The newly formed Team DDLN wearily made their way down the corridor to their assigned room. Between being launched off of a cliff and fighting hordes of Grimm, it had been a long day.
“Here it is,” Daniel announced when they reached their assigned dorm. He fished out a key and used it to open the door. Just like the room he had spent several nights in while waiting for his application, it was bare to the bones with just four beds and desks, and a bookshelf. The only difference was that this room’s beds had mattresses and made up beds. Lewis pushed past the other three and stumbled towards one of the middle beds; barely reaching it before collapsing in a heap and immediately beginning to snore.
“I guess he’s chosen his bed.” Daniel remarked. “Dibs on the far left,” the far left being the farthest bed from Lewis’ snoring.
Dakota shrugged and chose the one to Lewis’ left as well. He pulled off his jacket and threw it on the chair for the desk next to his bed. Nicholas shoved the mattress off of the remaining bed began stringing up a hammock from the bedposts.
“You actually prefer a hammock to a mattress??” Dakota asked incredulously.
“Give me hard ground or give me a hammock.” Nicholas replied. “That’s how I sleep at home, that’s how I sleep here.”
Dakota shrugged, but did not pursue the matter. He instead elected to grab his toiletries and make claim to the bathroom.
That left Daniel to unpack his belongings. He pulled his jacket off and threw it at the base of his bed. His gun was placed on his desk, and his belt along with his sword was hung by the bedpost.
His unpacking had taken exactly twelve seconds.
Coming out of the bathroom after a few minutes, Dakota eyed Daniel’s meager belongings with raised eyebrows. Everyone else had at least some sort of bag of items; a shoulder bag for Nicholas, a tie die backpack for Lewis, and a beat-up army duffel bag for himself.
“Is that really all you’ve got?” He asked.
“No, but judging from the location of the rest of my stuff, I’m content with what I have thank you very much.” Daniel replied, although this time there wasn't a single hint of malice in his voice.
Dakota’s brow furrowed for a moment, then realized what Daniel was talking about. “Fair enough. Our uniforms are in the closet, and you should be able to get most things from the school. Anything else, I can get for you.”
Daniel nodded smiled, touched by Dakota’s generosity. “Thanks man,” he said.
“Granted, you might not want to be seen in public with some of it,” Dakota mentioned, completely spoiling the moment. “I doubt that the people I get it off of would be happy it’s missing.”
“You know, when one leaves a gang, they usually try to distance themselves from crime,” Daniel mentioned.
“Think of it less of a crime, and more of a mandatory donation to those less fortunate than the donor,” Dakota replied.
Daniel sighed and shook his head, but didn't argue the point further. While he had never outright stolen from people, he had acquired items from time to time by digging through donation bins when no one was looking. Instead, he kicked off his shoes and socks and was about to swing himself onto the bed, when he felt something cold and sharp under his foot. Curious, he reached down to see what it was. It was a shard of a credit card that whoever cleaned the dorms had evidently missed.
The exact same credit card he had used to open a locked window and enter a dorm while waiting for his application to be approved.
The sun was shining brightly by the time Daniel finally got up. He would've preferred to sleep in further, but through the haze of being half asleep, he overheard his teammates about to wake him up on their own. Groaning, he rolled out of bed, falling undignified to the floor as he missed the desk. “For the record, I hate all three of you right now,” Daniel mentioned. “I was dreaming I was helping X-ray and Vav save the city. And you ruined it.”
“And you nearly ruined our first day,” Dakota countered. “Classes start soon, let's go.”
Daniel waved him off. “Just give me a minute,” he said deliriously. “I gotta figure out how to stand again.”
Lewis, eager to help, slid his guitar onto his back and grabbed a protesting Daniel underneath the arms. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he heaved his leader to a standing, albeit shaky, position. The instant he let go, Daniel's legs gave out and he was forced to grab his chair for support.
“Thanks Lewis, that really helped.” Daniel said sarcastically as the rest of his team cracked up at their leader's mishaps.
“But in all seriousness, we’ve got five minutes before classes start.” Dakota mentioned once more.
