Written by: AshleyLampost

“I do not snore.”

Tiffanya rolled her eyes, though Tawny couldn’t see her through the door. “Yes, you do.” She called back as she got dressed.

“No, I do not.” Tawny shot back, refusing to let it go.

“Look, I’m not having this sort of argument with you. I’m proud to say that I haven’t had an ‘Uh-huh Uh-uh’ conversation since I was four.” Tiffanya said, rolling her eyes once more.

Tiffanya glances hopelessly into the cracked mirror on the wall. Her hair had gained a more… rugged appearance over the last few days. She had never been that obsessed with making her hair look perfect; but she did usually brush it and try to make it presentable. Her hands came up, running through the knots a few times. This was why she kept it cut short; as it grew long it presented much too many problems. She gave up after a particularly nasty knot and bent down to put on her shoes.

“Are you done in there? I’m getting sick of waiting for you. Riolina is not the best of company.” Tawny called through the door.

“Excuse me? If I were you, I would refrain from saying such things to the person who’s going to help you find your king.” Riolina argued.

“Well, I’m glad you’re not me, because then I’d be you. And that would certainly not be fun.” Tawny said. This was followed by a loud crash. “She just threw a cup at my head!” Tawny shouted through the door.

“It was no where near your head. Trust me, if I’d been aiming for you, I would have hit you with no difficulty.”

“Can you not get along with anyone?” Tiffanya asked, looking at Tawny as she opened the door. Tawny made a particularly rude gesture in Tiffanya’s direction before hopping up and heading into the next room.

Riolina was sitting at the table, looking at a map. She was holding a pencil, poised a few inches above the paper. Tiffanya watched curiously as Riolina circled and crossed out different things. “What are you doing?” she asked, sitting down at the table across from the mercenary.

“I’m looking for spots that seem promising for pirates.” Riolina said without looking up from the map. “This job should have a great reward, so I figure I should put everything I have into making things go smoothly. People have died on previous missions. They weren’t paying me quite as much. I take it you don’t want to die.” She glanced up from the map, making eye contact with Tiffanya.

“No, not really.” Tiffanya said, giving the girl an odd look. She didn’t act like she was sixteen. She acted almost as if she was older than Tiffanya and Tawny, and it was weird. “I don’t want Tawny to die either.” Tiffanya added quickly, realizing that she hadn’t mentioned her companion.

“Not even a little bit?” Riolina asked, and Tiffanya gave a smile. At least the girl still had a sense of humor.

“Well, I’ll think about it.” She said.

“Hey! You know I can hear you both through the door, right?” Tawny yelled.

“That’s somewhat the point.” Riolina called back.

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“This town… these’s people are just way too happy.” Tawny growled, glaring at a group of little kids playing on the sidewalk. “Honestly, have they never seen war?”

“A little bit of happiness in the world is a good thing.” Riolina said. “What’s wrong with just letting people be happy now and then?”

“The mercenary is a hypocrite.” Tawny remarked.

Tiffanya decided that she could gain nothing by joining the conversation, and chose instead to start a new one. “Riolina, is there anywhere in particular we’re going?”

“I was hoping to see what word on the street was here, but no one here seems to be troubled by the world outside of them.” Riolina said. “It’s the perfect place for a criminal to hide, if you think about it. Do you agree, Tawny ?”

“I guess. But usually this sort ‘one big happy family’ atmosphere turns me away. I prefer sleeping in trees if the second option involves smiling people asking me if I’d like bacon with my eggs.” Tawny said. “So it depends on what sort of villain we’re looking for here. Plus, if he’s traveling in a big group, don’t you think they’d avoid towns?”

“That would make sense. But who says we’re looking for a big group of people?” Riolina said.

“The king was kidnapped.” Tiffanya interjected. “I assure you, there is no way that was a one-man job. We’re looking for a group of people.”

“Or a traitor guard and a pirate.” Riolina suggested. “That’d only be two.”

They reached the end of the street, and the trio found themselves looking over the ocean. The view was spectacular. In the distance they could see the tiny pinpricks of ships either coming or going; at such a distance it was impossible to tell which. Closer up, men were fishing in their row boats, and even closer kids and families we’re enjoying a day at the beach. There was nothing ominous about the scene.

“I’m hungry.” Tawny announced, averting her gaze from the beach. She looked slightly uncomfortable, not looking happy that she had to be the first one to admit it.

“I am too.” Riolina said. She glanced at Tiffanya. “Since I am merely hired help, I assume that you’ll be paying for all our needs?”

Tiffanya mentally counted how much money she had brought with her, and realized that for three people, it would not last very long. “Sure, I’ll pay.” She said. Her voice seemed a little bit higher pitched, and Tawny gave her an odd look before turning towards the street.

“I want to go to a place less family oriented.” Tawny declared.

Riolina nodded, keeping her eyes away from all the happy families. “Yeah. Let’s go somewhere without any pictures, or toys, or anything like that. Something that doesn’t make us think those ‘fuzzy’ thoughts of home.”

“We could go to that tavern over there.” Tiffanya suggested.

Riolina looked over at Tiffanya with her cloudy blue eyes, raising one eyebrow. “I’ve spent that last while of my life in a tavern. How about somewhere less like the Pig in the Mud?” she suggested.

“How about over there with the umbrellas?” Tawny suggested. “Then we can eat outside, and we can give scary looks to any kids who try to approach.”

