Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Mercakete]

The time to start unloading the crates and such from the ship and back into the Dauntless had arrived. So, Gytha shouldered her bag and picked up a crate with her free arm, then began heading back towards the ramp. Maw padded after her. They were in another port now, after all, and that meant there were likely unfriendly cats around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Farewells exchanged, Norbert continued on his way to the stables. Rizen had noticed by the ship's movements that something was different and several of the other equines had already been taken out by their riders. When Norbert arrived, she decided he was rather late and so was in a bit of a rush to get back out into open air. She did, however, wait until she was properly tended to and saddled to show her impatience very much, however. Best not to rush a good brushing, after all -- those are to be enjoyed.

At any rate, soon, Rizen was geared up and ready to move out. When the pegasus and rider came up onto the main deck, the Dauntless was gone and it seems that people were carrying crates off the ship. It seemed that he hadn't come up a moment too soon, as he figured they'd be on their way as soon as their supplies were put back into the wagon. Well, there wasn't anything else he was planning on doing at the moment, so Norbert figured he may as well help out some. So, with Rizen following, the pegasus rider picked up a large crate and began to carry it towards the loading ramp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been quite a while now since Katsu and Hana had left in search of Kikuko. Daichi spent a couple days home after that, but soon returned to his station at the northern border. The first outpost he entered (the one he'd brought Katsu to after he found him carrying his comrade's body) happened to have a message for him. A very important one at that.

It was a reply to the report he'd sent to the emperor the day he found Katsu. The swordsman retreated to a spare room before opening it. As he read, Daichi's face remained stern, occasionally nodding at its contents. He agreed with the emperor's decision to bolster and consolidate the northern border's forces. The emperor had even chosen to send General Fukui Hayate to increase the border's strength. Though Daichi was somewhat surprised at what followed: he'd been temporarily given the authority of a Samurai. The man's slight surprise faded quickly, however, as the rest of the letter contained orders and instruction for him.

He was to manage the northern border, in short, to make it more effective against the Fallen: promoting, conscripting, reassigning, etc. Included in the message was the emperor's "special powers" seal to verify his task if need be, as well. He was also to destroy the seal once his task was complete. The swordsman nodded to that -- as was his duty, he would obey the emperor without doubt or question. He and the coming general were also not to interfere with each other's work, though communication was neither required nor prohibited. He nodded to that, too. It made perfect sense, after all, and was the logical action to take.

The last part of his orders, however, gave Daichi pause. This was because the last set of instructions revolved around Katsu. Specifically, it read (though written in Kigenese), "Lastly, regarding this mercenary that survived the demons, this man should be evaluated for possible recruitment into the military. You may conduct this evaluation yourself or direct him elsewhere. If he is unwilling to cooperate, we would still like to keep record of him and as such would like as much information on him as possible, full name, place of birth, family history, anything obtainable via humane means."

There was nothing else written after that. Daichi knew that there would be an interest in recruiting Katsu given he survived an encounter with the White Devil. His biggest concern, however, was that he had no idea where Katsu presently was. Not only that, but he didn't know when -- or if, if things went particularly terribly -- he would see him again. Finding Katsu, however, was definitely a priority now. Anyone he sent after Katsu, however, would likely also find Hana. That was risky, as they may discover her true identity.

<I essentially have three people I need to find, now: my daughters and Katsu.> Daichi thought as he took a deep breath and slowly released it, mulling over what he needed to do. <For now, however, my utmost priority is preparing the men here.> That in-mind, Daichi rolled up the message and tucked it into his obi. Focusing on the list of things to do formulating in his mind, the swordsman exited the spare room with purpose and set out to find the man in charge of the fortress. He had business to discuss and he may as well start where he already was.

Edited February 2, 2013 by Mercakete

[Ether]

So that appeared to end without anything really notable happening... well, the little girl had decided to follow her charge about for a spell, Arietta supposed that... might be relevant? She honestly didn't seem at all threatening, but then sometimes the scrawniest little brats who looked like they couldn't bloody lift a blade, let alone swing one, were the most dangerous?

'Bah... I shouldn't count her out completely, I suppose.'

"Aye, Valcyn. Did ya want me to help with the movin' or did ya have something else in mind?"

***********

As she made her way to the deck, it appeared the Dauntless had already been moved to the docks.

'Well, that appears to have gone a lot more smoothly than last time...'

"Hmm... what to do now... what do you think, Sharif?" Faatina asked, giving the stallion a pat on the neck, and receiving a whinny in reply.

[Eail]

"We can worry about what to do after we eat, after we eat. For now let's just focus on finding something good, my treat remember?" Zach said with a grin. "What do you think, restaurant or go pass by some food vendors to see what they have?"

[roymbrog]

Katrina didn’t have much time to react as a hashbrown was suddenly thrust into her hands. Shrugging, she simply followed Aneda’s instructions.

“Heeeey, this is pretty good~ I might need to pick up some of these hashbrown things later.” It was kind of crunchy and all potatoey and smelt great. That last point was starting to make Volga antsy, though. Eventually Kat picked up on it. “Do you two mind if I take a detour? My wyvern is… rather hungry, I’m afraid.”

-----

After coming up on deck Valter had been pretty much minding his own business (read: not helping carry anything). If they really needed his help, they could ask, right? Regardless, someone did approach him asking questions. Phyllis was uncomfortable with the close attention from the stranger, snorted, and took a step back. To soothe her Valter absently rubbed the horse’s neck. He had no idea who the girl was, but she took care of that bit after her veritable torrent of inquiries.

“Curious, aren’t you?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow. Honestly, there were plenty of other people to bother on this ship. Why did she pick him? He did answer though, if a bit annoyed while doing so. “Well first, your leading assumption is wrong. While I do fight on horseback, Phyllis is primarily for travel. And it’s like… riding a horse. You’ve done that before, right? Being able to move with one’s mount is a matter of experience. I’ll keep horse care simple; food, water, and exercise.” That covered everything, right?

“Is there a reason you’re asking me these inane questions?” Valter asked, then narrowed his eyes. “…Why are you even on this ship?” They were unloading, yes, but he somehow doubted the sailors would let a girl her age just waltz up here without permission. But, ya know, stranger things have happened.

OoC: I know I didn’t say earlier if Valter was mounted or not, but he’s not. You don’t have to mess with your post though Snowy, it’s not relevant to anything that just happened (plus my fault ect).

[Phoenix]

Raquel

Raquel wasn't going to be too picky about this. After all, the more people helping out, the faster they would be finished. Her slightly delayed answer was, "No it's fine, you can help out; I'd welcome that actually." She then made a mental note to go take care of Sandrock and Riley as she saw the Dauntless down on the docks with no horses attached and the tongue still retracted. She still had a lot to do before they could get a move on, she realized.

[Snowy_One]

"To answer your questions, I am on this ship because the pink-haired girl offered to repair the books I own the vagabond woman destroyed with her careless horse riding, I'm asking you because I love learning new things, and no, I have not ridden a horse in my life. Cart and carriage, yes. Horse? No. My name is Tia by the way. So tell me, is she a plains horse then? Mountain? What else was there... Island maybe? No..." she moved in closer to Valter. "What about you? You vary your fighting based on if you're on her or not? How? Two different styles? One? How did you learn it? Is it easy or hard? What does it entail?"

[GoD]

(OCC: Chelsea Liton. Getting the fuck out of the ship)

When the ship finally landed, quite nicely at that, the troubadour quickly raced off to where the horses and other such animals were being kept. When she arrived, she quickly undid the restraints placed upon Nesha, and quickly put her small bags on various parts of Nenesha. When Chelsea deemed it okay, she climbed atop her horse, and yelling "MUSH!!", she directed the horse off of this godforsaken boat.

"Fuck boats."- The troubadour made a remark as she left the ship, and was met with an almost agreeing neigh from her horse. This caused the owner of said horse to grin and say "I hope we can get some nice distance away from the sea, and Never have to deal with it that shit ever again."- the troubadour finished as she made her way around the port in order for Nenesha to stretch his legs, hooves... whichever.

As she and her steed walked around the port town, the duo found themselves at the markets. With curious eyes, the horse and it's master both looked at the many, many wares on display, but mostly at the food. Suddenly, Cheslea spotted one of her teammates, with a new horse that she had never seen before. Grinning, Chelsea directed Nenesha to approach the girl and her new horse. Before she spoke, Chelsea used Nenesha's head as a resting place for her arms, which were neatly folded to provide an additional resting place for her head. When she adjusted herself, she was behind the girl when she spoke, her grin and her eyes staring at the girl.

