ic First and Ten

[Thevshi]

Kord Dormitories, First Floor

Claremont Academy, Freedom City, New Jersey

Saturday, September 4, 2021

 

Like the rest of the dormitories at Claremont Academy, the first floor of the Rita Kord Dormitory was a scene of somewhat controlled  chaos. Classes were set to start early next week after Labor Day, so the dorms had opened up this weekend for new and returning students to get moved in.

[Avenger Assembled]

It was terce, mid-morning; or perhaps 10 o'clock in the afternoon when a tall, rangy young man with shiny black hair in a neatly-coiffed pageboy strode into the first floor corridor and set down his duffelbag. "Alas, am I the only wight about?" he called down the corridor, not sounding terribly displeased at the prospect. "Fellows?" he called out, fumbling with his old-fashioned, carefully-wound pocket-watch to make sure of the time. Everyone else seemed to be coming and going to the upper floors, where he'd reluctantly seen off Neko. Tis the appointed hour! he thought as he closed the watch. Perhaps he was simply early. Shrugging, he settled down in the common room and drew his sword, resting it point-first against the floor beneath him as he held it by the short handle. When someone entered, he called "Ho there! Are you the Eagle Infinite?" 

[Thunder King]

A short boy with a long haircut slinked into the room. He had insisted that he needed to enter the school on his own. He carried his scant personal possessions in a second-hand suitcase in one hand, a backpack on his back and a duffel bag in the other hand. He didn't seem to struggle with the weight. When he saw Gawain, he smiled broadly.  He walked towards the other young man and looked upward. 

 

"Greetings, friend! I'm new here as well. Sorry, I'm afraid I'm not an Eagle. I'm a different kind of animal. I must say the world has turned into a fascinating place.  Also everyone seems to have gotten so much taller, I'm still getting used to it."  

 

 

[Avenger Assembled]

Gawain manfully clasped the other boy's hand, then declared, his eyes widening in surprise. "Say, you are unlike many! But I think I wot your kind; I know something of races besides Men. Are you of the Otherworld?" he inquired, looking the new arrival over. "I am Owain, here bearing the second name of Jones as is the style of your people. What is your name, good fellow?" Sword or not, Gawain was dressed in what were obviously old but fitting clothes for these times, a jacket that bulked larger than his lanky frame, and denim jeans that had seem some hard use. 

[Thunder King]

Simon shook his hand firmly "I'm Simon, named after the apostle by my father. I'm not from the Otherworld, but from the past. I was born over two hundred years ago, but I spent most of that time...hm, easier to show than say."

 

At that, he put his bags down and suddenly turned opaque and quite quickly turned into a small black cat with a white spot on it's chest. After a few moments of that, he shifted back into human form and picked up his bags again. "Spent a couple hundred years in the form of a common cat. It was magic I believe."

[Avenger Assembled]

Gawain gasped, eyes going wide. "Enchantment!" He didn't seem bothered by the process of change and restoration, looking Simon over again before saying "A forced transformation is a foul spell indeed. You did well to escape from such a fell sorcery, friend." His face grew serious for a moment. "I dread me sore to think what magic can do in these times, when so few know to protect themselves powers of the Otherworld." He clapped Simon on the arm and said, "I have some mastery of enchantments myself, but only what I was taught by Menw fab Teirgwaedd when I was a boy." He considered, then said, "Two hundred years, eh? I have read something of those times. Did you e'er meet the mighty George Washington, or the first Lady of Liberty?" 

[Spacefurry]

Leon glared daggers at no one in particular was he carried the last box of his belongings from the room he had shared with Luke for the last year, only to drag it all down the hall to another room on the same floor. "Stupid adults think they're soooo funny." He grumbled mentally. "Bet they're havin' a good old laugh."

He sighed as he paused in front of the door to his and Luke's new room. He tilted his head as he noticed the unfamiliar voices from the common room. Opening the door her waved the cardboard box in to land on his bed without looking and closed the door again. He could look for hiding places in the new room later he thought as he stepped into the large common room.

 

His hoodie sported a small cartoon horse with a hourglass design on it, and his jeans were faded. He leaned against the wall as Simon showed off his transformation. He managed not to chuckle at Gawain's manner of speech, like something out of one of his fantasy novels.

"Well now, didn't see you two on the tour." He piped up. "Late arrivals?"

