And so it started in third period

[Shipfish]

She was, regrettably, bored.

It isn’t like she didn’t have a right to be; this was after all the most boring class on campus. No one ever did anything in Military History. But still: it was only third period and she usually didn’t get this seriously out of it until fifth. Besides, they were going over the ship types again, and if they reviewed ship types any more she would be able to repeat them in her sleep.

Zipper, cruiser, fighter, chamcoat and razer, and those were only the ones that were both space and atmosphere capable. She really could go on, but more interesting things were happening.

Her phone was buzzing. Three short bursts of such intense vibration that it was actually audible: stupid machine, sometimes it didn’t buzz at all. Oh, the message was only a few seconds old and the anticipation was killing her.

Good, the Colonel was getting funky with his new laser pointer. He never paid attention to anything else when he was playing with the laser pointer. Slowly, slowly, slid the phone from her pocket…

“KY-a-NAS! Whooo-at are you doo-ing?!” The voice of the Colonel was earsplitting at a distance and caused deafness at close range. Right next to one’s ear it caused deafness on both sides. Needless to say, there was flinching going on at least four desks in every direction, but Kyanas did not even twitch.

“Nothing much, good siir. Were we not learning about ship classes, siir?” Kyanas did not bother removing her hand from her phone.

“Youngster, are you TRYING to use your phone IN CLASS?” The Colonel never was put off by Kyanas knowing the answers despite not paying attention sometimes.

“Quuite possiibly, siir. This is the third time we have learned about ship tyypes. Siir.” Still not going to move.

“Write ALL FIFTEEEN types of battleship on the board, with their possible TROOP ALLOTMENTS and I will think about not WRITING YOU UP.” Sure was mean, that Colonel. She didn’t blame him, this was the second time he had caught her using her phone. It wasn’t his fault the class regularly bored students into drooling with their eyes wide open.

Kyanas lifted her phone to the desk and let the Colonel take it. Oh, now the anticipation was all dead and this was silly. Only one hope for salvation, and if she walked slowly enough…

BEEEEEEEEP.

Gog save the Empress, but right now the bell was the savior of the world.

[anonymousWavelength]

Class change was Aruale's least favorite time of the day. She didn't walk to class with any of her friends, few as they were, and the constant crush of people in the hallways made her nervous. She constantly feared dropping a book on someone's foot, or being pushed into a wall, or something like that. It was easier now than it was freshman year, though. The first time she had had to navigate the halls, she stood paralyzed until they began to clear out, and then sprinted like an idiot to her class. She was late anyway.

Fourth period. One more class to get through until lunch, and then it would be smooth sailing. Aruale slid along the walls to avoid the greater crowd and slipped into English class just before the bell rang. She landed sideways in her desk and gave a grin to the others before the teacher started talking.

"N()w class, y()u have an assignment f()r the b()()k that y()u have been reading. Every()ne has read the book, correct?" Mutters of assent drift through the classroom. "G()()d. N()w, y()u will be w()rking with the desk cluster where you sit. Your assignment is ()n this paper, which I will pass ()ut n()w." She passed out the papers to each group of six desks.

Aruale groaned a little and put her head in her hands. She, of course, had not read the book. She had not had time to do so, what with shenanigans and all. Hell, she hadn't even had time to go get it. Now that her sister was off to college, she had to walk everywhere until she got her license, or she had to ride Beardad places, and she just hadn't bothered to go get the damned book. She didn't even remember what the book was. She cast a desperate glance at Lerena, sitting in the desk across from her.

[Radiodragon]

Confidence. Confidence. He was better than every troll in this hallway. He kept a brisk pace, and his eyes dead center. Anger, he couldn't forget the anger, it was what tied the entire performance together. All of these factors were needed in this place. As long as he acted the part no troll would dare bother him. Isaard had found that high-school was a practice in troll Machiavellian ethics. Of course his goal was not to rule over the high-school but, to survive it, and since he knew he could not be both loved and feared by this crowd of nitwits, he had to settle on being feared. Unfortunately this meant that he had to maintain, however miniscule, a state of constant anger. An easy task given the general populace of the school; ignorant, pop-culture obsessed zombies without a single thought on any deeper level than a grub pool. Trolls in the halls stepped aside as Isaard entered English, his last class before lunch.

