Rayne squirmed in her bed as sunlight filtered in through her window. Her eyes fluttered open and were greeted with the bright orange glow that filled the room. Sliding out of bed, she walked over to the bathroom and took a shower. She let the hot water run down her body, relaxing her muscles. Hot showers always made her sleepy, though that was far from what she needed in the morning. There was steam curling around the room and the mirrors were fogged by the time she turned off the water and stepped out. She quickly got dressed, and ran a quick brush through her long hair.

She descended the stairs, and her eyes met the usual chaotic sight of the guild members. Even so early in the morning, the guild was never quiet. Though the hectic atmosphere that was permanently at the guild was annoying at times, it was probably the best part. No matter how many arguments people got in, or how bad things got, everyone was always together in the end. People were milling around and conversing, and a hefty crowd was gathered around the missions board. 'Hmm, I should look at that later, haven't done a mission in a few days.' She sauntered over to a relatively empty table and sat down. Tatsou was seated across from her, occupied by the food on his plate. "Hey," she greeted quietly with a smile. Tatsou was quite similar to her, they both didn't speak to people very often.

She tucked a few strands of her dark hair behind her ear and rubbed her eyes. She was still sleepy and quite drowsy; she needed to do something to wake herself up. Her stomach rumbled lightly, and she clutched it in embarrassment. She looked towards the kitchen, and saw Briar with Armin on his shoulder, dragging Veronica with him. "Looks like my stomach is talking to me, I should go get something to eat," she said, and excused herself. She quickly headed to the kitchen as hunger gnawed at her.

She heard the a laugh ring out near her, and she turned to see it belonged to Akio. He was with Ryden and Jien, who seemed to be helped by Sapphire. As she passed them, she sent them a friendly smile and wave.

Well, that was kind of a surprise. Princess Lilly was actually going along with it? As Lily scrutinized her somewhat shaking, nervous friend, she figured that maybe the Princess just felt like stepping up a bit. Maybe to challenge herself. Still, Lily figured the Princess to be more for missions like "Do a dramatic reading for a play for the school children!", or perhaps "Teach religious values into my husband!". And yes, she scoffed when seeing requests like that. Seriously, the only cool jobs are the combat ones; those are the ones will all th glory and the danger. None of the others matter. Another question is why turn to a guild for the religious values request. Why not just ask some religious institute? Wouldn't that make more sense? Honestly, some people. Ridiculous, Lily thought.

Lily smirked at her friend; her name-twin, and with a little knowing smile, tapped the Princess on the head, before sending the pair speeding through the halls again until they almost crashed into Armin, hooked by the arm to Briar, with Veronica behind him. It would have been awesome if it wasn't so awkward- and there was a tense silence as Lily picked herself up off of the floor, rubbing her head irritably.

Right, right. Cute face, go!

"Ah, sorry!" She said in a honeyed voice. "I made a little oopsie, haha!"

Okay, what the hell's going on between Wells and Lilly, anyways?

Only an idiot could have missed somehow that the once close Armin and Lilly were more distant now, mostly on the Princess' fault. And, well, since Lilina definitely wasn't an idiot, of course she'd have noticed it. So like any good, doting friend, Lily used her magic to send the Princess knocking into the moral center of the guild, the plant boy, struggling not to laugh.

"Heh, whoops!" Lily exclaimed, and then turned specifically to Briar. "Yo, anyways, Briar. We got a job- save the kidnapped daughter of blah blah town." She laughed nonchalantly, and continued. "It's Rank B, so the two of us should be able to handle it while Princess here," Jutting a thumb at the girl, "can get some worthwhile practice."

"Good morning, everyone." Ryden greeted his guild members as he returned from the living area. "It's good to everyone up and ready to go today."

Following that warm greeting, his personality did almost a complete 180, as he nonchalantly walked over to Briar and placed him in a one armed headlock.

"I hope you've gotten your fill of ogling this morning. You and I agreed to meet in the training yard at 7 o'clock sharp." He said to his friend, mildly irritated. "I went to your room to get you and you were nowhere to be found. How the heck did I even miss you?"

