As luck would have it, Maryn knew just the place for us to get some clothes. It turned out that she needed some too since she would be going incognito as well. Sira had decided that since Maryn knew the capital as only a native could, and her appearance had changed some from the Angel Elixir, she would be a good candidate to blend in and hear things that people might not say with visible Seed-borne around.

Like with me and Autumn, her team would be shadowing from a distance in case things went badly, though I felt that that was probably much less likely to happen with her than with us. Though my grandmother gave us the option of working together if we wanted to. So Maryn planned to follow me and Autumn from a distance to try and pick up anything that might be said about the two of us once we were out of hearing. She also suggested that while she would be trying to blend in, the two of us should stand out as much as possible.

With that in mind, she also had some ideas on what we should all wear. So, as soon as our group of ten made our way out of the gates of the academy, Maryn led us to a clothing shop that wasn’t too far away from our starting point. It was just down the street from her uncle’s café as well so Maryn sent the others on ahead to wait for us there while she took me and Autumn into the shop in question.

“Don’t worry,” the brunette assured us in a hushed tone as we entered the shop, “Fawn and Kyra will take good care of us. My dad told me that a lot of the new Angel recruits usually come to them for clothes these days, especially those not used to the city, since they’re good at making alterations for extra limbs and are familiar with the type of clothes that those of you from Animen, Fay, or Devilkin villages are more comfortable in.”

“You’re sure about that, Maryn?” Autumn asked uncertainly. “It’ll probably help sell that we’re fresh from our respective villages if we’re dressed like it.”

“Yeah, Dad said that they know their stuff and I guess a lot of the Fay, in particular, don’t like Human winter fashions. There are too many layers and women are expected to have pretty much everything but our faces covered, no matter what the time of year. It’s considered immodest to show any skin beneath your neck to anyone but your husband, at least among the nobility. Even us commoners tend to wear a lot of layers in the winter though,” our friend explained as we looked around the clothing on display.

“Well, that explains the dress and boots that Heather was wearing when we met her,” I said thoughtfully. “Are you sure they make clothes for people like us? All that I see are the kinds of things that the Humans outside are wearing.”

“We do, we just don’t advertise it,” a melodious voice said and I turned toward it in surprise. I had barely heard the woman before she spoke, and that was only because of the motion of the curtain that had opened from the back of the shop where she stood appraising us. Then she nodded and with a wink added, “You’ve come for a private fitting? Would one of you be a dear and lock the door and turn the sign in the window?”

As Maryn turned to comply, I took a good look at the young woman. She was in her late teens and somewhat tall and slender with a pretty face, though her face was all that I could see. Her eyes were a bright blue, set in a pretty yet slightly angular face. A navy blue scarf covered her hair and most of her head, the same shade of blue as the bulky layered dress that covered her from throat to her ankles and wrists. Black boots poked out from beneath the hem of the dress and her hands were covered in white gloves. She looked like a Human, and it seemed like she was dressed the part as well, but something about her didn’t smell quite right.

Once Maryn had the door locked and had flipped the sign in the window the young woman smiled. “Please, come join us in the back room and you can tell me and Kyra what you need. While most of the clothing that we display out front here is meant for Humans, we do cater to the other Races as well. We just need to be careful about it since Queen Sabine took the throne,” she said as she pushed through the curtain ahead of us.

“Hmmmph. Queen Dalia must be turning in her tomb, if she was still alive and ruling we wouldn’t have to hide our services, or ourselves this way,” another young woman muttered as we followed the woman into the back room. She was dressed similarly to the other woman and perhaps a couple of years younger, closer to our age, though her scarf and dress were green instead of blue. Her eyes were a deep brown and she smelled like an Animan to me, though not any type that I had ever encountered before.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, Sis,” the first young woman said with a sigh. It sounded like they had had this argument before. Then she turned back to us and gave us a weak smile before starting introductions. “I’m Fawn Woodward and this is my sister Kyra,” the one in the blue said. “Our parents are Angels and we opened this place a couple of years ago. Officially we’re seamstresses catering to the wealthy but we help those who need to, to blend in among Humans, and a lot of Angel recruits come to us for clothing too. I assume that’s why you’re here?”

“Umm… you don’t look or smell like sisters, you don’t even smell like you’re the same species,” I said trying to figure out their scents.

