A Soldiers Misfortune

Chapters

Chapter 1 How Fate Laughs
Chapter 2 The Other Side
Chapter 3 The Black Rose Curse
Chapter 4 Recovery Mixed With Unknowns
Chapter 5 A different morning

Chapter 1 How Fate Laughs

I stared at the picture with an and odd longing even though the picture was taken about three months ago. It held two gryphons, the one on the right was a young male gryphon while to the left was a older gryphon that was several inches taller than the other one. They both were wearing scarfs, black overalls that loosely fit the younger one, and bronze goggles with leather straps that are on there foreheads. The younger gryphon had a goofy smile like the kid was extremely happy and didn't care, while the older one had a smile that showed pride.

I held the picture in my left claw as I looked back at my fond memories of family and friendship. The world around me was gone except for me and the picture. If it wasn't entirely obvious the gryphon on the right was me, a young man that loved machinery and working with them more than other living creatures. Probably because they are obvious with there problems or it could be because I just found machinery interesting, I don't know but I will find out one day, Hopefully.

"Hey put up that picture we got patrol". My claw was pulled down by another claw and I looked up to see an older gryphon with all white head feathers. I put the picture in a pocket on my black and red uniform, grabbed my rifle which had a bolt that stuck out straight to the right and had obstructive rear sites, and followed the older gryphon. The man walked fast so I had to jog to keep up with him which wasn't too much a challenge.

As we walked I looked around the cavern as we head toward the entrance. The cavern was huge with the roof being almost as tall as a manner, It held tables, machinery, and supplies like ammo and meds. Though the stand out was the white marble looking statue that was about twice my size though I was a good foot smaller than most of the men here. The statue held a stone torch that almost seemed like a beacon though it wasn't lit, the statue was dressed in a toga but it overall didn't look like anything I've seen with pawed feet and a face that held a muzzle similar to a fox, though the head had a blind fold over it so we couldn't see any actual features. The most interesting part about the statue was.

"Hey stop dillydallying we are on a schedule"! I looked around to quickly notice my Commander and sped off holding my helmet on my head as I ran. The gryphon slowly shook his head in disappointment and continued in our walk outside the cave. When we went through the cave entrance I looked up to see the canyon walls on either side of us, and to see a cloudy blue sky. I looked forward to see the dug out, muddy trench line fitted with machine guns and barb wire around anywhere else that didn't have a station or a gun.

We continued walking to the ladder bridge which was a thin set of ladders we used as a bridge often. I carefully walked over it to the other side while my Commander walked over it barely altering speed or footing. I had him as commander for about a month since that has been about as long I have been here I think. I'm not sure since the days dragged on and rarely anything exciting happens, the last thing exciting happened was when the orb like cage chained to the statue sparked with electricity. And rather unfortunately that was about a week ago though I keep on hearing through the other soldiers they were getting close to unlocking what it held.

I looked up to see that we were away from the main trench and we were at the lookout post that was fortified with sandbags, which held the rest of our squad. They all were older than me though none as old as our Commander which from what he told us, he was pushing forty. The other three gryphons were either in there thirties or late twenties. They all had white feather heads at least from what I could see since we always wore head wear, though I have been able to identify them physically from there claws.

Steven was the gryphon with a rifle and yellow claws, while Henry had grey claws and looked older. We also had a burly gryphon that was about a foot bigger than me that had a scoped rifle, and yellow claws with black dots all around. His name was Samson and one of his defining features was that he rarely talked to us in a group.

Then there was our Commander. A yellow clawed gryphon with a full white feather head, green eyes and unlike us he wore a simple bright red hat. His uniform was also different, it didn't look as heavy compared to ours and it lacked the skirt around our black pants and boots. He also wore medals across his chest though he hasn't told us what they mean or he assumed we knew and left it at that.

Last and the least there was me. Alexander a nineteen year old that had a stable life working as an apprentice to become a engineer but decided to join. I could barely shoot the rifle properly while they shot with little issue, and I could barely keep up with some of them. That made me the least useful soldier in this squad. Though they didn't say anything but I could just feel it practically gnawing at me every time I messed something up or did anything inadequately.

I was shorter than everyone in my squad along with looking the most different. My head feathers are white with black strips that are actually oil stains that have forever stained my feathers. I wear brown leather gloves that I have had since I first became a apprentice but under them was yellow claws covered in black oily stains that are uneven and normally was in a splattered line but was mostly random from short lines, intersecting lines, and dots. My uniform was like the others in my squad just smaller and the red lines stood out more.

"Alexander come over here". I shook my head and looked over to my Commander who was beckoning me with a pair of binoculars. I walked over to him and he put the binoculars to my chest.

My Commander said" Alexander I want you to keep watch and point out anything that shouldn't be there, is that understood". I put my rifle down and nodded to him before I kept an eye on the valley of the canyon. The valley was filled with trees and grass that was a very bright green. It looked very nice compared to the cave and the trench in front of it but you tend to think any color is better than the color you have been looking at for a month. I kept my view at the end of the valley as my squad mates talked.

A gruff older voice said" So why you got the lad on watch, wanted to take a break Commander"? That voice belonged to Steven since he always had a annoying playful tone to it that made me angry, especially if I was the topic.

The Commander responded" Cause he has a better talent for noticing anything out of place, that and he has better vision than me". He wasn't lying I did spot anything that was out of place which hearing that made me feel a little better being here. I kept my eyes at the end of the valley barely leaving the spot other than to see the cliffs.

A older mans voice said" Well its nice for you to admit something but why him"? That voice belonged to Henry and he was just a bit older than Steven but not by a large margin.

My Commander said" He needs to do something other than beg to work on an engine, or stare at pictures". He wasn't lying that has been everything I've been doing since there is nothing to do here, other than wait.

I heard a thick heavy accent behind me" Hey just stop questioning the boss's decision he's been here longer than us and it's true that has been all Alexander been doing but seriously you need to do something while we're out here there is little to do". That voice was Samson since he naturally never was against me and just really helpful. I refocused my eyes back toward the valley and kept a watchful eye.

After a while our Commander said it was about time ready for us to leave so we started picking up our items we dropped. I took one final look at the end of the valley with the binoculars and that's when I noticed something. There was a armored car that wasn't there before and on the side it held the Equestrian flag.

I looked back to them all" Hey commander shouldn't any cars not have the Equestrian flag"? My commander without hesitation grabbed the binoculars and looked at the car. He then proceeded to run down the path toward the base quickly.

The Commander shouted" We're under attack everyone get to your stations"! After hearing that we followed our commander back into the cave to get any gear we left. We entered our tent and I grabbed my bayonet along with attaching it, it was long, sharp and shiny knife that was about three inches from my barrel exit. I looked around the tent to notice that our Commander was no where to be found.

"Hey that's all you got"? I looked at Samson who had a hatchet with a wooden handle and the rest had a big metal axe head that was almost the size of the handle. I nodded to him but he grabbed a gas mask from a hook rack and gave it to me.

"Keep it on you Alexander in case they decide to flood the cave with gas". I looked at him for a second but put the mask on a hook that was around my belt. I don't know what he meant by gas but after I had everything, including more ammo, I began walking with Samson to the rest of my squad mates who were sitting outside a white tent. We joined them after figuring out our Commander went in there to talk to some people and we were sitting outside of it for a couple of minutes before he walked out.

