After hearing Amybeth's cry of gratitude, she couldn't help but let out a couple of short laughs, before wincing in pain a bit, since the spot was still tender from the punch. It wasn't every day that the Warden was struck there without some sort of thick gambeson or steel plate protecting her chest. The applause and cheering from the sidelines began to quiet down, prompting Emora to speak.
"You did exactly as I told you to do. You took every advantage you had, rushed at me when I was distracted by that sudden cry for your name, which…" Emora paused in the middle of her sentence, her golden eyes darting to the side, eyeing the armor stand that she suspected the cry had originated from.
The Squire saw Emora looking right in her direction, and she froze. She couldn't even duck, or move, because if she did, she was certain that a trained eye like Emora's was gonna be able to detect something moving behind the weaponry and armor pieces. So, the Squire stood still, squeezing her eyes shut and dipping her head low.
Emora's golden eyes were shimmering brightly in the sun as she stared on for a moment, before she turned back to face Amybeth and continue her congratulations. "Which, I'll be investigating later. But regardless, you did fantastic! I told everybody the same things. Unique movements, to work together. In a real battle, you're not going to be courteous about striking your opponent in their privates, right? When you're fighting for your life, fighting fair isn't always an option. You don't get any second chances out there." She explained, now walking towards Amybeth, one of her hands tugging at the blue patterned neckerchief that she had around her neck. She loosened it a bit, since the Warden had worked up a bit of a sweat from the demonstration.
Standing in front of Amybeth, looking down to her with a proud smile, she put a hand out for the young redhead to shake. "As the sole survivor of this training exercise, you really are impressive, you know that? Even after everyone else had been knocked down, you weren't afraid to keep fighting until the very end. And you certainly delivered! You showed me some impressive moves out there. Where'd you learn to fight like that?" Emora asked, her hand still out as she spoke.
Amybeth still couldn't believe what was happening. Her eyes darted to the sides, all of the other trainees staring with resentment and envy. She knew she wasn't gonna be too popular here at the Barracks now, not after this little predicament. She looked back to Emora, blinking her teary eyes, before she just opted to rub them dry briefly. She cleared her throat, attempting to calm herself as she looked up to Emora politely, before she tugged the glove off one of her hands, and used that bare hand to grip Emora's with a modest hold.
"M-My father. He's a Warden, just like you, Lady Ryon. He teaches me some things here and there, since… as you can see, I too want to become a Hero, just like he is. Just like you are." She said, her grip naturally tightening on Emora's hand. The golden-eyed Warden smiled, before she promptly tightened her own grip as well, and shook Amybeth's hand, before sliding her own back.
"Ah, so that explains it. Your surname—Lorina, mm…" She hummed, trying to think, her eyes glancing at the sky, before she suddenly snapped her fingers, looking back to Amybeth with a smile. "Ah, Sir Lorina, Cillian Lorina, that's your father, correct?"
Amybeth's heart skipped a beat, a bit surprised… and honestly, pretty proud that Emora knew her father. It must mean that her father was somewhat known about, and that made her feel good. A small smile grew on her face as she stood before Emora, nodding her head in response to her question. The Warden herself just placed her hands on her hips, continuing to look at the young ginger with a proud and amiable smile. "Well, I'll let you know right now, Amybeth, your father has trained you well and taught you a lot of good stuff. But things are only going to get better from here."
Upon hearing those words, Amybeth's face lit up, nodding her head eagerly in understanding. She was still in shock and awe about what had occurred. She thought for sure that striking an Alpha in the manner that she had would've gotten her in trouble, but in fact, it did the exact opposite. She was absolutely ecstatic. She began to wonder how her life was going to change from here on out, being able to speak to the Alphas face-to-face and experience hands-on training with each of them. Her thoughts drifted to her dear friend and fellow Cherrygirl, who was a bit younger than her. Still too young to be here in the Hero Barracks alongside herself. But still, she knew that she would've been thrilled to—
That was when Amybeth remembered. She let out a small gasp as she began to look around rapidly, to see if there were any openings in the training arena where people from the outside could look inwards. Unfortunately, there wasn't any. Emora had turned away and begun to speak to the other trainees, continuing the debriefing and explanations of how the rest of the day was going to pan out. But at the moment, Amybeth simply wasn't focused on that. She frowned to herself, her heart dropping a bit in pity.
"Oh, Leanne… I know you would've loved to see what had just happened." She thought to herself, a blissful smile on her face as she thought about the young blonde-haired Squire, who… was more close by than she currently thought she was. She turned back to look at Emora, now tuning into what she was saying.
