The Little Soldier

by Kiamii

Alex sighed to himself as he was finally set on his feet. Flinching at the pain soaring through his leg, he eagerly stepped forward, determined not to be carried again like a baby. He didn't seem to convince the soldiers very well judging by their faces, but he ignored them in favor of limping towards a log where they would be camping for the day. He breathed in relief as he slipped his shoes off and wiggled his toes around, giggling when Fox came over and lightly tickled his feet. He leaned against Fox sleepily as he left his shoes off, enjoying the air against his healing left foot. As he closed his eyes, he couldn't help but wonder where his uncle was. Had something happened to Ian? The thought didn't please the four-year-old at all and he immediately sought to think of something else.

"Fox," he said, looking up at the soldier, "How come you're a...a..."

"Soldier?" supplied Fox helpfully. When the little boy nodded, he smiled sadly, "My mother was k- hurt real bad by this ba- er... this mean man and I've always wanted to help people ever since." That wasn't the full truth. But how could you explain to a four year old about the evils of the world? How his mother had been raped and slaughtered by a man who sought to do so for pure pleasure. It was the police who caught the man and Fox had decided at ten years old that he'd be like them and make sure nothing else happened to innocent people like his mum. That had led to him becoming a soldier instead of a cop and from there he joined the air service. Thankfully the answer seemed to satisfy the child who amused himself with watching random things flutter by until...

"Fox, can you tell me a story?" Alex asked before enunciating, "Puh-lease!" The man paused before chuckling and he gently pulled Alex onto his lap, situating the boy until he was comfortable. He allowed a smile to grace his normally hardened or blank face and watched as his teammates paused in their preparing of their dinner and joined them. Eagle was giving a smirk, as if ready to start his interruptions and Fox cleared his throat before beginning. He shot Eagle a look as he started to speak a story that he had once heard when he was sick as a child and his mother read it to him, adding his own little twist to the story for the fun of it.

"Uhm... Once upon a time there was a wood-cutter," he began, "and he told his wife to have his oldest daughter bring him his dinner in the woods." Ignoring Wolf's mutters about the lazy man, he continued as he noticed Alex paying full attention, "Well the oldest daughter... er... Mia, was very pretty and well she got herself -"

"Lost?" supplied Alex helpfully. Fox nodded with lightly ruffled Alex's blond hair. The little boy didn't seem to mind that the woman in the story was lost, in fact he looked pretty content with that fact and that made the man holding him frown slightly. Oh yes, that uncle of Alex's was definitely going to be maimed by K-Unit. Slowly.

"She lost her way and in the night found herself facing an old brick house where an old gray-haired man named... Lupin lived." Here Wolf shot him a strange look, "He had with him a fox, an eagle and a tamed snake." By now the unit was paying attention, wondering what Fox was doing.

"He has a fox?" Alex wondered aloud in awe, "Cool!" Fox smirked a little before he decided to continue.

"Mia asked for shelter but in return the man asked him to cook supper. So she cooked for him and herself before asking for bed. He showed her the upper room and as she slept, he opened a trapdoor that let her down into the basement." Fox said with a smile as Alex frowned, thinking.

"The next day, the middle daughter, Brielle, went to find her sister and was lost, finding the same house and told to cook supper. She cooked for him and herself and as she slept, he sent her into the cellar to join her sister."

"To forever rot?" Wolf muttered sarcastically and Snake shushed him before Alex could hear his words. Wolf smirked at Snake who rolled his eyes and turned back to Fox who had started speaking again.

"On the third day, the wood-cutter sent his youngest daughter to find her sisters and to send him his dinner. The youngest was named Sabrena and when she fount the house she pet the animals and the old man asked her to cook supper. As she cooked, she made herself and the old man supper, but also got a meal for the snake, the eagle and the fox. As she slept upstairs the old man did not send her to join her sisters. But instead, she awoke to find herself in a palace!"

"I like her," Alex said with a smile, "Sabrena. She's a nicer lady than those other two."

"She found herself meeting not the old man, but a kind's son who was enchanted to remain there until there was a woman kind not only to him, but to animals. Sabrena had fed his animals and him as an old man, so she was to be-wed the prince. The prince summoned her parents to the wedding and her sisters were made servants to a charcoal burner until they learned not to leave poor animals to suffer hunger. The prince and Sabrena lived quite happily ever after," finished the man. (1) He looked down to see Alex peacefully asleep, his small hand gripped Fox's thumb loosely as he dreamed.

Fox smiled and maneuvered himself so that Alex could sleep better while Fox turned to his unit. They were all staring at the small boy that Fox was holding, lost in their own thoughts.

"So the morale of the story is?" asked Snake wryly.

"Don't let us starve," Eagle said sarcastically before the four men shared a look and laughed. Even Wolf was chuckling, unable to help the amusement. After they managed to laugh off the tension building at seeing their charge so innocent, they settled down and talked in hushed tones so not to walk the slumbering boy.

"So Sabrena, eh? Got any love confessions there Fox?" Snake said with a smirk at Fox who bristled.

"In my defense I met a woman who has a daughter named that and it was the first thing that popped into my head!" Fox defended.

"What about Mia and Brielle?" Eagle said good-naturally.

"Ex-girlfriends," Fox answered with a smirk. Snake clasped Fox on the back with a shake of his head while Wolf stole glances at Alex every so often, listening to his teammates with a roll of his eyes. Honestly. Eagle had managed to get into an argument with Fox over their own girlfriends who were back at home. The two were bickering quite loudly and Wolf was growing irritated. He opened his mouth to rebuke their loud and childish behavior -

But he never got the chance.

Author's Note: Buahaha. Cliffhangers. I'll update as soon as I can if reviewers say they reallly want me to. Wonder what stopped Wolf just now. Sorry this took a little longer since I was researching a story to tell in this chapter that might work. The story was tweaked by me for amusement.

Footnote:

(1) The Hut in the Forest by Brothers Grimm, tale number 169