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The Snow Hunter
Chapter 22: A Shattered Mind Re-Built.

Chapter 22: A Shattered Mind Re-Built.

As the blizzard builds up showering snow as fast as a person can blink but as silent as night. A group of men keeping watch for a door playing a game of cards of who can get a high number, not betting money but who gets the better tasting food, polar bear extreme noodles the flavour, chicken.

“Damn it” one of slams his cards on the table, “Why do I get the bad hand all of the time” the other guys chuckle at that leaving a few left in the game, one after the other people bow out leaving finally two both stare at each other trying to see if one of them is bluffing having a high a number or not.

A noise familiar to the guys comes from the blizzard, the explosion of a siege taking place not far from their current location of where they are stationed. The city in question being owned by a separatist faction naming themselves the Frost liberation army or shortened to FLA.

No one in the empire or free court like them but they are second strongest group under Free court and the Empire, “Jeez why won’t they surrender already it has been a year since that city has been in siege” one of them said placing back down his weapon as the sounded a lot closer than usual. He sits back down and picks up his cards and continues the staring match.

But it was short lived as an outline of a person was seen walking towards them, unsure of who is walking towards them a couple of them grab their weapons and start to walk to the figure slowly weapons at the ready if they turn out to be hostile.

As they get closer to the figure they lower their weapons and salute the person, “Commander Jackson, we welcome your return!” the men yells prompting the rest to stand and salute, Jackson walks by and notices them playing a game of cards, “Well seems like a very lucky outcome you have their” the cards that laid out on the table shown that the man closer to the door had the higher number and won the game, now having a meal to look forward to.

He opens the door and continues his walk down, eventually reaching a well-maintained area that looked clean. The area had computers and personnel looking various stats, one stood out to Jackson and that was the mental sanity level.

“What is the situation” he asked, the personnel whisper here and there and then one stepped forward and cleared his throat, “The Trainee due to loneliness has developed a case of schizophrenia and has become increasingly depressed and anti-socially only talking to the hallucinations” the face of Jackson visibly tenses and a grimace can be seen.

He continues to stare into the room where Arthor is, seeing him lying on the floor looking at the celling, “How many have you confirmed that he is talking to?” he asks having the team continue their whispers of if they should tell him or not, “In total we have confirmed 24” the face of Jackson changes to a scowl.

He looks down and sighs, he walks to a door located on the other side of the of the room a couple of the personnel rush over and try and stop him from going through the door saying that Arthor is unstable and could snap leaving him in a state where he could not recover from, Jackson continues pushing them out of the way.

He opens the door and closes it behind himself, he walks around the corner and opens another door leading a room where Arthor is, a white and empty room with doors leading to different areas to train him in the art of being a sniper. Jackson steps into the room and having the door close behind him, seeing no reaction from Arthor Jackson approaches him slowly warry of the actions he may do.

When he reaches the base of Arthor feet he kicks them to an oblivious Arthor, “Get up, Arthor” Arthor sighs having heard the familiar voice and command many times over the past years, “Why do I need move? I have gone and done training for today and everything I need to do” he responds sounding void of what he was usually like a couple years ago, Jackson did expect it to happen but to this extent it is worrying.

“Well, the reason I am asking is that the year so happens to be 2743 September 20th which marks the end of training and the beginning of your military carer young man” Arthor looks at the feeble man standing over him and looking down on him, Arthor felt uneased by it for a reason that he did not know why but just did so he stood and stretched a bit and looked Jackson in the eyes wondering what to do next.

“You are up Finally I thought it would never happen” the Jackson turns around and begins to walk to the door, at this moment Arthor heard the voices whisper and echo in his ears Kill the old geezer, he is one who started the mess you are in, you need to kill him to earn salvation for yourself. The words of them got louder and louder driving him to a feeling that he is used to, the urge to kill.

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He stepped closer and closer to Jackson quite as fox or cat stalking their prey before they pounce, he reached out ready to choke him, a pain then struck him in the upper part of his torso. Looking down he finds a punch well placed just below his sternum. Each breath Arthor took hurt and was painful, he stepped back grasping at where he was hit in struggle to bear with the pain, “You are having an episode this bad” the face of Jackson looks down on Arthor with sorrow.

