Creatures of Snow (7 page)

Sure, she was nervous, but
that was well outmatched by the surge of excitement that coursed
through her. No one from the Pit had ever been accepted into the
Arche Academy, let alone be accepted into a special program that
got them inside REALM as well. Now here she was, about to take the
first step out of the rotting hole she called home and into the
clean comfort of the esteemed school.

Sara made her way down the
broken sidewalk towards the edge of town, where the one and only
transport stop sat, neglected, for over ten seasons.

“Oi,” She yelled at the
lump of a person strewn across the graffiti covered transport
bench, as she approached. “Outta here, scrounger.”

The bum’s face, dark with soot and grime,
turned with a scowl, “This is my place girl, find yer own.” but his
scowl turned up slightly as he smiled a perfectly rotted mouth in
her direction. “Oh now, fancy clothes for a Pitty. You must be
headin’ somewhere.”

Sara bent down as far as she dared before
the stench of the man filled her senses. She forced herself to lean
forward so that the dim light of the sun could catch her glaring
eyes. “I am. And you can’t stop me Officer, I have papers.”

The man laughed lightly
and sat up. His appearance changed once he was upright and the
smell dissipated. He was now a clean, middle aged man, and in a
street beat uniform of the Governmental Law Enforcement. “Can’t
fool a True Blood, can I.”

She stood up to her full height and gave him
her most menacing grin, “We see with eyes unclouded by crappy
illusions.” She looked him up and down as he stood, “So the
Government has gone so far as to spy on us then?”

The Officer shrugged, his manner loose and
casual. “We’re only monitoring the comings and goings.”

She guessed his lax attitude was what landed
him one of the worst assignments ever.

“
You’re
actually the first local I’ve
encountered.”

She could hear the
transport rumbling in the distance, “You’re lucky then.” She swung
the pack off her shoulder and let it drop to the ground as she sat
down on the bench. “You don’t have to have eyes like mine to see
you were a fake, just a nose. Nothin’s updated in this city, it’s
like living in a time loop,” She knew he didn’t deserve the
explanation, “so that means the old bath houses still run and are
free to the public just like they always have been. Even our
scroungers are clean.”

It was an awkward few minutes as she waited.
The Officer gave her some space, but wasn’t about to abandon his
post. She shot him a glance to find him staring at her. She was
used to it though. Her people were native to the planet and at one
time held the respect of the off-worlders that settled there. It
wasn’t until the Iko’s left that civilization turned on them. They
were different, and that created fear. The clans of her people were
embattled and ostracized. Many fled their homeland to find
tolerance, but had to settle for sparsely populated areas where no
one knew who or what they were. Those that got out were the lucky
ones.

Finally the transport came
into view, speeding towards them with a trail of exhaust before
grinding to a reluctant halt in front of the stop. The doors flew
open and a rush of stale air hit her like a slap in the
face.

Sara grabbed her pack and stood, throwing
one last glance back at the Officer with a smirk. So she was the
first local he had seen, well, she would probably be the only one.
Those looking to get out of town generally weren’t using public
transportation.

“
See you tonight then.”
She shot him a half-ass salute and boarded the transport. The
driver gave her a nervous nod as she passed, his small, spectacled
eyes darted to and fro as they waited for an ambush. She sneered,
but kept it to herself; she didn’t blame anyone for being
uncomfortable in such a place. In fact, she didn’t trust anyone who
wasn‘t.

The transport was almost
half full, but she had her choice of worn out, lumpy seats near the
back. After she successfully avoided every last pair of eyes she
slumped down into her seat and kept her head low. She grabbed the
tablet from her pack and began to glance over her schedule again,
letting a long sigh relieve the twist in her stomach.

“You’ve got to be kidding
me.” Said an irritated, high-pitched voice.

Sara hadn’t meant to hear
it, but the sound of the voice brought her eyes up on
instinct.

