Spirits of the Earth

OOC: Tags to @allthekingsmen

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The massive paws of the dragon bird trampled through the hot sands, kicking up a trail of golden dust in their wake as bird and rider seemed to be racing the blood red colors of the rising sun. A second trail of dust was heralded from the jackal hound whose paws tore into the sands without remorse. The rider's wild, moon-white hair carried like a wild flag in his wake, a whooping laughter carrying across the wide expanse of dessert as far as forever. Or so it felt as a surge of wild, unrepressed pride swelled within the young man, whose strong calves goaded the dragon bird faster, and faster still until the dessert dusts mingled with the heavier stones of the canyon valley. Then up he rode, along the craggy and narrow path, stones and pebbles toppling in his climb, hound on his heels and sun at his back before he made his way to the plateau and raced towards the precipice.

There, the sun continued up and up, a sparkling star of threaded gold light peaking over the plateau, stretching the shadows of the lands to wicked lengths. The jackal-dog barked, having caught up to the heels of the bird beast with is, it's tongue lolling excitedly as the rider peered down with a coy grin.

"You haven't won just yet, 'Ruubis!" The young man called through a laugh. But as the end of the plateau was pulling near, A'ruubis, his black and gold coated jackal of a dog, turned suddenly into the dry brush, kicking up dust and carcass of seeds. The man was taken aback as he pulled slightly on the reins.

"Woah now.." his blue eyes cut through void of brambles that stretched on for miles around them, with tall, near skeletal trees clinging to the shadows the sun was slowly wiping away. Where was that beast going? Did he get distracted and forget this was a race? But the rider should have known better, his beast was almost cockier than he- and before he realized what his crazy dog was up to, a sudden flock of -

"What the- DESERT PEACOCKS!?"
A hurdle of gold and blue plumes assaulted him, the pheasant clucking of the birds roused by the sudden growling bark of a vicious jackal hound sent them to flight- and right into the dragon-bird rider's face. With a shout, he yanked the reins as the barrage of birds seemed unending and once the cacophony of chaos subsided, Pheonix Estaglave was standing there, more feathers in his clothes and hair than usual (same for his bird!) as he was spitting them out with great disgust.

"Oh Hakeshna's name- is that peacock shit on my hair!?" And as he examined more..." And my.. clothes... Arrrgh! Ar'ruubis!" he shouted, shaking one angered fist as his dog stood triumphantly against the full birth of the rising sun on the great Sheshpi plateau.

And as promised, Phen sat with legs dangling over the edge of the great plateau, dried meats and seeds in hand- hand feeding his triumphantly victorious dog- who ate every last scrap.
"Weren't even gonna leave crumbs for me."
Phen turned to Seskah, his faithful mount and gave her breast feathers a ruffling scratching. She cooed and nuzzled his side and he conceded, fetching more seed from his pouch for her to peck.

"Guess it's bird seed again," he went on, chewing on his own handful with an unheaved sigh.

Sunrise over the desert was beautiful- but Sheshpi plateau had one of the most breath taking views of it. It wasn't easily accessible, the trail winding all the way to the top was indeed, trecherous- but the young man had traversed it so many times in the past year or so he knew each trick spot blindly. Even though he lost the race, the reward of the view was something else. The way the colors bled into the world, across the deserts, across the sands and plateaus, and forced the snaking Niafi river below to flow as if gold...

"Not sure if words can describe it, but..." Phen went on, chewing dryly on another mouthful of seed. "Bird seed sucks." Seskah purred a coo, and he pet the top of her head and offered her another palmful of seed, whcih the greedy Ar'ruubis poked his big nose into and helped gobble up.

"Hey now! Back off beast!" Pheonix reprimanded with a laugh. But he couldn't actually be made at his dog, and gave a ruffle to his pointed ears before dropping onto his back and just let himself enjoy the fresh heat of the day. In a few hours, he'd have to seek shelter. For now...
The day.. the heat.. the company... was perfect.

The hour had passed and the dragon rider guided his beasts down the front end trail, making his way across the growing hot sands and towards the banks of the Niafi. He was still a decent distant away from the delta, where the fresh, cool waters emptied into the wide open sea. Ships and boats were already meandering through the harbors with a purpose, and he took note of some of the more foreign styled vessels before he let himself simply drop into the river waters.

Ar'ruubis barked a few times before he jumped into the water with a splash to join him. Pheonix laughed, white hair plastered down his head and because of it's great lenght, the extra carried out into the lengths of the deeper water like velvet white snakes upon the water. The dog paddeled around his master with a few excited yips, while the dragon bird pecked at the fresh waters to quench it's thirst. But then it's head jerked up suddenly, as did the ears of the jackal dog.

Phen's eyes followed theirs towards the horizon. It was far enough away it wasn't a direct threat... but lone figures in the desert were always something to raise caution. Pheonix groaned.

"The ladies can never leaves a man alone," he wallowed, and made his way back onto the bank and shook off beside his dog  - like a dog, as fingers scratched and shook wildly into his hair to get most of the water out, before he tossed it back- and the beads and feathers and tiny little braids all clattered down along his back side in one regal sweep.

"Well, looks like it's time to get back to work." And so with that, Pheonix Estaglave packed up his things and beasts and began to make his way towards the bustling harbor. He wasn't in much of a hurry. He'd have to be in the city of Essyrn by nightfall, but the harbor was the ideal place for a haggle. And because he wasn't in much of a hurry, the walk took him over an hour before the assault of the sea smells and activity assaulted all of his senses.

So many congregated here- those planning to spend the day relaxing on the beaches, those who came to port, pulling in cargo ships and cargo with people of every walk of life-
Although Essyrnis dominanted any foreigners, it was still a colorful scene. And as Pheonix made his way down the scrawling rivering path of docks, he noted a particularly unique ship coming into port as he guided Seskah and his dog along.

The Black Torch looked like it was meant for exploring of the deep sea. Dreamily, he considered the life of a seamen, traveling to far and distant, exotic locations to men unknown. But then Ar'ruubis was barking and drew his attention away.

" 'Rubes, what you yapping for, huh? No one wants to hear you bark," he told him firmly, but the dog wasn't listening, and took off suddenly onto the docks. " 'Ru..!" Pheonix growled. "Ar'ruubis! Get your jackal-tailed ass back here!" He really didn't want to have to chase his dog, who decided, most annoyingly, to be unruly and disappeared behind a series of workers and crates.

Pulling Seskah along by her reigns, Pheonix called out for his dog and disappeared into the bustling crowd himself.

Business on The Black Torch was as usual, though the sight of land and civilization had some members of the crew jumping up in excitement and others groaning at the prospect of having to talk to strangers in order to acquire supplies and extra labor. Captain Hui Chouyan—or, to most outsiders, Ember, or self-proclaimed Ultimate Pirate Queen when she was very inebriated—squeezed into the crow's nest of her pitch black ship with her barrelman, leaning over the basket-shaped structure to squint at the nearing sands, her heart pulsing with light at the prospect of getting her hands on something shiny at the markets.

"Very roomy up here, Cap'n," Her barrelman grumbled as she bumped her hip into his, his hair tangled and mussed from the guiding winds, the shadows under his eyes dark and hollow. There was a section of his face left slightly bruised and indented from where he frequently rested a spyglass, the large cut over his jaw and lips was still raw and healing from their last run-in with a hostile party, and it seemed as though his mood was even sourer than usual from the violent encounter. "Sure helpin' me do my job well."

"Cheer up, Haytham," Ember reached a strong arm around to pat him on the back, the friendly gesture clearly doing more to piss him off than to 'cheer him up,' her grin leaning to the side of shit-eating. "You've got family here, right? We can take an afternoon for a nice, warm visit."

"I'd rather crash 'gainst the rocks and drown, Cap'n," he drawled dryly, lowering his spyglass from his eye.

"But then I'd have no crow in the nest!" she joked, leaning back and flashing him a smile. "Stay up here, then. No one can bother you then—'cept for me, of course."

"Of course, Cap'n," Haytham's bloodshot eyes rolled in their sockets before being put back to the spyglass, despite the fact that they were close enough that they didn't really need one. "We're gettin' real close. Kenway'll want a word with you."

"And here I thought you'd be begging for another moment with me," she shook her head good-naturedly, but hefted herself off the crow's nest, throwing her legs over onto the crosshatched ropes. "I'll make sure to bring you a souvenir back from the harbor, my friend!"

"I'll throw it starboard the second you hand it to me!" he called back, earning a snicker from her as she climbed back down to the deck, leaping off the ropes once she found it sufficiently low enough to not break every bone in her body. True enough, her second-in-command was waiting impatiently at the prow of the ship, arms crossed and brows knit.

"I'm here, I'm here," Ember waved her hands around flippantly, lightheartedly trying to placate her partner-in-crime. "Don't you worry your mother-hen head, I'm sure everyone still knows what to do when sailing through Essyrn."

Kenway's silvery hair was soaked with sweat, his cheeks were pink and red with sunburn, and each of his breaths were heavy and labored from the intense heat, but he mustered the energy to scowl at her still, and rapped a rough knuckle on her forehead in scolding. "Not the newcomers. That Hyoite boy has only been with us for a few months, and he might as well be melting in this heat. You need to take care of your underlings."

