Ed stood at the prow of the ship, leaning against the railing with the sea breeze running over his bare scalp and through his red beard, refreshing and relaxing him as he watched the city of Nisshoki grow ever closer. He had been there a few times on the Zephyr, but this was the first time he was approaching it over the water. As much as he missed his airship there was something relaxing about the rocking of the ship on the waves, the rolling of the deck beneath his feet. He never would have guessed it but he was getting used to this sailing business. The last weeks had been hard, the race across Canelux, the chase across the ocean, the giant spirit. All of it had been almost unreal. He was looking forward to sitting down in a civilized bar and ordering himself something to drink, maybe find himself some entertainment for the night… He grinned into the ocean spray, grimacing as he tasted the salt water on his tongue. He coughed and spat, then returned to the pose he had been adopting before. With the wind coming at them it pick up his coat, making it billow dramatically around him. He just needed to keep the salt water out of his mouth and he could continue looking good in front of the crew.

It seemed when you entered a city by sea you needed to go through some ridiculous inspection by a customs official. Ed supposed you might have to do the same thing by air, if you planned on arriving legally. He wouldn't know anything about that, however, and was just learning about the nautical version right now. They had been approached by a small vessel as they drew close to the docks and an irritating little man with a long mustache, wearing black robes with gold threads, had called up to them from that little boat. He had demanded to be allowed aboard and Ed's initial response had been to tell Twinkle to sink the boat. Peabody had intervened, however, and now Ed found himself listening to the small man ask question after question, each one getting more awkward. Did they know they were on a slave vessel? Did they know there were warrants in Nisshoki for the arrest of the owner of the boat? Did they know there were likely to be all kinds of contraband on board? Did they know just how heavy the fines were going to be? Did they understand the weight of time they were going to be serving in the city's jail? Ed was seriously regretting his decision to listen to Peabody on this one. From the look on Peabody's face, even he was beginning to regret it. Ed was just reaching for a dagger when he heard something from over the side of the ship, a shout that sounded an awful lot like…

"You dumb fucks!" Peabody looked over the side of the ship to see a skiff pulled up alongside it, right behind the customs official's. He could see two very nervous looking mages, he could tell they were by the color of their robes hired mages from a local school, and a furious looking dwarf. The dwarf, an elder female if the lack of a beard was anything to judge these things by, wore a serious looking pant suit. Her hair was tied behind her head in a harsh looking bun and upon her nose sat a small pair of spectacles. All in all, she looked more terrifying than a fully armed and armored dwarven berserker would have right then. What was this now? He wasn't even sure how he was going to get them out of their current situation and here was someone else turning up, and knowing the captain's luck, she was here to make things worse. Peabody turned back to the customs official who had suddenly turned very, very pale. He muttered something to himself, was that some kind of prayer to the god of commerce and peanut brittle? "I know you stupid motherfuckers can hear me up there! I can hear that whiny ass little cretin pissing himself from down here! Somebody grab a bucket and somebody else lower a gods damned ladder before I have to climb up there and tear you all new assholes to shit with!" Peabody made a couple of gestures and a crew member jumped to grab a rope ladder and send it over the side.

The harsh little woman joined them on deck after a series of grunting and complaining as she made her way up the ladder. The first thing she did was storm up to the customs official, look him up and down with a sneer on her face and spit over the side of the ship, an impressive feat since she stood almost six feet away from the rail at that point. "Now you, you pathetic waste of breath. What the fuck do you think you're doing here?" The official began stammering out a response, something that sounded an awful lot like an excuse even though he had been here in his official capacity, doing his job. Peabody knew that the man held nothing personal against himself or the rest of the crew, he had in face accepted that the man wasn't evil, just employed. He had still wanted to find a way out of this. He now found himself feeling sorry for the man. "Oh, wah wah wah. I don't actually give a fuck about what kind of pathetic ball-less excuse you are trying to give me. No, no no no. I don't care, little man. I. Don't. Care. Now do you know who you are here harassing?" She paused then, as if she was going to let the man speak. The man waited, as if knowing nothing he said was going to make a lick of difference. The man flinched first, finally taking a breath to speak when the dwarf cut him off. "You only have the hero of fucking Antiago Bay right there! Yes, Commander Peabody! Yes, the man you have your pathetic little existence to thank for. Yes, you were accusing him of being a fucking slaver, weren't you, you stupid fucking worm! I ought to have your office for slander! I ought to have you thrown into the ocean! You should be begging me to only throw you in the ocean! How does something so worthless wake up every fucking day, crawl into your fucking skin and walk around as if they deserve to live? Don't answer that you toad! I am sure you are away of the legal code A-B-51C! Go look it up and tell me exactly how much you should be rewarding Commander Peabody here for cleaning up your fucking ocean by taking this prize and hopefully killing every slaver bastard who was aboard it! Now get off this fucking ship and clear a decent fucking berth for it!"

The official almost jumped off the side of the ship in his haste to get away. The dwarf had chased him the whole way, insulting the man, his family, his possible elven grandmother who may or may not have had sexual relations with a bull. Peabody was stunned silent by the whole exchange. When the man was finally gone she turned to face them all, a friendly smile upon her face that Peabody wasn't sure that he could trust.

"Now, my friends. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Stella H Quartz, attorney, and you just so happen to be lucky enough to have me at your service. You can thank your friend Thrustbunion for that, though how he ended up in bed with a genuine war hero I'll never know. You may call me Squatz if you like, very few people do, but I'll let you if you choose to. Now, first of all you are going to need to get this little boat of yours a new name. I can take care of that for you, of course, with absolutely no trouble. From the looks of your crew, though, you're going to need to hire new people. I can help with that, too. Thrustbunion already put me in touch with some people, so if you want, I can set that up. There is a pretty decent cook who runs a local tea room, you should check him out before anything else. Then you'll need to find somewhere to unload whatever you don't need off this ship to fund repairs and the like. Guess what? I can help with that too. Aren't you just the luckiest bunch of little ducklings ever to stumble across me. Now," she looked between Peabody and Ed, "which one of you handsome fellahs do I have the pleasure of calling captain?"

Introductions were made between Ed, the crew and the little dwarf lady. Ed was a little confused about everything that had gone on, but he liked her! Seemed she was joining the crew. It would have been nice if she had asked, but there was plenty of room on the ship and she wasn't all that big. There were plenty of places that they could stow her if it came down to that. She questioned their decision to just come sailing right into the port on a stolen slave vessel but the fact was none of them had any experience with such things. Even Peabody, an experienced sailor, had been in the navy and had done things completely differently. Luckily for them, Thrustbunion seemed to have foreseen that and taken action to make sure they would be taken care of. Ed would need to send the dwarf a nice gift basket. The journey to the docks was simple enough after that, and soon they were tying up and unloading the crew. Twinkle and Fieri were first off the ship, both of them running down the gangplank and getting as far from the water as they could, as quickly as they could. The rest of the crew disembarked more slowly.

