Though Sothe normally obeyed Micaiah’s every command, there were exceptions. Especially when she wasn’t advocating for her best interests. Not wanting to argue, he quickly and silently opened the door. Yet his entry wasn’t completely silent, the miniature Micaiah letting out a startled cry as he darted inside.
Not knowing if there were enemies on the other side, Sothe kept daggers in both of his hands, ready to strike. Though this time, such measures were not necessary. His eyes darting around every corner of the cellar, he quickly determined that the room was empty.
“Hey! Why didn’t you listen to me?” Micaiah squeaked indignantly once he pushed the door shut.
“I wasn’t about to put you in danger.” He said back, moving into the shadows.
“I would have been fine! I’m too small to be seen, remember?” She insisted.
“…I’m not arguing about this.” Sothe huffed. Her squeaky voice was making it difficult for him to concentrate. Though she was older than him, she didn’t always act like it.
Noticing how Sothe was still looking around, Micaiah decided to drop the subject for now. Though she was not best pleased. She had a feeling that being small would lead to her being side-lined as useless, and so far, the words and actions of her friends were only giving her more evidence that this was the case. She was determined to prove to them that they were wrong, though now was not the most opportune time for such an endeavour. So she bit her tongue and stayed silent, keeping watch from Sothe’s scarf.
Behind another door was another empty room. Sothe appeared to be in luck, the complete lack of guards thus far indoors making this job easy.
Those fools probably thought the two outside would be enough. Clearly never dealt with a skilled thief before. He thought as he turned his attention to the various crates and barrels that filled the room.
“Ooh! Ooh! Sothe!” Micaiah bobbed up and down on his shoulder. “The medicine might be in here!” She had deduced that they were in the armory Sothe had spoken of earlier, from the assorted weapons and armor that lined the walls.
“Right.” He nodded. “Better search for it.”
“I’ll help!” Micaiah insisted. “Let me look in this one!”
She pointed to one of the larger crates. Sothe suspected she had bitten off more than she could chew but decided to humor her. He quickly popped off the top of it with a knife and set it aside, before offering a hand to his puny passenger.
Micaiah quickly accepted the platform he provided, her little boots tickling his palm even through his glove. When he moved her close to the crate, she hopped off and landed atop one of the boxes inside the crate. The random clutter he could see might have been worth inspecting first, but Sothe decided to let Micaiah search it for now. Instead he opened a nearby barrel, though he couldn’t look for very long without glancing towards his little leader. He was sure to keep her within reach while he searched.
It was rather daunting, searching a crate that had to be at least ten times her height, but there was no way Micaiah was going to shy away from such a task. The box beneath her feet seemed decently likely to contain the medicine they sought but looking inside was impossible while she was stood on top of it. So she turned her attention elsewhere. The fingertips of a big gauntlet encroached on the top of the box, giving Micaiah an eerie feeling. Such a massive mitt was more than big enough to snatch her up, should it be possessed by a spectral hand. Realizing the track her thoughts were taking, Micaiah felt she was being rather ridiculous, and instead tried to look for a way off the box.
An arrow stuck out at an angle, adjacent to the glove. Micaiah thought it unwise to keep such a thing alongside heavy objects like the gauntlet, but decided to use it to her advantage. Gripping onto it with both arms, she carefully slid down its shaft, hopping off near the bottom of the crate. From her new position, she saw dozens of trinkets and strange objects all vying for her attention.
Going through all of these is going to take a while… She worried.
“Hey, Micaiah.”
Micaiah near jumped when she heard Sothe’s voice from above. She looked up to see him staring down at her, a bottle in hand.
“Think this could be the medicine we need?” He asked.
“Hmm… Yes, that does look like medicine to me.” She said with a nod.
“Good. Time to go, then.” Sothe said, quickly snatching her up.
“Ah! C-careful!” She squeaked in surprise.
“Sorry, but we need to move. Our friends are still fighting.” He reminded her.
“Yes. Let’s go!”
When Sothe pushed open the door at the far end of the room, Micaiah spied the red armor of Begnion. Fortunately, their backs were turned, giving Sothe the element of surprise. She also heard the shouts of her friends in the distance, engaged in combat against the enemy. Holding position, the knights were ready to guard the mansion against the advancing rebels. Normally Micaiah was adept at dispatching heavily armored soldiers such as them, but she was feeling rather underpowered at present.
Sothe stealthily slipped forward, and Micaiah realized she was about to witness his skills with the knife up close. She hid in his scarf, hunkering down as he went to work.
Their strategy was a success. Attacking from both sides, the Dawn Brigade successfully took the manor. Once the fighting was over, Sothe met up with his allies in the forest outside.
“Well done everybody. We have the medicine.” He confirmed.
“Great! This mission was a total success!” Edward cheered.
“Are we all present and accounted for?” Sothe asked, looking to his allies.
“Wait!” Micaiah gasped. “Laura’s missing!”
“What? Damn, she was just with us.” Nolan cursed.
“Let’s split up and search for her.” Sothe decided. The others agreeing, they moved off in different directions.
“Where could she have gone?” Micaiah worried. “She was right with us!”
“I don’t like this. Stay alert.” Sothe cautioned.
Micaiah listened. She heard a chirping, the familiar sound of a certain bird.
“Yune!” She called out, waving. The orange bird fluttered down, landing on Sothe’s shoulder next to Micaiah.
“That bird again…” He muttered as it energetically trilled at Micaiah.
“Hm? You’ve seen Laura in the forest?” Micaiah asked, the bird seeming to chirp in the affirmative.
“What? How could it possibly tell you that?” Sothe wondered.
Yune’s even bigger than before. Or rather, I’m smaller. I wonder if I could…
“We’ve no time to waste.” Micaiah stood, moving towards the bird. “Give me a ride, okay?”
“M-Micaiah!” Sothe spluttered as the bird hopped around on his shoulder. “You can’t possibly-“
“We don’t have any time to lose!” Micaiah shouted as she mounted her unconventional steed. “Yune can move over the trees! We’ll find Laura and lead her to you!”
She gripped on tightly to the bird as it fluttered away, the tiny woman on its back.
“Micaiah!” Sothe shouted, reaching out for her, but too late.
“Let’s rendezvous at Kunu swamp in three mark’s time!” She yelled back as she took to the air.
Flying like this is exhilarating. Micaiah marvelled as Yune soared into the sky. It feels incredible. Like I was always meant to fly like this.
She had been looking forward to this ever since setting eyes on the fluffy bird in Sothe’s hand. She was glad she had finally shrunk small enough to make such a ride possible.
At least, she would have been, if Yune hadn’t started to struggle. Not much smaller than the bird, it seemed her extra weight was a bit too much for Yune to handle. It started to descend, despite its desperate flapping.
“Yune! Oh no!” Micaiah cried as the bird spiralled downward. Fearing the worst, she braced herself, squeezing her eyes shut. Her grip went a moment later and she fell.
Squeaking when she landed, Micaiah’s impact was softer than she had expected. When she opened her eyes, she saw she had landed in a patch of fresh grass, the springy plants cushioning her fall.
That was lucky. She thought, struggling to her feet. But is Yune all right?
Searching her surroundings for the bird, the mini Micaiah started to get her bearings…
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