Forgotten City of Waves and Ruin

[003-Crimson Ace]

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"Your presence is a nuisance child. I long for the day when I can either consume this pitiful form or gain one of my own."

The demonic echo of a voice called out from a distance, its form unrecognizable through the dense fog, though one could make out movement as the sudden silence was broken by the tapping of elegant slow steps.

"But until that day, it will not hurt for you to gain some knowledge of this world instead of relying on these two fools. Now boy, wake. We have places to see and what remains of that damned Vera's creations to find."
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The voice of Mr. Sin always brought happiness to Dusk's face, though he of course would not be aware, if someone had been watching the boy sleep, a large grin would go easily noticed. This particular 'dream' had been the first when Dusk could clearly hear Mr. Sin, though he was unable to ask any questions as he usually did this time, most went unanswered any way. Even so, Dusk had yet to meet any people in the last few days since he was...born possibly? He had not really decided what to call the day when he awoke after hearing Mr. Sin scream for hours, cursing, he believed was the proper phrase, about not gaining the body he had been waiting for. Whatever the case, Mr. Sin was the only other thing Dusk was able to have a conversation with, as most of the animals he had seen kept their distance. But all of that would change today.

Dusk woke up, yawning through his perfect toothy grin and stretching his arms out as he wiggled his body into action. He opened his eyes, the florescent purple adding a black light effect to the dark room as he looked around, the dim rainbow of color that made up the rest of his eye color began to brighten and flow, forming small waves of light across his hand as he began to rub his face. Dusk rolled over until he was stopped by a wall, a limb of the Crimson Ace snaking up the wall until it came to a railing. It wrapped itself tightly, tugging as Dusk brought himself to his feet.

He was on the edge of The Ruined City of Istraloth. Dusk actually had no clue of this place until he was called out to by a group of seamen o a large ship. They said the place was haunted, but such words meant nothing to him. They had imparted a few words of wisdom however. The first was to stay out of the open at night. He had chosen to listen to these words, finding a building as shelter, this particular one had an enclosed staircase with no doors and a lock. He had heard creatures outside, some possibly entering the building but nothing to frightening. With yet another yawn, Dusk let go of the railing and rushed up the stairs, and through the door, coming to the roof. It did not take long for him to recognize the scattered debris that was once his shoddy attempt at a raft. He had not had high expectations for it to really float, as Mr. Sin referred to it as 'that piece of shit' which he believed to be yet another one of his many curse words, but could not be sure.

It did not take once seasoned in the ways of the world to realize this was a problem. The waters were of course not safe, as Dusk had already bear witness to the natural food chain at work. If anything it was a surprising event, watching a creature wish such sharp teeth rip another to parts and engulf it much like he had done with the roots he had managed to dig up on the cliffs for the past few days. Hopefully, he could find a creature that was not as dangerous within the water and use it as a source of food for himself. Like he had been instructed, it was probably best to stay clear of the water when possible. This in mind, it would be hard to get around simply jumping from roof top to roof top as he could already see plenty of gaps that he could not hope to clear.

Whatever the circumstances, he could not just sit here all day. His first priority would be to try and find some way out of this place, possibly by finding that ship he had passed by and sailing with them to some other land. Paying them however could become a problem. Currency was one of the first things Mr. Sin had taught Dusk. If he could find something of value then he might be able to convince them to bring him along as well. He had his goals, but it still all seemed to get slightly less important as his stomach emitted a noise that until now had been foreign to him. As suddenly as it came, it had stopped. It was possible that these goals could be accomplished after finding a decent meal, and as such Dusk set off, taking a few steps back and running at full speed till he came to the edge of the building, jumping off and landing the an open window of the closest structure to him. He used the black limbs to balance himself, placing them inside the walls and stiffening them so as to not fall back as he pulled his body in. Water had entered this floor, coming up to his knees as he jumped down making a splash. He found the water a bit cold yet refreshing.

This would be where he would start his search. Hopefully he could find something of interest or more importantly something to eat.

