The First Step

Ash sat cross legged on the mud while Mayra sat a little distance away on a cleaner, uprooted part of the tree.

"You should take these concerns up with the chancellor. He can do something about the tools and the workshop."

"Have we not tried?"

"He sends us away, asking to file a paper?"

"Paper? Treating us like goblins, asking for a paper."

"We do not do paper. We are not the people of trade dealing in paper."

Ash explained. "The counsellor gets many problems to sort everyday. If he does not organize all the things that need to done and remembered by paper, things will not be done."

"It is unfair, setting up rules suited for the goblins."

"We should settle it like dwarfs, let us use our axes."

"I will use my shovel."

Ash interrupted quickly. "your shovel is broken," she took a pause for the dwarfs to look at the piece of wood that was without its metalic end, "but I have a solution. A solution that will let you keep working without taking the extra pain of paperwork."

"A solution by a human."

"Crafty humans do not give for free." the most negative of them always slid in quickly.

"A solution for something in return."

"A solution for a solution."

Ash went next, "A favor for a favor."

"What is this favor?"

"I will do the paperwork for you. And if you will tell me the conditions you would like met, I will organize them on paper for the chancellor to deal with them."

"A new shovel," the one whose shovel had broken, spoke sadly.

"A new axe."

"New tools because the old ones have worn off."

"Our workshop has worn off."

"A new workshop."

Before they could get ahead of themselves, Ash said, "a renovated workshop sounds reasonable."

"A new workshop."

"Not a goblin discard."

"A workshop made by dwarfs for dwarf tools."

"Like the one you are taught with?" Ash took a guess. The facilities of the university was one of the best and they were constantly expanding, making room for more labs and hands on training this year.

"Pristine quality metal."

"Nice maple wood."

"Cedar wood."

"Oak wood." that grabbed everyone's attention and they murmured, together. Ash nodded, "oak wood can be agreed upon."

Mayra said, "self made tools need workshop. Let us also throw in good working conditions, a proper ladder to move about and proper working hours. It is doable."

Ash concluded the same.

"Sounds too good to be true."

"I'd bargain anything for a new shovel."

"Bargain with a goblin. Will you?"

"A human as nice as that, I will."

"Thank you. I offer you fair trade." Ash said to the group. Almost none of the dwarfs had gone to work, hanging on their conversation.

"Humans. Close cousins of goblins in trade."

"All cut from the same cloth."

Ash smiled slightly, "you do not expect a fair without any returns now. Do you? I... could do that but wouldn't that make you downright uncomfortable?"

"A favor for a favor it is."

"Speak your mind human."

For the first time, nothing followed up. silence. Utter silence as far as her eye could see. Sitting down on the floor, also put her at eye level, surrounded, talking like them, of the mud, working with the mud.

Her next words were slow and careful. "If I can get the chancellor to agree to your terms of working, you have to agree to a request of mine."

"A fair trade is a fair trade."

"Or is it a human trick to get us to work more."

"Or a sneaky move to get something off of us."

"Or a trade unfair all together."

Before more dwarfs could join in, Ash presented her terms quickly. "I don't have big demands in return. Who is your representative?"

The tiny dwarf who was often the first to speak up raised his stubby chin. "why?"

"If the chancellor agrees to your terms, I want the dwarf representative to join the student council."

The dwarf scowled, "the terms have been laid but I do not like them."

"Are there goblins and those scruffy gnomes you will make us work for?"

Ash did not lie. Instead, she chose her words carefully. "If I have a way, I'd have all the representatives join the council because the council is the solution to your problems. The council is the easy path, an easy solution to everyone's problems. It is the council's job to present your problems to the management and negotiate from your side."

"Why would those high nosed nobles do that for us earthlings?"

"Indeed why? Since none of you are on the council, you cannot raise your voice on your own. If I, your friend wasn't on it, you'd keep digging and working as usual, no one to listen to your demands. No new workshop and no new shovel."

"The gods have blessed us with a friend," the representative said thoughtfully.

"A friend in a high place."

"A useful friend."

But Ash waited for the one that often came up with a refute to cast some bad light on her. She wanted to cover all bases, make her case irrefutable. The dwarf looked at her sharply and added, "a friend that hides its intentions."

Ash quickly asked, "hide how? hide what?"

"What is in it for you?"

"I am on a mission to get everyone on the council. Your joining fulfils a small part of my mission. If I fulfil my mission well, I get to stay on the council. Being on the council is worth enough credits for me to drop a few classes. I am highly looking forward to studying less this year."

"Everyone complains about studying."

"Hard work is the key to a good life."

"Run away from it and you will suffer."

And on they went with the good and bad aspects of it. Ash cut in. "Do we have a deal?"

The representative asked. "do I get the assigned credits?"

Ash nodded. "credits are the same for everyone but if you'd like a confirmation, I will look into it for you."

"Confirm this for me and we have a deal."

"A fair trade."

"Good tools."

"A workshop."

"Our workshop."

And the chorus fell through the small group, all around them. The dwarfs cheered.

As Ash left the dwarfs to it, Mayra wrapped her arm around Ash's elbow, being careful with the superficial wound. "Stay with me. There is an extra bed in the siren's room and the seniors mostly do not bother much with who is coming and going unless their load is safe."