“Looks like the burden you have is big so you will stay here longer then needed to have those voices under control” he then walked away to the door leaving Arthor to look at him showing his back to Arthor, anger filled him and he began planning for when would return for how his death was going to be played out.

“Arthor” a small faint voice of a woman echoes in his ears drowning out the other voices screaming for him to kill Jackson, this one was calm and felt familiar. He started to see a field of gold bringing him back to a memory he remembered from an event that happened long ago with people he cared for barley bringing him back form the brink of death.

The sound of a heavy meatal door closing snaped him out of it brining him back to reality and the situation that he was in, this husk a former person I used to be pains me to be like this, void of purpose just wondering what goal he had to do in this lonely expanse of quietness.

A howl of wind catches my attention although quite and low the only noise fills the deafening silence of the room making it lifeful for some reason, it boggles me being a spectator to this ‘me’ shattered for being alone for to long, but this catches both our attention making me feel like I am in control but still void of the emotions but sensing a purpose to head to the sound.

I stand and begin to walk to the sound hearing it grow louder as I get closer to it, eventually reaching it and laying down looking towards the celling listening to the howl of wind change pitches and roar with ferocity like a battle is being waged.

“That sound you hear right now is the flow of wind” the voice of Jackson echoes my ears, the memory of when I first meet him plays in my mind although differently to how I remember it playing out, he looks to the celling and says those words again, “The wind howls like this to show us Hunters if we were following the right path to find our pray” he takes a sip of a drink next to him, “Although that is what old Snow Hunters said I believe it is Different, I feel it is guiding us to a path that is correct for us to follow giving us equal sides of suffering and happiness” he sighs and blankly looks into the distance, “But one can stary from the path like being a Hunter trained to locate and kill your pray at all costs no giving notice to the sound of wind is slowly dying out making you blind of where to go” the celling of white becomes blurry as my eyes fill with tears.

I can hear the howl of the wind again. I can actually hear it again I can follow the path that the wind wants me to follow again. I sit up properly and look around feeling my body for the first time in ages as it always felt like I was spectator for my own body not really in control or even making decisions.

The same sound of a metal door opening echoes again this time seeing Jackson with a smile, “Well it seems you got in control quicker than I thought or did hearing the wind help set your path right” he walks over and lends out a hand for me to grab and I do so smiling knowing that I am free from is this white box of dead quietness and lonely existence.

We both walk into a room were the team monitoring me look amazed about my fast change from being in the deep end of lunacy to being sane of mind. I guess I am not the only one in this boat of surprise and questions wanting answers. I continue to follow him eventually reaching a room where all my equipment is.

I go to dawn it but was stopped by Jackson, “Are sure you are ready for this?” I look at him and sigh, “It’s too late to ask that know sir” I reply back to him lower his arm in response of my answer, I go in and dawn all of the equipment noticing two things that were missing my sniper, and the helmet. I look back at Jackson motions for me to follow him so I do so following him to a different room were my sniper laid ready for me to collect with a white sheet of a material I don’t know about on it.

I want to question him on where my helmet is but I was thrown something before I could ask, my helmet but completely changed from a basic normal grey helmet I was originally given to now a white and having strips of white coming off the helmet like a bush somewhat that is the same material on the sniper, I rotate it around to look at it and see a marking on it located at the back of the helmet.

“That marking you see there is the regiment marking” the marking in question is my helmet with a scope kind of thing in black, behind it with a diamond white background and the number that was at the bottom with a red background and black writing displaying the number.

“That number you see there is what squad you are going to be a part of” Jackson says dashing my thought that this was 21st Regiment of the FCA but I was thankfully disproved by this notion, but to think there is 21 squads already in the Snow Hunter Regiment which would be roughly 105 people in the regiment in total if I were to follow normal squad sizes of 5 per squad.

I start to feel unnerved of thinking that I will be in a squad with others, the last time I was involved with other I was either betrayed or they died, nausea starts to hit me as the faces of Mark and Merry flash before me. I take a deep breath in and slow breath out calming myself.

“So where do I meet the rest of my squad sir” Jackson looks back at me, “You will find all necessary information in your helmet make sure you arrive at the allocated area” I salute Jackson and he does so back and walks off. I put on my helmet and let it do its thing to start up, after it does so I look at the information of where my first deployment.

The City of Kila, a city under siege by FCA troops against the FLA.