[Lady Lulu]

Lucy stared in intense concentration past her determined reflection, into the clear waters. She saw nothing but her red-furred face, and sharp features. The features of a young fox kit. She knew there was a plain dress lying uselessly on the roof behind her, along with a giant steel sword, but that had no relevance at the moment.

She remained extremely still, as if any sudden stir on her part would completely ruin what she was doing.

After a few moments, her efforts paid off as she saw a small ripple on the still surface of the water. She realized a fairly large rainbow trout had come up to search for any fallen berries on the surface, or perhaps a drowned bug or two.
Little did the fish know, it wasn't the only one foraging for food.

Lucy's soft tongue lolled happily and her large puffball of a tail flitted back and forth as she rose, oh-so-slowly, from her crouch. She got to all four of her white furred paws, then leaned forward. She was on the thin, flat parapet on top of a rotting, abandoned house. What did it matter though? the flooding in this city came nearly all the way to the rooftops. She reached the surface with ease.

Lucy instinctively wiggled her butt back and forth as she slid forward, lowering her head more and more, until....

SPLASH! Suddenly her forepaw batted into the water, popping the stunned fish, then getting as good a grip on it as she could as she jerked her paw upward again.

The trout was thrown out of the flood and into the air. It flailed in a wild protest to the sudden shock of a change of atmosphere.

Lucy gave a slight yelp as she realized she had pulled the fish up too hard, and from the course it was sailing, it was going to land in the water. No way was she going to let her dinner get away, not after all the work she put into it.

Crouching low, Lucy swiftly sprang upward toward the convulsing seafood. Moments before it plopped back into the aqua, she snapped her srong, furry jaws down on its soft body. Not even it's scales could prevent her teeth from sinking into it's tender flesh. The trout helplessly thrashed back and forth against her muzzle, but to no avail. She landed roughly in the deep water with a heavy splash, though didn't loosen her grip on her food in the least.

Lucy bobbed to the surface, then paddled her way back to the parapet. She put both her front paws on the rooftop, then struggled to pull herself onto it. After much kicking and pulling, she somehow managed to poorly pull herself up, probably with sheer force of will.

Once on a solid surface again, Lucy spat the wriggling fish out. It flopped about uselessly on the wooden surface, eventually going limp and gasping for breath.

Lucy panted happily, her tail thumping against the ground. She gave a full body shake off, floofing her fur further. However, it didn't have the chance to remain messy as she closed her eyes. There was a slight shudder of wind, then she shifted forms. Fox to human. Well, almost human. She still had her fox tail, and pointed red ears.

Lucy gave a cat-like grin as she laughed loudly at the fish. "Ha! Sorry little guy, but you know how it is. Survival of the fittest."

She squeezed her long, cherry-red hair out, ridding it of any remaining dampness. She stood with a heavy stretch, then picked up her solid black dress and slid it over her head. She heaved her huge sword over her shoulder, holding it with one hand, then snatched up the limp fish by the rainbow-tinted tail with her free hand.

She held the trout at eye level. "Lets find a way to cook you, shall we?"
She lowered her arm, then started off.

Perhaps she was in human form, but she still had her fox-like grace. She could easily jump roof to roof. No problemo.

[003-Crimson Ace]

Dusk searched around the room inquisitively; unsure of what it was he was actually searching for. Even if he found something, how would he know if it held any worth or not? Not that there was much of anything in this room, worn down by time just as much as the rest of the city.

He placed a hand on the back of his neck and scratched lightly before setting his eyes upon a wooden door. He could see a bit of the other side as a large chunk of wood was missing, possibly rotted out, but maybe even broken through. Water sloshed around him as he made his way to the door, still searching for anything that might have passed his eyes.

The door felt as if it would have broken off if touched by someone who was only slightly stronger than Dusk, as he fought to get it open, only to have the bottom portion of the door break off as the top swung inward. A good amount of the water rushed out of the room and into a long hallway. At the other end was a descending staircase that had long since collapsed, while three doors sat unopened to his left, and another two on his right, one of which seemed to be left open.

