Going for a Cruise

[Emblem]

Ettermire, the great technological wonder of the world, how could Oran refuse the chance to visit it? There was little that could have stopped him, not having money, not knowing where it is, not knowing where he was, it all didn’t matter since he was going to Ettermire. Sure, it may have been smarter to pack supplies, get some money for traveling expenses and souvenirs, maybe even bringing clothes for the season or clothes at all for that matter, but Oran didn’t need to be smarter. He’d gotten by on his own for the beginning of his life and he’d keep doing so, prepared or not.

It wasn’t the first time Oran had been on the continent, last time he didn’t get to see much of the landscape or tourist attractions as it was mainly a business venture, but this time on his second trip it was purely for pleasure. Growing up anywhere in Althanas one was bound to hear tall tales of the legendary elven creations, Oran was no exception although he didn’t put quite as much stock in them as some dreamers. It was more likely that Alerar had exceptionally good drink seeing as there were stories about flying ships, an impossible feat since everyone knew the sky was avian territory and men had no place there. Yet there were so many tales from so many different people that they couldn’t all by false, at least not completely.

Entering the city, the people were the most impressively foreign thing that he noticed, their ears elongated and their skin ashen in color, blazing red eyes all about. He’d heard about the dark elves of course, but to see so many in one place much less see one at all was fantastic. The world was full of surprises and he loved them all, even the bad ones but not as much. Striding through the city dressed all in white, Oran stuck out like a glowing neon sign, nearly a head taller than everyone else with different clothes and short hair seemed to be the popular style as opposed to Oran’s chestnut mane. There was one thing he seemed to have in common with the people of Ettermire, and it was dirt, it was everywhere on everyone and he was no exception. Hitchhiking with merchants and farmers, riding on carriages without their permission or knowledge, the road had managed to get him there but his white clothes were stained with dirt and grime, he had sand in his hair and dirty rainwater in places he didn’t want to think about.

Stopping at a tavern hoping for a hot meal, maybe a bath, Oran only needed the red nose to complete the look and he was the perfect drunkard in the gutter. “Barkeep, give me a cold one and some spiced potatoes, no, make it salted pork.” The bartender was dubious of serving some guy that looked one coin short of owning a box on the corner, but a customer was a customer. Sliding the stranger a foaming beer across the dusty bar and chopping a piece of cold pork onto a yet uncleaned plate, the large hairy man went back to scrubbing glasses with a rag dirtier than the glasses. Wolfing down the measly side of badly cooked pork and finishing with a large belch, it suddenly occurred to Oran that he had misplaced his money pouch. It wasn’t the first time he’d been in a situation like this, and they almost always ended with severe beatings. Ordering a second drink and chugging it down, he knew what he had to do. Regurgitating a small amount so the bartender could see it, he bolted to the door as though he was going to vomit, leaving the door squeaking on its hinge behind him, a whitish brown blur weaving through the people down the street.

“I coulda sworn I had money yesterday…” Although the thought would have worried most people Oran just shrugged it off, live life for today because tomorrow isn’t here yet. His stomach somewhat full and an entire city to explore, Oran was ready to take in the sites. After meandering around for a while, it was killing him that he couldn’t find the source of the noise. Every ten minutes or so there would be a great roaring sound and he couldn’t figure out what was making it, it didn’t sound like an animal and he’d never heard a person make any noise like, and it was far too harsh to be any form of music. Lying down on the sidewalk in the bazaar, the source had been right in front of him. Gazing up lazily as the sound came once again, a gigantic shadow passed over the area, an ocean vessel floating towards the center of the city through the sky. Although a flurry of ideas popped into his head, Follow it! stuck the best and so he did.

Oran must have looked like a madman, tearing through the city at full speed, weaving between people and hurdling obstacles, finally coming to a halt by a giant courtyard walled in with by octagonal walls. Finding an entrance into a main building set between these halls, he burst into lobby and approached the first person he saw, a well dressed man sorting papers at his wooden desk. “I need to be on one of those ships!”

Slightly alarmed by the humans sudden appearance, understanding dawned on the middle-aged drow. “What? Oh, of course, you’re here to fill the positions on the Dynasty. Yes, quite a ship, first of its kind and took over two years to build. Go through the Black door over there to your left, change into your uniform, and report in to the Dynasty. Better hurry up it’s preparing to depart.”

Not even realizing he had accidentally gotten into a decent honest job, Oran changed into what he thought was the best looking of the uniforms, an expensive looking red jacket with a red hat and black slacks. It turned out to be really easy to find the Dynasty among the other ships parked in the courtyard, being three times and long and tall with Dynasty painted in gigantic black letters against the ships giant shining white hull.

The inside was even more impressive than the outside, it was excessive in everything, the finest cloth with the best food and best dressed richest people with richest everything. Crystal chandeliers hung everywhere with bright lights displaying the overwhelming impressiveness, a pinnacle of wealth. Looking around for someone like himself, it didn’t take Oran long to spot people wearing the same uniform as himself, moving dishes and delivering food, showing guests to their rooms and carrying luggage, vacuuming the extravagant carpets, they were everywhere doing everything. It all looked like a lot of hard work, which happened to be one the very few things Oran wasn’t naturally talented at. Finding his way to the workers quarters, he managed to find another thing he wasn’t good at, rows and rows of bunk beds with no space between them and lots of people, not having personal space was not something he liked. The room was just barely big enough for all the beds to fit in and the people on them, absolute minimal wasted space.

Nevertheless it was bed, something he hadn’t been able to use in quite some time, and as he dozed he was oblivious to the slight sway of the ship as it lifted off from the ground. Nobody was going to believe him when he told this story, he could hardly believe it, Oran Tellios was a man of the world, a great path blazer who went everywhere and did everything, twice. It was nice thought and it was slowly coming true.

[Workout Wonder]

Kedx tried not to smirk, but it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. It felt odd, to be out and about among people again. His body, his thirsts and his desires all felt new again. It was like his body was something that he once again had to grow acquainted to, like a winter jacket that had been kept stored in a closet for the warmer months of summer.

That sensation was reasonable enough after everything that the one time musician had been through, his body had changed a great deal in the past nine years… or the time that had seemed like nine years for him. It had been Enarlin magic that had aged him, it was the only way that they were able to heal his scars in time for him to continue on with his missions. And now, the rock star once known as Brock Rundgren was returning to Althanas in a completely different capacity.

Now, he wasn’t going to be famous, but he was going to start a war.

The vampire was acting upon a secret missive authorized by Enarlin mages of greater rank then he. He was merely a small hand in a larger nucleus. A protean, powerful organization that kept moving purposely and undetectably and would one day sit back and laugh on the result their actions. The world would one day know the names of these Enarlin mages, but not until after they had come to control it. For the time being, security made it so that they could not even know each other. Kedx took orders from his mentor, and from no one else. He had no idea where those orders came from nor did he care. They always brought him more power, and that was what he craved.

Enarlin magic had almost become the drug for Kedx that his music once had been. Before his fallout with Arthur and Grace Productions, Kedx had craved the screaming fans, loose women and enormous sums of money of his former profession. Then he’d craved Rainee Miyami. With times, both had lost their initial appeal. Shallow pleasures or deep ones, whichever one it seemed that Kedx had with him, he felt obligated to crave the other. Now, he had convinced himself that he needed nothing more than power. The Enarlin magic fulfilled him, it rewarded him, it brought him joy, it gave him his identity.

Perhaps he had just grown cynical, but Kedx Fieldeth was neither the man that Brock Rundgren or Corin Rivfader were. He was something far more brutal.

And now, he was dressed in a grey suit, sitting around a table with a pair of wealthy debutantes who were speaking in hushed whispers about how amazing how lavish the airship had been decorated. Kedx tried not to smirk. They were both fairly attractive and definitely young, but it was clearly obvious that their families were newly rich. People of nobility would have come to expect this kind of treatment everywhere they went. Kedx had been used to this kind of treatment, and while things had changed for him now, slipping back into luxury had been no different than a fish sliding back into the sea.

Since he had time to spend before the ship landed and he was due in Raiaera, Kedx figured that his time would be best served enjoying some of the pleasures he had long lacked. His suit hid most of the nasty results of his accident, and his fur had been intentionally trimmed so that he looked the part of a wealthy feline. His grey suit was subtle, but sophisticated, with cufflinks and a lapel pin that removed any doubt as to whether or not he belonged among the rest of the wealthy people in the dinning area.

However, Kedx found nothing appealing on the table for him to eat. The food of mortals had begun to loose its appeal to the vampire. Instead, he turned his attention what was sitting at the table, namely the two girls who were already overwhelmed by the richness of the ship. Kedx grinned. He loved girls around eighteen with new money. Youth was enough to end discretion, but new money was certainly emancipatory. It made them so easy to fool.

The vampire cleared his throat to interrupt the girl’s chatter. “My rooms even have chandeliers of their own,” Kedx said. “And a tap which releases warm water into a marble tub.” He took a casual sip from his wine before he continued. He made no lewd gesture, nor did he raise his eyebrow seductively. He merely spoke, letting the innuendos talk for themselves.

“It is big enough for three.”

The girls giggled.

It was only five in the afternoon, but Kedx soon intended to turn in for the night on a full stomach.

