Rising Shards

We all stared in confusion as Nikki and a few others approached the class.

“Koridia.” Caya said. “Don’t exclaim randomly during my lessons.”

“And it’s not random, it’s…alright, fine.” Kalei sat back down; her eyes still locked on Nikki.

The group joining us was all returning students from the group Kitty raided. They all had their Rising Shards uniforms on, but with a pin that looked like a heart burning in dark flames instead of the first year pins the rest of us wore. Kalei kept scratching her head and staring at Nikki, who sat across from her.

“Well, I had an intro line planned to build anticipation,” Diast said. “But I am now realizing I forgot to tell anyone else that plan and just daydreamed it. So before Caya can explain what’s going on, let’s welcome back some sorely missed students!”

While some of us made small talk with the returning students, Oka, Lillia and I mainly watched Kalei try to form a sentence to Nikki. The two at least got an exchange out together, with Kalei’s slim contributions coming from her crush gooeyness and Nikki’s coming from her spaciness.

“Hey…” Kalei said. “I uh, hey.”

“Hey.” Nikki said.

It was nice to see people I thought would be at Wildfire Hearts indefinitely back so soon, even girls like Chellsi and Mikeila-Keila, though I noticed quickly that not everyone was back.

“No Aira?” I asked. “Laenie?”

“Or 09…” Oka said.

“There are some Wildfire Hearts students that are on ‘special projects’ that they claim cannot be interfered with.” Caya said.

“But 09 isn’t…” Oka said. “She goes here.”

“Wildfire Hearts pulled some strings,” Caya said. “But in light of them trying to make her officially one of theirs, I will do my best to bring her and the others back, but progress has been slow on that front.”

The ‘special project’ Aira, Laenie, and 09 were on was something with my parents. Was the school OK with their students exploring the void with effectively strangers? I tried to force thoughts of my parents away, but I remembered the searing pain in my hands from the needle things my mother stabbed into me. What it felt like to nearly lose myself to the beast tendency. Oka grabbed my hands. Once more, it felt like she was pulling me away from them, even if she wasn’t fully aware how well she was at helping me there.

“Maybe before we get to that,” Diast said, pulling Caya away from us and to a better point in front of the group. “Maybe just explain a bit of everything here.”

“Right.” Caya said. She composed herself, getting her usual posture back. “First off, I am deeply sorry for that assembly this morning. Kitty and Penteldtam tend to bring the worst out of each other, especially when they decide to work at the same place. I’ll get right to it though, both schools here as well as Wildfire Hearts have agreed to enact the Recreant Protocol.”

“Wait,” Kalei said. “That’s the thing you said would bring Nikki. Nikki…and the others back if we did it. But they’re…”

“Yes, that’s part of it.” Caya said. “For the time being, any students raided will be back here.”

“So…did we win?” I asked. I remembered Caya saying that bringing the raided girls back would be tough. But maybe if they got sued enough, maybe they gave up on that and just let them back? At the very least, I was glad Kalei had Nikki back.

“It may not be permanent,” Caya said.

“When a Recreant Protocol happens normally, it’s mostly just a like gym fair that’s sometimes in the void, and that will generally be the case here,” Dr. Diast said. “Though I am pushing for an academic decathlon and other non-sporty things in this year’s because not all of us should have to do physical stuff.”

“We’re going to explain the rules further as this gets heated up, but the general premise is a series of competitions between schools. They will be tests of your Cani ability, so for the time being any Benta Scholarship tasks are on hold.”

Oka and I nodded at that. The Benta Scholarship requirements were always in the back of my mind for schoolwork, so having to not think about that as much would be a plus.

”Your pods will generally be your main team, save for the more battle royal type events.” Caya said.

“Are we gonna have to fight?” I asked. Caya told Oka and I we wouldn’t have to fight, and that there were other ways to combat the Endoran style Wildfire Hearts was bringing.

“There may be a bit for everyone.” Diast said. “Someone had to agree to things on Kitty’s terms.”

“The teachers are fighting.” Kyre Krista announced in concern.

“We’re not fighting,” Caya said. “Dr. Diast is. Rather fairly offering judgment on how I set this particular Recreant Protocol up.” She sighed. “I may have gotten a bit too eager to resolve this. So because of that, our agreement does include some actual battles with Wildfire Hearts. That said, I’m determined to ensure this is a positive experience for all of us. Therefore…” She changed some settings around on her wristband projection, which spread little bing sounds and lights to all our power blockers. “I’ve installed upgraded shields on your power blockers. So the battles will be more displays of your Cani ability rather than more violent combative physical engagement.”

“So you’re saying this is like…safer?” I asked. I realized I had a fair bit of experience in actual combat with Endorans, so one based on showing off powers seemed easier.

“Oh yeah, you’re safe,” Diast said. “Wildfire Hearts up to their asses in lawsuits, and that’s while doing handstands. So they’re not gonna cross any boundaries, even if they really want to.”

“Ew.” Oka said. “Why would you phrase it like that?”

“I…thought that one would get a laugh. My bad,” Diast said. “But if anyone actually tries to bypass the shields, they’re mega screwed. From the shields to the lawsuits to us teachers, you guys have like five layers of training wheels and bubble wrap protecting you.”

“What do we get if we win?” Iris asked. “Like settlement money from lawsuit? Please?”

“Well, we definitely get our raided students back for good.” Diast said. “There’s usually some pretty good prizes too. Like scooters? Mini fridges?”

The potential mini fridge prize won a lot of the class over.

“Also, the Wildfire Hearts students participating will be on campus, but outside of the events they should stay away from us.” Diast said.

“Where are they staying?” I asked.

“You know that Kanibari dorm that nobody uses?” Diast asked.

“I…don’t think I’ve actually been to it.” I said.

“Yeah, they’ll be there.” Diast said. “Some of the staff, me included, has been pushing for the dorms that were intended for Kanibari students to get used somehow, but we weren’t thinking this. Some of us were hoping enby and students of other genders would get that dorm since the Kanibari Feral Flu rates are fairly low this year and binaries suck, and with our general improvements in treating that and the Kanibari illnesses that get more violent we have a lot of free space.”

“What’s an ‘enby’?” Roux asked.

“Nonbinary, people whose gender doesn’t fall on the traditional gender binary,” Diast said.

“What…that means.” Roux said, her cat-like ears folded back.

“We can talk after class if you need more info, I got pamphlets aplenty for gender business if anyone needs em.” Diast said. “Be sure to ask any of us about any business there, we all got pamphlets for whatever. I’m not like, sponsored by pamphlets, we just have a lot of good ones that can be good for info for business that may be private.”

“Indeed,” Caya said. “I’m sure you all have a lot of questions, and I’ll try to answer them all, but for now let’s get some void training in.”

“Before we go, don’t forget!” Ms. Letoh said. She yelped when we all looked at her. “To um, make sure to do well in your regular classes! Still! The semester’s almost over, after all.”

“Right, that’s a good point as well.” Caya said. “Though we have a Recreant Protocol going on, and your Benta requirements will be lightened for those on the scholarship, we encourage everyone to carry on with their school lives as normal.”

“Is any part of our school lives here normal?” Kalei asked. Nikki laughed at her joke, which made Kalei accidentally conjure a bunch of ice cubes in her hands, that she dropped quickly. She clenched her jaw in an embarrassment that was rare to see from her.

“Alright, the returning kids, you guys have some paperwork to handle, so remember to say hi to your friends later…” Diast said as Nikki and her group was led away.

“The rest of us, follow me,” Caya said. “We’re making a quick stop before we head into the void.”