ronshadie

Hey there, I recently posted chapters 1-6 as attatchments, but they didn't get any views . Anyway, Here is chapters 1-3 ( trying to meet the text limit ) Heads up: Chapters 1 and 3 are not written by me (so there is a style difference). I was doing this story as a collab. with my friend D, but then he had to stop writing, and I took over. Btw, you can see that the perspective changes back and forth, it won't go on forever though. Anyway, enjoy guys. <---coolest smiley on this forum.

Chapter 1

" Put your tonic on brother" Said the voice of a young woman. The pair had been racing down the hill of the woods prior to sunrise while the crickets provided them with a soundtrack in the moment. The young man trotted down the crunch ground of leaves after her, as she stopped in her tracks and plants her hands on a tree he crashed into her shoulder. "Watch it Lan" she complained.

With eyes as worn out and a huge yawn, Lan placed the tunic over his bare upper body. "Why are we up so early Sarah?" he asked while his fingers scratch the kinks out of his hair. "Because Lan... I wanted you to see this before hand" She pointed ahead of her as they hid behind the trees. To the far right was training camp, restricted to non soldiers. However to the left, the land broke into the most beautiful lake in Morgania. Impossible to view beyond the training camp, leaving many only curious to it's beauty. Lan rested his hand on his sisters shoulder, Sarah securing it with her own palm. "It's amazing when the moonlight pours into the lake at this hour. My boyfriend showed it to me several times before they shipped him off. I wanted you to see it to, since camp is closed at night."

"Boyfriend?" Lan laughed as his mind strayed away from the lake "Who that guy with the blue hair? ha!". "Shut up! We were in love, for the sake of ahna could you be serious for just once?" she retaliated whil marching back up the hill. Lan smirked but before following her he took once last look at the lake, his tongue tracing over his upper lip, a signature to when he actually did have a deep thought on his mind. "Wait up."

