#like hes on the battlefield hes on his knees his Just Some Guy who didnt really ask for this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

schnuuwrites · 5 years

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Everything's gonna be alright

Request:i ADORE your sylvain writing omg. would it be too much to ask for sylvain angst with his SO getting hurt in battle for him?

Summary: Sylvain's S/O dies on the battlefield

Tw: hm, angst, ofc. Maybe a bit gory and detailed

Laughter filled the hall and bounced off the walls, blending in with the mindless chatter around you. The redhead infront of you smiled dashingly and took hold of your hand, which was placed on the table, and entwined your fingers. His hand was so much bigger than yours was, his calloused fingers being a nice contrast to your soft skin. He was so warm.

You smiled with a warm face, gazing at him lovingly. Goddess, how you loved these moments of happiness. How you loved him.

Sylvain talked about something enthusiastically, letting his eyes drift to your lips occasionally, and squeezed your hand gently to focus your attention back on the conversation you had held.

"Pardon me?" Sylvain chuckled and shook his head, red locks falling in his eyes. You bit your lip lightly and grinned. With a swift motion you reached over the table to tucked away his soft hair. He watched you with amusement and let you do as you wished, not minding you were in public right now. After all, you two were caught doing much more inappropriate things by teachers, guards and classmates alike.

Brown eyes gazed into your own ones affectionally when you pulled away and let your fingers brush along his jaw line softly. Just a fleeting touch, but it was enough. Sylvain grasped your hand into his before you could sit back down and brought your small hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it. Butterlies erupted in your stomach and your heart fluttered at the sweet gesture.

You freed your hand and positioned it on the table to support your weight when you reached over to pull at Sylvains shirt. He let you do as you pleased and invited you by tangling his hand in your hair and pulling you down. Your lips met in a sweet and swift embrace before seperating again. Neither of you wanted to end it here, but you also didn't want to attract more attention to you two than you already did.

Over time you got used to the judging stares by teachers and jealous stares by Sylvain's fangirls. But never once did he ignore you to give another female more attention when he was with you. He had always been faithful. And you were convinced he would be for the rest of his lifetime. The lifetime, which would be spent with you by his side.

Hushed whispers pulled you from your trance. Heavy steps could be heard coming from behind you. You turned around and saw the man from Duscur coming towards your direction. He looked a bit tense.

"Hello, Dedue. How can we help, my friend?" Sylvain greeted and you nodded in aggreement. The white haired man gave a nod as a greeting of his own.

"I am here to inform you both Byleth has decided to chase off a few bandits, that have been reported to have caused much trouble, thus resulting in the need of our aid. Please, get ready as soon as possible. We will be on our way in one hour."

As much as you wished you could spend your last hours of the day fooling around with Sylvain and enjoying your time together, the people of Fodlan neaded you.

The air outside was chilly, but nothing you couldn't handle. After all, the days in Fearghus were almost always chilly and cold. In front of you layed a big, eery forest, sorrounded with a thick layer of fog. You gnawed at your lip nervously. It was impossible to estimate how many enemies where hiding in there. But Byleth surely had to know the risk of sending you in there, with you being a mage. Of course, your magic and resistance were high, but your physical defense was incredible weak compared to Dedue or Dimitri.

The leaves of the trees rustled ominously, telling you to step in and meet your possible death. You didn't like this at all. A cold iron fist clenched your heart and your mind screamed at you: DANGER.

A hand on your shoulder made you jump and yelp. You turned around, ready to attack the person behind you, but relaxed when you saw Sylvain. Behind him was his horse, which neighed and nuzzled your face. You smiled and patted it's head.

Sylvain grasped your chin gently and lifted your head, planting a loving and strong kiss onto your mouth before switching to your forhead. The second kiss was much more gentle, but both made you smile. If he tried to reassure you everything would be alright, he definetely succeded.

"Everything's gonna be alright. You and I are a team. We can do it. I will protect you from those bad guys." He teased. You grinned and kissed his cheek. "And I will rescue you from those big bad mages, my little damsel in distress." A second kiss on his nose made him laugh softly. "Whatever you say, little mage."

You were glad that you weren't alone in the forest. You trusted Byleth as your tactician with your whole heart. Annette was assigned to you and Sylvain as well, supporting you both with her reason and faith magic- that girl possesed immense skill- which made you feel slightly better.

In the distance, you were able to hear war cries and clashing of swords and axes. Somewhere on your right side fire cackled, indicating one of your friends used it to attack someone, but on your side of the forest it was quiet. Too quiet for your liking in fact. The fog however was too heavy to see anything beyond a few feet and that made you uneasy. An enemy could be behind the next trunk for all you could know.

