Church bells rang in the distance, sounding above even the clamor of the streets below Jynx's window. He rolled over, groaning as he rubbed his arm. It'd been a hard night, what with sparring with Vi. The kangaroo hit hard... she was much stronger than she first seemed, at a glance. He got to his feet, glancing around his room. His weapons lay nearby, where he always left them polished every night before he slept. A chest sat at the end of the bed with a basin. Jynx smiled and hurried to dress. If the church bells were anything to go by, it was an hour past sunrise. Half an hour to school, as per usual. Wouldn't hurt to skip wash up though, since he always showered before bed...
Jynx tucked his weapons into his belt or bag, looking out the window. Stalls ran along the street, canvas glowing in the early light. Patrons sped here and there for goods, dressed in styles from all over. Cart wheels clicked and clacked down the streets. He stretched. He'd have to be careful not to get trampled. It wasn't much fun, and Vi would never let him live it down. With one last look at the clock (Right on time), he hurried out the door. The streets weren't as bad as he thought. There was room to walk, barely, and it didn't take long to hitch a ride on an unsuspecting cart to the school. Overhead, the buildings, most older, some newer, loomed. Jynx closed his eyes. He imagined the wall set up around the town. One day, he and Vi would beat it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The ride was uneventful, jumping off one cart and onto another as he went. Before long the school loomed in front of him. Vi waved from the steps. "Were ya' been, slowpoke?" she said as he stopped in front of her. "Gamblin' with the crowds. You know-" He stopped short as the church bells rang again, thundering above the town. Jynx counted the rings. Nine. He looked over at Vi in confusion. "Nine rings? But it's only about 7:59..." "Oh, that clock always messes up from time to time," she said, shrugging.
"It skipped two hours!"
Vi smiled at him. "Stop worrying. It's just a screw-up, nothing more." She patted his right shoulder, recalling last night and knowing that his other shoulder was probably still sore. "Now let's get to class. Don't want to be late!"
Jynx nodded as they hurried inside with the other, murmmering students. But despite everything seeming normal, Jynx couldn't think about anything else but the clock.
"I'm serious, Vi," he said as they got their schoolbooks from their lockers. "I think I read something about nine rings before... and I think it meant that something bad was gonna happen..."
The kangaroo shrugged. "Well, you can check it out after school. Right now, we have class."
Jynx sighed. "Ok... but I can't help but feel that something's going to change for the worse..."
