Chương 26: "Every Girl's Got to Have One”

Ch 26 "Every Girl's Got to Have One" The evening air in Blue Cloud City hung thick with mist and anticipation as the three approached the entrance to the Sword and Wine Bar. This was the biggest building Amber had seen in her life! Large stone walls were punctuated by wooden window panes that leaked golden light into the azure night air. There were two young women standing outside wearing elegant dresses. They smiled as the trio walked up.

"Welcome!" they exclaimed in tandem. The three gave a short bow.

"Is this your first time?"

"For these two it is!" Wing smiled at the women.

"Ah! I'm so excited for you!" one girl exclaimed.

"You're going to have so much fun!" the second one sang.

"Please, when you enter, find the front desk and get a token. They can be used to place bets, or to get food and drinks!" The girl on the left explained with a pleasant expression.

"And remember to stop by the front desk when you leave to settle your account sum, or we'll kill you!" The girl on the right smiled as she struck a cute little pose.

"Don't worry! I'll keep them in line!" Wing grinned and puffed out his chest.

"Thank you sir!" The girls spoke and smiled in unison. They turned and opened the doors. Amber wasn't sure if she had ever seen Wing smile that big before.

"Welcome," the front desk girl seemed much less enthusiastic than the door girls as the trio walked up. She didn't even look up from her book as the three approached. Without so much as a glance she reached under the counter and produced 3 stone tablets. Amber felt the cold stone as she turned it over in her hand.

"Just prick your finger and put a drop of blood on it," the front desk women said, without removing her eyes from her book. Her free hand tapped the desk where an iron needle stuck out of a small wooden base.

"Uhhh…." Amber stared at the blood running down the iron needle.

"Does everyone use the same needle?"

"You don't have to," the desk girl said, intent on her book.

"But yes."

"Got it, thanks," Amber said a bit weakly. Amber drew a blade from inside of her shirt and raised it to her thumb that held the little tablet.

"Whoa, since when are you so dangerous?" Wing asked, looking at her gleaming knife.

"Every girl's got to have one," Ember smiled as she drew her own hidden knife out from under her clothes and followed Amber's lead. A red drop slowly fell onto the stone, and red numbers lit up on the tablet. Amber's read 111.

"This is awesome!" she exclaimed.

"How does it work?"

"I've heard it's some kind of field. The stones only work in this building," Wing explained, biting the side of his thumb for a bit of blood.

"There's an open table not too far from the stage! Let's go!" Amber looked up from her tablet as the boy rushed off. The inside looked even bigger than the outside had suggested! Amber's golden eyes gleamed with wonder as she looked up at the tall ceiling. It was easily the tallest she had ever seen!

"Is it surprising?" Ember asked, looking back at the younger girl with a smug smile that implied volumes.

"Of course not!" Amber dropped her smile to look unimpressed as she strode calmly past the girl in red. But Amber couldn't contain her expression as she saw more and more. Wooden chandeliers hung high and lit the entire area with a firey glow. The seating descended in tiered rings around the central platform, each level carved from stone and connected by narrow stairways. In the center was a raised octagonal stone platform.

"This table!" Wing waved them over.

"There's a few closer to the stage," Amber pointed at a lower ring.

"That's reserved seating," Wing said.

"They cost a lot more, and there's all kinds of big shots that actually own tables!"

"They own the table? Not the bar?" Amber asked, tilting her head slightly.

"You can own almost anything with money, my dear Little Cabbage," Ember faintly smiled as she waved herself with her fan.

"Look," Wing said.

"More interesting than that, look at the menu!" Amber followed his pointing finger to a black board with all kinds of meals and drinks written on it. The menu board displayed an impressive array of dishes, each more tempting than the last. Clay pot meals, braised meats in rich sauces, handmade noodles topped with fragrant oils and crispy vegetables. There were even dim sum selections that steamed in bamboo baskets, their delicate wrappers barely containing the savory fillings within.

The drinks section boasted everything from simple tea to aged rice wines that cost more coin than most fighters would earn in a single match. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Whoa!" The girl's eyes shone like the sun.

"Everything sounds so good!" She took a big sniff to smell the food of the restaurant. Suddenly, Amber felt dizzy. The smells and aromas that had been wafting around the venue were suddenly unbearable, they were way too strong! What was happening? It had all smelled so pleasant just a moment ago. It was the little tiger's senses! she realized. Well, I guess the little thing doesn't need permission to link with me! Amber thought. It wasn't as intense as last time, and the energy drain felt minuscule in comparison.

It seemed that only their smell had synchronized at the moment, as well as a vague feeling of emotion. She felt a small paw tap her ankle under the table. It was reaching from inside her shadow! She could feel the hunger in it's belly from their shared senses.

"Right here, ma'am!" Wing waved an arm towards somebody. A server in flowing robins egg robes hurried over, bowing slightly as she approached their table.

"Welcome, everyone! I'm Crystal, the server for this section. What can I get for you this evening?"

"I'll take the mushroom rice!" Amber said immediately, practically bouncing on her cushion.

"Please bring me 2 orders of paired chicken legs as well!"

"Excellent," The server smiled warmly.

"And for you two?" Wing leaned back in his chair, studying the menu board one more time.

"I'll have the braised pork belly with the hand-pulled noodles. Bring us some rice wine as well."

"And I'll take the steamed dumplings. A bottle of aged plum wine as well." Ember said, her fan fluttering in a pleased manner.

