Heron Muryh hastily donned his clothes. He had spent too much time shaving off the pathetic whiskers that had started growing on his upper lip and chin. He also spent too much time waxing and styling his hair so that it fell perfectly somewhere between dishevelled and tidy. 

He chose his clothes carefully: a white shirt with red highlights, tan cut-off pants, and white sneakers. He dabbed a bit of cologne on his neck, hoping it would be enough to mask the inevitable sweat in the Season of Fire’s heat. He put on a grey flat cap to complete his look.

He checked his easel before he ran off, making sure that his painting was well on its way to drying. He made sure the windows were latched too, an errant wind could ruin his art as easily as a shaking hand. Once everything was secure, he bolted out the door and half-ran down the stairs, across the living room and almost ran over his mom.

“Whoa!” she yelled. “What’s the rush?”

“I’m late!”

“Well, that’s your fault! Be careful, please!”

“Yes, mom!” But he was already out the door before she could say anything else.

The Town Square was quite a bit of distance from his home and he would normally have to take the Circuit Tram to get there. Unfortunately, as he came up to the waiting shed, he was met with the sight of the vehicle already turning the corner.

“Oh, rotter!” he muttered, the foul curse rolling easily off his tongue. He glanced behind him reflexively to see if his mom heard him but, of course, he was already out of the house so he was safe. 

He couldn’t afford to be late, especially considering that they wouldn’t wait for him. He knew Krystal certainly wouldn’t mind if he were left behind, and normally he wouldn’t push. However, his forefathers would be turning in their graves if he let some cutesy-pie, baby-faced outsiders get the better of him.

He didn’t want to arrive there soaked in sweat so, pondering his dilemma, he opted to brisk walk towards the next waiting shed. He knew that if he tried to walk there, he’d definitely be late. If he ran, he’d get there stinking of sweat. If he walked fast, he might only be a little bit late. 

Thankfully, a couple of blocks later, at the waiting shed, another tram was pulling up. He boarded, paid, and tried to freshen up while he waited for the vehicle to get there. After wiping the sweat off his face, he fanned himself with his handkerchief, but it was really getting too warm. 

At the town square, a quarter of an hour later, he saw that she wasn’t there yet. Heaving a sigh of relief, he walked up to the monument, noting with some disdain that the twins were already there along with Millie and Zeyn. 

The merchant girl was chatting up one of the twins. Although their faces were identical, their physiques and complexions were different. If he remembered correctly, Orrin was the thinner and paler twin. Millie was chatting with Braden, Zeyn, seated on a bench, was looking at her bottom while trying to be innocuous, while Orrin looked like he was lost in thought while he sat on a different bench.

A tall lavan tree provided shade for the benches nearby, so at least the heat wasn’t so bad. An errant breeze blew through the square every now and then, ruffling his hair and clothes.

“Good day,” He greeted, nodding to Zeyn who didn’t even look at him--some friend he was--and Millie, who gave him a knowing look. 

“Hello, Heron!” Braden chirped with a wave. “Are you well?”

“Good enough.”

“Hello,” Orrin said, but soon returned to his own study.

Heron sat beside Zeyn. Neither boy spoke a word. Heron leaned back and watched the leaves flutter while waiting. About a minute later, Ishika, Danika, and Krystal came up to the benches, waving hellos.

“You’re here,” Krystal said flatly.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Isn't this class bonding?”

Krystal snorted then flashed him a smirk, “You keep thinking that.”

Heron shrugged. “We all want to get to know our future teammates. Our lives may be on the line here.”

Soon, that idiot Mikel arrived, followed by Janus. There was only one boy from their batch who wasn’t present: Alric Burrow. But he hadn’t been attending any of the training hall’s classes the entire week anyway and neither had Ashley Gin, for that matter. That meant the only one they were waiting for was Yuriko.

And there she was, crossing the road. Unexpectedly, she was wearing a dress just like the other girls. Her hair wasn’t held in its usual ponytail and her pale skin seemed to glow as if it held an inner fire. His heart skipped a beat as the breeze made the bottom of her dress flutter, showing off more of her bare legs than he expected to see. 

“Ancestors…” Zeyn whispered beside him and Heron nodded subconsciously.

“I see I’ve made you all wait,” she said when she was in front of them, “I apologize.” She swept an errant strand of hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear.

“Not at all,” Braden said a bit hoarsely. 

“Tsk.” Heron looked away. He could feel her eyes on him for a second before she looked away.

“Well, let’s go!” Krystal said as she jumped up from her seat. The whole flock of them followed her with Heron and Zeyn bringing up the rear.

“I’m sure our sleepy little town must seem boring to you two,” Krystal started, “Cierra is at the border of Haveena City after all? Do you go there often?”

Braden chuckled. “Not so much. Imperial citizens aren’t that welcome outside of the Empire but Orrin and I were brought around by our uncle. He’s a trader.”

“Haveena has walls,” Orrin said, “our settlements don’t. That’s one of the biggest differences. They don’t have as good Animatech either. Would you believe they still use horses to pull carriages and wagons?”

“Really? How rustic.” Millie rubbed her chin. “They don’t use landcraft at all?”

“Well, they do. Just not a lot of it. I think it’s because very few of them surpass Novice level in Anima Strength, so using landcraft, or any Animatech isn’t as easy for them.”

“But it is much bigger than Faron’s Crossing of course. The number of people on one avenue there would fill this road end to end.” Braden scuffed his feet on the sidewalk, kicking a small pebble that bounced into a yard, setting off a sleeping dog that barked at them when it woke. Heron winced at the noise, but nobody else seemed to mind.

