Nightshade Academy | Episode 8 | Selection Material (Audio)

I vow to serve with an intensity of purpose worthy to the Guardian Force there were no weekends at the Academy sometimes it was hard for Yoshi to believe there were days at all with the schedule so monotonous sleeping felt like taking a nap a brief pause in one never-ending cycle as he trudged down the dimly lit hallway his eyelids drooped and his steps faltered he struggled to keep Pace with pinto whose lanky frame glided effortlessly through the air why do you look so tired your eye bags are getting darker every day every day how many days has it been even it's day 14. there's no way we're two weeks in we are I've been counting that means our first matches are tomorrow aren't they that's right and perhaps you would have remembered the filtration if you've been getting enough sleep you realize how irresponsible it is to stay up past the night Bell right with a schedule like hours we need rest for our bodies just so you know it's your snoring that's been keeping me up my what you're snoring I do not snore Yoshi how would you know you're unbearable you know that Yoshi smiled it was during moments like these when he felt like himself again Pinto didn't know about his involvement in the incident or his obsessive investigation that followed he knew a simpler version of yashi the boy from before China's murder and it was refreshing but soon enough they were always back in the lecture hall the lab or the training room back in the program and Yoshi couldn't play the role of an ordinary 15 year old anymore the roommates parted ways in the lecture hall and Yoshi took his assigned seat morning Sana good morning you look happy I may have spent the entire night perfecting my personal essay he pulled a stack of pages out of his book bag wow that is a lot of writing 11 pages and I had to shorten it too where to begin with a prompt like that right Yoshi hesitated to retrieve his essay after spending three days of recreation time agonizing over every sentence he had completed the assignment with pride but sana's effortless paper of Greater length instilled Yoshi with doubts about the quality of his own work the bell rang and all 20 trainees stood in unison to the McCoy Empire as they took their seats Professor Ember crossed her arms I hope you remembered that your first assignment is due this morning trainees rushed to pull out their personal essays and the room filled with the rapid crinkling of pages the noise subsided once everyone had an assignment in hand Yoshi noticed that his paper appeared to be the shortest The Prompt for this personal essay was for you to write about why you want to become a guardian now before you turn your paper in I want you to think about whether the reason stated on your paper justify the grueling efforts this program demands Yoshi read his first sentence I want to become a guardian so I can protect the vakoi Empire and the values that it stands for his words held no weight and he knew it by now you're familiar with the daily schedule and the work required for you to stay you're two weeks in and there are 76 weeks left to go so can you handle this because if you don't believe that your selection material why the hell should we Professor Ember pointed to the door if you have even the slightest hesitation I encourage you to leave right now your family and Hometown have already received one payment and that alone is something to be proud of Yoshi raised his hand yes Yoshi I thought we could filter ourselves any time before completing nine months in the program that's correct but today I'm opening the door for you just to make that decision easier we understand that there are many external pressures to stay in the program but you shouldn't feel trapped here it's not shameful to leave her words were sweet like those of a siren luring Sailors to their demise with a beautiful tune walking through that doorway would result in a lifelong sentence of mediocrity returning to Citra meant going back to the same life Yoshi had come here to escape selling bread in the market and falling behind in school with no career path and no spectacular dreams I wonder why that doesn't sound so bad a boy in the second row stood from his seat drawing the attention of his classmates the papers in his hand were folded in half it was though he were afraid someone might read them Professor I'd like to leave his words sparked an uproar now really thanks a lot rugin wonderful timing guys calm down Professor Ember stomped her boot against the floor and the room went quiet she returned her gaze to rugin very well I'll get the door for you a guardian is waiting in the common room to escort you home Yoshi found it interesting that the Guardians had already made preparations when Professor Ember opened the door for ruken limbo stood slamming his palms against his desk don't you dare leave rugin Pinto stood next wait a few days at least krugin held his head low as he rushed out of the lecture room taking his folded Essay with him his footsteps echoed from the hallway Yoshi couldn't recall much about rugin not his hometown favorite class or roommate but he did remember how he would sit alone in the dining hall fall asleep during lessons and avoid eye contact with