FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

About a week later, I was crouched on a cliff, about 200 yards high, looking down on an access road in which the truck convoys often used.

"Alright everyone, you attack on my signal. Make your own judgments on whether they live or die."

Ryan was on a cliff opposite of me, using his l96 to check out the convoys incoming. Joey sat next to him. Below us, Josh and Justin were in one humvee with a .50, and Levi and Austin were in the other. I had Nick up with me. I also had taken off one of the m2 .50cals from the humvee, and I had it positioned to cover the road. Everyone else, except Alex, who was watching over camp, hid in the brush along the side of the road.

"Alright Destiny, we have a convoy, looks like about 5 trucks, and no escort. They are riding low, so my guess is that it is full. We cleared to engage?" It was Ryan, who had spotted a good convoy.

"You are cleared Reaper 2. Repeat, you are cleared, over." I said. Reaper was Ryan's fireteam. Their part of the plan was to scare the trucks. Then, Spectre and Delta fireteams would come out with the humvees, and make the convoy stop, and then everyone else would come out and loot the convoy.

Once the trucks were in the kill box, our set area of ideal engagement, Ryan fired a single shot at the first truck. It worked perfectly, because the first truck locked up on his brakes.

"Spectre, Delta, GO GET EM!" I shouted, and I watched them tear out of their hiding spots, and surround the convoy. I watched the drivers slowly get out of the cabs of the trucks. They were military 2 ½ ton trucks, or nicknamed Deuce and a Half trucks, because they could carry 2 ½ tons of supplies off road.

"Alright, everyone secure those trucks!" I saw everyone dash out of the forest, and ran to jump in the cabs of the trucks.

The drivers were directed to move to the side of the road, and they were told to turn around, and get on their knees. I could see some of them praying, others just shaking their heads in utter defeat. They thought we were going to kill them.

"Nick, secure the gun. I am going down to have a "chat" with the drivers." I said, as I hooked up a nylon rope to a harness, which allowed me to rappel to the bottom of the cliff. I quickly descended, and I unhooked from the rig. I walked over to Justin, who was guarding the drivers.

"You are dismissed, corporal 2nd class." Justin looked at me in surprise. He had just been promoted. He snapped a salute, and ran over to the humvee to tell Josh the news.

I told the drivers to get up and turn around, "Gentleman, I am going to ask you one by one, what are in your trucks. We have a half hour before the next patrol, so we have some time. Now, I am going to start with you." I pointed to an elderly Gray squirrel, who was nervously wringing his hat. He was the last truck in the convoy.

"My truck held m16 assault rifles, and grenade launchers, with plenty of ammo. Also, there was a mortar and about 100 shells."

"Alright, thank you. You may sit if you would like." He nodded his appreciation. I asked all of the other drivers what they had in their trucks. They had a lot of weapons, as well as food and medical supplies. Also, they had larger uniforms, and I took a few of them and put them aside for Garret. Also, they had a fuel truck. That was definently coming with!

By the time we had sorted everything that was going with, we got ready to leave. We were going to take 3 of the trucks, and leave the other two there.

I turned back to the drivers. "Alright gentleman, I would like to thank you for your cooperation, and we will only be another minute. I am very sorry this happened to you. Are any of you hurt?" All of them said no.

"Good, I was hoping nobody would get hurt." Josh honked the horn of the humvee. "Well, there's my ride. Have a nice afternoon." I ran over to the humvee, and sat in the passenger seat.

"Well, that went better than expected." I said, once I had closed the door. I buckled my seatbelt as well, just out of habit. Besides, safety first!

"Oh, and we found something for you." Josh said, and looked away from the road and smiled at me.

"Oh? You know I hate surprises." I said, worried about what he was going to do.

"Justin, show him." Justin, who was up on the squad gun, bent down and handed me an item wrapped in a blanket; it had a good weight to it. I unwrapped it.

"You didn't!" I said, as I looked down at item that was wrapped in the blanket. It was a Spectre sub-machine gun. It was a short, concealable, and fired very fast.

"It was in one of the cabs of trucks. Thought you might like it." He chuckled, at my reaction.

"Well, I must thank you for the early Christmas present!" I marveled over the gun. The Italians did a very good job! "Is there only 1 magazine for it?"

"Nope, there are 12, and almost all of them are the 50 rounders instead of the 30's." Justin called from the mount.

"Perfect! Thank you guys so much!" I kept messing with the weapon all the way back to camp.

Once we pulled in, I hopped out of the humvee, and I showed all of the others my new "toy". Everyone ooohed and aaahed over the new weapon. The trucks had been hidden in the forest at the edge of camp, and I ordered everyone to help unload. We put everything in a brand new storage facility, which was actually a large tent that was part of the haul.

We finished just in time for dinner. Sean and Joey cooked, and it was delicious! We had a very spicy soup as an entrée, and then chicken cutlet, with noodles and spaghetti sauce. It was a thrown together version of Chicken Parmesan. I had never had a meal that tasted so good. We laughed and partied the night away, having a great time.

I sat down, and I felt something in my back pocket. It was the note that Justin had given me when he gave me the Ak for Jonathan. I had put the note in my pocket and had forgotten about it.

I opened it, and it read, "We need to talk when an opportunity arises for us to be in private." Justin signed it, and I thought that now would be a good time to talk, because everyone was busy with the party.

I walked over to Justin, who was talking with Jonathan. As I approached, both looked over at me.

"How do you feel after your first time in combat?" I asked, looking at Jonathan.

"It was intense!" He said.

"Well good, but remember this isn't a game! All right, I have to talk to Justin about what we are doing as our next project here in camp." John walked away, and I saw him strike up a conversation with Alex.

"What's up?" Justin asked. I showed him the slip of paper. He put his finger to his lips.

"Why don't we go for a walk? I could use the fresh air." He nodded. I grabbed my new Spectre sub-machine gun, and he grabbed his shotgun, and we started to head out of camp. As I walked past the barracks, I walked in and grabbed my Kevlar and radio. Justin did the same thing.

Once we hit the tree line, I finally turned to Justin and asked what was the matter.

"Well, honestly, I wanted just to talk about all of these projects. Aren't we making our camp a little obvious?" He asked.

"We are, but it is for the better. We are setting up buildings, and we are ready for any small-scale attacks, as well as we have enough vehicles to escape if necessary. Now, what is the real reason you brought me out here?" I could tell that was not the main reason.

"It's, well, it's nothing that you have to be worried about." He said, and started to walk off.

"Justin, what is the matter?!" I asked, and spun him around. He had tears streaming from his eyes.

"My mom sent me a letter. Our hometown is gone. Nothing left but ash. The army burnt it down to the ground. The U.S Army. Why would they do such a thing!" He shouted, and his tears streamed down his face.

I couldn't speak. Everything we held near to us was gone. I had no visible reaction, just because I was in so much shock. "Did they harm anybody?" I finally had returned to reality.

"They had half an hour to get out of town, with as much as they could. If you got left behind, you were killed. They killed hundreds. But for what?" He looked at me, for answers but, I had none to offer.

It was over an hour later before we returned to camp. We just sat out there, and talked, about everything and nothing. When we finally had gotten back, the celebration had died down. I looked down at my watch, and it read to be about 1:00 in the morning.

