ira

Chapter 7: Entering New Territory

I woke up to an empty room. Sark wasn't in the hut. He was probably with Montohar or something. I poked my head out of the tent and noticed a bucket of water in front of the door. I took it inside and rinsed off my face, then gently went over my hair. I took off my shirt and threw on another one. Once I was content with my level of hygiene, I set the bucket outside again and went to go look for everyone. I found Ehs wandering around outside of the chief's hut.

"Hey, what's up." He asked, waving for me to come over to him.

"Nothing, have you seen Sark? He wasn't in the hut when I woke up." I looked around more to see if he was outside.

Ehs pointed to the hut, "He's having a conversation with his dad. I don't know if I'd go in there if I were you. I heard a lot of yelling earlier."

"Oh, okay. Mind if I wait out here with you then?" I sat down and rested my back against the hut.

Ehs chuckled, "Feel free, though I'm sure you would have stayed even if I said no."

I smiled, "You know me so well."

We sat outside and talked for a while, about tons of different subjects. Food, our journey, this village, and the people we've met. Finally Sark came out of the hut and stormed away.

I started to get up to go after him when Ehs stopped me, "I'll handle this, you go get everything ready with the chief, I think he wants us to leave today."

"Alright. Good luck, Sark can be pretty hard to deal with sometimes." I waved as Ehs trotted after Sark.

I pulled open the curtain to the hut and walked in. Montohar was sitting on his throne, talking to one of his advisors.

He waved him away when he saw me, "Ah, Ira. I wanted to talk with you. Not to rush you or be rude, but Sark and I were talking about it, and we think you should be on your way. If Lord Cole is planning to use this other cyborg, then he's probably assembling some sort of convoy. He'll be leaving soon, and you need to get there before he does. "

"I agree. We're hoping to leave at 2:00 so we have plenty of time to walk but also to set up a camp. Thank you so much for your help. Um, do you have the map of the badlands for me?" I asked.

Montohar nodded and stood up, walking over to the big table to the right. A map lay sprawled out with markings and drawings all over, "We put down anything, monsters or landforms, that you may run into on your way. I had people who have been out that way, where you're headed, to work on this, so they know what they're doing."

"Thank you," I rolled up the map, "May I ask what Sark was talking to you about? I saw him storm out of here."

Montohar sighed, "He's thick headed, just like his mother. He's worried about you and wants to bring guards with you. I told him you're strong and can handle yourself. He just got frustrated, kept saying I wouldn't listen. That's a family for you."

I nodded, "I'm going to go talk to him. I'll be back later when we leave."

Montohar nodded and I walked out. I looked at the sundial in the middle of the town. It shown it was noon, so we had two hours. I walked back to mine and Sark's hut and took a deep breath. Walking in, I saw him grabbing his things and throwing it into his bag.

"Hey. Montohar told me what you talked about, how you wanted to bring guards with us. Thank you for caring, but I can handle myself," I stood behind him.

He scoffed, "What a liar. Is that really what he told you? I told him I wanted to go back. I looked at the map, and it's too much, even for you. I know you care about this cyborg, but I think you should reconsider. It isn't safe."