Ed, standing in front of his gathered crew on the docks of a new city was about to give a speech when suddenly a sound he was beginning to become familiar with interrupted his train of thought. A gateway opened on the dock not even six feet away from him, and through it stepped a tall thin woman wearing blue robes with pure white hair. Ed reached for a dagger, his whole body tensing up.

"No, Keebler, you mentally deficient little turd! I will not be remaining there with you and your little eight legged friends any longer! You can go fuck yourself! I'm done!" the woman looked around, closing the gateway behind her. "Now where the fuck am I? I leave one fucking marker in the fucking ocean and suddenly I'm going all over the fucking place…" she stared at the people gathered in front of her. "Wait a second… You're familiar…. You're familiar… That toy fucking boat is familiar…. Did you bastards steal my marker?! I'll fucking kill you if you did, don't you worry about that. I'll tear out your spine," she pointed, "and tear off your leg," she pointed again, "and use them to fashion a fucking scythe and reap the whole fucking lot of you! Now, who has a fucking explanation for me?!"

Ed had no idea what was going on, only that he was quickly being lost in the conversation. Stella Quartz, newest member of their crew, strode forwards and took charge of the situation as if she was in charge. There was a very brief shouting match between her and the mage in which almost every other word was some curse or another. Ed just remained silent, and so did the others. It seemed, after the argument began to settle down, that they were going to visit the tea room Stella had mentioned before and discuss matters more calmly.

Kamri had been one of the last to make it outside when the boat had stopped. The voyage had been long and terrible, but the last few days where much smoother.
She came out seeing lots of people on deck, some of them already getting ready to make it to land. Lovers, siblings, friends, and strangers all seemed rather happy about the trip being over. Some however found that their set of sea legs did well on the ocean. They were happy for the rest, and by god did they need it too- but they would be returning. A life at sea was what some of them had been what they always wanted, others had barley just discovered that themselves.
For Kamri, she wasn’t exactly excited about sailing. It wasn’t her dream, and barley even something she could stand. But she needed to travel to find her Mentor, and more so she needed to stick by Cel.
She had tried to convince him that he need not stick around her as much. She appreciated his company and always welcomed him, but he didn’t have to worry much about her.

The last few days had been awkward, as best. Though she didn’t hold a grudge and things had improved significantly, it seemed there were rough patches to be fixed.
She still didn’t really talk much to the captain nor to Peabody- whose name had she finally learned. Though not on bad terms with anyone anymore, it was hard to interact. Lack of eye contact and conversation, she still didn’t really know much about them.
She did learn that Captain had undying loyalty- after all, he had to in order to jump face first into a slave camp to save someone he knew for so little time.
That would get him hurt one day.

Peabody was strict but he had a soft spot and loyalty to Captain. Which, in turn, would get him hurt someday too.

Celery had quickly become invaluable to them, being one of the best on the ship.
Kamri realized quickly that she had to show what she was worth. Everyone else had earned their place on the ship, she however, had not. And it was time to fix that.

When she got onto the ship she first noticed that Peabody was talking to a customs official. She could have fallen backwards from the hit of the realization that they were on a stolen slave trader ship.
She wondered if prison was any better than a slave encampment. Hopefully the food was better and she wouldn’t have to meet some sort of quota for the day. She could almost feel the tattoo on her wrist twitch.

As she watched the awkward talk between Peabody and the official, she noticed a small boat carrying a person aboard.
The woman on it was a dwarf, musclebound and hearty in stature. She spoke confidently; a little too confidently, as she was yelling insults and curses as soon as she landed aboard the ship.
The customs official tried to talk to her but was quickly drowned out by the woman’s stronger resolve and forceful behavior. He was quite literally chased off the ship like a dog with his tail between his legs.

She turned back around and faced Peabody, her demeanor instantly melting away into a helpful and cheerful woman, who offered services such as being a lawyer and supplying them with whatever they may need.
She mentioned something about a thrusting bunion, which made Kamri gag a little. Disgusting. Why was she talking about someone’s thrusting bunion?
She turned to the side of the ship and watched the water while things where settled. They would be on land soon, and she couldn’t wait! Hopefully they would spend a few days before setting off again. Maybe after she proved her worth, she would have the courage to ask Ed about finding her Mentor.
She hadn’t told him, nor anyone about it. She had her reasons, most of them being that her ties to him might not make her a totally law abiding citizen, but she did also try and steal from a casino with Captain so maybe if there was someone who couldn’t turn her in, it would be them.
Maybe.
If the time was right. Later.
A portal opened on the deck, and immediately the dwarf started to take control of that too.
Kamri would have been surprised or startled; maybe even curious. But by this point she had seen a dragon fight a water demon. By the time she had summoned the tidal wave after almost killing the entire crew, she just figured it was another thing to add to the list. She watched with a half interested glance.

- - -

By the time Zazel had regained his consciousness, the Dragon had long gone. He felt the ice cold snow envelop his senses, a soft dusting of snow had landed on his body.
He pushed himself up in a sitting position, realizing his numb fingers and toes where insanely cold. Best to find an inn for the day to warm up.
Again.
He grumbled. His targets could be anywhere and he was stuck here at-
actually, where was he?
He pushed himself to his feet and had a look around. The town he was in was covered densely by snow and ice. The town had many lights strung around, and many stalls open that had smells wafting from them of street food.
People gathered along the side of the road, trying to foods and playing in the snow.
There were some horse drawn carries, all pulled by large horses with long hair and muscular builds.
Everyone was dressed in at least three layers, which beat Zazel’s one layer by far. He hugged himself to keep warm. Yes, an Inn would be a good idea. He could collect himself and figure out where to go from there.

Ed took a deep breath as he thought through what was about to happen. There was a mysterious mage and a loudmouthed dwarf and he was about to go take tea with them. Who else was going to come with them, though? He pictured trying to get their almost thirty person crew into a little tea shop and grimaced. So then, if not everybody, then how about a select few? Despite the time spent with every member of their crew over the last few weeks, there were obviously a select few that had been with him since the beginning of this little adventure that he had stronger feelings for. But, if he took them all then who would he leave behind to see to the ship? Also, could he really expect the whole crew to be here when he returned if he was going to go take tea somewhere? Especially considering the only reason he had a crew on the ship was because they were fleeing from danger at the time and now they were safe. That left some unfinished business to take care of. "Okay, dwarf, new girl, Peabody and… Girl. The four of you go on ahead. I'll catch you up in a few minutes."