"Hello, what a surprise to see you here. Synthia right?"- she asked the girl, in hopes of starting a conversation.

[Click This]

Satisfied with how everything turned out, Mao made her way off the ship as the others began to unload the Dauntless and their personal effects. She would pick up her own stuff, make her rounds to the market to pick up some delicious food, and arrive back in time for them to conclude their business... Or so she calculated. It all depended on too many variables and she wasn't up for doing the hard math on how much time everything would take. Her worries were allayed however as she observed several boats and a little barge with livestock mooring alongside one of the nearby piers. She hailed one of the sailors arriving in the boats as she scanned their contents. Most of them contained small but valuable stuff such as artwork and expensive clothing, but on the raft and the last boat, she sighted her own personal affects and her equestrian companion, Water.

"Such a good horse! It's been a month but we're finally on land -You deserve a treat! As soon as I find the market here..." Packing a few of her personal affects into the saddle bags, she led Water away back to the port as she rummaged through a leather messenger bag full of documents in her other hand. They included valuable bonds, letters of credit, and other documents that served in the place of hard coin. They would be valuable when exchanged at another merchant house. It looked like everything in the bag was in order, so she slung that bag over her the other bag she was already wearing. Now it was time for food. Her stomach was crying out for a delicious piece of mutton...

[roymbrog]

So apparently it was Raquel's fault that the small water mage was on board. Things suddenly made a lot more sense and Valter was a bit less annoyed with the circumstances. That didn’t mean he enjoyed Tia’s inquisition, however. “Are you always this annoying, or is this just an off day for you?” managed to slip out before he realized what either of them had been saying. That wasn't particularly nice, but maybe at this point he didn't care.

Then at some point Tia had switched attention from Phyllis to the horseman and took a few steps forward. He took a few steps back. She was honestly starting to switch from annoying to creepy in his mind. “Listen, Tia, I’m not some thing for you to research, I- Just… Stop looking at me like that, please. I’ll answer your questions if you leave me alone afterward.” The blush creeping up was testament to the discomfort he felt. Valter was suddenly glad he hadn’t given his name, that would have made him far too easy to find and pester in the future.

----

Synthia, meanwhile, was having problems of her own.

Groaning, the girl pinched the bridge of her nose. People were starting to stare, and this was giving her a headache. “Ok, explain why you won’t sell me anything again?” she asked the shopkeeper, a middle aged man who on top of being generally unhelpful had a very loud mouth.

Face red from frustration, the shopkeeper started yelling again. “Because I saw the rabbit shaped cloud last night!” the man replied, gesticulating for emphasis. “And my fortune specifically said, ‘If you see the rodent shaped cloud don’t sell to those with hair of black’! I have told you this four times, woman. Why do you keep asking?!”

“Because it didn’t make sense the the first three times!” Synthia countered, throwing up her hands. She had been at this for almost ten minutes, and neither logic nor explaining the folly of his statements (rabbits weren't rodents!) were working. Perhaps she should switch tactics. Deciding the risk was worth it; she took out her bag of gold and set it in plain sight on the table in front of her. “You’re the only stall selling quality saddles in this area. Are you really going to pass up a possible hundred gold sale?”

That managed to catch his attention. The shopkeeper appeared to be having some sort of internal struggle. Synthia let him take his time at first, but after almost a minute began rapping her fingers on the table irritably. So apparently on top of being annoying and superstitious the man was also indecisive. Great.

It was about this time that the mage received a surprise visitor from behind. Synthia had been so focused on the hopefully soon transaction that when Chelsea appeared she nearly jumped. “Oh, uh, hi,” she answered eloquently (not eloquently at all) and moved to the side to properly see both the troubadour and watch her money on the table. “Yes, I’m Synthia. You’re… uh…” Damn, she couldn’t remember. Snapping her fingers to come up with the name wasn’t helping either. Eventually it did come up and the mage smiled a bit sheepishly despite the situation. “Chelsea, right?”

The shopkeeper apparently had a brilliant idea, because his face lit up and he said loudly to himself, ”Come to think of it, my fortune said nothing about those with blonde hair…”

Synthia caught on immediately. “Chelsea~ Do you mind doing me a favor?”

[Snowy_One]

"Of course you're not some thing. Things can be taken apart and examined. People can not. You can be talked too and learned from. And why would you want me to leave you alone? I get to learn and you get to talk and tell me about yourself."

[roymbrog]

Perhaps Valter was overreacting, but he really didn’t appreciate the attention. He wasn’t used to it, for one. “And what made you think I wanted to talk about myself?” he countered. “It’s not polite to approach strangers and just start firing off questions like that.”

[Ether]

With the answer given, Arietta moved over to the pile of boxes and began making rather quick work of moving them down to the Dauntless and into what she had gathered to be the proper positions for them.

[GoD]

"Yeah that's right."- Chelsea smiled when Synthia got her name. Then the troubadour took a glance at the counter with money and, with a raised eyebrow, gave both Synthia and the merchant a glance.

That was when Synthia looked at Cheslea and asked for her somekind of favor. Shrugging, the troubadour smiled and asked "Sure~ What do you need?"

[roymbrog]

“Awesome,” Synthia replied. She picked up the bag of gold from the table and held it out to Chelsea. “Mind buying me a saddle?”

The shopkeeper’s entire demeanor changed as he now addressed Chelsea. “I have five in stock. I’m sure one of them will fit your, er, friend’s horse,” he said.

[GoD]

"Hmm... I don't mind-"- Chelsea jumped off of her horse and approached Synthia. She took the black-haired girl's gold and approached the man at the counter before she continued with her earlier inquiry.

"-but what's wrong with you paying for this?"

With that said she also spoke to the man in the counter. "Greetings, may I see your saddles? I'd like to judge which ones are appropriate for my friend."

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

Connor was occupying himself with directing people into where they should be placing the crates inside of the Dauntless- a somewhat difficult task given the number of helpers and number of boxes.

Nadya

Nadya had been going through the market, purchasing a few apples and giving one to Luca. She noticed a commotion going over by one of the saddle stands and decided to go investigate, seeing a few familiar faces.

"Y'all got this under control here?" she asked Synthia, riding up near her.

[roymbrog]

Reminded of the original problem, Synthia huffed in annoyance. “Ask him why I can’t pay for it,” she replied.

“I will not explain it again!” the shopkeeper shouted reflexively. He remembered he was technically conducting a sale right now however, and quickly calmed down. “Right this way, miss. I’m sure you’ll find one that suits your needs,” he told Chelsea before walking over to the adjacent tent where some of his more expensive merchandise was. The saddles were each hung horizontally on a rack. They were different sizes and styles, but only two of them appeared to be a good fit for Synthia’s horse.

Meanwhile, the mage waited back at the table. Chelsea owned a horse, so she assumed the girl knew enough to pick out something that would work. While she was waiting though, another familiar face showed up at the stall. Synthia gave a half-hearted wave. "The merchant is crazy, but I think we've got it worked out," she told Nadya.

[Snike]

Oh boy. Apparently the merry band of mercenaries had maddened the malicious Skotian rebels. Marvelous. Axel briefly considered what they might have been carrying, before setting that train of thought aside. It didn't matter at this point in time, anyways, so long as they didn't rest in the port town for a while. The organization apparently wasn't active since Port Temptress, which meant he'd have to be especially wary on the trip up to Europa. The lack of attacks was probably a sign that they were preparing for a strong push. That, or they had lost track of the mercenaries, however unlikely that was. Well, just another thing to keep an eye out for.

"Well hopefully the rebels forget about the group. They're certainly vengeful when angered," Axel said, in a neutral tone. "Anyways, I'd better go find Amon or one of the others. Thanks again. I owe you my life, and a favor or two, I suppose."

***

"Got it," Blake said, almost rhetorically, as he grabbed a few more boxes before carefully carrying them down to the now-grounded Dauntless. It was relatively easy work, and, judging by how many people were helping out, would be concluded in a timely manner. Hopefully the Dauntless could be ready to go sooner than expected, if the amount of volunteers persisted.

[Snowy_One]

"What? But who doesn't enjoy learning and getting to talk to other people? Who doesn't enjoy being able to share the stuff they know with people who don't know?" asked Tia, baffled. "Besides, you looked a bit lonely, so I thought I'd at least try to talk to you. I can see others too, like that red-headed skotian girl, but I can only help one person at a time."

