Volcano Reef

[admin]

A small harbor in the North Blue. It has one seaport that is well traveled by those who are heading further out to sea. The Island gets its name by being surrounded by Volcanos and hot springs that are frequently erupting. A frequent spot for those who are trying to stay under the radar, as the Navy's power has grown quite lax in this side of the world.

[Yoyo]

Sterling calmly walked down the noisy street with her hands in her pockets. She was entirely unfazed by the ruckus caused by the latest band of pirates who had arrived here, tired and weary from a freak storm that had caused their ship damage. They were quite open and loud with this information; Sterling suspected they were hoping for handouts so they could repair their ship.

She finally found the place she was looking for: the Lava Pub. It was a ridiculous name, an obvious pun, but they had good food and drinks -- if you had the coin for it. Most importantly, it was a good place for information. She entered quietly, not wishing to attract the attention of those within. Not yet, anyway.

[admin]

Toki Akabane meandered through the loud streets of Volcano Reef. He had no discernible goal. He had sensed a storm was coming and had the ship anchor down. Now he was waiting till the coast was clear so he could get back out on the sea. He was also really tired. His crew had been restless so he had let them loose on the town. Now it was just up to him to decide where to go next.

[Yoyo]

Sterling was pleased to find that the little bar was not very crowded. It was still working hours for those who had jobs; those without jobs were probably suffering hangovers elsewhere or had not yet found the small pub. She claimed a seat in the corner of the room, keeping an eye on the occupants and the door. She sat there for a short time, feet propped on the table, before a waitress roughly set a mug of amber liquid on the table.

She wordlessly nodded toward a man on the other side of the room before walking away. Sterling eyed the man momentarily, then raised the glass briefly and downed the drink. Life as a female bounty hunter was interesting; drunken male pirates loved to pay for her traveling expenses and information dues as well as buy her drinks.

"Good little prey," she thought, smirking.

[admin]

Toki Akabane wandered up to a merchant and looked over their wares. He wasn't really interested in buying much. He just liked to look at things. He realized they had an imbalance in the number of shoes versus the number of socks that were for sale. This troubled Toki to no end as he considered the ramifications of such a dire crisis.

Toki turned away from the stand. He would turn his back on the merchant and leave him to his fate. And the entire Island. He would concern himself no longer. He had other more pressing matters to attend to. He just had to figure out what they were. Surely an important pirate captain such as himself, young as he may be, had something else to do.

[Yoyo]

The man and his companions were clearly drunk. The man -- a rather disgusting excuse for one, anyway -- was drunkenly brave enough on his own, but as his companions egged him on, he became quite a bit bolder and quite showy. He rose and staggered proudly over to her, leaning on her table and looking down on her with a crooked-toothed grin.

"Stede Bonnet; worth a couple thousand beli. Worth a little of my time."

It was only a few minutes later that she was walking out of the bar, Bonnet close on her heals. "But not too close. No, you're not following me at all," she thought, smiling to herself. She was now headed for her favorite ambush spot: a small alley near the edge of town. All she had to do was make sure he did not lose her in the crowd before they arrived.

[admin]

Toki watched a man drunkenly stagger past him. Smelly filthy men in this city. He ignored it. Pirates are what they are, after all. And this city was a pirate city.

[Sammythebootlegger]

This was the perfect place to have stopped. Pirates were everywhere, the marine presence was pitiful and booze ran freely. He needed to find a blacksmith. That was the important thing, really.

The lava bar wasn't as crowded as he though it would be, which was just as well - this headache wasn't going away.
People filed in and out of the door, and there was one pair that looked worth following.

[Yoyo]

She couldn't stifle a yawn as she walked. She had not realized she was tired, but she was hardly surprised. She casually looked around, keeping her pace even. She still saw Bonnet out of the corner of her eye and the crowds were thinning; her concern for losing him lessened the farther they got.

Finally they reached the edge of town and she could see her favorite little alley. She risked one more sideways glance at Bonnet, making it more obvious to him that she wanted him to follow, when she saw some additional company. There was a man there she had spotted before. She had dismissed him earlier when the crowds were larger, but with as few people on the road as there were now, the chances that he was simply going the same direction were slim. She faced forward and frowned slightly, then shrugged it off.

"Maybe I'll get two bounties tonight," she thought, entering the alley, then sliding out of sight into a crack running along the wall. She was invisible and would easily trap any who entered.

[admin]

Toki smiled as he sat down at a rice bar. "Delicious," he said as he gobbled down the food. He hadn't realized how hungry he was till he started to munch down. "Man, it's been at least five minutes since I've eaten," he said to himself.

He was very careful to eat from the outside in. He also ate equal sized bites so that no side of the meal would go unportioned. Before he knew it he had finished all but the last bite, which he never ate.

[Sammythebootlegger]

The two turned down some little sidestreet, and this was where he decided not to follow. He turned and leaned against one of the buildings, listening. If things went as he thought they might, perhaps he could pick up some spare..well anything. Money, if he was lucky. If not... that chick had a couple nice looking swords.

The crowd of passers-by had thinned considerably, and he was sure he would hear any incipient scuffle.

[Yoyo]

Sterling could hear Bonnet giggling -- creepy -- as he rounded the corner and staggered past her. He did not get far before he stopped and looked about in confusion. In one swift motion the bounty hunter knocked the man out, grabbing his collar before he could collapse to the ground. She rolled her eyes, somewhat annoyed by how simple it was to catch a drunken pirate.

She knelt down behind the man, trying his hands expertly with a length of rope. "What to do with you, though," she thought, glancing over her shoulder, knowing that the man was probably still out there. She shrugged, not wanting to bother thinking more than necessary. "Not like he's a marine or anything. I have my prize, smelly as it may be; I'm getting my reward for this trash."

