Aviaire

A big fantasy adventure, but you don't know who the other players are!

Interested! I like the concept a lot. Mark me down as fantasy too^^

totally normal school SoL no murder here no sir [aviaire & stone]

stop fuckig posting in the ooc im ognna cyr

totally normal school SoL no murder here no sir [aviaire & stone]

---

The first few periods had passed uneventfully. To say that anything had happened would be wrong. Somewhere in the middle of it, Herbert had slipped off, and period three had gone by with only thirteen people. Not that it made a difference, every lesson was still silent. There wasn’t much talking outside of the girls giggling to the side of the room and the occasional discussion. Sebastian wasn’t much for conversation either, doing his best to ignore James’s very existence.

Then the bell for lunch had ran, and whatever power was keeping the class quiet vanished. The room dissolved into loud talking. Most notably was the pseudo-shouting match Ella and Jackson were having. Something about the best type of lollipop.

“Coca-cola! That’s the best one! Come on, it’s not a competition!”

“No, no, no, Jackson! Apple is way better.”

Everyone began to make their way to the canteen. Even Porche followed behind Yam, chattering about something useless.

James went with everyone else. His right eye twitched slightly.

Hey, isn’t everyone a bit too cold?

Then again, he was the new guy in a class that’d been together for ages. Still, a little welcome couldn’t hurt.

He listened to what people were talking about.

“Are you gonna help me with math? You said you were gonna. Please?” Mina whined, tugging on Neu’s sleeve. He shook her off.

“It’s not my fault you don’t have a work ethic,” he sniffed. “Let go, please.”

The last to leave was a group of four. “And then he pulled out his sword and it was like, wow! Then he stabbed the guy and it looked like he was dead, but he wasn’t, ‘cause he missed by a centimetre, and then-” Mook said, hands gesturing wildly. “He got up, and said a really cool thing. I forgot what it was, but it was super cool.”

“Isn’t this a spoiler?” Emma said. She sounded distracted. “I was gonna watch it.”

“It’s a pretty good film actually,” Seth replied.

“It wasn’t. You only remember it that way because we watched it at three in the morning,” Sebastian said.

“No, he’s right, it’s a masterpiece. Right, so. After that, the guy with the chainsaw runs in and it’s like-”

“Oh, are you talking about Tales in Terrorwood?” James cut in. “I watched that movie last year. That chainsaw scene was funny.”

Mook looked horrified. “Funny? Funny? That, my friend, was one of the best scenes in cinematic history.”

“Only if you ignore the irony set up by the director. The previous two scenes were supposed to show the absurdity of the situation, I think. You guys noticed that, right?” He asked the other three.

Seth blinked. “I just thought their outfits were cool.”

“You what,” Mook gasped. “You watched the greatest film of the twenty first century and you thought the costumes were cool?” He pointed at Sebastian, narrowing his eyes. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you! I’ll make you take that back, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Strong words,” James said. “Still, I thought the movie was pretty good. It’s like The Room, you know? Cult classic.”

Mook opened his mouth to continue, only to realise the rest of the group had left. They’d arrived at the canteen, and were picking up their food. It was certainly better than listening to Mook prattling on. “Oh, they’re all gone. I can’t believe you, you know,” he said. “But you’re new, so I’ll let it slide. Hey, uh, do you wanna sit with us? Since it’s your first day and all. Seb won’t mind. Probably.”

“Thanks! It sucks being new- everyone’s already gotten their groups.” James assumed a theatrical tone. “I won’t forget this gift. You have my gratitude,” he said, quoting TiT.

Mook mimicked a curtsey. He looked delighted. “You’ll have my head, too,” he said, finishing the quote.. “Alright, go get some food and then come sit with us. We’re on the table in the corner, yeah?”

Then he left, leaving James. The food in the canteen looked pretty good, especially since it was a school. All of those tuition fees had to go somewhere. He took a chipotle wrap and some fruit, then headed to Mook’s table. On the way, he watched the other students in his class.

Ella, Jackson and Larissa were (predictably) sitting together. Morgan was on their table too, but he was lying on the table with headphones in, so he wasn’t really contributing to the conversation. They were playing Uno. Jackson was winning. Neu seemed to have given in to Mina, and was attempting to explain something to her. Her expression was blank. On the other side of Neu and Mina’s table were Yam and Porche, the latter still talking and the former looking like she wanted to be anywhere else.

