Chapter 3: Scouting & Retracing
...unless one values the lives of his soldiers and is tormented by their ordeal he is unfit to command.
~Omar Nelson Bradley
(Jonathon's P.O.V.)
Raising my rifle as I slunk into the tree line where I had seen the pair of glowing orange eyes, I made sure to be on high alert for even the briefest of sounds that would alert me to the intruder. My rifle was equipped with neither flash light or laser light, and while that may have been useful in a time like this, the dual moons providing enough light that I could easily see without giving away my position. Each fall of my foot was accompanied by a near silent crunch as my boot connected with the ground. It was as silent as could be, but it was as silent as I could go while maintaining a decent pace.
Stopping once I felt I was in the forest enough, I kneeled down as I kept my rifle level with the bushes opposite of my position. Setting the butt of my rifle on my knee, I took my hand away from the stock and reached to my chest slow and deliberately. Once my hand touched my vest, I opened up a breast pocket and fished out my work light from within.
Clicking it on as soon as it was out of the pocket and directing the beam of light around me, I was met with densely packed trees and thick shrubs. Turning my gaze and the light downwards, I saw tracks that slightly resembled that of a wolf's, yet the paw marking seemed oddly wide when compared to the wolves I knew of...
They looked larger overall.
Impossible. A wolf would need to be the size of a small car to have footprints as large as these. I don't and can't believe a wolf getting to this size... my men wouldn't be safe if they ran into a pack of wolves of this size.
Raising my flashlight further towards the forest ahead of me, I saw the tracks leading away from this area, yet, something peculiar was actually showing instead. It was almost like looking at tracks made by a human, yet with wolf prints instead. The typical animal had a gait where the sets of tracks made by front and back paws alternated according to speed, yet this animals prints were... human to say the least. It looked like only one pair of feet belonged to this animal, and they alternated exactly how a human's would.
Setting my rifle down but at a ready position, I alternated which hand was holding the flashlight and lowered the other hand down to the track. Touching the rim of the print and pressing down lightly to gauge the weight the animal had exerted on the ground, I found that the ground wasn't as compressed as I would've expected, yet there was still the feeling of unease as I couldn't even fathom what the creature that made these marks looked like.
Pulling my hand away and flashing the light around the forest on more time, I saw not a thing moving aside from the leaves from the wind. Cursing to myself, I knew this mystery was going to be a pain in my ass, yet it would give me and the scientists something to think about. I will tell the squad leaders of my findings, but this will need to be solely on us. The scientists are soft, and I can't have any of them getting injured or possibly frightened while we are out here, if anything; that will make them into even more of a liability if they are running in circles scared of shadows. I will tell them the basics, but nothing to cause alarm.
Clicking the light off and quickly stuffing it back into my pocket, I picked up my rifle and slowly turned around, scanning every inch of forest as I made my way back to base camp. Tonight was going to be a long first night, and I planned on upholding my end of the work by staying up late. These grunts may know how to patrol, but I wanted to be alert in case whatever creature was just here decided to come back early in the morning.
Besides, it will do good for morale if the commanding officer is patrolling the perimeter with his fellow soldiers instead of sleeping it away. A commander that sticks himself in the same danger as his men is respected more than a man hiding behind those that take the risks...
Exiting the forest a few minutes after finding the prints, I scanned the area around me and the forest, before making my way towards the waiting camp. The flood-lights were on and illuminated the area with an intensity only rivaled to by the day, and that would do good for maintaining visual on anything that dared to approach, along with keeping the men and myself that were on patrol awake and alert.
Day one, twelve hours... we have two weeks at best, and we haven't even begun searching. After collecting those explosives, I shouldn't... but I will requisition a Humvee for a bit of distance related reconnaissance. I doubt anything will go wrong, but I might as well take a scientist and two other men. Traveling in pairs is better than anything else, and it would be best that if we do find something, might as well have the scientist and a man guard the Humvee while the other trooper and I look around.
I was still twenty or so feet from the closest vehicle, and as I approached, I noticed the two men at this corner of the camp were talking idly near the BTR, but they occasionally looked around. I wasn't one for popularity and letting my men be lax in their duties, yet these were volunteers, and they were keeping an eye on the surroundings how they were instructed.
"Good evening sir."
"Same to yourself soldier." I nodded towards the two men as I passed, and while I made my way into camp. As soon as I passed the BTR and into camp, the amount of light dropped considerably, but it was still bright enough to see all the men that were still awake were polishing their weapons and cleaning their gear, or were getting ready to bunk down. These weren't ideal conditions to sleep in, but this was field work, and another day in the service was another day of paradise.
