Rivin's Legend: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

'Bawk!'
I sit up immediately and look up. For a second, the sound was so close that for a second, I thought it was coming from my room, before I realised it was coming from the outside. Hints of sunlight start creeping through my open window, and I groggily wipe my eyes.
I listened again for that weird bawk, but heard nothing. Huh. Must've been the wind.
I got out of bed, and I changed into a white t-shirt with the words 'Vision' on it and a black water-resistant trousers. These were what I wore most of the time when I'm not in school, but I think I'll make an exception this time. I need to go on a shopping trip soon.
I opened the door, and walked downstairs in a slow manner into the kitchen. I slowly open the fridge, and I'm surprised to see groceries filled out inside. Looks like Daniel went out for some late-night shopping. I scan the fridge for breakfast, and I pull out a loaf of bread from the top shelve. I stand there, unwrap the plastic packaging and wolfed it down. I hadn't eaten dinner last night.
After I finish devouring the bread, I search the house for Daniel. I found him sitting on the living room couch, with a very weird looking box on his lap. He was fixated on trying to get it open, eyes focused intently.
The box is pure white, and it's about the size where he can fit in his palm. It's not very big, but I don't see any seams making out a lid or anything. I can see Daniel is also trying to crack it open. He fondles it in his hand and spins it around for good measure
'Morning. What's that?'
'I don't know, but for some reason, I can't figure out how this opens up. I saw it on our front door porch last night after I went shopping. It was mailed to us, so I brought it in and tried to crack it open. No such luck.'
'And you bought it inside the house, where it could potentially kill us? Smart.'
'I have went over the possibilities of that happening. The chances of that is so low, your grades are higher.' Daniel smirked, and I shook my head, and picked up my backpack. Leave it to Daniel to make intellectual jokes. 'Though I can't seem to open it.'
If even Daniel, a highly intelligent robot can't open it, I wonder what kind of person made the thing. Why make a box if you can't open it? What would one put inside a box like that?
'I'm heading to school now. You want me to pick up anything on the way back?'
'Nope. But do come back here as soon as school ends. I have to give you something.'
'Why not now? It's as good a time as any.'
'No, I want to make sure you have your mind cleared and off to properly take it in. It's nothing, really. But come home quick, ok?'
'Sure.' I strap on my backpack, and head out the front door. The neighbouring houses are silent, and no cars or people go by. Well, it's still 5 in the morning. I decide to go for a run in the woods. I go to the back of the house and head into the forest. I memorise the direction back to our house and start running.
I found out that I can run pretty fast, and I have been running around recently early before school for the past few months. Training my speed, I guess. Preparing for the inevitable fight with the Losac.
I run in the dark woods, the wind tailing behind me. I hear bird chirping up on the trees, and the sun rising up above. I see a tumbled over tree leading into the air, and I run onto it at full speed. I jump off at the end and onto the ground. My legs don't even feel pain. I feel refreshed, like I could leap over buildings in a single bound.
Maybe I could do that one day.
I heard running water, and I see a creek up ahead. I probably would've fell straight into it if I wasn't paying attention, but instead, I leaped over it.
I reach the end of the woods, and came out on the other end. This is the other side of the school. I didn't even break a sweat, so I slowly walked to the school on the left. I walk alone on the roads, and after thirty minutes of silent walking, I see the school rising out into my field of vision. I see kids starting to pile inside the front doors, and a big sign on the front yard.
'Oakwood School, a new start.' I muttered to myself. I now have to fit in again, do the normal registration stuff and actually learn. Grades matter, Daniel said. We might be around here for some time, so you should get a job one day.
I look around and see all kinds of students. I only see three emotions so far. Laughing, sulking and both. Is school really that miserable? I think its fine. Nobody pays any attention to me, either too focused on what they're doing or staring at the floor to notice.
I walk within the crowd and through the glass-paned double doors and into a hallway stacked with lockers with number locks. The walls are crudely painted white, and a gigantic banner hanging on top of the double doors I just came in from. On the banner are the big words again in bold, 'Friendly Race! Thursday after school!' This school and its bold letters.
