Stick War: Inamorta and beyond

Chapter 9: Unexpected turnout

January 25th, Year 1074

"EHHHHHH?!" Grace exclaimed while pointing at Kim.

"Wait, what? Grace? Why are you here?" Kim asked.

"That's my line you imbecile!" Grace shouted.

"Umm. Kim you know her?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, remember back during yhe first battle? She was the archidon whom kept me as hostage." Kim answered.

"WHAT?!" Mark exclaimed.

"Hmph. What a coincidence... Or is it?" Ace said.

"Are you trying to get revenge on our leader?!" Elizabeth shouted.

"No, I'm not! I don't even knew it was him!" Grace shouted back.

"Well, let's cool down and introduce one another okay?" Kim said.

"This is Mark, my best friend. This is Ace the prince of the order empire. This is Elizabeth, our teammate. And I am Kim the leader of the recon team, even though you already knew." Kim explained.

"Okay I see." Grace said.

"I am Grace Fay a soldier of the archidon faction. My mission is to escort all of you to Aoks city." Grace explained.

"The irony isn't it? A soldier that once tried to take your life is now helping us." Ace said with a smirk.

Grace glared at him and the two immediately started to throw insults at each other.

"Urgh. This is going to be one hell of a trip." Kim grumbled.

12.30pm

"Oh my god! I can't take it anymore! Let's take a break." Mark complained.

"Didn't we just took a break just 30 minutes ago?" Elizabeth said.

"Ahh! I can't take this. The sun is hot, I am thirsty and there the next town is a couple of miles away!" Mark complained once again.

"Who's the idiot that says: Where's your sense of adventure?" Ace said.

Mark just glared at him, he barely got enough energy to even fight with Ace.

"Sorry about this Grace, he is just a cry baby." Kim said.

"Are all of the soldiers in the order empire this useless?" Grace asked with a smirk.

"You bitch! I had enough of you. Stop insulting our empire!" Ace shouted.

"Aren't you the one that insulted the empire by saying that we are poor." Kim grumbled under his breath.

"Ha! Your foolish father had declared war on us without even thinking about the consequences. You still dare to scold me?" Grace said.

"Look at who's the one talking! The faction that couldn't defeat a weak empire. That's pathetic!" Ace insulted.

"You scumbag, we were greatly outnumbered during that battle! How could you win with only 10 men against 40!?" Grace shouted angrily at Ace.

"Oh yeah? Well you-" Ace was cut off when Kim shouted at them

"ENOUGH!" Kim shouted so loud that even the trees shook.

"I had enough of both of you, save the arguement when we finally reach a town." Kim commanded.

"Hmph." Grace pouted and looked away from Ace.

Ace just glared at her and grumbled something under his breath.

5.00pm

Recon team has travelled a long way and finally found a grass field to camp for the night.

"We shall rest here tonight. Tomorrow, we will be going through the  Misty Forest." Grace stated.

"YES! FINALLY RESTING FOR THE NIGHT!" Mark exclaimed.

"Alright, I will be going to collect firewood. Ace, Mark and Elizabeth stay here and set up the tents. Grace, you will be hunting for food is that alright?" Kim asked.

"Okay." Everyone replied and went to separate ways to do their job.

6.00pm

"I'm back guys." Kim said while carrying firewood.

"Welcome back." Elizabeth replied.

Mark and Ace are still trying to set up the tents and Grace is still nowhere to be seen.

"Have Grace returned?"  Kim asked.

"That bitch? I bet she ran away." Ace said.

"Who says that I'm running away? I'm not a coward like you." Grace said while carrying two dead rabbits, one on each hand.

8.05pm

"Ahh! That was great!" Mark exclaimed.

"You ate most of the food you know?" Elizabeth said with a sigh.

"Now that dinner is over, it's time to sleep!" Mark announced and went back to his tent.

"How lazy can he get?" Grace said.

Kim chuckled.

"Hey, I will be going to do some sword practice. Catch you later." Ace said and walked away.

"I will be going to do something. Guess I'll see you later." Elizabeth said and walked away.

"Well, I think I will go to bed early. It is going to be another tiring day tomorrow." Kim said and yawned.

"Good night." Grace said.

"Yeah, you too." Kim replied and went to the same tent as Mark to sleep.

Kim's POV, 4 hours later

"Thanks a lot Mark for slapping me in the face." I grumbled and walked out of the tent.

I got woken up by Mark when he accidentally slapped me while mumbling something about 'sexy women' in his sleep.

Well, thanks to him that I can't sleep. I wandered into the grass field to try to relax. The grass fields are beautiful at night. There are fireflies everywhere, they look just like the stars in the sky, glittering and lighting up the darkness. In the midst of the thousands of glowing bugs, I saw Grace staring into the sky, crying.

"Grace, are you okay?" I asked.

I probably startled her and she wiped her tears quickly when she saw me.

"Its okay, I'm just remembering my fellow comrades who have died on the front lines." she said in sorrow.

Tears continued to streak down her beautiful face.

"You know, I used to have a father." I said.

"Used to?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, he was killed by a dragon when I was about 6 years old." I said in sadness.

"Ever since then, I kept this pendant as a  Momento from him." I said while pulling out a pendant that was hung around my neck.

"What is inside of it?" Grace asked.

"I don't know. The lock of the pendant has been spoilt ever since I got it. And I can't bare to destroy it." I replied.

"Are you afraid? Of dying in the frontlines?" Grace asked.

"As long as I have lived a happy life, I can die with no regrets." I said with a smirk.

"You idiot." Grace said with a smile.

And so, we sat together on the grass and admired the sight of the beautiful fireflies and stars glittering together in the night.