Into the Fire: Respect by Ben Avery

Into the Fire: Respect by Ben Avery

Author:Ben Avery [Avery, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-936770-61-8
Publisher: Rising Star Studios, LLC.
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER 4

THE ROOMMATE

It was an awkward night.

It started when Timothy sat on the lower bunk. Both bunks were still bare mattresses, although they both had some folded standard issue blankets and a pillow at the foot of the beds. Tristan had brought some of his own ornately embroidered blankets, though, and some just as beautifully designed pillows were in a pile on the floor.

As soon as he sat down, Tristan demanded that Timothy remove himself from the bunk, for he “had already laid claim to it.”

The demand came as such a surprise to Timothy that he quickly stood up and stepped away from the bed.

Then Tristan’s friends Remi and Romul came. They said they were twins, named after some legendary heroes. When Timothy asked why they didn’t look like twins (since one was taller and thinner and the other was shorter and wider) the three boys just laughed at him. Tristan stopped laughing and his face shaped itself into a mask of mock concern. “Not all twins are identical,” he said. “I would try to explain it, but it seems that you only have the schooling of a cliff yak, so I doubt that I’d be able to get you to understand. After all, if it smells like a cliff yak, it’s probably as smart as a cliff yak, right fellows?”

“You said it! I mean didn’t your mother teach you how to bathe?” Remi asked.

“Even cliff yaks get in water once in a while,” Romul said.

“Don’t you have respect for the people around you?” Tristan asked. “I mean, seriously, other people are going to be in this room and we can’t have it smelling like cliff yaks!”

Timothy clenched his fists. “We don’t have cliff yaks where I’m from,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

“Ah, you don’t have them, yet you smell like them. Interesting.” Tristan’s friends laughed. “I guess I can understand. Your mother probably didn’t think to teach you to bathe because she didn’t notice. I mean, how would you notice that your son smelled like a cliff yak when you smell like a cliff yak yourself?”

Timothy opened his mouth to respond. Then stopped. How could anyone be this mean? Why would anyone act like this? He felt as stupid as the three boys from An’Wynn seemed to think he was. “If you guys think you smell something it’s probably because you caught a whiff of your own —”

He was cut short by the deep sound of a man clearing his throat. He turned. A tall, lean, grizzled man stood in the doorway. “I see you’ve met your roommate.”

“Yes.”

“I am Captain Arioch. Is there a problem?”

Timothy shook his head.

Tristan smiled. “Yes. We were just wondering where the bathing stalls were.”

Captain Arioch pointed down the hall. “There are three stalls at the end of this hallway. If you clean up in the morning, don’t take too long. You’re sharing with fifty other cadets.”



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.