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The Quest for Angel Tears (Kozue & Kora)

Started by Kozue, April 11, 2011, 07:22:28 AM

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Kozue

Ellika sat nervously at an empty table, tapping her fingertips against her knees and waiting for her contact: a captain named Jayna.  She'd been at the station nearly a week now, and so far only two people had shown interest in her request.  The first meeting had been with a man called Worm, and now that she'd met him, she understood the nickname.  Thankfully, when he discovered it was a humanitarian mission instead of a treasure hunt, he wanted no part of it, but he'd left her with a lasting impression. 

Now, she fidgeted.  She hoped this new captain was at least less creepy than Worm had been.  And nicer wouldn't hurt either.  In fact, anything would be better than him.  The waitress passed by a third time, depositing yet another Everlin Sunrise on Ellika's table and dropping a few kind words.

"Hey honey, don't fret so much.  If you look like you're new at this, these guys will walk all over you.  Calm down, take a deep breath, and relax."

Ellika smiled carefully and nodded.  The waitress made a good point.  Her eyes scanned the rest of the lounge before settling on the door.  She wasn't the only woman in a dress, nor the only one with an aura of importance around her.  But she still stood out.  Her chestnut hair was unnaturally vivid, her skin was an awkward shade of creamy yellow, and the flatness of her nose bridge and upturn to her large eyes did more than hint that she was Aratan.  But her people were peaceful, and their botanical and mechanical abilities were welcomed most everywhere.  At least, she thought to herself, this is a space station.  If there weren't so many different species here already, I would be as awkward as a fish on the beach. 
Yes, I'm a ninja. 
No, I won't make you a sandwich.

My O/O's, Introduction, Non-Adult and Adult RP requests, and RP's!

Koren

Jayna slowly slid out of the vent that allowed access down into the engine room of the ship. She tossed her tool kit to the guy standing there as she growled under her breath.
"I fixed it this time Quinn but if I catch you in the engine room again I'll skin ya. And the angels help you if you break something." She called out. The meekish man sitting on the level above dissapeared from view. Jayna wasn't a rough captain and she was fircely protective of her crew, but she only had a couple of rules and she expected them to be followed. One of which was that only three people were allowed in the engine room ever because it was so old... and therefore touchy. And Quinn wasn't one of them. She shock her head and checked the time keep above her. Damn it. She was late. She jumped over the railing of the second level and landed on the ground. Pulling her jacket on swiftly she moved out the door and towards the meeting place.

She knew the location, her and her crew went there often when they were stuck in port. She never used the front entrance when she met with people. After a few bad experiances before she had become captain she always liked to see who it was she was meeting first, before actually revealing herself. And it wasn't a bad habit. She pushed open the back door and stepped into the public area. The waitress saw her and scowled but did nothing else. They were old friends. Jayna looked around and saw the one person out of place. So this must be the one who had put the request up for a reliable crew and captain. She wondered if this woman had met worm yet. She stepped forward from the womans blind side and pulled out a chair, sitting down and crossing her legs.

"You must be Ellika. I'm Jayna." She noticed the appearance of Ellika and smiled internally. What a sight this must be. Jayna was odd looking herself. She dressed in loose cargo pants and a tight top, a jacket over the top that had a few burn marks on it. She didn't like the way men called her beautiful, among her kind she was ugly, so she did everything to detract from that. And she hated dresses. But there was no way that she could hide her physical features. Pale skin was offest by her strange hair. Each individual strand of hair went from blonde to black at the tips naturally. Her eyes were also strange, one deep black, and the other a strange white. She had a small scar on her forehead. And her tattoo spiraled down one arm.

"I hear you have a 'interesting voyage' in mind." Jayna prompted. She never had been one for formality or for the idea of small talk. All she cared about was where she was headed to next.

Kozue

Ellika focused intently  on the door, expecting another money-hungry mercenary to swagger in and take a seat across from her.  It's what Worm had done, after all.  The clunk and scuffle of the chair from Ellika's blind side startled her, and had she not been seated, she would have jumped.  She probably had anyway, judging from the waitress' stifled chuckle.  The sage blinked her tea green eyes several times in repetition and swallowed her fluster, nodding her head in acknowledgement.