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"All right then," Nadya said, staying to watch the show. That is a weird merchant- comin' off as crazy doesn't help ya make sales. She figured she could offer advice on Synthia's new saddle if asked, but figured her unsolicited opinion wasn't all that wanted.

Veronika

"Amon isn't here anymore, he decided to stay in Sanctuary. You'll find a number of new faces in our group and a few of the old ones gone. And I'm not in the habit of keeping life debts, just serve Raquel well and we'll be on good terms," she said to Axel as he prepared to leave.

[Phoenix]

[spoiler=Know Your Enemy; Know Yourself(DAY 2)]Spending all of her time in the cargo hold didn't seem like it would be so bad initially, but she was getting sick and tired of the area after just the first day. She wasn't too interested in conversing with Gytha or either of her dedicated guards, so she spent most of the time training between meals. Hearing some of the other training going on toward the front of the ship was also something of a motivator, but her meals weren't supporting all of the exercise and she had to avoid anything intense.

By the second day out, she was sore, tired, and just waiting on her next meal from atop the largest crate in the holds. "... Ursium ... what am I supposed to do in Ursium, anyway ...?"

One of Gar's many--and by many he really meant few in number but many in greatness--plans was to go be a pest to some particular people. The first day he tried that ended in failure. Unless he was trying to annoy himself which was silly because he learned the ship layout which was intelligence which was not annoying!

The second day he hit the belle of the ball. Or at least that's what it seemed like when he found some guys guarding a random cargo hold. "Howdy fellows how's it going?" he greeted them pleasantly.

"Nothing exciting that's for sure," one of the sailors replied. "Between that girl's grunting and everyone else's down here, I'm about to go nuts. We should see if someone will bring a table down here. If I'm going to go insane, I want to do it on my terms."

"Card games?" the other guard inquired.

He nodded. "Card games. So," he glanced back at Gar. "Did you want something or are you just as bored as we are?"

"Bored, entirely bored," Gar admitted without hesitating at all. The way the two were all about though told Gar that said boredom was about to be relieved. "Any crates back there big enough to play on? Improvising and all that."

"The crates? Hah, good idea there. Didn't consider that til just now."

"I did ..." the other one noted under his breath.

"Let's go back and have a look. Mind the girl though."

Suzume leaned over to see who the guards were talking to way over there. It looked like one of the mercenaries, and not one of the two that brought her aboard, either. Great ....

"Ha, just let her join us, best way to keep an eye on her then eh?" Gar looked past and joy of joys it was exactly who he thought it was gonna be. This was turning out to be a great day.

"Well, it's not like she's got anywhere to run off to," the sailor said, shrugging.

"Does she even know how to play cards?" the other sailor asked neither of them directly.

"She's gonna learn~ Come on, let's grab some of these old crates and get'em set up. Hey, mercenary, go see if she's interested while we try to set this up."

She's gonna learn many things, Gar thought to himself with a smile. "Alright," Gar let the mercenary comment slide because that would just ruin everything. He swaggered on up to her and said, "Hey, we're about the play some cards, want in?" He wasn't sure if she actually recognized him--it was dark, he had his back to her. But his voice could be remembered, and if not he had other ways.

Suzume squinted a bit at Gar as he asked her if she was interested in a card game. She looked extremely wary but said nothing of it. "I don't know any card games ..."

"That's how everyone starts, don't worry you'll learn," Gar cheerfully replied.

Suzume was silent for a good five seconds before slowly moving to the edge of the crate, hopping down from it, and saying, "Fine ..."

Meanwhile, the two sailors had managed to at least find a crate that could at least serve as a table. Consistent seating was out of the question though as someone was going to be using a bucket while someone else would have the luxury of an actual chair that just happened to be down there, and the remaining two would be stuck with small food crates of dubious integrity.

"You'll have the time of your life I'm sure," Gar said in response to her giving in. The crate--and what passed for seating were all arranged. The chair was obviously a hot commodity for everyone's choice, and the bucket was a trap. That left what looked like food crates. Well, Gar was probably light enough, and if not he could take off his clothes which would just be helpful in the end either way. "I'll play nice guy and take my chances with the mystery crate of integrity." Well with his luck it wouldn't break. But still, don't take excess chances. Gar took off his cloak, coat and belt and put them all right aside. Naturally his knife stayed on.

Suzume wasn't sure where she was supposed to sit, and so stood around hoping one of them would eventually tell her which seat was hers. The two sailors looked at each other and then at Suzume. There were three spots left, a food crate, a real chair, and a bucket. "There's only one way to settle this ..."

"If you say card games ..."

"No no, I was going to say, 'girl gets the chair, I'll take the crate, and you take the bucket.'"

The sailor sighed saying, "Do we have to do this 'gentlemen' thing right now? Really? Might as well let her win the whole game if we're going to be like that."

"Come on ... I'll even take the bucket if you'll be polite~"

"... fine."

Gar chuckled at the glorious game of chivalry played out before him. "Now that our seating's been set, time for some play," Gar announced. "And naming ourselves. That would probably help. You can call me Gar."

"Gwen," said the first sailor.

"Terence," said the other.

"... Suzume." her response came last and after a prompt that came in the form of the others looking to her.

"No need to be shy. It's all just a friendly way to pass the time," Terence tried to assure her. That wary and reserved look wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, though.

Gwen was a girly name for a man, Terrance could be turned into Terry which was also a girly name. Now what to do about Suzume? Suzeume bachi. Q. Suzzy. Suzzy Q then. Now that everything up there was all sorted. Gar flipped up his hood. "Who wants to deal?"

"You seem like a good sport. Go right ahead," Gwen said, placing a deck of cards at the center of the crate for Gar.

"Wa-wa-wait! What are we playing?!" Terence quickly interjected.

"How about a 'best hand' game? I've got some gold I'm willing to part with for the sake of a little fun~"

"Mmmm ..."

"Why thank you kindly," Gar took the cards and began shuffling them. Ten-side luck time to get a workout Gar smiled at his own thoughts. "I'm good with a pot," Gar declared. "What about you Suzzy Q?"

'Suzzy Q'? She'd never heard such a bastardized version of her name before. She wasn't even sure if he was referring to her at first, but given that it was the closest to her name and nowhere near 'Gwen' or 'Terence', it had to be her he was referring to. "Please don't call me that," she said before going on to actually answer the question. "I can only afford to lose a little. I'm in no way familiar with Ursium and this will have to last until I can make it back."

"Terence?" Gwen asked.

"... ugh, fine. What're the stakes anyway?"

"Eh we'll start small for your and Suzzy's sake. One gold a bet. Up it if you've got the guts."

"Dang, fine fine, no more Suzzy Q out loud," Gar relented on that name. For now. "I'll refrain myself from just bluffing my way past with my wealth too," Gar added in his own self-rule. "So, how're things?" Gar ambiguously asked as he passed the cards around.

"Been better. Spend half the day down here guarding a large doorway from a little girl, but I've had worse," Gwen started, peeking at one of his cards with a scrutinous eye before letting the card back to lie face down.

"Same, though I'd much rather be looking after our guest here than up there with Gerald. After the first conk on the head it's just ... no, fuck that. Any deck but the main deck," Terence followed up.

"My best friend is dead and I'm being shipped off to the mainland as cargo for some reason. I've been better," Suzume gloomily added.

"... I can't top that, sorry," Gwen conceded, as if it was a contest.

"Well, damn that sucks," Gar knew he probably was one of the ones responsible. "I can't top that either, just sitting around bored and looking around the ship. What took... him? Her? If you don't mind he asking." Gar glanced at his guards and threw out two for two new ones.

"I was supposed to protect her ... that's why I was involved. But someone caught us both of guard and killed her. I couldn't do anything," Suzume explained bitterly. "It was one of you mercenaries," she added in afterward with a more neutral tone.

"Oh man, you were on the opposite team for that?" Gar said in a surprised tone when he was anything but. Well, not surprised at her affiliation anyway. He was surprised she let this all out. Still, he could have fun with this. "Well, battles take lives," Gar explained as he anted. "And please, call me a problem-solver. I sequestered to your request and mercenary is just such a dull term."

"'Problem-solver', okay then, since you put it that way," Suzume replied, sounding a little antsy.

Ignoring the tension in the air like he always did, Gwen spoke up again. "Anyone got any particular house rules they think we should use or are we just sticking with regular card hierarchy and combinations here?"

"I don't even know what the card hierarchy is," Suzume immediately countered.

