Chapter 28

-EDITED-

Ember walked out of the general's office, holding her clothes close to her body as she hurried away from the hell she had just endured in that office. Droplets of sadness falling down her face as she ran. She felt an overwhelming amount of emotions. She wanted to go back to hurt the General. She wanted to run away from the world. She wanted to hurt everyone around her. But most of all, she was afraid of these people.

She turned a corner and into the alleyway, she had hidden in earlier that day. She slides down the wall as she held her legs. Her brown hair was a mess and they shattered her pride. Her small body shook with sobs as tears ran down her swollen and red cheeks. Her wrists and ankles were covered in bruises and rope burns. She continued to sob until she heard someone land above her.

"Are you Ember?" the male voice asked, causing her to jump.

"Yeah... that's me." Ember muttered, gripping her pants. She had loved her name, her mother always told her that even a simple ember could light a fire. When she heard it now, she wanted to do was hide. She didn't want to be Ember anymore, she wanted to be normal. She wanted to love without conditions, to be accepted by everyone, to be okay. She thought she was okay with this life. Being a Neko, living life as full as she could before they killed her.

Now she was far from being okay. "I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday. Is there anything you can let us know?" He asked.

"No," Ember answered.

"Are you okay? You seem shaken up."

Ember wanted to yell at him, to ask if she looked okay. If she even felt fine, but she kept calm for his safety and hers. "Yeah, I'm just adjusting," Ember muttered.

"I'll be here tomorrow. We'll meet here once more." He informed and went away. Ember curled up into a ball as she laid on the ground. She wanted to be rid of the world of hatred and hurt, to live. Ember shut her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks.

When Ember woke the next morning, the sun was above the horizon. Ember sat up and left her alleyway and made her way to the eating area. She grabbed her rations and sat down where she knew Damian would. She poked at her food as she looked at her meat with disgust.

She listened to people walking in after the bell had rung for time to eat. She kept silent and ignored everyone. When Damian sat down in front of her, he looked at her with a worried look.

"You weren't at training yesterday at all. What happened in his office?" Damian asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." She said firmly, "I'm not hungry, here." She pushed her food to him and got up. Leaving the eating tent and making her way to a field with a tree. She watched from a distance as people walked around, some who were stretching and others who were talking.

Ember closed her eyes and rested her head against the tree. The chirping of birds and the subtle sound of grass blowing the summer wind. Her sixteenth birthday was coming up, the first year she would celebrate it without her father. Ember felt tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to blink them away as she thought about her father. What would her father say about her right now? He knows that she could have fought back at any point, but she was frozen with pure terror. She could have hurt him and ran away or break the ropes with her nails but she didn't. She laid there and let it happen. Ember held her legs against her chest as she forced the memory of what happened out of her mind.

She didn't want to think about it, she just wanted to ignore it and be okay. She felt tears slip down her cheeks as she rocked back and forth to calm herself down. As she heard the bell ring to call people to the training area, Ember felt a sense of dread. The General knew she would be mentally destroyed and her spirit broken. That's what scared her the most if she just lets it continue to happen. As she felt broken, she expected it to take a toll but not this soon. She felt drained and felt like the easiest way to just do this was to let these things happen. Fate already had a plan, what was the use of swimming against rapids?

Ember stood up and made her way down to the area where she stood alone in a corner. Damian sent her a sympathetic look before turning his attention to the General as he spoke.

"Alright, we're gonna practice your swimming. Please grab your swimming gear and clothing as you head towards the west lake." He announced.

There were two tables, one with the male swimming gear and one with her swimming gear. While the men had the usual camo trunks and a tank top, Ember was stuck with a two-piece that barely counted as it would show off most of her mid-drift.

Ember growled quietly and snatched her things, not even letting anyone comment on her outfit. She went to her tent and put it on, looking down at herself she huffed. She had never shown off so much skin by just wearing a bathing suit. She felt exposed in many different aspects. It was obvious that he had picked this out well before he thought he would get to her. But now her bruises would be on full display, she could only hope that no one would notice. She threw a pair of shorts on and a light tank-top and headed towards the lake with the rest of the men.

She got a couple of comments about her body, a few complaints of her covering herself up and three whistles later, she was finally at the lake. She moved away from the group to avoid any more looks as she leaned against a tree at the back of the crowd.

"Alright, time to test where you are in swimming. Sugion is filled with lakes and rivers, so we need to be as well prepared as the navy in swimming. Alright, last names A through F will be going first; the two youngest first." Ember swallowed, she wasn't good at swimming and she was 15, well crap.

As Ember made her way to the front, she took her position at the start of the lake, "How young are you?" The person next to her asked.

"I turn 16 in sixteen days," Ember stated and she watched the man's face turn pale white. He must have been one of the people who made comments towards her body.

"No way, you have to be 20." He stated.

"No, I was ripped from my home, forced to train in the palace, be shown off like a piece of jewelry, come here to train, be shown off as a piece of jewelry, be sent off to a war I'll die in only to bring greatness to the country that has never shown any kind of love and respect towards me or anyone else not human," Ember stated.

The man went silent and the bell rung out and Ember ran into the water, with hopes she didn't drown on her way towards the end of the lake.