Fantasy Starborne - Open

[Lioness075]

Name: Larassa Sovna	Nickname: The Raven
Race: Khoelian	Home Planet: Khoeli
Occupation: Bounty Huntress	Equipment: Knapsack, Bow, Quiver of Arrows (20/20 Normal, 1/1 Grappling), Twin Daggers

Larassa’s arms seemed to be permanently crossed over her chest and she sighed while everyone began speaking up one way or another. The slime being made a stabbing suggestion that was rather swiftly put down. Too bad since that would certainly be the quickest way to resolve their current debacle. Would it count as killing if guards were just tossed overboard?

Larassa’s thoughts were interrupted when Alaric cut off Amiecia’s droning. Whatever plan she had been proposing had gone in one ear and out the other for Larassa. She absentmindedly stuck a finger in one of her ears and twisted it around a bit while Alaric proposed his own plan.

It had plenty of holes in it, but Larassa knew Alaric’s half-baked plans tended to strive off of chaos and somehow always ended up working.
With a shrug, Larassa began to say, “I can fly slime boy to the-“
She cut herself off abruptly when she heard an audible sniffing noise behind herself.

Just as Larassa began to turn around, Killerie moved into her view. Larassa growled and crossed her arms once more, standing to her full height with her wings puffing a bit while still tucked against her back.
“You want my…eye?”
Frowning, Larassa added darkly, “Over my dead body, shedling.”

Moving briskly past the shedling and pointedly bumping a shoulder against her, Larassa mentally chided herself as she felt a dull pain in her shoulder. Right, shedlings were very tough on the exterior. Duly noted.

Stepping over to the edge of the dock, seemingly unperturbed by the sheer drop she now stood on, Larassa focused on the porthole and used her mechanical eye to zoom in on it. More than certain of the slime boy’s capabilities, Larassa continued with her thought from earlier, “I can fly slime boy to the porthole to help him get inside. I could then fly the child up to the bird’s nest so he’s onboard and out of our way.”

Since Elnaril had made the comment about his parents having money, Larassa had concluded he was in fact a child and not the usual drunkard in this area. It could be hard to discern age across all of the races these days.

Turning to face Alaric now, Larassa added, “Just give me a signal when I’m good to make my entrance. I can hover up above the eye line for the guards and drop down to assist as is needed.”

SilverFlight andujarprime Lekiel Hazmat44 TheSpeck Naberius

 

[Naberius]

Elnaril Arcadus
Male
Nevvathi

He didn't know how he'd ended up in this situation, being part of a team designated to steal an admittedly impressive vessel, though he only had the one option now. Elnaril had to go through with this if he wanted to get back home. Nervous, still scared, and out of his depth the young scholar followed the others lead as they approached the large ship. For a few seconds, he stood quiet and admired the structure and craftsmanship of their soon to be ride off world, letting the others formulate some sort of plan for how exactly they were going to seize it while guards were onboard. The poor young elven boy shuddered at the mention of killing the guards but was relieved to hear they were trying to avoid that as much as possible.

Turning his attention from the ship itself to the others of the team he'd been foisted upon, he listened intently and wondered if he could actually be of any use. He'd never fought anyone before, hadn't ever even considered it or trained for anything like that. Sure, he was in decent athletic shape but not anywhere near the kind of shape to be a competent threat to anyone with any training. His skills were limited in their use for a mission like this, though the best he could offer would be a distraction. As his ears started to droop slightly again, he felt a breath on the back of his neck and slowly turned to see the massive being he'd seen before that had shocked him so badly he'd fainted. A mild look of panic flashed across his eyes for just a moment before he breathed in and exhaled, trying to smile as he held out a hand.

"I-I'm sorry about before...I've never met anyone who wasn't Nevvathi before and was just very surprised. I've...not had a good day. Too much has happened between...being abandoned and losing hope of getting home and being lost in the crowd and looked down on my strangers, I meant no offense by it. Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Elnaril, a student studying to be an archaeologist."

As the others wound down their conversation on plans, he overheard himself being mentioned and looked over, noticing that the tall feathered woman was speaking about him in terms of being a child. Normally, he would brush that sort of thing off but at the moment his nerves were still frazzled and his mind wasn't exactly working as it should. With a huff, he looked at her without the usual fear or nervousness for once.

"I'll have you know, miss, that I am indeed of legal adulthood for my kind, and have a great deal many skills...just...none of them useful at the present moment..And none that involve combat..The Nevvathi frown on physical violence as a whole..."

@ SilverFlight andujarprime Lekiel Hazmat44 TheSpeck Lioness075

 

[Hazmat44]

Killerie watched the bird/fox/person (whose name she still didn't know) walk away, wondering why she'd said 'shedling' in that tone. Well, she'd essentially promised Killerie that she could have her eye when she died, but Killerie had no idea how far off that day might be. It could be... months, for all she knew. Maybe even a year or two, incredible as that seemed.

For now, though...

