Tigris watched as Onyx kept rattling about in his chains. He had not gotten an ounce of sleep, nor had he provided any either as he kept everyone awake. Tigris yawned as she kept watch. She heard footsteps coming from behind and saw Irene approach her.

“He’s still causing a ruckus?” Asked Irene.

Onyx growled at her.

“Easy boy.” Quipped Tigris.

“Why do you put so much trust in them?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. We work together, but nothing more than that. Our teamwork doesn’t exactly equal friendship.”

Irene was taken aback by her response. “Then why go to the trouble of saving him when killing him is a much better option?”

“Well for one I mean… Have you seen Embry? Also because Azura would be in the wrong headspace if something were to happen to him. Keeping him alive means those two are still dependable.”

“There was a time when you would’ve probably cared.” Said Irene.

“Yeah… I probably would have. That legionnaire training is pretty thorough.” Sighed Tigris.

“How thorough?” Asked Irene.

Tigris thrashed about in her sleep.

“Stop thrashing about Tigris. You’re also hogging all the covers again.”

Tigris embraced Lashe as she placed her head on her chest.

“Tigris!”

Tigris grumbled.

“Get up or we’re gonna be late.”

“Ugh… First class is physics. I’d rather just get scolded again.” Tigris groaned.

“Yeah but I don’t so you best get dressed.”

Tigris then started to get dressed along with Lashe.

“Don’t forget the books. Did you remember to do your homework?”

“Yes mom.”

“And don’t forget to brush your teeth.”

“Bite me.” Quipped Tigris.

It was then that Lashe grabbed Tigris’ arm and bit her.

“Son of a bitch I can’t believe you actually bit me.”

“Now come on.” Lashe then coughed as she ordered Tigris. She looked at her hand and noticed several droplets of blood.

Tigris only looked at her, and didn’t say a word.

“Come on let’s go.” She said while wiping her hand.

“Yeah yeah.”

As the girls left their room they saw that their neighbors had yet to wake up.

“That’s weird. Perrim and Alomar are usually awake by now.” Said Lashe as she noticed that fewer legionnaires left their rooms.

Tigris then banged on their door. “Hey jackasses wake up!”

“Quit your racket and just open the door.”

When Tigris opened the door they saw that the room was empty of its inhabitants and their belongings. The beds were made and the closets and drawers were empty.

“I guess it was their turn then.”

“Guess it’ll be ours to graduate soon if they chose them and the others.”

Lashe sighed. “Yeah. We might not even get put into the same unit.”

“I guess we have no choice then but to make the most of it. Now come on we still have to get to class.”

Both girls rushed quickly to get to their classroom where they noticed that have the seats were also empty. Tigris and Lashe sat next to each other as the instructor handed each of them a paper.

“Today we’ll be starting with a test to see how well you grasped yesterday’s lesson.”

“Fuck me.” Whispered Tigris.

“Is their a problem trainee Euphrat?” Asked the instructor.

By this time Tigris had already built up a rapport. Needless to say she would have been scolded anyways regardless of her answer. “It’s just that those problems take me hours to solve.”

“Then you and trainee Lashe should spend less time sucking face and more time studying. After this the two of you will have mess duty.”

“Yeah.”

As she was handed the paper she saw that there were only four problems, but each problem had multiple parts. Tigris looked at the first question.

A legionnaire throws a shrapnel bomb with an initial velocity of 20 m/s at an angle of 45 ° upwards with the horizontal.

A) What is the maximum height reached by the object?

B) What is the total flight time (between launch and touching the ground) of the object?

C) What is the horizontal range (maximum x above ground) of the object?

D) What is the magnitude of the velocity of the object just before it hits the ground?

“I’ll just skip to the next one then.” Thought Tigris.

Using your results from question one…

“Son of a bitch!” Screamed Tigris internally.

After half an hour Tigris turned in her test, and returned to her seat.

“How’d you do?” Asked Lashe.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“As you can see by the empty seats next to you it’s about the time of graduation. Some of you will soon become legionnaires provided you can pass the test. This test is the culmination of everything that you’ve worked towards. The test will be in pairs with your shield sibling. As for when the test will be administered I don’t know. That is not my jurisdiction. Now without further ado let’s move on to the lesson.”

“If we take it together then it’ll be easier. Right?” Wondered Tigris.

“Who knows? But at least try to fucking study next time.”

“No more cuddles for you.”

The girls headed for the mess to attend to their duties where they noticed that even more people were missing. The mess hall itself could only seat five hundred people at a time. Then there was the staff of forty people that prepared the food and served it. However, there were no more than a few dozen if at that. Tigris wasn’t even sure if there were more than a hundred people as they were all scattered about.

“What are they serving today?” Asked Tigris.

“Chicken and potatoes.” Answered the mess officer.

