Chapter Two: Making friends and enemies
“Alright, we’re almost at the end of the tour. There’s just the dorms left, now,” I said, then gestured to the building we were standing next to. “This is dorm-building 1-G, and this is where you’ll be staying the next few years.”
The dormitory was rather big. It was a large tower, with two evenly sized rectangular structures attached to it. They were swept back at an angle, giving the whole building a shape not unlike a checkmark. Behind the dormitory, on the inside of the checkmark, was a pool and a garden. It was meant for exercise, relaxation, and socialization.
There was some grumbling about the building. While it looked nice, it was nothing like these people were used to. Especially compared to some of the other buildings we visited today, this was nothing worth mentioning. The exterior was rather plain and had large patches of clear white areas. The goal was that we’d decorate it ourselves, though that likely wouldn’t happen until halfway through the year, as that was when people’s Skills really started to flourish.
The other reason they were grumbling was the fact that while the building was big, it was also going to be occupied by about a hundred students—and a dragon, but they didn’t know that yet. That meant that when you took out the space reserved for kitchens, places to wash your clothes, storage closets, toilets, and the communal bathrooms needed for a hundred people, it left little room for each individual. They’d still be getting a decent sized room each, but again, nothing compared to what they were used to.
The tower housed most of these utilities and services. The rest of the tower was to be mine, and was built with dragon sized accommodations in mind. In fact, the entire building was. With extra wide hallways, and extra large communal rooms, the goal was that I could live among my peers. It also meant slightly smaller rooms than average for everyone. Dad thought it most fitting to give the building with the smallest dorm rooms to the royals. I couldn’t say I disagreed. Dad also thought it most fitting to put me in the same building. I was less pleased about that.
I led the group inside and gave them a tour of the building. Doing this with the entire group at once might not have been the best idea, but I made it work. The rooms they were getting were pretty decent. Each one had a good single-sized bed, a large bookcase, a desk, a small closet, a sink, and a wardrobe. Also, just like the entire building, everything was brand new and tailored to each individual’s species.
Props to the nobles, though. If they were displeased by the room’s size, they weren’t showing it. Not much, anyway.
The communal bathrooms got a lot more grumbles. Small rooms they could accept, but stars forbid that they had to use a communal bathroom. It wasn’t even just a row of showers. No, it was a set of private shower stalls. Thin walls and curtains, sure. But private. What were they even worried about? The bathrooms were divided by gender, so aside from the differences that came from species, they had the same bits. And I doubted many of them were gay, so that couldn’t be it either. No, they were just being privileged and picky.
Then again, I wasn’t really in a place to judge them right now. I knew my room had its own shower since I didn’t fit in the communal ones. Maybe if I’d had to share with others, I’d be grumbling too.
After a few more minutes, we made our way outside to the pool and the garden.
“This is the pool and garden. I think its purposes should be self-explanatory. But there are some rules to keep in mind. No loud noises after sunset. Don’t destroy the property. Keep the sparring contained to the grass fields. And don’t feed the squirrels.”
“Squirrels?” one of the students—I think his name was Micheal—asked.
“Yes, squirrels. Don’t feed them. They’re a project of Professor Vuillio. She will know if you did, so don’t. Seriously. Don’t.”
“What h-happens if we do?” The same student asked.
“Well,” I said, grinning a smile I knew showed off my sharp teeth. “Let’s just say there weren’t always this many squirrels on campus.”
The student turned white, while others snickered. I hoped they respected the rule; I hadn’t been lying. “Now, before I end the tour and leave you all to settle in, are there any more questions?”
They all started asking questions at once, and I had to stop them. After I made up some rules for the questions, we started again. A dozen students-to-be raised their hands. I picked Alex.
“Sorry if this is rude to ask, but… what are you?” he asked.
Alex was one of the talented students, who, for some reason completely beyond me, was put in with the nobles and royals. May the stars have pity on him. I met him earlier while we walked between the various places I was showing the group. I liked him; he was nice.