Daniel’s eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet. He ripped open the shared closet and pulled out the uniform that had been placed there before they arrived late last night. Donning it in mere seconds, he grabbed his weapons and made a furious dash out the door. His teammates, having finished with their laughter, took off behind him.
Daniel felt they could make good time until he saw that the elevator was out of order. They could take the stairs, but those were on the other side of the building. Searching for a solution, Daniel turned and raced back to their dormitory. His teammates parted with surprise as their leader dove into the room they had just exited with such haste.
Daniel ran to the windows and flung them open. He knew from his time climbing the walls that there was an awning directly below him. Dropping down, he bounced off of it and stumbled to the ground. The rest of Team DDLN got to the window just in time to see him take off once more. Shrugging, they to used Daniel’s method of escape and were soon in hot pursuit.
“The topic of today’s discussion, ladies and gentlemen, is emergency field first aide.” Professor Glas announced, drawing a large first aide symbol on the blackboard. “Now, I know that many of you will simply brush this lesson off. I can even hear your complaints right now. We don’t need to know first aide Professor Glas, we have our aura to protect us! And you are correct. Your aura is your first line of defense; at least I hope so. Key phrase there; first line. Not the only line; that would be idiotic at best, hazardous to all those around you at worst. Nor is it your primary line; that would be not getting hit in the first place. So tell me, what happens when the aura runs out? Mr. Merriweather, would you be
willing to enlighten us?”
“Well sir, once our aura runs out, we begin to take damage we normally wouldn’t.” Ryler said.
“Exactly! Let me tell you children; I have taught several years here at Beacon, and I constantly get letters from former students telling me how first aide has saved their life, a comrade’s life, or a civilian’s life. And can you guess which of those three I hear about the most, Mr. Ochre?”
Nicholas, who had been lightly dozing with his hat down over his eyes looked up and answered. “I’m apologize sir, but I don’t believe I heard the question correctly.”
“Never mind son, although I’d appreciate it if you paid a bit more attention to my lesson. The answer class, is civilian. Many do not have an activated aura, or do but it is weaker compared to others, and are therefore unable to protect themselves except in extreme cases. Whether it be something as simple as applying a bandage on a little girl’s elbow, or preventing a thirty six year old farmer from bleeding out from a laceration in their side from a Boarbatusk horn, over eighty percent of cases will you will encounter will involve a civilian. Now with that being said, I do not intend to teach you what trained doctors in hospitals do. What I am here to teach you on is how to keep a comrade on their feet, and to keep someone alive long enough to transport them to professionals. Or if the worst comes to pass, make them comfortable while they die.”
There was a ripple of laughter among the crowd. Professor Glas eyed them seriously. “Laugh if you will, this is a very serious matter. If you all continue on the path you have chosen, it is statistically inevitable that you will see death. Sometimes a wound is too severe. Sometimes we arrive too late. If that is the case, then there is little that we can do besides ease their suffering.”
No one was laughing now. Professor Glas looked at the assembly to decide whether or not he had made his point. Satisfied that he had, he turned back to the blackboard. “Well, now that we’ve gotten past the morbid part, let us go into the first part of my series on field first aide; Punctures and lacerations.”
Professor Glas continued with his lecture, having them stand up and practice bandaging wounds on each other. One thing that Daniel noticed during the lesson was that apart from his team and team LSTR, not a single other student came close to Daniel, or even made eye contact. So it has begun, he thought with dread, practicing a wrapping on Lewis’ stomach. The stares, the whispers, the hesitant steps away whenever he walked by. Just like at home. He hardly noticed the bell ringing, signifying the end of the period. There was an outrush of students as they made a mad dash for the door. Just like during the class, they gave Daniel a wide berth. One girl even wrinkled her nose at him. As Daniel and the rest of his team made their way towards the door, Professor Glas called out. “Daniel, a word please?”
The rest of team DDLN looked at Daniel with a slight confusion. “Go on,” he said. “I'll catch up with you guys.” He then swung over the balcony partitioning the lecture space from the seats, and made his way up to Professor Glas.
“Hello Daniel, I wanted to ask you how your first day is going,” Professor Glas asked kindly, although Daniel did notice him wrinkle his nose slightly.
