Collab with @Yakamoz
Location: Outside the Temple
Jem's eyes fell on Luro. Such kindness was greatly appreciated though she hadn't planned to kill the wretch with a bullet through the skull. She wanted him to suffer like a thief would - having his hands chopped off by the wrist, dragged around town by horses and finally choked slowly as he dangled from a tree with a noose round his neck.
'A nice civil punishment befitting his crime.'
Alcinoe rubbed her cheek in thought when Luro asked his question. First, she chuckled at his determination to injure the man. "Must have some real vendetta towards that scumbag, yeah? I don't blame yah, they're all no good. Wouldn't even try recruiting that Stella lass." Alcinoe shuddered for a moment and then composed herself yet again. "What's there ta know? I mean, he watches and waits for his prey. He learns your moves, learns your life, and tries to use it to his advantage. But he's no historian like my firstmate. He can only get surface level knowledge unless he's seen you. Bah, but for us he's all bark and no bite. He tries ta play calm, but that kid has a short temper."
Jem snorted. "I can vouch fer that and I plan to pay him back in kind." Her gaze shifted to Alicinoe momentarily but it went back to Luro. "He stole what is mine and I want him to pay." She flashed Luro a stiff, joyless smile while her eyes bore into his. "What is he to you, Luro?"
Alcinoe could have continued on and on about the Red Pirates, not that she wanted to, but because they had tried to attack her crew so many times before. That wasn't the reason she stopped however. A scream of "Incoming!" from a random passing crewmate made Alcinoe look up and step back, drawing her sword in the process. The Stardusk all looked up at once, one of them moving Runali a bit farther back when they spotted something or was that someone comin out of the sky.
"What's incoming?" Belen asked, stopping abruptly in her tracks. Most of her body was still facing Kadi's direction, though, making it obvious that she intended to approach him earlier. Shielding her eyes slightly against the glare, Belen's body religned with her head to ease the strain round her neck. "I wonder what that is." She commented more to herself than anything.
Breaching the clouds was a tiny black dot. As it descended further, those gazing up soon realized that it was someone plunging head first towards the ground. His feet trailed behind, locked in position by what appeared to be a board of sorts. A very bizarre and somewhat worrying sight as hardly anyone could see what was imprisoning his feet.
"Do you think he'd be okay?" Belen asked with some concern for the man now visible from less than 100 feet above the open roof of the temple. "He's falling fast."
Jem narrowed her eyes, as she stared transfixed to the gleaming metal plank somehow attached to the man's feet. At his current distance, she still had difficult picking out the finer details. "He is a dead man if he
falling." She looked away for a bit, allowing her eyes to clear away the white spots that had formed in her eyes - a sign over exposure to the harsh desert sunlight. "He looks too calm for anyways."
"Actually, I think he's smiling. Waving too." Belen commentated, as she lifted both arms up and waved back in with more enthusiasm than she felt. She didn't look forward to seeing someone smash like ripe fruit on the ground. Scrapping up mess was going to make them queasy.
"Smiling or not, that's a pretty far fall." Runali watched as suddenly the straight plummet turned into a series of spins and even a flip as he got closer and closer to the ground. Alcinoe's skepticism and caution had vanished. As he got closer, she realized that the air under the board he was standing on had began to blow sand everywhere, causing everyone to shield their eyes. It seemed he noticed this too and hopped off the board, a few feet from the ground. As he did, the contraption connected to whatever was on his back. The goggles shielding his eyes were raised and he turned to face Alcinoe with a grin- only to be met with a sword pointed at his neck.
"Wait, wait, wait!" His hands flailed frantically. "Don't kill me!"
With a moment's pause, Alcinoe rolled her eyes and sheathed her sword. "What do you want Elliot?" The male in the center of the group wore a tanktop and pants, obviously preparing for the heat of the desert. However there was a box a few odd metal gears attached to his back, along with the board he used to somehow safely get to the ground. The most noticeable thing on him was the oversized wrench that was strapped to his back. For some reason, to Runali, it looked awfully familiar, however she couldn't put her finger on it...
"Eheh, sorry for the entrance, but your girls woulda attacked me if I went through the front door." He scratched his head and looked a bit sheepish. "Messengers do what they must. It was a long trip here from Brass Cape! And it's my turn to remind each captain about the-" He glanced over his shoulder at the very out of place pirates behind him. "...Did I interrupt something?"
"Yes. Now hurry it up."
"Sorry, sorry! Here's the invite. Captain and Firstmate Guarneri send their hellos by the way." He pulled a list from his sleeve and skimmed over it. "Hm, there's the meeting. Captain and Firstmate said hello... Oh, who was it, your weapons lady wanted a specific part for something? Got it-"
Alcinoe pointed behind her. "That-a-way. Ya can't miss
Ozzy. I'd advise you to knock ."