He stepped toward the closest door to his left, finding walking a bit easier as the water level was much lower, barely covering his ankles. He pushed against the door, find a bit of resistance before the old piece of wood finally budged from its position. Dusk stumbled into a slightly smaller room with noticeably smaller window that was placed higher up than the one he had entered through, a reasonable explanation as to why this room was a lot dryer than the last. It was also nowhere near as bare.

The walls were lined by rows of barrels, a few of which had become home to a number of sea birds. Most of the nests were quiet, occupied by either sleeping chicks or eggs though a few parents were around. Those nests that were left alone were however watched closely by the birds that were present, understandably on their guard. Still, the birds did not seem too threatened by his appearance and continued to stay silent aside from a few quick flaps and picking at feathers. Even if there was something in here, Dusk would have to search through the nests to find it and that would prove too much trouble without adding the guards to the equation.

Dusk promptly exited the room, shutting the door as best he could behind him as it refused to return completely to its original position. Next he would enter the opened door on the right, leaving as he could see that what had once been a room had completely given away and was now just space for water to flow.

The second door to the left was locked shut; this however would not prove to be much of a problem. The Crimson Ace came to life, both black bandages that he had let drag behind him raising up above his head and sliding in between the sides of the door. Each would snake through the thin space and wrap themselves around the wooden frame before stiffening. Hard as steel, Dusk would take a few steps to the side as he pulled back.

The wood had most definitely rotted. A good door of any strength would have been able to hold up to Dusk simply pulling upon it, but within seconds the wood had snapped in half. He had tried not to apply to much pressure so as to only pull the door off but it splintered into a number of pieces as it hit the ground. He used the limbs to brush away the larger pieces of wood, so as to keep his bare feet from splinters as he walked into the newly opened room.

It seemed that at one time someone could have slept in this room, though it was not meant as a permanent home. A dirty mat lay next to a lantern, long since out of fuel. This was regrettable as the only light entering the room was emitted by his bio florescent eyes. On the floor Dusk could make out a few writing utensils. He took a few more steps in, taking note of a small table that looked as if it were ready to collapse under its own weight, but somehow managed to stand upon a short leg with a number of things spread across its surface.

He looked over the items, finding more tools for writing, a small jar full of some dark brown liquid, and a small rock with something etched into it. He began to turn out the door when something urged him to grab the rock. Dusk looked back down at the thing, finding it to be nothing more than a useless rock but picked it up any way, and placed it into the second pouch on the right side of his vest. It would be safe for now until he got a chance to look it over. He quickly left the room and made his way to the second door on the right.

This room had been filled with trapped water, as much of it poured out into the hallway, along with a few small bags and the remains of what was once a creature of the sea. Peaking inside, Dusk was a bit surprised to find a large crab not all too much shorter than himself. The crustacean seemed to notice him as well as it began to wave its large claws about, scurrying from side to side.

Whereas the average person may have understood the threat and simply closed the door, Dusk being the curious youth that he was thought this 'dance' was rather amusing. Yet another toothy grin was spread out across the boys face as he walked toward the crab, in turn the creature snapped its pincers and side stepped, moving from against the back wall and around Dusk who simply mimicked its actions. It was around this time that his stomach repeated the noise it had made earlier and Dusk began to wonder if he could in fact eat this thing.

He had never eaten an animal before but he had seen other creatures become prey. Usually the hungry creature would bite the creature it wanted to eat, but Dusk doubted his teeth were strong enough to pierce the shell of the crab. He stopped for a moment wondering what to do before walking straight up to the creature. The reaction was a shocker as Dusk could feel the wind from the pincer closing just inches from his face.

Luck had truly been on Dusk's side as only a step or two closer and the boy would have most definitely lost his face. This happening caused the boy to fall, splashing into the water as he creature scurried back and then turned to him again, sending another claw out. Dusk rolled out of the way to dodge the strike, his vision blurred by water as he coughed up a bit he had unintentionally breathed in.

