“Alright boys, listen up,” Keit whispered to the huddle, his breath forming a small cloud in the snowy winter air, “Beta doesn’t know that….” He paused, thinking. “Parrot, did you ever settle on a code name Captain Animo here? We can’t both be ‘Captain’. It’s confusing.”

“Well, he nixed ‘Gamma’.”

“It makes me sound like I’m an old lady,” Germanus explained, and Buhne made a face.

“And he doesn’t like ‘Ace’.”

“Too pretentious,” Germanus folded his arms.

“I thought you were going to pick something Lion Tribe-y,” Spahen reminded him.

“Oh, right!” Buhne smacked his forehead. “What do you think of ‘Pride’, Captain?”

“Pride?” Germanus and Keit revealed their skepticism in unison.

“Yeah!” Parrot grinned. “He’s the Pride and joy of the squad, a product of a Pride of lions… no?!”

“Keep working on it, Parrot,” Keit rolled his eyes. “Anyway, Beta doesn’t know that her brother is joining us for this one, so we have an advantage. It doesn’t hurt that his skill level matches hers. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of being humbled in a six-on-one fight every day.” The guys mumbled their agreement. “The strategy today is to push Beta toward the trees where Germanus will be waiting to sneak up on her.”

“That’s cheap,” Bern frowned.

“That’s war,” Germanus smirked. “She’s tough; she can handle it. And it’s been a while since I’ve sparred with my little sister. I’m getting rusty.”

“Yeah, well, Germanus, head for the trees,” Keit ordered. “Beta should be arriving in the next few minutes, and we don’t want to reveal our ace.”

“See!” Buhne exclaimed. “‘Ace’ would be a perfect code name!”

“‘Not happening, Parrot,” Germanus said, waving over his shoulder.

By the time Callida arrived with the practice swords, Germanus was well concealed behind the trees. “Are you boys ready to get your butts handed to you again?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Keit muttered. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Ooo!” Callida laughed. “I’m not hearing much confidence.”

Keit gave her his best ‘I’m annoyed’ face and continued with the usual preamble. “Standard rules apply. Killing strokes drop you out of the fight. Try not to hurt anyone for real… Beta.”

“Hey! That only happened once. Sorry, Parrot,” Callida winced and Buhne waved her apology off. “Take your starting positions.” Callida closed her eyes for this part, and the squad moved to form a semi-circle around her that left the direction of the forest open. “Ready?”

“Yup,” Keit called.

Callida spun around a couple of times until she was no longer certain of her relative position to the guys. “Go!” Her eyes snapped open. Callida had less than a second to get her sword up to block an attack from Keit, and the rest of Squad 14 subsequently bore down on her, pushing her back.

Group fights were harder in some ways and easier in others. Callida had found that the trick to managing multiple opponents was to use them against each other. Their maneuverability was naturally hindered due to their close proximity, and a good attack could push them even closer together or even make them collide. Once they stumbled over each other, a well-timed follow-up hit could drop more than one man with a single strike. On the other hand, the rest of Squad 14 couldn’t figure out a strategy that effectively countered Callida’s ruthless efficiency in these matches. Apart from the very first match a couple of months prior, they’d lost every single one.

Poor Buhne was an easy target with the weakest sword skills. Inevitably, just about every match, he was the first man down, often bringing a comrade or two down with him. Today, Spahen and Erkunden had the misfortune of being too close to Buhne. Bern and Ablenkung took it in turns to strike at Callida’s sides, forcing her backwards while otherwise heavily engaged against Keit. Ablenkung stepped just slightly too close, and Callida spun towards him, dropping him before Bern and Keit could reorient themselves.

“You suck!” Keit growled at her, and Callida flashed some teeth in a cheeky grin.

“Don’t be a sore loser.”

Keit’s expression twitched, his eyes flickering ever so briefly to glance over her shoulder, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Callida jumped to the side, instinct and adrenaline helping her to narrowly escape the sneak attack.

“Germanus?!” She threw a counterattack that pushed Germanus closer to the rest of his team, but Germanus quickly moved to the side again.

