Of Frames and Forgeries (Open)

The Mithra girl was exhausted and she stumbled in the dark as she walked along the road towards the Elvaan capital. "Ouch..." she winced as she stubbed a toe on a stone that she was too sleepy-eyed to see in front of her.

A large hand reached out of the darkness to steady her as she walked and she leaned into the huge frame of the Galka at her side. "Just a little further, Banissa," he murmured in a deeply rumbling voice. "Shade Leonhart might be more prickly than a cactuar and forged of Shiva's own Ice, but she's fair and just. You'll see when we get there."

Banissa nodded slowly, trying not to fall asleep on her feet. She still wasn't certain that she understood why they were having to leave Bastok like this. She knew that there were accusations and shouting matches and that she and Steel had to get to this "Shade" or something terrible would happen to both of them.

She wished they could have taken the Airship that she had. At least then she could have slept all the way to San d'Oria, but Mairi had taken it with her as she looked for some other world to stay on and it hadn't returned yet.

She looked up again, blinking through bleary eyes as she saw the front gates of the city. "Steel! There it is, isn't it? There's the city where Shade is."

"Yes," Steel's deep voice rumbled, "we're almost there." He picked the Mithra girl up and set her on his shoulder. "Almost there."

Fury rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he watched Cowboy fly downward towards San d'Oria. It had been another sleepless night in Vana' Diel and he was ready to end this job and go back to he Garden to see Serenity and Alivia. While these bounty hunter jobs took a toll on his team, they paid very well and they could use the extra cash. In a war torn world like Vana 'Diel, jobs like these were very common, but there was something off about this one. He brought the file up on the holo-table again and stared at the pictures of the two targets: A large Galkan man and a mithra girl. No reason was given for their capture or death and even less was given about his employer. The man paid extra for that.

Fury flicked the file into the virtual trash bin and asked, "C.R.A.I.G, bring up all files you can scrap together on these two." He watched as the table turned into a mass of moving number and symbols as Craig scrambled to find anything he could out about the targets.

After a few minutes, Craig materialized before him on the table and sighed. "Due to the general lack of ANY technology on this world, all I was able to scrap together are their names. The galkan goes by the name Steel Deer and served as an ambassador for Bastok at one time. As for the girl, well, it says here her name is Banissa. They were last seen leaving Bastok for San d'Oria, the reason for which is unknown."

Fury nodded and said, "Then we are in the right place, we should have gotten here just about the time they did with the head start they had on us." Fury moved away from the holotable and walked down the stairs into the equipment locker. He put on his light gear and grabbed his knife and revolvers before moving towards the door. He stopped at the door and told the others to stay with the ship and that it shouldn't take long before walking out into the city.

He walked through the torch-lit streets briskly as he made his way towards the northern gates. He ignored the stares he received from the tall elvaan guards that dotted the streets at this hour and stopped the front of an inn. He waited there for a moment before a large galkan and a mithra girl walked past. As soon as they entered his view, he could hear Craig working in his head. "Tagets identified as Steel Deer and Banissa, recommend you keep collateral damage to a minimum. We don't need to cause a scene in front of all these guards with shiny, pointy swords."

Fury grumbled at the computer before silently walking after the duo.

Steel felt the man's approach even before he saw him, walking with a stance unlike that of the guards or the few adventurers who were walking the streets at this silent hour. His clothing alone marked him as an Outworlder, and the way he fell into step following them, probably a bounty hunter of some sort.

He set Banissa back on the ground so that she could walk beside him again. "Banissa, if I tell you, I need to to run as fast as you can straight for the palace, alright?" He kept his deeply rumbling voice low. "Scream as loud as you can for Lady Shade. The guards will bring her just to calm you down. Do you understand me?"

She nodded slowly. "What's wrong, Steel? Won't... won't you be with me?"

"I'll be right behind you, Kitten."

He glanced at the man following them, very carefully changing his stance as he walked, so that if he had to, he could whirl to delay the man while Banissa ran for help. With luck, though, maybe they'd reach the palace before that desperate measure was necessary.

Fury slowly followed them down the windy street. It appeared to him that they were headed straight for the palace. Once again, this sent up red flags to him. Wanted fugitives wouldn't be heading straight for a place with a lot of guards. So Fury kept after them, making sure to keep his distance and just observed them. If he was going to grab them, he would have to do it before they reached the palace grounds, because then all fugitives would fall under the jurisdiction of the Royal Guards. That was one political mess he did not want to get involved in.