Dusk came to his feet, a good distance between himself and the crab. It seemed that this crab was hungry as well and viewed Dusk as its prey. Such a thought however was obviously wrong as Dusk had already viewed the crab as his prey first. Whatever the case, Dusk would not the one eaten. Once again the Crimson Ace rose to life, letting off its red glow as Dusk began to circle around the crab to the left, moving toward the door. The crab reacted by backing up and a bit and circling in the opposite direction. Dusk to a step or two closer and began moving in the other direction as well, the crab moving back and switching its direction.

His plan was to drive it into the wall and corner it after which he was not sure but Dusk thought it safe to make sure the crab could not escape while he thought of a way to eat it.

[Lady Lulu]

Lucy gave a heavy sigh. The baking mid-afternoon sun was beating down on her ruthlessly, causing her to pant in exhaustion.

"I just wanna curl up and take a nap..." She murmured to the dying fish in her hand. She rubbed her left eye with the back of her free hand, then took a deep breath. She wanted to just strip naked and go for a swim, because the gods knew there was more than enough water just begging to be used, but the gods also knew what was in that water. Unnamed creatures, marine beasts, that would be more than willing to rip her limb from limb if they got the chance. Of course, those things lurked near the bottom of this flood, but that still wasn't very reassuring. This wasn't exactly the deepest of water in all of Althanas....

Lucy gave a sharp yawn and shook her head, like a dog would try and shake off a pest. She was hoping a fishing boat would stray from their usual route and pass through this place sometime, this flooded town in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't a mapped area of Istraloth, but a long since abandoned village on the outskirts of a marshy, flooded forest. Being an isolated area, there were hardly any passerby's. The only reason Lucy was even here was because, a few days ago, the boat she was on had been bombarded by the so-called "monsters of the deep" and crushed to splinters. The first mate, along with two of the other four passengers, were immediately dragged under by the ravaging creatures, never to surface again. Lucy and the captain of the boat both attempted to fight off the beings, but soon afterward the captain was dragged down to his doom as well. Lucy managed to fight off her attackers, and reached a solid surface to take shelter on until she could regain herself.

Now here she was, four days later to be precise, without any company to keep her from slipping into utter madness, for she knew of people whom that exact thing had happened to; and no whimsical hope of getting home or even away from this place. Lucy grumbled under her breath and dropped her hulking sword with a clatter onto the roof. She needed to try and see if there were any cooking utensils or matches, anything at all that would cook this damn fish.

She gave one quick glance back at her precious weapon, then bit down on the limp aquatic animal. It gave a weak flop of protest, then surrendered to her canines. She raised her arms, gave her poofy tail a wiggle, then dove into the water. She bobbed up again, the fish immediately perking back to reality and struggling violently against her unrelenting grip. Lucy took a deep breath through her nose and let herself sink, down to the first window she could reach on the two story building. She reached out and got a good grip on the glass, then tugged it several times. With each tug it opened more and more, with tons of water sloshing into the room, until finally the gap was big enough to fit a human. She let the force of the water pull her into the room, then slammed into the flooded wooden floor. She scrambled to her feet, spitting the fish out, and tugged down at the window, though the pressure of the water made it an extreme struggle. She finally, after applying all of her strength, slid the window shut. A thin trickle of water still streamed from the corner of the window however.

Lucy sighed heavily, slumping against the wall in exhaustion. She looked at the flailing trout, then stepped away from the wall and shook off. After a few moments she stopped and walked toward the center of the room, lifting the fish. "I do not want to do that again..." She sighed softly, then walked to the door. It seemed to be rotting off, though stuck in place at the same time. She gave a wide smirk as she raised one thin leg, then slammed the heel of her oversized combat boot against the door. It gave with ease, snapping in two and falling to the ground with two heavy thuds.

She strode calmly from the room, looking about the nearly empty hallway. The only contents of the corridor were A small table near the far wall that was missing half of a leg, several oil paintings that had long since faded or smeared, and a long woven rug that was obviously not native to this area, judging by the style. She looked left, seeing a dead end and a window, then right, and saw exactly what she needed - a staircase.
"I'm going to assume this is like every normal house, and the kitchen is downstairs..." She shifted the squirming fish in her hand to get a better grip on it as she waltzed toward the stairs, her spirits rising with each step.