Edited September 5, 2021 by Spacefurry

[Thunder King]

"Greetings! I was welcomed here quite a while ago, so I was not on the tour.  It's a strange place, wondrous, really.  You have some sort of magic, too?" Simon said with a smile.  The future certainly was strange.

 

He motioned to Owain. "He and I are both new here." 

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yes," agreed Owain boisterously. "I missed the tour myself; my friend and I lodge two days out of the week at a sword-school in these parts, so she and I were moving into our rooms there. My friend is Neko," he said with a gesture upstairs, "she rooms on one of the floors for girls. She too has some connection to cat-kind," he said warmly to Simon, "the two of you would no doubt be bosom companions." He clapped Leon manfully on the arm and winked "So, good fellow, what are your sorcerous arts? You can tell us, we all seem to have the gift in this place." 

[Spacefurry]

Leon nodded as the two boys spoke, only raising an eyebrow when Owain clapped him on the arm.

"Well, while there does seem to be more then enough magic wandering around here..."

"Some more of a pain in the butt than others..." He inserted under his breath.

"Mine is less Harry Potter, and more mind over matter."

Leon chuckled as he pulled a piece of paper from inside his hoodie. Holding it by a corner he waved it to show its flimsiness, but then with a quick snap of his wrist he turned it up. The sheet of paper standing up firm and unbending if either of them poked it. After a moment he grins and uses both hand to crumble it into a ball, hiding it in both hands. When he opens them a pristine origami swan sits in his palm. Then, blowing on it gently the paper swan's wings begin to flap and it starts to flutter around in the air.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Ah-hah!" said Owain, his eyes lighting up at Leon's display of power. "Control over parchment, er, paper. I could have used that in my own studies before I came here, let me tell you!" he added warmly. "I have heard of this Harry Potter you speak of, but I have never read any of his books. On the plane here they gave me books by your Walter Scott that Ich might improve my kenning of the tongue of these times." He smiled, then said, "I too have traveled here from a distant age, Master Simon," he said to the cat-boy, "but tis more distant than two centuries." He raised his sword in the air, smiling as the well-polished, well-scarred blade caught the light. "I was born some five hundred and fifty years after the birth of Jesus Christ, in Logres, the fair kingdom that men of your age have dubbed Britain. So this age is full of much wonder for me, you will pardon if I am at times lost." 

[RocketLord]

"Sorry, I was... having some trouble with the room." James peeked out from his room, looking around at the other three. He looked at Leon, before quickly looking at the others. He approached slowly, rubbing his right arm. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans,  "I, err... I'm James. I'm kinda from the, um, other direction on the time stream, I guess."

 

He looked back and forth between them, looking unsure of what to say next.

[Nerdzul]

Luke was late, which of course wasn't exactly unusual. As for the reason why... Well saying goodbye to his family (that lived just a few miles away), after the summer spent back home, proved to be harder than he though. Now, obviously he wasn't going to share that information with anyone of his fellow students though, especially Leon that would probably tease him forever if that was the case. 

So instead, he strolled in with confidence as usual, in sweatpants, an athletic shirt, a red faded ballcap, carrying the large backpack with pretty much all of his possessions on a shoulder. 

 

"Hey, what's up noobs?" He gave the newcomers a playful smile once he noticed the small crowd of kids in the hall. 

 

"James, my man. How is it hangin'?" He grinned and gave a strong (but not too strong) pat on the back to the kid he had met during the orientation. 

 

"Luke here, for those that don't know me already."  He introduced himself. "Your friendly neighborhood dragon. "

 

"Hey roommie... Showing off already I see." He chuckled, giving Leon an high five as his eyes briefly followed the small origami swan that was now flying around the room.

 

[Thunder King]

"...noob?" Simon muttered to himself, confused. 

 

"Greetings, friends. I am Simon, newly come to this school. I was born in 1742, spent 263 years stuck as a common housecat, and..."  At that, Simon again transformed into a cat, shrinking down. He then shifted back.

 

"I realize that I am strange, but I seem to be among strange people." 

[Avenger Assembled]

Owain gave Luke a sharp look, seeming to lose some of his genial disposition for a moment. "Take tent and give good heed, man, we need not seem fearful to each other to seem a man." He considered a moment, then looked at James. "James! Yes, Master James, your name was given to me. I am Owain, Jones in your style, and we are to share a cell." He smiled, not seeming to mean the words with their weight. "We have just been comparing our various talents. Leon here has mastery over parchment, Simon can take the form of a cat, Luke is, ah, chafing us with grim tales," he added diplomatically, "and I am a knight-enchanter in training." 

