For the Trash Kingdom

“... No one is safe from their weapons unless they wish to infect them…”

“... she’s trying to get me to leave the Verdant Kingdom until it is resolved.”

“... I do not know how they will behave now any more than anyone else does.”

“... Not something you want with an invasion beginning.”

“... It’s not like the Blighted Wilds’ army can be harder to beat than the humans, right…?”

“I’ve already died once in battle, what’s another time?”

Mika brushed her hands lightly along the stone walls of the tunnel, slipping through the shadows to find herself back at that curious shop beneath the castle. She glanced around at the soldiers now occupying it, dark eyes silently studying her as she looked around with an inquisitive expression.

“Well, well, what have we here?” a vaguely familiar voice surprised her, catching Mika’s attention with a slight startle as she looked at the woman lounging on the counter, petting a strange scavenger bird. “Are you a spy from the whore, or a soul ready to embrace the wonders of our beautiful corruption?”

The young dextro hummed, tilting her head… “I was just… curious to see you…” Mika looked around again, shuffling on her feet. She glanced at the bird, the scavenger, eyeing it with a bit of interest.

Leaving fairly promptly, Mika was left with a struggle. Picking sides was never her forté…

She never abided people getting hurt. And this corruption: Even ignoring the rather… negative connotations of how it was described, to have it forced upon others? Mika couldn’t abide that. But there also seemed to be bad blood, something from the past coming back to haunt the royals.

What would she do? Who would she side with? The Verdant Castle seemed the best option, and yet…

She made a few more visits, even procuring a weapon for herself from the armoury, a sturdy baseball bat that could conk some heads and reduce the amount of infected blood spreading around.

Then she found a place to watch. A week of observing, of skirting along the battle lines, assessing things, helping out where she could here and there. But as the fighting went underway, it only became harder to reckon who she’d end up giving aid to. That was when she remembered something.

“While I fear these would not hold against the raccoons…”

Mika blinked. The Verdant Castle, the Blighted Wilds… What side really spoke to her and her values? Why should she just go along with a two-party system? If she had to pick where to put her support…

She smiled as she marched giddily into the Trash Kingdom, unperturbed by the voices. The chatter of eager creatures looking for a tasty meal, hungry for… clothes? Well, Mika had to admit, she’d never eaten clothes before, she couldn’t emphatically say whether they’d be good or not. Maybe she should poke Iola sometime about brewing up a sock stew or a nice bra-nana bread. Heh, bra-nana bread.

Either way, Mika knew where her allegiance truly lied. On one knee, she swore her fealty…

Now, as she looked out again at the battlefield, the war beginning to grow somewhat one-sided, her mission was clear. Her kingdom required supplies, food and sustenance. And out there was a cornucopia of delicious fabric and threads just waiting to be gnawed on, to be devoured.

War paint on her face, she scurried into the fray, disappearing amidst the chaos. Under her breath, Mika whispered three words, a quiet battle cry all for herself: “For the Trash Kingdom.”