Mulan [Daragon]

Part 3

The moon had once again smiled upon the Land of the Morning Calm. The temperature dropped into a negative as soon as the last ray of the sun disappears, and it had made the people go back earlier than usual in their warm homes. Winter already made its mark tonight with a small shower of snow, making the ground slightly whiter and covering the brown muddy ground to make it more pleasant. It has already been two months since the start of the training, but the captain still doesn't let his troop go in for the war or even, let them help the first troop out. He always tells himself that they aren't ready yet, but the truth is: he was the one who isn't ready. Every night after training, the captain spends most of his time thinking when will be the right time to enter his troop for the war but no conclusion was made.

Meanwhile, Sandara spends her night sharpening the javelins they're going to use for tomorrow's training since sleep won't get in her way. Occupying one of the empty logs gathered around the bonfire, she began to sharpen the javelins to ease her self off the nervousness. Anxiety, was, after all, slowly eating her up as time passes by with her successfully still in the Imperial army with the men not knowing her real gender and with the captain trusting her. Sandara was absently sharpening one of the javelins when someone whispered in her ear, causing for her to miss the javelin and cut her finger.

Blood rushed out of her finger and Sandara could only frown at the sight of it.

"Sorry," The person who whispered in her ear said. "And it's your fault. You're spacing out while sharpening the javelin."

Sandara looked up, irritation spread across her face and found herself staring at the magnificent jaw of her captain. He seemed to be unaware that his jaw was merely an inch from her face because it was still near, and to make matters worse, he looked down to look at her, making their faces in an approximation of one. Her captain raised a brow, obliviously and Sandara could only clear her throat and turn her head to the opposite side, attempting to hide from him her already red face.

"I was just thinking about plans." Sandara answered after a few seconds, nibbling her lip.

"What kind of plans?" Her captain asked again and she felt him occupy the empty log beside her. Sandara abruptly stood up with a sigh, faced him and her jaw almost fell on the ground. The bonfire illuminated his face perfectly, the light highlighting the contours of his face to make it more evident and it had made him twice as handsome as he already is. Sandara closed her mouth as quickly as she had opened it and her captain raised his brow in anticipation.

"What?" He asked.

Sandara stared at how his lips moved and she found herself slowly...

"What?" Her captain asked again, now louder.

Sandara woke up from her dream trance and stammered. "I-I was planning to take a bath. I-I was planning to relax after training."

He laughed. "Then what are you doing sharpening javelins?" He waved his hands as if making her go away. "Go on!"

Sandara bowed lowly at him before retreating, and she was entering the road towards her tent when she heard a faint voice who called the captain, "Captain Ji!"

~

After Sandara gathered all of her bathing essentials and packed them in her knapsack, which she attached to her horse, she went quickly towards the small river near their camping site while riding her horse. It was empty, the small waves rippling the reflection of the moon on the water and Sandara admired how the water looked serene despite of the war.

She went off the back of her horse and stripped off her clothes after checking that she was alone. She then wrapped her body with her towel, covering the areas that need to be covered. Then she dipped in the water. Sandara sighed in relief. It was warm, relaxing and soothing. The warmth of the sun when it was still daylight was preserved well by the water. Sandara found herself going deeper in the river until the water was touching her chin. She was just starting to scrub her arms when she heard distant noises. Sandara, almost slipping, scrambled towards the back of a huge boulder to hide her and seconds after, one by one, her friends Top, Daesung, Seungri and Taeyang jumped in the bank.