"You've got aces, two through ten, jacks, queens and kings. They're four versions of each ace, each number, each jack, queen and king. Those are hearts, personal favorite by the way, diamonds, clubs, and spades."

"Is that even the right order?" Gwen questioned with a squint.

"Who cares?" Terence fired back lightheartedly.

"Regular order," Gar went back to business. "All that fancy stuff ruins the purity of the game."

"True! Alright then ..." Gwen put his bet onto the table, followed by Terence. Suzume had to do a bit of digging but found her gold and placed a single gold coin next to the others as well. Then she took her cards, struggling to get them in that familiar fan shape at first, but once she had it, she had it, and wouldn't fumble about embarrassingly again.

I still don't know the rules here, so unless I have the best hand possible, that gold coin is probably gone. Mmm ...

"Don't be nervous. The first round's always tense with new people~" Gwen assured her.

"I'm only tense because I have no idea whether I'm winning or not ..."

"Well, lemme take a peek at your hand~" Gwen teased.

"Don't you dare, hahahah!" Terence threatened.

"Least the knives are in their sheathes unlike my first time," Gar cracked a joke and inspected his hand.

That sounded like a pretty dangerous game, and Gwen and Terence chuckled. Suzume kept staring at her hand intently, though.

"Now there's a poker face," Gwen said, wagging his free hand's finger at her. "I have no idea what kind of hand you've got, little lady, hahahahah!"

"I'm betting," Terence announced. He placed another gold coin into the growing stack.

"Don't get cocky," Gwen replied. He then placed another coin in.

Suzume glanced away from her cards at the coins each time one was placed wondering what was going on. Eventually she figured it out, but not before Terence said, "You betting or folding?"

"I ... I'm betting ..." She carefully took out and put in another coin. There goes more of my money. How can people find something like this fun? It seems like whoever's won was already decided as soon as the problem-solver passed out the cards. Maybe there's more to it that I'm not seeing yet?

"What's life without a little risk? Raise two." Gar added two coins with a smile.

"Agreed," Gwen said, gesturing for Terence to match him.

"You guys are trying to clean me out, aren't you ...? Urrrgh, okay, here we go ..." Terence threw in two as well.

"Yeheah, this is gonna be a good first hand." Gwen put in two more as well.

Suzume lowered her cards just enough to see over them and to the center of the table. Then she began scanning her hand again, trying to figure out the game just by guessing at the cards and the way the hierarchy seemed to work. "I ... put in two coins like the rest of you if I want to keep playing, right?"

"Yeah, but it's only the first round. You can back out if you've got a bad hand and save your money for the next round. We're gonna keep going until all but one of us is bankrupt," Gwen explained, half teasing.

"Mmm, okay ..." She put in two more as well after carefully digging them out of her pack.

"Well no need to ruin our fun ahead of time," Gar did declare. "Call."

"Hmmm."

Terence's hmming got Gwen's attention, and the sailor glanced over at him dubiously.

"Wait, what's 'call'? What's going on?" Suzume quickly asked, worrying she was about to walk into something and lose without learning why until later.

"Screw this, I'm raising. I wanna win this," Terence finally spoke up, though he somewhat missed Suzume's question.

"Call's when someone doesn't want to raise but matches a bet to keep themself in. When everyone calls we lay'em flat," Gar explained.

The news wasn't as momentous as she expected, so she was able to calm down, and she was somewhat glad to know she hadn't just inexplicably lost the game. Though now she was becoming concerned about how much money was going in. She knew Terence had just raised the bet which meant she would have to put three coins in on each turn from now on ... if another person raised, this was going to start putting a dent in her funds. Without thinking much more about it, she spoke up slightly louder than intended saying, "C-call!"

Gwen glanced over at her. "Ah man, here we go ..."

Terence began sweating a bit. "Gwen?"

"Mmm ..." He began using two of his fingers to drum on the back of the cards in his hand as he thought it over. "Call."

And suddenly everyone was 'calling'. By 'lay'em flat', Suzume assumed they would be showing their hands to see who had the best one and that would decide things. There was little fear of her being cheated, so hopefully at the end of this round she would have some clue as to the value of certain combinations of cards.

"You ready for this ...?" Terence asked the group as a whole.

"You gonna say it or aren't you?" Gwen replied.

"The unbearable amounts of pressure!" Gar playfully hissed as he threw his cards down.

"Alright, show me what you've got." Terence laid down his cards revealing a straight.

"Ugh," Gwen groaned in response; his hand was probably worse. Gwen revealed a mere three of a kind, good news for Terence. That just left Gar and Suzume's hands. The latter had looked at the the hands and tried to figure out what each meant before looking back at her own cards.

"Straight into a full house," Gar laid his luck on the table. Ass-bottom house but it still eat everything presented. Which wasn't much but still.

"Wrathdamn ..." Terence sighed.

"Alright, Suzzy. What do you have?" Gwen asked.

"It's Suzume," she corrected. Suzzy was barely tolerable either, at least not yet. "Ummm," she slowly laid out her cards. There were no notable combinations, and even had there been, they wouldn't have been enough to contend with Gar's hand. "What do I have?"

"Nada ..." Gwen replied, suddenly feeling the urge to chuckle, but he held it back.

"I lost ..."

"More money, more bwhahaha," Gar evilly chuckled at his victory as he scooped up his winnings. "Dealer pass?"

Mutter. "Yeah, dealer pass," Gwen replied.

"Uuuugh, gonna need a drink sooon," Terence moaned.

Suzume watched as Gar took all the money that was put at the center of the table. She expected it to end something like that, but was still amazed just watching it. Gambling was a little different once you were actually doing it, she realized. "How do people enjoy this? People who are losing, I mean. It's obvious why people who are winning enjoy it ..."

"The tension that fills the body, the craving of turning a defeat into victory. Laying out the groundwork, the traps and tricks to pull off an upstart, a reversal of fortune," Gar gave some reason while retrieving all the cards. "Others just get addicted to that feeling and playing the long odds no matter how many times they're beaten down by the system." Gar finished gathering up the cards and handed them off. "And many reasons more that I'm not privy too."

"Oh ... to each his own, I guess," Suzume concluded.

Terence took the cards and began shuffling. "Ah just wait until you win a round. You'll get a taste for it. Everyone does when there's nothing better to do."

Suzume doubted that but then again, here she was, gambling simply because there was nothing better to do. In a state like this, any sort of positive outcome for her might become addicting. She was just barely coping with the recent events.

"That's what life is, to each their own," Gar said as he waited for the next round to be dealt.

Terence finished shuffling the deck and began passing out cards. Suzume watched more intently this time as each card was sent gliding to their respective owners. This phase of the game seemed far more significant now that she was starting to understand the game better. She had no say in the hand she was being dealt; all she could do was try her best to win with it. Oddly enough, this sounded similar to life in general and she had a rare moment of insight.

Once Terence was finished, he held out his hands a bit with his palms exposed and his head leaned forward slightly. He glanced at each person at the makeshift table and then said. "Let us begin round two ... same as before, we start at a coin a bet."

Suzume felt relieved just then if only because she expected to have to start at three coins, but apparently bets minimums didn't necessarily transition from one round to the next. Maybe she could recover her losses. She wouldn't consider it winning until she had more money than she started with, so recovering her losses was her first priority. The first coin went into the new pile, and she gulped ... here we go again ....

Gar chuckled at his new hand. "Call," he put in his one coin.

Already? Suzume was wondering what to do next. She didn't see anything noteworthy in her hand as far as combinations went, but then again she didn't know any of the combinations for certain just yet. Gwen put down another coin and then it was her turn. She decided to just follow along for now and placed another coin in as well.

"Raise," Terence said, placing in two coins on his turn.

"Here we go ..." Gwen muttered.

Suzume grimaced behind her cards. They were increasing the minimum bet again ... dammit.

"Looks like you didn't learn your lesson the first time heh," Gar smiled at the raise as he waited for the other two.

"You won't win this hand, friend," Terence asserted.

"If I hadn't already lost it in the last round, I'd bet ten gold he's hiding a straight flush this time," Gwen muttered.

"Then fold already, Gwen," Terence teased.

Gwen glared back. "Not a chance." He put his bet on the table. Suzume reluctantly followed suit.

"You wish it was a straight flush," Gar flashed all all too toothy smile. "Call your two, and raise you," Gar snuck his hand into his pouch. "Well since it was said recently, my mind is all about the ten." Gar threw ten more coins in the table. "Now that's folding money right there."

