[center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/WbB6nZmm/373e0ca06a44ee67c49939abb2f77c34.png[/img][hr][h2][color=#EDC700]First Meeting[/color][/h2][/center][hr]

[i]Hop.[/i] Just a little higher. [i]Hop.[/i] No, still not enough. [i]Hop.[/i] Almost made it that time! [i]Hop.[/i] Okay come on, this was getting silly. [i]Hop.[/i] There! And the stage was... still empty! Or at least, she was pretty sure it was. Maybe one more just to check? [i]Hop.[/i] Yup, still empty.

[i]Rumble.[/i]

Her stomach was still empty too! Just in case she had somehow managed to forget that unpleasant fact. So empty, in fact, that she was starting to imagine things. Things like the smell of a delicious, honey-glazed slice of oven-roasted ham, or the crunching sound of the crisp outer crust of a loaf of bread so freshly baked it was still warm and steaming... Or a sudden darkness spreading over her as if a cloud had just covered the sun? No, wait, scratch that, that part was real, which meant the other bit was... maybe also real? She hoped it was real. She could [i]really[/i] use a snack to tide over her insatiable appetite, at least until they could get to the mess hall. Assuming she had made the cut, anyway... Which she definitely had. The mere notion that she could be worried about something like that was ridiculous! After all, it wasn't as if she'd literally starve in the streets if they didn't hurry up and announce her acceptance already.

[i]AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH.[/i]

Okay, silent internal screaming and general hysteria probably wasn't productive to her current situation, so it was better to distract herself with something interesting, like the prospect of a mouthwateringly delectable sandwich or whatever tree had suddenly decided to take root behind her. The blonde took a deep breath, and turned around to investigate. Much to her surprise, what she found there was... a broad-shouldered, tan skinned body, with burly arms poking out from underneath an oft-mended tunic that no doubt concealed a chiseled chest.

...Okay. She had to admit, she appreciated the sudden generosity of whatever Star had taken notice of her sorry plight, but unfortunately, that wasn't really the type of snack she'd been hoping for.

Oh, right, now [i]really[/i] wasn't the time to be... uh... admiring the scenery. Right, if she started staring, he'd think she was weird! She was a totally normal [i]boy[/i] right now, not some... [i]weirdo[/i] who stared at muscles. That would have been something a non-manly man who had no muscles would do! Or worse, something a [i]girl[/i] would do while pretending to be a non-manly man who had no muscles! Which she definitely wasn't, by the way! She'd been training really hard for... at least a week! She definitely had some beef on her. Somewhere.

Still, this guy was supposed to be around her age, right? He was huge! Enormous! Monolithic! Gargantuan! He looked like he could have broken her dad in two with his bare hands! What did you even have to eat to get that large?! Was the secret in that sandwich he was carrying? She'd have to try some. For scientific purposes.

Thankfully, Julian's two working braincells were working overtime today, and so this entire deranged tangent sped through her otherwise airy head with astonishing alacrity, leaving her just enough time to direct her gaze up... and up... and up... until she [i]finally[/i] reached the young man's face... which stared impassively back down at her. She managed an awkward grin -- the sort of expression that says "Um, can I help you?" when you're too flabbergasted to speak at all.

...Speaking of... well, [i]speaking,[/i] he had said something, hadn't he? And the more she managed to process what, exactly, he had said, the more she realized that his offer contained within it an assumption that was [i]highly[/i] insulting! She folded her arms with a very authoritative -- or, at least, she thought it was pretty decisive -- "Hmph!" and spread her feet apart into what could charitably be called a "power stance," if only her body were bulky enough that widening her posture made any difference whatsoever.

[color=#EDC700]"D-Don't be ridiculous! Of course I could go to the front [i]aaaaaaany[/i] time I wanted! I just thought it would be better to stay all the way back here, where it's... um... not so crowded. But not because I'm worried I'd get trampled or anything! Because I wouldn't!"[/color]

It was around this time that Julian's third braincell clocked back in, and realized that maybe -- just [i]maybe[/i] -- she hadn't managed to give the most convincing performance. Her smug expression and bold posture seemed to twitch a little, and a certain red hue began to appear around the tips of her ears. She cleared her throat as if to continue, then realized she really had no way to salvage this one. So she cleared it again. And again. Threw in a cough for good measure.

...Y'know, actually, getting trampled didn't sound so bad right--

The ear-piercing keen of a trumpet shattered the world's most awkward silence and delivered Julian from her internal hell. The sound of heavy boots echoed upon the wooden planks of the stage, and four imposing figures clad respectively in red, white, black, and gold emerged before the crowd, taking their seats upon four raised benches atop the dais.

The Knight-Commanders were present. The admissions ceremony had begun.