[hr] [color=gray] Franz opened his eyes to witness a darkness in the world around him. With a grunt he sat up, feeling his wound. It was leaking blood. It was cold, the temperature of the room- or maybe his body, freezing him as he got up and went to wake up Lucia. A hand was placed upon her shoulder, shaking her before rolling her over to her back from her side and looked into her cold glazed eyes. He staggered back, staring at the dry blood on her lips and throat with a wound visibly open. He grabbed his rifle, checking the room methodically with his heart pounding in a blaze. Wha-what did this?! He checked Michael's bunk, pulling the covers only to find the man coated in barbed wire. The blood oozed off of the mattress and onto his boots, making the man's heart punch his throat [color=#0f5397] "Michael..." [/color] He whispered, slowly turning his head with his free hand and noticed his eyes were missing. More shock. What had happened here?! A groan came from the confused man as he felt his wound and pressed against the wound after it began to spray blood. [color=#0f5397] "Fuck!" [/color] He cursed under his breath, shifting to the door and taking a bullet from his magazine, shoving it into the hole with what bandages he could gather from the corpses. His mind was all over the place as he restrained from screaming. He had to stay calm... Stay... stay calm... the enemy had to be here. He didn't know when they got in but it was the only logical answer. Why they didn't kill him... maybe they... the wound? did that save him? Either way, he couldn't let him drag him down now... He had to... survive. Pushing past the door and into the corridor of dimly lit and flickering lights he surveyed the halls, listening as he slowly stepped over pools of blood and gore. The stench was horrid! Letters with no meaning were written on the walls. Numbers in his head confused him as he tried to recollect what had happened prior. He began to shiver. It was beginning to feel cold again. He moved faster, checking his corners and moving toward the exit hoping that nothing would be in his way. If he was alone against the federation he would have no way of surviving... Think... Think... A corpse? Maybe he could pretend to be one, rag doll if he came across any guards... No... No that probably wouldn't work. Why would a random corpse be laying around? He sighed quietly, pushing into the trenches beyond the exit. His eyes were met with ashes. He had to blink, wiping the dust away as he crouched down and held himself against the wall. He blinked rapidly, needing to adjust to the lighting and becoming wide eyed at the blood red sky... Was this? He began to lose himself, gritting his teeth together as he tried to think of something else. [color=#0f5397] "Upon the hill was a silver lamb who's fleece was white as snow. Her legs were strong and her mind was too, no shepard would leave her be." [/color] He began, whispering to himself as he inched forward. Step after step he made his way to the corner of the wall and noticed the piles of bodies laying about... The Federation... as far as his eyes could see there was just body after body. Blood pool after blood pool. Guns, ammo, equipment, and helmets scattered about with no sign of the empire anywhere. [color=#0f5397]"S-she hopped th-th-the fence and felt the w-wi-wall-wind! Wind! She felt the wind! It's warmth in her coat." [/color] He shakily continued, feeling the cold creeping behind him again. He crouched down, thinking about Markus... about Amber... His vision was distorted for the moment, thinking about the people he loved and lost. His breathing was off but after thinking of their smiles and love he felt his vision return to normal as he quietly went prone and crawled by the bodies, watching vultures land and feed. Breathe in... Breathe out... [color=#0f5397]"She knew her friends. She knew her enemies. Within the range of the village she roamed."[/color] Footsteps clapped against the ground and he went rag-doll, listening to the sounds of men speaking inaudibly. He kept his eyes opened, faking a glazed look as the steps continued. A boot landed in front of him, shifting and touching his face. It pushed his nose, tilting his face to face the sky. He allowed the boot to move him, offering no resistance as it held him there. There was a face... covered... by some kind of... mask? It breathed oddly, sounds of hissing as it tilted its head and removed its boot from him. Soon there was more chatter, the figure looking to something else before walking away with the other voices. Franz laid there quietly, tears beginning to form as he felt another innocence slipping away from him. Once silence embodied the world again he slowly came up to a prone stance again, looking around himself to see nothing had changed. He