Whisked Away

Whisked Away: Chapter 12: Rebirth

Felix felt as if he was floating in a void. He was paralyzed. Every movement he attempted ended with no avail. Is this what it feels like to die? He thought. His mind was racing, one again forced to remember his childhood. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted when he heard whispering. He strained to focus on it's location but it seemed to be... Inside his head? "Awaken." The voice said. What's going on? Why can't I see anything? Felix thought frustradedly, struggling to move or even open his eyes.

"Awaken, Felix." The voice repeated, seeming more familiar this time. Felix suddenly felt as if he was falling into the void.

"Awaken......Little.....Brother....." The voice repeated one last time. Ruben? Felix thought desperately.

Suddenly his eyes flew open. He sucked lungful after lungful of cold, clean air, gasping and choking at his sudden revival. He was staring up at the sky, dark and tinged with.... smoke? I'm alive? How? And why did Ruben come to me just then? Felix wondered. He sat up and realised he was fine. His black hoodie no longer ripped, his legs no longer sore, and he definately wasn't dead. But he felt something strange, on his forehead. He reached up and felt along a scar, tracing it's way down across his eye and to the bottom of his chin. Where did this come from? Wait... Wasn't I shot in the forehead. Does that mean...? Felix swallowed nervously. It really happened. He unsteadily stood up, glancing at his surroundings. he was laying in a ditch beside a dirt path. Felix was in the woods that he enjoyed biking through so often. But... The trees were all leafless and looked like they were burnt. Ashes littered the ground, spread by a gentle breeze slinking through the once-beautiful forest. Felix noticed a small note on the ground. A note? Who left that here? He wondered. He slowly picked up the note and read it. On it were four words, written in blood.

Be reborn from ashes.

It was meant for Felix. The only ashes he could find were in the ditch, and near him. Did that mean...?

"Someone or something is assisting my journey." He murmured. He glanced up at the sky again. Smoke was definately pouring from somewhere southwest of his position. Rebirth has been attacked. He realized with a feeling of dread. He ran up to the path, and started to sprint towards the smoke's starting point. He heard a sudden barking start up behind him, and he glanced back to notice a squad of Paladins... With tracking dogs. They let the dogs go, their yelps getting louder as they bolted towards him. Felix sped up, turning to take a less direct route, swerving between the fire-scarred trees and leaping over burnt shrubbery. It was almost like his escape from the cockatrice and his evasion of his first encounter with the ponies. Is there any connection between these events? Felix quickly noted, hearing the barking get quieter as he managed to get partially away from them. They were absolutely lost, judging by how they started letting out frustrated yelps.

Felix had won, but only for now. He continued his way through the forest, slowing down to avoid being caught and spending some time to think. How bad is it? Things had started to go terrible when I... left.... Equestria so abruptly. I hope the ponies and the Princesses are alright. I have to find a way back... Somehow. He stared up into the night sky, the normally vibrant palette disturbed by the vast cloud of smoke collecting. Felix glanced over his shoulder. He could see stars to his north, they weren't being blotted out from his view. One star stuck out more than the others. Polaris- the north star. Felix had never been someone who considered religions as manditory, but he needed strength. His physical strength was adequate enough, his childhood was spent hunting and killing mutant creatures on the outskirts of the cities Rememberance and Rebirth. But all the death and betrayal he had encountered in his life had left his spiritual strength scarred beyond belief. He needed a companion, one that wouldn't die. His memories were dark and unforgiving, so it seemed that Religion would have to do. He sent a silent prayer to God and continued his way along to the city. He found himself feeling better as he quietly scuffled his way through the fallen leaves. What will I do when I finally reach the city? There's not much I can do... I'll have to find a way. I can make a difference. Felix thought determinedly.

As Felix finally reached the outskirts of the city, he made his way into the nearest ruined building. He had to scuffle from building to building to avoid detection. It worked pretty well for him, as he couldn't be found as long as he stayed to the shadows. Looks like wearing black turned out pretty efficient after all. Felix realized as he stayed an invisible shade of black in shadows as a group of Paladins walked past. Still, it was heartbreaking to Felix. The buildings were all either toppled or collapsed, leaving only the bottom floors still standing, but filled with rubble and dust. As Felix made his way through a destroyed house, he found a Large kitchen knife, seeingly unscratched.

