Once they stopped thinking about such things Jerry brought up a very valid point to David "Technically we're all fitting into a new life, particularly civilian life. You are just a more strange case if what you say is true, We were former military as you know."
Then he asked, "What war were you fighting in?"
"The second great orcish-alliance war... The First one was ten years ago now. Orc expansionism has been getting out of control and now they're trying to make orcs from the alliance join them. Awful mess really. Stevie is an orc, absolutely hates the Expansionists. They killed his dad and did something really awful to his mum in Carkau. Narrowly escaped indoctrination and now is a full-time labourer at the shipyards." Jerry says while sitting back.
"Wow... sounds like hell... how come he ain't in service?" he asked.
"When they put him on the draft and sent him overseas he strangled and snapped the necks of many an orc POW in fits of rage. Got discharged... honourably or dishonourably three years into his conscription. Now he is a ship labourer," Linda replies with a sage nod.
"Yeah, lives over the road from us. Don't bring up the past as you know," Linda cautions.
he nodded as he watched the TV after it eventually warmed up and turned on to the IKHS or the Isle Kingdoms Home Service. On the TV was a well-dressed presenter chatting about the current news and then the war "The Gartendi offensive yesterday resulted in a desperate retreat and evacuation of forest elf forces from Barshead Beach to the Isle Kingdoms. Within the next few days, the wounded, sick and alive elves will arrive at various ports around the country."
"Wasn't expecting the Gartendi forest elves to fall so quickly..." Jerry said in disbelief.
"Bloody hell..." Linda sighed sadly.
I then asked, "What, why are you two so gobsmacked?"
"We were there, last of the Isle Kingdom's evacuee soldiers. Five years of serving fighting on that front," Jerry muttered in regret.
They watched the footage of the sick and injured being carried off onto the boats and a few officers watching them being pulled away onto the boats. The scene was sad but what the siblings must've seen was horrific. The worst part about it was seeing the bodies floating in the water and lining the beach like it was Dunkirk all over again.
David then mentioned, "Looks like Dunkirk..."
"What's Dunkirk?" They both ask watching the scene on the black-and-white TV.
"Back on Earth, We had a second world war and British and French forces evacuated from France when the Nazis invaded. A bit like how the Isle Kingdoms and the forest elves have to evacuate the beaches of Barshead." He explained to them both.
"Bloody hell, so your world went through something similar?" Linda asks.
"Yeah, lasted five years before peace was announced after Japan surrendered. Led to an Allied victory," David explained before then saying "While elements of our world history are similar, it sounds like your war has been going on longer."
"Yeah, ten years ago, orcs started up their own supremacist expansion movement again after a ten-year peace agreement. Never understood where this contempt for other races come from," Jerry says to me as we sit and watch. David changed the channel nob to view a little comedy routine made by a joyful human guy to lighten the mood.
They laughed, and it took the weight of the current world and his world off his mind as they sat comfortably, wasting a few hours before it wasn't long that he passed out on the couch in this old-style house after he had some generous dinner given by the elves that housed him after his sudden trans-dimensional transport.
David woke up to the sun cracking through the curtains as he woke up from the dream or nightmare of him laying blankly in a hospital bed with the sound of beeping and that was it for five minutes. It spooked him and got him in a sweat that he quickly took the blanket off that was over him.
He got up and then went to the kitchen and then looked for a fridge... but there wasn't one, however, there was a door that had "BASEMENT PANTRY" in block letters and then Dave shrugged before opening pulling the chain which switched on the light and then headed down the stairs and looked about in the rather cold basement for a bottle of milk and that was it before coming back up.
He started his day with cereal and cleaning up way before the two dark elf troopers, who returned home on the boat from duty on what seemed to be a brutal theatre of war.
This world wasn't some video game either but there were actual people, not just some blank NPCs or anything, He could see the pain in the eyes of Linda and Jerry seeing that scene from yesterday on the TV.
Now it was a matter of waiting for them to come down as David would slowly have to learn about his new life since his dreams seem to tell him that he's in a coma but he wanted to know for certain.