“Hey, kid.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard that you’ve been complaining about your training being too easy.”

“Who told you that?!” She grunted against the combined strength of Keit and Bern on her other side.

Germanus chuckled. “Maybe I inferred that to be the case. At least, the rest of your squad has been finding training exceptionally frustrating.”

“Ah,” Callida smirked, finding a window of opportunity in the way Keit and Bern had relaxed their assaults with the arrival of Germanus. Bern took a kick to the chest, crashed into Keit, and both fell with a quick slash of Callida’s blunted sword across their necks. “Just you and me, Germanus,” she grinned, and Germanus assumed a stance more suited to a duel.

“Alright, kid. Show me what you’ve got.”

While the match between the two siblings raged, Callida’s eliminated opponents found seats on a nearby fence to watch, their expressions a mix of defeat and impressed.

“Even if Germanus wins,” Buhne pouted, “I think it’s safe to say that we still lost.”

“Yeah,” Keit sighed in frustration. “She really should have won the tournament.”

“You’re out of practice,” Callida teased. “I thought you were supposed to be a training captain.”

“Yeah, well, most of my opponents for the last couple of months have been remedial students,” Germanus puffed. “There’s not… much of a challenge… in that! Oof!” Callida’s fist made contact with his stomach, and Germanus couldn’t quite recover before- pfft! He landed on his back in the snow, and Callida’s sword jabbed at his bellybutton.

“You’re dead, old man.”

“Hey! No need for name calling, baby girl. Now, help me up!” Callida leveraged Germanus to his feet and helped beat the snow off his back before it could melt and soak into his clothes. “That was pretty impressive, kid!”

“Eh, you’re just out of practice.”

“Yeah, and I’m going to be even more out of practice in about a year. Are you all packed up?”

“Just about. Parrot is insisting that I take some beauty products with me so I can practice applying them. Like I won’t have anything better to do….”

“Consider it a part of your Squad 14 training,” Germanus grinned.

“I know, I know. It would be good for me to figure it out anyway, but that’s all I have left to pack.”

“You’re leaving at first light tomorrow?”

“Yeah. It’s going to be a cold trip,” Callida said with a small shiver. “Keit is anxious to get going before it snows again though. Apparently here in the mountains, there’s a risk of being snowed in if you time things badly.”

“Yeah, that’s a thing in the Bear Tribe. Are you excited though?”

“For…?”

“Your apprenticeship!”

“Oh. Well, yeah! Though it comes at an odd time for me.”

“How so?”

“Well, with all the Squad 14 stuff, I kind of feel like I’m already in an apprenticeship.”

“In a way, you are,” Germanus grinned.

“Anyway… ‘got any parting words of advice for me?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Mind your manners. Don’t let anyone walk all over you. And stick close to your friends,” Germanus said with a small nod towards Keit.

“Is that the best you’ve got?!”

“And write to me periodically.”

Callida snorted. “Like you ever wrote to me….”

“Be better than me,” Germanus nudged her shoulder affectionately.

“No promises.”

***

“Hey, man,” Keit said, slapping Germanus around the shoulders, “you’re awfully pensive this evening. What’s on your mind?”

“Keit, can I ask you a favor before you leave tomorrow?”

“Name it!”

“Look out for Callida for me.”

“I thought that was a given,” Keit shook his head in amusement.

“I’m serious, Keit. The Lion Tribe military has a pretty strong boys club mentality. My mom had to really fight against that while she was there, and if my apprenticeship serves as any indication, things haven’t changed much in the last thirty years.”

“So what are you worried about exactly?”

“Just, promise me that you’ll look out for Callida? Maybe write to me with updates on how things are going?”

“Worry wart.”

“Be that as it may, can I count on you?”

“I already told you,” Keit smiled gently, “I thought that was a given.”

“Thanks, man.”

“No problem.”

***

As Callida had predicted, the trip to the Lion Tribe was a little miserable for the cold and snow. Progress was slow, so even with an early departure, they arrived at the main Lion Tribe military base (stationed in a corner of the greater palace grounds) on New Year’s Eve.

“Names?” the guard at the gate asked boredly.

