Year: 526 A.B.
After picking Rai up from his room, he and Xing make their way outside and in front of a large plaza-style courtyard in the Organization complex. Four others are waiting idly for their arrival, huddled around a bench and long outdoor patio table. One of them calls out to Xing and two of the others stand like boards, lining up like toy soldiers.
The last of them hasn't moved an inch and is still sitting at the table.
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“Xing, over here!”
A woman in the huddle yells, while waving her hand.
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Xing makes his way over to the crowd, and they all turn to Rai who had been hidden and almost unnoticeable because of Xing's shadow.
“Morning, everyone. First of all, no need to be so formal. I’m great, but that’s kind of gross. But since you're already lined up, let's get our introductions out of the way...”
Xing's heavy hand pats Rai on the back.
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“Ow.”
Rai says plainly, then notices all of the gazes on him. He immediately averts his eyes from theirs, but puts his focus on their uniforms.
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“And why don't we start with the elephant in the room. Normally, that'd be me, but you know what I mean,” Xing continues.
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A few of the others chuckle.
Rai hesitantly speaks up seeing his queue.
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“My name is Rai,” he pauses, thinking about what seems to be a curse when spoken aloud, “Lilac.”
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“So, there you have it. Right away, I know his eyes and his name may make you feel any number of ways. You might not like him. You might not want to like him. And that’s okay. I may have been the same way under different circumstances. So all I ask of you is this: give him the chance to have a chance. We handpicked everyone here because we saw something in you. He's no exception and he's no more special than anyone else here, except me of course.” Xing says placing a fist to his chest.
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There’s another chuckle among the other two trainees that is much more awkward and somehow more relaxed.
Xing reaches into his pocket and holds up a bag of rice cakes.
“Alright, with that being said, whenever the bag is passed to you, feel free to take one and speak. Also, yes: a big man needs big pockets.”
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The bag is passed for the first time to a girl who seems all too eager to have her chance to speak. Conflicting with the dark colors of her skirt and blazer, she proudly wears a bright,pink shirt underneath. But there’s something else that catches Rai’s eyes. Her earrings in the shape of cotton candy. To an eye unable to see beyond their physical form, they look normal. But he squints, adjusting his focus and clearly sees that they’re projected.
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“Hi! My name is Nina! I’m glad that you’re meeting this half first!...” She shoots out her fist and begins to count off using her fingers.
“...I looove stuff, and lots of thiiiings, and a lot more stuff, including binging my favorite shows, so I guess there’s not much that I hate, except a snob, so I guess that’s the only thing Anni and I agree on,” she says speaking a mile a minute without taking a breath. The words spin everyone’s heads as one long sentence.
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She reaches her hand into the bag but pauses.
“Wait!”
Everyone including the man with his back turned who has not gotten up from his seat slightly shudders.
“Are these vegan?”
“Well… yea-“
Xing is cut off.
“Great!” Nina exclaims, taking a rice cake and passing the bag to the boy next to her who looks like he wants to comment on everything but also nothing.
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Xing looks at the woman who is now standing next to him raising his eyebrow as if to ask, “what just happened?”
In response she smiles, shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders.
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The boy takes the bag, but slightly stumbles in the motion of reaching for it. His expression quickly flips from one of shock to frustration and back to neutrality. A bead of sweat trickles down his pale forehead that he quickly wipes away, plastering a couple strands of his well-groomed black hair to it. With the bag in hand, he rolls up the sleeves of his buttoned shirt. Rai finds this odd considering the fact that the rest of his uniform is well-ironed. He accidentally looks up and makes eye contact that he quickly breaks away from.
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“Hey, my name is Sherwin, and I wasn’t expecting to have to say more than that, but umm…”
He stops to scratch the top of his head.
“Even though I want to be the best, I look forward to flying high with you all. I won’t let you down.”
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Nina clicks through her teeth.
“I should have said that...,” she whispers to herself.
“I look forward to that too!”
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Sherwin forces a laugh.
“Haha…ha. Also, Xing is it alright if I take two of these?”
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The woman next to Xing nudges him.
Xing’s line of sight shifts from Sherwin’s legs.
“Oh uh yeah sure go ahead. I like that: ‘flying high’. That’s gutsy as hell.”
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Sherwin takes two of the rice cakes and walks over to hand the bag to the woman next to Xing. While he’s returning to his place next to Nina, Xing pushes Rai, signaling him to stand next to his peers.
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“Thanks for saving the best for last, Xing,” she says, obviously joking about his demeanor.
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Xing smirks, holding his chin and nodding his head in the direction of the table.
“Mmhmm, except we actually have one more though, don’t we?”
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The woman playfully sighs.
“Just let me have my fun; I know it’s my turn to wake him up this time.”
She snaps her attention back to the group.
