The War Begins(GD Pirates)

[.::Haseo On The Clouds::.]

The plan would commence when at sunrise. Gator awaited for the signal to be given by Basil while he was waiting with his Division at the front of the Capitol. The plan was to commence an attack when the sentries would be moving shifts. The fortress would be at it's weakest during sunrise as the Enforcers would be readying to go on street patrol, the sentries would be moving, and this was the time that he loosened up the locks and security so that all the shifts would move along nicely. Gator couldn't help but feel some anxiety as his division alone would attack first. His job was simple, to buy enough time for the other divisions to get ready and to create an opening for a full on assault to the fortress of the Emperor...simple wasn't it?

As the wind blew harshly against the face of the big muscular man and his warriors, he could sense the tension of the districts. This was their chance to regain their freedom from the tyrant Selethen. It was quite interesting how Selethen the Jade Emperor went by the name Tsuyoi. Gator scowled, "Probably just wants everyone to know how great he is..."

Time seemed to move by slowly, his men were all geared up and ready to go, but they were restless. This siege would require some work, plus they didn't have any catapults or any kind of artilery...it was all up to skill and strategy. The head strategist of the rebel forces appeared to be quite the clever one, Gator hadn't questioned him when they set up the battle strategies. Then there was the captain of the Gold Dream pirates, an interesting fellow. It was such a shame to see him in his coma state. Gator thought that they would have to do their best. "If his will is strong....he'll pull through." and with that he stood up, it was sunrise. The flag bearers were ordered to come up and center. It would be seen, that every division, held the flags of the Gold Dream Pirates, to thank them for the courage and the unity of the Kingdom.

[Xavanezos]

Dean and his men were already on the move. Moving quietly around the city, they stood behind big rocks hiding there. They were the elite forces with the mission to secure entrance in the city while they would sabotage the enemy's armory and supplies. For Dean it was not really hard, or so he thought.

Lying back to the huge rock, he held his sword tight in his hands while his full handguns were hanging from his belt. Closing his eyes he sighs slightly preparing for the upcoming battle. He failed the crew by staying behind when everyone went ahead and started the fight with the Emperor and now Haseo is lying half dead. Succeeding in his mission was the least he could do to repay him. Most of the crew members abandoned them anyway and Haseo was now counting on him and on Basil.

Wasting no time, Dean called his two commanders over, Rustan and Reid. Gathering together, he formed a circle on the ground with a stick he found nearby. Turning over to Rustan he draw a small cross at one part of the circle making arrows towards the inner part.

"So Rustan. You will take five men and you will head towards the city's plaza. Once there, try not to get spotted as it will be well guarded. Move carefully to the back side where the watch towers and take the guards out replacing them with our guys. After that, make sure to head to the armory which is connected with the towers and seal the way in."

Making another cross, near the city's walls now he turned to Reid.

"Now, your mission will be to sneak over to the city's gatehouse and take out the guard. Then you'll wait for Basil's signal and let the rest of our armies in the city. Do not let anyone inside during our attack, else our plans will be destroyed.. Now, both of you have around fifteen minutes to do so. I will head towards the citadel with the rest of the men to make sure everything's ready for the attack. Men...good luck and remember, fifteen minutes."

Saying that, Dean turned over to four men signaling them over as he quietly disappeared in the city's alleys. Rustan and Reid nodded their heads as they took their own men following Dean's plan.

[.::Haseo On The Clouds::.]

It was just about time, Gator needed the necessary signal from Basil and Dean to commence with his assault on the Capital. If the signal didn't come soon, the attack would be pointless! They needed to strike at the enemy's weakest moment! Just when Gator thought that they ran out of time...both signals were given. "EVERYONE! BOTH SIGNALS WERE GIVEN! BASIL-SAN HAS GIVEN US THE OK AND DEAN-SAN HAS SUCCESSFULLY INFILTRATED THE ENEMY! CHARGE AND HAVE NO MERCY!!!!" and then Gator withdrew both battle axes which were attached to his back and charged along with his men.