Fury stopped short when the Galkan placed the girl on the ground and spoke to her. Obviously the man seemed very unnerved and jumpy, almost like he knew Fury was following them. He waited for the Galkan to finish and then continued after them, but something was wrong. The large man no longer walked at an easy pace. He now walked in a hunched stance an made sure he was between Fury and the girl. It was when the man looked back at him did he realize that his suspicions were right and it was time to move.

Fury quickened his pace to bring himself within twenty yards of the man and crossed his arms to grab hold of the grips of his revolvers. He pulled on them and drew both of them out before saying, "Stop. Both of you. Turn around and face me slowly and no one will get hurt. I don't want to have to hurt you but I will. The mark is for DEAD or alive, so really it's my choice." Fury made a glance to the guards, who seemed to be going about their business as usual. C.R.A.I.G. chimed in his ear, "Lazy bastards, aren't they?"

Steel put one hand on Banissa's shoulder, squeezing it gently, before he turned to face the man following them. The teenager behind him turned to look and eeped for a moment in fear, pulling on his hand. "Steel..."

He took a deep breath. No weapon in his hands, but he was a Galka and he had some very big hands to work with.

"Go, Banissa!"

She was still for only a moment before she took off running, screaming at the top of her lungs. "LADY SHADE!!!! I GOTTA SEE LADY SHADE!!!!! GOTTA SEE HER NOW!!!!"

He sighed. At least if he fell, then his promise to her sister would not be unkept. The Mithra girl would likely drive Shade into madness, but her sense of honor would ensure that she'd see the girl safe.

"I'm sorry," he said to the man who followed them. "I cannot do as you ask."

Cryanuce could tell Shade's nerves were wearing thin, but she hid any signs of frustration behind a serene expression as her steel hues remained fixed upon the king and his court. He knew this very skill of hers would hold out beyond the patience of the court itself, but he still sympathized for his human friend. As a protector of San d'Oria, these fools had no one else to point their fingers at save for Shade, and they were taking full advantage of it. Yet she completely understood their concerns, but they refused to understand that she was not in control of the worldly portals throughout the realm of worlds. Although she stood before the entire council as if some tyrant criminal, taking all their accusations and insults like a doormat, she either kept her tongue silent with her teeth, or answered a direct question calmly with a monotone voice. Shade knew it was fear for their people and safety that awakened such hostility, but to outright hold her responsible was a rather far stretch.

"If you are not to blame, than who is?" One of the robed Elvaan of the hierarchy barked from his seat within the risers.

Her words remained calm and straight forward. "I don't know"

"Then who is responsible for those traveling through these portals?" Yet another voice cried out.

"Each world, each continent, may hold their own laws as to who may come and go..."

"This is yet another plot of domination! Armies could very well slip through these portals at any given time! Any given place! And we are to be at ease!?" The elder who spoke these words looked as if he would run a sword straight through Shade if he were given the chance.

Shade's stern hues met his just as she did to each one who directed a question at her. "I never told you to be at ease. Every world holds the same fear as you. Even my own world. If you so wish to center your concerns on fears rather than the benefits, that is your choice, as well as your own responsibility to handle as you see fit."

Just as another was about to raise his voice, two Elvaan guards rushed into the court hall and interrupted the session with urgency. "Your Majesty, excuse our intrusion, but there seems to be a matter of emergency outside the front gates that demands the Leonhart's attention." The echoing screams of Shade's name could even be heard within the palace from whomever was in a state of panic outside. Without waiting to be formally excused, Shade bolted out of the grand room, leaving the voices of confusion and bigotry behind her. Once outside and rushing down the wide palace staircase, her steel eyes quickly located the source and was caught by surprise that it was no one familiar to her.


There at the other end of the entrance gates was a young Mithra girl Shade had never seen before. Her first thought rose a jolt of panic as Shade charged toward the yelling girl while desperately clinging to the metal bars of the gates and shaking them. Shade knew of only one Mithra and her first alarming thought was that Gohrick was in danger and this Mithra was sent to find Shade to help him. Now at the gate, Shade's gloved hands wrapped over the young girl's fierce grip against the bars and found stark fear in the Mithra's eyes. "Calm yourself, girl.... I'm Shade. Just catch your breath and tell me what's wrong. Who sent you? How do you know my name?"

Banissa looked up into Shade's steel grey eyes and gasped to catch her breath. "Oh wow..." she murmured under her breath slightly, "he said you were grumpy... he didn't say you were pretty, too!"

