The Last Dragon And Guardian

"Jump!" Ralph said gripping the rails of the ship. Nodding their head, they all jump over the ship into the water. A few seconds later, the Faceless men arrived where the kids had been standing earlier. From another room emerged another group of Faceless men, but they all saw each other without the kids.

"They are not on this one either." One of the men in charge says.

The other one walks off to the rails of the ship and looks down into the ocean. The kids couldn't have jumped into the ocean, this part of the water was deep, so where or on which ship were they? His eyes scanned the surface of the water for some seconds more before he finally walked away from the rails. "Arrest the children smuggler and have him tell us where he hid the children or rot in jail. We will take him back to Vianto!" He says walking away briskly, all the men following him.

From under the water where they had all hid and held their breath, the children emerged, gasping for air.

The children stayed in the water till nightfall. As soon as the Faceless men had left, they had swam their way to land. They were all shivering when they got out. They made their way through the seaport to the market.

"We need to find a fire," Miya says to everyone.

"There." Kidaya says pointing at a fireplace where an elderly woman was cooking. They all turn to look at where she pointed and they move over.

"Oh no!" Exclaims the elderly woman. "Where have you lots been that you all are dripping this way!"

The children all squat in front of the fire and stretch their hands allowing the heat from the fire to drive away their cold.

"Aiyooo!" The woman exclaims rushing off to serve one of her customers. When she returns, the children were still beside the fire. "Where are your parents or guardians?"

Miya shakes her head in response to the woman's question.

"Where is the wine, woman!" Screams a man from one of the tables.

"Coming up." The woman says rushing off to her wine pot.

A man finishes eating and hands his coins to the woman. Seeing the leftovers in the man's plate, Sam rushes forward and grabs the plate, and begins eating hungrily from the man's leftovers.

"Let me get you a fresh one. You don't have to eat the leftovers." The woman says hurrying away. She returns with a full plate and hands it to Sam.

Shaking his head. "We don't get things from strangers," Sam says. "We can't -"

Miya rushes over and snatches the plate of rice balls from the woman and begins to dig in. Kidaya rushes over and joins her, digging both her hands into the bowl of food.

"Eat slowly or you'll choke. Eat slowly, I have more." The elderly woman says leaving to get more rice for the kids.

Sam joins the two girls in eating from the bowl, but Ralph doesn't. He couldn't get up because of his leg. As if suddenly recalling, Kidaya turns and looks at Ralph who was watching them, and gulping down an empty throat. Kidaya scoops the rice balls in both her hands and turns to leave.

"You can't scoop everything out just for yourself. Even I -" Sam who had begun to protest stopped when he saw her stretch her hands towards Ralph and nod at him to eat, and after some seconds of hesitation, Ralph bent his head and ate from her hand.

The woman returns with another bowl of rice and hands it to Miya who takes it to where Ralph is sitting and they all eat together. When they were done, the woman offered them water.

"I live alone, but I have a spare room where I store my goods. If you don't mind, I could lend you all the room to sleep for the night." The elderly woman says to them after they all offered her thanks.

"We don't have any money," Ralph tells the woman.

Smiling. "I don't need the money. You all can help me wash the dishes if you are bothered with payment. Is that okay?"

They all exchange looks, and then nod.

"Good. This way." She says leading them behind her restaurant. She opens the door to her store and nods for them to go in. "You can do the dishes tomorrow if you want, ok? Just rest." She says walking away with the door a little bit ajar.

As soon as the woman leaves, Miya begins to search her body.

"What is it?" Sam asks eyes on her.

Not answering, she continues to search until she pulls out a little jar from her pocket. "I found it." She says raising up the bottle and smiling.

"Found what?" Sam asks again.

Miya opens the small bottle and takes a small drink from it. "Rule number one of arriving in any new place: Trust no one." She says stretching the bottle to her brother.

"You think she poisoned us?" Sam asks taking a gulp and stretching it to Kidaya, but Ralph grabs it instead.

Shrugging. "It doesn't hurt to be extra careful," Miya says. Ralph sniffs the bottle. "It detoxifies the body from any poisonous substance," Miya says to Ralph.

Skeptically, he takes a gulp before handing it to Kidaya to also take a gulp.

Locating a huge bag of grain bag, he lays on it. "From my point, she was too good to have poisoned us. Besides, we saw her scoop the food from the same pot she serves her customers. Besides, what does an old woman gain from poisoning us?"

Also securing herself a spot to sleep. "Never say never, Sam." Miya says lying down.

Ralph arranges some bags for Kidaya to sleep on, but they weren't enough for himself. He pats on the bags, "Sleep here, I'll use the floor." He says to her smiling.

Kidaya shakes her head. "No. Let's use it together." She says to him.

"Kidaya, a Lady does not -"

"I am not a Lady!" She retorted.

"Kidaya!"

"Let's use it together or forget about it." She told him.

Sam sighs turning away from them. "Here they go again." He says and Miya laughs watching the exchange between the two other kids.

~

The door squeaked and the old woman steps into the room. The room was dark, so she had to step out again and return with her lantern. She points it into the room and saw the four children sound asleep. Smiling at the side of her mouth, she steps out of the room again and closes the door slowly. She walks away briskly, passes her restaurant and house, walks some feet away, and finally stops behind three men wearing a mask without a face.

"They are asleep." She says to them.