Disclaimer: I hereby declare that Roosterteeth studios RWBY production crew may freely use any ideas, characters, or events written in this story free of charge and without any threat of lawsuit for any production, though it would be preferable to inform me of the use of the idea if used.
Ch 33
Lan awakened the next morning to the smell of soy sauce and roasting fish. The smells made his stomach rumble and prompted him to open his eyes. What greeted him was the sight of the small fully furnished Japanese style room that he had gone to sleep in last night. He was currently sleeping in a futon on the floor with Ignis and George curled up near his legs. Lan slowly rose and then stretched, prompting Ignis and George to wake up and go sit on Lan's face.
After they had entered the house last night, Chiyo had prepared a lavish feast using a variety of local ingredients, with Lan helping of course, and the family had sat down to a meal. Afterwards they had begun telling each other about themselves. Lan had discovered that Chiyo was a seamstress and made many garments from any clothing material that came her way from natural fibers and pelts obtained from nature or any other materials that the privateers would bring in. Chiyo had cried when she heard about what happened to Lan's village, and as she embraced him, Lan saw a spark a familiarity in Chiyo's eyes, showing that she understood what he had gone through, likely because something similar may have happened to her. Eventually it became late and Lan was sent to tidy up before going to bed with George and Ignis. When Lan entered his room, he found that the walls were strangely made out of soundproof material. He didn't think much of it at first, but later that night before he fell asleep, he felt the whole house shake from enormous vibrations. He tried to get up and investigate, but found that some incense had magically appeared in the room without him noticing, and before he knew it he was fast asleep.
"Up you go" said Lan, who pushed George and Ignis up.
After completing a quick morning shower, brushing their teeth (Lan brushes the little ones' teeth), and completing any toiletry business Lan and his little friends headed downstairs to have breakfast.
"Good Morning dear." Said Chiyo.
"You sleep well?" asked Byakko.
Both of the two looked extremely vibrant, their faces practically glowing with vigor. Lan believed it to have something to do with the vibrations that occurred last night, however his better judgment advised him against asking.
"You ready for your first experience on an airship boy?" asked Byakko with a smile.
"Yep" said Lan, sitting at the table. Breakfast that morning was a bowl of miso soup with seaweed and tofu, a large piece of grilled salmon, a large piece of sweet omelet, and a large bowl of rice. Ignis was digging into a bowl of kibbles and meat chunks in a doggy bowl under the table while George ate from a fruit bowl.
Lan tasted the dishes and found them to be quite delicious, he would have devoured it quickly but was repeatedly told to slow down by Chiyo who told him to chew thoroughly.
After the meal Lan clasped his hands together and thanked Chiyo before starting to head upstairs to get into his normal clothes.
"Wait a moment." Said Chiyo. "If you're going to go change it's only fair to warn you that I've already recycled your old garments.
"Huh?" said Lan stopping in his tracks.
"From what I could tell you've been wearing those clothes for a long time right?"
"Yeah" said Lan "ever since Longa Cinere."
"I thought so," said Chiyo, her hand on her chin "so I've already made you some brand new clothes! Here wear this for today!"
Lan had been essentially wearing the same wardrobe for the past three years, with the exception of a few pieces he picked up here and there, and despite the durability of the clothes, they had accumulated a lot of wear and tear, which Lan handled by patching them up with random patches of cloth and thread. This, along with the fact that the clothes were quickly growing too small for him, caused him to look increasingly shabby with every passing month, and Chiyo, being a seamstress, couldn't have that and upgraded his entire wardrobe, replacing every single piece of clothing with larger more stylish variants. And if you're wondering how she did this in one night, remember that she is a wife of Byakko, meaning that she is far from normal.
Back to the moment, Chiyo had Lan change into a new set of garments. It consisted of a black long sleeve shirt with a blue vest on top, a pair of fingerless brown leather gloves, and a pair of black military style pants which contained many many pockets, just the way Lan liked it.
"Activate your aura Lan" said Chiyo, with a smile "You'll be quite surprised."
Lan did so and was amazed. The moment the blue light covered his body, the cloth on the gloves extended to completely cover his fingers, and the vest grew a pair of sleeves. The moment he retracted his aura, they returned to normal.
"How did—" started Lan.
"I've picked up some tricks over the years" said Chiyo, with a warm smile.
