*Hello once again. It is yours truly, Victoria. Now I wrote this story about a year ago but I think it's about time I dug it out, polished it, and shared it with you. For all who are wondering who Ashlotte Riley is, she is a character I created because of my love for Call of Duty Modern Warfare. She is Ghost's little sister and Soap's particular love interest! And no, she is nothing like the Ashlotte from Soul Caliber 4! I just think the name is pretty. So please enjoy and tell me what you think of Ash. I truly believe Call of Duty needs a female to keep the men in order ;)*
It was an abnormally hot day up at the small training camp that was located up on the peak of an arid mountain. Usually the heat was bearable, but the sun was merciless today and released its endless wrath upon Task Force 141. The entire Task Force was working hard on developing their skills to aid them in battle. Each soldier was either testing their agility on the numerous obstacle courses, rock climbing by the cliff side, or just simply lifting weights, doing push-ups, the usual. The rigorous training sessions were hard enough, the heat just added to everyone's misery. If you weren't covered in sweat with aching muscles, you weren't working hard enough.
The sun continued to beam down upon the training site, and for a certain female soldier, she just couldn't take the heat. Ashlotte Riley grit her teeth together and clenched her fist, piercing her own skin with her nails. "Grrr…I hate training." She growled under her breath. "Especially when its this DAMN HOT OUT!" She roared while throwing her arms up in frustration. A few stray soldiers who were in the vicinity stopped what they were doing and stared at her for a moment, puzzled. Everyone was used to Ashlotte's constant complaining and outbursts so they shook it off and continued what they were doing. All except John 'Soap' MacTavish. He laughed heartily at her frustration.
"Ha ha, is the heat getting to you Ashy?" He chuckled while placing his hand on her shoulder. She gave him a frosty glare that could cover the entire mountain in snow. She violently brushed him off of her.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Never, and I mean never, call me Ashy! It's either Ashlotte or simply Ash! You wouldn't want me calling you Soapy, now would you?" She ranted while pacing back and forth out of frustration. He simply laughed again.
"But everyone calls you Ash. That's no fun for me. I want to have my own nickname for you." He said with a mock pout. For a twenty-six year old, Ash thought he acted like a six year old. That made Ash embarrassed, but she just assumed that was because she thought it was a disgrace for a man of his age and ranking. Nothing more.
"I could care less! Don't call me Ashy! End of story!" She concluded. A mischievous smirk spread across his face.
"Alright, your wish is my command…Ashy." He snickered. Something inside Ash's mind snapped and she lunged at him. Soap was prepared for this reaction and he held his arms out in defense. While she was furiously pounding away at him, Captain Price and her older brother, Ghost, were watching close by. Ghost sighed at his sister's short temper and rubbed his temples through his skeleton mask. Price watched her intently.
"She's a feisty one, your sister." Price noted while adjusting the brim of his hat in attempt to shield his face from the unforgiving sun. Ghost looked up at his Captain and nodded in complete agreement.
"Indeed. Especially around Soap…that worries me beyond belief." He groaned. Price looked at him, confused to why he was so upset about this.
"They get along very well. Always have ever since they joined the S.A.S." Price noted while staring off into the distance, reminiscing about his days in the S.A.S. Ghost left Price to his trip down memory lane and continued to examine Soap and Ash. He felt a pang of worry for her.
"My dear sister…" He whimpered, hoping Soap wouldn't infuriate her too much. Meanwhile, Ash was getting worn out from beating Soap. The heat made her tired quicker and easier and she eventually let up. Soap took note of this.
"What's this? The ferocious Ashlotte is giving up?" He joked. She huffed and turned away from him and stormed off in the other direction.
"Forget it! I'd rather use my energy for something meaningful rather then killing you! I'm going over there." She hissed and continued stomping away. She brought her foot down obliviously onto a small ditch that looked man-made. Once her boot made contact with the rocky terrain almost as if on queue, the ground shot up and the sound of an explosion boomed followed by the sound of Ashlotte's screams. She had stepped on some sort of training grenade, sending bits and pieces of stray shrapnel into her ankle. They were buried too deep into her skin to merely pluck out and it hurt to simply stand. She fell over and writhed in pain. Everyone turned their attention to Ashlotte and rushed over to her.
