When they arrived at the practice field, they were greeted by a soldier called Captain Artibus. “He will be in charge of your military training this summer by running scrimmages against you with his own men,” Torvus explained. “You will be one team, Captain Artibus and his men will be another. Your team captain will be Fortus.”

Everyone was surprised by this announcement and turned to look at Fortus. Fortus appeared unphased and oblivious to his classmates’ reactions, though Lolo knew better. It was clear to Lolo that he had played this role before many times.

Torvus continued. “Lessons on Lion Tribe culture will be conducted in the palace with Scandunt, one of our tribe elders. Are there any questions?” No one raised their hand, so the general nodded to Captain Artibus and took his leave.

Captain Artibus seemed like a nice enough guy, very formal and aloof in his mannerisms and speech. In some ways, he reminded Lolo of Fortus from a couple of years ago, before they became friends.

Fortus and Artibus chatted for a minute about whatever it is that team captains talk about. They seemed to come to some sort of agreement, and Artibus left while Fortus turned to address the rest of the trainees.

"Your attention, please," he said. "This morning we will be running a battle simulation to assess individual strengths and weaknesses and get a sense for our team dynamics. We will all be using practice swords for safety, so if you would please leave your swords here in this lockbox to be collected after practice, I would appreciate it." Fortus specifically made eye contact with Lolo to assure her. "The opposing team will be attacking us shortly. I estimate that we have twenty minutes to discuss our team strategy. The goal for today is simple. Whichever team prevails, wins. If you are hit with a killing stroke or legitimately injured, sit down on the ground to surrender, and then move to the sidelines until the scrimmage is over."

The trainees did as they were told, putting their swords away in favor of practice swords, before gathering around Fortus again to discuss their battle plan.

"Alright, captain," Lolo said with a slight, teasing lilt in her tone, "what are your orders?"

Fortus scanned the group. "I'd like to hear from all of you this first round. I know some of your swordsmanship styles and capabilities very well, while others, I have limited experience with."

"Perhaps a self-assessment would be better given when we don't have enemy forces preparing to attack us," Lolo suggested. "I appreciate the intention, but right now, we need a battle plan."

Fortus considered Lolo's suggestion and agreed. "You are probably right. Well then, let's divide into two groups. The first group will meet the opposing team head on, and the second group will move to the side to flank them."

"Which group are you leading, and who do you want to lead the second group?" Lolo asked.

"I will lead the first group, do you want to lead the second, Lolo?"

Huo Lohse smiled. "Actually, I think Fengli or one of the Starkams would be a better choice to lead the second group. They are more familiar with battle strategies and troop deployments."

Fortus smirked. "You seem to know everyone's capabilities pretty well already.... Lolo, I'm going to put you in charge of dividing us into groups. Begrent, let's have you lead the second group today."

Begrent agreed with a nod.

"Alright," Lolo said, "the first group with Fortus will be Fengli, Ingenex, Ulana, Zhongyan and Haowan. Begrent, Ernkit, Standig and I will make up the second group. Fortus and Begrent, you may want to clarify any details of this plan with each other."

While the two leaders chatted, Lolo pulled everyone else aside. "Group one, we will need you to appear as aggressive and flashy as possible so group two can get close before being spotted. Listen well to Fortus. He's sure to have some clever tricks up his sleeve, and he knows the terrain and the opposition better than anyone. Group two, our job is to take the opposing team by surprise and break their formation. You bears are exceptionally well equipped to barrel your way through the enemy lines." Lolo made eye contact with Standig. "I plan to follow behind you boys to clean up after you. Group one, once the bears attack, take advantage of the chaos. Hopefully, the lions won't know what hit them, and it will all be over pretty quickly."

Fortus and Begrent finished their deliberations, and the groups split from each other. The three Bear Tribe trainees and Lolo moved to conceal themselves behind a patch of trees on the left while Fortus and the rest of the group lined up to play defense.

Captain Artibus appeared in the distance with a team of fifteen men. They were assembled in a tight arrowhead formation with Captain Artibus in the back to call the shots and the men around the front tip of the arrow holding large shields. From Lolo's perspective, it looked like they were preparing to ram Fortus's group and pick them off individually once the group members were separated.

The enemy team charged. Fortus ordered his group to cluster up, giving the arrow formation less opportunity to break the group apart. Lolo watched as the arrow got closer and Ulana took a step out to the side, away from the rest of group one, much to Fortus's confusion. Ulana used one of the shields held by the enemy soldiers like a ramp to do a quick flip over the top of their front line, landing in the center of the arrow formation to spin in a tight circle, hitting several soldiers across their chests or backs before they could react. In one spectacular move, Ulana dropped the enemy team down from sixteen men to eleven.

