Glayp'neir (Arc 1)

Airgetlam notes some of the foreign foods and tries to pronounce the names. She settles on the "Penang Hokkien Char", and notices Sharpe found his way into the eatery.

"Oh, hiya, glad you could make it! One less meal to get to go!" She says. With him they might actually top fifty silver maybe. She gives Sharpe her menu, seeing as how she's settled on what she wants.

She turns to Jack.

"So you were in an orphanage? I imagine that kind of life is maybe harsh. I never knew my parents, but I was never in an orphanage."

Jian's surprised to see Sharpe step in after having the woman welcome them. He simply raises his hand tiredly towards him nodding once, then scratching his head while looking down onto the menu.

He keeps pondering on wether to take some Moo Goo Gai Pan or Szechuan Beef. After a short moment he decides on the Beef, then passing over his menu to Jack. He then raises his hand to get the attention of the woman.

"I excuse our sudden interruption, as it seemed like you prepared to close down for tonight... You seem fairly new here, just like me. It's rare to see people that are able to speak my native language, so it's a neat surprise. Anyhow, to get down to it and to not keep you too long... This fine girl right here would like some Penang Hokkien Char, I personally will order Szechuan Beef, the other two seem undecided so far, I am afraid. Once again, I am sorry for the inconvinence, I will make sure that I make for it in a way."

He bows once on his chair, nodding to her with a warm smile, then looking over to the others.

"Being an orphanage pretty much feels like being a stranger in your own country, everything feels out of place, you feel out of place. I felt the same when I was forced to get away, just that I wasn't little, so I knew my way around.... Kind of.", he then dds to the main conversation.

Everybody here seems to have a big story to tell, it's quite spectacular what fused together this group.

"I've already Jian that my family was wiped out by plague. Well, everyone other than uncle Sand. Although, he was more of my of a friend of my father rather than literally biological family. He was a pirate, but that's a story for another time, I'm getting far off topic. Anways, the orphanage... hahaha, you too don't even know the half of it. Can you imagine? About three fourths of the children there were bastards and yet I was considered the freak because 'heaven forbid anyone becomes friends with the dirty gypsy'."

He turns to the lady

"S-same ....same aaaas... he...oh forget it. Please forgive me for butchering your lovely language. I would like to order the same thing as him."

The woman nods and bangs on the wall before yelling into the other room in her foreign language.
"Penang Hokkien Char and Szechuan Beef twice"

She then pulls out some cups with elaborate oriental designs and begins to pour some readily available tea. A short while later she puts them on the bar together with a bowl of sugar and a few metal spoons besides it. "Your meal will be ready in short while." she says and directs her attention to the sleeping customer, giving him a light slap on the back to get his attention. "Hey mister, time to go home now. You been here long enough."
Surely enough the man wakes with a grunt and pulls his nose, making a wretched sound before spitting to the side of the table. "Ya alright." he says half asleep half drunk and slides off the stool, nearly falling as he pushes out of the little area.

She directs her attention back to sharpe.
"You want to order now?"

Sharpe flips through the menu, reading the descriptions. His eyesight drifts down the list until he comes to the Moo Goo Gai Pan, which seems tantalizing enough to warrant an order. He looks up slowly, threading his fingers between each other, and looks up with a fatigued look.

"Moo Goo Gai Pan, please." He says, with sureness and pronouncing it rather clearly, but with an accent. Not out of disrespect of course, quite the opposite; out of respect, since words deserve to be said in their languages. He slides the menu back to Airgetlam, his gaze becoming rather unfocused. Sleep is going to be sneaking up on him, he can feel it's beckoning.

Airgetlam looks at Jian, puzzled.

"How did you know i wanted that?" she asks, lifting an eyebrow. She feels the menu she passed to Sharpe push itself under the side of her hand, and she takes it up, offering it forth for the bartender, smiling.

"You know, it's kind of dawned on me. I don't think we've ever really gone in depth about our histories honestly. Most of what we said was either us explaining it in a hurry and in chunks, or just tidbits here and there to explain small things. As well, you guys talking at all about your travels makes me want to talk to my mentor again, see if he's doing ok still."

She turns back to Jack.

"Who's this Gipsy you mentioned?"

"Moreso, how did you know I ordered for you? It's not like I made it clear to you that I am ordering for you, neither did I say it in your native language.", he simply replies to her with a bit of a smug to leave her with that little mystery.

He stretches once hiding his yawn with his hand for a moment, then letting his arms drop again.

"It is true, we haven't talked about it in-depth yet. But this is not the right place for it to talk about aswell, let's settle on doing that when we're not tired and it's not as late.", he then adds to Air's statement.

