Chapter Text
“You’re sure she’s ok?”
“Yes, she has no extreme injuries and her vitals are stable.”
“I know that. It’s just… she’s been unconscious for a long time.”
“She went through a lot, it’s normal for her to need a rest. Oh, look, it seems like she’s waking up.”
When Zumi woke up it felt like she had been asleep for years, her body aching in places she didn’t know she could ache. After opening her eyes and letting them adjust to the light, she looked around to see a familiar sight, the clinic she had first woken up at when she arrived. She slowly got up from her bed, yawning and rubbing her eyes. In front of her were two men she knew well, Finn and Rowan, who she assumed had taken care of her while she was unconscious.
“Good morning! What’s going on?” Zumi asked, feeling well rested after having slept for god knew how long. Finn and Rowan seemed surprised, which confused Zumi, but before she could ask anything Finn laughed and shook his head.
“She sleeps for a day and a half and has us all worried and wakes up with a ‘good morning’ as if nothing were wrong…” He stated in disbelief, though Zumi could tell he wasn’t really mad. If anything, he seemed happy, relieved even. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ve been worse.” Zumi replied, stretching languidly as she felt every part of her body crack. “I’ve also been better, my whole body’s aching like crazy. Was the fight really that intense? I don’t remember it being that intense.”
“Zumi, you got slammed into a wall by a giant tentacle.”
“Did I? I don’t remember that. It’s probably concerning that I don’t remember that, right?”
“Yes, yes it is.”
“Huh… oh well.” Zumi shrugged, rubbing the back of her head. “It can’t have been that bad if I’m mostly fine.”
“That’s because you somehow got the short end of the stick.” Rowan said, shifting through some sheets of paper at his desk. Probably a whole bunch of paperwork, Zumi thought. “You only got a small concussion, that’s nothing compared to some of the other victims’ cases.” Zumi’s heart sank at the mention of the word “victims”.
“D-Did… did anyone…” Zumi left the question hanging as she couldn’t bring herself to finish it, but Finn, understanding her perfectly, put a bandaged arm on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, everyone’s alive and well.” Finn reassured her. “Thanks to you.” Zumi felt an insane sense of relief at Finn’s words and she relaxed a bit, though it didn’t last for long since she immediately tensed up again when Finn suddenly kneeled in front of her. “Really, Zumi, we are truly thankful for your help. You saved our town. In the name of the watchmen, thank you.” Zumi panicked for a moment, her face reddening and heating up as she frantically waved her hands for Finn to stop.
“Wha-?! Finn, you don’t have to do that!” Zumi exclaimed, embarrassed.
“But I do. The watchmen are eternally grateful for your help. We will always be by your-“ Finn’s speech was cut short by Zumi’s arms going around him in an unsuccessful effort to lift him up.
“Yeah yeah, I get all that, but you really dont have to do that! It’s embarrassing!” Zumi groaned as she tried to pull Finn up. Having finally understood why it might be embarrassing, Finn got up to his feet and Zumi let go of him, clutching her knees and panting. “Geez, you’re simultaneously the smartest and dumbest person I know…” Zumi lifted her finger and pointed directly at Finn, straightening up slowly. “Listen up watchboy, you’re my friend! And if you wanna thank me, then you could at least act like so instead of treating me like some deity, got it?!” Zumi’s gruff demeanor caught Finn by surprise for a moment, before he chuckled and put a hand to his face in disbelief.
“Right, my bad. Then…” Finn wrapped his arms around the shorter girl and clutched her tightly in a warm hug which caught Zumi by surprise. “Zumi, as a friend, genuinely, thank you for saving my town.” Zumi couldn’t stop the smile that appeared on her face from that and she hugged Finn back, patting his back playfully.
“That’s more like it.” She chuckled, letting go after a couple seconds and sitting back down on the bed, getting up so suddenly had made her a bit dizzy, though it had been worth it. “Well, let’s go start the day. Wanna grab some breakfast with me Finn?”
“Zumi, it’s 8:00 PM. I need to get ready for the celebratory dinner. Aren’t you going to come?” Finn asked.
“The what now?”
“The celebratory dinner. At the watchmen’s headquarters.”
“I didn’t know there was a celebratory dinner! Free food!”
