The Beginning

Aikatherinee was sitting on the deck. She was looking at the yonder, holding a book in her hands. On the other side of the deck were Teo and Baron, long lost in some private conversation gone through in their own language. Iisai and Drake were near the railing, they seemed to have fun. But Aikatherinee just stared at the yonder. The statistic in the air tingled her skin, a little bit like magic could have. Slowly she stood up and walked to the railing.
"Watcha doing Kathy?" Drake shouted happily against the vast wind.
She ignored him, until he actually came next to her.
"What's with the expression?" he asked.
She removed her eyes off the dark clouds in horizon and gave him a stare.
"What expression?"
Further he had no time to babble, when he noticed the first visible lightning flash in the darkening yonder.
"Um.. that's.. not good. At all."
He stated slowly, and ran to warn Aqva who was steering as usual. Iisai walked to Kathy.
"What's going on?" He asked with slightly nervous tone.
"Apparently there is a storm on our course, honey. But fear not.. I'm quite sure we can dodge it."
Iisai paled and looked at the storm clouds. It was bad enough to be at such heights for him, but this� His legs automatically rushed him to Teo. She raised her eyes off the map she was looking at with Baron and gave him an asking look.
"What is, Iisai?"
She could tell by his face something was quite seriously wrong and stood up concerned. Iisai tried to make words come out.
"There, there's this.. this.." He was desperately shoving at the yonder.
"I think Mr. Thales is trying to tell you about the approaching storm, lady Myooji"
Baron smiled gently and stood up as well, placing the map back in his bag.
"Storm!?" Her eyes flew to the direction Iisai was pointing at.
Her face became unreadable, but she showed no sign of panic or fear.
"Iisai, we are going to try avoid it, but it encloses us fast and I want you to get inside, just in case. Go to the Kitchen to warn Angie and stay with her. I'll check up on you soon, okay?"
Iisai nodded and went inside legs rather stiff. Teo wandered next to Kathy and Drake who had returned.
"The ship is strong. It will hold, even if we need to go through it."
Drake stated at her as she stepped next to him.
"I'm going to fasten the ropes holding the balloon." He said and Teo went after.
"I'll give you a hand"
She climbed after him to the pole holding the first series of ropes. Below them, Baron joined Kathy.
"It's on us in five minutes." She stated to him. Baron nodded. The two of them seemed so very calm.

Iisai had hid himself to the smallest corner of the kitchen, while Angie tried to talk him over of coming out of his hideout.
"It's not the end of the world, not even the end of us, it's just a little force of nature playing with us"
She tried to convince. Iisai just shook his head.
"No no, I've seen storms, hundreds of storms, they're not nice, not at all. With the winds and the lightning and all..."
Angie was putting pots and cauldrons behind locked doors so they wouldn't cause any unnecessary damage.
"Don't worry, mate, I'm sure Teo will look after you. I bet even the storm is afraid of her"
Angie laughed, though it had no effect on Iisai.
"Umm, I think I should go check if there's anything fragile in my room loose.. so that it won't break, you know."
With that he just vanished to the hallway. As soon as he got the kitchen door closed he dashed into his cabin, grabbed the poor squirrel in his hands and stared at it.
"Poor little thing, this electricity can't be good for you, but don't worry, I'll keep you safe"
Iisai looked around him.
"Somehow anyway..."
The squirrel just looked at him with its green eyes, not showing any sort of a sign that it would have understood a thing. Iisai put the squirrel on his shoulder and started going through his stuff. His dragon riffle was in the cargo hold, that he was sure of, but all else.. Screwdrivers, plans, scraps of papers.. He tied the bag to the pole holding the hammocks and sat down. He wasn't terribly fond of storms, especially now that he couldn't hide anywhere safe. He just sat there with the squirrel on his shoulder and hoped for the best. He didn't even notice that Teo sneaked into the room, soaked wet.
"Iisai, I told you to stay at the kitchen. You promised to to obey me!"
Iisai didn't rise his eyes.
"There were so many sharp objects, it didn't feel safe.. I mean, if the storm's gonna shake the ship around, all the knives and forks.."
Iisai buried his face in his hands. Teo sat down on her hammock and sighed.
"Are you ok? You seem a little.. nervous. Ok, not all that little."
Iisai peeked between his fingers and shivered.
"Nervous? Nervous, you say? I'm scared to death, and you say nervous?!"
"Iisai, calm down! No harm will happen to us, I promise. We all will survive this"
Teo tried to soothe the little fellow and sat down next to him. Iisai took a deep breath.
"Well, if you promise."
Someone knocked on the door and peeked in.
"Hey, Teo" Kathy exclaimed at the door
"I'll be at the cargo hold with the animals if anyone needs me."
"Gotcha" She replied without bothering to look at the mage.
Weaklings, Kathy sighed while walking down the stairs.
She looked around in the darkness, trying to locate her faithful Sayara. The horse seemed happy to see her owner in such moment.
"There, there, good girl" Kathy whispered in Sayara's ear.
"It's just a regular storm, like we've seen times and times before. Besides, I know you can handle it. Try to keep the other pests calm and we'll get you something nice."
Sayara closed her eyes and pushed her muzzle against Kathy's hand.
"That's a good girl, my girl" Kathy smiled and hugged the horse.