Ed slipped away from the gathered crew and back into the captain's cabin, where he fished out a locked chest from under his bunk. Inside it was all the silver he had brought with him, as well as all the silver that had been found aboard while on their journey across the sea. There was a fair amount of silver in there, enough to buy himself a nice little airship if he chose to… Doing so would mean betraying the people who had put their trust in him, though. He shook his head and did some quick calculations, recalling his time as a treasurer aboard the Zephyr. Nodding to himself he dragged the chest to the cabin door and returned back to the main deck. Celeryx was standing directly outside, eyes on the figures walking further and further from the ship, his tail twitching with agitation. "Look, I won't pretend to know what has gone on between you and the girl, but with Peabody there you don't have to worry about her. I need you here, though. There isn't anyone else I would trust with this." The kobold glanced from him, back to the group that was disappearing into the crowds on the docks and gave a hissing little sigh. Ed patted his shoulder and walked forward, clearing his throat loudly.

"Attention crew!" he called out in a loud, clear voice. "You have all done extremely well these last weeks! Far better than I had any right to expect! Some of you were promised fair pay for fair work, and you went beyond that. Celeryx here will be paying all of you, and any who wish to take that silver and head back to Vilpomojan can do so with my best wishes. You will find that the amount you receive will be a little higher than that which was promised, consider it a bonus. As for the rest of you. You are free now! You will also be paid for your time, and any who wish to leave can do so with my blessing. I didn't want to drag you all through danger, but I had to. I no longer have to force you to follow me. Please, don't feel obligated. Take the silver and start new lives for yourselves if that's what you want. None deserve it more. I am proud of all of you!"

As far as speeches went, Ed hated it. But he shrugged it off. He smiled at the crew and went out among them to shake hands and say his farewells. He didn't know how many of them would stay. He was torn, emotionally. On one hand he wanted to keep them all with him, after everything they had been through he was beginning to see them as family. There was another part of him that realized the danger they would continue to be in if they stayed, however. He was far from giving up his pursuit of the Zephyr, and to get there would require more sacrifices. He took one last look at them, and turned to walk off the ship when something stopped him. In all of that there were two particular figures he hadn't seen. Where were Twinkle and Fieri? He thought back to the docking of the ship and remembered suddenly that he had seen them both rushing off… He hoped they were going to be okay. If anything happened to Twinkle… He considered ordering the crew to search the city for them and decided against it. He had just offered to let them all leave guilt free. He was going to have to trust this Quartz woman to help with the hiring of a new crew if they did all decide to leave.

She could feel land beneath her feet again and her heart was soaring. The stone creation was following her as she slipped through the masses of hustling, bustling people that crowded the docks, but that was okay. They had spent a lot of time together on the ship and she had come to accept that she wasn't all that bad. Twinkle, or so they called her, had been silent the whole time. It seemed the only things she enjoyed talking to were the animals. She could understand that. A falcon came soaring out of the sky, landing on her shoulder at just the right moment. She smiled. The bird shared it's secrets with her, telling her of the nearest grove of trees. She needed to introduce herself there, and ask for a favor. Then she would need to see about getting back to the ship, and to the captain. She still had a debt to pay.

Ed rushed through the people, pushing them aside without thought as he tried to catch up with the others. He had realized as he started walking calmly and slowly after first leaving the ship that he hadn't thought to ask the dwarf exactly where the tea shop was. As they had increased their gap, leaving him behind, he had thought about that. Now he found himself trying desperately not to knock anyone over. A brief gap in the crowd gave Ed a chance to run, right past some minstrel or bard that was performing. He scattered a group of children that had been sitting down to listen, not feeling guilty in the slightest, and was back into the other side of the crowd. Up ahead he could just make out the top of a head with pure white hair. That had to be the group he was looking for. It was hard to tell, what with the other three members of that group being so short they didn't stand out, but he just had to hope. The white haired head made a sharp right and went inside a building.

When he finally reached the building he had to take a moment, leaning against the wall, to catch his breath. He didn't want to go inside all sweaty and panting. He fished through his pockets, looking for something, anything…. The problem with his coat was the sheer amount of pockets it had. True, he had asked Peabody to sew them in but he had been thinking about all the special things he could hide inside… Things he had taken out during the voyage. He found what he was looking for eventually, though. An old bandanna that he had never thought he was going to use. He used it now, though, to wipe the sweat from his face and then stuffed it away again. His breath was back and he was feeling pretty good about himself again. Plastering a confident grin to his face her pushed open the door and strutted inside.

Ed quickly spotted his group in a far corner of the little tea house. The place was packed and Ed was immediately glad he had decided against bringing everybody with him. He threaded his way carefully through the shop, the swagger he had been planning on using being worthless in this crowded environment, and went to take his seat. There were no chairs, however. Everything looked like it was designed for little people. Where were the chairs?! There were just cushions on the floor, arranged around tables with short legs. Ed looked down and realized the others were all kneeling of sitting cross legged. He thought back to his time in this city in the past, but the only places he remembered visiting were the taverns and brothels near the docks. He had never considered they might be a different style from the rest of the city, designed to make travelers feel welcome. Well, it was time for him to stop standing around awkwardly, wasn't it?

Ed dropped down onto a cushion next to the girl, opposite from Peabody. He kept fidgeting and shifting his position, trying to find one that was comfortable. There were six seats around the table, leaving one open. "Well," Peabody cleared his throat, "as I was saying. So, you are the dragon who appeared just in time to save us? And you were also the same person who appeared on our ship, a week or two ago?" The mage in blue, who's eyes Ed noticed between shifting his butt and legs around were had pupils that were slits, much like Celeryx's, turned her unblinking stare to Peabody. She had been watching Ed up until that point, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. He was glad of her attention turning elsewhere. "And you are the bastards who must have crashed into my beacon which I left anchored exactly where I wanted in that ocean. That place had been perfect, plenty of sharks to eat, giant squids to fight with.." .she sighed, "I had hoped to leave Keebler there one day…"

They were saved from further questions by the appearance of an old man. He was obviously a local from his skin tone, and had a little bit of a grey beard and a belly. He was smiling, beaming at them in fact. "Hello there, my friends. And hello to you Ms. Quartz. How are you all doing here today?" his gaze rested on each of them, lingering on the new mage in their group and finally settling on Peabody. "Ooo… What a surprise it is to see you here. Commander Peabody himself. I remember facing you across an ocean…" Peabody's eyes narrowed as he tried to place the man, before widening suddenly. "Ah yes, so you do recognize me! I know, I know, I have gotten a little fat in my old age. Not like you, eh?" the stranger chuckled, friendly. "If you wouldn't mind, may I take a seat? My nephew can serve us tea, perhaps bring us something delicious to eat…"

To her surprise, the captain had chosen her to go onto land with them. She felt a sense of unease. She wanted to get onto land and be away from the water, sure, but not with that group of people.
She thought about staying behind on the ship after all or going to explore on her own a bit, but they were making an effort to include her, and if she wanted to trust them then it best she go.
Maybe it wouldn’t be all that bad. After all, she didn’t seem to be giving them a fair chance. Besides, everyone else seemed to be completely and totally loyal, this was her problem to fix so she had to work on it.
There was a short speech given about loyalty and working on the ship. Something about pay and having the freedom to stay or go. Kamri thought about taking her payment but left it behind. She would see about taking it later, after she had earned it.

