OOC: Okies... I join... I'm nervous @.@;

hishkabagna.net/artpage/c...istmas.jpg Ruby's the red head...

IC: Drink is the curse of the working class. No truer words have ever been spoken. For the slum rats of Vansted Vale there was no place more worth going to than the bar.
Many families had their poverty striken existances amplified by the mere existance of this establishment. Drinking away their problems only to create more problems from their total lack of cash after a night of heavy drinking. Hoping they could somehow forget their unprivlidged existance in the shadow of the mighty upper class.

"Times are tough" sighed a patron, slumped over the bar and nursing his pint.
"Tell me aboot eit" replied the barman, constantly whipping the inside of a mug with a dirty sweaty rag.

They continued their discussion and life through the bar was dark, dank and dull.

Alas, sometimes miserable people can't enjoy an afternoon binge session. The door slammed open and light blasted into the dank, dreary, musty, murky...ness. Highlit in the doorway stood the silhoutte.

"Barkeep! Get me a drink! Something hard and somethiing strong!" a strong commanding female voice barked from the door. Across the bar the patrons seemed to back off into the shadows, shuddering in fear at the scene which will undoubtably come.

"Gerrout of it, Ruby. Ye know yer barred!" the barkeep slurred irritably. There was almost a twinkle from the silhoutte's eye at that reaction, so the old guy added "We don't want yer trouble"

A bright shimmer rolled down a long silhoutted object in the girl's hand and it beamed into a star complete with ping sound effect.

"I was hoping you'd say that..."

30 minutes later...

The doors had long fallen off their hinges and two unfortunate bar bums had found themselves lying on it face down, beaten and dirtied.
Then with a sudden squeal, a girl flies out of the door and smacks into the wall of the parallel building. She stumbled back and wobbled a bit, a large smile on her face before she finally collapsed to the ground in a large dust cloud.
"Totally worth it..." she breathed, before falling unconcious, clutching a long sword in one hand.

THS stumbled off on his own into the town. Although Pach had recommended they travel in groups, he figured that no good pirate action should start without first getting rid of your thirst. Of course, heading straight to the bar was fast becoming a highly unoriginal first action when docking in towns, but then again they always tended to become a meeting place for the crew, so he was sure that if he waited long enough he would eventually become part of a crew anyway.

After asking a passer by to the nearest bar (amazing how the language barrier never seems to afflict the crew!), he swiftly followed the directions past many poorly built homes and to the place where he could get a little intoxicated to help his brain work. As he zeroed in down the final street to his location, he noticed three presumed drunks laid on the floor outside. Initially, he thought nothing of it, merely people who had had too much and simply slumped outside. However, as he began to climb over them, he noticed not only that one of the figures was female, but that she was also in posession of quite an impressive longsword.

He stared momentarily, suffering an internal dilemma. On one hand, he wanted a drink. On the other, he seemed to be in the market for swords at the moment, so perhaps it was worth exchanging the one from the fight back at Gredalst with this fine looking blade. He figured, in the end, to do both.

He moved around and leant down for the blade, only to have it rise up at him. Despite the wielder being layed at ground level, they still managed to give off an air of threat to the fox. He had a strange sense of deja vu, as though being threatened by women from a position lower than him was becoming a regular occurrence.

"Don't even think about it, cub," the woman said, before slumping back to the ground, seemingly falling unconcious again.

He stood there for a moment, before shrugging and continuing into the bar.

As THS entered the bar, he noticed several patrons all over the place, broken chairs and tables and a knife embedded in a pillar. For all intents and purposes, it looked like any other bar, just about 9 hours earlier than it should be.

As he approached the bar he noticed the gruff looking guy cowering behind it. Despite the damage and destruction to the rest of the room, the bar (and more importantly all of the booze) was not touched.

The man surveyed the stranger and weakly asked "is... she gone?" in a pathetic whisper.

THS looked over his shoulder "Girl with the long sword? On the floor outside."

The barman slowly pulled himself up and peaked over the bar to look for confirmation. When he saw it, he looked up at his new customer pleadingly.

"Keep 'er out and yer first one's fer free!" he said, desperately.

The fox glanced back outside at the woman, then back at the barkeeper. It dawned on him that he hadn't brought any money with him (as usual), so a free drink meant that he could get away without even needing to pay.

Well, so long as he didn't stay in the bar for more than ten minutes and order another.

"Sure," he said to the bartender, thinking to himself as he left the building again, 'How hard could it be?' So, now standing above the woman in question, he tentatively asked, "Um, are you awake, or...?"

The woman opened a single eye, squinting against the sunlight. "Oh, it's you," she said with little enthusiasm.

The fox forged on, "Uh, could you do me a favor and not go in that bar for a while?" He paused, as though considering this unreasonable, before adding, "For the time being, at least. Next few hours or so."

Now shading her eyes with her hand, she replied, "You have very little backbone for someone with the look of a sailor about you. What's it to you what I do?"

"Well, that bartender fellow said if I kept you out I could have a free drink, so..."

He glanced back at the man, who was peeking over the counter with a mix of curiosity and confusion. Then, suddenly, he dived from site, as the woman growled, "He did, did he?" and stormed past THS. In an instinctive act of desperation, he grabbed her in hope of stopping, only to find himself stumbling as he got dragged along her warpath.

OOC: Working under info from chat that THS is carrying... if he isn't then disregard, I'll edit later.

IC: The woman was just a few inches from re-entering the bar and crushing THS' hopes for free booze, the fox dragging futilly on.

"What's the point of this?" he demanded, if he was missing out on free drink, knowing why was a requirement.

She screeched to a halt on the very line where street became bar, spun around so violently that THS was almost launched right into the wall.

"Why?!" she exclaimed, in a half crazed manner "Why NOT! That's the question. Where else on this rock can you find beer and brawl in the same room?!" her eyes wandered as she spoke, settling on the fox's belt-line.

THS swayed as he regained his footing from the violent spin, looking between Ruby and the barman in the background sneaking occasional peaks of the scene.

"Nice sword" she said, her mood brightening, before THS could read that the very very wrong way, she continued. "I'll fight you for it."

"What?" THS asked, unable to keep up with the strange woman's eccentric insanity.

"You want to keep me out. Fight me. Ruby Chronos has two true loves, drinking and fighting" her face broke into a devious grin "if I gets one, I don't need the other."

She drew her sword and raised it in the increasingly confused foxes' direction. "Which'll it be?"

Outside of the intense character development going on around the bar, Geo, Lokki, and some others who didnt leave yet relaxed in a neighborhood close to the docks.

"Dude, I totally cannot wait to unleash some viking slaughter on these motherf**kers, yknow? Let the streets run with the blood of the inncoent!" Geo suggested to the gent, while he was running his thumb over the tip of the axe.

"Ah, you do know I'm always in for the odd bout of jolly paganism, old boy," Lokki answered, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to be the one to rain on your parade. For, indeed, our captain isn't encouraging any innocent bloodshed or robbing of the proletarian, follow?"

"uh. but we're, like, pirates."

"indeed"

"... well what do you suggest we do, mang?"

THS sighed, exasperated. This was why he never truly understood how people took such pleasure in the company of women - in all of his experience, they always seemed to make him do stuff he didn't really want to.

Seeing as he would only get his free drink if he kept Ruby out, and it seemed likely that he wouldn't be keeping her out unless they fought, it seemed he had no choice between this or remaining sober. He had only stolen the sword a couple of days ago, so hadn't grown particularly attatched to it and figured he could probably find a new one should the need arise. Not one as clean, surely, but a usable sword nonetheless.

He drew his sword and took a stance prepared for fighting. Just as he was about to say "I guess I have no choice but to fight", he found himself having to hurl his blade in front of that of the woman's before it sliced his torso, and became locked in sword combat.

The look on the crazy girl's face was terrifying in how much joy it was expressing, her face was practically a sideways D as she waved her sword at the fox who lamely managed to stop each blow from killing him.

Though she was obviously heavy into the fight, after a few seconds it was clear she was only doing it for the adreneline rush and had no intent on actually killing THS.

He started trading swings eventually which the girl danced away from, giggling maniacally to the tune of clashing metal. She looked like a 4 year old riding a pony, only alot older and creepier.

Eventually she managed to smack away THS' sword and casually dropped her own, cracking her fingers and pouncing in his direction for a fist fight.

Pach wandered the streets of Vansted Vale, eyeing the slums and the poor condition of the citys populace. He could see within the expressions of each and every one of the civilians he passed, their hardships and struggle to survive. It was sickening.

He came to a market, where a minority of items were being sold. There was little left in the way of fruit, veg, fish and meat, all of which were rotten, but there were also other amenities up for sale, such as artefacts made by the populace whom were trying to earn some money. Pach passed these by, and came to rest at a newspaper stand.

The dealers face was withered and tired, and he somewhat apathetically looked to Pach. Although there was a slight glimmer in the hope of a sale, it was once disenchanted with the knowledge that no matter what he earned thered be little to spend it on. Pach purchased a newspaper, and inspected it to find out the latest going on.

August 28th DAILY VANSTED Issue No.8992

Youth crime is on the rise. A burglary incident occurred in the Central District at 3:08pm last night. Chancellor Harts home was broken into and several of the Chancellors prized processions were stolen. Although no individuals were apprehended, eyewitness reports lend credence to the perpetrators believed to be youths from the lower sectors. Eyewitnesses are working alongside with the citys militia in order to track and identify the crooks.

When pressed for a statement, Chancellor Hart had this to say: Crime in Vansted Vale will NOT be tolerated. The militia are gratefully working to catch these criminals and the individuals involved will be apprehended. Although not confirmed, I can assure you that the punishment for these law breakers will be exceedingly severe. Vansted Vale will not tolerate thieves.

If whomever may be reading this has information concerning the robbery of Chancellor Harts home on the 27th of the month, please contact the Vansted Vale Police either by communicating with one of the guards or at your local militia station. Thank you.

-----

New City defences are planned to be implemented along the citys coastline in response to increasing pirate activity. Vansted Vale plans on becoming one of the most secure cities in the world. When questioned with the current state of world affairs and the citys plans on these defences, Vansted Vales diplomat, Ivan Hedging, had this to say [More on Page 3]

-----

New tax laws are currently being discussed to be introduced. Despite the surge of hostility the idea has brought forth, governors are continuing to consider the introduction of such taxes which would help to further fund the citys defences and militia services [More on Page 7]

Pach frowned as he skimmed across the front page of the newspaper and eyed the various stories that were being reported. To be honest, he wasnt surprised by the idea of a burglary of what was called the Central District. With people living in such poverty like this, what did they expect? Nonetheless, it may have made things tougher for the A&Wers to pillage and plunder anything from this city. He had to wonder how the rest of his crew were going to fare

Pach took one last look at the newspaper and felt an inexplicable sense of confusion as he read over the newspaper. Something about it didnt seem quite right, but he couldnt work out what. He sighed. He moved on, searching for another of the crewmembers to join up with; the majority of whom all simply ran off as soon as they touched port.

