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Casually taking the train back home gives Seraï a bit of a culture shock. The amount of time it took originally to save up the money in order for a single one-way ticket to Mesa City was a long process. Thankfully she had the help of some of the other Repine townsfolk to expedite her normal savings, but even then it took months of extra work around town. Now being a student at Sabo High, she gets a discounted train pass, and her friends are more than happy to help chip in for a group ticket. It’s a whole new world for her, one that she’s still very much getting accustomed to. Thankfully she made fast friends with some of the other first years; Zale, Valere, Garl, and her roommate Teaks.
They all welcomed her with open arms and warm smiles and, while she wouldn’t show it outright, she felt over the moon. She wasn’t expecting really any sort of deep connections with the other students, maybe a passing acquaintance or two, but with these four it finally feels like she’s found a place where she belongs. And all that’s without beginning to go into her feelings about Garl; strong-hearted, endlessly kind, and always with a smile on his face, Seraï’s heart jumped at their first conversation and still flutters every time they are together.
Her heart has been racing the entire ride back to Repine, she just had to be seated next to him, of all of her friends. Of course she doesn’t show it, her demeanor as cool and collected as ever, but on the inside she is screaming with joy and anxiety. Seraï barely focuses on the conversations held on the train and time seems to both slow to a crawl and race towards the finish line as finally, the train comes to its stop at the Repine Rail Company station.
The environment is vastly different from the coastal and etesian climate of Mesa City. Repine lies in a section of desert known as the Cerulean Expanse, named so for the vast quantity of cobalt in the mountains and rock giving the landscape a very distinct and beautiful blue hue. As Seraï and her friends step off the train an immediate bolt of awe and wonder shoots through the group as they experience the gorgeous azure hills. Seraï meanwhile feels a strange sense of comfort. She didn’t think she would be back so soon, she didn’t even send a notice ahead of time to any of her old associates.
The trip was a spur of the moment decision initially beginning with Teaks’s fascination in the town being piqued after Seraï finally mentioned where she had grown up. She long avoided the topic whenever it was brought up, simply stating that she “came from a small, nothing town to the east”. Teaks, ever the one for wanderlust and seeing new horizons, exclaimed with wild excitement that the group should take a day trip out to see Seraï’s hometown, stating that it would be both educational and a great way to connect further with their new friend. The others agreed, the plan was made, and Seraï was too caught off guard to insist otherwise.
Aside from the view, the other initial feeling that hit the kids was the heat. The Cerulean Expanse is a very arid environment. Zale was the first to pipe up,
“Wow! This place feels great!”
Valere responded, “Ugh, yeah, hot and dry, just like an oven . How can you enjoy this, Zale?”
Teaks was the next to follow off the train and immediately her eyes doubled in size at the much older station they found themselves in. She immediately ran up to the clerk at the counter and began firing off questions with her notebook and pencil primed and ready,
“Hi there! How old is this station? Was it built before, after, or alongside the town? What was the major industry here? Did the rail company develop the town or did it develop from the town? Who first founded-”
She is cut off by Garl quickly coming over and apologizing to the very stunned and taken aback clerk before leading Teaks to the rest of the group saying,
“Teaks we’ve got all day here! You should probably pace things out or you’ll run out of questions to ask… well, you probably wouldn’t but first let’s get some food so you’ve got the energy to go all day!”
Seraï is the last to set foot off the train. Home. The exact same as the day she left. The clerk, after collecting themself from the brief but nonetheless jarring encounter, looks at her with a surprised expression.
“Seraï! Well well well, I didn’t think we’d be seeing you back here for quite some time!”
Seraï looks a little embarrassed.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so either. My friends really wanted to check out my home though and, well, I couldn’t really say no,” she said motioning over to the group of students. The clerk smiles and gives a nod,
“I see I see, well welcome back dear. I’m sure everyone else will be excited to see you.” She waved goodbye to the clerk and joined back up with her friends. The clerk looks after them and with the same smile on their face, lets out a sigh of admiration and relief.