Now from a distance, the Royal Palace was being guarded by a few soilders and guards due to the time slot. In another 20 or o minutes the exchange would be complete and the full security of the palace would be at %100. It was just their luck though, that in the distance, the guards to the north entrance noticed a charging force come in with frightening speed and numbers. The captain, clearly terrified pointed to one of the towers. "Bow men ready! FIRE FIRE FIRE!!!"

Suddenly, Gator's division was being bombarded by 10's of arrows, but they weren't enough to stop the massive force of the combat division. With Gator's lead, they easily took over the north gate and forced their way into the palace, killing multiple guards on the way! "Okay we're in! Take over the entire north complex of the palace! Have no fear! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!" and with that Gator assaulted many more guards.

[Xavanezos]

It was going as planned so far. The gate was opened by Reid and their armies breached the city. Rustan should have taken the armory and the towers and Dean with his men was just outside the citadel. Hiding by the trees, he was carefully watching the gates as enemy soldiers were running outside.

Not wasting a moment, Dean jumped outside and in front of the charging army followed by his men. Seeing them, the guards panicked and attacked engaging in full combat with Dean's men. The rebel forces easily took out the guards and pulled their bodies to hide them behind some barrels. Making sure they are not followed, the small group entered the Citadel.

===========
Meanwhile:

Rustan and his men were all standing by the door using their weights so the attacking enemies wouldn't enter the armory. The door could be seen pounding as the Emperor's army brought forth a small ram.

"Damn it...where is Gator and the others? We can't last much longer like this..."

Turning his head towards the stairs he yelled

"Hey, up there, what's the situation?"
"There are around fifty men outside sir! Gator's armies are nowhere to be seen yet!"

Clearly worried Rustan sighed slightly
"I just hope they're alright.

===========
At the gate:

As their forces rushed in the city, Reid and his men joined them. Easily taking on the few guards there, they were opening their way to the palace. Facing Gator, Reid grinned and bowed his head slightly

"We should head to the plaza first. Rustan might be in problem and we will be able to take weapons from their armory"

Giving a hard punch to a charging guard, Reid kept running along his friends towards the evil Emperor's palace. His reign of terror finally came to an end!

[.::Haseo On The Clouds::.]

(I had time so I decied to post )
Most of his men were panting now, many were breathing rapidly. The heat of battle was getting to them, and the taste of freedom was shakening! With his division, Gator and his men pounded through the unready guards with their spirit and weapons. Although the Emperor's army was well equipped and were experts in combat, many were caught off guard by the massive assault from the several divisions. They were losing, they couldn't focus, they couldn't pull themselves together, and everyone knows that when you lose your calm in the battle field...you lose yourself. This very thought went across Gator's mind as he watched his men battle with great intensity, but they could lose themselves at any moment. Just when they were about to finish off the guards at the complex, Gator found himself back to back with a fellow rebellion leader, Reid.

Gator bowed back as Reid grinned and bowed slighty and suggested, "We should head to the plaza first. Rustan might be in problem and we will be able to take weapons from their armory." and with nods, he and Reid charged in.

Heading to the plaza, Gator shouted to his men, "Everyone! Assist Rustan and take over the armory!!!" and then Gator rushed on to fend off the guards who were smashing their way into the armory...

[White Mimic]

After Basil had sent the signal, he addressed the captain of his own division, requesting that the plan be briefed once again and summarized, so that the different groups in the infiltrators division would know exactly what they were doing and the orders would be fresh in their minds.

They were standard foot soldiers of course, but they were equipped to scale the walls of the fortress quickly and drop down from the battlements where they needed to to fight from the upper walls. Once the plan went underway, Basil's group would be one of the later ones to enter, taking advantage of the confusion to solidify a defense and offensive manuever. Leaving the force to Dean, Basil took mainly technical soldiers and snipers for the strategy.

