The war had destroyed much of the plains of the small country home to Nalari Asantia. Flowers were no longer growing, animals no longer lived in the area, farmlands were destroyed to keep any crops from growing, villages and towns were sacked and all seemed lost. The barren wastelands smelled of blood and gunpowder and decaying flesh. As Nalari walked around with a moderate wound in her shoulder, with her trusty sniper rifle on her back and her ammo box at her side, she spotted a dead body at her feet. This man was definitely from her country. She picked up a tag from around his neck and put it in her pocket, along with the others.
Nalari kept walking after picking up the tag from the dead body. Her footsteps became slower and slower as the wound pained her shoulder more and more. She finally collapsed in the blood red dirt among more bodies, the latest skirmish draining so much out of her. As her vision faded, she was certain she was going to die here. Nalari's mind soon thought of her past life with her parents and then how the war between the two empires took everything from her. When she closed her eyes, a single tear fell down her face.
For a long time now, Alexander Valentine had done his best to avoid the war. While it was true that he had once been a part of the vicious war, he quit the army he had belonged to for many years after witnessing so many horrendous things during the war. There came a time when he just felt as if none of it was right, so after quitting the army and the war, he escaped everything. He headed to a place that had not been touched by the war. He escaped to a place that no-one else knew about. He went back to his parent's place way up in huge forest way up in a vast mountainous region far, far away from the rest of the war ravaged country. Luckily for him, he knew how to look after himself as he had been one of the best swordsmen not only in his unit, but also in the army he had once been a part of.
Once again, Alexander had come down from the place he had come to call home just like he would most days. Normally, he paid no attention to the bodies that lay scattered around in the wastelands he usually did his best to avoid. However, as he had started to pass them by, something made him stop. Out of the corner of his eye, he was certain he saw someone fall to the ground. He turned in the direction he thought he saw someone fall, and then started making his way there. Alexander sighed to himself as he had to step over body after body until he got to the place where he thought he had seen someone fall. He looked around for a few seconds before he spotted her a few feet to his left. Alexander made his way over to the fallen girl and crouched down beside her. He was surprised to see that she was still breathing as he noticed the wound on her shoulder "She's still alive." He whispered to himself. Even after noticing the symbol of her empire on her uniform, he still scooped her up in his arms. Turning on his heels, he started stepping back over the bodies as he walked from the wastelands as quickly as he could with her in his arms.
Alexander was confident he would be able to save Nalari just as long as he was able to get her back to his home quick enough. With her in his arms, it took longer than usual to get back to his home deep in the forest up in the mountains, but he was able to make it back there in roughly 45 minutes. As soon as he had made it back to his home, he rushed straight through to the spare bedroom in his home and wasted no time in setting her down in the already made up bed. He got back to his feet and headed back to the bathroom to pick up a few things for Nalari's wound. He returned with some hot water, bandages and some gauze. Sitting back down on the side of his bed close to her, he was careful to remove her armor before he started to clean up her wound. It took him nearly five minutes to properly clean up her wound and then it took him another five minutes to properly dress and bandage up her wound.
Setting her back down in the bed, he pulled the blankets up and around her shoulders and he decided to let her rest. He stood her sniper rifle up against the wall by the side of the bed and then he left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar just in case he needed to check in on her again. After leaving the room, he headed down to the kitchen to prepare some food and something to drink just in case she were to wake up.
Nalari had dreams of her homeland blooming again in many flowers and the animals coming to rejoice in the return of life to the plains of Harmonus. It was unfair for the country, who had nothing to do with the war in the first place, be caught in the middle of it all. To be bulldozed over as the two empires fought for the entire continent to be won, it wasn't even human. Nalari had dreams of her parents still being alive, wishing for her to have a good life and how she didn't have to fight. It didn't take long though before she woke up to the harsh reality she was in.
When her eyes fluttered open, Nalari found herself somewhere she wasn't familiar with. But it was clear someone lived here: the smells, the objects, the sounds, someone lived here indeed. She didn't recognize this place at all, but luckily her armor and weapons were still here. Had someone helped her from the blood ridden plains before? As she tried to move her shoulder, Nalari held her shoulder in pain as she remembered the gunshot wound she had before. Who could have been so selfless that they were able to stop, pick her up, heal her and let her rest?
The sound of raindrops came from outside so it must have started raining. When Nalari thought of rain, it made her peaceful and hopeful that life would return to the country of Harmonus once again. Hopefully it would, otherwise all this fighting for the future and for her home would be useless.
Alex had been in the kitchen when it had started raining. He had decided to make some soup and bread, even though he knew the bread would take a while to make. Of course it was the first time he had made anything for anyone besides himself for quite some time. The last time he had cooked for other people was when he was back in the Dravenian army. Alex had enjoyed cooking for his brothers and sisters in the army which may have had something to do with why he still enjoyed it now.
By the time Nalari had awoken, Alex had almost finished making his chicken and pea soup. The bread was almost done by the time he decided to check in on the wounded soldier in the spare bedroom. He walked out of the kitchen and headed straight upstairs to check on the girl. When he reached her room, he slowly pushed the door open and stuck his head inside. As he opened the door, the smell of cooking bread and soup wafted into the room. When he could see that she had woken up, he looked both surprised and relieved. "Oh, you're awake." He stepped into the room and then walked to the foot of the bed. "I think I found you just in time. If you had been there any longer, then I'm not sure there would have been anything I could have done for you. Anyway, I've made you some chicken and pea soup and I'm baking some bread to go with it. The soup is just about ready and the bread is definitely getting there."
"I've done the best I can with your wound, but the bandages will need cleaning and changing a few times, but don't worry as I'll take care of that for you." He offered her a small smile before he turned on his heel to walk from the room. "I'm going to go and check on the soup and bread. I'll be back with some for you and then you can tell me how you ended up in those wastelands." He looked back at her over his shoulder one more time before he walked out of the room and headed back downstairs to check on the soup and bread he had been making. Once he had made it back into the kitchen, he was glad to see that the soup was ready and the bread was almost ready.
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