He was the lizardkin I spotted earlier and came from the Dry Territories—a world filled with nothing but sand and the occasional jungle. As one of only three lizardkin in the entire year, he was an outsider. Like me. The lizardkin, as a species, mostly kept to themselves and disliked any foreigners coming into their lands. This meant that the lizardkin that joined were usually… different. In a good way! But different.
Unlike beastkin, who looked more like humans with fur and animal ears, lizardkin took much more from their animal counterparts. From a large lizard tail, to scales, to inset ears, to a protruding snout. It was like someone had taken all the parts that made a lizard a lizard, and melded it together with a humanoid frame. It was the closest thing to a dragon that I knew of.
I could recognize what lizard he stemmed from, too. I knew because there had been a time where I was completely obsessed with lizards and other reptilians, thinking that books held answers about myself. They didn’t. But I could now tell Alex stemmed from a small lizard called a red-eyed crocodile skink. It was an adorable little thing often kept as a pet, though not here at campus.
His scales were a beautiful brow-ish black that shone brilliantly in the light of the afternoon sun and he had a set of ridges going all the way down his back, down to the tip of his tail. It looked a little funny, as his shirt was stretched over it awkwardly. Another striking feature were his eyes. He had large black pupils and unlike everyone else here, his sclera—the white of part of the eyeball—was yellow. And there was a vibrant ring of red scales around his eyes. Not blood-red, though, but more like the orangy-red of the setting sun. I liked that, it made him look very handsome. Sunset and sunrise were my favorite times of the day.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I’m sorry for asking,” Alex said, looking embarrassed.
I shook my head, clearing it off my distraction.
“No, that’s fine. I’m a dragon.”
He perked up at my answer, his embarrassment overcome by curiosity. “Oh? What’s a dragon?”
I scratched the scales behind my ear-slits. It was my turn to be embarrassed. “Well, I am. Beyond that, I haven’t got the faintest idea. There’s very little information available. Or at least, very little credible information. There’s always a bunch of scammers trying to get the reward by providing something they made up.”
I saw that he wanted to ask more questions, and as much as I wanted to keep talking with him, there were other students with questions too. So I picked another student, and she—Jeh was her name if I remember correctly; one of the few dryads—asked about the tower. “What’s in the upper half? We didn’t visit that during the tour.”
“That’s my room and assorted spaces.”
“The entire upper half of the tower is yours? Why do you get so much room, that’s unfair.” A few—oh, who was I kidding; most—of the other students were looking at her like she was an idiot.
“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m rather large. I need more space than you do.”
She looked unconvinced, but nodded anyway.
In the back, I could hear Conad talking with some of his friends. “That thing will be living with us? Which idiot thought that was a good idea. All it’ll do is stink up the place.”
I tried to ignore him. But it was hard. So far he had insulted my looks, my intelligence, my smell, my father, my ability to guide, the fact that I was the guide at all, and anything else that rotten little mouth of his could think of. He did not handle that ‘no’ at the beginning of the day well. And I was going to be stuck with him for at least a year. Just fucking great. I’ve gotten enough of royals and nobles today for a lifetime.
Stolen story; please report.
I sighed, and picked the next student, knowing I’d be here a while still.
-------
“Okay then, if there are no further questions, I’ll leave you guys to settle in. I’ll be back tomorrow. But if you have any other questions in the meantime, Jade should be able to help you.” Jade was the Janitor for the building and I’d introduced her earlier. She was also my former maid, along with the levels appropriate, but I wasn’t telling them that. “Now, before I leave, is there anyone who needs to get to the Administration building? I’m heading there anyway and can easily take someone along.”
Several students raised their hands, and one of them was Alex. That made the choice very easy, since he was the only one I really talked to today. Plus, he was fun to talk to, unlike the others I’d tried chatting with. Alex for that matter, looked rather surprised. Like he didn’t expect to get picked at all.
I lowered myself to the ground and motioned him to approach. He did, and he awkwardly got on, his scales scraping against mine as he climbed into the saddle. I almost always wore the saddle these days. It was a quick and easy way to earn some points, and I felt naked without it. I imagined this is how others felt about clothes.