The first strong lighting coloured the room black and white. Iisai shivered. He closed his eyes tightly shut and curled up as tiny as he could. Teo didn't wanna leave his side, especially now that the ship had started shaking, but a strong sense of her told her she should be on the deck where Baron was as well.
Shez.. What should I do?
She asked the unpresent commander in her thoughts. She stood up, and Iisai raised his face from his knees when he felt her get up.
"Where are you going!?"
He asked her with not just little amount of panic.
"Iisai.. Listen-"
But further she had no chance to explain as an exceptionally strong shake threw them both against the next wall. Teo felt her lungs lose all air when the boy landed on her. He was also out of air. Gasping, she struggled to get up. "Stay here! No matter what happens, stay here!"
Shouted as loud as she could which wasn't very much with so little air in her lungs.
"Don't.."
Iisai started, but in his eyes Teo could see he knew she'd have to go check up on others.
"That blow tilted us almost 45 degrees, Iisai. I need to ensure my help is not needed. Otherwise I can't keep my promise.."
He nodded faintly.
"I'll.. wait here then.. but please.."
"I know, I know. I'll be back as soon as ever possible. Don't hurt yourself."
With that, she ran out of the cabin, to the hall, upstairs, and finally to the deck. The wind threw the ship almost as it willed, and Drake was up there with Aqva helping him steer and try keep the ship on course. Everything was drenched, loud thunders covered the rage of the waves far under them and lightnings cut the air. Teo noticed Baron Standing on the railing, and on any other person's case Teo would have thought of him as insane. Carefully she made her way to him.
"Shez! How are we doing!?"
He turned to look at her
"Teo.. How is Iisai?" She shook her head.
"Not good. How long will this last?"
"My estimate is ten minutes, then we should be clear. No damage so far.. though the last shake almost threw us over the railing. I want you to go to him, Teo."
He noticed her obvious hesitation.
"That is an order, Captain Myooji! Go to your client, ease his mind with the information of the strom almost having passed us..."
She saluted him and fled back inside. It was all dark when he entered their cabin, the lantern had gone off. She moved by her instincts and managed to find Iisai. They boy jumped with startlement as she placed her arm lightly around his shoulders.
"Almost clear, Iisai, almost clear. Everything's gonna be just fine."

