Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A cool crisp wind awoke him that morning.
As it always did.

What was once a lush green forest, teeming with life and heat, had begun to wither away with the early November frost.

But even so, as the burly force of nature began to rise from his campfire, like a bear from hibernation, the birds began to greet him as usual.

Each step called out to the forest, asking for its attention as he stood tall and proud, ready to begin another day.

He was a broad shouldered man who stood well over the average person, his bulging shoulders could crush a mans skull if he so chose.

His muscular body was covered in a suit of metal armor, which shone brightly underneath the morning sun, contrasting greatly against his dark face which hid underneath his brown brimmed hat.

He stood underneath an aged and abandoned church, covered to the brim with cobblestone and moss.

The man walked out onto the opening balcony of the church, which faced directly into the maw of the sprawling forest.
He sat up on top of the railing and crossed his legs in a sitting position, resting his arms on his lap and prepared to begin his morning meditation.

He inhaled deeply, feeling gusts of winter air fill his lungs as nostalgic memories memories began to cloud his vision.

The sun had only just begun to jut out from beneath the world’s surface.

He awoke as he always did, staring at the stone ceiling above him, ready to begin his training.

Before his mind could even fully process getting up, he was already on his feet, falling in line with his fellow comrades.
Despite his young age, he still towered over everyone in his platoon, and to anyone who walked by, he moved like a goliath.

The murky air drenched everyone in sweat the moment they stepped outside, exhausting anyone who wasn’t used to the foreboding enviroment.

But what dishevled him was when looked over to his left, soldiers returning from a battle, entering a hospice center.

He recognized the platoon.

A close comrade of his was stationed in it, but as the last person walked into the hospice care, he was nowhere to be seen.

“Djoseph! Fall in!”

His eyes shot open.

He let himself fall too deeply into his memories again.

He sighed before standing up and getting his things to get on with his day.

As he slung what little valuables he carried over his back, including a sword that was obscured by the shield splayed in front of it.

Djoseph, the bustling armored figure, stepped down the cobblestone stairs, feeling its uneven footing lightly shake under his weight.

Though it was clear the church was abandoned for several decades, it obviously held a great importance to the community that entered, given how well it was held up, despite its age.

As his feet finally met the forest floor, Djoseph scanned his surroundings, trying to decide where to go next.

He recalled a village just a few miles away when he first entered the forest, so he started his way east.

Despite his large stature, Djospeh moved quietly through the forest, his armor only slightly creaking as he gently walked past the brush.
The bright summer sun peeked through the trees, giving detail for his surroundings. The smell of life and greenery filled his nostrils, a nature untouched by civilization for quite some time.

He felt almost unwelcome in this environment.

While everything moved and acted in a perfect cycle of peace and prosperity, his shining armor that gleamed in the sunlight only seemed to distract and become unworthy of entering this peaceful realm.

But while he felt this unnerving and antisocial emotion from the forest, he also couldn't deny that it wanted to kick him out either.

Perhaps it wants to share its beauty to the outside world, and is giving him the chance to view it.

If that was truly the case, Djoseph felt eternally grateful.

And it seemed, for that gratefulness, Djoseph found some berries in his path. Though he did not recognize the berries, he could tell that they were not dangerous.

He silently thanked the forest before picking some and continuing his way.

Though he underestimated how large the forest was, he emerged from the sprawling greenery around midday and entered into a small town.
The tempting aroma of baked goods in a nearby market were intoxicating to him, especially after the dank smell of the forest had clouded his sense of smell for a while.

As he approached the bustling market, full of vendors, shops, and inns, the towering knight stook out amongst the crowd. His physique was nigh impossible to ignore and he at very least received a glance from the people walking past him.

While the market was indeed busy, Djospeh could recognize some of those words being about him.

Yes, a knight in the interwar era was nothing short of bewildering to the people of this town.

As he gently sauntered through the crowd, the already rampant environment only seemed to grow as more murmurs and confusion filled the air.

The Green Knight quickly became the only thing people had their attention on.

Djoseph however, was greatly privy to this reaction, didn’t seem bothered at all.

The knight suddenly stopped and turned his head towards a small vendor selling baked bread.

With the midday sun glaring down on Djoseph from behind, it covered his dark face, hiding his features and expression.

The small man, who looked like a childrens toy compared to hulking man, quivered as Djoseph directed his attention to him.

Before the man had time to even trickle out a word, Djoseph spoke, and his booming voice cut through the crowd.

“Excuse me sir, can I buy that loaf of bread please?”

The once bustling market went completely silent, all attention went towards Djoseph and the bread vendor.

As he lowered his head, a gentle and inviting smile was the first thing the vendor saw as Djosephs face finally came into view.

Finally, after an uncomfortable and confusing amount of silence, the vendor spoke.
“W-what?” he responded, trying to hide his quivering legs.

Djoseph was quick and, admittedly, a little too earnest to respond.
“I’m sorry, if it's not for sale then I apologize.”

Djoseph ruffles through his small satchel and pulls out a small handful of coins.

The vendor finally snaps out of his befuddled mind state and looks down at the coins in Djosephs wide palm.