"Our alchemist gave him cooling balms to apply once we started feeling the temperature going up," Ember crossed her own arms, albeit looser than he did, and looked off to the scene behind him to gaze in wonder at the bustling life just waiting to welcome them. Eager to get going, she started to rattle off her precautions. "And I told Rayyan and Keone to keep an eye on him just in case, as they can handle hot weather well. As for the rusalka, I told her to stay in her tub and to not harm whoever came in to give her fresh water, else I'd drag her out by the neck and leave her in the desert to dry out. If she stays put for the whole stay, I'd personally see that she can take a nice, long, supervised soak out in the Niafi river, so long as there were no crocodiles. Both her and the boy have the day off, but they'll make it up once we get somewhere cooler. Everything's handled; no need to panic."

Kenway paused for a moment, mildly shocked, and studied her strictly. Clearly, he expected her to slack off as soon as they got near Essyrn, which sort of miffed her (she wasn't that flaky, was she?), but she'd actually done the opposite—she had full confidence in her crew that they'd do well, and those that weren't quite in the groove yet she paid close attention to and made sure would stay out of trouble and danger until she got back. She wanted to clear her schedule to play, steal, and haggle to her heart's content, and embodied that go-getter attitude as needed.

He continued to stare at her in silence for a moment before huffing a sigh through his nose, closing his eyes at her bright smile. "...Alright. And how do you know everyone will actually follow through on your orders?"

Her smile shifted slightly, turning to a smirk. "Oh, come now. You think they'd try and cross me? If they don't love me already, they'd be scared of the hell I'd rain upon them—that we'd rain upon them, more like."

Kenway let out a soft snort, and that was when she knew he'd been won over. He uncrossed his arms and gestured to the harbor just behind them, giving a light shrug. "Fine. Go have fun. Be back by sundown, and don't kill anyone."

"No promises," she laughed, already running past him to jump off starboard and land on a nearby (smaller) ship, the shocked shriek of a sailor lost to the wind as she bounded off the bow to latch onto a connecting rope, swinging nearer and nearer to solid land until her feet finally landed on familiar ground, one of her favorite spots to buy and steal from both.

Though some eyed her strangely, quite a few passersby clearly had seen far weirder things than a wild pirate, and she brushed her messy hair out of her face before making a beeline to the crowded trade areas, nimbly avoiding sailors and slaves lugging supplies and tools to and from ships to melt into the packs of suckers and rich men's servants that haggled for food, clothing, jewelry, and drink.

She lived for these pockets of chaos, each one a bite of beautiful life unshackled by the rigid laws of politeness. She loved how people elbowed those around them when they pushed their way to a good sale, or how frustrated customers pointed their fingers at swindlers, spittle flying out of their mouths as they shouted their anger out.

She especially loved, however, the way particularly theatrical merchants put on full tragedies to watch when a tourist offered too little for their wares. Put down too few coins for anything at all, and you were bound to get a show.

"Do you find my wares crude, sir?!" one man cried, pressing his hand to his heart and stumbling back as if shot with a crossbow bolt, fat tears rolling down his thin face. "Do you think my gems counterfeit? Truly, I am wounded—my jewelry is among the best of Essyrn, the most beautiful in the desert, yet you think them little more than cheap arrangements of stones. My mother must be turning in her grave, to see her son shamed so."

The vast majority of them likely were fake—dressed up with magic or substituted with colored glass—but Ember could appreciate the acting, nonetheless, though she appreciated the panic it sent the customer into when he scrambled to appease the merchant. It gave her the right distraction to slip a pretty blue-green gem into one of her large, puffy sleeves, passing right on by as the merchant satisfyingly watched more and more coins pour out of the poor sucker's purse.

She hummed happily under her breath, turning the gem in her palm subtly, tilting her head down to give it a glance after walking a safe distance away. A souvenir for Haytham, she snickered in her head, before walking off to the next booth.

By the time Phen had gotten control of his dog, he coaxed him away, gesturing for the animal to follow him up and onto the top of some large shipping crates. They offered an excellent view of the docks, and also of where he left Seskah. The dragon bird could fend for herself, but that didn't mean he didn't trust thieves. Although, thieves were less likely in broad daylight. The crates also offered a great place to people watch- which was one of Pheonix's favorite things to do in order to avoid doing what he ought to do. Ah, sweet procrastination....

When a dramatic merchant began to pour out his sob story laced with elephant tears, Pheonix had to chuckle. He gave Ar'ruubis a nudge.
"Look at that! And to think we wouldn't get a show today. Ha, what did I tell you, 'Rubie?"

The dog just lolled his tongue as he panted and gave a happy wag of his tail. But then his ears perked up as he watched the crowd, and Phen, picking up on his dog's sudden tension, let his gaze follow towards a woman who- oh...
He caught the act just in time as the woman snatched something from the vendor and walked oh so casually away.

Any other angle and Phen would have missed it.
"Who's a good boy?" Phen praised, ruffling the dogs ears as he gestured forward. "Now it's time to get to work." And the pair leaped down from the boxes with ease, Pheonix showing off more than he ought to (although there wasn't many, if any around, to give a show) while the dog just naturally hopped down from one crate tot he next until he was on the ground. Pheonix gave a low whistle, just as they were nearing the woman as she strolled away, and the dog took the initiative and approached the woman with a happy bark and wag of his tail. A few more barks and he was running around her in a coaxing circle, growling happily and hoping she'd be up for play!

Pheonix hung back and watched. It wasn't his time to join in, after all! But he couldn't help but smile pridefully. Ar'ruubis was such a good boy!

All around her, Essyrni and foreigners alike hawked their wares and services; Ember breathed the hot, dry air in with a content feeling in her bones, stashing her gem away in the folds of her sleeves to unload at the ship later. When out of the markets, she would wear short sleeves or clothes without sleeves at all, but when there were still pretty things to pocket, she could hold out in the heat a little while longer—the only thing she was missing was her large hat, or a matching shawl to hide things on her head or to attach appropriate bits of jewelry to her hair without drawing too much attention. Who could blame her excitement, though, when the environment was so lively?

Clearly, someone was sharing her good mood, though, as she was stopped by a happy-looking dog, a slinky-seeming thing that made her take half a step back out of mild surprise. She gave a little chuckle, part shock and part amusement, and gave it a little wave as it did its cheerful prance around her.

"Hello, pup," she smiled wide, though she made sure to keep the dog in her direct line of sight at all times, swiveling around to match where its mouth went. She didn't know whether it was a boy or girl dog—she obviously never recalled having a pet of her own, so she wouldn't really have the expertise to tell at a glance—but regardless, she knew what kind of peril people could get into after getting bitten by any kind of dog, whether it intended to be friendly or not. She didn't need a first-hand experience of the stories they told, thank you very much. "Having a good day, today?"

She also took care to keep her sleeves away, in case it got overexcited and decided to gnaw through her shirt and accidentally swallow her prize, but otherwise was glad to see a cute animal after so many days at sea. She loved the ocean, but sometimes, the cutest thing she'd see would be her own reflection. She leaned down slightly to speak to it as if it were a small child, "Sorry, I don't have any treats with me right now..."

Ember glanced around her, then scooted a little more to the side to let more people past before returning her gaze to the dog playfully. Its coat seemed cleaner than a street dog's would be, but she didn't see its master anywhere. "But if you just give me a minute, I'll see if I can snatch a bit of meat they're selling, just for you."

Ar'ruubis' tail would not stop moving, nor his body, as he barked excitedly and pranced about in front of the woman. Now that she was thoroughly distracted....

Pheonix stepped out from the shadows, moving with a purpose and clipping the woman on the elbow as he conveniently made a stumbling turn.
"Oh, forgive me! My attentions were elsewhere. You see.. I was looking for my dog. The rapscallion had gotten off his lead and I can't find him anywhere. I thought I heard his barking but... it seems I must have missed him."

During the time their little exchange took place, indeed, the dog had all but disappeared, having crawled beneath a carefully selected pile of crates that afforded him just enough room to squeeze and hide within as he lay on his belly and watched his master work.

It was.. about this time Pheonix had gotten a good look at the woman. She was very easy on the eyes and it made Phen's smile stretch more leftward, dimpling his cheek. And before he could think better of it, he blurted out his introduction.

"I'm Phen, by the way, Phen Estaglave. You new to this city?"

Ember swiveled around to look her clumsy new acquaintance in the eye, one hand instinctively darting towards her hip, but stilling once hearing his rather innocent apology.

The stranger was a young man, with long off-white hair framing a smoothly handsome face, his eyes a bold blue that she lingered on for a moment before going back to overtly study the rest of him. He was just a little taller than she was, most likely, his brown skin a few shades darker than hers, his lips shapely and full.

And, she noted, he was definitely well-dressed. Seemed as though he had money—that jewelry certainly wasn't cheap—though Ember was certain that he could still try to take something from her.

She blinked out of her observation, though, at his explanation for the minor scrape-by. "Ah, is your dog that skinny jackal-looking one? He should be right..."

She turned her head to the left, then to the right, though she made sure to keep the man in her peripheral vision. She clicked her tongue and turned her face back to him. "Well, yeah, I guess you missed him. Sorry I couldn't catch him for you, friend."

She rested both hands on her belt, casual but close enough to her sash-covered knife if need be. She hadn't brought her swords or gun out to play today, as she didn't want them to be stolen by anyone particularly slippery, but wondered if she should've brought them upon the appearance of the man's slanted smile.

"Not new, but certainly foreign," she gave a one-shouldered shrug, mentally filing Phen's name away for later. She might have to look into the name Estaglave, just in case. "I've been here enough to know where to shop, at least. You can call me Ember. It's nice to meet you, Phen Estaglave."

While most were better at slight of hand than he, he was damn good at being observant, however, his attempt to 'bump ' into the woman to see what she stole made the gem fall from the puff off her sleeve rather than dexterously slipping onto his own hand. He tried to ignore the fact he had stumbled but from the corner of his eye, he caught something blue and casually stepped and rested his sandal over top of it to conceal his new conundrum.

