After breakfast, they rode to Perdition together, again in silence. When they got to the train station, the whole place was a flurry of activity as the train was loaded up with crates of weapons, food, and whatever other supplies they needed. Sun had no idea what went into organising an operation of this scale. Kalys's lieutenant was barking orders at people, directing others. Commander Tannivh was nearby in conversation with a group of other Revenants. A few looks were spared their way, nervous glances towards her brother. He truly did cut an intimidating figure.
"You know where to find the Eighth?" He asked, turning to her.
She nodded. In the past week those graduating had been given a proper tour of Perdition.
"Grandfather will be at the manor before you get home. Goodbye, Sun."
"Bye. Come back safe," she said softly, not wanting to embarrass him in front of his men.
He gave a small, gentle smile before turning away to speak with Commander Tannivh. Sun watched him a moment before heading to the Sixth to see Zen. She had agreed to meet up with Nick there since she'd be there early and they would walk to their divisions together. His was only a short distance from hers.
When she entered Zen's room, he let out a low whistle as he looked at her.
"A full-fledged Revenant," he grinned. "Don't you look spiffy in your little uniform?"
She rolled her eyes. "Better than sheets and bandages," she retorted, casting him a pointed look before she dropped into her usual seat.
He let out a groan. "I want to get out of here."
"Soon, soon."
The door opened, and Nick entered, also dressed in his new uniform. He had the armband on that showed his tiered status.
"Give us a spin," Sun told him.
Nick grinned but indulged them with a roll of his eyes. They both clapped while Zen wolf whistled.
"Take it off!" He cheered.
"Are you moved into your new dorm?" Sun asked.
"I am. I still have to share with the other tiered officers, though, but the officer quarters are much nicer than the academy dorms and the normal barracks. And there's some privacy with the screens and dividers. More space than the dorms."
"Have you met your new roommates?"
"None of them will be as great as I was," Zen reminded him.
"How ever will I get by?"
"I expect there'll be plenty of crying, wailing, all the stages of grief..."
"Probably," Nick agreed drily. "But no, I haven't met them yet. I did meet Lieutenant Vargas; he seems decent."
Nick told them a bit more about his dorm and what he'd seen of his division so far. Zen whined about being stuck in the hospital some more, and Sun mentioned Kalys was going to be gone a while to deal with the North. Zen had scoffed at that. He'd spent time in the North for his evaluation mission; it was how he got injured.
"Of course, we do all the work, and he just swoops in to take the credit."
Nick laughed. "The rebellions are still going strong, getting worse, and spreading further. And Commander Illusens Division is the best suited for large-scale operations like this."
"Commander Tannivh is going too, I think, or at least sending some of his casters with them," Sun said.
Zen sighed. "It was a warzone up there. When we were briefed, they made it sound like a little riot. When we got there, it was..."
He shook his head hopelessly. He had never really gone into detail about what he'd seen out there, just bare bones. He'd seen fighting, violence, and death. It had clearly bothered him, but he hadn't wanted to talk about it.
His words certainly weren't bringing her any comfort over her brother's situation either. He was headed up there, and apparently things had only worsened.
"If the Seventh can't take care of it on their own, the Second will be among the next lot sent up there," Nick pointed out. "You could end up there again."
"If I ever manage to get out of here," he pouted.
Nick chuckled as he stood up. "Sun and I need to get going."
"Are you coming back after?"
Sun shook her head. "Grandfather's coming today, and I'm going to have extra work to do with Kalys gone. But I'll come back tomorrow morning."
"I'll come back if I can; I'm not sure how much work I'll have now," Nick said. "But yeah, I'll be in tomorrow morning."
They tried to see him every single day because being in here all day every day had to be just the worst. Nick had brought him books, but Zen asserted sitting there and daydreaming was more entertaining than reading.
Nick and Sun bid him goodbye and headed out, walking together to their respective divisions in silence. Sun was the first to turn off, tossing out a 'good luck' to him as she went inside. She was a little on the early side, which had been her intention. She wanted to get a look before it was swamped with busy people.
"Hey, Sunbeam!"
Lieutenant Cage popped out of nowhere with a wide grin on his face. Nick and Zen were usually the only ones with the cute little nicknames for her. It was a bit startling to hear it from someone else.
"Couldn't stay away, aye? Had to apply to my division."
"Yes," she drawled. "That was it exactly."
"You're in early," he noted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I was going to have someone else show you around, but we might as well do it now."
Sun nodded, pleased by this. Not that it was him doing the tour, just that she could get that out of the way before there were others here. Though there were a few people in already, she could count them on two hands. And they only glanced up to see who Cage was talking to and then returned to their work, hardly sparing her a second thought. Much to her relief.
"Well, here we have the office," he said, spreading his arms wide. "One of them anyway. We try not to cram too many people and desks into one room."
He started walking, and she followed behind. He showed her the other rooms they used as offices and where her desk was located, then the training yard, the training hall, his office and the Commanders, where to find the tiered officers, the armoury, the bathrooms, and the mess hall. He pointed out where the barracks and dorms were as well. There was a bed for her in the barracks.
"Not that you'll be needing it; no way your brother would let you sleep here, I'm guessing. But it's there if you ever do need it. Don't worry, you're not the only one who has a home away from here either."
That was nice. But he was probably right about Kalys not letting her sleep here.
After the tour, he clapped his hands together. "All right, let's head out to the training yard."
"Why?" She asked hesitantly, not sure if she should be questioning him at all.
"For a picnic... To train, of course."
"Don't I have a job to start?"
"And training is a part of that job. Are you disobeying your lieutenant?"
She shook her head.
"Excellent. Training first, the boring stuff later."
That didn't sound like something the Commander would have implemented, but then, from her time spent with them out in the borderlands, Mercer did give Cage quite a bit of latitude.
And training did sound better than paperwork...