Seems like I ended up with nice people, James thought. He sat down next to Mook and began to eat, content with listening to their conversation.

“See, Mook, you’ll die alone if you don’t get any new hobbies,” Sebastian declared, sparing a sideways glance at James. “I wouldn’t expect a girlfriend any time in the next five years.”

“You’re so harsh,” Seth said.

“You don’t get to talk, Seth. You’re skipping practice on Sunday, aren’t you?”

“It’s an important occasion,” Emma said. Seth flushed a little.

“Well, it’s not like that!”

“It is,” the other three replied in unison. “It’s a date,” Emma added.

“You’ve got such low standards. Do you even like her?” Sebastian said.

“I’m right here!”

James smiled. “How long’ve you lovebirds been together?”

The entire table looked at him like he was stupid.

“Oh right, he’s new, isn’t he,” Mook muttered.

Emma leaned into the table. “Strictly speaking, one day as of next Monday.”

“You’d be an awful girlfriend,” Sebastian said.

“Yeah, you’d know, Sebastian,” Mook laughed.

“Congratulations,” James said to Emma and Seth. “Where are you planning on going? I’m new to town, and I don’t really know any places.”

“Oh, we’re actually gonna go see Tales in Terrorwood Two: Yesterday,” Seth said. “Emma, you gotta watch the first one before then.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Emma said. Her smile was sickeningly sweet.

“Cool! I hear there are two theaters in town: Windberg Theater Family and Films and Animation Theaters. Are both good?”

“Windberg’s smaller, but it’s cheaper and the seats are fancy,” Mook said. “FA Theatres is like a regular cinema, though. Windberg for dates, FA for anything else.”

“And that’s why you’ve never been to Windberg,” Sebastian muttered, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

“I’ll keep it in mind if I meet a nice girl- probably not here at school. Everyone’s so cold!”

“They’re not that bad,” Emma said. “Everyone’s just a bit rocky to begin with.” She gave Sebastian a pat on the shoulder. “Have you talked to everyone yet? I guess not. But I can tell you a bit more about them if you want.”

“If you’re willing. Can I ask what’s up with that Neu guy? What died in his drink?”

“Oh, him. Yeah, he’s a bit of a dick. But it’s not even like you can tell him he’s wrong, because he’s not.” Emma sighed. “He got full marks in last year’s tuition exams, you know.”

“I wish I was that smart,” Seth said.

“At least you have a personality,” Sebastian replied.

James nearly dropped his wrap. “Hey, that’s insane! I only did well in the humanities! A full score? Is studying all he does?”

“It’s not like he has friends,” Mook said. “I mean, I tried, but you can see how well that turned out. I don’t think I’ve seen him willingly talk to anyone except Mina. And that’s because she pesters him all the time.”

“To help with work, huh? How about that group over there?” James waved in the general direction of the group playing Uno.

“Imagine two people with the exact same sense of humour, then put them near each other for eight hours a day,” Sebastian groaned. “I can’t stand them.”

“Larissa’s alright though,” Mook added. “And Morgan’s just there because he doesn’t have any friends and they tolerate him. I’m pretty sure he lives with Larissa, actually.”

“Huh. They don’t look like twins, but you never know.” James paused for a moment, then counted the people in the class.

He frowned. “I know there’s that Herbert guy and some Samuel kid, but even then someone’s missing. I thought there were supposed to be 16 total, including me.”

“Yeah, there’s another kid. He’s foreign. Guess he’s just not here yet. He’s staying with one of the Juniors, but he’s our age so he’ll be in our classes,” Emma said. “I’ve talked to him a bit. Seems normal enough.”

“How have you already made friends with him? He’s not even in the country.” Sebastian grumbled.

“The wonders of social media. Not that you would know.”

James sighed in relief. “So I won’t be the only new guy. What about those two?” He gestured at Yam and Porche.

“Porche is new, so I can’t say anything about her. Yam? She’s not a bad person, she just doesn’t want to associate with any of us,” Emma said.

“Thanks for telling me all this,” James said. “It’s real helpful. I owe you one.” He finished his wrap. “What do you all usually do when you’re done eating?”

“Sebastian goes up to play cello into the sunset. The rest of us sit around and chat, you know, like normal people,” Mook said.

“Some of us have better things to do than third wheel.”