[NekoRulers]

Ettermire. Ayano couldn’t help but stand in the middle of the bustling street with her mouth hanging open holding onto her bo for support, the only still figure amongst a crowd. Her tail’s happy swinging slowed down in awe as her ears twitched faster, trying to pick up more and more sound. The place had her stunned, and truth be told not many places could do that. Snuggled deep into the hair between the cat-girl‘s ears, Beako was oblivious to the wonder that surrounded the pair. It had all started in a crowded inn. A traveler who’d had a bit to drink began to gush about the genius creations of the drow. The neko had been skeptical, but the stories had left to much room for fact for her to pass up the chance that had presented itself soon after. Upon leaving the tavern that night, she had come across a caravan. The caravan was going to Ettermire for business and was happy enough to take Ayano along for the ride. It had been bumpy, but she was finally here. Ettermire.

The place was everything the drunkard had worked it up to be. Even standing in such a street, there were signs of the supreme elven technology everywhere. It made the cat-girl wonder exactly how the dark elves did it all. There was, of course, one particular piece of technological work that she was interested in. It had kept her up all night in the caravan, as they approached the city. It was the reason why she was here, and why she kept her face tilted upward. If there was any sign of a flying ship, she would catch it and trace it to its source. And my life would be complete, Ayano thought to herself. Even as a few strands of her long black hair fell into her golden eyes, she swept them out of view with a flick of her hand instantly. Nothing, absolutely nothing was going to keep her from taking in all the city had to offer. Not that Beako could care less. Her mini companion was still curled up and asleep on top of her head.

In addition to the beautiful buildings and creations that she was still rapidly processing through a brain that remained in a “I must be dreaming” state, there were the people of Ettermire. She seemed to fit in around height wise, but other than that she stood out like a sore thumb. The drows had beautiful ebony skin, and sparkling red eyes that looked exotically attractive. Their pointed ears was about all that she could see betraying the drows’ relationship to their fair kin. Not that she was an expert on regular elves either. However, her own feline features were obviously not something commonly seen around the city. She was attracting a few stares, and not all of them friendly. The cat-girl did smile at the little drow child that reached out to pet her tail before his mother dragged him away. Ayano, looking down at herself, found that she also was not what could be considered in style here. Not that it bothered her in the slightest. For a moment the neko contemplated buying some drow clothes here. No doubt she would fit, but they also had a pretty touch that she normally didn’t find in other nation’s clothing.

But, she thought to herself, better make sure she had enough money to spend on a place to stay first. Priorities were always something she had found slightly problematic, and it didn’t help that none of the affordable looking places here looked to great. “Where to go first, Beako?” she asked. His only response was to snuggle deeper into her hair until he was near submerged. That wasn’t quite the answer she was looking for. Ayano decided that the first thing she should do is move, so that the surrounding people didn’t think she was frozen in a state of awe permanently. Yes, as soon as she took as step the weight of at least four stares were lifted. Promising, she thought to herself. She walked down the street while swinging her eyes back and forth to and from either of the street, allowing her clunky boots to thunk on the ground noisily. And finally she found something that caught her interest more than the random stores she had seen hanging around. This was something she would waste all her money on, and she was a good saver. A drow weapons shop. She had a hard time deciphering whether she was walking towards it through her own will or not. When the cat-girl finally came to a stop at the window, she knew it was her own will. The weapons were perfect.

The shop itself was small, and the wood paneling on the inside and out done with ebony. Dark wood shone with a luster that matched the obsidian pedestals on the inside of the store. On each intricately carved pedestal was a weapon that showed skilled craftsmanship. Every inch was picture perfect in the feline’s mind, and she intended to look at all of them. Stepping up the two step entrance, the first thing she noticed about it was the smell. It didn’t have an odd odor like most enclosed areas she had been in. This couldn’t be a simple store. It had to have, what did they call it? Prestige. It already made the neko nervous. Prestigious stuff didn’t come cheap. Just looking at the weaponry made her feel as though her money pouch had a hole in it. Walking down the black marble hall, she received a sharp look from a bunch of customers. Ayano knew why; it was her stupid clunky boots again. From then on the girl tried to concentrate on lifting her legs higher for each step. Normally she was a silent walker, but when concentrating on things she lost it. Old habits die hard.

It was then that the cat-girl felt herself stop in front of a pedestal. On it lay two ornately shaped blades. They had not handles, only notches in them as if they could be attached to something else. The metal itself had a silvery tone, with many little carvings in it that betrayed a good gilding job. The carvings themselves had a darker metal color, showing that the blades contained only expensive metals on the outside. Ayano knew where the blades could go. Her eyes instantly wandered to her bo staff. She knew the blades that resided in there well enough to picture them without releasing them. The metal was old, and had not been sharpened in ages. Ages being a long, long time. Looking back to the drow blades, a feeling of longing overcame her. They want to be in my bo, she thought to herself. Ayano was already trying to alleviate the guilt she knew would come after paying the obvious asking price for them. However, she already knew that she would do anything for those blades.

And then a roaring began. From the corner of her eye, she saw a black blob floating in the sky through the clear glass in the shop walls. Was it? The cat-girl felt her breath catch. It had to be! And in an instant the girl was clunking her way out of the store and down the street. Shoving her way through masses of drow, she sped down the street, all the while making sure she was following the sky ship. As she ran, the neko kept her tail close to her body so it would not get pulled on anything she was running past. If she missed this chance, who knew how long it would be before she go another one?

And in moments she was running right at a octagon courtyard. It took all of Ayano’s self control to stop herself from hurdling right into a wall. Instead, she transferred her weight to her left foot and allowed herself to skid to a stop. Falling down right after performing the stunt, the cat-girl blessed her boot’s thick soles. Her bo had not been so lucky. She vaguely remembered it flying out of her hands as she slid to a stop. Where could it have gone?

All this disturbance seemed to be the thing that finally woke her tiny companion from its nap in her hair. Woozily, it surfaced and hovered next to her cheek. The tiny blue thing emitted a long high pitched shriek that could have been a yawn or reprimand; who could know? “Did you see which way my bo went?” she asked calmly. Just as sleepily, Beako began to slowly float away from her. Ayano watched in interest, until a peep signaled that she should be following. Or, she though that. Anyhow her little creature lead her down a hall and into a lobby of sorts.

Sitting at a desk was a ruffled looking, but well dressed drow. The middle aged male, looked up from his papers with one eyebrow raised in question and began to tap his foot. With one finger, he indicated to something on the floor. The cat-girl looked down in the direction and saw her precious bo lying against a chair. Quickly, she picked it up. The neko tilted her head a tad downward as not to show the blush that was flooding her cheeks. Her droopy tail, however gave away disappointment. She had lost the ship.

The man looked a little sympathetic. “Look,” he said “Ah, don’t worry. It’s not often that I get to see a… whatever you are. Consider it even.” He ran a hand through his hair, as if wondering exactly what Ayano was, was some sort of a task. “It’s not that!” she said sadly, “I lost the flying ship. I traveled all the way here to see it and now its…” she let it end like that.

But to her surprise, the drow smiled. “You’ve came right to the headquarters. I’ll have you know the ship is called the Dynasty and took a good two years to build. She is definitely one of a kind. But you came all the way here to see it? Well, I don’t know if you’re interested but we have some staff positions open. You could join up. Passage and such would be free. Black door down the hall and to your left. Hurry up, its going to take off soon.”

Ayano could have kissed him right then and there. Her tail immediately began its customary happy swing, and her face brightened up. Not only was she going to get to see the ship close, she was going to be on it! Beako once again, looked like he couldn’t have cared less. But, the cat-girl did and she did exactly what she felt like doing. She planted a kiss on the drow’s dark cheek before running down the hall and to her left. She gave him a little wave before running through the black door, leaving him with a not unpleasantly surprised expression on his face.

Inside, she was directed to a place full of uniforms. She found a uniform quickly shoved into her waiting arms, and hurriedly pushed out the door and another hall. Going into a little bathroom area off to the right, Ayano set about changing. The feminine version of the male’s uniform was quite interesting. A red blouse fit tucked into the waistline of a hugging pair of black hugging pants. As if to keep traditional, a knee length black skirt with side slits went over the pants. Sadly, the cat-girl soon found out that she had been given a pair that was a little too large in terms of the sleeves. They were loose and covered her hands to finger tips. Oh well, there was no helping it.

Stepping into the ship, she was blown away by the interior decoration. Everywhere there was a display of riches. There were many guests just oozing a rich appearance along with everything else. The women and girls were just flooding the floor in gorgeous dresses (and some not so gorgeous), while men showed off their money in random displays of wealth. I mean I knew these people had to be rich to afford this trip, she thought to herself, but how much rich upon rich can a person be? With a mental shrug, the cat-girl headed off to the staff dorms.

Just like the rest of the ship, the dorms were packed full of people. Ayano assumed they must be trying to stuff as much people into one place as possible. It made her feel claustrophobic. Elbowing her way through a small mob of other girls she made her way into a dark corner and chose her bed there. Taking a now sleeping Beako from her hair, she placed him onto the bed’s pillow where she couldn’t disturb him. He shifted slightly and whistled in his sleep, but basically stayed deeply asleep. Placing her bo and pack next to him, Ayano sat down on her bunk to think about what she was going to do. She had time to boot, so she lay down.

[streak101]

Usually, you will find Banda hunting down some Joe, or stealing food from the vendors, to get a bite to eat. This time though was different. Banda had a gleaming smile over his face that in the right angle, could blind you temporarily. He was surrounded by people laughing, and enjoying their honeymoons, or their very expensive cruise. Watching a group of actors, perform funny skits, or goofing in the scene. Believe or not, Banda was one of these actors, though he wasn't goofing.

It all started when Banda had just entered Ettermire. He accidently had walked into a sitcom of sorts. He had lost his temper with the remarks given to him by the actors, and had said some insults so profanatic, it could not be said here. Afterwards, the crowd laughed so much they tossed gold on the floor, and applauded. Banda was later informed of what had happened, and seemed like a goof.

