Fantasy The Academy of Chivalry and Knighthood

[Loke Fullbuster]

During the Victorian Era in Great Britain, there lived a lonely yet wealthy aristocrat who was the descendent of some of the greatest knights the British Empire had ever laid eyes upon. He too was a knight of great legend, but during a time of peace, he had grown quite bored. That is to say... Until he stumbled upon a secret that would change his, and the lives of 7 others forever.


During one of his visits to Belmoral Castle(Queen Victoria's Residency) the aristocrat wandered the halls of the castle in search of a task he could take on, and sure enough he had. After tumbling a bookshelf over in an attempt to escape a guard, he exposed a false section of the wall which led into a hidden corridor, and what lied within that corridor was unbelievable. There were creatures of all different shapes and sizes held in various jars, containers, and even cells. Some creatures he recognized from tales he had been told as a child, and others were unimaginable.


After being found out by a guard, the aristocrat was holed off to the queens quarters where he was informed that the sudden rise in violent crimes had been caused by the very creatures he had laid eyes on. After having been convinced not to execute the man on charges of treason, the queen asked the aristocrat to raise and train a new generation of nights, but these knights were to be special. They would be trained to not only handle a normal knights job, but to handle the myths that ran amuck in Great Britain as well as cover up any record of the incidents.


Hoping to not face execution, the aristocrat complied with the queens request. He was to raise knights, some children of aristocrats, others lowly beggars, some coming of their free will others not so much. No matter what, he was to raise the knights, to become legends of their own.

 

[Loke Fullbuster]

Mirin sat quietly in the carriage as it pulled up to its final stop. So far three others had been picked up besides himself. They all seemed to be around his age. One was a girl with fiery red hair and a face full of freckles. Another girl had freckles as well, though her hair was cut shorter than the other girls, and was almost as white as snow. Their recent pick up was another boy who seemed to be the youngest in appearance. He had brown hair and a cherubic face that emanated an aura of innocence throughout the carriage.


Apparently none of the juniors possessed the gall to sit next to the wealthy aristocrat who sat across from them, seeing as they all were filling up the seats that touched the back of carriage, while he smiled at them from the other seats.


The man made an effort to make eye contact with every teen. The blonde seemed to put off this feeling of delinquency. "We'll be sure to break her first." The man thought. Next to her sat the boy. The first thing he noticed was the smile he flashed towards him. Through the boys eyes the aristocrat saw happiness, a bit of naivety, but an all around cheerful personality. "I fear we may have to break him as well... We shall see." Next up was the older boy. The one he had found on the doorstep of the dilapidated town house. Through his eyes he read sadness. There were some barriers he would have to break down, but that was to be said for all the underlings. Lastly sat the red head. Her look read sheer defiance and stubbornness. The aristocrat sent a smirk her way. "I'm gonna have some fun with this one." The man though, making a mental note of her attitude.


After several more minutes of silence, the man finally spoke. "I wonder what's taking so long." He said, twisting to see the entrance of the house they'd arrived at. He swiveled back towards the group, and uncrossed his legs, then crossed them again, though this time he placed his right over his left. He stretched his arms across the back of the seat with a sigh, and closed his eyes. "While we're waiting, let's have a Q' and A' pf sorts." He spoke, opening his eyes. "There has to be something you're just dying to ask me." The wealthy man said with a smirk, eyeing the 4 youngsters. "Anyone?"


Mirin looked down at his lap. Sure there were questions he'd like to ask such as, 'Why they were there,' and 'Why he chose them,' but he barely knew the group, and was sure the questions were bound to come up somehow.


@CloudyBlueDay @Lark @LastRomeo @Hell0NHighWater

 

[Lark]

Mel flashed a bright smile at the man sitting across from him. Well, them might be better, considering he was squished on one seat with three other people. Anyway, from what he could tell, this guy was some sort of aristocrat, though he supposed that should have been obvious as soon as he'd seen the carriage.


"Yeah, what kind of stuff are we going to be doing? It must be really cool if someone as well off as yourself came just to get us."


Somehow, his smile never left his face, even while he was speaking, and Mel absentmindedly swung his feet back and forth as he waited expectantly for an answer. This would be fun he was sure, the information he did already have about this program was minimal at best, and he couldn't wait to find out more.


Waiting patiently and intently for the aristocrat's reply, Mel took in his amusement. The young boy supposed he'd be pretty amused too, if he knew something no one else did. The other boy and the twio girls who were crammed on the one seat with him were reacting with varying amounts of annoyance and something akin to suspicion, though it seemed more along the lines of meekness in the older teen. Absently, Mel slipped his hand into the other boy's in an attempt to comfort him.