“I’m adopted,” Kyra said as the pair removed their scarves to reveal their ears. “Mom and Dad’s team found me on a mission when I was a baby.” No wonder I hadn’t been able to figure out their scents. I had never seen a Sheepkin, like Kyra seemed to be, before and Fawn had slightly pointed ears poking through her blonde hair, though they weren’t as long as Autumn’s, and her eyes seemed like those of a Human rather than with slit-pupils like those of a Fay.

“You’re half Fay,” Autumn said in surprise, a smile curling her lips upward.

“Yup, Mom and Dad were put on the same team together and they just clicked so Mom took him as her mate. Since neither Kyra nor I were really suited to be Angels, they gave us a choice once we both had our gifts; we could try to join the Corps as support staff or help in some other way once we were old enough or we could go live with our grandparents in Whiteriver Glade and try to make a life there,” Fawn replied with a nod.

“Whiteriver Glade?! That’s the glade that I am from!” Autumn practically squealed. While they usually accepted the use of the word ‘village’ when speaking with Humans or other Races, during Heather’s Fay lessons Autumn had told us that they preferred the term ‘glade’.

“Mom took us there once when we were both really young, you’d have probably been a baby then if you were born yet at all,” Kyra said, a faint smile touching her lips. “I barely remember it but everyone was so nice, even though I’m not one of you and Fawn is only half Fay. Mom always says that family isn’t about blood though, it’s about love. We almost decided to go there but with the way things have been turning against Seed-borne here in the capital, we decided to try to help the Corps by doing what we can to help keep an eye on things here and helping those who need it.”

“We help where we can,” Fawn agreed. “We provide disguises, help people who need to get out of the city, and sometimes I use my Seed-borne gift to smuggle things like food or our disguises to those who need help.”

“At least you have a useful gift, Sis,” Kyra replied with a sigh as the black-haired Sheepkin girl tugged uncomfortably at her clothes. “You can make things grow or shrink, my wool just grows really fast, so I end up having to eat more and shave it off every day to blend in with the Humans.”

“It only works with inanimate objects though, and nothing with moving parts. At least your wool is strong and durable, and so is the cloth that we weave from it,” Fawn said to console her sister. Then her attention turned back to us, or rather me. “So, what can we do for you, girls? You’re Angel recruits, right? I recognize clothes made in a nano-weave factory when I see them. I’m not sure if we can help you to blend in very well though. We can get you human clothes to help cover your tail and ears, but your eyes and nose might be a problem. I’ve never seen an Animan with animal features to that degree before.”

“Yep, we’re Angel recruits, but I’m the only one who needs to blend in,” Maryn said with a grin. “These two need to stand out as much as possible. They should look like they just arrived from the forest or one of the glades.”

Once we told the pair of seamstresses about our assignment and they swore not to speak of it with anyone else, they got to work. Maryn was of course the easiest since they had plenty of human clothes already made in the front of the shop, they just needed to find something that fit and suited her coloring. She ended up wearing an outfit similar to their own in a deep plum hue, only with her brunette hair demurely braided instead of covered by a scarf. Rather than sending her to a shoe store for proper boots, Kyra offered a pair of her older boots that Fawn made a little bigger to fit the Human girl properly.

Autumn wouldn’t be too hard to get equipped either since the pair often made clothes for their Fay mother and Human father, so they had a couple of outfits on hand that wouldn’t need to even be altered much to fit Autumn’s lithe form. The pair were more worried about me since they didn’t have much fur or leather on hand at the moment that hadn’t already been used for clothes for the new Human, Devilkin, and Animen recruits for support staff for the Corps, who had been in the city for over a week already with nothing but time on their hands to do things like get new clothes.

Their concerned frowns over that quickly turned to grins when Autumn proudly declared that I was her first chosen mate and the plan was to show that off as much as possible. With that in mind, they quickly sent Maryn off with some of our money to procure a couple of pairs of Animan-style winter moccasins from a nearby leatherworker while they got to work. Moccasins were one of the things that the Fay often traded for during their trading expeditions to Serkis since they didn’t work with animal hides themselves and traded what little they had for other goods, along with things like honey, mead, hemp, smoking weed, and sometimes fruits and vegetables.

