{ The School Office } [Re-Open] PAGE 36: THE CALLING

[Bilious]

Christof had noticed that Riley had gone quiet, but he had figured it had to do with the same reason he had sat in quiet thought. Another field trip. Malodore had signed, as had Jericho, and almost immediately he was inclined to but... his stomach clenched. The unpleasantness of The Island rekindled in his imagination and he was left staring at the form on his desk, lost in debate until his friend's voice broke him out of his thoughts. He blinked as he glanced up, just catching the sight of Barth and Riley leaving with the rest before he turned back to the kelpie and flushed.

His hands rose to start to sign, but hesitated as he changed his mind on what to say. "Unsure," he managed, stitched lips pursing before his hands formed the rest, "Afraid." He was glad the only other people who could understand him weren't there or at least not paying attention.  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder watched Christof, noticing his uncertainty before he even signed it. He nodded in agreement, before signing 'Me-too' and dropped his hands. He rubbed his legs a moment to get the blood flowing in them again, both having fallen asleep when he was used as a chair. As he did, he looked around as the students filing out of the room, some signing their names, and others passing by, looking troubled and concerned while others passed the papers as if they were being judged. Maybe they were.

Looking down, he curled his hands in his lap a moment. "You'll....tell me if you do. Right?" He said, looking up at him. "Promise?" They had time, but he didn't want Chrsitof signing it without him noticing.  

[Bilious]

Christof nodded, expression still contemplative. After a few moments he drew in a sharp breath. If the Dragon had done it.... "I-will-sign-now-if-you-do." Really... what did he have to lose? If he died, well...

At least he could hope it would be a better death than what his Master Creator would have in mind for him, ultimately.  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder looked up ahead, thinking about it. He was just as concerned about what signing as the other. However, what would bring him to sign it was his concern for his friends. It wasn't nice being alone at school thinking about all your friends off in some horrible land.

Taking a deep breath, he nodded. "Okay." He rose up, feeling his legs give sharp pains from going asleep and just waking. To Calder, it felt like his body was trying to tell him to stay safe and not sign. Moving over, he signed his name.


Calder

There is was. Officially. He was so screwed.  

[Smerdle]

It was hard for West to continue not giving a crap about what was going on around him as the minutes marched on. He found himself peering up over his copy of the underwear list more often than he cared to, until finally he just gave up and stopped pretending he wasn't listening.

This whole b***h-b***h-moan-moan thing about field trips was all sorts of irritating to the boil. Yes, the journey to Christmas Town had ended in a lot of pain and fire for most, but he had emerged mostly unscathed and had the time of his life otherwise, even while carting Barth over a mountain. Yes, those crazy boats had crashed into some rocks and they had all nearly drowned, but along the way he had gotten the opportunity to shoot things. He found he quite liked Malcolm's ship, to the point that he had even contemplated trying to find a career that involved them after graduation. That his planning hadn't gotten much past that first thinking stage was hardly the fault of the ships. The island they had visited had been the last straw for some, but yet again, West had somehow failed to die. Every time he ventured off of school grounds he came back exhilarated (and a little scared of what could be found beyond Halloween, but he was conveniently glossing over that fact right now). He didn't need to think about it. West took one of the offered pens and signed his new permission slip.

Westus

He failed to notice much of anything else that was going on in the room as he brought his slip back to Arel's desk, deposited it there, and slipped out of the room.  

[Pepzilla]

Mei's hug was returned with a gentle hand through her hair and a bit of a rough nuzzle from Bul's spiny cheek. "I'm plenty nervous. But I'm starting to feel like we've joined the corps. or something.. which eventually yanno.. is pretty big deal." The monster was also pleased with the idea that perhaps they could serve as role models for snots- though at the cost of being the schools' first round of guinea pigs.

"So I'm guessing you signed too huh.." he said and eyed the stack of papers at Arel's desk that was growing with each knob's signature. "Did you have a good break? You think we can handle more classes... AND a trip?" The thought of both becoming more difficult made the boil sigh.

