Reunion || TomTord

Prolog

It was a nice sunny morning. Well, nice is debatable, the war was all around. But I wasn't ready to fight yet, even though everyone thought I was. I only turned fifteen few days ago and they already sent me to the battlefield. I wasn't ready, I hated the war. Yes, the Red Army was bad, but were we even better people attacking them? I think not.

I let out a deep sigh, pressing my back against the brick wall behind me. Screams echoed all around and I started being genuinely scared. Were they ours?

Gripping the gun in my hand, I decided to move a bit. I would've been called a coward if someone found out I was hiding instead of fighting for the army. But no one should be surprised. I was just a teenager born to the army. I had never wanted this.

As the screams grew louder, I decided to speed up a bit. I wasn't ready to fight and I needed to find a better hideout.

Making my way along the wall, I finally turned around the corner, taking a few deep breaths. Only to be surprised with a gun barrel pressed to the side of my head. I felt my heart skip a beat. This was the end. I should've been more careful.

"Who are you and what are you doing here," the other person demanded. I figured out it was a man, according to the deep voice.

But I didn't dare to look at him, instead I kept my eyes shut. My legs were shaking like crazy, heart beating in an abnormal speed. I was so scared...

"Open your eyes and answer my question," the guy growled, visibly very annoyed with me.

A gulped, taking a deep breath before opening my eyes. Only to be met with a pair of silver ones, starting right into mines. It was a guy about my age, looking at me with narrowed eyes. He had a caramel hair spiked into two horns, blue vest with Red Army symbol on his sleeve and a red pullover underneath. A name-tag reading 'Tord' hanging on his vest.

"Are you going to stare at me all day?" Tord furrowed his eyesbrows, pressing the gun closer to my head.

I gave a nervous laughter, fiddling with my fingers as my gaze moved back to his face. I was debating whether to admit a belonged to the Blue Army, since he was obviously an enemy, but I figured that it would be smarter not to lie, considering I was wearing a different uniform.

"I'm Tom, a soldier of the Blue Army. And I'm hiding here..." I said, the last sentence almost inaudible.

"Hiding?" he repeated, visibly amused. "So when I called you a coward, I wasn't that far from the truth." He snickered.

I looked down, feeling very embarrassed. This was what I expected to happen. Why didn't he shoot me right away? I hated when people made fun of me.

"I was born to the army, I hate war..." I mumbled, not wanting to look him in the eyes. He surely had the smug look on his face. That's why I was so surprised when he put the gun off my head. I rose my head, confusion all over my face.

"Understandable. War is not for everyone," he commented, twisting with his gun. "But you should at least be more careful when you already get to the battlefield." He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Yeah, I know." I scratched my head nervously. What did cause the sudden change of behavior? Why didn't he kill me? He was an enemy! My head was full of questions I didn't have answers for.

"I'm Tord, by the way, but I assume you've already read that on my tag," he pointed out, rolling his eyes in amusement.

"Uhm, hi?" I shrugged, looking at him as if he was from a different planet. The guy surely was a weirdo. And that statement confirmed itself when Tord started laughing.

"What the hell..." I commented furrowing my eyebrows in pure confusion.

"What? I enjoy a real fight, I'm not the type to shoot someone who's shaking in fear," he clicked his tongue, grabbing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lighting one.

"But we are enemies, you should watch out around me." I crossed my arms on my chest, narrowing my eyes at him. Deciding not to comment the fact that he was smoking at such a young age. But I only received a laugh from Tord.

"Hah, lemme laugh." He inhaled a smoke, blowing it into my face and making me cough. "Tell me one good reason why I should be scared of you, Thomas. It's not like you would be able to shoot someone with that gun of yours," he pointed out, pressing a finger on my chest.

I growled at his words. He had no right to put me down like this. And he had no right to call me by my full name. Because I very much hated it. I quickly pulled out a knife, reaching out to him. But Tord was quicker. Dodging and twisting my arm in a way that I had to drop my knife in pain. He took the opportunity to grab it as he held it to my neck.

"Don't you ever underestimate me again," he commented with a smirk. "Your reflexes are slow as hell. You should be glad I don't wanna kill you, I already had hundreds of changes to do so." He slowly let go, leaving my body shaking violently. Taking a drag from his cigarette, he stepped away, handing me my knife back. "You need to watch your back or you won't live through tomorrow."

I nodded quietly, taking my knife back and putting it back into its place. That was awfully dangerous. I could've been dead by now. Tord was too good for me to beat him. But then I got an idea.

"Teach me how to protect myself," I blurted all of sudden. Tord seemed to be taken aback by the request for a second, before letting out a sigh and shaking his head in denial.

"That's not a good idea. You said it yourself, we are enemies, we shouldn't be seen together. I already made an exception no one can ever hear about when I decided to spare your life." Tord shook his head, taking a drag from his cigar, putting on emotionless expression. "I'd be dead in instance if someone found out."

"Don't you ever dare to tell someone you even met me, got it?" He gave me a dead glare and I quickly nodded. His voice was sending shivers down my spine. Tord's expression immediately changed into the normal one again as if nothing happened.

"Never mind, I shall get going. It was a pleasure to meet you, Thomas." Tord threw the cigarette butt onto the ground, stepping on it while bowing. I let out a chuckle at the gesture, smiling softly.

"It was nice to meet you, too, Tord." I went a hand through my hair. He grinned, waving at me before disappearing behind the corner. He was a weirdo, but there was something about him I really liked. I just couldn't put a finger on it. But I really hoped I would see him again.