The Split Sky Chronicles

Chapter 3: Dream Squall

Zel and Miriya disembarked on the right side as the announcement instructed, but both were immediately caught starry-eyed at the sight before them. The hustle and bustle of the train station was unbelievable. There were hundreds if not thousands of people moving about on the platform that seemed to glow with gilded runes and pillars and railings and tracks and trains. It was more people then Zel had ever seen in one place and they weren't even in the city yet.

While the Slipton station only had one proper platform for inbound trains heading west and a smaller one heading east, the Dream Squall station had dozens upon dozens of boarding zones and an equal number of tracks and even more trains. Zel could almost feel her head spin as she tried to take it all in.

"Hey, look over there." Miriya said, pointing towards a distant part of the station. Zel followed her finger and saw a tall Splitfolk woman who was shouting something like directions as people began to gather around her.

"That must be who we need to go meet." Zel said, and as they began to make their way towards the woman they were able to hear what she said.

"Everyone going to Dream Academy, gather around! We do not have much time!" the woman shouted, "The test takes place all the way up the mountain and we must get you there for your examinations without delay!"

As Zel and Miriya got closer to the representative, they got their first close look at some of the other prospective students of the Academy. There were dozens of them and they were still coming. Dream Academy was famous for offering learning to races of all kinds, but most of the people that Zel saw around were Splitfolk as far as Zel could tell, which made sense as the other nations had a physical barrier in the form of the Cross Mountains blocking them from easily being able to apply. It was difficult enough to just travel to Dream Squall from within the country, let alone from outside of it.

Looking around, Zel noticed a group of particularly well dressed Splitfolk, long white silken robes streamed from their shoulders down to the stone platform below. Within this group there was a particularly good looking man who was a full head taller than anyone else that he stood with. He had a handsome face with pointed features, wide and muscular shoulders but not too bulky, and this all complimented by his leather chestpiece that highlighted his sculpted abs. Zel found him a pleasing sight indeed.

Zel looked down at her own clothes, a black dress with frills on the skirt that's length stopped at her knees. It was her favorite dress, but felt very drab in comparison to the group of attractive Splitfolk. She had also been wearing it for two nights of travel, leaving it wrinkled and given a wilted look. I'm like the world's most average flower, standing next to a contest bouquet, she thought to herself.

"Zel, look over there!" Miriya said, interrupting Zel's thoughts and pointing to an approaching group. "It's Clickfolk!"

A group of a dozen or so hooded figures were approaching the Academy Representative. Their garb was similar to the Fancy Splitfolk, long flowing robes, but instead of two holes for arms, there were four for each of their carapaced limbs. They approached the growing group while chattering amongst themselves. Their language, Clicktongue, was also their namesake in Splittongue. It consisted of a variety of clicking and chattering noises that their unique mandibles and bodies could produce. Zel had never seen Clickfolk before and was enamored with their dark shells that produced an interesting iridescent shimmer under the gentle glow of mana-powered lights within the train station.

"Woah!" Zel exclaimed, surprised. "I don't think I've ever had a chance to meet any Clickfolk before! They came all the way here from Beryiith?"

"Yup! The desert nation to the west, under the Red Sun." Miriya replied. "Do you think that they're here to join the academy as well?"

"I don't see why not. The academy is huge after all! Wouldn't it be cool to have some classes with them?" As Zel finished the Academy Representative called out to the group to get their attention..

"Alright everyone! We are going to move up towards the school now, so please follow me and stay close so that no one gets separated! Dream Squall, as the name might imply, is a mighty storm of activity especially when you lot turn up, so please stay close to me! Oh, and leave your luggage here on the platform, another representative from the train station offered to bring them to your dorm rooms later, so rest assured, your belongings will be safe." With this announcement, the tall representative turned about face and began slowly leading the pack towards the exit of the station. Zel and Miriya followed along, leaving their bags behind as instructed listening to the Representative's explanations.

"The train station is a short away from the entrance to the city proper" She continued. "Once we exit the station you will see the city as a whole and I will explain further." And with that she suddenly was off with a flash, the Representative's long legs allowed carried her quickly away from the confused group of prospective students who all suddenly found themselves scrambling.

Zel and Miriya managed to catch up to her just as they reached the exit of the station where they almost went tumbling off the platform stairs, struck by the scenery.

Seeing it from inside of a train was one thing, but now that they were beneath the mountain and looking up at it they were each blown away by how massive it was. From where they stood at the foot, the mountain towered above them, the peak seeming to stretch and reach out to the moon far above. Between them and the peak there were millions of tiny lights that flickered, some from buildings, other from lamps, and more still from people who were out and about. There was a long and winding road that seemed to zig-zag its way up towards the peak directly in front of them, and this was the road that the Representative quickly began her ascent. Zel and Miriya had to quickly regather their senses, lest they be left behind in no time at all. They quickly ran to catch up.

