~The Fall of Winter~
-Chapter 1-
It was about mid-morning as the cargo plane was flying above a vast snowy landscape. The two passengers within knew what was coming, it was the war, and they couldn't take chances with failing their mission.
A Chinese man spoke up. He wore a dark green uniform that had a red armband around the left arm. His hair was a black brown that was a little bit longer than shoulder length and tied in a ponytail. Despite his youthful appearance, he was much older than his fellow Comrade on tow with him. "The drop zone is up a head Ivan, are you prepared for your launch?" the Chinese man asked with slight worry in his voice. The young man he was asking looked up from a curled up position, retreating from the sheet of coordinates he had on a clip-board for the mission. His beige blond hair blended perfectly with the Red-army uniform he wore from his country, made for the snow and harsh winter conditions at this time of year, it was perfect for the young man. Ivan was his name, and despite his childish demeanor, he could be quite sadistic and terrifying if you got on his bad side.
The Russian looked up from his papers in response to the Chinese man. "Yes, I am well prepared for what is ahead. The snow is thick around here Yao, and I know these mountains well… I even think I could go without a parachute." Ivan let out a chuckle at his final retort. Yao looked disapproving at this, worried for the Russian's safety. "I trust you know these parts, but it's dangerous to go without a parachute Ivan… I mean you could hit a shallow patch of snow and crash into rocks or a tree…aru!" Yao's accent was slipping with his annoyance, but he only wanted Ivan to be safe. "Listen Ivan, your safety is our Priority. Do well on this mission and be sure to radio in if you have any sort of problem."
Ivan just stared at Yao standing near the open door to the plane with a smile on his face. He had obviously had this sort of lecture before from Yao… way too much. Ivan was a risk taker and he loved it. "Don't worry Yao, I promise I won't get shot, mauled, or killed in a gruesome way". The Chinese man just smiled at those violet eyes brimming with something mysterious. "alright the drop site is just ahead" came a voice over the plane's radio, the Pilot had signaled for the drop.
"I guess that's my call" Ivan said with joy in his voice. Although he knew about the dangers down below, Ivan had to plan his jump well, but the bright morning sun mixed with mountain clouds had made it harder to see what would be a deep or shallow patch of snow below, so he had to take his chances. The plane flew closer to the ground, and the Russian prepared himself for the jump.
"Good Luck" Yao had whished Ivan, knowing that he could as well be injured or killed with his stunt, but he's never seen him do it before, Yao knew that Ivan has done it multiple times and had lectured him for it. Ivan made a quick check to the supplies he had on his body, rations, radio, a med kit, Tokorev pistol, ammunition, and a bed spread with blanket.
Yao gave a thumbs up, signaling it was okay to jump. Ivan nodded in approval and took his dive. He leapt out of the plane, wind nipping at his face with sub-zero temperature."Vodka!" Ivan let out a yell for what he loved the most, aiming his fall at what appeared to be a soft, deep patch of snow. He braced for impact and hit the icy blanket of snow hard, various sounds of cracking had reverberated through the air.
Ivan managed to pull himself out of the big hole he had made in the snow, a sharp pain jolted up his body as he collapsed to the ground under his own weight and pain. He'd managed to break his left leg and arm, and various ribs. Ivan curled up in pain, but was thankful it wasn't his neck that had suffered the fate of his injured limbs. "shit… this isn't good, and the front is just meters away too…".
Ivan scanned his surroundings. He was near some trees, and appeared to have hit a rocky outcrop near them covered in snow. There were mountains surrounding the area, left and right, but he knew that he was close, he could hear gunshots nearby and knew his troops were not far away. He was lucky that the plane had notified the front of the drop site's coordinates. The problem is that the location of where Ivan is would have changed with the drop and wind velocity. The only thing he could do now is wait in pain for a fellow comrade to come, and fight off any bears that may be in the area with his Tokorev.
The Russian pulled his radio from one of the pouches he had on his belt, and instinctively turned it on to the plane's frequency and pulled it to his mouth, trying to hold back the pain in his voice. "This is Ivan Braginsky, I've got a serious problem… do you read me?" No reply, Static and white noise echoed through the radio. Ivan Tried again with the radio "This is Ivan Braginsky… Do you Read me?... please answer…" Ivan had tried once more to no avail. The Russian cursed under his breath, he was losing hope, his radio was broken from the fall just like his bones were. Maybe he should have listened to Yao and equipped a parachute, but that would have drawn the enemy's attention towards him and bring more danger to him and his comrades.
Ivan focused on a nearby tree that had barely any snow under one side of it, he saw this as a nice place to seek shelter until his comrades came this way… if they ever did. Ivan dragged himself from his hole, not wanting it to be his grave, he risked further injury as he pulled himself closer and closer to his target using the last of his body strength moving his uninjured arm and leg. After what had seemed like an hour, Ivan had made it to his little sanctuary under the tree. He proceeded to sit against the trunk of the tree on the ground, like it were a comfy couch. Ivan knew he needed warmth if he was to be staying under this tree until help arrived. He struggled to get the bedding roll over his left arm due to the pain, but he pulled it off and had proceeded to unravel the roll and wrap the blanket around the whole of his body.
Ivan's body was filled with intense pain every time he moved, so he had decided that staying still was the best choice. Sitting there, under what was a pine tree, staring at the Russian winter that surrounded him and which also dared to freeze him where he sat. Gunshots still reverberated in the distance, along with the sound of men yelling. It was getting closer, and closer even to the point where he could hear the feet of the soldiers trudge through the snow. Ivan knew that help would be on his way. "Is anyone out there? I need Help! Help me Please!..." He yelled using the last of his strength… hoping someone would hear him and respond, but Ivan was growing tired from the pain and exertion. Everything was starting to get blurry. Sound was distorting, but he swore he could hear voices and footsteps coming his way… everything was black… Darkness and warmth was the only thing that surrounded Ivan now.
