Remembering the Fallen (Xieza)

[Sorin Vanado]

[member="Xieza Blade"]

Cloud City...since his last encounter with the Empress back on Effekt, he's been over-due for a good drink. While he could have gone to any number of other planets in the system along the way, this one would have what he needed: lots, lots, and lots of good alcohol. Only problem is that he didn't have much money yet. Ship was fixed, thankfully, but what little credits he had, he had very few. And most of it was spent just getting a spot in the damn port.

'If I didn't know better, I would have guessed that they made their revenue in taxes.' As he stood at the counter, waiting for the lady to give him his pass and receipt for paying the docking fee, he wasn't the only one waiting. An entire section dedicated to docking and procedure, and the entire place was still packed to hell and back. Loud, crowded, and many, many stupid attitudes...fantastic place to get lost in, that's for sure. Maybe somewhere along the way, he could get some work.

"Sir, here's your receipt. You can have up to a one week stay, but you will be refunded for the days you don't use."

"Thank you." Taking the receipt and pass, he made sure to get through the crowd in the smoothest, fastest way possible. Next problem...credits...where to get them...if push comes to shove, there were a few contacts he could try, and if he also remembered correctly, he had a safe-house in Port Town...provided it hasn't been ransacked yet. Which reminded him of another thing: he hasn't yet checked his old bank account. If by some miracle it's still active, he could be looking at a new ship in the next coming week. Along with a lot of rum.

 

[Xieza Blade]

We had recently arrived here. Our ship was docked and secured with 10 guards chilling inside. We left them in there because it would make too much of a scene with a group like that walking around the city, and we didn't want that. We were here to make business and to hopefully gain more recruits for our cause, but we had to be stealthy about it. We didn't want to make any enemies, or come across the wrong person.

The man walking beside me was Lord Aulart. He served my father's kingdom for a long time and had sworn himself as one of my vassals after my father's death. We were casually walking down the street, heading towards a location that was going to be used as our recruiting station. We had taken off all our armor back at the ship and we wore normal civilian clothing in order to not stand out. This seemed to irritate the Lion, as he spoke out in protest as we walked.

"I don't understand why we aren't wearing our armor. We are a bloody kingdom and we should be proud of it."

"We are proud of it. We are only doing this because we need to find men that will assist us in retaking the throne."

"We have enough men and I've been telling you that. The people of the kingdom will rise to your side when they discover that the heir to the throne lives."

"I fear it has been too long since my family held the throne. My father has been dead for almost a decade. All of the young in the military will be used to serving the man that now holds the throne. I want to be on the safe side and recruit as many men as we can before we start a civil war..."

"Meh. There are many high ranking friends of mine who will stand with us when we arrive to the kingdom. We have plenty of men, in my opinion. We will do it your way though, my king."

We continued to walk, nearing our destination. I was eager to recruit more men... Aulart was not. He believed that we had plenty of men, but I feared we were going to be needing a whole lot more. I should have brought one of the younger and more eager guards with me from the ship. Aulart was not himself today. Usually he would be very eager to do anything that would benefit the kingdom and our cause, but something had him off. It was disturbing, but I still trusted him with my life.

[member="Sorin Vanado"]

 

[Sorin Vanado]

[member="Xieza Blade"]

"HEY! STOP!" Little, no good, snot-nose brat! While he had been walking along, minding his own business, a kid came out of the crowd, grabbed Sorin's datapad, and stormed off through the sea of people. There was no way he was going to let that go. The hard part was finding the kid, but he spotted his general form slip through the plethora of people. Now was a matter of catching up. With controlled movements, he made his way toward the little bugger. After a minute or so, however, the kid collided into someone, falling backward onto his ass and mouthing cuss words along the way. This was all Sorin needed as he appeared from the crowd, grabbed the kid by the back of his shirt, and lifted him off the ground. The kid immediately went limp, and smiled sweetly, trying to appear innocent as Sorin glared him down. The kid knew he was screwed, and just proceeded to hand Sorin the datapad. Taking it from the child, he put him back on the ground with a small thud. "Now don't get caught again." This was all the incentive the kid needed to bolt, disappearing through the crowd once again. Sorin sighed, slipped his datapad into his obi, and then glanced over at the two...tall, men in front of him. He became uncomfortably aware of the distinct height differences. Both of the men who blond, but otherwise were not that distinctive...except for maybe they were tall as all get out. "Kids being kids. Sorry for the interruption." Sorin remarked, hoping that the two men before him were not angry at the kid for colliding with them. Sorin would rather that anger not be taken out on himself, for example.