He continued lecturing as he dragged Briar off towards the training area, so caught up in what he was doing that he pretty much ignored everyone else.

"I hope you're not too hung over this morning." He went on, as the two of them disappeared into the building. "Otherwise this isn't going to be much of a sparring match."

As Akio talked he couldn't help but notice as she walked pasted him she would smile and wave.instantly Akio had forgotten everything he was talking about. now that one of the "guild beauties" was here his mission to go on a job with one of them was back on.

He would smile and quickly follow behind her like a puppy, he would quickly catch up to her "hello Rayne! even sooooo early in the morning you still look stunning as always". Akio would smile at her "you know what i have thought about? we have never really spend any time with each other, and i was thinking we should go on a job together. just think about it with my light magic and your shadow magic we will be an unstoppable team!!!!" Akio would thrust his hand into the air, "we will show the world that opposite do attract!!!!" he would pump his fist down in front of his chest " we will be The Azure Knights greatest team."

Veronica merely watched the scene between Briar and Ryden with mild interest. Her eyes widening slightly as Ryden put Briar into a headlock ~I don't understand these men at all. How does violence equal friendship~ she thought with amusement as the redhaired man was brutally lectured by Ryden on the qualities of training. Shaking her head slightly, a faint smile on her face at the antics of them.

She glanced at the two Lilys' wondering how they would react now that their muscle on the team was dragged away from them. Although knowing Lillian, she would cause antics to piss off Ryden and then use Princess as a peace agreement. Or at least thats what Veronica would have done if she was in their place. Still the puppy was a troublemaker and it wasn't even near noon. Deciding it would be best to stay out of the way planning she walked over to the quieter location where Saphira and Jian were sitting. From the looks of their expressions Saphira was motherhenning Jian on his training techniques. The kid did push himself a bit too far sometimes, but on the other hand Saphira needed to lighten up a little bit on the mothering.


"Saphira, I think you don't really understand Jien's training methods. His determination seems to be his driving force. I don't he minds a few nicks and bruises every time he makes a mistake. I think that is a wonderful way of learning. Am I right Jien?" She asked quietly, trying to be neutral in the event that it could turn into an argument. Although Saphria was a Dragon Slayer. she seemed to have none of legendary temper bestowed on the magic users.

Saphira smiled at Veronica, sensing Veronica's slight annoyance at Saphira's over motherly ways, "I have nothing against getting a little scraped up when one trains, it's a part of the process and in the end will make you stronger, it's the fact that no one ever comes to me for healing after the fact."
She lowered her head, the sense of uselessness swept over her like an unwelcomed storm. She hated that feeling. It was the same feeling she had felt everyday as she watched her friends come and go from missions, fulfilling their sense of purpose that seemed to always surround them, while Saphira sat in the infirmary wing, continuing just to be a burden to the guild. She had longed to go out on missions, but was far to shy to ask any of these still somewhat unfamiliar faces if she could team up with them. Her saddened blue eyes turned back to Veronica, "I hate seeing all of you walk around injured. It breaks my heart to know that my fellow guild members are in pain and think so little of me that they do not even bother to stop by and ask the burden of the guild if she could heal their wounds," Saphira paused, she had revealed more of her feelings than she wished to, or had ever done with anyone else.
With a shake of her head, she turned her attention back to Jien, Saphira stepped closer to Jien, her bare feet barley making any noise against the ground beneath her. This wasn't the first time she would have to heal one of his training injury's and she did not expect it to be the last. She just wished that he wouldn't be so hesitant to seek her out whenever he was injured, instead of her having to see the blood soaked skin around the injury. A shiver went down her spine at the thought of Jien walking around, or magic forbid, go on a mission with an his injured arm.
Closing her eyes, Saphira tapping into the magic, just as Vyaweck had taught her how so many years ago. A warm, tingling sensation pulsed with every beat that her heart took, as the magic formed in her body. Breathing deeply, she focused the sensation into her hands. Opening her eyes once more, Saphira carefully leaned in closer, allowing for a better look at the cut. While it wasn't anything life threatening, it was a pretty decent cut. Saphira's heart dropped at the sight of the wound, silently wishing herself that the young man had come to her sooner. Placing her now glowing blue hands gently on the wound, she pushed some of the magic from her hands and into Jien's cut. Saphira smiled slightly as she felt the skin knit back together quickly, happy that her magic was helping a person who she cared for. When the cut had healed, Saphira expertly severed the magic link to her hands, and dropped them to her side.
"All done," she smiled at Jien, the way she did to all of her patients after a healing session. "have fun on your mission with Ryden....which reminds me, I need to go see if there are any missions still available. Goodbye guys, and Jien, please don't hesitate to come and see me if you are injured again."
Pivoting on her heel, she began to walk off to the guild to check to see any current missions. She was barley a few inches away from Akio and Rayne, when she heard "we will be the Azure Knights greatest team,"
screamed into her ear.
Saphira felt her heart jump at the sound and volume of Akio's voice. She whipped her head towards the loud boy, when, suddenly she felt her foot slip out from under her. Saphira was on the ground in a second, her palms tingling, though whether from the fact that she just used healing or the fact that she had used them so that she didn't do a face plant, was a mystery even to Saphira.
"Not again," Saphira sighed as she once again found herself face to face with the floor.

