The first thing Winter felt was how much his body ached. Naturally, that was the first thing the commander noticed.
'I must've slept in a bad position...' He grumbled, slightly adjusting to numb the uncomfortable ache his entire body felt. The next thing he noticed was the unfamiliar texture of the bed. It was nowhere close to a mattress. It wasn't flat. It was rough and bumpy. Grainy even. The unusual texture nudged Winter's awareness a tad bit, pushing him slightly more awake.
"Whu-?" Winter opened his bleary eyes to a view of green. He blinked a couple of times to register what he was seeing. It was a canopy of leaves, some sunlight streaming through them and landing on him. Winter groaned as he tried to shield his eyes against the light by raising his arm.
"What the..." He was more awake now. Slowly, he pushed himself up to see where he was. "Did the girls pull a prank on me again...?" He blinked slowly while looking around him.
His surroundings looked off. It was unlike anywhere he had seen before. Sure, the pranksters on base would do little tricks on him, even going as far as leaving him outside a few times, but this was nowhere close to how the naval base looked. The landscape was far too...natural. No ships, no bustling port, no familiar faces. Just trees, a stream, and an overwhelming sense of something wrong the longer he looked.
"Where am I?" Winter asked, his voice laced with confusion.
He instantly stood up, his mind completely awake after realizing that this place was possibly even further out from the naval base than before. That was when he noticed his clothes. "What the-?" He gripped them, looking at the cotton tunic shirt and pants that came from nowhere. They weren't the clothes he wore last night! In fact, he didn't even have anything like it!
His brain was now firing on all cylinders as it reviewed the situation. He cautiously looked around the area. The trees were tall and the air was thick with the scent of pine and damp earth. A small stream gurgled nearby. And…he was alone. Utterly and completely alone.
"This isn't funny anymore," Winter muttered, running a hand through his white hair. He pinched himself hard on the arm. It stung. This wasn't a dream.
Okay. Deep breaths. Think. The last thing he remembered was getting ready for bed in his quarters after a long day of training exercises. Now he was here. Wherever here was.
"Right." Winter said, straightening his posture. Besides the weird clothes and the environment, nothing else screamed at him. His instincts didn't warn of any danger. The sounds of the forest were soothing and the birds chirping only confirmed that everything was peaceful, that he was safe and that there were no threats nearby.
"First things first, assess the situation. Done. Second, find civilization."
His mind kicked in. He scanned the surroundings once more. The sun seemed to be relatively high, indicating midday. Time was of the essence if he wanted to return back to base before nightfall. Winter needed to find signs of civilization. The Pacific naval base was far from the closest towns, so his only was to walk around until he found the road.
"Those girls really took it too far this time. I'll have to actually give them a punishment." Winter grumbled while walking, carefully pushing aside branches and stepping over fallen logs. Luckily, the leather boots he had- another unusual article he had never worn before- provided some protection against the troublesome forest floor.
As Winter walked following the stream, the sound of soft footprints and rushing waters were the only thing he heard. The air tickled past gently swaying plants, blowing cool winds toward him. The environment looked scenic and enjoyable, if not for the storm on his mind.
"What a great way to spend my day off. I barely have any back at base and now I'm stuck out here until I find a road." Winter complained while trudging along. "Let's see how they like it if I reduce one day off from each of them once I find out who did this." The naval base should be nearby. At least maybe two hour's walk considering the time. Any further than that and the shipgirls would've made it too far to make it back for lunch.
'And I haven't eaten yet...' Winter was reminded as his stomach suddenly grumbled.
Those girls were going to lose their breaks once he got back.
.
.
.
Winter was sweating.
Two hours. He had been walking for two hours. Winter eyed the sun's position again, triple-checking his direction. He was due south, which should've ran into a couple of the roads heading to their base. Yet, he hadn't seen any roads at all. Just how lost was he not to come across any?!
"Seriously? How far did they bring me?!" Winter wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, taking a moment to catch his breath. The stream kept babbling away, promising a constant source of refreshment- if you ignored that the source wasn't purified. Not that Winter had any other options at the moment.
A light breeze rustled through the leaves above, sending dappled sunlight dancing across the forest floor. In the distance, a glowing blue lake emerged from view.
'A lake? There are no lakes near the base...' Winter gaped at the sight. He had seen a topographical map of the base and region, but absolutely nowhere did a lake exist.
The lake itself looked pristine, clear water lapped gently against the shore. The size was big, and it would take him several hours just to walk around the edge.
"Okay, what the hell." Winter said to himself as he sat near the shore. He hoped to find something edible while here. His stomach was growling and Winter was starting to think that he would have to resort to eating leaves or berries if nothing else turned up soon. It was risky, but he made sure to pay attention to which fruits and berries the animals ate. All of them fled when he approached their direction, but a few minutes of scrounging and Winter managed to identify the food they ate.
Looking up at the early afternoon sun drifting overhead, Winter decided to take a break. He was tired, his body was still hurting from the uncomfortable position he slept in- that would take a couple more hours before the ache was gone- and he was hungry.
"The base should have a tracker on me...I hope." Winter sighed while lying down behind some bushes. It was a good hiding position and so far there hadn't been any dangerous animals nearby. A short nap would help regenerate his energy before he moved again.
