Chapter Text
Bright and early on the morning of his first day at Aguefort Adventuring Academy, Buddy Dawn was sitting at the kitchen counter finishing a bowl of cereal and trying to ignore the first-day-of-school nerves that were twisting his insides into knots. Faint hymns came through the ceiling where his grandparents were still singing together in their bathroom as they got ready for the day, celebrating the defeat of the Night Yorb’s darkness and the return of Sol’s light. They’d been at church for an impromptu picnic yesterday from the time the sun returned to the time it set on its natural cycle for the first time in months, everyone cooking, laughing, singing, and praying together. If he concentrated hard enough, he could still smell the last remnants of the aroma of honey cornbread baking in the oven that Grandma Dawn had filled the kitchen with yesterday.
Just as he was wondering whether there might still be a piece or two left over that he could swap his rapidly-disintegrating cornflakes out for, the doorbell rang and pulled him back into the present. Although he had no clue who could be at their door at 7 in the morning, he went to answer it anyways. Considering his grandfather's status within the church, he supposed it must be some poor sinner seeking emergency spiritual help. A little unorthodox, admittedly, to appear at their house rather than call ahead and arrange an appointment at the church, but not unheard of.
Well, may Helio bless their soul, and I'll do what I can to help until Grandpa’s available , Buddy thought as he opened the door. He wasn't entirely sure what sort of situation he was expecting. Maybe someone with the grief of a lost family member still clinging to them, seeking reassurance that their loved one was with Helio, or the desperate parent of a straying child seeking a bit of guidance and some extra prayer power. What he was definitely not expecting to see was a little girl in a pristine school uniform, standing ramrod straight with impeccable posture and her hands neatly folded behind her back. Or- no, he supposed thinking of her as a little girl wasn’t quite right. She wasn't really a little girl in that she was a young girl. She looked about as old as he was, actually. She was just- well- little . Literally. The top of her perfect, sleek ponytail barely reached the middle of Buddy's torso.
Entirely wrong-footed at the sight of a person so small looking so proper and adult, Buddy fumbled, “Uh, hello, miss, I- uh- what can I do you for?”
She smiled politely and stuck out her hand. “My name's Kipperlilly Copperkettle. I'm a student volunteer with the orientation committee at Aguefort Adventuring Academy. I'm here to walk you to school this morning and give you a run-down of Aguefort rules, regulations, expectations, and campus culture on the way.” Her voice was chipper and impressively fast.
“Well praise Helio, that sounds mighty helpful,” Buddy said, shaking her tiny hand. He was almost surprised at himself for how honestly relieved he felt. He must've been harboring a few more worries about attending Aguefort than he’d thought. Worry was a sign of a lack of trust in Sol, and he knew he could've stood to have prayed a little more about it. Maybe if he had, he would’ve been able to hand more of his worries over to Sol and he'd be feeling less nervous now. Anyhow, the small girl – Kipperlilly – was offering the package deal of both meeting a classmate and finding out what to expect at a Solesian school. It was a blessing from Sol either way! See, there was no need to be nervous, he reminded himself, not when he lived in the palm of Helio’s hand. He would be provided for. “Give me two popped kernels to grab my things and I'll be out the door!”
Thinking it best to let her stand on the porch rather than invite her inside (the thought of her inside his house made him feel uncomfortable, for reasons he couldn’t quite identify. He figured it was something to do with the slight uncanniness coming from how small she was), Buddy ran back to the kitchen to drop his bowl and spoon in the sink, then grabbed his staff, holy book, and backpack from the end of the coffee table where he'd left them.
“Grandpa, I'm walking to school! The sunshine's too nice to waste,” Buddy called up the stairs as he opened the front door. He didn’t mention the small girl.
The door had barely closed before the girl spoke again. “How’s your family adjusting to Solace?” she asked as she hopped off the porch and Buddy swung his bag over his shoulder.
“We’re adjusting well, thank you, Miss- Miss…” He’d forgotten her name. Come on, Buddy, this is Spreading the Word 101! Always remember their name, and make sure to use it, so they’re reminded that Helio loves each and every kernel individually, not just the whole cob!
“Copperkettle. But Kipperlilly’s fine,” she said. “You were saying?”
“Kipperlilly, my apologies. Yes, we’re adjusting just about as well as anyone what with the darkness all summer. But we trusted in Helio and He held us close and saw us through it,” Buddy said. “How about your family? I’m sure they're glad to be back in Sol’s light too.”
Kipperlilly ignored his polite turnaround of the question. “Your grandfather’s Bobby Dawn,” she said. It wasn’t a question so much as it was a statement of fact.
“Yes, yes he is, and I’m so blessed to have him,” Buddy replied, unsure of where she was going with this. Everyone knew his grandfather, didn’t they? He was one of the most famous preachers of Sol’s word, so of course everyone had at least heard of him.
They rounded a corner, and the rapid click-click-click-click of Kipperlilly's shoes drew Buddy's attention to just how fast she was walking. She was covering pavement at an impressive pace for someone with legs so small.
“Pardon, but, should I… slow down? Your legs are awful short to be going that fast,” Buddy offered.
Kipperlilly gave him an odd, almost appraising look. “I can keep up,” she said, when she seemed to have found what she was looking for in his face. “You got here a month and five days ago, didn’t you?”
“I- yes I did,” Buddy hadn’t been keeping track, but the estimate sounded eerily correct. He wondered absently whether halflings had some sort of intrinsic mind-reading ability. Or was she a gnome? He’d never been able to tell them apart very well. Either way, he was suddenly very aware of the possibility that someone other than Sol could see into his mind. “Why do you ask?”
