The Knight and the Unicorn Princess

"ATTEN-TION!" Instinctively I, and many other's bodies stand to full height. We stood straight as could be while keeping a stoic expression on our faces. As General Zerxies marches past a few guards who protected their cells, he paused once he reached my cell, it was empty. He pointed to it and looked back at the scientists who had a long stretcher. Unfortunately I could only see a large white body on top of it, and the general caught my attention. "Trooper Kane?" He asked in his deep and old voice. He was at least seventy-one years old, and sported a gray beard. But despite his age, he was stronger, much stronger than myself and many others, and stood a good three inches over my own five-nine height.

I saluted him, dropping my auto-rifle to my side while my right hand shoots up to my eye. He salutes back and drops his so I could drop  mine. "Yes sir?!" I call out with up-most respect for him. He personally trained my squad and helped me find a place to live for my two-person family. My daughter and myself. There wasn't a thing I wouldn't do for this man except commit sexual acts with him. Zerxies was like a father to me, he never stopped pushing me to do my best.

While the scientists moved the white body inside the cell, past the metal door that was the only entrance and exit, Zerxies gave me a task. "This comes from all the way to the top. You are to guard this creature while we have our best do a series of tests on it. Watch it at all times, like it is the very cure to cancer. Do you understand your orders?"

"Sir, yes sir!" I informed him. Was this thing dangerous? Nothing is ever really sent over to this end of the facility, not that I was offended or anything. More confused really, but it wasn't my place to ask questions. I was trained to use my gun with the very best skill in my class. My razor sharp eyes finally are able to take a look at the creature inside the cell. It had a solid white coat and a three toned hair and tail, was it mane? Anyways, it had a large sun mark on its tail end. More importantly I suppose were its pair of wings on its back and a large eight or ten inch horn.

Zerxies nodded and exited the hall with the scientists without a single other word. Picking my gun back up in my hand, I look straight forward again. My job was to stand and "look pretty" or "awesome" as my daughter says. The hall I and seven others stood in was quiet again. The cells the others guarded were humans rather than the horse or unicorn thing that I was supposed to guard. The hall was a dull silver-blue color with lighter blue lights that illuminated the rooms and hall with each cell alternating sides so that each of us could stare straight into each cell and watch the 'prisoners' at all times.

Eventually it seems the drugs they used on the unicorn thing wore off and it slowly came to. It struggled to stand up on all fours and looked around itself. It panicked by the looks of it because it looked around with wide purple colored eyes. Its eyes looked almost like human eyes, with the white of the eye surrounding the iris which surrounded the pupil. Although its eyes were much larger than a regular horse or even a human for that matter so it must of had really good sight. It fell over when it tried to move more than a few steps from where it woke up.

I fixed my position so I could get blood flowing back in my legs, which seemed to catch the attention of the unicorn thing. It looked over to where I stood behind the eight inch, fiber glass barrier erected between us, there was also another ten feet between the glass and myself. I saw tears rolling gently down its muzzle. I couldn't hear it while it was inside of its cell, but by the looks of it, it was gasping for breath while it remained crying. My heart pitied it but my brain overruled my heart. My job was on the line, and ultimately my daughter. I was being paid to guard, not pity it unfortunately...

Over the span of a half-hour it cries to itself and sleeps at the far end of the room so it was far from the door. A trio of scientists enter and leave after taking a few notes, but don't return for the remainder of the day. Once my twelve hour shift ends, I wonder over to the lockers roughly on the south end where the barracks were located. The barracks was were we stored many of our personal gear like a few things, but more importantly for me, its where my daughter and I lived. It was only us that was a special case since I had no one else to watch over her, and as long as she remained out of the way and stayed far away from the section where I guarded, she was able to roam freely.

Once I close my locker I hear someone walk over to me from my right. I turn my head over to Amanda Green.

