[IC] Artifacts of a Lost Civilisation - ( Kitsune & NuttsnBolts )

[NuttsnBolts]

Alyon made a leap across a terrace gap and slipped a little on the mossy surface, but she had enough balance to prevent herself from falling. The same couldn't be said for two of the men behind her with one falling face first on the roof, and the other landing on his behind. The third however managed to stay upright and shuffled his way over to a dry patch, allowing him to continue on his chase.

These guys don't give up do they? she wondered as she took a few more steps towards a wall of a taller building. Knowing that there wasn't much of an option, she ran up to the wall, using her foot to push her up higher and attempted to leap up to the edge. With a successful grip she managed to grab the lip and started to pull herself up, but the weight of her body suddenly felt heavy as the man closest to her hung around her legs.

"Get off me!" She screamed out, attempting to buck herself to force the man's grip to give way, but in doing so her own grip failed and she fell from the wall onto the stomach of the attacker. Thinking quickly, he wrapped his arms around her chest locking her movement so she couldn't get away.

"Quickly!" he called out to the other's, "She's getting feisty!" just as the other two came to the scene and pulled out some rope to tie up her hands and feet.

"Hey! Let me go! Let-me-g-hmmmmmm"

Alyon's speech was muffled as they tied a cloth gag around her mouth. Giving a sigh of relief, the man holding her released Alyon as she was whisked up and thrown over the shoulder of one of the brutes. There she hung, kicking and screaming as they started their trek back to the Rose Garden.

"Well... That was a handful," One of the guys spoke as they walked back, with a response from Alyon that sounded like a muffled curse, "Can't hear you, and we're not taking off the gag til we get back to Miss Thorn, so until then you can sit tight."

"Hmph Hmph.." she swore, letting her body relax a bit, knowing that there was little point fighting when she was bound up this way.

[Kitsune]

Moments later Miss Thorn walked into the room that they were keeping Alyon, her impressive height allowing her to stare down to the smaller girl while her elegant and detailed fan still covering up her lower face. "I see. So you are our little stalker then? I hardly believed that a peeping tom was a women but I guess Fraya really does draw all kinds." Leaning down she came to eye level with the girl almost as if she was trying to judge her by looks alone.

However as she was reaching out towards the girls bust, an attempt to check her for weapons and so not a misunderstanding, Fraya's voice could be heard "Wait! I know her. Its ok really." Miss Thorn stopped and moved her hand to remove the gag that Alyon had in her mouth "Well then, it seems like there has been a misunderstanding. Boys untie her if you please" With that the two large men that had been guarding her moved up and started to untie her just as Fraya came up. "Are you alright? Things got out of hand huh? Are you ok?" She asked, clearly a little worried over the whole thing but she was very calm.

[NuttsnBolts]

Alyon sat there as Miss Thorn began to step into the room. Her eyes glared down the girl as she spoke to her, mentioning that Fraya drew in all sorts of characters. Alyon stared back, angered by the statement, but somewhat fearful considering the situation.

"Wait! I know her. Its ok really."

Fraya! Alyon's eyes lit up with those words of hope, relieved at the fact that Miss Thorn changed her mind about the situation and decided to pull the gag down allowing the girl to speak. The men nearby went to work, releasing the binding around her limbs while Fraya came up to see what happened to her friend.

"I'm fine! Seriously! But what on earth are you doing in a place like this." She was frustrated. The situation had created all sorts of problems and if this was classified as lucky, Alyon would have hated to see what would have happened if it was worse. She looked up towards Miss Thorn, "And what is it that 'you' want Fraya for?!"

Alyon's hands and legs were free allowing her push the men untying the knots away from her body. She mumbled a subtle "Ger off!", indicating that she didn't need to be babied by some people that she didn't know. She stood up, straightened her clothes and ended with, "If it's fine by you, we are leaving!"

[Kitsune]

Miss thorn shook her head to Alyon's words "I am sorry, I cannot let her leave." Her words were much more intimidating than they had intended to be, but she did elaborate a little bit at the very least. "After all we have yet to repay her in full, or even hear her answer to my question from before." Lowering her fan Miss Thorn showed scars of many past battles that graced her face.

Fraya was more than a little confused by this whole deal, after all all she had gotten was a reward for stopping that man from before though she guessed Alyon didn't know such a thing as she was about ready to drag her out of the building.

