Chapter 4 – Trust

Kaze raised an eyebrow and looked down. In battle he was confident and an inspiration to his men. In the training ground he was the merciless instructor to be respected. In the face of a plate, he blinked.

"Do I have to –"

"Yes," Rin said.

"Can I –"

"No," Rin said.

"I am your teacher and your guardian," Kaze said.

"And I'm your current cook, so eat those carrots already."

Grudgingly, Kaze forked the carrots in question. When the phone suddenly rang, Kaze took the opportunity to drop his fork and went straight to it. With Rin fuming in the background, he picked up the phone.

"Boss, we have another long mission coming ahead. Director want to meet us in half an hour."

Kaze looked at Rin and smiled. "Got a job to do," he said, "and you're coming."

"What?"

"If your old man put you under my charge and care," he said, "then you are responsible for being under my charge and that means you accompany me to battle." Kaze smirked slightly before continuing, "It has been so with my people for generations in the past. You're not going to be discriminated for being a girl, so you're going to work the same as everyone."

"Your people?" Rin asked. This was the first time that Kaze talked about his past or any relation to him.

"The Qwam Ni'lal, one of the tribes of the dessert. I shall tell you about them if you wish, once we come back from the mission," he said, tucking his handgun into its holster.

"Sure," Rin said with interest. No one knew off the recent happenings of the dessert tribes. In the last century, a war decimated the region, destroying most of the major cities. Most people fled the area, but a few stayed behind. These few wrapped themselves with secrecy and there was only minimal contact with the rest of the world.

Mysterious people wearing white robes have been showing up in the cities bordering the dessert. They claimed to be philosophers and scientist that wished to carry knowledge from the outside back to their homeland.

Why is Kaze all the way here? The city is no where near the dessert. Rin asked the question in her head and came up with a few possibilities. Kaze stopped suddenly, causing Rin to bump into him.

Rin found herself in an office. Staring out the window was her own father. Tears started to pool in her eyes. Not wanting to loon emotional, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, calming herself down.

"Tonight, Kaze," her father said, "Is the last night I will be here in this office, because tomorrow, I will be sitting in the presidential palace, enjoying a sweet victory. My main army is ready to march through the city streets up to the palace. You are to make sure that the army will be able to march through the streets without massive casualty. You are the head of the military special division, use whatever necessary in your arsenal to place a rightful leader up on that palace."

"Any other request sir?" Kaze asked, his face not betraying any emotions.

"You may go," her father said, turning around, "and make sure that ungrateful thing go with you." The glare aimed at Rin hit her hard, but she stood there her eyes steady, meeting his glare with a stubborn gaze. She is no longer under his power, nor does she wish to be. She owes him nothing, and so she will pay nothing.

Kaze opened the door, ushering Rin to go first. He followed her out and firmly closed the door. He patted her on the head. "Good," he said, "you're learning."

Rin smiled. Confused, but happy she got a compliment, she proudly walked beside him as one of his people. "You're going to tell me all about the dessert tribes when we get back."

"Of course," the reply was filled with emotions she barely heard before. A soft caring feeling that made her feel secure and a trust that made her feel strong. She was ready to face anything for the first man she loved. Even death.

So the wheel of history turns. One man on top, sacrificing everything he had for that position, was going to be overthrown by someone who is willing to sacrifice everything he had to do so. Honor is lost to the deluded where it is wasted. Trust is thrust into the shadow where it is forgotten. What remain is civilization, filled with civilized people, lead by civilized leaders. And so it goes, and so it goes.

Author's Space:

The first part of Rin's story ends here. Though this is true, the story itself is far from over. This is nothing but the first arc of Behind an Eye. Sorry for the wait, I wrote a different version that would clash Hex and Rin together but it would jump the gun and I needed sometime to think about where the story is going, especially for Hex. I am going to the city of Jogja to do some research next week, so do not expect chapter 5 to be up until at the earliest Friday.