An Eclipse for Heroes (Flame/Virus)

[Flame]

The fresh morning breeze was if anything awakening. Perhaps that's why he sat out here at the bow of the ship staring out into the rising sun. Its brilliant light spread across the scenery before him dying it a beautiful morning glaze.

Unfortunately of course, the breeze was freaking cold! With a shiver the bandaged man pulled closer to him the blanket he had dragged out onto deck. The thick quilt surrounded him already and pulling it closer did little now that the cold wind was within its reaches, but he couldn't help his first instinct. "Damn freaking North Blue ...." He was in the end a South Blue man from the pleasantly peachy island of Cinna. This was no place for a southerner like him, it's what all his shipmates said. If he was less of a blockhead maybe he'd just take their advice and stay indoors. But no, this was his battle and he wasn't giving up here.

On the horizon he could see the faint outline of an island coming up ahead. His shivers almost came to a stop as a grin plastered itself upon his face. Of course, not even the island could really deal with the freezing cold of the morning. A trembling hand rose out of his blanket bundle pulling the fedora down upon his head. His smile faded and he went back into his trembling stasis upon the bow.

"Lo Mars! How's the morning weather doin ya'?"

The voice of fellow escapee Oric turned Mars from his statue-esque meditation as he looked back to the burly man who had been his cellmate a week or maybe it was two weeks ago. Oric was smiling that smug smile on his face. His large body and hairy limbs were at this point something that brought pure envy to Mars. The swashbuckler scowled at him obviously displeased. Sarcastically he returned "It's peachy just peachy."

"So what's up? Even if all you Northerners are freaking cold-immune muscleheads you still wouldn't come up this early just to chat with me." Mars posed his question. For the most part he was right, though it was more because they didn't like getting up at this time in the first place. Oric's smile shifted slightly before smirking upwards.

"Cap wants to talk to you, and her. I don't know what about. So don't ask me." Her ... the implication was obvious. It had been strange but in the aftermath of the first mate's death it had been Mars and another one of the inmates who had stepped up and taken leadership roles in the new combined crew. Both of them? Mars frowned then stood up wondering what this could be about.

Hopping to his feet he glanced back to the island growing before them. Then turning around he headed swiftly to the stairs which would lead him up to the captain's cabin. The swiftness was not only because of the cold, but because the captain was his hero. All the prisoner's hero for that matter. As an afterthought he spoke as he passed Oric"By the way, we've arrived at Amino." A smile brightened on Oric's face as Mars thought it might.

Making his way swiftly inside he came to a stop in front of the captain's door. There was no talking coming from the other side. The other one wasn't here yet. Shivering still, he dropped the blanket letting it curl up on the floor near his feet. Beneath it revealed his usual thin sweater and equally unworthy khaki shorts. With not much else to do he leaned himself back against the wall and waited for her to get here.

[viruswithshoes]

Unsightly but beautiful, the inner hull of the ship that once imprisoned her was now reinforced to the point where Shade doubted anyone could breach it a second time. The same iron bars that caged her were now part of the structure that protected her. It was the most emotional welding experience in all of her time as a shipwright.

The eerie quiet of the ship she strolled through told the shipwright that she'd been working through the night or perhaps an entire day. Her aching muscles suggested the latter.

For once, without a hint of trepidation the mocha-skinned young woman could use the open showers without an awkward encounter with another naked person.
Hot water struck Shade with a pressure and temperature that she regretted increasing previously, but when the water stopped her muscle pain was gone, it was all worth it.

Clothes from prisoners past were in piles of unwashed clothes destined for laundry the moment someone found out how the Marines did their laundry. Shade pickup up a black, long-sleeved and wrinkled Dosko1 Panda tee shirt with matching underwear which seemed like dirty clothes destiny.
She pulled on her tight black pants and Panda-printed bra and then proceeded to arm herself in her two wapometal swords which twisted around her forearms like long, sharp bracelets.

Wires, straps and other secret undergarments of the Muramasa women were added. In a dangerous world it was a woman's duty to be armed at all times. Shade couldn't remember a time where dressing didn't involve at least two hidden blades.
Now that the cute panda gracing her shirt was hiding enough weapons to kill a normal Marine fire team of three or four.

