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(( This is the first installment of my story that I'm writing. This may be a little boring...sorry! D; ))



It was a wonderfully bright day outside the walls of the Soldier's Imperial home. The sky was crystal clear, not a cloud around. The sun shown brightly, letting its bliss warmth tickle the faces of many. People from all over the Imperial city were out and about, going along with their own business. Some were here, enjoying the bright spring day while others were there, working or shopping in the very busy marketplace. Soldiers from the Imperial army wandered about on their off days. Some were around the large wall that separated the city from the entire world, on duty. There was one soldier in particular that was on his off day. But he was not outside in the wonderful atmosphere. He was cooped up inside his room, sitting at a small oak wood desk, scribbling on a piece of parchment with a quill and a bottle of ink.





Dear mother, little sister Anastasia, little sister Annamarie, and baby sister Clair,



How have you been? I am alive and well and I apologize for not writing you as frequently as I usually do. I have been very busy with the raids that have been occurring. It seems that the Blashkan soldiers have taken over the Salah Pass that brings the continent of Lithan and the continent of Blashka together. I do hope everyone is safe in the neutral zone. I lost one of my comrade, Jon'Ethan Bales to one of the raids. I took it rather well, considering I was the one that had to go to his family and tell them what had happened. You remember the Bales' family, right? I told you about how when I was stationed out in Koz that they took care of Mayuko and I. I felt horrible for them. On a better note, I know my birthday is tomorrow. I'm sorry I won't be able to come home and see you all like I promised. I'm going to the Mao islands to escort some architects and explorers to the island of Maohai, the untouched island. I will see you when I go to see the Colosseum Games in a couple months. I love you all and miss you.



Let all ten gods be with you,

Vaughn Chesmu



Vaughn finished writing and put the quill down and capped the bottle of ink. He leaned back in his chair and let out a lazy yawn. What else did he have to do on this remarkable day? He had no duties. All of the other soldiers were on shift. He looked over to the stone wall that was his bedroom wall and let his eyes wander to the window. He saw a beautiful blue hue and his cerulean eyes widened. What was he doing inside when it was so gorgeous out there? He needed to get some fresh air. It wasn't like him to stay in his room all morning. It was still early. Usually he would be sleeping still and Mayuko would have to wake him up. But something woke him up early. It was a reoccurring dream. But he could never remember what it was about. He knew it would scare him, but when he woke up, he would completely forget it. How could he be afraid of something he couldn't remember? And so he constantly pushed the fear away and replaced it with the security of living in the moment.



The young soldier stood up out of his chair and stretched his arms above his head. He let out small noises as he stretched and then a small sigh when he lowered his arms. He looked around his room that was no larger than a walk-in closet. It had a bed, a small desk, and a little space to put his pack. He walked over to his pack and picked it up. He rummaged through it to make sure he had everything he needed from it. He then shoved his hand in his uniform pocket. He pulled out a small leather pouch and opened it up. Inside was an assortment of currency. Copper, silver, and gold. He closed the pouch and put it back in his pocket. With that, he left his room and headed down to the street.



Not even five minutes later, blond hair bounced through Vaughn's door. "Vaunny~!" Mayuko called as her powder-blue eyes scanned the room. She expected him to be sleeping again, but his bed was made and everything was in place except his pack. Even his standard military uniform was still there. Vaughn never left without putting it on. 'Is something wrong?' Mayuko thought and closed his door. She looked up and down the hall with an obviously worried look. "Vaughn..."



Vaughn on the other hand, was already down the street and in the marketplace. He figured he had enough money to spend, so he decided to get some presents to send back home. He always did that when he had extra money. Not only that, he sent money to his little sister, Annamarie. She was very sick and his mother had no way of paying for medicine. So Vaughn would pay for it whenever he could.



As he walked down the marketplace, looking from stand to stand, he stopped at a stand with a graying old man. "Dolls, cloth dolls!" He called out in a raspy voice, trying to sell hand-crafted cloth dolls. They were absolutely beautiful, but the big thing in the Imperial city were the moving toys. The ones with springs and things that made them move. Vaughn walked up to the stand and looked closely at the dolls. They were carefully crafted out of the finest cloth, even though they were of mute colors. "I'll take three." He said while he held up three fingers and gave the man a kind smile. The old man looked at Vaughn and smiled at him with a grateful expression. "Thank you kind young man!" He traded Vaughn the dolls for a gold coin and then waved him off as Vaughn carefully put them in his pack and walked off.



