Mission #83: Cabbage Patch Punks (Farris)

[Terminally Chill]

Night had fallen upon the fallen upon the sweltering desert of Zarzara Island; not even the soft light of the moon and the vast darkness could keep the heat at bay. The merchants of the oasis city Waq Waq slept soundly, not a soul stirring except for the snakes and scorpions emerging from their burrows outside of the city's walls. The commercial districts were silent, save for the soft rushing of water from the blessed oasis. Yet, amid what seemed to be a peaceful and restful night in Waq Waq, a sinister force was at work. While everyone else was settled down after a hard day's work, three shadows cut through the streets of pale moonlight with no sign of slowing their hasty pace. What sort of malicious activity could this shady trio have been up to in the dead of night? They continued to blaze their trail, expertly avoiding any covered carts or stray cats that blocked their paths. Whoever these figures were, they had taken this route before. But what was their objective? The small group rushed forward a few more feet, tearing through the spice merchant distract and finally entering the district where some merchants made their living selling produce and other food stuffs. Surely the trio would speed right through the rather mundane district on their path to destruction! Oh... They were actually slowing down upon entering the district, their mad dash gradually coming to a jog. The shadows eventually came to a stop, gazing ahead at what their prized objective was. It was... IT WAS...!!!

… A cabbage stand?

A menacing bout of laughter erupted from the three, each breath of air that left their lips dripping with pure evil. Well, actually, the laughter wasn't dripping with pure evil. Not even evil at all. There was something off about the laughter... It was almost like it was too high? One of the figures held a wooden pole with a flag, the piece of black cloth with a poorly drawn cabbage-skull hybrid superimposed on top of a crossbones waving in the slight breeze. The one at the lead of the group pushed back the hood of the cloak he was draped in and spoke.

“Men!”

Upon hearing the supposed leader call out to them, the figure two figures stood rigid and at attention.

“Yes, cap’n!” they called back in unison. There it was again. Too high. Just too high. Something else too...

“Tonight we will carry out another successful raid on Old Man Tonkatsu's cabbage stall! Or my name isn't Kid Cabbage, Captain of the Cabbage Pirates!” Whoever this person was, you had to admit they were an inspiration speaker. The other two gave out a cheer, but not so loud that they would draw attention to themselves from any nearby sleeping merchants.

It wasn't that their voices were even high, they were almost... Prepubescent Yeah, prepubescent. Come to think of it, the three figures were all pretty short. Definitely shorter than a full grown man, or even a teenager. When the other two “pirates” removed their hoods as well, it was pretty clear they were all actually... young. Really young. Under ten? Maybe ten? Somewhere around there.

Okay, so “sinister” and all of those other words were definitely overkill.

Regardless of the age of the wannabe pirates, it seemed that their objective for tonight, and countless nights before, was trashing this damn cabbage stand! YEAH! And so the self-proclaimed Cabbage Pirates went to work. Their primary target was the cart full of cabbages as they threw many of the vegetables to the ground, stomping on them and making a general mess of the cabbage merchant's wares and his stall as a whole. They continued to tear through the leafy clusters, until one of the boys slowed his frenzy in favor or taking a closer look at a particularly strange cabbage.

“Hey guys, look at this.”

For some reason or another, this cabbage had a dark red beanie on. Under the hat, it had a thick head of shaggy brown hair. It... also had a face. The cabbage was also snoring loudly. It was more like a human head as opposed to a cabbage. Oh yeah, it was totally a human head. A loud shriek erupted from the three.

“A HEAD IN THE CABBAGES?!”

The head of Gavin Amadeus D'Arras had been awoken from his slumber by the commotion the pirate upstarts were making. With a loud yawn and a few blinks of his eyes, Gavin looked to the stunned trio of children with his usual hooded gaze.

“What's up man?”

“THE HEAD TALKS?!”

After screaming in unison once again, the boy holding the flag quickly retaliated against the musician's disembodied head, smashing the wooden pole into Gavin's face. A moment of silence passed.

“Ow.”

“No effect?!” the flag-bearer cried out, quickly retreating away from the mysterious head with his other two comrades. The kid pirates stared in fright at the head, not exactly sure what to do.

“Bok! Choy! We'll fall back for now, this head must be some sort of weird cabbage guardian of Tonkatsu's!”

And each with an arm full of pilfered cabbage, the Cabbage Pirates took off in a hurry, following the route they had taken from wherever their “base” happened to be located. Gavin merely blinked a few times, face stinging from the red line that had been left down the middle by the wooden stick.

