Season 2: Chapter 7: Color misaligned

Chapter : Color Cards and Unexpected Paths

The soft rustling of papers and the quiet humming of the central hearth filled the newly converted war room—once a Dwarven meeting hall, now stacked with Traveler guides, light crystal terminals, and project boards layered with maps, names, and shifting strategy lines.

Riven stood near the center table, a large schematic of city sectors and forest zones spread out before him. His arms were crossed, hat slightly tilted, lips pursed in deep thought as he waited for the others to finish checking their new assignment cards.

Aurelia Dawnmere, dressed in her usual black-gold blazer and long skirt, tapped nervously at her personal Guide device. Her soft white-blonde hair fluttered slightly from the room's ventilation fan as she checked her logs for the third time.

"Um..." she finally murmured, eyes wide. "I think I might've… sent everyone the wrong color designations."

Garrick, holding a green-labeled card, raised a brow. "I thought I was Red Sector?"

Nico, inspecting his own bright blue card, frowned. "You gave me Logistics? What am I supposed to do—fix broken pipes with my tail?"

Oliver glanced at his Red Sector card silently, then at Fern, who had a Blue card clipped to her sash. She didn't say anything, only gave Aurelia a deadpan look and sighed.

Yotel was leaning against the back wall, reading a card labeled "Orange," which amused him more than anything. "Hmph. Unexpected randomness breeds good variables."

The room murmured with growing confusion.

Riven finally lifted his hand, still calm as ever.

"That's alright," he said.

Everyone looked up.

Riven turned, facing them all with his usual unreadable confidence. "It's not a mistake. It's an adjustment. We needed a little diversity anyway."

Aurelia blinked. "But it messes with the chain of structure. I was going to have Oliver handle outreach, Nico with recruiting, Fern with the forest…"

Riven gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let it play out. The real world doesn't follow structure. It tests it."

He turned back to the group. "Consider this your trial round. Operate under your color for one week. Let's see what skills come forward under different roles."

Cylde, holding a Red card, mumbled under his breath, "So I'm frontline now?"

Zack, as usual, said nothing—only flicked his blank silver card between his fingers. No color. Just "ZACK."

Goldie, now perched on a table with legs swaying, grinned. "This is more fun anyway. Chaos breeds discovery."

Fern folded her arms. "I'll tolerate logistics for now. But if someone asks me to repair a faucet, I'm uprooting them."

Rowin Gale, who just strolled in holding a smoothie, looked at his Green Sector card and nodded. "Hey, I don't mind gardening. I met a weird plant girl once. Learned a few things."

Riven smiled faintly. "Good. Then this might actually lead us to something stronger than pre-planned roles."

He leaned over the map again and began marking out their next weekly assignments—based on the new colors.

The experiment had begun.

Whether by fate or Aurelia's clerical error, the Traveler campaign would now be run by a jumbled, re-shuffled team.

And oddly enough...

It might work better this way.