Sophie twisted her long bead necklace between her gloved fingers and sighed. Exillium "activities" were never fun, but appetite suppression was downright awful. Sophie had been doing it for three years now, and it was still a struggle to keep her stomach from growling.
Their location today wasn't helping either. The heat was oppressive and the humidity was suffocating. Sophie never hated the stuffy uniforms more than when it was hot. Next to her, Linh shifted on the threadbare mat, no doubt trying to get comfortable. They had been sitting still for hours in this miserable tent.
At long last, the gong sounded, releasing them, and the waywards all shuffled to the pavilion to receive their beads. Sophie was joined by Tam and Linh as they filed into a line behind their coach. All three were in Ambi, meaning they were behind the purple coach, whom Tam had jokingly dubbed "the grape."
"Ugh, I am so hungry I could eat a whole dinosaur." Linh complained in a whisper.
Sophie laughed, drawing looks from the other waywards. She ducked her head and stared at her feet. Attention was not good here. Neither was laughter.
Aren't elves vegetarians? she transmitted back.
"At this point, I no longer care." Linh whispered.
Once they were inside the golden pavilion the coaches floated the beads overhead. Sophie took hers and tied it onto her necklace with the others. She pulled out her leaping crystal and turned to Tam and Linh.
Ready? she transmitted.
Tam and Linh nodded. The three joined hands and Sophie held their leaping crystal up to the light.
The brightness faded, revealing the beautiful cavern of Alluveterre. Linh and Sophe shared one tree house, and Tam had the other all to himself (a fact he loved to mention).
Sophie dropped the crystal back around her neck where it clattered against her allergy medication and her small swan shaped magnifying glass which she received when she had joined the Black Swan. With it, she almost burned Exilium down on her first day. That was… an interesting day, to say the least.
She yanked off her hood and mask, letting the fresh air cool her face. Tam and Linh did the same. Having time to spare before afternoon training, they all wandered up to Linh's room.
Tam flopped onto the bed. "Ugh, what a day.".
"No kidding, I can't wait for dinner." said Linh, running her fingers through her long, silver tipped hair.
Sophie's stomach growled loudly, as if on cue. "Me too. I wonder what we're having."
"Calla is making Starkflower stew." said Mr. Forkle, waddling into the room. "I came to tell you that something... came up, so you are off the hook for training this afternoon."
Sophie sighed in relief. She had been dreading her linguistics lesson, still struggling with mimicking.
"Why? What happened?"
"Not your problem." Mr. Forkle said, giving Sophie the 'don't even think about it' look. She knew that look well.
"Yes, sir." said Sophie, giving him a mock salute.
Mr. Forkle sighed and shuffled away, grumbling something about 'you kids.'
Tam grinned. "No training. That means we have free time. What do you want to do?".
"Eat. " said Linh.
"Eat." agreed Sophie.
Tam rolled his eyes. "We can't eat yet."
"I still want tooooo." Sophie whined.
"What are you, twelve?" Tam asked.
"Yeah, on a scale of one to ten." she shot back.
Tam rolled his eyes again. Linh giggled.
"I wonder what 'came up'." Sophie mused, sitting on the bed next to Tam.
"We shouldn't investigate. You saw the look Forkle gave us." Tam glared.
"Aw, come on, we deserve to know. We're members of the Black Swan too." Linh added.
"Yeah, but this is 'not our problem'." Tam insisted.
"But-" Linh was cut off by Calla calling them for dinner.
The three raced into the dining area, knocking down anything and everything in their path in a mad rush for food. They reached the table, tripping over each other in a mad rush. Calla grinned at them with a raised eyebrow.
"Appetite suppression?"
Calla smiled at the chorus of "ugh, yes" and gave them each a heaping portion of Starkflower stew. They took it thankfully and all went back for seconds.
"So, how was school today?" Calla asked, clearing their plates when they had all finished.
Sophie rolled her shoulders, ridding herself of the tension the day had caused. "It was okay, I guess. In the morning we practiced body temperature regulation, 'cause it was so hot."
"Then appetite suppression." Linh added.
Calla smiled kindly.
"Sounds like an exhausting day. Tomorrow will be... equally taxing, so I suggest you three her ready for bed." She said gently.
Linh yawned, nodding.
"Sleep sounds amazing. See you guys in the morning." Tam said, walking up to his room.
Linh followed Tam to the stairs. "Goodnight, Sophie."
"Yeah, goodnight. I'm not tired yet, see you guys in the morning." Sophie responded.
Sophie stayed with Calla, helping her with the dishes. They chatted about this and that, until two gnomes ran up to Calla and asked her to help with a beached eckodon. Calla looked at Sophie apologetically.
"It's okay. Go help! I'll finish up here." Sophie said, shuddering at the thought of an angry eckodon.
"Thank you, my moonlark." Calla said with a green smile, before running off with the other gnomes.
Sophie worked quickly, washing and putting away the dishes. Once the table was wiped down she deemed her work complete and walked towards the stairs. Halfway there, she heard Mr. Forkle talking in a hushed tone to Granite. It was wrong to eavesdrop, sure, but if she accidentally heard something...
She hid beneath the winding spiral staircase.
"What if they find out?" Granite asked.
"They were bound to at some point. Why delay the inevitable? Besides, we're going to have to bring them here, anyways." came Mr. Forkle's gruff reply.
"We're bringing them here? They're sure to see her!"
"If they were desperate enough to get into this situation, they're ready to join. And... I think it's time."
"Time?"
"Time for the Moonlark to be seen."
