Pirate Age: The Golden Era

[Mizos]

Collab between Capt. Blu and Mizos.

Location: One Big Guessing Game or something idk what'll go here yet


Aidan continued frowning at Luro although the expression hadn't really changed since his time on the ship. As capable as he was, he knew he wouldn't be able to take on a whole armada of Royalists, the jungle and its predators, along with skeptic natives. He wasn't dumb enough to try to that himself at least. He also had an unceremonious 'guilt debt' he needed to pay off because Runali decided to save him, but after that he was going to take the first exit he could. Aidan didn't offer a response to Luro, instead he walked up to the large painting on their only exit. He stood there, studying what was scratched off in an attempt to decipher which gem to pick in order to avoid all of the traps. Unlike his 'new partner' who-

The sound of arrows shooting behind him made Aidan heave a sigh before turning around. Once again, Luro had picked the wrong gem and once more another trap was set off. Fortunately, for Luro -not so much Aidan, the arrows didn't kill him. The pedestal sank to the ground like the first, giving them ten options left. "As much fun as it is to watch you set off every trap, I think it would be best if you stop until I can figure out which one of these gems are the right one. You know, so you can actually get to your captain in... one piece." 'More or less.' He reached up and dusted off the painting as much as he could but unfortunately that didn't help.

Luro eyed the gem in his hand moving out of the way of the arrows, though one got close enough to knick his cheek, he turned the gem over a few times and tossed it in his hand before slipping it into his sleeve. If these gems were rare enough he could buy two rum rooms for the ship, and plenty of materials for a few projects he had in mind. They were also in a temple, as open intruders it would be rude not to steal at least some treasure, they were already taking the wine after all.

"Oh Aidan, it's not a trap if you know it's coming, then it's just normal danger," Luro said grinning at his companion. "Besides pirates steal stuff, I've stolen while cannonball's fly at my face, I'm not worried about arrows."

He wiped a bit of blood off his cheek before looking over at the other gem and making his way too it.

"There's only one gem left Aidan so this has to be the right one, third time's the charm right?"

Luro walked over to the other gem and eyed it for a moment, he brought a hand to his chin and walked around the pedestal eyeing the sparkling jewel for a moment. Reaching down he picked up the gem with a small grin.

"Third time...if you don't count the other eleven. Sure." Not only did Luro not stop picking up the gems, but the arrows being set off only grew in number. They started to scatter as well, which meant Aidan had to dodge some because they weren't attacking wherever Luro was standing. Besides a few nicks across him, the only serious damage he took was an arrow to the shoulder. It didn't lodge itself deep enough to go through so he was able to pull it out- not without the pain of course. There was no arguing with the redhead and it wasn't like he was going to listen, so instead he decided to wait out the chaos, trying his best not to get stabbed more than he already had.

After several trials and errors, the last one in Luro's hand, the red ruby, was the one left. "I suppose the 'red worm' analogy the natives were using was a… terrible clue. But a clue nonetheless." Aidan was still on guard, waiting for something bad to happen, but it never did. Instead, like the other pedestals, it sank into the ground and right after, the large door slid upwards, allowing them to pass.

"...Right. After you."

Luro stared at the multiple gems in his hands his eyes lowering slightly seeing that all they were doing was taking fancy jewels. They were nice and he couldn't wait to share them with everyone, but they were useless at the moment, until they became coin and subsequently rum they were just shiny things. Looking down at himself there were a few tears in his clothing from the multiple traps he had set off though he paid them little mind, blinking a few times he put the gem's away noticing the last red ruby. He looked over at Aidan as he brought up the clue the natives apparently gave them, he gave a small shrug at the information as he was generally bad at riddles.

Walking over to the gem he picked it up without hesitation only to see the door open afterwards. He grinned and turned to Aidan before patting his chest.

"See Aidan, if you just keep stealing eventually things work out, that's a lesson in piracy," he said with a firm nod. "Now we should go inside the door completely ignoring the chance of more traps. You said seven right? Why would someone make more than seven traps, feel better? Let's go!"

"This is why pirates get put in prison. This is also why pirates are a dying race of-" Aidan couldn't finish his statement because Luro was hurrying him forward.

Luro turned and walked towards the door motioning for Aidan to hurry, he didn't want to leave without him and with the way these walls worked the door might pull a fancy trick too. If that happened he wanted Aidan to be a part of it. Once Aidan was close Luro turned and walked fully inside, his foot sunk into the ground slightly due to the floor piece he had stepped on. There was an audible click before he felt the floor shift and his feet no longer on the ground. Using the reflexes honed after years of battle he made sure to grab Aidan's arm so he would fall too and enjoy the trip down, instead of jumping back and avoiding the fall in the first place.

Fully prepared to take a step out of the way, Aidan let out a surprised noise when he was pulled down into whatever trap Luro set off. Both of them ended up going down some sort of slide- Aidan going backwards unfortunately- through a dark tunnel. He tried to get enough traction to slow to a stop, but with how steep the slide was getting, that wasn't possible.

Both were spit out of the tunnel and out into a closed room and Aidan ungracefully landed on his back. Across from them were two other similar holes in the wall that they were just dumped out of. "Well… there's yet another door." Aidan pushed himself off the ground and gestured to the painted wall at their side. This wall was covered in an uncomforting amount of snakes, with one in the center protruding out of the center acting a door knob. "A door, but not necessarily an exit."

Luro laughed as they slid down the trap not taking the time to consider what might be waiting at the bottom, he threw his hands up only to lower them as they finally reached the bottom. Luro trying to land properly only to land face first on the ground. He laid there for a moment in silence before turning his head to look at Aidan as he brought up another door. Climbing to his feet Luro brushed himself off and took a quick look around the room, it didn't seem there were any more gems only more drawings.
"Did you say something?" Luro said turning the snake door knob and looking at Aidan.

 

[Capt. Blu]

A collab between Arc and Captn. Blu

Location: Somewhere Down Below

The two made it to safety before the ground behind them began to crack and crumble. "That was cl-" A bullet hit the wall above them making Runali duck. "Oh. Well. Looks like Ray's ancestors are on our side. You know, more or less."

"Who were they?!"

"Kill them before they can get to the treasure!"

"The bridge is broken!"

The Royalists managed to get into the temple with a lot more difficulty than they imagined, especially considering they blew a hole in the side of it. The sudden explosion disturbed the old temple, causing it to quake and bits of rock to crumble off.

Arcadius ducked with slightly less gusto, finding the sudden movement surprisingly painful to his wound. "Damn it… all… how would they… have any idea… how to determine which of us… is here to rob them and who's just here… to reclaim… their legacy? I mean… what's even the… difference? Progeny can be… ungrateful… you'd be surprised… also, duck…"

Without further warning, he pulled out his pistol and fired a in the general direction of where the previous bullet came from. Not that it was likely to hit, especially fired by a blind man with nearly crippling wound, but the combustion of gunpowder provided a huge concealing cloud that was mixture of smoke and dust blown by the shot, effectively concealing the two pirates. "Move… give me… a support… we have to move…" he moaned out weakly.

Runali was juggling deciphering Kadi's words with the sounds of oncoming attackers, up until she heard the word 'duck'. Fortunately, she was a trained pirate and knew that when someone said duck it was definitely in their best interest to do so. The captain ducked and covered her head only for the both of them to be hidden in a cloud of smoke. "I don't think they care why we're here. I think they're just upset that we're here." She slipped under his arm and in one motion continued moving forward with him in tow. "Yeah, we're kind of at a limited speed you know."

