Chapter 9 – Reluctance
Nick Eldrien
Nick began to tune out Miss Petunia as she continued to describe one of the more mundane battles of 'The Great War'. So far, the woman had failed to mention anything that he didn't already know himself. Before he had even applied to Haven, he had read all the books his village had on the subject multiple time and to hear it repeated to him now was much less entertaining. Mainly because he could be doing other things. He was at a combat school for crying out loud. But no, since they didn't take elective courses until their third year, he was stuck in this class.
Ever since the party two weeks ago where he had told her about his father, Camea had been rather more insistent on the whole team building thing. She had even laid down some rules. First of all they were all supposed to attend class together and every other day, with the exclusion of Sundays, they had team training. The most annoying of the rules however was the mandatory study session she had begun to implement every Saturday. However Nick had noticed that only he seemed to be annoyed by them because he was the only person not learning anything.
"Mr Eldrien, are you paying attention?"
The raven-haired teacher's raised voice cut through his thoughts and caused his to turn his attention back to her. Nick had noted on multiple occasions that Miss Petunia was indeed a stunning woman. Her wavy, long, jet black hair fell gracefully around her shoulders and framed a dark skinned face that should have, if anyone in Mistral has any sense, been on the cover of some beauty magazine. The rest of her was clearly very powerful, lean muscle filled her tall frame and the long legs that reached out beneath her skirt were simply spectacular.
"Not really," Nick confessed. He had no reason to lie.
"Well then, I am assuming, since you are being so brazen about your lack of interest in my subject, you wouldn't be able to tell me what happened to cause of The Battle of Crag Valley to finally come to an end?" Her voice was seeped in annoyance and she clearly expected an answer. One he was happy to give.
"After a seven day stalemate, General Roux noticed a pack of Grimm emerge from a small tunnel behind the opposing battalion, so she instructed her soldiers to fire upon the tunnel to create a larger opening," Nick summarised. "Surrounded on both sides and unable to retreat, Commander Rain's forces were quickly defeated. While many laid down their weapons, Rain refused and was killed by General Roux herself."
Miss Petunia took a second to reply, obviously impressed by his knowledge on the battle but not wanting to show it.
"Well apparently you do know your history," she smiled. "And since you know the battle so well you can give me a four page report on it. Double sided and in meticulous detail. You will also see me after class to arrange your detention."
Great. Just what he needed, more wasted time. Wasn't it enough that he answered her question? He notice motion to his left out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Nadea smirking and shaking her head.
"Shut it, bubblefuck," He spat, not in the mood to deal with her right now. She merely rolled her eyes and went back to taking notes.
Fortunately, the bell rang ten minutes later and everyone packed up their things to leave the class. While Nick would have loved to go back to the dorm room to lay down and cool off for an hour, he reluctantly approached Miss petunia's desk and took the seat that was there to wait for her to talk. Once everyone was out of the class she pulled out her Scroll and finally acknowledged him.
"Mr Eldrien," She began. "Why are you here?"
What a stupid fucking question, you asked me to stay behind, he thought to himself.
"To arrange a detention."
"No," she replied shortly. "Why are you at Haven academy?"
Nick took a moment to respond to this. Did he tell the truth or did he just keep it simple? Finally he decided on simple to get it over with as fast as possible.
"To learn," was all he said.
"To learn? You think not listening in class is learning?" she said incredulously. Nick was about to answer but she cut him off. "Well then, if you want to learn then I suggest you listen to me now Mr Eldrien. It does not matter if you already know what I am teaching, you should still be listening because I promise you, a Huntsman that does not listen or pay attention while on assignment is a Huntsman that does not live very long."
Nick said nothing, hoping that this would be over soon. However, she tapped some button on her Scroll and he saw his student file come up on the screen.
"Now from what I can see here, I am not the only teacher to be having problems with you," She continued. "Sleeping in Mr Pastell's class and an unsavoury attitude in Ms Copper's. In fact the only two classes where you seem to be a model student are Grimm studies and Dust application. I suppose it is a good thing you are attentive to such dangerous topics."
"Those classes interest me," Nick remarked earning a glare from the teacher that somehow made her look even more beautiful.
"Irrelevant," she scolded. "This behaviour cannot continue. It says on your file that you have an interest in the Atlesian Weapons Development Program and with the outstanding amount of time your ID badge shows you in the workshop, it is not hard to believe that this is true."
Nick simply nodded.
