THE VIRUS [On Hold]

Warrior

War for my people is synonymous with happiness. If we were not fighting then we were training for a fight, constant preparation. Whether we learned how to battle with our fists or our minds, winning a war was always to be our goal. If there was no fight, we'd start one at the smallest sign of disrespect. Once at a Universal Banquet, a leader from the planet of Skeron had made a light joke about us, something about our accent. Causing chaos to erupt, breaking out into war. We have never lost a battle, let alone a whole war (or so everyone is told). I honestly found the joke to be hilarious, but my people don't seem to share the same humor as me.

They enjoy laughing about their most recent kills, whether it be a sentient being or an animal. Kids giggle about their training and joke about their future hopes for a great warrior life. Humor isn't the only difference between my people and me. We're so different that I feel uneasy calling them "my people". But technically they are since my father and mother are the rulers, thereby making me the next in line.

I'm expected to be the best warrior, aside from my parents. As a child, all I ever knew was fighting. I went to the education center just as any child, but my workload was ten times more. I was titled the toughest on the playground without even setting foot on it. I had stayed inside, training, studying. Most kids have trained for war just as anyone, but they still have time for leisure activities. They were permitted to play pointless games that didn't further their intelligence or benefit their education. They could run around while laughing, whereas if I wanted to open my mouth while running, I had to be carrying a spear and screaming in rage.

You could say I'm jealous of the kids I grew up around and the kids today, but no matter how much I trained and how much less they trained, it didn't matter. Everyone would end up in war. A fighter. A killer. Yet none of this was forced. Perhaps peer pressure played a role but that was the only type of force anyone had ever gotten, except me of course. Since my parents were the rulers, I had to face the punishment of the government every day. And so I trained, learned how to use our weapons, other planets' weapons, and any fighting style we knew of. I learned how to lead a battle and be within one, using strategy or brute force. I am the perfect fighter and honestly earned the title I was given: "Best Warrior."

My name is Kala.