“Whew. That was a good one. In that case, I’m off to play some Uno.” James stood up. “Gotta meet everyone, you know?”

Soul Eater: Apple of Discord

Katherine & Cameron

---

“You remembered to pack your toothbrush, right?”

“Yep!”

“Your clothes?”

“Definitely. Swimsuit, too!”

“Did you pack your homework?”

“Huh? Isn’t this a holiday? We don’t have any.”

“We did. It’s alright, though. I brought your worksheets anyway. Hairbrush?”

“Yeah, it’s in my bag. See?” Katherine rummaged around. She grimaced. “Uh, never mind. I must’ve left it in the bathroom.”

“Don’t worry, I brought three.”

“Great! I’m going to take a nap, then.” She was asleep before the plane even started moving. Cameron breathed a sigh of relief- Katherine hadn’t slept at all the night before. He was feeling a bit sleepy too… He stared out the window as the plane accelerated down the runway, eventually drifting off into sleep.

---

Cameron stared over the side of the boat, trying to keep his stomach in control.

“You good?” Katherine called out, rushing to his side.

“Yeah, I’ll be... alright... just need a moment.” He felt the pretzels from the flight turn over and suppressed his urge to hurl over the gunwale. “How close are we to the island?”

Katherine pointed off into the distance, which wasn’t much use to Cameron, who was staring down at the water. “It’s right there! Not long now.”

The island drew closer through the fog, eventually coming into full view. As soon as Cameron caught sight of solid land, he immediately straightened. “Oh, how wonderful! I need to get a picture of it as we come in.” He raised his camera, sighted, and clicked the shutter. “Kath, get in the shot.”

“Sure! What kind of pose?”

“Something exciting, or maybe…” He paused.

“Hm?”

“Wait, wait, wait! Kath, look at the island!”

She turned. “What? It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“No, no, no! It’s… it’s all wrong.” Cameron pulled out a thick packet from inside his coat. The booklet was already well-worn from constant consultation, with numerous sticky notes protruding from between the pages. Cameron had taken notes and done some extra research on the island as well. “Look, on page 3, Ms. Opal provided a picture of the island.”

He lifted it up for Katherine to see. The 10 year-old photo showed a very different image of the island- more ruins and much less vegetation.

“And? They probably just fixed it up a bit. Being more environmentally friendly.” Katherine smiled.

Cameron thought for a moment. “Ah, well, I suppose it is an older photo,” he conceded. “And they definitely could have done some rebuilding.”

The two grabbed their bags as the group prepared to disembark. Both carried a decently large hiking pack, complete with utensils hanging off survival ties and sleeping pad bundled on top.

Katherine lifted up a sealed box about a meter across. “Hey, what’s this? It’s super heavy. Not that it’s hard for me to carry, of course.”

“Oh, that? I just packed some camping stuff.”

“Some? What’s in here, an oven?”

“No, that one’s the dried food and consumables.” He pointed at another, smaller box on the deck. “This one’s the dutch oven.”

Katherine bent down to stack the boxes on top of each other, picking them back up. “Huh. Yeah, I’m not surprised.”

The two followed the rest of the students off the ferry.

Ms. Opal’s panic was the first of many things that was about to go wrong. Cameron’s mouth curled into a frown as Katherine bounced on her toes, thinking about the trip. Sure, they had a job to do, but it was just a holiday. She’d never gone camping before, but it sounded fun.

Then… things went south very, very fast. The locals ignoring all requests for assistance, Ms. Opal turning into a sheep, and the ferry leaving the island.

Cameron whipped out his vomit bag from the plane and began to breathe in and out.

“It’ll be alright, it’s just another normal paranormal occurrence. Just like our daily lives. Just like the war. Nothing bad’s going to…”

“Huh? What’s happening?” Katherine said, peering around the side of her boxes. “Oh. Isn’t that a cute sheep?”

Cam stared at her. “That’s… Ms. Opal.”

“That’s a joke, right?”

Katherine blinked, staring at the fluffy creature as Cam muttered to himself. He definitely wasn’t the type to make a joke like that. Plus, all of their companions seemed to be in a few different states of distress. There were definitely a few colorful characters in their group.

“Yeah, what she said,” Katherine chimed in, nodding her head at Judea. “We can go to the campsite. I’m sure that there’s something there. Cam, you know where that is, right?”