We'll just pretend this didn't happen...

---

"Are you okay? I don't think people mind when you bring in those delicious potatoes, but I doubt you like being carried around like a sack of one.~"

"Oh, no. I'm fine!" He said, giving Veronica a reassuring smile before letting out a small sigh, relieved to have his feet back on the floor of the guild hall once again. It's not as if he was too bothered by it, in fact Armin really enjoyed the liveliness of the guild in the mornings. It wasn't just Briar, but Lilina and Ryden and the others who seemed to fill the guild with such energy. It could become troublesome sometimes, like if Akio became to flirty with someone and got himself punched in the face or worse, but Armin had gotten used to the roughhousing of the other guild members. His aunt and uncle did tell him that he'd always have a place to come home to, but he couldn't imagine being anywhere but here.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted when out of nowhere the body of another person, Lilliana to be precise, bumped into him quite roughly. If he hadn't of been holding onto the top of the sack of potatoes so tightly it probably would've fallen onto the floor.

"Ah, sorry!" He heard Lilina say. He'd barely had the time to notice that she'd fallen rump first onto the floor and was now picking herself up from where she'd landed. "I made a little oopsie, haha!"

Lilina messed up? That wasn't something that happened often. Either way it was an accident so he gave her a nod before she began to talk to Briar about going on a mission and he turned to face Lilliana.

"You're going on a B rank mission, Lilly? That's a first! I bet you're going to do really good!" He said to her with an excited smile before bringing the index finger of his left hand up and lightly scratching his cheek "Speaking of which I was hoping to try one myself today, but I haven't got anyone to partner up with. Oh, that's right!" His eyes widened for a second in realization and he looked up a as if to ponder through his head. "If you'll excuse me, Lilly-chan." He said, looking back at her and bowing his head a little before turning around.

Tatsou was still sitting by himself, his food nearly gone now though. He really must've put a lot on his plate. Armin had thought about approaching him earlier to warn him that if he ate that much he might get a stomach ache, but with him getting thrown over Brair's shoulder an all...he got a little side-tracked and completely forgot that he was sitting by himself.

"Good morning, Tatsou!" He said cheerfully, sitting himself down next to him after setting the bag of potatoes on the table top behind them. He could probably just leave it there for now and let others help themselves. He couldn't go carrying it around with him after all, and he wasn't very hungry himself. Armin never really ate that much, which was probably why he wasn't very tall nor muscular. Maybe he should eat more...

"I heard earlier that Ryden is going on an A rank mission. Cool right? Are you planning on going on any missions today?" The blond asked curiously, resting his arms crossed over each other on the table and leaning forward slightly.