"So, now that we've answered your questions and had our first little bit of exercise, your instructors and teachers will take it from here. Remember that the little brawl we all shared shouldn't discourage you! Think of it as a bit of an entrance exam, just to gauge where the general group is at and what the group can do as a whole to improve." Emora explained to the trainees, who all looked a tad bit bummed out that the Alphas were leaving. But Emora was right. They had been here for quite a bit already, answering their silly questions and wishing them all luck. It certainly got everyone pumped up for the challenges that laid ahead.
The trainees watched as the other Alphas stepped up from behind Emora and began to cheerfully say their goodbyes, the instructors and teachers all beginning to call out names in order to separate the trainees into their respective classes. The noise level began to grow in the barracks arena as a mixture of shouts and cheers were heard.
"We love you, Sir Isola!" Girls cried out to Cyrus.
"Please listen up for your names! Class 1A!" A teacher yelled out to begin gathering their students.
"Please come visit again!" Other trainees shouted.
"Good luck to all of you!" Cindra gleefully shouted to the group as a whole.
Amybeth continued to just stand around idly, looking around, wondering which class she would be placed into. She did her best to pay careful attention for when her name was called, but her focus was broken when she felt a finger tap her shoulder. She spun about, letting out a small gasp as she turned.
Her eyes landed upon the face of a Japanese boy, his hair wavy at the top of his head, his face chiseled and friendly. It was a strange combination, an Asian boy with hair that wasn't completely straight. However, looking at his face closely, he did have some features that hinted that the boy was mixed, the hazel eyes being the biggest contributor. Amybeth blinked, before realizing that the boy wasn't alone. He had two people at either side. Another boy, his hair was actually straight and swept off to the sides of his head. And a girl, her hair long, her demeanor calm and analytical.
Amybeth realized that it was the pair of triplets she watched fight against Emora, the ones from Myrefield. The three that actually managed to land multiple solid blows on the Warden. The ginger panicked briefly, before just quickly raising a hand and waving it rapidly. "H-Hello!"
The middle boy leaned up to his full height. He stood the tallest, with the second brother standing only a bit shorter. The sister, however, was considerably shorter than her brothers. She stood at about the same height as Amybeth, in fact.
"We just wanted to congratulate you on winning against Lady Ryon. That's a big deal, you know." Spoke the middle boy with the wavy hair. His voice was confident and beaming. Amybeth already felt a bit embarrassed and intimidated.
"Yeah, nice work out there. At first glance, you don't look like much, I'm gonna be honest. But I guess it turns out you know a lot more than you bother to show off. You got some nice moves!" The second brother spoke in a friendly, yet somewhat… cocky, tone. Amybeth could tell that the second brother was a bit more brash with his words.
"I'm honestly pretty impressed. I'm happy for you, you're a lucky girl. I bet you were super worried about going up face to face with Lady Ryon all on your own, huh? Especially knowing what was at stake?" The sister spoke, her voice still calm, yet polite. She was modest yet mighty, Amybeth could tell.
The ginger trainee just let out a series of giggles in response to the triplets and their compliments, not really knowing what to say. She was caught a bit off-guard, so she was still in a bit of a panicky state. However, what the sister said intrigued her. "W-Well, thank you for the compliments and all, I really appreciate it. But—" She began, glancing at the sister. "I'm not sure what you mean. I was scared, s-sure, but… what was at stake?"
The triplets all just exchanged glances, before the middle brother let out a small laugh. "You're telling us you didn't know about the reward already? Hm—that explains why you almost started crying when you won." He said with a small chuckle. The second brother less so chuckled and more so snickered, while the sister just let out a small huff from her nose as a silent, quiet laugh.
Amybeth just looked on for a moment, before letting out a small exhale. She squinted briefly in confusion. "I… don't understand. Y-You guys knew about the reward? Getting to train with the Alphas?" She asked, her voice rising in pitch as she asked the question.
The triplets all nodded their heads, with the second brother still smiling to himself. The first brother just let out a sigh, shaking his head. "You're really out of the loop, huh? The reward's been known about for like- an entire month before today, back during our first assembly. The gossip about it was all over the place, how did you not hear?"
Amybeth felt her face grow hot as her eyes drifted down to her feet. She felt like such a loser as she stood there, seemingly shrinking before these triplets. She already knew the reason why she hadn't heard about it beforehand, and it was because most other trainees either hailed from inside the fortress or from some other town that bore more capable, popular young fighters. Amybeth remembered spending the first assembly all by herself with her father. Of course, she was still thrilled to receive the news that she was gonna be attending the Hero Barracks, but she had no other friends that were going along with her. Everybody else did, though. And that's what kept her so out of the loop. Without people to talk to, gossip doesn't really get around.
