"Do you think less of the Demolition Special Division?" Heather asked, her voice feral.
"No ma'am, of course not." Lindi said quickly, her own voice heightening.
"Do you think yourself too weak for the Demolition Squad but strong enough for any of the others? Especially my beloved assassination division?"
Wild game would have run from the viciousness in her tone.
"No ma'am, please," Lindi cried out.
"Calm down." Heather sighed, calming down herself, "Nomonda, you're done, let's get our bags ready,"
"Swords out?" Nomonda asked, hopeful.
"Absolutely not, we clean and hide everything, armour in its place, swords within immediate pulling range, bows should have already been in place. Once everything is done there'll be an inspection, I'll get the outfits ready. The town of Lumber House is a day away at least and collected wisdom dictates there's a festival welcoming the beginning of the New Year. We haven't met anyone yet but there should be people coming from all roads soon, we need our names set up. What's the name of our travelling troop?" Heather asked pointing to Nomonda.
"The Sky Ram Merry Makers" Nomonda barked before going back to brushing out the black muck from her helmet.
Heather dug her hand into her hair, once soft blonde dreads were, rigid and, by the feel of it, pointing in all directions. She was grateful for the lack of still water or mirrors. The rest didn't look better, but at least all their hair looked the part, pitch black, very much like the Black Air Raider acting troupe, the true Merry Makers.
She'd met the Merry Makers and knew they looked nothing like them. But the smaller details didn't matter, a person questioned on their appearances, what would only remember what stuck out: All women group? Yes. All black wings? Yes. All black hair? Yes. No weapons? Maybe. Faces? Not likely, especially over time.
Unfortunately, the only good plan was one that had already succeeded.
Heather's eyes turned to Qondile; her hair looked as though it were stuck in a frozen storm.
"Qondile, what's my name, what's Lindi's name?" Heather asked.
Qondile looked up, dropping her helmet to salute. It meant standing up straight, raising the back half of her wings up and pointing the second half, past the joint, to the ground.
"Ma'am you are Night, Nomonda is Dawn, so Lindi is Evening."
"I never asked for Nomonda's name." Heather/Night snapped.
"Apologies ma'am," Qondile said relaxing again.
"Sarah, what's Twilight's instrument? Point Twilight out." Heather barked at Sarah.
Sarah was organising her weapons, by laying them at perfect intervals before switching to her shield. It was thin, round with a leather interior. Next came wing mail made from spider silk, then, body plating, leggings, a breast plate, a collar and a helmet.
She broke away from her routine and saluted, pointing to Shoki,
"Shoki or Twilight, doesn't play an instrument, only Day, Dawn." Heather nodded, looking to Mags.
Mags, who'd already tied up her bag, it tight saluted. Her hair was nothing more than fuzz making it look best.
"Ma'am I am Morning! The second lead dancer behind Lindi for two of the seven routines! Your position is head for two routines while being last and third lead for all the others. Ma'am!" Mags/Morning yelled.
"Lindi, give the names of those unmentioned so far, who is our lead second lead? Speaker?"
"Qondile is Day ma'am, you are the lead speaker and I am second." Lindi/Evening said loudly.
"Good, for now. Mags you look ready, everyone else line up for inspection. You have ten seconds."
Heather counted down quick and sharp till she hit zero Sarah was first, Nomonda barely made it. Heather pretended not to notice, there was little time to be fooling around.
Heather looked to her own first, it was large, heavy, rolled into three buns and knotted to one. She tested it, groping the bottom till she found the hilt of her sword. Satisfied, she moved to Nomonda. The searches continued with her, pulling and hitting to see if anything jingled or showed. She made a point of seeing if any of the girls toppled. To her relief, none did.
Satisfied, she patted Lindi and looked to the sky. There were seven hours till noon, leaving a good gap before Lumber House, which was at least a full day away. A good flying distance, which was out of the question, they needed to keep their cover.
Either way, her wings were lead. There was no moving them in that dry heat. In Enduku getting wind to fill their wings was an event bigger than the New Year. The lands were so void, one couldn't find a Black Air Raider who wasn't naturally depressed.
"Everything off, we're on our last phase," She said.
They threw off their bags, pulling off their tunics and robes while Heather pulled out a large clay jar filled with tiny jars of paint.