How the jack did everything suddenly get harder anyway.. it was already pretty ******** difficult to begin with is there any bit of reward out of this? It was a selfish thought but who could blame the monster for wanting things to be a little more lazy. Maybe he just wasn't making the most out of all of it? Maybe he needed to cut back, stop worrying so much.. and simply slide his way through all the challenges thrown at him. Of course the last time he 'slid' his way through a challenge it landed him in a bloody heap at the bottom of a... icy ravine. Brrrr... the monster shivered just thinking about it.  

[Bilious]

With a nervous grunt in the back of his throat, the hunchback wobbled after his equine friend, lips pursed as he approached the sign up.

There was nothing more to it.

And nothing to lose, really. He signed.

Christof.  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder watched as Christof followed up to the desk, took the pen, and wrote his name after. Both of them seemed to share unsure frowns and Calder tried to catch the eye of his friend. "Well, whatever happens, I got your back." He patted his friend shoulder.

There was nothing more left to say, and troubled, Calder wondered what good he'd even be in a fight. His track record hadn't been good. He really needed to learn how to fight. Sighing, he patted his friend's shoulder once more before heading out of the office.  

[Grey Dragon]

So. A field trip. They wanted the students on another stupid field trip?

A frown immediately replaced Jove's curious expression, the sort that looked about to shoot daggers rather than his usual childish scowl. The teachers wanted them to give permission to risk their lives again, when half the students from the last field trip still had nightmares about it? How many of them were going to die this time around, and with permission? Like Jack Jove was going to sign that form.

Except...

Other students were signing. They were actually signing up for this stupid idea. A growl rose in Jove's throat, hadn't the last field trip been bad enough? What did everyone think they had to prove, throwing themselves back in danger not even a year after their last trip?

The pup grabbed the closest form he could find, signed it angrily, and practically threw it in the pile with the others. He wouldn't be able to keep an eye on his stupid, field-trip-happy friends from the safety of his comfortable, cosy dorm room. Then he growled at LW as though saying "don't you dare sign that form," and stormed out in a huff.  

[Huni Pi]

Eventually, Maritess found herself succumbing to peer pressure. Not that her peers were actually pressuring her to sign the damned thing (that would inevitably damn her in the end) but rather they were all signing it and she didn't want to be the only one who didn't.

As quickly but as neatly as she could, she signed her name Maritess and handed in the form.  

[poke mattix]

For the most part, Astra had remained silent, unseen and unheard as she had hung at the back of the office, and had even slipped out at some point. She had stayed long enough to hear that they needed to sign permission slips to attend future field trips. Field trips that could be just as bad as their previous one. Even worse.

And she could still visibly remember seeing everyone be cut up into slices, Or burnt alive by fire.

And so, she had left the office, intent on not signing the waiver. She didn't want to go through that experience again. Didn't want to die, or watch others die.

But as she had thought about it, she realized that the others would still and had signed their permission slips. Even though they were going to face the same things again.

They would still die, while Astra would be back at the school, nice and safe.

And, as scary as the field trip was, the thought of staying back while everyone got hurt. was even worse. Sure she could be childish, spiteful, and a coward at times, this time, she couldn't bring herself to do so.

And so, she had returned, permission slip in hand, and had signed the slip in her name right then and there

Astra  

[Pepzilla]

"I'll make sure you don't get left behind, heh," Bul elbowed Mei playfully. "I'm planning to keep a good schedule this time, unlike the last term where I waited too long to start taking classes. I royally screwed myself with that and I think we need to learn more now than ever."

Though for a moment he cringed and curled his tail unhappily. "I will be skipping out on any of Cricket's classes though, that's for sure. Never. Again," he clenched his hands into fists, tail finally laying loose. "And maybe gym class but I feel it might be necessary if we're gonna be going to islands and stuff. Red's class was a dozy wasn't it?" Getting eaten by skitter sharks still proved a hell of a lot more manageable than being eaten by Cricket. He'd take the sharks over her any day.