"Well I have contacts in those departments and believe me when I say that they would not look favourably upon you should they see this behaviour on your record," She said and took a breath. "You are a smart kid Nick, I do not want to co-sign your expulsion papers but should you continue like this, I will have to give it serious thought."
That one hit him. Expulsion was the last thing he wanted. If he was expelled then he could say goodbye to all his dreams and would have no choice but to return to his village. She seemed to have noticed this because her face softened.
"You will come here tomorrow at twelve to served a two hour detention and I want that report on my desk by Wednesday," she finished, her voice taking on a more pleasant tone. He only gave a nod in response. "You may go." Nick stood up and left the classroom.
Nick thought about the conversation as he walked back to his dorm. While she wasn't wrong on many of the points she made, she also didn't address that forcing him to pay attention during a topic he already knew everything about was stupid when he could be learning something he didn't. He sighed as he walked up to the door to his room and opened it.
The instant he opened it, he was greeted by an unnatural silence. He felt his ears ring in the absence of any other noise and a sense of unease settle over him. It wasn't the first time this had happened since starting Haven and he didn't have to look far for the source. Camea was sat at one of the study tables with her head in her hands, the deep purple of her aura was faintly visible due to the activation of her semblance.
He slammed the door as hard as he could but it produced nothing more than a muffled thud; so instead he went over and tapped her shoulder. She gave a start and the room seemed filled with noise. The sounds of students chatting floated into the room from the courtyard and while he knew that it was no louder than normal, due to the silence before, it sounded like they were shouting right outside the window.
"S-Sorry," Camea stuttered as she usually did when caught doing this. "I was reading and they were being loud." She pulled a book towards her that had clearly not been touched before his arrival.
He didn't bother to call her on this lie. He knew all to well what was going on and he really did not want to deal with it again. The previous times she had done this was in her sleep. While it was more common for her to silence the room a couple of times a week, sometimes she had woke the whole team by making it louder. He remembered a week ago when she had had a nightmare and woke up with a scream that had awoken not just them, but the two teams on either side of their walls.
Nightmares, stress and lack of confidence, though that last one seemed to be getting a little better. He had witnessed his brother exhibit all of these symptoms growing up.
"Whatever," he snorted as he shrugged of his blazer and began to undo the buttons of his shirt. "Where are the others?" He asked after a minute of natural silence.
"They went to meet Alyse," She said while turning to face the other way as he got undressed.
"Fair enough," he replied as he started to pull on his normal clothes, a pair of black jeans, a random t-shirt. He pulled his favourite grey leather jacket from the closet and folded it over his chair for when he inevitably went out later.
"So...," Camea hesitantly began. "Are you still waiting on that part?"
"Yeah," he grunted back. "Soon as they get the new regulator in I can finish the work on your shield. They said it should be any day now."
"Okay," she replied and closed the book she had randomly pulled out earlier. "Well I'm going to get dressed."
"Like I care," He muttered and laid down on his bed and shut his eyes.
He awoke an hour later to the sound of the door opening. He kept his eyes closed in hopes that whoever it was would see he was napping and be quiet; but as usual, his prayers went unanswered. Ella was giggling at something as he felt the bottom of his bed lower from her weight. Something small hit him in the nose and he opened his eyes to see her smiling it him.
"How much trouble did you get in?" She asked.
"Enough," was all he replied.
"Well that's what'ya get for flirting with a teacher," Ella said happily.
"I wasn't flirting," Nick sighed and closed his eyes again, hoping his partner would take the hint and leave him alone. Unfortunately she didn't.
"I know when you're flirting," Ella laughed, vibrating the bed slightly.
"Why would I flirt with a teacher?" Nick reluctantly gave into the conversation.
"You flirt with anyone remotely attractive," He heard from across the room. He looked behind Ella to see Nadea laying on her bed.
"Explains why I don't flirt with you," he threw out instinctively.
"Ignore him Nadea," Ella quickly said as she gave him a hard poke to the shin. He responded by kicking her off his bed. This did little to dissuade her. "I wish I was as beautiful as you."
"Careful, one wrong dust crystal to the face and you might get your wish," Nick jabbed once again.
"Please, like you'd say no if I offered," Nadea shot back.
"Are you offering?" Nick asked, adding an overly hopeful tone to his voice.
"Even if I was, I doubt you could handle it," She replied smugly.
"Wow Nadea, didn't know you were into the rough stuff," Ella teased and stuck out her tongue. All she got was a wink in response that made her giggle.
Nick groaned and decided to cease his attempts at further sleep since they apparently weren't going to shut up. He stood up and stretched his arms out above his head, his fingers almost scraping the ceiling.
