“Idiot ~ It’s easy to see who is older. He’s slightly taller and more muscled.” A few hums of agreement from the muscle-headed boys ensued. I ignore the class gossip over the similarity of Markus, his brother, and their cousin Steve as I inspect the three Humans.
Although they look similar, they have distinct differences in their magic signatures. Markus and Trevor shared the same faint yellow cores; however, Trevor’s was larger and at a lower position in his body. The glow from his core had a larger fade area and flecks of darker yellow would pop up here and there. Steve’s core was the same body position as Markus’ core but had a couple of dark purple protrusions from it, as well as having the faint yellow around his eyes become a faint blue. Regardless, they were all distinctly Human.
“Hold up – why is the hero here?” A student asked.
“I’ve also come with my cousin to help you all with training for Athletics day,” Steve grinned.
I heard footsteps down the hallway. Yes.
"Okay, class!" I clap my hands to get everyone's attention. A little infusion of wind magic to make it louder helps.
"I've asked some Human males to help teach us all how to act as Humans for Athletics Day - if we are to take part, we'll need to keep our racial magics out of the way. Steve, you all know. Trevor is Markus' brother, and my brother, Nate, is coming now."
I lower my voice, "Be nice to him." A few students shiver. Was infusing a chill in the air a little too much?
The door opens.
"Brother!" I exude warmth.
I drag my brother Nate to the front and centre of the classroom but can hardly get a sentence of praise and adoration out before my class is in an uproar at the difference in our looks.
I pout,
“Just ‘cause we don’t share the same looks, race, or blood doesn’t mean Nate and I aren’t full-blooded siblings!”
I'm given a lot of blank looks.
Just before I’m able to launch my super speech that highlights the greatness of my brother, Miss Grears comes in bringing in a stack of paper. She looks at me and shakes her head. The look she shows me says I’m making trouble.
“I’m just trying to show how cool he is,” I mutter.
Nate laughs, “It’s fine.”
"Before we get started in practicing for Athletics Day, I am handing out these invitations for your parents to come enjoy and participate in the day. We expect them back tomorrow with the intention of your parents and or guardians." Miss Grears hands half the pile to Trevor to hand out, bustling around the classroom. I frown, sidestepping away from Steve as he tries to talk.
“Hmph. It’s unnecessary for my parents to come to such small Human festivities,” Tersy, the Elven princess, raised her nose as she received the invitation.
“It’s good you see it as a festivity, but at least raise your hand in class when speaking,” Trevor cuts in as he steps back from giving her the form.
I nod, he knows what he is talking about. Although, have we gone over raising hands to talk in class yet? Is it necessary to be so explicit?
I hear a chuckle from Ryu, and turn to see red rush in brief spurts through his body. He opens his mouth,
“We’ll bring the whole tribe—”
“Limit to three family members!” I shout. Three fingers are now right in front of Ryu’s face. I step back a bit to see a raised eyebrow on Trevor’s face.
Ah. I’ve missed my timing to tell Ryu to wait with his hand up till after I call on him to speak.
“We will be playing dodgeball, won’t we? The adults, that is,” Steve helpfully points out.
“Sister, control your face,” my brother whispers to me. Cute, that he worries for me.
“Hm. Yes. The parents' verses teachers’ dodgeball match is happening at the end of the day, hehe.” I turn to Steve, “I’ll cream you for sure this time!”
Steve gives a hearty laugh. It’s been a while since I’ve heard that one.
“I'll have Trevor with me this time,” he pulls Markus’ brother closer to him.
“Heh. His well-trained physique is no match for my strategic game.” I look at Steve, trying to hide my burning desire to defeat him from the kids. I at least have that much awareness.
I hear someone whisper, asking if I'm actually a Beast-kin.
I pretend I don’t hear my brother sigh.
I straighten my face and turn to the class, "Okay, kids. As I said earlier, we will be training for athletics day. Less about winning, more about appearing human. It might be a strange way to start the year, but this is the normal thing for Human school, so we will take part."
“Do they know what they’re up for?” Trevor asks.
I rub my hands together as I look to the students, "I brought these guys in to give you some hands-on training. As Humans themselves, they are the best help for you. Get used to having them around for the next two weeks.”
