At the time, before I went on my mission. The Kibbutz was a highly regarded commuune that subsisted mostly from mercenary work; it was a critical piece of military force for the relative peace of the free commuunes. but, arguably. The thing it is most remembered for is its military support of the Rüt kingdom.
In the end it was rampant corruption and the unexplainable demise of their tree is what ultimately led to the kibbutz’s defeat.
“fourth annual meeting of the flower kingdom”
“A child; a veteran. One and the same.”
The gong. a sound symbolizing a cacophony of things/ a circadian rhythm of sorts, a beating that begins the flow of the commuun. And a reminder to them all of the dreaded wars.
“G’ier ,” A voice called “shift is over”
The cacophony of gongs sounded in the background.
“You are summoned to a meeting with Ronen” A man walking over.
The wind is cold, the commuun seems at peace behind the walls.
“G’ier , are you listening to me? you have to go now”
the gong sounded one last time
turning around quickly, facing the intruder
“Hello there commander” G’ier quickly salutes “I did not notice you”
“Well I did G’ier , it is time to go.” and then said judgingly “I understand that you just came back. but it is no excuse not to act like a soldier”
“Ay commander” quick salute as G’ier walkes away
“And in case you didn't catch what I said, you have to go meet with Ronen” the commander yelled after G’ier as he walked away
It was the early morning, the sky showing a hint of light, while the sun was still nowhere to be seen. But that did not matter for the residents of the Kibbutz. The day starts when the gong bangs, G’ier stroddled along the roads, it's quite a long way to the council hall. After all, the Kibbutz is mountain spanning in its size and prowess.
G’ier looked back to where he was posted for that night, he was there for the last two weeks as it is the quietest part of the commuun. They don't trust him right now, and G’ier can feel it. The feeling of betrayal ate at him. “They dont trust me?'' That thought ran through G’ier’s head for the past two weeks. It seems that they want to apologize for their misdeeds.
A while later G’ier caught up with the main road, and witnessed the daily awakening of the commuun.
It's not an unusual sight of the kibbutz, but still, you never get used to this sort of thing. The streets were crowded, it was almost enough to make walking a struggle. G’ier looked around for a friendly face, but to no avail. He was never really good at recognizing faces but he hoped…
In the end it was a bland walk, no friends here, nothing changed the feeling of nothingness.
Fortunately, towards the end of the walk, G’ier saw his favorite shop. It was Ronit’s bakery, G’ier never understood how she was able to handle such a shop. Always packed full with customers. From what G’ier could gather. She was constantly dealing with endless bureaucracy, an everlasting threat of the shop being forcibly closed.
G’ier took a step in, carefully finessed his way around the other customers on his way to the counter.
Ronit was a bizarre being, she was tall. Which in itself wasn’t that weird, the weird part were her proportions, being over two meters tall and almost half as wide. She was the textbook definition of a burly woman, bigger than all but the greatest mud wrestling champions. and not only that, she also had one of the nicest, most soothing and feminine voices there is to find anywhere.
Most women in the kibbutz were on average ten centimeters shorter than the men. People always joked about Ronits height, looks and voice and she, like the greatest person there is, took all of them with a smile and grin. Often playing along.
“Is everything good down there G’ier?” G’ier heard Ronit's voice from above the crowd.
G’ier looked towards Ronit, she always liked to tease G’ier about the height differences they have. While being a head below Ronit he was still a head taller than most of the other people in the shop.
“It is, I hope you don't get altitude sickness up there Ronit. I rely on your bakery to survive”
Ronit looked back at G’ier with a smile across her face, and with her usual voice, a voice that never fit her face she answered.
“Don’t worry, I've already adapted to this altitude, you want your usual order, G’ier? Or maybe you want something special today”
“Thank you Ronit but I will go with the usual please”.
Ronit shrugged and yelled back at the kitchen “Get me G’ier’s usual meal please.”
“Ey ey Ronit” was heard from the kitchen, and with a smile Ronit moved on from G’ier to the next customer
G’ier slid to the back of the shop, not really thinking anything. His mind blank until he heard Ronits voice again, “Shorty come get your order” G’ier got his food, smiled towards Ronit and walked out continuing on his way to meet with Ronen
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The rest of the way was uneventful; the streets were quieting down as people got to where they needed to be, and so did G’ier; finally reaching the main Hall.
