Little Jackal? (STEPHEN)

[♔ Liam J. Brentwood]

Location:[/b] Desolate and isolated open-field; England.
Time:[/b] 1033hrs (10:33am)


A light breeze swept across the warm open-field and with it, carried the distinct smell and taste of salt from the choppy waters of the grand sea several miles away to the east, across more various patchwork fields and forestry in-between. The day had shaped up to be a nice precarious warm day, nothing sweltering hot or unbearable, but just right; the sun had only been awake for the past few hours and was rising slowly too it’s formidable midday glory within the lightly clouded blue sky. Other than clear and warm weather, Liam found apt solitude within the mid-length grassy field he sat idly within and for once, attempted to clear his mind from all troubles and worries of the stressful war.

Clasping a handful of tall grass within his right hand, Liam pulled it clean from it’s roots and slowly raised his hand, gently uncoiling his rugged dirty fingers to let the shards of grass blow free from the palm of his hand. A soft breeze done well in carrying the grass away a few feet, before they tumbled lifelessly to the ground once more. “Like toy soldiers” he mumbled idly to himself in correspondence to the grass flailing aimlessly to the earth, like men he’d seen blown sky-high in shattered pieces, only to come tumbling down to earth in the same manner.

He’d arranged to meet Stephen Colly for a private tuition of sorts; since the young lad had been promoted to Corporal, Captain Brentwood knew he needed to have a firm little chat with the youngster. This wasn’t common practice and it wasn’t Captain Brentwood’s place to father the men beneath his command, that was in all due respect the Sergeant’s job, but Liam had a soft-spot for the rosy cheeked boy he’d met a long time back. Not only was Stephen an old acquaintance, but he shared fond memories of Edward McMillan alike Liam did, perhaps Stephen in his own way brought back these fond memories to him? Then again, the last time Liam clapped eyes upon the young man, he’d ruthlessly thrown him across his desk and threatened him about making acute accusations about Edward being alive and a Nazi - a traitor.

Running a hand through his growing hair, Liam suddenly sensed something or someone; as if primal instincts had kicked in or someone had entered his solemn recluse and solitude like a burglar, he snapped to attention. Perhaps it was a sixth sense he’d grown from being out in battle or maybe things were just too eerily quiet, that it was easy to hear someone coming? Either way, Liam climbed to his feet from off the ground and with a low stance he quickly scurried behind a large withering oak tree that had grown in the middle of the field. Wearing his combat fatigues and gear, Liam looked as if he were ready for battle or had just walked from the frontlines. Most of his clothing was still tattered and dirty from his last endeavours, but it was this tarnishing upon his gear that expressed his experience as being a formidable commander and leader, despite being slightly off the rails and living on a knife’s edge at times.

Liam had made a few enemies recently within his own crowd, one of them was Lieutenant Nicolas Ealing, whom had found Liam and a few of his Jackal brothers one night, dealing with a couple of Nazi soldiers in the woods. Liam couldn’t be too careful with who he trusted now, word spread like wildfire and warped people’s minds, if someone got a sniff about Liam’s antics, who knows what they would do to bring him to justice. For all he cared the Nazi scum deserved it, they deserved everything they had coming to them and he’d be their worse nightmare, their only nightmare.

In the near distance a limp shadow appeared in the form of a soldier and a moment longer watching concluded it was only Stephen, someone he’d been waiting for. Liam grinned to himself, noticing the young lad had grown up considerably since they’d last met, but he couldn’t help seeing Stephen as a young boy still, as Stephen still retained his childish looks and baby-face features. If he were to make Stephen a fine soldier, he’d make mince out of him yet and with that thought, Liam slunk back behind the tree and gently unsheathed his stainless steel combat-knife from the frog and scabbard hanging at his waist. A mischievous feeling overwhelmed the Captain, but it was more of play than kill.

Waiting silently behind the large oak tree, Liam waited for Stephen to reach the field or make his next move. Stephen was his unsuspecting play-thing, but Liam wanted to see if Stephen had grown in strength or ability since their last meeting. All in all, this was just a crooked way of having fun in Liam’s mind…

[Stephen Colly]

The breeze blew across the boy’s face as he read the note he has just been passed from another soldier. Liam Bentwood wanted to see him. Ah. The two had not met since that dreadful day in the office a few years ago. In those years the boy had grown up. He had matured and become a bit less childish. He had even been promoted – something his parents had been stunned to hear. They had always believed he’d be a Private forever. He looked down at the note again – why did he want to see him? Why? He had nothing to say to the Captain; it was all so sudden. The time was coming up to half ten. He knew the field which Brentwood had meant.