As the winds settled, Teo could sigh out of relief. She checked around to see if everything was fine since Iisai had calmed down. Drake and Aqva were sitting in the kitchen, wrapped in blankets, Angie with them, Baron checking the situation and Kathy still in the cargo hold. Baron stepped into the hallway and there was a frown on his face. "No greater damage has been done, but we have one, fairly large problem. We are severely out of course." Drake and Aqva seemed disappointed and Iisai peeked out of his cabin.
"How severely?" Teo asked, just to make sure.
"Very severely. You see, I was able to recognize Eiria in the horizon."
She sighed.
"Well, I suppose we just should be grateful that we're in one piece"
Iisai said with a faint voice and stepped behind Teo.
"I mean.. well, never mind."
Iisai avoided looking Teo in the eye and slipped on the deck. For a moment everyone below the deck looked at each others silently until Iisai's voice broke it.
"Gee, Teo! Come and take a look!"
As Teo thought for a moment something about the ship was wrong, she rushed to the deck, Baron right behind her. They saw Iisai pointing at Eiria.
"Look, mighty lot of people over there, marching. Wonder why, really..."
Teo couldn't take her eyes off the black mass of marchers.
"Iisai... honestly, don't you have any idea who they are?"
"Well, not really, but according to that tone in your voice I've just said something stupid."
Iisai looked so small and lost as he tried to get Teo make things more clear.
"Those are soldiers, all of them" Baron declared.
Iisai took another look at the sight and turned to Teo.
"Soldiers? But.. from Balu?"
Teo nodded with a serious look on her face.
"The war has begun."
Kathy climbed out of the cargo hold and on to the deck with the rest.
"This is it, people" she mumbled.

"I would highly appreciate if lady Aikatherinee gave us opportunate winds with her radiant magic skills"
Baron stated.
"And Amarel, get us back towards our real direction, Mr.Lizmaer check the ship for any unobvious damage, Angie get us lunch and Captain Myooji watch after Mr.Thales. Aqva does the steering. And I shall explore the situation."
That said, he turned to speak straight to Teo.
"I'm leaving the ship on your charge, Captain Myooji. Now, I want to know of no catastrophes when I get back so try have everyone come along nicely. I'll be back by sundown."
She saluted him, and Baron excused himself. Each departed to do what they had been assigned to do. Kathy moved to the deck with her book, Drake started his check up, Angie cooking, Aqva and Amarel steering and Iisai and Teo slipped back to theit cabin.
"What exactly is going on? And where did Baron go?" Iisai attacked Teo with and intense tone.
After a moment of hesitation, She replied.
"You do know how bad terms Stafford and Balu have had for the last.. seven years I think.. Ever since that revolution. And we are here today Iisai, for the weapon the emperor wanted you to build, to ensure the safety of people of Stafford, correct I assume."
She lied down on her hammock, and Iisai was left standing next to her, looking at her with worry in his eyes. "It was urgent before too, but now we have no time to waste anymore. Each day is critical. We need to find Arausio as soon as ever possible. The less time we waste, the less shall the innocent suffer.."
Iisai sat down next to her hammock.
"So.. Where did Baron go? What did he mean when he said he'll be back by sundown? He can't actually leave the ship now can he?"
Teo gave him a careful look.
"Yes he can.. " She suddenly sat up.
"Iisai.. you need to know something."
He looked at her curiously.
"Baron may seem carefree, easy going fellow, but don't let that blind you. He's the commander of all Atracts, and answers only to the King of Forte. He is coy and always adds his plans to the ready made scene. There is no other person with who you would be in better safe. No other. And that you need to remember. He holds more power than anyone else I know. Now, he has left us to check the situation in Stafford."
There was quite a long silence, as Iisai pondered what he had just heard.
"Answers only to the king, aye?"
Teo nodded.
"That is correct."
"So.. what exactly is going on with that..? The king was killed, who will rule.. Forte now?"
Iisai watched his words carefully, remembering how shocked Teo had been back in Sabi.
"His son, naturally. Sepia Sanquine VI. He is merely twelve as we speak, but he has no choice. The situation in Forte is highly unstable as well.. We had a ten blood filled years of civil war that ended merely five years ago. Now a new revolution is looming above us, in the minds of those who do not support his little highness.."
She looked pretty sad, and Iisai touched her shoulder slightly.
"Do you support this Sepia?"
Teo nodded at him.
"Sure I do. The passing of his father was very sad.. I knew him quite well."
They had lunch, and spent most of the day out doors on the deck. Clouds moved pass with enormous speed, wind blew hard and their distance to Forte grew smaller every passing moment, thanks to the winds of Aikatherinee. The sun went down and stars covered the sky, but Baron did not return. While others looked rather distressed by this fact, Teo simply comforted Iisai.
"Don't worry. He just found something interesting. At the very latest, He'll catch us from Maue."

