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With her fur thoroughly groomed and her borrowed room as tidy as she had found it Chyla donned her recently acquired backpack and trustee satchel, then made her way down to the main floor of the Keepers where she was taken back by the sight of her elder father Eldric sitting at the bar.

Unable to ignore his presence, she took a deep breath and did her best to stop shaking as she walked over to the bar and sat beside him.

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Eldric: There's no reason to be scared. I'm not here to try and take you back home or anything of the like.

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Eldric slid something across the bar under his hand.

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Eldric: It's not as useful as what I gave Ki-su, but I want to give you something that says I believe in you.

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Chyla watched with nervous anticipation as Eldric lifted his hand to reveal his rammu pin.

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Chyla: *disbelief* Y-your sigil pin? I-I can't accept that!

Eldric: I'm not taking it back. So, if you don't take it, then it'll stay waiting for you in the lost and found here until you pick it up.

Chyla: *stunned* Y-you can't do that either! That pin represents your memories, everything you accomplished, and all the lives you saved as a rammu.

Eldric: And now it also represents my unwavering belief in my daughter.

Chyla: Your belief in me?

Eldric: *long sip of his drink* *sharp exhale* To tell the truth, I'm the only one who believes in you. Everyone else thinks you're just being brash, and you'll quit as soon as you see that Ki-su's doing well.

Chyla: And why do you believe differently?

Eldric: Would you accept that it's just a hunch?

Chyla: *unamused stare*

Eldric: Worth a try. In that case, I'll just say it's because I know you're the only one who's my blood daughter, and I'm one to believe that more than just physical traits can run through blood. You've never been like the rest of your siblings. You've always had more in common with Ki-su than you did everyone else. You were always just too attracted to him to allow yourself to get close to him.

Chyla: *blushing heavily* N-no I wasn't!

Eldric: *disappointed tsk* Not a good start to your first day as a rammu.

Chyla: S-sorry... I-I didn't mean to lie like that... I-it's just-

Eldric: *holding up his hand* The excuse doesn't matter. Remember from this day forward we're no longer father and daughter, but fellow rammu. Even though I'm retired, I will stay a rammu at heart until I'm no longer of this world, and perhaps even then.

Chyla: *somber* And it's important to always be truthful with your fellow rammu...

Eldric: Precisely. *proud smile* At least on things that matter, a silly ghost story now and again isn't worth spoiling with the truth. *playful grin* And sometimes it is necessary to lie, and your fellow rammu need to be able to trust you, or you them.

Chyla: I'll remember that... How obvious have I been? I always thought I hid my feelings for him well.

Eldric: I don't think anyone else suspects you have romantic feelings for him. They're all quite convinced you're just being an over protective elder sister and nothing more.

Chyla: *nervous* Do you think anything about what I'm doing is wrong?

Eldric: Not in the least. You're doing everything in your power to protect the ones you love. That said, may I offer you an important piece of advice?

Chyla: Yes, please.

Eldric: Let your feelings for your brother go.

Chyla: *stunned* W-why? W-we'll both be rammu?

Eldric: Precisely, you need to learn to love all your fellow rammu, which will be made infinitely more difficult if you're trying to hold on to your feelings for him as something special.

Chyla: *angry* B-

Eldric: Think carefully about your next few words.

Chyla: *long deep breath* *slow exhale* Thank you for the advice. I will give it some serious thought.

Eldric: Good, and now that you've passed that test, I'll retract my falsity. Every relationship you forge will be uniquely special. While you may share special memories with Ki-su, you will soon share equally special memories with others, and perhaps already have?

Chyla: *blushing heavily* I-I have.

Eldric: *wistful smile* I remember my interview date as if it were yesterday. Me and Ami-su shared a lot of good memories together.

Chyla: *inquisitive* Ami? I've never heard that name before...

Eldric: Amina is her real name, though not surprising when you think about it. The person who interviewed you was a senior rammu after all. You should be mindful to enjoy your time with them while you can. *somber* They may be long gone by the time you're in their position.

Chyla: I see...

Eldric: You should be going.

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Chyla stared at her elder father's pin for a moment before picking it up off the counter.

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Chyla: Thank you. I'll keep your pin safe... *sniff*

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Chyla grabbed her father from behind and gave him a long hug.

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Eldric: *clears throat* Good luck, and is there anything you want me to tell everyone for you?

Chyla: Yeah, let them all know I'm not going to be home for a long while, and tell Maria-su I'm sorry for not cleaning up my room. *weak laughter*

Eldric: I'll take care of it for you. Anything you want to keep in storage or you want me to bring to you?

Chyla: The keepsake box you made me. I'd like it when you have the time.

Eldric: Alright, I'll bring it to you in one moon when your initiation is finished. Anything you want stored?