She turned to the small human boy and noticed his pointed ears for the first time. She saw his proffered hand and paused, wondering what he was trying to do.

More to the point, he'd introduced himself! He'd given her his name!

Drawing herself up, she proudly told him, "My name is-"

She froze as the rest of what he'd said finally filtered through, and she started in shock. "You were abandoned?! On purpose?!"

She badly wanted to give him a hug at that, mind racing as she tried to figure out why anyone would just leave someone as timid as him behind. "I - that's terrible!"

Legs twitching, she finished, "I'm Killerie. And I promise that I will never be that mean!" She said with some heat, and then paused. "And - um. I'm sorry I... scared you like that. I got really hungry when I smelled the meat Rico was holding. It's not because of you!" She added encouragingly. "You're way too thin for anyone to eat. But, er..."

She fiddled with her legs nervously, antennae bent back over her head. "Would you like to be friends? I don't have any either. So... We could be alone together, if you want."

Naberius Lioness075

 

[Naberius]

Elnaril Arcadus
Male
Nevvathi

He looked up at the large insectoid being curiously as she seemed genuinely concerned for his well-being after the treatment he'd received from Brayden and his group. His smile was soft, warm as a spring morning as his tilted his head slightly. The boys ears stood back like they were supposed to as he continued to hold out his hand, his eyes shining in excitement and glee. He'd never met anyone from another species before let alone made friends with one. Everyone he'd ever known had been Nevvathi.

"Of course we can. I don't have many..or well...any friends, and I'd gladly make more. And when we get settled in on the ship, I'll make a big meal for everyone, that way you won't have to be hungry! I might not be a fighter or much use in combat but I'm rather exceptional at cooking. It's a passion of mine alongside my studies into ancient ruins and languages. I've managed to master several dishes that are delicacies from other worlds as well, so I can keep things interesting."

He was actually seeming far more confident talking about the things he could do rather than what he couldn't. He might not be much use infiltrating the ship or dealing with guards but he could certainly make sure everyone was comfortably fed afterwards.

 

[Hazmat44]

Killerie's mouth started watering instantly. "I'm so glad you can make food! It's been ages since my last rat and I'm STARVING."

Looking down at his outstretched hand, she indicated it with a single fragile leg. "Also, what does that mean? Is it..."

Thinking after a moment, Killerie extended all of the legs she could manage on the side of her body, glancing back at him hopefully. " Is this a..." She frowned, trying to pronounce the complicated word he'd used properly. "Nev - Nevvathi? Is this how you say hi on Nevvathi?"

Naberius

 

[SilverFlight]

Shen had disappeared behind a small curtain at the back of the shop. It was quiet for a moment, but as Shen reappeared he could be seen arguing with a diminutive orange-skinned woman with sharp teeth.
"Dat is my price Shen, you know how my shop works." Shen gritted his teeth,. "Take something from me then, but leave the others out of it. I'll give you something extra dear to me."
The woman ignored his protest and walked up to the small group.
She held up her hand, and entwined in her hand was a silver chain. On that chain, hung a little blue-stone pendulum.
"Your captain wants this to help you find what you need. But what I want for it, is something precious from each of you."
She glared at Shen. "You first."

Shen gave her a livid glare and let a few moments slip by, folding his arms in his sleeves defiantly. Then, he withdrew his hands, and in one, was a delicate, paper fan.
He unfolded it before them. The scene was of serene mountains and twisted trees, all shrouded in mist. There was a building on one of the mountains, tall and intricate front gates and a stone step pathway leading down into the fog below. He snapped the fan closed and handed it to her.
The woman grinned.
"I will see how much more I need. The rest of you now. let's see if you have enough for me. I'm not interested in money value...only personal value."

Zazz Spoiled Bread gaY jail Saturn_moon

~*~*~

Anna had to admit, murder was definitely extreme. What had she gotten herself into.
"I am with the 'no murder' group." She chimed in.

A looming presence drew her attention, and the Shedling as towering over her. Killerie thanked her and Anna stifled her shiver.
"It was my pleasure, I have a feeling you'll be a lot of help!"
When Killerie decided to ask about one of the bounty hunters' mechanical eye, she gave the Shedling's carapace a supportive pat, looking at her as if to say: That's not a good way to start making friends.

As ideas began to fly Anna listened with great interest. There were a lot of good ideas.
"I'm handy with engines, and I've studied some of the specs of this ship, I could probably get it started, but in order to get it up to any sort of speed, you'll need to unfurl the sails. That means people in the rigging, very exposed. My jetpack is...basically ruined, but Zark can climb just about anything, and carry one person doing it. He could help get the sails down."
"Zark." Zark affirmed with a nod.
"I think, for the takeoff, all we'll need are the central mast's sails. We can worry about the other ones later. I read the festival program before coming into town, the ship is supposed to leave it's berth at sundown and sail over the palace gates to the central square. Once we take control of the ship, if we follow that route, we might avoid suspicion long enough to get the rest of the sails down. From there you'll have a clean get away."

