[Well… I just keep on disappearing. I don't know why it took me so long to get this one going. Anyway, there are more than enough OC's in this story so I think I'll have to say no more… unless I need teachers, which I may ask at some point but no grantees. Also a few things I need to note, 'Brony1Delta' your characters are no longer on your page so I couldn't get their information. Also 'XenaTheAlienChick' I need Xena's personality. I've also taken the liberty of giving them backpacks and such based off of their color schemes. Just a minor detail. Also, I notice I have a ton of wolves and bears in this lol. Anyway, now that I've had my fill of laughing at dramatic readings of terrible fan fictions and other terrible fan related business of varying fandoms, here's chapter 2!]
Flippy stood before his house, the street in front of him. With a backpack full of fresh school supplies slung over his shoulders he waited anxiously for the bus to arrive. The curiosity of who he would have for teachers was just about the only good feeling he had. He made his way towards the bus stop silently, taking notice of three familiar faces standing there already.
Despite being unpopular, he still knew people. The one closest to him was a black bear clad in his usual attire of a black jacket over a blue t shirt. With it were a pair of blue jeans, black combat boots and a dog tag necklace, his backpack was grey. Another was a toxic yellow tiger with burnt orange stripes. His only piece of clothing was a tattered green vest and a dingy old faded green backpack. The last one was a dalmatian of a simple white with black spots coloration wearing a pink shirt and white backpack. Beside her was also a large case for an instrument.
"Ha ha hey, Killer's here ta join us, whaddya know?" said the tiger.
Flippy didn't respond and took his spot at the bus stop.
"Here I'd thought id finally gotten you to shut up" said the bear.
"Ha, you know you love my voice, right spot?" said the tiger who had turned his attention to the dalmatian.
"Stop calling me that please… I'm Dotty" said the dog hunching a bit.
"Ah get over it. Oh yea Night, I forgot to ask, which classes do you have?" the tiger asked.
The bear thought for a moment then reached into a pocket of his jacket to remove a slip of paper, then began to read it.
"I've got History, English, Biology, Math ,lunch, gym, French, music, and art" said the bear.
"Yea, let's see, I've got…" said Needles reaching into a pocket in his vest.
However, he found nothing, he reached into another and there was still nothing.
"Ah damnit, I left the list at home" said the tiger annoyed.
"Really Needles, you forgetting something? Unthinkable" said Night.
"Shut the hell up Night" said Needles annoyed before noticing the buss pull up.
The four climbed onto the bus without a word with Dotty entering first sitting beside a purple furred cat with a head of short brown hair hanging in front of her right eye. The cat was dresses in a white shirt, yellow shirt, and white shoes as well as a yellow backpack at her side. Unfortunately a lack of space required her to place her large instrument case onto her lap. The cat glanced at it seeming a bit irritated as it was also taking up some of her own space. Dotty noticed this however.
"Oh, sorry. I don't really have anywhere to put it" said Dotty.
"It's fine" said the cat returning her attention back towards the window.
Next in line was Needles who found a seat besides a pink chipmunk with a light pink belly and a red bow on her head.
"S'up" said Needles.
"Oh, good morning" said the chipmunk.
She ended up facing out the window again, somewhat annoyed.
Night made his way to a seat shortly behind needles with a dark grey black haired wolf was already present. Her hair had blonde bangs and she wore a pair of skinny cargo pants and t-shirt. Her backpack was also white.
"Morning" said Night.
"Morning" said the wolf after a moment of hesitation.
Flippy was last and moved a bit further down before taking his seat beside a red furred hedgehog with purple spines and a blue patch of fur over his left eye as well as blue belly. His pack was black. The hedgehog took notice of Flippy but didn't say anything.
Flippy took the moment to sweep the bus with his eyes taking note of all of the familiar faces. Naturally, the first day of school was bound to be the most interesting, eventually it would again become the norm and it would lose it's appeal. Still there are worse places he could be. Flippy looked to the back of the bus, noticing the same people who had usually sat there last year. One was a dark grey Burmese cat with white fur on his chest, paws, and face. He was sporting a distinctive pair of purple and black goggles above his eyes giving his purple streaked hair a fauxhawkesque appearance. His shoes matched the color of his goggles perfectly but his other attire consisted of a pair of dark blue jean shorts and black fingerless gloves. His nose was buried in a book of some sort, a sight Flippy had grown used to seeing him in. Another one that Flippy took notice of was a blue creature, a cross between a skunk and fox with blue fur and electric blue stripes. The tip of his tail was silver and the fur on his head was distinctly shiny. His demeanor seemed like anything but however. Finally he took note of some activity going on from a grey rabbit with dark grey thick puffy fur covering his chest and collar. His belly was a lighter grey and his mouth appeared to have a string of some sort sewn through it, though it didn't seem to restrict his mouth at all. He seemed to be rummaging through his worn gray bag.
That was all Flippy really took note of, he found himself more interested and a bit excited for school, even if it would turn out to be the same as it had always been.
Down the street, in the direction the bus was headed stood Cuddles surrounded by a group of five others, a pair of them hybrids of the same species, namely fox, red panda, and porcupine. The male of the pair was mostly white with long dark blue hair and tail. He wore a black hoodie and a black back pack. The other was female and shorter than the male. She was mostly similar in appearance aside from having red colorations instead of blue and quills on her tail. Her outfit was a red dress much like a child would be seen wearing. Her backpack was white.