"Go get some sleep. We are going to have tomorrow off. I am going to take your shift on guard duty. I have to think a few things over. Tell everyone that they will not need to show up for guard duty, I will cover everyone." He started to argue, but he interrupted himself with a yawn, and I told him he was to go to sleep. "That's a order!" He saluted, and headed off for the barracks.

As I sat at the top of the overlook, I kept an eye out half-hazard for danger.

I heard footsteps coming up the ladder, and I got up and pointed my weapon at the entrance to the tower. I sat in the shadows, and waited. It turned out to be Ahote.

"Hello?" He called. I snuck up behind him, and jumped out of the shadows.

"Jesus Christ!" He shouted, and then took a playful swing at me. I dodged it, and he laughed.

"What are you doing out of bed? I told Justin that all guard duties were to be canceled."

"Yea, he posted it, but I decided to keep you company. Besides, you know I have always been an early riser." I nodded, and pulled up a stool for him. He thanked me, and we talked for the rest of the morning shifts.

Two days later, a Thursday, I announced that we would be heading back into town. I selected Josh, Justin, Ahote, Ryan, and myself would be the ones to go. Everyone handed us pre-written letters, and we took one of the .50cal machine guns. This particular humvee had recently been named "Marauder". I was navigator, Ahote was driving, and Justin was on squad gun.

We reached the town at about 10:30. We stashed the humvee, and hid our weapons on us. I had my new "toy" with me, and Ryan had his machine pistol as well. The rest carried knives and pistols of all sorts. We walked through town with no problem. Nobody paid us any attention, which was good.

Once we reached the post office, the major was already waiting up front, helping an elderly man.

"Ah, gentleman, I will be right with you. Alright sir, you are all set, have a nice day." The elder thanked the major, and excused himself from the post office.

"Here you are." I said, as I put down the letters.

"I also have mail for you. I even have a package for a Mister Christopher Geier." He handed me the mail. "I also wanted to thank you for taking care of those kids. They had started to cause quite the rebellion. Of course, you had nothing to do with that, correct?" He looked at me, and I could see a glowing joy in his eyes.

"Why, we are just innocent teenagers. Why would we ever do anything so horrid?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Just because we are different species, does not mean we are that different. Isn't that right young man?" He glared at Ahote, who semi-blushed, and I noticed him press his ears flat against his head. We all laughed, which made him blush more.

"Alright, we have to get moving. It was good to see you again major." I waved, and we headed out.

On our way back, everyone read their letters. I noticed to things very different. First off, Alex got a letter. And so did Ahote. Ahote was reading his letter, which was not in English. I asked him what language.

"It is in Chinook, which is the tribe I am from." He showed me a necklace that was hidden among his fur. It had a few beads and seashells on it, and he explained that it was to bring him good luck. I looked closely at the necklace, and I showed him the ring I always kept on my finger. He asked what it stood for.

"I am Scottish. I come from the clan, Macgregor, and this is our crest. It is a lion's head, showing strength and pride. The language is Gaelic; it is an ancient Scottish language, still spoken. The meaning of the phrase is, 'Our blood is Royal', and it was to show that our family was of Royal blood. It still is considered to be a Royal clan." He looked surprised.

"Ahote, just be lucky you didn't have to see him in a kilt!" Justin called from the gun turret. I smacked him in the leg, and everyone laughed. We went back to reading our letters. I kept my package sealed, and kept it out of sight so the others didn't bug me about what was in it.

We finally got back to camp at around 5:30 p.m. Everyone ran over to collect their letters. The only ones who didn't get mail were Sean and Jonathan. Neither looked like they expected mail. I understood why Jonathan hadn't, because he had no family left. I reminded myself to ask about Sean.

Once everyone had dispersed, I went over to my favorite tree, a large oak that was about 3 times my size in width. It was the same tree where I had first "met" Sean and Garret. I laughed at the memory. I now had my radio, my sub-machine gun, my pistol, a grenade, and my Kevlar strapped down tight. I had also brought my package with me, because I wanted to open it in private.

I had actually received two letters, and then the package. I opened the one that was signed by my mom first.

Dearest Son,

I am sure you have heard by now that Northern Pennsylvania has fallen to the animorphs. We are safe and sound, as well as the remained of the families in your group. We are now living with your Aunt on the farm. She has been very kind, and it has been amusing to watch your sister try and help with the farm chores. She says hello, and that she loves you.

I have a picture of all of us together, except Nan and Grandpa. They have taken their chances on going to Australia, which is supposed to still be free from the animorphs. They refuse to be under their rule, and have despised them since day one. They accidentally found the photo you sent me, with Ahote in it. They are now refusing to speak to you. I am so sorry.

I hope that you are doing well, and that you haven't forgotten all of the manners I have taught you!

I hope to see you very soon!

Love,

Your mother

I stared at the letter, and didn't really know how to respond. I was happy that everyone was safe, but I was extremely furious at my grandparents for not even giving the animorphs a chance, and then ignoring me completely for having contact with them.

I put the letter aside, and I opened up the package next. It was also from my mom. It was a box of 30 Hershey Bars. They were very rare at the moment because the factory was destroyed. She left a small note about being good. I decided I would share with the others. I set it aside.

The last letter did not have name on it. I opened it slowly. It was from Zach's mom. She thanked me for telling her about Zach, and then told our group good luck. That was all. I sighed and set down the letter.

About half an hour later, I headed back into camp. I called everyone over. I distributed out the Hershey's bars, to which everyone got very excited. I was high-fived, slapped on the back, and than bear hugged, literally, by Garret. I never thought somebody could lift me so high!

I told everyone to get a good nights rest, and that tomorrow would be a lazy day of organizing gear into tents, and cleaning personal gear.

I started to walk off, when Ahote approached me.

"Chris, I must speak with you in private."

"Lets go for a walk then, shall we?" He nodded, and I waited for him to grab his gear before I headed back out to my favorite tree, which has lately become my office.

"What's the matter?" I asked, once we had finally reached the tree.

"My father is very sick. He will not make it much longer."

"Jesus, what are you still doing here? Take one of the humvees, and enough supplies to last you on your trip."

"I will do so. But, there is one more thing. A favor, if I could ask one."

"Anything." I said, and looked him dead in the eye.

"I want you to come with me. My parents already know about you, and they want to meet you. It would mean a lot to me."

"If it means a lot to you, than I will go. Give me about 3 hours to prepare, and we will be off."

"Thank you. You truly are a good friend." I gave him a hug, and he happily embraced it. We quickly ran back to camp, and I gathered our gear into one of the humvees with a .50 on top. I put in night vision, a laptop, a GPS, a map, and my compass that I had picked up in the airport. Also, I put all of our weapons in the back of it, as well as a camouflage netting, and 5 extra fuel cans. 2 cots and a tent were put in the back, and food and water for about a week also.

By the time I was done, I also briefed Nick on what was happening. I gave him orders to not come after us unless I called, and gave him a list of projects to do while I was gone.

"Remember Nick, these guys are looking up to you. I know you can do it. See you in about a week." I gave him a hug, and than hopped into the passenger seat of the humvee, and Ahote took off down the dirt road.

