Armarium

[katra21]

[glow=red,2,300]Alright so here's a story that I just felt the need to post up, I do plan on drawing this as a manga eventually but until then you'll have to wait, I'll probably post chapter two in a couple weeks or whenever I remember this site again and feel like putting something up, ciao.[/glow]

Chapter 1

“Congratulations, Yuki Akimoto.” A white shawl with gold trim and a passport-looking book were handed to the young girl.

Her blue-green eyes shone brightly, “Thank you very much.” Erratic wisps of blue-purple hair brushed over her forehead.

“From today on, you’re officially a student of the magical class. Your identifications are in the booklet. You should be very proud.”

“Believe me I am,” she beamed, flicking an extended bang on the right side of her face.

“Your new mentor waits for you just outside.”

“I’ll be going now.”

“Good luck.”

The director glanced at the next set of identifications. “Send the next student in.” He handed off the shawl and id, “Congratulations, Tokeru Hanabie.”

Yuki stepped into the hallway.

“Yuki Akimoto?” a gorgeous young woman with wavy auburn hair asked sweetly.

“That’s me,” Yuki admitted whole heartedly.

“I’m Ecole Lumiere. I’ll be your direct mentor and tutor for your first year, after which I’ll be your indirect mentor for as long as you need me.”

“Wow,” Yuki looked up at Ecole, “Just how direct of a mentor will you be?”

Ecole laughed almost nervously, “Try not to think of me like your earlier tutors, for now lets go pick up your new familiar.”

“I get a familiar!” Yuki lit up like a set of Christmas lights.

“You certainly do,” Lumiere held up a small teddy-bear charm linked to her skirt. “This is Tassel, don’t let his size fool you, this is just a less conspicuous form. I got him when I reached your level too.”

“He’s so cute, so I’ll get a little bear too?”

“I can’t be sure, your familiar was determined by mental compatibility tests perform during you sleep status. The goal of getting a familiar at this point is not for application. A mage familiar pair grows stronger with the strength of their relationship. You should use the first few months just to get to know your familiar.”

“I get it.” Yuki said with a smile, “Shall we go then?”

Ecole nodded and led Yuki from the room. Yuki glanced about, noticing for the first time, the other advancing students meeting their mentors.

Ecole walked Yuki down the cylindrical hall. “You have three days before your next stage of schooling starts, what do you think you’ll be doing?”

“I don’t know,” Yuki looked down at her feet as she thought. “I think I’ll probably sort my storage, I haven’t looked through some of it and it in a long time, so my memory of certain things is getting vague. Maybe I’ll go to an open learning expedition or two, if I can round up the extra currency points.”

“How about the two of us go to an open learning expedition, my treat?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, there’s this one I’ve wanted to go to but it’s a partnered workshop.”

“That would be cool. When is it?”

“Tomorrow from 2 to 3.”

Yuki smiled happily and nearly skipped along until Ecole stopped by a set of doors, “This is the familiar house.” She opened the door to a veritable pet shop. A variety of familiars waited within clear cases.

Yuki’s eye caught on an odd creature at the back of the room. It looked back at her with bored eyes. It was about the size of an average dog, with the slick sandy colored fur and ears of a feline. Its tail was thin and round at the base but curved into a bulge near the top, its paws were completely wrapped in white cloth and it had a spiked collar around its neck.

“Your papers, Yuki!?” Ecole asked jerking Yuki back to reality. She jumped slightly and pulled the booklet from her shawl pocket.

The house overseer typed in the code, then led the two back to the cat-thing at the back. “Isn’t it great Yuki, your familiar was chosen individually, most only get assigned a species. It means your partner is rare and powerful.” Ecole smiled sweetly.

“Yeah, it great,” Yuki said irresolutely as the overseer opened the case. “Hey there,” Yuki said as she held out her hand for the creature to sniff. It tipped its head to one side and blinked. “Is it a boy or girl?” Yuki asked the overseer. “Does it have a name? What does it eat?”

“I am gender-less species, you may call me whatever you like, and I am self-sustaining, needing no external nourishment.”

“Wow, it can talk too, it must be really powerful, I’m a little jealous.” Ecole said with a pout glancing at her obviously inferior bear familiar.

“That’s... amazing,” Yuki said struggling with the word, as if it were both an understatement and a gross exaggeration. “I’m Yuki Akimoto.”

“The staff is fond of calling him Blobby.” The overseer said, as if this knowledge were very helpful.

“He doesn’t look like a Blobby to me,” Yuki sighed slightly. “Well lets get you settled into your new home.”

The cat-thing stood up and followed Yuki willingly, though its expression remained unchanged. Yuki found herself glancing back at him every few minutes.