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“Well then, good morning, you three! My name is Avelly. You can shorten it to ‘Elly’ if you’d like though. As Xing said earlier, we know that every one of you has something great to offer, and that’s what we’re betting on…”
Her open expression, complimented by her short stature, freckles and pinned, orange hair, sharpen to a point and a glare. The trainees have known her for no more than a few minutes and yet the sudden shift from her teacher-like persona sends a chill through the air.
“Fly too high too soon and you will burn. Love too much or hate too hard and you will lose yourself. Make one wrong move and you will die.”
Avelly folds her arms.
“As long as we Ahstralans exist, spirits who have lost their way will take form in our world by feeding off of us. It’s our duty as an organization to deal with them one way or another.”
She uses her thumb to point to Xing.
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“And it’s our duty as veterans to make sure you know that this is not a game, to guide you, then maybe you’ll even live long enough to start a squad like this one. Anything to add, Xing?”
Her expression softens once again.
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“Nah, that was just as good as I would have done. Scared them pretty good,” he responds with a laugh.
Xing takes the bag of rice cakes and returns them to his pocket. He pauses, waiting for one of them to speak.
Rai, Nina, and Sherwin all fidget for slightly different reasons.
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“So, no questions? Let’s get going then.”
Xing turns his back and begins to walk off; Elly soon follows.
Rai, Sherwin, and Nina all ask their questions at the same time.
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Rai asks his question quietly.
“Are we getting breakfast?”
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Nina yells.
“I’m not scared at all!”
Not really a question.
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Sherwin points at the man who has been sitting during the entire conversation.
“Is he okay?”
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Xing’s face goes stale again. The face of someone who remembered something they really didn’t want to.
“If at least one of those was ‘where are we going?’ I could have dropped a decent one-liner, and we could have just left without hearin’ anything out-of-pocket.”
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Avelly walks over behind the man sitting down.
“I’m already on it.”
She draws an air-cross before rubbing her hands together and slapping the back of his neck.
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The man instantly jolted awake from his snoring slumber.
“I’m not even old enough to need that exam, doc! Why does my neck hurt? Holy shit, is this the gifted kid? What’s happening right now?”
Everyone, including Nina, looks slightly concerned or disgusted.
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“You know just casual stuff like heading out on a mission with the new trainees, introductions, life-or-death talk,”
Avelly says somewhat sarcastically.
He stands up, rubbing the back of his neck, facing everyone else then looks back to her.
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“And you nor Xing ever thought to wake me up. These guys probably think I’m a bum or something.”
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“I thought you were dead!”
Nina exclaims somewhat joyfully, while raising her hand.
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Rai struggles to think of something to say.
“Um it’s alright. Sometimes I fall asleep too.”
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“See, she thought I was deceased, Elly! And the gifted kid is pitying me so badly that he’s not even making sense.”
The man pouts, fighting back a yawn that ultimately overtakes him, making him look like a sleepy raccoon because of the dark circles surrounding his eyes and messy hair. He takes another moment to wipe the crust from his eyes.
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“Actually, she said ‘dead’. You are the one always going on about your ‘sensory naps’. Come on though. As much as I love-hate seeing you slapstick-style, we’ve gotta get moving,” Xing says, while tapping his wrist as if a watch is there.
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“Okay, I’ll make this quick then…”
He stretches, cracking his back like a xylophone and fixing his slouched posture.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you guys. My name is Rae Darwin. I know all that sleeping and snoring probably seemed off-putting, but there’s a method to my madness, I promise. I’m sure Xing and Elly already scared you or wished you luck, but I’ll just do a little of both. Things are going to be rough, but just by looking at you, I can tell that you’ll make it.”
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The three of them nod.
Elly claps once.
“Sweet, simple and the perfect note for us to depart on.”
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Xing turns his back and fans his hand in the direction of the arched exit across the courtyard.
“Yup, I’ll second that one. Now let’s go. The station a few miles straight of this exit opens pretty soon. We’re gunning for the first round of cabs.”
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“Hold on…”
Rae stretches out his hand, holding his face in the other and shaking his head.
“‘A few miles’, as indistance? ‘Straight’, as in not the organization cabs?”
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The trainees all look like they’re just as confused but glad none of them had to say anything.
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“I think Elly hit you too hard, partner. These guys need to get past noobie status before they can use the organization cabs without paying an arm and a leg, and you shouldn’t be surprised about me being cheap,” Xing says with what sounds like a mixed chuckle and scoff.
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“Besides…”
His tone becomes a bit more rough.
“Even though this is a projected low-risk mission, It’s good for them to get into the habit of being ready to roll out no matter what.”
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Rae sighs.
“Ay ay. Affirmative then, Cap...”
He looks over at Rai, Sherwin and Nina.
“The bright side to this: I need to catch up with you all anyways. I was this close to calling you ‘Things one through three’ earlier.”
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