-_Inkling_- the Yazan

✧
☆
☆

Hatched(2nd Stage): [27/04/2019]
3rd Stage: [29/05/2019]
4st Stage: [30/06/2019]



===============================================================================







A cold, windy night. Pure darkness covers the sky, the only light from buildings. Deep into the earth, a Yazan sits, a unfinished scroll in front. Carefully, she forms the letters. She stops, and looks at the other scrolls around her, filled with information about other creatures. In the corner of the room, an egg sits, surrounded by finished scrolls, black curling around a white surface.

A young Yazan readies her tail, her mother beside her. Her tail touches the paper and she quickly lifts it. Her mother whispers words of encouragement and she again readies her tail. Her tail touches the paper and starts to curve the ink. She lifts it with happiness, having made the letter. Her mother smiles.

The young Yazan concentrating on the sketch in front of her. Her tail makes three more strokes before she is satisfied by the draft. Putting that away, her mother enters. The mother walks towards her and smiles at the draft. She opens a scroll and explains the meaning of it. The Yazan nods and continues with the drawing. The mother looks very, very tired. A few more eggs lie in the corner.

[colour=gray]Her story continues.....[/colour]

[colour=silver]===============================================================================[/colour]



The Beasts Academy. It's the greatest school to ever exist in Dryagia. It not only offers higher education to its students, but it allows its students to bond with a wild and untamed mythical creature, otherwise known as a beast. The students train to work as a team, learn to hone their abilities, and other necessary skills. It's a honor to be chosen for the Academy, and every 10 years, children from all over the kingdom gather to the capital to see if they will be called upon to join the next group.

And every decade, I come to watch.

My name is Sterling Rivera, a completely human student. I don't really want to get into the Academy, because I know I'll never get in. Besides, there's much more interesting people out there. But if I did, it'll be like a miracle, a blessing. It'd be the best thing that would ever happen to me. I do think of scenarios where I'm a Chosen. I would think of what kind of beast I wanted, what fighting style we would use. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. It's not going to happen.

Today, they're holding the Choosing Ceremony. I've always been a fan of watching the choosing procedure. It's just fascinating to watch the badges go to the Chosen. I've seen the badges up close before, and one had actually hovered near the person next to me for a while so I had sketched it before it flew away. I've always wondered what made up the badges.

I'm already at the stage where the Ceremony was going to take place, and even though it's pretty early, there's already a crowd. I'm somewhere in the front. Never been so early, since the last time I came, I was extremely late, too busy worried about all the things I probably needed to bring. I did end up squeezing my way to the front.

...

The crowd was pretty excited, and so was I. Despite seeing every single Ceremony before(thanks to tapes my father had of the previous Ceremonies)and after I was born, I still had interest in watching. I wanted to watch how the different Chosen reacted on the stage. People all around me were excitably chatting or nervously shuffling. Somehow, the noise fades away as soon as the Headmaster flies in. She was an elf. She had dark blue eyes and pale, pale blonde hair. It was almost silver. She was old, but that wasn't why her hair was silver. It was more on account that she had wind powers. Her dragon was your average dragon: big, sharp, and intimidating. A lot of the people by me expressed looks of nervousness or admiration. I've always wanted to touch the scales of that dragon, but I knew I would be immediately stopped from even coming close.

Everyone stilled as the Headmaster walked up the steps to the platform. She had a box in her arms. The carvings on the box were enchanting. The figures and creatures etched into the wood moved and danced like they were alive. And on the lid of the box was the school's crest. She turned towards the crowd. "Hello everyone! Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony," She said. "Now some of you have been to one before, and some of you haven't, including the kids who will be chosen today. So, I'll go over what's going to happen." I knew exactly what was going to happen, and I was sure the other kids knew too. I've seen this procedure over and over again. I watch as she opens the box. Lined in a neat pair, are 15 badges. Fifteen kids will be chosen. I look around at the crowd. Their reactions about how little of a chance they had was interesting. I saw the people by me looking around nervously. They all probably wanted someone or themselves to get in. Considering the crowd number, almost none of them would be chosen. I turn my attention back to the stage.

"I'm going to send these badges out into the crowd; they will choose who will be our new recruits for Beasts Academy." Excitable whispering came after her next words. She waited until the crowd was silent. "If you touch or try to stop the badges, they will burn you. Only the kids who are chosen or other Beasts Academy members can touch them." She gave the crowd as a whole a hard look. In previous ceremonies, people had touched the badges anyway. I've always wanted to ask the people who did so, why? I mean, it's not like they didn't know, the headmaster said that they would hurt. But there could be the possibility that they was just stupid and thought that they could just take the badges. After a couple moments, she nodded and smiled. "Then let's start. Good luck to everyone."

She whispers something to the badges, and they rise from their places. They fly up into the sky and circle once around the crowd before going back to the platform. They pause a moment, as if to think, and then each individual goes towards the direction of the Chosen. I stare fixated at one that was pretty near. It was drifting towards its Chosen, who was probably near as well. I feel something nudge me and I turn around. A badge? What was it doing here? Was I blocking it? I move aside. The badge goes back to me. Did it needed to go that way too? I move aside again. It goes to me. I freeze for a few seconds. I hold out my hands, curious. The badge drops lightly onto them.