Ignoring the shouts behind her, Runali paused and looked into their exit. "Oh boy. Ready for some more bad news?" Before the navigator could speak, she tightened to sash around his injury as much as possible. The path in front of them turned into a downward spiral rather than a straight shot forward, which meant their brisk walk was going to be a lot more uncomfortable- moreso for Kadi. The captain didn't have time to contemplate another choice of action because they were being blindly shot at. "Alright, down you go." She helped the navigator down and pushed him forward so he'd go first. "I promise you'll get to yell at me- and Ray all you want when we get to the ship! For now just stay ali-" A bullet grazed her arm and she grit her teeth. If that wasn't a sign of hurry up and keep going, she didn't know what was.

The two went down the spiraling slide and while Kadi's fall was broken by an unsuspecting Aidan, Runali hit the ground with an ungracefully hard thud. "Ugh… Oh. You two made it. Great."

 

[Capt. Blu]

Collab: Grothnor & Capt. Blu

​

Location: Île du Ver Rouge' → Temple of Doom Lendori, the Pit of Despair

The platform, a square with a 3 by 3 grid of floor panels in the center, glowed with shifting neon lights along the edges whenever someone was aboard. Ray noticed that the lights seemed to congregate towards a point just off to the side of the grid of floor panels. Stepping into the epicenter, he heard a faint ringing sound in his head which vanished as soon as he stepped back in shock. Alicia apparently hadn't heard the noise; Ray surmised that only someone standing there could hear it. Returning, he listened to the ringing, almost buzzing sound and hummed along to it. One of the floor panels began glowing. "Alicia," he pointed out to the panel, which began fading as soon as he stopped humming.

After the journey through the trapdoor Alicia was a lot more wary of the place, so when Ray pointed to the panel on the ground, she hesitated. "Don't you think it's a little dangerous to step on those things without knowing what they do?" She did trust Ray enough to move closer to the panels and take a step on the one he had pointed to. "That's… I'm not actually sure what to make of it?" The fact that nothing happened when she stepped onto the glowing panel made her sigh in relief. "How did you know it was okay to step on it?"

Ray shrugged. "I guessed? There's some musical tone playing in my head when I'm standing here and as long as I match it-" He noted the note playing in his head had shifted, and so he matched it and another panel lit up, "-that happens. I think I can say with certainty that I've never seen anything like this before."

Alicia stared at the panels as Ray spoke. Every time he hummed a tune she had to hurry and step on it before the light decided to go off. She quickly realized that if she stopped moving, the panels would begin to waver and fall so she had to keep in time with Ray's song. She also realized, much to her misfortune, that the platform began to move. As skilled a swordswoman she was, her gracefulness didn't translate into comfortably dancing her way out of a trap. "Maybe without the impending doom that follows this would have been a… fun thing to do."

Ray simply continued to hum along to the tune in his head, unwilling to stop performing whatever was propelling the platform through the air. After a few tense minutes of music and dance, the platform slid to a halt against the far end of the chasm.

After awkwardly shuffling to the dance steps Ray hummed, she heaved a sigh and stepped off the panels. "That's not… how I imagined a dance lesson from you would go. But, at least we got through?"

"I'd be more than happy to give you a real dancing lesson, once we get back," Ray said with a charming grin. "You definitely have the grace for it, unpractised, but it's there."

Alicia made her way to the exit, looking up at the stairwell, only to pause and look back at Ray. "I- thank you?" She quickly turned to hide the faint blush and lead the way up the steps.

Location: Back Together Again

Standing near one of three exits, Runali's attention turned to the faint sound of chatter. Moments later, both swordswoman and musician appeared, seemingly unharmed. "Oh great! We're all together. Safe and-" The captain pointed at Ray and then at the trap she and Kadi had fallen through. "Do you mind blocking that off? We've got company hot on our trails and… a feisty navigator that has some choice words for you- okay us, a little later."

"Yeah, well, I figured this whole adventure'd be a bit easier." Ray said, nonchalantly placing his hands on the indicated doorway and freezing it over with a thick sheet of ice. "So what kind of hot company? More snakes?"

"I wish they were snakes." Runali had gone back to Kadi's side to make sure he wasn't bleeding out too much. "Those friends of yours, managed to blow a hole in the side of the temple. And I think they're going to keep at it until this place collapses. Guess front doors aren't their style."

"Oh. Spectacular." Ray said, mildly miffed. "Guess we'd better wrap up our business here fast, then, or we're gonna be in serious trouble."

Aidan went back to examining the door, after having to pry himself from under the navigator, with the courtesy of not aggravating his wound anymore than it already was. He stared at the snake head that Luro tried to turn like a nob, noticing it was missing a brilliant red eye. "Hm...If I'm not mistaken- Luro, hand me that ruby you stole."

Runali couldn't help but snicker towards Luro's blatant refusal of Aidan's request before sliding over. "Not to worry Luro, I'll give it right back!" Taking the ruby from him, she matched it carefully were the the eye would have been before carefully placing it inside.

The soft click made Aidan and Runali back up, neither really trusting the temple to provide anything positive. The 'click' was followed by a hissing noise that sounded too realistic to be the door opening. It was rather anti-climatic for such a dramatic opening. For the first time since they stepped into the temple, there was nothing to view. Nothing blocked their path and nothing seemed to threaten them immediately as they stepped in. The chamber was barren, save for a few scattered coins and tarnished baubles scattered across the floor, covered with cobwebs. In the center sat a stone chair, barren save for a oddly gleaming arming sword. Despite the age of the room, the blade seemed untouched by the natural decay of the chamber; neither web nor soil touched it.

The captain was the first to step into the chamber eager to get their stuff and go, only to find that 'their stuff' was nowhere to be seen. "What!?" The exasperation in her voice was accompanied by her arms crossing. "It was already looted! We're late!"

"So we risked our lives… to find nothing?" Aidan's annoyance only grew at the revelation.

"Well, there is this," Ray picked up the blade on the chair, giving it a few test swings to get the feel for it. "Hmm. Handles quite nicely. My form with arming swords is a little rusty, but I don't see why the Royalists would come all this way for some antique…." He trailed off noticing a symbol carved into the round pommel. "It can't be…."

"If it's not worth-"

An explosion sounded at the far end of the chamber, making the captain instinctively duck her head. There was a cloud of smoke, but by the shouting it was obvious the crew had run into more Royalists. A dozen Royalist soldiers, muskets and sabers in hand, charged out of the smoke, accompanied by almost as many crew, armed with pickaxes, cutlasses and pistols.

"Well, good thing you have a sword Ray because that'll come in handy right about now." As the clouds of smoke rose, Runali caught sight of an opened door that no doubt had opened when the snake door opened. Unfortunately, getting to the exit meant they'd have to go through bullets and blades to get there. "Far corner is our way out." The Captain called, pointing behind the Royalists arrayed in front of them. "We get through them, we get to the forest, and we get out of here!"

 

[Mizos]

Luro's glanced back hearing a loud noise from behind him, seeing his captain and a bleeding Kadi he raised a hand to them offering a small grin at the appearance of his friends. At the comment of their well being Luro chuckled a little and made a small fist grinning at the two, he was a Stardusk he wasn't going down that easily. He started to speak when he picked up extra sounds and turning noticed Ray and Alicia appear, he gave Aidan a small shove with his elbow arching his brows at the two safety. Hearing the royalists got inside Luro laughed a little and moved his hands to his hips.
"We have to go to more places Ray brings up it's really fun here, I think I've almost died four times in the past five minutes and now those strong people outside are inside looking for us, I can't wait till they find us."
Luro put his focus back on the door since he wanted to see what was further in this place, though finding it wasn't budging he looked over at the captain as she took his jewel, looking over at Aidan since he had missed what he said. When the door clicked Luro turned back towards it his hand moving to his rifle hearing the hissing. He lowered his body smiling slightly waiting for something to attack from the other side of the door, when nothing happened his shoulders drooped and he lowered his hand walking inside after Runali.
"Kadi I think you're bleeding, you'll ruin your clothes if you don't stop blood's hard to get out," Luro said patting the man on the shoulder before focusing his attention forward again.

