The Heavens Shall Fall

It has been a day since the announcement of the Spirit Wardens being formed, and the number of visitors in the Mission Hall was high at the start, coming to check out the slip hanging there. But the people who actually visited the tower, not to mention signed up, remained, well, few and far between.

On the ground floor of their tower, a set of long tables had been arranged, with Siu, Neya, and Rinmei sitting there, two lanterns hanging from the ceiling above their heads. Even though daylight shone through the cleaned windows, the extra orange warmth coming from above never hurt, making the room feel even cozier.

As for the arrangement, Siu sat in the middle, Rinmei to his right, with a ledger open, while Neya sat on the other side of him, her hands clasped in her lap, nervously playing with her fingers. As for the twins, they were sitting with them at first, but by noon, they moved onto a couch at the other end of the room, leaning back lazily, very much bored, blowing their hair out of their faces. As for Arya, she sat atop the table, her tail curled around her paws, loafing like a cat, almost asleep, while Marly had already claimed one of the shelves and was peeking down from atop it, watching everything... but just as bored as the twins.

“Should I go and get something for us to eat?” Neya whispered to Siu, watching as Arya's ears already flicked towards her, although the little fox didn't raise her head yet. It was clear that she was listening intently, moving her nose and doing her best to keep her eyes closed.

“Good idea,” Rinmei replied quietly, “I wouldn't say no to a sandwich or something.”

"We'll go!" the twins interjected, standing up and stretching in sync, "Nobody had come for the past hour, and if we have to sit here, watching the ceiling, I am going to claw my eyes out!"

"Same." Nilli agreed with her sister, pulling her robes together, "Since the first batch, this has been a damn bust!"

"Patience." Rinmei answered, looking at them, "It's only the first day."

"Thank god we don't hold an all-day recruitment after tomorrow..." Milli grunted as the two headed towards the door, "We could have stayed at the Mission Hall, earning our daily CC..."

Siu had nothing to answer them with; he simply shrugged, because, indeed, he also expected the day to be much busier, requesting that everyone be here to help him out, but... It turned out this was nothing like that. At all. The first to enter was a tall boy, about ten minutes after their 'opening,' which at first suggested it might even be a busy day, but... it was just a fluke. When he entered the tower, Siu vaguely recognized him from the training grounds, being there when he first found Elder Thane, practicing with the others, taking advantage of the public lessons. It also reminded him of the fact that the Elder would still be away, even when winter ended... He hoped he was fine. As Siu was thinking about it, the boy hesitated after stepping through the door, as if expecting someone to throw him back out already. Not a promising start...

“You’re… accepting members?” he asked, glancing at the people, sitting there like judges.

“We are,” Siu answered evenly, waving his hand at the chairs on the opposite side of the table. “Please, sit.”

Rinmei slid a blank form across the table while he did so, trying to smile at him, but it didn't help much.

“We will need you to put down your name and any of your current obligations you may have. This means that if you have any experience or ties to other groups, or any outstanding debts you may owe, please note them all down. Also, please fill out the Primary Specialization section honestly, so we know what you are good at, and later on, we can find you the best-suited missions that you can complete.”

"Um..." He blinked his eyes, very much stunned, “You want to know about my debts?”

“Yes,” Rinmei answered calmly. “We are not here to pry into why or anything deeper than that, but realizing our members have issues... that wouldn't be good for any of us.”

"..." The boy shifted uncomfortably while listening to them, but even if he disliked that he had to share something personal like that, he still finished writing it down. Handing it over, he looked up at Siu, asking in a careful tone. “So… what’s the catch?”

"There isn't one." Siu answered, shaking his head, "We are upfront about everything. Here, this is our informational pamphlet. Please read it first, and then if you have any questions, we will answer them."

What Siu had put before the boy was something Neya had written down, with her handwriting looking the most appealing amongst the group. As for its contents, it was made up by all of them, a little, concise presentation for newcomers.

The boy froze while reading through it, looking up at the others here and there, opening his mouth to ask, but then lowering his head, reading it again... and again. In the end, he put it down, speaking while licking his lips, feeling his throat to be a bit dry.

“That’s not very convincing.”

