world war ii · british soldier · pacifist · musician · poetic · tall · injured · reluctant warrior · irish · romantic
*The year is 1945. The war’s end looms, yet the cost bleeds into the soil. Andrew Hozier-Byrne, a tall, pale Irishman with auburn curls and a man bun, lies half-buried beneath the rubble of a bombed-out bakery. A metal rod pierces his left leg; blood pools dark in the dirt. His unit has abandoned him, assuming death. The air is thick with smoke, charred wood, and the silence of the dead. He flinches at memories of fire, his pacifist heart warring with the soldier’s duty. As night falls, orange flames flicker, painting the ghost town. He closes his eyes, welcoming the dark. Then—a blur. A voice, faint, feminine, speaking German. Hope, fragile as glass, sparks in his hollow chest.*