Night always agreed more with Rhajat. So the fact that she had to get in the habit of waking up early was a bit painful. When she would eventually have to start going to class, there was no way they'd accept her late risings.
She groaned and facepalmed as she stepped out of her room. "Who wakes up at 8 am...?!" She wondered aloud. She was never up before 10, and that was on a good day. The sun beat down on her head and eyes, as if to mock her. It was an oddly hot day.
As if to make her more annoyed, she was accidentally bumped into. She groaned and turned around to see it was Corrin.
Corrin bowed. "Rhajat! I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. My mind was somewhere else..."
Rhajat would have been more annoyed if she didn't assume she was still thinking about Shiro. She was already exhausted from having to be up so early, so her temper might have been a bit shorter. She took a deep breath. She felt anyone would be a bit shaken if they experienced what Corrin did. Despite her annoyance, she decided to dismiss it. "It's fine. You need to watch where you're going though."
"Yeah..." Corrin agreed. "Sorry again." She did seem to feel genuinely bad for it. So Rhajat didn't feel the need to harp on it any longer. She'd probably start feeling bad if she kept at it, since Corrin so far seemed like such a sweet girl to her. Corrin looked a bit closer before her eyes fell in worry. "Are you okay? You look exhausted."
Now Rhajat was really starting to feel a bit guilty about her frustration. "Yeah, I'm just tired. I'm not used to waking up so early."
Corrin nodded. "Fair enough. I used to be like that too. I guess I eventually got in the habit of getting up early. I was just on a morning jog." If Corrin could, she'd love to sleep in. But memories of her beloved maids shocking her awake with ice made it a bit hard. Her body was adjusting to being up when they wanted her up.
"Don't let me keep you from your routine. Hell knows I'd be mad if someone interrupted mine." Rhajat had enough of people interrupting her hexing practice to last a lifetime. She felt that even if it never happened again, it'd be too soon.
Corrin smiled at her. "Not at all, I'm just about done. I've gotta stay in shape and all in order to be on top of things." Corrin wasn't too worried about gaining weight, but she'd rather be safe than sorry. She prefers to stay small and limber.
Rhajat didn't exercise much, she hated it in fact. She didn't eat a lot though, which is probably why she hadn't gained weight either. There were so many things she'd rather be doing with her time. She thought sweating too much was gross too. She hated being wet. Rhajat briefly thought about how often she seems to find herself hating things, but quickly dismissed it.
Rhajat and Corrin both heard a screech from above, and noticed a young boy on a wyvern was flying around the monastery. Corrin giggled. "Looks like it's not just us up."
Rhajat looked confused. "Does that kid need to be up? I don't understand why he would be otherwise. I wonder if someone is forcing him..."
Corrin tilted her head. "Some people just like being up early Rhajat..." She understood her mindset, but still found it such an odd comment. "Say... what do you think about dragons?"
Rhajat flinched a bit at the question. "That's... random...? Why are you asking?" She seemed to be getting a bit defensive.
"Oh, I didn't mean to upset you." Corrin explained. "You see, I'm actually a dragon." It wasn't particularly a secret. A Nohrian princes having dragon powers would be hard to hide. She wasn't sure where she got the power from, she just had it. She'd probably keep using it while they're at the monastery.
"Oh." Rhajat calmed down. "I... don't really have much of an opinion. They have a lot of destructive potential. They could probably wreak a lot of havoc." Rhajat's mind always went to things like that. It was safe to say Corrin wasn't talking about what they could do in battle, but Corrin let it slide regardless.
"I see..." Corrin understood. "Well, I'd like to show you what I can do one of these days. Maybe I'll prove you right. My dragon form has weaknesses, but it's still really powerful." Corrin seemed a bit proud. She didn't love fighting, but she was glad she had the power to protect her allies.
"We've got the mock battle soon. You could show off there." Rhajat suggested, not seeing any issues.
"Uh... well I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel using it there. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone too badly..." Corrin was a bit taken aback by how violent Rhajat was. She would hate to be on her bad side.
"Huh. True I guess." Rhajat agreed. It didn't cross her mind that people could get hurt. However, that just intrigued her more. She wondered just how powerful Corrin was.
"Anyway, I don't want to talk your ear off, so I'll leave you be." She bowed and walked off. Rhajat felt it was weird to be shown so much respect by someone so high up in the social ladder. Especially someone from the Nohrian royal family. She was just a girl from the wind tribe, but she was rather important here. It was something she could get used to.
