Futuristic Secrets of the Toriga System

[Aryel]

As Alcina was about to walk away from the bar, she suddenly had a strange, yet painful feeling coming from the pit of her stomach. "D-dammit.. What's wrong with me.." She asked herself, leaning agaisnt the bar's wall while clutching her stomach. Her legs were weak and gave out all to soon, falling to the cold, hard ground. Her body was heating up from the inside. "M-must be.. That Rhion.. Ugh.." She let out a scream of pain, gripping her stomach harder, wishing the pain would go away.


Sweat was glistening her forehead and neck, her body was shaking violently. "T-too much.. " she murmured under her breath, her vision growing foggy. "S-someone.. Help.." Her plea barely above a whisper, falling to deaf ears of the people passing by.

 

[RequiemofaCookie]

After leaving the bar Lian skulked into the nearby alleyway and curled up in a clean(ish) corner to sleep for the night. Her natural fur and thick, long cloak provided more then enough warmth for her during the Cetis nights. At least that's what she would tell people. In actuality she was cold as all hell.


As she was drifting off into sleep she was suddenly awoken by a scream of pain from nearby. Lian hobbled up off the ground and ran around to the front of the bar, one hand gripping a sword under her cloak. She expected to see someone being mugged, or maybe a drunken man who fell on his ass while heading home. Instead, she found someone she knew.


"Alcina! By the gods, what happened to you?" She dropped to one knee and tried to turn the half breed in a way that would give her vision of her stomach.

 

[Aryel]

Alcina heard footsteps, lots of footsteps. It seemed as no one was noticing her. After a few minutes of her shaking, she heard someone yell her name. "Alcina! By the gods, what happened to you?" Lian? She forced herself to look up, her body to heavy for her to handle. "L-lian.. Help.." She murmured, her breath shakey and ragged.


She smiled at Lian, even if it was somehow a forced one. "I guess.. I should have.. L-listened to you guys.." She dragged on, her breathing hard, making it almost impossibble to talk, let alone breath. Alcina let out another scream, griabbing onto Lian's clothing and gripping her stomach harder. "D-dammit.."

 

[RequiemofaCookie]

"Oh for... It was the alcohol, wasn't it?" The woman dragged a hand down her face, "We -did- warn you, yes. Gods, how many glasses did you have - two? Three?" Lian twisted her mouth, trying to think of a solution. Ah, right. Lets go with a simple one.


Lian popped up and swung inside the bar, "HEY." She shouted, "Water, now! We got one down out here from uh, too much liquor." She looked around, "Hey, you." She pointed to the Cav'r who was at the bar with them earlier, "You should come too. Just to be sure she isn't going to kick it."


Without another word she went back out and sat beside Alcina, trying to reassure her, "It's fine, you know. This is -usually- how people react to Rhion drinks. It just took awhile for it to kick in I guess, heh." She rubbed at Cina's shoulders to make sure she was still conscious for when the water came.


If it came.

 

[Fus ro dah]

The bartender looked up as the door swung open and with a nod, he grabbed a large jug and filled it with water. He decided to drop some ice in with it, cooler water would help her feel better. He took the jug of water over to the Ialdor and sat it on a nearby chair.


"If she needs to lay down, she can in the side room." He pointed at said room. "There's some basic beds in there."

 

[Aryel]

Alcina's whole body was shaking more violently than before, the sweat on her forehead increasing rapidly. Lian disappeared for a while and returned a couple of minutes later, sitting beside her. "It's fine, you know. This is -usually- how people react to Rhion drinks. It just took awhile for it to kick in I guess, heh." She told her, rubbing her shoulders. "T-thank you.." She mouthed, her voice caught in her throat.


She held in another scream as her stomach began twisting and turning inside her, creating more pain. She clutched at Lian's arm, efficiently blocking any blood flow from her upper arm down to her forearm. Damn did this hurt.

 

[TheLunchboxx]

Refia laughed and yawned, followed by her fastening the buttons on her jacket. She slipped what she owed on the counter before turning to leave.


"When should I expect to leave?"