anyone who looked his way he had been slipping and now he was gone anyone else Yoshi thought of allura's yellow mittens tucked away in his drawer he thought of the woods and of Chima he thought of what it might be like to serve in the force someday dressed in the same uniform as cow working for the same cause a chill ran down his spine what an idiot hey we all saw it coming but not this soon what am I thinking I'd be a cowardly this early into the program Professor Ember closed the door and Yoshi's side life was easier without excessive questioning and besides he'd grown used to the routine if he could handle two weeks despite how challenging it been perhaps he really could handle another 76. Professor Ember made rounds throughout the room to collect their personal essays she took son as paper with a smile which she dropped before taking Yoshi's he longed for her to acknowledge him to tell him that he was on the right track but she returned to her desk without a glance today we'll be reviewing the events that led to the atheros war obviously the Eastern raids forced us to take down the Eastern Empire but what led them to raid Us in the first place Yoshi scrambled for his notebook and pencil he had sat through many lectures covering the same topic before but he still wrote until his hand cramped up he couldn't risk forgetting even the smallest of details with rugen gone and 19 trainees remaining it finally sunk in that most of them wouldn't make the final five getting selected was only a warm-up for the battle ahead Yoshi took a sip of beet juice and cringed at the bitter taste he set his glass down okay what's wrong nothing pinzo had been silent all lunch responding with one or two words at a time not wanting to pry yeah she left it at that after spying practice with Commander Roz into horseback riding lesson in the field Pinto vanished Yoshi ate supper alone and later walked in on his roommate hurling a textbook at the wall ah Pinto grunted when the book struck the ground as though he'd taken the fall instead really Pinto he shut the door behind him what's wrong oh everything's wrong Pinto blopped onto his bed and ran a hand through his curls rugin just took off and left this morning that's what you're upset about he was miserable in the program he didn't belong here exactly he was dead weight the weakest link if he had slugged himself through another day one lucky trainee would have had an easy match tomorrow but now we all have to fight our hearts out except for quacks I guess that's what the fuss was about this morning it's not Ruben's responsibility to give us an easy match of course not it's just unfortunate okay the smaller our group gets the more competitive the program becomes you're taking this a pit too seriously well if you were in my shoes you'd understand what's that supposed to mean this is more than a game to me I'm not here to just give this a good go being a guardian is all I've dreamed of it's the only fulfilling career path I can imagine for myself and I don't have a backup plan without a spot on the force what would I do then Yoshi saw something in pinto that he couldn't find in himself and it left him speechless ah sorry I'm being ridiculous aren't I acting bitter isn't going to fix anything no it's okay you're not the only one that's been frustrated but it's the frustrated trainees like rugen who get filtered first I need to pull myself together you're fine no I'm not slipping you're not slipping he was arguing more for himself than for his roommate as part of him had wanted to leave that morning too pinzo opened his mouth but no words came out he reached for The Notebook on his nightstand to write instead of talk his pencil rolled across the page in a smooth endless flow you've been writing in that book every day I've decided to document my time with the academy but you have a perfect memory I think those pencil paused over the page it's not for me he shook his head before resuming Yoshi considered asking whom it was for but decided against it I'm heading to the library to study would you like to join me I think I'll sleep early are you sure I'm sure okay well good night then he left room four and entered the lobby in unison with Sana who was holding a stack of folded uniforms oh hey Yoshi you caught me I'm moving out moving out like you're leaving no not like that there's only 18 guys left so I'm reassigned to room 3 with limbo you know rugen told roommate oh of course it's getting late what are you up to I was planning to catch up on some medical reading darts what do you want to throw darts send a gestured to a target with his eyes um sure after delivering the stack of uniforms to his new room send a returned to the lobby and plucked the dart from a tin can he stood across from the nearest wall Target and threw his first start which Struck One of the outer rims with a smirk he faced Yoshi your turn Yoshi threw a dart next it struck one room closer to the red Bullseye than sun has had nice one Sona grabbed another Dart and stepped aside lining himself across from an empty Target so how are you liking the academy so far I'm not sure if like is the right word how are you loving the academy so far yeah she chuckled as Santa through his second Dart oh Bullseye does that mean you