Okay. FIRST, to those of you who are currently reading Thorns of a Rose or Role Reversal, I'm sorry this isn't that. But I had to, okay? I had to. X3 Also, I had more medical problems. I wasn't in the best shape last week.

But thanks for your interest in this one too.

Anyway. I don't know why I keep coming back to these military AU sort of things, but you know. Imagine a city that looks a lot like Academia, only with an army. That's where this takes place.

I'll write about myself later! For now I'll shut up. :3


Chapter One: Taking Names

"You."

The young soldier gritted her teeth and lifted her eyes to the source of the voice. Naturally, it was her commanding officer. She didn't know what the hell his name was, but she could recognize him ten miles away. He wore a completely black suit of armor that showed almost no skin, save for his hands and face, and he had the longest hair of any man she'd ever met. Not only that, but it's purple, for God's sake, she thought. And he wears damn headbands. What man in his right mind does that?

"On your feet," he said, crossing his arms.

Hell, she could attack him right now and he'd never have a chance to get his weapon out. But as far as weapons went, she didn't even have one.

"Yes, sir," she answered and stood up.

"Soldiers," her commanding officer shouted, addressing the other recruits around her, "this is exactly how to earn yourselves punishment during training. However, this one I will let off the hook because it is the first day, you understand? Anyone else will not be getting a free pass.

"And you," he said, turning back to her, "you. What is your name, anyway?"

She cocked her head to one side and glared at him. "Number 384, sir," she answered. "You just called me by that name earlier. Or don't you remember?"

He didn't flinch. "You will be spending ten minutes in solitary tonight for that answer. Now tell me, what is your name?" He bent down so that they stood eye to eye, so that his nose almost brushed against hers. She could feel the cadence of his breath as he snarled, "I should like to hear a real answer this time."

She sucked in a breath and said, "Farron," and he straightened.

"Farron," he repeated. "What, Farron? Do you have a first name?"

"Do you care?" she snapped.

"I'm going to make that fifteen minutes in solitary."

The soldier closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. For a moment she fell silent. Finally she muttered, "Claire."

"Oh? Speak up," he encouraged, half a smirk surfacing on his thin lips.

"My name is Claire," she repeated.

"Soldiers, do you hear that? This is Claire Farron," her commanding officer said. His tone sounded almost gleeful, a fact that she did not let go unnoticed. "She will be spending fifteen minutes in solitary today—the first day of training. I hope none of you wish to follow such an example, but if you do, please, feel free to join her."

Claire ducked her head and muttered a "yes, sir" under her breath. The other recruits said nothing.

"In the meantime," he continued, beginning to pace in front of the lines—Oh God, Claire thought, now he's going to do the damn stuff all officers do, like pace in front of the lines—"you can call me General Caius Ballad. Or, if that happens to be too hard, just 'General' is fine." He smirked.

No one spoke. The smirk faded away from General Ballad's face. "Answer me!" he demanded.

"Yes, sir," the rest of the soldiers responded dully.

"You will all do ten push-ups, in order to reconcile that lack of response," General Ballad snapped. "Go."

"Yes, sir," the soldiers replied, dropping down to the ground.

Training ended hours later, and the soldiers broke formation to walk over to the cafeteria. Claire scanned the group around her, watching the other soldiers gather together to talk in groups. She didn't have anyone to talk to, not that she minded. The silence felt relieving after the verbal beating they'd taken from General Ballad.

A breathless, dark-skinned recruit jogged up to her, interrupting her thoughts. "Whoo, it's a long run from the back of the group," she said in a heavily accented voice. "Claire, right?" She offered her hand.

Claire looked at it, confused. "What?"

"You're Claire. The General said so, didn't he?" The dark-skinned girl didn't drop her hand. "I just wanted to say congratulations. That was quite a performance."

"Okay…" Claire answered. Hesitantly, she reached out and shook the other girl's hand. "And you are?"

"I'm Fang." The girl grinned. "Oerba Yun Fang."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "That's a mouthful. Where did you get a name like that?"

"My hometown," Fang said. "It's way off in the boonies. Nothing to see out there but dust."

"I wish I had a name like that," Claire remarked. "Then when General freaking Ballad asked me what it was, he wouldn't have been able to pronounce it."

Fang laughed, a high and lilting sound. "I like you, Claire," she decided aloud. "Come on, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving."

She dragged Claire along through the line and cut a path through the crowd to an empty table. Once they'd sat down, she proceeded to glance around the cafeteria, searching the crowd. Claire watched her, confused, but Fang didn't seem to notice. She waved one arm in the air in an attempt to flag one of the other soldiers down.

Claire turned to look at who she was waving to, but the crowd surged around their table, yielding no clear target. Finally a girl with bright pink hair emerged and sat down next to Fang. "Hey! How are you, Fang?" she asked, her voice accented like Fang's, but volumes more cheerful.

"I was about to die from starvation. You?" Fang countered.

"Me too," the pink-haired girl admitted. "Who's this?" she added, gesturing to Claire.

"Oh, that's Claire, my new squad buddy," Fang said easily. "Claire, this is Vanille. She's in training to be a medic."

"Hello!" Vanille chirped. "Nice to meet you."

"Um… you too," Claire replied.

