Slowly but surely, Orrin Foster’s travel bag was filled with supplies, as well as several notebooks worth of his runescript scribblings. The time he had spent in Sharom Academy had not been spent in vain, and he learned several tips and tricks on how to create, maintain, and more importantly, innovate with what runescript words he already knew. Coupled with his Facet, he had quite the versatility.

And, even if he did say so himself, he was quite clever. In his hands was a cloak made out of linen and silk. It wasn’t the Federation’s shimmercloth, but it was the next best thing. He cobbled together the runescript pattern to divert light away from it. It also contained heat and noise. Er, while meant that wearing the thing meant that whoever was inside would eventually overheat, it still allowed the wearer to be completely invisible for several dozen minutes. And of course, he had another one for his brother.

The trouble was that the village became host to several thousand Federation troops, split between Haveena’s Merchant Guard and Kadrac’s Mounted Rangers. There were also several units from Garamus and Ekelus, the latter bringing with them strange weapons mounted on wagons.

With Cierra being too close to Faron’s Crossing, no weapons tests were made, so Orrin had no idea what they did. The barrels looked like longer and slimmer versions of the Empire’s Plasma Carronades, but they were connected to thick and sturdy contraptions with varied valves and cylinders. He wasn’t sure what it used as ammunition either as he didn’t see much runescript along the metal. But, it was more likely that the runescript lines were etched in the interior to prevent spies from figuring out what they did.

Huh, that would make maintenance a bit more problematic though.

There were other machines and inventions, though from the patina of the metal, some of the things weren’t new at all. Relics or artefacts? He wasn’t sure, and since they were guarded even more assiduously than the logistics department, there was no way for him to find out.

His twin hadn’t seen anything in the reports either.

Still, whatever intelligence they could bring would be valuable to Yuriko and the others. He was so certain that she was nearby that he could practically smell her luscious scent. He giggled to himself and wished that the night of the Dark Moon would come soon. As it were, they had a little over a week until the 76th Day of Air. They would make their move then.

___________

When Gwendith returned to Yuriko’s home that afternoon, it was to the sight of her beloved on the couch. Sulking.

She had to blink quickly a few times to make sure that what she saw wasn’t an illusion. Nope. Yuriko had her cheek on her palm, her gaze a thousand leagues away, and her lips in a cute pout. What else was it other than sulking?

“Yuri?” Gwendith called softly, half dreading to know what got her friend in such a state. She had to call her name a couple more times before she responded.

“Oh, Gwendith. Welcome back.” Yuriko sat upright and gave Gwendith a welcoming smile. Her eyes darted to the bags slung over Gwendith’s shoulders. “Are those?”

“Yes. Come on, you’ve got to try them on.”

“Oh, sure!”

Gwendith and Yuriko went up to the latter’s room and she unpacked the sundresses on top of the bedsheets.

Given the Season, those dresses weren’t really suitable, but both of them could easily ignore the mild chill. Yuriko absently stripped off her clothes and in the process made Gwendith’s heart race. Once she was down to her underwear, both pale white, though Gwendith frowned at the breast band that squashed down Yuriko’s pair instead of giving proper support that well-fitting brassiere would have provided.

The golden-haired girl picked up her dress, a light blue affair with purple trimmings, and pulled it over her head. The hem of the sundress fell halfway down her thighs at the front while the back of the skirt fell below her knees. The neckline was a nice V, but it exposed Yuriko’s band.

“You should get a good brassiere,” Gwendith commented while staring at the girl’s pale skin.

“But they bounce so much,” Yuriko whined.

“A good one would limit the bounce,” Gwendith said. “Although given how you move… Hmmm, why don’t you use your kinesis to limit the movement then? You already protect and train with it, why not use it for support?” Gwendith grinned.

“Oh…er, I didn’t think of it.” Yuriko chuckled sheepishly.

“Alright then, take that off!”

“Hey, wait!” Yuriko squealed as Gwendith pushed the sundress’ strap off her shoulders and down her torso. The breast band was made of forceweave, which not only afforded suitable protection but was comfy, too. But Gwendith brutally removed it to expose Yuriko's lovely bosom.

“Wearing this band underneath the sundress is rather unsightly,” Gwendith said sagely as she replaced the dress on a blushing Yuriko. “We’ll need to get you a suitable bra. For now, use your kinesis to keep those under control.” Gwendith grinned.

“Alright, alright,” Yuriko grumbled but obeyed. Yuriko’s accessories were only the Animus Armour jewellery and Gwendith had to admit that the silvery metal was quite fashionable, if modest looking. Yuriko’s eyes crossed as she focused on her kinesis. Afterwards, she did a few experimental movements, which included combat stances and a little bit of acrobatics. “Hmm, not too bad. I have to keep some focus on this, but when I get used to it, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Good.” Gwendith grinned. “You should also use it to protect your clothes, and also to prevent the hem from riding up. You wouldn’t want to flash everyone, yes?”

“Fighting in a dress is so inconvenient,” Yuriko muttered.

“But you’re a true warrior, aren’t you? And that means that you’re ready for battle no matter what. There may come a point where you’d have to protect yourself while attending a ball or something.”

“Hmmm, I guess that’s true.”

“Alright.” Gwendith admired the simple look Yuriko had. Very little was needed to accentuate the other girl’s beauty, and simplicity made it quite obvious that her natural charms were prodigious.

She tried on her own sundress. The style was a bit more modest with a square neckline and the hem dropping below her knees. The dress was cream white with gold patterns.

Once she showed off the dress to Yuriko’s delight, Gwendith nodded and asked, “So, what got your thoughts occupied a while back?”

“Oh.” Yuriko sighed. “The 29th Pia’Vasi.”

