Absolutely frozen still, Mazdall fixed her gaze on the window, unblinking. The window had hardly moved, still hanging open like she had left it. Nothing was there.

 Despite what Mazdall could- or perhaps couldn’t- see, she didn’t avert her eyes. She squinted at the window, waiting for something. The light of the moons only illuminated so much, and so she was relying on catching some sort of movement.

 Just as she had hoped- motion. Something small and swift hit the glass of her window- CLINK. She couldn’t identify what it was in the dark, but it sounded like a rock. 

 Is someone throwing something? She wondered, slowly climbing off the bed. She made sure to move silently, sneaking off the bed and stalking her way to the window, practically crawling. 

 CLANK.

 A much bigger object this time. Definitely a rock.

 From this her confusion only grew. She approached the window and pondered for a moment. If this was some sort of trap, she would have to move quickly. Readying her talons, she clenched as she took a deep breath. Quietly, she whispered to herself, “-of a Talon there is bravery-”.

 After taking one more deep breath, she rose up and quickly pounced out of the window. Emerging into the night air, Mazdall heard a surprised yell as she caught herself with her wings.

 It was much brighter outside than in her room, the five moons illuminating the foothills. The moonlight limned her feathers, reflecting bright white. Quickly, she scanned her surroundings, before a voice drew her attention, “Holy Sky, I thought you were a ghost!”

 Mazdall’s head whipped around and her eyes landed on a speckled chestnut-coloured Hunting Flocktic. For a moment, all she could do was stare at him. He didn’t look villainous- in fact, he just looked confused and surprised. Perhaps a little embarrassed. His blue eyes squinted as he cringed. Mazdall’s brows narrowed and she lowered herself to land beside him, “Were you the one throwing rocks at my window?”

 The stranger grit his teeth and fessed up, “Guilty. I thought you were someone else.”

 “Someone else?” Mazdall questioned, raising a brow.

 The stranger tried to explain, “Well, it’s just that your window is open and- I mean, usually that’s how I find my friend.”

 “‘Usually’? So you just… throw things and hope for the best?” Mazdall said, viciously confused.

 The stranger’s face contorted, “Uh, I mean, technically- but usually there is no one else with an open window in autumn.” 

 He quietly mumbled to himself as he scanned the tower, “...and it doesn’t look like any other windows are open…”

 Mazdall thought about it for a moment. Perhaps she had somehow confused him by leaving her window open. Though she didn’t fully understand it, Mazdall had been there less than a day, so perhaps it was true that she was throwing a wrench into his routine, not the other way around. 

 “O-...kay.” She said with a bit of uncertainty, before suddenly realizing- “Wait- but what are you doing anyways? Isn’t it past curfew?”

 He blinked at her for a moment before responding, “... Oh yeah, you’re one of the new recruits.”

 Mazdall felt herself turn a little red. Was it really that obvious?

 He remarked to himself, “That makes sense- I figured I would’ve recognized a bright white Huntic, anyways.”

 “Wait, how did you-”

 “-know you were a recruit? Talons don’t really have ‘curfews’- recruits only have that to teach them the schedule.”

 Mazdall blinked a few times, “Oh.”

 The strange Talon seemed to soften towards her, “I guess I probably woke you up- so either way, I should apologize-”

 Mazdall couldn’t help but retort, “There was nothing to wake from, I wasn’t sleeping either way.” She shrugged, “But thanks anyways.”

 He looked concerned, “Oh.” After a moment, he asked a question as if to double-check- “You just got here today, didn’t you?”

 “Yeah, we all did.” 

 He tilted his head knowingly, “That makes sense.”

 The stranger suddenly became very warm with her. “Well, recruit-” He extended an arm, offering it to her, “-welcome to the Talons Perch, I’m Udakai. What should I call you?”

 Mazdall took a moment before reciprocating the gesture, surprised by his shift in demeanour. “I’m… Mazdall.” She finally said as she took his hand. 

 “Nice to meet you, Mazdall. I’m sorry about my first impression- I promise I’m normally not so disruptive.” He shuffled in place.

 “That’s okay.  It’s nice to meet you too, Udakai.” She smiled.

 They parted hands and settled on the ground, Udakai’s gaze slowly making its way back to the station quarters tower.

 With his eyes still tracing the tower, he asked, “So… why weren’t you asleep?”

 “Hm?” Mazdall didn’t quite process his offhanded question.

 “You said there was nothing to wake from. Why were you awake?” He asked again.

 Mazdall quickly tried to shrug it off, “Oh- uh, don’t worry about it- I think it’s just because it’s the first night, I’ll be fine.”

 That and all the reading… She thought to herself.

 Mazdall noticed his gaze scrubbing the tower, his expression reading his confusion. He seemed to be scanning every window, willing one of them to open.

 “Hey-” Mazdall perked up again, “-you said you thought I was someone else. What exactly did you mean by that?”

 Udakai shifted back to look at her before gesturing up to her window, “Even as the weather gets colder, he leaves his window open. He says it’s because he loves the wind, but I think it’s because he knows I’ll be able to find him that way. Still, I try to test just in case. Wouldn’t want to climb into random windows…”

 He leaned closer to her to whisper, as if someone would hear, “It’s like our secret codes to each other- call it a rendezvous, if you will-” He said smugly.

 Mazdall smiled, “So, who is this guy?”