However Miss Thorn was more than ready for this "Do not worry miss. None of the girls at the Rose Garden are here unwillingly, but I understand your worry for your friend, after all most of the other places do use that practice and she is awfully trusting.." Why did Fraya feel slightly insulted? "You may leave if you so wish, but I have offered a job to Fraya, and no not the one you may be thinking off. Oh, keep the clothes Fraya, it is better than the rags before."

[NuttsnBolts]

Alyon stopped in her steps and listened to Miss Thorn's explanation, hearing how she was willing to repay Fraya for what she did earlier. She looked over to Fraya, wondering what it was that she did to deserve this sort of treatment and noticed how confused even she was about what was going on. Miss Thorn continued her spiel with Alyon picking up on one key detail.

"...after all most of the other places do use that practice and she is awfully trusting..."

"What do you mean by 'that' practice?" She turned to face the lady and saw the extent of her scarring. A trait that held a bit of weight when attaching it to her superiority. "From the way you're explaining it 'this'..." pointing her fingers up to the ceiling and performing a circle motion, "...isn't your typical love hotel, but I am finding that hard to believe."

Alyon stood there for a moment, with the mention of a possible job offer. She didn't want to acknowledge that they probably needed it since the two of them were now completely out of money, but from the sound of things it might not have anything to do with the type of actions that the public thought the Rose Garden offered.

"What's the job?" Alyon asked as she grinded her teeth, hoping that she wasn't making a mistake.

[Kitsune]

Miss Thron smirked when Alyon stopped, knowing that she had hooked her interest she moved towards one of the chairs to sit down and cross her legs, listening to the girls questions for a moment she reached out her hand at which point one of the men offered her a drink which she took. "Keeping girls in line using force or worse... That is what I meant by 'practice'. Every girl here is here willingly and are not forced into anything, they just wish to pay me back."

She took a sip of her drink before continuing with her request. "That being said. That is what I wish to speak to you about today. The job I offer to you is two fold, number one is to discover the root of the recent new drug, very addictive and horrible. It is also very bad for trade, after all if a girl get hooked she is likely lost forever..." She gestured towards Fraya at this point "That was the man she stopped. Asking for 'protection' from their drug."

Fraya looked surprised at this, she knew about drugs and the like but she never knew they could be so destructive that people needed protection from them. "I want you to find and stop these people dealing this drug and I shall give you a fine reward. None of my people can, they would be noticed and likely be taken revenge against us."

[NuttsnBolts]

Crap...

Alyon realised how stupid she was for even toying with the idea of taking a job in the redlight district. She should have known that it wouldn't have been as simple as a delivery errand. No, it just had to be drug problem. The last thing she wanted to do was piss off some dealers, or worse still a gang. Her desire to not get involved, and her need of having to get involved, were playing against each other. Looking over to Fraya she decided to speak up.

"We're going to have to take the job," she started, feeling a little disappointed in the choice, "Mostly because I had the money stolen on the way to the train ticketing booth. I don't know whether we'll get another job opportunity so easily in a town like this."

Alyon turned away from her friend and back to Miss Thorn, not giving herself a chance to see if Fraya was disappointed about loosing so much money. Ultimately it also came down to the safety of the people under Miss Thorn's supervision and Alyon wouldn't be able to accept it if she turned a blind eye to this sort of situation. Some of the drugs that were manufactured used all sorts of unorthodox ingredients, many more illegal to obtain than the produced drug itself.

"Where can we find these people?" she enquired as one of the men bought her sword over to girls, giving it back to the Hunter.

[Kitsune]

Fraya looked a little confused at the announcement that they would be taking the job, it made sense if they needed the money though the mention of them losing the other money they had gathered just made her shrug a little. She had just planned on getting on the train either way, no matter what others may say there was no way anyone would be able to stop her doing so, well from what she had seen from this place that lacked credible warriors.

Meanwhile Miss Thorn smirked at the acceptance of her terms, it seemed like she could count on the pair to take care of the threat to her girls, which was helpful, more so since they were leaving which made it all the better that the blame came onto them. "The docks. That is where they are being shipped in and from their given to all sorts of dealers around the city. It would be best to deal with their stash and maybe even sink their ship before it leaves port"

Reaching down she took another sip of her drink before speaking once again "I would like to say one more thing to you... Thank you for doing this. From all of us at the rose garden." She bowed her head a little, a small smile coming over her lips "You may use the Rose Garden if you wish. Food and baths and the like will be freely offered to you before you leave."

