"This first drill," the ranger said, "is the break contact drill."

A female otter was overseeing the dozens of druid and ranger candidates. Less than two weeks before they were to leave, the rangers had them assemble.

Muk, Freya, and the rest of the motley crew of potentials all stood in an open field where the northern companies of the regiment regularly formed up.

The set of Muks teeth made Freya nervous.

"A physical caravan or a long marching line is how we travel through the burrows. This is why we need to be able to communicate effectively throughout the line."

Sam the ranger was marshaling creatures down a line and stopped when she saw Muk.

"You know how to use a sword, do you?"

"Yes, ranger."

"Rear guard or front guard."

Muk nodded to Freya, who kept a neutral face.

"Rear guard if needed, as I don't know the way."

"Are you already committed to a druid?" The otter asked, pursing her lips.

"I am, ranger," he said.

The otter lingered between the two of them a bit longer than seemed necessary, before continuing down the line.

"I should accompany you to the end, then?" Freya asked.

"You can provide overwatch."

What they did for the next couple of hours was to simulate a walk through unfamiliar terrain, as druids and rangers would pop out and make the line defend itself. Before long, the druids knew where they had to stand, and the rangers were willing to give them a rest.

It was about four dozen by Freya's count that had shown up that day. The only coalition races not represented were the otters and beavers. This felt odd since she had only met two otter rangers so far. Both Sam and Sela were otters, though of the five druids that would be traveling with them, each had another.

Sam, as it turned out, was one of River's rangers. When River and Sela showed up during the break, they embraced Sam before coming to talk to Freya.

"Our wife is leading the expedition," Sela said.

"Our?" Muk replied.

"Yes, our?"

"My husband is in charge of the food. He just got set up."

Sela gestured south to where a dashing otter with a food cart had set up shop.

"I heard that he was good," Freya said.

"He's not good- he is the best."

"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" Muk nearly bolted to the cart, but Freya held his hand.

"Ranger Sela, Druid River, it's good to see both of you."

River was in her otter form, and she didn't look that different from how Sam looked. The two were nearly sisters, if not for the different garb. Sam, Sela, and Chip wore color-changing green and brown cloaks over gambesons, a look common among the rangers. River wore what Freya would consider farming garb, but given their recent history, she couldn’t blame her.

“Lieutenant…” she said, without skipping a beat, “We don’t need to rush around all the time. Nothing is on fire.”

“The cart does have a small furnace, lady Freya,” Sela replied, “and Chip does make a mean vegetarian stick, so I wouldn’t wait too long.”

The look of panic between Freya and Muk lasted less than a moment, and they were both sprinting to the cart, ahead of the mass of hungry druid candidates.

Their boots squished through the mushy dirt and they barely made it before a line had formed.

“I… heard… vegetarian… stick,” Freya said, taking several big breaths,

“Two… please,” Muk said.

The grinning otter looked at the two of them, holding out two fish-shaped pastries. The eyes of the mice went wide as their nostrils both flared.

“This is incredible!”

“Indeed, I don’t think I’ve ever been so hungry, and so satisfied at the same time.”

“Thank you both,” Chip said, beaming, before handing another pair of sticks to two others, “I’ll be making a bunch for your journey, so make sure you bring empty packs to carry food.”

The smiling otter handed another pair to two blue jays.

“I think that you might want to invest in carrying cases for your chickens,” Muk said, “You’re bringing some, right?”

“I’ve got five chickens.”

“Oh! You’re the ones that River was talking about,” Chip said, his eyes going between the two of them, “The one… you’re a prodigy?”

Freya was taken aback.

“She said that I was a prodigy?”

“Don’t get all choked up, she thinks you’ll be a great druid, oh I can’t really do emotions right now, my tears could get into the food, hey Mister, can you take over my stand for a second?”

“Gladly,” Muk said, stepping into the role as if he’d been born to it, “Quartermaster training involved rations.”

The smiling otter and the mouse help paws.

“Please tell me you’re coming with us, Mister Chip,” she said, the tears already trying desperately to do the thing where they kept up their assault on his whiskers.

“It’s in the cards. We’ve been apart from Sela and River for so long because they selected Sam to be the expedition leader this year.”

“You all left last year to begin your training, and this year you’re leading the expedition?”

“That is mostly because River finished her training, which gave the circle more options. I’m not saying that they’re hurting for rangers, but they could really use more druids, or people like me.”

Chip flashed a deck of cards in the air.

“You’re… you’ve got one of those decks? River said that…” she dropped her voice, checking on Muk, “He’s doing well. Anyway, she said that some of us get particular druid powers without being druids, and… would you do a drawing for me?”

“I might be able to do that. I’m going to be doing one for the group in general, but…”

“I’m getting married soon.”

“Consider it a wedding gift, then. He really does know his way around a food card, doesn’t he?”

“It’s part of the reason I accepted his proposal.”

“Part?” The otter paused, his chin jutting towards the line. It had slowed down considerably. There had been whoops of joy when the candidates recognized the mouse with a bit of experience was giving the food out. It had helped that a lot of the candidates knew he was an officer. It gave that small bit of credibility, and Sam leaned on him.

The bell announcing that the drills would begin again in five minutes sounded, barely rising above the tenor of the group.

“Last year, we didn’t meet a lot of the candidates before we left,” Chip intoned, “so it meant that there was no time to make friends or identify who was who. We did this two-week out meeting deliberately, even knowing that some of the Riverfolk Company won’t have been selected to become rangers yet. All of the otters and beavers you see here right now are druid candidates. The rangers, we should get a smattering, and Sam and I have taken a special interest in those in particular. They’ll join us on the last day, but we’ll meet them and brief them first.”

“You’re telling me a lot, for someone I just met.”

“Lady Freya, if River trusts you, I trust you. River, she…”

Chip looked askance and Freya wanted him to keep going more than anything, but then the bell sounded.

“Back in line!” The otters' yell reverberated on the parade grounds, “We’re going to be marching on the inner highway for a bit just to sort things out.”

Freya fell into line, Muk handing her another delicious breaded vegetable-filled pastry in the shape of a fish.

“Odd fellow.”

“He’s a good one.”

“I heard that! I’ll see you both in a bit!” Chip said, closing up shop.

The large mesa of Yellowrock was surrounded directly by shops and houses, but a twenty-minute walk outside of the rock in any direction lead to the inner highway. It wasn’t more than a cleared pathway to make travel and transportation easier, but walking from the parade grounds directly north of the inner highway around the first quarter felt official.

Nothing happened the entire walk except for three drills to break contact from both sides, then one from the rear, but Freya got a sense of how the circle operated. Each potential druid in the line was worth their weight in Kapi, and she wasn’t going to be the one to deny the circle a chance to train her. Heck, if they had made her pay for the training, she might have considered it.