Chapter 5

Esther Neo rested her head on her hands and watched as a group of soldiers practiced their hand-to-hand combat. She could spot William among the other guards. He was clearly the most skilled one there, and the only one taking the training seriously. With dog-like alertness and a strong foothold, he threw off all the opponents charging at him.

“Potato!” Esther could hear the instructor’s roar, “Who told you to punch so hard? You’re supposed to train with your comrades, follow their pace!”

“But Sir, you told us to practice our defense and counterattack moves, and put all our strength in it,” William argued.

“You’ve got a lot of guts to talk back to me, soldier,” the instructor wagged a finger at the man, “Extra duty for you tonight!”

“Yes Sir, sorry Sir!” William answered the older man.

          

“Hey Esther, here you are!” Hensl the fish guard appeared, “What are you looking at?”

“The combat practice,” she replied, “William’s pretty good at it.”

“He is! I’ve always been envious of him. But he practices really hard. When I’m taking my naps, he’s always somewhere training on his own.”

“Why does he work so hard?”

“He’s a perfectionist, that’s what they do,” Hensl shrugged his shoulders, “Here’s your keys to your room by the way, nothing luxurious, a recruit’s room actually.” He handed her a single key with a metal piece attached to it.

“My room?” Esther was astonished.

“You told me you didn’t have anywhere to go, and you lost all your money, so I spoke to the administration and they agreed to let you stay here for the time being! Isn’t that great?” Hensl lifted both arms into the air.

“I… I can stay here?” she murmured, “but I’m not even of Food origin.”

“Aww come on! Don’t feel like a fish out of water. You’re one of us. Anyone can stay here. We even have Vegetable people. Willie’s a Vegetable you know, even though he doesn’t want to recognise his roots... See what I did there? Roots… I’m so good at this.”  

“Can I ask you something, Hensl?” Esther interrupted.

“Yea, go ahead,” the guard stopped laughing.

“Why is William so uptight about being a Potato?”

The guard let out a long breath. “Well, we have this hierarchy system. In the Vegetable Kingdom, if you belong to a family that’s an underground vegetable, you’re considered lowly. These people are dirt poor and always treated unfairly. Willie thought that by coming to the Food Nation, things would be different, but he couldn’t find a good job and had to become a soldier.”

“But it looks like he’s being looked down upon even in the military,” Esther exclaimed.

 Hensl looked at the girl with sad eyes. “I’m sorry to say that even in the Food Nation, this hierarchy system remains. But here, the Fungi are the rich ones, owning large conglomerates. The Truffles family are the wealthiest, with ties directly linking to the queen. Then there’s the people descending from the Fish lineages, me for example, who occupy every high rank in the army. If you’re not one of the Fishes, you get scorned at. To tell you the truth, I didn’t want to join the army, but my mum said that I had to fulfil my destiny.” 

“Now that’s cheesy,” Esther said in an undertone.

“Well, I better get back to my training,” Hensl announced as he stood up.

“Hey Hensl,” Esther rose to her feet, “what privileges does one get for being a soldier?”

“Free food and lodging?” he joked, “Apart from that, it’s the fastest way to rise up the social ladder. But if you’re thinking of a chance to gain power overnight, it’s the best job! The Queen graces our headquarters every once a week. If you can get into her good books, maybe she’ll let you work under her! New soldiers even get a two-day training camp in the castle to learn about royal security!”

“Did you say in the castle?”

“That’s right! Oh, talking about joining the army, we have a new bunch of recruits coming in tomorrow. It looks like we really need people.”

“Shishamo! What are you doing?” the combat training instructor screamed in his direction.

“Coming!” the guard-in-training replied.

“Move it!”

“I’m going as fast as a sailfish now!”

A chance to enter the castle? Esther had never felt more passionate about joining the army.

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The first rays of the morning sun finally arrived on earth. The First Change, as the locals call it, is the magical transition from night to dawn, signaling the start of a brand new day of possibilities and life. And at this magical time, a group of people were getting ready to begin their new journey…

“Soldiers!” A hirsute man hollered, “I am Eld Catfish, your squad leader. I’ll be in-charge of your welfare and progress. And in case you’re wondering, I’m not a fish, I’m a cat… that just looks like a fish.”

Esther tugged at the sleeves of her uniform. It was scratching her skin. Rows of recruits stood anxiously around her, each of them sizing up the authoritative figure in front of them and their future comrades.

“Ahem,” the squad leader continued, “Your two weeks of in-camp training will be nothing like a kindergarten field trip. Don’t ever think you’ll feel comfortable or clean or even happy, but I guarantee that if you follow instructions, you might just make it out of here with your sanity still attached.”

Esther was sure the recruit next to her was about to faint. She took a deep breath. I can do this, she thought. If it had been back at home, she was not sure she could pull through, but being a soldier in this magical world of food seemed less painful. For starters, everyone got to keep their hair.

“We’ll start with the introductions,” the catfish leader said after a long pause for the weak-minded to digest his words of demoralization, “You are all expected to know your comrades in your squad because you’ll be spending the next two weeks with them. You’ll be eating, sleeping, training and fighting alongside them,” he stopped for a brief moment, “When I stand in front of you, say your name and tell me why you want to be a soldier.”

Esther looked on as the squad leader went from recruit to recruit.

“Raymond Chickenfeet, Sir! I want to be a soldier because it has always been my dream to join the Royal Security Forces!”

“Pepper Spice, Sir! I want to be a soldier because I want to explore outside the gates of Food Nation!”

“Jan Mayonnaise, Sir! I want to be a soldier to fight the Vegetables!”

The squad leader came to a tall, broad-shouldered man, who as far as Esther could estimate, was in his early twenties.

“Clyde Bluefin, Sir!” Immediately there was a bout of chatter among the recruits. “I joined the army because I aspire to be like my uncle!”

“A Bluefin, eh?” the squad leader said, “I expect good things from you.” He gave the young soldier a pat on the back and moved on to the next recruit.

“So that guy’s uncle is the General?” “No doubt, they’re both Bluefins.” Esther could not help but overhear the hushed conversations behind her. “Yeah, I bet he’s going to get some special treatment.” Another person replied.

He’s from one of those Fish lineages Hensl was talking about, Esther thought. She was engrossed in the chit-chat around her and failed to notice the squad leader towering over her like a silent beast. “Excuse me?” a deep voice erupted.

“Erm, Esther Neon, er… Sir!” the girl stammered. She regretted not attending the pre-course for recruits. “I want to be a soldier to protect the people of this land.”

“Very ambitious,” the squad leader commented, “Let’s see if you can survive this two-week training camp first.” He continued on to the next recruit.

Esther let out the breath she had been holding.