If Only, If Only - Unicorn Wars Fanfiction

Chapter Eighteen: Oxygen

((I wear my grand-dads clothes- I look incredible- I'm in this big ol' coat; from the thrift store down the road))

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Sargento was too far away to do anything- but Azulin heard everything as clear as day- He wasted no time in running over to Coco- looking at the others leg with some sort of indescribable fright. There it was... another one of those blasted similarities...

Was this a bad sign?

Azulin called out to the sergeant, and he immediately mad his way over to Coco- who was trying to keep from jolting or moving due to the pain he was in. However, the tears in his eyes were clear and Azulin's hands rested over the teeth of the trap. They trembled- his thoughts unsteady as he looked directly at Coco and only saw the bloodied form of the blonde bear and the worst version of himself right next to him- both lingering memories from the past.

Azulin's blue eyes seemed to mold into something mortified by the memory- tears leaking from his own eyes as well as he felt bile crawling up his throat.

"Azulin. Concentrate..." Coco shakily advised, his lavender eyes squinting as he blinked a few more tears from them. "Sargento is on his way over... just let him handle it..."

The blue bear shook his head no and frowned. He tried desperately to block out the memories he had flooding back to him- before grasping the bear trap with both hands and taking in a deep breath.

"Don't be an idiot..! One wrong... move... and your hand will be gone!" Coco hissed, trying to deter the other from even trying what he was confident he was going to do. Those words fell on deaf ears though. Azulin glared at the trap, finding his wit again. He grabbed both ends of it, holding it in a firm grasp as he took in a deep breath.

Coco was about to raise his voice at the younger bear, feeling the urge to keep the other away from yet even more injury- but it was too late.

Azulin pried the trap open with shaking hands managed to hold it long enough for Coco to take his bloodied, nearly destroyed leg from the trap with a pained groan. He shakily pushed it open all the way- the trap resetting itself to the resting position- and waiting for the next victim.

Azulin only felt his anger rising, before making sure Coco moved his leg far enough away from the trap, before grabbing a stick and slamming it down into the middle of the trap with a fierce snarl- whispering 'dammit, not again' just under his breath.

Sargento Caricias bent down to Coco and firmly wrapped the others leg after disinfecting it. His stern face brimmed with worry as well. This left the blue bear alone to finish the tasks that Coco was originally provided. Of course, he was extra cautious- only aware of all the whispering that the young bears were doing in their hiding places. Something about their whispering was making him unnerved- but he tried to avoid making it obvious.

Eventually, the other troupes did show up to the scene- all of them disgusted at the gore-ridden sight.

The progress of getting survivors free of the area was easy- at this point. Gather them up, and record all of the deceased. That's what they did and now they were ready to go.

Blackie picked up the last remaining young soldier in the area, and sighed, walking ahead to get a torch to guide them through the darkness of the forest. They would need to make good time to get back to camp before

There was no time for breaks. All Azulin had to keep in mind was the fact that he needed to continue to act injured so there were no questioned raised toward him for why he was moving around so freely. He knew that Pandi was looking at him a bit skeptically earlier...

Azulin stayed behind- walking near the back of the group because of all the the younger bears who were actually injured. If any one of them had their view blocked by the smallest thing- it would be a huge disadvantage to all of them.

Just as they all started walking there was the sound of crackling leaves and snapping twigs as someone came running out of the tree-line nearby. At first- it was just the movement- no one actually thought much about it. However, there was the sound of heavy screaming and a bellowing war-cry as this individual got closer and closer to the travelling troupe. All of them turned around- just in time for the mysterious stranger to launch themselves at Azulin- pinning him to the ground with a wild look in his eyes.

Based on the uniform and the pin in the shirt- it was the Sergeant of the troupe- only showing up now- that everything had been cleaned up in the first place.

"You treacherous snake..." the much bigger bear was livid.

Azulin was panicked- unable to move, left a bit winded after the body-slam he had just experienced. This weight over him was almost enough to make him choke.

Before the blue bear would even reply, he felt himself getting choked out by the big hands of the other troupes sergeant. His eyes watered from the lack of oxygen- leading him to go into fight or flight mode- it was as if he was being crushed to death- essentially, he was in a way.

He gagged as he flailed a little bit- his vision clouding as he nearly blacked out.

It was fight or flight. Fight or Flight.

'As if I am going to be choked... to death.' a deeper voice in Azulin's had hissed.

The voices of his comrades around him all blended together as they yelled for the Sergeant to get off of him. Achuchones and Hielo going as far as to kick the bigger bear in the back to try and deter him- but there was nothing containing the anger the bigger bear felt toward the blue worm.

"I'm going to kill you right here you little-"

Azulin's eyes narrowed and he didn't hesitate to open his salivating mouth, to bite into the hand of the bear holding him down, an almost feral hiss coming from him- both from the pain and the adrenaline.

This caused the bigger bear to recoil, only to snarl, before outright slapping Azulin, slamming his head off to the side and into the ground.

"You filthy little traitor..." the man of higher status shoved Hielo away, sending the polar bear stumbling back into a tree with a generous thump. Every other opposing force received the same treatment, including Sargento. "Frolicking around with the enemy like some sort of spy...."

Azulin's eyes widened as all of his air was constricted again, his shoulders and neck all feeling as though they were being snapped and cracked from the pressure of the choke-hold.

At this point, he felt himself get slapped again, sending his face the other way- busting his nose open at the same time. His face was burning from the pain- causing his body to jolt.

All of the soldiers from both troupes were a mess now, scrambling to get the angry Goliath off of the much smaller bear.

The Lone Owls Sergeant seemed to be a force of nature, though. Because there was no peeling him off.

"I'll end you. You useless, unicorn-sparing PACIFIST."

Azulin was writhing under the grasp, barely able to get small gasps of air between his choking. The only thing keeping him from suffocating to death already was the fact that One of the bigger soldiers that remained of the Lone Owls and Blackie were both pulling at the generals arms.

The troupe leader pulled a knife out of his belt- holding it over Azulin's chest with such a dark glint of disgust that the term 'If looks could kill' could never have felt more true for anything else.

The knife the big bear held went slamming down toward toward Azulin's chest before anyone could stop him.

((To Be Continued))