Everybody looks on in surprise as Jamun lays on the ground. The people cheer on for Kaizen, children rushing to hug him.
Person 1: "Cheers for our hero Kaizen!"
Crowd: "Kaizen! Kaizen! Kaizen!"
Kaizen: "Please guys. You would've done the same in my shoes. I'm just glad you're all OK."
Kaizen notices Valeria bleeding out and goes up to her. He looks at the wound and is distraught.
Kaizen: "It looks really bad. We have to get her assistance immedi-"
Kassius: "Man, I'm spent. Is there any food around here?!"
Everybody looks at Kassius, quite pissed at his interruption.
Kassius: "Hmm?"
Person 1: "Have you no shame?! Show some respect to the man that saved our lives."
Kaizen: "You were fighting him, weren't you? I can tell... from the condition you're in."
Kassius: "Yeah, I was."
Kaizen: "If you were not here, this could've been very different, so I thank you."
Everybody gets out of the community gathering area and walks towards the beach. The remaining hunters around finish putting out the fires. Back at the beach, Bonnie and Arnold had already arrived.
Bonnie: "You guys have any food around here?"
Arnold finishes getting fixed up by the medics.
Medic: "It wasn't a serious cut, it should heal completely in two weeks. Try not to stress it too much."
Arnold: "Alright."
The group finish tying up Bamun, and proceed to throw him in the prison cage, along with an already tied up Tamun.
Mistress: "The reports said there were three people. You have brought one here, and a group of hunters brought the other. Where is the third?"
Off in the distance walking towards the group, is another group of people, led by Kassius and Kaizen. Kassius is carrying Ulqora on his back, while Kaizen is carrying Valeria on his. The group behind is dragging Jamun, all tied up.
Bonnie: "There he is."
Mistress: "Kaizen?!"
Kaizen: "We need medics!"
Spare medics clear space and let Kaizen place her on a supported platform. Just as they are about to start,
Mistress: "Stop!"
Medic 1: "Mistress, she is losing a lot of blood. It isn't safe to delay her treatment."
Mistress: "We seem to have forgotten that this criminal is the reason we endured this event today."
Medic 1: "But Mistress..."
Mistress: "We are uncertain about those three, but her... she made it quite obvious who she was with."
Kaizen: "If I may. Regardless of whether she is a criminal or not, she is a living person. We shouldn't waste the opportunity to save her life."
Mistress: "And what if we save her? The misfortune she may cause others, the misfortune she may bring back on us... it is too dangerous. People like this do not just change. They do not care about others but themselves. This is a hard decision to make but it is for the better of my people."
Kaizen: "Mistr- No... mother. Please... reconsider."
Ulqora: "Please. Help her."
Everyone goes quiet and faces Ulqora as she walks up to the Mistress.
Ulqora: "She is hurt because she saved me. Please save her. I don't want her to die."
Tears fall from Ulqora's face but she stands strong in front of everyone.
Person 1: "It's true. She really did save her."
Person 2: "She jumped in and took the stab."
Person 3: "She's a hero."
As the crowd starts supporting Valeria, the Mistress looks around. She sees her people, the hunters who were fighting, Kassius, Arnold and Bonnie, her son Kaizen, Valeria bleeding out, and in front of all of them, is a little girl, who wants to save the life of a criminal.
Mistress: "Treat her right away."
Medic 1: "Yes, Mistress."
Ulqora: "Really?! Thank you!"
Ulqora runs up and hugs the Mistress, which is met with a soft rubbing of the head.
Kaizen: "Thank you mother."
Mistress: "As for you three. You could have fled after we freed you. You chose to help us instead. For that, I am forever grateful. As a token of my gratitude, I would personally love to invite you to our celebration tonight."
Kassius: "Whoa! For real? Will there be food?!"
Mistress: "Plenty."
Kassius: "Then let's get this celebration started!"
Mistress: "I would prefer you clean up first. Escort these people to the nearest bathing areas."
The people set up all the decorations and line up the food. At the bathing area, Kassius swims around in the bath, as Arnold sits in one position.
