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Yellow Rose of Texas by Bellumsaur

Yellow Rose of Texas

Bellumsaur

"It was a warm, sunny August morning for the people of Fredericksburg, Llano; in any other year, the able-bodied saurs would be tending the fields and vineyards but not now. It was the year 1914 and a week prior, the President and Senate of the Republic of Texas had declared war on the Confederate States of America, Republic of California, Great Britain, and the Russian Empire in order to fulfill treaty obligations with the United States, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. The volunteer-based Army of the Republic of Texas was mobilized and an emergency draft had been enacted to call up reserves for what would be a two-front war against the Confederates in the east and the Californians in the west.

And, much to the dismay of one young Elizabeth Olbrich, her chickhood friend Robert Siegel was one of those who had been conscripted. The two Iguanodons had known each other practically from the time they emerged from their eggs and, in their adolescent years, their close relationship had blossomed into that of love. And now, Robert was being called to fight a war far away from their little town and Elizabeth feared for him and what may become of him. So, on this day, on the 14th of August, Siegel and the other lads of Fredericksburg who had been drafted were preparing to board the train that would take them to Leon Springs for basic training before they would be sent to wherever their respective units were being deployed. Many friends and family members were attending the train depot to say their farewells, Elizabeth being among them; she wanted to be there for when her three brothers would also depart but more than that, she wanted to say goodbye to Robert.

As she stood by the depot building with dozens of draftees, clad in their exclusive plum uniforms that had been standard in the Army since the very beginning of the Republic, their loved ones, officers, and train yard workers swarming the place. She darted her head back and forth, her eyes sweeping the crowds around her for any signs of her beloved whilst her tail swayed erratically behind her. Finally, she saw him, his blue-gray and crimson scales helping him stand out in the throng. She waved to him, calling out his name and to her delight, he caught sight of her and began making his way over to her. Both of them sporting smiles wide enough to display the flat teeth that lay behind their beaks, Siegel was the first to speak up.

"So, come here to say goodbye, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," the other replied. "Course, I'm supposed to bid farewell to my brothers, too..." she groaned in mock annoyance.

This elicited a chuckle from the male and Olbrich took the opportunity to give him a good look over: he certainly looked handsome in his uniform, emphasizing his tall, trim frame. She chuckled in turn as Robert then said, "Ah, of course you'd be more reluctant to say goodbye to them."

She simply nodded as she knew that the three brothers, Adam, Josef, and Ferdinand, had always been obnoxious troublemakers and pranksters who loved driving their family and neighbors crazy. And yet, Elizabeth realized she would end up missing them as well, missing their pranks, their hearty laughter, and the angry screaming and cursing of Mr. Goldstein from down the street that resulted from the three brothers' antics. But she didn't want to say anything, not wanting to rain on Robert's jovial parade.

Yet she didn't need to, as Robert's smile soon faded after that previous comment and he took a long, somber sigh before he spoke up again. "I'll really miss you, Eliza. I'll miss everyone here in town, the smell of the grapes in the vineyards, everything I grew up with here."

Again, she nodded, saying in response, "I'll miss you too, Robert... in fact, I'll probably miss my brothers in all their stupidity, as much as I'd hate to say it.

He smiled a little, letting out a quiet snort of amusement before suddenly leaning over and giving Eliza a quick nuzzle right on the tip of her snout. The colorations on the snout turned brighter in hue as she stared at him before giving him quite possibly the tightest hug she could manage. Patting her back, Robert looked directly into her eyes and told her, "Don't worry, Eliza, I have no doubt this silly war will be over in a month or two. With any luck, I should be back home for Christmas-"

He was interrupted by the loud, hoarse cry of an officer ordering all the draftees to climb aboard the train as it was quite clearly time to leave. Breaking off the hug, Elizabeth squeezed her lover's hands before telling him, "Please be safe."

A warm smile spreading across his face, he told her, "Don't worry, I will be."

With that, he turned around and began walking towards the train as all the other draftees were clamoring to climb aboard; as he stepped onto one of the train cars, he waved at Elizabeth who returned the gesture. She continued to wave at him as the train began to move, steaming ahead as the car he was in began to move further and further away from the depot. She also waved at her brothers who were, of course, all in the same car before the train as a whole steamed away from the train yard. As the train disappeared into the horizon, she could help but stare in that direction for a long time even as the crowd began to dissipate. Despite how crowded the depot was, she never felt more alone in her eighteen years of life than in that moment.



Something inspired by the 2nd South Carolina String Band's rendition of 'Yellow Rose of Texas', I wanted to depict a young saur in the Texas Army saying farewell to his loved one before departing to fight in World War One which I think I did fairly well at. I drew this on a new sketchpad I had received for my birthday which is friggin' enormous where the papers can barely fit into the scanner. I had to draw this into a little panel that I figured would be able to fit into it (which was indeed more or less the case). And, well, I decided to give it a little story to give it a more personal touch since I rarely get to show off my creative writing (which I consider to be far superior over my drawing skills).

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