The Sheikah rested her head on one hand, leaning with her elbow on the table. She watched her friends rouse themselves into alcoholic merriment in a matter of minutes, drumming her fingers whenever she could find a beat in the mess of music. Sighing she emptied her glass, playing the quiet drunk as she lamented over the day and any injustice she remembered.

"ugh!"

Zeze lost her balance, and fell over backwards, taking down a chair with her. She groaned, feeling the wood sticking to her rib.

"Ugghhh...damn...."

Before she got to finish her sentence, her eyes had already closed, and she was sleeping peacefully, the chair still balanced over her chest and stomach.

Saber was staring at the wall, his interest in the conversation lost. It seemed just like the normal girl chatter, and he wasn't really in the mood. That murder in New Peak Town yesterday...He thought, his left fingers rapping his saber hilt as he rested his chin in his right hand. I wonder if they still have the body...I'll need to examine it... He hadn't gotten any leads lately, and every strange occurance was a possible clue. He didn't notice his drink as the fizz ran out in front of him, and he only slightly noticed the drinking contest--A waste of time, and there was no way he would be able to make the trip all the way to New Peak if he got drunk off his ass tonight. How long hsa it been...? Where could they have gone by-- His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash.

Looking around, he noticed one of the girls was on the ground sleeping, her seat on top of her. Sighing, he got out of his chair and removed the seat from her body. He placed it upright, then bent over her body. Picking her up in a fireman's carry by hoisting her over his shoulder, he set her down gently in her seat, leaning her forward to rest on her forearms. He stared for a few brief seconds before realizing something--Burlo hadn't annoyed him this whole time. He glanced at the cleric's spot at the table; his glass was empty. Sighing, the mercenary turned around, and saw Burlo sneaking up behind a lone man in the corner. "BURLO!" The normally sedate man shouted. "Don't go near his drink!" He added in a softer, yet just as urgent, hiss. The cleric looked at him like a beaten dog, and shuffled back to the table, sitting down glumly and twiddling his thumbs. Saber took his own seat and shook his head. Why am I acting like his father? He questioned himself before requesting another drink for Burlo from the barkeeper. He sat back and took a sip of his own beverage, savoring the cool, frothy liquid. It definitely helped soothe the pains of travel, that was for sure.

The door pushed open again, carrying bits of snow in with the gust. A figure clad in a unremarkable grey robe slid inside, coughing slightly. Frozen hands peeked out from the thick cloak, and grabbed hold of the hood. Taking it down slowly, a pale face was revealed. Sakiko coughed once more, her silky white hair falling down her shoulders as she did so. She heard from Masakazu that this was where Zeze would be.

The mage shut the door, and hung her cloak on a nearby coathanger. She spotted the bard quickly, dozing peacefully. Nearby, she also saw Arrika. Both drunk, she assumed. Sakiko walked briskly towards Zeze, and slid into a chair.

"Hey, you! Wake up!"

Zeze grumbled a bit, but didn't wake.

"Zapheta!"

She hissed this, her eyes blazing. One thing that totally ticked her off was when people got drunk. It was a waste of health and resources, not to mention time. The mage grabbed an empty mug, and filled it with water, using a bit of magic. The next action totally predictable, the mage flipped the mug upside down, letting the freezing content splash unto Zapheta's neck.

"YYYEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!"

The bard awoke immediately, her emerald eyes wide with shock. Sakiko raised her eyebrows.

"Awake now?"

Arrika glanced up at Sakiko, not really comprehending why she was so upset. "Hiya, Saki.... what's up, yeah? Zeze and me was sleepin' ya know, so that was sorta rude... yea.... Why're you so mean, huh? You should... you should smile more... yea... Heh, Saber's been really quiet too. Say somethin', yea, Saber? Tell Saki she's actin' like a mean old cat lady..." All of this was mumbled and hard to understand. The Sheikah flipped over her mug and shook it, the last drops of her drink splashing onto the table. "Aww... it's empty..."

Sakiko gave a freezing glare at the two drunkards. Zeze cowered like a small child hiding from a monster, her red hair dripping with water. The mage blinked once, and Zeze gasped, as if the small action had binded her fate to an everlasting doom. Sakiko raised her head, and stared down at the bard. She growled,

“Masakazu and I were looking for you.”

She said each word heavily, as if they weighed as much as a boulder. The bard protested,

“You said you’d be reading, and so you wanted me to go away.”

“I never said that! I just said go get a book-“

“Nuh-uh! What I heard was-!”

They fell into a heated debate, which wasn’t even a debate at all. It was a squabbling of opinion, which everyone knows is pointless. After several minutes of this, the mage yelled,

“OK! Shut up! The point here is that you got drunk, and what did I say about drinking?”

Zeze scowled.

“I’m not to drink. Fine, I did drink, maybe a little bit!”

Sakiko raised her eyebrows, scanning the castle of empty mugs stacked on the table.

“Oh?”

The bard withdrew timidly.

“…ermm…”

Sakiko sighed, and looked around, aggravated. She raised her eyebrows recalling what Arrika had said.

“Saber drinks? I never knew that…”

"I don't drink. Waste of money, and that's something I can't afford. It's just because of the occasion, and this is the only thing I've had." Saber replied calmly. He had been waiting for what seemed like ages for the two to stop arguing, and he didn't want that argument to follow up with Sakiko railing at him as well. "Burlo, on the other hand..." He shifted his eyes to gaze at the Cleric, who was giving Sakiko the perfect sad puppy eyes. It probably would have worked better if it weren't for the fact that his hair pretty much shut his face off from the rest of the world, like a thick, woolly curtain.

Sakiko nodded approvingly. She said tartly, intending for Zeze's ears,

"You know, if everyone could be as smart as Saber, and not drink, wouldn't this place be so much happier?"

The bard protested,

"But drunkards are the merriest of people!"

The mage in turn replied,

"But drunkards aren't very smart, are they?"

Zeze grew silent, unable to think of anything to throw back at Sakiko. She grumbled,

"Well, I was having a nice little sleep before you came and all that..."

Sakiko noticed Zeze's hair was still dripping. She threw a piece of cloth at the bard's direction, too lazy to conjure up a spell. The bard caught it skillfully, her mind now clear - she was very tolerant of alcohol, and thus could wake out of the stupefying mind curtain of ale quickly. Besides, the cold water on her neck helped.

The mage cleared her throat, and gave Burlo a cursory glance. Her eyebrows shot up - a mercy they didn't crash through the ceiling - as she commented dryly,

"Ah, your friend, Saber?"

As Sakiko entered the room it was as if all happiness had gone from the souls of everyone present; as she spoke is was as if she was passing the death sentence and life wasn't worth living at all. Or so it seemed to Arrika. "Maybe if you got silly drunk like the rest of us, you wouldn't be so against it, yeah?" She offered. "See, even Saber isn't such a priss. His friend kinda worries me though," she added, oblivious to the fact that Burlo was well within hearing range. "Embrace your inner drunk, Saki. Life's too short to be sober. Right, Zeze?"