“Callida Animo and Tapferkeit Tragen,” Keit answered for both of them. “We’re here for this year’s military apprentic-”

“Yes, your names are on my list,” The guard cut him off. “Do you have your identification?” Callida and Keit provided their papers which the guard checked carefully before handing them back. “You’ve been assigned to bunker thirty-two with the rest of the apprentices. You can choose your own beds. Captain Otiosus will be your commanding officer for the duration of your time here, and my understanding is that your orders are to wait for him to greet you in the bunker.”

“Fair enough,” Keit smiled warmly despite the chill of the guard’s demeanor.

“Follow the path that way,” the guard said, pointing to the right of the gate. “You can’t miss it. Bunker thirty-two.”

“Yup, got it. Thanks,” Keit nodded.

Bunker thirty-two was a lot bigger than Callida had anticipated. It was obviously a guest bunker as, instead of bunk beds, ten separate beds lined the walls and a fire was crackling in a large stone hearth. Callida picked a back corner bed where it would be easiest to set up a privacy screen for changing, and Keit picked the bed next to hers, adding to her relative privacy.

"It looks like we are the first ones here," Keit observed. None of the beds seemed to have been claimed yet.

"The weather probably slowed everyone down."

"Probably," Keit agreed and began unpacking his bag into the drawers built in under his bed. "Are you going to be ok bunking with a bunch of dudes you don't know?"

"I'll be fine. I'll just ask to have a curtain set up like in the Squad 14 bunker."

"Well, while we wait for further instructions, want to play a game? I brought a deck of cards."

"Sure, though you might have to teach me the rules."

Keit grinned and sat on one end of his bed to deal out the cards, and Callida joined him. "Alright. The game is 'Deuces Duel'. We each flip two cards and add their values together. Deuces double the other card and add two, and a pair of twos is an automatic win. Otherwise, the highest total takes the other cards. In the event of a tie, we duel again and the highest value of the second duel takes all the cards. Make sense?"

"I think so. It sounds like a game of chance."

"Essentially," Keit grinned. "You win by taking all the cards."

They played Deuces Duel a couple of times, each taking a game before moving on to a game of Sandwich followed by a few games of Slap (that Keit couldn't seem to win) and then a few rounds of Incomplete Set (that Callida couldn't win to save her life).

"How?!" Callida griped when Keit won the fifth straight game. "It should be as much a game of chance as anything."

"That's probably why you keep losing, Beta. There is some strategy involved. You've got to figure out which set is incomplete without cluing in your opponent, and then you have to get your opponent to accept the incomplete set late enough in the game that the rest of the sets get laid down first."

"One more game."

Keit chuckled. "You're so competitive!"

"No, I just want to get it right! Clearly I've been playing this game wrong my whole life."

Keit shook his head and began shuffling the deck as the door swung open, ushering in a gust of cold air and a dusting of snowflakes. "Hey! New faces!"

The four newcomers didn’t seem to notice them as they shut the door and dropped their bags onto the beds closest to the door before seeking the heat of the fire. "Man, it's cold," one of them shivered, finally glancing up to look around the room. "Hey, boys…." He tapped his neighbor's shoulder and pointed in Keit's direction.

"Ohhh," his neighbor jeered in a tease. "I didn't know we could bring our girlfriends!"

While Callida rolled her eyes, Keit laughed good-naturedly and got up to shake the newcomers' hands. "My name's Tapferkeit Tragen, Keit for short. This is Callida Animo. We came from the Bear Tribe." Callida got up to join the half-circle forming around the fire. "What are your names, and where are you from?"

“Neustupny Lishka or Neust. I’m from the Fox Tribe,” a man about Callida’s height and build, maybe a bit broader in the chest, introduced himself to Keit.

“Neust?” Keit confirmed the name. “It’s good to meet you.”

“And I’m Fordomar Heftig from the Reindeer Tribe,” a taller man with a pinched expression said, and Keit took his hand in greeting.

“Buntarish Torn. Ram Tribe,” the next man said. He was well-built, stocky, and his eyes kept darting distractedly at Callida in a way that made her uncomfortable.

