Ty found himself staring at the woman before them.
Her black hair fell down her back, catching the tea shop's low light.
The traditional kimono fit with quiet elegance and gave her a commanding presence.
Her sharp eyes, keenly observing every detail of the situation, also revealed a hint of concern, especially when they settled on Todd.
She looked at Ty for only a breath longer than politeness allowed. The mask, the stolen clothes, the bones beneath the disguise, all of it seemed to register at once. Her calm told Ty she had seen stranger things than him.
"You know, Todd," she began, her voice gentle yet laden with a hint of firmness, "You've always been like a wild wind, somehow managing to both lift and cause chaos wherever you go.
But I think the bigger issue today is our skeleton friend, whom you have brought along with you in a terrible disguise. These clothes barely fit him."
Trying to apologize, Todd was about to say, but was interrupted by Ty as he said, "It's fine. The sooner I'm noticed and meet this King Yami, the earlier I will be able to settle things here and move on. But for that, I would need to find Elithira."
After Discarding the ill-fitting attire, which Ty admitted looked tacky and even mentioned that its blood-soaked appearance made it look shabby, they introduced each other.
"I am Ty Hockenson.
Initially, my friend Elithira concocted a strange lie that we are from a distant land, but the truth is--" just when he was about to continue, another loud boom resonated around them, interrupting him while the woman suggested, "Perhaps we need to keep the formalities brief."
"My name is Kaiko," she introduced herself with reserved dignity and continued, "I operate this shop and lead the underground resistance--or at least what remains of those who are brave enough to resist."
She pulled a hidden lever. A staircase unfolded from the floor, revealing a dim basement. Kaiko gestured toward it. "Take refuge down there until it's safe."
The opening smelled of old wood, tea leaves, and dust. Todd shifted his weight toward it, clearly torn between obeying and staying by Kaiko's side. Ty could hear the shop above creak as people outside started shouting.
Moments later, tension snapped. An arrow wrapped in orange flame shot through the cracked door and buried itself in Kaiko's arm.
Todd cried out and sprinted toward her, dread and determination written across his face. A volley of arrows cut him off, punching into his back and dragging a trail of blood behind him as he shouted in pain.
As Todd staggered, pain evident on his features, his eyes remained locked with Ty's, a silent plea, possibly a farewell, lingering in them.
A voice cut through the chaos, furious and absolute. "Step outside, Todd. I know that wasn't enough to extinguish your life. Not yet.
And the same goes for your elusive skeleton companion, who believed that he could elude Yami."
The Head Captain's words hung in the air. Todd and Ty looked at each other. They understood.
Todd gathered Kaiko against his chest and walked toward the door, stepping into the street where fire and burnt stalls cut a grim line behind him.
Kaiko tried to tell him to put her down, but her voice came out thin. Todd kept moving anyway, shoulders hunched as if he could make himself wide enough to shield her from the street.
Todd blinked, his hand trembling slightly as he pointed to the still-smoking ruins, his voice barely more than a choked whisper.
"S-Sir, why would you do this to them?" he asked, while his wide eyes were seeking some semblance of reason in the Head Captain's stare, as they reflected the flickering flame.
The Head Captain turned and fixed Todd with a piercing glare.
His sword cut through the silence in a clean arc. Todd clutched his ear, eyes wide as blood covered his fingers and the missing piece registered.
He staggered slightly, disoriented, with shallow and rapid breaths.
Leaning forward, the Head Captain's low growl reverberated in the uneasy stillness, a mere breath away from Todd's face.
"Silence, green filth," he said, each word low. He flicked Todd's blood from his sword and watched it spatter across the scorched ground.
The scraping of his boot against the charred remains of a wooden stall marked his straightening, the sound grating in the heavy quiet, a tangible reminder of the destruction at his feet.
The Head Captain's voice intensified, a mixture of mockery and anger. "Your people were only good for heavy lifting, but you tried to deceive me, waste my time?! Make me look foolish in front of King Yami?!"
He raised his sword, and orange flame crawled along the blade. He brought it down toward Todd, but it struck a blue hexagon barrier instead.
The strike bounced away. Kaiko stood with one trembling hand out, breathing hard while blood from her wound stained her clothes.
"So, you're the woman who has been helping the others for years," the Head Captain remarked, his tone filled with malice and coldness. "I guess this worked out for me in the end. Now, where's that skeleton friend you were hiding--"
Before he could continue, a face appeared along the edge of the Head Captain's sword and warned, cold and sharp, "Behind You!"
Startled, the Captain, with eyes ablaze in a fearsome orange, whirled around sharply and directed his sword towards Ty with deadly precision, who had been inching closer with his silent bones trying to position himself for a surprise assault on the Captain.
However, the sword struck first, sending Ty sailing through the air. His bones rattled and clattered in a chilling melody as he crashed onto the wall while debris of brick and dust billowed around him.
In the settling dust, Ty began to pull himself together, his bones clicking back into place one by one.
He needed a better way to catch the ruthless Captain off guard next time.
A cascade of bricks and dust surrounded him as his bones rattled and reassembled themselves together on the soiled ground.
In the lingering dust and cold silence that followed the calamity, Ty lay amidst the debris, his bony form remaining motionless under the scattered bricks and dust.
"Whelp, that's one down," the Head Captain chuckled, a smug grin on his face as he glanced at the skeleton buried beneath the rubble.