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.
At least it will be something different... I'm damned tired of these forests, her inner voice whispered. The stray thought had her wondering how much she'd truly changed in all this. Ingred had surely done more to change her than she even guessed. While she was certainly still Iris... it wasn't the same one she had been. She laughed a little bit at that, very aware that the former Iris Gwenneth would never have found herself completely undressed in the middle of a random wood --especially so because she was undressed so she could wash all the blood from her body.
As much as there was, it was hard to differentiate whose blood was whose. Though she guessed that the crusty red flakes around the gash on her side were hers. Quietly, she cleaned the wound. As she first patted it, she took a deep breath in through her teeth.
It definitely stung. She eased her hand a bit, though that hardly helped.
To keep her mind off the pain of the slash, she began to hum cautiously. When she realized that no one was near at all, she decided to softly sing a song she had known for her entire life. It was nothing but a folk song that her aunt used to sing, but still it comforted her. It had been awhile since she had sung, but now she was alone. For the first time in gods knew how long, she was completely by herself. No Zayn, no Kayde, no recruits, no family... no one. The only person there with her was her reflection on the water's surface.
It was a good feeling.
Even though she knew that she would have to get back before the soldiers awoke, she still took a minute to enjoy herself. After all, she figured she deserved to relax every once in a while. Especially with all the stress that she was under lately.
With her own soft melody, and the light cooing of the birds, Iris found peace.
----
General Zayn was the next one to wake up in the camp. With a light yawn and couple of blinks, the world came into focus around him. Upon waking, he noted that he had been getting better sleep for the past two nights. He guessed that had something to do with the the fact that he'd been staying gods damned exhausted from all the traveling lately.
Sitting up in his bedroll, he noticed two things immediately. Kayde was already up, and Ingred was nowhere to be found. Zayn scanned the camp for the rogue, not finding him anywhere near the fully packed horse. After a second, the general stood, slightly confused by the soldier's disappearance. At least, for a moment.
"Probably on a morning run," he grumbled to himself with a shake of his head. "Gods."
Zayn was quick to get ready, as he didn't put his armor on immediately. Noting that everyone else still slept, he figured that he might as well go for a jog too. Maybe it'd wake him up a little. After all, he needed to stay alert throughout the entirety of their mission to ensure its success. Even in moments like these, where nothing important was happening. Well, seemingly. Tokens could be hiding anywhere, at any time... he was keenly aware of that.
The forest was extraordinarily quiet, Zayn noticed, as he took off through the trees. Besides the birds, the only sound that could be heard was the light thudding of his feet. This discomforted Zayn a bit, causing him to lighten his steps to the point that even he could not hear them. It took more effort that way, but he kept it up. Even then, something about the quiet made the general even more cautious.
On a side thought, he wondered if there were any more Tokens about. The sheer idea of it made Zayn strain his ears even more. Yet, he did not hear anything that would suggest that there was any enemy nearby. Or even a friend.
As Zayn ran, he wondered if Ingred was back at the camp by now, waiting on everyone else to wake up and prepare for the day... or still out doing whatever it was that he did in his spare time. General Zayn guessed that either could be true, and then let his mind wander to other things.
He didn't keep track of his thoughts whatsoever for the next few minutes. In fact, if someone had have asked him what he was thinking about, he would have absolutely no idea how to answer them, even if he tried. Even with an active mind, though, Zayn was still aware of his surroundings as he kept running.
And then, a light, melodic sound rang through the air.
The general's ears twitched, and it took a minute for him to register what he had heard. A song. Upon realizing this, he skidded to a halt and listened as hard as he could manage.
Soft lyrics crooned through the air, giving the forest slight serenity. The song came from out of nowhere, and immediately the general wondered if it the voice was even real. After all, it was a woman's voice. Surely no normal girl would be out in the woods, he thought to himself. Zayn figured it had to be some kind of trap, putting him on edge.
Even so, the general's curiosity was successfully piqued. So, he followed the singing, focusing on the words. He hadn't ever heard the song before, so he listened in enjoyment. It sounded to be an old folk tune, one the bards might sing at campfires and taverns.
It didn't take long for him to find the source of the voice. As he reached the woman washing in the stream, she was singing the very last words to the song.
Upon seeing her, he immediately saw that she had her head down and seemed to be singing to herself. He was surprised that it seemed more like casual singing... like it was normal for her to be out here bathing. Another thing he noticed instantly, was that she was, in fact, bathing. He immediately shielded her torso with a hand and hid behind a nearby tree.
Yet, he continued to watch her, wondering where she had come from. Why she was here. Her voice was pretty, and from what he could tell from where he was standing, so was her face. Well... at least her profile was. She wasn't looking at him, so he couldn't tell much. Not to mention the shoulder-length black hair that shielded her features further. He dared not look at any more of her.
"What the hell is going on here? What is this?" he mouthed quietly to himself after a couple more seconds. He shook his head, finally noticing the items scattered about the forest floor. Weapons... and armor. Confused, he looked back up at the girl's face just in time for her to face right in his direction. With that, General Zayn's stomach tied itself in several knots as he registered what he saw.
"Oh," he said slowly. "Oh shit."
Of all the faces he expected he might see on the woman, this was not one of them. Even through the haze of surprise and confusion, the features were unmistakably familiar to the general... for they were the very features of his own rogue recruit...
Ingred Gwenneth.