Teo slept rather peacefully that night, unlike Iisai who tossed around all night, many times almost falling down his hammock. Aikatherinee was still on the deck, ordering winds, even though she was getting exhausted. She yawned widely and returned her attention to her precious book. A small side note on the side of the book caught her attention. It said "Bring Sayara home before the end" written in very steady handwriting. It made Aikatherinee smile as it returned her thoughts to her past, to her homeland. The winds settled and the airship's speed dropped, but no one seemed to notice. Aikatherinee just stared at the side note, and pondered how long it had been there. Years, decades maybe. She chained the book back to her belt and walked below the deck, not bothering herself with the speed of the ship. She just made her way straight to her beloved Sayara and showed her the book.
"Look, your owner misses us"
Aikatherinee grinned. She didn't expect a horse to be able to read it, but she knew that deep inside Sayara understood who she was referring to. Sayara sniffed the book and shook her head, as if she had not wanted to hear it.
"Aww, you miss him don't you? So do I, dear friend, so do I"
Aikatherinee sat down next to Sayara and sighed.
"I wish you could talk to me, tell me what you see with those eyes."
But Sayara remained silent, just looking at her with empty, fiery eyes. Aikatherinee sighed again and let her mind fly. She heard someone walk around the hallway above her, making the animals that were awaken rather nervous. She narrowed her eyes to see who was disturbing her silent solitude. But it was no one of great importance, just Iisai.
"Oh, you"
Aikatherinee was rather disappointed.
"Yeah, me.. what are you making racket for? Shouldn't you be outside casting spells?"
"Bah, it is none of your business, pointy ears."
Iisai's jaw dropped.
"But... wait a minute. With what muscles are you telling me that?! Have you looked into a mirror lately?"
Aikatherinee just laughed at Iisai's reaction while Iisai found there nothing funny.
"Don't call me that"
Kathy grinned.
"I at least owe some dignity."
Iisai opened his mouth for an answer, but the words got stuck in his throat. He felt he could have just thrown something heavy at Kathy, or something very pointy, but he just swallowed his pride and sneaked back into his cabin, cursing by himself. Aikatherinee returned her gaze at Sayara, petting her black fur.
"See, that's how half blooded critters behave. Such lowlife."
Sayara laid her ears and tried to bite the mage's hand.
"Aack! You ungrateful little demon! Don't you expect me to do anything about it, he's what he is and I cannot stand it."
The horse shook her head and stomped her hoof, being obviously angry.
"Fine, fine... I'll go, you brat.."
Kathy growled and slowly walked into her cabin to catch some sleep after a full day of casting.