"Shit ..." Gwen muttered. "I ... I fold this round. I'm not losing all my damn money."

"Gwen? Ugh, no way you're getting another round that easily; I'm calling," Terence shot back.

Suzume grew tense as Gar placed down the ten coins. She meant to think it but it escaped her lips as well. "D-do I have to bet ten gold too ...?"

"Nah, you can fold out if you want, you'll lose what you put in before though," Gar explained.

"Fold, girl," Gwen advised. "It's ten gold per turn now," he warned.

True enough that was one hell of a raise and Terence was hoping it was just a bluff.

"I can't just fold because it looks bad. I'll never get my money back," she protested.

"See that's how they get you ... just try again next round," Gwen suggested.

Suzume winced and then finally decided to retrieve ten gold. It was kind of painful, but she managed. "C-call ...?"

Gwen sighed.

"That's what I wanna hear!" Gar cheerfully exclaimed. "Life is risk. Without it, there's nothing." Gar happily laid down his cards... seven-high. The literal worst hand in poker.

Gwen gawked. That was one hell of a bluff he fell for. "... wrathdammit," he said, giving his frustration words.

"There's always next round, Gwen~" Terence tried to cheer him up, flat out assuming he'd won this round.

"I know it's just ... wrath ... dammit."

"Alright, since that's easily beatable," Terence alluded to his own hand before he laid out a full house. "I suppose that means I win this round, heheh."

"W-wait, what's Suzume's hand?"

Terence winced having forgotten all about her. It wasn't all a game of skill so there was the remote possibility that her hand could beat his. The fact that Gar put down meant his only chance of winning this round relied on Suzume immediately backing out, but why would she do that when there was still a chance? He got nervous but didn't want to get too underhanded just to get his money back. "Suzume ..."

"Hmm?" She looked up from her cards, a bead of sweat running down her right cheek.

"What've you got. We're seeing who's the winner this round." She slowly laid down her cards for all to see and at first Terence was intimidated by the combination he recognized. "What?! A full boat?! That means ..." 'Full boat' just being another term for 'full house' meant that they had somewhat matching hands.

"Another full? T-those wouldn't tie," Gwen pointed out nervously. "Who has the higher set?"

Suzume looked down cluelessly at her hand, not sure what was going on anymore. She could tell she had a chance to win this hand; the nervous look on Gwen and Terence's faces was proof of that, but she wasn't exactly sure how. She quickly pieced together that this round had dissolved into deciding which version of this 'full boat' was the better one, and the better hand would win the round. How was that determined though.

"Oh my god, she won," Terence lamented.

Suzume came out of her thoughts and began quickly glancing around at the competition, wondering what decided the outcome. Gwen simply pointed at Terence's hand saying, "Three sixes ... no match for three tens. You win this round."

"I got my money back?!" she raised her voice in excitement as she rose from the table with a small jump. Terence lowered his head in response.

"Aren't you the lucky lady," Gar chuckled. He had a feeling something like this would happen. Well, that she would win, his lose was clear as day. Or as clear as day got in a ship hold. What was his point again. "Next round?"

"Yeah, we're going another round," Gwen chimed in. He wanted to recover his losses too now that he'd seen a novice pull it off by the second hand.

Terence nodded, but Suzume froze. "She was slightly richer than she started and her gut was telling her to get out while she was even and just watch the others continue playing so she could learn the game a bit more safely. "Uhhhh ..."

"Now it gets fun," Gar said. "Now that my betting sense is so completely and utterly random and the novice has won a hand sanity has left the ship." Gar chuckled menacingly.

"I'm not sure I want to continue," Suzume spoke up. She suddenly noticed that she was acting a lot weaker and more feeble than usual. Once she noticed, she started to become noticeably agitated, though the reason was unclear to Gwen and Terence at first.

"What's wrong? Afraid to lose your current winnings, heheh?" Terence inquired, trying to lighten the mood and get rid of some of the tension Suzume had just unwittingly created. "You okay?" he asked once he got the feeling it was more than just the thought of losing her money bothering her.

"N-nothing ... nothing. I just suddenly remembered something and it kind of threw me off," she quickly answered. Well this was awkward.

"Oh man, I totally know that feeling," Gar agreed with Suzzy Q. Hopefully she recognized him. Bothering her without her knowing was just so boring in comparison. "Like, this one time after I finished a job something kept nagging me in the back of the head, so when I was in a kitchen making myself a victory roast I suddenly remember I forgot to untie the cooking staff. Good times."

"The cooking st-bahahahahhhh," Gwen burst out laughing.

Suzume grunted. She wanted to grab her winnings and head back behind the crate now, but what good would hiding by the crate do her now? She couldn't exactly escape the trio when they were all hanging out in the area she was confined to. It was still better than pretending nothing was wrong with this picture. Before she would do anything she wanted to confirm something. "So I did win that round ... the gold on the table is mine now?"

"Yep," Terence answered, sounding like he'd made peace with the loss.

That was one step out of the way. Suzume carefully gathered up the coins and put them into her pack.

"Don't tell us you're going to cut and run ..." Gwen spoke up with a pleading look.

"I got really lucky and I don't want to press it anymore. This is the only thing that's gone right for me in some time and I don't want to throw it away betting. I have enough money to last an extra week in Ursium, at least that's what it looks like."

Gwen grunted that time. "She's one of those players."

"Heh," Gar smirked. "If this were a real gambling hall they wouldn't let you leave so easy as that." Gar said. "But hey, you can just keep folding until you get a good hand. No need to waste any money unless you have something."

"I hadn't considered that. Thank you for the offer, but I'll pass this time ..." she replied, sounding tense again.

Gwen sighed. "Sure we can't talk you back in?"

"... probably not."

Gwen sighed once again. "Down to three. Not quite as interesting but better than nothing I guess?"

Maybe not as interesting to you, Gar thought with a smile. "Whelp, who deals now?"

"I do believe dealing honors are mine this round," Gwen spoke up, taking the deck and gathering up the cards on the table afterward.

Suzume wandered over back to the crate and sat down at the bottom for a change. She didn't feel like hauling herself up to the top when there weren't any rats around to want to get away from. While the low rat population in the area was noteworthy, she decided instead to focus on what to do now that she had essentially gone back to square one, plus some extra gold.

As Gwen finished shuffling the deck and began dealing the cards, he said, "Get ready men, it's my turn to collect~"

"Unless Problem-solver here decides to bluff again," Terence countered, pointing a thumb at Gar and smirking.

Gwen rolled his eyes, not saying anything else until the cards were dealt. "Yeah we'll see how that works out for you next time."

She was out of the game now but she could still watch from a distance. And watch she did. Another two hours passed before the game ended, and though the victories were intermittent, she saw Gar eventually clean out Gwen and Terence completely. If not for the fun and lucrative pay they got working on the ship, they would likely have been furious. Instead they seemed to be handling the loss sportingly, though Terence was clearly a little sad.

"Mother of Leviathan, why did I fall for that bluff last round? I'd still be in this if I'd won that hand ..." he muttered, wincing tightly.

Gar's plan of mixing random bluffs, real bluffs, and straight play brought him right to ultimate victory. "Nothing like watching a well-executed bluff go off," Gar said as he stretched out. "Whew, how long do you think we've been at this? I'd reckon almost two hours from my gold pile." Gar starred at it like a jerk.

"Two hours you said? Good gods," Gwen commented. "Well, that does sound about right, given how much we lost ..."

"Next time we play a children's card game, or something with no stakes," Terence muttered.

"I know this lovely game called 'how many same-side coin-flips can Gar get in a row,'" Gar offered with a chuckle. "Just the slow losing sense of sanity as you see so many of the same side of a coin." Gar shrugged. "Or something."

"Hey, isn't there some kind of trick to getting the same result? Like a special flip or something?" Gwen inquired. He hadn't heard of anything like that, but as he imagined Gar flipping the coin, he began to wonder if there wasn't any way to do that, or at least greatly increase the chances of it coming back down a certain way. He didn't take into account that the height of the hand when the coin fell into it was also a factor.

"I'm going some booze if I'm going to sit here and watch you flip my coin over and over again," Terence warned.

Suzume continued to watch, not saying anything. She didn't quite realize it but she was half asleep after being still for so long and wasn't really processing what was going on at the moment. "Mmm." Just then she realized it and shook her head in order to wake up.