"Ashlotte!" Soap screamed as he forcefully pushed through the throng of people that had now swarmed around Ash's quivering body like a pack of wild wolves. Ghost and Price followed closely behind Soap as well. Whispers of concern and worry spread throughout the crown like wildfire and finally Soap and Ghost managed to break through the wall of people.
"Are you alright sis?" Ghost asked, his voice full of concern. Ash held her throbbing ankle and glared at her brother for asking such a stupid question.
"I'm ugh fine…" She grumbled. She glanced at her hand that once held her wound and she felt the color from her face drain. Her palm was completely dyed red with her own blood. It looked like a ripe pomegranate exploded in her hand. Before she could begin to hyperventilate, Price pulled up her torn cargo pants, tossed her boot aside, and began to thoroughly examine her fresh wound. After a minute of poking and prodding, he nodded his head and mumbled something under his breath. Ash raised her eyebrow questioningly.
"Don't worry. It's nothing serious. Just a bit of shrapnel in your leg. It must have been from a training mine that no one bothered to tell anyone about." Price growled, annoyed that someone would be so careless in his presence. He carefully lowered Ash's leg back onto the ground. "You should get to the infirmary immediately. I'm worried if we leave your leg like that too long it might cause permanent damage." Ash gulped nervously and twiddled her thumbs. She needed something to do with her hands to distract her from the situation.
"Do you want me to escort you to the infirmary?" Soap asked while extending his hand down towards Ash. She glared at him, as if she was furious he was offering to help her when she needed it. She rudely swatted his hand away and slowly stood up, ignoring the stabbing pain in her ankle. Looking like a weak, useless girl in front of all her colleagues was a thousand times worse then the grenade puzzle pieces embedded in her leg. She started to limp away but her efforts were in vain; after a few steps she immediately fell back right where she started. She heard a few stifled laughs at her misfortune and she felt a blush creep up her face. She cursed under her breath and attempted to rise to her feet once more.
Soap sighed and walked over to Ash, clearly fed up with her sorry attempts to walk when she was in no condition to. He swept Ash off of her feet and began to carry her Princess Style, leaving behind a crowd of bewildered soldiers. Ash felt her face turn a deeper shade of red as Soap carried her. "Put me down you monster! Put me down this instant! I can walk on my own, I'm not a child!" Ash screeched while pounding against Soap's chest ferociously. He just ignored her demands and continued to walk on; Ash's punches not having any effect on him. He noted the small trail of blood her ankle was leaving on the sandy terrain.
"Can't leave that untreated." He said while gently placing her down on the ground. Ash attempted to crawl away but Soap had her locked in place by her ankle. He quickly removed his shirt and tightly wrapped it around her wound; the blood immediately soaking through the fabric once it made contact with her skin. He carefully picked her back up, not aware Ash was turning a deep shade of red. She felt even more embarrassed now that Soap was shirtless.
"Let me go! NOW!" She demanded; Soap laughed lightly and looked at her.
"Would you rather me carry you over my shoulder?" He asked teasingly, already knowing what her answer would be.
"Yes! It's much less embarrassing then appearing to be some weak little girl who can't handle herself!" She hissed coldly, her face still beet red. He just laughed lightly.
"Well then, I won't do that since you want me to." He snickered. Ash could tell he was satisfied whenever he infuriated her and this was no different. She felt something deep inside her snap but it was best to just stay quiet and not make a scene. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.
"Fine…" She mumbled. Soap thought she would be safer and more secure if she held onto his neck. But she was being stubborn and tried to touch him as little as she could.
"Aren't you going to hang onto me?" He asked in a teasing way, a smirk spreading across his face.
"I'm quite alright thank you very much." She deadpanned. His smirk widened and he decided he was going to be a tad cruel to her. Knowing Ash was terrified of heights; he went off the original course and headed toward the cliff side. He didn't get dangerously close, but just close enough to scare her. He looked out towards the horizon; the afternoon sun at its zenith and sent warm, orange rays throughout the ocean blue sky.
