Two stared at the man, presently regarding the stunned crowd with a long-suffering look, and decided this was one of those times when wisdom suggested you learn from someone else mistakes. So she waved an anxious Abery down and got comfortable in her seat.
As expected a group of someones soon decided to educate her. They were a trio, two servants burdened with luggage trailed in the wings of their master, who boldly strode up to the buffalo that could snap his spine with an incautious pat on the back.
The master said something couldn’t be heard and the servant on his right procured a pile of documents from the assorted pile he was carrying. She did however hear the man’s response after he perused the papers. “Your documents are in order.” He said, gravely voice echoing across the field. “However you must carry your own luggage, school rule.”
“What!” the master said and two saw his shoulders set gearing up for a tirade.
The man sighed and it struck like a gust of wind, swept through the field, bowed the grass and rustled tents. It stirred her dress even from so far away.
The warm current smelled like wrath wrapped in countless layers of patience until it became something else. Something she didn’t have a name for.
“I am allowed to throw you up the mountain if you’d rather not walk, luggage and all. I can endure you’ll land safely.” The muscled man looked down at the group, waiting for a response.
She didn’t hear the reply but knew what it was. He took things from the servants, leaving the pair with much more reasonable burdens. Then stubbornly trundled up the mountain. There was something equally comforting and disturbing about knowing that the future cultivators, people who might one day be able to cut with a glance and summon gusts with a sigh, also had the idiots.
She turned her eyes to the next group. She wondered which among them if any would reach those lofty heights. She settled her thoughts and returned to observation. There were still lessons to learn and she saw no need to rush.
***
Eventually, after the sixth group Two and Abery joined the line. She’d debated doing so separately from the angels but decided her association with Igni would eventually come to light anyway. There was no need to rob herself of good company.
So the quartet took their place in the surprisingly orderly line. Papers were presented, people were sent up the mountain, one purple-haired girl accepted the offer of expedience and was soon a hollering dot tracing a grand arc to the citadel.
The line grew more orderly.
Then it was their turn.
The man took one look at the angels and waved them up. “You Two can fly up.”
“Don’t we need to present identification?” Igni asked and two swallowed her sigh.
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The man chuffed and it threatened to undo Two’s hair. “No, there’s no way to fake what you two are. You can stick around but there’s no need.”
Lux smiled and jumped into the air., catching himself with a single beat of his wings “You heard the man, I’ll see you at the top.” Another flap sent him flying as fast as the thrown girl. The following rush of wind succeeded in stealing the ribbon that bound her hair, where the mischievous winds promptly took it away.
Two drew her gaze from the dispersing cloth and stared blankly at Lux’s distant form.
“I’ll talk to him.” Igni said, “About this and before, goodbye for now Two.”
“Goodbye for now Igni.” The words came out flatter that she intervened.
The misty angel flashed a small smile. Then flew after his brother. A soft wind was his only wake. She couldn’t understand how the two were related.
She shook off the thought and took her place before the man. “Good afternoon sir, may I have your name.” She smiled awkwardly and presented her papers. She hoped to seem polite and personable without tipping into ingratiating or worse, testing his patience. He didn’t like time wasters.
He swept through her papers and Abery’s before huffing, softly, he quirked a bushy brow and then returned them. “Verder, and as I have stated before you must carry your own luggage.” He looked pointedly at the heavy bags Abery was wearing and the small satchel wrapped around her
She smiled, quietly impressed with the pressure he managed to inflict with a disapproving gaze. “These are my things Mr Verder. I prefer to travel light but my companion Abery here trends in the other direction. I saw him pack a whole tea set in one of those bags, I think he just really likes making tea.” She hoped he was less skeptical than her, because while everything she said was true it had taken her several days of careful observation to believe it. Abery, his face awash with a violent blush and staring at the ground helped her case.
“Fine,” he chuffed, a slip of amusement joining the mix of wreathed wrath and patience.
Two decided to strike. She set a wide grin on her face “Thank you for your understanding, but I’m curious why do we each have to carry out personal belongings.”
His patience frayed ever so slightly, a sour note touched the flavour. “Because,” his voice rose filling the space with its rumbling gravity. This close the sound shook her bones. “Unlike many believe this school does not accept servants. They follow courses for mortals but remain your fellow students and may very well enter cultivation courses in later years.”
Two to a moment to let her skull stop rattling. “Thank you for sating my curiosity Mr Verder, I won’t take anymore of your time.“
He nodded and she started up the path Abery close behind. The two continued in silence for a while. Passing overburdened lady and lordlings struggling under their burdens. Two things became evident to her.
The first surprising fact; she was enjoying herself. This was her first hike in anything approaching nature. Despite scraggy vegetation and the mount’s craggy disposition she found her gaze roving very witch way. She admired the stubborn flora and fauna, and her heart almost stopped when she saw a snake sunning on a wide rock near the path.
It was all very mundane and couldn’t compare to the wonder that was the mountain slipping into the world. Yet they sat in her mind crowding out the impossible sight and
Abery was no different. He bounced and gasped enough for the both of them. The very height of unprofessionalism it was easy to imagine thats all this was. An adventure but a small ache kept her from forgetting even for a blink. Still she enjoyed it as much as she could.
The second thing she noticed was the mountain itself. It was a scarred thing, what she thought were natural deviations revealed thermoses to be worn cracks and smooth cuts. As the trek wore into an hour. She noticed boulders made of assorted rubble littering the pockmarked mountain.
It was about this time with the sun beating her brow and her legs aching, she realized she wasn’t quite halfway up.
She then realized a third thing, maybe being catapulted wasn’t so bad. Unfortunately, that opportunity was a good hour and several hundred metres down.