I pull Miss Grears towards my desk, leaving space for the kids to exit the classroom.
“Boys will be heading outside with the men to the space between the oval and the school gym.”
“Why not the oval?” A Beast-kin will always want a place where they can show off their strength better, huh.
“Because, you will need to be working on remaining in your Human form. And that place is the only one not seen by any other classroom. The principal can still see it from her office, though. So, behave.”
I look all each boy in the eye, one at a time, before sending them off.
“Remember, stay in your Human forms. 'Kay, boys, off you go with the men.”
They jostled behind Steve, with a few stragglers rounded up by Trevor and Nate.
I closed the door behind them.
I'd love to gush over my brother, but I can see Miss Grears giving me a don't be troublesome look. It does look more intimidating when she is in her blouse and work pants. I shake my head and turn to the students, for now, they are my priority.
“Who has seen or participated in a Human Athletics Day?"
Four out of the nine girls had done so. Miss Grears gave a small smile of relief. Pulling back her face to calm, she started writing each event on the blackboard.
Running (50m, 100m, 200m, 500m relay)
High Jump
Long Jump
Discuss
Shotput
Novelties (dress up run, egg & spoon race, sack race, 3-legged race, bean bag throw, class shouting rally, teachers vs. parents’ dodgeball)
I'll leave them on the board for the boys to see later. Steve should tell them, but it will be good to remind them later as a wrap-up for the end of the day.
"There are many events. Who likes to run, or would be willing to run in front of most of the school?"
The two Nymphs start giggling, while the half-Fairy raises her hand. The Snake-kin also raises her hand, after a nudging from the quarter-breed.
Tersy arrogantly raised her head, stating,
"Any Elf would surely not be inferior to any Human, nor be intimidated." Her Elven friend backs her up with nodding.
The Mermaid and half-Dark Elf half-Human friends also raise their hands, though the half-Dark Elf starts gushing about the sights of her last Athletics Day, "Two girls were running for top spot, but one hadn't checked their shoelaces and by the last third of the track, they fell, arms wide like a Harpies wingspan" —she flaps her arms around unevenly— "and pulled the second girl down, everyone else behind just couldn't help but tumbling into them." She finishes by collapsing on the floor. The Nymphs laughter increases.
"A simple yes will suffice," I tell her. The half-Dark Elf, half-Human shakes her head sighing,
"If you don't want to be entertained, I guess I can hold it in."
"We're here for learning, not entertainment," I reply.
"That's a pretty good number who can run," Miss Grears comments. I nod. Most of the girls seem like they’ll be okay.
"But," I raise my voice to be heard over the chattering and giggling, as I do have to ask this, "Who of you can run without the help of your magic and unique racial skills?"
At least four of the girls are fine with that. I see Tersy’s magic flow faster, her friend's magic flow increasing behind her. The Naiad just started blowing bubbles with the Dryad popping them with thorns she has manifested.
“Awesome. We won’t be using magic on Athletics Day. The boys are using the secluded oval space today, and some of the other classrooms are in the hall and basketball courts, so we’ll just stay here for this afternoon.” Looking at the younger Nymphs rile up I figure we could start with a novelty.
I whisper to Miss Grears, “Do we have to stay in the classroom?” I open a portal.
She glares with the intensity of a Snake-kin, “We do. No taking students out of the school without permission.”
I close the portal, sighing. Our plan was to demonstrate the novelty events, however, I can see that the kids are just getting more and more restless as the day goes on. Especially those who haven't been in a school environment before.
I ask the students to help us clear the desks to the back of the room.
"Let's do some stretches to warm up!" Miss Grears stands a step behind me and three steps to the right as I demonstrate some stretches and she follows. We get through three stretches before I can see colours seep across the room.
I pull out some hessian sacks from a portal, as Miss Grears asks,
“Who knows what a sack race is?”
A few of the girls nod. I see.
As much as I want to jump in the bag and race Miss Grears, I have been looking forward to being a teacher for a long time.
“This hessian sack here,” I raise it up, to my eyesight level, “is big enough to fit a person inside. As such, this is a race where every participant is given a sack and after getting inside of it, will basically jump with their sack to the finish line.”
I step into the sack and jump forward three times. I am really reigning myself in, normally, I'd be asking Miss Grears to race me immediately.
