The World of The Gunny

The giant of a man in marine Captain BDU's blinked twice at the scene before him. The snow covered woodland scene before him was like a scene from some movie. The path that he was standing on was forged by the passage of smaller human looking boots and the path was well beaten.

He scratched his head. Last thing he remembered was sitting in the mess tent, drowsing off from a long days work, a half eaten meal in front of him, and several men quietly eating around him.

The icy wind whipped around him, getting his attention. Awfully cold for a dream, he thought. Might as well see where the dream went.

*****

Ten minutes later his teeth were starting to chatter and he was COLD. He knew what was going to happen next in his descent into hypothermia. Not someplace he wanted to be. Ahead he heard a voice in an unknown flowing language call out.

"Soroy! Soroy! Teliconis ni authia nomene!"

A series of deep barks answered the voice.

This may not be a good thing, he thought. A deep bark was a large chested animal, and could present him with problems in his present condition. He reached for his pistol and left his knife sheathed. Though knife was a misnomer. At 21 inches in length it was more like a shortsword of old. The pistol slid smoothly out of its black leather sheath.

I don't want to fight whoever that is. I need shelter and heat or I'm in real trouble. So, here goes nothing. He shouted, "Hello! who are you!"

Silence answered him. Never a good sign. As he was thinking this, snow began to fall. even a worse sign, he thought. He started down the path towards the voice.

*****

It took him less then a minute to find the source of the voice. It looked humanoid, but it was difficult to tell as it was wrapped from its head to feet in furs. Sitting next to the figure was a massive wolf hound, almost 4 feet tall at the shoulders. It was looking at him with what could only be called a neutral stance. The fur covered figure looked at him and spoke. He was shocked. It was like a male face in miniature. It spoke again.

It had ended it sentence with what sounded like a query, he thought.

Its face creased in concentration for a second while the Captain absorbed what he saw. An then something unexpected happened. It spoke English. Accented to be sure, but English none the less.
The figure held its hands up and said,"Stranger, as you can see, I am unarmed and mean you no harm."

Sounds male, he thought, as he slid his Pistol back into its holster. The wolf wasn't presenting a threat and the little guy seemed to not want a fight either. Considering their size differences, he didn't blame the little guy.

*****

The stranger was HUGE, thought Abrahms. He was slowly getting over the shock of the strangers mind. Or rather, the hole where the mind should be, It was literally beyond his experience. There was "noise" coming from the stranger, like what you would get from really simple creatures like insects, but no thoughts. It had thrown him badly off his stride. Then there was the sheathed short sword. The disconcerting thing was, was that it was maybe just a utility knife to to the man. And it obviously was a him. Maybe even a genetically modified human. Or Abrahms could be totally off. For all he knew, it was from an exotic human looking race and was a hermaphrodite!

When he had heard the strangers voice, he had automatically reached down trail to see who it was, and found nothing. He had about decided he was hearing things, when the strange human, yes human, he decided, had emerged from the shadows of the trail and blown his mind. Abrahms thought more about it. The man had on what looked like a camouflaged uniform for a summer climate with mottled greens, browns, and blacks. It would be effective, he decided.

About this time he noticed the stranger was shivering. It was time to get him someplace warm. So he held its hands up a nonthreat posture. He hoped his adrenalin didn't cause his voice to quiver. That would be embarrassing.

"Stranger, well met. I offer Nali." He said. He was relieved. His voice hadn't quivered at all.

The massive man didn't respond. He still had his pistol out, but they were no longer pointed at him or Naff. Which was good. The man's pistol would stop most animals in the forest, save maybe a jath. Not much stopped a Jath, which was why they were avoided like a plaque. Abrahms waited for another several seconds then decided the stranger hadn't understood him. So he drew upon the dream and spoke again. Odd sounds came out of his mouth. He just had to trust that they made sense. His head had started to ache from the strain of channeling the dream. Hopefully, it wouldn't take much longer or he would not be worth spit for hours.

A look of surprise had crossed the man's face, but had vanished quickly. The Stranger put away his weapons slowly.

Captain Rodgers was astounded! Was the little guy speaking English? it sounded like he was speaking with a mouthful of mush, but he could definitely make out the words. "How can you know my language?", Rodgers asked the little man, his combat senses kicking in just in case this was an ambush

The little man cocked his head as though considering what had been said.

*****

Abrahms cocked his head, considering what had been said. It had sounded like nonsense. He would have to touch the dream again.

