Compass Rose

by enigmaMystere

Chapter 16

Later, after the class, the students are filtering out, having been dismissed by Tai.

Daring, however, drags her friend over to the teacher's desk, beaming up at her father and waiting for him to notice them.

He turns to them with a smile and a fond brush to the filly's mane. "So, I get to meet this friend who was holding you all class?"

"Yep!" She moves behind him to give him a little push towards Tai. "Dad, this is Argent Gale. He's my new friend!"

The man looks the boy over before nodding. "Well, Argent, it's good to meet you. I'm glad one of my daughters is making new friends." He keeps his smile even as his tone changes a little. "Be sure to be nice to her, alright?"

"Yes, sir!" The wolf boy barks out, nodding briskly back.

Daring peeks out from behind him, confused. "...did I miss something? That just sounded really odd."

"Just doing a dad thing." Tai chuckles. "I'm glad you two have been getting along. Friends can help you go a long way."

"Really?" She bounds over to him, grinning happily. "Can it help me fly?"

There's snickering from the one other person in the classroom, who was still gathering up her stuff.

Tai gives them a look before smiling at his daughter. "Well, not directly, but maybe he can help you work at it by keeping you motivated in your training or something."

She nods, then turns to Argent, eyes sparkling. "When are we going to start?"

He looks at her sheepishly. "I mean, I don't really know what to do, but whenever you want, I guess."

"Not until the end of the school day." Her father interjects.

She nods, then gets back to being relatively serious. "So, what's your next class, Argent?"

He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Umm... Science, I think."

Daring blinks, frowning as she tries to think. "...what's my next subject, again?" She opens her saddlebag with a wing and stretches her neck to search through it.

Argent's hand comes over her and fishes out a sheet of paper. "Is this it?"

"Yeah, that's it." She smiles up at him, letting the flap of her bag fall back into place.

"So what do you have? You seem like you have some classes in my grade and some in a lower one." He looks curiously at her.

"I... honestly can't remember." She sheepishly smiles, letting out a "squee" sound.

"Then read your schedule." Her dad says simply, watching the two with an amused expression.

She pouts, then takes the paper and holds it up to him. "You read it!"

He gives her a small look before glancing at the paper. "You have science next, too."

"Awesome!" She turns and jumps onto Argent once more, giggling happily. "Let's go! Don't want to be late, right?"

"Make sure to focus in your class!" Tai calls as he watches them go.

"Alright!" Daring calls over the boy's shoulder, waving happily.

He speaks to her as he goes down the hall. "Your dad seems nice. He looks after you."

"Yeah he does." She giggles quietly. "I'm very grateful for that."

As something occurs to him, he looks to her with an expectant grin. "Hey, if it comes to it, you wanna be lab partners?"

She grins right back, patting him on the shoulder. "I'd like that."

As he heads for the door, he asks another question. "Do I get to be your chair again?"

She looks up at him, contemplative, then shrugs, smiling slyly. "Only if you want to."

"Well, I like holding you, so I wouldn't mind." He admits, looking away a little.

"Good." The filly nuzzles him once more. "Maybe we can get into a group easier, that way."

"Yeah, I wonder what our teacher is like?" He opens the door for them, heading inside the room.

"I actually don't know." She looks over her shoulder, frowning a bit. "Maybe it's Miss Song?"

"Teaching three classes? Wouldn't she be too busy?" He thinks on that as he takes a spot for them at one of the tables. The room is designed out more to give a couple of students a fair amount of space to work at each table.

With most of the other tables full, it doesn't take long for another person to sit at their table. This one, however, is a familiar face, who stares at them in disbelief. "...why am I seeing you two everywhere, today?"

Argent shrugs, securing his hold on the pony. "I guess cause we're in the same grade."

Delta rolls her eyes and points at the pony. "Then what's her excuse?"

He looks down at her curiously before hazarding a guess. "Because she's smart?"

She scoffs, then faces the front. "Yeah, sure."

