Peace has a sense.
The sight of butterflies floating alongside the flow of civilization. The sound of children laughing in the distance while the flowing grass ruffles into the eardrums. The smell of a cool breeze giving solace to the life which yearns for it. Peace is a necessity which unfortunately only receives commendation from the most favored of beings. Kusuha is peace, the domain in which I live.
Kusuha is just one of many domains that make up the continent of Teriu, a continent that was once a place for entities to coexist in a parenting goal of advancement. These lands that painted Teriu with a brush of beauty was transmuted into a bloody canvas by Taiga, a salted bomb that gifted this continent with nuclear waste perilous enough to instantly place the entire thing on an uninhabitable list. Humanity was sure to fall into extinction if it wasn't an unexplainable phenomenon in which our ancestors bodies adjusted to the radiation, creating Ion Cells.
When radiation entered most bodies, the cells became infected and immediately swelled until they popped, creating disintegration from the inside out. However, sometimes the pop never happened and instead the cells became like clay, able to be bent and reformed to any shape; therefore drastically speeding up the rate of adaptation.
These days everyone is born with a variable amount of ion cells which enhance your body drastically. Most people's bodies will be effected by ion cells in ways that were dictated by their ancestors location a few hundred years ago. Those surrounded by water may have adapted to spending long times under the surface, those in woodlands may have developed claws for climbing. These adaptations created fear and segregation between people, many no longer recognizing others as humans anymore. Ion cells over time take over your typical bodily cells and alter them to better fit your needs, creating the idea that the more ion cells you have, the more physically strong you are, which in most cases have seemed to be true. I said most cases because there have been examples of people showing power beyond their cell count; one person in particular is...
"Masyn!" A familiar voice called out to me, breaking me from my chain of deep relaxation in a cage of blissful weather. (May-Sin)
I sat up from my position of lying atop of a wall which rides the height of the stone steps it guards, leading to the second level of the city. I looked below me to my left to see a skinny, pale skinned kid with a bowl of bushy, ruffled blonde hair on his head staring up at me.
"Oh, hello Rapondi." I responded to him, sitting up to properly greet him. (Ra-Pon-Dee)
"Day off?" Rapondi asked me, questioning my sheer laziness from spending my mid day time relaxing instead of training or other forms of labor.
"Nah," I said to him before dropping from the wall in order to be eye level with Rapondi. "What about you? Did the [Military intel] finally give you a break?"
"Yeah, they did, actually," Rapondi answered. "I'm spending the day with my grandmother. We're going to take a walk to the agricultural district to get a view of the farmlands. I heard they're a pretty sight for the eyes around this time of the year."
"I see," I responded with. "And exactly what rank of people gave you that day off?" I asked with a smirk.
"The [military intel)," Rapondi said while his face dropped to an annoyed expression. "You know I can't tell you what rank I am."
"I know, but you can't blame me for trying," I said while chuckling.
The [Military Intel] is a branch of the military responsible for most forms of intelligence. They lead researches, experiments, strategy and most technological advances. They're so important to our domain that the members rank is kept a secret in order to ensure that each exact responsibility is unobtainable from outside influences. It's so secretive in fact, that when a member is on duty they must dress in a suit that completely covers their body and has a built in voice changer making it nearly impossible to know who is who, even to the members closest friends.
"Hello, Masyn, how are you today?" A brittled voice spoke out as it slowly approached Rapondi and I, turning our attention towards an elder lady with a bush of curly grey hair bouncing against her skull with each step she takes.
"Hello, Lady Yia." I greeted her with, a smile blooming across my face at the sight of her.
"Do you have the day off Masyn?" Yia asked. "Perhaps you can join me and Rapondi on a trip to the agriculture district?"
"I would love to," I said, a feeling of guilt building inside of me as I watched her face change to disappointment once she picked up on my tone. "But unfortunately I have a mission today requiring me to leave the city. I have to meet the others when the sun reaches high point."
"Oh I see." Yia said with a saddened tone. I know it's beyond my control, but I still feel guilty about not being able to go with them. I feel like I've done something wrong even though there's nothing else I could do. (Add more to this paragraph)
As I was sulking in guilt that I'm incapable of expunging from my brain, a group of elders made their way pass (past?) us dressed in robes with length so long the cloth drug against the ground and with it pulled a trail of pebbles behind them from the stone walkways.
We waited in silence as the elders slowly walked by us while slipping expressions of judgment, which is something that I've become accustomed to from the elders. "There's an elder meeting today?" I asked once they exited range of our voices. "Why aren't you participating?" I asked lady Yia.
"I'm no longer welcomed at those meetings," Yia said with a smile. My face must have shown my displeasure and confusion at her statement because only after a second of staring at me she followed up with another sentence. "It's a complicated story."
"More importantly," Rapondi said. "The suns highpoint was fifteen minutes ago." He pointed his finger towards the sky, leading my eyes to follow.
"What!?" I exclaimed, jerking my head towards the sky, revealing the blazing center of life staring down at us from directly overhead. "I must have dozed off longer than I thought! I'm sorry, I have to go." I said in a panic.