Leaving the station and coming into the town proper, the group is amazed and somewhat taken aback at just how old-timey everything is. It’s as if they stepped through a portal in time and traveled back to the old frontier days of the country. The buildings are all made of wood or adobe, the roads are simple dirt paths, and there are animals all around: horses, cattle, pigs, chickens, cats and dogs; all sorts of livestock and pets behind fenced in pens or roaming about with their owners.
Teaks is scribbling with the fury of a thousand suns in her notebook taking in anything and everything about the town. Valere and Zale are still busy chatting about the weather and poking fun at each other's reaction to it. Garl immediately identifies the nearest place to eat and begins leading the group there, a medium sized building named Repine Hotel. All the while passersby give smiles and waves to the newcomers, and those that recognize Seraï personally even give a passing “Welcome back!”.
As they enter the restaurant and are seated by the host, Valere looks at Seraï with a bit of wonder and says,
“Seraï I’m surprised at how many people know you here. Seems like every other person we pass by wants to come say hi!”
Zale jumps in, “Yeah are you like, famous or something? Were your parents some-”
Garl gives Zale an elbow to the arm. “Zale.” Garl looks at him sternly. Zale gives a confused look but then shock and remorse washes over his face,
“Oh shoot, right, I’m sorry Seraï, I forgot.”
Seraï looks at Zale, “It’s ok. We haven’t been friends for too long and I’ve only mentioned it once. Go ahead and treat me to a milkshake and I’ll call us square.”
The troupe begins to laugh, the tension in the air cut cleanly by Seraï’s sharp response.
Teaks jumps into the conversation,
“So Seraï, what are some places of interest or note around here? We’re in your backyard afterall!”
Seraï thinks about it for a moment, her eyes gazing up towards the wooden ceiling,
“Hmmm, well there’s here, this place has been around pretty much forever. There’s the main mine entrance just outside of town, though nobody but the miners are allowed further than the first couple of meters. The Morgan’s General Shop always has some interesting things for sale. If something catches your guys’ eye feel free to check it out, everyone here is pretty friendly to travelers, as long as you play nice.”
Valere looks over to Teaks, “Ooh the mine sounds cool! You wanna come with me, Teaks? I’m gonna check that out first.”
Without looking up from her notebook Teaks responds, “Oh absolutely! Hopefully we can ask a guide there about the history too! This place is so rich and vibrant!”
Zale chimes in, “I think I’m gonna just wander around for a bit, take in the weather while I can. I saw some cows on our way in too! I wanna see if I can pet them.”
A bright-eyed look appears on Garl’s face as he turns towards Seraï,
“Let’s go to that general store! I wonder if they’ve got some local ingredients I can use for some recipe ideas. Whattya say, Seraï?”
Another flutter; Seraï is once again caught off-guard,
“Oh um, yeah, uh, sure! That uh, that sounds good. To me.” Oh good job, you just completely flubbed that in front of Garl! What if he thinks you’re weird now? What if he always thought you were weird?? What if he’s just being nice by asking you specifically to the Morgan’s??? Oh god he thinks you’re just some pitiful, lost kitten who can’t stand being alone so he’s offering to go with you instead of by himself so you have some reason to be around him instead of just lingering like some freaky loner who-
“You ready, Seraï?” Garl beams with a smile as warm and comforting as a campfire in the dead of winter.
Another flutter, “Y-yeah. Let’s go.”
Valere and Teaks begin making their way towards the cobalt mine while Zale circles back around to the cattle pen by the train station. Garl and Seraï head towards Morgan’s General Shop. Seraï’s eyes can’t decide whether they want to focus on Garl or the ground before her steps. She keeps close to him as they walk, their hands just a hair’s breadth from one another. Not long after they leave the Repine Hotel, the two are stopped by a group of kids roughly all ten summers of age.
“Seraï! Hey Seraï! Hiiii! It’s us!!” The kids all rush towards the pair. These kids were all from the same orphanage Seraï grew up in before she met her foster parents. A welcoming surprised look overtakes her racing anxious thoughts.
“Oh! Hey everyone! How’ve you all been?” She asks the children.
“Seraï, you haven’t been gone that long! You know we’ve been good!” The gaggle of youngsters start to laugh and smile brightly. One of them points up at Garl and says,
“Whoaa, you’re big. Seraï, who’s the big guy!”
