The Hollow Crow (Mina Carolina X Reader)

Chapter Six: One Final Lesson

You, Mina & Thomas are standing in front of a clearing at the edge of the forest waiting for Shadis to arrive, again. You've been waiting for him for half an hour now and you're all starting to get a little frustrated. Thomas is doing his usual shuffleing of his heels. Mina is constantly moving her hands, rubbing her hands together or playing with the edges of her jacket. And you have folded your arms, drumming your fingers against your bisep whilst rapidly tapping your foot against the ground. Finally Thomas breaks.
"I can't take it anymore! How long does that old man plan on making us Wait?" You and Mina glance towards each other. You give a slow shake of your head, indicating that you aren't in the mood today to deal with Thomas' impatience. Getting your message Mina places one hand on Thomas' shoulder.
"Now now Thomas. Let's just calm down and wait. He may have just gotten caught up with some paper work. Today is the day that all cadets have to hand in their regiment applications remember?" Thomas gives her an annoyed stare in response.
"Aren't we counted amongst that number? We haven't turned in jack shit yet. And doesn't he have assistance to help with that work load?" Pretty soon they stop arguing and just move on to straight up shouting, you decide to change the subject before your ear drums explode.
"Have you two given anymore thought to what regiment you want to join?" Both stop and turn to you, Mina is the first to speak.
"Well kind of...We have a basic idea but want to give it a few more hours to let the decision really sink in."
"Yeah. We can't all be like you (Y/fn), who has their entire life figured out already." You place one hand under your chin.
"Hmmm...I see." Your thoughts are interrupted by the sounds of footsteps, but it isn't a single pair like you were expecting. You quickly turn towards the others.
"Heads up Shadis is coming, and he's not alone." As the footsteps get louder you see that Shadis is walking alongside three others, all wearing military uniforms. Once they finally reach you the three strangers all stand in a single line, with Shadis standing between you and them.
"You're all here...good. You must be wandering why I've called you, correct?" You look up at Shadis, unamused by his roundabout way of explaining.
"I shall explain but first, you all need to meet some people." Shadis stands to one side allowing you to fully look at the three soldiers standing in front of you. One of them steps forward before giving you a lazy salute, you take notice of the symbol on his uniform.

"Hi I'm Marcus, a representative of The Garrison regiment." His words sound like a mixture between a yawn and a laugh.
"I'm here to watch how you kids operate before feeding back my findings to the Commander of the Garrison regiment, Commander Dot Pyxis." He takes his place back in his line, rubbing his eyes along the way.
"*Ahem..."
You look to Marcus' left, towards the man who just cleared his throat. He takes a single step forward, keeping his hands behind his back the whole time.