Dark Rose

By order of the the king, Dark rose made its way to the border setting up camp outside of a small village called Vina. Due to its location, any northern army aiming to cross the border would be seen miles before they actually cross. With such visibility, civilians could escape quickly and the dark rose could form a defensive line using the buildings for cover.

"Myna, get your girls to set up camp in rings and semicircles while Lori and I greet the minister of the village." Roka ordered

"Yes, ma'am". Myna replied

The women not setting up camp were hunting for meat and gathering herbs and vegetables in the neighbouring forests. Roka and Lori walked to the entrance where the minister, Golan was waiting with his assistant.

" Welcome to Vina, if we had gotten word of your arrival we would have given you a warmer welcome." Golan said

"No, just being around your beautiful village is welcome enough." Roka replied with a smile.

Vina isn't a massive village but due to it's location in the south it has beautiful scenery and lush fruits and vegetables growing wildly in the surrounding areas.

"Now, as ordered by the king, the citizens were notified of a potential threat from the south so most women, children, the elderly and the sick were left on standby for a quick evacuation." he explained "The men and able bodied women are to assist you with anything you need, ask my assistant Near for anything you need."

Golan excused himself and left to continue his work as minister, leaving Near to take requests.

"Alright Near, I'll need a list of people that we can train for combat." Roka requested

Near nodded and walked back to start on the list.

"Captain, do you think that training them will help if we actually get attacked?" Lori asked

"No, but if we do get attacked and fail, the escaping villagers will need some protection until they reach another village." Roka replied

Lori went to oversee the building of the camp while Roka dashed into the forest to join the hunt. Every woman drafted in Dark rose is a skilled hunter and fighter making them the only force under the king's rule capable of performing missions with absolute stealth. The highest ranked members of the group are even called upon for assassinations under orders of the crown.

"Captain, I need some help tailing a deer." Staci said emerging from behind some shrubs.

"Before that, how have you been feeling lately." Roka asked

"I'm not sure." she replied "I'm happy that I could be chosen but if my mother being very religious found out about this, I'm not sure how she'd react."

Staci was still young and not as independent as the other girls, so her mother's opinion mattered heavily.

"I wish I could help you but this is a problem that only you can solve." Roka said "But you will have the support of me and everyone in Dark rose, we're a family."

Even though her problems were different from the other girls, none of them were unwilling to help resolve it or at least shoulder some of the burden. She hadn't realized it herself but her body had relaxed and as quickly as some of our best hunters, drew her bow and shot an arrow at a rabbit, killing it instantly.

"Good shot." Roka said happily

"Thanks, captain." she said with pride

Staci had finally taken the first step, no matter how small to accepting her abilities and her new place in the world.