I see kids standing around staring at the passer-by's, groups of girls leaning back on lockers, chattering excitingly and looking at something on their phones, and some nerds running around with heaps of books they're clearly struggling to lift up. Typical school scene, happens every day, everywhere.
The white LED fluorescent lights spark up to life on top. Then comes my categorizing time. This is the part where I stand around and put people into categories, so I can better figure out who I should be friends with and who I should avoid.
I see a blond haired kid heading slowly to his locker, which is a few steps away from where I am sitting. His hair is ruffled like he woke up sleepy and still is. I see him holding a stack of books, all thick and leather covered. Those are some really old books. I see him turn around to turn open his combination to his locker and I saw one of the covers on his book, the one on the top.
I see the title. 'Psychic powers: Is it possible?' So I suppose he believes in psychokinesis. Might be a good friend to make.
I remember hearing Daniel saying that some Raix had psychic powers. I remember seeing them in the memory spikes too before. It was a spike about the war. About the fight between the Losac and the Raix. Even though we got overwhelmed, we still put up a good fight.
Spikes are these little rods that can be used to revisit certain memories. Daniel had some with him before we left for Earth, and he'd give them to me whenever I was ready to receive them.
I remember Raix flying overhead, throwing fireballs and explosives. I remember elementals, shaping up lightning and electrocuting squadrons of Losacs, but most of all, I remember the psychics, throwing our enemies around with nothing but their mind. I remember seeing one Raix in full black cloak and matching hood, hands behind back, walking through the chaos of the crumbling buildings. He didn't seem scared or nervous, only....calm.
I remember seeing Losac in bright yellow armour charging at him with their glowing yellow blades, and when he turned to look at them, they flew off and rammed into the wreckage, breaking apart into crystals as they die.
I remember someone crying out to the Psychic's left. He turns and catches a crashing Losac ship just in time before it crashes on a crying mother with a baby cradled in her arms, kneeling on the floor within all the destruction and bodies. The sky is riddled with the warships, the air hot and the clouds blood red from the poisoning. The psychic catches the ship, and flings it away to crash into another ship, bringing both of them down. As he turns to look at the crying mother, a Losac warrior shoots him in the back with a rifle and I see him grunt in pain. The mother cries even more as the Raix fell forward and turns into a heap of black dust, then blew away by the overhead winds.
The sky was a cloudy shade of blue when the memory ended. Daniel told me it was beneficial to revisit certain histories, and to learn from these fights I'm watching.
The mother didn't flinch when a Losac warrior with a strange rifle comes out, uncloaked and points it at the Raix.
'Do your worst.' That was what the Raix mother simply said. She cradled the baby and smiled for the last time as the laughing Losac gunned her down mercilessly. She crumpled into dust before my eyes.
That's where the memory spike ended. I'm back in the school, away from my thoughts and back in the real world. I shake my head and look at the students again.
I see a group of people hanging out, leaning forward and holding cards and giving them to each other. A card group, maybe? Not my style. Could be friends, but not a very bad enemy to make either.
I do the same with a couple of other people and groups before I'm interrupted by loud laughing noises behind me. I hadn't even noticed I was standing in front of a door with the sign saying Journalism. A group of colossal giants come blundering out of there, and they come out laughing. I back away from them and stand on the other side.
I see the obvious leader of the group, a black kid with curly dark hair and wearing a grey shirt with stripes on. He sees me eying him, and he puts on a serious face. All his friends do the same. He stands up straight with an imposing figure and walks over to me silently. All the other kids stop what they're doing and look at us. I hear a few nervous whispers behind me and a few snickers.
The giant in front of me scowls. It doesn't look good on him, though of course I didn't tell him that. No need to aggravate him any further. But I don't back down either. One thing I've learned from years of bullying is that standing up to one usually tells the bully that you're not easy prey. Of course, I might be wrong. Got to take the chance here.
We stare at each other for another good minute, and nobody moved a muscle. I spot a few teachers walking by, looking at what's happening, then smile and shake their head silently.