It was going to be a 12-hour non-stop drive, so we decided to take shifts of about 3 hours each driving. The route was marked out on the map, so we didn't really need a navigator. I leaned back, and closed my eyes. I was asleep before we even got out of sight of the camp. We took off at about 8:30p.m

Ahote woke me up when it was my shift. He pulled over, and I hopped into the drivers seat. He stretched out in the backseat, and fell asleep. It was 11:30p.m, and it was pitch black out. I turned on the headlights, and kept going. I also put night vision goggles next to me just in case we ran into a patrol, I could flip off the lights and drive in the dark and still be able to see.

The drive was quite uneventful, for which I was grateful. I didn't really want an exciting drive. Ahote snoozed peacefully in the back seat. It was quiet enough for me to hear him snore quietly. I chuckled a bit at that.

When it finally hit about 3:00a.m, I pulled over and shook him awake. He was a little groggy, but got up and sat in the drivers seat. I took his place in the back seat, and again I fell asleep quickly.

He shook me awake in what seemed like 5 minutes later, but it was really 6:00a.m, and he curled back up and went to sleep. I took off my jacket and draped it over him. I then slipped myself into the drivers seat, and we were off. I was hoping to make it to the location before 10:00, so I pushed onward, ignoring posted speed limits. Nobody else seemed to be on the road, so it made my life a little easier.

"Ahote, wake up. We are here." I said, as I gently shook him to make him wake up. He looked at his watch. It read to be about 8:30.

"Jesus, how fast did you drive?"

"Probably better that you don't know." I said. "Where do we go now?"

"Now, we walk!" He said, as he hopped out of the humvee, literally.

"Show off," I muttered. He grinned, and started to unload some of his gear. I kept forgetting about him having much, much better hearing than me! I also unloaded some of my gear, including my mg3, which I slung over my back, and my sub-machinegun and pistol.

"You know, you are just meeting my family, not the animorphs army, right," He asked, jokingly.

"If your family is anything like mine, you need to be prepaired for anything!" I also hid the rest of the Hershey bars in my bag. They were for his brothers and sisters.

"Alright, now, a few things to warn you about. First off, they do not believe in a single god, but many. You must be respectful to all of them. Also, when you shake their paws, look them in the eye. You being a welcomed visitor to our tribe, they will initiate the handshake. Also, bowing is a way to show respect, as is a closed fist put over where their heart lies. It is kind of like a salute. And finally, many of them will have weapons, of all kind. Do not overreact if they ask to see yours. They are just curious."

"Alright, lets hit it. You do all the talking, I will just wave like an idiot, because I don't know Chinook."

"Oh, right, many of them speak English, especially the younger ones."

"Got it. So watch my mouth." He nodded, and we started off to find his tribe.

About an hour later, we arrived at the outskirts of it. Armed guards, who shouted commands in Chinook, stopped us. We were told to continue, but to keep our weapons holstered.

Once we had reached the middle of the village, everyone came over to see what was making all of the noise. The children of the tribe came rushing over, and they surrounded Ahote, and wrapped around his legs. He picked up a small female bunny, and swung her around, while laughing. She was laughing and squealing. They all stayed a respectable distance from me.

Once he had finally set her down, he pointed to me and whispered to her, in what I guessed was still Chinook. She ran over to the other children, and they all slowly approached me.

"Hello." She said, quite shyly.

"Why hello there. And what would be your name?" I asked, smiling at her.

"My name is Magena. It means Moon!" She said, as she giggled.

"Well, it is very nice to meet you." I extended my hand to her. She looked surprised, but shook my hand anyway. The others looked surprised at my actions. I knew that I hadn't offended them, so I ignored them.

"Well hello, Captain Geier. I have heard a lot about you. It is very nice to finally meet you." I turned around to acknowledge the voice. A female rabbit stood before me. She looked older, but not too old. She was almost all white, except a patch of black fur, which engulfed her left ear and eye.

"Greetings, Mrs. ..." I said, hoping she would give me her name.

"My name is Tate. It means Cheerful. I am Ahote's mother. He has told me so much about you and your group. I am so thankful for you not only saving his life, but to help get him here in his time of need as well. How can I ever repay you?" She asked, with tears forming in her eyes.

"There is no need for repayment, ma'am. He is one of the better on our team, and it is truly an honor to finally meet you." I bowed, which made her blush, and she returned the gesture.

"Ah, so you have met my mother, and my little pest!" Ahote said, as he grabbed Magena, and spun her around again. She squealed, and he put her down.

"Ahote, shall we?" His mother asked, looking very nervous.

"Yes, let us go. Chris, I am very sorry, but I must go talk to my father, alone. I will come find you when I am done, but I may be a while. But do not worry, you will not be bored! It seems that you already have a few admirers." He said, and looked over to a group of teens, which were staring intently at me, and my weapons.

"Do not be intimidated by them, they are just curious. But also, don't be too submissive either! Good luck!" He said, and shoved me toward them, and he walked with his mother over to their hut.

I watched as the leader of their little group walked over to me. He was about an inch shorter than me, and had grey fur. All of them were bare-chested, and had simple cloth shorts. None of them had weapons on them at the moment.

"Greetings, Captain." He said, and put his fist over his heart. Right, that was a salute.

"Greetings." I returned with a salute of my own.

He pointed to the m82, and said, "That is a BIG rifle!"

"That it is. Would you like to see it?" He nodded enthusiastically. Before I handed it to him, I took the magazine out of it, and then un-chambered the round, which was in the chamber. I gave him the rifle. He put it up to his shoulder, and looked through the scope. He lowered it, and then rested it on his hip.

"It is very heavy!" He said finally.

"That it is. It also fires a very large round." He nodded, and then turned and called the others over. He handed the weapon back to me, and started talking very fast to the others in Chinook. They kept looking at the weapon, and I handed it to another rabbit, this one was the same size as the leader, and had red fur. He did the same thing as the leader, and then passed it to the next rabbit. There were six of them in the group.

"Do you want to fire it?" I asked, and pointed to all of them.

"Of course!" Said the leader of the group. "Let us get our weapons as well!" They all ran to their huts, and grabbed their weapons. When they came back, I counted 3 AK-47's, 2 m4's, and an m-14. I was impressed with the amount of firepower they had.

"Do you guys have a range?" I asked, hoping they did.

"Of course! Follow me!" Shouted a white rabbit that was carrying an m4. The others quickly followed him, and I had to jog to keep up with them.

Once I had reached the range, I saw the others had already set up, and were waiting for me. I noticed that there were targets at 150 yards, 200, 250, and finally 300.

"Alright, who is your best shot?" The rabbit with the m-14 raised his hand, and the others slapped him on the back, hooting and hollering.

"Good, can you hit the target at the 150 yard mark?" I asked. He gave me a vicious smile. He looked down the sights of his rifle, and held his breathe, and exhaled rapidly and fired. The shot hit about an inch left of the center. The others cheered, and started hooting and hollering.

"Very nice. What about the 300?" I asked. His face grew hard with determination. I pulled out my binoculars to observe where the shot would hit. He waited for about half a minute, and then fired. The shot hit low left, in the white area on the target.

"Not bad, most people can't hit the target at that far. Very impressive shot." He grinned at me, and then said, "What about you? How far can you hit a target?"

"Can somebody do me a favor and put a target at 600 yards? That would be great." The others looked at me like I was crazy, but one of them ran off to complete what I asked. Meanwhile, I set up my gear, and tested for wind speed and direction, and gauged the range compensation for the bullet drop.