In the meantime, Fortus and the rest of group one engaged the enemy soldiers. With three wolves in the group, Lolo saw several partner maneuvers used to clear space and push back the enemy lines. This gave Fortus and Ingenex the unexpected opportunity to break up their formation.

"Quietly," Begrent said, "it's time to move out."

Swiftly and silently, all three Bear Tribe boys rushed the enemy from the left with Huo Lohse right behind them. As Lolo had hoped, the lions were well-distracted and didn't know what hit them. Within moments, Standig had knocked down four soldiers, and, as she'd promised, Lolo cleaned up behind him, landing killing strokes on all four men before they could recover. Ernkit and Begrent each removed a soldier from the fight in the initial attack as well.

With group one on one side, group two cleaning out the other side, and Ulana making things difficult in between, the enemy team didn't stand a chance. It was over in less than a minute.

Captain Artibus stood up to finalize his team's surrender, pleasantly surprised by the trainees' skills and strategy. The team captains bowed to each other, and Artibus and his men left the field to reset.

Meanwhile, Lolo' enthusiasm could not be contained. She was congratulating Ulana on her opening attack, complementing the Wolf Tribe boys on their exceptional partner maneuvers, making Ingenex feel like a hero for helping to break the enemy formation, and praising the Bear Tribe boys for their outstanding sneak attack. Fortus turned to find his entire team surrounding Lolo with goofy grins on their faces.

"You guys were amazing!" Lolo was saying. "All of you! Best team ever!"

"Am I interrupting anything?" Fortus asked, a little confused.

"Not at all. That was an excellent battle plan, captain. I'm so excited for this year's exchange! We're going to learn a lot from you."

Fortus wasn't sure how to reciprocate Lolo's accolades, but he was quickly enveloped into the rest of the group, their expressions reflected on his face. It was pretty clear who the real team captain was, but, to be honest, because it was Lolo, Fortus didn't mind.

After combat training, the trainees followed Fortus to the palace for lessons on Lion Tribe culture with Scandunt. Lion Tribe culture invested heavily in social graces and formalities, networking, economics and trade, great works of art, dramatic theater, personal excellence, and, of course, a large and powerful military. As a society, the Lion Tribe was incredibly strong, but Lolo got the sense that, for individuals, the culture was cutthroat and potentially toxic. Families in the Lion Tribe tended to be smaller and tight-knit, but, beyond their immediate families, lions generally didn't make friends. Instead, they networked, using each other to advance themselves and their families socially.

Scandunt was incredibly proud of the Lion Tribe and took a practical approach to his teaching methods. "For this year's exchange, I'd like to spend three or four days each week teaching you about an aspect of our culture, and then, for the remainder of each week, I want you to spend your class time in the city, experiencing everything first hand. Over the weekends, you will write reports about your personal experiences and perspectives. Reports are due at the beginning of class each Monday," Scandunt explained. "This week, we will be discussing dramatic theater and Lion Tribe art. The themes artists chose for their creations can tell you a lot about what is valuable and important to a society…."

***

"I wish Durfein were here to give his perspective on Lion Tribe art and theater. Durfein would have loved this week's lessons," Lolo pouted to Ulana four days into the exchange. "I like Scandunt's approach to his class. It's like we get to take our own independent field trips every week!"

"Do you know what you want to do in town tomorrow?" Ulana asked.

"I haven't spent enough time studying the maps Scandunt gave us, so not specifically yet. But I want to try to find one of the taverns that has live entertainment. The plays we read in class all seem to center around war and romance. I'm curious to see how they are performed."

"I want to watch some of the street performers Scandunt's been talking about. He made it sound like costumes, music, and dancing could be found on every street corner," Ulana said.

"Do you think we should try to get everyone together for our trip?"

"Maybe a small group. I think it would be too hard keeping track of everyone."

"Fair point. Did you have a specific group in mind?"

"The four of us from last year, maybe? Although, that could feel sort of like a double date," Ulana shrugged. "The problem is that there really aren't all that many of us this year. Four people is nearly half the group."

Lolo considered this. "I have an idea then. What if instead of forming a group, we draft a schedule and leave the invitation open for anyone to join us for as much or as little of it as they want?"

"That's a reasonable compromise. Some of the schedule should be left open-ended for wandering around the street markets, though."

"We could start that open-ended part at a specific street corner to wait for a few minutes so people could join us," Lolo suggested. "Do you want to try to coordinate our plans? Or would you prefer to do some things separately?"