He was first in the room, like always. English would have been his favorite class, if not for the other trolls that attended alongside him. It seemed like half the class didn't care about the great literary pieces that they read, and the other half simply didn't read. If he had to sit through another review of themes that he already knew by heart at this point he was going to perform some form of acrobatic maneuver off of a device that is primarily used for grasping. Not to mention ALL of the down right idiotic questions over the meaning of a certain passage, and, worst of all, vocabulary. It was as if none of these trolls knew how to use a f***ing dictionary. It was one of Isaard's bad days, and he desperately needed to calm down or risk snapping at someone without the proper justification.

Class started, and the teacher began to speak, "N()w class, y()u have an assignment f()r the b()()k that y()u have been reading. Every()ne has read the book, correct?" Isaard had however, from the mutterings of the rest of the class it was safe to assume that most had not. The teacher went on, "G()()d. N()w, y()u will be w()rking with the desk cluster where you sit. Your assignment is ()n this paper, which I will pass ()ut n()w." The very moment she mentioned a group assignment Isaard wanted the gates of hell to open and drag her screaming into its fiery bowels, though he still accepted the paper that the teacher passed in as good a humor as he could muster.

He looked to the desks near him to asses the damage. There was Stebia, who, while not stupid, wouldn't be much help for this project, Kyanas, who was guaranteed to have at least read the book and could be relied upon, Aruale, the notorious slack off who was guaranteed not to have read the book and would be useless, Kratus, who was probably not even sober, and Lerena, who could go die in a fire for all he cared, but would get work done on time. As things stood they would have three people doing work, one being as helpful as possible, and two bodies worth of dead weight. Well, at least the odds of success were in his favor. Now he had to determine what this project was about.

[philosophersBones]

Stebia loved English class. She loved learning about all the faraway lands and people, even if most of them weren't real. She loved learning new words, even if she wasn't very good at remembering them. Most of all, though, she loved spending time with her friends. She had a lot of friends, but some of her closest friends were in English with her. Besides, it was the last period before lunch, and lunch was the most fun of all!

She got to class and sat in her desk scarcely before the bell rang. She would have gotten there faster, but she saw some people that she needed to say hi to, and then someone spilled their books and she had to help pick them up, and then she tripped down some stairs, so she was almost late but she ran as fast as she could and still got there before Aruale. Like she always did. She never beat Isaard, though. She could have sworn that the guy could teleport or something.

She wasn't really paying attention as the teacher was talking, since there was a moonbeam coming in from the window and some dust motes were drifting through it and it looked really pretty and ooh look the teacher is passing out a paper! Stebia looked at the assignment handed to her. It was on the Troll Mark Twain book that they had had to read. Stebia had tried her best to read it, but some of the words were weird and she didn't read Troll Daedric too well anyway. Oh well, she could always get help from her really smart friends!

Stebia read the assignment. It was a group project, which she was immediately grateful for since she didn't do so well on her own. The assignment was to select a chapter of A Connecticut Lowblood in the Empress' Court and to update it, modernize it for today's readers. It would have to be rewritten, and then 'presented creatively.' The teacher was talking about how it would be an open-ended project so that everyone could be creative. They had one month to complete the project, after which they would have to present.

Stebia looked around and assessed her groupmates as objectively as possible. There was Kyanas, who was really smart and good at planning so she would be really helpful. Then Aruale, who didn't always have time to read the books, but she comes up with some really good ideas and is a lot of fun! Kratus, who is really creative and silly and a nice guy. He would be great at keeping everyone calm and stuff, since he's so chill all the time. Lerena, who is also really smart and has a lot of cool stuff since her mom is really important. Last but certainly not least there's Isaard, who is the coolest guy that Stebia knows and is maybe the smartest person she knows, except for his dad who works at the college so he could help maybe too? Stebia was excited. She just knew that this would go over great and would be a lot of fun and everyone would work together well, except for maybe Isaard and Lerena who seem to have a bit of a blackrom thing going on but Stebia is sure that they can put that aside for the sake of the project since they both like getting good grades so much. Yep, there was definitely no way that this project could be anything but awesome!