He then was met by Joe Ronnie. The head of entertainment for an airship. He wanted Banda to act on that airship to entertain some guests. Banda having no idea what an airship was accepted the job, and was eager to see this so called airship, that could fly in the sky where no one should ever go. Banda thought this was just some fool who thought that he could fool such a young boy as Banda.

But Banda was the one fooling himself when he saw the magnificent airship in it's beauty. When it flew off the ground Banda couldn't believe it, he was flying! Well, sort of.

So here he was helping out an old man, who had seemed almost joking at his request, but was very serious, and helping people ease their vacation stress. He was actually enjoying himself, though. Maybe I should take up acting...he thought.

[Stargazer]

Artemis Black, stepped into the heart of Ettermire. The journey to the drow city had not been as taxing as other trips he had been on. It was uneventful for the most part. He traveled with a caravan as a stowaway for more than half of the trip. A few times when straying from the caravan in the dark, he had thought someone saw him. But she didn’t turn him over or report anything. For that he was grateful, even though he took no time to say thanks. He gave no notice or special care to manners in particular. It had all started in a shabby tavern that he was playing his flute at for some coins. He never really got around to playing as he had planned, but spent most of his time listening to a sprawled drunk rave about a flying ship in Ettermire. Artemis knew quite a bit about the place’s genius inventions, but this thing about a flying ship was new. The drow were smart, but he didn’t know they were that smart. A flying ship was something he had to see. Being an artisan, himself, he couldn’t pass up the chance of a passing caravan headed to the exact place of his interest. And now he was there.

Artemis walked through the crowd, seemingly more at home than anywhere else he had been lately. The half-demon fit in with his pointed ears, and red eyes even if he was MUCH taller than everyone else and his skin was pale. He basically had the same build as them besides the height thing, anyway. At least he didn’t stick out like as much of a sore thumb as some of the other travelers. The drow were pretty accepting of him. He received only a few strange looks, and most of those were from other travelers. This was, well, different. The half-human was used to scaring people as part of the way he was. Here it wasn’t happening without him trying. He could definitely get used to this.

The half-breed looked around him as he walked, not caring that his hood was down at this time of day. Normally he would try and shade his eyes a little, but here the tall technologically advanced buildings provided that. He could almost see a hint of color. A plus, of course. Artemis stared in appreciation at the fabulously inventive knickknacks that were for sale all across and down the street. So, he thought to himself, even the toys here show an unmatched advancement. Black stopped for a moment to see one particular toy for sale. The old drow who ran the little stand sat next to a basket of her wares, bent slightly as she worked on her next piece of work. The woman’s stringy white hair hung down to her waist, and lay in front of her face. Her ebony skin had lost whatever the thing of youth that the young had in theirs, for it lay in folds and covered in wrinkles. She barely looked up as Artemis walked over, but kept her gnarled hands at work.

There were two trinkets that caught his eye as he knelt over the baskets. One was a tiny wooden ball about an inch in diameter, that was kept afloat by two twirling pieces of flat wood that were held above it by a small stick. Artemis looked to the side to see a small drow child playing with his. Every time the child whistled, the toy would come following after. No doubt it was run on some tiny bit of magic. The other was a tiny toy that was made of seven segments. Each cubicle wooden segment was about a square half centimeter. They were linked together with near invisible thin strands of metal chain. The contraptions inched along the surfaces ahead of them in a caterpillar like manner. The demonic half-breed was not one for random tourist fodder, but this was something interesting. With his echoic voice he asked the drow how much each toy was. Her answer was surprisingly cheap compared to what they would have costed anywhere else in Althanas. “What color?” the woman asked in her creaky voice. Artemis pointed at the a shade of grey he liked. He wouldn’t know the actual color until dark. In response to his request, the drow picked up one of each toy deftly and swept them over with a brush. The paint was grey, but was watery enough to leave the wood’s pattern beneath the color. In fact, it looked as though each contraption was carved out of grey wood. The vendor snapped her fingers to make the toys stop their constant movements. With an experienced hand, she took each and wrapped it up in grey paper. After putting it into a small cloth pouch, she turned back to her customer.

“What are you going to name them?” the question was barely above a whisper. “I don’t name my possessions.” replied Artemis, maybe a little more forcefully than he meant to be. “I didn’t ask you whether you wanted to or not, I asked what you were going to name them.” she shot right back. The half-breed began to feel his impatience rise, not for the first or last time that day. “Whatever. I don’t care, you can name them.” he sneered. “How ‘bout Peke and Byte?”. He didn’t respond, just nodded curtly and dropped four of his coins into the woman’s hand. She, in turn, dropped the package into his extended, long fingered hand. Without a thank you, Black turned on his heel and began to swim through the current of the moving crowd.


It was when he was walking back into the center of the street, that he hear the roar of an engine above him. Looking up, he saw the huge shape of a ship in flight. In seconds he was chasing it, his black cloak billowing out behind him. Eventually it disappeared behind a large building. Artemis guessed it was headquarters or something. He wandered into the courtyard with a blank expression. He allowed some of his black hair to fall back into his eyes. For some reason, the more he obscured his features seemingly the less questions were asked. And then he wandered into a large room. At the desk was a middle aged drow that seemed busy, not that Artemis cared much. He walked right up to the desk and waited for the drow to look up. “Can I help you?” the man stammered, never taking his eyes off of the metal knuckle spikes that resided on Artemis’ black fingerless gloves. “How do I get on the ship?” he asked. The drow’s expression seemed to brighten up instantly at the topic of his darling vessel. “It’s the Dynasty. And you can take a position on staff right now. Just go down that hall and through the black door.” The demon-half breed left for the door.

He passed through the dressing room, only stopping to take a ridiculous jacket. His pants and the rest of his clothes were black, so he wouldn’t stand out too much from the rest of the staff. The only reason he took the jacket was identification that he was staff. If they threw him over board, this fall would hurt. Artemis slid through a dark hall. In the dark he could tell his jacket was red. In that instant he knew he wouldn’t be wearing it unless he had to. Quickly, he strode over to the staff bunk room. He was horrified at what he found there. People packed together like there was no tomorrow. It sickened him. As a human pressed past him to leave the room, he cringed in disgust. He wouldn’t even have a chance to kill anyone if it took his fancy in this rats nest. It took him a while to figure out whether the trip was worth it or not. In the end, the trip won and he began to wade over to the darkest corner in the room. He climbed up to the top bunk where he threw his pack onto the bed and sat down. As he got comfortable, a cat-girl wandered into the room, and chose the bed under his. It didn’t look as if she knew he was there. She had long black hair that Artemis found pretty. As his red eyes found her gold ones, he knew she was the female who had kept his existence a secret in the caravan. If they were going to be together on this ship for a while, he might as well get to know her. Leaning over the edge of his bed, he spoke.

“Hello, and what might your name be?”

In the dark, the shadows came to cloak him. His presence was slightly disgruntled by the presence of so many beings, but didn’t mind the girl too much. Neither did the shadows. So this was one creature who wouldn’t be killable. The shadows liked her.

[Emblem]

“Not again…” For the one billionth time he was being called over by a guest on the cruise to perform some menial task, sometimes things that he couldn’t do, didn’t know how to do, or that couldn’t be done by anyone. Ever. The life of a worker on a cruise was a hard one, constant manual labor with bad hours and bad treatment. Whether personal servants worked this hard for their employers was a question that Oran was forced to ask himself over and over. The only reason he managed to restrain himself from either killing the guests or killing himself, sometimes both, was the irreducible awe-inspiring spell that the airship cast on him. Whenever things became unbearable he just reminded himself of where he was.

“This soup doesn’t taste right.” It was yet another of the aristocrats complaining, they had some of the best chefs in the world cooking gourmet food for them and they still had time to complain about how it wasn’t to their pleasure. Although he had been told to just take their food and get them something new, the standard routine, Oran could hold himself back. Plunging a finger into the snobbish woman’s bowl and bringing it to his own mouth, it was some of the best soup he’d ever tasted. “Tastes fine to me, perhaps you’re too dumb to know good food when it hits you in face?” Quickly moving away from the table and out of room he was unable to restrain his smirk from the woman’s sharp intake of breath at the insult to her dignity, he’d pay for it later but it was worth it to tell one of them off.

Tellios had become a common talk of gossip among the full time employees since it was well known that a strange group had been brought in just for this one flight, there were rumors that they were some kind of “extra measure” whatever that meant. As strange as he was there seemed to be others that stuck out even more, a abnormally tall man who needed to duck in most of the hallways and passenger rooms, and a woman with fur, not hair but actually animal fur. He’d seen them in passing but given his desperate attempt to fit in with the staff decided it was best to not associate himself with the oddballs. However it was not meant to be.

The second day into the trip and he had been assigned to work the bar on the top deck, which was both a good and a bad thing. It was good because he could see the sprawling deck before him and the sun, and when he wasn’t working he could look over the side and down onto Althanas from his bird’s eye view. It was an exhilarating experience to be so high up and to pass through clouds, something which not many mortals had been privileged to do. On the other hand it was bad because the deck bar was extremely popular which meant lots of work, but even worse there was a second bartender. The second bartender that was assigned had been someone name Ayano. Ayano was the name an oddball, he would never be able to disassociate himself after working the same position. His chances at blending were gone, vaporized into the alcoholic beverages he would serve for hours on end.

Since there was no way around it he might as well have at least one friend, hopefully his outgoing personality would win her over, or if she was unpleasant he could terrorize her with a mental onslaught, both worked for him.

