Yes, I know I said that I would post it on the 28th, but I lied. Consider this a little gift. I guess it could be weekly, depending on the frequency that I write these chapters. Now, onto the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero or Call of Duty.

"Field report. I arrived in an unknown world. The others are currently MIA, so I'm on my own. Currently, I'm located in a small village, where I rescued them from a Wave of Catastrophe. They allowed me to stay here. Everyone I encountered has animalistic traits, so, besides the others, I could be the only human in this world. I'm taking care of a civilian, alongside my jobs as defender and the lead in reconstruction. Her name's Raphtalia. She's young, and was orphaned from the Wave. I guess she looks to me to be her caretaker. When I leave the village, she wishes to travel with me. Until I decide the village can survive on its own, I'll also train her how to hunt and fight. Then, maybe, she'll come with. Will update when more information is received. Dempsey out," Dempsey finished, as he closed the journal. He always did a field report when he had a chance, and due to the lack of recording devices, he would have to write them out. It helped calm his nerves, and allowed him to fully process the events that he went through earlier. He looked to the girl he mentioned, sleeping peacefully in the other bed. He placed a hand on her, making sure she would be alright.

Unlike last night.

"NO!"

Dempsey's eyes quickly opened, when he heard the voice. Looking around the room, he saw Raphtalia sitting upright in her bed. Her eyes were glued shut, but she had her arms out. Dempsey saw tears leaking through the closed eyelids.

"No, don't leave me!" She begged. The American shot out of bed, before going to her. She instantly latched herself to him, hugging the American in the process. He returned it, stroking her hair. She cried in his arms for over an hour, until she fell back asleep.

Dempsey stayed up for the rest of the night after that. Luckily, she didn't have that nightmare again. Dempsey wasn't tired. If there's one thing the Marines taught him, it was how to survive with less than the bare minimum. After closing the journal, and storing it in his tunic's pocket, he looked outside. According to the sun, it was between 0700 and 0800 hours. They would have to get up soon.

He gave her a small poke in the face, to see if she would respond. She woke up, her red eyes locking into the American. She looked surprised, but the events of yesterday came back to her.

"M-Mr. Dempsey?" She asked.

"Yup," he responded. "We should get ready, today's the start of your training," he told her. Her eyes widened, as she shot up.

Raphtalia slipped the leather jacket on, with her arms not coming close to the end of the sleeves. Dempsey rolled the sleeves up for her. She adjusted the strap to where it would prevent the jacket from slipping off. Dempsey guided the girl to the atrium, where most of the survivors were gathered. Elder Lyons handed the two a bowl of warm soup, the same from yesterday. Raphtalia went off to a table with her soup, even though she would've wanted to eat something else.

"Sir Dempsey, from what I can tell, we have enough food stored away to feed everyone here for about half a week," the elder informed him, as he was given his food. Dempsey nodded, before walking to where Raphtalia was sitting.

She was at a table, alongside three other kids. One was Rachel, who looked ecstatic to have her friend back. The other two consisted of a young girl with blonde hair that reached the small of her back. She had some type of ears on her head, with a yellow tail, but Dempsey couldn't tell what type of animal it was. The other looked to be a boy, with short black hair and black ears. Dempsey turned around to leave, but stopped before he could do so.

"Mr. Dempsey, come here!" Raphtalia called. He looked at her, before following orders. "This is Mr. Dempsey. He helped me come back to the village after he ended the Wave," Raphtalia told them, while Dempsey scratched the back of his head.

"Woah, you're so cool! Are you one of the Four Cardinal Heroes?" The black haired male asked, his black eyes widening.

"No, but I got a feeling they'll be summoned soon," he told them. After their chat, he made sure Raphtalia swore to never tell anyone else about him being from another world. If there was a religion that worshiped them, then saying he was from another world might be seen as blasphemous.

"How are you so sure?" The blonde asked, tilting her head.

"Gut feeling. It kept me alive for this long, so I tend to believe it," he lied to them.

"Well, do you think we'll meet the Shield Hero?" Rachel asked. Dempsey rubbed his chin, thinking.

"Maybe," Dempsey responded. They lit up like a Christmas tree, before they started talking to each other, about how they would travel with the Shield hero, and marry him. Dempsey looked at them in confusion, as to why they would care so much about the Shield. He shrugged.

"Well, you three will be playing catch-up, because Mr. Dempsey's training me," Raphtalia said with full confidence.

"What? That's not fair!" The other three responded, as Dempsey chuckled. He remembered him and his brother acting like this when they were young. A sorrowful look passed over him. He didn't remember his own home, or the people who he called his family. He only had that feeling in his heart, which was weak.

"Mr. Dempsey? Mr. Dempsey?" Raphtalia asked, as he was pulled back from his thoughts.