He snatches the coins from him.
“Y-yes yes, here you go sir!”

The vendor quickly hands Djoseph the loaf of bread before putting the coins in his pocket.

Djoseph nods and gently smiles again “Thank you very much” he says before walking away.

The crowd quickly moves around him until he finally walks out of the market and into the far less crowded town pier.

Djoseph lets out a slight sigh of relief, feeling a little too crowded from the vendors market before getting a view of his new location.

The town pier was surprisingly large, and had at least 30 different boats tied up on the docks. Right beside it was the fish market, where several villagers were carrying large nets of wriggling fish.

As he inhales the musky scent of brine and saltwater, he tears off a piece of the loaf of bread he just bought, wanting to get something in his system before he loses it thanks to the stomach churning smell of fish.

Before he could get a single bite of his bread in, he notices a small kerfuffle going on just a few feet away.

He walks over and sees several bulking men surrounding someone. As he got closer, he quietly scoffed in anger.

Three rough and dangerous looking men were shaking down an elderly man, who could barely get a word out before they started yelling at him again.

Djoseph walked up to the tallest man in the middle, and gently poked his shoulder to gain his attention.
“Excuse me, what do you think you’re do-”

The brutish man quickly turned around, ready to brawl like the other two with irritated looks before quickly feeling their guts sink as they saw Djoseph easily tower over them.

Despite the initial shock, anger quickly returned as the bruly man slapped Djosephs hand away.
“The fuck do you want?” he angrily shouts.

Djoseph barely reacts to the mans outburst.
“Why are you attacking that man?” he calmly asks.

“This stupid chink keeps begging us to do a job for him! He’s been bothering us all week and we’ve fucking had it!” the brute responds before throwing a punch at Djoseph.

He swiftly dodges the jab and moves to the right as the two cronies join the scrap.

Djoseph moves quite nimbly despite his suit of armor and snags the mans arm in his his and pins him to the ground quickly. The man screams as Djosephs iron grip bends his arm.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t use that sort of language again.” Djoseph calmly warns. “I’m going to release you now. Please apologize and be on your way.”

“Like hell I’m gonna do that you fat-”
Before the man could even finish, Djosephs grip grew even tighter, causing the man to scream in pain more.

“I don’t want this to end in more violence. Please apologize. NOW.” Djoseph warned,

The man sighed and nodded his head.

Djoseph dropped him onto his back and the three men ran off.

Djoseph walked over to the elderly man who smiled at him.
“Are you okay sir?” Do you need help with anything?” Djoseph kneeled down and loomed into the mans eyes.

The elderly man put his hand on Djosephs before returning his gaze.
“Ariga…tou…gozai…mas..”

Djosephs eyes widened slightly.
“Japanese? He certainly is a long way from home.” Djoseph thought.

Djoseph smiled.
“It was no problem sir. Do you need any help with anything?”

The man pointed towards a creaky old boat on the dock before unwrapping a letter in his coat pocket and handing it to Djoseph.

“P-please…” the man croaked.

Djoseph took the letter and began to read it.

Chapter Text

A brisk wind scoured throughout a slavic city, carrying along with it the freshly fallen snow. Howling, like a god of wind trying to snuff the billowing towers of smoke of the large military sector.

A wide array of stomps filled the near empty streets as the wind pressed on.
Snow crunched underneath their boots as they ran in perfect formation.

Like a hive mind, they all inhaled and exhaled at the same time, their bodies moving at the exact same pace.

It was their fourth lap around the base, and their footprints had already been covered by the snow from their previous lap.

The training was grueling, but it was the best they could do with their current situation.
Inside the base, there was no space to fit a training room. Every single room was packed and used to the fullest.

Inside that base, military workers ran through the halls to and fro, everyone on a tight schedule.

Papers would constantly fly out of an employee's hand while the other hand would accidentally spill onto a coworkers' freshly ironed uniform.

It was a pigsty to say the least.

Everyone was under an immense amount of pressure and very little could be done to subsidize the process as this had been a process that had spanned several months.

First it was rumors. Hubbub that quickly spread and became more factual as new information came forth. Then military ships began to set off eastward, only to return with half of the men who left.

It terrified the public, and the military even more so.
A conflict was coming, and everyone needed to be on their guard.
As the army men finally came inside from their morning training, they all scattered into the cramped locker room and began to remove their winter uniforms.

One man's glasses he was wearing fogged up as he entered the locker room, momentarily blinding him until he took them off and rubbed away the fog that had built up.

The man was quite ordinary, blending in with his comrades short blonde hair and somewhat built stature.

As he put his glasses back on, he quickly shuffled to his locker and removed his clothing like his coworkers.

Everyone quickly cleaned up in the showers before putting on their military uniform and descending into the chaos with other employees.

It was noon at this time, and the man with glasses walked into the stuffy cafeteria with only an apple and a sandwich.

As he scoured a spot to sit, a red haired woman stood next to him.

The man was quite unobservant, and it took until the woman nudged him for him to recognize her.

“Dylen.” she scoffed.

Dylen jumped in surprise before quickly recognizing his wife in her office clerk uniform, Maryke.

“Maryke! Don’t scare me like that!” he laughed.