The cramped tables are packed with people seated at every single end and edge possible on the round and square tables. People crammed so close together if one laughed a little too hard they’d bump into another, and then they’d look at each other, and laugh again. The tables are covered with plates and mugs and food and drink; the food still piping hot and sizzling. And the drinks still bubbling with the foamy liquid these men could not get enough of. The waitresses cut through the crowd with large wooden plates covered to the brim in plates of food and foaming drinks. But along with the practiced waitresses are small little heads bobbing through the crowd, trying to hold as many plates and mugs as their small little hands can hold at once with flushed expressions on their faces.

  The two children leaving the jumble of people just in time for a small girl with cloud white hair and a little fox tail and ears in the same white to hand them a new set of mugs and plates. Her facing beaming in absolute happiness as she holds the items, the two children look like they’re about to pass out.

  “Come on Sune... I’m tired! Give us a break!” The grey-haired boy with grey fox ears and tail and wearing a brown apron over a black shirt and pants whines.

  The white-haired girl practically shoves the plates and mugs into the boy’s hands as she lightly waves him off, “No rest until Edith says!” The girl cheerfully shouts as she pushes the confused boy back into the mass of people. But when she looks over her face softens. Staring at the still panting and sweaty black-haired girl, her black fox ears wilting just like a dying flower and her tail falling straight down, completely at the mercy of gravity. “You shouldn’t push yourself too hard Hollie...”

  “N-No. No! I’m fine I swear.” Hollie throws her hands forward and waves them around sporadically, “And... Fang is still going so I should too.” She quietly mutters.

  “Yeah but, he isn’t actually that tired, he’s just a whining baby.” Sune says dismissively, “But if you’re sure... I’ll give you some.” Sune begrudgingly hands the other girl some plates and mugs that were lying on the desk next to Sune.

  Sune walks into the steaming hot kitchen, noticing all the hanging pots and pans and most notably, a young red-haired fox-girl cooking four different dishes at once, all of them sizzling on the multiple strange veiny boxes. There is a light sweat on her brow as she flips the long strips of meat in front of her before she quickly moves over to the next box where a different set of meat is being cooked. “Hey Kumiho!” Sune smiles happily while skipping over to the other girl.

  Kumiho’s green eyes stare at the approaching girl before she quickly picks up two of the pans and slides them onto small plates, “Here.” Her voice haggard, Sune deftly grabbing the two plates and placing them on a bigger plate in one big motion.

  While filling up multiple mugs using a line of taps all connected to different barrels Sune continues to speak, “How can you cook so good?”

  Kumiho quickly runs past the white-haired girl and through the fur door, quickly leaving with multiple strips of meat in hand, her tired voice responding to Sune’s earlier question, “From a young age my mom taught me how to cook.”

  Sune quickly closes all the taps and places the foaming mugs on her large plate with the rest of the food, “My mom tried to get me to learn how to cook. But after the first couple of times my brother had me banned from cooking. Saying and I quote: ‘that was the single most disgusting thing I've ever put in my mouth.’ Before he was quickly smacked on the head by my father.” The girl chuckles sadly while reminiscing about her family. She quickly shakes off her expression and picks up the large plate, walking out of the kitchen while struggling to balance the many items on the plate.

  Kumiho silently continues to cut all the meat into small chunks before throwing them into several different pans and seasoning with the classic combination her mom taught her. Bringing the pans to the still burning boxes, she lightly drops them onto the boxes and takes the finished meals off their respective flames before sliding them onto plates. She lightly wipes her brow as a young brunette walks in, “Edith said that you can finish up whatever you’re cooking right now and then go to bed. The other kids are already being herded upstairs by her right now actually.” The woman who usually stands at the small desk in front of the kitchen smiles towards the young girl before turning and leaving with some parting words, “Thanks for helping out with the tavern, even if Edith doesn’t show it, she really appreciates it.” As she finishes her words, she walks out the kitchen and begins calming down some rowdy men who are loudly complaining about something.

