You shifted slightly in your seat. "Yeah...?" you asked slowly. Your face didn't show it, but inside, your mind was racing. You didn't have any family. You didn't have a home to go back to. Sure, you could figure something out, but that wasn't helping calm your brain.
"Well - Those three high-ranks were quick to complain about you, claiming all sorts." Ghost went on, glancing at Soap occasionally, who sat beside you as if he couldn't hold your gaze.
You nodded, waiting for him to continue. "They were issuing out all sorts of ideas to punish you - over-the-top consequences," He said with a few hand gestures, being vague.
"You do know that the middle one you bet up was the major's son," Ghost asked, raising an eyebrow. You shook your head no, but now you did. Ghost nodded. "Well, unfortunately, because of the circumstances .." He went on. You tensed. This was it. You were out.
"Unfortunately, you're going to be going on a mission in a few days -" Ghost announced, you were confused. Was this a bad mission? One they were sending you on because they knew you wouldn't survive. Ghost's eyes still looked sympathetic, confusing you beyond your understanding.
"Because -" Soap cut him off. "Because they're rather impressed, rookie!" Soap said roughly, slapping your back as if congratulating you. 'Huh?' You were still confused, and your face clearly showed it.
"They were very impressed with your skill and tactics, they're ranking you up," Ghost explained, shooting Soap a stern glare as if ruining his suspense.
"Oh..?" you said. "You'll be tagging along on a few missions with me and Soap, just so we can see how you react in action," Ghost said, nodding at Soap as he mentioned him.
"Yeah, the Major - dad dude, thought it was hilarious. Said the kid deserved a righteous beating for once, " Soap said, his accent thick lacing his words. Ghost nodded and turned back to you. "They want to see how well you do out on the battlefield and in a few other categories," He said.
You nodded slowly. "So I'm not kicked?" You asked. Ghost shook his head. "And you couldn't start with that why?" You said glaring at Ghost, who gave a careless shrug. You rolled your eyes and leaned back on the couch, glancing at Soap.
"Soap! - that's mine!" You shouted, sitting up. "Mmph?" Soap mumbled with a mouthful of eggs.
"Those were my eggs! When did you even get up to grab the -" You stared as he took another mouthful. "Never mind," you grumbled, flopping back against the couch.
"So what rank am I now?" You asked, turning to Ghost. He gave another shrug. "That'll be decided after your missions," He stated. You nodded, folding your arms as you side-eyed soap eating your eggs.
"Will you be at training today?" Ghost asked, heading towards the door and motioning for soap to get up. "I didn't know I had a choice," you said, standing up. "You don't - your ass better be there," Ghost said, opening the door and waiting for Soap to finish his mouthful.
"I wasn't planning on leaving it here," you muttered with a smirk. You could tell by Ghost's eyes that he was not amused. Soap however was, laughing as he reached Ghost, walking past and out into the hall as Ghost closed the door.
"Better than your 'half a dog' joke Lt," you heard Soap say as the voices faded. "Shut up," Ghost replied before silence.
.....
You left your dorm, headphones on as usual. Outside was cloudy and grey, and it looked like a storm was about to hit. You still couldn't find your boots. You had no clue where they were. You had all your gear on, required for training after lunch.
The time was [12:47 p.m.], and training would start at 2 p.m.
You decided to stop by the cafeteria and see what was left over from lunch. Upon arriving, you found it pretty much empty as well as the food almost gone. You grabbed an apple and rubbed it on your gear as if polishing it, something you always did.
You left soon after, biting into the apple as you walked. You strolled along until you reached the back hallways, empty as usual. You didn't know what to do, so you found a wall and sat down against it. You turned your music up, letting your ears hear the heavenly art from your headphones.
You took another bite and closed your eyes, leaning your head against the wall. You had slept, and napped, and yet you still felt tired, exhausted even. Your headache had subsided, but you had a few injuries of yours ached. 'It wouldn't be so bad if I took a nap here,' You thought to yourself.
Music was something that helped you sleep. You could sleep anywhere if you tried. In the army, you had to get used to harsh sleeping conditions for missions. It wasn't exactly something that benefited you, considering you were always tired.
You took another bite of your apple, eyes closed as you chewed slowly. Your thoughts were nothing worrying, just reminding you about training. You wondered about your upcoming missions. Were they the ones you had to complete alone? Did they require traveling? Your thoughts weren't helping your situation.
