The sound of a sword falling to the ground made the heads of all the other warriors training turn.

"Hah. I beat you. Again." Lihua said with a smirk on her face.

Renjun shook his head, picking up the sword that was now on the ground. "Jiejie, you know I'm a terrible sword fighter. I don't even like fighting."

Lihua sighed as she returned the sword back into her sheath, the other warriors beginning to turn away.

"I know Renjun, but they won't let me train with the commanders." Lihua said to the boy. Renjun simply crossed his hands over his chest.

"Maybe if you stopped picking on me, that would help." Renjun told her before moving to pick up the book on the bench. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go back to studying medicine with Kun-ge."

"Study medicine." Lihua scoffed, kicking a rock in the dirt.

That's what you should do Lihua, if you want to be useful. Be a healer, not a warrior.

That is what her father, the great General of the Amber Kingdom, always said.

Ladies shouldn't fight. They should serve their family. That is how they honour the family.

Lihua moved towards where the rock had landed, kicking it again. This time though, before it landed far it was stopped by a foot.

Lihua's eyes followed the foot up to meet a pair of eyes. "Fooling around again?" It was the Emperor's son, the Prince of the Amber Kingdom.

It was Jeong Jaehyun.

Lihua crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "Like you're doing anything productive."

"Actually, I was." Jaehyun said, patting the sword on his belt. "Training with commanders is hard work."

Lihua gritted her teeth. Jaehyun knew exactly how to press her buttons.

That's what comes with growing up together.

Like many of the current commanders, Lihua grew up in the Amber Kingdom palace. For most, their parents were great commanders. The other commanders came to the palace through training at the top warrior training facility in the kingdom, location right outside the palace. Lihua had trained with many of the commanders at the facility, but Jaehyun and Winwin, she's been with them since the three could barely walk.

"I hate you." Lihua said as she walked past Jaehyun, purposely shoving his shoulder with hers.

Lihua could hear the male chuckling as she entered the palace gates, only angering her more.

...

"That's all for my report today." Winwin announced before sitting back down again.

Winwin was in a room full of the Warrior Commanders, all sitting around the table in the middle of the meeting room. At the head sat the man to brought him up, teaching Winwin every skill he knew, General Zhang.

Each commander had given their reports from each of their squadrons. Being the commander of the palace guards, Winwin presented his report last.

"Thank you Winwin." General Zhang said. "That's it for today, you may all leave now."

The commanders were beginning to pack up the doors barged open. Winwin glanced over to see that it was the General's daughter, Lihua.

Once the other commanders saw the girl, they all began exchanging looks. Here we go again.

"Baba, I want to talk to you." Lihua said, her eyes dark with intent.

General Zhang let out a deep sigh. "Lihua, how many times do I have to tell you-"

"Ladies cannot be commanders." Lihua said, finishing her father's sentence. "Why not?"

"Because you're born weaker." Yuta, one of the commanders and Winwin's best friend, said, poking Lihua's arm. Winwin could tell that the girl was trying her best to stay put but failed as she took a small step back, proving Yuta's point.

Winwin could tell that Lihua wasn't happy with what Yuta did as she immediately brought her fist up, about to punch Yuta in the face.

The General was faster though, grabbing his daughters wrist before any contact could be made.

"Lihua, drop it. We're not changing the rules." The General said firmly.

Lihua threw her arm down, making her father release his grip on her.

"It's a stupid rule." Lihua told them all before turning around, stomping out of the room.

"Tsk, why does she feel the need to interrupt our meetings every single month?" Yuta asked to no one in particular.

"She just going to keep at it until we change the rule." Kun pointed out.

"And that's not going to happen anytime soon." General Zhang told them. "Now I believe you all have places to be."

The commanders all nodded, quickly filing out. Winwin was about to leave as well when he was called back by the General.

"Clear your schedule for tonight." General Zhang told him.

"Tonight?" Winwin asked. General Zhang nodded.

"We're meeting with the Emperor and the Prince." General Zhang said before walking past him.

"Oooo, look at you." Yuta teased, putting an arm over Winwin's shoulder with a bright smile on his face. Winwin rolled his eyes, tossing Yuta's arms off.

"You should go train your warriors. Don't want them embarrassing you again." Winwin said to his friend as he started to head off as well.

Winwin was referring to the monthly Warrior Games, where the squadrons would send their warriors to compete against each other to see who the top squadron was. Winwin's squadron has been holding the title for about a year now while Yuta's was known to be middle tier.

"Yah, I'll make sure my warriors beat yours during the games next weekend!" Yuta yelled out, making Winwin smile as he walked down the halls.

...

"Stupid rules." Lihua muttered as she twirled around her fighting stick, going through the sequence she had learned while watching her father teach Winwin as a child.

"Why can't ladies be commanders? I'm stronger than all the other warriors in this squadron, anyways."

Lihua turned as she twirled the stick above her head, stopping in her fighting stance. She took a deep breath before starting her sequence again, just to feel someone grab onto her stick halfway through, making her come face to face with her commander.

"You're not transferring your weight enough." Winwin told Lihua, before releasing his hold on her stick. Lihua immediately lost balance, stumbling forward. Winwin instinctively grabbed onto the girl to support her, but Lihua pushed his hand off the second she was balanced again.

"I would transfer it better if I had a real teacher." Lihua spat out. Winwin simply crossed his arms over his chest.

"You do. Right here." Winwin told her. Lihua rolled her eyes.

"We grew up together, you idiot." Lihua said, poking the male's shoulder with her stick. "Trained together too. Hard to learn from you when I watched you poop your pants and get beat by the older warriors the first day of training."

Winwin's face remained unchanged as he grabbed her stick, twisting it so that Lihua was pulled towards him. He caught her with his arm around her waist to support her, their faces inches apart.

"Doesn't change the fact that I know more than you." Winwin whispered to her.

Lihua simply smirked, leaning forward so that their foreheads were touching. "Oh yeah?"

Suddenly, Winwin was thrown back against the stone wall by an invisible force, landing on his behind. He rubbed his back, staring at the girl that caused it.

Chi.

Lihua wore a satisfied grin on her face until Winwin stuck his hand out, doing the same thing to her with his own chi.

The two quickly got back up, about to go at each other with their powers when they were both frozen in place but another force. They turned their heads to see General Zhang standing there.

"Enough." General Zhang, putting his arms down to release both of them. "I didn't teach either of you to fight with each other."

"He started it." "She started it." Lihua and Winwin said at the same time. General Zhang remained unfazed.

"I don't care." General Zhang said. "Winwin, we should head to our meeting now. And you."

Lihua gulped as her father looked at her right in the eyes. "Taeil is waiting for you."

And with that, General Zhang left, Winwin trailing behind him, leaving Lihua alone on the training grounds.

———————————————————————————

Huang Renjun
- Warrior under Winwin's squadron
- Training to be a medical warrior under Kun

Jung Jaehyun
- Prince of the Amber Kingdom
- Grew up alongside Lihua and Winwin
- Trains in combat along with the Warrior Commanders

Nakamoto Yuta
- Family comes from the neighbouring kingdom, but he came to the Amber Kingdom because he heard that the strongest warriors are there
- Warrior Commander of Border Guards
- Winwin's best friend

Moon Taeil
- Amber Kingdom's best doctor
- Teaches Lihua the medical arts
- Lives in the palace