Leather boots clicked along the cobblestone entryway to the Capital, the unmistakable smell of fish clouding the air. Whispers began to spread throughout the open street; words like "hick" and "country-folk" among the more distinguishable, but the newcomer gave them no mind.
Wave had high hopes for the capital after all.
The blue-haired man had an aura of self-confidence about him, as if he was oblivious to the strange and questionable looks being given to him. He only had one thing on his mind-
"Oi!" Wave called out to a stranger in a friendly manner, walking up to him. "Do you know which way it is to the nearest recruitment center?" He scratched his cheek shamefully. "I'm kind of new around here."
The old man, although smiling, obviously looked liked he'd rather be doing something else than talking to Wave, his face contorting into a pained expression as he eyed the people around him, as if to signal that he really didn't know the country boy. "Um, yes..." he drawled out, pointing to the east. "Go straight and take two lefts and you should be there."
Wave's face lit up into a smile. "Thank you!" He said gratefully, but caught wind of the man eyeing the sack on his back. He looked at the man curiously before heaving the sack in front of him, offering the man a fish. A still squirming and alive fish. "Do you want one?" He asked, unsure.
The man immediately held up his hands and backed away, leaving Wave. "No, no, that's fine.." He said, panicked. "Well, best be on your way son!" The man then started pushing Wave in the other direction, to which the younger male complied.
With a puzzled look on his face, Wave began to once again tread down the streets of the capital, trusting the man's directions. "That's odd..." He thought. "Blue-finned Tuna are usually a hit back home? I wonder what turned him off?" He stopped, seemingly making a realization. "Maybe he's allergic!" He thought out loud, earning him many more strange looks as he made his way.
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"Eh?"
The secretary sighed. The recruitment center was pretty busy and over crowded as large amounts of people crammed inside the small space. "Like I said..." The man paused, glancing down at Wave's information, "You arrived a few days early. We aren't fully prepared for you yet."
"What?!" Wave exclaimed, snatching his paperwork from the other man's hand and glancing it over. "But it says right here that my arrival should be May 13!"
The secretary gave him annoyed look as he begrudgingly snatched the papers back from Wave's hands, before pointing to the fine print at the bottom of the paper. "You see the asterisk right there? That means that date is the suggested arrival date. We recommend transfers come a few days early so that they can get somewhat acquainted with the city-"
"And that's what I'm doing!" A panicked Wave interrupted. The secretary sighed before giving him a pointed look.
"But if you kept reading you would see that we don't accommodate you for those days. You have to find your own lodging and food until then." He referenced Wave's paperwork again. "And that 'until then' seems to be three days from now! So if you'll excuse me..." the worn out male said, looking past Wave and at the never-ending line behind him,"I have some more wash-outs to deal with."
Wave wasn't done with the man however, despite the other's insistence. "Wait a minute here! I didn't bring enough money with me to last me that long don't you think you could help a fellow soldier out here- Ah!"
And that was how Wave ended up on the street, looking utterly defeated as he watched wave after wave of people come and go from the small building. The dark-haired man sighed. "I knew I should have listened to Mom and brought more cash..." he sulked aloud. He looked over his shoulder at his fish. "And I'm kind of getting sick of eating just tuna..." He closed his eyes and flopped back onto the ground, making a frustrated groan. "Why does life hate me?"
"Um, sir, are you alright?" A kind voice called out.
"Eh?" Wave said as he opened his eyes, and in shock thought he had died for a second.
Leaning over him was a man he assumed to be around his age with blond hair, fair skin, and hazel eyes with a genuine look of concern on his face; unlike those of the townspeople he had met before. "Like an angel..." Wave mused to himself. The stranger gave him a confused look.
"What did you say?"
Realizing he had accidentally spoken out-loud, Wave frantically tried to think of way to recover from his mistake. "I, uh, said that I've, uh... been swindled!" He spat out.
