In the Barracks... Story of a Soldier

[tacere]

A Note To All Readers: Keirus is also prone to sudden lapses of extreme bipolar disorder :)

Marching. Endlessly marching. That was the life of a soldier. It wasn’t the fame or the glory that the war heroes of old claimed it was, but rather a slogging chore filled with people as dull and tasteless as the things they did, and the food they ate. ‘ATTENTION!’ A pen and notebook clattered to the ground as Keirus shot up and saluted, the sunlight streamed into his eyes as he focused on the officer before him. ‘At ease.’ His back felt stiff, but he kept it rigid, widening his stance and swinging his arms to his back, hinging his elbows and grabbing onto his hands behind his back, posture was perfect, unyielding, and just how they drilled it into the recruits from the slum areas. He wasn’t wearing the uniform at the time, since he was off duty, his patrol wasn’t scheduled for another run for a couple days. So why was he under scrutiny? The officer stopped in front of Keirus, scanning the male top to bottom in a way that was almost menacing. ‘Why are you not eating with the others?’ He stared into the younger male’s face, “Permission to speak freely sir?” He swallowed, the dry lump in his throat made him feel like he was going to choke ‘Permission granted’. “Thank you sir. Well, to put it bluntly, the rest of my patrol never let me relax and I’m frustrated with the lot. Sometimes it’s the only time alone I can get…” The higher officer nodded, taking a few paces away before turning around and half smiling, “It’s difficult to be stuck in a place full of pig heads for too long, you’ll go mad. Carry on.” He turned back and adjusted his had before slowly walking back to the meal quarters, his figure growing fainter with each step.

The green haired male sat back down, picking up his pen and notebook again, and opening up to the page he had been scribbling on quietly before, drew a sharp line below it. Thinking to himself that he had to “Stop this treasonous trail of thoughts”, Instead he began to draw. They were recently issued a new form of weapon, a handgun, along with the standard assortment of knives or swords they offered. But this new weapon was fascinating. He longed to study it more and add some new features. The aiming system was rather awful for starters, and he quickly roughed out a fairly accurate sketch of the gun, then picking a different color pen, he started to try drawing different attachments, all possibilities that he would later sort when he had more time. Unlike the others, he wasn’t content with using merely what they were given. No. That was only the first step, then it had to be improved, smoothed and worked upon. After about 30 minutes or so of more drawing, he set aside the book with a gentle sigh, the air rushing out of his lungs with a soft whoosh. Swiftly tucking the book and pens away in his belongings, he stretched and wandered over to the meal quarters, knowing they would still be eating. When he got there, he smirked, he was right as per usual. Grabbing the rations with a grin and a word of thanks, he swaggered over to his table and stepped on the edge, hands in his pockets. Looking up, the patrol all held deep scowls until they saw who it was, then they let out a shout and a laugh and all cleared a seat for him, slapping him on the back and shouting roughly. ‘What took you so long?!’ ‘Honestly we thought some rebels got their hands on you!’ ‘Next time I’m eating your rations.’ They all teased and grinned, calling out in a cacophonic mix of voices, joking around with the ease that those with full stomachs can. Outwardly, he looked much weaker than these muscle headed men around him, but they all knew that Keirus was a soldier to be feared and respected. Not quite a muscular man, but not slim either, the others learned the hard way that he was not someone to be trifled with. “Now then boys! Which of you feel lucky today?” He put out his arm and winked, it was almost a tradition for someone to try and beat the green eyed soldier in an arm wrestling match every week or so, in which Keirus almost undoubtedly turned up as the winner.

McArthur, a slow hulking man of 28 moved forward, taking a seat and grinning at the smaller figure before him. ‘Well I almost feel bad for hurting such a little boy’s pride.’ McMurphy laughed, a wheezing sound much akin to coughing, the hardened stares of everyone around was the only reply he got. Keirus smiled cordially, “Well then, let’s see if you can beat such a little boy.” He felt his hand grip around the other’s sweaty palm and he forced himself not to grimace and wipe his hand clean. Someone in the background shouted for silence, and the one closest tapped their hands, ‘Okay? Ready? Begin!’ Keirus quickly analyzed the other, arm was strong, but the wrist was weak, bend it and he’ll cave it. But being a bit dramatic so he could win his teammates some bets, he pretended to struggle, slowly showing signs of losing. With a familiar grin creeping on the edge of his lips, his patrol noted this and started raising bets on Keirus, which the other patrol accepted immediately, thinking it was surely set. As soon as the last bet had been called, the green haired individual suddenly seemed to move with a vigor, suddenly pushing back with a force that startled his opponent, who was now struggling to try and force the other back down, the grin widened a bit, and he swiftly pushed forward, but twisted his grip ever so slightly, but enough to make an audible crack sound from the other’s wrist, before he pounded McMurphy’s hand against the table. A brief second of silence ensued, then there was much laughter behind him, as his group gleefully collected the earnings of their bets, and the other side moaned in shock and disbelief. With a wink, the smaller male hit his teammates on the back, but really he was just wiping his hand off, then proceeded to wolf down his food, nearly inhaling it as he ate it in a short amount of time, the slums will teach you to eat what you can, while you can, and he had never been able to sit and savor food despite how often his team tried to get him to just sit there and east slowly with them.

