𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖'𝕤 𝔽𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕪

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷

If there was anything   had to say, it was that he absolutely did not want to be there.

Rows made up of about twenty skeletal novices stood in the middle of the otherwise empty training zone. Their spines and shoulders were tight and stiff in vigilance. None of them knew what to expect.

Forge couldn't speak for any of the other assembled creatures around him, but he was scared. Scared for his future. Scared for his life. Sure, his training was only just beginning, but the demand for soldiers wasn't even close to being fulfilled. The Nether Waste's would always need creatures who could fight.

And now that he had started his preparations to be sent out on the battlefield, there was no telling just how much time he had. There was no telling exactly when he would be forced to fight out there.

An eerie silence fell over the area, and despite that their training had yet to commence, the air was already thick with tension and anxiety. There was nothing but an empty expanse of netherrack beyond them, dotted with the occasional eternally-burning flames or lavafalls that gurgled and boiled in the midst of the stillness. A tenuous haze filled the air. The permanent smoky fog clung to everything in the Nether, present in every single biome. There was nothing in the dimension that it left untouched.

In front of them all, there were two older wither skeletons. Sergeants. Forge could tell by the shimmering golden chestplates they wore to protect their ribcages and most importantly their spines, a skeleton's most vulnerable spot besides their neck. The symbol of the nether wastes's had been engraved in the shimmering metal, three skull-like circles with a skeletal body trailing behind, resembling their three kings. Their leaders.

All of the soldiers stood like that for what seemed like a lifetime before one of the sergeants stirred, slowly beginning to walk between the rows and columns of assembled skeletons. "Look around yourselves," she began, her voice loud and booming, echoing forcefully across the open expanse of netherrack. "Every creature here, the skeletons lined up beside you, these are the soldiers you will be training with. Currently, there are twenty of you, but I can certainly guarantee that number will diminish as time goes on."

A chilling sensation slithered down the back of Forge's neck, charging through his spine. She hadn't said it out loud, but he knew the deeper meaning behind those words. Who knew just how many of them would make it after they participated in what battles were bound to lay ahead of them all?

"You will refer to me as Sergeant Ruthless. My colleague over there is Sergeant Fury." She tipped her skull toward where the other senior warrior stood. She had her shoulders hunched and her glare was equally as cold and unwavering as Ruthless's was. "If you prove yourself to be problematic both during and outside of your training, you'd regret it once we throw you into a prison cell. So, I advise you to keep yourselves out of trouble as much as you possibly can." Forge straightened himself as Ruthless walked between two rows of skeletons, passing right in front of him. She met each one of their gazes directly, locking empty eye sockets with every one of them while she continued down the line. As she passed in front of Forge, he could have sworn she looked at him for just a moment longer than she had the others. As the sergeant continued, she opened her jaws to say something else, meeting the gaze of his unlucky cousin, Penetrate as she spoke once again. "Disrespect and disobedience will not be tolerated here. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sergeant Ruthless." The female wither skeleton answered, keeping her voice level. If Penetrate was scared, she didn't let it show on her expressionless skull.

The sergeant's golden chestplate gleamed in the dim surrounding light as she looked around all of the others lined up near her. "I asked every creature a question." She snapped, more silence following after her thunderous voice. "Do I Make. Myself. Clear?"

"Yes, Sergeant Ruthless," the other soldiers chimed in, including Forge. But at the same time as they spoke, he could make out something else among the chorus of voices.

"Yes, Sergeant Useless."

Forge couldn't help but glance at where the voice came from. He spotted the skeleton at his cousin's other side, tall and burly. Well, as burly as a skeleton could get, anyway. From where Forge stood, he could easily glimpse the stupidly-brave speaker's broad shoulders and thick black bones.

"What was that?" Ruthless snapped, in an almost malevolent voice. Sharply, she swung her skull to glare at the speaker. But he only glowered back at her, his skull creased into an annoyed expression.

"Yes, Sergeant Ruthless." He corrected himself, keeping his tone firm and confident as if he hadn't said anything else in the first place.

"What's your name, soldier?" The sergeant asked. They were both around the same height despite their age difference, and Forge wondered what would happen if they were to get into a fight with one another. If the soldier had previous experience fighting as Forge did, he may have actually been able to beat Ruthless.

"Daunting," he replied, "a better name than 'Ruthless' I might add. It isn't my fault I misheard it." He said haughtily, raising his skull slightly in clear pride as she responded with nothing but silence for a long moment. Eventually, though, she hurried past him without another word, and the wither skeleton muttered something just loud enough for Forge to hear once the sergeant was out of earshot. "Nooid rgeanose."

Nooid rgeanose? Forge thought. Is that even Realmish? What does that mean? This soldier had an enthralling personality, to say the least. He was standoffish as far as Forge could tell. He also acted tough and overly confident in himself, and he hadn't even started his training as a soldier yet.

There was only one thing Forge knew clearly so far about who he would be training with, and it was that he already didn't like Daunting. Okay, avoid that creature at all costs. Got it.