Unlikely Heroes

Chapter 7

A few hours passed as the train went on through the countries. The other child was wandering around the train, the other teen was making sure Kankri was okay, and Karkat was looking out the window. Small German conversations continued, Rufioh just watched the inside of the train. He kept hearing the name "Cronus" so he guessed that was the other team. When Rufioh heard his name he turned to the others.

Cronus, the English speaking teen, looked over at Rufioh. "What would happen if someone came in here wanting to take all of us? A government I meant."

"I don't have any jurisdiction over your government, if they come in and take you I'm not allowed to defend you." Rufioh explained, seeing the confusion on Cronus' face. "Uh...if someone comes in I can't come and help. I can't have a say in your government." To this, Cronus nodded.

"Kankri is just worried... I do not know why he is so worried, though." Cronus sighed.

"Ask him... There might be a bigger reason..." Rufioh looked over at Kankri, who was holding Karkat in his lap.

Cronus turned to Kankri again and he said something. After a minute Karkat interjected and started yelling. Kankri covered his mouth and Rufioh was very lost. He watched as the commotion continued and Karkat said he name, this was very odd to Rufioh, but he stayed happy as always. "Yes?" Rufioh turned to them, extremely confused.

"Karkat was just saying your name." Cronus waved it away, speaking in English.

"I never asked your names. I'm guessing his is Kankri and yours is Cronus? Right?" Rufioh smiled.

"Yes. My younger brother is Eridan." Cronus nodded.

"Okay! I'll try to remember your names." Rufioh kept smiling, looking out the window again.

Later in the night Eridan came back and everyone fell asleep; everyone except Karkat. He was staring out the window, trying so hard to stay awake when he was so very tired.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rufioh asked, looking over at Karkat. He had to stay alert until they got into Germany. Karkat looked at Rufioh with bleary eyes. "Okay?" Karkat shook his head. "Do you want to sleep?" He made a gesture with his hands.

"...no sleep..." Karkat said, shaking his head. He came over and say next to Rufioh instead. He quickly moved away when he saw Rufioh's gun. "No!!" He pointed at it.

"Oh! No, no! It's safe! Look." Rufioh pulled the gun out and put it of safety. He then pointed it at his hand and tried pulling the trigger. "See?"

"Safe? See..." Karkat repeated. "Safe." He said again.

"Yes. Safe. No shooting." Rufioh said slowly.

"No shooting..." Karkat repeated, leaning slightly onto him. "Safe...?" He looked up.

"Safe." Rufioh nodded, putting his gun on the other side of him. Karkat nodded, drifting off to sleep.

An hour passed, it was around seven at night. Karkat grabbed onto Rufioh's shirt. He started mumbling in German and clutching onto Rufioh. "Karkat?" Rufioh asked, looking down at the uncomfortable child.

Karkat started crying in his sleep, his face twisting in pain. He kept mumbling, sounding more and more afraid as he spoke.

"Karkat..." Rufioh gently shook him, trying to wake him. This did not work. Karkat only worsened. He would move and talk, leaning on Rufioh more and more.

"Halt!!!!" Karkat yelled, sitting up and shaking. He didn't say anything to Rufioh, as he went to Kankri and started shaking him.

"Karkat? What's wrong?" Rufioh asked, concerned for the child's well being. Karkat only looked at him with teary eyes as he woke his brother.

Karkat moved away from Rufioh and crawled back over to Kankri. The two had a small conversation Karkat nodded. A loud bang sounded outside. Karkat covered his ears, he thought it was a gun. He wasn't wrong. The noise woke everyone on the train up.

Rufioh hopped up, looking around the corner of the small carriage. He knew he had to keep everyone safe. That was his job, and like hell he would fail it.

"Shooting." Karkat said pointing at Rufioh's gun.

"Yeah, I think that's what it was too." Rufioh nodded, understanding what the child meant as he picked up his gun. He rounded the corner, only to see the German police. "Is th- er. Wait- does someone speak English?"

One of the soldiers came forward. "I do. What is it, boy."

Rufioh had little respect for the German, everyone who visited the camp had their own horror story of the German nazis. Rufioh know what these people did to innocent lives and he wouldn't stand for it, which is something he'd never thought about back in America. "Is there a problem with the train?"

"No, we were just given orders to check the train for any stowaways or something else..." The soldiers came closer to Rufioh, who put a hand on his gun. "Do not shoot at us. You will be wasting your bullets for perhaps a later time."

"That sounds like a threat to me." Rufioh held the gun in his hand, forgetting it was on safety.

The soldiers started checking IDs and people's carriages. Most everyone had an ID on them, those who didn't were removed from the train. "I need your ID as well." The German asked Rufioh.

He grumbled, but gave the man his ID. It had all his information on it, which was something Rufioh would rather not share to a German soldier. The only thing on the card that wasn't true was Rufioh's age and birthday. The card said he was seventeen and his birthday was sometime in February. Rufioh felt this was slightly helpful at this time.

"Your father is in the war, is he not?" The German asked, knowing the name "Nitram".

"Yeah." Rufioh snatched his ID back. "He is. We're in different sections." He began walking back to his carriage. "You already checked me, aren't you done?" He quietly spoke to Cronus. "They're checking for identification. If you don't have any you have to get off. Find somewhere to hide!"

"We have not yet checked your carriage." The soldier walked closer and closer to Rufioh, trying to make him uneasy.

"Are you allowed to check another soldier's carriage? We're on opposite sides, so all the more reason." Rufioh spoke smoothly, keeping his eyes on the German. He was not one to be frightened by people with power.

"I suppose you are right." The soldier motioned for the rest to move out. The train conductor started the train again. As it slowly pulled to a start there were loud gunshots heard outside.

Rufioh let out a sigh of relief, heading back into the carriage. He knew that everyone outside was executed, he hoped he was the only one. "Is everyone alright?"

"No." Cronus said sternly. Eridan wasn't speaking again and Kankri was curled up in a ball. Karkat was trembling beside his brother, standing and staring at Rufioh.

"...oh god...Cronus, could you try to get Kankri to speak? I'll try and calm Karkat down." Rufioh crouched down in front of Karkat. "Hey, it's alright...it's okay. You're safe. Safe...okay?"

Karkat gripped the bottom of his shirt, blankly staring at Rufioh. "No...no safe...außerhalb drehten sie und sie konnten uns getötet haben! Ich habe gehört, sie zu töten Menschen! Das ist nicht sicher!" Karkat yelled in a panic.

"Woah, woah! Come here..." Rufioh opened his arms to get Karkat to hug him, which he finally did after he started crying. Rufioh picked him up and sat on the train bench, rocking back and forth. He used to do this with Tavros, who was always crying. "You're safe...everything is okay now..." Rufioh said reassuringly. Karkat nodded and let his weight droop onto Rufioh as he drifted off into sleep. Rufioh looked over at Cronus and Kankri, who were discussing something as Kankri cried.

After some time the two moved to the bench and stayed up. Kankri looked emotionally drained and would frown when they passed concentration camps.