The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[Fappy]

[HEADING=1]THE ASHLANDERS - CHAPTER 2: DIVIDE AND CONQUER[/HEADING]


Sprout woke to a loud knock on Ruffles' door, "Captain says we have the day off, but she's got an important announcement to make after supper. Don't miss it."

Cranston had received instructions to spread the word to everyone on board. Though he'd have liked to spend a little more time off between jobs, there was obviously something big going on behind the scenes. Whatever it was... it was forcing Pixie's hand rather blatantly. He rubbed his bald head in mild frustration and moved on to continue his errand.

Sprout pealed the sweatshirt off his face and clutched his forehead in pain. Perhaps his large intake of caffeine and sugar the night prior wasn't the best idea after all. He looked around the room in a delirious stupor to see that Ruffles had already left. After splashing some cold water on his face he left Ruffles' room and headed towards the holding cell. If no one else was around he'd sneak in there and make his apology. It had been eating at him all night.

He rounded the corner to see the coast was clear and knocked on the door, "Hey, y'all decent in there?"

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Elizabeth slept like a baby the night before. Though her day was filled with anxiety and pain, her dreams had everything but. Memories of her late sister and the short time they spent together flooded her thoughts. Her sister's beautiful smile was her most prominent feature, though as time went on Elizabeth saw less and less of it. Sure, she spent a lot of time with her close friends and still knew how to have fun, but there had been something festering within her before her time came.

Elizabeth was too young to understand at the time, but she always wondered what it was that bothered her so.

"Hey, y'all decent in there?"

Elizabeth's eyes shot open in surprise as the irony of life had come full circle with Sprout's blatant disregard for their beauty sleep. Looking to Josephine across the room, Elizabeth groaned in a barely conscious state, "Can you get it, Milady?"

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Florian woke to see Pixie sitting in a chair directly next to his bed. She had a habit of dropping in at unexpected times. Pixie smiled sarcastically, "Good mornin', Heavenly Father." Her smile faded. "We need ta' talk."

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Dio sat behind his glass desk, sorting through files when Raphael walked in, "Milord."

"Are they here?"

Raphael nodded, "Yes, Milord. Shall I send for them?"

Dio rubbed his eyes as to banish his fatigue and reached for his box of cigars, "Yeah, let's get this over with. I can only suffer such scum for so long."

"Very good, sir." Raphael bowed and turned to leave Dio's office. After a short walk down the hallway he entered the dining room he'd instructed the bounty hunters to wait in. There were around thirty men and women among them. All professionals to varying degrees, but Dio had no patience for their kind. He'd go as far as acknowledging their usefulness, but would never place much value in anyone with such flexible loyalties.

They were a rugged and... uncultured group to say the least. As Raphael entered the room he counted at least a dozen of them scowling at him, "Lord Basilio will see you now. If there aren't any questions we will depart immediately."

 

[The Funslinger]

Ruffles finished the cup of water, popped the last bit of bacon into his mouth and headed back to his room. He had taken a break to get breakfast, but aside from sleeping for a few of hours, he'd been up a large portion of the night tinkering. He'd had an idea as to how to stop his sodas being stolen. And from there, he'd had an idea for a new gadget. When he got back to his workshop, he saw Sprout was gone.

Sitting back to his desk, he returned his attention to the cooler. It was an oblong metal box about two feet by one, and one and a half tall. It was powered by one of his homemade batteries, which applied heat to the alcohol based coolant he'd made causing it to evaporate through the coils he's forged, chilling the box's contents. The coolant never needed topping up, because there was nowhere for the evaporated contents to go, so it settled and remixed in the compartment the coils ran from, in an endless cycle. All he needed to do was replace the battery every eight months or so.

As for his little scheme, the whole box was metal, aside from the small rubber section where the lid closed shut. After disassembling the box to make the modifications he'd sketched out in design plans, he'd reassembled it, and cut a groove into the underside of the rubber section. Combined with the clip that kept the box tightly shut until opened, it made a broken circuit. However, when opened conventionally, the mechanism he designed would ping together, completing the circuit and electrifying the entire box. The only way to open it safely was with a small plastic tab he'd made, which was safely inconspicuously hidden in one of his many pockets.

It wasn't lethal, he was sure. Just enough that the brief contact would result in some serious disorientation. Maybe said person would wet themselves. No permanent tissue damage.

So he set about putting the final touches on that, then turned his attention to the gutted cordless ratio on the table.

