In My Time of Need - Chapter 7
#10 of In My Time of Need
Chapter 7! ^~^
Good morning/evening? my furs! It's currently 2 o'clock my time and I'm still up writing because I got distracted talking to a certain somebody who I know will read this tomorrow and so heyyyyy I see you! But anyways operation rescue Zachary begins today and we get to go on a little trip down explanation lane as there is a lot of important story in this chapter! So make sure you pay attention because most of this stuff will come up later! So yeah, hope you all enjoy and I'll see you all at the bottom of the page! :D
"Hey kid! Rise and shine, we're leaving soon." A voice I recognized as Roy's sounded from the entrance of the tent. I flicked my ears to let him know I'd heard him before refocusing on the green wall of the tent in front of me. I'd already been awake for a couple hours, my mind was moving too fast for me to sleep any longer.
The only thing I was able to think of was getting out on the mission and get moving. The sooner we left the sooner we could find my brother. And so with that thought I rolled into a sitting position at the end of the bed, a tired yawned splitting my muzzle from my slight lack of sleep.
Grabbing the fur coat hanging off the end of the bed I slipped into it, reveling in the warmth it created. I steeled myself before walking out of the tent, the frigid air not as cold as the day before, but still enough to be nippy. I watched the team assembling their gear just off to the left of the fire.
The team consisted of Baron and Roy, myself, as well as a few people I'd had yet to meet. One was a somewhat short brown skinned otter who was currently stuffing various items into a backpack that he slung over his back. Next was a lioness who I'd seen walking around camp a few times, but I'd never had the chance to talk to her.
Her expression was somewhat mean looking but I was hoping that was just her face. Finally there was also a red panda who was right in the middle of it all, running through checklists making sure everybody was ready to go.
I noticed Baron was missing which worried me slightly considering I didn't hear him come back in the middle of the night. Just as I got to the edge of the group the red panda burst through the group towards me, catching me off guard.
"Hey Nathan right?" She asked quickly. I was only able to manage a half nod before she jumped into speech again.
"Awesome, do you have a bag packed and ready to go?" She questioned.
"Yes, it's-"
"That's fine, you can get it in a second. Have you seen Baron anywhere, he's the only one left I haven't met with." She cut me off launching the conversation forward once again and I took a moment to catch up. I opened my mouth to answer her question when another familiar voice sounded behind me.
"I'm right here Jen, I'm ready to go." I hesitantly turned back to meet the shepherd's gaze to find it locked on me already. He turned his eyes to the red panda after a few moments who was scribbling busily on a clipboard after Baron had checked in.
"Alright, everyone has checked in Baron, we're ready to leave on your call." She said happily before walking off quickly.
"Ready to go?" He said quietly to me.
"I need to go grab my bag out of the tent." I told him.
"I already grabbed it for you, here." He responded handing me the bag I'd packed when I woke up.
"Thanks." I told him, not meeting his gaze. He sighed softly as he made his way to the middle of the group.
"Is everybody ready?" He shouted out. A gaggle of confirmations rang out through the crowd.
"Alright, let's move out then." He told everybody, making his way out of the camp in the direction of the old lab. We all followed suit, grabbing our bags and following him in a line out of the camp. In order it was Baron leading with Roy just behind him, followed by Jen, the otter, the lioness, and myself bringing up the rear.
I preferred to stay in the back so that I could have quiet to think about various thing and not have to worry about anyone behind me, but in doing so I got distracted and had to run to catch up with the group multiple times. Finally one of the times I'd begun to lag behind once again a quiet voice jolted me from my thoughts.
"Are you alright?" The feminine voice was soft, with seemingly no harm behind it. I glanced hesitantly at the lioness who was now walking beside me, but her warm smile was enough to coax a small smile out of me.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Just got a lot on my mind." I replied.
"You know, I lost my mother as well to sickness. That was almost 10 years ago, and here I am today still going strong. It gets better, I promise." She told me, adding a light pat on top of my head.
"How did you-" She cut me off, seemingly predicting the question.
"Word travels fast around here. We all heard your story from Aubrey, and after she and her crew came back from the mission unsuccessfully Baron immediately started getting a group together as soon as he had the details. Everyone here for this mission volunteered, myself included. There we many others who wanted to come as well but we had to leave some people behind to watch the camp, Jasmine and Aubrey were a couple of them. You won a lot of people over with your story, but none more so than the one leading this squadron. His father originally told him no but he rallied enough support to change his mind, but he wasn't happy about it. I believe that's why they got in that argument yesterday." She explained. I listened quietly while she spoke, nodding at the appropriate times.
