Chapter 16 - Mochi vs Captain Issa

Proceeding back towards the clearing Zen had spotted before, the group had discovered what looked to be an abandoned training camp.

“The King… Your father paid for a lot of these camps surrounding the kingdom. He wanted to have as many people prepared to defend it if a hero didn't appear.”

“W-what happened to it? It's not like the threat is gone…”

They looked around and saw that while it hadn't likely been for long, no one had used the facilities recently. It had been long enough for some cobwebs to form, but the equipment was still usable. They entered a building that seemed like it was once a food hall, but chairs were overturned and small critters scampered away when they entered.

“Hope is a good motivator. After so many ‘heroes’ failed to come back, hope became a bit more scarce. And with your father's passing-”

“Zen.”

The twins looked at Milly with concern. Barely any time had passed since the king had left for greener pastures, and with everything that had happened since, Milly wouldn't have had any time to process it. She may be the dreary princess but there was no doubt that she loved her father. Nao stepped forward and tried to reach out, but Milly pulled away and forced a smile.

“I-I'm okay. We don't have to talk about it.”

“Princess-”

“Who goes there?”

A husky voice called out from the dark, and everyone went on their guard. From the shadows a tall woman with an athletic build emerged. Her armour was similar to Zen’s, the only notable difference being that she had a helmet placed upon her head. And that her head was that of a dog’s.

“Captain Issa. You were still here?”

Zen lowered the sword he had brandished, and relaxed, and Nao followed suit. Mochi however bared her teeth and began to bark.

“Another dog! Who are you! Why are you in my room!”

Nao gasped and pulled Mochi into her, scolding her for saying something offensive.

“Miss Issa isn't like you. She's a Koiran.”

“Yes Princess, we were here long before the dogs came. I am sad they did not teach the future queen about the kingdom's history…”

“T-They did! I'm so sorry about her! I'm… actually… the princess…”

Milly realized she foolishly revealed a pretty big secret to a complete stranger, and looked to the twins in desperation as she began to cry and pull on her ears.

“It’s fine, Evuli. Captain Issa is one of the most loyal guards I’ve ever known. She wouldn’t tell a secret of the crown.”

“Thank you Zen, but I don’t understand.”

Issa spoke slowly, like she was constantly searching for the right word to say next, and with a thick accent stereotypical of those in the colder parts of the East. She removed her helmet to sit at a table with everyone, and Mochi glared and inspected her carefully, sniffing the air and occasionally letting out a soft growl.

She had soft ash brown fur with black streaks, and pointed but floppy ears that stuck outwards like a goblin’s. Her muzzle was 10x the size of Milly’s, and she towered over Mochi by several feet.

Zen and Nao did their best to explain the circumstances once again, and Issa listened thoughtfully.

“That is a lot to happen in few days. And you will defeat the Demon Lord?”

“We have to try for the princess, Miss Issa.”

“You will put the princess in danger. I cannot let that happen.”

Mochi growled again and the air became tense.

“Rest here tonight, tomorrow morning… we will fight. If Zen cannot beat me, you cannot go. Simple.”

With that, Captain Issa rose to her full stature and made another declaration.

“Come. We eat, drink, and train.”

Unable to object, the group followed the captain outside and helped to build a fire. The camp still had meal rations, though Mochi was very upset about the lack of meat in them.

After eating they enjoyed fizzy beer near the fire, and Issa and Zen reminisced about their training days. Milly was excluded from drinking as the foam made her sneeze, and they discovered she couldn’t eat or drink as a ghost, causing great disappointment to the small pup. Nao offered Mochi a sip of her drink but was met with anger and yelling.

“Noooo! That smells bad! I don’t like it! I want meat!”

After his disciplined single beer, Zen found a low wooden tunnel, previously used for crawl training. He called Nao over to look at it and she saw it was filled with cobwebs and critters like the food hall had been.

“How much to crawl through it?”

“Nao, you don’t have enough gold to pay me to crawl through that.”

“No, how much can I pay you to let me do it?”

Zen looked at his sister with disgust and left her to try the ropes course.

Meanwhile, Mochi followed Issa around a circular laps track, growling and barking at her periodically, and jumping back any time she made a sudden movement.

Issa seemed to enjoy it however, and quietly laughed at the small girl trying to keep up with her while she ran laps. Eventually Mochi became frustrated at her own two feet, and returned to her preferred speed stance of putting her hands on the ground. Like this she was faster than Issa and easily outran her. Reaching a post at the end of the track, she excitedly turned around to face her defeated competitor, eyes sparkling and tongue hanging out, panting and laughing.

“I’m really fast!”

“Yes, you are.”

The large canid woman placed a hand on Mochi’s head to give her a pat, though it was unintentionally heavy and knocked Mochi down.

“Hey! Don’t! I’ll kill you!”

The others snapped to attention hearing this, and made a rush for Mochi to stop what was about to happen. Nao arrived first, but when she moved to see beyond Issa’s large frame, she discovered Issa holding Mochi back simply by having a hand on her head, while Mochi barked and growled. Issa laughed softly.

“You are fast, but not strong.”

Zen and Milly approached with relief that Mochi would fail to kill another, and Captain Issa turned her head toward Zen, laughing again.

“You will need to be fast and strong.”

Following the subtly threatening comment, they tried to enjoy the rest of the evening, but everyone secretly worried their journey would come to an abrupt end in the morning.

Mochi: 1

Issa: 1