Jian waves over the woman of the stand, having her lean in a bit closer.

"Ms. Chen told me about your stand, so I thought a few customers might do you good. She also mentioned you're rather new to the town... so this was the perfect time to stop by. She kept mentioning that you're doing a good job with it, so I am sure you won't have a hard time getting around in this city.

He smiles, then putting down one of the charms he worked on, a rather remarkable piece this time, mostly straight edges, clear carvings, a neatly shaped pyramid. Written in symbols, there's "luck" carved in. It's rather cliché, but he tought it might be a nice thing to give. He then also puts two containers of spices onto the table with spices, pushing it to her with an assuring nod.

Jack couldn't help chuckle.

"I am, Air. Has it been that hard to notice?"

Jack's stomach was still rumbling. He discretely wipers to Jian.

"Uh, Jian, since you chose this place, I don't want to rush anyone, but would you happen to have an estimate for how long the food will be ready. Also, what are the spices for if you don't mind me asking."

The woman smiles in response to Jian and nods back. "Ah yes, my family moved here a bit ago and we opened this ship together." She then picks up the menu together with the gifts given to her, giving Jian another warm smile. "Thank you" she says and puts all of it on a table to put away later. She bangs on the little counter window again says something incoherant in a rather loud tone and is handed three plates of sweet pork buns which she promptly puts onto the counter. "Enjoy please. Your meal is ready in five minute."

The woman is about to turn and walk into the kitchen as she is stopped by the familiar voice of a girl.
"Excuse me," The girl says as she leans her arms onto the bar, sitting on the stool the drunk occupant had been in just moments ago. Her attire was starange even for an adventurer; A robe with intricate designs, leather straps and a jacket. Ontop of it all a bit of light armor which didn't seem to protect as much of her body as it should to be the least effective. Her white hair was covered by a witches hat with a chain rattling off the end. After a brief moment of obliviousness, Jian notices its the girl that had helped him at the docks. "I would have some Xiaolongbao with a side of Baozi if you could. I'll pay in advance." The girl put some money on the table, clearly more than one would normally pay for a mere dish and slides it across the little bar.
The woman nodds at her and takes some of the money, leaving the rest on the table and dissapears behind the door to the kitchen, to tell the man cooking on the other side to make more dishes.

Sharpe leans over, poking his head out from the rest of the line and looks down to where the drunkard was sitting, now taken by a young lass with an odd hat and white hair.

"Might this be the woman who came to us in the market earlier? The one under cloak?" He asks inquisitively, cocking his head to one side.

"E-eh?!" Airgetlam stammers.

"I, uh, I just picked it out from what you were saying and it's what I was thinking about in my head, so I thought you meant me!" She says, blushing.

She looks back to addressing Jack. She gives him a blank stare, then sheepishly blushes again, forgetting his past as a Gipsy.

"O-oh yeah..." She says and pulls hood over her head and lowering it to show her embarrassment.

Jian nods to the woman after her thanking him. "I hope you'll have a good business in the future with this establishment then. It seems rather promising so far! The spices mostly work with meat, maybe not chicken, but I have yet not tried that myself.", he smiles after saying such.

He turns to Jack asking the questions and tilts his head a little. "Quite curious of a man you can be sometimes... The food will be done as soon as it's finished and regarding th-", he is cut off by himself noticing the girl from the docks sitting down next to them, ordering calmly.

"Excuse me for a second.", he then says with a lightly serious tone, getting off of his chair, tapping the girl's shoulder. "Can we speak for a short moment?", he whispers, lightly pulling her arm to get her step out with him.

Jack eats his sweet pork bun.

"Oh thank the heavens, she's not running off. She's seems suspicious and I oughtta find out what she's up to, but I'll be damned if I leave this seat before eating...does that make me seem lazy...nah. should probably ask her some questions."

Jack swallows his food before speaking.

"Salutations miss. My name is Sam. I don't believe we've formally met. If I recall correctly, you were with him, you shoved my aside, indiscriminately with magic on accident I assume, and then, you said something to these two before disappearing."

Jack was pointing towards the people he mentioned.

"I have to be honest, it all seems quite odd for a first impression. It would be highly appreciated if you could tell us about yourself and what you are doing here, if that's ok."

The girl nods at Jian pulling her out of the small stall-like bar area and slides off her seat, Pushing one of the pieces of cloth aside that act as a divider for the place. She ignores Jack, whether it be her being oblivious or simply not caring as the two of them move a small ways away from the restaurant. Not very far, just a few steps to the side. "Yes? What do you need?" She asks curiously.

