[Red XIV]

Vya walked, slowly, across the scorching sands, past the men working, training, and eating. She entered the large mess hall tent. Men sat at old, long, wooden tables, eating away at old bread and drinking cold soup. Vestor was eating, as well. The soldiers looked up and noticed her. The Outlaws stood and gave their salutes. Vya gestured for them to lower their hands.

"Settle, my friends." Vya said, loudly, to her troops. "Today, we prepare ourselves for the day of our victory!" Vya gave the Outlaw salute and shouted. The soldiers did the same, standing up,

"Yes, Ma'am!" the soldiers cried in unison. Vya gestured for them to sit back down.

"Settle, friends!" she shouted, over the muttering of the soldiers. "The day wil come soon! However, we must train!" Some of the soldiers at the tables nodded and a few grunted.

"We are stong enough to take the Arakan Empire on now!" a tall, bald Outlaw yelled, standing up and shouting. Vestor, in the back of the room, stood up angrily.

"Don't you defy the Captain!" Vestor shouted at the man. The bald man turned to Vestor, with an angry glare.

"You wretch! Do you now want vengeance? We can take it! This training is useless!" the bald man shouted, shaking a fist at Vestor. Vestor was furious. He almost jumped out of his seat and attacked the man, if not for the two Outlaws next to him, that held him back.

"SILENCE!" Vya shouted, anger in her eyes. "We train! Those who think that we can defeat the Empire now, are fools! Do you not know of what has happened to Rachek's troops? His troops were utterly defeated and all survivors were quartered! I will not have that happen to us! The Panthers!"
The soldiers settled down, the bald man and Vestor sitting back down, ashamed of their actions. Vya was a powerful leader when she needed to be.

"We are sorry!" one of the Outlaws cried out. "We train...until the day!" The group grunted in unison, again. Vya nodded.

"Now, for today, we will try raiding tests in the mountains. I will have you all meet in the Meeting Tent, in the center of camp, at noon! Be ready!" Vya told the troops. "Continue!" The Outlaws nodded, and went back to their meals, chatting amongst themselves. Vya left the tent.

Outside, as she prepared to take a walk to the well, to get a flask, a runner ran up to her. Vya turned to the exhausted man.

"Yes? What is it?" she asked, with a look of urgence in her eyes. Whatever it was, it seemed serious.

"Well, ma'am... The Outlaw Camp, outside Argoshe was destroyed...completely!" the man said, weakly, panting. Vya was shocked. She handed him a flask. The man drank what was left in one gulp.

"Who? WHO!" Vya cried. The man nodded, wiping the water from his face and handing her the flask back.

"It was a man from Argoshe! One man!" he told her. Vya was shocked. She clenched her hands into fists. Yeis was there! Yeis was one of Regor's most trusted and resourceful generals. How could one man take out his platoons.

"Prepare my horse! I leave for Argoshe at once!" Vya shouted, flames in her eyes. The runner nodded and ran off to the stables. Vya was furious.

"One man?!?" Vya thought to herself, as she walked to her tent, to gather her supplies. "I will kill whoever did this! I will make sure his bloody corpse will rot in the deepest depths of the underworld!"