The Alleyharbor

[I think I am here.]

Max stood silently, thinking it over. Some things that would interest him? This was an odd offer indeed. “Sure, let’s go,” he told Solace through the visor of his helmet.

@Mraize

Edited November 11, 2018 by I think I am here.

[Lord Meeker]

"Great." Sephtis said, laying a hand on Max's should and the pair vanished.

[old man moomba]

Rick stumbled out onto the dock and sat down, resting his feet in the water. A light mist fell on his hair. It was peaceful out here, by the water. Soon he would pirate a ship,  but that could wait. He looked out over the water, lost in thought.

[old man moomba]

Quote

Yes I know this was a double post. I want to bring this thread back to the top.

Rick hung around the harbor, staking out a particular ship. A worldhopper merchant's craft, fast and meant to blend in. It looked like a Rosharian cargo ship, but could blend in at almost any port. It had dummy sails, but had two hybrid pumpjet engines mounted on retractable wings below the waterline. Each engine could be switched between standard fuel, electrcity and, Stormlight. 

The ship was currently carrying a shipment of Tremelking black tea to Sel, where it could be sold and transported to the Cognitive Realm.

[Silva]

Gonev fingered the chrysts in his pocket. Even after ten years he still felt like he hadn't paid off his debt to the kindly old man. He still gave half his profits to him.

He found the fisherman standing at the end of a pier. Gonev pulled out the money and pressed it into his hand. The fisherman, like always, tried to resist, but eventually relented and closed his hand. Gonev turned to go, but stopped suddenly when the fisherman spoke.

"Who's this?" he said.

Gonev was confused for a few reasons. They hadn't spoken in years. There always was just a silence of acknoledgement between the two. And now he noticed the young woman standing behind him.

"I-I-I don't know," he stuttered out. He had no clue.

The woman seemed intent on staring at the crumpled pastry wrapper in the man's other hand hand. "Tuba?" she whispered. "Like Pry's tuba?"

This didn't help Gonev's confusion. "My friend here has never taken anyone's musical instrument. You must be mista-" he started.

"No, no," the fisherman interjected then turned his full attention to the woman. "she means the bakers. Not the instrument."

She nodded slowly and Gonev noticed how close she seemed to tears. Not what he would have expected from a woman of her looks. Then he noticed the brand on her forehead. Something was off.

"Who are you?" he finally asked her.

"My name is Freedom Acute. Hellbent enslaved my siblings and me. I intend to rescue them," she said. "Can you contact her? Prism Acute?"

The fisherman pocketed the chrysts Gonev had given them. "She's TUBA?"

"Yes."

"Then I can."

Gonev was getting impatient. "I need to get going," he said.

He was ignored.

"Tell her time is of essence. Every minute is risk that he'll discover I'm gone," Freedom said.

"I will. But till then, where are you going to be staying?" the fisherman asked.

Freedom bit her lip. It was pretty clear she had nowhere to go.

"I have a small shack nearby," the fisherman said. "It's not much but-"

"She can come with me," Gonev said, making his mind up before he even started considering. He handed the fisherman a paper with a hastily written address. "We'll be here."

The fisherman looked at him in surprise, but nodded. "I'll send your sister over there," he told Freedom who smiled gratefully at him.

Gonev held out his hand, but she kept hers firmly at her side. They started to walk.

"Any surprises I should be prepared for?" he asked her casually, trying not to fall into an awkward silence.

Freedom chuckled and stopped filling her ring, reverting to her normal twelve year old appearance.

"Oh," he said, joining into her laughter. "Well, that definitely wasn't the type of surprise I was expecting."

Edited December 28, 2018 by Silva

[old man moomba]

Rick turned from his study of the ship to see some people walking away. He saw an opportunity and took it.

"Hey, you over there," he yelled "need to out of the city?"

[Silva]

Gonev turned. "Us?"

[old man moomba]

Rick looked around. There was no one else at the harbor right now

"Yes you. Now do you need to get out of the city?"

[Silva]

"No. We're quite fine," Gonev said, putting an arm around Freedom who didn't resist this time. They began to walk away again.

[xinoehp512]

Hidden under his hood, Rekaerb watched the proceedings with interest. This ought to be interesting.

[Karnatheon]

Josh drove up to the Harbor, parking in a patch of grass. He shut it off, and got out. Looking over the damage his friend had inflicted on it he said, "Well Cookie, we're here. What's the plan?"

@Ark1002

[xinoehp512]

Rekaerb turned on his distractor, then drew a circle on the edge of the water.

He stepped back as the circle silently powered up and a ship appeared.

The ship slid into the water. On its side, silvery letters spelled out VOYAGER.

Rekaerb tied up the ship to the dock, then deactivated the distractor. This ship would take anyone who asked to the other side of the world. Anywhere in particular, in fact. That wasn't the most interesting thing about this boat, however.