crawled faster this time, unwilling to take another chance with his fingers becoming fuzzy. His entire body felt like it wanted to lock up with that cold feeling crawling into his feet. Faster he went, making it to the trenches and checking it quickly before throwing himself inside with a quiet slide. [color=#0f5397]"H-her value unhind... um... her value... her value was...her..." [/color] He began to choke, forgetting the words before sitting down to think of Amber again. "Her value insurmountable. Her love undying." He continued, opening his eyes to see Jean in front of him. Or at least, his head. Franz vomited, feeling even more shaky as he tried to take in the dismemberment as best he could. He needed a minute to breathe, coming closer to the head to grab a note sitting atop the man's head. [color=#0f5397] "Franz, if you're reading this then that means you've made it. I'm sorry I had to leave this here, but it was the only place that I could. I left in such a rush and I'm thankful I wasn't buried that deep. If you want to make it alive, you need to follow me. Hurry Franz. They'll be coming for you and the cold is going to worsen. Climb the hill, I'll see you soon... Mila Wagner..." [/color] The man couldn't register his emotions properly, he didn't know how to feel or even what it was that was stirring inside him, but all it took was a single flake to land on his hand to tell him that the cold was coming. Step after step he rushed up the hill, looking at the bodies on the way up and felt thankful that he had become somewhat numb to them although he pondered briefly if that was a good thing. Before he questioned his sanity he returned to the story. [color=#0f5397]"She visited the other sheep, she ran to greet the farmer, she was fed a special treat from the local bakery and prized was she."[/color] He vaulted over the trench, noticing a soldier crouched in front of him choking a federation soldier on the ground. Without hesitation he punched the turning soldier and pulled out his knife, planting it hard into his heart and twisting before yanking out the blade and throwing the man to the side. He examined the body and found it had no face. [color=#0f5397]"She... she came to... she... blood... coat... eyes gone... burning in... sky..."[/color] He held his head as he heard something from afar. Thumping... then... a...[url=https://youtu.be/TtzWfaPQu4s?t=14]piano?[/url] He turned around quickly to spot the noise, the thumping continuing as a body stepped into view. In a blood stained uniform it came forth from the far end of the trench. Her hands were enlarged, lugging around a artillery in one arm tied to it with barbed wire and held a shell in the other hand, blood coated and flesh exposed in strings as it came closer. Franz froze as she approached, the woman speaking up in a distorted voice. [color=#662a41]"And when she came to the town there was a celebration, a feast. There was much love and kindness until the day of her golden years. They tied her to the table and they hushed her to sleep as they tore away what fleece she had left."[/color] She pulled her head up, abnormally snapping to look at Franz with black holes for eyes. [color=#0f5397]"M-Melanie..." [/color] Franz felt his calm snap, panic taking over as he quickly walked backwards. Shelling dropped onto the hill, the woman simply beginning to walk faster, lugging around the artillery as though it was nothing. He turned quickly, running away with rifle tucked into chest! Panic! [color=#0f5397]"Th-that's not how the story- it can't- that's-AAAAAAAGH!" [/color] He began to scream, running out of view and jumping up to climb out of the trench before barbed wire grew from the ground and cut at his hands. The entire hill was sprouting barbed wire and the trenches below were flooded with blood and snow, the creeping conditions making their way up hill. He held his hands as he jumped back down, spinning left and right before running to make his way further into the maze of a trench. He kept going and pushed with the sound of that dreaded piano and thumping growing. He ran and he ran. He slammed foot after another until he was grabbed by his collar. He turned to see the face. Middleton! [color=0AB100]"I told you to head downhill. Are you deaf or dull witted you bloody muppet?!"