The other three were a light grey furred wolf with a sort of bluish grey fur on her ears. She was dressed in a black pair of baggy jeans and dark sip up sweat shirt and a white shirt beneath it. Her shoes were a pair of black high top converse and she had a flat rimmed hat hooked to the back left loop of her jeans as well as a black backpack. She stood off to the side of the group on her own.
The final two were a blue skunk with light blue stripes. She had a flower in her hair as well as a pine scented car air fresher she wore around her neck. Her backpack was also blue with a little bit of light purple. The other was a light green lamb who's woolly puffs were of a bluish purple color. Her outfit consisted of a black dress with daisy pictures scattered over it. Her pack was dark blue.
As it was, this bus stop was this stop was the one that usually had the most students waiting for it, at least to Cuddles's knowledge. He was never bored at it thanks to that fortunately. It bugged him to see the wolf standing off to the side like that though. He had seen her around town a couple times and spoke to her but the conversations had been brief. The others around him were still good enough company, though he was excited to get onto the bus and talk to his friend Toothy about how exciting this was going to be.
"Hey Ansom, where's your sisters?" Cuddles asked to the blue and white hybrid.
"Misery and Sorrow are still getting their things together" Said the hybrid, his voice sounding awfully feminine.
"Well they'd better hurry up, The buss will be here soon…oh yea, it's their first day right? if they need someone to show them around the place I'd be glad to help" said Cuddles with a smile.
"It's fine, I'm sure they can manage" said Ansom.
Okay, so maybe not everyone was good company, Ansom's demeanor and one line conversations were less than desired from someone like Cuddles, thinking of it now, there were going to be four new students waiting at the bus stop. He had known Ansom previously but his sisters only recently arrived to participate in school, least Misery and Sorrow, the girl already with him was usually around but this would be her first time in school as well. Then there was the wolf, essentially an exchange student. The thought of so many new faces gracing the bus stop was an exciting one… unfortunately from what he could tell, none of them seemed particularly sociable. At least he was sure he could hold a conversation with the skunk and the lamb.
"Oh yea, did anyone hear? We're supposed to be having a new science teacher this year" said the skunk.
"Where did you hear that?" Cuddles asked.
"Giggles told me about it. she said it was supposed to be that crazy guy that lives in that metal house outside town" said Petunia.
"Oh yea… I think I heard about him… I also heard that he was dangerous, like, some kind of terrorist" said the lamb.
"Seriously Glodie? I don't think they'd let someone like that become a teacher at the school" said Cuddles to the lamb.
"Well… I dunno, in this town I wouldn't be surprised" said the Skunk.
"Yea, Petunia's right, we've had plenty of weirdos like that live here" said Glodie
An awkward glance came from Ansom.
"Ah well… what's one more lunatic in a town that's already crawling with them" said Petunia.
A moment later three more people made their way towards the bus stop, two of them together with one on his own. The one who was alone was a light grey arctic fox with red face paint in triangular shapes on the top and bottom eyelids of each eye. He had with him a white back pack and a large pink circus ball with light pink hearts on it. The other two were female and looked like perfect twins, they resembled Ansom and the other hybrid though they had white fur aside from the black rings around their eyes. They also lacked the traits of the red panda apparent in the other siblings and had long white hair as well as red eyes. They were dressed in matching short black dresses as well as black backpacks.
"Hey, morning! So, you guys looking forward to your first day?" Cuddles asked to the twins.
"It will be interesting" the two said at the same time.
This speech type that seemed unique to the two of them always crept Cuddles out a bit, but despite his few interactions with the twins he has grown at least a little used to it. Still, their tone mostly mono, again, not the best conversationalists. Cuddles turned his attention to the arctic fox who had just made his way over as well. Something about him seemed off. Cuddles was familiar with this look when it came to this fox but there was something else, as if he were worried about something. The shortest of the Hybrids took notice of this as well.
"Is something wrong Glitter?" the girl asked.
The fox looked up to her in response.
"Mrs. Araya? Umm…" said the fox.
"Yea, I mean, I've seen you like this before but you almost look sick. What's the matter?" Glodie asked.
"Umm…" said Glitter hugging the circus ball tightly.
"Is Jilly scaring you again?" Araya asked.
"Umm… no… umm, yes?… are there demons in our school Mr. Cuddles?" said Glitter.
"Wha? Demons? What kinda question is that? I mean, there was that one demon… once" said Cuddles.
"Don't even go there Cuddles" Petunia demanded.
"Err… well, aside from that I don't think there's ever been any other demon around here ever. Why, is that what you're afraid of, demons?" Cuddles asked.
"Well… Mr. Jilly told me that our school is haunted and that I was gonna get eaten by demons and monsters every day" said Glitter.
"Jilly's a freak, why do you listen to what that jerk tells you?" Cuddles asked.
"Well…" said Glitter with no real answer.
Fortunately for him, all attention left him when the bus came rolling up to the stop and screeched to a halt. The large group immediately climbed on with Cuddles taking a seat near the front right beside a purple beaver with a face of freckles and large buck teeth.
"Ha ha, Toothy, it begins again… so, you're seriously taking honors classes again huh?" said Cuddles.
"Awe man, don't give me a hard time with this again Cuddles" said the beaver.
"C'mon, you know that's never gonna happen" said Cuddles with a laugh.
