"Kazashi."
The whisper of a voice presents itself in the room of the sleeping red-headed girl. There was pattering outside to present an otherwise white noise, yet the whispering voice took precedence of even that.
"Kazashi."
It whispered once more as the form of a stoic faced girl seemed to appear inside of the room, hovering over Rin’s form. Her skin was pale, the dim lighting seeming to cast shadows it shouldn’t upon the girl’s body. Her hair is long, silky black, and yet it seems to hum in a purple tint. The sclera of her eyes as deep black as her hair and the iris shining more radiant than any amethyst. She simply watched and nothing more, a dreadful silence creeping into the room the longer her presence lingered. Her eyes flicked over to the door as if anticipating something was about to arrive and disturb them. She then leans over to Rin’s ear until horns that donned her head almost touch Rin’s forehead.
"Wake up Kazashi."
Rin jolts awake from her cot, a cold sweat permeating from her body despite the warm humidity in the room. She blinks and rubs her eyes as if to wring out the exhaustion that was still within her. It didn’t help all too much, so she sighed and looked around the empty room. It was just as it was when she passed out. Several objects littered the top of the desk nearby, something she will have to organize soon else it will drive her insane, and her family sword leaned up against the wall in a corner. She listened out with an ear to noises around her but was only greeted by the ever-present storm of Commerce. She tunes that one out but hears another noise coming from outside the bedroom.
Footsteps.
“What do you think she’s like?” A feminine voice followed after the footsteps.
“Commander seemed to pick her out specifically so... “ There was a pause in the other feminine voice as the footsteps stopped at Rin’s door, followed by a knock. “Recruit Kazashi? You awake in there?”
Rin had jumped up from bed to straighten out her uniform and collected a few of her objects. “Aye!” She opened the door swiftly to be greeted by two female Officers.
“Wow. You really are a greenhorn huh?” A tall blonde was the first to speak. She spoke out unprofessionally, which she quickly corrected herself by clearing her throat. “Kazashi. Scout lead Jae requested for us to come and fetch you for today’s drills.” She looks over at the other person that was with her, a woman of shorter hair clipped back to keep the bangs out of her face.
“Do you prefer your last name used or first?” The short haired one finally speaks up. “I’m Officer Trisca and this is Officer Shel.” Both of them give a small and formal bow towards Rin. Compared to the reaction she got from her arrival, this was a far different thing for her and caused a flustered pause. Rin gives a quick, serious nod after a moment and bows a little lower to her superiors.
“Rin… is just fine. Thank you, Officers.”
“Formal young girl aren’t you?” Shel giggles into her hand as she tries to suppress it. “Right. We both are in charge of making sure you are able to take care of your needs here within the base. That means making sure you understand where to go for laundry, where to go to eat, where the showers are. Unlike the bigger trade cities, our base only has covers for the walkways between buildings. Flowing your Air Aura will be a constant need, even if we aren’t under emergency sheltering. We’ll shadow you today so you know what the sirens sound like.”
“Sirens..?” Rin asked the question but nodded her head either way to indicate some form of understanding.
“Yeah. One of the wall scouts go to this machine and pour their air aura into it. Makes this loud and low sound, though how it exactly sounds depends on the situation.” Trisca laughs a little bit. “Alright come along, we can answer any questions you have on the way to the training grounds. Jae already seems a bit ticked off over something so us being late wouldn’t help that one bit.”
The ladies step aside while Rin straightens herself up a little more and softly closes the door to follow after them. The two were a bit older than Rin with a more mature, confident walk about them and their heads held high in pride and stature. She could only guess they were roughly in their mid to late twenties or even their thirties, but asking that outright wasn’t something she would do. As Rin looked at them walking ahead, she noticed a few other details about the two as well. Trisca seemed to be someone who prefers close combat as her arms had a bit more protection around the hands and forearm while also having several daggers strapped to her belt and pants. Shel, on the other hand, had only one leather-bound glove on her left hand and a small short sword sheathed to her side.