“
Who let you out of the
cage?” The voice was attached to Kat Takka; a small girl with a
pinched expression that bled arrogance.

Sara felt her face morph into her stone cold
expression, a look she reserved for those she truly hated. “Hey,
Kat. Nice to see you too.”

Marel had no schools of
its own so Sara’s parents had spent almost every bit of money they
made on sending her to the private learning centers in the
neighboring town of Sawyer. Sawyer was only a couple notches above
Meral on the poverty scale, but that didn’t stop the residence from
condemning anyone below them.

“
Ugh. I thought they
didn’t let that kind of trash travel.” Kat had turned to the mousy
girl sitting next to her, “How can she afford the ride? I bet she
can’t.” Kat’s voice grew louder, “You’re not going to rob me are
you?”

Sara snarled back, but
said nothing as Kat’s words drew unwelcome stares and frowns. She
chose to ignore her old classmate and concentrated instead on her
tablet and the list of classes.

The rest of the ride was
thankfully uneventful. She wasn’t surprised when Kat and her friend
Renna got off at the Delphos stop. Sara waited until they were off
the transport to gather her things and exit. Kat, despite all her
annoyances, was quite smart and had always talked about applying to
the REALM Academy.

Sara walked slowly and
kept her distance from the two girls who hadn’t noticed her behind
them. It wasn’t that she was afraid of them. In fact, she knew she
could beat the tar out of them at the same time without even
trying, but she also knew she had to control her temper and avoid
trouble if she wanted to keep her scholarship. That’s always how it
was. Even back at school, she had taken the abuse and kept her
mouth shut.

It wasn’t a long walk into
the heart of Delphos. She had been there once before, long ago,
before she had even heard of REALM. It was an impressive city.
Smaller than Capital City, but bigger than anywhere else she had
been. It was modern and clean with streets full of happy people and
buildings that touched the sky.

She did her best to keep a blank and
uncaring façade although inside she was swelling with excitement.
Up ahead she could see the gates to the Academy. It was surrounded
by the city, but at the same time seemed completely isolated.

Sara found herself holding
her breath outside the entrance. Her legs no longer responded to
her command and she stood there like the first-year she was,
overwhelmed by what lay a few steps ahead of her.

She scolded herself with
every obscenity that flew through her mind and forced herself
though the iron gateway with her steps strong and her back
straight.

The campus sprawled out before her as she
mooned over the expansive grounds. The breath she had been holding
escaped in an awe filled sigh. Her eyes stopped at the tallest
building in the Academy, the Administration building. It was the
oldest and largest of all the buildings. It was uniquely beautiful,
organic in shape, unlike anything she had ever seen.

A crowd of students walked by buzzing with
excited conversation. She tailed them closely, but didn’t join them
as they headed towards the Administration building.

Once inside, the group
scattered into the enormous commons area that was plainly decorated
with a large information kiosk in the center of the room. She had
to admit, although the décor was simple and rather sterile, it was
surprisingly calming.

“
Hi.” A chipper voice
called from behind her.

Sara didn’t turn and assumed the greeting
was for someone else and continued heading toward the center kiosk.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a blond haired boy match her
pace.

“
My name’s Allen.” He
extended his hand towards her.

Sara looked down at him, unsure what to make
of this wide-eyed boy that barely looked old enough to be there.
“I’m Sara.” She mumbled and quickened her pace.

Allen retracted his hand
and somehow still managed to keep up. “Well, Sara, it’s nice to
meet you. Is this your first day here? It’s my first day. I was
pretty nervous this morning, but now that I’m here, I’m just
excited.”

They reached the kiosk and she pulled out
her ID card. She glanced over at Allen who was looking at her as if
waiting for her to say something. “What?” She snapped.

He continued to smile and shrugged.
“Nothing, I’m just excited.”

“
Yeah, you said that
already.” She slid her ID into the slot to register. “Look,” She
pulled the card back out, “did you need something? If not, I would
appreciate you leaving me alone.”