[Quakerlol]

Lerena enjoyed English class to a reasonable degree. It was a mandatory class, so she had no choice but to enjoy it, but it was considerably brightened by the presence of a few of her good friends, especially some that her mother would not approve of. Then again, the whole period was ruined by the presence of a certain blueblood in her desk group, who shall remain nameless for the sake of decency. That aside, though, she had a good relationship with the teacher, as she did with all of them, and that made the class easier for her.

When the assignment landed on her desk, she looked up to see Aruale looking desperately at her. Lerena knew for a fact that Aruale had not read the book due to a frantic late-day trolling brought on by the mistaken impression that there was going to be a quiz on it the next night. There was not, but Lerena did manage to slip in a few admonishments before they both went to bed. As she read the paper, her mind began generating ideas. She looked up at her groupmates, assessing their weaknesses and strengths. Aruale she knew inside and out. She could be counted on, but she had not read the book and thus would be less useful. Stebia meant well, but she was not the fastest plasma cannon in the arsenal. Kratus of course was an idiot and could be relied upon for nothing. Kyanas was intelligent, but tended to insubordination. Then there was the arrogant imbecile currently sitting catty-corner from her, who was moderately intelligent but couldn't listen to orders or work well with anyone or ever do anything right or-

Lerena mentally cut herself off before she could embark on the infinitely-long list of Isaard's failings. She tapped a pencil against the desk and addressed her groupmates. "Zo," she said, "any ideaz?"

[Radiodragon]

Okay, so he was a little bit buzzed. No big deal, he was still conscious, and that was what mattered. He practically had to be out of it just to suffer through the daily escapades in this palace built to the unchill. The atmosphere of this place was oppressive, grim, and demanding; the complete opposite of what Kratus tried to be. He entered the class room, late as usual, and took his seat. English, to be honest, wasn't his favorite subject. Kratus liked reading (though he didn't read nearly as he should) and he got the gist of what most of the pieces were saying, but as soon as class started he was utterly bored out of his mind. Not having to suffer through the class again was the only thing keeping his grade at a passing level. The teacher droned on, he wasn't even paying attention in fact he was drifting on the borders of the conscious realm. He had been up way too early doing gog knows what. His Guardian didn't really set any kind of curfew for him so most nights he would just surf the web for hours on end, listen to music, play video games etc. until two in the afternoon. It didn't matter to anyone else so why should he sleep at a reasonable time?

Kratus? Kratus WAKE UP!

Kratus lurched back into the waking world. "Wha.....?" He started, but then clamped his noise hole firmly shut. Gaining his bearings Kratus looked down at his desk to find a paper with "GROUP ASSIGNMENT" written across the top. He immediately felt his stomach seize up. Oh sweet empress why did it have to be a group project? Kratus was terrible with those, and he always ended up letting his group down. Who was in his group anyway? He saw Kyanas, she was generally cool and collected but not one to tolerate failure, Stebia, who was always nice and upbeat, she probably wouldn't stay mad at him, Isaard, who looked possessed, seemed like he hated just about everyone so there was nothing to lose there, and Lerena, queen of the school could have any number of horrible things done to him. Oh boy, he was definitely going to make enemies here. It was times like these that Kratus was thankful that his deliriously awesome shades covered up his uncertainty.

"Zo," Lerena said, "any ideaz?"

Kratus tried to keep his chill and waited for some one smarter to speak.

[Shipfish]

This was certainly going to be an interesting assignment. She was unlucky enough to be seated at the most diverse table, what with the inclusion of both Kratus and Lerena. This table probably ran the gamut from stoner to perfectionist, what no that was a lie. This table definitely did that.

There was Kratus, who smelled of sopor slime. Either he had forgotten to shower, which was not unlikely, or he had other ways of interacting with the stuff. Kyanas had no interest in his doings. In fact, she would rather not interact with him at all, since he appeared to have no drive or will to accomplish anything. He was definitely not going to be much help, but might contribute in the early stages, during brainstorming. He seemed out of it enough to do some serious divergent thinking... if he could stay awake. She managed to keep a sneer off her face.

