09-29-2024, 07:25 PM
12 August 2024, 8:27 AM
Novella City, Xeles, Novella Islands
Miriam Flinders Academy
"Hey. Will."
The crisp morning air inside the foyer of Flinders was abuzz with a symphony of students preparing for their morning classes. The chorusing stampede of frantic footsteps, the refrain of clattering locker doors, and the melodic drone of weary-eyed pupils chattering their daily gossip coalesced into the all too familiar opera. Amidst the ruckus, an ever soft but desperate whisper attempted to cut above the din.
"Hey... Hey! William!"
Yet again met with silence, the call hung in the air like an unanswered question. Standing amidst this whirlpool of adolescent chaos, methodically flicking through letter after paper after envelope, the voice grew ever more exasperated at not being acknowledged. As the boy finished checking the notes within his pigeonhole and reached out his arm to close the box, the cuff of his uniform was unceremoniously seized... and him along with it.
"Mister Talbot!"
Before he could muster a coherent thought, let alone a protest, William found himself dragged to the end of the hallway. Slowly attempting to piece together what was happening to him, his captor finally relinquished her grip, and he turned to face a girl with an exaggerated pout etched across her face. Allowing himself a brief moment to breathe, he couldn’t help but recall how ignoring this problem never made things easier for him; if anything, the opposite was universally true. Bracing for the worst, surprised washed over him as her expression changed in an instant, a mischievous smirk forming across her face.
"Now that I have your attention... You've checked in already, right?" Her voice carried an edge of impatience as if the minutes were slipping away too quickly.
Exasperated and trying to glean some understanding of the situation he found himself in, Talbot was barely able to muster a response before being cut off. "Alright, then let's go!" Grasping him tightly by the hand this time, the pair set off against the natural flow of students, the girl expertly weaving through the throng. Her steps confident and unerring, William's mind whirled as he was half-guided, half-dragged out of the main doors of the Academy, the chilly morning air biting at his cheeks.
"Sarah, where on Earth are we going? Classes start soon!" His tone, a mix of frustration and curiosity, hung heavy in the air, but if she heard him, she chose not to respond immediately.
"I'll tell you once we get there!" An evil grin worthy of a caricature villain momentarily spread across her face as she spoke. Reaching the metro station entrance, Talbot's concern had overwhelmed his curiosity. Stopping abruptly, he wrenched his hand free from her grip. The bustling crowds of morning commuters barely noticed the young pair facing off against one another.
"Miss Ellington, you'll tell me now." His words were intended with exasperation more than genuine anger, but they carried enough weight to make Sarah pause.
"Alright, fine!" She slumped her shoulders in a performative display of acquiescence, slinging her backpack off with a flourish. Rummaging through it with exaggerated motions, she eventually produced an envelope, presenting it to him with extended arms. "Open it quick, we need to catch the train soon if we're going to make it in time." Her voice carried a sense of urgency as she gestured to the letter with wide eyes, in an attempt to emphasise her point.
Pulling out two smaller slips of paper from within the envelope, his confusion was not alleviated in the slightest. "Concert tickets?"
"Concert tickets," she confirmed, her nod decisive and triumphant.
"For... today?"
"For today."
"In... Hathon?"
"In Hathon."
"Are you just going to repeat everything I say verbatim, or are you going to make this make sense at some point?"
An impish grin overtook her face as she retorted once more, "are you just going to rep--... Sorry, sorry." Sticking her tongue out playfully as she teased the boy, Ellington made for his hand once more, but this time with a sense of pressing urgency. "We really do have to get going, though." Her tone left no room for further debate, and with a sigh of resignation, William allowed himself to be led onwards once more.
---
12 August 2024, 11:53 AM
Rikal, Hathon, Novella Islands
Atrium, Rikal Performing Arts Centre
Sarah's planning had been impeccable. A short jaunt on the metro to Main Station, a quick transfer onto the Intercity Rapid to Rikal, and then a brisk walk to the concert venue, arriving a mere ten or so minutes before showtime. Even with the excellent interconnectivity National Rail provides, a journey of this scale in such a short time frame has a miniscule margin of error to contend with. Clearly, she had been scheming this for a considerable amount of time, which only served to confuse William as to why he wasn't let in on it sooner.
"Ugh! I can't believe I let you drag me here... We have prelim exams next week, Sarah!" His reaction betrayed the answer to that particular question, his voice sounding a note of exasperation, tinged lightly with the kind of affection only a long-time friend could detect.
"Relax! Just..." Ellington was interrupted momentarily as the clerk checked the pair's tickets, providing her a brief respite to come up with an excuse that wasn't utterly preposterous. As the staff member waved them through the gate and into the venue, she continued, "...think of it as study?"
William shot her a dubious look. "Please, I beg you. Walk me through the twisted logic that you have managed to concoct within your labyrinthine mind to justify that assertion."