With their desire to be true to nature, Fay only really tend to wear clothes when it’s cold or when dealing with the other, more reserved Races. Even then, they often wear clothes worn from leaves, vines, and flowers except for when it gets too cold to be comfortable that way. When it gets colder they make clothes from hemp cloth, or cotton or wool when they can trade for it. That was why they trade for winter moccasins since they are warm, comfortable, and well-made.

While Maryn was off getting our footwear, Fawn resized a winter outfit that they had originally made for their mother and then she and Kyra got to work making any needed adjustments. Autumn didn’t really need many changes made though, once they were the proper size, since most Fay are slender and lithe. I was a lot curvier though, and I had a tail to worry about. So, rather than altering an outfit for me, they made a new one from surprisingly warm and cozy dyed wool cloth. I was worried that it might take days but once they had taken my measurements and the cloth was cut, they used a Tinker-made machine to sew the pieces together really quick.

It still took a little over an hour but once they were finished, Autumn and I were wearing matching outfits consisting of light gray form-fitting wool hose and long-sleeved tops that reminded me of my HESS armor in its standard bodysuit mode. Over top, we wore a barely-there over-layer like a two-piece bathing suit of dark green leaf patterns suggestively covering our breasts and nether regions. It looked a lot like what Autumn had been wearing when we first met. The pair of seamstresses assured me that Humans of high society would find the outfits simply scandalous and that they were normal for Fay winter wear.

The outfits seemed comfortable and went well with the grey-colored winter moccasins and gloves with fur trim that Maryn had found for us. Finishing off the outfits were warm green cloaks the same shade as the leaves with braided fringes along the hems and hoods. They had brightly colored beads and tiny metal bells woven in that shifted and tinkled whenever we moved. They already had a few of the cloaks made for their parents, and they didn’t need to be fitted or altered, so that saved some time. They claimed that it would be easy for them to make more cloaks later.

Since we wouldn’t have belt pouches or anything with the outfits they also provided some simple satchels of Fay design that we would be able to use as purses to store our money pouches and any small items that we happened to buy during our outing. They had thick shoulder straps and would be difficult for purse snatchers or pickpockets to try to cut open or relieve us of. They were also roomy enough to keep our pistols and ammunition hidden.

As they worked, Kyra assured us that since the outfits were made from her wool they would be durable, warm, and fairly damage resistant. The properties of the wool were apparently part of her Seed-borne gift. If tightly woven enough, the cloth could serve as light armor, which was why they both had hose and tops made from it worn underneath their Human clothes, and why they made their parents' clothing from it to wear on missions. She wanted to be able to make more to help other Angels but even having to shave her wool every morning, they would never be able to make enough cloth to serve the needs of very many people.

Kyra had been saving most of it since her Seed-borne gift developed six years earlier but there was barely enough cloth made at the moment for two dozen full outfits, including mine and Autumn’s. I felt bad for that, especially since I had my HESS armor hidden. They shouldn’t have had to use such a precious resource for two strangers. When I mentioned that, leaving out the part about the HESS armor, both seamstresses shook their heads and clasped one of my hands.

“You’re both going to be Angels, Autumn is Fay, she’s from the same village as our mother, and you are her intended mate. That makes you both like family, and we take care of our family,” the Sheepkin young woman insisted, earning a solemn nod from her half-Fay sister. Still, I felt bad and resolved to ask Risha later if we could scan the unique wool cloth to be used as a material in the boutique booths.

I wanted to tell them about the booths and that we might all need to leave the capital soon, but I knew that everything needed to remain classified for now. Instead, I nodded. “We take care of our family too. If we find out anything about what’s going on here in the capital that you might need to know, we’ll come let you know as soon as we can.”

I also insisted on paying them twice what they were asking for the clothes. I had a feeling that they were trying to undercharge us both after seeing what Maryn had paid for her clothes even with the discount they gave to people in the Corps. Between that, the material, and them getting us outfitted relatively quickly they deserved to be paid what they were worth.

As we said our farewells and made our way to meet the others at the café owned by Maryn’s uncle, I decided something else as well. I was going to talk to my grandmother and Sira about the pair taking the Angel Elixir and becoming recruits like us. Sure, Fawn was almost nineteen and Kyra was seventeen but there was no set age limit for new recruits. Most of us were my age but there were a few nearly as old as Fawn.