Cautiously you three advanced forward, while looking around a few times and checking either of you were unharmed, but your eyes lingered on Sylvain the most. You were incredible worried about him, even though you knew he could stand his own ground. You have seen him train so many times, working his muscles and letting his beautiful brain figure out ways to tiptoe around dying and losing. He was incredible. And what were you compared to that? You were a healer, of course, and saved some of your friends from the brink of death. You also were able to take out armored knights your friends had trouble even scratching. But despite that? You felt like a burden. You were never allowed to act alone. Someone was always assigned to your side to protect you from bows and swords, axes and gauntlets. This time it wasn't any different. Sylvain was tasked with protecting you from physical damage while you and Annette had to watch out for mages.

A crie of pain infront of you made you all jump and take fighting stances. A groan was heard again. You narrowed your eyes and tried to figure out who was groaning and moaning. You were sure you had heard that voice before. Your eyes widened in horror. It wa- "INGRID" Sylvain yelled. A gasp was heard from her and her voice echoed from everywhere when she responded: "Snipers! Everywhere!"

Your heart dropped into your stomach. Ingrid was seated on her pegasus if you recalled correctly. And her being sorrounded by bows could only mean- "Wait there! I am coming!" You tried to stop Sylvain from rushing to his childhoodfriend's aid, trying to tell him it might be a trap, but you weren't fast enough. He was gone before you could even utter a single word.

"We need to help them!" You shouted over your shoulder and trailed after Sylvain. "(Name), WAI-" But Annette couldn't finish her sentence. Out of nowhere, a swordman appeared, his eyes widening and his face twisting into a disgusting snarl, and he creeped toward you both. Your heart picked up and you broke out into a cold sweat.

This was bad. Very bad.

"Stay back!" You ordered and raised your hand as a warning. Flames sparked around your head, telling your enemy to step back, but he didn't seem to mind. Instead he- "DOWN" Annette screeched and you did as you were told. Hastily you jumped out of the way, letting your friend attack him and killing him.

The burnt body collapsed, poisening the air with it's faul smell. You tried not to gag.

Thankful you turned your body to face your readheaded friend and thanked her for saving you. She smiled proudly.

"It's ok. No need to than-"

You were confused why she stopped her sentence so suddenly. You opened your mouth to ask, but a piercing pain in your abdomen made you scream in agony. Your whole body felt like it was burned alive, every nerve tingling and adrenaline shooting through your body. You looked down and stared at the foreign piece of metal, which poked out of your stomach. Shaking hands tried to touch it, but you screamed when the blade was twisted, before it was pulled out forcefully.

You dropped to your knees, toppling over and holding your stomach with your arms. Hot blood poured out of your wound. You gasped for air and dared to look at the wound. Your clothes were stained with your black blood, your arms full of it as well. Wait- black?

Oh no.

Poison.

Frantically you tried to scramble away. Get way from the enemy, from the danger. Once more you pressed your arms against your wound.

You didn't know how you got away with a hole in your abdomen, but you managed to put quite a distance between you and your attacker.

Even the noise of the fight faded rapidly. You felt lightheaded. Blood loss? Probably. There. A tree. Safety. For a bit. You pulled yourself up and rested your back against it. Your breaths came in short and hastily. Somehow you had trouble breathing. You practically felt the blood leaving your body and it felt disgusting. You squirmed and pressed harder against the wound, the bark scraped against your back, but you didn't care. It had gotten quite dark, hadn't it? Everything was much more darker than before. Where you deeper in the forest? Only a restricted cough came out when you tried to wheeze for help, to get help. To survive. You didn't want to die on the battlefield. You didn't want to leave your friends yet, didnt want to leave Sylvain.

Sylvain. Where was he? Did he forget about you? Why hasn't he come yet?

"Everything's gonna be alright." Yes, he was right. He was always right. He had to be. He would come to help you. Kill that bastard and let him burn in hell. He would scoop you up, kiss you, whisper in your ear everything was gonna be alright. He would tell you he loved you forever. You would be happy. He would keep you save.

You... you were just going to wait here. Sylvain would find you, just like he always had. Just like he always had. Yes, you would just... be resting a bit until he came back.

It was getting harder to keep your eyes open, a sudden tiredness overcame you, that grasped you with it's long, dark, inviting arms and pulled you into the numbing nothingness. You sighed.

Everyone was frantic. Annette had tears streaming down her cheeks, Felix an irritaded scowl on his face, Mercedes yelled your name over and over again, Ingrid bit her nail nervously, Dedue, glued to Dimitri's side, looked around and watched over everyone, Dimitri talked with Byleth for ideas where you could be. Ashe tried to calm Annette down, to no avail, and Sylvain... Sylvain was running around. Screaming for you. His hands were clammy and tears blurred his vision. Annette had informed everyone of what happened.

It was HIS fault, he told himself. He shouldn't have run off like that. You could be right by his side right now, happily smiling at him, holding his hand...

His heart broke. The blood in his veins froze and it felt like a lightnening bolt went up his spine.