Daniel shrugged. “Well, it's only been one class, but so far, I guess pretty good.”
“Very good, very good. I understand you were wounded slightly during the initiation. How is that healing up?”
Daniel gingerly touched the most evident wound on his forehead from when Dakota had punched him. “So far so good. I think I escaped any infection.”
“Good thing. Nasty place to get an infection, the head. Just to be safe though, take this.” Professor Glas dug through his pockets, pulling out several multicolored scalpels and a syringe filled with a clear solution before he finally came out with a tube of ointment. “If you start to see any signs of infection, start applying this right away. If symptoms persist, come see me and I'll see what I can do.
Daniel took the tube graciously, then excused himself, jogging off to catch up with the rest of his team. The next period on their schedule was devoted to lunch. Daniel entered the mess hall and grabbed a tray sitting down with the rest of his team off to the side.
“Well, that was an interesting class,” Dakota commented.
“D’know mate. I didn’t learn much from him.” Nicholas replied.
“Well, if you watched something beside the inside of your hat, perhaps you would learn something.”
“I’ll have you know I am an excellent practitioner of first aide. Back where I live, you either learned how to heal, or you learned how to die.”
“Well, on that morbid thought, what about you Lewis? You learn anything?” Dakota asked.
“Sorry man,” Lewis said dreamily, “the Spirits called me to commune with them. I had to answer.”
Dakota rolled his eyes. “Great. One of us was asleep; the other was high as a kite. Danny, tell me you were paying attention at least.”
“Huh, what?” Daniel asked, looking up from picking his food.
Dakota slapped his head. “Brilliant. It would seem that I was the only one paying attention this morning, meaning I get to teach all of you when exam time comes. Abso-fricking-lutely brilliant. Can my day get any worse?”
“Oh hey guys! How’s it going?” Ryler called.
Dakota banged his head on the table, causing everyone’s trays to rattle. “Nick, give me your gun. Just give it to me and let me leave this world in peace.”
Nick simply smiled and returned to his meal.
Ryler and the rest of team LSTR sat down in front of team DDLN. Tiberius sat down in front of Daniel and as far away from Ryler as he could manage and still seem polite. He took a tentative sniff, and immediately gagged, looking at Daniel in revulsion.
“Please, don’t start,” Daniel began,
“Start, START? I am not starting anything! I am ending this, once and for all!” Tiberius interrupted. He reached into his uniform and snapped on a pair of white latex gloves. He marched around and grabbed Daniel by the shoulder of his uniform marching him out of the mess hall; the rest of their teams watching in amusement.
“I wonder what’s in his grill,” Dakota said.
“Oh, Tiberius has been in a simply horrible mood since I tried to tell him about my sustainable farming initiative for the school.”
“Can’t imagine why,” Nicholas commented.
“Neither can I! It would’ve been just like what my mother has done to help our agricultural sectors, except it would be strictly for Beacon! We would-”
“Ryler, do remember what we talked about this morning?” Lunare asked in a controlled tone, messing with a multitool and a piece of machinery.
“I really don't see how Tiberius being allowed to rip my head off if I play anymore new age CDs at five in the morning relates to-”
“The other thing, Ryler,” Schatten said with a growl. “And I told you to never mention that genre around me again!”
Ryler thought for a minute. “Oh right! Was this one of the ‘inappropriate meal conversations’?” he asked, making finger quotes.
Lunare sighed. “Yes, yes it is.”
“What are you, GAH!” Daniel cried as Tiberius dragged him through the halls of their dorms.
“I’ll explain later; gather all of your clothes and meet me in my dorm when you do.” Tiberius commanded, releasing him when they arrived at the door to Daniel’s dorm.
Confused, Daniel did as Tiberius asked and returned with his Denim jacket, jeans, and shirt.
Tiberius eyed the tiny bundle. “I said ALL of your clothes, Grigio.”
“These are all that I have.” Daniel replied. “I didn’t exactly come here with a dozen suitcases.”
Tiberius sighed. “No wonder you smell like a dumpster.” He muttered.
“Excuse me?” Daniel said, offended.
