Now, again, without further ado:
A scene I had never seen before. The atmosphere around me was heavy. Standing at attention with my fellow colleagues, we were all prepared. Our CO was standing in front of us, his face, unlike his strict look when training us; or his playful look when messing with us. No, he had a grim look on his face, a shadow looming over it. We all knew what was looming over the CO’s thoughts. And yet, no one spoke. No, it wasn’t that no one spoke out, but no one could speak out. I wanted to say something as well, but I couldn’t. The sounds just wouldn’t come out. I was waiting. We were waiting. Everyone was waiting. Like that, the time passed. The sun had rose from the horizon to now be proudly above us, sending its searing waves down at us. But we still waited. That was all that could be done.
Finally, the CO spoke, “Soldiers…,” he started, only to pause after his first word. We could clearly see the conflicting feelings in his eyes as he closed them. I knew what he was doing. He was strengthening his will. When he once again opened his eyes, they were resolute. There were no longer any conflicting feelings. Although none of us showed it, we were all happy.
Yes, this is the CO we all know.
His will resolute, he spoke once more, this time in a voice more resolute, powerful, and willful, “Soldiers! We have spent many-a-days together!” He started, loudly stating his point. We all gulped at once.
“I’m sure y’all ‘ready know what’s about to happen, so I won’t say anything about that,” He said, the earlier conflicted look flashing across his face, disappearing quick enough to only barely let me, the one with the best eyes, to just catch a glimpse of it. He continued on, declaring the thing weighing on us all, “We are going to War! This is not a drill, soldiers! This is War!” He was now shouting. We could all feel the powerful emotions that he poured into every single word of his. But, we were already prepared for this. We all knew about the war, and were aware that we would probably be pulled into it as well. This wasn’t optional. It was required.
“As you all probably know already. We will be going to war. Soldiers. Prepare yourselves. Dismissed.”
The CO seemed to have already resolved himself, but we could all see the gloominess in his expression. He shut his eyes, and, turning around, walked towards the lodging. It would be the last time we rested here, and we had to cherish that.
The group scattered, and clumped up into groups, heading back to our rooms. I walked back with my roommates, Drain and Quince. They, just like me, wanted to cherish these last moments.
“So, what are your thoughts?” I asked, my own question left unanswered in my heart.
“Well, the CO seemed unhappy,” Drain pointed out, “Something seems off to me. The CO wouldn’t be unhappy if this was just another battle. He was jumping for a chance of fighting things like bandits.”
“Well, yeah,” Quince seemed a bit hesitant as he continued, “But this isn’t the bandit exterminations. It’s a war.”
“That’s true…,” now a bit worried, I replied to Quince’s comment. “This isn’t a battle or an extermination… It’s a war. I guess it would have to be different.”
“Oh c’mon guys! Cheer up!” Drain was obviously trying to cheer us up, but he didn’t seem to be doing a good job of it.
“Oh c’mon guys! Cheer up!” Drain was obviously trying to cheer us up, but he didn’t seem to be doing a good job of it.
Quince didn’t miss the chance to take a jab at him, “Drain, you’re draining us of our cheerfulness with your draining talk.”
“OUCH! That hurt!”
We all laughed heartily at the atmosphere between us. At least we could stay normal, even in such a situation.
But that wouldn’t stay true for long.
Now, we were equipping ourselves with standard equipment, and preparing to march towards the battlefield. I had donned this very same equipment many times in the training drills and bandit exterminations, and, along the way, my equipment had somehow grew on me. Actually, now that I think about it, it was probably inevitable. I had taken many lives with my sword; my trusty buckler had protected me many times; my hard leather armour had blocked many strikes against my body; my trusty boots had kept my feet away from the musty exterior, from the mud, water, and cold snow; what else could I ask for? How would it not grow on me? And so, with my trusty armour, no, partner, I stood in line with my comrades, preparing to march.
We were all ready to march, and all that was left was the order from the CO, who was sitting on his horse in the front, fully armed, once again showing a solemn, but resolute aura. He opened his mouth once, about to say something, but he suddenly wavered for a moment, shutting his mouth. He shut his eyes, probably to resolve himself, and we waited. We waited for the CO’s words in the silence. The silence that was slowly growing to be painful. It felt as if minutes, hours, days, even years, had passed by. It felt as if time no longer held a meaning at this moment. But eventually, the silence had to stop. The silence in which a pin could drop, and one could hear it from a ways away, had been broken, not by the CO, but by a bird flying by overhead. We all remained quiet, and only the chirps of the bird could be heard. The bird couldn’t feel the solemn atmosphere, neither did it understand our feelings, but it was able to lighten up the burden weighing on our hearts. Finally, the CO opened his eyes. Albeit slowly, he once again moved his lips. This time, there was no hesitation on his part.
“Soldiers. I ask of you all not much! All I ask is that you return. Safely. In one piece. So that your families will not mourn; So that your wives will not cry; So that your children will not cry, for having lost their fathers! Soldiers! We are going to war! Not for victory! But to survive! But while we’re at it, we’re gonna kick the asses of our enemies! ‘Cause that’s just what we do!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!!!!”
“YES SIR YES!!!”
“GOOD!!! MOVE OUT!”
We moved out. Not to die in a war. But to win. And to return. We left.
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