She blinked several times, remembering what she was there for and reached out to grab hold of Shade's hands, her eyes looking very scared indeed. "Please, Lady Shade, please help! They're gonna kill him if you don't stop them! Please! I know he's big and scary looking sometimes, but you know he'd never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it! And he'd never NEVER do the kinds of things I heard them shouting about! Please, Lady Shade, you're my only hope!!!"

The girl was, quite plainly, in terror for someone's life. "Please, they were gonna EXECUTE him in Bastok! You gotta stop them!" She started pulling Shade towards the place where she'd left Steel standing, facing the man who'd been sent to find them. She was still pulling Shade along as she shouted out ahead of them. "Steel!!!! I got Lady Shade!!!"

Shade blinked, momentarily dumbfounded by the girl's words until the stranger erupted with her pleading cries of panic again. Kill him? Kill who!? Big and scary!?

Even if Shade didn't know whom the girl was talking about, whoever it was obviously knew Shade to send the Mithra here looking for her. That was more than enough for the SeeD to take action and giving the Elvaan guard a nod to unlock the gates so she could go with the stranger and aid whoever sent her.

When the Mithra cried about an execution in Bastok, red flags went flying through Shade's mind as she quickly began to put the scattered pieces of the girl's words together. Someone big and scary looking and being persecuted in Bastok could only be a Galka..... and the only Galka Shade knew of was Steel Deer!

She followed the girl at her frantic pace even though the Mithra had a death grip around Shade's wrist as the crowd of people throughout the street gave pause to their chores and duties by the Mithra's frantic screaming drawing attention to the scene. What Shade never expected to see was her very own brother involved smack dab in the midst of it all as her confused gaze went back and forth from Steel to Fury. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Fury kept the pistol trained on the Galkan when he turned to face him. He saw the girl take off for the palace and swore under his throat. He didn't want to have to just shoot the Galkan, but if he was going to loose half of the bounty because of this man he had no choice. He mentally thought to C.R.A.I.G, Get Cowboy to fire up he ship and bring it over here, we aren't loosing this girl. Craig gave him and affirmative answer and a moment later told him that Cowboy had been notified.

Fury holstered the Deadmaker, but kept the Peacemaker trained at the large man's center mass as he heard the girl run off screaming and yelling about Shade. That was just what he needed, his sister coming in and interfering with a job. No doubt she would come in thinking he was just snapping to a decision again like she always did. For some reason she thought he never thought anything completely through, but that didn't matter. He knew what he was doing and that was try and figure out why this galkan was so wanted. Fury stared the man in the eye and said, "You really shouldn't have done that. All I wanted to do was talk, but since you are so dead-set on running, I'm going to be a little less forgiving."

A moment later, the girl appeared again dragging Shade along behind her. Fury hardly paid either of them any attention as he kept his gun and focus trained solely on the galkan. Ignoring her, Craig huffed angrily at him before materializing before her and saying, "Headmaster, Commander Leonhart has taken a contract in Bastok to track down and return fugitives. These two are the fugitives. My Processor denotes that he had no true reasoning to turn them in, though, and only wanted to question them first. Though I cannot discern why this course of action was chosen. It has no obvious gain."

Shade looked to Steel, then to Fury, then to the Mithra girl quite a few more times for the reality of the scene to actually sink in. She would have expected to see Steel here. This was his home world after all, but why would Fury.....? And why was he looking like someone pissed all over his favorite pistol? Then his Craig unit materialized and Shade quickly hushed the girl beside her in order to hear it give a some sort of bounty hunt report. Well.... at least she had some of her answers.


A heavy sigh ran through her lungs as she rubbed at her eyes with her fingertips trying to make sense of the rest herself. The last she knew, Steel Deer was left to aid in Bastok's politics after their previous ruler was unexpectedly beheaded.... but that was so long ago and rulers had changed over the course of time and Shade lost all contact with the Galka. So with her hands now lax at her sides, Shade looked to both her brother and Steel to hopefully settle the confrontation. "Is there any way we can drop the hostility down a notch or two here? We are in the middle of a public city after all, with everyone here staring at us...."


She took a step towards Fury, knowing how dead set focused he became when it came to a mission or an assignment. She simply stood beside him and spoke her piece with a flat tone in her voice, "Look.... I don't know anything about this contract you have, but I can assure you this Galka is a friend of mine. You wanna take him in, that's fine... but like Craig said, let's ask why he's even tagged as a fugitive when I know damn well this big ape wouldn't even hurt a fly..." She leaned just slightly closer in hopes her more calm words may sink in. "Kinda hard for someone to be willing to give some answers with a gun pointed straight at their head."