"You look like a pile of crap smashed by a hammer, Shade."
Hellebore white, Shade's one female friend and former cellmate, paused in her morning vomiting routine to spread her misery.
"Also, the Captain's looking for you."
Shade lightly pressed her fist against her friend's slightly swollen stomach where she imagined the beginnings of a human being met her fist to fist. "Keep Shade junior safe. No belly-flops off the deck."
Shade could not see the tired obscene gestures being pointed at her back by Hellebore and trudged towards her captain's quarters where Mars stood.

Blowing plumes of steam and shifting foot to foot while keeping tightly wrapped in her red overcoat Shade did her best not to look worried.
"This weather, eh, Mars? Who do you think will be the first to get their tongue stuck to the mast?"

She felt like mocking Mars' shorts but Shade had several cold implements of death close to her skin that her previous joke seemed almost macabre.

Think the Cap's going to designate cuddle buddies since it's so cold. Cute one gets the Captain. Sorry, Mars."
She gently punched Mars' arm with only slightly more force than she fist bumped Hellebore's unborn baby.

[Flame]

Mars glanced over turning his head to look upon Shade as she made her way up to him in the hallway. Scowling at her comment he grasped his chest carefully with both of his arms shivering still though he was inside. Without dignifying her questions with answers he simply acknowledged her. "Shade." Steel filled his voice as he looked upon her with slanted eyes in displeasure.

They had not gotten along very well since their being freed from the marine prison. Or so he had thought for a while, often on opposite sides of debates on policy or the like before the captain they were becoming the poles of the mixed crew. As Shade joked on and gave him a light punch on the shoulder he raised a confused eyebrow to her. "If you want to be part of his harem I'm sure he'll gladly take you in." Mars responded rather blandly. His hand carefully swirled its way above his cane sword's hilt.

"I'm sure he takes them in all sizes." He commented with a little more emotion as he eyed Shade's outfit up and down. She certainly was dressed warmer than he was, but then that was his own little slice of South Blue that he kept to himself. Pinching a reddening nose he blew quietly into it fumbling a few raw boogers as they dropped harmlessly to the floor.

"Oh I'm sure you'll want to know that we've arrived. Amino just came into view a few minutes ago. You can tell the rest of your revolutionary buddies." He had already informed Oric who would be spreading the word among their half of the crew. So perhaps the word had already begun being passed to the revos, but then he didn't know. Glancing up to the ceiling of the corridor he shivered again trembling as he stood. "Wonder what the cap wants to talk about ..."

The 'Cap' as he was known rarely actually called them to meetings. That he had actually called Shade and himself to one specifically also seemed off. He frowned, glancing at Shade again before pinching the bridge of his nose and rubbing it slightly. Rapping against the door once he waited for a response. A minute or two passed and there was still one bringing a sigh to his mouth.

"So how's Hellebore?" Mars brought forth a question knowing that Shade was much closer with the pregnant oaf of a woman. "Has she bloated up like a ball yet?"

SPOILER: Click to show

I think its better if they're on bad terms, having taken opposite sides of the decision of what to do. It'll make the eventual reforming later much more powerful imo.

[viruswithshoes]

Shade took Mars' question about her friend's swollen belly with mock disgust.
"Barely. I'm told she's still above me in the hottest women poll. You, on the other hand are doing quite well. You're behind Harraq, the cooper who is still a deep, deep second to you know who."

The chatty shipwright appreciated Mars' attempting conversation. After the jailbreak Shade focused on the state of their ship and Mars seemed to focus on where it was going. It didn't escape her notice that when they got together there was trouble. When she thought about the two of them becoming escaped prisoners and now, apparently, key members of a pirate crew, there was a surreal humor to be had.
If the bartender from Ice Nine could see us now." She snorted while she laughed and the cold air stung her nasal passages, giving off a bitter sound.

Though they mixed like oil and water Shade held back from embracing the red-haired fencer when she felt things were getting too unfamiliar for her. Her emotions were not like her weapons, hidden until needed, for the most part but displaying that level of sincerity didn't feel right. Mars had been her slightly put-upon rock through a tough few weeks.

What remained of the pirate crew that had saved Shade and liberated the rest of the prisoners seemed to waste no time making a home out of the ship they had invaded. She'd never seen it an either incarnation but Shade assumed her new captain had done quite a bit of decorating.

