Cloud Shifters

Cadin was not surprised to see Sun sprawled out in the clouds that floated across Yi Field as he approached the school.

“Decompressing before the day has even started?” Cadin sat next to Sun and turned his face to the sky, enjoying the cool morning mist.

“Yep. Just trying to prepare for the end of the semester. Finals will be our last chance to earn more badges before break.”

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Cadin said as he set Gur down on the grass. “You already earned a badge last week at Winter Badge Day.” Cadin smiled and bumped his arm-guard up to hers.

The metal gleamed in the morning sun, catching Gur’s attention. He raced up Cadin’s arm, attacking his new yellow Trade Path badge in metal work before jumping to Sun’s arm and wrestling her blue Academic Path badge lined in silver with an etching of circling clouds.

Cadin had had to ask what it was for when she first flashed it at him.

“History and Nephology of course!” It was embarrassed that he didn’t know what all the required badges to graduate were yet. “Being new to Glade, I figured I would see if Gladers had a different perspective on history. That part of the class was okay, but it was the study of clouds that was truly fascinating. I think it will help me earn my cloud-shifting badge next week.”

“You are already ahead of the game,” Cadin said. “Besides, I heard first years earn most of their badges at the end of the year during Spring Badge Day anyway.”

“Ha, probably said by a first year that has yet to earn a badge,” Sun said. She sat up and stretched before standing and pulling Cadin up with her.

“Now that you mention it, I do think it was Vincent that said that right after his failed attempt at an economics badge.”

As they walked in the field entrance to the Dragon’s Den, Cadin saw a group of people gathering around something, though he could not see what.

“Looks like someone else got their Aura,” Sun said pointing at the green glow above the crowd. It seemed like every day another one of their classmates arrived sporting their shiny new Aura. They inevitably wanted to challenge everyone at anything to try and test the advances in their abilities that came with it. Cadin wondered who it would be today.

The crowd parted a little bit and Cadin froze. When crowd fully shifted, Lep spotted Cadin and Sun and ran toward them with his bright green Aura.

“Can you believe it? I got my Aura!” Lep shouted. He was waving his hand over his head as if trying to feel the new light that radiated off him. “Well, what do you think?” he asked with a big smile.

It felt like a tiny wrath was clawing the inside of his stomach. He was, of course, happy for his best friend who had talked about getting his Aura almost every day for the past few months, but he was also jealous. Jealous that Lep had his Aura shine through before his did. It made him feel like a failure.

Sun said something though Cadin didn’t hear what and then Lep turned to him expectantly. “You look bright and strong,” Cadin said louder than he intended. Lep laughed and gave him a punch in the shoulder that felt harder than normal.

“Oh, don’t get too cocky with your big, green Aura, because I will still kick your butt at flag tag today at lunch,” Cadin said with more confidence behind his words than he felt.

“You’re on,” Lep said, his Aura flaring.

Cadin looked around the room and realized that at least three-quarters of their class had Auras. The two sitting closest to him that did not have them shine through yet were the youngest girl in the class, who was just a tiny thing though she had no problem participating and keeping up. The other was the laziest boy in class who complained about everything and threatened to tell his uncle who was a leader of Town Hall if anyone asked him to do something that he didn’t like. Cadin couldn’t understand why his own Aura hadn’t surfaced yet. Well, at least Lep is happy, Cadin thought as he sat down.

“No flag tag today for those of you who would like to earn a badge,” Instructor Kade announced to the class. Everyone settled down and Instructor Kade continued. “Headmaster Tripharian has allowed for some extra badge opportunities before Winter Break.

“There are three different badge certifications offered today. For the Warrior Path—there is the Sword Skills Level 2 badge which will be held in Yi Field.” All the Archery Club kids started whispering at this announcement. Cadin thought that it would be good to try for another badge, though he was not feeling as confident as normal. He also wondered why the Headmaster wanted more badge opportunities so soon after Winter Badge Day.

“At the south edge of the forest we have the General Studies Sighting badge, and in the Gathering Hall we have the Academic Path Cloud-Creature Anatomy and Ecology levels one through three badges.”

Cadin perked up when he heard that. Sure, they hadn’t studied cloud-creatures much in class, but he had learned about them his whole life with his mom. I’ll try for that badge today, Cadin decided. He didn’t want to tell Sun or Lep yet because he knew they were planning on trying for swords and he didn’t want to say anything that might ruin Lep’s high spirits.

“Ready for me to kick your butt in some sword sparring?” Lep asked when free time rolled around.

“Actually, I’m going to try for my Cloud-Creature badge today. Don’t look so sad, I will come and cheer for you if I get done in time.”

