Hellooo! :) Well! I haven't been on here for ages and for the past few weeks I was contemplating writing a story again, kind of for old time's sake. I've written the first chapter and I really hope you enjoy it, I would love to hear your feedback.

CONTAINS swearing. (Rated M to be safe)

Italics – Flashback/Thinking

Disclaimer- I own nothing.

Combat Doll

Prologue

Here I stand, weapon in hand,

My body aches, but this is what it takes,

To be the best, there's no time for rest.

My eyes are cold, so I'm told,

But there's only one thing I'm here for, and I know deep in my core,

It's for the people I stand with and the graves that lie,

Full of soldiers that were ready to die.

Now it's my turn, let our spirits burn,

For my boots are tied tight, I am ready to fight.

xxx

Charades of cheers and excited voices bristled through the long, open room. It was the day Tyson had been waiting for his whole life- the day school came to an end. For good.

The hall was getting used for a disco, which had tables neatly embedded around the edges stacked with party nibbles. The hyper teenage boy was immediately in there, and Hilary simply shrugged and rolled her eyes. Typical boy.

They had grown to the ripe old age of eighteen now; that's what Hilary called it, because it felt like a new era of her life. This was it, she was leaving school for good- and she didn't have a clue what she wanted to do with her life.

For as long as she had been waiting... for as much as she'd always hoped... Tyson never made a move. There must have been hundreds of times where she'd dropped subtle hints. None of them worked. So, one day, she took it to the next level- she sent him a valentine's card. As stupid as Tyson is, he mistook it for a birthday card. She remembered that day as clear as mud- not only did it prove to her Tyson had no feelings for her whatsoever, but he was also a very dense individual.

Tyson stared blankly at the message inside the card. I could feel my cheeks heating, and I just knew I was blushing. I kept it together well, despite the somersaults my stomach was performing.

He finally spoke, "Hilary, you do know it's not my birthday for another month? And what's all this about? 'I think your amazing, just the way you are? Love Hils'," His face screwed up. "Is this some kind of sick joke!? You know how much I hate Bruno Mars!"

My mouth opened to argue, to correct him, but the more intelligent side of my brain sealed my lips shut. What was the point. If that wasn't obvious enough, what was? He thought it was a joke!

The girl flipped back her long brunette hair and sniffed. As sad as it was, she had even grew out her hair for him. She heard him say to Kenny he liked girls with long hair, so, she stopped getting it cut. She even threw in a couple blonde highlights- but they were growing out now, to her annoyance- she kind of liked them.

"Hils! Hils!" Just the person she had been thinking about- pulled her out of her daze. He stumbled towards her, struggling with the piles of cakes he'd collected. "Why are you staring at the floor? Do you want your face on it?" He jokily pulled one hand away and grabbed the back of her head, gesturing it towards the floor.

"Tyson!" Angrily, she dug her nails into his arm. "Get off you fucking muppet!"

"Oooh, angry... down girl!" Tyson snickered to himself. "Coming for some food or not, you little ratbag?"

The brunette rolled her ruby eyes. "Sure, ferret face."

Tyson grinned. She'd finally given in to his insults and just threw them right back at him. "You know ferrets are considered good household pets, and girls find them cute."

Hilary bit her bottom lip. How ironic."So that's what you aspire to be, a pet? They also stink of shit, lick their own balls, and piss all over each other."

"Ha ha!" Tyson burst out laughing. "Hilary, I love how well I've taught you! You speak like a man, and you look like a man! You may as well be a man."

"More man than you!" She sighed and closed her eyes for a second. This is what she meant by Tyson missing signs and being extremely dense. There was just no hope for this boy.

"Oi, you two!" The two of them spun around to see Ray and Mariah racing towards them. "What's happening? We've got a table with Kenny, come sit over here with us."

Each student had been allowed to bring a plus one to the disco, so Tyson and Hilary opted on Ray and Mariah. Tyson had originally asked Max, but he was in America and couldn't make it. His next option was Kai, but he said he was washing his hair that day. Despite this, he managed to organise a little get together at his house in a couple of days time, so they'd soon all be reunited.

"Yeah coming, Hilary was just telling me how much she loves the male species- and that she wishes she was one of them," Tyson slapped her on the back playfully. "Whatever floats your boat, eh, sis?"

Sis. Definitely not the word that described a possible blooming relationship.

Mariah, the pink-haired Neko-Jin, grunted in disgust. "Tyson, do you ever cease at winding Hilary up? Poor girl, she's lovely."

Hilary appreciated her friend's attempt at boosting her attractiveness, but she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of envy every time she looked at Mariah- she was so naturally pretty, had perfect hair, and a naturally smooth complexion. Ray was very lucky.

They sat down in a corner, but by this point the music had started, so the shouting over the table commenced.

"So guys, what's everyone going to do after school?" Kenny asked, munching on a sausage roll.

Tyson winced at the thumping of the music. "What was that? All I heard then was om nom nom sausage?" He giggled to himself.

The short teen gasped. "Tyson!"

"We all heard you Kenny, ignore him, he's in a funny mood!" Hilary sighed. "Hmm... what are you doing?"

"Well... like I told you yesterday, I start college next week. Information Technology and Design course, I think it'll be great."