 

[Fus ro dah]

Bolin eyed the human a moment. "Well, if you'd been sober and listening. You would have heard. Tomorrow night. Here. We leave here first thing the next morning at first light. You need to pay your way first, and get yourself supplies."

 

[TheLunchboxx]

Refia yawned and scratched her arm, swaying and hiccuping while attempting to focus on Bolin. There appeared to be three, no four of him in front of her.


"I have supplies and I can pay myself in. The five of you just calm down and I'll handle everything."


She was bluffing, a hangover is tough to conceal but for the sake of going to Earth, to finally understand a few key points in her life, she needed to make it down there.

 

[RequiemofaCookie]

"Come on, get up." She sighed softly and tried to prop the half Cavr up into a sitting position, "And look that way," She gestured with her head toward the pathway on the other side of them, "I don't want you puking that stuff up on to yourself... Or me."


She waited a before speaking again, taking a moment to look her over again now that she was in the light. Yup, still not looking to good from all that liquor.


"Come on inside, lean on me. The bartender said we could use the backroom." Lian tried to hoist the woman up. She wrapped one arm around her torso and held gently under Alcinas right arm, maneuvering as best she could back into the bar.

 

[TheLunchboxx]

Refia needed to get home, she was getting irritated with all the commotion targeted at her and the weak stomachs of the people surrounding her. Feigning the stability to wander about the area on her own, she slammed some money down on the counter, a bit more than the bill itself was, and made her way towards the door. Not realising she still held a glass in her hand, the drunk woman leaned against the wall near the exit and yelled back.


"I'll cut a deal with you four tomorrow, tonight I'm going to gear up."


She pushed her way out the door and yawned, steadying herself over some broken machine set up by the entrance. Refia wasn't too sure of what exactly was going to happen tonight, as the location of her ship was in a somewhat seedy area and a decent distance away from her current location. Hoping it's the right direction, Refia walked towards a few buildings then turned into a bit of a cramped area.


"Let the confusion commence." 
Refia wandered pretending to know where she was going, passing by building after building wandering why they all appeared the same. Whenever she was close enough to one, Refia ran her hand along the surface of it, only to find that they appeared to be made out of an old and rough material, every single one of them, and she found a pattern in them. Same length and same exact amount of cracks and bumps. This walk continued for what she felt continued for as long as she remembered. Then it finally hit her, she was walking in circles still at the bars entrance. The people Refia passed had been some of the customers inside and were giving her odd looks.


Fumbling to get inside of her ship, which wasn't too far away, she immediately threw her shoes against the door and fell back into her chair. Leaning back she stretched and took a few minutes to calm down from the previous anger the situation had caused back at the bar. After her mood had calmed down a bit and some time had passed leaving her a lot more capable of thought, she reached beneath her seat and pulled out a small envelope. Trying to turn her eyes away from it Refia opened up the flap and reached in, pulling out a small picture.


Looking at the picture was difficult, the moment her eyes fell upon the face in the picture she began to tear up, nearly throwing herself onto the floor and lying there in her own tears. Refia couldn't cave in, she had to remain strong so that nobody would question her motives, there was no such thing as a crying Refia, nothing could break the powerful adventurer. Nothing but this picture. Slipping the picture back into the envelope she tossed it onto the control panel and leaned back into the seat again.


Shutting her eyes Refia spoke to herself.


"Hopefully Earth will leave me with the courage. This can't continue anymore."

 

[Aryel]

"Mnnggh.." Alcina let out as Lian tried helping her up. She certainly did feel like puking, but opted not to so as not to surprise Lian, who'd eventually, drop her. They got inside the bar, who knows how, and tried walking over to the backroom. They passed by other people in the bar, and behind Bolin and Yin. She couldn't make a snappy comeback to Bolin if he tried annoying her, she didn't have the strength to move around even.


"I.. I can't.. I don't... feel like walking.." She murmured, and suddenly her knees gave way, falling down to the ground, with Lian too.

 

[The Velveteen Rabbit]

"Catch me if you can, Rayn!"