[Workout Wonder]

On the second day, Kedx had emerged from his room fully satiated. He wasn’t even concerned about the bodies he’d left behind, knowing that soon enough, they would take care of themselves. Hopefully, the two girls had not been traveling in a group, but even if they had, it would have been unlikely that anyone would have traced their disappearance back to him. The vampire was quite pleased with himself. He’d managed to have himself both a fun night and get the work he’d needed done accomplished. War would soon be on the horizon, tensions between Alerar and Raiaera had been mounting ever since the death of Damon Kaosi. Raiaera had sought to reinforce some of their forces to make up for the loss of such an important general, while Alerar had been particularly suspicious of the new influx of recruits into the schools of magic now that the undead were cleared. With domestic turmoil taken care of, Alerar couldn’t help but wonder what would be next on Raiaera’s agenda.

Kedx Fieldeth would make sure that it was war. The moment he got off the airship, the first step would have been put in motion.

However, there was little for him to do in the meantime, so he decided that he would go down to the bar. A bit tired from last night’s adventure, the vampire thought a few drinks of alcohol would serve to get his body going again. His blood was highly resistant to any effects of the drink, but even then, the sharp taste of some of the stronger Alerian whiskeys was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

Kedx emerged at the luxury bar with a scowl on his face. There were but a few people there, and an older woman bartender who wasn’t attractive in the least. The feline shook his head and passed up an offer at a drink. “Where is everyone,” he hissed scowlingly.

“Up on the deck sir, its such a nice day we’ve sent most of our things up there…” she said.

“But this is Alerar!” Kedx shot back, as if that were supposed to mean something. “You don’t have a bloody drink party up on deck. You want it here, away from the sun.”

The bartender replied evenly, suggesting that her main motivation was just to be rid of the angry feline vampire. “You know… most of our passengers are outsiders sir…” she replied. “You should keep that in mind when you ponder our scheduling.”

Kedx sighed. The bartender was right. With the exception of most of the technical hands and military staff on board the air ship, this was a cruise meant mostly for Alerian tourists. It was surprising that Alerar would spend this much effort on pleasing foreigners, but it was likely that in the belief of an eminent war with Raiaera, they were searching for foreign exchange.

“Well, pour me Gareth Ceagrass,” he said, resigning himself to his fate below deck without any pretty women to occupy his time. After last night’s debauchery, he was certain that the sun would burn worse than being poked with a thousand heated pins.

The bartender’s eyebrows raised approvingly. “You know your Alerar whiskeys…” she mused.

“I know Alerar,” Kedx replied dismissively.

[NekoRulers]

((Part 1 written by nekorulers and stargazer))

“And what might you’re name be?”

Ayano looked up, slightly startled. Hanging over the edge of his bunk, was a creature unlike anything she had seen before. Though fairly human looking, the male had pointed ears and fang-canines. Artemis himself was getting a good look at the neko. She seemed relatively human looking except for cat like fangs, two golden furred ears, and a golden furred tail. There was also the gold eyes. The dim corner helped him to make out the hints of coloring that only darkness could reveal. A moment of silence stretched out before Ayano decided to speak.

“Ayano, and do I know you?”

Artemis swept some of his black hair out of his eyes so she could get a better look at their color. Her own eyes widened as she realized they were blood red. Now, that she had not seen before. Even the eye’s of the drow had a certain feel to them, more natural. That guy’s was, just, demonic. Not that it scared her much. The demon-halfbreed watched for a reaction from the cat-girl. He was impressed as he noted his eyes didn’t make her nervous in the slightest. Impressive.

“Wait-” the cat-girl stuttered, “I have seen you before. I think. Weren’t you on the caravan with me? I saw you a few times.”

“That would be me,” the half-demon replied, “My name is Artemis. You may call me that if you wish, or Fade.”

One of the shadows wrapped around Artemis’ shoulders began to crawl over to Ayano and settled around her. She shivered uncomfortably, but then smiled. She liked the sound of shadowspeak. Not that she could hear it, but she could sense a sound just beyond her ear’s range. The cat-girl watched as a smile came on to the half-demon’s thin lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the first night, Ayano and Artemis talked. At some point the cat-girl climbed up the ladder to sit in his bunk so he didn’t have to hang upside down for them to talk. There was something about the half-breed that seemed cold and unforgiving. No doubt he had killed, it was written all over him. It didn’t scare her though. Besides that, he carried around a hidden burden and even though he hid it extremely well her accurate feline eyes picked up the hints of frustration that sometimes appeared on his face. The way he talked in his echoic tone hinted that he had no need for friends and they would get in his way. He didn’t actually say it, but it was in his whole demeanor. However, as she climbed back down the ladder to sleep in her own bunk she couldn’t keep a smile from her face.

When the cat-girl awoke the next morning, she rubbed her eyes. What was it that had interrupted her sleep? Looking around her, she noticed how everyone was up and bustling. With a quick glance above her, she realized that even Artemis was up. She was late. Beako wasn’t around, either but she wasn’t worried. He knew how to look after himself. With a mad scramble, Ayano gathered her uniform and ran into the bathroom area. The place was packed with other girls getting ready for their day of work. She had to elbow her way through the tight mass to be able to make a bee line for the changing area. There would be no time for breakfast today. As she pushed through the crowd, Ayano heard a couple of voices.

“Did you see them? Oh well, I’ll … New staff … extra measures…. One is a normal looking man… around twenty or so… There is also another guy… Cute? Only if you like the tall and dark look, which I wouldn‘t mind at all… Cat girl… Yes, funny isn’t it… I wonder what the poor thing looks like… Well its not her fault she was born that way…”

The cat-girl “accidentally” tripped the gossiping brunette as she strode over to a free curtained off area. As soon as she was changed, she stuffed her night gown into her pack and threw it onto her bunk. And then, to work. She was assigned to the deck bar today.

As she stepped out onto the deck, she gasped at how beautiful it all was. With a beaming smile she dashed over to the edge of the boat to look over it. Spread out beneath her was Althanas. It looked so beautiful from high up like that. It didn’t seem like it could possibly contain the filthy crime infested streets she knew it had. Some loud chatter brought her from viewing the spectacular panorama. A few obnoxiously decked out ladies had alerted the person looking over staff of the deck, apparently. And with a few sharp words, he let her know she should be working. After making a few rude gestures as soon as he turned his back, the cat-girl began to head over to the bar.

Already working, was a man with brown hair and blue eyes who looked around twenty years old. He didn’t have the ease of serving people as the other staff did, so Ayano guessed he was the other extra measures man the girls were talking about. Sending a small smile in his direction, she set about taking an order.

“Whiskey, please.” ordered a bald man with a neck tie

The cat-girl turned to get the whiskey, when she realized there was a huge amount of alcohol in the area. Great, except she had no idea how to find the whiskey. She didn’t even know what whiskey looked like.

[streak101]

Banda was asleep after the long night he had yesterday. He felt great after his acting skills, the people loved him, they cheered, they swooned, Banda had fun, but he isn't doing that today. He had night shift today, and he wanted to get as much sleep as possible.

But it was simply impossible for him to go to sleep, after such an energetic exercise yesterday held, Banda took his 8 hour nap, and was up with the morning shifts, getting dressed, and walking to their stations. They looked at him with curiousity, on how a night-shift, would be awake this early in the morning, one man even asked him, "Well, I can't go to sleep in the mornings, or afternoon.

He walked up onto the deck outside in the sun, it was a breezy day- well it always is a breezy day on the airship. The sun was bright, and it was a good day, a good day Banda wished nothing went wrong on. He laid down on the deck floor, staring at the clouds whoosh by. The airship wouldn't let nobody, look at the clouds. Not everything can be perfect I guess Banda thought.

[Stargazer]

Artemis tried to hide the smile the cat-girl had left him with. In a very un-artemis like way, she had cheered him up. Sadly, it was usually only something like killing someone or chilling with shadows that made him this happy. The half-demon immediately shook the thoughts out of his head. There was no way at all he was going to become emotionally attatched to this cat thing in any way at all. Never. The half-breed shifted slightly so he could crawl under the covers of his way too small bunk. His feet hung off of the edge, but what could he do? He tried to shut his eyes so he could sleep, and in the back of his eyelids his mind brought forth the girl's expression after feeling the shadows and hearing shadow speech. Most people would be afraid, but she seemed to like it. The shadows whispered that maybe he needed company. He told them to shut up.

In the morning Artemis awoke to the sound of people around him stirring. He was just in time to not be late. Gracefully, he hopped down from his bunk and on to the floor. From there he slid through the crowd and into the changing area. The fact that many men just melted away in front of him made him smile. He like their fear of his eyes. Or maybe it was his fangs. Well whatever it was, was giving him a good start to the day. Ignoring the line of guys waiting to change, the half-breed strode into an empty room, cutting another man off. He drew the curtain around himself closed, and tuned out the voiced protests that sounded from the outside.

As the half-demon put on his every day clothes, he noticed a red jacket at the bottom of the pile. Right, he thought to himself, like I'm going to wear that. It was probably too small for him anyway. He doubted that the staff outfitters had planned on someone his size. So Artemis walked out of the changing room in his usual all black garb, minus the cloak. The sad thing was, was that the lady assigning the jobs still thought he was part of the staff and gave him one. He supposed it was the black pants, or maybe his lack of obvious wealth. It didn't matter.

Artemis grabbed a cart containing cleaning materials and other items for room service and began to wheel it down a hall. Cleaning it is, he thought to himself. He didn't remember cleaning a thiing ever since his awakening. When he reached a door that seemed fit though he was choosing at random, he parked his cart outside of it and turned the glass knob. Artemis didn't actually plan on doing any work at all, just planning to look busy. He ducked so that his head didn't bang against the door frame as he entered. His eyes widened in suprise. His suprise wasn't due to the fabulous interior if one likes that kind of thing, but to two forms that lay on the floor. Two girls to be exact.

