Waking up to the sound of someone in her room, Callida prepared for a fight. She rolled off the bed and dove for her sword, drawing it half way before recognizing her intruder. "Duoqing?!" She was suddenly angry. "What are you doing here?! I could have killed you!"

"Sorry, Callida. The door was open and, well, I couldn't sleep."

"So you thought you'd come here?! Did you honestly think that was a good idea? Where is your bodyguard?"

Duoqing shifted his weight awkwardly. "I ditched him…. Can we talk?"

"In the middle of the night?!"

"Please? You've been avoiding me."

Sitting back on her bed with a huff, she relented. "Make it quick."

Duoqing sat down next to her with a small sigh. "You were pretty incredible in the tournament, Callida. Second place isn't half bad! Especially for an eighteen year old. And you honestly should have won. That bear got lucky, clipping you in the head like that. If you hadn't had a concu-"

"Why are you really here?" Callida snapped at him impatiently.

In the dark, Duoqing looked like he was trying not to cry. "Do you have to do that? You always do this."

"Do what?"

"’Jump right to the point."

"You shouldn't be here, Duoqing. It's late, you ditched your bodyguard, and I'm tired. Just say what you need to say and go back to bed."

"Fine." Duoqing shifted slightly on the bed to face her more directly. "Callida…." His hand found her cheek as he leaned in.

Callida bolted off the bed, and Duoqing got up to follow her. "That's why you're here?!" But, honestly, she was expecting him to try something like this.

"Look, I know what I did was wrong, but, please, Callida, let me make it up to you."

"You know it's more than-"

"I love you," he blurted, cutting her off and silencing her.

"Duoqing-"

"Look, Callida, I love you. I know that you love me too. You can't tell me that you don't," he added when Callida started to protest.

He had her cornered between the wall and the edge of her bed, and with him standing so close, Callida could feel her resolve beginning to break. She cursed internally. This was exactly why she'd been avoiding him. "You know that it's not a matter of love. You know why this can't-"

His hands caught her face and Callida choked. "I need you." Grabbing his shoulders in a conflicted effort to both push him away and draw him closer, Callida's hesitation was the opportunity Duoqing was waiting for. He pulled her in.

In a strange moment of deja vu, Callida found herself on the bed as Duoqing's kisses ran the length of her neck and jawline. "Please, stop."

"You don't really want me to stop," he argued and resumed kissing her.

It was true. She didn't. But she also knew that if she didn't stop this now, there would be no going back. "Duoqing, please." He merely kissed her more insistently, and Callida started to cry. He had no intentions of stopping, no matter how much she begged. She wrapped her right arm around his neck and rolled over, leaning her left elbow on the bed next to his throat. "Duoqing-"

His arms took her waist, holding her in place. "Just kiss me."

Letting her tears fall freely, Callida grabbed both of her elbows, locking her arms around his neck. Duoqing realized too late what was happening, and Callida tucked her feet under his knees so he couldn't fight her off. "I'm sorry. I can't be what you want me to be." Callida leaned down to kiss him, and Duoqing accepted the inevitable, eventually going still.

She stood up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, collecting her things quickly before walking out.

***

"Germanus?" With her face no longer puffy from crying, Callida tapped on his cabin door quietly, hoping he'd hear her before she disturbed anyone else. To her surprise, the door swung open almost immediately, and both Germanus and Keit appeared behind it. The lanterns in the room were already lit. "You were awake?" Wordlessly, Germanus exchanged a fleeting glance with Keit and ushered Callida into the cabin. "I didn't realize you'd been assigned to room with each other," Callida commented.

"We weren't. Keit pulled some strings with the organizers and convinced his roommate to trade beds."

"It's a pretty private room."

"'Perk of Keit being the Bear Tribe leader's cousin."

"I see." Callida realized how awkwardly she was behaving, but she didn't know how to tell Germanus, let alone Keit, whom she barely knew, why she was in their room in the middle of the night. But then again, they were already awake and seemed to have been waiting for her. Oh, Primordials! The realization made her cringe. "Someone warned you that I was coming…. What else did they tell you?"