“How long have you two been Officers?” Rin finds that the question escapes her mouth before she could stop it. When Trisca and Shel turned, Rin looked away in embarrassment. “If you didn’t mind my asking.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Shel says this with a gentle laugh. “I myself have been an Officer for three years. Trisca is my senior in that regard.”
“Five years.” Trisca gave a short answer. “Longer than Jae. Though I’ve been on this base and seen many people come and go.” The way she said that last bit seemed a bit heavier than intended, so she raised a hand as if to comfort. “Mostly from moving around to other bases. We’re mostly a scout base so we have to have well-trained soldiers for the field.”
“I see.” Rin lets the word drift off as her thoughts tumble about. The typical Officer was an average of twenty-six years old, so these two could almost be in their thirties after all! She decides to move onto another topic. “Have you seen a lot of fighting then? Seeming we’re practically on the frontlines.”
There was a silence for a moment from Rin’s superiors. They both gave a glancing look to her before bringing their attention back to walking forward.
“More fighting than we could have ever been prepared for.” Was Shel’s response after a drawn-out silence. “Some were victories and others were terrible losses.”
“Ah.” Some guilt arose in Rin’s throat. “Sorry, Ma’am.”
“There’s no need to apologize for your curiosity. I’m sure it’s more anxiety-inducing for a greenhorn such as yourself.” Trisca looks behind her once more to give Rin a small smile. “However remember to not seek battle. Our purpose is to regain stability in these lands so it doesn’t affect the treaties.” She pauses a moment to glow in the energy of her Aura before opening the doors to the outside of the building. Rin and Shel follow suit to walk out into a brighter part of the day. “First rule of a scout.” Trisca continues. “Information is more important than fighting a known enemy. Get the information back to your superiors in once piece and you would have done your job.”
“Aye, Ma’am!” Rin nods firmly at this in full attention. Trisca keeps a stern face but a gleam of gentleness breaks through with a small smile.
The three of them spent some time in silence following this conversation as they crossed through the base. Other Officers glanced onwards curiously until they realized who was leading Rin. Trisca and Shel were rather well known here in the base as being some of the best forward scouts amongst them. So to see Rin trailing behind them caused a few rumored whispers to travel around. Shel glared at a few of the soldiers when she caught them slacking off with rumor spreading.
“If you’ve got the time to be whispering behind people’s backs, then you’ve got the time to scrub the deck on the wall until it's free of the mud tracked up there.” Her words piercing through the quiet base to reach the ears of those watching, causing them to flinch. When they seemed to feign going back to work, Shel seemed to get annoyed. “That wasn’t a conversational threat. Scrub the deck of the wall. Now soldiers!”
Rin watched in awe at the response to Shel’s clear authority. The group of soldiers made haste to get away from the area, clearly miffed but otherwise not going against her orders. Shel huffed before returning to Rin and Trisca to continue their conversation.
“Bored soldiers are deadlier than any army,” Trisca states with a shrug as she opens up the doors to another large building. “Never mind them Rin. If anyone gives you trouble while you’re here just come to us. We’re your commanding officers for the time being, ok?” She seems satisfied when Rin gives an affirmed nod and continues. “So long as you do your job right, then in my eyes, you’re an equal. We all have one goal and those who let the selfish thoughts of their rank get in the way don’t deserve to be a Hunter.”
“I will work with absolute diligence ma’am.” Rin felt far more confident while being around these two women. It was an enlightening experience to say the least compared to how people seemed to react to her arrival. Of course there was still that feeling of eyes glaring at her that made the hairs stand and she couldn’t help but wonder why her presence was such a big gossip. “Is it.. strange for me to be here?”
“The base has a self made reputation of, according to ones so bent on it, being a place for only the elite officers of the Hunters.” Shel scoffed. “The air of superiority complex is thick here. I say don’t worry about it, prove you belong here just as much as they do and you’ll survive.”
“A social standing huh…” Rin trails the thought as the view of an indoor training area comes into view. Not a common sight back on the main continent but she knew well enough why having training grounds outside would be a hazard here.
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