[/color] [color=#0f5397]"Lieutenant! Art-"[/color] An artillery shell hit them both, the lieutenant spraying into gore as Franz felt much of his body scream in pain. Flesh exposed from rips of skin as shrapnel settled into his legs. He was in tact and the wounds not too deep. Mila! [color=#0f5397]"Mila! Mila! Where are you?!" [/color] He screamed, desperate to find a way out as he heard the dragging of the artillery behind him. He had to limp and use the walls of the dry blood coated trenches. He pushed and pushed, following the sounds of the piano and eventually making it to the top of the trenches where he heard the piano most clear. There... in the spotlight of the sun was Mila. She continued to play the piano, gliding fingers gracefully with imperials dead around her. Her rifle sat next to the piano, clean and well maintained. [color=#0f5397]"Mila!" [/color] Franz shouted, limping closer with a thud as he fell. Crawling quickly he tried to make sense of the chaos around him. Pushing up he watched a fog form in the air around him, the mist suffocating him with the man in the mask approaching from the apex of the hill, rolling fog following him. The sound of artillery exploding around him as he fell to his side and looked to where he came from. Melanie approached ever so much closer with the dirt being ripped apart while she continued to effortlessly drag the moving piece. He couldn't breathe! It burned his lungs to breathe in the fog and the shrapnel dug into his back from how close it had hit. He felt a hand on his shoulder and recognized the shape. He felt a peace enter him as he grabbed his rifle and prepared it while Mila dragged him out of sight of the two. [color=#0f5397]"Mila, we need to leave! I'll cover us, ju-" [/color] [color=#F5F5F5]"Shhhh..."[/color] [color=#0f5397]"You're right... I... They'll hear me if I-"[/color] Her hand pressed against his mouth, forcibly tilting his face to face her own looming structure. Horror struck as her face dripped blood from the shrapnel coated damage. Her eyes were missing. She blinked and suddenly Michael's eyes were in her sockets. [color=#F5F5F5]"And when the little one was stripped of her value and her sight grew dim they took a blade and brought it to her throat saying 'merry, merry, the end of life begins so that the end of birth can begin.' Life for life. Old for new." [/color] The beserker's spirit blazed through what purity there was, the man helpless to watch as she released him and took his knife, swinging into his eye sockets[color=black] with a scream from the defenselss![/color] [/color] [hr] [color=silver] Franz awoke with a gasp, pushing himself away from the floor that he had somehow ended up on. For a minute it felt like nothing but hard breathing and coughing... It was quiet, but... The sounds of soldiers moving about. Steps came close to the door, openning it up with Franz still panting and leaning on his elbow. "Don't jerk it too hard, private. Got a train to catch." The soldier smirked, closing the door and going his way while Franz sat up and looked around... Was it all... [i]just a dream?[/i] Franz marched with a steady neutral expression as he made his way to the back of the group, listening to Middleton speak- well- pretending to anyway. He might had asked the Lieutenant for forgiveness for being distracted when he witnessed a demonic nightmare unfold during the night where the lieutenant exploded into a shower of blood and gore. He might have asked if he could even fathom what Franz was feeling but he had the inclination that perhaps it would be best to keep it to himself. What was he to tell Michael? [color=#0f5397][i]"Hey friend, I just saw you dead with your eyes in Mila's sockets."[/i][/color] Disgusting, honestly. He felt as though he was much weaker, much more frail in his dream. Maybe it spoke of the boy inside who was locked behind an array of defensive layers. He felt everything rather vividly in that dream of his and he could make little sense of what was even happening half the time. What was that cold? What was that fog? Melanie? Wagner? He remembered every detail and it bothered him to an extent that was unsettling especially when he had such good thoughts of the two. Who was the man in the mask and why did he feel like death himself? He had to blink himself out of it after overhearing a conversation. "What kind of fucking idiot made that asshole, Captain?" "Hey, at least, he isn't making us walk." "I'd fucking prefer taking my time on a march than ride straight into hell. Command is so fucking incompetant and I didn't join just to die for them. I'm telling you, the moment I get a chance I'm getting out of here." "You won't. Just relax." "Relax? Yeah, sure. Even when he's pulling people like that Lucia in to have private conversations with... Hey, you think she's fucking him?" "Would you relax? Don't overthink things. That's only going to get you another bullet in the leg." "Whatever, where's that pretty girl from the other squad anyway? I'm thinking maybe I could get payment on that favor before I go into hell's reach." "Pig." After listening in he passed by the soldiers, pretending not to have heard anything as he waded through the crowd and boarded the train trying to remember what else was said... Well... now he remembered hearing something