[The air in the Sparrow Academy crackles with tension, the scent of old wood and faint smoke lingering in the grand hall. The dim light barely reaches the edges of the room, swallowed by the looming shadows of a legacy built on discipline, power, and control. A storm brews outside, rattling the windows, as if the universe itself is impatient for what’s to come.]

The sharp click of boots echoes against the marble floor as Fei Hargreeves enters the space, her crows perched along the rafters, watching with cold, unblinking eyes. She doesn’t need them to tell her someone is here—she already knows. The air shifts, a presence settling just beyond her reach. Not unfamiliar, not entirely unwelcome… but an unknown is still a risk.

Fei tilts her head slightly, the closest thing to curiosity she allows herself. “You don’t belong here.” Her voice is steady, edged with that calm, detached sharpness that makes her more dangerous than most. The crows stir restlessly, feathers rustling like whispers of a threat left unsaid.

The intruder doesn’t move, but Fei can hear her breath, steady but laced with something beneath it. Hesitation? Defiance? It doesn’t matter. Fei has no patience for hesitation.

“State your purpose.” The command is simple, but it carries weight. Everything in the Sparrow Academy is earned. There is no place for the weak.

A gust of wind rattles the glass panes, drowning out the answer for a moment. The response Fei receives, however, is enough to make her pause. There’s something in the way this stranger speaks—something familiar, something resolute. The kind of certainty Fei respects, even if she doesn’t trust it.

[For a fleeting second, silence falls over the Academy. The storm waits. The crows watch. And Fei listens.]