"What was that commotion over there?" Professor Fai asked when they finally crossed the distance.

"Just a minor argument, nothing out of the ordinary," Carth said before Nagan could open his mouth. He didn't need to turn around to know the other was either scowling or smirking, both of which were not ideal. "Where to next? Are we meeting Colonel Warven first?"

"That's what I said, didn't I?" Professor Fai turned and began walking deeper into the camp, trusting that the several sets of footsteps following him were the kids. "Mostly because I honestly have no idea what they're going to do with all of you. I was only told to get you and the supplies to the south."

"What?!" Nagan exclaimed. "They didn't tell you anything?"

"You'd be surprised how much I don't know." Professor Fai didn't bother keeping the resentment from his voice. "I have a better title than most, but the bottom line is, they don't like me. Just because I'm in charge of the 18th company—your company and anyone else who comes out of Carvolier—doesn't mean I'm privy to information I should know."

The teens didn't know what to say to that. Yes, they saw the fights between Professor Fai and General Byteron back at Carvolier, but the rest of the soldiers seemed to like the professor.

Well, Wyvet and Qentor liked him, Nagan noted to himself. Never really saw much of the other ones.

They didn't have to say anything, however, as Professor Fai waved over a soldier walking by. A private, the teens deduced, judging by the insignia on the cloak. Not a Dragonmage, but a mage nonetheless. For Carth and Nagan, it felt odd to be of a higher rank than a man at least half a decade older than them.

"Yes, sir?" the young man asked.

"Do you know if Colonel Warven is available to speak? I'm sure he's a busy man, but I need to report the arrival of the supplies he requested."

"Oh! Yes, in fact, my sergeant just got done speaking with him. He should be available, but I can run ahead and inform him of your arrival, Captain Fai."

Professor Fai waved him off. "No need, thank you. Continue on with your business."

The man saluted before doing just that, but not before sparing a glance at the teens behind the professor. The man minutely raised his brow in question before spotting the insignia on Carth and Nagan's uniforms. His eyes widened before saluting the two of them as well, a little less precise than the one he gave to Fai, before hurrying away.

"Get used to that," Professor Fai said, amused when he saw Carth and Nagan's bewildered reactions. "You're sergeants, so you'll get saluted by the more formal ones."

"Should...we start saluting them, or..." Gath began.

"I don't see a need for it among your group. You all know each other, and it's not as if any power struggles are going on, even between the two of you." Professor Fai directed the last part at the two sergeants. "As far as I'm concerned, you know who your superiors are. Just remember to keep things formal if any of you are ever shifted into other groups."

"Is there a real possibility of us being separated?" Milora asked worriedly.

"Not at the moment. You may be put into larger groups, however, where a lieutenant is in charge. But I don't see a reason why you would be separated. Each of you were hand chosen, work well together, and are honestly the perfect squadron. Two drakons, two dwarns, two elvas, and your placements consist of one stealth, a medic, two combatants, and two messengers. I do have some pointers when it comes to adding Milora to the mix, however."

They all weaved in and out between tents and groups of soldiers. Some were jolly, some were solemn, and others looked dead tired. Nagan didn't think he looked any better than the weary ones. They had been near-constantly on the move for the better part of a month, and before that, it was intense training to make sure they were ready to join the war.

The little figurine now tied around his neck as a pendant pulsed vaguely, and Nagan subconsciously tapped it. It was agreed that he should hold onto the charm since, as a stealth placement and essentially a scout, it has his job to go ahead of them in dangerous situations. He hoped Blaine and the prince made it back safely, but he wasn't too concerned for them. From the Totari's reputation, they were in good, protective hands. His mind quickly snapped back to the impromptu lecture when he heard his name mentioned.

"I was surprised to see Aitor outside the ring alongside Nagan, but I understand why you did it. Gath was maintaining the barrier while Carthadeus casted incantations from the inside. In the future, however, now that you have Milora, I recommend she maintain the barrier while Gath, Icarion, and Aitor work from within the barrier. Gath, assist her when needed. Nagan, Carthadeus, keep within if you can, but I prefer it if you two got the most confrontational. Aitor, help them if they absolutely need it. I'm honestly surprised, but you've adapted your specialty perfectly for capture and restraint, and also as weapons."

"Th—Thank-k y-you, Prof—fessor."

"And if the situation is dire, what do we do?"

"Run," the teens parroted.

"Good, good, but I want specifics."

Carth was the one to answer. "If our dragons aren't present or can't reach us, Nagan will cast his time spell while the rest of us cast every barrier we know of. Send Aitor to connect with Gossamer if Milora's light sparrows can't reach anyone. If the dragons are present, protect the hoard and send for reinforcements using the same messenger's protocol."

"Excellent. And don't you forget those procedures. Oh, and what's the optimal rule?"

"Don't let Nagan be reckless," the teens parroted again, Az the most amused, and Nagan a bit more annoyed.

Professor Fai laughed at that. He continued to shoot off questions about dragons and scenarios for the teens to work through as they walked—just because they were outside Carvolier didn't mean he had to stop their education completely—until they came upon the largest tent they've encountered so far. The tent flap was pulled wide open, and it was clear others were surrounding a single figure behind a desk. Why they bothered dragging a heavy wood desk to the area, Fai didn't know, but he wasn't about to criticize it. Openly, at least.

"Captain Fai!" a voice called out, causing the people around the desk to part. This gave them a clear view of a man with sharp features. Blond hair paler than Nagan's was slicked back, but the front came loose as if the man kept running his hand through it. The man then turned to the others around him. "May we continue this conversion later? This shouldn't take long. Oh, and inform me when General Meixong arrives."

