"So, have you been in Trand before?" Cooper asked Tommy.

"No, I've only been in one other city and a few villages, I'm pretty new as well, all things considered. I joined up before the last stop at a big city, this trek has been a pretty long one." Tommy kicked some rocks outside the gate.

"Ah. Why do you think Darren told us to wait here?"

"You're new so you need someone to show you how things work and I'm not experienced enough, or at least that's how I think Darren's thinking about it." Tommy said, sounding a bitter.

"You don't sound happy about that, you okay?" Cooper cautiously asked Tommy.

"Yeah, yeah. I might not have been in a lot of cities but I know how to behave, and it's not like I don't know what to do." Tommy kicked another rock.

"Well, maybe he's just putting us together so you can show me around." Cooper tried reassuring Tommy.

"If that were the case, he'd have let us go in. Instead, we're waiting out here like children waiting for their parents."

Before Cooper could say anything, Darren showed up with the Captain.

"Sorry for the wait, I had some things I needed to take care of." The Captain started. "Cooper, you'll have Tommy here to guide you around and show you what's what, but why I mostly wanted you two to stay together is quests. Trand is a pretty calm location, apart from the little distraction on the road, so I figured you two should do a starter quest or two while we're in town." Tommy's face was a mix of emotions at finding out he wasn't being treated like a child, at first relief and then embarrassment.

"Right, and that brings us to the next point, Cooper, have you thought whether or not you're going to stay with us?" Darren asked.

"Yeah, I don't know where else I would go, so the answer was pretty obvious." Tommy seemed to perk up at Cooper's answer.

"Great! Darren will be joining you for your first stop then, you need a senior member to sign you into the group officially." The Captain smiled at Cooper.

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"It will help with getting a quest, too. The guild can be a bit wary of assigning quests to non-registered people." It was Darren's turn to sound bitter.

"I know that all too well." Came Reta's voice, who had seen fit to join in on the conversation.

"I suppose you would." Darren turned around, giving Reta a questioning look.

"What, there's only a couple more wagons to check through, it's an open field so we can see if a threat were to arise." Reta said, annoyed by Darren's look.

"That's not what I was going to say." Darren continued giving Reta the look.

"Well, whatever you might be referring to, there's no point lingering around." The Captain interrupted the uneasy conversation. "You should head in and get registered, after that, go check out the local quests, preferably something not where we came from and no further than the Julon river."

"I'd like to join them in town." Reta stated, surprising Darren and the Captain.

"Why? I mean, are you sure? It's sort of beginner level stuff." Darren turned to face Reta again.

"Yeah, Trand isn't a very exciting stop for me, this way I can answer Cooper's questions too, instead of letting them pile up." Reta smirked at Cooper.

"If you end up joining them on the quests, don't hold their hands, let them do it on their own." The Captain said firmly, to which Reta nodded.

"Well, is that okay with you two?" Darren looked at Cooper and Tommy.

"Yeah, Tommy would probably go insane if he was the only one answering my questions."

"Seconded." Tommy agreed almost immediately.

"Well, in we go then." The Captain turned around and started walking towards the gates, everyone else following behind.

The group arrived at the gates, stopped by the guards.

"Are you Captain Gort?" One of the guards stepped forward and asked the Captain.

"I am."

"Our lieutenant wanted to speak to you." The guard signaled one of the other guards.

"Oh? We're not being stopped from entering the city, are we?" The Captain asked.

"Nothing like that, sir. Our lieutenant said that he was an old friend of yours."

"I didn't think I had any friends left over at Trand."

"He was transferred here a year ago. He shouldn't be long." The guard explained, looking a bit nervous.

"Well, he only wants to talk to me, right? If so, they can go in, right?" The Captain asked.

The guard looked the rest of the group over. "I suppose." He motioned the group to head in, but before anyone could take a step forward, a one-eyed man stepped out from the gatehouse.

"Gort." The one-eyed man said, walking towards the Captain.

"Rell? I figured you'd be dead by now." The Captain said with a surprised look on his face.

"Might as well be, having been assigned here."

"Fair enough." The Captain looked at the group. "Head on in, we have some catching up to do, I imagine."

The group finally headed in.