“Zaniedbany Syn. Call me Zan. I’m from the Rabbit Tribe,” the last of the quartet added before turning to the fire again. Hunched over to optimize the heat hitting his body, Callida didn’t get much of a read on him, stature or otherwise.

"So your girlfriend, how long will she be visiting?" the soldier called Buntarish asked.

Keit frowned in confusion. "Oh, Animo? She's my comrade. She's here for the apprenticeship."

Callida glanced around at the guys, keeping a neutral expression as they appraised her. She felt her cheeks flush a little from the humiliation of being written off as a mere girlfriend, but, then again, they probably hadn't seen many women in the military.

"You're a soldier?" Neust asked doubtfully.

She nodded quietly.

"You don't say much, do you? Does Keit always speak for you?" Fordomar laughed, his tone mocking. Callida felt Keit stiffen ever so slightly next to her.

"He's my commanding officer," Callida stated calmly.

"Ah. Your commanding officer," Buntarish sneered. "Got it."

"How did you get into the apprenticeship?" Neust challenged. "Animo is a Lion Tribe name. Have you got connections? Or did you just sleep with someone?"

Callida caught Keit's arm before he could react. "Neither. I came in second in the tournament to Keit."

"And she should have won," Keit growled. "I got lucky."

"It's convenient that the two winners of the tournament are both from the Bear Tribe. It makes me wonder if the results were rigged somehow," Neust said flippantly.

"Are you issuing a challenge?" Keit glared at him.

"Actually, yeah." He glanced back at Callida. "You don't deserve to be here."

"Says who?"

"Me." Neust smiled nastily. "My guess is that you only got in because you have some sort of connection. I'm sure that being from a main tribe didn't hurt you either. You're young. Too young-- taking a spot in the best apprenticeship that other soldiers have worked for years to get into. What makes a little girl so special that she'd be entitled to that spot?"

While Keit's fists balled up, Callida simply smiled at Neust, her eyes cold. "So then, what makes you think that you deserve to be here?"

"Excuse me?"

"How long have you been a soldier for?"

"Since I was eighteen."

"And you're what, twenty-five I'm guessing?" He nodded, his chin raised high in defiance. "So seven years? Do you train every day?"

"Most days."

"For how long?"

"A couple hours."

"Good for you," Callida said with a small, emasculating chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"And you think that I don't deserve to be here…. You're adorable." Callida walked back to her bed shaking her head. She heard the lunge and side-stepped it, catching Fordomar’s wrist as it overshot past her waist to then yank him off balance, trip him up, and drop him face-first into the floor with his arm twisted behind his back. “Is that the best you’ve got? Because, to me, it looks like you might need some more training.” Fordomar grunted angrily as Callida removed her knee from his back and sat down on her bed, leaning lazily against the headboard. Keit joined her to sit on the adjacent bed and grin at their now glowering fellow apprentices.

“Like I said, she’s the best,” Keit rubbed it in shamelessly.

The rest of the afternoon was spent quietly with Keit and Callida playing more card games to pass the time and the four newcomers sticking to their own corner to glare at them occasionally. When the door opened again, a few men in Lion Tribe military uniform walked in, the leader of which introduced himself as the Captain Otiosus assigned as their commanding and training officer. “Put your boots and coats on. I’ll take you to the mess hall for dinner.”

The six apprentices did as they were told, arriving at the mess hall with packed snow stuck to the bottoms of their shoes. The mess hall was huge, more like a warehouse than a dining hall with tables and seating packed tightly together and more seating outside buried under piles of white fluff. The outdoor seating would likely be quite comfortable when the weather got warmer.

“Food is served twenty-four seven so soldiers can fit meals around their duty shifts and training. You are free to eat whenever you are not otherwise on assignment,” Otiosus informed them. “Tonight, you are to eat and then go to bed. The rest of this year’s apprentices should be arriving tomorrow, so tomorrow evening we will have an orientation meeting. Until then, you are free to do as you please. Training officially begins the next morning. Be prepared to work hard.”

“Yes, sir,” the apprentices chimed in unison.

“Right. Well, off you go then.”