 “Oh, uhhh…” He seemed hesitant to answer the question, before quietly mumbling, “...he should be your station leader.”

 Mazdall wondered why he answered so quietly, before suddenly correcting- “He? No, my… Our station leader, her name is Obora.”

 “Wait- Obora is the station leader this season?”

 “Er… Yes?” Mazdall felt as though she did not have all the context for this conversation.

 “Oh skies- I was completely off then. He’s probably in his room… I messed up. I really do have to start paying better attention at the summons.”

 Mazdall let this all ponder over her for a moment before she realized this meant that Obora must have been staying at the station quarters as well. She hoped that Obora couldn’t see her outside past curfew… 

 Despite this worry, her curiosity was peaked. She couldn’t help herself and asked Udakai, “Who are you looking for then?”

 This question seemed to temporarily knock Udakai off balance. 

 “Oh- uh, just my uh- he’s my friend.”

 That was the only piece of information that Mazdall had already gleaned, so she tried to pry a little more, “Uh huh. What’s your friend like?”

 Suddenly, Udakai was happy to gloat, “He’s the best- he’s amazing at everything he does- and he can do anything. He’s the smartest Flocktic I know, he always knows the right thing to say, and he’s always so confident. I can’t imagine what I would do without-” Udakai cut himself off, clearing his throat. “Um- yeah. He’s a good friend of mine.”

 Mazdall smiled, “It seems like you know him really well. Does he mind rocks being thrown at his window?”

 “Eh, he didn’t like it at first, but he got used to it.” Udakai smiled and rubbed the back of his neck- and as he did, Mazdall noticed something. A small woven pouch tied with a leather string around his upper arm, with poorly sewn stitching at the bottom. Mazdall had seen that pouch before…

 Suddenly, it clicked.

 Without saying another word, Mazdall reached into the leather guard on her foot, and pulled out the silver coin with the sapphire trim.

 “Is this yours?”

 Udakai’s eyes lit up at the sight of it, and he gently extended his reach for it, “Y-Yes! When… Where did you find this?”

 “Er- near the uh, sparring grounds with the blacksmith next door? It’s near-”

 “Oh! The weapon maintenance station. Wow- really? I thought I lost it while scouting, I didn’t even notice…” He took it from her hand, cradling it lovingly in his palms. He gazed at it with pure relief, releasing a large sigh. 

 “Thank you.” He looked at her with deep sincerity. Mazdall wasn’t sure what made the coin so special. A part of her was curious to ask, but figured she should leave it. She had just met him after all.

 So instead she simply said, “Of course, I’m just glad I found its owner.”

 “Yeah, no kidding.” He said, tucking it into the pouch. “In a place with hundreds of others, we’re lucky we bumped into each other.”

 “Well, not really. You threw rocks at my window.”

 “And I sure am happy I did!”

 Mazdall laughed, and Udakai chuckled with her. She couldn’t help but feel relief- after feeling like a fish out of water all day, she was happy to find someone so pleasant. 

 Udakai was quite outgoing from what Mazdall could tell- she couldn’t help but feel relaxed in his presence. He was quite the comforting character.

 After a moment, he spoke up again, “Mazdall, you were saying you weren’t sleeping because it’s the first night- are you nervous?”

 Mazdall huffed, “I- nervous? Well…” She sighed, “Yeah, a little bit.”

 “Well, if I may encourage you, I can already see a budding Talon in you. As a Talon, try not to get too intimidated by all the official stuff, just focus on what you can do! You found my coin and managed to return it to me- that feels like fate to me.”

 “Fate?”

 “Yes! As though you were meant to be here. A true Talon can do anything- and you’ve already helped someone on your first day. ” He looked up towards the barracks, scanning the walls, before turning his gaze back to her, “I know that sounds crazy. What I mean to say is, I’m rooting for you.”

 Mazdall was flattered, and it showed by the way her feathers puffed up. “Oh, wow. Thank you, Udakai. That’s really nice of you.” She wasn’t sure what to say- his confidence in her was bewildering.

 “Of course, Mazdall.” He replied.

 Suddenly Udakai sighed, “I hate to cut this short, but I still have somewhere to be. My rendezvous.”

 He chortled with a smile, but Mazdall’s face fell. “Oh okay, that makes sense.”

 “But it was really nice meeting you, Mazdall.”

 “It was nice meeting you too, Udakai. Hopefully I’ll see you around.”

 “Oh, you will-” He assured, “-you’ll see me. Especially once you're a fully fledged Talon- you might even get sick of me.”

 Mazdall laughed, and felt her heart brighten with warmth. His faith in her was almost overwhelming, but she still accepted it with open wings. She hoped to herself that he was right- that this wasn't their last time meeting.

 “I look forward to it.” She stated.

 With that, he nodded and took off, gliding on the night air as he continued his circling of the barracks.

 Mazdall couldn’t help but smile as she watched him soar. She herself then lifted off into the air, flying back through her window and landing in her room. 

 This time when she climbed into the bed, she felt relaxed. She was much more tired than before, but she also felt calmer. Her anxiety felt less agitated, and she felt ready to handle the flight test tomorrow. 

 While she had much to live up to, she figured it would be best to handle it one challenge at a time. With new found confidence embedded into her, she reflected on herself and the kind stranger outside the window. How- if a stranger could put so much faith in her, so could she.

 As Mazdall felt herself slip into unconsciousness, the last thought on her mind was of riding the winds as a fully realized Talon.