ZEJ Academy

Clack, clack! Clack, clack!

The resounding stomps resonating from underneath the hooves of Baboy Man (The Ultimate Tournament) purveyed a sense of significant enthusiasm emitting from the pig-man.

Years had passed since he and the great dwarven warrior Giott held their ground against one another in the finale of the Ultimate Tournament, and though he was making enough residual cash flow from his past ventures into the entertainment business following his popular debut on the galactic fighting show, he was most certainly reluctant about it being the one thing he would ever be known for. So, at his dear friend Austere Clement's beckoning, Baboy Man had looked into the ZEJ Academy invitation which he was somehow qualified for accepting, and inevitably set on his eager way towards the academy a few days before it had opened to pack up on basic school supplies and the like.

Baboy Man wasn't particularly well-dressed for such an occasion- after all, he did primarily have the body of a massive pig preceding his well-oversized human face -though his moppy blonde hair was combed back and his typically red cape was already swapped out for a blue and gray one to reflect the school's dual colors. As he stepped foot into the academy courtyard, his eyes widened with a sense of awe swinging his jaw wide open. Stepping right past a small gaggle of schoolgirls giggling over a conventionally handsome young man situated only a few yards away from them, Baboy Man rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "To think that I was once entranced by a beauty of their mental caliber. How they have received clearance into this esteemed academy, I will never know, though perhaps their 'street smarts' do not establish a particular creed unto their 'book smarts,' as Rock might've told me if he were floating right beside me..."

He was not particularly arrogant, but could not shake the sense of homesickness he had felt when not beside his caretakers. Austere Clements was like a father to him, and Rock, his uncle-slash-brother in the way that he meant well with his advice, but was at times a bit too goofy and take-charge to accentuate that fact. He also missed the pineapple-mango smoothies which he had particularly adored. However, that minor gripe about those four young ladies aside, he was excited as could be, even breaking into a strange melodic jig in a patch of leftover snow from the night before, just before placing his eyes onto a particularly interesting woman standing before him and the rest of the lot in the courtyard.

As one muffled word- "Welcome," -escaped her lips from through her scarf, he could not help but wonder over its positioning. His cape, though encompassing, had never once touched his mouth in such a fashion unless he was trying to hide an extra baby coconut fry from Austere to bring with him to bed. However, his mind wasn't on what she was hiding, but rather, "Perhaps we can be friends. She seems different enough, just like me."

Finally escaping the pig-man's own lips was a singular satisfied "Bong!" in positive exclamation towards Hraesvelgr's words. He was happy to make her acquaintance, and happy to be a part of ZEJ Academy. Better yet, he was happiest for this new lease on life, and could not wait to get started alongside his new classmates.

 

Silently.

Kaya Escala (Oblivion Phantasy ~ A Decaying Flux) sat in silence in the bustling Great Hall. Things didn't usually get this rowdy at the ZEJ Academy, but atmospheres always seemed to change towards the start of the year; the new wave of students flitted through like a fleeting spring breeze. But Kaya? She knew all too well that this was just temporary. If she looked at the weather outside, the next 'spring breeze' was ages away. Just as soon as the students settled in, the mood would almost surely take a turn for the worse. The optimism of the room was a welcome change, of course, so she allowed herself a smile.

The young girl sat alone at the table, violet eyes dancing across the pages of some leisure reading. Really, she just wanted to be done with Day One and get on with Day Two. It really wasn't as though anything interesting happened on Day One anyway. Tours, first years getting accustomed to the lay of the land... it wasn't for her. She was already acquainted with all that the ZEJ Academy could -- and moreover, could not -- do for her. Admittedly, she was growing sick of the structure, but this place was like a second home for her.

She was dressed in what she thought to be a nondescript way; uniform-clad and hidden in plain sight. Her pale complexion was framed by her sandy brown hair, kept out of her eyes in a neat bun. Kaya knew she had eyes watching her somewhere. It used to make her somewhat uncomfortable; it was hard enough "keeping a sound body and mind" without the constant breathing of people down her neck. That was advice given to her long ago... she tried to not pay it too much mind. Those were different days, long ago. These days, Kaya was perfectly content to just keep her nose buried in a book, or otherwise, amply busy with various clubs.