Banissa was frantic when she saw the weapon pointed at Steel. She was convinced that the man was an executioner sent to kill Steel no matter what. Hearing that she was included in the "capture and return" instructions, though, chilled her.

She still remembered those first moments after she and Mairi had been blasted apart. The emptiness where there had once been an Other. Steel wasn't Mairi, but he was a comforting presence and she didn't want to lose him after losing her sister.

"Please, don't do this! They... they're gonna KILL him in Bastok! And he didn't do nothin' He wouldn't do anything!"

For his part, Steel hadn't moved since he'd turned to face the bounty hunter. He wasn't going to start a fight that might get Banissa hurt. He looked over at Shade, a slightly apologetic expression on his face. "For what it's worth, I apologize for bringing this mess to your doorstep, Lady Shade, but you're the only one I could trust to see to the keeping of a promise if I could not." He paused for a moment. "The simple explanation, I suppose, is that I've been framed."

Fury kept the gun trained directly at the galkan as his sister tried to persuade him. "I'm not lowering the gun. Not until the giant explains everything. Sometimes having a gun in your face is the right kind of incentive." He did, however, lower the gun so that it wasn't in the man's face. Instead, the gun aimed directly at his gut, ready to snap up at a moments notice.

C.R.A.I.G. shook his head at the whole situation and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sometimes Fury could be a little too thick headed. The A.I. looked to the sky and hailed The Kestrel to their position for pick up. In a moment, the ship would be there to pick them all up and transport them back to Bastok.

Steel shook his head at the man whom Shade obviously knew. He wasn't certain he remembered the man from past interactions with Shade, but he'd had quite a bit going on lately, so he might have forgotten. "Right now, if you have any interest in justice, Bastok is not where we need to be going. Not yet at least." He took a deep breath. "And not with the kitten in tow."

Banissa would have rolled her eyes if she weren't so afraid. She wasn't a kitten anymore, the spell which had splintered her from her sister had made sure of that. But for some reason Steel still looked at her like she was this awkward kitten who didn't know what to do with the limbs she was growing. It would be incredibly embarrassing if she weren't aware of how protective he was.

"Steel, please..."

He shook his head to silence her and she bit her lip against the words she wanted to say. He looked back at Shade and then the man. "I'm a craftsman, but I'm also a Galka, and humes in Bastok still take issue with the Galka among them. Attitudes are changing, but slowly. I was commissioned to make a work of leather and bone, a picture in a frame, ironically enough. I made the piece. Stitched cut leather to make a picture that looked like stained glass. Made a frame of shaped and bent bones to go with it."

He took a breath to silence the rumble of anger that was trying to make itself heard. "I take pride in my craftswork, pride in knowing what materials I use... and do not use. So imagine my surprise when I am accused of using leather made from hume skins and bones collected from the bodies of hume children to make my works." He trembled, keeping back the rage by the narrowest of margins. "Imagine my rage when I look at the piece I produced... and see my design but not my materials."

His fists clenched in a reaction he could not control. He'd come very near to killing people that day, and would have if not for the promise he'd made to Mairi. "Someone copied my work in an abominable manner and laid the blame on me for it. I was condemned by opinion alone and returning to Bastok, now, will mean my death and likely far worse to my charge. If you feel you must take an innocent man to certain death, then leave Banissa in Lady Shade's care. I would trust no one else with her given what I was told about the dangers that hunt her."

After hearing Fury speak, it was his tone, rather than his words, that reminded Shade of his renown self dicipline and strict code of soldier ethics. There'd be no way of getting through those walls unless some form of severe injustice shook the foundations of Fury's morals. For now, all Shade could do was give a silent nod with the trust that her brother wouldn't shoot unless something threatening called for it. And she knew Steel well enough that the Galka was no threat at all. And whomever this young Mithra girl was, it was obvious she was close to Steel as frantic as she was about his innocence.


Shade gave a brief sideward glance at Fury before looking back at Steel and listening intently to every detail he confessed, knowing in her own heart it was true, and knowing the politics well enough in Bastok for such a crime to happen quite often to the Galkan race. By this point, she was running her hand over her face due to rediculous notion of bigotry and racism still conducted within the world after all of the loss most races suffered from previous wars. With her hand now rubbing the back of her own neck, her steel hues now shifted back to her brother's gun, and after an inward groan, she attempted to add her two cents into the situation.


"Fury, I'll be first to atest just how tense relations are between the Humes and Galkas. Most Humes treat Steel's race no more than hard labor slaves, and now grow jealous at the fact that Bastok is being pressured by all the other nations to enforce Galka rights, where the race had none at all in the past."