How stupid was I? Of course I wasn't blocking the badge. The badges knew who to choose and this one decided to choose me. To be honest, I wanted to know why it decided on me. It was like it had a mind of its own. I repress an urge to try to crack it open. I'd probably get kicked out of the Academy the moment I tried. I wouldn't do anything to hinder the opportunity that was lying in front of me. But just to make sure...I glance at the badge. My name was etched into the cool metal. Running the tips of my fingers across the shape of the badge, I try not to get too excited. An angry voice begins yelling. I turn to the noise.

"Forced?!" An elf bristles in anger, "Many would kill for a position like this!" He glares at a human, probably another Chosen. The human looked slightly startled by the elf. Lots of people were looking at them now. He tries to back away slowly.
A half-elf walked over to them. "Can't you be any louder? " She asked, really annoyed. "Angry elves are not a pretty sight, what's happening anyways?" she asked smirking.
The elf snaps his head towards the newcomer, "Who are you ?" He says. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see many of my fellow Chosen walking towards him and the human he was arguing with.
"Oh, no one in particular. Just passing by to find an elf arguing with a human," The half-elf's words elaborating on the fact that one was much stronger than the other. She glanced at the human backing away, "Really? Oh don't be scared," She points to the elf, "It's just an elf, nothing crazy about it...except for maybe the powers...hmm, ehh, never mind, you should be petrified."
"Listen, I don't want to cause any trouble." The human says to the girl. He glances around. The half-elf shrugs.
"Yeah no, you're fine, leave if you want. But I want to interrogate this elf here. Hmm, you know, get to know one of the almighty leaders better." She mocked. I had no idea what she meant by 'almighty leaders'. Was that supposed to be an insult? And how did the human not want this position?! The elf was right, many would kill for this! I calm myself down. I don't know this guy's life. I don't know his reasons for not wanting this. I can't assume things.

I turn towards the stage, wanting to see what the Headmaster thought. She was watching the scene with a bemused expression. She holds her hand up and begins to speak. "Excuse me! Now that the badges have chosen the new recruits, can you all please come up to the platform? I'd like to congratulate and have a word with you all." The first person who walked onto the platform was an elf. To be honest, she looked kinda creepy. As the remaining Chosen come up, including me, the people in the chairs stand up. There were 3 of them, a human, half-elf, and elf. They were older, maybe around 30. No one cared about their age, though. They cared more about the stories they carried with them. The elf had led one of the most successful and respected groups of Chosen. Group Cesaeues was his group's name. I knew, even if our group tried our very best, we could only dream to even quarter what their group had done. I'm not saying that the other Chosen aren't talented at all, it's just that the group was that good. The half-elf was successful, and had done many amazing feats. The human was Vice-Headmaster, one of the only humans who had a high leading position. Some of the Chosen was whispering to each other, some were fidgeting.

The Headmaster stands in front of us. The others stand in a line behind her. She looks and smiles at each of us individually. "Congratulations on being chosen! I'd like you all to know that you are now considered a family of the other members of Beasts Academy as well as to others. You grow very close and loyal bonds with your fellow teammates. Never forget that, even if you may fight sometimes. And yes, arguing will happen." She smiles at some of the kids she saw arguing. She then begins to introduce herself and the others. "My name is Headmaster Fildaerae. The human is Vice Sparrow. The half-elf is Laena, and the elf is Latihea. They will be pinning on your badges."

I look at each of them, the fanboy/fangirl inside of me screaming. The human had short blonde hair and brown eyes. I've always wondered why he had chosen to be Vice-Headmaster instead of a warrior or something of the sorts. I mean, he would be the perfect fighter. A lot of self-proclaimed fangirls loved him. The half-elf seemed carefree and happy. She had black hair and golden eyes. She had a bow strapped onto her back and a dagger in its hilt on her pelt. The elf, Latihea, looked just like her, but his eyes were green instead. There's a lot of theories about them being related, but there really isn't enough decisive evidence to come to a conclusion. He carried no weapons, but I'd heard and read enough stories about him to know he was strong enough magic-wise not to need them. I've never been so close to any of them. Never seen more than flashes of colors and a figure. Headmaster Fildaerae begins to speak again. "Once they pin on your badge, you may leave the stage. I will give each of you an hour to go pack or say goodbye to your friends and family. Please meet back here and we will head to the Academy when everyone is ready." She looks into each of our eyes to make sure we understood before stepping aside and gesturing for the others to start.

I watch as the human walks to the humans, the elf walks to the elves, and the half-elf walks to the other half-elves. I grasp the chance of looking over the other Chosen. The Chosen could be taken from anywhere. It didn't matter if you were poor or whatever people thought, they could be chosen anyway. I sound like a really big hypocrite, saying that anyone could be chosen, and saying I could never. I take their faces into my memory. I don't notice the Vice-Headmaster walking up to me. "Oh!" I snap to attention as soon as he touches me. "I apologize deeply for not paying attention." I bow my head. I hand him my badge. He smiles at me and bows his head as well, pinning my badge before walking to another student. I blink and straighten myself.

