The next morning, Lolo arrived at the mess hall, eager to meet more of her fellow trainees. Scanning the hall, she saw Ulana sitting across from two other girls that could only be her sisters as they were all fairly tall with the same gently wavy auburn hair, large grey eyes, and pointed chins. Lolo collected her breakfast from the buffet-style set up and walked over to the Phoenix Tribe girls. “May I join you?”

“Please!” Ulana said with a grateful smile, scooting slightly to one side to make room for her.

“I met you briefly last night. It’s Ulana, right?”

“That’s right. And I’m remembering that your brothers call you Lolo?”

Lolo nodded. “These must be your sisters?”

“How could you tell?” one of the older girls giggled, and Lolo returned the laughter. “I’m Amidra Zugeer, a fifth year.”

“And I’m Sarnai Zugeer, a third year,” said the second of the two sisters.

“I’m Huo Lohse Lang, though, as Ulana already said, everyone just calls me Lolo.”

Sarnai appraised Lolo with a look somewhere between calculating and curious. “So you are Lingdao’s baby sister?”

“Uh, yeah. I suppose,” Lolo responded, confused by the narrowness of Sarnai’s observation.

“Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“You’re not what I was expecting.”

“Uh, what were you expecting?”

“Well, don’t get me wrong. You’re very pretty, and you look like you are related to Lingdao, but you aren’t very feminine.”

Lolo, who had begun to sip on some juice, narrowly avoided snorting it out of her nose by instead spewing it rather indelicately back into her cup. She came up laughing and coughing up the trace amounts of juice she’d just inhaled. “Feminine, huh?”

Sarnai’s brow became studious. “Mn.”

“You’re not wrong,” Lolo continued through her spluttering. “But with six older brothers, you can hardly blame me for being a bit of a tomboy.”

“‘Makes sense,” Sarnai cautiously agreed at length.

No longer coughing, Lolo dug into the heart of the matter. “So, what is your interest in Lingdao?”

“Sarnai thinks Lingdao is gorgeous,” Ulana said with an eye roll that would put the most animated actress to shame.

“Well he is!” Sarnai protested indignantly.

“I see,” Lolo quickly shoved some bread into her mouth to mask the smirk forming on her face.

“Galod! Over here!” Amidra suddenly shouted across the hall, waving to someone behind Lolo. Ulana’s look of exasperation deepened, and Lolo dropped her gaze to prevent her laughter from breaking free.

“‘Morning,” a deep voice sounded over Lolo’s head. Lolo turned slightly to glimpse the owner of that deep voice, a shorter but well-built fifth year trainee from the Phoenix Tribe with striking features and a small scar acquired during a sparring accident across his left eyebrow that gave him a certain ruggedness. “Who is this?”

“Lolo,” she introduced herself from her seat on the bench. “Your name is Galod?” The young man nodded with a small smile but was unable to respond before...

“Galod, come sit with us,” Amidra practically cooed.

“I already have a seat with some of the guys. Another time, maybe.”

Amidra’s lower lip puckered in a slight pout, but she nodded. As Galod returned to his own table, Amidra sighed heavily. “He’ll come around eventually.”

Lolo side-eyed Ulana who face-palmed without any effort at hiding it, and Lolo failed at stifling a small snort. If Amidra or Sarnai noticed, they didn’t give any indication. Ulana turned to Lolo to whisper in her ear, “Amidra fancies being Mrs. Galod Khad someday, but, while he’s really patient with her, Galod has not expressed even the slightest interest in Amidra.”

Lolo turned to whisper back, “and Sarnai has a similar interest in my brother?”

Ulana nodded with another professional-grade eye roll, making Lolo giggle.

“If Ulana tells you who her crush is, you have to promise to let us in on the secret,” Sarnai interjected.

“You have a secret crush?” Lolo teased Ulana, the amusement in her voice impossible to hide.

Ulana huffed, and Lolo choked back more laughter.

After breakfast, twenty-two trainees gathered in a large training courtyard.

"Where's Durfein?" Ulana asked generally.

Lolo shrugged. "I dunno. Do you think he decided to go back home after all?"

Ulana shook her head. "I saw him talking to your dad this morning. ‘Not sure what about, but he didn't look like he was leaving."

