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Apparently Ekimu really liked sighing—as Makuta waited by his brother's room, he counted around nine or ten sighs, some in exasperation, some in worry, some in… fear? Makuta wasn't paying close attention to the tone of the sighs.

Makuta finally heard it a few moments later: a deep, somewhat voiced sigh, followed by the sound of heavy fabric—a blanket. Ekimu would still need a few minutes to actually get to sleep, of course, but it would take shorter than usual, since—he hoped—Ekimu had decided to sleep without his mask.

Silent, Makuta waited for around five minutes, waiting an extra two minutes just to be sure. He leaned closer to the door again. Sure enough, he heard nothing but rain and wind outside and Ekimu's slow, deep breathing. Finally, he thought.

Opening the door slowly, he crept into Ekimu's room, where he found him fast asleep, with his mask on a side table next to his bed. Makuta smiled. Once he took that mask, the two brothers would finally be even…

But something seemed off about that. This seemed far too easy. And besides, what would he do with the mask once he took it—hold it hostage?

Makuta put a hand to his head. Maybe I should have thought this through earlier. Slowly, he began to walk towards the door. Just then, a cold wind gusted in through the open window, blowing the door shut.

After saying a colorful variety of words under his breath, Makuta felt immensely relieved Ekimu couldn't hear him. But he didn't dare open the door again—it was hard enough to open it without a sound the first time. He took a glance at the nearby window.

This is a terrible idea.

He walked toward the window, tripped on a piece of armor and fell to the ground with a loud crash.

At the noise, Ekimu began to stir. Makuta jumped up and ducked into the closet, pretending to be another suit of armor. He held his breath as Ekimu muttered something about gusts of wind. Then, turning to a more comfortable position, he fell silent again.

Taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart, Makuta stepped toward the window again, paying careful attention to the floor this time.

He had made it to the sill when Ekimu shuffled in his sleep. Of course he decided to wake himself up again, Makuta thought bitterly. He looked out the window, quickly determined the distance to the floor, and jumped out.

Flammik slammed his hands on the table. "Well, what was I supposed to do—let those wolves just run in?"

"That's not what I'm saying," said his wife calmly. She rested her hands on his, which seemed to calm him slightly. "Just relax a moment, alright? All I'm saying is that you could have defeated them without the help of crystals."

Flammik let out a deep sigh. "I know, Fiara. But the point is, now I'm just a villager." He took a glance outside, where the rain poured harder than ever. "And an unpopular one at that."

Fiara closed her eyes. "While I agree that what Ekimu did wasn't a perfect action, there still is the fact that you took those crystals. I know you were doing it for the city," she continued quickly, seeing Flammik start, "and I will help to clear that up with Ekimu. However, we may need to return that bow."

"Already did," Flammik said bitterly. "Or rather, he took it while I was out."

"Out? I thought you would be inside more, now that you aren't on missions."

"If anything, I'm out more often because of that. Gotta make a living somehow. Wait, is that…" Flammik blinked many times as he stared outside. "Is that Makuta outside?"