"You can freeze to death, even here. I offer warmth, food, and shelter for the night. Will you come?"


*****

There was that mush mouthed English again. It sounded as if the man had never spoken the words before, but he WAS speaking English. "who are you, and how did I get here?" He said as he kept scanning the wood line for any possible trap. Especially keeping a wary eye on the walking fur rug and his pooch. Nathan was getting cold, but he felt it was better to dope out the tactical situation than to blindly walk into a trap.

*****

Abrahms sighed. He looked up at the sky and could see the storm line already overhead. it would not do to be caught in this storm. He pointed up the trail and said, "Sarthion du Marco, Savoy?" Welcome to the Fastnes, Come?

*****

Nathan narrowed his eyes, not trusting the little guy one bit. he was convinced he knew something as to how he got here and if information was not forthcoming and soon, he may have to get rough. As far as Nathan was concerned, he had been kidnapped and that WAS a crime where he came from.

*****

Perhaps it was best to lead by example. He pointed up the trail again and then turned and started walking. He Thought at Naff and sent him ahead.

*****

As soon as the man stood up Nathan jumped up and backed away while pulling his pistol, "Ok you, you better sit back down or I will ventilate you!" He noticed the pooch looking at the man and suddenly understood, it was a man and he was speaking to the dog! They were teeps! He KNEW it, a fuckin teep trap!! He immediately spun towards the little man and said, "Bud, I suggest you and your pooch set back down Or I WILL put a bullet in your head. You have 5 seconds to to comply... 5... 4...


*****

The Monster pistol had some out again and was pointed at him. The man was yelling something and seemed very agitated. This could be bad. He motioned for Naff to sit with a slit hand motion and raised his hands. This was going to hurt. The Dream actually pulled him in this time.

" You have been promised... Hospitality and safety. Until know why you here. You don't." Abrahms head was splitting. The distance was draining him rapidly. Maybe the dream was looking for a word? It had not let go yet. sure enough. "You are safe so long as Nali is not violated. The fastness will bring to those only that which they bring with them. Harm is harm. Love is love. Hate is Harm. Your steps of now determine your course for life. Is your choice. Frozen water is coming. You will die if not in shelter. Noli is offered. Is ... Hospitality. Safeness."

*****

Nathan could see the little man was straining himself to communictae with hem. Had he misjudged the man? It's possible Nathan grudgingly admitted to himself. Stark honesty, even to himself was paramount to nathan. He put his pistol away, going against his better judgment and his instinctual fear of teeps. He knew a teep could not harm him any more, but the racial memory of that time of troubles ran bone deep. "I and going to trust you, against my better judgment. Lead and I will follow you." Nathan always gave a person the opportunity to prove just how trustworthy they were. So he gave this man the opportunity to show him, by keeping his word for his safety and providing of hospitality.

*****

Naff moved quickly to get under Abrahms hand. The sudden release of the dream left his head spinning. It was all he could do to stay standing. He leaned on Naff and pulled his blue plastic canteen out from its flap with a shaky left hand. The cap didn't want to come off so he used tried to open it while leaning on Naff. It worked, but some of the warm sugared tea still spilled out. He wasn't all that successful at getting it in his mouth either, but after several gulps he started feeling better. It didn't quite stop the pounding in his skull however.

Naff wolfed quietly and looked at the stranger. Abrahms got the hint and stroked Naff's head once and started slowly moving up the trail. Naff moved ahead to let everyone know another stranger had come.

*****

As the stranger seemed to get his strength back he got up and slowly walked down a trail. Nathan just sighed, staying here would do no good. It was snowing like hell and he would be a corpsickle before the morning would arrive, whenever in the hell that was on this planet. he got up and slowly followed the stranger to his fate, whatever that may be.

*****

An hour later the wind had really picked up and so had the snow. Abrahms knew a party had been sent out to help them. They were just around the corner of the trail and were waiting for Abrahms and the stranger. They, Unlike Abrahms, had pistols with them. He told them to not reveal the pistols and to have only one of them remain. They acknowledged and waited.

He stopped and reached for the Dream again. "What is your name? It is something I should have asked before, but your size surprised me."

*****

My name is Captain Nathan Rodgers, United States Marine Corps. Who, may I ask are you, and where are we and how did I get here?

*****

The Dream didn't provide a direct translation of such, but...
" I am Abrahms, Captian Nathian. You are in the Fastness, north of Orly, and I know not why you are here. But such has been the case for many this past year."