By the time the rabbit had returned, I was ready to go. The others waited quietly and respectfully for me to shot. Once I finally had the crosshairs right where I wanted them, I breathed in deeply, exhaled slowly to about half capacity, and fired. The rifle roared, and it recoiled heavily into my shoulder. I saw a few of the rabbits jump back in fright from the monster of a rifle. I flipped the safety back on, and slowly stood up, and shouldered it again.

"Well, lets go have a look, shall we?" I asked.

The others took off at full speed toward the target while I walked. I already had seen where the round had impacted. It had landed about half an inch high and to the right of the bull's-eye. I was happy with the shot, and I hoped to impress the others. Even if the shooter didn't impress them, they were awe-inspired by the rifle. Once I was close enough to them, the leader turned around holding the target up to his eye and looking through the massive hole that the .50cal round had left.

"It's a nice rifle, isn't it?" I asked. The others cheered and patted me on the back, hooting and hollering. They took the target and ran towards the village, I guess to show the others.

By the time I had gotten back to the village, a couple of the older rabbits, who seemed to serve as guards, were admiring the target. They turned to look at me simultaneously.

"You did this?" The largest one said, who stood about 2 inches taller than me.

"Yes sir." I said, and then I bowed to him. "Captain Christopher Geier." He returned the bow, and the others bowed to me as well.

"Ah, I was hoping to meet you before you left." Said a voice, coming from behind me. I turned around slowly. There stood a rabbit standing at about 6'3, and was dressed in a large headdress, and had many necklaces adorning his neck. He was grey, and had white streaks on his chest and face.

"It is good to meet you, Captain Geier. I am Chief Vaive atoish, or Alights on the Cloud. I am happy to welcome you to my village."

I kneeled before him, bowing my head in respect. He walked over to me, and patted me on the shoulder.

"It is very good to meet you Chief Vaive atoish. I am honored." I said this while looking him in the eyes. They were a deep brown.

"The pleasure is all mine captain. And please, just call me Chief. My full title is to much of a mouthful." He walked over to his warriors, and took the target from his hands, and studied it closely. "Very nice shot, if I do say so myself. What range was this at?"

"600 yards, Chief."

"Really? That was a very impressive shot. I must congratulate you." A rabbit to his side leaned over and whispered into his ear. The Chief responded quietly back. "I am sorry, but I must excuse myself, for I have other things that require my attention. It was very nice to meet you captain, and you are welcome back any time." He waved to the others, and than headed off to his other matters.

After the Chief left, the others wanted to head back to the range because they wanted to fire the massive rifle. The older rabbits left us alone to have fun, but the largest of them called something in Chinook over his shoulder, and the leader of our pack nodded his head, and called something back.

Once we had reached the range, the others formed a semi-circle around me. The leader of the group spoke to the others, and they backed up a little bit.

"My father said that you are a very good shot. But, how are you with fighting rabbit to man?" He asked, and the others, including myself, laughed at his wording.

"Alright, I accept your challenge. Let me just take off some of my gear." He nodded, and backed up. I unslung both my mg3, and than the m82. I pulled out my Spectre, which I had hidden, and then my .45. I also took out off my two combat knives, but left my holdout knife on me, just in case.

"You carry a lot of gear!" Shouted somebody from the circle, and everyone laughed. I blushed a little bit, and I turned to him. He was sizing me up.

"Are you ready?" He asked, and instead of answering him, I bowed to him. He looked puzzled, but charged at me while hooting, shouting, and yelling. It was exactly what I had wanted.

As he approached, he took a swing at my face with his left paw. I deflected it with my right forearm, and I punched his chest with my left hand. I then got out of his way, because he was also trying to knock me over with his momentum.

He kept going past me, and quickly turned around, rubbing the spot on his chest where I hit him. "Not bad, but you have to do better if you want to last!" He charged right after he finished his sentence.

He ran at me, doing the same thing, so I again deflected with my right forearm, and as I was about to hit him in the same spot, his right hand came out of nowhere and clocked my in the jaw. I fell to the ground, trying to avoid his momentum. I rolled, and hopped up quickly.

He stared at me grinning. I whipped a small bit of blood from my chin, and smiled back, savagely. His smile faltered, ever so slightly. He was afraid, and he was about to find out how scary I can be.

I ran forward this time, faking a left fisted haymaker, and I watched him move his body out of the way from it. Instead of actually hitting him with the fist, I used all 180lbs of my body weight to crash into him, sending him crashing to the ground. I too fell to the ground, but hopped up the next instant and tried to jump on top of him to pin him. He used his very powerful back feet to send me flying.

As I landed, I saw him get up. He jumped, and was aiming to land where my stomach was lying, hoping to crush the defeat out of me, literally. I rolled to my left, and when he landed, I grabbed his left foot, and yanked on it. This made him fall, and I jumped on top of him, and slammed his arms into the ground, and startled him, sitting on his chest. He tried fighting for a minute, but my weight advantage allowed me to keep him at bay. Finally, he just laid back, and gave up.

"You fight hard, Captain." He said, while breathing heavy.

"As do you. What is your name?" I asked, as I too breathed heavily.

"Dohate. It means Cliff." He said, looking me in the eyes. He was not lying.

I got up, and helped him up. "Well, it is nice to finally have a name." I then bowed, and he looked at me puzzled again.

"Why do you bow? You won the fight, so I should be the one who bows to you."

"Yes, but it was a good fight. Also, I am the outsider." He nodded, and the others laughed at his confusion. "I am better at weapons than fighting though. Now, Dohate, would you like to fire the m82?" I asked, while pointing to the huge rifle. His eyes grew, and he looked happily toward the rifle, than back at me. "I will take that as a yes," I said, and I walked over to grab my weapons.

Once I had gotten all my gear back into place, I loaded the m82 and set up a position so the recoil would not kill anybody. I also set up my mg3, because it had been a while since I had used it.

"Alright, when you look down the scope, do not put your eye too close, or you are going to be scope kissed, and that is going to HURT."

He looked at me puzzled. "What is 'scope kissed'?"

I laughed, and said, "It means when you put your eye to close the scope, when the rifle recoils and smacks you right into the eye. Not a good feeling, and I will NOT be happy if you bleed all over my weapon." He laughed, as did the others. I set him behind the rifle, laying down, and told him to hit the 150-yard mark. He did not complain, and looked down the scope.

He fired, and the rifle bucked back into his shoulder. I watched through the binoculars as the bullet impacted into the target. It hit almost perfectly on the bulls-eye.

"Nice shot. What do you think?" I asked, once everyone calmed down from the shot.

He just sat there, finger off the trigger, and then spoke, "It is a true monster! How do you fire this so often?" He asked, standing up, and he rubbed his shoulder.

"You get used to it after awhile. Also, I have my all my gear on, and you are bear-chested." He nodded, and then looked at me again, as if ready to ask a question, but then shut his mouth again.

"What? If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them." He looked at me, and then decided to ask.

"Why do you humans wear so many clothes?" The others moved in to hear the answer.

"Because we don't have fur to keep us warm. Also, we don't really have that much protection from the elements. Besides, we are ugly looking without clothes." I said, and everyone busted up laughing.

