Breck took the lead without so much as a glance to check if anyone else wanted the position. She obviously didn’t think Loclen or I had the capability to pick a sufficient spot for us to bicker in. Not that there was much option between one patch of snow covered ground and another.

It was odd being alone with the two of them. Neither had the type of personality that found satisfaction in forcing their presence on someone else and I wasn’t exactly inclined to seek them out either. Sure, Loclen had been worried about my sudden disappearance after that ill-fated blessing practice, but I definitely wasn’t on her good side right now. Breck was more difficult to read, but it wasn’t difficult to guess after her tone a few minutes before that she wasn’t feeling any more kind-hearted towards me.

Which was why it was an extra shock when she abruptly stopped striding through the snow to declare, “I’m going to sneak into the arena. I heard whoever is marked with a red line down their nose can’t refuse a challenge.”

Loclen asked what was on both our minds, incredulous, “Why? And why tell us?”

Breck turned on her heel to face us. Jin thinks we can’t do anything on our own. I’m going to prove her wrong.”

It was the most words I had ever heard her string together. But that didn’t mean I followed her logic. “She’s still going to make us play Hunter’s Quarry again if we don’t start…cozying up to everyone after this.”

Breck didn’t look remotely shaken at facing impossible odds again. “So? I’ll be prepared then. Our abilities are in question now. Our pride.” Then her eyes widened slightly as if some terrible thought had just occurred to her. “Or are you satisfied with taking the loss?”

“Of course not!” The words snapped out before I had a chance to actually think about them. It didn’t take the most observant person in a tribe to understand the implication hidden behind her question. How could I, someone who had made a bigger fool of myself than her, stand to take the loss and insult when she already felt the need to answer the insult she had been dealt?

Loclen cast a critical look over both of us. “Do you even know how to get to the arena? I doubt they’ll let seedlings just wander in and do whatever they want.”

Breck focused on her. “I found a way and as long as I challenge a person with a red mark right away what they’ll allow or won’t allow shouldn’t matter.”

That sounded as flimsy as the plans I had come up with in the illusion forest, but I was also tired of Jin’s exercises of forced teamwork and her looks that sometimes strayed a little too close to her favorite look of disappointment. If I was going to work with anyone it was going to be to spite her, not because she wanted it. I could use Breck’s knowledge and then prove my own abilities on my own terms, whether that was at the arena or after. Besides, this would be a good opportunity to learn more about my cohort’s skills. It never hurt to gain more insight.

My lips curled up into something that was more smirk than smile. “When do you want to go?”

Breck’s normally bland expression broke into an accomplice’s smile. “Tomorrow evening. All of us should be free then.”

Of course. Tomorrow evening was when my blessing training was scheduled, but since it had been indefinitely canceled Jin hadn’t moved up the rest of the sessions. Now everyone enjoyed an evening free of obligations while casting me suspicion looks if I happened to pass by.

Breck turned back to Loclen. “Are you brave enough to come?”

Loclen snorted. “I’m going if she is. She owes me.”

My chin lifted. If she thought she had a spitting chance of beating me in a challenge, she could storms well try. I had more training with weapons than her and we had already proven I was quicker on my feet. And that was beside the fact that I couldn’t suffer another loss. Because if I did, I wouldn’t be able to ignore my sister’s insidious little voice in the back of my head for much longer.

“Maybe you should think about what happens to those who don’t make it through the Seedling Palace. Those who don’t become whisper women.”

It had only been two months. Her words didn’t matter. Not yet, anyway. I could still prove myself and show that I learned quickly and well. I could show that I deserved a place here.

I didn’t say any of that though. Instead, I kept my chin raised while giving Loclen a smug look and was rewarded when she flushed with anger. That was a game, in particular, that I would never lose.

- -

We trudged back to Jin when we saw the illusion forest fade away at the end of the three hours. Her face was strained and tired when we reached her, but that did nothing to lessen the authority in her voice. The Sprouts were victorious, despite not having a leader, which wasn’t surprising to anyone but I saw a few more furious and disappointed faces among the seedlings than I expected. It seemed we weren’t going to take the loss laying down, nor did I doubt that the next time we played this particular game the Sprouts would find it a much tougher experience to win.

Dera found me at the back of the group. She gave me a meek but proud smile as she brushed my cloak aside before she reshaped the bone around my wrists back into a single smooth lump. Once that was put away, she pulled out my belt pouches and eating knife, and handed them back to me. I didn’t say anything to her. It wasn’t like I had any intention of reinforcing her knowledge that she was blessed with both unique looks and a strong ability that she would never even need to consider hiding.

For her part, Dera did work up the guts to ask something when she stepped back. “Do you want to join us at the bathing pool when we get back?”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and distaste. Why would I want to spend more time with the people who defeated me? Make it easy for them to try to pry into my life and knowledge?

Then she touched the left side of her head, near the top, looking faintly embarrassed, and I suddenly couldn’t ignore the scratchy, sticky feeling of bird poop congealing in my hair any longer. The reminder was enough to push it from background irritation to a pressing embarrassment that needed to be taken care of right away.