Lep looked like he had been sucking on one of Sara’s lemon-rolls.

“Cut it out! Listen, you can challenge me in whatever you want after school, okay?”

“Deal!”

Cadin hurried to the Gathering Hall and saw that he was the only first year attempting the badge. He felt relieved to have nobody around him expecting him to do well. He sat down and noticed that Bart was just a couple of seats away, waving. Cadin nodded back and realized that no matter where he was, there were always expectations of him. If he failed the test, then his opportunity to earn a badge that day would be wasted. He thought about whether he should leave and try for the sword skills badge instead.

No, I am here now and I have a decent chance. But I will not run away from other challenges in the future just because I might not win. With that decided, Cadin focused on the exam. He found himself enjoying it as he read the questions and wrote down his best answers. He giggled when he came across the section that asked about dragon ecology and anatomy. Cadin drew a great picture of Gur, who stood quite still for his portrait as Cadin labeled the dragon’s parts. He thought it bordered on cheating having a model for the question, but Headmaster Tripharian had explicitly said that Gur was allowed in school. Cadin thought it was doubtful that this particular situation had crossed the Headmaster’s mind, but he convinced himself that he would have been able to receive full marks on the question anyway.

Under the question ’What is the diet and feeding behavior of the common rock dragon?” Cadin wrote—Rock dragons will eat just about anything (including your socks if you let them) though they prefer fresh food such as insects and juicy cloud-worms. If the food they are after is living, then the dragon will crouch behind something and wait for the perfect opportunity to pounce on it if the dragon is still young or fly after it if it is an adult. If the dragon is after something that is not alive, it is happy to steal it from creatures that are quite a bit larger (including angels). Cadin thought back to just a few minutes earlier when he was grabbing lunch and Gur had swiped his bread roll from his hand.

He glanced around the room when he finished. There had only been two other angels that had already finished and gone to the instructor to get graded. The first guy failed, not receiving a badge and left with an indifferent stroll up the aisle. Cadin guessed that he had not been prepared for the test and didn’t really expect to earn the badge. The second student had received great remarks from the instructor—the room echoed so that everyone heard. She walked away with a big smile and a shiny blue badge on her armband.

An involuntary shiver rolled across his body as he walked to the front. Eyes bored into his back as he made his way forward. The instructor watched him approach with a curious expression on his short face. Cadin started to doubt his answers and he felt the urge to turn and leave before being graded, but the instructor smiled as he got near.

“So, you are the first year with the rock dragon,” the instructor said as he got out of his chair to approach Cadin and Gur. The instructor was not much taller standing than he was sitting.

“Yes, sir. I’m Cadin of Glade and this is Gur. I got him from Mist Lake.”

“Excellent,” he said with a jovial bounce. “I am Instructor Falen and I look forward to having you and Gur of course in some of my classes next year.”

“That would be great! I love cloud-biology. I have learned a lot from my mom, but there is still so much more that I am interested in.”

“Well let’s take a look at your score and see how you did, shall we?”

Cadin handed over his paper and Instructor Falen jumped back into his chair and started marking it. He giggled at a few parts and Cadin blushed, hoping that it was not because his answers were too juvenile. When he finished grading, he wore a more serious expression as he tallied up the points.

He sat back and gave Cadin a hard look.

“And who is your mother?” Cadin felt nervous about the question. He looked back in the room and saw that most of the other students were looking at him, curious about his results. Had he failed his mother and gotten the worse score ever on this test? No. Cadin thought. Mom taught me well.

Cadin straightened up his shoulders and looked Instructor Fallen back in his bright eyes and said in a clear and proud voice, “my mother is Sara of Air and she works in the Cloud-Creatures department at Town Hall.”

“Ah, yes. That explains a great deal,” Instructor Fallen said as he pulled out a blue badge from his drawer.

There was a gasp from the students behind him, but Cadin did not turn around again as he handed over his arm-guard. Instructor Fallen carefully placed the blue badge facing out and melded it to the back piece through the holes. Surprised faces followed him out of the room as he left in a hurry with Gur now wrapped around his arm and attacking his new badge. He gave Bart a high-five as left and wished him luck.

Cadin sprinted toward the sword sparring group, Gur flapping his wings madly while gripping Cadin’s shoulder.

“You are just in time to see Lep earn his badge!” Sun said.

Cadin looked to the center of the sparring arena, which was a circular dirt spot lined around the perimeter with bright stones. Lep’s Aura was shining brightly as he deftly blocked the opponent’s swing and countered with a strike that scored.

