"Being a soldier is more than just killing things. It's the primary aim for you assigned to the Wall, yes, but I'm still going to train you as if you'll make it out of here and to other branches."
Ewa wants to suck her teeth at him, but she knows better. And even though the Officer's words were blunt, they were true. If any of them made it away from the Wall, it'd only be one or two of them at most.
"So, here's another test," the Officer smiles. Ewa can feel the dread fill the recruits as their superior's sneer fills his face. "If you came to camp with weapons, you can bring them along on the task. If you didn't, grab a training staff. Other than those things, you're only allowed the clothes that you are wearing right now, nothing extra."
Ewa looks around at the other young soldiers, who look just as confused as she. She looks around to see more Officers than the other day lining the training mat, and they're all in training clothes like the recruits. Other than that, nothing stands out of place or gives her any clue to what their next test is.
"Finish." A soldier as tall and dark as Ibi, steps up and Ewa takes note as the other superiors step away.
"Yes, sir!" The Officer barks. "You will each go out into the Idanre Forest with just the clothes on your back, your training staff or weapons, and a partner. You must survive a week on your own with no other help."
"Easy," Ibi chuckles.
And it was easy. Normal, in fact, for the Southern Village. Even the weakest of them could pass that test.
"While we hunt you down," The Officer smiles.
Ewa understands now. It was a test that pit trained soldiers against new recruits to see how long they could last. Not a fair task, but Ewa bet they didn't expect any of them to last long, anyway. Just who lasts the longest.
"If we find you, then you're eliminated. Those who last the longest, win. Simple—oh, but you must form a partnership with at least one other soldier. You cannot finish this task on your own, or it immediately eliminates you. And hear me clearly... you can form a partnership or team of however many you want, but feel free to change teams, partnerships, alliances or whatever at any time in the field. Whoever you return with, doesn't have to be who you start with."
Ewa looks around at her fellow soldiers and watches as Ibi's smile widens.
So this test is about teamwork but also survival-of-the-fittest. No doubt alliances will be made and destroyed until the last ones stand. She moves a step closer to Dayo, who always seems to be at her side.
"The top five from the last tests' advantage is that they get to leave thirty minutes before everyone else. Then everyone else will get thirty minutes before we track you," he says. "No going into towns or villages. Do not purposefully harm each other and do not go over the Wall." The Officer nods, silently dismissing them.
"You're trained officers. That's not fair. We're—"
Ewa doesn't wait for whatever else Ibi has to say. She grabs Dayo's arm and drags him away and towards the barracks.
They're out of earshot before she lets go of him.
"Did you bring any weapons besides your staff?" She doesn't look back at him as she walks, but can feel him following behind her.
"An Ida."
Ewa almost stops in her tracks, but forces her body to keep moving. "Where did you get a sword like that?"
"My father gave it to me."
"Ah," she says as the barracks come into view. "If I don't look at you or hear you talk, I forget that you're not from around here."
"And your weapons?"
"Two Obe daggers, and my staff."
Ewa waits for him to ask her where she got her weapons, but he really isn't from around there and he doesn't know that only soldiers should have Obe daggers. Not even recruits are awarded those weapons yet.
They step up to where they have to split. Ewa to her own living quarters and Dayo to the shared barracks. Ewa doesn't slow as she walks away.
"Get your weapons and meet me behind dining. Do. Not. Betray me."
She doesn't wait for his answer as she jogs away. Her current living situation was a small hut, with a tattered curtain covering the only exit. The inside only holding a makeshift cot. There was no security, so she slept lightly with one dagger in hand and her other one and staff hidden in easy to reach places.
She picks up her daggers from their hiding spots, puts them in their sheaths and ties them around her waist. She looks down at her bag full of clothes and supplies and debates grabbing things even though they said only the clothes she was currently wearing. That was probably part of the test too, but she doesn't have time to wonder about it. She finishes tying her daggers securely, picks up her staff, and leaves. She can hear voices—Ibi's voice, but she doesn't stick around to hear what he has to say.
She jogs to the dining hall where Dayo is there waiting for her, alone.
