Iris entered the General's office feeling more nervous than she had ever felt in her life. The moment she entered, he was already prying into her eyes. He looked as stoic as he usually did and the lighting of the room brought out the scar under his eye.

Iris knew that he had been waiting on her by the way he looked at her. He nodded and motioned for her to take a seat at the table at which he was at. She looked toward his gesture, and pulled out the chair from underneath the shabby wooden table.

"You wished to see me, General."

The statement was more of a formality than anything. He nodded once more before standing up.

"You." He began, voice sharp with suspicion, "Who are you?"

She did not reply to him solely because she was scared for her life. Did he know? She hoped that he didn't. She tensed up when she felt a hand grip her shoulder. However, she realized it and immediately forced herself to relax. Whatever he was to do, she'd have to prepare herself for it.

"I am Ingred, son of Elliot Gwenneth. "She turned to look him in the eye, "I have already told you who I am, General."

Her words were not disrespectful. She was only stating a fact. He removed his hand from her shoulder and went to sit down again. He looked into her eyes for many long moments before finally speaking again.

"You were impressive, to say the very least, in training today. How could you be so when I only gave you those daggers two weeks ago? You're faster than anyone I've ever seen, though you are the smallest rogue I've ever seen. I'll give you that. You've picked up your skill too quickly for me to comprehend. I find it hard to believe that you were telling me the truth when you told me in the arena that you'd never picked up another weapon besides the sword you had. Were you lying to me, Ingred?"

She understood his accusations. Bearing false information to the superiors was an ample reason to kick a soldier out of the camp, and she knew that. She knew that liars were always a liability. Liars could be spies.

"I have practiced a lot, General. I've went to bed bloody every night and woke up early every morning to get tired and bloody again. I can assure you... I am Ingred Gwenneth. Are you not content with my ability? Should I stop training? Surely that is not your wish."

It was a valid point. She could at least tell the truth about the daggers. She really had never touched one. She hoped that he could not sense the lie she had told about her name.

"No. I still wish you to practice," he said after another few minutes.

In a way, she was flattered by his questioning. She was sure not many people would ever hear the lecture that she had just heard. "But..."

He paused again, looking around the room.

"I wish you to fight me again."

This surprised her, to say the least. She did not expect to have to duel with him again.

"Now?" she looked incredulous, and she knew it, "I showed you my abilities earlier. Why would you need any more proof?"

Iris mentally scolded herself for questioning him. He didn't seem to notice, but rather answered her question. She saw a ghost of a half-smile on his features before she heard his reason.

"Call it pride... if you will."

"Will you fight with daggers, General?" she asked, knowing the answer already. He wasn't trained to fight with daggers, after all.

He simply shook his head and she watched him grab his sword and shield. It was hard at the present moment, but she knew she should focus, else she would make a complete fool of herself. Iris soon realized that she had continued to sit for a second too long because the general was already headed outdoors.

She stood up so quickly that she nearly knocked the chair over on her way out. When she walked outside, she noticed that the camp seemed to have settled down even more. No one except her and the general were anywhere to be found.

She glanced around quickly and --for a half a moment and no longer-- could have sworn she saw a ghost of dark figure move into her peripheral vision. She had no doubt that it was Kayde, probably there to watch their fight. More reason to concentrate, she supposed.

"Out here?" she noted the twilit sky. It was getting late.

"Yes."

That was all he said before he began the spar. Shield in front of him, his defenses would be considerably harder to get past. His sword gleamed in his hand. The sheen of it almost scared her. She knew that the sword had most likely seen more than a fair share of blood. She drew her daggers and crouched. His eyes did not look anywhere. She could tell, however, that he was readying a strike. Where? She didn't know.

Iris continued to watch him --decipher him. He didn't miss the observation in her eyes. She had the sharpest eyes he had seen in a while. He knew by looking at them that she must truly fear for her life. He didn't understand why, because he would never intentionally injure another soldier, but he noted that it seemed to work rather well for her. He took his first swing.

He knew with a start that he would miss. Iris twirled out of the way before his blade could even dream of touching her. She was too focused to be caught off guard at the current moment.

He had to be more forceful. He had to wear her out.

Quite a young one, he thought to himself as he began practicing his stratagem. Quite graceful looking too --poor lad must have gotten his mother's genes.

The general did not pass judgment on the new recruit, however. He was struck out of his thoughts when he felt a bang on the back of his armor.

This confused him. A moment ago, she had been right in front of him. He turned around, now facing her. He knew that even as a swordsman; he should not let his thoughts wander as they just had --especially so when fighting a rogue.

A while later, she finally began showing signs of tiredness. Her breath was slightly raspy and her moves were a tad slower. He was satisfied that his tactic for rogues had worked once more. He was not satisfied, however, that she had been able to land a hit on him three times.

He let the thought pass. That's what his armor was for: taking hits. That was what he was for.

The more she slowed... the easier it became to befall her. Eventually, he got in what would have been a crippling blow had he used his full strength to deliver it. She realized defeat seemingly the moment it was upon her. Her stance straightened, and she bowed at the waist. He did as well. She was not yet the best rogue he'd faced, but she was by far not the worst.

She was, however, the swiftest. He knew she had definite potential.

"It was a nice duel, Ingred. Thank you for sparring against me."

"It was. And thank you as well, General. It was an honor. You are quite the swordsman. I would follow you into any battle, indeed."

He was surprised at the words she spoke. She seemed as earnest as he'd ever heard anyone. Perhaps Ingred was indeed telling the truth and had not had prior training.

"Is there anything else you wish me to do?"

"No. That will be all. You are free to do as you wish --no doubt that you probably will use the rest of the night to practice some more. I believe once you are fully trained, you will be of great importance in this war that is on our heels."

