A Calming Hum
DD is a beloved friend and partner to Ahab. The dog has aided him in many of his missions, both in combat by distracting his enemies and sensing traps, as well as by helping him locate survivors in his humanitarian aid missions. The young girl standing confused and scared infront of you is one of those rescued by him during his recent deployment in the Kurdish and Turkish war. Hana, or the other members of the Diamond Dogs chose to name her Wolf, was the one person who refused to leave DD's side for even an instant. From the moment he lead her out of her hiding spot in the bloodstained remains of her village, she clung to him and refused to let him go, even when she slept DD kept her company. The one time he did not due to being called away by Ocelot she awoke in the middle of the night, screaming so loudly that many of the soldiers assumed we were under attack, and causing a great deal of trouble.
Since then DD has been by her side morning, noon, and night. Until now, when he has been called away by Ahab for a mission, with me of all people being the one DD chose to be the girls caretaker until he returns. For a moment, just as a form of stress relief, I consider what DD would look like if I shaved him bald, and then painted him pink. Considering how he mothered the children, including Eli, the color would fit him very well...
Regardless, I now have a scared and traumatized child in front of me, with her main method of coping absent, and missing for atleast a day. Before I am distracted in the thoughts of petty vengeance once more I shake my head. I need to focus on the mission right now. Young Wolf needs to be kept occupied so that she doesn't have time to panic. I kneel before the poor child, tears already swimming in her eyes and her shoulders shaking, and slowly begin to rub her head as I hold her against my chest. The loss of breath as she wraps her own arms around me and begins to quietly sob is....
unpleasant but something I can deal with for a short time.
Wolfs cries peter out after a minute or so, but as I slowly move to unwrap myself from her, her arms tighten and she begins to whimper deep in her throat. I can only blink as the sound mimics DD's own cries to a honestly shocking extent. It would appear that her name was well chosen in more ways then one. Still I cannot sit here holding the child all day. The loss of airflow through my chest is not something I would like to deal with for long, but should I escape using my powers or physical ability, the child would obviously begin to suffer a panic attack or relive a traumatic experience.
Her growling stomach gives me the solution to my dilemma. How kind of Ahab and DD to leave so late at night and trust me to care for a hungry child. With my enhanced strength I easily lift the child as I stand, her arms around my neck, and my right arm holding her securely against my hip, as I begin to walk towards the nearest mess hall. The soldiers in the halls of Motherbase move out of my way as I march forwards, the carefully measured force of my footsteps loud enough that they turn to investigate, and so move out of me and the child's way, but not so loud as to startle the girl starting at my face with what other people would consider a disturbing intensity.
Ignoring the strange looks and disbelieving stares of Ahab's men, both in the halls and in the mess, I march forwards towards the Diamond Dogs faithful head cook Joyful Catfish. My spare hand picks up a empty plate on my approach, which I then hand over to Catfish, and in front of the unusually attentive soldiers I silently gesture for the cook to fill the young girl's plate. The cook's eyes bounce from the plate in front of her, to Wolf, to me, and back again several times before she shakes her head and begins to slowly fill the girls plate with a small part of everything on the menu. It is a fair enough decision, I myself have no idea what a young Kurdish girl would or would not like to eat, and so having a wide variety of food to chose from would be ideal. That said, Catfish is taking an unusually long time to fill up a single plate, which is likely to do with how she continues to keep glancing at us instead of scooping food.
I snap my fingers, the cook's eyes darting to me, as I pointedly look at the plate in her hand, and the hungry child in my hand. The cook quickly fills the plate, hands it back to me, where I pass it to Wolf. Then I head to one of the few empty tables that will allow me to keep my back to the wall and an eye on both entrances. I seat myself easily enough, but even with a full plate of food in front of her and a hungry stomach, the child refuses to remove herself from me so that she might actually eat. After several attempts of trying to gently unwrap her from me, and achieving nothing besides an even tighter hold and glistening eyes, I finally had an idea that might get me free of this little limpet. While I would
NEVER speak English again, I could still do this much, and so I begin to softly hum to the tearful child in my arms.
It is a
simple thing, not so different to the humming I use when sniping, but the child seemed to enjoy it all the same jugging by how wide and joyful her eyes look. After a minute or so, I slowly and gently begin to unwind her arms from my neck, continuing to hum all the while. Wolf allows it, surprisingly entranced by my humming of all things, and I gently set her on the bench beside me. Placing a fork in her hand I gesture for to begin to eat and slowly she complies. She slowly cleans off her plate, eyes almost constantly darting to me, but I keep my humming going easily with my enhanced body, and slowly run my hand through her hair as she eats.
Surprisingly, after she's finished eating, she turns to me with tears in her eyes and says something in her native tongue. "Mezin Xwişk". One of the nearest Diamond Dogs, one of the ones that have been starting at you and Wolf since you entered the mess, begins to make choking sounds, but your more focused on the little girl who's crying
again. These tears though...they aren't like the ones before....they're...
happy tears? Wolf leans into you, wrapping her arms around your waist as tears running down her face, and she keeps sobbing those words again and again. "Mezin Xwisk. Mezin Xwisk. Mezin Xwisk. Mezin Xwisk."
