[ ❝ -- ＷＡＲ， ＷＡＲ， ＷＡＲ ]

[veridian]

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- ☾ prologue | chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4 | chapter 5 | meet the character | credits + answer ☽
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[veridian]

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My mother always said, "War is not as glorious as it is made out to be," but I never listened to her. The concept of war was simply a game to me. There were two sides, and only one winner. How young and naive I once was.

The Cyver war was the biggest war of our time. At first it began with a blood feud between the Nero family and the Yan family, the two most powerful lineages of our planet. The Nero house controlled the northern region of Ochone, and the Yan house controlled the southern region of Ochone. Eventually, the conflict between the two clans extended out to the rest of the planet, turning what was a clash between two families into a world war. My mother and I resided in the northern districts of Ochone, so we were under the rule of the Nero. They were influential and rich, call me prejudiced but to me they had the upper hand in the war. We had resources, promises and most importantly a large quantity of people willing to fight for the Nero, which the Yan could only dream of.

Many of our people were enrolling as soldiers to serve in the war, neighbours, friends, people whom we had known for years, family. Many never came back. Mother said that they had left behind their old life for a better life. Those that did return, well, they were given shiny medals. Trophies. Wings. Wings were a big honor in our planet; a sign that you had served the war, been the best of the best. The people who came back were called 'gli angeli', meaning 'The Angels'.

The first time I saw an Angel, I was stunned. Wings that stretched out, gently caressing the stars and the sky. Shimmering in light that folded around the person. They were big wings, bigger than I could have ever imagined, and they seemed surreal, something not quite of our world, or rather something out of a dream. I was too busy staring at them, entranced by the curves of the wings, to notice the strained face of the soldier, trembling lips and damp eyes, clenched fist lay shaking by their side. As they walked, upon fresh rose petals strewn on the floor, for all of Nero's territory to see and cheer,

I remember, pointing toward them, and I said

"Mother! When I grow up, I want to be like this man. I want to be a soldier."

[veridian]

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My name is Jaro Rayelin and I'm waiting for my results.

What results? I'm getting to it, hush. Last week, I enrolled to be in Nero's army. I've trained for this moment with the head Angel, Yael, along with a thousand more students, but I am sure I will be a soldier. Being a soldier means that your physical abilities will have to be your most standing factor. You will have to be strong, agile, swift. Being a soldier means that you must be able to kill a man without mercy. There are many of our people going for this position this year, and that is the usual. Nero cannot be picky; they will need as many people out on the battlefield as they can get.

I hear a ring, and a call of my name. There is a rush to get to the front of the line, filling slowly with many others just like me. As I reach the front office, the person there gives me a tight smile, which I must politely return, along with an envelope with my name embroidered on it, glimmering golden. I whisper to myself soldier, soldier, soldier, and with a heavy breath I open my envelope.

Name: Karo Rayelin
DOB: 23/06/21xx
Role: Healer

A healer. Everything that I have worked up to has been stripped from me. It's all I can do to stifle a gasp, a burning sensation growing behind my eyes. I look up, feeling a sense of betrayal, at the office, when a streak of silver blurs past me. "Excuse me," the sterling smudge says, confusion in his tone and wavering on his words, "I think there's been a mistake. My name is Karo Rayelin, and I signed up for the role of healer, not a soldier." he took a long stabbing breath, "Please."

The person at the office simply looks back with a cool gaze, irritation lacing his words. "The Nero does not make mistakes."

Gulping, I stared back at the man, holding a letter, and with a jolt I realised that the letter that he was holding was my letter. I glance back to the name on the message I received. Karo. With a K. Not Jaro. Not my name. Bitterness fueled me. The Nero makes no mistakes. The Nero made no mistakes. The Nero will make no mistakes. The man called Karo slumped back with a disappointed smile, and when I tapped him lightly on his shoulder, making him twist around abnormally fast. He was wide-eyed and slightly quivering. With fear or with worry? I explained our problem, the anger easily traced in my movements and words. He looked at me sadly.

My name is Jaro Rayelin and I am a healer.

[veridian]

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The man's name was Karo Rayelin, and he was to take my role and I his. Karo Rayelin was a strange man; there was an innocence he seemed to have had that others lacked. He was barely a man, just a boy playing war. Fair-haired and always equipped with a smile full of wonder. A mouth that ticked up whenever he gave a small grin. He had the most peculiar eyes, simple brown, but eyes that made your gaze linger on his face, eyes that could look perfect on him but not on anybody else. There was a sense of earthliness around him, something kind and compassionate within him. He made you feel safe. He made you feel at home.

We had a good laugh about the fact that our roles were swapped, but behind my laugh was irritation and resent.