Anna listened to Elnaril and sympathized. No one should have to go through what he did. Anna decided she would make it her personal goal to get him home.
And then he said something that really caught her attention.
"You can cook?" Her eyes brightened and she was smiling. "I won't ever say no to good food!"
"Zark zark!" Her chimera seconded behind her.

It seemed the problem was getting everyone on board.
Anna whispered something to Zark. The chimera nodded and took a few paces back. Then, on all fours he sprinted for the edge of the pier and leapt. There was a moment of silence before he landed with a thud on the side of the ship, and climbed like a lizard through the porthole. A few moments passed, and then just above, one of the canon doors opened. Much larger and easier to climb into now that the canon had been moved. Zark waved at them with the end of a rope, which he tossed back to the dock. Anna secured it to one of the mooring poles.
"Is that big enough for everyone to get in?" She asked.

Now all they needed was the distraction.

Lekiel Hazmat44 TheSpeck andujarprime Naberius Lioness075

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Ricotta

Rico stopped playing with her own reflections when the fancy man came back with an orange lady next to him. The woman showed them a fancy pendulum and said they would need it for their mission and she demanded something precious from each of them.

The boggleman tilted her head in confusion at this situation, does the fancy man didn't have enough money to pay for it? Moreover, Rico currently only carrying three items. Her clothes, bone dagger, and wooden blowgun. She wouldn't consider any of it as 'precious', but if she needs to help with the payment,

"Take Rico's clothes then." She wiggled her shoulders and let her red one-piece slid down onto the floor, revealing a thick layer of wool covering her body, except the legs and hands. She didn't actually needs the clothes, but she likes it and it also prevented human from mistaking her as stray chimera. Rico stared at her clothes briefly before handing it to the orange woman.

SilverFlight Zazz Saturn_moon gaY jail

 

[Naberius]

Elnaril chuckled at his new friends display and nodded.

"Though Nevvathi is just the name of my species. Our home is Ralmuda, the place I need to get back to. And I'll gladly cook something, though it will be a bit more hearty and enjoyable than any rodent."

He grinned and when Anna spoke, he looked over at her with the same gentle, warm smile he'd been wearing. She was the one he had seen when he first awoke after his fall, the one who had presumably helped wake him.

"I can, yes." He beamed, even seeming less intimidated by her strange feathered friend as they conversed. "It would be my pleasure to make a meal for the group, it's the least I can do since you're going to be taking me back home. Until we get there, I'll make sure to create wonderful dishes every day for everyone."

As Zark leapt up onto the ship to open the hatch and allow people entry, he was suddenly a little nervous again. This was it, they were actually about to sneak onto this ship. And steal it. He was still repressing that particular bit of information to process later, needing to just focus on getting home at the moment. He nodded again, knowing he'd be able to climb well enough, thanks to all the exploration he'd been doing since starting his career in studying ruins and ancient structures that sometimes required climbing and even the occasional cave delve.

SilverFlight Hazmat44 Lioness075 TheSpeck andujarprime Lekiel

 

[TheSpeck]

Thankfully, Charlie's suggestion of murder was quickly shot down. He stabbed himself with his knife to return it to where it normally would be and looked up at the ship. He could definitely fit through either of the entrances, but he was too slippery to climb. "I can be a distraction if needed. If they shoot me I don't bleed it'd just be extremely painful. Oh oh and I am really good at acting dumb!" He truly was good at acting dumb. He smiled. It was fun. "Maybe um ..." He forgot her name, "fluffy dog bird girl can come down and fly me up once the sails are ready? Unless the distraction is needed on the inside of course."

He held tightly onto his plant, which he still had, and looked around at all the people there. He couldn't store his plant like he did with his knife since it was organic material... That'd be like a human eating the plant to save it. He never felt good when he ate what the humans called 'vegetables' anyway... He turned to Killerie. "Backpack? Can you hold this in your backpack? Please?" He asked, holding up the plant to her like it was some sort of precious diamond.

Direct mentions:
Hazmat44 Lioness075

Around:
Naberius SilverFlight andujarprime Lekiel

 

[Saturn_moon]

When Shen emerged from behind the curtain with the orange-skinned woman, Rhea still had her nose pressed up to the golden sphere, unable to make heads or tails of it. "Your captain wants this to help you find what you need.” The woman said, holding up a stone pendulum in a shade of blue that reminded Rhea of the sails on the boat they had seen at the harbor. Her eyes tracked it continually as it swung lazily back and forth in the woman's grip. “But what I want for it, is something precious from each of you."

‘Precious’ was a luxury that was never permitted to Rhea and the concept of it flew completely over her head. Noting the paper fan offered by Shen and the clothes by Rico, the most she could glean out of it was that they seemed to refer to standard objects that might play a role in their everyday lives. “You can have my coat.” She said, pulling it over her head and holding it out to the woman. “It helps keep me dry.” Beneath, she had on an old, grease-stained boiler suit she had found abandoned in the factory’s locker room and looked about two sizes too large for her. Then she stuck out one of her legs to show off her booted feet, the soles of which were worn down paper-thin. “If that isn’t enough, you can take my shoes too.”