She gave Fury a few moments to dwell over her words regarding the political notion to their situation before she took a step closer to him and spoke again, yet this time with her personal thoughts. "Steel is the most compassionate individual I have met. He goes so far to make gifts for poor children so they have something of their own.... he'd give his last meal to another more hungry than himself...no matter their race...." She took another step toward her brother for him to look at her square in the eye, but without putting herself in his line of fire. He would give his life for your girls if you would ever have need of him to prtect them, Fury. That's how well I know him. That's how I know he's speaking the truth.... "


Now stepping away again, she said her final piece. "But this is your buisness to carry out, Fury. Take him if you feel that's what should be done. Steel will go with you without a fight. But I also ask you at least leave the girl. Simply tell your contractor the Mithra was never with Steel by the time you caught up to him."

Fury kept his eyes locked on the large man as the galkan relayed the events leading up to him recieving a bounty. The story was a heart-wrencher, but that wasn't what got to Fury. It was the look of disgust in the man's eyes. He was truly sorry for what happened and it was obvious that he didn't know what he was going to do.

Before he could do anything, though, Shade quickly jumped in to defend him. She spoke about how she would trust the man with her life and how he was such a good man. He knew how the galkans were treated in Bastok, which made the story a very likely one. His sister was very adamant about prooving his innocense. Just as she finished, the Kestrel flew in over head and hovered there, slowly coming down to land in the wide streets. Fury placed the gun back in the holster and placed a cigarette in his mouth. He checked his watch and frowned before pulling out his old beat-up zippo and lighting the cigarette.

As the ship touched the cobble-stone streets, the cargo door opened, revealing Dusty and Angel standing there with their guns up. Fury glanced to them and shook his head, prompting them to lower their weapons. He looked back to the group that was before him and then around at all the people staring at them and shook his head. He took a long drag of his cigarette before removing it from his mouth and releasing it. He paused a moment, thinking of what to say before opening his mouth and saying, "I'm taking a huge loss on this, but I'll look into this."

Fury started walking towards the ship. "Come on, let's go kill the bastards who did this."

Steel grinned, a blood-chilling baring of teeth that had more resemblance to the expression of a predator than one of anything happy or joyful. "That, I believe, is something I can approve of." Yes, his was a gentle soul and he would never dream of harming those who were most vulnerable... but some sick monster had already done so, and laid the bloody corpses, so to speak, at his doorstep.

And he took that sort of thing very personally.

He looked over at Shade. "Will you make certain that Banissa is safe while this matter is dealt with?"

Banissa's eyes widened and then narrowed as she stomped forward to put her fists on her hips and stare up at at the giant Galka. "Oh no. Not even. You're NOT leaving me behind! It's one thing when it's certain death; it's something else *entirely* when it's going to hunt down the wretched backstabbers who set this whole bloody mess in motion."

"Banissa," his deep voice rumbled somewhere between frustration and pride, "I made a promise to your sister."

"Yeah, and if it were Mairi here, I'd agree with you. Keep her as far from battle as possible, she's too innocent. But who do you think kept both of us alive for so long? I've always been the part that could hit back, healing magic or not! And if this turns into a real fight you're going to NEED me, Steel! He's not a Healer," she said indicating Fury, "she's not a Healer," she indicated Shade, "I'm a Healer, and I've got the wok you made for me! I'm not as helpless as Mairi would be! I can help!"

He sighed. "Kitten... it's not just fighting that's gonna happen. We've got a tangled web to unravel first..."

"And what if you need me to use for bait? I'm not stupid, I know what my fate could have been if we'd been dragged back. If you take the risk, so will I!"

He met her eyes, strangely proud of her valor. "Kitten..."

She turned to look at Shade and Fury, "Please! Let me come too! I can help, I promise!"

With a heavy sigh, Shade knew her brother wasn't happy, and no doubt he was going to give her quite an earful for this whenever he was given the chance. But when it came to someone's innocence, and very life at stake, well..... sometimes one had to step outside of their element and go beyond their means to set things right. Of course Fury would have looked into the matter regardless.... but he was going to certainly enjoy pinning the blame of this inconvenience on her hide.


Just as Shade began to reluctantly follow Fury into his ship, the raised voice behind her caught her attention and led Shade to pause and watch the arguement between the young Mithra girl and the Galka continue. Knowing Fury, he wouldn't give a rat's ass if the girl was forced to stay or not, but he didn't know this city and its chauvinistic opinions of other races. Banissa could very well wind up run off from the city by the more disgruntled residents here, or worse if she were left here on her own. So with an agitated growl within her throat, Shade walked off the ship's ramp and approached the arguing pair.