Argent gives the smaller girl an apologetic look. "I didn't know the reason so I just guessed."

"It's fine." She grins at him. "I really am smart."

"I thought so." He chuckles, nuzzling her. "I bet you get a's in almost everything."

She weakly smiles. "I wouldn't know... this is my first time in school."

"Well... just don't forget to do homework." He winces a bit.

Daring gently pats his arm with a hoof. "If you want, we can always do the tough stuff together." She grins at him. "It's not like our classes differ too much, right?"

Delta snickers to their right.

"I guess not, plus it would let us hang out more." He strokes her mane.

A familiar black-haired man steps into the room, and he frowns at the boy. "No public displays of affection in my classroom. And especially not with my niece."

Argent quickly puts his hand down as he whispers to the filly. "Are all the adults in your family teachers here?"

"I don't know if Yang's mom is," she helpfully offers.

As he glances back up at the teacher, the boy continues. "Is he as nice as your dad? I couldn't tell in gym."

"I like to think so." She giggles as she watches him scribble on the board. "He's like our fun uncle."

"In science?" He smiles at this, ears standing up. "Cool."

"Yep!"

"Listen up, class." He takes a swig from a water bottle, then puts it on his desk. "Whoever is at your station will be your lab partner for the rest of the year." He turns a bit and taps the board with a knuckle. "Now, let's talk about physics."

"Umm..." Argent blinks rapidly, looking between Daring and Delta. "So... are we a group of three?"

"Yes, you are." He answers without missing a beat, then tosses him a ball. "Tell me, class, what did you just see?"

While Argent looks to the ball he had caught with a smile, another student speaks you. "You throwing a ball?"

"Correct, but what about the path it took?" He gestures for the wolf boy to toss it back.

He does so, arcing it in the air until Qrow catches it.

"A curve?" Another student tries to answer.

"Exactly." He smiles, gesturing to the ball in his hands. "Now, would you believe me if I said all projectiles - objects moving through the air - have a similar path?"

"Even bullets?" The same student asks.

"Yes, even those." He tilts his head to one side. "Granted, they're usually going too fast to observe, but they do arc."

Argent's ears flick as he tilts his head to one side. "I didn't know that. I figured they went in straight lines."

"Not exactly." He turns and gestures to the board, where a caricature of Yang is shown shooting at a target in the distance off a cliff. "Just like the ball, everything is affected by gravity. And I'm not talking about the Dust."

There are sounds of general murmuring from the kids, a few nods, and some hums of thought.

"Now clearly I'm not going to let you fire guns in my science class, so we'll do the next best thing." He pulls a box of balls of all kinds from behind his desk. "You're going to toss these around, get a feel for them, because we're doing a lab, next class."

The air in the class becomes excited to an almost tangible level as the kids chatter.

He tosses the first ball at a random student. "See if you can make a pattern of passes. No one's ever achieved this, before."

"How come? It's just throwing a ball." They toss it to another student a couple tables away.

"Fumbling a catch, hitting another ball in flight," he tosses a second one into the mix, "and stuff like that."

As more passes are made, the air soon becomes chaos, balls flying everywhere and the occasional squeal from someone not expecting one.

Qrow nods his head, impressed they had seven going through the air and no collisions, yet. Of course, just as he thinks this, two hit each other and go flying where they aren't supposed to. He easily catches the one flying at his face, but the other clocks Daring in the forehead.

Argent tucks her against him more to shield her while he looks at her with concern. "You okay?"

She waves a hoof at him, nervously giggling. "I'm fine. My aura kept me safe... though it still kinda hurt..."

He gives her a hug before having to duck another ball.

Surprising only the two of them, this actually causes the boy's lips to press against her forehead, especially since she had also reflexively pulled away from the ball's path.

Qrow calls out to the two of them as he passes another ball. "Second warning. No public displays of affection in my room."

"Lucky..." Someone nearby whispers. "...most only get one warning..."

