Chapter 15 - Gaid...?
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«"Soldiers!"» The break had long ended, and now it was time to return to the torture that was that training.
Natirra didn’t know how to feel about it; she had some fear but had ultimately understood what was coming. Now she simply had to endure the pain and fatigue. Fortunately, she had other friends, although it was still too early to call them that (except for Riaca), suffering alongside her.
The general, who from the first moment had instilled the same fear, constantly paced, shouting orders, motivational speeches, and war stories to provoke terror between the narwhals, all mixed in a soup of screams and curses. Then she stopped, giving the closest thing to an instruction, but with her usual loud exclamation and furious expression.
«"Listen to me soldiers, I have an announcement! We have checked. Our soldiers have checked. Of course, without our superiors' knowledge. Don’t think that just because General Rinoria fought in a few more wars, I’m not damn well capable of breaking your horn, understood?!"»
«"Yes, ma’am!"» They all shouted, some more fearful than others, but all with that layer of fear, every soldier was confused in a way.
«"One of you... You disgusting insects, thought it was a good idea to leave. Didn’t they? So what did they do, they disappeared from training."»
Natirra, Riaca, Igre, and Monomia, though far apart in the line, exchanged knowing glances. One thing Natirra hadn’t counted on was that, despite the large number of soldiers, someone might have noticed the missing girl. That this was the case, and so soon, no one had thought. But... It could lead to interesting developments.
«"We’ve decided we’ll track her down, as a result. And when we do... Yes, and when we do! You’ll see what happens to deserters, let this be a clear example."»
At that moment, Natirra felt slightly sorry for Eneas. In a way, she would have ran away too, given the situation. But, at this point, it was more about her own doubts and the looming mystery that surrounded this whole deal.
She wanted to understand what had scared that damn girl, she had to understand why she had gotten so frightened. Because whatever had scared her had the potential to frighten her too, and... If she couldn’t find out, she would always have doubts. She needed to know what had scared her, to prepare herself.
She regretted not asking anything when she had the chance. If they found her, good for her, she could interrogate her. Otherwise... It would be worse, she’d have to search for the reasons behind her escape. In any case, she would do something, trying to drag her companions along somehow. And maybe, she’d end up running away too.
Needless to say, after that brief announcement, there was nothing but narration and detailed descriptions for the next exercise. And Natirra knew full well that she would suffer greatly.
The training continued, and Natirra suffered even more. The lower body exercises had never been her favorite; she was not good at all, and running was something she hated with all her heart. If it had been, I don’t know, throwing or lifting something, maybe she could have done it, but this was something extremely difficult. Fortunately, she wasn’t the only one suffering.
After the run, she stopped, kneeling down. «"Prepare yourselves! We’ll start again soon!"» Next to her, Igre collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. «"My... My brain... Doesn’t need this..."»
Natirra watched him, almost astonished. Could he brag about his intelligence even in a situation like this? She was starting to not understand him. Actually, she hadn’t understood him in the first place. But the initial annoyance, like with Eneas, had quickly disappeared, and he didn’t bother her as much anymore.
…
Even the training eventually ended, and, as scheduled, there was essentially one last break in the courtyard before returning to the tents. The whole group gathered once again, some more exhausted than others. Monomia walked up, smiling as if he’d just woken up from a beauty sleep. «"Wow, that was fun. I love running."»
«"You brutes, I don’t understand you. My head hurts, this training hurts my brain, damn it..."» said Igre, holding his head.
Natirra and Riaca were nearby, Natirra looked like she was about to leave her body behind, while Riaca seemed as if she’d just finished a simple warm-up. The difference between the two was clear and, in some ways, quite embarrassing. Despite this, Natirra didn’t mind in the end; she was used to being physically weaker than Riaca, despite the physical difference. What was peculiar was that, despite Natirra trying to start a conversation, Riaca seemed to always shut it down. Natirra knew that girl well, and seeing her like that, she clearly understood that something was bothering her. But her mind, filled with a million other worries, couldn’t put all the pieces of the puzzle together and simply thought Riaca was as tired as she was.
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They stayed for a bit to rest, exchanging silly and often nonsensical conversations, typical of people who didn’t have much interesting to say.
Inevitably, though, an event managed to distract the whole group. Some noises could be heard, and the whole group turned. In another part of the courtyard, several people were gathered in a circle, cheering loudly. It was incredible to think that even in a situation like this, someone could still find the desire to create some form of entertainment.
Riaca, curious, pointed toward the area where everything was happening.
«"Oi... What are they doing over there?"»
Among everyone, only Monomia gave a reasonably sure answer. «"I have a feeling I know what’s going on, but let’s go check it out."» And deep down, everyone else knew what was happening, but that curiosity to see it firsthand drove them to get up and go investigate.