SilverFlight Spoiled Bread Zazz gaY jail

 

[Zazz]

Cal looked up from the various wares when Shen returned with the shopkeeper. The orange hag declared her price, at which the cage fighter raised an eyebrow. This was an odd thing to expect of the group so early into the obscure mission, for a fancy trinket. But when the little fluff creature and one other began literally removing the clothing from their backs, Calliope stepped in.

"What? No. No one's giving up their boots. Put that back on," she told the boggleman, stepping up and rummaging through her bag. With a frown, she pulled out a small cube made of gears and glass with a small, brass handle on the side. She set it on the counter along with a small glass tube; it looked peculiar and definitely was not from that planet. On either end was a cap, and inside was a blue flower suspended in a glowy goo. Calliope glanced up at the shopkeeper and narrowed her eyes. Finally she slapped down a worn children's book. "Enough?"

 

[SilverFlight]

The old woman grinned as each member offered her something. But when Calliope offered her own two items the captain had had enough.
"Hold on." Shen put out a hand. "I can't let you give up those things for my fool endeavour until I know what they are, and how important they are to you."
The woman looked slightly annoyed.

Zazz

 

[Zazz]

Calliope huffed, giving Shen a mild glare. Though, beneath it, she was somewhat comforted to know that he at least gave a shit about his new.. friends.

"That," she explained, pointing to the glowy flower tube, "is a Flower Cell. A long-lasting, solar powered, but relatively weak power source. Also makes a decent lantern." Glancing over the worn cover, she added, "And that is a book." It was one of the few things she still had from when she had fled her home, and she knew the story by heart.

Lastly, she gestured to the geared box with the handle. "Turn the handle." Out would pop a toy bug on a spring.

Calliope set down the gloves and laser pointer and said to Shen, "You can pay for these, since you care so much."

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Larassa Sovna	Nickname: The Raven
Race: Khoelian	Home Planet: Khoeli
Occupation: Bounty Huntress	Equipment: Knapsack, Bow, Quiver of Arrows (20/20 Normal, 1/1 Grappling), Twin Daggers

Listening to the Nevvathi youth speak back to her, Larassa rolled her eyes at the mention of his lack of combat skills. Useless, then.

As she continued to observe the ship and the guards' scheduled patrols, Larassa overheard the shedling and Nevvathi conversing about being friends. She had to resist yet another eye roll, as she wondered why they had such naïve individuals assisting with this mission to begin with.

Still, the mention of him having cooking skills had one of Larassa's ears perking in his direction. Well, if he was to be the ship's cook, perhaps she should at least feign some amount of kindness for the sake of getting a proper meal.
As she pondered this, the engineer of the group spoke up and Larassa's ears both shifted in her direction. This engineer certainly knew what she was talking about, but Larassa had to wonder how she had already viewed the ship's blueprints. A question to be asked later.
The engineer certainly knew her stuff, though, as she confirmed what Larassa had suspected while observing the ship. She was right in that they only really needed to focus on the main sails for the time being.

While Larassa had turned back to face the ship once more, she began pondering the best approach when Zark suddenly leapt out and onto the side of the ship. Larassa gritted her canines at this, instinctively irritated at the split decision made without double checking with the makeshift team first.
But then Zark opened a porthole for the others to fit through and Larassa sighed. It was a start and would perhaps be easiest if she flew some into the cargo hold anyways. Pretty much every alien was not going to be able to simply waltz aboard like Amiecia was going to along with Anna and Elnaril. It was still tempting to just fly him up to the crow's nest, though.

Looking over the gathered group, Larassa put her hands on her hips and fluffed her wings a bit.
"Right, so who's going with me first? I can tell ya right now, I can only carry a few of you."
Larassa took this moment to point out those few, which included Elnaril, Rico, and Charlie.
Pausing, Larassa then added with a shrug, "I assume Amiecia here is goin' to take Anna with her to casually board the ship. And I simply can't safely carry the shedling."
Giving Alaric a raised eyebrow and smirk, Larassa said, "I'm definitely not the smoothest at flying with ya, but I could make it work if we really needed to. Else, you could wait here with the shedling to maybe be our backup as is needed."

