Chapter 6: Drop Off

Hothead:

"Uhhh," I start, looking out the window of the room. As far as I can see, there is nothing but sand, sand, and sand dunes, all under a light-blue full moon and stars-filled night. "Should we be concerned that it's nighttime now?"

"What," Alodia says with crossed arms and legs. "Are you afraid of the dark?"

"It's not the dark I'm afraid of," I reply. "It's the Wild desert and every animal in it that concern me. Concern me! Not scared me! The only thing that scared me is when people cry."

"What!"

"I'm scared of crying people but only because they make me very uncomfortable! I'm not actually scared of them. Also, I'm not big on being freezing cold."

"Could've fooled me," Alodia says. I look at Alodia but she's not even looking at me. Instead, she's checking something on her wrist. I roll my eyes and shake my head.

Jump:

"Do you have any experience with desert survival," I ask. I look out the window and see the academy's private desert. It's a literal sea of sand and a lot bigger than the forest back in Norwood.

"A little," my roommate answers. I turn away from the window and look at her. "Most of the time, when I go out into the Wild, it's usually a woodland area. Like a forest."

"Hey, same here," I say, laughing and pointing at myself. "Hey, I've just realized something. You and I haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Eimear but my two best friends called me Jump."

"Jump?"

"Yeah. It's a nickname, given to me by one of my friends. We, well I, called him Hothead. Honestly, I like the nicknames. What's your name?"

"Uhh," the girl mutters while stroking her long black hair. "Uhh. My name is Clementine."

"Well, hello Clementine," I say. I get up from my seat and walk over to Clementine. I then offer her my hand. "I hope we can become friends."

I nod my head and smile. Clementine seems a bit hesitant to shake my head but after a few minutes, she too nods her head and smiles. She then lightly shakes my hand. With that, I return back to my seat.

"So Clementine, you said you have a little experience with desert survival?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have any advice for me?"

Shocker:

As I re-enter the room, I take off my shoulder bag and put it in an empty seat. Taking the empty seat right next to it, I open my bag and pull out some tools. With the tools, I start to work on my metal gauntlets.

"That's a smart thing you're doing," Alice says. I look up and reply with both a smile and a nod of my head. Alice stares at me as I work on my gauntlets. While looking at me, she reaches into her own bag and pulls out what looks like a sniper rifle. The sniper rifle is purple and had a sight on top of it. Alice lays the gun across her lap and starts to work on it.

"Hey," she says after a few minutes. "Do you have a plasma cleaner I can borrow for a little bit?"

I search my bag and find my plasma cleaner. Handing it over to Alice, she takes the cleaner and uses it to clean the inside of her weapon.

"Thanks," she says. Alice tries to give me the plasma cleaner back but I put up my hand and shake my head. I then point to Alice's rifle.

"What? What is it?"

I shake my head and get up. As I walk over to Alice, I put up both of my hands. Carefully and gently, I slowly take the rifle from Alice. Thankfully, Alice lets me have it. Dropping to a knee, I point to the rifle's trigger and the chamber. I then point to the plasma cleaner in Alice's hand.

"Oh," Alice says with a smile. "You're saying I should clean more than just the barrel. You're right. Thank you again for the cleaner."

I nod my head and give Alice her rifle back. While she cleans the trigger, I return to my seat and adjust the sliding metal plates of my gauntlets. While the two of us are working on our weapons, the speakers above us come on, and the Headmaster's voice is heard.

"Attention all students," Headmaster Noah starts. "Please leave your bags in your room and come to the traincraft's hull immediately. Also, do not forget your weapons."

Alice and I look at each other before we leave our rooms.

"Hey," Alice says as we walk side-by-side. "Best of luck."

Once more, I nod my head As Alice and I walk down the hallway, it quickly becomes crowded with other students. Before Alice and I are separate, I shoot out my fist. Thankfully, Alice understands what I'm going for. She shoots out her own fist and we both pound it before splitting.

Headmaster Noah:

As the traincraft's hull is quickly filling up with the new transfer students, I adjust my glasses. It takes only a few minutes before all the students are here. Once they are here, I turn to my fellow assistant headmistress.

"Amaya," I say.

"Yes Headmaster Noah," Amaya says, stepping forth.

"Are the pods ready?"

Dressed in a white shirt and black skirt and with long blond hair tied into a single ponytail, assistant headmistress Amaya brings up her own holo-display. She checks the screen before answering me.

"Yes, they are," Amaya answers. "All pods are functional and are ready."

"Excellent, Please bring them up."

"Of course."

With the push of a holographic button, Amaya activates the pods. One by one, tall, metal pods shoot out from the hull's metal floor. As they shoot out, they unleash a little bit of smoke before the glass doors swing open.

"Thank you," I say.

"You're welcome, sir."

She steps back while I step forward. As my feet hit the metal staircase, the sound echoes and grabs the attention of all the students. Their eyes all turn to face me even before I reach the top of the platform.

"Hello, students," I start. "Your first test begins now. In my personal opinion, the greatest partners and teams are forged in the field. Here, in our private desert, your year-long partnership and teams, and possibly for the rest of your lives, will be forged."

I stop talking and reach into one of my pockets. I pull out a small game piece and show it to everyone.

"You, along with your team, a maximum of only 4, will travel to a ruined temple North of here. There, you will have game pieces similar to this one in my hand. Each member will pick on. Choose carefully. Once you have your chosen game pieces, you will receive coordinates to where you will be picked up. Now, all students, please step into an ejection pod."

One by one, all of the students quickly step into an ejection pod. All except one. One student slowly steps into his. As he steps into it, the glass door closes.

"Uhh, excuse me," the student, a young boy with very short blond hair says while tapping the glass. "Uhh, I have a question."

"Not yet," I say, walking down the platform. As I walk down and away from the platform, I walk into the middle of the room and surround myself with all the new students. "Take this advice I am giving to all of you. Do not 'pick' your partner or your team. Let the Wild pick them for you."

With that said, I turn to assistant headmistress Amaya and give her a nod. Amaya nods back and pushes another button on her holo-display. As she pushes the button, the first set of pods shoots out, dropping the students into the desert below.

"What is it that you wanted to ask," I say, turning to the student.

"Yeah," the student says, still tapping his glass door. "Uhh, do these pods have anything like parachutes? Because I'm looking around and I don't see one. Oh, wait! Are they going to land gently below?"

"No," I answer. "The pods will open halfway down. Afterward, you will need to get down yourself."

"What! Wait, you're kidding! Right? There's no way you would just eject us halfway while we're still in mid-air! Right?"

I turn my head as five more pods are shot into the desert below. The students must have noticed too because now, he is throwing himself against the glass door.

"Calm down," I say, "You will be fine."

"How sure are you of that," the student asks.

"About seven percent," I answer with a shrug of my shoulder.

"Only seven percent," the student repeats. His pod then ejects.

I walk over to a small window in the wall of the hull. Looking outside, I see all of the pod openings.

"What a strange student," I say, turning to walk with the assistant headmistress.