literature

Woods of Daft part 3d

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Charlotte followed the mass as a small fraction of students trickled down the stairs, the unlucky few that had P.E. as their last class of the day. Tab was waiting just as he had said at the bottom of the stairs, and joined Charlotte in the small stream of students as they headed down the hall. Past the cafeteria, down the small side hallway, past the door that led to the beck steps, boys and girls splitting into two groups and going through separate doors to what apparently was the very well hidden locker rooms. Tab paused at the small stretch of wall between the splitting hallways.
“Teachers share an office,” he said as Charlotte approached him. “They’ll give you your clothes and a space to put them.”
Charlotte nodded, “see you in a bit,” she smiled, moving off down the hallway to the right and entering the girls’ changing room. The front part of the room was partitioned into rows of cubbies. Most had name tags on their lower lips and were filled with tennis shoes and P.E. clothes. At the back of the room was a row of changing stalls, separated from the cubbies by curtains. Along the nearest wall was a narrow door that led to a long rectangular office. Two teachers were sitting at a large desk; a husky man in the chair before it, and a strong looking woman on the desk itself. They were laughing together at some shared joke.
“Excuse me,” Charlotte spoke into the gaiety, and the teachers sobered up, looking with stony eyes to her. “I’m new, my name is Leroux.” Judging from the way they were looking at her now, Charlotte guessed that the thing they had been laughing at when she came in hadn’t been funny at all. She doubted if it was even pleasant.
“Charlotte Leroux?” the woman asked, checking her roster.
“That’s correct,” Charlotte nodded, keeping her eyes on the woman, who appeared to be her teacher, as she rose from the desk and went over to a wall of cubbies filled with unused and unworn uniforms.
“Small I’d say,” she muttered, maybe to herself, maybe to her companion.
“Smallest you’ve got,” the man answered, looking Charlotte up and down. He glanced at the woman’s clipboard, then back at Charlotte, “you sure you’re a seventh grader?” he asked with half a smirk.
“I’m small for my age,” was all Charlotte said in explanation, used to people asking her similar questions.
“If that ain’t an understatement,” the man shook his head, both him and the woman laughing a few times as she pulled the smallest uniform she could find from one of the cubbies.
“Best size we got,” she said, holding up the shirt to Charlotte. “Still a bit big, but they’re big on the sixth graders too, so it’s not much to be going on about.” She handed Charlotte the shirt, a white tank top with the words “Weston Cainbridge Academy” on the front and a pair of red shorts, along with a felt tip pen and a blank white sticker. “You write your name on all of those things, put the sticker on an empty cubby and that’ll be yours to use. House comes through once a week to wash all the clothes, so just leave ‘em folded in your cubby and you’ll be fine.”
“Yes ma’am,” Charlotte nodded, turning to leave as the man laughed at the woman.
“That’s Rodson, Missy, don’t ‘ma’am’ me, you hear?” the woman snapped, pointing a finger at Charlotte with a good natured glare.
“Yes…Mrs. Rodson,” Charlotte nodded again, and turned to leave quickly. She changed quickly in an empty stall, already hearing the other girls starting to leave the changing room.
Tab met Charlotte out in the hallway and walked with her along the corridor to the back door, where other students were filing into the field. “So, who do you have?” he asked as they jumped down the steps.
“Rodson,” Charlotte answered simply.
“Yeah, but which one? They’re both Rodson,” Tab explained at Charlotte’s blank look, “Mr. and Mrs. Rodson, they’re married.”
“Oh, Mrs. Rodson,” Charlotte specified, a bit surprised that the two were married.
“Too bad,” Tab sighed, “I’ve got Mr. Rodson.” Two lines were forming in the field. At the heads of the lines stood Mr. and Mrs. Rodson, clipboards in hand, pencils poised, eyes sharp on their students. “Well, see you after at least,” Tab shrugged as he joined the line forming in front of Mr. Rodson, leaving Charlotte in Mrs. Rodson’s line.
Physical Education seemed to be the one class that all grades could be mixed in, because to her shock Charlotte saw Erik only a few spaces ahead of her in line. She also didn’t recognize a great number of people; they all must have been upperclassmen.
