Legends (Part 7 - The Forest)

Boris and Toby were all alone in the snowy wilderness in that pitch black night after the train left. They had only one option left which was to search for a shelter, so they went forward, into the pine forest. To walk through the darkness, Boris broke a branch from a tree and made a torch out of it. He used a lighter to light up the torch he made and went into the forest. After walking for a few minutes, Boris heard some footsteps. He and Toby got ready for an attack, but as the footsteps were closing in, they heard a familiar voice.

"HEY BORIS, ITS US…KEEP YOUR BEAR IN CONTROL," Danny shouted.

Danny and Maria were in the darkness without any light source. So, when they saw a torch in the forest, they went closer to find the answer, and fortunately, it was Boris.

After notifying Boris, they came closer.

"We saw the torch and we came," Danny informed.

"What happened?" Maria asked curiously.

"I don't know, the train stopped as we expected, but this time no one entered the wagon," Boris replied.

"That was one of the weirdest and horrifying experiences in my life," Maria grinned out of disbelief.

"Your experience might get weirder if we don't find a shelter, "Boris joked.

"Right," Maria responded.

All of them then walked more into the forest with the help of the torch and Toby's sense of smell. The torch was only able to enlighten a small area, so it was difficult for them to see if anyone or anything was approaching them. In order to be safe, they were walking very close to each other. Furthermore, they had a huge bear walking with them who can smell any danger approaching.

Suddenly, Toby stopped walking, and watching him, Boris and the team stopped instantly. Toby started baring his teeth while looking in front of him. Watching Toby's action, Boris quickly pulled out his knife whereas Maria and Danny pulled out their guns.

Everyone was on guard, and they were looking in the same direction as Toby. Maria and Danny were looking scared and were breathing heavily before the mystery could unveil. And finally, they saw a pair of glowing eyes. But, the height at which the eyes were was high, which meant it was definitely a big animal. Maria and Danny gulped out of fear after watching those eyes.

The creature then took a step forward, but as soon as it did that Toby stood up in his hind legs and roared vigorously. Watching a huge bear threatening was clearly a death call for any creature approaching. So, the creature turned around and ran away from that place.

After the beast left, everyone took a sigh of relief. Then after some time, they resumed their search for a shelter, and finally, they found a broken house, situated at the edge of the forest. All of them entered inside the house. The ceiling of that house had lots of holes from which snowflakes were entering, and the floor was covered with broken woods.

"There is still time to sunrise, it will be better if we take some rest," Boris advised.

"I agree," Danny quickly nodded without any sign of hesitation.

Maria and Danny put their sleeping bags beside each other before a wall while Boris took the place near the door along with Toby sitting close to him. Boris used Toby's body as a pillow to rest his head.

While everyone was relaxed, Maria asked, "Boris, would you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Depends on your question," Boris answered.

"How well do you know General Armstrong?" Maria questioned.

"Quite well I guess," Boris smiled, and continued, "I met her 15 years ago, so I can tell you the kind of person she was back then. Now, she only sends messages through her subordinates, and every time I meet one of her subordinates, I tell them that it would be great if once in a while she could come herself to meet me, but convincing that woman is very difficult."

"Did you ever try to hit on her?" Danny enquired.

Boris started laughing and said, "Well…you see…I don't think I am the only one who tried to impress her. There must have been many men who would have asked her for marriage."

"No buddy…it seems you are the only one who has the guts to do it," Danny said.

"Has she become that scary?" Boris asked curiously.

"You can't imagine," Danny replied while shaking his head slowly out of disbelief.

"Why don't you tell us about her? It would be great if you can tell us how she was in the past," Maria requested.

Boris looked toward Maria and smiled. "Alright," Boris said.

Boris then sat upright looking toward Maria and Danny. He then started the story, "15 years back, your General Armstrong was not a commanding officer at Fort Briggs, and she had the rank of a Warrant Officer. Like you, she was also sent here for a spy mission along with two other Amestrian soldiers named, Second Lieutenant Colada and Warrant Officer Tizona, two men who were very experienced in spy missions-"