T rating is for violence! Please read at your own discretion.

ChickenChops: Thank you so much for reviewing! I definitely hope it will be a great story!

Cathlock: When you say 'Solaire', did you mean the Solari? I will mention them soon, patience ;) And thank you for reviewing!


Chapter 1

Leona was seven. She was finally seven which meant that she would be leaving home to train to be a proper warrior. They were going to teach her how to fight properly like one of them. It was all she wanted to be.

The image of the Rakkor warriors with their armor, spears and shields excited her. She wanted to be just like them one day. She had watched the Rite for seven years now, and it didn't seem too bad. The more she fought the more she liked the feeling of standing on top of a boy who had been taunting her moments ago.

It couldn't be more different than that, she thought.

Leona pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She didn't have to worry about that; sixteen was a long way to go. She was going away to learn how to fight and she couldn't be more excited.

The boys she had fought tended to punch and shove while she tended to pull, scratch, and grab. She lost a lot of fights that way, but still won many fights as well. Her mother said it was because she was fast.

"Ready for you first day?" Her mother pulled her out of her thoughts and held a cloak in her hand. "You won't be needing this."

Leona smiled brightly, more than happy to finally rid herself of her the thick furred cloak. There was nothing to restrict her now. She would be faster, light as a feather.

"I hope you're ready. We won't be seeing you for a long time." Her father crossed his arms, a proud smile pulling onto his face. Her mother, on the other hand, had a more serious expression. Her lips were pressed thinly into a small smile. Her mother only smiled like that when she didn't like something.

Her father laid his hand on her shoulder and looked at her expectantly. "Remember what I've taught you."

"Never retreat. Never surrender, honor and patience," she listed the words easily. The words had been drilled in her head every time she had made a mistake of doing something too fast, or when she wanted to give up.

Her father ruffled her hair. "Good," he said in a quietly. "Training is not going to be easy. But we know you can do it, Leona. You're fighter. Just remember what we taught you. Remember my words. Say them again."

"Never retreat. Never surrender. Honor and patience." They said together. Her father messed up her hair again.

Her mother knelt and kissed the top of her head. "Be careful out there. You hear me?" Her mother's voice slightly shook as she adjusted her tunic. Leona could see hesitation in her mother's actions as she pulled down the sleeves over her wrists and slowly adjusted her shirt.

Leona had begun squirming with impatience as her mother moved to fixing her leggings. Her mother softly laughed and tucked some hair behind Leona's ears.

"Alight, alright, off you go then." Leona felt her mother give her tight squeeze and as Leona started towards the door she heard her mother call her back. "I love you, Leona."

Leona glanced back, smiling. "I love you, Mom and Dad."

She burst from her home and out into the snow with the warmth of her home still clinging to her. She ran to the training grounds and found that even though she was moving her joints had stiffened considerably and that her teeth had begun to chatter.

She stiffened her jaw and forced herself to stop as she approached a group of other children like her. They huddled around each other to keep warm and Leona did the same. She squeezed herself in and looked around. She knew all of them. Some of them she had beaten and others had beaten her.

Leona could hear them murmuring with anticipation and nervousness. All Leona had ever heard was that training was going to be hard, but no one would ever tell that what the training consisted of. That made Leona a little anxious but it couldn't be so terrible, right? She found herself fidgeting.

She rubbed her arms in a feeble attempt to warm them.

"What do you think we'll learn?" She heard one of the girls ask. Leona could hear her voice shake slightly from shivering.

"I don't know. Maybe we'll get out of this cold." It was a boy this time and most of them snorted at the remark, even Leona. She had not come out here just to get out of this cold. She was going to be like her mother, she was going to be like the Rakorr warriors. She was going to brave this cold.

"Trainees!"

They looked up and saw a man lightly jogging towards them, leading a small group behind him. It took no time for all of them to stop in front of the children. Leona felt her chest slightly tighten as she looked at all of them.

They all dressed in the traditional armor: a breastplate, a leather belt, leather straps that hung loosely over their thighs, and a navy blue cloak that stretched to the feet. The only difference, it seemed, was the colour of their tunics under their armor.

Leona eyes were trained on one female warrior standing at the front. She had dark brown hair that was loosely braided, her body slightly scarred from either training or battle. Her eyes were steeled and tough. She looked like she could beat anyone who got in her way.