Our Commander shouted "Attention"! We all got to our paws as quickly as possible and stood at attention facing him. He eyed us but he kept a longer look at me than the others, while he began pacing back and forth in front of us.

"Men we need to hold this place at all cost, we cannot allow them in the chamber and get sight on the device"! I looked at him oddly but didn't show anything on my face out of fear. When he did stuff like this we were supposed to stand at attention and not move at all, but I can't help but show something at the fact that he called the statue a device.

He continued while keeping the his voice high" They cannot abort the test, so we must make sure the test works smoothly and without error. Thus we will be on the front lines and I want all of you to stick close together, work together, and get out of this in one piece"! He Stopped pacing and stood, back straight with claws behind his back.

He shouted" Is that clear"!

We all shouted in unison" Yes sir"! Without another word we trekked to the front lines at a quick pace. When we got outside the cave we saw almost every person in the cave was here. They were mounting up at positions with there rifles ready, and soldiers on the machine guns pointing down the hill toward the valley. We set up on the farthest left position which held a shooting position, a machine gun, and a way out of the trench. The trench it self was practically just mud and wooden supports but at the machine gun stations held wooden boxes of ammo for the machinegun.

Our Commander ordered" Henry get on the gun, Steven reload and cover Henry, Samson and Alexander focus on taking down other soldiers not within the main guns sights, I'll point out anything important"! Immediately Henry and Steven got on the gun and had it at the ready, while me and Samson got on the wooden barrier with just our heads and guns poking out. I looked down into the valley to see a large amount of uniformed ponies ranging from unicorns, to regular ponies. There uniform was bright yellow and irritated my eyes at how bright it looked, there helmets fit with there head like plated armor on knights. My heart was sinking at the amount of soldiers there were and how it donned on me that this was my first time being a battle like this, My gun shook semi erratically due to my nerves.

"Hey Alexander control your breathing it will help yo..." Samson couldn't finish his sentence due to a shout and everyone began opening fire. The sheer volume of our entire line firing down on the soldiers hurt my eyes and made a very high pitched whine similar to metal getting wrenched. I ducked holding my left ear trying to keep it from getting worse, I also closed my eyes though none of my attempts lasted long.

Samson crouched in front of me, grabbed my shoulders and began shaking me to try and get me out of it. He was also shouting though what ever he was saying sounded like it was inaudible though it all ended when I focused solely on him. Like a lever was just pulled and got an engine started the world came back to focus and I could now understand what Samson was saying.

Samson Practically shouted in my face" You okay we need you out here or we're all screwed, come on snap out of it"! He then slapped me in the face quickly and I reacted by grabbing his arm.

I said" I'm out of it now just... help me up and I'm good to go". He practically lifted me all the way up and gave me my rifle, that I apparently dropped to the ground when I held my head. I then looked out the station made of wood, and sandbags to see a large amount of Equestrian troops rushing up and a few hiding behind rocks. I pointed my rifle at a soldier near a rock and pulled the trigger when I was sure the sights were aligned. The rifle kicked hard into my shoulder as I saw the soldier's chest practically explode in a shower of blood, he dropped to the ground while holding his chest.

I tried my best to not look at him further so I racked my bolt to unload the brass shell before aiming for a person that was getting closer to the trench. No one seemed to notice the Equestrian soldier as he ran so I aligned my sights and fired at him, I saw him continue to move so I racked the bolt and fired again. He still continued to run though now with renewed vigor due to the discovery that he was getting shot at so I fired the next three shots and all missed but my last which hit him in the shin. He screamed and hit the ground but the moment he started to get back up his head exploded in a fine red mist, though in actuality he had a bullet hole through the left side of his skull.

I looked to my left where the shot came from to see Samson's smoking gun and him racking the bolt. He looked at me for a second but looked back to the front picking new targets and firing.

He glanced back at me and said" Point out any target that is an issue or one you can't hit and reload for fuck sakes"! He shouted the end but I quickly obeyed him and grabbed a clip. I pulled back the bolt and started forcing the brass bullets into the gun, focusing on the sole task. After they were all In I flung the metal strip out and racked the bolt.

I saw more men come up the hill so I fired upon them only stopping to reload when I'm empty. The noise around me was getting louder as I continued my task, the rapid loud gun fire from the machine gun, the rifles going off with a loud bang, and now a not as loud bang that was firing behind me. I looked to see our Commander firing with his gun toward the front with the same hard look he gave us all. All the noise around me just kind of melted together in a mass of sound, even though they were all different.

I looked back at the front and began firing again at a faster rate than usual though I noticed a green streak of light moving around in the sky. I looked at it for a while before it dived at the right side of the trench and caused a loud bang, making me cover my right ear. I glanced up again to notice another that was heading right for us.

I shouted at the top of my lungs" Hit the deck"! I dropped to the dirt before it hit along with everyone except Henry who was still on the gun firing. He looked at the green streak when it was an inch from his face, he looked surprise from my glimpse at that moment before it actually hit. A large explosion happened barely a foot away from us and my vision was going in and out, along with my eyes creating a loud high pitch whine. I ended up getting a glimpse of what remained of Henry and he honestly just looked like a pile body parts that have been blown apart with no care, or sense of right to it. His head was gone, And his chest was in multiple pieces along with any organs he had being in it just everywhere, If I could move I probably would have puked all over this muddy, dirt filled hell.

I was coming in and out of consciousness with short intervals in between of seeing things happen. I noticed bright yellow down the trench line and I knew they were in it. I got flipped over all of a sudden by my Commander to see a worried face and to guess was saying words to get me the hell up. My Commander looked up and all of a sudden slapped me with the palm of his claw and back giving me full consciousness.

I heard a shout and I rolled over back on my chest to see Steven charging a Equestrian soldier with his bayonet. He screamed bloody murder when his blade went into the soldiers chest, Causing him to fall on the floor with a knife all the way through his body. Steven was about to pull out when his chest suddenly spurted blood, He stood for a moment bending over holding his stomach before multiple shots hit him. He stood when he kept on taking the fire, But he fell over covered in dirt and blood on top of the previous soldier who still had the gun sticking out of him.

I picked myself up only to get pulled back from behind me, I looked behind me to see my commander and Samson me pulling me back toward the exit toward the cave. But I wanted to get Steven back at least, but that just made them both pull harder.

My commander shouted" Alexander There dead you can't do anything, and we can't stay we need to get back now"! My Commanders voice had a hint of fear but it still held a large amount of confidence. So I stopped struggling and slowly started running back following the rest of the people I knew after I quickly picked up my rifle from where it dropped.

We ran into the cave as someone was beckoning us and anyone else retreating. The last person of the small mass entered the cave and everyone was ordered to stand away from it. Before I knew it the top of the entrance exploded and all the jutted rocks collapsed on top of the entrance, covering it and making no way in for anyone left out there.

My Commander ordered me and Samson to follow him to the same white tent from earlier and when we got there he allowed us to enter with him. When we entered I saw a stressed gryphon in a generals uniform, it was black like all others but it had gold colored trims other than red.

He looked at our commander and asked" Is that what's left of your squad"? He seemed to be pleading for it not to be but my Commander nodded. The gryphon slammed his head on the table in front of him which had a map on it, it also had many notes on it but all of them were a giant red X.