What the hell is going on?
Just when my patience is wavering, the guy in front of me bursts out laughing. His laugh comes out nasally, and all the other kids behind him starts laughing as well. Pretty soon, everyone in the hallway is laughing, and their laugh is so loud, I could hear it echoing it back to me. They laughed for half a minute before returning back to what they were doing originally. Everyone starts moving normally now, as if they have left the perpetual state of fear.
I am really confused by this.
The colossal in front of me holds in his laughter, and sticks out his monster hand out to me. His friends behind him stops laughing and give me welcoming smile.
'I'm Owen. Owen Brady.'
'Rivin.' I take his hand and shake it quickly. His grip is firm and strong. I'm guessing a football player, or a basketballer?
I guess I genuinely look confused by all this, because he starts explaining.
'It's a prank. We do it to all the new kids. We put on the classic 'Tough guys' act to scare you guys a bit. You don't seem to waver a bit at all. Impressive! I think you are the first of all those we pranked. We're in the journalism club.'
'Ha. You actually got me real good. You sure you are not an actor or anything. That was one hell of a performance. Is everyone in on this?' I'm actually surprised by how nonchalant everyone seems after the prank. It was so perfectly rehearsed, I wouldn't have known if it was real or not, even after it was over.
'I suppose so. After we'd done this quite a few times, everyone caught on. I suppose you can relax now.' He grins. His smile is so wide, I thought his face would crack open.
'Well anyways, where are you from? I'm guessing Canada. You look like a nice guy.'
I laugh. Canadian. That's a first.
'Minnesota. Was a nice place, but then we had to move because of an accident.'
'Whatever it was, I'm sorry about it. Anyways, we always take turns showing the new guy around here. Your locker's over there.' He turned to my left and pointed to a locker next to the Math classroom, covered all over by illuminating green arrows. I chuckle at the sight of the arrows, then turn back to Owen.
'Thanks, dude.'
'No problem. Now, for the grand tour. Follow me.' He beckons for me to follow with a wave and walks down the hallway.
'Fellas, I'll see you after school today, yeah?' Owen tells his friends.
'Alright, man. Have a nice day!' One of his friends replied, then waves us off with a smile.
Owen swivelled back to me, 'You better catch up quick.' He grins and walks at a faster pace. I quickly shrug at the weight of my backpack to relieve the tension building up on my shoulder blades, then follow him down the hallway.
From what I can see and hear so far, these guys are nice, nicer than the ones in my last one. They tormented me all day long, but I never paid any attention to them. Still, it was quite a distraction when you're trying to focus in class or want to quietly enjoy lunch in school.
Owen leads me to a series of rooms, each labelled with names so we could identify each room easily. There wasn't a whole lot of the rooms so it wasn't really a big deal, but still nice to have. Owen talks about the school history as we walk, informing me of the basic rules in our students so called 'Code of Honour'
'Rule number 1: You never try to make enemies. You know what happened? Why we have this rule? There's a tale. About how this is how it is?'
'No. Nobody told me anything.'
'The older guys told us a few years back, an old tale. Long ago, when this school was built, there were two brothers studying here. They said their name was Dale of something? Anyways, they were pretty close, they had a good relationship. Had. One day, they apparently squabbled on something, and nobody really knows what they argued about, but they became enemies after that. They never talked to each other again.'
'Then one day, the older Dale brother got mad over something, and he pulled out a gun and shot four students dead and his younger brother, then shot himself in the head.' Owen mimicked a gun cocked to his head, then fired the imaginary gun.
'That's why. You make enemies, things happen. Sometimes, it happens to people that are innocent, to people who want nothing more than to study, to live a happy life.'
'When did this happen?'
'Thirty six years ago, when the first generation of students came.'
Wow. That's one good reason to be nice to people at school.
'Well, anyways, rule number two: If you fail rule number one and get into a fight, play it cool. Try not to aggravate anyone any further. We really don't want a repeat of the accident last year.'
I sense another story coming up. This school has plenty of stuff.
