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Post by Dota on Jun 13, 2008 19:17:40 GMT -5
The wood of the large ship creaked as it rocked along the Tyrrhen Sea waves. The trip was a relatively short one from the main Chushin continent to the island port city of Athemuesa – a day was spent on the waters, and then the following early afternoon would see the vessel at the Athemuesa harbor. There would be a day and night break to roam the city before the ship had loaded up, ready to return to the mainland. Presently, the sun was setting below the horizon. It was time for dinner, which had been included in the price of boarding the ship. Nothing special (or worthy of the cost) was on the menu, just a bowl of some watery concoction that might have been related to a stew of sorts and a mug of water, though the older men who most likely had connections enjoyed some ale. There was a collection of benches and long tables laid out under the main deck. Most seats were filled, save one bench with four empty seats scattered about the rest of the passengers.
While most of the ship's passengers were of some level of sailor, there were four individuals who lacked experience in this field and consequently stuck out. So when they took their seats at the dinner table, the older sea-goers were more than happy to offer Athemuesa- and sea-related information. All around, the room was full of conversation.
“I should make it back in time to see my wife give birth. My first...”
“Demand fer iron jus' ain't what it used to be. I wonder if'in they're findin' it elsewhere for cheaper? That...”
“Ahtsidahs 'ave ben com'n in, but they ne'er seem tah buy an'thin' before takin' af. Dun know what ship they be takin' back eithah. They jus' up n gahn by daybreak.”
Some of the conversations suffered so much at the hands of thick, sloppy dialect, that they could barely be deciphered. What few other bits could picked up, were the suggestions to visit certain vendor stalls (this was most likely to keep themselves in business by keeping up the inventory demand). The town was known for its abundance of specialty shops and stalls – weapons, armor, potions and jewelry named but a few of the shops available. It was a prosperous city with fertile (both organic and inorganic) lands surrounding it. Mostly, Athemuesa exported their goods to the mainland, but those from the mainland rarely ventured over. Instead, cargo merely returned with the native ships.
Eventually, taking a break from their recollections of voyages past, some of the sailors asked the foreigners their names and business. It wasn't often that people came to the source of the Athemuesa wealth; it was clear they had captured the interest of nearly the entire table.
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Post by Sakabatou on Jun 15, 2008 8:58:43 GMT -5
"Ahhhh.... that was a nice tan!"
These words accompanied the bang of the cabin door as it was thrust open rather harder than necessary. The speaker had deigned to leave the deck of the ship, both because the setting sun ended her tanning time, and because the smell of food was always a convincing enticement (though her slim frame belied this).
As she entered, nearly all of the attention of the rough, hardy sailors was turned to her. This could have been the fact that she was clad in nothing but a bikini that would compel her mother to start a long lecture, or the fact that she casually carried a ridiculously oversized battleaxe nearly equal her height with a double-bladed head twice her width (Because she carried this, the rest of her belongings were bagged and left carelessly by her hammock. She figured the threat of the axe was enough to deter curious potential thieves--and she was right).
Plunking herself down on the unoccupied bench, Mio put her hands behind her head, under the spiky-sort of ponytail that kept her hair from interfering with her tan. Closing her eyes, she stretched backward, arching her back, and sighing in contentment. This had quite an effect on those sailors surrounding her--as Mio knew it would. She sat back up, a grin on her face.
"So, who wants to share some ale?"
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Dota
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Post by Dota on Jun 16, 2008 19:26:35 GMT -5
About two seats down and across the bench was another of the rare non-sailor passengers. Unaliari had been one of the first to duck down into the interior of the ship, as the vast ocean was still a little unsettling for the Ecliptian. She sat amongst the sailors, wearing her white and gold alchemist's coat as always. Slung over her shoulder and sharing a close seat with her on the bench was her bag of belongings, though that wasn't really much these days – she hoped to change that in Athemuesa. Unaliari was in the middle of an informative conversation about the local plant-life when the cabin door was roughly thrown open. The figure that entered definitely caught the eye of the alchemist, as she was wearing the equivalent of undergarments. Without being as shamefully obvious as the men (though she was certainly looking at the same features), Unaliari glanced over to the stretching girl. Of course, the girl's behavior was obvious, and Unaliari just smiled and shook her head a bit as the male population was further stirred up.
"So, who wants to share some ale?"
If she'd had a mug of ale, Unaliari would have gladly given it up. Since she didn't, however, she instead tried to return to her conversation with the older sailor, but it didn't seem that he was in the mood to discuss plants anymore with the new dinner show.
“Ah well.”
She sighed and looked down at her luke-warm dinner.
“...Geh.”
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Post by Honorea on Jun 19, 2008 20:33:52 GMT -5
Looking out across the water, she thought of her family, and how terribly she missed them. Many of the sailors spoke of families they were soon to see. Hearing thunder in the distance, she backed towards the door that led to the innards of the ship. As she walked, she realized that it was actually her stomach rumbling, so she headed towards where dinner was waiting. “If you could call what they are serving here dinner”, she thought to herself. She had spent quite a lot to come on this trip, but this was one of few places that carried the exotic wood, guapinolillo, and she really needed some to fashion new arrows.