As the Representative led them up the winding path she told them all sorts of information about Dream Squall as a city and the Academy. They learned that, generally, the city is divided into layers going up the mountain, with groupings of businesses and housing situated in different layers. The first layer was the general shopping and restaurant district, where most visitors would spend their time, but as they made it further up the mountain there were more resources designed for the permanent residents of the mountain, including housing and resources that would benefit the Academy.

Zel noticed immediately that all around them the buildings were made out of different materials. There was wood, stone, metal, even mud buildings that were propped up sometimes seemingly at random, but with the general rule that any roads that branched off the main path from the train station seemed to remain perfectly clear. From what Zel could see these branching roads were flat and looked as though they may have wound all the way from one side of the mountain until they met back with their beginning on the other side, creating rings that hugged the stone walls.

Each section of the mountain, including the first one, was marked with a stone archway embossed with a description or name for the district they were in. This was good news for Zel. As simple as the Representative made it all sound, the sights and sounds were making Zel's head spin, and it was all that she could do to keep up with the group and try not to get lost.

From what the Representative told them, Zel had gathered that there were five districts total in Dream Squall. The bottom was restaurants and food shopping, this is where the local farmers got to show off their product and entice travelers. The second was a dedicated shopping district for general supplies, you could find the bulk of stores there. The third district was for specialty stores and businesses that pertained to the Academy, that's where you would find things like weapons or tools necessary for specific mana crafting and the like. The fourth district was where the bulk of the population lived, a mass of homes and apartments where the citizens of Split Sky recovered after a long night of work. And finally there was the top layer, which was entirely Dream Academy property. There was no particular theme to the fifth layer, other than all of the buildings, whether housing, work, or food, all existed to benefit the Academy.

Zel tried her best to listen to the other stuff that the Representative was saying, but it was too much to take in and she began to become a little distracted. Zel took another look at the groups of people that were hoping to enroll at the academy with her and Miriya. The final group that they had left with had been indeed mostly Splitfolk. Perhaps thirty or forty of them including Zel. Then there was the group of a dozen Clickfolk. Zel was a bit disappointed that she did not see any Trailfolk in the crowd besides Miriya. Trailfolk came from the opposite side of the world, and had the furthest to travel to reach Dream Squall, but she would have expected at least one other, especially since there were so many of the Clickfolk.

Zel was still a bit enamored with that group in particular. She knew that they were one of the three dominant intelligent races of Tenyarn, of course, but she had never had the chance to meet one before and found them fascinating. Stealing looks when she could without making herself feel like a creep, Zel noticed that they were all different shapes and sizes. The largest of the group, who was walking in front, was at least as tall as the handsome Splitfolk man that Zel had noticed earlier, maybe even taller but at least twice as wide. On the opposite end, the shortest of the Clickfolk was maybe half of Zel's own height.

I hope that I get the chance to talk to them soon. I guess we'll all be taking the same classes even if I don't! she thought with glee.

The Representative kept prattling on about the various facilities and unique aspects of the mountain city as they passed into the third district for specialty shopping. There were merchants standing by their stalls or buildings shouting out to anyone who would listen, hoping to draw in any customer they could. Even in the first few moment spent in this district Zel already had seen at least five or six things that she had never heard of before, all laid out on a shelf or in a window or on a mat and available for sale, for a price.

"Look over there!" Miriya cried out in excitement, "there's a shop that sells enchanted weapons! Oh, I wonder if they have any bows?" Zel looked to where Miriya was pointing, and there was indeed a smithy with a variety of arms on display.

Every direction she looked there were similar shops, each with their own specialization. One salesperson caught Zel's eye. A tall Splitfolk woman who was wearing a long and flowing dress, jet-black. The shop that she stood by was filled to the brim with garments of similar quality and it looked like it catered to all different sorts, though Zel was only interested in the dresses at the moment.

The tall woman was calling out for customers just as the other vendors were, but she seemed extremely out of place being surrounded by mostly burly weaponsmiths, crafty mana weavers, and cunning craftsman. Zel wondered what made the store special enough to be in this district and she made a mental note to visit this store when she had some free time.

While she was staring at this unusual clothing store, Zel suddenly felt a tug on her own dress. She turned around expecting to see Miriya pointing out another store that had caught her eye, but saw that her sister was on the other side of the street looking at a shop that claimed to sell the best enchanted bows and arrows. Zel felt the tug once again and looked down towards her skirt, finally noticing the short Clickfolk, a little over half her height, tugging at the edge of her dress. They were wearing the robes that the other Clickfolk were wearing, but now that Zel was closer she could see that the robes were outerwear, and were covering other clothing they were wearing underneath. This Clickfolk was wearing something frilly hidden by the simple cloth.