'Last year, a journalist friend of mine and a football player had an argument, something about putting the players face on the newsletter. The football player got enraged and went to fight the journalist. He beat the journalist so hard even though he was telling him to stop fighting. He was a harmonious person, never enjoyed violence. The journalist got into the hospital and soon left town, and the player got into trouble with the police, and is now somewhere in Asia, redeeming himself or something.'
'That's all the rules?'
'Yeah, that's about it. Anyways, that's the school. Have a nice day!'
'You too, pal.' I watch him hurry down back into the journalism room, and disappear silently into it.
What a great way to start my first school day. I don't waste time thinking about the short stories, and I head to the principal's office to complete my registration. As I head to my right to the office, I note a group of girls leaning back next to the door, each of them writing something on a little notebook. As I sling back my backpack to take out my personal documents, I see her.
She stands out from all the other girls, and the one on the side, intently looking at the book, writing something on it. She has wavy brown hair down to her shoulders, and her dark brown eyes sparkle quite literally. She's wearing a loose fitting white blouse and jeans. She notices me and looks up at me and smile. I smile back, and catch her looking at my gloved left hand.
She looked at me sceptically, and I watched her study me over. I nervously knocked on the principle's door while wondering why she was looking at me like that. I heard a man inside the room telling me to come in, and I walked right in.
I held the documents in my hands. Strangely enough, they look authentic and real, then again, Daniel is a robot. I wonder what he can't do. A normal person wouldn't look at it twice before handing it back to me. I am fully confident of Daniel's fake documents, so I don't even worry about the registration process anymore.
The principle is sitting behind a desk filled with stacks of papers, a headlamp and a laptop. He's staring at the screen intently and he doesn't notice me. His room is quite the simple one, with a simple bookcase and a window gazing out onto the running field below.
I knock on the door from the inside and the principle looks up quickly, and smiles.
'Ah. You're the new student, aren't you? Come, take a seat.'
I walk in fast steps and pull out the chair. I gently sit down and hand him my registration papers and documents, which he takes quickly. He pulls them to his chest, and starts handling it like an expert. Being as old as he is, he probably does this a hundred times every year.
He asks me questions as he keeps handling the papers.
'Rivin, right? Just Rivin? It doesn't say here on the documents.
'Rivin Raix. Might have been a mistake on my part there.'
'No, no, it's alright. Raix? That's a new one.' He takes out a stamp from one of his drawers and stamp on my name. 'Where you from?'
I think it actually says so on my document, under last home, but I think he just wants to hear it from my mouth.
'Minnesota. We moved here after an unfortunate accident.'
'I'm sorry. Anyways, fill out this enrolment tab and you'll be good to go.' He pulls out a clipboard out from his drawer again and hands it to me. I take it from him and starts scribbling down classes from a checkbox. If everything goes according to plan, I should be getting my Rengars soon and I won't be here for long. I tick random classes that interest me but I don't really care about it all that much. I'll be too busy training and finding my Others.'
'Alright, literature is up on 1st, second door to the left.' He says as I return to him the board. He smiles as he looks at it briefly. 'Ah, I see you chose social studies. I once taught that subject. Very interesting indeed.' He smiles. 'Anyways, off you go. Wouldn't want you missing class on your first day of school.'
'Thank you.' I left the room quietly and head to the literature room. The hallways are empty, presumably all in their respective classes by now. I'm definitely late. I bound up the stairs in a quick manner and turn left. The lights above me shines bright on the plate outside the door.
I open the door and see a young woman, in about her mid-20s chalking up something on the blackboard. The class behind her sits quietly and stares at it intently. The red-headed teacher turns to look at me.
'You must be Rivin. Come in, take a seat.' She smiles points to a seat, next to the same blond haired kid I saw back in the hallway. He looks at me, then notices me watching him, and he turns to look at the blackboard again. I nod to the teacher and walk down the aisle, and take the seat. I settle down, pull out my grammar books and set them on my table.
The teacher is called Ms. Spring. She keeps talking about common grammatical mistakes and I sort of understand it. I may be an alien, but I can still learn, no problem.
