Almost as soon as Yuriko returned to the Shepherd’s Cross after her morning jog, the concierge called for her as she walked past the common room. She looked at the current attendant, a young man barely older than she was, who had a shy smile and a freckled nose.

“Yes?”

“Miss Davar, we received a notice from the post office regarding a packet of letters for you and your companions,” he replied quietly, offering a card just a little bit longer than her palm. There was a string of runescript etched over the top and her name written in the middle.

“Thank you,” Yuriko gave him a small smile. “How do I reach the post office from here?”

“Oh, it's simple, return to White Jasmine and head towards the Upper Ring but don’t go all the way. The post office is on the corner of Carnation and White Jasmine. You can’t miss it.”

Yuriko thought if she could remember such a building. “Three storeys, green stone facade and a paper crane sign?” she muttered to herself.

“Precisely, Miss Davar,” the attendant said with a smile.

“Oh. Uh thank you, erm?” she looked at him questioningly.

“Uhm, it’s Jasper Ovish.”

“Ah, well, thank you, Jasper.”

“You’re welcome!”

She pocketed the card and headed to the courtyard. It was too early in the day for business, she knew, so she might as well complete her morning training. The central courtyard was a bit more crowded today with some of the other kids from the countryside arriving in Rumiga City for the Academy. Enrolment was in a couple of weeks, on the 77th, while she would find out the results of the trials on the 69th. The suspense was wreaking havoc with her meditations and she kept fiddling with her training weapons or going off into daydreams.

Just like now, in fact. Yuriko abruptly realized that she was just holding the wooden sword instead of going through the dances. Shaking her head, she kept to a clear space and started a single blade dance. She went through all three dances before shifting to a dual sword, doing a single iteration of each. Then it was with a spear, a rifle-blade, and a greatsword.

Purchasing the wooden training weapons had cost her a couple of silver marks each, and these were pretty shabby compared to her side-blade shaped wooden practice sword. But since she practiced with three additional weapons it was practical enough.

Kato asked one morning her why she was splitting her focus on different styles.

“You’ll only become mediocre in all of them instead of mastering one.”

Yuriko shook her head.

“It’s not the weapon I’m mastering,” she replied after some thought, a bit unsure on how to explain. “It’s more the Intent? Hrmm, well, let me put it this way, I may be using different weapons but the technique is the same for each one.”

Kato looked at her blankly before throwing his hands over his head. “Fine, you’re already better than I am with melee weapons. I won’t even claim to understand what you mean.”

Yuriko could only chuckle wryly. The point of it was for her to familiarise herself with different ways of expressing the sword dances. Or maybe she should stop calling them sword dances since she could technically use them with any weapon. But, well, she started with the sword, so that’s how they’ll be called. In her head, anyway.

By practising with different weapons, it allowed her to get a better look at the dances. Specifically, the way her Animus circulated inside her body while she used it. There must be a reason why the Golden Silhouette demonstrated the dances to her with different weapons and she was determined to figure out how. She spent a couple of hours in practice and while her gains were minor, they were steadily building up. She could more easily transition between all three dances now though only with dual swords. She had some trouble with the other styles but they were smoothening out.

At this point, she should seek a sparring partner but neither the twins nor Kato was a match for her. All she could do was to keep it up. There was also a dearth of Wyldlings she could fight--being in the city had that detriment. Perhaps she would be better off finding a match in the Academy. Yes, it was something she was looking forward to. Of course, Heron and the others should arrive here in a week or so.

After taking a bath and changing into fresh clothing, she looked for the twins and found them still in their room.

“I’m heading to the post office to pick up letters. Did you receive a notice too?” She asked after knocking and being let into their room.

“No, we hadn’t,” Braden said. He had a bathrobe hanging down his skinny frame when she peeked in. She only raised an eyebrow at it, then resolutely ignored his state of dress. Orrin was still in his pyjamas.

