#caau

     What a bore… thought Jack as he fiddled with the edge of a feather. Running his fingers over the ruffled baby-blue edge seemed to hold his attention better than the tall, well groomed Eros: Prefect angel who was, at the present, giving an orientation speech. The angels standing to his left and right were eagerly listening to what the speaker had to say, whereas Jack only caught a few bits and pieces here and there. His mind kept wandering to how much fun he was going to have later with his newly-endowed wings. Before orientation, each angel in the lineup was given the basic set of equipment: a bow, some practice arrows, the chiton uniform, and assigned a pair of wings. This is where his feather came from. The pin on the shoulder of his chiton was engraved with the initials CA:CL1, indicating that he was a Cupid’s Archer: Cadet Level 1.

     It would be an understatement to say Jack was excited to learn he would become one of Cupid’s Archers. Shortly after his arrival to Heaven, he began to hear gossip among the crowds of a select few spirits who are hand-picked by one of the High Lords to move to Elysium, a place better than Paradise. These spirits then undergo training to become the angelic forces of Lord Cupid, firing their arrows to spread love in the hearts of humans. As cheesy as it initially sounded, Jack quickly learned that an archer was one of the highest honors a spirit could receive and should not be taken lightly. The news that he would join their ranks came in the form of a silver-leaf edged letter, delivered by a fawn made entirely out of water vapor, and “With Love, -Cupid” signed in rose gold.

     The letter didn’t say much, just that he was now an archer, “congratulations”, and where to report the next morning for orientation. He was kind of hoping, under all that excitement, that orientation would answer the one question he had: “What makes archers so special?”, and by extension, “Why was he an archer?” The angels who joined him that morning weren’t much help, not a single one knew anything either. Jack’s fingers froze in place for a moment at the realization that he hadn’t heard a word of the speech for a good while now. “Ahh, damn it” He reprimanded himself. How was he supposed to get his answer like this? The guy probably already said it while he was strolling down memory lane.

     Jack watched the slate-gray wings of the angel speaking as he walked slowly down the line of new recruits away from him, turn sharply, and start walking, a bit brisker now, in his direction. Everyone else watched him nervously as he charged up the isle of angels, visibly in a different mood than moments ago. Jack tried to shrink back into the line of angels and appear innocent, but the speaker only came closer.

     He stopped in front of the white-haired newcomer, leaned forward slightly, and in a quiet voice laced with annoyance, he asked, “And what is your name, recruit?”

     Jack swallowed but tried to keep an unwavering expression, “Jack Frost.”

     “Jack Frost what?”

     “That’s it. That’s my whole name”

     “Jack Frost, sir, you mean,” he leaned back and Jack straightened his posture after having been unconsciously leaning back, “Well, Cadet Frost, can you answer me one question? Why do you think it’s appropriate to interrupt my orientation, with such language, nonetheless?”

     Shit, Jack thought to himself, Did I say that out loud? He decided to play clueless.

     “Um-… what?” he asked with a forged expression of confusion. This earned him a knowing glare from the official. Instead of saying anything else to Jack, the speaker turned to continue walking down the line, speaking now with a less-welcoming tone.

     “Cadet Frost brought up an excellent point. RULES. I should mention a few of the rules that you will be expected to follow at all times. Rule 1: Watch the language. You are in Heaven for Pete’s sake people! Show a little respect to the Lords and Ladies of this realm. You will NOT take their names in vain. I’m hoping this is the last time I have to say this, as this should be common knowledge by now.” Jack rolled his eyes, sure that rule was mentioned just for him.

     “Rule 2: You will report to your direct officer to which you are assigned. They will be in charge of your general training and, when you graduate to Level 2, giving you your assignments. You will follow their orders and receive reward and punishment from them.

     “Rule 3: No archer, at any time, under any circumstance, is permitted to fall in love. It does not matter to whom your affections are directed, human or spirit, you WILL report to Lord Cupid and you WILL be punished. What the consequences are I cannot say, because I do not know myself. This law has never been broken since Lord Cupid established it and WILL NOT be broken henceforth. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?”

     Every Cadet nodded definitively at that.

     After the orientation, every angel in line was given the name of their direct officer, and directed towards a line of corresponding buildings. Upon closer inspection Jack noticed that the buildings were actually quite small, about the size of a garden shed. As he came closer to them, he noticed that what looked like lead-colored concrete from a distance was actually quite the opposite of concrete. The walls were storm-clouds. Seemingly-lighter-than-air walls were in fact fairly strong since the doors were beautifully carved rose-wood, with a matching sign hanging just above. The words on the sign were mostly obvious surnames, except for one, which was the name of a fish.

     “Haddock? What kind of last name is that?” Jack wondered out-loud as he sauntered over to his new barracks, bow resting over his shoulder casually.

     A voice behind answered, “It’s MY kind of last name, cadet”

     Jack turned to face a smallish boy with dark auburn hair and a glossy red ribbon wound around what should have been his lower-left leg. His mottled-brown feathered wings told Jack that despite his younger appearance, this spirit was actually his superior. Angel-with-the-name-of-a-fish promptly added, “The full name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III but you may address me as either Haddock or Sir” before he flipped through a couple sheets on his clipboard until he pointed at something to show Jack. “Is this you?” he asked pointing to some small print of the page.

     “Frost, Jack: Cadet Level 1” “Yeah”

     “Well then welcome to the team!” Hiccup announced with a small salute. Jack mirrored the salute just before Hiccup added, “I’m sure it will be ice knowing you,” then turning on his heel to proceed greeting the other newcomers.