A young Cavr girl sped down the road with a magic staff in hand, her bright green hair flowing behind her in waves. Seconds later, a woman burst around the corner of a marketplace stand, a playful yet irritated look on her face. She bent down and placed her hands on her knees, watching the small girl weave through crowds of people.


"Kisha running off again, Rayna?" An elderly woman brewing a potion at the stand asked. The Cavr woman looked up from her panting, and flashed the elder a teasing grin.


"Oh, yeah. She's a ball of energy as usual," Rayna replied, lifting her head once more to try and spot the little girl. But the girl seemed to have run off and hid. Flashing the elderly woman a smile, Rayna burst into a sprint down the street.


"Gotta go! Have a nice day, Ms. Lilou!" The Cavr woman out called behind her before disappearing among the crowds of people. The elderly woman waved, shaking her head and chuckling softly to herself.


The beautiful Cavr woman suddenly burst out of the throng of people, her pale green eyes scanning the area frantically. There was no familiar face of the little girl, and she felt panic flit in her chest.


"Kisha!" Rayna called out loudly, wandering towards the abandoned part of the village. There were now fewer marketplace stands, and less people that stood in the street. There was a slight sound of crying that could be heard, and immediately, Rayna sped off in the direction of the noise. Sitting against the wall of a house, sat the little girl. Bruises ran up her arms in the colors of purple and brown, and tears slipped down her face like a waterfall. The staff lay a few feet away, sitting in the dirt.


Turning the corner and seeing her sister's state, Rayna crouched low next to her and furrowed her brows.


"Kisha... What happened?" The Cavr woman asked worriedly, glancing around at the cause of the bruises. A trash bag lay spilled out next to the girl, displaying old cans of food and rotting vegetables. Rayna sighed and smiled slightly, swooping up her staff and pointing it towards the bruises. A ball of yellow light glowed at the tip, shrouding the injuries in a magnificent mist. Instantly, the bruises vanished, and Kisha's normal skin tone of light green replaced it.


"There we go. Don't run off like that anymore, okay? It scared me." She murmured to the girl, swooping her up and onto her shoulders. The Cavr girl sat there, no longer crying, but smiling happily at the tall view above Rayna's head. With the staff in hand, the woman made her way towards the capital city of Feland, Kisha bouncing on her shoulders and humming a song.


Soon enough, the Cavr woman entered the city, running along the wooden stilts and weaving through people swiftly.

 

[The Gil]

Logos looked at Mitsy, his desert hawk, standing on his ship panel. Mitsty screeched to him and then frowned his beak, as it was smiling to Log. He looked around his ship, analyzing the few remaining blood stains that didn't came out after he cleaned it. He turned back to his ship panel and pushed the radio button, while typing numbers in the keyboard below it.


"This is FB-919 reaching out to CL-121, over". He waited for a response. A woman voice answered from the other side. "This is Jalestone Cleanup/Restoration Services. How may I help you, FB-919, over?". The woman was new working there. Log didn't recognised her voice. This was weird. Maybe the cleanup service got discovered and they had to replace all the workers. Well, this wouldn't be good and if it was true, she wouldn't understand what Log was about to say. "I would like a Jalestone Mumbojumper Fog Cleaner 515, over". The answer took a while. A grave voice responded. "Whatcha want?, over". Logos smiled. "You know, for a minute I thought you were arrested", he said, placing his legs over the ship panel and leaning back on his chair. "Got a divorce. No more wives to answer the damn radio. Just say what the hell do you want already, over", the Cavr replied, with a fatigued tone on his voice. "Durk, there's some blood stains here, not gonna lie, they're hard to come out, over". "Oh no, no darn cleanup services anymore. I'm tired of picking up brain pieces from the floor, besides, the government is on my back, over", Durk said, affraid to call up more attention upon him. "What government? Erase my name from your records, over", Log asked, a little bit worried. If they were after Durk, they might be after him as well. "Dunno, prob'ly all the gov'ments. And what records? I'm not that dumb, kid. Also, you got a desert hawk there, right? I've heard that the spit from these things can cleanup pretty much anything, over and out".