 

[CloudyBlueDay]

Willow was starting to regret her decision to come here.


She very much liked personal space, and she wasn't getting any at all. She was crammed between three.. three kids, basically, because no one had the guts to sit next to the fancy looking douche bag. Well, Willow had guts. She let out a little huff, and switched seats, sitting as far away as possible from the man, but at least she could breathe now. She glared at him warily, a little warning glance, that said 'Don't even try and touch me'.


"Yeah, what kind of stuff are we going to be doing? It must be really cool if someone as well off as yourself came just to get us." Aw, wow. This kid looked like he was being taken out for ice cream, swinging his legs back and forth and grinning largely. Willow rolled her eyes, gripping the edge of the seat and keeping her gaze on the floor, teeth gritted. She wasn't particularly angry. Just the normal Willow level of annoyance.


She had expected to be taught by the best, but here she was with the new recruits.. a bunch of children.

 

[LastRomeo]

Christopher wasn't sure what to make of this yet.


Perhaps it was that he was practically pushed in the carriage before he could get his bearings, or an idea of where exactly he was going to do, but the seemingly cheery attitudes of some of the other passengers confused him. His parents had only uttered a few quick sentences before they hurried him away to the awaiting vehicle, but from what he had gathered, they were all being sent off for various reasons to some form of training to be a knight. It certainly wasn't his first decision when he thought about what his line would be, but it was too late to complain now, not that he would be listened to. It was completely possible that a few of the others had willingly joined.


As the man began to answer questions, Christopher decided to not say anything. It was partly due to the younger boy asking the same question that had originally came across his mind, but also because of his stubbornness to not humor the stranger's request. This thought was admittedly petty, but that didn't bother him right now. He took this idle time to observe the others in the carriage. On face value, it seemed that merely one of them was remotely enjoying themselves, while the others either seemed to be annoyed or as quiet as he had opted to be.

 

[Loke Fullbuster]

Mirin had felt a hand slid into his, and this caused him to jump. He turned to see the boy sitting next to him with his hand intertwined with his own. Mirin's initial thought was to pull his hand away from the others, but something held his hand there. Something stopped him from pulling his hand away. Mirin looked up from the hands, and made eye contact with the boy. He seemed to be smiling at him, but this caused his face to turn bright red. Mirin quickly looked away, out of the window that had been freed up, by the other girl moving. After a few seconds he managed to calm down, and looked back at the kid. He didn't say anything... He simply held the boy's hand a little tighter.


The aristocrat watched as the fiery red head moved to sit next to him. He smiled at her in response to the look she gave. "I'm going to have so much fun with this one." He thought. The man recalled being asked a question, and he turned to the asker who was the younger boy. The man smiled at him and spoke. "You'll be doing most everything a regular knight does. You'll go to school lessons, taught by a private teacher. You'll have basic combat training taught by yours truly. You will also have etiquette and cotillion to teach you how to be proper ladies and proper gentleman. Lastly you will be assigned every day household chores to help lighten the workload of our staff." The man finished his sentence then looked down, his grin widening. "There are other things... but they will have to wait for now."


The last member, an Asian fellow had arrived sometime during the aristocrat. He smiled once he had finally realized it. "Well then... I guess we'll be off." The man said in a cheerful tone.


The horses neighed as the carriage began to move, their heels clopping against the cobblestone street. "What have I gotten into?" Mirin asked himself.


After a 2 hour long carriage ride through the British country side, the carriage pulled up to a large manor. Mirin gawked at the sheer size of the manor. The sun was beginning to set behind the manor, making for a picturesque scene teeming with themes of wealth and social standing. "Out we go!" The aristocrat called out.


Everyone had made it out of the carriage. They were all standing in a row, at the top of the steps that led to the manors front entrance. The group marveled at the marble carved manor, including Mirin who's hand still clung to the other boys. He watched as the aristocrat stood in front of the group. "What's he up to now?"


"I'll be giving you all these next minutes to acquainted yourselves with one another. These will be your comrades over my tyrranous rule so I suggest you make nice." The man said. "Tyrannous rule?" Mirin questioned. "I don't like the sound of that." He turned to the left, and waited for the boy who's hand he'd been holding, to introduce himself.


