Zane and Pug followed Aaron who led them back to the massive tent they had passed before. People were gathered around the tent looking expectantly toward the entrance. Zane spotted Rose among the crowed and led the other three to her. As he arrived next to Rose, the mysterious young man who had stopped Zane and Winston from killing each other exited the tent with old dirt face.
The mysterious man began, "Hello everyone, I am Oran. Young, well trained recruits are vital to the Semper Vitae. As such, I will be staying here to oversee your training for the next month. I will then I will return to the front lines." Zane stared with his mouth open in astonishment. That was Oran! Oran was the commander of the Semper Vitae! "This is Captain Dux," Oran continued. "It is his job to train you to be the best soldier you can be. Now that introductions are finished, welcome to Lorem Praetorium. Here, you will be trained as a part of the Semper Vitae and defend the land from the Aeternam Vitium. We called you all here to fill you in on the rules and procedures. Captain Dux, if you would."
"All right listen up," started Dux in a bored vioce as he stepped forward. "For the rest of today, you will be getting fitted for armor. It will take a while to sort out the armor and put in orders for extra armor if we do not have what we need. You will have to make do with whatever we give you until the orders come in, so I better not hear any complaints! You will be expected to arrive at the cooking tent for your meal later this afternoon. You will be given a meal today and tomorrow, after that you will be expected to find your own. There is a cave north of camp that leads to out of the canyon. Beyond is a where you will be expected to find your food, after capturing, or shooting, or whatever you do to get your food, you will bring it to the cooking tent, and they will cook it for you. If you don't find any food for the day you don't eat. If you catch more than you can eat, the food will be distributed appropriately so that it does not go to waste."
"Cheery this guy," Aaron said to Zane.
"That's an understatement," Pug whispered. Zane nodded and continued to listen.
"Bathing will be done in the river. Each tent will have a specified time for bathing, which will be given to you after your evaluation. Evaluations will be done over the next few days. You will be put through several tests and will be placed in one of the following categories, warrior, scout, or archer. If you fail to meet the requirements for these positions, you can either go home or work in the kitchens. Girls will be put into the following categories, cook, archer, scout, or nurse."
"What?!" Rose exclaimed outraged. "You mean to tell me that girls can't be warriors?!" Zane shrugged. He didn't really know what to say.
Rose crossed her arms and fumed silently as Dux continued, "Now go get some food and rest and we'll see what you pansies can do tomorrow." Zane felt all of the nervous excitement that he had felt before come swelling back up again as he thought about the test. What if he was placed as a cook?
He heard his father's words in his head, "My son is going to be the greatest warrior there has ever been!" No . . . he couldn't afford to fail; he had to become a warrior for his father's sake.
"You ok Zane?" Rose asked him looking concerned.
"Y . . . Yeah I'm fine," he replied distractedly.
Rose looked at him, concern still evident on her face, but before she could reply Pug interjected, "Come one guys let's go get some grub before I starve to death. They didn't feed us that well on the trip here and I'm starting to feel it!" They quickly agreed and went to dinner. Dinner consisted of small game from the woods along the river outside of the canyon, but that was fine with Zane. He was used to it from hunting in the forest around his home. After they finished eating, they said goodnight to Rose and started for their tent. On the way to it, they ran into Winston, who already had a gang of other rich kids around him.
They stood in the middle of the path intentionally blocking their way. "What do you want Winston?" Zane spit coldly. Winston's broken nose had been bandaged and his voice sounded as though he were pinching his nose shut.
"I only want to tell you to stay away from my cousin. Rosalia doesn't need to be hanging around filthy riff-raff like you." He responded angrily.
"Rose," Zane replied emphasizing her name. "Can do as she likes, which is definitely not hanging around with you."
"Don't you tell me what she can and can't do," Winston snarled. He put his face extremely close to Zane's. "And if you don't then you will have to deal with me."
"That's a scary threat," Zane answered sarcastically. "I'd better stay away, or I might end up breaking another nose." Winston's face turned into one of rage.
"Yeah Winston, you better watch out. You wouldn't want permanent damage to that ugly face of yours." Pug said also angry.
Winston laughed, "Oh no look out," he said turning to his gang. "We have angered the poor midget."
"That's it! Screw it! I'll tear your nose of myself!!" Pug yelled. He was about to leap onto Winston but Aaron caught and held him back.
"Easy Pug, now's not the time." He said. Zane was ready to break every bone in Winston's body, and was about to try, when he remembered Oran's advice that he must control his anger. He stood, his fists clenched and trembling, as Winston once again put his face close to his.
"Midget here is willing to fight me but your too much of a chicken, "he said. "I'm surprised, I knew you were stupid, but I at least thought you had some fight in you. Pity, I guess your father didn't teach you how to fight. My father taught me how to fight when I was a boy. Your father probably sent you here hoping that you would die off and he would have one less mouth to feed." Zane stood trying with all his might to hold back his anger as Winston began to push him with both hands. "Fight me! Come on you filthy little swine! Fight me!"
Zane was about to give in and jump on Winston when a voice echoed from behind him, "Leave him alone." Zane and Winston both turned to look. Cliff was standing there, looking at Winston with both fists clenched.
"Looks like chubby wants to join in on the fun too!" Winston said to his gang. "Maybe he has more courage than whore mother and midget." Cliff took a quick step forward grabbed Winston by the shirt, pulled back his huge fist, and plunged it with a thud into the side of Winston's face. Winston's feet left the ground and he flew several feet through the air and landed face down in the dirt. He was out cold. Everyone stood and stared in awe at Cliff. Cliff stood looking extremely uncomfortable when Captain Dux stormed up to the group. Winston's cronies scattered in different directions and fled the scene, while Zane, Pug, Cliff, and Aaron turned to face him.
"What the hell happened here?" he demanded angrily pointing to Winston's limp form lying several feet away.
Cliff had his shoulders slumped and his head hung low and was about to respond when Zane said, "I . . . I lost my temper again sir." Cliff looked at him shocked. Aaron and Pug exchanged glances and Pug shook his head as if telling Zane not to do it. "We got into an argument and I lost my temper and hit him again."
"All right then," Dux said. "Come along with me then. I believe Oran would like to hear about this. You guys," he gestured to Cliff, Aaron, and Pug. "Take Mr. fancy pants to the emergency tent." He motioned for Zane to follow him, then turned on his heels and marched toward the command tent. Zane followed without a glance back.