Logos looked at his hawk. Was that actually true or was it just a joke? He grabbed a rag over the panel and gently approached Mitsy, opening his beak. He rubbed the rag on the corner of the hawk's beak, getting it wet with a little bit of saliva. He walked to one of the smaller stains and tried to wipe it with the rag. It didnt worked. Yep, it was a joke. The red light over the radio started flashing. Log got up and walked to it, pressing the button to activate it once more. "This is IO-5 reaching out to FB-919, over", a voice said from the other side. It was familiar to Log. He didn't had to make much effort to remember it was from one of the guys that owed him, Ilidan. "Where's my money, Il?", he asked. "Hey man, what's up with the hospitality? Can't I just be calling a friend of mine to give him some precious information?, over", the squeaky voice asked. Fear could be noticed in his voice. "What?, over". "Business opportunity offered by the Adventurer's Guild. I've seen it at Bleached Bones in Cetis. I guss this pays off my bill, over". Cetis. The planet definetely rang a bell to Log. It had been a long time since he set a foot there. "Thanks for information Ilidan, over and out". Before turning off the radio, he heard Ilidan desperately saying "Wait man, what about my deb...". Logos set the course of the ship to Cetis.


He landed near the Bleached Bones Bar, where he could see plenty other ships landed. Log walked there, seeing lots of grumpy, criminal faces. Some of them were familiar. Old friends. It could be dangerous for him to be staying here too much, but he wasn't particularly scared by any of those. He walked to one of the corridors and saw a poster on the wall.

The Adventurer's Guild is seeking interested and skilled people for our upcoming expedition to Earth. Adventure, danger and possible riches await you. Must be able to work in a group, troublemakers will be jettisoned or left on Earth. Supply your own weapons and personal safety equipment. Food, tents and water will be supplied.

​

​

Interested parties should come to the Bleached Bones Bar on Cetis and sign their name.


Fee is a tradeable item of worth.


Ask for Yin or Bolin.




​

Log walked towards the Ialdor that was running the bar.


"About that Adventurer's Guild poster there, do you know where I can find Yin or Bolin?"

 

[Fus ro dah]

The Ialdor nodded as he passed another glass of Basilisk Blood to one of the patrons who -really- liked the stuff. "They're just out the back, sir." He replied, turning his head toward the passageway that lead to the brothers' private home. "Yin? Bolin? We have another for the trip."


"Be right there." A single voice replied from down the hall.


A minute or so later, Yin emerged from the back of the inn with a clipboard and a smile on his face. He assumed the human at the bar was probably the guy Fen was talking about.


"You're here for the trip to Earth?" He asked, offering forth the clipboard. "Fill out this and sign it, all we need is your payment for the expedition and then we leave in two days time, at dawn. We expect everyone here tomorrow night, clean and sober. Drunk, high or hungover adventurer's will be left behind. Any troublemakers during the flight will be jettisoned."

 

[The Gil]

"Thanks. The name's Log, by the way", Logos said, introducing himself for the man who had just offered him the clipboar. He started to fill it with his information. "I've been hearing that Earth was a freaking dead mess. When I've read 'riches await you', I must say, I was shocked. Looked like some sort of scam to me. If it wasn't made by the Adventurer's Guild, I gotta say, I wouldn't be here". He looked at the man. "Is this a real deal? They'll just let us walk there and scavenge items?".

 

[Fus ro dah]

"Earth is indeed a 'freaking dead mess'," the half-Ialdor started with a nod. "But there's still a whole lot of relics scattered across the country, not to mention, whatever remains of the unwary adventurer's who travel to the surface alone expecting it to be a nice easy trip with no danger. Now, as I explained to the rest. Anything you find alone, is yours to keep. We have one guy who is after weapons, but that's not to say you can't get your hands on some as well. Anything we find as a group is stockpiled and auctioned off between the interested parties once we're done."

 

[The Gil]

Logos nodded at the Ialdor in front of him. "That's pretty cool. I'm guessing I'll be able to make a small fortune in this trip". He turned around and looked. There were people from all types, but mainly Ialdors at the bar. A nostalgic feeling hit him. He smiled. "This planet brings me memories, you know?". The smile vanished from his face. "Not all of them good". He turned back to the Ialdor who gave him the clipboard, returning it after he finished filling it. "Where's the rest of the people who are going in this trip?"

