“Fox? Are you paying attention?”, Wolf asks, looking slightly concerned. Of course he’s here. Even though I want to be left alone. Will he go away if I don’t say anything?

“You know how important this training is for the Strength troops, don’t you?” he asks, sighing heavily.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s too bad I’m not part of them, huh”, I laugh. Wolf’s been by my side since I was a child, training me for the day I officially stand in the army. I don’t know how I could’ve survived if we hadn’t had each other.  “Maybe I should talk with the Council and see what they say about my calling? It’s only a week until the official ceremony anyways.”

“You know how busy the Council is! Wait until your ceremony to-”, He started lecturing.

“I know, I know. I’m not that conceited.”, I interrupt, rolling my eyes. “I know what patience is, even if you don’t.”

With a laugh, Wolf ruffles my hair. As the dream fades, I reminisce about times long past. It has been 6 years since that last meeting. Six long, painful years without Wolf. Though so many years had passed, the pain of his passing to Goregeth, and in turn, eternal life, was still fresh in my heart.

Sitting up, I stretch my sore muscles and check my terminal for any news. Thinking back to the training that I had done last night, I regretted not doing more. Not that it could be helped. I had, after all, promised Wolf that I would take care of myself. And I intended to keep that promise, even if he didn’t keep his. If anything, Wolf’s probably laughing at me and all my trips to “strengthen” myself. I can’t tell whether I am getting stronger or if I’m just lying to myself in the hopes of earning his forgiveness for the different wrongs I had wrought these past years.

Stepping out from the barracks of Cunning, I follow the scent of grilling meat over to the mess tent. Though the smell was far from alluring, a meal was a meal. Even if it looked like it came from the remains of a week-old carcass. The line that had formed in front of the tent wasn’t long, but that was to be expected since it was rather early. The wait would still be considerable, but not to the point of being unbearable.

“Ah, there you are.”, comes the familiar voice of Lizard. “How’s your eve, Fox?”

“Lizard… Didn’t I tell you not to talk to me in the mornings?”

“True enough, but I was just… how rude…”, he stopped, pouting when he noticed that I wasn’t listening to him anymore. Sighing and rolling his eyes, he turned away to talk with the people behind him. Though he was a good friend, mornings weren’t the best time to talk, considering I was most tired then.

“Have you heard the news?” a man called out, running out from one of the surrounding tents, “They say that Strength has made it through the blockade near King’s Forge! They’re almost at Kelgora!”

I whipped my head around, glaring at the man as he ran towards the lined up troops and waved a stack of papers above his head. Wasn’t the time for official news up to the commanding officers? What was this man doing? He suddenly stopped, and I knew that he had seen me. I almost let my stern expression slip as he almost face planted from the sudden stop, almost chuckling as he quickly saluted.

“Commander Fox and Lieutenant Lizard! My deepest apologies for breaking the peace! I thought that our troops might need a bit more morale, a-and… um…”, he faltered as he noticed that I wasn’t in the mood for his excuses and was approaching with measured steps.

“I am sure you are aware of the timing that this army works on, Nameless. Am I right?”

“Yes, ma’am! I am aware!”, he agreed, never breaking his salute, even though I could clearly see the fear in his eyes.

“Then why don’t you explain why you broke this timing with an unreliable source’s statement on the positioning of our troops?”, I asked, my voice steely. They knew that breaking the schedule was a punishable offense, so why was this soldier stepping out of line?

The answer became evident as soon as I started to read the report the man handed to me as he stammered through his explanation. The source wasn’t as untrustworthy as I had thought it was. In fact, it was the other way around. It was way above what I should have access to. Which meant this was a perfect opportunity to do one of two things. Butter up the top brass, or read more of the report in hopes of gleaning some information on the Vagrants and their military might. Just in case I needed to face them in the future. 

“Lieutenant,  care to take care of his punishment?” I ask, turning to Lizard, hoping my face was still in “Serious Mode”. Judging by the face he made, though, I was probably grinning from ear to ear. Hopefully not.

“But, my food…,” His complaint falls on deaf ears as I swiftly walked back in the direction of the commanding officer's tent. Right after I got out of the field of view from the mess tent, I started scanning the documents as fast as I could. Even if I wasn’t technically allowed to read them didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to. Too many times had I come across information that would have helped me in my missions being withheld, simply because I was one of the Lower Rung. Then again, it’s not as if I had failed any of those missions, so I couldn’t actually do anything. Either way, I’d gotten into the habbit of reading everything I got my hands on, and hadn’t gotten into too much trouble, as long as no one noticed. Which they rarely did, with the way that their noses were pointed. I’d often wondered how they ever noticed where they were going with how high their noses were held. It does help, at times, but sometimes, I wish I was able to put them in their place, but one must take what is given. 

Either way, the return of these papers will be a merit in my books, and if worst comes to worst, i could always blame one of the other officers for failing to discipline their forces. Preferably, one of those who keep attempting to get me out of their “meritocratic” army. It really is baffling how so many of them act like it wasn’t their family name that got them into the positions that they are. They are in the minority, thankfully, or I would have long left the army long ago on a court martial.  It didn’t help that the other officers had decided to simply watch and place bets on which side of the conflict would fall first.

“Fox!”, a voice shouts from behind me. I hid my grin and turned around to see who had been calling out to me. As the giddyness of new information dies down, a tired sigh escaped when I saw that it was Elk, one of the aforementioned gamblers. There wasn’t anything good happening if he was the one to find me. 

“What do you need, Elk? Found another vulture to feed?” I asked, not wanting to spend any more time than necessary with him near me. He, of course, didn’t care about it, though he did have the decency to act hurt by my words.

"How could you say that about someone's future wife?" Elk feigned shock, placing a hand over his heart, as if I had actually hurt him. 

“Oh, please. You know they only look after the money you give them, rather than love.” I start walking away, dismissing his words with a wave of my hand, but he pulled me back.

“I know you won’t listen to me, but I’m going to warn you anyways.” He whispered in my ear, just as I was about to break free. The uncharacteristic seriousness in his eyes made my stomatch twist. What had happened for him of all people to be serious? “The colnels are gathering their forces. I’m not sure what the end game is, but I know that Pride wants you to be at the forefront. His change of attitude toward you can only be bad for you. Please be careful.” 

He released me after I nodded. Looking back at him, his “pained” smile had returned, as if I had rejected his advances and nothing else had gone on between us. I continued on my way to the upper eschelons, cautious of what may be waiting for me there.