Spark in Darkness: Unworldy encounter/Prototype

Spark 40: Meeting the princess

Haruki's wound was treated and the group continued on their journey through the desert. It was not easy, because they were tired and dirty. The hot desert Sun managed to dry their clothes within an hour, but they were exhausted from the fight and their morale was low. Everyone agreed to the code name 'Blue', and they also agreed that he was a tough opponent. If the fight had continued any longer, they might not have been able to keep up.

It took another two days before they arrived at the Capital gates, and despite the suspicious eyes of the guards, they could not see anything wrong with their luggages and let them pass. Shiro's swords were inspected, but after arguing it was no more for self-protection and the dangerous vibe the other three were giving off, the swords were not confiscated.

The streets of the Capital were better than the dirty and dusty streets of the towns Haruki had seen. They were wider, cleaner, and the buildings were bigger. The people also seemed more busy. Merchants hurried past them, on their way to cross the desert or to enter the Capital with their goods and earn a fortune. But...the same atmosphere was in the air. The atmosphere of something dark and heavy...it was like the Nayshards were watching everybody's every move.

"Oh yeah, I have always wanted to ask, Shiro. Why are your swords still visible? Aren't Sparks able to keep their Torches at will?" Haruki asked.

"They aren't my Torch. I haven't gotten my own one just yet. I just stole them when I tried to escape from Lirarie." Shiro explained as they walked down the streets.

"Oh, I see. And yet you can perform all those attacks with your swords?"

"It took some training, but when I infused them with Light it was pretty easy to control them and do all these tricks and stunts." Shiro replied.

Haruki decided there and then that he was lucky they had Shiro on their team. She was strong, had Kuro, had quick reflexes, and had a brain which could allow her to come up with all these combinations.

Now that they were at the Capital, the group took some time to walk around and rest, but it was already sunset, and they looked around to find an inn to stay.

They found a cheap one, with a restaurant on the first floor bustling with people drunk and noisy. The group had a quick dinner before moving up to their rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. During their meal they could feel a dozen of pairs of eyes checking out the girls, and Shinesh gave his best death glare at anybody who tried to approach them. It was surprisingly quiet when they left the first floor. Maybe the wood used was some special sound-proof type.

The group washed up and called it a day, without waking up till afternoon the next day. Even Rinya slept like a log throughout the night. That was how exhausted the group was.

In the afternoon, the group went around asking for directions, and headed further into the Capital, where buildings got bigger and taller and the people started to wear better clothes. By evening they had reached the massive library of the city, but it was already closing for the day.

"I guess we can only come back tomorrow, huh." Haruki said. "I'm hungry! Let's go somehwhere to have dinner!"

The others agreed and found a family restaurant, with a signboard outside writing a special discount off selected meals. The group did not have much money in the first place, so they were trying to cut down on cost whenever they could, and despite the crowd, they headed over and found themselves in a corner of the busy restaurant, noisy with all the small talks of the diners.

Soon their meals came, and they dug in, giving some extra meat to Kuro under the table which it was happy to gulp down as soon as it touched the ground.