The invitation to come was somewhat awkward and choppy, but it got the job done. When Kamri passed by Ed, she tried to nod quietly in thanks, but it turned out to be more of a weird twitch and unnatural blinking.
Great start.

The first thing Kamri noticed when she was on land was how weird to felt to not have the ground rocking beneath her feet. The first few steps she stumbled, muscle memory taking over and anticipating the next step to be a bit lower or higher.
She appreciated the solid ground beneath her feet quickly enough, soon finding solace in knowing the street wouldn’t immediately tip over and threaten to throw someone into the water.

The group shimmied their way past a few crowds, surprisingly making it mostly as one group. They gathered at a building with the sweet and bitter smell of tea wafting through the windows.
The inside was crowded beyond belief. She had been in a similar tea house long ago with her mentor and identified why everyone was sitting down. Cushions where provided for sitting- along with a low, flat table.
After trying to snake their way through the crowd, the group finally got to a table and sat. Kamri folded her legs underneath her and placed her hands on her lap, waiting. Peabody had already struck up some sort of conversation with some sort of mage. Gathering context clues, Kamri concluded that this girl seemed to be responsible for the death of the water creature that threatened to drown their ship.

The Captain appeared a moment later, huffing as he must have gotten lost in the crowds. He sat next to Kamri, taking one of the few empty seats left. This wouldn’t be so bad, as long as everyone talked to each other as a group and there weren’t too many cliques-

It seemed the tea server knew Peabody, to Kamri’s surprise. He sat at the table too, joining them after talking to the distinguished captain’s aide himself. Ah, well, there was one clique.

The tea server mentioned his nephew, who should be along soon. Kamri wasn’t sure how long it would be but if nothing was said soon then they might be sitting in complete silence. She tried her hand at Smalltalk.
“So… That… Ship was a lot of… Adventure.” Kamri tried to start a conversation, but her audience consisted of a Dwarf that wasn’t on the adventure, a mute archer who Kamri gathered was not a fan of her, and the Captain who she was by no means done being an awkward idiot around.

“Here is your tea-“A new voice interrupted. Kamri’s head snapped around immediately. “Oh GOOD LORD thank you so godamn much!”
“I’m not some petty servant, I shouldn’t have to serve this.”
Kamri looked up at him with a puzzled look. He slammed down the tray and stormed out the door.
“Enough of this! I have to go find and capture the Aviator!”

The door slammed and the tea shop became deadly quiet for a moment. All the patrons watched the door for a few seconds before turning back to their conversations. Kamri rubbed her fingers on the bridge of her nose. It would going to be a long day.

Ed rested his chin on his hand and tried to keep his eyes open as the elderly folk began chatting among themselves while they waited for the server. It had been interesting for a second there as the new old man had recognized his ol- His manservant and confidant, Peabody. Then it had descended into idle chatter about old folk things, the weather and what have you. The girl beside him attempted to start a conversation and Ed turned violently to face her, face animated and mouth open, ready to pounce upon this fresh conversation Stubble on a ball of yarn. He was interrupted, however, by the appearance of a pale man. He had an extremely serious aura, made even more serious by the burn scar on his face reminded him so much of the girl at his side. His head was shaved, much like Ed's own, save for a black ponytail. It didn't matter that the man seemed to only have tea with him, would it really have killed him to carry some wine over to the table too, he was another distraction from the boredom. The girl spoke and her words had a strange effect on the man: They made him throw a rather child-like fit that ended with him storming out of the tea shop. Silence descended on the shop, and Ed sighed and reached over, dragging the tray of tea closer to him. No sense in letting it go to waste, even if it was just tea…

"Hand off that cup you shiny headed bastard. That's mine." Ed froze in place, eyes narrowing as he looked out of the corners of them at the white haired mage. All the cups had looked alike, and he was certain that since nobody had taken an order from them that the tea inside was the same in each of the identical cups. Common sense would dictate that there was no difference in the cups so there was no need for her to demand his, and also that there was no need for him to refuse to give her the cup. But it was his cup of tea. He had reached over and taken it. In slow, deliberate movements he raised the cup towards his lips. The temperature at the table dropped suddenly and Ed's breath misted the air in front of him. The white haired mage with the snake eyes let out a hissing breath, her eyes fixed on his. There was the sound of movement as Peabody moved away from the table, presumably to give himself room to draw his sword. The new old man stroked his beard, letting out a breath of his own. There was sudden warmth from that direction, but not enough that it would reach across the table. The dwarf, Squatz, cleared her throat and had to stand and lean her body across the table to take a cup from the tray for herself. She returned to her cushion and began to slurp it loudly. Ed finished lifting the cup to his lips to find that the liquid inside was now cool. He drank the whole thing down in a single gulp anyway, suppressing the grimace that the taste of the cold tea threatened to bring. Smacking his lips as though satisfied, he slammed the cup down on the table. "Oh you stupid son of a bitch…:"

Ed's free hand was already fishing around inside his coat. While he thought he was doing it subtly, he was in fact making it extremely obvious what he was doing. He was trying to find one of his throwing knives while keeping his eyes firmly on the white haired mage's. He was refusing to blink first, but his eyes were already beginning to water. He had won one battle so far, though, and refused to give up his advantage. There was the sound of metal sliding against leather, Peabody drawing his rapier, and the muttering around the tea shop began to get panicked. From around Ed came the sounds of people stumbling, dropping things, knocking things over in their rush to get out of there as quickly as possible. Ed widened his eyes a little more in an attempt to keep them open longer but it only made his eyes begin to burn.  He grimaced, in what he hoped was a manly and threatening manner. He was vaguely aware of the dwarf holding her cup out to the old man, but he had no idea what was happening over there.

