At five the next day, the sounds of people shouting and boots stomping roused Yuki from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes and she sat up in the twin sized bed. Beside her, under the sheets, were Ember and Akira. Ember had her face smushed into a pillow while Akira was holding Yuki’s arm.
Yuki carefully extracted her arm from Akira’s grasp and slipped out from the bed. She made sure to not disturb the two peacefully sleeping girls. She considered going to the kitchens to eat an early breakfast, but her body didn’t feel hungry.
Slipping outside of the visitor room, she went outside to observe the morning routines of the guards of the outpost. They were doing exercises to warm up for the day. She looked at the uniforms they wore, noticing distinct outlines in them as if something was embedded between the fabric.
‘Armor?’ she thought. ‘Or if this is training, weights?’
She watched them as they did a variety of exercises. It went on for quite some time, somewhere around thirty minutes. Barely any of them seemed to have broken out any sort of sweat.
After that, they were sent to the kitchens where Yuki presumed they ate their breakfast before heading out to their assignments. Yuki went back to the visitor rooms to kill some time before Marcus came to guide them to whatever transport they would be taking.
As she thought about the guards, she wondered what training was like when they were in their dragon forms. They must do it outside of the outpost since there wasn’t nearly enough room for them all to transform.
‘What kind of exercises do they do?’
She only knew about things related to magic when it came to dragons. Sophie was only concerned about that part of Yuki’s training as Yuki wouldn’t have been able to fight as a dragon in the arena.
With her thoughts shifting, she considered any questions she should ask the Dragon Council when she met them. She wondered if she should ask about Sophie and what her history was. Sophie wasn’t very open when it came to herself and Yuki was never the type to pry.
‘I do want to know what she was like better. Then I could honor her better.’
In the visitor room, Ember had awoken, sitting up on the bed with a sleepy expression on her face. When she saw Yuki return, her eyes lit up and she gave her a small smile.
“Watching the morning routine?” she asked.
“Yeah. It woke me up and I was a bit curious,” Yuki replied. “What are they wearing? Is it armor?”
“No. It’s just weights,” Ember said. “They do have armour, but that’s for emergencies. Most of the time, they wear mail.”
“Mail?”
“Not the heavy kind. It’s something we made. Super lightweight. You barely notice it. It’s like a second shirt basically.”
“That seems really useful.”
“It’s good for light protection. Blocks against slashes and gives some resistance to stabs and projectiles. But it’s not something to rely on.”
“Of course. Is there a way for me to get one of them?” Yuki asked. “I would love to examine it.”
“Maybe in the city. I could get you one for free with my position and all. I can’t let you have any in this outpost since they have a limited amount.”
“I look forward to it then.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Not particularly, no,” Yuki said with a shake of her head. “Are you?”
“No. Dinner was enough for me.”
“Then we wait for the others to wake up?”
“Yeah,” Ember nodded. “What do you want to do? There isn’t much to do in this place when you’re not a guard.”
“Is that why you go on patrols sometimes?” Yuki asked, remembering how well Ember knew the surrounding forest.
“Yup. Whenever I come to an outpost, I go around to check that everything is going well then go on patrol for a bit. It’s usually a day per outpost.”
“Do you go out to outposts often?”
“No. It’s usually once a year unless I get reports that I need to attend to,” Ember said. “Other than that, it’s just an annual check. The order I go in changes every year and when I do the check changes as well.”
“How often do you need to reprimand someone?” Yuki said.
“Not often nowadays. Once in a while, I would just remind the commanders if they’re being too lax in certain areas, but I haven’t needed to reprimand anyone for a few decades.”
“You must be a good leader then,” “Yuki smiled.
“I try to be. There are always days where you doubt yourself though.”
“Always. But being able to work with those doubts is a sign of a good leader.”
“I hope. Anyway, are we just going to be talking about leadership for the next hour?” Ember asked. “It’s a pretty dry topic.”
“We can talk about something else.”
“Have any ideas?”
“Sure. The cities. Where you raised,” Yuki replied. They sat down on a pair of chairs. “I’ve always been curious about how dragons lived and how they grew.”
“I can talk about that,” Ember nodded. “Though, you do have to know before I say anything that how I was raised is a bit different from the norm.”
“I would expect so given your position and all that.”
“Alright. Where to begin…”
They chatted for the next hour, Ember recalling her childhood with animated gestures and expressions as Yuki listened intently. It was all very new to her. The cities, the ideals, everything. Dragons lived very different lives than elves.
When they finished, Akira was waking up and Yuki assumed that Yuna was as well. They still had a bit of time before Marcus said he was coming, so they continued to chat, the topic of their conversation shifting this way and that way. Akira joined in here and there, disappearing for a bit to grab something to eat.
They were interrupted by a knock on the door around the time Marcus had said he would be taking them. Ember answered and there was Marcus just as he had said.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“We’ve been ready. Let’s go. Did you get the others?”
“Yeah. They’re all together outside. I found them getting food from the kitchen.”
“Perfect.”
Yuki followed Ember, Akira with her, as Marcus led them out. The rest were outside and joined them while Marcus walked toward a building at the back of the outpost.
“How are we going to travel?” Yuki asked, directing her question to Ember.
“We’re going to be doing what everyone does for long distance travel,” Ember smiled.
“Well, we flew here, so.”
“Besides that. We’ll be teleporting,” she said.
“With transporters?”
“No, none of that nonsense. The elves might be fond of their machines, but they’re not very good. Too much energy and too slow. The only reason they use those things is because they need something to supplement their magic.”
“So we’re going just with a spell?” Yuki asked. She never knew such a thing was possible.
“Exactly,” Ember said. She raised a brow. “Did you think the elves discovered how to teleport all by themselves?”
