Hi, I'm finally here with some action.
Warning: graphic description of wounds and death. (Sort of stuff you might nightmare about when you watch 'Hacksaw Ridge'. Brilliant movie btw, highly recommended)
…..
Silence.
The faint crackling of fire and the faint howling of wind were the only sounds that could be heard, but even a blind man wouldn't be fooled to believe that the place was empty from life. If someone listened carefully, they could hear the rustling sound of soldiers' uniforms on the ground as they were crawling their way through the burned soil and scattering the rats.
The air was thick with the smell of burned flesh and soldiers' fear but nothing would stop the small squad from doing what they had come for. Not more than fifty feet away, their destination was visible and they were all moving towards it like hunters lurking for pray.
The abandoned trenches.
Arthur wasn't happy with the suspicious silence. Their mission was to distract the opposite army from a much more important thing that was happening three miles away, but if the enemy didn't engage, if they weren't planning to show up, if they already knew about the main cause of their presence, then everything was already lost.
So there was only one decision he could make in order to gain the German army's attention.
They had to do it in the noisy way.
When they were near enough to the barbed wires, with a quick signal to the rest of his team, they dropped the stealthy manner and announced their presence with two grenades. The sound of various gun shots greeted them almost immediately.
Arthur smirked. It was scary to deal with an enemy who was constantly shooting at them but it would be even more terrifying to fight with a silent army, at least now they knew that their main attack was safe. All they needed to do was to make some noise and then retreat, just to give Uther's battalion enough time to do their job. After all, Arthur wasn't really eager to risk the lives of his team members.
He listened carefully only to realize the gunfire sounds couldn't belong to more than a few rifles, maybe ten or twenty at most, which made him sigh with relief as he deduced they were only dealing with a handful of German soldiers.
Shooting a knowing glance at Gwaine, _who had integrated himself with his surroundings with such mastery that even Arthur had a difficult time spotting him_ the young sniper started shooting, but so calculated and accurate to avoid revealing his hiding place. This distracted the attentions from the rest of the squad as they stormed to the trenches, firing their guns and throwing their grenades.
They managed to clear some of the main routes in a matter of minutes. After all, they were in the no man land which meant the enemy feared entering the zone as much as them, and wouldn't risk sending more men, more importantly not when they were being ambushed from Uther's side as well.
It took an hour or so to purge the northern part completely. Arthur prayed it to be enough, they had already made a lot of progress that wasn't even in the main plan. How could they do any more distracting if there was no army to fight with? They couldn't just run into German borders and start dancing, could they?
With things more stable, the next step would be finding the wounded. He saw Merlin, who was behind the leading force during the attack _way behind, Arthur needed to make sure he didn't get hurt_ running towards him. Carrying bags of morphine and bandages on his belt.
"It seems secure. I'll go see if they're any of us still in there." He said, not really asking for permission. Arthur rolled his eyes but couldn't hide his concern. It was true that it seemed safe but he had a strange gut feeling that was making him anxious and reluctant to let Merlin go, but the logical part of his mind kept reminding him that he was the only medic they had brought and he had to let Merlin do his job.
"Alright, take a few men with you then. The rest of the squad and I have to scan the other parts but the northern part is already cleared."
"I'm not a kid Arthur, I'll go alone. You need all the others."
"We're not discussing this Merlin. I can't let you go when you can't even hold a rifle." He hissed.
"He's not going alone, I'll go with him." They both turned their heads to see a third person talking.
"You're safer with Arthur, Daegal. I'm going alone." Merlin said, trying to keep his voice steady.
"You're NOT going alone you idiot" Arthur growled.
"You need everyon-"
"Stop!" Daegal interrupted. Again, both men's heads turned to him.
"He said the northern part is already purged, it would be safer."
It was silence for a moment. Before Merlin could argue, Arthur agreed "He's right. He's safer with you than with me. So take him with you for his sake, if you don't care about yours."
Merlin swore under his breath but nodded anyway. Arthur watched them as they headed north and disappeared behind the walls. The weird gut feeling was still annoyingly present but he shook his head and tried to ignore it. The part he was sending Merlin was safe, what could possibly go wrong?
…..