"How about we get together tonight to go over our maps together. We don't have to do everything together, but anything we both want to do, we should try to do at the same time."

"Perfect! Meet you in your room after dinner?"

The next morning after combat training, everyone seemed excited about heading into town that afternoon, everyone except Fortus.

"Hey!" Lolo snagged his arm. "I haven't heard anything about your plans. You probably know where all the best things are; I'd be interested to get some pointers from you if you have a minute."

Fortus shut his eyes and took a deep breath. "Lolo, don't be mad at me."

"What? I'm not mad. Why would I be mad at you?"

"I was coming to that."

"Ok. What's up?"

"I've been avoiding town. This year, there have been some girls harassing me."

"Oh?" Huo Lohse's eyes glinted. She could tell exactly where this was going.

"Yeah. They wouldn't take a hint that I wasn't interested, so, uh, well, I kind of told them that I have a girlfriend."

"But you don't have a girlfriend?" Lolo's eyes narrowed at him.

"Well, no. They saw right through my bluff, so I dug myself a deeper hole."

"Mn," she nodded sagely. "So what did you tell them?"

"Well, they made me describe her… my fictitious girlfriend. And I had to tell them all about her, how I knew her, and give them a name."

"Really? That seems excessive. So then, what is this girl's name, and what is she like?"

Fortus shifted his body weight. "It's you, Lolo, ok?! I'm sorry, I panicked, and you were the first girl that popped into my head. I gave them your name and told them all about you."

"Interesting," was all Lolo said.

For a long moment, Lolo let Fortus sweat until he couldn't take it anymore. "You're... you're not angry?"

"Oh, using my name is harmless enough. Besides, I'm never in the Lion Tribe except for this summer. How are they supposed to check your information?"

"That's... true... but you're here now…."

"Mn," Lolo agreed.

There was another awkward pause.

"You're really going to make me say it?" Fortus observed more than asked.

Lolo simply raised her eyebrows in response.

Well, if he was going to have to ask her, he might as well do it with style. Fortus grabbed her hand, dropped to one knee, and in front of the entire team implored, "Huo Lohse Lang, will you do me the honor of being my pretend girlfriend for the summer when we go into town?"

Lolo tried and failed to contain her cheeky grin. "'Gonna take me to dinner?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lolo," Fortus groveled as he stood up.

"Of course! What are friends for if not to help you destroy other potential relationships?"

Fortus chuckled.

"I do have one ground rule though."

"What's that?" Fortus was willing to make just about any concession.

"No lip-locking."

"So, no kissing?"

"No, kissing is fine, just not on the lips."

"That's it?" Fortus was genuinely surprised.

"That's it. Why? What were you expecting me to say?"

Fortus shrugged. "I dunno. Tactically speaking, you literally have every advantage. You could ask for just about anything."

Lolo laughed. "This isn't a battle, Fortus. It's a friendly favor. It doesn't put me out in any way to help you. In fact, it might be a lot of fun! And it's a good excuse for me to get to know you better. I did ask you to show me all the places that were important to you."

Fortus was at a loss for words.

"Hey, guys," Lolo addressed the rest of the trainees, all of whom had been trying not to look like they were listening in on their conversation, "I know you heard everything. Whenever we go into town this summer, it would help us sell the act if you played along or at least not disputed our 'relationship'."

Ulana was practically jumping up and down with excitement. Zhongyan and Haowan exchanged a look Lolo knew meant that both she and Fortus would never hear the end of this. Standig looked flustered. The rest of the boys just shrugged or rolled their eyes.

"Um, so, Lolo, I guess we'll walk into town together after lunch?" Fortus asked.

"It's a date. I need to go get myself ready to do battle now though. Bye!" Lolo snagged an enthusiastic Ulana by the arm on her way off the field.

Once the girls were gone, Fortus found himself alone with a group of guys, several of whom felt duty-bound to protect the Wolf Tribe princess.

"So, you're taking our sister out this afternoon?" Zhongyan started the conversation.

"Well, sort of," Fortus replied.

"Fake dating or not, treat her right," Haowan said with a tone somewhere between teasing and threatening.

Fengli seemed to want to add his two cents to the conversation, but he settled for a brief moment of eye contact with Fortus that silently communicated a message of "or else…."

Ingenex, Begrent, and Ernkit were mostly amused by the whole situation, but Ernkit added with a small chuckle that "Lolo is everyone's friend. Mess with her, and you'll make a lot of enemies real quick."

As though that weren't enough, Standig's bewildered expression had been replaced by a penetrating stare, and Fortus was less than subtly reminded that if you mess with Huo Lohse Lang, you mess with the entire pack and everyone she's adopted into it.