Spoiler: Ruffles' theme

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"Lord Basilio will see you now. If there aren't any questions we will depart immediately."

Metal and Duke got to their feet, and sauntered through the door. It was always entertaining how uncomfortable their presence seemed to make Nobles.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler: For your listening pleasure

Lilith groaned as she heard a knock at her door.

"Captain says we have the day off, but she's got an important announcement to make after supper. Don't miss it."

She pulled her pillow over her face, "Yeah, yeah, you bald bastard." She spent a few moments complaining into her pillow before she sat up, rubbing her temples.

Lilith had no clue when Warren left. While he was drinking soda, she was mixing her's with whiskey. She looked around the room. Other than a few bottles, the place seemed intact. She got out of bed, rather clumsily, sauntering over to the coffee table and grabbing her smokes. She lit one and took a long, loving drag, leaning her head back and blowing smoke towards the ceiling. "I need an oyster..."

Barefooted and still wearing the shorts and vest from the night before, she managed to make her way to the cafeteria.


"What'cha having?" the cook said, as Lilith slumped down at the counter, her head nestled in her arms.

"Raw egg, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt, ground pepper."

The chef smiled knowingly, "Ah yes, a Prairie Oyster. You know, you're the only one around here who drinks... eats, those things?"

Lilith groaned "Keep your voice down please." A puff of smoke escaping from the crevices of her nestled head. A few minutes later, all the ingredients were in front of her. Even though she had the mother of all hangovers, she carefully separated the yolk from the egg, placing it in a glass. She added just the right amount of Worcestershire and hot sauce, as well as the right pinch of salt, and just 2 grinds of black pepper.


She grimaced, a long portion of unattended ash breaking away from her cigarette. "I bloody hate these things" She chucked it back, making disgusted sounds while the cook stood by chuckling as he dried dishes.

 

[roushutsu]

After the captain had left and locked the door behind her, Josephine carefully tucked Elizabeth to bed. The young maiden was asleep in a matter of minutes, and it wasn't long before sleep began creeping up on her as well. Finding a spot across the room, she collapsed and fell asleep.

She woke up to the sound of loud banging and the voice of that panicking little boy. "Hey, y'all decent in there?"

"Can you get it, Milady?"

Josephine groaned as she slowly rose to her feet. Her body was aching and stiff, but when she stretched, she felt a stinging burn on her neck. Marry! Not now... No doubt it was from when she was taken outside of the train. Her skin was always delicate. The sun would burn her easily, and normally she would wear a hat to keep her face covered. But given how she was rushed out with only an oxygen mask, it wouldn't have taken much to burn her skin.

At least it was indoors and still a little dark in the room. Hopefully the boy wouldn't notice the sun burn. Who knows how they'd heal that? Maybe run some of that wretched alcohol on it and hope for the best. She shuddered at the thought. "Enter."

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Good mornin', Heavenly Father." Her smile faded. "We need ta' talk."

"And I, apparently, need to start locking my door." Florian grumbled and pulled himself upright. Mornings weren't his thing and the captain never came calling for social calls.

"We're going to need some coffee aren't we?"

It took a few minutes for Florian to throw on his usual outfit of black and grey before stirring up some of the cheap coffee he kept around. Luckily looks and standards were never top of the list on the Maiden.

"So." He said, plonking himself down in a chair he'd dragged opposite the captain's. "What brings you here, MY CHILD?" He asked, mimicking her earlier tone.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Lord Basilio will see you now. If there aren't any questions we will depart immediately." Spoke Raphael as he entered the room where the gathering of at least a dozen bounty hunters were at. Viola had remained quiet ever since she entered the estate of Lord Basilio, though she did receive a few odd looks from the serving staff here upon her arrival. These people had probably never even seen a Bounty Hunter before. A few of the selected group had already started to move towards the door that Raphael entered through, and Viola thought it was time to join them.

 

[The Funslinger]

With the booby trapped cooler safely stowed under his bunk, Ruffles headed back through into the workshop. Since he'd taken a sledgehammer to a section of wall upon his moving in near a decade ago, the workshop was one of the largest single rooms on the ship, aside from places like the common room and the hangar containing the crawlers and the boarding ramp. The engine room was close in size.

He turned his attention to a red brick forge in one corner. Pixie had been bewildered when she'd found out he'd saved up most of the carbon from his cut of three jobs to buy bricks, mortar and coal, but hadn't argued. Then he'd gone on to buy quite a few other devices and pieces of equipment, and she'd stopped asking. What he did on his own time. Taking a cloth wrapped bundle from one side, he opened it to reveal a bundle of steel bars. He'd set the forge heating before he'd gone up to grab breakfast.