from Michael. He woke up in the middle of his dream to respond to... the train... Hmmm... Why couldn't he remember that earlier? Was he really that tired? Perhaps. What real- "Hey Darscen! Quit wasting fucking air and get moving!" That voice from earlier spoke, pushing him along while the man who was with him pulled back the taller man. "Charles! Don't!" "He's in the way!" Blood began to boil as Franz calmly pulled out his cigarettes and ignored the man, huffing once and pulling out a match to light it... all he needed... was just a little sm- "Darscen! You hearing me? I said stop fucking around and get going!" "Charles he's already walking faster than us. Would you leave him be?" "Hey, you're the one who was talking about those dark hairs, so why don't you take back what you said and we'll be even?" "But everything I said was true!" Franz shook his head and li- A punch from the back sent the cigarette flying into the crowd and his eyes flared in an alert state. Blood began to pump and pulses of hatred responded within his own fists. He calmly turned, facing the two gentlemen calmly. [color=#0f5397]"Charles? Was it?" [/color] Franz asked the man, looking up to him with a stone expression. "Yeah, dark head. I've got a problem with you dragging your feet. I just want you out of my face so get los-" Before he could finish his statement a sudden hook came from Franz's right hand, knocking the man to his back before looking to the more delicate man beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. [color=#0f5397]"Listen, friend. I don't want any trouble. If he doesn't like me then that's fine. I just don't want him to ruin what time we have left before half of you die in the next battle. Me? I'll survive. I want you to enjoy what time you have left too. So if your friend Charles wants to spend time with his candy girl then tell him he better forget I was even here or I'll tear his scrotum from his worthless body and feed it to him while I slit his throat. And I will smile when they line me up for treason. Understand?" [/color] The other man nodded, listening quietly while others came to break up the encounter. [color=#0f5397]"What's your name?" [/color] "F-Francis Hendell." [color=#0f5397]"Francis? Good name." [/color] Franz would respond, patting his back and smiling at man sprawled out on the ground before shifting into the crowd. It was a lot of moving about and swapping places with people but in time he made it onto the cart without so much as an NCO stopping him in his tracks. He stopped between carts for a quick smoke break, taking in the sweet sweet smoke before puffing it out for a few minutes. The stress, nightmare, thoughts of all the bodies he would see would burn away with every huff and once he felt he was stable he forced the fire to die and saved the rest of the stick for later... It was time... A good time at that to finally talk to the squad. Franz walked in briefly after Jean had spoke, showing a more solid version of the man he was when he gave his report and was back to seeming more reserved and fortified mentally. He approached with a steady pace and stood with shoulders wide, a hand in the pocket, and his other clasped together as if he was holding one of his sticks and looked to the band of men. It didn't take very long for him to simply chuckle and try to throw in his own personality. [color=#0f5397]"I see you boys can't get enough of polishing your equipment. Couldn't even wait to get to the next stop. I suppose not everyone has the restraint to do it at a decent hour."[/color] The joke was crude, sure, but it was common for such crude humor to be accepted universally. [color=#0f5397]"Forgive me for the crude humor. Just thought I'd lighten the mood a bit further. I haven't properly introduced myself to the rest of you, but I am Franz Blau. It is my pleasure to serve alongside such fine degenerates." [/color] He joked, trying to remember what Markus told him about having a good time with strangers as he walked to shake the hands of Issac, patting the shoulder of Michael, and finally shaking Jean's hand if they allowed. Upon noticing the promotion he smirked. [color=#0f5397]"Moving up in the world are we corporal? And your lady friends? Not keeping them for yourself are you? Maybe invite them to join us? And..."[/color] Franz became a bit more serious as his tone reflected it, eyes narrowing a bit as he tightened his grip. [color=#0f5397]"If you need anything, come to me. Darscen look out for one another. I don't care what it is, find me and I'll watch over my brother. Enjoy your life for those who cannot, Jean." [/color] He pat his shoulder, moving so he could ask to sit beside Michael. [color=#0f5397]"This seat isn't taken, is it, my friend?"[/color] [/color] [@Conscripts][@LetMeDoStuff][@FalloutJack]