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Forty minutes of hiking proved to be more exhausting than originally thought. Having hiked that morning to the port town, then going off for thirteen miles, killing Lt. Edward Marquis of the Procne Mountain Calvary Unit in the process. After returning the horse and running like crazy, energy was gone and they were running on empty.
A much welcomed sign hailed the two upon arrival. “Irio. Hidden Away In the Wings of Procne. Pop: 215.”
“Fine, I was fifteen bodies off, sheesh.”
It took all self-control in the two to not go running off to the tavern in delight. Although small, Irio proved to be modernized to the fullest possible extent – cobble stone roads, street lights, brick buildings, even phones and television reception. A few restaurants were sprinkled around the town, but most of the buildings were residential.
“Where’s this freakin’ tavern, huh?” Aiyanna huffed, almost breathless.
The sun was putting up its last fight of the day, the sky overhead almost a perfect navy but streaked in violet and a hint of red.
“Red at night,” Senka said, her eyes on the sky, “Sailor’s delight. Red at morning, sailor take warning. How true that is.”
“You ever come across a red at night and a red the following morning?”
“Not really, no. I haven’t ever experienced that…dunno if it happens, really.”
Turning a corner, the two finally managed to find their target location – a tavern with a two-story building attached to it. Upon further inspection, that building turned out to be the “inn” of the town. With no door leading inside, it was obvious the tavern owner didn’t trust people to the fullest extent.
“Booze!” Senka cried out, running to the door.
Aiyanna grabbed the flailing wrappings of Senka’s headband. “Nein, danke. We’re getting some lodgings. That’s it.”
“Aww, you’re no fun.”
“We already went over this. And I said that I don’t find enjoyment in alcohol.”
“Just one little shot?”
“Nein! Geez, don’t make me scream in the northern dialect that much!” Aiyanna proceeded to drag Senka in through the front door and marched straight to a desk labeled “Lodgings”. It was currently manned by no one.
“You know that language? Wow.”
“Yeah. Had to learn it. They’re one of our most powerful allies, you know…though you probably don’t, since all people are easy targets for a pirate. Which, by the way, can you somehow make yourself less obvious at being you?”
“Ya know, earlier you said that my most distinguishing features are my eyes and my tattoos. I can’t exactly remove those.”
“Hide the right side of your face. If anybody asks, say you…you…you’ve got a migraine or something. I dunno, think of an excuse.”
“Gee, aren’t you helpful,” Senka groaned, covering up the tattoos while Aiyanna requested a room for the two to board.
Receiving the key, the wanderer dragged the pirate yet again off towards the door leading to the “inn”. They traveled through a shot hallway before going through another door, turning to the left and up a flight of stairs before finding the room – 223.
“Finally,” Senka groaned, her arm dropping to her side. “I lose the blood in my arm that way, you know. Sheesh.”
“Don’t complain you baby.” Aiyanna unlocked the door, wrenched it open, and nearly got squished to a pulp as Senka shot past her, slamming onto a bed.
“Ahhh…” she sighed, snuggling into the comforter. “You don’t know how good this feels…”
“You’re that tired?”
“Um, yeah. We faced a Calvary officer today and hiked almost twenty miles. Not fun.”
Aiyanna took off her backpack and flopped onto the other bed. Alright, Senka had finally spoken some truth – it did feel good. Nice and cozy.
“I call shower…first thing…in the morning…” she yawned, slipping the boots off her feet via toe maneuvering.
“We’ll see…who wakes up…first,” Senka responded lazily. Within an instant, the two fell asleep, dead tired…and hungry.
“Man the port! Prepare the cannons! Set out the ladders!” There came a pause. “Hey – Senka! Get yer ass in gear!” A holster was suddenly thrown down at her. “Here, it’s my second pistol – get used to it right now.”
In an instant, Senka automatically recognized who it was shouting at her – Zephyros. Between the eternal five o’clock shadow, wisdom patch, and split-stripe tattoos, it was her deceased captain and adopted father.
“Zephyros!” she shouted, looking up at the raised deck. “Why are you – where are we?”
The pirate captain leaned over the railing further before hopping on the ledge and leaping down. Once his feet touched the ground, the scene shot away in an orbal bleed.
“Ah, Senka,” he said, flipping his hair away from his face. “It’s nice to see you in person.”
“Err…yeah, same here…”
“So, my daughter, what have you been up to?” His smile sent a quick chill through her.
“I’d like to ask you the same thing. Earlier today, I was battling a Calvary officer from Procne Mountain.”
“Pronce…Pronce…OH! That’s right, Procne Mountain. Named after the wind phoenix. So how’d the battle go?”
Senka’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t there.”
“…You…weren’t there?” His eyes faltered slightly.
“I was there in the beginning. Then I passed out…and Aiyanna took over from there. But I’ve fainted before. When I came to, my limbs hurt. I was aching in my joints. And I don’t know why.”