He'd found you. He'd found YOU.

You were hunched over and rested against a tree, a pool of blood sorrounded you. Your hand rested beside you.

He didn't even feel himself running towards your body. His everything was numb. The voices of his friends vanished and were nothing more than a dull sound in the back of his head.

Sylvain dropped to his knees infront of your dead body, grasping your body and pulling it against his chest. His chest vibrated and his throat burned, but he didn't hear himself screaming in agony. With a shaking hand he turned your head around and looked at your peaceful face. You were unmoving and cold. So cold. Tears of his gathered on your cheeks, running down. It looked like you were crying as well.

He buried his face in your hair, tucking your head safely under his chin. Safely. Yes. You were safe. You were alright. He was with you now, you didn't need to be afraid. He would protect you.

Hands of his friends tried to pry him away from you corpse, but he resisted with all his might. He screamed, cursed, tears and snot ran down his face and he didn't care. He wanted to be with you. He needed to. He promised.

Only when he was pressed to the ground did he realise he had kicked around and probably hurt one of his friends. His face was in your blood. The blood you had lost. The blood you died of. The blood that should be in your body.

That was the last straw and his stomach emptied itself. He puked on the ground wheezing for air when he was finished and nothing but stomach acid came out. He felt dead inside.

Byleth said something about burrying you in the monastery, but he didn't listen. He looked down at himself, at his clothes that were soaked with your blood and he didn't want nothing more but to rip off his clothes and burn them.

He had lost you

Oh dear. That was a ride. I cried myself a bit along the way. I hope you liked it! The request asked for getting hurt and not for death, but yea. Oopsies

#fire emblem three houses #fe3h #fire emblem #fe3h x reader #fire emblem x reader #sylvain gautier #sylvain jose gautier #fe sylvain #sylvain x reader #fe sylvain x reader #angst

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angstybadboytrash · 5 years

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||Voice of Treason|| Chapter 8

[DABI X OC]

Summary: Hanako Yamada is tired of living in her brother’s shadow, so when an old friend comes back into her life, she can’t help but take a chance and make a new name for herself alongside the League of Villains.

Chapter: | Masterlist |

A/N: Hello friends! Here is another chapter. I’m gonna be honest l didnt even know where this was going to go when I started this chapter but this seemed like the only possible ending. Don’t hate me please! I promise that things will get bette just bear with me! I honestly don’t know if anyone is reading this but I have dreams lol

Please please please like and comment because I would really enjoy some feedback on this.

Reblog to be put on the tag list

Tags: @fridgesbestfriend @princedabi @nightkidd-hd @gaylemonsmutfluff @dark-eyed-dream @sweetycue @aarinisreading

It was silent on what was supposed to be a battlefield. The only thing heard was the crunch of rubble under the boots of failed heroes. Concerned glances were shared between comrades as they struggled to figure out what had just happened. All Might was the first to break the silence.

“Woods, Mt. Lady. Search the building. Bring me anything you think would assist in finding their new location.” The young Pros nodded and headed off to gather intel.

“Endeavor. Do you have any idea who that boy was who stood with Hana? He seemed to know you and Hana mimicked you. Is there anything you want to share?” All Might crossed his arms infront of his chest. Endeavor was still in shock and was completely zoned out into the distance as every memory from that cursed day hit him at once.

“Hey dad, I need to talk to you about something. I need your advice.” A baby faced, fresh out of UA Touya Todoroki stood infront of his fathers desk. He was busy filling out papers from that days incident and he was already irritated. He glanced up at his son and gave him a look that said ‘go on’.

“Okay well you see, um, I have been dating Hana for a while now and I think, um, I think I want to-“

“Break up with her? Good idea son. I fully support it.” Enji cut his son off without even looking up. He had never really supported Touya and Hana because he would have preferred his son to marry a girl with a powerful quirk. Make the Todoroki name proud with strong grandchildren that could surpass him one day.

“Oh my god again with this bullshit?! No I am not breaking up with her dad. You know what never mind. I was gonna get your blessing but never fucking mind.” Touya pinched the bridge of his nose before throwing his hand away and shoving it in his pocket to match his other hand.

Enji looked up from his papers to see a very frustrated Touya. “That harlot doesn’t deserve you son. You could do so much better! Her quirk is weak and your children would be useless. You need to focus on the important task at hand. Becoming the number one hero.” He stood from his desk and slowly made his way around the edge of it. When he reached the center of it he leaned back to sit on it and crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to intimidate his son.

Touya’s face became so flushed with anger that his face was almost the same shade of red as his hair. Endeavor was right infront of him now and he was pissed. How dare he talk about his beloved that way? He didn’t give a shit about becoming number one, he just wanted to be with the woman he loved.

“Fuck you. I’m not ending anything with Hana. I love her and you’re just gonna have to deal with it.” Touya pulled his hands out of his pockets to prevent his pants from catching fire. He was extremely close to setting off his quirk and he was gonna lose it if another asshole remark came out of his father’s mouth.

