Rutan couldn't believe his eyes the next morning when he Saw Silver and Razor coming down for Breakfast, a bit tired but cheerful. By this time Silver and Razor were looking back on their encounter with the Blood Beast as an excellent adventure and they were quite keen to have another one. Once they sat down Silver filled Razor in on his theory about the Nameless package "It's either really valuable or really dangerous" "Or both". They kept theorizing but they didn't have much to go on except it was two inches in size. Antione didn't have any interest in the Blood Beast beside making sure he was staying away from it. Coral meanwhile was refusing to talk to Silver or Razor but considering their opinions on her they didn't see this as a drawback. All the two were interested in now was getting back at Rutan which thankfully came a week later.

The Flickys came I during breakfast as always however something caught a lot of people's attention this time. One package was so large it was being carries by six flickys. Silver was amazed when the parcel was gently dropped in front of him. Before he could react a seventh flicky dropped a letter on top of it. Silver opened the letter first, which was lucky because it said:

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.

It contains your new Blue Star board,

but I don't want everybody knowing you've

got an Extreme Gear or they'll all want one.

Khan will meet you tonight on the

Sky Chase pitch at seven o'clock for your

first training session.

Professor Echo the Dolphin

Silver couldn't hide his glee, he handed Razor the note who had a similar reaction "A Blue Star. I've never even touched one". They grabbed the package and ran out of the hall quickly to unwrap it. However once they made it to the stairs they found them blocked by Rutan and his gang. Rutan grabbed the package and felt it "This is an Extreme Gear board" he threw it back at Silver "First years aren't allowed them". Razor couldn't resist "It's not any board. It's a Blue Star. What is it you have, Rutan? A Red Rock? Those are flashy but they aren't in the same league as the Blue Star". Rutan glared at him "And how would you know, Razor? You couldn't afford the wrapping paper. I bet your brothers had to save up for their boards nut by bolt". Chuck suddenly appeared "Not fighting I hope, boys" "Silvers' been sent a board, Professor" "Oh, yes, that's right". Charles was beaming at Silver "Professor Echo told me about the special circumstances. What model is it?". Silver desperately tried not to laugh at Rutan's horrified face "A Blue Star, sir". The two managed to get away and burst into laughter the moment they were out of ear shot but then "I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking the rules". They saw Coral had followed him "I thought you weren't speaking to us" Silver said with Razor adding "Feel free not to stop" she left with her nose held up high. Silver had a hard time caring about his lessons the rest of that day. All he could think about was the board hidden under his bead. He scoffed down his dinner that night not even paying attention to what it was. He rushed back to the common room with Razor and finally unwrapped it. It was a sleek blue board that they both admired.

As seven o'clock drew nearer, Silver left the castle and set off towards the Sky Chase pitch in the dusk. He'd never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the pitch so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Silver of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high. Silver was too eager to wait for Khan and immediately started flying around the pitch on his new board. It was a feeling like no other, he was zooming through hoops, circling the pitch, flying around the high towers. The board reacted to his slightest movement "Hey, Silver, come down!" Khan said finally arriving with a large crate. Silver easily landed impressing Khan "Nice. I see what Echo meant. I'm just gonna teach you the rules today. You'll practice flying with the rest of the team". He started to open the crate "Right. Now, Sky Chase is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers". Silver would occasionally repeat what Khan said to ensure he remembered. Khan took out a brown ball "So, this one's just a normal ball. The Chasers try to get the ball through one of the hoops to score a gaol. 10 points every time". Silver nodded following easily "So it's like basketball" "What?" "Never mind". Khan nodded "There's a Keeper. I'm the one for us. I fly around and try to stop the other team scoring". Silver nodded "Got it. What are those?" two spiked balls started struggling against restraints in the case. Silver's eyes widened which made Khan chuckle "Don't worry. The spikes are for show" he pinched one and showed it was made of foam "They're called Thunderballs. Stand back".