"Nice view, isn't it Ashy?" He asked maliciously while smiling out at the sky. Her face turned a ghostly pale and beads of sweat formed at her brow when she realized just how high up they were. A tiny yelp escaped from her throat and she quickly clung to Soap. She dug her nails deep into his bare skin and tremors of fear shook throughout her entire body. Soap gave her a sadistic smile; he knew he was being cruel to her but it was the only way he could get her to hold on to him. He was only thinking of her safety…that was all.
Ash's blush returned when she came to her senses and realized what she was doing. She was extremely close to him; his bare chest was so warm and she could hear his heart beating gently in his chest. It was calming to her in an odd, unexplainable way. When did he get so muscular? Why didn't I notice this before? Is this the same man I joined the S.A.S with? Ash thought to herself. Little did she know that Soap was thinking similar thoughts about her.
As Soap was walking, Ash's long, jet-black hair was gently brushing against his bare chest. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw her breast lightly bouncing up and down as he walked. He felt himself getting a bit flustered and his skin heated up; something told him that wasn't because of the heat. Whoa, she's really grown up a bit. Her hair is a lot longer and her breasts have…grown a bit as well. Impressive. He thought to himself. Both of them remained silent for the rest of the journey to the infirmary, trying to push those thoughts out of their minds.
When they reached the infirmary, which was merely a small tent lined with bandages, multiple different lotions and fluids, and other required utensils for a doctor. The officer who was the camp's assigned doctor looked up. He seemed a bit confused to see Soap and Ash but once he noticed the blood soaked shirt tied around her ankle, his confused expression was washed away and replaced with a worried look. "Bloody Hell! What happened to her?" He asked while rushing over to the duo.
"Training grenade of some sort, sent shrapnel pieces into her leg. You think you can remove them as painlessly as possible?" Soap asked. The doctor looked away from Soap from a moment, mumbling something under his breath, and then looked back at him with a forced smile on his face.
"Most definite! Here, place her here." He said while patting a small, stiff cot. Soap gently lowered her down onto the cot, sending a small plume of dust into the air. Ash thought it smelt like sweat and rubbing alcohol. The doctor gently untied Soap's makeshift bandage from Ash's ankle and gasped, a bit taken aback from her wound. It had become a bit swollen and the excess blood had crusted over and turned a dark shade of maroon. "Yikes…that looks pretty bad but nothing to worry about." He reassured as he gathered up a few materials.
He took a small cloth and dabbed some mysterious fluid onto it and picked up a pair of tweezers to remove the shrapnel pieces with. "Um, this might sting a bit…" He warned her. Ash winced, preparing for the pain as he rubbed the cloth over her wound. She felt as if her skin was on fire as the cleaning fluid seeped into her skin. She bit down on her lip, tasting a bit of blood, and she clamped down on Soap's hand tightly. Soap let out a gasp of pain at Ash's strength but tried his best not to show it. "There we go." The doctor sighed in relief while tossing the cloth stained with Ash's blood into a wastebasket. "Now comes the hard part…" He sighed while clicking the tweezers together, making Ash gulp nervously.
Ash realized she was still clutching Soap's hand and quickly released it and looked away. Soap looked at her for a moment then turned to go. "Well, I'll just get out of your way then." He said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Before he left, he felt a small tug on his hand. He looked over his shoulder and saw Ash clutching his hand with a worried expression on her face. She looked like a little kid who didn't want her parents to leave her on the first day of school. "What, you want me to stay Ashy?" He asked while raising an eyebrow. Ash's eyes widened in shock and she quickly let go of his hand.
"No…I was just…reflex. My hand reached out on reflex…that's all." She whispered while twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. He smiled warmly at her and ruffled her hair.
"Alright if you insist. I'll come back for you later then." He said and he turned to walk away. Ash placed her hands on her head, trying to fix her hair, and she stared at him. She wondered what that was all about. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of metal clacking together repeatedly.
"Okay…" The doctor said while holding up the tweezers. They seemed to glow in a menacing way as the afternoon sun reflected off of them. "Lets get this over with, shall we?" He chuckled while strapping Ash's leg down on the cot. He knew Ash would fidget and kick and to avoid the risk of a broken nose, he took precaution and strapped her down. Ash felt her heart sink into her stomach and she clenched her fist together until they turned white. She braced for pain, a lot of pain. And for the next few hours, all you could hear were Ash's screams of excruciating pain echoing off the mountain walls and drift off into the sky.