Chapter 11: Unknown Soldier.
#11 of Caught Up in the Moment/But not in the Right Way.(INCOMPLETE)
Stupid disclaimer thingy~ Ya adult content blah blah blah. If you read this and your not old enough. try not to get caught. if you aren't held back by any of those silly laws then your good too. Also... M/M Here, so... Not your bag? Then exit now. Otherwise Enjoy!
***
~{I don't know how to explain, in words, the rip I felt in my chest that day. It was a little like all heat I knew went to my foot-paws, and then eventually expelled out of them spilling through the floor.
Everything, black and white, leaving me with all I could feel... nothing; a central numbness that ached through my limbs like poison. My heart stopped beating, my blood flow ceased, and all I could think about that whole time, while the three of them just stared at me was "Is this was it feels like to be dead?"
We ended up staying in that cave for quite a while, from what I can remember, and all Angela could complain about was how cold it was. It started raining really hard, and all I could think about was how Hudson saved us on the ship. That ship that started it all. But he was gone, and all I had left was my best friend, a spoiled brat, and a last of its kind. I wanted to go home, and for the first time since I could remember... I was thinking about my parents.
A supreme thought of guilt rose within me that made me afraid to leave that place, even though it scared the shit out of me at night. If I had one wish... It would have been to go home...}~
Wyler woke with an ache he had been feeling since he'd arrived. That dull
thud that echoed through his stomach: Hunger. He ignored it as best as he
could, devoting all his mental energy to the one he lost, but the weakness in his
limbs was catching up to him.
Finally one mid-morning--
~{Actually I take that back. If I had one wish, right then and there, it would have been to save Hudson and take him home with me... Yeah. That's what I would have wished. Kay sorry... Keep going.}~
Finally one mid-morning, Wyler woke up to a rubbing on his shoulder. A single
crack formed along his eyelids as he parted them slowly, revealing something he
would never have expected to be floating in his face.
"A CHEESEBURGER?!" He shouted out loud, ripping the thing from Angela's
paws before she had the chance to snatch it.
"Well there goes my fun," She sighed, watching the mutt devour the morsel in
three seconds, licking his fingers afterward to get every single taste.
"You seemed like you were hungry," Jasey smiled, sitting next to Charles, who
both ate what they had picked up in town earlier that morning: the wolf, a slice
of pizza, the griffon, a pound of raw meat.
"Yeah," Angela chimed in. "You're stomach was keeping us up all night."
Wyler's ears folded. "I'm sorry about that..."
"Don't be sorry?" Said Charles in-between beak-fulls of juicy, gushing steak.
"Out of all of us, you've been the strongest, fair fellow."
"We know losing Hudson was hard," Jasey said. "Nothing could have been done
to save him. You shouldn't blame yourself, ya know?"
"Jasey's right," Angela cut in. "I mean, he was there after-all. If he could have
done something, he would have." She put her arm on Wyler's who didn't look up
from the gray stone of the cave-floor. "You know that."
"I know that," Wyler repeated. He took a deep breath and looked up. "I guess
we've been here long enough..."
"Agreed," Charles whistled, looking about the place. His wings ruffled a little as
it echoed through the cave, reverberating off the walls into the very stomach of
the cavern. "I guess our next stop'd be Winglink then, eh?"
"Winglink?" The three looked at him, each displaying their own version of
"Wtf?" on their faces.
"You three have never heard of Winglink?" Charles took a step back like they
were monsters. "Ya know? The big round disk in the sky?"
"The... sun?" Angela raised her eyebrow.
"No you twits?!" Charles laughed. "It's the biggest air fortress this side of the
reef!"
"And how do you expect us to get in there?" Asked Jasey.
"I'm best mates with the captain," The griffin almost blushed. "A feisty one she
is! You'd get along with her real well, Angela."
"Why...?" Wyler asked.
"Because they're both--" Charles started before being cut off again.
"No," Wyler said. "Why do we need to go there?" His tone was harsh like ice
water. The type that, if drunk to fast, makes your teeth feel like their being ripped
from your skull. "Why do we need to go to this fortress..."
