Merry-Go-Round Second Draft: Chapter One

Chapter One - Amber Light

Amber light streamed into a silent room, marking the arrival of the morning. Asleep on the bed within this room laid a boy, whose long, black hair that covered his eyes allowed him to sleep for a while longer. As time passed, the sunlight streamed into the boy’s room with greater intensity. No caring parent or sibling woke the boy. That job was left to the morning sun.

Before long, the boy awoke. Slowly sitting up in his bed, he stretched and yawned. He blinked twice, looking around his room, then climbed out of bed. Not taking time to straighten his hair, he walked to his desk, and grabbed his book bag and training sword. He stepped out of his room, and into the small kitchen of his house. The only thing that awaited him was a basket of fruit. He grabbed an apple, and took a bite out of it, as he left for his morning classes.

This boy lived alone. His parents, and siblings had died in a fire that burned down his old house. He, and members of the small, rural village he lived in, rebuilt the house. The moment he walked off the doorstep of his rebuilt home, a beautiful, silver-haired girl walked past him, on the path to the village’s military academy. He attempted to greet her, but could not find the right words, and in the end, the girl, Soriana, walked past the house in silence.

As the boy turned to watch Soriana walk away, another student of the academy, Oaklyn, rushed up to him and nearly tackled him from behind. “Happy birthday, Sieural.”

“Ah… it’s my birthday, isn’t it.” Sieural replied.

“Don’t tell me you forgot.” Oaklyn commented, but as Sieural nodded, she continued, “Man, how like you to forget your own birthday.”

“Does it matter? It’s just another day to me.”

“You with your apathetic attitude… It’s one thing I’d be glad to be without for a week.” Oaklyn said, as she continued down the dusty dirt path.

“I hope you enjoyed the break. Especially from this ‘attitude’ you say I have.” Sieural grinned, as he followed his friend down the path.

“You bet.” Oaklyn replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Sieural and Oaklyn passed a stone wall that bordered the path they walked on. They lived on the very edge of the city, and the crowd that walked along the path was very small.

As they continued walking, Sieural noticed that his schoolbooks were not in his book bag.

“What the heck? I knew I had them.” He commented, sighing.

As if on cue, a book fell on Sieural’s head. Quickly, he looked up, only to see a leaf-less tree.

“What…?” Sieural, perplexed, opened the book, and discovered it was one of his missing schoolbooks.

Quickly, he said, “Deshael… where are you?”

Immediately, Sieural’s other books flew into the air. He caught each one of them, and placed them into the bag.

“And, that… is definitely something I could go without. I didn’t miss THAT over the break.” Sieural sighed, as a grinning white-haired boy jumped off the tree above him.

“And good morning to you, Sieural.” Deshael said, laughing.

“Hey, Deshael.” Oaklyn also said.

“Hey.” Deshael replied, walking up to Oaklyn and giving him and high-five.

“Why the heck don’t you take anything away from her?” Sieural commented, glaring at the two.

“She’s a girl. And besides, she’s actually faster than me.” Deshael replied, while Oaklyn smiled brightly.

With that, Deshael grabbed Sieural’s sword, and sprinted along the path. Sieural chased after him, but Deshael was much faster. Before long, Sieural stopped for his breath, and sat underneath the village’s famed cherry blossom tree.

Deshael laughed, and walked back to Sieural, and held the sword in front of him. However, as Sieural grabbed at it, he pulled his hand back, and broke out in harder laughter.

Again, Deshael held out the sword in his hand. Sieural also extended his arm, but as Deshael pulled back again, Sieural’s open palm became a fist. That fist connected with Deshael’s stomach, and virtually on impact, Deshael dropped the sword and crouched over, hands on his stomach.

“You may be faster, but you’re also an idiot.” Sieural grinned.

Soriana, who they had run past earlier, approached Deshael and said, “Are you alright?”

“Yep… fine. And how are you, Soriana?” Deshael replied.

“I’m fine.”

“Sory!!!!” Oaklyn exclaimed, running up to her best friend, embracing her.

“Hello, Oaky. You seem energetic as ever.”

“Thank you.” Oaklyn grinned.

Deshael, Oaklyn, and Soriana had continued down the now-more-crowded dirt road toward the center of the city. However, Sieural was lying face-up on the grass, staring at the pink cherry blossoms.

Deshael sprinted back, took his training sword, and swung at the top of Sieural’s head. Without even looking, Sieural grasped his sword, and blocked the strike.

He grinned, and said, “Try that again, and I’ll punch you harder.”

“How the heck…” Deshael stuttered, not expecting his slash to be blocked.

Sieural got up and walked to the other two, followed closely by Deshael, still muttering about how Sieural got lucky.

“Oh, Sieural!” Soriana exclaimed. “Happy birthday. You’re 17 now, right?”