At morning when Drake wandered to the kitchen, he to his great surprise bumped into Baron.
"Good morning Mr. Lizmaer. Maue already shines in the horizon. Grab breakfast and get yourself ready to land."
With that he passed by him and went to wake Iisai and Teo. They were already up when he walked in from the door, and Teo could hear Iisai's sigh of relief.
"Morning, lady Myooji, Mr. Thales." He smiled gently.
"You weren't back when you said you would, we were worried."
Iisai started with a slight accuse in his tone.
"I know, and I apologise indeed, I had some trouble on the way. The news aren't bad though, only Eiria has been surrounded. The army continues it's way to south, no doubt towards S'Kai. Let us pray for the safety of the people." Teo gave him a sharp look, and asked something in Forte.
"Meian eso nee, althume kai?"
That was the first time Iisai ever saw anything negative touch Baron's always so calm expression.
"Thule, merian salu."
With that he left the cabin, giving Iisai a faint smile. Teo turned to look at him.
"We are arriving Maue in half an hour, better get ready Iisai!"
She started stretching again, and Iisai could tell she wasn't too happy.
"What's wrong? Are you not happy to be back in your home land?"
She didn't answer for a while.
"No.. not really. But it's ok.."
Iisai knew he could have inquired further, and he did intend to do so later but now wasn't a good time. He went to get some breakfast and after that to look at the enclosing Maue from the deck.

"What are you saying!? What do you mean you are not coming?!"
Iisai looked at Drake with shock.
"Mate.. this is not a place to be for one of the Sun. They'll eat me alive"
He grinned, but Iisai could see the sadness in his eyes.
"Then.. I won't go either. I don't want to leave you alone.."
Drake shook his head.
�No, I want you to see the gorgeousness of this city. Who knows, it could your only chance. And no, I take no arguments. You need to go."
"Are you sure it's fine?"
"I'm sure, most definitely."
Slowly Iisai backed from him and followed others out of the ship. As always, Aikatherinee soon departed and left Teo, Iisai and Baron alone to wonder the sights of Maue with the promise of returning in few hours. Aqva, Angie and Amarel took charge of reloading the ship, and eventually even Baron said he had business to take care of. Iisai just stared in awe. The city itself had tall white walls, everywhere was green, lush and alive. People all basically had ears like Teo, Baron and Drake and there was a lot of them. So many in fact that Iisai felt quite disturbed and grabbed Teo's arm not to get lost or out of her sight. The buildings were stylish, made of stone or something that look like of stone. They were all either white, light brown or light grey. More than any of that, Iisai noticed the children. As wealthy as the city looked, the amount of street children was stunning. It made Iisai very nervous, and he noticed as he looked at Teo that she looked rather gloomy as well.
"Um.. What's with all the children?" He asked, hanging more tightly onto her.
"It's the remainder of the civil war.. People didn't either afford to keep children, or their parents died on duty."
Iisai wish he had understood the language people spoke around them. One of the groups of people coming at them suddenly stopped, and formed a line of some sort in the crowd. The leading personnel approached Teo and gave her a complicated salute. She replied to it with her full authority apparently, and continued to pull Iisai passed all those people.
"Who were those? Other Atracs?"
Teo nodded.
"Atracs of Sinoper Unit. Mere soldiers, as a matter of fact."
"And what are you?" Teo pulled him to a more secluded alley way.
"I'm a Captain of the Teal unit, of Atracts in the form you know them. All lower ranks answer to me. All Teal's that are not captain level, and especially all red units, the Sinoper's. We are here.. I wanted to show you this place.."
Iisai faced the sight of an insanely vast forest opening in front of them. He was quite at loss of words.

