7Damaged Knight Remastered 2
Troubled Past, Uncertain Future
A small fire crackled from the center of our small congregation as we all sat there, eating our individual meals in the cover of the Matlida's hull. While I ate away at the gruel that made up my meal, Fate and the three wolves I had yet to learn the names of conversed quietly in a language that I didn't understand. After years of war, I had learned the difference to tell the difference between German and Russian so that I could tell the difference between enemies and friendly forces. The way their words seemed to flow was much smoother than French, and it had a pleasant tune to it. Syllables and words that I couldn't make heads or tails of danced from their muzzles, and I let my mind wander as I sat there.
My thoughts were dragged from darker places as Fate seemingly materialized beside me, and as she sidled up next to me, she reached her hand out. I looked down and in her claws was a chunk of bread, pieces of grain still very much visible. I looked back up towards her and asked, "What is this for?"
She nodded her muzzle downwards and replied, "A trade." I felt my eyebrow arch on its own accord as I looked down between the bread and my bowl of gruel.
Looking back up at her, I answered a bit dryly, "Doesn't sound much like a fair trade."
Her smile faltered for just a moment, "I wish only for a bite or two then. I only want to see what your food tastes like."
It took me a few moments of debate, before I shrugged and held the bowl out to her, more curious to see her reaction than to eat a piece of farmers meal. If she wanted to soil her tongue with what the military considered proper rations, I wasn't going to be the man to stop her. When she took the bowl from my hand, she placed the bread into my hands. I smiled as I tore a small piece off and placed it into my mouth, chewing as I watched her lift the bowl under her muzzle.
I was worried, but curious to see if she really was going to lap it up like a dog. But as any civilized person, she used the spoon instead. It was with a bit of dismay that I realized, when she inevitably hands me back my food, I will be using the same spoon. It was a bit of oversight on my part, but I've had to literally eat sand before... I'd live.
As the head of the spoon dipped down and disappeared into her muzzle, her eyes locked onto my own. Questioning, indecisive, and something else flashed behind her eyes. She pulled the spoon from her muzzle, and this time I saw the expected response to eating something unappetizing.
Her ears flared out to the side as her eyes widened in disgust and panic, her muzzle turned to the side as she spat out the rather bland concoction. I pushed the bread into the hand that was hovering just below her muzzle, knowing she was going to need it more than me by this point. And even as a low chuckle left my lips, I muttered quietly, "Sorry darlin', but it is an acquired taste..."
Her expression was bemused, her cheeks colored with either shame or embarrassment, but she did take a bite out of the bread I gave back. She walked to the other side of me, and as I followed her with my eyes, I managed to catch her three companions discretely but obviously watching us closely. My trained eye managed to see the hostility and their guarded stances; a shred of knowledge you learned quickly in war when you spoke the enemies language.
Fate sat down beside me, and she produced a small package that turned out to be slips of dried and preserved meats from her jackets interior. As she huffed to herself, I heard her gag as I myself pointedly slurped the soup. I felt a bit of humor returning to my cold world.
"How can you eat that stuff...?"
The way she said it, disbelieving that I was continuing to eat my meal, darkened my world once again. It was exactly what Steven had said when we first reached the African theatre of war, and the thought of Steven reminded me exactly how he had died.
Taking another sip of the watery and chunky mixture, I lowered my gaze to my meal as I swallowed after some chewing. Despite the initial disgust, with some salt, the dehydrated vegetables did make a rather appetizing meal.
Lots of salt...
"It's not as bad as it seems... just takes time." I responded gruffly.
She scoffed as she tore a piece of meat free, and she sounded a little silent, almost like she herself was being drowned in bad memories, past or present. "I was once in a Templar prison encampment. They feed Keidran horribly, but even that tastes many times better than your soup."
"Templars?" I felt my breath get hitched in my throat at the word. Suddenly the rogue thought of teleportation switching to time travel, both more outlandish than the other.
"Yes. Are they enemies of yours as well...?" She almost sounded... hopeful.