“Thanks… Um, something like that.”

“You don’t even remember how old you are?” Oaklyn sighed.

“Does it matter?”

“Arrrrrgh!!!” Oaklyn, frustrated, took her sword, and swung at Sieural.

Sieural jumped out of the way, only to be restrained from behind by Deshael.

“What the…”

“You and your damn attitude!” Oaklyn yelled, as she swung downward at Sieural’s head.

However, Sieural moved his head and shoulders to dodge the strike. Consequently, the wooden sword struck Deshael’s head, who then fell backwards, holding his hands to his head.

As this was happening, the morning grew later, and more students walked by, some giggling and laughing at the display of immaturity.

Soriana attempted to stop the trio, and said, “Hey, guys?” although inaudibly. She looked around, slightly embarrassed and blushing.

“What the heck was that aim?!” Deshael yelled, not hearing Soriana’s plea for them to stop.

Oaklyn pouted, “Not my fault! Sieural moved.”

“Sheesh.”

All the while, Sieural had his sword ready for more attacks from Deshael and Oaklyn. Soriana walked behind Sieural, and tapped him lightly on the head with her training sword.

As Sieural turned around, Soriana giggled and smiled brightly. “I win.”

“Whoa. I wasn’t expecting Sory to join us.” Oaklyn commented, causing Soriana to blush.

“Whatever. Three versus one isn’t fair.” Sieural replied.

“No complaints, you lost.” Deshael grinned.

Sieural sighed, as they approached the towering black gates of the Military Academy. The moment they set foot on the campus, the first bell for classes rung, and the four students went to their respective classes.

The historical studies class went by with Sieural sleeping through nearly all of the class. Although he never studied, he always knew the material. Historical studies was extremely boring to Sieural, even if he had an inherent ability to excel in that field.

After sleeping through that class, the second part of the day held much more excitement for Sieural. The actual Battle Training class was always the second part of the day. In this class, the class would spar, one against one, switching partners over time. At the end of the class, the students would take place in a dueling tournament, in which the winners of 5 consecutive duels would be the day’s winner.

Sieural, the most skilled, breezed through the first three rounds, until meeting Deshael in the fourth round.

“This is payback for this morning.” Deshael grinned.

“Try it.”

Deshael rushed Sieural, and with his extraordinary speed, nearly knocked him back. Forcing Sieural off balance, Deshael slashed at Sieural’s chest, which he could hardly block. Sieural fell backwards, but immediately returned to his feet.

“Come on, Deshael!!” Oaklyn yelled from the side. She had been eliminated in the third round.

“Ummm… Go, Sieural…” Soriana, blushing, attempted to cheer Sieural on. She had won all her matches, and was fighting another student in the fourth round.

Sieural then counterattacked by rushing at Deshael, who was caught off guard. He nearly pulled his sword into a guarding positing before Sieural’s slash connected.

Deshael was launched nearly off his feet, and five feet backwards. Sieural, who was still running, followed up with a slash from the side, connecting with Deshael’s chest.

“Game goes to Sieural!”

Deshael muttered as he walked back to the sidelines, where Oaklyn comforted him. Soriana smiled, and waved when Sieural turned toward the waiting students. Then she rose for her fourth round duel.

Soriana won fairly easily, and was to duel Sieural in the final. When the instructor called out the beginning of the duel, neither one attacked first. For a while, both students simply stood still. Soriana then decided to attack Sieural, rushing with a slash to his torso. He dodged by stepping backwards.

Soriana continued her attack with another horizontal slash at Sieural’s head. Sieural dropped to his knees, and rolled forward. During the roll, he thrusted his sword forward, connecting with Soriana’s stomach. However, he was unable to stop his roll, and ended up lying on top of Soriana.

“Game goes to Sieural.”

Soriana, blushing deeply, lay trapped under Sieural’s body. Sieural knew his face mirrored Soriana’s, but he could not move. Soriana, with an extremely embarrassed voice, said, “Could… you please… get off of me?” Sieural immediately jumped to his feet and helped Soriana to hers. Both of them walked back towards the side of the field, where the rest of the students waited.

With the culmination of the tournament, the students were allowed to leave. Sieural stood up, and walked to the side. He was looking for his three friends, but oddly, they were nowhere to be found.

As he left the campus, he stopped and sat under the cherry blossom tree once more. This cherry blossom was the only one within 150 miles. Oddly, only one tree has ever grown in the city of Kerieal, but it has never withered away. After staring at the radiant pink blossoms for a few minutes, he left for his house.

After an uneventful walk home, he looked onto his doorstep and found a small package in pink with a red ribbon and a small branch of the cherry blossom tree. Assuming it to be a birthday present from Soriana, he picked it up and walked into his empty house.