Keit smiled at her gently and offered her a chair before pulling up a second one for himself. "Would you like to tell us what's going on, or would you prefer for us to tell you what we already know?"

Callida took the chair and flushed a little. "Go for it."

Keit nodded and put his fingers to his mouth in a sharp whistle. Behind her, the door swung open again and five young Bear Tribe soldiers walked in. They all seemed oddly familiar, and yet, Callida knew that she'd never met any of them before.

"Let's have it, boys," Keit said.

"Where would you like us to start?"

"Well, Bern, why would Miss Animo be here in the middle of the night all packed up and ready to leave?"

Bern looked at Callida and quickly averted his eyes back to Keit. "The young Alpha entered her cabin an hour ago. My guess is that he made her feel unsafe."

"Did you pick up anything more specific?" Keit pressed.

Bern shifted uncomfortably. "Yes. We were preparing to intervene in case he wouldn’t leave willingly, but Ms. Animo took care of things."

Callida blushed hard. "You were listening?" Bern's apologetic glance told her everything that she didn't want to know. "Then you know a lot more than you are admitting."

He nodded before adding curiously, "what is your history with him?"

"Bern, that's enough. I think we've sufficiently breached her privacy for one night," Keit scolded with a mild chuckle.

"Sorry, sir… Ms. Animo." Bern nodded to each in turn and stepped back.

"Gentlemen, you are excused. Get some sleep."

"Yes, sir." The soldiers said in unison, taking their leave.

"You've already heard their full report?" Callida stated more than asked.

"Yes."

She sighed, the embarrassment making it difficult to maintain any kind of eye contact. "Then you already know exactly why I'm here."

Germanus, who had been silently listening to the proceedings, stood up to give his sister a hug. "Stay here tonight. I'm sure you are feeling anxious about choking Duoqing out, but he can't do anything to you without explaining why he was in your room in the first place."

"Germanus, you know that this means I can't return home to the Wolf Tribe," Callida replied, fighting back tears again.

He sighed. "I know. I'll take care of it. For now, try to get some sleep. The apprenticeship invitations should come in tomorrow. We can make decisions then."

Callida nodded and then turned to face Keit again. "Why were your men spying on me?"

Keit chuckled. “A couple of them were assigned to keep tabs on the young Alpha."

"That explains why I recognize them, at least," Callida muttered under her breath.

"Don't worry, Callida. Their report won't leave this room."

***

Germanus went to the Wolf Tribe tent by the sparring field to accept any apprenticeship offers on Callida’s behalf. He could hardly blame her for feeling so anxious, choking out the Alpha like that. But Duoqing had crossed a line. It might have been excusable if it had simply been a moment of indiscretion, not premeditated, or at least the first time it had happened….

“Captain Animo, where is Callida?”

“She’s not feeling well,” he answered, biting back a sudden flare of anger.

“That’s a shame. There are a lot of people hoping to meet her,” Duoqing replied, his casual tone making it that much more difficult for Germanus to resist the urge to break his nose. “What’s wrong with her?”

Like you don’t know, pup! Germanus managed to curb his tongue, but even Duoqing couldn’t mistake the accusatory fury burning behind his eyes. “She didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Ah.” Duoqing took an unconscious step back and resumed playing the gracious host to the various headhunters dropping off invitations for the Wolf Tribe competitors.

Germanus huffed, trying to exhale some of the emotions that were making the young Alpha’s face look like an exceedingly appealing punching bag. It was going to be a long morning.

***

“To the victor goes the spoils,” Germanus grinned, handing Callida an absurd stack of envelopes and scrolls.

“These are all for me?!” Callida gasped, dumping the pile onto Germanus’s bed.

“Apparently last night over dinner, someone let slip that you fought the entire tournament with a concussion after dispatching over thirty bandits by yourself,” Germanus grinned.

