This door was a bit tougher for the tiny princess, slightly lower than the bedroom door, but with enough effort Camilla was able to get to the other side. Pulling herself free, she stood up and saw three guards! She jumped, startled at the sight. She watched them briefly, the three giants sitting round a table. She was right to tell Corrin to stay put. She could see that one of them was holding playing cards. Gambling, Camilla realized, silently judging the men.
"All right, your turn," one at the far end said. His friend hesitated, seemingly confused.
"Do I... Put some gold down now?" the man asked. From his garb, Camilla could tell he was a ninja.
"What, haven't you been listening? You Hoshidans slow or something?" the third man chided. He leaned back in his chair, almost knocking his sword over. He had carelessly left his weapon balanced by the side of his chair.
"50 gold to stay in," the first man spoke, "raise is another 50. Or you can fold."
All attention was on their game. Camilla could move about, but she would have to be quiet. She looked back towards her way in. The safest route would be to retreat, but the key might be in here. If it was, it would be another perilous journey to get back in. She thought she had made a bit of noise, scrabbling in like she did, so she might have just been lucky at going unnoticed. Camilla decided to stay in the room. She obviously wouldn't be able to get on the table with them watching, so she looked around. A pile of white sacks was leaning against the bookcase. Perhaps that was her best bet?
"I'll raise," The ninja decided, pushing coins towards the middle of the table.
"Heh, the man's got some balls," the mercenary grinned, leaning in.
"We'll see just how tough he is," The fighter said, polishing his axe.
Camilla moved into the shade of a nearby table, next to the door. She would be harder to spot under here, at least. Clinging to a table leg, she watched the men play their game. Such fools would be mere fodder for this princess of war were she her normal size, but her downsizing certainly turned the tables. Their game was evidently getting more interesting, a combination of excitement and worry playing across their faces. That certainly worked for Camilla, it made sneaking around that much easier. She scurried across the floor, towards the white bags.
The axe fighter scratched his chin, intently studying his cards.
"What's the matter?" the mercenary taunted, "are you tough or what?"
"You shut up!" the man snapped back, "can't a man think?"
"You've certainly had enough time," the ninja commented.
"You can shut up too, and all! I've seen how long you take!"
Out in the light, this stretch of her journey might just be the most dangerous. Camilla wasn't too worried about the noise made by her feet on the floor, but she would easily be seen. Fortunately she had timed her journey well, and reached the pile of sacks undetected. They looked to be about a foot wide each, many times the size of the shrunken princess. Camilla reached out, feeling the bag. She could feel many small, lumpy objects inside.
How strange, could this be bird feed? There seems to be about twenty of these bags, how much does this woman need? She climbed onto the first bag in the pile. It was quite easy for her to get a foothold, so she quickly scrambled up the side of the sack. Camilla smirked. This was going to be easier than she thought...
"All right, I'm in!" The axe fighter proclaimed, throwing down his coins.
"Things are really starting to heat up!" the mercenary commented. His mind already made up, he pushed his 100 gold to the middle of the table.
"Indeed they are," The ninja mumbled. He mimicked his opponent's confidence, throwing down his own coins. "Your turn, big guy."
"Err..." The man mumbled, his hands shaking.
The mercenary laughed. "Looks like you don't have the goods!"
"S-shut up!" his friend protested, starting to sweat.
Camilla stole a glance towards the guards. She was across the room from the fighter; he might see her if he looked up. But he was too focused on his cards, seemingly trying to work something out. Such a pitiful man. Camilla thought. Such fodder wouldn't normally be worth a second thought to her, but she was gaining new insight into her enemies at her new tiny size. She reached the top of the pile. She studied the bookcase for a moment, put off by its weathered and rotted look that she hadn't noticed from further away. Such details were readily apparent to her now, at the size of a mouse. She jumped at the bookcase, grabbing onto the edge of a shelf. Camilla gulped as it squeaked, would she be detected?
"What was that?" The axe fighter said, looking up in confusion.
"Quit your stalling!" the mercenary berated him, "make your choice!"
"I heard something too..." The ninja said.
"Huh. Probably a rat or something," the mercenary said.
"A-all right then! I quit!" the fighter said, placing his cards down on the table and pushing them towards the middle.
