Kirby settled on an orange juice and after her taking a huge gulp she smiled at me, I could tell instantly it wasn't a genuine smile, "Hey Samara" she said looking slightly weary, like she hadn't slept well, being head physician was a lot of pressure and responsibility and coupled with the fact to some of the male Olders were still trying to contradict her rulings on the groups health I knew it sometimes resulted in her not being able to switch off and sleep.
"Kirbs, how are you?" I asked, she gave me the 'can't-you-see-I'm-gonna-kill-them' look, it was funny that just with certain looks we could say all that was needed to be said. "Older Booth" was all she replied, I shook my head, no further explanation needed.
He was an arrogant man, his ego was as large as his giant body, he may have been one hundred and sixty-six years old, but he looked around seventy, he was a very muscular and intimidating figure who stood well over the six-foot mark. Going up against him was a chore and I instantly sympathised with her. We, as a group had long lives. Older Booth was considered a youngster even at his age. He had only in the last six years been inducted and an Older. Though at his age he still remembered the 'good old days' as he put it. 'When females knew their place'. It was laughable, the way he would try to press his own opinions on the group as a whole. Even I, a trained killer didn't want to deal with him and his prehistoric ways.
"Can I help?" I asked, she just sighed and shook her head 'no' I knew sometimes she either didn't want to talk about it further or she just had, had enough and didn't want to bring me into it, she was a great friend.
I changed the subject onto something I knew would bring a genuine smile to her face "Sooo, Mrs. any news on the baby front?" and it was like Older Booth had been erased and a big, bright smile adorned her face. "I need to wait a few days, but we've got our fingers crossed, the crescent moon was two weeks ago, and you know that always helps".
Kirby and her partner Brett had been trying to conceive for the last three months, they decided that it was now or never. Brett was a kind guy but a little older than us at thirty-eight, they made a great pairing. They looked good together, complimentary. We've never spoken of it, Brett and I but I have a sneaking suspicion that he has wanted Kirby, well since forever. He had never made any advances to any other female in our group, though some had made it clear they were interested in pursuing a courtship with him. He always declined. Made up excuses.
Brett held the title of Head Distributor. He was the guy behind the scenes making sure produce and goods made their way to where they needed to be. It was a lot of responsibility, he basically made sure the group never went without, coordinating the numerous harvests and management of store produce.
Like most males here, he was a large unit of a male. Though he wasn't into everyday training, he was fit, muscular and strong. He was by all intents and purposes the complete opposite to Kirby. Blonde shaggy hair, light brown eyes, almost on the cusp of amber in colour and olive skinned.
He was calm, patient and understood that Kirby was, well Kirby, she didn't need him to be possessive over her and that even though they were together she had chosen him above all others. He was very lucky guy. She had many suitors asking for her hand, wanting to court her. She had put off for years wanting to pair up and she had caught the eyes of many males of the community, but she said she would only pair once she was ready. Yes, she wanted a family, but she also wanted to make sure her life partner knew how committed to her job she was and with some of the small-minded males in the group that could be a major headache and an even bigger challenge.
I was just about to comment on the whole crescent moon situation when the group was called to resume their places for the rest of the story, I gave Kirby a quick hug and a kiss on her check and moved on to my original spot ready to perch again and listen.
The Historical Leader made her way back to the stage, glancing around the room readying herself to start again, once the room fell silent, she resumed.
"Now where was I, Oh yes, the war. Well the details of what happened are a tad sketchy, all that was written was that it was a great battle between the forces of the Aten and the forces of Khonsu. It's written that there was much blood shed and many lost their lives. The site of the battle was to the frozen North, it is said that no one lived there and that it was a neutral battle ground.
Khonsu's army marched for months to come together, having been split around our world for many years, it was necessary that they re-grouped and stood as one.
These different factions had elected a leader of their own and they devised their own way to live together, many now looked different and spoke differently, but they all had a common goal, they all had the same belief, they were soldiers of Khonsu and that bought them back together as one giant unit.
It seems that the years in the wilderness had been kind, the King's plan had backfired, gone were the weak individuals he had expelled from his kingdom, gone were the broken faces he had seen before, they were powerful, confident and above all adamant that they would complete their mission.
The leaders of the groups had come together to lead the groups into battle, behind them were battalions of men and women, ready to lay down their lives for the greater good, some were protected by metal body armour, others with bow and knife, all though, were protected by Khonsu and his love.
The King decided that he would lead the army of the Aten, though he seemed to be surprised by the number of enemy members, he was confident, too confident that the light of the Aten would shine forth and make this an easy flight. He commanded his divisions of men into position and once they had grouped, he waited.
The standstill was a silent and painful affair, no one wanting to announce the attack, no one wanting to make the first move, it was a brave Moon Army leader that slowly started to move toward the no man's land between the two opposing groups, with his head held high and his chest puffed out he slowly made his way to the middle awaiting the arrival of the King. The King had seen the movement from the other side and after a moment's hesitation followed his counterpart to discuss the terms.
The King stood in his golden body armour, with depictions of the Aten in its disc form, his helmet was adorned the same except the Aten was sat on either side of his head, looking like he had some strange sort of ears resembling a rabbit, he looked beautiful in his regalia, yet all the Moon Army leader could see was the weaknesses between the golden plates of metal, the areas where an arrow or blade could penetrate, he thought the suit looked cumbersome and heavy, inwardly he knew the King, though beautifully dressed would tire with all that additional weight he was carrying around.
The Moon Leader was the first to speak, though they had lived together in the old world, he knew this King was someone new, not the man he had looked up to years before "Benedict, it's been a while" he spoke, he knew that not addressing the King by his proper title would no doubt get under his royal skin.
The King, with feathers ruffled, grunted towards the leader "Moon Scum"
"C'mon now Benedict, you know my name is Ezra, I was courteous enough to use your name, I would expect someone of your breeding to do the same" a smirk made its way to Ezra's face, he knew this King, he knew him well, after all it was Ezra who was his right hand man once.
The King, red faced with anger shouted to Ezra that there would be no terms and that all that stood behind him would die before the night was out. With that Ezra, thoroughly please with himself strode back to the rest of the Moon Leaders to inform them what he'd noticed about the Kings attire and the attire of his army who stood in similar golden armour.
The Leaders once in a group had a quick discussion, they knew the longer they delayed the start of the battle the nearer to the Moon God's light they would be, the Moon was King once the sun had dropped below the earth and they would feel more energised.
There was just one battle that lasted over three days, they fought day and night with the forces of the Aten taking the upper hand during the day, fuelled by the extra power given to them from the Sun God and the Wanderers having extra power at night given to them by our Moon God.
Many people thought that it would be a draw, that no one would break the other, but this is where Khonsu was cleaver, he had gifted the Wonderers with extra strength and speed, he also gifted them with the ability to heal fast, with the light of the Moon on their backs it was if any damage to their bodies never occurred, you could see the wounds knitting themselves back together within seconds, this gave them the upper hand, though this strength didn't make their bodies any less weary from the fight, they were in a better fighting condition to their counterparts, this is how they won the war, well that and the ability to become the beasts we are today, that day they became wolves".