There was Isaard. Kyanas did not know much about him other than he was a hollow shell. He projected an image of disdain and a whiff of anger, and he did it well. She was not quite sure she had a good picture of what was under that shell, since she only saw him in the one setting. However, the inside must be smart and more than a little insecure. Kyanas hoped he would be a good addition to the team, if he could be tricked out of his shell.

There was Aruale. While she was well meaning and kind, she was also prone to lazyness. More like than not, she had not read the book, which was a shame, because it was a good story. If she could be caught up on the reading, she would be a good solid worker. She would have to be constantly reminded that her part needed to be done though.

There was Lerena. She had most certainly read the book and had probably dissected it for literary tropes while she was at it. Though she never did anything that warranted a dislike, she simply exuded an aura of disdain toward everything around her. The most infuriating part was the fact that it disappeared whenever the teacher walked by. A shell of a different sort, Kyanas supposed. No less empty, but slightly more true.

There was Stebia. Sweet as sugar and twice as nice, Stebia always meant well but sometimes didn't quite get things. It wasn't that she was dumb, in fact she was quite intelligent, but that she was unable to focus on any one thing for more that a few heartbeats. She probably at least tried to read the book. Oh, that was right: she never had gotten Daedric down. Kyanas thought it was a rather excellent idea to switch alphabets from Daedric to a more fluid script. Daedric was all well and good for being scratched on cave walls but it was difficult to rapidly write in it. 

She digressed.

An inkling of something that might work was already forming in her mind. But first, she had to set something straight.

"Zo, any ideaz?" Asked Lerena, impatiently tapping the end of her pencil against the desk. If she didn't stop doing that, Kyanas was going to crumple up some paper and attach it to the end of the thing to muffle the clacking.

A confusedly muffled groan from Kratus was also somewhat distracting. Fine, then, Kratus. Drift off. It isn't like you have work to do.

"Lerena. I assuume yyou mean to lobbyy for an executive posiition?" Any pretensions must be cleared away before work began.

[anonymousWavelength]

Aruale read the assignment, her mood lightening as she discovered that they were to work in groups. She got along fairly well with everyone in the group, and most of the others were pretty dang smart. They, she knew, had definitely read the book. The only downside to this was that they would be nagging her about not having read it later. Even the ones who weren't straight-A's, Stebia and Kratus, would be useful in their own way. Stebia would keep Isaard in check and Kratus might just chill everyone out to the point that they could get some work done. Her only major apprehension was about Lerena and Isaard. They had been getting more antagonistic recently, and Aruale hoped that they could put their flirting aside for the sake of the group. They could deny it all they wanted, but they were getting pretty darn hostile for platonic hatred.

She saw Kratus wake up and jabbed him in the ribs again for good measure. Dude thought his shades could protect him from the Magistra's glare? Not a chance. Lerena asked for ideas, and Aruale rolled her eyes a little at her. She could tell that some people in her group were already prepared to get on her for not having read the book. You know what? That was fine. She didn't care what anyone thought.

"Lerena. I assuume yyou mean to lobbyy for an executive posiition?" Kyanas asked. Always right to the point. Aruale glanced at Isaard, who didn't look happy. He never did, what with his being all angry all the time, but he looked a little less happy than usual. She decided to head him off before he could get a good head of steam going.

"yeah, i think )erena should probab)y be in (harge of organizing stuff. she's pretty good at it." There. Contributing to the group discussion, check.


((seating:

Kratus Aruale Isaard


Kyanas Lerena Stebia ))

[Radiodragon]

Isaard read over the assignment. Modernize a chapter in a A Connecticut Lowblood in the Empress' Court for today's readers. What. What? WHAT!? Isaard had physically force himself to NOT introduce his think-pan to his desk at high velocity. The assignment was idiotic. The teacher wanted them to rewrite the book. Why the whooping, thumb-twiddling F*** would someone do that? To make it more accessible for today's readers? F*** today's readers! If they want to read Troll Mark Twain, then they have to read Troll Mark Twain, not some hack's rewrite for the mentally deficient. And that is exactly what it would be, a dumbed-down version of Troll Mark Twain for trolls too lazy to spend the effort to increase their vocabulary and understanding. Isaard then realized that he would be forced to sit through the other groups' presentations assuredly awful presentations. Hearing this herd of bleating fluff-beasts desecrate a classic piece of literature was something that Isaard simply would not suffer through. He would have to send his portion of the work with Stebia, and use one of his closely guarded "sick days" to excuse himself from attending class that day. Isaard was in the process of deciding which chapter he would be forced to mutilate in the name of modernity, when he realized that trolls were speaking.