"Finally! Just you and me now, Hoshido boy! Who's going to take it all?"
"It's your move," the ninja nodded.
Camilla struggled in the air, kicking her legs as she tried to pull herself up. She calmed down a bit when it was obvious they hadn't noticed her, taking her time in getting back up. She struggled over the edge, then quickly retreated to the shadows. She hid beside a book, looking around the room from her new vantage point. The purple-haired princess was just below head height at her current position. Unfortunately, she was not high enough to see onto the top of either table. She would need to get higher if she were to see the key. Sighing in frustration, she started climbing up the spine of the book.
"Raise," The ninja said.
The mercenary looked at his cards nervously.
"Who's crying now?" his friend taunted.
"Shut up!" The mercenary growled.
The fighter laughed. "Maybe I should hurry you up, huh?"
"There's a lot of money riding on this now!" he shouted back.
"Go on, raise smart guy," The ninja calmly taunted.
"Are you going to take that, huh?" The fighter asked.
Now atop the book, Camilla reached for the lip of the shelf above. She could have pushed the book closer to the edge, but the guards might have noticed. Instead she settled for the tougher, but safer, way onto the shelf above. Lifting her head up to the edge, she saw a collection of all sorts of junk strewn about this shelf. There was a thick layer of dust coating the surface. Tutting in annoyance, she pulled the rest of her tiny body over the edge.
"Fine, I fold!" the mercenary shouted, throwing his cards down on the table.
"Heh. I win," the ninja snorted, pulling his pile of winnings over to his side.
"So what cards did you have, anyway?" the fighter asked.
"These," he replied, revealing his hand on the table.
"What?!" the mercenary shouted.
"But he had nothing good!" the fighter commented, dumbfounded.
"It's all about keeping cool," the ninja recalled, "you guys told me that."
"Heh heh, he got us good, huh?" the fighter said.
"It's that damn mask!" the mercenary complained, "we can't see what he's thinking!"
"Part of my uniform. I can't take it off while on duty," the ninja stated flatly.
"I'll show you! Another game!" The mercenary demanded.
"As you wish," the masked man replied, starting to shuffle the deck.
"I'll win all my gold back!" The fighter proclaimed.
Camilla finally made it up, gasping for breath. It was certainly tough for such a small girl to climb this high. She looked around, now having a full view of the tabletops. Unfortunately, there was no key to be seen. She quietly cursed in frustration, annoyed at her wasted time. She would have to try somewhere else. She moved to the edge of the shelf, but suddenly felt a bit dizzy. She stumbled, walking into a ball that was slightly bigger than she was. She jumped, feeling a surge of panic. The ball started rolling. Camilla reached out for it, determined to stop it somehow, but she was too late. The ball fell from the shelf.
The ninja lept up from his chair. "What was that?" he asked, the ball making a sound on landing right behind him.
"Look, on that shelf!" the fighter shouted, pointing, "there's a mouse or something! Kill it!"
The ninja stepped to the bookshelf, weapon drawn, but stopped, wide-eyed. Camilla froze. Huge eyes stared at her tiny form. What should she do? What could she possibly do? Escape was her only option. She ran to the side, only to be knocked down by a giant hand. Landing on her front, she frantically crawled away, trying to get behind an old box on the shelf. A shuriken slammed down onto the shelf, stabbing on both sides right next to her body, trapping her. She could not escape.
"Did you get it?" the mercenary shouted from the table.
With one hand, the ninja removed his weapon, quickly grabbing Camilla with the other. She struggled as he closed his fingers, gripping her in his digits. He brought his other hand in, securing his hold on the shrunken princess.
"I've caught... Something," the ninja revealed. He sat back down and tipped the tiny Camilla onto the middle of the table. Landing on her rear, she struggled to her feet to see giant faces leaning in, fascinated.
"What the..." the mercenary uttered.
"A tiny woman!" the fighter shouted. Camilla covered her ears, deafened by his shout.
"The Nohrian princess," the ninja told them, "she must have escaped somehow."
"But how did she get so small...?" the mercenary wondered.
"Never mind that!" the fighter said, "whoever turns her over to the boss is gonna get a huge reward!"
"A very good point..." the ninja said, thinking, "I have an idea..."
