Feast and Operation

"Enjoying your bath?" Zeki asks me.

"Dude, this is amazing. I really needed this." I reply.

Leo swims towards me and sits a bit beside me.

"Our bathhouse is the best! We even have outsiders show up from all around just to soak in the water!" Leo says excitedly.

Zeki speaks up as well.

"Unfortunately, we don't usually let them in. You're a special exception of course." He smiles.

"I'm honoured. Soooo, you mind telling me a few inside secrets about Emerald?" I joke.

This makes Leo's face light up even more.

"Oh! Oh! Big sis Emmy is awesome! She's the one who taught me how to hunt and track! She likes to act all tough but inside she's just a softy!" He says.

"Big sis Emmy huh..." I smile.

"Yeah! You can be big bro!" He laughs.

"I'll gladly take that name!" I ruffle his green hair with my hand, and his fox ears wiggle.

Zeki seems to be enjoying watching.

"Emerald seemed to be in very high spirits when she got here. I thank you for that." He nods his head to me.

"Oh, of course! Although, I haven't really done anything worth praise..." I say coyly.

"Trust me, she's never like that." He says.

"Yeah! Big sis only smiles like that around people she really trusts!" Leo adds.

I decide to ask something that's been bothering me for a while.

"Oh, right, Zeki. When I first met Emerald, she mentioned something about owing me and my family because my mom saved her when she was a kid." I say.

I've been thinking about this for a while since my mom died shortly after I was born, which was surely before Emerald was even born. She's 16 after all. A whole 2 years after she died.

"Oh, yes. You're mother-" 

"Boys! The feast is ready! Come eat!" A voice rings from outside the bathhouse, who I assume is Emerald's mother.

Zeki perks up.

"Ah. We'll continue this later. Let us get changed." He rises out of the water and begins walking towards the changing room.

"Cmon! The village feasts are always delicious!" Leo jumps out of the water and runs into the changing room after Zeki.

I guess my answer will have to wait. I get out of the bath and get changed in the changing room, then the three of us leave the bathhouse. It's starting to get dark out and I see all of the other demi-humans standing around a big fire, roasting a bunch of different kinds of meat and other foods. I notice Emerald in the crowd and Leo runs over to her to give her a big hug. I walk over too and smile.

"Hey big sis Emmy!" I say.

Her ears perk up.

"W-Wha?! Where did you hear that?!" Her face goes red.

"I told him! Me and big bro got to talk a lot in the bath!" Leo says, still clinging onto her.

"Big bro...?" She says.

"Aha, me and him get along." I rub the back of my neck.

She eyes me up and down.

"And where'd you get that outfit?" She asks.

"Oh, this?" I look down at my clothes.

I'm wearing the villages ceremonial robes. They have a red and tan colour scheme and I have a bead necklace around my neck. I smile.

"You're grandpa gave them to me for the feast. He said they might make me feel more apart of the village. I might start growing fox ears at any minute here!" I say.

Leo laughs.

"Then you can live here forever!" He clings onto me now.

"Haha, I wish!" I ruffle his hair again.

I begin to notice a slight smile forming on Emerald's face. Suddenly, her mother shows up with multiple beef skewers. And begins handing us each a couple.

"Eat up everyone!" She says.

I take one and take a big bite.

"Woah! This is delicious Emerald's mom!" I say to her.

"Thank you! And please, call me Desiree!" She smiles gently and begins passing out more skewers to the others.

The feast gets lively, with demi-humans playing music on guitars and others dancing. It keeps going until midnight until finally, the festivities begins to wear down and everyone begins going to sleep in their huts.

"No! I don't wanna go to bed!" Emerald is dragging Leo to one of the tents.

"You're 10, you should've been in bed a long time ago." She replies and continues dragging him away.

"Big bro! Help me!" He calls out to me. 

I pretend I don't hear him and Zeki walks over to me and begins showing me to my hut.

"Here is the guest hut. I've had some villagers bring your stuff you brought with you over already so I hope you enjoy your stay tonight." He smiles.

I give him a short bow.

"Thank's for letting me stay here." I say to him.

"Of course." He says before going to his own hut.

