Chapter 10: A Night On The Town

Neither Zel nor Miriya were certain about their classes yet, but they figured that they had five nights to make any changes they wanted, so they went to turn in the list. They followed the headmaster's instructions and managed to find their way to Miracle's office. They knocked on the door and went inside.

There they found Miracle sitting at a desk with a pile of neatly organized papers that she was working through, and a single photo frame that Zel could not see from their side. Everywhere else in the room was filled with filing cabinets, all the way to the roof. Miracle was mid-sip of some drink as they entered.

"Hello, girls!" Miracle said, absolutely aglow compared to every other time that Zel had seen her, "Are you here to drop off your papers? Give them here, I'll gladly take them off your hands and get them organized. Don't forget that you can change your mind anytime for the first five nights of classes, but after that you're locked in!" Miracle's tone and body language had completely changed from any other time Zel and Miriya had seen her.

The girls were blown away by Miracle's attitude. She was so happy and chipper that it was almost creepy. Miriya couldn't resist the urge to ask about it.

"Yes, thank you for your help Miracle," Miriya began, "If you don't mind me asking, why are you so happy? Not that you shouldn't be, but every time we've seen you so far you seem to have been on edge? If that makes sense?"

"Ah," Miracle said, no less chipper than before, "I thought I had kept my true feelings under the mask, but I guess I failed."

Mask? What the fuck, Miracle. Zel thought.

"The truth is that this is my favorite part of my job," Miracle continued, "it was nice meeting you a lot, but where my heart truly lies is in organization! I love making sure every gear is greased and the ship is running smoothly! The headmaster normally allows me free reign in organizing much of the paperwork for you students, but this year he asked me to help with his induction of you all. Oh, it drove me mad, I just wanted to return here and get back to my paperwork, but it's all over now! I can go back to doing what I love."

"Do you know what my official title is?" She asked this question suddenly, neither Zel nor Miriya knew how to respond, so they just shook their heads, "It's commander in sheet! Haha!"

Both of the girls got the creeps from the way that Miracle was acting. They quickly handed over their papers and left the room just as rapidly, distancing themselves from the commander in sheet. They could hear Miracle giggle and furiously scribbling something on the pages that they handed her as they left.

Now that that was dealt with, the rest of Zel and Miriya's evening was truly free, and that coupled with being well-rested and energetic meant that it was finally time. Zel had been thinking about this moment for a full night now, the moment where she and Miriya snatched Jammy away from her clique of Clickfolk and went shopping!

Zel was not a particularly big shopper, but tonight was an exception. It wasn't every night that you were in a big city with new friends that you wanted to get to know better. That coupled with the gift money from her family that was burning a hole in Zel's wallet, it was time to go spend.

The two of them guessed that the Clickfolk Clique likely returned to the dorms after they left. They seemed really uniform, so Zel doubted that they would be anywhere alone so soon, so the dorms seemed like the best bet. They were in luck. The Clickfolk were indeed all back in the dorms and some of them were even using the small common area to chat amongst themselves. Jammy was amongst these. Zel cleared her throat as she walked by to get Jammy's attention and, once she had it, she subtly nodded to the door as they walked by. Jammy got the message, and after a moment she said goodbye to her friends and disappeared into the Clickfolk rooms at the end of the hall while Zel and Miriya went in theirs.

They had nothing to do in their room, but to give Jammy the best chance of slipping away, they figured they had better do something. Zel changed a dress for another of her favorites, something a little more breathable and casual than what she usually wore. Miriya changed as well, but you couldn't tell. Most of her clothes were practically identical.

After getting changed, the two set out to leave the dorms. They stepped outside with purpose as if they were heading somewhere immediately, and as soon as the door closed they lazed around, waiting for Jammy to come out.

They stood out and waited for quite some time, long enough that Zel began to worry whether or not Jammy was coming at all. There had been several other students coming and going, Zel even noticed several of the Clickfolk leave, though not the largest one, but soon enough their patience paid off. Jammy discreetly exited the dorms with her floral purse in hand and a different change of clothes. No longer garbed in the cloak of the Clickfolk Clique, she was wearing a white frilly dress that had black highlights on the skirt along with four armholes. Zel was immediately all over her.

"Wow, Jammy! You look amazing! Is this what you were hiding under your cloak all evening? It is so beautiful!" Zel said, practically smothering Jammy with her interest.