Silver did and Khan released one of the Thunderballs which shot upward "Here" Khan threw Silver a bat. Silver realised why when the Thunderball pelted back towards him. Silver hit it as hard as he could "Not bad. You would have made a fair Beater". When it came back Khan wrestled it to the ground and managed to get it back in the case "So, those fly around and try and knock people off their boards. The beaters' job is to protect their team from the Thunderballs and hit them towards the opponents. Mighty and Ray are ours". Silver nodded again "Uh, have they ever killed anyone" he hoped it sounded off hand. Khan shook his head "Never at Soleanna. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse. Now, you're our Seeker which means you don't have to worry about any of these" "Unless the Thunderball takes my head off" "Don't worry. Mighty and Rey are the best". Khan took out a final object, a small blue metal moth with yellow wings "This is called the Ga. It's the most important object in the game. It's fast and difficult to see. It's the Seekers job to catch it. You've got to weave through everything in your way to get it before the other Seeker does. The team that catches it wins the game. The game doesn't end until they do or it can go on for ages. I think the record's three months. Kept having to bring in substitute players". The Ga flashed a red light in between it's wings "It'll do that occasionally to help you find it. Keep your eyes open". They didn't practice with the Ga though. For their first lesson Khan threw golf balls in every direction from his board which looked like a floating cloud. Silver attempted to catch the golf balls and didn't miss a single one which delighted Khan. They had to eventually stop because it got too dark so they headed back up to the "That cup will have our name on it this year for sure. You're as good as Rotor and he could have played in the big leagues if he didn't go chasing dragons".

Perhaps it was because he had Sky Chase lessons three times a week as well as his piles of homework but Silver couldn't believe it when he realised he had been at Soleanna for two months. His lessons were getting more interesting now that they had mastered the basics. On Halloween Chuck announced that they were ready to make things fly, something they had been dying to do every since they saw him whiz Griffin around the room. They were put into pairs, Silver was with Larry Lynx while Razor was paired with Coral. Silver couldn't tell which of them was more annoyed by this pairing. Chuck gave each of them a feather and spoke before they began "Now, remember, each of your amulets works differently but they all have the same basic rule. Keep in rhythm with your words". Of few of them found this easy, they had small swords or sticks which meant their movements were a simple swish and flick movement. Silver had more difficulty as he was half trying not to look stupid by waving his hands about frantically. Razor was having the same problem "Wingardium Leviosa" "You're saying it wrong. It's Winggar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long" Coral told him. Razor rolled his eyes "You do it then if you're so clever". Coral took a breath and put her mouth to her flute. The words came out of the flute in a musical tone, Coral's fingers on the flute moved in tune with the words. Chuck watched as their feather rose up towards the roof "Oh, well done. See here everyone. Miss Coral's done it!". Larry seeing this seemed to understand and got back to his "Wingardium Leviosa" he kept repeating until his feather burst into flames shocking Chuck who was mid praise for Coral. Silver watched his shocked partner covered in ash "I think we're going to need another feather over here, Professor".

As class finished Razor left with Silver, Larry and Marcos "You're saying it wrong. Make the gar nice and long. She's a nightmare, honestly. No wonder she hasn't got any friends". They laughed but then someone pushed past them. Silver heard quiet sobs as Coral rushed past trying to get away from them. They all stopped "I think she heard you" Silver said feeling guilty.

