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The Chronicles of Rina Balan - Part SIX |
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Female Navigator Dorm: Room 832
Sec got them to her room, eventually. Personally she thought he was running them around and she was suspicious when they reached it only after she had started yelling at him. He dropped her off, or so he said, but she knew that he was always watching. It was an unnerving thought.
“Here we go,” said Rina and she stood there, nodding.
“Are you moving?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, move then.”
“Fine, fine,” said Rina and she opened the door. Someone was standing there staring at her.
“Hi!” said the girl loudly and immediately. Rina yelped and nearly dropped her box. The girl was still staring at her.
“Who?”
“I’m Fera, we met in line.”
“Right. Fera Linta.”
“That’s right, you remembered me.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you my roommate?”
“Yep, yes.”
“This is going to be so much fun.”
“What?”
“Fun! So much fun.” She looked very happy to see her. It also made her just feel awkward. The girl was already wearing her dog tags and a silver jacket with a purple stripe on the back and cuffs.
“Um, where-?”
“Set your stuff on the bed, I hope you don’t mind I took the top bunk.”
“I don’t mind,” said Rina as she set the box down. She sat down next to it and looked around. It looked like a big box. There were two desks on opposite ends of the room. One was cluttered with paper and start maps. One window on the opposite wall of the bed. Everything was silver and technological too. Both of the desks had computers on them. Sec even had a lock on the door. There was a closet, full to the bursting points with clothes. There were two dressers, one of which was also full. Fera certainly had a lot of things, mostly clothes.
“Sorry, I already moved in.”
“I see.”
“And I see that we’re going to be such good friends.”
“Okay?”
“I mean, I’ll have to change a few things.”
“Huh?”
“I mean you can do with a make-over.” She picked at some of Rina’s hair.
“A what?”
“Never mind,” said Fera, “Let’s get started.”
“Started?”
“I’m bored.”
“What?”
“First you’ll need a bath.”
“Huh?” She dragged her through a door next to the closet. They were in a white, tiled room that was unbelievably clean.
“This is the bathroom.” Rina looked around. There was a big sort of basin on the ground and a smaller one, higher up and smaller.
“What the?”
“Is there a problem?”
“What is that?”
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?”
“What is that?”
“That can’t be right,” said Fera as she looked at Rina’s puzzled, “Have you ever seen a bathtub before?”
“No,” said Rina shaking her head at it.
“Never?”
“Never.”
“Not a single bathtub?”
“No.”
“Where exactly are you from?”
“Far away, very far.”
“Well, it sort of explains some things,” said Fera as she flicked at Rina’s hair again.
“What kind of things?”
“Well, you certainly look like you’ve never had a bath before.”
“Huh?” Fera just stared at her.
“You know what, I’ll help out here. But only once.”
“Help me?”
“Do what she says Rina,” said Arulia, “You need a bath.”
“Okay.”
“Take off your clothes.”
“WHAT!?”
“I said take off your clothes, if they are clothes, they look like rags to me.”
“Huh?”
“Take them off.”
“Just do it Rina,” said Arulia and Fera knelt down and twisted a knob. Water came gushing out and Rina yelled.
“It’s not dangerous. Here give me your hand.”
“Uh, but-.”
“Give it,” said Fera and Rina gave her hand over, “Man, you have trust issues.” She put Rina’s in the water as it rushed down. She jerked.
“Hey.”
“Relax, it’s just water,” said Fera as Rina wiggled her fingers, she liked it, “See it’s not so bad at all is it?”
“I guess not.”
“Now take off your clothes and get in.”
“What?”
“Just relax, you’ll be fine. I won’t hurt you.” Fera had such a calm voice and somehow she knew exactly what to say. She wanted to relax, she really did but-.
“It’s okay Rina,” said Arulia, “She’ll see them sometime. You’ll be living with this girl for a while. You might as well get it out of the way.”
“Fine.” Fera returned to the bath adding soaps. She figured she’d been needing a lot. After a while it was full of soap bubble and sudsy water.
“It’s full! You can get in now,” said Fera as Rina walked into sight, wearing a towel, “Stop being so shy. I’m a girl too.” Rina stopped for a moment and took the towel off so she could get in. She sat down and grabbed her legs.
“What now?”
“You can just sit there if you want.”
“Okay.” That was when Fera saw them. At first it looked like one, but then she saw more of them, so many more. Scars, they were all over her, horrible scars and they were everywhere.
“Rina? What-?”
“Stop there.”
“Can I at least ask what-?”
“No.” Fera understood why Rina had been so hesitant, she hadn’t wanted Fera to see them. She was ashamed of her scars.