As they got closer, it became clear what was happening: it was a fight between two people, and that circle was nothing more than a group of spectators taking advantage of the free entertainment.
A circle of people had formed around the two combatants; no one intervened. Natirra and the others joined the group, equally indifferent and with no intention of intervening, watching to see what moves the two would make. Natirra looked around to see the others—some of them were laughing, ready to tell their friends everything that would happen in the fight, some were slightly concerned about the direction the argument was taking, others slowly distanced themselves, keeping at least six meters away from the two fighters, and some, excited, watched, ready to bet on who would win and cheer them on during the fight. They lingered like snakes, smiling. Natirra noticed them and looked at them with disgust. Igre intervened, also with a slight smile.
«"Some people just wait for others to go to war, so they can watch and laugh among themselves, but this has always happened, and always will."»
The two continued arguing, shouting at each other. One of the Narwhals suddenly threw down the gauntlet.
«"I heard you, idiot. You said my horn is small, didn’t you?!"»
«”Don’t play innocent, you bastard. I heard you talking behind my back. Fight me with honor!”»
On one side was a robust soldier with short black hair and a sturdy horn. On the other was his complete opposite: a short, skinny boy with pale blue skin and a small, thick horn on his head, shorter than average for his age, much like Natirra. In all that time, she had seen so many odd people that her own quirks seemed relatively normal.
One of them moved forward—the stronger one, specifically. «”I’m sick of your crap! Get out of my sight or I’ll kill you!”»
The shorter boy didn’t waste time with words and threw an uppercut aimed at the face, but his punch was immediately blocked.
«”Nice try, now it’s my turn.”» With a body shot to the liver, he dropped him to the ground.
After that, the crowd slowly dispersed, most of them disappointed with how the fight ended.
The group started to walk away too, except for Monomia, who quickly approached the boy who had just been defeated. Natirra felt compelled to follow, even though she wasn’t that interested. The rest of the group stayed behind, not entirely convinced but still curious to see how things would play out.
«”We’ve been here two days, and you’re already starting fights?”»
«”He insulted me; I had to.”» the boy replied, still lying on the ground.
«”Ever heard of the ‘just ignore it’ rule? You shouldn’t get so mad so easily, and you’ll hear worse if you end up on a ship.”» Monomia offered him a hand, helping him up, then extended it for a shake. «”Nice to meet you, I’m Monomia. That’s Natirra; she doesn’t talk much.”» Natirra took offense at that last part. «”That over there is Riaca, and that’s Igre—he’s a smart guy!”»
The boy stood up with difficulty and stared at Monomia, who still had a cheery face, with some annoyance.
«”My name is Gaid.”» He said it without much interest, clearly wanting to leave the situation as quickly as possible. But Monomia didn’t seem to notice.
«”So, do you need help?”»
«”No, I don’t.”» Gaid replied, sounding irritated. That sudden response also annoyed Natirra. They were the only ones who came to check on him, and he was talking to them like that?
«”Are you sure?”»
«”Absolutely.”» He confirmed with full certainty.
«”But, wait,”» Riaca spoke for the first time. Up until then, she and Igre had been exchanging looks. «”What did he say to make you start a fight?”»
Suddenly, Gaid showed them his horn and, with complete and sudden seriousness, answered, «“He said my horn was small!”»
“What?! This?! This was the big insult?! Was this really the reason he started a fight that he lost in a single punch? Seriously?!” Natirra thought, her mouth agape.
«”Seriously? That’s the only problem?”» Monomia asked, laughing and grinning. Gaid was probably bothered by this, and after a moment, he finally responded.
«”What do you mean ‘only’? That’s an insult no Narwhal can accept!”»
«”I think you’re taking this a bit too seriously, and in any case, it’s over now, so there’s not much you can do about it.”» When Monomia spoke like that, he seemed less foolish. It was like he played dumb on purpose.
«”It doesn’t matter. Thanks for coming, but I have other things to do.”» Gaid quickly got up, dusted the dirt off his uniform, and walked away from the group as they all watched him leave.
«”I’d heard soldiers are not the most patient folks here at the camp, but this much? And here I thought Monomia was the impatient one.”» Igre said, adjusting his glasses.
«”How rude. Does he have no respect? We came to help him, and he just leaves like that. I hate people like that.”» Riaca added, crossing her arms.
«”Some people are just like that. Not everyone is as friendly as we are, right, Nati?”»
Natirra still hadn’t figured out why she was called that. Riaca, on the other hand, hearing it a second time, burned inside like molten metal.
Natirra continued to watch as Gaid walked off, disappearing into the camp amid jeers and jokes.