"Why does he care so much? I'm not that special, why is he going so out of his way to help me?" I asked her the same question I'd been asking myself all day. She was quiet for a few moments, seemingly trying to find the best way to explain it.
"I think he feels protective of you. Shepherds like him know who is good hearted and they feel connections to people even if they don't know the person. He liked what he saw in you so he made it his job to become your friend and protect you. He has good intentions if that's what you're worried about. That's just my theory on it though." She explained.
When she finished I stared towards the front of the line at the brown furred shepherd, watching him converse with Roy pointing off in different directions at times. He was a natural leader, and I thought back to what he'd told me about he and his father's conflicting viewpoints on leadership.
Andros, the fierce general who holds grudges and wants revenge on those who have done him wrong. And Baron, the fair diplomat who wants what's best for his people. It was easy to see where the divisions lied, and which side most people were on. I couldn't help but smile as I knew whose side I was on, and I turned back to the lioness who stared ahead at the rest of the group.
"Thanks...?" I began to thank her, then realized I didn't know her name yet as I cocked my head in confusion.
"Delilah, my name is Delilah. It means gentle, my mother always told me I didn't have the same instincts as that of other lions like me, so she named me something more fitting I guess. And I take pride in it as well." She added puffing her chest slightly before letting the air out in a light laugh.
I laughed with her, feeling better than I had in the last 24 hours.
"Thanks Delilah. You don't know how far we have left to go do you?" I asked her.
"Not too much longer I would think, if Aubrey was correct on the distance then we should be more than halfway there." She replied. I nodded in response and noticed that the group in front of us had come to a stop. We caught up quickly for Baron's announcement.
"Alright guys we've made good progress, we just going to stop and take a short break before we get moving again." He addressed the group, getting many relieved sighs as everyone sat down, dropping their gear.
"Hey Roy! Could I talk to you for a minute?" I caught the middle aged brown wolf just as he was going to sit, his head spinning to find me.
"Sure." He said walking over to me. I walked slightly off to the side of the group where most everyone was out of ear shot before sitting down. He sat down as well, a confused look glazing his features. "What's up, something wrong?" He asked me.
"No, I just wanted to ask you something, I felt like you would be the best person to ask." I explained. His chest puffed out slightly at the comment, straightening up to address me more properly.
"Well alright, ask away." He told me.
I nodded, "Do you think Andros is a bad person?" I asked him. He looked slightly surprised at the question, jaw hanging slightly open. Then all of a sudden, his features declined slightly.
"I've known Andros for a long, long time Nathan. We were best friends even before the transformation and we didn't let anything change that. He was a very happy person, always optimistic about the future even with all the discrimination he received. He was married and had But then something terrible happened that simply broke him. His wife went feral a couple days after Baron was born, but he was in denial that it'd happened as it usually happens shortly after the transformation." He explained, pausing for a moment seemingly bracing for something. "He blamed it on his son. He wanted nothing to do with him, and so I was left to take care of Baron. I raised him from a pup, did my best to keep his father involved the best I could. His father was corrupting though, always trying to teach his son how bad the normal people were. I made sure that Baron knew the true right from wrong which is why he's turned out as the fine young man he is today. If you don't mind me asking, what spurred such a question?" He finished explaining, turning the question back towards me.
"I asked Baron what this group was all about, "The Wild", I was confused about the concept overall. He was hesitant and told me I should ask his father, which threw me off slightly. I pressed him a little more and he told me about he and his father's conflicting viewpoints on what the objective of the group was; obviously I preferred his. That's where it kind of stemmed from, but thanks for clearing it up for me." I replied.
"Sure thing, glad I could help. How are you holding up?" He asked.
"I'm doing pretty okay now, Delilah came and talked to me earlier which really helped. I'm just nervous and anxious to get there and make sure Zach's okay." I replied.
"I can understand that, I'd be worried sick too." His chuckle was cut off by Baron's voice calling.
"Roy, Nathan! We're ready to leave, waiting on you!" He shouted.
"Better get back, don't want to delay the group any longer than we have to." The brown wolf exclaimed.
"Yeah we should do that. Thanks again Roy." I told him. He rustled my hair slightly, grinning.
"No problem kiddo, come on." He replied. I hesitated slightly at the nickname, but the muzzle splitting grin that covered my face and wagging tail indicated that I enjoyed the name. I could feel a slight pep in my step as I walked in line behind Baron towards the front. I refused to let the cold overcast sky dictate my mood as I watched the grasses of the endless plains rustle lightly with the breeze.
"We should be there shortly, you gonna be okay when we get there? We're going to be staying for an hour or two to eat and regroup before we head back out." The shepherd asked me, looking over his shoulder to face me but still walking forwards. Just as the static "I'll be fine" response was about to leave my muzzle, I caught myself and rethought my response.