“Have you really not learned a single thing from me? You’re an idiot Touya. You don’t love her she’s just a distraction and you need to end it.” Enji stood his ground and he wasn’t going to let this relationship slide any longer. He had already found a suitable bride for his son he just need to get him to end it with Hana.

“No she isn’t! You wouldn’t know shit about love. I don’t think you love mom, or literally any of your children! You’re just a fucking sperm donor to this family. I’m gonna ask Hana to marry me and nothing’s gonna stop me.” Touyas hand lit aflame he pointed an accusatory finger at his father. He was practically boiling with anger and he was sick of this bullshit.

“No son of mine will ever marry trash like Hanako Yamada! You’re forbidden.” Enji scoffed at his sons ignorance and that just made Touya angrier. This conversation was over and he was leaving.

“You can’t stop me from doing shit. I’m marrying her. I knew getting your blessing was bullshit. Goodbye.” Touya turned and went to leave but he didn’t even make it two steps before a ball of hellflame blasted him into the large oak door. He feel to his knees and rushed to his feet and raised his arms in an X to attempt to block the blow he knew was coming.

Endeavor didn’t throw a punch like he usually did, instead he grabbed both of Touya’s forearms. Hellfire licked its way up Touya’s jacket sleeves, burning the clothing and the flesh underneath. Touya screamed out in pain as his flesh surely scarred, he threw his head to the side so he wouldn’t have to look at his father while silent tears slipped down his cheeks.

“Don’t you DARE walk away from me ever again. I won’t tolerate behavior like this and you’ll be punsished for it. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be trash just like her and then she won’t even want you. Look at me! Do you hear me?!” Endeavor let go of one of Touya’s arms to grab his chin and forced him to look at him. The flesh of his cheeks burned under the heat of his dim hellflame. More tears poured down Touya’s cheeks as he tried to swallow his sobs.

“Hero’s don’t cry. You’re pathetic. Just like her.” Enji removed his hand from Touya’s chin so that he could place his pointer and pinky fingers directly under Touya’s eyes, burning away the tears and flesh. Touya was brutally scarred both mentally and physically. Touya blasted Endeavor back with the arm he let go of and he ran from the office, and he ran from the house and then he ran a little further from the town he used to call home. He ran from Hana, and he ran from his past self because now he was scarred, and ugly, and he was a monster.

Enji was the reason his son looked like that and he was the reason why they had a funeral because he didn’t think Touya would survive those injuries. He was the reason why his son dissappeared for two years. He was the reason why his son became a villain because he didn’t want him to marry the girl he loved. This was all his fault.

“Endeavor? Endeavor? Enji!” All Might’s voice shook him from his memory. He was dazed and confused and now extremely upset with himself. He shook his head in an an attempt to shake away the thoughts.

“I’m sorry what?” Endeavor turned to look at a very concerned All Might.

“I asked you a question. Do you know the boy who was with Hana? We need to confirm his identity but no one is sure.” All Might still stood with his arms crossed against his chest. Before Enji could respond, Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady approached them with two peices of paper in hand.

“They didn’t leave anything behind. But we did find these on one of the beds up stairs.” My. Lady handed over the papers to All Might.

“All Might! Did you find anything in the building?” Eraserhead seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and behind him trailed a very numb Present Mic. His face was flushed from crying and he honestly looked like shit but who can blame him, his sister was gone. He was extremely zoned out and wasn’t paying attention at all.

“Woods and Mt. Lady found these letters. I was about to read them.” Eraserhead nodded to the man and he began to read the first letter.

“Sorry not sorry,

If you’re reading this you now know that I am no longer Hanako Yamada, but I am the Sound Villain Decible. Which is really cool and you can’t say it’s not because it is. Anyway, sorry for the scare but honestly I have been so much happier in the last year than I ever was. Surprise but it turns out that Touya isn’t dead! I’m literally so fucking happy with him and I just wanted you guys to know that I am safe and sound. And Bakugou is too. He’s not as bad as everyone thinks he is but he will be a very valuable asset to the League.

Bye forever, talk to you never 🖤

Decible”

“Well at least there’s something for family, and if we know anything about Hana, she’s gonna keep Bakugou safe.” Mt. Lady sighed deeply knowing that Mic was struggling to keep his composure.

“You’re right. And now we know that this ‘Dabi’ character’s name might be Touya. Here’s the next note.”

“Fuck you Endeavor,

Long time no talk. I heard you declared me dead but hey guess what, I’m still alive. I’m coming for you old man and guess what, I’m gonna fucking do it. I’m gonna do the thing you hated most. I’m finally gonna ask her and it’s gonna be amazing. I love her with all my heart. I hope you have a shitty life and that you vividly remember the pain you caused me. You’re the reason I look like this and I can’t wait to see the news report on “Pro-Hero Endeavor is abusive according to family and he brutally scarred his son so badly he became a villain.” I can’t wait to see you dig yourself out of this hole. Say hi to mom for me and tell my siblings I’m living my best life.

