As the spear of Alex easily pushed its way into his flesh, Fenrir was sent spiraling into the snow as he twisted his body to avoid being stabbed in the chest, only being hit in the shoulder. When he landed, Fenrir felt a sudden dread rise from within him as the shadow of a looming figure appeared behind him. His eyes widened as he tried to push himself upright and stand, but Alex was heading his direction. Did he not sense the powerful figure behind him? When the blonde came close he grabbed his collar, pulling him down so that their gazes would meet and shouted at him.
"You idiot, get a hold of yourself!" Their eyes met and Fenrir could see the emptiness in Alex's eyes, he was unfocussed and his mind was wandering elsewhere. He let go of Alex and stood up to meet the foe, but as soon as he laid eyes on who snuck up on him, all color in his face vanished. In front of him was an Emperor's Blade, five of them.
For the first time in Fenrir's life, he was fearful. The appearance of the Emperor's Blades could mean many things, but they were obviously here to tear apart Reunion. Fenrir held no doubts that these super soldiers could tear him and whoever remained at the camp to shreds. Suddenly Alex screamed, and just as suddenly he began gurgling. Without him even noticing a sixth Emperor's Blade had appeared, sped past him reached Alex, who was choking on his own blood with a clean cut across his neck.
"Wha-" Fenrir was flabbergasted, he had heard only rumors of their power, but to see it in person was an entirely different matter. He wasn't spared another second to think as a hand grasped around his neck and lifted him into the air. Fueled by instinct, his arms went to try and pry off the hand that tightened around his neck, but their grip was too strong.
Fenrir struggled against the Emperor's Blade when the one strangling him spoke. It was nothing but garbled radio static, he couldn't understand what they were saying but the rest of the Emperor's Blades vanished as soon as he finished. Not long after the screams and cries of those in Reunion's camp were heard.
It was getting harder to breathe and his struggles became desperate. He punched and kicked against the Emperor's Blade in front of him to no avail, their strength was too much for him to oppose. He couldn't use his Arts, doing so would kill him and he didn't know if the Emperor's Blades Then the Emperor's Blade spoke in a clear voice.
"Fenrir, The Red Winter." Fenrir's eyes widened as his code name was announced. "The emperor's patience for the extermination of the Black Snake wanes thin. Your lack of results in the past three years have caused him to reconsider sending you to deal with this parasite that has coiled around our great nation." The Blade's grip tightened significantly before letting go, dropping Fenrir onto the floor.
Fenrir gasped, taking rapid breaths before managing to calm his breathing. "Orders?" He implored, no longer scared now that he knew why they were here.
"You have been too passive in your attempts to cull this threat. The emperor is willing to provide heavy weaponry to the Infected Patrol to further push Reunion into a corner while we exterminate this portion. If the snake bites, you will kill it."
Nothing more needed to be said. Like the loyal soldier Fenrir was to Ursus, he would do anything for its future. Nothing else mattered to him.
"Affirmative."
The Emperor's Blade stared at the Red Winter before kicking the lupo in the chest, sending him flying into Reunion's camp and crashing through a few tents. When the Red Winter recovered and looked back at the Blade there was nothing there, just a black smog that enveloped the dead forest and Alex's body.
The Red Winter stood up, scanning whatever remained of Reunion's camp. Bodies were littered everywhere. The stench of death assaulted him, but he paid no mind to the familiar scent. Only walking through the camp, hoping to find a certain someone within the now destroyed home of many infected. His search was short, after all he already knew where Alina's tent lay.
With silent steps he walked towards the elafia's tent where he found her lying in the snow, a large gash across her chest with blood slowly pouring out of it. A somber expression was strewn across her face as her near lifeless eyes slowly blinked in his direction. Alina could only give him a sad smile as she bled out. Fenrir stopped beside her, kneeling down and clasping her hand in both of his.
"Fenrir…" She managed to mumble out.
"I'm sorry it had to be this way." He gave false remorse, attempting to give her some form of closure in her dying breaths.
"You don't have to pretend anymore… You didn't have a choice in this, didn't you?" Alina gave him a sad, knowing look. "All the way back when we first met, you never really were 'Fenrir,' were you? You were always broken."
"If you knew, then why not expose my lies?" Fenrir was confused, why had she chosen not to expose him if she knew about his true self? "Keeping a double agent within your ranks is illogical. Why not deal with the threat before it becomes an even greater one?" His questions were met with an even sadder smile.
"That may be true, but I thought that you could find something to live for. The fire that I see in Talulah is always burning bright, but someone needs to temper that fire. To make sure it doesn't burn anything else around it. In you, I can only see a machine, doing every order without complaint or another thought." Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Alina took a breath before opening them. The ever present light within her eyes no longer shined as they used to. "I thought that Talulah and I could help fix you. You acted just as strange as Talulah did whenever she went into those mobile cities by herself, each time she returned there was a hidden anger or sadness in her eyes. When you began returning with her, that sadness only grew, but it seemed attached to you as well..."
Fenrir stayed silent, allowing the dying woman to say her final piece before she would pass. He had no regrets about his life and there was nothing that could be fixed from his past. But if she thought she would have made a difference, then who is he to stop an innocent civilian from doing it? Even Talulah, despite being the host for the Black Snake, was innocent at heart.
Despite the wrongs and persecution the infected have faced, they are all still citizens of this great nation, and their crimes must be paid for. But who should pay for those crimes? The ones who allowed it to fester in the first place, or the ones who acted out when all their hope was lost?
"Fenrir," Alina's call pulled him from his thoughts, "why do you not think for yourself? What was your purpose?" Her pleas were met with silence, her face fell as her eyes drifted to the bloodied snow beneath her. "Oh, I see…"
"Alina," He spoke, causing her to look back up at him, "I do not think for myself because I am not me. I do not count as human. I may have been born and grown like any other, but I am nothing more than a fake trying to become real. Like a speck of dust in the air, you'd never see it until it accumulates."
