Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 6:16 am Post subject: The Barracks
Twilight Flame sauntered up toward the barracks, or where he thought was the barracks. The path went into some trees, but torches stood by the sides and, hidden in the forest, two palaside walls guarded the pathway.
Twilight was quite bold (but that might have come from having weapons with him) as he walked. Then, he saw it. It was large-ish, and well-kept. It looked like it had a stone foundation and walls, but wood coated the outside. Thorned vines twisted around this wood. The roof was slightly below par, but it would work.
Twilight went inside the building. There was a nice, reed-woven carpet (or large rug) that covered the entire inner area. The main thing decorating the room was a statue of a centaur rearing up on its hind legs, weilding two daggars ready to stab an invisible target. A banner above that said, "Shmiel Memorial Barracks". Twilight chuckled. He knew Shmiel's story well.
But that would be another time.
Along the three walls were three doors, reading (from right to left) "Dorms" "Mess" and "Range". Flame sauntered off toward the dorm. Maybe somebody there could help him.
The moment he opened the door, an arrow slammed into the wall next to Flame's head. Twilight froze. "Who goes there," demanded a familiar voice. Twilight recognized the person, walked in, and said,
"I'm surprised you don't remember me, James." _________________ Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is bad?
"How do you know my na--," James said, but soon saw who Twilight Flame was. "Brains," James said, "is that you? How did you get here?"
Twilight suddenly grew very serious. "I am <i>not</i> 'brains'. You know that."
"Oh, right. You're 'Twilight Flame'. Why do you call yourself that anyway."
"To remind myself of what I did."
James chuckled. "That was a good plan. The humans were just too prepared."
"Let's not talk about it here, okay," Twilight said quickly. "I'm still scarred, physically, mentally, emotionally...... spiritually."
"Aw," said a voice, "is somebody hurt from battle?" Twilight turned and saw a young, probably too-proud centaur, sneering at him. "Does oo have de sniffoos?"
"You wanna go, punk," Twilight said, drawing his sword.
"Not now," James said, "not here."
"Oh, come on," the young centaur said, "I'm gonna give you a sparring lesson."
"I wouldn't do that," James said. "I've seen this guy in battle."
"From what I've heard," taunted the pround creature, "those 'battles' were against untrained humans. My grandmother could take them on!"
"Let's go," Twilight said. "Right now, in the range."
"Bring it on," the centaur said.
"I really wouldn't advise it," James warned the centaur.
"I can take this guy with one hand on a claymore," the centaur sneered.
Twilight roughly grabbed the centaur and drug him through the central room and into the range. It was a wide-open field with targets and dummies. It even held a sparing ring.
"Okay," James said, "Armor up! We don't want any injuries." He handed out dull swords. Twilight accepted the sword, but rejected the armor, save a single shield.
"I fight armorless," Twilight said. The young centaur sneered.
"On my mark," James said, stepping away. "Three.... two.... one.... mark!"
The young centaur charged. _________________ Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is bad?
Twilight quickly brought up the sword and blocked the young one's attack. Quick as a flash, his sword circled around and nearly slammed into his opponent's curiass. The centaur just managed to put up his shield, and used this distraction to stab at Twilight.
Twilight Flame swung his sword down and knocked the young's sword away and used his shield to attack, slamming it down on Young's head. Young stumbled backward, stunned. Twilight brought his sword up quickly, lightly tapping Young's side.
The fighting seemed to stop. Twilight smiled, Young glared. Suddenly, they flew into action again. Young reared up on his hind legs, armor clanking. Twilight calmly put up his shield and easily absorbed Young's mighty blow. He used the flat of his sword and tapped Young between his hind legs.
"That's two out of three," James said, "game's up."
Twilight turned around and started walking away. Young gave a mighty scream and lunged at Twilight with a very sharp sword he picked up. Twilight didn't hesitate in shifting his weight onto his fore legs, crouching up, and thrusting his hind legs right into Young's horse chest.
Twilight could hear as the centaur's ribs cracked. He flew backward and landed on his back, gasping for air. Twilight helped him up, helping him breath. "We need to get you to the healer," Twilight said.
"Where," Young gasped, "did you *GASP* learn that?"
"I fought in a war," Twilight said. "You didn't. I have instincts that can only come with years and years of fighting." Twilight remembered the operation in which his friend had died. He shut the thought out. "And you," he told Young, "may call me 'Mr. Flame,' or simply 'sir.'"