Chyla: *contemplative hum* No. *weak head shake*

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Chyla hugged her father for a few more moments then let go of him.

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Eldric: I'll see you next moon.

Chyla: I'll be looking forward to it.

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Doing her best not to cry or turn around again, Chyla made her way out of the Keepers, then immediately began running at full speed to distract herself.

Reaching the edge of the farmlands just as the sky began to turn bright orange, Chyla's attention was captured by a pair of rammu trainees running towards her in their unmistakable bright orange-colored uniforms.

As the pair approached her, they slowed.

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Male rammu trainee: Good morning, did you need any assistance? We're just doing our morning regimen, so if you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask. *reassuring smile*

Chyla: Oh, well, uhm, actually I'm on my way to become a rammu trainee. *awkward laughter*

Demoron: *stunned* You must be Chyla, then. I'm Demoron, and the girl next to me is Reteh. We kind of thought we'd be the last to meet you today.

Reteh: *half hiding behind Demoron* I-it's nice to meet you.

Chyla: *suppressed giggling* I-I'm sorry, it's just ... your kind of big to be trying to hide behind him... I'm sure we're going to be good friends anyway, so no reason to be scared of me. *inviting smile*

Demoron: Did you want some company on your way to the meeting spot? We could run there with you, then continue on from there.

Chyla: I don't want to be a bother to you.

Demoron: No bother, after all we're family now. *warm smile*

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Chyla began running casually beside Demoron.

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Chyla: So, maybe an inappropriate question, but why isn't my brother running with you?

Demoron: He along with the other trainees besides us, are back at the Gathering preparing for you. Your arrival was quite unexpected and nothing was set up for another new trainee. If you're wondering why we're not helping, it's because we got lucky on dice rolls.

Chyla: Dice rolls?

Demoron: Quite a lot of things are decided with dice rolls around here.

Chyla: But dice are easy to cheat with. Shouldn't things be decided with a more trustworthy system?

Demoron: No one's particularly worried about cheating.

Chyla: Right, that does make sense ... if you can't trust someone not to cheat when deciding things like chores, then it would be hard to trust that person with your life.

Demoron: Precisely. And you also trust that if they're cheating, they have a good reason to be doing so.

Chyla: A good reason to cheat ... that's hard to imagine.

Demoron: With Ki-su as your brother, I'm surprised you think that way. I could easily see him trying to cheat in order to take on more work for someone he thought needed to rest.

Chyla: *somber* Kion wasn't really involved in the normal chores around the house... H-he helped out a lot, but because Eldric insisted on training him so much he was excused from the same chore requirements the rest of us.

Demoron: I've heard such treatment is common for honor children. *short silence* Do you resent him for it?

Chyla: No, he always seemed so busy and tired that I always hated seeing him helping with chores.

Demoron: If you don't mind, I'm curious to see how we stack up and would like to race the rest of the way.

Chyla: S-sure that's fine.

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After a short break and the count of three, Chyla raced behind Demoron and Reteh the rest of the way to the meeting spot, unable to gain any ground on either of them.

Panting heavily Chyla stared over to the ink spotted girl who Demoron introduced as Vivica before thanking her for the run and racing off with Reteh deeper into the forest, much faster than they had been running with her.

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Vivica: Giving fair warning here. You're the first person I've ever mentored... Honestly not sure why I was in chosen for this over Demoron... I'm literally the worst person you could have gotten as a mentor. Even Reteh would have been a better choice. Not saying Reteh isn't awesome, she's just painfully shy around new people.

Chyla: I did notice that, but what makes you such a bad choice?

Vivica: *defeated sigh* One, don't trust me with secrets. Two, don't talk to yourself anywhere near me about anything private, because I have pretty good hearing and am a hopeless blabber mouth. And Finally, it's probably best to assume a lot of what you hear out of me might actually be someone else's secrets.

Chyla: *excited* Oh, you're a talk first, think later type, like my youngest mother Phili-su. *mischievous smile* I look forward to spending--a lot of time around you.

Vivica: *stunned* Oh, ah, okay, sorry, no one's ever reacted that way to hearing that before...

Chyla: *seductive smile* So~ what comes next?

Vivica: *embarrassed fidgeting* Y-Yineh, wanted me to ... uhm, d-do you have any questions before I give you a tour? *awkward smile*

Chyla: *curious hum*

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Chyla stared at Vivica for a moment as she thought about what Eldric had told her, then walked up to her slowly and ran her fingers up Vivica's arm while she talked.

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Chyla: Why don't you tell me more about yourself? *slow seductive whisper* I promise, I'm--really good at keeping secrets. *seductive smile* So, you don't have to worry about blabbing around me. Anything you say is just between us unless you say otherwise *reassuring smile*

Vivica: *hard gulp*

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