"Rose, are you ok?" Questioned Rosemary's best friend, Sage. Rosemary had been sleeping this entire time.
"Wah!" 14-year old Rosemary screamed upon bouncing herself up in bed. "Sage? What are you doing in my room? I don't remember a sleepover yesterday."
"I had to come to your house to get you. We're already late for the trip to Lyngarth."
Rosemary's eyes widened as she jumped out of bed, throwing the blankets onto Sage, while picking up the sword by her bedside that originally belonged to her mother and checking to make sure she still had her locket on her. "Late for Lyngarth? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" She yelled in a panic while rushing through her dresser for clothes to pack.
"I didn't think I'd have to get you out of your own house, I almost left you." Sage responded, "Though I am really excited for my second walk out of town!" Both of the girls were squealing in anticipation. Once Rosemary packed up her bag without changing clothes, the two of them exited the house. The small village of Pebble was rather quiet this morning with few people outside. Lucky for them, as this gave them free reign to rush their way to the edge of the village.
"I didn't see my dad or Chicory back there. Did they leave the house already?" Rosemary asked, running through the village.
"Yeah, everyone's already waiting for us just outside of Pebble. They're probably going to also wonder why you're still in your pajamas." Sage said, running alongside Rosemary.
"I can't believe this is finally happening!" Rosemary ignored Sage, "We've waited our whole lives for this!" Sprouting her arms outward, she felt like she could fly if she got any more excited.
"We do have everything right? Our gear? Clothes? Tooth-" Sage tripped over a rock in the dirt road, nearly falling on her face before Rosemary grabbed her by the arm to pull her back on her feet, still running in the process.
"Yep, got all 20 teeth right here!" Rosemary answered with a wide smile as she pointed to her mouth.
Sage laughed at Rosemary's response. "I was going to say toothbrush." She clarified, "You have more than 20 teeth you know."
"Once you learn more magic, we can have all the teeth we want! We're off to High Guardian-" Rosemary couldn't finish her thought, as this time she was the one who tripped and fell. Sage wasn't able to save her in time, but thankfully they just made it right outside the stone walls to exit Pebble. Chicory was able to catch Rosemary who was here with their father, and Sage's own parents, along with a winged chest. "Academy!" Rosemary shouted, finishing her sentence now having been saved from her own fall. Chicory grinned while rolling his eyes, the other adults chuckled at Rosemary's enthusiasm.
"Glad to see you're so ready, even if you're not dressed the part." Chicory said, allowing for Rosemary to get back up on her feet. "Mom would be proud of you, you know."
Finnel laid a hand on Chicory's shoulder while looking at Rosemary. "Your mother is proud of you." Chicory glared at Finnel, clearly not the most happy with what his father was saying. Rosemary hugged them both anyway, ignoring the obvious tension, and getting them to forget about it as well.
Sage's parents also made sure to say their own goodbyes to their only daughter. "Just remember to stay focused and be careful out there. It won't be easy becoming a High Guardian." Her mother said, as she hugged her.
It wasn't long before the bus stopped in front of everyone who was waiting outside the entrance of Pebble. The doors to the bus opened as a little, smug halfling walked down onto the last step of the bus, leaning on its door frame. "Anyone on the way to Lyngarth?" He called out to the two families, as he snickered to himself. Sage whistled to grab the attention of her winged chest, Chompy, as both her and Rosemary excitedly rushed their way in front of the gnome. "Oh, no kidding. Well just hand over your tickets, I guess."
Sage snapped her fingers to get Chompy to open his mouth so she could dig inside for tickets. Rosemary bellowed with hearty laughter, "Alas! We no need for tickets. We're High Guardians in training! Chosen to learn to protect the lands by the mystical Triad themselves! The life threatening tasks ahead of us shan't be delayed by-"
"Most students enrolling to High Guardian Academy can afford tickets to Lyngarth, only two of them actually had to walk there." The halfling remarked, cutting off Rosemary.
Rosemary nervously chuckled, realizing her bombastic acting can't make up for the fact she forgot to order a ticket for the bus to Lyngarth. "By any chance can you at least take us to the other two so we can walk with them?"
"No need. They're closer than you think." The halfling answered as he was moments away from shutting the bus doors, until noticing Sage had two tickets to Lyngarth in her hand. "Look who didn't want to walk after all. You should be grateful for a friend like her." Rosemary sighed in relief as Sage rolled her eyes, but with a grin on her face. "Alright big guy, put their luggage with the rest." A large orc that was hanging from the back of the bus leaned forward, gesturing for them to hand over their bags. Sage gave a half-hearted smile, as they both handed over their bags to be magically bound to the top of the bus. Chompy instinctively sat next to their luggage.
Sage and Rosemary found two empty seats near the back of the bus. Sage used her window seat to give one final goodbye. "Bye mom! Bye dad! Bye Pebble!" She shouted, leaning out the open window.
Rosemary leaned out the window as well, taking up some of Sage's space. "And hello to the rest of our lives!"