A shame, really, that club week isn't slated to start until a few weeks in... Kaya felt as though she couldn't keep herself busy enough when the school year wasn't in full swing.

She took a glance up from her book. There were people playing cards away from where she sat. But going over there required socializing, and that made her a little anxious. Kaya tilted her head back and shut her eyes for a second, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She wished that she wasn't so conflicted at the Academy. It did nobody any good to be so anxious about people, and yet... she just couldn't help it. She had always been shy for as long as she could remember, and though the Academy had helped with its plethora of social groups, clubs, and activities, it was harder to keep a semblance of what the other kids might call a "real" social life when she was so focused on the rigid lifestyle that she had laid out for herself. With school extracurriculars compounded with her studies, there was no time in her life for lavish parties or sneaking into the boys' dorms.

So that was the dilemma.
The dichotomy of wanting to break old habits against the ebb and flow of nerves that held her back.

 

Baboy Man shuddered, the brief jolt that he would sometimes get after falling a long distance or fighting extreme turbulence in a dream. "What a precarious situation..." he thought to himself. It seriously feels as if I'd just woken up; as if this situation at hand had taken nearly an entire year to reach from the moment just nearly adjacent to it when I had first laid eyes upon this girl..."

"As it were, I need to get a grip; there's tasks to perform, locales to explore, people to keenly evaluate." He readjusted himself to his situation, and was off. "I hope that girl didn't get the wrong idea in thinking that a keen parlor trick would scare someone as worldly as myself; Austere would be proper spooked, but I wouldn't be so shallow. It's just a feature of hers. Perhaps a charming one."

Each clack of his hooves assured him further to gravitate first towards the school house for first and second years. Every so often, his new cape would get caught under a hoof, and he would remark to himself about how he would have to get it hemmed, though otherwise, he kept a confident, nondescript demeanor as far as it would take him - which, coincidentally, was beside a collective of sporty young men competitively kicking a hacky sack between one another. As it reminded him somewhat of both his initial cape and his dear old friend Austere's tuggable red beard, the various shades of red which the footbag was comprised of, he remained distracted just long enough to catch it in his mouth while it was agape following one of the guys accidentally misdirecting their bounce.

"Hey man - would you mind passing it back?"

Baboy Man nodded, but he wasn't merely going to "pass it back." Instead, footbag in mouth, he performed a twirl with such grace as a ballerina, but with the agility of a more wildly-produced dance routine. With the peppered autumnal leaves from nearby trees whirling around with the self-made cyclone of a pig-man hybrid and his apt cape, he flipped it up over his forehead, hit it with said part of his body, and then performed a spike akin to a professional volleyball player's handling, straight back towards the foot of who it was meant to be brought to in the first place.

The guys continued their game almost seamlessly, but not without all of their due thanks to the effort of skill showcased by their unusual first-year brethren. "You wanna play with us sometime, dude?"

"Bong, bong bong bong, bong bong, bong!" said Baboy Man in response. The hacky sack suddenly fell, and the men stood, mouths partially open, as he walked towards the Great Hall. "I am satisfied with such correspondence between fellow men so early on in my schooling endeavors. Perhaps we shall be friends, yet. Firstly, to explore this area, as I let them know. Hopefully they understand!"

He nudged open the door to the Great Hall and was instantaneously taken over by the intrigue and flow of cultures that had all come together at once within such a collected and cohesive place of academia. What took his attention not-too-soon thereafter, however, was the appearance of Hraesvelgr, the second-year that had helped introduce him and a slew of other students to the academy when they had first arrived. There was another girl that she had appeared to be observing from a partial distance, and seemed even partially entranced by, merely for her sleepy demeanor that indicated that she was either reading, actually asleep, or perhaps both. After all, ZEJ Academy proved to be an interesting place right from out of the door.

Breaking the monotony of the situation, however, seemed imminent - a favor to Hraesvelgr, in any case, he so forth had stipulated. Therefore, he dug into his pouch, which in actuality was more or less his old red cape sewn into a half circle and attached to a good, sturdy branch that he'd once received in exchange for some loose coin at a particular tavern. A single, resounding "Bong." was had, hoping to reach out to these two individuals. After all, Baboy Man was as studious as any, and did enjoy sharing conversations over good reads.