"Mate," The griffin chuckled. "Did ya not see the crazy, sword wieldin', torch
brandishing mob that chased us a while ago? They're still up there lookin'." He
pointed a talon to the ceiling
"I don't want to be here when they figure out a way down," Jasey said, looking
to Wyler. "I think it's a good idea. If he's as close to the captain as he says he is,
then that guarantees a couple free meals and fresh sheets to sleep in."
"That's the least of what we'd get, mate," Charles replied. He looked to Wyler.
"Whaddya say?"
A silence loomed around as the mutt thought it over. He sighed and looked up
to everyone gazing. Jasey=Sincere, Charles=Curious, and Angela=GTFO...
"Why should he get to decide?" The raccoon finally dropped it. "I mean Jasey
and I want to go. If he doesn't want to follow then fuck--" She felt a paw on her
shoulder and turned. There Wyler was, holding the map.
"You aren't ditching me," He said.
"You little cabbage-thief!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, leaving ringing
in everyone's ears from the echo. Jasey turned to Wyler, who both turned to look
at Charles.
"Cabbage Thief?"
"It's what my dad always called me when I took money from his wallet..."
Angela sighed, taking a last swipe at the map before Wyler deposited it in his
cargo pocket.
"Before we go I want to at least look for him," Wyler growled, making sure the
point that he was serious come through loud and clear. "I can't rest until I know--"
"You've been resting in this cave for the past week!" Angela shouted. "Besides
nobody could have survived that fall."
"She's right," Jasey said. "As much as it pains me to say this... He's gone Wyler."
"I..." Wyler murmured, not sure if flashbacks had begun covering his vision, or if
he was just lightheaded from dehydration. "I..."
Everyone waited for his response.
"I know!" And as soon as he said it, his face erupted into a torrent of tears that
streamed down his cheeks, matting the fur under his eyes.
"Oh..." Jasey said, moving closer, wrapping his arms around his best friend. "It's
okay Wyler... I really feel for you... Shhh..." He began rocking the mutt back and
forth as he cried on his chest, dampening his shirt with tears of sorrow.
It was like a blanket had been thrown over his head as he was lead to and fro,
back and forth. His eyes clenched hard as he took in a scent unfamiliar to him.
Usually it smelled like Hudson when he was like this; a muddle of nice feelings
and solitude, rolled with the spice of sincerity and happiness. Now it smelled
harder, bolder, and dangerous, like he was teetering on the edge of a knife. It
was odd... and yet inviting, like he had been here before.
That's when old feelings rose again, making this new sensation feel like home
as he thanked God (or whoever) that he was finally here. He had waited so
long... and yet...
"As soon as the baby gets cleaned up, can we go?" Angela cut in. She moved
over to Charles, who followed her with his head. "Seriously, I'm getting hungry
again, and I would really like to shower for once in this god damn story..."
"We can go now..." Wyler whispered.
"You sure?" Jasey asked, looking him in the eye.
"Yeah," The mutt replied. "That's almost what I needed."
***
"Fuck!" Came the howl. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!?!" The brandish-white tent
shuddered under the flailing, waking everybody from their slumber.
"Boss?!" The jackal, known as Slit from... past experiences, ripped his way
through the tent's opening. A move that almost landed an empty whiskey bottle
right smack dab in his muzzle. The glass on the floor threatened to cut through
his thin leather boots as he watched the Shepherd pace, feet cut to lashes.
"Slit," He growled, eyeing the new intruder, and then to the circle of blood he
had formed himself. "What did I tell you? What did I tell everyone else?"
Slit fell silent with a feeling like he was sinking. Down into the pits of hell that
were the eyes of Captain Agnus. "Ummm... sir?"
"I told you to never enter, didn't I...?"
"Yes... Sir..."
"THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!?"
"I've come to tell you the status of recruitment, sir," Slit's eyes wandered. The
desk they had lugged for him had been broken, the box of ail, shattered. The
only things that remained untouched were his boxes of whiskey.
