Musings on a Warrior

I wonder on the warrior. The realities and illusions that this simple word conjures. 

What is a warrior? 

A pawn comes to mind, a frail and useful thing to be exhausted before tossing aside. It's value gone once expanded with only the hollow promise of it's former glory to lure others into schemes and machinations for personal gain. 

Such a pitiful and wasted road in hindsight. Still, I wonder.

A defender of purpose and hallowed things comes to mind as well. Those willing to pay the price of pain. Gamblers before the reaper of souls, aiming for salvation and the promise of a better life even as they inevitably chip away at their own. Not for themselves, they whisper, but for others. For those, they leave behind, for those yet to come. For those far off, away from the pain, they pay.

Still, I wonder.

A hopeful killer perhaps. A slow death of the spirit by their own hands in the name of duty. Losing more than traditional innocence, rather murdering it before the altar of conflict. An appetizer for the main course of their spirit that follows. With the sweet side of sanity. 

Still, I wonder.

What waits for them in the end. For all that, they have done and will do in the name of duty and honor. The trinkets that are given in exchange for all that was paid. A warrior is a glorious and wretched thing. Self sacrificing with nothing given or even asked for. 

Pity not for the warrior I think. Pity for all others, lacking the conviction and resolution to be a warrior. Ever wondered yet elusively truly understood. The warrior endures, no matter the field it seems.

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That's it for this one. Just some more of my ramblings I felt the need to put out on paper so to speak.