Smoke plumes rose ornate incense holder shaped like a coffin of onyx, filling the room with the smell of jasmine and sandalwood. Katana lined one of the four walls and hung by fixtures built into the wall which obviously belonged to the former marine that commanded the vessel. What caught Shade's eye the most was a glass bowl of small papers which moved at all times making a fairly soothing sound.

O Captain, my Captain...what's up?"
Along with herself and mars, Harraq the cooper who tended to the barrels which contained most of the crew's necessities and rounding out what was left of the command crew was what passed for the crew's doctor. The original sawbones of the pirate crew, Shade assumed, died in the jailbreak. There was an aire of inexperience about hom that made the swordswoman want to pay more attention to her own health.
Still, the captain treated the reluctant doctor who kept barrels intact and the two brand new escapees like the commanders of a great fleet.

Shade was the first to sit when offered a chair in front of a cracked, oak desk that once held prisoner transfer papers and wanted posters.

[Flame]

Mars snorted at Shade's response the closest thing he'd done to laughing with her for a while. She was right, the situation was much different from Ice Nine back in the day. They were no longer those fools facing off against the marines for the hell of it. Prison and the like had changed them, responsibility and the like had changed him at the very least.

Scratching his head Mars made to say a word but was cut short as the door to the captain's office swung open. The office was still half filled with marine garble from when this was the marine captain's room. Except the one holding open the door was not who Mars expected it to be. Harraq the crew's doctor held the door open, "Mars ... Shade ..." he glanced at each of them one at a time. "Come on in." He let the door stay open walking back into the office.

Gesturing for Shade to go in first he allowed her the right of first passage into the captain's quarters. He was in the end still a gentleman of sorts. As she passed him Mars tiredly brushed his hand through his hair for a moment ruffling it up before placing the fedora back on top. Sliding in behind her he pulled the door shut and stepped up to the second of a few oak chairs set before the large desk. Rather than sitting down Mars leaned upon the chair setting his cane in it instead of himself.

"Good you're both here." The captain's voice smiled. The cap sat in a large half-broken oaken seat legs crossed. The seat which probably had fit the marine captain okay was a bit small for his enormous presence. The burly warrior with his bushy hair sat back in it relaxed. The handles which used to be there for arms were broken away and the man's massive buster sword was stuck into the wooden flooring behind him. This man was larger than life it had seemed to Mars everytime he met him even if he had a rather relaxed attitude to everything else. He was "the Demon Warrior" Takemi Nobuya, classified as a pirate by the World Government he was one of the most wanted men in the North Blue.

As he looked upon them now he showed this stature in his mere presence even in the relaxed state that he was in. Glancing to the side Mars took note of Harraq leaning comfortably against a nearby wall his arms crossed.

"Well before we get on with it. Do you two have anything you want to report." The Captain looked upon the pair of them with what almost seemed a weary eye. Every now and then Takemi got news from his officers about the goings on within the crew. Though Mars suspected he knew all that went along and was just seeing whether the prisoners were integrating properly Mars had never properly asked that.

"Shade why don't you go first." Mars offered, his news would probably require some actual conversation so he thought she should go first.

[viruswithshoes]

Despite her work looking haphazhard at times Shade Muramasa took her position as shipwright seriously. Bad memories of imprisonment weren't the only reason she hadn't slept in days.
"The hull is sound.
"And your team? How is their training coming along?"

The optimistic shipwright faked a toothy grin and tried to think of the best way to spin that one man had sawn off a finger and another's welding work could be undone by a reasonably strong toddler.
Two enthusiastic thumbs pointed to the heavens as the afro'd woman finally thought of something nice to say.
"Fun guys. Dexter does great shadow puppets...or used to before the saw thing and Beef..." She thought about the rail-thin blonde cabin boy whose greatest asset was that he was more pitiful than outright incompetent. "He takes good care of his hair...?" She said, trailing off into an almost question.

"Bronn...our last shipwright was all we needed before."
Shade has a flash of embarrassment and jealousy at that moment. She'd overheard more than a few unflattering comparisons to good old dead Bronn.
"Once we reach landfall start a recruitment drive. By hook or by crook, Shade, get a competent team together. I'd rather not swim to the next island."
Shade lightly chuckled at the idea of Captain Nobuya pulling the ship the next island with a rope, but it didn't seem that farfetched.

