Tarvas wasn’t impressed by the fancy nature of his surroundings - a limo that was admittedly cleaner than most things that he had ever interacted with. His chance of tuning back had passed - and frankly, he didn’t mind one bit leaving his “home”. A home that was more than happy to see him go.

When he told his old man that he was going to join the Guard, he could tell that the old man was deciding whether to deride him for being useless or to rejoice at having Tarvas out of the house. It was the first time he ever got support from his adopted father, who was old enough to be his grandfather. He dressed in his best clothes - which weren’t much, given that everything in the house was at least 10 years old and either dirty or dusty - and left his life in Slight behind him.

When the limo stopped, he was not accustomed to how limos worked, so he let himself out. He wasn’t comfortable with groups of people - and stayed away from a particular bunch of what appeared to be rich kids.

[i]Pompous lot they are [/i]he thought. One girl in particular looked like she hadn’t held a weapon in her life, let alone used one. She would drop out quickly.

He moved to the sides of his surroundings, wishing to be out of the clustered open space and hoping to move along sometime soon.

Hearing the teachers call the recruits over, he moved to the back of the forming crowd.