"Isn't that sad? Thinking of yourself as nothing more than that? You're human too, it doesn't matter how we're born or raised, only the choices we make. They make us human." Alina smiles bitterly as her head slowly dips down and her eyes begin to close, but she manages to steady herself and keep eye contact with Fenrir.
"If that is what you believe, then I will not do anything to change that." The dismissal of her words made Alina realize how broken Fenrir truly is. "But if choices make us human, then I must be the worst of scum humanity has ever seen. The countless deaths my choices have led to, families I've broken and slaughtered, men, women and children who I killed in the name of Ursus. To some, my choices may seem patriotic, but I believe in this case, I am only the vilest of villains." Every word she spoke to him, it all went in one ear and out the other.
"I see… Maybe, maybe if I pushed for you to be around me and Talulah more… Maybe we could have given you something to live for, and see you become human… but I have faith in you, Fenrir. I have faith that one day, no matter how far into the future it is, that you will be able to see yourself as human."
In her dying breaths, Alina could only give a somber look to Fenrir as her hand slipped from his and her eyes closed. Her voice slowly grew weaker with every word spoken. "Please do this for me Fenrir, even if you believe your previous choices have led to death and destruction, make a choice to help… Remind Talulah to live, and remind her of what Reunion is fighting for. How the infected are just as hurt as we are… Question her, point out when she's going astray from the path we set out to pave. Be her closest friend, her closest ally, be someone she can rely on to keep her straight. But please, most of all… help each other."
Her once bright and cheerful voice, one that brought reason to the headstrong and prideful Talulah, one that hoped to bring humanity to Fenrir, was now gone. Her body now lays still, layered atop the crushed snow beneath her.
Fenrir could only stare at her lifeless body. "Make a choice?" He thought. What choice was this? The hopes and wishes of someone else were being thrust upon him and this was called "choice?" But even in these circumstances, Fenrir had no reason to deny her last wish, that is unless his target surfaces. But what did she mean by help each other? What could he give Talulah that she couldn't already get herself? What could Talulah give him that he couldn't already get himself? How would the two be able to help each other?
Fenrir would sigh if there were people around him, to keep his charade up, but everyone in Reunion's camp was now dead. There was no more reason for him to act like "Fenrir Carnelus." Now he was the Red Winter, and until Reunion's main force came back, he would have nothing to do. So he sat there, next to the lifeless corpse of Alina, questioning her words and choices, questioning his words and choices, questioning Ursus' words and choices, questioning who was innocent and who was guilty…
The battle with the infected patrol garrison was devastating. They had been expecting the battle to be only a few hours at most, but the firepower brought about by Ursus' prototype robots were far greater than they ever could have anticipated. Reunion took heavy losses, and almost a quarter of their total manpower was killed or severely injured. In the end their battle was victorious, but now she was busy gathering up the wounded and dead in order to return back to their camp. Standing atop one of the concrete walls of the garrison Talulah noticed FrostNova walking towards her.
"We're ready to move." She says, getting a nod from Talulah.
"Good, Patriot is doing the final head count right now. How many of the Yetis died?"
"Thirty dead and twelve injured. How many from Reunion?" FrostNova asked back.
Talulah sighs with a shake of her head. "Fifty dead with another thirty injured. Why were these prototypes more powerful than the one you fought?" Placing a hand on her forehead, Talulah mulls over the deaths of her brothers and sisters.
"Maybe these aren't prototypes, but newer models? Their colors were brighter and their weaponry was more advanced than the one I fought before." FrostNova says.
Talulah turns to face the inside of the garrison where one of the large humanoid robots lies destroyed. "You might be right, which means Ursus is now putting a greater effort in trying to wipe us out…" She groans in annoyance. "When we get back, I'll need to talk to you and Patriot about the future of Reunion."
FrostNova nods her head, leaving Talulah atop the concrete wall. She sighs, hoping that in the short months that Patriot has known her, that he'd be willing to approve of her plans to head south and get a mobile city for the infected.
A short while later, the towering figure of Patriot approaches her from behind.
"Talulah. All are. Accounted for. We're ready. To leave." His report causes her to face him.
"Thank you, Patriot. Let's get going, the sooner we leave the faster our forces can rest." The Wendigo nods his head as they head down from the wall and begin their trek back to camp.
Their arrival back at camp was not met with smiles and welcomes. Instead they were met with the burning remains of tents and corpses. Panic filled every member of Reunion as they rushed towards the carnage to search for survivors. Talulah's gut wrenched, she had a bad feeling that the worst of her nightmares had come true.
She ran straight to her closest friend's tent. Hoping that with any luck Alina had managed to escape the carnage. She passed body after body, ignoring the numerous dead that littered the camp. Her own heartbeat was the only thing Talulah could hear as she sped deeper into the camp. When she arrived at Alina's tent, her stomach dropped. Sitting in front of the Elafia's tent was Fenrir, he looked perfectly fine as there were no wounds she could see from behind. Her steps became sluggish and heavier with every movement closer to the sitting Lupo. Fenrir didn't even notice her approach, only staring at Alina's bloodied corpse.
Talulah gritted her teeth and shouted. "Fenrir!" But the Lupo ignored her, continuing to stare down at Alina. Talulah stomped closer to him, yanking him to his feet as their eyes met. His eyes were dead and emotionless, staring straight past Talulah as if she was never there. This was the first time she'd ever seen him so devoid of life.
"Talulah…" He quietly muttered, regret pouring through his voice. "It was my fault… I'm sorry…"