Araya and Ansom along with Misery and Sorrow made their way to the nearest open seats. They managed to find a couple closer to the back. Glitter was next in line and began searching for a good seat. An empty one would have been perfect but Ansom and his sisters had taken the remaining ones. Instead he made his way to a seat occupied by a grinning blue ant eater wearing a pair of black rimmed glasses with a strip of tape in the center. He was also typing vigorously on a laptop. Due to the overall peacefulness the anteater let off at the moment Glitter felt secure sitting with him.
"Oh, good morning. Umm. Would you mind moving that ball, it's blocking my screen" said the anteater in a pleasant tone, not seeming to be too annoyed.
Glitter obliged and held the ball a bit more to his right.
"So, you excited for classes this year? Any honors? I'm gonna try o push myself harder than ever this year" said the ant eater determined.
"Umm…" said Glitter who ceased to say anything afterwards.
The anteater didn't seem to mind as he returned to his work.
Next was Glodie who made her way further down the aisle looking for a seat for lack of any particular option she decided to sit with a white furred wolf with black paws, stomach, tail tip being black and dressed in a dark red jacket along with a pair of black fingerless gloves with pink stripes.
"Hey Tyrrel, it's been a while. Can you wait to see what it's gonna be like this year?" Glodie asked.
"Glodie, how's it going? Yea, I'd say I'm pretty excited, heard they were changing things around there this year, getting a few new teachers. I even hear one is a domestic terrorist, should be an interesting year" said the wolf.
The next was Petunia who immediately noticed her friend with her head resting in the palm of her hand. Of course she also noticed the toxic yellow tiger asleep beside her and snoring loudly. Regardless, she made her way over to them.
"Morning Giggles… umm… what's Needles doing here?" Petunia asked.
As it was, that woke the sleeping tiger from his nap.
"Ha ha, hey, s'up pets, how's shit go'n?" Needles asked.
"Umm… Needles, if it's not too much trouble, would you mind finding another seat? I mean, I don't err… really have a problem with you sitting here but I would like to talk to Petunia for a bit before school" said Giggles.
"Go ahead then it's not like I'd stop you, sides, it's comfy here, you sure know how to pick a seat" said Needles.
Giggles sighed.
"Why are you sitting here anyway, you never used to" said Petunia.
"Since when can't I sit wherever I want? If you really wanna sit the go right ahead" said Needles.
"There's not enough room with you there" said Petunia growing a bit annoyed.
Needles responded by sliding into giggled and squishing her up against the side of the bus leaving a space just large enough for Petunia to fit.
"There we go, problem solved. You gonna sit down or you gonna try to balance the who way there?" Needles asked.
It was clear that there would be no reasoning with him. Given the circumstances she decided to just bite the bullet and take a seat. Afterwards Needles chuckled and rested his arms along the back of the seat.
the last in line was the light grey wolf who had stood alone at the stop. Moving down the rows she eventually decided to take a seat beside the blue fox skunk hybrid who didn't bother to acknowledge her presence.
All that was left now was to wait for their arrival at school. Along the way the bus was loud with the sounds of chatter, most of it about school. As was also obvious, rumors and god dip were already starting to grow and spread. His year would promise to be something interesting to say the least. After a drive that to everyone, seemed to just zoom by, they finally arrived.
The school was what might be expected for the number of students attending, a grand total of two school busses were all that was required to ferry in the students. The school was a bit larger than necessary however, but had a wide assortment of facilities, an easy task for a town that is virtually free to live in. it was also well decorated with trees, flowers, and shrubbery displayed around the grounds. As the bus came to a stop the driver rose up out of his seat. To most people's shock it was a pinkish purple mole with a pair of round black glasses, a turtle neck… a mole on his face, and carrying a white cane with a red tip. Most of the people who had gotten on didn't even take the time to see who the bus driver as until now.
"Seriously, The Mole was driving us?" Asked Giggles.
"How did we not crash?" asked Glodie.
The mole motioned for everyone to make their way out of the bus, however, he did it towards the front window, before exiting. Moments later he was followed by the rest of the students, each with their own thoughts and opinions about where they were going.
The large group of students quickly made their way inside of the building to the round foyer. In the middle of the room sat a table with two people sitting behind it. One was an orange beaver with alight orange belly wearing a tool belt, yellow hard hat, and white bandages over his handless arms. The other was a pink warthog with blonde hair held by a pair of ornate chopstick like pins. She was dressed In a silky white and yellow coat and a pair of round glasses. She had a blue and gold cane resting on her lap.
Naturally, the students made their way over to it as upon the table sat a number of papers. Upon closer inspection they appeared to have the names of the students and a number combination beneath them.
"Welcome Students, I am Madame Pricilla, those of you who were here last year are aware that I am the librarian as well as the English teacher and Drama Director. On the table before you are cards with your names and locker combinations printed on them. Simply take the one with your name and make your way to your locker. As the day progresses you will each visit your classes in order to retrieve everything you will need for them. You should also keep an ear out for principal Lumpy's announcement as he will be asking all of you to meet in the auditorium. Until then, you will be waiting in your homeroom. Now then, if you have any questions, please direct them to either me or Mr. Handy. Take care and have a pleasant day" said the warthog.
The students obliged and took their respective combinations, shortly beginning to approach their friends and ask them where their lockers were. Flippy however simply took his paper and followed it's direction. His locker was number twenty eight.