It was exactly the same length as the one Chrysalis had given him earlier in his adventure. This can't be coincidence. Felix realized. Sneaking around was also exactly like his first time in Canterlot, and avoiding the guards. But where am I heading anyway? He quickly thought. The sound of a pistol discharging caught his attention. He swiftly made his way out tha back of the house and climbed over the fence. He sneaked to the town square. A quick glance around the corner gave him all the information he needed.

The paladins were holding a public execution.

The commander of the squad was giving the refugees a speech. Just then one of the men who were being held hostage stood up and made a break for it. A clean shot in his forehead stooped him instantly, his body crumpling to the ground. A stroke of anger shot through Felix. I have to do something... But what? He thought. He noticed a member of the squad was isolated from the rest, standing near where Felix was hiding. He had a sudden idea.

He could do something. Felix quietly snuck up behind the soilder, and the Paladin was just a little bit shorter than Felix was. He was maybe two years older, but that didn't matter. Felix quickly wrapped his left arm around the soilder's mouth, pulling him off balance. "gute Nacht." Felix whispered in his ear before stabbing the knife deep into his heart. The soilder stopped thrashing instantly. Felix slowly lowered the soilder's body to the ground and checked his gun. It was the HFR-287 assault rifle. It was more of a submachine gun model, but it was constructed with built-in kinetic shock dampeners, meaning it wouldn't break Felix's arms the instant he shot it. Thanks to the Paladin being about the same size as Felix, the ammo belt and Weapon holster fit perfectly onto his frame, as well as a natural position for the sheathe of the combat knife. He took the one flashbang the soilder had, and he started climbing the destroyed town hall. He made his way to the second floor offices, and he glanced down at the perfect view he had of the entire square. He quickly checked his gun. It had a surpressor and a basic scope. He gripped the flashbang tightly in his hand. Let's just hope they weren't expecting resistance. Felix thought evilly. Another quick glance down assured him he hadn't been seen. He took a deep breath.

"Nos vemos." Felix whispered before pulling the pin and tossing the flashbang into the square below.

A loud bang and some yelling told him he had hit his mark. He quickly popped into the window, and started shooting down at the soilders below. there were about four in the courtyard below, and he disposed of most of them before lowering himself to reload. He popped up one last time and took down the commander of the group, but not before the commander managed to shoot off a few shots of his own gun, harmlessly impacting the sides of the window frame. Felix had won his first firefight, and he felt proud as hell for doing so. He quickly made his way back down to the hostages. There were about ten men and women, and there was about five children. One of them was Alex, another student from his school, and one was a girl that was about five years old. He quickly made his way around, cutting off the bonds that the Paladins had put on them. Soon enough all of the hostages were free, and they wanted to stick with Felix, which wasn't surprising. Sudden movement made Felix spin around quickly, rifle raised. A patrol of Dragoons had arrived at last. He made his way over to them, rifle lowered. "Thank God you arrived so quickly. I wasn't sure where I'd move all these civilians." Felix quickly told them. A group of teenage Dragoons emerged from behind the ranks. They seemed like the commanders of the squad, and they were wearing night-blue armour, quite unlike the black flak vest Felix was wearing. A boy with a heavy scottish accent turned and quickly told Felix "We'll tak' it frae haur." And he continued to the civilians. A girl rolled her eyes and came over to shake his hand. "Don't mind Neil. He's usually callous, but he's a good kid. My name is Azalea." She told Felix. She had visible muscles, and she looked as if she had gone through many years of training. She winced as she saw his face. "Where'd you get that scar?" She asked quietly. She was kind of shy... Felix sighed. "It's a long story." he told her. "And I doubt you'd believe me if I told you."

She shrugged and told him "I guess that'll have to do." She turned her attention to Neil as he approached us. "Let's heed back tae base. They need some shelter." Neil said, signaling to the group of people who were being calmed by the Dragoon soilders. The group made their way to what was left of a church. Felix went into the underground to find a large area and a larger amount of refugees. There was an entire military complex under the church? Felix had always known there was something strange about the way soilders kept showing up during mass. Azalea went with Neil and Felix to a different part of the complex. I guess I've just been immigrated into their group. Felix realized. Azalea took him to a large door with a sign labelled 'Barracks' and pushed it open. "Meet the crew." She told Felix.