And at the news his dog had gone missing still, he pouted.

"Seems my dog is slippery as an eel. He gets excited every time we visit the docks." Which was true, it was easier to fake information based on truth and habit. "Well, Ember, ..." he studied her with a bit more focus as he noticed the unique characteristics of her hair. "I suppose the name came with the hair? It's rather a unique shade, like warm coals of a fire."

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Ar'ruubis getting antsy, the dog crawling out on his belly from where he hid, but only a few subtle inches at a time. Damn dog.

"Well, I suppose I ought to start looking for 'Rubie. He can be such a slobbering terror to the masses."

And that's when he barked. And a second, then third time before darting over towards the pair, racing between the two like a crazy eight with a thumping tail.

"Ar'ruubis! There you are! Who's a good boy!? Who is!?" He went on, praising the beast and giving a playful ruffle to his fur,bending down to do so and using the dogs body and chaos as a shield, slipped the item from under his boot and into his pocket. 

Since he was now at his level, Ar'ruubis was all over his face giving those fearsome , slobbery kisses.

"Ack!" Pheonix almost lost his balance as he landed on his ass, dog barking happily but only continuing his happy little barrage of kisses.

Ember laughed genuinely, crossing her arms over her chest, her heart glowing faintly beneath her shirt to match each staccato of breath. One of the older sailors in her crew said that he used to sail with a man who had five seadogs who would be stirred into a frenzy each time the barrelman called for land; she could definitely see how even a land-dwelling pet would love the sight of bustling civilization. "I can't say I blame him. It's a very excitable area, and I'm sure it's fun for him to make new friends."

She reached one hand up to touch her hair at his words, the long locks swept away from her shoulder and a bit messy from her travels, but ultimately still manageable. She raised an eyebrow, quirking up one edge of her lips in turn. "A flatterer, are you? But, yes, I suppose my mother had a knack for the poetic."

Ember took an abrupt step backwards when the dog came running to them, trying to get herself out of the possible collision radius in case "'Rubie" didn't exactly have a good sense of direction. Luckily enough for her, he went straight for Phen.

She snickered as he lost his balance, recrossing her arms to subtly feel for her sleeve and the hidden gem inside... but rather than feeling a telltale bump of her prize, she only felt the smoothness of her own arm.

Her mismatched eyes darted around, looking for where it could have gone only to find nothing. She fixated on the dog (did he eat it? Accidentally push it away when scrambling to get to his owner?), then on Phen (did he dislodge it when he bumped into her? Steal it right from her sleeve?).

One option seemed to be far more likely than the other, and she closed in on the two to give a friendly but quietly threatening smile. "Are you alright, Phen?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Damn dog is too affectionate for his own good!" Phen smiled and continued to pet the dog, giving him a good scratch under his chin. "I think I might live for another day." Ar'ruubis confirmed, giving a few more kisses to Pheonix's face before he moved to stand.

"Well, suppose I ought to get going with my ornery beast. He probably needs a few good laps of walking around the docks  to mildly reduce his energy level. I'm sorry if he's caused any trouble, " he went on with a polite nod.

"I don't think there's any such thing as 'too affectionate,'" Ember joked, though there was little humor in her eyes as she scanned for where Phen could have possibly hid her gem. It'd cause a ruckus if she outright accused him of stealing from her, and while she normally didn't mind getting loud and rowdy, she knew that Kenway would have her neck if she stirred up trouble within the very first day of being here. She'd have to be a little more covert, this time.

"No worries, Phen. Ar'ruubis was no trouble at all," she inclined her own head, using the name she heard him speak before, then turned her eyes away in thought. "If you could do me a favor to make my stay in Essyrn a bit easier, though—would you mind me coming with you? It's been a while since I've last visited, and I'd like to see more of the area around here. I'd feel a lot safer if I had a local such as yourself next to me. I, ah, have a knack for getting myself lost if I get too excited, much like Ar'ruubis, it seems."

"I don't know... are you sure you could withstand us two charmers for a walk around the harbor?" He asked, eyes glittering with playful challenge. "Although if you really insist..."

Even if she did insist, it seemed the dog wanted an opinion too, as he barked and leaped at Ember, trying to lick her face.

"Well, I see Ar'ruubis approves. But then again, he always has a soft spot for women," Phen lamented,  arms folded across his chest. "I suppose being a chaperone couldn't hurt anyone of us too badly  "

"I'm sure I can handle it," Ember offered a toothy smile, a tinge of a smirk to it, then laughed as Ar'ruubis jumped to her, catching him before his jaws could reach her face. She didn't want to test how well-trained the dog was the hard way.

She gently let him down, giving him a soft pat on the head before turning back to Phen, tucking her hands neatly behind her back. "Lucky me. He's a smart pup, that's for sure."

She gestured vaguely to the distance with a small nod of her head. "Well, where to, Sir Navigator?"

Pheonix gave a nod.
"This way, my lady," he said with a gesture forward, ensuring she was moving at his side before he proceeded to lead the way through the labyrinth of docks. It was surprisingly a rather curling trail he lead her upon, a bunch of tucked away fishing booths waved at then with their wares while old women sat in a large group, nearly blocking one path, as they prepped fish for the Market.

Needless to say the air stunk of fish and was loud with activity. Ember's ship wasn't the only large one to dock today but many smaller, local vessels were navigating through the dock labyrinths and busy harbor.

"This side of the docks," Phen began. "Is whers you can purchase just about any fish imaginable.  Local or otherwise. But many prefer the fresh fish brought in by local fishermen. "

Rubie sniffed around, leaving Ember's side to meet and greedy the group of older ladies at work, and was happily rewarded with some fish tails.

Ember stuck close to Phen's side, keeping just a half step behind him—not just so she could steal her gem back, but because this was unfamiliar territory for her. She'd never been one for stealing fish (they weren't nearly shiny enough to do so, and her ship's resident cook would be furious at the knowledge that they weren't able to take a look at the catch beforehand), after all; she had no reason to wander over here. Still, she put the path they took to memory, in case she needed to give someone a quick slip from one area to another. It wouldn't work on Phen if she had to run from him, given he'd shown her the way, but any foreigner like herself would be easy to escape.

"The convenience of having a variety available for sale makes up for freshness, I suppose," she idly remarked in return, eyes darting across the scenery as she stalled a bit behind him. What could she use as an excuse to get her hands on his things?

Some of the fish parts—skin, meat, intestines, and all—seemed to fly from one lady's hand out to the ground, the slippery surface having escaped her grip as she leaned away to avoid dropping the good parts into Ar'ruubis's mouth, clicking her tongue in dissatisfaction as she looked at the wasted flesh scattered about, but turned away. Perfect.

She pretended to be distracted by the dog's ministrations, slipping on the slick fish and grabbing onto Phen for support, fingers clutching at his arm and torso. "Shit—"

She lost her footing again, two fingers swiftly and subtly delving into one of his pockets and—thank Lady Luck—finding the familiar smooth ridges of her gem, tucking it into her palm as she righted herself, pulling her hands away from his torso. "Damn bilge-sucking—sorry, sorry. That's, ah, awful embarrassing for a woman who prides herself on her sea legs. Did I hurt you?"

She brushed herself off with her free hand, the other pretending to adjust her belt as she pushed the gem into the tight nook between her belt and her trousers, pulling her sash up a little higher to cover any residual gleam. It would dislodge if she raised her leg too high, but should be fine at her normal walking speed.

The moment the gem left him, he looked.. lost. A reflection of panick over took his eyes and he even seemed a little pale. It was a strange reaction, to be sure,  of the woman stumbling against his form, which he would, on a normall occasion, be so suave. But he truly looked like he just heard some God awful news, and for the life of him, he could not shake the sudden fear and loss from his very being.

But slowly, he began to return to himself, from that moment of awayness and turned to Ember to help her more proper. And the moment he touched her, to help right her, that same sensation tugged him her way.

The only other time he'd experienced something so rash was when he came in contact with an odd gem and...
Discretely, Pheonix reached towards his pocket and realized the gem was gone. And for a moment, he frowned, staring down at Ember. She knew he stole from her? And.. had she just used her little fall to pick his pocket right back?

It shouldn't have unnerved him, if anything, it was a rather fun game he could play with a rather pretty woman but...
That feeling, that sense of dread and loss could not be easily shaken.

He had to get back the gem. He had to know.

He forced a smile, but he felt it painfully evident.
"No harm, no foul. Just glad to see you're not hurt."

Why did his voice sound hasty, almost not his own? He had to have been over thinking it. And fprced himself to turn away.

I suppose we ought try the dryer docks?" He jested, eyeing her and.. trying to figure out where she could have stashed the gem.

So strange was Phen's reaction to her fumble that Ember nearly felt bad about taking her gem back... but didn't quite tip over into the field of regret. She stole it fair and square, after all; it was hers (and Haytham's) now. Nothing he could do about it, especially if they went back to where her ship would be docked and could gather her own forces to grab him if he tried to steal it back twice. She only had so much patience.

Phen's demeanor seemed to change, though, and while she hadn't known him for very long at all, she could tell that something was off. If he was onto her, then that might be best; she could forgo the trickier parts of this song-and-dance and stick solely to keeping the gem in her possession. She'd still have to put up a front of politeness, of course, but she didn't have to be nearly as convincing to him.

"You're a kind man, aren't you?" she returned her own sweet smile, though blatantly fake, and gave a slight nod. "That might be best—at the very least, I won't be flailing about like an upside-down crab, though being close to you is a different story."