"Well... The band sings in Hanafleuran?" As if to accentuate her point, she nudged him, nodding towards a poster of the band upon the wall. There, the quintet of Hanafleuran immigrants to the Novella Islands who made up the group stared back at them, their expressive faces filled with youthful confidence, each member not much older than the pair themselves.
"But I'm not studying Hanafleuran, I'm studying Haean," he replied, as if the correction would make all the difference to the fundamental absurdity of the argument.
"Close enough, right?"
"Completely different languages. Not a lick of similarity." William retorted, drawing out the last word for effect. Sarah’s playful smirk in response was as predictable as it was maddening. It was clear this line of questioning was going nowhere beneficial.
"Other than how different they both are from English!" Her signature mischievous grin growing wider - a sign that her methods of persuasion had shifted from logical to whimsical - Sarah attempted to quash the line of questioning, as it was clear she was never going to satisfy his concern. Distracting him before he worked himself into a frustrated tirade appeared to be her only effective strategy.
"I let you drag me on a date to a different bloody province, and that's the best justification you have? I am going to be absolutely crucified if my mother finds out."
"Hey now, who said this was a date?" she playfully chided, clicking her tongue with a mock sternness, deftly avoiding the actual concern raised.
"Yeah, because that's the thing she'd be upset with, right?" As they finally made it to their seats, William found himself momentarily awe-struck. Not quite front-row, but well within a stone's throw of the stage, the proximity was staggering. The thought of how much these tickets must have cost sent a shiver down his spine. There was a magnitude of effort and expense here, all for a single day's escapade.
"Shhh, you're here now... Look, they're about to start!" As she spoke, the house lights were turned down and the crowd was engulfed in the resulting inky black, save for the thousands of blue glowsticks punctuating the shadows. A quiet came over the audience as the band slowly made their way onto the stage under the cover of darkness. Time stood still, as the masses waited with baited breath.
All at once, the refrain of an electric guitar rang out throughout the amphitheatre in its dulcet tones, before the band was bathed in a harsh light from behind the stage. Without requiring a passing glance at his companion, William could tell she was already mesmerised, feeling her sway to the beat as the vocalist finally joined the rest of the band in song.
As the lead singer’s voice joined the instrumental, harmonising in perfect synchronicity with melody, something shifted within William. He felt his resistance crumble, his concerns melting into the void created by the music. Before the chorus had begun, he too was entranced by the performance, his earlier grievances all but forgotten.
Novella City, Xeles, Novella Islands
Miriam Flinders Academy
"Hey. Will."
The crisp morning air inside the foyer of Flinders was abuzz with a symphony of students preparing for their morning classes. The chorusing stampede of frantic footsteps, the refrain of clattering locker doors, and the melodic drone of weary-eyed pupils chattering their daily gossip coalesced into the all too familiar opera. Amidst the ruckus, an ever soft but desperate whisper attempted to cut above the din.
"Hey... Hey! William!"
Yet again met with silence, the call hung in the air like an unanswered question. Standing amidst this whirlpool of adolescent chaos, methodically flicking through letter after paper after envelope, the voice grew ever more exasperated at not being acknowledged. As the boy finished checking the notes within his pigeonhole and reached out his arm to close the box, the cuff of his uniform was unceremoniously seized... and him along with it.
"Mister Talbot!"
Before he could muster a coherent thought, let alone a protest, William found himself dragged to the end of the hallway. Slowly attempting to piece together what was happening to him, his captor finally relinquished her grip, and he turned to face a girl with an exaggerated pout etched across her face. Allowing himself a brief moment to breathe, he couldn’t help but recall how ignoring this problem never made things easier for him; if anything, the opposite was universally true. Bracing for the worst, surprised washed over him as her expression changed in an instant, a mischievous smirk forming across her face.
"Now that I have your attention... You've checked in already, right?" Her voice carried an edge of impatience as if the minutes were slipping away too quickly.
Exasperated and trying to glean some understanding of the situation he found himself in, Talbot was barely able to muster a response before being cut off. "Alright, then let's go!" Grasping him tightly by the hand this time, the pair set off against the natural flow of students, the girl expertly weaving through the throng. Her steps confident and unerring, William's mind whirled as he was half-guided, half-dragged out of the main doors of the Academy, the chilly morning air biting at his cheeks.
"Sarah, where on Earth are we going? Classes start soon!" His tone, a mix of frustration and curiosity, hung heavy in the air, but if she heard him, she chose not to respond immediately.
"I'll tell you once we get there!" An evil grin worthy of a caricature villain momentarily spread across her face as she spoke. Reaching the metro station entrance, Talbot's concern had overwhelmed his curiosity. Stopping abruptly, he wrenched his hand free from her grip. The bustling crowds of morning commuters barely noticed the young pair facing off against one another.