*****

"Where are you taking me?" he asked. Knowing full well an interrogation will be forthcoming.

*****

Abrahms face was blank for a moment. Didn't he just answer that?
"The Fastness. A place of Home. Families. Maybe a clan is a better word? There will be food and warmth and a bed." At that Abrahms smiled a tired smile. "There is a guide ahead. The other should have gone ahead with Naff." He pointed at the bend.

*****

Nathan did not know whether he believed this man, and what the hell was the 'fastness'? was that some sort of fast food joint? he wasn't sure, but standing here having a pissing contest was not going to accomplish anything. "Lead on McDuff."

*****

So when are you gonna add more to this one? Been looking forward to some new stuff for a while now.



Cheers, Þórgrímr

May need a get together on this one. I don't really have the paranoid mentality of a marine in a foreign land with teeps around him!

On the other hand, I shall take this as a request and see what my mind omes up with

The get together will have to wait till my net connection firms up, or you can send me what you have in an email and I will do Nathan's portion as a 'paranoid' Marine.



Cheers, Þórgrímr

This maybe i can do.

I found the Fastness!

The guide was waiting in the middle of the trail. He was wearing furs similar to Abrahms, but these furs would permit the guide to disappear into the forests quite well indeed. They nodded to one another and the guide moved ahead. The guides head swiveling back and forth as he searched the trees around him. Abrahms could see Naffs paw prints in the fresh snow.
It would not be long now. He was exhausted and looked forward to bed then food.


10 minutes later the top of the fastness came into view. The only thing that showed that it was there was the Powder blue flag flying above what looked like a tall cliff in the distance. It was still the better part of 30 minutes away, but the walking would be easier now. The trail was clearly marked and the occasional cobblestone poked through the snow. At least it wasn't snowing anymore.
Abrahms could hear a clopping of hooves from ahead. Within minutes a twin horse drawn wagon went by towards the villagen of Jeh. Abrahms recognized the driver. He had dropped off more food and drink. The Fastness should have its storerooms nearly full by now. It wold be needed. Jehraha had said it would be a bad winter. He believed her. she was almost never wrong about anything. It could be really irritating. Not long now. Just around the bend. He wondered what the stranger would think of the Fastness. He he think of it as old fashioned? Primitive even? Well, it was not his worry. The Master had offered Nali. Regardless of what the stranger thought or said, he would be safe.
They were intering the finally stretch now. The Fastness was close enough for details to be maken out. From a distance, it looked like a cliff side with some caves in its side. from this distance though, it could be realized the Fastness was the cliff side. The smaller windows could be seen now as could the double gates below and the series of low walls surrounding the courtyard. Perhaps a score of people could be seen moving in and out of the courtyard and the open gates. Two old Horseless carriages could be seen in the courtyard, partly covered by the carriage barn roof.(think model T's). Abrahms smiled to himself. It had been a long time since conflict had been here. The fortresses here were made for the Jath. An 6 ton armored carnivore was not a creature to take lightly.
In the midst of people in the courtyard doing tasks, were little swirls of movement that coul only be the children at play, likely throwing snowballs or playing tag. Slightly behind him the big man trudged on, but seemed to have more energy now that the fastness could be seen.


They arrived just behind two large horse drawn wagons carrying loads of cut firewood. As they passed through the courtyard, Abrahms could see the apparent chaos of the yard change into orderly lines as the wagons were unloaded into large sheds. A quiet work chant began amongst them. while the adults were working and apparently not looking at Abrahams and Nathan, the children had no such restrictions on thier curiosity. They gawked. Then one of the braver ones ran up to Nathan, stopped, frowned, and poked his thigh with her finger, as if to see if he were real. Then her smile lit up bright as day, and she craned her head back to look up at his face.

"Do you not feel well? Momma can make you feel better. She's good at that."

*******

The little girl frowned and poked his thigh with her finger, as if to see if he were real. Then she smiled and spoke at him. "Nagali Mal? Monma noethti nagali bel! Na bel sueri." At which point she turned and ran off back into the crowd of children who were almost instantly involved in a massive snowball fight. The man who had guided him here had merely looked on with surprise and then a quiet laugh when the little girl had spoken.