Charlotte leaned over and forward, trying to curve around the person in front of her as best she could. “Erik,” she whispered loudly, reaching out and tapping her brother’s elbow. He turned around and raised his brows as he saw Charlotte. She opened her mouth to speak some more, but the boy in front of him mumbled something, and he turned around to listen. Ignoring Charlotte completely.
Charlotte’s mouth fell open in shock, quite taken aback by the rudeness of her own brother. She looked around and saw Tab staring at her with his brows raised in a “he didn’t” kind of way. Charlotte glanced back to Erik angrily, then looked to Tab with her hands in the air. Tab could only look sympathetic and shrug though as the teachers blew their whistles in sync and called the lines to attention. There was a long drawn out silence as each went down the roster, making sure each student was present.
“Leroux, you’re out of order,” Mrs. Rodson barked, making both Charlotte and Erik jump. There was a pause in which neither of them moved. Mrs. Rodson rolled her eyes and went on “Charlotte Leroux, you need to be in alphabetical order, stand in front of your brother there,” she pointing to Erik and Charlotte obediently took her proper spot, glaring at her brother as she passed him and standing straight forward in order to ignore him after that. Once role was taken, Mr. Rosdon jogged his class around the building to the side field where a jumble of exercise equipment was set up, looking more to Charlotte like a very boring play ground.
“Alright then, all of you, once around the tree line,” Mrs. Rodson barked, jabbing her thumb behind her at the looming trees and blowing a short blast on her whistle. The class walked forward near the edge of the forest and paused in a little clump. The whistle blew again, and everyone began moving, some walking lazily, few running in actual effort, and most jogging at a steady pace. Charlotte, try as she might to keep up, fell behind easily. She could only keep in front of the people walking.
The class became strung out along the tree line, the runners already disappearing around the edge of the school, and walkers still in view of the back, and their teacher. Charlotte was alone by the time she got one third of the way around, the joggers too far ahead, the walkers too far behind; the main building now blocking her from both Mr. and Mrs. Rodson’s view. It was as good a time as any for a rest, so Charlotte slowed down to at least a walk, intending to at least keep moving. Except…
“Charlotte,” a voice suddenly growled from within the woods, making the girl jump, spin to face the trees, and nearly fall over. She caught herself though, and gasped at the sight of a large wolf like creature walking alongside her, a few trees between them.
“B-barthos,” Charlotte stuttered, looking quickly up and down along the line to make sure no one was around her. Quickly Charlotte darted into the trees, following Barthos only deep enough into the trees to ensure passing students wouldn’t see them. “What are you doing here?” Charlotte half panted.
“I patrol the tree line,” Barthos reminded her, his voice permeated with a soft background growl, “I keep my clan within the woods, and in normal circumstances, try to keep your clan out of the woods.”
“In normal circumstances?” Charlotte repeated, “but you let me stay last night?”
“Last night you proved yourself to be an abnormal case,” Barthos replied evenly, sitting down in the dappled shade the incomplete canopy of the forest edge had to offer.
“How so?” Charlotte asked, but before the Wolven could answer, she cut him off, “hang on. You’re talking.”
“I am,” Barthos nodded, “I have that ability.”
“But you didn’t say a single thing last night,” Charlotte reminded him, “that would have been so much more helpful, to know you could speak.”
Barthos gave a frightening chuckle, shaking his head a small bit. “Wolven can only speak during the day, when we are less…primal,” he explained, “at night we hunt, and lack the ability to speak as humans do. You will find, I’m sure, that many creatures of the forest can or will only speak at given times.” Charlotte inspected the Wolven, and found that seemed much more docile in appearance than he had last night. He even looked a bit smaller, his eyes were a shimmering white, and he sat more like the clever sphinx than the ever ready to pounce lion.
“There are more creatures in the forest?” she asked curiously, sitting down on a tree root that was sticking up above the rest.
“There are many creatures in the forest,” Barthos smiled eerily, “but that is new business for later. I’ve been sent to find you to address old business.”
“What old business?” Charlotte asked, confused slightly.