"Oooooo" ooed Lan "You've got to teach me—"
"No time for that boy!" shouted Byakko, seizing Lan around the neck "We must be off for your first excursion!"
Byakko then turned has head and gave Chiyo a quick peck on the lips.
"I'll see you in a week flower petal, don't be too lonely without me."
"Don't worry" said Chiyo "I normally don't see you for years at a time, one week will be nothing."
Before Lan could say another word he and his little friends had been whisked out the door.
As with many times when Byakko grabbed him and the two of them headed somewhere, the surroundings whizzed by Lan in a gray blur until he suddenly arrived at the destination.
"Oh, the motion sickness isn't as bad this time" said Lan, as he suddenly felt the ground appear back beneath his feet, but then:
'gurgle'
"Oh crud" said Lan, who then collapsed onto all fours, doing his utmost to keep that morning's delicious meal inside of his stomach instead of splattered all over the ground. Ignis and George weren't doing any better as they whined with their bellies on the ground.
"Here you go boy" came an old man's voice as a bottle of green fluid was thrust in front of Lan's face.
"Mhmmm" moaned Lan, who grabbed the bottle and took a drink. A strong minty flavor filled his mouth and pierced all the way to the bottom of his stomach. It felt like numerous small icy needles had pinned down all the food that was about to come up. Lan grimaced slightly, then let out a sigh of relief as he felt his stomach settle.
"Thanks" said Lan, who poured some on the ground for Ignis and George, and then handed it back to Frank, the doctor.
"So you'll be flying with us today huh?" said Frank, "Well, that's nice, after all the Jade Tigers has the highest concentrations of the Muteki clan out of all the pirate crews."
Lan nodded and finally noticed that he was standing on the deck of the ship he had flown on yesterday.
"All right, listen up!" shouted Byakko, "Today our littlest family member will be joining us on the raid, so let's all do our best to give him a rowdy Muteki family welcome!"
Many weapons were discharged as the group let out a loud yell welcoming Lan. Lan looked around and saw that he was in the midst of all the people that he had been with yesterday on the flight.
"Alright then" shouted Tora, who was standing at the front of the ship, "Now that everybody's here, let's shove off!" He pointed to the bridge "Get this thing off the ground!"
"You got it bro!" shouted Misha from over the intercom.
With a rumbling noise the ship's engines started up and the many connectors that were attached to the ship detached themselves. Within minutes the ship had risen into the sky and was met with a flock of Dust Eagles seeing them off.
"Well, moving fast as always" thought Lan as he stared out across the expanse of blue ocean as he rose into the air. "Hope this will be fun."
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A few minutes after setting off, Tora had taken Lan on a tour of the ship, showing him the engine room, the mess hall, the bridge, the sleeping quarters and all the other rooms in the ship. Byakko was going around visiting all of his descendants on the ship, and being a right nuisance all the while. Ignis and George were also exploring the ship and were attracting a lot of attention from female crewmembers who found them adorable.
Lan was especially interested in the engine room and mess hall, hoping to learn a few tips and tricks from the engineers and chefs.
After the tour concluded the entire crew assembled in the bridge to be briefed on the upcoming heist.
"We'll be attacking a Schnee Dust company freighter" said Tora, pointing at a holographic projection that showed the ship's course. "It'll be heavily guarded, however thanks to some of our inside contacts, there won't be any other ships bothering us for a while."
"So it's an attack mission!" said Byakko with a bestial smile.
"Yes, your favorite" said Tora, "And with you here it's unlikely that we'll be taking any casualties. So to begin our attack we'll be dropping down some energy pulse charges to disable the ships engines, afterwards we'll be firing smokescreen pellets to reduce all visibility in the ship, and finally the assault team will parachute downwards to neutralize the enemies and secure the cargo."
Tora went over each of the aspects in details for a few minutes. Lan could see that the man wasn't exactly like his father, after all Byakko was never much of the planning type.
"We'll be staying above the clouds above the ships sea route until it's just under us, then we'll pop out and take them by surprise." Said Tora "Any questions?"
"Where's the bathroom?" asked Lan, raising his hand.
Tora gave an exaggerated sigh and pointed at the exit.
"Down the hall on your left, head that way until you see the toilet stalls." He said.
"Thanks" said Lan, who then left the room. He looked left and right, taking in the sights of the metal lined hallways, and inhaled the musky smell.