Kassius: "This is amazing! I've never seen such a big bath."
Arnold: "It is pretty nice."
After cleaning up, they get dressed into traditional robes that were laid out for them, Kassius in a blue and white, and Arnold in a green and gray. As they walk down back towards the beach, they see stalls on stalls set up. Some with food, some with games, some with entertainment. Kassius and Arnold walk through and see people celebrating and enjoying themselves.
Kassius: "Is that... Bonnie?!"
Kassius spots Bonnie walking away from a stall eating. She is also in a traditional robe, colors of purple and black. They both walk up to her.
Bonnie: "Guys. You gotta try this. It's... heavenly."
She gives them both a stick with a fish on it. They both take a bite.
Kassius: "Wow! It's so good."
Arnold: "What is it?"
Bonnie: "Something hook fish. Apparently it's a common fish here. Anyways, you guys wanna stand around or should we find out what other delicacies they have? Hmm?"
Arnold looks around and then on his side in the distance sees Ulqora with a group of other children. They are all playing together, having fun. He sees Ulqora laughing and it makes him smile."
Kassius: "We would but we gotta check up on Ulqora right now. Right Arnold?"
Arnold: "I think Ulqora is fine. I think it's time to relax, don't you?"
Kassius: "Well, if you're confident in it, then it's probably fine. Let's go then."
Kassius, Arnold and Bonnie go around the area. They visit many food stalls, eating away. They visit a game stall.
Game stall man: "Step right up. Six cups, one shot. Knock them all down and you win."
Kassius goes first. He throws the ball and knocks the top three cups down.
Game stall man: "Very good attempt. Who is next?"
Kassius: "Man, I thought the middle would work."
Arnold goes next and throws it towards the left leg of the base. He knocks down three cups as well.
Game stall man: "Good attempt as well. How about you?"
Bonnie takes the ball. She throws it and knocks down all the cups.
Game stall man: "We have a winner!"
Kassius: "Whoa!"
Arnold: "What was your technique?"
Bonnie: "Hmm? I just threw it."
Game stall man: "Here's your prize."
He gives Bonnie a fish doll. They all turn and notice a crowd rushing by them.
Kassius: "What's going on?"
Game stall man: "It's the special event. It's time to head down to the stage."
Down at the stage area, the whole village is seated on the ground as they arrive. Kassius, Arnold and Bonnie sit at the back. Everyone starts cheering as the mistress gets up on the stage.
Mistress: "Greetings to you all. I would like to thank you all again for making today wonderful despite the troubles we faced. Today, is another year we will not take for granted. We are forever grateful for his sacrifice to free our people. And we will make sure his sacrifice was not in vain. We will prosper and grow as one. For Karkabat."
Everybody cheers in celebration.
Mistress: "To start off this event, Kaizen will show us what he has been preparing."
The mistress walks off stage and Kaizen gets on stage, rolling an object covered by a cloth onto it.
Kaizen: "Thank you all for waiting. I know what you're all wondering; what is this thing you've built Kaizen? Well, I'll show you. But first, I need a color. Any colors?"
Random person 1: "Red!"
Random person 2: "Blue!"
Random person 3: "Purple!"
Kaizen: "Alright. How about we try all three?"
He goes under the cloth and tinkers with the object. He comes out from under the cloth enthusiastically and yanks the cloth off.
Kaizen: "Behold! Our very own firework machine!"
The machine holds seven rockets lined up parallel to each other. Kaizen lights them all up at the same time. After a bit, they all shoot off into the sky, travelling higher and higher until they explode. In the sky, a bright array of colors are produced and the crowd is mesmerised. The fireworks spell out the word "Karkabat" in three different colors; Kar in red, Ka in blue and Bat in purple. Everyone starts clapping and cheering in excitement.
Kaizen: "Yes! It took a while to figure out, and a bunch of failed tests. There's a bunch of more rockets with different letters in different colors. Also, if anybody is interested in how I made it work, I wrote a manual on my work so don't lose it. Anyways, thank you all for being patient with me."