You opened your eyes, blinking hard and shaking your head, grasping at small things to keep you awake. You sighed, lowering your head down as your hair curtained your face. You closed your eyes once more, telling yourself you wouldn't fall asleep.
Before you knew it, you were jolting yourself awake just to fall asleep again and repeat. Your head would drop, and you'd wake before doing it all over. You held the half-eaten apple in your hand as you listened to your music. 'No sleeping' You scolded yourself, checking your watch.
[1:02pm]
You sighed and slowly slid along the wall until you were on your side. You adjusted yourself into a comfortable position, holding the apple up in your vision and spinning it around. You let your hand drop to your side, holding the apple as you focused on the ceiling.
You fell asleep, counting the tiles that the ceiling was made of.
You woke up suddenly to someone nudging you. You sat up, a stray strand of hair in your mouth. Rubbing your eyes, you mumbled incoherently. You felt them nudge you again, and you looked up, seeing Ghost stare down at you.
You brushed the hair from your mouth and squinted, adjusting to the light. "I fell asleep, didn't I?" You said. Your headphones were down around your neck. They must've fallen off.
"Yep," Ghost said slowly, watching as you woke yourself up. You sighed and checked the time.
[2:57 pm] You had missed training. You looked up at Ghost again, mumbling "Sorry" he just nodded, his gaze stern.
"Get up." You did as told and got to your feet, smoothing your hair over with your hands. "We're still training," Ghost said, walking off. You followed behind him, jogging occasionally to keep up. You still didn't have boots on. "You waited for me?" You asked.
Ghost scoffed, "As if," You grunted, brushing your uniform down. "You didn't show up - they're all out there training, and you were sleeping," He said, walking through the doors as you followed through.
"Yeah, sorry," you mumbled.
"Sorry doesn't cut it Sarge, You are expected to be there on time when you are told." Ghost's voice was serious, and his stride was professional. You nodded, even though he couldn't see you. You staggered across the path, trying not to step on any stray pebbles.
Ghost and you walked along the property until reaching the back, you sighed. The place was dry dirt and pebbles, dead weeds occasionally. The ground was hard as you walked across, wishing you had looked harder for your boots.
You fell behind, failing to keep up with Ghost, and he met back with the team. You were too distracted. You had stepped on a stone, and it was stuck to your sock. You hopped around, trying to brush it off with obvious struggle.
You didn't hear Ghost introducing you to the new team you'd be working with, too far behind and much too distracted. You were muttering to yourself, cursing at the stubborn pebble. Ghost turned around with a sigh, he and the team was watching as you fought with a literal pebble.
Ghost couldn't tell what was sadder, that you were fighting a pebble or losing. You toppled over, onto your back with a frustrated grunt as you kicked your leg like you were trying to fight someone off.
"Sarge, get up!" Ghost shouted, his booming voice catching your attention immediately. You turned, seeing the staring faces, some amused others irritated. You stood up quickly and waved, limping your way over. "Uh, hello," you mumbled with a nod to the staring faces.
"Sarge - where are your boots?" Ghost asked, glaring at you. You shrugged, a reply had no clue. "Im not sure, sir," you muttered, lowering your head. Ghost ordered the team back to the mortars but kept you behind.
His hands clasped behind his back as he rocked on his heels. "Seriously, you can't find your boots?" Ghosts voice was harsh and annoyed. You nodded your head, keeping your eyes on the floor. He pushed you towards a station that had been set up under a gazebo, you seen a chest of spear gear.
"Grab a helmet while your at it," Ghost ordered as you walked over. You found some boots. Too big, but it was the smallest they had. Same with your helmet, it fell over your eyes occasionally and buckling it in place didn't do much either.
You met up with the rest of the team, none of them looked at your or spoke, some glanced very judgementally and 'accidentally' shoved you while walking past. You had heard a few talking about how you didn't belong in this rank or that you weren't skilled enough for a place in the class.
You ignored them, but it was hard when the mortars required a team. They had left you to try to do it all by yourself. Watching and laughing as you struggled with doing everything at once. You were used to this, it didn't bother you much anymore.