"Things really are moving a bit fast" he thought.
He soon found the bathrooms. Each bathroom was a small walk in room like you would find on an airplane, complete with sink and toilet. Lan went inside and soon finished his business. He then reached for the toilet paper, but found it protected by a plastic shield. Confused, Lan soon found a button that he pressed which made the plastic shield retract back into a slot. After finishing up the last part, Lan was about to hit the flusher when he heard a banging on the door.
"Don't flush!" he heard Tora cry "Please don't flush just yet!"
"Too late" said Lan who had just flushed.
It was then that the sound of creaking metal and flowing water gradually began to fill the room. Lan looked around, confused for a second. Suddenly the door to the bathroom slid open, Lan was grabbed by the scruff of his neck, and was pulled outside. The door was then slammed shut and a moment later the sound of water flowing, much like a water fall, could be heard on the other side of the bathroom door.
"Hooh, close one" said Tora.
"What the—"started Lan.
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you about that" said Tora "you see, our bathroom have got a little bit of a malfunction, which appeared ever since dad blew a hole in the side of the ship while using one of them. You see, whenever you flush, what goes in doesn't come back up, but then a torrent of water comes blasting out of the can a few moments later."
Lan winced, imagining how he would have felt had he still been left inside.
"Haven't you tried to fix that?" he asked.
"Can't" said Tora, shrugging his shoulders "Some of the plumbing's built so deeply into the ship's systems, that if we tried to tamper with them, it could cause problems in other areas. Like the ships engines or navigation systems. We could fix it by overhauling the system, but we haven't had any reason to do that for years."
"Okay" said Lan, "So do you think you can put me down now so I can pull up my pants and go wash my hands?"
"Huh? Oh sure." Said Tora who then placed Lan on the ground where the boy made himself publicly presentable again, and after the torrent of water ceased, Lan went back into the stall and washed his hands, the soap and towels also being protected by a plastic shield.
"Well, we'll be arriving at the trade route in a few hours" said Tora as Lan came out of the bathroom "You'll want to get something to eat before then, the kitchen's open and old Jiro's cooking puts some of the best restaurants to shame."
Lan smiled and nodded, then the two of them headed towards the mess hall. When they arrived, they found that the vast majority of the crew had already arrived and were digging in to whatever was being served. The tables were covered in what we would recognize as Japanese cuisine, with dishes like sushi, tonkatsu, okonomiyaki, ramen, and other delicacies.
Lan stared at the table for a good minute, then turned to Tora and said:
"I will be learning from the chef."
Tora let out a laugh and patted Lan on the head.
"Old Jiro never turns away a helping hand, I think we can arrange that."
"Hey Lan over here!" came a loud and craggly voice that overshadowed the din of the room.
Lan looked towards the source of that voice and found his grandfather munching away at a pile of…something in the corner of the room. It definitely wasn't the fine cuisine everyone else was enjoying, but Byakko seemed to enjoy it just fine. Tora leaned down and spoke into Lan's ear.
"Those are all the expired and un-edible reserves" said Tora. Lan's eyes widened for a moment, but then returned to normal, because he knew from living with his grandfather, that the man's digestive track was akin to a biological recycling plant which could survive the worst of poisons, in fact Lan had made use of the this fact when he was learning to cut up and serve poisonous animals like puffer fish and certain lizards, because even though Byakko wouldn't be harmed by those poisons, the old man was always able to detect them.
"If we don't save up old food and give it to the old man when he comes, we never have enough to feed that old man" said Tora.
Lan nodded in understanding. Having cooked for Byakko since he was little, Lan had learned that he had to frequently add things to the food to increase the volume, or he would never keep the old man fed. And if he didn't keep him fed, Byakko would cook up one of his dishes of ultimate horror.
Lan went to the chef counter, and ordered a huge plate of assorted tempura and some salmon ramen. He then sat down on one of the huge tables and talked and laughed with people while he ate, afterwards he went back to the cabin he had been assigned to and read through some books on airship piloting and pirate history before Tora's voice rang out on the intercom, telling everyone that the freighter had finally arrived.
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Ernest Kaiser was a young captain and enjoyed a rise to power through grit and hard work. As he looked out on the wide sea surrounding his freighter he felt that all his blood and tears had all been worthwhile.
"Status report" he said, nodding at the man who sat in front of him in the bridge.