Everyone took a turn with the m82, and they were all speaking Chinook to themselves and they were speaking very fast. One of them walked over to where the mg3 was, and stared at it intently. I walked over to him.

"What is your name?"

"Uh, Rowtag. It means fire. I got it because of my fur color." He blushed slightly, and started to walk away. His name rang true, because he had a fire red pelt.

"Rowtag, would you like to fire this weapon?" He looked over excitedly.

"Really? I mean, yes sir." He put his hand over his heart, and looked down.

"Alright, let me show you how to fire this one." He laid down next to the weapon, and I put it up against his shoulder. "This weapon fires extremely fast, and has a decent amount of recoil. Fire when ready, but do it fast. Lets scare the others." I winked, and he smiled viciously. The others weren't even paying attention to us; they were still talking among themselves.

He squeezed the trigger, and sent about 10 rounds down range in less than a second. The others jumped, and looked over at us. They all looked in surprise at the weapon. So did Rowtag. I started busting up laughing at their faces, and they all blushed and put their ears flat to their heads.

"Very nice, Rowtag. What did you think?"

"It didn't really seem that fast." He said, looking at me in confusion.

"How many rounds do you think you fired?" I asked, in surprise.

"Maybe two or three, and it was a little slow."

I started laughing hysterically, and they all looked at me like I was crazy. Once I had calmed myself down, I finally explained why I was laughing. "You actually fired about 10 rounds, it just felt like only a few." He looked down at the weapon with new admiration, and stood up. I bent down and grabbed the weapon, and set it at my hip.

"In this magazine, there are now 190 rounds. I am going to fire about 100, and then I am going to let you guys have the rest."

Before I was able to fire, Dohate spoke, "How much ammo do you carry on you, Captain?"

"I carry about 1000 rounds for the mg3, and about 40 for the m82. For the Spectre, 250 rounds, and for the pistol, 21 rounds. Why?" The others looked at me in amazement.

"You have more ammo than all of us combined! Why so much?"

"I feel better with it." I shrugged, and turned back to downrange, and let loose with the mg3. Once I was done, the barrel was extremely hot, so I did not touch it, nor did I put it in their hands. I didn't need anybody injured.

They looked at me in amazement, and at the weapon.

"Jeez, that was 100 rounds!" Said a smaller rabbit, about 5'5.

"Yes, it was. Now, because you were the first to speak, you get to fire it next. Come on up here." He walked over to me nervously, and the others hooted and cheered for him. As I set him up, I asked him what his name was.

"My name is Canowicakte. It means forest hunter. I know the forest the best in our tribe." He said, not without pride. He was a deep brown, and would have an easy time blending in with his surroundings.

"Well, I have a 10 round belt here, so you may fire when ready." He nodded to me, smiled to the others, and fired a small burst. I looked over to see what was left of his ammo. He had fired a 4 round bust. He fired again, and finished off his ammo. He looked over to the others, who were yelling and shouting for him. He smiled as wide as his face seemed to allow.

I laughed, and turned to the rest of them. "Well, who's next?"

Tohate walked up to me, and smiled. "May I?" He asked, and looked at the weapon in my hands.

"Hmm, you did lose the wrestling match..." He blushed, and the others laughed. I handed over the weapon, and he fired from the hip all 10 rounds at one time. He grinned while firing, and he stayed on his feet, so I was impressed. I took the weapon, and he walked over to the others, and high-fived them, and I put a fresh 10 round strip into the weapon.

"Next!" I called, and a rabbit who was my height walked over. He had a grayish blue pelt, and I had barely heard him speak the entire time I was at the village.

"And what would be your name?" I asked, as I put the weapon down into its position.

"I am called Mahpee, it means sky. I got the name because of my fur color."

"That makes sense. Alright, fire when ready." He nodded, and then laid down to fire. After about ten seconds, he fired a very quick 2 round bust. He looked at the weapon, smiled and shook his head, and then fire the rest of the strip.

Once he walked back over to the others, I called over the next person.

A brown rabbit walked over. He was about 5'7, and had blue eyes.

"And what would be your name?" I asked, as I prepared the weapon again.

"My name is Wahchinksapa. Or just Wach for short. It means wise."

"Alright, well Wach, fire when ready." He nodded, and lay down next to the weapon. He studied the sights for about 30 seconds, and then picked up the weapon. He fired precise, two round bursts.

"Very nice. You are the one with the m-14, right?" He nodded, and I continued, "A very fine weapon, if I do say so myself. A good round, and very accurate. Good traits in a rifle." He nodded, and headed back over to the others.

"Alright, there is only one of you left that hasn't fired. Come on down, if you want to."

A black rabbit, about an inch taller than me, swaggered his way over to me. He was well built, and had a much better muscle tone than I did. I noticed he had larger feet than the rest, which was saying something!

"And what is your name?"

He laughed a very loud, deep laugh before answering. "My name is Goshevan. It means Leaper!" He proved his point by jumping about 5 inches higher than me!

"Well, you know what they say about big feet!" Somebody called from the group. Goshevan laughed very loud again, and winked at me.

"Alright big fella, stop holding us up and just shoot the damn weapon." He laughed again, and fired the weapon from his hip. He didn't even budge when the gun recoiled.

"Well, that was impressive." He said, and handed the weapon over to me.

"Glad to deliver. All right, the sun has set, so I am going to call it a day. It was a long drive out here, so I am going to go find somewhere to sleep. Good evening gentleman." I turned and saluted all of them. They returned with their salute, and I headed out to go find a place to bed down for the night.

As I walked over to where Ahote lived, I noticed that he still had not left his hut. I noticed a nearby tree stump, and I decided that it would make for a good pillow. I brought over my book bag, which held my extra ammo and a few other odds and ends, and used it as a backrest. I closed my eyes, and soon fell asleep.

I woke up with a feeling that somebody was watching me. I felt them lay something on me, and I opened my eyes, ever so slightly, and I saw Ahote's mother, draping a blanket on me, which was made out of deer hide. I closed my eyes, and fell back asleep.

I woke up quite early the next morning, and decided to take a stroll in the forest before anybody else woke up. I checked my watch, and it read 5:27a.m. I grabbed my Spectre, and my .45, but I left my other weapons under the deer hide blanket, to keep them out of the early morning mist.

As I walked, I kept very silent, not whistling or talking. I wanted to observe the serenity of the forest. As I walked, I watched the wildlife that surrounded around the village. I was happy to observe, and do nothing to let them know I was in the area. Although, looking at the deer, I could not help to get very hungry!

I also had taken my radio with me to contact somebody back from camp so they know we got there safely.

"Overlord, this is Destiny 1, over."

"Destiny 1, this is Spectre 2, over. How are you doing Captain?" It was Justin. I smiled, happy to see things hadn't gone to hell while I was gone.

"I am doing just fine, Corporal. I am just checking in to say that I arrived safely, and that I will be maybe a week or two. Over."

"Got it, I will relay your message onto Destiny 2. Out." I turned off the radio, and headed back to camp.

By the time I returned to camp, it was about 6:15. Nobody was up yet, so I decided that now would be a good time to clean my weapons from having fired them the day before. By the time I had finished cleaning the m82, I saw the first signs of life in the camp. They moved about, re-stoking the fires that were nothing but smoldering pits.

