An hour later, Ashi woke up. Sometime in her nap, the battering at the door had indeed stopped, but a quick look around showed that no one else sheltered here had moved much because of it. With a sigh, she picked herself and her weapons off the floor and went to go see.

Back at the roof, she found a couple guards laid flat, peering over the edge. Stepping near them, she looked over as well.

The Aulins had indeed given up on assaulting the fort, and it seemed like they had stopped rampaging through the town too. Instead, they were largely just milling around. Standing, sitting, lying.

“It's not safe up here,” one guard warned, looking up at her.

“Oh, I'm aware,” she smiled. With a quick step to the side, she dodged another very well-aimed arrow. She grinned down at the distant archer before stepping away. “Do you vigilant watchmen have any idea why they aren't gone yet?” she asked, smile fading into mild exasperation.

“Well,” one said slowly, “it looks like they might be intending to siege us.”

“Really?” Ashi asked with a half laugh.

“It does seem absurd,” the guard admitted, “but they have ceased doing much else. They're just waiting.”

With a sigh, Ashi made her way back inside. Hopefully this would not last long.

However, an hour after that, the Aulins still hadn't left, and Ashi was pacing the halls in frustration. She did not want to be stuck here. And, the ever-present specter of the past hung over her. If reinforcements came to save them, they might know of the deaths at the checkpoint. Or worse, be affiliated with Indigo. The fear was all consuming, but she tried to keep a steady facade.

Eventually, she made her way down to the first floor. “Captain?”

The familiar feather weaved its way towards her. “Ashi.”

“We seem to be stuck,” she told him. “I don't suppose you have a way to counter this.”

The captain shrugged. “Waiting. We have enough provisions stored to last us a few weeks, over a month if we ration intelligently. They'll starve themselves back whence they came before we run out.”

“Your plan... is to wait,” Ashi repeated dryly.

“Our chance of fighting this head on was at the gates, so yes, our plan is to wait. I understand this will be a trying time for everyone, but please try to keep calm.” He looked around casually, before leaning a little closer to whisper. “Word of your bravery has spread, Ashi. Many admire your strength, and your resolve to run into danger. So for their sakes, please try to stay strong.” He leaned back, and said in a normal tone, “we'll be passing out an evening ration before long.” With a final nod, he went back to where he was before.

Ashi blinked, not sure how to take the information that had just been provided to her. With a quick look around, she did notice that many were looking her way, or whispering. Suddenly very uncomfortable, she quickly made her way back to the stairs and took them two at a time up back to the roof, where at least there wasn't a crowd.

The sun was hovering lower in the sky, turning the horizon a blood red. She watched in silence for a while, before closing her eyes and falling into another shallow sleep.

Which was broken not long after by a guard coming to the roof to tell his fellow soldiers that it was time to eat. He also then approached her.

“Dinner time, Miss Ashi,” he told her.

With a slight sigh, she turned to look up into the shadow of his helmet. “Is it corn?”

The guard clearly had been expecting that, so he took moment of silence before a hesitant, “No?”

“Good,” she clamored to her feet and followed him down the stairs. How many time would she use this staircase, she wondered to herself. At least she'd stay fit here.

Dinner was, indeed, not corn, so Ashi was content... except for the long line standing between it and her. Disregarding that, she simply stepped to the side, where one guard was already eating. She tapped him on the shoulder.

He looked up at her, then blinked, clearly not expecting to see her. “Yes?”

She waggled the spear she was still holding. “I'm getting tired of carrying this around. Can I just put it on a rack down here or something?”

He took a moment to process the request, staring at the spear. “Oh! Of course,” he said, standing up quickly and putting down his supper. “Follow me.”

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He lead her into the medium-sized armory, where Ashi leaned it against the wall in the back corner. If she got her way, maybe she could leave it there.

She let the guard return to his food, and leaned against the wall to wait for the line to empty. As she stared at the ceiling, listening to faint whispers and the rustling of cloth, she heard purposeful footsteps approach her. Looking down, she saw another of the guards approaching her with a bowl of the food in her hands.

“It's an honorable approach, Miss,” the guard told her, holding out the food, “but we should keep our strongest well fed, in case we need them to protect us again before it's all over.”

She stared at the food for a moment, before looking up at the guard. “Huh?”

The guard rolled her eyes. “We see what you're doing. There's enough food here for everyone, no need for you to starve.”

Unsure of what to say to that, Ashi accepted the offering and looked at it, before looking at the guard. The guard smiled, before going back to managing the table.

This whole situation was incredibly bizarre and uncomfortable. It was enough to make her wish she'd taken her chances with the horde outside. Still, she was here, and didn't feel like taking a dive out the window, so she began to eat. Quickly. People were still looking at her.

As soon as she was done she put the bowl down and practically ran back up to the roof, away from all the eyes. She'd never felt so nervous in the a crowd, she reflected as she sat back down in her spot. Something about all the attention resting on her had triggered a deep fear.