Allen absently looked over
his shoulder and shrugged. She followed his gaze over to a dark
haired boy standing just out of the flow of traffic. He was leaning
lazily on the wall, trying to look bored. She stared a moment
longer than she should have. From such a distance it was hard to
get a real good look at him, but she could tell from where she was
that he was no good – just another punk with an un-tucked shirt and
messy hair that would cause her nothing but trouble if she bothered
to give him the time of day.

“
That’s my friend Sky,
he’s trying to act cool, but really he just can’t handle all the
people.”

“I know the feeling,” She
grumbled.

“I’ll see you later.”
Allen chirped as she walked away.

He thankfully wasn’t
following her, as she maneuvered through the commons and stopped
behind a small group gathered outside a large metal door. As soon
as the first bell sounded its tinny ring the metal door whooshed
open to let the herd of students file into the assembly
hall.

She looked around quickly
at the other nervous faces around her. It was her bad luck to have
her eyes drawn once again to that dark haired boy next to the
still-obviously-excited Al, but some bit of fortune must have
smiled upon her since he didn’t notice as she stared.

She hated him instantly.
It really wasn’t like her to loath someone so easily, but there was
just something in the way he walked and smiled and looked around
with such an amazed innocence that made her want to put her fist
right in the center of his face.

She shrank back into the
crowd as Al scanned the room and claimed the first seat she saw in
order to get below eye level. He thankfully passed right over her
and they continued on down the sloping aisle.

Within moments she
regretted her hasty decision as Kat and her mousy friend, Renna,
strutted by. In another stroke of blind luck they passed by without
a glance.

For the first time in her life, amongst the
masses of dumbstruck and anxious students that swarmed the lecture
hall, she felt delightfully invisible.

She watched
Renna follow Kat, like the obedient disciple she
was, as they made their way straight down, front and center. Sara
almost laughed as Kat sat her skinny butt down directly in front of
Al. Her massive amount of black, frizzy curls were well above the
poor little guys head. Al was instantly wiggling in his seat to get
a better view of the podium, swaying this way and that until
finally his dark haired friend pulled him up and switched seats
with him.

In the brief exchange, Al
accidentally bumped the back of Renna’s chair. She whipped her
helmet of plastered platinum locks around only to have her face of
rabid vengefulness melt into a mess of batting eyes and flirtatious
smiling once she saw her attackers.

Kat turned slightly to see
what her bimbo friend was ogling at and Sara’s streak of luck was
over. Kat’s loathsome gaze was pulled right up to Sara. Kat gave a
steady glare and held it, refusing to look away even when things
began to quiet down around the room.

“
Apparently REALM will
just let anyone in, even trash from the Pit.” Kat announced loud
enough to be heard against the din.

Sara looked coolly away, pretending not to
hear the spiteful words and make sure to look as bored and
possible.

Renna stole a glance
behind her. “Ewww. How did she get in here?”

Both Al and his friend
turned briefly, probably out of curiosity. Al found her eyes but
only gave a slight, respectful nod before turning back towards the
front of the room. His friend, on the other hand, was not as
tactful - the boy with hair as black as the night and eyes as blue
as the sky just went ahead and stared directly at her. It was a
moment she wanted to be over, but she would be damned before she
looked away first. In the end it was Al punching the kid in the
shoulder that thankfully drew his attention away from
her.

“Quiet down everyone, eyes
up here.” The Professor, a short man in his mid-forties with a
dramatically receding hairline entered the room and called for
everyone’s attention. “Welcome to the REALM first-years
orientation!” He said with vigor as he took his place in front of
the hover board. “I am Professor Tennant and I congratulate you,
the future leaders and revolutionaries of our age! Nowhere else in
the galaxy will you find our level of sophistication in both minds
and technology. Only the best and the brightest are let through
these doors. So congratulations, to you that have been chosen. Now,
let’s briefly go over our processes and what will be expected of
you.”