She smiles at him sheepishly. "It wasn't your fault... though I, uh, didn't mind you doing it..." The filly blushes a bit, knocking a ball away with her wing and looking at everyone but him.

As the boy's ears start to get a bit pink, too, the room seems fully chaotic now. The kids seem to have forgotten the goal of making a pattern and are now just throwing balls back and forth wherever they like.

Qrow just looks at his watch, humming thoughtfully. "Fifteen minutes. That's a new record."

One student next to him looks up. "Huh?"

He shrugs a bit. "Just timing how long it'd take for this exercise to break down into chaos. This class took the longest time, so far."

Argent is laughing as he catches and throws balls with one hand. "This seems more like PE right now!"

"It makes sense," Daring points out, "since he's also a gym teacher."

He looks at her curiously. "Think we'll do anything else, too?"

"Dunno." She shrugs helplessly, then deflects a ball heading for his face.

"Thanks." He smiles at her. "I'm surprised more people haven't gotten hit."

"My leg!"

She blinks, then turns to the source of the noise. "...huh. Who threw a ball hard enough to do that?"

"I don't know..." The boy answers as he slowly lifts up his legs to shield them with the table.

Delta, beside them, just smirks at the scene. "Don't worry about him. He's a wuss."

As the boy lowers his legs, he looks to her curiously. "Oh... you aren't worried about being hit?"

She looks at him, an eyebrow raised as she slashes a ball to ribbons. "Should I be?"

"No destroying school property," Qrow speaks up from the front of the class, drawing everyone's attention to their station.

Argent winces a bit. "I didn't realize you had claws..."

"Got them from my dad." She beams proudly at this fact. "Of course, he's a puma and not a lion, but still."

"Are they always out?" He asks, eyeing them.

"Of course not." She scoffs, poking her cheek with a finger. "That would be unbelievably inconvenient if I wanted to do something delicate."

"Oh, that makes sense." He throws another ball before looking down at Daring. "Are you still okay there? I know I'm moving when I throw stuff."

The filly starts to respond when Delta grabs his head by the chin and turns it towards her, scowling in annoyance. "We're finished when I say we're finished."

Argent blinks, surprised before he bares his teeth at her and tries to pull away. "Let... go..."

She huffs and does so, leaning over and growling at him. "What were you gonna do if I didn't?"

He growls back at her even as his ears lay back. "I'd... umm..." His words falter slightly as he thinks.

"You'd do nothing." She scoffs, crossing her arms briefly before having to catch a ball aimed at her face. "Watch where you're throwing that!"

The wolf boy keeps his eyes on her, backing onto his seat. He snorts lightly, turning away from her once more.

Daring frowns, looking at him in concern. "What was that about?"

"I don't really know." He mutters, trying to think of reasons for her actions. "It seemed like she was trying to prove she was the alpha, but if that was the case it wouldn't be let go that easy."

A ball promptly bops him on the head. "Quiet, I'm trying to concentrate."

He lets out another soft growl. "On what?"

"The class, of course." She tosses the ball at Qrow, who effortlessly catches it.

Argent blinks as he watches. "Huh... I don't get you."

Delta freezes, then turns to him with narrowed eyes. "You have ten seconds to clarify that."

His ears fold back reflexively before he straightens up. "You're mean sometimes, but then you don't mind working with us and you want pay attention to class."

She gives him a wary stare. "I just don't want to get kicked out. Do my family name some good, you know?"

He nods at this, giving her a small smile. "I get that. You're making your parents proud."

She looks away, resting her cheek against her hand. "...thanks for that, I guess."

Daring, eyes narrowed, hugs Argent close to herself.

The boy looks down, chuckling and giving her a one-armed hug in return, hoping their teacher doesn't get mad.

Surprisingly, he pays them no mind, having to deal with kids who thought it'd be great to pelt each other with the balls.

Argent grins, looking down at Daring. "So... do you want to do something after school some time?"

