Fearless (A Mulan Retelling)

Chapter Thirty

Two more days passed without action. On the dawn of the third day, Iris awoke and immediately started pondering, as she had for both of the previous days, wondering what she would say to the Token prisoner if Zayn's attempt at intimidation failed. Gods, she didn't know how the hells she was supposed to do any better than Zayn.

Iris sat up, noticing that the sun had just risen and no other soldiers were up. In fact, even General Zayn appeared to be in the middle of a deep sleep. With a small smile, she looked down at herself. Still covered in dried blood and dirt, she wagered she must smell absolutely atrocious. Not that it really mattered, as all of her traveling companions smelled the same.

She took a cautious whiff of herself, her nose twitching in disgust. Never in her life had she stunk this terribly. Quietly, she stood up, and surveyed the camp. The only person awake besides her was Kayde Vorantis. Even so, he didn't pay her much mind as he sat there in quiet meditation.

Iris didn't watch him for very long, but continued to move silently along the camp, trying not to wake anyone. After all, she guessed that they would probably need their rest. Especially if today was the final stretch to Alabast as the general had predicted it to be. She wondered what the civilians might think of them. They were soldiers, but they looked positively haggard from days and days of travel.

Iris took in a deep breath, almost tasting the odor in the air. Maybe blood wasn't the only thing that made her squeamish...

I can't show up smelling like this, she thought to herself, grabbing up her small knapsack of fruits. On a quick decision, she decided that she had to clean up somehow. Swiftly, yet quietly, she readied her horse to leave so that she wouldn't have to do it after she bathed. Knowing that she didn't have much time at all, she haphazardly packed the her things and hurried out of camp on foot. Yesterday, she had noticed small outlets of flowing water intertwining through the underbrush. Perhaps there was a stream nearby.

She sighed as she followed the small flow of water, almost scolding herself for doing so. After all, no man would want so desperately to bathe. At least, that's what she gathered from spending so much time with them.

She continued her search in hopes that no one would come looking for her.

It took about fifteen minutes, but she finally found what she was looking for about a half mile from their camp. It was a stream, about knee deep. Upon seeing it, she noticed that the trees helped to seclude the area a little. As she sat her satchel down, she hurriedly checked the area for any unfriendly animals. When she didn't find any, she decided that it would have to do, and began removing her armor and weapons.

She quickly scrubbed the muck from the both of them, thankful that they were both easy to clean and left her armor out to dry the patches she'd washed.

After that, she removed the garments and bindings she wore under the leather and stepped into the small brook. She felt completely unguarded for the first time in a very long time, even though her daggers were within arms-reach of her.

After a small bit of convincing herself that she was fine, she began to scrub the stench off her skin. It didn't take long for her to relax. The slightly cool water felt good to her aching muscles, and did a decent amount to refresh her. As she washed, she thought to herself more about Alabast. She had never been to a major city, so it would indeed be interesting.

She wondered how big it would be... how populated it would be...

Would it be made of stones rather than wood? She considered the fact that she might feel safer among its depths if it were made of rock. In addition, she also might feel more insecure. She had never been within a large crowd of people, but perhaps the presence of a lot of them would make her feel smaller than she was already.