Hey.
Hey...
Don't cry, my dearest.
Don't cry.
Everyone has to leave soon, and so do I... so do you.
You will meet better people in your life, and they will take care of you.
Of course I'll be ok! Who the heck do you think I am?
I'll be fine wherever I go, the only one that I worry is only you, ok?
I hope that you'll smile again, and be fine on your journey to another phrase of your life.
So now...
= = =
Hey,
How are you right now? It's been years since your departure, I hope you have a lot of adventures and stories to tell me!
If you ask how do I do, I'm doing very well right now. I have a family to feed, and companions to adventure with. Yeah yeah, I know it doesn't sound like me to have a family but hey! Time changes people, alright?
How is your sword? Is it still good? Well, it was pretty cheap quality so it's alright if you want to change it, y'know? I mean, don't fight your enemies with weak swords, alright? You're a knight right now. There's no need to keep that poor sword by your side.
By the way, I'm going to move to the borderline pretty soon. The mountains here aren't enough to keep my babies fed so yeah! If you can't find me - don't worry, I still can find you HAHAHA!
I'll let you listen to my story another time, ok? The kids are shouting at me again. Bye!
= = =
Hey,
Sorry for not contacting you for a long time but there's been a lot of stuffs going on. We managed to get to the new place - woohoo! The new place is pretty fine! My kids loved it here. The forest are well and so was the rivers. It is the best place in the world! I think I'm going to stay here forever HAHAHA! Oh but, it's a bit hard to find so don't even bother about it.
I don't travel anymore - as I said, I'm staying here forever hahaha! But so far, everywhere I travel, I could hear your name, and your stories! Congratulations for promoting to general! I didn't even need to ask how are you right now, 'cause it seemed that you're doing very fine hahaha! I swear I could hear people naming their kids after you already. Heh, maybe I'll name one kid after you too! I have the 5th kid already, and they're really awesome! Maybe I'll get a 6th one? Hahaha! But it's a bit of trouble though, I mean, with a lot of children... but hey, perhaps they will help me out one day!
I hope for your future to go well, and so for myself.
"...and that was the last time I heard of her," The general smiled softly, touching the tombstone of her dearest. Around her were beasts, the guardian of the tombstone. They did not attack her, but welcomed her to reconcile with the person that she has been finding for such a long time.
"Hmm... I guess she didn't want you to-"
"SHHH. You KNEW she didn't want her to worry...!" The rabbit shut the tiger's mouth in an instance, whispered to him, then noticed that the general actually heard them. The general just raised an eyebrow, eyeing at the guardians of the tomb. They were silent for a while, before the general decided to draw her sword out.
"What's the truth behind this, guardians," The general's tone was cold, and fury reflected in her emerald orbs.
"We... promised not to tell," The owl spoke, unfazed by the general's piercing sword to her side. "Not even under threats, dear general."
"...that's not the answer I'm looking for, guardians," The general was about to cut the owl down, before the wolf pounced onto the general.
"You can't do this. She would not be happy to see this, general," He barked, glaring at the general.
"Who are you to decide her happiness or not?!" With a strong push, the woman in black able to get rid of the wolf on top of her. With a raging anger, she swung her sword down towards the guardians in front of her, which prompted them to evade and decided that they should stop her.
But not killing her, of course.
"For years, I have been trying to get back to her... For years, I have been trying to find her... And now you're telling me that all her news are lies?!" The general roared, swinging her sword to fight back the guardians. "First you tell me that she doesn't have children of her own, and all of you are the beasts that she adopted... I knew it's funny for her to just get married like that - she used to tell me that she hated kids too! Damn it... Damn it! How many lies do you intend to paint to cover up your sadness, Irhat?!"
"Stop this, general!" Fearing that she might actually slice down the tomb, the tiger went forth with his large body to block the sword.
"I knew it was funny when people made that face when I asked for your name... Goddammit. People looked down on you, Irhat!" Furious blows strike the tiger over and over again. "Why don't you just tell me exactly how people treat you?! Why don't you just tell me that you're not doing well?! I could have summoned the entire army down for you, storm this place into a wasteland for you! Why?!" A strong blow. "Why?!" Another blow. "WHYYYY?!" And it broke the sword into half.
"General!"
"Why..." The broken sword dropped to the floor, making a loud clang. "Why can't you just... depend on me a little..." It contrasted with the general's soundless sob. "I'm not the kid that you used to shield anymore... I'm... I'm a general goddammit. I have powers. I can do whatever I want. I can protect you this time... I don't need you to protect me until the end... I want to make you happy like how you did for me...!"
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The rain started to fall.
The sound of the raindrops covered the wail of the general - crying like a child who lost her mother. Perhaps it literally meant that way for her, as Irhat served both as a friend and a mother towards her until she was a teenager. The guardians were weeping silently too, unable cover their sadness as the truth sips in - that they remembered the hardship that they went through: to bear the torments from the various villages, to run away from people that hunt them down, to remember how their mistress worked very hard for all of them, and to protect the general's name to not be tarnished by her own bad reputations.
The owl felt the guilt, every time she brought letters to the general from her mistress, for she knew that the letters were lies, and that she couldn't tell the general the truth and ask for help.
The tiger and the rabbit were not looking good as well. If they didn't speak of anything just now, perhaps then the general will not find out of this truth, and that the general will go back in peace.
But at least she knew, they thought.
At least she knew the truth, even though it was a bad one.
She will not be lied again anyway...
= = =
I laughed, not because I was 'Strong'.
You don't want to see my crying face any longer, do you?
And I hope for you to remember me at my most beautiful moment.
Goodbye?
That last word is nowhere to be found.
What I wished for wasn't anything grand -
just the words, "It's all right if you stay."
But it's all right,
For you have became better without me...
