After the Rain Stops

Chōjō central

As they walked on to the kingdom, the commander grumbled the entire way.
"Beaten by kids..! How pathetic..."
Stitches, being the unfortunate one to have to carry him, was on his last nerve.
"Cher Dieu, shut up! We've been listening to you for miles, you putain de bâtard!!!" He says, quite done with this man already.

Before he could do anything, Sesa took him from his shoulder and carried him.
Stitches huffed. "Thank you! His merdè was getting old!"
Kara walked behind Sesa, with Chò and the map in lead.
"So, what's the Chōjō kingdom like?" She asks, hounding him for answers.

The commander sighed.
"Why not wait and see for yourself?"
She smiled cutely.
"Please tell me?"
He simply rolled his eyes.
"Next left on the ravine."

They follow their prisoners directions, coming upon a mountain instead of a city.
"Where's the city?" Stitches asks, poking the Commander.
"That's it, right there. We need to knock on the door." He states, as if giving an order to a subordinate.

"Bullshit. No one can build a city in a mountain!" Chò says, not believing a single word he says.
Kara, however, spoke in his defense.
"He's telling the truth."
Stitches looks at her. "How do you know?"
She instantly becomes sheepish. "I uhm... I can see magical auras. Inside of people and other things. The door is right there." She says, pointing to a flat side of the mountain that was in between a cliff and waterfall.

Sesa walks up to it, sniffs it, then punches at the waterfall. Immediately, the waterfall splits open to reveal a giant doorway.
He walked back to them and cracked his knuckles.

Kara, Stitches, and Chò all looked at each other.
"Huh..."
"Wow. Overpowered much?"
"Damn, that was impressionnant!"

Sesa cracked his neck.
"Two hundred thousand people. Smaller capitol, provincial." He says, picking the commander up again.
Kara nods.
"That means we need to be careful. There could be an ambush anywhere."
They all give a solemn nod, and Sesa lights a set of torches. The light is dull, but it will work.

"Don't anyone say anything unless you see something fishy." Kara says, in the middle. Sesa was in the front, Chò in the back, and Stitches for cover.
"I wouldn't worry about anything. The only defense the city has is its soldiers, cowardly they may be, and the magical field that protects it." The commander says with knowing shame.

"So, if a wizard were to open the gates-"
"The city would fall to a large army easily."
"That's just dumb."
"Tell me about it..."

They treked on, walking beyond graves and to a gate made of raw stone.
Chò tapped her staff on the ground.
"Well, what now?" She says.
Kara looks at the gate.
"There's nothing magical to it."
"Of course not! We have old-fashioned Skorpions to keep intruders away! And that stone is indestructable!"

Sesa grunts, then walks right up to the gate and knocks on it.
Then it cracks and falls apart.  

The commanders face was one of pure, raw fear and respect.
"How did you destroy that gate?!? It was made from the hardest stone imaginable!" Commander states.
Chò giggles. "Not as hard as Sesa, apparently.~"
Stitches face palms. "Cher Dieu..."
Sesa blushed a little, and Kara just went blank faced.

"Moooving on, the city should be beyond this gate."
They all follow Kara, ready to explore this city.

Surprisingly, they were greeted with banners that read "Welcome, Hero's!" and an entire city's worth of people throwing a parade.
An old man with a giant mustache was waiting for them, all smiles and at least no larger than a keg of alchahol.

"Welcome, heros! My name is Tasuto. I am the Provincial legislate here, and we officially welcome you with open arms!" He says, shaking all of their hands when he noticed the commander. "I see you let your anger control you again. No matter, we shall reimburse this into a lesson for our children. Come come, you must be tired after such a long journey!"

Sesa throws the commander off of his shoulder and follows the man. The rest follow suit, and Kara is immediately swarmed by children.
"Wow! Her hair is like wheat!"
"You're pretty!"
"Wooow!"

She giggled cutely.
"How cute!"
A boy stares at her, then hands her a teddy bear.
"Keep it. He'll keep you safe."
She takes it, looking at it, then she would've asked the boy why, but he had disapeared into thin air.

"Kara, Come on!" Chò yells, urging for her to follow.
She looked around for the boy, then rejoined her companions.

There was something off about that kid...