the back door of the armory.

After that he cut into the intermittent line of people that checked in at the front desk to receive their equipment. Nobody had seen his clever trick, or so he thought. The person who was supposed to be next saw him and watched silently as he melded into the line of trainees about to gather their equipment. Alexander felt he was being watched and turned to look over his shoulder. Who he saw was a thin black girl that stood a tall as him. He saw her looking at him before she quickly turned away. He glared at her for a couple of seconds without saying a word before looking forward again.

She could feel his glare burning through her, but once his gaze had been averted she studied him as he picked up his equipment. At the first station, the three-dimensional maneuvering gear station, the man behind the table smiled when the silver-haired boy approached. She watched as they took their time,

"Hey there Alexander"

"Hey..?"

"James, jeez you have horrible memory. Well I have that custom frame for you but I wouldn't modify anything until you get used to using the gear."

She looked on as James smiled and turned to something covered in a tarp. He revealed a set of three-dimensional maneuvering gear that looked like any regular set except it looked like it could be taken apart by hand. James handed it over to Alexander quickly and seemed proud of his work. Alexander didn't thank him; he just nodded as he took his equipment and moved on.

She stepped up and turned her attention to James.

"Hey there miss, what's your name?"

"Umm, I'm Avalon Dedro. I'm from Fay"

He checked his clipboard for a second then grabbed a three-dimensional maneuvering gear off the table and handed it to her with a friendly smile,

"So you're just getting standard equipment."

Avalon quickly averted her eyes and took her equipment from him,

"So umm, what's that guy's deal?"

James quickly looked back up from the table and laughed to himself,

"You mean Alexander? Kid's been a hard ass since his older brothers died."

Avalon quickly felt regret for her preconceptions of Alexander after hearing about his loss but did well to hide it,

"Really..? I guess you can't judge a book by its cover."

On that note she moved on to the next station to avoid continuing the conversation. When she arrived at the next station she didn't see Alexander in the armory anymore. Alexander kind of scared her but she was intrigued by him as well.

Alexander obtained his equipment as quickly as possible. He didn't want to make contact with anyone else. But just as his luck would be, he found himself confronted by Rilana and Vera outside of Armory One. He didn't see them until it was too late and Rilana blocked his path.

"Hey Alexander, I have someone who wants to meet you."

Alexander looked over at the girl he didn't know and looked her up and down. After inspecting her he brought his cold piercing eyes to hers and stood in silence.

Why would Rilana want me to meet… her?

Vera stood there with grin on her face before starting conversation,

"Soo, you're kind of cute. Are you going out with my best friend?"

Alexander's expression didn't change; his ever serious face just looked at her for a second. He started to walk away and just shook his head slightly.

"Don't waste my time Rilana."

Were his goodbye words to the duo, even though it seem like he never even acknowledged Vera's presence.

Rilana looked at Vera's distraught face and began to laugh.

"He didn't even acknowledge a thing I said!"

Rilana stopped laughing and wrapped her arm around her as they made their way into the shrinking line.

"I told you he was a jerk."

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the late post. I suspected I'd post it sooner than this but uh-oh. I ended up rewriting and editing it multiple times before I thought it was presentable. I'm still not impressed with this final product but I feel I must post the what I have to move forward.

And I'm also sorry that the main story will not be starting yet. The prologue will have to be extended to a third part since I was having a hard time transitioning to the next scene without a chapter break. Well thank you guys, and remember to Rate and Review!

P.S.: I've managed to get an artist to help me release pictures with the chapters from the next chapter on, but only if I've recieved something to link into the story.

Trivia: Pugna Academiae means Combat Academy in Latin but it isn't really an academy.