It took several moments for the initial rush to start to peak, when the enemy would be the most distracted and the deffense on the Southern walls to be the weakest. Taking advantage of the spread troops, Basil's Division approached the South Western wall where the spread of the troops was the most advantageous with a further distance between the split and a lack of a directly aligned rampart house. They were noticed soon on the approach and small volleys had begun to fall towards them, not enough to make a huge impact with the urgency of attack. Basil's snipers took cover and fired theirown arrows up to the ramparts to scare them back as more and more clustered at the walls to defend the south of the fortress.

The foot soldiers, holding flexible scaling ladders, kept moving foreward with the cover of the snipers as Basil himself along with Amber, Ferri, and Gale approached the wall and nimbly avoiding the arrows that were being fired at them increasingly. When they were a proper distance from the wall, Amber grabbed Basil's arm and Basil launched himself up towards the wall using the tongues from his back, grabbing Amber's arm with another tongue and flinging her straight at the ramparts while he would still be travelling upward for a few seconds. She slid on the ground, tripping a few of the archers who were aiming for Basil with her leg and arm as he shot the felled soldiers with his gun's venom, knocking them out from a panicked stranglation.

Ferri and Gale scaled the wall a distance away to spread the power and take the archers out quicker. It wouldn't be long before the stronger soldiers beneath them made their way up to stop them so they needed to be as fast as possible.

Quickly clearing an area for the ascending archers and foot soldiers, the archers remained on the walls to defend those who were still ascending as the foot soldiers divided up amongst Basil, Amber, Ferri, and Gale. Ferri and Gale were to come up from behind the main ground forces in a pincer movement, while Amber would provide an area clearing to defend the southern ladders that they had set up. Basil's mission was create tactical sabotage. The idea was to set up makeshift explosives around the fortress to cripple the enemy defenses, particularly around where the enemy strongholds would be and beneath the ground forces if they could find the way underneath.

[Xavanezos]

Dean was successfully in the palace now. Quietly and carefully he was sneaking through the huge rooms. He left his party back at the entrance so they would make sure nobody unpleasant would get out or in. Voices could be heard down the hall from his current position. Fastly, he ran inside a room half closing the door behind him. It appeared to be a small bedroom with a double bed, a wardrobe and a small table with two chairs.

As the voices appeared to be approaching, Dean looked around the room quickly in order to find a place to hide. Not able to find anywhere to fit his whole body, he decided to stay just behind the door. The patrol stopped just outside the room. Dean could hear them talking about the attack and how the Emperor was not worrying at all since he had a trap planned.

He heard enough. Dean quickly came out of his hiding place, he opened the door and fast drew his sword "Devil Scythe!" The huge sword swung in front of him catching the guards by surprise.

"Damn...the bodies..." He thought as he pulled the lifeless guards inside the room hiding them just under the bed. He still had a long way to go to reach the Emperor's throne. His allies would be here anytime now.

==============

The pounding on the door stopped as reinforcements arrived encouraging Rustan to open the armory doors and rushing outside along with his party.

"Everyone! Get weapons from the armory!" He yelled as he was making his way through the enforcers reaching the other commanders. Bowing his head he smiled. "So, I see you are both still alive! You are late though! We need to proceed to the palace fast. Dean will be waiting."

Everything was going according to plan. The only ones missing were Basil's party but they would be meeting just outside the palace's entrance. Victory seemed certain...

[.::Haseo On The Clouds::.]

(I FEEL LIKE CRAP FOR BEING MIA FOR SO LONG!!!!! SORRY!!!!!)

Finally, after the armory was taken over, their men were able to stock up on ammunition and weapons, therefore they had the upper hand in battle supplies. With this, Gator ordered his men forward to the palace, it was time for the full on assault. His entire division rushed through and broke down the enemy as they attempted to hold back the highly moraled warriors who were fighting to reclaim their kingdom. It would only be a matter of time before they broke through the the main Palace area, where they would confront the Emperor and finally end his reign of terror. The rebels had already been setting up their traps, thanks to Commander Basil. Victory was certain.