She was going to get some actual food in her belly... Just the thought made her mouth water.

[003-Crimson Ace]

His cornered prey would soon become his meal as Dusk began his assault. He would do his best to mimic the creatures he had seen hunting before, move in quickly and aim for the vital points. For a shelled creature, this would probably be the eyes. Unlike the small crabs he had seen before on the land, this one’s eyes were not on long stalks but were very close to what one would consider its face. Proportionate to its size, the claws were bigger each about a fourth or possibly a third of its body but it did not have such a long reach. The creature snapped its claws in frustration or possibly anger that it was hard for Dusk to tell more so due to his lack of understanding of such emotions rather than the lack of the crustaceans ability to show physical expression.

He moved in on its right leaping forward as the creature lunged out and tried to snap at him. Dusk had planned for this and quickly bounded to his right crouching under the left claw as it swung to knock him back. The Crimson Ace stiffened once again and each red and black strap of steel like cloth slammed into the creatures’ eyes. Without warning it began to thrash around, slamming Dusk down to the ground as the crab flailed its arms about and danced around frantically. Its eye stalks oozed at the loss of the orbs, the same substance spotted on the Crimson Ace unit. Dusk struggled to get back to his feet as the crab kicked up water, bumping into the wall a few times and then charging him again. The boy was tossed to the floor and rolled right into the door.

He ran his fingers from his bangs all the way to the back of his neck, the purple in his eyes pulsating as their shine dimmed and came back brighter each time. He was experiencing the emotion he had learned was called anger.
On the ground just below the surface of the water Dusk could see that the stone he had picked up in the other room had dropped out of his pocket. He knelt down to pick it up but was surprised when he felt a wave of heat radiating from it. He attempted to pick the stone up but it only grew hotter, burning his hand as the water began to bubble around it and produce stream. He used one of the Crimson Ace limbs and scooped it up. It took only a few seconds for the stone to cool down and Dusk was able to touch it with his bare hands again, the limb however had grown quite warm to the touch.

Dusk was new to this world, he did not understand much about it but he had a basic knowledge or at the least instinct and the ability to understand things at a decent level. He knew that the crabs shell was meant to protect it from harm and that he did not know how to use the Crimson Ace effectively enough to kill it, though he was sure it was possible. He had just learned that when something gets hot enough, such as water, it begins to boil, and he knew that heat is used to cook something, another thing he had been told by the boatmen though not exactly revealed to him, he had an entire night to think about what they had said and had come up with a few conclusions from the information they had given him.

His course of action was now altered as another plan formed in his mind. Dusk dropped the stone in the water and waited, taking his time to watch the crab. It had remained docile for the last few moments, the pain and shock of suddenly losing its vision finally subsiding. Using one of the Crimson Ace limbs, he wrapped the six feet around until it formed a sort of bowl, a bit over two feet in diameter and set it down to the floor as boiling water began to flood into it. Using the other limb, he picked the stone up and placed it inside the makeshift bowl, the water continuing to boil as Dusk stepped slowly toward the crab.

Once he was within Crimson Ace reach of the creature, he flung the contents of the bowl at it. The bubbling water instantly sent the crab in another frantic riot but this time Dusk was ready. Wrapping one of the limbs around its many legs and causing the crab to trip as, he rolled the other into a wad and stiffened it then proceeded to bash at the creatures underbelly until a breach in the shell was made. With his bare hand, Dusk picked up the stone and hurled it into the opened cavity, burning at the insides of the creature as un-stiffened the free limb and created another bowl, ladling water into the wound.