“So Yuki, you live with a roommate right?” Ecole went back to her endless chatter.

“Yeah, but she’s on the Kick shift, so I’ve only met her a couple times, we leave each other notes if there’s anything to be said between us.”

“Wow that must be so awesome, it would be like living on your own, my roommate is part of the Wisk shift, so I have to deal with her unpredictable behavior every morning and evening.”

“Well, here’s the entrance to my apartment complex, how about we meet here at twenty to two tomorrow for expenditure, I’d like to spend the afternoon getting to know... Blobby.” The last word came out soapy, almost contradictory.

“Alright, then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ecole waved and walked off.

Yuki and the cat-thing walked through the first doors. “I don’t like that woman,” Yuki’s familiar said flatly.

“Well she is... perky,” Yuki said with a light laugh that rung shallow.

Cat-thing nodded and Yuki typed in the code to open her apartment door. The room was a basic kitchen-dining-sitting area. Yuki sat down with an exasperated sigh. The cat-thing sat itself against the wall looking almost directly at Yuki. “Do you like the name Blobby?”

“Not particularly.”

“I thought you didn’t, we have to think of a better name than Blobby.” Yuki leaned back and looked at the roof, between periodic glances back at her familiar. “What’s your species named?”

“Kasetsu.”

“Kasetsu,” Yuki played with the word on her tongue. “Kase, Setsu, Katsu... they all sound odd. Odd.” She practically whipped her head to look at her familiar. “How would you like to be named Odd?”

“I have no objection to it.”

“Alright then, until we can think of something better, your name is Odd.”

Yuki smiled and walked over to a console, “Would you like something to eat?”

“I told you already I need no external nourishment.”

“But do you want something to eat?”

“I need no nourishment so as not to burden my mage.”

Yuki put a steaming meat bun in front of Odd. “You don’t have to eat it, but I’ve already paid, it would be shame if it had to go to waste if you would like to eat.”

Odd looked down at the food, almost bewildered were it not for his eyes being the exact same expression they had been moments earlier. He leaned down to the bun and took a tentative bite.

Yuki smiled and bit into her own bun. “My one teacher told me that some familiars have specialties, what about you Odd?”

“My specialty is transformations, illusion, altering the reality of myself or those around me, and I suppose you could add a vast bank of knowledge to the list.” He took another bite of his bun, less hesitant a bit off the meat sticking to his fur. A pink tongue passed over the area of the offending sauce but it remained stuck.

“I’ll get it,” Yuki said and grabbed a dank dish cloth from over the sink. She wiped off the remaining food with one hand against Odd’s round face. “You know what Odd, your fur is really soft,” she stood up and placed the cloth back in the sink.

Odd finished the last of his meat bun and sat patiently, or was he just bored, as Yuki finished, then he went to one of the room doors. “This one is your room, correct?”

“Yeah, can you smell my scent from there or something?” Yuki got up and opened the door for Odd.

“No,” he replied and walked up to a console in her room. Yuki’s room was plain, the console for item ordering and the sleep pod which she would spend the Kick shift. “Can we order an item for your room?”

“As long as it is not too expensive,” Yuki said, “do you wan to order a little bed or something?”

“I do not require sleep. The item is coded all zeros.”

“That’s an abnormal code.” Yuki typed nine zeros into the ordering board. “Now that’s different, its got a password, this is a classified item Odd.”

“The password is Kasetsu, it’s a special item required for mages with my species of familiar. No cost to you.”

“I see,” Yuki continued typing, “it’s an automatic sender.” Yuki opened the receiving plate next to the console. A small cabinet sat inside. “Well that’s the last accessory I would have thought of for a familiar.”

“Really?” Odd asked, with the lack of expression Yuki couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic or honestly interested. His expression was its usual bored-look.

Yuki put the cabinet down on the carpet. “So how does this relate to having you as my familiar?”

“Well I’m not sure if you’ll be able to open it yet,” Odd looked over at Yuki who stared enthralled into the open cabinet. “It’s so pretty.” She reached into the cabinet, finger aching to reach the image at the back. Her fingers dipped into it like a pool of water, and then it absorbed her in entirely, the doors snapping shut behind her.

~

“Hey, are you okay?” Yuki’s eyes opened to a boy just slightly older than herself standing over her. The sky was a pale silver-blue unlike her white-washed cylindrical tunnels. A great light shore overhead, made fuzzy by the puffs of pale silver around it. Little white puffs floated towards her, they danced in the light and one fell onto Yuki’s cheek it was cold, but melted into a small splash of water.

It was snowing.

“My name is Rein. What’s yours?”

