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.