I do not know what else to do, so I simply continue to run my hand through her hair, my humming steady, as I hope it can bring her comfort like it did before. The child cries and cries for several minutes, always repeating those words, but they slowly grow fainter and fainter, and soon enough the girl is sleeping in my arms. It is easy to see she is emotionally and physically exhausted, though she strangely seems...happier then before, so I collect her in my arms and prepare to take her to her room with the other refugees. Quickly handing Wolf's plate to Catfish behind the counter, ignoring the Diamond Dogs that stare at me from their tables, and from the doorways of the mess hall, I take my leave.
The ones in my way remove themselves after a quick glare and it is only a short time before I am knocking on the door of the barracks assigned to the recent Kurdish refugees. One of the surviving women open the door, looking confused as she stares at me and the child in my arms, but before I can hand the girl over the man who has been following me since I left the mess made his presence known by walking to the door to stand next to me. The woman looks nervous for a second, her hands tightening on the door and the dress she wears, understandably weary about being near a strange man after her....suffering before Ahab found her.
The man smiles at her and quickly beings to speak in the woman's native tongue. Ah, a translator, very useful. He can explain the situation for me. Though...the way the woman's face begins to dart from me to Wolf with such a look in here eyes...shock, grief, happiness, and understanding? I narrow my eyes at the translator. What exactly is he telling this woman? The man sees the look in my eyes and swallows nervously. Good. Quickly waving my free hand between him, the woman, and the child in my other arm I do my best to demand an explanation. Taking a quick glance at the woman, he licks his lips, and then he asks me something strange.
"Do you know what Wolf was calling you while she was crying in the mess hall?" Confused I shake my head, and the man seems to hesitate for a moment before coming to a decision, as he straights his back and looks me in the eye. "Mezin Xwisk. It is Kurdish for Big Sister." The man could have told me there was a way to remove the parasite merged with my throat and he could hardly have shaken me more. Big Sister? I had no family. I had no friends. Everything I was before Cipher and XOF found me was erased from history long ago. I was a lone assassin, killing my target, and moving on to the next. I had no purpose beyond my mission, no reason for living, until Ahab bested me and brought me here. In Motherbase, In Outer Heaven, I found a place to belong for the first time...and more importantly the man I wish to follow for the rest of my life. Even so that did not make the Diamond Dogs my family. Coworkers yes, potential allies yes, and also potential targets should one be a spy or a Silenced. Beyond Ahab, I was close to no one else in Motherbase, beyond him I was close to no one else in the
entire world.
But...this girl...after spending such a short time with me....calls me her
Big Sister? The man continues to speak after a moments pause, "Arin, the woman next to me, believes it's best if Hana stays with you during the day until, and perhaps even after, DD returns." At my incredulous look he simply shakes his head. "She has not seen such peace on the girls face since their village was attacked. She will take care of Hana when her nightmares strike but she thinks it would be best for the girl if you were to pick her up every morning, and spend the day with her. Will you do it?"
Looking from the man's face, to the woman's, to the sleeping child in my arms, I just barely managed to nod my head yes. Before they could say anything else, I hug Wolf to my chest, and then gently pass her to Arin. The woman nods in head in thanks, says what I must assume is a good night to us both, before she gently closes the door. The last thing I see is the child's face...happy and at peace. The man next to me shakes his head, and offers me his hand, which I take after a moments pause. No Diamond Dog had offered me their hand before....it is strange that one would do so now. At my look of confusion, the man shakes his head, and I can see him barely holding in the laughter building in his chest.
"You know, before tonight, most of us trusted you about as far as fucking Huey could throw you. You obeyed Bosses orders without question, but you also almost beat two of us to death with your bare hands, you worked for the guy who destroyed our first home, that was responsible for Big Bosses coma and Commander Miller's missing limbs. You even have crazy supernatural powers or some shit. Yet there you were, the ice cold sniper queen who never spoke a word, carrying and humming and comforting a child you barely knew. You did such a good job the kid started crying her eyes out and calling you Big Sister in the middle of the mess. It...gave us all some perspective I guess. It reminded us that, for all your past and your weirdness, that your a person like the rest of us, and not just a cold killing machine. Now, alot of us still don't trust you, but you took a big step towards achieving that with your stunt. Name's Repeating Parrot, I'm one of the DD's best translator's, if you ever need something translated then I'm your guy. Now if you excuse me I still need to eat dinner."
Watching the man turn around and leave without a further word I could only stand there and blink in confusion. Repeating Parrot? More like Chatterbox Parrot. Still I played the words over in my mind as I slowly walked to my cell. Ahab's men...are willing to atleast try and trust me now? Why? Because I was kind to a harmless child? I do not understand. Still, as I laid myself down on my cot, I found an eagerness in my chest that I was unaccustomed to. It felt similar to when Ahab called me to support him on a mission but...different. As I tried to pin the feeling down, a young girls voice calling me 'Mezin Xwisk' rang out in my mind, and the feeling in my chest got stronger. I was very poor at lying to myself it seems. I was looking forwards to spending time with young Wolf again. Perhaps....Motherbase might help even
me find a family.
Mezin Xwisk.....Big Sister......
I like the sound of that.
@konamikode
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