Class speeds by like an arrow. That happens a lot when I focus. I gather up my things and go to my next classes. The first half of the day is no problem. I learn a few more names, meet a few more teachers, and learn new stuff like a normal student.
The last class before lunch dismisses and I head towards the canteen alone. I packed sandwich for lunch this morning, and I sit on a table alone. I pull out my plastic contained sandwich and take bite of it. After my first bite, the kid with the stack of books sits next to me, holding a tray of chicken poultry in his hands. He sets the tray down and looks at me.
'I'm Edward Moore.'
'Rivin.'
'Where do you live? I'm on 31st street.'
'22nd for me. You like to read about psychic powers?'
'Yeah, sure. I find them incredibly fascinating. Do you believe that humans can use psychokinesis?
Of course I do. I've seen it used before.
I nod. I turn back to my cheese sandwich and take another big bite.
'Why the fascination with psychics?'
'When I was small, I really enjoyed Star Wars,' He started, and takes another bite of his chicken. 'I liked it a lot. I kept trying to use the Force in really weird moments and it took me a hell of a long time for my dad to convince me it's not real.' He laughs. 'Even though I don't believe in the Force, I still believe in psychic powers. It's really possible.
I laughed. If only he knows what I know. I used to believe that was how psychokinesis works, by waving your hand everything goes flying. Daniel showed me the real thing and I learned the truth ever since.
'Have you ever wondered what humans will be able to do, if we all had psychic powers? Think of all the things we can make, all the good we can do!'
I thought about that. That psychic that I had seen in the memory spike was powerful, felling many Losac in the war. But what kind of destruction could he have brought if he had lived on, how many lives he could have taken with those powers?
'I think it'll be amazing,' Not telling him what I actually think.
'Oh well, too bad humans can't figure out how to do it anyways. If we knew how to do it, I'm almost certain we can do it.'
'How are you so certain?'
'I'm not sure. This morning, I just felt.......an intuition. That psychokinesis really exists.'
'When you get an intuition, it's usually right. Trust me, I've had plenty of experiences.' Like that one time I felt something wrong in the house and I see a Timber Rattlesnake under my bed covers. Or that other time when I felt a compelling urge to turn around, just to see a football flying at my face. I blocked it and possibly saved myself from a broken nose.
'Yeah. Yeah, I think so. You know, I probably talked more to you in the past few minutes than I have to anyone for the past few months.'
I grinned. It's nice knowing I'm helping him, giving him a conversation he really needed. A conversation that I probably needed as well.
We both fall silent for a short while, and we finish both our lunches.
'You're not much of a talker, are you?' I ask him. I never thought I'd be the one asking this question, since I was mostly the quiet one in the other schools.
'I'm not really social. You noticed, didn't you?' He uncomfortably moves in his seat.
'Yep. Tell you what, I'll make you an offer. I'll teach you how to be more social, and you can teach me more about psychic powers.' I don't really want to learn more about it, I just wanted to keep the conversation growing and our friendship growing. Making a friend on the first day is going to be nice.
Edward laughs, but I can tell he is seriously contemplating about my offer. To be honest, I'm not all that social as well, but at least I can try to help him.
'Sure, why not?' He grins again.
He picks off the book highest on the stack, then hands it to me. It's a black leather book titled 'Mind Games.' Not exactly psychokinesis, but I'll still gladly take it over.
I flip open the first page and start reading. Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty. Time speeds around me once again as I read the book. Interesting stuff, even though it's not really what I wanted to read about. I'd rather read about Psychic stuff.
Lunch time's over. Everyone around us starts gathering themselves and going back to their classrooms. Edward and I both stand up and I hand the book back to Edward.
'Keep it. I finished it anyways. It's just part of a 100 books on my shelf.'
'Thanks, buddy. I got maths now. You?'
'Physics. I guess I'll see you around here for a while?'
'Yep. Want my number?'
I tell him my phone number, which he quickly memorizes and keys into his phone.
'All done for. See you!'
'You too.'
We head out of the canteen, going our separate ways. Not bad for a first day.