Year 1020 - Dawn, Central North Road
Dawn broke cold and gray over the compound.
Crew 7 assembled at the main gate, ten soldiers, horses saddled, supply carts loaded.
Nida checked her rifle one last time, her movements precise and mechanical. Her expression was carved from stone.
Syizen struggled to mount his horse, slipping twice before finally getting into the saddle. The horse immediately tried to walk away.
"No, no, stay!" Syizen grabbed the reins awkwardly.
Several soldiers snickered.
Nida said nothing. Just mounted her own horse with fluid grace.
Asta bounced excitedly in his saddle. "This is my first real mission outside the city! I can't believe we're actually hunting for a princess!"
Sloth was somehow already asleep, sitting upright on his horse.
Garr and his friends, Vex and Thorn, kept to themselves at the back of the formation, shooting occasional glares at Nida and Syizen.
The two veterans, Kross and Mira, checked the supply cart with quiet efficiency.
Captain Renna rode at the front, her posture perfect, her face unreadable.
"Listen up," she called out. "Three days minimum to reach the search zone. Maybe more depending on weather and conditions." She looked at each of them. "Stay in formation. Watch each other's backs. And remember, our priority is finding Princess Gloria. Not engaging in unnecessary fights."
"Yes, ma'am!" they responded.
Renna's gaze lingered on Nida and Syizen for just a moment longer than necessary.
Those two are hiding something. I need to figure out what.
"Move out!"
THE ROAD NORTH
They rode in formation. Renna at the front, veterans on the flanks, newer members in the middle.
The road was hard-packed dirt, winding through fields that had been harvested for winter. Everything was brown and gray and cold.
Syizen's horse kept trying to veer off the path.
"Why does it hate me?" he muttered, wrestling with the reins.
"Probably because you smell like fear," Garr called from behind. "Animals sense weakness."
Nida's hand moved slightly toward her rifle.
Sloth, riding beside Syizen with his eyes still closed, spoke up. "Actually, horses respond to tension in the rider. You're too stiff. Relax."
"I'm trying to relax!"
"Try harder."
Despite the advice, Syizen remained thoroughly un-relaxed. His horse continued to be difficult.
Nida watched from the corner of her eye. For a brief moment, her expression almost, almost softened.
Then it was gone.
MIDDAY STOP
By midday, they'd covered good distance. Renna called for a brief rest near a stream.
Everyone dismounted. The horses drank. Soldiers ate quick rations.
Nida stood apart from the others, scanning the treeline with calculating eyes.
Good sight lines. Natural chokepoints. If we were ambushed here...
Always tactical. Always prepared.
Syizen approached, offering her a piece of dried meat. "You should eat something."
"I ate."
"You had three bites this morning."
She glanced at him, her expression flat. "I eat enough."
"Nida..."
"I'm fine, Syizen." Her voice had a note of finality.
He knew that tone. Backed off.
But he left the food beside her anyway.
After he walked away, Nida glanced at the dried meat. Picked it up. Ate it without expression.
From across the clearing, Captain Renna observed the interaction.
They're more than just partners. There's history there. Trust.
Can I use that?
RENNA'S QUESTIONS
As they prepared to move out again, Renna approached Nida directly.
"You're observant," Renna said, nodding toward the treeline. "Always scanning."
Nida's expression didn't change. "Training, ma'am."
"More than training. You move like someone who's survived ambushes before." Renna's gaze was assessing. "Where did you serve before the 6th Empire?"
"I didn't. This is my first enlistment."
"Really." Renna's tone suggested she didn't believe that. "Then you're a natural. That's rare."
"Thank you, ma'am."
A pause. Renna studied her.
"Why did you join the military, Nida?"
The question hung in the air.
Nida met Renna's gaze without flinching. "To serve the empire, ma'am."
"That's the answer you're supposed to give." Renna's voice was quiet. "But that's not the truth, is it?"
Nida said nothing.
"I'm not asking you to confess anything," Renna continued. "I'm just saying... I recognize someone with a purpose. A mission." She paused. "Just make sure your mission doesn't interfere with mine. Understood?"
"Understood, ma'am."
Renna nodded and walked away.
Nida's jaw tightened.
She's too perceptive. That's dangerous.
INTO THE FOREST
By afternoon, they left the open road and entered the forest.
The trees were tall and ancient, their branches heavy with snow. The world became muffled. Quiet.
Too quiet.
"No birds," Syizen muttered.
Nida nodded almost imperceptibly. "No animals either."
Renna raised her fist, signaling a halt.
"Something's wrong," she said quietly. "Stay alert."
"You're paranoid," Garr called from the back. "It's just a forest."
"A forest with no wildlife," Kross, one of the veterans, said grimly. "That means predators. Big ones. Or something worse."
"Like what?" Asta asked nervously.
"Like people who don't want to be found."
They continued, but everyone was tense now.
Hands on weapons. Eyes scanning the shadows.
FIRST CONTACT
An hour later, they reached a clearing with a frozen stream.