"That is... yet to be found out." I lowered my soup, briefly debating on what to divulge what I know. The Templar were active centuries ago and disbanded centuries ago. The fact that she knew about, and spoke about them in a not so distance past tense is what put me on edge.
"What do you mean?"
"Well." Deciding to play it safe, I chose a different answer, "I have yet to meet one, so I have yet to know if they are hostile towards me or not. I will wait and s-" I paused, my mind moving past the fact there were Templars here. I looked towards Fate, and more of stated than asked, "Prison camp? Why were you there?"
She seemed to flinch, as if suddenly struck. Her gaze hardened as her teeth bared slightly from under her lips. A chill ran down my spine, and it wasn't from wind chill. I suddenly felt myself regretting the fact that I left any kind of weaponry inside the tank.
"The Templar don't view the lives of Keidran that highly. To them, we are only vermin... or slaves." She spoke softly, and I noticed her hand was covering her opposite wrist, thumb rubbing over a single area.
My gaze left her teeth, and as I looked up to her eyes, I saw the tears glistening near the edge of her eyes. It wasn't fear that I now felt concerning this wolf... rather, I felt remorseful. Here, without even needing to question, I knew the evils of humanity had apparently touched wherever here was.
Without warning, she threw a shred of dried meat away from her and onto the ground, "It should've been clear to me before, you're nothing like them... except for your horrible taste in food." Her lips quirked upwards into a smile, but it didn't last as they fell again into a frown. She seemed to curl in on herself as she brought her knees to her chest, silently chewing on the dried meat.
Heaving a sigh, I placed my bowl of gruel down and leaned back against the gears of my tank. I leaned my head back and looked skyward. I tilted my head to the side towards Fate and muttered, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. Humanity isn't all bad... but there is a lot of evil out there."
Fate gave a laugh that lacked any sort of humor. She spoke softly... bitterly, "It isn't all bad. There are owners that treat Keidran as family members, there are even those that grant us freedom. But for the Templar, it is never enough..."
Turning and looking towards Fate, I see her looking back. She looked as old as I felt as I opened my mouth again, "Where I come from... the entire world is at war. It is called World War two. At the head of it is a human that is exterminating other humans, simply on them being different. Some say he considers these humans inferior... like vermin, and that is why he has them slaughtered like rats." Her eyes widened as I spoke. "Like you said, not all humans are bad, but there are so many more that are indifferent or just plain evil."
Silence prevailed as Fate looked down in thought...
Deciding it was best for her to not dwell on the truly negative aspects of humanity, I chose to restart our earlier conversation. "You asked how can I eat this stuff... well, it helps when it tastes better than what you can cook yourself."
There was a soft titter of laughter from beside me that drew a grin to my lips, before she said, "I doubt anything you cook will taste as... unappetizing... as that stuff."
Shaking my head as my grin widened, I made it a point to look at her in the eye, "I had soup, all you needed to do was heat it up before eating it. When I got done, it tasted like it was burnt." I grabbed the bowl from the ground and shook it in front of me. "This... this is just normally bad."
"Are they all bad? Or did you just get the worst one?" She asked, eyeing the bowl with obvious distaste.
"Hmm? Maybe." I looked at the gruel, before grimacing and dumping it onto the ground on the other side of me. I would clean the bowl before we set off again. "I heard Americans sometimes get chocolate in their meals."
Her muzzle curled in the most interesting way, and yet I was able to see the envious glint in her eyes. And yet it was soon replaced by confusion that she voiced. "What's an American?"
"Eh? Oh, sorry." Leaning forward off the cold, and uncomfortable gears, I folded my hands in my lap and continued, "Americans are citizens of the United States of North America..."
Fate seemed even more confused after I said that, her eyes sparkling with curiosity tilted her head to the side. And it wasn't exactly a surprise when she voiced another question, "Stephen. Where are you from, exactly?"
I simply shrugged my shoulders and said, "In relative to my current position, I do not know. I have no idea how I got here. One moment I was in the bloody desert getting shelled by enemy mortar fire. And the next... well, you know what happened from there."
