Green eye's stomach grumbled. I jumped and hid behind Red.
Is he going to go mad with hunger?! Will he eat me?!
"I guess we should find some food before we eat little miss lovely here," Red said
Eep! I jumped away from here and towards Blue eyes.
"Ahh~ I'm so hungry!" Blue eyes cried out
Huh?!
I ran out of the alley in search of food for the group.
I found a man giving out a bowl with nice-smelling food in it. I walked up to him, clasped my hands together, and raised my hands to him.
"Are you begging for food, dear? That's just not right. Here." He gave me a bowl of food. "A girl like you should stay indoors at night. It's dangerous out here for anyone to be out at sundown."
I took the bowl and nodded my head at him in thanks before running back to the group.
I raised my bowl in victory.
Now you won't eat me, for I have brought food!
They stared at the food, dumbfounded.
"Did you pay for this?" Blue eyes asked
Pay? No. I shook my head.
"Then how-" green eyes started
"No questions. Just be thankful." Red said, "You do come in handy." She reached up to pat my head.
I smiled at her.
"Now I see how you did it," she said with a smirk.
I tilted my head in confusion.
"Let's get some food!" She cheered. As did the others.
I did the same with a few other people. I simply asked for food, and they gave me some. We eventually gathered enough for two days.
"Want some?" Red asked me, "You worked hard for it."
I shook my head. I still feel no hunger.
She stared at me for a while before asking, "So what's your name?"
I thought about it for a second but came up with nothing. I shrugged.
"You don't know? Makes sense if you have amnesia." She hummed, "Well, my name's Mansi."
She pointed towards green eyes. "That's Karmon"
She then pointed at blue eyes, "And that's Maven."
She looked back at me. "We'll need a name for you if you want to continue following us."
"How about blastoidus!" Green- Karmon yelled out.
Maven knocked him upside the head.
"I was thinking Tori would be a nice name," Mansi said
"That…" Karmon stopped and looked me over. "That's actually really fitting. Welcome to the team, Tori."
They continued eating as they came up with a plan.
"We'll need to find a way to get close enough to the king to know his weakness but far enough so he doesn't suspect us. I say we become helpers around the army and work our way up to the king. Afterwards, we can return to Little Pebble Kingdom and strategize from there." Mansi said
"How long will that take, though? We haven't gotten much time to be here. The others are already wanting to take action soon," Karmon said
"Well, unless you want me to seduce the empress, I suggest you work hard," Mansi said
"Tori has a better chance of seducing than you!" Maven said
She whacked both of them, and they ate the rest of their food in silence.
"Why did I get hit too?" Muttered Karmon.
When we finished, we went to look for the general army's commander.
We asked one of the townspeople for directions, and they pointed to a building barely visible through the trees in the mountains.
We walked through a path in the road and finally made it. We knocked a few times before opening the door.
"We need money and are willing!" Mansi yelled
Silence.
"You have the wrong place," Someone said
"Willing to cook and clean!" Maven quipped.
"Oh! Then please follow me!" Someone else said
"That was surprisingly easy," Karmon whispered
We followed the man through the training hall, where we almost lost all of our limbs, then a target practice room where I was very close to getting impaled, and many other rooms.
We finally made it to an empty room, where we sat with a breath of relief.
"I'm surprised you guys made it this far. People usually don't want to go through the first room. I will bring the commander. Please wait one moment." The man said as he walked out.
"As we said, willing," Mansi muttered with a forced smile.
When the man left the room, Karmon sighed and said, "If it's this hard to become a worker, just imagine being a soldier."
We all nodded.
The door slid open, and another man walked in, along with the first man trailing behind.
"Are these the applicators?"
The man behind nodded.
"And they all passed the first test?"
He nodded again.
"Very well. You may go now."
The man left but not before mouthing the words "Good luck" to us.
We all froze.
"So, what made you all want to work here?" The man asked as he sat down in front of us and drank from a brown bottle. Where the bottle came from, I don't know. He didn't have it when he entered the room.
"We want to fight for justice and protect this kingdom," Mansi stated.
He lifted an eyebrow. "This?"
Karmon jumped in. "We just moved in and are still amazed by the scenery here, which doesn't feel real."
He hummed.
"What else?" He asked
"Uh, we want to preserve the peace his majesty has granted this town and-"
"Yes. Yes. Save the sap and tell me why you are willing to work here." He interrupted Mansi
"We…uh…" Karmon started
"Money," Maven interrupted. "We are still new here and need money."
The man hummed and drank again. When he finished, he pointed the bottle my way.
"What about you? Why are you here?"
I wondered that myself. All I wanted was to stay close to this group since they were the first people I'd seen, but now I seem to have gotten myself tangled in some kind of rebellion.
I shrugged.
"Well, you all seem entertaining enough. Welcome to the crew." The man said
He chugged the last of what was in the bottle.
He held the empty bottle to the ceiling and said, "I'm the general army commander. Let's hope you can feed these ravages; otherwise, you're all dead meat."