I started to clean the mg3, which was a long and complex process. Once I had finished, I was covered in rifle grease, and I smelled of it and sweat. Ahote's mother had come, out, and walked over to me.

"Are you okay?" She asked, with a look of concern on her face.

"Yes ma'am. It is just grease from the weapons." I thought she was talking about why my face and arms were covered in dirty, smell black grease.

"No, you slept outside last night. Why?" She looked very curious.

"Because Ahote explained that he had to talk to his father in private, so I did not want to interrupt. I am sorry if I have offended you." I said, and looked down. I wasn't even here a day, and I had already offended Ahote's mother!

"Oh, no no! You didn't! I just thought that you would knock. You didn't have to sleep outside!"

"Oh, well actually, I enjoyed a very peaceful night, and a nice walk this morning. Is there anything I can do?" I asked, hoping of being useful.

"If you could grab some firewood, that would be great." She pointed to where a massive pile of firewood lay, and I walked over and grabbed an armload of the wood, and set it down near the fire pit. As I went back to grab another armload of firewood, Ahote emerged from the hut.

"Well, good morning sleepy head. How are you doing?" I asked, after putting the wood into the pile I had created. I started to set up a decent size grouping of sticks, so it made lighting the fire easier.

"My father passed away last night." I looked him in the eye. I could tell they were red from crying, and from lack of sleep. I walked over and gave him a hug. He returned the embrace.

"Ahote, I am so sorry to hear. Is there anything I can do?" I asked, finally releasing him from the hug.

"Yea, get a bath!" He laughed.

"Actually, that isn't a half bad idea. Is there a stream where I can wash?"

He chuckled, and said, "Yea, there is a stream about half a mile from here. Oh, hold on a second." He walked back into the hut, and came back out with a pair of deer hide pants, that looked pretty cool.

"My mom wanted you to have these. Also, don't wear a shirt with them, it is disrespectful."

"Great, if I knew this was going to happen, I would have toned up my abs!" He laughed, and also tossed me a bar of soap. I headed out to go find the stream, before I scared everyone off with my smell!

I got there about half an hour later, and I stripped naked, and jumped into the stream. It was about 40ft deep, and about 100 wide. The water was very warm, and I took my time, scrubbing myself clean. I also decided to practice swimming, because it had been about a month since I had really been swimming for fun.

An hour later, I finally got out of the stream, and used my shirt to dry myself. I slipped on the pants that Ahote had given me, and was surprised with how comfortable they were. I didn't bother putting back on my boots. The ground was soft enough to walk around, and I had a feeling the boots would look very out of place with the pants.

By the time I had arrived back to the camp, I saw a lot more people bustling around, doing their daily chores. Ahote looked up from what he was doing, and waved for me to come over.

"Well, don't you look nice." He said, once I was close enough.

"It feels weird without a shirt on. I feel very, exposed. If that makes any sense to you at all." He laughed, and nodded knowingly.

Ahote's mother came over to me, and took my clothes. "I will wash these, and have them ready for you when you desire."

"Thank you. Also, thank you for the clothes." She smiled, and walked back into the hut.

"Ahote, not trying to be brash, but, well, about your father..."

He looked over at me, and smiled ever so slightly, and said, "He will be burned tonight. I was actually going to ask you to help me build the fire for him."

"I would be honored."

"Thank you." He said, and he had a tear in his eye as he looked at me.

"Do you want to talk?" I asked, worried about him.

"No, I am fine. Or, I will be. Let us begin, for it will take us a long time." He said, and pointed to where we would build the fire.

" Yes sir!" I said, as I snapped to attention and saluted. He laughed, and playfully shoved me.

We worked, and worked hard. I was sweating, and as I hauled around the heavy wood, I received a lot of cuts and scrapes. I really thought about putting my shirt back on, but decided against it. I whistled while I worked, and I didn't even notice how large of a pile we had accumulated.

I walked over to Ahote, who was chopping wood, and as I grabbed an armful, I told him how large the pile was. He looked at it, and set down the ax he was using.

"That is the last load. After that, we start building the structure of the fire. We will finish well ahead of time." He nodded to himself, as if assuring himself.

"Ahote, before we continue, may I ask a favor?"

"Sure, anything."

"Can we grab something to eat?" I chuckled, because at that moment, my stomach decided to growl, loudly.

"I am so sorry! I completely forgot! When was the last time you ate?"

"Yesterday evening!" I said, and mock fainted, being overly dramatic.

Ahote called over to his hut in Chinook, and his mother stuck her head out. He continued talking in Chinook, and she stuck her head back in. About a minute later, she came back out with a soup of sorts. She turned and handed me a bowl, but no utensils. She also gave one to Ahote, and then she poured some soup in each of our bowls.

I watched Ahote drink his first, just to see how to drink it properly. I didn't want to offend anybody. He put the bowl gently up to his lips, and drank slowly. I did the same, and I found out it was delicious!

"Thank you very much, ma'am! This is delicious!" I said, and put the bowl back up to my lips.

"I am glad you like it. Would you like more?" She asked, pointing to my now empty bowl.

"Yes please, if you would be so kind." She refilled the bowl, and also refilled Ahote's. He said something in Chinook, and she nodded and walked away.

"Thank you. This is very good!" I said, and he laughed.

"Don't worry, there will be a feast after the burning." He said, and he finished his bowl a few seconds before me. I wiped my mouth, and set my bowl down next to his. We walked over to the huge pile of firewood, and started to set up the burning. It had to be setup a certain way, and I allowed Ahote to show me how. Once he figured I had the hang of it, he started working across from me, to speed up the setup process.

By 2:00p.m, we had finished. I sat back, looking at our handy work with pride.

"We did good." He said, as he sat down next to me.

"Now what?" I asked, as he handed me a canteen filled with water.

"Now, we wait. We have completed our task, and the others must complete theirs." He said, as he pointed to everyone working.

"Well, I am going to go see who needs help. I want this to be perfect for you and your family." I said, as I got up, and screwed the lid back onto the canteen.

"You don't have to, you know." He said.

I tossed the canteen into his lap, and said, "Yea, but if I stop moving now, you are never going to get me moving again!"

For the next couple of hours, I walked around camp, helping everyone I could. If I could not help them, I made small talk with them. Some of them seemed very nervous around me, and responded with short answers. Others were very glad for the help, and put me straight to work. They all thanked me profusely, and I just nodded back. It felt good helping others, which I had not done in some time, other than my team.

By the time 4:00p.m rolled around, I was ready to fall over with exhaustion. I just flopped onto the ground, pushing dirt into a few of the open cuts I had on my back. I closed my eyes, enjoying the cool dirt, and the break from work.

"Hey Captain, how are you feeling?" I opened my eyes, and saw the Chief standing over me. I quickly stood up, and saluted.

"I am sorry, I didn't hear you approach Chief."

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to thank you for all of your help. You have really done a lot for his family, you know."

"Yes Chief. I was trying to help this as much as possible." I said, still standing at attention.

"Captain, you do not have to be so formal around me. It is not like the army. Please, I would much rather you are more comfortable around me. Actually, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Anything." I said, and I meant it.

"You are a very military minded man. I want you to look around the camp before 6:00, which is when the ceremony begins, and tell me what I can do to improve our defenses. Use any method necessary. I fear for our village from the humans, no offense." He said, and I chuckled.