"It BETTER be good." He accented 'better' with another smash of a bottle.
"It is, sir," Slit ventured a smug smile. His eye patch rose slightly, almost
revealing his first battle scar. "We've twenty new men, strong and ready. They
want to fight for a cause... Any cause. Brainless fucks they are."
"What do they know?"
"Not a thing. It's like they were bred to be brainless. None can read or write, but
somehow know the use of a club or broken bottle."
"Ruffians, then..."
"That's putting it lightly."
"Get out, Slit..." Agnus growled. "Leave me to my whiskey."
"I have one more thing," The jackal smiled. "Hopefully they'll peak your
interest." He gave a whistle from his teeth, calling in two overly muscled mice. In
each of their humongous paws... lay a woman. Two in total, a thin panther and
a beautiful crane, both naked and stripped of everything.
Agnus's eyes twinkled as he felt something. The burning of the glass in his feet
and a tightness in his trousers. "Ah yes." He growled, smiling sinister. "Sins of the
flesh. LEAVE ME NOW!"
The girls had chains around their necks and feet, which was enough to force
them from running. As the jackal and the mice buttoned the flap neither seemed
shaken, nor terrified when the Captain pulled the knife from the drawer of the
broken desk.
"Either of you ever wanted a tattoo??" He asked them.
It was then, and only then, that a haunting laughter rose from the tent.
Nobody even second guessed the screaming.
***
Winglink was created about seventeen years ago by a rouge soldier/mercenary
who had escaped the war. He had been deported out of every place he went, so
as a result he built a massive, copper-colored, mega-ton disk that floated using
cooling jets and Ionic gel. All the while, he met up with a lass, had two kits, and
ended up dying two weeks before the initial launch.
His name was Pratchet Foster, and his face was currently being eyed at
between the picture frame that held it.
Josey Foster was a panther, black as night. She reigned as captain of this ship
and her silvery grey eyes sparkled as she lost herself in her one and only memory
of her father. Something about a baby carriage and a pound of ice cream... she
couldn't recall it well, but she remembered being very cold.
"Cap'n," Came the call through her door. It was her brother, another panther by
the name of Shiver. His real name was Snow, named after the output the ship
gave off, and was almost pure white if it weren't for the hairline black stripes that
rippled at random throughout his back.
"Bro," She said. "You don't have to be so serious, kay?"
"Sorry if I like to keep a certain episode of formality on board, sis," Shiver
chuckled. "What are you doing in here anyway? You should be in the evergreen
wing. Jody is having her litter, remember?"
"How could I forget?" Josey chuckled. "That bitch thinks she can steal my
thunder every chance she gets."
"Is that what it is?" Shiver chuckled, moving in closer to put a paw on his sister's
shoulder. "Or are you in here thinking of dad again..."
Josey sighed. The hair on her head rippled as she fought off a sudden urge to
break down on her brother's shoulder. "It's not fair, Shiv. It really isn't..." She
pounded her desk to release her rage. "He had to go and be a freaking hero.
Saving the life of--"
"You?" Shiver finished the sentence for her before taking her in his arms. "You
can't blame him for saving his child."
"I would have been fine."
"You would have been dead..."
Josey looked at him with accusing eyes before pushing him away. "Don't you
have work to be doing? I mean really, I have a whole bunch of captain stuff to
do in here."
"We have company, ya know?" Shiver said as he turned. "The winged one says
he knows you."
"What winged one?" Josey suddenly tensed as she tried remembering.
"He's bizarre," Shiver replied before heading out the door. "The other three
seem harmless, although one has very strange fur..." And with that the door
closed and buzzed behind him.
The lady pather just sat down in her desk chair, going through transcripts and
formal proposals, trying to regain every bit of elegant composure and grace
before dealing with misfits.
"There's no input on someone landing today?" She licked her paws, slicked her
hair back, felt it fall exactly into place again, and then sighed. "I wonder..." She
then shook her head. "Nahh.."