"And that concludes our Choosing Ceremony! Thank you for coming," Headmaster Fildaerae says to the crowd. Slowly, the people start to dissipate. I could hear excited and disappointed whispers as the people pass by me. Headmaster Fildaerae , Vice Sparrow, Latihea, and Laena step off the stage. They stand in front of us. "You may now go and pack or do whatever you need to do. If you don't live nearby and you didn't pack," The Headmaster said that with a smile. After my first Ceremony, I hung around the stage for a while, noting which routes the Chosen took. I did follow one to their house, I just had to know where the Chosen came from, how they had so much potential to be Chosen. Though, a lot of them didn't really expect it, so they didn't get to pack. Some lived far away from the capital, so of course the academy had a plan to help those people. "Then you can have your family ship it to the school. For those who leave, please be back in an hour. We will head to the Academy when everyone is ready."

I blink. Well, I thought for a second, I should go home to get some stuff, but I really didn't own much that was personal. My parents were overseas and I didn't really have friends. I usually packed clothes and sketchbooks and all my drawings and papers before heading to the capital, since I would stay there for a couple of days. I glance over at the dragon. He was just sitting there patiently. As well as the dragon, there was a large golden and black roc, a manticore, and a hippalectryon. I start to walk around a bit. I knew where the carriages were, but it was nice taking a quiet walk to gather my thoughts. My first, once unreachable, dream was to have a beast. It didn't matter what kind of beast it was, I wanted a beast. My next dream was to get into the Beast Academy. I knew it would never happen, but apparently a small part of me still kept hope. I smile. Well, now the surprise has worn off, maybe I should actually think about what I could do in the Academy. I needed to map out the entire build-

"Hey!" I snap out of my thoughts. "Hey, Hey, Hey! What'cha doing?"
"What the-" I jump back from the grinning face that was way too close to me.
"Pocket!" A third party joins in. "Don't scare people like that, say sorry."
"Okie doki, Big Brother!" The girl who had crossed my personal boundaries, turns to me, a "I apologize" look on her face. "Soooooooorrrrrrrry." She grins again. "Just kidding!"
"Pocket!" A guy walks over to the girl. "Say it like you mean it." He flashes me a sympathetic look.
"Fiiiiiiiiinnnnne." 'Pocket' pouts. "....Sorry." She looks at the guy. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah, you did fine." He ruffles her hair while smiling. "Sorry about her, she likes to meet people like that. I've been trying to get her to stop doing that." He offers a handshake. "I'm Dami, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too?" I shake his hand. "I'm Sterling." I offer an awkward smile. I'm not a very sociable person.
"Heeeeeyyyyy." Pocket pokes Dami. "I wanted to meet her first!" She pouts again.
"Alright, Pocky." He picks her up. "Here ya go."
"I'm not a kid! Put me down!" The shorter girl hits one of Dami's arms and she falls to the ground. She turns to me. "Since Big Brother already said my name, you probably know it already. But I'm Pocket."
"Uh, I'm actually-" I pause. "I prefer being referred to as a 'them'."
"Oh, sorry. Since your name was Sterling, I thought you were a girl." Dami smiles sheepishly.
"It's fine."
"As fun as you were at the beginning, you're getting boring now." Pocket turns and starts to walk to the carriages. "I'm going find new people."
"Ah, Pocket!" Dami waves goodbye before chasing after his sister. I wave back.

I spent the rest of the hour sketching some of the beasts, tucking a mental image of the creatures into my brain. I had looked up once and saw the creepy elf girl watching everyone. Coughing, I close my sketchbook. Sure, I watch people quite a lot, but I wouldn't stare at them out in the open. Those kind of stares were private. Finally, the Headmaster begins to count the Chosen. "Well, it seems most of us are here. Let's get ready to go. You can put your luggage in the back of the carriage and find a seat," She says. I push myself up and walk over to the last carriage. I noticed they were labeled Carriage 1, 2, and 3. I hop into the first carriage.

I was eventually joined by two half-elves and a human. I hear Headmaster Fildaerae call from outside. "We're going to set out now. The time is 2 currently and the trip will take 2 hours. Laena and Latihea will be flying on their beasts ahead. If you need anything, shout out to them." The carriage jolts forward as the horses begin to move. I watch as the Headmaster, Vice, Latihea, and Laena all walk over to the beasts. They each climb onto their beasts: Headmaster Fildaerae on her dragon, Vice Sparrow on the Roc, Laena on the hippalectryon, and Latihea on the manticore. The Headmaster and Vice begin to fly away. The elf and half-elf fly up into the sky, but stay at pace with the carriages. I look out the window. Now I was Chosen. It was going to be fun to learn everything about my beloved school. I just can't wait.