Motoring through the open sea the silent majority of Jaran soldiers were left listening to the footsteps of an eager few who looked forward to the chaos of war. Holding his service rifle close to his chest a pale long haired brunette man groaned. He reached up stroking the barrel of the gun as he stared at the trigger and licked his lips.
One by one everyone on Horis ship looked over at him and grew more and more uncomfortable. "Endo, come on not now" Hori said grimacing as she looked at him going to place his lips somewhere on the pistol. "Sorry leader. I simply yearn to test my resolve and ability against a worthy opponent" he said in a shivering husk as he bit his lower lip.
"Alright Endo just be a little less graphic with your excitement please" Hori said turning back to face the front of the boat. Despite his uncomfortable and inappropriate behavior no one would complain about having Endo on the team considering he was the top marksman in the Jaran military before being dishonorably discharge for his behavior.
Leaving home to try joining the Luxen military it was just his luck he moved just as the war started and Jarans were sent underground. Unable to contain his excitement finally being able to hold a gun again his first day at the boot camp may have been poor by his standards but he quickly went back to being the best shooter in an entirely new country.
"Ninty one, ninety two, ninety three, ninety four..." a physically imposing man with dark chocolate skin and braided hair said counting his push ups on a rocking boat. Grunting as he passed the one hundred mark whispers circulated on Lucas's boat as everyone started watching him.
Taking up a large amount of room on the boat with everyone else sitting around the edges of the ship the man kept going with no sign of stopping. "Wandile, that really smart to do when we still have a war to get to up ahead" Lucas said to the veiny bulging man.
"Sorry sir, I just can't wait to get in there. Woo!" Wandile said as he pumped his fists looking around to his nervous squad members. Going around the boat he managed to back everyone into bumping fists with him solely so he'd leave them be.
Leaning over the side of the ship Katie began throwing up overboard into the sea. Grimacing as she rubbed her back Willow whispered softly to her as she attempted to comfort her newly self assigned sister. "Everything okay back there?" Eric asked from the front of the boat. "Yeah yeah she's okay just sea sick is all" Willow said over the loud propeller zooming them to the island. A
"Sorry Low...I didn't know I could get sea sick" Katie said as her voice trembled and her stomach turned with each wave passing underneath the boat. "Hey hey it's okay, you had no way of knowing that you couldn't do boats. We'd never seen one till last month" Willow said patting Katie on the back.
"Thanks Low, I love you" Katie said as the realization of what she'd just said hit her. "Thanks, I love you too sis" Willow said as she lightly hugged the flummoxed Katie who was thankful Willow didn't realize she meant as more than a friend but crestfallen she was only a surrogate sibling to Willow and would remain that way.
"How are you so at peace?" Kosi asked looking over at Jude who was lying on his back with his feet in the air. "Who said I'm at peace. I'm terrified right now" Jude said watching his laces as he moved his feet around.
"Really? Cause it looks like you give about as much of a shit about this as you did in school" Kosi said as he laid down next to Jude watching the orange sky.
"Well yeah I don't really care about this. My mom and dad definitely wish I wasn't here, Elise is gonna kill me when we get back but I'm not gonna lie all that free shit we got was worth the sign up. Plus Elise and my parents get to just be civilians and not get rotten food tossed at them anymore. Most importantly you'd be bored shitless without me" Jude said nudging Kosi in the side.
"Stop it" Kosi said nudging him back. The pair began lightly nudging each other with more and more force until Kosi got Jude in between the ribs causing him to wince. "Ahh!" Jude exclaimed dramatically to the annoyance of everyone except Kosi who rolled his eyes and sarcastically said "Oh no get a medic man down".
"Ahh I think I'm done for K. Tell everyone back home I love them alright" Jude said reaching over and grabbing Kosis flak jacket. Everyone else in the boat including Thomas groaned as Jude and Kosi mocked the situation they were in. "Okay Jude...we'll always miss you my dear friend" Kosi said pretending to cry.
"Oh fuck off" Belal said to loud chuckling from everyone else on board including Kosi and Jude who sat up just in time to see the boat approach land. Arming themselves and tightening their helmets everyone sat on edge waiting for their boat to hit land.
As soon as the front of the boats hit land in their different locations and stopped everyone lept off and lifted the vessels into the bushes concealing them in shrubbery. "Alright men and women make sure you take in any and all land marks you can. We don't know who's making it back so make sure you remember how to get back here if your one of the lucky ones!" Thomas shouted as he signaled for his team to venture into the deep unknown.