The half-breed allowed the door to slide shut behind him, and silently walked over to where the pair lay together. Masks of fear was frozen onto their faces. Still, the had that look reading that they were pretty at one point. Artemis knew all to well that they were hardly pretty anymore. Souls with hard feelings such as one about a horrible death tended to get pretty ugly in the soul form. They would only begin to look better once they had accepted their fate and moved on, etc. Kneeling softly, he lay a finger of each hand to their jugulars to check for a pulse. He grinned at what he found. No pulse, but there were bite marks. These females had been drained clean. The half-demon stood up and began to leave the room, untouched as before. First of all he was not about to clean up the bodies, and second of all he was going to leave them their so that their killer would have something to play with later if that is what he wanted.

It was only later when Artemis was entering another room to pretend to be busy that he realized a startling truth. He could easily be blamed for the murders that had taken place. Though he had never seen the two girls before and could honestly clame such, he did have fangs. He also could not claim that he had never killed innocents just for the fun of it before. Artemis did not like the feeling that came with this verdict. He didn't like the feel he imagined of falling if any trigger happy vigilantes decided to make him walk the ship's plank.

[Emblem]

It turned out that he didn’t have time to be worried about his social status among the crew, they worked the bartenders like dogs. There was always ten people that wanted their drink two minutes ago, they never stopped. The people on board consumed in an hour more alcohol than Oran had ever seen in his life, he had no idea where the ship stored it all and he didn’t have any time to investigate.. Yes, fattso, here’s your god damn drink. I’ll see you in ten seconds when you come back. Tapping your hand so I’ll see won’t get you a drink any faster…God I hate people!

Time flew by, the bar never seemed to empty and Oran was getting pretty skillful at making drinks, maybe it’d be a skill to earn some travel money or maybe it’d be just another useless bit of knowledge, but all good things come to an end. For Oran, the time seemed forever but bad things also came to end even if it was never as fast, and what came after was something even worse.

Since he was relieved of his seemingly infinite hour shift, Oran had some time to kill and preferred to spend it staring over the edge, looking down onto the world beneath him, wondering at the clouds and what cities they passed over, where he was going, what he was doing with his life. It was so small he nearly missed it a first, a spec off in the distance coming at them from the sun, slowly growing larger and larger as the seconds passed. It wasn’t until the shadow passed over him that he bothered to look up from his reverie, noticing his lack of shock as it coasted up aside them. Refueling. Didn’t think they kept all that stuff here.

Inside the ship, a gruff captain by the name of Murdok the Terrible with his tight muscular build and fiercely scarred face was barking orders to his men in his rough scratchy voice. “We be boardin’ in a minute. Try not t’ kill, tis easier to get loot when they lively. Keep in head the job we doing. You mess it up, ye answer to Scabble.” Finishing his brief speech with a motion to a wicked looking man covered in scars who was displaying shiny and exotic “tools”, the captain knew he could trust his crew, even if they weren’t afraid he knew that greed would keep them in line. There was so much profit to be made.

Oran had no idea of this, how could he? He was exhausted after a long day of work and he didn’t have a mind to care about things that weren’t him. He didn’t even notice that men were jumping off the accompanying airship onto his own or that they were armed to the teeth and looked a good deal different from the civilized high society that could afford such cruises. It’s not like it affected him after all, they didn’t even seem to notice him. “Well, haven’t seen that before. Alerar is weird, the whole lot of them.” For all he knew, they could have been a big event that was planned, there seemed to be something going on every minute all day long, be it parties, fancy dinners, gambling, parades, circus-like shows, commandeered by pirates could have been a big faux adventure for the guests, he wouldn’t put it past the planners.

[Workout Wonder]

As the second ship began to dock alongside them, Kedx frowned. While the vampire was somewhat of a dilettante when it came to airships, he knew enough to know that there should be no reason to expect a second ship docking by the first. Immediately, his thoughts turned to his activities last night. While the airship had a good number of very wealthy people on it, Kedx knew of only one treasure on the ship. That meant that if the second ship was pirates like he feared, then they were likely after the very same thing that Kedx had stolen. The vampire cringed a bit, more visibly than he would have liked. However, everyone else in the downstairs bar’s attention was so rapt upon the airship that no one would have noticed anything that the vampire had done.

“By the blessings of Valshath d’Isto…” the guard on duty mumbled, his sword falling limply to the ground in shock. “Never before…”

Everyone else in the downstairs bar knew what the guard meant. An airship had never been robbed in the past, but now, as light from every last portal was blocked from sight by the appearance of the ship, it looked like history was going to be in the making. Kedx tried to smile. He was well aware that it could be a mixed blessing. Had the pirates come with no true intention other than fame and fortune, then Kedx’ job would have certainly become easier. With the pirate’s arrival, no one would ever think that one of the passengers would have ended up with the airship’s most precious cargo. If the safe were to be checked, no accusations would have been tossed about his way, but instead the thievery would be blamed on the pirates instead. No one would be any the wiser until the precious Alerian cargo ended up being sold in the streets of Anebrilith.

However, Kedx doubted that he would be that lucky. Getting an airship would have been a great expense, and even if the pirates were motivated by fame, he didn’t doubt that they were wont for motivation when it came to seeking treasure. It was likely no coincidence that they had targeted this ship, and not just for the fact that its passengers consisted mostly of civilians. There was wealth to be taken, and Kedx didn’t doubt for a moment that if they didn’t find it in the safe, they wouldn’t hesitate to look elsewhere.

That didn’t meant that the vampire was necessarily in a state of peril. With the guards beginning to snap back into their senses and defend the airship, there was always the slight possibility that the pirates would be easily overwhelmed. Kedx wasn’t particularly inclined to help him, figuring that hiding his treasure would be a much more likely form of defense, but had still cocked his pistol just in case it was deemed necessary. Biting his lip, the vampire watched as most of the other passengers filed back to their rooms, and all the guards began to rush up towards the deck to deter the pirate’s assault. Soon, it was only Kedx and the bartender left.

“You aren’t leaving?” Kedx asked calmly.

He received a nasty look from the bartender, who was hurriedly tossing glasses into the wash basin and cleaning off the counter. “Not until everything is clean…” she said. “If the pirates take over, they’re going to want something to drink…”

Kedx smiled, nodding appreciatively at the bartender’s guile. “While you’re at it, another Gareth Ceagrass please…”

All he received was a dirty look.

[streak101]

This sucks! How the hell did they come up with this brilliant idea? Were the words Banda had in his head while he was patrolling the ship’s deck. Supposedly, there was a robbery on the ship, and a very important item was stolen, an item so valuable that if it were gone, war would break out any minute, with Alerar, and Raiaera. That’s where Banda comes into this chapter of the story. Apparently, the captain of the guard decided that anyone on night-duty, and that knows how to wield a weapon, had to report to the guard immediately.

What I’d like to know is how in the hell, am I the only one capable of wielding a sword on night-shift? I knew I should’ve left my sword in the room... Banda thought. The captain gave him a whole run-down on the guard’s duties, and responsibilities. He then sent Banda to guard the baggage compartment. Banda fell asleep, and was chastised, “How in the world did a man of your incompetence learn to wield a sword!?” shouted the captain, or as his peers call him Boodfar. “I don’t know sir Goodfart! - I mean sir Boodfar!” Banda ran out of the office Boodfar shouting, “Go patrol! Or I’ll kick you off the ship! Literately!”

“Stupid, man. I bet one of these days he’s gonna be the corrupt villain I’ll have to kill, one of these days...” Banda said under his breath as he reported in at every corner of the ship. He smiled, this reminded him of his days in the militia, though the shouts came from the sergeant general, and not Goodfart.

As Banda marched up to the deck another airship went by. Another passenger ship? No...This one isn’t as decorated, and luxurious looking as this one. I have a bad feeling about this. Banda frowned, his bad feelings always meant trouble, and when trouble was around Banda, Banda got everyone else in deeper trouble.

As Banda thought, the airship came up side by side with the other, and a boarding plank was being set across. Banda quickly stepped back downstairs, and hid where his previous assignment had been. The Baggage Compartment.

[NekoRulers]

Ayano wiped some sweat from her brow as she tried to fill in another five orders. It was terrible. They just kept coming, asking for more and more bizarre mixes of alcohol. She could barely find the ingredients. The night’s work definitely had her gaining increasing respect for Althanas’ bartenders and the other bartenders working around her. They probably had more practice so it wasn’t fair to compare herself to them, but the neko could easily guess that it was just as likely she was never meant to be a bartender. The whole job stunk. The cat-girl knelt next to a cabinet of bottles and ran her finger across a row. Wein whiskey, she reminded herself. Then she found it. Ayano grasped the cold, green glass bottle and moved it over to a wooden counter. After a slight struggle, she removed the cork and poured half of the bottle’s contents into a glass. The man it was meant for snatched it away, his impatience showing all over his face.

“Have a good night, sir.” she called out sarcastically at his quickly fading back. He was just another fool who thought the world revolved around his orders. On this ship it did, but that wasn’t the point. If there was another available job, she would nearly jump overboard to take it. Her lifeline came quickly. “All night shifters who can wield weapons are now due to report to the guard!” the voice stopped slightly as if whoever was calling was listening to orders. “Anyone who can fight is also due to report to the guard!” The addition seemed like a desperate measure to Ayano. It all had to be about the robbery rumors flooding the ship.

