An Underwater Atoll, the Moonlight Market (Flame/Shinku)

[Shinku]

There was a loud clang as the inside of the suitcase got thrown around when the luggage hit the ground. Metal clashing against metal it made a huge ruckus, but luckily the suitcase didn't spill open. All thanks to Kohengi's additional lock which withstood the pressure and held tight.

Worried about her possessions, Kohengi hurried over and pulled the suitcase aside before opening the lid and looking at the mess inside.
Most tools had their assigned spot and were tightly fixed to their place, but not everything was secured that way. She had put layers of clothes between various small pieces that were of a more fragile nature, but those were intended to act as a cushion against little bumps, not full-fledged drops and falls.
Nervously she opened the lid to her box with clockwork parts and was reliefed to see them all in good shape. But then she noticed the spreading dark spot on her favourite pullover.
„Oh no! The oil bottle broke!“
And it wasn't just the common machine oil but the special kind that was hard to get. Such a bummer! Kohengi quickly checked her other oil bottles, but most of them were smaller and had therefore survived it more easily. The can of grease was in good shape too, not like Kohengi had been worried about that one. Cans were usually sturdier, but unfortunately oil and petrolium were harder to store in cans than in bottles.
„Looks like I'm getting another try at finding a soap that can remove oil stains from textiles.“ she thought, trying to see the bright side of things, to she still mourned her cherished pullover.

She closed her suitcase again and looked up, noticing for the first time that Basti had been thrown to the ground. The only reason she was not burried beneath him was her curiosity that had let her move around him to see what was going on. And a bit of luck that the other guy had passed Basti from the other side.
He was now waiting for his friend who was cuddling with Basti and it seemed to Kohengi that he might be jealous about this for he rushed his friend along and wanted them to be gone. No doubt he didn't like to see his friend showing such affection to someone else. Or was he perhaps interested in her guard instead? Questions over questions. But she'd probably meet them again during her stay and then she could observe them closer. Maybe she'll get a hint then on who liked who and what was going on here.
„Don't worry about that. I don't really mind us stopping so you can talk to your friend. I'd rather you don't let my suitcase fall like that, there are some delicate things inside. Also, it looks like your friend is in quite a hurry too.“ she remarked as the two men ran away.
„And yeah, I guess we should get going.“


A little while later they had left the busy part of the atoll and arrived at an unused part of it. There on a little peninsula on the edge of the island, was a lonely person with a fishing rod.
Kohengi who had been carrying her own luggage again since the incident, put the suitcase down and took a look at the woman's back.
„What beautiful black hair she has!“ she marveled. Indeed her guide's hair was long and very shiny. Against the white clothing she was wearing the black stood out even more.
„I've got to ask her what hair products she uses.“ Kohengi thought and pulled thoughtful at her own black hair. Unlike Kanra's it wasn't truely black but a very dark brown. And it was curly and hard to tame. If anything it was probably the opposite of her guide's hair.
„Right right.. I should probably stop admireing other people's hair and introduce myself.“
Ah, but the woman was fishing though. It would be rude to interrupt her as she did so. Kohengi herself didn't like to be interrupted when she worked and fishing seemed to be one of those activities where someone being noisy was especially annoying.
Therefore she just sat down on her suitcase and waited.
Watching the waves as they rolled on by with their hypnotic pace. Looking at the sea had always calmed her. It was easy to lose yourself in the shimmering water that was so much bigger than yourself. The sea's call was always strong, but it was the strongest when you were at sea and there was no land to be seen. When the night felt and even the sky went to hide himself. Only the sea remained then and her call was an alluring song of unparalleled sweetness...

[Flame]

Kanra #9 / Basti #9

The rest of their walk across the Moonlight Market was rather uneventful. This was helped by Basti's sudden rise in awareness after the events of just before. The young woman had been decidedly distraught by what had happened to her luggage and thus had chosen to carry it herself. Instead Basti now vigilantly watched before them, his naginata was firmly grasped in one hand as he looked around turning about body and wings. He continued to lead the way, staying in front of the young woman who was his charge. Much more carefully now, he walked along.

At least until they found themselves back where Basti had started when he'd gone off to meet Kohengi. Back at the 'peninsula' at the far end of the island. It poked out no larger than a small jetty away from the turbulence and tumult of the market's more packed areas. In fact it was only his employer Kanra who sat there alone. She held a fishing rod in hand, the same way he'd left her. Was it the same bait as before, it'd been so long. Kohengi spoke, captivated it seemed by the long black hair of the woman that they watched from a small distance now.

"We've returned." Basti said projecting his voice outwards towards the fishing woman. He said walking forward to where the woman sat. She did not react, did not even seem to move at the sound of his voice. The guard, the knight slowed down for a moment his steps shortening as a wave of concern fell over him. "No!" Urgency flooded his voice as he suddenly lunged forward grabbing at her shoulder to check. As he did she fell sideways, her eyes closed and chest rising up and down slowly.

Or that had been the case, but the sudden grab upon her shoulder startled Kanra awake as gravity did its duty to pull her into the sand below. She spluttered spitting out sand that'd gotten into her mouth. "Oh, oh my god, I'm sorry, Miss Kanra, I'm so sorry." Words spluttered out from that familiar voice that told her all she needed to know about what had just happened. Still somewhat laying upon the sand she stuck up a hand to halt his talking. "Do not worry about it." She said shaking her head back and forth before standing up.

It was Basti, the bumbling oaf had returned, which meant ... Kanra turned her gaze past him to the young woman standing back at the entrance to her little space on the island. "Kohengi is it? Welcome to the Moonlight Market." Kanra dusted the sand off of her clothes with a few fast swipes of her hands. She then took a quick glance at her fishing rod making sure it was still as she'd left it when she had apparently dozed off. It was, she nodded to herself. She paused and glanced at Basti estimating the time away based on her level of drowsiness among other things.

