The Well Dressed Soldier
Reepicheep awoke to the sound of a dragon trying to go to sleep. Eustace tossed and turned, his head tried to get comfortable, which is hard when you used to be a young boy, who was turned into a dragon and still getting used to the idea. Reep being the good soul that he was got up and walked over.
"Hey," the mouse said quietly trying not to wake the others, "are you alright?" Eustace opened his eyes and stared at the mouse as if he were the most evil person on the face of the earth.
"I know it must be hard," Reep said, trying to make things easier, "you wake up one morning perfectly normal and the next-" he looked at Eustace and noticed small tears falling down his now scaled face. "Hey, hey," Reepicheep said putting on his winning smile, "it's alright, so you were in the wrong, it's not the end of the world you know." Eustace didn't want to hear anymore, he turned his head toward the stars, wondering if he would ever get home again. Reep being persistent, wouldn't rest until Eustace felt somewhat better.
"Look," he said, "moping about isn't going to make it any easier," he looked up at the night sky and saw a shooting star, and noticed that Eustace was closing his eyes, "and wishing upon a star isn't going to change anything." Eustace stopped and looked at Reep, eyes filled with pity and wanting help.
"Change is all up to you," Reepicheep said, "the world isn't going to accommodate for you, and neither will I."
Eustace slumped, the last thing he wanted to hear was wise words and fatherly advice from a rodent, especially from one he hated and thought was delusional.
"I didn't say I wouldn't help you, I said I wouldn't accommodate there's a difference, granted, a small, and relatively insignificant difference, but a difference nonetheless." Reep looked at Eustace and saw that he was drifting into sleep. Reep nodded and walked back over to where he was sleeping, but as he did so he looked back at the sleeping dragon and said, "We can't change the past, but we can set a course for the future." As he laid back down he said softly, "I can't chart your course Eustace, there are some things you have to do on your own." After this, silence took over.
The silence didn't last long, for just as Reepicheep could barely finish a dream there was noise again, being the only one who heard it, and being the only one brave enough to see what in the world it was, Reep once again got up and looked around. "Everything looks alright," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "must be hearing things."
As he laid back down the noise continued, making its way closer and closer to the sleeping party, getting louder as it approached, Reep just dismissed it as the wind and nothing more, until a voice was heard.
"Can I come closer to the fire? I've been traveling quite some time and need the rest."
Reepicheep opened one eye and looked around, not moving for anything else and saw no one. He closed his eyes again. Footsteps. Reepicheep grunted a bit, tired of playing night owl babysitter, "Whoever you are, please leave me alone." He said, trying his best to be polite.
"Of course sir," the voice said, "I'll just be going."
Reep rolled over and said, "Good." under his breath, but nonetheless a sense of guilt hung over him. He rolled his eyes, got up, and saw a mouse walking away.
The mouse was brown, like Reep, roughly the same height, same build, and Reepicheep noticed that he carried with him a rapier, like himself, but also a small backpack and was looking at a picture. Reep watched as the mouse sat down in the sand, and looked at the picture, as if it were the only memory of home. Reep noticed that it was a picture of a little girl, no more than eight in a white dress covered in yellow flowers standing in a depressing place, but smiling nonetheless. Being curious, Reepicheep walked over and stood over the other mouse from a distance and looked at the picture.
"She was my friend," the mouse said seeing Reepicheep in the reflection of the picture frame glass, "she was eight years old." Reep said nothing, and stood in silence.
"She was murdered," the mouse continued, standing and turning towards Reep, looking angry and depressed, "by a man who is to afraid to show his own face."
Reep once again said nothing but took everything in. He saw that this mouse was a soldier, a well decorated one, for he wore on his hilt, a gold stripe which was above a gold star. Reepicheep smiled and bowed his head, "It is an honor sire," he said, as if speaking to royalty. The other mouse looked at him as if he were mad, and gave him a death stare that Reepicheep would not soon forget.
"How dare you address me as sire?" The mouse said, with his thick British accent, "You think because I have a stripe and a star makes me any better than you? It is because of this," he removed his sword from his sheath, "badge of office that that girl is dead!" He put his sword in the ground and walked toward Reepicheep with a gaze that would make even the bravest of men cringe with fear. Reep didn't flinch, and he didn't take his eyes of him as he walked past.