“Right. We can formulate a new plan of action from there. That’s a good idea, Kath.” Cameron folded up the bag and put it away, then pulled out a map of the island he had printed. It was a bit old, but the campsite wouldn’t have changed that much, right? “It’s a short walk from here, I think.”

totally normal school SoL no murder here no sir [aviaire & stone]

---

Awkward silence spread over the class. The only noise was of people shuffling uncomfortably in their seats. Spelwel grinned. "Fab! Alright, let's go around the class, one row at a time. Let's start with... Yam! Tell us your name and something about yourself."

"Oh. Okay. Um, my name's Yam Lee-" she began.

"No, no, no! You have to stand up. Come on, don't be shy."

Yam gave him a disgusted look and stood. "I'm Yam, and my favourite colour is blue." She promptly collapsed back into her chair.

"Great! Next is... oh, Herbert, you're actually in. Shame Samuel couldn't join you. You next."

"Wha..?"

"Yes, that's enough. Next..."

"I'm Mook, and I-"

"I'm Jackson! I have the highest Subway Surfers score out of the entire state."

"Sebastian. I play cello."

"My name's Seth! I've got a sister. We're twins."

"Emma Tailler, I have three pet dogs."

"I have art up in three different galleries. I'm Mina Mason, by the way."

"Elizabeth, but call me Ella. I like... horses?"

"Larissa."

"Morgan, and I used-"

"To be ginger," Herbert grunted from the front of the room.

Morgan hissed. "No! I didn't!"

"Moving on, moving on," Spelwel sighed. "Neu?"

"My name is Neu Ronald, and I'm the smartest person in this room," he said smugly. A lot of huffing followed.

"Wonderful. Now, moving on," Spelwel continued. He gestured for Porche and James to sit, then continued. "First, I have to give out some things...

totally normal school SoL no murder here no sir [aviaire & stone]

there's nothing here, it seems...

...for some reason, that makes you feel relieved.

totally normal school SoL no murder here no sir [aviaire & stone]

---

The sky was grey. So were the streets, paved stones covered in puddles from the rain the night before. The exhaust fumes were grey and the concrete buildings too. Greyest of all was the particular occasion - yes, after weeks and weeks of doing absolutely nothing in particular, the students of Harbour Academy for Gifted Adolescents & Youths would have to return to their desks for yet another semester. The building was small, but it was vast compared to the very few students attending it. There were never more than thirty people in each year. To begin with, attending the school was incredibly demanding. Hefty tuitions only subsidised by excelling in academics or arts - and even then, it was still expensive. Attending Harbour Academy was a luxury few could afford. Very, very few.

There was still some time until the school bell rang. Even so, it seemed like most of the students had already arrived in school, chatting idly while they still could. There was an awful lot to catch up on, and not nearly enough time. The instant that classes started again, it was work, work, work until four in the afternoon. That was, of course, disregarding the obscene amount of extra-curriculars that the students often had. That was the price of attending the prestigious Harbour Academy. On top of tens of thousands of dollars, of course.

The class of 2022 was passing the time in the yard, arranged in small groups across several picnic tables. There were even less than there had been the year before. They'd began their sophomore year with seventeen people. Only thirteen of these people had stayed another year. It wasn't unusual at Harbour Academy. At the end of the year, students had to take even more exams to determine their tuition fees for the next year. All it took was one bad day and suddenly you were paying thousands more than the year before. It was often better to accept the shame and just transfer. At the same time, students tended to join at the start of the year too.

"Are we getting three more this year?" Ella Weider asked. She traced the patterns of her water bottle, staring at it intently.

"Hmm? Yeah, but one of them is an exchange student," came the reply from across the table. Emma Tailler, skimming through a textbook less than an hour before her lesson started. She'd planned to flip through the whole thing before school had started, but she didn't think she could at that rate. "Axel, right? Then one of the other ones is the daughter of that musician. Andrew Pinkerton. And the other one, damn. Can't remember."

Ella laughed. "Don't worry, we'll find out soon enough. Anyway, that doesn't matter. A little birdie told me you have a date this weekend. Em, you gotta tell me..."

Emma's spluttering was quickly covered up by the splitting screech of the school bell. Her saviour. Red-faced, she rushed to her homeroom, while Ella quickly walked after her, laughing heartily. The rest of the class soon followed, taking their time to savour the time they had left.