"Come on. We need to move fast," she says, jogging past him.
"Wait," he calls faintly, "let's stop and make a plan. See if we can make alliances with others." He runs to catch up to her.
"Or," she says, not slowing, "We can make a plan while we move, We only stop to rest and that's only when we really need to. And besides… I have a plan, but I'd like to hear what you think we should do."
Ewa looks at the forest ahead of them. The trees are even taller than the walls, and canopies so thick that the sun barely shines down through the foliage. They were even so wide that the branches that fall are too big for even two Southern Village Farmer men to wrap their arms around together. Just as wide and thick are the tree roots that break through the ground and connect the trees. Ewa stays on the path that was forcibly paved through, her feet squishing in the wet soil. She can hear Dayo behind her, tossing every stone and snapping every branch loudly. She'd have to show him how to walk quietly.
"Okay," Dayo says, following behind her. "We get as far away from camp as possible and make a good alliance. The more of us together, the more successful, right?"
Ewa looks left and right as the path splits, and Dayo almost runs into her. She turns to him.
"I don't think so. I think a larger group of people would draw more attention, but we can always decide on the go when we come up against someone. This way," she says, running to the right. "Who would you even want to have an alliance with?"
The soil is wetter, causing mud, which sucks at her feet.
"The strongest of us," Dayo says, following her again.
"That means Ibi, and those other two that have been following him around."
"Alaba and Sijuade… I definitely do not want an alliance with Ibi or Alaba. They're pompous and cruel without reason. But Sijuade, maybe."
Ewa thinks back to Sijuade. A frail-looking boy who has stuck to Ibi's side ever since they announced their rankings. He had ranked fifth, not because he was strong or better, but because he was quick on his feet. He wasn't particularly mean like Ibi, but he didn't speak up when Ibi was bullying someone else.
"He's probably already with Ibi, but if we find him alone, we can come back to the idea. Okay?" Ewa asks.
"And your plan?"
"We go where they're less likely to look for us."
"And where would that be? We can't go into town, and they're looking throughout the forest, as far as it goes."
Ewa stops again and turns to him, smiling wide, shoulders spreading with pride. "Exactly! They're going to be spreading out and searching the entire forest as far from camp as possible. So we go back and hide out near camp."
"They wouldn't think about looking sound camp," Dayo nods, "because we're supposed to have left there."
"I think so—I hope so. They are trained soldiers, so they'll probably know we might have that plan. So we'll go near the camp but not quite and we'll hide… on the Wall."
"The Wall? The King's Wall?" Dayo has to hold himself back from yelling. "We can't camp out on the Wall! That's stupid!"
"Yes. It is. So let's hope they think we're smarter than that, so they won't look there."
Dayo rubs the bridge of his nose and lets out a large breath. He looks at her past his hand. "Alright, so we're going to be stupid and hide out at the wall and hope nothing slithers across and eats us. Why exactly are we running further into the Forest then instead of towards the Wall?"
"To give them a false trail to track. Look," she says, pointing past him.
He turns to see, but all he sees is more forest. Trees, fallen branches, and quiet. After a brief pause, Ewa sucks her teeth at him.
"Look closely," she says, walking closer to him. "This is a clear path. There are no branches or grass on the ground. It rained last night, so there's mud, and in the mud…"
"Our footprints."
"They'll follow these footprints all the way here and further out while we're already making our way back."
"How do we stop them from following our footprints back?" Dayo looks back to her with admiration shining in his eyes. She tries to ignore it.
"We don't leave any," she says, turning around and running, purposely leaving her steps in the mud. "We walk through the Forest, close to the trees where there are no clear paths. We step on branches and rocks and we are careful not to trample the plants."
Dayo chuckles. "With your plan, we'll probably win this game, but we'll definitely survive with mine."
"So which one do you pick?"
"I want to win."
"Come on," she says, trying not to smile too wide or enjoy the game too much. "We have to move fast because it's going to take more time for us to double back and not leave a trail."
"This is either going to be legendary, or we hope that whatever eats us, leaves our bones for them to find."
Ewa knew it was a higher chance that there wouldn't even be bones for anyone to find.