***
"Behold!" Charles motion with his talons. "Winglink!"
It took almost three hours to find the place, but as soon as they landed it all
became worth it. Jasey clung to Wyler as Angela slipped off Charles' back,
falling like liquid down on all fours.
Wyler's mouth hung open as he panted, his bristling brown fur waving in the
wind as he took in everything. Copper-coated domes hung on top of each other
with glass shining the rays of sun everywhere. Mist enveloped the cold copper
floor and rippled as they walked forward, leaving all left outside to listen to the
sound of the clouds and the singing of the jets as they expelled snow towards the
surface below.
"Wow..." Wyler thought as he took in the odd scent of... "Damnit.. Ionic gel..
everywhere..." And that's what reminded him of Hudson, once again.
"Wyler?" Jasey shook. "How high do you think we are...?"
"I dunno," Wyler said, pushing him off. "You'd probably die if you walked off
the edge though."
"Note to self," Angela chuckled as she fumbled with the floating mist. "Do NOT
let the mutt go anywhere near--"
"Oh shit, I knew it." It was a feminine voice, like tinkling crystal. Every head
turned as a panther walked as if on a cloud towards them. She stopped as her
blue trench coat twittered slightly and placed a paw on her hip.
"Who's that--" Jasey whispered.
"Josey!" Charles erupted. "How are you, my dear?! I haven't seen you since you
were this tall!" He gave her about a 3 foot mark with his paw and enveloped her
in a hug, which she reluctantly returned.
"I met you when I was twenty, Charles.." She couldn't help but give a smile.
"Still your bubbly self I see?"
"And your still cold and emotionally withdrawn," The griffin replied, although
happily. "I'd like to introduce you to," He turned and pointed a talon in turn.
"Jasey the wolf, Angela the raccoon, and Wyler the--" He paused.
"Mutt," Wyler barked. "I'm a mutt." His ears peeled back Angela and Jasey
looked to him.
"So nice to meet you all," Josey broke the silence a moment later. "You aren't
planning on staying here, are you?"
"Why else would I arrive, my sweet?" Charles chuckled. "These three need
some TLC. They've had sort of a rough journey. Especially depresso-ball over
there."
"I have a couple free beds," Josey said. "But Charles, for you I must deny it."
"I bet I could change your mind," Charles growled playfully.
Josey purred before turning. "Actually you're almost just in time for tea. As for
those three, they can... Explore I guess? We have much to catch up on, my dear
friend."
The mist enveloped them as they walked, leaving the three alone and
confused.
"Shall we then?" Angela ventured. "She said we could explore, right?"
"I guess..."
"Might as well?"
"Off we go then!"
***
"My back aches..." He thought. The dalmatian lay in a tiny pile by something
warm on his back. He had been curled up like that for about seven hours, not
moving an inch. "What's going on...? Where am I?" All these questions piled up
in his head, nagging him to just open his eyes and look.
*I've loathed you... Ever since you got jealous when I hugged him. Ever
since... you... took him away from me...*
His eyes creeked open as everything began to focus. Shining bits of glare
tinkled in his view, waving slightly with the wind. He tried to sit up, but there was
no point. Something inside kept him from rising. All he could hear was that
haunting voice. He never saw it coming...
There was glass. No. What seemed like crystal everywhere. It was unbelievable
how everything shined. The leaves, the tree-trunks. Even the soil seemed to
glitter.
"Ugh..." He groaned, finally lifting himself on his elbow. Every place, every
limb shot with a sort of pressure that made him grit his teeth as his eyes watered.
He wanted to bawl everywhere. He wanted to... Suddenly it hit him "Wyler..."
Everything flooded. The past week came back to him in a single bound. Those
glaring crystalline eyes, grinning with murder. He was on the cliff again. Over
and over he felt himself fall. Eternity passed.
The next thing Hudson realized, sun was in his face, biting his eyelids open. It
came in like a dagger, making him squint until he focused. The crystal was
brighter than ever.