"Quite the task you got there hubby." Amanda was at least twice my age, and I was only 26, making her 52. Yet despite her age like Zerxies, she looked quite healthy and had beautiful light blond hair. Her soft and unusual brown colored eyes stared at me. I nod and she gives a chuckle. "I was going to go to that old drive in theater in town later with my husband and we got a pair of extra tickets. Wanna join us?"

I smile gently, but I couldn't join her. "Sorry Amy, my daughter wanted to have some time for ourselves at the Pizza Out place."

She smiles back and pats my shoulder. "Such a nice young man you are." She says then leaves. Eventually I was able to finish hanging my armor up over my locker and walk over to the barracks at an easy-ish pace. I wasn't exactly in a hurry, but I also didn't want to be all stuck up and stuff when I would return to my daughter.

I step through the door to our small little abode for all of a peaceful two seconds before I'm rammed to the floor by a fifty-four pound little girl. "DADDY~!!!" She cheers happily at me, smiling at me while I'm still trying to catch my breath.

"Now there Alexia, you know you're supposed to give me a minute or two to sit down." I sit up with her now sitting on my lap. She looks sad for a second and to cheer her up I hug her tightly, causing her to giggle madly. "But it's okay!"

"Yay!" She cheers. Even though she was a very smart seven-year-old, she was still a little kid. "Can we draw before we go to Pizza Out, daddy?"

I pick her up and carry her like a two-by-four and flop onto the couch. I stare at the TV set in front of us with an SP4 and HEXbox 180 hooked up to it. Alex never really played more than an hour on the games more than twice a day. She just wasn't a gamer like I was, but she loved it when I played Just Us. She liked the little boy you gotta protect through the whole game because he carries a cure to a mutated strain of a virus that threatens to wipe out humanity.

"Sure sweetie, go get your coloring books and pencils while I go get some water for us?"

"Okay!" She runs off while I got get some water, mainly for myself. While I only got a half hour break between my twelve hour shift, I never really got enough water in myself all the time, so I would try to make up for it by drinking like four freaking gallons a day. It was hot a Hell here.

Strangely enough Alexia returns with her things and one of the books has a bright pink unicorn on it. Just as I set the glasses of water down, she hugs me again. "Today is unicorn day, and I'm a magical princess!"

I scratch my stubble beard and chuckle at her. "Okay...say...Alexia?"

"Yes daddy?" She asks while dumping all forty-eight colored pencils onto the long table in front of the couch.

"You think these unicorns actually exist? What makes you think they really do?" I ask while getting on my ass to sit and color with her.

"Because you said anything can be possible, right?!" That's true enough. "You said that anything can be possible if I put my big mind to it! So Imma put my mind on these unicorns!" She points as a trio of unicorns that's in her coloring book. They seem to be drinking out of a small pond surrounded by trees and bushes. She's already worked on this one before seeing the unicorns were colored. The white one had bright pink mane, the blue one had darker midnight blue mane, and the pink one had yellow mane.

Oddly enough, the white one looks very similar to the one I was ordered to guard. Even though all their eyes were closed while they drank in the liquid of life, I imagined the white one had those purple eyes.

"Why'd you ask dad?" She asked me while I was coloring in the bark of the trees.

I shrug. "Dunno, I kinda think it's silly that they may exist, but as old as I am? I haven't seen a single one before." Once I was done with the bark of the tress, I begin randomly shading in leaves with yellow and red colors. "You think in this picture it could be fall?"

Alexia nods in agreement and helps me with a little of her own silly colors. A few clouds she colored in were pink as well, since it was her favorite color.

"What do ya call a unicorn with wings?" I asked, then I quickly fixed my question. "I mean, if anything could be possible....? What if they did have wings?" Once I was done with the reds and yellows, I mix a little orange in them to add a little more contrast and color transition to it.

Alexia pauses her coloring to think, cutely tapping the gold colored pencil on her chin. I know for a fact she got that from me while I was in the middle of thinking while writing up many reports, and some letters that went to my parents in Ohio. I wasn't allowed to send anything electronic because this place was supposed to stay pretty secretive and it was on a closed network.