Tigris’ mouth watered. “C’mon Lashe let’s finish up quickly to eat.”

As Tigris served the trainees their food she eavesdropped on their conversations.

“I heard from one of the instructors that one of the trainees killed themselves after they passed the test.”

“Get the fuck out of here! Why the fuck would they do that?”

“I’m serious! I passed by one of the classrooms and heard two instructors talking about it.”

“Who was it then?”

“Some trainee called Alomar I think.”

Tigris’ ears perked up at the mention of her dorm neighbor. Why would Alomar commit suicide after passing the test? It doesn’t make sense.

“Yo Tigris get your head out of your ass.” Said Lashe after she smacked her with a ladle.

“What gives?” Said Tigris as she rubbed the spot Lashe had struck.

“Move it. We’ve still got the rest of the day.”

“Ugh.”

After the girls had finished serving the last few trainees they served themselves some food, and found a quiet spot away from everyone.

“I heard a rumor.” Tigris began.

“What kind?”

“They said Alomar committed suicide after passing the test.”

“What? Why?”

“I dunno. I heard some trainees talking about it. One of them said they heard it from the instructors.”

“They probably heard wrong. No way Alomar would do something like that.”

“But still what if…”

“Just lay off. Besides…” Lashe then coughed repeatedly.

Lashe grabbed a napkin to cover her mouth. Tigris just sighed.

“You gonna get that checked out?”

“Only three drops this time.” Lashe then grabbed a potato from Tigris’ plate with her fork, and put it in her mouth.

“Hey no fair!” Tigris did the same except that it was the chicken.

Both girls ate from each other’s plate rather than their own. When they finished they threw their left overs in the trash, and headed out for the rest of their training.

Out of their regiment of one hundred trainees there were only thirty left. As they were all gathered outside prepared to run up the mountain Tigris looked at other training regiments that were understaffed. Some had more than others. The highest regiment was probably about fifty or so trainees. As soon as the instructor gave the order they all ran up the mountain in formation.

“Without a home and a family how far we roam.” The instructor began.

“Without a home and a family how far we roam.” The trainees followed suit.

“To have our asses sold to pay for loans.”

“To have our asses sold to pay for loans.”

“Zul-Aman, Dol-Sur, Aephon, Ulammar, Spyre.”

“Zul-Aman, Dol-Sur, Ulammar, Aephon, Spyre.”

“I’ll burn them all with dragon fire.”

“I’ll burn them all with dragon fire.”

“Until we kill all the men, hang the children, and rape their wives.”

“Until we kill all the men, hang the children, and rape their wives.”

“Only then shall I lay down and die.”

“Only then shall I lay down and die.”

After several minutes they reached the top of the mountain.

“Ugh… It never gets any easier.” Panted Lashe.

“Speak for yourself.” Said Tigris with a sneer.

“Well it does make sense that you should reach the peak first. After all you do have a tendency to finish as quickly as possible.”

“Get bent.”

Lashe regained her composure and patted Tigris’ back. “It’s a shame we’ll be in different units after graduation.”

“Yeah… Wanna get married?”

“Are you serious?”

“We’ll be legionnaires soon. We aren’t known for having long life spans. Besides saves me the trouble of going back on the dating scene.”

“Oh so I’m just your excuse am I?” Said Lashe as she gently pushed Tigris.

“You also have a nice ass.” Said Tigris as she grabbed Lashe’s ass and squeezed.

Lashe immediately elbowed her gut. Tigris soon fell to her knees. “Totally worth it… That really fucking hurt though.”

“Good.” Said Lashe as she sauntered off.

“Whoa hold on a second there… You asked her to marry you?” Asked Irene somewhat stupefied.

“Yeah. It happens more often than you think. There are some legionnaires that marry when they’re as young as thirteen.”

“Do they still put you together in the same unit?”

“No. Since it causes conflicts of interest they split up the couple, and put them in different teams. You get extended leave too for your honeymoon. And since legionnaire women can’t have children you get to fuck like rabbits.”

“Can’t have kids? As in they don’t let you?”

Tigris removed her armor, lifted her shirt, and pulled down her pants to show Irene the scar on her lower abdomen. “They take out our wombs. In case we get raped or something.”

“Did you even have a choice?”

“This was my choice. If I had stayed my dad would’ve married me off or some shit. Fuck that! I’ve seen what that life looks like with my mom. The day they took it out was one of the happiest days of my life. Legionnaires aren’t the only ones either. I’ve seen knights and paladins with this scar too. Most of them have already started families so this is like insurance.”

“Why would you commit yourself to them, but not to us? What makes Karash so deserving of your loyalty?”

Tigris pondered on that question for a minute. “I don’t really feel like I’m in a cage. Don’t get me wrong I’ll still have to follow orders and whatnot, but… I guess if I really had to say… It would be that all of our traditions, Gaia, the lifestream… All of it meant nothing to me. I don’t believe in Karash either, but… For the first time in my life I feel as if I can fight for myself.”