"Oh! Hello! What is your name!" she said, surprised.

The Clickfolk responded with a few clicking sounds and a whistle-like noise, before tugging Zel's dress one more time with their right hand and pointing towards the dress shop with its other right hand. Zel looked at the shop and back at her new friend.

"I am terribly sorry, I do not know your language so maybe I am misunderstanding, but do you like dresses too?" She asked.

The small Clickfolk's reflective eyes lit up in the moonlight, they made some chittering noises that Zel couldn't comprehend, but they did so while jumping up and down in a fashion most excited. Zel believed that she was correct.

"I love dresses!" Zel said to her new best friend, "Would you like to go shopping there with me later? I do not know when we will be free, but maybe we can go after orientation is finished?" The Clickfolk nodded their head up and down excitedly in response.

"Excellent! My name is Zel! Could you tell me your name one more time, so that I can try to learn it?" She asked.

The Clickfolk repeated the few clicks and whistle noise, confirming that that was their name. Zel tried to replicate the sounds by clicking her tongue.

"*click*...*click*... *fooo*" She couldn't replicate the speed at which the name was said, nor could she whistle. She lowered her head, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"I am really sorry." Zel explained, "I will keep trying until I can say your name, but do you happen to have a Split Sky name too? At least until I can say your real name?" She asked.

"Her name is Jammy," a voice came from above the Clickfolk's head. Zel looked up to see that one of the Clickfolk in their robes was not a Clickfolk at all, but a male Splitfolk wearing the same outfit. Zel felt stunned that she hadn't noticed him before, but she had been so enraptured with meeting Clickfolk for the first time that she must have glazed right over him.

"...And she would like nothing more than to visit that shop with you later," the stranger finished with a smile. Jammy was vigorously nodding her head in agreement.

He was about the same height as Zel, maybe a bit taller if she weren't wearing her heeled slippers. Zel felt that he was decently looking, round jaw covered in stubble, square glasses with rounded edges, short but wild dark blue hair. Unlike the group of well dressed Splitfolk, underneath his robes were long, loose, and breathable clothes.

"And my name is Flint." He said with an outstretched hand. "I'm a third-year at Dream Academy. I specialize in language studies and serve as a translator in the field. I'm coming back from an exchange program and the school asked that I ease these Clickfolk students into life here at Dream Squall."

"Wow, that is incredible!" Zel said, taking his hand and vigorously shaking it. She had never even heard of field translators before, but was already thoroughly amazed. "I did not know that there even was any exchange program at the Academy!"

"Well, you might not have heard of it if you're from out of town, but it's been getting bigger and bigger!" Flint replied with a laugh, "We're trying to get more Clickfolk and Trailfolk to come and learn at Dream Academy!" Flint gestured to the Clickfolk that Zel now knew as 'Jammy.'

"Like Jammy here! She's a first year student, like you are, but part of the prerequisite to join Dream Academy is a fluent understanding of Splittongue. So Jammy and all of the other Clickfolk in this group have spent years learning our language so they could come study here together with us and some of them will even have a chance to join the Academy properly instead of just as exchange students!" He explained and patted Jammy on her back. Jammy was vigorously nodding her head this whole time, enough that her whole body was bouncing up and down with the effort, confirming Flint's story. She was now beaming with unspoken pride of her achievement.

"That is unbelievable!" Zel said, her excitement and wonder only growing with every word that poured out of Flint's mouth. "Can you speak the Clickfolk language?" she asked.

"Not yet, no." he began to explain, "Clicktongue isn't something that most Splitfolk can master, we just don't have the mouthparts for it. I understand it fluently, and I can say some words like you tried with Jammy's name earlier, but as far as holding a conversation it is nearly impossible for me. Some Splitfolk can speak the language due to their affinities, people with sound affinities are especially successful and tend to perform well in language studies. My affinity is something else, unfortunately, and it hasn't helped me so far." Flint shrugged his shoulders, "maybe I'll figure it out soon, though. Who knows."

"Either way, we make it work." He continued, "The Clickfolk can't speak our tongue either, so when they are paired with Splitfolk it is almost always on teams that can understand each other's language. There are also a few hand signs that the Academy has developed that make it easier for general communication."

"Oh, wow! Will you teach me some? I would love to learn!" Zel said.

"Haha!" Flint laughed, "Another language lover? I would be happy to teach you some stuff later. I can even introduce you to my teacher if you would like."

"That does sound interesting! I am not sure how much I love languages, but I cannot very well go dress shopping with Jammy if I do not learn at least what colors she likes." Zel said, giving Jammy her brightest smile.

Jammy was ecstatic, and moved her mandibles out of the way and began producing a buzzing sound.

"*Zzzzzz* *uuuuuuu* *rrrrrrr*" she buzzed.