While talking with them as they made my new outfit we discovered that their parents hadn’t told them that they weren’t suited to be Angels, they just felt that their gifts wouldn’t be useful to the Corps. I could see plenty of use for making things bigger or smaller during combat though and if Kyra let that durable wool of hers grow out a bit she’d have built-in body armor. Regardless though, flashy offensive gifts weren’t what made people good Angels, it was a desire to help and protect others and they both had that in spades.

Maryn seemed to like the pair as much as we did too and I could see her thinking along similar lines as we talked about the creative use of gifts. I could see the two seamstresses fitting in well with Phantom Wing too and with six members, Maryn’s team might just make another good special operations team someday. I was still thinking that over as Maryn led us into a slightly rundown building with a wooden sign hanging over the door that said, The Rusty Halo.

We stepped inside and found that while it may have looked rundown on the outside, the inside was warm, well-maintained, had a friendly atmosphere, and smelled heavenly. Nobody gave us a second glance as we entered and the rest of Storm Wing and Phantom Wing waved to get our attention. They were all sitting at a large trestle table in the back corner, the remnants of their lunch scattered across the table.

“You guys got here quicker than I thought,” Lisbet commented. “I know we’ve all been spoiled by nano-weave factories and stuff since we joined the Corps but my mom is a seamstress and it can take a while to adjust clothes to fit or make a new outfit from bare cloth. You were only gone about an hour and a half though.”

“It is a good thing that Maryn messaged us earlier to let us know that you were going to be a while. I didn’t really think about how much time or work it might take, I have never really had clothes made specifically for me that weren’t done by more advanced means,” Risha said pensively. Then she quickly added, “You know, because I just wore whatever I could find while at the base in the ruins.”

“They had something that they called a sewing machine, made by Tinkers. That made things go a bit faster,” I said with a shrug. “It would have taken a lot longer for them to hand stitch everything. They just had to make a few adjustments to something for Autumn and Maryn but they didn’t have anything that would work for me on hand and, since we wanted to stand out, we decided to push the whole ‘mates’ thing for me and Autumn.

“Aww, it’s so cute that you two match,” Heather said with a smirk and a roll of her eyes. “Those outfits are a bit scandalous though. They don’t leave much to the imagination and, what they do, they draw blatant attention to. I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something so brazen.”

Autumn returned her smirk with a teasing grin. “Aww, but when I told them that Snowy and I weren’t the only potential mates for our group they agreed to make one for you and Risha as well. And you will need something for when you get to spend your time wandering the city as bait. These are traditional cold weather Fay clothes too, and you are Fay, in case you have forgotten.”

Heather turned white and then red and failed to sputter out a reply while Risha just shrugged. “I’ll wear it.” When Heather turned to half glare, half stare at the Avatar in disbelief, she merely shrugged again. “What? They both look sexy as hell, and the material looks comfortable.”

“I’d wear it,” Karina casually agreed.

Heather’s cheeks turned bright crimson and she gaped at me and Autumn for a moment before quickly redirecting her gaze to her lap. “Fine… it’s not like anyone in the city would recognize me anyway. N…not because I like the idea! I just… need to get used to looking and acting like a proper Fay. You know… like you… umm… keep telling me.”

“Sure, Heather,” Orchid teased as Autumn and I sat down to join them and Maryn went to speak with someone at the counter. “And with me and Autumn helping, soon nobody will be able to tell that you weren’t born one of us.”

“One of us… one of us… one of us…” Risha chanted in a slightly creepy voice, drawing confused looks from everyone at the table.

I didn’t have time to ask the AI about the reference, and it probably wasn’t a good idea anyway, as the large man that Maryn had left the table to approach and was now talking to suddenly shouted in glee, “Maryn!” He had dark brown hair and eyes and a bushy beard and he practically crushed Maryn in a hug as he lifted her off the ground and carried her back to our table. “The Angel Elixir was good to you, lass! How’s my favorite niece?”

“I’m your only niece, Uncle Jarl,” Maryn laughed as the huge man placed her in an empty chair at the table. Then the leader of Phantom Wing began to make the introductions. Jarl was a boisterous man who obviously adored his niece and since Maryn, Autumn, and I hadn’t eaten lunch with the others he was eager to please in that regard.