The man of immense size and presence then mentioned, with polite apologies to Harraq, that they were in dire need to a doctor. The cooper and pseudo-doctor suggested replacing the flesh and blood members of the crew with barrels would be the ideal solution to which the tall pirate laughed. Shade began to wonder how many good friends the man had lost saving herself and Mars. Were his command crew more like nakama than subordinates? she wondered.

The ship creaked as it slowed down, nearing the island. Shade grew anxious.

[Flame]

"Harraq?" He glanced over at the doctor still resting against the cabin's wall. "Huh? Oh ... we're low on supplies, the marines had some but it seems like they were only set for a short journey. Same situation with the food." Harraq commented lazily, he had become the default quartermaster for the group for the time being. The doctor was good at his job, but he was taking on a bit too many responsibilities which was spreading him thin already. The captain nodded his head, everyone was aware of the food situation especially due to shrinking meals.

"And you Mars?" Takemi turned his attention to the red-haired navigator as he leaned over the oaken chair before him. "The guys are excited about arriving at Amino Island. That's to be expected, it is a good place for them to burn their earnings and have fun. I'm sure I'll spend a fair bit while I'm there ..." Mars gave an amused grin at the thought of what he could do with the spoils.

The Captain raised an eyebrow at him for a moment before passing over the comments. "And Amino? When are we getting there?" He continued his line of questioning. "We should make landfall in an hour or so. The island is already in view, just need to guide it into port now." Takemi nodded to him apparently satisfied with that result. Unlike with Shade there was no commentary of such and such who would've done it faster, likely because there hadn't been a navigational specialist before. Mars gave Shade a quick smug grin before turning his attention back to he Captain.

The captain closed his eyes for a moment turning his head left then right as if in thought. Then finally standing up he opened them again. "Good, we'll spread the word to prep for landfall after what I've got to talk about then." Bringing his hands together he cracked his knuckles. "I'm curious what you think ... How many of the prisoners will stay on?" The Captain asked with a serious eye towards both of them. Obviously this question also included them, while Shade and Mars had taken up leadership positions they weren't officially members of Takemi's crew.

Of course this was a concern, nearly a third of the ship's current strength was made up of prisoners who had no allegiance to Takemi save for their saving from the ship. Mars knew at least one or two who were planning to stay on Amino. Mars hadn't really decided yet though he was leaning towards staying on. He found faith in the captain and was willing to see it through. "Half? Maybe a bit more than that?" Mars guessed somewhat randomly. It was hard to tell to be honest, Mars didn't socialize much with the others and was mostly in his position because he could read maps, the wind, and pilot a ship properly.

[viruswithshoes]

Shade's talkative team of shipwrights-in-training as well as her own tendency towards gossip and polls finally came to use.
"A good sixty-percent intend to stay. I think most of them are just glad they're alive. Once we're ashore...pshhh. " She exhaled air through her teeth in a 'who knows' sound accompanied with a shrug of her shoulders. "We might have a few Marines we missed lying low mixed in with the crew. You prematurely ended a lot of Marine careers, Cap..." Harraq winced which Shade caught before she cut off her sentence. "..Tain."
"That I have," he said, smiling. "If there are any stragglers I'm sure they'll appreciate the opportunity to pursue job options beyond that of floating corpses."
"That market's pretty full these days. Good thing we're on the supply side of this economy."
Harraq grinned and Captain Takemi smirked. Shade finally felt a little bit of acceptance.

Shade was overworked and understaffed but she had wondered why the Captain had wanted more than a few shipwrights. Then what seemed like an idle question previously in the week about her ability to make weapons made sense. That theory preserved her ego, somewhat.

"Is there anything else that needs attention?"
"A cook,"Shade said in sync with Harraq. What little food was left on the ship was of questionable quality. Shade joked about there being Marine saboteurs lurking in the kitchen previously but was afraid of bringing up yet another dead crewman. She never dared ask why her new Captain dared their oceanic jailbreak but wondered it all the same.

[Flame]

Mars rolled his eyes at Shade's final suggestion of what they might need to round out the group. Drawing his hand through his hair he yawned. He wondered if she actually believed any of the marines were still on this ship. He was pretty sure they scoured the ship for marines at least once or twice. Pressing his hand up against his eyes he pursed his lips and looked to the floor.

