Late the next morning, the Tereslars arrived in Costera City, capitol of the coastal country named Haspodia. The salty odor of the sea permeated the air and a cool breeze refreshed the travelers as they passed through the narrow streets. Fishermen both professional and amateur filled the city as they exchanged tall-tales of their recent catches or their risky ventures too far from shore. Occasionally an unobservant child would dash across the road with a bucket of clams or oysters in his hand, drawing frustrated grunts from Qwarten and amused giggles from Kahiri. 

"Where are we going anyway, Major?" Erok asked from one of the supply wagons. 

"It's a bar called The Hungry Shark. I stop by there whenever I'm in this city." Qwarten droned. 

Kahiri narrowed her eyes at Qwarten. "But Major, I'm 20 years old. I can't drink." 

"They have an underage section. You can still get food or juice." 

"Alright." Kahiri fell silent. 

About ten minutes later, the six travelers tied their horses up in front of The Hungry Shark and strolled inside. The place was packed. At one table sat a gang of hoodlums who eyed Kahiri and Meg's bodies hungrily before their eyes met Qwarten's. They looked away in shame a moment later. At another table, a group of working-class men chugged down glasses of vodka between rounds of bellowing laughter. And throughout the bar, couples chatted flirtatiously, some having their first encounter, and others on their third or fourth date. 

Kahiri's amazed eyes darted around the establishment. "Seriously, if there's this many people here in the morning, how wild does it get at night?" 

A smile tugged lightly at the corners of Qwarten's lips. "Oh, it gets crazy. Anyway, here are the tables for underage people. If you need me, just holler." 

Kahiri nodded as she sat at an empty table. "Alright, thanks." 

Swedo leaned uncomfortably close to Kahiri's face. "If you want, I could grab you some orange juice or some such." 

Kahiri pulled her head back and nodded. "That'd be nice. Thank you." 

After Swedo sped past him, Erok leaned next to Meg's ear. "C'mon Meg, I'll buy you a drink, just like old times." 

"Like old times..." Meg trailed off dreamily before following Erok through the rowdy bar. 

After Swedo slid a glass of orange juice onto Kahiri's table and left, she was left to sit by herself and watch the noisy crowd halfway across the establishment. She giggled to herself as she watched Swedo make multiple unsuccessful approaches at the pretty young ladies near the front, laughing harder as her eyes locked with Bernard's, who chuckled heartily about the same thing. 

The next moment, Kahiri noticed a man wearing the dark blue uniform of a sailor from the Kaborian Navy saunter up to her table with a tipsy grin on his face. 

"Hey, sweetie-pie," the man drawled as he took a seat across the table from Kahiri, "how're you doin' today?" 

Kahiri shrugged and scooted her chair back subtly. "I'm fine, I guess. Isn't it a bit early to be getting this drunk though?" 

The man laughed heartily and slapped the table with vigor. "That's a good one there, darlin'! But I've only had myself four or five shots, dearie. Don'tcha worry yourself about that, sweetheart. So what's your name?" He reached his hand across the table. 

"Kahiri." Instead of shaking his hand, she crossed her arms. 

"Ah, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman." 

"Thank you." Kahiri tucked away any hint of gratefulness in her voice. "Now, I'm gonna be really honest with you right now." 

"Oh, it's wanna those old-fashioned confessin's now, is it? Speak up clearly darlin', I'm dyin' to hear." the man interrupted with wild gestures incongruent with his words. 

"You're making me really uncomfortable, and I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave." 

"Playin' hard to get here, are we? I love games." the man slurred as he reached over the table to stroke Kahiri's face. 

Kahiri slapped the drunken man's hand away as hard as possible. "Stop it!" she shouted as she rose to her feet. "Now I told you to leave me alone!" 

"Now listen here, baby, I—" he stuttered before a rock collided with his head. He collapsed to the ground while clutching his wound. 

Kahiri's mouth opened in shock as she squinted to see where the rock had come from. When her eyes landed on Qwarten's furious figure, she shot him a relieved smile. Qwarten acknowledged Kahiri with a nod before he stood over the drunken man's limp form with clenched fists. He snatched the man up by his collar and shoved him against the wall. 

"Now you listen here, old man!" Qwarten roared. "This woman is my partner, and you're not messing with her, not without a hell of a fight from me!" 

"Ooh," the man slurred, having managed to retain his composure, "jealous boyfriend has arrived, oh no!" 

Without a response, Qwarten threw the drunkard to the ground and geared himself up for a fight. 

