[MillietheWarrior]

Prologue

It was cold. So damn cold, she thought her fingers were going to fall off. Snow was encrusted on her coat, any warmth she might have gained seeping out through the chill of winter.

Rubbing her hand together, she felt the snow shift and give way under her feet, displacing a bit more each time she took a step. White powder fell from the sky in gentle waves, coating the ground and the forest in a blanket of white.

[MillietheWarrior]

Snow is beautiful, she reflected grimly. When it isn't trying to kill you.

It seemed like her battalion had been on the move for days now. They hardly ever stopped to rest, and for them, fires were forbidden. They couldn't risk getting caught out in the open, and smoke, or even the fire itself, was a dead giveaway of their position.

It's too risky to stay warm, she thought unhappily, and rubbed her hands down her coat-clad arms.

[MillietheWarrior]

Her heavy jacket did little to shield her from the cold. If she had her way, she'd have scrounged a hundred jackets by now, and piled herself under them for a thousand year nap. But of course, her commander had sent her for supplies.

If she hadn't known better, she'd have thought he actually wanted her to die.

The town of Foy wasn't very lively. In fact, it almost seemed deserted. She wondered, briefly, what supplies he had sent her here for. It wasn't as if they had any to spare for a rag-tag battalion that had moved into the area only a few days before. They were short on men, ammunition, artillery, food, and supplies. They have their winter clothing, she reminded herself dully, but they lack the men to fill those clothes.

[MillietheWarrior]

A glance over her shoulder, and a brief thought for the enemy.

She wondered if they fared better than their counterparts. Briefly, she hoped that they did. She would not wish such a fate upon anyone. And it was just so damn cold!

The snow crunched and shifted beneath her boots, as she topped that last, small mound of before her and stood in front of the city. How pathetic it looked. It had taken a few hits, to be certain, for the enemy wanted to take it over. She wondered why. Surely this scrap of pitiful land wasn't worth dying over?

Her shoulder shrugged, and she watched as her breath materialized and then vanished in the cold, crisp air.

[MillietheWarrior]

She was no now, she had to remind herself constantly. Not a soldier, not a general or a commander. She could never see the reasoning behind war, but that was because she was not fighting now. In fact, she wondered why she was even here at all. She could have been far more useful to her commander if she had been stationed elsewhere. But he had instructed her to remain with this battalion, whilst her comrades, those she had known for many long years of training, were sorted and mixed into the other battalions.

She was surrounded by a company of men, but she was so very alone.
[5]

[MillietheWarrior]

The girl picked up her pace, but as she neared the outskirts, her footing was compromised, and she slipped on a patch of ice. Down she went, and a few choice words flew from her blue, trembling lips. She cursed the snow, and the cold, and the war. She cursed everyone and everything she knew or saw. And then she stood up, and brushed herself off.

A lapse in judgment, she decided. I should not be so foolish.

[MillietheWarrior]

She could not afford to be seen as weak. She could not afford to let them know just how frightened she was to be here. She couldn't afford a single mistake. It could cost her, and her commander, dearly. And not only would she pay with her life, but so would countless other soldiers, on either side.

Huffing, she wrapped her arms around herself, and trudged on, careful now of anything that might cause her to let down her guard.

[MillietheWarrior]

It took her a few short minutes to reach the man in charge of this small town. He wasn't busy. The enemy was watching, waiting. They hadn't attacked, as of yet. It was safe…for now. Pulling off her gloves, she turned the knob to the rickety old door of his probably only recently acquired office, and squeezed into the warm, fire-filled room.

Hell, that whole damn room could have been ablaze, and she still would have gone in. Anything to be warm!

Chuckling to herself, she shut the door behind her, and rubbed her trembling hands together above the fire after she crossed the room. The commander, who had been in one of the many back rooms, strode through the door.

[MillietheWarrior]

As if it had a mind of it's own, her body grew rigid, and she instantly pivoted and saluted the higher ranking officer. The man nodded, dipping his head to her in acknowledgement before he too, joined her by the fire, sitting in a very large, lavish chair.

He looked tired. And old. His face was worn, and he had a grim expression that told of trouble on the horizon. She had an odd foreboding, and she could not shake the feeling that something important was about to happen. Something she could neither foresee, nor control.

[MillietheWarrior]

He smiled up at her, his dark blue eyes swirling with his many thoughts, and waved a hand for her to sit in the chair across for him. Obligingly, she did so, and the moment she touched the soft cushion, she felt every muscle relax almost instantly. How long had it been since she had felt such comfort? Hell, any type of comfort. Half a pillow, a square of a blanket, a warmer jacket or pair of trousers. Anything would have been comfort to her. But this, this chair…It was pure bliss.
[10]

[MillietheWarrior]

The commander must have noticed her disheveled and tired countenance, for he remarked upon it as she sat, basking in the relative luxury offered by this simple chair. His smile did not quite reach his eyes, but it touched his cold, chapped lips.

"Nurse? Did they send you all alone?" His kind smile did not fade, and the woman snapped her head forward, eyes wary as they settled upon his tired features.

[MillietheWarrior]

"Yes," she replied almost instantly, "They did, sir. I was instructed to make my way to Foy to retrieve supplies for my company. We are in desperate need, sir. We have little food, few bandages. Our ammunition is very low. They sent out two scouts an hour before I left, and they tried to find their way here as well, but apparently they went in the wrong direction. We found them only twenty minutes later, both shot dead. After that, I was given orders to come here, and beg, borrow or steal what I could. But I certainly don't want to steal, sir."

[MillietheWarrior]

The man placed a hand to his forehead, and closed his eyes. The woman sat in relative silence, her eyes flickering towards the fire as it crackled and burned and lapped teasingly at the fireplace. Shadows danced across their features as the peaceful silence stretched on, and then was broken.

"Supplies? I can only give you a little. A day's worth of food, enough bandages and morphine for thirteen or less wounded, and enough ammunition to last you through tomorrow. But that is all. I will send a man with you to help you carry what you need." He made a noise in the back of his throat, and glanced at the door. There was a click, and it opened, and a man stepped through it.

[MillietheWarrior]

The man was clean cut, his dark hair and dark eyes an odd contrast to this fair haired, blue eyed commander. But the woman paid his appearance little heed. To her, that entire 'racial superiority' issue, wasn't really an issue at all. She couldn't understand why it was such a huge deal. They put far too much emphasis on their idea of 'purity.'

Her own dark hair and dark eyes were proof enough of that. In fact, she quite enjoyed having them, for they set her apart from the other nurses, the blond haired, blue eyed type. The only reason she was where she was today, was because she had clawed her way to the top, honed her skills, and used her many connections.

It was good to have friends.

[MillietheWarrior]

The man saluted the commander, and then her as well. She was slightly taken aback. No one ever saluted her. She was a nurse, not a general. She was a woman, not a lieutenant colonel. She was unimportant, not like the average solider. So why then, did he do it? She was almost certain that if the commander had not been there to witness it, then it never would have happened. It was a mild form of respect, not for her, but for the commander's company. Like he was taking care to wipe his feet before he stepped on the expensive bear rug.
[15]