Shuttle Ride

The woman bowed her head, her long, white hair fallin in front of her face as she did so. The feline next to her sat down and bowed its head as well, making the group begin murmuring amongst each other.

She wanted to join in too because the green leopard had piqued her curiosity, however, before they could even get a few words out, the lady raised her head and clapped her hands together to gather their attention once again.

She wore an all black high quality maid outfit with a golden trim to it. Gold and black were Asura's national colors so it came as no surprise but Caroline found it hard that a maid could have something like that cat next to her as a pet.

"Welcome to Asura, my name is Nidrie and this here next to me is my beloved familiar, Ralnor. Before any of you ask, he is a species only found in Asura known as the Blooming Leopard."

She patted the top of Ralnor's head who seemed to grin, his eyes closing contentedly as more flowers bloomed on his body. "Once we arrive in the capital, you will all come to learn more about this place and the beings that live here. The Cardinal Majesty will assign your houses to you tomorrow so the shuttle will be taking you to the guest housing until then. I advise you all to prepare yourselves for tomorrow."

With that, she led them to the shuttle. Each passenger had one car to themselves as the car would serve as their storage units until they were assigned positions and official housing the following day.

Thankfully, Nidrie said that the ride to the guest section, which was much farther inland, would only take about an hour due to the train's insane speed of 600 km per hour. Their guide mentioned something about magnetic levitation technology having gotten an Asurian upgrade, but Caroline wasn't sure what that meant.

The candidates were given the option to stay with their luggage in their own cars or spend their hour in the main cabin, but Caroline wanted something a bit more fun than the plane ride here.

"You know, it'd be super boring to spend an hour with my luggage after I just slept for so long on the plane. Do you want to hangout in the main cabin?" Caroline asked with a smile. She wanted to know more about Emily.

Emily was apparently thinking along the same lines as she grinned, "I was hoping we could hangout!"

After the shuttle train was loaded with everyone's luggage, those that chose to go to their own cars left and those that chose to go to the main cabin grouped up. Rosalie was one of the final ones to enter her luggage car and once they were gone, Nidrie turned towards the small number of them remaining and gave them a small smile, "Ralnor will watch over you while I drive the train and manage surveillance. Please take care not to approach him without good reason."

And with that warning, they were ushered into a huge space with plenty of activities such as board games, video games, movies, and even a small library. The cabin was decorated with very unique and lively decor. Yes, lively.

The plants in the room seemed to react to Ralnor as he himself seemed to greet them by blowing some sort of sparkly dust on them. Whatever it was, they liked it as they swayed their leaves as though dancing to a rhythm no one else could hear.

And it wasn't just the plants. It was quite the wonder puts sight for the candidates as they watched small fae-like creatures flit around their heads. Their appearances differed from one to the next. Some had wings, some had multiple limbs, some had tails, and some had all of those things!

The main difference she could spot between them was that only some of them looked more humanoid. They reminded her of fairies from the stories. There were much fewer of them compared to the rest of the faes.

Caroline and Emily giggled to each other with big, white smiles. They were very happy they had decided to ride in the main cabin rather than stay with their luggage.

Emily spoke up first, "Where do you want to go first? I feel like we should play a game or something. If we get to a good part in a movie and then have to get off the train that would suck!"

Caroline's green eyes landed on the mini library in the back and squinted slightly, "Do you think we should look at the books? Maybe there are some on Asura? I hate to admit it, but Rosalie was kind of right. I'm going into this whole thing completely blind!"

"Sure, let's check it out! But next lets play a video game, k?" Emily walked behind Caroline as they made their way over and mumbled, "Maybe they'll have at least some travel brochures?"

Besides them, there were 17 others that had decided to ride in the main cabin. Meaning only 19 out of the large number of 100 had decided to socialize to some extent. Caroline couldn't really blame those that went to their luggage cars, though. If she hadn't slept on the plane, she would probably have done the same thing.

Ralnor, the Blooming Leopard, sat down at the front of the cabin and watched them with eyes that reminded Caroline of a colorful sunset. It was clear that the large feline was intent on doing his job but his three tails twitched slightly, as if he was interested in what the humans would choose to do. One person followed Caroline and Emily to the mini library while the rest split up to do other things.

"Oh, hi, my name is Niko…" A guy with dark hair, shabby clothes, glasses, and brown eyes bowed as he spoke. A Kumarian. He looked about 18. Caroline watched him fidget, was he shy? And what was with the bow?

"Caroline," she introduced herself, "and Emily," she pointed to Emily who was giggling, making it hard for her to keep a straight face. She couldn't help it and giggled, "Really, no need to bow, we aren't going to attack you or anything!"

Niko quickly straightened up, "S-sorry! It's just, a girl came up to me earlier and got mad at me for not bowing… I thought after that it meant I was supposed to bow to girls or something…"

The girls broke into full on laughter, leaving Niko very flustered. Caroline shook her head while she laughed before finally getting out, "I think you must have met Rosalie. That girl really makes her rounds, doesn't she Emily?"

Emily nodded as she came to the end of the mini laughing fit, "For sure. I guess she decided to pick on you too, Niko! Don't worry, she's just a bully."

He looked back and forth at the both of them, seemingly concerned before relaxing his shoulders slightly, "So… It's not normal to bow to girls?"

Caroline covered her hand with her mouth to suppress another laugh before she answered him. This guy really didn't know much at all did he? "No it's not, Rosalie is just demanding. Ignore girls like her." His mannerisms had her curious, but she let it slide, "Would you like to look for Asura related things with us?"

Niko's messy dark hair bobbed up and down, "Yes please! That's kind of what I was hoping to find over here when I saw books!"

"I'd like to join too, if you don't mind."

The three turned their heads to see a dark blonde man standing behind them. He was probably a little older than she was and held an accent hailing from the Western Dynasty.

Emily spoke before she could, "Sure! What's your name? You probably heard all of ours while we were talking."

He nodded, "Yes, my name is Avgust, but I prefer to be called Gus. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Nice to meet you too!" Caroline said along with Emily.

Niko stammered after them, "I uh-um, n-nice to meet you!"