A Kind Of Bravery: A Mulan Retelling [1st Draft]

11: The First Mission

Chapter Eleven:

The First Mission

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Sixteen days later

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Over the next few days Harriet's arm healed slowly and surely, until finally more than two weeks after the fight, it was but a faint scar but, that was not to say that the repercussions of the fight had gone away as well, because they definitely hadn't.

Leopold's punishment for Garreth had been a number of different things, the first and foremost being an awkward apology to Harriet. Neither of them had been too keen to go through with that. The other punishments weren't nearly as tame.

Harriet grimaced remembering the last practice. She had almost felt pity for the man. They had once again practiced archery and Garreth had been the unlucky person to have to run while holding a target. Leopold said it was to practice shooting at a moving target, but as she had seen his steely blue eyes as he watched them shoot at Garreth, she doubted very much that it had anything to do with practice. It seemed that it had more to do with Garreth being the target.

Harriet shook her head. Even she thought that Leopold had gone a little far with his punishment of Garreth, but she hadn't the guts to bring it up to the King. As time had passed, it was like Leopold was a wire and he was being pulled tight with every passing day. It seemed like any moment he would snap, and she did not want to be the one he snapped at.

Harriet fastened the drawstring of her trousers tightly, getting ready for the day's work. Leopold had told them to be as prepared as possible, warning that they would be going into a real-life war situation. That made Harriet frown as she tugged on her boots and tried to disentangle Clark from her hair.

Until now they hadn't done anything of much importance for the war effort, but everyone had noticed how more and more soldiers had filtered into the camp over the past few days. Along with soldiers coming, some men had also left the company to go to another, and Harriet and the other soldiers had been informed of how they were now officially the highest tier of the King's army. Harriet wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Harry, you ready or what?" Oliver said coming into the tent to get her, his hand holding a bowl of mush while his other held a piece of bread and an apple. "Got breakfast for us, also something special for Mr. Clark."

Harriet watched as he held out a small piece of cheese to Clark, causing the mouse to grab it from his hands instantly. Over the past few days Oliver had finally gotten Clark to warm up to him, though he still was skittish around the other soldiers. Harriet had a feeling that it had more to do with the free food factor than actual trust.

"I'm just about ready, hold on." Harriet scooped Clark up into her hands, earning herself a startled squeak from the little mouse. "C'mon Clark," she said, ushering him onto her shoulder.

"You're bringing him?" Oliver asked, eyeing Harriet skeptically.

"Of course I'm bringing him. It's our first real mission. Maybe he'll be a good luck charm." Oliver looked at her doubtfully, watching as Clark clutched onto a strand of her ever growing hair. It now touched the top of her shoulders, and Harriet had a heart attack every time she saw a glimpse of her reflection in a reflective surface, but at least Clark liked it.

"Right, if you say so, Harry." With that Oliver turned on his heel and walked out of the tent, leaving Harriet to catch up to him.

The other men in the camp were already heading towards the practice grounds, no one wanting to be late for whatever it was Leopold had planned. Harriet was thankful for Oliver grabbing her an apple beforehand. Now that there were so many people in the camp, everyone was hard pressed to get a good sized ration of any meal.