As soon as we had received our letter announcing our role, we were to be partnered up with another, someone who was the opposite of what you were. A soldier and his healer. Karo and I decided to unite; we had found it rather amusing yet melancholy that we had the opposite role of what we had enrolled for. It was not to break our spirits however, and for the next week we spent our time guiding each other on what to do.

A week was not nearly enough. It went by in a flash, and by the time Karo had learnt how to load a gun & I how to use my healing equipment, our means for travel to the battlefield was ready. How could somebody ever learn to kill a man? It would take a merciless soul, somebody who had no passion, and Karo was the opposite of that. As we boarded the aircraft, I felt his hand shifting to mine for encouragement and protection. I was ready to give the latter, and I held his hand back. It was warm yet it gave me shivers.

I don't remember much about our first night in battle. We had arrived, hidden in the shadow of the moon, being introduced to our place of habitation, for the next year or more. The entire site was cleverly veiled by the solid holographic shield, a dome that spread across our entire camp, that would protect us and maintain peace among the

There were a wide variety of sounds.Frightening booms could be heard in the distance, but the silence was much worse. It made my skin prickle and mind crazy, almost craving for another sound, any sound at all. There was not much to reminisce about the place. I only remember one night, when the sky was full of stars, Karo and I had managed to find a hole in the dome, and sneaked out under the watch of Nero's soldiers into a deserted space, him holding my hand and leading me up to a hill, surrounded by what was left of gaunt, bony trees.

He smiled at the night sky, looking so serene and peaceful for a man who was going to go to war, and he said,

"The sky is so beautiful tonight, Jaro." and he seemed to really mean it.

[veridian]

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There was nothing chaotic about this war, and perhaps it was that truth that scared me the most.

There was the booming pandemonium where a bomb would strike, and the cries of dying men now and then, but it was the silence that truly scared me. There was a ringing in the ear, the feeling of a blanket smothering you. There was nothing scarier than the silence. It was the sound of thought and carefully executed surprises. It was supposed to be a symbol of peace, but out on this battlefield there was nothing but the sounds of war. Anger. Bloodlust. Pain.

Karo was shaking the moment we took our first step upon blood stained dirt. Pushing up against me like a child to his mother, I could feel the sharp rise and fall of his chest, and the hammering of his heart was vibrating against me, betraying his feelings. His eyes were shielded, and he was trying ever so hard to conceal the fact that he was terrified; but I whispered smoothly to him, "It will be alright." and as he looked at me through a child's eyes, not a man's, his wall that he had built up slipped, all I could see was the trust and faith in Karo Rayelin's eyes.

There was nothing fancy, nothing to sugar coat about the Cyver war. Our men rose, and they fell. The days slowly ebbed into weeks, the weeks into months. There was danger lurking around everywhere, and although Karo was mainly kept out of the war for his inexperience - the few Angels returned to war had been informed of our circumstances, although I realize with slight spite they did not question the orders from the Nero, first feeling anger at them for not going against that mistake and sparing me all this trouble, then feeling guilt and shame for why had I not gone against Nero either? - I still had a feeling of dire ripping the bottom of my mind apart. Karo, so full of hope and fear at the same time. Karo, who in some senses almost the little brother I had never been able to have. I would do anything for this boy, and I found that thought exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

It was only some months before there would be a carefully enveloped letter awaiting for me, writing embroidered in gold letters upon cream paper. It was a delicate thing, and I could not believe that such beauty could hold such torment.

Dear Mr Jaro Rayelin,
xxxxxxxIt is with great sadness that we must inform you that . . .

My mother had departed to our war-stricken world; an illness had taken her in her sleep. She had been in such worry for me that her body was frail and vulnerable, and like a crow to a worm the sickness which we called the "Adox Fever" had taken hold of my mother and she had died.

The skeletal trees shielding us laughed at me, covered in ashes, dirt, and crusted blood.

[veridian]

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Karo did not listen to me, he trusted my words too much, that I would be there to protect him, be by him, that he was safe.

Night was beginning to fall. I was sitting around, carelessly, waiting for nothing. It was silent, with only the singing of the fireflies to accompany a eerie humming close to us. My head was swarming, a feeling of dread buried deep in my guts. Karo was playing by the skeletal trees near the hill, where he it would be hard to aim through without light. I laughed to myself. It was only a week to go. A week. Until we could return home. I walked up the path, following the unearthly singing, wading through cold and soft grass, where Karo was. He smiled at me, swarmed by fireflies, and stood up, still singing, to wave to me. I waved back, a smile breaking through my lips.

Bang.