"Y.yes..  I'm Ellika.  You must be Jayna."  Ellika's eyes looked over her possible new partner.  The woman wasn't ugly, but wasn't beautiful either.  And with her tattoos and her scars and her crazy hair, she looked dangerous.  Ellika shifted back a bit in her chair, edging slightly away from the captain.  She had never been good at these things.  It was far easier to talk to objects than it was to speak with people.  Ellika cleared her throat and swallowed again.  But now her mouth was dry.  She reached for her drink, but stopped as Jayna spoke.  It seemed the captain was going to get right down to it.

Ellika breathed deeply and nodded again.  "Yes, I do have a voyage in mind.  I am looking for Angel Tears.  I can afford to pay for two months lodging on a ship, and I am very handy with.. things.  I am prepared to offer my services as one of your crew, if you are willing to help me find Angel Tears."  She paused.  She had gotten this far with Worm.  It was the next part that broke the deal.  Ellika cast her eyes down to her lap as she continued.  "Arat is dying.  I'm sure you've heard it.  Most of my people have left the planet already.  But it is my home, and I will do all that I can to save it.  That is why I need Angel Tears."  She hesitated before adding, "and there's no great reward and no high honors or recognitions for taking this request.  Just my thanks, the gratitude of my people, and what I can afford to pay you."  Having said it all, and more, she lifted her head and looked up to Jayna's eyes.  "Will you help me?"
Yes, I'm a ninja. 
No, I won't make you a sandwich.

My O/O's, Introduction, Non-Adult and Adult RP requests, and RP's!

Koren

Jayna could tell that she had startled the girl. She jumped a bit and saw the waitress smile at it. But hey, this meant she wouldn't try any bullshit. She looked over Ellika. This certainly wasn't going to be the standard go transport this or find this sort of jobs she usually got hired out on. But she had expected that anyway. No one left that vauge a request if it was a standard sort of job. She had been looking for as many people as possible show intrest before she told the truth. The waitress came over an put a single glass of water in front of Jayna. She nodded her thanks. She almost laughed as Ellika shifted away from her a bit though. She could understand the reation. It was the one she usually got, looking very outlandish in these parts compared to the rest. But on her world, she was almost tame looking in comparison.

Jayna didn't interrupt as Ellika started speaking, wanting to hear everything she had to say before she made ay choices or decisions. But the very first sentance almost stopped her. She raised her eyebrows at the mention of Angel Tears. Well well well. This certainly was turning out to be interesting. If she didn't take the job she would certainly have a good new story to tell tonight on the ship. When Ellika finished speaking Jaybe didn't say anything for a second, thinking about it all. There wa a number of things to weigh up, not only the fact that it didn't sound like she was going to get much money from this. but they were pretty well off at the moment anyway, so that wasn't mcuh of a problem.

She leaned forward on the table, moving her untouched water to the side. "So that's why Worm was in such a damned mood this morning," She chuckled to herself. No one liked Worm. He was known as a bully, and not just to his crew. Thats where Quinn had come from, one of his crew that had lost it and left. She had been happy to take him on. "First of all its Jay. Jayna's my formal name on my planet, and only half of it at that though the other half is hell to pronouce." She lent back again. "Secondly, desipite what you may have heard, we ain't all money seeking, reward greedy mercinaries out here. Thirdly, I been for ten years, been on a ship for another seven afore that. And I ain't every seen Angels Tears. So what makes you so sure we'll even be able to find 'em?"

It was the harsh truths. And she knew it. The fact was though that Jay already had half a mind about this case and that wasn't likely to change. And on top of that if they did set off with Ellika there would be plenty of time for her to have to be nice to her later. Harsh truths would help her get right down to the bottom of it and know exactly what she was getting herself into.

Kozue

Ellika half expected Jayna to call her crazy and walk out.  Instead, the rough looking captain asked her a pointed question.  A question that unnerved Ellika even further.  She knew it was a rare item, and she knew it would be hard to find.  But she had seen it before.  Once.  She thought back to her youth and tried to remember, to pull shape and form and color from her earliest of memories and reform them to what she sought.

The image cleared and slowly, Ellika nodded her head.  It would be difficult to explain, but she could at least answer the question.  "Yes.  I have.  I know what they look like.  I also know how rare they are.  I know this isn't an easy request, and you must think me foolhardy to ask it.  But even if I have to learn to fly a ship myself, I will find a way to get the Angel Tears."