Nathan watched Abrahms gesture towards the twin open gates. From this distance he could see that the gates themselves were a bit more then a foot thick and bound in black painted metal of some sort. The corridor they guarded went in perhaps 20 feet and vered sharply left. A definite defensive dogleg if there ever was one. There were even vertical slits in the inner wall of the corridor. Abrahms turned, still quietly laughing and headed towards the inside of the keep. It was like a badly written fantasy movie, thought Nathan. The only thing missing were ... swords and lasers rifles.

I figured you had more. Just needs some serious spellchecking.



Cheers, Þórgrímr

I had had this on another file for our next session and got diverted by someone who threw some shiny ideas past me. This assumes I am remembering it correctly Damn memory.

See, your memory is better than you let on.

Whatcha think about my new piece I posted yesterday?



Cheers, Þórgrímr

I posted my thoughts in the discussion thread for Armagedon. I felt that posting critiques in the story post would ruin the flow of the story when someone reads it. LOL. Whoever they come across will be very surprised by them. They will look like technical gods with FTL ability.

"Touch gently with long stick" situations could be really fun to write.

Glad you did. Since I agree with you. As for the rest, hold that thought.



Cheers, Þórgrímr

Man, I feel stupid. Here i am making a discusion thread for your story and I didn't do one for mine. A bit late now. We can move stuff around when it is done i suppose.
On the flip side, I do have three story threads posted. Thats a lot of additional discussion threads to post for stories that will see irrregular postings. Maybe this is better?

Nathan watched Abrahms gesture towards the twin open gates. From this distance he could see that the gates themselves were a bit more then a foot thick and bound in black painted metal of some sort. The corridor they guarded went in perhaps 20 feet and vered sharply left. A definite defensive dogleg if there ever was one. There were even vertical slits in the inner wall of the corridor. Abrahms turned, still quietly laughing and headed towards the inside of the keep. It was like a badly written fantasy movie, thought Nathan. The only thing missing were ... swords and lasers rifles.

He walked around the dog leg and through yet another thick gate and into a huge two story room that had obviously been built to focus on the inner gate. The upper walkway provided ideal positions to pour fire over the heads of those defending the bottom into whoever was coming in through the inner gate. He could even see what looked like old pock marks in the stone around the gate from what had to be rifle fire. However, whatever defensive function this hall had been used for, it was being used as furniture storage on the upper level and had barrels, wooden crates, and hay bales stacked high against the walls. There were even large wooden cabinets with four foot doors by the inner gate. The middle of the room had six massive tables lined with a mix of stools and short backed carved wooden chairs.

Here and there sat small tired groups of people. Some were eating and others had their heads down, apparently sleeping.

The other thing he noted was that the large entrance hall was lit from above by what looked like... flourescent lights? Many of them were not working or were doing that flickering that indicated that the light rod was about to fail.

This was not what Nathan had expected. His guide, Nathan couldn't think of anything else to call him, kept walking past the sparsely occupied tables and through an open iron bound door. He followed more slowely still looking around at what could only be a really bad grade B movie.

Maybe he was still dreaming? His body shivered again. It was notabl warmer in here. He held his cold hands out to see were the heat was coming from. It was coming from below his hands. Nathan glanced around and didn't see any vents. Magic heat? On a hunch he touched the solid stone floor with his hands and felt the warmth coming off of it. How did they do that? Heated water pipes? With his luck it would be something a simple as a furnance room underneath here.

Very well done bud. I like the description of the castle's portcullis, and the addition of the Roman style of heating a stone building was nice. Good job bud. Keep up the good work. I look forward to reading more about Captain Nathan Rogers, USMC.



Cheers, Þórgrímr

I am thinking that about now he would be a little confused. These guys, if they are kidnappers, seem to be a little inept at it
And their "hidden" fortress is not exactly out of GI Joe.

Hmm. Wander what is in those cabnits by the gate? Guns, chains, implements of torture? Or crockery? Gee, I wonder....

Yup, your assessment of his thoughts are what I was thinking they would be.

As for what is being stored there, knowing you, prolly all of the above.



Cheers, Þórgrímr

Could be. You never know about these crazy teeps.



On the other hand, what is beyond door number one?

1. An ambush?
2. The kitchen?
3. Something uglier then a 7 foot cold and tired marine?
4. None of the above?

There may be another option of course. But telling would be cheating.