"Steel..... think about it. If you left her here on her own.... in this huge city, with the Elvaan up in arms right now about outworlders, let alone their already bigotry attitude of other races on this planet.... Do you really want to risk her welfare here alone? Or with you, as well as in the company of me my brother to protect her from what ever we run into in Bastok?" Her tone and expression beheld a threatening hint to enforce her point behind her words, and she gave the Galka a few seconds of her stare boring into his before she slowly turned and walked away, knowing Steel Deer would make the right choice.


Once back upon the ship, Shade ventured into the cockpit and spared a scant glance at Fury before sitting down and strapping herself in. "I know... I know.... I dragged you into more shit..."

Steel could have groaned out loud when Shade added her 2 Gil to the discussion. She was right. And more, he knew she was right. And she knew that he knew that she was right.

All in all it was frustrating for him because every instinct told him to keep the Mithra girl as far from harm's way as possible... and he was going right into the dragon's mouth.

"Alright, Kitten, you can come too..." he paused as she squealed with joy and clapped her hands before continuing, "but you'll do exactly what we tell you to do, okay? That means any of us. We're the front line in this... and for Altana's sake, will you try not to chase butterflies while we're there?"

She giggled and nodded quickly. "Okay!"

He turned and followed the other two up onto the airship with Banissa practically capering behind him. Once on the airship, he took a deep breath. "The picture and frame were commissioned by a former member of the Senate and they were confiscated when the first accusations started when the Senate started an investigation. Since I was never allowed a detailed examination of the forgery... perhaps that is our first place to start?"

Fury walked into the ship as he heard the others arguing about whether the mithra girl could come along or not. He left them to their argument to go talk to Cowboy and Dizzy. The pair were seated in their usual seats as they bantered back and forth about the best way to cool the engines if they were to ever have to overload them. Fury ignored the conversation completely, not wanting to get caught in the middle of it, and punched in the coordinates for the hangar in Bastok. "Whenever you two get a minute, we need to get to these coordinates. Thanks"

He then started to walk back towards the cargo area where all the seats were when he passed Angel and Dusty yelling at each other again. It seemed like Dusty was loosing another fight. Fury shook his head and smirked as he walked into the cargo hold. He took a seat next to Shade and said, "It doesn't bother me. If this does turn out to be a big hoax It'll save me the trouble of hunting these two down. And if it's not, well, I guarantee the real bastard is worth a pretty penny."

That's when the galkan and the mithra walked on board. Fury showed them their seats and the ship started to take off as Steel began to speak about the clues they had so far. Fury nodded to the man and scratched the stubble on his chin in thought. They were going to have to talk to that man alone, but there was no way the senate guard were going to just allow them to waltz in and have a chat. He looked at the group and said, "We're going to need to find a way in... and I think I have just the plan. Shade, you go in as yourself, be an ambassador and do all your politicking shit. Meanwhile, I'll take these two and feign taking them in. Whoever placed the bounty on them is going to want to confirm it's really them. That's when we'll grab him."

Fury's plan was sound and solid. Shade had just the thing in mind herself to get to the heart of the matter. Especially if this was just some random local who had nothing better in mind than to stir up a needless outrage between races. No doubt the hierarchy would be most displeased when they discovered the truth behind this outrageous lie, which could nearly disrupt a racial war between the Humes and the Galka. If it became too heated, there was a high risk Jeuno would become involved, which was Bastok did not want.


When they arrived above the city and were granted to land near the North Gate, Shade expected the guard right up front. Security had grown tight across this world since portals were used now, so skepticism rose to those who traveled by airships as well. But once the guards heard her name, which a straight connection to the dreaded nations meeting gone all wrong, leaving their previous ruler beheaded, the three guards balked nervously for a moment or two before quickly nodding and granted them access to the city. Before splitting up, Shade took Fury to the side to lend a pointer or two about the city to save from any unwanted confrontations. The last thing she needed on her hands were more headless people from this particular city. "Alright, look... our name will most likely cause a stir around here. No one should give you any hassle, but if you get some suspicious looks, don't mistaken it as a threat. Most likely, you say our last name around here and people will look straight up before running as far as they can from you." As her gaze scanned around them, she could already see the stares begin from those the previous guards had passed by. Looking back up at Fury, she played off the tension with a smirk. "So for my sake, try not to shoot any eyes out or any heads off. It's a real hard mess for me to clean up."


