Author: Seth
"We're brothers, family. We'd go to the gates of hell and back as long as we did it together."
Crisp air in the morning. Nothing like it.
Not that he ever got to enjoy it all that often, too busy trying to bury back under his sheets. Early mornings were for the zealous, which he most definitely was not.
Still, he savoured the pristine mornings when they came to him, freely given. Got to enjoy the small pleasures in life after all, especially when they required no effort in the least.
Stretching languidly, Ryuu reached to the side of his futon and picked up a small, blue ribbon. Pulling his hair back in a practiced motion, he tied the brown mane in a ponytail. Fuu was still asleep, he noticed, looking to his left. Best leave her alone; take advantage of the silence and peace while he could.
Slipping out from under the sheets, the Ginsenkei soldier retrieved his uniform and padded into a side room to change.
Emerging, now in his regular fatigues, Ryuu made extra certain to grab his glaive from the wall it rested against before he left the sleeping chamber. Important things tended to happen on days when he woke up early, not always good things.
A good thing he was expecting something to happen, it probably kept him from murdering his brother outright when Haru grabbed him and pulled him into a storage room as he was walking down the hall from the barracks.
"Haru, what are you- When did you-?" The brunette stuttered as he was dragged into the cramped cache. Unit 3 had been on a mission to eliminate a contingent of rebel troops that were getting far too cocky the last he'd heard. There had been no sign that they would soon be returning.
"Shhh!" The elder brother hissed, closing the door. "Don't speak, just listen." The blonde turned his back to his younger sibling, tending to the oil lantern he'd set up on a crate.
Ryuu raised an eyebrow but complied.
"You know how I feel about what they've been asking us to do lately." Haru mumbled, his eyes downcast.
Ryuu knew. He agreed too. There was collateral damage, there was sending a message, and then there was this. The last to face capital punishment had been children, hadn't even been soldiers. Had been simple thieves, just as they used to be, only they'd been given a chance.
"I think-" Haru's shoulders shook, and a tear dripped down his chin, but his voice remained steady. "I think it's time we did something about it."
Dire happenings indeed. Ryuu'd been ready for something big, but not this big.
"Why now?" The polearm specialist asked.
"Because now, nobody's safe." Haru replied, his voice cold and flat as he turned to face his younger brother. "Gin's dead." His voice shook slightly. "Souji and I were supposed to be. It was a trap. That was a suicide mission and intel knew it, but they sent us anyway. We've been getting more expendable ever since-" The blonde cut off bitterly.
Ryuu nodded. The Ginsenkei was an established force now, no longer held together by a few key people. One key person more like.
"So, are you with me?" Haru stared intensely at his brown haired sibling.
Ryuu sighed before letting a small smile creep across his face. "Do you even have to ask?"
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