Peabody drew his rapier and readied himself. He was right about the mage. She was a dragon, which meant he had no chance at killing her. He would not sit there and let her threaten the captain, though. The fire mage, Iroh, a general who for some reason was running this small, out of the way teach shop, didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest by the events unfolding before them and neither did the dwarven lawyer Stella. He supposed that if they weren't worried then he shouldn't be, either. If he was honest, the only reason he was reacting was because of her words, not her actions. So far she hadn't actually done anything. Knowing the captain, though, he was likely to force her into doing something. That man was going to be the death of him. The dragon drummed her fingertips on the table and Peabody noticed that claws had begun to form on the ends of her fingers. He raised his sword, pointing the tip at her and suddenly her other hand struck out, closing around the thin blade. Ice formed along it's length and without taking her eyes from the captain she snapped the blade. Peabody stood, silent, and thought about that for a moment. Well, looks like he was going to be drinking some tea before he died. He dropped the hilt of the rapier, what had once been a beautiful piece of steel, and returned to his cushion. Iroh, the great general, picked up a cup of cold tea and as Peabody reached over to take it from him steam began to rise from it once more.

Ed could feel his eyelids itching to close, but he wouldn't let them. He had given up on finding a throwing knife, needing to focus all of his attention on the battle at hand. His hand, which he now had rested on his leg, began to twitch slightly. He was going to lose, but he couldn't afford to. An idea lit up in his mind, an act of sheer genius that would see him through this. Using a little bit of magic telekinesis, he formed tiny wedges of force that pinned open his eyes. Brilliant. There was no way for him to lose now!

Fieri wove her way through the city until she found herself in a park at it's very center. The park was man made, but it had been here for centuries. She could feel the history in the trees here, the power in them. She reached out to them as she drew closer and felt them responding to her. There were others here, others who were cousins to her kind. They enjoyed living close to the people who lived inside the city, they walked among them, spoke with them. That was their decision, as much as she herself couldn't understand it. Or, wouldn't have understood it, years ago. Wasn't she living among men now, though? Didn't she have the chance to leave them, here and now, and find her way back home? Instead she was choosing to continue on with them, all based on a debt she felt she owed. There was the reason, though. A debt couldn't be allowed. If she didn't repay it then it would just grow. Best to stick around until she had her chance.

The tree at the center was the one that she wanted. The oldest one in the grove. She knelt before it, leaning forwards to rest her head against it's bark. It soothed her. She lost track of time, for a while, and when she opened her eyes once more there was a branch laid out before her. She looked down at it, seeing the bow that could be made with such a branch, if only she had the skill. She did not, but one could be found who did. She thanked the tree, lifted the branch and turned back towards the city. It was time to find the others again.

The man who had served the tea left in a dizzying hurry, shouting. He nearly knocked the tea over in his hasty exit, but it seemed the cups would last long enough for them to enjoy their tea.
She reached over the table to quietly grab hers. If she hyper focused on the tea, maybe she could get through this awkward situation.

Her fingers curled around a small cup and she began to take it from the table. Only when her hand nearly brushed the Captains, did she realize why everyone had gone horribly quiet. Glancing up, she noticed the Captain frozen as the ice mage glared threateningly at him, insulting his ridiculous bald head. Slowly, the Captain raised the cup to his face and began to sip. She wasn’t entirely sure, but she could have sworn she saw his lip twitch upward, trying to force down a knowing smile.
The mage had insulted him, and the room grew cold.
Kamri placed her cup down, already knowing it was frozen. All she wanted was some warm tea…
Where had this mage come from? Who was this man who sat at the table with them? And the dwarf… their party was rapidly growing, and she would be damned if that ice mage joined, too. It was obvious that his personality should not mix with hers, for it would create a disastrous result.

The shop had begun to empty rather quickly, smarter patrons and weary travelers all rushed out quickly into the street, reading the mood and deciding that the tea could wait perhaps one more day.

Kamri pursed her lips into a thin line, debating if she should follow the smarter peoples leaving the teashop or stick around to see what might develop in this definitely exciting conclusion.

The two kept staring at each other. It became obvious that the ‘loser’ of this battle would be the one to blink first. Kamri didn’t have much interest in the affairs of some ice mage and her…leader. At least, not until she noticed the Captains’ eyes growing a bit wider. Normally this would be fine but something caught her eye. Just for a fleeting moment, a half second, the air seemed to shimmer around his eyes.
She knew about this magic, vaguely, from the journals. He was propping his eyes open!

Peabody’s tea had been reheated. Kamri swayed her fingertips in front of her, grasping a few unfrozen droplets and quickly snapping her hand towards the Captain.
The droplets hit the side of his face, right next to his eye. She cracked a smile, knowing it would distract him long enough to lose.


- - -

Zazel warmed his toes by the fireplace, rubbing his hands together and soaking in the heat. The passerby paid him no mind. His clothes where odd but they had all seen beggars with few layers to keep warm. Another one passing by was no big issue.
He glanced outside to see lamps lit early, the glass tinted festive colors.
The warm smell of cider wafted from the kitchen, his stomach aching for some. He had the funds, plenty of it too, but he was dipping too much into affairs that where not part of his hired job. He needed to stay focused!
Well.
Maybe one cider.

"The weather outside is surprisingly mild for this time of year, isn't it? Why, I remember the last time I was here there was a storm that lasted for days." Peabody said, sipping at the tea.
"Oh yes, for this time of year the weather is beautiful! You should see the cherry blossom trees." came the response from Iroh.
"You two need to just get a room already. Although, this tea is a delight…" Squatz sipped at her own tea, savoring the flavor.
"Ah! I couldn't have said it better myself! The tea I am used to is nothing like this!"
"Ah, it's a secret recipe I came up with myself." the former general chuckled.
"Hmm… I think with a few more cups and some dwarven ingenuity I could work it out…"
"I would be more than happy to help you in that endeavor!" 

The three of them began to chuckle which caused a spasm in his cheek below his right eye. Here he was in a life or death struggle and the three of them were just chattering away like old women on wash day. He scowled, but he was already formulating a new plan, based on his original plan to keep his own eyes open. With a delicate touch he was sure he could do the opposite to the white haired mage. Instead of forcing eyes open, couldn't he use telekinesis to very gently, and very subtly so she wouldn't notice she was being effected by outside sources, close her eyes. The plan was inspired, a work of genius. It was going to take all his concentration to pull off, even the most minor of distractions could end in disaster as his focus was already split by using magic to keep his own eyes open. They were beginning to itch like crazy right now. He wondered if, very carefully, he could perform a third task at the same time. Use magic to scratch his eyes, very, very gently… No. No. First, defeat the evil witch, then scratch his eyes. If he wasn't battling her right now then he would have nodded to himself. He took a deep breath and reached out with his mind, beginning the process to close the damn woman's eyes.