"Get the men to turn on the gas and prepare to get as much research notes out of here as fast as possible". My commander stood there and nodded but he did not leave immediately.

My Commander asked" How long till the statue turns on"? The gryphon eyed me and Samson but answered our Commander.

He said" From what I'm getting five minutes".

My Commander said" Sir we don't have time, we lost a lot of men in the front entrance, and I don't know how long we can hold".

The gryphon said" You think I don't know that and we can't just retreat we need to make sure the engineers have time to get it on"! He sighed before continuing" Besides we can't leave we don't have time for that they can just catch up to us within the day". He put his head on the table making a knocking noise as he buried his head with his claws and arms.

My Commander said" Understood sir". My Commander then nodded and waved us to leave with him. We exited the tent to see a large amount of make shift wooden defenses, most prominently they were tables flipped over. I heard a blaring noise and saw a flashing red light spin and warn us of something.

Samson quickly grabbed me and shouted" Put your mask on now"! I got the hint so I reached to my belt to grab the leather, metal and glass mask, And put it on my face. It was hard to put on but that wasn't the worst of it, it got really hot quickly and I felt like I was in a smaller place than I could take. It didn't help that the glass eye covers had metal support areas on it that made it harder to see than usual.

A loud explosion came from the collapsed entrance and I looked over see it shaking along with small rocks falling from the roof near it. We pointed all our guns over to the entrance not daring to look anywhere else but a soldier who wasn't wearing a gas mask made me look at him. He was coughing so horribly that I thought he was about to vomit his guts out, But I looked into his eyes to see them blood red practically.

He started shouting" Please help me please I beg of you, anyone"! He then started doubling over coughing so much that it did actually make him puke out a ton of blood. There was so much blood he puked up I was wondering if he was alive but he fell onto the pool of blood coughing until we couldn't hear him anymore. If I took of my mask or if it got damaged would that happen to me, And why didn't he get one? All the thoughts started making me shake, and breath erratically like a fish out of water

Samson quickly moved over to me, Took my shoulders and started saying" Get a hold of yourself Alexander you wont die today I wont allow it"! He shook me harder toward the end but I was still shaking like crazy like everything just hit me like a train. Why the hell did I decide to do this, I'm in the middle of hell itself. I've killed people, watched my acquaintances die in front of my eyes and now I'm going to die in toxic gas. I was shaking so much that I didn't notice the explosions started shaking the cavern more, and finally our moment of reprieve ended.

The collapsed rocks exploded, and many Equestrian troops started rushing in with there bayonets ready. One equestrian soldier attempted to skewer Samson, But Samson brought out his axe and side stepped slowly. The moment the equestrian passed him, Samson wacked him in the head with the axe causing the soldier to hit the ground with his back hard. Before the soldier knew it the axe got Firmly planted in his upper chest, He screamed in pure agony as the axe got ripped out of him and got dropped on his head.

As Samson was pulling his axe out from the dead soldier a couple soldiers started advancing on us causing our Commander to shoot at them and him pointing at me to shoot them. I shot at the soldiers multiple times needing to reload my rifle three times to keep my gun firing, my shoulder ached more after each shot, my mask was fogging up due to my erratic breathing, but I still kept on fighting. Samson moved next to me and our Commander shortly after he was done mutilating another soldier that ran up on us.

Our Commander said" The alarms off the gas is clear get your masks off"! I was very hesitant but after seeing them both take there off and have no issue I took mine off as quickly as I could. While I took my mask off a enemy soldier appeared out of nowhere and shot Samson in the left shoulder, causing him to hold his now profusely bleeding shoulder. The moment I got my mask off I shot the soldier in the head causing his head to explode in red mist. I moved over to Samson quickly to assess his wound, He lifted his claw for me to see a arm that was very nearly torn straight off, All that held it together was a the lower end of the shoulder that was connected to a light yellow bone that was bloody.

Samson grunted out" Shit can I shoot"! I Shook my head no while quickly moving behind my Commander and vomit near the back of us. My body felt like it getting on fire, I was sweating like a madman now, My claws under my leather gloves felt moisture less, And I was beginning to get tired quicker the longer the battle went on. But now the short reprieve to assess my own condition was over when my Commander started shouting, and pointing again.

My Commander shouted" There charging again"! I picked up my rifle that I dropped and walked on unsteady boots toward my remaining allies. As I walked I saw Samson imbed his axe into a soldiers chest causing him to lean forward Then Samson ripped his axe out and dropped it on the back of the soldiers neck causing him to be decapitated. When I was almost there I saw Samson start swinging at a soldier that was screaming at the top of his lung, and with a bayonet poised. Samson failed to connect his swing and the screaming soldier embedded his weapon into Samson's chest but he managed to rip his weapon out of him causing any hope of Samson's survival to be gone.

Samson's corpse stared at me with his head upside down as his body twitched a little bit but most prevalent in his eyes. I stared at his corpse in a state of shock that I barely noticed the soldier that charged got shot multiple times in the chest, and that the noise was coming from barely an inch from my head. The soldier fell to the ground convulsing in a way that at a distance people would think he was alive.

My Commander shouted in front of my face" Get the fuck up and fight we need you"! My focus suddenly went straight to his eyes which were filled with concern, And sadness. This is actually one of the few times I saw any emotion in him but I was more concerned with the fact that everyone was dead.

He shook me as I gave my answer In a weak voice" Everyone else is dead". I never really liked Henry and Steven but Samson was oddly the only one that bothered to know me and talk to me, He would willingly talk to me when I felt down even though I could tell he was uncomfortable with topics like family, He would always try to talk to me. Now he was gone along with everyone except me and the Commander, I was feeling the hopelessness kick in.

The Commander shouted and shook me more" Snap out of it we need to get the hell out of here, we need to retreat... no forget that we need to get to the statue". I looked up to see the statue which was glowing with white electric energy literally. The broken stone cage that was chained to it was floating and held a ball of white electricity that looked like it would vaporize you instantly. It floated at the knee height of the statue which would only take a jump to get into, that is if you wanted to go in it.

I mumbled to him" Why would we want to go into that"? He fired a little more at some unseen soldier and responded.

"I heard that it could send us somewhere but there is no guarantee it does that but we can't make it to the other exit to the cave before they blow the dynamite but I'm willing to take it even if I can't do it with all my men". He became somber toward the end but I got what he meant we either go into a electric vortex and possibly die or die getting trapped in a cave. I picked myself up from my knees grabbed my rifle from the dirt and moved forward toward Samson.

I stayed silent as I closed his eyes and moved his arms over his chest, even to the agitation of the Commander trying to get me to hurry. When I was done I bowed my head a tiny bit and stood for a few seconds, The moment I was done I picked up Samson's axe and put it on a loop on my right side.

When I was done I said to the Commander" I'm done now lets get over there quickly, I don't want to die here". He nodded and went ahead of me with his pistol and ran forward as quickly as he could all the way to the other side of the cave under gunfire from both us and the Equestrians. I Began running shortly after he went past me and I could feel the bullets whizz past me to hit dirt or flesh but I continued to run even when my legs began hurting and my lungs began screaming for more air.

We where almost there when a soldier ran in front of me but gave no attention to me as he began shooting at some gryphons that were running toward the cave exit. I couldn't stop to shoot him so I readied my bayonet and screamed like a madman as I charged him. He didn't even notice me until I was barely a few feet away from him but by then my bayonet was beyond stopping. He doubled over onto his back when I hit him square in the chest seeing his bright yellow uniform get stained by his blood.