Chapter 2



He walked at his own pace through the crowded and cobblestone morning street. Pushing strands of his crimson hair out of his vision, he squinted up at the early sun. The leather boots on his feet made a clanking as their loose buckles knocked into each other. Other loose straps and buckles that hung from his baggy leather jumpsuit constantly clanked with each step he took. Amongst the happy and blissfully dressed townsfolk Rijo stood out like a sore thumb, that was his name … Rijo. He had only arrived at Morgania about an hour ago by ship. If he could only have a coin for every dirty and odd look he received since he stepped onto the dock, he wouldn’t have to be doing his job. That was right, he didn’t come here for vacation, he didn’t know who would, but anyway, he was here for a special reason. Despite all the peculiar stares he was receiving, he was probably one of the most important people in the kingdom right now. No one knew that though, so he just looked back at them with his olive colored gaze.
Rijo made his way through the busy streets as said before, at his own pace. Only stopping to buy a fresh apple at a fruit stand and overpay the young sales boy 3 times what it was worth. Every now and then he looked up at his destination, the large castle that stood in the middle of the town. Most normal townsfolk were not allowed in the castle without permission from the guards at the door. Chances were they’d give him a hard time, he’d handle it though. He was here to fulfill a job that standing outside large doors would never match up with, so they were unimportant to him.
A group of youngsters had been running towards him playing. They stared up at him in disbelief when they saw how he was dressed. They changed their direction and followed his, walking by his side with their curious gawks. He smirked to himself, acting like he didn’t notice them. Eventually, after some time of following him, one of the boys was forced by the others to actually initiate conversation. “Hey….hey mister!?” the youngster spoke loudly.
“Yes boy?” Rijo answered. His voice was raspy; like it was the first time he had talked in a while.
“How come yer’ dressed all different mister?” the boy questioned.
“And what do you mean son?” Rijo cracked a smile as they all continued to walk but hold the conversation.
“Yer’ clothes mister! They are all black…how come? Huh? And what’s that on your side? ” They all nodded with curiosity as the brave boy asked and pointed to Rijo’s waist. Letting out a chuckle Rijo answered.
“Well my clothes...they are a sort of uniform. And on my waist, that’s my dagger.” He patted the small sheath that enclosed his onyx bladed dagger, nodding at the boys as he did so. As if he had told a joke, the boys cackled with amusement, then another one asked abruptly.
“You aren’t from here are you mister!? I bet yer’ not!” Rijo looked at the boy with agreement and said.
“Yes, you’re right, I’m not from here. I’m here on a business trip boy.” More laughs came from the group of boys, but Rijo noticed they were getting bored of him. However, he was surprised; he had met grown adults who weren’t this interested in him.
“Alright mister! We’re gunna go play! Wanna come?” Another one of them asked.
“Oh how I wish I could, unfortunately, I have to go do something very important now.” Rijo’s smile still hadn’t vanished for the whole conversation. He now realized that kids weren’t that bad.
“What’s more important than having fun!?” The first boy spoke up again. What a great mind-state these children were in Rijo thought to himself.
“Hmm…say, maybe seeing the King perhaps?” Rijo responded. And then, all in a clumsy unison the boys all shouted.
“THE KING!!???” They were in disbelief, and now looked at him like he was crazy.
“You can’t see the King mister! You’re not that important!” One of them told Rijo as he predicted the castle guards would in only a matter of time.
“I know I’m not…I’m going to try my hardest though. Wish me luck boys.” He answered back. The boys smiled at him and all yelled in the same clumsy unison.
“Good luck mister!!!” The boys waved goodbye and laughed as they started to walk down a side street. Rijo relaxed his smile as he kept walking, but as a thought came to his head; he suddenly stopped and turned towards the boys again.
“Hey boys!” He shouted to get their attention. They turned around recognizing his voice again.
“Yea mister?” They answered, looking at him with inquiring eyes. Rijo felt as if time had froze, he looked at the group of boys and seemed to daze out for a moment. Within a short moment, he snapped back into reality.
“Be careful playing…alright?” Rijo said with a hint of care in his voice.
“Okay mister!!! Bye-bye!!!” They said, and that was that. They all spun around and ran off down the street. They had occupied him for longer than he realized, for as he took the last bite of his apple and threw it in a trash bin next to him, he looked above and realized he was right in front of the castle’s main walkway. Large statues of past kings of Morgania lined the walkway, their white marble color matching the ground of the courtyard perfectly. Rijo had recognized some of the kings, most foreign visitors to this kingdom wouldn’t, but he had his reasons. After making a small smirk at the detail on King Fabian III’s chin and cheek bones, he remembered why exactly he was here and glanced forward. The two guards at the main doors were already looking at him with loathing interest about the fact of who Rijo was, and why he was standing near the castle. He was an overly-stubborn person, so he tried the most blatant approach. He walked on the fenced off marble walkway towards the guards, who were now grinning. If he wanted, he could take care of the both of them out and waltz into the castle, but he didn’t really need to make a commotion right now. Anyway…back to the blatant approach that our dear stubborn friend Rijo took…
“Yea…hey. I need to see the king.”


Chapter 3



"Fall into line!" shouted the raspy voice of the training field commander. "Yes Sir Jonah!" The soldiers responded. A line of 10 soldiers had faced the commander while he stood there, grilling them with narrow eyes, with a face so old and a mustache so curly, it would most utterly distract everyone’s mind from the sparkling lake in the background. “For the past year you have all fought hard and trained side by side with your sparring partners. But now is where we narrow it down. To the next step! Only half of you may become soldiers of Morgania only the strongest five.” Sir Jonah spoke firm as he paced back and fourth in front of the line, his hands locked behind his back.

The trainees remained silent but they all looked to each other and couldn’t help but smirk and grin. They knew something exciting was about to happen and could just taste the crisp competition in the air. The commander paused in front of the lake, turning his back from the line up. “Anyone can have a heart and be noble, that’s what makes a proud citizen of Morgania…” His mustache moved as he put on a small grin that really didn’t fit a man of his appearance “ or a castle guard.” He finished. Wiping the grin from his mouth with a serious pitch he continued. “However, to be a soldier to you have go beyond that, you have to protect the safety of your people and sacrifice your heart for them. If you are weak, you will fail them!”