Her head turned back to Banissa and Steel and gave them a curt nod. "I'm heading to the president's office first in the Metalworks section. Hopefully this situation won't require the Consulates of the other nations, but I will go to them if I have to as well. You two do as Fury says, even if he has to act brash with you to keep up the appearance. He'll know what to do once he finds this guy who set up the mark." With that, Shade gave them a curt nod and headed on her way.

Steel didn't like the idea of going in as bait with Banissa at his side, but it was a solid plan and it was, in fact, the plan he had anticipated being a possibility.

It was direct and had the highest potential return, and was likely to put them in arm's reach of at least one of the people they knew they needed to get their hands on.

He nodded to Fury. "Very well."

Once they were in Bastok, he let his training take over, giving him the calm demeanor he knew that he would need in order to keep from simply killing the sick bastards where they stood. He would need information before he could let any of the conspirators die.

Banissa stood very close to him as they followed Fury. She was more nervous than she let on, but she was not about to let them leave her out of this. She had to know... even though she had a horrible feeling about what they were going to find.

Steel nodded to Shade at her words of warning and then looked over at Fury. "Very well, let's find out who set you on our path and see what that one has to say about the matter."

Fury nodded to his sister's warning. He was sure his last name could get him anywhere in these worlds mostly because of the feats of his sister. Over her time in this universe she had racked up an impressive career of helping others. It was no doubt that he could probably walk straight up to the leaders of Bastok just with the drop of his last name thanks to her.

But he didn't want that. He was trying to keep a low profile in this situation. If this whole thing ended up being a hoax, he didn't want their name being soiled because they were too trusting of a murderer. He had an idea though...

Fury nodded to his sister as she walked out of the ship before turning to face Steel and Banissa. He pulled two pairs of cuffs and handed them to the duo. "You two are going to have to wear these until we get in to where the man who hired me is. I know you aren't going to like it, so you can hold the keys in your hand. Just try not to get caught with them. It would look badly for me if I walked in two prisoners who had the ability to get free at anytime."

Fury tucked the contract he had for the two into his vest and led them out of the ship. He walked them over to where the guards stood and displayed the contract along with the prisoners to them. A tall human with a long red beard stepped forward. The man was dressed quite fancily for a man of the guard. He must of been the captain. "HALT! Identify yourself."

Fury looked he man up and down before saying, "You can call me Raven. I've been hired to bring these two back to Bastok for one of the senators. I'm here to collect the bounty."

The man looked Fury up and down before looking over to Banissa and Steel for a long hard minute. He studied them and then studied the contract before he finally looked back to Fury and skeptically said, "Alright, follow me and I'll be sure you get your reward. Your prisoners will be transferred to the prison to-"

Fury shook his head back and forth and said, "No no no no NO! I was told I was to bring them to my client personally. He wants to be sure they are who he asked for."

The red-bearded captain shook his head and said in return, "The contract says nothing about that. It is standard procedure to take them to the prisons."

Fury's kept a calm expression across his face as he said, "That may be, but these aren't normal criminals. I assume you have heard whispers of a frame-maker who made a frame out of human bones? Children's bones? Well, you are looking at the dynamic duo that is directly responsible for that. Now, do you want to be the one who is responsible for refusing his boss the opportunity of confirming that?"

"Well... no... but..." the guard stammered, "I... Yes, Sir. I'll escort you there immediately."

Fury followed the guard down the winding hallways of the palace with both Steel and Banissa in tow. Finally, they reached the office of the senator who had hired him. The captain knocked twice swiftly, before he opened the door. Fury followed him inside and closed the door behind the two following him. He reached up and grabbed the captain in a head-lock. The man squirmed and kicked for a moment before falling unconscious. Fury looked to Steel and said, "Well... Here's you chance, go ahead and ask the good senator anything you want, I'll keep watch outside."

Steel did his best to keep his temper under a strict leash of Samurai calm and discipline. He knew his innocence. Knew that he would be exonerated. Knew that this was still a risk, but one that had to be taken.

Banissa walked as close to him as she could, with her lower lip caught between her teeth, chewing on it in nervousness.

Finally, though, they stood before the Senator and Steel looked down into the officious paper-pusher's face with that stone-cold discipline that was the hallmark of his training. He watched as Fury disabled the man and then nodded to him, freeing himself from the cuffs quickly before turning to Banissa and freeing her.

"Alright, Kitten, make sure he doesn't go anywhere, will you?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yes, Steel."

One of the good things about the Senators is that they tended to wear robes... and that made Banissa's job a little easier as she very purposefully Shaped the skin of his legs together so that they fused into one limb, and then slowly restored consciousness. When the officious man awoke, he found himself looking straight into Steel's unsympathetic gaze, and there was no running away, or running for help.