"Took you longer than I expected." She stated to Basti. The guard looked back at her and nodded his head. "Yes it took a little while to find her at the docks. It's funny actually, so she was-" Kanra's gaze quieted him down. "No need to explain, we will talk about it later." Basti nodded his head back and forth a memory of before. Kanra's attention returned to the newcomer, her paying customer for this trip. She looked the young woman up and down, the suitcase was definitely odd, Kanra's head tilted slightly, more than that to be honest. Sliding two fingers across her cheek she tapped gently upon her chin.

"Before we get any further. I am Kanra, surgeon by trade, and for at least a while longer your guide to this market."

[Shinku]

„Huh, oh hi!“ At the sound of her name, Kohengi's blank stare turned into a bright smile as the woman she assumed to be Kanra welcomed her to the Moonlight Market. Hypnosed by the waves she had completely missed what happened between Basti and Kanra and was now wondering why the elegant woman was covered in sand like that. Had she just rolled around in it? Weird.
She got up from her makeshift chair to join the two of them. Now that Miss Kanra wasn't fishing anymore it seemed all right to approach her.
Now that she was standing she didn't have to look up just as badly as before, but she still had to tilt her head quite a bit to look the woman in the eyes. The size different with her wasn't as bad as with Basti, but still, it gave her a good reason not to stand too close to her guide as it made looking up to her easier.

To establish an eye contact was important, so Kohengi dutifully gazed into the beautiful black eyes who's sharp gaze seemed to bore into her soul. It was like having a staring contest with a cat and Kohengi shifted her eyes away, only to return the gaze at once.
Looking someone into the eyes was polite. If she looked away the woman might think that she had something to hide. Also, she liked competitions and this was no different!
„I wonder if anyone has ever noticed that one can't look into both eyes at once.“ she wondered. „It's either left or right, but never both at the same time!“
She tested her knowledge again, shifting her focus from one eye to the other, and was contend to find the results to be as expected.

„It is nice to finally make your acquaintains Ms. Kanra.“ Kohengi sketched a brief curtsey, before going on. This time she had her eyes on the hair at the side of Kanra's head. The flowing black velvet was quite nice on the eyes.
„I'm indeed Kohengi Maatau ki Manawa'ora, but as I told Basti here, you can simply call me Kohengi. Most people shorten my name tha t way.“
Now.. what else was there to say. Oh right! Miss Kanra had introduced herself with her job and her function, so it was likely that she expected Kohengi to do the same.
„I'm not sure if I can call it a job, but I'm a very good mechanic, if I'm allowed to say that. Should you ever need something repaired, I'm your man!“
Shifting her gaze from Kanra to the woman's belonging, it almost seemed as if Kohengi was waiting for something to jump out and demand repares. But nothing happened and so the young woman went on.
„As I told my contact, I need someone to guide me so that I can find the people I need.“
She turned around for a moment put her suitcase to the ground and opened the lid. It took her a moment to get to what she wanted as other tools were in the way and had to be moved first before she could take out Kõkõ'wai and show it to the guide and her helper.
„I'm looking for materials to improve my culacula here. I have been refining his soul for quite a while now, but there's still so much to do. And since I heard of some material that might come in handy. I mean.. What I'm trying to say is that I want your help to find Kairouseki stone AND and this is very important, someone who can teach me how to apply it to a weapon.“
Indeed, the wonderous seastone was just what she needed. The strength it promised was just what she would suspect from something that had pieces of the sea's vast powers. If only she could make it her own!
According to her sources, it wasn't enough to simply get the material however. Which was hard enough as it turned out that the stuff was not only very prizy but also rather restricted. The marine usually called dibs on it and it was very hard to get some when you weren't affiliated with them. Hence the black market. And then you needed to know how to use it properly as well. It was likely a well guarded secret and learning it would probably be even more expensive than the material itself.
But Kõkõ'wai was her weapon. Kohengi had made the culacula herself and she would not let anyone else taint the weapon with their soul. As enriching as another souls influence could be, when it came to her weapon, Kohengi wanted to be on the same wave-lenght with it and therefore no one else was allowed to work on it.
It had taken Kohengi almost a year to save up enough money to be confident in her undertaking and now she was here!
„I'll be countingn on you Ms. Kanra!“

[Flame]

Kanra #10 / Basti #10

A mechanic huh, she thought to herself as the young woman curtsied before her. "I do not think I have anything in need of repairs. But I will ask if I do think of something." The reality was, since gaining her powers most of her tools she created on the spot, the value of being able to generate obsidian on the spot was that she no longer had need of steel tools for her work.

"That is what I heard as well. Though what needs obtaining ..." She started to say before Kohengi began to speak again as she pulled out what looked to be a carved club. Wooden in nature but shaped by practiced hands into a weapon-like head. A cula-cula? Never heard of it before. she thought to herself looking over the weapon. But that became quickly a side note compared to what she was looking for to add onto it. Kanra rubbed her chin, Kairouseki huh ... that was certainly a dangerous substance, she was vaguely aware of its effect on devil fruit users like her, though personally she'd not run into the substance before.

From the side Basti stood smiling looking at the pair whom he was paid to protect. The pair of ladies, were very different from each other. Kohengi was a happier person so far as he could tell. Energetic in a way that made him happy. On the other hand Kanra was serious, direct, she was easy to work with in that way. She gave straight orders with little to misunderstand. It was very helpful for him. All in all, this experience selling his services was going quite well. "So what is Kairouseki?" He asked curiously, butting into the conversation.

The doctor looked over at him scanning him carefully. She had not felt him the calculating type, so he was probably just curious. "It is a rare substance that is heavily controlled by the World Government. From what I have heard, it has special uses against those who have consumed a Devil Fruit." She said pausing there.

"A Devil Fruit?" What in the world was that? He didn't know what that was, or at least he thought that he didn't. Perhaps it sounded familiar but ... the words meant nothing to him.

"If you do not know what they are. It will be difficult to explain Basti." Kanra said, her tone meant to finalize the statement and cut the line of questioning off at that point. Also she did not like to advertise her own powers when she could avoid it.

"Okay. Maybe some other time you'll be able to explain it."

Basti responded with a smile on his face. The doctor pressed two fingers against her forehead for a moment before deciding to just continue on with what she had been talking about befreo. Then clearing her throat slightly she turned back to Kohengi to continue. "There is very little of it available outside to regular civilians. It will be quite the expensive purchase. But I think I do know some vendors who might carry some."