“Should I drag you boys to training?”

“Oh, uh, no please,” Orrin said with sweat beading on his forehead. “I’ll, uhm, we’ll join you tomorrow.”

“Good. You don’t want to get out of shape.”

“Ahahaa,” Orrin laughed awkwardly.

“Soooo, are you staying there until I get dressed?” Braden smirked.

Yuriko rolled her eyes and left. Kato wasn’t in their room either. She wondered where he spent his days, though she supposed this time was an imposition to him. He could have spent more time with his sweetheart after all.

Well, since she was heading to the post office anyway, she walked up to the concierge and asked if Kato got a notice too.

“Oh, Mr. Davar already took his notice card and left before you did, miss.”

Ah, so that was that. She walked out of the inn and walked down Cherry Blossom Road. She wore comfortable clothes though she still had her side-blade on her hip. Her license card for it as well as her admission test receipts were inside a small pouch tucked under her shirt and resting comfortably on her bosom. It was getting uncomfortable as a hiding place though, as her chest had begun feeling tender lately.

A light breeze blew her hair across her face. She brushed the strands off with her fingers as she walked. The cobblestone road sloped at a low angle towards White Jasmine Avenue such that she could easily see the wider main road. A Circuit Tram trundled across the intersection, bringing with it working men and women. The scent of freshly baked bread lingered in the air, tempting her to seek out the bakery. Where there was bread, there would be scones, honey cakes, cookies, and other sweet, delectable treats. Her tummy growled despite her quick breakfast earlier. But no, she should hold on to her coins for now. She could have a little treat on the way back, after reading whatever letters there were.

Her eyes flicked up to track a messenger crane after its shadow crossed her path. The runescripted paper crane veered into an inn, using the universal crane door. A pity that messenger cranes had a limited range and using the crane relay was limited to government service and militia or legion use. The post was slower by an order of magnitude and it was carried by the Commuter Trams that went across the country.

She arrived at the post office and submitted the notice to the attendant. The elderly man slotted the card into a contraction which signalled someone in the back room. A few minutes later, a parcel that weighed less than a Jin made its way to the front. It was as wide as both of her hands put together, covered in waterproofed canvas and secured with a black string.

The attendant undid the ties, revealing several thick envelopes addressed to Yuriko Mishala Davar, The Shepherd’s Cross, 12 Cherry Blossom Road, Northern Mid Ring, Rumiga City. She had written to Marron, Krystal, and Mikel that she’d made it here the day after they arrived.

“Thank you!” She exclaimed after slipping a silver penny into the tip jar and took her letters with her.

She held onto the letters and headed out, looking for a cafe she could spend the morning in while going through her letters. She headed back along White Jasmine Avenue and took a right turn at Purple Carnation Road, following her nose when she caught a pleasant whiff of baking bread. The first shop was a bust: it was a plain old bakery. She continued to follow the road until it looped back onto White Jasmine. She took the next one, Wisteria Street, and found an al fresco cafe a few buildings down. The name on the sign said Tea Brewery and Pastry Shoppe.

“Welcome!” came a cheery voice when she went inside. The door was kept open by an ornately woven rope tied around a wooden post and the doorknob.

“Good morning,” Yuriko greeted the attendant, a young woman in her early twenties, a little on the plump side with honey-coloured hair in several braids. “I’d like an al fresco table, please.”

“This way!”

She was led around the shop and outside into a fenced area. The wooden partitions were decorative and wouldn’t really stop anyone from jumping over them and the tables had umbrellas in the middle to provide shade, though they were closed now. There was a stiff breeze coming from over the mountain, colder than the Season norm but the heat from the morning sun was already warming up the cobblestones so it evened out.

Yuriko ordered a sweet tea, served chilled, and a puff pastry. She opened the first envelope and drew out the heavy paper inside while waiting for her order.

