Aslan Joins the Team

Aslan's brother was a taller, more filled out man. He had the frame of a wide, muscular guy and his blond, curly hair was a bit lighter and a whole lot longer and messier- it was beginning to flip outward, making him look like a surfer boy. His eyes weren't big and round like Aslan's but were the same hazel color prominent in the Loch crest. He was wearing a drum corps t-shirt and khaki shorts and looked as if he were literally on his way to the beach. As he stood, Severin could tell that he marched drum corps like some of his college friends back east. His strong legs were firmly rooted to the pavement and he stood tall, making his wide chest seem even bigger. As he stood, however, there was something odd about him. His arms seemed to be attached funny and his elbows bent outward at an odd angle. His hands looked like they had been attached to the side of his wrist instead of the front, and as he extended his bulldog arm to shake Severin's hand he noticed that his elbow stayed oddly bowed out.

"Hi! You must be Severin!" said Aslan's brother. "It's so nice to meet you. My name is Declan Loch and I'm Aslan's older brother, but he probably told you that."

Declan's voice was a lot lower than Aslan's but he had the same thick accent. It was an odd mix of sounds- some Keoen influence on the O's and A's, but with an odd mix of Catin T's and Binko I's. Combined, it was very unique and easily recognizable.

"Ah! It's nice to finally put your face to your name!" said Severin cheerily. "You look like you march corps!"

"Yes I do indeed," Declan said with a smile, "I love corps! I did Ricktoria last but I haven't marched for anything in the past two years because I got married. This is my wife Austrey by the way."

He turned to his beautiful wife, looking at her with love in her eyes. Moira had noticed her adorable blue and yellow skirt and an old school school team sport shirt. She had long black hair that blew gently in the wind and an oval face. Her eyes were quite rounded and lit up as she smiled. She was taller than Declan by an inch or two and was filled out but still pretty thin. Her name was certainly unique and Moira could only guess her nationality.

"Hi! I'm Austrey. I played trumpet here but I graduated so I'm looking into some teaching jobs. It's so nice to see more people who are a lot like my Declan. He'll speak Keoen with you anytime!"

Declan playfully poked her as she said this, smiling. They went on introducing each other and then turned the conversation to housing. Before an hour was over Aslan was a signature away from becoming an official tenant of 304 Peace. All that he needed now was to head for Mr. Charles' office to sign paperwork and get his own shiny key.

"His office isn't far from here," said Declan. "It's actually just down the walk!"

"Really? Could we walk there now?"

Everyone was beginning to get excited as they realized that they could just walk to his office. Moira and Severin didn't know where it was, for they got everything done by mail and were picked up by Mr. Charles at the train station, but they were fancying a walk with people they knew were like-minded.

"Let's go right now!" said Aslan, excited.

"All right. I'll give you a little tour along the way. I had to go there my freshman year when me and my friend Jeffrey moved into a place along there. We were just a few streets over. Let me lock the car up and we'll all be on our way!"

With that, the 5 musicians began walking west along the bike trail behind campus. There were green trees all around them and the river flew silken and quickly beside them. As they walked Declan and Austrey took the time to make little comments that people wouldn't pick up until they'd been there a while.

"OK this here is the footbridge," Declan said as he gestured to a large, arched, metal bridge spanning the river toward what appeared to be a park. "It leads to Lyon's Park and a nice formal garden. Beyond it is a little swan boat thing and a science building. Past that is the street near Pathreeah Royal, where you came by train. Past there is the grocery store where you'll get most everything you need. They have lots of good stuff there and it's a station itself so you can get your stuff fairly close to the house. They have complimentary carts too."

Severin stared in wonder and had an image in his mind of going shopping there and then carrying a huge white sack of goods into a subway car. He smiled as he pictured Moira with her arms full of sweets. Meanwhile Aslan and Moira were captured by the beauty of the flowers in bloom along the path. Moira dreamed of going to the formal garden to meditate and unwind after a long day of music. I could even bring my flute down there, she thought.

"All right. To your left here is the music building. It's known as the K-P.A.C. but don't you dare call it 'kay-pack,' especially in front of Dr. Carle. Oh man, he HATES when people call it that!"

Austrey spoke up right after him: "Oh yeah! Y'all will have to experience Dr. Carle! He's the trumpet guy here and he's totally awesome. He also runs the symphonic band so all of you will get to see him twice a week. Just be careful, cuz he's really particular about things. He'll KILL you if you whistle in rehearsal and Osai help you if you cross your legs! He can be really neurotic but he's great. Trust me- I've had double doses of him since I transferred here, being a trumpet student, and Declan's still under his wing. You'll have tons of Dr. Carle stories before your time here is up!"

"Haha yeah, listen to everything Austrey says. Don't be intimidated by him. He's a great guy and talks about his students like they're his grandkids. He's always proud of them."

Declan and Austrey began naming off a couple things that Dr. Carle had done or said and as they got closer to the K-PAC, they stopped and pointed up to the windows on the top two floors.

"OK, here's what we can tell you about offices. That one on the middle floor there all the way to the left is the office of Dr. Ross. He's the trombone guy and he's really nice. You won't encounter him much until your upper years. Haha look, you can see all his mutes on the sill! He's a bit of a hoarder, Ross..."

