It only takes a moment's thought before you decide to try and get Sapphire's attention--she's the safest option, being the closest monster to you AND your daughter. (Emerald is a few seats over, leaving plenty of time for you to get snatched up and eaten by one of her classmates before she even sees you; Taleela seemed so caught up in her lecture she likely wouldn't even see you at all.) With a grunt of effort, you leap back onto Sapphire's backpack and start to climb, starting at the mesh bottle-holder on the side...and you have quite a way to go--at your size and speed, it'll take the better part of an hour to reach the top.
The strain on your limbs isn't helping, either. You just knew you were gonna pull something after this...dammit.
During your climb, your attention starts to drift to Miss Khaman's lesson.
"Last class,we left off just as the War started...can anyone tell me--whithout looking at their notes--where and when that was?" Miss Khaman opens.
A few students groan when she forbids them from checking their notes, but your daughter isn't one of them.
You look up to see Sapphire raising her hand. "July 8th, 1712? Between...Lycanthropolis and Vladistan?"
"Right on the money both times, Sapphire; good work."
Despite the strain of climbing--by now you'd just passed the drink-holder--you smile at Miss Khaman's praise for your daughter. Darn right she'd get it on the first try, with her near-constant studying. You wondered why she was so worried about her grades. Just how nasty WAS that Mikki Tavi...?
Halfway up...goddammit, your arms hurt! And your grip wasn't the firmest, either--the backpack wasn't exactly a nice, hard climbing wall with lots of easy grips. And you weren't quite as spry as you were at Sapphire's age, as much as you tried to keep in shape.
Yeah, you were definietly gonna need an asprin after this...
"...first stage of the war went to Lycanthropis, since the werewolf city-state had already been on a war footing; putting down insurrections in its coastal territory just a few years before," Miss Khamen went on, the squeaks and grinds of her chalk on the blackboard. "Their initial push from the east in July and August claimed large swaths of Vampire land, including some small silver mines, cutting through the Vampires' supply of one of their major weaknesses. Unfortunately for the Werewolves, this sort of blitz stretched their supply lines quite thin..."
You stop to catch your breath, almost within reach of the top of the backpack...
Well, you actually stopped a short while ago, but got caught up in the history lesson. As much as you mentally kick yourself for that, this was pretty interesting. Maybe you should talk to Maggie about upgrading the cable to get the historical channels? Or at least hit the library sometime.
Filing that thought away, you pull yourself over some more folds and wrinkles before you finally, FINALLY reach top of Sapphire's backpack!
...You'd cheer if you weren't so whupped. On the plus side, you'd probably made up for all the times you'd missed working out in the past, oh; six months? Well, time to do what you came here for.
With another grunt of effort, you stand up and start waving your arms around. "Sapphire! Down here! It's your father!!" You shout. "I fell in your backpack! Help!"
Your daughter is busy taking notes, but the classroom is quiet save for Miss Khaman's lesson. Will Sapphire notice you...?
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