Trudi was making quite an impression on the youths of the slums. It seemed that her cheeriness was catching.

Trudi herself didn't know why they were so sad in the first place. But oh well.

"Trudi"

Trudi looked up to see Pach walking towards her.

"What?"

"Come here, I need to talk to you"

Trudi gathered up her skirts and bode the youths goodbye, before skipping up to him. "What"

"It'll be harder to do what we're going to do than I thought" he murmered.

"Why?"

"Very severe punishments for lawbreaking. Usually thats a good thing but~" he trailed off, and checked the time on the tower.

"And?" Trudi scowled at him. She again wasn't grasping the danger of the task ahead, but nevermind. She seemed to manage at any rate.

"And for heaven's sake why don't you watch where you're walking when barefoot! You'll leave footprints everywhere!" Pach headslapped himself. Why oh why did he have to find her...

Trudi scowled some more then whiped her foot on a nearby building, much to the owner's annoyance. "Better now eh?"

"Yeah. Now the other" he watched as she did so, then added "Just don't muck them up again"

Aidan watched the port become a lot more active, it seemed there were a lot of ships using the oppurtunity the A&Wers had created to safely get through the Gredalst Gate and look for new business (though it was unlikely there was much to be found here). Wanting to avoid trouble (for the time being) Aidan went off by himself, seeing as being with any of the crew would probably result in some brawling and something being set on fire. He was looking at the buildings around the town, when...

"You! Get here now!" A voice boomed from behind. Aidan turned around to his suprise to see the ship-to-ship merchant they had dealt with earlier, who Aidan had gave the cheque for the bank which no longer existed. looks like he had seized the oppurtunity to get through Gredalst Gate too.

Well, there goes the avoiding trouble plan...

"Yes you!" The merchant caught up with Aidan, and ripped up the cheque Aidan had given him. "This is useless! There is no Bank of Mikai Istou! Now pay up!"

"Ugh fine..." Aidan looked around, then a devilishly good plan hit him. "My money is in a bag in that tavern over there." He pointed over to the rather foul looking tavern named the "Rowdy Raven". "Go ask the barkeep for...Mr Richard Whale." Aidan quickly made up a name. "Give him the code 3131, and keep the change."

"Fine then, but wait here until I get it!" He demanded. And stormed off into the tavern. Aidan took a peek through the door and loaded his pistol. He then fired it at the ceiling and as he expected, that's all it took for all the rough types to kick off and a huge bar brawl ensued.

"Get the guy that just came in!" Aidan shouted. Which resulted in the merchant having a chair smashed over his head, being threw out the door, and ending up unconscious on the pavement outside.

"Oooh boy, this is going to get worse before it gets better..." he knelt down to check the merchant wasn't actually dead, and noticed a telescope in the inside pocket of his jacket.

"I guess this counts as pillaging..." Aidan shrugged and swiped the telescope before running off further into town.

Tiankai strolled through the dreary streets of Vanstead Vale, thinking over what Pach had said. The idea of meeting up in the central district was all very well, but she had her reservations. Could they simply walk into the Central District? Tiankai supposed that might be possible, after all that was probably where all the traders who had anything worth trading went when they got here. Assuming they went into the Central District without mishap though, how were they to get out?

Tiankai cast her eyes over the glittering golden island, standing out like a beacon in a sea of slums. It looked well-defended. Whilst it might not be impossible to get into the Central District, pillage and leave undetected, Tiankai wasn't certain she trusted all of the crew to be able to do that.For herself, she could probably scale the wall using her claws like grappling-irons if she wanted to, but the wall wasn't the problem. It was the towers and guards on top of it that rather more concerned her.

Taking a look at the time, Tiankai wandered further down the narrow streets. They seemed quite claustrophobic, and she would gladly have taken to the walls and rooftops, but she wasn't certain that they could take her weight and stay upright. However, there was purpose and determination in her stride, for she knew where she was going. Maybe three years ago she had visited Vanstead Vale, on quite different business to the rest of the crew. She had kept to the slums that time too, and had found them appalling then. The only difference between then and now that Tiankai could see, was that the slums actually looked worse if that was possible.

After maybe twenty minutes' walk from the ship, Tiankai came to a huge building, imposing though now dilapidated and slowly crumbling away. Long ago, before the differences between social classes had become quite so extreme, this had been a University and a renowned seat of learning. Now it was a ruin. But not everything of value was gone from it yet. Though its adornments had long ago been sold or stolen, and the papers within used as fuel for the fire by those less fortunate, there were, Tiankai knew, hidden basements. There some of the documents might have escaped the flames. And there, Tiankai hoped, might be found some of the information she wanted so very badly. On her last visit she had had only time to find the old university. Now it was time to see what she could find inside it. Drawing a breath, Tiankai stole into the ruined building...

"What indeed, old friend, what indeed," echoed Lokki. "Well, if wanton bloodshed is off the cards, I would surmise that a spot of pillage and plundeing is in order. However, due to the rather pronounced dichotomy of the citizens of Vansted Vale, those ripe for the plucking have nothing of worth to steal and those from whom we would expect to profit are exactly those who can afford to defend their wealth. 'Tis quite the quandry we find ourselves in."

"Yeah mang," agreed Geo.

All of a sudden, the pair were interrupted by a filthy peasant hurtling towards them, head bowed and arms clutched to his chest as though to protect something precious. He tripped just as he reached Lokki and Geo, tumbling head over heels and landing heavily on the ground. He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the two pirates, but as soon as he caught a glimpse of Geo's mighty battleaxe he was on his feet quick as a flash and fleeing once more.

"What an odd chap," Lokki remarked.

Two guards appeared around the corner whence the fleeing vagabond had emerged, clad in heavy, exquisite armour. One carried a spear and shield, the other a two-handed broadsword.

"Stop that man!" the swordsman called out.

Lokki glanced nonchalantly at the fast disappearing ragamuffin, then turned back to the guards and shrugged. "Why, what was his crime?"

"He stole forty cakes," replied the spear-wielding guard.

"That's as many as four tens!" his partner elaborated.

Lokki feigned a look of shock. "That's terrible!"

"Precisely. Now stand aside, citizen," the spearman spoke.

Lokki folded his arms in defiance. "And if I should refuse?"

"Then you shall be considered an accomplice to robbery and arrested. Any resistance and you shall be despatched with the greatest of swiftness," explained the swordsman.

Lokki stroked at the stubble on his chin as he sized up the two guardsmen. "I shall have to shave again at some point," he mused to himself, then drew his sword and spoke. "Very well, I accept your terms. En guarde!"

The swordsman charged at Lokki, sword held high above his head ready to be brought down in a devastating vertical blow. Lokki stood still and calm, then ducked at the last minute and kicked the charging guard's legs out from beneath him, causing him to tumble to the ground. Lokki spun around and stabbed the fallen warrior in both legs, severing the hamstrings. He then stood up again and began cleaning the blood off his sword with his coat, seemingly oblivious of the second guard.

The spearman bellowed in outrage and charged at Lokki's back, speartip thrust forward.

"Geo, old chum," said Lokki without turning around, "Take care of that nuisance for me will you."

Geogwe stepped between Lokki and the guardsman, swinging his battleaxe in front of him. The guardsman barely managed to jump to the side in time and his spear was sundered. Geogwe followed through with a might stroke of his axe and cleaved the soldier's head in twain.

Lokki sheathed his sword and turned around to look at Geo's handiwork. "You didn't have to kill him," he said.

Geo shrugged. "Whatever, let's loot the bodies."

And so they did, after Lokki had restrained his opponent with some rope he happened to find in his pockets. Their pickings were meagre, mostly all they were able to retrieve was a small amount of cash from each guard.

"That killed some time I guess," said Geo, leaning on his axe.

"Verily," said Lokki, "Though I fear the sounds of battle may have aroused the attention of other guardsmen in the proximity. I would suggest a swift egress."

"Yeah, let's go see what the others are up to," suggested Geo.

And so the two friends departed the scene rapidly in search of other fellow crewmen of the Dave. Shortly afterwards, they happened across Pach and Trudi near a newspaper stall.

OOC: Yeah, that's probably the last post from me for a while what with the whole Wacken thing. Anyone feel free to NPC Lokki while I'm away, you all know what you're doing.

Oh Patch btw I changed my mind about the costume thing, if you want costume changes each story arc or whatever I'm more than happy to design 'em as when you need them, just let me know whenever you want a new outfit.

Pach eyes widened in moderate surprise as he saw Lokki and Geo race towards them in greeting. How typical. Once you go looking for one crewmember and waste a lot of time in actually finding one, others all come out the woodwork. Oh well. At least itd be easier to keep an eye on them this way.

Pach frowned as he noticed a peculiar red colouring upon Lokkis coat which was obviously not natural, considering its colour was usually green and the red patch was in a most un-patterned state. Pach sighed, as he dreaded to ask. Where did you get that?

Get the what? Lokki asked back, oblivious at first, but recognising after he spotted Pach pointing to it. Oh, well we chanced upon some of this citys militia that were attempting to, uh, capture one of these impoverished people whom had only stolen some much needed food.

Pach eyed Lokkis incredulously.

Cmon, I know I may be a pirate and its a most unpiratic thing to do, but its the truth! Lokki shouted back.

Yeah, and I managed to kill someone. Geo said with some pride. Mang, this battleaxe is f**king metal, yknow?

Pach sighed. Geos morals, or to be more precise, lack of morals, was exceedingly worrying.

Dont be alarmed. He only accidentally killed one of the militia who was aiming to kill us. It was all in self defence, I assure you. Lokki tried defending Geo.

Ever consider why this country may have so many guards? Pach asked. Geo and Lokki drew a blank. Theyre probably members of these impoverished people just trying to do a job and make a living. Accident or not dont do it again, unless were sure otherwise of whom they may be.

What, Ive gotta ask them who they are and their life history first? Mang I dont play by anybodys rules bar my own rules which are rules. Geo said in some dismay. Pach glared at him angrily. Geo quickly laughed, then waved his hand in front. Dont worry, just joking.

Whatever, lets get into that Central District, Pach said, turning around, looking to Trudi. You finished cleaning that muck off yet?

Yeah, it was tasty. Trudi replied, stretching her arms in the air.

okay, Im not going to go any further on that, lets just get moving. Pach said, before leading the foursome forwards through the slum streets towards the central district ahead, elevated on a central hill and surrounded by giant walls.

All was going well until two minutes later, when the group was stopped by a quartet of soldiers, all branding Halberdiers and had a serious, work focused expressions on their faces. Lokki and Geo automatically assumed shifty eyes and tried to keep themselves hidden from view in fear that these soldiers would be looking for them, but needless to say it wasnt very good hiding.

Fortunately for the pair, this was not the soldiers focus of inquiry. The lead soldier lifted a photo up to the group. In it seemed like a small child, clean of face and garbed in expensive and fanciful clothing. His hair was blonde and well kept. It looked nothing like the people that the pirates had been accustomed to in the slums.