I muttered" Fucking shitting hell". As I ripped my bayonet out of his body and quickly tried to begin running to catch up with the Commander. I hit a part that looked like a trench opening but was actually a ramp to get on the landing that held the statue, It had wooden supports to make sure the dirt didn't just fall onto you and crush you but the most important feature was my Commander sitting on the left wall with his leg bleeding. I practically fell on top of him when I got to him but that was the least of my concerns.

I grabbed him as I said" Come on you're going to be all right I can fix you and we can go through it together". He didn't answer immediately but instead he showed me his pistol that looked empty judging by the fact the slide was all the way back, and several clips from under his coat.

The Commander said" I wont make it in time, it could turn off at any second and I cant afford having you waste time on a dead man". I was confused but he began reloading his pistol by putting the clip at the top of the gun and put all ten bullets from the clip into it. He tossed the gun so he held the barrel after he pulled the slide back.

"Take my gun Alexander and live so that our memory can live on even if the chance is slim". I took the handle of the gun that I heard some people remark it as a "broom handle" but I couldn't see the correlation. I also took the ammo for the gun that he held out with his other claw and put them in my coat.

I said to him" But I cant just leave without you I wouldn't be able to forgive myself to just have you die here in the mud". I kept my head down and kept my eyes closed not wanting me to be the last of us, And it being ironically the youngest and most worthless of us all.

My Commander said" Yes I know you might be thinking your the most useless of us all but I could see in you that you have strength like everyone one of you brave lads, and besides I'm not getting younger". The words went deep into me and I tried not to shed anything as it donned on me that I may never end up seeing him again even if he survived.

I said as I grabbed my rifle and put the pistol in my left pocket" Goodbye Commander".

He chuckled and said" It's Lawrence but goodbye Alexander you're a good lad". I slowly stood up and left giving glances back at my commander, I mean Lawrence as I walked up the ramp.

The moment I got to the top of the ramp I saw dead bodies scattered around it both Equestrian and gryphon but a single gryphon engineer was alive sitting near a lever. I moved over to him quickly to see what was happening.

I shouted" Are you okay"? I had to shout it due to the noise from the gunfire, and from the static noise coming from the electric vortex. He nodded in response telling he knew what was happening but gave me an answer to a question I didn't ask yet.

He shouted" If you want to get through you have to go now but I have no clue what will happen no one has been able to go through due to the battle"! I was surprised that he told me to basically go through but I could tell he was scared to hell, He was shaking like crazy and had his eyes darting in every direction.

I Picked up my rifle and began moving toward the electric vortex at a full sprint. I didn't have time to walk all the way to it in the few meters it was but I was also under danger from any group that moved up here. I put all my strength I had left into my legs into the sprint, From what felt like a day of intense fighting but what may have actually been only an hour.

The moment I was within jumping distance, I jumped into the electric vortex and regretted it almost instantly. My body felt like it caught fire and went instant to a chill in a second, The pain made my teeth grind and my vision hurt from the bright light in front me of so I closed my eyes shut as hard as I could. That was until the light vanished and I felt myself hit cold hard stone causing me to go out like a candle.

Author's Note

well hear is my next story a crossover of a game that I told myself I would never make a story involving it because I didn't want to mess with it. well to me I will keep it good and well this sure is different, first chapter is the Equestrian version of a world war 1 or great war, from the eyes of a gryphon that is 19 years old that didn't even sign up to be a soldier but to work on engines and mechanical objects.

"Not to mention this seems quite violent".

I send Kinkajou away telling her she's too young to see this.

well hope everyone likes this chapter and give criticism. This took about 20 days to write, So you can see I take forever. Also my longest chapter ever written.

Chapter 2 The Other Side

I awoke with a jolt and felt my entire body ache in agony. I had to hold my breath due to the pain currently going through my entire body, I kept my eyes firmly closed and snapped my beak shut. I haven't experienced pain like this in my entire life but the closest thing I could compare to this was when I was working on a electric cord and someone turned on the power causing me to shake due to all the electricity, and my body going on fire practically. But either way that moment told me to always wear gloves no matter if you were working or not, but compared to this pain I was feeling. That was like getting a shard of glass into your paw while this felt like getting embedded with glass shards all over your body.

I stayed still to help make less pain and eventually the pain subsided enough that I wasn't shaking as erratically. I eventually decided to open my eyes to see where I was at and I saw grey stone directly in front of my face. I moved my head up and looked around to see me in a cave that looked similar to the previous cave, except that there was no mud, tables or actually anything that could say that people were here at any point. The place looked similar to a cave that hasn't been discovered, well It would have until I popped up here and if I did then that means the statue should be behind me, if logic exists here.

I carefully pushed myself on to my back to try and look behind me. The pain was still there as I worked my arms to push me over but it wasn't as excruciating compared to when I woke up, though it wasn't my body getting embedded with glass instead simply my arms shooting up repeatedly. I had to push twice with my right hand to rollover but when I finally looked behind me I saw the statue but there was no glow, compared to what it did back at the cave which it held a faint blue glow but this time there was nothing. It just stood menacingly, like a figure silently watching from afar.

I decided to sit up which didn't hurt much compared to my other movements but it still did. I took in all my surroundings and could tell the cave was very similar to the other cave but inherently different. There was no dirt from what my eyes could show me from the darkness but it also didn't seem as big compared to the other cave. The cave I spent a month of my life in was practically the size of a coliseum and held about two hundred soldiers in it from what I've heard but wait... I'm the only one here and I'm alive.

I looked around and I guess it donned on me, I'm the only one here and the statue had no glow so it was more than likely off and it took multiple gryphons to find away to turn it on and now there is only one that doesn't know the first thing about ancient devices. I looked down at my still glove covered claws and put my face into them. I don't have a single clue to know how to turn it back on but do I even want to open it again. We were losing and there was practically no one at the statue when I jumped into the electric ball, except the frightened engineer and my commander Lawrence. All I knew was that we were retreating to the other exit and we couldn't make it so Lawrence wanted to use the statue, for us... He got shot though and couldn't come with me so I guess I maybe the only one left.

I firmly shut my beak to prevent myself from showing sadness, though it only held back the tide, the rain though would always come and make a few feet. My face felt like it was practically welling up to cry but I forced it down as much possible though on my face it looked like I was about to sob to death. After a few minutes like this I finally decided to try and stand on shaky paws, I stumbled a few times but I felt fine other than my vision going blurry for a few seconds but that is expected.

When I finally stood up I took my leather gloves off and put them in my coat so that my claws could finally get some air. I then felt this feeling like I was missing something very important, I patted myself down and felt my ammo and the pistol along with the axe... Where's my fucking rifle. I looked toward the ground to see nothing but uneven stone, but when I looked behind me, a few feet from me was my rifle on the ground still attached to the bloodied bayonet. I walked over to it and snatched it the instant I got to it on instinct since everyone berated into my head to always have your rifle on you.