"Good morning, Tatsou!" Tatsou quickly swallowed his last bite of food as Armin sat down. 'Hopefully this time I'll get to talk before he goes rushing off.' "I heard earlier that Ryden is going on an A rank mission. Cool right? Are you planning on going on any missions today?"

Tatsou took a breath to settle his stomach before replying. "An 'A' rank mission? Those are supposed to be some of the most difficult almost always taken on by a team. I've only ever been able to clear 'C' rank missions on my own without getting into trouble. I don't have anyone to partner with yet either..." Tatsou looked towards the mission board. "But I do need to get another job if I want to keep my house..." Tatsou's face lit up as a thought hit him. "Armin. You wouldn't want to team up with me to take on a 'B' mission would you?" Tatsou tried his best to be friendly. After all this is the first person to come and sit with him for an actual conversation. Even more odd Tatsou found that he actually wanted him to agree to paring up. It'd make the job at least a bit more fun.

---

"An 'A' rank mission? Those are supposed to be some of the most difficult almost always taken on by a team. I've only ever been able to clear 'C' rank missions on my own without getting into trouble. I don't have anyone to partner with yet either..."

Armin's eyes widened just a little at Tatsou's answer. Not because there was something surprising or shocking about it, but because this was probably the first time Armin had heard the white-haired boy reply with such a long sentence. Usually he barely spoke whenever Armin tried to talk to him. The blond's somewhat surprised expression returned to his usual cheery one as he smiled and listened to Tatsou continue talking until he suddenly turned to him.

"Armin. You wouldn't want to team up with me to take on a 'B' mission would you?"

"Eh?" That seemed to be all he could manage right away as it took him a minute to go over what Tasou had just asked him. Did he really want to go on a mission with him?

After a couple seconds of silence Armin's face lit up as if he'd just heard the news that a parade of puppies was about to pass through Hisbiscus. "Y-yes I would!" He finally said, his eyes twinkling with excitement as he stood and then turned towards Tatsou. "To go on a mission with a real Dragon Slayer would be an honor!" He couldn't help but smile wildly. Though he probably looked a bit dramatic when he placed his hands on his knees and bowed in a perfect 90degree angle before returning to an upright position. Perhaps he was overreacting just a smidge, but he really was happy.

"I guess we should go take a look at the mission board then, before the good ones are taken." He calmed his composure some. "It'll be my first time going on a B mission though and I've only partnered with someone a few times, so I hope I won't slow you down. I've got rent at the end of the month to pay too, so this is a great opportunity!" He then spun around, ready to make his way to the mission board.

As Saphira wandered away..and ended up nearly face planting on the floor due the shock from Akio's loud voice. Shaking her head wearily she glanced at Jien newly healed shoulder and asked "So what exactly where you doing when you injured yourself? Don't you think it would be wiser to have one of the more experienced members observe you before you end loosing a limb doing some fancy swordsmanship? I am sure Briar or Ryden would be willing to..". Her voice sounded neutral at first, but bits of worry crept into it as she began to imagine much worse scenarios happening."


In truth, she did worry when Jien got flashy with his swordplay..even more dangerous when he mixed his own style of magic into it. Cocking her head to the side with a slight smile on her face she asked softly "Speaking of training..I haven't had the chance to spar with you yet have I? Would mind training with me today? At least before your job today..". Her tone was hesitant as if she was worried about getting rejected..even by one of her teammates. She was interested in seeing his magic, maybe getting to know him a bit better. ~Although hopefully Brian and Ryden haven not destroyed the training area yet..~

Akio would hear a loud thud, akio would look around and see Saphira on the ground. what kind of guy would akio be if he didnt help her up?

Akio would rush over to her he would knee down next to her, "you know Saphira you should be more careful. you would be doing the world a dis severance if you where to damage your pretty face." Akio would hold out his hand which was cover by a glove that he wore to hind his burns. "what kind of guy would i be if i didn't offer to help you up? and while we are on the subject of helping would you mind helping me on a job, just the two of us. i know with the two of us any job with be a breeze"

Akio would laugh at his own very corny joke "i did ask Veronica and Rayne but now that i have thought about it our personalities are to different, we would only end up fighting most of the job. but you are as fun and care free just like me." Akio would thrust his fist into the air "we will be The Azure Knights greatest team!!!"

