Thinking Outside The Box
by aightaight2

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The six girls sat in a circle, glumly sipping their honey-laced tea.

The mood was morose. Bo-chan's enthusiasm was muted, the usually boisterous Ai-chan was silent, and Aya-senpai was refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Even the veterans had taken their latest loss hard.

Kigiku, Eldest Knight of Tarbes Garden, was staring solemnly into her cup, as if the answers to the universe could be found somewhere in the warm, swirling depths.

She had been the one to approach Lord Mortimer to pledge them all in support of the Fae. Many of her fellow Vespid Knights had feared that they wouldn't be taken seriously, that the Lord of the Fire Fae would laugh at their audacity, pat them on the head, and tell them to be on their way. Instead, he had given them the chance to prove they could make a contribution to the defense of Mother Yggdrasil.

Waisu looked into her own cup, letting the soothing orange tones comfort her, before placing it down on the table with a sigh.

Kigiku's speeches had inspired them all, exhorting them to do their best, to prove they could surpass the Fae's expectations.

"Small stature does not mean small heart!"

"Fear comes from within, but so too does Courage!"

"If your faith falters, remember that we are pixies, and we are Knights! Listen to the drumbeat in your heart, and know that we have been Chosen. We will defend our sisters, as is our right; we will defend our Gardens, as is our calling; we will defend Mother Yggdrasil, as is our destiny! That is what it means to be a Vespid Knight!"

Such words had meant the world to her, but even if their string of losses had not brought disdain upon them, neither had they yet gained any respect.

Waisu sighed again, then started as Erika drained her cup with a determined swallow and banged it down on the saucer, drawing the eyes of all her Sisters to her.

"Ugh!"

The youngest of them squared her shoulders, then closed her eyes before speaking. "I… I've had enough of this! I won't, won't let that Athus keep looking down on me! Edelweiss, you agree with me, right?"

Waisu's eyes widened as four sets of eyes turned to her.

"A-a-ahhh…" she paused, collecting herself, then continued in stilted tones, "…well, Bo-chan did say that it wouldn't be easy…"

A small smile pulled at the edges of Botan's lips for the first time since they'd entered the room.

"So, you were listening to me. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, and we shouldn't be surprised even if it's harder than we expected."

Finally, the veterans broke their silence.

"That's true," said Ajisai, her energy returning, "but it doesn't mean we're going to give up."

"Ye-eesss." Kigiku's voice started low, as if drawn from a long distance away, before strengthening. "A little sister may run and hide, but a Knight will do what she must."

Ayase's uncertain frown finally lifted, as if she had finally found an answer that had been hidden from her. "Of course. These trials are… are merely obstacles. Tests designed to show our weaknesses, but also to let us grow, to change our answers, our responses, until we discover the solutions!"

A smile graced Kigiku's lips. "So, my Sisters, what answers shall we try for our next attempt to sneak past the guards?"

The mood dipped. They had already put everything into their last half-dozen attempts to sneak into the compound. Every last trick that they had known for improving their stealth had already been raised in their brainstorming sessions. But Kigiku and Botan now looked determined instead of defeated, and Edelweiss couldn't help but take heart...

Erika raised her empty cup, waving it about to draw attention back to her before making her suggestion. "Well, what if we're approaching this the wrong way?"

Waisu quirked an eye.

"I was talking to Armsman Mousebender a couple of days ago -"

Erika was forced to pause as Waisu giggled aloud. Her junior had finally confessed to the source of some of her more notorious contributions to their brainstorming sessions.

"Wasn't that just before you came up with the idea that we could get inside the Fort by mail-ordering ourselves to the Chaplain by Pelican Post?"

Erika blushed. "That's beside the point!"

Ajisai's tongue finally found form again. "So that's where that harebrained scheme came from! Not even you could have been flighty enough to come up with a suggestion like that on your own!"

For once, Erika ignored the ribbing, allowing her flush to fade. She turned to look the other Knights in the eye, one by one. "The point, if I may, is that we've been trying to sneak in when the garrison already know that we're coming! If we want to succeed, we need to try something different. Something they won't expect."

Bo-chan glanced at Ki-kun, before both nodded.

"I'm sorry for laughing, Erika-san," Bo-chan said, letting her serious-self take over, "you're exactly right."

As the mirth subsided, Kigiku took charge once more.

"So. If we're not going to sneak in, then how are we going to get into the base?"

"Well…" encouraged by the support, Erika gave voice to another of her schemes, "there was also a story he told me about something called a Romalian Horse…"

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Athus grumbled as he finally climbed the stairs to the Lieutenant's office. It had been a long day, starting with the unexpected arrival of a merchant with a supply of honey and mead, and ending with an invasion of rodents in the basement that had set off all the Alvis guards at once. There had even been a spate of mail order deliveries for every man in the unit, each with a note saying that it was a "care package" sent by the grateful citizens of Tristain as thanks for their Defence of the Realm.

The packages had been mostly practical, including pairs of socks and tins of biscuits, but each of them also included a trio of padded dolls with a card stating that they were from the new "chibi" range at Maki & Yolko's Soft Cuddle-Toys, a Faerie store which was rapidly gaining popularity with the children of Tristain's noble set.

Athus grinned. And more than a few adults too, to tell the truth. The Lieutenant had been particularly proud of his new set of Sylphs. He'd placed them on the shelf behind his desk, just before a spate of signals sounded from the upset Alvis all at once and everyone had scrambled to the basement to see what was up.

Not a single pixie had been found on this occasion, but there were so many rats… almost as if they'd been led there…

Athus stopped in his tracks, an expression of amazement coming over his features.

No. They couldn't possibly have…

He broke into a run. When a fortress' routines were disrupted, it wasn't always due to bad luck, or mere coincidence. Sometimes...

Skidding up the stairs, he wrenched open the Lieutenant's door.

In front of him, the Fort's "plans" were laid out on the desk, ink running into the pool of sticky mead that had been poured all over them. As he'd pulled open the door, a string connecting the door-handle to a candle had stretched, toppling the little flame into the middle of the mess.

As the purple-blue flames danced over the pages, he could just make out the shelf behind the desk. Three pixie-sized padded coverings, each unzipped, left open like a soft toy with the stuffing removed.

Sometimes, it was enemy action.

"Founder dammit!"

He would never, ever, take those pixie girls lightly ever again!