"Have something to say Mars?"

The Captain's voice rang out turning Mars' head back upwards to attention. "Huh ..." He murmured for a moment "No not really. Just thinking I probably should head to the helm soon. We'll be closing in on the dock soon." Takemi watched him with hawkish eyes for a moment then nodded. His arms unwound from each other and shoulders relaxed slightly. Legs came solidly to the ground and Takemi spread them in relaxation. "If you have nothing else to report then fine." He sounded neither pleased nor displeased, "Mars you may leave."

Grasping his cane sword in the chair Mars nodded to him curtly and turned towards the door. Not his best report or leaving, all he could blame was the early morning, the cold, and Shade sort of troubling his usually happy manner. Heading for the door he turned out glancing for a momentary look at Shade's strange afro before leaving the door behind.

Stopping outside of the door he stooped down to grasp the blanket he had left there. His fingers enmeshed themselves in it and he quickly pulled it up and around his upper body. Even the moments without his warmth had turned it colder than it had been. Still better than freezing He reminded himself in as playful a head voice as he could manage.

Then with a quick step he was on his way. Unfortunate for him the helm was outside near the front of the ship. To be expected so that he had a clear view of where he was going but, unfortunate none the less as there was little to no protection from the elements. Hopefully Amino will raise my spirits a bit. Mars thought to himself.

[viruswithshoes]

The atmosphere aboard the skiff to the dock was quiet and tense and for once Shade was adding to both rather than trying to break them.
All she needed, she convinced herself, was a couple of semi-decent shipwrights and twelve hours of sleep. The closer she got to the docks the more items were added to her list. Some new clothes, maybe a weapon, a few drinks, and a fight or a dance club to blow off some steam.

A few of the crew couldn't wait until the mooring rope secured to jump onto the first dry land in far too long and Shade was among them. Upon seeing some of the women, even bundled up in warm clothes and in Hellebore's case, pregnant, there were hoots and hollers from the dock workers and shipwrights. A few halted when Hellebore brandished her oversized battleax and for good measure, her left ring finger encircled by Kist's gold wedding band.

Finally reaching an island was bitter-sweet. Shade knew that Hellebore, Kist, and many others would not be returning with her to the ship. Keeping their heads down and taking up straight lives on Amino made sense to her in a boring, mundane way.

Shade's cloth, red coat and scarf absorbed the ambient moisture and made her even more cold. The literal cold lit a metaphorical fire inside the red-clad swordswoman and she began to shipwright courting immediately.
"Any of you cuties good with your hands." Naturally, more than a few men fell for her flirtatious offer but she doubted many would stay once the words 'pirate' and 'possible death or lifetime imprisonment' were uttered. But she intended on saving those words for a more inebriated time if she mentioned them at all. 'By hook or by crook,' her captain had said.

"This is a gambling town, yeah? Let's go do something risky."

[Flame]

Coming down to the dock Mars shivered still. Grasping his arms in each hand he struggled his way off the docks and into town. The town was not much like he expected it to be, it seemed very residential. Nothing of the rowdy casino city, gambling headquarters, party land of the North Blue. His eyes twisted over the spectacle with mild disconcert.

His head tilting slightly he paused in place. Is this the right island? The self-proclaimed swashbuckler wondered to himself.

-Clap Clap-

The soft slap of a hand twice knocked upon his back turned Mars' attention until he saw himself face to face with Oric. His former cell partner and current crewmate looked at him with an amused smile on his face. "Yer lookin' a little lost Mars. Thinking this ain't the Amino Island you'd heard about?" Mars nodded to affirm Oric's guess, he was right on the tee.

"Yah, that's cause they're talking about Serine City. This is Ana Nine the residential district. Circles bout Serine City, a few blocks inward you'll see the change like that." Oric snapped his fingers beside Mars' head.

Blinking twice Mars glanced at the man with his pale green eyes. "Since you're so knowledgeable about the island mind showing me to a bar or casino or something. A place to have a little fun. If you know what I mean." There was a faint spark in Mars' eye that lit something in Oric's as well.

"Yah, I could do that ..." he said with a cheeky grin. "I've got some time to spare to help a friend in need." His eyebrow moved up and down suggestively. In that moment Mars broke into laughter with Oric following quickly behind. The humor heartened him for the moment hiding the painful cold from him.

