Not Gonna Die (A Skybrine Fanfic)

|Chapter 16| Telling yourself lies

         The sudden disappearance of five Generals practically overnight did not go unnoticed by the recruits and when they did not return after a few days, panic started to slowly simmer. The only reason why this low simmering didn't explode into total chaos was due to the constant instances from Jason, Jerome and Quentin that the five had not been captured, killed or otherwise harmed and were going to be coming back in a week or two.

          What also helped in keeping the panic to a minimum was the large load of work that had to be undertaken. With the Games coming up and the delegation from neighbouring armies soon arriving, events had to be organised, equipment built and set up, practise weapons made and a general cleanup of the base. Both also provided alternative topics for discussion, for which Jason, for one, was very relieved. Keeping the base running was much more of a struggle with only three Generals rather than the full eight and the added worry of what was happening with Adam was wearing him down faster than usual. Any sleep he got was disturbed and he more often than not woke up more tired than he had been when he went to sleep. He wasn't the only one; Jerome was getting down from bed later and later and Quentin had bags under his eyes. As it was, Jason was close to dropping off when he was sitting at his desk, his head propped up on his arm, eyes drifting close. A knock on the study door startled him and he jumped awake, head slipping off his hand and almost hitting the table as the door opened.

          "General Jason, I just need you to- Oh, is this a bad time?"

          The lady framed by the door was a little shorter than average, her long black hair hanging out down her back and her long fringe tucked behind her ear. She wore beige tights underneath her purple shorts and she wore a purple t-shirt but with grey gloves on her hands which held a small stack of papers. Her purple and black boots came up to her mid-shins. Her warm brown eyes surveyed the General and an understanding smile came onto her face as she saw his bemused state.

          "Drifting off to sleep again?" she asked kindly.

          Jason gave a small chuckle and ran a hand through his hair. "I haven't been getting the best of sleep lately," he admitted. "And the fact that half of the Team is gone doesn't exactly help the situation."

          "Hm," the lady said, ruffling through the sheets. "Well I can sort out the scout groups and guard rotation, but Red would be better than me at organising the construction groups, so I'll leave that to him. I will have to get you to sort out the preparations for the delegation, however."

          "That's fine, I can do that," Jason said, taking the few sheets she held out to him. "You're a freaking life-saver Jess."

          "Thank you," Jess said with a smile. She was halfway out the door before a thought struck her and she turned back. "Oh, Ross wanted to have a talk with you, I believe he'll be in the stables."

          "Alright, I'll visit him in a few minutes."

          Jason tried reading through the papers but after several minutes of the words blurring out of focus, he gave up and walked to the stables to meet Senior Commander Ross, who, along with Senior Commanders Jess, Red and Barney, were keeping the base running smoothly, helping to fill a lot of the gap left by the five Generals. Ross, a middle-aged man with red-brown hair and an almost unhealthy fascination for grey clothes, was already waiting for him and finished off his conversation with the stable hands when he arrived.

          "Hey Ross," Jason said. "You wanted to see me?"

          "Yes, over here," Ross said, directing Jason away from the curious stable hands and towards a stall near the end of the stable, which housed a tall, chestnut-coloured Arabian horse. But it wasn't the horse that Ross wanted to talk about, which became apparent as he busied himself with feeling down the horse's legs.

          "The recruits are getting restless," he said in a quiet voice. "They want to know where the other Generals have disappeared to."

          "Why, are they thinking we're covering something up?" Jason asked, copying Ross' movements.

          "Well, you haven't lied to us," Ross said hesitantly. "But you also haven't said anything even slightly specific about where they are. Not that I mind," he quickly added, "but others do and they're putting pressure on us Senior Commanders to get answers."

          Jason hesitated and Ross met his gaze. "You do know where they've gone, right?" he asked.

          "Yeah," Jason said, nodding. "I just... It's not my place to say why they've gone, and I don't exactly know when they'll be back. And I don't think I can say where either."

          "You've got to give us something to tell them," Ross told him quietly.

          "What can I do, lie?" Jason shook his head. "That'll cause more trouble in the long run. Just tell them... They've gone... to sort something out. It was something that came up suddenly and it was pretty urgent, but they'll be back as soon as they can."

          Ross nodded, a slight frown on his face. "I think I can work with that. If they're not happy with it, I'll just tell them to suck it up."

          "Thank you." Jason gave the Arabian a gentle pat. "Nice horse, isn't he?"

          "He's a she," the Commander said without a trace of a smile. "And yes, she's quite high-bred. I was thinking of keeping her for messages rather than as a battle horse, she doesn't quite have the weight for it but her stamina and speed are off the charts."

          "You're the horse master," Jason said and giving the horse one last pat, left the stable. He was only just outside the door when he had to dive out of the way as two riders skid to a stop only just in front of him, both swinging down from their saddles.

          "Oh, sorry Jason," Jerome said, taking off his helmet and wiping his forehead. "Didn't see you there."

          "All good. Any word on Lord Vikk's scouts?"

          "They're raiding again," Jerome said darkly. "Just being a nuisance to our scouts at the moment but it won't be long before he starts to send parties in here at night to cause trouble."

          "Brilliant, so more guards then?"

          "It won't helps," the other man said. His accent identified him first, which was confirmed as he also took off his helmet, his hair cut so short to his scalp that it was impossible to tell what colour it was. Senior Commander Barney was often mimicked due to his interesting accent, although there were few who could successfully pull it off. "I'lls checks the wall and secrets ways in. They won't be gettings past withouts me knowing."

          "Thanks, Barney," Jerome called as Barney walked off, leaving his horse to the care of the stablehands. Jerome did the same and he and Jason slowly strolled back up to the castle.

          "No word from the guys?" Jerome asked quietly.

          "Nothing," Jason mumbled back. "But it makes sense. It would have taken them a few days to get there and any message would have to travel that far as well."

          "Yeah," Jerome said, kicking at a rock. "I just hate not knowing. But like you said, it takes a few days to get there and a few days to get back."

          "They could be coming back right now, for all we know," Jason said, forcing his voice to be positive. "After all, they might have only spent a few hours there. It shouldn't have been that big of a drama, after all."

          "And there's that other sorcerer there," Jerome added. "Seto said it himself, that sorcerer can help him. The two of them will be able to sort it out."

          Jason nodded, but neither of them felt in any way relieved. This was what Jerome, Jason and Quentin had been constantly telling each other, though it did nothing to make it easier to ignore that nagging voice in the back of their minds, telling them that they were horribly, horribly wrong.