A True Hero

8 - Once Bitten, Twice Shy

I stepped out of the office, carrying a room card. Amai was waiting for me at the end of the hall, demanding to know what happened. Once I told her, she stood silent, almost amazed.

"He must think you're really good then; he only lets the most talented warriors take on more than one art," she said.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not that special."

She rolled her eyes and took the card from me. "Is this your room?" she asked.

"Yeah, room 25 in the east wing."

Her eyes, already huge, widened even more as she squealed, "That's Garlude's room! Oh my gosh, you're gonna love her! Dinner started a few minutes ago, everyone's in there!" She pulled my arm and led me away from the lobby.

We burst into another large room filled with tables and soldiers. A line for a buffet wrapped around the right side of the room, and a peculiar smell filled the air. I couldn't identify it, but it was a cross between mangos and rotten eggs. The soldiers had all divided into cliques; I immediately saw Jecra and a woman seated at a large circular table. Jecra, now maskless, saw us and waved. Amai waved back and dragged me over to them.

"Hey, Jecra! Garlude!" Amai greeted, taking a seat beside Jecra. The woman, Garlude, sat on the other side of him. I sat by Amai, nervously playing with my bangs. Four open chairs lined the opposite side of the table.

"Evening Amai," he happily said and looked down at me. I didn't know how serious I looked until his smile turned to a mischievous frown. He tilted his head down and mimicked my narrowed eyes. My face broke into a big smile and I gave him a small wave. He slyly mimicked me. Amai cracked up and punched his shoulder, while Garlude smirked.

"This is Nikki," Jecra said to Garlude, rubbing his shoulder. "Nikki, Garlude."

"Nice to meet you," she said and reached across the table to shake my hand. The warrior had light lavender skin and hair, with a ponytail and two bangs that framed her face. She wore a golden headband with a blue gem in the middle and had light orange eyeshadow that accented her magenta eyes. She wore a light blue sleeveless dress and pink collar that held a light pink cape.

"Saved you some food, in case you guys were hungry," Jecra said, pushing two plates of fruit and shrimp toward us.

"Thanks, man," Amai said, taking a slice of a blue melon. "Feel free to dig in," she said to me, so I reached out and took some shrimp. Despite the sulfur smell, it was delicious.

"Sup guys!" said another voice. I looked to my right and saw Falspar take a seat next to me. Three other unmasked warriors sat with him.

"Hey," we all said.

As they took their seats, I whispered to Amai, "How come you all have armor and they don't?"

"Because they haven't been on a mission yet," she replied. "You get official armor when you complete enough levels of training to go on your first mission."

"Nikki, I want to introduce you to some of my comrades," Falspar said. "This is Nonsurat," he began, gesturing to the turquoise warrior with yellow eyes next to him. He nodded at me.

"Next is Dragato." He was a light magenta with light purple eyes and a red-orange ponytail. He smiled shyly.

"Lastly, this is Arthur," Falspar finished. Arthur had dark green skin and hair, and blue-purple eyes. He gave me a big smile and waved. All three of the men looked like the Captain, Meta Knight, and Falspar. 

"So tell us, what did the Captain want with you?" Garlude asked. They all leaned forward in their seats as I told the story, beginning to feel proud of myself. My pride was visible to my comrades, especially Amai. She stopped eating and looked at me, furrowing her eyebrows. When I finished, she shook her head and turned away while the others stared in awe. Suddenly feeling disconcerted, I looked about at the other tables. That's when I noticed Meta Knight sitting at a table to my left. The warriors he sat by all looked older; probably some of the best warriors in the army.