Yawn

This is joint-written. And boring. Sorry, K.E.

Niqi hummed quietly to herself, standing and watching as they approached the sand of the island. "This could be a shipwreck on the shore, or we could sail away forevermore..." she murmured. "Land ahoy," she announced somewhat louder, feeling the boat brush against the shore.

"I'm fairly certain we all see it, dear." Micah smirked. "Should we bring the human girl to land with us, or just go find the final two by ourselves?"

"I'm getting restless," Ambree said, walking up to them.

Niqi glanced at her. "Fine, come," she said, vaulting over the side of the boat and landing upright in the shallow water.

"Showoff," Ambree muttered.

Micah leapt over after Niqi, though he didn't touch the water, hovering above it. "Come on, let's get to the shore. If I remember correctly, our final two are about a mile inland."

Niqi rolled her eyes at the hovering display. "Lead the way."

Ambree tied a rope ladder to the side of the boat, threw it over, and quickly climbed down. She ran to catch up with them. "Who are the last two, anyway?" she asked.

Micah shrugged, touching down on the surface of the water and walking to the shore. "No idea. All I know is, they're a couple of people you guys have worked with before. I think one of them is a cat, though..."

"Hm," Niqi mumbled. "I'll probably know them when I see 'em."

"Probably." Micah replied, leading the way up the beach, to a path that cut through the thick forest ahead. "This should take us right to the nearest town."

 

...

 

"Beautiful place, isn't it?" Micah asked, looking around at the small, peaceful town in the middle of the forest.

Niqi nodded, and then sighed. "This is what Earth should have been. Probably was like this before we ruined it."

"It was." Micah replied. "Come on, I think that's the tavern." He said, heading toward a small building nearby. He pushed the door open, allowing Niqi to enter first.

Niqi walked in, immediately spotting the ones they were looking for. "Maki? Mambo? Hey!"

Maki looked up from his beer. "... Y'all are our ride to the tournament? Didn't see that one comin'..."

"Neither did I." Niqi grinned. "Nice to see you again, though, I s'pose. You'll remember Ambree, and this is Micah," she said, gesturing to them in turn.

"Howdy." Maki said, tilting his hat.

Micah greeted him with a nod.

Mambo grabbed Maki's beer while the human wasn't looking, drinking it down.

Maki turned to the cat, snatching the bottle from his paw. "You dick."

Mambo simply rolled his eyes in response.

"You guys about done here?" Niqi asked. "We've got a boat waiting. We could head off now, or stay and have some drinks. According to Glide, there's no rush."

"We might as well head to the tournament." Maki replied. "I haven't had a good fight in a long, long time."

"Why not?" Niqi asked, following Micah back out the door. The cat and the human followed them. "Doesn't seem like you'd be suffering from a lack of opportunity."

Maki scoffed. "I said a good fight. I've had plenty of fights, but none of 'em were very challenging."

Niqi nodded. "You're in luck, then. Everyone associated with our group seems to be pretty damn good."