The storm that swept through the Lake Jeradar region on the afternoon of the first of February grabbed the attention of virtually everyone at DSM, simply because it was so anomalous. Wild weather was not that unusual in DSM's neighborhood, but it was the wrong time of year for electrical storms, and while there had been high winds to go with the thunder and lightning, there was no precipitation of any kind - no snow, no hail, not even a light mist. Then, too, the event was weirdly brief, lasting no more than twenty minutes from the time the abnormally warm wind first started to kick up to the last fluttery gusts and distant rumbles. No injuries were reported, nor any significant damage. The school meteorologists confessed themselves baffled as to the cause of the freak storm, eventually (and a bit lamely) chalking it up as just one of those things.

What was arguably the most freakish fact of all about the storm went almost entirely unremarked: In twenty minutes of furious, gusting winds and ominous thunder, there had been only one stroke of lightning. This occurred in the Single Acre Wood, between the Duelists' Castle and the center of campus. Those who saw it from a distance reported that it had looked strange: not white, nor jagged, but straight as a lance and of a peculiarly prismatic coloration. Everyone assumed its curious appearance had been a trick of the light, though, and as it happened during the sixth period, there was no one nearby the point of impact. No one potentially in harm's way... and no one to witness what happened next.

Some distance from the footpath through the Wood, the lightning strike that was not a lightning strike had created a small new clearing. Oddly circular, around 20 feet in diameter, it was completely devoid of trees, snow, even grass and rocks, as if something had stripped away everything but a disk of perfectly level, hard-packed earth. The snow around the edge, as precisely removed as if it had been cut with a die, steamed gently in the chill afternoon air.

In the center, two huddled figures stirred, then began slowly to pick themselves up with muted groans and shaken heads. For the first few seconds, they were entirely wrapped up in their own personal worlds, running internal diagnostics and checking themselves for proper limb counts. Then, slowly, they began to engage with the world outside their heads, blinking around at the woods. At first they were looking away from each other, coming to a basic grasp of where they were. Then, at virtually the same instant, both whirled as if in sudden alarm, wild-eyed with something like panic - until they caught sight of each other, at which point they fell together like lost souls, holding on as though to keep from drowning.

They were thus occupied for nearly a minute, filling that time with soft, wordless sounds of relief and affection, and with caresses and kisses intended to convey not physical desire, but rather a kind of profound existential gratitude on the part of each for the mere presence of the other. Finally they seemed satisfied that they really were together. Parting, they each stepped back a pace or two to take a first good look at the other.

They were a boy and girl in their middle teens, she coltish and tall, he slim, nearly the same height, and wiry. He had a shock of sandy brown hair and a thin, sharp face dominated, but not quite overpowered, by a prominent nose; despite his youth he could have done with a shave. She was the classic green-eyed redhead, pale-skinned and round-cheeked, her long coppery hair a tousled riot. Both wore what appeared to be school uniforms, mostly charcoal grey with white shirts and red neckties, under warmer outerwear - a dark wool overcoat for him and a retro-mod fishtail parka for her.

"Oh... my God," he said, his voice colored with what in this time would be taken for a Westminstrian accent. "You're... "

She nodded. "So are you," she said, her own inflection rather more Caledonian. She dug in an inside pocket of her parka and came up with a plastic card bearing a holo of her face. Peering at it with a semi-frown, she took a moment to absorb what it said, then looked up and said, "I've got a student ID card from the Deedlit Satori Mandeville Memorial Institute." She glanced down at herself and smoothed the pleats of the checkered skirt she wore over her heavyweight black winter tights. "Guess that explains the uniform... "

He nodded, holding up a similar card. "As do I," he replied. Looking more closely at his, he brightened slightly and said, "2410, hey! We're not far from home this time."

She put her ID back in her pocket and looked around again. "So why are we in a wood?"

In the distance, a bell rang, the kind that could generally be found in clock towers and churches. The two paused and listened; it sounded three times.

"Three o'clock," he said. "We're late for - ow," he added, putting a hand to his temple with a wince. "I hate that part."

"Right then," she said, checking her pockets in sequence. "Inventory. ID: check. Dismayingly small amount of the local currency: check." She reached behind her right shoulder and touched the grip of a Japanese-style sword she didn't seem surprised to find there. "Sword of Destiny: check." Putting her arm over his shoulders, she gave him a joggling half-hug and continued, "Boy: check."

"Oh, thank you," he said dryly.

She smiled, tweaked the knot of his tie slightly, and then took his hand, lacing her fingers with his. "C'mon, let's go see what they've got for us this time."