“Never mind. I need you to strip now.”
“Excuse me?!” Daniel said, now confused and offended. “Look, Tiberius, I think you're a nice enough guy, but I’m not interested in-”
“Oh shut up and lose the uniform Grigio. And take this.” He shoved a bag into his hand. “We’ve only got the rest of this period to do this, so get moving.”
“I’m sorry, but what exactly are we doing here? You failed to mention that.”
“What I’m doing here is making certain that the worst things I have to smell are Lunare’s grease, and whatever Ryler has on him. I’m relatively certain it’s dirt, but fear it might be worse.”
“But, what-”
“Uniform, Grigio. We don’t have much time left.”
Daniel wanted to protest further, but the glare Tiberius was giving him dried up any further comments. Wordlessly, he went back into his dorm and handed his uniform through the crack of the door to Tiberius.
“Now, while I go wash these ‘clothes’ take a long shower and use what’s in the bag.”
Daniel opened the bag. Inside was a bottle of heavy duty all in one body wash and shampoo. Daniel complied and soon the floor of the shower was covered in the weeks of dirt he had accumulated while living on the streets. Wrapping himself in a bath towel, he came out to see that Tiberius had left a pair of gray sweatpants and a sweatshirt on his bed, along with a note to meet him in the laundry room. Daniel followed the instructions and found Tiberius pulling his sodden uniform from the washer and dumping it in the dryer. He then refilled the washer with Daniel’s every day clothes along with what Daniel estimated to be an entire pint of detergent.
“What are you doing to my clothes?” Daniel said in surprise.
“I am giving them what appears to be their first ever cleaning.” Tiberius answered. “You should be thanking me.”
“Yeah, but why are you doing this?”
Tiberius rounded on him. “Don’t you wonder why everyone is avoiding you?”
“No, I think I’ve got that one figured out pretty damn well.” Daniel said hotly. There was no way Tiberius could even comprehend what he went through because of his condition.
“Then you understand why I’m doing this.” Tiberius said.
“No, I’m afraid I do not.”
“You stink Grigio. You smell like the back alleys of Vale. You smell worse than Rylers’ bare feet, which I can unfortunately attest that it is easily enough to severely injure anyone’s sense of smell.”
The dryer dinged and Tiberius pulled out Daniel’s uniform. Judging from the speed of the drying, and the fact that his clothes were smoking slightly, Tiberius had used the express dry setting. He shoved the clothes into Daniel’s hands.
“There. Put these on, and we’ll see if I was successful.”
Daniel walked around to another row of washers and after making certain they were alone, quickly changed back into his uniform, noticing that it now had a lemony scent.
He walked back around the row and presented himself to Tiberius. “There. Happy now?”
Tiberius took a long sniff. “I suppose it will suffice.” He said after a moment of hesitation. However, I still refuse to be forced to smell you every time our teams work together, which will happen if you continue to wear the exact same clothes every single day.”
Daniel shrugged. “Well, this is all that I have. Unless some cash magically appears in my wallet, I’m out of options.”
Tiberius huffed and dug around in his pockets before pulling out his wallet. He pulled out several bills and shoved them into Daniel’s hand. “First chance you get, go into town and get something else to wear. It’ll be a miracle if your shirt can be salvaged.”
Daniel took a look at the bills and almost had a heart attack. “This is two hundred Lien!”
“And that’s a problem?”
“No, it’s just, I can’t accept this. It’s way too much.” Daniel protested.
“Then consider it a mutual investment that benefits the two of us.” Tiberius replied. “You get new clothes, and I don’t have to smell you for the rest of our time here. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have classes to go to. I will leave you here with your laundry to finish.” And with that, he brushed past Daniel and marched out of the wash room.
Daniel glanced back town at the Lien. Two hundred Lien. He had never even held that kind of money! And someone had just given it to him like it was not big deal. Wordlessly, he pocketed the money and waited for his clothes to finish.
Okay, serious time here. I am really sorry for this chapter coming out so late. I really hated doing that, but I also would've hated failing my chemistry test, which I still have to take. Please forgive me.675Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZS1j3LrTZ
