Fearless (A Mulan Retelling)

Chapter Twenty Four

A/N - The awesome song that I shared on the side is by Petteri Sainio. It fits the story quite well, title and all. Give it a listen, for real. Also, I seem to be surprising quite a few people when I say this: Kayde represents a more serious Mushu, if you haven't picked up on it quite yet. Thought I'd let you guys know that.

Iris went back to Kayde, her face even paler than it was before. The word fearless was ringing through her mind. No one had ever referred to her as such... not her family, her ex-fiancé, or even herself. In fact, when she was still living at home, she saw herself as the opposite. She felt cowardice most of the time at Eda. Then, she deemed it acceptable to not be brave because women didn't have to be courageous, but now... now being referred to as spineless was so much more appalling.

"Why the face? Are you alright?" Kayde asked her.

"Just thinking," she told him vaguely, mind still ringing. Kayde stepped up to her and looked into her face.

"About what?" he asked, "Has something bad happened?"

"No, Kayde," Iris said, now smiling at his presumption, "Nothing bad has happened. I'm fine. Now, where are we headed? Do we want to just go to the inn and rent a room for the night or do we want to do something to explore the town while it's still daylight?"

"The second idea sounds like a good one," he said, "I'd like to talk to you about a couple of things, anyway."

"Very well," she paused for a moment, giving him a curious look, "Where do we go, then? From what I've seen of this town, there doesn't seem like there would be too many places that we can go. Do you have any suggestions?" This made Kayde stop and think for a moment. It only took a couple for him to figure something out.

"I'm sure there's some type of tavern here... we could go there. I'm sure that some of your scouting group will be there as well."

"Tavern?" her voice was innocent sounding when she said the word, even with the fruit's effects.

Immediately, a smile made its way onto Kayde's face. While it was a kind smile of sorts, Iris could detect a slight teasing in the depth of his eyes. In return, she huffed indignantly. This only made him smile more.

"Yes. Tavern. Where men go," he paused, and then added with a twinkle of his fingers, "and drink." Kayde sobered after a second.

This scared Iris a little bit, even more than going to war scared her anymore. Why? She had never even thought of drinking. After all, the act was considered very distasteful for women... especially in her town. Back then, her father would have given her a right scolding for even considering it. Now, though, she was pretending to be a man.

"Don't look so frightened," he sniffed at her, "even if I myself don't prefer it, it's not that bad."

"If you don't prefer it, why take me?" she had to ask.

Some sort of grin wisped to life on his face. "Reasons."

She gave him a pointed frown.

"Oh, don't make such a face. You got a few hours to prepare. After all, it isn't sundown yet." He began walking.

She followed in his steps out of the horse stable, confused by his previous words. What did sundown have to do with anything? Once she caught up with him, she asked him just that. This made him laugh a little.

"It's just not suggested to drink in the middle of the day," he gave her a once over, "I definitely wouldn't suggest it for you."

"Why not me?"