Luro gaze moved around the room trying to find the mystical wine that they had come for, seeing nothing but old junk, a sword and an interesting chair he was a little disappointed. Hearing that someone had beaten them there Luro crossed his arms and walked forward to look at the sword as well.
"That wine must have been really good, we'll get it next time Captain. There's always more drink to be had somewhere," Luro said eyeing the blade alongside Ray. "...well we can't come all this way and not take something, I'm stealing this chair, Alicia you have muscles help me out."
Luro walked around and wrapping his arms around the stone chair tried to lift it, though he didn't have the opportunity to do much as the explosion stopped his attempt causing him to turn towards the large amount of people pouring in.
"...why didn't we come in that way," Luro said scratching his cheek.
He glanced over at Runali as she spoke paying little mind to the approaching royalists though as she brought up what they had to do Luro grinned and drew his rifle from his back.
"Aye Captain!" Luro said sprinting forward. "Last one through buys first round!"
Laughing Luro raised his gun blocking a strike from one of the royals, taking the pistols off the man's waist his kicked him way slamming his barrel into the side of the man's skull aftwards, he turned his body ducking the strike of another royal kneeing the man in the stomach with a wide grin. Grabbing the winded man's shirt he raised his body blocking the shot from one of his cohorts before returning fire watching as the other man's body fell to the ground. He spun the pistol in his hand and hurled it an approaching royalist nailing him in the face before taking the gun off the now limp man's body he was holding and turning put a bullet into another royalist head. He continued moving through the crowd ignoring the gun fire and yells trying to clear a way to the exit.
"Hahahaha! They really want to kill us!"

 

[Arcadius]

Arcadius took the while to slump against a wall and relax his upper body, reliving some of the painful pressure on the wound. Weirdly enough, the irrational, unnatural coldness he was experiencing in the past few week was gone now, in fact, he felt comfortably warm all across his body. Bit sleepy, too, actually, the only thing keeping him from dozing off being the slight twitching and tugging in the open wound in his side. The finest selection of the most feisty and rude words for the rest of the crew was put on hold. "You know... for old... decrepit temple wall... this spot is actually rather... comfortable, guys... I think I'll take a... while off-AAAUGH! Mother of all that is fu-be gentle with that thing, capn'!"

The captain, checking on his wound, tied the bandage a bit too tight and caused a quite notable spike of pain. Only then he noticed the Navy officer under him, causing the sudden and strange comfortability of the ages old carved flagstones that composed the room. "Oh... Sorry... Aidan... Also... look on the brighter... side... at least the treasure... wasn't some... metaphorical... nonsense... like comradeship... we were simply... bested..."

The navigator pulled himself up, only to lose balance and lean against a passing man, smearing him with his bloodied hands. "Oh, sorry... Luro... you are... a colossal... ass... that stays alive... by sheer luck... because the universe... wouldn't know... what to do... with your corpse..." the navigator wheezed out in response to Luro's quip.

The explosion knocked Arcadius off his feet again, making the sacrifice of Luro garb completely pointless. The man was in no shape to fight the sudden influx of adversaries, and instead, ducking under the gunfire and occasional flying limb or whole body crawled behind the throne, taking cover.

 

[Winter]

Alicia gave a short sigh of exasperation at the conversation, the usual sound she made when she asked herself how on earth they had made it this far across the world without being killed. Her eyes began to observe their surroundings, before falling down toward the sleeve of her long kimono, a spider crawling across it. "Little one, such a place is not safe for you" she said softly, before her hand gently moved under it, crouching herself down to send it on it's way.

Upon standing up again she turned her attention toward Luro as he made yet another comment attacking her femininity. Quicker then the trigger of a pistol she slapped him across the back of the head with her swords saya, an audible 'clack' signifying the painful contact. "Rude idiot!" she said, her usual soft tone taking in a hard edge for a moment before she refocused on what was going on, regarding Kadi for a moment who looked to be some what struggling.

She looked thoughtful for a moment and was about to tear some cloth and binding from her clothes to work as a make shift press to slow the bleeding. Unfortunately fate had other plans as the room exploded, causing her hair to whip wildly as air rushed in with the noise of approaching enemies. Alicia sighed, "Of course... " she muttered before she burst forward at speed, her sword flashing in quick arcs that cut down her first two enemies before they could register her movement.

The swordswoman looked to where Runali pointed and began making her way for the entrance, looking to carve a path as she cut down enemies, deflected bullets and defending her friends where possible.

 

[Capt. Blu]

Collab: @Grothnor and @Capt. Blu

Location: Île du Ver Rouge' → Temple of Lendori --> Time ta Go!

The smoke from the explosion was as good a cover as any. Aidan decided to take the opportunity to scan the area as best he could to find an escape. "You, navigator." He called out to Arcadius over the sounds of battle. "I don't suppose you want to avoid the fight and follow me?" He motioned towards the path he found that held the least amount of resistance. Instead of going through the danger, he noticed a better path off to the side towards the wall.

The captain had dived into tangle of guns and swords, disappearing in the smoke alongside her crew. In a fight against weapon and fists, she realized she'd be outmatched if she didn't act accordingly. In the instant she was face to face with a Royalist blade, she acted on instinct. Her arm came up in defense, rather wanting to lose a limb than her life, only to be met with an echoing 'snap'. The blade had split in two and she noticed the darkened coloration going up her arms.

"Haki?!"

"Hell I forgot I could do that."

"W-What do you mean? You forgot!?"

Runali shrugged and use the other's moment of confusion to test out the armament haki, knocking her out in one quick motion.

While numbers weren't to their advantage, the crew managed to create enough of a path to escape through and prevent more injury than they already had. "As excited as Luro is about your....'friends', mind closing that wall Ray?" The sound of bullets whizzing by made it clear the Royalists didn't want them coming back- or leaving with any of the treasures.

Ray stood in front of the exit, laying a blistering hail of ice-bullets on the Royalists, forcing many of them to run for what little cover there was or to hit the floor,giving everyone the chance to make it to the exit. Once everyone was through, Ray followed them through, continuing to fire, and taking a few stray bullets. Grunting in pain, he placed his hands on the floor and a sheet of ice like the previous one he made shot out, sealing the passage in several feet of ice. Taking deep breaths, he grimaced as he got up, the holes in his icy body sealing. "Good thing they weren't expecting a devil fruit user. Last time I went up against these guys, they were using seastone bullets."

"Kadi, please tell me you remember how to get back to the camp--" The sound of an explosion shook the ground under them. "Actually change of plans, we're heading to the ship!"

"Good thinking, Captain. If those Songbirds weren't on to us before, they are now! And, uh, just to spell things out, they scare the hell outta me." Ray let his admission of fear drive him faster out of the temple and into the jungle.

By the time they had made it out of the temple, the sun had already began to set. It would have been even more of a challenge to navigate through the jungle had it not been for the natives being one step ahead of the crew. Katamasa had instructed a few of his men to wait for the Stardusk Pirates to guide them farther and farther into the jungle's terrain, each one passing the group off like a baton. Aidan, having already started, was still helping Kadi to keep up with the rest of the group.

They were at the edge of the jungle when they reached Katamasa, their ship not too far from them. "You have lifted the curse?" Ray showed him the arming sword he retrieved from the temple's treasure room. "Ahh," The native smiled, "You have your father's great-knife. Good! Then the curse is lifted. You should go. Whatever you did has angered the intruders, and they have scattered into the jungles looking for you."

"Good thinking. The sooner we leave, the better the chance of outrunning them will be." Ray paused before heading aboard. "Erm, what about your people, Katamasa? Will you be alright dealing with the Royalists?"