"Oh?" His cocky grin returned. "What kind of story would we be?" He flirted, daring to get a little bit closer, if at least in a playful manner for the moment.

Ember raised an eyebrow, loosely crossing her arms with a small smirk of her own. "That all depends on how you treat me, Phen—either a thrilling one, full of excitement and romance, or one that will never come to be."

Phen's smile broadened. He hadn't expected her to be so direct with his flirting.  It was refreshing.
"Id commend you for your honesty but you did accuse me of being kind..." he teased. "And here I thought I came off as a ruffian. "

Ember gave a light, flippant shrug, lifting one hand to pull her hair over her shoulder, eyes gleaming with amusement. "I've sailed with and against scoundrels, villains, madmen, and rascals—trust me when I say that, compared to them, you are far from a 'ruffian.'"

Though you are a sly little thief, she inwardly snickered, then turned her gaze away to Ar'ruubis. "Shall we go to those 'dryer docks,' though? I think your pup will turn round as a melon if those ladies keep feeding him fish."

Just as she spoke his name, Ar'ruubis was enjoying a second helping of fish tails. Phen shook his head and planted his hands to his hips.
"Round as a melon, indeed. Such a food driven beast," he muttered, although he smiled. He gave a whistle and patted his side. "Come on, 'Rubie. Let's lead the lovely lady to dryer waters." And he offered out his arm for Ember to take (how chivalrous of him, right?) And he gave her the most charming of grins.
"Shall we?"

Ember gave her own sigh at Ar'ruubis's feast, tinged with humor, "Aren't we all. Bread for the poor, roasts for the rich, and fish tails for the dogs, I suppose."

She let out a slight huff of a laugh, loosely taking his proffered arm, a light ghosting of her touch. "We shall, though I am curious as to what 'dry water' would be like."

Phen laughed.
"Just docks that stay dryer," he went on, shrugging in the direction he began to lead her. "This way, my lady. We can leave the fishing ladies behind." He called again to his dog and soon the beast joined his side, licking at his one free hand before circling around the pair as Pheonix guided Ember along on their little walk.

It was true, the docks, which seemed ought to have been a straight forward concept, were an interwoven connection of wooden paths over the shores. Some went over the beach side of the waters, which Phen now lead, and gestured towards the sparkling world around them.

"This is the dryer side of the Essyrni docks," Phen explained. "This is more for dock workers to travel, hence the traffic here is much lighter." He gestured towards where many smaller boats had been drug onto land, or had perched when the sea was at high tide, and many were resting or busy moving mules or camels.

"Careful of shit piles," Phen warned as they stepped over a more recent, steaming pile. He made a face but shrugged at the woman on his arm and studied her. She was rather exotic looking, now wasn't she? Or maybe he was just a sucker for a pretty face. Of course.. he had to wonder just where she had pocketed the gem....

If he were Ember, where might he pocket the thing? He looked away, thoughtfully, as they needed to step aside for a pair of mules moving heavy cargo. They were forced onto a narrow strip of wood, and the caravan passed by awfully close, but Phen ensured he was between Ember and the moving cargo, before they finally had room to breath as the movers passed.

"Thank you for showing me this," Ember said genuinely, scanning the area to try and commit it to memory just like before. It would be useful to know in order to escape anyone who followed her from sea, and certainly quieter than the bustle of the wetter docks. "I assume it's not exactly a popular tourist area, then?"

She kept closer to Phen as she avoided the fresh pile of shit, holding her breath for a moment before releasing it. She was no stranger to bad smells, but it didn't make them any more pleasant to be around. "One of the best parts of a life on land, I recall. I don't miss the mess."

Squeezing to the side as the caravan passed, she stiffened up, adjusting her belt subtly to make sure the gem didn't fall through the gap. While it was rather chivalrous for Phen to take the outside position, it did disrupt her walking enough to feel her little souvenir slip just a bit as she made room for him to walk even closer to her, trying not to nudge him too much with her arm. When the caravan finally left their area, she asked, "Do you have anywhere in particular you need to go?"

Had she not drawn attention to her belt, he might not have realized where he deduced she slipped the stone. He couldn't help but smile at this knowledge and turned away to focus on the docks before them.

"Yeah, more likely you'll run into the locals here. And well.." he gestured towards the shit pile they were leaving behind, and gave a little 'tsk' to Ar'ruubis for sniffing at it. "Leave it, boy."

Dogs would be dogs.

"So... being a woman of the sea.." he began. "You enjoy a good beach?"

"Noted," she wrinkled her nose at the shit pile, but otherwise paid little attention to it.

"If Ar'ruubis 'approves of me—'" Ember quoted his earlier words, her lips fighting a smile. Hyrella's pearls, who could blame her? She liked crude humor. "—yet seems to have a curious taste for shit, then does that put me in the same box as those leavings over there?"

She tottered her head at his question, looking to his face. There could be worse things to look at, considering how well his eyes complimented and balanced the rest of his face, especially considering the unpleasant scene behind them. "It depends on what you would call a 'good beach.' Essyrn rarely disappoints me in terms of good sand and sea, though, so... yes, I do. Is that where you're taking me?"

Phen laughed at her musings over the dog's fickle nature.
"I wouldn't take it too personally, " he Whispered, glancing as if it might offend Ar'ruubis. "I mean he likes me too. "

Then he gestured for Ar'ruubis to come, except the dog thought he meant jump and so he did,  large paws landing into Ember and Phen both, but before the dog could knock them both off balance,  he pulled Ember against him before he fell onto his ass, woman on his lap and dog on her's as he licked her face happily.

Damn dog. At least it helped him get close enough to...
Ha! He managed to slip the gem in the chaos.  He proceeded to pocket the gem into his boot and oh... damn thing fell awkwardly down by his heel. That wasn't the smartest place to hide it. It was gonna be one annoying pain as he walked.

"You okay?" He asked,  moving to brush a wild, stray hair from her face.

"So he finds me comparable to either you or a bunch of crap," Ember mock-sighed. "I'll take my chances."

She let out a grunt as she was taken to the ground, attempting to keep her footing but to no avail. She felt the gem slide from her belt and inwardly scowled, trying to get to her feet with the weight of the dog on her back.

Her breath caught in her throat, though, when he moved her hair out of her face, not expecting the contact, before nudging his hand away and tucking her loose hair behind her ear herself. Embarrassment stung at her skin, the tips of her ears feeling hot at the very situation. While she usually reveled in chaos, this would be something that the rest of the crew would tease about if they were present to see it. She was determined to never let that slip—and, of course, to extricate herself from the tangle of limbs and dog.

"Is this how you tend to flirt with women?" she avoided his question, refusing to meet his eyes as she tried to awkwardly shuffle Ar'ruubis off of her, grimacing at the feeling of his saliva drying on her face. "Orchestrating strange situations such as these? You're more of a mastermind than I thought you were."

Despite her avoidance of him, he remained close to help her if needed.
"Hey, woah, don't blame me. The dog is all the brains here!" He countered with a laugh. "Besides, who could ever be mad at this face?" And he ruffled Ar'ruubis's ears for emphasis.

"My mistake; I must be an even greater fool to think that you're smarter than your own pet. I only thought that he was cuter than you," Ember tried at a joke, then carefully pushed Ar'ruubis off of her before rolling off of Phen at a speed that could almost be construed as offensive.

She fixed her hair again, mussed up from her dismount, and stood up, offering a hand to Phen, all the while covertly looking around their general area to see where her gem could've fallen.

Phen feigned pain, a hand over his heart as if stabbed with a dagger.
"You wound me, my lady. And here I thought we had such potential.  But I suppose not even I could deny the purity of such a face."

Ar'ruubis simply wagged his tail, more than happy to be at the center of attention.

By now, Phen took her hand and rose,  but winced when his damn heel dug into the gem. He tried to ignire it, but.. it was more a less a rock on his shoe,  and one that was trying to make itself at home in Phen's heel.

Ember frowned, openly confused (and a touch concerned) at Phen's apparent pain as she pulled him up, using their connected hands to tug him a little closer to inspect him up and down. "I didn't hurt you when I fell on top of you, did I? I'm not exactly feather-light and have got a lot of hard edges, so it wouldn't be surprising if I did."

If she did hurt him, she would feel pretty guilty, and already felt the beginnings of it dim the light emitting from her glowing heart—she was a woman that usually prided herself on both her ability to stay steady and upright and in not harming others unless wishing them harmed. She certainly didn't want to accidentally hurt Phen, thief or not. "I could take you back to my ship so my doctor could check you out."

Phen shook it off, paling a little guiltily.
"No need, no need. Just think there's something in my boot." He leaned on her for support as he tried tapping his boot on the ground but.. well.. the damn gem seemed to like where it had sunk into. He frowned. He'd rather not remove his boot and reveal the gem.maybe it would eventually fall to the side and stop stabbing him.

"But where were we.." he went on, raking moon white hair from his eyes. "A romantic stroll on the beach, was it?"

Ember held fast, allowing for him to put his weight on her. It seemed his humor-slash-flirtatiousness was fully intact, though, considering his question.

"Seems so," she shrugged on shoulder, then nodded to his foot. "You should probably take out whatever's in your boot, though. Don't want it to actually hurt you if you keep walking with it."

"Yeah," he laughed sheepishly, trying to figure out the best way to handle this.  It would be awkward to just simply dump the gem out. But if he went to ignore it and feign indifference, that'd be a lot of step to ignore the thing jabbing into his heel.
He suppose he could try to do it stealthily, but the woman would no doubt be more observational as he removed his boot to alleviate himself from the cause of his pain.