Saphira smiled as she graciously took his hand, her cheeks gaining a rouging ever so slightly at the word pretty, a word she was not used to hearing. But quickly scolding herself at blushing for a compliment the guild's flirt had payed to her.
As he helped her to her feet, he began to talk about the question of her helping him with a job. The second the question left his mouth, Saphira's brilliant blue eyes shot up at him in shock. No one had ever asked her to come on a job with them before.
When Akio had finished, his gloved hand high above his head in a position unfamiliar to her, she just stared at him for a moment, believing this was a dream, or cruel practical joke, like the ones Lily liked to play by sneaking up behind others and scaring them with her speed.
But soon, her shook turned to pure glee. A fire danced in her eyes as a dimpled smile erupted across her face. "I would love to go on a mission with you, it would be an honor to fight along side a skilled mage such as yourself," she said trying to make herself sound as professional as possible.
But her child like excitement quickly removed any trace of professionalism from her as she threw her arms around Akio's neck, screaming "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you," repeatedly.
Bouncing, she held Akio at an arms length, "I promise I won't let you down."
"My first mission," Saphira smiled, staring up at the shimmering blue sky above her.
She was finally going to be able to see the world outside the guild, the one that she had been born into, but had never gotten to experience.
Turning back to him, her eyes connecting with his equally blue orbs, "So, when do we start?"

Rayne was suddenly bombarded by Akio, who started following her around like a puppy. Hello Rayne! Even sooooo early in the morning you still look stunning as always". At that she smiled, replying with a kind, "Good morning, Akio." she made sure not to get wrapped up in his compliments, which he doled out to all the girls daily. "You know what I have thought about? We have never really spend any time with each other, and I was thinking we should go on a job together. Just think about it with my light magic and your shadow magic we will be an unstoppable team!!!!" she paused to think about that for a moment. Their magic powers combined would be a very interesting combination. She was about to reply, when Sapphira somehow face planted right next to them.

Akio reached down before she could react, and helped her up. He had already forgotten about his quest to team up with Rayne for a job, and was now asking Sapphira. He was slathering compliments on her as well, and it seemed to be working. Oh well, at least Akio seemed to be a good person at heart. With an amused smile, she left the two to their conversation, and went to go get food. She piled her plate high and returned to the hall. As she passed by the mission board, her eyes quickly scanned over the available jobs. They were mostly C-class jobs, a few B-class, A-class, and S-class. Her gaze caught the flyer of two SS-class jobs, and she grinned. One day, she would get stronger and complete SS-class missions.

As she went over to a table, she caught sight of Veronica and Jien, wondering what the two were up to. Her thoughts were interrupted as she sat down once more with Tatsou, and saw that Armin was there was well. "Ah, good morning Armin," she greeted with a smile. She began eating, enjoying the food on her plate. "So, what are you two up to this morning?

Tatsou actually smiled at Armin's response. He seemed really excited that Tatsou wanted to team up with him. After a slight pause Armin suggested that that they go over and get a mission before all of the good missions were taken. Before Tatsou had much of a chance to reply he was again joined by Rayne. It seemed that she'd gotten her food. As she sat she happily greeted Armin and asked what he and Tatsou were up to this morning.

Tatsou tried to smile again and actually greet Rayne this time. "Good morning Rayne. Armin and I were going to team up to take on a 'B' class mission today. Would you be interested in teaming up with us?" He smiled again thinking in the back of his head. 'I can't believe how excited Armin was to team up with me. Now if I'm lucky I'll have two partners. I'm finally starting to make some friends! Adalinda would be so proud of me if she could see me!'

Golem

A young child walked slowly, boots hitting the floor with a scuffing the cobblestoned road. No one noticed the child go about her business seeing as she made sure not to bring attention to herself. The sounds of wheels clacking every time it went over one of the many stones that made up the road made a steady rhythm to walk by.