After I was done picking up my rifle I looked back at the statue and walked toward it slowly. It looked similar to the other statue but with no glow and it had a hat that hid most of it's face, though this one looked male since it's chest was flat and it was beckoning with it's left hand that looked bigger. I walked to the base of it and put my left claw on it, the sensation of cold metal hit me instantly and I began looking for some kind of panel using my claw since I could barely see in here. I eventually touched what felt like a handle and I began pulling on it with all my might, and it didn't budge at all. I put my rifle down and began prying it open with both my claws, the metal groaned and eventually snapped open causing me to fall on my back.

"Yeah I can't even open an ancient box without mucking it up". After I was done muttering to myself I got up and examined what I just opened which is very hard when you have zero light. I put a glove on my left claw and ran it along the inside of it and I instantly felt five bumps all in a row to the top of it. I pulled a bump and it gave almost instantly, It felt like a cylindrical object and since this statue needs power to open a vortex then this must be a fuse. I put the fuse back and stared at the box for a few seconds trying to figure out what to do.

"I could try to fix this but I don't think I can and what's left for me, everyone in my squad is dead except Lawrence but he was injured and the enemy was advancing so by now he should be dead too. So all that's there for me is death but here it's all unknown and I could also die, I'd rather die in the unknown than die in mud, blood and brass". I stopped talking with my head down low and began walking toward a light shaft that looked like I could climb to the surface. I also took my glove off as I walked over there.

When I got into the light it almost blinded me so I put my claw over my eyes to block the light, from blinding me even more. When my eyes got adjusted I looked over head to see green and distant blue. As I put my claw onto the ledge I looked back at the statue knowing if I continue to climb I would be a deserter to my army, which also meant my country, my only home. But for all they know I'm dead and that's to practically everyone except Lawrence and the engineer if they survived it and have there hopes up, not to mention if I did manage to get the statue working there would be an entire army pointing guns at me and shoot the instant they see me. I pulled myself to the top of the ledge without a second thought and began climbing the chest high walls to the light.

When I got to the last cliff I looked up to see that it was almost twice my height, though that didn't stop me. I began using the uneven rocks that were jutting out of the wall so I could climb it. I slipped a few times, and it did hurt my claws, I continued to climb anyways since I was lucky to catch myself. Before I knew it I hoisted myself up from the hole to see grass, trees and everything you would see in a forest.

I looked at the green healthy trees, the green grass that covered the ground like rugs, and the bright sun that shown from the top of trees making light cascade down like a waterfall through the leaves. It looked beautiful especially compared to the muddy, damp cave I've been in for the last month.

"Pretty". I muttered it under my breath as I continued to take in the sights, though some of my attention was more focused on the bush with black roses. Wait black roses I thought they were only red, I walked closer to the bush to examine the flowers and low and behold they were black roses. I picked one and examined it more closely, to see if there is anything different about it like if it smelled different but no it was the same.

I dropped the flower and began looking around erratically for no reason, Why am I doing this, I began shaking too but not as bad as the time I was in the trench but still, it felt bad. I also felt an increased sensation of dread, and panic but I have no idea why any of this was happening, it felt like I was in mortal danger but there was no danger anywhere. My heart felt like it was beating faster than normal, my head now began feeling light headed, Wait am I falling. I fell on my back clutching my chest trying to keep myself awake, since for some reason I felt tired, like I just went through Hell and my body decided to give up on me the moment I saw something comfortable.

I needed help but I have no idea if there was help in this place, and if there was I had nothing to signal for them unless. I looked at my rifle which I still held in my right claw, By now I felt the sense of losing focus so I dragged my rifle to point at a tree and fired. I heard the flutter and cawing of birds the moment I fired my rifle, but I didn't bother as I put all my strength left into pulling the bolt and firing again. I did that for several more times until I ran out of ammo, my eyes began closing shortly after it ended and it felt like my head was swimming, and all prickly, vibrating like a very fast engine and I lacked the power to open my eyes. And Eventually I lost consciousness, with no dream other than the black void that haunts this sleep and a few others from the past.

I couldn't move but eventually I felt another presence join me from the sound of paw steps. I heard muttering though I couldn't hear much other than that it sounded like there was another person. I couldn't hear what they were saying but it most likely involved me since right now I felt dead, but oddly alive like time was skipping.

I heard a far distant feminine voice" We should help him".

I then heard a far deep male voice" He wear's odd clothes, and has odd items we can't trust him".

"But he needs help and no soldier to the village's knowledge wears a uniform like that".

"Ok fine I submit but because the kid was dumb and picked one of the black roses, that or wanted to die". I was picked up from what I could tell from the lack of feeling, and just the movement from my somewhat open dead eyes. I blacked out and couldn't hear what else they said other than distant muttering that haunted my unconsciousness. I eventually went into complete blackness, not hearing anything, and not knowing what would happen when I woke up or if I would wake up again.

Author's Note

The update schedule with my stories is going to be back in forth so the next thing I will begin writing is the next chapter of A Merchants New Life. Criticism is appreciated and necessary since, one im doing this with no help, and two I'm not the greatest. Now for some humor.

Death stranding trailer one reaction

"What am i looking at".
Death stranding trailer analysis videos

"WHAT THE HELL"
Death stranding trailer two reaction

"Are we sure this is a Hideo Kojima game, you know the ones with humor and political messages. Not philisophical, dread filled creepiness that can make people have nightmares"

"It's bad enough Hideo left Konami since they suck, but now he probably just created the craziest conspiracy that he wants people to figure out in the gaming industry ever".

"No seriously look up videos analyzing things and stuff that has been happening revolving around everything. It will make you think".

Also Titanfall 2 multiplayer very fun, except tone, he sucks and is ridiculous.

Chapter 3 The Black Rose Curse

I was shivering and shaking like I caught the feather flu but it felt so much worse. My entire body felt like it was on fire, my vision if I managed to open my eyes was swimming to the point that it was just better not to open them. Everything I touched hurt like hell, and I found it hard to breath because of the feeling of dread and death gnawing at me every moment the torture continued. Along with everything I was feeling I also had no clue what was happening around me.

All I know was that someone found me and decided to bring me to help but considering the fact that they were strangers and I had no idea what they are made everything worse. I could make out shapes when I managed to open my eyes but they didn't look like a gryphon at all, they didn't even look like a pony. The only way how I know this was because of there extremely long ears that stood up straight and then my eyes would shut along with all semblance of time disappearing.

Eventually after a while I felt like I was hearing voices though they were only whispers and they lacked coherence and structure. This went on in the similar pattern of my vision where I end up hearing it and then I seep back into the black abyss a fraction later and also wake up in the same time though the atmosphere changed significantly. I heard more whispers this time though they felt loud but also inaudible, like when a rifle fires next to your ear though it lacked the constant ringing. Everything went blank again but when I woke up I felt like I was on a flat surface though I couldn't "feel" anything other than constant flaring pain.

I felt like something was happening to my body other than the constant pain and then it disappeared and I went flat again. This ended though I felt my eye sight flicker again though the blinding light didn't exist and everything was still bright though dampened. This disappeared also and I drifted deeper into my pain filled state that only got more intense as time went on. I felt like burning oil, I felt out of breath, my pain was growing to a degree of total restraint and my eyes no longer opened as often as previously.

Then suddenly I heard" It is up to you now." In a feminine fading voice and I felt everything in me just detach, feeling everything in my body being ripped apart in an instant. I couldn't feel anything anymore but what worried me the most was because I still felt here even though I felt nothing other than my emotions.