“You didn’t….”

“It wasn’t me!” Germanus chuckled, lifting his hands in surrender.

“Keit?”

“Not me,” Keit shook his head, his stack of invitations littering his own bed.

“Li?”

“Don’t look at me!” Li deflected. “I didn’t say a thing.”

“Germanus, you don’t think that Duoquing would say anything, do you?”

Germanus shrugged. “Somehow I doubt it.”

“But who else even knew all of that?”

Again, Germanus shrugged. “Well, are you going to open them or not?”

Callida took a deep breath and started sifting through the pile. “Hey, Germanus, where do you think I should go?”

“I guess that depends on what you want to get out of an apprenticeship.”

“I mostly just want to get out of the Wolf Tribe,” Callida admitted, "but I guess that's kind of a moot point now."

“If that’s the case, just lay all the invitations out and toss a rock. Whichever one it lands on is the one you accept.”

“Ok, ok, so I don’t just want to get out of the Wolf Tribe.”

“Then you’re going to have to be more specific about what you’re looking for,” Germanus teased gently. “As you know, the Lion Tribe has the most prestigious apprenticeship. They tend to be highly selective about who they invite, and their apprenticeship only accepts ten people each year. It might be a good fit for you. I know I learned a lot from my apprenticeship at the Lion Tribe.”

“‘Assuming they even invited me,” Callida sighed.

Germanus snorted and easily located a large envelope made from thick paper and sealed with a rich, red wax pressed with an impressive crest. “You came in second, Callida. Why wouldn’t they invite you?” Callida accepted the envelope and added it back to the pile, feeling overwhelmed.

“If it makes any difference,” Keit volunteered from across the room, “I was planning on taking the Lion Tribe apprenticeship this year.”

“You haven’t done it before?” Callida asked, surprised.

“I haven’t been able to accept an apprenticeship the last few years,” Keit admitted, “but this year is my last year in the tournament, and I’ve made arrangements to make an apprenticeship work.”

“Hm. Knowing where you’re going actually does make a difference, though. It would be nice to know someone going in.”

Germanus smiled. “So Lion Tribe?”

“I guess so!” Callida grinned, happy for the decision to be so easy to make.

“Let’s fill out the appropriate acceptance form then.”

Callida broke the big red seal of the Lion Tribe invitation and pulled out two pieces of paper. The first was a very flattering letter praising her performance in the tournament and inviting her to accept an apprenticeship. She barely skimmed it before skipping to the second paper requesting some personal information and a signature waiving the Lion Tribe of any liability should she be hurt or killed during the apprenticeship-- pretty standard stuff.

“Why do these things always ask for your parents’ information?” Callida asked.

“It helps with their background checks, and it lets them know who to contact should something happen to you.”

“Except that both of our parents are dead,” Callida said somewhat bitterly.

“Well, that’s why you’re supposed to add my information under the ‘first to contact’ section,” Germanus redirected her.

“That begs the question, Germanus, what is your contact information?”

“Oh. Good point,” Germanus scowled. “We need to talk about that still.”

“I can’t go back to the Wolf Tribe, but you can,” Callida said, false positivity thinly veiling her sadness.

“I’m going wherever you’re going, kid,” Germanus shot back. “I’m going to resign my commission.”

“You’d do that for me?” Callida wasn’t surprised, but the gesture made her teary anyway.

“Psh! That’s a stupid question. You’re the only family I’ve got.”

Callida sniffed and hugged her brother. “So, where are we moving to?”

“We’ll take you,” Keit offered before Germanus could respond. “I’ll vouch for you to my cousin and the Bear General. You could join the bear military in a heartbeat.”

Germanus looked at Callida, communicating silently. “What do you think, kid?”

“It’s as good of a place as any,” she said with a small shrug.

“Thank you, Keit. I think we’ll take you up on that.”

Keit beamed. “Excellent!”

At the foot of the bed, Li looked positively depressed. “You’re really leaving?”