Jammy let out an excited buzz and twirled around so that Zel could see the rest of the dress. It was elegant from front to back, amazing floral patterns similar to the one on her handbag ran up and down its skirt. It was made of a material that Zel didn't recognize

"Did you buy it back in your hometown? Somewhere back in Beryiith?" Zel asked.

Jammy shook her head.

"Oh? Where did you get it?"

Jammy pinched together two of her carapaced fingers in one hand and then made a swooping motion with it through her other hands, as though she were using a needle and thread. Zel's eyes lit up.

"You made it!? You can make dresses, Jammy? Are you a seamstress?" Zel asked. Jammy was vigorously nodding her head.

"Oh wow, Jammy! That's amazing! I know how to do a bit of sewing, but I could never make a whole dress. That's really cool!"

"What is it made out of?" Miriya asked, "it's a beautiful white. Do they have white-furred animals that you can sheer in Redsun?"

Jammy nodded, they did indeed have white furred animals, but then she pulled on the edges of her dress to present it to the two of them better. Once they had gotten a good look at it, she pointed at the dress in her hand and shook her head.

"What do you mean, 'No,'" Miriya asked. Jammy rubbed the material of her dress with her fingers. Then she made a motion with two fingers like they were scissors, using them to sheer an invisible animal. She pointed at the dress and shook her head again.

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"They do have animals like that… but this dress isn't that?" Miriya asked, unsure. Jammy nodded enthusiastically to Miriya's relief.

Jammy reached into her small bag that she was carrying around her shoulder and pulled out some seeds that Miriya and Zel recognized from the exams they had taken earlier. Jammy pulled a single one out of the bag and placed it into the palm of one of her lower hands. She placed her top hand over her bottom hand, hiding it from view, when she pulled them apart again the seed was still there, but coiling out from it was a single wispy thread that led from the seed to where Jammy was pinching it between her fingers in her other hand.

"Made out of plants then?" Miriya asked again, Jammy was already nodding.

"That's amazing! I bet you can make all sorts of cool stuff with your plant magic." Zel said, her eyes still aglow in wonder.

Jammy made a few whistling noises and gave herself a small round of applause, obviously enjoying the compliments. She took her newly formed thread and closed her hands around it and the seed once more. When she revealed her hand again the seed had returned to its original state with no thread in sight. This time Zel and Miriya gave their own applause for Jammy, who gave a cute curtsy at the end of her performance. They chatted for a few moments more before they decided it was best that they leave before their little outing became discovered.

The three of them began their ascent back up, aiming for the third level of the town. The vast array of rooms and tunnels that worked their way up throughout the mountain were, luckily, rather well labeled for the most part. Eventually they found a tunnel that mentioned it exited in the third district and began making their way outside.

As they walked down the tunnel, dimly lit just enough to see the ground beneath their feet, Zel remembered something important. Now that they were a ways away from the prying eyes and ears of their dorm room, Zel felt that it would be a good time to ask Jammy what was going on.

"Hey Jammy. I'm sorry if this is a bad time, so we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but we were serious earlier. We really do want you to room with us if you can. But that big Clickfolk won't let you, right?

Jammy's crestfallen look from earlier returned, and shook her head.

"You do want to stay with us, right? We aren't making you uncomfortable, I hope." Miriya said.

Jammy shook her head and waved her arms, they weren't making her uncomfortable at all. Zel was still confused. It seemed like the big Clickfolk was in charge of Jammy for some reason, which didn't make any sense to Zel.

Why would they send a bunch of transfer students over here just to have them be bossed around by one of the other students? She wondered. Shouldn't they all be here to learn?

"That big guy doesn't want Jammy to talk with us, but obviously his orders aren't totally absolute if you decided to come with us, is that right?." Zel asked, Jammy responded with a single nod, though Zel wasn't sure if Jammy really believed it.

"Well, we don't want you to get into any trouble because of us, Jammy. Maybe when we see Flint next we can get these issues cleared up and see if we can come up with some kind of solution, but for tonight, why don't we just go check out that dress shop and see if they have anything that catches our eyes?" Zel said with a devilish smile, rubbing her hands together at the thought of getting them on a new dress.

Jammy's eyes lit up at this, breathing life back into her. She enthusiastically nodded and put some pep back into her step.

It wasn't long after that they reached the end of the tunnel, finding themselves on the outside of the mountain. They were in luck, too, because they were close enough to the path that Miracle had led them up the mountain that the girls recognized where they needed to go.