I woke up with a jolt only to see a blood red, water covered ground beneath me and the touch of rain soaking me to the bone. I felt confused as I stood up to see me in a mud covered trench that was reinforced with wooden supports and large plates of thin metal that made a tiny roof in the path in front of me. I looked around and noticed that was the only way forward and oddly enough everything was silent. I took a breath and immediately covered my beak, this place stunk with the smell of iron and a certain revolting smell that made me want to spill my guts. I looked back at the ground below me and saw a average looking wood cutters axe that was firmly planted into the ground. I grabbed the end with both of my bare claws and it was free with one pull that made me stumble on to the dirt wall behind me making my already filthy form worse.

I tried to keep my breathing even as I spoke "How the hell did I get here and oh fuck." I saw something move at the end of the path closer toward me, I couldn't make it out but the moment I noticed the smoke riddled figure the feeling of dread washed over me. My eyes darted toward the ground looking for a weapon that wasn't the axe firmly clenched and planted on my chest. I found no other weapon though shadow riddled bodies appeared in front of me, laying down completely still and were decayed to the point of being skeletons though they wore the red striped uniform of the Gryphon army. I became frozen like a statue when I noticed them though my eyes moved straight down the path that held more bodies to see the standing form of a figure.

It wore armor like the honorable warriors of old Gryphon stone though this figure wore only the metal plated chest piece bound by leather, and lacquer, along with the leg armor that hung around the waist, though It wore pants that looked blood stained and a ethereal black mist came from that part of him. I could not see its face through the mist that seemingly began having small amounts of a black looking dust come from it, it wisped around him like ash on the wind.

My eyes kept on it with only the constant of my rapid and uneven breathing but even that ended when it spoke in a distorted voice. "To leave this... place, you must kill me." It sounded like a broken engine that was choppy, uneven, and it constantly shifted tone from high pitched to low in the next syllable. I felt like stone even when it spoke and stood there waiting for something like me to make a move. After enough time my breathing controlled and I moved forward slightly with my axe to my side being held with both my glove covered claws. When I walked toward him my paws just went through the corpses like they never existed and it only made my nerves worse.

I stopped moving forward when it pulled out a smooth, blood covered curved sword, and said "I am- what stops you from LIVING so prove what you are and KILL ME." I kept my wide terrified eyes on it as I moved slowly closer to it with my axe at the ready, at least I thought was ready. The figure swung his sword at me vertically with both claws making me have to block the strike with my axe horizontally, my arms ached from the force of the sword hitting the wooden shaft of the axe but it also made a deep cut in the wood. The sword didn't bounce off of my block, it instead slid all the way under my block and I moved backward so that he couldn't just stab me.

He swung from left to right and I just hopped backward with my head leaned forward to avoid the blade cutting me open. He didn't stop moving though and twirled his sword into a down ward swipe aiming for my head so I brought my head back barely missing the blade by inches. I started feeling myself grow some semblance of bravery so I began swinging my axe from being held in both claws at my waist, to swinging it right to left. My axe head ended hitting him in the shoulder though he seamed unfazed as my axe scraped him.

I brought my axe to my previous position before I felt talons grab my shirt and through me to my left. I ended up hitting the dirt wall hard and ended up feeling a sharp pain come from my left shoulder, I looked at it and saw a large cut bleeding profusely. I ended up swinging my axe from left to right with a fast one armed swing and nailed him on his right side with the axe still in him. I Pulled it free fairly quickly and hopped right when I saw a swing going for my throat. The attack narrowly missed the top of my head as I ducked towards the end of my movement.

When I finished my movement I swung my axe towards his knees only to have him hop backwards. I was about swing again only to feel my left shoulder give and have the axe lazily skirt the ground. I began stumbling and before I new it I felt something hit me square on the beak causing me to practically scream "Fuck" before I felt another thing hit me in the face causing me to fall on the ground groaning. I looked at the shadowy figure standing above me with vision that's swimming to the point where I saw multiple of the shadowy figure.

The figure stood there for a second before he pointed the sword downward and rapidly plunged it into my chest by putting its entire body into the action. I felt the stabbing burning pain immediately as it shot through my entire body, my breathing halted, my vision became unnaturally clear, and I felt my claws dig in to my palms. It continued for who knows how long until the figure retracted his blade and looked down at me with zero emotion.

While I was feeling my insides seemingly spill it I heard the figure say "just like the rest." And began moving away as I quickly clutched my bleeding stomach. My stomach felt warm and wet from all the blood that was pouring out of my and my vision was beginning to grow a black shroud around it. The pain just kept on coming and the rushing feeling was growing worse, but I felt tired when I knew I shouldn't be even thinking of closing my eyes. I tried to fight the growing urge to close my eyes and after multiple seconds of my eyes rapidly flashing and my body convulsing in odd manors I manage to keep them open long enough to notice something when I put the top of my head on the mud.

I saw a dirty mud covered rifle with a bayonet fixed at the end, I growled in pain as I laid my eyes on it."I need that gun to live, fuck everything hurts, shit I want to live."I began turning myself to crawl but everything felt so much worse. I began swearing everything I told myself not to use regularly like a horribly drunk sailor and began crawling with my left arm toward the rifle. I used my elbow to get me closer to it as I used my right claw to hold in my guts and rather morbidly I felt a squishy object in there and with that existence my pain felt so much worse. I was shuddering at ever single twitch and the black vision cones were coming back along with the erratic breathing.

When I was within arms reach of the stock I heard the figure say" You aren't dying like a dog it seems." I quickly reached for the rifle and managed to grab the very end of the stock and pulled the weapon quickly toward me. I grabbed where the trigger is and spun around rapidly to see the figure over me again ready to stab my god forsaken lights out. I fired my gun at the blurry figure and felt the kick of the gun hit me in the chest and felt my ears ring due to the noise.

I looked at it from my laying down position to see the figure picking itself up and my muddy boots. I felt my uncovered claws automatically bolt the gun and had my sights aimed at his head, though the pain and the rapid blood loss caused my aim to drunkenly skirt around its head. It continued to shuffle its way toward me while holding its left shoulder and I felt my claw slowly pull the trigger.

I felt the gun buck and I saw the figures head become a fountain of black mist spraying with no resistance into the air.

I lurched into a sitting position while breathing in air like a fish on land, my claws were shaking erratically as I stared at them from my sitting position. I felt a blanket was around me and I noticed that I was in a room of a building but I didn't react to it. I just kept on staring at my claws and tried to piece together if that was real or just a nightmare as I still felt all the lingering pain.

Author's Note

Its been more than a month since i updated any of my stories and if any of you think im dead even though ive been on at least once a day then yeah total confirmation im alive from the gryphons mouth im not dead. ok im pretty sure you guys didnt have any questions about that so im pulling legs then again i get very few comments acutally ive probably gotten 10 max thus far.

so enough of that you guys say if this is bad, like, hate it or ask me questions. though always tell me something to improve. I'm going to continue my back and forth story method.

yes i felt the action was indeed underwelming.

Chapter 4 Recovery Mixed With Unknowns

I couldn't fall asleep after that dream, or was it an hallucination, I don't know but I stayed in the wooden room I was in trying to make sense of everything that's happened. I was sitting on at least three different blankets in the corner of the small room along with a pillow that my head was resting on previously. I've been up for my guess a few minutes, and when I woke up I felt unnaturally hot, my head feels like its getting beaten with a ruler in synced intervals, and I couldn't stop shaking for a full minute.

