Author's Note

HEY READ THIS NOW BEFORE READING AS, EVEN THOUGH ITS NOT REALLY IMPORTANT, YOU SHOULD STILL DO IT. HEY, YOUR READING MY STORY AND I PUT TIME INTO THIS, SO DO ME THIS ONE FAVOR OK?:

Dia duit. For those of you who didn't read my blog that tagged this story, and for those who wandered in late, I would like to say that I am sorry for taking so long to upload a chapter that is probs 1000-3000 words long. I got caught up in this one-shot I am working on and lost track of...well... time? No... no thats not the right word... Hmmmm, oh yeah, my imagination. But after working on this one-shot (I will not reveal the name. It is super secret and only Thunder Bolt is allowed to know because he is awesome), I got to thinking and decided to return to this story, then BLAMMO! My imagination kicked into full gear and this was the end result.

Oh, and if your wondering why this chapter is so short, well, it was originally intended to be thrice as long, but due to my wanting to return to this story for a bit and the need to post a chapter, I decided to scrap the original idea and put the other half of this chapter into another chapter which would not only leave room for a cliffhanger, but would also be great for pacing.

Enjoy!
Slainte mhaith!

Chapter 4: Nightfall in The Everfree Outskirts II

Nightfall in The Everfree Outskirts II

A fear of many nighttime hikers and campers. Wolves... Of course, I had nothing to fear of it. This is, after all, a dream in a coma... or so I think. After all, didn't I explode? One couldn't tell just by looking, as I had no singe marks, no missing body parts, nothing. There was nothing wrong with me. Hell, even my BDU was still intact. My pack, weapons, helmet, all intact. So yeah, a coma. A pinch couldn't get you out of it.... could it?

Bah, doesn't matter. Attend to the matter at hand, Crouse.

I looked towards my imaginary unicorn friend (whom was shaking and shivering on the ground while looking around in a frightened manner) and chuckled, as I knew this was all fake. She, however, believed it to be real. Of course I could not blame her. How would she have any way of knowing that this was all a figment of my imagination? Pure fakery. Hell, everything looked fake anyways. All colorful, as if it was from a modern-day children's cartoon.

"Calm down. Like seriously." I said, laying back against the tree behind me. I held the rifle close, as I wasn't truly worried about these wolves (Hello! Need I remind you that this is all fake?) as I had both survivalist training, and combat training. Doesn't mean I can't get a little worried or scared. Hell, I believe its normal to be scared in battle. Nervous. She looked at me, taking her glance from the woods to across the fire.

"Don't you understand? The Everfree... its outskirts.... You don't know of the place?" She asked with a questionable gaze... A arched an eyebrow, but with its brown coloring in the dark it probably wasn't noticeable. I shook my head instead of giving a verbal response.

"The Everfree... its a horrible and terrible place. Treacherous woods and dangerous creatures. Uncharted. Deadly. Its outskirts, which are appropriately named "The Everfree Outskirts", are just as dangerous at night. It not smart to be out here at this time." She said. I resisted chuckling at the prospect of this reality. Does this imaginary unicorn believe it all to be real? Well.. I guess its plausible that it does. But wait, if the outskirts are just as dangerous....

"If the outskirts are just as dangerous, then why are you out here?" I asked, smiling under my bandanna and pointing at the unicorn.

"I already told you! Besides, I hadn't planned on being out here this long. I just wanted to see whats what, then I saw you and my curiosity got the better of me!" She said, defensively. I leaned in, smiling under my bandanna. I saw the point she was trying to make, she just wasn't making it.

"Again, why did you come out here? You knew it was getting dark yet you wanted to see what happened?" I asked. No response from the shivering Minuette. "You know, they say curiosity killed the cat."

"Yeah, well, they also said that satisfaction brought it back." She replied. Huh, well played. But I could tell she knew my point well and she refused to visibly acknowledge it. Doesn't matter, we both quieted up when we heard another howl. One much closer. She looked at me in fear before scooting closer. Obviously looking to me for protection.

"You said earlier that your not afraid of wolves... Why is that?" She asked. I laughed in response before pointing to my weapon. She made a gesture that gave me the idea she had no idea what that was, and this caused me to sigh in vexation. I had no intention of explaining how it worked and what exactly it was. It donned on me that a quick explanation would be just firing it once. It would give her the idea that what it fires would penetrate almost anything what with the force these thing have. But I decided against it and instead decided to instead just word it to something she would understand.

"It hurts things with one squeeze." I said.

