"Oh, I see, you don't like me very much. I guess I'll go alone then..."

"No...I didn't say that..."

He looked sad. He'd made an enemy already.

"Oh... alot of people don't like me." Almera sighed.

"I see...well, I don't mind you at all."

"Thanks." She was suddenly feeling self-concious.

He smiled awkwardly at her. She was looking down, he guessed he'd embarrased her.

"What I mean to say," he corrected himself, "is that it's not often you meet someone as tolerable as you ina city as large as this. Most people here are downright awful."

Hirokuun watched the recruits as they practiced through the day. He chuckled to himself. His position from the roof of the barracks hiding behind one of the spires granted him the perfect place to observe without being observed.

One of the people caught his attention; the one who seemed to be their commander. She moved with skill. The low life's seemed to fear her. But not in a terrified way... in a somewhat respectful way. They feared disappointing her. That was a good thing to instill into the troops. If they feared the commander, they wouldn't fear death.

Of course, this didn't matter to him. He was only interested in the commander. She disappeared into the building. He hadn't had a chance to follow her, and now he only hoped that somehow she would re emerge. He had to move though. Too long in one place wasn't good.

As he skirted along the roof, he loosened the straps that bound his Naginata to his back. He would not be caught unable to draw his weapon.

His vision caught something though, and he stopped. There she was. This would be fun. Hirokuun began to slowly climb down, keeping his eyes on the commander.

Senka walked slowly down the center of the street, eating some sort of dumpling with red pasty filling that was getting onto her mouth. She had an entire bag of the snacks in her arms. She wove her way gracefully through the crowds, not bumping so much as an elbow against anyone.

Of course, there was something special about this scene, if you cared to look a little closer: Her eyes remained shut the entire time.

The first group of recruits that Lakota was assigned to where the ones lined up at the gate when the registration opened for the day. There numbers where few but they where eager and ambitious and they all started off bombarding her with questions. That lasted for all of thirty seconds.

"Mouths shut, backs strait, fall in and keep alert. I do not like to repeat myself." Lakota let a little growl creep into her voice as she put the younglings in their place. "I am your superior and I will be sure to give you all the information that you need. Patience is your first lesson of the day." As she leads them on a tour of the facilities she is kind and informative. The growl in her voice is long gone for it is only reserved for keeping them in line. The eager first pack seemed to sense right away she was not to be trifled with.

As they made the rounds through the outdoor practice arena the wind shifted carrying on it the briefest sent that did not belong. She did not show her alarm and merely continued on the tour, her hands casually shifting to one of the daggers on her hip. As she spoke though she could not hide the edge of a growl in her throat. As a hunter she could tell when someone was plying her own tricks on her. She would not be caught unaware nor would she let the hunter know that this prey was not an easy target.

As they rounded the far side of the arena instead of taking the first years inside to the barracks she led them out in to the middle of the sparring ring. Away from any walls or roofs and out in the wide open. She decided that she would do an impromptu demonstration.

Kannizan approached up beside Lakota. "Good day, miss. Ye startin' em out early this year?" He looked at all the recruits in front of him, and stood back to watch Lakota's display. They looked like a sorry lot, but they'd do with some training.

As Lakota did her thing, he took a look at his equipment. His axes looked nice, keen edges. His chainmail could use a bit of work though. He shrugged as he left, heading towards the forge in the basement. He needed to do something with his broken chains.

He'd broken away from the girl to pick up some rolls of parchment for classtime notes, thats when he'd gotten in line with the rather harsh, but repsectable intructor. He smiled at her. He'd said nothing, he'd stood tall and proud the entire time. His father had taught him how to be a true respectable warrior.

He seemed to be the only pauper of the bunch, and he looked out of place with his ragged clothes and even sadder case.

He watched the instrcutor, she was about to demonstrate something.

Kannizan headed down the stairs, and into the forge room. The heat felt comforting, as did the grip of the various smithing hammers. Hammers he knew well. He removed his chain mail, taking care around the fractured links. As he heated them up, be began to meticulously beat them back into place, and smelting them together. He polished his gloves and boots, waiting for the iron to cool. Water wouldn't do any good, it would make it harden way too fast. He hated being in the limelight. So why was he teaching? He knew, partly, it was because of a bet he lost to Brenan, but he also knew it's because he missed the adventure of being a young dwarf, so he lived vicariously through all his students.

He knew Calvin would be something special.

"Now for the first work out of the morning before I send you off to get unpacked and settled in. Lets start with you." She points to the short tan young boy clutching his wooden case. "Step on up soldier." She scanned the group for someone else, hoping to mix things up a bit. "And you," as she points to the barefoot girl with messy brown hair and cloudy green eyes. "What are your names?"

"Calvin Velsera, ma'am." He said nothing more. that was all he'd been asked. Brenen had taught him to only answer the question you were asked in school, nothing more, nothing less.

The young man's manor pleased her and brought a smile to her eyes. She may look like she was scowling but if you looked closely you could see she was pleased. "Calvin, please set your case down here and step into the ring." Lakota indicated the place where other practice weapons stood. "Remove anything that may be loose on your person so that it does not break or cause injury to you or your opponent."

All the while she kept in the back of her mind the thought that something wasn't quite right as she kept looking to the turrets then the roof and finally the shadows in the open hallways. She saw nothing, but kept her other senses alert in case her eyes had failed her.