"Would I be able to stage a training session, where I try to sneak past your guards, as best I can? I will try to enter your hut, and if I can reach you, your guards lose. If your guards stop me, than I lose. Simple, right?"

"It sounds like a challenge to me. What do you think?" He said, and turned to a completely black rabbit, who had a long scar down his muzzle, and had bright yellow eyes, which had a very dangerous look to them.

"Let's do it." He said, and grinned viciously.

"I will see you before the ceremony, Chief." I said, winked, and then I headed over to grab my gear. I put it on, but left both of my weapons. I didn't need them.

I ran about a mile out, and then turned to circle back up to the camp. I checked my watch, and it read 4:15. I had just under 2 hours to assault a camp with at least 14-armed guards. No problem.

In my arsenal, I had 5 of the teargas grenades, 3 smoke grenades, two knives, my gasmask, about 50 feet of Para-cord, a compass, about 20 feet of piano wire, 2 flashbangs, and my wits. Not to bad, and the gas could be very useful.

I moved toward the southeast side of the camp, which had the best foliage cover. I took a smoke grenade from my belt, and I tossed it about 100 feet later on down the wall. It made a small pop, and it started smoking, creating a screen. I wasn't going to actually use that screen, but use it as a distraction. And wouldn't you know, it worked! I watched the guard who was suppose to be watching this sector of the wall dash off to see what the commotion was. I dashed across the open space, and quickly hid behind some more bushes, and I watched the guard who was at the station nearest me return, and check his sector of the line. He saw nothing, and he relaxed.

Meanwhile, I moved closer to the center of the village. I had to dodge a few more patrols, which I noticed they moved in groups of three or four, and once they moved on, there was nobody to follow up on their patrol. I noted this, and kept moving.

As I approached the Chief's hut, I noticed 2-posted guards right out front of the entrance. That could be a problem. I quickly came up with an idea. I took a flashbang and tied a bit of piano wire to the pin. I then wrapped the other end of the wire around a tree, which stretched the wire right in the path of the patrol, which would be back in the next five minutes. I half buried the flashbang, and made sure the wire was taught.

I then waited for the patrol to come by, and set off the trap. My hopes where that the noise would move the other guards from the door. I wasn't going to go in through the main door, but down the chimney. I was going to be like Santa, but I was going to be dropping teargas as I went down. I made sure my gasmask was secure, and that there where no breaks in any of the seals.

Finally! I saw the patrol, chitchatting quietly among themselves. They kept going, and finally they tripped the wire, which set off the flashbang. They all dropped to the ground, momentarily stunned. As I hoped, the guards at the door ran over to their buddies, and looked around for an attack from the outside. But, they didn't see me run and hop on the roof of the hut.

Once I reached the top of the chimney, I secured my repelling line, using the Para-cord, and I pulled the pins on two of the teargas grenades. I dropped them before me, and I waited about 5 seconds for them to start taking affect. I quickly dropped to the floor, but kept my line attached. The guards inside where coughing and grabbing at their chests, trying to breathe. I quickly ran over to the Chief, and grabbed him. I slung him over my shoulder, and ran over to the chimney, and once there, I tossed one more of the teargas grenades, and than tied him to myself, and I hauled us out of there using the Para-cord.

Once on the roof, I untied him, and myself and than reslung him onto my back. I jumped down off the roof, and ran as fast as I could toward the outside of camp. I dropped another teargas grenade behind me, and then the other flashbang, to throw off my pursuers. Once I hit the wall, the only thing left in my way, I ran for the main exit, throwing the remaining smoke grenades to cover my escape. I ran right past the guards, accidentally knocking him over.

Once outside the camp, I found a small group of trees, which had recently been knocked down, and hid both of us under them. I put a gag over the Chiefs mouth, and waited. The other guards came rushing out, looking all over for any signs of us. After about two minutes, they understood they had lost.

The large black rabbit with the scar stepped forward. "You may come out now. We have lost, and you have won. This time." He grinned, and I stood up, helping the Chief as well. I removed the gag from his mouth, allowing him to speak. But before he was able to, I pointed to my watch. It read 5:37p.m. He laughed, and walked over to the others.

The rabbit with the scar spoke up again. " I was very wrong, underestimating such a worthy opponent." I bowed, touched by his words. He bowed as well, and then walked over to me and shook my hand. He had very large paws!

"Well, I now know how to improve our defenses. Are all humans as sneaky as you are?" The Chief asked.

"No. They will most likely try and take the village by force. If you show that you can handle off the main attack, they will most likely leave you alone." I said. "By the way Chief, sorry for hauling you around there. It was my only chance of getting you out of there in one piece with you! I would not have lasted to long if I attacked head on."

"You did what you were ordered to do. I never gave specific directions on how to get me out of there. By the way, nice touch going down the chimney!"

"Yea, we never thought to have to defend that as an entrance!" Called one of the guards that was assigned to protect the Chief. Everyone laughed.

As we headed back, I could not help but think of who helped Ahote moved his father's body to the pile we had set up. I did not dwell on it too much, because it reminded me of all of the people I had lost in my life, including Zach. I remembered to never look back, and keep going forward. I also went back to the humvee, and grabbed the only articles of clothing that I had brought with me. It was my full dress uniform, which I had never worn. We had been given them for our graduation from Camp Freedom. It was a very clean cut uniform, and it took me a good ten minutes to get into the full thing.

At 6:00 sharp, the Chief started the ceremony. I walked over to Ahote, who was holding his mother. His eyes grew very wide when he saw me.

"Where did you get that uniform?"

"We were issued it. Is it okay?"

Instead of answering m question, he just said, "Thank you. My father would have been honored."

"I hope he would. I don't ever get dressed up. And this does NOT get told to the others, correct?" He didn't answer, just chuckled.

The Chief talked for over an hour. I didn't even know the language, but I still listened. Instead of just standing in one place, he walked around as he talked. Everyone was laughing, then crying, and then back to being normal. He was a great speaker, and I reminded myself to ask Ahote what he said later.

Once the Chief had stopped speaking, everyone put their heads down, and were very quiet. I also did the same, out of complete respect. I noticed Ahote came over to me, while everyone still had his or her head down.

"Chris, will you help me?" He asked, and stuck my head up.

"Sure, anything." He walked over to our pile, and picked up 2 decent size sticks. He walked over to a tree stump, which was hallowed out and filled with a flammable oil, and dipped both sticks into it, getting just about 2 inches of the tip wet. He walked back over to me, and handed one of the sticks to me. He then stuck the tip of his stick into a small fire, which was near the hallowed out tree stump, and waited for me.

I walked over to the fire, and gently put the tip of the stick into the flames. The oil on the end of the stick ignited, and I joined Ahote, standing beside him. He walked near the pile, and he tossed the stick into the middle, near where his father's head would be. I followed him, but I tossed it towards his feet. I noticed Ahote tearing up, and I walked over and squeezed his shoulder. He turned and grabbed me in a rough embrace. I just held him, as he wept. His mother and sister also started to cry, and others around them, including the Chief, embraced them and tried their best to comfort them.

As I continued to hold Ahote close, I looked at the other villager's faces. All of them were twisted in agony, even the toughest of them looked defeated. I felt Ahote pull away from the hug. He wiped his eyes, and stepped away from me. He spoke loudly in Chinook, and all of the others cheered, and yelled loudly. I smiled, and felt as a true outsider.

