This is... it's a thing. I'm not sure what sort of thing it is. I wrote it for my RP blog and liked how it came out, decided to tweak it into a general 'fic and share it with y'all. Hope you like. ---------- Nobody ever took the teleporter to Upward. There was no reason to- nobody was out there, the base currently not in use. The mountain outpost was nothing but sky and rocks, the occasional bird. Not a soul around- the base wasn’t even accessible by train, and Jane heard that when the base WAS in use, all supplies had to be delivered via helicopter drop. That was alright. Nobody needed to be here now. Jane stood on the edge of the cliff the base was sat on. The view was amazing- nothing but golden brown rock plateaus and formations and desert far as the eye could see, a vast blue sky above, wisped here and there in white cloud. The Soldier could feel the sun warming the back of his neck, the weight of his rocket launcher on his back. The way down was sheer and stark, enough to give one vertigo. It was so high up. He almost wished the base WAS active. He’d ask the brass if he could transfer here, to where there was nothing but warm stone and vast sky. He kicks a pebble over the edge- it vanishes from sight, and he doesn’t even hear it hit the ground. Jane’s gaze then casts itself upward. Blue, blue. Blue as his eyes, filling his vision. He reaches up as if to touch it. His element. He craved flight, true flight, as eagles or angels fly. Higher than even this, beyond any hurt or loneliness, past where he could hurt someone he gave a damn about because of some nasty vicious thing in his head. The toes of his Mantreads hover over the cliff’s edge. He looks down again, tilting his vision so all he saw were his toes and the far-below ground. Like he really was… like he really could… “…fly.†Spreading out his arms, relishing the wind in his face… he breathes in, closes his eyes, and falls forward, falling like a plummeting eagle. ------- Jane’s heart is pounding in his chest. He is in a freefall, that far-below ground growing closer by the second. He doesn’t have a second to lose- he reaches around to his back, quickly gets a proper grip on his launcher, and probably at the last possible moment, fires. Ka-BOOOOM The thrust jolts him upward. Another, higher, and another and another, until he’s accelerated past the base and up into the sky above. The wide, empty sky. He dips down again and fires to catch his fall. He is laughing, a roaring, rumbling sound. Warm, his eyes sparkling. Nothing can touch him up here in this big sky. Not loneliness, not fear or anger, not even his messed up head. Here, he is free. --------- The sad thing about flying is that one must land at some point. There was an art to rocket flight. You couldn’t be greedy with how high you went, how long you stayed up. You did that, and you’d have no ammo left to ease yourself down with. You’d just go higher and higher into that endless blue expanse, so high the air got a bit thin and hard to breathe, but that was okay because the sky was your element and you are untouchable, you are a goddamn eagle and king of his domain and… …and… …and Jesus Christ you’re falling. You’re falling and you can’t decelerate because you’re out of rockets because you were a goddamn idiot who didn’t pay attention. The exhiliration is gone and replaced by an acute terror, how could you be so stupid, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go, you were supposed to die fighting like a goddamn Soldier. But you’re going to be a smear on the rocks in the middle of nowhere and nobody’s going to know what happened to you. Tavish won’t know. That’s what hurts the most. That’s what stings at your eyes and rips at your heart as the ground’s getting awful close now. He won’t know. And it breaks your goddamn heart like the impact is breaking every last bone in your body and there’s a single concentrated burst of the worst pain you’ve ever felt before everything goes black… …and then white. You blink your eyes open. Everything is still sore. The tile is cool on the back of your neck. You’re laying on the floor staring up at the flourescent lights. Nothing seems broken, you can move okay. You must’ve been relayed from Upward’s respawn to 2Fort. Home again home again jiggedy-jig. Smashed on the rocks like goddamned Icarus. Serves you right for flying too high, Soldier.
oh my gosh this character piece is beautiful! please expand upon this, I've always thought soldier should want to fly
I liked this, Anon. It was nice. A little sad, too. Hope you upload some more of these little RP things.
First of all, I want to thank you for this beautiful piece. It's not everyday soldier gets character development, and actual well, character beyond just yelling "fags!" and talking about them dirty commies all the time. I think one of my biggest pet peeves is when soldier gets stripped of every single trait that makes him special, and dumbes him down to a one dimensional hateful stereotype. Now, don't get me wrong, soldier is dumb. He's very very dumb. But he's also whimsical, passionate, and fiercely loyal. And you've captured hims beautifully. He actually has desires and it's bittersweet that he gets his dream only for it to ripped away. And that line "Serves you right for flying too high, Soldier." god damn this just gets me you know? I mean I really feel for him here. And this: this is totally random, but i really like that you didn't make soldier too smart. The few fanfics I've read that avoid the tropes I hate tend to make soldier far faaaar more intelligent than he actually is, or if he is dumb, it seems to take away all his depth. Soldier has a lot of character and depth is what I'm saying and you got him perfectly This is amazing. Please, write more about soldier, write anything. I would love to read them. Also, I know that tf2 chan is...basically dead, but if you got a tumblr more people might be able to enjoy your stories.I would readily follow you.