“What did your uncle trade in?” Millie interrupted.

“Oh, all sorts of things. Spices, mostly, I think.” Braden replied.

“Family name?”

“Foster.”

“Ah! Your family owns the Foster Trading Group?”

“Our uncle mostly runs it.”

All of the girls were surrounding the twins, much to Heron’s irritation. At least Yuriko wasn’t fawning over them. She was only listening with half an ear, from what he could tell, lost in thought. He knew she hadn’t inlaid her Facet yet, otherwise, their spars would not have ended up in a stalemate.

“What can I do?” he muttered.

“What was that?” Zeyn asked.

“Hmm? Nothing.”

“Oh. Well, I must say our princess has been growing more beautiful by the day. And look at Zorin’s bottom, wow! I want to pinch them!”

“Wipe the drool off your mouth,” Heron said drily. 

“Heh heh. I don’t really think I have a chance but looking is free.”

“Don’t let them hear you say that unless you want to be crushed.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how you can take sparring with her every day.”

All of them had, at one point, faced each other in the ring and the reason Heron was often her partner was that none of the others could last longer than a few seconds. Of the whole lot, there were only two or three of them whose Facet had a direct effect on combat, one more if Mikel stopped being a coward. He supposed being the daughter of a Knight-Captain gave Yuriko a well-rounded education on battle and survival. Despite his ranged speciality, Knight-Captain Davar wouldn’t have survived to be a Knight-Captain if he didn’t have an answer to close-quarters combat. 

The girls led the outsider twins to several points of interest in the town, namely the Artisan’s Lane, the General Traders’ Area, and the Gardens which doubled as a play park. The Temple and town hall were in the Square.

Krystal and Millie did most of the talking, to the twins at least. Ishika and Danika chatted with each other though Heron didn’t care enough to listen. Yuriko spent most of the stroll looking about absently, lost in thought. She resisted being drawn into conversation by the twins, answering in one or two syllables much to Heron’s relief. 

When it got too hot, the group made their way to the Olde Sweet Shoppe where they sat at a long table. There were a dozen of them, with an equal number of boys and girls, and though Heron would have preferred an alternating seating arrangement, Millie had the boys sit on one side and all the girls took their places across them. 

Heron found himself seated beside Braden and Zeyn in the middle of the table, and directly across him was Millie. Yuriko sat across Orrin who was beside his twin at the end of the table, Krystal was between Yuriko and Millie. 

“So, uhm,” Braden started, “I said I would pay for lunch but I thought it would only for these two ladies.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Millie grinned, “we’ll pay for ourselves. No need to strain your coin purse.”

“Hmmph.” Heron snorted. “If you’re too cheap to pay for the ladies, I’ll do it.”

“Oh, wow. Really?” Krystal said with a smirk. “Rich boy.”

“Ah, we don’t mind paying actually,” Braden said while glancing at Yuriko.

She had an amused eyebrow raised but didn’t comment.

“No, I’ll cover it.” 

“I insist. It’s the reason we had this little outing after all.”

The two of them were now glaring at each other, hostility thick in the air.

“It’s unfair to make either of you pay for everyone,” Yuriko said after an awkward silence. “Please, let’s just eat. Everyone expects to pay for their own meal. Except Krystal here.”

The last part was said practically under her breath but Heron still caught it.

“Fine.” Heron acquiesced. 

“Well, let us pay for the two of you anyway,” Orrin insisted.

“Alright!” Krystal chirped and then pinched Yuriko’s waist so she squeaked instead of protesting. 

A waiter walked up to their table. “Today for lunch service we have roast beef with a side of buttered corn, Haveenian-style glazed chicken with biscuits, or baked bass with fresh vegetables. All come with your choice of dessert.”

Heron chose the beef course with honey cake. While he waited for the food, he eavesdropped on the conversations around him.

“So, what brought the two of you over?” Krystal asked. “Surely you could have joined a nearer training camp, or foregone it entirely?”

“I’m not sure, actually,” Braden answered easily, “It was our uncle’s idea.”

“What’s it like living on the border with another nation?” Yuriko asked idly.

“Not much different from here, I’d think. We have a border guard instead of a militia but that’s about it,” Braden continued. “Oh, a lot of trade goes through our village, both from the Empire and from the City-States. Quite a number of travellers and there are as many inns at Cierra as here.”

After listening for a while, Heron just tuned out the words. He wasn’t that curious about the Cierrans and he was worried for his father. He abruptly realized that Yuriko’s father was also on that mission.

“Yuriko,” he wanted to be sure, “did your father leave also?”

“Yes, he did,” she answered easily and with pride. “It’s a mission to stop the Wyldling Wave.”

“I see. My father left also.” He rubbed his forehead, “I hope they return soon.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll be safe.”

“My dad and Mikel’s mom went, too,” Krystal said quietly. “They’ll be back safe.”

“May the Ancestors’ Will guide them,” Heron said. The others repeated the benediction.

Soon the food arrived. When there were but crumbs left on the plates, the dessert course was served. Heron noted with amusement that Yuriko’s eyes lit up at the sight of the sweets and he filed that little tidbit for later use. 

He noticed the twins paying attention to that particular detail, too, but he really couldn’t do anything about it. With some worry, he realized that they had far more access to a variety of sweets than he did. So perhaps it was time to ask for his elder sister’s advice.