"As for applying it to your weapon. I may know one or two people with that skillset."

She said before pausing to think for a moment. "But I should warn you. I do not think they will consent to teach you. Part of their value is in that they are one of the few people in the East Blue that can do it ... You are free to try and convince them to though." Kanra would freely admit on this she could be wrong. With the vendors she did have some connections and had some level of trust with them. But for people who applied Kairouseki to weapons, she had no direct connections to any of them. Only inklings and rumors of who did what. And though she did not know those folk, she understood the basics of cutthroat business in the Underworld.

"I'm sure if we ask nicely enough they'd be happy to oblige Kohengi." Basti chimed in happily. Earning a weary glance from the doctor. Not that he even noticed the look. He was happy enough just standing there looking out at the sea around him. Apart from the collision earlier, and a bit of ruckus this market had seemed a nice place to him. Full of friendly folk who were always happy to see him.

Kanra hid a sigh as she looked to Kohengi once more. "Do you have any questions for me before we get started."

[Shinku]

Dang! None of them needed anything repaired. It was a disappointment. Just why was no one in need of her service? Kohengi would have loved to help them. Or rather, find out what was broken and tinker around with it until it worked again. People really underrated how much one could learn from simple tasks as these.
Maybe the market would offer some chances. If there was time. Right! Kohengi had to remind herself that she hadn't come her to play and that she should be focusing on getting what she came here for. If there was still time after she got all of that, then maybe she could entertain the thoughts of offering her services. After all, pepole who came her to buy things might also need other types of help and if nothing else Kohengi had some confidence in her craftsmanship.
It had taken her years to get to the point where she felt comfortable selling her craft and advertising her skills. What was she but a country bumpkin who had mostly learned by trial and error? It was still hard to be confident that she could keep up with the well educated masters of the craft. But she had fought for it! And she was still fighting to polish her skills! And one day she would be truly confident in her work.
Until then she would learn all she could and get better at socialazing. After all it would not help her if she was the best craftsman ever but couldn't find any clients who'd offer her work because she lacked in social skills.

Kohengi nodded along as Ms. Kanra explained her how hard it would be to find kairouseki, even here on the black market. That was exactly what she had expected and it was precisely the reason she had hired a guide. That and because she needed to find out about the market's location.
„Don't worry. I have gotten a rough estimate on how much it might cost from my contact and I'm confident I will be able to pay for it.“ she assured Kanra, wondering how the woman saw her. Was she looking down on her because she was small? It couldn't be because she was young, the woman in front of her didn't seem any older than her. If anything Kohengi thought that she might be younger.
„But doesn't it take years to become a surgeon? This person must be very skilled.“
Not to mention that she worked as a guide on top of that. Impressive.
Such a person was probably looking down on a lot of people. As for Kohengi, it was hard to say that she fitted in, which was probably earning her quite the scorn from the talented woman. Not like she was so unprofessional to show it on her face, not at all! Since Kohengi had arrived, the woman was nothing but polite and straight to the point. Kohengi liked that as it was easy to deal with. All she had to do was smile, nod and forget what the other person likely thought of her.
She was paying Kanra after all, so there was no reason to worry about what the woman thought. All that mattered was to have a good time! She wasn't here to impress anyone, she was here to get her hands on the fabulous seastone!

„Ah yes. I have considered that myself.“ she admited. It wasn't just rare skills like the handling of rare materials that were kept secret. Often enough people were reluctant to share their knowledge without compensation. Even if it was something simple about the best way to cook an egg.
But luckily there were enough people who were still happy to teach you if you could teach them something in return and then there were always the rare kinds who simply loved teaching and who did it for free.
Kohengi didn't expect to meet any of those in this place.
Despite Basti's confident attitude, she rather doubted that asking nicely would be enough. But then again...
„I guess it's worth a try. And if asking nicely isn't going to work, then we can still start with the negoations.“
Which reminded her... maybe Ms. Kanra had told her that so directly because she was worried about this? About this not working?
„Don't worry. You will get your pay either way.“ she assured her. „I'm paying you to find me the right people. The prize negoations with them are my responsibility. Though I will appreciate your help. If you help me lower the prize on a purchase, I'll give you a bonus, how does that sound?“
Seemed appropriate, right? Surely the woman would not be against that. As for cute little Basti... Kohengi hoped strongly that he would not involve himself in the negoations. She liked him very much, even though he had dropped her luggage earlier, but he didn't seem very good at that sort of thing, while Kanra-san seemed to know what she was doing.

„As for questions.. I have two: When can we go? And is it possible to take a look at other rare items that are sold here? I'm especially curious about anything that coult be tinkered with.. I mean... anything you can use to apply to a mechanism or so. I don't care for things that have only monetary value, but everythign that can be used is of interest for me.“
Even if she wasn't going to buy it, just knowing what the world had to offer would give her a big boost of knowledge!
„Also, that might be a third question, but... What's a Devil fruit? I'd like to know as well.“

[Flame]

Kanra #11 / Basti #11

Surprisingly Kanra found the that Kohengi had a more reasonable understanding of what was going on than she expected. Her eyebrow raised slightly at that. More mature than she looked for certain, some folks did not really understand how the Black Market and Underworld worked. They were often lost dogs, dead within the month of coming into contact with them. Perhaps Kohengi would do better than she expected. The doctor gave a quick glance at her guard, he would not. Unless his combat ability was higher than his so-far-seen clumsiness represented.

Kohengi continued on to assure her of her pay. An unnecessary formality, Kanra always got paid one way or another. But she responded anyways, it was the correct thing to do in the moment. "I will see what I can help with when it comes to negotations. But the bonus is unnecessary, however I will take it if you insist. Introductions are an easy enough favor to acquire if you've helped the right people." She said. The implication was simple, but actually untrue in this case. At least when it came to the vendors, these were simply people whom she knew. The cost of doing business was them was simply the payment and recieving, not so different as the normal markets, save for the bartering was more cutthroat. The application she suspected would be more complex.