“What about him?”

“Well, it turned out that I knew who he was after all. It was my friend back in the Academy, Finan Agalmar,” Yuriko muttered.

“He hid himself? Wait, how did you find out?” Gwendith asked,

“He came here. Alone, though he said he brought an entourage.” Yuriko muttered.

“What did he want?”

“He…came to apologise. But he didn’t say what else he wanted.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious.” Gwendith sniggered. “He wants you and he’s trying to woo you to his side.”

“Whatever,” Yuriko said crossly. “I’m more than a little annoyed with him.”

She said that but Gwendith could see that there was very little anger within the other girl. Despite what she was saying now, she was sure the other girl was still somewhat intrigued. In their idle chats back when they were still in the Frozen Camp, Yuriko had spoken of her life in Realmheart. Gwendith remembered that she had mentioned Finan before and that the boy was an avid player of an old-style board game that espoused strategy. And Yuriko had mentioned how she missed playing against him. Hmmm.

“So…will you let him try to make it up to you?” Gwendith asked quietly.

Yuriko shrugged. “If I feel like it.”

“Hoho, what if he brought chocolates.”

Yuriko stared at her for a moment, then broke out in laughter. “I’m not selling myself for sweets, you know.”

Gwendith joined in laughter but she couldn’t help but note the slight hesitation. Yuriko’s sweet tooth was her one weakness.

The other sundress for Yuriko was more modest, green with a floral pattern, and it reached just below her knees. The sweetheart neckline would allow her to wear her breast band without it showing, and it had short sleeves.

“Thanks, Gwen.” Yuriko said as she pursed her lips. “I need shoes and sandals too, Ancestors! None of my old stuff fit anymore.”

“Well, if you alter the colour pattern on your low boots those will suffice. We can get sandals tomorrow! As for closed shoes, hmmm, I don’t know. You probably won’t need them yet. Does it snow in the Season of Water here?”

“Not really,” Yuriko said.

“Then you won’t really need new closed shoes or boots. We can expand your wardrobe or we could try adjusting your old clothes.”

“Ick. I don’t like sewing,” Yuriko pouted.

Gwendith raised an eyebrow. “You can use your kinesis? Consider it as training.”

“Oh! That works! I don’t want to waste all of these anyway. Ehehe.”

“Right, we just need to loosen the chest and expand the hem, yes? Let’s sort your old stuff then. Oh! Can I have some of them? I’m only a little bit taller than you were back then and we only need to loosen the bust for mine.”

“Sure, help yourself.”

Humming happily to herself, Gwendith helped Yuriko sort her clothes. About half of the dresses could be adjusted by letting the seams and the hem out, but as for the shirts, the tights, slacks, and trousers, well, there was no spare cloth tucked into the seams. The tights were the worst off. Even though Yuriko was slender, her improved physique and height meant that if she even tried to fit into those things, they’d split apart. The fabric wasn’t that stretchy.

By the time dinner came along, they’d finished segregating what could be salvaged and what needed to be gotten rid of. Gwendith briefly considered using the cloth to refashion new clothes but it was faster and easier to buy new stuff instead.

A surprise came with dinner.

“Young mistress!” A red-haired woman about Gwendith’s height, gushed as she came in through the front door and pounced on Yuriko.

“Ryoko!” Yuriko exclaimed with genuine pleasure.

“Big sis!” Saki materialised out of the shadows and joined the embrace.

Gwendith watched the girls’ antics with a smile on her face. Yet another woman besotted with her loved one.

_________

The days moved like passing rain. Yuriko’s mood had settled back down after a couple of days. The thought of Finan hiding his identity back in Realmheart still annoyed her, but she supposed always bearing the identity of an Imperial Prince was a heavy burden. Perhaps he only wanted to enjoy his youth before returning to his responsibilities? She’d ask him if they saw each other again.

He hadn’t pestered her these past couple of days and she appreciated the solitude very much. Ryoko’s return meant that the house was now quite crowded. Her older attendant took over the household chores amid Rami’s protests, even including the gardening.

Thankfully, his ire was soothed when she showed up for their physical education classes. With the maturation of her Mien, she was finally able to switch its focus between the three her incarnations had. She definitely didn’t want to keep charming everyone she met so she used the first incarnation’s Inspiration Mien. She wasn’t quite sure how it went, but when she taught the kids, they seemed to pick up the Four Phases quite easily.

Spearwork was the main curriculum, rather than swordwork or marksmanship. For one, the unawakened kids didn’t have as large an Animus pool. Even with the jade cartridges now used for the Plasma Casters, a little bit of personal Animus was still used to prime the weapon. The children simply didn’t have the breadth to manage it. Teaching them the spear meant teaching them how to fight as a unit. There were only a few dozen kids in each age bracket though, and she was only going to teach those who were at least ten years old. For the younger ones, they should focus on escape rather than fighting back.

They also ran through several drills. Should the town come under attack, the school buildings were well within the central district protection dome. If the attack came outside of school hours, they were either to come to the school or head over to the temple to hunker down.

Nearly a week passed in near tranquillity. She spent a bit more time with Krystal and Mikel, catching up and enjoying each other’s company. She joined their morning physical training, though, with her Resistance aura, it wasn’t really needed. She saw Heron every morning, too, during training. They sparred a few times, but she’d already outclassed him. His defensive movements and Facet were wonderful though, and they practised how to take advantage of his mobile shields.

While Finan said that Swordmaster Kinohara had come with him, she hadn’t seen a shadow of the woman at all. Maybe they were all in the Watchtower?

Anyway, on the 74th Day of Air, she received a messenger crane from Finan, asking if she would like to play a game of Shatran. By then, most of her anger and annoyance had cooled, so she said yes.