On his way to break through enemy forces, Gator met up with Rustan. "Well if it isn't Rustan1 Haha try to keep up! Things are about to get really heated up!" With those words, Gator roared and busted open his designated gate...the entrance to the Main palace. As his men were still fighting outside, him and a few of his division rushed in to advance towards the Throne room.

It wasn't very long until they were stopped short. Gator looked around as several of his men were falling to their knees or to the floor. Suddenly more alert, Gator narrowly escaped a blast of force from ahead. "Grr....what is this!?" Scanning the room, he saw one single man. One single man who stood between him, and advancing forward.

"My what a mess you people have made....tsk tsk where are your manners?" and with this the man lifted his hand and several more warriors fell.

"Who are you!?"

"Selethen-sama's loyal right hand man.....Kenza The Wind.

[Xavanezos]

What was with this palace? It was really huge. It definitely looked smaller from the outside. And guards were nowhere to be seen. They probably went outside to meet the rebellion but still. An emperor were supposed to have more to protect him and especially when he is hated. Now to find those stairs to go to the top room. Dean kept running down the hallway as he was looking at the rooms around. It was quiet. Too quiet...Not even the fighting from the outside could be heard through those thick stone walls. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

He had a mission anyway and he was going to succeed. As he was running he heard something. What was that? He felt a chill like wind was blowing up ahead. Quickly, he entered a room and slightly closed the door but had it opened enough in order to be able to see through the small gap. What he saw however surprised him. It was a single man, running with such speed he could hardly see him. He appeared to be one of the Emperor's elite guards but he didn't look that strong. He was a slim man with white hair. He was heading outside, probably to meet the rebellion. He would attack him if the man stayed there but instead, he just rushed away.

"Come on guys...finish the guy and join me. I'll be at the throne room in a bit" he thought as he left the room only to start running up the hallway again.

=============

Meanwhile, outside the palace:

Rustan was fighting along his fellow rebels. So did Reid. Both commanders were like lions in the battlefield. The simple villagers were just being driven by their bloodlust. Their thirst for revenge. But them..they had the sense of logic in their minds. They knew that what they were doing there, was for the good of their island, for the good of their people.

Their victory was at hand until something happened. Something that they didn't expect. A few of their men fell dead on the ground.

"What's going on?" Rustan yelled looking around. He was expecting to see an army. Instead, he saw a young man standing at the entrance of the palace. He has seen him before. He was visiting the capital to trade and he was patrolling around with some guards. He remembered how everyone was afraid of him. Like he would kill them on sight if they did something wrong. But who was he?

A few more of their men fell dead until Gator went in front of him. "Who are you!?" he asked as he stood in front of him. The slim man stood there between him and the palace. He appeared strong. Strong enough to stop them all at least.

"Selethen-sama's loyal right hand man.....Kenza The Wind." he yelled as he got ready for the fight. He was the only man that kept us from going in and they had to stop him!

[.::Haseo On The Clouds::.]

With the new opponent standing between him and the main palace, Gator couldn't help but grit his teeth. From the aura and killing intent coming from this man, Gator prepared himself for battle. Grabbing hold of one of his axes, Gator stared down the youth. "Kenza the Wind? Now where have I heard that name before...." and before he could take a step towards the young man, he found himself drawing his axe swiftly to defend against a sudden blow of force coming from the enemy. "What...the hell.....just happened? Gator didn't even see anything being thrown at him...so how could Kenza even touch him from so far away? Perhaps it was the same way that he took out his other men.

With this Gator drew his other axe and charged at the youth with all his speed. Dragging one axe on the ground, Gator pushed his axe forward and sent forth a dozen pieces of debris at the youth. With his other axe, Gator twirled it with his figer and brought his arm back. With a might throw, the axe flew in the air to catch Kenza in the midst of the rubble. To Gator's astonishment, the rubble flew back into the air and crumbled, allowing Kenza to elegantly dodge the axe.

