Chapter Text
“So…” Tarik was desperately trying to break the silence that had arisen in the journey, but Meilin held up her hand.
“Look, I appreciate you saving me, but I’m not in the mood to talk right now.” She walked ahead of him, keeping her eyes fixated on the path in front.
“Right.” Tarik sighed. He understood her not wanting to talk, but the silence was getting awkward. He decided keeping his mind on the plan would help him not think about the tension in the air. It was a good thing he did because he realized they needed supplies. Cautiously, Tarik opened his mouth to speak, “Do you know where a market is? I don’t come to this part of Zhong often…” He trailed off awkwardly as he realized how inexperienced he sounded.
Meilin nodded silently, “Follow me. It’s not too far from here.” She kept walking down the path, continuing to remain silent.
Tarik sighed. He felt like a burden, but he tried to push the thought out. He needed to be patient. Meilin had gone through a lot today. He was sure she would open up when she was ready… He just had to wait.
After a few minutes, the two arrived at the market. Tarik looked around at all of the stalls. He willed himself not to approach the stalls piled high with baked goods. They needed food, but warm cookies wouldn’t fill them up. He reluctantly walked past the baked goods and looked around for more filling food.
Tarik was looking at a stall with traveling food when he noticed the stall owner was staring at Meilin. He looked up to see if the man needed anything, but when he looked, the stall’s owner looked away. Tarik was perplexed, but he recollected himself. The stall’s owner was probably just seeing who was at his stall, but Tarik couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. He looked around and noticed most of the people in the market were looking their way. Tarik turned towards Meilin and whispered, “I think we should leave.” Meilin glanced around and nodded, but before they could leave the market, people had surrounded them. The uneasy feeling Tarik had earlier quickly transformed into dread. It was stupid of them to be around people when Meilin had summoned Kovo, but Tarik realized the error in his ways too late… The people around them were getting closer, and there were too many to fight with the two of them.
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Before Meilin could even process what was happening, the people of the market were around them, and they didn’t look like they were about to sell them anything. Without a second thought, Meilin’s fists rose. She noticed Tarik do the same from the corner of her eye. She was glad they were on the same page, but what were they supposed to do? Even if none of the people in the market knew how to fight, Meilin and Tarik were still in trouble. There were ten people gathered around them, and more were on their way.
“What are we going to do?” Meilin asked Tarik quietly.
“Still trying to figure that out.” He replied.
“I was hoping for something more helpful,” Meilin muttered. She quickly felt a stab of guilt. Why did she say that? She couldn’t come up with anything helpful either. She shook her head. There was no time for guilt right now. They were about to get attacked. Then it hit her. She needed to summon Kovo! How could she forget about her spirit animal? She quickly pulled up her sleeve revealing the tattoo of Kovo etched across her lower arm. The people around them flinched back a little, debating whether or not to scatter. Meilin didn’t wait for them to decide. She released Kovo, and he appeared in front of the crowd with a roar. Many of the people who seemed uncertain about fighting them ran, but there were still at least twenty people holding their ground. Meilin didn’t want to hurt anyone, but it was clear the people in the market didn’t think the same. Kovo didn’t seem to feel the same either, but that wasn’t shocking, considering who he was. He swung at the people in the crowd, knocking people into food carts. A man tried to attack Meilin, but she quickly dodged and knocked his feet out from under him. Another person had the bright idea to try and take Kovo one-on-one, but he couldn’t even land a hit before Kovo knocked him aside.
In just a few minutes the crowd around them had either run or were lying across the various carts in the area. Kovo had taken out the majority of them, but Meilin and Tarik fought off the few people who got past him. Meilin let out a sigh causing Kovo to look back at her. She gave him a small nod. He may be violent, but his violence just saved their lives. Kovo shrugged like he didn’t care, but Meilin could see the look of satisfaction on his face.
Tarik looked at the two of them and smiled, “We should eat.”
Meilin nodded gratefully. She was pretty hungry right now. Tarik grabbed various foods from the carts, including a couple of cookies. Meilin glanced at him, “I’m not sure those cookies will fill us up.”
Tarik grinned, “I think we’ve earned it.” He placed some money on the carts.
Meilin smiled slightly, “Maybe your right.” She still wasn’t so sure of Kovo, but she was starting to realize that maybe he wasn’t that bad after all.