Once again fuck you,

Dabi”

Endeavor sighed and ran both of his hands down his face before putting them on his hips. He turned on his heel to face away from the other pros. He had hoped that he had covered up his mistake by declaring him dead but that would have been too easy. Now this was just the beginning of shit show that Enji was going to have to go through because of his mistake. Everything was at stake and he was going to have to pay the consequences.

“Endeavor, I wasn’t going to say anything but this letter confirms it. Dabi is Touya Todoroki isn’t he?” Kamui Woods spoke up from behind him. Kamui had his suspicions from the first letter but now he knew the truth. He had know Touya from school and now that he knew his father was the reason for his disappearance, he wanted justice for Touya. He was the reason why Touya became the Villain Dabi.

Endeavor turned halfway to look at the young pro before let out a deep breath. “Sadly, yes...” Endeavor pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He still couldn’t believe what had just unfolded infront of him. His son Touya was still alive, he was a villain, and he was still going to marry Hana. Honestly, it was the worst news he had ever received.

“In this letter he claims you were the one to brutally scar him, is that true? He also said he was finally gonna do it, the thing you hated most? What is that?” All Might folded the letter up for safe keeping in case Endeavor tried to get it.

“The scars were... an accident. He wouldn’t listen to me! He- he was just soooo persistent on asking that disgrace to marry him and I was completely against it. He didn’t care and claimed it was love. I thought it was foolish and a distraction.” Endeavor was slowing getting frustrated as he thought of the past memory. His flame got hotter and brighter in response.

“You can’t brutally scar someone on accident. How do we know you didn’t do it on purpose.” Shoto Aizawa spoke up. Something wasn’t sitting right with him and he wanted to know the real truth.

“I was doing what was best for him! If he married her he would never become number one!” Endeavor glared at the pro who had started crossing a line.

“How would you know? He never even got the chance. You can’t punish a child for loving something, that’s just cruel.” Aizawa was glaring at Enji with a burning hatred. He knew that if he pushed his buttons hard enough, he would confess.

“He didn’t love her! It was lust. It was a distraction that lasted too long. I should have ended it from the beginning but he was persistent and refused. It was infuriating.” The heat of Endeavor’s flame continued to rise. Anger was boiling in his stomach.

“Why did you want him to end it so badly? Were you going to force him into a loveless quirk marriage like you did? When you told him and he refused, he disobeyed your orders so you punished him for standing up for his own happiness, didn’t you?” Aizawa struck a cord and he knew it. His quirk was activated in a flash and dodged to the side catching Enji’s fist in his scarf.

“Did I get it right?” Aizawa had gotten his proof. It was a confession but it was enough. He had witnesses and letters as evidence.

Endeavor was about to explode he was so angry. “I did what was best for him! I am his father and I know what’s best for him and marrying that bitch was not what was best! This is all her fucking fault! She corrupted my son and she’s gonna pay!!!”

“Enji Todoroki, you’re under arrest for domestic abuse, child abuse, and attempted murder. Anything you say can and will be held against you.”

#dabi #dabi is a todoroki #dabi x oc #dabi x reader #league of villians #voice of treason #all might #endeavor #present mic #mt. lady #kamui woods #toshinori yagi #enji todoroki #yamada hizashi #eraserhead #aizawa shota #todoroki shouto

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adambstingus · 7 years

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My Friend And I Used To Play ‘Army’ In The Woods, But This Incident Changed Our Friendship Forever

I have never told anyone about this but its time to get something off my chest. I need to push the darkness of the one horrifying day of my childhood off of my chest like a bench press or the weight of it is going to eventually slip down and choke me to death.

So here we go.

My favorite thing to do when I was 11-years-old was playing Army at my friend Tobys house. I would count down the hours, minutes, and seconds until Saturday afternoon almost every week until I would hop in my moms Suburban and traverse the windy roads of the foothills of the North Cascades that led up to where Tobys family lived on a small rustic raspberry farm at the end of a gravel road.

I loved playing Army at Tobys house most of all because his familys multiple-acre property was loaded with forts, treehouses, little creeks, and sheds that made it seem like it was some kind of backlot set from an old war movie. On top of that, Tobys dad was a Vietnam vet who had authentic military gear that helped us truly feel like we were battling some kind of foreign threat that had made its way to the moist, mossy forests of Western Washington.

The afternoon started just like every other one where my mom dropped me off to play Army and stay the night at Tobys house we loaded our packs with hard-ass military essentials like Fruit Roll Ups, Gushers, nuclear green Gatorade, and Nerf guns spray-painted black and we stomped out into the woods. Once into the near-darkness of the Washington evergreens, Toby and I would head straight to a place that seemed almost too good to be true for an 11-year-old rural boy an underground fort.

