I met Sergeant Kace back at the bunkhouse with both buckets as full as they could get. He stormed into the bunkhouse with one bucket while he let me keep one.
Seargent Kace splashed Richard with his bucket, while I didn't even bother with that and threw the whole bucket at the sleeping recruit, wood and all collided with the boy as he was sputtering and yelling from the first bucket only to be dashed against the floor with a flying bucket!
Sergeant Kase laughed out loud at that and turned to me "you were supposed to throw the water at him, not the entire bucket."
"Sorry sir, I will do better next time," I said with as straight a face as I could manage.
Richard was trying to get to his feet when Sergeant Kace stepped forward and hauled the boy up by his arms. "Didn't I tell you to be at the training yard before the last breakfast bell?" he asked the stunned and soaking wet boy.
He didn't wait for an answer and just started to drag the sopping wet boy with us to the training yard." hope you like to be hungry because you won't be seeing any grub till supper if you are lucky!"
I was glad I had been given a crash course in army life from Commander Harriot, and this wasn't the only time in the months ahead I would think on this.
After Sergeant Kace was done dressing down the boy he finally gave us our daily assignments, for me, it was common chores around the bunkhouses like hauling water, stocking wood, and sweeping floors of other bunkhouses in preparation for an influx of recruits due to arrive starting today but Richard must have done a piss poor job yesterday while digging as he was sent to the edge of town to fill in the poorly made latrine pits he had dug yesterday for his disregard of orders!
Midday arrived and I was already done with most of the chores and only had to sweep out my bunkhouse. I was going to sweep it last as the floor had gotten really wet this morning when 2 boys following the sergeant walked with full kits.
"Ahh almost done I see Bruni?" he asked when he saw me stop what I was doing and saluted him.
"Yes sir," I responded in my usual fashion
Sergeant Kace went on to explain to me that the two boys following him were going to be joining Richard and me in the bunkhouse. I looked at the two boys who were no older than me and only slightly taller than me, I instantly noticed they were identical twins! I had seen twins before just not identical ones.
"These 2 recruits are Fes and Hes, and I would like you to give them a tour of the grounds, I don't have the time to show every trainee where to shit, eat, and sleep, that's why I have you!" he said with a grin before turning and introducing me " This is Bruni, a Firespark of strong talent and a temper to match it!" he laughed as the 2 boys blanched while watching me not even twitch a muscle at the introduction.
I just nodded at the boys then back at Sergeant Kace, "Yes sir, it won't be a problem, sir." I responded before Kace left the boys in my care.
"Good lad, once you are done, you have the rest of the day to yourself to get situated and I expect all 4 of you at the training yard before the last breakfast bell tomorrow morning," he said as he walked out.
I got a good look at Fes and Hes now that we were alone, both had blue eyes and blond hair that was cut short, they were taller than me by a good 6 inches but that didn't matter much to me, what caught my eye was that both boys moved closer to each and looked like rabbits about to run in panic.
Before the boys completely lost their nerve I calmly said "pick any open bunk you want that isn't already claimed. mine is in the back and Richard, the other boy staying in this bunkhouse is in the bed closest to the door so the other 4 are free game.
They didn't say anything to me as they shuffled to the 2 bunks that were in the middle of the room they dropped their kits on the bunks as I motioned them to follow me outside as I started to give them the tour of our outpost.
The two boys didn't say anything till we got to the kitchens, "Can we get lunch?" I think it was Fes who asked first as Hes just nodded enthusiastically at his brother's words while staring at me.
I looked at the sun to gauge the time of day and tried to remember if I had heard the last lunch bell or not during the tour as I seldom ate lunch since coming here. "They might have some soup on," I replied before taking them inside the huge dining area to see what we could get our hands-on.
After we managed to get some soup from a grumpy looking kitchen staffer we walked back to the tables to enjoy our meal. the last lunch bell rang and it was at this point Richard walked in looking like he had been run over by a horse, his face was dirty and sweaty but his hands were freshly washed but all else had seen better days.
He walked up to the same kitchen assistant that we had solicited for food and demanded a bowl of soup from the pot he was carrying back into the kitchen with an imperious tone.
"piss off" was all the bored-looking assistant said as he walked into the kitchen not caring about the brat in the least.
"How dare you talk to me that way! I'm not some commoner! You will give me some gods blasted food or else I will have..." he was about to finish when he noticed me stand up from where I was eating and glared at him in promised violence.
The boy stopped mid-sentence turned around and marched out with a pale face as he kept giving me glances.
My sudden movement had startled the twins but they calmed down when it wasn't them I was glaring at.
"The sergeant gave me permission to bash his face into the floor if he threatened me so I figure that implied to everyone he threatens," I said to their question looks conversational before sitting back down to enjoy the last of my soup.
I was beginning to like Sergeant Kace more and more.