"We know these jungles far better than they ever will. They will never find us, if we do not wish to be found."

"That's a good enough excuse for me! Maybe we'll come back and celebrate sometime." The captain shook Katamasa's hand before ushering her crew forward. "Best to leave before those birds of prey catch up."

Katamasa waved as they rushed off, watching them go before disappearing back into the jungle. Before long, the island itself began to disappear over the horizon and the crew began to collectively sigh in relief once they were sure there was no one chasing them.

 

[Mizos]

Luro grinned as he dashed through the hole turning to see Ray fire at the men trying to close in on them, he'd have to one day speak with Ray about making real guns that could fire like that. Now wasn't the time for such thoughts though, he still had a bit of a headache from Alicia's earlier smack and he didn't disagree with Kadi, he was pretty sure some of his close calls were pure luck, much as he wanted to push it a little more and find the songbirds, the captain was retreating which meant he needed to follow suit.
"Ray you lied about the wine, you don't lie about drink. I'll forgive you because it was fun to fight those guys but you should avoid doing it too much," Luro said to Ray as they ran through the forest.

Luro still had dozens of questions for the natives, especially about the temple but they had orders to make it back to the ship and ducking under another branch Luro made sure to keep up with the others, mainly staying behind Alicia since she seemed to have the sharpest object to cut through the vines. Luro grinned at Katamasa waving at the man giving a firm nod at the idea of returning, he wanted to see his tattoo buddies again, hopefully with more time to learn about them. He wanted to meet the songbirds but the captain seemed intent on getting off the island, he was sure if they returned they'd run into them again, then he could see how strong they were, if they scared Ray they had to be something.
"Bye tattoo-buddy! Let's share stories next time!" Luro exclaimed.

Once back on the ship Luro walked to the edge watching as the island slowly vanished in the horizon, he smiled crossing his arms over his chest only to feel a few lumps on his person, looking down he noticed there was a bit of blood on his clothes. Raising his arm he noticed a few of those shots had grazed him, he had enough materials to fix the tears but it didn't make the process any less annoying. Though as he thought about it he knew the lumps weren't bullets lodged in his body like normal, turning to his captain he shook his sleeves a bit before letting all the gems fall out of his sleeves.
"Hey captain I found these inside the temple, think we can sell them to get rum," Luro said. "Oh and other less important stuff, you can have them."
Luro raised his foot and slamming it down a piece of the ship's board came up and reaching down Luro grabbed a bottle from under the boards letting it fall back down again.
"I'm starting to run out of my secret stash," Luro said. "That one wasn't secret...Ray keeps finding the ones I hide under there for some reason. Oh but don't worry I've been sharing I'm not hiding all of them, I put a few under Alicia's bed...wait Alicia did I tell you about that...hmmm actually why did I put those there your bed would just end up lumpy...sure I hid some with Kadi's stuff too...wait where did I put the rest of them...anyway Captain we should buy more of them! Especially to make up for not getting that wine Ray talked about the Rogou stuff."

 

[Capt. Blu]

Location: Out at Sea → for days

The escape off of the island Île du Ver Rouge, was a lot smoother than they anticipated. It made the captain a little more suspicious, so she watched the island get farther and farther away. For a moment, she was almost sure she had spotted those Songbirds Ray mentioned, but couldn't ponder too long because she had to 'play doctor' on their navigator.

"For the record Kadi, I'm only about 70% sure of what I'm doing here." She sifted through the tools to find the right one. "But it's okay! I've seen Jem stitch you guys up a few times. There's nothing to it!" Runali grinned.

"Trust your captain."

