Aurora was standing at the edge of a cliff that had an anchor attached to it. She was curious as to what was down below the surface of the river that flowed through the city, and wondered if Ashlea had been pulling her leg about her crew member being there. Ashlea had gone a little farther up the street to get some water breathing potions from the miller at the Storm Mill. Though Aurora was hesitant to let her friend go off on her own again, she knew that she was just being over cautious and that her friend had been fine without her and probably better off as well. As this thought was about to strengthen, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to the smile of Ashlea Stone, who was holding up two bottles that looked like grape juice.

"Hey."

"Hey, got us the water breathing potions. You might need to take off your glasses though. They won't be of any use in the water."

Aurora thought about this and grinned. She concentrated on a small part of her pirate outfit, her goggles. Within seconds, her silver glasses were replaced with the set of silver goggles she used for battle and for when she was a pirate. "How's this?"

"Perfect." Ashlea grinned. She handed one of the bottles to the blonde thaumaturge. "Bottoms up!"

"Right." The two drank all the contents of the bottles and then placed them into their bags for possible use later. "Last one in is a scaredy cat!" Aurora laughed as she jumped off the cliff with Ashlea quickly following behind. Nearby wizards who saw them widened their eyes in shock, as many would just climb down the rope rather than jump off a cliff.

The impact of hitting the water knocked most of the air out of the two girls, and left slight bruises on them, but they didn't care. Aurora quickly tested to see if the potion had done its job. She was relieved to find that it had and that her friend was breathing fine as well. 'I wonder if we can talk under water too…'

"Let's go, Alura!" Ashlea answered her question without realizing it.

"Right…" Aurora smiled as she followed Ashlea towards the underwater kingdom of the crabs. The kingdom was definitely fancy and old fashioned looking, but also had a touch of modernism to it.

"I'm telling you, Bart, things just ain't right here. The king's acting funny and doing things he'd never do before. Not to mention all these Riverclaws running about." An old crab was talking to his nephew about the current situation in their kingdom.

"Don't worry so much, Uncle Herman. I'm sure we'll figure something out." Aurora chuckled as she recognized the voice of Bart Hawkins.

"Sounds like you could use some assistance if there's an issue with the royals around here." Aurora smirked as her hair floated in her hood. She wondered if she should tell Bart who she was, but the look on his face said he already knew.

"Well, well, who do you kids think you are that you can solve our problems?" Herman asked while Bart smirked.

"They call me Alura Dusksong around here, and this is my associate, Ms. Ash Firestone." Ashlea couldn't help but roll her eyes again. 'Even with being away from Bones and Marelybone so long, she still acts like she them.'

"And you two think we need…"

"Easy uncle, easy. I think a little outside interference will be welcome here." The younger crustacean smiled at the two wizards. "Name's Strong Bart Hawkins, pirate witchdoctor, art expert, and member of the Rosa Angela's crew. Nice to have a proper introduction, ain't it?"

"Indeed, Bart." Aurora smiled a wide childish smile without showing her teeth. "How's the crew?"

"Chasing down some Banditoads in Cool Ranch last I saw them. How have you been?"

"I have magic running through my veins, a bottle of Yum in my robes and satchel, and a dagger close to hand, Bart. I'm doing well enough." The young pirate wizard laughed.

Ashlea smirked as she noticed her friend's spark returning to her eyes. "So, what's the issue with the royals?"

Bart looked at Ashlea with a grimace. "Well it seems that King Thermidor is acting funny, not that I've seen him since I left to explore the Spiral for artworks of all styles. Imagine my surprise when I come home to find Riverclaws running the place and the royal advisor locked up in the White Tower Prison. Does that sound like much of an issue to you?"

Aurora and Ashlea looked at each other and frowned. "Sounds like that scenario you came up with, eh, Aurora?"

"I had a ton of those. Let's get over to the White Tower Prison first and find out what the advisor can tell us."

"Right, then we'll check out the king."

"Right." Aurora then turned towards her crustacean crew member. "You joining in? Or you staying with your Unc?"

"These Riverclaws usually mean trouble to anyone… but seeing as how you already have backup, Captain… I'll just stay here with my Uncle. Let me know if you need a touch of help or some information. I still know the place well enough."

Ashlea looked at Aurora with a touch of concern, but she found Aurora giving a cocky smirk. "I understand. We'll stop by after we talk to this advisor. Got a name?"

"Sir Thomas. He's in the tower at the end of the lane. Think you can find it?"

Aurora showed her special compass to the crab. "I got an upgrade. Buildings that I have missions, or quests, into light up blue. We'll find it no prob." She then turned to Ashlea. "Come along, Ms. Stone. The game is afoot!" Aurora then grinned and started swimming the crawl stroke through the city with Ashlea hot on her trail.

Aurora just laughed though as Ashlea started yelling at her. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SAYING STUFF LIKE THAT! YOU SOUND LIKE BONES YOU LITTLE TWIT OF AN INVESTIGATOR! DOVE? DO YOU HEAR ME, DOVE? DOVE!"

Bart chuckled as he saw his captain acting like a child again, just like she usually did on a mission before she had found her ice powers. 'Whoever this Ashlea Firestone is, she is definitely a good influence on the captain… I hope she sticks around… the captain could use a friend that wasn't a pirate first.'