She walked over to the garden, and saw Seteth. He looked like he was reprimanding someone. She was curious about what was going on. She noticed Forrest was in a skirt. She was a bit confused by it, and wondered if "he" was actually a girl. But that wouldn't explain why they were sent a male uniform. She wondered if there was some sort of mix up. Either way, they looked sad. Upon listening closer, she heard Seteth saying something about how this is against the rules.
Rhajat couldn't just leave them alone, they looked so sad. She decided to step in and walk over to them. "What's the problem here?"
"Forrest is breaking the rules." Seteth began. "We have a dress code here, and he is breaking it."
"Does it matter...? I'm not hurting anyone." Forrest admittedly was a bit tired of saying that. He felt he always had to defend his choice of clothing.
Rhajat nodded in agreement. "It doesn't seem like they're doing anything wrong." She was a bit surprised and disappointed to see Seteth being close minded.
"By breaking the dress code, he is doing something wrong. There are rules here, and they need to be followed for there to be order." Seteth explained. He was a stickler for rules, and he could be a bit hard on the students sometimes.
"Is there really a rule about what men wear and what women wear? That's really idiotic. They're still wearing the uniform..." Rhajat was genuinely confused. She felt a bit of a kinship with Forrest, being outcasts. She'd hate for something like this to get him in trouble.
Forrest looked a bit worried. He didn't want to change, but he also didn't want to get both him and his house leader in trouble. "I really don't feel comfortable in men's clothes. Is there really a problem with it?"
Seteth sighed. "I... suppose it's not too big a deal. Admittedly this is unprecedented. We usually have people cross dressing as a joke, if it happens at all. If you genuinely wish to wear the girl's uniform, feel free. I apologize for giving you a hard time. And Rhajat is correct that you are wearing the uniform, even if it's not technically the correct one."
Forrest grinned and bowed. "Thank you!" He was elated that he could be himself at the officers academy.
Seteth looks like he was suppressing a smile. "Stay out of trouble you two." He nodded his head and walked off.
Forrest was glad to see that Seteth was more reasonable than he initially thought. "Thank you for the help Leader."
Rhajat shrugged. "No reason to make a big deal out of it. I just hate people being treated poorly." Rhajat looked Forrest up and down. She was still confused about him, but wasn't sure how to ask the question without being offensive.
Forrest sighed, knowing what she was thinking. "I know what it looks like, but I'm a man. I love being a man. I just also love being cute..."
"Ah, Interesting." Rhajat responded. "Yeah, girl clothes do tend to be cuter... not that it's something I care about." Rhajat scowled, worrying Forrest. "Ugh, I could never pull that off..."
"Huh? No, you so could!" Forrest replied. He was a bit surprised to see Rhajat acting so vulnerable. She came off as the kind of person that didn't worry about things like that. "You're so beautiful Rhajat!"
"Oh please." Rhajat rolled her eyes. She didn't appreciate the flattery. It felt fake to her.
"No, I promise!" Forrest insisted. "In fact, I'll bring you some cute outfits. I'm great at sewing. I'll prove to you that you can do it."
Rhajat smirked. "Hmph. Alright, you're on. But I won't be happy if you're getting my hopes up for nothing. I'll hex you if you're wrong." She figured she had this "bet" in the bag. She wasn't worried at all.
Forrest seemed a bit taken aback, but smiled. "Fine. Let's shake on it Rhajat!" He was taking this rather seriously. Not because he was scared, but because he wanted her to feel confident. Rhajat took his hand and they shook. "Alright leader, I'm gonna go get started now!"
Rhajat watched him run off. She couldn't help but be a bit amused. She initially was annoyed seeing him look so effortlessly pretty. However, if he was right that she could pull off outfits like his, she'd be ecstatic. However, she wasn't going to get her hopes up. She decided to continue her walk.
She didn't have to go far to find another one of her classmates. She found Selkie, transformed, lying on her back in front of the board walk to the fishing pond. It made walking past her rather difficult. Other students were wondering what the hell it was. Rhajat smiled a bit. She couldn't bring herself to hate Selkie. She just thought she was too much fun to be around. That was why Rhajat tried to form a bond through rather convoluted methods.
"You're blocking the way Selkie." She told her old friend.
Selkie looked up at Rhajat and pouted as well as she could in her current form. "But there's nothing to do...!" She whined. She hated being bored.
"You're not doing anything right now though." Rhajat pointed out. She wasn't sure how laying on her back was entertaining.
"I'm sunbathing!" She explained. She loved the sun after all.
Rhajat needed her to move out of the way. She remembered they were near a pond. "Do you know how to swim?" she asked, smirking deviously.
"Yup!" Selkie confirmed.
"Why don't you play in the pond? You may get yelled at by Seteth though. I doubt it's allowed." She would hate to put Selkie in a bad situation without her knowing.