And now they were standing in awkward silence as he was stalling.
"I'll remove it once we're on the beach. Walking on the sands is better barefoot anyway.  "

Ember raised an eyebrow at his awkwardness, clearly skeptical. "Are you sure? You just want to... walk the whole way to the beach with a pokey thing jabbing your foot?"

If it was something like a small nail or sharp splinter, it could legitimately hurt him—but the fact that he was delaying taking it out despite the apparent pain he was in before was both confusing and suspicious. "I do hope you don't expect me to carry you the way there. I can, but you'll be like a sack of potatoes, and it won't be comfortable."

"So.. what you're telling me is that I'm no princess to be carried off by my prince," he said, not skipping the opportunity to poke a little fun. Hell,  it was just the way he was. Something had to be seriously wrong with him if he wasn't cracking jokes. He was also hesitating and using diversions to keep her attention away from his boot problem but it seemed she was more perceptive than most.  Such a good and bad thing, truly. He couldn't fault her, naturally, but he did have to start thinking more cleverly.

"More like a sack of gold and jewels I steal from a king's treasury, yes," Ember said blithely, her tone just the slightest bit flat. Trying to distract her, was he? Well, at least she knew where her gem was being kept, now.

She cast her eyes to Phen's boot. She once attempted to lop off the finger of an enemy pirate to get at his very expensive, very tightly-affixed ring—yanking a guy's boot off his foot to grab a shiny little rock wouldn't be nearly as hard as that. "But really. You should take it out before it really hurts you." Or I really hurt you, she thought half-humorously to herself.

They were still a good walk away from the beach when Phen sighed, nodding his concession.
"Alright, if you worry about my foot that badly, I'll take care of it."
His eyes went to a crate nearby and sat down, fumbling over the laces with delayed intent before he popped the boot off as delicately as he could, but of course it was sticking enough that with the little added force, when the boot had come free,  the little gem went sailing. Phen made a noise of alarm, one that unfortunately Ar'ruubis was prone to hearing when Phen dropped something he did not want the dog to eat and with insane speed, the dog dove after the bouncing gem, jaws open.

"A.. ar'ruubis!" Phen exclaimed as he half scrambled after the dog, but his partial leap came out empty handed as the beast, with gem in jaws, twirled with a dancer's grace away.

Ember's eyes widened, pupils constricting in distaste at the sight unfolding, the light of her heart beneath her skin blazing bright through the loose laces of her shirt. Her day was supposed to be so much better than this, wasn't it?

She balled her fists up, her figure trembling a little bit in an effort to keep herself calm despite the fact that magical heat was rolling off of her in waves, obviously furious at the turn of events she was given today. "And all I wanted was a little souvenir," she growled under her breath, then turned to Phen.

"I will kill you after this," she said simply, then bolted after her latest gem thief.

Well... crap. That went a out as awfully as he could have predicted. Phen ground his teeth and quickly got to his feet, making chase after Ar'ruubis and the she pirate who, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be almost glowing..and was that a little extra Essryni heathe was feeling?

Ar'ruubis was much faster and lighter than the pair who were after him, his tail erect and wagging as he bounded gracefully over a few crates and then paused a moment to chew at the thing in his mouth. Realizing it wasn't food, he shook his head and gagged a little, but upon hearing Phen scold him he took off again, evidently this was now a game.

Ember was certainly fast, and was used to moving quickly through many kinds of spaces, but unfamiliar territory was unfamiliar territory, and she had to take a few precious seconds to discern the best path to Ar'ruubis, bounding over the crates and following straight.

"Ar'ruubis! If you give me that thing in your mouth, I'll give you a bunch of tasty treats to snack on!" she called after him. "Jerky! Biscuits! Even fish tails, if you want them again!"

When Ar'ruubis, who had bounded off again, paused curiously at the pirate's promise,  Phen huffed out, "Oh come on!" Was his dog really about to betray him to treats? He was certainly surprised how fast Ember was, but was glad his hound was inevitably faster.. and unfortunately faster than both.

It wasn't until Pheonix realized where the pair had been lead to did he smirk. Seskah... he spotted his mount from the corner of hid eye and Ar'ruubis would be leading them soon past. All he had to do was bide his time I this chase and he could get the upper hand.

But boy oh boy was Ar'ruubis in an overly playful mood! And here Phen thiught the damn dog would have been exhausted by their run from earlier!

Ember laughed triumphantly, though she kept her breakneck pace to better catch up to Ar'ruubis. "Good boy, Ar'ruubis! I'm gonna feed you so many treats—just drop what you have, and you'll be full of meat soon enough!"

The area was close enough to where she originally was that she could see just the tip of her ship's mast in the distance, past a tall stack of crates. Within whistle-distance of anyone shopping for supplies, surely—her cook wouldn't be able to resist the array of Essyrni spices, and Kenway would've tagged along to ensure their safety, as well as to run his own errands. They'd come if they knew it was her (probably), so long as she was distinctive and close enough.

The dog paused to waggle his tail, evidently happy about the idea of treats. Phen actually began to worry if his furry companion was about to sabotage him for meat!

"Ar'ruubis!" Phen called. "Don't drop or eat that gem!"

But the second either got nearer to him the damn beast took off again, skirting between the pair in a zigzagging dash that made Pheonix lunge for him as he missed.

Damn dog!

"Come on!" Ember hissed under her breath, lungs straining under the toil of running at a full sprint for so long. She was strong, and certainly fast, but she still had her limits. Regardless, she pushed on—just a little more, and she could rip the gem out of the dog's mouth by force if need be.

Or, she thought, eyes darting to the side. She could take the owner and the pet would follow. Probably. It'd be satisfying, at the very least.

She lurched to the side, using her tiredness to her advantage to slam herself into Phen's side, elbow first, then taking him into the ground with a tangle of her foot and a heft of her weight, trying her best to keep him grounded by looping her limbs around his, keeping one arm free just in case.

She lifted her head and whistled loudly, a short yet recognizable cadence of notes carrying through the air. If her allies were nearby, they'd know it was her—at worst, a bunch of strangers just heard whistling behind a bunch of clutter and would try to see what was going on, but Ember could deal with that when she got to it.

Phen hadn't seen the change of target coming and before he knew it he was eating the wood of the dock. It took him a moment to realize Ember was looping limbs and keeping her weight on him to keep him down.  He wriggled beneath her weight, eyes following his dog that just...

That just left him there, abandoning him to the woman who promised him death! He was the worst dog, ever. Growling, Phen wriggled until he got an arm free and tried to pry Ember's other arm off his.

"You know you're a lot heavier than you look."

"And you're a lot weaker than you look," Ember shot back, tightening her grip on him and using her free hand to bat away his arm. Maybe the dog would come back, maybe he wouldn't—at this point, she cared more about tormenting Phen for stealing it than actually getting the gem back. There were plenty of riches in Essyrn, after all; one little rock wouldn't make that big of a difference, would it? "Careful who you steal from, Mr. Estaglave."

She heard rapid footfalls coming closer and closer, one pair heavy and one pair light. Likely her allies—Kenway had a taste for lighter, nimbler footwear, while Sorrel preferred big, clunky boots—answering her whistle. She kept her eyes squarely on Phen, though, leaning further over him to get a better look at his face, a few long locks of her hair spilling over her shoulder. "Are you a thief, or do you have a legal job that you make money off of?"

Phen grunted as he all but bucked beneath her. He could probably have pushed her off if he were more vicious in his attempts to escape, but she was merely wrestling him, and he wasn't about to use a dirty trick ... quite yet.

"You wound me," he lamented through a garbled breath. But then his eyes widened when he heard that others approached.  He looked at her and at her words he bared his teeth.

"I'm much too pretty to be a theif."
Infact, he was surprised any of his slight of hand tricks worked.

But now wasn't the time to compliment himself. Others were coming and he had to think fast. Once he got his other hand free again he stuffed two fingers between his lips and gave a particular whistle and jerked suddenly, spilling around and using his momentum and weight to shift their balance to knock Ember down while he swooped around to take the top position,  pinning her down with effort...

And then a moment later his dragon bird came honking through the docks straight towards the pair with a purpose.

Ember struggled all the way down, trying to use the hard edges of her elbows to jab him in the stomach or throat to make him reel away in pain, flailing her legs and hoping that she'd hit him between his—their size difference wasn't so great that she couldn't headbutt him, or try to force him back under her, but the whistle had startled her. Clearly, he had reinforcements of his own.

"You absolute—" she interrupted her own insult with a grunt of effort as she tried to whip her head back hard enough to whack him in the face. It'd hurt for her, sure, but it'd hurt for him, too. Unfortunately, her hair was caught beneath them and didn't allow for much movement of her head. She scowled in frustration. "Ken, Sor, ye lousy fucks—get this prick off of me!"

In that moment, Kenway seemed to burst onto the scene, a pistol in his hand and aimed at Phen almost immediately, while Sorrel lagged behind, seemingly startled by the dragon bird, indicated by a "What in the hells is—?!"

Kenway kept his cool, one hand training the pistol on Phen's head while the other drifted to his belt, where his knife was kept. Deep purple eyes took in the situation, flicking to a thrashing (or attempting to thrash) Ember before returning to Phen. "She cause you trouble?"

Ember just scowled deeper. "You are the worst."

Their awkward thrashing and tangle of limbs didn't come without consequences.  Her elbows must've been barbed as her words, and although whatever head butt failure she had attempted and failed, Phen was at a similar disadvantage as he now had a pistol pointed at his face and two others to contend with.

