#trepanin

The girl, Aimi, ran away and out of sight. Andras looked at the spot where she was, bewildered.

“What’s a flight class kid doing here?” Trepanin said, bemused.

“Flight class? But, they have wings, right?” And not four eyes and know his name before he says it?

“Some of them can bind their wings out of sight,” Trepanin said. “But she’s probably too young for her wings to come in yet.”

“How did you know she’s flight class, then?”

“Did you see her chicken feet?”

“Oh.”

Trepanin led him out of the sharp stone building and back to the portal entrance. They had to wait a few minutes for the portal to reopen to the Forest Biome.

“You’re lucky,” Trepanin said. “Syne said you have great potential.”

“Which one was Syne?”

“The one in the center, has three eyes.”

“Oh,” Andras said, then asked, “is that common here?”

“Extra eyes? No. It’s the mark of seer powers.”

“Seer?” Andras thought back to his lessons with Sabine, trying to remember what it meant.

“She sees the future.”

Andras blinked. “Woah,” he said, a bit dazed. “So, when she says I have potential, she…”

“Knows whether or not you can use that potential, yeah.”

Andras thought of the girl with four eyes.

“Is Syne the only seer?”

“Yep. There are deities with seer powers, but they end up having to either seal the powers away or go crazy. So far, Syne’s the only one who can handle the visions.”

“Oh.”

The portal finally opened, the familiar swirl of color beckoning them forward. After they entered, Trepanin grinned at him.

“You know what this means, right?”

“Um...you get to train me to be part of the next generation of warrior deities?”

“Yep. And you have to cut that stupid braid off.”

“Aw, man…”

“Syne, why didn’t you tell me I was going to meet Andras today?” Aimi whined to her mentor.

Syne smiled. “First impressions are very important, I’ve come to learn. Not knowing made you more honest and sincere.”

Aimi pouted. “Fine. But you’ll tell me when he comes around next time, right?”

“Ahead of schedule?” Andras said, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing!” she said quickly. “I was just--wondering why you were in the gardens!” Andras could easily see the evasion, but the girl seemed convinced she fooled him, so he decided to play along. “I mean, it’s real pretty an’ all, but everyone’s usually at the market, and not a lot of people care about plants here anyway--”

The girl went on talking, and Andras felt a little overwhelmed by how at ease she was with strangers. Maybe kids were different in the Main Biome?

“So...do you live here, in the Main Biome?” Andras asked when the girl paused to take a breath.

“No.” She didn’t elaborate, and Andras hated this conversation, it was so awkward--

“Oi,” said a voice from the entrance. It was Trepanin, done with his private council meeting. “Time to go.”

“Oh, I’ll see you later then, Andras!” the girl said, smiling. She darted to the edge of the gardens, and to the exit.

“Wait--” Andras called out, because he was positive he didn’t give her his name.