A/N: Yes, I'm a jackass, I know. I did NaNoWriMo (which I won, by the way; I'm proud of myself), and then I never came back. I'm sincerely sorry about that, and hopefully that won't turn into too bad of a habit. I really do enjoy writing this, and I'm sorry that real life got in the way to prevent me from writing and posting. Even if you don't leave reviews (and by all means, don't feel obligated to - I'm okay whether you do it or not!), I hope you sincerely do enjoy the story, and I'm thankful to all those who read and do enjoy it. Once again, I'm sorry for disappearing again.

Chapter 4

She woke the next day even more excited than she had the day before. Then again, that feeling of butterflies in her stomach could have also been anxiety; she'd never known how to tell the difference. She went to put some clothes on and very nearly grabbed her civilian clothes before she remembered: she had a uniform now. She was an official soldier now. There wouldn't be a time to wear civilian clothes for quite a while.

Once she was dressed, she finished off her outfit with her belt and sheathed her knife on it, having bought a sheath for it yesterday with a small bit of money she'd miraculously found buried in her suitcase. Money wouldn't be a concern for very long anymore, though, and that was one thing Karla was happy about. She'd never known what it was like, having an actual steady flow of money, since her parents had always been poor just like everyone else in Virnikov. The fact that she would now be the richest person in her family was a strange one to behold.

She packed the rest of her clothes away yet again, and soon she was headed out for hopefully the final time. She would be happy to never come back to Central; she hated it here, for it was far too warm and far too many people for her liking. She crossed the road once she'd left the building, very narrowly evading a car yet again. Damn it, this had happened at least once every day the entire time she'd been here! This was more than irritating, and she had a strong instinct to kill whoever dared to try and hit her next.

Karla soon arrived at the headquarters, however, and she was soon able to put that infuriating driver out of her mind as she went straight to Major Armstrong's office. The door was closed as she reached it, though, and she scowled. Damn it, didn't he know she was supposed to be here today? She sighed and knocked on the door.

"Come in." The familiar voice sounded, slightly muffled due to the barrier between them. Karla opened the door, walking in confidently.

"Sir," she said, saluting her fellow major.

"Karla Chernikova," Major Armstrong greeted with an incline of his head. "I have your assignment, and congratulations, you won't be staying here any longer."

Thank hell for that. "Where will I be stationed, then?"

It was then that the soldier's eyes flicked up to meet hers, their baby blueness staring into her own green. She found she couldn't read the expression behind them, which troubled her slightly. Then again, had she ever been good at reading people? "Fort Briggs, in the north. You should be more than familiar with the surroundings there. You'll want to be careful, though: it's a bit difficult up there, or so I've heard."

She almost sighed in relief. This announcement was probably the best thing she could have heard today, for she really didn't want to have to stay here or go anywhere else, really. At the very least, it was a place she was indeed familiar with. "No need to worry about that, sir. I was born and raised in the north. I know it like the back of my hand."

"I expected you would," he said, and Karla thought she could hear some sort of pride in his voice. Then again, she was probably just imagining it in some sort of misplaced desire for approval. "You will have to go through the headquarters in North City first, of course, but you will be reporting to the Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong, who will also be your commanding officer."

Karla raised an eyebrow. "Armstrong? Any relation?"

The soldier's expression changed from one of almost-stoicism to one of pride, and Karla could swear she saw a small smile on his face. "Of course," he said proudly. "I'll let you decide just how large the relation is, though."

Oh, good, that told her both a lot and almost nothing at all. Was he always like this, or was she just special? "Yes, sir." It wasn't as if she had nothing else to say — she most certainly did, but she had a feeling that her words would not be welcome in this situation.

"Now." Armstrong picked up a small sheet of paper from the desk and handed it to her. "This is your ticket for the train up there. You'll also need to show it at North Headquarters, and they will tell you where to go from there."

"Yes, sir." She pocketed the note without glancing at it; she didn't really care what it had to say. She just wanted to get out of here already… and that time could not come quickly enough. "I will be leaving now, if that is all right with you."

"You are dismissed," he said. "I wish you the greatest of luck."

Karla saluted him, and once he'd returned her motion, she turned and departed the office. Almost immediately, her thoughts began running wild: What would her commanding officer be like? Hell, what would the fort in general be like? Oh, she most certainly hoped they weren't as soft as these soldiers in Central all seemed. She'd hate to see some of these people in a real fight… fights much like she had seen in the past, back in Virnikov. She had a damn good feeling that most of these soldiers wouldn't last very long against a force from Drachma, if not all of them.