“One more point and he wins the match,” Vincent said from Cadin’s side. “This will be his third winning match, which will put him with the rest of us in earning the badge.”

“Oh, man, you mean the rest of you have finished already?” Cadin asked, still a bit out of breath.

“Yep,” Sun said brightly, “and we all got our badges.”

They all quieted down as Lep circled his opponent, a dark-haired boy that Cadin did not recognize. Lep stepped in as if to strike, but held back at just the right time. The feint worked and the boy swung his sword where Lep would have been, but Lep was now in the perfect position to score the winning blow.

After shaking hands with his competitor and getting his badge melded on, Lep ran to the group with a huge smile on his face. He saw Cadin and jumped to receive their traditional high five.

“That was awesome, Lep!” Cadin said.

“Nice!”

“Way to go.”

Everyone gathered around Lep at once.

Cadin noticed one of the older kids hand a message to Instructor Kade before flying away. His brow furrowed as he read, and he briefly glanced up at their celebrating group before walking over.

“Well done, Leptan,” Instructor Kade said. “Oh, Cadin you made it, and I see that you earned an academic badge.” Everyone looked at Cadin’s arm.

“So, all of us earned a badge today!” Sun said.

“Which is better news than you realize,” Instructor Kade said.

“What do you mean?”

“I have an announcement for everyone at the beginning of the next period.” Without another word, he stepped back and launched into the air.

“What was that about?” Sun asked.

“I guess we will find out in ten minutes,” Lep said with a shrug. He walked over and compared his arm guard to Cadin’s. “We are looking good. So how about a quick grappling match before class?” Lep asked.

Cadin looked at Lep’s shinning Aura and expectant expression. “Let’s do this!”

Cadin tapped out three times in a row before Sun told them they were late for class.

Everyone took their seats and looked up at Instructor Kade. He took his time organizing his notes before he turned to the class. “I have a special and unique announcement that will directly impact your schooling.”

Cadin heard fidgeting from around the room. However, no one said a word.

Instructor Kade brought his hand through his short hair before continuing. “You see, this is something that I have been lobbying for this entire year because myself and others far wiser believe that students in Commons High across the entire Calvarian System have greater potential than what is currently being tapped. I don’t mean this as an insult.”

Cadin saw several student’s faces that did indeed look as though they had taken offense.

Instructor Kade continued. “We want you to get the most out of your education—to really be at the top of your game when it is time for you to graduate and make your choice as to what you want to do with your life. Our greatest results have come through our Path Games. Therefore, effective next year, all Path Game Qualifiers will be open to second-year students who can earn enough badges to establish eligibility in their first year. That is to say you all now have the potential to enter the Qualifiers for your Path Choice next year, rather than in your third or fourth year.”

The classroom exploded into cheers and conversation.

“This is amazing!” Lep shouted at him from behind. Instructor Kade did not seem quite finished. However, he allowed the celebration. Cadin turned in his chair to face his friends.

“We can do this, we can establish eligibility this year!” Sun said as she joined them.

“Which Qualifiers can we establish for now?” Lep asked.

“Warrior and Guardian,” Sun and Cadin answered at the same time.

“Awesome! We can make a team and go for the Warrior Path Qualifiers next year instead of waiting until our fourth year!” Lep said. His smile dropped slightly and he continued. “Unless either of you would rather go for Guardian eligibility?”

“Nope, I’m good trying for the Warrior Path Games,” Sun answered quickly. She turned to Cadin.

“Well, I’m not sure of which Path I’m going to declare yet, but I don’t think Guardian is still in the mix for me. So, yeah—we should definitely try to establish eligibility this year. We need a fourth teammate though.” He didn’t mention that Guardian was literally the only Path that he had crossed off his list.

“Let’s finish this up,” Instructor Kade said with a smile on his face. It seemed to Cadin that everyone’s reaction to the announcement had gone as planned. “This new policy will help to enhance your skills earlier in your education, with some opportunities to graduate with scholarships a full year early; however, that comes at a price. You will have less leisure time if you would like to compete earlier, and you will want to consider your Path Choice now, rather than leave it until the end of the year.”

Cadin’s heart dropped. He would have to research the Paths even more now that this opportunity had presented itself.

“There will be an open registration to enter the Qualifiers for the next school year at Spring Badge Day the end of this year. To register for the Qualifiers of any Path Game, you must have earned six badges in total—including at least one from each Path. Note that traditionally students put off earning more than the required four badges their first year. Therefore, you should make your minds up soon, whether you would like to participate in this amazing opportunity. Start studying for all of the badges that you will need, and decide on your Path.”