As the commander continued on, they all began to wear serious facial expressions now. Jonah turned around with a burning red face. “Not everyone is always wrong… not everyone is always right. If you thing Morgania is a bloodless virgin, you are wrong. We are what keep this land as peaceful as it is.” Marching forward Jonah looked everyone in the eyes while his hands rested at his side. “Anyone who loses will not have the opportunity to try again.”

Lan’s eyes would stalk those of a butterfly that seemed to make its way into the diameter of the suns frame, disappearing within the glow. His sister however, a little nervous with a bad memory painted on her face, Lan could sort of hear it, his sister saying the name of her past boyfriend and how she loved him. From what Lan remembers she used to hang around her boyfriend while he was in training, they spent so much time together that when he took off, she joined so they could be reunited as soldiers. Sarah however was acting more awkward than usual; their drifting minds came back into focus as the commander spoke then again.

“Sacrifice the life of your partner or your own…” Jonah stated as several clock work generated machines projected from the ground like moles. The machines were rusty, dirty and in the shape of pillars, there were five of them and to the sides were an arsenal of arrows. “There is ten of you, only five are allowed to become soldiers. As soldiers there will be a day where you have to either sacrifice yourself or another to reach a goal. Only members of the military may know of this and by oath may not tell others. Anyone who runs I’ll be happy to deal with myself. This is what you all signed up for, I expect everyone to be prepared”

Before anyone could even think of an escape plan, they looked around them and noticed armed soldiers were blocking all that paths. Everyone had begun to shiver with flooding minds. Lan’s heart beat was racing against the clock, he knew he’d never turn in his sparring partner, his sister, Sarah. Watching her he could see her face turn and swallow air. The whole time she was acting weird, watching the lake before sunrise, her boyfriend, her purpose being here, she knew what was going to happen, it all made sense to Lan now. Sarah had two things in mind the whole time, to get her brother through this alive and to get through it herself so she could be with her lover again. The specific details however obviously caught her off guard. Now neither of them wanted to be killed nor see their each other go.

The commander starred at everyone long and hard one last time. Marching away from them out of range back to his camp office where he would await the winners of this outcome. That was his job and just like that, Jonah left with silence. Sarah with tears in her eyes looked at Lan, grasping her arms around him and pouting on his shoulder.

-You know what that means

“Sarah let go….” Lan whispered as he watched the arrow machine prepare itself. “Your in the way Sarah..” he claimed as he felt her arms holding on tighter, the underestimated strength of his sister held him in probably one of the strongest bear hugs he ever felt. “No you’ll get hit, move damnit!” he commanded. Sarah’s back was turned towards the machine, her tears sinking into the material of Lan’s tunic. His face turned red as his air supply felt short. All he could do was stare at the sun and the lake, the butterfly finally returning.

The other students had heisted to scramble. Some of them wanted to sacrifice themselves and even argued who was nobler to do so. Others were the exact opposite and would hold each other in submission moves to see who would take the hits. “I’ll be damned if I die a newbie” one man claimed. Another duo had made there decision, the weaker one was on the floor crying, oddly that made the test full proof, the weaker one would have to grow stronger. However for the time being he sat on the floor with his nails digging in dirt “Why damnit?! Why do we have to do this?!” he cried. The one who appeared to be stronger must see his partner as more skilled, or maybe it was his way of paying debts ahead of time.

“I love you…” Sarah whispered as several arrows discharged into her back, using her skills to keep any from hitting Lan she held onto him regardless of the blood sprouts from her backside. Lan’s eyes could only produce salt water, not recognizing the difference in the taste between his own tears and his sisters blood which splattered half his face. When her grip finally let go he had tried to hold her up. He looked to her with a dropping jaw as if he wanted to say something to her. However, before he could, the final arrow had impaled through her neck. Laying his sister down now, her buried his face on her shoulder and began to weep.

With eyes wide shut all he could hear were the sounds of cries and screams surrounding him. It got so loud and overwhelming to the point where he shut everything from his mind and could only hear himself breathing. Or from what he could tell, it might have been Sarah’s heart beat fading.

“The lake isn’t beautiful anymore…Sarah… please… wake up.”

Anyway guys, I can use the criticism so please hit me up with some. Once again, remember that chapters 1 and 3 aren't by me, so the rest of the story is going to be written basically in Chapter 2 format. Thanks guys.