As the water seeped in and spread through the crab’s body, the stone would continue to bowl it alive from within as it burned through whatever tissue it had landed on down a few inches. Dusk continued to do this even after the creature stopped moving not willing to take any chances of the animal getting back up again until its carapace had changed from its original deep peach to a bright red. After a minute or two of this he released his grasp on the creature’s legs and used the limb to pull the stone out of the crab’s body. It had burned bit of the insides away but for the most part everything was okay if not just a bit watery. The smell was not the best but Dusk could hardly smell any way as salt water was still dripping from his nose and the taste was fresh in his mouth. He had spent a goof four minutes fighting the crab and another five or so boiling it. Once the stone had cooled down a bit, he peeled off whatever residue had been left, washing it off with a bit of water but pulling it away before it got to warm and placed it back into one of his vest pouches.

The shell was still quite warm as was most of the water within the room. If he wished to cool it down quickly then another body of water was needed. Dusk wrapped both limbs around the creature’s legs and began pull with all his might. This proved to be a bit easier than he had expected, the creature weighting nowhere near as much as he would have guessed maybe somewhere in the mid forties. It slid across the floor with little trouble as Dusk made his way to the door. The anger he had felt earlier had been forgotten, replaced by his usual smile as the boy was proud to have successfully captured his first prey.

To help pull the crab, he had wrapped both of his hands around the limbs, and pulled with all the strength he could muster. Hands busy he simply kicked the door open for getting it swung the other way though it did not shut however and only swung back revealing a tall woman with red hair at around the same length of his own. Her bangs were however a pure white which fascinated Dusk to a degree as he had never seen a person with multi-colored hair until this point, though he had seen few people in the last few days of his existence so he had little to really go one. Her ears were also different than anyone he had seen yet as they were more like an animals and atop her head. To add to Dusk's confusion, the women had a tail that did not belong to anything that he had understood to be human, but it only seemed to fit this woman perfectly.

She was just as soaked as he was if not a little bit more as the heat and steam had dried Dusk off a bit though his cloths were still quite damp. His eyes were however completely hidden by his bangs as they clung together still drenched in salt water, as a few beads dropped from them every few seconds, some sliding down his cheeks while others simply landed in the puddles of water on the floor. Her skin was also quite different than those he had seen and his own. While his was dark, almost to the point where one might view him as possibly half-drow or more so, though he had no clue what a drow was, hers was pale and fair. Both were an oddity in this area as all the people he had seen were tanned by the sun for many years due to life at sea.

For more than a minute Dusk continued to stand there, simply looking over the girls’ features. If she had said something to him he had probably missed it as he simply stared into her sky blue eyes, his own hidden quite well though a faint glow of purple might have broken through the veil of sea water and black hair. It was not like he was surprised all that much to find her there, but more so due to the fact that this was the closest he had ever been to another person. Even to the people on the boat, he had not uttered a word, and was not even sure if he could or not as until now he had not had much reason to talk to anyone aside from Mr. Sin within his dreams, but if the words he had used he never tried to say outside of his dreams.

Dusk would not have realized it at the time, his lip quivered noticeably as he looked at the woman in front of him, as another minute passed by, or so it felt. He was unaware that at this moment he was being what most people would refer to as ‘shy’. Something alerted him finally, a loud noise or maybe the woman had made a sudden motion? Whatever had happened he instinctively retreated, taking a few steps back before bumping into the still piping hot crab behind him. The sudden shock caused him to bounce forward and before Dusk knew what was going on he found he was wrapped tightly around the girls leg.

[Lady Lulu]

Lucy paused as she spotted the young boy. He looked as if he couldn't be any older than ten. Why on earth was he here, of all places? A flooded building was no place for a child to be. She was utterly amazed that he was still alive. How long had he even been in here?

She nearly opened her mouth to speak her mind, but froze mid-thought as she saw the poor boy's expression. He looked... Frightened, perhaps even embarrassed. Unsure of what to do, Lucy looked at the young boy for several moments, and he just looked back. Growing uncomfortable in the silence, Lucy slowly reached a hand toward him. She hoped he wouldn't frea--

Her thoughts were interrupted as the boy started back, then gave an eep as he bumped into some large red oval behind him and suddenly lunged at her. Before Lucy could retaliate, the child was clinging to her bare legs. She nearly lost her balance, though with several flails of her arms and a wobble she caught her footing again. The fish finally managed to slip from her tight grasp, landing with a sickening splat in the shallow water on the floor. It splashed about, gasping for water as it's gills hyperventilated.