From the foyer the school spit into three hall ways one to the right ant two to the left. His goal was a hallway to the left closest to the entrance and he wasted no time going over to it. When he reached it he began to test the number. After a few attempts of twisting the dial he finally managed to get it to work and opened it up. Apart from a little bit of graffiti inside, it was empty.
Flippy began to remove items from his bag and fill it with whatever he didn't need at the moment. During this he began to wonder who would have the lockers on either side for him. It was only a moment later that half of his question would be answered. He looked to the right to see the blue fox skunk hybrid moving over to locker twenty seven. Without a word, he had begun to open his own locker, just before a group of others made their way over as well. At this, the hallway quickly filled up and he found who had locker twenty nine. It was a sky blue furred bear with all grey attire consisting of a hoodie, pair of pants, sneakers, and backpack.
"Hey Flippy. Where you go'n after this?" the bear asked.
"Hey Aero… let's see… I think I've got English first" said Flippy.
"Ha ha, awesome, same with me… what about you Leif?" the bear asked.
"No, I'm in honors, my English is second, I have history first" said the hybrid.
Flippy listened to this and began to consider the structure of classes, he recalled many of these teachers being in charge of multiple classes, sometimes all at once. He may not have been an expert on the subject but he wasn't sure if that was really how it was meant to be run. Still, it had worked so far and in this town, he couldn't expect much else.
Cuddles was out in the right Hallway, locker number sixty three. The one to his Right belonged to giggles while the one to the left was Tyrrel's. he had a lot of friends within his area though, so this worked out well for him.
Eventually, they both made their ways to their morning classes, classes that would also serve as their homerooms. The classrooms were pretty basic aside from the décor that the teachers in charge of them found appropriate. For Flippy, this was the English room and it's most notable trait was that it was filled with books and was connected to the library via door way. Scanning the room for his classmates as he waited for the teacher to arrive he only took note of a few. One was a light grey wolf in black clothing, one that Cuddles was already a bit familiar with. Another was a light orange lesser bilby with red orange tips of his feet, hands, tail, and large ears. He wore a pair of red goggles over his eyes and kept a red and black backpack beside himself along with a long scythe. It was a bit alarming to see that but Flippy opted to look elsewhere, his eyes landing on yet another wolf with silver grey fir. She was tall and gave off the appearance of an athlete. Her coloration was a bit offset by a long black stripe running down her back to the end of her tail. She wore a black Maxi Dress, leather jacket, and military boots as well as a black leather handbag.
This was all he was able to investigate before the door opened and in walked the warthog from the foyer.
"Good morning class, I am Madame Pricilla, I'm sure you remember me from earlier. Now then, let me explain to you what you should expect. Thanks to the nature of our school, we have to rotate staff on occasion. Nothing permanent of course but as you know, we offer many learning opportunities but have limited staff. You needn't worry to much about this and I'm sure you'll be getting to know everyone very quickly. You can expect the principal to go over it in more detail when he calls you all down to the auditorium. Now then, in my classroom you should expect many reading and writing assignments. Many do not understand the true value of books and I certainly hope to help reverse that. If you ever wish to check out a book, you may come to me. Also, one more thing before I give you your books. Weapons are not allowed in the classroom, Mr. Jilly, Mr. Aero, Mr. Needles. As a reference for the future, leave any weapons you may have in your lockers" said Pricilla.
Jilly scowled a bit while Needles and Aero looked a bit more surprised that she knew about them.
"Now then Mrs. Feral, Mrs. Crème, if you two would be so kind as to pass out the reading material for your first assignments I would be grateful" said Pricilla.
The wolf dressed in the baggy black attire hesitated for a moment but got up, following the lead of a white furred lop eared rabbit with short uneven brown hair and thin build. Her outfit consisted of a large cream colored top with a shoulder hanging off, a pair of denim shorts, black shoes, and a silver charm bracelet.
The two made their way up to the desk and retrieved a stack of books with the title reading 'Paige' an almost ironic title for a book. It had the image of a black silhouette over a light background, almost seemed a bit grim for school reading material. The two made their way down the rows passing out books. Naturally, some were more interested in it that others.
When Flippy retrieved his he immediately turned it over and read the description, it turned out to be nothing like he would have expected. Apparently, the book was about a man with the same name as the title. In fact, it was based off of his legend. Flippy had never heard of this guy before, likely few had.
"The legend of Paige, a man said to have been born with the powers of the devil… or the angels. A man active in his community and said to heal and condemn those around him. Such outlandish tales that are rarely heard of today, that were quite common in years of old as heard when born in the late 1800's. could there be truth to the legend of Paige, or could it be simply another wild campfire story. This is a tale based on the legend and the 'documented' cases of these miracles and curses" read the description.
He could hear the obnoxious laughter of Needles from the back of the room, likely from the book.
"So… what, we gotta read this? They don't seriously think this shit is real do they?" Needles asked.
"Is it truly so bizarre Needles? You are aware that demons exist correct? If I recall, Happy Tree Town had it's own case from reading a book of witchcraft a few years ago" said Pricilla.
"Yea, heard about that. Heard some crazy shit like that where I came from too. Yea, we live in a shitty town like this but I'm pretty sure I've never heard of something like this… but, what the hell do I care, I'll get a kick out of it anyway" said Needles.
"This sounds like it'd be pretty awesome, yea just cause you don't hear about this kinda crap much now doesn't mean I t couldn't happen" said Tyrrel.