That was going to be her one day, Leona thought.

"My name is Captain Jagen, and you will address me as 'Captain' or 'sir." He introduced shortly. He was the same as the others, but his tunic was white. His hair was cropped short and he looked like Leona's father, though not quite as old.

"These are my men," he continued. "They will be your instructors. You will listen to us at all times, and you will do as you are told. Am I understood?"

Their staggered answers made his frown deepen. His jaw tightened. "I asked you a question, trainees," he hissed through gritted teeth. "You will answer at once, as one and you will answer 'yes, sir'. So I ask you again: am – I – understood?"

The stammered, "Y-yes, sir!" they shouted.

Leona didn't quite understand what this was about. They were just supposed to train her to fight. She was supposed to wrestle down with a partner like she and her father did. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

"Get into lines, now! I want five rows of ten!" He barked loudly. Leona flinched. "Now! Move!"

They tried to get into place without bumping into one another but it didn't seem to work. Their instructors quickly descended onto them, revealing long staffs in their hands. They shoved them and used their staffs to hit them into place.

Leona quickly moved, pushing past some of the children before she felt a sharp pain spike up her back. She whirled around and saw one of the instructors, staff in hand.

"We don't have all day, move it!" He snapped at her. She glared at him. She had been moving, until he had hit her. She had done nothing to deserve her punishment. This was unfair and he knew it. The instructor eyed her and raised his staff.

Leona braced herself and narrowed her eyes. She wasn't afraid; only little kids were afraid.

It took a second before she felt a stinging pain shoot up her face as she fell into the snow. The cold bit into the palms of her hands as she fell onto the ground.

"Get with it. We don't have time to play."

Leona steadily got up and snarled at the instructor who had hit her. Never surrender, never retreat, that's what her father had taught her.

They weren't supposed to hit them. They were supposed to train them to become warriors.

Her frame shook in the cold but she dared not chatter her teeth. The instructor didn't miss a beat. He gripped her shoulder roughly and shoved her forward.

"We have one, Captain."

The captain strode towards her and grabbed her. She ripped her arm away, unsure what was happening. They weren't allowed to hit her. Surely, she wasn't supposed to be the one in trouble. The captain looked at her, his eyes black and cold as if they could absorb everything he saw.

She immediately wanted to shrink away. Everything seemed colder and when he grabbed her the second time she felt him drag her forward. She was handed over to another instructor.

"Take three paces forward, trainees." She heard the captain behind her order. She heard the others shuffle forward but as she turned she felt a wooden pillar slam into her chest. Rough ropes were tightly tied around her wrists. Leona hissed and looked at the instructors in front of her.

"What's going to happen?" She asked but they didn't answer her. Whatever it was, Leona could feel in her stomach that it wasn't going to be good. Her gut knotted and she grunted, fighting against the thick ropes, hoping to slip out of them, but she couldn't.

Leona pulled against the pillar, hoping to maybe loosen it from the ground, but she knew it was going to be impossible. Leona's eyes flickered frantically from one face to the other. She couldn't tell if she was shaking because she was scared or if she was now extremely cold. What was happening? Her heart raced, threatening to come out of her mouth.

She heard Captain Jagen's voice. "I am here to prepare you for the Rite of Korr which will take place in your sixteenth year. I'm sure you're all familiar with the Rite. And because I am preparing you for combat I will not tolerate any disobedience."

"I didn't do anything!" Leona protested, instantly, but she was ignored. She hadn't disobeyed anything! She had been getting in line like everyone else. She was doing what she was told. There was no reason why she was going to be punished.

Leona craned her neck over her shoulder and tried to see the captain but her hair was in the way and she couldn't see. What was going to happen? Her hands gripped tightly together, nervously.

She could hardly see the captain behind her but suddenly he was next to her. "Don't scream and don't move." His voice was even.

There was no warning after that. She felt a strike on her back. Leona flinched away from the sting that spiked up her body. She grunted and clenched her teeth together.

Never surrender. Never retreat. Honor and patience. Leona repeated in her mind feeling tears burn at the back of her eyes. It was only moments ago she had felt so excited to be here, but now all she wanted to do was go home.

As the second blow came she gasped and when she tried to move away she felt the other instructors grip her in place. She squirmed and fought, wanting to sob and scream. Tears blurred her vision as the pain spread through her body. Her knees threatened to buckle beneath her.