"Now now....don't be too hasty. Why not take our time?"

Gator caught his axe like a boomerang and once again gritted his teeth. "Rustan head inside! I'll take care of him!" and with those words Gator once again charged, dragging both axes on the ground and created an 'X' shaped crater. Kenza who was busy counteracting the attack gave a fable attempt to shoot Rustan with one of his long ranged wind attacks.

"Rustan GO!!!"

Meanwhile...

"Ughhhh.....where am I? What's this...gaahh....I'm so sore..." Haseo slowly opened his eyes, taking in the small room with his currenly adjusting eyes. He could smell the nice aroma of smoked meat and could hear the crackle of fire."What?"

"Now now....you're fine. This young lady has been caring for you." Wilson had been sitting in his chair, sipping some of his nice home brewed coffee. It had been almost two weeks since the Emperor had given Haseo his fatal wound. The rebellion had already started without him. As Haseo woke up, Wilson addressed him and pointed to the lady in the corner of the room....Kikuya.

[Farris (Kuro)]

The man called the Jade Emperor by his people looked over his attire in a mirror, making minor adjustments before beckoning to his servants to bring fruit, wine and the finest most exotic foods that the Emperor had imported for this occasion. This Tournament was more than simple entertainment as he would have the people believe. It was also to commemorate some thing special, something he had patiently waited for. Selethen smiled in thought before the expression faded back to it's original cold unfeeling look and he looked to the servants and motioned for them to follow him. As he left his bed chambers and tread down a long wide hall with Jade colored carpets and tapestries. The entire floors, wall, ceilings, stairs and railings were made entirely from Jade and shape to perfection. They even were decorated in gold and shaped to look like long asian dragons or snakes through out the palace.

The hall soon ended however and turned into a large wide staircase, which the palace's master ascended casually with his servants in tow. Once at the top of the tower, he reached a room more dazzling and elaborate than any of the others. It was heavily guarded and locked, but decorated and beautiful with mixtures of Jade, marble and gold with the finest art painted into it and that was merely the outer wall and the door. Here, the former pirate, now emperor kept he's greatest treasure. The Jade Emperor gave the door a light knock with the back side of his hand and asked. "Are you ready..? I'm coming in." He told an unknown occupant in a serious tone in which he addressed everything. The hard, cold and calculating manner in which he dealt with all things was not absent, even in matters such as these. Thus he only spared a few moments before he, and his servants entered the room...

[paradoxpanda]

Zora sat beside the window, looking up at the sky, and pondering when exactly it was that she had come to hate the color green. Hate it with a fury. At first it wasn’t so bad. A tad annoying perhaps, but only in a fleeting way. But it grew, like a sort of mental parasite, spreading out and entwining itself in her thoughts. If asked to put a date on when she truly started to feel the heat, it would have to be when she started to dream in green. It was after that at which her irritation with the color blossomed into something unbearable. Without any respite from it, day or night, the omnipresent emerald hue had earned a spot on things in the world to which Zora truly despised.

That was how it went, being imprisoned like this. The mind would become weighed down with all the unpleasant aspects of her world, fixating on them. Zora worried sometimes that it would drive her mad. Three hundred and fifty nine days, she’d been here. Not just within this palace of Jade, but just within this room. Ten yards accost, 8 yards high, a bed, a washroom, a living area a table for meals. All of it decorated with the finest craftsmanship and luxuries. A cage made of gold and studded with diamonds. Also green. The fact it was green wasn’t lost on her, not after having been trapped here so long. About the only escape she really had was the window, where she could look out and see the sky and the city below. And, on a good day when the weather was clear, she could even catch a few glimpses of the sea, smell the salt in the air. Not much, but it helped in its own way. That was another part of being imprisoned; the few good parts stand out.