It wasn’t too cold, the breeze was rather refreshing. He was dressed in the usual dress for soldiers off duty. The field was not too far away from the main buildings where the British army was based. He’d better start moving, it seemed. He did not want to be late for the Captain.

The smell of the sea was constantly there as he walked. It was a lovely smell, one Stephen before the war had not really ever smelt living in deepest, darkest, Devon. If one listened hard enough, one could hear the sea a few miles away and the seagulls coming and going off the coast. Stephen and his ex-lover, Henry, had been to the sea often – but Henry had been killed a few months back. Stephen had been distraught and had contemplated suicide a number of times. Every time he thought of the sea, he thought of Henry and it made tears spring to his eyes. Henry would have been proud of Stephen for rising through the ranks. He’d also been a child-hood friend and the day after the news was heard that he’d been killed; Stephen had gone to his parent’s house on the outskirts of the village in Devon. He had sat with Henry’s aging parents for hours, talking about their son. They had said it helped them. He had gone to the funeral also, but had not stayed for the wake.

He walked on, by now coming into sight of Brentwood, who he did not notice near the tree. To him, the field was disserted. Funny, normally Brentwood would have been before him. It immediately made him slightly suspicious. The time was now a few minutes past half ten. Yes, very odd. He opened the gate to the field, frowning and shutting it behind him. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise in slight fear. Something was definitely a miss. He paused, scanning the field, not daring to move from the safety of the exit. He cleared his throat; calling out would not do any harm. ”Captain, sir?!” he called out, feeling slightly stupid. He guessed it would be just like Brentwood to do something mad. He had heard stories of the man being mental – a nutcase. He walked further into the field, his eyes fixed on the only thing that was of any significance – the tree. ”Captain Brentwood, sir?!” he called again. If anyone could see him, they probably thought he was daft calling at a tree!

[♔ Liam J. Brentwood]

Young Stephen Colly treaded deeper into Liam’s enclave, unwittingly walking on eggshells as he pondered the notion of where Captain Brentwood could be. Liam knew that Stephen wasn’t dumb or completely naïve though, because Stephen had seem Liam’s enthralling emotional turmoil firsthand in the past and not many people didn’t tread around the Captain’s presence without being slightly on edge either. Liam was a loose cannon and seemingly ran wild with his mad endeavours, but then people were also too scared to speak up or say otherwise either; in what right mind would the British army decommission a bleeding good officer during this stage of the war? He was needed and ironically, he was needed for all the reasons that made him bonkers. Liam was good at what he did and the British could only swallow their pride in knowing he was on their side and not the German’s.

Stephen’s voice carried a wavering, if not quivering sense of fear with each word spoken, yet somehow the young boy knew Liam was there, as he called out to the lurching old oak tree almost automatically and called the Captain to beckon his presence. Liam grinned to himself once more as he idly leant behind the tree and listened carefully to Stephen, whom didn’t tread far from safety. It had seemed that Stephen Colly had learned a thing or two? Liam was quietly amused by the boy keeping his distance, it had seemed that he had either learned to be safe than sorry or he just feared Liam more than he once had previously.

Captain Brentwood ran the cold steel of his blade across his bottom lip slowly, mesmerised by the thought of gutting someone with it, before he dropped the blade away from his mouth and snapped back to reality. It didn’t seem as though the youngster was about to get any closer without some sort of resolve in doing so. Without hesitation, Liam jabbed his knife into the tree with a thud and leveraged himself up into the thick brittle branches with a single hefty pull. Reaching down, he removed his blade from the trunk of the tree and turned to face Stephen from the treetop, giving a wry grin as he brandished his blade between his hands casually. “Corporal Colly” Liam stated quite obviously, waving his blade down to the ground in front of the tree to say “ Come over here Corporal, been waiting for you” he invited without question.

As Liam waited for Stephen to come over, he gripped his blade with a firm grasp and with a twisting motion, threw it into the dirt below where he had just instructed Stephen to come and stand. The blade hit the ground with a heavy impact and the blade sunk into the dried dirt with ease, protruding from between the lengthy grass standing almost directly vertical. “and pick that up” Liam added after he’d thrown the knife and instructed Stephen to come over, as if it were a normal command or procedure.

[Stephen Colly]

He was rather bewildered and scared of the situation he was now in. Hell, he had been in more terrifying situations than this but the fact that it felt so eerie and ghostly made him feel sick. He knew very much so what Liam Brentwood was capable of hence his hesitation and wavering voice. Until he saw someone, he would not move any nearer to that tree. He had a feeling Brentwood was behind it and playing a sick game. Why had he come? He could have just disobeyed the order, but then disobeying an order would mean possible death. Best not to do that then.

