Today i'm here with chapter 3 of Getting prepared.

i'm personally happy with the rate that i think my writing is improving, i'm already feeling a lot more comfortable with the style I want. this chapter is another one with a lot of dialogue, and while i know that some people want to get into the action, and meeting the characters that we all know and love, i do find it important toto write a good reason for including new plots and such. back to what i was saying about my writing, i want to mention that i have gone back and edited some stuff in the earlier chapters. this is mostly because i feel I didn't detail somethings that i wanted people to know. I don't know if anyone is going to notice, but it puts my brain to rest a little.

long talk over, here's chapter 3, i hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3

The fact that Solomon said that with a serious look on his face alarmed me. ´Was he not joking` I thought to myself. Surely the man that had earned the right to basically be in charge of the largest military force in all of remnant, was not actually seeking me.

"What?" was all I could say in the moment.

"Well he didn't ask for you specifically" Solomon continued "but he had contacted me, looking for some young and talented men in my division, and I thought ´what the hell` might as well recommend my brightest corporal" Solomon says "though I should tell you that ironwood said it would be a long assignment"

Corporal. How could I have forgotten. I was given rank of corporal a little over a year ago. While not the highest rank for a soldier to earn, someone of my age earning it was certainly never heard of before in Atlas.

While I still had to mostly follow order from superiors, I had occasionally had the chance to lead my own squad's in missions before. Unfortunately, it wasn't every soldier that wanted to follow someone younger than them, so it was decided to keep me leading groups to a minimum.

Finally having gathered my thoughts I started.

"But this is THE general Ironwood. There's no way I would be ready for something that he himself would need help with" I say.

Solomon sighs "listen, you know that I know the real reason they won't let me put you in charge of some of our missions. So while you may not have gotten the experience I wanted you to have, this is a golden opportunity to show the ones in charge that you are the future of not just our division, but possible the entire new generation of soldiers" he finishes.

"But-" I try to say before Solomon interrupts me.

Listen, I of all people know the feeling of not seeming ready for the challenges, but I honestly believe it's time for you to go bigger. You know I would love to keep you around, but you've simply got too much talent and promise to stay here with us dusty old crows"

I looked at him, feeling conflicted. While the idea of rising even higher in the system of course sounds great. I also knew that the responsibility that the people in charge in the military have, is immense.

"But still, you said he looked for talented young people. Why did you choose me? We have a huge division with a lot of talented people" I asked, finding it increasingly hard to come up with reasons to decline the opportunity.

"Well… between you and me" Solomon starts "I was actually asked to come up with two people"

"Huh. You don't think you could've said that sooner" I asked deadpanning at my boss. "who else have you asked though?" I questioned.

"Well Jasmine of course" the man tells me "for mostly the same reasons as you, she's young, talented, and I know she would love the challenge, besides I already knew I had to get someone else to help convince you" he adds.

"Again, maybe tell me that soone-" I once again get interrupted. This time by a knocking on the door.

"Knock knock" a female voice says outside.

"Speak of the devil" Solomon says before shouting "come in!"

The door opens to reveal Jasmine still in her unform. "has he said yes yet" Jas asked looking at both of us.

"Well I think he was about to give me an answer actually" Solomon says looking expectedly at me.

Knowing that, while there were risk, it would be the best choice to accept whatever the general needed. Besides with Jas there he knew he wouldn't be allowed to refuse, and also it did help that he would work together with someone close.

"Yeah yeah, I know you're right… again" I tell the man "when are we supposed to meet with the general?"

Solomon smiles at me before saying "like I said tomorrow, he's expecting you at his own office in upper Atlas at 12:00 sharp. At this point Jasmine had taken a seat herself. Solomon starts again "I'm not sure where this will take you two" he looks between us "but just in case I want to say thank you for now" while I had never seen the officer cry, I could still tell that he was getting a little emotional. It's been a pleasure watching you both grow into your roles for the last five years"

As I remembered the last five years I almost start to tear up. While I never thought about it, Solomon was there for a lot of my accomplishments, my first mission's in the field, my first time leading a squad, the first time I had to take a life… Solomon was just the type of person that I had needed to get past some of the thing I have experienced.

"Come on solo" Jasmin starts, also having a hard time controlling her emoition. "we'll see you again soon enough, and who knows, maybe we will be the ones to boss you around" she joked.

Making Solomon laugh.

"I know, I know" he starts "but I've learned that you have to say proper goodbyes… especially in this line of work" we quickly understood what he meant. Except for huntsmen, being a soldier came with no guarantee that you would see the next sunrise. I'm sure a veteran like Solomon have had too many people he cared about pass before he could give a proper goodbye.

We sat in silence for a short moment before Solomon looked at the clock on his wall.

"Well, the day is still young so why don't the two of you go and pack so you're ready for the trip tomorrow, just pack the minimum, if more of your stuff is needed Il make sure to send it, you're dismissed" he finally says with a smile. Me at Jasmine give a quick salute before leaving Solomon's office… maybe for the last time.


Having been raised in secret, unfortunately meant not being fully up to date on what "normal kids" did in their free time. Jasmine was much the same, therefor when we would hang out it usually meant being at the shooting range, or in some way training. But today we both felt that we needed a change of pace to mentally prepare for what could come soon.