Lucy gave a heavy sigh and put a gentle hand flat on the boys matted wet hair. She used her other, now free, hand to hold her knee long dress against her legs so she could look down at him without its abundant material getting in the way. "um.... Excuse me, pup, but.... What exactly do you think you are doing?" She asked in the sickly sweetest voice she could muster, so as not to frighten the child further.

"Not to sound rude, but this dress wasn't made with leg-hugging in mind..." She hoped that maybe a joke would sooth him. After all, from what little experience she had with children, she had found that if you got one to smile, you earned its trust. She ruffled his hair slightly, then removed her hand.

[003-Crimson Ace]

Still unaware of what exactly had come to pass, Dusk found himself comforted by the woman he had just ran into. She set what felt like a hand upon his head, before questioning him. He looked up at her, mouth open as if trying to form some word but completely dumbfounded as to what to utter. He quickly looked back down to his feet, still clinging on to her leg. He noticed a fish bouncing around on the ground as it searched for a body of water in which to breathe in, before the woman continued to speak. He turned his head back up to her, his bangs parting as he did so revealing clearly his glowing eyes to the girl. He stared back up at her for a few more seconds, still unsure of what to say and looking as if he were about to cry before releasing his grasp upon her leg.

He took a few steps back, this time making sure not to bump into the crab as he continued to wait for his meal to cool down. He walked over to the fish and picked it up, looking over it for a few moments before holding its out to the girl. "I....believe this.....belongs to.....you?" Each word was somewhat of a choir to produce, Dusk not exactly certain if he had strung them together in the proper order though it seemed about right by his calculations. He looked down at the fish in his hand, tightening his grip so as not to drop it as it began to wiggle more violently. He returned his sights back upon the girl and offered a wide toothy smile. "My name is Dusk.....Dusk Vera, and that is my prey." He continued to smile, excited as he began to realize he had just spoken his first words. Talking was a lot more fun than simply pointing to things.

"You are called?" He asked, finally letting go of his smile in exchange for a more questioning expression. He had suddenly grown very curious of the girl and wanted to know everything he could about her. Without words he had been unable to question anyone except for Mr. Sin, but now he would be able to learn about the world from someone else’s point of view as Mr. Sin had said he had not been to this world in a very, very long time.

[Lady Lulu]

Lucy gave a small gasp as she saw the boys eyes. They were absolutely amazing. They were literally glowing several vibrant hues. What was he? A human definitely wouldn't have such a supernatural quality, yet he had all the right parts and proportions for a mortal....

As he spoke shakily, Lulu couldn't help but smile warmly. He had such a childish voice, it slightly surprised her. She had been expecting something more.... demonic, just to match his brilliant eyes.

"Yes, thank you..." She accepted the fish from him. "I call myself Lucy. Though I'm not sure if that's my real name..." She rubbed the back of her head with a dense smile. "Dusk Vera, hm? An odd name to match an odd boy. I like it." Her wet tail twitched in her excitement of meeting a new person. Even if he was a young boy, at least he was company. Now she knew she wouldn't go insane... Well, unless she already had and he was just a figment of her imagination...

She bent down and pinched his cheek. Even doubled over, she was still almost taller than him. "You're real, right?" She cocked her head to the side. As his words about prey sunk in, though, she hastily stood erect. "Prey? What do you mean?" Lucy glanced back to the giant red... shell? That's what it looked like, anyway...

"Is that... a giant crab?!" She leaned forward to peer at the thing, taken aback. "How on earth did you fight an oversized lobster?! You poor thing, are you hurt?" She grabbed both of Dusk's arms to examine them, then finding them both uninjured, dropped them. "There's no way you are a human if you took on that thing and won. A mortal couldn't even kill a normal sized crustacean...." She muttered under her breath. Sure, she knew she was over-exaggerating, but hell, humans were useless creatures. Give them as little credit as possible....