[NuttsnBolts]

Alyon and Fraya stepped out of the room and went to leave the Rose Garden in order to head down to the Docks and sort out the drug issue that the city was enduring. Upon walking through the front door they were greeted by a familiar face. A man wearing a jacket with gold trimming and lined on the inside with red velvet stood there next to the doorway like a waiting bellboy.

"Ergh... You again?" Alyon moaned as she recognised the man as the one that tried to feel her up earlier that day.

"Is that how you greet an old friend?" he chuckled, bowing over flamboyantly in order to both patronise the girls, and offer his services. "I am aware of what Miss Thorn has asked you to do and I will be escorting you, lovely ladies, down to the docks in order to direct you to which one of the ship that is carrying the troubling merchandise." He lifted his head, looked at Fraya and smiled as he lifted his hand, offered an upturned palm as if to ask her for the permission to hold her hand. "Can I also say that your outfit looks exquisite, young lady."

Alyon felt her stomach turn from performance that this creep was demonstrating. Without realising that she was getting frustrated with his motions, she blurted out, "And just who do you think you are?"

He stopped for a moment, turning his view from Fraya to Alyon and spoke out, " I am Jean-Charles. One of Miss Thorn's many eyes and ears within this city."

[Kitsune]

Fraya peered around at the girls as they were walking out of the rose garden, each of them waving goodbye to her and with a happy smile she did the same thing! There were so many nice people here, she didn't understand why Alyon seemed to be so tense around this place. She felt sorry for her traveling companion as her frustration continued with a rather sleazy looking man that was waiting for them outside of the rose garden, saying that he would be the one to take them to the docks and in turn the job they were meant to do.

Lifting her hand up to gently brush a little bit of the silk bandanna out of her face she noticed Jean offering his hand towards her, and reaching out she gripped it powerfully and shook it "Ah, thanks! Your clothes are... Uhhh..." She was really unsure what to say about it if she was honest... "Shall we get going? We have to deal with this ship right? What are we going to do? I think I could sink it in the harbor?" She hit her fist into her other palm, really she was unsure what kind of ship this was since she had only seen them from a distance but really how hard could it be?

[NuttsnBolts]

"Ah yes, the ship!" Jean spoke as if the thought of their objective had slipped his mind, but he knew all too well what he was doing and how he was toying with the young girls. "I suggest that you follow me." Giving a spin on his feet and standing as proud as could be, Jean led the two girls out of the Redlight Districts and to the neighbouring Docklands.

As the group walked they passed by the various stalls and buildings until they came to a secluded edge of the industrial area surrounding the harbour. Jean reached into his pocket and pulled out a small parcel, handing it to Alyon. "I don't doubt your skills Miss Fraya," Making a comment to the questions that she had earlier about sinking the boat before placing on a serious expression and glaring Fraya in the eyes, "My concern at the moment is that if you fail, then there is no back up plan. What you have in there," tapping on the parcel, "is a kilo of TNT. That should be enough to place a small hole in the hull."

Alyon peered down at the parcel, contemplating her actions and the fact that she was now holding a device that was considered quite deadly. Her thoughts raced ever so slightly before being bought back to reality when Jean pointing towards the end of one piers, "It's that one there"

"Right. Ok... Let's go," replied Alyon as she began to walk past the warehouses and down the concrete board walk into the docks ahead.

==========

Jean watched as the two girls ventured off on their task for Miss Thorn. He leaned up against one of the buildings, pulling out a hip flask from inside his jacket and taking a quick swig of the contents inside.

"So what can you tell me about the two girls?" a voice requested as Jean quickly swung around to see a hooded man with a blunderbuss poorly concealed under his jacket. His sudden appearance caught Jean off guard as he stumbled back a few steps.

"They are just a pair of venturers helping us out on a personal matter. Nothing more!" He waved his hand back and forth as if to say 'go away' while at the same time Jean's forehead started to feel sweaty as he was concerned about who this strange character was.

"Is that a way to greet an old friend?"

Jean froze for a second as he looked at the concealed face under the hood, noticing the slightly red glow that resonated from the left eye socket. "Toskin?" he queried, leaning over slightly in order to get a better look.

"The man you knew as Toskin is dead!" the stranger snapped, lifting his gun to the chest of Jean and staring him straight in the face. The heavy scars could be seen from where a mock operation was recently performed in order to remove the left eye of this individual and replace it with the red, glass eye. "But that is not to say that I don't live on," he spoke, lifting his free hand to his face and pointing to the eye implanted within his skull.

