Not the story of my life, for that would be boring and pointless. This isn't the story of how I succeeded at becoming anything either, for I missed my chance. This is the story of how I became who I am. I was not born this way. I was seventeen years old when my life as it is now began.
"Being the night watch is a privilege."
My father's words echoed through my absent mind as I reluctantly walked to the Guard Post. I couldn't believe I'd waited years for this "privilege." There certainly was no privilege in sitting in a wooden box for twelve hours in the dark. Yu, the day watchman, called to me when he saw me down the dusty path.
"Good evening, Junko."
I pulled my silk mask down and smiled politely. "Good evening, Yu,"I called back.
I ran the rest of the way up to the guard post; there was no reason to keep Yu waiting because of my discontent. Dusk was just giving way to twilight. The dusty road leading back to the village was a blazing orange strip in the sun's setting rays. I kicked up little dust clouds as I hurried to the tower. The Guard Post tower wasn't much; only about ten feet from the ground, but high enough to spot someone on foot for at least a mile off in the daylight. At night, there was only one lonely electric lamp lighting the road, but the light only dimly covered twenty feet of the road going in both directions. Night watch was obviously more dangerous, in fact there was little I could do if there was any danger. Nevertheless, I knew that this job was saying something of the skill of my training, for I always guarded alone. Yu usually had another watchman with him during the day, but this particular day the other watchman had not wanted to wait for me. I sighed and grabbed the wooden ladder leaning against the tower to climb in. There was no point in complaining now. When I climbed into the guard post I found Yu busily packing up his weapons.
"Have a safe evening, Miss. As far as I know, there should be no travelers tonight."
I nodded. 'Of course there are no travelers, Yu,' I thought impatiently, 'there's a war going on.' Yu gathered his belongings into a plain knapsack, descended the tower, and waved before he set off for home. There was nothing quite like getting off of guard duty, I wished I was him at that moment.
Snapping back into reality, I reattached my mask and hooked my katana at my side securely. It was all I needed, and yet I knew I'd never need to use it. Not here at least. I leaned lazily against the doorway of the Guard Post and stared into the plains at the smoky pink horizon. The only good thing about being night watch during the summer was that twilight ruled the land until the twentieth hour. Although, twilight had been getting steadily shorter, summer was almost gone. Not that I feared the dark, but it made me feel less alone, and there was also a degree of unforeseeable danger in the dark. But I smiled beneath my mask. In spite of my feelings about my current situation, I was soon going to be leaving the village.
My heart danced at the thought. I had wanted to join Galbadia Garden's mercenaries, but before I had completed any paperwork, another group requested me; the White SeeDs. They were the elite, much further ahead of any of the Gardens, and I had been invited. I didn't know much about them, but I knew that they were independent of the other Gardens. I was spoken to briefly by one of the members when I had traveled to Galbadia Garden, and shortly afterward, I received a letter from the leader Ellone Loire. It was all going so smoothly, so well. She wanted me to join as soon as possible. I couldn't, my family needed me, just for this short while, just until the summer was over. That had been weeks ago, and now the season's end was nearly here. One week until the last summer harvest, then I'd be gone. Anyways, the Galbadians had been threatening to bar access in or out of Lallapalooza Canyon. There was no way I was waiting for that to happen, this was my chance, and I was going to take it. I climbed up onto the roof of the tower and watched the last rays of the sun disappear behind the horizon.
_
Looking back now, years later, I wish I had realized what I had done.