“Whatever man.” And with that, Gavin dozed back off into his deep sleep, snoring loudly amid the pile of cabbages he had found a temporary home in.

The next morning...

Having seemingly forgot his strange run in with the three children from the night, Gavin had soundly slept the whole rest of that night. Even as the scorching desert sun rose and brought the streets of Waq Waq to life once again, Gavin continued his snore-fest. Well, that was until...

“My... cabbages!”

Gavin suddenly felt a strong chop crash into his face, right in the same spot the stick had left the stinging welt. The guitarist's eyes were slow to open as he lazily looked up to the culprit of the sudden karate chop. A small trail of blood dribbled from his nose.

“Ow.”

Standing over him was a dark-skinned bald man, his neatly-kept white beard giving off that he was rather old. He was dressed in a brilliant green robe of sorts; similar to the common garb of the Zarzara people. This was Old Man Tonkatsu. Withdrawing his hand from Gavin's face, the old cabbage merchant broke the awkward silence.

“I finally caught you, cabbage thief! You've been coming here, raiding and stealing from my stand this whole week and now I've caught you!”

“Huh? Cabbage thief? I don't know what you're talking about man,” Gavin said, squinting and blinking in an attempt to regain some feeling of normalcy in his face once again.

“Don't you lie to me... It has to be you! Although, it is kind of strange that you would have slept here...” Tonkatsu said, his sentence trailing off as he began scratching bare head in contemplation.

“Oh wait man, there were three kids here last night. Do you mean them, man?”

“Kids...?”

“Yeah man. They called themselves... uh...” Gavin paused for a brief moment, looking the mound of green he was still buried neck-deep in. “... The Lettuce Pirates.”

“You idiot! I just said these were cabbages. They probably called themselves the Cabbage Pirates!”

“Oooh yeah. That's what they said man...” Gavin said with a nod. “Hmmm wait, hungry.” The strange declaration was accompanied by the bard's arm appearing from the green mountain, fishing out a single cabbage. Without warning, he opened his mouth, preparing to chomp down on the vegetable to satisfy his case of the munchies.

“Wait!” Gavin's teeth stopped inches away from biting into the cabbage, lazy eyes looking to Tonkatsu. “Aren't you going to pay for that?”

“Nope.” And with that, Gavin took a loud and crunchy bite out of the leafy cluster. Veins visibly formed in Tonkatsu's head as Gavin obnoxiously chewed one of the old man's prized cabbages.

“Then you're a thief too!” Tonkatsu yelled, pointing an accusing finger toward Gavin as he continued to chew the vegetation. The musician did not seem phased, only staring at Tonkatsu with the usual blank stare. However, he had stopped chewing. Tonkatsu's eye switched in anger as the two shared another tense and awkward silence.

“Don't want it man,” Gavin said, sticking his tongue out and showing the partially-chewed cabbage to the old Waq Waq citizen.

“YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DECIDED TO EAT IT!”

The awkward silence continued after the old man's anger had boiled over for a second. The pile of cabbages shifted as Gavin shrugged his shoulder before, for some reason, taking a bite out of the vegetable he already expressed he wanted nothing to do with. Tonkatsu's palm slapped against his face at the ridiculous antics of the lazy wanderer, shaking his head before pointing his finger at Gavin.

“GET THE HELL OUT OF MY CABBAGES ALREADY!” the old man yelled, his teeth sharp as daggers and an obvious vein pulsing in his head.

“Okay, okay...” Gavin muttered, climbing out of the cart of cabbages and patting away any stray leaves that had stuck to his clothes. Grumbling, Tonkatsu merely walked past Gavin and began examining the damage that had been done to his cabbages. The musician stretched out his lanky frame, letting out a loud yawn and getting any kinks out after the long sleep in the cabbage cart. He then walked a few steps before plopping down on the ground, not too far from behind Tonkatsu. As the old Zarzaran muttered about “revenge” and “my cabbages,” he caught Gavin sitting out of the corner of his eye.

“You know, when I said 'get out of my cabbages', I kind of expected you to... Go away?” Tonkatsu said gruffly, not bothering to make any eye contact as he verbally shooed the stray away.

“Well... I don't really have anywhere else to go. Plus, your cabbages are a really nice place to crash, man.”

“I don't care! Having a random hobo sleeping in my crop is definitely bad for business,” Tonkatsu said, waving Gavin off as he continued going about his business of straightening his stand up once again after the Cabbage Pirates' raid. Although Tonkatsu may have expected Gavin to get up and leave, the musician remained sitting. He reached for his guitar, sitting it gently on his lap and preparing to play a song.