"Lerena. I assuume yyou mean to lobbyy for an executive posiition?"

"yeah, i think )erena should probab)y be in (harge of organizing stuff. she's pretty good at it."

No. Hell no. HELL F***ING NO! Isaard was not about to defile Troll Mark Twain and defer to the orders of that amphibious "azzhat" at the same time. He had to think of a way to divert this and quick. Presenting himself as an alternate candidate for leadership would be dismissed as a typical high-blood power struggle, besides that he didn't actually want to lead. Suggesting that he and Lerena be co-leaders would only present control issues further down the line, and also Isaard would not only be forced to keep the other trolls in order, but Lerena as well. That only left one option left, he had to suggest another troll to lead. Aruale was out, both by the probability of not having read the book and being too close to Lerena. Kratus was out by virtue of being Kratus. Stebia would only be seen as a cover for himself, so she was out as well. That left Kyanas as the most sensible choice for leadership, being strong willed enough to handle any manipulations on Lerena's part, and knowledgeable enough to lead the group to the completion of their task. This would also make all of Lerena's arguments for the position seem like pure egotism. An unfaltering light for any fish-blood among a majority of lower bloods to be in.

"Actually Kyanas, I think it w(..)uld be best if y(..)u t(..)(..)k the lead (..)n this abh(..)rrent assignment." Isaard could barely contain a self-satisfied smile as he said this. Some days he was good, today he was very good.

[philosophersBones]

"Zo, any ideaz?" Lerena asked. Stebia had lots of ideas, but before she could figure out how to say them Kyanas interjected.

"Lerena. I assuume yyou mean to lobbyy for an executive posiition?" Stebia wondered how Kyanas knew that. She also wondered how somebody could be in an executive position of a fun group project. It wasn't like this was a big deal, after all, just something to have fun with!

"yeah, i think )erena should probab)y be in (harge of organizing stuff. she's pretty good at it." Stebia started to nod in agreement, but was cut off by Isaard.

"Actually Kyanas, I think it w(..)uld be best if y(..)u t(..)(..)k the lead (..)n this abh(..)rrent assignment." Stebia glanced at Isaard. She thought that she knew what was going on. She could be wrong, but she thought that he didn't want her in charge because he hated her. He was probably flirting with her right now, by trying to make sure that she didn't get to be in charge of stuff, which Stebia knew she liked being. Stebia thought that that was a little mean. Just because he hates her, it doesn't mean that he should be mean to her! Besides, they were going to need to work together, and if they were going to do that then they were going to need to put their feelings aside.

She raised her hand. "Uh, I think that it would be great if you guys could be (--o-leaders! You're both pretty smart, and dividing up the responsibility would be a good thing, right?" There. Problem solved. Score one for Stebia!

[Quakerlol]

"Lerena. I assuume yyou mean to lobbyy for an executive posiition?"

That was Kyanas. Always to the point and blunt. She was no political player, that was for sure, but she still had the potential to be dangerous. Lerena made a note to find out her exact loyalties later.

"yeah, i think )erena should probab)y be in (harge of organizing stuff. she's pretty good at it."

And that was Aruale. There was a reason that they were still best friends, even though neither of their respective guardians approved of their choice in companionship. Lerena snuck a quick grateful glance at her, and got a half-smile in return. She was just about to agree when her mood was abruptly spoiled.

"Actually Kyanas, I think it w(..)uld be best if y(..)u t(..)(..)k the lead (..)n this abh(..)rrent assignment." She resisted the urge to shoot him a deadly glare for the sake of decorum. She was about to voice strong objections when Stebia interjected.