"You're gonna let him go around by himself?" Runali's interruption made them both look over at her, though Elliot was just as confused as she was.
"Yeah, what?"
"This place is crawling with women more than capable of killing him. I'm not worried about him gettin' into trouble." Elliot, looking a bit nervous, but decided to just nod and be on his way. "Oh. You," Alcinoe pointed to Luro. "You mentioned something about weapons, yeah? Go ahead and follow him."
"Actually, having someone not threatening to kill me might be nice." Elliot looked over at Luro with a nod. "The name's Elliot. Messenger for the Nova pirates and shipwright assistant."
"What's..." Runali watched as the guy passed before she continued. "You have meetings with pirates?"
Alcinoe shrugged. "Yeah, it's a yearly thing. Make sure we're all clear about who owns what and the likes. And make sure no one is causing the next great war. Sometimes pirates can be civil too. It's...It's not something I can really explain to you guys. Nor, is it important." She waved the thought away and looked at the rest of the group. "Go ahead, relax, explore. Until Veera gets your ship fixed, you're stuck here."
Belen, who had been left behind took that as her opportunity to continue on the journey she started. "My, my, you're quite the cutie!" She had so boldly looped her arm around Arcadius'. "You know, being the navigator's assistant, I'd be happy to steer you round the corners of my mattress-" She laughed. "I mean, I'd be happy to show you of few tricks." The woman allowed herself to fall in front of Kadi with a very exaggerated "ooopsie". Her arms wrapped round his neck so suddenly that she almost caused both of them to tumble to the ground. Rather than apologizing, the vixen gave him a saucy wink."Ready to check out some of my navigating skills? I'd be more than happy to flip your rudder." Hopping apart, the feisty female grabbed Kadi by the wrist and began pulling him in the direction of Saff and Tset headed earlier. Based on her simpering, she wasn't thinking of heading to the archives.
Alcinoe scratched her head and shrugged. "I think your new fan club is waiting for you lass." She looked at Alicia and then gestured over to a curious group of eyes, eager to see just what the Yula Fei warrior had to offer. Among them was a young girl no older than 11 or 12 with a sword for too big for her strapped to her waist. The child continued staring in awe at the elegant Alicia whose clothes reminded her of something her mom used to wear. Eventually, the child blushed slightly and darted behind one of her older friends. Hoping that Alicia had forgotten that she had identified the proud woman as Sakura's daughter earlier.
"She's looks brave and strong and beautiful," the kid whispered reverently. Naturally, being there during the battle of Yula Fei, she had heard rumors of that Sakura's eldest daughter returned from the distant lands to vanquish Odyn and their hero's skill rivalled that of their most revered legendary swordswoman, the noble Sakura. Standing in Alicia's presence again made the scrawny girl feel even smaller. She, a mere foot soldier's orphan, did not deserve to be in this distinguished noble's presence. "Do you think she'd teach me to use my father's sword? Maybe that's like wishing for the stars."
"Well Hanako, you could ask her," her friend spoke fondly, ushering the child forward much to Hana's embarrassment. The girl responded by hiding her face behind her hands. "Won't it be nice to speak to someone from your homeland? Surely, you haven't forgotten."
Failing to get a peep from the child, the woman smiled apologetically to Alicia. "She doesn't get to talk much about her home after the attack... I suppose she's just a little overwhelmed to see someone from Yula Fei. I assure you, she was a lot more excited a few minutes ago."
As the more curious trainees began closing in on Alicia and hiding her from view, the group of women whom Ray helped earlier entered the doorway. Their eyes lit up upon seeing their "roguish gentleman" again and the Leandrian found himself fenced in by his new fan girls. Two of them rested their heads on his shoulders while another two snaked their arms round his muscular arms.
"You know, we haven't had a strong man like yourself in a long time," a particularly chesty blonde commented. "And it's been pretty hot. Would you like a swim in our bath house? You and us." She ran a finger down his arm. "It'll be fun."
"Yes!" One of the red haired twins commented and her double who was also resting her head on his other shoulder agreed enthusiastically. "You mustn't keep girls waiting. It's rude."
"Enjoy yourself, Ray," Jem teased as she decided to finally abandon him. Whether he took up their offers or not was really his decision to make and not hers. "Just be careful not ta father a child. We don't need that trouble now." With a brief nod, the stoic woman whisked pass Ray and out the same exit that Belen took with Kadi not too long ago.
Alcinoe rolled her eyes as the flock of women hovered around the Stardusk crew, and separated them from each other. "They're a rambunctious lot, but not to worry, they'll survive. In the meantime, you can stick with me. Captain to Captain?" Runali beamed, not hesitating to follow the woman off, leaving her crew to...fend for themselves.