"We'll water the horses here," Renna announced. "Five minutes. Stay sharp."
Everyone dismounted.
Nida knelt by the stream, filling her canteen. Syizen tried to do the same but slipped on the icy bank and nearly fell in.
"Careful," Nida said flatly, grabbing his arm before he could tumble forward.
"Thanks," he muttered, embarrassed.
For just a moment, her hand lingered on his arm.
Then she let go and stood up.
"Syizen?"
"Yeah?"
"Try not to die of clumsiness before we even reach the mission zone."
Was that... concern? Or just practicality?
He couldn't tell.
CRACK.
An arrow whistled through the air.
It embedded itself in a tree, right where Renna had been standing a second earlier.
"AMBUSH!" Renna shouted. "DEFENSIVE POSITIONS!"
Figures emerged from the trees. A dozen men and women, rough-looking, armed with bows and crude weapons.
Bandits.
"DROP YOUR SUPPLIES!" their leader shouted. "Nobody has to die today!"
Renna drew her sword, her movements fluid and precise. "You picked the wrong group."
"We outnumber you!"
"That won't help you."
The bandits charged.
THE FIGHT
Nida dropped to one knee, raised her rifle, fired.
BANG.
First bandit down.
BANG.
Second bandit down.
Her movements were mechanical. Cold. Efficient.
No wasted motion. No emotion.
Syizen drew his sword, blocked a bandit's strike. The man was bigger, stronger.
Syizen stumbled backward, barely keeping his footing.
The bandit swung again. Syizen blocked but the force drove him to one knee.
I'm going to die. I'm actually going to...
THUNK.
A throwing knife appeared in the bandit's shoulder. He screamed and fell.
Sloth stood several feet away, another knife already in hand. "You're welcome."
"Thanks!" Syizen gasped.
"Watch your left."
Syizen turned just in time to see another bandit charging. He swung wildly, more panic than technique.
Somehow, it connected.
The bandit went down.
Syizen stared at his sword in surprise. "I... I actually hit him?"
"Don't celebrate yet," Sloth drawled. "Three more behind you."
Asta was holding his own, his enthusiasm translating into surprisingly effective, if unrefined, combat.
"TAKE THIS! AND THIS! FOR THE EMPIRE!" He swung with wild abandon.
"Stop yelling!" Garr shouted from nearby, cutting down a bandit with brutal efficiency. "You're giving away positions!"
"SORRY!"
Despite his complaints, Garr fought well. His sword work was precise, practiced. Vex and Thorn covered his flanks.
They're skilled, Nida noted while reloading. More than they show in training.
Interesting.
Captain Renna moved through the fight like water.
Every strike was perfect. Every block was timed exactly right. She disarmed one bandit, knocked another unconscious, and disabled a third in the span of seconds.
She fought like someone with years of experience.
But also... like someone who didn't want to kill.
Every strike was non-lethal. Precise. Controlled.
She's holding back, Nida realized. Why?
Within minutes, the fight was over.
Half the bandits were dead. The rest fled into the forest.
Renna wiped her blade clean. "Anyone injured?"
"Minor cuts," Mira reported. "Nothing serious."
"Good." Renna sheathed her sword. "We keep moving. I want to reach the river before nightfall."
As they prepared to ride out, Nida approached Syizen.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Just... that was intense."
She looked at him for a moment. Then, so quietly only he could hear, "You did good. You didn't freeze."
Something warm bloomed in his chest. "Really?"
But Nida was already walking away, her expression cold and unreadable once more.
Syizen touched his chest where the warmth lingered.
She said I did good.
NIGHTFALL
They reached the river just as the sun set.
The water was wide and slow-moving, reflecting the darkening sky. On the far bank, endless forest stretched into shadow.
Renna ordered camp set up.
Tents went up. A fire was lit. Rations distributed.
As night fell, the crew gathered around the fire, exhausted but alive.
"That was my first real fight," Asta said, his voice shaking slightly now that the adrenaline had faded. "I thought I was going to die."
"We all did," Sloth said, somehow already half-asleep against a log.
Garr snorted. "Speak for yourself. I've fought worse."
"Sure you have," Mira, one of the veterans, said dryly.
Garr glared but said nothing.
Nida sat slightly apart from the group, sharpening her knife with methodical strokes.
Syizen sat beside her, close but not too close.
"You're good with that rifle," he said quietly.
"I practice."
"Those were... those were people. And you just..."
"They were trying to kill us." Her voice was flat. "It was them or us. I chose us."
Syizen was quiet for a moment. "Does it bother you? Killing?"
Nida paused in her sharpening. "No."
"Not at all?"
She looked at him, her expression unreadable. "They chose to attack. They accepted the consequences. That's all there is to it."
But something in her eyes suggested it wasn't quite that simple.
She went back to sharpening her knife.
Syizen watched the firelight play across her face, wanting to say something, not knowing what.
From across the fire, Captain Renna observed them.
Those two have seen death before. Real death. This wasn't their first fight.
So why lie about their experience?
What are they really after?
She would need to watch them closely.
Very closely.