Just then, Captain Jianshu, a short but sturdy-looking man with a prematurely aged face and sharp eyes, called the group to attention. "Today we are going to be working on partner maneuvers. As wolves, we believe in the strength of the pack. A partner to protect your back can be a real asset in a fight, and we have developed martial arts to maximize this asset. Everyone, please find a partner. Wolves, make sure you don't pair up with each other."

The third, fourth, and fifth year students already had well established sparring partnerships. Among the first and second year students, Durfein was still absent, Zhongyan made a break for the Sphinx Tribe girl he’d spent most of the previous evening talking to, and Haowan snagged Ulana. Fortus partnered up with a second year young woman from the Dragon Tribe, and that left Standig and Huo Lohse as a default pair. Lolo was more than happy to have Standig as her partner, but Standig made sure that Lolo knew the feeling was definitely not mutual.

Captain Jianshu hushed everyone and continued his instructions. "Alright, now that you have your partners, I'm going to put Qingchi on the spot." Half expecting this, Qingchi stepped forward. "Qingchi, grab one of your siblings to help you demonstrate 'spinning blades'."

The benefit of having so many siblings close in age was the plethora of people available to practice partner moves with, and Qingchi knew all of his siblings would make good partners. As this move required a lift, Qingchi picked the smallest of the bunch, his sister, and pulled Lolo to the center of the courtyard. Captain Jianshu called in a group of guards to function as opponents for the demonstration. Qingchi and Lolo stood back to back, swords drawn, facing them down.

"Begin."

The soldiers rushed at the siblings and were deflected. Qingchi dropped to a crouching position as Lolo spun in a full circle, slicing her sword through the air to clear some maneuvering space. Once she was back-to-back with Qingchi again, she stepped back with her right leg for Qingchi to grab as he stood back up. Lolo's free left arm hooked over Qingchi's right shoulder as he rose, and he lifted her off the ground. Both of them extended their swords and Qingchi spun in tight circles creating sparks when their swords made contact with something. Without a safe path of attack, their opponents were forced to back up. Qingchi released his sister's leg, and Lolo swung back down to the ground poised to attack.

"Perfect! Thank you!" Captain Jianshu clapped as Qingchi and Huo Lohse returned to their partners. "Alright. So it's pretty simple. The goal with this move is to push the enemy back a little, clearing space to maneuver better and go on the offensive. Now, with your partner, decide who will lift whom, and let's begin."

Standig was the obvious choice to do the lifting as he was easily a head taller and fifty pounds heavier than his partner, so he just assumed that would be his assigned role. To his surprise, Lolo had not made the same assumption and offered him a choice.

"After all, it's not like I have to lift you very high-- just enough to get your feet off the ground so I can spin. And once you master one role, we can change roles, so you can learn them both!" She was so cheery that it was hard to argue with her. "So? Which one do you want to start with?"

"I'll do the lifting."

"Sure! Do you want me to recap the sequence?"

"No. I've got it."

"Ok. If you're sure…?"

Standig nodded.

Lolo was pleasantly surprised by Standig's near-perfect execution of 'spinning blades' on his first try.

"That was great!" Lolo beamed as her feet made contact with the ground again. "Next time don't worry about my arm hooking your shoulder. That's my job, and the slight hesitation disrupts the flow of motion."

Standig nodded and returned to the start position. Despite a perfect second execution, Standig insisted on repeating the sequence more than twenty times to "solidify it and speed it up."

"Let's switch roles," Lolo said after the twenty-sixth run-through.

Standig froze momentarily and considered protesting, but he saw the determination in his partner's face and thought better of arguing with her. "Fine."

Lolo barely had to crouch for Standig to swing his sword over her head, but when it came time for her to lift him, he was genuinely startled by her strength. She didn't miss a beat snagging his leg and standing upright, leaning forward to counter his weight on her back. The flow was perfect on the very first run. They ran the sequence in their new roles several more times, catching the attention of everyone around them. While Lolo's brothers shook their heads and gave Standig an awkward, pitying glance, the rest of their classmates thought it was a little weird if not outright hysterical watching a girl half his size lift Standig over and over again in the spin attack. On the tenth run-through, literally everyone was watching them.

"That's enough." Standig was almost pleading.

Huo Lohse countered, "in an actual battle, doing the unexpected gives you an advantage, right? No one would ever expect me to lift you for a spin attack or otherwise. That's all the more reason for us to practice in both roles, isn't it?"