When he had finished, he chucked the remaining trash away and stood up, “Well boys I’m off again.” A few cried of disapproval littered, when the largest of the team clapped his hand around Keirus’s shoulder, ‘Why don’t you have a pint? It’ll be on me, now that I’ve skinned those guys over there.’ With that remark, his team hooted and whooped, each showing some of their winnings from the bet. “ Thanks, but you know the sh_t they call booze isn’t good enough to water pigs with, you best out of us all!” The others smirked, they all had voiced the same complaint about the watery liquor they were given on the occasion. With a quick readjustment of his military cap, he went out the doors and back to his barrack, settling himself again. He dozed off sitting in a chair, and snapped awake about an hour later, just before one of the other guys in the patrol was about to pour water on the green eyed male, ‘Too sharp for us ‘ey?’ He smirked, and with a wink called out, “You’re not exactly a fairy tiptoeing around, y’know mate?” Their merriment was cut short as an officer walked in and shouted, “All right patrol Aelphra, get up, gear up and get ready to MOVE.” Within seconds, they all leapt to obey, he switched into his uniform, grabbed his gear, along with a few necessities, and as an afterthought, he picked up his notebook and pen, stuffing them into his knapsack. First one out, he lined up and waited for the rest of the patrol to get out. When they all were lined up, the officer shouted, ‘Now I know you all were expecting two more days of rest…. But half of patrol Gious was wiped out by a reborn. You are to take their place in patrolling, just for this case. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?’ A swift, barked out demand for order. They all responded, shouting “Yes Sir!” in such a manner, that it seemed there was only one mouth, one throat from which those words were issued. As they formed ranks, they exited the quarters, and began to march….


((Sorry if this disappoints >x<))

[tacere]

Marseine, the city was always full of loud voices and pesky shouts of insistent people. He sighed in half relief, he and the rest of patrol Aelphra were lucky, patrols that had to trek in less government run cities could be jumped by the rebellion, a nasty problem that most soldiers dreaded. Rumors always littered of a ruthless group of freaks led by a shadowy nameless figure attacking some government force or another, and the pirates that loomed and threatened the trade of Rea were also notorious villains. At least, that was what they taught you at bootcamp. Looking around him, he saw many women fearful, clinging onto their husbands, sons, nephews, anyone that looked old enough to be drafted. They stared at Keirus and the rest of the soldiers with a sudden fear, which they could not stand up against, for who can dare face the merciless foot of the empire and dare to succeed? He was irritated at the slow, almost lagging pace that the rest of the patrol was beginning to drag, and one of them even had the audacity to even dare looking at women while on duty. The green eyed soldier rolled his eyes in contempt, “Oi! Shut your mug and stop drooling while looking at a girl’s bum.” The rest of the patrol chuckled and he quickened his pace as the now red faced and abashed trooper dropped into pace with the rest. There were a few common squabbles that stopped immediately upon sight of the soldiers, a boy who had been caught by the shopkeeper stealing a loaf of bread was nearly trampled as the man threw the child in the path of the patrol. With a glowering scowl fixed upon his features, he stared at the boy, who trembling got up and apologized, begging to be let off for this offense. Keirus noticed a small flash of pale skin and dark hair peeking out from a wall, a little thin waif of a girl, with eyes far too big to fit her skinny face. The boy was scrambling for his words, ‘My little sister and I ‘aven’t eaten for over a week sir! That were the only uh-err, reason for my thievery!’ The little girl came a little closer and hid behind another stack of baskets. With a light nod, the green haired soldier winked, “Understood, since this was your first noted offense, you are free to go.” But he afterwards frowned, “But don’t let me catch you again, or it won’t be so lightly taken.” The boy nodded quickly and ran off with the little girl, their bare feet slapping against the stone of the roads as they scurried off to eat their stolen spoils. He frowned quietly to himself for allowing himself to sit and watch children starve while the government officials gorged themselves like fate pigs, all of the were-. He cut himself short. What in Rea’s name was he thinking? Treasonous thoughts like those were better left in a simpleminded fool, not a soldier in the emperor’s command. The minimal squabbles of the common people he paid no mind, and the patrol followed their route to the t, every street assigned to them was marched through, and no major reborn activity sparked any of their attention, at least not until they doubled back… Upon doubling back, they nearly ran into a small boy wearing a dark black eye patch who had boldly walked in front of their path like it was nobody’s business. When Keirus growled and took a step forward, pushing lightly against the boy’s shoulder to try and brush him to the side so they could pass, he let out a string of cursed utterances, ‘Who the f_ck do you think you are? All you stupid b_stards don’t care worth sh_t for any f_ucking one of us!’ His eyes flashed dangerously as he turned to glare at the little boy, “You. Really. Ought. Not. Test. My. Temper. Today.” He gritted his teeth and each word crawled out of his mouth a desperate lizard runs before a flame chases after them. His green eyes sparked with a deep seated rage that loomed, like a stone cliff that seemed to stretch to the sky. A hand settled on his shoulder, and he ooked up to see a figure clothed in a white cloak, the hood yanked up so his face wasn’t visible, ‘I apologize for his behavior, he lost his parents recently.’ The voice was soft, almost muted to the green haired male’s ears, ”Whatever, carry on. And keep him out of our way.” They hurried past, and Keirus paid them no mind. Hours passed and soon, it became dark out. They weren’t to report back for another 3 days….. So they couldn’t go back to their (not very) comfortable quarters. One man found a cheap inn, one with a good bar and they sat inside, at least… most of the one’s who hadn’t grinned and run off to find the nearest brothel. He sighed, shaking his head and resting it against the cold wood of the bar table. Out of pure boredom, he grinned and thought of a nasty habit, one they would skin his hide for back at quarters… But they weren’t at quarters… Time for some shots.