Merlin was still growling under his breath as they scanned the area, checking each body they could find for vital signs. They had found none _not even in German soldiers_ and were deciding to return when they heard something.
Someone's weeping.
Immediately Merlin started running in the direction of the sound, Daegal following him instantly. They weren't more than a few feet away when they heard the cry again, this time clearer, and it was filled with pain and agony.
They were getting far from the safe part they were supposed to scan but he couldn't care less. If he waited for the rest of the squad to clear the area, it could get too late for the person who had just made the crying sound.
They quickened their steps, passing the debris caused by an explosion, only to reach their target.
It was indeed an injured man, but there was a problem.
It was a German soldier.
Merlin froze in his steps, blocking Daegal's view. He could only observe that the German wounded didn't have any weapons before his young companion saw what he was seeing and immediately aimed his rifle.
"NO." Merlin reflected, grabbing the barrel "He's not armed".
Daegal didn't drop his weapon but glanced back at him with confusion. Merlin was focused on the injured man, no wait, 'man' was an inappropriate word.
The injured boy.
The person in the German uniform lying in front of them on the ground couldn't be more than eighteen years old _Merlin decided, comparing him to Mordred and Daegal_ and was staring back at Merlin with his teeth gritting in hate.
But it was for the eyes looking deep into his soul that Merlin had frozen.
The boy had magnificent eyes, hazel but with a hint of green, and they were locked with Merlin's blue ones. There were so many things he could see in the boy's eyes.
He could see fear, hate and horror…
And innocence…
Something squeezed his heart, unable to take his eyes from the soldier's, he took a step forward. The boy immediately broke the eye contact and crawled back, hissing with pain.
Merlin moved faster, holding the boy's shoulders when he reached him and kept thrashing and backing away, even punching Merlin in the face at some point. Daegal was nervously watching them, still pointing his gun at the boy but not daring to fire.
In a few minutes of fighting, the already exhausted and wounded boy was gasping for breath and his moves began to get sluggish and feeble. Merlin kept hushing him and rubbing his shoulders, trying to convince him that he meant no harm, all he wanted to do was to discover the extent of his injuries.
Their eyes met once again, assuring sapphire looked deep into the fearful hazel. The boy's thrashing ceased slowly as his expression turned from hate into something near confusion. It was enough sign for Merlin to start checking his wounds.
On the German's uniform were numerous bleeding gashes, 'explosion', he thought, and his leg looked like it had been peeled like fruits. Both wounds bleeding far too heavily for his liking and God knows for how long before they had showed up. His expression darkened as he reached his hand to the man's neck, checking his pulse only to find an unhealthily irregular one beneath his fingers.
He raised his head to notice the weak boy's eyes had begun to flutter, his breathing heavily and labored. Seeing the grimness in Merlin's face, all hopes disappeared from the hazel eyes and he began to cry openly. He was dying and they both knew it.
Merlin gathered him in his arms, pressing the crying boy's head to his chest and wrapping his arms around the frail body, rocking him gently. One arm still holding the boy, he took a morphine syringe from his bag and injected it to the man's arm. If he was going to die, Merlin was going to make sure it wasn't in pain.
Hearing the lad's desperate sobs, tears began to dwell in his own eyes. Dying was scaring the boy, and it was scary. The thought of all those days the youth deserved to live, all the new things he deserved to see and discover, but he wouldn't get to do any of them.
Did he have a family? A mother perhaps, or a father? Did they deserve to lose a son this young?
The sobbing began to become weaker as Merlin tears fell, he had unconsciously begun to hum the lullaby he used to sing for Mordred when he was a kid. The gentle sound seemed to calm the injured boy as he relaxed and sank deeper into Merlin's embrace, still weakly weeping.
What logic did explain why children had to be torn away from their families? To die in foreign lands with no one to be by their side? To feel pain beyond imagination until their heart gave up? And their bodies to be stomped by other soldiers and rats to feast on their remains?
He didn't need to check the pulse when the wheezing and crying stopped and the body went limp in his arms. He tightened his grip and let his tears of sorrow fall for the deceased boy for a few more minutes.
Then they heard footsteps.
Another figure popped into view, panting. Both Daegal's and Merlin's heart dropped when their eyes fell on the new arrival's uniform.
