Chapter 1

                                    

                                          
June 18, 1942
Douxie dropped his pack on the ground, looking around at the soldiers who were running drills across the fields. It was chaotic and loud. Exactly the last place he wanted to be.
"Well Archie, looks like we got dragged into another one." He said, looking down at the cat who was sitting by his feet.
Archie gave him a look. "Try not to get yourself killed." His voice echoed in Douxie's head.
"Better not let the sergeant catch that cat around here." A voice said, making both Douxie and Archie jump.
Douxie spun around to see a young man, no older than maybe twenty, leaning against one of the trucks, smirking at him. "Uh..."
The boy chuckled, shaking his head, brushing his blond hair away from his face. "I'm not gonna tell on you." As he spoke, Douxie detected an accent that was distinctly... New York. It wasn't heavy, but definitely noticeable. He walked towards Douxie, hands on his hips and a mischievous smile on his face. "But if you don't want to get into trouble, I suggest letting one of the secretary girls hold onto him. Lord knows they have an army of cats in their offices."
"Uh... thanks?" Douxie cleared his throat, looking at him fully with a small, slightly nervous smile. "I appreciate that."
The boy looked at him, studying his face. "You got a name, England?"
Douxie was taken aback by the sudden nickname, but then realized it was because of his own accent. "Oh, right. I'm Hisirdoux Casperan. My friends call me Douxie."
"Carter Howard." He offered a small smile, but beyond that still held the same mischievous demeanor as before. "So, how did you get roped into this?"
Douxie shrugged. "I volunteered. It didn't seem right to let everyone else lay down their lives while I didn't do the same." He looked at Carter. "And you?"
Carter sighed. "Drafted pretty much as soon as I turned nineteen." He pursed his lips. "I would have liked to stay with my mom longer. She's uh... not doing too well, you know?" He cleared his throat. "But she said she'd be fine, so... here I am."
Douxie nodded. He knew a reluctant soldier when he saw one. Carter obviously didn't want to be here. "How long have you been here?"
"Two months." Carter looked at him. "I'm almost done with basic training, then they're gonna put me with the 107th."
Douxie smiled. "Oh, me too, actually!"
Carter looked at him for a while before smiling. "Well, it'll be nice to have a friend out there, Douxie."
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September 10, 1942
Douxie pressed himself against the wall, flinching at the sounds of explosions off in the distance. His grip on his gun tightened. He clenched his teeth, drawing in a deep breath. Slowly Douxie peered around the wall, seeing the strewn bodies of his fellow soldiers, both enemy and not, littering the war zone. 
A gun cocked to his left and he turned his head to see a German soldier pointing a rifle at his face. Douxie stepped back, magic tingling on his fingertips. Before either one could make a move, a gunshot rang off in the distance and the man fell to the ground, a clean shot having gone straight through the side of his head. 
Douxie looked to where the shot had come from, seeing a familiar figure jumping down from his vantage point, blond hair standing out amongst the gray fog and smoke. Douxie smiled. There he was. It had taken the wizard at least a week to make it out here, and the whole time he'd been searching for that boy he'd met back in June. Carter Howard.
Carter jogged up to him, sniper rifle slung across his back, a grim look on his face. "You okay?"
Douxie nodded, glancing at the fallen enemy. "Yeah. Um... thanks."
Carter glared at the body, shouldering his gun. "He was the last one standing. Me and the other guys picked off this group but..." he pursed his lips, looking out across the desolate sea of corpses. "A few had to take our wounded back across the river. The others... weren't so lucky."
Douxie studied him for a while. There was dirt and blood smeared across his face, a few cuts and bruises joined the blood and dirt. Otherwise he looked unharmed. "How many did you..."
Carter shrugged. "I lost count." He pointed up the hill where he'd been camped out. "The captain had me up there the whole time. It was a bloodbath." He looked at Douxie, brown eyes searching his. "Why are you here? It's dangerous to be alone."
Douxie smiled. "I got separated from my squad, I heard fighting. I wanted to come help."
Carter stared at him, looking a bit flabbergasted. Finally he rolled his eyes and started walking. "God. You're not much of a soldier, are you?"
Douxie followed him, glad to leave the carnage behind. "Not really, no. But I am a fighter. That's my thing. I want to help people."
Carter glanced back at him. His eyes held an expression Douxie couldn't quite place. He didn't say anything in response to it, but Douxie could tell he was thinking about it. 
"And you?" Douxie asked as they trekked through the woods, getting as far away from the battlefield as possible. "What makes you a soldier?"
Carter scowled at the ground. "I follow orders, I shoot the bastards invading our country, I defend the people." He paused for a moment and then sighed. "My mom was an army nurse, my dad was a soldier. I guess war just runs in my family."
Douxie stopped, alarm bells ringing in his head at that comment. "You never really mentioned your dad before. When we first met, I mean."
Carter laughed dryly. "What's there to mention? He walked out on Mom before I was even born. She never talked much about him either, she only told me he was a soldier and they met during the first war." He stopped on a hill, holding a hand out  to Douxie to help him up. "Come on, England. The sooner we get back to base, the sooner we get yelled at for straying from the  squad."
"That's not a happy thought." Douxie mumbled.
Carter grinned. "Nope."

As soon as they made it back, their commanding officer chewed them out. Or rather, he chewed Douxie out. Carter hadn't technically done anything wrong.
"I'm relieved you two are okay," he said, pacing in front of them. "But Casperan, you weren't supposed to leave your group."
"Sorry." Douxie offered, getting flashbacks to Merlin yelling at him for disappearing or leaving when he wasn't supposed to. "It won't happen again, sir."
"No, it won't." Their commander glowered at him before looking at Carter. "Carter, Sergeant Vera told me what happened. He's glad you made it out."
Carter nodded, but didn't speak.
After another moment of silence, he waved them off. "Okay, that's it. Go get cleaned up and get some food. Starting tomorrow you two are assigned to a squad with Sergeant Vera. Orders come from him. Dismissed."
They trudged out of the tent, Douxie noticing Carter's sudden mood.
"They left you there?"
"Not alone." Carter said quickly. "Just me and some others. I just happened to be the only one who made it out alive."
"I'm sorry." Douxie said. "That couldn't have been easy."
Carter shook his head. "I don't need your pity. I'm fine. Besides, I knew what I was doing."
Douxie followed him towards the mess hall, which was really just a large tent with multiple fires going and many soldiers eating around the fires. "You said you wanted a friend out here. I don't mind being that friend."
"We don't know eachother."
"Not yet." Douxie put a hand on his shoulder, meeting his gaze. "You can't isolate yourself from everyone here. We're an army and we need to work together, okay? So work with me. It's good to use the buddy system."
Carter cracked a smile. "Alright, England. I'll be your buddy."
Douxie grinned. "Fantastic."