The envy of every boy at Browning Elementary School, Tobys dad built the underground fort based on one he had encountered in the jungles of Vietnam. Tobys dad said he couldnt stay in the thing for more than a few minutes or he would get flashbacks and that was good news for Toby and all of his friends as it allowed for him to stash the Playboys we had all accumulated to be stored there in relative safety.

About 25 yards from the end of Tobys yard and the start of the woods was the rotten stump Tobys dad had hollowed out to turn into the entrance to the fort. You climbed up into the thing, lifted up a heavy wooden door (to keep out coyotes and other animals) and climbed down a ladder into the darkness hole of the fort where a lantern to illuminate the dirt walls of the thing waited.

Just like any other day, Toby and I started in the fort, mapping out our plan of attack on a custom map of the woods around the house that Tobys dad made for us. This day, we planned to attack a tiny little island that rested where two creeks on the property met, but we were going to have to take a special route there due to a very real enemy that hovered in the woods between the island and the fort Colt Gaskin.

A skinny seventh grader with a jet black bowl cut and a mean streak, Colt was Tobys neighbor through the forest and a menacing figure who rode his dirt bike through the woods that served as our imaginary battlefield. People liked to exaggerate about getting beaten up after school every day when really they just got a little bit made fun of (beatings in real life send you to the hospital), but Colt would literally hit us in the face if he saw us and he had gotten Toby really good last week when we got in the way of his dirt bike.

Our plan was to avoid Colts scope of range by taking a path that was just off of Tobys backyard to the island and it worked. We were able to execute our attack on the island without any interference except for a tough counterstrike from our imaginary opponents.

However, our success made us overconfident, as we took our normal path back from the island that cut through Colts hunting grounds.

It was a horrible mistake. The whining rumble of Colts dirt bike coming up from behind us made me freeze in our muddy tracks.

Within seconds, I felt Colts hand slap against the back of my head and knock my camo hat off. I watched him skid in front of us, whip his dirt bike around and rev the obnoxious engine in our faces.

Oh fuck, Toby and I cussed at the same time and Colt skidded to a frantic stop just in front of us with the obnoxious engine of the bike still blaring.

Ah, little fags playing G.I. Joe in the woods, Colt snickered just after shutting off his engine and jumping off his dirt bike.

Toby didnt wait another second, he took off in the direction of the island and I bolted as well, went in the direction of the underground fort.

Im not sure why I decided not to run in the same direction as Toby, but it turned out to be a good selfish choice. I heard Colts dirt bike roar off in the direction Toby had bolted.

I figured Toby would meet back up with me after he escaped whatever ended up happening with Colt at the underground fort anyway and dove down into the darkness of the secure facility with my lungs heaving. I scrambled hard onto the hard dirt floor and took a few moments to collect my breath before I started crawling towards the middle of the fort where we left the lantern.

I started pawing on the ground where it should have been, but couldnt find it. I at first didnt think anything of it, we must have just put it somewhere else before we left, but that sense of normalcy evaporated when I heard a slimy cough come from a somewhere in the pitch black fort.

I froze again. I thought about calling out the name Toby with a question mark at the end of it, but there was no point, I had seen Toby run off in the other direction and the tone of the cough was far too deep to be produced by an 11-year-old.

Maybe, it was Tobys dad? My brain thought for a second before it thought of my next move, the lighter in my pocket. I flashed the thing on and saw the worst sight my eyes had witnessed in my young life

Sitting in one of the corners of the fort was a completely naked middle-aged man covered from head to toe in body hair. My vision was limited in the faint second of a crack of light the lighter gave out, but the guy looked a lot like the wax cavemen I had seen at museums on field trips before and he shot a look at me just before the light gave out and I tore up to the lid of the fort.

I scrambled out into the dying light of the afternoon forest assuming the naked hairy man in the fort was snapping at feet like a shark. I tumbled my way off of the stump that served as the entrance to the fort and took off deeper into the woods at a full sprint without a look back.

The woods were eerily silent as I dashed through the soggy-leafed floor in the heart of dusk that had turned the dimmer switch to nearly dark under the canopy of thick trees. The near darkness combined with the wet air of the Fall Western Washington forest created a bit of a misty fog that crept through the trees and filled my lungs with moisture as I sucked air in my sprint.

My lungs and legs could finally take no more and I slowed to a wobbly stop as a few fat drops of rain fell down from the tall trees and onto the top of my head. I keeled over, gasping for air and put my hands on the knees of my camo pants.

For a second, the adrenaline leaked out of my brain and I started to realize that I ran in the complete wrong direction. I had sprinted deeper into the dark woods, far, far away from the safety of Tobys parents house, closer to Colts familys house and probably actually even past it where I actually had no idea where I was…and the sun was setting.

