All Hail The Queen

Chapter 38 - The Enemy Lies in the Heart

 It comes as of no surprise the Westlands' have upheld their reputation of being the most brutal yet tactically sound military forces for generations upon generations; and with the newfound motivation to unite all of Agnea under one rule one of their greatest traits has only become even stronger.

 The wind is calm, the air arid; a gentle breeze sways the war banners to and fro. As the sun ascends to high noon, land is scorched under fire; heat radiating from the ground. Recruits in the hundreds of thousand train in a variety of skills ranging from armed to physical combat. The environment was intense, yet encouraged, by the drill sergeants responsible for supervising the training. "Come on, get back up! Fight him! Fight", "Make'em bleed!", "Hook their leg then take them down!" were only but a few things that were commonly yelled around camp. Many cracked under pressure from both the instructors and the unrelenting weather conditions. 

 Year round, for kios upon kios would they have to hike wearing weighted clothing in addition to carrying supply gears on their backs. Sleeping hours were sporadic in duration with none going beyond two hours. The exposure to physical and mental stress began to break down many recruits, some even committing suicide while in the midst of training sessions. The number began to slowly dwindle down as time went on, those who could endure the pain embraced their new roles of becoming trained killers. As these pawns were being groomed to become soldiers, higher ranking generals came down to select those who they deem worthy enough of becoming their disciples. Two of those higher ranking generals were Vin'Kuu and Jiyo.

"Is this really the best they have to offer? The cream of the crop? I don't like any of these options!"

"Don't be too uptight, Jiyo, they are still fresh. Let them ripen a little more."

"Then they better ripen up fast. I don't know how much longer I can do this for."

"Oh? Are you leaning towards retiring already? But you are still in the prime of your life, general. Surely, you're jesting."

"It's a little half and half, Vin'Kuu. To some, being forty-six years old is already considered too ancient. Not to mention, I've dedicated over twenty years of armed service for the Westlands. I've experienced a lot during that time; some better than others."

"Forty-six is not so bad. Squeezing in a few more years wouldn't hurt would it? Even though I've been here for quite some time now, I still rely on you and the others for help."

"A few years wouldn't be too much to ask out of myself. Mentally. I want to; but physically, I'm not so sure."

 She removed her glove and began to partially undo the bandaging around her hand to reveal all of the scars she had accumulated over time.

"You see these? All of these tell a story, and I remember, as clear as day, how I got them. The marks on my forearm came from discipline lashings during my training days. Those bastards were goddamn ruthless compared to drill instructors nowadays."

"Unreal. All of them?"

"Not all of them per se, just the ones closer to my wrist. If you look here at my ring finger knuckle you can see that it's nearly visible; even if I make a fist you can barely see it. I punched someone one time while they were still wearing a helmet. On my palm you can see some burnt marks -- those were when I was on an expedition to the north to secure the northern borders from our neighbors. This scar that goes from my elbow to my upper arm came from a stray arrow with its tip covered in this skin-eating poison. I almost had to amputate my entire arm to save myself but I was very fortunate it didn't cut deep enough to do any severe damage. The only downside to this is that I'll lose sensations in my arm from time to time but it's tolerable." She then re-wrapped her arm to cover her scars. "Anyways, enough about me. We have more important things to focus on. Let's go, general."