Excuse me, do you recognise this individual? The soldier asked. Have you seen him? Its urgent.

Before THS could even react to the sudden switch in battle rules, Ruby was flying through the air towards him and the only thesable reaction would be to dodge... which is exactly what he did.

Grining with the joy of her adreneline high, she barely seemed phased by the fact that the dodging fox had left her head to collide heavily with the wooden doorframe of the peasant structure (...it is hard to call such a thing a "house" with a straight face).

She fell back and swayed around, sitting on her arse. Still grinning like a fool. It would not be unreasonable to imagine cartoon stars or birds circling her head.

"That was fun..." she breathed before passing out again.

Shrugging at whatever the hell just happened there, THS walked back into the bar to claim his free drink.

"Well earn'd drink, mate!" the barman said in a voice mixed between gratitude and begrudging. He slammed a mug full of... some kind of frothy swill..? and gave him a toothy grin... or at least a mostly toothless grin. As THS watched this slightly disturbing gesture, he watched the face slowly morph into wide eyed terror.

"Make that two" came a slightly less insane varient of the crazy fighting girl's voice, followed by the clinking of a money pouch on the bar.

THS' eyes caught the little cloth bag and was astounded to find that it was full to the very top.

A screech as Ruby pulled the stool next to him, she flashed him a simple smile. Satisfied with her lust for battle, it seemed she was moving on to the alcohol... and obviously had enough money to handle the task.

"I just can't find decent sparring partners up home in the Central Distri... GIVE ME A MUG OR I WILL END YOU!" apparently while she was talking the barman tried to crawl away and Ruby had already caught him by the collar and slung him back over the bar.

"Alot easier to find quality booze though..." she sighed, snatching the freshly pumped mug from the barman and downing it in a single moment.

"I DETECT A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE" Trudi suddenly screamed, her eyes going wide.

Pach, Lokki, Geo and the two guards stared at her. Pach then sighed and looked back to the guards.

"Don't mind her, she's not the brightest individual. Her medication must be due..." He felt like smirking but knew his manners and kept his face straight as he considered the picture for a moment. "No, I don't recognise him"

Lokki and Geo also said they hadn't seen him, and eventually Trudi too once they snapped her out of whatever she was doing.

The guards then left, both eying up the barefooted gypsy with suspicion.

"Oh great, Trudi" Pach suddenly rounded on her, "Now people are going to be keeping an eye out for you"

Trudi blinked. And then she blinked again.

"Oh whatever" Pach looked up to the clock. It was approaching (OOC: not actually at, in case anyone wants to finish anything off) the meet up time. "It's nearing time, we'd better start heading off"

As Aidan ventured deeper into the city, the quality of life seemed to be getting worse and worse.

"Uuungh, what's that smell?" Aidan pulled a face and waved his hand back and forth trying to keep the smell from his nose.

"If you were around these parts, you'd be used to it..."

Aidan turned around to see who made that remark. Standing before him was a man with scruffy brown hair, and a distinguishable beige trenchcoat. "need a tour guide? You'll find my rates very competitive." He spoke again.

"No, I'm fine by myself." Aidan said and turned away.

The man jumped in front of Aidan again. "Heading to the Central District are you?"

"What's it to you?"

"I can get you in. For a price of course."

Aidan thought for a moment. "...What sort of price?"

The man smirked. "Oh don't worry, it's not much, I just need someone to help me "acquire" something from a residence in the central District.

"...You're a thief?" Aidan inquired.

"...Think of me as a "proclaimer for hire"."

"Alright fine, if you can get me in, let's go." Aidan sighed.

"You won't regret this my friend!" the man shook Aidan's hand. "The name's O'Donnell, call me Don if you will...This way." He pointed.

"Yeah. I'm Aidan Wells." Aidan followed him.

Around the corner, they reached a small grate in a wall. Don pulled it off and pointed inside. "This way." He said.

"What? You want to go through the sewers?" Aidan groaned, the smell coming from the sewers was even worse than before.

"Best route available to us." Don replied. "Come on, get in."

"You know, maybe I should go and get my crew..." Aidan murmed.

"Sorry this is a two man job, now come on." Don crawled in through the pipe, Aidan finally following.

"Oh well." Aidan thought. "I'm sure I won't be missed..."

In the hidden basements beneath the ruined university Tiankai strode past rows of dusty shelves, pausing here and there to examine a document or two. Remembering the advice her friend and guide had given her three years before, these hidden areas hadn't been too difficult to find. Information matching her interests however, was another matter. So far any document she'd found relating to the subject she wished to learn about contained nothing she didn't already know. And time was passing; although she couldn't see the clock Tiankai knew that soon she'd have to start making her way towards the Central District.

As she passed another row of shelves, her shoulder brushed aganst a loose scroll, knocking it and some other object to the ground. Tiankai stooped to pick up the scroll, dusted it off, and began to read it. It contained nothing new. Except a small footnote, mentioning something about doorways and where the earliest one could be found. Committing the footnote to memory, Tiankai replaced the scroll and turned her attention to the other object.

The second object didn't look like it belonged on the shelves at all. It was small and black, about the size and shape of a pickled egg. Tiankai picked it up off the floor and examined it more closely. Oh, it was a pickled egg and a fossilized pickled egg at that! Disgusted Tiankai flicked the thing into a nearby bin, under a sign which still read- despite all the years of neglect- 'no food to be consumed on library premises'.

As she began to make her way back out of the basements, Tiankai noticed one other thing of interest. There was a design set into one wall, that anyone could have taken for a faded mural, except someone who knew what the design meant. Going over to it, Tiankai gently ran one hand over a flower shape at waist-height. The mural opened out, revealing itself to be a set of twin doors, and Tiankai stepped through them. Beyond the mural, a smooth path led down deeper below the university. After about two hundred paces the path dead-ended. In the dim light Tiankai could just make out a second door. It looked ancient, and it also looked as though it had never been opened in all the time it had been there. Retrieving a map from inside one of her boots, Tiankai unfolded it and added a cross to it, to join a number of other crosses already there. Then she left the secret door, and let the mural close behind her.

Once back in the basement Tiankai looked up. Then muttered something under her breath as she remembered that she couldn't see through solid stone. Briskly exiting the hidden basements, she looked up again and realised that she still soldn't see through solid stone. Running out of the ruin she looked up again and was at last able to see the clock in the Central District. If she didn't hurry she was going to be late. Moving through the slums as fast as she dared- she didn't want to get lost now after all- Tiankai made her way towards the Central District. At one point the smell became so bad she could swear someone had opened up a sewer nearby. Then, after a few more twisting pathways, she caught sight of Pach, Trudi and some of the others. Relieved that she wasn't running late, she strode briskly over to join them.

ooc: Help something's gone wrong with either my post or my comp! That strange word in the fourth paragraph read 'out' when I typed it. It still looks like 'out' when I go to edit it. What's happening?!

The group continued their move towards the Central District. They had no idea how they were going to get into there, but nonetheless it was something that had previously been decided upon and as such needed to be done.

Upon their movements through the slums, the small group of four was caught up by Tiankai. So far it seemed as though the group were all relocating outside of the Central District, but regardless

Fair Tiankai, welcome back, Lokki bowed. May I ask where in this city you have been?

Uh Tiankai was about to start, until Pachs speaking broke their conversation and directed them to the current issue.

They were at the foot of the hill, staring upwards and the giant concrete walls that surrounded the Central District and of which seemed to stretch upwards into the heavens. A nearby watch tower could be seen, but more importantly was the road that led up to a wooden gate that served as one of the entrances into the Central District. Were here, time to get inside. Pach muttered.

Wait, were actually going through their front door? Lokki asked.

I cant see much point in trying any other method if we dont even know if we cant go this way. Pach replied. We might be able to simply pass.

I dunno Lok trailed off.

The group walked up the path to the gate, the distance shorter than they thought. They reached the giant gate, and Pach, pressing against the handle, tried to push against the door and open it, but failed to do so. It was tightly locked.

Oi! came a shout from above. The group looked up, to the watchtower. They could faintly see a man addressing them through a megaphone. Who do you think you are? Remove yourselves from the premises!

My good man, Lokki began, the voice of good reason. We are simple travellers who arrived from the sea. We simply wish to enter and tour your Central District.

On what authority? The guardsmen asked.

authority? Pach muttered.

Should I make something up? Lokki asked Pach. Pach was considering the situation, but just as suddenly, a shout came from behind them.

You, trespassers! Freeze! The group of five spun around, to find an armed group garbed in the somewhat familiar military uniform of the city. They were all brandishing their spears in the direction of the group, flanked at either end by other militarymen aiming crossbows in their direction.

With the thick wooden gate pressed against their backs, it was, needless to say, obvious that they trapped.

Oh, bloody hell Pach facepalmed.

You are all suspects for the death of one of this fair nations servicemen and charged with conspiracy of citywide revolution and kidnapping of Sir Prince Zephillus! The lead guardsmen shouted. Needless to say, the pirates were completely dumbfounded and confused by what the guardsmen were saying. Well, other than the mention of a serviceman being killed. That sounded quite familiar.

Pach raised his arms up to appear non threatening. Er, now please, if you wouldnt mind letting me speak, I can help sort out this misunderstanding that youve

DETAIN THEM! cried the lead guardsmen.

The Pirates were in deep sh*t now.

Trudi stared at the guards for a moment.

"I ain't done nothing!" she protested indignantly. "Well, not as far as I remember..."

Pach groaned and face slapped.

Tiankai whipped around to Pach. "What should we do?"

Pach opened and closed his mouth a few times. "...I am a lawyer..."

"A trainee lawyer" Geo added, he alone didn't seem too bothered about the guards.

"I prefer apprentice" Pach snapped uncharacteristically. It seemed he was getting stressed.

"Hang on a minute" It wasn't one of the Dave's crew. It was a guard. "Why are we standing around and letting them chat. Shouldn't we be like, arresting"

"Good point!" Another said. "Drop your weapons! You are outnumbered and cannot win"

"Oh, but we can try!" Lokki declared, diving into the crowd of guards with his sword drawn. He was clever enough to keep well within the group of guards and crouch a little, making himself a hard target for the archers.

So the archers aimed at the rest of them instead.

Trudi screamed as she dived out of the way of an arrow, then dived behind an empty barrel. She didn't like projectile weapons. She didn't like them.

She poked her head around to see Tiankai had her smaller pistol out and was taking out some archers, Pach was using that finger of his to take some guards out, and Geo was waving that axe about and doing a fine job of decapitating some guards.

If they were caught, they were almost definatly going to have the death penalty placed on them now. Well, they were likely to anyway, but it was now almost definate.

Trudi steeled herself, drew her cutlass and dived out into the fray.

The guards weren't all delt with yet when Tiankai decided to scale the wall. She lept up quite a fair height, then dug her claws into the rock and climbed the rest. Taking out the watchmen, she beckoned to the crew and threw a rope down.