Selkie gasped. "Why didn't I think of that!?" She got up and sprinted for the pond. "WORTH IT!" she yelled.
There was a giant splash, and a few people were hit with water. Some people glared at Rhajat, but she just shrugged it off. Selkie swam around in circles, and even grabbed a fish with her mouth. She swam towards the surface and gave it to a green haired girl that Rhajat didn't notice. She wondered how long she had been standing there. The girl smiled widely and happily accepted it. Rhajat had no idea who that was, but they looked similar to Seteth. She wondered if they were related. She was wearing the uniform, so she wondered what house she belonged to.
Seteth quickly ran past Rhajat. Rhajat jumped slightly, not expecting him to move so quickly.
"Selkie!" He yelled. "You need to get out of the pond!" He had a feeling this house was going to be the end of him.
"Aw..." Selkie groaned. She shook her body as if she was a dog to dry herself off. Her fur puffed up, and she transformed back to a human.
Seteth squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Why would you... please don't do that. That's not what the pond is for. It's for fishing." He never thought he'd have to actually scold someone for this, but he did.
"Technically I did." She pointed at the green haired girl, who was happily eating the fish she was given.
The girl walked up to Seteth. "It's fine brother. I got a fish out of it!" She didn't seem to particularly care about anything else at the moment.
"Flayn please..." Seteth groaned. He didn't need Flayn taking their side.
"For the record..." Rhajat interjected as she walked closer to the three. "I told Selkie to do that. She was bored."
Seteth looked frustrated. "Please... do not make a habit out of this..." He walked away with a heavy sigh.
"Thanks Rhajat!" Selkie exclaimed. She knew she could always count on her friend.
"Of course. I'm not letting you take the fall for something I did." Rhajat said. She wasn't that kind of person.
"And thank you Flayn!" Selkie turned to the green-haired girl.
Flayn smiled. "It's no problem. Though I must apologize for how uptight my brother can be. He's just doing his job." She knew more than anyone how Seteth could be.
"No, I get it! So he's your brother?" She asked.
Flayn nodded. "Mhm." She didn't seem interested in saying more than that.
"Cool! I wish I had a brother... or uh... hm. Never mind." Selkie suddenly looked sad. "I'm gonna go fish." She said changing the subject quickly.
"Good luck." Rhajat wished her. She knew what the issue was, and didn't want to risk opening old wounds.
Selkie ran off to go find a pole. Rhajat nodded at Flayn before walking off. She passed by the cafeteria, and had a feeling that she'd find a certain someone there. She looked in the building and, as she expected, found Shiro eating. Although, he was doing it incredibly quickly with a large blond man. She figured that he had found a rival.
The blond man finished first, and Shiro hit the table with his fist. "Damn, I lost!"
"That was fun. You should join me again next time!" The large blond man exclaimed.
"You're a worthy opponent." Shiro replied. "I'm gonna win next time Raphael!"
"I'm looking forward to it!" Raphael said with a cheer.
Rhajat looked a bit disgusted by the display. There was so much fatty food. Rhajat wasn't the most health conscious person. But she didn't down any and all fats either. "Oh Gods there's two of them..." she said under her breath.
Shiro noticed her staring and grinned at her. "Hey Rhajat!" He seemed to be in a better mood today.
"Who's that?" Raphael asked. He didn't know everyone at the officer's academy, but he knew a foreigner when he saw one.
"Our house leader, Rhajat!" Shiro exclaimed with an odd amount of pride, making Rhajat a bit flustered.
"Nice to meet you Rhajat!" He put his hand out for her to shake.
Upon looking at it, Rhajat noticed how dirty it was, making her cringe. "Wash your hands first..." Rhajat scolded. "Anyway, what are you guys doing?"
"An eating contest of course!" Raphael said with a laugh.
"After I saw how much he was eating, I knew I had to challenge him!" Shiro said, once again with pride. She was a bit more confused on why this time though.
"It was just a friendly competition." Raphael said. He just seemed happy to have made a new friend.
"If you're hungry, there are some left overs." Shiro pointed at some greasy foods, making Rhajat's stomach turn.
"I... think I'm fine after that display." Rhajat would never understand how people could eat so grotesquely.
Raphael shrugged. "Suit yourself. But the offer still stands if you change your mind!"
"Anyway, we're starting up classes soon, yeah? I'm looking forward to it! I can't wait to get stronger! Not looking forward to the whole reading and writing and testing though..." Shiro wasn't an idiot, but that didn't mean he enjoyed studying.
"Hm, I can understand that." Rhajat wasn't particularly fond of it either. Her main focus was on improving her magic ability. Upon thinking of all the things she could do with stronger magic, she started giggling ominously.