When it came to questions Kohengi started off with a pair. The first was easy enough to answer. "Now." The second was fortunately also easy to answer, though the answer was slightly more complex. But before she could start to answer Kohengi put in a third question. The same one that Basti had put to her earlier and that she had deflected.

"For obtaining other rare items, we can see what the vendors I know have. I do not know whether it will be what you are looking for. But maybe you will find something of value there."

Kanra paused deciding whether she wanted to answer the last question. It was a fairly simple answer, she did not. Such talk was hard to speak of, because while she knew some and had eaten one, she did not know much about it. That sort of biology was not her specialty and she had never met another user other than herself. She had only heard rumors. And Kanra was not one to spout hearsay as if it were fact. "If you will give me a moment to pack my belongings we can be on our way." She said not speaking on the third question.

Basti listened to the continued conversation with interest. He'd nodded along but as the words digested in his head a thought had popped into mind. "Ooh ooh, I might know something that'd be helpful to you. Though ...." He thought back pausing for a moment. He had not seen them around thus far. Basti tapped his chin as he was lost in thought. "You know I don't think I've seen any here. I don't know if you know what they are. But they're called dials."

His eyes tilted up thoughts sparkling. "They have so many cool uses. I've seen some that play music, some that blow air, some that even manage to create fire." The skyperson smiled brilliantly as he thought back to his time as a royal guard. He distinctly remembered the guard captain had an eisen dial sword. It was a mystical weapon that he little understood. To be fair he didn't understand the other dials either. But they sounded like they might be what Kohengi was looking for.

"If you are done being lost in thought. I am ready." Kanra said flatly. She had a cloth pack hung over her shoulder. Her fishing rod had telescoped to a close and was latched to one side of said pack. The pile of sand Kanra had shaped into what was almost a chair looked no more than a lump on the ground anymore. Kanra shifted the pack upon her shoulder and looked at the other two expectantly.

[Shinku]

Hmm... what to think of someone who didn't especially desire a bonus? Was that a good thing? A bad thing? Did it show that they were honest as they put in the work required of them for the agreed price instead of greedingly wanting more? Or were they secretly hoping for more by being humble and declinging the offer?
So much considerations gave her a headache, so she decided to be carefully optimistic. Of course there was always a risk involved when dealing with shady people and there was no telling if Kanra would not try and scam her - or worse. But as her contact had said, people who worked as guides relied on being known for their reliability. Should they mess it up or cross their client, they might not get any more jobs from anywhere.

She watched as the woman turned to pack her belongings, then remembered that she had to close ther suitcase again as well. And since it was full to the brim, that was always a rather difficult task.
Still, since they were now moving into a more dangerous terretory, Kohengi decided to leave Kõkõ out of her suitcase. Maybe she would need the weapon and even if not, she would feel a lot more secure with the feeling of polished wood in her hand.

Basti was telling her something while she packed and Kohengi listened with half an ear until something he said caught her interest. She halted with a pair of socks in her hand, in which she had stuffed the little oil bottles for safety and looked up to the man. Gosh! Why was he so darn tall? If this went on like that she'd break her neck one day.
„They create fire? Like.. a matchbox?“ That in itself didn't sound very interesting, but the way the man spoke about it made it seem like there was more to it. „And how does the wind blowing one work? Like a jet? Pulling in air from one side to let it out from the other with greater force?“ Something like that could be useful indeed. But she had to know how exactly they worked to see if she could really utilize them.
The music one seemed nice but it wasn't quite her right up her alley.

Meanwhile Kanra seemed to have finished her packing so Kohengi hurried up to do the same. The culacula jammed between the two handles of her suitcase, she picked up her luggage and started to trot after Ms. Kanra. Her focus was on Basti though.
„Are there other, .. what did you call them... Dials? Like... what sort of functions can they do? Can they learn multiple functions or do you need a dial for each of those things that you mentioned?“
The winged man had sounded a little bit uncertain about the information he had given her, but maybe she could get more out of him by asking leading questions to jog his memory.
At least the man seemed communicative, she thought as she followed Kanra into the busier part of the temporary island. It had not escaped Kohengi's notice that the woman had not answered her third question, but she decided not to press the issue. The woman had answered her other questions, but for some reason she seemed uncomfortable with this one and Kohengi wondered why. Maybe her guide didn't know as much as she pretended to know? But she was leading them confidently so that was nothing to worry about.
When it came to answers, Basti seemed to be the more communicative than Kanra, so Kohengi decided to take advantage of this.
„Do you mind me asking,.. Those dials you speak of. You said you don't see any of them „here“, so are those dials from the place you're from? What's that place like and how do you get there?“

She weaved her way through the crowd that was becoming more of an obstacle, now that they were back at the market and tried her best to keep up with Ms. Kanra.
Why hadn't she thought of adding the wheels beforehand! It could have been so useful now! Especcially since her luggage wasn't exactly of low weight.
Some merchants cried out to them, trying to sell them their goods, but most actually relied on their clientel actually knowing what they were looking for and didn't advertise that openly.
Kohengi caught glance at a wagon full of pictures, or at least she assumed so. The wagon was full with rectangular boxes of various sizes and the merchant had opened one of them to reveal a picture of a naked woman to the buyer who nodded approvingly.
Curious as it was, those people regarded nakedness as being vulgar and not for the public eyes, but if it was on a painting it suddenly became art. Cultural customs could be so weird!

„What made you decide to come.. err.. „down inthe Blue Seas“? Were you thrown out?“ she continued her questioning, feeling a little sorry for him before even hearing his answer.

[Flame]

Kanra #12 / Basti #12

Kanra tapped her foot upon the sand glancing at the other two. They were chatting about something, a whole bag full of different supernatural powers were being talked about. Caught in their fantasies perhaps? "Looks like you two are ready as well. Shall we?" She said out loud. Certainly loud enough for those two to hear it clearly. Then taking a single step she paused. Remembering where her main vendor for her medical supplies said he would have his supply boat and thus stall set. It took a moment of thinking and orienting herself on the island before she set off walking at a brisk pace. It was slowed only by the wave of traffic found when they rentered the main through-ways of the atoll.