Pach was first to grab the rope and scale it, adrenaline helping him to scale it quickly where he would have normally taken a lot longer. Trudi came second, eager to get away from the archers. Lokki and Geo had one of their well spoken discussions as they slayed the last few guards before they too climbed it.

"I wonder where our comraids Gingerbread, THS and Aiden are" Lokki said quietly as he ducked under the battlements to make himself harder to target.

"Probably getting themselves drunk, my fine man!" Geo exclaimed as if he was preforming a play.

"Even Aiden?"

"He would if he had sense!"

Pach stared down into the central district. "Thanks to this, the whole city would be looking for us. We need somewhere to hide"

Deckman found a particularly ostentatious looking mansion, and decided that he had found his next target. It took him a few moments to get over his awe of the sheer size of the building. Conveniently, the occupants of this not-so-humble abode, with all their wealth, didn't think to buy themselves some decent security. He broke in almost effortlessly.

He looked around. The walls were plastered with all manner of priceless paintings, jewelry, and antique swords; most of the furniture seemed to have been made of solid gold; the rug he was standing on was probably worth more than he was. He found a closet and looked inside; it was filled with lavish, expensive clothing and some more miscellaneous treasures. He could have made a fortune just from this room alone. Obviously, it wouldn't make much of a difference to the people who lived here if he relieved them of some of their goods...

Before Deck could touch anything, however, a man with the most obnoxious moustache he had ever seen barged into the room. The man tried to draw his sword, but he was too slow: Deck was already holding a dagger to his throat.

Deck tried to think of something witty or intimidating to say. He decided to cut the crap. "Give me your money," he said bluntly.

"Q-Quoi?" stammered the man, with a look of fear and confusion on his face.

Deck stared. After a moment, he replied "Donnez-moi l'argent. Maintenant."

The mustachioed man complied. Slowly, he removed his wallet and handed it to Deck.

Deck then decided that he really needed a sword. "Et le sabre. Lentement." The man handed it over.

Deck thought for a moment, then said "Et votre chapeau." Reluctantly, the man removed his most stylish hat and gave it to him.

"Merci beaucoup!" said Deck, and he knocked the man out with the hilt of his dagger. French bastard.

-----

Deckman finally emerged from the mansion. He had stripped the room of...well, everything, and he struggled to carry it with him. He looked at his new watch, and noticed that he was supposed to arrive at the city center five minutes ago. Swearing, he quickened his step.

He passed by the slums on his way to the center. Feeling guilty, he took out the wallet the man gave him and spilled its contents, leaving a trail of money behind him for anyone who needed it. He then ran away before anyone could mug him.

When he reached the center, he saw his crew mates caught in some sort of struggle with the guards. It was the first time he had seen them in nearly six months! Well, it was more like a few hours, but it really felt like six months.

For some reason, they were climbing a rope. He joined them, wondering what the hell their plan was.

"Perhaps the rendezvous point would be a good place to hide?" suggested Tiankai, as she gazed over the Central District.
"It might be a bit conspicuous," Pach pointed out, "but we can't hang around here. Once we're down inside the Central District we'll probably find somewhere more suitable". As Tiankai nodded he added, "that was some quick thinking with the rope. Thanks".
"Yes, where did you find that rope?" Lokki asked, "and for that matter what's the other end attached to?"

Tiankai shrugged. "Beats me," she said, "I just found the thing once I got up here and assumed that it would be able to hold you and that it would be securely tied. Which is an awful lot of assumptions to make about a rope I've only just met, I know, but it worked, so what the heck. You might as well ask when Deck caught up with us, or where he got so much loot from outside the Central District". As the others turnd to discover that Deck had indeed joined them Tiankai added, "but before we leave might I suggest that we open the gates to the Central District before more guards arrive?"

"What for?" Geo asked.
"I can think of three reasons for doing it offhand," Tiankai informed him, "reason number one: It'll make it easier for the rest of the crew to get in here if or when they decide to show up. Secondly; if the gates are open then most likely a number of people from the slums will rush in, hoping to make off with anything they can carry. That would mean the guards would have to divide their efforts between tracking us down and keeping them out, increasing our odds of escape. Thirdly, if the chaos opening the gates would cause goes on long enough, they might still be open when we want to escape". Having said all this, she turned to Pach. "You're the captain," she said, "so the choice is yours. Do you want to go along with my suggestion or not?"

Pach considered the suggestion as the group continued to run, darting down an alleyway within the Central District as they raced to distance themselves from any pursuing guards.

Its a possibility, but Id doubt itd work, he replied. We might have just been able to get away from the guards by then, but cmon, it was luck. This citys militia are well trained they must to have been able to defend this city as well as they have for so long. Even if we could manage to open the gate, theyd more than likely just as easily close it shut again. None of the people in the slums seemed as if theyd really want to try to get into the District, anyway

It was a suggestion Tiankai quietly said.

And a good one at that but Im not sure how well itd work. I think itd be best to be less conspicuous now. That, and we should really investigate the situation here more. Pach nodded as he spoke.

Situation eh wot? Geo asked.

The attitude of the people living here. Whether they deserve to be robbed or not Pach spoke.

Their attitudes. You mean, whether they appear to be so selfish and arrogant as to keep all of their wealth to themselves and not try to help the less fortunate populace? Lokki queried.

Thats right. I cant imagine all of the people here would be like that, so wed only steal from those who give off that sense of attitude. Pach said.

Oh we were supposed to check their attitude first? Deck spoke aloud, scratching the back of his head. Quite conveniently he had hid his stash of loot before joining the other crewmembers, being as it would that it was difficult to climb a rope, run and carry so much stolen valuables around with him. Plus, itd free him up of space to steal more things.

But first, Lokki asked. What do we do about the meeting spot?

We find a safe place to hide first, thatll allow us to see the meeting spot, Pach explained. If were lucky, none of the others would have done anything illegal in this city so they can get around alright,

Despite not being allowed through the Gate? Tiankai asked.

They should be resourceful enough if theyre not drunk somewhere, Pach replied. We find a safe spot, look out for them at the meeting place, wait 15 minutes for them and then after that, we decide what we do next

Meanwhile...

"Fresh air!" Aidan clambered up the ladder and lay on the cobbled ground of the Central District, breathing in all the fresh air he could.

"Oh come on, it's not bad." O'Donnell rolled his eyes.

"Maybe if you're used to it, yes." Aidan got up to look around. They had arrived down a back street in the Central District. They stepped out to find themselves in a nice courtyard, with a number of fabulous mansions around the edge, however, the tranquiliy was somewhat disturbed by a ruckus a fair distance away.

"Sounds like trouble at the gate..." O'Donnell raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm. I bet I can guess who's responsible." Aidan murmured before turning to Don. "So where is this residence we'll be raiding?"

"Not raiding my friend." Don pointed to a large mansion, instantly noticeable was the military ensignias adorning the doors and walls. "Just procuring an item or two. That there is residence of Major Karlus Everly. Rumour has it he's been kidnapping poor folk to work in his mine's on one of his private islands. He should have an amulet belonging to...someone he took, along with records. I need to break in and acquire them for someone."

"Not a nice folk then..." Aidan crossed his arms.

"Not particularly. We might have to help...clean up Major Everly's mansion, if you know what I mean." Don rubbed his hands together. "Take some of those peices of jewellery and treasure that is no doubt clogging up his mansion."

"Oh of course, I'm always happy to help." Aidan chuckled, and the two crept closer to the mansion, ready for a good old fashioned pillage.

OOC: Damn it this rp must live!! :OOO

If nobody minds, Id like to create a survey for the rp and see what all of your thoughts are on the series so far. Ive toyed around with this idea for a while and from it Ill be able to see what works in the rp, and what doesnt.

If you wouldnt mind answering the survey and pming me with your answers in like an ezmessage or whatever, Id be grateful. Of course, you dont have to take part, if you so wish.

1) What has been your favourite story arc so far?
- Espoir Gauche
- Deserted Island
- Mikai Istou
- Another Island
- Gredalst Gate
- Creoland
- Gredalst
- Vansted Vale

And if possible, can you explain why its your favourite?

2) Which has been your least favourite story arc so far? Same options as the first question applies, and, again, if possible, can you explain why?

3) Which is your favourite character in the rp? You are not allowed to choose your own.
- Pach
- Capn Fishears
- Lokki
- Aidan
- THS
- Trudi
- Deckman
- Goldstein
- Geo
- Tiankai
- Capn Gingerbeard
- Ruby

If you care to elaborate on why you like that character the best, feel free to do so.

4) Are you happy with the level of development your character has had? Are you pleased with how well youve rped with them?

5) On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, how would you rate your enjoyment of the rp as a whole? Has it been high or low?

6) Do you have any ideas for a future island/scenario for the characters to experience in the near future of the rp? If so, feel free to suggest it, and its possible itll happen.

7) What was the single, funniest moment in your opinion of the entire rp so far? At the same time, what do you think was the single, worst moment of the entire rp?

8) Is there anything specific youd like to see in an effort to improve the rp? Give details if so.

9) Have you ever considered dropping out of A&W? If so, why?

10) Ale and Wenches comic. Is it:
- Yes.
- Yes!
- Very yes.
- OH HELL YES!!
- soup

11) The entire motive of the rp is for the characters to search for the treasure identified on the map. The contents of this site, and any possible treasure that is there, has been decided upon since the very beginning of the series. But, I have given no indication of what it may be or have I?

What do you think is the contents of the final treasure, if there even is any?

Tah, thank you. Rper feedback is always good, and whilst I have a general gist of it thanks to discussions in the chat, I feel that something like this will be of a benefit to the rp. So yeah, if you could send any replies in an ezmessage or whatnot, please do. I may post the results later.

Posting them in the rp itself might be an interesting idea if some of you want to do so, but it could clog up the rp a bit in terms of length, and I dont intend for the favourite character question to come across like a popularity poll. That said, I feel were all mature enough eh. If you feel like posting your opinions in the rp, do so as discussions encouraged but at the same time if youd rather not make your answers public like that, ezmessage is fine.

Man that was a bit dragged out, huh.

IC:
To the A&Wers who had broken into the Central District, and whom were being pursued by the citys militia, it felt like weeks had passed since they started running. In all honesty, it was more around 20 minutes, but the fact was the situation was the same.

Pach had suggested they find a safe location to look at the square in front of the clock tower for any of their companions, but doing so proved difficult. The militia were well organised. It took them all of their effort just to keep running and away from them.

We cant keep doing this, mang, Geo muttered. We need to find somewhere to hide!

Well, obviously Pach replied.

I think we should go with Tiankais suggestion, Lokki added. I mean, its better than continually running and getting nowhere good.

agreed. Pach nodded. Lets split up into groups of two. He pointed to Lokki, Geo and Deck. You three take the Western Gate. Trudi, Tiankai and I will take the Northern.