With tongs, he heated the bars and melted them together, taking them to an anvil to hammer them, then heated them, and then hammered them. Gradually, a length of steel about thirty four inches long was formed. He shaped and sharpened the blade on a belt grinder, bringing the tip to a point, and thinning several inches at the back that would go into the handle.

Just a second of contact on the belt grinder would skin what it touched to the bone. He'd had to keep a hyperactive Sprout from touching this machine and others like it that could cause grievous injury the previous night. He smiled at the memory. Taking the blade to a vertical milling machine, he set a fuller along the blade, then took it back to the forge for heat treating, reducing some of the forge's airflow to lower the heat a little. This took a couple of hours, at which point the sweat was pouring off him. Banking the blade's heat in a water barrel, then set about milling a length of wood, drilling a hole, then cutting a length of industrial steel tube, then went about milling some aluminium fittings. when he had the steel shaped for the cross guard using a hammer machine, and refined it with manual hammer work, he cast a lump of brass into a pommel using a mould he'd made a while ago. Then he fit everything together, then used a soft belt on the belt grinder to polish the blade and its fittings until they shone.

It had been very early morning when he started, and it was a reasonable time for a late lunch when he finished. laying the weapon across the workbench, he bounced gleefully. He'd intervals of the past year or so practicing, making daggers and such with varying degrees of success, hiding them or getting rid of them discreetly, and this was what the practice culminated in.

He had no practical use for something like this, but that wasn't the point. Shit, Sprout was going to have to see this. Locking the door behind him, he headed off to find Sprout. The kid was going to want to see this.

 

[Ruedyn]

Warren

Smiles decided to leave around the third drink his gracious host downed. Things were just kinda getting weirder, and he had decided he should sleep in his own room, to minimize weirdness and rumors. Sod the training, live action was where it counted, and it's how he learned these things in the first place... He grabbed his gun, slinging it over his shoulder as he drew the sword.

He made a few cuts in the air, passing through the hallways of the ship. Back when those types of swords were used, flying through the air was the craft of demons, kites, and birds. It was the little things that made Warren smile. He made sure not to cut anything into the walls, piss too many people off in one day and you were practically begging to be thrown overboard.

He sighed when he made it to his room, placing his weapons on the door, taking off his scarf, and flopping onto the bed.

~

"Captain says we have the day off, but she's got an important announcement to make after supper. Don't miss it."

A loud growl answered the door, as well as the sound of fist hitting wall. Cranston decided to move right the hell on, leaving Warren to collect himself. His head was filled with dull throbbing as he threw open the door, putting on his scarf and throwing his long hair over his shoulder. Not hungry, his sleep taken away, and unlikely Florian would leave his room alone again so soon.

"... Fucking bored." He muttered, choosing a direction and walking through the hallways like a boredom fueled ballistic missile of annoyance.

Kayneth

"Lord Basilio will see you now. If there aren't any questions we will depart immediately."

The albino threw his head back, rubbing his eyes, giving a small smile as he moved his hands from his eyes to slicking his spiky, blood red hair back. It had been a long day, and all he could think was:

'Fuckin finally.'

Alas, it seemed he was not to go first. Two men got up, as well as most the room. He grabbed at his sword quickly, hopping up to his feet and taking his place next to a woman in gear that looked a bit expensive.

"Good... mornin, I think. What brings you here? 'Sides the cash." The Celtic man asked, giving a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. He bounced his sword's scabbard off his shoulder as he walked, letting his now useless hand go limp at his side.

Tobin

"Do do de doo..." The man said, leaning against the door and window, fanning himself with his bowler cap. Hot out today in Who-Fucking-Knows-or-Cares, like every other day on the god damned planet. He sat in the back of the Crawler, next to a man who was not blessed with being born small. He did have the ugly down pat though, Tobin had to admit.

"So, is this for a purpose?"

"Would you prefer we let the boss go without escort?"

"I meant putting me next to Ogre."

"Oh. Tom called shotgun, Tom get's shotgun."

"Right." The gunslinger leaned forward, putting his head next to Tom's, whispering softly into his ear.

"Hate ya Tom."

"I know."

"Good. Great. Excellent." Tobin paused for a moment, then spit on his lap, onto the shotgun he carried.

"Ah, c'mon, fuck you dwarf!"

