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(Author's Note: At the beginning, the kids are supposed to think Zyrra is a dude)

"Wow! The warrior, Zyrra! Look at him, he's so brave!" I had been caught up by a couple of my peers a few days after my 'stunt' and hadn't been able to shake them since they had cornered me in the cafeteria. It seemed that the class additions were coming in at a younger age each time they were admitted. Ironic, I thought, how I could defeat the toughest elite in the Academy, yet I couldn't even try to defeat these young elites. They were not long out of their cribs; I couldn't just brush them off.

"Boys, please, I'm tired…" I shook one from my arm and massaged my growing headache.

"Tell us how you beat him! Please?" the tallest pipped, "We promise we'll be quiet!"

I shut my eyes to them, I couldn't stay, I had engagements and I was feeling ill but they persisted to crowd me. The youngest of them was now attached to my leg and refused to let me go. "Please Warrior Zyrra! I wish it so much to hear your tale again, my brothers change the story so much and I don't know which are false anymore!"

I managed to detach the boy from my person and set him down on the floor, I really didn't feel well at all. I stepped backward a few paces and sat down, the group followed me but I held up a hand to stay their advance, "I don't feel well boys, please, leave me."

A resounding moan reached me, it pressed in on me. I felt a slight temper rising and growled at the children, they squealed and scattered from sight. Finally, some time to my—

"I wish I could get rid of them like that…" the cool voice of my Ado came to me, "You alright Zyrra?"

I turned around, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on Reach purging the human settlements on there aren't you?" I was surprised to see him back so early, it wasn't standard for such a dangerous mission to end so quickly, he appeared to have no scars on him either, "Was there a mix up with the mission statements?"

"No…" Ado laughed and looked at me oddly, "My Reach mission doesn't begin for another three revolutions yet, I have been away on business with the Council."

"Oh? What kind of business?" I asked, "Anything I should know about?"

Ado smiled, "Nothing to bother with, just some sort of rumour that an elite has defeated the highest ranked Mentor at the best Academy known to the Covenant, all a web of lies, for sure." There was a mischievous glimmer in his eye, "Well done Zyrra."

"Thank you…" I replied with the utmost humility, "I admit; it was quite a feat to conquer him…"

"But you did, that's the first step you know. Not many have defeated Gura, and those who have in the past have become quite exceptional warriors. Mind you, they often turn out a bit more lethal than Gura himself. You've seen how ruthless Morta can be…"

"Don't remind me…" I grumbled, "So is there another 'business' behind your being in the City today or are you just so spare on time that you thought you'd come home for a while?"

"I'm actually preparing my troops for the upcoming mission; I was hoping to pick up some skilled warriors on my way by."

"No shortage of those here, just look around, see those boys there?" I pointed out Ehle, Jurdo and Doxo, "Not the brightest on their own, but as a team, they're almost invincible."

"I'll take that into account, but I was actually considering you."

I was taken aback, "Really?"

He nodded, "Yes, but the Council won't allow it, they want you to endure the whole of the Sangheili training regime before allowing you to fight alongside the rest of us…"

This brightened my mood a little, "Well, that might not be such a long wait, my evaluation is in two cycles, I've mastered most skills needed to become a warrior. If I pass…"

Ado shook his head, "You still have group trials to come, that's where you begin to socialise with other members of the Covenant and re-learn past skills." By this time I was thoroughly confused, I saw little reason to re-learn what I had just been taught in a smaller group, it was a waste of valuable time and resources. "I have faith that you'll do just as well in those particular areas, what I worry about is your ability to adapt to the new environment…"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Ado rested his hand on mine, "By other members of the Covenant, I mean the other species. They may never have encountered a warrior such as yourself and most will not react to you the way a lot of us have here in this branch of the City."

My eyes widened, "Brutes?" he nodded, this I could not tolerate, "How many?"

"There could be thousands, though; the Academy only recruits them as guards now, this means that punctuality is a must." He leaned in, "By penalty of severe beatings and sometimes even death."

I was outraged, "That's barbaric!"

Ado sighed, "That's how the system works I'm afraid… not many have managed to cheat it, it means ultra disciplined troops, nothing like how it is here and quite frankly, I like how it's run, even if it is by the Jiralhanae." He paused, "Zyrra… I'm not going to lie to you, it will be difficult, far more than you could possibly imagine. I'm just giving you the heads up on it." His wrist guard made a small blipping noise and a chart with instructions appeared on a small view screen embedded in Ado's armour, "I'm being called back to the Far-Nine, Zyrra, I wish you well. Please, be careful!" he nudged me on the forehead; making our helmets clatter, then he marched promptly from the Mess Hall. I watched him disappear through a grav-lift then stood and exited the Mess Hall also.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yo Zyrra, what'd Ado want?" Jurdo asked me when we were back in our shared quarters, "You and him were pretty erm… tight back there…" he prodded me, "You two got something going on there or what?"

Jurdo's stupidity surprised even me sometimes… I decided to keep the relationship between Ado and I to myself for now, "He was telling me that you, Ehle and Doxo might be going on his new recruits list soon," I saw their faces light up all at once and laughed, "Oh, and me too… he said I was far more advanced than you three…" their smiles faded and Ehle slouched into a reclining chair.