Basically just open them, right? Lokki asked. Any means necessary?

Thats right. Pach answered.

ALRIGHT, MORE SLAYING HERE I COME!! Geo shouted, running towards the Western Gate that was in view. Pach sighed, before his group carried on. Lokki and Deck raced off to join him.

So, girls, Pach began, as they continued running towards the Northern Gate, the group of guards whom had been pursuing them having reduced their numbers after splitting up to also pursue Lokkis group. Got any ideas on how to force open that gate?

Tiankai began to consider the situation, whilst Trudi snarled that she had been teamed up with the other female. Pach didnt realise just how bad the tension between the girls would have been

The gate finally came into view, by which time the group were wearing out. Pach's fur was sticking to his body with the sweat, and he was huffing and puffing. Not kittens though. Just air. Doesn't give the same kick, but never mind. Trudi was also tired out, her cheeks were flushed red and she too was sweaty. She was even showing a slight limp. Even Tiankai was showing signs of wear, although she seemed to be ignoring them.

"The doors seem to be operated by a mechanism, operated by a switch" Tiankai observed. "The switch is in there"

She pointed to a small hut. Well, hut is an understatement. Gate House is a better term. It was small yet was in no means lacking in grandeur. Gold patterns ran over it's high quality thatched roof, and it's bricks were covered with exquisit carvings.

Unfortunatly said Gate House had two men with cannons standing in front of it. Aiming.

"Well that's a daft idea if I've ever seen one" Pach sighed. Indeed, wouldn't the cannons damage the buildings surrounding them?

Oh well, maybe they were looking for intimidation over practicallity.

A cannon fired with a mighty BOOM, and the group scattered. Trudi stopped, dropped and rolled, which is a procedure which should be preformed in every emergancy situation. Fire? Stop drop and roll. Hurricane? Stop drop and roll. Trialed in court? Stop drop and roll.

Well, that was Trudi's opinion on it. That'll get her far, that will.

After realising that rolling around on the floor would only get her so far, she stood up and threw herself towards one of the guards, who looked a bit startled. She kicked his feet from under him, and raised her sword when...

...Tiankai knocked him out with a blow to the head.

"He could come in useful, you know" Tiankai remarked.

Trudi seethed then slowly lowered her sword, although did not put it away. She saw that Pach was dealing with the oncoming guards with shouts of HOLD IT and so forth.

Also, the second guard was already unconcious and tied up.

"@#%$" Trudi muttered

"What?"

"Um... er... I said 'bock'"

"What's a 'bock'"

"UM... ER... IT'S A UM A UMMMMMMM"

Tiankai gave her a wierd look then continued tying up the second guard.

And if you're wondering where the string was from, there was some in the Gate House. Along with a man so drunk that he had passed out. He seemed to be the gate operator.

"SOME HELP PLEASE" Pach shouted back to them. "I KNOW I'M THE BLOODY MAIN GUY BUT YOU GUYS ARE SUPPOSED TO HELP"

"BETTER IDEA" Tiankai yelled back. She told Trudi to drag the two guards into the building then ran forwards and whispered to Pach her idea.

His eyes widened and he looked like he was suffering some kind of internal conflict. Tiankai scowled at him and whispered something else, then Pach sighed before they both ran back and dragged the last guard in (of course Trudi didn't have enough time to drag both in. Duh.)

Pach then barred the door.

He then span around to face the two women, or girls, or whatever.

"Let me just confirm that I don't agree with this in any way"

"Why what are we doing?" Trudi asked. Well, Tiankai wasn't going to say it was she.

"Hostages" Pach hissed.

Trudi made a very obvious 'Oooooh' face, then clapped her hands together. "I've never done that before! I'm so excited!"

"It isn't something to be proud of" Pach scowled. He turned to the desk where the man was slumped over. "Now, how do I operate this..."

This happened to be a relevant question. After all, the desk had more buttons and leavers on it than a space shuttle.

Oops.

[OOC] ACK I had no idea it was censored #o.o#

Tiankai looked up from tying up the hostages and noticed that Pach's question was a very relevant question indeed. Casting a glance around the interior of the gatehouse, she noticed the near-comatose operator. "I'll try and get something out of this guy," she informed Pach. "Isn't that kind of a long shot?" Pach asked, "I mean he's not exactly lucid at the moment is he?"
"Leave that to me," Tiankai told him, "I have a traditional remedy that might help". Pach donned a dubious expression upon hearing that, but shrugged and said, "he's all yours".

Tiankai knelt down, so that she was almost level with the operator. Taking a small container from her belt, she opened it slightly and waved it before the inert operator's nose. The operator coughed, gasped, and started making incoherent sounds. "From comatose to semi-conciousness," Pach remarked and added, "what was that you used anyway?"
"Smelling salts," Tiankai replied. "Smelling salts?" Pach repeated incredulously. "You shouldn't knock them if they work," Tiankai remarked. "They've only had partial success," Pach pointed out, "he still can't tell us anything useful".

"True," Tiankai admitted, "but there's one other traditional method I can try". Taking hold of the operator's lolling head, she supported it with one hand whilst passing a finger from the other back and forth before his eyes to gauge his reaction. Then suddenly she swung her free hand and slapped him across the face almost hard enough to twist his head through 180 degrees. The operator gave a loud groan and tried to scrabble away from the direction the blow had come from. Before he could however, Tiankai grabbed him and said, "tell us how to open the gate!" The operator mumbled something the others couldn't make out and waved a hand vaugely in the direction of the control desk before passing out again.

"Well, that looks like it was a roaring successs," Pach commented sarcastically as Tiankai let the operator sag to the floor again. Tiankai didn't answer immediately. Going over to where her unfortunate 'patient' had pointed, she reached under the desk. Then saying, "it wasn't a complete failure," drew forth a book with a flourish. The book was quite a tome, and was marked with the words users manual. Tiankai began flipping through the tome, giving the others a running commentary: "Welcome to your guide for the really big gate unit...hmm, I think we can skip that part...batteries not included...thirty year gurantee-interesting; that expires at the end of this month...aha! Diagram for 'getting started'!" She paused dramatically before beginning to read aloud again.

"Insert key and turn 360 degrees to the right," she read. "That's already been done," Pach informed her. "Make sure red 'power' light is on," Tiankai continued. Again Pach nodded. Tiankai let her eyes scan the instructions again before saying, "alright, pull the small blue lever". Pach complied, and a high-pitched whine came from somewhere outside, followed by the sounds of the guards outside shouting and running. "What happened?" he asked, shooting Tiankai a suspicious look. "Apparently the small blue lever activates some sort of 'internal defence system'," Tiankai told him adding, "I figured since we were in here we could use it to get the guards outside off our backs". "And what about opening the gate?" Pach reminded her. "Oh that," Tiankai said in an almost offhand manner, "just push the big green button". Pach did this and a groan rose from the gates as they began to swing slowly open. "If it's that easy to open the gates," Pach said, "then what are all the other buttons for?"
"Gimmicks apparently," Tiankai said as she put down the manual, "I figured it was best not to toy with more than one though. Come on, let's get out of here". As they made their escape though, neither Tiankai or Pach noticed Trudi run her hand across the desk, pressing as many buttons as she possibly could...

Meanwhilst!

Back at the bar, THS had had quite a few drinks. Not enough to really get drunk, just enough to heighten one's spirits a little. Besides him, his newfound 'friend' had taken the alternative route and gotten utterly hammered, and was now passed out over the counter. It seemed she was right in that drinking was one of her two great loves.

The fox's inner thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud ringing. A loud ringing that occurred four times in a row. It took a moment for it to register in his semi-intoxicated state, but he leapt up as he realised it was the ringing of the clock tower in the Central District.

"Oh bollocks!" he cried suddenly, jumping from his seat. "Dammit, they'll all be waiting for me in the Central District..."

He turned and rushed to the door of the bar, but was halted by a shout of, "Yer headin' to the central district?" He turned to see the barkeep eyeing him. "If ye wouldn't mind doing me another favour, this'n" - he motioned to Ruby - "lives down that way. I'd appreciate it if yer took her with yer, I'd rather she not be wakin' up in me bar with a hangover. 'S happened before and it weren't pretty, I tell yer."

"...Um. Just where about does she live?" asked the bemused fox. He felt as though he was some sort of video game environment, where performing needless sidequests was primary to advancing in the game. Or would, if video games existed within the time period.

"How should I know, eh?" was the only answer. "Yer best off asking someone round that way. Got some tight security on the gate, but yer should be able to get in with 'er."

THS sighed and slung the woman over his shoulder, before heading towards the central district. As he approached the gate, he was stopped by one of the city's soldiers. "Halt!" he shouted. "I don't recognise you...what's your purpose in the Central District?"

The fox motioned to Ruby. "I've been tasked to return her home," he said.

The soldier glanced at Ruby, then smirked knowingly. "Ah, the usual. Sorry for holding you up, it's just that we've got a security breach at the moment. Bunch of strangers have broken into the District. We're doing our best to detain them. I'll just signal to open the...huh." He turned, to find the gate opening before him. "...That's odd, procedure is I have to signal ahead first. Oh well, they must have seen us down here. You can continue with your business, and don't hesitate to contact a guard if you see anyone suspicious, ok?"

THS nodded, and began to enter the district. As he passed through the gate, he noticed all sorts of odd sounds and security alerts going off around him, however, and then saw a bunch of people running out of the gatehouse, who looked remarkably like Pach, Trudi and Tiankai. Despite burdened with Ruby, he chased after them, and finally managed to catch up with the group when they stopped to have a rest. As they realised who it was after their initial panic that a guard may have followed them, Pach panted, "Where the hell have you been!?"

THS glanced at Ruby. "Meeting the locals?" he ventured.

Trudi glared at THS, then turned her attention to the unconcious woman.

"WHO IS THAT?!" she shreiked, which in the circumstances was very much not needed.

"Um... I think she said her name was Ruby at one point..."

Trudi opened her mouth to retaliate when suddenly there was a huge bang. They span around to see shrapnel flying in all directions. It was the remains of the gatehouse. It had exploded in such a way as to completely destroy the controls inside, along with the wall and roof, yet leave the hostages inside mostly unhurt. The bang was loud enough to even awake the drunkard controls-man from his stupor.

Ooooh thought Trudi, so that's what those buttons do. The gatehouse had indeed self distructed.

"How come whenever you lot go somewhere something gets blown up" Pach sighed, putting his hand over his face.

"Um, guys? You do realise this place is full of guards" Tiankai pointed out.

Pach looked incredulously at the billowing smoke as it rose into the air from the remains of the guardhouse. He could only think what a stupid move it was to do that certainly, now, all of the citys militia would be upon them, and it could have also hurt numerous individuals. It wasnt a smart thing to do.

Then again, it WAS Trudi who did it. So obviously it wasnt smart since when has anything that girl done been a clever thing to do?