Atleast he had his dragon bird, whom now haulted just behind him and shifted her weight, agitated. But at Kenway's inquiry,  both of Phen's brows lifted.

"No, no, we're absolutely fine. This is just how most of my pre-date, walks on the beaches always go."
He wasn't sure weather it was wise to have kept his sarcastic mouth shut or not, but given the choice.. he'd still make his quirky remarks

Seskah squacked uneasily, ruffling her stumpy set of wings as she seemed to eye the pair tangled on the ground curiously . It almost seemed like she might peck them as if they were seed.

"You can uh, probably put the gun away? See?" He went on, slowly removing his hands from Ember, forcing an easy going grin as he lifted up both hands in surrender. "No need to get bullets involved."

Ember would be mostly free now,  except Phen would be awkwardly straddling her and she'd now have to more or less zigzag her way around his form as he remained on his knees.

Sorrel finally caught up, stopping at Kenway's side and warily flicking their gaze from the dragon bird to the tussle on the ground, a thunderous frown on their face. They, too, moved their hand to their own belt, hovering between their cutlass and their rope.

Kenway's expression didn't change much besides a slightly-deeper furrow of his brow, his gaze akin to a disappointed parent. "Obviously, if you know how this looks, then you'll know how many ways this could be construed. The least I could do is check if this is just a regular fight or something more serious."

"As if me being stolen from isn't serious," Ember hissed, her anger divided between Phen and her second-in-command.

Kenway just sighed, stance just as strong and directed at Phen as before. He cocked his gun (as it wasn't before) and vaguely motioned with his chin. "Get fully off of her, first. Slowly. And keep your bird at bay, or you'll lose your head."

Well the gun was cocked and he wasn't about to risk getting his head blown off, so Phen slowly rose from his feet. He kept his arms up, eyes never leaving Kenway as he gestured towards the much taller man. He was pretty tall, especially compared to Phen, who was merely average height at best.  But as he stood, the gilded gold adorning his clothing would be much more evident , as would be the fancy way he dressed. Silk wasn't exactly a cheap clothe, and most of his outfit was constructed of it. So it might have been an interesting thing to call the rather well off man a theif, for even his hair was wrapped in a fancy, tidy and bejewelwd manner, as was his awkward bird thing now standing tall and behind him, for Seskah had a fancy rein and saddle bags.

"Easy there, big guy. See? No foul here," he went on, wiggling fingers for emphasis.

Ember pulled herself up the second Phen was off of her, fixing her hair and brushing dirt and grime off her clothes the best she could with a low grumble under her breath. This was utterly humiliating—now that Kenway and Sorrel had seen her like this, she'd be hounded by the both of them for the rest of time, she was sure.

Kenway simply cocked an eyebrow just like his gun, his expression dryly unamused. "You've made my day difficult already, even though I only just stepped off the ship. There's enough foul for a whole flock, here."

Ember inwardly groaned at his pun, putting her hand to her sash and settling over her knife, ready to draw it at any moment. "By Chrysan's beard, stop stalling. Sorrel, are you done gawking yet?"

At her last words, Sorrel flung a loop of rope towards Phen, a pre-tied lasso whipping towards him at lightning speed while Ember darted away, careful to not get ensnared in Sorrel's action.

Phen's grin widened a little at the play on words. He appreciated that,  not so much the gun on him, but he did enjoy a good pun. So he was a bit caught off guard when a loop of rope was launched towards him, and equally surprised when , without any effort, he somehow caught the rope.

Holding the caught lasso, Phen blinked,  confused, then his eyes slowly slid to Ember.
"Err.. should I be concerned? I mean.." he went on, laughing nervously. "It honestly looked like you were about to rope me in like a wild horse." He grinned wider. Surely that wasn't their intentions.. right?

Ember simply smirked, a slow, sinuous, sinister seeping of a nefarious-looking smile onto her face. Sure, she wasn't pleased that it didn't go all to plan, but it could still work out. "Don't doubt yourself so much—that's exactly what we're doing."

Sorrel huffed, tugging hard on their side of the rope to pull back to lasso. Kenway still had his gun aimed at Phen, though his arm was admittedly getting a bit tired. Ember shrugged and sighed lightly, "Well, whatever. Would you mind coming with us? We won't kill you, I promise—we abide by at least some hospitality rules—but I would like for us to have a little chat. A private one."

Phen gave her the most skeptical of looks.
"Not to sound unconvinced or anything, but weren't we kind of sort of doing that as a walk on the beach?. I mean... it's nice you wanted to invite your friends and all, but the beach would have been pretty private for the pair of us."

Foolish or not, Phen was going to drag his feet on this one for as.long as he safely could.  As much as it was fun hanging out with Ember, now that things got a little less safe and perhaps a little toopersonal,  he wasn't exactly ready to follow her and her gun toting friends away from the safety of the docks just yet.

"Not my scene when I'm dealing with a thief, really," Ember retorted, sorely missing the company of her own preferred weapons. "Besides, I prefer the comfort of my own cabins when deciding ransoms. I assume you have people who would notice if you were gone for too long?"

She crossed her arms, taking her hand away from her sash. "I do assure you that none of us will kill you so long as you're on our ship—I can even make a magic-imbued vow for that if it makes you feel better—but I can't guarantee your safety if you keep standing here and making things even more difficult for yourself."

"Yeah... well, I'm sort of knownto be a little difficult, "he said in earnest. Although,  he supposed that much was quite obvious by now.
"Besides, am I really the thief here? I mean.. I thought you were aiming to just steal my heart ... not well, all of me."
He hadn't exactly stolen the goods first. For all she knew,  he aimed to return the gem to its rightful owner!

To be honest, Ember didn't care whether or not Phen was stealing out of altruism or greed—she took something from her, and as someone who made a living off of taking things from other people, she was more than a little irritated that someone got the leg up on her. That was the area of offense... besides, she liked shiny things.

She rolled her eyes, though her smile twitched on her lips. "Oh, please. Just come with us before I—or, rather, my second-in-command—have to hurt that princely face of yours. A bullet between your eyes won't do you good with any woman, whether or not it's me."

Phen smiled, showing a bit more of his teeth.  He had to wonder how much of her prince comment was a jest, or if she had deduced he was of the merchant variety.

He hesitated, not because he considered the bullet between his eyes but because he wasn't certain how long his life span would be shortened if he joined her, .. and he had to figure out what had become of his dog.

Seskah..on the other hand...

"What about my ride? " He wasn't keen on leaving Seskah just any old place. Someone might try to steal her.. these pirates included.

Ember recognized his nice clothes on sight, and after laying her eyes on his seemingly-beloved ride, further cemented his apparent worth if she were to ransom him out to his employer or family, or really anyone who owned his weight in sapphire and mother of pearl jewelry. Perhaps she didn't quite know exactly who he was, or what he truly did, but she knew that, at the very least, he could afford to lose a bit of gold.

"Unless you know a place where they won't raise their eyebrows at a bunch of foreigners and a hostage bringing over a pet to look after for a bit, she can come with us," she shrugged. "We have a couple free pens in our animal hold, and we won't treat her badly. I have a distaste for harming helpless animals."

Phen grimaced. He didn't like that he was backed into a corner.
"And ... I have your word you won't harm or steal my dragon bird? "

Seskah perked up, tilting her head and blinking very bird like.

"Although I suppose I haven't got much choice unless I want to be eating bullets." He sighed.
"So.. you atleast buying me dinner first?"
Why did he feel so royally screwed?

"You have my word," Ember confirmed. She hated hurting animals that didn't hurt her, and she didn't have reliable connections to sell this kind of creature, anyway.

She let out a huff of a chuckle, motioning for Sorrel to come forward and bind his wrists together. "You'll have whatever our fine ship chef here is cooking tonight. Don't worry, they're good at their job."

"Spicy fish curry, poached eggs, fresh bread," Sorrel rattled off, stepping closer to Phen with their rope in hand. "If you're fast enough to get any of the bread or eggs, at least. But I'm sure Captain will be kind and save you a serving. Put your hands behind your back neatly, please, and cross one wrist over the other."

Phen spared a glance to look out for Ar'ruubis, but the damn dog wasn't in sight. Sighing, he resigned himself to the fate of these pirates, placing cross wrist hands behind his back.

Sorrel dutifully bound his wrists together, Kenway lowering his gun after they were done. He came forward and nudged Sorrel away to double-check Phen's bindings, then curtly nodded in satisfaction, moving to stand behind him and hold him by the ropes, ensuring that he couldn't run off.

"Does your dog have a place he'll be taken care of if you're not around?" Ember asked, moving her gaze to the dragon bird instead, casting her gaze upon her critically. "Or should I send someone to look for him?"

Pheonix frowned at the question.
"How.. long you planning to detain me?" He knew his dog well enough but,... more than a day would be worrisome to any animal owner.

"As long as it takes to get a sizable ransom, or interesting information from you," Ember shrugged with one shoulder. "Or as long as it doesn't get irritating looking after a hostage and his animal companions. Unless the absolute worst case scenario happens—we're forced to leave Essyrn in a haste for any reason—it shouldn't be any longer than a few days to a fortnight, depending on how stubborn you or your family are."

Phen gave a smile that was only with his teeth.
"How entrepreneurial of you." His friwn returned as he considered the mess he had gotten himself in.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just... ask for the money..while already out and about? I mean it seems rather wasteful to do all this running around just for little old me."

It was painfully obvious he was biding his time, eyes scanning the area but they were on the less bust side of the docks and Ar'ruubis was still no where to be seen.


Damn dog.

"I enjoy stealing with style," Ember said simply, nodding to Kenway to start leading Phen to the ship. "Besides, we have practice with ransoms—it'll be quite efficient, don't you worry."