Ash agreed. Mayra was worried and it was best not to sleep alone.

When Ash woke up, it was already time for the nixies class. Mayra was sleeping on a chair, head on the desk.

"Mayra," she woke up her friend softly. "If you don't have classed. Go sleep in your bed."

Mayra sat up straight. "you have classed? I will escort you."

Ash shook her head. "I already found an escort. You sleep"

Already drowsy. Mayra's eyes were closing before she had finished talking. Ash had to wake her up twice more to get her to bed. On the desk, she noticed, Mayra had downloaded a tracking application and some of C's message on how to activate the application. After a quick drop to Room W, she headed for her first class in all preparedness.

On the way, she followed C's instruction to activate the app. It would still be disrupted by witch rituals but for now, she wanted Mayra to got back to her normal schedule.

Once outside the nixie building, she held her umbrella, put her phone inside the waterproof bag and headed in. Surprisingly, the building was quiet and dry. It looked like she had dropped by a casual classroom.

The reason, she found in the assigned room. Where the professor had been yesterday was a familiar face.

"Come in. You are late. A report on the history of nixies and how they came to posses the kind of characteristics and attributes they do today."

Ash ducked her head, took an empty seat in the back and bowed slightly, "yes sir."

"I am too old for this ladies and gentlemen. I have little tolerance for misconduct. Anyone steps out of line, its a report. The number and length of report will keep increase with each offense. And it will directly tie in to your passing grades this year."

A wave of surprise passed through the group.

A nixie raised her hand at the head of the class. "Surley you will not be so harsh on us."

Nixie magic was subtler that siren's. Ash had not bought any notebook to take notes of these magical attributes the nixies tried using on the professor.

The chancellor showed no change. "For using hypnosis on the professor you will copy the entire treaty between the nixies, selkies, kelpies and sirens on the shared use of the Tasmanian Sea."

"Tasmanian Sea? That's whole another world. What's that got to do with us nixies of the Atlantic?"

The chancellor picked up a long notebook and looked down in it, eyes so narrowed that it looked funny. Some of the nixies giggled. The professor gave them no reaction. Encouraged by his absent attention, a small stream of water began to flow backwards, between the chairs to the door. Ash was not far from the door as it passed by her, splashing without anyone's touch, throwing water at her ankles as it went.

"Ah. Found it. Aren't you studying broadcast and media? I heard you are first in your class but they did not make you representative of the first years of the broadcast club. Something about..." the chancellor lowered over his ledger containing dirt, "about changing the weather?"

The stream had dried up, run its course as the leader of nixie was distracted. the chancellor closed the ledger and said, "while you are writing that treaty, might as well make a report on the weather pattern that affects our climate and what happens when supernatural disruptions are made to those patterns."

No one was giggling anymore.

Ash thought maybe, just maybe she could have a normal nixie class. The chancellor turned around and said, "we will start with the basics of hypnosis today. If you will..." he looked at the nixie who had tried to hypnotise him.

"Come forward and demonstrate one on one." he called another to stand face to face.

The nixie stood there, eyes transfixed, asking, "what is the password for your phone?"

The hypnotised nixie used water to trace a mark in the air. When one blinked, the other blinked and the link was broken. The other nixie shot to his seat and dived for his phone at the same time as the other nixie. The class all laughed, even the chancellor smiled.

"The best way to avoid such a fate is to ground yourself in reality. The quickest way is to go through pain and the easiest way is to blink rapidly, even if it is not the surest method. Clearly none of them are fail proof."

The chancellor went on talking about hypnosis, ways and methods, human expertise in it and the requirement for a strong mind, everything she had covered in her magical studies back home. As soon as the class ended, she was the first one out of the door, before any of the nixie could catch her in a prank.

However, she had barely stepped out of the room when she heard. "An assignment for the entire class- find out the history of the university and make a timeline, starting from its first establishment and all the significant moments leading up to this day."

The nixie with the biggest work load groaned, "that's three in just one day."

The chancellor reminded, "due at the next class."

Now the entire class groaned.

Ash moved quickly and paused outside the building for were-people. She did not want to encounter any werecats on her way up but she couldn't avoid him forever. If not this term, she would have to take the class next term. at some point she'd end up meeting that man. With more courage in her back than she felt, she walked in and up the stiars. Everywhere was empty. Everyone was in classes.

Ash reached the designated class, walking past the hallway for the first time. The werewolf class was a circle of benches and chair pushed back to make room for the upside down competition between Karlene and Sven.

Looking at familiar faces made her breath easier. Karn was at the forefront of cheering. No sound came out but his fist banged into the desk with a steady Thump-Thump-Thump, Thump-Thump-Thump, Thump-Thump-Thump, making the atmosphere tribal. Karlene and Sven's faces were red already but Karlene's looked far too contrasting against her white short hair.

Ash slipped into the room, moving at the back of the crowd, unsure to take an empty seat when Karn turned to look at her. His fist paused and the crowd looked about in confusion. Karlene wobbled, and fell forward, standing straight. Sven stood right after her and cheered, arms open for Karlene. Karelene scowled at him and pushed him away. When Karlene saw her, she scowled. Other werewolves had also spotted her. Most of them had seen her the day before while acting a bowling balls.

The doors opened behind her and the professor walked in, "alight you rowdy muttons, take a seat in 3, 2..."