automatically win I think so I guess we're tight now looks like it this might be a close match let's hope or not paired up in the filtration too he broke eye contact and began to toss the dart from hand to hand how are you feeling about the first face are you ready I'm not sure if Freddy is the right word are you excited no not really yeah she had a feeling something was bothering him so he took a seat and waited hey you know what's odd what I think quacks and KO love the program everything about it the training the studying the competition it's got them hooked how about you I enjoyed some parts just scattered pieces here and there do you think that's wrong why would it be because ruken didn't love the program and now he's gone the next day every trainee except quacks gathered by the sparring range Yoshi Stood Beside Dice and recalled how pinto and quacks had revealed them to be converts during their first research lesson he had been so upset that he practically ignored dice during medical class and declined his invitation to sit with him for lunch hey dice what I'm sorry if I was rude to you it's fine you shouldn't enjoy your time here anyway why not the bell rang and Commander Ross interrupted their conversation this filtration will consist of three phases space three days apart for each phase you will have one sparring opportunity if you fail to win a match after three phases you will be filtered from the program he readied his stopwatch today we have nine matches scheduled starting with yashi Kanya and Keo Pickett please enter the sparring range ah here we go he walked onto the green zone dreading what he knew would be a difficult match he had seen KO transform into a different person during defense lessons skilled in both technique and strength Yoshi was confident that the click of Commander Roz's stopwatch would transform the Deep dimpled jokester into nothing but a ruthless weapon with a brain you may begin but instead the click of the stopwatch morphed KO into the image of Chima bloody and bashed Yoshi could hear a cow's voice as though she was standing next to him muttering into his ear hit him yasi what are you waiting for but he's already bleeding he needs to know he can't win you went too far I did what I had to do and so should you to stay in the program you need to win maybe I don't want to win either you win or you end up like him oh a punch to Yoshi's face left him reeling when he raised his stinging chin KO was back with each attack from KO came a Swift Dodge from Yoshi he waited for a chance to reverse the momentum but KO drilled on relentlessly it was only a matter of time before the constant ducks and Dodges war on him and he could no longer evade he started to block Ko's punches sending shocks of pain through his arms KO bypassed one of yashi's weakening blocks and kicked him in the gut Yoshi lost balance his back slammed against the sparring range floor and he grunted his KO pinned him down he punched Yoshi with a force that left him wishing he'd landed in the block Zone when Yoshi tried to wiggle free KO struck him again a third hit made Yoshi's face burn and the pressure on his chest left him struggling to breathe I can't win silver another hit that's enough while the matches continued Yoshi iced his face alone in the infirmary a bland room across the lab on the fifth floor inside were three beds an ice chest and endless cabinets stocked with medical supplies he was sitting on the edge of a bed shivering in silence when Professor Ember entered the room Yoshi I finished your paper she dragged a chair in front of him and took a seat to be frank it's repetitive and generic I expected more from you I'm sorry Professor don't apologize fix it she tossed the papers at his lap you have three days I want you to write me a new paper with the same prompt and if it's not up to my standards we're sending you home you mean I'll get filtered being a guardian is not something you fall into out of circumstance even an ounce of hesitation will destroy you in our field of work you need to want this fully and truly there is no space for regret so you need to really dig Yoshi you need to dig and you need to find a reason why you bleed to stay here she leaned forward casting a shadow over him so rewrite this and if it's not Rewritten well we'll know that you were never selection material in the first place because unlike what Roz may have told you sometimes we do make mistakes [Music] Belladonna book one Nightshade Academy written and narrated by Mel Tori Franca produced by Mel Tori Franca and Wilson Hensley edited and Mastered by Juan Pablo Diaz something went wrong we worked hard for this life that we don't want it all cover art by mad Studio score by G depita azri theme song composed and produced by James Sinclair Stott starring Jason Brown Anthony Andreas echeveri Philip kryianov Melissa white Alex Bowie Patrick verzba Julia risto David John vores Connor Blanc Cody Keel Ellie Chua Ben Autry Walter Mack [Music] with us if it's really true Rose living stores featuring the voices of Gwyneth Evans Jeff Rosenau Lucas Hensley Levi Titus Angie Eggers Willem dagar Allison Prophet Maria palmo Knight shield Academy is produced in association with Lost Island press if it's really true if it's really true