"I… I just—" Amybeth began, before she cut herself off, her brain still trying to work out what to say. She realized her stutter and just shook her head, opting to quiet herself again to try and restart. Her eyes darted about on the ground rapidly as she tried to come up with something to say.
The triplets, meanwhile, were watching the poor Cherrygirl lose her composure. The three exchanged glances, before the middle brother put a hand out and gripped Amybeth's steel shoulder pauldron, giving it a gentle shake. "Hey, relax, it's cool. We'll help you catch up on all the stuff you might not know about. After all, the gossip about that reward was what made the three of us stay up for nights on end trying to come up with a synchronized attack that was good enough to take down an Alpha. Had we known it was Lady Ryon we were gonna be fighting, we might've come up with something more intense." He chuckled casually, his two siblings also laughing along lightly. The three seemed friendly overall, even the second brother, despite his personality seeming a bit less gentle.
Amybeth just looked up to the middle brother, her eyes then glancing at the other two siblings. They were all smiling. She felt a wave of relief come over her. She had friends now! Or—maybe she did? She hoped she did!
The middle brother put a hand to himself. "Anywho- I'm Yoshio. Yoshio Fujimoto. It's nice to meet you, Amybeth." He said, before he shot his thumb over his shoulder to point at his brother.
"This idiot over here's Tomohiro. And…" Yoshio paused, nodding his head in the sister's direction. "Her name's Kaede. Say something nice, you two."
Tomohiro just raised a hand and waved obnoxiously. "What's up!"
Kaede nudged Yoshio with an elbow, making the boy squirm a bit. She shot him a small scowl, before turning to Amybeth with a polite smile. "Just because Yoshio's the tallest doesn't mean he's the smartest out of us all. So, don't be intimidated by him, or anything. He may act fly but he's just about as clever as one."
Yoshio just squinted playfully as he looked down to his sister. "Yeah, alright, Kaede, you just keep sulking about how I got voted as class president over you. I know it's something that's stuck with you since then."
The sister looked up to Yoshio and glared with gritted teeth. She pointed a finger up, her index finger's tip stopping right before her brother's jaw. "You know that wasn't fair! You bribed over half the class with free lunch! Oh—and don't even get my started on your dumb fangirls that voted for you just because they—"
Yoshio cut Kaede off, clapping his hands and laughing obnoxiously. "Ah ha! Look, Amybeth, she's still bugging out! For being so tiny, she sure does have a big mouth!"
Amybeth giggled along as she watched the two bicker, with Tomohiro just watching. She was truly glad that she had made friends with the triplets. They all seemed like capable fighters and friendly people, and she enjoyed that. First, she was awarded with getting to train with the Alphas, then she made three new friends? Today was turning out to be one of the most enjoyable days of her life!
But… somebody else was having a bit of a crappier day. The young blonde-haired Squire, Amybeth's best friend and training partner, was stuck sulking behind the armor stands. After she had heard the announcement of Amybeth being allowed to train with the Alphas personally, she had let out a loud squeal of excitement for her, which she figured was definitely gonna get her caught. Not just that, but the yell that she let out on accident that silenced the entire arena when Amybeth first got knocked down by Emora.
She shook her head, cringing as she remembered when Emora looked right in the direction of the armor stands while she was speaking with Amybeth after the fight. She still wondered whether or not Emora managed to see her. That was why currently, the young Squire was carefully tracking Emora and her movements. The Warden was just standing about with the other Alphas, shaking the hands of trainees and making small talk as they continued to get called into their classroom groups. It was in alphabetical, so those with surnames that began with letters that were further down the alphabet got to speak with the Alphas longer.
The Squire was still sulking. Sure, she felt extremely happy for Amybeth. She was a Cherrygirl, her best friend, and training partner that was getting the opportunity to train with the Alphas! That was a massive deal. She was gonna get to learn from them, speak with them, probably eat and hang around and joke with them! She… she was gonna get to do all that.
All that, without her.
