Standing on the top of the mountain stage among the other recruits who survived the two-year deployment is surreal. Everything looks different standing up here. The people to my left and right aren't strangers, but they're people who I've spent the last 6 years of my life working closely with. 

I used to be the one standing in the crowd, listening to names of the graduates and the names would pass me by. There were occasional moments where I would experience some recognition from around the faction, but for the most part the names left me as soon as they were said. Now, I remember each name of my fellow cadets- the ones who made it and the ones who didn't.

I never wanted to join the war guild. My family has always been farmers, and I love the work we did. It was rewarding to know that the effort I put to care for the soil, plants and animals could feed families I didn't even know- I reveled in it. The sweat, the muck, the way the air tasted on my tongue. 

Some people in the faction look down on the farmer's guild members because of all the dirty work we have to do- but they don't get to see the fields through the seasons or the animals as they grow. The rest of the faction would change their attitudes, I'm sure, but we- I mean they, don't need the recognition in the farming guild. The reward is in the time you spend with your family, the service you do for your community, and the freedom of living off the land.

On the day of my tenth birthday, my first gift manifested - the power of wind. It wasn't unexpected; both my parents possess wind gifts, and I was thrilled to officially take on my own shifts on the farm. A lot of the tools are wind powered, and so I was able to start sowing fields and spreading fertilizer and take on more responsibilities.

However, the trajectory of my life shifted when my second gift manifested - the rare and formidable power of lightning. At 16, I felt special for having a rare ability that people tend to fawn over. I didn't think about hiding it, I was ready to show it off to my classmates and instructors. Then, the next thing I knew, there were two war guild generals at my family's doorstep.

My father's face had beamed with pride in a way I had never seen before. He had reveled in the prospect of having a war guild member in the family. Their visit turned into their own declaration, stating that it was my duty to the faction to use my gift in the war guild, and anything else would be a waste. In turn, they promised that my family would be taken care of and provided for as long as they resided with me. 

I hardly had a chance to consider the fact that I was throwing away the future I'd already imagined and loved, all I could see was my father beaming at me and so I nodded my head to say yes.

So here I am, standing on the top of the mountain stage, looking at my faction that should be the same but it feels so different. When I left, my mother had been just about to have her baby, and although I know the baby won't remember my absence, I can't help but feel that I've missed out. I've missed the big moments, first steps, words, baby giggles... My family is the most important thing to me and this guild just rips me away without a second thought. 

My only salvation is knowing that for as long as I'm alive and with the guild, my family can have the luxuries that they deserve.

The sounds of the ceremony continue, now the chief is talking but it just sounds like a dull roar with occasional clapping. My ears start to ring and my chest tightens as I see the coffins being carried up the steps. This ceremony is also the official funeral for the cadets who didn't make it through their duty stations. In our graduating class of 76, there were 20 lost. At my station, we only lost one cadet, Thea, but she died in a training accident rather than in any of the raids.

No faction would directly attack an opposing faction's base as it would most certainly mean war. However, that didn't stop them from hiring mercenaries to raid our supplies, stop our trade routes, or just straight up assassinate anyone with gifts that were deemed to be advantageous. I was kept in separate housing, away from the other cadets because of this. We trained together, but at night when the other cadets went to sit by the fire and talk the night away, I was ushered into a separate building with reinforced walls because I was deemed too important to die in any potential bombings. I was to be kept safe- because I am deadly, and a war would call for as much death and destruction as it could. I am no longer a caretaker of life and growth, instead I am death waiting for someone to challenge me.

"Thea Archwood" The Chief said, snapping me from my memories. She was first in the alphabet.

The cries from the crowd must have been from her family. Her, what I assume to be, parents stepped up to her casket and kneeled before it. They burned sage and left roses inside her casket before the coffin was sealed shut, never to open again. No one else came to it. No one else walked up to show their respect to Thea. It felt wrong- surely someone at our base spent time with her. I started to walk, but my feet felt glued as I watched the two parents holding each other. Did they realize that they alone were honoring their daughter? Their only child, their only family, gone from training- not even an attack- just a gun without the safety on. No one made that mistake again in my station, but did this have to be the cost?

My throat felt dry and prickly, but I swallowed it down, looking around as if I hadn't been struck by the scene unfolding in front of me. I caught the eye of one of my fellow cadets, Sai. He gave me a nod and pointed to his chest, telling me I feel it, too. I nodded back solemnly. 