"Heh heh." Tobin smiled, and winked at the rearview at their driver, who's name he should really try to remember. For now, he was 'Hound', and it was likely to stay that way for awhile. The 4'3 man of steel and bullets crossed his legs again, looking out of the window into the streets, the crew would be leaving soon. Something about a Noble getting kidnapped, the boss wanted his fingers in that pie. He'd likely be sent out, he'd shoot the place up, then he'd get the girl and bring her back. He sighed, settling back into the seat.

Aquila

The ship was getting set down, they were preparing to lay low for awhile. They were going to look for supplies, then they were going to pay attention to other people who buy supplies, likely leading them into a back alley and smashing their fucking skulls in. As was standard procedure, in most cities, Feroxi would be no exception.

Aquila frowned as she gave their clan leader, Nero, her clan scarf. In case she was shot, they didn't want the shooters to trace back to em. Well, not 'they', the whole crew was a bit stir crazy. What better way to get it out of your system than bludgeoning? She'd never understand how people ENJOYED killing, and she hoped she never would.

She stayed low as she entered the town, and immediately starting getting directions to all the shops. Playing the ditzy cute girl was about as standard as this whole operation, and every male she ran into fell for it. She got the feeling they didn't even care she was 16, creepy. She began wandering the streets, looking for a place to call base before the robbing and such began. She kept her suitcase close to her chest, knowing her rifle was in there made her feel a bit better.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

The Gentleman had been awake since the early hours of the morning, as was his custom. He'd passed the time by reading. The books he owned were incredibly old, and incredibly rare, dating back to a time before civilization on The Rock (if you could call The Rock much of a civilization). Even these were re-prints, and yet they were near enough priceless. Dickens, his favourite author.

As per his best behaviour, The Gentleman had not intruded on anyone's personal affects since Meredith's office yesterday. There was little point, as he doubted there would be anything among the belongings of the rank and file that would prove relevant to the job at hand, or anything much worth stealing at all to be honest. A poke around Warren's room might help him get a better measure of the man, but he was hardly a priority. The origins of Aesop's little... malfunctions, interested him more, and may even prove useful information should he ever require leverage with the man. He would tread carefully on that score, however. The man seemed to be clinging onto the raggedy edge as it was, and pushing him beyond it would serve no purpose other than light entertainment. Nevertheless, he resolved to do some discreet snooping. Anyone else who mattered, The Gentleman already knew inside out.

No-one came calling at his door, but when The Gentleman heard others being roused, he shut his book and stowed it carefully away, venturing out to see what awaited him today. His wanderings eventually brought him to the refectory, where he happened upon Lilith, soaking up last night's inebriation with one of her famed 'Prairie Oyster' remedies, possibly the foulest concoction The Gentleman had eve had the misfortune of being introduces too, and he'd once been force to drink Elton County Moonshine mixed with ash!

"Hair of the dog indeed." he mused, taking a seat on the stool beside her.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"Hair of the dog indeed."

Ah shit.

"Good morning to you too." Lilith responded groggily, "Having breakfast before you snoop around the ship, or did you start early and decided to take a break?"

She tapped the top of the counter, smiling weakly at the cook as he approached. "Pot of tea if you please, Earl Grey." She glanced to her side "Two cups".

She might despise the man, but Lilith had manners, one of the few things, other than her name, she took from the orphanage slash nunnery.

Lilith stubbed out her cigarette as the tea arrived, she picked up the metal pot, pouring the Gentleman's drink before her own.

"Would you like sugar with that?" She said, a soft lilt to her voice.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"Just one, if you would be so kind." The Gentleman replied, returning serve. when it was done, he sipped the tea. A highly sub-standard brew in truth, but the Maidens had to make do with what they had, and if would have been bad manners to say so anyway. He nodded and made approving noises, wondering if the Maidens might use spend some of his haul on better teabags.

"I fear I have made an enemy in your friend Aesop." he mused. "He doesn't seem the trusting sort, even when I am being the very soul of charity. To be so generous and still be met with nothing but hostility is almost enough to drive me into making an honest living." He chuckled to show what he thought of that.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"He doesn't seem the trusting sort, even when I am being the very soul of charity. To be so generous and still be met with nothing but hostility is almost enough to drive me into making an honest living."

Lilith sipped her drink, gladdened to wash the foul taste of the previous beverage away. She gently placed down the cup, her elbows on the counter, she rested her chin on top of the backs of her clasped hands. She mused for a moment.