The heavenly figure chuckled slightly. "Well based on how utterly devastated you look and how you seem to not be from around here: I would say the chances of that happening are pretty high." The man then straightened and held out his hand. "Need any help?" Wave nodded and took it, heaving himself up onto the sidewalk.
"Thanks," he said gratefully. The blond-haired man shook his head, smiling.
"Thank me when I actually do help. C'mon," he said, motioning for Wave to follow him. "I believe you mentioned something about being 'sick of tuna'?" He started walking away. "I know a place down the street."
Wave's eyes lit up, right before he sobered himself. "But I..." he started, embarrassed. "I'm kind of broke for the next three days..."
"Well..." The hazel-eyed man said. "It appears that I'll just have to treat you then." Wave gawked at him for a couple of seconds, before bowing his head in appreciation.
"Thank you very much!"
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"Ah, I see, so you forgot to read the fine print and now you don't have a place to stay," the man said, watching Wave curiously as the navy man chomped down on some actual food. They were in a modest establishment, nothing too fancy. Hardwood floors, a barkeep in the back who didn't look too happy, and people chatting all around them. The blonde placed his tea down next to him on the table they were eating at. "Although I have to say, from my knowledge it's pretty rare that they would transfer a naval soldier to the army." Wave nodded.
"My transfer is pretty rare," he said in between bites. "But my commanding officer insisted that it was for the best. Apparently the capital wants more soldiers with experience." He took another bite. "That and he also said it would be a good opportunity to learn about this thing more." He patted the sword attached to his back.
The angel-like-man's eyes narrowed slightly at that notion. "I noticed that earlier; what exactly is it? I've never seen something like that before."
Wave paused for a moment, glancing up at the man mid-bite before continuing. No one had really asked that before. Wave assumed that most people just thought it was a normal sword and nothing else. "Uh..." he said. The guy seemed decent, Wave supposed he could tell him. Even if he knew there wasn't much he could really do about it. "This? This is my newly acquired imperial arms," he said boastfully. "Grand Chariot!" To Wave's surprise, his new friend didn't really react. Had he been expecting it?
"So what does it do?" The blond asked curiously. Wave made an internal sigh of relief. That's right, not many people really knew exactly what imperial arms could do, or at least that's what it was like in his hometown.
"Well, it's a sword that turns into armor!" Wave exclaimed proudly. The other man kept looking at him expectantly. "What?"
"Well, it just doesn't seem that impressive," the man explained. "Forgive me for pointing out, but isn't their another imperial arms that does the same thing? Incursio is what I think it's called?"
Wave nodded vigorously, desperately trying to think of a way to make himself look better. "Yes! That's another reason why they wanted me to come here, since Incursio is the prototype for Grand Chariot."
The the blond nodded thoughtfully as he took another sip from his tea. "I see, so you will be training under Bulat then?" Wave nodded.
"You know him?"
The heavenly man laughed as he put his drink down and held up his hands. "No, not at all. He's famous here in the capital, so almost everyone knows him by name." He glanced outside the window that they were sitting near. "You must be pretty skilled in the first place if they specifically want you to train with him."
"Well, your words not mine.." he said cheekily, secretly loving the praise. The other man smiled, and stood up as he glanced at the clock.
"It looks like I have to get going now sadly," the angel said. "I'm sorry to say I don't really have a place for you to stay for a few nights, but I do know of someone who could." He pulled out a map from a bag he was holding. "If you wait here on this street in evening, say around... ten o'clock, a carriage should come around carrying a girl from a noble family. She feels bad for people sleeping on the street sometimes, so she picks them up and brings them back to her estate. They don't charge at all, so my advice is to go to that street and wait for a while." For the third time that day Wave wondered if god actually did send him an angel.
"Thank you so much!" He exclaimed happily, standing up to shake the man's hand; before seeing that the heavenly figure was already walking away. "Uh," he called out. "It was nice to meet you!"
"It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Wave." And with that the man was out the door and into the bustling streets of the capital. Wave smiled to himself, thinking about how nice it was to have people like that in the world, before realizing something.
"Wait.. when did I tell him my name?"