Raphael looked confused. "What is she laughing about? Did she just think of a funny joke?"
Shiro shook his head. "Knowing her she's thinking of something devious." He didn't seem worried or anything, which Rhajat wasn't entirely sure how she felt about. She thought she was more happy than anything, as much as she hated to admit it.
Rhajat was glad to see Shiro doing better. She almost pointed that out, but decided she'd rather not open old wounds. She just hoped he and Corrin could work out their differences, or at least come to some sort of understanding.
"You wanna say something?" Shiro had noticed the odd look on Rhajat's face.
Rhajat shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I should get going." She immediately left before he could ask follow up questions.
She decided that her next course of action should be to find the training ground. She had a gut feeling she'd find someone specific there. On her way out, she noticed a skirt and a tail sticking out of the trash can. She tilted her head a bit. She didn't know much about the Nohrian wolfskin, so she didn't know if this was a normal activity for them or not. She cleared her throat, and the wolfskin stopped and came out of the trash. She had an apple core in her hair, and pulled it out. She looked at it as her eyes glistened. Rhajat had some weird interests, but that certainly took the cake.
Velouria saw the way Rhajat was looking at her, and pulled the apple core back defensively.
Rhajat sighed. "I have no interest in that."
Velouria quickly calmed herself. "Oh okay. I was gonna add this to my treasure hoard, so I'd be pretty upset if someone took it."
"I'm not a thief." Rhajat said somewhat offended. "Even if I wanted that, I wouldn't take it from you." Rhajat then processed Velouria's words. "Did you just call that a treasure?"
Velouria tilted her head. "Of course, what else could it be? Things like this are invaluable to me."
Rhajat found the idea somewhat endearing considering she had some strange items of her own. "I can relate, I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to call them treasures, but I do see what you mean."
Velouria perked up. "Can I see them?" She was suddenly more interested in Rhajat. It wasn't every day she found another person who could understand her aside from her Father.
"I didn't bring them with me, they're back at Lethe." Rhajat didn't think she'd need anything like her skull collection at the officer's academy, but she was now wondering if she should have brought them.
Velouria pouted. "I could never leave home without my treasures." It seemed that they were significantly more important to her than it was to Rhajat. "Wolfskin in general love these kinda things." she explained.
"Ah, I had no idea." Rhajat admitted.
"That's no surprise." Velouria replied. "It's not like they're super common in Hoshido."
"Well, you're an interesting group of people." Rhajat noted. She was a bit surprised about how different they were from kitsune.
Velouria folded her arms in defense. "Are you making fun of me?"
Rhajat shook her head. "No, I'm being genuine."
"Oh, well that's nice I guess. Anyway..." Velouria turned around and started digging in the trash again.
Rhajat took this as an opportunity to walk off. Velouria reminded her a bit of herself. She thought that they could end up being good friends too in the future. Rhajat walked back to the pond, and took a left. She soon walked away from that area and ended up by the market. She saw Asugi talking to Anna. Or what was probably a different Anna. She never really got why there were so many Annas and they all shared the same name. They were all sisters too, she felt so bad for their mother. For multiple reasons.
Rhajat walked towards them, which Asugi quickly noticed. "Hey Rhajat! I'm just haggling."
"I've gone as low as I'm willing to go." Anna explained. "So you can take it or leave it."
"You lowered it by 10 gold!" He exclaimed. He would never fail to be amazed by how money hungry the Anna family was.
She put her hands on her hips. "Take it, or leave it!"
"I think I could persuade you... just let me find the right hex..." Rhajat mumbled.
Anna's eyes widened, as did Asugi's. He immediately put his hands up. "No Rhajat! It's not that serious, I'll just pay for it." He reached into his pocket for some gold.
"Thanks a bunch!" She said. She pulled out a vulunary from her bag of tricks.
"You're no fun..." Rhajat told Asugi. "Anyway, all that for a vulunary?" She knew they'd be in life or death situations, but she was still a bit surprised.
"You never know. If I can save money on something I need to live, I will. Anyway, did you need to buy something Rhajat? I'm not sure if the shopkeep would be too receptive..." Asugi knew his friend was a bit hex happy, but he didn't want her to hurt someone for his sake.
"Just been wandering around talking to our classmates." Rhajat wasn't sure if she could talk to them all, but she at least wanted to see Caeldori. Even if it was just to tease her.
"Why are you doing that? You're not what I'd call a social butterfly."
Rhajat would have been offended if it wasn't true. She considered herself an introvert through and through. "You're not wrong, but I can't just not be a leader."
