Tasteless

Another week spent traveling... I'm beginning to lose track of time.

Has it been 5 weeks? Maybe 6? We should be close now...

It should be November counting back all the days... Sadly I didn't manage to take a calendar with me but I'm pretty sure to be right...

Already deep into Autumn.

Feels like it was just yesterday whenz in the last days of June, I sneaked into the recruitment camp outside my hometown

But it is in fact 5 months since I left home... Almost half a year.

I'm growing more and more impatient as the days pass...

So many questions keep on tangling inside my head.

Will we really reach the battlefield? Could this be a "representative" type of armada than an actual attacking one?

If they had to come back to the capital to take more men and rest, does this mean many soldiers died in this Armada?

What will we find once there?

What if what I saw was just my mind playing ticks? It would means I departed for nothing...

But I had to depart anyway... Right?

Sometimes I feel like I rushed and planned too much over nothing, like a childish soldier in search of glory thinking too highly of themselves...

While sometimes I really end up believing I could make the difference out there... Me...

A young woman who never got trained...

I really am too proud afterall.

...

-Such a headache...- I murmur seating down, placing my spear beside my feets

-What's there to eat today?- ask a man closeby

-What do you think uh?- replies to him the one mixing in the big pot, standing on a small staircase

My head is particularly noisy today

I feel a low buzz in the back of my mind, tormenting me like a mosquito in a summer's night...

-I suppose something tasteless again then, if not disgusting...-

-What the?!- the "chef" yells, letting go the tight grip on the long wooden spoon

-Are you insulting my cooking or what?! You brainless idiot who knows nothing about fine food!

I suppose you would be the type to hunt a pig and eat it with fresh blood flowing on your chin!- He yells spitting at the word pig with disgust

-I just mean that it doesn't taste like anything, not that it's bad, come on chill out man!-

I pinch the bridge of my nose closing my eyes -How bothersome... Can't they just shut up? I'm already sharing room with a bug here- I hit my head with my wrist

-Ah don't mind them... They'll stop as soon as his stomach will start growling- replies Qin Luo placing down two bowls on our "table", which is a big rock liying there

-Yeah... Only problem is that today I could seriously break the nose of the first man bothering me-

He smirks pointing his spoon at the bowls -How nice of me to bring you the dinner then-

-Tz haha! Don't worry, I would never try sometime on you Liutenant Luo...You're strong and a friend of my brother... Would be a shame to ruin your pretty face too-

-So you do think I'm beautiful? I knew it-

-Even a flower is beautiful, but so are the ones beside it... Beauty is just beauty-

-When you talk like that, it is ME who will get an headache- he protests before taking his bowl in hand

-Then try it yourself!- hands over the mixing spoon the chef, as they continues their little fight

-Instead of telling how good of a cooker your wife is, prove me that you're better than me! If you know how to talk so much about food then make some!-

-I just mean that you could try...!-

-I had enough of you all! I didn't apply to the army just to cook for you all men! I was supposed to be earning money for my son, who would eat anything just to have his stomach full! And you do what?! Protest?!

UNBELIEVABLE-

I stand up rushing beside them, hitting both with the back of the mixing spoon I stole, making them back walk a bit having lost their balance

-Can you both shut up?! You spoiled brat, just fucking eat whatever they give you and don't complain... Half of our nation can't even afford cabbages you know?! This is not a banquet!

And you chef, don't be a wife on her period!

It's true, this is tasteless but it doesn't matter! Everyone has a job here or would you prefer switching with the soldiers cleanin the stalls?-

They both look at me with wide eyes without speaking a word

-Thank goodness! Now go back to eat, we have a lot of miles left!-

I put back the cooking spoon and head back to my seat, where Qin Luo is staring at me with confused eyes and the spoon rests between his pressed lips

-What's wrong? Does it taste that bad...?-

He gulps down passing the spoon in his hand -It's not that but...-

He stares back at the two men with confused expressions, as the murmur along with other men -How did you do that?-

-For real? You just open your mouth and speak, you know? That's called talking-

-Not the speech but the... Whatever that was.

You were right in front of me and then you were there!- He points with his hands -Thoee are quite a few meters, I should have seen you run...-

-What are you saying? I just sprinted a bit-

He shakes his head -I know what a sprint looks like and I already saw you doing it while we train... This was something else, I barely saw a shadow.

You were there but yet you weren't... Like... As if a spirit was passing... You can feel it but not see it... I... It was disturbing-

-Qin Luo...? What are you saying...?- I bend to touch his forehead but it's not hot

-I don't know Lai'Er... But this was definitely not an ability you earn with simple training... Just... Don't let others see it for precaution... It was inhuman-

-But I really did nothing- I say as a painful wave hits my head... -Kh!...-

He rushes up to check on me, placing an hand on my shoulder and one over my head -Is everything alright?!-

-Yes... It just hurts...Ahk...!-

While saying so, my vision goes black and that mountain appears again... It's dragging me! Again!

-Mmh...!-

-Lai'Er?!- he calls

A warm laugh resonate in my head, hurting me and all my bones... It's pushing me down on my knees.

Warm and evil... Familiar... But with a hint of new.

As I begin to see a pair of smirking lips, my normal vision comes back and I find myself gripping on the Liutenant arms while I was trying to stand against that oppressive laugh

-What happened...? Are you ok?-

-Yes...- I shake my head coming to meet his eyes -I'm now sure where to hit... For this battle at least-

-What does that mean...? How?-

-Do you trust me?-

-Yes-

-Then just come with me when we will reach our battle ground-

He stares at me worried but doesn't reply anymore.