A can-do attitude

It's been a long, long time since Kai had been by himself.

Throughout his journey, he'd always been with at least one other person. Be it Noelle, Sofia, Aldred, Wa'rak or anyone else. Even when he was technically alone, Umbra was always in his shadow so it didn't really count.

But now that he was alone, Kai felt... weird.

His thoughts were strangely calm, yet also racing. His mind was working differently, he's changed a lot since The Flashing.

Before, if he met Noelle or Sofia on the street he probably would have turned around to save himself any potential embarrassment. Even if he met John, he would have never spoken to him.

But since they were all stuck in the same situation, it gave them a sense of companionship. Even if that companionship was more than a little strained right now, it was still there.

It was like his link with Umbra. They had been connected, and it would take a lot to sever that tether.

But that was something Kai would worry about later, now, he had more pressing issues.

Failure did say that the beasts should confess their feelings for those they care for, and even go so far as to copulate. Kai thought it would only be a few that took the charismatic man's words, but now he knew how wrong he was.

Looking around the hall, Kai saw that nearly every beast was in a pair. This whole situation could have passed for Noah's ark if it wasn't in the middle of a forest and about to be destroyed by some crazy war.

Even the humans which populated The Dome followed Failure's advice.

Much like the companionship Kai shared with Sofia, Noelle and John, others in this deadly forest must have been in the same situation.

Life and death situations had a way of bringing people together. Kai had always stuck with Noelle as he didn't really have a reason not to. It was them against everything else back then.

From massive perverts to a wolf who ended up being Kai's closest companion, they had been through quite a bit in the short time they were together.

So that means that others must have gone through the same, if not more. Majority of the humans were in pairs. Flirting, eating and drinking together.

It was honestly quite a sight. It really didn't look as if all these people could die tomorrow. It's like they just accepted the possibility, so they wanted to live like there's no tommorow.

Because there was a high chance that there wouldn't be.

Kai just watched the beasts and humans pass, more and more exiting the hall in pairs for what Kai can only assume to be them wanting to partake in activities that shouldn't be done in public.

All he could do is hope that none go near the cherry blossom that he calls a bed.

There was still a few funny sights around the hall though.

No one bothered to approach John as the burly man was too busy gorging himself on a tray filled to the brim with various types of food.

One person tried to approach Sofia, one of the three humans that Kai didn't really know who was in the first war meeting. The person must have been extremely arrogant or something coming onto her, because all Kai could see was Sofia hide her mouth to snicker and just turn the man down with no remorse.

For whatever reason though, a lot more people approached Noelle. Maybe it was because she was younger, or maybe it's because she gained some fame because of her duels with Wa'rak, but she had quite a few people surrounding her to try and have her for the night.

It was an entertaining sight to see her snap and tell all of them to fuck off back to whatever holes they crawled out of. That gave Kai a good laugh.

It was like he was watching a play. Various scenes playing out around him, and he got to watch them all.

Some time passed, and now that a lot of people had left the hall, Kai was able to catch a better glimpse of the table filled with food. Even though it had already been ravaged by hungry humans and beasts alike, there was still a lot left on the hardwood platform.

Deciding he might as well take advantage of Failure's hospitality, Kai got up off of his chair and made his way over.

Picking up one of the wooden slabs that he saw the others using as plates, Kai's eyes scanned over all the foods available.

Strange looking fruits, meat that looked like it was only prepared yesterday and even the candies, each looked delicious in their own way.

If there was one thing throwing Kai off about the whole thing, it's that where the hell did Failure get all of this food?

For The Ever-changing, it was understandable as they're a God, but Failure?

And especially in a forest like this, where could he have possibly gotten all this?

Still, he wasn't going to complain. Even though there was no such thing as a free meal, Kai knew he would be paying for this with tommorows inevitable battles.

So he may as well eat as much as he's worth.

Kai began stacking various foods onto the slab in his hand. He was a lot like John, just that his potion sizes were much smaller. That didn't mean he would come back for seconds though.

After returning back to his chair, Kai relaxed while stuffing himself with the food he picked.

Each bite was a beautiful sensation for his mouth. While it wasn't as good as the feast he had with The Ever-changing, it was still incredible compared to the slop and porridge that's been his daily meals since The Flashing.

Once he's finished with round one, Kai got up to go back for seconds.

Only something caught his eye at the end of the table. Something, something that he completetly missed when getting the food for his first round.

Various cans were prepared, each a different colour. But there's a certain few that caught his eyes more than others.

Cans that looked nearly the exact same as the apple flavoured beer he had with his master.

Glancing around nervously, Kai pretended not to notice the cans and picked up a few more pieces of meat while he slowly made his way to the cans.

Kai wasn't sure if anyone in this place knew his actual age, there could be a skill or something that says. Even though there was a high chance he could just take the beer and no one would care, it didn't hurt to be on guard.

Slowly edging closer, Kai felt a singe of dissapointment in his heart after he realised the cans were different to the ones he had previously.

While they were still from the Malus Empire, he could tell by the logo. It was hard to make out though. For some reason, the logo was blurry, as if it was censored, yet in Kai's dream he could see it perfectly fine.

It reminded Kai of his Pretty Good Boots in the way that the shop you could buy them in was all question marks.

But the reason he was upset, was that the beer wasn't the same. It looked like it was a cheaper version. While it was definitely apple beer, it wasn't the same.

He wasn't going to complain though. If there's no such thing as a free meal, then he might as well make it so that he doesn't remember the payment in the first place.

Just as Kai reached out for one of the cans, a voice rang out from the stage behind him.

"Ah, my dear Kai, you are a bit young for those, are you not?"

Goddammit

"What do you mean? Aren't these just apple juice?"

Kai looked back at Failure innocently, trying his hardest not to let on how much he wanted the heavenly tasting beer.

Failure, still in his tuxedo, was on stage with Aldred. The two seemed to be in a conversation, yet the brown-haired man had stopped it just to stop Kai from getting a can.

"No no, those are alcoholic. I'm sure you wouldn't like it."

"Oh, I'm eighteen. There's no need to worry about me."

Kai lied. It was only after he lied that he remembered Aldred could smell when someone was lying.

The gray wolf's nose twitched slightly, but thankfully, Aldred remained silent. The wolf had decided to not call out Kai's lie.

I really need to start appreciating him more.

"Now, my dear Kai, Aldred is not the only one who can tell when you're lying. There's no need for you to be focused on the alcohol, we have plenty of other beverages to keep you happy.

How about some milk?"

Failure then pointed to a glass jar of milk that was lying close enough to the cans of beer. Kai felt his face heat up as he heard some snickers in the crowd of beasts and humans behind him.

Sighing, Kai waved his had dismissively and said:

"Forget it, I'll just go."

If he couldn't drink, what was the point of staying?

Kai rolled his eyes and turned away from Failure, mumbling bastard under his breath as he walked away.

What did that guy have against him? It's not like there's any reason for him to deny Kai of a can.

Exiting the hall, Kai's ears were victims to various strange sounding noises.

It seemed that beasts were not skilled in the art of somewhere private before doing the deed.

Scowling, Kai left the area and found a seat on a rock that was facing the cherry blossom in the distance.

Sighing, Kai gazed at the sight.

Beautiful, pink petals fell from the tree onto the ground. The sight was captivating and Kai couldn't help but watch.

He was only snapped out of his trance like state by a hand appearing from behind him, a can of Malus Empire beer in its grasp.

"Want a drink?"