[center][h1]Keltra Vanguard Garrison[/h1][/center]
[hr]
	Outside the main keep of Keltra but still behind the exterior walls, the ten recusant soldiers that made up the Keltra Vanguard Garrison were scattered. Two sat off to the corner, eyes closed and a gentle hum on their throats. Their masks were removed, revealing metal scarred faces. With hands outstretched towards each other, a pool of recusar smoke hazed above them, metal fragments moving in the swirls like liquid. One was Core-Garren, a fit young man trained in wisp-welding, the other was Core-Ophi, his twin and fellow welder. Though they were first generation recusants, their homuran mold ended up being identical except for gender, making them one of the first recusant twins. 

	In front of them, armed and masked, was Core-Naulty, his weapon drawn. Across the way from Naulty were most of the others being led by Cosi-Dern. They were marking areas of grass with notches made into the ground by sword. Apostate was nowhere to be seen, as well as Core-Xan and Core-Soth, the three allegedly out for a walk. 

	“We can use stone to lay the foundation,” Dern was saying to Core-Veldin. The woman’s mask hung off of her hip as she listened, showcasing that she was missing her left eye to a rash of blackmetal, her bottom lip cleaved with a strip of the same material. He pointed to the outer wall of Keltra, it’s interior face right next to them. “We’ll use the existing wall as a backing to save resources.” 

	“Understood,” Veldin answered, a slight lisp in her serious tone. Dern pinched the bottom of his mask and thought for a moment.

	“Can you measure the paces along the far wall? Maybe we could save even more resources by making the barracks long and curving along with the wall.” 

	“Of course.” Veldin nodded before spinning on her heel. With purpose she walked off from Dern and the others, her working eye settled on the far side, a good fifty feet away from everyone else. A small pool of sky lilies sat at her destination, fluttering to life whenever a small breeze sank into the area. Instinctively, and mirroring a common trait of Apostate, she rested her hand on the hilt of her blade as she walked. 

	Scuffing to a stop, Veldin pushed the lilies with her boot. She cleared her throat and gave the pile of flowers a serious look. Her working eye rolled to the side and she glanced over her shoulder — her comrades were deep in their own work, too busy to be looking her way. Looking back at the small pile of pink petals, Veldin quickly kicked them up into a plume, smiling at the display. 

	The petals caught the breeze and started to flutter away, taking Veldin’s short enjoyment along with it. With the area mostly clear of the funny little flowers, Veldin put her hand on the cold wall of Keltra and set her boots along its side. Clicking her front front heel to her back foot toe she started to pace out the steps of the wall. 

	“Core-Veldin!” Dern’s voice called out.

	“Yes?”

	“We misewell get a full measurement, mark were you started and head the other way until you loop back to us.”

	Veldin looked down at her feet, only four paces in. The prospect of walking the entire outer wall suddenly felt daunting, but she looked up with resolve — not that Dern was looking at her. “Very well.” 

	The soldier turned around and started pacing in the opposite direction, one hand brushing the wall as she walked.

	“One…”

	“Two…”

	….

	“One-hundred and Seventy.” 

	It was monotone at the start and now without the view of her comrades, it was even more monotone. The interior grass was all the same, and the sky lilies were too far and inbetween to provide too much entertainment. Verdin almost felt like she had been walking in place this entire time, and if the keep itself hadn’t been cube but rather circular, she figured there would have been little to tell her otherwise. That is, with the exception of the miniature encampment that was slowly coming to view further up ahead consisting of a tiny canopy nestled up against the wall and a set of ropes heading up onto the ledges above.

	“... Two-hundred and Ninety Three.” She muttered as she finally reached the canopy, held up by flimsy wooden sticks and made up of several large red leaves. Below it laid a small figure curled into an even smaller ball. It was a young, olive-skinned girl who wore a spotless white and gold dress, with a long furry cat tail and a pair of twitchy feline-like ears on top of her head. She slept peacefully, the only sound coming from her being that of her slow breathing and the occasional murmur, squeak or whimper.

	“Oh,” Verdin said, curious. She recognized the little girl from description. Thoughtfully, she was about to step around the canopy but then froze — that would ruin her pace count. She needed to walk under the structure. “Shit.”