The guard glanced up after what Kanra said having been paying attention to Kohengi for the time being. He shifted the shield slightly upon his back, it was always a little uncomfortable to leave it pressed against his large wings. One of the few problems that those wings really caused him. Gripping his naginata firmly in one hand he looked to Kohengi. "Let's go too, before she gets away from us. She can be a fast one." He said making sure that she had her suitcase firmly gripped before he went along. He'd prefer to always keep both of those he was guarding within sight. Lest something bad happen to them.

Kohengi continued to talk asking questions about dials. What they did, could they do multiple things. "Umm ..." He blinked trying to process all the questions with his memories of dials. Basti had seem them at work multiple times, but he'd never used one himself. "I don't know Kohengi. About any of that. How they create fire, or blow wind." He said as he followed after Kanra as she kept a steady pace through the crowds. This was one of the moments he was glad of his height, he could see Kanra's smooth black hair among the masses easily.

"But yeah, they're called dials. I don't know what else one might call them. They come in all sorts of shapes. Mostly handheld sizewise. They've got a whole hodgepodge of abilities, but thats all I know, sorry I can't be of more help." He said fully apologetic. Kohengi continued questioning, thankfully this time with questions he had little more basis to answer. She'd moved away from their functionality and onto other points.

He did not respond immediately doing his best to collect his thoughts about how to answer. "Yeah I have not seen them down here. I think they're from all over the place. Definitely not just from my island." He said nodding to himself. Basti's eyes drifted elsewhere as they continued to walk along. About them the stalls were changing, as they walked past Basti's eyes glanced over at a ship pulled up to the side. There was a crowd of men outside of it jostling for position. The guard tilted his head for a moment wondering what it was about but continued to walk instead of figure out. "Hmm, what is it like? It's a nice place, good air, good people. It was kinda peaceful last I was there ..." He said trailing off softly.

"I was not thrown out." The last question he answered quite strongly. "I chose to leave my posting as part of the Royal Guard. I came to serve a higher purpose. Heroism!" The last word he declared with pride. "To be help those in need of my help." Basti nodded his chest puffed slightly.

From ahead of the pair Kanra glanced back having heard the guard's slightly loud declaration. And this is what has become of him huh? Working on the Black Market. Defending us dubious folk. It was a bit laughable, she wondered if he missed being a royal guard, or whatever it was he claimed to be. She paused for a second to allow the pair to catch up but also to get her bearings once more. Her eyes peered about trying to discern landmarks obscured by the swarms of folk about them. As Kohengi and Basti got a little closer she paused and looked at the pair. "Just a little further, keep following me. We're looking for a medium-sized dhow setup. The ship should have a caduceus on its mast."

[Shinku]

It was too bad that her guard had no knowledge of those dials he spoke off, only a rudimentary idea of their existance really. But on the other hand that made her more excited to find out more about the mysterious tools. Just the thougth of the countless possibilities such devices would offer let her mouth water like that of a dog who heard the foodbell ring.

When it came to her other question Basti's other descriptions were rather lacking too. Despite his confidence that he could tell her more about that than about dials, his account was rather plain and simple and lacked any noteworthy mentioning. Despite having hinted that he was from above, his Island sounded like any other generic island. It was impossible for Kohengi to tell if that was because the island was really so boring and unspecial, save for the dials of course, or if the man was simply bad at noticing the differences to other places. Maybe those just weren't the thing he thought he needed to point out? After all he had seemed rather surprised to notice that other people didn't have wings. Which should have been really easy to tell and it was weird that the man hadn't seen that at first glance.
With a heavy sigh she prepared herself to ask some more specific questions. It seemed like the only way to get good answers out of the nice but not so clever man.
But his last words make her perk up.
„Heroism? You left your post as a Royal Guard, which I assume is a rather good post and probably well paid, to protect others and be a hero?“
And he seemed really proud of it too, judging by the way he proudly stood there. She was itching to ask him why he was in such a shady place like the Moonlight Market and protected people who wanted to do illegal buisness if he wanted to be a hero. But she kept her thoughts to herself. First she didn't want to lose her guard, and second she would feel rather bad about shattering his dreams like that. The boy really did seem to mean well. It wasn't his fault that he was born an idiot.

„What's a dhow?“ Kohengi started to ask, before she realized that the woman was obviously speaking about a type of ship. One with a caduceus on its mast. Whatever that was. Kohengi had the strong feeling that she should know what that thing was, she had definitelly heard the word before, but she couldn't quite remember what it meant. It did invoke the image of a snake though, so she looked around for any signs of the animal.
It wasn't long however until she forgot her task and simply watched the ships they passed by, judging their hulls by their maintainance and the vessel by its artistic value, giving them points from 0 to 100 according to her quick and not quite professional assessment.

[Flame]

Kanra #13 / Basti #13

A self-proclaimed hero and knight, it was whom he was. It was the codes he lived by. It made him happy. Even happier still to be spoken of in a way that made him seem so selfless. Basti beamed as he looked down at Kohengi. "Yes. Yes I did." He said smiling. "It was a very nice job. Cozy and rewarding in its own right. There's definitely a sense of pride in protecting a princess. But it was also peaceful." Basti said pausing as he did remembering why he'd finally left.

It was true, his reasoning had been that just that. It was peaceful, his free arm reached up grasping at the simple chain necklace and the ring upon it. "It was a good station, but I was not needed. Not like I am elsewhere. I need to feel like my work is more helpful to those in need. Being part of a royal guard on such a peaceful island, it just wasn't enough." Basti said firmly. His hand let go of the necklace, it fell back softly against his chest where it had been before. Affirming his naginata in one hand he allowed it to lean back upon his shoulder.

"My purpose is to protect those who cannot protect themselves. And I was not doing as much as I could be doing elsewhere back at the Kingdom." He said with a disappointed sigh. He still remembered that time fondly even if it wasn't as fulfilling as he'd wished it to be. Though even if he missed it, he did not regret his decision in the slightest. Of this he was certain, he had made the right decision, no matter the consequences of it.

