((I guess I'll go ahead and do the skip-ahead. :P))

After spending a little more time practicing their skills on the dummies and receiving a few tips from more experienced soldiers, dinner soon rolled around, prompting a halt on all training activity for the day as the people gathered for meal together. The food itself as delicious, consisting of fish, greens, and some fruit, which defied the common belief that all military meals were rather inedible. The atmosphere of the dinner was altogether jovial, as the people who had volunteered to support their home enjoyed their fellowship with one another, heartily telling jokes and sharing details about their lives with their comrades. It was... pleasant, to say the least. In the big city where Runa had grown up, there wasn't anything like that at all. Your friends were just as liable to stab you in the back as a complete stranger.

Before too long, the wonderful meal was finished, but that didn't mean that the people dispersed as Runa had expected. Rather, they stuck around, mingling with one another and carrying on their fellowship. It was interesting that they seemed reluctant to break off from one another, jumping into the next topic of conversation almost immediately after finishing the previous one. But, neither Runa, Sharphorn, or Thorgili had very many ties to the community, so they weren't as involved as the others were. Not to mention the fact that they were supposed to meet with Jorvan to see what patrol he would stick them with. "Hey, Sharphorn," Runa said, tugging on her friends sleeve. "Do you think that we should go see Jorvan now?"