Things happened fast. He had thought he was close to completing his plan when, in the space of a second, everything happened at once. The mage's eyes flicked to the side just as something struck his face, just beneath his eye, which distracted him and caused his magic to get away from him. He would have celebrated a win, because that's what it was as the mage had looked away no matter how briefly, and he also would have been okay with the outcome if his magic had just speared the mage in her left eye. Which it did. But unfortunately he also accidentally forced one of the wedges into his own left eye at the same time. The distraction had caused him to lose his delicate control of his telekinesis. The results of all this was both Ed and the mage pushing back from the table at the same time, both of them holding their eyes and cursing loudly. Ed was quick to calm down, the mage however began throwing tables around and shouting extremely loudly about how she would kill everyone. Everyone and their mothers. Their mothers mothers. Their mothers mothers mothers. It continued for a while before she eventually slumped down at the table once again, the tea shop in ruins around them. For his part, Iroh took it all very calmly, continuing to sip tea and speak pleasantly with the other elder members of their group about local politics.

By the time the mage had returned to the table Ed had fished out his eye patch from one of the interior pockets of his overcoat. He could see out of the eye, it wasn't permanently damaged. It wasn't even damaged badly. He was fine, but if this wasn't the time to wear the patch then when was? The mage was muttering to herself and Ed sighed, happy in his victory.

"So anyway. Now we are all gathered here, it's time to discuss plans for the future. Dragon, what do you plan on doing?" Stella spoke with the air of someone who was used to taking charge, and she stared steadily at the mage. The dragon. Whatever it was that the white haired woman really was.
"I was going to eat all you fuckers but… Actually, I still might." Ed didn't even look at the mage when she said this. He focused on lifting the tea pot, which was warm again, and pouring himself another cup of tea.
"Yes. Well. You could do that, couldn't you? But then… Well, I guess you don't care that much about treasure…" Ed smiled to himself, hiding it behind the tea cup as he lifted it to his lips. The mage, one hand that was now covered in scales and tipped with large, sharp claws, held to her face, stared at the dwarf.
"Well now, let's not get hasty. Treasure, you say?"
"Ah, yes. My employer, the good Mr Thrustbunion, has a great number of ventures that could benefit from someone of your obvious power. He's a generous man, especially to his friends, and extremely wealthy. Even more so now, after recent events." She shot Ed a pointed look, one that he didn't respond to.
"Thrustbunion? That sounds like a ridiculous name. I would need to collect my elf at some point, but I'm sure I could be persuaded to listen to your master with the silly name"
"Employer." It sounded like that had touched a nerve. "Well, first we need to take care of a few things here. That might take some time. Until we have things set up, these people have had a difficult time recently and could do with some time to relax. Perhaps you could stick around, get to know them as you may be working with them in the future."
"Relax? In this dump? I don't think so. If they want to relax, there's a place I could take them." Ed couldn't tell if the dragon mage was being honest or sarcastic but her words sent a chill down his spine.
"Perfect! Then you take these kids and go. I'll need to stay here and take care of legal issues with the ship, as well as funding."
"Hmm…" The old man stroked his beard, leaning forward to get everyone's attention. "It seems my business has been met with a bit of an accident, my customers scared away and my nephew has run off… It looks like I'm going to be needing to find alternate employment for a while…"
"The ship needed a good cook, would you look at that! Perfect! You can stay with me and see about recruitment, since you know the locals so well."
"And if you wouldn't mind, sir," Peabody looked directly at Ed, "I feel like one of us should remain behind to oversee all this. It being our ship and crew, after all."
The elders all smirked, sharing a look with each other that spoke of plans being enacted here and Ed was powerless to refuse. He sighed, shaking his head.
"Well, it looks like everything is being sorted out here. Let us collect the others. I expect you won't be needing Celeryx, will you?" 

Ed walked out into the street, followed by the rest of the party not long after that. The old man, the new old man, locked up the shop behind them and followed along, whistling a jaunty little tune. It was with a little surprise that across the street Ed could see Fieri and Twinkle standing there, as if waiting for them. Fieri was clutching a branch in her hands and Twinkle was staring up at the sky. Ed waved them over and then the rest of them headed back towards the docks.

The ship came into sight, orders were exchanged, belongings gathered and all of a sudden Ed found himself standing with the white haired mage and the others who would be joining them on their relaxation time. Some of them were holding bags, or backpacks, or just clutching whatever they had to hand. The white haired mage, who had disappeared briefly through a portal and then returned, was holding up two different eye patches and seemed to be weighing them, deciding between them. Suddenly, she tossed them aside and began cursing herself. "Stupid fucking Shyrus…" she lifted her hand to her face and after a brief flash of magic, the eye that had been red and sore looking was suddenly healthy once more. Ed, eyeing the patches on the floor, made a show of looking up at the sky while using telekinesis to fetch them. He stowed them in his pocket for later as Shyrus opened up a portal. "Okay you dumb fucks, let's go have some fun!"

Ed stepped through the portal and was immediately struck by intense cold at the same time as he stumbled forwards, sinking knee deep into snow. He spun around in place to warn the others but they were already rushing through. Twinkle, seemingly unaffected by the cold, sunk even deeper than Ed had. She was up to her chest in snow but didn't seem to mind all that much. She looked around, something in the distance catching her attention, and began walking through the snow with little difficulty. Fieri stepped through, standing atop the snow, and immediately drew her bow and rushed forwards. Celeryx and the girl came next and the kobold, after initially sinking, scrabbled up to the surface and after that didn't seem to have any issues. He, too, got distracted by something in the distance. Ed groaned and turned around, pushing through the snow, and froze, not seeing the dragon mage come through or the portal closing behind her.

They were on top of a hill, overlooking a battle. On one side were insects, some of them traditionally  shaped but giant, and others looking humanoid in shape but having obvious insect features. The other side, surprisingly, were kobolds, which had Celeryx hissing and spitting away. Some of the kobolds were attacking violently, as if without any thoughts to their own safety. Others were surrounding, protecting, another of their people. He was dressed differently from the others, dark robes flapping dramatically in the wind. Ed was a little jealous. From around the battlefield spectral figures began appearing and bodies that had been scattered across the battlefield began to rise up and begin attacking the insects. Behind the battle, in a corral, were a group of giant bees. They looked big enough to ride, at least from atop the hill. Around them flitted smaller shapes, which Ed couldn't quite make out from there. On either side of the corral were scorpions. Terrifyingly big scorpions. Their stingers alone looked big enough to spear a bull with ease. There was a roar from behind Ed, and a rushing of air, and suddenly there was a dragon flying off to join the battle.

The battle didn't last long after that. The dragon plucked up one of the scorpions by the tail and, chuckling the entire time, began using it to beat the other one to death. Laughing, she then used both of them and began slamming them into the masses of insect troops. It was a little nauseating. The bees, at least all but one of them, had fled before the end. Ed let out a breath he didn't know he had held as he looked down at the carnage below.