	She marked the ground where she stood with a quick notch of her sword. “Two-hundred and Ninety Three.” She named the mark before stepping away from it and putting her weapon away. Gulping, she crouched next to the sleeping girl.

 “Erm. Lorelei.” Her lisp made the name come out peculiar, almost as ‘low-ah-lay.’ She tried saying it slower. “Lorelei.”

“Hhrmmm…” Lorelei groaned softly, rolling onto her other side with a yawn and a quick wipe at the corner of her mouth. She shivered a little and muttered, her left eyebrow twitching a couple times. “... Gray...”

“Lorelei.” Verdin hesitated a moment before prodding the girl with her bandaged finger, making her jump a little before opening her eyes. “Excuse me.” 

Lorelei yawned again and rubbed at her eyes. Her hair was disheveled, her ears pointed in completely different directions and drool stained one of her grass-marked cheeks. Groggily, she sat up and squinted her eyes at the mask dangling off of Verdin’s hip.

“I need to step through here,” Verdin said. “I’ll only be a few seconds, then you can go back to napping, deal?”

The girl’s squinty eyes darted back and forth several times between the mask and Verdin’s face. “Y… You’re not P-Primes?”

“No, I’m Core-Verdin, a recusant soldier.” Verdin stabbed a thumb into her chest, punctuating her introduction.

“Mm…” Lorelei nodded after a moment and stepped out from under her canopy. “What’re you d-doing?”

“Measuring the wall.” Verdin answered as she swapped places with Lorelei, hunching under the canopy. She realigned her feet with her mark from earlier and started again. She got seven paces through the canopy before she was out on the other side. Kicking the ground with her boot, she marked the 200 pace mark and turned to Lorelei. “Thank you.”

“Would you like some assistance then?” Pride asked, as she announced her presence from behind Verdin, where she had stood silent and still until speaking.

Verdin flinched, her fingers clenching and unclenching. Stiff, the soldier turned to Pride. She blinked her working eye. “Do you already have a circumference measured out?”

“I have walked across the entirety of Keltra. I’d be happy to share its measurement, if you’d like.” Pride answered, offering the soldier a small bow - before looking past her and at Lorelei with a content smile.

	“That would be great,” Verdin answered. Folding her arms behind her back she awaited the measurements. “I assume this is at your pace?”

Pride tilted her head as she considered the question, even resting her chin on one hand while she hummed. “Hmm… I’ve counted my steps as I walked, which seem equal to your own divided by two and a half, so through simple mathematics we can ascertain how many of your paces I’ve walked. You’re seeking the perimeter of the keep’s exterior which is twenty one thousand, one hundred and twenty of my steps. If we divide that number by two and a half, we come to eight thousand, four hundred and forty-eight paces.”

	“Are you sure?” Verdin couldn’t help but raise a skeptical brow. “Maybe it would be safer if I just finished my pacing.”

“You’re currently at two percent completion regarding your task then. There are still eight thousand, two hundred and forty-eight paces to go. I also wouldn’t recommend keeping track of the doors; Mother often changes their locations and sizes.” The small champion said, as she walked past Verdin and stood next to Lorelei, who seemed unsure on who to look at.

	Crossing her arms, Verdin stood up perfectly straight. “I’m getting the feeling like this is going to be a pain in the ass. Do the perimeter sizes ever change or just the doors?”

Pride crossed her arms as she pondered again. “Hmm… I’ve never seen the keep itself alter its size, but the outer wall has opened and closed before. I’m afraid the shape of Keltra isn’t something I get to decide. Speaking of which, did Apostate bring you all this?”

Pride then turned to Lorelei, and gestured with a hint of bemusement to the small encampment that had been setup. “Oh!” Lorelei perked up, “No. I made it all. Dead sticks, l-leaves, y’know!” She said with a sheepish smile. 

“One of life’s greatest mysteries is how you always keep finding so many things to build here. I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me come up with ideas on what to build in the future. I’m no architect, but it’s my intention that Keltra would have a great many sights and wonders to behold.” Pride proceeded to ask, with a meek mixture of modesty and excitement, and then holding out her hand towards Lorelei, which Lorelei grabbed with a grin of her own.

