“Nice to meet you, too! Lambo… Lammyco… um, Lambuh…”

  Astra’s cheeks flushed bright red. The last thing the boy wanted was to show a rude first impression, but admittedly he had never met someone with such a long and complicated title before. The girl with fluffy hair had more syllables in her name than his own, his dad’s, and his mom’s all combined! These nobles sure were fancy—even the way they were addressed carried an air of sophistication.

  Lamboclette giggled as Astra’s head spun around in a woozy. “It is quite alright, Astra. My esteemed father told me that the commoners of the gentry pick simple names for themselves because they are lacking the innate smartness and knowledge that comes naturally to we of more distinguished class, and they must be spoken to with elementary words like I would to my beloved pet rhinecat, Missus Scratchkins. But of course that is not your fault! We cannot control where and from whom our blood is descended, or so my tutors say, and that is why it is so very important for us nobles la magnifique to humbly lower ourselves to the level of the citizenry. Do not fret, my new acquaintance Astra! A little lady like myself is well-studied in the Articles of Humility; thus I have devised a most efficient solution to this conundrum of ours.”

  The young boy was practically fighting for his life to follow the little lady’s conversation. It didn’t help that a great many of the words she spoke were the very first time Astra was hearing about them, but nonetheless he remained undaunted and tried to skew together a coherent summary from what he could understand.

  “A solution?” Astra repeated back. It was one of the lessons Papa Henry taught him before the boy had left. If you don’t understand what another fella’s saying, just repeat back the last thing they said and make it sound like a question.

  “Yes, indeed!” Lamboclette excitedly replied. “As I have pledged to adopt the ways of the gentry and think as they do, I will from this moment don a marvelous concept called… a nickname!”

  Astra breathed a sigh of relief. Now this was something he could actually talk about. “Oh, I know about nicknames! That’s a good idea.”

  “It is, isn’t it? My maids and butlers did not agree to it at first, for they thought it to be unmannerly, but I find that type of thinking quite odd because everyone has a nickname. Even my esteemed father who I love and respect calls me his ‘adorable fluffy lamb’ when he comes back from work, though perhaps that might be too casual for first meetings. Thus I shall give myself a more dignified nickname befitting the adult I shall one day aspire to!”

  “The nickname of an adult, huh? Woah… that’s cool. So what is it?”

  She froze. “Pardon?”

  “Well, what’s the name you’re gonna use?”

  The girl fell silent. She slowly turned her head forward, before daintily lifting a finger and then tapping her cheek. “Hm, that is a very good question. Oh dear, oh my. How embarrassing! In the midst of my elation at the thought of receiving a nickname, I have completely forgotten to come up with one!”

  Astra’s jaw dropped wide open. “You haven’t?”

  “Not one! Goodness, how very silly. But I suppose it is most fortunate that I’ve become aware of this mistake now rather than later. Let’s see… hm… oh, this is much more difficult than I thought…”

  Lamboclette furrowed her brow and crossed her arms together, her mind deep in thought, for a long while. Astra heard her mutter a few ideas, but she wasn’t satisfied with any of them. Eventually she gave up and let out a loud groan of defeat.

  “Forgive my slovenly appearance, dearest Astra. My mind is like an empty cloud! I cannot think of anything which might be suitable, for all the names I know are of the Ariestocracy, such as Sheepums, Ramily, Muttonilda, and so on. It is certainly not appropriate for a little lady like myself who hopes to frolic hand in hand with the common gentry.”

  Lamboclette pouted, bringing her knees to her chest as if trying to curl up into a ball—a big fluffy ball of wool. The once bright and confident girl now seemed quite sad. Astra wanted to cheer her up, so he offered to help in his own little way.

  “How about I give it a try?” the boy said.

  Lamboclette peeked at him from behind her pillowy hair. “... Really?”

  “Yep! My dad said I was always the best at naming the animals, except you’re not really an animal so I guess that doesn’t help. But I’ll do my best anyway!”

  Astra tapped his foot and pondered, trying to come up with a suitable name. It couldn’t be too bland like the folks out in the countryside, but not too complicated that it would trip up the other kids. Hm, now that he thought about it… maybe the answer was in front of him all along.

  “How about Colette? I think it's perfect!” Astra exclaimed, nodding in pride. “It’s already part of your original name, anyway. All we had to do was shorten it and now it’s much easier to say.”

  Lamboclette’s eyes sparkled in wonder, and she excitedly sat up, savoring the new name while rocking back and forth in her seat. “You are a delightful genius! Yes, Colette. That shall be my new nickname. Oh gosh, it is so very fun to say! Thank you, dearest Astra.”

  “Of course! Glad to help a friend.”

  “A… friend?”