Kaizen bows and the crowd cheers once more as he gets off the stage. A new person walks up on the stage.
Event host: "Great! Now that the Mistress and Kaizen have opened up the event, let's get into the performances!"
The crowd starts cheering on the next group of people that come up on the stage.
Kassius: "Wow! Those fireworks were nice."
Arnold: "Mhm. They were."
Bonnie: "Man, the food here was amazing."
Kassius: "I know right?! Gotta pack some for the road."
Arnold: "Speaking of, what's the plan for when we leave?"
Kassius: "Well, we still need that diamond right? So we'll just have to find the leader of the black sand bandits and steal it from him."
Arnold: "Are you sure only the two us will be enough?"
Kassius: "Hmm. You're right. Bonnie, you want in?"
Bonnie: "How's the split?"
Kassius: "I don't mind a three way split. You?"
Arnold: "I'm fine with that."
Bonnie: "I mean... I have nothing better to do. So I guess I could."
Kassius: "Great. We'll leave in the morning."
Kaizen: "You're leaving so soon? You just got here."
Kassius: "Yeah. We have to. By the way, those were amazing fireworks."
Kaizen: "Thanks. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Kaizen."
Kassius: "I'm Kassius. He is Arnold and she is Bonnie."
Arnold: "Earlier?"
Kassius: "Yeah, that Jamun guy really had me. But he showed up and dealt with him."
Arnold: "I see."
Bonnie: "You lost?! You know what that means."
Kassius: "I wouldn't reaaaally say I lost..."
Bonnie: "Hahaha! You know the rules, Kas."
Kaizen: "Um..."
Bonnie: "Quite a while back, we made a deal that every time one of us loses a fight, the other gets to request something of the loser. If they refuse, there's a fine of $10000."
Event host: "Now! For the dance, volunteers, get up on stage!"
Bonnie: "Speaking of... Over here! My friend and I would like to dance!"
Arnold chuckles as Kassius gets shocked by the request.
Kassius: "Wait, hold on. Right now? I'm tired."
Bonnie: "I'll take the money I guess."
Kassius: "You know I don't have that much."
Bonnie: "Well then, let's get to stepping."
She drags Kassius by the arm towards the stage.
Event host: "Start the music!"
The music starts playing as everyone on the stage starts dancing. Bonnie follows the movement fine but Kassius tries to walk away. She grabs him and twirls him in the sky. Everyone in the crowd starts laughing. Kassius in embarrassment looks towards the crowd and sees Ulqora laughing too. He smiles but then is dropped. He hits the ground and the crowd laugh again.
Kassius: "Dammit Bonnie. Why'd you drop me?"
Bonnie: "You're supposed to land on the ground."
She helps him up and they continue dancing and entertaining the crowd.
Kaizen: "Hahahaha! You guys sure are interesting. It really is a shame you'll be leaving so soon. If you don't mind me asking, how's it out there?"
Arnold: "Out there?!"
Kaizen: "You know? Out in the world. I mean, I haven't got to see it myself in person. Only in newspapers we get."
Arnold: "I thought this place was unknown.
Kaizen: "Yes, that is true. To our knowledge, it is. Nobody has come around this region in some time. Our source is from this village too. They live in a town quite distant from here. It's where we get some of our resources."
Arnold: "I see."
Kaizen: "But yeah, everything I see on the papers always amazes me. I always said I'd go explore the world one day. I want to see the world as much as I can."
Arnold: "Why don't you?"
Kaizen: "I mean, I have an obligation to this village. Also, my mother thinks it's too dangerous for anybody to go too far away from the village. But it's alright. There's a reason it's a dream. It's just like any other during sleep. Anyways, enjoy the rest of the night. I'll see you guys off tomorrow."
Arnold: "Wait."
Kaizen: "Yes?"
Arnold: "If it's important to you, don't ever forget it. Someone once told me, dreams only die when they are forgotten."
Kaizen turns around and smiles as he walks away.
Kaizen: "Maybe you're right. I'll keep that in mind."