"Well of course he did… he came in when you had just finished kicking our butts didn't he?"

I shrugged, "Maybe."

Doxo tossed each of us a Nutro Drink and threw himself onto my bed with a jangle and a shriek of pain; he had forgotten that my bunk was riddled with tools and was almost impossible to sleep on, let alone throw yourself on. He removed a tool from under his shoulders and tossed it to me, "Agh.. Zyrra, why do you have to be such a techie?"

I caught it and began to tinker with my training blade's hilt, "The same reason Jurdo's brain is so small I guess…" a small grin spread over my face, "I just am… for no reason at all…"

Jurdo scowled, "You can't be a super technical wiz without training Zyrra!"

"Does your brain need training to be so small?" Ehle asked, laughing, "It's probably like my skills with a blade, like naturally perfect and all…" he made a motion with an invisible blade across his front, almost clocking Jurdo in the face.

I had never actually thought about why I was so naturally able to recalibrate weaponry or break codes in the locks to other rooms, this ability, earlier, had impressed the terrible trio, now it only made them jealous. "I suppose I might just have the uncanny ability to pay attention to tiny details, I kind of liked to do puzzles when I was smaller, back in the care of Prophet Sanctuary…" the three of them looked up from their beverages quickly and stared at me, gaping, "What?"

"You knew Prophet Sanctuary?" Ehle asked me, I swear his eyes could get no wider or they would have popped out of his skull.

"I did once… so what?"

Doxo gave a chortle and looked around to the others, "She's lying… she doesn't know Prophet Sanctuary!"

"I do! He cared for me in my early stages of life! Ask Jurdo, he was there!" I paused, "Doxo! So were you! He said that you both li-"

"Zyrra, shut up! You're a liar!" I was silenced by Doxo's booming voice in my face, "You haven't spoken to him and I've never met Sanctuary in my life! You're a liar!" I opened my mouth to protest, I remembered Jurdo and Doxo from all the way back when we were smaller than the Unggoy, when we would play around the feet of the Lekgolo. Why didn't he remember? "Never lie about such things, Prophet Sanctuary is a criminal, as said by the Prophets of the Covenant, he is a traitor, a Heretic, he betrayed High Charity!"

"But when we were children, you and Jurdo were my brothers! We played together! You can't tell me that you don't remember the games we played!" I was forward in my seat, gripping my drink tightly, the contents were dribbling over my hand, "I know it! It's true as I'm sitting here today!"

I was again silenced, Doxo's fist contacted with my face like a mallet, tenderizing my face and knocking me backward. Ehle and Jurdo gasped while Doxo turned his back to me, "This discussion is over, goodnight." He said curtly and shut the curtain to his bunk. I daren't push my luck, Doxo at the moment seemed the type to kill me in my sleep if I had have pursued the subject. I instead gave a pleading look to Jurdo who returned an apology and curled up on his own bunk.
I cleaned up my gloop-smeared hand, taking the time to think over my newfound knowledge of Prophet Sanctuary's criminal record in the Covenant; I thought it impossible for a Prophet to perform any type of felony toward his own people, especially the kind hearted Sanctuary. It was unethical! What had he done that was so wrong? I took my seat in the living area of our quarters once again and continued adjusting my training blade. Ehle was still present, but he was sketching something on a holo-pad and not paying much mind to me, I cleared my throat loudly to catch his attention, "Ehle, what did Sanctuary do?"

"Hmm?" He looked up from his sketch, "Sanctuary had many an enemy in his late years of service, he mostly liberated those who needed liberating and gave rights to those who had none, this was all well and good, but word has it that he stole information from the Mausoleum of the Arbiters and gave it to the Heretics."

I shook my head, "He was entirely devoted to the health and well being of his people, why would he allow vital information to fall into enemy hands?"

"That's what the Council has been asking themselves for the past three years. Ever since he was sent into exile by the Prophets Mercy, Regret and the newly appointed, Truth, nobody has come to any conclusion to the conundrum."

"Is there any proof of this so-called felony?" I asked, still sceptical that Sanctuary, my carer, would do such a thing, "And why would he have to give the Heretics information on the Arbiters anyway? They were once one of us; they know everything about how the Covenant operates regardless of their beliefs."

Ehle remained silent for a moment; he obviously hadn't thought that the Heretics remembered the way of the Covenant. "Maybe the Heretics found something that the Covenant didn't want them to?"

"That makes more sense. If that was the case then all they need do is torture the information out of him…"

"There was no torture. Not a single mark was found on him." Ehle replied grimly, "Face it Zyrra, he handed them whatever it is the Covenant had on a silver platter." His voice was not bitter, it was disappointed, "Such a waste, Sanctuary could have done great things for us."

I nodded, not speaking. My vision of Sanctuary had been shattered in one foul swoop; I felt that if I ever met him I would kill him myself for embarrassing me so severely in front of my peers. Ehle advised me not to brood over it, that what he knows was merely relayed information and that nobody ever really was told distinct truths about Sanctuary's 'exile'. The trial was held privately, not even the Council knew about it.

Ado himself had said that Sanctuary hadn't been a favourite in the High Council, though; he hadn't specified what offence he had performed against them. I just hoped that I would find out the truth.

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