The minstrel's eyes sluggishly scanned the surroundings he had found himself randomly placed in. Truth be told, Gavin had no better idea how he had ended up sleeping in a pile of cabbages than anyone else. Regardless, Waq Waq and Zarzara Island as a whole was an amazing place. Deserts were not a common thing in the West, and Waq Waq itself was a beautiful symbol. A single oasis that spawned a whole city, showing that even in the most desolate places civilization would find a way to live on. Perhaps as Gavin looked to the sun-blazed buildings, the thoughts of writing some beautiful song were beginning to fomulat–"


“Lettuce is gross, lettuce is dumb, lettuce is gross, lettuce is dumb!” Gavin sang in a monotone voice, hammering repetitively on a single chord to accompany his less-than-imaginative lyrics. Tonkatsu turned slowly, body beginning to tremble as his anger simmered. A single cabbage was clenched tightly in his hand.

“Lettuce is gross, lettuce is du–”

“WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?!” And with that, Tonkatsu lobbed the cabbage like a speeding bullet at Gavin. The vegetable smashed into Gavin's face, exploding in a leafy burst. The remains of the cabbage settled on the ground and the traveler blew away a leaf that was sticking to his face.

“Ow.”

[Farris (Kuro)]

The hot desert sun beat down on the lives of all that dared to tread the sandy slops of Zarzara desert waste Island. Tatsuya panted as sweat dribbled down his face. The Loony blond haired man even found he had to leave his chest bare and stuffed his long duster into a sack, revealing a well built body covered in old scars and wounds from an abusive childhood. His black leather pants and boots were covered in old blood splotches from his duty to the "gods". In other words, the voices in his own head that told him to commit violent and horrific acts. This man, was none other than Sudou "Crazy King Leo" Tatsuya, the insane son of Political Advisor of Ilusia Kingdom in West Blue, Sudou Tatsuzou. This was the second time Tatsuya had found himself in a desert, the first time was for the voices, this time however was less dutiful.

Sudou was here to ditch the marines for a while and the voice told him that the desert was a safe place to go. Though for once he was starting to question their wisdom... Well that was until he spotted a town and more importantly, an oasis. Tatsuya thought he might have been seeing a mirage at first but after a while he was sure it was real and made a mad dash toward the town. When he did arrive, barreling into the town and through the streets that was until he ran into a farmilar cart...

Suddenly a loud cry of "MY CABBAGES!!!!" resounded through the town from the voice of an old man. The cart was completely destroyed and most of the remaining cabbages with it. "Uhhh... Hi?" was all Sudou managed in a wide eyed and innocent manner before the piping hot with anger old man started to chase Sudou down the street. That's when crazy king leo noticed an old friend sitting in view. This friend he had met on his last desert adventure... that turned into a freezing Ice adventure. "Hey! Gavi-!" The greeting was never finished as the old man smashed Sudou over the head with a rather solid board of wood from his destroyed cart.

[Terminally Chill]

Gavin tilted his head and blinked, a curious expression on his face as he watched the chaos ensue after the cabbage cart had been destroyed in an explosion of wood and leaves. And as the musician's eyes followed the enraged Tonkatsu frantically chasing his precious cabbages' assailant, Gavin began to notice that the man was vaguely familiar. The spectacle continued for a bit longer, drawing the attention of a few Waq Waq citizens. However, they didn't seem surprised. Apparently Old Man Tonkatsu was always like this.

"Hey! Gavi-!"

Just as the culprit of the cabbage destruction was clubbed over the head by the stray board the old man was wielding, Gavin suddenly recognized him. Images of his last adventure in a desert, which ended up in the frigid cold, flashed through his mind. The man happened to be the rather crazy, but all around nice, arsonist who had helped him out of the freezing Drum Island waters during the trip. Despite the fact that Sudou had just been bashed over the head by a plank, Gavin still returned the fanatic's unfinished greeting with a warm wave.

“Hey Sudou, how's it going man?”

It was pretty obvious how it going.

“You!” Tonkatsu suddenly turned on Gavin, pointing the board directly toward the dopey musician. Gavin merely blinked, giving another wave. “Don't try to sit there and make small talk with this guy. Both of you have done more damage to my business in a few minutes than those cabbage punks have done all week!” Tonkatsu cried out, looking around at the ruins of his cart and the green mess surrounding him.