“Maybe,” Siu shrugged, shaking his head, “But I don't want anyone to complain they were duped or weren't told upfront what my group is about." With that, he took the paper the boy just filled out, looking through it, tapping it with his fingers, "You get priority coordination for missions aligned with your skills, and you get access to shared tools to complete them. The Wardens will provide you with resources, according to what you put in previously, when you go for a hunt. We may even pay for part of your healing baths after you return. That's money you already saved. Not to mention, if you are a known contributor, one with ample success, your preparation for your next hunt is already cheaper, as you will use the tools provided by us. Meaning, you already save more on not having to spend on consumables or other items.”

"I see..." he paused, visibly thinking it through, "What if I don't really contribute, besides the monthly fee?"

"You can remain partially independent." Rinmei answered him, "But you won't get much of the benefits. Still, if your simple, monthly payment racks up, you can still apply with us to get cheaper access to facilities with one-time discounts. Meaning, we will pay part of your expenses, but it also resets your monetary contribution."

"Actions," Neya added in a hurry, "your deeds will never be subject to that! This is how we are ensuring that disciples with ample wealth can't outbid those who put in actual, physical work within the Wardens. Your achievements will always be a factor in what you are eligible for."

"Um..." He hesitated, trying to take it all in, but... it was so new, so... alien, he had a hard time wrapping his head around it. He visited a few groups before, getting the big speeches, about protecting each other, about having grand opportunities, the usual sweet-talk, never mentioning anything concrete, just selling dreams. This was way too... factual and detailed. It wasn't making any sense! “And if I leave?” He asked.

"Then you leave," the twins answered with a shrug, "You pay what you must and be off. This isn't a prison, boy."

“I’ll… think about it.” He said in the end, then stood up and left.

“Well,” Nilli said lightly, after they remained there, sitting with nothing much, really, “That was inspiring.”

“He won’t join,” Neya murmured, sounding very much dejected.

“Sometimes, people need a bit of time to think it through,” Siu added, trying to remain optimistic about it, "Paying to be part of something, well, doing it upfront, is a new thing. Anyway," he held up the filled form in his hand, "I will send this to Lorean, she can look into it and confirm the validity he put down. When he eventually returns, we will know how honest he was."

"Good thing you have a rapport with the Golden Scroll," Milli chortled, playing with her hair, "Doing background checks through them is not something any of the others can do, I think. Hah!"

...

....

......

After the first visitor, the next five acted almost the same way, finding the idea of paying up front ridiculous or something they weren't keen on, so they all left. But after the twins returned with some sandwiches, and they were in the middle of lunch, six disciples entered the room. After the same introduction, three actually signed up right then and there... A welcome surprise, but it also showed that a pattern was emerging. Siu, as he read their filled forms, began comparing those who needed time to think it over with those who had already signed up... The ones who walked out on the subscription fee were often independent hunters or short-term opportunists, mostly sniffing out what he was on about rather than actually wanting to join. One of these even scoffed outright while reading the same introductory text.

“So I pay you so you can maybe pay me later? That’s stupid. Were you hit on the head after being born?”

“You’re free to remain independent,” Siu replied calmly, looking into his eyes. "You came here on your own; you can leave the same way."

"Yeah, I think I will." He snorted, throwing it back at them and exiting without ever filling out the starting form.

“We’re going to lose a lot like that,” Milli said, leaning towards Siu, "I told you they won't be happy about paying and seeing no immediate results. Also... Two-thirds of these idiots are never going to make it into the Inner Disciples' ranks, because their minds just are not sharp enough."

“That's their problem,” Siu answered, shaking his head, "We just need enough members to start operating. Then, after we put down results, that will ignite a second surge of applicants."

"It is good that you are not worried," Rinmei exhaled, rubbing her neck, holding back a painful grimace, smiling through it all as she tapped the ledger.

"Why would he be worried?" Neya blinked, being the calmest of them all, hiding her anger that she felt after hearing the previous man's tone, “We don’t need people who are like that guy,” she said coldly. “Those are the first to run when something goes down badly; you can't trust them anyway.”

“Slow growth is good enough for me,” Siu agreed, gazing at the group, "No rush, it's only the first day!"

“Change it into solid growth,” Rinmei corrected him, "But yeah, I get it."

“Maybe we need to clarify the tiers for them, make it a bit clearer,” Neya said, taking up the initial introduction, scanning it again. "Focus more on what they can get..."

"Relax!" Siu chuckled, shaking his head, reaching out ot pat Neya's, a reflex he now did without thinking, thanks to always having Arya and Marly demanding it. "Its good enough. Take it as the first filter, weeding out the unreliables. Come on, I'll brew some tea and coffee... We still have half a day to wait through!"