Teo had hard time staying aware of Iisai's location. He didn't stand still for one second, and all the time Teo was worried that Iisai would fall of the trees he climbed in and break his neck.
"Iisai, please, hold still for one goddamn second."
Iisai peeked behind a branch and laughed.
"What? I can climb a tree, trust me. It's not like this is the first time I'm up here."
"Anyway, it's not that, I just wanted to exchange a few words with you."
Iisai slided down from his tree and stood so close to Teo it started to bother her. She took a few steps around the boy. Iisai turned his head in Teo's direction, but his neck refused to twist any more so he sat down, facing her. "Is it something bad? It's something bad, isn't it?"
"No, not really. I just wanted to ask something"
Teo said and sat down in front of Iisai to make sure she saw if the boy tried to lie to her.
"It's just that I heard you walking around last night, though I'm sure you know I don't like you disappearing like that"
Teo stated with a serious, yet understanding tone in her voice. Iisai lowered his eyes. Teo took a deep breath.
"I just want to know what you were up to."
"I just dropped by in the cargo hold, to check the animals"
Iisai tried to convince not only Teo but also himself. Teo rose her eyebrows.
"Oh really? The problem is just that not many people sob just because of some animals."
Iisai tried to look away, biting his lip.
"Well, really I heard some noises and I wanted to see what was causing it and and... Kathy was down there..."
"She was?! But she was supposed to keep the winds up" Teo almost jumped up.
She still had not yet developed a taste for this particular being. Iisai folded his arms and was still looking the other way.
"..She insulted me" Was the shivering answer.
Teo sighed.
Like this wasn't complicated enough..
"What did she say?"
"It's not what she said, it's what she was referring to"
Iisai returned his eyes to Teo and looked really offended.
"Well, tell me, what was so horrible she could have told you?"
She was sure she saw a small tear in Iisai's eyes.
"She knows I'm crossbred!"
It took a while for Teo to really understand what sort of an insult it was towards Iisai. She reached out her hand and gently touched Iisai's cheek.
"She has no right to tell you such things. Besides, there's nothing wrong in being crossbred."
Iisai was too concentrated on feeling hurt that he didn't really have a thought to spare on Teo's hand.
"I'm sure you wouldn't be any more of a man even if you were a pure breed. You're a wonderful person. Disobeying, but wonderful."
Up to this point Iisai had remained calm about Teo's presence, but now it hit him real hard. He was sure his face now matched very well with his hair colour and he could just have melted away. Teo smiled at him and it made him feel warm and happy again.
"There's no need to look so sad, not that I'd know Kathy too well but I don't think she'd say things like that to just make you feel bad. And how did she know what you are anyways?"
Iisai shook his head a little.
"I have no idea really.. I mean, you didn't know."
A faint smile rose on Teo's face.
"That's right, I always thought you were a human."
Teo pulled her hand away and stood up.
"Is this thing settled then?"
Iisai nodded and tried to get on his feet.
"Well then we should start heading back to the ship, it's about time for us to leave, I presume."

So she started walking towards their airship, through the crowded city, Iisai right behind her. As soon as they approached the airship haven, they heard rather familiar echo.
"Don't you dare to try to run away from me, you little creep, I'll catch you and you'll pray you never set a foot on this ship!"
"Oh noes... was that Drake?"
Teo fell in great disbelief as they saw someone jumping off the railing of their own ship, Drake trying to catch him.
"I smell troubles"
Iisai mumbled and followed the running Teo towards the stranger stranger trying to flee.
But the stranger had already vanished into the crowd, and the fact that people had noticed Drake's existence didn't make it any easier. A mass of angry glares and murderous attitude landed on Drake's head. They could sense the lingering disgust around them.
"Umm... Drake, get back onto the ship!" Teo tried to sound commanding.
Drake attempted to slip back very silently until someone threw a rather heavy stone at him. Drake fled to the safety of the ship while Iisai stood by Teo in mild panic. Teo wasn't too impressed by the flying stone.
"Who dares to attack my friend?! And with such rude way?!"
Iisai hid behind Teo's back and hoped no more stones were cast at them. The crowd went more or less silent. She was after all, rather clearly to them, a person of high Atrac status. Her unform told that to all of them.
"Don't be such racists!" She yelled over the entire mass.
"Shoo shoo, there's nothing more to see!"
She heard angry mumbling while the crowd started scattering. Iisai looked around and patted Teo's shoulder.
"Gee, I knew you're brave but... all THAT brave.."
Teo cast her eyes on Iisai and tried to calm down. Iisai looked admiring.
"They're just people, not werewolves or dragons or anything"
Teo said with a humble voice and walked towards their ship where Drake was still hiding. He peeked from the trapdoor leading to the hallway.
"'Don't be such racists'?"
He had a spooked grin on his face. Teo looked a bit troubled.
"Well... I wasn't exactly thinking what I was letting out of my mouth."
"Doesn't matter to me" Drake laughed.
"You saved my hide there, thanks."
Iisai sneaked past Drake while Teo scratched her head.
"No problem at all."