Needless to say, it wasn't the most pleasant experience...for either of them. But, Runali did manage to get Kadi stitched up. "That was… I could be a pretty good doctor. I'll stick with the captain title though… Alright Luro, your turn. Don't think I didn't see those bloodstains!"

~~~~~~~~~

Location: Republic of Tilea --> Portum 'Peregrino' Insula (Harbor 'Foreigner' Island)

Their travel away from one island to the next wasn't as eventful as it could have been, save for a fishing competition and one stormy night that had the captain a little on edge. With almost a week's worth of travelling behind them and after a debate of which way to go next, the crew arrived at Republic of Tilea- more specifically, Harbor Island.

The Republic itself was home to several small islands and only functioned within itself for the most part. Runali decided against the island of Tilea, seeing as that was where the main government resided. That was a problem waiting to happen. Unfortunately, that was all she knew of the archipelago. Surrounding the central island, there was one in the east, west, north, and north eastern, with Harbor Island being the southern and closest island. "A geography lesson is in order one of these days."

This particular island lived up to its name in the archipelago. The docks were lined with various ships of all sizes and people of all kinds were sending off and receiving goods. "We could dock there-" Her eye caught sight of a navy insignia amongst the dozens of sails. "Actually, let's head to the farther side of the islands. I think these islands have a fee to dock. Better to avoid that." Turning to her crew, she announced. "We'll just stop here for supplies, maybe stick around for a day or two and check out the town. Maybe get into some trouble." Runali laughed and tossed an extra pouch of coins to Alicia. "Just in case you think of something we need that I forget about."

When they anchored the ship, the group had been a little ways away from the main town. In fact, they ended up in an area a bit seedier than the trade hub Harbor Island had promised itself to be. Leading her pack, she hummed one of the many tunes she learned from Ray. Of course the captain wasn't worried, nor did she seem to notice the peering eyes hidden in shadows. However what she did notice was the pair of guards patrolling the area, one dragging some common looking street thug with them. It made her stop in her tracks, double checking to make sure there weren't navy insignias on them. She was prepared to avoid the encounter, not really wanting to be thrown into trouble the moment they stepped foot on a new island, but they had a significant lack of ties to the people trying to capture them. They weren't important at all- until one of them barked out.

"Hey! Stop where you are!"

"...Aw man, we could start a record with how fast we get caught here- Dang it, I could have made an easy bet."

"You better not be headed towards that fight!" The guard speaking referred to the weapons that hadn't been left on the ship. "Like we just told the rest of 'em, you will be arrested! Like this fool here. We're not going to keep handing out warnings about this kind of thing."

"...A fight? No, no, no, we're headed towards the main part of town! We got, uh, a little lost."

The guards gave skeptical looks for a long moment, before pointing behind them. "Those weapons need to be put away immediately or they'll be confiscated before you get there…. But to get to the the main town all you have to do is follow this path straight down and when you get to the fork in the road, you go right."

"Oh, well thank you! We'll definitely be on our way then!" The guards didn't spare them another glance, needing to get their prisoner to a proper holding cell. As the Stardusk distanced themselves from authority, Runali glanced over her shoulder. "...Yeah so who wants to go check out a fight? The guards said take a right at the fork in the road… but," She hopped onto the left path. "I've got a feeling not listening to authority is a bit more fun."

 

[Winter]

After having fled from the strange island Alicia had spent the next few days honing her skills, none of which had her raising her sword once. A big part of her training and sometimes daily regime was her merely sitting and concentrating on her breathing, allowing her mind to drift into the periphery between conscious and subconscious thought, allowing the other senses to take command and enlighten her mortal core. She remembered her mother doing the same at times, between the beautiful trees of her families estate, the same place where she'd read to them as children. Her father had always said that a healthy mind was every bit as important as a healthy body, Alicia believed in this advice, as do many of the students he taught before his unfortunate end.

Alicia let out a small sigh before standing as the ship closed in toward the docks, allowing her mind to absorb the details of the archipelago which was fairly impressive all things considered. Yula Fei had some impressive sights but nothing quite as similar as an archipelago. She turned towards Runali and nodded with a smile, "Sounds good to me captain" she said softly before quickly catching the pouch of gold coin, "I'll visit the market and see if we'll need anything" she said before placing the pouch away. Her mind momentarily hit upon something Saff had said to her but she pushed it aside as quickly as the thought had arrived in her mind.

The harbor was not as impressive as the archipelago looked from a far, seeming a little less friendly than the swordswoman had been expecting. The arrival of the guards had her resting her hand on the hilt of her blade, ready to dispatch the guards in a moments notice. Fortunatly it seemed luck was giving them a break as the guards seemed to merely warn them of the consequences should they carry on while armed. Alicia had no intention of parting with her sword and if the past was anything to go by they would soon be needing their weapons... call it a hunch. Alicia turned toward Runali, "I would have argued staying out of trouble, but these days I've learned to just roll with it. It's not like trying to stay out of trouble ever worked before" she said, giving a soft chuckle.

 

[Grothnor]

Ray had spent the voyage trying to figure out how Luro got it into his head that they were in search of wine on Île du Ver Rouge, and tried to assuage his friend's unquenched thirst with promises of drinks at the next port they called upon. "That goes for all of you; we may not have gotten much treasure from the temple, so the least I can offer are some drinks on me for helping and an explanation of what exactly we risked our lives for." Ray drew the sword from the temple for all who were around to see: it was an old arming sword from times before gunpowder and cannon dominated warfare and armor still served a purpose on the battlefield. "This, I believe, is the sword of my ancestor and middle-namesake, Kareth of Lendria, a hero to my people, but a villain to many others. I don't have any proof, but I think that all the clues point to it being the real thing. Kareth's nickname was 'the Crimson Serpent', this crest on the pommel is a red snake, the island was named 'Island of the Red Worm', and even the natives knew his name. Furthermore, why else would the Royalists organize such an expedition just to go after a single ancient weapon? They probably just wanted to destroy it, if I had to guess. It could be pretty valuable to the right person; it is an antique after all, but I kinda feel like it belongs in my hands. The Lords must have had a hand in this, a 'son' of Kareth finds his sword in the most unlikely of places...."

<> <> <>​

Ray disembarked with the rest of the crew, keeping his eyes peeled for someone with a loose purse to help pay for the drinks he owed everyone, Luro in particular, since he knew one drink would hardly suffice for the alcoholic marksman. With news of a fight ahead, Ray smiled. "Well, I certainly believe it's worth investigating." One could always take advantage of the loose purses of spectators, or simply relieve defeated opponents of their pocket change. "I think the weather's lovely for a nice duel, or maybe just a down and dirty scrap."

 

[Arcadius]

His memories, after sitting down behind the throne in the temple, became more and more blurry. The bandages on the wound gave away, and blood started to seep through them once again, leaving Arcadius' consciousness slowly slipping away. He recalled Aidan dragging him around the thickest of the fight, but he could not recall when the man simply vanished into the jungle. He was sure they made their way back to the ship, as he recalled the staggering through the damp jungle again, and the slow sway of the boat as someone helped him climb up onto the ship's deck. Someone had to have performed surgery on him, too. He could recall the sharp taste of a moonshine, poured down his throat to numb his pain and him, and the dull sting of a needle penetrating his skin.

Eventually, he'd wake up, counting several whole days he could not completely recollect. The wound sealed, but left behind a very unsightly scar, hidden under his linen shirt. He couldn't breathe fully yet, feeling the right lung protest against its full usage still. "Cap'n," he nodded to Runali. "Not sure whom I have to thank for stitching me up, but whomever it was, he did an adequate work, I think." The Navigator stretched his arms (a movement which enacted a very agitated stab of pain from his right lung) and looked around. He counted the islands around and looked up at the sun. "...Tilea, sir?" Small islands. Small lands. Small kings, mind themselves and their own. Just like home. "How long have I been out? And yet, the Harbour has to pay its operation in some form. Though... it would not be the first place we over docking fees to, wouldn't it?"

The navy frigate (Choufleur? Who the hell names a ship Choufleur?) was another thing, of course. The cruiser would quickly catch up with the Pearl and dispense quick, merciless justice. Not the kind of activity they'd want at the moment, Arcadius thought. Instead, they took the long way around the island and docked the ship in a place that seemed quite less inclined in collecting just fees, and more in collecting everything you had on you, or your life.

Trouble were not hard to find. "Well, Runali, I would say being pirate is definitely about disregarding state authority. Quite crucial part of the whole thing, I'd say. Doing what we want because we want, no complicated justification attached, and to hell with consequences. I'd say a brawl watching, followed by visit to bar, is part of the experience."

 