Finally someone had the guts to say it, as they shoved past you they muttered that you 'didn't belong here rookie'. You loved the way people got so easily upset just because you were better at something. All you had to do was smile and they scowled back.
Training was done and you were sitting under the gazebo, untying the boots you'd borrowed as everyone else who was dismissed started walking back towards headquarters. The time was [6:03 pm] and they were all presumably going back for dinner.
You took the boots off and the helmet before noticing Ghost was watching you. "How'd I do?" You asked, walking over to him, hopping slightly whenever you stood on something. "Fine" he shrugged.
You nodded, looking back at HQ. You didn't know if you wanted dinner or not, you felt tired and weak. You wanted to lie down. "Have you checked your shoe cabinet?" Ghost said, breaking your train of thought. "My what?" You asked. "Shoe cabinet" He repeated. You shook your head and snickered. "Who uses those?" He stared at you silently. "Oh.." You mumbled.
Your boots were in your shoe cabinet. "Do you have any mental health issues?" Ghost asked, his eyes narrowing. You were taken aback by his question. "What? No-" You said slightly offended. You watched his eyes look you up and down before he said "Huh" and started walking back.
You followed after him, trying to dodge anything hurtful on the ground. "What that supposed to mean??" You asked, hopping about.
"Nothing" he shrugged. You huffed as you followed before he stopped and turned around.
You focused on the ground as you hopped right into him, not realizing he had stopped. You fell back with a grunt, looking up with a glare. "What?" He said "You hopped into me" He folded his arms, towering over you. You groaned and rubbed your knee.
"You could've at least warned me" You grumbled.
"I'm not the one who left their boots behind" Ghost replied and you stuck your tongue out impulsively.
"You're a child" Ghost muttered but his voice had a slight hint of amusement. You flopped down, spreading your arms as you closed your eyes with an exasperated sigh. "I'm going to sleep here"
You heard the soft rustle of his gear as he moved. "C'mon" he said making you open your eyes. He was crouching down with his back to you.
"What?" You asked, sitting up.
"Hop on," he said a little annoyed.
"Your back?" You asked.
"No my shark fin - yes my back you idiot" his voice dripping with sarcasm.
You wrapped your arms around his neck and hopped on, he stood up holding under your thighs, hoisting you up a little readjusting you on his back. You looked down at the ground as he started walking.
"It'd be weird if you had a shark fin" You mumbled, and he shook his head with a sigh.
He held you as he walked back, readjusting you occasionally as you slipped down. He walked across the courtyard towards building TK07
"I'm not that hungry I don't need dinner," You said, looking back at the dorm building.
"Too bad Soap ate your eggs this morning and you barely finished your apple at lunch - I'd rather not have boney soldiers" Ghost commented as he continued to walk towards the building.
"Put me down" You said waiting for him to stop.
"Are you going to run back to your dorm?" He asked.
"Who me?" You asked which earned a sigh from him in reply.
"Who else" He said back.
"I would never," You said trying to sound convincing and failing miserably.
You felt his grip on you tighten. "No can do sarge" he muttered, opening the doors and walking through.
You groaned and tried to force yourself down but his grip was tight.
"Let go" You mumbled.
"Just climb off," He said well aware that he was holding on.
"I can't-!" You grunted as you tried.
"That's not my problem," He said and you could tell he was smirking.
"Unhand me" You growled, trying to pry his hands off.
He let one of your thighs go, taking you by surprise as you slid down, lopsided on his back, you held onto his shoulders, finding your footing on the ground. "Let my other leg go" You muttered, shaking it about as he held it.
He let your other thigh go and you stumbled a little but caught yourself with a triumph 'ha!'.
You looked up to see you were both in the cafeteria doorway. You looked back at the staring people who were quiet, watching the interaction with Ghost. Ghost cleared his throat and didn't look back at you as he strode into the cafeteria.
You went to follow him but were quickly cut off by a Major.
"With me please," He said, and you nodded. The Major looked around as did you, you saw Ghost watching, wondering why the Major was talking to you. The major gestured Ghost over and called up Soap and Price.
"Follow," He demanded, and the four of you followed him out of the cafeteria.
He took you all down the hallways into a mission briefing room, the screens were on and another Major was already waiting for you all. You all entered the room, not even sitting before the Major started handing out instructions.
"We've got a convey on standby for you soldiers"