The men around him grumbled a bit, but they cleared the tent as asked, leaving Professor Fai and the teens alone with him along with a couple servants doing things in the background. The man then sighed, slouching down in his chair a bit and running his hand through his hair—which he stopped mid-motion, remembering that it was supposed to stay down. He looked to be about to greet Professor Fai again, properly, but Professor Fai beat him to it.

"Meixong is going to be here?"

The pale blond man stared blankly at Professor Fai before blinking. "Yes? It's a recent development since General—never mind. Meixong took over this area, which makes sense since this is mainly an information-gathering troop. And general border maintenance. Why do you sound surprised?"

"Nothing. I haven't heard from General Meixong in ages, that's all."

Professor Fai walked further into the tent, and the teens followed awkwardly. They weren't exactly instructed on what to do, so, by default, they lined up the same way they did back in Carvolier. They almost thought they did something wrong as the pale-haired man's eyebrows shot up in surprise. That was when he turned back to Professor Fai.

"The Council actually did it, those mad bastards," he said, almost in awe, but Nagan saw how his fists clenched on top of the desk before releasing. "They're all Dragonmages?"

"Indeed they are—four dragons, a wyvern, and an amphithere—but they should be the only ones sent this close to the front. The rest will be stationed in less high-risk areas, which I will be checking on periodically to make sure they stay that way. So, I'll leave these six with you, Colonel Warven." Professor Fai stepped to the side and started from left to right. "Sergeant Carthadeus Honoria, dragon expert and combatant. Second Sergeant Nagania Elvar, Time Mage and stealth combatant. Private Milora Ollengard, light affinity and messenger. Private Icarion Arcloven, medic and Infiniti-in-training. Private Aitor Raumalaude, messenger and nature magic specialty. Private Gathen Farvell, dragon expert and ranged combatant. I'll write up a proper report on each of them and their specialties tonight. I've been a bit too busy to write them while on the road."

"Yes, I heard about that," Colonel Warven grimaced, and Nagan caught him glancing between Carth and Az. "It's good to know they can survive a combat encounter, but let's keep that to a minimum." He then moved to shuffle some papers around and cut a couple sheets at the top of the pile. "In fact, I think I have something they can do, but we don't have to get into that tonight. Go ahead and settle for the night. I'll direct someone to show you where you will be staying when you're within camp, and—"

"Colonel Warven! General Meixong has—"

"Can it, soldier. Can't you see the colonel is in the middle of his sentence? I'm not that important."

Nagan couldn't help but whirl around at the commotion. By the time he had turned around, the soldier that interrupted them had hastily stepped to the side and saluted, and at the entrance strode in someone else. They had near-shoulder length brown hair pulled half-up and a bored, if not annoyed, looking expression. Deep red scales shone from the inside of—His? Her?—their Dragonmage cloak. They didn't stop until they stood between Professor Fai and Colonel Warven, standing several inches shorter than the professor, and maybe even shorter than Nagan.

"...Is this a joke?" the Dragonmage said dryly, who the teens could only assume was General Meixong. Nagan almost snarked a reply, thinking they were insulting them, but he stopped when they held up their finger and pointed at him, all without looking at him. "I'm not saying that to be mean, and I wasn't talking to you"

Nagan clicked his mouth shut.

"General Meixong," Colonel Warven saluted, and the rest of them followed suit. "This is the first batch of Dragonmages from Carvolier along with Captain Fai."

"Yes, I know that, but why do I have kids under my care and not back in the center of Tarkon or even Froshrinra? You know, where there isn't any fighting?"

"I ask that myself every day," Professor Fai drawled.

General Meixong then turned to the teens, taking their time silently evaluating them. Nagan found this unsettling at first to have such an intense gaze set on him for an extended period of time. More often than not, that gaze never meant anything good. But that was when something clicked. He had been around many intelligent people before and had learned to recognize the look of someone committing something to memory. A chill went down his spine at that thought. He would have to be careful around General Meixong, as someone with natural observational abilities was unlikely to forget.

It took a few more seconds until General Meixong was done gleaning information off their persons alone, and they looked side-long at Colonel Warven.

"Are you busy? I don't mind waiting."

"Not at all. I was just about to retire them for the night. They just arrived."

"Fair enough."

General Meixong then looked off to the side, not really focusing on anything. Their arms crossed, and they shifted their weight to one foot. Nagan almost immediately dubbed this the general's "idle" mode. Colonel Warven, on the other hand, didn't quite catch the change and stared at the general as if waiting for something more to be said. It wasn't until General Meixong looked back at him, seeming to realize it was still silent, and raised an eyebrow before Colonel Warven cleared his throat.

"Sari, if you could take the 18th Company Dragonmages to their cots, please," he said to a servant to his left, and the servant bowed before bowing to the teens.

"If you would follow me, Masters and Maiden?" she said, motioning to the tent's entrance before leading them out.

Wordlessly, they all followed, but not without throwing a few unsure glances at Professor Fai. Professor Fai gave them a small, reassuring smile before waving them off, silently signaling that he'll find them later.

•_____________________________•

Brought to you by Sam Smith's song Unholy. Not really, but I've been listening to it on repeat for the last 48 hours despite my eldritch hatred for the word daddy. *shudders*

Beat slaps though.

Anyway.

Also, did anyone here actually remember that Az got his ear pierced to match Nagan? Did anyone even remember that Nagan has his ears pierced and habitually wears an armband and at least one anklet? Cause I didn't. Like, I know they're there, but I probably should've been adding little reminders here and there for you guys' sake. Whoops.