"Yeah, what is it?" The American responded.

"You had that look on your face again. Is everything okay?" She responded.

"Y-yeah, everything's fine. Just thinking," he told them. The other three went back to their meal and conversation, while Raphtalia looked at him in concern. Her gaze was interrupted when the elder banged on a metal pot, gaining everyone's attention.

"Excuse me, everyone. I know that you must be hungry, but this will take only a little bit of time," the elder's voice rang out, grabbing everyone's attention. "As we had feared, the Wave striked us at a horrific time. We all lost, whether it be our homes, or our families. We will never truly go back to the time before this. However, we can live on for them. May Sir Dempsey, the man who ended the Wave and saved us all, step forward."

Dempsey did so, making sure to have his staff secured to his back. As he stepped where the elder stood. He felt a slight panic rush him. "Good morning, everyone. As Elder Lyons stated before, I am Dempsey. Today begins the Reconstruction process. Before we can do that, however, we need to pay our respects to those who have fallen. We will dig graves for each of the deceased. After that, we will begin the process of rebuilding," he explained. "Also, we will need any farmers to begin to replant their crops. Could any and all farmers, please raise your hand," looking around, he saw a few people raise their hand. About four. "Good, now after you are finished with breakfast, I want the farmers to follow me, while everyone else will be placed in the charge of the Elder. Now, let's finish up, and get to work." Dempsey finished.

As he walked back, Raphtalia nodded, indicating she was done. The two said goodbye, as they left the tavern. After a few minutes, the farmers arrived, as Dempsey guided them to a good amount of flatland that could be used for farmland. He informed the farmers that they would have to work on their own, since Dempsey knew little about farming, and he had to get more food from hunting. They understood, as the two left to head into the village.

"So, Mr. Dempsey, where do we begin?" Raphtalia asked, as they made their way to the shack.

"First, we're doing a strength test. All I need you to do is to try and get the barrels out of the shack and onto the street," Dempsey informed the young girl. He opened the door and indicated four barrels that had food in them. "I want these to be outside of the shack. I'll take one to the tavern, so that'll give you plenty of time," he told her, before hoisting one over his left shoulder and carrying it out.

The youth looked at her caretaker leave, before trying the same thing. After a minute of struggling, she only achieved falling onto her butt. Brushing the dirt off, she tried to push the barrel, which didn't work. The next idea was to pull it, which failed. She forced all of her strength on one side of the barrel, which caused it to begin to topple over. The raccoon girl stopped it, before signing in relief.

Looking down, she noticed the barrel move slightly. It was only a couple of inches, but it still moved. Rocking the barrel, she shifted the barrel forward, moving it slowly, but surely. After ten minutes, she managed to get one barrel out. She breathed a sigh of relief. Dempsey hadn't come back yet, so she still had time to bring the other barrels out of the sha-

"Ah, I see you managed to get one out," her thoughts were cut in two when her caretaker spoke. She looked, seeing the man walk over to her.

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Dempsey! It was too heavy to carry like you and-" Raphtalia was cut off when Dempsey placed his hand on her head.

"It's just a test. And you got one out. That's more than most kids your age would've gotten," he reassured her. Raphtalia responded with a large smile. "Let's get the rest of them out. Then, we'll set out," Dempsey told her. She responded with a sharp nod, before reentering the shack, to show the man how she got the barrel out. Dempsey responded by a nod of approval, as he took one of the two remaining barrels to the tavern, while Raphtalia moved the last one out.

As she did so, she noticed something. Grabbing the object, she noticed it was a bow. The bow was a short bow, made from a bone-like substance. It was held together in some places by a cloth. Next to it was a quiver, with 60 wooden arrows, with a hardened stone tip. Grabbing the bow and quiver, she walked out of the shack, as Dempsey returned.

"I, uh, found this behind the last barrel," Raphtalia told her caretaker. He looked at the bow, his eyes locked onto it.

"This looks like the bow from Der Eisendrache," he muttered. He shook his head. "Well, at least you got a ranged weapon. I was gonna let you use my knife, but this might be better," he said, giving a smile.

As Raphtalia placed the quiver on her back, she held the bow tight. She had never used a weapon in her life, but that would change today. She took a breath to calm herself, as she adjusted the quiver strap.

"Here," Dempsey called out, handing over a sheathed knife. "It'll help you better than me," he told her, as she took it. After she attached the knife to her strap, she nodded to Dempsey, indicating she was ready.

The two entered the woods surrounding the village. As they traveled, Dempsey taught her how to tell where she was using the sun as a compass, and how to mark where she's been. Eventually, Dempsey slowed down, and indicated Raphtalia to do the same. She followed his silent order, as they stopped.