"Yeah, there are some tricks, but I don't know--or need--them," Gar explained. "Lemme show you," he said and grabbed a handful of his winnings. With a flick of his thumb a cold coin spun through the air and landed back on the crate.

On it's side.

Gar repeated if for the six other coins, and like their predecessor they all landed on their edges.

"I'm not even sure how this works. I mean, we're even on a ship yet that still happens. It kinda pisses me off in a way."

Suzume woke herself up just in time to see Gwen and Terence gawk at something Gar had just sent into the air. She thought it was a coin, but couldn't make it out from where she was. Gar repeated this six times and each time, she heard gasps from Gwen and Terence. Unfortunately for her curiosity, she wasn't about to go and investigate. Maybe if she just listened, someone would state the obvious and give her a clearer picture of what was going on. All she could tell from where she was was that coin flipping was apparently a legendary skill.

"W-w... what am I witnessing here?!" Gwen exclaimed. He repeatedly wiped his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Unfortunately he was seeing things ... real things.

"They all landed on their sides ... you're not using magic, are you?" Terence asked.

Suzume's eyes widened once she heard that. She almost moved to get up and get a better look but immediately stopped herself.

"I doubt it, all that magical mumbo-jumbo goes right over my head," Gar flipped another coin to add to the side-pile. "Ever since I flipped my first coin in a life-or-death bet this just keeps happening. I can't make them land on a face for the life of me. I even dropped one from like, a paper's thinness from the ground but a spontaneous earthquake flipped it right back to its side." Ok, that was a lie, well, it only happened once, but still what the hell kind of odds were that? "In some ways you could say it's become the basis for my entire system of beliefs. In other ways it's damn useful for conning people out of cash."

"Maybe it's a curse ...?" Gwen offered.

"Try not to con the rest of the crew, would you? They're not as friendly as we are ... well save for maybe Silas," said Terence.

"Nah, don't worry about that, this is just a trick I don't bet on unless the other guy really deserves to know what it's like the live in a gutter," Gar explained. "Well, maybe that's what this Silas guy is hahaha."

"We thought that at first. He got the position of first mate pretty damn easily and the rest of us lost out on the second best paying on the ship to him, but he's not a bad guy once you get to know him," Terence explained. "I still hate it when random nobodies drop in out of nowhere and start taking all of the good jobs, though."

"It's not as annoying as ex-military types dropping in out of nowhere and doing the same," Gwen chimed in.

Terence shrugged. "Maybe. I won't have much of an opinion on that until it finally happens here."

"Probably not a fan of random nobodies dropping in and winning all your money either," Gar burst into laughter for a bit. "So, what's on the agenda now?" Gar said before piling his winnings into his coin pouch.

Terence muttered something barely audible.

"Well, I doubt dinner's ready yet, so it's back to guard duty for us. Still need to make sure the girl over there doesn't run off," Gwen answered.

Terence shrugged at that. "Not that I don't take this job seriously, but it feels a little unnecessary. Look at her; she doesn't want to go exploring the ship and getting into trouble with you mercenaries."

Suzume looked away as some attention came to her, but not too quickly.

"And yet a problem-solver came down here to cause trouble with her~" Gar practically sang that. Wait, doesn't that mean they probably shouldn't be letting me bug her? Gar thought. Well, I won't say anything if they don't.

Suzume's gaze narrowed.

"Cause trouble?" Gwen echoed. "If your plan was to get all of her coin, nice try, but I think she caught on rather quick there, hahah."

"Too bad we didn't," Terence remarked.

"Ha, maybe at first but after that sob story of hers I probably would have given back anything I took," Gar said. Now that was likely to set her off.

Suzume flinched slightly, an action accompanied by a single small arc of thunder magcing circling around her front side from her left shoulder down to her right side. Of the two sailors, only Gwen noticed. "Hey, you okay over there?"

"I'm fine," she replied in a low agitated voice Gwen was barely able to discern.

"Oh, I know, it's because I said 'sob story' after pressuring her to reveal it," Gar reasoned. "Totally understandable to be sparky about that."

"And why exactly are you being so casual about it?" Suzume shot back. She hadn't moved any closer or gotten onto her feet yet, however.

"Because death and stuff are entirely casual for me?" Gar half-explained, half-questioned. "I've been in a death-filled life since I was younger than the kiddo you dragged along into the fight."

"I didn't 'drag' him into that fight! I only came along to protect them ..."

"Huh? Wait, so were you two ... on opposite sides? Were you both involved in that battle?" Terence asked, sensing Suzume's hostility.

"Why bring her here? A captive? For what?" Gwen followed up with a series of questions.

"Well, somehow brought him," Gar shrugged. Gar turned towards Terry to answer him. "Yeah, she even mentioned the whole "opposing sides' earlier. Well, it wasn't so heated and money was being brought up so eh." Gar shrugged again. "Dunno why she's here, but it's totally fun so I oughta handshake the person who did."

"Huh," was Terence's reply.

"I'm here because they don't want me making contact with rebels or causing anymore trouble in general," Suzume explained, still sounding rather agitated.

"You'd think they would have killed you if that was the case," Gwen reluctantly noted. She didn't say anything to that.

"Well," Gar said. "Would you have done those things?"

"You killed my best friend ..." Suzume began her answer. "The thing is, I'm just a mercenary. As nice as it would be to call down an army on you people, I have no way to get a hold of them. More importantly to me, I wouldn't be justified in doing so."

"Not justified?" Gwen repeated. He was shocked anyone who had lost their 'best friend' say that with regard to revenge.

"We chose our sides in that conflict and lost. I'm just glad you people didn't turn out to be so blood thirsty that you would cut down Bobby too ..."

Gar wasn't sure if Suzzy Q's "you" was directed at him or the group as a whole. so he'd assume the latter. "Eh, I don't think we were the intended target, just collateral. The rebels were after the ships, I mean, sure, some of them might have wanted to go after us in revenge like you half-want to, but they were already dangling the low branches when they brought in your group and they'd lost like, three or more ships of guys and had higher priorities to deal with. Since we're Ursium-bound they really probably wouldn't risk it. Unless you have an entirely different army at your disposal, which would make it weird you just didn't use them in the first place, but what do I know?" Gar finished with a shrug. Now was the fun part though. "Yeah, what kinda sicko would cut down a kid anyway?"

Suzume's eyes narrowed at him. What was he talking about, she wondered. "Urgh, are you getting at something? About the people you lost during that battle?"

Now having grown thoroughly uncomfortable with topic at hand, but being in no mindset to try and change it, Gwen began rubbing his shoulder and staring off at anything but Gar and Suzume. Terence on the other hand had his arms crossed and was listening carefully to the conversation, Suzume's replies especially. Now seemed like a good opportunity to learn what kind of person she really was.

"Huh? No?" Gar said legitimately confused. "I don't really care about who died on our side. I didn't even know the names of two of them." Gar answered Suzzy Q's new question before clarifying his older position. "What you misunderstood apparently, was me explaining that Raquel and the rest of us weren't the primary target of the rebels. That was the ship. We just happened to be there. Sure, some of the rebels might be prissy against us and want revenge, but they had more important matters to deal with. They wouldn't suddenly be able to "call down an army" as you said, unto us." Gar leaned back as he remembered something. "Except for that army they used as a distraction in-town. But they're silly and probably couldn't slip out with the no-doubt heavy security watching the docks."

"There was no 'army'; they didn't need one," Suzume clarified.

"Then how'd they draw off all the guards and launch such a huge attack?" Terence asked.

"I don't know who thought up the plan, but they inverted the field of battle. When you're defending from an attack at sea, you tend to neglect your inland defenses even if just a little bit. It works in reverse when your back's at the water. But there was more ... more I didn't quite fully grasp until a little while ago." Looking to Gar she said, "What none of us got to see firsthand was the sheer chaos happening between the local guards and the imperial guards. Kigen and the colonists are getting closer and closer to all out war and each side is just waiting for the other to make the first move. The plan only had to play on that tension and get one side focusing on the other long enough for them to destroy their target and leave. They targeted the governor's home with a clever ruse and tricked their commander into believing the enemy had come in mass. He didn't give a hoot about the docks with the governor's estate already under attack. Most of them wouldn't have made it to the estate though, at least I don't think so. The imperials would have offered to help fend off the attack, but with them being the main suspects, I can only imagine a lot of the imperials getting caught up just trying to vindicate themselves and keep the local guards from lashing out at them. If the guards started cutting each other down, even if it was all a misunderstanding, it might have still been the last straw for both sides ..."