Kamri stood from the table, pushing herself to her feet. Seemed they were on the move again. Relaxation never seemed to last too long, which meant she should get a move on to this hectic ride. After all, this hectic ride was their break. The ride before the absolute plummet to the lower levels of hell. No reason to protest going somewhere a little less cramped than the tea shop.
A few people elected to stay behind and watch the ship. Probably for the best, as leaving it open could leave it open to theft- and they weren’t about to accidently sell someone else to slavery. That loop ended here.

Everyone clambered aboard the ship to collect their items before setting off on some…new adventure? Vacation? It was actually rather unclear what it was, or where they were going. Of course Kamri grabbed her journal, the money she had left, and her wand. Her wand wasn’t something she needed to cast per say, but it helped her channel and control her magic none the less.
She thought about bringing her knife, and decided it couldn’t hurt. She grabbed that, too.

The ship rocked gently as they all found their way back to solid ground.
The whited haired mage had appeared and disappeared a few times. It seemed she was choosing between eyepatches, after a lengthy thought process and self-debate, it was clear that they would obviously go to the Captain.
“That’s right… I see you… taking those patches for your aesthetic. You aesthetic vulture…” Kamri spoke under her breath.

The white haired mage opened the portal. Kamri had an uneasy feeling about her. Not just her rash attitude but she seemed dangerous, too. Not to mention the mysterious mage who had crept onto their ship while they were in the middle of the sea. Not to be fully trusted with anything.
But Captain, Celery, and everyone else stepped through without a second thought. Against her better judgement, Kamri followed.

The snow immediately claimed her, sinking well past her knees and to her thighs. She muttered about how cold it was, but was drown out by the sound of screaming and fighting. Pulling herself up and trying to gain a solid footing, she was able to glance at the view below. They overlooked a small valley, a war happening just below their feet.
Insectoids vs kobolds. Kamri immediately saw the anger in Celery’s eyes. She inched herself forward, trying to get a better look. “We should go and help-“
The mage shifted shape, turning into a large icy white dragon.
Same immediately demolished the bugs, scraping away at their numbers by hurling the body of a large scorpion around. She laughed in glee, making them run or sink into the snow. Kamri hurried over as quickly as she could, despite the obvious disadvantage she had.
By the time she reached the valley, most the damage had been done and finished. A kobold laid in front of her, sprawled out in the snow, breathing heavily.
Kamri rushed to the Kobold’s side, trying to lift his body from the snow. He was bleeding badly.

“Hold on. Can you stand? We can-“
The Kobold hissed, pushing himself from her arms and falling back into the snow. With a groan he pointed to the stables. Inside sat a large bee, tethered and trapped.
Kamri looked down at the Kobold, but it sighed, its last breath gone.
She clutched her fist but continued onward to check on the stables.

A large bee buzzed around, unable to free itself. When it saw Kamri, it reared back, anxiously scrunching itself up into a corner.

Kamri tried to soothe it with calm words and slow movements, but it still seemed upset. She ignored it for now, spotting a few planks in the fence that still stood. The bee was tied down by a leash, of which its end was tied around one of those planks.
She pushed through the snow and made her way to it. She grabbed her knife, and began to slice away at the tether.
The bee buzzed anxiously, trying to pull free.
From below it, nuzzled in its fur, came a second, smaller bee that rushed out to meet Kamri. This seemed to distress the larger bee.
It hopped effortlessly across the snow, sticking onto Kamri with its feet and climbing up her shoulder. It nuzzled its furry face into her neck.
Kamri smiled gently pushing it back so she could work. How strange this was…
The tether cut loose, and the other Bee started to… gallop? To Kamri. Kamri grasped the smaller one in her hands and held it out for the larger one to take. The smaller one hopped from her hands and to the larger one. Each buzzed happily.
Cute.

Ed stood in the cold, standing completely still in the snow and just letting the scene of carnage before him soak in. There were bug guts… Everywhere. Spread across the snow, sinking in. Pieces of armor, legs, antennae… And right there in the middle of all of it there was a gore spattered dragon, crunching away and chunks of giant scorpion. It was almost enough to make him want to vomit. He had no idea how long he had been standing there, but it felt like it had been at least twenty six days since he had done anything. Weird, that feeling. Well, he was here now and that was the main thing, right? A cold breeze stirred his overcoat and made him realize he wasn't outfitted for this particular adventure. What that meant, though, was that when they got to the nearest town he could go clothes shopping…

He turned in place to talk to the others, only to find himself staring at the head and shoulders of Twinkle. Her head was cocked and she wasn't making a sound, just watching what was going on down in the valley below. Everyone else, though, was gone. He let out another sigh, turning once again and churning up the snow to find out where everyone else had gone. There was a small squeak from behind him but he ignored it. There was that one new girl, almost skipping along the surface of the snow and annoying the hell out of him. What kind of magic allowed her to do that, he wondered. She didn't seem bothered at all by the cold, another pang of jealousy at that. Then there was the lizard, the kobold.. What had his name been? There were so many new people it was becoming hard to keep track of them all, to be honest. A little part of him hoped that, years from now, there might be some massive calamity that saw some of them separated from all the others. The kobold seemed to be finding his own way along the surface of the snow, too. He was nowhere near as graceful as Fieri, though, who was well on her way to overtaking him. That just left the girl. Who was slogging away through the snow in true human fashion. Ah, he could appreciate her more and more. Good old fashioned hard work, that was what was needed. Ed looked over his shoulder to say as much to Twinkle and almost fell over when he saw that she was missing.

He quickly found her again, though. She was walking through the snow, plowing through it easily. He was reminded of the sight of shark fins in the water, cutting through the waves with ease. Here was the head of Twinkle doing the exact same thing. Ed cursed under his breath, readying himself to slog through the snow much like his little friend the girl when an idea came to mind. He struggled over to the wake that Twinkle had left behind and grinned to himself as he found his progress was now much easier. Chuckling to himself, he began following, heading towards the site of all that disgusting gore.

Fieri strode across the surface of the snow as if it was solid ground, her eyes darting across the battlefield for any signs of movement that wasn't a kobold or dragon. She ignored the feel of the cold, despite how it made her feel slow and sluggish. She knew she would still be able to react faster than a mortal, but… Her grip on the old hunting bow tightened, her free hand snatching at an arrow but it was just another kobold that had been buried under a pile of gore that had managed to free itself. She sighed and wished for warmer clothing, or warmer weather. If she found herself stuck out here then she was going to go crazy.

