To the Sun, to the Stars, to the Sky (A Soldier/Rebellion AU)

Chapter 4: The Silent Soldier

Thalia grinned. "I knew you'd come through!"

We rode mostly in silence, except for Reyna and Thalia's occasional flirting ("You know, I don't care how many blankets we're going to steal today—you're always what keeps my heart warm anyway," followed by a snort).

We arrived in the evening of the third day. I knew even I had said it was going to be a massacre, but somehow, I didn't expect this. The bodies of young soldiers lay everywhere, eyes open and staring to the sky. Hands open by their swords. Wounds gaping.

"Look for survivors first," Reyna ordered. "We'll take anyone who needs our help back to camp. Anyone who was unharmed would've left by now."

I helped them check pulses. It was horrible work. No one was alive—I had mentioned that maybe they had brought their injured with them, but Reyna had laughed at me and told me I must not know how they treat the soldiers.

I knew it wasn't well. Being a warrior was honorable, but it was lonely and painful, of what I'd heard. They leave as children for a fort and then are raised to be the perfect warrior until they're killed or high enough in the ranks to be trusted, which didn't happen often. I knew there weren't a lot of options for a happy life if you were a warrior like these people. I whispered my wishes for them each time I found a new body.

It took hours. No one was finding anyone alive, but I seemed to be the only one bothered by it. Thalia and Reyna's expressions were grim, sure, but I was seriously on the verge of either crying or puking, and I wasn't sure which. I was about to give up when—

"Oh my God! OH MY GOD! Reyna, this one is alive!" Thalia yelled, eyes the size of saucers.

She was leaning over a boy, probably my age, with long black hair tied into a small bun on the back of his head. His eyes were closed and his hand was clutching his side, where blood leaked through his fingers.

I searched in nearby soldiers' bags for medical supplies, but Reyna stopped me, telling me I wouldn't find any. Soldiers weren't raised to survive—they were raised to take down as many enemies as they can before dying. There wouldn't be anything we could use to help him in the army's bags.

Luckily, Thalia had brought her own gauze. She tugged on the guy's shirt to get it out of the way, and my eyes automatically fell to the bare skin. There were scars, new and old, and bruises of so many shades, I got dizzy. Reyna knelt by the boy's side, but she wasn't looking at the injuries he'd been subjected to. She was searching his shirt with a frown. "Where's your rank tag?" She murmured.

I had no idea what a rank tag was or what it looked like in order to locate it so I set to helping Thalia move him instead. Reyna watched the boy with narrowed eyes. We set him by our horses. His head fell to the side as we set him down and worry tugged at my heart. I hoped he'd be okay.

We took blankets and extra clothes, as well as anything that could hold water or food. We refilled the bottles at the shore and used makeshift filters to get the salt out. Then the fallen soldier was hoisted onto Thalia's horse and we were off again, back to camp. I kept looking back to see if the guy had awoken yet.

We stopped to eat when it got dark. A few went hunting, but I wasn't trusted with that, so I stayed back with Reyna, Thalia, two rebels I didn't know the names of, and the unconscious boy.

He lurched awake only a few minutes after the others left. He blinked and squinted, trying to figure out his surroundings. His eyes fell on each of us separately, and me last.

He sucked in a breath before we could introduce ourselves and winced as he shifted into a kneeling position, head bowed and right fist at his chest. His left was behind his back, clenched.