The cat-girl focused on the surrounding sounds as she left her post as bartender. A little to the left, and… She had traced the voice to its speaker. The man looked her over slightly as if evaluating her potential. First appearances lied apparently, and the man wore an expression as if a squirrel came running when he’d called for his dog. Ayano could tell what he was thinking, but decided to sign up anyway. She could do more than he knew. “I can wield a weapon, so where’s the office?” she asked quickly. The man sighed and pointed her in the direction of a small room somewhere between above and below deck.

The neko ran across the deck, pushing her way through a throng of passengers. She flew down the stairs and into the sleeping area. Finding her bed, she grabbed her bo staff. It hadn’t been disturbed from where she had left it but just incase she decided to test it. Pressing on the right carving, both blades sprang from either end with the speed she had expected. Satisfied, Ayano knew her weapon had not been tampered with and was ready to fight. More slowly, she ran back up the stairs and headed to the guards office.

Inside, the captain gave her orders and an area to patrol. It seemed as though either he also didn’t think she had much potential, or her partner was deemed irresponsible/unreliable. Either way, she was assigned to patrol an area with someone else. The cat-girl strolled out of the office, holding her bo tight to her. When she reached the stairway leading to the baggage compartment, she prepared herself to patrol. Ayano was met with a pleasant surprise. Artemis was leaning against the wall, in the shadows.

“Hello Artemis,” she said with a smile, and walked over to him.

Her partner’s black clothing melded with the shadows so well that she had barely uncovered his presence. His red eyes were still visibly glittering to her night accustomed cat eyes. Ayano highly doubted that someone with less vision than her would see him until it was too late.

[Stargazer]

Artemis enclosed himself in one of the dark rooms. With a foot, he kicked away a few randomly placed dresses to clear himself a place to sit. When seated, he allowed some of his black hair to fall in front of his closed eyes. As he reopened them they had taken on their seeing-but-not-seeing look to their normal red gleam. The half-demon stepped into his presence, grateful for the chance to do so. Shadows came from all over the room to entwine themselves upon his body, and he felt the presence of three spirits on the ship. That made sense. The structure was relatively new and therefore would not be housing many dead. He could feel their restless swirling around him. Reaching into his pack, he drew out a roll of pretty red fabric.

With a pale hand that had taken on its presence feel, he unrolled it to reveal what lay inside. The carvings were small, but intricately done. He was in the mood for a chat with a dead pal or so. Carefully, Artemis’ presence stepped out of his body and ran toward the spirits. The half-breed’s presence grabbed the souls and began to pull them towards his body and to the carvings. After a moment they sensed what he was after, and floated over to the carvings without any hesitation. Wiping a few beads of sweat from his brow, the half-demon stepped back into his body.

Lying on the floor in front of him writhed three carvings with glowing white eyes. One was the mahogany image of a princess sitting on a pedestal, the second was the oak carving of wood nymph, and the last was the birch portraying a humble tradesman. Artemis snorted as he realized he was probably dealing with the dead girls from earlier, and they had chosen some of his most prestigious carvings. The half-breed trusted that the soul inhabiting the worksman carving was being more or less humble. The princess stood from her pedestal and joined hands with the nymph before addressing him.

“We have been murdered, Fade… murdered… He has it. The killer.” their voices were wispy to match their wooden figures.

“Yeah I saw your bodies, they weren’t pretty. So what does he have that’s so important?” Artemis noted how the dead used his demonic name.

“It. What they are looking for.”

“I don’t have time for this.” growled the half-human, instantly predicting the cryptic junk that would soon follow. Instantly he let go of his hold on them and the carvings became lifeless.

“Fade?” asked the male, “There are men coming. They took my life secretly and no one will find my body.”

Then slowly that carving went lifeless too without Artemis sending it away. It was one of those dead habits that irritated him. Something else that irritated him was the fact that he realized his princess carving had gone lifeless before sitting back down on the pedestal. The half-demon stepped out of his presence and began to clean up his carvings. Like one would treat newborn children, he carefully placed each carving back in its little space in the red fabric. After rolling it up and placing it back in his back he began to hear footsteps headed to the room. Artemis barely had enough time to pretend to be straightening sheets before the door banged open.

The man promptly alerted him that all fighters must report to the captain or something. A chance to shed blood sent the half-breed running to the spoken office. As he entered the half above deck and half below deck room, he counted each knuckle spike to make sure they were all there. He wasn’t worried they were missing, it was just habitual. As the demonic half-human stepped in he was given an approving look by the captain. The captain even gave him a second of fear as Artemis first stooped to enter and get his assignment. The half-demon ran to his station so he could get a head start on any criminals who were stupid enough to try and get by. This could be fun.

Artemis folded himself into a corner full of shadows to make himself more invisible. It was then that he heard a familiar voice. The greeting caused him to snap his head up to see the small neko girl coming towards him. Clothed in her normal clothes instead of a uniform she looked more at ease. Carrying a huge staff definitely made her seem more formidable, though not to the half-demon. However he was impressed by how quickly her gold eyes found him out in the dark.

((Part II written by stargazer and nekorulers))

Artemis nodded in the cat-girl’s direction to acknowledge her presence. She happily stood a little off to the side and more in the light, gazing out at the rest of the ship. Ayano’s tail swung back and forth in time with her ears’ twitching. The half-demon thought that if he was full human he might have found it cute. Artemis shut one eye; it didn’t seem like they’d be getting any action soon. The neko listened out into the distance, ignoring her partner’s lack of attentiveness. It was then that her ears picked up toned down harsh voices along with footsteps. Quickly but silently she padded over to Artemis and stood close to him to whisper, “Artemis, I hear something.” So, he wasn’t just hearing things. The half-demon had also picked up a slight disturbance with his sensitive pointed ears. “Shh, I hear it too.”

Then with a bit of random precognition, Artemis pulled her up against him and twirled to the right just enough to get them both out of the sweep of a curved blade‘s path. Instantly the half-breed had his left fist in the miscreant’s gut, twisting the knuckles deep into the stranger’s entrails. He yanked his hand back out when he felt the body go limp. It was only then that he noticed how close Ayano was to him. He also noted that there was guts dribbling down his arm. The half-breed let go of the cat-girl awkwardly. Ayano had been surprised as she had been spun out of harm’s way and protected by the half-demon but was back in action. She sprung away from as soon as he released her, just in time to swing one blade of her bo into the jaw of another oncoming person.

“Hey, isn’t there someone on duty down in the baggage compartment?” asked the cat-girl, “Should we get him?”

“Maybe,” intoned Artemis

Ayano brushed passed him and headed down the dark stairs calling out what she think the captain had said the man’s name was. “”Banna? Bada? Banda? Whoever you are, I think you should come up now.”

[Emblem]

As it turned out, the ship had alarm bells placed throughout the ship in the hallways that could be set off in case of emergency. Installed in case of fires, malfunctions, unpredicted weather phenomena, the system served to alert passengers to return to their designated safety zone where a member of the crew would inform them of what to do next. It hadn’t been installed for pirate attacks, but it would serve just as well.

Being a new flagship novelty, a first venture into unknown markets had a lot of pressure to succeed. Management seemed to have a habit of placing fiscal needs over logic and reality and destroying those around them, it was for that reason they were made into management. The Dynasty hadn’t used the alarm in the hopes that its meager protections could ward off the pirates and use the event to boast about safety in the sky over the sea, and raise the price even more. But things never went according to management’s plans, with nearly half of the crew cut down, a pirate takeover was imminent and they now needed to be concerned about preventing casualties.

“Will all guests please report into their designated check points? Further information will be made available soon. Will all guests please report into their designated…” The message seemed to echo through all the cavities of the ship, carefully placed tubes had carried the message to relay stations where crew repeated it through their respective decks in multiple languages. The atmosphere was frenzied, waves of fear pulsed thought the ship. Rich people were helpless, they lived their lives pampered and lacked common sense or any basic survival skills, and something as brutal and savage as pirates was beyond their comprehension and control, and they feared that which they had no power over.

Oran on the other hand, he wasn’t nearly so worried. Even when he realized they were pirates, pirates were just thieves in the water or in the air as the case was, and since he didn’t have anything worth stealing, he wasn’t at risk. Once the pirates came most of the way onto the ship, Oran could tell they were going to round people up to take their valuables, and to save them to trouble he decided to cross over onto their ship and stay awhile in someplace they wouldn’t look.

Finding the way to the captain’s cabin, Oran decided to help himself to some of Murdok’s spare clothes. Even going so far as to take a huge feather plumed captain hat, Oran looked great in his brightly colored pirate regalia. He’d go ahead and wait for a while and avoid any special attention, when the pirates started coming back then he could just hop across and be home-free. Plans always worked and never had complications in theory, Oran often had trouble distinguishing differences the difference.

[streak101]

”Banna? Bada? Banda? Whoever you are, I think you should come up now.” A voice called out to him. "Aw...man, and I was hoping to stay out of the way this time around. I guess I better stop complaining before GoodFart comes and starts flapping his jaws at me." Grudgingly, Banda pulled himself up, and walked up the stairs. He was greeted by some of the staff members he recognized.

"So you guys were sent to guard duty huh? Well better get started on doing what we need to do. So were clear on this, the name's Banda Utako, traveling mercenary for hire." Banda looked over the two people standing in front of him, and saw two bodies lying on the floor. "Well, you sure did start early eh? Okay, now it's time for me to help you!"

As the sword lingering over his companions heads slashed it's way down, Banda pushed the two aside, and parried the attack. Banda's enemy showed a sign of amazement, as Banda used his boomerang to bash the side of the man's head. Well whaddya know? This thing makes a good melee weapon too! Banda laughed to himself, as the man laid unconscious on the floor. To make sure he wouldn't get up Banda slit his throat.