"That one next to his," added Austrey, "belongs to Dr. Kribana. You'll probably have him for theory or ear training, am I right?"

Aslan and Moira nodded. They had signed up for ear training with him and had heard nothing but great reviews.

"He's the horn teacher and is really good at what he does. I mean, he is a Kribana after all, and definitely has that blood! You'll find out loads about him. I never had him but he's great."

Declan followed Austrey by pointing at an office up on the third floor, covered by a tan tapestry. Moira and Severin recognized it at once as being Jadali handmade. "And that... that is the office of Dr. Sorela. He's the only one who has curtains in his office. I believe they were a gift to him when he studied in Jadali, but that was way before your time. He's been in that office since this building opened in the 80's! He's not in right now of course. He spends the summers with his family in Leena."

Moira and Severin's hearts lept. This was the office of one of the most famous Jadali Kiillra EVER! They were speechless and just stared up at the dusty window in awe, knowing that the inhabitant of this office was someone that would dress, act, and speak like them. They stared a moment longer before turning and continuing on the road to the office. They passed the music building and came to a large building further away from the walk, one that looked like a sort of institution or something.

"Oh yeah, that's the dorms." said Declan in passing. "It's called The ArtSquare and hosts most of the people that are music majors. It's old, loud, stuffy, and smells bad. There's no stairs so you have to take an elevator, whether you want to or not, and the internet there sucks. Jeffrey and I were there for like two weeks before we bailed and got a house. Let's move on."

Continuing westward, they followed the river until the sidewalk separated from the road and went underneath a bridge. Up ahead they could see that they were directly alongside the banks of the river and another tunnel was about 100 feet ahead. It was very beautiful here with tall, lush, green trees and an abundance of animals. The river created a cool breeze in the hot sun and Moira was once again caught up in nature. She was strongly reminded of the Ried Bhroch which she loved to visit and could imagine riding a canoe down the rapids.

"Ok we're getting really close now," said Declan, "This here is known as the area between the two tunnels. The water level is really high right now but once it goes down you can raft down the river. Right above us is the street that takes people away from campus up to the city train hub and stuff like that. Kye Music Store is along this street if you ever need anything from there. You can walk there and back in about fifteen minutes."

The continued on, pausing a moment to admire the trees between the two tunnels and a couple of squirrels who were jumping through the trees. Declan continued as they headed for the second tunnel.

"This tunnel is under the street that takes people into the university. Since it's a one way grid they're separated and this one isn't open like the other one so you can do things like this!"

With that he clicked his tongue loudly and it echoed all throughout. Moira and Severin were quite impressed but Aslan and Austrey just rolled their eyes and laughed. They all began whistling, clapping their hands, and making all kinds of noise until they had reached the other side which spilled out farther away from the river, separated by green grass and lots of trees. There was a large parking lot to the left and up ahead was a small cluster of office-type buildings.

"We've finally made it," Austrey sighed with relief, "His office is just past this building here."

They walked a bit quicker, eager to reach Mr. Charles' office. As they passed the last college-owned building a small, tan-colored brick building came into view. It was nothing hugely fancy and was faded and dirty, and it reminded Moira heavily of Meren Bha, her favorite secondhand shop in the world. They approached the front doors and entered a lobby that was actually quite pretty and a big contrast from the drab exterior. The carpet was a nice faded green and there were fern-like plants all around the windows. In front of them was a dark wooden desk that was kept very tidy. A calendar made out of wooden blocks, an invention of Jadali, Moira noted, showed that today was in fact June the 8th. A sign hanging overhead signified that this was the campus realtor's office and directed them to the line right in front.

"Hello! What can I help you with?" asked the lady at the desk, a young girl with her dark hair in a bun and thick black frames.

"We're just here to sign a third person to a contract so he can get his key and move in," said Declan, "They're going through Jimmy."

"Ah! Excellent! His office is just up there to the right. Have fun!"

They made their way to Mr. Charles' office which was fairly close. They knocked on the door and were greeted by his smiling face asking all of them to come in. He had pictures all over his walls of the various buildings and homes that he owned, all in pretty frames. His desk was also covered with pictures of him and his family. Severin noticed that all of his children looked alike and were unmistakably Morlean, with beautiful dark skin and dark brown hair.

"Ah! Hello! It's so nice to see all of you again! What brings y'all here to my office?"

"We've found a third person to room wish us," said Moira happily. "We've already filled out most of this stuff; we just need him to sign on and get a key from you."

"Ah, excellent, excellent!" Turning to Aslan, smiling, he held out a form he had fished from a filing cabinet. "What is your name?"

"I'm Aslan Loch-- Declan's brother."

"Excellent! Are you a music major too?"

"Yeah I play bassoon. I came here cuz of my brother. I'm just glad I found a house already!"

"Ah yes, I know what you mean. Those dorms... well, we won't get into those! I just need you to sign there and here's your key!"

After a brief exchange Aslan was handed a shiny key and they were on their way to the house. They thanked Mr. Charles for all of his help and were soon back at the car ready for another adventure of helping Aslan pack his things and moving him into the lovely room downstairs.