Leon looked back at the blushing Krya and smiled ever so slightly.  He knew she could hear him so he defaulted back to his original language, so only Lira could understand him.

“Only you can understand me right now so don't answer back where she can understand.”  he said, in a conversational tone of voice.  Lira simply nodded and didn't say a word. “I can honestly say I was not expecting that.”

“Why?”

“Well you are a little clingy,”  he said with a laugh, Krya looked over at them in annoyance, it was apparent that they were discussing something that they didn't want her to overhear, otherwise why would he default back to his original language.

“I am not.”  Lira said, crossing her arms across her small chest.

“No?”  he asked, a laugh in his voice.

“No, I am not.” she nodded her head, shooting him an angry look with those golden eyes. He raised his hands in surrender with a laugh.  “Why do i get the feeling you don't believe me?”  she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Well that is probably because I don't.”  he said with a slight shrug.

“Shut up, I am not clingy!”  she shouted, and realising she had said that outloud she glanced at Krya and blushed furiously.

“Can you talk in a language I understand please?”  Krya asked softly her blue hair hair billowed around her, causing her to softly brush a strand of it out of her face. “I don't want to be left out, it always feel like I am an afterthought to the two of you.”

“Sorry,”  Leon said, he leaned his head back and looked at the blue sky. The sun was not yet in the center of the sky, but it had the violent promise of a hot day. “I did not want to embarrass Lira, I will be more considerate in the future.”

“It's ok,”  she said, she glanced away.

There was a long period of silence, before it was broken up by krya again.

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“What exactly did you mean by, share?”  she asked softly.

“What I said,”  Lira answered, she only blushed slightly this time.

“I am going to agree with Leon, you are clingy this seems out of the ordinary for you. Why are you doing this?”

“Because I know what it feels like, when we first met you do you know what Leon said to me?” Krya shook her head. “He said to take a good look at you, because that was what I had been.”  she looked over at Krya, “Lost, alone, and not caring that I was either.” Lira sighed, “I am not like that anylonger, and as your friend I don't want you to be like that either...”

They rounded the bend and found the teachers waiting for them, all of them besides the headmistress looked surprised to see Krya and her wolf.

“What are you doing here!?” one of the professors growled.

“I-I”  Krya started but before she could explain herself the headmistress interrupted.

“What are you doing here?”  she asked the professor.  He pulled a confused face and looked over at the headmistress.

“What do you mean didn't you ask me to come along?”

“I did, but I fully expected you to have a well developed since, are you telling me you had no idea she had been following us this entire time?”

“I uh.”

“So that would mean you had no idea she was behind us, therefore had she been a trained assassin she could have easily done us in without you even noticing.”

“I would have noticed it if there was an assassin.”

“You would have noticed it? Even though you didn't notice the young girl following us, the one who has no skill in concealment and hiding and was simply shadowing us for the past two days?”

“I-” his skin paled as she drilled him.

“Leave, get out of my sight, I fully expect you to be packed up and gone by the time I return to the academy.” she said, pushing up the glasses on her nose.

“Are you...”

“Yes, I am terminating your position.”  she responded.

“I have worked here for over twenty years!  Long before you ever became headmistress! I taught you in class! You can't fire me I have tenure!” he yelled his eyes growing wide and desperate.  Teaching at a school like this was a great position for someone who had nowhere else to go, it afforded you a high position in the societal ladder, even if you were not the first born of a family destined to the position of your father.

This was why the schools were so filled with female teachers, seeing as this was a hierarchical society women would only take over for their fathers when there was no one else.  Which meant that for a man to have that position he was either a bastard child or a second or third son, looking to gain his own lot in the world.

In other words this job was his life, ending it was the same as a social murder.

“I can fire you, as the headmistress it is my right. You are dismissed, leave before I take more drastic disciplinary actions.”  the man turned around his horse with an angry but also slightly hollowed look about him, and left without another word, they all stood in silence as they listened to the departing sounds of his horse clomping on the loose gravel path “It would seem that we are lacking a member for this expedition, Miss Krya, would you like to fill this role?” Krya looked up at the headmistress, she had a small smile on her face, and did not at all have the same feeling she had just a second ago...

“Yes headmistress,”  she said, bowing her head, she made a mental note to never get on her bad side.

“Good, welcome, I look forward to working with you.” the headmistress nodded and turned her horse back towards the path and started down it.  All the other teachers started following her leaving the three of them dallying behind.

Krya looked over at the two of them. “So, uh, what exactly is this mission about?”