SilverFlight Naberius Hazmat44 Lekiel TheSpeck andujarprime

 

[gaY jail]

Lauren

With the arguing taking her back from her nostalgic daydream, the redhead was on guard again in a heartbeat, turning away from the tea set as she witnessed Shen’s return with the shop owner, she listened to her lay out the price to the group.
In terms of herself, she didn’t bat an eye at the request, an hand already beginning to search under her cloak, but as she took a quick peek at the group, she saw Rhea and the Boogleman in the literal process of removing their clothes, she stopped, her bandaged face turning into a frown ever so slightly.
Of all items she quickly thought of, she doubted they would be enough to fulfill the request of the woman for two people beside her, and at a last resort, she was touched by the thought of parting ways with her necklace to help cover the price before Calliope promptly came to their aid. Despite that, after she heard her to cover the other two and looked up to their self-proclaimed captain try to negotiate alone, Lauren would perhaps realize later she wasn’t satisfied with the situation still.
“Wait.”
Under all her heavy clothes she pulled an elegant hairpin taking the form of a dragonfly followed by a white mask designed to cover the upper part of the face, finely handcrafted with dark copper finishes all over it.
She spoke boldly this time, which was a surprise given the timid demeanor she had just moments before, and without betraying emotions she took a few steps forward, leaving the hairpin first on the counter for the woman to see.
“These are gifts I received on another planet, and keeping them around me is likely the only way I have to preserve my memories from that time. If the mask is enough for you to exchange it with his fan, I will leave it to you.”
Last, she turned to speak to Calliope, her voce softening the moment she met her eyes.
"Are you sure you don't want to keep anything with you?"


SilverFlight Spoiled Bread Zazz Saturn_moon

 

[SilverFlight]

Shen was surprised to say the least. Here they were, perfect strangers ready to offer anything they had for a job he hadn't even explained properly. The gesture touched him, and his expression betrayed the sentiment.
Then Lauren offered to trade something precious to her for his fan. How could Shen refuse. He turned to the scheming seller, who nodded in acceptance, and took the items, leaving the fan for Shen to tuck back into his sleeve.
"Thank you." He said with a genuine smile. "All of you really. You...did not have to do that. I won't forget it."

"Well, now that our business is concluded, you can take your trinket and go, but I will say this, it is a Tey'aran artifact, and its said only Tey'aran could use it properly."
"So it is said." Shen retorted, turning his back on her.
He held up the crystal, dangling from its silver chain.
"This is a dowsing pendulum." He explained. "And it's not untrue what she said, but the pendulum also works for those with a tiny bit of magic in their bloodlines. This will help point the way to our princess."

I hope
But Shen kept that to himself. In truth he had never actually tested this before, if the magic in his blood was strong enough. It certainly wasn't mage quality, but..if it was he'd probably be dead at the hands of the empire by now.
He watched the crystal as it swayed lazily, and then he jogged his hand, and it began to spin. And...it continued spinning, offering no direction at all.
"Come on..." Shen muttered, putting all his focus into what he wanted to find. The spin grew weaker and weaker and Shen jogged the pendant again. It twirled wildly, it's movement chaotic and staunchly uncooperative.

"Please...we have to find her." Shen's thoughts shifted from the gold, to the thought of what would happen to the girl if they failed. She saw an innocent child lying in a pool of blood and his stomach twisted.
The spin turned into a swing, and one direction was much stronger than it's back swing. It was pointing West, back in the direction of the central square.
"It seems we have a heading."

Shen lead the way out of the little shop, no sooner had he gone three paces when a shock of red caught his eye. Three Imperial guards were pushing past merchants and customers with little regard. One spotted Shen and pointed and together they started for the small group.
"Oh..." said Shen. "...dear."

Zazz Saturn_moon gaY jail Spoiled Bread

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Ricotta

Rico watched silently as various trinkets switched ownership. She didn't mind much about giving her clothes and she thought the human automaton woman wouldn't be bothered too but seeing the solid muscle woman and the thick cover woman gave things that seemed to have sentimental value to them made her a bit upset at the price of this dowsing artifact.

She just hoped the thing would work well as she followed the fancy man out of the shop but soon after they went outside a few imperialis guards seemed to head towards them, particularly Shen. Rico stepped aside so the guards and Shen can have some peaceful talk about whatever they want to talk about.

Saturn_moon SilverFlight gaY jail Zazz

 

[andujarprime]

Alaric waited a few moments for Amecia to respond. Locking eyes with her, a sly smile on his face. His attention was soon diverted however as the rest of the group closed in. One hand propped his other arm to rest his fingers on his chin in a thoughtful pose, the two lower hands clasped behind his back. He turned to watch the group. He took in the scene, trying to adjust his line of thinking. He was about to open his mouth to speak, but decided against it. He turned to Larassa as she approached him, then to the girl. Anna? Right, Anna, as she spoke to the timid boy. Oh, he was a cook? That would most definitely come in handy.

His attention momentarily drawn to the shedling as Larassa looked a bit miffed. He had missed that interaction, but didn't think it important. There weren't many things that DIDN'T annoy his old friend. Thankfully he was among the few. A flurry of motion and the strange creature that had accompanied them dove over the dock. He raised a hairless brow in amusement and just smiled when a rope grew taught. He was about to make a remark on the brilliance of the idea and address who should do what when Larassa did it for him.

