War Cry

War Cry - A Fight

 (Picture: Geovanni)

Annalee POV.

              Gramma and I made our way out of the dining hall and across to the main house. The Lacíon sect felt more like a small town than, well, anything else it could possibly feel like. It was well hidden deep within the forest and protected by charms so that it would be invisible to human eyes. We had our own school, training center, gym, and housing units, and they all surrounded the dining hall. The main house was located right in front of it, so the walk was quick and the distance was short.

                The main house had ten rooms- large apartment-style rooms, several offices, and one ballroom (which doubled as a meeting hall on special occasions, such as today). My rooms were on the second floor towards the back of the house. They were farthest away from the open area of the house, where normal visitors couldn’t travel to. I chose them for the privacy they provided- no one ever really bothers me here.

                "Are you nervous?" Gramma asked as we rounded the hall and stopped in front of my door.

                "No, not really. It's just receiving my mark, right?" I replied, unlocking the door and stepping into my sitting room. My room is my second favorite place on Lacíon land. It consisted of a sitting room, a kitchenette, my room, and then a guest room. Again, it's more like an apartment than a bedroom, but that’s the perk of being from the main branch. I decorated the living-room in in black and white. The floors and walls were an off white grey, and the furniture was black. I had a really comfortable black couch in between two equally comfortable black recliners. They all sat in front of my big screen TV, which was only ever really used for video-gaming purposes. Against the wall, under the tv, was a black bookshelf- we kept all of our consoles and games there.

                Gramma stayed silent. She probably thought it was a rhetorical question, it wasn't. I made no effort to question her again, as we walked through my sitting room and into my bedroom where my attention was stolen by the silver chest that sat at the foot of my bed. The robes.

                Another main branch-plus was the robes. While each rank of Lacíon – Alta, Idaa, and Tayaal, had their own different color and style robe, the main branch had special accents on their robes to distinguish their position from the others. Each rank had predominantly black robes. They’re a sleeveless, hooded top with were loose fitting half pants, and boots.  The top fit snugly around the waist, where it flowed loosely to the calves with a slit on the side for ease of movement in fights. The robe top had a different color trim around the neckline, hood, and bottom, if you were Alta, it was silver, for Idaa, it was ruby, and Tayaal had a topaz color. Mine were black and white robes with a silver lotus pin across the breast (the pin signified that I was a member of the main branch). I would gain my color after the initiation meeting.  [I'll probably get it sketched I'm horrible with describing things]

'Not bad, not bad at all...' I thought to myself, holding the robes up and examining the fabric.

"Well, aren't you going to put them on? Or are they not to your liking?" Gramma smirked at my shocked expression.

"Of course these are too my liking! Gramma, they're beautiful!" I admired, flinging my top off and hastily dressing.

"My, you look just like your mother!" Gramma whispered, with wide eyes and a thoughtful expression while I twirled in front of the mirror, in shock of my appearance as well. She pulled my hair back and into a long braid. "My beautiful grandchild."

Smiling, I grabbed her arm and pulled her out of my room and in the direction of the meeting hall. Mother... she's not the easiest subject for me to talk about. While I do love my mom, I sometimes resent her. I’ve been raised as if she was some kind of competition for me to defeat- she was perfect in every way, obedient, beautiful, strong. I don’t remember her, I don’t remember anything, but I know my grandparents miss her… and sometimes I think they wish I was her.