[Kitsune]

Fraya peered down towards the parcel that they had gotten, she didn't know what TNT really was but from what he wanted them to do with it she had to guess that it had to be a weapon of some kind, one powerful enough to sink a ship! "I will follow you!" She announced as they started to make their way towards the docked ship that was located near the end of the docks/ Though the place lacked what one would normally expect for protection such as guards there were plenty of rather shady and big looking guys and women that were clearly there to stop anyone that may be brave enough to check it out.

Though they could not get too close to the docks Fraya did not look worried "Can we take one of the other ships?" She pointed to one of the very large ships at first but then decided that was not such a good idea so she pointed to a small row boat.

"If we take that will we be able to come along side of the ship and plant that TNT stuff? Or will we need to be inside?" OF course sinking the boat would be effective but if one wanted to make sure to destroy all the product they would have to burn the ship along with sinking it, a feat easily done on a wooden ship but they would have to get onto the ship, pour out oil and then set the TNT before burning. Of course Fraya was fine with just thinking the thing.

[NuttsnBolts]

"We only need to sink the boat," Alyon spoke, answering Fraya's question as she surveyed the scene and got a visual image of what to expect from the people within the docks. They seemed to be wandering around the place, making it seem almost impossible for the girls to reach the desired ship.

Alyon looked at the boat that Fraya mentioned. She could agree that it would be a good choice, but in order to get to it by land, it would be fairly difficult. "So here is what I'm thinking," Alyon whispered to Fraya, "I can swim under the wharf and untie that boat with my knife. If I bring it back we could then use it to get closer to the main ship in order to sink it. I don't believe we need to be inside. We just need to crack a hole in the hull."

The two girls skimmed the surrounding area until they came to a channel that lead it's way out to the open water. They could see a suitable route towards the row boat that would avoid many of the henchmen. Alyon stopped for a moment as she approached the water's edge, knowing that swimming in her clothes would be a very idea. "Erm... Fraya," she said nervously, "Would you mind holding my, err, sword and clothes while I get the row boat?" Acting quickly, she pulled off her top, boots and pants, leaving her in what little underwear she had that covered her small frame body before dipping into the water. "I'll be back in a moment. Please this time... don't do anywhere," she smiled gently as she turned and swam off towards the boat.

[Kitsune]

Fraya was a little disappointed by the mention of how they just had to sink the ship normally, to be honest she was looking forward to fighting all those people, though not real fighters she was sure that there were enough of them to at least be a small threat to her! However when the plan was being talked about she sharpened up and listened intently to what they had to do, well as to what Alyon had to do anyway.

Walking around to the channel with Alyon, Fraya made sure to hike her skirt up a little so that she kept her brand new skirt clean. After avoiding the thugs it was a easy trip to the edge of the channel where the bow lay just off the docks "Hmm? Of course" She held out her rather human looking hands, as apposed to her clawed ones to accept the clothing... However as Alyon got undressed Fraya could not help but see a small heat cross her cheeks and could only nod and wait... "She doesn't wear much under these huh?.." She spoke to herself.

[NuttsnBolts]

Alyon swam under the surface of the water, making sure that she was keeping out of sight of the people above. She kept her movements quiet and when possible dipped under the water so the splashing that she would make wasn't heard either. After a few moments she had managed to come up to the pole where the small row boat was tied off. Grabbing the knife that was strapped to her side, she started to carefully saw through the rope that connected the two together.

She heard footsteps and pulled away, leaning up against the dock to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. The seconds passed and when she thought she had a clear moment she moved out and continued to cut through the rope. The cord fell onto the water and grabbing the end, she started to tow the row boat back towards where Fraya was.

Looking in the distance, she could see a patrol circling around the channel and they seemed interested in checking out the lower area that was usually unseen.

Oh, No, Alyon thought in concern. She had thought that keeping out of sight of the main group would have been enough, but clearly she wasn't expecting them to be so vigilant in their searches.

[Kitsune]

Fraya gave off a long yawn as she waited for Alyon, though she agreed this was by far the best way to go about things, there were still things that bothered her about having such a well thought out plan since there was no fighting if they pulled it off! Still she waited for the girl to get the boat, the last thing she needed to do was to freak the girl out more by fighting more...

