A Curse of the First

•«CHAPTER SIXTEEN»• •«TROOP LIFE»•

She missed him, she knew it was for the better, but she missed him. The worst part was that Birch knew that even if she survived, she wouldn't be able to see him again. Well, that was a stretch, but if they ever saw each other again, they might as well be enemies.

She glanced up at the sky, watching the stars that stood out against the almost black night. Birch knew she should sleep because of how exhausted she was, but she knew she couldn't. The ground under her wooden chair was soaked with water, but not covered with it. It was hard to keep herself awake, but if she gave in she probably wouldn't be able to get herself to sleep.

Might as well be back home, safe, and with Slip... She thought sadly, missing her sister. Birch kinda wished her mother hadn't sent her to Maomd, but it wasn't like she had very much of a choice... she had only been thirteen. She shouldn't have to be fighting, she should've been home, with Slip, her mother, and her father.

But here she was, a soldier in a war. Birch knew there were high chances she might die here, HIGH chances. Her eyelids closed for a moment, drifting off for a split second before she jolted back awake again. She stood up and started heading over to the tent she was sharing with someone, leaving the chair behind. Wherever she stepped, water seeped out of the ground before soaking in again when her foot left the ground.

Her leather boots that she had to wear luckily blocked the water from her feet, but would leave tracks of mud everywhere. She finally reached her tent, which was unluckily, downhill so more water was in that area. Birch sat inside and slipped her boots off, glancing back at the person she was sharing the tent with. They were skinny and short, with pale grey eyes that resembled the moon. Their skin was a orangish- brown, but their hair was a dull orange.

"Just now back? It's almost one in the morning." The Maomded sighed, sitting calmly on her sleeping bag, arm resting nonchalantly on their leg.

"You're still up too, Blossom." Birch pointed out, setting her boots by her new friend's.

"I know, but I wanted to make sure you didn't drag mud in." Blossom sighed before getting up and into her sleeping bag.

Birch rolled her eyes, holding back a chuckle, stood up and took off her wool sweater, which was provided to act against the cold, before grabbing a long fur coat and slipping that on over her white shirt and leather pants. She walked over to her own sleeping bag and climbing in.

Her head hit her pillow, which were a mix of a few feathers and a ton of hay. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it at least had a few feathers. As soon as she let her eyes close, Birch was asleep.

~~~***~~~

The sun was barely up when she felt someone shake her shoulders. Birch yawned and opened her eyes, seeing an equally tired Blossom sitting on her knees by her side.

"Get up! It's barely morning, but we have to help cook breakfast today!" She sighed, trying to seem happy.

"At least our troop is on the smaller side." Birch murmured, sitting up and stretching her arms.

"I guess." Blossom shrugged before standing up and heading over to where their boots were, having already put her own sweater on.

Birch yawned once again and stood up. She followed Blossom over to the shoes, picking up her sweater and slipping off her coat when she got there. Putting on her sweater, she picked up her pairs of boots.

Blossom was carefully sliding her boots on, clearly annoyed about cooking. She stood up and walked out of the tent. "Hurry up, we have a lot of work to do." She sighed, glancing back and smiling slightly.

"I know." Birch chuckled, finally getting both her shoes on and heading after Blossom, who of course had already left. She needed to pause for a moment, her eyes having to adjust to the morning light. Letting out a small sigh, she continued after Blossom.

There we go! What do y'all think of Blossom? This was honestly so fun to write.