He smiled proudly, at first then it faltered. Slowly twitching before disappearing momentarily. Her mischievous look at the mention of flying him over had him taking a step back. "Uh, uh, um, well, right We uh, we need to sort this. No need to be in a hurry right?" He took a few more steps back as his brain began to spin. The gears grinding to lay down the final details of the plan. "Right, okay, you, you, and well, me? We can cross using the rope. Larassa and Zark, I guess cover us in case the boy slips and the jello flops."

He paused, then looked up at the mast with a look of dread. "We need someone up there that actually knows what their doin. Since you can do nothin but cook, and you" He motioned to Elnaril and then Charlie "You don't happen to have experience on a-. Nevermind, Raven it's either me or you I guess. I plan on headin the ship so I need all other hands on deck. Makes the most sense if you release the sails. Kinda like old times right?" He smiled nervously at her. Hoping the idea of being carried across wouldn't be brought up again.

He turned to the rest with a crooked smile. "As for YOU" He said approaching Killerie. "I know the PERFECT way to get you on board!" He strutted up to her, took a few steps and made a huge show of looking her over. "Oh Princess!!! you didn't really think you would be caught dead travelling these parts on foot did you?! Of course not, why walk? You're nobility! You are the noble of nobles are you not?! You don't use your own two feet. Not when you have." He paused and whispered to Killerie "Please don't eat me friend."

He turned back to Amecia "100 other legs to walk for you!! this baby is the lean not so mean supreme mobile machine!!Even comes equipped with a handy dandy storage cabin!" He patted Killerie's side with his synthetic hand, like a salesman showing off their latest wares. "Right? Right?!" His brows are wiggled aggressively and his smile was devilish. The look in his eyes bright, and with a glint of chaos as he watched Amecia. Then he turned to grin and wink at Larassa. "Sure Anna would be your engineer, she would be expected to walk. This young lady, well she would be attending you. The rest of us have our own way on board. Once ya get rid of the two guards by the plank we can tie up the other four and toss'em overboard onto the space roof before we leave the planet. Sound good? Right? Right?" He stood there waiting everyone's reaction.

Hazmat44 Lioness075 SilverFlight TheSpeck Naberius Lekiel

 

[Hazmat44]

Killerie stared down at the acidman who hadn't introduced himself, stunned by the request. He was... giving her something?

Wait, no, she realized. He was asking her to keep it safe!

She smiled happily, feeling that curious warm feeling once again. "Sure! I'll make sure nothing bad happens to it."

Seizing it with her telekinesis, she flicked the flap of her backpack open and carefully placed the wobbling plant, pot and all, inside. It wasn't as if she was keeping anything in there to being with, anyway. She hadn't found any dismantlable tech in ages, which meant the only piece she had on her person was the microbomb sitting in the lead-lined pouch around her neck. It wasn't anywhere close to finished, and she definitely didn't want to use her meteorite chunk on a one-shot grenade. It was already leaking radiation as it was, and the firing mechanism didn't work anyway.

The fact that it would essentially vaporize the entire shipyard, along with them, didn't exactly add any confidence to the potential to use it. She was definitely glad the pouch was lead-lined, though. Shedlings may have been resistant to a lot of things, but radiation had a tendency to... melt their innards, to put it bluntly.

Closing the backpack and shaking thoughts of destruction away, she gave the acidman a nod. "I'll keep it safe for you." She would die for the plant, if she had to!

...Maybe not die, she amended. There were a lot of things she still wanted to achieve in life, and throwing her life on the line for a houseplant didn't seem like the safest option to get around to any of them.

Killerie's head snapped to the four-armed man as he practically waltzed over to her, grinning with all of his teeth. Now that was a smile. "As for YOU!" He nearly shouted. "I know the perfect way to get you on board!"

He started walking around her, inspecting her from all sides. Killerie twisted to watch him, trying to figure out what he was doing. "Erm. Really?"

His attention turned to Amiecia, and he gleefully said, "Oh, Princess!!! You didn't really think you would be caught dead traveling these parts on foot, did you?! Of course not, why walk? You're nobility! You are the noble of nobles, are you not?! You don't use your own two feet. Not when you have..." He paused, leaning over to Killerie and whispering. "Please don't eat me, friend."

Before Killerie could reply, he was already talking again. "A hundred other legs to walk for you!! This baby is the lean not-so-mean supreme mobile machine!! Even comes equipped with a handy dandy storage cabin!"

He patted Killerie's side with a hand, and her spine shivered in spite of herself. As he explained the remainder of the plan to the other people present, Killerie's mind was grinding away at itself. He wanted her... to let the lady who hated her... ride her!?

It wasn't as though she was a hundred percent against the idea. The tiny lady couldn't possibly weigh too much. No, the issue was more of a... social issue.

Killerie leaned down next to the four-armed man's ear, trying to imitate the whisper he'd used and ending up breathing hard on the side of his head. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but..." She tentatively indicated Amiecia with a thin leg. "I don't think she... well, likes me. At all."

Hooking a lower pair of legs together, she nervously asked, "Can we come up with a difffffff..."