"I might be a little bit quiet, but I should be okay. There's a lot of bad memories there, y'know?" I answered honestly. He gazed worriedly for a moment before nodding.
"I can only imagine. If it gets too much for you just let me know and we can go walk around for a bit or something." He told me before facing forward again to focus on where he was walking. I smiled slightly at the offer, the kind heart that both Delilah and Roy had mentioned was showing once again.
The rest of the trip was generally silent, save for the small conversations between the rest of the group behind us. I made a slight stutter step upon seeing the laboratory at the top of the hill, the overcast sky matching against the gray cement walls making it look more menacing and dull.
My breathing was shallow as we approached the lab, breathing shallow and footfall light afraid that I would awake the monster within the building if I was too loud. Baron pushed the door open and walked inside holding the door for the rest of the group.
I waited back for everyone else to enter, needing a few more seconds. Sighing deeply I followed Delilah inside and passed Baron who was still holding the door. Once everyone was inside he released the door and let it slam behind him. Everyone jumped in surprise... except for me.
I felt the panic seize hold of my body, launching me into a full out attack. Crumpling back against the wall in the hallway leading to the exit, I sank down to the floor breathing quickly. The walls felt like they were closing in on me as my near muted hearing barely picked up on the shouts around me, and I barely registered when the otter filled my vision.
He grabbed my muzzle forcing me to look at him, I could see my terrified gaze staring back at me through his dark colored eyes. He held smelling salts in front of my nose while snapping his fingers right beside my ears.
I realized what he was trying to do and I tried to help finish the process by throwing my vision around identifying as many different items I could by name, furthering the grounding process.
I could feel the attack subsiding slightly and I frowned slightly at the concern plastered across the faces of each of the team members as I finally came down off the cloud. The otter in front of me leaned back on his haunches sighing before standing up.
"S... sorry you guys had to see that. This is a really scary place for me and the door slamming pushed me over the edge." I said quietly, voice shaky with adrenaline. Delilah made her way through the small crowd holding a hand out to help me up.
"Thanks, but I won't be able stand for a couple more minutes, my legs feel like jell-o." I informed the lioness who retracted her paw at my statement.
"Where's Baron?" I asked not seeing him standing inside which I'll admit hurt slightly considering he said he'd be there with me.
"He stormed off right in the middle of your attack, he looked really upset about something. Pretty sure Roy went with him." Jen informed me. I sighed, head resting against the cement wall. I knew why Baron had left and I willed my legs to get back under me so I could go correct him.
"Help me up please, I really need to go talk to him." I asked a few of the others who were still standing around me. Luckily for the girls who helped me up I was still pretty skinny so I really didn't weight much as I put most of my weight on them. I perked my ears slightly hearing faint talking coming from down the hall.
"They went to the right, I can hear them." I told the girls.
"You and your fox ears..." Jen commented with a small grin tugging at her lips. We turned right at the four way intersection and the voices were much more amplified now that we were closing in on the shepherd and brown wolf conversing together in one of the rooms at the end of the hall.
"Baron?" I called down the hall, hoping he would hear. I gently started putting more and more weight into my steps, still leaning gently on the girls on each side of me. The brown furred head of Roy poked out from the doorway indicating which room they were located.
"Now really isn't a good time Nathan..." He said quietly from down the hall.
"I need to talk to him, you know it just as well as I do." I countered, drawing a sigh out of him.
"I'm fine now you two, thank you so much." I told them. They nodded and stayed nearby for a moment longer before leaving back down the hall. My steps were slower than I would have liked making my way down the hall and I disregarded Roy's look of pity as I lumbered away.
Finally once I was in arms distance he reached out and helped me the rest of the way, leading me inside to one of the now vacant cells. Baron was seated on the side of the bed, head hung and I could hear the sniffles indicating he'd be crying.
"Could you just leave us for a couple minutes? I just need to talk to him." I told Roy. He glanced back at the shepherd concernedly before nodding hesitantly, leaving the room.
I hobbled to the bed sitting down next to the shepherd, and immediately I could sense the tension in the air as he spoke.
Oh my gosh another cliffie! It's 2 a.m. guys you'll just have to live with it tonight! That's all out of me, I'm going to bed, hope you all enjoy the chapter! :)
P.S. For those of you who have been fortunate enough to not have had panic attacks 'grounding' is a way to neutralize panic attacks by forcing your senses (smell, hearing, etc.) to focus on what they normally do rather than focus on the unrelenting fear gripping your body. Look it up if my explanation isn't up to par. XD