"Alright, there's a clearing ahead. From what I can tell, there's a rabbit in it. It doesn't know we're here yet, so we can use this chance we have to kill it silently," Dempsey whispered to her, as she listened. She drew an arrow from her quiver, as she crept up.

In front of the two was a small clearing, with trees surrounding it. In the middle, there was a fat rabbit looking around. The fur was pure white, and it's eyes were a slight red.

Raphtalia placed the arrow on the bowstring, before pulling back. Her hands were shaking, her heartbeat in her ears. A firm hand on her shoulder caused her to change focus. She didn't let go of the bow, but she wasn't facing her prey.

"Take a deep breath," Dempsey ordered quietly. "Don't think about missing. Control your nerves. They are only holding you back. Take a second breath. Hold it. Then release," he told her, as her hands began to shake less. Her heartbeat calmed down. She changed her focus to the rabbit. "Take a deep breath. Hold," Dempsey said, "Now, release."

She let go of the bowstring. The arrow flew out the brush they were hiding in and made a new home in the gut of the rabbit. What came out was a series of flashbacks for the young girl.

She saw her parents final moments, including them throwing her into the ocean to spare her of their fate. Their blood was spilled, as she descended closer to the ocean waters.

Her hands trembled, as she dropped to her knees. Her bow slipped out of her hand, as she saw their blood fly from their bodies. She hit the water, and it replayed in her mind. She was closer, she could hear their screams as she fell. Replayed again, and again, she was closer. She could smell the rough scent of blood. The crude cycle repeated again, and again, and again.

"Raphtalia," a voice called out to her. It was distant. Almost as if it was a hundred miles away. It sounded familiar.

"Raphtalia!" It called out again. It was louder, but still distant. She tried to reach out to it.

"RAPHTALIA!"

The cycle broke in front of her, as she returned to reality. She was staring into the sky, her heart, ready to burst out of her chest. Her face was wet, especially her eyes. Looking to her left, she saw Dempsey. His eyes widened, his pupils shaking. He had something coming from them. Tears? No, it couldn't be. Mr. Dempsey doesn't cry. But, there they were, clear as day.

"M-Mr. Dem-Dempsey?" She asked. Her voice was shaking. When her voice reached his ears, his eyes stopped shaking. He released a deeply held breath.

"Raph-Raphtalia?" He asked. She nodded.

"I-Is everything alright?" She asked. He helped her off of her back and into a sitting position.

"You started shaking and hyperventilating. You were muttering something to yourself. I tried to get to you, but you just didn't stop. I thought something was going to happen," he said, placing an ungloved hand on her head.

"I-I saw my parents. I saw them die," she said on the brink of tears.

"In front of you?" he asked. She nodded. He sighed, "Goddammit," he swore under his breath. He wrapped his arms around her, as she pulled herself to him. The two remained like that, as the pain of her memory burned away.

As they released, Raphtalia looked around. Her eyes locked to her prey, which had an arrow sticking out of it. The blood threatened to bring the memory back, but a hand from Dempsey cleared it away.

"If you don't want to," he began, before she started to walk to it. Her eyes now had a fire behind them.

"They want me to live on. I have to do this. For them," she said. She walked to the rabbit, as it shaked, indicating it was alive. She unsheathed her knife, before plunging it into its neck. As she drew the knife from her prey's neck, blood splashed onto her dress.

She turned around, and saw Dempsey. He had a relieved expression on his face. He walked over to her.

"Now what?" She asked.

"Now, we skin it and take the meat. But first," he kneeled down to her level, "I wanna say how proud I am of you. You're braver than most kids your age. Hell, you're braver than most of the other guys that went through basic with me. And they were full on adults," he told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "This world's lucky to have you."

"C-can we-" she began to ask.

"Yeah, I'll make sure you can see them one last time. Before we go back to the tavern," he answered.

"Thank you, for everything," she told him.

"It's nothing. All I'm doing is giving you a helping hand. All of this is your doing," Dempsey told her. "Now, enough sappy talk. Let's get back to work," he said, changing tones. Raphtalia giggled as he began to explain how to skin prey and take everything they got.

The two reentered the small town, their prey carried in a rucksack Dempsey jury rigged together out of his tunic and the jacket strap. Raphtalia didn't have another episode, but she noticed the sight of blood threatened to bring the memories back less and less with each kill. Dempsey discovered that Raphtalia was a quick learner. Hell, she might become a better shot than him one day. At least he can shoot the wings off of a fly.

As they entered the village, they noticed a new addition. It was a large graveyard, with at least 50 graves. Each one was marked with a small wooden cross. The sign above it was in a language unknown to the American, but Raphtalia read it. She walked over to a plaque that was next to the sign.