[glow=red,2,300]And that's it for now... anyway the story is a little inconclusive at the moment, but that's okay. Just wait until I've finished chapter five if there's nothing good to say about it yet. MUAHAHAHAHAHA! I luv Odd.[/glow]

[katra21]

Chapter 2

“I’m Yuki,” she replied to the strange boy and wiped the melted snow from her face. Her hand was covered in a soft cloth, gloves, she’d only know them to be worn by mechanical students, and those were hard to keep from blistering.

“It’s nice to meet you, can you get up?” Two war m gloved hands slipped around Yuki’s. She nodded and they pulled her to a sitting position. “You’re good, not dizzy or anything?”

“Nope, I’m good,” Yuki said cracking a tiny smile. The hands pulled her up to her feet.

“Your sleigh dog found my team and barked like a maniac until I followed.”

Yuki looked at the six-dog sled and the free husky that bounded towards them. Yuki noticed the heavily bandaged paws and a black spiked collar. “Odd?” she asked rather uncertain, he barked happily and treaded to Yuki’s side.

“Odd. That’s a weird name for a dog.”

“Well he’s a weird dog,” Yuki admitted.

“Did your sleigh get pulled under the ice or something?”

“No. I don’t have a sleigh.”

“Then you must live nearby.”

Yuki looked along the horizon; it was all the same white rolling hills. “No, I don’t think I do.”

Rein stared at her weird, “Well, I guess I’ll have to take you with me until you find someone who recognizes you. I’m headed towards Lyndon; it’s the primary trading post for every village in Armarium.”

“Armarium?” Yuki questioned hearing the name of her own complex-building home. “I liv,“ Odd jumped her from the back, pile-driving Yuki into the cold snow. “Ah, it’s cold,” her head jerked back and into a wet nose behind her one ear.

“Try not to mention anything of your home world, mistress,” Odd whispered.

“Don’t you even know the name of your country?” Rein asked, shoving Odd off.

“Of course I do...” Yuki tumbled an appropriate answer around her head. “I’m just not thinking straight, must be a little out of sorts.”

“Maybe you’ve got a concussion,” Rein pressed his glove against Yuki’s forehead. His face was close, Yuki could feel her face warming up, was she blushing or was that just the heat from his breath. He pulled away, and headed for the sled, removing the fur cover from the inside. “Climb in; I’ll give you a lift.” The fur was wrapped gently around Yuki’s legs, Rein then climbed on the ski ends behind the sled’s body. “Mush.”

Odd trod next to the sled, that moved relatively slow. Yuki smiled at him, he really looked different disguised as a husky, but Yuki found that the longer she stared at him the more he looked like a bored cat-thing.

“Well here’s my camp,” Rein stole Yuki’s attention from Odd. When she looked back, Odd looked just like the other huskies. Yuki shook her head and looked around the half set up camp. “It’ll be dark in about an hour, I’m afraid I only have one shelter..., “ his voice got softer as he spoke, before he burst out with, “Would you like to help me set up?”

“Um, sure, but I’m not very good at anything, you’ll probably have to spell everything out for me.”

“Okay, well grab that pole,” he pointed to a stick on the ground before grabbing one just opposite. “Wow you are bad, hold it vertically. Good, now pull it back as far as you can. Hold it tight and I’ll be right there.” Rein stabbed his own stick deep into the ice, before packing it in with a little extra snow, before doing the same with Yuki’s. “Now we do the exact same thing with the other set of sticks.”

Once the tent was put up Rein went about building a fire, a few sticks, soaked in blubber to bur n better.

Yuki crouched next to Odd, a distance away and said softly, “What’s going on? What is this place?”

“An alternate world.”

“What!?” Yuki looked over at Rein, but he didn’t notice her. “What can we do to get home?”

“I could create a portal back from the spot we arrived, but there’s too much dimensional interference.”

“There’s dimensional interference?” Yuki asked puzzled.

“Is your dog hurt?” Rein asked coming too close for Yuki and Odd to talk.

“Uh, no.” Yuki said, and stroked Odd playfully.

“His paws are all bandaged up...”

“Um, that’s for the cold,” she looked up at Rein, “they’re quite loose, he could get out of them easily if he wanted to.”

“That’s actually a pretty good idea, for longer trips. He returned to the fire and tossed on a small charm along with a few quick words. The fire flickered to life.”

“What kind of spell was that?” Yuki asked and sat down beside him.

“What, I thought everyone used fire charms?” Yuki flushed and looked down at the snow under her heavy boots almost shamefully. “I’ve been using them since I was five years old.”

“Well I, uh...” Yuki shoved her face in between her knees to hide her embarrassment. “I just use one that’s a little different,” she said, her smile was begging to be believed, “and I was curious about the technique of this particular one, to compare the differences. I’m always eager to learn.”