He looked down at Kohengi with a smile. "I am glad to have met you Kohengi. These are good memories to return to." He patted her softly on the back with his free hand. As he looked forward once more.

Still slightly ahead of them Kanra had spotted the ship. "Rather than telling you. You can see for yourself. I have found it. Come follow me." She said picking up her pace as she continued to walk down the path before veering to the right. Set against a makeshift jetty Kanra was happy to see it was not such a busy day for her vendor. The dhow ship was tied up against it, a medium sized ship, the red and grey caduceus floated proudly on the tan triangle mast. It was a longer ship, not so wide as it was long. Rectangular with a mostly flat deck it was well suited for the task of carting many materials about as necessary. As she walked up the jetty she paused for a moment not seeing her man anywhere.

Turning back she put up a finger. "Wait here for a moment." She began to walk up the gangplank. "Kanra! As your guard I should go first." The guard moved forward suddenly to catch up to her. The oaf was large and didn't look to be stopping. She did not even have time to sigh. Bumbling up the gangplank behind her Kanra was forced to jump onto the ship as Basti came rushing after her. "What're you-?"

"Who goes there?" A voice came from the cabin at one side of the ship, the door opening to reveal a thin dark-skinned elderly man in what seemed to be a bulky poncho wielding a double barrel musket stepping out. "Trying to make off with my stuff are you?" He growled gristly.

While Kanra put her hands up Basti did no such thing. The guard in practiced fashion swung in front of her his naginata facing down. Much faster than she'd expected his shield was down and held between her and the man. "Stay back!" Basti barked. "Calm down, calm down. Avis it is me. Kanra." Kanra yelled out from behind the winged warrior.

"Wha ... Kanra? Come forward, let me see if its really you."

"Put your gun down first old man!" Basti said loudly eliciting no response. "It's fine, it's fine. The old man won't shoot, he thinks we're robbers." Kanra said scooting her way around the guard.

"You don't look like the Kanra I know. Who the hell are you."

Kanra sighed. "Put on your spectacles you old fart." She said. Shocking the man into memory that he had them off and hanging about his neck. With one hand awkwardly holding the rifle faced somewhat towards Kanra he pulled the pair of spectacles up and squinted. "So it is. Come back for more supplies?"

"Something like that. Basti you can stand down. And Kohengi you can come aboard now."

"Basti, Kohengi, this is Avis Cenna. Trader of many goods, and supplier of most of my medical needs. Avis, this girl has a strange ask, see if you can help her out if you can. She's new to the business."

[Shinku]

Kohengi set up her best smile, straightened her dress, picked up her suitcase and headed up the ramp to join her guide.
She was starting to wonder how effective her „guard“ really was, considering that he tried so hard to protect them both that he lost sight of at least one of them at a time. But she hadn't been feeling very treatened by the passerbys either so she wasn't really concerned about that. It had been a surprise to find out that there even was a guard. Basti had come as a bonus and Kohengi was feeling like she started to understand why.

At the end of the gangplank she let her gaze wander over the deck for a moment before joining up with her guide.
Since the old man was still holding his shotgun, the tinkering mechanic decided to stand close to her guide, hoping that the vendor was less likely to shoot her if she did so. Even though with folks like that it was hard to tell.
With an unwavering smile she have him a small wave – almost dropping her suitcase again as she took one hand away from the handle.
Kõkõ'wai who had been jammed between the two handles however clattered to the floor. Embarrassed Kohengi moved to pick it up, but then thought better of it. The man was still holding a gun and who knew how he would react to her picking up her weapon. If he even realized that it was a weapon and not just a strangely careved paddle like so many people seemed to think.

„It's very nice to meet you Mr. Avis.“ she greeted him still smiling widely, setting down her suitcase to be more comfortable, but making sure that the luggage wouldn't be in the way in case she had to dive away to avoid being shot.
„I'm Kohengi Maatau- err.. Kohengi.“ she introduced herself, cutting her name short as she noticed how often people been confused by her long name.
She did shot Kanra a puzzled glance however before going on.
„I'm not quite sure why we're here since I'm not really in need of medical supplies.“
Why would Kanra even have to get those from a black market anyway? Weren't medical tools something you could buy quite legaly? It seemed strange. Maybe there was more to it? But asking too many questions seemed like a bad move in this situation so she just went along with what she really needed.
„What I'm looking for is raw kairouseki in a quantity that would.. let me see...“ now she bend down to pick up her weapon, though she made sure to hold it in a non-treatening way. „Be enough to cover the edges of my culacula here as well as for some fine ornament around Koko's flat side for additional strenghtening.“
Kohengi looked around as if she expected the Kairouseki to pop out from nowhere.
„You know, I'd be quite interested in seeing what else you have, since one never knows what could be useful, but I guess I'll have to stick to the important things first. I don't think I have too much time for leisurely shoping because I also want to learn how to apply the kairouseki to my weapon here, so I'll need a teacher too.“
And once she found them it would probably take some time to learn the basics. Maybe she'd even have to leave the market with them and follow them around for a while as such a skill could not be easy to learn. Though if she had enough material to experiment and a basic knowledge, Kohengi was sure that she could find out the subtilities of the craft by herself.

[Flame]

Kanra #14 / Basti #14

Avis only then finally stopped holding his musket up. "Is she now?" Though he didn't horrible he still turned slowly to look at Kohengi as she followed over the gangplank and onto the ship. The man was old, and now that his weapon was away much less dangerous to his charges. Basti was thankful for that, while he definitely wanted no harm to come to those he was protecting. He had equally odd feelings about hurting a man who looked as frail as this one did.

"You've been making friends Kanra. I've never known you to keep company." Kanra blanched at that for only a second before composing herself again. She glanced at the pair in references, "Hardly. This one is paid to work for me. And that one is paying me to work for her." A finger elegantly pointed at the oafish guardsman and then swung down to the short woman working on opening her suitcase. The older man hummed and glanced between the two. "It's just business." She said flatly to him.