“But... All I did was sleep in t--”

“Shut up! Don't think I'm going to let you guys off without paying for this, either."

Paying for anything was definitely not possible for the poor wandering guitarist, and any mention of doing so made his skin crawl.

“Lucky for you two...” Tonkatsu could not help but let out a loud sigh. “... I figured out a different way of repayment. You know those kids who have been terrorizing me?”

“Nope,” Gavin replied plainly.

“THE ONES YOU SAW LAST NIGHT THAT WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT!”

“Oh yeah...”

Tonkatsu took a moment to compose himself before continuing. “I don't know how you two know each other, but both of you are going to find these upstart pirates and convince them otherwise. Last thing we need is anymore cabbage merchants to suffer the same fate.” The old man shook his head in sadness, reminded once more of the cabbage massacre that surrounded him. “I mean, it shouldn't be hard to find them. You remember what they looked like from last night, don't you hobo?”

“Nope.”

The dark skinned old man's palm slapped into his face. His patience with Gavin was definitely wearing thin. “Then find a way! Maybe after that I can consider us even for what you've done to me.”

“Hmmm... I dunno man. Kind of if sounds like a pain. What do you think, Sudou?” asked Gavin, turning to his masked companion and hoping that he had recovered from Tonkatsu's swift beating. If anything made his skin crawl more than having to pay for something, it was actually putting effort into anything except playing guitar or sleeping. Perhaps the two were related somehow.

“YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!” screamed the old man, chucking the board at the lazy drifter. Gavin managed to evade the wooden projectile, ducking and allowing it narrowly pass over his beanie. The musician straightened up, wiping his forehead and giving out a sigh of a relief at having dodged the flying board. A cabbage soon smashed into his face a few seconds later.

“Ow...”

[Farris (Kuro)]

“Hmmm... I dunno man. Kind of if sounds like a pain. What do you think, Sudou?”

At this the masked lunatic grinned and reached behind him saying, "I think we should--" And that's when his grin failed as his hand gripped nothing. His flame thrower was gone. That's right he lost it back on that last Island! The platinum blond haired man scowled in disappointment at the lack of ability to char this old man and his stupid vegetation. At this same time, the old man screamed at him and Gavin telling them they hadn't a choice in the matter which made the fanatic's hand drop from were it was previously suspended to grasp a weapon that was not there and he hung his head. "... Looks like we gotta deal with some brats then." Sudou growled out in a disgruntled tone that showed his dis pleasure, just as a cabbage found it's way into Gavin face.

Though really Tatsuya's mentality was just find some kids, kick them around and take his friend and leave. Though it was likely that things wouldn't end up that way. "So you know which direction to go in then, Gavin?" The Pyromaniac asked not sure were to begin. "Or let's just find some kids and kick 'em, that'll teac-" Though before Sudou could finish old man Tonkatsu yelled at him, " You'll do nothing of the sort! Your only to punish those Fiendish "Cabbage Pirates"!" He stated furiously. The voices not directing him, Sudou looked to the musican for guidance with a, "So what now?" look.

[Terminally Chill]

It seemed that the Six String Slinger and Crazy King Leo were actually going to embark on the small adventure to fulfill Tonkatsu's demand. Gavin almost always attempted to avoid hard work if he could, but considering Sudou was willing to help the old cabbage merchant out, the musician figured tagging along would not be so bad. Not to mention finding the wannabe pirates might persuade Tonkatsu not to abuse Gavin's face any further. However, there was the problem of the look the crazed pyromaniac was giving his acoustic ally. The look of “so what now?” was one that Gavin was all-too-familiar with, and he was usually the one giving it to other people. Having someone actually ask him for guidance puzzled the guitarist, and he quite frankly was not sure what to do.

“I dunno if I remember where to go, man...” the musician said with his sentence trailing off , looking off into the sun-scorched city of Waq Waq and scratching at his mess of hair contained under his beanie. “...But, I guess I can retrace my steps from last night, man.” And with that Gavin turned around, walking past Sudou and the irate old man toward the destroyed cabbage cart. Tonkatsu looked on, patience wearing thin at the dopey young man's antics. Gavin studied the wreckage with sincere thought, stroking at his stubble.

“Okay so...” the musician broke his sentence off to kneel down, crawling on hands and knees into the pile of wood and leafy vegetables. “Last night I was sleeping in here, man.” Gavin rolled onto his back, squirming around in an attempt to make himself as comfortable as possible in the mountainous green mess. Old Man Tonkatsu looked on, a vein slowly emerging from his bald head as he watched the musician continue to go on about making himself a bed in the remains of his prized cabbage cart.