“Okay. Close your eyes.” She dumped some water onto Rina. She scrunched up, it was cute almost like a little kid. But when she straightened up the water on her face it almost looked like she was crying. Her face was so sad.
“Fera?”
“Yeah?”
“Why are doing this?”
“You smell.”
“But why for me?”
“I like you, you’re weird, I’m weird.”
“You’re weird?”
“Yep, at least where I came from.”
“Where’s that?”
“I’m from here, on Terrania but no where near the Academy though. I lived far away, on the other continent.”
“There’s another continent?”
“Yeah.”
“So why are you weird?”
“I like to look at star maps, I love them.” Fera saw her relax, talking helped.
“What do you do with star maps?”
“I study them, memorize them, draw them.”
“Is it fun?” She was still unsure of what the word meant.
“For me. I don’t thing you’d like it.”
“Why’s that?”
“You’re a pilot.”
“So?”
“Most pilots can’t stand sitting around doing one thing for long periods of time.”
“I guess.”
“So how come you’re my roommate? All the pilots live in one of the other areas.”
“I’m the only female pilot.”
“No room for a girl?”
“I guess.”
“Well at least I got lucky.”
“How’s that?”
“I got the best roommate ever. We’re all done here, dry off and we’ll do the next part in our room.”
“Okay.” Fera went into the living room, leaving her to get ready. It had been a strange experience. She slipped Arulia’s ear piece back in before she got out. She didn’t like being without her. She wondered if Fera thought she was a complete nut job. She wanted to put her rags back, she was more comfortable in those. But Fera had left out her uniform so put it on. It was nice, so warm and it fit well. She’d never worn anything like it before. She walked out slowly, Fera was waiting for her.
“Perfect, next the hard part,” said Fera.
“Hard part?”
“Your hair.” She held out a few things, none of which she’d seen before.
“Um, what-?”
“I’m surprised you’ve never seen these before. Comb, brush, extremely heavy duty detangling spray.”
“What? Why?”
“To sort through that matted mass. So just sit down, relax and let me work my magic.” Rina sat down in the chair Fera had been in.
“Take out the ear piece,” said Arulia. She pulled it out and put it in her pocket, she’d never had pockets before.
“So what?”
“Tell me when it hurts.”
“Hurts?” It did hurt. It felt like Fera was pulling out all her hair. It was like having her scalp torn up. But it was nothing compared to anything had Durna.
“Is it painful?”
“Somewhat.”
“You should tell me that.”
“It’s not so bad. I can deal.” It took forever. The bath had been about thirty minutes. The hair took two hours. But in the end it was worth it.
“I’m all done, you want to see now?” asked Fera.
“Okay.” Fera dragged her back into the bathroom. She placed Rina in front of the mirror. She jerked and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“A life time.” She looked that reflection, it was that exact opposite of what it had been before. She looked beautiful, even if she didn’t know it. All of the grime, blood, dirt and sweat had been washed away leaving fair and smooth skin. Her black-red eyes shown like gems in the mirror. And the hair. It was straight and shining. It had a small curl to it which she’d never noticed through the mass of mats. It was fine hair that looked like dark brown silk. It laced lightly around her ears, neck and shoulders.
“That’s me?” asked Rina.
“That’s you.” She put on arm on Rina’s shoulder.
“Please stop touching me.”
“Okay.” She pulled her arm off. Fera could be very understanding.
“I have a question.”
“Yeah?”
“How come our jackets have different colored stripes?”
“Oh, did no one explain this to you?”
“No.”
“Oh, blue is for pilots, purple is for navigators, green is for weapons and shields, yellow is for communicators - the language guys and red is for the doctors. You see the Academy teaches specialized courses depending on what role you plan on taking in the military. The colors help you to easily determine who’s who. It also used to be that there were two dorms for each specialty, one for guys and one for girls for each trade. But last term the Zorax sent down a bomb and blue up a bunch of dorms. So now they do it two for guys and two for girls in general. But they try to keep it separate between the groups, communicators with the navigators, weapons with the doctors and well pilots by themselves. So there isn’t so much clashing.”
“Clashing?”
“It’s just that you tend to study what appeals to you and it appeals to you because it’s a part of your personality. Weapons tend to be insane, communicators are nerds, doctors are pushovers, pilots are jocks and navigators are airheads. You put two types of personalities that don’t mix and they clash.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t really understand, do you?”
“Not really.”
“Do you want to get something to eat?”
“Okay.” Fera grabbed her hand and dragged her outside.
“We’re going to have so much fun,” said Fera.
