Nya stood so close to Seril that she could feel his breath on her face. It smelled like a mix of cinnamon and cigarettes. It was actually quite soothing to her, like it was connected to a comforting memory she had never had. She could feel his emotions wave over her. He was agitated, anxious and slightly confused. What she didn’t feel, however, was fear. The entire group was headed out to face an anomalous with little to no training - something they knew nothing about and had no way to prepare for - and the Till boy was excited. This caught her off guard even more than his accusation did. She didn’t look him in the face when she answered. “What? Nothing. There’s nothing wrong with me.” She pushed past him. “But there will be if we don’t get to the roof in time.” She knew he was questioning her sudden outburst but this was neither the time nor the place to have that conversation. She did, however, want to have that conversation eventually. She turned back to him. “We have five minutes to get there and we still need to stop at the armory.” She stood in the doorway and paused, admiring him from afar. She hadn’t realized how much she was bonded him until now; now that they were headed out to the real danger. She had been dispersed into a separate group from him and didn’t want their last words to be tense. She flipped her hood up. “Hey, Seril?” she said. “Don’t die ok?”

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Up on the roof, Nya looked around at all the other recruits who had made it so far. There was a huge range of emotions. Everything from Seril's excitement, and Alda's anxiety to Estelle's fear was present. And Nya could feel it all. She shouldn't have tried reading Seril. Now she could feel everyone else more intensely. She moved slightly outside of the group, trying to get a breath. There was no way she was going to be able to keep focused if she couldn't get everyone under control. She had never tried to calm an entire group before. She focused on the faces of each of her peers. [i]Here goes nothing[/i], she thought.

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