Her ears fell as she nodded, before she began to speak once more, "Yes, there was a spark of magic in the air before... everything happened. Everything was calm, and then there was explosions, and loud sounds. We had feared the Templar had come and were assaulting the camp, but when we left the village, we saw humans and strange mechanicals." Her voice trailed off, and she ripped another piece of meat off with her muzzle, before asking me softly, "Do you really have no idea how to return?"
"None." I answered simply, watching her chew for a moment. I shook my head and looked away and said, "Before I arrived up north, magic was nothing but an old folk tale. Even I didn't know what a Keidran was until we arrived at the northern village." I looked back over again, looking over her again for what felt like the hundredth time, and still having a hard time fully believing what I was seeing.
Fate stopped chewing, a small grin stretching across her muzzle as she leaned closer and asked quietly, "Is that why you keep staring at me?" Some of the old humor returned to her voice, even if it forced some heat to my cheeks as I looked back at her. If she wanted to play that game, I would happily follow suit then, especially if it kept me from returning to the dark place.
Cracking a grin of my own, I shrugged and answered softly, "It's rare I have something pleasant to look at in the military life, and I do enjoy what I have to look at." It was the truth as well, even if it wasn't for the reason she was trying to heckle me with. She was a bipedal wolf, sure, but her figure was still pleasing to look at. Not only that, but she provided me with a new outlook on the world. Regardless if this was or wasn't my world, her band of Keidran was all the proof I needed to know that I would be seeing more of them, regardless of my current situation...
Fate stammered, clearly not expecting a witty response in return, a pink tint even coloring her cheeks through her fur. "I... t-that... what?"
Her companions started to laugh, before one of them spoke loudly to the others, pointedly looking at Fate. I couldn't understand a single word, or even the intention of their tones, but the others began to laugh harder as the red tinge on her cheeks deepened in color, becoming rosey, her ears splaying to the sides now. I grinned a bit wider, already knowing the major tell these creatures would have if they were all as expressive as Fate.
She growled, grabbing a bunch of snow and forming it into a ball, before chucking it at the one wolf that had first spoken up and shouting back in their own tongue. Despite the ball of snow striking him in the muzzle, they all ontinued to laugh uproariously.
I let loose one final chuckle as Fate turned away, pouting as she continued to blush heavily. I shook my head and said softer, "Yes, Fate, you are attractive, but I wasn't speaking in that regards. Never before has another creature of equal or greater intellect than a human been discovered that we can communicate with... at least where I am from. You can hold a conversation with me, and you have shown to have quick wit and even more than basic intelligence, this is already proof you are smarter than some lads I have known in my past." At this point she was looking back at me, and I cracked a grin and asked, "So, what did they say?"
"It doesn't matter what they said." She said softly. She stood up and dusted off her clothing, before looking at me and holding out a hand and adding, "Walk with me, there are things we need to talk about."
Reaching up, I grabbed onto her hand and forced myself up to my feet. It was clear she wanted to speak with just the two of us, so I held my questions until we were a bit further away.
After we had walked roughly fifteen yards away, she stopped and leaned back against a tree, looking at me. I followed suit and asked, "What is it you wished to talk about?"
"I wanted a chance to speak about us... me and you." She said, her voice quiter than it was before.
"Us?" I asked, unsure of what she was implying exactly. Did she figure we were... together?
"Yes, us," she nodded, eyes falling downwards as she hugged her body, "You are a human, and I am a Keidran. More than that, I am a Lynx Keidran. Here in Mekkah at least, your kind doesn't just enslave my own, but we are hunted, or at least the other races are." I felt my skin and haird bristle at that mention. "I understand that you want to return to your home, but if you don't know of a way to return home, please... please stay with us, with me and keep our village safe." At this point, she had moved away from the tree and was in front of me, her hands having grasped mine.
