#struesen

This fucking cover man….

I did NOT expect to love this crew as much as I did….

Oh and we have Rocks’ dub voice for a fun fact!

“Why is this so hard?” thought Struesen as he hitched up his wagon. “Be careful, we don’t want to kill him,” he said outloud to the soldiers. A group of chessmen soldiers came out carrying a big man. Up until recently he had been the crew’s blacksmith. However last year he had married Linlin and a few hours ago had given her a son.

One pawn soldier hit the door. “Sorry, Vice captain,” he said. Thankfully only the man’s foot hit the door.

Struesen rolled his eye, “What did I say about being careful?”

“It won’t happen again sir,” replied the soldier. Thankfully the man still slept.

“Well get him in the back.” With a little effort the soldiers were able to put him in the back. “Is his wound bandaged?”

“Yes, Vice Captain,” replied another soldier.

“Good, now remember don’t speak of this to the children, especially Compote or Perospero,” warned Struesen.

“Yes, sir!” yelled the group.

“Shh,” he turned around to see that the man was still sleeping. He breathed a sigh of relief. Before he left a beautiful woman came to the wagon, “Oh good I haven’t missed you,” she said. “You remember the way right? Also may I say goodbye to him?”

“He won’t remember it,” replied Strussen.

“I know but it’s sort of a tradition. The three of us have been through so much.”

“Of course, Linlin,” he could never say no to her.

After a few minutes she left. Struesen then set the horses into motion.

Linlin had been right, the three of them had been through a lot. “Maybe that’s why it’s hard,” he thought. He looked back again, “Good still sleeping.”

Suddenly the man’s eyes came open. He was still in a stupor. He  moved closer to the front. “Hey Strussy where are we? We going on a mission?” Then he stopped talking and looked at his hand, “Whoa,” he said and fell back asleep.

“Don’t call me Strussy,” he yelled on deaf ears. The rest of the ride was silent. The man snored lightly. Strussen looked at him and chuckled, “You’ve been a good friend.”

Once they were deep into the woods he stopped. He went to the back and moved the man to the end of the wagon. He then unlatched the back and continued dragging the man.

“Man he’s heavy,” grunted Strussen. The man snuggled into his neck. “Stop it Forge,” he grunted. Once he had gotten the farthest away from the wagon, he pushed Forge off of him. Suddenly a small iron salamander fell from the other man’s pocket. Strussen picked it up. “This is good work,” he said inspecting it, “Must be a gift for your son.” He put it back in Forge’s pocket, “Shame you’ll never see him. I shouldn’t say that, he’s your boy after all. If he wants to meet you, he’ll find a way.”  He started to leave when Forge started shivering. It was late November after all. He went to the wagon and grabbed an old horse blanket. He walked back to Forge and threw it over him. Strussen frowned, “ Why am I being so nice to this husband?” He knew the answer but didn’t want to admit it. He made his way back to the wagon. He got the horses moving.

As he rode back the feelings started to hit him, “Stop it,” he told himself, “you’re doing this for Linlin. It’s all for her.” He rubbed his eyes on his arm. “You’ve done this before, you’ll do it again. Besides Forge, will be fine. He’s a survivor, always has been, or so he says.”

However a small voice whispered to him, “But he was your friend.”

“Shut up!” he yelled.

He lead the horses to the stable, unhitched them. He went up to the castle. Still his feelings plague him. He walked up to Linlin’s room. He smiled noticing that she was asleep. He always liked seeing her sleep. Then he heard a coo. For being only twelve hours old he was awake.  He didn’t catch the boy’s name, he’d learn it eventually. Then he started to cry. Struesen walked over to the newborn, “Huh, I didn’t know that Forge had ears,” he thought, “Well it make sense.” He picked up the new born.

“Hey shh shh little Forge,” he whispered, “why are you crying? Did you have nightmare,” he chuckled, “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Sure the world is big, but it’s not that scary.” He walked over to the rocking chair and sat down, “God you really look like your father. Do you remember him? He saw you a little while ago. He was quite happy to hold you.  He was going to give you a little present, but he forgot.” The baby just looked up at him.

Suddenly all of his memories with Forge came rushing back to him. All of those missions, late nights, drinks, and laughter, so much laughter. Then the tears flowed, “I just drugged and banished one of my best friends,” he confessed to himself and the babe in his arms. The newborn had his hand in his mouth and was look at the crying.