"During athletics day, anyone in the sack race will jump just like I did for 50 metres, racing other students," I explain.
As I step out of the bag I turn to the class,
"I'll get you to just go from one wall to the opposite wall. I have enough sacks for everyone to have a go, then we'll discuss who'd like to race next week."
Miss Grears and I help them line up and get into the bags.
The two young Nymphs would look so similar if it weren’t for the differences in their magic. I am most worried about them. I don’t understand how everyone else doesn’t see or feel it. It’s like it’s spilling out everywhere and I need a bucket to contain it all. I'll just have to work out how to get them interested in school. Then maybe they will learn to contain their magic within themselves; this isn't the forest, after all.
“Ready, get set go!”
I watch as they jump. Half the girls jump as I asked. The Mermaid has bubbles of purple run through her legs as she takes each jump. I make a note of the sight in the storage in the air connected to my phone.
As the half-Dark Elf jumps, I can see her using a small bout of magic as she increases each bounce from the now bouncy ground. I frown, but I’ll wait till they finish. The way the flow of the ribbons inside of her move as she is using the magic is interesting. They are more directed, almost as if pursuing the ground she touches.
It’s close, but the Half-Dark Elf wins. She laughs,
“I am the superior sack racer!”
“Not without using magic, you’re not.” I stare into her eyes, “No magic next time.”
She shrugs her shoulders, muttering “Not like the humans can see it.”
“Doesn’t matter.” I shake my head once. “I asked you not to use magic.”
She sighs, then nods, “Yes, Miss. I won’t use magic next time.”
“No magic as you jump this time, girls,” I grin, trying to encourage them to do well.
Miss Grears and I ready them all again.
“Ready. Get set. Go.” I’m not as loud as I was before.
No one is using magic for the first few jumps. Good. The Nymphs have quite small jumps, though I am unsure if it is because they are short or if Nymphs don’t usually jump – especially the Dryad, hers are smaller.
The Nymphs giggle. And veer off course, jumping around the classroom.
As the Snake-kin wins the race, I clap my hands with a magically sound-infused bang.
"Stop." The Nymphs fall over in laughter, but the rest of the girls look to me. "Well done for all of you except the two on the floor."
They try to cover their mouths to stop the laughter.
"Punishment for those who don't respect the rules of the teacher. You two," I look into the Nymphs' eyes one by one, "take everyone's sacks and sit under the blackboard to fold them nicely. Okay?"
They manage to stifle their laughter enough to nod, rolling out of their sacks. The rest of the girls step out of their sacks and hand them to the Nymphs.
I turned to the Snake-kin, “Charlise, have you and Jade done the three-legged race?” They nod, so I give them a velcro band and get them to show the others how to put it on and walk together.
“Everyone, partner up and give it a shot.” I hand out bands to the pairs. The two Elves are one pair and the Mermaid and Half-Human-Dark Elf are another pair. That just leaves the Half-Fairy-Dryad.
"We'll race with Nada!" The Nymphs yell in sing-song.
"No, I respond. No partaking until the sacks are folded and given to me. Miss Grears can be her partner for now." They are the same height, so that aspect will be fine.
I move a couple of tables with my wind magic to create some lanes at the starting wall.
"This isn't a race, today, but just to get you to feel the way this novelty game is run. Step slowly to the wall on the other side of the room, then turn around together. Try going a little faster back to the start if you think you can handle it."
I signal and let them go. Thankfully, no one falls, though the half-Human-Dark Elf and Mermaid nearly did, rushing as they were.
"Miiiiiiiiiiiiiss." I turn to the chalkboard and see the two Nymphs holding the folded sacks with pouts on their faces. I collect them with an eyebrow raised,
"Follow the rules of the game this time?"
They nod, still pouting, but at least their magic isn't swirling further outside of them than usual.
“Shall we all try the bean bag throwing game?”
The girls stop pouting and nod eagerly, running over to the Half-Fairy-Dryad, Nada.
“Everyone. Stay in one spot.” We practice throwing and catching.
The girls were throwing bean bags to each other, attempting to hold for stand in one position for three minutes at a time without phasing any part of their body.
“How the two youngest Nymphs were able to get in this class is a wonder,” muttered Miss Grears.
