[ 𝙞 ] 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

Chapter Five

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processing

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The men and women were taken to a clearing near the meeting tent. A single officer stood at a wooden table with leather straps fastened in small loops on the table, with a chair on either side. There were several different sized needle-like objects laid aside, along with a shear.

Ronin didn't like the look of either contraption.

One of the men at the front of the crowd was ordered to sit at one of the chairs and slip his right arm under the leather straps. The large, burly-looking officer then proceeded to tattoo the soldier's number onto his forearm. Grian couldn't watch.

One by one the draftees were given their new markings. After their tattoos were applied, they were sat on a tall stool and the officer cut their hair. The men with shorter, cleaner cut hair were simply pushed along, but the others with longer hair were less fortunate. Even the women's hair had to be changed in order not to get in the way of armor and helmets.

Grian was soon sat in the chair and demanded to place her arm beneath the restraint straps. She could see her hand shaking as she rested it helplessly on the table. She glared at the officer but he simply ignored her and proceeded with his job. Grian seethed in pain as the sharp needle pierced the delicate top layers of her flesh, injecting black ink beneath them again and again. Dot by dot, the numbers appeared under her skin. 12 - 13 it finally read. Grian had bitten down on her lip so hard to resist the pain, she could have sworn she tasted blood. Her eyes had remained fixed with a look of hate on the officer during the entire ordeal. She cursed loudly as she was told to move to the stool.

The officer sheared the hair from the nape of her neck up to the back of her ears, throwing it into the fire nearby.

Grian reached her hand up and felt short stubble where her thick, healthy brown locks used to flow down her neck. She cursed at him again, but he pushed her aside, declaring her "a real soldier now" and then moving on to the next draftee.

The processing was concluded by every new soldier signing the Army wager and having their full names taken for the record. Ronin spotted Heirsa giving an officer orders nearby, and after prompting Grian, the two slowly approached him.

"Heirsa," Grian exhaled, timidly hugging him as if she herself didn't believe him to be real.

"My dear, you've gotten so lovely through the course of a year." He told her as he pulled away.

Ronin's eyes flickering over the face he hadn't seen in so long. "Brother," he greeted with a smile, hugging Heirsa.

"How did you end up here?" Grian asked, tears threatening to roll down her cheeks.