“After Founding 2997

55th Day of Fire

Yuriko Mishala Davar

The Shepherd’s Cross

Cherry Blossom Road

Rumiga City

My dearest sister,

I am glad to have received your and Kato’s, letter when I came back from patrol today. Nothing much has happened, thankfully, which is quite unusual according to the older officers in Watchtower. What usually follows a Wave is a period of increased incursion from both swarmlings and Wanderers, but all is silent. It is as if the Wave had never happened.

Either way is good for Faron’s Crossing and the surviving villages. The ruins of Northwold have been cleared with the help of Legion Vagaris and the militia, of course, and plans to rebuild have already been put into place. A hefty bounty has been offered to anyone wishing to relocate there. Perhaps in a year the village will be back on its feet. Of the Village Council, only a couple of elders who happened to be in Faron’s Crossing on business had survived. One of them had been chosen to become the new Chief but I’m sure this is something you don’t really care to read about, ha ha.

Anyway, I’m happy to announce the result of Vagaris’ Seeking Ritual. The medium we’ve recovered in the Tidelands disintegrated afterwards, though, so we would have to search for a fresh one or just plain look for them, if needed. The Ritual managed to detect that Da’s Fate String is still intact, so as of this writing, he is alive and well.

As a result of this, certain matters have become a bit easier while others, a bit more troublesome. Vice Commander Stuart applied to High Command, through the Legion Vagaris, that he be allowed to take command of the Watchtower, owing to Da’s extended leave. While he hadn’t been rejected outright, he has been temporarily promoted as the new Commander, pending Da’s return.

I’ve also made arrangements with the Imperial Bank regarding Da’s stipend. Thankfully, he had already made previous arrangements before he left. Your weekly allowance of a hundred Sovereigns per week will be credited directly to your account at the bank. Don’t spend all your coin on frivolous things as you would need to dip into your savings to pay for your Academic tuition and other fees, at least until Da returns. I’ll try to send more coins over but I don’t have a stipend since I’m not at the Knight level yet.

Rami’s missing you something fierce and he sent a letter over as well. Do write back every now and then. I’d love to hear how you’re doing in the Capital.

Love,

Marron Mishala Davar”

Yuriko surreptitiously wiped away the tears welling out of the corner of her eyes. The chilled tea and puff pastry had arrived a few minutes earlier but she hadn’t even taken a single sip or a bite. With Marron’s words, the hidden weight on her shoulders, the chill hand grasping at her heart, had disappeared.

Da’s alive! That’s all that mattered to her right now.

She took a sip of the tea and a burst of delicious sweetness burst on her tongue. She could barely stop herself from guzzling it down. She folded the letter and returned it to the envelope and opened the next one, a letter from Rami.

It was short and sweet, much like how her youngest brother was. He also said that not only did he miss her, but apparently, so did his friends Lance Zorin and Awley Keryn. Yuriko wondered why though as she barely interacted with Rami’s gang, though she did see them every now and then at the children’s park back home.

The next letter was from Krystal, containing more gossip than anything else. It did note that she, Mikel, Heron, and a few others of her year were planning to arrive at Rumiga City on the 72nd Day of Fire for the enrollment on the 77th. Yuriko looked forward to that very much.

Heron’s envelope was wider than the others by a little bit and stiff too. She wondered what he wrote her about, this being the first time he’d ever written her. She slit open the seal flap and pulled out the contents gently.

It was a small board the width and length of her palms brought side to side and when she flipped it over, it revealed a picture: a painting of the Twin Falls in the Shillogu Woods. A slip of paper fell on the table from the envelope and when she opened it she saw Heron’s tidy handwriting.

“Thought you’d like a scene from our memory of the training camp.”

The bottom of the painting had a small signature, H.S.M. 37th Fire 2997.

Yuriko couldn’t help but smile. She returned it inside the envelope to protect it, and opened another one, reading mostly gossip and well wishes from her friends while she sipped tea and nibbled on the pastry.