“…Well, I see the two of you got here early.”

“And you didn’t?” Twy retorted.

“Please — we’re here on time, that’s what matters,” Phoenix replied as she and Kestrel approached Twy and Sky atop the roof of the student dorms at WCU. She passed Sky a nod. “Feeling anxious?”

“Just a little bit…” Sky admitted, only to pump her fists a second later. “But everything should be fine! Once I’m actually on the stage, all this anxiety will disappear like a snuffed-out flame!”

“That seems like an incredibly inappropriate metaphor…” Twy responded warily.

“Well, at least you’re confident,” Phoenix remarked.

“Ha ha, guess so!” Sky replied with an uneasy grin.

“Still… we really did bring everything together, huh?” Twy commented. “And now we’re just a little over an hour out from the performance…”

“More like only an hour,” Phoenix corrected. “This time will disappear in an instant, I’m sure.” She then crossed her arms, holding a hand to her chin as she cocked her head in thought. “If the performance is a half hour after sunset, then we need to be at the venue ten minutes before, at minimum — preferably 20 to 30 minutes, I’d say. And getting there is about a twenty minute brisk walk. So a conservative estimate means we should be leaving here in about ten minutes, at the latest.”

“…Warmed up?” Kestrel questioned, her gaze directed at Sky.

“A little,” Sky replied with a nod. “But there isn’t much use in warming up a whole hour before the performance.”

“That’s a weird thing to say, after singing to yourself for the past half hour,” Twy retorted.

“Hey, that’s just to take the nerves off!” Sky countered. “Anyways! I guess we should use this time to make sure that all of our equipment is good to go!”

“I have all the pieces of my mural, I just checked,” Twy reported. “I’d like to do a practice run with setting it up, but then I should be good to go.”

“Good to hear,” Phoenix said, and then passed Kestrel a glance. “And the music equipment? The backing track?”

“They have speakers and a mic at the venue,” Sky pointed out. “But I think we’ll need to bring our own computer to play the backing track.”

“Mmhmm,” Kestrel responded with a nod. “I have mine. Adapters, too.”

“And your outfit?” Phoenix questioned as she turned back to Sky.

“Still in my room,” Sky replied. “I don’t want to change until we get there.”

“Alright, well it’s good that you and Kestrel think that you have your things…” Phoenix began, only to give each of Sky and Kestrel a knowing look. “…But the fact is, until you’re actually holding your things in your own hands, we can’t be one hundred percent certain!”

“…Ha ha, I guess that’s true!” Sky responded with a sheepish laugh. She then departed just behind Kestrel, toward the roof exit. “I’ll be back real quick with my bag!”

“And in the meantime…” Twy muttered, already filling a couple of mitten-shaped leather bladders with water and using them to begin setting up her mural. “…I’ll get a little practice in.”

“Good idea,” Phoenix declared as she turned to look out over Compound Tresnon, lit in the golden light of the setting sun. “Let’s make sure that all of our effort doesn’t go to waste!”

---

*

“They really dressed the place up, eh?”

“They really have…” Hackett remarked as she looked across the highly decorated campus of WCU. The approaching sunset had cast the entire campus courtyard — and thus, the vast majority of student displays — in shadow, but even evening shade could do little to dampen the students’ festive spirit.

“It almost seems more impressive than out in the city,” Saito added, glancing up at Hackett before looking back to the campus again. “Looks a little more colorful, too.”

“Well, they are students. They probably have more time and energy than everyone else in the Compound.”

“No kidding. I even heard from Mark that the last few days of schooling were half-days…” The Colonel sighed wistfully. “I sure wish I’d had a holiday like this when I was in school.”

“You and me, both, sir,” Hackett replied with a smirk. “…Too bad the stalls look pretty picked over, already. Though I guess that’s to be expected, this late in the day.”

“There’s still plenty left to see,” Saito said. “I can see some art in the back, it looks like. And with actual paints!”

“Is all the beige getting to you?” Hackett retorted.

“Look, I’m glad the locals have their own style, but you can’t deny that it’s a little… monotonous,” Saito replied. “Really makes me appreciate color—“

“HA! I cut ‘im in half! Take that, you fuckin’ bastard!”

“…Someone sure sounds excited…” Hackett muttered as she and Saito turned to look in the direction of the shout — where they laid eyes on a table set up in the long shadow of one of the campus buildings. Standing across from each other around the table were Austin and Davídrius, while Spike, Conrad, Danielle, Kaoné, and Selind sat around them.

“…The Deans and the recruits, eh?” Saito observed. “Travis’s nephew is doing that… tabletop RPG thing, right? Looks like he managed to rope in the Deans.”