He hadn't thought about it that way, but he had to admit that there was an actual logic to her reasoning, even if it made him atrociously uncomfortable. Standig stared at Lolo. This girl kept surprising him, forcing him out of his comfort zone, and he wasn’t sure if he could get used to that or not.

Captain Jianshu called out to the well-distracted class, "Alright! Circle up! Give me ten sets of twenty-five sit-ups each."

Everyone groaned.

***

"Durfein!!" Lolo shouted across the dining hall. "Where were you all day? We looked for you!"

The group of first and second years picked their way across the room, returning from class tired and sticky from sweat.

"Sorry," Durfein grinned. " I had an idea this morning and didn't get a chance to talk to you about it before class started."

"Ok. Tell me now."

"Tell all of us," Ulana piped in.

"After our discussion last night, I got to thinking," he started. "The training exchange is supposed to help youth develop their skills while drawing from the best each clan has to offer." He stopped, trying to read his new friends' faces. "Wouldn't you agree?"

They nodded slowly, processing both his statement and his new attitude. "I've never heard it put that way, but in essence…." Lolo trailed off.

"Yeah, so anyway," Durfein continued, "my skill set is in art. I've never trained in military tactics or with weapons. And after what you said last night, about the Wolf Tribe having a thriving community of artists, I thought it might be appropriate to request special permission to explore the art community here for my exchange experience!"

"So that's what I saw you talking to the Wolf Tribe Leader about this morning?" Ulana connected.

"Yup!"

"And what did he say?" Zhongyan joined the conversation.

"Well, in short, he thought it was a brilliant idea! He said something about the wolves believing in the true nature of the individual?"

"Yeah, it's 'our true nature is expressed in our individuality, and a good leader will learn to harness it.' It's one of the Wolf Tribe's guiding philosophies. And good for you, Durfein!" Lolo exclaimed. "So what is the plan?"

"Well, I want to talk to you about that. Today, I just roamed around looking for notable artwork to examine, but tomorrow, I'd like to go visit your friend and ask him about his work. Maybe he will know some other artisans in the area I can study with."

Lolo was excited for Durfein. "Absolutely! After dinner, I'll show you where he lives and make an introduction. I can also compile a list of some of the artists I know of in our tribe."

"Thank you."

"So you won't be joining us for any of the classes?" Ulana thought out loud.

"Not exactly," Durfein admitted. "I will still be joining the lectures on culture, philosophy, and ethics." He scrunched his nose up a little at the last one. "I'm just replacing all the fighting stuff with independent art studies. Wolf Leader Lang wants me to produce some art projects inspired by Wolf Tribe techniques and styles."

"Ah! That makes sense." Haowan nodded his head in approval.

"So! How was your day?" Durfein shifted.

The group exchanged glances trying to identify a spokesperson before deciding on a free-for-all.

"Sweaty," came one answer.

"Exhausting," came another.

Durfein probed further. "What did you do today?"

Again, the group looked around for a spokesperson, and this time, they landed on Fortus who hitherto had been sitting with his arms crossed, silently observing the exchange.

Fortus noticed the stares and cleared his throat. "Just standard 'fighting stuff'." Everyone continued looking at him, clearly expecting him to say more, and, after a moment, he caved to the pressure and leaned forward, finally uncrossing his arms. "Well, we learned some Wolf Tribe sword maneuvers. Most of them involved partners, a technique which is pretty unique to the Wolf Tribe, and that made the moves actually interesting to learn. And then we divided up by year to run a lot of basic drills and exercises. You can never do too many basic drills and exercises." The last comment was met with a few appreciative chuckles from the group which seemed to please the young lion now resuming his arms-crossed, leaned-back position.

Just then, steaming trays of food were brought into the mess hall, and everyone filled their plates. Realizing someone was missing, Huo Lohse scanned the hall. Sure enough, Standig had picked the remotest corner to sit in by himself. It was so remote, in fact, that he had to get up to find a plate and food to fill it with, returning to sit with his back to the others. Lolo grumbled a little and grabbed her own plate. She made eye contact with Fortus as she stood up and flashed him a brief smile. The corner of his mouth twitched, and Lolo could feel him watching her as she left the table.