[Mizos]

Luro wasn't wholly sure what to take from their experience at the temple, minus the fact the captain wasn't exactly gentle when it came to taking care of wounds, it got to a point he asked to do the rest himself. He felt the worst for Kadi, his wounds were from stray gunshots the captain had to get a bit more intimate for his wounds, he gave his friend a small pat on the shoulder as a condolence but he seemed miles away so he left him alone wanting to put distance between himself and the captain before she tried to help again.

Luro spent the remaining days sitting on the edge of the ship watching the sea in silence, trying to to think of a time before gunpowder. Ray had mentioned the importance of the sword he carried, he didn't understand most of what he said, but it was apparently an old sword that Ray didn't want to sell. That meant the sword was his mistress, which Luro could understand patting his own rifle as the thought came to mind, it was an important thing to Ray that was enough for him. That didn't mean he was going to turn down his friends promises of drinks at next dock.

---​

"I got a good feeling about this place," Luro said looking around the area. "You know it's a nice place if people stare at you sideways."
There wasn't a nice smell in the air, someone was being dragged off by the guards, there was a decent chance they were going to kill the guards that had just called out them, this was just the place to be for adventure. Luro folded his hands behind his head as the guard spoke to the captain, his hand slowly inching towards the butt of his gun, though seeing the captain trick the guard and Alicia's hand linger but not draw her blade Luro lowered his hands with a low grunt. He was hoping the guard would try to take his weapon, but the captain did say no needless killing, though Luro held out hope that the guard would do his job properly. When he didn't Luro shoved his hands in his pocket and kicked the dirt a little.
"Captain we're pirates...one of our jobs is not listening to authority, I think it's...the third thing we're supposed to do, drink, plunder and drink some more being the first two," Luro said with a small grin.
There was no point passing up watching a good fight anyway, and since they weren't allowed to go that way that was even more reason to head there.
Luro looked over at Ray giving a firm nod to his opinion on the watching the fight, as Alicia and Kadi spoke however Luro's eyes lit up almost with childish wonder and laughing he put his arms around the two pulling them close.
"I am so proud of you two," Luro said sniffling a little. "Instead of using common sense and being careful, you've chosen to be reckless and move towards the violence. Alicia...Arcadius...wait no that's not right I shouldn't call you by your nickname Kadi, we're having a moment. If you weren't manly men I'd fondle you out of appreciation...wait is it fondle...it's a word that starts with f...you know what I mean."
Luro removed his arms wiping a tear from his eye.
"Ray's still buying first round, but let's go check out that fight captain!" Luro said pointing forward.

 

[Capt. Blu]

Collab: @Capt. Blu and @Eastwood​

Location: Harbor Island → A few miles from the main hub

"A wise choice Alicia." She couldn't help but laugh. The things they had gotten into ended up being a bad habit they couldn't shake. It was best to just live in the moment and hope for the best at this point. "Aye, and we have Ray to join! Any other takers~?" As Luro and Kadi both agreed to join, and after Luro's theatrics, Runali looked around. "Hey… Where'd Aidan run off to?"

He managed to slip away from even the most perceptive of the group and head down the right path. It wasn't hard to spot him since the path was pretty clear, save for a few homes lining it. "Oi! Are you not going to watch the fight!?" She couldn't hear exactly what the ex-navy officer said, but did see him wave his hand dismissively. "Hm… We'll worry about him later. We've got a fight to catch!"

Like the pirates they were, the group decided to take the left path and go against what authority said. The quiet little town they found themselves in on the outskirts of the main town had an unmistakable tension in the air- similar to a drunken bar. The further they got into the town, the more people they saw littering the streets. It was easy to notice unusual amount of excitable energy. The people were chattering with their neighbors in whatever the common language had been, Tilean, Runali assumed. Though there were some the crew could understand, Runali could hear one familiar word echoing in both languages: 'Thorn'.

It was hard to decipher the various conversations as they continued down the path, but the captain could hear something about this Thorn character being a famed fighter around the region. It made Runali even more curious to see just who they were talking about. "I don't think this is anything like the tournament in Utsukushi." She commented to her crew. And according to all the whispering, it wasn't. Unlike their visit of tournaments before, this one was done with a sort of secrecy that depicted just how illegal it was.

The path to the arena was easy enough to follow; the growing crowd lead the way. The arena was nothing more than a large pit outdoors, cordoning off the spectators with a rough wooden wall surrounding it. The wall wasn't tall enough to block the view of the fight, but it was tall enough to deter any of the audience from trying to get in. The floor consisted of rough sand, ideal for covering up the gory details of the last fight.

Off to the side, there was a crowd gathering around a table, with a grossly overweight man draped in fine robes sitting on the other side of it, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. "All bets are closed!" He announced to the eager crowd, repeating the command in Tilean too. "The fight starts soon!"

"Oh neat, we made it just in time." The captain pushed through the crowd, swiping one of the benches before someone could step on it. She hopped onto it and looked over the wall and into the pit below as the announcer called out to the audience again.

"TACE, QUAESO!" With this command, the crowd hushed up and leaned in, eager to see the fight finally start. The announcer paused, deliberately stretching this moment to fully gather everyone's attention. After a few moments of nothing but silence, a voice cried out in the back of the crowd.

"Get on with it!"

This elicited cheers and jeering laughter from the crowd as whoever it was, quite capably, reflected the general sentiment. The announcer blinked in surprise, cleared his throat, and resumed his job.

"ON THIS SIDE OF THE RING!" He bellowed out, his heavily robed arms outstretched either side of him. "THE CHALLENGER. THE SWORD MASTER OF THE ROT GUT AND WITH A FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR BOUNTY ON HIS HEAD, ALIVE. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT'S LI'TRALEE NOAH KARS!"

Kars stepped out into the ring. The man, nearing Luro's height, was obviously a pirate captain. The hat and long coat gave it away, although the coat itself was sleeveless thanks to some significant rips. It was hard to tell if he had done it himself or not. What he lacked in...charm to say the least, he made up for in boisterous personality. And if that wasn't enough, he waved a miniature flag with a jolly roger on it. He was armed with a short cutlass and looked quite capable with it, spinning it around in the air and catching it with ease. It seemed he was trying to hype up the crowd, however barely any native of Tilea were cheering for him, in fact most of the cheers from the crowd came from pirates dressed in a similar manner as he was. Needless to say, the captain wondered just why they thought ripping their sleeves was a good idea.

"Pssh, five hundred bounty? Is that all? I could fight him blind- and I'm halfway there!"

"AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RING!" The announcer bellowed out once more, this time with a lot more enthusiasm. "THE ONE YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR, THE CHAMPION FOR THREE YEARS RUNNING AT THE CIRCUS PORTUM INSULA, THE HOLDER OF 55 SWORDS, THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER OF HARBOR ISLAND! YOU ALL KNOW HER NAME, IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT'S THORN!"

With the crowd standing in thunderous cheers, Sara finally stepped out into the field. She was darkly tanned, a little bit taller than the average height, wearing a sleeveless jerkin, unintentionally matching that of her opponent. Her brown hair was tied in a loose, practical, ponytail. Slung on her back, was a short sword, a small buckler like shield, and, oddly enough, a short length spear, wrapped entirely in protective cloth. On her exposed muscled left arm, there was a tattoo of words, faded, saying Possessionem Et Circus Portum Insula. Right below that, still with the fresh red background, it simply said 'Liberta'. Her expression was that of obvious boredom and disdain, mostly directed towards her opponent. Although, it brightened up into a wide smile to the crowds cheers, waving at them and beckoning them to cheer on louder.

"Sorry girly but your winning streak is about to be over. You may have won against other weaklings, but it ain't happenin' now!" Kars readied his cutlass, smirking as his crew roared louder. Sara looked deeply skeptical at her opponent, he looked more like a fop than anything else.

"You're right!" She said loudly, turning in place to address the crowd more than him. "I don't win anything fighting trash like you, I only ever lose my time!"

Before the crowds could began to show their approval, and Kars to respond, the arena master stepped in between the two, pushing them back with his arms. "Here are the rules!" He announced, after having to roughly shove the pirate captain to his side of the arena. "The first person to be physically unable to continue the fight, loses! Any dirty tricks, cheats, extra weapons, and anything else are all allowed here!" With that stated, and with the fighters in their rightful place, did the fight finally begin.

...And it was easily the biggest letdown of the year.