Daegal swiftly aimed his rifle and this time Merlin didn't stop him as the other person did the same. Instead he quickly let go of the body in his hands and stood between the two, determined to protect his young companion.
Then he saw it.
He was shell-shocked and his hands began to tremble as he looked at the enemy soldier and saw the same hazel eyes that had been staring at him only a few minutes ago. For a moment he thought it was the ghost of the fallen boy but then realization hit him full force and made more tears fall.
Not the ghost, brother.
He couldn't explain how he knew for there were no logical explanations, but he knew it was true. He could feel that even Daegal's eyes were traveling between the two soldiers. His suspicions were confirmed when the man standing in front of him noticed the body on the ground and a rather animalistic sound tore his throat.
It didn't take seconds for the soldier to collect himself and hold his gun tighter, pointing it at Merlin. Eyes filled with hatred and fury, and unshed tears.
Merlin slowly raised his hands, "We didn't kill your brother".
It was hopeless. He was speaking English with a German man. He was going to die, right there, by the hands of the brother of the very person he was embracing mere seconds ago.
"Wir haben deinen bruder nicht getötet (1)" came a voice from behind him. Merlin had completely forgotten about Daegal. He turned _so suddenly his neck sprained_ and saw the youth, still pointing the rifle and staring back at the German soldier. He forgot about the other gun pointing at his own heart for there was only one thought screaming.
'How the HELL does Daegal know German?'
The other soldier seemed just as surprised, hearing the familiar language from an English boy.
"Er wurde bei einer explosion getötet (2)" the brave boy continued in a steady tune.
"Nun, sie sind in für die explosion verantwortlich, nicht wahr? (3)" the German boy spat.
Daegal only shook his head, eyes filled with sadness and pity towards the other boy "Wir sind kriegsmediziner (4)"
There was silence for a few moments, it seemed like the other soldier was absorbing what Daegal had just said and deciding to believe it or to kill them both, in the spot. He had briefly seen Merlin holding his brother in an affectionate gesture when he first saw them but his wounded heart wasn't letting him believe in kindness in the battlefield.
Daegal slowly stepped forward, put his free hand on Merlin's shoulder and gently pulled him back, giving the other person more space as he finally decided to trust the strangers. The man dropped his rifle as he threw himself on his brother's body.
The boy was shrieking with grief, crying and hugging his brother as tears freely fell. Merlin couldn't take it anymore, he covered his eyes with his hands, hearing Daegal sniff behind him. After a few minutes, the soldier seemed to calm down a bit, he raised his head and looked at the other two, eyes no more shining with fiery hate but with pain.
"Go". Merlin knew Arthur would arrive at any moment "And take him with you" he pointed at the battered body. It was no need for Daegal to translate what he had just said, sometimes people can speak to each other through their hearts, and this was one of those occasions.
He boy stood up and shakily scooped his brother in his arms, turning to leave but stopped midway. He turned and stared deep at the other two soldiers in silence, lips pressed into a thin line as he briefly bowed his head in gratitude and left.
Merlin and Daegal stayed there for a while, staring at the last spot where the German soldier had stood, before Merlin let out a watery laugh "Had no idea you could speak German!".
"Yeah...comes in handy" came his answer with a fake chuckle.
"Yeah…"
He turned back and grabbed the shoulder of his young comrade affectionately, smiling bravely. The boy glanced back with a sad smile.
"C'mon, we need to get out of here. More of them could be coming." The boy nodded as they began to walk back from where they had come.
That's when Merlin smelled something, something that wasn't supposed to be there.
…
1): we didn't kill your brother.
2): He was killed in an explosion.
3): Well, you are responsible for the explosion, aren't you?
4): we are war medics.
I don't know German, I simply used 'Google translate' for this part so if the sentences don't make any sense, please tell me so I can fix them.
You guys are super kind and AMAZING readers, thanks for all the follows and favorites and all your kind reviews.
Dear Uia: Thanks :D and thank you for your suggestion, I will post my fics on A03 in the future when I find more free time but right now I'm just too busy _and lazy_ to manage both accounts *sheepish grin*
Dear Guest (Apr 11): *super excited kid clapping* Yesss, here goes the action part. Did you like it?