“Yeah, Tom is going to cook the kraken, he says it’ll be a once in a lifetime experience.” Finn explained, leaning against the bed railing. “He also swears it’s going to taste good, like octopus, so it shouldn’t be that bad.”
“Free fooooood… a whole kraken’s worth of food…” Zumi mumbled, barely listening to what Finn was saying. “I’ll definitely come!” Zumi exclaimed enthusiastically.
“Great. It starts at 10:00, so try to be there by 9:45 just in case.” Finn said as he turned to leave. “And the dress code is casual, so wear what you usually wear. Just… change out of that robe and wash it. Or incinerate it, whatever’s easiest.” Zumi face reddened once more as she realized she hadn’t changed clothes in 2 whole days. It was stained with blood, sweat, dirt and god knew what else. She looked away, embarrassed.
“I-I will, don’t worry…”
It took Zumi a grand total of 23 minutes to take a much needed shower and get dressed into a comfortable t-shirt and shorts combo, with a calico cat robe on top of course. She put on her favorite pair of boots and styled her hair so that it looked better than ever, what little hair you could see underneath her hood anyways, making sure she looked as good as possible before the dinner. Now all that was left to do was figure out what to do with the time she had before heading there. She knew she had gotten ready too early...
She looked at the basket in the corner, wondering if she should take it with her, before deciding against doing so. She had decided she would spend one more night in the clinic before setting off once more. Tonight would be her last night in Newport, so for her the dinner was a sort of farewell dinner as much as it was a celebration on their victory. Tomorrow she'd grab her basket and head off, heading for the next adventure.
That was tomorrow however, for now she had a dinner to attend. She grabbed her bag with Jello in it and, after thanking Rowan once more for taking care of her, set off to pass the time before she had to head to the "watchmen headquarters", wherever that was. She'd just ask for directions later. Walking through the street aimlessly, she made a couple stops at shops that had caught her attention when she arrived but hadn't been able to visit due to being incredibly busy constantly since she arrived. She stopped at a cute shop that sold all sorts of wonderful desserts, as well as a couple clothing stores where she spent more than half of the money she had left, which hadn't been the best financial decision of her life but she'd helped fend off a kraken and almost died in the process for goodness' sake, treating herself to some clothes couldn't be that bad.
Although she had only bought a couple dresses, a cute hairclip and a pair of boots that cost way more than they objectively should have, Zumi had spent so much time browsing that it was almost 10:00 PM already. Hoping the watchmen's headquarter's wasn't too far away, Zumi walked up to a young woman passing by to ask how to get there. Much to her surprise, the woman told her it was right around the corner. When she turned the corner, she saw Finn waiting at the door. He was wearing what he typically wore as well, a beach shirt with some casual shorts, the typical look that a 40 year old man would wear which strangely fit him. When he saw her he waved at her, smiling.
"Well, if it isn't the guest of honor. Looks like you can make it out of bed if food is promised, huh?" Finn asked, chuckling, before his eyes landed on the bags Zumi was carrying. "Well, food and shopping it seems."
"Yeah, I might have gone a bit overboard..." Zumi admitted sheepishly.
"I can tell. Ooh, now that you reminded me..." Finn reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag full of coins. "For you, our saviour, some financial compensation for your troubles." Zumi stared at the bag Finn was giving her, surprised by the sheer size of it.
"What? Are... are you serious?" Zumi took the bag and held it in her hands, the weight itself already giving her an estimate of how much money was in the bag. "Finn, there must be... like, 1000 Miros in this bag. Maybe even more."
"It's closer to 1200 actually."
"It's way too much!" Zumi said, not letting the money out of her sight as if someone was going to steal it. "I can't accept this!! Is this all of the donations you got?!"
"Don't be silly, it's only a fifth of the donations."
"Aren't you, like, 30 members in the watchmen?! Why do I get a fifth of the donations?!"
"Because you're mostly the reason why we won." Finn stated abruptly, crossing his arms. It was clear he wasn't going to listen to Zumi's rebuttals. "You deserve all that money and more, now take it and don't feel bad for us." Finn put one arm on her shoulder and flashed her a smile. "We watchmen really don't need any more, but you're an adventurer. You need funding to continue your journey, don't you?"
"Well, yeah, but..." Zumi looked up from the bag at Finn and sighed, smiling and stuffing the money bag into one of her cloak's pockets. "No takebacks. This is mine now." Zumi said jokingly, which made Finn laugh.