"I hate doing that, but if you don't kill em' now they'll get you later." Banda said blankly. He didn't understand how his nerves told him to use his boomerang as a melee weapon. He shrugged the feeling off and turned to look at the two people he just saved. "I'm going to go free those passengers, that or stop the pirate crew from leaving this ship, all this combat has pepped me up. You comin' our what?"

[Workout Wonder]

A message echoed out through the lower deck, carried both by soldiers as they rushed up to prepare for battle, and panicked civilians as they headed towards their cabins to wait in fear. Everything seemed to be moving at double speed, save for the stare down between the bartender who was unwilling to close up shop before her customers left, and the customer that was unwilling to leave. It was a perfect standoff between dark elven stubbornness and vampiric cunning.

“Did you hear that announcement?” the bartender asked smugly. “Even an auflaque* like you has to head over to your checkpoint. Run along now, and leave me with your drink. You wouldn’t want to anger the Grand Army now would you?” She added a patronizing emphasis to the last line.

However, Kedx remained unfazed by the recent announcement. Like most of the people who were reasonably intelligent, the vampire had known there was an imminent pirate attack more than a few minutes ago. The mere sign of the second ship should have tipped everyone off. With the package he needed taken care of, the vampire wasn’t going to move until he’d found a more satisfactory hiding place.

“I asked you to pour me another glass,” he replied coldly, as if to signify that the announcement meant nothing to him. “Can you do that, or will you just continue to talk?” As if to signify a credible commitment, the vampire put down enough coins to cover another drink.

The bartender scowled, but pulled out the bottle of wine. “Fine,” she mumbled to herself. “If this tonaik l’thi^ wants to sit here and die, I’ll let him.” She wasn’t going to give up her position though. She had a shotgun under the bar, and there was a convenient hatch located on her side of the bar if she needed to make a quick escape. If her stubborn customer still refused to leave by the time that the pirates arrived, the bartender was content to let him face his justice by way of a group of pirates.

However, before she could offer any of this sentiment to her erstwhile customer, the bartender had found the bottle snatched from her. A few seconds later, she felt it against her temple and collapsed onto the floor. Kedx chuckled heartlessly. “So much for my drink” he muttered cynically, glad that there was no one else around. With a smile, he then ducked behind the bar himself and prepared to hide his most precious goods.

There was no way the pirates could leave with his bounty if they couldn’t find it. Also, by keeping it off his person, Kedx knew that he would be able to move around freely once the pirates had searched his quarters. A guest like him, one who felt just as much loyalty to Alerar as he did to the pirates, would undoubtedly come in handy.

(*dog/ ^filthy animal)

[Emblem]

Having waited for quite a while, Oran was decisively bored. Stepping out of the captain’s cabin, the pirate ship lay before him almost completely empty. Shouting at the remaining couple pirates in his best pirate voice to jump ship and start looting, Oran thought he could easily have actually been a captain, so good was his acting.

Going back across to the cruise, Oran quickly began barking orders to the pirates on deck and then proceeded to go down and assist with the relieving of wealth. Hitting the upper most floors first, he discovered a group of nearly twenty elderly people and created a spiel about valuables and then ordered them to go onto the deck and wait to walk the plank. Loaded down with rings and necklaces and petty change, Oran smirked at his cleverness as walking the plank was an especially fine touch in his opinion.

Slowly he worked himself through room after room taking what he could and sending people up on deck, slowly but surely getting all the guests into a single area. Noticing how the pirates recognized the captain’s hat he also gave orders to every pirate he saw sending them to do the same thing and starting from the bottom. He’d work down from the top and they’d work up. Then he’d instruct them to go through a search of the ship for any remainders while he and the guests jumped to the smaller more manageable pirate ship and flee.

Since he was taking things, for show of course, he thought it would be very pirate like to steal a few booze from one of the bars, telling himself it was just for show, and his feet quickly found themselves walking into one of the below deck bars. The sight before him was somewhat shocking, a fur covered man that was well dressed and seemed to be a guest was behind the bar messing with something. Obviously the man hadn’t seen Oran approach but his secrecy wouldn’t last long.

As a jest, Oran’s hand shot into his large brightly colored and patterned leather coat as his heavily booted foot slammed into the ground to make some noise, “Stay right where you are. Seems I’ve found meself ‘nother guest. Hand over your monies and be quick about it.” Given how far he was from any of his “crew” there wasn’t really a need to hold up the captain charade and he couldn’t restrain the childish smirk that lit up his face. Dropping the accent, “You really ought to be going onto the deck, we’re making an escape. Just got to make sure I don’t run into the real captain, and we’ll be good, I think. Since you’re over there toss me something a pirate would drink. Oh, and act like I robbed you.”

[streak101]

Banda had waited long enough for a response from the two people standing in front of him. After a few minutes of checking his equipment, and cleaning off the blood from his boomerang, Banda walked off towards the deck. Adrenaline rushing through his nerves, and body. He quickened his pace at the site of pirates. Others would have ran away from the pirates or have tried a more quieter approach towards them. Unfortunately, Banda was never the kind of person to run from battles unless he had a very good reason.

He rushed towards the pirate screaming at the top of his lungs, pulling his sword from the sheath, and grabbing his boomerang. Time to think fast. Now let's see...four big bulky men, with no brains at all. Two armed, two looting. I can handle this. "Hey!" Banda shouted, as if the pirates hadn't already spotted him, "Air for brains! Does your mother look just like you? Or does she look uglier?" Now that's an insult! I'll have to write that down so I won't forget. The man armed with a crude rusty axe, attempted to make an insult of his own, "Well at least I...er...Argh!"

He charged towards Banda slamming the axe in anything around him every several or so steps. "Wow! Is your mother even dumber than you too?" Banda showed a sly grin, this angered the pirate even more. Banda had angered him so greatly, that he was blinded with fury. "I'll kill you! See if it's funny then!" Laughing Banda took the gigantic man on, charging with his sword waving in the air. "Oy! Jackson! Come 'ere, and 'elp me with this arse!"

Banda stopped and tilted his head questioningly, "You can't take me on by yourself then? I was gonna let you off easy, but I guess if that's how it's gotta be..." Although those were Banda's words, his mind had said, Come over here then you gullible saps, and taste this! Banda pulled his bandana out and tied it around his head, oddly looking like one of the crew.

As the other man ran to catch up with the other Banda threw his boomerang towards them, "Let's see you dodge that!" Surprisingly enough, the two pirates ducked, and laughed, "We aints stupid you twit!" Banda faked an angry look and charged. "Your the one with air fer brains fool! You can't take us both on!" As they looked at each other Banda laughed. "No your the idiots! Because boomerangs come back!" and sure enough behind came the boomerang spinning faster than before due to the time it was still in the air.

The two stared at Banda strangely as if he was crazy. One even bothered to even ask a question, "I don't get what your - ugh!" There was a gasp from the one that asked the question as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and his body fell forward to the ground, the boomerang still lodged in his head. The man left was staring horrified at his partner, now cold and limp. Banda yelled and thrust his blade in his stomach, blood pouring down his sword. He pulled the man closer and said, "I don't like pirates at all, not because they steal and kill. Because they remind me of my father." He drew his sword out, and watched as the man fell to the ground.

The other two unarmed pirates showed cowardice as Banda approached them. "You guys want to live? Then jump ship! Don't play dumb with me! You have parachutes somewhere, now go!" A wave of Banda's sword, and a step closer to them was all that was needed to make them run to the edge of the ship and jump down.

Banda didn't find any confrontation after that battle, apparently the bandana was all that was needed to pass the pirates looting and robbing the whole ship. He felt like he needed a drink, and a seat to form an idea on how to get everyone out of this mess. As he sat down he saw a man talking to the patron sitting next to him. “Stay right where you are. Seems I’ve found meself ‘nother guest. Hand over your monies and be quick about it.” Given how far he was from any of his “crew” there wasn’t really a need to hold up the captain charade and he couldn’t restrain the childish smirk that lit up his face. Dropping the accent, “You really ought to be going onto the deck, we’re making an escape. Just got to make sure I don’t run into the real captain, and we’ll be good, I think. Since you’re over there toss me something a pirate would drink. Oh, and act like I robbed you.”

Banda then recognized the hair changing color, and the sound of the man's voice. He pulled the familiar face over and whispered, "Hey Oran! It's me Banda! The pirates don't notice I'm not one of their crew due to the bandana. I overheard your conversation with the patron over there so what are you thinking of doing to get us out of here? I'm listening."

[Workout Wonder]

Soon, Kedx found he couldn’t stay where he was. There were too many guards around telling him to go back to his cell. The vampire was growing increasingly reluctant about leaving his necklace somewhere else. At the very least, Kedx wanted to be able to defend his stolen property by force should his plan be discovered. “Head for the deck,” he figured. “Someone up there is going to try and escape, it might just be faster that way.”

The more Kedx thought about that theory, the more and more he liked it. Now a soldier in the Alerar army came towards him and barked angrily that Kedx better head back to his room or that the ship would cease to be responsible for his welfare.

“Look,” the vampire replied warily. “I’m an experienced warrior… I know by my suit you would never expect that, but let me tell you, I’ve been in battles that you wouldn’t imagine.”

“Yeah sure…” the soldier replied rudely. “You and every other noble on here acts like they know something, but let me tell you that you should head back to your room. I’m sick and tired of you dealing with this shit. Get back into your room or I will kill you, okay.”

