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	A massive boy stepped off of the train with a sigh. He reached out with both arms as far as they could, stretching his muscles, and bellowing an obnoxious yawn from the depths of his diaphragm. It was like watching a bear come out of hibernation greeting the beautiful sky with a lazy grin and sleepy eyes. After popping a few kinks in his neck, Clyde Lee threw his fists in the air shadow boxing an unseen opponent in front of him. The excitement of a new year could hardly be contained inside his body. This was not going to be a repeat of his lonely first year. He had spent his first term at the academy secluded and friendless. It was miserable to say the least, but this term will be entirely different. This term he would be partnered with a mage! Even if his efforts to make friends did not bear fruit, he will have at least one person by his side. His eyes scanned around him to the other students, many of which were smaller than him in both height and body constitution. After all, Clyde did look like a monster of a boy. His musculature was well defined, shoulders broad, and wild untamed hair gave him the appearance of a ruffian.

	The other students definitely gave the boy a wide berth. The boy easily carried his dufflebags with both arms and comically twirled about the streets lined with rope. Clyde walked at the edge of the path created by the town's peacekeeping force and smelled the lovely flowers growing upon the hedges. Their aroma was a lovely change from the heavy fumes carried by the coast in Colbar. Such an earthly and sweet aroma that reminded one that they were alive. Songs of the birds overhead brought a goofy grim to his lips and eased his racing heart. The boy danced, and skipped, and hummed a soft tune as he made his way towards the academy with ebullience. But his own reflection in a few windows made him stop dead in his tracks.

	[i]"What am I doin'?"[/i] he thought to himself. He looked like a complete fool swaggering around town like he had no clue. [i]"Be cool, Clyde. Cool like a cucumber. Cool like the underside of a pillow. Cool like a fool in a swimmin' pool."[/i]

	His brown leather jacket went well with the hide rancher boots on his feet. Coming from Colbar, this made him look very different from the rest of his friends back home. The clopping sounds from his boot heels made a rhythmic cadence that matched his confident stride. Being taller than many other students, sometimes he would go past others without noticing their existence. One such person was a little lady that he accidentally bumped into. Clyde noticed a little thump to his chest and looked around for a moment believing he had accidentally walked into a shrub. But it was not a plant. Quite the opposite in fact. It was a person.

	"Oh, sorry 'bout that missy," laughed Clyde. "I can be very oblivious to others somti-"

	[i]Female[/i].

	She was a short gal with soft features to her face. Her hair flowed down her shoulders like fine silk, gold like a vast field of wheat that shined with a radiance brighter than any stars in the night sky. Crystal blue eyes that seemingly pierced through Clyde's outer shell as if his persona was made from paper and glass. His heart twisted in his chest in a vice-like grip of nervousness and fear. It was a habit of his he could not break. The boy was not quite deathly afraid of women, but it was something about them that made him tense and anxious. His eyes scanned around him for a quick escape but there was none to be found. The damned town suddenly turned into a tight corridor with no end in sight. He could practically feel sweat form at the edge of his brow and his hands quivered as strength left his body.

	[i]"Say somethin' to get yerself out of this situation, ya' idiot."[/i]

	"N-need, uh, help with them bags?" asked Clyde with a nervous twitch.

	[i]"Good job, sport,"[/i] he thought sarcastically.

[@Hammerman]