There were four guards standing there, from the shininess of their helmets they all seem to be new to the military. One of them is a fruit user, one rank of honor given to him, but G’ier never heard of a new fruit user. Probably gifted with the power for a great act of bravery and devotion on the battlefield.
Two seconds have passed since G’ier noticed and read them, two seconds have passed until they noticed G’ier. With a disapproving nod G’ier walked towards the entrance, a familiar seeming guard, not the fruit user, Saluted as G’ier walked by them, the rest of the guards noticed the one Saluting and hurriedly followed suit. Nine seconds, nine seconds is enough to lose half your platoon to a single fruities attack. Nine seconds is enough to lose your life to a charging battle Lizard.
Nine seconds is definitely enough to annoy G’ier for not paying enough attention to the surroundings.
G’ier might not be the most respected soldier, but when it came down to it? G’ier might be the most competent soldier in the Free Commuuns. G’ier with a short look while still walking by them, remembering their:
Rank, Platoon, Company, Personal achievements, and most important of all, the amount of care they gave to their gear.
The door closed behind G’ier, and the stench of the entrance hall entered G’ier’s nostrils. It smelled of old wood, an uncommon type of wood, as strong as stone; and as rare as ruby. there was no movement.
two flights of stairs covered both ends of the room. and in the center between them stood two huge doors so large that even Ronit would look like a child next to them.
The giant doors opened painfully slowly, creaking the entire way.
There was a man seated at the center stand. As the doors opened further, he noticed three figures near the statues, seemingly discussing something important. The hall Covered with paintings of gold and huge golden statues of long since fallen and forgotten heroes, and some less forgotten, he looked at old K’alev with a sigh, “They took you too soon”. Looking back at the center, G’ier spotted his caller, reading a book, stood Ronen.
Ronen looked up from his book, his gaze meeting G’ier’s.
“G’ier it is good to see you,” He announced. “We have important things to discuss.”
G’ier stood in front of the stand. At attention, pretending to listen, waiting to leave..
“So G’ier, a request was presented before our great Mo’atza,” Ronen stopped speaking and the people in the back of the room could be heard speaking. “There is a, politician” His voice filled with disdain as he said the word, “sent from the Root empire on a mission to transfer a box to the central commuun. Visiting 11 other communes on the way. Now, we know that with your expertise of the languages in the commuuns and your experience with the area. you have been chosen to go on this journey and to deliver the box.” Ronen noticed G’ier’s his lack of attention.
“G’ier did you catch ANYTHING I just said?”
G’ier popped back into reality “yea, yea. no yea, definitely i heard it all: politician, box, protect, language. It's all good”
Ronen picked up an eyebrow not expecting G’iers attention.
“Well, good to see you are listening. But there is one more thing to this mission beyond all of this, now I know you are a great soldier and have done some very important missions. And this is one of them”
G’ier sensed that Ronen is leading to something that he is not going to like
“Just spit it out Ronen, what is it?”
Ronen seemed surprised. and thought for a second “You just need to deliver this box, it would be best if the politician gets lost, somewhere on the way.” he paused for a moment as if to think, “Say… Border.“
G’ier stayed quiet for a moment, then, speaking in a nonchalant tone spoke, “When does the mission start?”
“Any time the politician gets here.”
“Then I'll be taking my time off until the mission.”
“That's good by me.”
G’ier walked out, leaving the slow door creaking behind.
----------------------------------------
When Ronen heard the bang of the great door closing, Ronen let out a sigh of relief. He gave out a large cheer on his accomplishment as the others in the hall gathered around him
“Well done Ronen,” If a voice could pat someone on the back Ronen would’ve gotten a bruise.
“Thank you K’alev,” he responded.
L’ochem made his way slowly from the back picking up his war hammer and with a small grunt said “Good thing my involvement wasn't necessary, last thing I want is a fight with him”
Everyone else nodded.
“Oh and what was that about easily stopping him, Pri? You seem to also be relieved to see him leave”
“It's nothing, but I realized that even with a fruit it doesn't mean shit for him.”
“So, now that he is gone, we are all still alive. want to go out for a drink and some pastries?” Ronen suggested.
Gestures of agreement filled the room.
“Actually, I heard Ronit has a special today,” said Pri.
“That sounds good” K’alev proclaimed.
“So, we shall.” Ronen led the way.