“Well, that’s strange, Senka. But it’s not like I can answer your question.” As soon as he spoke those words, Zephyros twitched in his spot, his foot moving. The scene shot back to the boat.
“Is that so? Yeah, well…” She suddenly turned on her heel, pistol shooting to her side. After a quick pull of the trigger, a man who had just gotten on deck was shot, stumbling down before tripping over the edge and falling into the ocean.
“Nice shot, kid.” Zephyros gave her a hard slap on the back, something she also did…to Aiyanna. “Time to go.”
He shoved her over the edge and into the warm ocean.
The pirate ran a hand through her hair. A quick gasp escaped from her diaphragm. The strands were soaking with sticky, warm water. Bringing the hand to her mouth, Senka gave a careful, quick lick before finding out…salt water was in her hair.
“What the hell…?” Senka murmured, hopping off the bed, only to discover that her bandana had fallen to the ground. It too was sopping wet.
But the rest of her body was dry.
Looking out the single window in the room, a faint ray of sunlight hit Senka in the eyes through the open ends of the curtains. She groaned, squinting and turning her head away before scooting off to the bathroom to take a shower.
Aiyanna woke up slowly after a dreamless night. She wasn’t surprised, since her previous day had been choke full of insanity. After a few seconds, the wanderer realized that the water was running. With a quick look to her left, she discovered no Senka.
The shower was running in the bathroom. A moment later, the thought suddenly clicked that Senka had beaten her to the shower.
“Not fair,” Aiyanna grumbled, sitting up. She brushed the curtains off to the side, the full force of the sunlight smacking straight into her eyes. “What time is it…? Crudmuffins, it’s already nine? Geez…”
With a sigh, she decided to get breakfast.
She squeezed some shampoo into her hand and ran it through, giving her hair a much needed cleansing. The pirate sighed as the soap dripped off a stand of hair standing in front of her forehead. Her eyes followed the white foam as it dropped to the floor of the shower stall. It was a typical shower for inns such as this – a square, no bathtub, and no real rising ledge.
But something unexpected came up.
On the left of her torso, in the line of the shoulder joint and slightly above her bust line, was the faded marking of a tattoo. It resembled a squashed S with a stroke-line through the center, a dot in opposite corners.
“What the hell?” Thinking that it might be a dirt mark, Senka snatched up the soap bar and rubbed the spot vigorously. After about two minutes, her arm was tiring and the area was becoming bruised.
Except the mark was still there.
“What is this? I’ve never seen this…be…fore…” She stopped herself as the thoughts began processing. The marking wasn’t dirt…it was a tattoo. In fact, if she remembered correctly, the marking bore a striking resemblance to one she had seen on Zephryos.
In the exact. Same. Spot.
“WHAT THE HELL?!”
“God, I need to get home,” she grumbled.
What was going on?
“Why is that tattoo on my chest?” she muttered softly, cupping her forehead into her right hand. “Where did it come from?”
She looked down at the tattoo…only to find that it had disappeared.
“…WHAT THE HELL?!!!”
Her eyes scanning a story in the newspaper about increasing tax rates, Aiyanna casually munched on a slice of a blueberry muffin. It was warm and sweet, reminding her of the muffins one of the cook’s at home would make when she was a little girl. Now that cook was long deceased.
The door to the inn shot open, and a distraught Senka stormed into the tavern. She yanked a chair from the table Aiyanna was sitting at and plopped herself down. The owner’s wife came to the table, asking what she would like to eat.
“A corn muffin and coffee,” the pirate said in quick speech. When she left, Senka tapped Aiyanna’s shoulder.
“Aiya.”
“Yeah, what?”
“What’s going on today?”
“Morons whining about taxes.”
“Same as usual.”
“Same as usual.”
The two stared off into the corner of the eating area. A fireplace was crackling in the hearth, surrounded by a couch and two arm chairs. A rather large television was on, the news reporter babbling about political squabbles, accidents in the country, and the weather.
“Coming up after this commercial break – The search for Princess Citari has been stepped up. What does this mean for the citizens of Tijara?”
Aiyanna twitched her nose, but did nothing more. She turned the page in the newspaper, and smiled – alas, the comics.
The wife came back, placing Senka’s muffin and a coffee mug on the table. She tossed down some cream and sugar packets.
“Ahh, alright, food!” Senka cracked her fingers before standing up, pushing her chair back, dropping to the floor, and getting in crunch position.
Aiyanna looked down lazily. “Just what the hell are you doing?”
“Hup – humph – hup – Crunches – humph – hup – hup…”
“Why?”
“Need to – hup hup humph – keep in shape.”
“You walk, run, climb, fight enough to keep in shape.”