“I don’t suppose that you want to come with us?” Callida suggested hopefully.

“You’re Callida’s friend?” Keit asked, and Li nodded. “I’d be happy to vouch for you too.”

Li smiled sadly and shook his head. “I joined the military to protect my own home, but thank you.”

Callida stood up to give Li a hug. It was only just sinking in what leaving the Wolf Tribe would mean for her. She was born and raised in the Wolf Tribe. All of her friends were in the Wolf Tribe. She started crying, and Li’s arms tightened around her shoulders. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you too, Calli. I’m really, really going to miss you.”

“Don’t get all gushy on me,” Callida looked up and laughed through her tears.

“Never,” Li smiled at her and pulled her close. “That would just be gross.” Callida laughed again and settled back into the hug. Li was like a second brother to her, always making her laugh, and he’d come into her life right after losing her dad. In a way, he’d helped to fill that void, so leaving him now felt like ripping that piece of her heart back out. Callida’s tears transitioned into sobs. “Come on, Calli! You’re going to make me cry too,” Li complained. “It’s not like this is goodbye forever. We can still write to each other, and, who knows? Maybe we’ll see each other again sooner than you think.” She nodded her head in acknowledgement but couldn’t rein her tears back in. Li sighed and rubbed her back a little as his own eyes started to well up. “Primordials, this sucks.”

“If you ever change your mind, Lieutenant Li, just let me know,” Keit said with a wink.

“I’ll bear that in mind…. Ha! Get it, Calli? Bear that in mind? Because he’s a bear?” It was a stupid pun, but Callida laughed anyway.

***

“Captain, where is your sister? She’s late and we need to get moving,” Duoqing fussed.

“She left already,” Germanus answered with Li at his shoulder watching Duoqing’s reaction.

“‘Left already?”

“Mn,” Germanus nodded.

Duoqing scowled. “By herself?”

“No, with her unit.”

“But this is her unit!” Duoqing was getting a sinking feeling, and it showed. “What are you talking about, Captain?”

“Didn’t she tell you?” Germanus feigned surprise.

“Tell me what?”

“She handed in her official resignation yesterday in order to join the Bear Tribe military.”

Duoqing’s face drained. “She-she’s not coming home?”

Germanus prepared the final blow. “She’s moving to the Bear Tribe. I’m surprised that she didn’t say goodbye before she left, but I know she was pretty busy meeting all of her new comrades. As you can imagine, they were pretty excited for a young woman of her skill and caliber to be joining their unit.” Duoqing looked like he might throw-up. On the other hand, Germanus continued to look Duoqing directly in the eye, maintaining a neutral expression despite the seductive satisfaction of deserved consequences tempting him to laugh. Li had to bow out as he caved to the same temptation.

“The Bear Tribe?” Duoqing processed. “Why the Bear Tribe?”

“A good friend of mine recruited her.”

“But all of her friends and family are in the Wolf Tribe!”

“It was a heartbreaking decision, yes.”

“You are in the Wolf Tribe,” Duoqing pressed.

“Not for long,” Germanus replied coolly. “Once we get back home, I intend to resign my commission and join her.”

“I missed it. What’s going on?” Naixin asked his brother, just now joining the conversation but cognisant of the gray in his brother’s pallor. “Duoqing, are you alright?”

“She’s gone,” was all he managed.

Naixin looked at Germanus who was still studying Duoqing’s reaction. “Captain Animo, what is he talking about?”

“My sister moved to the Bear Tribe. I’ll be joining her once we get back.”

Naixin put a comforting hand on Duoqing’s shoulder. “What prompted this sudden move?”

For the first time, Germanus allowed his anger and disgust to leak into his voice. “Ask your brother.” Duoqing choked, and Germanus turned to order the company to move out.

Li caught up to Germanus, almost skipping with delight. “You’re a savage, Captain! My respects, sir.”

“He deserved every bit of it,” Germanus practically snarled.