The rest of the group watched for a moment while Alex turned around in the saddle, then they seemingly lost interest and started walking back towards the dorms.
“Are you sure this is okay?” He asked while strapping himself in.
“Of course,” I said. “If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have asked.”
“No, um, that’s not what I meant,” he said, and while I couldn’t really see his face while he was on my back, his tone was sheepish. “I meant me riding you like this. Like a horse, or something. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
I shook my head. “I don’t really think of it like that. I’m just helping people the best way I can, and it helps me feel useful. Especially since it hardly costs me any extra effort. And unlike a horse, or any other beast of burden, I’m in full control. I choose where we’re going and you’re just along for the ride.”
There was a slight pause before Alex responded. “Hm, good point, I guess. You do this a lot then?”
I stretched my wings out and flapped them a few times to warm them up. “I do. It’s a nice way to earn some extra points. You’d be surprised how much people are willing to pay for a romantic sunset flight over the campus.”
“Oh. You usually charge for this? I won’t owe you anything, will I?”
“Not this time,” I said, handing him a set of goggles to keep the wind from drying out his eyes. “Alright, it seems you’re good to go. I’ll be going rather fast, so lean forwards and grab hold of the handles.”
Alex did as I said, pressing his chest against my back and firmly grabbing hold of the handles at the side. The leg-supports pivoted with him a bit, so he was closer to lying down than actually sitting in the saddle, letting him ride comfortably while not creating too much drag. With a small run and a leap, I leapt and soared into the sky. I could fly from a complete standstill, but a running start was so much more fun. Alex seemed to agree, as he let out a shout of excitement. “Whoa! This is amazing!”
I could barely hear him over the wind, and couldn’t help but agree. Flying was awesome. The way the air streamed past my scales and over my wings, catching the membrane and making it taut as the force of my wingbeats pushed us up and forward… it was incredible. And when you added the always amazing views of the campus and the horizon, of the forests deep below, and the clouds high above, it made the experience not only thrilling, but beautiful in a way few things could be.
I flew for a few minutes, then slowed down when we neared the Administration building. I came to a stop and hovered in a slow circle to give Alex a moment to appreciate the view without it rushing by in a blur. While I did that, he shifted around in the saddle and the pressure of his chest disappeared from where he had been pressed against my back. He had sat up. I couldn’t continue flying like this—he’d be ripped away by the drag—so I asked what was up.
“Is flying always this awesome?” he asked, answering me with a question. I nodded. “I’m jealous,” he said.
I chuckled. “Yeah, being a dragon is pretty great.” Most of the time anyway.
There must have been something wistful or sad to my tone because after a moment of silence he asked me a question. “You really don’t know anything about your own species? Are there no other dragons you could ask?”
I shook my head. “The only information we’ve found so far is that the last dragon lived over 500 years ago, and as I think you know, very little remains of that time. It’s just one mention, in one fragmented book.” I sighed, my mood somewhat spoiled. “And as far as we know, I’m the only dragon in existence.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that… That must be rather lonely.” There was the sound of a slap. “Right, sorry, captain obvious here. Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s fine. You couldn’t have known. And yeah, it can be rather lonely at times. Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad and his friends. But as awful as it sounds, he isn’t always enough. Making friends is hard, and harder still if you have daggers for teeth and all the other kids are afraid to get near you. So, yeah, I do get lonely. But doesn’t everyone get lonely from time to time?” I chuckled. “Hah, look at me, I barely know you and I’m already telling you my life’s story. Stars, I’m pathetic.”
“Don’t worry about it. Sometimes it’s just easier to talk to a stranger.”
I sighed. “I suppose that’s true.”
“And for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re pathetic.” I let out an unconvinced grunt. He continued. “I know what it’s like to feel lonely. Back home, making friends was difficult, so I mostly just had my family, and I haven’t seen them since I left seven months ago... And even before then, they had started excluding me more and more. They do not like different, and I think they could tell I was.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I said, now it was my turn to be the one awkwardly trying to console the other. I guessed we both just needed to vent a little.