"A....ah.......um.....OH! A PEGICORN!"

I snort into a fit of giggles which also caused my daughter to giggle as well. "That's kinda silly dontcha think?"

"Yeah, but do you got a better idea?!" She's a smart-ass I'll tell you that. I shake my head and she replies with, "Good, because I don't have any other ideas....I'll let you know when I do though!" The buzzer to our door goes off and I stand up. "Okay, go get dressed in some nice clothes while I got get whomever's at the door."

"Okay!" She runs off into her own room while I wonder over to the door.

I open it and a armed guard stands in front of the doorway. "Yes soldier?" I ask.

"Your ride into town is fully prepped and awaits your arrival sir." He salutes to me. I give one back and he drops it. "When should you be ready sir?"

"Give us ten minutes and we're good to go. I need to get in my civvies."

"Would you like a detail with you sir?"

I shake my head and wave a hand. "Nah, I'll just take a pistol with me. Don't need two armed to the teeth guys following me around everywhere."

The guy actually cracks a smile and leaves. I close the door and get dressed in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. I didn't want to wear anything too heavy or dark because it was hot out there. Alexia is strapping on her crock-flops in the back so they wouldn't slip off her tiny feet when I got into the small living room. I tied on my own dull black shoes and grabbed my car keys.

Alexia was my lovely daughter, I would do just about anything for her. Looking back on today, seeing my newest charge. It's the first non-Earth thing I've guarded. I've guarded the last white rhino, an empath who may have also played a role in my daughter's fifth year birthday party, and a monkey who could do sign-language....Anyways, after today, I believe I could tell her but she might spill it on accident.

I let a sigh escape me and my daughter takes a sad look at me. "You okay? Chest hurt again?"

I shake my head. "No sweetie, but thank you." I give her a quick glace with a smile then turn my attention back  to the road. Sometimes I just get a little upset, not really a big deal except I don't know why most of the times. Oh well, we were arriving at the exit. I take a right after the light turns green.

"Sweetie? I gotta ask you a question, it's very-very-very important." I say, I needed her advise.

She adjusts her self in the seat with a serious face. "Is it one of those questions daddy? You don't know how to do something?"

I wave my right hand a little while we come to another stop. "Kinda...I got a new charge today at work, a really special one."

"Is it another special person?"

"Not quite, while it is special, it has to do with what we were coloring today. Those unicorns?"

She takes a quick breath in. "YOU'RE GUARDING A-" She pauses and covers her mouth. "-a unicorn?!"

I hiss and cover my lips. "Yes sweetie, but keep it down....You can't tell anyone else, and there's more too it about this unicorn. It has wings and this mark on both sides of it's butt. It's white and has multi-colored hair. Pink, blue, green..!"

"Is it okay?"

I sigh. "I saw it crying...and my brain is taking over. It tells me it's just a job, but my heart knows it thinks like us and is deathly afraid..."

I pull into the Pizza Out parking lot. I take a handicapped parking spot and turn the engine off. I don't unbuckle, not done with my conversation but just unsure what to say next. Alexia sits quietly, thinking over my tribulation. She was a smart kid, sometimes it seemed like she had an old soul. Her mother died when she was born, I was only 19 when I had become a single parent. Taking up the military took time and during that time I made some friends, like Amy and her husband. They took care of Alexia while I did my drills and classes.

"Daddy? I think you should just do your job for now..." She says sadly. "I don't think it would be good...We're still on that boat huh?"

With a sigh I unbuckle my belt. "Yeah....yeah we are...and I'm sorry."

"It's okay daddy..." She says sadly. "You try your best. Everybody sees it." Alexia jumps out of the car and pulls me out of my seat. "I wanna eat pizza, and when we get back we'll add that sun mark to that white one okay?! We'll call her Princess Sunblossom...OH! What about Princess Autumn Rays!?"

I laugh a little.. I think Autumn Rays sounds quite clever. Love her so much. "Princess Autumn Rays sounds nice.