I took a long look at my surroundings from every direction and in no way recognized any of the endless forest around me. It was just a murky collection of trees, bushes and the call of mysterious birds coming from the trees that were soaking up the last little bits of light of the day.

My first instinct was to cry. I was 11-years-old and I was alone, lost in a darkening forest with the temperature plummeting rapidly. My only comfort was knowing that Tobys parents knew we were playing in the woods and were supposed to be in by nightfall, but I also had no idea how far away from their property I was and if they would be distracted by trying to track down Toby after his own incident with Colt.

I figured my best option was to try and start walking back in the direction from where I had come, but I wasnt sure which direction that was. An 11-year-old with a brain coursing with adrenaline and fear, I lost track of my path and just kind of turned around and started heading that way.

Five minutes into my journey, I got the feeling that I was going the wrong way. I had seen no signs of life or anything that I recognized, so I started heading in another direction while wiping tears from my eyes.

It quickly seemed like it was a good choice once I started hearing the light trickle of a creek coming from off in the distance. I knew that there was a small creek, Crawdad Creek, that ran the very edge of Tobys parents property. I followed the sounds of running water through some tall grass and skunk cabbage until a flash of orange neon caught my eye.

Sticking out of the tall grass just off the shore of the creek was a small tent that jutted out of the grass like the peak of a mountain stick up out of a grassy valley. I crept up to the nylon structure without anxiety, I believed that the little mobile domicile might be housing someone who could help me, but I was wrong.

I could see that the entrance of the tent was open when I walked in and saw no human presence waiting for me there, just a few scattered items on top of a crumpled sleeping bag. Noticing that one of the items was a flashlight, I figured it would be good for me to do a little scavenging as I anticipated nightfall.

At a closer vantage, the items on the sleeping bag were the flashlight, a thawed-out box of Bagel Bites, a long hunting knife with a ringed handle and a stack of Polaroid pictures. After confirming that the flashlight worked, I turned my beam of light to the Polaroids and immediately wished I hadnt.

What I saw were those rare images so vile they immediately make you feel sick to your stomach. The first three Polaroids I scanned for the faintest of moments were of Toby naked, frozen forever in lurid poses that reminded me of the portraits in the Playboys back in the fort and the last two were of Colt in similar positions in the very tent I was standing in.

I felt stinging vomit bubble up to the back of my throat before I threw the pictures back down and shuffled out of the tent with the flashlight stuck to my hand in a tight grip of dark fear. Once outside of the cover of the tent I saw reason to quickly shut the flashlight right back off when I heard a familiar cough cut through the now completely dark forest and caught a glimpse of the naked, pale meat of the man I had seen in the fort.

I dove into the tall grass behind the tent and started to crawl on my belly towards the creek where I eventually settled underneath the safe cover of a rotting dead log lying on its side. Once, comfortable, I peeked up into the night to see the hairy man, wearing a pair of tighty whitey briefs with a bearded face covered with blood, duck down into the tent in the light of the lantern he must have swiped from our fort.

I lay frozen for a handful of minutes until the clumsy sound of snoring came beaming from the tent and I loosened up, ready to make my escape by the banks of the creek. I slowly got myself to my feet and started sneaking down to the creek in the direction I believed led back to Tobys house.

I planned to follow the water all the way back to their property, but encountered a problem when the creek turned into a small pond that I did not recognize.

It apparently was not the Crawdad Creek that I had been following and now I was at some completely unfamiliar murky pond. Somehow though, the chilling discovery that I had been going the wrong way for an hour now was not the most disturbing thing I saw. That sight was Tobys custom painted black Nerf gun, floating in the middle of the pond.

That sight was enough to send me scrambling back into the thick of the dark woods with my little beam of flashlight leading the way, but that was not the right choice and I knew it as soon as I felt the ground fall out from under me. I became weightless and screamed until my little body came to a hard thud.

The wind thoroughly pounded out of me, it took a second to catch my breath and figure out what happened. I now laid on the dirt floor of some kind of trap – broken pieces of wood of the fake forest floor that had pulled me in all around me.

I cried and my chest heaved in exhaustion and terror. The hole I was in looked to be about ten-feet high on each side. There was no way I was going to climb out of the thing and I let out an audible scream when I looked to my side and saw Tobys beloved army pack that he had gotten from his dad wrapped up around one of the thick branches of the trap.

A light rain began to trickle down from the canopy of trees and drop into my already wet eyes. My little body couldnt take much more the cold, the walking for hours, the horror, the hopelessness of the situation I had enough. I sat down in the mud, with my butt stuck into the cold wet ground, tucked my knees up to my face and cried into my army pants.

I sat there sulking and crying for what must have been 30 to 40 minutes before I cracked open my eyes to realize I had a ray of hope Tobys pack. I remembered that Toby always had his army pack loaded up with tactical gear, including a thick rope.

