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"Hey, Tetsu."
That was Mina's voice. Why was Mina in his tent? Tetsutetsu squinted his eyes open, and groaned at the sight of his horned friend crouched by his bedside, Fumikage and Mei visible behind her. "No." he grunted, and rolled over to face the wall of his tent.
"I haven't even said anything yet!" Mina protested.
"Too early." he grumbled into his pillow, but he could already tell there was no going back to sleep now.
"No it's not." Mei scoffed. "Mashirao is already up and training."
"Mashirao isn't human." Tetsutetsu huffed, but pushed himself vaguely upright anyways. "What do you guys want?"
"We're going diving at the cliffs with the Toko-bros." Mina beamed. "Wanna come?"
"The cliffs known as Death's Door?" Tetsutetsu frowned.
"The very same." Fumikage nodded, the sharp tip of his curved beak glinting even in the low morning light.
“You know only inducted warriors are allowed to go there.”
“Amajiki and Togata said it’s the best place to swim, though!” Mina protested.
“C’mon, Tetsu, we’re moving camp tomorrow; when’s the next time we’re gonna have a chance to go swimming?” Mei wheedled.
“It wouldn’t be half as fun without you.” Fumikage insisted, and Tetsutetsu sighed.
“Fine, but if we get caught I’m blaming you guys.”
“Yes!” Mina jumped, punching one hand in the air. Oh, right, of course she was excited. She and her mom were osedax shifters, they were most comfortable in the water. When Tetsutetsu followed his friends outside, he found Fuan waiting in his giant bird form. Fumikage vaulted up onto his brother’s back with ease, and the rest of them clambered up slightly less gracefully.
“Everyone on?” Fumikage asked, and Tetsutetsu nodded along with the girls. Fuan spread his wings, and with a leap and several mighty flaps they were rising up from the camp. Tetsutetsu clung to the inky black feathers under him, while Mina gripped Fumikage’s arm so as not to damage his brother’s plumage with any accidentally generated acid.
“You’re the best, Fuan!” Mei laughed, not even holding on, just resting one hand on Fuan’s feathered back and holding the other out to the side. “This is so much fun!”
The great bird cawed, and Fumikage laughed. “He agrees with you.” the humanoid Tokoyami twin translated.
The light of the rising sun on their left soon illuminated a shimmering stretch of water, the great oasis at the base of the cliffs known as Death’s Door which fed a river that cut the desert in two. “There it is!” Mei squealed, leaning over to grab Mina by the shoulders. Tetsutetsu looked at how far away the ground was, and removed his hands from Fuan’s feathers to start weaving his strongest wards against blunt impact damage.
“Hold still.” he said, and waited until Mei looked over her shoulder and nodded before leaning forward and binding the wards to her skin. She grimaced as shimmering runes appeared across her skin, inscriptions which he knew from experience stung like absolute hell, and Tetsutetsu started weaving them again for Mina, then for himself. On his own skin the protective magic gleamed like fine steel, and he debated applying the wards to Fumikage for a minute before shaking his head. The Tokoyamis knew how to avoid taking damage when falling from a great height; it was one of the first skills they’d mastered, in training to be warriors.
“Last one in’s a rotten egg!” Mina shouted, and Tetsutetsu let out a choked noise as she leapt to her feet and backflipped off of Fuan.
“No fair!” Mei shrieked, flinging herself off as well, and Tetsutetsu buried his face in his hands with a groan. His friends were going to be the death of him, one of these days.
“Coming?” Fumikage asked, crinkled eyes the only hint of his grin.
“We’re not supposed to be here without being full-fledged warriors, you know.” he pointed out.
“You’re getting your paint next week, you basically count.” Fumikage waved his hand dismissively. “And Mina’s a scout, so double for her.” he got to his feet, balancing with an apparent ease which Tetsutetsu only knew came from years of practice because he’d been there for most of them. “Now are you gonna be a rotten egg or what?”
“You wish.” Tetsutetsu laughed, and threw himself sideways. Below him the oasis shimmered in the morning light, and he could see the smudges of settlements on the far shore. Settlements which were, to his knowledge, at least half the reason they weren’t supposed to be here unsupervised. As long as they didn’t venture too far from the cliffs, though, they should be fine. Hopefully. Otherwise, there was no way in hell he’d be allowed to become a warrior on his birthday.