The woman at the restaurant meanwhile serves up some of the dishes. Hastily cooked but still delicious in contrast to rather fine restaurants. She serves Airgetlam and puts down the food for Jian and Sharpe. "Rest of the food ready soon." she says and retreats back into the kitchen.

Sharpe nods and says his thanks to the woman.

"Thank... You..." He manages to say. No doubt it would seem rather odd, but he picked things up on his travels, if only in the smallest of increments.

He looks to Airgetlam.

"Looks like it's just you and me now. And you know, speaking of the past, what were you up to before the whole castle charade? Last I saw you before then, you were striking out on your own i believe?" he asks of his most trusted friend.

Airgetlam begins eating her food, which is superbly prepared. Of course it's not gourmet, but of course that would probably cost them a good portion of their coin. She eases herself from her meal and turns her attention to Sharpe.

"Um, honestly, I was just kind of looking for work, wandering around, seeing the world. That kind of stuff. I don't know though who'll employ an infiltrator, but I was thinking maybe the militia or something, or maybe even the trader's guild. Which reminds me, you should really check out the militia, they might have something."

She digs in a bit more.

"Honestly, what I really want is to find my origins. This arm, you know, you've known I've always had it, but I never figured out how I got it, or why I have it. I'm the only person like this to my knowledge. So I'm hoping maybe once I build up a small fortune I'll be able to support myself in my endeavors."

"What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were with the military? I heard you mention a few times you were ex but you didn't elaborate. Did you have a falling out with your superiors or something?"

Jian checks if anybody's been following them out. Realizing it's just them two he puts a hand on her shoulder.

"So... What made you help us earlier? I was wondering... You know us in and out, you know who's capable of doing what. You kind of made my life easier, by a lot actually. Without your help I might've never knew where Ayame went. Huge thanks for that..."

He pauses for a moment, sighing.

"If there's a way to repay the favor, let me know. I'll help you out if you need anything. But I would like to hear what makes you know us so well, and what made you help us out with this case..."

He smiles a little, then checking the pockets of his totally messed up pants by now. He finds a charm, close to finished. He flicks out his little knife to work on it for a moment, straightening out the corners here and there. A decent looking charm springs from it after a minute or two, not perfect but not bad looking either.

"Here... I was intending to finish it earlier. I am close to empty handed with those, I just have about 1-2 to finish, then I need to find a proper wooden block to work on."

He hands the charm to her as a token of appreciation, now in hope to hear what she has to say about the whole situation.

The girl curiously listens to Jian, nodding occasionally as he speaks to confirm to him that she is indeed still listening. Though she is looking anywhere but him. After he is done explaining himself he pulls out a knife. Under normal circumstances one would have thought such an act to be incredibly distressing, but she knows better but to jump over a small blade that could probably not even come within an inch of her armor.

She takes the charm, with her eyes closed and nods in approval. "It's very beautiful. Thank you." she says and slides it into a pouch hanging off her neck. She turns her head to him and opens her eyes and for the first time Jian notices her curious eyes, one blue and the other green, as they give off a faint glow in the dark streets. She seems to be smiling at him and tilts her head as she comes up with something sensible to say, at which point Jian is distracted by the rattles of chains. Behind her he notices that familiar purple glow swaying back and forth to the uneven rattles of the chain attached to her curious hat. "Well there is not much to say, really." she says after an uneasy moment of silence. "You asked me a simple question and I gave you the simplest of answers. Pointing you in the right directin just made things easier for the both of us, and now you have your girl back." She smirks and lifts her hat a little to run her other hand through her messy hair and fix her rough hairstyle back up. "In any case, our dinners are getting cold and I spent a lot of money on my dish." She says and gives a brief nodding bow before turning and beginning to move back to the little bar. She stops for a brief moment, not turning to face Jian and simply says; "The girl. Not your girl, the other one. Your friend, from the castle. She has a fever again. Someone ought to check up on her." and with that she pulls aside the cloth doorway and makes her way back to her stool where her dinner is being put on the table, together with Jack's. "Total is 58 silver and 10 copper. Pay now or when you leave, is all the same. Seperate bills or together, whatever." the woman at the bar says and nods with an awkward smile. "Please enjoy your food."