"All's clear captain" said the man, "ocean's calm and—"
He paused as he stared up into the sky, he then looked down checking the screen in front of him, then looked back into the sky.
"What is it man, speak up!" said Kaiser, a knot of unease slowly forming in his stomach.
"Well sir, there appears to be something in the sky" said the man. "It's not coming up on our radar and it doesn't seem to be birds or clouds.
"What?" said Kaiser, pulling out a telescope and then looking in the direction indicated by his subordinate.
It was indistinct at first, but slowly he saw the figure of a ship lowering out of the sky, and as a he saw the insignia on the side, his blood ran cold.
"Pirates!" he shouted "It's the Jade Tigers! Sound the alarm!"
But before the order could go out, two spheres of energy were launched from the pirate ship, which struck the freighter's engines and shorted them out.
The ship shook slightly as it came to a halt in the water.
"Crap!" shouted Kaiser "We're dead in the water…No other choice, prepare for battle!"
The blaring of horns and flashing lights quickly filled the ship, rousing guards and forming them into battle position.
"Sir, the guards are mobilized for combat" said the man at the helm.
"Excellent" said Kaiser, "Alert me at the first signs of movement from our enemies."
"Right sir" said a man who had an advanced telescope trained on the ship "Nothing will get past m— Oh my god!"
"What is it man!" shouted the captain.
"Those crazy pirates!" shouted the observer "They just threw a kid off the ship!"
2 minutes earlier aboard the ship of Tora Muteki
"Are you ready boys?!" shouted Tora, who faced his crew.
A huge roar rose up in response. The loudest of course being Byakko who screamed "YEAAAAHHHH!"
He then turned to another crew member and screamed "YEAAHHH!" into his face, he then repeated this gesture with another crewmate. Byakko then turned to look at Lan who was standing right in front of him, the old man then seized the boy by the head screamed "YEAHHH!" into another crewmates face, and threw Lan off the side of the ship towards the freighter.
The rest of the crew stared at Byakko for a moments, then those who recently joined the crew began screaming and asking Byakko what the heck he was thinking.
"Calm down everyone" said Tora "Lan's lived with the old man since he was a toddler, he's prepared for situations like this.
And indeed he was. Lan had been thrown by Byakko into dangerous situations more times than he could count (mostly for training of course), and had devised ways of handling most situations. As he began plummeting towards the freighter down below, after a brief facepalm, Lan reached into his backpack and pulled out a grappling hook, a ripcord that lead into his backpack, and lots and lots of homemade explosive balls.
As he neared the ship, he saw dozens of people gathered below him in a circle, a trampoline spread out in the middle.
"Don't worry kid" said a man "We've got—"
Before he could finish speaking, he was hit in the face with of the explosive balls, which detonated, releasing a thick cloud of smoke. The rest of Lan's smoke bombs rained down across the rest of the ship, reducing the visibility there to near zero. Lan then pulled the ripcord, which caused a parachute to burst out from the inside of his backpack. After using this to slow his momentum significantly, Lan pulled another ripcord which detached the parachute. The boy then threw his grappling hook at a structure below him, and pulled. This added force caused him to begin spinning in a circle, catching many people who were still blinded by the smokescreen with the grappling hooks wire. He spun round and round, with the wire growing shorter and catching more people, until finally Lan landed on the heads of the security force personnel who were now tied up.
"Wow" said a person on the ship who was watching with binoculars. "He's good."
"Looks like he took care
"As are we all!" said Tora, who pulled on a parachute and a whipped out a large claymore, which had an extra-long hilt that contained ammunition. The rest of the attack squadron did the same, and pulled out their own weapons.
Byakko looked left and right and sighed "Now everyone's using those fancy hybrid weapons, what happened to the good old days when people just used a normal blade or gun."
"Times are a'changin dad!" shouted Tora as he and his crewmates leapt off the side of the ship. Byakko smiled while shaking his head, then followed his sun off the side of the ship.
The poor guards down below didn't stand a chance. Blinded by Lan's initial barrage of smoke bombs, they weren't able to see the multitude of shapes heading down from the sky, who landed and began taking them out one by one. And as an added detriment to their situation, a few moments after the screams began a white meteor, who we all know to be Byakko who hadn't worn a parachute, crashed into the ship and nearly capsized it. This caused the crew members to panic even more, and as a result weren't able to organize around their superiors before being subdued by the pirates who were flitting about the ship. And thanks to the heightened senses of many of the buccaneers, not a single person managed to escape and before the hour was over, every person who had originally been on the ship had been captured.