"Well, to be fair to Aesop, you are a bit of a ****." She smiled, "A terrifying ****, who's machinations chill me to the bone..." She glanced to her side and met his eyes. "But a **** nonetheless. Aesop is a good man, he has his demons, we all do. He's just troubled by his a little bit more than the rest of us, but that doesn't mean he deserves to be mocked."

She took another sip of her drink and her face softened. "As amusing as you no doubt find it, there is no skill in preying on the weak minded." She smiled slightly. "I'm already afraid of you, the others are either too ignorant or arrogant to know otherwise."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

The Gentleman grinned at her.

"Oh, you do cut me deep Lilith, but I still must disagree. We should all be mocked from time to time, else-wise we start to think ourselves invincible, and then our doom is sealed. Besides, if Aesop is as vulnerable as you claim, surely you must ask yourself if he's someone who you want watching your back...

I only ask because I am concerned, if you'll believe it. I know you think me sly and treacherous. True on both counts, but we all have reputations to maintain, roles we must fulfill. From time to time, I am called upon to demonstrate the, fluidity, of my loyalties. If I did not, the people I would be seen to favourite would be in great danger from those who seek to harm me. So yes, I've sold you and Meredith out on more than one occasion, but you'll note that I've never betrayed you to anyone I didn't know you could handle. That is the tightrope I must walk. I simply want to know if Aesop upsets the equation that I have grown accustomed to balancing. It's all in your best interests."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The man spoke sense, but then again, he always did.

Aesop has always worried her. He was pretty unstable at the best of times, but she had never been given a reason to suspect that he wouldn't pick up the slack when it mattered most. She bit her bottom lip as she mused, her hand finding it's way to her necklace.

"I don't think we need to worry about him, he wouldn't be here if Meredith didn't think he could handle things, and besides..." She took a long sip of tea. "I'm lucky, remember?" Lilith smiled as she lit up a cigarette. Now let me ask you a question." She topped up her cup from the tea pot.

"Do you know where I can get some good tea? Because this stuff is bloody awful."

 

[Fappy]

"Enter."

Sprout eagerly threw the door open to see Josephine standing before him, "Mornin', Milady! How're you two settlin'---"

His words trailed off when he noticed Elizabeth, lying on the cot in the back of the room. She'd certainly seen better days. Her hair was a jumbled mess, she had bags under her eyes and she just look generally miserable. Getting shot seemed to have taken alot out of her. Sprout looked down at his hand and bit his lip. He should have brought something to make them feel better... water, food, anything!

Elizabeth held her hand to her mouth and yawned, "Are you okay, young man?"

Sprout snapped out of it and looked to her with a smile, "Oh, yeah, um.... C-can I get y'all something ta' eat're drink?"

"Just, some water please."

Sprout nodded and looked to Josephine expectantly.

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Pixie held the steel mug to her lips and took a sip. She really needed the caffeine.

"... What brings you here, MY CHILD?"

She rested both arms on her lap and sighed, "I'm gonna need yer help these next few weeks, Florian. There are'a few errands that need taken care of, so we'll be operate'n with a smaller crew fer awhile." She took a moment to analyze the room. Religious paraphernalia really wasn't her thing. "I'm send'n Lilith and Axel to Feroxi ta' take care of ar' unwanted cargo, but I reckon we're gonna have ta' hold onto the lil' blonde one fer... awhile."

She took another sip on her coffee and looked down into the mug as she continued, "Holdn' on ta' her's gonna make us a target in more ways than the rest'a the crew realizes." Pixie leaned in close, her one good eye staring straight into his own. "I need'ya to understand why I'm doin' this, Florian. I need you ta' know why I'm risk'n everything fer this girl 'cause I..." Her gaze darted back down to the coffee mug in her hand. "I don' know if I can trust myself ta' make the right calls here."

Meredith was in rare form, indeed.

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"Good... mornin, I think. What brings you here? 'Sides the cash."

Raphael scoffed as he overhead the man flirting with the girl he spoke to the day before, Viola. As they entered the hallway Raphael spoke without turning his head, "Cease all side conversations before we enter Lord Basilio's chamber. He has little tolerance for such foolishness."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Good... mornin, I think. What brings you here? 'Sides the cash." A man with a strange accent asked Viola as they walked along the corridor towards Lord Basilio's office.

"Who me? I guess aside from the payout, perhaps its the feeling one gets from doing a good deed of reuniting two people who are to be betrothed to one another. Or perhaps it is to satisfy my curiosity, to see if the Maiden and its crew are as capable as rumours suggest they are." Viola responded with a nonchalant tone in her voice. It appeared Raphael had overheard this conversation and spoke without even turning his head.