An hour later, once the fire was only left smoldering, did everyone begin to feast. Everyone talked to each other, and Ahote explained to me that they were talking about happy memories of his father. I thought it was the most profound thing. Instead of the entire village reminiscing over his death, they were talking about the glory of his life. I thought about it, and it is how I would want my funeral to be as well.

I stayed with Ahote, and laughed at the reversal of our positions. Before, when he was new to the team, he followed me around, and here I was doing the same thing!

I was given a wooden plate of sorts, and the village women passed out the food they had cooked. By the time I had sat down, my plate was full of food, and I was stuffing myself full. The other teens came and sat with me, and they started telling all kinds of strange and funny stories. Thankfully, they spoke in English, but I noticed if they spoke to fast, they would say random words in Chinook. It was okay, and I followed them most of the way. I shared a few of my own stories, and they all howled with laughter when I told them how I caught Ahote. He just blushed, and then laughed and kidded around with the others.

When I glanced down at my watch, it read 9:42p.m.

"Wow, this night has gone by fast!" I said, and the others laughed. Mahpee, the grayish-blue rabbit, was now sitting next to me, and he was showing me a bracelet that was on his wrist. It was wooden beads, which had been engraved as animal heads. It had a bear, a fox, a rabbit, and an owl.

"They all have a meaning. The bear stands for courage, the fox for cunning in battle, the rabbit for swiftness and to never forget the others of the tribe, and the owl for wisdom." He pointed to my ring, and asked, "What does yours stand for?"

"It is my Scottish clan ring. The language is in gealic, a Scottish language. The saying is, 'Our Blood Is Royal', which means that my family clan, the Macgregors, is of Royal decent." The others were listening, and asked me a few other questions.

"Where you born around here?" Canowicalete, the short grey haired rabbit.

"No, I am from Pennsylvania, on the East Coast. It is on the other side of the country." Everyone started asking even more questions, and I picked Gosheven next.

"Do you have a mate picked out?"

I blushed, and said I didn't. Everyone laughed, and I knew that Gosheven had done that on purpose. He grinned at me from across the small fire, which was in-between all of us. Without the fire, his black fur would have blended right into the darkness of the night.

They kept asking questions about me, and would have kept it up if the Chief had not called for everyone's attention.

"Everyone, I will ask for your attention for a very important matter. Tonight, we have among us a guest, who has honored this tribe immensely. He has been more than generous with his help, and he has shown his downright cunningness in battle, against our younglings and even our trained warriors. Captain, may I ask you to come up here please?" Everyone in the tribe turned their eyes to me. I blushed slightly, because I did not like so much attention.

Once I was standing beside the Chief, he continued. "Tonight, I wish to make him part of the tribe. I ask now, does anybody object to my decision?" There was a deadly silence, and he continued, "Then it is settled. I will bless you with a name that will befit you the best. Please kneel." I kneeled in front of him, and bowed my head.

He put his hand on my shoulder, and continued, " I, Chief Vaive Atoish, of the Chinook Tribe, do ask the spirits above to embrace a new soul. I call to you, oh Spirit Guardian to accept Captain Geier into your humble embraces. Accept him as one of your own. Allow him to fight harder, run faster, and think more swiftly than his opponents, so that he may please you, oh mighty Spirit Guardian." He then loudly shouted a phrase in Chinook, and the others took up his chant, until the noise was deafening.

"Arise, Enapay. Your name is that of complete braveness, and I give you this name not only for your ferocity in combat, but also because you take stand for what you believe in, and you never back down. May the Spirit Guardian always be at your back." After he finished, everyone erupted in cheers, screams, shouts, hooting and hollering, and crying in happiness. I too started to tear up, at the honor.

The Chief turned around for a second, and turned back with an item wrapped in cloth. He presented the item to me. It was a metal tomahawk, with the metal engraved by hand, a wooden handle, which was slightly curved, and fit into my hand quite nicely.

He, as well as his guards and advisors, bowed to me. I returned the gesture, and turned to the rest of the tribe. I put my hand over my heart, to show me saluting them. They went wild over that, and the teens all rushed me and tackled me to the ground.

They all pinned me, and wouldn't let me up.

"Alright, you can let me up by now!" I called, and they all just grinned at me. But they didn't budge. "Come on guys! This is my good uniform!" They laughed, and still didn't budge. So, I tried something. I relaxed, and they did as well, which I now saw my chance. I sprung up, but with 6 of them there, they quickly forced me back to the ground.

"What is this about?" I asked, now getting a little mad.

"One more part of the ceremony." Tohate said, and grinned mischievously.

I saw the black rabbit with the scar walk over. He was grinning. He was holding a very sharp knife. I gulped.

"Relax, we are just cutting your hair, in our warrior fashion." The others grinned.

By the time they were finished, two thirds of my head was bald, except a Mohawk about an inch wide down the center of my head. It was short, and I was over all happy. Besides, I needed a haircut anyway.

The black rabbit approached. "What do you think?" He smiled, and I just shook my head.

"It's very nice. I am very impressed. By the way, I do not believe that I ever learned your name."

He chuckled, and said, "It is ganolvsgi agasgi. It means Storm. I am also very happy with your hairstyle. It befits you, in your warrior status." The other teens behind me chuckled, and I turned to them.

"Oh, I will be sure to be here when it happens to them. And I want HIM shaved, completely!" I said, and pointed to Tohate. He pointed to himself, and acted innocent. I just laughed, and headed out to find Ahote.

I found him speaking to his mother, off from everyone else. I started to turn around, but he signaled me over.

"Wow. They gave you the warriors cut. That is a very great honor in our tribe. I have one more honor, but it would be for me."

"And that would be?"

"Become my Shilah." I gave him a questioning look.

"It means to become my brother." He said, and looked at me with hoping eyes.

"Ahote, it would be my honor." I said, and bowed. He reached forward and wrapped me up in a huge bear hug, and wouldn't let go for the longest time. I didn't mind, not a damn bit. I had always wanted a brother, anyways.

He finally let go when his mother tapped him on the shoulder. He stepped back, and his mother stood before me. I bowed, and she smiled.

"It would be an honor for you to be apart of the family." She kissed me on my forehead, right in between my eyes. I stood up, and she smiled.

"I do have one request, Enapay." She said, and looked at me with a stern expression.

"Yes?" I asked, and felt as if my own mother was staring at me.

"Keep an eye on your little brother, always wash behind your ears, and don't stay up too late. Also, please wear this, so you never forget us." She placed a necklace around my neck. It had a few small carvings, and I recognized them to be the same as the one Ahote wore. I bowed, and thanked her profusely. She just smiled, happily.

"As our family loses a member, we also have gained one. The Spirit Guardian is looking upon us with his graces." She said, and headed back to the hut.

Ahote walked over, and led me into the hut. He showed me where I was sleeping. I flopped onto the bed, and fell asleep promptly. It had been a long day.

CHAPTER SIX IS COMPLETE!! WHOOP WHOOP! Any spelling errors, you have the right to yell at me! I self edit, so I cannot see every mistake! Comments help me out a lot! Also, if anyone knows somebody who is willing to help me with a coverart would be greatly appreciated!