"…Help!" The words were muffled amongst the trees, but the young soldier who heard it couldn't help but to respond back, knowing it could be an injured soldier or an enemy, he risked the latter of it. "where are you!" the young soldier had yelled back, hoping for a response, he got none besides the cold wind nipping at his face and blowing his brown hair away from it. He looked towards the two other men that were with him who looked at the Brunette with worry. "Is something the matter Toris?" spoke a blonde haired soldier wearing glasses. He was standing next to a shorter, but much younger soldier who had short messy hair of the same colour.
"… Oh Eduard… Raivis… did you hear a voice calling for help just now?..." Toris looked worriedly at the two other men, his green eyes reflecting what he was feeling… worry. Eduard looked at Toris quizzically " I don't believe I heard anything, but if you insist we check it out Captain… I'll have to go over the possibilities of what you heard…" Eduard pushed up his glasses, he was obviously trying to state that Toris was either going insane or there was something else going on. Eduard was very intelligent so the way he brought things out often confused those who didn't understand him.
Toris frowned slightly at the taller blonde who just stood there smiling with his witty demeanor. Raivis stood in place looking down as if afraid to speak up, but he brought up the courage to talk past his shaking. "I… I heard a voice as well Toris… I think we should check it out… that is if you insist" Eduard looked at the shaking teen that was Raivis with a hint of surprise, it was something he did not expect to hear from the shy quivering boy.
"Alright, than it's decided… We'll go check it out. The voice came from that Direction" The brunette had pointed towards the trees near a clearing, a smile growing on his face. Eduard rolled his eyes, as this was expected from Toris. Raivis kept close by to Eduard, who was sort of like a big brother much like Toris was to him. The three men trudged through the snow towards the clearing following, what had sounded like moans of pain hidden within the sound of the wind and the sounds of gunshots in the background.
Many moments had passed as the three men made their way through the dense Russian forest, it was like a scene out of a painting, Snow had glazed the pine trees like a neatly frosted cake, it was a wonderful sight to the eye, yet unforgiving in winter. The men had stopped in their tracks when their fellow Comrade Eduard had noticed something peculiar in these woods. "I think I see something…" Eduard had pointed out towards a tree that had a lump of a figure nestled underneath it… the light green-brown blanket almost hiding the figure from sight. "Where?" Toris interjected, out of curiosity. "Just to your left, look at that tree" Eduard pointed out to the tree once more. Toris instantly took notice of the figure beneath it and ran over through the trees and snow, the other two men following right behind him.
They reached the man who was huddled underneath the tree, his blonde hair covering up parts of his face past his ushanka. "Are you okay?" Toris asked, shaking the man on the shoulders. No response. He felt for a pulse and found one. The man was unconscious, but alive. He appeared to have fallen unconscious just a short while ago, he was still warm, but barely. The brunette took a look at his uniform from under the blanket for identification. "It's a Russian Uniform… I don't think we have to worry about him being a German soldier…" Toris said with a sigh of relief, the other two came closer to the unconscious man. "Let me take a look at him" retorted Eduard as he moved to the man's side, he was trained in first aid and knew what he was doing, the other two moved aside.
Eduard felt the man's body for any sort of wound or a sign of blood, with medical precision. His hands ran upon a hard wet protrusion on the Unconscious man's left leg, the bone was poking out of his skin and was bleeding through his pants. He then felt his other leg, arms, chest, back, head, and found that his left arm and some ribs felt odd, suggesting a fracture or break, but he'd have to strip the unconscious man to look for any bruising suggesting that.
Eduard looked to Toris and Raivis with a serious face, causing the two to flinch at this unfamiliar face on Eduard. "we're gonna have to take him to the Medical tent nearby" He spoke in a soft, but serious tone, his hands covered with blood from the man's wounded leg. The two others took notice of this and looked away from the blonde slightly "He doesn't look too good, and appears to have some broken bones so we'll have to be careful when we carry him to base." Toris and Raivis nodded their heads in response to their comrade and proceeded to lift the heavy unconscious body, which was too heavy for poor Raivis to carry. So Eduard had to carry in his place.
The three men made sure that they carried the unconscious man's body with care, trying not to injure him anymore than he already was. They walked through the forest slowly and back to the direction where the camp was, just 100 meters away.
"How long do we have to carry him for…?" Toris said with struggle in his voice, the man was obviously heavier and taller than he was, and it was showing. "Approximately three more minutes…" Eduard was also showing some struggle in his voice, carrying the 200lb man through the woods towards the base. Raivis followed behind with a worried look on his face as he watched his fellow comrades lug the injured man away. It felt like forever with the man's weight weighing on both of them, but they made it to the base and made their way to the medical tent, where they placed the Russian down on a free cot gently.
Shortly after, Eduard had left the tent to grab a medic, with Raivis following shortly behind. Toris had pulled up a chair and sat next to the unconscious man, and placed a hand upon his sleeping face. The man had the look of pain and comfort as he lay upon his cot. Toris looked down to the unconscious man's chest and noticed a dog tag hanging out of his over coat. He grabbed it and read the name Ivan Braginsky which was etched into the small metal plate. Although it was in Russian, Toris could read it. He knew the man's name now. "I hope you're okay Ivan…I went through some trouble to find you and get you here…" he chuckled softly as he sat next to the unconscious blonde, watching him with a smile on his face.