The White King

East

Like a well oiled machine, Nua Maidin rose from his bed at... Noon.

To be fair, that was the time he was supposed to get up since he had a late shift at the border watch.

And he was a cat... While he required less sleep than the actual animal, he needed a bit more than the six hours normally offered in the military.

Fortunately, his skills allows him to slip an additional three in there without any serious gripes with management.

After completing a brief morning routine consisting of making his bed, doing a onceover of his hair, and essentially inhaling a rather stuffed omelet, Nua steps out of the barracks he was assigned with a smile.

The forest was calming, even if it was partially cleared away for the encampment, and the sound of birds greeted the approaching afternoon.

Paradise.

Except nothing so pleasant lasts for very long...

"Enjoying the weather, Split?"

Nua turns to face the speaker, completely unphased by the insult. When someone says something enough, it loses it's impact.

"Fur and eye color hybridization is natural, Ger," he explains, gesturing to the part between black and orange hair on his head, the line directly between his feline ears.

Ger rolls his eyes at him in the universal body language of sarcasm. "Of course it is, fair Maidin."

"You're not very creative with your insults," Nua states with a sigh. He wasn't wrong, though. Ger was a good soldier, but his wit was rather lacking, even for a military jock.

Turning to leave, Ger says some parting words. "Commander Cudgel would like to see you."

Without so much as a thanks for the notice- not that either side really expected it at this point- Nua vanishes in a gust of wind trailing towards the command tent.

It wasn't a particularly long distance, but Nua still covered it in what was probably record time. Cudgel never did anything, so being called up meant one of two things.

Cudgel had actually died and this was just a ruse to get him there.

Or Cudgel had found information on Octanus, the creator of the Solar Spire.

Despite protocol, something both Cudgel and Nua despised, he just walks directly into the expansive room...

To find him not dead.

Whew.

"You called, sir?"

"Yes," Cudgel answers in his typical overly deep voice. It was a running gag here that everyone of authority spoke like that on purpose.

His second set of words were less of a joke.

"Octanus is on the move towards Lleterof."

Nua just blinks at him, giving his commander a moment to clarify, though he doesn't.

"Do I have permission to go?" Nua asks tentatively. It would be odd for him to bring it up if he didn't, but it was desertion to leave without verbal confirmation.

"Go ahead," he says with a nod.

Before Cudgel's eyes, Nua actually vanishes in a burst of orange magic.

Then, after just a few seconds, the sound of a motorcycle revving before driving off resounds throughout the encampment.

May luck be with you, Nua, Cudgel prays as the sound of the vehicle escapes his own massive hearing range. Perhaps fortune too.