Chuckling a bit as I continued to walk, I was instantly alert to the man walking beside before he even asked, "What's so funny sir?"
Looking over, I noticed it was one of the squad leaders, and I had enough courtesy to let him in on some humor as well. "Just thinking about all the benefits of joining the military and all the joys it comes with." Smirking a bit wider, I tapped my helmet, "I got a roof over my head for one, but when you think about it, it comes with excitement, good friends, and hell, you always get to travel."
This got a smirk from the squad leader, before he let out a brief affirmative, before his smile dropped and he asked in a bit more of a serious tone, "Did you find what tripped the sensor sir?"
I shook my head as we stopped walking, and I set my rifle on the table as I said, "Negative. I did come across some tracks that looked eerily similar to wolves, yet the tracks were similar to that made by a biped. Not like that of a quadruped..." The man looked a bit confused, but I simply shook my head lightly, "I don't know what it was, but it isn't a threat as of yet, so we will treat it as such. Keep an eye out for something that may make wolf like tracks, and/or has orange eyes, but keep it in mind, not as your main focus. I don't want any of the men to panic, as it can probably just be some new strange species, but I want them alert."
He nodded before he turned to walk away, and as soon as I was alone I sat down in a chair, pulled a nearby notebook and pen up to me. Since standard communications won't work, I guess I really will need to revert to message in a bottle. A strong throw, accurate aiming, and hopefully someone watching on the other side, and then we will have a form of communication. Albeit a bit old style...
(Eric's P.O.V.)
Smirking a bit as I leaned over Sakido, I heard her practically purr my name as I gently caressed her body, applying pressure to her back and along her wings to sooth out the tense muscles. My hands were those of demons, so I could cover more area than if I was in my natural form. Sakido always seemed to enjoy it when I was in my alternate form as well.
Lifting my hands up and placing them on her shoulders, I applied a bit of pressure while rolling my hands and grip downwards, but I only moved outwards away from her neck. Sakido was practically putty in my hands, and I knew all too well why as I was fully aware of what it felt like.
"Eric, you're going to put me asleep if you keep doing that..."
The best part was, I couldn't hear any conviction in her voice for me to stop. Smirking a bit as I stopped rubbing her shoulders to lean down over her, I made sure not to apply to much weight to her body as I rubbed my cheek along her ear as I said softly, "I plan on it." As I pulled away, I smiled warmly as I planted a kiss on the back of her ear, causing it to twitch and her to giggle happily.
Once I was working on her shoulders again, she sighed softly, before she spoke through our mental link, "I love you so much Eric..."
I froze momentarily, but I soon resumed my work with an even wider smile as I felt my heart swell. I already knew she loved me undyingly, but she rarely expressed it with words; yet every time she did I felt like nothing else in the world mattered anymore.
Closing my eyes as I tried to show as much affection through our mental link as possible, I let out a happy breath before I spoke through my mind to my love, I love you too Sakido, more than I will ever be able to express. I know we wouldn't have had to deal with so much stress if we hadn't dealt with those rebels, but I feel so comfortable... so content that I don't have to worry about what's a threat anymore. I got you, and even though I know you can take care of yourself, I will do all I can to make sure your safe and comfortable. You deserve nothing less with what you have been forced to endure.
Sakido's reaction was to immediately roll over and pull me down into a passionate kiss. I felt her pull me down until I was pressing against her, and it was at that point that I closed my eyes and enjoyed the kiss all the more as I brought my hands around and pulled her closer.
The kiss itself was one of passion, yet as soon as she stated to pull away, I opened my eyes and felt worry instantly ice its way into my heart as I saw tears brimming all along the edge of her eyes. I felt a few tears of my own beginning to form, but before I could even inquire what was wrong, she pulled me closer and nuzzled against my face. I did my best to comfort her as I heard her sniffle, before she said quietly, "Just keep being you E-Eric... and I will be the happiest demon alive in all of Fragaria..."
...
(Jonathon's P.O.V.)
The gentle bumps of the ground weren't too bad as we made our way through the forest. After I had thrown the bottle through the portal, I waited a bit and had gotten clearance to begin searching about thirty minutes later. I still couldn't help the occasional chuckle here and there as I remembered the bottle coming back through the portal. I didn't know what to expect, but I hadn't expected the General to quite literally throw a message in a bottle back to me.
"Damn!" I cursed as my helmet slammed into the top of the Humvee's interior when we went over a particularly large bump. Looking up, I saw we were entering a wide open area devoid of trees, yet there was a strange looking statue in the distance.
