We all froze, looking at the man with the tamed Koru…
He stated his name was... Varik Solem, I believe.
And Varik has now stopped Renji from moving any closer towards the Koru.
Emilia and I stood right by the Koru, prepared to hop on its back as the Koru continued to sit like a properly tamed beast.
Renji smiled, shakingly, nervously, "What could you ever mean?" He responded.
Varik smiled, "Hahaha!" He let out a laugh, then frowned once more, "I'll let you off this time."
Renji sighed in relief, but Varik wasn't finished.
"If you ever choose to use that against the royal capital…" He paused, exhaling, then went into his ear."
And whispered something, I couldn't hear it from this distance, but it was definitely something bad.
By the way Renji reacted.
"Now be off!" Varik yelled as Emilia and I climbed up the Koru.
Renji began walking step by step, towards the Koru.
"What did he tell you, Silly?" Emilia asked Renji as he laid his hands onto the Koru.
"Oh…" he whispered, placing his right leg over the Koru, "It was the usual, 'don't use it around others,' you know?"
Renji looked back at me and Emilia. I was sitting in front while she sat behind.
"Oh, alright," Emilia responded, pleasantly.
It was clearly false; his statement was all but true. He told him something else, by the way Renji reacted says otherwise. I didn't want to ponder on that thought so much. If he didn't want to tell us the truth, that's his choice, not mine to make. There's an obvious reason he didn't tell the truth, and today was the day we departed for the academy.
"Let's go," I whispered, calmly.
Renji sat in front of me, as he has the most experience using the Koru, so just in case of an emergency, he'll be able to control the Koru.
Emilia sat behind, as she was the most afraid.
"Depart!" Varik let out one last yell, and with that, the Koru began flapping its wings upwards towards the sky.
The sun and its bright yellow fur resemble one another. As we went higher into the sky, the Koru gained speed and felt safer. I didn't know how to explain it, but it was incredible.
"How do we know where to go?" I asked, looking forward to Renji.
"It has a seal, its path is already clear, we just sit back and watch now. Nothing more we can do." He replied, focusing forward, but sounded sad, almost as if his entire tone shifted from what Varik said.
Then the Koru stopped in the sky, now simply going forward, in one straight path.
I accepted Renji's response but still pondered on what Varik could've said. But I let it go, as now we are going to the Royal Academy.
A While Later…
I let that thought go away, as we now flew just above the Royal Academy.
Man, lookin' down from up here, this place is wild. First thing that hits me is that big old round arena on the left, like some giant stone bowl ready to swallow a whole army. All them arches around it make it look like it could go on forever. Right in the middle of everything, there's this tall pointy tower thing, actually, nah, more like a needle stabbing straight up at the sky. You can't miss it, it's dead center.
The paths all spread out from it like spokes on a wheel, leading to these average-sized sized sharp-roofed buildings with red tops. Kinda neat how they're all angled, like someone lined 'em up with a ruler. Off to the right, there's this massive church looking thing stuck into the cliffside, tall green roofs shining like it owns the whole place. And, honestly, it kinda does. It feels like the boss of all the other buildings.
The green really makes it pop. Trees, gardens, little patches of flowers, all tucked in between the stone. From up here, it doesn't even look like a school but more like some fancy palace carved into a mountain. Around the mountain, all you see is nothingness. Only grasslands, no towns, no villages, only forests covered all around. Probably scary beasts inside of them, too.
Nah, never mind, yeah, definitely.
It looked like the only way to enter the main area, which dispersed all sections of the Royal Academy, was through a stone wall gated fully around the stairwell to get up into the center.
As the Academy was on a mountain, that would be the only way to go up there, unless you'd use a Koru. Which only Renji has access to.
The Koru began flying downwards, towards the front of the entire mountain, where the entrance lay.
Bam!
The Koru landed on the grass, right in front of the gated entrance.
"Are we here yet, silly?"
"Yeah, we are," I responded, Emilia tucking behind my back as her fear of heights didn't allow her to peek past it.
Renji let out a yawn, "Thanks, little guy, my Koru's better though." He said, patting down the yellow oversized bird.
As each of us got off, the Koru bowed in elegance, then flew off. Into the sky, where it'll be free.
We each turned our attention towards the royal capital. Or the gate at least, the actual buildings were at the top of the mountain.
Step. Step. Step.
We continued walking to the gated fence. Around it were the tall brick layered walls, and surrounding that were the mountain cliffs that scattered all around, like a perfect circle.
No guards were around, so we continued to follow the grey stone pathway that led to the fence.
We reached the front of the fence, but there was nothing to do; we couldn't enter, we couldn't go around it, so we waited.
"I feel silly just standing here!" Emilia gently yelled; her voice echoed through the dark hall just beyond the metal fence.
Beyond that hall was the light, the light to the main Royal Academy area.
Bam!
Renji slammed the fence with a kick, but it didn't budge.
"We might be here for a while-"
Step! Step! Step!
Echoes of loud steps from beyond the fence began getting louder, like something was walking towards us.
As each step was reiterated in harmony, I saw a shadow forming.
"He's here," I said, calmly, grinning wide, the same as Renji.
Emilia stood behind us, waiting just as we did… but fearfully.
As the shadow's shape began decreasing, they stepped into the slight sunlight that entered the dark hall beyond the gated fence.
Now, his whole body began to show… it was a he to make it clear. But-
"What!" All of us yelled in harmony.
It couldn't be, no, it couldn't, but we just saw him.
"Welcome to the Royal Academy! I'll be your guide for today!"
We didn't respond; all of us stood there, well, I was sweating, staring at him.
The man said, No, not the man… his name, yeah, what was his name again?
Varik Solem. The beast tamer.
I grinned, unknowingly of how he could've come here before us. But there was more to learn about him than I initially thought.
"Hey, Varik!" Renji yelled, and in front of his face, only the gate divided them. "Which emotion is this?!"
The man smiled, even if it was for a split second.
There was something that I wasn't aware of but was about to learn. This world is much bigger than I thought.
And I'm here.
To learn.