The lone marksman (soldier x RWBY)

Chapter 10

"You left us..." The spectral voice taunted. I looked around after the voice woke me up. I awoke face down, half covered in mud. I pushed myself off the ground and out of the ankle deep mud to see myself in a foggy forest. I continued to look around, the fog only allowed me to see about five metres ahead of me and all I could see were the trees standing in the fog. I looked down to see if I still had my compass only to be distracted by the state of myself. My sleeves on one arm was ripped off at the shoulder, allowing anyone to see my skull tattoo. The other blood covered and rolled up. My chest rig had a patch of cloth missing at the chest showing damaged plate underneath and my pants and boots were so mud and blood covered that you wouldn't be able to restore it to its normal colour. I now knew what this was, my dead comrades had come to haunt me in my dreams. "You are wrong." The voice said. I reached for a rifle that wasn't there, then an empty holster, then two empty knife sheaths. Four figures walked out of the fog at different sides of me so I couldn't make a break for it. "You got yourself killed back home and didn't finish my training. I died because of you and the punishment you get for it is a nice new cushy world where you get to play the hero and forget about your past." One of them spoke to me. I turned my head to the figure that spoke. It was the kid I was training to be a marksman before I got slotted. I didn't say anything nor show it, but I was stung by his words. The next figure began talking. "And because of you leaving us without a marksman, you couldn't warn me about the sniper about to take my head off." The next one that spoke was our secco, his words also stung. I could've prevented their deaths if I was still there. We were with each other since cadets, he was older than me by two years and had got section commander. "We were flanked because you didn't kill the bastards sneaking up on us. We were captured and tortured to death." Said two voices in unison. They were our section machine gunner and and his belt feeder. He was my best friend, we had been together since cadets as well and he was a year older than me. Their combined words nearly drew me to tears. "The death of your section, was because you left us to go play hero with a bunch of kids on a planet that isn't yours. You have abandoned your post and the result of that was our deaths." My section commander told me. "For your actions in committing one of the highest crimes during wartime. I sentence you to death." My secco droned on emotionless. He and my brothers drew their rifles and aimed at me. A sense of dread went through me and wordlessly, they fired, turning the world black. Little did I know, they were all alive and well and this was just my guilty mind playing a trick on me.

I jolted up in my sleeping bag, before regaining my bearings and calming down. I sighed before unzipping my fly net bivvy bag and began trying to get my stuff out to make a cup of tea. My watch says 0500 and the sun was just rising, that meant my body clock and habits hadn't died yet. I stopped unzipping my pack, hearing footsteps, I grabbed my rifle and aimed at the opening of my hootchie. Ozpin walked around the corner holding two cups. He stopped when he saw my rifle pointed at him. I sighed and put the safety back on my rifle before placing it next to me again. Ozpin walked up to me and offered a cup, which I took graciously and took a sip to see this time it was tea and damn good brew too. "Thank you sir. I see you weren't lying when you said you took note of me preferring tea... I'm sorry for disobeying your orders last night when you said I wasn't to sleep outside." I said, thanking him for the tea and apologising for disobedience. He merely nodded before speaking. "I understand why you came out here. Your past is private and you want others to respect that. But you have to understand, they're kids and curiosity runs wild with them so when they see an enigma, they want to understand it." He explained to me. "I understand. It's just that I'm used to seeing such young faces and fighting with them. I expected them to be the same as we were after basic and corps training, I guess I learnt something in this." I said to him. He nodded again. "I'm glad you see it that way." He said. I finished my tea while looking at the first rays of light peek over the horizon. I then handed Ozpin back my cup. "Thanks for the tea." I said to him while pulling myself into the cool morning air. I slipped on some clean socks and threw the dirty ones back in the pack. I then slipped on my boots and tied them up in record time. I stood up and looked through everything for my over shirt. As I was looking, Ozpin shifted his gaze over to the small ruckus I was causing. "Is there something wrong Lance Corporal?" He asked politely. But I knew that tone, it was type where someone knew something embarrassing or bad is gonna happen to someone and they would laugh at their misfortune. "I lost my shirt sir." I told him. I believe when I and miss Goodwitch came through the ballroom to see if the students were asleep, we saw miss Xiao Long wearing your shirt while sleeping. I sighed. "I think she's taken it upon herself to try and get me embarrassed." I said to Ozpin. He smirked before speaking to me. "Well I suggest you go find your shirt, you would be out of proper uniform before going into combat." He said to me and began walking off. I only hummed in response. I packed up the rest of my kit and left my pack and chest rig behind the trees and took my rifle and pistol to the ballroom. I also wasn't wearing my helmet or hat. I walked through the room and made my way to the near centre where I saw the dark green, and brown jelly bean pattern uniform shirt. I walked up to her and saw she was sleeping on her side. Everyone else still seemed to be asleep and the first few rays of sunlight was peaking into the room. I checked my watch. 0546. Not much time before early morning starters get up. I gently placed my styre on the floor out of the way to create the least amount of noise as possible. I then leant forward on my knees and prepared myself for... undressing a girl... it sounds so fucking wrong now that I think about it. But it will be worse if she got up and began walking around wearing it. I sighed silently before reaching forward and undoing the top button. I got through that one without a hitch and began doing the second one I got through it, then stopped. Slowly pushed the collar of my uniform to the end of her shoulder to see if I could find a bra strap. I didn't. "Oh you fucken asshole." I whispered. She knew I was gonna come back for my shirt and had planned for if I got there before she woke up. "Fuck!" I whisper shouted. I looked back down to her and began thinking of different plans of getting my shirt back. Before I could decide on one, I saw her smirking while she slept. I leant in close to her ear and whispered. "I don't think people smirk in their sleep. You can open your eyes." I told her. Her smirk was replaced by a grin while she sat up and her hands not even able to reach the end of the sleeves. "Oh my~ undressing a girl while she sleeps? You perverted brute." I looked at her unimpressed, but my thoughts were going crazy about what this would look like to people waking up. The uniform slipped off her left shoulder and I suddenly found my rifle a few paces away, a lot more interesting. "Can I have my shirt back." I whispered to her. She giggled. Fuck I was not getting the shirt back soon. "I think you're actually embarrassed, you're just putting on a face to not show it." She whispered to me. I still had a disinterested stare pointed at my rifle but it was now slightly creased by a frown. "Listen, can I have my shirt back, I don't wanna traumatise these kids with my burns and tattoos. I said. She chuckled. "Alright Dave, I'll give you back your shirt. Don't look~." She said in a sultry voice to try and get me to blush one last time. It didn't work. I only held out my hand in response. Just as I felt the wool shirt touch my hand, we both heard a yawn and a soft voice.