"Vaughn, Vaughn!" The young soldier heard child voices call out to him and then he felt tugging on his pants. He looked down to see some young children. They couldn't be any younger than five. "Come play ball with us!" They said happily, showing him a ball the size of a basketball. Vaughn was popular with the local children. Unlike some other soldiers who just ignored them, Vaughn played with the children. He loved kids. Not in that creepy way, but like he wished that one day he could have some children of his own. He thought he would make a pretty good father. "Alright, alright." He laughed and held up his hands for the small boy to throw the ball at him. He caught the ball and tossed it up in the air. A small cheer from the children rang out and Vaughn started to briskly walk to an area that had more space. It was an area just outside the capital's walls. As long as soldiers were on the walls and keeping a look-out, they were allowed to play out there.



Vaughn tossed the ball up and then over to one of the boys. He missed it and several of them chased after it. He couldn't help but laugh at their comical faces. "There you are!" He heard a familiar call and turned around. "Mayu!" He called and grinned at her. His fellow soldier and best friend looked a tad furious.



"Were you here this whole time?! Do you even know what time it is?!" She snapped at him and arms crossed over her chest. She was in uniform that consisted of dark tan pants, a dark gray undershirt and a dark tan half-jacket. Some wore scarves with their uniform, others cloaks. Mayuko wore a rich red cloak. It was her magical cloak of everything and it was something for Vaughn to fear. Mayuko uncrossed her arms and placed a hand on the edge of her cloak. She raised it and narrowed her eyes on Vaughn.



"Mayuko, no. Mayuko Sakata, I said no!" Vaughn snapped at her but then suddenly disappeared into thin air.



As soon as he disappeared, Vaughn fell out of the woman's cloak and fell onto the ground with an "oof!" Her cloak did wonders. Whatever she thought of would disappear from its original place and appear from her cloak. She often did this to Vaughn...and he hated it. With a sly grin, she stepped away from the young soldier and looked down at him. "There, you look better." He was completely dressed in uniform now, the same uniform she was in but better fit for the male body.



"Dammit woman!" Vaughn shouted as he stood up and dusted himself off. He glared at Mayuko and then stood straight. He balled up his fist and raised it over his head, but did nothing more. There was no way he could hit a woman, let alone his friend. Vaughn's attention returned to the surroundings and realized that the children behind him were laughing. He turned to look at them. Some were even rolling on the ground with laughter. Vaughn's angered expression softened and he let out a huff. "Come on now. Lets go back to the city before your parents worry!" He called to the kids and motioned for them to come. He waited for the children to walk through the gate before walking through himself. Mayuko followed closely behind.





"Hey Vaughn, do you know what tomorrow is?" She asked, a hint of playfulness in her voice.



Vaughn looked up in thought. "Tomorrow?" He tapped his lips and made a "Mmm..." noise. "Nope. I don't know." He looked over to the blond helf-elven woman. Even though she had luminescent skin and slightly pointed ears, it was hard to tell that she was part elf. She was on teh shorter side...that or Vaughn was on the taller side. Mayuko looked deep into Vaughn's eyes before turning away. "Nevermind then." She replied and kept walking. Vaughn lowered his chin into his red scarf that was wrapped around his neck. Was tomorrow something he was supposed to know? It was only his birthday, but was it really important?



* * *



The next night, Vaughn and Mayuko went about the capital to celebrate. Vaughn wasn't a big celebrator of his birthdays, but Mayuko insisted that she at least buy him a few drinks and some gifts. So the two of them went to the local pub and settled down on the bar stools in front of the bar.



"A pint for the birthday boy!" Mayuko called out and Vaughn turned to her wih wide eyes. "Shh! Shuddup, shuddup!" He whispered to her and clasped a hand over her mouth. The barmaid smiled at the two and pushed a mug filled with frothy liquid toward them. "There ya go, birthday boy." She said and Vaughn lowered his head until it hit the counter. It was horrible! Did everyone have to know that it was his birthday? Was it that big of a deal?



After a couple of drinks, Mayuko turned to Vaughn and tapped him on the shoulder. Vaughn turned to her and raised a brow. "I have some presents for you!" She said happily and smiled at him. Vaughn frowned slightly. "Mayu, you really shouldn't have..." He started, but she placed her index finger over his lips. "Come on now. Don't be stupid. I have to get you something!" She reached inside her cloak and rummaged around until she pulled something out, but wouldn't let Vaughn see. "Close your eyes."