“And then they... woke me... up...” Gavin's sentences trailing off had become a habit in the last few minutes, but this sentence had little hope of continuing. The musician had gotten a little bit too comfortable in his quest to retrace his night. Gavin began snoring loudly, plunged into a deep sleep without warning. Tonkatsu looked on, anger once again boiling and only held back by the hope that Gavin was simply taking the reenactment of the previous night seriously. Nope. He was definitely just sleeping. A tense awkwardness followed, the air full of the folk singer's loud snores (a singing of another kind). Finally, Tonkatsu snapped once more.

“WAKE UP!” the old man shouted, lobbing another cabbage with deadly accuracy into the face of Gavin. The vegetables burst into a leafy display once again, startling the musician from his sleep. He looked around without a clue, a bit confused for a moment about where exactly he was. After all, Gavin's sleeping habits landed him in the strangest places. Once he gathered his wits, or whatever counted as wits for Gavin, he continued recounting the night. “Oh yeah, so they woke me up and went off... That way, man.”

Gavin pointed straight ahead, a nod accompanying his direction. The path was rather vague, but it was indeed where the Cabbage Pirates had run off to after being frightened by the disembodied head of Gavin. The wanderer stood up from the ruined cart, brushing off any stray cabbage leaves and looking to Sudou.

“So I guess we'll go that way, man?” Gavin asked, shrugging his shoulders at his less-than-sane friend.

[puck]

“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap...”

The mantra repeated, Puck ducked into an alley and dived behind a dumpster, breathing hard and trying to concentrate on how she was not in an alley when a few minutes prior to this she was in a nice shower with a gorgeous blond. Which was odd, because even though Puck had a strong fascination with older women, older married women was something she normally avoided, For obvious reasons. Like this one!! She couldn't blame the old coot that had sent what seemed like half the world looking for the purplette, because the blond woman was just so damnhot, and...

…

Okay, no time for those thoughts. The night was done and being stuck out in the open with her leather pants and a bra wasn't her idea of fun, no matter how much of an exhibitionist she was. Having no shoes was the worst, and dark thoughts ran through her mind as she picked her way through the alley and back into the bustling morning streets, which were picking up activity by now. But, not matter what, she was still half naked and would stick out like a sore thumb the longer she exposed herself.

A half an hour later she was sporting a leather jacket (that conveniently matched her pants), trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. No two ways about it, she still stuck out with her purple hair and dark skin and no shoes. Plus, there seemed to be some boys that were following her and they also seemed to have hearts in their eyes. Cute, really. A little fan club was forming and that wasn't helping matters any. Still, they probably were just awestruck because it was their first chance at seeing boobs. Puck remembered her first time too. She understood.

It was at that moment of understanding that Puck ran smack dab into some of the patrol people that had been looking for her. Like, BAM! They almost ran into each other. There was a comical moment of both parties sizing each other up before they both sprang into action, but a quick snap of her fingers and the three that she had ran into were blown back, just enough to knock them slightly senseless. Puck would have fought them hand to hand, but hitting metal with your fists still hurt, no matter how good you were. She could do it, no doubt...she just didn't want to.

Yeah...that was it...

She took that moment to bolt and didn't stop for almost ten minutes, when she blindly turned a corner and crashed over/through something. The shock jarred her, mostly because it sent her head over heels and solidly onto her face, which hit something round and green before she slid a few feet and coming to a complete stop, ass in the air and looking like a complete fool.

She quickly remedied that situation, her butt now cleanly on the ground as she looked around, blinking. All around her were cabbages, and in the center of the storm that had apparently scattered all the cabbages was an old man who was holding his hands to the sides of his face...which was steadily becoming a bright red.

“MY CABBAGES!!”

“Ara...”

[Farris (Kuro)]

At the arrival of another to the cabbage cart as Gavin and Sudou were about to depart Sudou felt that it was time to go before Tonkatsu burst into pretty flames (which would have been wonderful to see) and came after all of them with the fury of an angry god (which was far less pleasant). "I think... We better go." He said to Gavin encouraging a swift escape from more cabbage attacks to the face and other random beatings. "hey, you come with us." Sudou said swiftly, always the more friendly to girls as they were typically nicer from his experiences compared to boys. The crazy man made a move to the girl's wrist and mad a dash for it in the direction Gavin had pointed. After putting some good space and a few turns here and there, Sudou stopped and heaved a sigh glad to have lost the ill-tempered old cabbage seller. "I think... (Hah)... We ditch him... (wheeze)..." he uttered to the group he was sure was with him.

