Burning Embers Part I: Origins [Arc 1-5]

Arc 5: The Bad Apple (Prologue)

Note: This entire arc is in Nat's perspective.

Kotori: "It has to be something blue."

Kuri: "Blue? Why?"

Kotori: "Because Finrod always wears blue!"

Kuri: "But we have ten people, and nobody else wears blue!"

Vector: "For once, thou art correct! I weareth red, so it should be red!"

Zero: "Not red either."

Nat: "Two people wear green, so should it be green?"

Sean: "Why are we deciding it based on what people are wearing?"

Kotori: "Because the name must have a colour!"

Sean: "That certainly isn't necessary."

Kotori: "Come on now Sean, have you ever heard a guild name without a colour in it?"

Sean: "Well no, but—"

Kotori: "Then it has to have a colour! And I also wear blue, so it's two for blue!"

Finrod: "Blue sounds boring..."

Such was the first discussion held by "Sub-Guild #12871" of the Liburn Adventurers' Guild. On Sundays (and only on Sundays), they all had breakfast together and were supposed to report all the weekly activities, which included both chores and quests, to Finrod. That, and how they had spent their money, though he never commented on their spending no matter how stupid they were.

This morning though, instead of the usual, Finrod was the one reporting. He started by telling everyone that their guild didn't even have a name; it was just a number. When registering it, he didn't think of a name and didn't feel it necessary, but after the event with the dungeon as well as the tournament in Terysium, the guild had started to gain fame across the country. As such, a name was needed.

So far, they hadn't even decided on the first part of the name; just that it should probably be a colour. Kotori was adamant it should be blue, as Finrod always wore blue and he was the 'leader-man'. For some reason, this seemed to irk the dragon-knight, though he stayed silent throughout the conversation other than commenting that 'blue' was boring. 

That's a rare thing for him to say.

The others were quite split on the issue; Kuri seemed okay with blue but wanted green, Vector made it clear it should be red, Sean didn't think a colour was necessary, and Nat also wanted blue. Zero and Finrod hadn't spoken, and Lediga was already asleep as the topic wasn't about warriors or fighting. Andrea, uncharacteristically, had said absolutely nothing, brooding in silence.

"Zero, back me up!" Kuri glared at Zero.

"Wha? Why?" A half-asleep Zero groggily replied.

"Why?! Because we wear the same colour! The emblem of Kazeji Temple must fly high!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Pretty sure we left that behind. Not my fault you only packed several of the same outfit." Zero seemed completely disinterested. "Packed the same for me too," he added, muttering under his breath.

Kuri pouted in response, and Sean took this opportunity to speak, "Okay, so this is plain stupid. Yeah, I know all the other sub-guilds have a colour in their name, bur we don't need to follow them. Furthermore, it's not like we're gonna wear a uniform or anything, so does it even matter?"

Nat gave his friend a forlorn look. "There has to be a colour."

"There sure doesn't."

"Bahaha! Thou plebeians argue like children, but thou should know that in the end, mine glorious crimson dominates all!" Vector shouted, making an exaggerated pose.