Gathering herself, she walked back to the edge once again. The Aulins below were settling in for the night, it seemed. There were scattered bonfires, and the sounds of eating and guttural conversation. And, right on schedule, an arrow was rising to meet her. This time, she didn't move, and the arrow flew past on her left. This Baulin clearly remembered her. She did cut a distinctive silhouette. She waved with her tail before turning away.

There was nothing for it then, she decided as she curled up. She'd have to hope the Aulins were as impatient as her, and left soon. Tomorrow morning, even.

With that thought, she fell asleep.

And awoke. She was still alone on the rooftop, and all was quiet. She wondered for a moment what had woken her, before another drop of water hit her head. She glared up at the clouds. Rain.

She lunged across the roof and back down the stairs, closing the rooftop doors behind her. Then back to sleep.

When she awoke again, this time from the sounds of the rest of the building rousing, the sound of watery artillery still hammered above her. Her fortunes were clearly not about to turn. And indeed, the Aulins had not given up despite the rain, and she was still trapped here. With all these people who stared at her, and the silent threat of a timer slowly ticking down as it became more and more likely her checkpoint crossing method was discovered. Ashi was not in a good mood.

Which was why, when only a few hours had passed and the rain still providing a deafening white noise, she found herself standing before the barricaded gate with a simple demand. “Open the door.”

The guards didn't seem to understand at first, looking between one another and her. “What?”

“Open the door,” she repeated coldly.

“Ma'am,” one tried, “we can't do that, it's too dangerous. The Aulins would mob it.”

Ashi stared into their eyes. “So?”

“What's going on?” the captain had appeared, but clearly hadn't expected what he found. “Ashi?”

She gestured at the two guards. “They won't open the door.”

The captain clearly expected that even less. “Why do you want them to open the door?”

Ashi took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. “Because I want to go through it. Those windows are high up, I don't want to risk breaking a leg.”

The captain, as though his counter was obviously, only managed “But the Aulins...”

In that moment, Ashi had a stroke of genius. She lowered her gaze and looked at him. “I'll kill all the Aulins.”

All the guards had gathered by this point, and at that declaration lots of noise broke out from that crowd. Some gasped, some predicted fatalism, and many more had broken into excited chatter.

The captain looked over them, and they largely calmed. “Ashi, no warrior alone could fight that army.”

She pursed her lips. “You don't think I can.”

The captain didn't seem to know how to respond.

“But,” she continued, “I say I can do it. Are you saying I don't know my own abilities?” In truth, she probably couldn't defeat all the forces outside. But she would promise to kill all the sea monsters in the world if it would make them open the door. Then, she just had to make it as fast as possible to the wall, and then she would be free. Her belongings were a lost cause, but she would be alive and free.

Her bluffed confidence was clearly having its desired effect though. The guards seemed on board, and even the captain was wavering.

“Let me help you,” a voice called out. Turning slightly, Ashi saw – surprisingly – a person she recognized, from when she was running across the city in a doomed attempt to reach her things. It was the man in the long green cloak, and in his hand was his black bow, which now Ashi could see was engraved with lines of silver. Most strangely, though, Ashi noticed that he had no arrows, or even a quiver.

Whispers ran through the guards now, and even some assembling civilians. Murmurs of “Greencloak” and “Order” ran through their ranks.

“Rune, sir,” the captain did a respectful half-bow.

The man identified as Rune smiled a bit. “Please, Captain Hurst, there's no need for that.” As the captain straightened, Rune turned his attention to her. “You want to break the siege.”

It wasn't a question, but Ashi nodded slowly.

Rune smiled. “Then I want to help you.” He looked up at the gate. “And if going through that gate is how it must happen, then...” he let the thought linger.

Ashi stared at him, frustrated. Whoever this wannabe hero was could present a real problem. Especially if he noticed her trying to get away instead of defeat the Aulins, and managed to get a good shot on her. His bow was clearly enchanted, so there was no guarantee of her being able to avoid it. Or even if he didn't and survived, he'd tell that she'd run off, marking her as guilty and making her portrait and name known as criminal through the whole nation she found herself in – which could in turn alert Indigo. Her attempt as fighting back against her recent luck had instead only made it worse.

The weight of having to try and fight an army of monsters and a mysterious bowman truly struck Ashi, and she cursed her luck even more.

The captain looked between the two of them, then sighed. “Well, if you feel as though you must, I insist you not use the door.”

“I told you I'm not using the window,” she snapped.

He held up his hands placatingly. “I don't mean the windows.” He paused a moment. “There's... a secret tunnel, that leads just outside the walls. From there, you can have the advantage of surprise.”

Rune smiled. “That sounds like a lovely plan. What do you say, Miss Ashi?”

Ashi looked between the two of them, and at the door, before sighing. “Fine.”