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"Troop, March!"

Henry plodded forward, endlessly lifting his heavily booted feet, pounding the fresh grass at the army base. The sky was grey, the air was still. The calm before a storm. They marched to the East side, toward the dungeons, where he had carefully laid Pazu the night before. Closer to his tower, the walked.

His back ached, and head pounded. He puffed his breathes steadily, and counted to ten in his head, again and again. This was nearing his third hour of marching. They reached the base of the tower, and made their way slowly around it. Henry glanced toward it. Being closer to it, he gazed at the tiny window, a slit in the dense stone. He almost paused when he heard, and saw Pazu's small face, wedged into the crack. Henry marched on, but could swear he heard a muffled cry when Pazu fell to the ground.

Guilt coursed through him. It was him who had imprisoned the innocent boy, him who had left him to starve in the dungeons. He shook his head, and froze. His platoon had stopped and he bumped straight into the back of the soldier before him. That man grunted and stumbled forward.

"Nully!" Roared the Captain, turning on him. Henry backed up respectively, held his arms behind his back, and looked down. The Captain hollered, "what was that!"

"I am sorry, sir, I was just I bit tired and dazing off," Henry replied truthfully. The Captian snarled. His cold blue eyes bore down on Henry and he felt they might burn a hole through his head.

"Are you suggesting that during a battle, if you happen to be tired, you can doze off and end up hurting fellow soldiers!"

"With all due respect sir, I didn't hurt any fellow soldiers. I merely bumped him. Soldier," he looked at the man he had bumped, "I am sorry if I may have have hurt you." The Captain's voice dripped with anger,

"I have no time for rudeness, Nully. I will spare you a whipping, for in know you have them quite frequently," he smirked, and Henry stared at a particularly long blade of grass as the soldiers chuckled. "In line, men!" The captain raged. "Forward!"

Henry sat beside Andrew in a dimly lit room, on his cot. Andrew piped up,

"Henry, you should really try to pay more attention, you just got promoted." Henry nodded absently. He gazed through the window at the glittering stars, blinking in the sky. Golden, like Natslia's hair. He was overcome with a strong longing. He glanced at Andrew, and asked quietly,

"Do you have someone at home?" Andrew looked at him strangely.

"Don't you? My mother and father are waiting, as is my older brother."

"No, I mean, a lady, a wife or someone?" Andrew blushed and looked down, his black hair reflecting the yellow candlelight.

"Ah, no. Not really." Henry nodded, and didn't press the subject. He assumed he loved a girl who did not love him back, as he had before.

A loud roar like thunder slowly came into hearing range, like the atmosphere passing through a windmill. Henry stood and hurried to the window. A massive air ship drifted to the port, covered in brown green paint, with so many wings, Henry couldn't fathom how it functioned.

"What on earth is that?!" Henry cried over the sound. Andrew refused to look at him.

"It's the airship Goliath. It was called a few hours ago. We are to fly it to Laputa."