“That works.” Tiffanya said, ignoring Tawny’s ‘scary look’ comment. “And we’ll be able to brainstorm without being overheard. I trust that you have some good theories?” this she directed at Riolina. Riolina merely shrugged before walking towards the little café.

They got a table and sat down. There wasn’t much to choose from on the menu, and the three of them all ended up ordering the beef and vegetable stew. It came, and was surprisingly good considering the chunks of meat on the inside didn’t taste anything like beef.

The meal went by in almost complete silence. The clinking of the spoons on the edge of the bowls seemed almost deafening. A few times, one of them would throw out a half-hearted idea, but these were net only with grunts or shrugs. In the harsh light of the day, finding the king just the three of them seemed impossible. It was hard to pull back the feelings from before. The feeling that they would succeed, the feeling that nothing would really go wrong.

“Excuse me.” Riolina muttered, pushing out her chair and standing up somewhat abruptly. She walked around the side of the building, still thinking. She should have been able to come into this thing with better ideas. She was a mercenary, for goodness sakes, she ought to be blowing these people away with her good ideas. But nothing she had absolutely nothing. As she continued walking, the odor hit her, and she physically recoiled at it. Trust a cozy little place like that to have disgusting facilities.

She was just about to open the small door with the crude drawing of a woman carved in (it was merely a stick figure with a triangle skirt), when a figure stepped out of the shadows.

“Riolina.” It said, and she turned about sharply, quite ready to attack. But as a bit of light hit the mysterious persons face, she recognized him.

“Aroth!” She gasped. “What are you doing here?” despite the situation, Riolina could help but color slightly. After all, it was extremely obvious what she was doing back here. Oh, stop being such a…such a girl. She mentally chided herself.

“I…” he trailed off; it seemed he was trying to compose his words in a way that wouldn’t anger Riolina. “Well… you were running off with people you didn’t know on a crazy and dangerous mission.”

“That was sweet of you Ar-” Riolina narrowed her eyes. “How did you know about the job that I got?” she asked coolly.

Aroth winced. “I might have been following you. I overheard some stuff and… I just wanted you to be safe. Is that really such a crime? You didn’t even tell anyone where you were going, myself included!”

Riolina sighed, she was never able to stay angry at Aroth for long. “Fine, I forgive you. Things are going all right, so you can go home now.”

“You want me to leave?” Aroth brushed his brown hair out of his eyes. In the darkness, Riolina hadn’t seen how strong the worry was in his dark green eyes.

“No, I want you to be safe.”

“So, what, you’re not safe here?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“It’s what you said!”

“I just don’t think you can be of any help, that’s all. We don’t need you.”

“I think you do. I heard something that can help. I was going to tell you-”

“Riolina?” Riolina and Aroth both jumped as Tiffanya’s voice called around the corner. “Are you okay back there? You’ve been gone for a while.”

“Just fine.” Riolina responded her. Her voice did not waver, as one might expect a voice to in such a situation. Her tone did not betray her. In fact, Riolina’s voice came out with absolutely no emotion. It was the way she had been taught to talk to people.

Despite her voice, Tiffanya continued around the corner. “Oh, wow, it really does reek back here. I don’t know how-” she broke off, taking in the situation around her. What she saw was Riolina in a dark, disgusting and empty alley talking to someone she didn’t know. Tiffanya did not remember the face she’d seen outside The Pig In The Mud, and soldier instincts snapped into place as she saw what was going on.

“You backstabbing little…” Tiffanya did not finish her sentence, but her meaning was clear. Her hand lunged for the sword that wasn’t there, but she soon found a dagger, which she wielded dangerously.

“No, no. Tiffanya, you don’t understand. This is Aroth. You and Tawny saw him behind the bar, remember? He’s only here because he wanted to make sure we were okay.” Riolina explained, edging away from the dagger. Her right hand casually slipped behind her back, finding her own small dagger.

Tiffanya lowered the dagger, her eyes darting suspiciously between Aroth and Riolina.

“Tiff, if I was going to betray you and Tawny, I’d do it after you pay me that fortune.’

Riolina said. She smiled calmly, though her hand was still behind her back. Aroth offered Tiffanya a hesitant smile, trying not to pay attention to Riolina’s right hand.

“‘Tiff?’” Tiffanya raised an eyebrow. “Since when have we begun using nicknames?”

“Since we began to trust each other.” Riolina said, not missing a beat.

“Okay… Rhi, I believe you. Tiffanya put her dagger away completely. Riolina relaxed her had.

In the silence, footsteps echoed down the side of the café, along with a long string of profanities as the person found the foul odor. Tawny rounded the corner, looking absolutely murderous. “Are you leaving me to pay?” she demanded. “Is this some sort of practical joke you devised? I’m not laughing.”

Tiffanya bit back a smile, knowing she would only anger the thief more by laughing at her. “No, I just thought Riolina was betraying us. Turns out we’ve got another group member.” Tiffanya explained.

“Why would she betray us?” Tawny asked. “You haven’t even paid her yet.” It was Tiffanya’s turn to glare, and Aroth and Riolina’s turn to hold back smiles.

Tawny turned to Aroth, still looking miffed. “Who are you?” she demanded.

“Aroth.” He said, politely extending his hand.

Tawny ignored it. “Welcome to the group. You’re paying for lunch.”

Moonfire note: Next chapter is mine. It’ll be an insanely long time before I can get it up, though.