"So, Fang, Claire, how was the first day of training for you?" Vanille asked.

"Oh, I dunno. A little intense. Kind of equivalent to being hit over the head with a ruler, maybe," Fang answered with a smirk. "Claire! What do you think of General Ballad?"

"General Ballad? He's an ass," Lightning said, deadpan.

"But kind of hot." Fang squinted as though she were thinking about it.

"No way. Nobody that irritating could be attractive," Claire retorted. "And he has purple hair."

"Yeah, he does, but—" Fang caught the looks Claire and Vanille were shooting her, and she backed off, holding her hands up in front of her. "Okay, okay, sorry, I'll shut up. Jeez."

"I don't think I've ever met anyone named Ballad," Vanille remarked.

"I'm pretty sure he's new. Heard he got promoted to his position really early, like his combat skills were insane and they needed him there." Fang shrugged. "Yeah, before now I always thought generals were old."

"He's old enough," Claire snorted.

"He's only, what, twenty-two?" Fang said. "Think of that, Claire. What if it was you? And doesn't it just piss you off that he yells at you like you're a little child when really he's not that much older than you are?"

Claire considered this for a moment. "Okay, I see your point."

Fang sighed, having finished her tirade. "I'm going to eat now. Talking takes up too much energy."

After a minute of silence, Vanille looked up at Claire. "So, where are you from?" she asked. "I'm sure Fang's told you, but we're from a village called Oerba."

Claire shrugged. "She just said you were from a town covered with dust in the middle of nowhere."

"That basically sums it up," Vanille agreed. "So?"

"Um, I'm from Bodhum," Claire answered. "I'm sure you already know where that is…"

"Bodhum!" Fang exclaimed, looking up from her plate. "Like the place where they have all those fireworks?"

Claire nodded.

"Aw, not fair, not fair at all," she said, stretching her arms over her head.

"Life isn't fair, is it, Fang?" A pair of hands clamped around Fang's shoulders, startling her out of her stretch. "What are you complaining about today?"

A boy with silvery hair sat down between Claire and Vanille. He looked like he was about Vanille's age, a little younger than Claire and Fang, but not by much.

"None of your business!" Vanille said, blushing slightly and swatting him on the arm. "Why do you always drop in on our lunch conversations, anyway, Hope?"

"Because it makes you get so flustered, Vanille," Hope answered smoothly. A few seconds later a smile broke across his face. "No, it's because I like talking to you. And you're my classmate, after all."

Claire glanced between the three of them, trying to figure out what was going on. Vanille and the guy who had just appeared, also known as Hope, stared at each other while Fang watched them out of the corner of her eye. Fang broke the silence first. She cleared her throat and said, "So, how about some introductions, Hope?"

"Introductions?" Hope echoed. He turned around and saw Claire sitting behind him, and his eyes glinted with realization. "Oh. Hey, I'm Hope. Estheim. Medic-in-training, like Vanille."

"That's right, we're in the same squad," Vanille chirped.

"I'm Claire," Claire answered. "I'm training with Fang."

"Oh, so you know someone in your group. That's good," Hope answered. "Trust me, it's not fun to get stuck in a squad all by yourself."

And with General Ballad at its head to boot, Claire wanted to add. "Actually, we just met today."

"Really?" Hope asked. "Well, in that case, welcome to the chaos that is this cafeteria table."

"Are there more of you?" Claire joked. "Should I watch my back?"

"Nope, it's just us," Vanille answered.

"You know, Hope," Claire pointed out, "you don't really seem like the military type."

He laughed. "That's what I always thought too. And look at Vanille—she couldn't hurt a fly. That's why she's a medic." Vanille shot him a look, and he grinned. "I started studying to be on the scientist track a while ago. Somehow I ended up here."

"It's not so bad, is it?" Fang commented.

"I'll agree. You soldiers probably have it worse than I do." He shrugged.

"Well, speaking of being soldiers, we're on a schedule," Fang told him. "We've only got a couple hours until curfew, so we should probably head toward our dormitory."

"We should, too," Vanille said. "We'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?"

"Right, see you tomorrow," Fang echoed. The four of them stood up to abandon their cafeteria table. Another group sat down seconds after they left.

Hope and Vanille disappeared into the side of the cafeteria crowd at their backs, and Fang cut a path forward for her and Claire. They walked along one wall of the cafeteria and pushed through the doors to the lobby that connected most of the buildings. The lobby, compared to the cafeteria, looked deserted and sounded almost silent.

"I'm guessing most of our squad is already back at the dormitory," Fang said. "Somebody told me there were first-week games for new squads. They always go down there to play them."

"Should be interesting," Claire said.

Fang circled the lobby until she found the door that led outside. From there, they would be able to cross a longer transportation path to their building. But when the two of them stepped outside and slid the door shut behind them, they found that they were not alone on the transportation path. A figure blocked the path and the way to the dormitory.

His lavender hair gave him away.

"Excuse me for interrupting," General Ballad said, "but I believe I must borrow Claire Farron for just a moment. She has yet to serve her fifteen minutes in solitary, you see."

"I guess I'll see you in a few minutes," Fang muttered.

"That's right. Claire," he continued, one of his gloved hands clamping around her forearm, "you'll need to come with me."


I know everybody says it, but reviews are awfully nice. :D