She cocked her head at the dragon bird as Kenway started to push Phen forward, insistent but not forceful. "Can we trust that your pet won't peck my chef's head open, or will we have to take extra precautions?"

She didn't mind wasting time where they were—it certainly didn't seem like anyone was going to come for him, nor did he appear have any powerful weapons or skills on hand that could have him win a fight against three of them. With two allies with her, she felt far more at ease that whatever came up could be handled.

It was times like these he wished he were more powerful than just a merchant prince. Sure, it had its perks, but he felt absolutely useless in this moment.

When they asked about Seskah he perked up, but shook his head.
"If anything, she might steal from him if he has seed or any of her other favorite treats. " He replied,  following with his captors, albeit a bit reluctantly.

Sorrel carefully came forward to take the dragon bird by the lead, giving her a ginger nod. "I use 'they' and 'them,'" they corrected briefly, gently tugging her forward. "But thanks for the heads up. Does this beauty have a name?"

Ember moved up front, walking in front of them all to scout what was out there first (nothing out of the ordinary, apparently) before beckoning them to follow her as she stepped out back to the open area. "Do you have any other pets we should know about, or is this it?"

Phen raised his brows at Sorrel,not realizing their cook was present.
"Uh.... yeah, she gies by Seskah ."

He then frowned at the she pirate's question.
"No, unfortunately the calvary is all here," he admitted with a sigh, still peering around for the damn dog that had somehow decided now was a good time to vanish. Part of him had to wonder if Ar'ruubis was okay. The dog could be sneaky.. but he wasn't sure he was this sneaky.

"Well, Seskah," Sorrel turned back to their new favorite animal, giving her light pats and praise that slowly devolved into something both unintelligible and inaudible.

Kenway just sighed, moving to sling an over-casual arm over Phen's shoulders to guide him that way, instead—far less strange-looking than before, even if his posture was still rather stiff. "Thank fuck. If there were any more barn animals we'd have to gather up, I might as well just kill you and get the hassle over with. Much easier than playing wild goose chase."

"Don't even talk like that," Ember scoffed (even if a tiny twitch of a grin graced her face), looking around for their ship before turning her face back to the pair. "No one's going to kill you. Seriously. At least, not under my nose."

Pheonix peered up at Kenway,  who was nearly half a foot taller than he and was getting just a bit too close and cozy.... and threatening .

He smiled hesitantly towards Ember.
"Good to know.." he went on as he followed . "Suppose I'll be sleeping under your nose tonight."

"Chained to the armchair in the corner of my cabin with a sack over your head, most likely," Ember mused aloud, returning to her smooth stroll to the ship, the gleaming, terrible, dark hull of the Black Torch seeming to come nearer and nearer. "You'll be given food, though, at the very least. You must be hungry after our scuffle."

Kenway simply kept his gaze stoically forward, though his hand (clearly strong, deft, and calloused from a lifetime of sailing ships, shooting guns, and wrangling runaways) appeared to absentmindedly tap against Phen's clavicle, as if to simply remind him that it was very much there and very capable of hurting him.

Phen swallowed.
"Oh,Lovely..."
He regarded the ship as they approached, a massive sea faring vessel the color of night. It was obvious they meant businesses.. or they were a very well paid hoax. He thought better if that.

" But don't make somany extra accommodations on my part. I'd hate to be that inconvenient guest," Phen went on, wistfully.

Something then caught his eye on the way through the maze of docks. He thought better than to look into it. If Ar'ruubis was lurking, it was best the beast remain unknown in the shadows.

Ember raised her hand and whistled to a dark figure sitting at the edge of the ship, sipping at a bottle in their hand. Though his messy hair covered his eyes and his posture was low and slouched, she could very clearly tell that it was Haytham, taking a break now that they were properly docked and he no longer had to watch for land. Even from all the way down where she was, she could see his irritated scowl, and she grinned. "Oh, crow! Would you mind coming down here for a minute?"

His steel gray eyes scrutinized the sight below behind the windswept curtain of loose curls over his face, and evidently hated what they saw. "I'm off duty, Cap'n," he shouted, but nevertheless threw his bottle to the side and heavily clambered down the ramp of the ship to meet them there.

"It shouldn't be too much of a trouble to host you, Phen," Ember answered, turning to face him. "I've had quite an array of demanding captives—I mean, visitors; practically the same thing—so I'm sure we can handle you. Unless, of course, there's something extra-special about you that we should know about? You know, anything to make your stay better or shorter."

"What ..besides my good looks and charms?" He went on, sarcastic but still playful. Man, weren't things just getting better and better?
"Did I mention I was adopted? Might reduce the value of your goods. Not a true blood relation and all.." he rambled. He doubt it would help him much but hey, it wasn't like he knew what to do. He had never been kidnapped before!

"Your good looks would get you somewhere that isn't quite in my field of trade, I'm afraid," Ember hummed, stepping forward to carefully touch his cheek, turning his face to the side to better examine him bit by bit. Even if he was adopted, knowing exactly what and who he might look like would be helpful—perhaps his blood family was some sort of underground crime syndicate that might want him back, or there were whispers that someone with his specific features got adopted by a wealthy family. Any information was good, really.

She snickered. "We'll just have to see how much your adoptive family likes you, then. Or if anyone with lots of gold would care to say that you're their secret blood relative. Anything works, really; if no one reaches out by the time my patience runs thin, I'll take you on a fun trip to foreign waters, how does that sound?"

Phen's blue eyes followed her as she moved his face about to scrutinized him. He knew he was a good looking man, maybe even unfairly so, but he wasn't sure how he felt about being sold to someone because of it.

Slavery...never quite settled right with him. And unfortunately how the great city of Essryn operated... going from riches to chains was not unheard of. The ladder always went both ways.

But at her last statement... it made his brows crawl up high.
"You're joking. You think I'd so easily fall in line with pirates?"

Business was business, to Ember—she dealt with slavers on the water enough times to see how varied they could treat their sentient cargo, but she never held slaves, herself. Prisoners, certainly, and hired laborers to help bring things on and off the ship if they had a particularly large load coming on or off, but never slaves that she owned herself. She liked the taste of freedom, and thought it best suited to everyone... but if the master didn't seem particularly cruel and they had lots of precious gold, who was she to say anything to how the world worked? She had to fund her own life and her own ship, of course.

She pulled away from his face, instead stepping to the side and nudging Phen's foot with her own, jerking her head to Haytham's direction, wordlessly telling him to walk to the master of the crows nest. She cracked a smile. "What? We're a charming bunch, aren't we? It's fun. Have you ever been to Hyoite? It's a bit chilly, but the people are rather interesting. Getting some adventure in your life has never been a bad thing."

Phen  was about to obey, (albeit it very hesitantly),  when he abruptly stopped and whirled around to face Ember, nearly tripping over his own feet as he did so.

"Hyoite!?" he exclaimed. "You've got to be kidding me! Thats..That's... a joke... right?"

Haytham growled in frustration at Phen's sudden change of direction( but Ember snickered and simply nodded at Phen, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. "I do love jokes, but I also hate to lie frivolously—"

"That's a lie," Haytham grumbled underneath his breath.

"—and I'm absolutely telling the truth when I'm saying we've been to Hyoite, and we can go again. You can tag along, of course, since you're a precious guest. Who knows, maybe you'll fall in love with the place."

Phen was getting the impression he was missing some key information in their dialog. Whatever their bickering was over, it was exclusive (atleast at the moment) between the pair of them, but as Phen continued to study the pair, then more thoroughly Haytham, he couldn't help but deduce.

"Oh.. you're from Hyoite, aren't you?"
It seemed a sore enough spot and from what Phen knew of the various people of this continent....
He was curious if he were close, if not on the mark.

Haytham raised a thick brow, crossing his arms gruffly. "And what made you think that, friend?"

His tone wasn't very pleased at all, his emphasis on the word friend certainly expressing that he didn't consider Phen even remotely close to that in the slightest. He was at least half-right, though—while Haytham's father was Essyrni, his mother was from Hyoite, and he was born there, to boot. Clearly, though, he wasn't keen on sharing that.

Ember rolled her eyes playfully, patting Phen on the shoulder so as to get him to move closer to Haytham again. "Careful with what you assume of others—or at least keep them in your head. Much of the crew aren't exactly open to talkin' about where they came from. What matters is the present, no?"

Phen held his tongue. As much as he hated to admitt it, the woman was right. And who was he to judge about one's origin. Hell, he honestly didn't. Hatham could hail from a land of blue people and Pheonix wouldn't bat much of an eye at that considering his own unknown origins that were not necessarily a sore spot.. maybe more like an itch he couldn't scratch.  So, with a wooden smile, Phen followed his captors quietly.

Haytham silently guided Phen up the ramp, not bothering to give him so much as a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure he was following. His opinion of Phen, whatever it might've been before, had obviously already soured.

Ember held up the back with Kenway trailing behind, peering up at the magnificence of her ship. She tapped Phen's back, whistling absentmindedly. "D'you spend a lot of time on ships, or are they not your favorite place to be? Knowing whether you've got sea legs or not will help a lot."

At the tap, Phen peered over his shoulder at the captain with a frown.
"I've been on a ship or two in my time.." he began. Mostly small wooden boats that could have been eaten by her ship, but still! And it was river cruising, not so much the sea....

His frown then deepened before he gave a small, nervous smile.
"The more we talk, the more I'm gathering the idea you're taking me along for keeps.:

"Oho? You should be fine unless we pull out of port, then—a little rocking will be nothing. You don't seem too delicate," Ember mused, though she bitterly noted in her head that he was able to knock her down before.

