As a new dawn arose the three ex Branwen members went on for another training session with the students from Haven academy.
The second much like the first had them fight against the opposition but in different formations.
But soon these days would come to an end and they would end up at an impasse.
With no sign of the journey ahead or what would come forward they decided to take the next step.
"You want to join Haven?" Flare asked incredulously.
"That seems to be the plan at least for the time being" Violet said.
"You did go over this decision before right? I'd rather not have you changing your minds later"
"We have discussed it at length I would say," Earl said.
"I am sure that our decision to join Haven Academy was not taken lightly" Caligo said.
"You can stop pushing them now, Flare" Rain said as she walked past him.
"We'll be glad to help you in joining Haven. In truth we don't have many students and the danger our peers face is far from normal" Rain continued.
"Other than the Grimm what other issues do you seem to face?" Caligo asked.
"More complex issues you could say. I could explain things on the way"
"Wait, Rain, your teammates haven't yet approved of us travelling along,"Violet said.
"Oh Strom and Ellie have already agreed" Rain said as she turned to Flare.
"I agreed too. I was just trying to test your conviction to be sure you all were serious"
"See everyone is on board" Rain said.
"Ok then let's go" Flare said following after Rain who had already begun walking.
Earl looked to Caligo and Violet who in turn looked towards him. At the moment they decided to put the matter to rest. It wasn't anything worth discussing.
Instead they fell in line with the huntsmen students as they braved on towards yet another destination:Haven academy.
The sun's heat bared down heavily as the lot of them made their way through marked paths. The road was pretty well marked with signs that seemed to have been vandalized.
"Is this the complex issue you were talking about?" Caligo asked as he pointed to a destroyed sign ahead.
"It's one of them for are rampant around here" Flare said.
"Any particular reason for the high amount of crime?" Earl asked, stepping forward.
"It's more of a cultural consequence I would attest the rate of crime to. Do the three of you know about the History of Mistral"
"No" The three ex-bandits said.
"Well I don't want to go too in detail and give you all a history lesson regarding this but the gist of it is due to some conflict 100 years ago things happened. Which led to the formation of an upper and lower class" Flare said.
"The upper class holds most of the wealth and has more artistic tastes while the lower class is filled with criminals of varying threat levels. Some might be even more dangerous than the Branwen clan" Rain said chiming in.
"Interesting it seems difficult to describe an entire population in such a definite binary. So where do you guys fall in these categories?" Caligo asked.
"You can take a guess," Rain said.
"So the upper class I take it. Though so" Caligo said.
"Correct. Though even if we are part of the upper class you don't need to treat us any different. Also the class system is mostly only followed by the higher authority in mistral it mostly isn't brought up in day to day life" Rain said.
"Sounds fun" Caligo said as he withdrew to the back next to Strom and Ellie.
"Seems like Caligo got bored?" Flare said.
"I guess he did. Though I'm sure like the two of us he also appreciates your help" Earl said.
"Yeah we aren't doing much. Does Caligo know how to use modern appliances? I'd imagine living in a place like the branwen clan wouldn't allow for knowledge on modern inventions."
"Eh well I have no clue. Raven might have thought him about the outside world then again I don't really know. If the world has changed a whole lot in the time that we were here than Earl and I might also be in the unknown"
"Luckily there hasn't been anything new in terms of lifestyle efficiency so I wouldn't worry there. Though Caligo's lack of knowledge on appliances could lead to some interesting situations" Rain said with a slight grin.
"Don't do anything too crazy, please" Flare said as he sighed.
"Hehe" Rain said as she walked forward.
"So how far is the journey?" Violet asked.
"It isn't that much of a distance away we should be able to get there fairly quickly if we just follow the path. At most maybe a few days" Flare said.
"It doesn't seem like we can go on for much longer since the sun seems to be setting." Earl said as he pointed at the waning sun.
"It's already so late huh. Fine let's just walk for a bit longer until we're able to set up this time we actually do have the necessary gear"
After an hour of walking the group decided to stop.
Flare and Earl set up the tents while the rest of them stood vigilant waiting for threats. Strom walked around and created barriers all around the tent a few metres away from it.
He also created spikes at the top barring anyone from trying to climb them.
When he returned to the rest of them he found them already feasting on the meat they had brought from the town.
"Oh Strom here" Flare said as he thrusted a piece of meat at him.
"Everyone else seems to be pretty loud right know that this is a dangerous road don't you" Strom said as he accepted the meat and sat down on a rock.
"I already informed them about it. Try not to worry too much"- Flare sat down next to him- "You did secure the perimeter right"?
"Well yeah"
"Then it's fine. If any problem arises we should be able to take care of it. There probably won't be anything more than the random bandit out here"
"Well let's hope so"
"I'll stay up for a while to keep a watch on things we could switch shifts later on"
"That's a good idea," Strom said.
