Chapter 4: Bad Day Blues

"What's wrong with him?" Dennis whispered to Jill, while discreetly gesturing towards Chris, who just had finished reprimanding a teary-eyed Sutton for failing to report for duty on time. "Poor Sutton was only a bit late! Honestly, you would think that he'd let that slide, especially when you consider where we are... I mean, how are we supposed to be on time when we can't even tell it?"

"Shush, Dennis, or he'll hear!" Jill hissed back. "You know better than antagonizing him when he's in a bad mood."

Dennis did know this very well, and much like the other members of the Obstinate Arrow unit, he had gathered this information from a series of first-hand experiences. Despite of his short stature, Chris was a formidable opponent – especially when he was pissed. He usually invited the cause of his fury to a spar with him, which really would be better described as a controlled fight to the doors of death. Thankfully, it didn't happen very often, because it took quite a lot for the man to finally lose his perennial cool. But once it happened, oh boy.

"I'll go and check on Sutton, Chris was pretty harsh on her. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, alright?"

Jill shot a quick glance at her comrade, unable to dispel her vision of Dennis face-down on the ground under Chris' menacing glare. But there was nothing she could do; she knew Dennis too well to even try. That man was almost as stubborn as their leader; perhaps that was why the two were so close. But not even Dennis had immunity against Chris' occasional foul moods, so Jill simply made a mental note of where their healing kit was located and walked over to Sutton, who was sulking by the tents.

"Did you want something?"

Said person visibly froze when he realized from where, and more importantly whom, the question had come. Chris didn't look happy. In fact, he didn't look happy at all. But what could be the reason for this sudden change of mood? Chris had seemed his normal, impassive self the previous evening, so perhaps it had something to do with the disaster otherwise known as breakfast? Dennis could still feel the sour aftertaste in his mouth... No, he wouldn't think about it. That just made it worse.

"Eh, I was just wondering why you were being so harsh on Sutton. She wasn't even that late."

Dennis knew that he had made a monumental mistake when he opened his mouth, but he couldn't help himself or his infamous bluntness. He wanted to know. After all, wasn't there a saying, 'He who dares wins'? For the Obstinate Arrow unit, the inside-joke about Chris was 'He who dares is unbelievably stupid', and at that moment, Dennis felt unbelievably stupid indeed.

"I see. Are you questioning my abilities as a leader, Dennis?"

Chris suddenly looked calm – too calm – and Dennis knew at once that he was screwed. This would lead to one thing and one thing only: something very painful for Dennis.

"Eh, no, of course not, Chris." Dennis made a last, desperate attempt to defuse the inevitably explosive situation. "I was simply wondering what had gotten you into your bad mood, that's all."

"That is none of your concern."The curt reply sliced the air with the same merciless sense of finality as that of his much dreaded battle-axe. "But I will accept your challenge."

"Uhh, ch-challenge? I-I-I didn't challenge you, Chris. Uh, Christopher? Eh, leader? Commander?Boss... man?"

Seeing that flattery wouldn't help him out from his freshly dug grave, Dennis resigned himself to his fate. And true enough, not less than five seconds later, Dennis found himself face-down in the dirt, while Chris' menacing stare was burning a hole at the back of his head.

"Chris! What did you do that for?"

A girl's accusing voice rang through the air, prompting Chris to slowly turn his head towards the direction of the high-pitched sound. He'd be damned if he'd let Pacifica Casull interfere again! But this time, it hadn't been Pacifica, who was taking a walk with her brother and sister and remaining blissfully unaware of the commotion back at camp.

The girl was Winia.

Chris' eyes narrowed at the sight of her as she was standing a few metres away from him with Scorpos at her side. He had to admit that the assertiveness in her voice had taken him by surprise; he would have expected something like this from the young Providence Breaker, but not from her. It was obvious that Pacifica was rubbing off on Winia, and he wasn't sure that he liked it.

"I have to maintain order within the ranks. You wouldn't understand."

And then, without as much as another glance at his motionless victim, the girl with the boy or the rest of the gaping members of his unit, Chris left camp and marched into the dense forest.

Leo was the first to break the stunned silence, "What… What just happened?"

"He left," Fafal replied while staring stupidly at Dennis' crumpled form. "Dennis, what the hell did you say to him?"

"Why do you people always assume that it's my fault? I just asked him why he had been so mean to Sutton, he took it as a challenge to his leadership and... Well, I ended up on the ground, didn't I?" Dennis whined, trying his best to win the sympathies of the onlookers. "My jaw really hurts!"

"Didn't I tell you not to do anything stupid? Even someone without my abilities could easily have foreseen this." Much like the other members of the Obstinate Arrow unit, Jill wasn't fooled by Dennis' theatrics; she had simply known him too long and knew the tricks back to front. However, she did feel genuinely sorry for her friend and wanted to help him. "But don't worry, Dennis, we'll get you patched up in no time. Help me, Sutton."

As the two women guided the dazed man in the direction of the healing kit, Fafel was deep in her own thoughts. This was very unusual; she hadn't seen Chri-boy like this since the announcement that the Baroness had been relieved of her duties, and even then his reaction had been much less dramatic. Yes, while he had picked up the habit of venting his frustrations through sparring sessions, he had never fought someone with his bare hands before. Something had definitely happened, but she couldn't figure out what it was... Until she suddenly remembered their brief conversation the previous evening and something clicked in place. It was unlikely, but not impossible, so could—

"Excuse me, Fafal?" Her thoughts were interrupted by Winia's quiet voice. "But does he do this, um, kind of thing often?"

"No. I mean, sure, he blows up once in a while, but he has never confronted anyone like this."Fafal looked closer at the girl's face. Did she detect any signs of worry? Or hurt? No, Winia looked like Winia always did, although, her eyes revealed something that looked like nervousness. Poor girl. Fafal couldn't blame her for feeling uneasy. The first time she had witnessed Chris unleash his unexpected fury during a spar, she had felt the same. "But don't worry. He's not dangerous or anything. I suppose that we just forget how young he really is sometimes."

The older woman was then lost in her own thoughts, so Winia turned away. She locked eyes with Leo, who quizzically raised an eyebrow. His half concerned and half bemused expression said, 'Well, Winia, at least now you know that the Baron knows how to express his emotions.'

Winia sighed inwardly. She had indeed been proven wrong in her assumption that he was unable to communicate his feelings, but it hadn't really been a confidence-inspiring performance.

She couldn't say that she understood him, but she hoped that Chris would be alright.