  Astra’s smile slowly lowered, and he looked down in an embarrassed sulk. “Oh, um, did you not want to be friends with me? I guess I am just a regular farm kid you could find anywhere…”

  The flustered Colette waved her arms around in a panic and tried to lighten Astra’s mood. “Oh, no! Do not lower yourself so, Astra. The fault is mine. You see, I… well, I’ve never had a friend before, so this is all quite new to me.”

  The boy looked up, shocked. “You’ve never had a friend before?”

  “Not around my age, I suppose it would be more accurate to say. Ever since I was but a small babe, I’ve lived in a great big mansion with my esteemed father, and very rarely did I ever receive his permission to go outside. He said it is dangerous out there for a little lady like me. There are bad people who want to hurt us, because he is King of Ariandale and the Aries people, while I am its princess. So for a very long time my only companions were the butlers and the maids, as well as Missus Scratchkins. They did their best so that I wouldn’t feel lonely, but if I must be honest it is quite boring staying inside all day. Thus I wished to become a proper noble and prove to my father that I no longer need to be pampered by him.”

  Astra sagely nodded. “I’d want to leave too if I never got to go outside.”

  “Yes, it was very, very difficult to convince him. Even when I expressed my intention to attend Excelsior Academy, he almost refused saying I was too precious and too frail to attend school, and that upset me so much I threatened to run away from home if he didn’t give me permission to leave!”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  The boy sympathized with Colette’s plight, and also admired how headstrong her will was. Had Astra’s parents refused to support him… he’d probably still be at the farm, repeating the same ole routine day after day and never getting the chance to explore the wider world beyond. In that regard Colette was much stronger than him. He could tell she truly and dearly loved her father; yet nevertheless she stamped her foot down and made her intentions known boldly.

  “Then… am I your first friend?” he said with a toothy grin.

  Colette shifted nervously, before clearing her throat and then uttering a whisper. “If you will have me, then I would be most pleased.”

  Astra suddenly jumped in joy and gave the little lady a big, warm hug, which gave her quite the shock and made her face turn pink. “Oh, oh! This must be the physical affection I’ve heard so much about. I must say it feels quite nice.”

  As he hugged her, Colette’s fluffy hair tickled his nose. He quickly turned away and sneezed, but as he did, Astra fell backward and his head landed right in the very center of her floof. Immediately the boy was greeted by the softest sensation he had ever felt, so warm, and cozy, and comfortable that it was almost frightening. If he let his guard down for even a moment, then Astra would no doubt be lulled to sleep, swaddled in her puffy cloud.

  “Oops, sorry, Colette!” Astra said, scrambling back out of shame. “I didn’t mean to mess up your hair.”

  Contrary to Astra’s concern, Colette laughed and grabbed his hand before placing it atop her head. “It is quite alright, dearest Astra. I am very proud of my wool if you must know. My esteemed father says it is the silkiest in the land, and as you are my first friend I shall give you special permission to pat me whenever you so like.”

  “Really?”

  “I insist!”

  After that, the two new friends were practically inseparable from each other, and they talked about all sorts of things relating to their experiences and their hopes of passing Excelsior Academy’s famous entrance exam. To the sheltered noble from the land of sheep, Astra told stories about his time on the farm, how he’d wander off and explore the forests, the hills, the prairie and everything in between. Colette was fascinated by it all, for she had not the chance to even see a farm before much less a crop field or rivers teeming with fish. She and Astra made a pledge then that, someday, he’d take her on a tour through Bovine Farms personally.

  Opposite to Astra’s rural adventures, Colette remarked on her noble upbringing and the many duties that came with being a royal. Some of it downright horrified him. Apparently Colette was to wake up at a certain time each day, regardless whether it was bright out or not, and then she’d be whisked through a busy schedule that included exactly an hour of bathing, exactly an hour of eating, then many hours of studying which encompassed a wide variety of subjects that Astra had never even heard of before. She even had to take a class about dancing! As if there was a proper way to dance…

  But despite how arduous it seemed to the free-spirited Astra, Colette didn’t mind at all having to do so much. In fact she enjoyed it. However, it also meant she had little opportunity for socializing or meeting other kids her age, which, to a young child bursting with the desire to explore, must've often felt quite stifling. As if she were trapped in a fancy prison.

  There was no need to worry about that any more though, for the two of them were about to embark on a new beginning.

  An hour passed, the pair were as lively as ever, when a loud voice suddenly startled Astra and Colette from above. “Welcome aboard the Voyager, ladies and gents. This is your captain speaking. The final boarding call has just passed, so we’ll begin preparing for takeoff in just a moment. Buckle your seatbelts and make sure you’re firmly secured in place. It’s going to be a bumpy ride as we pass through the planet’s atmosphere; don’t worry if there’s a bit of turbulence at the beginning. This rocket’s designed to handle even a passing meteor storm, so hold on tight, relax, and enjoy the magic of space until we arrive at our destination, Excelsior Academy. Thank you for choosing TASA, and remember: Have a stellar day!”