“Last night,” Barthos said simply, “you ventured into the woods to examine Daft’s tree. You said you could see it glowing from the school, you even caught a wink.” He sounded very impressed by all of this.
“Is that what that thing was?” Charlotte asked.
Barthos nodded, “winks are the most basic form of fairies,” he explained, “they are pure light and their energy can be transferred to other objects in place of sleep. Daft catches forty winks a night to feed his tree so that he can go on without ever sleeping without wearing out his tree, which must stay alive and healthy and depends on him to be maintained.”
Charlotte nodded, somehow that made sense to her. “But why is it so special that I was able to catch one?” she asked again, still not understanding that part.
“Human’s cannot normally see winks, let alone objects that have absorbed their energy, let alone catch them with their bare hands,” Barthos replied in a proud sort of growl.
Charlotte paused, putting it all together in her head. The tree glowed because it was filled with light from the winks, that she was able to see from her window, and catch. “So, what does it mean, that I can see and catch winks?” she asked slowly.
“It means, my dear, that you posses the ability humans call magic,” the Wolven proclaimed, his voice regal almost, as though he were knighting her. Charlotte blinked, and Barthos continued in a more natural voice, “it means you are welcome here in the woods, that Daft cannot deny you entrance just because you’re from the school. This place is a refuge for magical creatures, and Daft is sworn by the very trees around him to keep us hidden so long as we stay within the limits of his domain.”
“And that’s why you keep people out,” Charlotte added thoughtfully, still a bit dazed. “Wait, so I have magic?” she asked, still not completely grasping that fact.
“Yes, my dear, you do,” Barthos repeated warmly, amused by Charlotte’s lost expression. He settled himself down a bit more comfortably, obviously waiting for Charlotte’s questions.
“Like spell casting, potion making, wand waving magic?”
Barthos gave a loud barking laugh, “no, no,” he shook his head, “I’m afraid that’s only in books, from what humans remember of magics long dead. There’s nothing of a craft to it anymore. Humans have fallen too far away from actual magic, that your kind can only access the very basic abilities to merely observe. Though you can be affected by the magic around you, you yourself cannot effect others with it.” They sat in silence for a long while. Charlotte somehow felt very small. It seemed her adventure was already gone.
“Oh,” was all she managed to say.
“Not to worry,” Barthos comforted her with a gentle growl, “you are still welcome here, and you should know that by human standards, you are have a very clear Sight for things.”
Charlotte opened her mouth to speak, closed it, then opened it again. She hardly got the first syllable out however, when the sudden stomping of feet came from the direction of the school fields. Charlotte looked to the direction of the sound, slightly horrified. She glanced back at Barthos to ask him what they should do, but he was already gone. The wind blew through the tree, and the stomping sound grew closer. Charlotte looked back to face whoever had wandered into the woods, not sure what her excuse should be.
“What are you doing in here?!” It was Erik. He was whispering furiously at Charlotte, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her back towards the school. “I told you to stay away from these trees, Charlotte,” he said sternly over his shoulder, not looking back at his sister, but straight forward, keeping an eye out for anyone that might spot them.
“I was just-” Charlotte began, but stopped. She didn’t want to expose Barthos. “I thought I saw something,” she said very stubbornly.
“You did more than just see something,” Erik snapped, yanking Charlotte forward and turning to meet her, clutching her shoulders and positively lifting her up so that they were face to face. “Stay. Out. Of. These. Woods.” he said each word very carefully, and very forcefully. “You’re just lucky I found you in time.”
“How did you find me anyway?” Charlotte asked, returning his attacks with some of her own, “no one saw me go into the trees, and you were on the other side of the building.”
“Never you mind,” Erik answered off handedly, motioning for Charlotte to come to him. “Here, pretend you fell and I’ll carry you back to the teacher.” They made it out of the trees without anyone seeing them, though Charlotte thought she saw a woman farther down the line staring horridly at them. She blinked, and the woman was gone.
The unedited and continued adventures of Charlotte &c.
That's about all I got. We're around half way through. You all suffering yet?
preview by :iconphataura:
~Enjoy

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