A knock comes to the door, the sound snapping Zora out of her thoughts, reminding her that it was time again to put on her mask and demean herself before her captor. Emperor Selethen, Unquestioned ruler of the kingdom. That was another thing that bothered her. The man was in love with her, or so he said anyway. That was the reason for her being held her against her will after all. Yet, when he looked at her, his eyes held no emotion, they we’re lifeless fisheyes that stared forward. Sometimes, in her (green) fantasies Zora would imagine taking hold of a chair and bashing it over his head, and finding all manner of clockwork machinery inside rather than living tissue.

She’d been captured, almost a year ago, brought up like a trophy and offered as a bride. Back then, she’d had such a grand scheme. Get in, bat a few eyelashes at the Emperor, maybe show a little cleavage, slip out in the night with a sack full of goodies. Things had gone wrong pretty quickly, first that she’d overdone it a tad and now he was enthralled with her (or so he claimed). Second, was that the man had a rather unhealthy obsession with keeping her safe. All her tools, gone. That sucked. Then there was this tower, far off the ground and with a door strong enough to stop cannon. That, to, sucked. And lastly, Zora’s personal favorite, the battalion of armed guards which we’re kept outside her door at all hours. Just in case the door somehow got tired and slacked off.

This to, sucked.

Sliding up to her feet, she moved to the door, standing with her hands clasped before her, letting her face shift. Gone was the weariness, the anger, the longing to be anywhere but here. Her eyes brightened, her lips curled into a smile, her posture straightened. “Come in” She called, her voice songlike and mirthful. That was another small pleasure, which even after all this; she could keep up a masquerade with such ease.

The door slide opens without a sound on its well oiled hinges. Rushing forward, smile bright on her face, she exclaimed loudly “Darling!” , leaping forward and tossing her arms around her ‘beloved’ and fighting back the gag reflex. “I was worried you wouldn’t come today”. She said the same thing almost everyday. It helped maintain an appearance of fragility, part of the long term game plan, make herself seem small and vulnerable. Make everyone underestimate her. So far it had done little for her, but perhaps at some point it would give her an advantage, that little extra push to escape.

“Tell me, how have you been? How goes the tournament? I can hear the roar of the crowd from my window. It sounds awfully exciting” Detaching herself from Selethen, Zora moved over to the banquet of food, snatching a peach and taking a small bite, the sweet juices momentarily filling her mouth. “You do to much for me” She said after swallowing. “This food looks so wonderful, I worry we won’t finish it all, and then the effort to make it will go to waste. I would feel terrible if that happened” Giving an overdrawn sigh, she turned back towards her Emperor “But the thought is very sweet. I thank you”

She’d better figure a way out in a few days. Zora worried she couldn’t keep this up if they we’re actually married.

[White Mimic]

There was a young woman sitting by the fire in the room. While the meat was cooking, she flipped several herbs on the nearby stones of the fireplace and sipping green tea from a small clay cup. Her hair was worn in a bun on the back of her head and she was dressed in a pale kimono, giving her an eerie aura from the light of the fire. As she was mentioned to her patient, she turned her head over her shoulder slowly and level.

Her skin was pale and her features seemed plain in the strange light, but her profile was nearly perfect proportioned for a woman her age. She smiled at Haseo shortly before returning her attention to the drying leaves. The patient still wasn't fully recovered, and a bit more medicine needed to be made for the next round of treatments, but it was nice to see that the man had made a steady recovery up to this point. After the herbs had dried, she would have to turn them into a applicable form and separate the components out into the parts she needed, the man's bandages could do with replacing as well.

--- Meanwhile ---

Basil continued his work with the saboteur group, and some of the charges were already being set. It would take a while so he hoped his crew could wait it out and hold their own until the majority of the forces could be taken care of. As planned, he and a smaller group of rebels split off to meet a larger group at the palace entrance. However, the rendevouz group seemed to have encountered a bit of trouble. As they came in view of the palace entrance, Basil saw Rustan and Gator's groups beginning to engage with a lone white haired man.