"Of course!" She grins at him. "What do you want to do?"

He smiles wider at her acceptance. "Well, we could play, hang out, our parents would probably want us to study, too..."

"Yeah, that's always a good thing to do." She nods understandingly. "We can try all of that, if you'd like."

"Yes!" He quietly cheers, squeezing her a bit.

She lets out a quiet squeak at this.

Delta blinks, turning to them in confusion. "...why did she make a sound like a dog toy?"

Argent shrugs. "I dunno... but I liked it." He looks to the filly curiously. "Do you do that a lot?"

She shakes her head, just hugging him in return. "No... I think that might be the third time?"

"I think it's neat and special, then." He rests his head lightly on top of hers.

"You're on the edge there, Mister Gale." Qrow speaks up, having gathered the last ball. "Don't push it."

He straightens back up, sighing a bit.

"That being said, the last ten minutes of class are free for you to converse or whatever." He shrugs and starts putting the tote holding the balls back under his desk.

Argent comments to Daring. "The balls were fun, but that got a bit crazy."

"Yeah, it did, actually." She giggles, turning around in his lap to face him. "So, school's out, after this. What can we do in town?"

He shrugs. "There's a lot of places to eat, an arcade, a park... my parents just like me to tell them if I'm gonna be out later and to always have an adult with me."

Daring blinks at this. "...but dad and Uncle Qrow have stuff to do after school..."

"Well, it'd have to be my parents that take us into town then... but wait, what are your sisters gonna do?" His ears perk as he thinks of this.

She frowns slightly, unsure. "I... don't really know." A golden hoof taps her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe they can come with us?"

He nods. "I'd be fine with that. They seem fun."

"Great!" She giggles, hugging him happily. Her ear twitches and she turns to look at the girl beside them, whose gaze aimlessly wanders about the room.

The boy whispers to the pony. "Should we... talk to her or something?"

She shrugs, glancing at him nervously. "...do you want to?"

His ears fold. "Not really... I don't really know what to think about her."

"I can hear you, ya know." She casts a glare at them out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh... do you have really good hearing?" Argent asks, trying to change the subject.

"No, you just weren't as quiet as you thought you were." She turns to face him, bemused. "So what did you plan on asking me, exactly?"

He shrugs. "I didn't really have anything in mind. I just thought you might want to talk to pass the time or get to know each other since we'll be working together. Trust is important in team work."

She stares at him a moment before turning away and nodding. "Yeah, sure. Sounds fun."

"So... what do you do for fun?" he asks, fishing for ideas.

"Dance, spar, watch cheesy horror films." She pauses, then pokes his nose with a finger. "Tell. No one."

He crosses his eyes to look at his nose. "Okay," he says in a slightly nasally voice. "Why not, though?"

"Because I don't want that getting out." She huffs, turning to face the front as the bell rings.

"Alright, class," the teacher says, pulling a bottle out of his coat pocket, "you're going to get your books and your first lab tomorrow. Be safe out there."

The kids cheer as they all head out of the classroom, finally free after their first day.

Comments

[enigmaMystere]

Sorry for late update. Got busy at work, lately. Six day workweeks that made me sleep the whole seventh day away.

By the way, I stole the sixty-ninth comment.

[enigmaMystere]

Lion Mama.

[2 Liter Leo]

9801197
I would kill to have a six day work week, mine is seven with no days off unless I pay someone to do my job for the day. Finding time to write is hard with that, let alone school...

[Liqwidice]

Glad to see this starting back up.

[Andonexus13]

I hope that you're putting plenty of thought into the next chapter as you're writing it.

[enigmaMystere]

9939096
Still editing it between daily night shifts.

[Sparkle91]

Why haven’t this been updated?

[enigmaMystere]

10962401
Mostly life, though now I'm getting days off, so I hope to get more writing done.

[sinewystatue382]

10963205
hay nice story but don't take too long on the next chapter k