Gwen was paying attention again and frowning. He was surprised Suzume had been in on all of this at all.

"I don't think Alex's boss cared much about the political outcome though. The assault ship that rammed the target was instructed to pin it and make sure it couldn't escape, then set it on fire and cause enough hull damage to sink it. Once they were certain the ship couldn't be saved, they would abandon their assault ship and swim to a recovery ship out on the water that was waiting for them--not the best odds of survival, but they did it anyway. Alex's unit would launch volleys from the port side and inflict as many casualties as we could and put them into a state of confusion. Our group was also supposed to pick off as many fleeing the ship from the port side as we could and then leave before the guards arrived, but the 'problem-solver's' group completely overpowered us. The assault ship couldn't stand up to the entire crew without our support and so they were annihilated right along with us."

"So that's what happened that night. You know your friends could have started a war over this, and for what might I ask?" Terence was none too happy about Suzume's affiliations. "What the hell were they after that was worth turning this entire region into a war zone for? There's no way you set up something like that just for petty revenge."

"He was on the target ship they attacked," Suzume noted, pointing at Gar for a couple of seconds. "Why don't you ask him? Alex only wanted me to back her up and told me what she knew in trust. I didn't like it and I had a really bad feeling about the whole thing, but that was why I needed to go along with it. I wanted to make sure she and Bobby made it out alive. Now you know everything about the attack that I knew and why I was there in the first place."

"Pretty clever," Gar remarked. "The relief guards mentioned they'd all been drawn off by the governor covering his own hide but I didn't realize that the rebels used the powder-keg situation like that." Gar nodded in approval. "The ram ship suicide run I managed out on my own immediately. Told the Captain about it too." Now answering the last part was going to be tricky. On one hand he didn't owe Captain Bogdan any favors, and on the other he didn't have anything against him. Well, maybe he owed him for letting him aboard and meeting Raquel. But he paid that back at least. Well, in any telling case no one here could really do anything. "The Leverager, the ship you attacked, and a ship you might not know about, the Dark Utka, were carrying dragons and dragon eggs and some slimy prisoner. They split the cargo between them. The Leverager went ashore to unload Raquel and the rest of us while the Dark Utka was set at sea to hedge bets in case the Nevostokian rebels attacked. Well, they did, and the suicide run at the very least would have inflicted enough damage to keep the Leverager in bay long enough for them to find and attack the Dark Utka." Gar laid most of the truth. "No idea if that's what ended up happening but it's what I advised the Captain on." Gar had no idea if the sailors had something against dragons--probably not since Suzzy Q mentioned her dragon but did they know that oh whatever. But they couldn't do anything anyway. And maybe this news might trouble the girly too, that could be fun.

"Dragons and dragon eggs?" Gwen echoed. "It's starting to make more sense now. Those are definitely things the rebels would be interested in."

"I guess a handful of new dragons is worth turning the whole area into a war zone, but it's still going way too far," Terence spoke next.

"This was all about dragons?" Suzume sounded more surprised than either of the two sailors. She agreed that the entire operation she had been a part of was likely just one part of a greater plan and that this 'Dark Utka', wherever it was, had probably been attacked too. Now she really didn't want anything more to do with the rebels. Of course, Terence didn't notice her new found convictions.

"I hope you can live with yourself after what you took part in ..."

Suzume glared back at him. "I already explained what I was doing there and why I was involved. I'll never be ashamed for trying to save lives, I don't care who they're working for."

Gwen had other areas of interest, though and kept his attention on Gar. "So where did the dragons and dragon eggs come from exactly? Why were the rebels so pissed off with the Leverager and the Dark Utka?"

"Dragons were on-board the first time I set foot upon the Leverager," Gar answered. "I'd reckon they were taken in a raid against the rebels or some ally of them, probably because I either overheard them talking about it at one time and I forgot. Or because they had a prisoner and never used the dragons they had in combat." Gar shrugged.

"Hmm, maybe they were going to sell those dragons to the skotians and the rebels weren't having any of that," Terence added. "You all got mixed up in a crazy situation, that's for sure."

"It's over now ..." Suzume stressed before turning away from the three men.

"Or they were already on the payroll, or whatever," Gar shrugged. Well, like Suzzy Q said it was all over. Well... "All over for now, at least." It was almost patronizing the way he said it, but it was the real truth. Never get comfortable thinking an enemy who hasn't been wiped out wouldn't come looking for revenge. Well, now was time for the absolute funnest part though. He was hoping he could do this without her bringing up the opposing sides--funner that way--but this had its own charm. "So, Suzume, how about when we hit port you and I go get something to eat?" Gar said with all the straight smile he could.

"Bold," Terence noted.

Suzume winced so tightly she appeared to be in physical pain for a moment. Finally she glared back at Gar. "Are you serious?!"

"Of course I am!" Gar exclaimed smiling. "I like girls that are antagonistic to me, keeps me on my toes, makes things so much more exciting for the both of us." He stated his preference in plain detail. "If I wanted safe I'd go get a hooker and a restore staff and make a night of it. Someone like you, who knows where we'd end up?"

Suzume was tempted to tell Gar to just run up to anyone he was physically attracted to and smack them on the head hard enough to get them angry, then immediately ask them out. The odds of that working seemed pretty low to her, but not as low as killing someone's best friend and then asking them then. It suddenly occurred to her that while the former approach was utterly ridiculous, it was just crazy enough to work every once in a while which wasn't what she had in mind ... at all. "You do remember why I'm being 'antagonistic' toward you, right?"

"So bold ..."

"Because it's entirely possible I'm the person who killed your best friend," Gar stated as plainly as he could. "But I'm the kind of guy who thrives on danger and the chance of my own death, so you possibly harboring a murderous grudge against me just makes it all the better!" Gar's face broke out into an all too-wide smile. "And there won't even be any repercussions with Raquel's group because just imagine how much I bother them." He let out a low chuckle.

"A bother?" She wasn't sure what he meant by that but wasn't really waiting for an explanation just the same. "Well you're going to be disappointed then, because I'm not a threat to you or anyone else. As much as I hate what happened, I'm not going to try and kill someone over it, even if that someone is asking for it ..." she trailed off in her response.

"Nobody's perfect," Gar said and waited for a couple seconds. "Soooo, you in?"

"You're serious ... you expect me to go hang out with you after everything that happened that night?!"

"... to be fair, you were playing cards with him earlier," Gwen noted. He didn't like taking sides, but Gar's socially awkward proposal wasn't really all that bad in his eyes. If she wasn't hellbent on revenge, and wasn't completely unable to stand being around the man, then he figured, why not?

"That's ..." No, it really wasn't that different, she realized. She thought about it quickly to try to find some fundamental difference she could point out. It wasn't much but Gwen and Terence would have to do. "That was a ... group ... thing. Gwen and Terence were here too." Mmm, that sounded a lot more relevant in my head ...

"You've gone and explained you have no more problems with me, and I'm clearly interested in you," Gar replied. It wasn't an actual answer though, which was the real fun part. "But if it's a group thing I could totally convince a couple of the others and we'll make it one big awkward thing."

You know, I can't help but wonder if the guy wasn't planning something like this from the start, Terence thought to himself.

"But why are you int ... urgh, never mind," Suzume cut herself off and shook her head a few times. She was almost certain she didn't want any more answers or elaboration and felt she liked it better when she wasn't sure what was going on or what he was doing down here. "Look, spending time with you on good terms like that would ... it would ..." And just like that, her gaze fell to the floor. "I don't know."

"It would what?" Gwen quickly asked, sounding the most curious out of anyone.

"I don't know ... dishonor Alex's memory? That's what I wanted to say, but it's not like any of it matters now. I don't like the idea of my enemies becoming my friends, especially not so quickly ... but I don't really have a reason why, either. It's like my master's teachings and my human nature are starting to clash again ...."

Her master must have been one of those peace and love nuts or something, because this girl is nothing like what I'd expect to see from someone getting hit on by her best friend's killer, Terence mused.

"Enemies, friends, these things are fickle in this kind of business. I could tell you a hundred stories of an employer who betrayed me because 'I knew too much', or other similar reasons, but that's just how it goes. I accepted that part when I chose," Gar paused to think. Well when I had it forced upon me. Or whatever happened. "to become a problem-solver." Gar finished.