 

[Fus ro dah]

Yin chuckled. "It all depends what we find. We'll be going to the area once known as 'Egypt' first off. As for the others, most of them have gone off to sleep, a few are going to be hungover in the morning. Especially one..." That silly human.


He took back the clipboard and made sure the details were right. "Okay, all we need now is your payment in trade or money for your passage to and from Earth. We expect everyone here tomorrow night so that we can leave at first light the morning after. Anyone who is on narcotics, is drunk or hungover will be left behind."

 

[The Gil]

Logos placed his hand inside his pocket, looking for credits. "Well, what I'm going to do with all the narcotics in my ship then?", he said, laughing. He took off a small green plastic card out of his pocket. "How much is it?"

 

[Fus ro dah]

The half-breed eyed the strange plastic card in the man's hand, then met his gaze. "We accept an item in trade, or cash only. It's not cheap, of course, it's travelling to another System. Present an item or cash amount and I'll decide, that's how we do things, because we know not all adventurer's are rich. One woman traded her mother's old solid gold earrings, because it was the best she had."

 

[The Gil]

"Take this", he said, giving the old Earthly credit card to the Ialdor. "Let's just say it's an old treasure from Earth, but I might have something better". He placed his hand inside his pocket again, searching for some thing. His money was stamped with marks from the federation from the last ship he stole, so he couldn't pay in money. He felt a cold touch of metal on his hand and started to remember. It was the old golden watch his father gave to him. For a while in the past, he thought about throwing it away, to forget the memories that he stil had from the desert, but he kept it, fooling himself, saying that he could sell it later. This was later. He pulled out the golden watch with diamonds craved on it and gave it to the Ialdor. It was a beautiful crafted piece of work. He felt like crying when he gave it away, but he didn't.


"There ya go. Those are probably the last diamonds from Earth. The guy who took care of me as I grew up gave it to me when I was still a child. He liked to tell this story of the time an old weird salesman dropped by close to his house and gave him this. I don't know its real value, but I think it must be expensive".

 

[Fus ro dah]

The card wouldn't be worth a lot, even after a thousand or so years after they stopped being useful. He could probably sell it to a museum in the Colonies for a little bit. How this thing was still intact and not brittle and broken was pretty interesting. Although his musing over the card, and how this guy had it, were distracted by the shiny watch. If that was real gold and if those were real diamonds...


"That's a nice watch." He commented as he took it and looked it over. "I'll accept these as fare. So we'll see you here tomorrow night, make sure you have everything you need."

 

[The Gil]

(Why doesn't my alerts work for this?)


Logos nodded at the Ialdor behind the counter and left the bar. He walked towards his ship and entered it. He was tired as hell. The last robbery had took a lot of energy from him. It was hard to decide what was worth to take and what wasn't. This wouldn't be much of a hard decision once he would get at Earth. He always dreamed of getting there, being able to see all the products that the merchant once told to his father, getting all of that without having to steal it from anybody.


Log walked inside his room and laid down in the bed, eager for the morning to come.

 

[Fus ro dah]

((@iLoriel2 @gilwaybetternow and @♥Lost_In_Paradise♥ time for a time skip to get this moving. ))


The night passed by swiftly, the desert air grew cold as the moon rose high into the sky. The night life of the desert awoke and scuttled across the cooling sands, gathering around the oasis to drink before they dispersed from the water's edge to hunt for food.


As the sun rose, the night-creatures retreated to sleep away the day, the few day-dwelling animals starting their daily ritual of drinking and feeding. The two brothers awoke with the dawning of the sun and spent the day preparing. They loaded everything they would need for the trip onto the shuttle. Food, water, medical supplies and so on.


As the evening rolled around, the outdoor lights were turned on and the shuttle was checked thoroughly. The side room inside the Bones was cleared out, allowing room for the adventurer's to sleep in there tonight. If they arrived, of course.