My vision also seemed slightly more blurry than I thought it could, but from what I could see in the room was that it was small and it was mostly made out of wood. The room probably could hold a four person dining room table if you could get it through the door which was hard to tell from my position where it was. I noticed a panel of wood that jutted out from the rest of the room opposite of me in the shape of a door but it lacked a door handle and it didn't have any hinges. I looked to the right and noticed two black boots that looked like mine, I sighed and let my right claw touch my chest.

I tensed when I felt only feathers, I looked down at my chest and saw my Light blue feathers on my sternum and the white feathers that made up the rest of my chest. I pulled the blanket up from my legs and breathed a sigh of relief when I was still wearing my pants. I muttered" Oh god I have some modesty." my throat felt sore and my voice sounded like wrenching metal and shortly after I started having a small coughing fit. I scratched my head and didn't feel my goggles that I was very attached to, so I quickly looked around the room from my position and I noticed a small bed table next to me. I pulled on the side of it to look and I saw my brass goggles sitting there, with no obvious changes. I quickly grabbed it and held it close to me and before I knew it I heard something sliding and when I looked in the direction of the odd wooden panel, I instead saw something with blue rabbit ears holding a small tray, and staring at me.

I Became very quiet, as It continued to look at me with its mouth agape and its paws shaking. I looked it over and saw that it was wearing some kind of robe, it wore a dark blue robe with a piece of a white shirt that was visible around the chest area, the rest of it was under the robe. The robe lacked a pattern and her paws were visible at the bottom of it, the robe stopped covering the legs at the ankles. Its hair was in a long pony tail and its eyes were a bright shade of yellow, it also had a gentle face to it other than the fact that it looked quite surprised to see me awake.

"It seems your awake." It said in a feminine voice that sounded mildly frightened. I looked at her for several moments, along with being a little surprised that it was a she, before responding" Yeah I guess I am." I kept my eyes on her as she slowly began moving toward me with the small tray, I pushed myself into the corner more as she sat down on her knees next to me with the tray laying in front of her that held a wet rag and a bowl of water. I had the blanket covering all of my body except my head, as my grip around my goggles tightened around them.

"Do you want me to help you or are you going to keep on crawling deeper into the bed." I kept my eyes on her as she put the wet rag in her paw and waited for me to respond in anyway. I replied" I feel safer in my current position mam, and are you a girl." I then saw the wet rag get emptied of all moisture as her paw put a good bit of pressure on it, that only made retreat deeper into the blankets.

I heard her say" Of course I'm a girl, I have breasts after all and I'm wearing dress so what are you a male bird that should be dead right now or at least unconscious right now." I heard her accentuate all the words in a slow and somewhat menacing manner as I proceeded to scramble more into the corner which wasn't possible due to me being already in the deepest part of the corner. I replied somewhat timidly" Yeah what you just said and my names Alexander mam, what's yours?" She kept a silent glare at me as she remained silent and as I continued to crush my goggles. She said quickly" Its Lisa and don't squirm."

Before I could say anything she moved forward and with one paw began wiping my forehead with the rag while she was supporting her form with the other paw. I tried to shrink back but I couldn't exactly due to the wall being right on the back of my head, I kept moving my head back and forth but eventually stopped moving due to the cold sensation on my forehead. It felt so nice and apparently was good enough to make me relax since being sent into this foreign world and currently being helped by sentient creatures. I felt the grip on my goggles loosen as Lisa got into a slightly more comfortable position next to me as she continued to wash my forehead. She eventually stopped feeling the cool dampness of the cloth so I opened my eyes to see her eyeing me in her new position, shoulder against the wall, legs laid out as she continued to eye me.

"Why are you staring at me?" I said to her and she responded almost immediately" Just wondering why you liked this rag so much." She practically blurted it out but I didn't question how fast she said it, since for me this was an exceedingly awkward situation. I stayed quiet for a few seconds as she ringed out the rag and said quietly" Why did you say I should be dead right now?" she stopped ringing the rag and slowly put it on the tray before looking me in the eyes. She said" because you touched a black rose."

I just continued to stare at her as I was totally oblivious to what a Black Rose was and... her eyes actually looked really nice. She shook her head before bluntly saying" Do you even know what a Black Rose is." I shook myself from the trance I was in and slowly shook my head left to right. She sighed and said" A Black Rose is a rose that when touched without any protection or care, will kill you unless your lucky or are already dead." I kept my gaze firmly on my ungloved fidgeting claws as she explained it to me.

I asked her" Then why am I alive right now." She kept her gaze firmly on me and said" Well to my grandma a few individuals have survived it but only because they in her words "have strong hearts" ". I brought my gaze back to her to see a neutral face just looking at me. She looked like she was trying to figure me out in a way but before I could respond she stood up and began walking to the door.

I reached out and said" Hey where are you going." she looked at me briefly as she opened the door but left the room without saying a word. To say I was confused was kind of an understatement, I felt completely lost. I haven't met someone who just spoke and left not even ten minutes later with a dead face. It felt odd, since it felt very familiar kind of reminded me of how I just walked away from group conversations but this was only with me, a single living creature.

My thoughts were interrupted when the door moved open again except this time to show a much older looking bunny like Lisa except her fur was a light green and her hair was blonde along with being let down. She shuffled into the room with her hands behind her hunched back that kept a close eye on all of my movements. When my wings twitched, she focused on them and when I shuffled backwards, her eyes narrowed at me and she grew a small smile.

She stopped next to the pile of blankets and spoke in a gentle voice" Young man are you feeling better?" I looked at the aging women for a few seconds before saying" I guess, though I had a weird dream and I cant stop shaking." She nodded before replying" That is a lasting effect of the Black Rose, along with fever and might I ask what was the dream about young man."

I looked at her for a few moments before trying to recall the surreal nightmare I experienced just before I woke up. I began by saying" I ended up waking up in a blood and mud covered trench, surrounded by dead bodies. there was a cold dark feeling in the place, like an holy ground that's been tainted by years of corruption. Something ended up appearing in the shadows and attacked me, and I somehow managed to kill it I guess." She kept a watchful eye as I told her what I remembered, from the few times I looked up at her she looked a little bit sad which made me stop fiddling with my claws for a few seconds.

When I was done explaining she slowly and lightly put a paw on my right shoulder and quietly said" Your safe now young man and may I get your name, my granddaughter walked out and told me you were awake but she didn't say your name."

I scratched the back of my head and said" yeah, sorry my names Alexander and your name miss?" She nodded her head and said" My name is Mary and do you want your clothes Alexander". I felt my fever rise ever so slightly and I quickly responded in a slightly panicked voice" Yes please and um can I get the rest of my items?"

Mary sighed and responded with a quiet tone" I'm sorry but we can only get you your clothes, due to the suspicious items you carry and current events." I looked at her for a few seconds and felt a sense of dread slowly creep over my like sickly black sludge. "Please don't panic its only a precaution that will last until the rest of the village can trust you." I looked up to see her moving back to the door though she didn't seem scared of me. But I still felt that feeling burrowing deeper inside of me.

I heard Mary say" I will be back later, If you need anything knock on the door and my granddaughter can help you." I looked at her with a panicking face and she responded" Don't panic young man your safe in this house." And before I could say anything she closed the door and I was alone with my thoughts.