"Well then, lead on." Mars gestured ahead of them. Oric finally coming under control of his laughter nodded and started forward.

"I got just the place in mind, it'll get your mind off those South Blue hunnies of yours in an instant." Mars spread a thin smile across his face pausing mid step. Somehow he doubted it'd make him forget Bei but ... it was worth a shot perhaps.

[viruswithshoes]

And then there were three. Tall Two held liquor like broken sieve . Two shots in the the lanky lightweight had abandoned his chance to be on Shade's team of shipwrights. She could only imagine how he'd deal with life at sea among pirates with such a low tolerance. It was Tall One's idea to hit every bar until they reached Serine City and it seemed like a fun way to test prospective crewmen.

Tall One, Handsy, and Excellent Moustache still remained with nary even buzz. At the second place the gambling started. It was not so much a tavern or club as an empty warehouse filled with drunks wielding wooden katana. Shade's spirits rose at the thought of some inebriated swordplay that wasn't life or death.
Handsy then earned his epithet by attempting to hand Shade her drink, spilling whiskey on her shirt and then wiping it off awkwardly. His innocent face, red with embarassment told a different story than the look he had when trying to smell Shade's hair. She'd had to deal with people in the past pawwing at her afro, but Handsy took it to new elevations of creepy. Still, he looked befuddled and harmless.

In the time it took Shade's improperly tuned pervert sense to work, poor Handsy was being hoisted up his wrist by a hulking mass of muscle who must have had to his masuclinity maligned by the man with the wandering hands. The afro'd shipwright decided that Handsy was either an equal-oportunity creep or the unfortunate main character in a romantic comedy novel.
"Let's settle this like drunk idiots, eh, tall, dark and angry?"

The black-beared mountain of a man who had been, possibly intentionally, groped by one of Shade's entourage was angry enough to oblige.

The boken-brandishing bearded man was well over six feet tall and looked down on shade. Even when measuring her brown afro hair she still fell short a few inches in height which was a disappointment. Beating really tall guys made for a better show.

The man of the woman/man fight did not do service to his brutish looks and took a hidari jodan stance. But basic kendo would not help him.

That critical point of inebriation was finally reached when Shade felt relaxed but in control of her faculties. The hirsute man swung his wooden sword downward while Shade held hers to her side as if still in it's invisible sheath. There was an unmistakable 'wood hitting bone' sound accompanied by the sound of a body hitting the concrete floor, though no one saw Shade's wooden sword move at all.

It felt so good to swing a sword again that the distraught shipwright temporarily forgot her worries.
"Next round is on me."

[Flame]

The walk through Ana Nine was one of small chatter and big laughs held in only sometimes hushed voices. From the burly North Bluer Mars learned much of the stories of Amino Island, though he doubted the truth of half of them. It gave him a good laugh at the fables of glory, failure, and everything in between that this island seemed to bring forth.

But that wasn't the real treat, that was when they stepped into Serine City. The change was obvious to Mars' olive eyes as they sparkled in the sudden even change in lighting. What had been quiet drab roads turned to a brightly lit broadway. Lamps of beautiful design and scurrilous imprints lined the walk. Overdone exteriors sat upon buildings that rose skyward to an extent that Mars hadn't really experienced in the same sort of way. Even in the midday light the island seemed brighter here than in Ana Nine just steps back from him.

"You weren't kidding ..." Mars said quietly and mostly to himself. Beside him Oric laughed patting the token South Bluer on the back. "Welcome to the city of extravagance, Serine City." He said with a cheer leading Mars to a particularly decadent looking establishment that was coming up on the left.

If the outside had been bright Mars was amazed to find the inside was even more so than that. Bright lights fully lit up the room, tables upon tables lined the inside room complimented by a lot of what seemed to be quite unnecessary plants, beautiful hostesses, and a number of walking barmen with drinks on their trays. "What the ..." Mars spoke his jaw nearly dropping to the floor as he looked upon the casino in complete disbelief.

"I hope yer either lucky or brought all of your pay. We in for a long night my brotha." Oric said with a wide grin upon his face surveying the casino as if it were a box of treats. The swashbuckler beside him chuckled amused, he'd brought a bit, whether it was enough to last the day, only luck would tell. Pulling out two beri he rubbed them together for luck.