She looked around for a while, helping to pull some of the hissing kobolds out of the snow and onto the surface, or dig through steaming piles of organs looking for others. She had a basic sense of what they were saying, her draconic was a little rusty though and there was no way for her to respond to them. Not without unfortunate consequences. All the insects were dead, she could gather that much. They had attacked this little caravan after hearing rumors, or being ordered to or… Something. But the insects had been abusing the bees, the same bees that had now flown away. She hadn't the faintest idea what made these bees in particular any different from the other insects. Were they just more gentle in nature? How would she ask any of them present. She hissed herself, grabbing hold of a small clawed hand and tugging. The arm came away, sending her stumbling back a step, but there was nothing attached to it. Unfortunate.

A sound from a way off caught her attention and she spun quickly in place, dropping the arm and raising the bow with an arrow ready. There, approaching them, travelling over the surface of the snow was a cart being pulled by a small grey donkey. She could hear, even from here, the sound of out of tune singing. Even though the sound should have been grating there was an amount of charm to it that had her raising an eyebrow. There was something almost beautiful to the singing, despite the problems.

Celeryx scrambled across the surface of the snow, the spear in his hands held tightly enough that he could feel his claws digging into the wood. He had started moving before the dragon had flown above him and he wasn't even halfway there when the battle was over. He could taste the archer's scent on the air, coming up beside him, frustrating him because of his slower progress. His webbed feet and experience with the snow had made him move far quicker than others, but the way that one was moving was just unnatural. It reminded him in a way of her… He snapped his mind back to the present, pushing aside those thoughts. Not only were those his people down there, those were his people. He could see the banners, here and there, marking them as his own tribe. The fact that they were here, dealing with this must mean that these insects were a bigger threat than just one skirmish in the snow. He longed for news from home. These were his people, he would actually be able to talk with them. It had been far too long since he had had a real conversation. He hurried his pace, careful not to sink too far into the snow and get stuck.

At first he thought that the damage wasn't too bad. Obviously, when all you saw was a massacre of insect bodies it was hard to notice the tiny kobold bodies mixed in, but they were there. He hissed his frustration as he tried help one, but was far too late to help. One of the survivors, or victors he supposed he should have been calling them, saw him and immediately dropped to his knee which caused him to sink slightly into the snow. Celeryx hurried forwards, waving his hands in negation, looking from shoulder to make sure none of the others had seen this.

"Get to your feet, and hurry," he said in his native tongue, "tell the othersss. There isss to be none of that. Not around thessse outsssidersss." He felt almost embarrassed about his heritage, after spending so long among these people and them having had no idea who he was. Then, why would they have any idea? It's not like his tribe was all that important, outside of their own home. Still, there was no way of knowing how they would react. There was a faint taste on the air of corruption and his eyes lit up. It was a familiar smell, one that was comforting as it reminded him so much of the temple. A priest was shambling through the upper crust of the snow, no longer young and spry enough to stay above the surface like the warriors that came with him.

Ed shambled forward just in time to see a cart approaching the scene. He tapped Twinkle on the shoulder, pointing in that direction and she took the hint beautifully. He was losing track of the others but where was there to go out here that they could disappear to? It's not like there was some kind of giant flying mount that could just whisk them away wherever they wanted to go. He chuckled. He heard the singing and couldn't help but sing along, it was a tune he knew well from his days in the air. A popular song, one that reminded him of better times. With a grin on his face he approached the cart, which had come to a halt. Not far away he noticed that Fieri was also approaching, with her bow raised and at the ready, causing a frown to crease Ed's brow. There was no need of that, surely? This wasn't an insect to be feared! Though why there were insects of this size to be feared he had no idea. Maybe the gods had grown bored and decided there needed to be a little more excitement in the world. It wouldn't have surprised him if that was the case.

"Hello there, travelers! What a mighty fine thing it is to see others out here! These friendly little reptilian friends of mine were here on a rescue mission, I had no idea that they would find others in the need of rescue!" the words came from a diminutive little figure in the front of the cart, reigns held loosely in his hand.The figure was bundled up in layers of clothing that left him shapeless, but Ed could make out some features that led him to believe this stranger was either a gnome or an extremely ugly child. The sound of the voice, the pitch and depth made him think it was the former, though. He opened his mouth to say something, but the gnome was already talking again. "Why, is that a pretty little golem I see there in the snow? Oh my stars, I never thought I would see a construct out here that was made as well as you! Oh, you must come up here so we can chat, or no, better yet, I'll come down to you!"

The figure hopped down to the snow, skating over the top and arriving in front of Ed and Twinkle in a flash. Ed was becoming particularly annoyed with people making this look easy. He shook his head and tried to introduce them, but the gnome was talking again. "Oh my… I had no idea… How did you come to be here, little one? Why, you couldn't possibly have… Hmm…" the gnome tapped his chin, peering at Twinkle with eyes that Ed noticed now were golden and seemed to glow ever so slightly. In the daylight, which was made even brighter with how it reflected off the snow, this was hard to tell and could possibly have just been a trick of the light. "Oh my oh my, we need to get you out of the snow. One such as you shouldn't be here like this, oh no…" with this the gnome reached down, somehow finding Twinkle's hand and taking it. She took a few steps forwards and was stood on the surface of the snow, causing Ed to snarl.

"Yes, you go and sit yourself down in the cart. Pay no attention to him in the back, he has issues. And you, there, sir," the gnome spun in place, "I have the greatest pleasure in meeting you, oh yes! You have been taking very good care of her, have you not? I can see by the protective way you look at her that you have, oh yes. I am Theodore Frostfoot, trader and crafter of fine things and it is a pleasure to meet you. I am at your service, sir! How can I help you?"

While the others were talking, Fieri stalked forwards to look into the back of the cart. Inside there were all kinds of baubles, but plenty of space and one little figure huddled under a pile of blankets. She noticed the crossbow, pointed directly at her, but she had her own bow pointed at the figure. They stared at each other, neither of them blinking, until the sound of Twinkle clearing her throat came from the front of the cart. Fieri lowered her bow and looked at the stone girl, smiling nervously. She shrugged, trying to ask a question with hand gestures but not getting far. The figure in the cart shuffled forward, dropping the blanket and making all kinds of gestures with it's hands. It was obvious that it was trying to talk to her, using it's hands… Now, there was an idea…

Shyrus lifted up the tail of one of the scorpions, holding the ragged end to her mouth so she could suck out the insides. She hadn't realized just how delicious these giant bugs could be. She would never have tried this with a… She shuddered… Spider, but this here scorpion was making a mighty snack. Maybe she wouldn't kill the others. Not right now, at least. She cronched and monched her way through her meal, using the poisonous stinger when she was done to pick some of the guts out of her teeth.