Avis gave some lazy hand gesture as he turned his attention to Kohengi who'd began to explain her position. "Nice to meet you Kohengi." The man gave a calm smile, the type one had when they were comfortable, all too comfortable. "The reason we are here is because while I only need Avis for medical supplies. He does carry more than that. And among the vendors he is the one I trust the most." She said to Avis' nodding along.

"Such high praise. Anyways let's here what you're in the market for."

As Kohengi spoke more Avis nodded his head up and down. When she'd finally stopped Avis stayed quiet. Raising a hand he began to scratch the side of his nose. "Unfortunately for you, I do not carry kairouseki. Such material is beyond my capability to obtain. I can however think of a few traders who may have some." The doctor sighed at this, she'd suspected this would be the case. It was a bit of a long shot to come to Avis first. But she'd prefer to check with her safe vendor before they'd stray into the territory of vendors with bad reputations, or worse alliegances to larger entities.

"As for your other ask. You may look around the stock I have up here. I don't know if any of it is particularly useful for you. But I've also got some new items below, a shipment from the Grand Line that may interest you."

Kanra's eyebrow rose at that as the merchant hobbled into his cabin. From the Grand Line? She'd heard rumors about the insanity that went on there. It was hard to imagine, much like her own ability, it was enough to even peak her own interest in what was coming up from below. But in the meantime she began to peruse a table of medical tools. While she had no need of them, it was interesting to see what advancements were being made.

Having relaxed a bit Basti now happily was looking through baskets with random knick knacks in them. Finding a table set out he rolled his fingers over it until he found a strange object. Or more specifically a bag of them. Gripping one in one hand, the tan object was stretchy, it looked like a noodle made into a loop. Sticking his fingers within its hole he spread them. The tan object stretched with his movement growing longer than it had ever been before. Basti's eyes widened in amazement. "Neat." His fingers collapsed inwards allowing it to return to its unlengthened size.

"I wonder what this is."

He commented to himself as the footsteps returned. From the shadow of the open door came Avis holding a crate under both arms. Stepping out onto deck he dropped it firmly at his feet. The thud of the box turning the attention of those on board. "Now let's see here ..." Avis bent down and pulled out a pair of cloth sacks. Opening the first one he reached in and pulled out what looked to Basti like a small green seed.

"These are pop greens. Small little plant seeds. They grow extremely fast. And form some quite large plants nearly instantaneously." The man scratched his head looking lost for a second. The memories of what kinds and what exactly they did falling out of his head. He opened the other bag. "And this is a-"

"It's a dial!"

[Shinku]

So that vendor was a miss. No matter! Kohengi hadn't expected this to be easy and the promise of interesting goods from the Grand Line kept her more than happy.
She tried to summon some interest for the medical stuff that was on display on the deck, but failed to really feel interested in them. As far as pills, syrups, eyedrops and other medicine was concerned, she prefered her grandmother's treatments if she wanted to concoct something by herself and otherwise she just took what the doctors told her to take. As potential interesting such things could be, it wasn't coming close to being as interesting as, lets say... trying out different fuels to power her machines or doing tests for oils and greases to find the best one for any given situations.
The scalpels looked nice though. Kohengi owned a set of knifes, most of them intended for carving wood, but a scalpel had a total different feel to it than anything she owned. If she wasn't so set on the Kairouseki she wouldn't be hesistant to spend money on things that might or might not be usefull later on, just because they seem fun and interesting. It would be quite stupid though if she came here all the way from home only to be short a few beris for making her purchase. Especially since she had saved up for so long and been starving herself from buying materials to play around with. Or at least she had restricted herself to play around with cheep stuff, that surely counted for something.

As old man Avis came back with two heavy looking crates, which despite his advanced age and thin build he seemed to have no problem carrying. Kohengi abandoned the medical goods immediately and went to see what he had to offer.
Like a kid at the morning of her birthday, she'd bob up and down excitedly in expectation of the wonders of the world.
Turned out that the wonders of the world were actually very unimpressive looking seeds and while the first one the vendor pulled out was indeed green, the second batch of seeds were yellow and Kohengi could spot a lonely seed that had escaped its container which shimmered in a bluish color. So despite being called pop greens, they seemed to come in a wide variety of colors. Now was the question what they were good for. Other than growing fast of course.
„What's the use of them? Are they medical plants or do they grow into wood that's used for craftmanship?“ She dug deeper.
Interesting as it was, she wasn't going to buy something that was pointless. And while she might look a little naive to some, the young woman knew what she wanted and knew how to ask the right questions. Or at least she liked to think so.
„Well...“ Avis scratched his head thinking. „I think some of them can grow into a bamboo forest while others grow into venus flytraps, only bigger and more vicious. I'd probably shouldn't tell you that since I want to make buisness, but you'd better know what you're doing if you want to purchase those.“
Kohengi looked up at that comment, trying to figure out why the man told her anyway. Give and take maybe? That seemed to be an important rule in this place. Considering Kanra's remark on how she trusted the dealer, which was why they had stopped here first, his warning was probably meant as a buisness investment: Used to build trust and gain a new and loyal client.
„Can I try them out?“ she asked.
„Sure, if you buy the ones you used. I'm no charity and those pop greens aren't cheap. Nothing from the GL comes cheap lass so I can't give you any samples. I do have a list somewhere, If you want I can get it for you.“
„No thank you. I think I'm fine. I'm more interested in the dials anyway.“ She held up a hand before the old man could say anything.
„But I'm sure Basti would be overjoyed to tell me more about those. What I'd like to know from you is how much it will cost me to get the names of those traders who might be selling seastone.“
She paused there, but went on before anyone could answer, as she remembered something she wanted to make clear.
„And just to make sure, I only take names of merchants who are here at the Moonlight Market, not merchants from anywhere else. I've got no time for a detour. Also, name and location. We don't want to search all day and just a name is not always really usefull.“
Not exactly true as she did have the time for that, but if she could find it here then all the better.
For some reason Old man Avis seemed to find her comment very funny and he started laughing... at her? Had she made a fool of herself?
She glanced over to Kanra to get a hint on how her behaviour was being perceived, but was unable to get any clear idea of what fault she had made. Not from the stoic woman anyway.
„You sure she's new to the buisness?“ he asked Kanra, still laughing. „Sounds to me as if she has already made some bad experience with it.“

[Flame]

Kanra #15 / Basti #15

"As far as I know this is her first time." Kanra responded to the amused question that Avis had given her. It was true Kohengi seemed to be being quite careful about her negotiations. Far more than she had expected when she'd first met the young woman. It was surprising, her experience was often with people who thought they knew more than they actually did. "Perhaps it is our reputation that is beginning to proceed us." She said thoughtfully.