She felt more confident after her little speech and she smiled a bit to herself.  Her eyes carefully watched Jayna for another moment before she decided that she should be a little more forthcoming.  Ellika breathed deeply and continued.  "You know that I am Aratan.  You must also know that many of us have 'gifts' or abilities.  Some call it magic.  Whatever you call it, I have one.  I can 'talk' to objects.  Things, machines, anything that lacks life.  I would be invaluable to your ship, should you accept.  And perhaps I can find something that knows where to find Angels Tears so that we are not flying blind."

That was the last of it, she had no more cards to lay on the table.  Jayna would either deny or accept.  She hoped that Jayna chose to accept and waited.
Yes, I'm a ninja. 
No, I won't make you a sandwich.

My O/O's, Introduction, Non-Adult and Adult RP requests, and RP's!

Koren

She sounded pretty certain. Of course all of her clients did. They all wanted something or expected something and ALL of them sounded one hundred percent certain that they knew exactly what they were looking for, what they were talking about and what it is that they were doing. All of them. Jay got quite sick of it after a while. It had been a bit confronting when they had first joined the ship but that didn't matter. She was use to it now. But something was different about Ellika. She sounded sure, but not arrogently. She wanted to be sure, but she was still nervous. Thats what turned the tides for her. She looked at the door, thinking for a second. Her mind was practically already made up, but she ever had been one to decide on ventures like this easily. Especially not when she knew that it could take her crew away from a port for months.

She looked at Ellika, her black and white eyes contrasting strangly, the white one unfocused a bit while the black one almost glowed. "I don't need someone who can tell me whats wrong with my ship. I'm the mechanic and I know it better then anyone. And your not the only one with gifts." She picked up her water and sculled it down in one hit easily. She placed it back on the table and stood up. Her shoes had been on for far too long. She looked at Ellika. "Come on then. Come meet the crew." She walked out the door. Tossing a coint to the waitress as she left. The street outside was busy with the standard mess of the port. Jayna avoided them all easily heading towards the ship, not talking on the way.

When she got to the ship she was annoyed to find the ramp raised. "WHO FORGOT TO LOWER THE RAMP AGAIN?!" She yelled out into the ship. She heard someone dropping stuff and swearing. Quinn. She smiled. He was a clutz but he made some of their trips a whole lot happier.

Kozue

Ellika's jaw nearly dropped as Jayna spoke the words.  Come meet the crew.  Had she done it?  Had she just secured a captain and crew, with a ship of their own, to help her search the stars for Angel Tears?  She jumped and stood quickly as Jayna flicked the waitress a coin and walked out.  Her legs moved fast to catch up with the captain, not wanting to be left behind.  Her ear-to-ear grin was unmistakable as they walked the street, headed towards the ship.

Ellika's mind wandered back to the meeting.  She recapped her words, and Jayna's expressions again in her brain.  She wondered what she had said that made the captain agree to this mission.  Jayna's expression had hardly changed through the whole meeting, and her tone was condescending from the get-go.  So why did she agree?  Ellika had no answer to that, but the question soon slipped her mind as they rounded a corner and she saw the docking bay.

"Oh.. my..."  Her jaw did drop then as she gaped at all the ships.  She had come in on a transport and they loaded directly into a hallway.  She hadn't seen the docking bay yet.  She scampered to keep up with the captain, awed at the size of everything.  When they finally stopped, it was before a ship without a ramp down.  She was a bit confused until Jayna shouted at her crew, and clearly startled someone.  Regardless of what happened now, she was setting off on her adventure.. She was saving her planet. 
Yes, I'm a ninja. 
No, I won't make you a sandwich.

My O/O's, Introduction, Non-Adult and Adult RP requests, and RP's!

Koren

Jayna knew that she had completely shocked Ellika. She had expected it. The girls had looked like she expected to be sitting in the bar for years before someone took on her cause. Jayna had been there herself. When she first left her home she had had nothing to do and was almost ready to go and live on the streets, stealing for a living, until her old captain had come and offered her a place on his ship. She had pledged loyalty to him that day. He didn't come from where she did, so he didn't understand the full implications of that, but the very fact that she still called him Sir, and nothing else meant that he understood at least how grateful she was. It went deeper then that of course. He could had order her to go jump out the vaccum lock and her loyalty and honor would have had her do so. But that didn't matter now. It was her ship. And she was the captain.