I walk inside the wooden guest hut and see a futon already set up. I walk over to the mirror and stand in front of it. I look at my brown hair and blue eyes, and I run my hand through my hair. I then reach into the pocket of my black trench coat that is lying on the floor and I pull out an item. A vial of brown hair dye.

My hair is actually naturally blue, which my dad says is due to a rare gene disorder. He told me I should keep it dyed to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention to myself. Unfortunately, whenever I overuse my arcana, It slowly burns away at the dye in my hair so I have to reapply it often. I look closely at the newly formed blue streaks in my hair before applying the next layer.

After that's done, I get changed into comfortable sleeping clothes which were laying on the futon, and I get under the covers. I close my eyes and let myself slowly drift off to sleep.

---

*KNOCK, KNOCK NOCK!*

I wake up to the sun shining on my face through the window and the sound of someone knocking on my door.

"Link! Wake up! We should get going soon!" It's Emerald.

"I'm up! I'm up!" I reply, getting out of bed before changing into the usual attire, with my trench coat and black pants.

I open the door and walk outside, feeling relaxed. This was the first time in a couple days I could actually sleep comfortably. Emerald already has her bow and quivers on her back and seems ready to leave.

"I've been waiting for hours. It's almost 12." She says, sounding annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry, the futon in there was just so comfy!" I reply.

"Well, cmon, we should leave now. Better sooner than later." Emerald says, walking towards the gate.

"Awww do we have to?" I say sadly.

"Yes." Is all she says, as she continues to walk.

"How cold." I follow her.

The villagers seem to be waiting to see us off at the gate. They move around to give us room to exit.

"Do you have to go?" Leo pouts.

I lean in to him and whisper.

"Psst! Maybe you can convince your sister to- Ah!"

Emerald grabs me by the ear and drags me away.

"Let's go." She says.

She stops in front of Zeki and Desiree and gives them both a hug.

"I'll be back eventually." She says.

"We're looking forward to it. Take good care of her okay Link?" Zeki says.

"You can count on me!" I smile at them.

He pats me on the back and me and Emerald exit the village, as I wave behind me, listening to all the villagers shouting goodbye,

"Klein's castle?" Emerald says to me.

My face goes serious.

"Yeah." I reply. "We go in, take him out, and leave."

"Got it." She says.

We keep walking, slowly making our ways towards the hill where we first met, at the foot of Klein's castle. After about 5 hours of walking, we finally make it there.

"You ready?" I ask her.

"Yep." She says, as we take our first steps on the hill.

We come across a pair of two guards near the entrance to the castle, so we split up in the bushes to take them both out. We both sneak up behind them and I drive my katana through the back of the first guard's throat, while Emerald chokes out the second one. We keep hiding in the bushes.

"Here's the plan. I go in through the front gate, which will draw all the attention towards me, as I fight through them and make my way up to Klein's office. Meanwhile, you sneak in through the trapdoor I found at the side of the castle, which will take you into the dungeon, with a ladder which leads directly in front of Klein's office. Sound good?" I explain to her.

"No." She says in a monotone voice.

"Wait what? Why not?" I ask.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? I'll go through the front and you go in through the trapdoor." She says.

"Huh? No way. Too dangerous." I reply.

"And it's not too dangerous for you? You think I'm weak? Please, let me do this. I've just been holding you back this whole time. Please, let me do something of help for once." She looks at me with pleading eyes.

I look at the ground.

"I don't want you to die." I tell her.

"I won't die. No matter what. Let me do this." She says, resolve in her voice.

"...Fine. But Emerald. If you die... I'll kill you." I stand up and begin walking towards the side of the castle, for the trapdoor.

She stands up too.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." She starts walking towards the main gate.

She hops over and makes it inside. Right away I hear metal clanging and battle cries.

"...Please don't die Emerald." I say to myself before jumping through the trapdoor to the dungeon, officially starting our final battle against Klein.

---

CHARACTER PROFILES

NAME: Saffire

RACE: Human

AGE: 18

HAIR COLOUR: Light purple

EYE COLOUR: Purple

ARCANA: Purple Fists-

Forms giant, glowing purple fists around user's hands

WEAPON OF CHOICE: Arcana

ATTIRE: Tight black combat suit and combat boots with brown leather straps