WOW, I am so, so sorry for not updating for HALF A YEAR! As an excuse, my life has been a mess, to put it simply. I hope that you guys will keep reading my story and reviewing it and in return I will continue on!

Honestly, "Chair" has given me close to zero inspiration. I really don't like season 4 and 5, and frankly, season 6 was too easy. But, hey, I am willing to continue and I still find their love beautiful and their history inspirational so this story has not ended yet! You are not getting rid of me that easy ;-)

Please, I hope you haven't given up on me yet! Please leave a review and let me know what you think! This chapter is quite short, but I had to get something out here to show you I am continuing the story


I wake up to the sound of someone yelling.

"Get up, you lazy heads! I don't want to waste my time waiting for you! Get down to the lake and wash off the dirt from your skin. You all smell like fertiliser."

Wash off?" Oh God, that means I have to take off my clothes! Suddenly panic rushes through my body and I have no idea of what to do. My first intuition is to stay in my sleeping bag, but, unfortunately, a rough hand starts to shake me and calls out my name.

"Burns, if you don't get up this instance, I swear you will regret it!"

It's him. Somehow, I can recognise his voice even though I have heard it so few times. Suddenly the area on my arm he touched is burning and I feel my cheeks warming up. I tell myself to stop. He is what Dan would have called a moron. I was never allowed to say such words but I could never stop myself from laughing whenever Dan spoke them. Well, he really is such a thing, I thought to myself.

I raise my head and open my eyes. His head is a lot closer than I had expected and he immediately withdraws his face. The closeness does nothing good for my warmed up cheeks.

"Are you still feeling under the weather, Burns? Your cheeks are insanely red."

There is nothing I can do but nod. What else am I supposed to tell him? No, I am the woman you had eye-contact with on a train. Now I am dressed like a man in a hopeless attempt to get close to my brother. I can't tell him that.

I turn my head, telling myself not to look at him any more, and I see all of my fellow recruits running towards the lake. None of them have any clothes on and I feel awfully awkward and in need to turn my head away, as if they will suddenly know I am no man.

"Get down there, Burns. Now."

"Easy, Chuck. He is obviously sick and we are in no hurry. We are to leave this area in two hours so no need to rush. Take your time, Burns."

Before any further conversation or arguments are made, I quickly get to my feet and starts walking towards the lake as well. I have no idea why I had not thought of this. Maybe I had hoped there would be individually showering. How stupid! Of course there is no such thing in the field.

I stop by the edge and makes no move to take off my clothes. I can feel amber eyes burning into my bag and I know he is seething with irritation. I feel his presence before I hear it. A hand is roughly landing on my shoulder and a hard voice is talking to me.

"Burns, if you don't get your arse into that lake within ten seconds, I will personally throw you in there, clothes or no clothes. Let this be your only warning."

An idea comes to my rescue. I hold my ground, my back still turned to him and I challenge destiny. Surely, he will be angry with me, but there is no way I am taking of my clothes. I feel his hand on my shoulder again, but this time he pushes it and I fall forwards and into the water. When I finally get my head up over the surface everyone is looking at me and are laughing hysterically. A smirk is placed on sergeant Bass' face. Not the one I once saw on a train, but this one is cruel. And evilly handsome. He is not laughing along but there is no doubt he thinks he has won.

"It was not that hard, was it, Burns? The water is not that cold."

My body is shaking from my dreaded clothes and my teeth are clapping. I turn my head downwards so that they think I am ashamed but I am actually smirking. I found a way to avoid bathing this time, but unfortunately I know this won't work every time.


"Okay, soldiers. Today we are going to test your skills with a riffle. No, you are not going to shoot an apple off each others heads but we have a can for you to shoot after. If you turn your attention towards Sergeant Bass, then he will show you how to load and use your rifle."

All of our heads turn towards Sergeant Bass. He shows us the routine one time and expects us to know is by heart already. Obviously, I have no idea how to use any kind of weapons. I was never allowed to attend my father on huntings, like Dan was, no matter how much I begged.

It took me an enormous amount of time before I managed to get the bullets into the riffle. Flick, who was sitting beside me, kept glancing my way and it only worsened my nerves. I looked up at him and I could see him grinning at me.

"Never been with your father on huntings? Here, let me show you how to load it."

"My father was never much of a hunter. He preferred indoor activities."

Flick simply nods, takes the bullets out of his riffle and step by step shows me how to load it. After a few times of repeating I finally manage to do it. It is quite difficult, given how much stronger he is than me, but I know I have to give everything I have and now show my weakness.

"Good job, Burns and Flick. Nice to see you working together. That is what we need to learn; working together."

"Nathaniel, I find it rather problematic that we have recruits who have no idea how to load a riffle. Obviously, Burns has never held a weapon in his arms before. I do not know why we even bother trying to keep up with the rest. There is no way he will make it in an actual fight."

Tears are suddenly pressing on my eyes but I refuse to let them fall. I know Sergeant Bass has taken a dislike of me, even though I find it unfair, but I don't find it necessary for him to repeatedly embarrass me in front of my fellow recruits. Given the look Sergeant Archibald is sending him, he has come to the same conclusion as I.

"Flick, please?" Sergeant Archibald says, a hint of annoyance in his voice while pointing towards the can. Flick nods his head once and raises to his feet and walks down to the can.

"How far, Sir?"

"10 steps."

Flick takes ten steps in the opposite direction of the can, turns around and raises his riffle. He points at the can for a few seconds and then pulls the tricker. A loud bang comes from the riffle and a noise is heard which indicates that Flick show down the can. Sergeant Archibald looks pleased while Sergeant Bass looks rather bored.

All gets their shots and as if to torture me, I am the last one to shoot. Out of 20 men, 14 shot down the can. The ones who did not hit were obviously from poor families. I wasn't so it was a mystery to the others when I, of course, shot beside the can. I heard a small chuckle from beside me and saw Sergeant Bass with amusement in his eyes. I did nothing but turn around and walk back toward the others.

Flick sent me an sympathetic smile and signalled to me that it was fine.


We were all told to meet at the lake. When everyone was standing in line, our two Sergeants spoke to us.

"Soldiers, men, we have been told to split you up. Seven of you will continue on with Sergeant Bass and I, while the rest of you will wait here until your new Sergeants arrive in the morning."

I look around. Somehow, I hope I will be in the group who will continue on with Sergeant Bass and Sergeant Archibald. I like the latter while a part of me desperately wants to be with the former, even though he greatly dislikes me.

"The one who will continue on with us," Sergeant Bass continues "- are Flick, Damien Dalgaard, Carter Baizen, Edward Felton, Harry Allen, Isaac Law and -"

Please, please, please ...

"- William Burns."

Inside I was jumping up and down in relief, but then I noticed Sergeant Bass' facial expression. He was obviously not happy about my attendance but, frankly, I could not care less.

"Gentlemen, please go and get all of your belongings. We are to leave in five minutes. We will not wait for any of you!"

With that we all ran towards our tents and packed our belongings. Not that we had that many things with us. The only things I had brought was Dan's books, a picture of him I had hidden in my jacket and some clothes. It was not necessary to carry along since we had to wear our uniforms but it was Dan's and I carried it on my bag as long as possible. Other than that, I carried my sleeping bag. SInce I was the smallest, the rest of the guys took care of the tent we were to share, the lamps and the food.

We quickly made our way back to the Sergeants and stood in line in front of them.

"Great, recruits. Lets get going then."


So, not the best chapter but it is better than nothing, right? Please subscribe, add to your favourites and leave a comment. Or just one of those things! It means the world to me!

-Charlie xoxo