"I meant no disrespect of course." Reep said, trying to make amends. The solider stopped, turned around and said, "Tell that to her." He threw the picture on the ground, took two steps, and sat back down.
Reep looked back at Eustace for one moment and saw that he sleeping like a baby, Reep smiled and said, "The one who had the worst day in his life gets the most sleep?" He laughed, the other mouse ignored Reep, seeing him as a prideful arrogant waste of talent.
"You laugh as if my misery were a joke?" The soldier said.
"I'm sorry," Reep said, looking back at him now, "have fun with your pity party." He said, as he picked up the picture, the sword and walked it over to him.
"I believe a soldier should always have his weapon until he decides when the war's over." Reepicheep said, trying once again to cheer the mouse up.
"The war is never over, not a single war in all of history is over until the last one is over. Until the final blow is taken, and I mean the final blow, we'll still be fighting the miserable war, over the same damn things." The other mouse said, standing up, and brushing himself off.
"There are two things I've learned," he said continuing, "never let your guard down, and always watch your brothers back."
Reep nodded, "Good advice."
As the other mouse put his sword in his sheath, Reepicheep asked the question that had been on his mind for quite some time,
"What is your name?"
"My name sir?" The other mouse asked this in a way as if he didn't understand a word of English. Reepicheep nodded and patiently waited for an answer. "Sadly," replied the solider mouse to Reepicheep's yearning eyes, "he took mine away from me."
Reepicheep nodded, and was frankly tired of playing the guest of a pity party for one and just wanted to get back to bed.
"Who?" Reep asked, edging the mouse on. The solider sighed, "The same coward- the butcher and slaughterer- Heinrich Himmler."
The night sky faded into morning, and just as everyone was stirring, trying to get up, Reepicheep, who didn't sleep any further, and the nameless mouse sat up talking about everything from the stars to their homes, both trying to avoid the subject of war or violence. Reepicheep always wanted to come back to it, but the other mouse quickly changed the subject as if he was hiding something.
The next morning when the boats were loaded and everyone was getting on board to go back to the ship, Reepicheep looked back and saw only an empty fire pit and heavy fresh footsteps. Thinking them to be one of the others, he turned and got in the small rowboat. When he turned back around to see Eustace, the rowboat was already five feet from shore, Reepicheep looked at the footprints again, they were walking away from the campfire instead of toward the boats. "Strange," Reep said, "why would there be footsteps going that way?"
Lucy, who was next to him, heard this and said, "What's strange?" She said, Reepicheep looked at her, "I have the strangest feeling that something's wrong." Lucy smiled, as she always did when she didn't understand something, "What do you mean?"
Reep sighed and shook it off, "It's probably nothing just, lack of sleep I suppose."
Lucy nodded and turned back around toward Edmund who was far too busy admiring a sword when a gunshot was heard. All of them turned and looked in the direction, and listened further. Another gunshot, followed by a cursing German: "Die you damned rodent!"
Reepicheep undoubtedly knew what the commotion was about and without a second thought jumped into the water. Edmund saw this and shouted, "What are you doing?" When Reep reached the shore he shouted back, "Don't wait for me, just go!" Edmund didn't argue, for Reepicheep was already halfway to the fire pit and could handle himself so Edmund didn't worry and went back to his business.
Following the footprint tracks, Reepicheep's strange feeling of uneasiness came back, for standing in the field, was a large man wearing a Nazi uniform, holding the nameless mouse in hand. "Let go of me you bastard!" The mouse said, trying to squirm out of the man's hand. "I don't think so Tilden," he said, "in fact, I would much rather enjoy killing you right now." The sounds of struggling and flapping of wings were heard, an owl was tied up with rope behind the Nazi, and he managed to free himself of the gag.
"Himmler you bitch let him go!" The owl said in a thick Russian accent. Himmler looked at him, "I suggest you keep your mouth shut Mr. Hyperion before your feathers are plucked and your beak is removed." Hyperion glared and whispered, "Fascist bastard."
Himmler looked at Tilden and smiled, "I've been waiting a long time for this."
Tilden glared, "I suppose you have."
Himmler laughed, and while this was going on Reepicheep did something that was possibly the craziest thing he'd ever do.
He crept around behind Himmler and noticed the size of him, and thought, "This should be easy." So, he began to climb up Himmler's leg, his objective being the neck so he can kill the bastard, save his friend, and be done with it. When he got to the neck Tilden looked at him, with eyes pleading that Reep stay where he was. Being stubborn, and seeing Tilden's life on the line, Reepicheep continued, he drew his sword and was about to strike when Himmler said: "It's over."