Kedx knew the threat was meant to scare him, but he didn’t flinch. “Well,” he replied. “Let me fight or I’ll fight through you to join this cause…”

The soldier sighed, and at just about that moment, Kedx reached out his hand and pulled out the drow’s windpipe. The vampire chucked as the soldier gasped for air, and then smirked as the drow crumbled down to the ground. “Sorry you had to die, but I needed your uniform,” Kedx replied with feigned remorse. He was amazed by how convenient it was to kill people on this airship.

Glad that they were the only two people there, Kedx quickly pulled the soldier behind the counter and slipped into the uniform. It came complete with a helmet and visor, providing Kedx with a disguise that was almost perfect, save for the blood that had been spattered up near the neck. The vampire slipped into it and was careful to splatter just enough blood on the helmet that it obscured his face without blocking his vision.

With that, the vampire headed up towards the deck, and almost immediately overheard a boy talking about escape. “Says his name is Banda!” Kedx thought to himself. The vampire decided to follow, but at a close distance. He could have called out to the stranger, but then he might have had to offer an excuse about how there was blood on his uniform or why he hadn’t gathered with the other soldiers who were securing the ship. At a time like this, Kedx knew there was no time to waste.

[Stargazer]

Artemis raised one eyebrow as Banda shoved past him and the cat-girl to beat some pirate behind them around the head with a boomerang, slitting his victim’s throat afterwards. The half-breed was going to leave that particular pirate enough time to see the bodies of his companions lying in a pool of their own blood. This Banda, however was probably not thinking about mental torture at the moment he decided to slaughter the offender. This in particular was not an abnormal way for a human to react towards miscreants, but what confused the half-demon slightly was the way Banda seemed surprised by his own use of the boomerang.

"So you guys were sent to guard duty huh? Well better get started on doing what we need to do. So were clear on this, the name's Banda Utako, traveling mercenary for hire
"I hate doing that, but if you don't kill em' now they'll get you later. I'm going to go free those passengers, that or stop the pirate crew from leaving this ship, all this combat has pepped me up. You comin' our what?"

The half-breed had exactly no intention of coming to anyone’s rescue, just to live out the ship fight and find a way back to land. It wasn’t his problem if people died in the frenzy of looting or at an attempt to fight back. He was going to leave them alone to die or survive as they pleased; in his opinion if the pirates like these could steal from them, they deserved it. People died every day, so who was he to get in the way of death’s course. He couldn’t lie by saying that he would be unhappy meeting most of these people with his presence.

Artemis was just about to convey these facts when Banda left. The half-demon ran his hands through his hair and turned to Ayano. “So, what now?” He toed a corpse while waiting for her answer. Shadows covered most of the damage, but he could still tell it wasn’t pretty. “The pirates aren’t going to welcome us with open arms after they see this.”

[NekoRulers]

Ayano looked at Artemis for a moment, and twitched her ears in thought. Her first impulse was to run and try and rescue passengers from the pirates, but then she realized it wasn’t practical. There was too many of them to take down, and if the whole crew got focused on eliminating the problem… The instant win was to kill the captain and the first mate, but in order to do that they’d have to get close. The only people getting close to those two would be other pirates.

“Artemis?” the cat-girl asked thoughtfully, “You wouldn’t happen to want to kill a bunch of pirates, would you?”

((Part II written by nekorulers and stargazer))

The half-breed bared his fangs in a smile. Killing pirates could have a very high entertainment value. A little fighting and death was about all he needed to make the whole trip fun. The neko could feel that his eagerness to dispose of the villains wasn’t caused by the same reason as her’s. He had an almost joyful reaction to the suggestion of causing harm.

“Why, kitty girl? What did you have in mind?” Artemis adjusted his spiked fingerless gloves happily

“Don’t call me that,” snapped Ayano, then remembered that she needed her companion’s help for this particular venture and softened her tone, “I was thinking that we could steal some pirate trinkets, just enough so we look enough like one, and then find the captain to kill him.”

“No,” snapped Artemis almost immediately, “Absolutely not. No way in Althanas am I going to go running around looking like…” he kicked the corpse by his foot, “I may be in favor of killing animals like these, but wearing its clothes is another matter completely.”

“Oh come on. Please?” pleaded the cat-girl, looking up at him, “We don’t have to wear all their clothes, just a bandana and an eye patch or something.”

Artemis sighed and let his eyelids slip over his red eyes. There wasn’t even a good reason to justify what he was about to do. Except for the fun of fighting, that is. Opening his eyes, he stooped down to remove a blood soaked hat from the corpse underneath his foot. The hat was made of rough black cured felt, and most of the blood had pooled in the folds opposed to soaked into the fabric per say. The half-demon turned the hat upside down, and shook the blood out. Then he held it out to Ayano and said, “Want a hat?”

Ayano jumped back slightly, and shook her head. “That’s disgusting.” The cat-girl turned her gaze downwards and found a nearby pirate who’s bandana had not been wrecked by blood, ignoring Artemis’ mutter of, “There’s nothing wrong with a little blood.”. She leaned her bo against the wall beside her momentarily, so she could tie the blue cloth around the top of her head. The neko struggled with it for a bit until Artemis popped his pirate hat on his head and helped her find a way to put her bandana on without folding her ears down. She thanked him and stooped once more to don the fallen pirate’s matching long blue jacket with silver lining.

In the meantime the demonic half-breed had added an eye patch to his apparel, as well as a thick black leather strap going from shoulder to hip that contained daggers and a cutlass. He found Ayano’s outfit additions rather oddly natural looking on her, in a slightly comical way. Not that Artemis didn’t know he also looked convincingly pirate like. Ayano, of course, giggled a little when she turned around to see her companion. The costume didn’t really match with his hairless cheeks and smooth pale complexion.

“Argh,” muttered the half-demon sarcastically, “Now lets go kick some pirate booty.”

“Funny,” said Ayano sarcastically, picking up her bo again.

Together, they made their way across the deck. They didn’t come across anything of particular interest until they hit the bar. The place looked like a couple bottles had been smashed, and an arm was all that was visible of some victim lying behind the counter. Ayano ran behind the counter and knelt next to the female drow. Using a finger she pushed hair away from the woman’s face, revealing a trickle of blood that lead to a head wound. Artemis entered his presence and felt around.

“She isn’t dead,” he muttered before trying to calm the happy shadows that were cloaking him.

The cat-girl was about to stand when something caught her eye. Some bottles were out of place. She had spent enough time working at the place to know that elvin wine did not go right next to common brandy like displayed in front of her. That meant someone had messed with it.

“Artemis, something weird happened here. The bottles are all messed up.” she said, standing up and trying to ignore his flickering shadow friends.

“Pirates had some fun, there are going to be misplaced items.” said Artemis and lead the cat-girl away.

Soon, they sneaked up on some figure in a captain’s garb. Artemis crouched low to the ground, and drew a dagger from his pirate’s leather sash/sheath. He began to run until a small hand on his shoulder held him back.

“That’s the head pirate!” snapped the half-breed, “Let’s kill him quickly already!”

“It looks like someone had the same idea as us,” said Ayano, smiling, “That’s a bartender that worked with me today.”

The half-demon sighed and straightened up.

“Oran!” whispered the neko as soon as they got close. “It’s me, Ayano. Artemis is right behind me.”

Artemis nodded in greeting, hushing his overjoyed shadows.

[Emblem]

Before him was the two strangers he’d tried to avoid like the plague most of the trip in an attempt to fit in with the crew, but he was certainly glad to see them now. One of them was covered with fur and had large animal like ears, the other one was even stranger. While Oran usually took pride in being as tall as he was, this man put him to shame towering two heads taller, easily.

“Ayano, good to see you. Artemis, we haven’t had the pleasure. I’ve gotten almost all of the civilians onto the deck, I’m pretty sure all the pirates are searching cabins as we speak. All we gotta do it head up top, move everyone across, and BAM, we make an escape with the pirate ship. Pretty clever eh? It was all my idea, sometimes I amaze even myself.”

Somehow the telling of his plan made him more confident each time and he was rather beginning to like it, as well as expecting praise for being the only one to come up with a plan and bring it into action. Surely the rich guests would be thankful for his genius in saving their lives and reward him, at least the idea comforted him.

Giving the two one look over, particularly focusing on their costumes, Oran turned to lead them up onto the deck. “Yep, mine’s way better. My hat’s even got a feather.” This he muttered to himself, not quite ready to offend anyone so tall. Everything was falling into place, with these two supporting him there was no way the plan could fail, not even if he ran into the real captain.

[Stargazer]

((I’m pretty sure Ayano only has fur on her tail and ears.))

Artemis watched with feigned interest as the cocky little human relayed his plan to him and his companion. It was hard for him to see why the even littler neko had bothered interrupting his kill. Oran didn’t seem like much of an important asset at the moment. The human was wearing a hat with feathers! While nodding absently, the half-breed snapped off his eye patch and let it fall to the ground. He knew he looked more dangerous without it anyway.

The plan itself seemed like more of a hero’s escapade than anything else at that moment. It was just the kind of thing Artemis didn’t really want to get involved in. All they were going to do was herd a bunch of rich passengers onto a less well equipped ship and bring them safely back to land. There didn’t seem to be much action in it.

“Yep, mine’s way better. My hat’s even got a feather.”

The half-demon’s sensitive pointed ears just barely picked up the mutter as he headed up toward the deck. He almost opened his mouth to tell Oran exactly how many feathers he had, but decided to keep quiet. Artemis highly doubted he’d need to spread his wings anytime soon.

As they neared the deck, Artemis let some shadows climb up onto his shoulders and wrap around his neck and arms. If he was going to have to herd some lousy rich people he might as well practice his shadow speech while doing it.

“Can we kill the pirates after saving the passengers?” He couldn’t help but ask.