"He's up," Someone whispered. It made the dalmatian jump as he tried his
hardest to roll over.
"Don't wake him," Another whisper. "He's had a rough--"
"Wake him?" The other cut in. "I believe I just SAID he's up? He's already--"
"SHHH!"
Hudson sat up. A task that made his eyeballs bulge, and once he looked
behind, he was greeted by a fire, a young lemur and a Tommy-cat, also looking
youthful.
"Crap now look what ya did!" The cat shouted. "He's up! Thanks a lot!"
"If you hadn't of been talking!" The lemur replied. "Maybe--"
"Would both of you quiet down," A voice, deep as bark, rang from the bush.
The cellophane leaves twisted and stretched, convulsing as they were pushed
aside, and there in the dawning light emerged a body full of stripes and scars.
"Trusser!" The two giggled like school-pups. "Did you bring food!?" They got
up, ran, and bounced in front of him. He glanced towards Hudson and smirked. "I
brought water and meat. Dig in."
The dalmatian sat there, wide-eyed at the ghost. The man he had left behind,
once again returning with the same gaze. Strong. It pierced and ripped at his
vocal chords as a freeze kept his joints from giving weigh.
"Hungry, bud?" Trusser offered Hudson a piece of flesh. It sat in his paw, red
and raw.
"Cook?" Was all Hudson could reply with. The phantom chuckled as he threw it
up and caught it again.
"Is that big enough for ya?" The tiger replied. "I could rip off--"
"I can't believe you're here..." Hudson said. "I left you... and you--"
"Saved you?" Trusser replied. "I owed it to your mother, okay? Now, the piece?"
"But--" Hudson stammered on. He was cut off by Trusser's gaze towards the kin
bouncing around the water jug.
"They don't know, okay?" He whispered.
"Don't know what?" Shouted the lemur.
"Yeah!" The cat pulled in. "What?"
Trusser sighed, leering towards the dalmatian before smiling.
"How..." He said, taken aback. "How I got this food, ya know?"
"How, Truss?" They chimed together like pups do. "How!?"
"That's a story for another day," The tiger said with a clear throat. "Give me
your pieces."
The two handed over the chunks they ripped, laughing as Trusser tossed them
into the pan over the fire. "Yayy!" They cried over the sizzling.
Hudson just sat there watching the flames lick the metal, shuddering once he
felt the paw on his shoulder.
"Look," The tiger whispered. "I'll explain everything tonight, okay? You need a
bunch of rest."
"I never saw you as the parenting type,' Hudson let out a laugh, still eyeing the
flame. Regretting the fact that he simply felt nothing from it, and at the moment
he realized how numb he was.
"Do you know where Wyler is..." He ventured. No hope for a good answer.
"No," Trusser replied. He growled a sec before continuing. "I think you should
lie back down, boy."
Hudson shrugged. "You're probably right." He eased, listening to the fireworks
in his limbs.
The last thing that hung in the air was giggles, a faint aroma of burning, and a
new side of Trusser Hudson never thought existed.
And then... Pain.
***
Something shot him. His body flung up in response. It hit him in his chest.
"What the hell was that?" Angela said.
The three had found Winglink's version of a mall food court. Everything was
free, cooked and ready to go, freshly sealed within those bronze and copper
walls. They sat across from each other three ways and now Wyler's food was
everywhere, littering the table like fallen soldiers.
"I don't know," Wyler coughed. "I felt something sharp in my chest."
"Heartburn?" Jasey chuckled as he picked at his steak. His delicious steak
"I've never felt heartburn like this," Wyler said. His paw gripped his chest,
grabbed at his shirt. It wouldn't stop. "It's like someone's paw's there." He gasped.
"Grabbing at my... heart."
"Oh give me a break," Angela rolled her eyes. "Maybe you're having a heart
attack, eh?" She stuffed more salad into her face.
"Oh my god..." The mutt thought. "It's like a black hole... My chest is
collapsing...!"
And just as simply as it came, it simply went. Everything was fine. Crisis
averted.