“Okay.” She wanted her to let go but she knew better than to say. Fera was weird but clearly it had nothing to do with maps.
Dinning Hall
They walked into the dinning hall and stopped. It was huge and magnificent.
“This place is amazing.”
“Amazing doesn’t quite cover it.” People were everywhere, talking and catching up after the break. It was so cool.
“Let’s go, get some food.” She pulled Rina into a line. She didn’t know what to do so she just did whatever Fera did. It was some sort of food. They got up to a woman. She turned to Rina and looked at her tray. She punched some buttons on a strange machine and numbers appeared on it’s tiny screen.
“ID card?” asked the woman and she looked and Fera.
“In your pocket.” She reached in her pocket and grabbed it. She gave it to her.
“That’s creepy.” She handed it back as Fera gave her ID card to her.
“Whatever.”
“Did you put it there?”
“Of course I did.” The lady handed the ID card back and she picked up her tray. Rina followed suit and they sat down at an empty table.
“Thanks.” Fera took a bite out something and Rina mimicked the motion. She looked down at the rest of the food when she did this. She tasted something. She’d never used the sense of taste before. She liked it. She took another bite.
“Do like it?”
“What is it?”
“It’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
“I like it. And this?”
“Milk.” Rina took a drink.
“I like it too.”
“You’re a very strange person,” said Fera as she watched her roommate eat.
“I know.” Fera smiled and laughed. Rina looked at her, she still wasn’t sure what it was or why she kept doing it. She took another bite.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone enjoy a PB&J so much.”
“PB&J?”
“Never mind.”
“Hey, look who’s in our seats,” said a voice and Rina turned around to see who it belonged to. She didn’t like what she saw. It was man, no more than a year older than her. He had a long brown hair in a pony tail. There were four guys behind him all of them trying to look tough. Rina became intrigued. They were all pilots.
“Can I help you?” asked Rina.
“Rina, for the love of god, you are on thin ice as it is, you can not, not get into another fight, it’s just your first day,” said Arulia.
“This is our table,” said the boy again.
“Oh it is, sorry we’ll just-,” said Fera as she started to stand up. Rina pushed her down. Fera looked at her with worry all of her face.
“What makes it your table?” asked Rina and Fera hung her head. This was not going to end well.
“We’ve sat here ever day for over a year, get out.”
“Well sometimes you have to make adjustments.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re excused, you can leave now.”
“Oh my god,” said Fera under her breath as she hid her eyes.
“What did you just say to me?”
“Do you lack hearing as well as brains?”
“Oh no,” whimpered Fera.
“Do you know who you are talking to?”
“No.” They stared at her.
“What?”
“I haven’t even been here a whole day. How in the hell could I possibly know who you are you self-centered egotist.” Arulia’s words, she wasn’t sure what “egotist” meant at all. The whole dinning hall was silent. They were providing entertainment.
“You got a problem with me?”
“I don’t know, you came up to me.”
“Uh.”
“Speechless? Finally, you were giving me a headache.” She turned back and bit into her PB&J.
“You will look at me when we are talking.” Rina paused for a second, just a second. Then she jumped up and twirled around to face him.
“Did you seriously just try to give me order?”
“You are a pilot?”
“That’s kind of why I’m wearing blue. And right now I want to eat so find another place to eat before you end up eating the table.” She sat back down.
“What?” That was when he threw the first punch. But he was shocked to realize that by the time his fist reached where she had been sitting she was gone. He was aware that suddenly she was on his other side. He wasn’t sure how she’d done it. He fell forward from his punch. He could have stopped but she grabbed his belt and flipped him in the air. He hit the table face first, hard.
“Does the table taste good? It must, you wanted it so much.”
“Rina Balan!” yelled a voice, it was Trev, “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” She let go of the man she had pinned down.
“Really?”
“Only if you buy that.”
“I don’t.”
“I figured.”
“The two of my office, now.” He wasn’t yelling, in fact it was like he was amused.
“I’ll meet you back in the room,” said Rina as she grabbed her tray.
“Put the food down,” said the guy as he got up off the table.
“But it’s good,” said Rina.
“No it isn’t.”
“Just follow me,” said Trev. They followed him out of the dinning hall. She finished off her sandwich.
“Am I in trouble?” asked Rina.
“God knows you should be. Four fights in one day?”
“Technically it was only three fights and one of them was the exam and I never throw the first punch.”
“Whatever, but right now, I am pleasantly entertained.”
“Why?” asked the guy as Rina drank the rest of the milk.
“Pato Gosinta, meet Rina Balan,” said Trev, “Your new student.”
