Wunderhein Academy: Book 1- Awakening

Kitten gasped at the heads staked on poles as they headed towards the tiny clearing in the forest.

“Stop it.” Aleksei warned her. “They can smell your fear.”

“I thought you burned your dead.” She whispered back, staring at the eyeless sockets that had flies slipping in and out of them. The sight made her want to double over.

“Only those worth burning.” Aleksei grumbled. “These are the punished, the ones the adults may not touch. It’s a warning to others to obey some of the laws here. Those two over there,” he nodded towards two of the heads that looked the freshest. “They are the ones that took you.”

She turned to look at the faces. Their mouths were open in a silent scream with the spike stuck through them. They stared at her almost accusingly. She gulped, reaching out to grab Aleksei and tugging on the sleeve of his uniform.

“What is it?”

“Are you sure it’s them?”

“Positive. We found them dead at one of the old training stations. The boy was there too, behind the closed door like you said he would be. Looks like they had just started on him. Everything was still in place.” Aleksei patted her fingers before forcefully removing them from his arm. “Now relax and remember, don’t say anything unless someone speaks to you. You’re still a Meat-Bag and everyone here is your senior.”

She nodded dumbly and straightened, hating the way the torches lit the place. It made the clearing look spooky.

A few minutes later, she heard footsteps that were followed by the copper smell of blood mixed with sweat and assorted animal stinks. She looked around and found herself and Aleksei being circled by a group of students, all wearing thick jackets with fur cuffs around their collars and wrists. The fur trimmings were all different from each other but on closer inspection, the ones at their wrists were all a weird dark colour. A few of the students glared at them with open dislike.

One of the students stepped forward, wearing a hat trimmed with fur matching his coat. Now that he had stepped into the light, Kitten could see his cuffs weren’t just dark, they were red-brown colour. Blood, the word hit her. She frowned, turning to Aleksei wishing she could ask him what it meant.

“Captain Cassonov, there is no further need for you to be here.” The youth in the middle of the ring, who seemed to be the leader, began.

“The Meat-Bag is my unit.” Aleksei replied. “I speak on its behalf.”

There was a murmur at his words. Kitten bit her lip before forcing herself to calm down.

“Let the good captain speak.” A voice commented near her, nearly making her jump at how close it sounded in this sheltered piece of wood. Kitten glanced towards the speaker, noting his smile under a beaked nose. His jacket had a tough hide looking thing instead of fur like the others. “After all, the girl isn’t on trial.”

“Wunderhein has a point.” Another boy, one with stripes tattooed on his face, was frowning. “We’re trying to find out what happened.”

“I still disagree with even having the Meat-Bag here to begin with.” Kitten shut her eyes as another voice, on belonging to a long-limbed student yelled angrily. “It’s very presence is an insult to us.”

“You are an insult to my presence, you old windbag.” A growl made Kitten open her eyes in time to see two of the students threatening each other.

“Shut up.” The leader in the middle snapped at them. “You may kill each other later.”

“There is no way this Meat-Bag killed those men.” A youngster with a squashed face snorted. “Even I can take her out.”

“I have already put forward before that she wasn’t alone when this happened.” Aleksei Began. “Tom was there.”

“Conveniently.

“That proves this is a waste a time and she should be free to go.” Someone argued.

“Second that proposal.”

“Of course she couldn’t kill those men. She’s a girl. They’re only good for one thing.” Laughter began filling the air around them.

“Yeah, that ‘Thing’ is in the wrong uniform.” One of the students sneered at Aleksei. “You should take it to the nurses and get it a new one.”

Kitten felt hot tears prick at her eyes.

‘I am not useless. I am a Brawn.’ She repeated in her head. Her hands clenched next to her as she tried hard to stay silent. ‘An Alpha.’

“Last I checked, my Meat-Bag usually didn’t have anything to do with the nurses.” Aleksei responded. “Then again I don’t hang out at the nursing stations as much as you do Tiger. Maybe you would know better than I do.”

“What’s that meant to mean?” The one Aleksei had addressed at Tiger growled.

“Only that I always try and learn from my betters.” Aleksei nodded slightly. “As should we all.”

Kitten was sure that he was hinting at her with his remark; however, Aleksei never looked at her. Instead, he kept his eyes on the guy he had called Tiger who seemed confused if Aleksei was insulting him or not.

“I do not believe this meeting was to discuss the stronger between genders.” The beaked nose teen from earlier, Wunderhein if she recalled, began. Everyone turned to look at him.

“Huh?” One of the small, bulky guys blinked in confusion.

“This has nothing to do with the Meat-bag not being a boy.” Aleksei simplified. Kitten could hear the annoyance in her captain’s voice. “We have no girls here, only Cuts and Meat-Bags.”

“That would be correct.” Wunderhein steepled his hands before continuing. “Since this Meat-Bag managed to kill two outranking Cuts during an Enlightenment, which is no mean feat, may I suggest using the opportunity to admire the ingenuity of such a creature that has come our way? Perhaps even reward It by using this as Its exam and allowing It to have Its name back even instead of treating It like some criminal? After all, there is no crime in survival and the only reason we are even here is because a child was taken.”

“The child had a name.” Kitten found herself growling. She froze as everyone watched her. She felt her hand beginning to spasm she was clenching it so tightly next to her side.

“It was Teddy. His name was Teddy.”

“There you go.” Wunderhein nodded. “Teddy. Another meat-bag that no-one would have cared about if he hadn’t been spotted for a team already.”

“What.” Kitten felt her face pale. She forced herself to keep standing. “Teddy had been chosen for a team?”

There was another murmur throughout the ring.

“Silence.” The leader ordered her before turning to Aleksei. “Captain Cassonov, kindly control your Meat-bag or we will need to do it for you.”

“The Meat-Bag will not be a problem.” Aleksei responded before giving her a warning glare.

“First Master,” Someone in the crowd spoke up. “Why not let the Meat-Bag speak? It was the reason we summoned the creature.”

“Well Meat-Bag.” The leader in the middle turned back towards Kitten. “What do you have to say about all this? What happened that night to those Cuts? Out with it.”

Her eyes widened. She glanced at Aleksei who glared at her before nodding to the other teen, motioning her to answer. She swallowed before stepping forward.

“I didn’t kill anyone.” She admitted, causing an outcry and a few nods from the crowd. Wunderhein looked displeased. “I was locked in a room that I broke out of.”

“Did you see who captured you?”

“No.” She shook her head.

“Do you know who killed them?”

Kitten thought back for a moment.

“He called himself Tom.” She admitted, surprised at the audible hiss that followed her words.

“That will be all child.” The leader in the middle of the ring nodded towards Kitten and Aleksei. “You may both return to your dorms. We will let you know of our decision tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” Aleksei saluted before turning to her so they could leave.

Kitten quickly followed suit, however when she turned, she ended up nearly tripping over her own two feet. Closing her eyes and waiting to hit the ground, she blinked when she felt herself being pulled up by Aleksei.

“What a pain.” He muttered soft enough that only she heard amongst the noise of the other students. “Come on.”

She glanced back one more time at Wunderhein who didn’t look impressed but quickly forced a smile on his face when he spotted her looking at him. She smiled back before breaking into a jog after Aleksei, thankful to leave.