Wyler sat there a second, bracing for the feeling to return. He stared off into
the abyss of his knees, his brown coffee fur poking out of the holes in his pants.
Nothing came, nothing went. It was oddly silent as his eyes stayed plate-open.
"See?' Jasey said. "Just heartburn." He turned to Angela. "Like I Said!"
"Or a heart attack," Angela growled. "He could be dyeing right now. And all
you can do is eat your fatty steak and talk about heartburn fantasies!"
"Guys," Wyler said, holding up his paw. They both looked as he tried to crack a
smile. Mostly from embarrassment. "I'm not hungry anymore."
"That's amazing," Angela rolled her eyes. "Please Wyler! Update us more shall
you!?"
"Angela," Jasey growled. "You've been bitchy ever since you got here. What's
your problem..."
"Nothing, okay?" Angela crossed her arms. "Freaking nothing. Eat your fatty
steak."
"Nothing?" Wyler said. "Or something?"
"Nothing."
"I smell something?"
"Bullshit?"
"UGH!" Angela threw her dressing covered fork. "Get over yourselves, okay?! It's
none of your business!"
"None?" Wyler couldn't help but smile. "Or all?"
"SHUT UP!" The raccoon shouted. "I'LL FREAKING KILL YOU!"
"One more time," Wyler thought to himself as he snickered. "Kill...? Or let
live...?"
"THAT'S IT!"
The enraged Angela rose with such force, her thighs rammed the table,
sending the food, plates, and silverware up skyward. She reached for an
air-handle, steadying herself with balance alone as she began focusing all her
momentum forward, towards the two that already sky-shot themselves the
completely opposite direction.
"Come here!" Was her war cry, turning head in every direction. The young, the
old, the weak, the strong. Nobody could stop the unstoppable force.
Suddenly, just as the two barely kept their lead in a glass corridor a hundred
feet tall, the captain, Josey, and Charles walked into view. They snickered,
sipped tea, and walked along holding tiny teacups.
"Charles!" Wyler shouted, grabbing the air in front to make him go faster. His
paws met feathers as he swooped around on his back. "Go! Fly! She's fucking
INSANE!"
The griffin looked around, bewildered as Jasey tried to get him to grip his
shoulders with his now apparently free claws.
"Go! Go! Go!"
But the tornado miraculously subsided. Its whirlwind fell to nothing more than
a timid walk through velvet red carpet as a small racoon-lass made her was with
the most innocent look Wyler ever saw.
"Angela," Charles grunted. "What the hell's going on?"
"Nothing," The raccoon replied. Her paws twitched together like magnets as
she talked. "These boys are just man-crazy, ya know?" She smiled. "So what did
you and Joley do?"
"Josey?" The captain stepped in. Her liquid-like movement moved the empty
teacup from her now quenched lips to her side. "And you will address me as
Captain, lass, while you're aboard my vessel."
Angela turned her cheek. "So did you guys DO anything?" She tweaked her
face, making everyone uncomfortable.
"Excuse... me?" Charles replied.
"Ya know," Angela prodded. "When you were--"
"This is ridiculous," Josey stopped her. "Charles, let's go."
"Okie," The griffin replied. "I'll see you three later, mhm?
"Yep!" Wyler tipped an imaginary hat.
"Bye!" Jasey said with a smile.
"Ugh... bitch..." Angela muttered under her breath.
She turned to the two who stood there, star-struck.
"Ummm... What?"
***
(8)It only hurts just once, They're only broken bones...
Hide the hate inside... Oh...
Show me what it's like, to dream in black and white.
So I can leave this world... tonight.(8)
"Unknown Soldier"
-Breaking Benjamin
***
There ya go, friends. Part 11. I admit it. I had missed posting soooo freaking much. The thrill of writing. Stupid university...
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. I was going to post it at 11:59, but thought "Hey i'm too damn impatient.
Next will come out as soon as i can whip it up. No idea when that'll be, but i'll try to get out asap, kay?
Love from your author.
=Pup