Fearless (A Mulan Retelling)

Chapter Forty Three

The stay in Chroma was a longer one than was originally intended. The group stayed for a little over a week in order to handle everything that needed to be done. Everyone in the group, except for Jehrth, spent the time there helping clean up the rubble and ashes. The archer had to deal with family issues.

"Are you sure you are alright to press on?" the general asked the distraught soldier as they packed up the horses for Garn, "I know how painful and disheartening it can be to lose a father."

"I'll be fine," Jehrth said, looking away from Zayn, "If I don't come and help you, how will I avenge his death? I just hope that when my father died... he died with pride in his heart. I always wanted him to be proud of me."

After that, Zayn said nothing, just gave Jehrth a pat on the back. In fact, it was a very long time before anyone spoke at all. The rest of time they spent making preparations to leave, they did so wordlessly. Even as they rode, it was silent. Iris kept her eyes to the scenery. Honestly, it wasn't much... mostly what you would expect. Iris had seen the likes of it before. Even so, she thought keeping her eyes and mind focused on the sparse trees and worn trail would be better than accepting death. Even though it wasn't her family, she knew what the archer must be feeling right now. After all, she had lost a mother.

"Something wrong, Ingred?" she heard Kayde whisper from beside her. She turned to look back at him.

"No. Everything's alright," she whispered back, "I just feel horrible for Jehrth. I can only imagine the pain of losing someone so important. I just hope that he doesn't make himself sick thinking about it. I know that I did that... when my mother passed away. It took a long time for me to recover. I could never continue fighting this war had I just found out that my parent had died. Death is a hard thing to accept."

Kayde nodded in agreement. "But something we all must come to terms with, unfortunately. Everybody dies eventually. I will. You will. And if we deserve it, we rejoin our makers. That's how things are," he added, "That's how it always has been. I trust you know that, though."

It was Iris's turn to nod.

A few hours later, the group was still on the road... but they decided to stop for a little bit and take a break. They all tied their horses to trees and some took the opportunity to eat. Everyone sat about and relaxed... all except for General Zayn. He paced like a madman, staring out into the road as if he were waiting for someone.

"Why don't you rest, general?" Iris called out to him. His head snapped to her for a second, but then his eyes found the road again.

"I'm watching the road. There's someone that is going to meet with me today," he said, not looking at her. Iris stood up, stretched her body, and then walked over to where he was walking. She put a hand on his shoulder. This made him look back at her, and she could tell that he was slightly confused.

"If you want," she started in a deep voice, "I could watch for you. You need to take a break for a minute. We need you to be alert."

"I won't ask that of you."

His voice was simple. She almost wanted to laugh at him, because while he looked completely stoic... she could tell by his eyes that he really did want a break. A chance to rest his body and his thoughts. She didn't blame him. Riding a horse in heavy armor was no easy feat. She chuckled.

"Good thing you don't have to," she told him, "Go. Have a seat, Zayn. Riding isn't as hard for me as it is for you. I'm wearing thick leather... you're in metal plate. I imagine it is very heavy."