Himmler pulled out his gun, dropped Tilden down, and shot him.
Hyperion looked at Himmler's eyes, the owl was begging to choke and squeeze the life out of him. Himmler smiled, "He was a coward."
Hyperion shook his head, "He was the bravest of all of us." Himmler smirked, "The most foolish, did you really think that you would win?" Hyperion stood, and broke the rope that tied him together, "I don't have to win," he said, jumping in the air and flapping his wings, "I just have to make sure that you never see the light of day." Himmler laughed, "Day's already here."
Reepicheep looked at Himmler's uniform, pointed to the SS insignia and said: "I don't know what this means sir," Himmler turned to him, "but surely, it is a mark of death."
Reepicheep jumped from Himmler's shoulder down to the ground, and looked back at him, continuing he said: "Your soul has been forsaken, and your life has been wasted." Reep looked at Tilden, who lay dead, face unrecognizable, body almost completely obliterated by the force of the bullet, the only thing Reep saw was the hilt that bore the gold stripe and star. Reepicheep walked over to Tilden's massacred body and whispered softly. "I'm sorry, I truly am."
Himmler reloaded his pistol and aimed it at Reep, "If you were truly sorry," Reep turned around, "you would've done something a lot sooner. Say hello to him for me will you?" He fired, the bullet shot out of the pistol and towards Reep with the speed of sound, but it did not hit him, or anything for that matter, it was caught by Hyperion.
Hyperion looked at Himmler, the bullet was safely in his talons, and he was not happy, "I should kill you right now." He said getting into Himmler's face, pressing the hot bullet against his chest. Himmler winched in pain.
"Oh, is the pain too much for little Himmler?" Hyperion said with a smile, mockingly. Hyperion grabbed Himmler's shirt with his talons and hoisted him up, "How about we go for a ride eh?"
"No, please, I beg you." Himmler said, with fear in his eyes.
"So," Hyperion said, smiling deviously, "how does it feel to be on the other end of the death train?"
The owl made sure that Himmler kept eye contact as he flew higher and higher. Himmler felt the breeze and the strength of this massive bird that was the only thing keeping him from falling. Out of impressed expectations Himmler said: "How is this possible?"
Hyperion chuckled, "Let's just say that I get my strength from being a witness." Himmler who was getting sick from the altitude said, "A witness to what?" Hyperion slowly began to let go.
"Monsters like you." Hyperion let go, and Himmler fell, looking desperate and afraid.
When Hyperion landed, Reepicheep was taking a moment of silence, when he was finished Hyperion smiled: "You remind me of him you know?"
Reepicheep smiled, "I never got the chance to really know him." Hyperion nodded, "He was a good friend, a fine soldier, the best copilot I could ever have." Reepicheep sighed, and looked at Himmler's body, back snapped in half, and eyes filled with shame.
"Who was he?" Reepicheep asked.
Hyperion turned back and said, "The devil himself wore two faces, one with a mind and one with a voice." Reep turned towards the sun, "Which one was he?"
Hyperion smiled, "That depends on who you ask."
Reep looked at him, "Well what do you think?"
Hyperion starched his head with his wing, as if in thought, "Heinrich was the mind, one that wanted the world to suffer and his people to reign, all for the sake of a nation. A terror now ends, and a new one will soon take its place."
Hyperion flew towards a rock that overlooked the sea, "It is a new day for the world, let us bask in it."
Reepicheep smiled, "Indeed sir."
Later that night, Reepicheep was trying to fall asleep in his cot, and saw that Eustace was not there, then he remembered that he was a dragon. As he closed his eyes he heard a small tapping at a nearby window. Reep looked over and saw Hyperion, perched on the small windowsill. Reepicheep climbed down from the cot, scurried over to the wall, climbed the wall and opened the window. In his talons, Hyperion held two things, a small journal, and a sword, just the right size for a mouse. Both of them said nothing, Hyperion held out his talon and Reep took the gifts.
"Don't lose them." Hyperion said, he turned and flew out the window. Reep closed the window, and carried the things back to his cot, since he was up and awake, far from sleep, and had nothing better to do, he opened the journal to a random page, somewhere in the middle, and began reading.