She had been walking for over an hour now and surprisingly enough not many people wondered why she was traveling along and without her parents. Not that she had any and the closest person se could call family had passed away a few weeks ago. She wasn’t really sad about it nor could she really express it with words. It wasn’t a physical thing that she could see so she didn’t believe one could actually feel sad or even feel the emotion if it didn’t exist.

Blinking once or twice, her bright orange eyes disappeared with each blink. Taking in everything that she saw, Golem wasn’t used to all this hustle and bustle. When she was with Nana they usually didn’t venture past the white fence Nana had built a long time ago. So she really didn’t know much about the world beyond that white little fence. Golem did however know of the Azure Knights, ever since she was little she had dreamed of being part of Ebels greatest guild and become the best mage she could be.

With Nana’s approval of course otherwise she would still be living in the small cottage. Though it was lonely without her; not having someone to interact with. The steady rhythm of the wheels on her suitcase made her quite sleepy but she was determined to get to the guild before she let herself go to sleep.

Unfortunately that resolve didn’t last very long as in a couple more steps Golem’s eyes were closed. Thankfully she had been walking in the right direction of the guild so when she got to the doors she walked right inside. All one would hear were the sounds of boots hitting the floor in an almost shuffling manner. Golem continued to walk until she finally hit the bar counter. With a thud she fell on her bum, her eyes snapped open glancing around.

With a sleepy look Golem rubbed her head pouting a bit at having walked right into the counter. She got up rubbing her bottom as she picked up the handle of her suitcase. With her jacket being large and all most people thought her a boy at first sight and these fellows were no exception to this unless they were sharp enough to realize that she was indeed a girl.

Golem looked around her pouted turned into a yawn and she walked over to the nearest seat and plopped herself right on down. Not caring if the table was occupied or not. Her face rested flat on the table, her arms dangling at her sides as she went right back to sleep. A small snot bubble formed at the end of her nose which grew bigger then smaller with each intake of air and release of air from her lungs.

---

"Ah, good morning Armin."

Before Tatsou had replied to Armin's suggestion to go to the mission board, Rayne had found a place to sit down across from them with a plate of food and greeted him with a smile before helping herself to her breakfast.

"Good morning, Rayne."

"Good morning!" Armin said with his usual smile, turning back around to face the dark-haired girl.

"So, what are you two up to this morning?"

Armin sat down next to Tatsou again and placed his hands in his lap, smiling politely as the Dragon Slayer explained what the two of them were planning to do. It was when Tatsou questioned if Rayne would be interested in joining them that his expression turned into a curious one. As far as Armin could tell from the time he's been at the guild, Tatsou's never really been the kind to ask anyone to go on a mission with him. But now he's asked not only Armin but Rayne as well? It was nice really. Perhaps Armins's assumption that maybe Tatsou was just shy was correct after all.

The blonde smiled and stood up, placing his hands on the table in front of him and leaning towards Rayne slightly. "What do you say Rayne? You don't have an official team yet either, right?" He paused a moment before shaking his head a couple of times, "N-not that I'm saying that we could be a team or anything! Nothing like that! But it wouldn't hurt to all go on a mission together just once, yeah? What do you think, Rayne, Tatsou?" He said, his face moving from Rayne and then to Tatsou as he said their names.

Suddenly there was a small thump sound behind him and he turned his neck, noticing that a small child had somehow strolled in and bumped right into the bar counter before landing on his rump. Armin blinked curiously, trying to recall if he'd seen this child at the guild before. No, he'd made sure to introduce himself to everyone in the guild when first coming here, so he'd remember if this child was a member or not. He continued to watch him, guessing that he was probably a boy, as he sat herself down a couple tables away from them and instantly fell asleep.

"Uhm...is that child...a customer maybe? I've never seen him in here before." Armin kept his head turned and eyes on the child for a few seconds before turning his head to look at Tatsou and Rayne.