She returned his smile with a far bolder one, about twice as confident and fairly carefree. "That all depends on how fast and generous your family is. Tell me, truly, how much do you think they'd pay for you? Not how much you think you're worth, necessarily, but how much your family does. Or employer, if your family won't pay."

Oh, it was back to money again. Phen smiled sourly, but then ablurr of motion on the gang plank had him doing a double take, and before he knew it Ar'ruubis was flying at him like a locomotive and just as Pheonix began to realize what that meant....
The dog plowed into him with hyper active force, causing g him to spin awkwardly and crash into Ember,..  and were they suddenly... falling?

Oh, crap. The pair were falling, courtesy of the enthusiastic hound, and before he even could react, into the water the pair splashed.

Ember squawked in a tone not too dissimilar from a frightened hen, Haytham's eyes widening as he spun around at the chaotic mixture of sounds, turning just in time to see Ember's face disappear beneath the water.

She was a competent enough swimmer, as the water wasn't too deep, but she was never fond of getting wet, much less tangled up in other people and animals. She resurfaced quickly, fist twisted in Phen's shirt to help pull him up with her, mouth bobbing up from beneath to suck in a breath before she dunked her head under again, intentionally this time, to lift her huge mass of hair and flip it over her head and out of her eyes with her free hand, slapping Phen in the face with her long hair. That wasn't intentional, but it was a little satisfying, considering it was his dog that got them into this situation.

She coughed and panted for breath, glaring at Phen with barely-contained rage before lifting her head to the gang plank, scrutinizing the figures still up there. Haytham was seemingly dumbfounded, and Kenway near the end openly snickered. "Don't just stand there, you idiots. Get the dog."

She trained her gaze back onto her "captive," mirth fully out of her system now. "And you." her hand was still gripping his shirt, but she quickly shoved him away (or as much as she could with how heavy her arm was from her wet sleeve). "Get to shore or I'll drown you right here."

Pheonix was still sputtering out the water he swallowed down when he was shoved forward, stumbling before caught his balance. He barely had enough time to lift up his head to register what was going on... but from the deck of the ship he watched his dog seem to pirouette around the crew's snatching hands and the dog was racing down the gang plank and was suddenly airborne as be dove towards his soggy master.

Phen barely has a chance to flinch as the dog bowled him over, and the pair fell back into the waters with a heavy splash.

Ember almost regretted ever meeting Phen, now, as she tumbled back into the water, hair flopping back in her face as she resurfaced again. Ransom be damned, she was half-tempted to let both him and the dog flounder in the water like babies let down a stream, but considering all the stress that led her to this moment, her sense of greed outweighed her frustration and she grabbed Phen again, like a mutt by the scruff of its neck, and squinted through the red-black curtain of her hair obscuring her face.

"Where's your damn dog?" she asked gruffly, her vision only semi-accurate. If he was lost in the water, she was going to force Kenway to get a net and scoop him up like a sea bass.

Phen blinked.
"Errr..  he's kind of right.."

Ar'ruubis's tongue suddenly licked happily at her face.  The dog's tail was wagging, tongue lolling with a happy pant. Oh how the pup loved this game!

Ember flinched at the newest wet feeling on her cheek, and grumbled something unintelligible beneath her breath (though it certainly wasn't anything positive), and reluctantly patted Ar'ruubis on the head. She resolved to never get a hyperactive dog like him—old seadogs with lots of patience and levelheadedness, only.

She sighed, moving her hands to lift her hair out of her face once more. "What do you do to calm him down? Because if he keeps pushing us into the water, or at least trying to, I might just explode."

And there is was, inspite of their situation, Phen began to laugh. It was a crystalline sound that carried over the waters, and the hound panted more happily for it. The dog turned to Ember, realizing she wasn't as excited as the rest and moved in sympathetically to give her plenty of condoling links to her cheeks.

"You know.." he went on, after finally composing himself.  "This might be a very long excursion. " He couldn't help but smile.  "I think he likes you. "

Ember sighed once more, though it wasn't as heavy as before, patting Ar'ruubis on the head lightly and rubbing behind his ears. She couldn't be too mad at the dog—he was just playing, even if it got her dunked in the water and humiliated in front of two members of her crew that already had a habit of ribbing on her.

"Well, our time together all depends on the money," she answered almost reflexively, with the same stiff countenance—that was her life, always focused on the next bit of coin—but paused, continuing to pet Ar'ruubis, calming down a little. It wasn't as if she could get any more damp, right now. anyway. "...But that's good. It'd be a terrible curse if I was hated by him. I can only imagine that I'd be pushed into the water with much more malice."

Phen rolled his eyes. Right. Money.
Still, he couldn't help himself as he chuckled at her reply.
"Trust me,  youd know if he hated you," Phen went on. "Ar'ruubis doesn't exactly hide his emotions "

Ember saw Phen's eye roll and, in response, pointedly rolled her eyes, but harder than he had. Just to tease and poke, of course. She slowly moved towards dry land, the water sloshing around her as she grimaced at the feeling of sand in her boots. "I can see that. Is he a biter, if he doesn't like someone?"

Phen sloshed behind her as the pair made their way from the waters. He slipped a little as he walked, but her question drew his attention as he steadied himself.
"Ar'ruubis?" He crinkled his nose and peered over at the happy canine before his own lips split into a grin.
"Well now, guess you'll have to find out. Ar'ruubis is..." he shrugged as he thought over the wording, before settling on, "Ar'ruubis."

Ember shrugged one shoulder, her soaked clothing making her movements sluggish as she trudged back towards where Kenway was getting rid of the last of his wheezing laughs, sending him a not-so-discreet glare before turning her face back to Phen. "I s'ppose that every dog is different. I hope none of my crew gets on his bad side, anyway—I'll make sure to let those who prefer cats take duties far away from him."

Pheonix couldn't help himself as he laughed,  and continued to do so inspite of himself. Ar'ruubis had caused quite a mess already, and who knew what else was in store. And Phen just kept on laughing .

Ember puffed her cheeks out in indignation, likely to legitimately show her annoyance at his mirth despite their soggy situation, but it came off as more of a pout than any scowl or snarl. "Well, excuse me for trying to keep damage to a minimum. I'm just glad we didn't tumble off of the ship itself. We are not doing anything like that again."

Kenway, despite his best efforts, was still smirking like a canary-catching cat by the time they made it back over to him. He nodded over to Ember. "Take a good swim?"

"Shut up."

"Must've been very nice, really; you went in twice, Captain."

"I'll burn your stupid hair off, I swear to Perle."

Kenway's grin twitched up just the slightest bit, then schooled his expression back to cool indifference while Ember was still kicking the ground and muttering to herself under her breath. "You. I trust you know your own dog, yes? What's the best way to keep him calm as we go up the ramp?"

Pheonix's laughs had finally calmed as he lifted his hands placatingly.
"I wish I knew." But he coughed back a laugh and gave a whistle and light pat to his side and the dog agileky leapt to his side, tail wagging and tongue lulling.  Phen gave his big ears a good scratch before peering up at his captor.

"This is as good at it gets, " he assured her, large hands still keeping the dog lulled with ear scritches.

Kenway canted his head to the side with a soft huff of air. "Alright. We'll let you walk up first, but we'll be behind you in case you or your dog try to hop off."

Ember soggily shuffled behind Phen, as did Kenway, and she nudged Phen's foot with her own. "Be quick, now. I wanna get out of these wet clothes. You should, too, 'nless you wanna get sick."

Phen put his arms up, placatingly.
"Okay, mother," he countered with a smirk. "Can't let your new goods get all sickly and damaged. Isn't that right, Arubie?" He cooed at his dog, giving him a few more aggressive scratches as they made it up the gang plank with no additional altercations.

He'd been on ships before, most minor boats and shipping vessels for local transport. But as soon as he stepped onto her ship, he was quite impressed with The BlackTorch , and took a moment to soak the ship in. The ship was so lively, so worn by the sea, that she almost felt like a breathing entity bobbing on the more shallow waters of the dock.

For those of her crew that weren't present to help escort their new cargo on board, they seemed to be moving around and keeping the ship in shape. Or drinking booze, he wagered. What else did pirates have to do?

Apparently kidnap innocent rich boys. He realized his pace had slowed and he coaxed Ar'ruubis forward

"Come on, 'rubie, let's keep our manners. We're guests, after all."

Ar'ruubis panted happily, tail thumping against Phen's leg as he received more scritches. The dog too, seemed alert in a happy way, taking in the ship as anyone would a new house or home they'd be invited to visit.

And that'd when Ar'ruubis spotted the birds. The hound was never a fan of the Essryni gull, and there was a large patch of them preening nearby on the edge of the ship. Phen was too late to notice the tell tale signs of Ar'ruubis before he took off, barking like a banshee as he practically threw himself towards the gaggle of gulls. The birds took to frantic flight as Aru'uubis nipped at their tail feathers and in turn, Phen shouting after his dog's.

However, things went south rather quickly for the hound when a gull bombed the pup's face with an explosion of poop. The dog stumbled back, sneezing in dismay before Phen halted and realized what was coming next.

"Ar'ruubis.. don't!"

And the dog began to shake, flinging the gull poop from his head and all over Phen's backside as he whirled around, shielding himself and Ember both.

He grimaced, feeling the gull poop splattering his silk clothing as he growled through his teeth, "Ar'ruubis."

The dog's tail instantly went down as he cowered a bit, tail wagging uncertainly as he kept a distance between himself and the upset Phen.