  Kumiho listens to the light sizzle of the cooking meat, taking in the scent of the Kitchen with a peaceful expression. Her green eyes absentmindedly staring at the ceiling as they occasionally roam down to the meat and she begins tending to them idly. She sighs softly when she notices the meat is finished and slides the last two meals of the night onto their respective plates. Slowly sauntering over to the taps and filling up two final mugs with the familiar foaming liquid. Her nose slightly scrunching upon the strong sent of the booze but once they are both filled, she leaves the kitchen and hands the plates to a waiting waitress.

  The lightly tanned old woman walks over to Kumiho with a small smile, “The men have all been saying how good your cooking is.” Her old voice has a serene feel to it.

  Kumiho lightly nods before tersely telling the old woman, Edith, goodnight and slowly walking up the wooden steps. The rumbling of voices slowly becoming more and more muffled as she walks down a familiar hallway and stops at the wooden door marked with a large “7” etched into its wooden surface.

  “Do you think something happened to Oswin?” Fang’s worried voice rings in Kumiho’s ears as she enters the room.

  All the children stare at Kumiho before Sune answers Fang, “Maybe his condition was worse than he told me...” Sune’s somber tone makes the room go silent.

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Kumiho cuts into the conversation with a resolute tone.

  “I think so too... But what if? What if he was attacked by someone on his way there or something...”

  Kumiho stares at the worried girl before heaving a long sigh, “Haaa, and what does worrying help with? All we can do is continue going to those classes and living, and just wait. Wait for him to come back. As I’m sure he will.”

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  “I guess... I don’t know how I’d help anyways... I just don’t want to lose someone else without even being able to help.”

  “And all we can do is believe. Believe it’ll be fine and it’ll all work out. At least that's what my dad always said... And he was always right.” Kumiho says that last line under her breath like a silent mantra.

  “Yeah Sune! We can’t help him with whatever is going on right now. So, let's make sure we show him all we did while he was gone, like showing him all the words we learned! Or the money we made!” Fang tries to reassure Sune.

  “Uh... I guess you’re right... I think I need to sleep.” Sune quietly speaks, slowly walking to the bed before laying in it and closing her eyes.

  Kumiho goes up to her own bed next and feels all her energy drain at once as soon as she makes contact with the cushioned surface of her pillow.

  .

  .

  .

  The children wake up and spend the day as they have spent all their days over the time Oswin’s been gone: Wake up and change from the simple cloth clothes they had become accustomed to working in and sometimes sleeping in before swapping into the freshly cleaned clothes Oswin bought. Clothes that are graciously cleaned by one of the waitresses every few days, Matilda. Kumiho is usually the first to get up and makes them all breakfast as they all come down one by one, Sune is almost always last to wake up. Sometimes Fang walks up himself and in his own words: “Calmly wakes her up.” But the occasional feather being stuck in Sune’s hair and Fang’s disheveled clothes tell a different story. After breakfast they all head to Mrs. Smith’s class who they had missed on the first day of Oswin’s absence due to the children forgetting to go on their own. After her class they all go back to the tavern and work there until Edith says they can leave. Usually spending the rest of their night playing random games with each other or studying the language book Oswin gave them. Lastly, they all go to sleep and the day repeats day in and day out, except for today.

  The conversation between Fang and Sune is interrupted by a light knocking on their door, before the two even have a chance to react Hollie already walked over to and whispered something into Kumiho’s ears that leads to her quietly sighing in response. She walks over to the door and cracks it open just enough to hear that dreadfully jovial voice.

  “Fox girl!” Hrafn’s overly happy voice causing Kumiho’s ears to twitch.

  “Hello Hrafn...” Her unenthused voice does not deter Hrafn.

  “Now that I think about it, I never asked what your name was.”

  “Kumiho. Now what do you want?”

  “Why are you always so cold Kumiho?” He says with genuine sadness in his voice as his strange eyes shift into falling rain drops.

