Sora sighed, narrowly ducking under the ball of flames which exploded outwards seconds later. Heat seared her face, Silver wincing as she sat alongside her. Raelynn's dragon, Rosa, was at it again – spewing fire left right and centre... at least until Oz cracked out the fire extinguisher for what must have been the seventh time.

"Why did we bring this little flame spewing monster again?" their instructor asked, sighing as he went back to his seat. It was tucked away in the corner of the carriage, the little booth a little ways away from where the rest of them all sat, Oz liking his privacy from his 'nosy' students.

They were travelling in a posher carriage than the first she'd originally rode to get to the Outer City, and Sora was grateful for that. The little four-person booths were slightly larger, the seats having a bit more room. Her tail could just about curl around, the two sets of fins dangling from the edge of the seat. If she'd been sitting on a smaller, thinner, seat she'd have had to sit awkwardly, and she doubted the journey would've been very comfy like that.

Silver didn't seem to mind the extra space her tail took up, merely staring out the window as the scenery went by, claiming that Sora was her human shield against a certain excitable bunny.

"Are we nearly there yet?" Raelynn asked, swinging her legs back and forwards as she sat opposite them.

"Be quiet already, peasant," their least favourite princeling grumbled, looking up from his book to shoot the blonde a glare. "Your incandescent babbling is getting on my nerves."

Silver scoffed. "And your tendency to use irritating words is getting on my nerves, but you haven't heard me complaining loudly about that, have you?"

"Silence, Wintermere."

Raelynn sighed, turning to face the prince who'd been rubbing them all the wrong way ever since he'd appeared. "We really need to remove that stick from up your backside, don't we?"

Leif spluttered. "Excuse me?"

Silver grinned impishly. "We'd have to do an examination though... and see if the damage can be repaired..."

Sora snickered into her hand.

Leif shuffled back, his back pressed snuggly against the cushion, arms at the ready to defend himself from any incoming assaults.

"So..." Raelynn peered over at her silver-haired partner in crime. "Do you think there's actually anything physically lodged up there?"

Silver blinked.

"Raelynn," Oz called, the four of them stiffening as they felt the weight of his stare on them. It didn't matter how many obstacles were in the way, they knew Oz was staring right at them. "There will be no forms of nudity or inappropriate touching while inside this carriage."

"So afterwards is OK?" their favourite blonde asked, a smile blooming on her face.

"No!"

"Aww..."

"You are a complete imbecile, you know that, don't you?" Silver muttered, shaking her head.

"Speaking of inappropriate touching though..." Eir began, glancing at the pair sitting opposite her and her twin. "Shouldn't Oz be doing something about this pair...? Should we be trying to protect our token boy on the team?"

"He's clearly not the token boy if I'm here too!" Leif grumbled, folding his arms as he sat primly in his seat.

"You don't seem like a boy to me... I mean... you sit like some sort of princess..." Eir said, casting a glance at him before turning back to Callum as he was cuddled by a content Beatrice.

"I'm a prince!"

"A lame one at that," Sora added snidely.

"Don't say another word, scale face," Leif hissed.

"Scale face?" Sora muttered. "Was that really the best you could come up with?" Her hands went to her face, absentmindedly stroking at the scales around her eyes.

"Are you trying to say you think I'm a girl?" Leif asked, ignoring Sora, much to her indignation. "I can assure you I—"

"Well," Eir spoke up from across the narrow aisleway. "You could always drop your pants and prove it," she leered, a dark glint in her eye. "I'm not convinced you are a boy..."

"I'm a man, don't get me confused with all you floundering females," he said, arms folded across his chest.

Silver cracked her knuckles. "Imbecile, you're on a team who're practically all girls... I suggest that you don't insult us... because we will get Sora to hit you."

"And last time she smacked you, and you went flying!" Raelynn said, a wide grin curling at her lips. "Though to be honest, I wouldn't mind a repeat performance... I'm bored. Oy, Ozzy! Are we nearly there yet?"

"Call me that again, and you're in for a world of pain when we get back to the Outer City," Oz called, his voice ringing out in the sudden stillness of the train carriage.

"Where are we even going, twin?" Eisa asked, peering out from behind her twin. "I know our delightful instructor said something about the Marshlands, but we can't access them via train, can we?"

"We're stopping by Central City first," Oz informed them. "Now shut up. I'm trying to read."

"Central City...?" Silver mumbled. "As in... the City of Mages?"

"I don't know about you, but I've heard about one Central City," Oz replied snarkily. "Now... I think it's reading time..."

"I guess that's the hint for us to stop talking, then..." Silver mumbled.

"Hmph. Like I wanted to talk with you peasants anyway..."

"What's the big deal about Central City, anyway?" Raelynn asked, slumping in her seat, kicking her feet back and forth as the train continued on its way.

"Oh, nothing, it's nothing," Silver said, waving a hand. "It's not like it's the Sister City to the Outer City... Home of the Mages and the governing body of Astal... It's not important at all, IMBECILE!"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Silver," Sora mumbled, resting her head back against the headrest. "Me and Rae are just a bit uneducated..."

"Peasants usually are."

Silver scowled, turning to snap at Leif. "Don't you start!"