A legacy of light
Benevolence is right
For righteousness we fight
Old Towne we hail. Old Towne we hail!
“Great job, y’all!” Jaycen blared. “Now, Bear Towne campus is laid out like a warped four-leaf clover, but don’t count on luck to get you out of any ‘hairy situations’,” the jellied blonde laughed. “ALWAYS carry your Yeti spray anytime you venture into the White Forest, which lies inside the north-west leaf,” she said, motioning toward the path Hailey had walked the day before—after she’d fallen out of the Luftzeug. “I’m sure you’ve all read your handbook and know to also carry your tree repellant? Nobody likes stepping in freshman-shaped tree poop, am I right?”
The group chortled politely, though Hailey could almost smell the fear in the air.
“Let’s begin our tour with the Campus Bowl, or THE Bowl, which is where we are standing…
“Y’all will eat, sleep, and do most of your living here in the Bowl,” Jaycen drawled. “This is the safest place at Bear Towne. In fact, until today, there had been no known in-betweens here, but now we know there’s at least one,” she giggled, “which the In-between Management and Extraction Team, or I-MET,” she made big air quotes, “will survey later and mark if it endures.
“In addition to operating worldwide Luftzeug service and performing numerous other functions, I-MET is Bear Towne’s search and rescue squad. If you ever get stuck in an in-between or lost in the White Forest, I- MET is the team that will find you and bring you back, hopefully alive and in one piece, but as you saw on the Luftzeug, sometimes I-MET can be a little rough.”
A hand went up among the group.
“Do they always wear gas masks?”
“No. But they always cover their faces. Trust me, you do NOT want to see the face of an I-MET member. There’s a reason only dead people do that job. You just never know how you’re going to look after an in-between spits you out,” she said, striking a Vanna White pose, and the group giggled.
Another hand shot up.
“How do we call for I-MET?” asked an anxious boy in wrinkled clothes.
“Oh, you don’t have to. I-MET will know if their services are needed. The big building at the center of the Bowl—no more questions about I-MET—is Trinity Square, where you’ll find the Bear Towne bookstore, the campus chapel, your mailboxes, and The Bruised Moose Café. The café serves grilled food, sandwiches, pizza…” Jaycen eyeballed one of the boys in the group. “…as well as an array of metallic and sulfurous fare for you non-humans. The chapel holds Mass daily and twice on Sundays—DO NOT neglect your soul here, y’all. If your soul jumps ship while you’re at Bear Towne, you won’t last three seconds. Too many scavengers here, am I right?”
Jaycen pointed to a very human-looking kid, in Hailey’s opinion. “You’re one, aren’t you, cutie pie?” Jaycen said to him, and he grinned bashfully.
“The second most-important building on campus is Igloo Arena, which is the dome-looking structure on the north end of the Bowl.”
Several of the female freshmen gasped and swooned, and Hailey peeked around the group to see what the all the fuss was. Making their way inside Igloo Arena was a group of muscular and fearless-looking men. One of them carried a hockey stick.
“What luck!” Jaycen twanged. “There they are, Freshmen—the Bear Towne Yetis hockey team, reporting for practice. I think everyone is excited to see some W’s this year after last season’s dismal finish, huh?”
After the last hockey player disappeared into the Igloo, Jaycen waved her flag and beckoned the group toward a carved stone and wood gazebo near the ParaScience leaf.
“The Chattering Gazebo will immediately strike up a conversation with any non-human, other-worldly or supernatural creature that passes under its eaves,” she explained. She stepped under its roof.
“Well, well, well, well, well!” the gazebo gushed. “If it isn’t Jaycen. Long time no see. In fact I haven’t seen you since Alexei caught you smooching his teammate, what was his name?”
Jaycen jumped back, frowning.
Aha!Hailey knew Jaycen was far too chipper to be human.
“Y’all get the point,” Jaycen said abruptly without looking at the group as she trudged under the iron gate of the ParaScience College leaf.
“Percussive instruments—”
Somebody raised their hand.
“—such asdrums,” Jaycen said looking squarely at the kid with the stupid look on his face, “are forbidden here. There are three—check that—four known, active in-between zones on this campus,” she laughed. “Olde Main is an active in-between zone.” She motioned to a haunted house, which stood leaning at a physically impossible angle. “It always leans into the wind. Looks like it’s out of the northeast today—I’d say five knots right now,” she called, and Olde Main groaned, screeched, and tilted even further as the wind picked up.
“You’ll have most of your classes in Olde Main, but don’t worry, the dangerous zones of the building are clearly marked, and all the exits have been fitted with an Indispensable Out-Between, which you’ll learn all about in your first class. Trust me,” she said emphatically, “you’ll be in and out of that place enough that by the end of the year, you may even land on your feet when it spits you out.”
Jaycentipped her flag at a rough-cut stone castle.