"That's the spirit." Finn took his hand away and cracked his fingers, turning to the door behind him. "Now, let's go inside, everyone's waiting for you."
"I'm the last one here?!"
"Zumi, it's 10:15."
"No it's not, it's-" Zumi pulled out her watch and realized it was broken, stuck at 9:30. "Oh."
"Pfft-" Finn stifled a laugh and cleared his throat. "It's fine, it gave us time to set up everything. the food is already on the table."
"And i've been making you wait..."
"We've been waiting because we want to." Finn corrected Zumi. "Now come on, let's not wait anymore. The kraken smells incredible."
"I know, I can smell it from here." Zumi chuckled. She let Finn open the doors and was greeted by a large room with a big roundtable in the middle, with everyone chatting around it. It felt like a big family reunion, which was weird since she was also invited. As soon as she walked in, everyone turned to face her and cheering erupted throughout the hall, which caught Zumi by surprise and made her flinch.
"Hey, she's here! Have a seat!"
"Damn it kid, we've been waiting for you for so long I almost missed you!"
"Zumi! Glad you could join us!"
Zumi wasn't used to getting all this attention, but strangely she didn't mind it. It felt like she was one more of the group and not just a guest. She walked over to the table and took her seat beside what she assumed to be Finn's.
"Hey everyone, sorry for making you wait!" Zumi said, smiling and looking around the table.
"Nonsense, we didn't wait for that long, I just took the kraken out of the oven!" The cook whose name Zumi remembered to be Tom replied, a wide grin on his face.
"Part of it at least." Said a girl who Zumi didn't know but remembered from the fight. She had been helping the artillery team load the cannons.
"Ehh, yes, part of it. Thank you May." Tom chuckled awkwardly. "Tonight it's an all you can eat buffet everyone!"
"And even after tonight we'll still have 95% or more of the kraken uneaten."
"Yes, of course, after tonight I'll give it all to the food shelter, they'll be thrilled!"
"Of course they will, hundreds of families could eat off of that thing."
"Then it will be those hundreds of families that finish all the meat!" Tom said, proud of his plan. "Like my grandfather said, ‘no food should be wasted’. Just, emm, don't tell the families that they're not exactly eating octopus, ok?" Laughter erupted across the hall at Tom's words. The watchmen's spirits seemed to be higher than ever. It made sense after all, the threat that had been tormenting them for god knew how long had finally been neutralized. Zumi looked around the table and saw that almost everyone had injuries of some sort, bandaged limbs, legs in casts, eyepatches all around… and yet no one was frowning. Everyone was smiling. Tonight was a night of celebration.
“So,” Ace cleared his throat, knife and fork at the ready. “I don’t know about you guys but at this rate those families are going to eat before we do, I’m digging in.” Zumi chuckled at Ace’s blunt way of talking.
“Right.” Zumi said as she saw everyone staring at her, waiting for her to do the honors. She smiled and grabbed her own utensils. “Well everyone, let’s eat!”
The dinner had been 5 hours of nonstop partying and eating. Everyone had drunk their body weight until they weren’t even conscious and had sung their heart out until their vocal cords couldn’t take it anymore. Zumi hadn’t been to many parties, but she’d bet that not all of them were as fun as this one had been. Zumi hadn’t drunk a drop the whole night, she legally couldn’t and felt no need to, so she was sure she’d remember this party for the rest of her days.
Jello, who had somehow been the heart of the dance floor the entire time, walked over to Zumi as she was covering a young man with a blanket she had found in the storage room. She couldn’t take everyone to their beds, but she could at least make sure they were comfortable. “Sleep well everyone.” Zumi whispered, not wanting to wake anyone up, as she sneaked out the front door. The party had been incredible, the perfect goodbye. And that's how it would stay, she didn't want any tearful farewells, she wanted everyone's last memories of her to be how she won the darts tournament against Finn who had been shooting a bow his whole life. How she sung Bee Yonde's songs with Henry as everyone cheered them on. How they had all shared this wondrous night... She would leave by morning and leave them with that.