He continued after a brief pause. “It’s not that different here, honestly. It’s difficult to fit in when you’re the only one with scales and a tail. At least the beastkin have the benefit of being common and accepted. Stars above, you’re the first person I’ve had an in-depth conversation with in weeks. I hadn’t even realized how much I missed just talking to someone. So, no, I don’t think you’re pathetic for trying to have a conversation with, what sounds like, one of the first people you’ve felt a connection with in a long while. Even if that conversation was untypically personal.”
He was quiet for a moment, thinking. I continued hovering in place, having come to a full stop during the conversation. When he spoke again, he was oddly quiet. “The view really is beautiful from up here, isn't it?” he asked, then paused before continuing. “What was your first time flying like?”
The conversation had turned unexpectedly heavy, and he wanted to lighten the mood a bit. I obliged, searching for the words.
“It was… difficult. I was about nine years old, and I’d been trying to fly for years by that point. I was too heavy for the surface-area of my wings, and not strong enough to stay in the air. It didn’t stop me trying, however. That day though, I succeeded. Barely, but I succeeded. I had been trying different things for hours, flapping into the air, staying there for a moment, before falling back to the ground. Then it just clicked, I realized what I was doing wrong. You know what I did the moment I realized I could get into the air, and stay there? I went to the roof and jumped off.”
He laughed. “You… just jumped off the edge of your roof? How high was it?”
“At least ten meters. As much as I hate to admit it, I was a stupid kid. I managed to hover in the air quite well, though. It was steering and landing that proved impossible. I veered massively off course and landed head-first in a tree. Luckily, the ground was soft. Well, as soft as the ground can really be.”
“I sure hope you’ve improved since then.” He laughed and only continued speaking once he calmed down a little. “Thank you, by the way.” He said, and I was caught off guard, wondering what he was thanking me for. “For listening. I meant it when I said that this has been the first real conversation I’ve had in weeks. The other students are nice, but I haven’t really been able to connect with any of them yet. Especially back in the branch-location, before they moved us all here. It’s really nice to have a friend to talk to again. Er, if you would like to be friends, that is.”
“I think I would like that, yeah.”
-------
Alfred Conad sat in his room, reading a book on magic theory. He’d been rereading the same page for the last ten minutes, his mind stuck thinking about that obnoxious beast. Felix, it called itself. Utterly ridiculous.
How dare they assign a mere beast to guide him, and the rest of his prestigious peers. They even had the guts to assign the beast to their class. The small group of commoners being in their class was bad enough, but this… this was an outrage! He would be writing an angry letter to his mother the moment he discovered where they could send mail.
“Yo Al, are you still moping?” Tiki, his sister, asked from his doorway.
“I’m not moping. “
“What are you even angry about? You knew you wouldn’t be allowed to bring your servants. I warned you, dad warned you, even mom warned you.”
“Whatever. What do you want?” She was right, of course. Not that he’d admit that.
“Just checking in on you. You were rather angry earlier. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine. I just can’t believe they let some… mutt tell us what to do.”
Tiki sighed. “He is a dragon, whatever that is, not a mutt. And his name is Felix. Mother would have a fit if she learned who you’ve spent all day long insulting. I’ve told you before, but if you’re going to insult someone, at least be aware of what damage you might cause. You may not think he heard you, but I can assure you he did. You need to apologize.”
He didn’t dignify his sister with a response. Why would he? Mother would never side with some beast over him.
“Fine, have it your way. This is exactly the reason father sent us here, you know. To learn that there’s more to life than being royalty. So stop moping and come down; dinner is almost ready. And before you ask, it’s rabbit stew and bread. Selanar made it; she’s one of the common—non-royalty.” She turned to walk away, but stopped. “Tomorrow is your turn to cook, by the way.”
Alfred seethed in his chair as his sister closed the door behind her. He didn’t even know how to cook.