Asugi grinned at her. "You're taking this role pretty seriously huh?" He knew she was dedicated, but sometimes he'd forget that she could be focused on things unrelated to hexes.
"I have to." She justified.
"You just don't wanna let anyone down huh?" He phrased it as a question, but he already knew the answer. Rhajat rolled her eyes, but he wasn't wrong. She hated letting people down. But she wasn't going to just admit it either. "You can roll your eyes all you want. I know you. But anyway, classes are starting up soon. I'm enjoying my last day of freedom. But at the same time, I'm excited too."
Rhajat was glad the topic shifted. "That's pretty much how I feel too. I wonder who's going to teach us though. I haven't heard much about the teachers yet."
Asugi shrugged. "I've seen 4 teachers around. Professor Jeritza, Manuela, Hannerman, and Credell."
"Hm. I don't think I've met any of them." She wasn't sure how she felt about not knowing any of their teachers.
"They're probably preparing for classes. I have no clue which one will be handling our house." Asugi suggested.
"Whomever it is, I hope they'll be worth our time. Our families are paying a lot to be here." It wasn't something Rhajat thought about a lot, but Hayato and the rest of her family had to pay an arm and a leg for her to get to this school. She had no intention of wasting their money. "Anyway, I should find Caeldori. So I'll be seeing you."
"Of course." Asugi said with a nod. "Just don't give her too hard of a time."
"Yeah yeah." Rhajat dismissed, somewhat affectionately albeit, and walked off.
She walked up some steps and found herself at a stable. She saw a blue haired girl talking to a horse. She ignored her, since it didn't have anything to do with her. She soon came across the knights hall, and saw Dimitri and Dedue having a conversation. It looked rather casual, despite how intense Dedue seemed to his vassal. She decided to leave them alone. She wasn't going to go out of her way to be more social than needed. She soon came across a graveyard. It was a bit too bright for her liking, but it was still a graveyard. It seemed to be being guarded, so she couldn't get into it. "What a shame..." she thought to herself. She hoped it'd open up at some point. She'd love to just hang out there. She cut through some of the indoor part of the monastery, and passed the classrooms where she'd be spending the next year learning. She soon found the training grounds, and pushed the door open. Her hunch was correct, as inside Caeldori was using her spear on a dummy.
Caeldori was incredibly focused on her goal of getting stronger and protecting the Hoshidan royal family. Rhajat respected that about her. Rhajat actually had nothing against Caeldori, it was Caeldori who held a grudge against her. She noticed Rhajat was staring at her. "What do you want...?"
"I just wanted to see what everyone was up to." She answered honestly.
"You're plotting something, aren't you?" Caeldori accused.
Rhajat smirked. "Not at all." She felt it was so much fun to mess with her.
Caeldori groaned in frustration. "You're messing with my concentration..."
"Is that so?" Rhajat's grin grew wider. "I could make a hex to improve your abilities..."
"No!" She immediately replied. She really didn't want a repeat of last time.
Rhajat laughed, prompting Caeldori to get even more frustrated. "Is this how you're gonna be all year? If so, I'm going somewhere else."
Rhajat started to feel a bit bad. "You shouldn't let someone like me stop you from following your dreams. Why are you here? At the officer's academy."
Caeldori was a bit shocked. It took her a second to respond. "To learn how to be a knight, of course. So I can protect Lethe from threats."
"Then stick with that. No one has the right to distract you from your goals." Rhajat knew what that was like. She'd hate to make someone else feel like that. Rhajat loved to make fun of Caeldori, but the last thing she wanted her to do was give up on her dream because of her. Rhajat could actually sympathize with feeling like people didn't want one to follow their dreams. Rhajat loved dark magic, but people seemed to not like it. Not that she'd even let that stop her.
"...Thanks." Caeldori eventually muttered. She didn't understand Rhajat, and she wasn't sure she ever would.
"That's enough kindness for one day." Rhajat said to both Caeldori and herself. "I'll leave you to your training." She walked away leaving a confused Caeldori behind.
Rhajat wandered around a bit more, talking to other members of her house. Once she had found everyone, she returned to her room. So much social activity had worn her out. She thought about it, and realized that just because she had woken up early didn't mean she had to stay up. As long as she got in the habit of waking up, she should be fine. At least, that's what she told herself. She decided she had earned herself a nap. She locked the door to her room, then crawled onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. She thought about her house. Corrin, Shiro, Asugi, Velouria, Selkie, Caeldori, and Forrest. They all seemed like interesting characters. Hopefully, despite the fact that not all of them got along, things would go by smoothly. She soon drifted off to sleep, feeling a bit more comfortable with her role in this school.