She trailed off, forgetting her head (and more importantly, teeth) were still next to his head. Her vision had trailed down to his lowest right arm, and more specifically the hand attached to it.

It was tech.

No, that was an understatement. Tech was a combination of metal and circuitry operating in conjunction with itself to perform an action. The hand sitting at the end of the four-armed man's arm was a Zilian-be-blessed masterpiece. She couldn't see how it worked, not from the outside, but she could see it flex, could see the knuckles twitch as finely as any flesh-and-blood counterpart, could smell the energy source inside thrumming with barely-tapped energy, could practically taste the ingenuity that went into it.

"Whh... what is - how does - but it's - your arm isn't-" Killerie had thousands of questions and all of them tried to exit her mouth more or less at the same time. Without a proper outlet for the raging fire of curiosity that had just ignited her cranium, she utterly forgot all sense of decorum and language lessons and promptly tried to communicate with him via telepathy, hurling every question in her mind at him.

The blank wall of nothing that met her foray snapped her back to consciousness, and she took a few steps back. "Oh - I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get in your..." She frowned, trying to remember the word. "Bubble. Your bubble."

She tried to be abashed and failed entirely as she saw the hand again. "But how does that work? Where did you get it? Who made it? Did you make it? Can I get one?"

Just like before, she had a thousand questions to ask.

She just hoped he was willing to answer at least a few of them.

andujarprime TheSpeck Lekiel SilverFlight Lioness075

 

[andujarprime]

Alaric took a small step back as he was bombarded with questions. He was confused at first. But quickly the jumble of words began to click and register. He took a deep breath and smiled with all his teeth “Dear friend, this isn’t a matter of like or dislike I don’t think. Heck she just don’t know Ya is all!” He patted her with the same synth hand, knowing that she was focused on it. “I tell ya what, I will answer what I can once we get away safely. If you go along For now though…”

He took a quick second to recall the questions “My hand, not sure, my arm is organic, stay out of my bubble. Reflexes and brain power, private contractor, Nope, and yes but will cost you a pretty penny and a one time only favor request.” He answered her barrage of questions with a smile as he stood beside her. This was it, he had her on the verge of agreeing. His bargaining chip was his hand. She was literally in the palm of his hand. And she hadn’t even seen it put in work yet.

Hazmat44

 

[Hazmat44]

Killerie nodded rapidly, absorbing the answers as he sent them. "Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay!" She paused, counting for a moment. "Okay!"

She really, REALLY wanted a better look at that hand, but for the time being...

Killerie briefly pulled away, almost screaming as the fully textile! hand was removed from her side. "I... look, I like you already. Not just because of the hand!"

It was only mostly because of the hand.

"You didn't scream when you saw me!" She said brightly. "I haven't met many people who do that, but almost all of them are nice. And yes, I really do want to know how that arm works - and how a penny can be pretty - but I just appreciate that you're not... panicking. You even answered my questions!"

She almost cringed as she wound down. "I really want to help! I'm good with tech, and I'm really good at making grenades, but..."

Killerie glanced over at Amiecia again. "She.. isn't nice. Not to me, at least. So... is there anything else I can do?"

Before he could reply, she hastily added, "I'll do it if there isn't any option! I just don't want her to... hate me more."

She had no idea how the four-armed man would reply, but she desperately hoped he wouldn't hate her for disagreeing.

andujarprime

 

[Zazz]

Shen was surprised to say the least. Here they were, perfect strangers ready to offer anything they had for a job he hadn't even explained properly. The gesture touched him, and his expression betrayed the sentiment.
Then Lauren offered to trade something precious to her for his fan. How could Shen refuse. He turned to the scheming seller, who nodded in acceptance, and took the items, leaving the fan for Shen to tuck back into his sleeve.
"Thank you." He said with a genuine smile. "All of you really. You...did not have to do that. I won't forget it."

"Well, now that our business is concluded, you can take your trinket and go, but I will say this, it is a Tey'aran artifact, and its said only Tey'aran could use it properly."
"So it is said." Shen retorted, turning his back on her.
He held up the crystal, dangling from its silver chain.
"This is a dowsing pendulum." He explained. "And it's not untrue what she said, but the pendulum also works for those with a tiny bit of magic in their bloodlines. This will help point the way to our princess."

I hope
But Shen kept that to himself. In truth he had never actually tested this before, if the magic in his blood was strong enough. It certainly wasn't mage quality, but..if it was he'd probably be dead at the hands of the empire by now.
He watched the crystal as it swayed lazily, and then he jogged his hand, and it began to spin. And...it continued spinning, offering no direction at all.
"Come on..." Shen muttered, putting all his focus into what he wanted to find. The spin grew weaker and weaker and Shen jogged the pendant again. It twirled wildly, it's movement chaotic and staunchly uncooperative.

"Please...we have to find her." Shen's thoughts shifted from the gold, to the thought of what would happen to the girl if they failed. She saw an innocent child lying in a pool of blood and his stomach twisted.
The spin turned into a swing, and one direction was much stronger than it's back swing. It was pointing West, back in the direction of the central square.
"It seems we have a heading."

