Chapter Text
"....do you have any idea what time it is....?"
A muffled voice broke through the hazy barriers of Bonnabelle' s slumber, barely reaching her.
Failing to understand the significance of those words, Bonnabelle remained deep in her sleep.
However,
This outside force did not give up its onslaught.
"Do you have any idea what time it is!?"
Again this power only barely reached her, whatever meaning it carried lost in transit.
The source of this power however, grew impatient and frantic... Not long after a great quake of earth erupted around her that shook Bonnie to her core.
"I'M AWAKE"
Darting to an upright position immediately, her blonde curls doing naught to cushion her head against the inevitable collision of her and the ceiling.
"ACK" Bonnie woke from her hazy slumber and returned to her not so hazy bedroom, likely assisted by the teamwork of head and roof.
Rubbing her forehead vigorously she looked down at whoever woke her, and met the gaze of her oh so considerate dad.
"Dad? Why must you wake me at such an hour, my alarm hasn't gone off yet!"
"It did go off Bonnie. Twice"
It was only then did she realise that there was toast on her desk.
And her clothes were hanging out ready for her.
And... her unpacked belongings were now very much packed.
"You made me toast?"
Her father smiled nodding as he answered
"Butter and toast sweetie"
Bonnabelle swept her legs over the railing of her bunk and dropped down on her floor in a dramatic pose.
"Well then I Bonnabelle will don my garments and devour my feast before the clock strikes once more!"
"The bus passes your stop in sev- oh sorry, six and a half minutes. So it'd be a good idea to hurry"
There was a moment of silence between the two... maybe they were contemplating the fact that they might not see each other for a while after this day.
Maybe the excitement of going to one of the most acclaimed adventuring academies was overwhelming Bonnie.
Or maybe her response to danger (being late) is neither fight or flight, and instead freeze.
"Now it's just six min-"
"OKOKOK IGETITIGETITIGETIT"
Bonnie pushed her brick wall of a father through the door and slammed it shut, the loud bang doubtlessly alerting her mother and whatever customers were up this early to the fact that something was happening.
"Now it's down to Five!"
Before he could finish that sentence through the door Bonnabelle was already dressed and down on the street below, using her window as an alternative and faster exit.
"Bonnabelle!"
That shrieking voice could belong to no one else other than her chastising mother, who was in the middle of doing just that.
"What have I told you about jumping out of windows?"
Bonnabelle ignored this of course, grabbing her bag and headed off down the street away from home.
"I love you Mum!"
Her Mother sighed "I love you too..." looking at her husband who had now reached the ground floor and was already helping a customer decide between flowers.
After stuffing a piece of toast into her mouth, Bonnabelle increased her pace and started jogging down the street.
Now the route to her bus stop wasn't a very complicated one, run down the street, take the first right and then turn right again… riveting journey I know.
There is actually a super secret shortcut where you just cut through an alley to get to the other side of the street where the stop is, but there's loads of boxes and you gotta climb a ladder to get over a fence and it's just a hassle with a suitcase, but it's a good thing Bonnie won't have to do that since the Bus isn't here yet.
Right...?
Well unfortunately, just a few metres past the alleyway shortcut, a bus sped by her. Her bus. The bus she needed to catch. Well honestly it was technically a coach but that's semantics and we don't really have time for those.
Now of course some people would panic in such a situation, however Bonnabelle was not some people, she made a 180 degree turn and sprinted backwards, darting into the alleyway and facing the fence that blocked her path through.
Now usually the only way through was an inconveniently complicated array of ladders and catwalks and jumps and pipes and oh so many collectable trinkets for the platforming protagonist who lived down the street to collect.
However Bonnabelle was having none of this and hiked her luggage onto her back, squatting down before preforming a flashy wall jump maneuverer to push herself over the fence and down on the other side.
Just as she did the fence crumbled after years of abuse, this incident clearly being the last straw on the camels back... She probably could've just pushed it over or moved a plank of the fence out of the way, but no she had to do the flashy thing.
"Well I guess having that fence gone will come in handy some day. Now then, bus stop bus stop bus stop"
Bonnie emerged from out of the alleyway, the suitcase's wheels rumbling against the ground as she dragged it along with her, looking down the street and being relieved to see no signs of the bus.
"Perfect" she thought, crossing the street and sitting down inside the bus shelter, not sliding off uncomfortably since it was a regular bench and anti homeless architecture doesn’t exist in this universe because I said so.
“Oh, hello!” Whispered some soft voice from next to Bonnabelle, prompting her to turn, facing the speaker and responding whilst gesturing with a little wave.
“Uhh, Sup”
“Are you perhaps going to Dragonwright Academy as well?” The girl who spoke to Bonnie was around her age, maybe a little younger, a head of tangled lilac hair draping down to her ankles, and partially obscuring a face half covered in flowers.
Bonnie realised this girl was a witch, someone born with magic physically manifesting somewhere in their body, granting them more strength than an average person in the kind of magic that manifests on them.
The girl’s outfit matched the colour of her hair, a mix of fashionable and practical, a long tunic split down the middle with layers underneath, frilly sleeves, high boots, a wide brim hat, all in purples, and pinks much like her hair. “I’m Mellie, if I didn’t say before”
The girl speaking again made Bonnie look away in embarrassment, realising she’d been silent the entire time she analysed the girl in front of her, however, staying silent would just result in further embarrassment so she responded.
“I’m Bonnabelle, and I am going to Dragonwright academy, I’m going to become a knight. Sword and shield in hand one day I’ll march to victory, getting the guys and girls!”
Maybe I shoulda left that last part silent…
“Woh, that’s cool, you’ve got your whole life figured out ‘n stuff”
The girl, Mellie, watched Bonnie with a sense of wonder, despite her closed eye indicating the opposite.
“I don’t really know what I’m going to do after I graduate from the academy, I’m taking alchemy, magic, and sword fighting… but I’m not sure what I’ll do afterwards”
In truth, Bonnie didn’t really have a plan for in-between the ‘graduating’ and ‘getting the guys and girls’ part, she knew what she wanted but not how to get there.
Was she going to say this?
“You can join me after we graduate if you’d like, if I’m gonna be runnin’ an adventuring team I can’t just run into battle without some magical support, maybe you could even be one of the girls I get once I win”
No, not at all.
An awkward silence followed, Bonnabelle slowly realising what she’d said and regretting everything that had led up to this moment, silently wishing for some silver haired dandy to cast supernova… Well, she would prefer an attack that maybe didn’t take as long to actually hit so her self inflicted suffering could end quicker.
“Yeah sure I’d be down for that”
Wait what? Did she just? Yeah she- She did.
Bonnie continued her silence, staring at Mellie like she had just done something worthy of being stared at.
Coughing and tripping over her words, she broke the silence and responded.
“Well- I- I- I appreciate it! I hope we’re in the same room then, we can work on our life plans that way”
By now the bus had arrived, coming to a slow stop outside the bus shelter, waiting patiently for Bonnie, Mellie, and the other students waiting at the bus shelter, to get on.
Wasting no time Bonnabelle hurried on board along with Mellie, stowing her suitcase under the seat and preparing for the long time ahead.
It was going to be a long journey... Like really long.
Several hours even.
But hey, Bonnie's got a friend to spend it with, and it'll all be worth it to go to the most prestigious Adventuring Academy's on the continent.
Dragonwright.