The girl sat back on her legs, her blue eyes growing a bit glossier as she fell into thought. Deep down, despite the happiness and joy she felt for her friend, she still couldn't help but feel envious, jealous. She grew frustrated with her fate, knowing she was only barely younger than Amybeth. She was about fourteen and a half, only a miniscule year and a half short of being able to enter the Hero Barracks along with Amy. She knew she could've done it. The Squire knew she was a step above many of her own classmates back in the Hero Academies. And this only frustrated her more. She didn't know whether or not this opportunity of meeting, fighting, and getting to train with the Alphas would arise again in two years. What made it worse is that the Squire was among the older ones of her class. It was as if her age was taunting her, slapping her in the face.
The Squire looked back up with a sigh, her eyes immediately shooting to look at Amy, who was now standing alone. She figured that the triplets had been called into their classes. She wondered whether Amy would go with the Alphas, or be called into a class too. So, she watched for a bit longer, before her gaze switched back to the Alphas, who were now preparing to leave, speaking amongst themselves. However, she noticed something. As she eyed Emora and the rest of the Alphas, she counted that one was missing.
"Apollo Stone… Cinder and Cindra Alphus, Alban Saldivar…"
That was when the Squire heard something behind her. She had heard something behind her earlier, but when she had spun about to check, it turned out to be nothing, or so she thought. Her eyes widened and her chest jarred with pain as she felt her heart rip out of her chest and plummet down to her stomach. She slowly turned her head around to look over her shoulder, her eyes widening as she stared at the figure standing there.
The figure who… seemed to have an intrigued smile on their face?
"You wouldn't happen to be a trainee that got here a bit late, would you? If so, you could've just walked out and joined us, it wouldn't have gotten you in trouble!" Spoke the person that had caught her red-handed.
The Squire spun about fully and just sat there with her legs spread out, sitting on her ass with her hands behind her supporting her upper body as she looked up.
"Katsue… Sato!" She then exclaimed. Of course she hadn't seen her approaching, Katsue was a skilled Shinobi! The Squire panicked, figuring that she was going to be in big trouble if she admitted that she was just a trespasser. She figured that her excuse wasn't good enough, either.
"Just came here to stalk my friend and get a chance to meet the Alphas from afar!"
Yeah, that wasn't going to work, and the Squire knew it. Still panicking, she figured that the best thing she could do was try to make a run for it. She slowly stood up, her sword still on her back firmly. Katsue tilted her head to the side, still awaiting an answer to her earlier question.
"Yeah, that's me! And you are…?"
The Squire swallowed. She prepared herself and took in one last breath.
"Nobody!" She yelled out, before rushing forward and attempting to shoulder charge Katsue out of the way in order to run past her and make her way out of the Barracks and away from the arena. However- Katsue just swiftly side stepped, causing the trainee to stumble forward. She managed to stay on her feet, her head whipping over her shoulder to look behind her.
"Hey, wait! I just want to find out what you were—" Katsue shouted, putting a hand out to the Squire as she charged past her. The blonde let out a yelp and just shouted back. "Nobody, I swear!" With that, she turned about and began to sprint on the stone paths of the barrack grounds, away from the outdoor training arena.
Katsue just watched the trainee leave. The Shinobi stood there, clueless. She turned her head back in the direction of the arena, only to see Emora and Cinder making their way over. She briefly turned her head over her shoulder as they approached.
"I knew I heard something while I was fighting Amybeth. She was the one that cried her name out, huh?" Inquired Emora, watching as a figure turned the corner and was now out of sight.
"Who were they? Are you sure they weren't some sort of spy?" Cinder spoke, worry in his voice. Katsue just turned back to face the two, looking mainly at Cinder. She let out a scoff, shaking her head. "A spy, Cinder, seriously? Of course not! She was wearing Squire armor, Hero Academy level. What should we do?"
Emora thought for a moment, exchanging a glance with Cinder, before turning back to Katsue. "Go after her. I want to see what daring Squire had the guts to trespass into the barracks just to watch Amybeth's first day. If she knows Amybeth's name, it's clear that she was the reason she was here in the first place, right?"
Cinder and Katsue nodded in agreement.
The golden-eyed Warden nodded with a smile. "Cinder, can you fetch Amybeth for me? Since her and our mystery trespasser likely know one another, I want to see how this all connects. But if they're anything like what Amybeth is, then… I think we may be in for an interesting surprise."
With that, Katsue spun about and took off into a full sprint, her figure eventually becoming a blur as she ran along the stone path, before skidding and turning the corner in a flash. Meanwhile, Cinder went back to fetch Amybeth.
Emora stood with her arms crossed, a curious and interested smile on her face.
Look, I managed to update in like- a week! That HAS to be a new record! Anywho- things will start picking up soon. Introducing characters can always be a bit slow. I hope you stay tuned!