“Let me get you lasses something to eat then. I’ll bring out your favorite, Maryn,” he offered with a bearlike grin before giving me and Autumn an appraising look. “I have some boar steaks with baked potatoes and some honey bread for the Fay lass. Worry not, it didn’t suffer. A friend of mine made sure of that, and it was killed because it was causing havoc in the farmlands outside the city. It tore up a good bit of the forest too.”

Autumn grinned and nodded vigorously, jumping at the chance for a bit of guilt-free meat. “That would be great, thank you. It is nice to meet someone who is so knowledgeable about Fay eating habits.”

“My pleasure, lass. I have good friends in one of the nearby glades and I visit with trade goods on occasion. I got some good mead last time that I was there too if that tickles your fancy,” he said with a grin as my Fay girlfriend enthusiastically nodded her acceptance. “And for the Catkin lass? Some nice fish maybe? Or would you like the same thing as your partner? You make a fair couple, if you don’t mind me sayin’.”

I found myself liking Maryn’s uncle, I could see where she got her exuberant friendliness from. As tempting as the fish was, I found myself saying, “I’ll have what Autumn is having, I’ve always wanted to try mead, and a steak sounds really good right now. Thank you very much, Sir.”

He laughed and said, “My pleasure, lass. None of that ‘sir’ business with me though, ya hear? Maryn’s friends can call me Uncle Jarl. I’ll bring out the bread and mead first to start you lasses off while the cooks get the rest going.”

Uncle Jarl hurried off to the kitchen and returned with a tray that held a plate piled high with small loaves of bread, two large mugs filled with a golden liquid, and a third mug with what looked and smelled like fresh goat milk. There was plenty of bread for both us and Maryn, and the scent of it was amazing. As good as the smell was though, it didn’t compare to the taste.

It was warm and sweet, fresh from the oven and there was a cup of creamy butter and another filled with strawberry jam if we wanted it. I had butter on mine and the bread practically melted in my mouth even as the butter had on the warm loaves. The mead was sweet too and seemed to have more of a kick than the ale or wine that my grandmother had sometimes let me have on special occasions. Not that our nanites would let us get drunk, but the taste was something that I thought I could definitely get used to.

I had decided that I was definitely going to eat at The Rusty Halo again by the time the main course had arrived. Maryn was having some type of mixed vegetables and meat cooked in a tangy-smelling sauce and the steaks were well worth the short wait. They were nicely seared on the outside but thick, juicy, and cooked to perfection with grilled mushrooms and gravy on top. The potatoes were nice and fluffy too, and it was probably one of the best meals that I ever had that didn’t come out of a food dispenser.

Autumn seemed to enjoy the meal as much as I had and we were both grinning from ear to ear by the time we finished eating and decided to pay our bill. Considering that my ears are on the top of my head, that’s saying something. With full bellies, we spoke in hushed tones as we discussed our plan of action for the rest of the afternoon and evening with our teams.

The other members of Storm Wing planned to follow behind Autumn and me from a distance, keeping close enough to respond if needed but out of sight of us as they pretended to take in the city as new Angel recruits and Risha monitored our GPS locators. The only exception would be Karina, who would follow us along the rooftops and keep an eye out for trouble from above. We would be keeping our comms open the entire time as well so that the others could monitor us more easily.

All of the members of Phantom Wing, except for Maryn, would be sticking with Lisbet, Risha, and Heather to make it seem like they were a group of friends from the academy (which was technically true). Maryn would follow us a bit closer and keep us in sight so she could catch any conversations or comments about us, or Seed-borne in general, once we were out of hearing range. We were hoping that she would be seen as just a young noblewoman out exploring the marketplace and spending her parents’ or husband’s money.

Autumn and I left the café first, still smiling as we walked hand in hand and made no secret of our affection for one another, and occasionally stopped to share a kiss as we made our way, following Maryn’s directions toward the marketplace to begin our date. We figured that we would get the most exposure there since it was frequented by people of all walks of life. After some shopping and being seen we would try to head into the nobles’ district and see how that went while playing lost visitors to the city. I had to admit that it was nice having some alone time with Autumn and holding her hand, even if while we giggled, talked, and tried to appear relaxed we had to keep our senses alert to the people around us and possible danger.