Bei ... hope you'll forgive me for this He made a quiet prayer to himself as he prepared to give himself over to the floor.

[viruswithshoes]

Someone broke Melvin's nose. Shade had no idea who, but there was disgusting 'crunch' noise and a spray of blood which temporarily shocked her out of her 'calmly drunk' stage of inebriation.

Melvin, the small shipwright known for awkwardly brushing up against people in weird ways had finally found himself on the wrong end of a devastating punch. Sweat, blood and body glitter filled the atmosphere as the tall one of the trio of Shade's barhopping companions took a small air slash to the forehead. By then Shade was far too intrigued to worry about something as minor as an elevated blood alcohol level.
"Lady, those are my shipwright's your messing with."

The tall, green-haired woman in the halter top and body glitter favored Shade with an emerald lipstick sneer. There was the feeling of a warrior about the dancing woman which made the afro'd woman feel a little inadequate. That same sense that kept her away from snakes and that particular snake had just been groped, though by accident. Still, the looks of relief and admiration she saw on the faces of Melvin and Swain, the shipwrights she courted, worth the prospective danger. The tall third man of the group had disappeared into the crowd and taken himself out of the running.

Melvin and Swain, he of the of excellent, long, black fu manchu mustache gathered at Shade's back...safely behind it, she noticed. At least they didn't run off immediately, she thought.

The attacking woman's purple mid-riff shirt came to barely cover her impressive bust after shade released an air slash in her direction, but despite a momentary blush to the towering woman's cheeks there was no sign of blood. The kunai Shade had produced from the inside of her sleeve had become chipped as if she'd tried to stab a brick wall.
Suddenly, it seemed like a good idea to take advantage of the crowds and noise of the nearby Serine City.
"Time to go, guys!"

The two men proved themselves as crewmen and survivors by heeding the panicked woman's advice and running towards the lights and relative safety of Serine City.

[Flame]

"So Mars, ya got a fancy? Cards? Slots? Shuffleboard? ..." Mars' burly companion gave the choice of game to the swashbuckler. Tipping his fedora off his head the red-haired swordsman turned his eyes about the room mulling over his choices. No matter which he chose he'd be trying his luck, so with a glint in his eye he decided to go for the most popular.

"Lets try a hand at poker. Hold 'em style." He said making a fake pistol with his hand. Oric looked at him and shook his head at the stupid move that Mars had just made. "Right then, lets get on it! You get a table, I'll get some drinks." The North Blue-r said with Mars nodding along as he headed into the lion's den.

Mars noticed Oric moments later as his crewmate returned with a pair of drinks in hand. Placing a pint of beer at Mars' side he sat beside him glancing at the ongoing game. Taking a momentary glance at the golden liquid at his side Mars returned his attention to the game at hand. With pocket jacks he faced the field down, so far the flop favored him giving showing a pair and giving another member of their circle of competitors a pair of his own. Unfortunate for that man that it was only a pair of threes.

Biting his lip he considered his options as the bet came to him. "Ahh what the hell!" He exclaimed as he tossed more beri into the pot. "Lets Go!" He smiled as he reached for the mug of beer and sloshed two gulps of it down his throat before slamming it back onto the table. With beer froth coating his lips like an amusing mustache he looked a little crazy.

The turn came down revealing a king which from the board told him nothing of the state of the game. As those on either side of him folded away the swashbuckler eyed his final pair of opponents swinging his eyes back and forth between the pair trying to get a read on the state of the game. Heavy breathing held him down as they awaited the river to cap off the game. The flop dropped a seven and Mars smiled flipping his pair of jacks over. "Two Pair! JACK HIGH READ EM AND WEEP SUCKERS!!!!"

He barked in laughter as he proudly presented his hand to the group. Or at least he did until the man to his right flipped a four and six creating a straight from three to seven. Elation dropped into horror on Mars' face as the beri swung the way of the true victor. Behind him Oric was belting out barrels of laughter as he clapped Mars on the back.

"Better luck next time" he barely managed the words out between tears of joyous amusement.

"Again!" The swashbuckler declared, now he had money to win back. Now he'd prove his skill and luck! With that the swashbuckler and his friend along with the others at the table turned back into their game of chance. It'd be okay, as Mars knew he had to have luck on his side.