A/N: The chicken is here, run for your lives!
How I Write
This = indicates memories or flashback
This = indicates emphasize or dates
'This' = indicates thought
"This" = indicates dialogue
There was a fireteam sent to scout the area near the Einzbern castle. Troublesome to say the least. The snowstorm and forest gave us cover to eliminate them without detection. However, we can't have German troops disappearing. I signaled the others to knock out the troops. They did it with little effort. I looked behind me to check for more troops but all I notice is James somewhat farther behind. He seems slower than usual. I walk towards him.
"James, you alright there?" I notice the body next to him.
"A little help with the prisoner would be appreciated," James responded with fatigue in his voice.
"Prisoner? Since when did we have a prisoner?" Frank said, surprised by James' response.
"They tried to escape the castle without any consideration for their homunculus brethren so I thought they were suspicious," James reported
"I guess I'll help," I said. James kept a gun pointed to the prisoner's head as I walked closer. I noticed now that it was an Einzbern that he caught. That could help with gaining more Intel. Just by looking at her, I can tell that she is a Justeaze model of homunculi. She seems to have a command spell mark on her hand. Maybe trying to leave with some information. I see that Jack found some rope and tied her hands with it. Interrogation seems to be the best option for getting intel. I signal the team to pat her down. However, I notice the homunculus' bleeding leg.
"Will, the prisoner is injured," I said. The homunculus' leg had a bullet hole that was bleeding from it. It stained the snow as we stayed in place
He went over to take out the bullet. He was able to take it out and completely heal the wound. We tie her hands and feet up so she can't escape. Now to begin the interrogation.
"You have the potential to be a master, you know that?" I ask her.
"...Yes," she answers emotionlessly.
"Is that why you left? To find a catalyst to participate in the war?" I already found out her motives. Now to negotiate.
"..." she doesn't respond, as expected.
"Well, I don't like playing a game unfairly, so..." I pull out my pocket knife and put it near the rope until I'm pulled away.
"Hey, I don't know what you're thinking but it's dumb. We need to kill her, not set her free idiot," Avenger gave her input quietly. I needed to explain myself.
'I don't like the idea of war without allies, do you understand? You can't protect the king without some pawns,' I told her with my mind, trying to explain my reasoning while being somewhat passive-aggressive. I think she soon understood but didn't like it. I walked back towards the homunculi.
"Anyway, I will provide you with a catalyst and freedom if you give me that key," I point to her pocket. She stayed silent.
"...Alright," she probably realized this was her best chance of survival. I severed the ropes and I was given the key. Then, she left into the forest. It looked like she turned her head back for a moment. Strange.
"You sure that was a good idea?" Frank asked
"Yes, it is. I think this key is of some importance. Why else would she try to escape with a key and nothing else?" Will responds in place of me.
"That's what I was thinking...but something was off about her. I should've asked for more info," I respond and started to go on a train of thought until we heard a rustle from the bushes.
It was running around us. Almost as if it was a dog herding sheep. We heard it running along the ground. Its steps were light. Perfect for turning and dodging. It wanted us to make the first move. No one did a thing. We had our weapons out but we didn't know what it was. It stops. It starts to slowly walk forward. It reveals itself...a chicken.
"Did we all just get intimidated by a chicken!" Avenger said to everyone.
"I feel somewhat insulted by this," Will said.
"I feel that something is different about this bird," James said.
"I'm going to kill this chicken and make a delicious roast," Avenger said with fury in her voice.
"Do not go near that chicken!" I say because I don't trust innocent creatures that turn out to be murder machines. However, I soon realize what I've done. My hand glows a little and a command spell is gone. Great!
"I hate being stuck with an idiot as a master," Avenger chided.
"Well, that's just uncalled for," I say in response.
'You are right about me being a dangerous chicken! I am Loki! I have been reincarnated as a chicken -cluck- for it was one of my favorite forms! Now bow down to me mortals!' The chicken said in our heads except for the clucks, those came from it. It continues to talk but we ignore it.
"Why is the chicken still talking?" Will says as if he's heard a chicken talk before. I start to walk towards the chicken. I pick it up.
"What's going to happen is we're going to take this back to London. Whoever does the least amount of work in fights takes care of this ...thing. That means...," I threw it to Avenger
"How dare you do this to me! I just got here! How am I supposed to know what to kill and what not to kill because of your lack of giving orders!"
"I thought that was the chicken talking for a second," James said with some wit. We all snickered. Avenger wasn't so happy about that. She seemed to want to kill him for that but I interrupted and took the chicken.
"Before anything starts let's give him the chicken," I said before throwing the chicken in Will's face.
'You treat me like an animal -cluck- Fool! I am a god! - cluck- is that seed! James was able to make the chicken shut up thanks to him carrying seed for some reason. I'm not going to question why he carried seeds.
"It's getting late gentlemen, we should probably look for a cave to rest in," Frank tells us because to fight a war you need to rest and replenish mana.
"Luckily, we already did that, just need to find it again," James replies.
"Hey, didn't Mason leave one of his familiars there?" Jack responds very tiredly.
" I did it so when we needed the cave again, we could look for a big source of mana here in the woods."
"Then, let's go already," Avenger announced.
We head towards the cave. We were spooked by the occasional wildlife. I'm very surprised that this forest is still alive with a magus family living nearby. The snow made everything harder to see. We start to notice the smell of blood nearby. I see a trail of blood leading to the cave. The stench of blood starts to be getting stronger as we move closer to the cave. We hide in the shrubbery.
"Am I the only one who thinks that the familiar died by something," Frank suggests?
"Not the only one," everyone else exclaims but me.
"I don't think so... and to prove it, Avenger you can check it out," I order Avenger. I knew it was going to be fine. This was going to be funny. Avenger begrudgingly went forward. We heard nothing for a while. Then, we smelt something cooking.