It wasn't exactly hard to sneak up on Standig with his back turned; when Lolo set her plate down, he visibly jumped. "Sorry to startle you, but in this hall, no one sits alone." Standig wasn't sure if this was a rule of the Wolf Tribe or just a corny excuse for her to join him. He chose to simply accept and ignore, but Lolo continued. "In the future, I'll save you a seat next to me. You should join the group."

She'd said "should", so Standig deduced that it wasn't a rule, just an excuse. "Don't mind me."

"Psh! What kind of host would that make me if I just ignored you?!" Standig shot her his usual look of exasperation but continued eating in silence. "It’s fine if you don’t want to talk. We can just eat if you prefer, but, before we do, I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed being your sparring partner today. You are a quick study, and you are fun to train with. So, I guess, thanks?" Lolo shoved a potato in her mouth and turned to study her plate.

Standig was, yet again, befuddled, enough so to forget momentarily that he was supposed to be projecting unadulterated disagreeableness. He looked at the girl sitting next to him, so suddenly intent on her food, and suppressed a small smile. She turned to look back at him, and he quickly returned to his own meal, trying to recover a taciturn facade.

"So he's shy," Lolo analyzed. "Or he just has absolutely zero social experience. That's fine. I can work with that." Feeling self-satisfied with the micro-victory of getting Standig to almost smile, Lolo speared another potato.

From across the hall, Philige observed the silent meal. "She wasn't kidding. She is really going out of her way to include him." Something in his brotherly heart swelled a little-- a deep sadness marked by the new feeling of... something else. He had been worried about his little brother for a long time, and after last year's training exchange, watching Standig intentionally isolate himself the whole summer, that worry had turned to fear-- fear that after this year, when Philige graduated from the program and had to assume his duties as the crown prince, he would truly be leaving Standig alone without the ability to interact with others or anyone to look out for him. Maybe the wolf princess would finally change that.

As promised, after dinner, Huo Lohse took Durfein to see Mr. Tuliao. Curious, Ulana tagged along. Farmer Tuliao lived in a village just outside the main city toward Crescent Lake, about forty minutes away from Pack Hall. The moon was in the waning gibbous phase, so Lolo knew that even if they got caught walking back after dusk, they would have enough light to navigate the paths she knew so well.

They arrived just after sunset, and Lolo rapped on the door. A few moments later, a greying man opened it.

"Princess Lolo!!" It was instantly evident that he and Huo Lohse were on close terms as he opened his arms to her for a hug.

"Mr. Tuliao!!" Lolo responded in kind and hugged him, patting his back.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Come in, come in! Let me go tell Genga that you are here. She would be disappointed to miss you." Tuliao ushered Lolo and her friends in and disappeared into a back room. He returned pushing a wheelchair holding his wife, a frail looking lady wrapped in shawls and blankets.

"GOOD EVENING, MRS. GENGA!" Lolo almost shouted.

"Lolo! How have you been? Who are your friends?" Genga replied.

"I'M DOING WELL, THANK YOU! THESE ARE TWO OF MY NEW FRIENDS FROM THE TRAINING EXCHANGE. THIS IS DURFEIN AND THIS IS ULANA." Lolo pointed to them as she spoke.

Taking a cue from Lolo, Ulana spoke up. "IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU, MA’AM."

Feeling bashful, Durfein opted to simply give a small bow to his hostess.

"Any friend of Lolo's is a friend of ours," Genga smiled.

"So what brings you here today?" Tuliao inquired.

"Actually, I specifically wanted you to meet Durfein. He is a young artist that would like to learn from your experience and exchange ideas and techniques with you, assuming you have time, of course?"

"Ah! So you brought me a playmate!" Tuliao appeared quite tickled as he turned to Durfein. "What kinds of mediums do you use?"

And they were off. Durfein and Tuliao instantly bonded. While they discussed color, light, and the shapes of different paint brush tips, Lolo and Ulana kept Genga company, telling her all about their first day in the training exchange and asking her about updates on her children and grandchildren.

Before they knew it, dusk was upon them, and it was time to head back. Durfein and Tuliao made plans to meet the following day, and Lolo and Ulana gave Genga hugs goodbye.

"Those two are some of the nicest people I have ever met," Durfein mused out loud.

"Mn," Ulana agreed.