From the slums below, the masses of impoverished people had their interests piqued by the explosion. At first, they gaped in awe and confusion, uncertain how to react to this. But, it didnt take long for one individual to shout out, for the others to realise that this could have been the chance for them to finally acquire something of value, even if it was to steal from the citizens of the Central District. A gate was open, and the guardhouse for that particular gate was destroyed. The entrance was free.

Of course, it would mean they risked fighting against the militia, an idea no one thought was particularly rousing. But they had the numbers. And, of course, all of this transpired over a matter of seconds. Momentum built up and events took their own course soon enough, the inhabitants of the slums began to swarm towards the open gate like greasy fat children to chocolate cake.

Mission succeeded? THS asked. You said to give some of the loot to the people and it looks like theyre able to help themselves. We can just take what we want, right?

No this is all completely wrong Pach muttered off, as he looked outwards to the transpiring scene. This people are just going to get hurt. Weve got to stop this

Er? Didnt we do this on purpose? Trudi asked, her head tilted to one side as the gears in her brain tried to dust off the cobwebs within.

Thats right. If we didnt do this, wed be captured chances are we still will if we dont move. Tiankai reiterated, running forwards as a guard of militia appeared from behind them, beginning their pursuit of the Pirates.

Pach slowly followed from the rear, uncomfortable with what was happening, as the sounds of shouting and fighting followed behind him. And all at once, he looked up again. THS, get that girl to wherever it is she lives, and make sure shes alright. Make sure she doesnt get hurt.

THS gave a perplexed expression from behind his sunglasses. Man, Pach, you have no idea what this girl is capable of

Trudi, Tiankai, go with him and make sure he does the job properly. Pach added. Tiankai nodded whilst Trudi seemed to be a bit pissed for whatever reason. Probably still because she was hanging out with Tiankai and THS had brought another female into the equation.

And you? Tiankai asked in response.

Im going to make sure Geo doesnt go and kill anyone else. Pach replied.

Ah, of course, Tiankai nodded and smiled. Good luck.

With that, the group split at the end of the alleyway, taking opposite directions on the street they emerged into. The pursuing group acted confused at first, deliberating their options, before splitting as well into two to pursue the fleeing pirates.

Halt! Enemy to the city! shouted a rallying cry from a guardsmen. Pach just kept running, desperately trying to put distance between him and those chasing.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in the back of his leg. He fell over, tripping over his own legs and landing in a crumpled hump on the floor. His body was shot with agony, and he turned to inspect his leg to find an arrow firmly implanted in it. Someone had shot him with an arrow?!

Before Pach could do anything else, his hands were trapped in a metal cuff and he was surrounded, halberdiers pointed towards his neck. If he was to try and escape, it certainly wouldnt have been in one piece.

Youre under arrest on suspicion for numerous crimes. Youre going to be detained immediately, and your friends will also be captured as well. For all that youve done youll no doubt get the death penalty. The commanding officer shouted aloud. Pachs vision was becoming hazy. Before he could do anything else, his entire vision went black, as someone smacked him across the back of his head to send him swirling into unconsciousness.

The current time was 4:40pm. The rest of the day, during which the pirates remained on the island, would set to pave the way for a most peculiar event

Meanwhile...(again)

While everything was going to pot outside, Aidan was having a very relaxing time sifting through a huge desk and an even bigger pile of papers.

"You know, I'm still not sure what we're looking for here." Aidan closed another drawer and turned to Don.

"It's here somewhere! You'll kow what it looks like when you see it!" Don huffed and got back to rolling his eyes over the contents of a bookshelf.

Aidan got down to another desk in the drawer. Locked. Oviously there was something important in here. He took the pistol off his belt, loaded with a single shot and fired, blowing the lock.

"What the hell?!" Don looked over to Aidan.

"Just get over here." Aidan said to him. "I may have found what we're looking for."

Don hurried over to see Aidan sifting through a plethora of documents, a huge list of names, a map, and an amulet, which O'Donnell quickly snatched. He looked into it for a minute, almost lost in it, then put it in his pocket, and turned to looking at the documents.

"This is it!" Don grinned. "Come on, let's get out of here." Don picked up a bunch of expensive jewellery from the top of the desk and dashed down the stairs, with Aidan following. "Well, this has been mighty fun hasn't it? Good luck with...whatever you're doing here." and with that, O'Donnell ran out the door and out of Aidan's sight.

"Well that was nice of him..." Aidan rolled his eyes and looked around. This place was rife with valuables and antiques he could pilfer. The trouble was, how was he going to get all this stuff out of here...

"AAAAH" A familiar voice screamed at Aidan.

"AAAAAH" Aidan screamed at the familiar voice, until he realised it was just Trudi, along with THS, Tiankai and some clearly drunk woman hanging off THS.

"Perfect timing!" Aidan said as he waved at the group. "I've got myself some treasure here I need help with carrying to the ship, fancy giving me a hand?"

"We're kind of busy at the moment..." Tiankai said. "Can you wait a minute?"

Aidan sighed. "Ah, don't worry you go and have fun doing whatever it is you're doing, I'll catch you later."

Aidan looked around to try and figure out a way to get all this stuff back to the ship. He packed a bunch of antiques, jewels and anything else worth selling into a chest he found and dragged it outside. There, he could see a mob of people ascending from the slums. Obviously this was not good.

"Oh screw this, I better find THS, Trudi and Tiankai." And so Aidan went off in the direction they headed, dragging wth him his chest of ill-gotten gains...

Hotly pursued by a contingent of the city guards the A&W Pirates ran up the street as fast as they could. As they continued to run though, they noticed that the street was built on a very steep slope and that they were quite literally running up it. "Whose idea was it to go this way?" THS complained, starting to feel the weight of the inert Ruby, who was still slung over his shoulder. "Never mind that just now," Tiankai answered, "we're nearly at the top. Once we start going down the other side we ought to pick up some speed". Moments later this proved true since the hill the street ascended was no less steep on one side than the other, and the pirates found themselves moving in an almost uncontrollable rush.

Suddenly Tiankai- who found herself briefly pushed to the front- noticed a dark opening in the road ahead, and smelled an unmistakable smell. "Open sewer ahead!" she called to the others. Then, noticing a small side street, added, "steer to your left!" Following this advice, the crew managed to stop in the side street just in time to watch their pursuers go flying past. The guards came to an unsteady halt just in front of the opening. The A&W crew sensed that all it would take would be one final little shove to see them plunge into the sewers. Then suddenly, that final shove arrived. Aidan came over the hill, running as fast as he could and dragging a large chest behind him. With gravity now aiding him, the chest suddenly began to move much faster, causing Aidan to lose his footing and end up on top of it. Unhindered, the chest hurtled past the A&W crew like a juggernaut, finally stopping when it hit the back of the guards, who promptly vanished into the darkness below.

As the others went over to help Aidan THS said, "well that's one problem solved, but what am I going to do with her?" 'Her' being Ruby. "Well, since we've no longer got the guards after us," Tiankai said, "I suggest we look for her home and deliver her to it". Since no-one had any better ideas at that moment the A&W crew began looking for someone who could give them directions.

A cough and a splutter eminated from THS' shoulder "...kill it with fire...", the drunk girl murmered to herself, wincing and rolling until with a crash she fell to the floor.

"GAH! OWWIEOWWIEOWWIEOWWIE OW! Damn. OW! My heaaad." she sat on the floor in a pathetic heap, her head rotating as if little cartoon stars were circling it.

As amusing as this spectacle may or may not be, it was also loud and very very annoying.

Before anyone could silence her the psychotic red head's eyes narrowed on the crew and she thrust herself to her feet.

"What's going on?! This isn't the bar!"

"DON'T SHOUT" Trudi screamed back, going slightly red in the face.

THS sighed and explained the whole buisness, missing out the blowing up bits of course.

Not that anyone who was sane would miss the shouting and the screaming and so forth.

Of course, was Ruby sane?

Well that is an unimportant matter at any rate, as they had other buisness to attend to.

"We need to get you home..." THS finished, only to find his audience wasn't paying attention at all.

(OOC I tend to throw other people's characters around a lot don't I... well if you don't agree with what I do with them just say and I'll edit okay?)

"Sheesh, seems like it would have been safer to take my chances on my own..." Aidan thought, as Trudi seemed to be getting more riled up over this other girl, and said girl being drunk off her head, and probably wouldn't say no to a scrap. Aidan rummaged through his chest of pillaging, and put on a helmet from a suit of armour he had swiped.

"...Is that really necessary?" Tiankai looked at Aidan

Aidan raised an eyebrow, though noone would be able to see him do it through the helmet covering his face. "...you're joking right?"

Throughout the streets of Vansted Vales Central District and the immediate surrounding slums, chaos ensued. The impoverished citizenry, angry and furious at the years of unfair treatment in contrast to the ridiculously over-wealthy individuals of the central district had decided to take matters into their own hands. An eye for an eye, one would say. Mass looting began, and many of the people of the slums began to be injured, not only by one another, but by the Citys army that responded to the crisis and sought to resolve it, immediately.

Fires broke out and the sounds of several localised explosions also ran rampant. The sound of screaming and shouting bellowed out, drowning out the usual empty quietness that belonged in the Central District. It was mayhem.

One individual simply moved calmly throughout the fighting, keeping at a steady pace as they surveyed the chaos erupting on either side of them. Individuals, lost in their own all consuming thoughts of greed and hatred, fighting over the right of the wealth that was kept in this city. The individual who continued onwards was no doubt curious by all the fighting, but for a different reason entirely. He wondered how his crew was faring during all this.

Captain Fishears was oblivious to any harm or danger that might have befallen him. He couldnt be contacted by anyone else, so a stray lunge or stab by a weapon was inconsequential. He could simply walk through people and walls, so he was naturally distant to all the fighting. It had no bearing on him.

Fishears had inspected from the sky earlier the open gates, from where people from the slums flooded in from. He couldnt believe it was intentional by the militia or clumsiness either. No, in all likelihood it was because of his crew.

Man, the chaos they cause

Fishears continued to float straight onwards, phasing through the buildings that were in his way, inspecting their richly contents and the ensuing fights that inevitably resulted in them. It was by pure coincidence that the next home he phased into, was that of Rubys home, and where he was greeted by the familiar site of his crewmates.

Yarr, what be the reason youre all in here? Fishears asked, tilting his head to one side. I thought youd have made use of the confusion outside to raid the Cathedral or Castle?

"Yes well, while I was busy pillaging, I think this lot got into faring drunks home..." Aidan said to Fishears.

Fishears just gave him a strange look.

"Oh right, the helmet." Aidan took off his helmet to reveal his face, then ruffling up his hair to it's usual mess. "Anyway, I've done my pillaging quota for today." He continued to speak and patted the chest beside him. "As--"

"GHOOOOST!" Ruby screamed and pointed at Fishears. "GHOOOOOST!" She screamed again, this time lunging at Fishears.

Aidan sighed, and put his helmet back on again.