Zel realized that Jammy was trying to say her name. She felt moved that Jammy was putting in such an effort and bent down to give her new friend a hug. However, as she knelt the largest Clickfolk of the group chattered at them aggressively while aggressively walking towards the three of them. Jammy seemed a bit panicked and pushed Zel away, keeping her at an arm's length.

"Ah. They want us back with the group." Flint said. "We'll talk later Zel, it was nice to meet you, and welcome to Dream Academy!" Flint gave Zel a wave and walked away. Jammy also regretfully released Zel's dress and walked back with him, waving with all four of her arms.

Zel waved back and then felt a great weight fall on her shoulders.

"Look at youuuu, shy little Zel making new friends." Miriya suddenly whispered in Zel's ear, "You know, it's funny how when you meet new people you talk all formal-like, when in reality you're real rude," She continued sniggering.

"Oh, come off it!" Zel snapped, turning around to grab Miriya, but she was already out of reach.

"C'mon, let's go! The Rep says we only have one more layer of city before we're at the academy. We can make friends there!" Miriya said before pausing and continuing with "And you better take me shopping too!"

"I don't know, Jammy seems a lot cooler than you are, three's a crowd after all!" Zel said, grumpily.

Miriya did nothing but laugh.

They continued their climb and began passing through the main residential district. Despite the organization of each individual layer, the way that Zel would describe the whole of Dream Squall was one big sprawl, even when in the district where the majority of people lived it seemed that organization was an afterthought rather than the focus, and Zel could imagine herself easily getting lost. Again she was thankful that, at least at the moment, she had someone to guide her way.

As they reached the top of the residential district, however, Zel noticed something a bit odd about their destination. Up to this point the mountain had been a consistent slope heading towards the top, but now the slope ascended straight into the sky, creating walls of stone that were perfectly flat and carved that seemed to block their path. There was no sign of the supposed fifth district that had been mentioned before.

It was at this point that the Representative stopped and gathered all their attention.

"We will now enter into Dream Academy. Please stay close behind me as we pass through to the campus. I will explain more when we are on the other side." She announced before resuming her march.

Zel wondered how exactly they would be able to accomplish such a feat, pass through to the campus, before she noticed that the Representative was leading them to a hole in the side of the wall.

It was a tunnel big enough for maybe two people at a time, and as the students crammed inside it Zel realized that it was filled with stairs. All together, they began to climb

It was intensely dark within the tunnel, but Zel's Splitfolk eyes were more than enough for the job. Miriya on the other hand was having a difficult time, but even she managed rather well, having been raised in Split Sky. The group that was really suffering was the Clickfolk, who were continually tripping over their feet or bumping into the cool stone walls.

Zel noticed a few steps in front of her that Jammy was having some serious difficulties as well. She bounded up behind her and grabbed Jammy's hand.

"Come on, Jammy! Let's head up together!" She said enthusiastically. Just then, she felt a sharp pain in her hand and a loud noise.

Zel yelped, recoiling from the pain. She looked at her hand, there were no injuries, but it did sting, and then she looked up and saw that the large Clickfolk, the same one that had ended her conversation with Jammy back in the third district, had come back down the stairs and slapped her hand away. Zel felt a bubbling rage from within and wanted to retaliate, but by the time she found the words the large Clickfolk had already continued up the stairs. INstead, Zel looked at Jammy, who seemed quite crestfallen from the interaction but remained silent. She bumped into the wall once before regaining her bearings and continued up the stairs without Zel's help. Zel's anger had not subsided, however.

How dare they hit me, she thought, But worse than that, why wouldn't they let me help? While she silently fumed over the interaction, a loud laugh echoed up the stairwell from behind her. She turned around, eyes ablaze ready to lash out against whoever was laughing, but she found no one. Behind her was the group of well dressed Splitfolk, and she was certain that it had to have been one of them, but it was impossible for her to try to find the culprit in the dark and narrow passageway. Zel gripped her hand as the pain began to fade, but tears of anger beaded at the corner of her eyes.

"Lousy…assholes," she whispered to herself. At this point Miriya grabbed Zel's hand and pulled her up the stairs.

It wasn't worth it, both she and Zel knew that. But even as the pain in her hand faded to nothing, Zel still stubbornly held onto an ember of the anger she felt. Perhaps she would have a chance to use it later.

The long stairway inside the walls of the mountain seemed never ending, they ascended step after step without ever seeming any closer to the top. While Zel's mind was still a storm of emotions after the encounter, she managed to remain calm for the remainder of the journey in the dark. Though the staircase was long, they were getting closer and eventually, they saw a light in the dim distance. Then the light grew from a dot, to a window, to an exit, and the students began to pour out in front of them. Zel and Miriya reached the top as well and stepped out of the darkness of the tunnel and into the light.