...
Winter woke up with a start. The sun had moved a lot, a good several degrees closer to the horizon.
"Damn it." Winter muttered, rubbing his eyes. " Just how tired am I?" He must've slept for an hour. A quick estimation using his hand and the horizon gave him about three hours until sunset. His grumbling stomach also reminded him that he needed to find food. The small stream he followed earlier was a good enough source of freshwater, even if it wasn't filtrated like those in the base.
At least, his short nap recharged him. Winter felt like he could go on another trek. The lost commander patted himself down while exiting the small patch of bushes. A quick trip to the stream quenched his thirst. Fortunately for him, the water didn't taste bad.
When he emerged back to the lakeside, Winter scanned the lake again. He was deciding on which direction to start from when he saw a discernible figure in the distance wading in the water.
Is that...?
A person! An actual person! They were in the lake probably half a kilometer away from his position, but Winter could identify a person when he saw one. At least, he thought so.
He started jogging along the shore, waving an arm in the air to catch the person's attention. They were clearly focused on something else as they didn't notice him until he was a few hundred meters closer. The person immediately ducked into the water for some reason. Ignoring the weird reaction, Winter began shouting to call their attention.
"Heyyy!!! Can you hear me?!!!"
Something fast flew through the air.
"Eh-?" Winter blinked before the blur smacked him in the face. The first thing he noticed was that it was wet, followed by the sudden stench of something fishy. He recoiled and jerked back, catching sight of the projectile.
Fish. It was a fish.
'What? Why a fish-?' The stunned admiral blinked a couple of moments registering what the person threw at them.
"Ara ara, Shikikan~ Do you want to die~?" A very familiar voice reached him.
"Ha?" Winter looked up. He wasn't expecting to hear that voice. She wasn't someone to pull pranks this bad on him. She was too-
His thought process cut off when he spotted her pissed expression. Only her face remained above the waterline while the rest of her body stayed below.
"Atago? What's going o-" Winter caught an eyeful of heaven. Below the waterline, Atago was shyly covering what little modesty she could. Her left arm covered her exposed tits, her body curled and positioned in a way to cover her privates.
Oh. So that's what's going on.
"Shi~ Ki~ Kan~ You're still looking~" Her raised tone was pissed, the opposite of the smile on her beautiful face. Or maybe it was also the slight angry curve of her eyebrows and narrowed eyes that revealed more emotion. "It seems you really want to die~"
"Wait, I'm sorry-!" Winter stepped back nervously. He saw the smooth surface of the water break as something grey broke through.
A rock. A human-sized rock.
Atago casually lifted a rock bigger than him over her head with her right arm.
Winter saw his life flash before his eyes. To this day, he had never even gotten to see the hidden beauties of the shipgirls on his base. All of them were eye-catching and from beyond this world, but never had Winter tried to peek on them...aside from his imagination that was. Who wouldn't?! They were the most beautiful of manifestations sent down from heaven. Whoever was the scientist behind the Azur Lane program, all men working on the base would agree that they were God's messiah to humanity.
Winter at least held himself to a better standard. Or at least what he believed was a better standard. A couple of admirals on the base had already been discharged for laying their hands on the shipgirls.
"Have mercy! I'm sorry!" Winter closed his eyes and dropped to his knees, praying to the famed Fox Goddess of the base. Maybe he'd be forgiven for his sins and survive another day. He couldn't die now! Not when he was finally blessed with a sight worthy of paradise.
"Turn. Around."
Winter scooted on his position until he was facing away.
"Don't even move. I see you move, I will throw this rock at you."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
Atago's eye twitched.
"Shut up and don't move until I get back."
It was an awkward moment as Winter faithfully waited for his demise. He heard Atago emerge from the water judging from the light splashing sounds and her wet footsteps angrily thudding away to the treeline. He didn't dare peek, satisfied with the scene of her in the water glaring at him. It was the most he had seen in the few short years he was on the base.
A few minutes later, Atago returned. Something huge whizzed through the air, followed by a humongous splash as what he assumed was the rock crashed into the lake.
Winter gulped.
Goodbye world. Maybe this was what he deserved for his sinful transgressions.
"You shall never speak a word of this. Right, my dear Shikikan~?" Atago's honeyed words reached him, sharp and full of intent.
"Y-yes, Ma'am!"
Atago felt her face twitch again. She wasn't used to hearing Admiral Winter call her that way.
=== CHOICE ===
What happens in the next chapter? Comment your choice and I will read them to see the most popular pick.
1. The Admiral and Atago roam around the forest for a couple days to learn and experience a little bit more of survival in the wild.
2. The Admiral and Atago find a road and make their way to a village.
=== END ===
Author's Note
This will be a Choose Your Own Adventure story with the readers deciding what happens in the next chapter. I'm open to donations if you support the story. On the chance you do donate, I will include your suggestion into the story. Characters will be added along as we go, but will only be limited to the size of a single party, maybe around 6-8 members (including our commander).
The donation link is on my profile. When you donate, I'll be happy to chat with you concerning your suggestion and how to implement it.
P.s. Yes, this story is also NSFW. Graphic sexual scenes will be written depending on how we can develop the story.