"I can't handle this anymore, I'm going to take a look," Frank said with anticipation. He went forward and we followed him.
"The fuck am I looking at," Frank responds to what no one could explain at first glance. It was my german shepherd familiar with a chef hat on cooking rabbit stew. Avenger had a shocked expression while viewing it. I walked towards the pot to taste it.
"Needs more salt but overall well done," I reviewed.
"Thank you, master," Charles responded in his usual calm and collected manner.
"Why do you respond as if this is normal!" Avenger exclaimed.
"Well, everyone should eat and get some rest for the march tomorrow."
"Don't ignore me!" Avenger retorted.
"Sorry, I'll make it up to you by letting you choose what part of the rabbit you want first."
"You don't need to waste supplies on me I don't need food," Avenger said with a slight hint of red on her cheek.
"Sure you do, you probably haven't eaten in years," I told her. Everyone else laughed at me for density. I realized what you're never supposed to mention to a woman... age. I looked at her face and saw an innocent smile. I didn't trust it.
"Do you want to die!" Avenger responded coldly with a glare. I booked it. She gave pursuit. She chased after me, with her spear, around the camp.
We realized that the food would get cold after twenty laps around the camp. I was tempted to just get the stew but I let Avenger serve herself first. After all, I was a man of my word.
The stew smelled delicious. I wondered how it tasted. My eyes wandered to everyone else to see if they were enjoying theirs. Everyone had a smile of great delight. Except for the chicken, who was dreading what was going to happen to him.
"This is decent," Avenger states while trying to lie about her reaction. Everyone accepted that this is her personality. It's cute to watch her reactions. She took notice of this and left the cave to guard while taking her food. I slowly looked to the right with my eyes to see the chicken blabbering about something while eating some seeds. He might be going crazy. I think everyone is ignoring it. I glanced to my left and saw the fellas talking about something. Next thing that I knew they were bursting with laughter. I walked into their conversation.
"What you guys laughing at."
"One to ten," Will says with a grin. Oh, this game was fun. The origins of this game were that we were in London and we just got assigned to each other. We were told to get to know each other by Clocktower. One of the games we made when we were pissed drunk was one to ten. The basics were that when we saw a dame or man who was attractive to one of us, we had to tell the group and everyone had to rate from one to ten. We got into a lot of funny scenarios in just a few days.
"Wait... who is the target?" I question dumbfounded.
"I think you got the answer to that mate," Frank responds with a smirk on his face as well. It then hits me.
"Before we start, let's get trollied," James states as he pulled open his pack to reveal some liquor. After a few minutes, we got drunk.
"-hic- Alright, I rate tree branch a five," James answered.
"I'll rate the chicken a twoooo!" Frank announced
"Will seems -hic- be a six," Jack said.
"This gun is like a four. What's your number, Mason?" Will replied. They all wait for my response.
"I rate Avenger a ten!" I say with courage. She probably didn't hear me.
"Oooooooohhhhhhh!" they all respond. A few minutes later, we passed the f*** out on the ground.
I start to dream. "I walk on this cobblestone. I walk towards the stake. I ask for sympathy and get none, I call to a measly god and get nothing. They call me a heretic, they despise me, they call me a witch. They're wrong. They are the heretics! I will let them feel the fire that burnt me! I shall burn all of them to avenge my name! For I am Jea-"
I woke up in a cold sweat. I gazed around the cave to notice that total silence. They were all asleep, except Avenger who was guarding outside. The chicken was with her for some reason. Anyway, was that one of those servant dreams? It had to be. Now I'm wondering about her origin. What historical hero's name starts with a J, was burnt to death by fire, and was a heretic?...The Maid of Orléans, Jeanne D'Arc!
"I rate Avenger a ten!" I heard what master said. They were playing a game of some sort. What kind of game are they even playing? It's a dumb one. What did he mean he rated me a ten!? I'm a twenty.
I heard footsteps behind me. I prepare my sword. When I turned around I saw the chicken. I put my sword back in its handle.
"What do you want?" I reacted aggressively.
'I wanted to ask you that question,' he informed me. I'm not going to tell this thing what I want.
"What question?' Avenger states confused.
'What is your wish?'
"For master to win the holy grail war of course," I told him. He is not going to get much from me.
'Do you even know what your master's wish? Do you know what he wants at all?' He said to me as if he knew so much, even though we just found him.
"Why should I care. I just need to follow orders."
'You don't seem the type to follow orders easily yet you do with him, why?'
"I think you're pushing your limit...lunch." I threatened.
'I think I know but I won't say anything,' he said as he runs away back to the cave. Now, where did that dog go? I look around to see nothing. I sit down and relax. I look to my left to see the dog.
"Wh-"
"I came to see why master likes you," the dog spoke to me calmly. I still have to get used to that.
"...," my face started to get hot.
"Never mind, I got my answer," he said as he left. Did master like me? As if I could be found attractive. Master was asleep. I wondered what it felt like to dream.
I closed my eyes to see what sleeping felt like. After a few minutes, I started to dream. I saw something. It was almost a dream. In it, I saw a bright light. I walked towards it but the closer I felt to it, the farther I was. I was so far away from the light that it was just darkness. It was almost like a void. That's where I saw master. He had a pistol in his hand. I tried to walk up to him but I saw flashes of light around me. It was like a battlefield. The flashes like those on arms. I saw master who was unaffected by this. He kept on walking into darkness. Each step he took made him sink lower and lower until he was gone into the black void. All that was left of him was a dagger. I walked towards it and heard a loud explosion accompanied by a bright light.
A/N: This seems like a good stopping point. Anyhow have a good day/afternoon/night, see you guys later.