"Well, whatever you are, nice job." She nodded her approval.

[003-Crimson Ace]

He was an odd boy? Dusk did not seem too far off from a name like Lucy, or maybe it was the Vera that was out of the norm, he was not exactly sure, but he wondered exactly what it was that made him so odd compared to this woman and what she was used to seeing. The fact that she had asked if he was real or not seemed quite odd to him, but she probably held more experience within the world so maybe it was some sort of custom? The pinching of his cheek brought was also quite awkward but once again he put faith in her knowledge of the world.

Before he could utter a word, Lucy had continued on asking about his prey and claiming that it was a feat that he had captured it. This made Dusk quite proud and he flashed a smile in thanks of her kind words. "Well it was not an easy task, but if you would like some I am more than willing to share with my very first friend." He continued to smile, wrapping the Crimson Ace back around the crab and pulling it out of the doorway and into the hall. He placed his hand against it, finding it only mildly warm to the touch and probably safe to eat. He turned from Lucy for a few seconds, examining the crab or lobster as she had referred to it by both terms, before beginning to gnaw savagely at the shell, only to be left with a rather bland taste in his mouth and an aching row of teeth. "Hmm, I was not aware that giant lobsters were made out of rock. Or perhaps this is a special kind of rock lobster?" Dusk wondered, running his hands through his wet hair as he pulled it back into a ponytail at the base of his neck and squeezed what excess water he could.

In the distance Dusk began to hear what sounded like yells, which suddenly grew to shouting and then the discharge of a weapon. He had heard such a noise once before, and he believed it was produced during the use of a cannon found on sailing ships. Shortly after two more shots were fired and he could hear the shriek of a large creature in what sounded like pain. "Are those the pirates I was told to watch out for?" Dusk asked himself, momentarily forgetting about Lucy's presence. Though he was still hungry, the urge to watch these pirates he had interpreted the warning, was steadily growing.

[Lady Lulu]

Lucy giggled as the young boy nibbled at the beasts shell. He was so innocent, so naive....
However, her mood soured as she heard the blasts in the distance.

Hoarders.... Bleh. Although she had been trapped in this area for quite awhile and would do anything to get back to dry land, a pirate was the last type of savior she wanted. Oh, sure they would rescue her from here, but all be damned if the dick-heads let her go. She would become their new cabin girl, tending to their every whim with the threat of death lingering around her throat.
Lucy couldn't stop a chuckle from passing her full lips.
She would rather drown than face those cowards.

As Dusk spoke, she looked at him blandly. "Yes, they are pirates. Don't waste your time worrying about those bastards, though. They can't find us in here." She walked to the huge crustacean. Kneeling in the ice cold water beside Dusk, she smiled warmly. "Now, silly, would you like me to teach you how to eat this?"

Without taking her time to wait for his response, she turned to the beast. The shell looked rather thick, but she figured that maybe, just maybe, she would be able to pry the bottom off. Being a fox demon, her strength was naturally higher than a mere mortals, if not by much. That meant she could probably break this shell much easier than a human could with a natural sized crab, right?

Tucking the thin fingers of one pale hand into the gap where the monsters eyes had protruded, and the other into a leg hole, She attempted to tug the underbelly armor off the upper crimson shell. After a few sharp pulls, she felt the underside begin to splinter. The belly definitely wasn't as thick as Lucy had expected. Groaning softly, she gave an especially rough jerk on it, and the shell split. She yelped and fell back onto her tail from the force. Sharp pains shooting up her rear, she whined loudly and jumped to her feet. Her hands immediately wrapped around the base of her sagging wet tail, biting her lower lip in an eye-twitching throb.

"Here... you go..." Lucy ground out, her tail twitching to the right. Her pointed fox ears pressed flat back, and she gave a deep sigh. Damned sensitive parts....
Looking at the boy, she forced a fangy smile.