Nire stood in awe of the majestic tower that loomed over her and the rest of the group. She had heard Lang say aloud earlier that he could never get tired of seeing this old beauty, and Nire completely understood what he had meant when he said that.

Suddenly the silence in awe was broken by Lang who beckoned Nire over to him. “Come here,” he waved his hand to call her.

“What is it?”

“You see that water buffalo up there?” Lang motioned towards a big stone water buffalo that hung over the large doorway. Lang had called it a water buffalo, but after a closer inspection of it, it looked quite human as well. It had the head of a water buffalo complete with horns, but it seemed to have been attached to a very muscular human torso which was then attached to a shield or other crest that hung on the wall of the tower. The humanoid water buffalo held onto hatchets in its lage hands that were crossed over its chest. It was an odd choice of decoration, Nire thought to herself, but she had to admit that the amount of detail that went into carving it was amazing.

“It’s name is ‘Nyuj Twm’. It acts as our front door guardian here at Hneev Taw,” Lang said.

“Surely you’re joking, right?” Nire asked, almost laughing. She didn’t understand the notion of a stone statue being a guardian that Lang seemed so proud of. “It’s just a statue,” Nire added.

“Hee hee,” Lang laughed aloud, his dimples showing, “you caught me. I was just joking. Let’s head on in, now, shall we?” Lang guided the group closer towards the door laughing silently to himself while Li just stared at her older brother and the overly enthusiastic girl who had been allowed to tag along.

It was at that moment that a loud booming voice had begun to shout, “Who goes there?”

Nire scrambled in confusion and slight terror over the surprise while Lang laughed even louder. Li continued to stare at the two and shook her head. She didn’t understand why her brother felt the need to do this to every newcomer.

“You lied to me! It moved!” Nire shouted indignantly.

“I never said it didn’t move,” Lang said beneath trying to hide his laughter.

“Oh,” Nyuj Twm calmed down and said again, “It’s just Li, Lang, and a beat up Captain Oda.” Then its words began to sink in and the realization hit him. “A beat up Captain Oda?!” it cried as it threw its hands up and half covered its face. Nyuj Twm was very expressive for being a stone statue that was limited in body parts.

“About time you noticed, Nyuj Twm. Now, are you going to let us in or not?” Lang called teasingly from down below.

“Yes! Right away!” Nyuj Twm obediently said as the giant wooden doors started to swing open, inviting the group inside.

Nire was absolutely impressed over what she had just witnessed. A speaking stone water buffalo that really was the guardian of this place, and as a result had complete control over who entered and exited the premises. She stared at the exchange between Nyuj Twm and Lang, mouth wide open, but when Nyuj Twm had neglected to notice her as well, she brought it up to Tub.

“Isn’t it kind of weird, Tub?”

“What is?” Tub replied unphased.

“The guardian didn’t seem to notice us.”

“Oh really?”

Nire figured Tub really wasn’t paying attention at all. She was surprised he had even answered her in the first place.

“I think you’re just imagining things,” Tub said matter of factly.

Nire shrugged, but hesitated a bit before reluctantly answering. “If you say so,” she said as she stepped through the door frame. Just then, a rush of pain surged through her body and she stood motionless behind Li and Lang who had entered before her.

“Well, how do you like it, stranger?” Lang said cheerfully as he turned just in time to see Nire fall face first into the ground. “Stranger?” he called again as Nire’s consciousness began to fade.

Through the darkness, Nire could hear the sound of dripping water, and a humming of a tune that she did not know, but felt nostalgic towards. Pushing herself to wake up, she slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by someone who possessed a familiar presence. A young boy who didn’t look much older than she, herself, and long silver hair that was tied up in a spiky ponytail.

“Oh, you’re awake!” the boy called happily.

“Who? Who are you?” Nire struggled to say, her throat still groggy from the long sleep she had had. Nire took a closer look at the boy, but when she looked up at his eyes, she realized that the person she had seen was not the person sitting beside her now. It wasn’t a boy at all, but a girl. Her hair wasn’t exactly silver, but a light gray, and she had bright yellow eyes that complimented her darker skin and reflected her bright personality. They looked to be about the same age. The yellow eyed girl was wearing the same coat as Li and Lang so she figured that she must be one of them as well.

“I’m Dorothy! You can call me ‘Doro’, though,” she said as she pulled some hair that was falling in her face behind her ears. “You fainted as soon as you walked in,” she said as if it were no big deal and clasped her hands, flashing the brightest smile she could to try and make the other girl feel as comfortable as she could. “But don’t worry, you’re in good hands here. I’ve been nursing you all this time, so you should be alright now,” she gave two thumbs up in approval of her own handiwork and Nire hid beneath her covers a little more.

After realizing that she may be scaring the girl, Doro toned down her bubbliness and tried to be more personable. “Can you stand?” She offered her hand to help Nire out of bed. “Our Big Boss would like to meet you,” she said as she winked.