She walked across the room full of sailors, trying to mind her own business. Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a bikini-clad woman carrying a rather large battle-axe. Honorea watched the men all shift in their seats as they watched her stroll across the room and settle herself on a bench. Honorea shook her head, mostly out of sheer awe at the men’s behavior at this woman. She assembled a bowl of the runny concoction of a stew, and settled down across from the bikini-girl, and next to another girl.
“Mind if I join you ladies?”
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Post by Trunks on Jun 19, 2008 21:46:46 GMT -5
The young man rolled up the map after one of the natives of Athemuesa was done pointing to a location. The large sailor stood up. “I ain’t wantin’ no trouble on muh island ya ‘ear.”
Rio stood up and put his hand on the brutes shoulder.
“Don’t worry my friend. There won’t be any trouble.”
It didn’t matter though. His friend was already concentrating on something, or someone, else. Rio was shocked when he saw the girl that everyone else was staring at.
"So, who wants to share some ale?"
Of course she was beautiful. He was more impressed that she carried that axe like it was a plaything. She’d be a good ally on this mission. He flipped open the book that was tied to his side and within seconds a mug of ale appeared. He dropped the book and started heading over the girl before any of the other idiots could wind in their tongues.
“Sure let’s drink.”
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Post by Sakabatou on Jun 19, 2008 22:12:48 GMT -5
One of Mio's other two female companions (whom she had seen but not spoken to earlier) was already sitting in the cabin. The other followed soon after. Mio nodded amicably, but as they weren't offering (or enjoying) any ale, so she didn't really pay them much more mind at the moment.
“Sure let’s drink.”
The sailors around Mio took a second to register what had just happened, then the shock bloomed on their faces. Whether it was because some foreign-looking guy half their size had beaten them to it, or just the fact that he had ale at all, Mio couldn't tell. Not that it mattered--the fact that he stuck out so much made him more interesting anyways. Mio scooted over on the bench, patting the vacated area next to her.
"Well then, come have a seat. The name's Mio."
She took the flagon he brought and gulped half of it down instantly in three huge swigs.
"You don't look like you belong here, if you don't mind my saying."
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Dota
Admin
- [ 氷 女 神 ] -
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Post by Dota on Jun 19, 2008 22:18:38 GMT -5
“Mind if I join you ladies?”
“Not a probl—hey!”
Unaliari offered a friendly smile...until she realized the girl's name had slipped her mind.
“Er...heh.”
She slid over a bit and motioned to show her offer to Honorea of a comfortable amount of room, which was a feat in acquiring due to the amount of people crowding the dinner hall.
“Sure let’s drink.”
Another familiar face had joined the party.
“Ri!...o.”
She hesitated, though a little late, realizing she'd remembered one person's name, but not the other...though they'd been from the same encounter. Whether or not he'd heard her, the bikini-clad girl was already on top of getting her ale and had invited him to sit in their area.
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Post by Honorea on Jun 19, 2008 22:32:08 GMT -5
“Er...heh.”
Honorea realized just then that she knew who the girl was that she had sat next to. It was clear the girl knew her too, just not her name.
“Ri!...o.”
Honorea looked up to see another familiar face.
“Hello Rio! It’s Honorea, by the way, Unaliari. How have you been these days?”
Honorea watched as the unknown girl slurped down the ale Rio gave her, rather quickly. She seemed to know what she was doing with her alcohol.
“Well, I believe you are the only one we know nothing about. Well, come to think of it, I don’t know much about these two either, but I at least have, um.. traveled with them before. One has to have an interesting background to be carrying such a large weapon so frivolously.”
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Post by Trunks on Jun 19, 2008 22:48:00 GMT -5
"Well then, come have a seat. The name's Mio."
Rio watched as she gulped down his ale. He place his hand on his book and another appeared.
"You don't look like you belong here, if you don't mind my saying."
Rio nodded but before he had a chance to respond two familiar voices spoke up.
“Ri!...o.” “Hello Rio! It’s Honorea, by the way, Unaliari. How have you been these days?”
"Hey ladies."
Rio produced another two pitchers of ale and slid them over to the girls.
"I'm just kinda traveling."
He gave them all a look that said that he was lying, but didn't want to alert the people around him.
"So Mio, Honorea's right you're the only one that we no nothing about tell us about yourself."
Rio flipped open his book and began looking through it.
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Post by Sakabatou on Jun 19, 2008 23:02:59 GMT -5
Mio watched sidelong as Rio produced more ale for the others. For not wanting to attract any more attention to himself, he was certainly going about it the wrong way... Still, she didn't say anything about it--simply filed it away as very interesting information.
She shrugged at his question of her reasons for taking this voyage.
"Just like you, I'm traveling. Although one of us may be a bit more honest when we say that, hmm? Anyways, I've spent the last few months just sort of wandering for fun. I spent last week crossing this frigid mountain ridge, so I decided it was past time for some sun and beaches.
She gulped down the last of her ale and sighed loudly. Her cheeks were showing a slight redness, though she certainly wouldn't have complained about a second cup. She shook the empty mug in Unaliari and Honorea's direction.
"So what about the two of you? Y'all know each other? Seems like quite a coincidence!"
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