User blog:DarkSkullPirates/Hero Of War


 * March 23rd, 1558.
 * I am now aboard the ship of Commodore Daigin, he is a fierce diciplinarian. He has had us wash the deck ten times already, and theres still the rest of the ship he wants us to clean. I believe he is trying to impress Fleet Admiral Kong. That is all, we will dock at G-28 in two days. I have never been to a New World island, I am excited. The weather is extreme. ~Chief Petty Officer Pahlawan.
 * March 24th 1558
 * We just received word from Vice Admira--

The last entry was'nt finished, I was lifted by my collar. Ensign Hoog, a very muscular man grabbed my journal.

"What's this?"

What a bufoon. He was so idiotic I doubted he even knew how to read, let alone spell.

"You see, us intellegent people call them "books." I explained.

"This aint' no book, there's no pictures..."

I sighed and ignored his comment.

"May I have it back?"

"Whats the magic word?" He asked, with a sneer growing across his face.

"Please....?"

As the word came out of my mouth, he threw the journal over his shoulder and put me down. I hated to be polite to him.

Suddenly, Commodore Daigin burst intoour cabin. "We're under fire! Defend our boat!"

I froze. I had never been in battle before. Only in training. I manned up, grabbed by rifle, put my knife in the slot on my waist and ran out after everyone. Gunfire everywhere. I saw the pirates ship, and recognized the jolly roger. The Thorn Pirates. Their captain was famous..."Black Thorn" Epines, wanted for 340,000,000. If we caught him we might all get ranked up.

I ran onto the deck, I tried to stay low, I didnt want to get shot. Then suddenly I felt a peircing in my side.

I looked at the side of my stomach and saw something.

A harpoon was stabbed in the side of my stomach.

Everything began to grow fuzzy, I looked over to see who shot it. I dont remember anything after than.

......

The weather was suddenly clear, the sky was blue and the seagulls are flying. Everything was silent. I woke up, remembered where I was, and realised the silence meant everyone was dead.

I was going to die too, with this harpoon inside me.

I looked up, the Marine flag that once flew at the crowsnest was torn from its pole.

The flag that I had pledged my young life to, the flag that i trusted with my heart and soul was torn. This created a hantred inside me I couldnt hold in. I stood up even when the pain was excrutiating. I looked around, breating heavily from the pain i realised I was covered in blod. Most probally not mine. Around me were my fallen Marine soldiers. All dead.

I looked over and saw someone moving, crouched behind a barrel.

They were attemping to tie off a wound, their arm was blown off during the battle. Then I realised who it was. It was the pirate captain.

"Huh...? DONT HURT ME." He cried. I could see the tears in his eyes.

"I...I-" He cut me off.

"Dont hurt me!!" he crawled a little ways, toward the mast. He leaned against the mast, tears running down his eyes.

"You know what, fine, KILL ME, I have nothing left to live for! My crew is dead! But as my last action I wanna do this." He pulled out a pack of matches, and then a shed of cloth.

I recognized that white cloth.

He then burned part of the thing I trusted my life with.

I ignored the pain, pulled out my knife, and ended the life of the lowly pirate. I was then shocked with myself. What had I done? I had just taken the life of another creation of God. Would I go to hell for this? Would I die right here from shock?

.....

I remember waking up in the hospital. Apparently, Commodore Daigin didnt die, and got the ship to G-28 safely. He knew it was my knife in the pirates neck. He said I had done good, and was getting ranked up to Ensign.

I didn't deserve it. I deserved death. I took the life of another living human. The unforgivable act. Would God punish me? Would I be sent to the firey gates of hell, for the sin I have done?

I shook my head, trying to forget about it.

They called me a hero of war.

That's not what I was.

I was a prisoner. A prisoner in my own memory. The memory of the man I murdered. The memory of his face, his voice. I would never forget that.

.....

I am an old man now. I wake up every night, sweating, thinking about this man. I could describe his face in vivid detail. I remember every word he spoke. I remember the glow of the match. The anger in my heart. The sound of the knife in his neck. How could I forget this? I couldnt. It will be in my mind untill the day I die, and God punishes me for my deeds.

Burned in my mind.

The unforgiveable act, that I was forced into by a flag. A simple fragment of a flag.

The flag I trusted.