Nire contemplated for a brief moment, then put her hand in Doro’s. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

Traversing the long, empty halls alone, Nire complained a bit beneath her breath. “I can’t believe she told me to go on alone.” Nire thought back to what Doro had told her before sending her off on her own.

“Sorry!” Doro put her hands together in front of her as if in apology. “I actually have to stay behind and clean. But just follow the hall and you’ll be fine.” With those words, Doro sent Nire off and started to clean the infirmary.

“‘Just follow the hall,’” Nire mimicked. “Seems easy enough, but I can’t seem to--” her conversation with herself was interrupted after Nire had bumped into a tall boy. Oh no, Nire thought in a panic. She could practically feel the heat of anger emanating from the boy she bumped into.

“Who have we here?” one of the two other boys who was with the taller red haired boy said in a teasing way. His hair was a dark, faded green and he wore glasses that made him look pretentious. Nire didn’t like the look he possessed. As for the other boy, he possessed a chubby baby face that helped him look innocent, but Nire figured that if he was hanging around these other two boys, he couldn’t be that innocent. Judging by the formation they were standing in, the red haired boy in the center with the glasses boy and chubby boy standing at each side, Nire knew enough to know that the one in the center must be their ring leader of sorts. The three were dressed in the same attire as the Captain when he discarded his coat, so Nire figured that that must be the undergarment of their uniform.

The undergarment wasn’t anything too fancy. It was a skin-tight top of a deep red color that seemed to be mesh that had a small emblem embroidered on the left side, accompanied by a red sash tied around the waist and baggy black pants with knee high burgundy boots. It looked really comfortable, actually, and easy to maneuver in. That must have been why the Captain preferred to battle in the undergarment, Nire figured.

“Sorry!” Nire said, playing goofball as to not make the tension rise any higher. “I didn’t mean to bump into you. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Watch where you’re going, you idiot,” the red haired boy finally turned around and sneered at the girl. Taking a good look at the boy, Nire noticed his two strongest features: deep green eyes and furrowed brows. Does he look like that all the time? Nire asked, looking at the ground, trying to stifle her laughter. Sensing that the previous tension had died down quite a bit and that being angry was probably the red haired boy’s key trait, she tried to move around them so she could continue down the hall.

Just then, the green haired boy stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks, then whispered into their ring leader’s ear.

“Strangely dressed, looks strange too. I think that’s the new kid.”

The red haired boy repeated aloud two words. “New kid?” He crossed his arms and then looked Nire up and down, sizing her up.

“New kid! Yup! That’s me, haha!” Nire said, trying to appear harmless. She didn’t take a liking to this boy and his goons, much like they didn’t take a liking to her either. “Could you please show me the way to your, uh…” Nire paused for a moment trying to remember the word Doro had used. “Big Boss!” Nire declared happily, remembering the word at last.

The boy was not happy at all though. He clicked his tongue and repeated Nire’s words, but full of anger. “‘Big Boss’? Have you no respect for anyone, you strange savage?”

Nire was taken aback at the boy’s harsh retort, as she had heard the words from Doro, who was a part of this group. Genuinely curious now, Nire asked, “Was ‘Big Boss’ not the correct term?” Shaking her head before receiving an answer, she directed her attention towards the other thing the boy had said to her. “That aside, ‘strange savage’? I’ll give you a straight savage, you overrated pretty boy.” Nire teasingly looked at the boy, who became even more irritated at hearing Nire’s words that were in between insult and compliment. Flames seemed to burn around the two as they stared daggers at each other.

“You want a fight?” The boy shouted as he started to lunge towards the girl, but then his two henchmen intervened, the chubby, innocent looking one holding back their fiery leader and the pretentious glasses fellow standing between Nire and the other two.

“I…” he seemed to struggle with his words as if he didn’t truly mean what he was about to say, “sincerely apologize for my friend.” He slightly lowered his head in apology as the other two continued to struggle in the back. “I don’t know how you did it, but you made a wrong turn over there,” the boy said pointing back from where Nire had come from.

Nirewasn’t usually like this, but she saw this as a moment of reconciliation between the two parties, so she trusted in his words and beamed a bright smile at the boy. “Thanks!” She said as she turned and started to walk back the way she came.

“D- Don’t mention it,” the boy said, pushing his glasses up, trying to hide his embarrassment, not that it really mattered, as the girl had already begun walking away.

The red haired boy was able to cool off after a while and spoke to the boy in glasses, “You lied to her.”

“Yeah…” he replied despondently.

“She really was strange though,” the chubby boy began saying, “I can’t quite put my finger on it though.”

“Yeah?” the red haired boy responded. “She seems like bad news. Like she has secrets that could doom us all.”

“Don’t be so angry now, Let!” the two other boys teased him.

“I’m being serious!” he shouted back as the three continued walking down the hall.