Tiankai watched Ruby lunging ineffectually at Fishears and shrieking loud enough to bring the roof down on them. Sighing slightly, she gave her long ears a tender massage. Between Ruby & Trudi, her ears had recieved quite a bit of abuse today, sensitive as they were. Perhaps she should've kept wearing that top hat. Okay it was a touch uncomfortable, but at least it would have muffled the noise around her somewhat.

"THS used Ruby there to get into the Central District," Tiankai informed Fishears, "and while he was doing that Pach, myself & Trudi were opening one gate, whilst Lokki & Geo took the other in order to generate a little chaos. Unfortunately one of us-," here she shot a meaningful look at Trudi-, "who shall remain nameless decided it would be a good idea to mess around with the control system for the gates & caused an explosion..." Tiankai continued to relate events to Fishears, concluding with, "and then Ruby woke up. So since she was awake and Pach ordered us to get her home safely, we managed to get some directions out of her- between her verbal battles with Trudi- and here we are".

"And where be your captain? Your living captain I mean?" Fishears demanded. "That's a good point," Tiankai remarked, "he said he was going to help Lokki & Geo, but we haven't heard from him since. Mind you, we did all have city guards after us. I suppose Pach & the other two might still be trying to evade them, or trying to find us in the mayhem outside. Or something bad might've happened to them. As to where the rest of the crew are, your guess is as good as mine".

"As raiding & pillaging goes, I've seen far better," Fishears remarked, still steadfastly ignoring Ruby's attempts to grab at him. "Yes," Tiankai admitted, "one of our captains & several crew members unaccounted for- if they aren't in a bar somewhere- and only Deck and Aidan have done any actual pillaging. Well, I suppose we could try to alter some of that now".

"What do you mean 'alter'?" Aidan asked, removing his helmet again. "Fishears mentioned a Cathedral & a Castle," Tiankai clarified, "we could attempt to raid one of those- if someone else hasn't already done so- while the confusion and uproar lasts. We might hear something about Pach or the others while we're about it".
"That sounds more like what I had in mind when we got here," Fishears said, a not entirely pleasant grin playing across his features. "Well, which do we go for; the Cathedral or the Castle?" Tiankai asked & added, "I'm fine with either, but if you go for the Cathedral I'm afraid I can't do any actual raiding".

"What do you mean 'can't do any raiding?'" Fishears demanded. "I can't go raiding any building that's being actively used for a religious purpose," Tiankai said. Noticing the looks she was getting from the other crew members, she shrugged and added, "it's a culture thing. I can stand guard or something though!"
"What about me & Deck though?" Aidan wanted to know, "we've already done our share of pillaging".
Tiankai thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose you could stay here and look after Ruby," she suggested. "So; we're joining you guys on the raid," Aidan answered, "question is: Where are we going?"

"WILL YOU PEOPLE STOP TREATING ME LIKE A HELPLESS LITTLE GIRL!!!" shrieked Ruby, swinging her flashy looking sword about wildly in the air. "I am Ruby Chronos, fastest blade in the land and I will not be babied!"

Her wild eyes scanned the crew, none looking too amused by her antics. Fishears more or less dismissing it, THS looking rather uncomfortable, Trudi glaring dagger at the crimson haired biatch, Tiankai covering her ears and Aidan wishing he'd just gone raiding.

Suddenly Ruby's features flickered from rage into a cute and warm smile "Plus, the best loot can be found at daddy's mansion", an almost creepy innocence coated her features as she just smiled, eyes closed and humming joyfully to herself.

Ruby swayed from side to side, her arms behind her back as she continued to hum to herself in a somewhat childish manner. Fishears raised a perplexed eyebrow as he just gazed at the girl. No doubt she was unusual, even in the light of the crew he was with

What do you mean by that, girl? Fishears asked. Wheres your Fathers mansion? And if your father has a mansion where the heck are we, arr? Fishears looked around. Where is your daddys mansion, and why would it have more treasure than the Castle?

She looks around the alley that they'd ended up in, quite innocently "I was unconcious. How the hell should I know?" she glares at THS, yet in a honey coated voice of sickening sweetness continues "that big bad man must have wanted to do horrible things with my body in this alley way" her eyes shift left and right and she spins around and thrusts her finger outwards with a wide grin.

"And to answer your question. Because daddy's mansion is on the castle grounds. If you all promise to be nice gentlemen, ladies and..." she eyes Trudi for a moment before spinning back and clapping her hands togteher "if you play nice, I can tell daddy I met some charming fellows in the bar and wanted to show them my room!"

Her head tilted and she blinked twice "unless... do you want to break in and fight all the guards... because I'm totally ok with that too." she giggles playfully "I haven't fought with soldiers for a while, I wonder if they're trained better... or maybe they have better armor and weapons now... Oooo, I can't wait. When do we leave?"

If there was one thing that was pure, plain and clear by now, it's that Ruby was a dangerous lunatic and needed to be locked away. It was also clear why she was allowed to run havoc around the island without any firm punishments.

Fishears sighed, then spoke on. If its on the Castle grounds then we may as well go there. We can kill two birds with one stone loot both the girls mansion and the Castle itself!

not getting a bit greedy, are we? Tiankai mused aloud.

Were pirates, what do you think, wench? Fishears responded. The ghost then turned back towards Ruby. Just going in there and trying to fight whatever guards are left there just sounds suicidal. Twould be better to get in without any harm done and since were in an easy position to do that with you, girl, then we should go with it.

You think with the crisis going on around here this fighting thats going on, we can just get onto the castle grounds easily enough? THS asked. Im not sure theyd let random strangers in

But theyd allow someone like ME in, Ruby emphasised. My daddy is very important. The guards would want to make sure Im safe, and Ill be able to get you people through too, easy peasy!

Well then, lets too it. And once those guards are distracted in trying to keep the peace from those who lived in the slums we can slip around back and loot the place for all its worth! Fishears declared. The group nodded, it made sense.

The Cathedral also almost directly next to the Castle Grounds, so if you want to go there afterwards as well, we always could, Ruby chimed in. Now, to my daddys mansion! Follow me!

Trudi looked at Ruby in horror. She, Trudi Wyatt, wasn't a woman?! SHE WASN'T A WOMAN?!?!?!

She seized her loose collar and pulled it away from her, staring at her chest. "THESE ARE REAL AREN'T THEY?!" she yelled, looking a little upset. She ran up to Aiden. "THESE ARE REAL, RIGHT?!?!?!"

Poor Aiden looked as though he was about to faint, but kept his conciousness none-the-less. He quickly averted his eyes. "I...uh...ah..."

Ruby giggled with a sort-of-false sickly sweet laugh. "Oh dear"

Trudi spun her head around at her, eyes narrowed. "They are real, if I remember right"

"...'if ye remember right'?" Fishears sighed. "Stop worrying ye daft wrench. Let's get back to what we were supposed to do"

"Oh thank god I'm a wrench" Trudi sighed, sorted out her top and put a big grin on her face. Apparently she considered it a complement.

Tiankai put a hand on her shoulder in the sort of way people do when they feel sorry for you.

[edit] OOC - edited for clarification

Vansted Vale Alleyway

The group of pirates dived out of the alleyway, and began running forwards towards the Castle grounds where the heaviest amount of security laid, and beyond that, the richest upper class gentry also lived, including Rubys fathers mansion. The great plan to absolutely pillage the mansion was under way!

Fighting echoed out throughout the streets. Impoverished people fought weakly against the overpowering militia, but the sheer number of those who lived in the slums made the fighting equal. The group desperately ducked and dodged random gunshot fires and the sweeping arcs of blades that involved themselves in other clashes. An explosion rocketed next to them, a building set on fire, but the group persevered and quickly moved on, ignoring the hazard and following Ruby as she led them towards the castle grounds.

It didnt take long to reach an embankment, a barricade had been set up with several of the citys militia guarding the area outside the entrance to the Castle grounds. As soon as Ruby and the pirates stepped onto the nearest bit of land to the barricade, the militia raised their weapons and firearms to the group, training their aim on the group, frowning.

If you do not wish to be executed immediately, turn around and return to the slums! The supposed leader of the guardsmen yelled out, his voice booming and commanding.

Ruby slowly walked forwards, and put on her sweetest voice possible. Oh, you dont remember me, Captain? You dont remember Ruby?

The captains eyes bulged wide as he remembered HIS daughter. He started to sweat a little and raised his weapon. Er, Madam Ruby, good to see you again

Me and my friends just want to get into the Castle grounds and be safe from all this fighting. Well hurry straight to daddys mansion. Ruby nodded, smiling.

The guard nodded. Thats, er, alright. Keep going, then. The Captain ordered two of his soldiers to open the entrance of the barricade somewhat to let the group in.

Are you sure, captain? We dont know who those people with her are, we should verify who they are first or an hesitant soldier began to reason.

This is Lady Ruby, soldier. Let the girl pass, or believe me, well all be in for it later. The Captain whispered back. The girls a little devil, but her father... The captain shivered at the thought. Hes even WORSE. You dont want to piss him off now let the girl through!

The soldiers nodded. The barricade was opened, and the group passed through, thanking the guardsmen before climbing the small set of steps up to the castle grounds and past the large gates beyond them. Once through the gate and walls barricading the castle grounds, the group was actually in. They could see the largest, most imposing Castle before, made completely from gold and decorated with various other jewels around it. This had to be by far, the most valuable building in the entire city. To the groups right, after a short walk, was the residential area for the top brass of the citys elite. Those whom had the highest social standing below the King. People such as Rubys father.

Yarr, show us to ye daddys mansion, girly, Fishears spoke, having hovered above the ground and over the barricade before, so as not to attract the guardsmens attention. Show us to the loot!

OOC: Oh FINE.

IC: The present crew, and sadistic fight obsessed drunkard crazy girl walked through the huge ruling class estate, various mansions and small castles litters the lawn leading to the spectacular giant one which sat beaming down on the entire island.

As to be expected, a line of guards patrolled the front of that castle and due to the riot action outside the general air of the atmosphere was tense and guards were prepared to attack any invaders.

Some gave the crew a suspicious and dangerous eye, one even attempted to approach before Ruby's piercing glare and childishly innocent smile warded the poor guy off.

"Daddy's an advisor to the king" she explained, briefly "with everything going on, I'm sure the fuddyduddy's have all retreated to the castle, meaning most of these mansions are empty and fresh for picking... but the moment you upset these guards... well. You're still out of breath from the last time you piqued their attention" she seems blissful, skipping along. Far too merry for someone who is about to rob their own property.

The crew eyed all the mansions of all those high ranking in the king (or queen's?) employ. The situation could not be more perfect, the only thing which could stop them from bringing back a literal king's ransom would be their own greed.

"Halt. Who goes there?" an almost teenaged guard shouted with too much enthusiasm.

"Shut the hell up Johnny and open the door. I'm having friends over until the violence calms down... I hope there's not a problem!"

"N--no ma'am..." Johnny the Guard whimpered in responce, apparantly used to the devilish upstart and her terrifying personality.