Karo fell, creepily illuminated by the glow of the fireflies. In shock, staring. Walking. I fell to the ground, near him. Not daring to speak, not trusting myself. I held his hand, kneeling over him, but not close enough so that he couldn't breath. Red liquid was seeping up from his abdomen, and I did not really believe it was blood. His exquisite face was paler than ever, and he smiled up at me. I could have run, gotten my equipment and saved him, but I was terrified by the time I came back he would have left me. I did not have the equipment to save him. I could not save him. His face was covered in a mask of cold sweat, his ivory hair plastered upon his face. Eyes floating from my face to the sky, using his last breath, he whispered.

"The sky is so beautiful tonight, Jaro." and as he closed his eyes, as if only going to sleep, I knew I was truly alone.

[veridian]

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That night, I screamed, I thrashed, I wept. For Karo.

A week went by, but it was so slow without Karo that I would wait for him to come back, waiting for what seemed like hours, days, years, and every ten minutes my fellow soldiers would often have to check on me to make sure I did not claim my own life.

The world was so cruel. I cursed the name of every god I knew, and as I quietened down I realised one thing. I could not have wings, if I was only a healer. The thought pained me, but also brought shame and guilt into my mind. I had lost Karo, and the only thing in my mind was whether or not I could have been an Angel. It feels so distant, so long since the only reason I went to war was because of some silly pair of wings. Then it hit me; If I could be mistaken for Karo before, I could be mistaken for Karo now. I would go home, a hero, a war hero, in the name of Karo Rayelin. I did.

My return was celebrated, by people whom we did not know. Karo Rayelin did not have any family, nor friends. I stifled a sob escaping from my throat, as I realised that this must have been the only reason why he went to war. Why he risked his own life as soldier instead of backing down. Why he looked at me with a sense of adoration and belonging.

Wings were to be given to me, and it was swift and painful. Although the pain was no more intense than the hollow gap of emotions about Karo's leaving. I was then to be paraded across the streets of Ochone, to be announced a hero of war, to be cheered on by people that do not know that we had been through hell and back. As I calmly walked around the road, a regal expression plastered upon my face, arm slightly bloodied from hours of punching concrete, sorrow finally fighting it's way across my heart,

I heard

"Mother! When I grow up, I want to be like this man. I want to be a soldier."

[veridian]

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ＣＨＡＲＡＣＴＥＲ ＩＮＦＯＲＭＡＴＩＯＮ

Username: qpplepie
Name: Jaro Rayelin
Gender: Male speciman

Jaro Rayelin, later to be named Karo Rayelin, is considered to be a war hero. He "borrows" Karo's, his close friend in the war, identity as an attempt to carve a great honour in his name. When he was young, he adored the idea of being an Angel, nothing else would matter to him. He later learns that war is not a simple game, but rather complicated, and can get your emotions and use them against you.

Rayelin's mother does not appear in a majority of the story, it is supposed that she died of illness during the war, and Rayelin's father is presumed to be dead. Jaro is expected to be strong in his place. Little is known about his childhood, except for the one parade featuring Alexei Romanati, the Angel paraded and cheered for his attributions to the war, where Jaro realises that he wants to be one of them, an Angel.

Jaro Rayelin is a man capable of murder. He feels as if he has nothing to lose. He is still a person, however, and although the war has certainly changed him, deep down he is a frightened little boy of the world around him. Jaro has built many walls, keeping out people's sympathy and offers of friendship. Losing Karo has made him feel isolated from the rest of the world.

[veridian]

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ＣＲＥＤＩＴ

Why do you want this kalon?
I definitely I deserve it as much as everyone else. As I wrote this story, I fell in love with the concept I made up for him. I like how he never truly shows emotion except to only a few chosen people whom he loves, building up walls that few can penetrate. After Karo's death, theres only an empty shell of what he used to be; everyone he loves has gone, which I find sort of sad. The kalon itself looks absolutely wonderful and majestic! I'm a huge sucker for space and galaxy designs whew, and if I'm being honest I absolutely adore the idea of robotic wings. I'd just love to say good luck to everyone participating! I love all the entries, and whoever gets this dude will be such a lucky person <3

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hecccc its been such a loNG 4 WEEKS I was practically screaming the entire time I wrote this story,, smh

First, I would LOVE to thank Petcharat for this wonderful opportunity to win this kalon. I think it's amazing that you would give so much to a community and not really expect anything in return. That's amazing, dude, and it deserves respect. <3

Secondly, thanks to cosmos.; for being there for about 2 days of the entire competition. Means a lot, you know. You may not believe it, but your contribution in art for this is greatly appreciated, so thank you lovely pal :)

Lastly, thank you so much to the discord, for being there. I honestly think I would have given up if your kind words had not kept me going. You were there when I could not believe in myself, or when I began to feel down, and so thank you. <3

[veridian]

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ＡＲＴ


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