There were already three people in the classroom as people began to file in. Their teacher, Mr Spelwel - the same as last year, an overly enthusiastic English teacher. Then, two new students. The chatting began to settle down as people began claiming their seats. There was sort of an unofficial seating plan with the old students. Since they had so many lessons all together, it didn't take long until everyone had their 'designated' place. Spelwel clapped his hands together, grinning brightly. Silence fell over the class.

"Alright, everyone! As you know, three new victim- er, students will be joining us this year! Unfortunately, our exchange student won't be in class until next week, but at least we have these two!" He gave them both a thump on the back. One of them, a blonde girl, grimaced at the contact. "Right, why don't you introduce yourselves? Give us your name and... a fact about yourself! You know, icebreakers. Then we'll go around the class and everyone else can do them."

The blonde girl flipped her hair and opened her mouth, about to speak. Then she hesitated, suddenly becoming bashful. "Porche. Porche Pinkerton. Um, it's nice to meet you all. I'm... a vegetarian." She dipped her head in some sort of greeting.

It was enough for Spelwel. "Fantastic! You next," he said, placing his hand on the other student's shoulder with considerable force. "Come on, don't be shy!"

totally normal school SoL no murder here no sir [aviaire & stone]

Today's Date:

Tuesday 8th of September, 2020

Today's Weather:

13°C, Cloudy

In The News:

A ridiculously angry review of Ready Player One.

Calendar:

08-09-20 : school begins

totally normal school SoL no murder here no sir [aviaire & stone]

Axel Jandad

A foreign exchange student. From France! He's still getting used to speaking, but he's pretty good. He's got messy blond-brown hair and surely muscles under those jackets he never seems to take off - if this was a romance, he would be the love interest.

Ella Weider

A star athlete, through and through. She's tall, towering over most of the boys in your class. HAGAY is a little small to have its own sports teams, unfortunately, so she does all of that outside of school. It's almost impossible to organise stuff with her. She's constantly busy.

Emma Tailler

Possibly the best pianist anyone will ever meet. Reliable and kind, she's a bit of a go to if you ever need anything. If there's anything the whole class has in common, it's that everyone is friends with Emma.

Herbert Baker

Shows up to class maybe once a week and still manages to do better than you on every exam. One of the many mysteries of life is how he hasn't been kicked out yet. HAGAY must be all about results, it seems.

Jackson Burgess

No one's really sure how he's in the school. Out of everyone, he's the most average. His grades are just okay, his family isn't particularly rich. The accepted conclusion is that he does well on tuition exams by luck.

Larissa Woods

If a brick wall was ever turned into a woman, that would be Larissa. Talking to her is drier than the Sahara desert. Somehow, she manages to have friends. Just two, though.

Mina Mason

An art prodigy. Her family is one of the least wealthy in the class, and it's thanks to her talent and work ethic that allow her to continue to study at HAGAY. She's known to become a shut-in during the build-up to tuition exams.

Mook Genera

A doormat. He tends to fade into the background, even though he's one of the best students in the class. It isn't like he's boring, he just lacks presence. Majorly.

Morgan Weld

Not a single photo of him exists where he wears anything other than black. His hair, his eyes, they're all black too. It's rumoured that his natural hair colour is ginger, but no one can prove it.

Neu Ronald

A pretentious prick. Annoyingly, he's not wrong. That doesn't make him any less unlikeable. It's said that he doesn't need glasses and only wears them to look smart.

Porche Pinkerton

Planned to transfer in at the beginning of junior year. The daughter of a pair of well known musicians and known for being stuck up and little else. In terms of academics? Who knows.

Sebastian Roth

Another musical talent, a man of many mysteries as well as many instruments. There isn't really any way to describe him other than 'emo'. He hardly ever talks to anyone except for Seth.

Seth Wall

A friendly (but short) boy. He's pretty middle of the road, but as of late he's began to really try and pick up his grades. No one's really sure what caused the change.

Samuel Funker

The resident crackhead.

Yam Lee

The outsider of the class. Not because people don't like her, but she just isolates herself. Her father is the CEO of a technology company, which is just as well, because her grades have been steadily declining ever since freshman year.

totally normal school SoL no murder here no sir [aviaire & stone]

killing people is unreasonable.

killing people is unreasonable.