I felt my neck and ears burn as I looked to the side. “Who’s ‘we’?”

“Oh.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Probably Wren and Prevna and I. Sometimes Loclen or Nii and Andhi join us too, but I don’t know if they will tonight.”

I forced myself to look straight at her. “I can go later.”

She gave me another soft, awkward smile. “If you want. But I think that’s going to be harder to get out the longer it sits.” Dera started to turn away before she hesitated and turned back. “I just thought it’d be easier for you join us, since you get along with Prevna so well, rather than chancing joining the others to get that out. You could always go to the other end of the pool.”

I could sit on the other side of the pool. It was probably the best option I had, because I don’t think I could stand to have Chirp’s revenge hardening in my hair for the next handful hours while I waited for everyone else to be done bathing.

“You’re going right away?”

Dera nodded. “Sure.”

I shifted, trying to hide my discomfort and the part of me shrieking that this wasn’t a good idea. “I might be there.”

“Okay.” She left me then, a bit more confidence steadying her step.

I held back a sigh and hoped I hadn’t just made another mistake.

- -

Clara brought Idra and me back to the seedling area before disappearing promptly back into the shadow. Prevna ambushed me as soon as I re-emerged from my dome, change of clothes in hand.

“I thought Dera got the names mixed up when she said you would be joining us.” She leaning back against the dome, right next to the entrance, as if it was hers rather than the yellow one two over.

I didn’t pause as I continued forward. “I don’t need an escort.”

She shrugged as she fell into step beside me and I saw she already had her own change of clothes in hand. “What made you give in? Dera’s big brown eyes or the chance to be close to Wren?”

“Maybe I wanted to talk to you.”

She scoffed. “As if. You wish I wasn’t within talking distance.”

I gave her a dry look.

Prevna winked. “Fortunately for you, I don’t care so you’ll never forget what a conversation is like.”

“I could do without.”

She rolled her eyes. “So, which was it?”

“Neither. Besides, do you really think I’d want to talk to Wren after she captured me and her bird did this?” I gestured to the mess in my hair.

“You deserved it.” Prevna looked thoughtful. “Dera, then? I didn’t think she’d be your type.”

I let out a long, irritated breath through my nose. “She’s not.” I interrupted her as she opened her mouth to say something else to get under my skin, “Why can’t I just want to wash my hair?”

Prevna’s mouth twisted up into a sly smile. “You tell me. We both know you would have waited if that’s all you wanted.”

My jaw clenched. “Shut up.”

She shrugged one shoulder, entirely unrepentant about her little jibes. “What? You gave it to me.”

I didn’t give her the satisfaction of protesting further. She’d just twist whatever I said to her own ends. I really did just want to wash my hair. And learn about what happened during the rest of the game. My curiosity wasn’t content to leave it as a void of knowledge, especially since what I learned could be helpful for the next time we played Hunter’s Quarry. I didn’t want to be such easy prey next time.

We reached the bathing pool first. I tried to sit on my own on the far side of the pool after I got in, but Prevna followed, making comments the whole way. So, I did my best to ignore her as I tried to pick and soak the bird poop out my hair. The water was cool and refreshing, and felt soothing on the various scratches and bruises I had acquired during my short time in the game. Prevna busied herself with one of the cakes of soap that rested in little depressions around the pool before she dunked her head under the water. I stole the soap and when she came up for air she gave me a look that promised mischievous repercussions before going to retrieve the next closest bar of soap. I regretted my petty, convenient revenge in that moment.

Wren, Chirp, and Dera arrived a few moments later with Loclen, Nii, and Andhi shortly on their heels. Prevna called them all over to our end of the pool and I lost my chance to easily break away from the crowd, just like that. She also stared me down with a smirk on her lips as she lathered her new soap between her hands and they came over.

I glared back at her, but there was little I could do other than leave—and my hair wasn’t clean yet. So, I stayed put and took solace in the fact that I now knew what the latter three’s bless marks looked like. Loclen’s was made up of three concentric dashed circles, each line broken up into different lengths. The mark rested on the inside of her left forearm, just below the elbow. The back of Nii’s right calf looked like the silhouette of a stand of grass while Andhi had five interlocking diamonds strung across her lower ribs, just under her chest.

They were awkward with my unexpected presence, but Dera and Prevna made a valiant effort to keep the stilted conversation going as they all stole glances my way. Wren looked like she was once again in between two emotions and unable to decide which to settle on. The contest was between her normal easy-going nature and frustrated displeasure this time. Andhi looked to be in a similar position, but she had never been truly comfortable with me ever since our introduction. Telling someone to get touched by a shamble man and then ignoring them or catching another’s favorite bird in a cloak tended to have long term adverse effects. Not that that wasn’t what I wanted; it meant they kept their distance and I got to keep my solitude. Better for everyone involved. Loclen wasn’t much better than them, except that she had clearly settled on an attitude and wasn’t hesitant to express her annoyance with me. She did hold her tongue about our promised excursion the next night, however, which was a pleasant surprise. Nii had the interesting position of not having any real emotions towards me one way or another, so she dealt with the tension my presence caused by mostly ignoring me. I was silently grateful for the treatment and hoped the rest would follow her lead.

