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[X] Under the mountain rain.

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"Hey Captain," says a distant voice. "Can you hear me?"

Vincent only grunts in reply. Too tired to get up. Too tired to open his eyes. Should just get back to sleep...

But she won't let him. She starts shaking him more vigorously.

"Wake up!" cries the voice. "Please tell me that you are alright! Please wake up!"

"Not so loud," mumbles Vincent.

He opens his eyes to see someone familiar looking over him. Her stature is small, not unlike a child, but her military uniform reminds him that she too is a soldier. She wears a worried expression upon her face as she watches him intently. He recognizes the girl immediately as his assigned back-up for this mission.

"Stop worrying, Chen," he says as he forces himself up. "It will take more than that to kill me."

"B-but you ordered me to retreat," says Chen. "By the time we got here, you passed out. I thought that you -"

"I was tired," replies Vincent. "Just... tired..."

He stands himself up, slowly and carefully. After verifying that he is uninjured, he turns back to the nekomata. A moment later, he walks up and pats her shoulder encouragingly.

"I am completely fine," says Vincent. "That last technique just took a lot out of me. You don't have to worry."

"Then why did you order a retreat?" argues Chen. "All of those beasts were killed, weren't they?"

"Shouldn't that be obvious?" he replies. "After an ambush like that, the unit is supposed to retreat and regroup before moving on. We weren't sure if those were the only enemies."

"I-I see," says the girl, looking away sadly. "I guess I should have figured that out..."

"Besides," says Vincent. "I didn't want to risk you getting hurt."

At those words, Chen turns a little pink. She looks quite cute like this. No, she looks very cute. Turning away quickly, Vincent manages to hide his face from her. He clears his throat, then he collect his thoughts before he speaks again.

"You are my back-up, after all," he says. "Headquarters would have my head if I lost a subordinate carelessly."

"Ah, of course," says Chen. "Of course, Sir."

...

The rain outside was pouring, and the full moon was out that evening. He would risk another ambush, especially in the element of the enemy, so he decided that they rest in the cave until sunrise. They managed to make a small fire to keep them warm. As long as it doesn't burn too brightly, it shouldn't alert the enemy.

Then, they spent a few minutes preparing their weapons and supplies. While unlikely, they must be ready for another attack. He won't leave such things to fate. After all, fate is often more cruel than kind.

Vincent looks out the entrance of the cave one last time before heading back inside. He pauses to double-check his back before sitting across the fire from Chen.

"We should have a few more hours before sunrise," he says. "You should get some rest."

"..."

The nekomata watches the fire intently, as if in deep thought. Then, she looks up at him with her deep orange eyes.

"Captain," whispers Chen. "Do you remember that promise?"

[ ] I remember.
[ ] I don't remember.
[ ] I don't care.
[ ] Custom