"Precisely, you see class, there is a world of unknowns out there, our little town here for example is ruled by one. If this town is the way it is then why can't there be more to it correct? You see, this is why I have assigned you this book. Read it at your leisure but be prepared for other assignments in between" said Pricilla.
In a moment, the speakers stationed on the walls crackled to life and a familiar voice could be heard.
Good morning students. This is your principal umm… Lumpy. Today marks umm… another year of teaching and learning for each and… every one of you. You will spend the day umm… getting to know your classrooms and classmates" said Lumpy, the sound of paper being flipped, clear.
"Now then, before you get to know your classmates err… you will need to know the faculty who will be taking you through your umm… adventures of knowledge and learning. As you have been… informed, you are all to make your way to the auditorium in an umm… orderly fashion. Thanks you and have a pleasant day here at school" said Lumpy.
"Alright then students, if you would be so kind as to form a line, we can make our way to the auditorium to introduce you to the rest of the faculty" suggested Pricilla.
The students obliged and rose out of their seats then made their way out the door following Pricilla. It was not a long walk to the auditorium which was located at the end of the single right hallway in the school. After a quick turn, there stood the doors which quickly opened to reveal a surprisingly large auditorium. The inside consisted of dark blue curtains all around and a dark blue carpet along the floor. The seats were arranged into three sections along an inclining floor that made the stage appear as if it were in a bowl. Upon the stage sat a number of chairs, each filling up with a teacher. The students took their seats in the audience and waited for the principal's announcement to begin.
Most of the teachers on the stage, Flippy already knew. One was a dark grey skunk with lighter grey feet and hands; his stripes and belly were crimson. He wore a headband and a neckerchief, both of a snow camo pattern. Another was a turquoise otter with an eye patch over his right eye, a steel hook on his right hand, two brown peg legs, a red and white striped shirt, black pants, and a pirate hat with a jolly roger on the front. Then was Madame Pricilla, Next was a particularly large blue furred wolverine with white fur around his mouth and wearing a long brown coat. Handy sat beside him, then the mole. Beside him was a light brown Neanderthalic creature frozen in a block of ice. The next person was one that Flippy didn't recognize. It was a green squirrel covered in red blotches of fur and a pink belly. He wore a white lab coat and a pair of large very technological looking goggles with straps all around his head and green lenses. He appeared to be slouching and looking down with his hands folded on his lap. Next was a white and brown moose about the same height as lumpy. Handy sat beside her, then the mole. The last one of note was a dark green chinchilla with a white belly, left hand, and fur on the bottom of his tail. All he wore was a black vest.
Even with these people on there, two chairs remained empty and the announcement didn't wait for them to fill as the tall blue moose stepped out on stage. With a giant goofy smile, he began to speak into a microphone.
"Greetings and welcome everyone to another exciting year of school. I am principle Lumpy and I'll promise you this year is going to be better than ever!" said the moose.
"He says that every year" someone in the audience whispered.
"I have allot planned this year and we have some wonderful faculty members here hoping to see that this year will be an unforgettable one. Before I continue though, I think some introductions are in order. I see we have some new faces in our student base this year. If you would be so kind as to step up when I call your name it would be most appreciated. First off we have a transfer student. Mrs. Feral, if you would be so kind" said Lumpy.
Feral smacked her palm into her face and slowly rose up without a word to the stage. Once there she took the microphone and looked out over the crowd, suddenly felling herself choke up as she noticed all the faces staring at her.
"Feral? Wait, isn't she supposed to be some kind of delinquent?" someone in the audience asked.
"Where'd you hear that?" asked someone else.
"I heard it from a friend of mine in her old school. You don't know her, but she said she's like, in a gang or something" said the original speaker.
"Does that really matter, we have plenty of delinquents in this school already" the other one replied.
Feral looked down then shoved the microphone back into Lumpy's hands before beginning to make her way off of the stage.
"Ga ha ha ha ha ha hah!" Needles laughed as Feral stepped off without a word, that is, until Crème who sat beside him elbowed him in the ribs.
A few people clapped for her out of formality anyway.
"Errmmm. Well, we also have a couple of folks who are in high school for the first time. If Araya, Misery, and Sorrow Anoata would kindly introduce themselves" said Lumpy.
Ansom felt kind of awkward knowing how odd this would be for his siblings to do. Still, Misery and Sorrow rose to make their way to the stage.
"Where are our sisters going?" Araya asked.
Ansom sighed.
"C'mon" said Ansom as he stood to bring Araya up to the stage.
Misery and sorrow were the first up to the stage an retrieved the microphone from Lumpy.
"We are Misery and Sorrow" they both said at the same time.
A couple people in the audience snickered.
"How emo" said someone in the audience.
The twins overheard this but did not react. They simply handed the microphone to Ansom.
"This is my younger sister Araya. If you could, please be kind to her" said Ansom.
this sparked a few more whispers in the crowd before Ansom handed the microphone to Lumpy. Again some people in the audience clapped.
"Well, I believe there is one more newcomer on the list. Mrs. Jennifer, if you would kindly introduce yourself" said Lumpy.
The dark grey wolf that Night had sat with on the bus looked up and felt hesitant at her name being called, especially after hearing people's reactions to the others who had gone up. Despite how she felt she forced herself to stand and make her way to the stage. There she took the microphone from Lumpy.
"Well… as… the principal mentioned… I'm Jennifer… umm… yea" she said as nothing else came to her head and she felt like an idiot.