At five the next day, the sounds of people shouting and boots stomping roused Yuki from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes and she sat up in the twin sized bed. Beside her, under the sheets, were Ember and Akira. Ember had her face smushed into a pillow while Akira was holding Yuki’s arm.
Yuki carefully extracted her arm from Akira’s grasp and slipped out from the bed. She made sure to not disturb the two peacefully sleeping girls. She considered going to the kitchens to eat an early breakfast, but her body didn’t feel hungry.
Slipping outside of the visitor room, she went outside to observe the morning routines of the guards of the outpost. They were doing exercises to warm up for the day. She looked at the uniforms they wore, noticing distinct outlines in them as if something was embedded between the fabric.
‘Armor?’ she thought. ‘Or if this is training, weights?’
She watched them as they did a variety of exercises. It went on for quite some time, somewhere around thirty minutes. Barely any of them seemed to have broken out any sort of sweat.
After that, they were sent to the kitchens where Yuki presumed they ate their breakfast before heading out to their assignments. Yuki went back to the visitor rooms to kill some time before Marcus came to guide them to whatever transport they would be taking.
As she thought about the guards, she wondered what training was like when they were in their dragon forms. They must do it outside of the outpost since there wasn’t nearly enough room for them all to transform.
‘What kind of exercises do they do?’
She only knew about things related to magic when it came to dragons. Sophie was only concerned about that part of Yuki’s training as Yuki wouldn’t have been able to fight as a dragon in the arena.
With her thoughts shifting, she considered any questions she should ask the Dragon Council when she met them. She wondered if she should ask about Sophie and what her history was. Sophie wasn’t very open when it came to herself and Yuki was never the type to pry.
‘I do want to know what she was like better. Then I could honor her better.’
In the visitor room, Ember had awoken, sitting up on the bed with a sleepy expression on her face. When she saw Yuki return, her eyes lit up and she gave her a small smile.
“Watching the morning routine?” she asked.
“Yeah. It woke me up and I was a bit curious,” Yuki replied. “What are they wearing? Is it armor?”
“No. It’s just weights,” Ember said. “They do have armour, but that’s for emergencies. Most of the time, they wear mail.”
“Mail?”
“Not the heavy kind. It’s something we made. Super lightweight. You barely notice it. It’s like a second shirt basically.”
“That seems really useful.”
“It’s good for light protection. Blocks against slashes and gives some resistance to stabs and projectiles. But it’s not something to rely on.”
“Of course. Is there a way for me to get one of them?” Yuki asked. “I would love to examine it.”
“Maybe in the city. I could get you one for free with my position and all. I can’t let you have any in this outpost since they have a limited amount.”
“I look forward to it then.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Not particularly, no,” Yuki said with a shake of her head. “Are you?”
“No. Dinner was enough for me.”
“Then we wait for the others to wake up?”
“Yeah,” Ember nodded. “What do you want to do? There isn’t much to do in this place when you’re not a guard.”
“Is that why you go on patrols sometimes?” Yuki asked, remembering how well Ember knew the surrounding forest.
“Yup. Whenever I come to an outpost, I go around to check that everything is going well then go on patrol for a bit. It’s usually a day per outpost.”
“Do you go out to outposts often?”
“No. It’s usually once a year unless I get reports that I need to attend to,” Ember said. “Other than that, it’s just an annual check. The order I go in changes every year and when I do the check changes as well.”
“How often do you need to reprimand someone?” Yuki said.
“Not often nowadays. Once in a while, I would just remind the commanders if they’re being too lax in certain areas, but I haven’t needed to reprimand anyone for a few decades.”
“You must be a good leader then,” “Yuki smiled.
“I try to be. There are always days where you doubt yourself though.”
“Always. But being able to work with those doubts is a sign of a good leader.”
“I hope. Anyway, are we just going to be talking about leadership for the next hour?” Ember asked. “It’s a pretty dry topic.”
“We can talk about something else.”
“Have any ideas?”
“Sure. The cities. Where you raised,” Yuki replied. They sat down on a pair of chairs. “I’ve always been curious about how dragons lived and how they grew.”
“I can talk about that,” Ember nodded. “Though, you do have to know before I say anything that how I was raised is a bit different from the norm.”
“I would expect so given your position and all that.”
“Alright. Where to begin…”
They chatted for the next hour, Ember recalling her childhood with animated gestures and expressions as Yuki listened intently. It was all very new to her. The cities, the ideals, everything. Dragons lived very different lives than elves.
When they finished, Akira was waking up and Yuki assumed that Yuna was as well. They still had a bit of time before Marcus said he was coming, so they continued to chat, the topic of their conversation shifting this way and that way. Akira joined in here and there, disappearing for a bit to grab something to eat.
They were interrupted by a knock on the door around the time Marcus had said he would be taking them. Ember answered and there was Marcus just as he had said.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“We’ve been ready. Let’s go. Did you get the others?”
“Yeah. They’re all together outside. I found them getting food from the kitchen.”
“Perfect.”
Yuki followed Ember, Akira with her, as Marcus led them out. The rest were outside and joined them while Marcus walked toward a building at the back of the outpost.
“How are we going to travel?” Yuki asked, directing her question to Ember.
“We’re going to be doing what everyone does for long distance travel,” Ember smiled.
“Well, we flew here, so.”
“Besides that. We’ll be teleporting,” she said.
“With transporters?”
“No, none of that nonsense. The elves might be fond of their machines, but they’re not very good. Too much energy and too slow. The only reason they use those things is because they need something to supplement their magic.”
“So we’re going just with a spell?” Yuki asked. She never knew such a thing was possible.
“Exactly,” Ember said. She raised a brow. “Did you think the elves discovered how to teleport all by themselves?”