"Yes, *GASP* sir."
James and Twilight then lead the centaur out of the barracks and toward the healer's hut. _________________ Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is bad?
After they had dropped the centaur off at the healer, paying for any expenses (quite hefty for a farmer), Twilight Flame and James returned to the barracks.
"I didn't know you guys had a store of money," Twilight said.
"Oh, yeah," James said, "we actually receive it from a centaur nation a month's journey west of here. It's a tax they give, and all of it comes here, for this memorial barracks."
"So, you're actually getting government help from a country we don't even know?"
"Well, if you didn't know," James said, "the war we fought is quite well-known in centaur nations around here. Here, in this village, it's not even heard of, though. But SRN (single-race nations) are well-aware of our plight and struggles.
"In fact," he continued, "the remnants of Tidiria is quite popular in centaur countries and some human countries. Apparently, Glomen framed other countries same as us. They just didn't have the power to fight."
There was an odd silence. James stopped sharpening a sword he'd been working on. He gave a forced chuckle. "Neither did we," he said, still staring off into space. He suddenly looked at Twilight and continued rubbing the stone on the blade. "But, Tidiria was the only country to stand up for themselves. Other countries would have helped, but by the time they'd heard about the 'rebellion', it was over."
Twilight smiled weakly. "It wouldn't have done any good. It was over before it began. Right at the beginning, we had nothing to loose, and they had everything. We were just, well, more pissed."
They both laughed.
"In reality, though," James said, "I don't think they would have helped. They were part of Glomen, probably to the bone. Even if they did hear about it sooner, they wouldn't have come. It would be too valiant of those countries. When you don't farm in the mountains, well, I just don't think you have the same sense of brotherhood."
"I know what you mean," Twilight said. "Tidirians looked out for each other. You and me, we're brothers, fighting side-by-side for freedom. Sure, we lost our home, our country. But what is too much to pay for freedom?"
"Your life," James said solomly, still sharpening the sword (which was probably beyond razor-sharp by now). "Those others, those thousands of countrymen. You said it, Flame... we're family, we Tidirians. You and me, we're brothers. You and me... and David."
There was a pause, and James suddenly slammed the stone against the side of the sword. He did it very hard, and the sword broke in two. James started to cry. "What am I doing here, Kyle," he asked. "I hate war. And here I am, sharpening swords in a freaking barracks built as a memorial to David. This isn't the proper memorial for David! He hated war more than I did!"
There was a pause. "You're saying we should do something in memory of David," Twilight Flame asked.
"Yes," James said, "I'm saying we should do something for David. Something that would honor him more than this." James threw the stub of the sword into the barracks wall. "I want to burn this building to the ground."
Twilight chuckled. "David would sure like that."
"Yeah," James agreed, "he would."
"Well," Twilight said, "what did you have in mind?" _________________ Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is bad?
"I don't know," James said. He seemed calm again. He took an un-stringed bow and a spare string, but only held them. "You know, I've been here for three years? When I got here they let me choose. I could be whatever I wanted.
"And I chose to be a soldier. Not just a soldier, but the head of the Shmiel Memorial Barracks. For two years, nobody came. Two years passes as I trained here, as I sharpened swords, strung bows, washing walls, and looking at that statue. Two years of knowing that this was the wrong way to honor David.
"And then Hank shows up. That cocky young centaur thought he could do anything. He thought he was ready for battle. I started training him, pushing him hard. I knew what he needed for war, but he wouldn't listen. He thought he knew it all.
"And still, I knew this wasn't the way to honor David. But I still did it. I trained him, or tried to. He gave up, and eventually I did too. He stuck around, being a nuisance, though. And there stood David's statue.
"You know, I've been doing this for three years. You've just gotten here, and you've spent ten days farming. You've probably honored David in ten days more than I have in three years, just by..."
James stopped. His face lit up. "That's it," he cried. "That's it! We need to buy a farm! We buy a farm, get some flax seeds over here, and grow a huge crop of flax. Then, we'll weave the flax into the finest linen and sell it! We'll start up the Shmiel's business again! That's how we'll honor David!"
"Perfect idea," Twilight said. "But," he continued, "a farm costs fifty thousand Dinars. I have eight thousand."
"Yeah," James said, "I'm near broke. There's no way we can buy one."
"Maybe if we save up," Twilight said. "It shouldn't take two of us that long to get a farm!" _________________ Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is bad?
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