Sandpaw had assumed that the friend of his would-be master would come quickly, but that was apparently under completely incorrect pretenses. No, she would not be quick, instead he found himself waiting for long and lazy days in the heat of this time of year.

Perhaps heat was the wrong word, as summer was coming to its close. It was his first summer, so he shouldn’t fully know what would come next but a part of him did. He wasn’t sure if it was some odd lapine instinct, but it told him that fall would come soon. Perhaps, he surmised, it was the talk from the humans. They were more than willing to talk openly in the meadow, so close to his home. It hurt him nothing to rest there, listening to them talk with his long ears.

“So, the tests are coming.” One of the younger children said. Sandpaw had forgotten their name, if he had ever known. It had been so long since he’d watched and observed them. She was odd, having a darker skin tone than anyone else. Not that everyone had fair skin, it was just that she was a dark chestnut rather than the more wheat-like shades of the other darker skinned residents of the town. At least, that was the case when it came to those who were at the school.

“Yup, tests and then admittance to Ironthorn. Do you think the trip will take too long?” Another strange one asked. His hair was blond, but even more yellow and bright than Sandpaw’s own fur. Sandpaw felt like it looked like electricity, although his only experience with that substance was when he rubbed the wrong way in the fur-lined nests. “I mean, I have never been more than 20 miles away from home, and that was a day’s trip.”

“I heard they use carts and other transportation. Like a noble family might!” The third boy said. His skin was pale as the wild carrot’s flowers, or nearly so at least. These three… he knew he’d seen them before. They were important for some reason but he couldn’t remember why. They all were strange children, and special.

“We have to all get in. It would be awful if we didn’t.” Get in? Well of course they would. Sandpaw knew they were all very strong and special, right? His instincts said so. Wait, why did he even care if they got into this school, whatever it was?

“We’ll get in, I promise.” The yellow haired boy said. “I swear it upon my immortal soul.” There was a grunt as he was hit.

“Don’t say that, the gods take promises like that very seriously.” The black haired boy said, glowering at him.

“Fine, fine.” The yellow haired boy said. “Anyway, do you have any ideas what the tests will be like?”

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“Nope, I looked in the library and apparently each admissions officer is allowed to make whatever rules they wish. I mean, that’s rather inefficient, but with a system as huge as Ironthorn I suppose it’s only to be expected.” The girl dug around in her bag. “Look, this is how big the continent is.”

Sandpaw kind of wished he could hop closer. Maybe just a small look? He tried to inch closer, but the children were on higher alert than they should be, and he felt as if their senses picked him up. He paused and hunkered down, hoping to be ignored.

“So, if you look at the key down here you can see the scale. Twenty miles isn’t nothing, but it’s less than a hundredth as big as the continent.” The girl was lecturing, it was actually kind of nice to hear someone so passionate about the information they were granting to others. Sandpaw wondered what kind of scholar she could be in a place with more public works.

“But Ironthorn is in the center, so it’s not going to be two thousand miles.” The dark haired boy said, rolling his eyes at the drama. It’s only, what, a couple hundred?”

“Two hundred and fifty four miles. It’s actually not hard to check because there are markers that…” She looked at her friends, who even Sandpaw recognized were not interested. “Let's just say that it’ll take more than a week to get there, maybe two. But don’t forget, there will be more testing in each town so that will slow us down. I expect to be on the road for a month at least.”

“I… How are we to survive that long!” The blond boy said, standing up. “Begging our bread? I mean, there must be churches everywhere… Right?” Sandpaw couldn’t answer it, but the girl had an answer ready.

“It is expected for us to provide for ourselves. Hunting, begging, and doing work are all well known examples. Nobles will, of course, just provide a lump sum for their children. Sometimes there are endowments from noble families to local kids, but I wouldn’t expect that. We are too far away from our… lord.” She stressed the last word with a frown.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get us everything we need to live and more.” The black haired boy had a hint of mischief in his eyes. “Let’s just hope the tester doesn’t make us march through the dark forest.” He gestured behind Sandpaw to the woods. The bunny shivered as he remembered the pain and scary things he’d found in between those trees.

“I doubt we’ll be going there.” The blond boy said. “I’d love to, of course, but we aren't allowed there and we are the highest ranked initiates in town. Besides, I bet the forest has their own initiative finders. It does have its own communities, you know.”

“Yes, yes, swamp folk and elves. Scary stuff.” The girl deadpanned. “Look, if you’re scared we’ll make it safe for you.”

“I’m not scared!” The boy said, flushed. “Take back your words.”

“Hah, never.” The girl said.

Sandpaw decided to leave the children to their squabbling. He hoped very much they would be there tomorrow, so he could learn more. He wouldn’t be learning more today though, they were just too busy.