	“Cosi-Dern and the others are mapping out the fore area for barracks, armory and welding locations,” Core-Verdin stated with a puff of smoke. “Well, I suppose it’s only the fore area for now… We’ll have to ask Homura for her plans, so we can build stable structures.” A thought occurred to Verdin.

“But while I have you both here, I ask that you stay away from any welding.”

Pride glanced at Verdin with a raised brow. “When you say welding, what exactly do you mean?”

“Making metal hot and pushing it together, p-probably.” Lorelei explained, her grip on Pride’s hand loosening a little as she started to clean her face and fix her hair.

	Verdin nodded her head. “The manipulation of metals, correct.”

“So be it. Are you still planning to continue your task now?” Pride inquired, turning her attention primarily upon Verdin to avoid chuckling at the sight of Lorelei.

	“Not with the knowledge that the fortress can change at whim, I’ll have to report the findings to Cosi-Dern before deciding our next steps.” Verdin paused, hesitating with a finger poised. “I just really want to go over this one more time, just to make sure both of you understand for posterity. Please do not approach any welders or be present at any welding stations. It’s not a simple ‘so be it’ situation, your presence around the recusar smoke could chance infection. This is your formal notice.”

“C-Can I watch if I wear my suit? It filters the air.” Lorelei asked hopefully.

“I can’t guarantee your safety, but that might be enough,” Verdin answered honestly. “Just note that you’re watching at your own risk.” The soldier tapped her left eye, finger panging against the blackmetal that grew over the mutilated area. “You could lose an eye.”

“Eeeh!” Lorelei took a step back while scrunching up her face, “T-That’s some really intense welding!”

“Indeed it is.” Verdin looked at Pride. “Do you also understand?”

“I’m well aware of the dangers you’ve brought here. You needn’t concern yourself with me, Core-Verdin.” The small champion answered, before she simply sighed, and looked back at Lorelei and casually shrugged.

	Verdin frowned and stepped back into Pride’s line of sight. “Not to be stubborn, but we are supposed to be working together. I just need confirmation that you understand what I’m telling you.”

	The smaller girl nodded and stole a sideways glance at Pride. “S-She does! She’s just being…” Lorelei chuckled, “Y’know.”

	It was Verdin’s turn to let loose a long sigh. Tucking a frown into her cheek, she nodded. “I know…” 

Pride shook her head with frustration in response. “Hmph, how amusing. As I’ve said, I understand. And, now my sister advocates such, so will you continue to pester me with the same question until Mother or Uncle comes and tells you the same?”

	“You’re just a very mean person, aren’t you?” The words were more of a statement than a question. Verdin’s frown grew and she turned away from the Champion. “Well, either way it was nice meeting you, Lorelei. I’m sorry for disturbing your nap.” She started to walk away, and held up a hand.

	“If either of you have any questions, feel free to ask any one of us.” There was a pause. “We are at least willing to work with others.” 

“I remember when they were all just nice, quiet, and sleeping. They also weren’t so rude back then.” Pride remarked, looking past Verdin to the corner where hidden on the other side soldiers gathered and did their work, marking various locations and spewing forth their smoke. She was most uncertain how she felt about their presence.

“You’re being mean, Pride. Keltra is supposed to be a S-Sanctuary, isn’t it? How can it be a Sanctuary if tall people aren’t allowed in?” She asked with a pout.

“They didn’t come here seeking shelter… Lorelei. Hmm… you’re right, I’m being mean. I can’t help it, these fools have come here acting like this is their home when everything they do seems to bring Keltra closer and closer to destruction. I’d rather they leave, but I’m not so mean as to just banish them all of a sudden.” Pride answered, eyes shifting back and forth with thoughts as she explained herself before she became overwhelmed by both pondering too much and fatigue.  

Lorelei huffed and shrugged, flicking her tail violently a couple times. “Wanna go p-plan out the things we want to add to Keltra?”

“I think I’d like that very much.” Pride replied with a small smile.

[hider=Summary]
The soldiers are building welding and barrack stations. We meet Core-Verdin more intimately and find out that Pride is still a stuck up ho about everything. Lorelei backs Verdin up like a homie and the post ends with Pride and Lorelei talking about interior design.

Oh also high levels of recusar smoke (such as during welding) is contagious.

[/hider]
[hider=Spirit]Pride gains 2 Spirit. (+1 minimum, +1 collab)[/hider]