Now it just seemed that they needed to find some kids, beat them up and call it a day. Gee how the voices and god worked in mysterious ways... beating up kids to keep them from straying from god's path at an early age... oh wait... this had something to do with cabbages too didn't it? Well he could do both, then the cabbage merchant would have to join his cult and make cabbage sacrifices to god... It was then Sudou wondered if god even liked cabbages...? He made a mental note to ask when god came to deliver his judgment upon the world. He then looked to the side of him, deciding that he should probably say something to the woman he saved from Cabbagey Doom. "Uuuuhhhhhhh... Hi?" He started dumbfounded as nothing came to his mind for the first few minutes. There was a silent pause until suddenly Sudou spoke again. "Wanna go beat up some kids with so that old man don't explode?" He offered bluntly, Tatsuya's mind already associating Tonkatsu with fire and explosions even though it wasn't too likely the old man would really spontaneously combust simply because "Crazy King Leo" wanted to see it happen.

[Terminally Chill]

(OOC: Okay, guess we'll get this going again! The beginning is a bit sketchy because I am just going to pretend Puck didn't come since she disappeared after that one post.)

Making a hasty sight from the enraged cabbage merchant and his deadly throwing arm was definitely a good call by Sudou; even Gavin put forth some effort to sprint away with his new comrade in child-hunting. Finally the pair managed to find themselves out of the range of Tonkatsu's ire, coming to a stop to engage in a session of heaves and deep breaths after the headlong dash.

“I think... (Hah)... We ditched him... (wheeze)...”

Gavin gave a nod, his empty lungs taking precedent over speaking at the moment as his body struggled to wrestle the oxygen away from the air's molecular-level grasp. The two men embarking on the wild goose chase of pursuing the Cabbage Pirates were able to catch their breath and continue on in a slow walk through the busy streets of Waq Waq. The duo caught strange glances from the dark-skinned men and women who primarily filled the streets. They were not necessarily unwelcoming, but the sight of Gavin and Sudou in their odd clothing starkly contrasted with the sea of Zarzara garb the citizens of the oasis were dressed in. Furthermore, Gavin felt as though they might as well begin their search as they walked in the general direction the musician had watched the trio of cabbage patch punks flee last night. Stroking at his stubble, Gavin eyed children as they passed, giving a head shake as each one passed to signal to Sudou that the child was indeed not one of the Cabbage Pirates. The man did seem content to beat up any random kid, so the guitarist figured making some distinction was probably for the best. However, being a grown man staring at children certainly did not lend itself to gaining the favor of the native desert-goers.

As the minstrel continued to study passing children, the strange looks soon turned to angry glares from the parents of said youngsters as many began pushing their offspring behind their leg to hide them from the strange songwriter's lazy eyes. Gavin was not giving a second thought to how his intentions could be misinterpreted, continuing his search. Taking it a step further, he even stopped completely in front of one particular child. The father, a fairly muscular Zarzaran, stopped and gave Gavin a curious raise of the eyebrow. The wanderer ignored the man though, stooping down to the child he had with him and studying the dark-skinned lad closely. The child looked uneasy, being frightened by the sudden attention and ducking behind his father's colorful garb. Gavin stroked his chin thoughtfully once more, before he was suddenly pulled up by the front of his cotton shirt to face the burning eyes of the oasis-dweller.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?”

“Hmmm... Well, we're looking for some kids to beat up for an old man. Don't worry though man, your kid isn't one of them.”

The man's dark eyes widened, his firm grip on Gavin's shirt tightening. The musician's face remained dull with blinking eyes, not understanding why the father had any reason to be mad. Just when it seemed the Zarzaran was going to punch a sizable hole in Gavin's face, he removed his grip from the bard's shirt and gave him a shove backward with one hand, the other hand going to his son's back as the two walked on their way.

“You guys need help...” the father muttered, eyes remaining on the two as he disappeared into the shuffle of Waq Waq mercantile business. Gavin scratched the top of his beanie, looking to Sudou and giving a shrug.

“Guess this will be harder than I thought man... Looks like we can't count on help from the locals.” Gavin let out a loud sigh, understanding the trouble of looking for just three kids he vaguely saw one night amid a whole city. “So Sudou, how'd you even end up here man?” the troubadour asked as he continued down the street.