high_seas | [Log || 004] Empieza and Aeolipile

[....it strikes him only once they get back to Empieza that he not only has no idea what the prospective new crewmember looks like, but he isn't too sure where she is, either. From what he gathered from their conversation, she wasn't near town, and there was a lot of beach.

Yeah. Real helpful.

Consulting his journal would have been a little more helpful in that he could have used it to get in touch with her, but go figure he had left it up in the crow's nest of the ship, and so it had until now been forgotten. So that's why Gaius had spent most of the previous day once they were back in port doing things the old-fashioned way, listening around town and asking questions to slightly inebriated men in the taverns.

....okay, so he also stopped by the bakery. Since they were in town, there wasn't anything wrong with swapping recipes and getting to use the oven in exchange for making them a few pies to sell on the side.

This is why Gaius is carrying a basket with him as he walks along the shoreline to look out at the ocean. He'd heard the sailors talking about some monster around here, and something about a witch, the latter of which he's a bit more wary about than the monster ever since that other witch incident several months ago. Of course, he'd rather not run into a big old sea monster either.

Setting down the basket on a rock, he carefully pulls out his prize from the bakery- a freshly made cheesecake, and it had cost a pretty penny by way of service in that he was expected to make a dozen pies for tomorrow but he considers it totally worth it. After all, he didn't think he'd ever get to try this thing unless he went to New York or wherever Raphael said he was from.

He sets the plate down reverently on the rock beside the basket, rubbing his hands together, but a glint in the sand catches his eye, some distance away. Well...he doesn't see anyone else out here, and he'll be real quick about it. So off he goes down the beach. ~~Candy? Not candy?~~]

[It was Lucario's turn to scout the area and gather food for Cynthia and the others. A simple enough task for the blue dog. But that was until he saw a plate of cheesecake just sitting there in the middle of nowhere.

For the past few days, they've been eating nothing but fish, plants and chocolate coins. If anything, cheesecake would DEFINITELY bring a smile to his master's face. So without even a second thought, he picks up the plate and races back to the cave.

The locals thought she was a witch right? Maybe this was some kind of peace offering?]

[Go figure it was just a piece of foil, but Gaius suspects that if it had still contained chocolate, it would have been a melty mess. Pocketing the foil for Gan Ning's use later, the thief turns to head back towards his precious ch-WHERE DID IT GO.

He dashes back towards the rock, looking around before he notices the footprints in the sand. Not only that, but a good ways down the beach, something blue?]

-hey!

[He starts to run after it.]

[Lucario knew about how the locals thought she was some kind of sea witch because of her attire and the fact that his teammates weren't a regular sight here. She had told them to leave it alone, but the pokemon had another idea. No, they had made a promise to protect her from the crazy locals.

He wasn't trying to hurt the man who was chasing after him, oh no. The wave of psychic energy that he sent his way was just a warning shot. Coupled with a very tasteful telepathic message.

Stay away from my master

Before running home to warn master dearest.]

Edited 2014-04-06 08:40 (UTC)

[Whoa-

Gaius jumps back, warning shot or not. He grabs at his head, startled by the sudden words.]

What the... Master?

[He takes a moment before starting forward again, curious. Maybe he's not too far from finding who he's looking for after all.]

Oh hey there Lucari--where'd you get that!?

[The blonde was a little shocked to see the blue dog waltz in with a cheesecake. Where would you even get something like that in the middle of nowhere? And here she thought the locals were finished with the whole "offerings to the sea witch" deal. But apparently not?]

....now isn't that the question.

[Hope you don't mind a thief lurking in the doorway. He'd knock, but that's not something he usually does anyway, and well, there's not really a door to knock on.]

[A guest? She never had one of those before. Sure she's okay with someone just waltzing into her cave. But the snarling dragon coming out from behind the shadows didn't quite share the same sentiment.]

Uhm, hello? You're not here to kill me are you?

[Ho boy, that doesn't sound very good at all.]

Not really my thing.

I was just trying to reclaim my cheesecake...although if I'm guessing right, you also might have some chocolate coins for me.

Oh this is your cake? Sorry, we've had people send weird things to the cave in hopes of "appeasing the sea witch". Lucario must have mistaken your cake as one of those offerings.

[She nudges the blue dog to return the cake. Which it did, though it REALLY wanted some of that cake.]

Coins? Well I do have some saved away for...oh! Gaius?

Heard about those rumors, but I didn't think they'd gone so far as to bring offerings. Anyway, I would have been very sad if I didn't at least get to try a piece of cheesecake, but I don't mind sharing with company.

[He grins a little at Lucario as he's given the cheesecake.]

Yep, that's me. You're Cynthia, then?

They blamed the blizzard on me, I think. The offerings started coming in around the same time as the blizzard so...
But I truly believe that the people here are insane and I really need to get out before another natural disaster comes and they blame it on me too.

[A sigh, before watching her Lucario's tail begin to wag at the mention of cake sharing.]

Yeah, I'm Cynthia.

That right? ...guess we're easy enough targets to be blamed for weird stuff around here since we don't fit. That seems to be popular with the Navy, which is why we seem to be at constant odds with each other.

...um, that's kind of why we took a while to get back here. Had a run in with 'em, and from what I heard, we were hardly the only ones. Was pretty bad, but coulda been worse.

[But they were all together again, so he wasn't going to worry about it.]

Glad I was able to track you down. Nice to meet you in person, Cynthia.

[Gaius glances around for a good place to sit, slipping out his pie knife with his free hand.]

