"I'll only be gone for a day," Eli was explaining to Iris and Autumn, "Titus is in charge until I get back. No shenanigans while I'm gone, understood?"

"Yes sir," Autumn said with an exaggerated salute.

"Absolutely no shenanigans, got it," Iris confirmed.

He gave them both critical looks, "and if you do get up to shenanigans, try to have the mess cleaned up before I get back."

"Won't even be necessary," Autumn said, "in fact, we probably won't even leave the tavern while you're gone. Right Iris?"

"Yep, we'll be right here, not getting into any trouble."

He shifted his gaze between them a few more times, then picked up his pack and hoisted it over his shoulder. Just as he turned for the door, Littletooth sprinted out from under a table and collapsed onto his foot, as if trying to pin it to the floor. Eli gave Iris a confused, slightly annoyed look.

"I think he wants you to say goodbye," Iris guessed.

"How does he even understand I'm going somewhere?" Eli asked, to which Iris shrugged.

He sighed, crouched down, and hesitantly patted the baby wyvern on the head, "I'll uh, be back soon, dude."

Littletooth looked up at him and screeched, then ran a circle around his feet before stomping away. Eli watched in confusion as the wyvern ran off, and then gave a final wave to Iris and Autumn before stepping out of the tavern. After the door had closed behind them, they stood perfectly still and silent in case he popped back in. After a moment of waiting, they sprang into action.

"Alright, I need the slow cooker wheeled in from out back," Autumn commanded, "all the ingredients unloaded in the kitchen, and each of the stoves started."

"On it," Iris blipped into the kitchen, blipped a torch from the wall and started lighting the fires under each of the stoves.

Next she pulled her bottomless bag from her waist and placed it upside down on the food preparation counter, "alright, just like we practiced," she said to the bag before grabbing it from the bottom and pulling it along the length of the counter. As she dragged the bag along, it deposited all the ingredients in long row. Mixed in were a few random objects, like rocks, books, and a coil of rope, which she blipped into her hand and dumped back into the bag one by one.

When she blipped to the back door to retrieve the slow cooker, she nearly bumped into Titus who was already wheeling it in. It was a large pot suspended above a basin that held a simmering fire. They had kept it out back so that Autumn could start the process of cooking the elk roast the night before without alerting Eli to the smell, which surely would have filled the tavern. As Titus wheeled the slow cooker into the kitchen, Autumn barked more orders at Iris.

"Get started on the decorations," she called through the service window to the kitchen as she unwrapped ingredients and organized them on the counter, "Titus, when you're done with that, move all the extra tables to the back of the room."

Iris retrieved a fine purple tablecloth from her bag and placed it lengthwise along one of the long tables. Next she placed several silver candlesticks along the tablecloth, and a large silver platter near either end. They had opted to use one of the long tables rather than a round one so they could seat the Shark Titan and Fish Wizard at opposite ends, in the hopes that distance would decrease the odds of violence. The final touches were red cloths draped over the back of either chair, two sets of carefully placed cutlery, and large goblets to be filled with wine throughout the dinner. Iris blipped away from the table and placed her hands on her hips, admiring her handiwork.

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"Iris, check the time," Autumn ordered.

Iris nodded and blipped out of the tavern, appearing on the other side of the door without opening it. She blipped through the Underbelly and down the length of the nearest dock, where she could get a clear view of the sky and the position of the late afternoon sun, then blipped back to the Flopping Fish.

"Two more hours, I'd say," she told Autumn as she blipped into the kitchen.

"Good, we're on schedule, cut these," Autumn handed Iris a knife and pointed to a row of fillets cut from a giant snake, "about a quarter inch, too thick is better than too thin."

Iris carefully sliced the first fillet, only accidentally tearing a few pieces. As she moved down the row, she grew more confident, and began to cut faster. Meanwhile, Titus checked the roast in the slow cooker, and then Autumn put him to work butchering a giant rabbit that was currently hanging on a hook out back of the tavern. The next two hours were a fast paced, nonstop cooking operation. When Iris caught Littletooth sneaking into the kitchen and trying to climb into the trashcan for scraps, she scooped him up and dropped him in her bag. As they worked, Autumn explained the purpose and philosophy behind many of the steps they took.

"It's important we have as much prepared in advance as possible," she said at one point, while chopping rabbit meat into cubes, "and we have to get everything cooking at just the right time so each part is ready exactly when it needs to be."

The next task given to Iris was to mix batter for dumplings, then drop scoops of batter into the hydra soup cooking on one of the stoves. Once Autumn instructed her she had added enough dumplings to the soup, she moved on to battering dough sticks that would be fried later for desert. After a while, Autumn sent Iris for another time check. This time the sun was lower in the sky, about half way between midday and sunset. She hurriedly blipped back to the tavern and alerted Autumn.

"It's almost time."

"I can handle the rest here," Autumn replied, "get out there and keep watch. Let me know as soon you see the Shark Titan."

Iris nodded and blipped away, making her way to one of the taller buildings in the Underbelly, which gave her a clear view of all the docks. She perched atop it, carefully choosing her angle to make sure she could see the most of the Underbelly. It seemed most likely the Shark Titan would arrive at his dock at the far end of the Underbelly, but Titus had made a good point that he might swim rather than take a boat, and could show up from anywhere.

After a while of watching the dock workers repeat the same tasks over and over, Iris leapt to her feet when something large shot out of the water and landed on the pier below with a splash. The Shark Titan stood tall, wearing a brilliant blue captain's coat and clenching a large, gold trimmed pirate’s hat in his hand. The crowds quickly dispersed around him, with more than a few people shouting as they hurried away. He placed the hat on his head and began a quick, confident stride through the Underbelly, the crowds parting before him like a school of fish avoiding a predator.

Iris leapt from the rooftop, blipping across the thoroughfare to a building on the other side. After running along it for a moment, she blipped to the next one. When she grew near to the Flopping Fish, the front door was already within the Shark Titan's sight. She blipped to the roof of the tavern, then down to the courtyard behind it, and entered through the back door.

"Shark Titan incoming!" she shouted, "any minute!"

"Titus, get the door!" Autumn shouted as the utensils she dropped clanged on the counter, "Iris, plate the first round of appetizers! Be ready to pour the wine!"

Titus, now dressed in formal black pants and a white ruffled blouse, took his place in front of the door to the tavern. He steeled his resolve and listened carefully. When he heard the thump of heavy boots on the wood planks outside, he opened the door with a tense smile to greet the Shark Titan.