As she walked over to the front door, she looked at everyone one last time. Ace, Charlotte, Finn... She would miss them all. But she'd be back to see them again, she was sure of that. She closed the door and headed off to the clinic, where Rowan was waiting for her. When she arrived, she tried to sneak in through the window to not make any noise, but it didn't matter since Rowan was awake at his desk, staring straight at her as she clumsily managed to get through without falling. He gave Zumi a warm smile and crossed his arms.
"I'ts about time you got here, I believe it's past your bedtime." Rowan said teasingly. Zumi chuckled in response, rubbing her eyes.
"You didn't have to wait for me, you know." She replied, leaving her bag in the corner. "I know it's late. I just... didn't want the night to end."
"You're sure about what you're doing?" Rowan asked knowingly since Zumi had spoken to him about her plan of leaving early before. Zumi shrugged in response.
"Not really, but I know I have to keep going on my adventure. I'm not used to going from place to place yet and I'm really looking for an excuse to stay here..." Zumi looked at Rowan and forced a smile on her face. "And getting attached to these guys might screw everything up, I need to leave before I do. I'm already attached to him..." Zumi's face fell as she thought of Finn and how she'd be leaving without seeing him again.
"Yeah..." Rowan sighed, getting up from his chair. "He's going to miss you, you know." Zumi nodded as she acknowledged Rowan's words. She'd made a mark on this town, wasn't that what she wanted? To be remembered? For people to miss her?
"Yeah. I'll miss him too." Zumi replied. Finn had helped her her entire stay in Newport. Deep down, she knew she had loved the company and didn't want to, well, be alone again. "And I'll miss you too, Rowan. You've been so nice to me the whole time I've been here." Zumi walked over to Rowan and pulled him in for a hug, which she really needed at the moment. Thankfully, he didn't resist and hugged her back.
"I'll miss you too, kiddo. Come back soon and tell me all about your adventures, ok?" Rowan let her go after a few seconds and put his hands behind his back, pointing with his head to a room at the end of the hall. "You can sleep there tonight. The bed is already made for you."
"Right." Zumi sniffled, wiping a couple tears away. This is exactly what she wasn't going to let happen tomorrow, a teary farewell. "Thanks, Rowan. I'll see you someday in the future." She said as she walked to her room, waving him goodbye.
Despite having gone to bed quite late, Zumi woke up relatively early. It was 9:00 AM, supposedly she had only slept five hours but she felt refreshed and ready for anything. Her mind was set on leaving in secrecy, so all she had to do was not run into any watchmen before she was finally out of sight from any civilians. This didn’t seem like a challenge though since everyone had drunk enough alcohol to keep them asleep for more than enough time than was necessary, not to mention the hangover they’d have when they finally woke up… Zumi made a mental note to never drink.
When she got out of bed, she saw Rowan at his desk like always, as if he hadn’t even gone to sleep last night, which might’ve actually been possible when Zumi thought about it. She wasted no time grabbing her bag, her basket ball and her staff, making sure everything was in order before she finally headed through the front door.
“Well, looks like this is it.” She said, turning to face Rowan. “I hope to see you again soon, doc. Have a bed ready for me when I come back, ok?”
“Of course.” Rowan agreed, smiled at her. “By the way, take this.” Rowan grabbed a small green vial of something from his desk and handed it to Zumi. “It’s a sort of cure-all. It’s quite rare and not many people can make one but it can heal all illnesses and wounds. Think of it as a sort of last resort.” Zumi fidgeted with the glass container, watching the green liquid slosh inside.
“Really?” Zumi asked. “I can have this?”
“Of course. Think of it as a sort of “thank you” for minimizing the amount of victims a couple days ago and making my job a lot easier.” Zumi chuckled at Rowan’s explanation and pocketed the vial.
“Thanks again Rowan.” Zumi turned to the front door and, before walking away, added, “Say hi to Finn for me.” And with that, she was off. Once more, after 4 days that had felt like months, she was heading to her next objective. Such was the life of the adventurer, nomads, never in one place too long.
Zumi walked past streets she’d passed a couple times before. She recognized some, didn’t recognize others, but she did recognize the beauty in all of them. She walked past the sea, a sight she had only beheld here in Newport. The cool sea breeze that passed along the harbor caught her midnight hair, for once out of her hood so as to not draw attention. She saw many Civilians walking past, some were elderly couples out on a walk with nothing better to do while others were kids playing in the streets enjoying their summer vacation. Every now and then she would see a poor soul in the middle of their commute as a result of which she could only understand to be oversleeping. It was such a lovely town this one. So peaceful so… so normal. Zumi didn’t want to admit it but her list of possible retirement homes had grown by one.