Nobody really said anything this time though as she handed the microphone to Lumpy and made her way of stage. As usual, a few people clapped for her.
"Well, I'd say it's about time to introduce our faculty. Mr. Reuger, if you would" said Lumpy.
In response, the dark grey skunk rose to his feet and took the microphone.
"Morning, I'm Reuger. I am the teacher for Gym and Autoshop but, for those of you taking Workshop you can expect to see me on occasion as well. I look forward to seeing what each of you are capable of and hope to be able to help in whichever way I can" said the skunk before passing the microphone to the otter beside him.
"Ho mates, I be Russell, n' I be in charge o' the art and video making programs. I know what yer' think'n, ye wouldn'ta expected ol' Russell ter be creative. Well ye be surprised ye be. Can't wait ter see what ye make" said the otter before passing along the microphone to Pricilla.
"Good morning again, I'm sure you all heard me explain how I am the English teacher, of course, I also handle most of the language classes as well as writing. I love nothing more then seeing people create though so I'm looking forward to working with you all" said Pricilla before handing the microphone over to the large, stocky wolverine.
"As many of you know, I'm Sky, I was the Mathematics teacher last year but this year I'm taking over Geography, World History, and Social studies but you can expect me wherever I may need to be. Just perform to the best of your abilities, that is all I can ask of any of you" said the wolverine.
Next was the creature frozen in a block of ice. Naturally, Sky attempted to hand the microphone to him before he realized who it was. The microphone remained untaken and no sound was passing through it. Sky stared for a moment before looking around him. There sat the green squirrel in the lab coat, still in his slouched position.
"Baldwin, you awake?" Sky asked.
There was no answer from the squirrel aside from slow relaxed breathing. Seeing this, the moose sitting beside him proceeded to kick him in the leg.
"Huh? Wha? What's this?" said the squirrel looking around.
"Introducing ourselves, take the microphone" said Sky.
"Wha? Oh, yes of course" the squirrel stood up and took the microphone.
"Greetings, I am Professor Baldwin, a scientist. My goal is and has always been the advancement of existence its self. Currently I am working on…" said the squirrel before being interrupted.
"Just tell them what you do here" demanded the white and black moose.
"Oh, of course. Well I have been given the opportunity to teach you all what I know about science, biology, chemistry, robotics, Aerospace Engineering…" said Baldwin before being interrupted again.
"That's enough bout that Baldwin" said Handy.
"Oh, my my of course. That aside I am also here to provide the school with my technological services. Those school busses that brought you here for example were modified for automated transportation. They require no drivers but it is good to have someone available to monitor things. Keep in mind they will arrive at each stop every day at the same time, so no oversleeping. I am of course offering my own form of protection from this err… curse, that affects the town. You should be safe here… most of the time. I am still running tests however…" Baldwin explained before again being cut off.
"You done yet? I'd like to get out of here some time today" growled the black and white moose.
"Oh, by all means, here you are" said Baldwin handing her the microphone.
"Alright, I'm Mrs. Scratcher. I'm here to fill in wherever I need to , just shut up, do your work, and we're golden" said the moose.
She quickly handed the microphone to the handless Handy and it dropped to the ground. With a frustrated growl he leaned over and attempted to lift it with his nubs, multiple times until he finally got it.
"Finally, yea, I'm Handy, ha ha ha how ironic, he has no hands, yea, I get it. I'm the one who keeps this place presentable and in operating condition, yea, the janitor. I'll also substitute whenever I need to. So yea, that's about that" said Handy.
He made an effort to hand the microphone over to The Mole and held it there for a few moments before he finally dropped it. The Mole heard the drop and got up, feeling around to find the microphone but his foot got caught up in the cord. At this point it was inevitable. He stumbled around with people attempting to get up and catch him but it was too late as he fell of the stage and broke his neck. Everyone stared in shock at The Mole's death.
"Hmm… Pardon me Handy but how long have we been here?" Baldwin asked.
"Six… I believe" said Handy.
"I see… eleven o'clock now, hmm… I may need to re tune my equipment but I believe we certainly have made some progress" said Baldwin.
"Yea, whatever, Mole's dead, who didn't see it come'n. we done here yet?" Mrs. Scratcher asked.
"Umm… wait, it's Miguel's turn now" said Lumpy.
The chinchilla sighed and walked over to the microphone.
"Pardon this unfortunate accident. I am Miguel, call me whatever you wish. I am here to teach mathematics and the related courses. Now then, Lumpy, if you wish to continue" said the chinchilla.
Lumpy took the microphone and began thinking to himself.
"Hmm… are we missing anyone, I'm not sure if…" started lumpy before the lights went out and a disco ball dropped down in the center of the room. The groans of disgust from the students were immediate as the entry doors opened and in slid a golden colored bear with a large orange afro and sideburns. He was dressed in a yellow leisure jacket, yellow bell bottoms, and a pair of white and orange platform shoes. He began to dance his way down the aisle, of course stopping to flirt along the way. Just as he made it to the stage, his disco ball shattered and the spotlights turned green, moving to illuminate another person at the entrance.
The bear Stared in shock and anger at the figure now standing at the door. He began with his back facing the auditorium until he turned his head to peer at the students through the corner of his eye
"Mucho Grando" he said, a voice amplified, likely with a microphone.
What the hell does that even mean?" someone whispered to a friend.
the figure was a hybrid of a fennec fox and a peacock. He was light blue with a light orange belly and long colorful tail feathers as well as two large colorful ears with more feathers on them. His hair was golden blonde and had a crest of feathers running through the center. He was also wearing a light blue flamenco shirt.