Rein looked over at Yuki skeptically, but replied anyway. “All our charms are made by our shaman; you toss the charm and say the activation word. For my fire charm its ‘conflagration’.”

“Okay, I get it,” Yuki looked up and out to the sunset, hues of pink and gold danced along the iced snow. “It’s so pretty,” she said softly.

“I never get tired of the sunset,” Yuki turned her focus to Rein. The colors of the sunset melted into his grey eyes, his eyes were soft, twilight cascaded over rounded pools. Rein looked over at Yuki, who quickly turned away, face hot. “Go, get some rest,” Rein said, “I’ll... uh... make sure the dogs are comfortable.” He walked over to the sled and began un-hitching his team, careful to face away from the tent as his own face was hot.

Yuki watched him from the corner of her eye as she walked to the tent. The animal skin was strung low, and she was forced to keep to her hands ands knees while within, the bottom of the tent was strung with an animal skin to keep from lying in the snow. The tent smelled warm and a little musky, like the scent of a hearty stew.

“Um, here’s a blanket,” Rein passed in the fur Yuki had wrapped around her earlier.

“You have a second blanket, right?” Yuki asked.

“Yeah, fine, I’ll be fine, you rest.” He strung his sentences together like pieces of wood, full of bad grammar and useless pauses.

~

Yuki pulled her blanket over her head, she knew it was time to get up; her body knew it was time to get up, she’d been trained to know. If she didn’t get up soon the bed would tip and dump her onto the floor. She had things to do; she was to meet Ecole for their workshop. She grumbled and started to rouse herself; it smelled like stew, she sat up, dragging her hair against the canvas ceiling of the tent.

She wasn’t at home.

She looked around the tent. Rein was already up; his blanket was a messy bundle on the other side of the tent. Yuki pulled herself up and opened the flap of the tent, cold snowy air hit her face, burned like fire despite being colder. Rein was hitching up the dogs. Odd was hooked up with the rest of the team.

“Ah, good, you’re up,” Rein said and smiled happily. “Would you mind folding the blankets from the tent, we should get moving as soon as possible.”

“Oh, okay,” Yuki replied, blushing as she noticed the reflection of the sunrise dazzling in his eyes. He turned away, fiddling with what was already on the sleigh.

Yuki was glad to escape back to the steamy interior of the tent and she grabbed her own blanket, but held it pensive in her hands. It was the first time she’d ever slept outside one of the capsules from her planet that harvested their energy. She continued to brood as she folded the furs neatly and stepped back out into the sunshine and stinging wind.

Rein stood by the tent as she climbed out, his face red, blushing or just cold, Yuki could not tell as he neatly collapsed the tent and separated its components.

There was a thick silence in the air. Despite the blowing wind and the panting dogs the stillness was unbearable. “How should the blankets go in?” Yuki asked, despite seeing perfectly well the obviously perfectly sized clearing on the sled.

“Ah,” Rein bustled over awkwardly and took the blankets from the opposite side of the sled. Then he lifted his head. The two were perilously close to each other. Rein’s slouch from putting down the blankets caused their faces to drift barely inches away. Both were bright red before he half leapt back, half slipped and landed inelegantly in the slow.

Yuki put a glove over her mouth, but in wasn’t any help. She giggled, softly at first, then progressively louder until it sounded like a bad case of the hiccups. Rein blinked at her, and then burst out laughing. Her hiccups warped into full blown laughter as well. They laughed for a long time, then Odd barked, and they laughed harder. And then Odd, started the sled moving and the rest of the dogs moved with him.

“Aaaaah!” Rein’s laughter switched suddenly to a panicked yell and he chased after the runaway sled.

“Odd!” Yuki yelled peevishly before taking off after the procession. Rein soon caught up and pulled the dogs to a stop before looking back at the remaining unpacked camping gear. Yuki followed his gaze and noticed the folded tent and pegs lying ready in the snow. “I’ll get it,” she called and ran to pick it up.

Yuki walked up to a clearly shamefaced Rein, before putting the tent with the rest of the gear. “What’s wrong?” she asked him, glancing out of one eye while tying down the gear in the sled.

“I- uh-“ Rein looked down at the snow, “I just realized that there’s not enough room on the sleigh and you’ll have to ride on the skis- with me.”

Yuki glanced for a moment at the short skis that protruded from the back of the sled, just enough room for feet. They’d be pressed up against each other, practically hugging. Red is a pale assessment of the color her face turned.


Alrighty, here's chapter two, tell me what you think, I'll put up the next chapter when I feel like it. Chat with you all later.