“What?” asked Rina.
“He’s your private tutor.”
“Wait - her?”
“He is my tutor?”
“Yep,” said Trev, smiling, “Work it out for yourselves. Enjoy.” He walked away leaving them in the office alone.
“You are the one I have to give lessons to?” As Raye picked up a plastic cup with a strange substance in it and looked at it.
“Colonel Trev says he wants me to take advanced lessons.” She shook the container. There was some kind of food inside of it. She just couldn’t figure out to open it.
“Advanced? Why? Here, you open it like this,” said Pato, opening the pudding.
“Right, he wants me to do it because of what happened at the exam.” She stuck her fingers into the pudding and she licked them. Pato just stared at her.
“You eat it with a spoon, you freak.” He grabbed the spoon off her tray and put it in her cup. She looked at it.
“Right.” She put the spoon in her mouth.
“What happened at the exam?”
“Colonel Trev didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“What was your exam?” asked Rina.
“Last sixty seconds in a fight against called The Beast.”
“Mine too. And I did, kind of.”
“Kind of?”
“I sort of won the fight.”
“Won?”
“I kicked him head first through a wall.”
“You what?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“What?”
“It looked like he had better footing.”
“You won against the beast?”
“Yes,” said Rina as she finished off the pudding, “I like this what is it?”
“It’s pudding,” said Pato awkwardly while staring at her.
“Oh.”
“Fine, I’ll teach you.”
“Okay.”
“I want to see where you live. Let’s go to your room.”
“Okay.”
“And leave the tray.”
“Okay.”
“Do you know you’re schedule?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“So what exactly are we-?”
“You’ll see.”
“Okay.”
“So where are you from?” asked Pato.
“Menaka - you?”
“Menaka as well, do you miss it?”
“Nope, I mean not really, no. Do you?”
“Sometimes, this place can get lonely,” said Pato.
“I guess.”
“What’s your room number?”
“832.”
“Here we are.” Rina looked up.
“Wow.” They had actually made it to the room.
“You’re still new, you’re bound to get lost, a lot.” Rina went to grab the door but it swung open before she reached it.
“RINA!” screamed Fera and she jumped on her, “You’re okay.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She walked into the room with Fera on her back, who apparently was going to let go.
“You!” She let go of her when she saw Pato.
“Hi, I’m Pato.” She looked angrily at him well at least she tried to. Fera’s face could never quite manage an angry look.
“He’s my private tutor, you know the one for those advanced lessons that I was telling you about.”
“He is? Aren’t tutors supposed to be, I don’t know smart?”
“Cute,” said Pato, “Schedule?” He had lost interest in where Rina lived. Right now he was in fact just annoyed at who she was living with. Rina walked over to her bed and opened her box. She found a folder full of papers, her schedule was among.
“Here you go,” said Rina as she handed it over. Fera was still trying to glare at him. Now that she’d seen Rina do it so easily she wanted to stand up for herself. Rina put a hand on her shoulder to relax her. Fera looked disappointed, she had really wanted to be brave too. She just didn’t know when to be brave, not that Rina did either. She’d just beaten up Pato thirty minutes ago just because she hadn’t felt like moving. It hadn’t been the most mature decision but it was the principle of the thing, she couldn’t let him walk all over her and Fera. Plus he was being stupid. For an elite military academy the place sure was full of idiots and crazy people. She looked at Fera.
“How about we talk and walk,” said Pato, “I have business in the North Bay.”
“Sure.” It was perfect, this way she could visit Arulia afterwards. They left.
“So you have your basic First Year Pilot’s Schedule. It looks like I can tutor you on Mondays before dinner, Thursday after dinner and Saturday afternoons.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have any questions?”
“One.”
“Oh?”
“Where?”
“Oh, do know where the North Gym is?”
“No.”
“Well, it’s right down the hall from the Bay, we’ll pass it soon.”
“Okay.”
“Anything else?”
“What exactly are you going to be teaching me?”
“That’s a surprise.”
“Fine.”
“That’s the gym right there.” Rina looked inside as they passed. There were a lot of strange things inside of it.
“Cool.” She hoped that was the right slang word. She didn’t understand them.
“I’ll try to get us as much private time as possible.”
“Okay.”
“Well, I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Later.” He walked away and watched her stare into the gym as he left.
“Strange girl,” muttered Pato under his breath.
“I know,” called Rina.
“Did you hear that?”
“Yep, yes!” He smiled and turned down the hall.
 Zegwarian310 · Wed Aug 22, 2007 @ 03:13am · 0 Comments |
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