2 Part 1

We've been walking around for hours along some pathway. It's been so long that I lost track of my counting. I was still in disbelief about this... Creature. I'm talking about the tiger. I've never seen a tiger walk on two legs and wear clothes, or even have brown hair... Either I had too many MREs or it's something else. Maybe this is real. God, what have you been doing?

As we walked, I held my gun in case I need to aim and shoot in a snap. My eyes scanned our sides, watching to see if anyone would pop up and try to murder us. "How are you holding up?" Trace asked.

"....Nya!" The tiger responded.

"What about you?"

"I'm good. A bit tired, but I can function." I replied.

"That's good. Hopefully, we'll- Woah-!" Trace was interrupted and I heard a loud thud. I immediately snapped my head to Trace to see him on the ground. He seemed to have tripped on a branch. I'm guessing he's lacking situational awareness. I sighed and heard the tiger giggling. I just shook my head and led out my hand to Trace. He looked at my hand and grabbed it, which then I proceeded to pull him up back to his feet. "Thanks." He said.

"No problem. Be alert next time." I uttered with a serious tone.

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After a while, the sun was beginning to set. The sky turned dark blue and pinkish indicating night was approaching. We three made our way and found ourselves in an open area where we could set camp, surrounded by trees. This should be good. "Well, it's getting late. We should come out here for the night." Trace announced and I nodded in agreement.

Trace placed his bag down and I holstered my 416. The blue-haired Trace proceeded to take some sort of map out of his bag and scanned through it. "Anything?" I asked.

"According to this map, we're near a town. We should be able to reach it tomorrow." He responded. Not sure if this town he's speaking of is exactly friendly or hostile. I haven't made contact with any other locals apart from these two so, I'll have to take my chances.

"That's all we got? Alright. I'm in." I stated.

"Sounds good to- ACK!"

Trace immediately covered his eyes in what looked like embarrassment. I just raised an eyebrow and turned to where he was looking and- Oh my God. The tiger had her jacket off and her exposed back facing us. I didn't know how to react. I've seen animals naked all the time, so I shouldn't be distressed. But the fact that this tiger is standing on two legs, wearing clothes, with hair like a... human is weird. "Uh..." I blurted out.

Trace spun around and I heard an audible sigh of relief from him. I just pinched the bridge of my nose, not knowing what to make of this. Then, someone spoke. "Erm, sorry. This shirt gets kinda uncomfortable against my fur for a while, Trace." By the tone, I was 100% sure it was that tiger.

My heart sank and I looked at the tiger with a shocked expression. I could see Trace did the same. "You can talk?" I and Trace asked in unison.

"I... thought you two already knew that..." She said

"I... Nevermind." I wanted to say something but halted before words would escape my tongue. What is this place? First, she's walking on two legs, then she's wearing clothes, and now, she can talk?! What kind of fucked up universe is this? Something's wrong. Something's definitely wrong.

"Well, as I was saying. We could make it to this town here to pick up supplies... Maybe I can find out who I am." Trace said.

"No." The tiger disagreed.

"What? Why not? It seems like a reasonable plan..."

The tiger then started to growl at Trace. I heard the growl and raised my HK416 a bit. And for Trace well, he slowly took a step back, terrified. "Hey! What's wrong?" Trace asked.

The tiger went into a ready-to-attack position. She's on all fours and looked like she was ready to pounce at Trace and tear him apart. I had my finger on the trigger ready to fill the tiger with lead without hesitation.

"Woah, hold on! I didn't mean anything! You don't have to go if you want to! Please Flora-" Trace said before being cut his sentence. So Flora is the tiger's name. How did he know her name? It looks like he was surprised by it. Hell, all of us were surprised by it.

"Ah! How did you... know my name?" Flora asked.

"Yeah, how did you know her name," I asked as well.

"Well, I... Wait... How did I know your name?" Trace mumbled before he continued. "Oh, nevermind. What I'm saying is, I won't force you to do anything. You don't have to go with me. Now please, get up..."

"You promise?" Flora asked.

"I promise."

Flora then pounced at Trace, hugging him and pinning him to the ground. I sighed and took my finger off the trigger and holstered my carbine. "Thank you..." Flora thanked.

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It was now night and the moon danced in the sky. I was sitting on a rock, tending to my HK416 while Trace and Flora were lying down on the grass near me. I took the loaded magazine out of the mag well and the bullet out of the chamber and racked the charging handle multiple times before aiming the carbine at the trees in the distance.

I lowered my HK and loaded the mag back into the mag well and pulled the charging handle, loading a bullet into the chamber. "This is... kinda weird... with you being naked." Trace said out loud which caused me to turn to them both.

They both sat upright and Flora concealed her fur covered breasts and moved further away to Trace to give him space. "Ehem well... I guess I'd better get the camp supplies." Trace announced and walked over to his bag and began to dig into it.

It took some time before Trace spoke. "Uh oh... um... guys?"

"Mrr?" Flora purred.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We might have a problem." Trace said and pulled out a singular piece of a blue blanket and continued. "I only have one blanket."

"It's alright. I won't be needing a blanket. Besides, I'm on guard for tonight." I declared.

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It's been a while and I really haven't thought about what's been happening. I somehow ended up in a world where apparently animals can talk in the forest when I remember being in Afghanistan. How did this happen... Why did this happen... There has to be some sort of logical explanation to as why all of this is happening. But, I don't know. I feel like I'm slowly losing my sanity as I think about this. I could see Trace also feeling the same way. Lost, without any memories. So, I got up from this rock I was sitting on and walked towards him.

"She's a feisty one, ain't she?" I announced and caught Trace's attention and I sat down next to him.

"Hm? Oh yeah... She can be feisty. Thanks for helping us." Trace said.

"No problem. We're both lost, so let's help each other. "

"Yeah... You... never really mentioned your name before."

"Marcus. You must be Trace. "

"How did-"

"Relax. I heard that guy said your name. Said you were a... Master Templar?"

"I don't remember anything about being a Master Templar. Was I important?"

"Beats me. I don't really remember much."

"What's that you're carrying? I've never seen anything like it." Trace said as he looked at my carbine.

"This right here is my HK416 Carbine. Saved me multiple times and has the capability to kill anyone with one shot."

"Woah... I've never seen anything like that before... It's a weapon?"

"Yeah."

"So, you're a soldier?"

"Technically. I'm an Operator. Think of it as a soldier but make him 100x deadlier. Think of it as a warrior to say."

"So, you're not from around here, are you."

"What makes you think that?"

"The clothes you are wearing. No ordinary warrior wears that kind of clothes."

"You got me there. I don't think I'm on the same planet either."

"Don't worry. We'll help to return you home."

I said and nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem." Trace said and sighed. I stood up and stretched my arms. "I'll be around here. Sleep well." I said as I held my HK416 and wandered off.