Alex, Red and Tom had their weapon lists, but they had no time to collect them. Their next class started in fifteen minutes in a field on the other side of the Combat Arts building.
They took their time making their way. Along the way they chatted about what happened in each of their groups and how they did on each test.
"You can't go a day without causing a misunderstanding can you?" Red asked with a chuckle.
"At least this time he was able to clear it up. Give him some credit, he is finally learning to clean up his own messes." Tom couldn't help himself and had to pile on. This bad habit of Alex's had really frustrated him over the years.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Alex was even laughing as he said this. "Well, at least I met a class mate."
"Looks like Alex has an interest in this girl!" Tom was genuinely surprised. Alex had never shown any interest in girls in the past.
"That isn't the problem. The problem is who would ever like looking into that face." Red commented.
Both Tom and Red walking for a moment. Alex noticed after a couple steps and turned around to see why they stopped. When Alex turned around both Tom and Red were staring at his face and making strange faces.
Tom and Red met each others gazes for a moment and seemed to nod in agreement. Walking up to Alex, on either side. They placed their hands on his shoulders.
"Don't worry, nothing can be done about it anyway." Tom said with a shake of the head and a somber tone.
"He is right. No use dwelling on it friend." Red mirrored Tom's tone.
They stepped past Alex and began laughing uncontrollably.
Alex turned and squinted at the two jesters. This was all the warning they needed or got.
Soon, three students could be seen running past the Combat Arts building. Two were struggling mightily for breath, as they somehow managed to laugh hysterically and run at the same time. Behind them was a large, burly looking man with tan skin and silvery hair.
By the time the trio made it to the field for the next class Tom couldn't continue on and collapsed into a heap of heaving, sweating, and laughter.
Red was right by his side not nearly as winded, but laughing twice as hard. Red honestly did not think he had every laughed this hard in his life. He could feel his diaphragm heaving with each laugh. He only regained control when the spasms from the laughter caused too much pain.
It was then that Red noticed Alex was no longer scowling. Alex just stood with a wide eyed stare and pointed at Tom. Red turned to look at what Alex was pointing at. When he saw it he couldn't help but begin to back away.
Tom was still on the ground breathing heavily. Every once in a while a laugh would still escape his lips. His eyes were closed. He was trying to control his breathing when he noticed the silence. Confused, he opened his eyes. What he saw transfixed him.
Standing only a foot from his head was a girl. Curly brown hair created a golden brown halo from the sun overhead. Her gaze was intense and it held him. Her robes blew gently in the wind. They were the normal ones given to all of the students. They were black with brown leather cuffs, collar, and lapel. Tom had made fun of the ridiculous, student robes, when he was first given them. But on her he felt differently about them. It was like matching a painting with the perfect frame.
"I said, what do you think you are doing!" From the angry tone Tom could tell it was asked more than once. Poor Tom could only stammer as he moved to stand.
"I am sorry, he simply collapsed after I chased him. He didn't mean any offence." Alex said, trying to calm the angry little woman.
She looked from Tom to Alex a few times before deciding on staring at Alex. He gaze was still irritated, but now it was slightly unsure.
"Fine, I suppose. Take it as my apology for what happened in the strength test." She said with a nod as she made to turn.
"Wait!" Tom was not thinking. He just didn't want her to leave. He called out by instinct.
She turned back. Slightly more irritated then before. "Yes?"
"I... I..." He didn't know what to say. Tom wasn't even sure why he had just called out to her. "I just wanted to apologize myself for my inconsiderate actions. I did not see you there."
Tom's willingness to admit his fault and apologize seemed to sooth her nerves slightly. "Thank you." She said, with a slight smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Before she could leave Tom spoke again. "Might I know your name? I mean, since we are classmates and we have just met." A slight blush found its way onto Tom's face.
"Why don't we start. Everyone calls me Red." He said with a nod.
"Alexander Samson."
"Yes, and I am Tom. Tom Haventon." Tom was a mess. Between the blush, sweat, dirt and anxiousness he was in complete disarray.
She simply smiled at Tom. "Eveline. Eveline Jeffries." Nice to meet you all. She then turned around, with a smile on her face, and walked away. A small blue, seemingly glowing, chicken followed after her.
Alex was not sure what surprised him more: The fact that there was a glowing blue chicken following her. The fact that, somehow, she beat them here. The fact that Tom obviously had a crush. Or the fact that he might actually have a shot.
Alex placed a hand on his friends shoulder and said seriously. "Good luck man. But let me warn you now. She has a fiery temper."
"Of course she does! You cant form a beautiful gem like her with out some pressure and heat now can you!" Tom seemed offended by Alex mentioning anything negative about Eveline.
"Okay, okay, no need to get upset. We get it. She is off limits. Calm down." Red's smile disarmed Tom and they all seemed to remember that they were waiting for class to start. Just now, the rest of their class mates were arriving.
"Seriously though. How did she get here before us?" Alex asked the other two.
They could only shake their heads in puzzlement.
Red noticed someone walking toward them from across the field. She wore tight fitting leather armor. She also had a rapier and a bandoleer of throwing knives equipped to her hip and across her chest, respectively.
With confident steps she walked across the field, her copper eye patch would glisten from time to time.
She reached the class, exactly on time. "I am professor Sendra Alabaster. I will be teaching you about spirit animal training. For those of you lucky, or smart, enough I will also be your scouting instructor." As she finished A giant bird silently landed beside her.
The bird was obviously a Hawk. It was over four feet tall. Its enormous talons could carve granite. But none of the students were looking at the birds feet. The hawk had three colors in its feathers, gold, white and yellow. They seemed to be no pattern to which colors were what color. The only exception was the feathers that made up the outline of its wings. Each of these glowed with the soft sunlight of a clear morning sky. This was a Solar Hawk.
Seeing the animal for the first time, Alex did not know the name. But it did answer his question about how that boy had been burned the day before.
Alex would have felt embarrassed about feeling intimidated by this pair of contracted partners, if it weren't for the fact that everyone else in the class was feeling the same way.