"'For those who gave their lives against the Wave of Catrospache to protect this village, and those who live in it.'" She read aloud. Dempsey placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked through the graves, before stopping at a pair. She knelt down. "He-hey Mom, Da-dad. I'm sorry, I wasn't strong enough. I was too weak to save you, but I'm gonna make that change. I know you want me to live on for you, but I don't think I can do that alone. Mr. Dempsey is taking care of me. He's a good guy, and a hero. I don't know how I can repay him, but he doesn't seem to care about my debt. He only wants to help me grow stronger, so that I can travel with him. I know it might not be what you want, but I think it'll allow me to help people. Maybe, I can stop others from going through this. I love you, both of you. And I'm sorry," Raphtalia told the two graves, before nodding to herself. She picked herself up off of the dirt, before looking to Dempsey, who gave a silent nod. The two left the graveyard, another word not spoken between the two.

Before they entered the tavern, they noticed a large, light blue feathered bird tied to a post near the entrance. The two drew their weapons, with Dempsey working the crank to reload the staff, which actually worked. Raphtalia drew her bow and pulled out an arrow. They opened the door to the tavern, and noticed that a man in full armor was standing in front of the townspeople. He had black hair, and brown eyes, with a light beard. He had a scroll, and was currently reading it to the people.

"'Therefore, this village, as well as its inhabitants are now placed in the control of Lord Idol Rabier,'" The man finished, before Dempsey could react. "Now, any questions?" He asked, lowering the scroll.

"Yeah, I got a few," Dempsey shouted, getting everyone's attention.

"Ah, I didn't expect to see another human in this demi-human filled town. What can I help you with?" He asked. Dempsey ignored the human and demi-human comments. Questions for later, he figured.

"Well, where the hell were you when the Wave came?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, I was standing amongst my fellow knights, defending Lord Idol's estate. We were ordered to defend it at all costs. I can tell by your armor that you're a knight, or at least a soldier. You should understand that we had to follow orders," he said.

"Yeah, I was a soldier, maybe I still am, but if I know people need my help, then I'll help them. Orders be damned," Dempsey responded, the grip on his staff tightened. "So, did you know this village was affected by the Wave?" He asked, aiming his staff at the knight.

"You dare point a weapon at me!" He yelled, drawing his sword. "Do you know who I am?! I am Knight Captain Franklin Willows! I will have your head on a stick if you don't lower the weapon!" He yelled at the American.

"And I'm Dempsey, protector of this village, and the man who ended the Wave!" Dempsey responded, making the man's eyes widen.

"Y-you killed the Boss Monster? By yourself?" Willows asked, his voice shaking.

"Yeah."

The knight lowered his blade, before sheathing it. "I-I didn't realize I was in your presence. Forgive me," the captain said, lowering his head.

"I might, on a condition," Dempsey said, catching the man off guard. "I want you to leave, and make this 'Idol Rabier' guy forget about this village. Then, I'll forgive you," Dempsey explained. The man gave a quick salute.

"Sir, yes sir!" He said, holding his salute. Dempsey noted that even though Captain Willows was above him in rank, due to Dempsey only being a Corporal, he still saluted him, as if the American was his superior.

"Good, now move out! Double time!" Dempsey ordered, as Captain Willows moved from his soapbox and out the door in record time. As he left, Dempsey looked to the townspeople, "Is everyone alright?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you," Elder Lyons responded. "So, what is the plan for tomorrow?" He asked.

"Are all of the dead buried?" Dempsey asked. A nod confirmed it. "Good. The farmers will get back to work on the fields. The rest will either join the farmers, or they will help rebuild some of the less damaged buildings," the American told the elder. He nodded, before handing the two soup.

"It's still warm, so it should suffice," the old man said. Dempsey handed them the sack of rabbit meat.

"Add some meat in there, for tomorrow's breakfast. That's about 8 rabbits worth," Dempsey explained. He happily took the meat, as the hunters went to eat.

"So, Mr. Dempsey," Raphtalia began, "do you think that guy will leave us alone?"

"That Captain Willows guy?" Dempsey asked. She nodded, "Probably. He's a knight, and they're all about being honest and stuff. So he might not come back."

"Wait, you're not a knight?" Raphtalia asked.

"Nope. Before I came here, I was a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps. It made me into the tough SOB you see today," Dempsey explained. "It taught me a lot, so that means I got a lot to teach you."

"That's cool. And you think I'm braver than the guys you trained with?" Raphtalia asked.

"I'm not a liar. Or I try to not be," Dempsey reconfirmed.

"Thank you!" She said, hugging him. Dempsey sighed, before returning it.

"You got nobody to thank but yourself," Dempsey told her. "You're strong and brave, more so than you think. We're gonna have to stick together."

The two broke apart and finished their meals. As they went to bed, Dempsey noticed the young raccoon girl fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Thank you for reading, and thanks to everyone who reviewed. Have a good day and I will see you next time.