"I overheard you're keeping watch mind if I join you?" Caligo said walking up to them.
"No I don't mind at all"- Flare got up and stretched- "Plus two people would be better than one"
"Fine if the two of you are going to keep watch I guess I shouldn't worry too much" Strom said as he stood up and walked away.
"Fine then let's head on over to the campfire" Flare said as he walked on over to the now doused campfire.
The others had all left to their tents as they finished their dinner leaving only Caligo and Flare sitting opposite from each other on two logs.
Flare extended his hand forward as he relit the makeshift campfire.
"Strange to see Strom so on edge about the safety measures while normally he seems to be mostly indifferent. Was there some sort of bad encounter that you all faced?" Caligo asked.
"Well there had been something. It wasn't anything mentally scarring though just out of the ordinary I would say. Just a sudden attack would be an apt description" Flare replied while staring into the flame.
"Well I guessed something like that happened"
The two of them waited silently for a few minutes.
"Mind if I ask you a question?"
"Sure go ahead"
Flare sat upright as he turned to look at Caligo.
"This might be strange to ask but why choose to join Haven?"
"I thought I made it clear that I wanted to join for better opportunities in the future when we spoke before"
"No I'm not talking about that"
"Do you want me to clarify something?"
"More or less. In Earl and Violet's case they seem to hint that their doing it to be self sufficient but I feel like some part of them also wants to follow in their parent's legacy"
"I would agree with that. So how does this relate to my case?"
"For your case it's different in the sense that you could essentially choose to follow any profession even with your hand being in the state it was. I remember you speaking of being a mercenary-"
"Yeah I denied being one because it might put me in conflict with Raven" Caligo interrupted.
"That wouldn't happen. You would obviously get to pick your own contracts and you wouldn't be forced into doing anything you don't like" -Flare massaged his head as he continued to speak- "So I want to know what is the actual reason you want to join Haven-"
"I just gave you my reas-"
"No you didn't. I'm sure if you take a few minutes to think about it you should realize it as well. Unlike Earl and Violet you don't have any imaginary debt to the Huntsmen. So go over it and try to realize why you think the way that you do"
Caligo looked over to Flare then sighed.
"It's nothing that complicated. I just decided to join the academy because it seemed like it would be a good contender for something that would help me get stronger. Nothing else"
Flare stared at Caligo for a while then stopped.
"Guess I was wrong then. Sorry for pushing you on your reasons so much I just wanted to be sure" He said as he stood up.
"That's fine. I'd rather we clear our difficulties now rather than later when we're in battle. Are you heading to rest?"
"Yeah I think I'm tired you can head on to sleep too. I think we've kept watch for long enough Strom or somebody else could take over"
"I think I'll stay here until Strom arrives you can go on ahead"
"Fine, we''l talk some other time then"
"Sure"
With that Flare left the campfire.
Caligo leaned back as he stared at the night sky.
*Crack*
Caligo turned around at the sudden noise.
But he didn't see anyone.
Standing up he decided to follow after the source of the sound. Which led him to the barrier that Strom had created outside.
"We've got a good target-" A voice said.
Hearing the voice Caligo immediately dampened his footsteps as he walked closer and put his ear on the wall.
"We can't climb the damn thing because of these spikes, is Dread arriving soon he should be able to tear through this barricade with that huge sword of his"
'These must be the bandits they had been talking about'
After thinking things out Caligo returned back to the campfire where he saw Strom sitting.
"Oh you're back Caligo I wondered where you had gone"
"I just went to check up on something. Also we have a problem, follow me, slowly"
Strom didn't question him and followed him to the barrier.
When they arrived Caligo gestured to him to listen.
"Is Dread going to be delayed then what do we do now?"
"Explosives? I didn't want to use them since we would alert the travellers but I think that would be our best option"
"Yeah it does seem to be the best option tell everyone to get-"
The voices then cut off as the people outside seemed to walk further away.
"This is a problem, let's first wake everybody else up and decide on the next action. I'll go wake my team members up you wake your friends"
"Understood"
Caligo went his separate way to Earl's tent.
"Earl wake up we seem to have a problem"
"Caligo isn't it still nighttime? Why are you here right now?"
"We can talk about that later everyone else is gathering by the campfire-"
"What's all this commotion about?" Violet said, stepping out from another tent.
"Strom told us to gather up by the campfire I'm heading there so when you're ready meet me there" With that Caligo left.
After a few minutes they all gathered around the campfire.
"So there seems to be bandits outside preparing to attack us. We should probably take the initiative since they aren't aware that we know of their presence" Flare said.
"I agree that's fine with you three?" Ellie asked.
"Yes"
"No problem"
"We're ready"
The three ex-branwen members said.
"Ok then it's time we begin," Strom said as he dug his hands into the ground.