“But I’m not retired yet. I just started my journey close to two weeks ago. I’ve still got a looooooong way ahead of me.” Zumi mumbled to herself as she approached the town’s outskirts. She was almost gone, she could see the exit in sight. She felt no guilt, no sadness, instead she just accepted it. She would leave this town with memories and the power of imagination. It was too late to change her mind anyway. She walked forward along the path that her pocket map indicated, appreciating the peace. No civilians, no loud noises, jut nature sounds and pure, pure peace…
“ZUMIIIIIIIIII!!!”
Shit…
“Zumi! God, I’ve looking for you!” Finn panted, clutching his knees in exhaustion. Zumi cursed under her breath and forced a smile on her face.
“Finn?!” Zumi exclaimed, not trying to hide her surprise at him having found her. “Wh-what are you doing here?!”
“I was scared you were going to leave without us knowing so I rushed here as soon as I could.” Finn explained, cracking his fingers. “You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah…” Zumi fidgeted with the hem of her cloak, a bit nervous and trying to not cry. “I didn’t want any teary farewells and I figured the best way to not get any was to not have any farewells at all. So, yeah, sorry, I was going to leave.”
“Nono, completely understandable.” Finn replied, clutching his small bag in a more comfortable position and heading forwards… exactly the same way she was headed? “So, shall we go?”
“I beg your pardon?” Zumi asked, having been practically reset to factory settings by those 3 words
“Shall we go? You woke up early for a reason, right? You must be dying to leave and get back on track on your journey.”
“Dude, I woke up early to avoid YOU!!” Zumi exclaimed, not understanding what Finn was talking about. “Now you’re here and talking about shall we go?!”
“Of course. After all, I’m coming with you.” Finn said with a cheeky smile on his face.
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am.”
“The hell do you mean you’re coming with me?!” Zumi asked, going crazy. She felt like she was hallucinating.
“I already talked it out with the doctor and the watchmen, they all agree that I’d be better off by your side.” Finn explained, putting his arms behind his head and smiling happily. “Out in the wild, taking commissions and living off our earnings… plus, I’d miss you if I didn’t go with you. I want to accompany you in your adventures.” Zumi had to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill. She hadn’t been taking the whole “leaving silently” thing the best she could, so Finn coming with her on her adventures would be a dream come true. And yet still…
“W-Won’t you miss your hometown?” Zumi asked, rubbing her eyes. “I wouldn’t want you to feel homesick and stuff just cause you wanted to follow me… or the watchmen to not be able to fend off other threats because you’re not there, or Rowan to be understaffed, or-”
“Zumi.” Finn grabbed Zumi by her shoulders and shook her, snapping her back to reality. “It’s my decision. And you know me, do you really think I’d be doing this if it bothered others? Everything’s accounted for.” Zumi heard his words and couldn’t help but realize that he was completely right. She chuckled and shook her head.
“Of course, what was I thinking… you really want to come with me, huh?” Zumi asked, looking Finn in the eyes. He let go of her and nodded.
“Of course I do. It’d be an honor, Zumi.” He stated, to which Zumi let out the widest, most natural smile she might have ever let out. All her fears, her worries, they’d been for nothing. The days of adventuring solo with her cat were over, a new member had just been added to her adventuring party. Zumi couldn’t help but feel like this was a huge step forward in her journey. She felt that with Finn, no matter what the world threw at her, they’d manage to get by.
“You also need a healer badly with you, you spent more time in a hospital bed than out of one during the time you spent here.” Finn added teasingly, turning around and walking ahead, leaving Zumi shocked for a couple seconds before she rushed to catch up.
“What?! Hey, no fair, I thought we were bonding!” Zumi exclaimed.
“We were.”
“But that was such a short bonding moment…”
“One of many more to come.” Finn stated, smiling. Zumi chuckled in response and nudged Finn’s side with her elbow.
“You’re already looking forward to it aren’t you?” Zumi asked before clearing her throat. “Then let me officially announce: welcome to the Nekogang!”
“We’re not calling ourselves that.”
“Aww.”