"It sounds like you worked for some extremely paranoid people." That not being a topic she wanted to venture off into, at least not yet, she quickly came back to the original question. "Look, I'm flattered and everything," Even though I'm convinced he's just teasing me, "but I wanted to get a move on as soon as we reach land again, not spend even more time with you people. Besides, I still don't think they all know that I'm down here. The last thing I want is for you to try and convince some people only for them to come down here and start blaming me for their friends' deaths or something. My response would probably start a fight."

"That's why we're here," Gwen noted.

"No offense, but I'm not really confident in your guarding skills here," Suzume admitted.

"It's only really paranoia when they don't have a point," Gar thought about patting the pouch containing incriminating documents on authority figures in uh, that Treamea or whatever place. But that would be silly. "Granted I have no idea why some of them thought that after I offered my services to do a job no one else could that they could somehow afford someone who could take me but that's an entirely different matter." Gar shook his head. At least half had good points for trying to take him out, but some of them were just so stupid. But that was then, and for the now. "Well, got me there, fair enough then. Well, if you change your mind I'll be seeing you off on land then maybe." Gar didn't have anything to add about their guarding skills. It'd just be a whole thing--funny thing of course--but a thing he didn't want to deal with. What with them letting him in so easy and stuff.

Suzume wasn't sure why she would change her mind, but there was still a long trip ahead of her, and she wasn't sure she would be stable or sane by the end of it. Solitary confinement of this nature was already starting to get to her, so much so that she had enjoyed some of her time with the crewmen and Gar, despite things .... "Maybe," she replied, echoing him.

"Open minds are the best minds," Gar cheerfully replied to her maybe. Do or do not, he got her this far and it was a victory in the imaginary game he just started playing. "Soooo," he said with a stretch. "That kinda feels like the end to this conversation. At least in my view." He cracked his neck and wondered what time it was. Oh how it passed when you were having fun. "Anyone else have anything fun to add?"

"Fun? Uhhh yeah I've got something that might be fun," Gwen chimed in. "Give me all my money back ... sounds fun, right? Heheheh ... hehhhhh ..." Well it was worth a shot. Next payday was about two weeks from now.

Terence half grinned, having thought up something similar, but he wasn't hurting for gold enough to bother with a clumsy joke. Was it even a joke or was he just gauging Gar for a response?

Gar laughed at Gwen's idea. "Don't worry, I loan money out at very reasonable interest rates or for very small stupid favors." He offered.

"Really?" That was better than what Gwen was expecting, specifically a laugh followed by a 'nice try' and then maybe a casual stroll out of the cargo area. "We'll ... we'll have a talk about those small stupid favors a little later, then," he decided.

Terence was getting ideas too but didn't want to bother just yet.

By this time, Suzume had gotten onto the small bed she had been given--since they really didn't like the idea of making her keep sleeping on or behind a massive crate--and was just listening to the conversation.

Suzzy Q looked like she was settling down, so it was time to go. "Later indeed," Gar agreed. "Don't worry it won't be anything malicious." Gar refastened the whole of his gear and stood up for the first time in a while. He also wondered why no one took the chair, but that was irrelevant now. "Whelp, I'll be heading off, seeya all later."

Here and Now

Now wasn't the time to be dwelling on card games and the most eye opening experience she had experienced in a long while, though she wasn't sure what to do if she ran into Gar again. That was a bridge to cross later. For now, she had to focus on her financial situation. She might end up working for Weyland Enterprises, but only if the pay was good. With that in mind, she decided to go find the captain and ask him about the company and how she might go about asking for a job. Unfortunately she wasn't able to find him. It wasn't until she wandered onto the main deck that she bothered to ask a crewman. His response at first was that the captain was off taking care of business, but she had mentioned her intentions--working for Weyland Enterprises--and that was enough to get the man to point her toward Anna, someone clearly a step up from Captain Delan.

Irreconcilable Differences

Soon enough, the men were finished and the Dauntless was itself ready to. There was still the matter of the horses, which Raquel quickly ran off to see to once all of her things were back in their proper place. That left Shadrak standing by with Gabbie, though. That wasn't exactly ideal for either of them, but Gabbie seemed to be coping better than Shadrak ... at least until he opened his mouth, that is.

"Gabbie ..." Shadrak immediately recognized his mistake and even as Gabbie was glaring at him murderously, he said, "Sorry-sorry-sorry! I forget sometimes, sheesh. Look ... I ... I think you overreacted back there, hitting me with the egg and all."

Gabbie calmed down and became apathetic in the space of one second. "Eh, proved my point, and you got to live. Everybody wins."

"That's a ... honestly? That's a really fucked up view of things, Wolfy. I mean how would you feel if someone injured you just for saying something?"

"Well I'd murder them at the first opportunity if I didn't calm down in toime," Gabbie answered.

"So you'd be fine if I tried to kill you for that, then? That's fair? Does that make any sense to you? I mean how would you feel?"

"Look, Shadrak, I know what you're trying to say, but the truth is, I'm not a fair person. I don't feel I'm justified kicking your ass; I do it because I can get away with it. If you troied the same to me, I would maim or kill you."

"Are you ... insane?" Shadrak was so shocked by the revelation that he was seriously beginning to wonder what Weyland was thinking keeping someone like her around, and to guard someone like Connor? Seriously? "Why would you kill someone for something like that?!"

"Because shut up, Shadrak. Go bother one of the other girls," she fired back, shooing him away.

Edited February 4, 2013 by Phoenix

[roymbrog]

“I guess I don’t,” Valter replied irritably. This girl was making feel like he was some kind of weirdo. He was not the one being weird. “That is an admirable goal you have there, but I’m fine. I don’t need your company.”

[Mercakete]

Maw had found her place atop the Dauntless and was sunning herself once more. She'd learned by now that the human who protected her often stayed with this thing, so it was fairly safe. Well, so long as none of the monsters that traveled with this thing tried to eat her again. It'd been around this place where that last happened, the feline recalled. She'd just run under the thing if the danger of that came up, though. For now, she was getting some well-deserved sunshine.

Gytha, meanwhile, was just plain cheerful. She'd gotten her pay from a fine job at sea and was once again in port. That was always a good-mood-inducing set of circumstances for her. There were a couple things she noticed, though. One was that red armor guy was back. There was also some new faces about that Raquel had apparently just hired, judging by the looks of things. Well, it was good that red armor guy was alive. She remembered that he'd told her his name at one point, but that was a while ago and she'd been rather preoccupied with other circumstances. She figured she'd just ask later. For the time being, Gytha simply leaned against the side of the Dauntless and relaxed. The smell of the sea and the sounds of the port were comforting things she probably wouldn't be able to experience for a while again, so she just wanted to soak it up while she could.

The Dauntless was ready for the most part and Norbert felt fairly satisfied. His experience on the ships it took to get back to Ursium was pretty good and the light workout of carrying the crates to the Dauntless put him in a fair mood. Rizen was glad to be off and away from those unstable stables, but in a bit of a cranky mood herself. She wanted to stretch her legs and wings now that she was outside again. At least that terrible tether was gone. Still, she was hoping that they weren't about to go back onto one of those unnatural forms of transportation again like the last time they were back on more stable ground.

"Ah, home again! Finally," Norbert happily sighed with a stretch. He was given a good, hard shove by Rizen's nose immediately after that, however, forcing him to take a step to the side as she snorted impatiently at him. That got the message across.

"Bit cramped, huh?" Bert guessed as he gave Rizen's nose a stroke and a pat, "Well, not everyone's here, so it should be alright to stretch a bit."

With that, the pegasus rider climbed into Rizen's saddle -- much to the pegasus' delight, as it meant she got to fly or run -- and the pair took off into the sky to fly above the port. This was primarily because there were people on the ground and Norbert wanted to look for a spot nearby where he could let Rizen run around without bothering the populace. A wing-stretch was accomplished at the same time.

[Snowy_One]

Tia sighed as her shoulders slumped and she turned around. "I see... Well... If you ever want to tell me about your stuff and such I'll be all ears I guess." she said as she started to walk away from Valter, trying to figure out who to talk to next.

[GoD]

As Chelsea was led by the merchant, she found many saddles, but as the merchant showed the troubadour, there were only 2 that were a perfect fit for Synthia and her horse. One was a horrible shade of black, which Chelsea thought didn't suit Synthia at all, but the girl's eyes's were fixated on the red saddle once she laid her eyes on it. It seemed nice enough, Synthia would indeed like this one, Chelsea thought.

"Okay, so that red one. It's perfect for my friend so if you could get it please sir?"- the troubadour gave her best smile as she asked the shopkeeper.