As they made their way down the streets, they were again accosted by the crowds, the salespeople, and the din that came with them. Zel could feel herself getting overwhelmed again, and if she were alone perhaps she wouldn't be able to find her way, but with Miriya and Jammy by her side they forged ahead. However, it was still difficult. The sea of people was giving her a pounding headache and telling her to turn back inside, and she was harboring an anxiety that she didn't know that she had. The crowds were just too unlike anything that she had ever experienced before. At least within the Academy walls the people seemed relaxed, like there was no rush, but out here it seemed like everyone was pushing and shoving others out of the way as if their life depended on reaching their destination as quickly as possible.

Neither Miriya nor Jammy seemed to be faring any better, however. Both of them were being jostled by the bustle of the street and were having a hard time maintaining any sense of direction. Jammy especially was having a difficult time keeping up with Zel and Miriya. She was much shorter than the average person in the crowd, and was being unforgivingly slammed into as busy Splitfolk practically ran her over, unable to see her until it was too late.

The original plan had been to make it to the dress shop that Zel and Jammy had spotted on their first night there, but the crowds were simply too much, and they instead began looking for the first shop that seemed interesting to head in and take a break. In the end they chose an archery shop that Miriya had spotted earlier. It was a distinct blue-brick building, and the sign over the doorway read "Loosed Arrow Emporium." Zel could see all different kinds of weapons through the front windows of the store and, true to the name, almost all of them were archery equipment of some kind or another.

They fought their way to the entrance, opening the doorway and diving inside where they could catch their breath. After stumbling through the raucous crowd, the shop was blissfully quiet. It seemed almost alien to Zel after just having gotten used to the white noise of the street. A curtain opened from the back of the store and an attendant welcomed them.

"Welcome in! Welcome!" An older male Splitfolk shopkeeper beckoned them in, "Welcome to the Loosed Arrow! Are you looking for something specific this evening?"

"No, no. I was just hoping to take a look around," Miriya said, "We're new students at the academy, so we felt it might be nice to take a walk around the third district to see if we could find any vendors for whom we might become regulars." Miriya's eyes shone as she looked up and down at all of the various ranged weaponry around them.

Deftly maneuvered, thought Zel. She always hated going into a shop and not buying anything, but it would make the salesman happy if he thought they would come back. It seemed like it worked, too, as the shopkeeper's eyes darkened when Miriya mentioned that it was unlikely that she would buy anything, but lit right back up at the possibility of new regular customers

"Of course, we do love the students here!" he said, suddenly swooping besides Miriya, clearly identifying her as the most likely customer, "So, what kinds of equipment are you interested in?"

"Well," began Miriya, she was clearly uncomfortable with how close the salesman got to her, "I am mostly interested in bows. I already know how to use a slingshot, you see? I never had the chance to use a bow in my home town because the game wasn't large enough, never had the need." Miriya pulled out her slingshot to show the salesman, who had no interest in it at all.

"Of course, of course. You will find that we have a large variety of equipment that is well designed for taking down large games, but for use at the Academy… it might be better to get something with a little more… stopping power." The shopkeeper explained, wrapping one arm around her shoulders before leading Miriya over to a large bow with a massive price tag. Zel saw Miriya flinched as his hand touched her fur, but she didn't react any further.

"Something like this would never go out of style at the Academy, and would without a doubt accelerate your climb up the ranks…" He said, with a sly smile. Miriya began to look nervous. She still had the glimmer in her eye from when she first saw the shop, but it was clear that she was not comfortable with the shopkeeper. Zel was also annoyed with him for not removing his hand from her sister. Zel was going to step in to separate the man from Miriya, but just as she was about to do so the door opened up behind them. The sound of a small bell attached to the door was made redundant by the roar of the streets that flooded in before dwindling away as the door gently closed. The shopkeeper finally released Miriya, her body immediately relaxing as he did so, he turned to greet the new customer that had entered the shop.

"Welcome in! Give me but a moment and I'll be ri-" he froze, the rest of the words caught in his throat. The shopkeeper's customer service visage fell away, leaving a bitter grumpy old man who uttered a single word: "Crans."

Zel turned around to see the familiar and towering shape of Captain Crans looming over her so high that his hat was almost scraping the ceiling, his trademark smug grin on his face.

"Hey, Corks!" He said with a sly grin of his own, "Long time, no see, friend."