"Wonderful! Your wine will be out first." The server bowed and disappeared into a door that Amber hadn't noticed before.

"Cabbage!" Every so often a guard or group of guards would come walking by from the Lucky Tiger caravan and wave to Amber. She smiled but cringed each time. She still had a hard time not taking it as an insult after the villagers had spat the words "demonic cabbage girl," at her so many times growing up.

"My my, aren't you popular," Ember smiled at the girl from behind her fan. Amber tried to fake a smile. It was much better than people used to treat her after all. The server returned moments later with two ceramic bottles and three small cups. She tapped a token of her own against Amber's tablet, who had already promised to pay for dinner that night.

"Alright! This is what I'm talking about! We need to have a toast," Wing leaned the rice sake bottle over, the amber liquid catching the lamplight as it filled each cup.

"Salud!" Wing declared, raising his cup high.

"What does that mean?" Amber asked, lifting her cup.

"I don't know, but that's what Captain Dante always says!" Wing laughed. Amber smiled. She had never thought that the caravan would start to feel so much like…. a home.

"Salud!" the girls exclaimed as they raised their cups. The three clinked their cups together and drank. The rice wine was sweet and smooth, with just enough bite to warm Amber's throat as it went down.

"This is really good!" Amber said, looking at her cup with appreciation.

"Right? Not bad, not bad!" Wing laughed, a shade of red already tinging his face.

"Have you had rice wine before?"

"No, just terrible fermented grain…. When the village water was making people sick, that's all we had. This stuff is much better though!" Amber smiled. The noise level in the venue multiplied as more and more people arrived. The air was filled by shouting, laughter, the clinks of cups and tokens, and the aroma of good food as the kitchen pumped out order after order. Swaying wooden chandeliers and oil lamps revealed a diverse crowd. There were warriors in both cloth and armor, but a surprising lack of weapons.

People who dressed simply were towards the tallest depth in the back of the venue, while the inner circle was on ground level just beneath the stone platform. That section's patrons glistened from gold and jewelry. The server returned and started laying out delicious looking dishes on their table, tapping Amber's token with her own stone card as new numbers appeared on the surface.

"Whooooa!" Amber's eyes grew as big as her plate while she looked upon the steaming mushroom rice. It was beautifully arranged, with glossy shiitake and oyster mushrooms nestled atop perfectly steamed rice that had been cooked with fragrant herbs. The chicken legs arrived golden-brown and glistening, still sizzling slightly from the kitchen.

"Thank you!" Amber said to the server before immediately digging in.

"Incredible!" Wing started stuffing his face with pork. Ember simply smiled as she poured a cup of her plum wine.

"So, Wing darling, you're our veteran here. What can we expect from these fights?" Ember asked, sipping her sake tenderly.

"Well," Wing swallowed a big bite.

"There're different kinds of fights. They all have different rules. They're all great though!" Wing started to pour himself another drink and took a healthy gulp.

"Anyone can fight if they want to! And anyone can bet. If you have an issue with someone, you can work it out here! Killing isn't allowed, though." Amber listened intently as she discreetly dropped a chicken leg under the table and into her shadow. It made no noise as it silently sank into the darkness. The little tiger's happiness rippled through their connection with a purr.

"They also have house fighters you can challenge," he pointed over to a blackboard with names and numbers.

"All house fights have prizes of course." Wing took another gulp and slurped up some noodles.

"They should go over the rules when they start." Amber stuffed another marvelous mushroom in her mouth. The flesh of it was not chewy, but it had a pleasant resistance against her teeth. She matched it with a delicious bit of lightly oiled rice and sesame. Wing poured another drink as he realized Ember had been keeping up with him, yet the girl still looked unfazed. Wing chugged the entire cup at once.

"Don't feel like you have to keep up with me," he smiled coyly at the girl in red.

"Oh, have you kept up with me? I hadn't even noticed!" Ember laughed delicately as she poured another cup.

"I barely noticed myself," the boy laughed, also pouring another cup.

"Ah! It looks like a fight is starting!" Amber exclaimed. Servants went around extinguishing several lanterns so that the seating rings were darker. At the same time, big braziers roared to life, one at each corner of the stone octagonal platform in the center of the venue.

"Whoa!" Amber's eyes reflected the flames like they were on fire themselves.

"They really know how to put on a show!" Wing shouted, raising his drink.

"Indeed," Ember smiled from behind her fan." Bone Eater! Bone Eater!" The arena started chanting as cries and cheers rose into the air.

"His name is Bone Eater?" Amber asked, subtly dropping another chicken leg into the shadowy space under the table Has she noticed nobody was watching. It seemed to disappear without a sound.

"He's who we're here to see tonight! Dude is insane, and he's on a win streak! The prizes for beating him are getting really big. His last two opponents died from injuries outside of the arena, days later I heard."

"I thought there was no killing?" Amber asked.

"That's just good business, my dear Little Cabbage," Ember sipped her cup.

"They just don't want you dying here."

"Who would even sign up to fight this guy anymore?" Amber asked.

"There's always someone with something to prove," Wing laughed, before downing another cup. His cheeks were beginning to deepen their reddish tint. Something caught Amber's attention down by the ring. A boy was standing there, and something about his face seemed familiar….. She knew him! The girl realized." Wood??" Amber exclaimed in surprise.