He stood up and followed the guide through the doorway into a long narrow room filled with cooking fireplaces along one wall, stoves along the other wall, and thick wooden tables scattered down the middle. He could see Abrahms about half way down talking to a slender red head who was actually shorter then he was. Nathan bet that she wasn't an inch over five feet. That was short compared to even the others he had seen in the courtyard.
Short. Why did that ring a bell? He stood there for a moment, his tired brain trying to figure it out. His focus fought with the smell of stew? That smelled good. This, combined with the heat surrounding him, a long exhausting day on field manuvevers, and an hour marching in falling snow, well, he just couldn't put two and two together to save his soul.
"Nathan Rogers, you should wrap yourself in this." Abrahms voice had startd him from his thoughts, such as they were. The man had taken off his furs and was wearing dark orange colored clothes. He held a large blanket out to Nathan.
Nathan took the blanket and felt the heat coming off of it. They had likely had it next to one of the fires to warm it up and it felt good as he wrapped himself in it.
"Sit here, please. Mera has made Chirrei for you to warm yourself with. I will escort you to sleeping." Abrahms face looked puzzled for a moment then his face brightened. "A room to sleep for the night."
Th little woman brought over a deep bowl of dark liquid that she handled with mits. Abrahms took it from her and drank from it before holding it out to Nathan.
Nathan took it slowly, thinking that it was just possible that what the guide had said was true. These peope could have done him harm several times already and hadn't. He had learned how to read body language very well over the years. He didn't think this guy had told a lie yet. That didn't mean that the fellow hadn't shown nervousness a few times. This was not one of those times, though Abrahms did look dog tired.
Nathan sniffed at the bowl. It smelled a lot like hot spiced apple cider. And tasted like spiced cider with apricots and several other fruits thrown in on the aftertaste. He sat down on a stool and began taking long draughts of the hot cider. Soon the chill had been chased from his limbs and he decided to take Abrahms up on his offer of somewhere to crash. It took him less then a second to find his guide.
Arahms was sitting asleep with his forarms cradling his head on the table with Mera standing behind him gently touching his shouder as if to wake him up. Evidently it worked as he muttered something that just caused her to laugh, pat him again on the shoulder and go back to cooking.
******
Abrahms had eventually led him to a room that was walled in tapestries, had a table with a crate for a chair, a single florescent lamp on the table and not a damn thing else but a pile of blankets on the rugs.

******
Abrahms had eventually led him to a room that was walled in tapestries, had a table with a crate for a chair, a single florescent lamp on the table and not a damn thing else but a pile of blankets on the rugs.
He heard he guide say something, but it was in their own language. Nathan looked at him and deliberately gave him a blank look. The guide lookd frustrated for a moment before taking a deep breathe and starting again.

"Sleep until you are ready to come down. A breaking of your fast will be given and you may then meet the Speaker of That Which Was. May your Dream touch us all." Abrahms smiled and then demonstrated how to lock Nathans door. The six inch thick bar of wood fit snuggly across the door and had a latch to drop down on its end. The latch seemed like overkill untill he remembered that some teeps had had limited psychokinetic abilities. It just brought home to him again where he was. His guide bid him goodnight and closed the door as he left.

Nathans situation came home to him as he pushed the latch closed over the cross bar with a click. He was surrounded by hundreds of teeps and had no idea how he got here, or even where here was. On the plus side, they had fed him, warmed him up and given him a place to sleep.

He looked around the room. There were no windows or doors behind the tapestrie and no hidden hatches under the rugs. The crate was wooden and empty. It was, however, just the right height for him to sit at the table. As below in the entrance hall, the floor radiated heat.

A disturbing thought occurred to him that sent shivers of adrenlin through him. What if they had locked him in? This was a perfect prison.

He reached the door in a few strides and damaged the latch in his haste to remove it. Nathan flipped the cross bar up and flung the door open with a crash. He stood there looking at an empty corridor with shivers from his adrenal rush bouncing through his body. He could hear his own breathing in his ears, boot steps somewhere, and a baby crying.

He felt foolish. The door opened inward so the hinges were on the inside. Maybe they were trying to giv him a sense of safety? Why? He as no longer absolutely sure that they had kidnapped him. There were no guards, they had children wandering about, he hadn't seen any weapons beyond knivea, and they hadn't sealed him in.

But then he had nowhere to go, did he? And the only way out was through the entrance hall, he bet. So they would know if he left. He did not even know what was safe to eat so e was dependant on them for food. He was not even thinking about the snow outside. That snow was yet another barrier. All of which meant that they didn't need guards, did they?

He spent much of the night thinking himself through circles and finally fll into an exhausted slumber just before morning arrived.