  Astra spun his head around trying to find the person speaking, but there was no one around! The sound seemed to have come from a metal box up in the capsule’s corner. How exactly it worked, he didn’t know, but he was amazed nonetheless.

  As Astra and Colette followed the voice’s directions and fastened their belts, the ground below them began to wobble and shake, before blaring out in a violent roar which sent everything around them trembling in rough metallic groans.

  Colette yelped out of fright and sunk into her seat. “Oh dear, oh my! I did not expect for this vessel called a ‘rocket ship’ to be so fierce in its launch. My heart pounds as if it’ll leap out of my chest at any second, but… but… it’s all so thrilling!”

  Astra couldn’t help but agree with her. He laughed and shouted in joy as the two’s surroundings gradually became more chaotic, more crazy, until all at once the shaking and the noise stopped. Everything fell to a hush. And then, it came.

  An explosion erupted deep below, sending the giant metal rocket hurtling up, higher, even higher, until the vast lands Astra had lived on all his life faded to a speck amidst a great starry sea. But the boy was too preoccupied at the moment to pay attention outside. The moment the Voyager took off, a heavy weight crushed down on him, sending the corners of his cheeks flapping as his face was squished against the back of his seat. Colette was no different. Her elegant and dignified image quickly disappeared, replaced by a rush of adrenaline the likes she had never experienced before. It was scary. It was wonderful. The two of them screamed at the top of their lungs and raised their arms in cheer.

  “T-T-This is so f-f-fun!” Astra laughed.

  “I must agree, my d-d-dearest friend!” Colette giggled back.

  It was an experience only a rare few could ever be granted, and so Astra treasured every moment of it. Eventually the rocket began to slow and the force weighing him down weakened. Then, a most peculiar thing happened. Astra looked down, only to find his body floating a few inches above his seat.

  “Huh? Woah, this is…”

  The voice inside the metal box blared again, and a bright green symbol depicting a thumbs up popped up on a floating screen, kind of like the ‘3D’ Astra saw back at the airport.

  “Boys and girls, we have officially left the planet’s stratosphere and are now in open space. Feel free to unbuckle and enjoy the wonders of zero gravity. Estimated time of arrival until we reach Excelsior Academy is three hours. Our special TASA thruster technology will take the wheel from here and send us flying at light speed soon. Until then, take a look outside. The planet Terra’s looking really beautiful today. You don’t want to miss this, folks.”

  Astra flailed his arms around, confused, for right now he was tumbling in the air as if he were a bird! A very uncoordinated bird who couldn’t control its flight. Colette tried to appear nonchalant, but it was apparent she was just as baffled by her sudden weightlessness. After a moment though the two grew used to it, and they laughed, bouncing off the walls.

  “Oh goodness me, so that’s what our planet looks like…” Colette whispered while staring out the window. There, she saw a giant spinning orb colored in vast stretches of green and white and an earthy orange. That orb was Terra—their home. “My esteemed father said our planet is much different than the others, for it is covered all over in rock and mountains. But seeing it from here, I… feel so small.”

  Astra laughed, for that was exactly how the boy had felt when Lady Selene showed him a similar view not so long ago. Except back then, there was no ship, no metal rooms or structures. Instead he was simply alone, swathed by the cosmic streaks and nebulae of space’s grand majesty.

  After some time passed, the rocket began to move again, and the planet disappeared in a whizzing blur of light. And it was very, very bright. So bright that Astra and Colette had to flee from the window lest the glow of the passing stars hurt their eyes. From then on, they passed the time as friends would, spending time together and playing to their heart’s content.

  Three hours would ordinarily feel like a long time, but to the two children it passed by quicker than they could react. The stars and the umbral trails of space started to recede. When Astra looked outside, the scenery had changed into one of a rainbow. He saw crystals and swerving trails of milky dust. He saw hundreds of hundreds of tiny moons, each one different in shape and size and color. Glittering comets flashed by, and miniature suns flared in rich rays of red and yellow.

  At the very center of this new bizarre realm was a city so big that it eclipsed even Astra’s home planet in sheer size. The buildings were made of stardust. The ground was paved in clouds. Astra could only stare transfixed at the imposing sight as the rocket zoomed over and prepared to land near a busy station, which stood just ahead of a humongous gate that led to a school that stretched far, far beyond what Astra could see.

  On that gate was a message carved in big, bold letters.

  “Welcome to Excelsior Academy.”