@Lark


@Hell0NHighWater


@LastRomeo


@CloudyBlueDay

 

[Hell0NHighWater]

The entire time she sat, silver tinted blue orbs settling on the group inside the crowded carrage. One leg swept over the other, leaning back in her miniscule space to preserve her relaxed and overly quiet exterior. Dru brushed a stray hair from her eyes swiftly, watching carefully as the well dressed man began to answer questions. In all honesty, the teen didn't care why or what was happening only that it was keeping her from being thrown into the dungeons. Releasing a pent up sigh as space finally became available with the other girl's departure from her side of the carrage, Dru allowed her gaze to fall outside the windows.


Her gaze never wavered as it took in every detail around wherever it was they were actually heading to. The corner of Dru's lips tipped in a low frown, finally able to look as another boy was shoved in. She held his gaze for a moment, wondering if these people had all been forced to come here one way or another. It seemed like something the world would do, just for the mere giggles of it all. Casting her glance away, Dru's lips parted wanting to reply to something that had been mentioned when a large estate came into view. Her lips where instantly glued shut, eyes becoming the size of saucers. She had never seen a building like it, then again she had never been rich enough to be on the premises of a house like this. Climbing from the carriage, she stood in the line of others around her age. Her arms crossed in silent defiance, eyes boring into the man before her not liking the idea of rules. Pearl white teeth chewed lightly on her bottom lip trying to decide whether or not she should conform and introduce herself.

 

[LastRomeo]

The ride had been just as tedious as Christopher had expected, as time passed slowly and silently after the first question had been answered. Christopher was more than pleased to exit the carriage once it came to a stop. The estate they had arrived at was definitely nothing short of impressive, and he took a moment to take in the surrounding area before focusing back on the people who had accompanied him on the ride. The group was certainly odd, none of them exactly what would come to mind when you thought of a knight, but who was Christopher to judge? He wasn't a knight in shining armor either.


The man's remark didn't surprise him. Whether he was trying to be funny or not, Christopher should have suspected that he would be sent off to a strange place with a weird man. It wasn't like his parents would send him anywhere normal. That would be too nice of them. However, the strange man's idea wasn't too horrible, and he'd ignored the people accompanying him for long enough.


"Christopher Park. It's a pleasure, for now." He said, his arms still set stiffly at his sides, he thought a handshake would be a bit too casual for the given setting. He placed a closed smile on his face instead, it not reaching his eyes quite yet. It was merely for politeness, if anything. He let the newly broken silence set, not adding anything to his original introduction, and waited for a response from another person in the group.

 

[SyncopatedRhythm]

Lanier gave a frown, having arrived late to the journey by only a small amount, though he was here now, infront of the large building and the nobleman whom he had taken an instant dislike to. Due to this fact, he opted to ignore the man for the time-being, for the most part anyhow, deciding that conformity was not necessarily his 'thing' and that he would instead prefer to look at the large house, with some disdain that is. He knew this lifestyle from when he was a younger child, recognized the grandeur of the building as being a very clear shout of status and disliked it all the more. No doubt, from his point of view, this nobleman had been born into all this wealth and frankly he did not respect him for it like others might. The nobleman would likely not have raised a finger in his life.


His attention was, however, caught by the idea that he might be doing chores, a sneer making its way onto his face at the idea of it. He was not going to do unpaid chores for this nobleman or any other nobleman. "Can I just point out, that none of us are exactly knight material. I hate to break it you and the others." He said, his voice dripping with fake sincerity, eyes wide and innocent looking, all a part of his well-honed act. 'And as for tyrannous rule...' he added mentally, deciding not to say that one out loud, as he had not quite sized up this nobleman yet and did not fancy risking getting his head knocked off, or similar, though he did narrow his eyes challengingly at the aristocrat.

 

[Loke Fullbuster]

Mirin turned and looked at the new arrival who showed up. He looked about the same age as Mirin, though he had darker hair than his, and his skin was paler. He heard the boy mention how they all weren't 'Knight Material'. Mirin figured this thought had most likely run through all of their minds, for it had run through his own as well. "He has a point." Mirin added with a very low voice. "What... How will this work?" Mirin looked down, afraid to make eye contact with anyone.


The aristocrat took note of Mirin's body language and sighed, turning to Lanier he spoke, "I'll let you all in on a little secret." The man walked down the steps of the manor and stood in front of the line of knights-to-be. "No one starts off as "Knight Material', they're made into it." He eyed every single one of them as he began pacing in front of them. "They're stripped of what makes them an individual and turned into one unit of a whole collaborative force." He stopped in front of the read haired girl. "Some of you will have to be broken down." The aristocrat said, sending her a wink. "Other's won't, but lets save this speech for another time, shall we?" He jogged back up the stairs, placing a hand on both of the door handles. "Welcome... To Hillsoft Manor."