Coral didn't turn up at their next class or the rest of the afternoon. On their way down to the Halloween Feast they overheard Lyco telling her friend Undina that Coral was in the girl's bathroom crying and wanted to be left alone. Razor felt bad about this but when they entered the Great Hall and saw all the food and decorations they'd be ashamed to admit Coral had left their minds. Silver was getting through his third plate when Suguna suddenly came sprinting in with terror etched on his face "Kraken in the dungeon! Kraken in the dungeon!". Everyone stared at him as he said "Thought you ought to know" before fainting. All the students started panicking at once and went for the door. If Silver had been thinking clearer he'd be worrying about Suguna getting trampled on "SILENCE!". Everyone stopped and looked to the front table at Locke "Everyone would please not panic. Prefects return your house to the dormitories". Hamlin was in his element "Follow me. First years, this way. No need to fear the Kraken if you follow my orders". Silver didn't know too much about Krakens "How'd it get in?" he asked Razor who he hoped knew more. Razor just shrugged "Couldn't have been on its own. Krakens are really stupid. Probably Charmy playing a Halloween joke". As they headed down the corridor Silver grabbed Razor's arm "Coral! She doesn't know!". They both immediately separated from the rest of the group and ran out of sight. They knew their way around well enough now to head in the right direction. As they turned a corner they heard footsteps and took cover. Coming around however wasn't Hamlin like they expected but Infinite. He crossed the corridor and disappeared "What's he doing here? Why isn't he with the rest of the teachers?" "Search me?" "That's the way to the third floor, isn't it?" Silver asked. But they didn't have time to wonder this as they heard a rumble ahead. They ran further until they saw the giant purple monster "I think it's left the dungeon" Razor said with a gulp. They saw where it was going, into the girl's bathroom.

Coral finally came out of one of the stalls wiping her still red eyes. She then had a new reason to cry as standing in front of her was the large very angry looking Kraken. It tried to swing its claws at her but she managed to duck. The swing destroyed the stalls. Coral screamed and crawled towards the furthest corner. It was about to strike when a piece of debris hit it on the head. It turned and saw Razor and Silver throwing things at it "Oi, pea brain!". The Kraken charged forward and grabbed Silver. It pulled him close to his face and sniffed him. Silver pushed against its face to try and get free but the Kraken just started shaking him "DO SOMETHING!". Razor looked lost "What?" "ANYTHING!". Razor looked to Coral who was frozen in fear. He had to do something, he raised his hands and yelled the first spell that came to mind "Wingardium Leviosa". A large piece of the wall that the Kraken had broken off flew upwards and then in an instant dropped onto the creature's head. The Kraken swayed on the spot before falling to the ground with a quaking thud. Silver got to his feet as Razor still had his hands out staring at what he had just done. Coral was finally broken out of her fear and stood up staring at the creature "Is it… dead?". Silver got closer and saw it breathing "No, just knocked out". He tried to wipe the dust off his chest when he realised his gloves were covered in the Kraken's snot "Urgh". A moment later the doors slammed open revealing a shocked Echo followed by Infinite and Suguna who gave a whimper on seeing the Kraken. Silver had never seen Echo so angry. She spoke with a cold fury "What on Mobius were you thinking? You're lucky to be alive". Silver realised Razor still had his hands up and quickly made him drop them.

He then noticed Infinite giving him a piercing look. Before he could answer a trembling voice said "Please, Professor, they were looking for me". Echo couldn't hide her surprise "Miss Coral" "I… I read about Krakens, I thought I could handle it on my own. But I was wrong. If Silver and Razor hadn't found me I'd probably be dead. They didn't have time to get anyone". Silver and Razor did their best to look like this story wasn't new to them. Echo struggled for words "Well.. In that case… Miss Coral, you foolish girl!" Coral hung her head. Silver couldn't believe it, Coral lying to a teacher, it was like seeing Infinite suddenly handing out sweets. Echo continued "Miss Coral, I'm very disappointed in you. Five points will be taken from the Shinobi. Now, if you're not hurt you'd better go back to your dormitory. The houses are finishing the feast there". Coral left and Echo directed her attention to Silver and Razor "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown Kraken and live to tell the tale. You each win Shinobi five points. Professor Locke will be informed of this. You may go". The two did and didn't say a word until they were two floors up "It was good of Coral to take the fall like that. Mind you, we did save her" Razor said. Silver eyed him "Maybe we wouldn't have needed to if you hadn't insulted her". They reached the dormitory and found the rest of their house eating what was brought up from the feast. Coral however was alone waiting for them by the door. There was an awkward silence and then they all said at once "Thanks" while looking at the floor. The three then hurried to get food but from that moment on Coral the Betta was their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot Kraken is one of them.