As he fully turned to them he spread out his tail feathers and began to make his way down the aisle, not dancing but extending his arms in a way that drew attention. With the bear and this guy in the room the students could practically feel the arrogance in the air. He gave flirty glances on his way towards the stage before he noticed the orange bear standing their and the shattered disco ball on the floor.
"Oh no you did not!" the hybrid shouted.
"What, you mean make a fool outa you with my funk?" said the bear.
"Took my idea and used it, just so everyone would pay attention to you"
"Dream on dude, this was my deal from the get go" said the bear.
"Fellas please. We're here for the students, you shouldn't be fighting" said Lumpy.
The two looked out to the crowd, suddenly seeing them as students instead of an audience.
The hybrid and the bear looked at each other.
"This aint over" said the hybrid before quickly snatching the mike before the bear had a chance to, or even say anything. "S'up, I'm Desmond in case I didn't make it clear I'm, quite good at what I do. I'll probably be helping out with gym, Workshop, mostly more physical classes, what can I say, I like to help. If any of you want pointers on how to be like me, don't be shy, feel free to ask" said the hybrid before the microphone was snatched away.
"All you dudes out there can call me Disco Bear, or DB, if that'd fly with you. Course, I'm sure all the bunnies out there already know me. I'll be float'n around see'n what's up and go'n where I'm needed dig? I'm always around if you wanna confab so be sure to hit me up" said the bear.
The rest of the meeting was short, mostly just Lumpy trying to talk about how great the school was, then the rules. The final noteworthy event was the point where everyone was allowed to ask questions.
"So, Mr. Baldwin, I hears that you were some kind of terrorist, is that true?" Tyrrel asked.
"Terrorist? Is that what they call me? It is unfortunate that they do not see that my work is vital… of course, you cannot expect everyone to understand. Sure I may have had a few problems here and there, but that's what science is about. Finding problems, then looking for ways to solve them" Baldwin explained.
"I've got one. How exactly did you decide this method of teaching. Shouldn't you have one teacher per study?" Night asked.
"Ah yes, that is a good question. Well as you know, Happy Tree Town is a questionable place to live. Most people don't see it as any kind of life at all. As a result we tend to only get very few potential teachers here" explained Pricilla.
"Ok then, so how are you having trouble, some of you aint much older than us. Hell, I could be a teacher" said Needles.
"That should be fairly self explanatory Needles. Some of the staff may be young, but they each have their own fields of expertise and reasons for being teachers" Sky explained.
Glitter slowly raised his hand in hesitation and lumpy pointed to him.
"Umm… excuse me but umm… are there monsters in the school?" Glitter asked.
This question was met by hysterical laughter from Jilly, Needles, Tyrrel, and a few others.
"Oh ho ho, of course not Glitter. I can assure you that there is no such thing as monsters" said Lumpy.
"No, don't listen to him Glitter, he's just trying to lure you into a false sense of security… in fact, there's one right behind you! He's gonna eat you!" Jilly first whispered, then rose to a shout just before jabbing him in the back of the neck with a sharpened pencil.
"Ahh! No, please!" Glitter shouted as he hunched down squeezing the circus ball he had been carrying around with him.
This was met by more laughter from the same people as before.
"Please students, do settle down. It's no good to get yourselves detention on your first day is it?" asked Pricilla.
The laugher quieted and ceased.
After several more questions of varying levels of appropriation, the meeting was finally ended and everyone sent to go about their day. Of course, the rest of the day was very much what you may expect, everyone went to their classes, had everything explained to them, retrieved necessary materials, ect. For Flippy, his next period was Autoshop, a class that Reuger would be in charge of.
The inside appeared as one may or may not expect. It looked like a full garage with a number of scrap parts in piled and on shelved as well as skeletons of stripped automobiles.
"Autoshop is just as the name indicates. Here we will be learning about what makes vehicles work, eventually moving on to constructing a car yourselves. Don't worry too much about homework from me though, I prefer direct hands on studies in my classes" Reuger explained.
Afterwards, he made his way over to a scrapped vehicle and continued on with a brief lecture. Next came culinary arts in which Madame Pricilla was once again in charge of, aside from Mrs. Scratcher serving when Pricilla had to leave. The room was a decent size with several color coded stations or cooking with décor varying in culture.
Pricilla explained the class and how they would mostly be in charge of what they were to cook themselves. As with her other classes, numerous books could be found here, each one about cultures and cooking. She would simply give them challenges to meet from time to time.
For Cuddles this period was greenhouse and it immediately became apparent how different it was from his expectations. The greenhouse had been filled with numerous machines that he couldn't identify and plants of species he had never seen before. The teacher was none other than Professor Baldwin who drolled on and on about plants using words and references that Cuddles had never even heard of. If Baldwin didn't mess around with some of his machines Cuddles would have probably spaced out completely. What he was able to gather is that they were going to be learning how to grow plants and err… create some of their very own. The squirrel talked and talked until the bell finally rang.
Both Cuddles and Flippy had Gym at the same time. The gym was located directly in the lobby, right behind where the table was set up earlier. The inside was large but typically designed as a basket ball court. Their teachers were Reuger and unfortunately to many, Desmond who had 'graced' them with yet another flashy entrance, this time from the ceiling. the purpose of Gym was pretty obvious, a way to keep students active and to help them recover a bit from classes.