"Miss Ellington, you'll tell me now." His words were intended with exasperation more than genuine anger, but they carried enough weight to make Sarah pause.
"Alright, fine!" She slumped her shoulders in a performative display of acquiescence, slinging her backpack off with a flourish. Rummaging through it with exaggerated motions, she eventually produced an envelope, presenting it to him with extended arms. "Open it quick, we need to catch the train soon if we're going to make it in time." Her voice carried a sense of urgency as she gestured to the letter with wide eyes, in an attempt to emphasise her point.
Pulling out two smaller slips of paper from within the envelope, his confusion was not alleviated in the slightest. "Concert tickets?"
"Concert tickets," she confirmed, her nod decisive and triumphant.
"For... today?"
"For today."
"In... Hathon?"
"In Hathon."
"Are you just going to repeat everything I say verbatim, or are you going to make this make sense at some point?"
An impish grin overtook her face as she retorted once more, "are you just going to rep--... Sorry, sorry." Sticking her tongue out playfully as she teased the boy, Ellington made for his hand once more, but this time with a sense of pressing urgency. "We really do have to get going, though." Her tone left no room for further debate, and with a sigh of resignation, William allowed himself to be led onwards once more.
---
12 August 2024, 11:53 AM
Rikal, Hathon, Novella Islands
Atrium, Rikal Performing Arts Centre
Sarah's planning had been impeccable. A short jaunt on the metro to Main Station, a quick transfer onto the Intercity Rapid to Rikal, and then a brisk walk to the concert venue, arriving a mere ten or so minutes before showtime. Even with the excellent interconnectivity National Rail provides, a journey of this scale in such a short time frame has a miniscule margin of error to contend with. Clearly, she had been scheming this for a considerable amount of time, which only served to confuse William as to why he wasn't let in on it sooner.
"Ugh! I can't believe I let you drag me here... We have prelim exams next week, Sarah!" His reaction betrayed the answer to that particular question, his voice sounding a note of exasperation, tinged lightly with the kind of affection only a long-time friend could detect.
"Relax! Just..." Ellington was interrupted momentarily as the clerk checked the pair's tickets, providing her a brief respite to come up with an excuse that wasn't utterly preposterous. As the staff member waved them through the gate and into the venue, she continued, "...think of it as study?"
William shot her a dubious look. "Please, I beg you. Walk me through the twisted logic that you have managed to concoct within your labyrinthine mind to justify that assertion."
"Well... The band sings in Hanafleuran?" As if to accentuate her point, she nudged him, nodding towards a poster of the band upon the wall. There, the quintet of Hanafleuran immigrants to the Novella Islands who made up the group stared back at them, their expressive faces filled with youthful confidence, each member not much older than the pair themselves.
"But I'm not studying Hanafleuran, I'm studying Haean," he replied, as if the correction would make all the difference to the fundamental absurdity of the argument.
"Close enough, right?"
"Completely different languages. Not a lick of similarity." William retorted, drawing out the last word for effect. Sarah’s playful smirk in response was as predictable as it was maddening. It was clear this line of questioning was going nowhere beneficial.
"Other than how different they both are from English!" Her signature mischievous grin growing wider - a sign that her methods of persuasion had shifted from logical to whimsical - Sarah attempted to quash the line of questioning, as it was clear she was never going to satisfy his concern. Distracting him before he worked himself into a frustrated tirade appeared to be her only effective strategy.
"I let you drag me on a date to a different bloody province, and that's the best justification you have? I am going to be absolutely crucified if my mother finds out."
"Hey now, who said this was a date?" she playfully chided, clicking her tongue with a mock sternness, deftly avoiding the actual concern raised.
"Yeah, because that's the thing she'd be upset with, right?" As they finally made it to their seats, William found himself momentarily awe-struck. Not quite front-row, but well within a stone's throw of the stage, the proximity was staggering. The thought of how much these tickets must have cost sent a shiver down his spine. There was a magnitude of effort and expense here, all for a single day's escapade.
"Shhh, you're here now... Look, they're about to start!" As she spoke, the house lights were turned down and the crowd was engulfed in the resulting inky black, save for the thousands of blue glowsticks punctuating the shadows. A quiet came over the audience as the band slowly made their way onto the stage under the cover of darkness. Time stood still, as the masses waited with baited breath.
All at once, the refrain of an electric guitar rang out throughout the amphitheatre in its dulcet tones, before the band was bathed in a harsh light from behind the stage. Without requiring a passing glance at his companion, William could tell she was already mesmerised, feeling her sway to the beat as the vocalist finally joined the rest of the band in song.
As the lead singer’s voice joined the instrumental, harmonising in perfect synchronicity with melody, something shifted within William. He felt his resistance crumble, his concerns melting into the void created by the music. Before the chorus had begun, he too was entranced by the performance, his earlier grievances all but forgotten.