Aedona and Pyotr had shown up at a military base at about noon.

     "Are you excited?" Pyotr began to ask his younger sister.

    "Excited?" Aedona began, confused.

    "Yeah… you know…" Pyotr trailed off.

     Donnie raised a red eyebrow. "Excited? For a war?"

     "Da…" Pyotr trailed off again. "I know, I know. It sounds bad, I get it." A pause ensued. "But, it's a great war, Donnie!"

     "'Great War' or not, Pyotr… People are still gonna die," Donnie told him. "That's nothing to be excited about."

    Pyotr said nothing.

   There was silence.

   And then, finally, from Pyotr, "Well, I hope we find this Warmonger soon."

    Aedona wanted to nod, but she didn't.

   "I wanna hunt him for sport… like I said before," Pyotr began. "And I know you… you wanna marry him…"

   Aedona's cheeks flushed red. "Nyet! Nyet! I don't!"

   Pyotr laughed a little. "I know you have a big, fat crush on Kryvichyn. You've had it since you first found out about him when you were six." He paused for a moment. "But don't worry… I'll only kill him after you two have a couple of kids… I'll be considerate." Pyotr flashed a shit-eating grin.

    Aedona elbowed her brother in the stomach and Pyotr responded with an 'oof' noise.

    Pyotr pulled a face for a moment and then relaxed. "How about this…" Pyotr began.

    Donnie was almost scared to hear her older brother's proposal. "How about what?"

    "How about I go find Kryvichyn… seek him out," Pyotr began to suggest.

     Donnie's heart fluttered a bit. "Oh no…" she began.

    "I'll tell him you have a crush on him. I'll be your wing man. You two will be married with a child on the way in no time." Once again, the same shit-eating grin was plastered across Pyotr's face.

    And once again, Donnie elbowed her brother in the gut.

    "Okay! Okay! I won't be your wing man! I'll let your relationship with the Warmonger sink," Pyotr said in response.

    Aedona rolled her eyes as Pyotr went off to join the ranks of the other soldiers.

─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

     As rain poured down outside the medical tent, Aedona sat, sketching.

     All the new recruits—-including Pyotr—-were busy doing drills on the base.

    Pyotr had recently made friends with another recruit named Epifan—-he had brought Epifan to meet Aedona a couple of days ago.

     Aedona brushed the pencil against the page—-she had been sketching the Warmonger.

    "Whatcha drawing there?" A voice called out behind Aedona. "It's good."

     Aedona slammed her book shut. She looked over to the person who had been talking to her.

     There stood a woman with curly, auburn hair and brown eyes.

      Donnie felt her heart rate spike.

      "You're new, right?" The woman began. "I'm Yulia Ivanova…" She introduced herself. She held her hand out for Donnie to shake.

      Aedona hesitated for a couple of seconds before shaking Yulia's hand. "Aedona Stavayeva…"

      Yulia smiled at the other girl. "It's nice to meet you, Aedona."

─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

     For a moment, Aedona's eyes lingered on Kryvichyn and they wouldn't move off her. Aedona's eyes traced out every single detail of the Warmonger's face—-namely the scar located on the right side of her face—-right on the cheekbone.

       It Donnie forever to feel like she could bring herself to speak. Her face felt like it was on fire. "What happened?" Donnie rubbed her head, pulling herself up into a sitting position. "Last I remember, I was being tortured by Sergeant Sauerkraut…for information I didn't even have."

     The Warmonger inhaled. "Roman over here," Kryvichyn tilted her head in the direction of her friend.

      Roman held a hand up as if he was greeting Aedona.

    "...got you out of your binds and led you to where you'd meet up with me," Kryvichyn began to explain. "You passed out. Then, Corporal Wiener Schnitzel sicked his men on us."

     "They didn't listen to me," Roman began to say, nearing the two even more so. "I told them that they really didn't wanna mess with us. We're over a century old. We know what to do."

     Aedona looked around. It made her feel somewhat peaceful inside to see nature again. She cleared her throat, her gaze falling back upon Kryvichyn. "Um…" She started.

     This got the Warmonger's attention. "Da?"

     "Are you really the Warmonger? Are you Amvrosiy Kryvichyn?" Aedona questioned, curiously, her heart skipping a beat.

      Kryvichyn groaned, sounding somewhat annoyed. She exhaled. "Da. I am the Warmonger… But, Amvrosiy? That name means nothing to me." She swallowed. "He was a naïve boy who thought he could win any battle."

     "Now she's a glorious warrior who knows the way of strife and bloodshed," Roman pitched in.

      She, Aedona mentally made a note of. She inhaled. "What do I call you if you don't go by Amvrosiy anymore? The Warmonger? Madame Kryvichyn?"

       Kryvichyn exhaled, sounding a little amused as she did. "Call me Bear."