Miya stands before the tavern door, our noses catching familiar scents that freeze us in our tracks. It's the scent of the officers that were with Fami that night deposits ago.
"Do you think they're in there?" Miya asks.
"I don't know... Do you think we could catch a glimpse of them through the window?" I ask.
"We can try."
We find a window to peer through. The tavern is still rather empty, just as it was this morning. After this labor's events, when the work is over, I'm sure there will be a surge of miners spilling in to drown their traumas with drunkenness. For now though, Geni seems to be the only one present, and either ve seems to have already gotten a head start on the drunkenness, given that ve sits at a table with three mugs of mead, or ve has unseen guests.
A thud from behind startles both Miya and me. We spin around to spy what appears to be a Rirmevu duo, but it's clear by the scent that the yetu is Buso, Fami's former colleague, and Buso is carrying the unnamed atu mage from a few deposits back.
"We were hoping you would join us," the mage abruptly starts, extending a hand. "Hi, my name is Suki."
Miya hesitantly extends a paw, and they shake. Then Suki offers ver hand to me, and I shake it as well.
"I'm Hinuso," Miya responds, "and this is-"
"I know who you are," Suki interrupts, "I know who you really are."
"Heh, heh..." Miya awkwardly laughs. "What do you mean?"
"You are Miya," Suki points at Miya, "And you are Dima. So there's no need for me to introduce Buso, right? You two worked together on a job shadowing once."
Buso lifts a leg and waves at us, "Nice to see you two again," Buso says.
"How do you know us?" I ask, feeling a mix of awe and fear.
"Come inside, and we'll talk about it." Suki invites.
At that moment, a notu rounds the corner of the tavern. Ve is a towering bipedal person with a body made of clay.
"Looks like we managed to catch you!" ve yells. Now, that makes me nervous. Catch? Is this a trap? What for?
"That's Powa. Don't mind ver," Suki nervously interjects. "Ve has trouble knowing the appropriate amount of intensity in certain situations."
"Drink with us!" Powa demands.
At this point, it doesn't feel like we have much of a choice. We enter the tavern, and Geni leans back in ver chair to get a good look at us.
"Welcome back. Come, share a drink with us in memory of Fami." Geni, says glumly.
We gather at the table with the others, and I notice one key figure is missing—the notu's partner.
"Where's um, Powa's partner?" I ask.
"Ah, Tatu has a stick up ver ass. Always has. So we didn't clue ver in on this little meeting of ours," Powa responds.
Buso cuts in, "We came here hoping to learn a bit more about why Fami decided to stick me with a dart and take off before ve died." Buso sighs, "I regret being so cold towards ver. Maybe if I had been more warm and social, ve would have trusted me enough to talk before running off so recklessly. Ve was just new and seemed eager to please. It was hard to know how open I could be with ver"
"Do you have any idea why ve did it?" Miya asks.
"I have a guess," Buso responds.
"What's your guess?" I ask.
YOU ARE READING
Disarm Evil
Science Fiction**Story complete!** Dima, the disowned heir of a nobel family, and Miya the pious legacy of a family of peacekeeping giant moths, are your standard white saviors sent by god to save the people of lower society from themselves. They start their mis...