The tension did ease, slightly, as the conversation turned toward what happened during Hunter’s Quarry after I left the forest. Loclen was put out about missing it, but she had enough dignity and self-restraint not to mention something to the effect every other sentence. She and I learned that it had turned into a battle for tokens. Wren’s group and Nii and Idra had managed to beat back the fire swarm Sprout, but not capture her, before they fell to fighting amongst themselves. Wren, Ulo, and Dera were forced to retreat after they couldn’t break through Idra’s invisible shield. They met up with Ento and Prevna next, and tried to use their combined fire power in a desperate measure to captured a Sprout once they realized Breck and I were nowhere to be found. That went poorly as the Sprout kept using the shadows to slip away before retaliating. As far as they could tell, she didn’t even use her blessing. Then they tried to find tokens, but between most of them already being snatched up and wasting too much time on other fruitless plans of action they weren’t able to gather nearly enough.

Team Blue didn’t fare much better. Based on Loclen and Andhi’s account they broke apart nearly immediately. Apparently, Loclen and Nii didn’t appreciate Juniper trying to hold them in an iron fist when they thought she had nothing to back up her authority. Loclen went off to scout on her own, Nii and Idra fell into an argument that went sour quick, and Andhi stood to the side, unable to decide what she should do. After Loclen didn’t return, Juniper finally got enough leverage to split the remaining four into scouting and token hunting pairs. I don’t know why she kept Nii and Idra together, other than the fact that their blessings worked well together, but both groups were able find a decent amount of tokens each. They were going to hunt Sprouts after the initial token search, but Juniper and Andhi were attacked by a pair of Sprouts and overwhelmed. The Sprouts took their tokens and kept them hostage for the reminder of the game, despite not gaining any points from it, and Idra and Nii couldn’t break them free. Apparently, Nii’s blessing didn’t help her hit what she couldn’t see and one of the Sprouts could create a dark, swirling mist. Nor could Idra keep her shield up indefinitely. Nii tried to get her to reveal how long she could hold it for and how quickly she could use her blessing again, but the other girl refused to say. In the time they had remaining, they also couldn’t scavenge enough tokens up to win.

So, in the end, the Sprouts won this round without a leader because they didn’t need one. They had enough experience to know to get the tokens early and enough power that the seedlings couldn’t make up the point difference once Breck and I were out of the game.

After we got done bathing and changed into fresh clothes, Chirp wouldn’t leave me alone. I was hesitant to let him near me after having just spent an excessive amount of time cleaning my hair, but he ignored my head in favor of flitting around me with insistent chirps before periodically holding his beak wide open. I tried to ignore him, but the way he went on, it was nearly impossible.

Wren came up next to me with a rueful smile, but something about the way she held her head and straightened her back—and the fact that her amusement didn’t quite reach her eyes—told me she still hadn’t forgiven me. “Told you so.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t even have anything to give him.”

Her smile became a bit more genuine. “I have some sleet beetles. I can show you.”

Chirp let out an excited twitter and landed on her shoulder, clearly expectant that we leave right that moment. I finished braiding my hair back into place and tied off the end as I worked through my options. Decline, and likely have to deal with an angry, manic bird for the rest of the evening, or accept, and face the inane flutters in my stomach while calming Chirp.

I couldn’t quite meet her gaze. “Sure.”

She nodded in return, and Prevna winked at me again when she saw us leaving the bathing area together. I snapped a glare back at her.

Logically, I knew things were safer between me and Wren if she had a reason to dislike me. I could keep my barriers up and neither of us could get truly hurt. Distance was better for everyone. Logically, I knew that. But the guilt that had been sliding around in my gut ever since I wrapped Chirp up in my cloak was roiling now, and the bird kept giving me pointed looks as he cuddled up to Wren and we walked back toward the housing area.

I broke when we made it the bridge just before we got back. Neck and ears burning, I glared at a patch of needles off to the side. “I won’t capture Chirp again.”

Wren jerked to a stop, surprise evident on her face from what I could see out of the corner of my eye. “With a cloak or otherwise?”

“With a cloak or otherwise,” I grumbled.

She grinned. “Good.”

We didn’t say anything else until she showed me a jar full of dried gray and black beetles among her things. I recognized them as the beetles that burrowed in the ground and became the most active during the weeks after the Thaw, when the cold season ended and we had the warmest weather of the year.

Wren held the jar out to me. “Chirp’s favorite.”

To emphasize her point, Chirp fluttered down to the ground in front of where I knelt and opened his beak as wide as a begging baby bird. Feeling awkward and a bit annoyed, I picked up one of the sleet beetles and tossed it his way instead of dropping it down his gullet. He snatched it out of the air and swallowed before hopping in place to face Wren and repeating the act.

She murmured, “Little glutton,” and gave him another beetle.

Then I rose to leave and she smiled up at me, “See you at practice.”

Not sure how to handle the sudden genuine and inexplicable hint of warmth in her voice I just nodded in response and fled. Keeping my distance really was a much better idea.