As the bartender set some drinks down for Erok and Meg, he spotted the commotion near Kahiri's table and frowned. With a grunt, he threw his apron aside and motioned for some young ruffians to follow him. 

"Hey you!" the bartender screamed at Qwarten, causing him to spin defensively on his heel. "That's my boy you're messing with!" 

With that, the bartender threw a forceful punch at Qwarten. He blocked and dislocated his opponent's jaw a moment later. Next, two ruffians tried to attack him from different directions, but he ducked, stepped forward and threw the first one into the second. When another man tried to attack Qwarten, he added him to the pile as well. 

One hoodlum flew forward as Meg's gauntlet slammed into the small of his back. Another screamed and bolted when Erok's sword scraped a layer of skin off his arm. A third whimpered in pain and humiliation after Kahiri kicked him in the groin. One ruffian managed to punch Qwarten in the gut, but he tightened his muscles into a rock-hard wall. Then he elbowed his opponent in the ribs and dodged a kick from the enraged bartender. 

Kahiri tackled a tall hoodlum and buried her knee into his belly. As she heard another attacker coming from behind, she grabbed an empty bottle from the ground and swung it backwards. Sure enough, a half-drunk man stumbled away while clutching his jaw. Next, she threw the bottle at a fighter who had just pushed Qwarten into a corner. The man screamed and collapsed. Qwarten flashed Kahiri a grateful smile before continuing on. 

*******************

Five minutes later, all the ruffians either writhed on the ground in agony, or they had already run away. Only the bruised bartender remained kneeling before Qwarten, nursing his injured eye the whole while. 

"Here's your tip." Qwarten calmly dropped an oval-shaped coin on the ground. Then he turned to Kahiri and the rest of his group. "Let's get going." 

"Alright," Kahiri's eyes wandered around the bar as she noticed their group was lacking two members. "Wait a minute, where are Swedo and Bernard?" 

Qwarten glanced at Kahiri. "Bernard went outside for some fresh air. But I don't know where Swedo went." His eyes scanned the establishment for almost a minute before he spotted their quirky doctor socializing with a pair of blonde field medics. Qwarten slapped a table loudly, and when Swedo glanced at him, he waved him over. 

"Oh, hello, Major." Swedo began as he ran towards Qwarten. "I didn't expect you to be done so soon." 

Qwarten frowned sternly. "Did you even notice that huge brawl going on over here, Doctor?" 

"Why yes, I did. That's precisely why I confined myself to the other side of the bar." 

"You might want to stop doing that. If one of us needed you, we'd be dead before your help would arrive." 

"That's debatable, Major." 

Qwarten shook his head with a disgusted frown. Then he headed toward the door without another word. 

********************

A fresh, minty scent hit Kahiri's nose as the Tereslars entered an inn several blocks away from the Hungry Shark. She sighed in relief that the aroma was strong enough to mask Meg's alcohol-laden breath beside her. As Qwarten approached the front desk, the clean-shaven receptionist smiled warmly at each member of the group, and Kahiri gladly returned the favor. 

The receptionist's eyes lingered fondly on Kahiri for a few seconds before he returned his gaze to Qwarten. "What may I do for you?" 

Qwarten looked over his group and turned back to the receptionist. "We need lodging for six. Preferably a suite with a common area and three rooms attached." 

The clean-shaven man pulled a paper out of his desk drawer. "Unfortunately, we only have two such suites. One is currently in use, and the other is reserved for tomorrow." 

Erok leaned over the counter with a charming grin. "In that case, we'll be out by daybreak." 

The receptionist narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I can do that for you." Then his gaze wandered over to Kahiri again and he scratched his chin. "You know, my boss will probably make me regret this, but go ahead. It's living suite #3 upstairs. Do you need me to show you there?" 

"No thanks, I can count." Qwarten tossed a bag of money onto the counter and took the key from the man's hand. A moment later, the rest of the Tereslars followed him down a hallway. 

******************** 

A/N: Alright, so there you have the fifth chapter! I personally really enjoyed writing this one. Combining a drunken man's insanity, Kahiri's stubbornness, and Qwarten's temper was really fun to do. XD

Anyway, I'm not going to be updating next Friday, mostly because it'll be the day after Thanksgiving, and I'll probably be stuffed and unmotivated. I'm sure you all understand. ;)

So, I think I asked this back in chapter one, but some things have changed. Do you have any ships, and if so, who?

And finally, what's your favorite season of the year?

Have a great day! I hope to see you in the comments and in the update a couple weeks from now. :D