"One squeeze?"

"Yes, that's the abridged version of what it does." I said.

"Well, whats the full version?" She asked, to which I replied with a mental sigh.... When are the doctors gonna bring me out of the coma? I began to explain to her how the rifle worked. I told her how to fire it, and then remarked on how it would be impossible for her to do so. My rifle was soon encased in a golden glow and she smirked at me before giving control of it to me again. I soon conceded and apologized for what I said. I then explained to her how to reload it. It didn't take long, maybe a good fifty seconds. I mean, I wasn't trying to teach her discipline or anything because, not only was this all fake, but I would rather keep this thing calm.

It seemed to be quite frightened and when I began talking to it -- you know, taking its mind off of what it perceives to be actual danger -- it seemed to calm. Which was very good, as it always was prudent to keep...errr.... civilians calm during times of strife. Or else panic could ensue and bad things would come of that. I'm not fully sure how talking about a gun is calming to a unicorn, but i'm not going to question it either. Rather, I would question all of this when I wake up. I'll question why I dream't about a colorful world and a talking unicorn with an hourglass on its ass when I wake up.

Yeah, that's what Ill do.. that and get some something to drink. Soon, our conversation ended and Minuette seemed calm. A relief to be sure. But just because she was calm doesn't mean isn't afraid still, if she is then she is not showing it....well, not anymore anyways. I mostly believe its because she is confident in my abilities to protect her. Seriously! Rifle versus wolf! I like my odds. Besides, this is all fake, anyways, right? A dream? A figment of my imagination?

Still feels real though. But then again, sometimes when you dream, you forget reality from fantasy. Minuette looked around, nervously. No fear, though.

"Maybe we should leave, though. I'd feel a lot safer at my friends house." She said. I resisted the urge to scoff and played along, smirking underneath my bandanna.

"No. I do have a portable light source, but it would be only last for a few minutes. Not a long time to get out of the woods, then we would just be bumbling blind in the dark which would make us prime targets for those things. No, we remain here." I said. Hah! Listen to me, I sound like some guy on a survival sandbox game who thinks he knows everything! "Wolves have a pack mentality and that means that, errr, that they teamwork to get their prey. Sometimes they surround and box in their prey, sometimes they'll stalk and pounce, like a cat. But some also like to just charge head on and catch them by surprise... either way, I would to be able to see my attackers." I like dogs.

"Uhhh, you seem to know a lot about this stuff, don't you?" She noted.

"Yeah, yeah I do, don't I?." I said. I was opening my mouth to speak again but a howl cut me short... Good god, was that one close! I know that its normal to experience fear on the battlefield, but it was also prudent to not really show it as that might hurt morale for others... but I started feeling a good portion of fear for a second there. But I really didn't want to show it in front of the pony... this is starting to turn into a fucking nightmare. I got up, the disturbances I caused in the air wafting over the fire, which in turn caused it to sway. Minuette looked up at me as I unslung my pack before setting it down and digging through it.

Around me, trees bristled from unseen movement. The hairs stood up on the nape of my neck, and Minuette whimpered in fear... Where the wolves really that close? Fuck, damn foliage concealed them when they moved, despite the light produced by the flames, and the darkness produced by the night didn't help any... I looked behind me when I heard a low growl, but soon payed it no mind and continued to look for my flare.

Come on! Where is it?

A howl, closer than ever, broke the sound barriers. It sounded very close... Minuette got behind me.

"I...I think they are close." She whimpered. I continued to dig in my pack, for my flare. It wouldn't scare it off, but if I lit it, then I would have a brighter area to fight in which would help me should it come to that. Eventually, I believed I had found my flare and grabbed it. When I pulled it out, the sight of it gave me some relief.

"Get down." I said. Hehe, time to play hero. God, did I love dreams like this! Just... without a talking mythical horse and, instead, an actual woman taking its place. I rose, flare stick in hand and my rifle laying by my feet, and started twisting the cap. My eyes darted around for the source of the unseen wolf. It was watching us.

A soldiers worst nightmare, an enemy that can see him, but he cant see them.

Soon, the cap was off and I pointed the flare opposite to me, and away from Minuette. I started scraping the course side of the cap against the exposed part of the flare. Sparks were showing but I soon stopped when Minuette screamed. I looked to my right, only to be greeted by green eyes in the dark, far enough away from the light emitted by the flames. I was speechless and, in my bewildered state, I lit the flare.... and what I saw evoked only one sentence.

"What the hell is that thing?!"