Garl gives a chuckle and smiles back, “I’m Seraï’s friend from school, my name’s Garl. It’s nice to meet you all!” Garl gives a little wave to the group.
The kids exchange brief, knowing looks and smirks before encircling Garl like a pack of coyotes.
“Ok Mr. Big Guy! We got some questions for ya!,” one of the more rowdy of the bunch proclaims. “First off! What’s Seraï’s favorite color?”
Garl responds with a slightly worried expression on his face, “Uhh, green?”
The young one nods with their eyes closed. “Good good, but that’s an easy one! Next: what’s her favorite thing to do!”
Garl looks at Seraï, his eyes asking for assistance but to no avail; she currently has her back turned to him, occupied with a young girl of the group. The girl looks past Seraï and gives a devilish grin to Garl.
“ Am I being interrogated??” , Garl thinks to himself. He looks back to the de facto leader of the gang and says,
“Uhh, she uh… she likes to tinker with… stuff?”
A bead of sweat rolls down the side of his face, this test is one of the most stressful he’s had to take, and from a bunch of elementary kids no less!
“Hmmm, alright, so far so good. Last one big guy! And this one’s important! What is Seraï’s favorite food?” The stress and worry drops from his face and a lightbulb turns on in his head,
“Oh! Fish! She loves fish! Kinda funny seeing how she grew up here in the desert.” The child gives Garl a very serious, very stern look before finally breaking into a prideful smile,
“Good job big guy, you’ve passed the test. But! I’ve got one last thing to say to you!” They beckon Garl close towards them and whisper something in his ear.
Seraï turns around and sees the kid whispering to Garl who in response gives a resolute nod and a shake of the hand. The kids all say their goodbyes to Seraï and rush off to who-knows-where as the pair continue towards the general store. Seraï, too focused on Garl, fails to notice the nearby townsfolk all smiling and laughing warmly about the two, young students.
The five all meet back up at the end of the day and begin exchanging stories of what they did away from each other alongside reminiscing about the activities they all did together. They board the train home and settle wearily into their seats, the long day finally weighing on their stamina.
“The mine was super cool! We got a demonstration of how the miners in the old days would break the rocks and gather the cobalt ore, I even got to use one of the pickaxes myself!”
Valere gleams with excitement and rapturous vigor. She shows the others the broken off piece of rock containing a deep blue vein of cobalt that she had mined with her own two hands. As soon as they all sit down, Teaks wasted no time in falling asleep, her head resting on Valere’s shoulder. Garl sighs with a smile,
“Shines twice as bright but half as long; I’m kinda surprised she lasted all day with how much she was going.”
Valere looks over at Teaks, somewhat startled by the sudden weight on her shoulder, her face grows a little more flushed. Zale begins to snicker at her and she shoots him a look that could break diamonds.
“So what’d you guys get up to?” Zale asks Garl and Seraï.
Garl responds, “We went to that general store Seraï mentioned at the hotel. They had some really cool stuff but nothing really grabbed my interest enough to buy. The owner was really nice though! Oh yeah! On our way there we were stopped by a buncha kids who knew Seraï. They gave me a run around of twenty questions haha.”
Valere asks back, “What, did they ask you how you lost your eye or something?”
Garl shakes his head, “No, they mostly asked me what I knew about Seraï…” Seraï snaps her gaze at Garl, “...things like what her favorite color is, what her hobbies are, her favorite food, that sorta stuff.”
Zale looks at Garl with confusion, “Huh? Wouldn’t they already know that? Seraï grew up there.”
Garl shrugs and sighs with a smile, “They were probably just makin’ sure that I was a good enough friend for Seraï, y’know?”
Seraï, remembering the last bit of their encounter, pipes up,
“Oh yeah, the one that was asking you all the questions; what did they whisper to you?”
Garl looks over at her, “They said that if I made you cry, they’d have to beat me up. I don’t think I could take all of them on, they’re a tough lookin’ bunch! So I guess I’ll keep doin’ everything I can to make you happy!”
Garl grins ear to ear and continues his conversation with Valere and Zale as Seraï stares longingly at him the whole ride home. With nothing but flutters.