I looked back at my claws and noticed they were shaking more. I didn't know where I was and now I was in a town that was suspicious of my existence. I knew signing up for the army was a horrible idea, so why did I join the worst mistake in my entire miserable existence. Also why did I act like that in front of that girl, It felt so weird.

Its just my imagination or the traumatic dream and possibly the fact that I haven't seen a girl in about three months. Yeah it has to be all that, nothing else, it cant be else. I spotted my goggles that I dropped under the covers and I quickly grabbed them as I turned to stare at the corner. I tightened my grip on my goggles and curled deeper into the corner, I didn't want to deal with everything right now, so I stayed there keeping my goggles close and my head on the ground.

Author's Note

During world war one women played the role of nurses and factory workers, not as soldiers unless you count that one all female Russia had but then got disbanded due to them leaving world war 1 and having a revolution. The gryphon empire is suppose to be based on Austria Hungary and Germany.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and to that one person who sent me a message, thanks.

Chapter 5 A different morning

The world around me was pitch black and stayed that way until I wake up from the silent, dark and rank smelling hell hole that was called my dreams. The blankets I went to sleep with felt comfortable and warm before sleep grips me and drags me down into my now twisted nightmares, where the blanket was cold, and wet with an unknown substance, I never dared put it in my mouth. It could be water, blood, piss, or oil, whatever was soaking the blanket was also all around the floor whenever I dared to touch the squishy, freezing floor.

I spoke "Why the hell is every night I'm here in the middle of a nightmare". I haven't talked to the old lady about the nightmares or at least describing them, I merely mention the fact that I had one, she asks me what it's about and I merely feign it off as nothing you should worry about. I'm... I need some help, I can't just continue trying to figure out why I'm having this fucking nightmare in this goddam never ending darkness. "Fuck this place"! I shouted into the darkness and the nightmare continued to stay the same. I closed my eyes and finally felt warmth surround me.

I opened my eyes to see the leg's of the table that help my goggle's and a wooden cup of water. I felt warm and sticky with sweat, as I picked myself up to grab the water. I drank the water quickly, letting it parch my dry throat.

I put the now empty cup on the table with my shaking claws and sat down on the blanket, I lied my head on the on the wall and focused on trying to calm my heavy breathing and shaking. Every time since the first day I have had that nightmare and always woke up shaking incessantly, and I'm breathing similar to a goldfish out of water, or a man that got saved from drowning.

I muttered "This is getting annoying, having to calm my body every morning like I'm a broken wreck". Why should I be broken then I just touched a poisonous flower, why am I shaking for no reason. "I said stop shaking"! and I slammed both my claws on the wooden wall next to me. both of the made a loud hollow bang and now were throbbing with pain, shooting up my arm and into my spine.

Shortly after I smacked my claws on the wall I heard the door move and Lisa's annoyed voice came shortly after "It's about time you woke up, you dressed?" I said to Lisa "I'm always dressed, I've been dressed since I got my shirt back two days ago." I'm paranoid and nervous around her and she can enter the room whenever she pleases. It was clear that there was a difference in modesty, I haven't been shirtless in front of a woman other than my mother and that is very different compared to this girl that might be around my age. It could have been so much worse though, If I was completely naked for whatever reason I probably would have attempted suicide and my face might have changed colors, and all my feathers along with it, permanently.

"Did you listen to anything I just said"! I looked up from my claw's to see Lisa in her Dark blue dress and oddly enough pinching her nose. I asked "Why are you pinching your nose"? "because you smell worse than rotting wood". I haven't bathed in three days and I'm waking up like someone who's haunted, of course I should smell like shit.

I heard a sigh come from Lisa "The plan is to show you around town, though bathing you is much more pressing now." "Do I smell that bad?" I figured I would smell a little rank but she look's pretty sick. Next thing I know she exits the room in a hurry with a sick look on her face. I heard her say shortly after leaving the room "I'm going to draw a bath, can't stand that stench." Well that ended quickly, not very different from our previous conversations. but, why is she going to show me around town.

After a unknown Amount of time, I heard Lisa knock on the door and say "It's ready now, get out feather head." I slid the door open to see Lisa again pinching her nose I said" Can you please stop calling me feather head." As I walked down the hall a few feet and stopped in front of a sliding door. "Ok what about shake for brain." I sighed and opened the door to see a wooden tub filled with warm water and multiple bottles of liquids on a shelve to the right of it.

I began to close the door only for it to stop, I turned around only to see Lisa in the doorway. I asked "what are you doing?" She responded "I have been told to keep an eye on you and you need to take a bath so." I reacted by trying to push her out of the door way and after a few moments she gave and was in the hall. But before I closed The door I was slapped in the face. I opened my eyes while rubbing my left cheek only to see Lisa covering her chest. "What the hells wrong with you!" I heard Lisa say before she ran down the hall and ran around a corner. I said "Wait, I'm... Just wait until I'm done."

I felt sorry as I closed the door, undressed, and got into the warm bath. I didn't mean to touch her there of all places, I just wanted her out of the room. I sank deeper into the water and looked at my claws, they still shook albeit now it was tiny nearly undetectable twitches. At least that calmed me down.

I grabbed one of the bottle's and sniffed to smell a sweet but not overpowering scent, It reminded me of fall when the leaves turn golden and everything starts wilting to prepare for a harsh and unforgiving winter. yeah, I will use this, it smells so pleasant.

After I tried my best to dry off I put my clothes back on top of my damp fur and feathers. I opened the sliding door to see... no one in sight. I called "Lisa where did you go." After a few moments I heard Lisa call back "I'm down the hall you Idiot!" I could feel anger coming from her voice though when I walked into the much bigger room she had her back to me while sitting on a step in front of a wooden door.

I looked to her right and saw my black boots sitting on the stone floor in front of the door. I slowly went to pick up the shoes only for Lisa to grab and practically crushing my right claw say slowly "No boots on wooden flooring." She then let my claw go and I dropped the boots on the stone, sat down on the step and slowly put the black boots on.

After a long awkward silence I spoke "So what are we doing today?" I heard her mutter "Not even going to apologize, typical soldier boy." I responded "I didn't think It would have been good to mention that accident immediately." She then hit my left arm making me groan while she said " Girls like to hear apologies so apologize now!" "Ok, ok I'm sorry for touching you there ok, but please stop doing stuff like that." She turned toward me with her arms crossed and A particularly scary face and said "And what stuff are you talking about feather brains?" I avoided looking at her as I spoke quickly " you are always trying to look at me, and yes I know you need to watch me but you always watch me, when I go to the bathroom and especially when I'm eating you never stop staring at me and it's getting very unnerving." She muttered "I haven't been doing that." I responded "Well you have and I have been noticing the door being cracked every night when I'm trying to sleep."

She sighed, looked at her lap and said "Can you just drop it, we need to get going." She then stood up and began to open the door. I said "Fine, I just felt like it needed to be said." She then fully opened the door to see the sun fully out and other colorful wooden buildings.

I hope she stops peeking through the crack at the very least.

Author's Note

This took seven pages from my notebook, I didn't expect it to be less than 2,000 words.

This chapter was originally suppose to be the entire morning and subsequent day but it has been a few months since i updated everything. I didnt even do the yearly anniversary blog post. I'm updating merchants next so hopefully i stay on top of that.