"Good" she smiled pleasantly, walking on in to the rather large (though not THE largest) mansion, from the inside it was truly a sight to behold, vases, portraits, armor and weapons lining the walls, tiaras and necklaces in cases.

Unsuprisingly the theme seemed to be with any given item that they contained or depicted rubies.

"Yeah. Daddy is an obsessed ruby collector" she says, off hand "hence the name. Go nuts, I'll be in the kitchen making myself a snack"

As the group followed Ruby into the residential area Tiankai cast her eyes over their surroundings. How opulent, how indulgent they were; how very different from her homeland. She noticed that Fishears & most of the rest of the crew seemed already to be weighing their surroundings on the mental scales, estimating their value. Tiankai sighed inwardly. She had already found what mattered to her in the old university, none of the grandeur that they now walked amidst had any meaning for her; she found it positively decadent. "How can they even build places like this?" she mused aloud, "if you think of the effort that must've been involved, the wealth that was squandered on it...it's no wonder there's such dire poverty throughout the rest of the city. But do these people care? No, they hide behind their high walls in their golden mansions. They're happy to let everyone else die of disease & starvation, as long as they are content!"

"You might want to keep thoughts like that to yourself," Aidan cautioned as they continued to follow Ruby's lead, "we are in the middle of Central District after all".
"And we're here to rob it," Tiankai answered, though she dropped her voice to a whisper, "does that make us better than they are or worse?"

"Better," Aidan said, "we're robbing from the rich to give to the poor after all. Or that's what Fishears said".
"True," Tiankai admitted, "but I wonder how much of the loot Fishears and the rest of us will take as our percentage?"
"That's an unusual thing for a pirate to be concerned about," Aidan commented.
"Maybe," Tiankai replied, "but I've only been a pirate since I joined your crew. Before that I had no reputation as a law-breaker".
"Then how come you're such a skilled fighter if you weren't a pirate?" Aidan asked.
"Before I joined this crew," Tiankai informed him, "I was travelling alone. Do you have any idea the kind of risks a girl my age faces travelling alone if she can't defend herself?" She paused for a moment, looking in the direction of their ghostly captain. "I'll bet Fishears has plenty of ideas about those kinds of dangers," she said softly, "I'll go so far as to speculate that he might even have been the cause of some of them in his time. That's one of the reasons I learned to defend myself. That's one of the reasons I travel heavily armed".

"Well whatever," Aidan said, "it also came in pretty useful for joining a group of pirates didn't it? Anyway, aren't you even a little bit interested in taking some of the loot?"
"Whatever for?" Tiankai queried, "I can make all the money I want honestly". Before Aidan could form a response to this, Ruby's poisonously sweet voice called out; "everyone, we've arrived at Daddy's house!"

Aidan looked around this quite exquisite mansion he had ended up in along with his crew. It really was shimmering in rubies just like...Ruby had said.

"I wonder if there's a bathroom in this place..." Aidan looked around and took a step on the giant staircase to the first floor before turning around to turn towards the crew.

"Don't touch that chest, I pillaged that all fair and square." Aidan pointed at his huge chest of goods he had swiped earlier, and turned around to venture up the stairs and down the hallways.

After opening about 10 doors and finding nothing but bedrooms, he was turning around to head back when some strange creature jumped on his head and obscured his vision. Aidan bumped along the hallway before falling down the stairs and landing back in the lobby, the creature then jumped off his head, seemingly unscathed, and ran off. Aidan looked up to see the rest of the crew looking at him with strange looks.

"Oh, I see you met Fluffy-kins!" Ruby briefly appeared and scooped up the dog in her hands.

"...Fluffy what?" Aidan looked up, still lying on the floor.

"Isn't she cute? She's Daddy's puppy, and she's always getting into mischief!" Ruby then skipped back into the kitchen.

"...Ugh." Aidan groaned, and turned to the crew who seemed to be occupied. "What're you up to?"

"Planning." THS said, and turned back to the circle the crew had made.

"Planning is booooring." Trudi yawned and collapsed on the floor.

"Err..." Tiankai coughed after Trudi's random collapse. "Maybe we could find a way to get the gates open, which would make things easier among the confusion."

"A possibility, though maybe we should focus our efforts on finding Pach, Lokki, Geo and everyone else, who knows where they've gone..."

"Arr, maybe when we sort out our pillagings, and the chaos is under control, we be able to find 'em easier." Fishears interjected.

Aidan sat down on one of the comfy chairs, and took a biscuit from the plate on a nearby table. "This could take a while..."

Pach was unceremoniously thrown into the dank and disgusting quarters that were bathed in an endless sea of grey and black bleakness. His vision was hazy and his mind was doing somersaults, but even through the midst of shock that he was experienced after being shot in the leg by an arrow and the resultant blood loss, he could quite easily tell that where he was, was in a jail cell.

He had seen plenty of them throughout his life before, but not from perspective. As a prosecutor, he always saw the criminals on the other side whereas he simply looked down at them from outside, gleaming at their misery.

How ironic

Wait, no. He didnt deserve to be like this. He wasnt a criminal. He was forced into doing this. Was being forced to do something that you didnt want to do, your fault?

H-hey, wait a second, Pach struggled to say amidst the blurriness. Youre mistaken. Im a a prosecutor, y-you see

So youll be willing to do the prosecution for your own case? came a sarcastic reply. It took Pach a few moments to process the apparent joke, but it wasnt funny.

W-who the hell would be stupid enough to do that? Pach replied.

I dont know. Then again, I never expected Id meet anyone so stupid enough as to cause the chaos that you and your pirate group have caused. The reply mocked. Pach tried to focus, and see who it was that was talking to him, but the picture was incoherent.

Youve purposefully caused a mass panic within the Central District by not only illegally allowing yourself and your allies entry, but youve also destroyed several of the Gate systems and allowed the general populace from the Lower Districts into here as well! Theres a mass panic and bouts of fighting outside! shouted the owner of the voice, no doubt an officer.

Y-you wouldnt h-have had a fight l-like that if the system here w-was fairer Pach responded.

Not only that! continued the voice, oblivious to Pachs pleas. Your friends, and therefore yourself as well, are guilty of killing a number of our guards, as well as thieving from the properties within the Central District!

Pach just felt tired. He wanted to rest he wanted this irritating voice to just shut up.

But most importantly, the far greatest crime for anyone to commit upon the Vansted Vale kingdom you have kidnapped the Prince!

What? We kidnapped their Prince?

I dont have a clue what youre talking about. I I havent even met a Prince or anything. I didnt even know one existed! Pach shouted aloud, his thoughts becoming slightly more coherent.

Pfft, of course you would deny it. You wont escape your crimes you will be handed death. But first and foremost, your friends will have to be captured first. Your ship has already been accounted for, along with this vile and foulmouthed goat-thing. The Officer detailed. Its just the rest of your friends that need to be captured. And once that has been done, and once weve quelled the panic outside, which we WILL DO then you and your friends will be made an example of. Nobody messes with the Vansted Vale kingdom.

With that, the Officer walked out, leaving Pach alone. A million different things were swirling around inside the foxs mind, but it wasnt long before he succumbed to unconsciousness once again.

Rubys Fathers Mansion

So what does this circle mean? Aidan asked, if only to keep the conversation going.

Its a rough sketch of the Central District with some key landmarks as I remember. Fishears said, pointing at what THS should draw. The circle had four X marks, one to the north, one to the east, and the others in the south and west. They represent the Gates, if youll remember.

Aidan nodded.

In the centre of this circle, in a smaller circle still, is where we are. The Castle grounds, elevated a little bit higher than the rest of the Central District. And that little rectangle there, is this mansion, where we are. Fishears continued.

Couldnt you have just gotten a city map? Aidan asked. Would be a lot more accurate.

Yarr, shut your piehole. Fishears responded. What were going to do is split into groups of three.

Three? Trudi replied. Doesnt that come after four?

Ignoring the daft girls question, Fishears simply carried on. Well use this mansion as a base of sorts for now. The groups will be THS, Trudi and Tiankai on one team, and Aidan, Ruby and myself on the other.

Is that a good idea? Aidan asked. Id be the only one capable enough of actually carrying any loot.

Yah, thats true, but youve done a good job so far. Anyway Fishears pressed on. Each group will target another mansion nearby, and basically loot it but try to be careful you silly sausages. Then, well bring the loot back here before we move on with something else.

And at the same time, look for Pach, Deck, Lokki and Geo? THS asked.

Yah, although I doubt theyd be on the Castle Grounds. You can never know though Fishears trailed off.

When do we move? Tiankai asked.

Nightfall. Itd be harder for the guards to see us and we still need time to sort out all the valuables in here. Plus I suppose you could get some grub well move at 11:00pm. If you want, get some sleep. Just be ready.

There came a groan and a chuckle from the Jail Cell next to Pach's, it was to dark too see anything much, not to mention there was a wall in the way, but it held a certain unmistakable cigar-burned gruffness and an accent so stereotypical that it was painful.

"Do tha' be ye, young Pach me lad?" Came the voice, along with the sound of moving cloth.

"U-um, yes?... Gingerbread?" Pach enquired, dubiously. Pach was in a cell for kidnapping the prince, what could the mangy fleabag have done that was so bad to land him next tothis cell? So much for staying out of trouble.

"Aye lad. Apparently they be very strict on puli' decency laws aroun' here.... So, kidnappin' a prince heh? Wha' do tha' cap'n plan ta ransom him fer?"

Vansted Vale Dungeons

Pach swam back from the brink of darkness again to the sound of Gingerbeards voice. At first, he thought he might have died and gone to heaven, but given exactly the type of voice and his location, it was quickly replaced by the impression he had gone to Hell. Of course, he finally realised that he wasnt quite dead just yet, but then I again the comparison still fits.

We havent taken any Prince Pachs voice trailed off. At least, not that I know off

Pach moved his body, so that his back was supported by the wall. His head drooped down, his face obscured by the poor lighting and his overwhelming afro which I guess still hasnt been explained yet. I wonder if Ill get around to doing that?

Considering my crew though, I guess its not impossible that one of those other idiots did something like that, although I sure wish they didnt Pach spoke.

Wait. Your crew? came a confused reply from Gingerbeard.

Mhm. At least according to Fishears hes the one who forced me into this since the beginning. Everythings his fault. I just wanted to be a prosecutor, damn it. Pach spat out some blood from his mouth. His leg hurt like heck. It continued to drip with blood and create a small pool of it.

I thought Captain THS was well, the capn. came a baffled reply.

Youre probably just getting your foxes confused. Pach added.

Not according to him. Gingerbeard pondered for a second. Youre sure youre not just the public figurehead? THS told me youre acting like it so as to protect the real captain from any danger.

Protect THS? He wishes. Pach coughed, following it with a groan. You think Id go through all this **** if I really wanted to?

Say, Gingerbeard. Have you got anything to stop bleeding? My leg is killing me, here. Pach finished.