chapter 1: shift in circumstances

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A light breeze flowed through the golden hay as the sun began to rise upon rome.
It was a normal day for the empire.
The farmers went to work in the camps and to take care of the cattle, the blacksmiths started heating up their ovens and get their materials ready.
The soldiers woke up and got out of their quarters to go get dressed and have breakfast.
Today's breakfast consisted of some milk and bread, just the usual.
Maximilian sat down amongst his companions as he ate, some ate in silence, others had small conversations, nothing out of the ordinary.
Max kept eating in silence, he didnt feel like starting a conversation with anyone. They all woke up early after all, he still needed some time to clear his mind. Perhaps having some exercise and a wash after breakfast would help.
They were supposed to exercise and groom themselves anyway, a good soldier needed to be strong and presentable.
After eating, they went to have a long run, then they washed and started getting ready to march till mediolanium to help the soldiers who were already stattioned there with the barbarians. You can never know when their next attack will be.
So they gathered their weapons, tents and horse, and they started marching.
It would be a long route, and they would surely have to stop more than once for the nights.
Maximilian rode on his horse next to the other equites.
They marched for quite a while, the soldiers on foot could be heard chanting songs to keep themselves entertained and to keep their pace steady.
After a while, they decided that it was time to have lunch, so they divided in one big group, who would put up the settlement, and a smaller ground, who would go hunt.
Max was part of the hunter's group, he left his horse at the settlement and went with the others, about 15 soldiers started wandering quietly around the forest, searching for some preys.
Max's gaze wandered around as he walked, the forest was quiet, maybe a little too quiet. After a while, they found a pack of deers, perfect.
They'd have to act quickly, they crouched down and took their bows out, they grabbed their arrows, charged the bow, and shot.
They hit three deer, the rest of the pact ran away, while the three hurt ones struggled to get up and run, the archers put their bows down as the other soldiers went to tackle and finish off the deers. After that, they brought them back to the settlement, butchered them, and started cooking them.
After about an hour the luch was ready, and all the soldiers ate.
After lunch they got ready to start marching again.
After another while of marching, the sun was starting to set, and so the soldiers began to put up the settlement again. They ate dinner, made sure everyone was present and that the weapons weren't damaged, then they washed and went to sleep.
Except for a couple of soldiers who were on watch duty, max also went to sleep, he tried to fall asleep fast, for he knew that he would be the next one up for guard duty.
After a couple of hours the soldiers on watch duty woke up max and another soldier to take thier place, and they went to sleep as max and the other soldier guarded the settlement, just standing there, with nothing to do but be on allert in the middle of the night. Can't say it was a fun experience, but it was needed.
Another couple of hours passes, and max was allowed to go back to sleep as two other soldiers woke up to guard the settlement.

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624 words. Hope y'all liked it! :>

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