“No kidding…” Hackett commented after observing Davídrius grab a couple of dice and haphazardly roll them across the table, with Austin scrambling to stop them from rolling off. “…They certainly seem to be into it, don’t they?”

“Might as well see what they’re up to, then,” Saito remarked as he started off toward the table, with Hackett soon following suit.

“…But why are you still fighting?” came Kaoné’s voice as the two officers drew closer. “Surely you can see that you’re outmatched, now?”

“Yeah, well…” Austin replied, his voice lower and gruffer than usual, as if he were attempting to emulate the speech of a ruffian. “…There ain’t much else we can do. How else’re we supposed to make a livin’, huh??”

“Those excuses can meet the end of my sword, you stupid bastard,” Davídrius retorted, already in the middle of rolling another die.

“Hey, wait, it’s not your turn,” Austin interjected in his normal voice. “It’s Selind’s turn!”

“What? Then why does Kaoné get to speak to the guy?”

“It’s just talking,” Kaoné replied defensively. “I’m trying to get them to stand down! The whole fight would end faster, that way!”

“Eh, they’re just common bandits, right?” Selind said with a shrug. “No one’ll miss ‘em.”

“We should still give them a chance to surrender, though,” Kaoné insisted.

“We did! The offer’s standin’!” Davídrius countered. “If they ain’t takin’ it, then it’s their own fault if they die. No skin off my back.”

“That’s about where I’m at,” Selind said, and then looked to Austin. “So it’s my turn, right? That means I can shoot ‘im, now?”

“Uh— yeah,” Austin replied. “You remember how to do that, right?”

“It’s just this dice, right?” Selind questioned as she picked up a twenty-sided die and then tossed it across the table. “…Twelve?”

“You gotta add your bonuses, too,” Spike pointed out. “Look on your sheet, where it says ‘to-hit’.”

“Right… so… twenty, then?”

“That’s a hit!” Austin declared. “And with that final bolt—“

“Wait, I haven’t rolled damage yet,” Selind insisted.

“Well… yeah, but he was already only at—“

“Just let her roll the dice, man,” Conrad interjected.

Austin shot Conrad an annoyed look, but before he could say anything more, Davídrius interjected. “Don’t forget your sneak attack, Selind,” he stated. “I’m right next to the bastard!”

“Yeah yeah, I know,” Selind responded dismissively as she grabbed a few different dice and rolled them across the table. “…Eight, eleven, sixteen…” she counted out, and then looked up at Austin. “…That’s twenty damage!”

“Ten times more than what you needed,” Austin replied flatly, “but, yes. The bolt flies through the air, hitting him right between the eyes and knocking him to the ground, where he lies, dead.”

“Nice,” Selind remarked with a grin.

“And with that, combat’s over. You’ve finally defeated the bandits that were harassing the town.”

“Then I’ll gather the bodies together and begin some funerary rites,” Kaoné said.

“Before that, I search the bodies!” Davídrius declared. “Do they got anythin’ useful on ‘em?”

“You can’t do that!” Kaoné countered. “They’re people, too! They should be buried with their things!”

“Bah, they’re dead. They don’t need their things anymore.”

“But that—!“

“While they’re arguing, I go around picking up as many bolts as I can find,” Selind declared. “I’ll look for the goods those bandits stole, too.”

“Oh, we do need to return those to the town, too,” Kaoné mused.

Selind side-eyed Kaoné before looking back to Austin. “…We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“What?!” Kaoné responded indignantly.

“Heh. I see everyone’s having fun, here.”

“…Oh! Colonel!” Danielle exclaimed, turning her attention to Saito and Hackett — who were standing just a little off to the side.

“What the—?!” Austin stared at the two officers in surprise. “How long have y’all been there?!”

“A couple minutes,” Conrad replied.

“We just thought that we’d watch for a bit,” Saito commented, and then eyed the two Deans with an amused smirk. “Can’t say I expected to see both of you, here.”

“…!” Davídrius drew away from the table and cleared his throat. “…I’m just… makin’ sure everythin’s on the up-and-up.”

“You picked up the rules pretty fast…” Spike said.

“That’s just… part of the job.”

“That sounds like a fun job, then!” Danielle remarked.

“Can’t just admit that you like the game, huh?” Selind questioned while passing Davídrius a knowing smirk.

“Bah. I was just lookin’ into those dragon rumors,” Davídrius insisted.

“So that’s why you insisted on playing for another couple of hours beyond the end of Austin’s one-shot, huh?” Conrad replied.

“That wasn’t me, Kaoné suggested that!”