Grabbing the unconscious man's collar once more, she walked out of the alley, dragging her collected pirate behind her.

[admin]

Toki finished his rice and smiled. A delicious meal. He did enjoy rice on the salty sea. Of course he wasn't on sea at the time, but the point was still the same.

He sighed as he looked around the ole city. There wasn't a whole lot of action at the moment. But he knew if he waited long enough something interesting would happen.

[Sammythebootlegger]

The laughter was creepy - no other word for it. Shorty after it, there were a couple muffled thuds and then - nothing. How anti-climactic.

Sam was just considering turning the corner, when the girl came out of the alley, dragging the heavier man behind her. Well, that turned out almost like I expected...

She gave him only a cursory glance as she strode by him. He briefly considered tripping her. Instead, he watched her for a moment than caught up with her and fell into her pace. "You look like you might know where to find a blacksmith," he said to her, not looking at her catch.

[Yoyo]

She glanced at the man as she passed, unsurprised to see him there still. It was only a matter of moments before he was beside her. She cast another glance at him, sizing him up. He ignored Bonnet entirely and she smiled.

"The blacksmith, eh?" she questioned casually. "I do happen to know where to find him. I was thinking about going there myself, so I can take you. First, though, I will need to drop of my luggage," she added, glancing at the unconscious man dragging behind them.

[admin]

Toki eyed some Navy soldiers as they passed. He kept his head down low. It wasn't that he couldn't handle them. Toki was fairly confident in his abilities. He had fought with the navy plenty of times and he could tell the small fries from the contenders. These were definitely small fries.

However, the Navy rarely left camp on the reef. It was far too dangerous for them to. If they wanted to take a pirate ship they usually attacked it at sea. So if they were leaving camp it meant something was up. He would just have to hope it wasn't too troublesome.

[Sammythebootlegger]

"How fortunate." He smiled back, adjusting his plain leather baldric. "I didn't even know there was a place here to turn in these petty chunks of immorality." Sam looked down at Bonnet, not sorry to see him taken from the seas, "You are doing us a favor."

Mind wandering a bit, he wondered what had happened to his captain, but figured he'd see him later. There was an inordinate amount of navy here, he noticed, and hoped there was no trouble. Well, ok, perhaps he hoped there was - but nothing too serious.

[Yoyo]

"There isn't," she commented, watching a small group of marines march past her. "I was going to haul him to another island. I'm wondering if that's necessary, now."

Sterling lead the man down the road, the thought occurring to her that she did not know his name. The blacksmith was several more streets toward the center of the mass of buildings, but the number of marines concerned her. She was a bounty hunter and by all rights allowed to be here, but she still had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Something's up. Maybe I should plan my departure soon."

[admin]

Toki eyed a strange pair ahead of him. He laughed to himself as he watched the girl dragging a pirate behind him while a man walked beside her. "Not exactly subtle, is she?" he said to himself.

"Hello there!" Toki waved. He didn't know why. He was just feeling friendly. Perhaps a good meal had done it for him. "Can I help you with him?"

[Sammythebootlegger]

Surruptitiously, he glanced around, noting the positions of the various groups of marines. "You mean you don't want to stay and enjoy the spoils of a possible confrontation??" he said with a crooked grin.
"I'm Sam, by the way," he told her and was about to offer her a calloused hand. But her hands were occupied so he settled for a hardy thump on the shoulder.

A man called out ot them - a familiar man - and offered to relieve the woman of her burden.

[Yoyo]

"Page," Sterling replied, smiling.

'Can I help you with him?' she heard from behind her. She recognized the voice, and recognized the owner of the voice when she turned to face him.

"Tori, wasn't it?" she said, her smile fading slightly. Last time she had seen this man, she had been planning on turning him in for his bounty, but had ended up jumped off his burning ship after the marines attacked him.

[admin]

"Oh, it's you," Toki said. "Toki."

The last time he had seen her he remembered she had disappeared after his ship had caught fire. That was a crazy night. He also remembered she hadn't been exactly nice.

"Oh, is that you, Sam?" Toki asked.

[Sammythebootlegger]

Nice name, he thought to himself, easy to remember. He eyed the high neck of her shirt curiously - it was hot out, afterall.

"Of course it is," he answered Toki with a mock salute, "I'm clearly here to help a damsel in distress. But you beat me to it. You have rice on your shirt."

The crowd was getting bigger again, as they walked farther back into town, and Sam was sure he could hear a bit more hustle and bustle than was normal for this time of day, but it was some distance away. He made a mental note to check it out before they left - that was, if it didn't find them first.

[Yoyo]

"Mm, Toki," Sterling muttered, nodding slightly in acknowledgment. The atmosphere of the town was all wrong and it was beginning to distract her from the problem at hand. Sam and Toki knew each other, crew-mates from the looks of it, which meant that she needed to depart.

"Thank you for the company, goodsir Sam, but I must be on my way. The blacksmith you seek is down that street," she said, indicating a smallish street with her head, then nodded. "Should we meet again, I wonder if you would do me the honor of a brief duel. Until then, farewell."

As she turned to leave, a marine nearly ran into her. She barely dodged, but Bonnet tripped the man up and sent him sprawling in the dusty road. "Ah, crap," she thought, staring at the man on the ground.

[admin]

"Helping damsels, what an honorable pirate you are, Sam," Toki laughed.

Toki laughed himself into a fit at Page's failure of a departure and slapped her on the back in a friendly gesture just to bug her. "Nice going there! Hey, you wanted to join our crew? Excellent, join up, then."

Toki was having plenty of fun annoying this overly serious person.

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