[Tigady]

This is a proposed story involving three proposed characters, not a character proposal in itself. The applications for the three characters are not yet finished, but a story written for them to share is. The story is split into several small chapters, and until the applications are complete, I will release one chapter each day in this thread, starting now. This is not an application in itself, please refrain from grading it until the character applications are complete!

Chapter One: Another Bad Day

Spoiler

I closed my eyes, and I saw sunlight. I was standing on a cliff face, looking down across waves of water crashing against the cliff side, strong and beautiful as the sun’s light danced across them. The cliff I stood upon was long resilient, holding firm against the waves for many years.. But now it was finally sliding into the sea, with me atop it. This is what it felt like, the fall of a mighty legacy.. The drop into powerful nothingness..

“DRAKE!” I heard her yell out, as I opened my eyes again. The waves became a pool of blood and the bodies of soldiers and civilians alike, lining the alleyways and streets of the ruined city. The sky had no sunlight, despite the early morning. It was instead thick with black smoke, the light coming from burning buildings and soldiers rushing by with their torches.. And the cliff face was the side of the Capital building, finally collapsing beneath my feet, I saw her. My feet were already moving almost without my control to leap off the collapsing building and to Nicole, on an adjacent rooftop. I kept running, no stop, and from the sound of boot against stone I knew she was too. I didn’t look back, but from the rumble, then the shaking, I knew the capital building had just crashed into ours, if we didn’t keep moving we would get caught in a chain of destruction.

So we kept running, as fast as we could. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, until we were on the ground again, jumping from the roof of an empty stable onto piles of hay. I took a second to catch my breath, collapsing into the hay, glancing over at Nicole doing the same. I couldn’t see it through a layer of ash, but I knew under the grime her freckled face was red with the rush of the run. She was checking her crossbow, making sure a bolt was firmly locked in place and ready to fire in case we ran into trouble, so I took the time to wipe the sweat from my brow and check my knives, making sure they were all still where they should be, in various nooks on my belt and in my jacket. Just another day in the war for Dranscey.

Everything was in place.. I ran a hand through my short brown hair, smearing it with ash and grinning at all the mess, before glancing over the camp in front of us, it was a small outpost that housed two squads of runners, like us, and a small command staff. Barriers were erected of wood and bags of sand, and already tested with the heat of battle, two runners working with blankets to douse what was left of a fire on the walls. Three new runners were standing at the gates next to a Centurion, looking nervous. I helped Nicole up, and together we headed towards the new people. I stepped forward and gave a hasty salute to the Centurion, holding my fist over my heart. "Welcome to camp Redwind, sir. Do you need help finding your way?" I asked in the stiff tone I was expected to use with my betters.

"No, no." The grizzly veteran said, glancing over his three subjects, then Nicole and I. "I need you to lead these three to Legate Mathias. They are transfers from the northern army." Transfers. Well, at least that means they didn't need training. "Yes sir." I said with a nod, before saluting again and glancing to the oldest looking of the transfers and quickly looking him over. Very tall, blonde hair, seeming very protective of his satchel, but that wasn’t odd around here. "Right.. Come with me then.” I said simply, turning on my heels to lead the way into camp without waiting for a reply.

I led them past rows of large barracks tents, a washing area, a small scorched brick building marked by the smell of burnt food as the mess hall, and eventually we got to the other side of camp where a large canopy protected a number of tables, all overflowing with papers and gear. The canopy was surrounded by wooden barricades, save for one entrance. This was our command structure. Several runners were buzzing about moving papers and organizing the mess, while one oddly relaxed looking man stood in the center, speaking in a quiet tone uncharacteristic of the military, pointing out where he wanted files placed.

I turned and saw Nicole observing the three new runners with a curious look in her light blue eyes. She seemed most interested in the taller one. She followed behind me into the command tent, setting a hand on my shoulder as we all stepped inside. "I've got this one." She said quietly before stepping forward and approaching the older man, giving the obligatory salute. "Good Afternoon, Sir. We have the message from the capitol building, and three transfers from the northern army." She reported simply, slinging a very old and well-worn messenger bag off of her shoulders and setting it on the table in front of him. She sounded more relaxed than usual near the older man, after all, he had taught us almost everything we knew.

I rolled my eyes a bit at Nicole hogging time with the old leader, watching the two make their conversation. Not upset, just watching and listening to Nicole. I respected them both, and it wasn’t too hard to get distracted paying attention to Nicole, the things she had to say, the confident way she carried herself while she spoke.. After a second, I turned my focus to the newcomer. He was a tall man, far taller than myself, with bright blonde hair. He seemed to be the same age as the rest of us, despite his height, and was just standing waiting his turn, hands behind his back. He seemed a bit disdainful for the messes of paperwork, perhaps the last camp he worked at was neater. I gave him a pat on the shoulder, speaking quietly. "Go ahead and report in, before we all die waiting on Shepherd to end her conversation." I said simply.

