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When Tommy said he was a man, he more meant that he could go to the shops alone and buy all the lollies he wanted.
He meant that he didn't have a bed time, and that staying up all night was something he could do without ridicule.
He meant that adventuring and exploring was something he did that needn't warrant complaints about his health, that, no, he didn't break a bone, nor did he gain a new small scar on his shin.
He meant that he could do things that adults would tell kids they could not.
Building houses? Check. Starting factions? Check. Claiming land and establishing a rights movement for your people that you gained through persuasion and promises of valuables? Check.
But war? He didn't want that. He had expected some conflict, and if Tommy was completely honest, some kind of fight would break out because of it, but nothing to this level would he have imagined.
He had lost friends. Many. Some hurt more than others, some were easy to dust off his shoulder.
He had lost his way. Asking himself what he was doing, and the cause for it all, seemed quite easy to the average person, but for him, resulted in turmoil and fear.
Turmoil, for he knew no longer what he was fighting for. What exactly which side he was apart of, what cause he was trying to help.
Fear, for he knew it wasn't the same cause he had fought for just mere months ago.
It had grown and festered into something much more than just a country and fighting for its rights.
It had turned into a bloodbath.
He walks down a dirt path, paranoia taking over as his eyes flick to all directions, weary of what could come — what could happen if he does not pay attention.
He sees the wooden chairs and the podium in the sky. He sees the arrows that are still embedded in the ground and buildings around him. He sees the charred grass beneath him, a small crunch under his shoes as he walks on top of the burnt patches.
He is overcasted by the Manberg flag that flies above behind him, all in its huge, taunting glory.
He stopped in his tracks, looking around the nation he once called home.
He feels something pull at his heart and tighten in his lungs.
He had never felt so homesick.