  “Because I don’t trust you. Now why are you here, Hrafn?” Her ever so cold voice causes Hrafn to sadly look at her.

  “I’m here because Oswin told me to forward a message to ‘the kids.’ And it was...” The cloaked man changes his voice and face in an obvious but poor imitation of Oswin’s lighthearted seriousness as his eyes change to look like normal grey eyes with a filled in black pupil, “Tell them that I’ll be back in a few more days where we’ll get those fittings and move into the new house I bought. Also, you’ll be their guardian for the next few days, so don’t mess it up or I don't think I'll have to explain what will happen.”

  “...” A collective silence travels through the room.

  “Oh. I don’t think I was supposed to include that last part...” Hrafn awkwardly laughs and Kumiho closes the door in his face.

  “...” Another bout of silence ensues.

  A muffled sobbing can be heard through the door as Kumiho heavily sighs and opens the door.

  .

  .

  .

  Sune lightly taps Hrafn’s back as he drinks from a small mug of water with tears in the corners of his eyes, Sune giving Kumiho a nasty glare the whole time, Kumiho rolling her eyes in response.

  “Sniff, you’re pretty nice for a highborn, little missy.” Hrafn says through sniffles before he notices the pin-drop silence of the room and looks around uneasily.

  “Uhmm... Did you just say she's a highborn, Mister?” Fang’s voice is unusually quiet.

  “Uhuh! Shes a highborn or an elf specifically, a half-elf or gemang if you wanted me to be even more specific.” His naive voice is filled with genuine confusion. But noticing the continued silence he continues, “Did you not know...? I mean her divinity is pretty low so most gleamers or even seers probably won’t notice, but I’m sure any elf who saw you or any particularly observant gleamer like Oswin would notice immediately. Did he not tell you?”

  “Uhm... No...?” Fang looks to Sune for confirmation as she shakes her head with a dazed expression.

  “Oh... Well, surprise?” His eyes become little confetti poppers as small pieces of confetti slowly fall in his eyes.

  “Uh, mister, what does being a highborn or an elf actually mean?” Sune’s cautious voice asks as she walks in front of Hrafn.

  “Well, highborns as I’m sure most of you know are just simply people who are descendants of one of the ‘New Gods.’ The blue-eyed ones are gleamers, and are descendants of God-King Oswald and God-Queen Aelfthryth; Pink eyed ones are elves, and are descendants of the same two ‘Gods’; The other two have no known descendants.”

  The children all nod, “Even Easterners know about the ‘children of the gods,’ but I mostly meant: What does being a highborn actually entail?”

  “Oh! Gleamers are gifted with the ability to ‘see things that can’t be seen,’ but what this actually allows them to see greatly varies. And elves are gifted with the ability to ‘notice or feel things that shouldn’t be noticed or felt,’ and once again what this actually means varies from person to person.”

  “Notice things? Like... Notice what?” Sune questions.

  “I’ve only met a few who willingly explained what their ability was, but one of them described it as an uncanny intuition involving danger, where they could ‘feel’ when something bad was going to happen. The other could ‘feel’ where things were. All they had to do was think about what or who they wanted to find, and they could just... Find it. So, have you ever had any strange feelings in your life, or ever noticed something that people don't usually notice?”

  Sune lightly shakes her head in confusion, “No... Nothing comes to mind... But you said my... ‘Divinity?’ was weak, so maybe that’s it?”

  “Hmm... Actually, they did also mention they only started ‘feeling’ things after awakening their magic, so maybe that's why.”

  “I did only awaken my magic a few days ago...” Sune stares at the ground while vigorously searching for a single memory where she had a ‘weird feeling.’

  They continue to ask questions about ‘elves’ and highborns in general but Hrafn proves to not know much about either topics, having already explained all his knowledge on them earlier. After the children finished grilling Hrafn over highborns, they left Fang to ask all the questions he wanted. The next day Hrafn had large eyebags and Fang had a beaming smile.