Shen lead the way out of the little shop, no sooner had he gone three paces when a shock of red caught his eye. Three Imperial guards were pushing past merchants and customers with little regard. One spotted Shen and pointed and together they started for the small group.
"Oh..." said Shen. "...dear."

Zazz Saturn_moon gaY jail Spoiled Bread

Calliope shrugged and took her new trinket and gloves, following Shen and the rest out of the shop. She just hoped the thing worked for him.

She had one glove on when the guards began their approach. She casually veered off to the side as if she weren't with the group, pulling up her hood. The gloves were a decent fit. The blonde watched from a wall to the side, wishing she'd had a chance to at least heal her ribs before meeting this crew of weirdos.

 

[gaY jail]

Lauren

The redhead was relieved to see the pendulum show a direction, and as Shen started to leave she prepared to do the same. Her eyes fell on the small hairpin, but she realized that, and not wanting to waste more of their time other than feed them the impression she had regretted her decision she turned her back to it.
Sorry.

Now that she had followed the crew outside the shop, she soon became aware that an unexpected twist was coming their way when Zephyr raised her ears, her sharp eyesight fixed on the guards moving fast amongst the crowd. She gave a few hesitant tail wags as they drew nearer and yawned, but nevertheless chose to remain next to her guardian.

SilverFlight Spoiled Bread Saturn_moon Zazz

 

[Naberius]

As their team started to prepare and make for the ship, the young elf paused before a playful smile danced across his elven face. Elnaril cleared his throat and looked around at everyone else, his gaze lingering on Larassa for just a second longer than the others. He'd come up with a plan to actually be useful here, and it he could pull it off it might actually make their entire operation go much more smoothly and with less risk of danger or the fighters of their group killing the guards. As much as he wanted to get back home, he wanted to do it without getting blood on his hands.

"Uhm...everyone..I might have an idea on how I can be more useful here. As I said before, I'm a rather skilled chef. If you can get me into the kitchen, possibly as an assistant or replacement chef, I can easily make a meal for the guards. Doing that, I can lace it with any number of things that I can very easily cover the taste of with spice and seasoning. I could put them to sleep, or give them horrible stomach cramps. Any number of things. My one rule is that I won't spike the food with anything lethal. I won't go that far."

With his smile looking a bit more shy as he undoubtedly had their attention with his open proclamation, he stood there waiting for their answer. This was his chance to prove he wasn't just some useless baggage to drag along. That he could pull his own weight even if it wasn't with physical combat directly.

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Larassa Sovna	Nickname: The Raven
Race: Khoelian	Home Planet: Khoeli
Occupation: Bounty Huntress	Equipment: Knapsack, Bow, Quiver of Arrows (20/20 Normal, 1/1 Grappling), Twin Daggers

Larassa could not help but grin mischievously at Alaric when he immediately began backpedaling to avoid flying with her again. To be fair, last time had not ended too well for the pair. Still, suggesting they try again was a constant amusement for Larassa just to get this exact reaction out of him.
"Oi, I can just fly the jello boy over. No need for rope he'e."
She still had that twinkle in her eye when Alaric moved on to discuss the finer details of the plan. Sighing, Larassa shrugged at the suggestion that she handle releasing the sails. It was easy enough since she could fly.

Then Alaric suggested Killerie be Amiecia's...mount? Even this had Larassa raising an eyebrow and she smirked when Amiecia guffawed at the mere suggestion. The royal woman's face seemed to pale as Alaric and Killerie went back and forth a bit.

Next thing Larassa knew, she was watching Amiecia stride confidently towards the nearest guards for the ship, who were standing just in front of the gangplank. Larassa raised a paw and lurched forward as if to stop the woman, but fell short and simply watched.

Amiecia exchanged some quiet and terse words with the guards and then Larassa blinked in surprise as they promptly followed her away from the ship and into the dock crowds. Scratching at the side of her head, Larassa looked back at Alaric and Killerie with a rather befuddled expression.
"I can honestly say I wasn't expectin' that."
Sighing again, Larassa turned towards Alaric and held out the gem the royal woman had mentioned before.
"Anyways, I swiped this off 'er earlier once she had made a big show of it being needed to run this ship. We don't really need 'er anymore."

Just then, the young Nevvathi spoke up and Larassa cocked her head at him. This was an intriguing idea indeed. Even with the royal woman gone, Larassa knew everything would be easier if they avoided killing the crew needlessly. Making them too drowsy to fight back well would solve many of their problems, including the fact that Larassa had no real clue about anyone's combat skills beyond Alaric's.
Shrugging, Larassa said, "Make 'em sleepy and we'll take care of the rest, chef."
She still referred to him in a manner that might suggest an ounce of disrespect, but unbeknownst to most people, Larassa just liked giving people nicknames. It was one of her niches.

SilverFlight andujarprime Naberius Hazmat44 TheSpeck