"What happened? Who was the person who you were chasing?"
Teo inquired with tensed tone. Drake didn't have time to answer when Baron arrived to the kitchen with Kathy and the rest of the crew.
"Captain Myooji, what is going on here?"
Baron asked with his most formal tone.
"Why is the town filled with rumours of a Sunner recidencing within?"
Teo looked at him a little embarrased.
"It seems we had an intruder, Commander. But why not let Lizmaer tell the story.."
Everyone's face turned towards Drake.
"Well you know, when you left I went back to sleep.. I woke up to this racket, and got up thinking it was someone of you.. Just in time to see this guy climb up the stairs to deck. It is my belief we were sabotaged.�
Baron frowned.
"Did someone else see this.. person?"
Drake opened his mouth to answer but Teo was faster.
"I saw him. And I can say it was no human. Human build maybe, but no mere one. Too fast, too agile."
"Did you find any damage done?"
Drake got up.
"I haven't had time to check. I'll get on it right away."
With that he excused himself and went to the cargo hold where the engines were. Others followed not far behind. It didn't take long before Drake found the spot.
"They've taken our ignition wires."
Iisai looked uneasy
"What does it mean?"
"It means this ship ain't flying nowhere, baby."
Angie said and peeked to take a look.
"Is it hard to fix?" Baron asked, turning to look at Drake.
"No, not really.. it is just that we need a new one, and those aren't so easy to find.."
"So to back to the city it is then."
Teo sighed.
"Leave it to us."
Baron nodded.
"I believe it is our best interest if we will do that. Captain Myooji, get us a new one, Mr. Thales on your sight. Mr. Lizmaer accompany them, so it will be a correct one."
They all stared at him.
"But.." Drake started.
"I know, I know. I didn't want to resort to this, but it is in my knowledge that lady Aikatherinee is a mage with speciality of illusion. Am I not correct?"
He turned to as Kathy.
"No, you are correct.. I can create an illusion of him being a Mooner." She replied with a shrug.

Ten minutes later they were walking again the the sun light, Drake's skin paled with the illusion and facial charasteristics changed. Even tho neither Iisai or Teo would have recognized him, he was still extremely cautions and nervous. They needed to walk all the way to the down town to find the right shops. Teo wasn't especially surprised when the three first tries failed.
"Don't have, can't import. What should we do? And why on earth can�t they get more?" Iisai asked with an upset tone.
"We don't afford to waste time like this."
Teo nodded.
"I know what you mean, and I know the place to go to. But it is quite a walk away. And they can�t import cause the beginning war has crowded all of our sources."
"As long as we get it, doesn't matter if we need to walk to the other side of Forte." Drake shoke his head.
"Alrighty then. But the two of you are gonna be like invisible, and let me do the talk. Got it?" Teo sighed.
"Yes ma'am" Both of the guys replied at the same time.