From the very first touch of blades, after they dashed in, it was obviously apparent that Sara was the superior fighter. Armed with her short sword and shield, she jabbed at the pirate captain around less obvious targets in order to test his defense. Much to her great surprise, and quickly blossoming disappointment, she found that all three strikes slashed his body, a gash in his shoulder and knee, and a shallow cut along his belly. She tried it again, each attack was either inflicting a shallow cut or barely deflected at the last second due to luck on Kars' part. After every strike, her guard lowered slowly until she was completely open, as if wanting her opponent to hit her, but Kars did not.

The crowd's initial cheers gradually devolved into mutinous muttering amongst themselves. Cries of "Get on with it!" and "Finish him already!" punctuated through the harsh atmosphere of the arena. It was at this point that Sara finally had enough. She intensified her assault, forcing Kars on the back foot. Each slash inflicted more and more damage until, finally, Sara weaved past his shoddy defense and plunged her sword into his shoulder, leaning into it and twisting it about to drive it in harder. Kars, already suffering from blood loss, could only futilely struggle at the blade in his shoulder, trying desperately to pull it out. Sara, in response to the crowd's cheers, turned around, grinning at them with her arms outstretched.

"YEAH!" She screamed out, punching the air before turning back towards the still-struggling Kars. With a mighty pull, she ripped the sword out of his shoulder and in one fast motion, instantly decapitating him.

The crowd went wild, cheering at the skill of her final display of dazzling skill. Despite a weak opening and middle, the conclusion was more than enough to sate their bloodlust. In the midst of all this, the announcer waddled over to Sara, leaning into whisper something to her ear, whilst placing a miniscule pouch into her hands. Judging by Sara's expression throughout this conversation, she was less than pleased. The more observant person would notice the pouch was full with distinct coin-shaped silhouettes, albeit not that many of them, with the announcer not handing her any more money. Thus the conclusion to come to was an easy one. Disgusted with the whole thing, Sara took her gear, and climbed over the boundaries, and stomped off towards the town, not before inspecting and taking Kars' worn-out pitted, half-corroded cutlass.

The captain watched, a little uninterested at first. Neither of the opponents looked like they'd put up a good fight. And well, she was only half wrong. The fight itself was quick and rather uneventful, but seeing this 'Thorn' woman decapitate her opponent made Runali lean over the wall. "Whoa, talk about go big or go home!" She looked over at the distressed, and now captain-less crew. "A bit brutal, but they did say no rules."

Meanwhile, a squad of guards were approaching the arena and were met by the announcer, who waddled to the officer as fast as he could. It was unclear of what was discussed between them but the telltale jingle of coins being exchanging was more than enough information needed. "Alright everyone, go home! There's nothing else to see here!" As the officer issued out the order, his subordinates quickly dispersed the arena, leaving nothing behind except the headless corpse of Li'tralee Noah Kars and his crew crowding around him. The audience quickly began to scatter, knowing they only had a few minutes before the guards started trying to imprison them.

The captain looked from the officer to the unhappy fighter that was going in the opposite direction. "A fighter like that would be useful for-" Runali turned to her crew. "A wild idea guys!" She pointed her thumb in Thorn's direction. "Let's ask her to join the crew. Now, hear me out, I do have a good reason for it- It's because it's a good idea and as the captain-" The shouts of the officers made her pause. "Well, that's besides the point, let's go before she disappears."

 

[Grothnor]

Ray's gaze was immediately drawn to the female combatant as soon as the fight started, though it disappointingly didn't last long. Ray sucked his teeth at the death of the pirate captain, disappointed to see his opponent go for the kill, rather than the bounty, and by how quick the fight was. That was a waste of 500 easy dollars, well, unless she's a pirate too.... With the crowd dispersing quickly, Ray almost didn't have enough time to palm a purse. Catching her final act in the ring caused a smile of recognition to spread across Ray's face; he recognized a trophy taken when he saw one. Memories of his cabinet of dozens of trophies from his duels swam through his mind, a proud if bittersweet memory of what he lost when he fled Lendria.

"I call dibs." Ray said to the crew without taking his eyes off of 'Thorn' as she pushed her way out of the crowds. He pushed his arming sword into Luro's hands, leaving himself with only his looted navy saber as he gave chase. "Thorn! Milady Thorn!" He called after her, giving chase to the departing gladiator.

 

[Winter]

Alicia rolled her eyes at Luro, a small smile gracing her features before she turned and listened as the others spoke up about their thoughts. It seemed they'd all be going to spectate the fight, not that she minded, perhaps there were vendors selling useful items that she could deal with while the others watched the fight. Alicia felt slightly nostalgic as they approached, having remembered Utsukushi, the town where her life with this unruly bunch had begun. She closed her eyes and let out a small exhale as they walked, allowing herself a moment to absorb the peace, even if they were about to go directly against the wishes of the guards.

After arriving at the 'arena' Alicia remained as quiet as she usually was, her eyes watching the proceedings carefully. Perhaps it was intrigue or perhaps her own experience as a swordwoman that had her interested in watching the duel so intently. She looked for details in form, footwork and actually prowess of skill as the two entered the ring and began their exchange. Her brow furrowed a little when she saw how unevenly matched they were, but then she couldn't say that she was all that surprised given the type of people who surrounded the arena in the first place. In fact this started to look less like a match up of actual skill and more of an opportunity to make some money and view an execution.

Alicia sighed for a moment as the pirate captain's head left his body, shaking her head slightly. "Such a waste of life" she muttered to herself, again not that she was all that shocked. Among pirates arrogance ran rampant and those who were foolish ended up dead rather quickly when getting themselves into a fight for pointless reasons. Alicia looked to Runali, raising her eyebrow when she mentioned recruiting the one called 'Thorn', then looking to Ray as he called dibs and ran after the gladiator. "We better go after him before he does something stupid like trying to kiss her hand... something tells me this isn't that kind of woman" she said before walking after Ray.

 

[Eastwood]

Sara walked quickly away from the arena, her pace aimless and aggressive, stomping towards the town's marketplace. When she fought and bargained for her freedom, this wasn't exactly what she planned for. Instead of gold, glory, and freedom, she only possessed a tiny coin pouch, fighting against some of the most pathetic specimens that the world could throw out, and completely unable to afford a roof over head during the night. This was complete and utter rock-bottom. Sara felt her anger, mostly directed at herself for getting in such a sticky situation, slowly getting replaced with hopelessness. Where was she going to go, what can she do?

She found herself outside of the marketplace, within a wide variety of goods, mostly Tilean, can be found and bought.

Wines, grapes, cheeses, olive oil, steel weaponry of excellent quality (though none made out of ferrosteel), exotic smelling perfumes, and other luxurious items were bought from the Tilean marketplace, with great exchanges of imported items as a form of bartering.

"Thorn! Milady Thorn!" She heard a voice coming from behind her, and turned around in surprise. She found a foreigner, a man with blonde hair and blue eyes, a rarity within the archipelago. Sara had to admit to herself that he was indeed pretty handsome, but ultimately just a fan, she could only hope to herself that he wasn't insane.

"Yes?" She asked, in a surprised but wary tone.

 

[Mizos]

Luro for some reason or another felt surprisingly comfortable in the outskirts, it felt strangely familiar almost like a long lost home, he didn't have much time to take in the atmosphere however as they had to make it to the fight. Under different circumstances he'd join in but from what little he saw it seemed too late to get involved, his shoulders drooped slightly at this but at the very least they could watch the fight. Taking a seat in the stands he stared down into the ring a small smile on his face as the opponents stepped into the ring, small images of Utsukushi formed in his mind for a moment but they faded quickly as the air around this place was far more tense, probably because it was illegal, which made it all the more fun.

The moment the two drew their weapons Luro smiled a little as he leaned forward.
"The Lady will win," Luro mumbled.
The difference was pretty clear, it was like he was looking at Alicia all over again, well with more murderous intent and showmanship anyway. Maybe it was the air but the scene reminded him when he'd sit in the tavern and drink, watching the patrons beat on each other in drunken fury, one glance and it was clear who the winner would be, this was a similar situation. He could see three openings in the Kars stance but the woman named Thorn he couldn't tell if they were purposeful or accidental, that was enough for him to put his money on her. Though he didn't have an eye for it like Ray and Alicia but glancing over at Alicia and seeing the slight change in her expression it was pretty clear there was difference in strength. Thorn had an air about her, while Kars was a whole other matter.
"Yeahhhhh! Tear em up!" Luro yelled standing up and pumping his fist into the air. "Try to win against an opponent you have no chance against Kars! Wooooo!"
Luro stood and cheered for the obvious loser Kars, he liked rooting for the weaker ones anyway, though the fight didn't even last long enough for him to grab his bottle, staring at the now decapitated man Luro sighed and sat back down.
"Awww...that was cool but he should have fought harder," Luro said resting his fist on his cheek. "It was over too soon."
Luro glanced over at the crew as well seeing as they had just lost their captain, he blinked a few times though seeing a cloaked person staring down into the ring, they seemed to hand one of the crewmates a piece of paper before walking off.