She made her way around the small squad, he guessed they were calling themselves. "You've already met me and Neil. I'm the commander, and Neil is the scout. Don't get yourself wrong, he's actually very stealthy, not to mention tactical. Over there is Xavier." She said, pointing to a younger boy, maybe thirteen years old. He looked up and Felix noticed he had a module attached to his face, over his left eye. His eye itself seemed to be missing. He shot Felix a scowl and lowered his head back to the machine he was working on. "He's our engineer and our heavy weapons specialist." Azalea told Felix. "Over there, behind those crates, Is Joseph. He's our feild medic and CQC soilder. He's deadly lethal with a shotgun." A gloved hand raised above the crates and it waved. "Welcome to the Cataphracts." Azalea stated, patting Felix on the shoulder. Felix started to make his may over to Xavier, but a quiet squeak came from behind the crates, where Joseph was. He heard Joseph's deep voice. "Stay still, I need to dress your wounds." he stated softly. Felix moved the HFR-287 into the gun holster on his back and made his way behind the boxes.

What he saw filled him with both joy and dread. A yellow pony was lying on a surgical table, getting a bandage wrapped around her body. Felix could smell the hydrogen peroxide from where he was standing, and he could notice a few bullet wounds along her front leg and her wing. Felix's heart fell as he realised that the pony was Fluttershy. He quickly made his way over to beside the table. Her eyes were closed tight and he could see tears in her eyes. Joseph shot him a look but didn't try to stop him as Felix gently stroked Fluttershy's mane. She slowly squinted her eyes open, before they flew open in shock. "M-mister Felix?" She quietly asked. Felix smiled gently before whispering in her ear. "Go to sleep, I need you to get better. I'll get you home, don't worry. I'll ask you some questions when you heal, alright Flutters?" She slowly nodded and gently closed her eyes. Joseph had watched the whole thing, having already added the bandages. "Do you know this strange thing?" He asked sofly. Felix could tell he's the strong, silent type. Felix slowly nodded. "Some things happened before I came back to... Rebirth. I was teleported to their world-" He said, signaling to Fluttershy. "-and went on some kinds of adventures. I died in their world, and I reawoke where I was originally here, on Earth. What's the date?" Felix asked, wondering. Joseph frowned. "April 17th" He said at last. Felix's eyes opened in shock. "It was September 23rd when I left." He stated bluntly. Suddenly Xavier came out of nowehere and added in. "Oh, you're that Felix. Some 'Felix Phoenix' went missing in September of last year. Alot of people were closer to you than you realize, you know." Xavier told Felix before hopping back down from the crates and heading back to his machine. Felix sighed. "I didn't know anyone cared for me." He stated flatly.

Neil popped around the corner and beckoned to Felix. Felix stood up and made his way over to the soilder. "Ah see yoo've foond uir guest. Let's gie ye yer armoor." He told Felix, before heading to the armory. Felix followed quickly.

The new armour fit like a glove. Felix still had all the other tools he got from the soilder, but they were revamped in Dragoon colors. A golden dragon's head was crested over his heart, the Dragoon's emblem. "What's this armour made of?" Felix asked the scotsman enthusiastically. "Diamond platelets an' carbon fibre." Neil replied. The armour was extremely light. Felix got a better rifle, The LRAR-7, which had improved kinetic shock dampeners in it. They're trusting me pretty well for the newbie. Felix realised as Neil handed him the KASR-11 sniper rifle. Felix holstered both of these weapons and made his way across the room to choose a helmet. It fit perfectly. A retiticle appeared whenever Felix pointed his gun, and he had a small bar on the top left of his visor titled 'Shields' as well as a small radar on the upper right. it was Dragoon technology at it's finest. Paladins weren't nearly as advanced as the Dragoons were, but Dragoons were heavily outnumbered, at least twenty to one.

Felix made his way back to the barracks, leaving his helmet on a small working area that Azalea had given Felix.

Neil was obviously second in command, but Felix knew that the group was somewhat of a democracy, from what Xavier had told him. Xavier wasn't actually that bad, he was just frustraded upon Felix's entry because he was still the youngest in the group.

Xavier was also a Pyromaniac.

Felix knew that he had probably either burnt or blew up many Paladin bases in his time.

Then Felix realised something. The note he had found said 'Be reborn from ashes.' And his last name was Phoenix. Could the note's meaning hold something else entirely in mind?

Felix rose from the crate he was sitting on and made his way over to the sleeping quarters of the barracks. He got the bed on the far left, beside the bed where Flutters was now sleeping peacefully, other than a few twitches now and then. As he lay in his bed, not bothering to take off his armour but seeting his firearms down on the shelf to his right, he continued to ponder what lay in store for him the next day.