“What did your selfishness cost?” Asked Irene.

Tigris removed her clothes as she dragged her feet to bed. “Fuck I’m tired!”

“You should probably be studying instead of sleeping.”

“Don’t wanna.”

Lashe pinched the bridge of her nose. “Seriously Tigris who’s gonna look out for you when I’m gone?”

“Just don’t die then. Problem solved.”

Lashe sighed at her remark.

Then they heard a knock on the door. Lashe stood up to open the door. As she opened it she saw an instructor with a clipboard.

“Trainees Tigris Euphrat and Lashe you are to come with me at once. It is time for the two of you to take the graduation exam. Get dressed immediately.”

“Yes sir!” Said both girls in unison as they saluted the instructor.

Tigris and Lashe dressed up immediately with all due haste.

“It’s our turn now.” Said Lashe.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t screw up the physics part.”

Tigris flipped off Lashe.

They followed the instructor to a small room with a desk and three chairs. On the desk were two folders.

“Have a seat so that we may begin.”

Both girls took a seat. Just when Tigris was about to reach one of the folders the instructor stopped her.

“That won’t be necessary trainee. It won’t be that kind of test.”

“Oh… Cool.” Tigris smiled.

The instructor opened the folders and reviewed their files.

“Okay then… For how long have the two of you been shield siblings?”

“Little over three years I would say.” Answered Lashe.

“I see. How would you describe your relationship? Friendly? Unfriendly? Sexual?”

“Sexual for sure.” Answered Tigris with a smirk.

“I see…”

Lashe pinched Tigris’ thigh, but Tigris clenched her teeth.

“Now then…” The instructor flipped through several pages on their files. “Ah yes I remember now. Would you say that you would do anything for each other? Die if need be?”

Both girls answered in unison. “Absolutely.”

“There were other questions but… I think we’ve reached the desired destination as far as the development of your relationship goes.”

“So… Are we legionnaires now?” Asked Tigris.

“No. The real test begins now. Follow me.”

As they walked through the hallways Lashe had another coughing fit.

“Are you okay?” Asked the instructor.

“Yeah. Just an itchy throat.”

“Okay then.”

Tigris looked at her with concern, but she smiled at her to let her know she was okay. Tigris looked forward as Lashe saw that there was a considerable amount of blood. She could taste it in her mouth too.

“Guess I’ll live to be a legionnaire with you after all, Tigris.” She thought as the group reached its final destination.

It was a training room with weapon racks. There were two more instructors there to meet them that were armed with automatic crossbows.

“Now each of you pick a weapon from the rack.”

Tigris and Lashe both picked a sword, and waited for their instructions.

“Now then the real test begins. Only one of you will become a legionnaire. The other will die. Both of you must fight until only one remains.”

“But…” Tigris began.

Lashe rushed Tigris as she drove her sword in an attempt to stab her. Tigris diverted her sword with hers. Lashe pulled herself back and swung her sword. Tigris blocked it, and both were now face to face.

“What are you doing?” Asked Tigris.

“Saving your ass. Now transform and fight me.”

Lashe pulled back attempted to cut Tigris’ stomach. Tigris blocked the attack, and pushed her back. Tigris transformed and sprinted towards Lashe. Lashe sprinted towards Tigris. As she did she made sure to step in the way of Tigris’ swing. The sword went straight through her stomach. Tigris stood there petrified.

“Shit that hurt… But it was well worth it. We both knew you’d outlive me. Know that I’ll always love you. Unfortunately, someone else will have to watch over you cuz I’m… Feeling… Tired.” With that Lashe drew her last breath and fell.

“Congratulations on passing the exam Legionnaire Tigris Euphrat.”

Tigris did not respond immediately as she focused herself on the pool of blood growing larger, and the blood on her sword, and clothes. She felt a hand on her shoulder as one of the instructors pulled her away and faced her.

“If you want.” The instructor offered her a black pill.

“I… I’d like to… My room.” She struggled to utter the words.

Rather than take her back to her room they took her back to the room where she had answered the questions. When she was left alone she finally let it all out. She cried, screamed, punched the walls, and broke the chairs and desks.

“Tigris…” Irene began.

“Loyalty to the state above all else. It costed me the woman I loved.”

“Have all legionnaires…”

“Yeah. Except for Embry, but she’s a different story. But every legionnaire has killed the person they love to be who they are. Like I said that training’s pretty rigorous. It’s funny really Onyx and I were talking about whether or not I’d kill him.”

“Would you?”

“No. As long as Embry still loves him I can’t. Same goes for Azura. Although I’m sure that if the three of them took the test they both would sacrifice themselves for him. Although I’m pretty sure that they’d go further than self sacrifice.”