He glanced over at me, nodding slightly and stepping forward towards the Legate, the other two doing the same, standing at attention and saluting. "Immune Marx reporting as ordered, sir." He said this in a monotone, not raising his voice, but just loud enough to be heard. The same stiff discipline I heard every day, that we all shared. Nicole frowned a bit, meaning to make a little bit more conversation with the Legate, as the other two transfers take their turns doing the same as Marx, each reporting in. Mathias glanced over to the three and chuckled a bit, before returning the salute. "Very well... At ease." He said simply, before glancing over the papers from the bag Nicole brought him, and looking back to her. "I think I have something for you and Fairchild, perhaps even one of these newcomers." He said simply, looking over the documents thoughtfully.

The transfers each stepped back and returned to waiting, glancing around a bit with their hands behind their backs respectfully. I gave a curious glance over to Nicole, who in turn gave a curious glance to Mathias, who smiled and held out a small stack of papers to her. "Since you and Fairchild did so well at the ball, I'm assuming you're smart enough to handle a trickier job that's come up. You'll find the details on those papers, take one of these transfers with you to the mess hall and talk it out over some food." He said simply, calm as ever. Nicole glanced curiously over the transfers, as did I. I felt suspicious of Marx, but I didn't say it. I tensed up a bit as she studied him, I wanted her to pick one of the others, but Nicole sure enough waved for Marx to go with us, and led the way towards the mess hall. He followed behind us at a bit of a distance. He seemed somewhat confused, and clearly shared my disdain for him being assigned to us.

I followed Nicole without question, but tried to pay Marx little mind. Nicole led us to the mess hall and picked a table, before going over to talk a bit with one of the cooks. I took a seat, and motioned for the other man to do the same. "Ready for a bit of danger?" I asked simply, giving a false smile and trying to size up the other man's mentality. I wanted to know what made him tick, what he would respond to. If he had what it took to handle on of Mathias’ more interesting jobs. He blinked, not answering for a while, apparently choosing his words carefully. "Whatever it is I'm told to do." He said quietly, but not with a cowardly tone.. It was a good sign. "Good.." I said simply, I was about to say something else, trying to test him farther, but Nicole came back with three bowls of burnt beef and apple stew, and set them out on the table. Burnt or not, this was probably the better side of military rations. She went to have a seat next to me, but kept a respectable distance between us. It was fine by me, with a little bit of space I could see a bigger picture.

Marx began to quietly eat, not waiting. Just watching. He ate slowly and neatly, glancing between me and Nicole. She handed the papers Mathias gave her to me before wiping the ashes from earlier off of her face and starting on eating, revealing a face full of freckles that seemed new every time I saw them, like the stars at night. I spent the next several minutes carefully reading through the papers with a blank expression, before finally setting them down, putting my hands together, and speaking quietly. "You have got to be fucking kidding me.." I said to no one in particular, annoyed. This wasn’t good at all, not with a new transfer.

I looked up at Marx.. Tall.. Bright hair color.. In fact, the worse hair color. I focused on the other soldier's hair for several moments, in disdain for how much it stuck out, before taking one of my ash covered hands and going to reach across the table and wipe it on his head, smearing grey streaks of ash in his hair. It helped a little, but there was still plenty of bright blonde to see. Nicole watched with an amused expression, still eating, not willing to miss her meal over conversation or even my antics. Marx abruptly stopped eating after his hair was brushed with ash, looking blankly at the me. He doesn't say anything about it, not fixing his hair, just raising a brow at me. "Was... There a reason for that...?" I tried to keep a quiet and simple tone, but I could hear the concern in my voice as I tried to pin off my worries on the other boy’s hair. "A blind man would see you from the other side of Dranscey." I said, concerned with the mission to come. "And we can't have that where we're going.." I added quietly, thoughtful.

He frowned, looking up. Of course he couldn't see what it looked like, but he didn't have time to worry about it anyways. "Alright then..." He continued eating, as if nothing happened. I knew he would be taking notes, remembering everything about me and Nicole, and how we acted, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that. I was taking note of him too, and so far he wasn’t that bad. At least he didn’t resist. I finally got to eating my stew, unlike the others I ate quickly, with little regard for manners. We didn’t have all the time in the world, so I just made sure I didn't spill anything. Nicole finally finished her bowl and looked up at Marx, she must have figured he was due an explanation. "The third legion is engaging an enemy camp a day or two south of here.. The legate wants us to infiltrate the camp while the soldiers are distracted by the fighting and retrieve some documents." She explained, watching him for any reactions he might offer to the news.

He nodded, simply. He wasn't showing it, but I could tell through a look in his eye, one I had seen several times before, that right now on the inside he was having a small freak out. After all, he had been here a few minutes and he was already being assigned to the shit. I turned my attention to Nicole, speaking with half a mouth full. "Coulda been worse. They coulda sent us to another ball." I said to her with a smirk. She glared at me a moment, but put on a slight smile anyways. Mixed feelings perhaps? I almost hoped so. I swallowed the last bite of my rushed meal before continuing, done thinking. Ready to act. "Anyways, we should leave soon to make sure we get there on time. Cover of darkness tonight should hide us from the battle in the city."

(That was the longest chapter, I swear!)