With a small shrug he turned around to see the guards had come to break up the fight, Luro booed towards the men but it seemed everything was over.

Upon leaving Luro looked over at his captain as she spoke of recruiting the woman named Thorn, when she tried to explain why it was a good idea Luro just reached over and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Captain...you had me at wild idea no need to explain," he said with a small nod. "Also I'm calling di-"
Luro cut himself off as Ray spoke first causing Luro to snap his fingers.
"Aw man I wanted to ask her Ray," Luro said putting his hand on his hips. "He always get's to the ladies first, Alicia did you see how feminine she was, she's like...the opposite of you. That grace right?" Luro said motioning in the direction Ray went.
Luro stared at Ray's sword in his hand smelling it before attaching it to his belt.
"...don't know you guys use these things," he mumbled taking a moment to adjust the sword. "...it's so weird...I hate how you have to...oh I got it."
Luro looked over at Alicia as she brought up pursuing Ray, Luro looked over at his captain then Kadi before giving a small shrug and walking after Ray.
"Alicia you should have more faith in Ray, he's got that gentleman charm down, I mean he won't just sleep with them like Kadi."
Luro turned and pointed at Kadi with both hands grinning at the man.
"I didn't forget Kadi!" Luro said laughing and putting his arm around their navigator's shoulders. "Make sure to keep it in your pants with her though Kadi, she seems pretty though. We should help Ray out if he get's in trouble though, now say it with me 'I will not dock at her harbor'. Come on Kadi repeat after me 'I will not dock at her harbor'."

 

[Grothnor]

A collab with @Eastwood


Ray approached with a bow, and a charming smile, "Milady Thorn, I must say, you are much more beautiful up close." Blinking in faux surprise, he added, "Oh, I must apologize, I am Raymond Skalter, and one of your newest fans," Raymond bowed. Though the admission of attraction was a staged act, it wasn't a lie; he found her features rather striking in an unconventional, exotic way. Not that I'll let that distract me.

Great Caesar's ghost, she thought to herself, an insane fan, no matter what he looked like, was exactly the last thing that she wanted or needed. Still though, Sara always knew to appreciate her fans, no matter how weird they are. And so, closing her deep brown eyes and forcing herself to relax, gradually opened them up to look at her newest fan. "Thank you." She said, rather tensely.

"I enjoyed your last bout just now. I think it's fair to say all my friends did too, but I couldn't help but notice that it seemed… rather lackluster. I don't exactly think it was fair." He raised his hands defensively, "I'm not saying that it was stacked in your favor or anything, I just think that going up against someone like him was a waste of your time, if you'll forgive my saying so."

Sara didn't need this, not now. This one was smoother than the others but she acted with experience, this wasn't the first time someone tried this. On an ordinary day, she would just brush it off but not on this day. Her body shifted slightly backwards in a more defensible stance. "Thank you." She said again, this time, slightly gritting her teeth. But then, she had an idea, something that might fix one of her three problems. "If you want to show it." She said, relaxing slightly, tipping her head towards the food stalls. "You can get me lunch."

Ray smiled, relaxing a bit himself. "It'd be my pleasure." Pulling out the coin-purse he swiped back at the fighting ring and starting towards the food stalls, he asked, "I'm rather new here, so what would you suggest?"

Sara flashed a smile and walked past him, patting him on the shoulder as he did somewhat roughly, and as she made her way towards the table, she waved behind her and called to him. "Anything, and lots of it!" She then said down at a table, folded her arms and stared up at him expectantly, smiling widely as she did.

Ray looked thoughtfully at his stolen coin-purse, worrying that it might not be enough to cover her appetite, before shrugging and deciding to make do. He headed off to the nearest food stall and spent a few minutes puzzling over the local coinage before returning with both hands full of meat pastries doused in some pungent fish sauce, hoping she'd appreciate the protein after a fight. "I hope this is to your taste." He muttered, "Lords know why…" under his breath.

Sara stared, nodding with her approval. He had chosen… wisely. After a quick rinse of her hands in the nearest fountain, did she finally begin. Tearing chunks out of her first pie with her fingers and neatly eating them made very short and tidy work. And with that, her terrible mood had disappeared. After reaching for her third did she finally look up at Ray. "Well, what are you waiting for?" She gestured to the seat opposite of her. "Sit down!" It seemed that, with a full stomach, her mood had soared up, or at least helped with her tolerance of fans.

Ray did as she asked, rather pleased to see her in a good mood, and not feeling guilty about spending the money he got for the crew. Luro's drinks can wait. "So I noticed after the fight with… uh, what's-his-name," He shrugged apologetically, "you took his sword, and the announcer called you the woman of 55- or would that be 56- swords. You take trophies. Is that why you fight? For Glory?"

She wasn't expecting that question, by this point she thought everybody already knew. "It's a gladiator tradition." Sara explained, reaching out to pull her gladius out and onto the table. On one side of the blade, at the very top, the word 'Thorn' can be very distinctly seen. "This is my arena sword, every slave-gladiator and gladiator carries one with their names printed on the top." She pointed out her name, as if it wasn't obvious. "However, if I get killed in the arena, underneath my name would be 'occisus es' or 'killed by' whoever my killer would be. These swords are pretty popular for collectors and gladiators sell them all the time." Sara at this point, started to look smug. "So when they say I have 55 swords, they mean I killed 55 people. Well, 56, if you count that moron's death."

Ray nodded. "Dueling in Lendria, or at least, in Lendrianos, usually happens in the Graves of the Nameless, a veritable forest of statues and grave markers for the nation's nameless dead. The victor usually chips off a nose or ear, or finger from a statue to signify their victory. I think I had around three whole statues-worth of stone limbs when I left, but that was a few years ago."

"That's kind of dumb." Sara said, confused as she reached for the last pie. "Who would want to watch a fight in a graveyard of all places. And besides, how can anyone keep track of anything if all you do is break a nose or an ear off a statue, anyone can claim they slaughtered a whole country if they just break enough statues!" Sara seemed quite unable to comprehend a place where duels and fights were illegal.

"Honor." Ray let her have the stinky pastry. "Anyone who lied about their accomplishments would soon be outed and shunned, or simply brought low by someone better than them. Duels are held in the Graveyards so that we do so in the sight of the Lords of Lendria, those Honorable who had passed before us. Besides, the trophies were more for personal benefit than for anyone else's. Dueling in Lendria is an ancient sport, considered antiquated and barbaric by some, but still legally protected and a strong part of our heritage."

With the final meat pie consumed with added relish, Sara held up her part of the bargain, even talking to him too! And so, she leaned in closer and, for the sake of messing with the foreigner, she said in a sultry voice. "Thank you for the meal, stultus, but I must rest. Can you leave me be?"

"Of course, Milady Thorn," Ray replied, returning the sultry tone with practised ease as he got up from the table, "But first, I'd like to ask; Would you perchance like to fight someone more… stimulating... than poor old '$500 bounty' back there? Someone worth far more, perhaps?"

Sara's expression turned from sultry to thin disgust over the offer. It is entirely plausible that she had misinterpreted it. "No!" She hissed at him. "I will not, certainly not with you! Now please, leave!"

"What? Why not?" Ray frowned. "I can assure you, I'm worth at least thirty times that two-bit buffon's head and could outstrip him in every regard, and yet you go for him and not me?"

Her patience had gone far enough. Like a cobra, her hand struck fast and wrapped itself around his wrist, squeezing the joint almost to the point of being painful. "I said leave!" She hissed, leaning into his ear. She gradually let go and leaned back, staring at him.

"Fine." Ray glared back. "I'm sorry I thought you were worth my time." He stormed off, too upset to even consider that there had been a miscommunication.

Sara could only laugh at his back. "There it is! That's all you damn leno want!"

Ray muttered less than flattering things under his breath as he returned to his crew.

 

[Winter]

By the time Alicia navigated her way through the crowd of people leaving the area, Ray had already made his introduction which caused the swordswoman to exhale a sigh. 'This'll end well she though to herself as she remained back, merely watching the two engaging for a while before her brow perked when Ray returned looking less than pleased. She didn't have context but she could only assume he tried his charm and pushed his luck too far. Alicia clipped him around the back of the head with her hand, "Next time don't run off ahead without us" she said before shaking her head as she would attempt to resolve the situation... or rather salvage it.

Alicia approached the gladiator sitting at the table, her eyes briefly taking note of details form the woman to her surroundings before she began to speak. "Excuse me, Thorn was it?" her voice tone retained it's usual softness, "My friend meant no disrespect to you, but in fact he was to relay an offer from our captain for you to join our crew" Alicia went straight to the point, seeing little reason in dancing around the question. The air kicked lightly as her silvery hair, tugging at the looser parts of her kimono which fluttered lightly, almost elegantly. "Of course I wouldn't expect an answer til you've at least heard it from our captain first, that is, if you're inclined to spare a moment to meet with her". Alicia stepped to the side and motioned towards the one eyed Runali.