"Uh, I think that it would be great if you guys could be (--o-leaders! You're both pretty smart, and dividing up the responsibility would be a good thing, right?" Lerena repressed the urge to smile. Stebia could always be depended on to come up with good ideas. Lerena would not mind being a co-leader, since that would mean that the blame could always be shared.

"That zeemz agreeable to me," she said. "If Kyanaz haz no objectionz?"

[Radiodragon]

A conversation was happening but Kratus was too far gone to notice. He simply felt himself ensconce himself in his chair. He guessed that they were arguing over leadership roles at the moment, man were these guys high strung. Kratus didn't really care who was the leader he was going to get yelled at either way, and he got enough of that at his hive. His Guardian was always ranting about something or other, mostly about Kratus being a failure but on occasion he would mix it up a bit. Lost in these thoughts Kratus was asleep again.

[Shipfish]

Kyanas had not intended for her comment to be interpreted as a bid for leadership: she had only been confirming that Lerena (naturally, in her mind) would be leader. Kyanas was glad to have piped up now though: It revealed a bit more about shelled Isaard.

He positively hated Lerena, and that was no superficial emotion. The excitement at doing his part to prevent Lerena from attaining power over him did not so much play across his face as etch itself into his body language.

Also, he had practically winced while he read the assignment sheet. So not only had he read the book but he had enjoyed it. Interesting. He probably thought the whole project was mutilation of good literature.

Kyanas, wrapped up in her dissection of Isaard's mental state, almost did not hear Lerena speak to her.

"That zeemz agreeable to me," she said. "If Kyanaz haz no objectionz?"

What was agreeable? Oh, Stebia had suggested that Lerena and Kyanas divide leader-type duties. In Kyanas's opinion, this would only open up the possibility for arguments and missed duties. On the other hand, it made Isaard (Kyanas knew he would be a stickler for details, wanting to keep it as close to the original as possible, and would likely keep them from completely going off-topic) more likely to not sabotage the project.

Kyanas looked at Lerena just in time to catch the tail end of a deadly glare aimed at Isaard. Oh, this made things more complicated. Now their unfortunate feelings were mutual. Lovely.

"It would be for the best," Kyanas was careful to keep her voice non-confrontational, "If we did share duties, yyes. Divide and conquer, yyou know."

Curse him, Kratus was asleep again. Kyanas half-expected him to start drooling. She leaned forward and rapped him sharply on the head.

"Payy attention, others are speaking of things that affect yyou."

[Quakerlol]

"Actually Kyanas, I think it w(..)uld be best if y(..)u t(..)(..)k the lead (..)n this abh(..)rrent assignment."

Oh my god. They were flirting. They were flirting right in front of everyone in the middle of English class. Aruale repressed the urge to facepalm. She had known both of them basically forever, and she could certainly tell when things were getting more than platonic. Aruale had asked Lerena about it, and she had denied it, but good lord it was getting ridiculous. And there Lerena goes glaring at him like they're the only people in the room. Of course.

Stebia said something about sharing the duties and Lerena agreed and then Kyanas agreed too and Aruale was not really paying attention because she knew that Lerena was going to end up in charge like always. Suddenly Kyanas hit Kratus on the head. Whoa. Whoa no. Aruale shot a mild glare at Kyanas. Kratus was her bro, and she was not having anyone hit him in the head for trying to sleep. Anyone except for her.

Well, it looked like she was going to have to contribute to the stupid discussion again. Uh.

"so what do you guys want to do? )ike, a skit, or what?"

[Radiodragon]

Well, the decision in leadership was not optimal, that was for certain. However, Isaard did not have enough energy to debate the topic all day so this would have to do. That was when Aurale chimed in.

"so what do you guys want to do? )ike, a skit, or what?"

A skit? Oh that was original. It's not like every other group of trolls in the room was considering the exact same thing at that moment. Honestly Isaard didn't care what they did as long as it got done and didn't intrude into his free time. He glanced at the clock on the wall, there was still several minutes left in class so he wasn't going anywhere for a while. Might as well just get the whole thing over with.

"Fine, but I'm writing the script."