He heard a thud from the tree and next second, Brentwood appeared in the low branches. Stephen watched him, seeing the familiar face of the man he feared. He had not changed much – maybe he looked a bit wilder and mad, but apart from that...he looked normal...as normal as he could be that was. He caught the glint of the knife in Brentwood’s hand and swallowed. He saluted smartly in the Captain’s direction before listening closely to what he said. Come near you...you must be joking he thought. Best do it however. He hurried over to the base of the tree. ”Yes, sir?” he said, voice slightly wavering again as he looked up at the man in the tree. Interesting, Brentwood had lodged himself higher than Stephen physically. Smart move by the Captain.

The blade had dropped to the floor and Stephen glanced down at it; wondering if Brentwood had meant to do it or not. He was asked to pick it up off the ground. Stephen bent down and took a firm hold of the blade’s handle, lifting it cleanly out of the ground. He twirled it in his fingers, looking at it. He did not know what the hell was about to happen, or how long he would be here. All he knew, was that he wanted to leave.

[♔ Liam J. Brentwood]

Corporal Colly saluted Captain Brentwood with a formidable manner, despite the fact Liam didn’t really care for the necessities of respecting the rank during this moment of time. All Liam really cared about within the current instance, was teaching young Stephen Colly a thing or two about combat within his own little way of course. Captain Brentwood was always on the prowl for potential victims to be bolstering the ranks of the Jackals and young Stephen Colly seemed ideal to be put through his paces. Although in hindsight, perhaps Liam just wanted Stephen to entertain him?

Looking down upon Stephen from his position within the tree, Captain Brentwood gave a smug smirk as the Corporal picked up the blade from the dirt protruding out of the ground with an inquisitive look to what may come next. “You know how to use that Coroporal?” Captain Brentwood questioned in regard to Stephen holding the blade, knowing full well that Stephen probably didn’t really have quite the inclination on how to use the blade professionally or appropriately given a combat circumstance. Still, Liam asked all the same and made a notable haste in jumping down from the branches of the tree with a hefty -plod- as his leather boots clumped against the dried brittle dirt.

Now standing before Stephen in person, Liam stepped closer and squared up in front of Stephen’s body, looking to the blade Stephen held within his hand between the two of them. “Does it make you feel powerful holding that? Knowing you could slice the flesh of your victim from tendon to bone” Liam said with a hint of passion to his lips having touched upon the subject of brutality and gore. Captain Brentwood aimed to teach Stephen a thing or two about fighting, toughen the young lad up a little, prepare him for the worse scenarios he could encounter first-hand in combat. If Stephen wanted a teacher in the art of brutality, Liam was probably amongst the best candidates to offer advice.

“Fancy learning a thing or two, boy?” Liam asked, but didn’t expect the boy to answer the question, as he began to unbuckle his utility belt strapped around his waist and throw against the base of the large oak tree. Rolling up his long-tattered uniform sleeves, Captain Brentwood began to make himself slightly more comfortable for what was about to occur next. There was only so much movement the uniform offered, until it needed removing or adjusting for better quality of movement.

OOC: Sorry it’s short, I’m actually tired as I’m writing this.

[Stephen Colly]

”You know how to use that Corporal?”

Stephen guessed he meant the knife. He nodded, looking down at it. ”I think so, sir.” he said after a few seconds of silence. And the point of this was? He frowned and jumped slightly as Brentwood jumped down from the tree. He knew that if Brentwood saw the fear, he would just play with him like a ragdoll. He stood straight, head up and looking Brentwood in the eye. If Brentwood wanted to toy with him, he would try and defend himself as much as possible.

He came up very close, Stephen could smell the sweat on the man. He did not like this closeness. However, he stood firm staring at him. Umm...no was the answer to Brentwood’s next question. No, not really – it did not make him feel powerful. He glanced at the knife and then back at Brentwood who was still looking in his twisted way. ”Not really, sir.” he muttered, feeling his insides squirm at the thought of what Brentwood would do to him because the answer he gave was probably not the right one.

”I have never really fought with a blade like this before, sir.” he said truthfully, feeling truth would be the best way forward in this situation. The next question was not really a question and Stephen guessed he would have to play along. Oh how delightful. He watched as the man in front of him began to get himself ready for a fight – ah. Stephen stood there awkwardly, watching in slight desperation as he frantically thought of what to do. He slowly began to roll up his own sleeves, keeping his eyes fixed on the lunatic in front of him – he really didn’t want to do this. He wanted to get back to base.

”Sir...I am not that experienced in this...” he said, feeling he would get nowhere with his plea.