Vaughn stared at her for a moment. "I don't trust you."



Mayuko looked at him with puppy-dog eyes. "You don't trust me? Really?" She whined. She quickly turned her face away and pretended to cry, sobbing a little. She knew Vaughn hated it when girls cried, even if it was a horrible fake cry.



"Oh, don't even go there." Vaughn growled and narrowed his eyes on her. She persisted. "Mayuko..." She continued. "Fine!" He closed his eyes and then covered them with his hands. "I closed me eyes." Mayuko quickly turned back to Vaughn with a clever grin. She pulled out a beautiful silver dagger with a snake-like dragon winding around the hilt.The blade itself was curved slightly and had a flame design. Those sort of daggers cost quite a bit. "Okay, open your eyes."



Vaughn uncovered his eyes and opened them to see a wonderful piece of metal in front of him. His mouth fell open and he reached out to gently pick it up. "Oh Omasiin...It's gorgeous!" He said and turned the dagger over in his hands. It would replace his old, worn down dagger that he carried around with him in his boot. "This costs a fortune! How could you afford this?" He turned to his female companion with amazement.



Mayuko had a triumphant smile on his lips as he examined the blade. "I have my ways. But nevermind that. Do you like it?"



"Like it? I love it!" Vaughn exclaimed and twirled it around in his hands, trying it out. It was the perfect size. Perfect for a special class soldier. "I've got something else for you too, Vaughn." Mayuko told him while he was still in a happy mood. She then motioned to the barmaid and the woman went out of view. She came back with a small black dragon with red eyes. It clung to the woman's shoulder, it's tail flicking this way and that. Vaughn looked up and his face lit up. "A dragon!" He said and stood up, making the stool screech backward and fall over.



Mayuko laughed at Vaughn's reaction. She knew that he always wanted a dragon but never had enough money to buy one. He reached out and the dragon sniffed his hand before reaching out, flapping its little wings and jumping to his hands. "It's so cute!" He cooed and brought it to his shoulder. He let it cling to him and wrap it's tail around his arm. He absolutely adored dragons. As he continued to squeeing Mayuko couldn't stop laughing.



But all this noise seemed to upset some of the other bar's customers. One man in particular, looked up from his pint and narrowed his eyes on Vaughn. He was a grizzly man with a gruff red beard. He was very muscular and looked like he meant serious business to anyone he got in contact with. The man slammed his fist on the table and let out a deep growl. "Will you two shut up?!" He shouted at Vaughn and Mayuko. The two of them turned around and looked at the man with confused glances. They looked at eachother then back to the man. "What?"



The man moved from his seat to Vaughn, grabbing him by his uniform jacket. "Yeah, you. Why don't you just shut the hell up, birthday boy? No one really cares about a dirt bag soldier like you." Apparently this was an anti-imperial man. Here in the Empire, it wasn't uncommon to find your local anti-imperialist. But usually they were too afraid to speak up.



The man raised a fist and went to punch Vaughn in the face, but Vaughn quickly moved to the side, even though he was being held. The dragon on his shoulder hopped off and cried out before hissing at the man. Vaughn grinned and let out a small laugh. "You want to hurt me?" He asked, his tone raising.



"Vaughn!" Mayuko called out.



The man went to punch Vaughn again, this time with more force. Vaughn moved out of the way and kneed the man in the gut. This made the man let go, and Vaughn raised an elbow before driving it down to the back of the man's head. He hummed a tune slightly as he watched the man fall to the ground. He kicked him and then picked him up off the floor. The man pushed Vaughn's hands away and punched out at him. Vaughn sidestepped and then did an uppercut to the man's jaw, sending him flying backward.



"Ugh...Why you!" The man shouted as he got back up and lunged at the soldier. Vaughn laughed and picked up the dagger from the counter. He moved out of the way, making the man fall on the ground. Before the man could get up fully, Vaughn leaned against his back and brought his new dagger to the man's neck. "Now you don't want me to try out this new dagger on you, hm?" A smile on his face. The man glanced at Vaughn in the corner of his eye. "N-no..." Vaughn got up, pushed the man over with his foot, then stepped beside Mayuko. "Then lets not start anymore trouble, got it?"