there is only us | wilbur soot x reader

Chapter 24 - Regiment

Third Person Perspective

The 27th regiment was one of the smallest units of the Dream SMP Royal Guard. It was, for the most part, low-ranking soldiers and volunteers. The 27th regiment was sent to replace the original unit in L'manberg after the Northern Uprising, and when the news reached the 27th, questions arose, quickly followed by their brutal answers.

Why us? they asked.

We have the least to lose, some shouted.

We have more to prove, some assured.

But they all knew the real answer. They only thought of it at night, lying wide awake in their region-issued cots.

We will not be missed.

When the 27th regiment arrived at the Northern border of L'manberg, the forest behind them and the mountains even farther north acted as barriers, protection, but at that moment, all anyone could think of was how few places there were to run.

Two volunteers found themselves stuck together on afternoon border watch, making conversation in the chill of early fall and the eerie silence of a captured town.

"I heard the leader of this place abandoned them when the Royal Guard arrived," one of them muttered, stroking his muttonchop beard as his too-tight rifle strap dug into his bulky chest.

He was always teased by the others, comparing him to a ram with his brash personality and his easy confidence. He carried himself haughtily, acting like he was above the others. He claimed, one day, he would be famous. One day, he would rule the world.

"Hmm," the other hummed, distracted by thoughts of his childhood.

The little duckling had been seen as small in size and talent. As a kid, he rarely left his father's farm, deeming yard work as the most he could handle. He would run down to the lake before dinner and feed the ducks stale bread, sprinkling crust into the grass and ignoring the older kids laughing. But there, in the army, where they all ran and trained and fought the same, he was more than that.

"Why would he run? What a coward," the ram carried on.

"Maybe he could not fight."

The ram eyed the little duckling. "Maybe he didn't want to."

"Maybe he had to leave. Maybe he is coming back."

The ram threw his head back and laughed, a sound so boisterous it seemed to echo off the mountains. "Have you seen this place? It is like quicksand. It sucks you in and traps you here, the more you try to fight it. There is nowhere to go."

"There is always somewhere to go," the little duckling said.

They fell into silence, the sun beating down on their weary shoulders.

"Where do you want to go?" the ram asked.

"I don't know."

"Do you want to go home? Would you, if you could?"

The little duckling stopped walking and looked the ram in the eye. "I do not have a home," he said.

"You have the fire."

"He burns."

Another silence. They continued walking and the ram scuffed his foot against the gravelly road, sending a pebble flying.

"I would not have left. I would have stayed. I would have fought."

"Maybe."

"I would have been a better leader than the first guy."

"Maybe."

The ram stopped walking that time, grabbing the little duckling by the shoulders and looking into his eyes, gleaming earnestly with a promise he thought he could keep.

"I will be a better leader, Quackity. I will make a better world. I will have you at my side. You will keep me from walking astray."

"You run from the past," the little duckling observed.

"I run to the future."

"What happens when I cannot keep up?"

The ram stepped back, letting his hands drop down to his sides. At loss of an answer, the ram turned on his heel and continued down the path. A final silence fell, and that time, nobody had the courage to break it.

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what about if tommy died lol. what then

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