All the crewmembers were bound hand and foot and lined up across the deck, many of them fearing what would come next. Tora looked out across the captives and nodded his head, he then turned to his men and motioned for them to begin loading the dust and other valuables off the ship.
He then turned to Shiga, who Lan had discovered was Tora's first mate, and said:
"Anyone here on any of 'the lists'?"
Shiga pulled out a hollow screen devise, opened a file, and began cross referencing the faces in it with the captives in front of them.
"Nope." Said Shiga after a few moments of browsing.
"Alright then." Said Tora, who turned back to the captives and said "Which one of you is the leader here?"
"I am" said a man with short blond hair. "Ernest Kaiser, captain of the S.S Wavecutter of the Schnee Dust Company."
Tora nodded, walked over, and knelt down in front of the man. The man was visibly intimidated by Tora's large stature and savage facial features, but tried his best to stay calm. Tora stared at the man for a few moments before letting out a humorous snort.
"Don't worry man, me and my boy's won't be sending any of you down to the deep. I believe you've already sent a distress signal, so after me and my boys finish loading the Dust, we'll leave you to be saved by your backup"
A look of relief spread across the crewmembers' faces, but they went rigid as Tora said: "But I have one condition."
Kaiser swallowed and then dryly said "What?"
"Oh nothing much" said Tora, reaching into his coat and pulling out a letter "I just need you to deliver this to your superior once you get back. That shouldn't be too hard right?"
Kaiser looked at the letter in Tora's hands, back at his crew, and then into Tora's face.
"Fine." He said.
"Good man." Said Tora, patting him on the shoulder and then stuffing the letter into the man's shirt.
A few minutes later, the Dust had been loaded onto the airship, and the crew had gone aboard.
"Won't there be problems with deep-sea Grimm?" asked Lan, who looked down at the ship below.
"Nah." Said Tora, "We run a sonar scan on the area before attacking, we only attack when there's nothing that will get there before their evacuation arrives."
"That's nice" said Lan, who was rubbing his shoulder. His actions earlier had decreased his aura by a large margin and as a result popped his shoulder bone right out of its socket, and a few moments earlier Byakko had slapped it back into place (causing extreme pain in the process of course.)
The ship rose into the air, and after it was safely above cloud cover, Tora pointed westward.
"Alright then!" said Tora, "Off to the port to meet our contact!"
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After a few hours of flying, the airship landed at a highly fortified port town. It possessed excellent natural defenses, being surrounded by sheer cliffs and a canopy of a strang thorn-like stone spikes that rose into the sky and wrapped around each other like a thorn bush. It was only navigable by those who knew the way, and as for any Grimm that was lucky to get far enough inside, there were multitudes of turrets hidden in the gloom. The land within it was too small to be properly developed into major kingdoms like Vale and Atlas, but a small town was built on the dark ground far below. After entering through a small entrance near the top navigating through the stone spikes, they finally entered the airspace right above the town. It was very dark there, with only bits of sunlight filtering through the mass of stone vines that protected the town, like bright stars in the night sky. At the far end of town, there was a large body of water with a dock, as well as a large fortified gate built into the cliff and which lead to sea.
"Ahhh" said Byakko "Port Asphodel, one of the biggest cesspools this world has to offer. It's been a long time."
They flew down to the docks below and docked the ship at one of the empty piers. Lan, Tora, and Byakko then began to disembark. Lan reached forward to open the door, but had his hand grabbed before he could hit the button.
"Not so fast kid." Said Tora "Got to let us take care of a few things first."
Tora went to the door in the hull leading out of the ship and gave a knock in a specific pattern. After a moment, another knocking pattern was returned. Tora then pressed the button opening the door. Standing outside on the docks was a man wearing glasses and several large thugs holding what appeared to be rocket lances.
"Morgan" said Tora, nodding his head.
"Greetings " said the man.
Tora then reached into his pants pocket, and pulled out a few cards.
"This should cover bother the docking and 'protection' fees" said Tora.
Morgan nodded, took the cards and placed them into the folds of his coat.