"Yeah, college will be great! Parties, drinking, parties, girls..." Tyson drifted off, his eyes drifting to a close as his mind dreamt of wonderful things. The ruby-eyed girl stared at him, her eyebrows creasing into a scowl.

"I think Kenny is actually going to college for the course, not for the parties," Hilary snapped. "At least he knows what he wants to do, you don't have a clue."

"Didn't I tell you?" Tyson's dark eyes sparkled with happiness. "I said college will be great. I'm going too!"

All eyes fell upon Hilary, the clear bewilderment shading her face. "Wha.." She stared around at her friends, their faces confused but Mariah's was soaked with sympathy. "No. You never told me. You didn't think to tell one of your best friends you were going away? Which college are you going to?"

Her voice sounded strained, and even Tyson picked up on it. He tried to smile it off. "It's in Tokyo. And I thought you knew... I honestly did. It's all I've been talking about for weeks."

Kenny butted in. "Er, actually, it's all you've been telling me for weeks. You've been calling Hilary a dog for weeks."

"My point exactly!" Hilary shot Kenny a glare, but he made a very valid point. The last two weeks of school was the aiming marker for getting any late college applications in. She guessed, whilst her and Tyson had been bantering for the last few weeks, playing tricks on each other, he was slyly applying for college- but it did make sense. She had bet Tyson money he couldn't stay quiet for a day. And he followed it on for days, but eventually, he started to talk again, but not to her, simply to wind her up. It was no suprise she'd missed him talking about it.

"Aw, come on, Hils. Aren't you going?" Tyson winked at her, trying to lift light on the matter.

Hilary felt her skin burn with pleasure. "No! I told you I'm not. I wanted to, but... I don't know what I want to do. I'm taking a year out, getting a job, and having a think." She bit her lip unsurely. "Then when I know, I'll go to college."

Ray flashed his pointy teeth. "So.. what course are you doing, Tyson?"

"Erm, well..." He spoke through muffled bursts. "Mine was a late application, and the only course left was... Accounting."

There was a silence. Then a hoard of laughter.

"Are you kidding me!? You? Accounting!? Tyson that's hilarious!" Mariah howled.

Tyson stared at her in shock. "Why is that hilarious? Damn, way to put me down guys!" He scoffed. "Besides, it's just something for me to do, and I can get a job, then eventually set up my own Beyblade business."

"Yeah, because accounting is going to help you with that," Hilary's eyes fell to the back of her head. "You even said it yourself, you're only doing it for the parties."

"Jeez, guys," Ray held up his hands in defence. "Let's just enjoy the night. No one wants to know Tyson's sick college motives."

Tyson let out a laugh. "Trust me, you don't wanna know." He turned to Hilary. "Yeah, stop being a baby. I know you're going to miss me, but you'll get over it, you can come visit me!" His voice reeked with sarcasm.

Despite the sudden palpitations of her heart she was getting, and the nausea she felt overwhelming her body, looking around at the faces of her friends, she knew she had no shield on her face. They observed her hurt eyes. But she was a strong character inside, and she was quickly pulled away from her subconscious mind. She smiled and nodded through gritted teeth.

xxx

The luminous, pink sky set above her, the delicate sound of her footsteps echoing down the deserted street grazing in her ears, as she set a pace she wasn't used to. It was only when she heard the sudden screech of a car racing around the corner, was her mind occupied again with reality, did she realise how fast she had been walking.

She used the back of her hand to dissolve the sweat from her forehead. Why am I sweating so much? I'm so damn unfit. It is hot. And I am power walking. It's all his fault.

After that thought struck her mind, she shook her head abruptly. She didn't know it would hurt this much, and it was sad, how truly deeply involved she felt about Tyson, and it was only when he revealed he would be moving away that she felt a pain like none other than before.

But it wasn't just that. Everyone was moving on with their lives, and where was she? Walking down a street, sweating my ass off.

It was at that moment, when the sun glared in to her eyes, that she turned away from the bright light, and closed her eyes momentarily for the clouds to block it out. She sighed, and re-opened her eyes. And she blinked.

She was standing face to face with one of the windows down the street, one of the offices. She could feel the reflection of the billboard set against the window in her eyes, the words and pictures that set upon it entering her brain.

You don't know what it's like to be respected, strong and free, until you join the Army.

A large picture of a female, quite pretty, with red hair neatly tied back, stood there almost aggressively, her face covered in green camouflage and her uniform sat effortlessly on her body. She was carrying a rifle, or so Hilary imagined it was. She gulped a little at the image. The girl in the picture didn't look out of place, or scared, or uncomfortable. She looked like a normal soldier. No different from a man.

The brunette blinked again, realising she had been staring at it so long her eyes began to water. She sniffed to herself in amusement. Ha ha. I couldn't ever imagine myself doing that shit. I can barely walk down a street without getting a sweat on.

However, something intrigued her; the image of the girl kind of reminded her of herself- the spirit she had inside of her, was reflected in the physical image of this girl. She read the smaller poster underneath.

Think you've met your full potential? Think you've seen the world? That's what Clara here, thought. Until she took steps many wouldn't do, and relit the flame burning inside of her.

Thinking about joining? Our walk in service enables male and female to come in at any time for a chat with our recruiters.

Don't think about it, do it.

Hilary scoffed. "You don't need the army to be a strong person." She turned and began to walk off, a bit flushed and annoyed she'd just spoken to herself out loud.

xxx

And that's how it all began.