Sai wormed his way into my life through ways which will never be known to me. It was like one day he was just there being what I needed while we were stationed. The first time we met, he had come up to tell me an important message about training that had come up during an evening by the fire, which I wasn't able to attend due to my separate housing. I asked him if anything else of interest happened, and the rest was history. We spent time together every day, where he would tell me the happenings around camp while I was sequestered away, usually with as much theatrical finesse as he could muster up. In return, I helped him with the physical training and helped him put on quite a bit of muscle. 

He went from being one of the weaker cadets to one of the strongest. His personality was completely at odds with his looks- big muscles, studded earrings, a few tattoos and dark hair that cascaded around his face, contrasting with his deep green eyes. He looks like a total hard ass, but he's just a little softie. With him, came his other friend, Deirdre. Her looks definitely matched her sassy, no-bullshit attitude. She has short, spiky blonde hair with cat-like grey eyes. Since we'd left on duty, she'd managed to almost completely cover both of her arms in various tattoos and some piercings on her eyebrows and nose. She's definitely the tougher of the two of them, stronger too, but she would do anything for Sai. Sai makes me want to do anything for him, too. He's the kind of guy you meet and you just want to take care of- and so we three ended up together.

Noticing Sai and I having a little moment, Deirdre waved her hand between us and smirked when we both snapped out of our nonverbal communication. Sai shook his head and scratched his neck, a little embarrassed. I just shrugged. Deirdre smirked at me, no doubt ready to secretly flip me off without the chief seeing, but then she stopped. Her eyes widened, and she started smiling wide. Deirdre smiling was... unusual. I think during our four years of academy and two years at base I'd only seen her actually smile twice, and one of them was after she kicked a fellow cadet in the nuts. To my surprise, Sai followed her line of sight and started smiling too. What the hells are they looking at? I followed their gaze through the crowd.

Holy fuck.

If she's the only person I ever lay eyes on for the rest of my life, I'll depart this world completely content. My gaze fixated on her sun-kissed, toned legs initially, then traced the alluring curve of her waist as I journeyed up her hourglass silhouette. Warmth surged to my cheeks and between my legs as my eyes ascended to her chest, ultimately settling on her face, causing my heart to feel like it's about to burst. With tan skin, captivating purple eyes, and dark hair elegantly braided down one side, she radiated beauty and flashed a delightful smile. A small wave from her prompted me to reciprocate until the realization of my surroundings hit me like a ton of bricks. She most definitely was not waving at me. 

I swiftly scanned the vicinity to gauge if anyone had witnessed my lapse and I caught Sai smirking. Behind him, Deirdre seemed poised to let me see her smile twice in one day. I averted my eyes back to the enigmatic girl, who was now gazing directly at me with a surprised 'o' forming on her lips. My gaze dropped, I adjusted my jeans, and deliberately shifted my attention to scanning the crowd for my family, attempting to distract myself.

After the ceremony was over, the crowd surged forward as families reconnected after a two year separation.

"We'll see you later!" Sai said, getting dragged through the crowd with Deirdre away from me.

It wasn't hard to find my family- my dad is so tall he towers over almost anyone when he stands up and I tower with him. We lock eyes, and I can't help but grin.

"Ronan!" My father yells and claps me on the back before he pulls me into a big hug.

I spend a minute or two getting passed between all my sisters, my mother, until finally I get to hold my baby brother.

"Oh I hope they gave you a better name than Ronan," I cooed at him.

My mom swats her towel at me, "Ronan is a perfectly fine name... but we did name him Rory. You boys are our sweet ROses!" she says, laughing.

I inwardly cringe at the thought of Deirdre overhearing this, but she's not here so it's fine. I smile back at my mom and pass Rory back into her waiting arms.

"Rory is a great name for him," I say.

My father steps forward and puts his hand on my shoulder, "Our house is a lot closer to the mountain now, thanks to the rising rank of our oldest boy. You're going to love it!" He smiled.

I shouldn't be feeling the dread that I am, but when I fantasized about coming home while I was away, I imagined coming back to our cylindrical, one-story house with a big room that my entire family shared together. We'd roll out our cots when the coyotes started howling and eat our stew, talking about our days. All together, just like we used to. The idea of having a new home sent a pain through my chest.

Shaking it off, I smile "Let's go see it!"

We loaded onto the gondolas that are used by military families to get down the different sides of the mountain towards the war guild housing. These homes are usually big and square, and the higher rank you are, the larger it is. Some of the chiefs have sprawling mansions with multiple wings for their extended families. Mine won't be so grand, and it all gets ripped away if I die in combat or lose my ability to fight. It's part of the motivation to be a good soldier and stay with the guild... My family was able to move in on the first day of my two-year deployment and hopefully have added a touch of our old cylindrical home near the fields.

