Tears of a Dove

VIII: Journey

"May I help you?" a man asked Miku at the horse stables. She wanted to remain as hidden as possible, so she attempted to talk as quiet as she could without being recognized.

"A carriage, please." Miku requested.

"Where to?"

Thinking for a moment, the Princess thought about where Arwel could possibly be. "Take me to the east of the South Division."

The man at the stable raised an eyebrow. "May I ask why you want to go there?"

"No. I need to get there at once."

"I'm sorry, but you do not hold the authority to-"

Miku quickly became enraged and shoved the man out of the way, causing him to fall on the floor. She bolted as quickly as possible through the still winds, jumping over the fence where the horses were behind.

"Somebody, stop that girl!" someone shouted. Glancing behind, Miku saw three guards chasing her. She ran faster and jumped on a horse, making it go forward.

"Come on, come on!" Miku shouted. The horse began trotting at a faster rate. More guards started charging toward Miku's direction as the horse began to run fast now. "Haha!" she exclaimed. "Hell yeah!"

Within minutes, there was nothing but road and trees in sight. "Goodbye, Tochinokori."

~~~~~~~~~~

Arwel woke up slowly, sitting up in the back of the transport carriage. His neck hurt a lot from laying on the hard floor while the bumpiness of the roads was shaking the carriage a lot. He grunted as he peeked over the side, realizing he had come to a stop. He stepped out of the carriage as his sleepy vision gradually became clearer. It was night time, and there was a lit campfire in front of him surrounded by several large tents. Arwel squinted his eyes as he noticed a man sitting next to the fire.

"H-Hello?" Arwel stuttered as he approached the man.

"Ah. You're finally awake." He stood up. The man had a Scottish accent and was rather tall. He looked old and strong. "You're in the fields of war now, kid. I felt bad for pulling you out of Tochinokori, but I'm just doing my job, you know?"

"What are you on about?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm General Raylan Patterson of the South Division Army. And you are?"

"I..." Arwel stopped. "I'm Arwel Ghongzhou."

"Right," Patterson began. "Follow me. I have a few things to show you before we rest for the morning." Arwel followed him as he felt the rough dirt beneath his feet in the darkness. They walked for some time until they reached a small brick building. Patterson opened the door for Arwel and waited for him to go inside before closing it behind him.

"This is my main quarters' area. If you ever need to ask me anything, feel free to walk in anytime during the morning, afternoon, and evening." Patterson explained. There was a large desk in front of the door, followed by a bed behind it, as well as a dresser to the left of the quarters. "Let me take you to the back." Patterson grabbed a candle before they went outside through the back door. "This is the training field. You'll meet here first thing in the morning."

"Let me just stop you here," Arwel stated. "Why am I randomly being trained? I'm not fighting in the war, am I?"

"Well, Lieutenant Kazu ordered that--"

"Lieutenant Kazu? So it's true then? All he wanted to do was to send me away to join his army? And since when does someone like you take orders from that son of a--"