"Are you alright sir?"
"Yeah. You see that statue?"
The driver chuckled, before he said, "Want us to go investigate that sir?"
I glanced over and saw the driver looking intently towards it, before I gave him the order to head that way. Looking towards the now rapidly approaching statue, I tapped the gunner on the leg and called up, "Look alive trooper, where there is construction there is civilization. Where there is civilization there is possible hostiles."
Instead of a verbal reply I heard the bolt to the fifty Cal clack a bit, before the distinct sound of a round entering the chamber rang out. The men inside the Humvee did the same things with their weapons as well, which I was glad for. I glanced over my shoulder and made sure the scientist was exercising weapons safety, and I nodded in satisfaction when I saw his pistol was aiming at anywhere that it could cause harm. Looking back forward, I didn't need to worry about my own weapon as it had been prepped this morning when I had done patrols around the downed helo.
"Pull over here." As soon as the words left my mouth, the driver brought the Humvee to a stop several yards from the statue, and I looked at those in the Humvee and said, "Corporal, you stay here and help protect the Humvee. Sanders, you're with me... I know you're going to want to study this statue."
We all disembarked, yet the scientist and I were the only ones to approach the statue. My outward appearance may have seemed relaxed, but I carefully measured each step while eying the surrounding forest; for all I knew this statue could hold some religious importance to the locals. Eric, I wish you were here... you make all these dangerous assignments seem easy...
Walking around to the front of the statue, I had to stop and actually look at the huge gems that acted as eyes, along with the gems that stuck out of what seemed to be wings. Letting out a breath, I found myself actually marveling at this strange structure, and the more I looked at it, the stranger it looked. Its appearance was one of a bat, but there was a strange marking over its front. "Outstanding..."
Looking over at the scientist and seeing that his jaw was open, he shook his head as he turned to look at me, "This find truly is outstanding. Aside from the gems, you can see the detail that was put into this and that detail required tools. Whomever... or whatever made this statue, possess knowledge on basic tool making and use."
"Alright Sanders, gather as much info on the over-glorified rock as you can then. We will move out to find this village afterwards since they must have that at least..."
It was then that I took to scanning the forest for any open spaces that might suggest a trail or path. I didn't see one, but I knew that every civilization that ever existed back on our planet wouldn't leave something valuable like this forgotten, and I doubted those of another world would do so.
...
(Eric's P.O.V.)
Sakido let out an impatient growl as we reached a sign that had two arrows pointing in two opposite directions, the sides of the arrows having been destroyed to a point where the names were unreadable.
It is a shame that some idiots just had to go and do this for no damn reason...
Sakido huffed in agreement, and I reached over and gently intertwined my fingers within her own, and as her larger frame leaned into my smaller one, I said softly, "I know you wish to meet up with Buwaro Sakido, but maybe we should backtrack more than we had originally planned. I remember the general direction of Riverside, and if we do go there, we can rest our bodies before we resume traveling."
Sakido just stood there, staring at the sign, and I knew she was thinking as she continued to remain silent. Turning my gaze back to the ruined sign, I once more felt disgust for the idiots that had destroyed a sign meant for guidance. The only use that served was to possibly confuse those that didn't travel often, and in our case, it was proving to just be a hindrance.
When a soft sigh left Sakido's muzzle, I looked back at her and she said quietly, "I wish traveling wasn't so tedious, yet I know Buwaro is safe with Rhea and Kieri..." She turned her head and looked down at me, before she said a bit firmer, "I agree with going to Riverside, but I only want to stay for a week, and no longer."
I nodded my head, yet before I could even point in the direction of Riverside so that we could start flying again, I felt myself freeze as her lips planted against my own softly, yet firmly. She pulled away soon afterwards, but not before she sent a mental request to me that sent my face bursting with warmth. When her eyes were looking into my own with a light sparkle, I swallowed nervously as I said verbally, "You needn't ask my lovely demoness..."
Her cheeks were slowly turning a dark shade of red as she smirked, before she asked, "Which way to Riverside my dear mate?" I felt myself smile as I pointed in the general direction, yet just as I did so, Sakido wrapped her arms around my body, and we were thrown up into the sky as she began to fly us due west.
A.N.: I forgot what I used to put in these things... other than that, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It is shorter than I would've liked to give you all, but I hit a few snags, and then I even hit a bit of an inspirational crunch.
Zer0Dust: Eh, think you know who and what I wrote about? Well, I guess you will need to wait for the upcoming chapters.
Everyone else: I can't tell if you all were talking about chapter 1 or chapter 2, or if this story literally got this unpopular in my absence...