She wondered that Ellika hadn't questioned her when she had said that she wasn't the only one with gifts. Maybe her joy at the acceptance had blocked that part from her memory. Or maybe not. Maybe she just didn't care. She waited patiently for the ramp to be lowered, knowing that it sometimes took a while. And the fact that Quinn was the one trying to do it meant it may take a bit more. She could hear him fumbling around with the switch and the controls until she heard another deeper voice growl at him and take over. Thank you. The ramp started to lower and she backed up a bit. When the ramp lowered the scrawny, dark haired Quinn stood there looking sheepish with a taller muscled and armed man next to him. Cole. Quinn looked tiny next to him.

Jay moved up onto the ramp and Cole sent her a questioning look. They knew each other well enough that he didn't need to say anything.
"Ellika, this is Cole, my second on the ship, and Quinn, the ships gunner and general crew boy." She said, motioning to both of them in turn. Quinn just nodded, too shy to say anything and scampered off to clean up his mess. Cole just nodded his greeting. Jay's ship wasn't as big as many of the others. And the mess in the cargo hold made it look smaller, stacked up as they were with mechanical parts and food and all that. They didn't really have anywhere else to put it. There was a clean path to the stair way though. But before they moved anywhere Jay moved over to a small box on the side. Quickly she slipped her feet out of her shoes and put them in the box, locking it securely. her feet somehow seemed too long, and slight webs ran between her toes. When she moved back over, she walked on her toes as well.

"How long you had those on for?" Cole asked her as she streched her feet. Jay pulled off her jacket, revealing a tight fitting singlet top and strong arms. she tossed it into a corner and pulled a cord out from one of her pockets in her cargo pants. she reached up to tie back her hair as she answered him.
"About five of six hours," She said. When she let her hands drop her strange hair was tied in a ponytail at the base of her skull, and the hair too short to reach the tie framed her face. On either side of her neck small flaps of skin fluttered a bit as she breathed. Gills. "Where's Mya?"
"I passed her on my way down here, she was headed to the star maps. Probably trying to figure out where to go next. I take it thats changing now?" Cole muttered. She nodded her agreement, snorting a bit at his fake grumpy tone, her gills fluttering a bit. She motioned to Ellika.

"Come on, we'll have to figure out where were going first," She said as she moved of towards the stairs, still walking on her webbed toes gracefully. "Any of the crew we don't meet on the way you can meet tonight when I fill them in on what's happening."

Kozue

Ellika extended her hand in greeting to the man introduced as Cole, and the one called Quinn.  She would try to remember their names.  They responded well to Jayna and it made Ellika feel a bit more at ease, knowing the crew backed the captain.  The cargo bay was messy, but Ellika had seen worse clutter before.  The sage watched curiously as Jayna slipped off her boots let her hair down, exposing webbed toes and gills.  How come she hadn't noticed this before?  Ellika tried not to be rude in her staring and made a note to ask Jayna about her species later.

Ellika came closer when Jayna motioned for her, and smiled at the seemingly grumpy Cole.  She hoped she wasn't too much of a burden to the crew.  When Jayna moved to climb the stairs, Ellika followed after, scampering quickly to keep up.  She wanted to see the rest of the ship.  She wanted to meet all of the crew.  She wanted them to like her, but imagined that would be harder to accomplish.  But as for where to go..

"Do you have a way of knowing where to go?  I did do some asking around the space station, and I have a general quadrant.. but nothing more specific than that."
Yes, I'm a ninja. 
No, I won't make you a sandwich.

My O/O's, Introduction, Non-Adult and Adult RP requests, and RP's!

Koren

Jayna got to the top of the stairs quickly and walked along the walkway towards the front of the ship. Turning down another hallway she made her was calmly and surely towards the star maps. She knew he ship well and could walk around it in her sleep if she had too. Although she was glad that she didn't sleep walks o she never had to try out that theory. They only met one other crew member on the way, Jordan, the cook. He didn't say anything, just pushing past them with a crate of apples and smiling at Jayna as she stole two as he moved past. Jay tossed one to Ellika, just in case she wanted it. Apples they had a lot of. A favorite for five of the crew members, especially as they could be preserved longer then some of the other fruits could. She bit into hers as she walked down the hallway. But when Ellika questioned where they were going to head to her face frowned for half a second. She had taken a lot of these treasure jobs, where people had no idea where what they were looking for possibly could be. She was use to figuring it out.

