THE MOMENT
"That doesn't make any sense," Andy whined at Jessie. The pair of guildmates stood in the center of the castle's kitchen. Wooden chairs were over-turned and food dripped from the stone walls. Few tables were intact; the rest lay split and splintered along with various armored corpses. A lean, older cook with a long salt-and-pepper ponytail protected the cowering, hidden prince. She wielded a long, serrated steak knife in one hand and a heavy, broad cleaver in the other. The cook eyed their discussion but wasn't in a hurry to make a move. She knew her job was to stall and hope help showed up.
Pepper, the cook, tried listening in on their conversation. She knew the kitchen perfectly after serving the royal family for over fifty years. She knew that she should have been able to hear their conversation from where they were. They didn't seem to be making a particular effort to whisper, but their speech still sounded garbled to her ears. If Pepper had not seen them fight, she'd have doubts they were any threat. The pair seemed only a few years older than the prince's 10 years.
"The girl did all the fighting," Pepper mused to herself. The pink-haired girl moved fast and had most of the guards defeated before the brown-haired boy ran in. He wasn't dressed to fight anyway. It was odd but his uniform almost resembled her own. He looked more like a chef than a fighter, or even a rebel. She knew she didn't stand a chance against the girl, but she didn't have to win. Just endure.
"When will you learn?!" Jessie huffed at Andy. "It's the AlterNet. It's not supposed to make sense. It's supposed to be fun," she smacked the top of his head. "We're here for you, remember? Get started," she said then shoved him toward Pepper. The chef raised her weapons and stood her ground. The prince whimpered again from inside a cabinet behind her.
"Wait!" he said. He put his hands up with the palms out. "I'm not good at fighting!"
"Good," Pepper stepped forward intent on taking at least one of them out. If she could focus on the real threat, she'd be okay until help came. The royal guards had to be on the way. She lowered her knife with the point up. Pepper aimed a practiced stab at his ribs. She knew from experience his chef's coat wouldn't give him much protection. Then, her hand stopped with the tip touching his apron. The pink-haired girl now stood next to them; her hand was wrapped around Pepper's wrist and she let out a heavy sigh.
"JUST SAY IT!" she growled at Andy. His eyes went wide and he nodded in a panic. Then, he focused his attention on Pepper.
"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A CHEF'S DUEL!!" Andy yelled. Pepper dropped the knife in her hand and smiled immediately.
"Challenge Accepted! Main ingredient: Unicorn meat. Do you accept?" Pepper asked.
"Uh.." he turned back to look at Jessie. "Do I?" A short, less-patient sigh escaped her mouth before she gave a curt nod.
"Yes."
"I accept," Andy said. "Great!" Pepper clasped her hands together and turned around to start collecting ingredients.
"Now," Jessie said
"Okay," Andy shrugged. He raised his hand in the air. His obsidian chef's knife materialized in his hand and he brought it down on Pepper from behind. The old woman let out a surprised gasp, then crumpled to the floor.
"See? Works every time," Jessie bragged while Andy knelt next to Pepper. He touched his node against her and it flashed green. He stood, glanced at it, and smiled.
" Uh.. [Chef's Special] - buff duration's pretty good, right?" he asked Jessie. She nodded. "What else does she drop?" he asked.
"All the Chef class skills," Jessie said. She turned to head out the door. "Come on. She's got a giant loot table and we're only looking for certain skills." Andy rushed to catch up to her.
"But this was one, right?" he asked. Then, he sighed in relief when Jessie nodded. They walked out of the kitchen. They waited five minutes, then Jessie ran into the room again. She assaulted the guards first while a lean, older cook with a long salt-and-pepper ponytail grabbed a rotund boy and shoved him into a cabinet.
"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A CHEF'S DUEL!" Andy ran in after Jessie defeated all the guards. Pepper looked at the mess the intruders made in her kitchen, not to mention all the dead guardsmen. But, it wasn't anything that couldn't be cleaned up pretty easily. She nodded at the chef.
"Challenge Accepted! Main ingredient: Unicorn meat. Do you accept?" Pepper asked.
"Yes," Andy said. Then, pepper smiled and turned her back on him.