I felt... stunned to say the least, and she was correct, I had even admitted to not knowing how to return home, much less if there was even a way for me to return home. And it wasn't like I could continue to drive the tank around after escorting Fate and her compatriots home... I would surely run out of fuel sooner rather than later. And that wasn't mentioning if I was potentially ambushed by hostiles first while I slept or was making repairs.
"How do you know those you live with won't simply attack me if I am alone? The wolves at the other village were ready to..."
"That's because I know they won't. Our village is made of humans and Keidran that wish to live together in harmony. But we can always use the help." She bit her lip and added, "The Templar are skilled in magic, but we don't have a way of fighting back when they eventually find us. Many of us will be killed, and those that aren't will be enslaved..."
I squeezed her hands, and asked, "Why not ask surrounding villages to lend help, or to potentially join your cuase?"
"We have, and all have said the same thing, they don't want to risk being found, and trouble finding their village." Her eyes seemed to shimmer with unspent tears, "It was a week long hike to reach that wolf village you appeared at. When I say I had to risk a lot to keep the wolf tribe from killing you, it came down to defending you and letting them do what they wished, or for me to have them spare your life. I... chose to save your life..."
"Im... sorry..." I felt bad... I didn't choose to come here, but even after that fact was done and said, I had apparently still ruined what seemed to be Fate's and her villages last attempt to secure hope for their future. It was a lot to take in, but my mind was already made up. If I couldn't return home, I may as well protect those that I could, and those that deserved it. Fate had risked her own neck to ensure my continued survival, both at expending what little medical supplies they had been able to barter for, as well as a chance at an ally for her cuase.
"Stephen..." she pulled back, hands leaving my own as she grabbed her cloak and slowly pulled it free from her shoulders. "I... I would do anything to have you stay with me, even if it was to keep everyone else safe." I opened my mouth to say something, but she shook her head as she shrugged off her backpack, her head turning to side as a red tinge colored her cheeks again, "Even if it means mating with you... please stay with me."
She began to lift her shirt, revealing soft fur and a slim figure. I felt stunned, and a heat I didn't know I had flushed through my body. I managed to move forward just as the bottom of her shirt lifted to her midrift, and I grabbed her wrists. Her gaze turned to look me in the eyes, and I shook my head and said, "S-Stop!" Her breath came in little puffs, and I sighed as I lowered my head. "You don't have to do that. I... I will accompany you to your village." I pushed her hands down, hearing the fabric rustle as it began to cover her back up. I looked down. "I made up my mind before your... offer. I just needed some time to think about it."
Her cheeks were a bright red at this point, and she ducked in and wrapped her arms around my chest and pulled me into a firm hug. I felt something even pop in my spine from the strength of her hug, and she nuzzled into my neck as she did so. She sighed softly and said just as well, "I... appreciate your consideration. Thank you..."
"Your welcome, Fate." I responded, reaching my arms up and returning the embrace, feeling her body press against my own. I rubbed her back slowly, enjoying the warmth of her body as the cold had started to bite into my body once more.
There was a small scoff, like a single laugh, and she spoke softly, "If... if you ever have second thoughts, the offer still stands." I felt her muzzle shift, before she licked my neck slowly and softly. I felt my pulse quicken at that thought. I tried not to dwell on that thought for too long, however... it was a fight to turn my thoughts elsewhere.
"Fate... on my life, I swear to you, you will never be forced to choose to sacrifice yourself like that." I felt a sigh leave me, pulling her tighter to my body as I added, "I have heard this phrase get tossed about by my allies. 'An eye for an eye'. You saved my life... I suppose it is now my duty to protect yours."
Fate twisted in my hold, but I didn't relent as I held her firmly. I owed her as much. The tank may not be mine in property, but I paid for it with the blood of my friends, as well as my own.
I felt her breath on my neck as she sniffled, and spoke so softly I barely heard her at first, "Thank you..."
A.N: It's slow, but I am trying to get back into the swing of things. If you wish to speak with me directly, feel free to PM me should you wish to join my Discord Server. In the past FF hasn't alerted me to messages, but on Discord, I have it on my phone, and I do receive most alerts that way.