A question formed in her head and she opened her mouth to speak before she thought better of it.

"The Tokens. Why are we to fight them? What have they done?" she paused for a minute before speaking again, "In the small town I reside in, I haven't heard much about them."

He nodded before speaking. "They have been attacking our borders for a short while now. At first, we thought it was only a vengeful group of soldiers that were still bound by the events of the past. We began sending soldiers to the villages on the outside of the country, but they were killed with the attacks. No one has survived to tell us this in person besides the men in the watchtowers, but we believe they have a new leader. One that seems to be bent on befalling our country or something of that nature. The viciousness of the attacks is the worst I've seen and they attack fast. They are a threat to our people."

She was wide-eyed by the end of the small speech. She lived close enough to the borders and had heard nothing of the attacks. She wondered if her father and aunt were safe and then proceeded to hope that her efforts to save her father were not in vain.

"And as soon as you and the rest of the recruits are trained, we will use our force to stop this threat. Until then, we feel our numbers are not enough to stop this brutality."

"Thank you for answering my question, sir. I hope to provide aid for this country. I wish to not see my family die at the hands of the Tokens when I can do something to stop them. As I have told you, you have me and my daggers at your side." And Iris meant those words. Truly. She never believed she would feel this sense of duty within her, especially in a short amount of time.

"You seem to be an avid soldier. I am honored to have you at my service."

He nodded, and for a moment, he smiled at her with an amount of pride. She was taken aback at the smile. It seemed to light up his entire face, despite the pink scar. He then let the smile fall into a neutral expression. She was still dumbfounded at how unmistakably brilliant he looked just a moment ago.

'"That is all I wished to know, General. If you have no questions of me, I will be off to the barracks."

She began to walk off before he stopped her.

"Ingred Gwenneth," he called out to her. She stopped and turned. "Stay alive," he bid. Then, he turned away.

Only moments later, Kayde appeared at her side seemingly out of nowhere.

"Forgive me when I tell you that I seem to have been right," she heard his smooth voice say beside her. His green eyes were upon her, scanning her features with a sort of brassbound smirk. She scoffed a little under her breath before looking back ahead of her.

"Are you here to tell me something of use or to simply say 'I told you so'?"

Kayde chuckled, "Perhaps both, girl."

"What is it that you came here to tell me?" she turned her attention to his words, figuring that he had approached her so that they could train some more tonight.

He simply responded to her question moments afterwards.

"I watched your fight with the General. His strategy was simple. He wore you out in order to strike against you. So, we are simply going to exercise tonight before you go to sleep. I found a good spot that you may freely run and climb about. And what's more, there's a small river nearby."

The last statement confused her. She turned to him and raised one eyebrow in silent interrogation.

"I assume you would like to bathe besides the washbasin in your barracks. I would like very much for you to bathe as well. Most of the rogues have the opportunity to bathe at the camp's main river to the North. You, unfortunately for both of us, do not have that opportunity. I figured that you could also rinse the dirt and sweat from your armor as well." He offered another smirk.

Upon hearing this, Iris was very grateful, despite the slight tease. She nodded and proceeded to tell him to lead the way. It was a thirty minute walk, and in one instance, they had to sneak by a soldier who was still awake, but when Iris and Kayde finally made it to the spot in which he spoke of, they began to exercise.

Iris ran faster than she had ever ran in her life. She put all of her strength into climbing the trees and found herself doing better than usual. She could tell she was beginning to gain muscle as her arms flexed. With all of her might, she pulled herself from limb to limb. Even though she stumbled on many occasions, she did not fall this time. In that, she was content.

It seemed like a lifetime before she was able to bathe, but when she finally lowered herself into the cool water, she nearly shivered in delight. It seemed to rinse away the soreness and ache from the last four weeks. She found herself greedily rinsing her hair. While she was doing that, she noticed it had begun to grow again. Not much, she knew, but a small curl began to form at her collarbone. After she bathed, she looked around at the setting as she used a large piece of cloth Kayde had brought her to dry herself with.

The stream seemed to be cut off from the rest of the camp. It was surrounded by large, dark trees and she could hear the sounds of the animals. She then began to use the cloth to wash her armor. She dipped the edge in the stream and dabbed at the interior of it first. She looked to the East to see Kayde watching for threats or any sign that may indicate that they needed to leave. She was thankful that he was not watching her.

After she donned her slightly damp armor, she walked back over to him.

"I think I am ready for bed now, Kayde. Thank you," she said while twisting her hair into the familiar topknot.

"Very well. To the barracks, then. I will see you in the morning, Iris. Remember to take your fruit. I am proud of what you've already been able to accomplish." She gave him a smile. It was the first real one she had given in a long while. He seemed to be taken aback at her smile as she had been taken aback at the general's, but then he simply nodded.

"So you are content here, then?" he asked.

"As content as I can be," she sighed, "I'm trying to make the best of things. I take it I have not looked happy here yet, have I?"

"No, but it is understandable, girl. However, you may not want to look so happy around the other soldiers. You are already feminine looking as it is, obviously. Like previously mentioned, your smile would give your story away, I'm afraid. Try to remain indifferent, dear girl." She nodded, taking even this criticism in stride. She did not want to get caught here. It was ironic how looking feminine was a bad thing now. Usually, it would've been a compliment.

Oh well, she thought to herself.

The walk to the barracks seemed to edge by. Iris knew it was probably because she was exhausted. When they arrived, Iris said nothing more than goodnight to Kayde before walking to and entering the door to the cabin. She quickly and quietly walked over to her bunk knowing that this would be the most rewarding sleep she would ever experience.