[RocketLord]

"Ah, Luke!" James visibly jumped when Luke patted his back, quickly shrinking away from him, pulling back towards a wall, making sure no one else was behind him. "Err, hi. Hi, good to see you again, I guess."

 

He kept an eye on Luke, before his attention was diverted towards Owain. James crossed his arms, looking at Owain, then paused like he was listening to something and got a horrified expression on his face, before turning his head and looking down, towards his back. "No! They're perfectly fine. I-I don't think we should worry. They're j-just being friendly." James paused, looking at the others like he realized what he had been doing, then turned back.

 

"Sorry, there's... Sorry, it's good to meet you. I'm, uh, I guess I'm from the future. Err, your future. I got... this armor, I guess?"

[Spacefurry]

On 9/6/2021 at 6:31 AM, Nerdzul said:

"Hey roommie... Showing off already I see." He chuckled, giving Leon an high five as his eyes briefly followed the small origami swan that was now flying around the room.

 

Leon chuckled at Luke's comments and grinned. "Always."

He gave James a friendly nod and two finger salute as the other boy joined the gathering. "Hey, James."

Catching the paper swan and stuffing it into his pocket as Owain made introductions with James. Leon slipped over to the couch and dropped on to it, giving a Luke a smirk at Owain's disbelief. "Don't go shattering his beliefs in here. There isn't enough room." He chuckled.

 

On 9/6/2021 at 10:54 AM, Thunder King said:

"I realize that I am strange, but I seem to be among strange people." 

 

"You have no idea." Leon smirked, but tried to reassure Simon. "You'll get use to it."

 

9 hours ago, RocketLord said:

James crossed his arms, looking at Owain, then paused like he was listening to something and got a horrified expression on his face, before turning his head and looking down, towards his back. "No! They're perfectly fine. I-I don't think we should worry. They're j-just being friendly." James paused, looking at the others like he realized what he had been doing, then turned back.

 

"Sorry, there's... Sorry, it's good to meet you. I'm, uh, I guess I'm from the future. Err, your future. I got... this armor, I guess?"

 

Leon looked at James then back at Simon, and thumbed at James and chuckled.

"Like that, you'll get use to things like that."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hmmm." Owain looked around at the other boys for a moment, giving Luke a definite suspicious look, then focused on James. "The future, eh? I myself was born some fifteen hundred years before the present," he said with a too-easy laugh, "so all of this is the future to me! A pleasure to meet you!" He gave James a firm thump on the back, then said, "So what do you like to do in the future? Race...flying cars?" he hazarded. "And what brought you to these no-doubt benighted-in-comparison times?" 

[Nerdzul]

"Hey nice to meet you man." Luke chuckled and smiled sincerely as he saw Simon transforming into a cat and back in front of his eyes. Now he was a shapeshifter himself in a way so perhaps he should have been accustomed to these kinds of things, yet he couldn't avoid to be somewhat amazed anyway. 

"And woah, three hundred years old? I mean aren't you a bit too old for school." He teased. "You must have a lot of stories." He grinned.  Admittedly he did know someone else that came from ages past, even before the time when Simon was apparently born, in fact, he was actually dating her, yet as far as he had understood it, Muirne hadn't actually lived through all these centuries. "And like the other said... don't worry you'll see plenty of strange around here... Although no-one I know have been a cat for so much..."  

 

He frowned and gave Owain a puzzled look when it was his turn to talk. "Not seem what to be what ?" He shrugged. Whatever. 

 

The young man grinned again at his roomie's words. "Yeah I really am too big for this place." He chuckled, his eyes did flare of golden light though.  

 

He did offer James an "Nice to see you too mate." Even as he saw the young man shy away a little. Whatev- 

 

"One from the future two from the past. We got all bases covered." He grinned, at least himself and Leon were from the present (well, he wasn't exactly sure admittedly given that his egg could have been snatched from the past as far as he knew, but then again, good enough.)

 

"'So are you guys enjoying the 21st century?" Then he turned to face Leon.

 

"I guess we are gonna show them around a little..." The grin on his lips suggested that perhaps he did have some mischief in mind on the matter.