They walked through the city, towards the biggest building Iisai had ever seen in his life aside from Soko�s palace. "What the heck is that?" He asked.
"It's the quilt of Atracs"
Drake answered before Teo even opened her mouth. Iisai could recognise a sound of impression from his voice and looked at the building again.
"Is this where you were trained, Teo?"
She shook her head.
"No, I am merely a member. My training comes from much farther, from a totally different source."
Iisai rose his eyebrows as the walked pass the building.
"Then where-"
But it was all he had time to say as Teo already pushed him in a small doorway.
"We are here"
"Where is 'here'?"
Drake asked rather suspecting.
"This is the confiscation storage of Atracs where all confiscated illegal imports and goods are brought. Now, be quiet. You are not even allowed in here, so just stand here and I'll be� right� back� No, I can't do that� I can't drop you out of sight. Darn it! Well then.."
She looked tired.
"You come along, and pretend to be my hostages or anything such and if anything asks anything, you are MUTE!"
They followed her down a narrow hallway to a steel door where stood a guard. He looked at them curiously.
"Lady Myooji! ..Captain Myooji. What a pleasure it is to my old eyes to see you safe once again back on your homeland."
"It is wonderful to see you too, Regan. How is your wife?"
Regan straightened his back with proud.
"She be five months pregnant, that she is."
Teo smiled.
"Give her my regards. Now, you know how it is.. I need to get through this door with my� clients�"
"Of course, of course. Go right ahead."
Regan moved aside and closed the door behind them. Iisai was puzzled, after all he had understood the conversation.
"Why did he speak standard language?" He asked.
"He seemed a Velocy to me.."
"Regan has forgotten our language. He spent most of his life abroad on duty, about 200 years if I recall right, so when he finally returned he remembered only a little of it. It's easier for him to speak the standard."
She replied quietly. Iisai frowned.
"How old do Velocies live?"
"Around 300, 400 years, in the opportunate case" Drake answered for him.
"Of course most Atracs pass on the latest after fifty years."
"Yes yes, now shut up the two of you!"
Teo gritted her teeth.

What they saw was endless rows of shelves, all full of boxes with labels on them. No matter how much Iisai would stare, he didn't see the opposite wall. A Velocy appeared from nowhere and had a twisted grin on his face. He seemed to be very pleased to see Teo and an endless flow of words filled the hall. Of course, Iisai had no idea what they were talking, but he could guess. He just examinated the boxes on the nearest shelf, not getting too much information out of them because of the language difference. Iisai's attention was focused on anything else until Teo placed a huge bag of money on the strange Velocy's hand. The Velocy bowed and dashed into the forest of shelves. As Teo turned to leave, Iisai wasn't sure what to do. In the end, his senses told him to follow Teo in order to avoid any sort of conflict. Drake was walking behind Teo with no trace of hesitation even thought Iisai was quite sure the amount Teo had given to that weirdo was the biggest either of them had ever seen. Once they all were out of the building, Iisai couldn't stay silent no longer.
"Man, Teo! That was some lot of money!"
Teo nodded and didn't seem to bother herself with it. She just started walking back towards the airship haven. Iisai looked really confused and turned his attention to Drake, who he didn't recognize no more.
"Drake.. did she just pay herself dead just to get that part?"
"Heh, no, she makes way more money than that in a month."
Drake followed Teo and left Iisai scratching his head.
Man, why didn't I become an atrac, he frowned and ran after his friends.
�Say, how much exactly do Atrac�s get paid?�
Drake looked at him with ponder and shrugged.
�I know that Sinoper unit soldier makes 4000 pieces of gold in a month, and the average for a Teal unit Atrac is 15.000 per month but naturally their jobs varie a lot. Normal soldiers can go months without any risk to their life while Teals live in the edge all the time.�
Iisai thought about this for a while.
�Man.. So she makes 15000 each month?!� He recalled her being from the Teal units.
�Nope, she no doubt makes more� Hey Teo! What�s the pay rate for Captain level Temujin?�
She had been ignoring their chat untill then but now she stopped and gave him an angry look.
�Don�t shout!� She hissed.
�I make 25.000 per each client, per month.�
Iisai eyes had shot wide.
She sighed.
�Don�t give me that look� After taxes and all damage insurances I�m hardly left with half of that, and anything I need while on duty is also taken from that. I don�t bathe in money. I make enough to live nicely, of course, but there are people in this world who make a lot more than I with a lot less risk. It�s not about money anywys��
She turned away and started walking again. Iisai and Drake looked at each other shortly and quickly followed right after her.

Chapter 8 - Chapter 10