Don't make a sound, Leona told herself as she gritted her teeth, tears streaming down her face.

"Punishment for disobedience is four lashes, no more, no less." The third strike came down with a thick thwak. She whimpered wanting to move away again but found it impossible. Her back felt like it was on fire. Tears streamed from her face from the pain.

And as the final strike landed on her back, her toes curled, and her fingers dug deep into her skin forming welts. Leona cringed, wanting to scream and cry. She wanted her mother to come and pick her up and tell her it was going to be okay, like after the fights she lost. But instead she hissed loudly and bit back a sob.

"Good." The captain cut her ropes and handed her off to one of the instructors who helped her stagger into the last row. The boy next to her offered a sympathetic look. She felt the back of her tunic skim the skin on her back and it made her flinch. Her back, felt like it was on fire and everything that touched it stung.

"The Rakkor warriors know no pain, remember that." The captain paused and paced in front of them. Leona sniffled and wiped the tears from her face as the cold began to set in again. It was only a small comfort to her stinging back but it was not a comfort to her. She shivered like the rest of the children. Leona wanted to warm herself but their arms were forced at their sides.

One girl tried to rub her arms but the instructors slapped her hands away.

"I will train you to be the best. But I must have all your co-operation. Now, first thing is first. We need to get your body up to physical standards. Jump squats, fifty! If one person gives up, I'll make everyone do double!"

Everyone was quick to follow but Leona had to muster her strength to follow the instructor's motions. She wasn't half way to fifty when her legs felt too heavy to lift or bend. Her thighs burned and her knees were ready to buckle under her own weight.

"…48 – 49 – 50. Sit ups, next! Fifty!"

Leona had seconds to throw herself onto the floor. A sharp searing pain followed that made her wince but when she moved to get up she saw an instructor stride towards her. Leona fell onto the floor, pushed the pain to the furthest place in her mind and began to follow, hissing.

Legs lifts were next, then lunges, and then jumping jacks. Her body trembled and moved sluggishly as sweat dripped down, stinging the welts that had formed on her back.

She wanted to go home and so did the others. Leona could see it in their faces. Set after set, they wanted to take a break but if they stopped they would be beaten. One boy had refused to do another set and was knocked down and slugged in the gut. He doubled over and then got up to follow the rest of them.

Running was next, led by the captain himself they ran a route, around the camp then around the Rite arena.

Leona could only stumble forward as they looped around the camp and the arena again. Never surrender. Never retreat. Honor and patience, she gasped the words in her mind.

She could feel the saliva turn thick in her mouth, her lungs felt dry and everything felt too heavy to lift. Sweat matted her head and rained down and when it touched her back she felt a steady burning pain that made her want to cry again. She could only imagine the welts and bruises that had formed. She never wanted to go through that again.

When they finally stopped back at where they started, Leona fell onto her knees, gasping for breath, heaving in gulp after gulp of the freezing cold air. A small gust of wind blew past them and it reminded her how cold she really was. She shivered violently.

She heard somebody throw up a small distance away from her as they all wheezed in air into their lungs. Her muscles ached, her back was sore, and she couldn't feel her legs. As she fell onto her back she flinched, grunted and rolled onto her stomach immediately.

The cold snow pressed against her skin and it stung but she couldn't get up. Her body wouldn't let her; rolling over seemed to have drained the last of her energy.

"Let's take a break! Give them water!" The captain shouted over them and by the sound of it, it didn't seem like he had broken into a sweat. But still, she couldn't have heard sweeter words.

She made a lame attempt to warm herself by rubbing her hands on her arms when she felt two strong hands lift her from her into a sitting position. She turned and then felt a warm fur wrap around her body.

"Rub the chest, the arms will warm themselves." The instructor told her and handed her a waterskin. She snatched it immediately from his hands, flicked the cap off and chugged it down. She could feel the water dribbling down her chin as the warmth of the fur engulfed her.

When she was finished she rubbed her chest and looked at the instructor who took the waterskin from her and walked off. She would become like them one day.

Leona stared at his retreating back and wondering if this was what she really wanted to be. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind again and concentrated on warming up.

She would become stronger. She had to.


Author's Notes

Hey! I hope you liked reading this installment :) I'm going to try updating every two weeks.

Please review! I'd love to know what you think!

xxSC