Titanic: A Lion's Story: War Begins

Titanic: A Lion's Story: War Begins is the sequel to Titanic: A Lion's Story and second fan fiction in the "TALS" trilogy. Like its predecessor, it is also written by CynWann. Taking place in 1914, two years after the Titanic disaster, Jack Dawson is asked by army commander, Richard Henry Ames, in a letter, to come to England and fight in the Great War, (July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918). The story is based on the actual events of WWI.

Plot
Jack Dawson and Rose, now 21 and 20 years old, are living a new life in a small village in a cabin, and they are sharing it with Fabrizio De Rossi, Tommy Ryan, and Rose's childhood companion, Neko the Mouse. Despite having very little money and trying to make the best out of it, Jack does everything he can to keep Rose happy, but he is worried about her. Ever since the absolute terror they went through after the R. M. S. Titanic sank, Rose has been suffering from periodic nightmares of the disaster, and she becomes frightened of the thought of Jack leaving her and never returning.

After the last couple of days, Jack recieves a letter from an army base camp, telling him that a war in England is breaking out because Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria has just been killed by a peson named Gavrilo Princip, and that he must come to Britan as soon as possible to help fight in the war. Jack reluctantly tells Rose about this, much to her horror and dismay. The lioness begs her lover not to leave, but Jack, unfortunately, has no choice. When Neko hears about this, he insists on coming along for the journey. The young lion refuses to let Neko come with him, but the mouse is persistent and asks to go. Jack tells him to stay with Rose, Fabrizio and Tommy. He also warns Rose not to follow him to where he is going because it is too dangerous, and he wants her safe.

The next morning, Jack prepares to depart for England after saying goodbye to Rose. Neko, without anyone noticing, climbs into Jack's bag, hoping he can help him when he goes into battle. Jack goes to a train station and registers himself to volunteer in the Great War. He is assigned with seventeen English soldiers in one of the cars and some of them introduce themselves to Jack and befriend him. A couple of weeks later, Jack arrives at the base camp he and his fellow soldiers will be residing in during the war and meets his commander, Richard Henry Ames, who has been serving in battles for ten years. After Jack and the other troops are given an inspection, the young lion makes himself at home in his new dormitory. As he begins to unpack his things, he soon discovers that Neko has taken refuge in his bag. Furious at the fact that he disobeyed him when he told him not to come fight in the war with him, Jack tells Neko to give him an explanation why he is now in the camp. Neko tells Jack that he couldn't help himself, so he decided to come and assist him during the fight to protect him. He pleads with Jack to let him stay, and the young lion frustratedly gives in, but he leads him off with a warning; not to pull any foolish tricks and slow him down.

Shortly afterwards, Ames starts to train the soldiers and gives Jack the position as captain of half of the men. He spends several days teaching himself and his alliance how to protect themselves from enemy attacks and use weapons when it is time, including having gas masks on if necessary.

Many days later, Jack and his alliance are ready to go to war and they are positoned at the front line in a trench. When the German and British army begin to battle, six troops from Jack's side of the army are shot and killed. Seeing that he and his remaining solidiers run the risk of being killed temselves, Jack brings it upon himself to take control and kills many of German's troops with his rifle. After the German army retreats, Ames praises Jack for his actions, and the first half of the war is over, but there is still a long way to come.

Back in the village, Rose spends morning, noon and night worrying about Jack and if he will ever return. She is also worried about Neko because he has disappeared, but she is unaware that he is with Jack in England. In the middle of the night, the lioness has another nightmare involving both Jack and Neko drowning in the Titanic's sinking. Now on the verge of an emotional breakdown, and having enough of what she can stand, Rose decides to go to England so she can be with Jack again, despite the fact that he specifically told her not to see him, as he is afraid she will be hurt, since it is such a hazardous situation. While Fabrizio and Tommy are still asleep, Rose goes out into the hallway, locks her and Jack's bedroom door, and leaves the cabin using the basement cellar. She begins her odyssey to reunite with her lover and leaves the village to set out for England. Tommy and Fabrizio, the next morning, realize that Rose is gone. They try to look for her, to no avail. The next half of the war proves to be a huge challenge for Jack as he struggles to fight in it. He is put through countless hours with the brunt of the battle on his shoulders.

After months and days on her journey to see Jack, Rose has become sore, weak and she hasn't had anything to eat in such a long time. Desperately wanting to find somewhere to rest, the lioness manges to take shelter in a passing train, until one of the passengers finds her and agressively shoves her off, causing her to tumble down an incline and hit her forehead on a stray, metal pipe in the ground, gashing her temple. Trying to ignore the excruciating pain, Rose continues to keep going. She finally arrives at Jack's base camp five days during the war. Rose steals a quill pen and a piece of paper from a soldier's room and writes, ''"Where is Jack Dawson?" ''on it; sneaking it into another barrack. When one of Jack's troops discovers the note, thinking that Ames sent it, he replys, stating that he is in barrack #317. Rose recovers the note, looks at it and goes to the area immediately.

When Jack is getting ready for bed, he hears a knock on his door, and is shocked to encounter Rose standing in the doorway; injured, miserable, soaking wet from mud and exhausted. He then brings her inside, removes her gown, tucks her into his cot, and tends to her wound. Jack asks Rose why she came to see him when he told her not to and she explains this to him on the brink of tears, ''"You know if you leave me, it's going to kill me. I can't stand being left alone." ''Jack does everything he can to comfort her, and in the process, they make love that night.