"I need your Scroll," He said to Ella. Nick had been using his partners Scroll throughout his stay at Haven since he couldn't afford his own.
"You know you can put in a request for a loaned Scroll from the school like Nadea did right, right?" Ella asked as she pulled her Scroll from the back pocket of her shorts and passed it to him.
"I don't want a single favour from the council," He said shortly. Ella didn't reply but he saw Nadea look away.
Nick called the weapon shop to check on the part he needed while the two girls returned to whatever conversation they had been having. He was in luck, the part he had ordered was finally in and ready to be picked up. He handed the Scroll back to Ella and pulled on his jacket. He had roughly an hour before the store closed and he wanted to get it today so he could finish up the shield modifications tomorrow. He left the room without a word to the others, making sure to grab his student ID, and made his way to the elevator.
Ten minutes, the elevator came to a halt at the fourth stop down the mountain and he stepped out.
This part of the mountain had formed into a large plateau that had been flattened further over the years since Mistral's construction and now served as one big marketplace. Fruit stands and Dust vendors littered the area closest to the elevator but the further back you went into the market, the more niche the stores became. The food stands and dust vendors gave way to weapon stores and general merchants while further back became random stores dedicated to toys or jewellery, random trinkets and supposed mystical items that provided safety or strength. At the end of the plateau was a row of tables lined against a railing that gave a magnificent view of Lower Mistral and if someone leant over the railing itself they would see the supports that had been constructed to ensure the lands stability.
The market place was rather empty as it always was on a Friday night so Nick had no problem moving through the crowd. He walked past one of his favourite dust vendors, nodding his head in acknowledgement to the owner who waved a greeting when he spotted Nick. Unfortunately he didn't need anything from there today and couldn't afford to waste what little money he had left. He quickly found the store he was looking for and approached the counter. A portly man in a green uniform greeted him.
"I called earlier about the dust regulator," He said in a flat voice. It was commonplace for merchants to try and engage you in conversation in an attempt to sell you something you didn't want; but Nick knew that being blunt was a great way to avoid that.
"Ahh yes, Mr Eldrien was it?" The man replied, Nick simply gave him a nod to confirm, his silence a clear indicator that he didn't want to talk. "very good, I will just go and find it for you, please excuse me a moment."
Nick watched as the man walked through a curtain into the back and only then began to check out the rest of the store's stock. Much of the wares he could easily get for free at Haven, whether by the school having its own supply or someone willing to part with an item they didn't need, but he could always use more notepads as he tended to go through them pretty quickly. He leant down and picked up two grey wire bound notepads and was about to return to the counter when he spotted a purple notebook.
The book made him think back to his brother Grante. For Grante's eleventh birthday, their mother had bought him a diary, it was something that Nick knew his brother had treasured ever since even now that he was fifteen. He sighed as he remembered just how much that simple stack of glued together pages had helped the boy by giving him a place to write out all his fears and doubts. He finally resigned to the memory and shook his head while picking up the purple book.
"Here we go," Came a voice from the back and seconds later the uniformed man came back out holding a package. "Would you like the books too?"
He gave a simple nod and flashed his student ID at the man.
"Very well, since the package is already paid for, that will be 30 Lien with your Haven discount," The man smiled and graciously accepted the money that Nick handed him. He carefully handed over the parcel in a brown bag and shoved the money into a drawer under the counter. "Thank you very much for your patronage young man."
Nick didn't bother to nod back this time and quickly made his way back to the elevator.
Later That Night
Nick laid awake on his bed, the sound gentle breathing from his sleeping teammates punctuating the otherwise silent room. He was always the last awake and quite enjoyed being so as it meant he could get some final work done without having the others talk and distract him. However tonight he wasn't doing any work. He had specifically waited for everyone to go to bed before doing about something he needed to do.
He reached into his drawer and pulled out the purple notebook he had bought earlier that night. He also ripped a piece of paper from one his own notepads and grabbed a pen. He laid the paper on his desk and wrote out a few simple words before getting out of bed and walking over to Camea's bedside table. Nick placed the purple book inside the top drawer and slipped the note inside, knowing she would find it in the morning.
With a final sigh, he shut the drawer and went back to bed.
A/N
So I rarely do these notes at the end because I prefer to just allow you to read the chapter and move on, but I'm actually rather happy with this chapter so I hope you enjoyed. If you did then please follow/review as all criticism is welcome and it goes a long way to helping the story get noticed more.