"I'd advise you to finish your business soon though" said Morgan "You are after all quite hated around here."
Tora grinned and jabbed his finger behind himself while saying "Not a problem."
Morgan looked behind him and his face turned stark white.
"Why if it isn't little Morgan." Said Byakko, walking out of the shadows "You've grown up into such a strapping conman, your father would be proud."
Morgan gaped with his mouth wide open for a few moments, and then swallowed.
"Yes, you shouldn't be having any problems in town, now if you'll excuse me I have business to attend to."
"But boss" said one of the thugs next to him "What about the cargo tax—"
"NOW!" shouted Morgan, staring angrily at the man. The group then hurriedly trudged away, soon disappearing into the gloom of the town.
"Seems you're well known here" said Lan, smiling.
"Yep" said Byakko, "I ruled this town back when that boy was still crapping in diapers!"
"Okay, enough with the poopy talk" said Tora, who then turned towards the inside of the ship and yelled "Start unloading! We'll be meeting our contact soon."
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An hour later, all of the Dust had been loaded into large trucks and the crew members had divided into two groups (one looking after the ship and one going to meet the contact). Lan had of course tried to help move the large shipping containers, but of course had been unable to make the large shipping containers budge an inch, and as a result had settled with watching from the side while drinking a soda.
Lan piled into one of the trucks with Byakko and Tora as they left the docks. Driving through the town, Lan saw just how dismal it was. Everywhere he looked there were homeless people and lowlife criminals. There were also likely many inappropriate things here and there, due to the fact that Byakko covered Lan's eyes almost every three seconds.
"A lot of people who've done a lot of bad things live here" said Tora "they can't live anywhere near the 4 kingdoms or they'd be thrown in the slammer."
After driving for around 15 minutes, they arrived at a large fancy hotel that was guarded by what appeared to be a well-organized group of mobsters. The sign on top of the front door of the hotel read: The Briar Rose.
"This is our stop" said Tora, shutting off the engine "You want to be part of the business dealings, or do you want to stay in the car?"
Lan thought for a moment, then turned to Tora and said "I've read a few stories on the underbelly of society, so I know what to generally expect, but it's always good to get actual experience under your belt."
Tora nodded, and then pulled out a small communications device. He typed in a few numbers and after waiting a few moments for it to connect, he brought it to his mouth.
"We're here" he said.
A few moments later a large group of people came out of the building. They were security guards that were guarding a few men who were dressed in white formal attire and wearing masks.
"Afternoon" said Tora, waiving two fingers in greeting.
One of the white figures nodded and walked forwards, the guards moving aside as he made his way through.
"Greetings Captain Tora" said the man in a deep voice that was obviously being altered by a voice modifier "We just received word that a shipment of Dust under the jurisdiction of Mr. Grun has been stolen."
"And will be made up by the timely actions of your employer" said Tora. "Who managed to track down the thieves, bring the hammer of justice down upon them, and retrieved the stolen Dust without a hitch. We all know the drill Mr. Blank."
The man known as Mr. Blank nodded.
"Shall we conclude this business inside?" said Mr. Blank, waiving his hand in the direction of the hotel "We have just ordered some fine wines to celebrate your job well done."
"I thought you'd never ask" said Tora with a wolfish grin.
The turned to head back, but stopped as his eyes landed on something behind Tora.
"A child?" said than man, staring at Lan.
"Yep" said Tora.
"He's a little young to be in your crew isn't he?" said the man.
"He's my nephew!" said Tora "And my family is raised tough as you recall."
The man stared a moment longer, then chuckled slightly.
"Very well" he said, he then turned to one of the guards and said "Have the hotel also prepare some lemonade a cookies for our young friend."
"Good man!" said Tora, pointing both his index fingers at the man in the gun shape, he then turned to his crew and said "Alright, those who won the drawings come on in and drink, as for those who lost, help these gentlemen unload the Dust."
A mixture of cheers and groans rose up from the crowd as they split into their respective groups and moved to their stations.
Lan then followed Tora into the hotel. The moment the boy entered, however, he began to feel uncomfortable. The inside of the hotel was the definition of luxurious with large amounts of fancy furniture and servants waiting on every guest. This strongly reminded Lan of the hedonistic ways of Mr. Siemmens, causing him to wrinkle his nose in disgust. The pirates were soon brought to the bar area, and after every man and woman had been served a drink, including Byakko who grabbed almoar an entire shelf full of booze, Tora and Mr. Blank sat down to begin negotiations.