Clarent wakes, lying on her back. She feels drenched in sweat and weak as she tries to right herself up. Luckily, the bed she is on is close enough to the wall that she can proper herself against it and look out the window to her side. It's hot. Entirely to hot. She feels like she is being baked alive and around her neck she can feel a stinging sensation and the dryness of her skin. She leans towards the window, nearly losing balance and slides it up to let in the cool nights air. It is a welcome little breeze at first, but moments later feels like the pricking of needles against her sensetive skin. Clarent stares at her hands, they seem distant and surreal, sticky sweat rolling down her fingers and her arms. A sudden wash of exhaustion falls over her and her eyes become heavy once more as she props herself against the wall again, trying to pull off her hoodie. She partially succeeds and shoves the hot blanket off the bed aswell, now simply sitting on the bed in her pants and an anything but revealing undershirt.

It doesn't take very long before sleep returns to claim her and steal her away from the waking world. Spiraling downward, back into the hot firey uncomforterable darkness as she drifts off into sleep once more.

Sharpe stops eating for a moment, pausing and looking straight ahead, recalling why he left. He breathes in deeply and lets loose a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Technically, I'm on hiatus. As I climbed the chain of command, I began to see how politics became more and more prevalent in the structure, and how it was getting in the way of duty and the work that had to be carried out. As well, there was a power struggle, and didn't really want to be a part of that. As well, I thought maybe coming down here, or traveling the countryside, I'd be able to find a way to finance the side i left in the struggle, since if I do go back, I'd be rejoining my comrades."

He goes back to eating, spearing a mushroom and placing it in his mouth as the first action.

"As an aside, my comrades weren't thrilled, but they understood my decision and left me to my devices, albeit, begrudgingly."

Airgetlam nods at Sharpe's explanation of his absence, and she looks at the girl who just walked back in.

"So... do you by any chance still have my cloaking device? I'd very much like to have it back." she says with a worried glare.

She looks back to the woman who had been tending the bar.

"Thanks, here, I'll cover the tab for this." She says, spillling a few coins onto the countertop and sifting through them looking for the money needed. She separates out fifty-eight silver and the ten copper and pushes the heap forward.

Jian turns around with a moment of thoughts as she then vanishes back inside to eat. He stands there, wondering how she knows about Clarent's current situation. He looks down onto the floor for a moment, pondering on what makes her get all the information. On other hand, there's not much to question, as her cause so far seems non-hostile towards them. A few seconds outside, staring onto the floor, then into the sky, he decides to go back in and eat aswell.

He starts digging in after sitting down inside, nodding in approval of the food. Yet, he remains silent from that point out as he's stuck with the thoughts that lurk inside of him. For some reason he also starts to miss his home country aswell, eating this kind of food maybe was not the best of ideas.

Maybe he has to hurry eating and rush home to look after Clarent, but the doc should be there to take care of her. Yet, he can't tell what's going on since everything seems a little disorganized since they're back. He sighs once, then continues to eat his food, trying to find answers.

"Oh Sharpe, that poor bastard, sound like he came out of a novel. Rose through the ranks til he was sitting behind a desk, and left because the salty ol warrior couldn't adjust to life outside the battlefield. Atleast, thats what it sounds like. Probably should hold onto that idea if I ever write a book."

When the mysterious girl sits down, Jack does his best to put on a welcoming expression.

"Well I'm guessing you didn't want to answer my question or just didn't hear it. Either way, how bout some small talk instead...Hmph, I'm guessing your a witch by that hat your wearing. I only met a witch once growing up. Miss Shetchno, I believe her name was.... yes, Miss Lavender Shetchno. She would always buy spices from my father when we were in town, same spices and same exact measurement of each. Very kind lady. Haha, you look so much like her, I could almost bet money you two are related."

Jack began eating his meal waiting for a response

The girl sits at her respective spot and begins to eat some of her food. At first not seeming to pay much attention to jack until she decides to answer him after a brief moment. She puts her plate she was previously holding down, harsh but not noticeably angry and smiles at him.

"I'm not a witch." She says and looks down to her food. "I don't wish to be compared to the likes of them, nor do I practice the right type of magic. Think of me as... A scholar or an intellectual. Someone who enjoys learning if nothing else."

She picks up her plate again and studies her food for a moment before consuming another one of her pieces. She continues to avoid looking at Jack. After another moment she turns to him and looks him in the eyes. Jack feels something unsettling about her as she looks him in the eyes but he cant seem to place quite what it is. "Which two people were you referring too?" she finally asks and puts her plate back down. Having decided she ate enough for now.

Sharpe munches down what's left of his meal, and folds his arms on the counter, leaning forward. He assumes a position of keen focus and observation on the girl with the strange hat. Honestly, it reminds him more of a wizard hat, or even an Inquisitor's wide-brimmed hat.

"So, may I ask then how long you have been trailing us? What is it about our little rag-tag squad seems so interesting? I'll understand if you wish to keep quiet about that, I'm just curious."