“You really went more than a month here without meeting any other small folk?”
“Well, we didn’t really go outside much during the darkness if we could help it,” Buddy explained, “so I haven’t met much of anyone yet, small or normal-size. But I know Helio has a plan for this just like He has a plan for everything, so I don’t feel the need to worry.”
Kipperlilly turned down the block, an unreadable expression on her face. “Today’s going to be an interesting day for you, for sure. Try not to let it overwhelm you.”
Buddy felt suddenly more uneasy than he had before. “Are there many… non-humans? Attending Aguefort?” Trust in Sol and He will guide you through. Helio will never lead you astray , Buddy reassured himself.
“Mhm,” Kipperlilly confirmed, then continued, “Aguefort's student body is only approximately ten percent human, but you could claim up to 25 percent when taking mixed-race students into account. Around fifty percent of the student body is of some sort of elven descent. Small folk are about 35 percent, and the rest are made up of or mixed with genasi, dragonborn, orcish, tiefling, and lots of other kinds of people. I hear the artificers even have a Modron exchange student from Mechanus this year.”
Buddy's head reeled. There was so much to take in that he wasn’t sure he'd be able to acclimate to it. What even was a Modron? The prospect of being faced with so many foreign people and lifestyles felt daunting. Back in Highcourt, race was never something he had to think about. Everyone was human, everyone followed Helio, and life ran smoothly. How did people manage to exist in the same space without conflict when they couldn't even agree on the most basic of views? Everything was just so much easier when everyone was made in the image of Sol and everyone followed Helio.
He cast around desperately for something to focus on that was a little closer to his comfort zone, and his eyes landed on Kipperlilly’s pristine school sweater. “Did- did we need to get school uniforms? I don’t remember anything mentioning it, but-”
“Oh, no, they’re entirely optional,” Kipperlilly said. “I just choose to wear it because I like to feel properly dressed for the occasion. Makes a good impression.” She shifted so Buddy could see a pin on her chest. “This isn’t uniform anyways, it’s from my adventuring party. We all have one. You’ll need to officially pick a party when we get to school. Usually adventuring parties are picked freshman year, so it can be hard for transfers to find a party with an available spot to join, but my party’s… down a member. And we already have the spot all ready for you to be our cleric.” She paused to breathe – not that Buddy got the impression that she needed to do so particularly often – then continued, “if you'd like, obviously, you don't have to, but we'd really love to have you.”
To tell the truth, Buddy was deeply relieved to hear that there was a party already waiting for him. It strengthened him to know that Sol had already laid down a path for him, and all he had to do was follow it. “It sounds like there's so much going on at Aguefort that I'm inclined to accept,” Buddy said with a gracious smile, and quoted, “‘To allow Helio to guide my path is always the surest route.’”
Amen , he finished in his head when Kipperlilly didn't respond. Even after a month of living in Solace, he was still getting used to most Solesians’ strange habit of not acknowledging the wisdom of Helio in conversation. He wondered if prayer was a more private thing in their tradition. Then again, it was possible that halflings weren't even Helioic, but Buddy preferred to assume the best of people.
“Tell me about your party,” he went on. “I figure it'd be polite to know who’s who when I say hello.”
Kipperlilly gave Buddy a brief yet efficient profile of each member of the Rat Grinders – that was their party name, for some reason – that was so fast and articulate it must’ve been rehearsed. Kipperlilly herself was a rogue. Ruben, their bard, was an emo musician (Buddy wasn’t entirely sure what emo meant, but he trusted that he’d figure it out once he met Ruben himself). Oisín and Ivy, from the way Kipperlilly presented them, seemed to be something of an inseparable duo of wizard and ranger. Mary Ann, though small and, from Kipperlilly’s description, a bit odd, was a formidable barbarian. And Buddy was all lined up to be their new cleric.
“Now, first things first,” Kipperlilly continued as they approached the school. Buddy tried to take in the grounds and the building but was somewhat distracted by wondering whether Kipperlilly even needed to breathe between sentences. “We don’t go to class right away on the first day of school. There’s a start-of-year assembly in the auditorium, we pick up our schedules on the way out, and then find our classes.”
Buddy rushed ahead to push the gate onto the grounds open for Kipperlilly.
“Thanks,” she said, and apparently without looking at a watch or any sort of timepiece at all, declared, “It’s 7:43, so you have seventeen minutes to say hi to the party and start getting acquainted. I have some paperwork to submit” – she rustled a large, orange envelope importantly as she raised her arm to point across the lawn – “but they’re right over there. It was nice to meet you!”
She bounced over to a table that appeared to be manned by a real, actual werewolf, and Buddy decided very deliberately that he was not going to worry about that right now.
The Rat Grinders, as Buddy approached, were very… diverse. Besides Kipperlilly being a halfling, Ruben and Mary Ann were also incredibly small (he had no clue what Mary Ann was, but she looked rather lizard-like and definitely had scales instead of skin). Ivy had the tell-tale pointed ears of an elf, and Oisín looked to be part dragon. Buddy tried to come up with a greeting, and only after coming up dumb did he realize how incredibly out of place he felt here. He had no clue how to approach these people.
Lord Helio, grant me serenity…
“You must be Buddy,” said Ivy with a lazy Fallinel drawl that Buddy had only ever heard in movies, looking him up and down. He silently thanked Sol that one of them had started the conversation for him, then took a deep breath and nodded.