I tore at Tobys pack and found Tobys trusty rope. I started to unspool my salvation when the distant murmuring of voices froze me in my escape. Vaguely familiar adult voices, I heard them come closer muffled by the sound of the rain falling all around me. I perked up my ears to try and decipher the words that sounded like when the adults talked on Charlie Brown and slowly started to recognize who was talking it was Tobys parents.

They must have been looking for me.

Help! Help! Help! I cried out into the night as I saw the beams of their flashlights cut in and out of the air above my hole. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

They probably couldnt hear me over the rain. I went back to my work as fast as I could, throwing the rope over the edge of one of the sides of the hole hoping it would catch on something. It took a few tries, but it eventually did and I used the last reserves of energy and hope I had to pull myself up the dirt walls of the hole while trying to yell as loud as I possibly could.

Lying on my belly in the mud, I finally laid my eyes on signs of life. Off in the near distance, in an opening in the foliage was a roaring fire with the silhouettes of a few adults standing around it. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I staggered towards the people, but my wasted lungs, the rain and the rock music blasting from the camp were all drowning me out.

I was just about to the edge of the camp area when I held up for a second something wasnt right. As I got closer, the sounds had turned from what seemed like normal conversations to weird, unnerving howls and screams. I could see what was clearly Tobys parents, but there was one more person who stopped me in my tracks a few yards outside of the camp the hairy man from the fort, he stood fully-clothed now with his thick beard sticking out of the hood of a sweater, staring at the fire with a beer in his hand.

It took a second, but I eventually realized that it wasnt actually the fire that he was staring at. He was staring at a gagged and bound Toby who was squirming just off to the side of the roaring fire as his parents stumbled around drunk next to him laughing. But his gaze didnt remain on Toby, it shifted over to me, standing slack-jawed in the woods.

I sprinted away as soon as our eyes locked. I started tearing through the wet foliage of the forest with the rain beating upon me and my little feet pounding the ground imagining the hot beams of the scary adults flashlights upon my back. I ran and ran and ran until I could run no more again.

Finally out of breath, I stopped in a grassy patch of land and realized that I was actually in a large backyard of muddy grass that cut into the thick trees. Just off to my side was a rusted trailer home with its lighted windows calling to me. The family from could have been waiting for me inside there, but I didnt care, it was better than what I assumed was trailing me through the woods.

I staggered up the soggy wooden steps of the trailer with legs that wobbled with fatigue and fell onto the metal door with a pound. With my last reserves of power, I threw my hands against the heavy door until it swung open and I fell at the feet of a shirtless middle-aged man eating a can of pork and beans with a fork. The man licked his lips and looked down at me quizzically, like a dog looks at a bug running across the driveway.

After a few moments of looking up at the man and his raggedy beard, I realized that I recognized him a little bit and not in a good way, he was Colts dad. I had seen him before at parent/teacher conferences, walking through the halls in dirty cowboy boots and chewing tobacco and had watched him drop off Colt for school in a colossal Jeep with no top.

I usually would have been horrified to stumble upon Colts dad, especially knowing it probably meant Colt was just feet away smoking cigarettes or playing video games, but it was instead a salvation this time. I didnt even care about Colt. I just stayed at his dads feet and asked if he could drive me home.

I was actually glad that Colts dad came off as a bit of an outlaw because he didnt ask a single question about what had happened to me, just drove through the night to my parents house 15 minutes away and dropped me off just as the sun had finished rising. He gave me a wink when he dropped me off bathed in a coat of frigid morning air that had been enveloping me during the entire ride in his open Jeep.

I told my parents Toby woke up at the crack of dawn with his dad to go fishing and I didnt want to go so I just had them drop me off. They didnt even ask a single follow-up question, just fed me breakfast before I slunk off to play video games and tried to wash the horror from the coils of my brain.

Im not sure exactly why I never told anyone what happened. I think maybe it was as a kid you feel like all adults are infallible and that no one will believe you. I also feel like subconsciously maybe I knew doing so would end up making the rest of my life be a giant controversy of black clouds. So I just stayed silent. When I saw Toby at school on Monday, I never said a single thing about what happened and we stayed school friends, but never saw each other outside of school ever again. Even school friends didnt last long either as Toby started getting homeschooled the next year and then moved away. I have tried to find him on Facebook over the years (usually when I get drunk), but have never been able to find anything about him, which to me is always a huge red flag.

Well until yesterday when I noticed two little red notification bubbles on my Facebook. They were a friend request from a heavily-tattooed Toby Gunderson and a message from him which read

The message has been sitting there unanswered in my inbox for weeks. I dont know, do you think I should get back to him?

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/06/14/my-friend-and-i-used-to-play-army-in-the-woods-but-this-incident-changed-our-friendship-forever/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/161829267332

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samanthasroberts · 7 years