Edited September 10, 2021 by Nerdzul

[RocketLord]

James rubbed his arm again, staying with his back to the wall.

 

"Not really race, no. At least I didn't." He stopped to think for a moment. "It's... it's kind of like now, I guess? There's a lot of super heroes, all organization into Freedom Legions, and I kinda ended up here while fighting an Aliengator. They're big, strong and... kinda scary." James shrunk a bit into himself again. "I'm... I don't really know how to m-make it home, b-but people have been nice here, at least." 

[Avenger Assembled]

Owain looked sympathetically at James, his tone of voice noticeably modulating. "I ask your pardon, friend; I bourded too broad. It is my nature." Ah, this poor fellow. To be such among many bernes bold is a burden indeed. "Come," he offered, "let us find our room and unpack what is ours." He bent down and scooped up his bag, fastening his sword over his back. "What manner of beast is an 'aliengator'?" he inquired. "I have hunted beasts of Logres myself, but never anything greater than a wild boar..." 

[Spacefurry]

On 9/10/2021 at 7:28 AM, RocketLord said:

James shrunk a bit into himself again. "I'm... I don't really know how to m-make it home, b-but people have been nice here, at least." 

 

"Well there's always the long way back." Leon chuckled and almost immediately regretted. The grin draining from his face.

"I'm sorry man." He sat up on the couch and gave James a sympathetic look. "That was pretty cold, even for me."

Leon stood up and walked over to the boy from the future. He offered a hand. "There are a lot of heroes out there. Plenty of super smart ones too. Maybe someday you'll find one that can get you home."

Putting an arm around James' shoulders. "Until then, mi time period es tu time period." Leon grinned at his own joke then pointed at Luke.

 

On 9/9/2021 at 12:56 PM, Nerdzul said:

"I guess we are gonna show them around a little..." The grin on his lips suggested that perhaps he did have some mischief in mind on the matter.

 

"And that sounds like a man with a plan." Leon chuckled. "Owain's right though. You guys should get settled in before we get you in trouble, I mean show you around." He grinned at his roommate mischievously.

He glanced over at Owain. "By the way, didn't you say something about a girl arriving with you? She cute?" He asked moving away from James to give the boy some breathing room. He approached the public board to check the posted room assignments, frowning that they only showed the room listings for the first floor.

"Don't think I've met your roomie Simon." He commented off-handedly. "Hey Luke, you met this Sharaf kid?"

Edited September 13, 2021 by Spacefurry

[Thunder King]

"I believe he's new to this, too. As for me, I'm not worried about going back. I was living on the streets, barely getting by, working my fingers to the bone just to get a meal. Here I'm in better, cleaner company and I haven't gone to bed hungry yet. Much better. Though I imagine further into the future is even more intriguing and, unlike me, you probably have people to get back to." 

He shrugged. "I know nothing of my roommate, but I assume he's a good fellow, all of you are" 

[RocketLord]

"It, I mean the, the Aliengators, they're... They're aliens I guess? Big, much bigger than a man, looks like a bipedal alligator. There's, well, a lot of them. A swarm. Lucky only one came through. I'm not really sure where they took it." He paused briefly. "You... um, I did have some issues with the room," James offered after Owain offered to find their room and get settled, after he had accepted Leon's hand and shook it.

 

And the room, well... James did say he had some issues.

 

Most notably with a burnt mark at in the ceiling and several scratches along the walls.

 

"Sorry, the armor kind of acted up a bit."

Edited September 14, 2021 by RocketLord

[Avenger Assembled]

Owain looked up at the burn mark on the ceiling, eyes narrowing for a moment. "Hm." He set down his duffel bag on the nearby bed, his sword alongside it, and turned to take stock of the room. "This may not have the luxuries of the palaces of the future," he offered James gently, "but twill be a fine enough place for the likes of us, I allow." He removed a few books from his bag that James could just make out, the Douay-Rheims Bible in English and Latin, HG Wells' A Short History of the World, and put them away on the room's bookshelf. "I came to this age by the magic of the Green Knight, so that we might repel the Saxon hordes that once again threatened Britain. I spent only a short time there." When his books were arranged, he sat down with his sword, removed a rag, and began to polish the blade. "You will find me at prayer at times during the day. I would welcome you if you wish to join me, but I know that the Church is - not what it was in these times, much less in your own." He frowned, then said, "But perhaps I presume too much. When the people of the future pray, whose Name do they speak?"