The man pulled the doors open, letting the manors aroma wash over the group. Mirin smelled butterscotch and was instantly entranced. The man whose name he shared with the manor lead them inside. The interior of the manor was decorated as well as the exterior. Above the group was a beautiful chandelier, that hung in between balconies. To the left and right were corridors leading to different sides of the manor. In front of the group was the grand staircase that led to the upstairs, and various doors and such. "So beautiful." Mirin thought.


"Now then. Time for room assignments." Mr. Hillsoft spoke. "The two ladies will be in room one. Room Two will be Sir Mirin and Mr. Lanier. That leaves Mr. Park and the kid in room three. Seek out your roommates and find your room. I will have a servant call on you all for dinner." And with that, he was off, xiting the grand hall through one of the doors.


"Lanier... That cant be..." Mirin turned to the new kid.


@Lark


@Hell0NHighWater


@CloudyBlueDay


@LastRomeo


@SyncopatedRhythm

 

[SyncopatedRhythm]

Lanier wrinkled his nose a little at the aristocrat's response, irritated to have been proven wrong, although he did admit to himself that the aristocrat was right, even if he wasn't overly keen on that fact. Not that he overly wanted to be a knight, prancing about the country like some stuck up oaf. However it had been made entirely clear to him that he wasn't getting an option in the matter, given the choice between execution and becoming a knight, Lanier had unsurprisingly opted for being a knight. So instead of throwing a huff and walking away, he followed after the aristocrat toward the house.


He wrinkled his nose a little as the aristocrat opened the door, sure, he appreciated the smell of butterscotch, and he would be being dishonest if he were to say that he were not hungry. Much like some of the others, he decided from their builds, he had not had the easiest life food-wise, and to have it potentially offered to him had become a rare treat over the years. He however ignored the smell for now, he would not make a fool of himself infront of these strangers, instead getting a good look at their surroundings, not too interested in the others around him for the time being. Getting a good look at the 'posh' furnishings that spoke of the aristocrat's wealth...Lanier disliked him even more.


He did however start to pay attention when the aristocrat mentioned room assignments. 'Sir Mirin?' He glanced over, catching the boy looking at him, presuming that was Mirin, bemused at the look he was being given, did he know this boy? He did not recall, then again, he didn't tend to regard many things as important enough to recall. Still, he wracked his memory, not bringing anything up and therefore on one hand hoping for some form of explanation from the boy, though on the other hand wanting to make it clear that just because he was being made to sleep near him, did not make them friends. Due to this, giving the other boy a relatively hostile look, narrowing his eyes and sneering. "Great." He muttered under his breath. Trying to make out that he knew exactly why the other boy was giving him the odd look. Before departing to find their room, just as the aristocrat left, able to get a semi-decent look around at the same time.

 

[LastRomeo]

Not surprised that no one else had decided to introduce themselves, Christopher followed the wealthy man into the house. The aristocrat's words hadn't made him any more excited for whatever knight training he would have to endure at this place, but there wasn't anything he was going to say about it. He couldn't protest that he was made out to be a knight after all. Either way, the aristocrat's cheery attitude unnerved Christopher, as he seemed to be very enthusiastic about breaking down the other people in the group, with him probably also included. It wasn't the most welcoming thought, and didn't improve the impression that he was getting from the strange man.


Christopher thinned his lips as the aristocrat announced the rooming arrangements, holding in the frustrated sigh just waiting to leave his mouth. Of course it was just his luck to be roomed with the smiley, somewhat overbearing kid. The young boy certainly wasn't his first choice among the others, but to be honest, Christopher couldn't care less about the people surrounding him. It wasn't completely uncalled for, as no one in the group had exactly acted warmly to anyone in the short period of time they had been around each other. He glanced at the younger boy, taking a breath. He wasn't going to say anything to him yet, the other would probably approach him eventually, since he had acted quite kindly to one boy during the ride.


Christopher switched his gaze to his surroundings. The fancy decorations didn't surprise him at all, given the size of the building and the clothing on the strange man. The room smelled pleasant, and it was quite impressive. It somewhat reminded him of home, but this wasn't exactly a welcoming thought. He put the thought into the back of his mind, this place was a clean slate after all, wasn't it? His ill thoughts toward his family shouldn't be brought up here, not yet at least. He grimaced, putting his attention into figuring out where exactly Room 3 was, leaving shortly after the aristocrat had. It was no use arguing his assignment anyway.