They passed out of the trees and into the neatly tended grounds of the Institute's central campus, looked back, and knew at once (though they had never been there before) that they had just come from the Single Acre Wood. Beyond it, rising high on its hill and lording over the campus, was the cream-and-red eminence of the Duelists' Castle. Now they were coming into the southwest corner of the Common, in the angle formed by Churchill Hall on the left and Hopkins Hall on the right. Other, similarly-uniformed students passed here and there, bound on their own errands. A few noticed the pair and waved or nodded acknowledgement to them.

One, a serious-looking girl with long turquoise hair, paused near them and said with a hint of asperity, "Rory. Amy. PDA? We've talked about this."

The two new arrivals looked in puzzlement at each other - What's she on about? - and then realized that they were still holding hands and released each other, stepping slightly apart.

"Sorry, Kaname," said Rory sheepishly.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, it's no skin off my back," Kaname Sterling told them, smiling. "But you don't want Natsuki, She-Wolf of the RA Council, to report you again, right?"

"No argument here," Amy agreed, nodding. Then, noting the slender blonde who had trotted over to catch up with Kaname, she smiled and said, "Hey, Lindsey."

"Hey, Amy," said Lindsey Willows. "Rory. She getting you in trouble again?"

"That's why I hang around with her," said Rory, making Lindsey grin.

"Hey, don't you guys both have classes at three?" Kaname asked, glancing at her wristwatch. "Running late... "

Amy grinned. "In the Wood, lost track of time, you know how it goes," she said, nudging Rory with an elbow.

"You were in the Wood just now?" Lindsey asked. "Did you see the lightning?"

Amy glanced mischievously at Rory (who reddened a little and looked ostentatiously away), then said to Lindsey, "Not really. Bit busy... "

Kaname rolled her eyes. "So much more than I need to know," she said. "I'm Rory's RA, not his mother. Anyway, speaking of Natsuki, we've got an RAC meeting at quarter past. I better get a move on or she'll find something to report me for. Catch you guys later."

As ever at this time of day, Sosuke Sagara was waiting for her at the South Bridge over Mandeville Stream. She acknowledged him with a nod, then realized that he wasn't looking at her but past her, to the spot where the two she'd just been talking to were standing in front of Hopkins Hall, evidently conferring. He had that look on his face, the one that said his mercenary weirdo radar was picking up something he thought was interesting.

"What?" she said.

Sosuke kept gazing at the pair from the Wood for a moment, then shook his head. "I have no concrete evidence at this time, but my instincts tell me there's something very odd about Williams. He obviously has military training, but of a type I can't identify, which... shouldn't happen."

That only got a snort out of Lindsey, but Kaname laughed and said, "You think Rory's like you? Rory Williams? Undercover army bodyguard boy? Ha!" She glanced back over her shoulder, then looked at Sosuke again, shaking her head with an indulgent smile. "If so he's way better at it than you are."

"That's possible, however unlikely," Sosuke said as the trio set off across the bridge toward the admin building, and Kaname had to pause for a moment and try to decide whether he was being sarcastic. Could Sosuke be sarcastic?

"Also," Kaname went on, "having trouble thinking of a girl at this school who needs a bodyguard less than Amy Pond."

"You?" Lindsey hazarded. "The only one here who has one?"

"Thank you, Miss Willows, that'll be all," said Kaname mock-wearily. "What cracks me up," she went on to Sosuke after a moment, "is that you think there's something odd about Rory but you're perfectly OK with his six-foot Scottish Valkyrie girlfriend and her samurai sword."

Sosuke looked puzzled by the objection. "Miss Pond is a Duelist," he said. "In that context the sword is perfectly normal. It would be strange if she didn't carry one. Also, she isn't six feet tall, she's five-foot-ten. Though I do think it's extremely probable that she'll reach six feet within the next two years."

Kaname gave him a resigned smile. "Are you for real, soldier boy?"

"I'm the realest person you're ever going to meet, Miss Chidori," he replied stoically.

Back in front of the science buildings, Rory and Amy made ready to report late to their respective classes in Hopkins and Maxim Halls.

"Well... looks like this is it," said Rory. "I'll see you at dinner, yeah?"

"Table 14, like always," Amy replied, then blinked and shook her head. "I never get used to that." Then she grinned, straightened his tie again, and said, "Good luck, Mr. Pond."

"Be good, Mrs. Williams," he said; then they high-fived as they passed each other, and each went into the opposite building.

"DSM Panic! Mission 3.5: Transfer Students from Beyond Time"
(a Symphony of the Sword Mini-Story) by Benjamin D. Hutchins and Geoff Depew
DSMP! devised by Philip Jeremy Moyer
special to the Eyrie Productions Discussion Forum
© 2013 Eyrie Productions, Unlimited