He ordered a spread out to assist the group and shot out one of his tongues to push Rustan from the wind attack, having the tongue sliced off in the process. With a horrible yet slight slurping noise, the tongue retracted back into his body as he stood next to Gator. "Sorry for taking as long as I did. Do you require assistance?"

[.::Haseo On The Clouds::.]

As Wilson pointed out the nice young lady in the corner, Haseo smiled and showed his gratitude. "Umm...thanks for taking care of me." Haseo had gotten up to an upright position now, trying to fully get out of bed. Just as he had done so, his body suddenly cried out to stop and he felt a slight sharp pin in his midsection. "Urghhhh..."

Wilson suddenly got up to help Haseo sit down properly. "You mustn't strain yourself, Haseo. You must rest."

"But...you said it didn't you? The rebellion it's...urghhhh"

"Stop...this is not for you."

Finally after Wilson calmed him down, Haseo sat back and let his thoughts run through. He had been fatally wounded, taken care of by the lady in the corner while everyone was preparing for war. It wasn't fair! He should be out there with his nakama! He was supposed to be dead, and because of that he let Jay and Garuda go! It wasn't fair!

With a look of desperation in his eyes, Haseo turned to Kikuya. Please, I have to go! Can you help me so that I can recover more quickly?"

Meanwhile...

The situation looked grim, his men were falling one by one and all that stood before him and the entrance was a single man! After the man had attempted to attack Rustan, Basil came just in time to protect him. Thanks to that, and Gator's distraction attack...Rustan would have been able to infiltrate just fine. "It's up to you now Rustan..."

Gator then turned to Basil in relief. "You came just in time chief...let's take him down. However I must warn you, he uses some sort of wind powers to knock us back."

........

Kenza had not planned on letting the one warrior slip by, but he failed and now he couldn't chase him. If he had, an entire unit would be following leaving his back wide open.

"You have become quite an annoyance to my lord and I. Perish..." and with those words, Kenza swung his fists in rapid succession to deliver a torrents of gattling wind.

[Farris (Kuro)]

As the Emperor entered the room he retained a look of calm seriousness as he always did and was greeted with a “Darling!” before a woman leaped forward and tossing her arms around him. “I was worried you wouldn’t come today”. She said, which she said everyday when he visited. "Not to worry, I wouldn't like you to be lonely." He replied as he did each time he visited. His face an unreadable mask. His experience with women had taught him that maintaining a cold and serious mask over his feelings is what women liked in a man. There was also the fact that it protected his own feelings and allowed him to think logically rather than acting like a love sick fool in front of his future wife. The woman was intoxicating, beautiful and like a delicate flower which is why he kept her up here and well guarded. Out of all the treasures he looted as a pirate or the riches he acquired as emperor, she was his most precious.

As she detached herself from him to sample the fruit picked specially for her, he felt saddened by the loose of her touch, “Tell me, how have you been? How goes the tournament? I can hear the roar of the crowd from my window. It sounds awfully exciting” She asked, "Well, I had a bit of amusement watching some of the matches earlier. I would take you to see them, but I wouldn't like anything ill to befall my empress before we are able to wed." He told her for once breaking his mask a bit to show a hint of caring and the emotions he felt but it was hid again quickly enough. “You do to much for me” She said after swallowing. “This food looks so wonderful, I worry we won’t finish it all, and then the effort to make it will go to waste. I would feel terrible if that happened” She signed and then thanked him for the gesture. Selethen simply said, "The food is prepared specially for you, if it goes to waste then I will simply provide more. No expense is to great for you, my love." He said in his cold near emotionless tone that he always used as if his very heart was made of Jade... then frozen in Ice.

"The day is nearly coming, I have the arrangements for our wedding set up and on the final day of the tournament, you will finally take your rightful place as my Empress." Selethen told her coolly as he reached out to stroke her cheek gently as if she might shatter at his tough. For a moment there was a deep fiery emotion in his eyes that communicated his desired as he looked into Zora's own eyes. His face then slowly started to move close to steal a kiss from his beloved sea gypsy...