A more important thought popped into her mind just then: Why in the hell was she having to go through North Headquarters instead of just straight up to the fort? What would they care that she was assigned at Fort Briggs? Oh well, perhaps it was some small procedure that really wasn't all that important. It really wouldn't surprise her; from what she'd seen personally of Amestris's military already, they had quite a lot of small, unimportant procedures. Of course, in the eyes of the civilians — she had to start thinking of them as civilians now; it was crazy that she couldn't really consider them her peers anymore — all these procedures did nothing to help them, especially not in the crazed center of chaos that was Virnikov. That was the first priority on her list now that she was enlisted. She was going to make sure that something was done about the constant attacks on the small town, to show them that at least someone knew and was paying attention to what was going on up there. To this day, Karla was enraged about that, as was every resident there. If someone were to attempt to get in her way of doing something about Virnikov… well, they would most certainly have another thing coming to them.

She crossed to the train station, having checked out of the small hotel she'd been in this morning before leaving. She would be more than happy to never come here again. The north was her home, her domain, and her home and domain the north would stay. Upon reaching the ticket booths, she went to one and displayed the note that Major Armstrong had given her. The woman behind the counter took it and read through it, her gaze scanning over the words, before handing it back. "You are clear to travel, ma'am," she said. Though her tone was professional, Karla couldn't miss the light of something that seemed closer to hatred than anything else in her eyes. So, the suspicion and resentment of anyone even remotely looking of Drachman descent was even around way down here… It didn't surprise her. Considering what she'd experienced from the other residents of Virnikov when she was a child, this woman's reaction was almost a welcome greeting to her.

"Thank you," she said, pocketing the note again. Upon climbing onto the train, she ignored the stares of the people around her as she went into her own compartment. Really, now? Was the sight of her shocking red hair really that strange to people? This was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. She would never understand others' reaction to her, she knew. Even when she hadn't spoken, people seemed to regard her as something of an annoyance, someone that needed to be eliminated from their presence as soon as possible. That was another thing she'd decided she was going to change: people's perception of those who were anything but Amestrian. She'd had enough of their snide comments, their frightened yet angry stares, even their angry challenges to a fight back home.

She settled into her seat, stowing her suitcase beside her, and proceeded to stare out the window at all the people running along the platform. This was going to be one long trip, but at least she would finally be out of here.

The journey back to North City had taken a day longer than the trip down to Central, and Karla was more than happy when the conductor announced their arrival. Her body was stiff, her neck especially, from the awkward slumped position she'd been forced to take when she'd fallen asleep, and the first thing she did when she was off the train was stretch her aching, cramped limbs. Once her body felt able enough to move again, she headed in the direction of the military building. She remembered where it was from the last time she was here; after all, they had been the ones to tell her that she'd needed to take the alchemy exam at Central instead of here. It had baffled her at the time, and it still baffled her now, but the situation was of no consequence right now.

Luckily, it was in the dead middle of the city, and she pulled open the door and went in with a confident strut. She cared little about the odd looks she was getting; the more confident she seemed, the better, wasn't that how the phrase went? Karla went up to the front desk, pulling the note out of her pocket and laying it on the surface. "Excuse me," she said to the man before her; he looked as if he was huddled over some sort of paperwork. "I have a note here from Major Armstrong in Central City. I've been assigned to Fort Briggs, and I was told I needed to report here first to go up there."

The man looked up at her with a fierce glance before relaxing, picking up the paper she'd laid down on the desk and reading it. "You were told correctly," he said once he'd finished. "You'll need this to actually get in there, otherwise they're going to think you have no business being up here. I'll send a call up, but you'd better get going." He handed her the paper again, which she put in her pocket once more. "Good luck up there, kid. You're going to need it."

Karla nodded — why the hell did everyone keep telling her she would need luck up here? Did they really think she had no idea what she was getting into? — and then asked, "Where is the fort, and how do I get there?"

"It's really straight up out of North City, but it's almost at the border between here and Drachma. Simply, go north from here, and just keep going north until you either hit the building or they catch you out there."

She raised an eyebrow. "They catch me out there? What do you mean?"

The man shrugged. "They have a reputation for doing that. You'd better get going, though, before you get there too late and the commanding officer decides to run you through."

She nodded once more, though she was still more than a bit suspicious about this. "Thank you," she said shortly before departing.

Outside, snow had begun to fall, as was a common sight up here. The weather was both predictable and unpredictable, as one always knew it was going to snow, though it was never known just when or how long. She would be fine, however; she knew she would be. It didn't seem to be building up to a blizzard, which would be a rather nice change. With this, she began heading north, up to her new home.