The gondola journey was serene. Our Faction on the mountainside never gets too hot, and the air is especially refreshing. As we descended, the sun embraced us warmly, while a brisk breeze nipped at any exposed skin. Looking out of the gondola was a blur of conifer trees, their greenery surpassing anything I encountered in the arid desert climate near the Light Faction, which I was stationed at, over the last two years. Spreading my arms, I embraced the breeze, inhaling the invigorating mountain air. Occasionally, the trees parted to reveal a stream or a dwelling, but predominantly, it's an endless expanse of trees, with the scent of pine so intense that I could almost taste it on my tongue.

The wind channeler controlling our transportation started to slow the gondola and my family started gathering our things.

"This is our stop," my father winked as the gondola gate opened.

We stepped out and started walking down a forest trail, apprehension building in my chest. My sisters were laughing about something that had happened at the school, and I took a moment to drink them in. We all have the same platinum hair, blue eyes, and dusting of freckles, but as my sisters have gotten older they've made their own little changes. 

My oldest sister, Clarissa, is two years older than me at 26 years. She has been adding brown to her hair to help 'compliment her skin' for as long as I can remember. My next oldest sister, Jen, is turning 19 this year, and has more piercings than I can count. I don't even want to know where all of them are. Then there's the twins at 16, Myka and Nixy, who are always doing each other's hair in intricate braids. My youngest sister Emry is 13, and she just got her ears pierced- I hope she doesn't follow in Jen's footsteps because I don't know if I can handle it. I wonder if little Rory will do anything fun? I've never had to worry about being told apart from my younger siblings, but I've made a few changes. Some tattoos here and there and my ears have a couple of piercings, dad was pissed

Lost in thought, I ran straight into my dad's back, almost knocking him over.

"Woops! Sorry, sorry," I say frantically dusting him off.

"I'm alright, I'm alright!" He says, flustered. Clearing his throat, "Look up."

In a breathless gasp, I see the house that I sold my soul and calling for. It's a big, stone, rectangular house littered with giant, white-paned windows and a chimney coming out of the top. It stands boldly before me—a substantial, stone structure adorned with expansive white-paned windows and a chimney gracefully reaching for the sky. The yard is a picture of perfection, featuring a small stream winding its way to a distant pond. Instead of the typical grass, the ground is carpeted with wildflowers and clover, undoubtedly the result of Clarissa's touch. A stone pathway leads to the porch steps which lead to A large, red wooden door. There are boots stacked around the door on all sides- I bet it drives mom nuts.

"Now really we're going to have him see his house for the first time and we've ruddied up the front porch with fuckin' boots. Unbelievable" she tsked.

Emry's eyes went wide, "Mom, you can't say stuff like that in front of Rory" she gasped.

"Quit pulling my leg and pick up your damn boots," mom said. I raised my eyebrows.

"Alright, I'll pick up the fuckin' boots" Emry giggled. My mouth had to be hanging open at this point.

"What? She's gotten a bit bigger. Now, mind you, when Rory's a little bigger and he can repeat this stuff we'll have to cool it but for now she's thirteen!" Mom tone is in full effect.

"Well that's enough excitement, let's let Ronan in to unpack and get ready. He's got to go to the reception tonight for the welcome back celebration." Dad interjects, always the calming figure.

"Do you think I really have to go?" I start to ask, but before it's all out, Jen is shoving me through the door.

"Yes, you have to fucking go, it's literally in your troop's honor. Plus, only the people that your troop invites is even ALLOWED to go, meaning that it's exclusive– and I want to fucking go. War guild men? Sign me up, baby!!" She laughs, racing through the house and dragging me to the bathroom. I hardly get a chance to look around.

"Get cleaned up, I don't want to be embarrassed if you're stinky!" She yells as she slams me into the bathroom.

Well, it's nice that my sisters still treat me the same. The teasing in my family is never-ending, but we don't take it seriously. If anyone else talked to us the way we talk to each other, I'm pretty sure we would burn their house down. Smiling to myself, I get undressed and switch on the water. I guess the one perk of living in the new house is the fact that I've got running water, both hot AND cold.

After my shower, I throw on some black pants, some boots, and a brown coat. It doesn't need to be anything fancy- I'm just going to go see the people I've spent two years with, plus whoever else they bring so it shouldn't be a huge crowd. My mind flashes to the beautiful girl I saw at the ceremony. Sai and Deirdre knew her- so maybe she'll be there too? It's enough to make me question my fashion decisions, but ultimately I'm feeling tired and lazy. I think I'll just show up, let my sister in, make my rounds and get the hell out of there.