"Oy Captain, why is it so sad here?" Fawkes asked as he stroked his beard before looking around with vigilance in his eyes. He had learnt the hard way that one must be very attentive and careful in places with the wretched aura that this town sported with abundance. "It reminds me of the gallows in louge town, it gives me the same chills, though here it is much lesser in strength.." He continued, looking seriously at me.

"This is Rubeck, the town of chiseled stone, it is a wonderful place to visit, in the mornings at least. It had a little criminal problem you see.." I said as I tried to message him with my eyes.

Fawkes responded with a curt nod before shepherding Sorren through the windy town heading toward the town hall.

"Let's rest in the s.h.i.+p.." I said as I looked seriously around me, Fawkes fired a questioning glance at me before acknowledging the order and walking back to the deserted pier holding stiffly to Sorren pudgy hands, 'much like a father', I thought simply before skipping back to the s.h.i.+p.

Creeks sounded in the silent and eerie air as we got on the rotting wooden planks that led to the harbor. I sighed as I got onto the steps that led to the prow of the s.h.i.+p followed closely by both Sorren and a paranoid looking Fawkes.

"..Ok spill!" Fawkes said as he looked at me expectantly," well as you can see, this place isn't very hospitable.. the only reason I set course here was because it used to have one of the pink flamingo's hideouts and slave trading hubs, so we could loot as much as possible before leaving North Blue, also all this money will help us get a decent s.h.i.+p in Waters 7 so.." I said looking at him with a businessman like look.

"Also, I have heard of a family, the San Juans, I think….. They have a lot of connections with the New World so we can get in touch with Sorren's father, giving us a supporter in the New World.." I continued as I touched my barren chin, adopting a look of deep contemplation. "We're going to have to beat them up of course." I said as I looked at them.

"Huh…. you could have given us a little time to prepare.." Fawkes said offering a weak complaint before sighing. "Well you didn't ask.." I replied as I smirked.

My smile slowly disappeared as I looked at Sorren, ready to answer any quarries that he could put forward before pulling out my dagger and throwing it toward a patch of dark shadows, a m.u.f.fled wince sounded dully in the frigid air as a nameless stranger appeared on the s.h.i.+p.

The man had a dark cowl that hid a majority of his face, a pitch black armor and torn scabbard which housed a dull and tattered dagger, a flask of poison lay on his fastened to his belt, one of his arms lay embedded in the wood by an ordinary blade.

A deep glare rich with killing intent adorned his hidden face as he glanced at us, a sigh escaped my lips as I walked up to him, ignoring both his expression and his fast bleeding arm I chose instead to pluck out his poison canister giving it a deep sniff.

"Hmmm.... A mixture of lavender roots and the diluted solution of the moonflower's leaf with a pinch of lizard spine, it's a poor toxin" I evaluated with an expert's demeanor, of course I did not know much about any of these ingredients but I had used my fruit to evaluate the poison and this was the result I had gotten.

The man's expression turned sour as he beheld me, still remaining tightlipped about himself. "Oi Fawkes get a tankard of mead, the cheapest quality" I said ambiguously as he nodded before going below deck to fetch the alcohol, while he did this I dug out the dagger from his palm, all the while resting my leg on his chest.

A soft tinkering echoed as Fawkes reappeared above deck and handed me the bottle. A sinister smile appeared across my face as I pulled off the man's cowl, bundling it into a lump of clothing I shoved it into his mouth and stuck my dagger into his other hand, forcefully disabling the man.

A thoughtful look appeared on my face as I browsed through my collection in my database, i slowly overturned the corked bottle making a tiny hole on the cork and connecting it to the bundle of clothing in the man's mouth.

Drop by drop the intoxicating liquid dropped into the man's mouth forcing him to drink it, smiling s.a.d.i.s.tically I immediately 'downloaded' the a.s.sortment I had prepared onto the man's psyche.

immediately pain wrecked the man's body as cold sweat flowed from his clammy forehead spasms shook his body, a low growl sounded from his clenched throat and his terrified eyes widened with extreme fear.

I chuckled as I began to explain, "You see, I can download anything onto people's minds, so I just imagined a huge monster repeatedly crus.h.i.+ng the man's limbs while they regenerate. I am quite proud of my illusions.." Fawkes gave me a nod of acknowledgement as he waited for the session to end, starting intently at the tied up man.

Sorren walked away a thoughtful expression on his face as he made his way to the pantry, a long night stood infront of us, and he wanted his night snack!