Rise: First Blood

Chapter 5: Those Who Conquer Beyond (I)

Elandra Ward, Western Lézandre. 63 AE

"Excuse me, sir," a young girl peeked into her officer's tent. Her long brown hair almost shadowed most of her fair face. An eyepatch covered her left eye which was scarred from the eyelid to her shaved undercut. "The three of them has arrived."

Captain Mikazuki Mikoto took a sip of cold coffee from his steel tankard. "Send them in, Elaine."

"Yes, sir," Elaine nodded and saluted before disappearing back into the courtyard.

She took a glance at the trio. Pathetic, she thought. "You may now see the captain."

Sam, the tallest and the bulkiest of them all could not help but to make an eye contact with her sky blue eyes. His heartbeat was racing and his sweats started to pour on his forehead.

"T—thank you, Miss—"

"Forget it, big boy. You're not my type," Elaine flipped her waving brown hair—exchanging looks with him.

Edward and Pete let a small outburst of laughter in the background. "Defeated even before the battle," Pete said between his laughs.

"Shut up!" shouted Sam before stepping on Pete's foot. But Pete just kept on laughing until his tears fell off from his eyes.

Edward who was finally came to his sense and worrying more about the waiting captain just cleared his throat. "Okay guys that's enough. Let's not make the captain wait any further."

He brushed off past Elaine, ignoring the intimidating stare from the black eyepatch and the blue eye. There was a sudden cold breeze lingering around his neck. His feet came to a stop.

"What's wrong, Marques?" Elaine asked flatly.

Edward only looked at her in the corner of his eyes. Her face remained calm in the cold morning. "Nothing, just the weather, I guess."

She curved her red lips slightly. "It's always about the weather isn't it?"

Edward rubbed his cold neck. "Yeah," his eyes still not letting go hers. Eventually, he just sighed. "I should get going."

Before he could even lift his foot, Elaine grabbed him in the shoulder—not giving a damn about his weird and confused face. She pulled him closer until their cheeks almost touched each other. Again, his brown eyes met with her blue. Her scent of daffodils lusted his fresh cologne.

"Remember this, Marques," she whispered softly into his ear. "When darkness falls and your heart becomes empty, just find the light hidden beneath the clouds."

"W—what are you—" he stammered but Elaine shut him off.

"Remember," she tapped his fingers onto his forehead softly. Dizziness suddenly clouded his vision. "Control your past and you will control your future."

Edward blinked rapidly. The pain inside in his head was becoming unbearable for him. Visions of a dark figure clouded his eyes. For a moment, he thought he was tripping into another realm.

Damn it, lady! What did you just do to me?! He tried to speak but the words ended up in silence.

"Hey Edward!" Sam's loud voice battered his eardrums. "You okay, man? You're not taking any pot aren't ya?"

"W—where's the lady? Where is she?" Edward looked to his right and left.

Sam crouched beside him. "What're you talking about man? That shaved head girl? She's already waiting for us with the captain."

"What? I was just talking to her."

"Man, what is wrong with you? One second you were talking to nobody and then suddenly you were holding your head," Sam shook his head. "Hey Pete, give Eddie a helping hand."

***

Captain Mikazuki glanced at the three of them before nodding his head towards Elaine.

She nodded back and said, "Very well, I shall take my leave then, captain."

Mikazuki waited until his colleague disappeared from his tent. "You know who I am?"

"Yes, sir!" the three of them spoke.

His cloudy eyes struck each of them. "I'll be honest with you. You and I, we're all no different," he walked towards Sam. "You're seem to be the toughest around here, what's your name?"

"Samuel von Heldart of Ardenne, sir!" Sam tried his best to let the intimidating eyes pass through him.

Mikazuki nodded his head slowly. "Ardenne, beautiful beaches and bitches," he was not giving a damn if Sam wanted to laugh which for his best sake he did not. "And you are what? 21? 22?"

"20 years old, sir."

"See, I told you we are no different. As a matter of fact, I'm literally younger than you all. To be promoted to captain at the age of 19, imagine how much envies from those old grumps that I have to endure."

Sam, Pete and Edward just looked at each other and shook their heads, not believing the fact that their new superior officer was younger than them.

Mikazuki took a glance at them and went back to his desk. "You may ask Elaine for my biography later on and you'll still ended up shaking you heads. But, you understand why we have chains of commands? It isn't the matter of age or gender—experience is the best teacher and it's the only way to get raise in pay."

"Excuse me, sir. But, why you chose us? We're not some highly skilled soldiers, in fact we've only just been here for three months," asked Pete.

"Pietro Maximus of Dernadelles is it? I recognized your face earlier, you have a lot of similarities with your father. He was a good man," Mikazuki cleared his desk and produced a map of Elandra Ward and its outskirts.

Pete looked confused, "But, my father died two years ago—killed by a rogue soldier outside the wall."

Mikazuki stared blankly at Pete, "And that was the exact thing I told them to write in the reports."

"W—wait you mean, you were the—" Pete's question were cut off when Elaine suddenly barge into the tent.

"The gears are ready, captain. Will go whenever you're ready," Elaine ignored the trio's faces.

Mikazuki circled a small portion of the map before rolling it back. "Now, if you all may, follow Sergeant Elaine please. She will assist in gearing you up.

Slowly, the three of them saluted him and turned towards the exit. Just before they left, the young captain gave them a cold smile, "Gentlemen, welcome to the Recon."

***

Hey y'all! Sorry for the really really late update because I had fever for three days plus with muscle cramps (and God knows how I really lost my appetite during that period) Fortunately, I'm a bit well now and guess I owe you an update(s)

Let me know what do you think of Elaine and Captain Mikazuki Mikoto >.<