However it seemed the very gods were against her as a group of patrolling thugs started to move around the channel, for a moment she was thinking of dashing into them and taking them out but there was another way, she was sure of it!

Placing down Alyon's gear she slowly started to make her way up tot he patrol "Hello~" In her silk garments she looked more like a working girl than a agent so at least the patrol didn't turn on her right away. "What you doing here? This docks off limits girl." She stayed silent and stood there swaying a little in a playful way and soon enough the group started to come up towards her "Hey we said get out of here. We-," One of the men were interrupted by his friend "Hey hey, maybe she was sent over by the boss? Ya know for our hard work?" She did not like where this was going for some reason...

[NuttsnBolts]

Fraya! What are you doing?!?!

Alyon stopped in her movements, keeping close to one of the pillars with her arms grabbing hold of it and the rope so that an onlooker would possibly see from the back that the boat was just tied to the wooden structure. She wasn't too far away and could faintly hear the conversation between the personal and the girl.

"Hey hey, maybe she was sent over by the boss? Ya know for our hard work?"

Alyon couldn't believe what she was hearing. Here was a girl that had very little concept of the modern world, and somehow... just somehow she managed to pick up two invitations to the higher bosses of an organisation in one day. All with very little effort.

The feelings of disbelief simply fell over her body and Alyon thumped her forehead against the wooden pillar. Just once she wanted to have a normal day. A day of exploration, finding a treasure, having a relaxing meal at night, and no conflicts! She wanted to so badly just yell in frustration but she knew that it would possibly alert the men that Fraya was talking to, so instead she thumped her forehead against the pillar a second time.

[Kitsune]

Fraya could hear slight knocking for some reason, odd though her plan to have the patrol drop their guard was ok so far, they even got very close to her in order to inspect her for some reason, strange. Still it worked out fine for her since as soon one of their hands came to touch her lower back she smashed two of their heads together before chopping the other two out cold. Nothing but thugs without a ounce of training was no match for her that much was for sure.

Thankfully they still lived, that was the important thing that Alyon would have noticed as Fraya jogged over towards the side of the channel "Alyon I took care of them, you can come up now." She said it so innocently, not even having noticed just what she had distracted them with, though it was not like she was oblivious to such things she just did not even consider people were that stupid. Holding out her hand she waited for the boats rope to be passed to her so that she could drag the row boat down the channel to where she had put the girls clothing, waiting for her to exit the channel with a fangged smile across her face.

[NuttsnBolts]

Alyon cringed for a moment as she heard the grunt and groans of the men that Fraya took care of. Peeking out from the side of the post she could see the young lady waving to her with glee, somewhat proud of what she managed to do all on her own.

"Alyon I took care of them, you can come up now."

Alyon waded through the water dragging the boat across to the shoreline and threw the rope to Fraya so she could pull it up onto shore. Alyon peered over at the group of men that the girl had managed to knock out. Thankfully they weren't dead and she was relieved that the girl had learnt self control the more they spent together, but still, it meant that they now had to do something with these bodies before they woke up and alerted someone.

"I'm gonna use the rope to tie them up and we can gag them with their sleeves," Alyon spoke as she pulled her clothes back on over her wet body. It was annoying that the dampness would seep through but it was still better than coming out of the water like a drowned rat.

Carefully they tied up the scouts and positioned them in an area that would draw little attention from passers-byers before loading up the boat with their gear and the explosives, careful not to get it wet. With a gentle shove the two of them pushed the boat and leapt in, making their merrily way over to the dock in order to sink their target.

[Kitsune]

Fraya grabbed the rope and easliy pulled the boat onto the shore, though when she moved over to the knocked out group of men she looked rather prideful of what she did and awaited her praise for doing such a good job! Though it never came, she suspected since Alyon was annoyed by what they had to do, she still aided in tying up the group before finally hopping into the boat and pushing off from the shore and down the channel.

"So, how big of a boom will this weapon cause?"

Grabbing the oars she started to row towards the ship, making sure to follow Alyon's directions where they would likely have to go all the way around in order to avoid notice. Slowly pulling alongside the ship they were rather lucky that most of the crew were ashore so there were not any lookouts that were watching the water of all things for danger. As they got closer Fraya made sure to change her clawed hand back to normal so that she could dig her claws into the side of the ship, grunting a little loudly as she made sure they stayed close to the ship while Alyon worked. "T-This is harder than it looks." She didn't expect it to be easy but it was really awkward!