"Cease all side conversations before we enter Lord Basilio's chamber. He has little tolerance for such foolishness." Viola then turned to the man who was talking to her, and spoke in a low whisper.

"Best we keep quiet for the time being, wouldn't want to make a negative first impression."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

The Gentleman laughed aloud.

"Oh, I have my contacts for all things Lilith, as long as you don't mind dealing in tax free merchandise." he teased. "Depending on where we're going, I might be able to move you up in the world of tobacco too."

The Gentleman lit his pipe, and savoured a long, sweet puff, before returning to the conversation.

"So, just out of curiosity. What are these demons that torment Aesop so?"

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"Depending on where we're going, I might be able to move you up in the world of tobacco too."

"I look forward to it." She replied, rolling her eyes.


"So, just out of curiosity. What are these demons that torment Aesop so?"


Lilith smiled. "You ask me like you don't already know." She took a sip of tea. "Anyway, even if you didn't know, which I know you do, it's not my place to discuss such things. Why don't you ask him yourself, or did you already burn that bridge, since I know how you oh so love to torment people."

 

[roushutsu]

"Oh, yeah, um.... C-can I get y'all something ta' eat're drink?"

"I will have water as well. And perchance some bread for breakfast." Josephine had to make sure Elizabeth was keeping her strength up. With the bullet removed and her wound treated, it was one less thing for her to worry about. But then the captain ran her mouth off regarding Lord Basilio.

"He ain't payn' shit. Don' go'n flatter yerself, honey. Basilio 'n me, we go way back. The moment he hears I'm involved he'll ferget all 'bout you and go on'a crusade fer my head."

The Tigereye family have been allied to the Basilios for many years now. They always had each other's backs. When her brother Frederick was killed, they were the first to send flowers and many made it to the funeral. She never saw anything monstrous about them.

The captain was lying. She was sure of it! And she sure as hell wasn't going to let Elizabeth starve herself over it.

 

[Fappy]

"I will have water as well. And perchance some bread for breakfast."

Sprout gave a quick nod and left the room in search of water and bread. As he ventured down the hall he wondered what kind of food they'd hauled in with the rest of the cargo. Maybe he'd be able to whip up something a bit more... significant than mere bread.

A sandwich could be made, at the very least. Wearing a determined smile, he slammed his right fist down into his open palm as to seal the deal. Sandwiches would be made!

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Elizabeth could see concern painted on Josephine's face as the boy left them. Sitting up in bed, she rubbed her eyes as to banish her drowsiness, "Thank you, Milady." She said as Josephine retreated from the door.

There were many things fighting for attention in her mind, but one specific oddity pervaded logic more than any other. It was something she just couldn't quite understand, "What do you think the Captain meant by what she said last night?" She paused for a moment to recall the day's events. The look on Pixie's face is what stuck to her the most. "W-why... why did she seem so concerned for me?"

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Dio was still sifting through documents when Raphael led the rabble into his lavished, and distinctly over-sized office. He didn't so much as acknowledge their presence until Raphael spoke, "Milord, the hunters---"

Without even looking up he interrupted his servant, "Very good, Raphael. You may leave us." The butler bowed in compliance and left the room. After another thirty seconds of silently sifting through documents he finally looked up to see the hunters before him. None of them spoke a word as he scanned them from behind his desk. When he finally stood he could hear at least one or two surprised gasps. Despite wearing formal noble attire it was impossible not to notice his massive, athletic form, not to mention his staggering height. He was an even 6 in-a-half feet tall.

"Welcome to my home, hunters." Dio said with a sprinkle of cynicism in his voice. It would go unnoticed to most in the room. He came around the front of his desk and stood before them. They had not been unarmed, as per his order. This came as a surprise to most of the hunters, but those who did their research knew why. He was a man with nothing to fear. If what they say was true, Dio was one of the most dangerous men in the ashlands, in both the literal and abstract sense.

He sized up the men and women in front of him, "I gathered you all here today for an assignment. Meredith "Pixie" Monroe captured my betrothed yesterday and intends to ransom her. This will simply not do. I do not make deals with scum such as her." He eyeballed a few of the hunters as he spoke, meeting their gaze until they looked away. "The Iron Maiden's time is up. I'm willing to offer a hefty sum--one that will set you up for life--to the one that brings me Pixie's head."