So how many slices should I divide this into?

Oh gosh, is your crew okay? What exactly happened?

[She throws a quick glance at the knife he took out. Ever since the locals started hunting her down, seeing anything sharp and pointy would make her feel really uncomfortable. But the reason for that was something she'd rather not talk about.]

I'm surprised you were able to find me at all. No one goes to this side of the island. Most just wander around the forest, but they never actually reach this cave.

But it's nice to have someone here other than myself. Didn't expect you to be so handsome though.

[Her other pokemon began emerging from the shadows at the mention of food (that wasn't fish). Lucario was already by him side. Garchomp was next to the champion's. Milotic slithered her way to Gaius' feet, looking all doe eyed at the cake. Togekiss and Gastrodon sat at some random corner and Spiritomb? Well let's just say the rock Gaius decided to sit on wasn't just any old rock. The purple mist that started coming out of it should be a clear sign of that.]

Well, the long and short of it is that we came across a Navy captain and his fleet, and we weren't able to outrun them, so we did our best to fight them off. Unfortunately one of our guys got caught in the process while we tried to retreat, so we had to track down where they'd imprisoned him, then broke him out.

[He notes that look, but he quickly slips the blade into the cake to make the first cut, hoping that will stave off at least some of whatever anxiety the woman might have about it. Oh, he's getting popular pretty fast though.]

I probably could have cut down on time if I'd just used my journal, but I forgot about it. So I dug around for information, listened around town.

....and then your dog here stole my cheesecake.

[He smirks at the Lucario, although Cynthia's comment has him duck a bit behind the cowl of his cloak to hide that brief flush of his cheeks.]

Erm. Let's see, so that'll be two, three, four....

[Gaius pauses to look around at the Pokemon that have swarmed him, an awkward smile twitching on his lips. He almost jumps when he sees the purple mist out of the corner of his eye-]

Gah! Sorry about that.

[Did it eat too? Well, he supposes he can't go wrong with eight slices, although there goes any hopes for seconds...or leftovers.]

Alrighty, here we go. One slice each- the lady gets first pick.

[He holds the plate out.]

Uh huh...and here I thought I was the only one who had a horrible run in with the authorities. But that friend of yours, the one who got captured, is he okay? Or she?

And it's alright, it's not like I would have left even if you did take your time.

[She pets her Garchomp, trying to calm it down a bit. Sorry Gaius, she doesn't like people coming too close to Cynthia. But they both laugh when they see him jump at the presence of Spiritomb.]

Oh don't worry about Spiritomb. She just likes messing with people. She won't hurt you.

[She takes a piece, while her pokemon watched.]

Thank you.

Nah, that's pretty common around here. But yeah, he's all right.

I'm surprised you've stuck around here for as long as you have, especially if the locals have been anxious about it.

[He eyes the rock before choosing a better place to sit, all the same.]

That the rock that attacks dreams or something, that you mentioned?

[Yeah, he'd rather not take his chances. With one less slice from the plate, Gaius holds it out for the Pokemon to help themselves.]

Well it's not as if I could just swim away. I know I could always just buy a boat. But out there, alone? I could do that while inside a cave. But on a boat in the middle of the ocean? No thanks.

But the locals. They've made it clear that they don't want me here.

[She pushes up her sleeve to reveal a scar.]

Just because I was different, I was dangerous...and yes, that's her.

[The pokemon swarm the plate. But there is one extra slice. Spiritomb doesn't eat.]

True enough, I guess. No one else was offering?

[He frowns as she shows him that scar, however.]

Ugh, different or not, there are just some thing you don't do. Actually, I'm surprised they even dared to try anything. Don't know if that bodes well for us offworlders in general. It's bad enough the Navy hates us.

-whoa, hey! Easy now..!

[He almost expects to find an empty plate, so it's quite a pleasant surprise to find not only his slice of cheesecake, but an extra one to boot! ...but he'll just take his, first.]

Nope, no one. Though it was probably my fault for believe that these people would accept my pokemon instead of just keeping them in their balls. I probably could have avoided all of this if I did.

But past is in the past. At least they stopped sending people to hunt me down, and at least all I got out of it was a simple scar.

[She sighs then looks at the sea from the mouth of her cave.]

I nearly lost home till you told me you'd take me in. I owe you my life, Gaius.

Edited 2014-04-08 14:07 (UTC)

[He scratches the back of his head.]

Hey, I didn't think it would hurt to offer. It seems like we're all thrown into a strange world and expected to hit the ground running.

I'm just glad to have found you before something worse could've happened, although you still shouldn't have had to get hurt just for being here.

I know, but this is a strange world and I'd rather not question it anymore. I just want to get out of here before anything else happens.

[She eyes the last piece of cheesecake. Then gets up and dusts herself off]

You should take the slice. You deserve it.

Your wish is my command. I'll take you back to the ship.

[He finally tries that cheesecake- and for a moment just blocks out the world because THIS. But he's back shortly after, and his cheesecake is gone, sadness.

Well, there's the one slice, but...]

You take it.

[Now that wasn't something she expected. Sure she loves cheesecake and all. But it was the last slice, and it was his to begin with.]

I don't want it.

[She'll say that with her most sincere smile before walking to the back of the cave to pick up her things.]

...yeah, like I'm gonna believe that.

[But he smirks faintly, though he still holds off on eating it.]

Need help with anything?

4/2ish?/Open - Tracking down an elusive Cynthia-mon

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