Due to some personal obligations, I won't be able to post the next chapter of CTB until the end of the month. This means that I have accidentally gone on a ~3 month hiatus. Oops.

Anyway, here's a short preview for the next chapter to tide everyone over. 👋👋👋

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The oil light from the hallway made a gold square across the dark room, slipping over the edges of the bed before splashing onto the wall. Night had long fallen again. Warriors would have continued staying at Ganondorf’s townhouse if he had enjoyed feeling like a cowed dog. He’d wasted the whole day slaving over the specifics of his plan, writing the specifics in long-working agony. It was an excuse to hide from Spirit. In broad daylight, he let Spirit win.

 Even now, defeated and neck-aching, he bristled at the very thought. He would not be beaten into the mud without a fight. That meant returning back to the room at the inn. He needed to see Spirit again, if only to find a way to sort through the mess they made of each other. 

But the room was empty-- but not untouched. 

The sheets had been ripped from the bed, strewn across the room. A side table had been knocked over. His bags had been gutted, his clothes and scant belongings thrown this way and that. One of his ink pots had been shattered on the ground, leaving a stain of black ink on the floorboards. 

Spirit was nowhere to be found. His bags were gone too. There wasn’t even a pile of ash to suggest he had been there. 

Warriors’s nails dug into the door frame. Then, carefully, he pried them free. He closed the door behind him, letting the lock click into place. He soaked the room in the oil light’s suffused glow. 

He knelt down to the mess. None of his things were stolen, not that he had a lot left to pick over. One of his shirts had a tear in the sleeve, but it didn’t seem purposeful. He could picture Spirit ripping it from his bag and tossing it aside, unaware that the seam had even torn. 

Spirit did this. No question about it. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Spirit had destroyed his things. 

Warriors sighed. Then, dutifully, he picked up his things and put the room back in order.