"Mya can help us there. She knows the planets and areas better then anyone else does, even other navigators. And our maps are the best you'll find. And at least a quadrent is somewhere to start. Takes out a lot of other quadrent possibilities."
Jayna finally reached the door and opened it. Something inside flashed and then seemed to fade, revealing just a simple room with a domed roof top. A young girl stood in the center. Pale skin, with freckles. And strange hair. Like Jays. Only hers was brown with blonde endings. But her eyes were both Green, although one seemed to be missing a pupil. While the girl didn't stand on her toes, she was shoesless. Her hair was down, hanging even, but what you could see of her neck revealed no gills.
"Thanks Jay, I just lost my whole map. It's gonna take me ages to.... who are you?"

Jay looked at her, annoyed.
"Next time then Mya, lock the door like you are meant to. Problem solved. And this is Ellika. I was hoping you could help her out in locating an area we can find something in."
"Another treasure hunt? Cool. But I wanna rebuild my map first."
"Do that later. It's not like you can do it in ten minutes anyway."
"Not fair. Your the one that barged in."
"Like I said, lock the door."
Mya grumbled and shifted her jacket, looking at Ellika.

"So what are we looking for?"
Jay said nothing, just ate her apple quietly.

Kozue

Ellika wasn't the most nimble of girls, and she was surprised that she actually caught the apple that Jayna passed her way.  She had sampled one before, once, and found it's sweet an woody flavor simply amazing.  She eagerly bit into the fruit, letting her teeth sink past the skin and into the meaty flesh.  A bit of the juice dribbled down her chin as she pulled away, savoring the freshly stolen portion.  Alarmed at the thought of losing any part of her treat, she quickly wiped the clear nectar away with her fingers and licked them clean, doing the same to the flesh of the apple and the wound she'd left in it, after.

Ellika watched the exchange silently, a bit more wrapped up in her apple than she should have been.  It was no surprise that she was missed her cue to speak, leaving the room in cricket-chirping silence for several seconds.

"Oh!  Yes, umm, we're headed to the Heta quadrant, in search of Angel Tears."  Ellika spoke quietly, but with a firm resolve.  If this navigator was any good, she hoped the girl would have heard something about the rare item, or the quadrant itself.  Ellika took another slow bite into her apple, her eyes closing as the taste once again filled her mouth and battered her senses.  It was just that good.
Yes, I'm a ninja. 
No, I won't make you a sandwich.

My O/O's, Introduction, Non-Adult and Adult RP requests, and RP's!

Koren

Jayna hadn't noticed her enthusiasm with the apples. She never really had paid much attention to that sort of stuff. She was already focusing on anything and everything that they had to do so that they could take off tomorrow. She didn't want to spend a single more minute this port. they had been stuck here for a month now and that was more then long enough for Jayna, and for most of her crew, speaking of the crew after this she would have to gather everyone and tell them what was going on. That was no big deal. They knew the rules when they signed on. They could leave at any time they wanted, Jayna would give them money enough to last until they found another ship, but she would in no way be obligated to take them back if they caught up with one another. It was one that they accepted happily. Most other ships had contracts and rules and obligations. Her ship was much easier and much freer and that made everyone a lot happier as well.

Mya looked at Jay shocked when Ellika mentioned Angel Tears. She was not expecting that. Jay, mouth full with a recently bitten apple piece nearly shrugged. Mya smiled to herself and hit the screen on the pedestal in front of her. A holographic representation shot up in the dome roof of the building. There were free floating objects there as well, and Jay didn't seem at all disturbed as Mya started fiddling with the controls which sent a planet flying through her head. May was muttering to herself. Here we go. The hologram shifted to the Heta quadrant. Beside each planet or area there was little snippets of information popping up from everywhere. She looked at the area interested in the plants and all that. Jayna had always refused to go to this quadrant but her blank face now revealed nothing about a reason for that. Her attention was diverted onto a small blue planet that was the only one without any info coming up.

"So, you know no one even knows what angel tears really are, right?" Mya said, completely lacking subtly. "I've heard a dozen accounts and no one says the same thing, even down to what color they might be. So how do you know what you are looking for?"