“Not – hup hup humph hup hup – to keep my gut down.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Aiyanna returned to her newspaper and muffin. “Not like I want washboard abs…I’m sexy enough…”
Senka stopped in mid-crunch, giggle-snorting. “Pfft, yeah, whatever! Hup hup hup hmph hup – My ass you are – and one-hundred!” She flipped upwards, scrambling to her feet, and sat down. With a one-two-three swoop, the land pirate had pushed her coffee to be closer to her, snatched the cream and sugar in one grab, and put them both in her coffee in the third swoop.
“Ahh…” It was a heavenly taste to the pirate, whom had been deprived of sleeping in an inn like this for a week.
Aiyanna munched on the rest of her muffin before swigging down the rest of her coffee. “Yummy. Though…I think I would like some fruit…”
Senka paid no attention as Aiyanna ordered, for she was in her happy place of corn muffins and coffee. Upon finishing the first muffin, her arm immediately shot up for another.
“I’m in a haaaapy place, I’m in a haaaapy place…” When the second was finished, she requested a porkroll sandwich.
“Pork…roll?” Aiyanna quirked an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“It’s a variant of meat from the pig. Sorta like bacon. Or mild pepperoni. Or a fusion of bacon and pepperoni. It’s really yummy – popular on the eastern coast.”
The news came back from its commercial time, and was now reporting on the kingdom’s new push to find the Princess. Aiyanna casually stood up and walked over to the lounge area, pretending to observe a painting that hung above the fireplace. In reality, she closely listened to the reporter.
“According to Adam Santo, a resident of the port town Izumi, a teenaged girl that seemed to resemble Princess Citari ate lunch at his restaurant yesterday. Santo also said that the suspected Princess was eating with another teenaged girl. Later investigation revealed that the companion was Senka Hjorrdis, a pirate known to be exclusive to the eastern sea.”
Aiyanna smiled. They weren’t sure if that ‘eater’ was her or somebody else. For now, she was safe.
“Oh wait – this just in.”
She tensed.
“According to the Procne Mountain Calvary Unit’s head office, Lt. Edward Marquis was killed by who is assumed to be Senka Hjorrdis. As we reported earlier, it is thought that Hjorrdis is holding the Princess captive until the Monarchs give in.”
Yeah. Like Senka had ever asked for anything.
“The recent push to find Princess Citari will go in effect next Tuesday, the 30th.” Aiyanna zoned out before turning around and making her way back to the table.
Well, she would’ve, but instead, she was forced to stop dead in her tracks.
A young man, probably in his early twenties, was standing next to the table, hands in his jean pockets, talking to Senka. His black hair was tied into a ponytail that extended to the bottom of his shoulder blades. Stubble of a beard was visible.
“Yeah, exactly,” he said, grinning. His tanned skin immediately lit up.
“Quite the talker,” Senka replied, smiling. It was cat-like and sly, but…flirtatious? Definitely something she hadn’t seen, nor expected, from the pirate. Tomboys were tomboys, and therefore, they weren’t expected to flirt. Or so the stereotype went.
Aiyanna nearly chucked over in disgust. Argh. Why did that boy go to Senka first? Not fair, not fair…He actually looked to be a good catch.
“Heeeeey Senka,” Aiyanna instead announced, marching to the table the land pirate was sitting at. “How’s it goin’?”
The two stopped talking. The young man perked up, scanned his eyes over Aiyanna, and immediately grinned. “Why hello there. Senka, is this a friend of yours?”
“She –”
“I am, if that’s any qualification for you.” Aiyanna winked. This was gonna be fun.
The Princess grinned wildly. “That guy was hot, and you didn’t deserve all that attention.”
“Is it wrong for a small-chested, short-haired girl to get more attention than a girl with long hair and cleavage?”
“I was just making him avoid bad taste, that’s all.”
“You suck.”
“Meh.”
The two explored the rest of Irio, which, although not much, proved to be a sightseeing trip. The town’s location on the side of a mountain made it so that houses and buildings were jutting out from the rocks. Mining seemed to be the lifeline of this town, with multiple caves and tracks leading to and from the mountain.
“No wonder they’ve been able to do so well. It’s a silver mine.”
Aiyanna groaned. “How do you know these things? How can you tell?!”
“Pirate thingie. Wilhelm – the sword smith – taught me some of these things. And besides, there’s silver dust on the tracks. Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”
“Bite me.”
Senka sighed, brushing some hair from her eyes. “Well…now what?”
The two had reached the edge of the town. A long stretch of stone steps led down the cliff face. Aiyanna whistled.
“Woah. Can’t believe they actually put this in for people.” Her eyes quickly darted over to a sign cemented to the ground. “Hmm…the Path of the Wind. Built by the founders of Irio over three hundred years ago. Cool.”
“The Path of the Wind. I like it. They’re big on the whole element thing up here, meh?” Without waiting for a response, Senka began her hop down the steps.
“Hey, wait up!” Aiyanna scuttled down after her, fingers grazing over the sandstone.