Then came lunch. The cafeteria was a moderate size, and due to the small number of students, just about everyone was present. Many of these students neither Flippy or Cuddles took not of as of yet. Flippy got in line and neared the food. Apparently the one serving it was none other than the creature frozen in the ice block with the name Cro-Marmot on a tag in the front. Not bothering to question anything, Flippy took his lunch which consisted of a chicken sandwich, tater tots, mixed vegetables, and a brownie. Flippy then made his way to a table and sat down, but found himself accompanied by Night, Needles, and Dotty, interestingly enough since they all shared the same bus stop. Then eventually the silver grey wolf Flippy noted in English class joined them as well.
"S'up Mist" said Needles to the wolf.
"S'up" she replied, her real name being Misty.
"How's it going so far with you Flippy?" Night asked.
"Eh, it's alright, auto shop looks pretty good so far. Think I'm gonna like that" said Flippy"
"Yea? Hey, you had that Baldwin guy yet?" Night asked.
"Not yet, why?" Flippy asked.
"Awe shit, that guy's already drive'n me fucking nuts" said Needles.
"We… yea, what Needles said. I honestly don't know if he's trying to teach us stuff or if he's talk'n to himself" said Night.
"Really? Huh… don't know how much I'm looking forward to that… but I have seen that moose, think her name's Mrs. Scratcher or something? Anyway she's… well… kind of a bitch. Not to mention I think I'm gonna be stuck with her in culinary a lot. Madame Pricilla has a lot to cover that period" said Flippy.
"Give her a hard time then. If she's a bitch then be an ass" said Needles.
"Needles has the right idea, go nuts. I know I'm gonna give her plenty of hell before the year's up" said Misty.
Everyone at the table began to go on and on about their teachers, mostly Professor Baldwin and Mrs. Scratch. Eventually lunch period came to and end and everyone continued on to their next class. For Flippy it was world history and Cuddles it was Workshop. World history was taught by Sky who despite what some may assume was actually making it fairly interesting. The volume of his voice however made it difficult to not pay attention in the first place. Unfortunately he was already giving out assignments and lectures and would have probably assigned homework if Reuger didn't happen into the room when he did and talk him out of it when he heard. The room its self seemed much like one would expect with maps and posters of other countries around it.
Workshop was another class that Reuger taught. Just like in Autoshop, he talked about how this was going to be a very interactive class. the inside was filled with wood, all labeled by type as well as a number of machines for wood crafting.
Both Flippy and Cuddles had biology next and was taught by Baldwin yet again. Just like in greenhouse he went on and on about what biology was and his droning on about genetics testing gave most of the students an uneasy feeling. The layout of the room was also reminiscent of how he had set up the greenhouse with a vast number of unknown machinery scattered around.
For Flippy, next was mathematics. The room had little in the way of décor just a few old posters on the walls. Miguel was the one teaching this class and seemed to be following how to teach mathematics to the letter. At least his voice and overall teaching methods weren't dull.
Cuddles had video making with Russell. The room felt cozy with the dark blue curtains and the movie studio design. Russell explained to them how they would be doing mostly film assignments which already made Cuddles excited. For much of the class he showed a video of himself in a cannon juggling three piranhas and singing some unidentifiable tune.
Finally came art class for Flippy and world history for Cuddles. Russell was the teacher for this class with the décor consisting of numerous ocean and pirate themes. He even had a number of drawings he made himself posted on the walls. Despite him having a hook hand, they actually looked pretty good. In this class, after explaining what it was about he allowed them all time to draw before the bell rang signaling the end of the day.
After everyone had gathered their things they made their way out to the bus. Some chose to walk like Cuddles but Flippy simply chose to take the bus home. As it pulled away he was surprised to think about how this bus was moving on it's own. Of course, he questioned the safety of it but decided to take his mind off it by flipping through the book Pricilla gave him, he wasn't the only one with this idea of course.
In the time it took for the bus to get home Flippy managed to skim through chapter one a bit. The story seemed to switch focus from a man named Ollie's point of view to the point of view of Paige himself. It was structured in a way that Ollie would make assessments about Paige and Paige would seem to explain them to the reader. So far nothing related to his supposed abilities was being mentioned. Apparently Paige was some sort of master in a troupe of performers with Ollie being a close friend. Chapter one seemed to be all about describing this group and the others in it. That was all he was able to read however before arriving at home. At that Flippy dog eared the page and returned it to his backpack before making his way off the bus and into his house.
The rest of the night was mostly uneventful with Flippy watching television and just unwinding from the day. Overall it wasn't too bad, this year may prove interesting to say the least. Of course when it came to teachers, he preferred some over others. Ultimately, it was good to be back with his handful of friends again, he looked forward to tomorrow. Of course, for Cuddles this was great. Finally back with all his friends in one place. If he could get through the lectures then school would be no problem for him.
That night most of the students anticipated at least one thing about school, regardless of how they felt about it overall. In time everyone had gone to bed and awaited whatever tomorrow would bring.
[Finally! Finished this. I do have a question though. I'm certain my writing style has changed since I began here. I just need to ask to those of you who know my older stuff if this has improved or declined since then. I didn't mention everyone's characters in this yet but I intend to do so as the story progresses. Anyway, I shall try to keep coming back to this, and my other storied for that matter. I just need to re familiarize myself with them. I shall see you all later!]