Banissa'd also locked his vocal chords to no louder than a stage whisper.

"What did you think was going to happen when you accused me of doing something so heinous? Did it not occur to you that I came into my position for a reason? I am not without allies."

The man spluttered for a moment, seeing the rage behind Steel's eyes even as he kept it under check. "Y-you were supposed to be killed trying to escape..."

He growled. "So why did you specify bringing my ward back with me?"

He whimpered, his voice rising in timbre from terror. "T-to k-keep you under... u-under control until your execution... if you survived capture..." He practically squeaked in fear. "A-and she was the price for the artisan's cooperation..."

Rage boiled in his veins, but Steel didn't smash the cowardly meatsack into a bloody pulp. He still had a question to ask. "And who is this artisan that forged my work? Where is the impostor craftsman who profaned the remains of children of the Five People?" There was no mistaking the anger in his voice, the sheer, deadly intent that filled him. Someone was going to die.

This was the face of the Galka that filled the nightmares of those who feared them.

The man trembled so badly that he couldn't speak for the hoarse stuttering. Finally he gave them an address before fainting clean away.... well, not so clean. He'd soiled his robes quite badly.

Steel let the man drop to the floor like the trash that he was and looked over at Fury. "Are you satisfied of my innocence? I should like to hunt down this monster of an artisan before others are harmed."

Shade was already highly irritated by the time she reached the Metalworks section of the city, having to endure the countless stares and whispers as she walked swiftly through the streets or trotted down the staircases to reach her destination. And it figured..... no one was in the Presidential office by the time she got there. Being late in the afternoon, the secretarial staff must have gone home for the day, so there was no one about to ask his whereabouts, if he hadn't already gone home himself.


For several moments, she stood in the vacant office rubbing the back of her neck and pondering over what she should do next. Finally, with a heavy sigh of defeat, she figured she'd head back to meet up with Fury and the others. If any trouble should arise wherever they were, then the authorities would arrive which would very likely lead her to a presidential meeting in the long run anyway. As she turned about on her heel, Shade grumbled and muttered her curses over such an aggravating day as she stormed out of the building to back track through the city.

It wasn't until she ventured out of Metalworks and into the central hub of the city that Shade suddenly stopped dead in her tracks with a sudden realization that led her to curse so loudly that passer-bys turned their heads to look upon her with shock. Now with her gloved hand running aggressively through her thick hair, Shade mentally scolded herself for being so stupid. She never asked exactly what part of the city Fury was heading to, nor did she have any information to go by on whomever hired him for the bounty. "Definitely not one of my better days....." She stood there for several moments, rubbing her forehead while racking her brain, when suddenly the sounds of nearby barking dogs dawned an idea on her with a smack to her own head.

Surely it had to be stress that made her so dense at a time like this....

With a snap of fingers, a sudden poof of clouds and smoke appeared right beside her feet to then reveal a rather confused looking white winged puppy. Her alert ears twitched this way and that as her bright eyes looked wildly about at her new surroundings and whole new scents. It wasn't until Haylo looked up and saw Shade that she erupted into a fit of excited barks while hopping and leaping against Shade's legs. She crouched down to give the jubilant fluff ball attention before she spoke. "Had one of my stupid moments today, Haylo..... think you can sniff down Fury for me?" With another excited bark and flap of her wings, Haylo took off into a leisure trot with her little black nose glued to ground and sniffing like mad with Shade having only the choice to follow closely behind

Fury kept watch as Steel threatened his way into getting the answers he wanted. The intimidating Galkan had no problem scaring the puny senator into singing like a bird. In fact, Fury made a mental note to keep an eye on the man. But the words the senator spoke helped validate Steel's story. When Steel Deer asked him if he needed any more proof, Fury just started to walk towards the door and said, "The fat lady isn't singing yet, Mr. Deer. We still need to find that man. Not to mention the fact gain evidence that this man was involved. If we don't find both the you could be looking at a long drop and a short rope."

Fury peeked his head out the door to make sure the coast was clear. Lucky for them, most of the staff was already gone for closing. Fury snaked out the door and started down the hallway. He made it to the front door when Haylo came bounding up to him, tripping over paws too big for her body. She crashed into Fury's legs and Fury gave her a smirk before bending over and petting her behind her ears. He looked up to see Shade catching up with Haylo. He nodded to her before saying, "We got the information we needed. Steel has the address of the forger and we're going over to have a little chat with them. We have to move fast, though, we may have a little trouble with the authorities before long."