"So the expenses for…." "No no no, you haven't accounted for…"
Words flitted back and forth between unceasingly between the two men as they continued. Lan was able to catch some words here and there, and although he couldn't understand some of the more complicated pieces of the conversation, he was able to understand a good deal of it as he sat sipping his lemonade at the bar.
"Here's your cookies cutie pie~~!" came a feminine voice from the other side of the bar.
"Oh" said Lan turning towards the bartender "thank—"
He stopped as his mind was temporarily stunned. Standing on the other side of the bar was a large muscular man wearing a standard waiter's uniform…and a copious amount of makeup. After the brief pause, Lan's brain began to work again and a single word popped into his head.
"Oh you must be one of those homosexuals I've read about!" he said with a smile.
"Oh, well look at you so knowledgeable for such a little guy!" said the Bartender.
Lan stared at the man for a bit and found there was a tightness in his stomach that just wouldn't disappear.
"I know it's wrong to think so, but you guys make me feel uncomfortable" said Lan.
"Oh that's understandable sweetie" said the bartender as he refilled Lan's lemonade "Takes a little while for some people to get used to us, but don't worry a nice boy like you will be used to it in no time!"
"But still that's no good boy!" shouted Byakko who slammed down on a barstool right next to Lan while holding a large flagon of some strong alcohol.
Lan judged from the smell that was hanging around Byakko, as well as from the massive pile of empty alcohol containers stacked in front of an empty couch, that Byakko had drunk quite a lot.
"Just do what I do!" said Byakko "Just think of gay guys as ugly stanky hairy woman with man parts!"
Lan and the bartender stared at Byakko, wide eyed and open mouthed. A moment later a glass fell from the bartender's hand and shattered on the floor.
"Grandpa, that's even more disturbing!" said Lan, his face slightly contorted in disgust.
"Works for me!" said Byakko, who shrugged and then downed the flagon. He then held out his empty flagon to the bartender.
"I think you've had enough sir." said that bartender.
"Oh that's bullshit" said Byakko "I'll just fill it up myself then!" the old man than stepped over to the other side of the bar, much to the chagrin of the protesting bartender, grabbed an entire barrel of some kind of alcohol, and then leapt across the room back to where he had been sitting previously.
The bartender was silent for a moment and then turned to Lan. "You're grandpa?" he asked.
"Yep" said Lan.
"Uh-huh" said the bartender "Well, he sure was something. Oh! And I just realized I haven't told you my name yet. I'm Bertrand and if you ever need help with anything at all, just give me a ring sweetie." Accompanying these words, Bertrand whipped out a business card which, after coming to the conclusion that it would do no harm, Lan accepted.
On the other side of the room business talks seemed just about finished.
"So this much?" said Mr. Blank.
"Seems a little small" said Tora "but tell ya what pay the bill for a meal and the extra booze my boys just downed and we'll call it good."
Tora's crew had finished off the complimentary wine minutes after arriving and had already ordered their own drinks.
"Also" said Tora "Our young little friend over there" he motioned towards Lan "You're 'Company' has access to some of the best Dust based weaponry there is. Our little guy seems like he's going to be a bit of a rising star in the future, so if you could help him find some weapon types he's good with it would be most appreciated."
"Very well" said Mr. Blank "I agree to both your terms."
The man would later regret agreeing to one of the terms, not helping Lan of course, oh no. What he would regret is agreeing to pay the tab when he received the bill after checking out of the hotel, which would grow enormous due to Byakko's presence.
"Hey Lan" shouted Tora, causing Lan to turn and look in his direction "Please follow this gentleman right after everyone's done with food and drinks. He'll hook you up with some nice stuff."
"Sure thing" said Lan.
Lan had overheard their conversation and was ecstatic about what he might soon find. After all, although all of the weapons Byakko had ever provided for him were of the highest quality, they were all traditional weaponry like spears and shields. The chance to work with modern weaponry made Lan feel elated, but this elation would soon give in to disappointment a short while later.
Been a while since I released hasn't it, well college does that to you. Hope the story is still entertaining. And as always give me any advice on how to make it better.
And as always remember the one who brought us this. Monty who like Kamina is now the symbol of the series that was centered around his ideals.