I, however, added the latest data of the phasing of the girls into my phone. Before lunchtime, they had been able to last half an hour without reverting to their phasing Nymph selves. After lunch, however, it seems as if their minds have wandered with their Human transformations and are now not only on top of their phasing, but constantly trying to disrupt others in the name of fun, or boredom.
I looked at the clock in the classroom. Phew.
“Everyone, let’s stop here and put all the tables back.”
They did so, and I reminded them to take home their things and what to bring for tomorrow. The boys had trudged in exhausted, more than a few collapsing on the desks.
Ryu is melting as ungracefully as any muscle brain would over his desk.
Maybe that’s enough to stop him.
I remind the students of the events for the athletics day, pointing them out on the board and giving a short expectation of what the Human averages, in terms of times to finish, would be. I see Stephen take notice. At least there's one. Two of the girls nod, but they are the ones who've experienced it, so I'm not too worried about them.
Ryu growled until the end-of-day bell sounded. Then, with a Dragon-kin grin, he sped to the oval. Lee followed.
Nope. Not enough. Tch.
As the other kids are phasing out of their Human forms, I turn to Miss Grears,
“Help me get them home?!”
She rolls her eyes.
“Yes, yes.”
I see Trevor, Steve and Nate awkwardly standing outside the classroom door.
“Help me get them to Miss Grears’s van!” I shove them inside the classroom before opening up a portal to inside of Miss Grears's van.
Then I rush to the oval.
Only to see them already fighting. Is she holding bamboo sticks?!
“Who-”
“The girl is Shiana.”
“She’s a bit impulsive. Forgive her.” Two Human girls, also students of this school, block my way as they watch the fight. One sips on a juice box. Just past them is Lee.
“Lee…”
He is growling softly. I see Ryu’s red magic raging within his body. It is much brighter than anything else I’ve seen today.
Shiana and Ryu leap towards each other, Ryu slashing a stick in half, him getting hit on his back as they pass each other. They trade blow for blow - Ryu starts to go mad with the 'fun' of it all psyching himself up, berserker style.
"I'm done." Shiana stops, stands, drops her weapons. Confusion passes through Ryu's face for but a moment as he too then stops and laughs.
She bows.
Before I can yell at Ryu, Lee grabs Ryu's shoulder, a burst of red appearing through his hand.
One of the girls congratulates Shiana while the other stares at me, slurping through her straw,
“It’s just a Beast-kin thing, Miss. You can’t stop her.”
I know. The last time I tried to stop a Beast-kin fight, it didn't go well.
I look up again to see Shiana with her remaining stick pointing at Lee.
"You. I challenge you to a duel."
Ryu switches places and pushes Lee forwards,
"Give her a shot!" He jumps backwards.
Lee sighs, "Alright."
Breathing in, Shiana bows her head, also getting into position.
She strikes. Lee steps away to claw at her from behind, splintering her remaining bamboo stick as her secondary attack turns to a defensive counter. A yowl from Lee as he jumps back regrouping. He lunges forwards and she pivots to the side, hissing. They clamour on and around each other, back and forth. Ending with Lee holding her neck to the ground,
"I'd advise you not to challenge me when already tired from a previous battle."
Shiana raises her hands, "My mistake. I concur."
Lee scoffs as he settles down, getting off of her and walking to Ryu.
“Heh. Heh. Boys?” I didn’t mean to sound that sinister - just go talk to your Beast-kin, girls.
Ryu laughs, red racing through his legs. Oh no, you don’t.
He runs. Lee follows. I chase.
I’m not called the ‘Red Streak’ for nothing. Shifting the air to give myself the aerodynamic advantage, while bringing the wind to oppose (and guide) the boys, I chase them to Miss Grears’s van.
Steve has the door open for them, slamming it shut just before I get inside.
“Not so fast now?” He asks me.
I narrow my eyes at his irritating grin. He shrugs,
“They are the strongest Beast-kin of their generation. Running through storms is kind of their thing.”
I don’t bother answering as I walk around to the other side and sit next to Miss Grears in the front of the van.
“Let’s take ‘em home.”
I follow them all into the front entryway of their city homes and activate a portal marker in my phone. This way, next time I can directly send them home, if needed.
Let’s keep potential disasters to a minimum, shall we?