Avis blanched at the thought of that. "Now that's no good. How're we supposed to make a good deal if we can't hustle some fools." The old vendor laughed, a crooked smile split across his face. This was partially true, it was enough said at this point. There was not enough time for the other reality of the Black Market. It ran on trust and threats, just like the rest of the world. One did not survive in the Black Market without making friends, without having folks who can vouch for your work and trust what you do. Those who broke promises and failed to deliver did not make it here. They did not have people to protect them or clients to pay them. Not that it was necessary in this case. She didn't expect Kohengi to be around long enough to cultivate the longer term partnerships. No, for what she needed, her level of care was a good idea.

"Mmm, as for vendors, I'm sure I-"

"If I may ..." Basti asked as he walked over to glance at the bag of dials that Avis had brought forth. "As long as you plan to pay for anything you take." He responded gently with Basti nodding in response. The old man passed him the cloth bag, Basti opened it with both hands peering inside.

Avis watched him curiously, even Basti was vaguely aware of the man's careful watch upon him. "You are ..." The old man was taken by the large wings upon Basti's back. "Your wings are quite large, unlike any of the other skyfolk I have seen." The knight paused glancing up at old vendor. "Yep. Though it's just me. I was born this way, no one else where I'm from have such wings." Basti responded turning his attention back to the bag with the dial. Reaching his hand in he pulled out a cone-like shell, holding it up to his head then shaking it a bit.

The skyperson unfortunately had not actually used a dial before, only seen them in use by others. Finding a button on the top he pressed it down. A pungent smell slipped out of the dial overwhelming his nostrils. Ooowahhh the sudden surprise of it and the malodorous spell dropped him onto his ass grabbing the attention of the others. "I'm okay, I'm okay. Just surprised me. It's a flavor dial." He said.

"So where was I ..." Avis continued pausing to think. "Ahh yes, you asked about traders. Yes I do think I know one or two men who'll be at the market today. They'll most likely carry it. They have a bit of a more dangerous clientel though." Kanra raised an eyebrow at that. She should've realized given what it was used for. She suspected bounty hunters most of all craved it. Not that she had such a thing, so it'd be fine. Probably.

[Shinku]

Kohengi relaxed a little. Judgeing by the conversation between her guide and the vendor, she wasn't making a fool out of herself. It was one of the things she was very afraid off. Probably the one thing she feared the most. But how did you keep yourself from looking stupid when you don't know the rules to the place? Studying up on it had given her a little bit of secureness, but there was only so much you could learn from books. Most of who had been just stories, and not real life accounts, but it was all she could get.
Now she was trying hard to fake her way through this unknown terrain, all while trying to keep track of the small things.
Smile? Check! Bright but not overly bright to make her seem like an idiot.
Eye-contact? Still struggling with that one, but staring someone in the eye all the time was not good as well, so the level she managed to maintain was probably sufficent. Besides, the dials gave her a good reason to not look at the vendor as it was reasonable to be curious about them. Something she truly was.
Listening closely? Right right! Sure she was! It was actually a lot easier to listen to what the others had to say while not looking at them and she wasn't distracted at all by the thoughts of what those dials might be useful for!

Just as she had hoped Basti stepped forward to take the matter of the dials into his own hands. She watched him curiously shaking the shell next to his ear, wondering if one could hear how full it was just like with a waterbottle, while also taking a mental note about how his wings were apparently larger than the average rather than a typical representation.

POOFFFFF!

A very bad odor started to spread over the deck and Kohengi had to take multiple steps away from Basti. Her ears were stinging from the pungent smell and even though she closed her nose between her fingers and tried to breath as shallowly as possilbe, she still felt like her sensorys were crying out in pain from the system overload.
Luckily the warm sea breeze was blowing it away quickly and Kohengi could start to breath normally again.

„Ugg! Why in the depth of Pele's maw would someone want that! This is horrible!“
But just as soon as she had said that, her brain was already starting to work out usages.
Basti had called it a smell dial, was this thing storing odor only or was it storing a specific gas? Depending on the gas that could be useful, and even if it was simple smell, there ought to be something one could do with it.

She gently took the sack from Basti and started to carefully shift through its content. From her observation just now, she assumed that it was common to activate the dials by pressing down on their apex whereby the dial released the stored up matter.

„More dangerous clientel?“ she asked, or rather repeated Avis' words, while shaking a dial next to her head. She couldn't hear anything, not from this one nor from the next one. Either her ears were not good enough or Basti was just fooling around when doing so.

„Not everyone is as nice as me and while we merchants have a good incentive to keep our clients alive and paying, some goods are very rare even here on the market and the other clients might be willing enough to resort to violence to get rid of a competitor in order to get their hands on what they want.“

Cold shivers went down her back at the though of what dangers might lie ahead, but on her face there was nothing but her usual mild smile.
She opened the folded paper she had found in the bag with the dials and was now reading through the list that described each dial's looks and usages. Thanks for the man or woman who had made this she wouldn't have to rely on Basti testing them all out for her.

„So? Do you still want to go?“

Kohengi cconsidered this for a moment. The truth was that she was feeling scared. She was way out of her familiar waters and the less she could predict an outcome the more insecure she became. Still she didn't want to back down now.
Turning to Basti she asked him with a smile.
„You're there to protect me, right? So I don't have anything to worry about!“
Just asking that though made her feel a little guilty. He had told her how important it was for him to feel needed and she felt as if she was exploiting his feelings. But even if he said yes, there was someone she needed much more than him.
Trying to establish eye-contact for such an important question, she turned to Kanra.
„I still want to go. Can I count on you?“