"Don't apologize, just be safe on your mission." Yia said to me.
"I will!" I called out as I waved goodbye to both of them and began to pace in the opposite direction. I have been fond of Yia and Rapondi for quite a while, for they have lived next to me over these last few years and so our relationship naturally grew tighter over the time. Though in that period, I have only seen these two and never met Rapondi's parents, nor have any knowledge of their whereabouts. As far as I know, Rapondi has only Yia in his life.
"Hey, Masyn, how about you come try our new special?" I heard a voice calling out to me as I made made first steps into the crowded street of (blank). I'm not sure who said it, but I couldn't afford to stop and find out, I'm already going to be chewed out for being late again.
I'd spend the next few minutes slithering through one of the many compacted main streets of the city which leads to the front gate. The same entrance that's worship as if it alone is the savior of humanity. Legend has it that the front gate is in the exact spot that the original founder of (city name) was standing when they claimed the territory.
I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining but I've seen people enter that gate a different person than the one who left; just as well as I've seen people leave that gate and never return at all. That's the risk you agree to when you wrap the (Cloth name) around your waist. I understand that, yet I still can't help but to feel that those sacrifices are overlooked and the ability to comfortably laugh with strangers is taken for granted. I suppose that should satisfy me considering I wake up each morning with the job of creating a society harmonious enough to allow gratitude to slip the mind. Even so, I can't help but to think about those who will never feel the alleviation of laughter again.
"Masyn!" I heard a familiar voice scream out, pulling out of my thoughts. As my sense of reality returned to me and daydreams of past faces exited, I realized that I've somehow made my way through the busy street and was nearing the front gate.
Footsteps slapped against the stone ground as they sprinted towards me, and belonging to them was a pale skinned girl with hair flowing down her skull like waves crashing against the shoreline of her neck. The sunlight reflected off her eyes like a bronze shield during a battle at sunrise. The girl stopped just in front of me and looked up at me with a face that without the use of words spoke in a tone of irritation.
"Uh, hi Sati." I said nervously, sliding my hand behind my head to anxiously scratch at my scalp.
"Don't hi Sati me," she said, wrinkling her eyebrows closer together. "You're late again, Masyn."
"Oh uhh, sorry, I was just appreciating the view of butterflies and lost track of time." I replied with, following it up with a giggle that cried for help.
"You were what!?" Sati shouted out.
"Hey now, at least he's being honest. I can appreciate the genuinism." Said another voice approaching Sati and I. This voice belonging to Redic, a chubby pale skinned guy with brown hair so short his bangs barely scratch his forehead. He stands taller than both Sati and I which is no surprise considering he eats enough to leave an entire nation in a food scarcity.
"That's not even a word, dimwit." Sati said back to Redic.
"Oh yeah?" Redic responded with a snarky tone. "If it's not a word then how come I can say it and you know what I mean by it?"
"Because you're an idiot, that's why!" Sati shouted out.
"Says the one lacking much genuinism." Redic said alongside a grin to agitate Sati even more.
Sati (Say-Tee) and Redic (Reh-Dik) are the poster children for love-hate relationship. They're both members of my squad and bicker amongst one another quite a bit. However, as soon as the other is threatened, both are prepared to splatter the air in red.
Sati took a deep sigh and rolled her eyes before turning her attention back towards me. "Let's go, captain is waiting for us." I nodded in response to Sati and all three of us moved in conjunction towards the gate.
"You know," Redic said just as we began walking. "If you do continue to be late like this, even Tivo (Tiv-Oh) is going to begin to yell at you."
Redic and Sati have been my squad members for about two years now alongside Tivo and our Captain, (insert name). I originally was never supposed to work with any of these guys, however due to a series of events I was placed in this squad until my "evaluation is complete", whatever that means.
You see the way Kusuha's military is structured most people who enter it are assigned to a branch, and in those branches are battalions where a vast amount of soldiers spend their careers being the core of the military. Battalions are then split into platoons in order to better organize missions and training. These platoons spend most of their time together, except when missions are needed, and then only a selected number is gathered for the mission and these individuals then form a squad. Almost everyone in the military follows this flow of the higher ups giving orders to the Battalion Commander, and the Battalion Commander then giving those orders to those working under him who then overlook those orders and makes sure they're fulfilled to the highest of capabilities.
The only exception to this composition of military life is the Special Forces, and that's where we come in. Special Forces at first glance seems like a word belonging to the most elite of soldiers, the top one percent; and though for the most part that is true, the exception are the (Blank) squads, and unfortunately that is us. (Blank) squads are squads that act outside of the normal command, receiving special orders deemed useful for the members composing the squad. In other words, we receive the missions that are not worth the time of other soldiers. Members of (Blank) squads hold the rank of Hoplites and are chosen for this position due to their "uniqueness" that is unfit for typically military life but can still be useful in the field. Though this position is usually an insult, it's sometimes a compliment to your abilities; sometimes.