Therefor we decided to go into the city. We had only been to main city a few times, mostly with other teammates who wanted us to join them in their down time "activities". Things like eating fast food, or trying to get us into bars and such, things we were never fully on board with.

So today we decided to simply go in and try to find a place to relax and maybe a calm place get lunch.

As we were walking towards the city, I was honestly having a bit of a hard time coming up with thing to say, while I wouldn't call myself bad when it came to socializing, I was certainly not going to win any prizes anytime soon. So lucky me that jasmine was a little ball of energy. She always made sure I mostly just had to listen.

"So then he challenged me, and of course I beat with little effort" I tune back into the story she was saying.

"How badly?" I asked, showing I was still following along.

"Well he had the arm he used to wrestle me in a cast for two days, but I think he was just seeking attention" Jas says with a grin on her face.

We had both changed into more casual clothing, not wanting to bring any unnecessary attention to us. Looking down at Jas I saw she was wearing a white coat that reached down to her knees. A pair of light brown ugg boots, and a scarf, she looked quite comfortable with the cold weather that was common when in atlas.

I Personally had a simple black fur jacket on, a pair of winter boots, and a winter hue to protect my ears. Both pairs.

"So have you actually been told anything about why general Ironwood needed us?" I ask Jas, who had fallen silent for a second.

"Nah, but I'm honestly down for mostly anything at this point" Jasmine said "would be a big plus if we could stay in another kingdom for a bit, get out of this cold you know?"

"I would imagine we would be going away for a while, the way Solomon made it sound, I would think that it's an important mission" I respond still not sure what to expect when meeting the general.

"You know I missed us just being alone, no work, or training in the back of our minds" jasmine said. We had found a small park to sit in, there were barely any people, so it worked great for getting some peace and quiet.

"I know what you mean" I answered. After we were promoted to our new division, there had been much to do, and when you finally had a break, you either wanted to keep your skills in check, or you were too tired to do anything.

Silence fell again, I was looking at the small pond in front of the bench we had sat at. But I could feel that Jasmine had something else she wanted to say.

"I just" she tried to say "never-mind, it's nothing" she ended

"I'm not that dense" I tell her "what's wrong?"

"I'm a bit scared" I looked at her with a little surprise showing on my face.

"Of what?" I ask her

What il do in situations I'm not familiar with" she pauses for a bit "I'm scared il panic when met with something new" she looks at me before continuing. "as a soldier we're meant to do as told, there's not a lot of time for making decisions yourself… its easy, in a way, to just leave the thinking to others"

I understood what she meant. Despite our shared experiences with difficult moments, we were still just children in a way. Not allowed to get a regular driving license, yet still expected with taking the life of someone we don't even know. People who themselves has had entire lives to live through themselves.

These are the thoughts that haunted me.

"I'm scared too" I answered her honestly "and although there are sure to be challenges that seem impossible to overcome. We owe it to ourselves, to do what we can to make this world a better place" I pause, thinking over my words "we grew up not having a choice in what we wanted to do, abandoned by the ones that brought us to a world, were the literal manifestations of negativity exist, and we were tasked to protect the world as children!" I could tell I had gotten worked up a bit by the way Jasmine looked at me, not used to such outburst coming from me.

"we didn't have a choice then, but we do now" I calmed down a bit and continued "and while it may seem crazy… I think this is what it's all been leading to" looking down I felt stupid for losing my cool.

Thing were silent for a while until Jasmine pulled me into a hug. I was thankful for her as I could feel that I needed it as much as her.

We were not always alone. Once there were more of us, other children I called my friends. And while some were sent out to different parts of the military. The rest are not with us.

Some I watched die, others I could only mourn after the fact. But it kept happening until it was only Jasmine I had left. She was more like a sister at this point than a friend, and I think I can say that she sees it the same way.

Letting go of each other I notice that the sun was starting to set, I looked at my watch to confirm the time and saw that that it had just passed five in the afternoon.

"Want to get something to eat?" I ask, slowly starting to feel my stomachs complaining.

"Yeah that's probably a good idea" Jas respond with a smile.

"Sooo… you know any place that's good?" I asked, not personally knowing what tasted good in this area.

"Nope" she gleams at me. Great, walk around aimlessly until we find a place it is then.


"Get the fuck up Fair"

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming"

"Do you wanna fucking die out here?!"

"What?"

I open my eyes to see I myself laying in a field, covered in dirt. Looking around I see dozens of people wearing the standard Atlas combat uniforms. But they weren't alone.

Dozens upon dozens of grimm were swarming, coming from every side, it was easy to see we were surrounded.

I quickly get up and take the rifle that was laying next to me, pointed the barrel at the nearest beowolf and fired, putting the monster down immediately.

´What the fuck is happening` I think to myself, adrenaline quickly filling my veins.

Turning around I see a soldier get tackled by another beowolf, I freeze at the sight before firing five bullets at it. Unfortunately I was already to late, the monster had gotten a bite of the soldiers neck as blood poured out, fast. I hurry over to the person, kneeling down I take their helmet of seeing a young man, he couldn't have been older than 20, he was probably a new recruit. Someone who looked terrified at the thought of dying so soon. The man looked at me with bloodshot eyes before mouthing something to me. I only understood the last part.

"-your fault"

Alright then. I don't have a lot of stuff to say right now other than if you haven't read the top part i ask that you please do, if nothing else just to try and keep up with where my head is at with this story, and my writing in general.

Thank you