“You backed her up pretty quick, though,” Selind stated.

“I suppose we did get quite into it…” Kaoné admitted with a sheepish smile. “I must say, I enjoyed it…” She then side-eyed Davídrius. “…Mostly.”

“What’d I do?!” Davídrius questioned.

“You did kinda take control of the decision-makin’…” Spike replied.

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Conrad said. “The more he controls my guy, the more I can just sit back and watch.”

“It is meant to be a collaborative game, though,” Austin added. “You’re supposed to work together and make decisions as a group, not unilaterally decide things for everyone else.”

“Wha—?!” Davídrius glanced incredulously between Austin, Spike, and Conrad. “I was just makin’ suggestions on what to do!”

“The man’s always liked doin’ things himself, so I guess we should’ve expected this,” Selind said with a dismissive shrug. Then she turned to look at Saito and Hackett. “So, did the two of y’all need anythin’?”

“Not really,” Saito replied. “We’re just wandering around.”

“There certainly are some entertaining sights around here,” Hackett remarked with a smirk.

“Is that supposed to be a dig at me?” Davídrius questioned, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Davídrius…” Kaoné muttered in exasperation.

“I think it’s maybe time that you took a break,” Selind declared.

“Yes!” Austin quickly affirmed, only to fidget slightly as everyone turned to look at him. “I-I mean, well, we’ve really reached the end of my creative limits, sooo…”

“Finally got tired of corralling everyone around, huh?” Conrad remarked.

“Hey, you said it, not me.”

“Tch…” Davídrius snorted, and then cast his gaze up at the orange-tinted skies. “…It is kinda late, though, huh? Damn, how much time did we burn, here…?”

“Time flies when you’re having fun!” Danielle exclaimed.

Kaoné smiled. “Indeed it does. And, on top of that…” She looked up to the sky, taking in a deep breath as she did. “…Our day was never interrupted, was it?”

“…Huh, so it wasn’t…” Davídrius mused. “…I mean, the Hunger’s Bane attack happened after sunset, but…” He cast a glance toward Selind. “The Defense Force ain’t seen anythin’?”

“Nope,” Selind replied. “Only my most trusted and capable guards are guardin’ the shield and power generators, and there’s been no movement outside the walls. And you know as well as me that we haven’t taken in any former Bleeders, recently.”

“…You’re talkin’ about the Bleeders?” Spike questioned.

“I kinda expected an attack, by now…” Davídrius commented, and then looked to Saito and Hackett. “It’s been, what, two weeks since y’all ran into Strén?”

“Just about,” Saito replied. “Do you think two weeks would be enough time for the Bleeders to mobilize?”

“It ain’t like they got much to organize,” Selind pointed out. “I agree with Davídrius. The fact that we ain’t seen any signs of an attack yet means one of two things: either the attack ain’t comin’ at all, or it’s gonna be worse than we expected.”

“That sounds bleak,” Conrad remarked.

“No kidding!” Austin exclaimed. “How is this the first I’ve heard about a Bleeder attack?!”

“We’re tryin’ to keep this on the down-low,” Davídrius insisted. “No need to cause a panic.”

“Though you have to admit that the increased Defense Force activity has likely drawn some attention…” Kaoné said.

“…Well, they ain’t attackin’ today, right?” Spike questioned.

“There’s always the possibility… but at this point, I’d say no,” Selind said. “Even if they did, havin’ Kaoné here is the perfect deterrent. They’ll never make it through the shields while she’s around!”

“I’m not that powerful…” Kaoné responded sheepishly.

“Either way,” Spike continued, “sounds like everyone could use somethin’ to take their minds off of things.”

“Sounds like you have something in mind,” Saito replied.

Spike nodded. “Yeah. Sky’s supposed to be singin’ soon, right? In a half-hour, or so.”

“Oh shit, that’s right!” Austin exclaimed. “I wanted to see Twy’s mural, too— I mean, uh…!”

Conrad smirked in amusement. “I’ve seen better attempts at hiding feelings from Pierce, and that’s saying something.”

“Shut up…” Austin retorted as he began to tidy up the table and pack things away. “But Spike’s right. We don’t have much time.”

“Hmm. Could be a nice way to wrap up the day,” Selind remarked. “Droppin’ by the talent show, that is. The end of Creators’ Day is always a bang!”

“No complaints, here,” Saito said. “The Major and I will probably wander around a little more, but I’m interested to see what Ms. Chao came up with.”

“Sounds like a plan, then!” Kaoné said as she and Davídrius prepared to depart, as well. “We’ll see you all later! At the talent show!”