He laid his hand on a metal railing that ran around the ship and stored.

[Silva]

The fisherman smiled after reading a spanreed he'd recieved, glad he'd very clearly answered the message he'd gotten from a different member of TUBA.

Edited January 4, 2019 by Silva

[xinoehp512]

Rekaerb stood at the bow of the boat, watching to make sure it didn't crash into anything. Things had been running smoothly so far, but you never knew if something would come up. For now, though, he was enjoying the scenery. The land around the Alleycity was beautiful this time of year: the clean-up crews had done their job well, purging every last bit of radiation from the bomb from the ground.

The bomb. It was a sobering thought, indeed. It may have put an end to the fighting, but the fact that it was needed in the first place spoke volumes about the nature of this universe. He had hoped for something different for the end of this era, but it was not to be. Even as the boat rounded the last point before the dock, he could feel the fighting going on, even now. Even though he hadn't been around for the Seven Day War, he had read the history. Was destruction the only answer? Could there be another way?

He sighed, and began pulling up to the dock. What could he do? After this era had ended, he would have to leave. He knew that. And then...

His thoughts were cut off as a sudden realization struck him. The dock? He was already back? How could that be? He closed his eyes and thought back. He hadn't seen a single way out in his journey around the coastline. He frowned, and pulled his tracker out of his pocket.

"Map," he spoke, and waited impatiently for the response.

After a few seconds of the loading screen- an endless spinning blue circle- the map appeared. Indeed, there was no way out, at least on land. But clearly, this body of water connected to the sea- he'd seen ships leave enter and leave this dock. So what was up?

[+Sorana]

Lena appeared at the harbour and fell to her knees. She felt as if her insides had been ripped apart only to be glued back together shortly afterwards. Taking a deep breath she slowly got back to her feet and looked around. The harbour. She was at the harbour. Leaning against a pole she looked out at the ocean and waited.

[xinoehp512]

A box suddenly appeared out of thin air and fell at her feet, along with a spent Tia card.

[+Sorana]

9 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

A box suddenly appeared out of thin air and fell at her feet, along with a spent Tia card.

Lena picked up the box and the Tia card. Curious she opened the box.

Quote

Anything inside?

 

[xinoehp512]

Quote

It was supposed to be locked  but oh well. It was a combination lock, so you got lucky.

Inside the box was a stack of index cards with writing on them. On the top one was written

Hello, Lena. So it's going to be you that opens the box, huh? Wonder how that happened. Hmm... oh. That's unfortunate. Hey, can you help with something? Turn the card over if yes. Otherwise, just chuck it into the water.

[+Sorana]

Quote

Sry, I should have worded that differently.

Lena turned the card over and looked at its backside.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Sorana

[Mr Mafia]

A ship appeared over the horizon and moved at a fairly quick pace towards the dock. It wasn't the prettiest barge, but it got Teksa here from Earth (One of them at least). The ship looked kinda like a pirate ship and even had a crows nest, which Teksa was in at the moment. He watched the city grow ever closer. The anxiety inside him tensed for a moment. But he looked down at a basket of baked goods at his feet, TUBA. He knew he had friends to back him up if he ever got in trouble, no need to worry right?

The ship stopped at the dock and Teksa, it's sole cargo, got off and took in his new surroundings. He knew he wasn't staying for long, but did notice a girl with a box and card which she was reading pretty intently. Maybe she was friendly, or maybe not. Teksa didn't want to take the chance, so he instead sat down, watched the sunset, and ate his delicious baked goods. He just arrived in this world, but he was already going to explore its other side.

[Silva]

The fisherman still was there and he sat down next to the newcomer. He noted the TUBA goods and nodded approvingly. "Good people those bakers are," he said to him. "Best baked goods around."

@Mr Mafia

[Mr Mafia]

Teksa looked at the fisherman and nodded his head in agreement. He then grabbed his basket of baked goods and put it between them. “You want some?” he asked the fisherman.

@Silva

Edited January 27, 2019 by Mr Mafia

[Silva]

He pulled out a fortune cookie and cracked it open. The slip of paper floated out.

"Good things come in twos," he read. "Turn this in to a participating TUBA bakery for another fortune cookie."

The fisherman handed the man the paper. 

@Mr Mafia

[xinoehp512]

On 1/25/2019 at 11:18 AM, Sorana said:

Lena turned the card over and looked at its backside.

The back of the card read:

Good, you decided to help! It seems that Nekorb got incinerated by the bomb. There's not much of him left, but he's hanging on somehow. Can you Tia over there and get his remains to a hospital? All the required Tia cards are on the top of the deck.

[Mr Mafia]

“Why thank you, I’ll have to get another before I leave.” Teksa said to the fisherman. He took the piece of paper and read it. He didn’t know if he had any extra time though. He really wanted another fortune cookie. “I guess I’ll have to ask someone.” He sighed.

Teksa looked around, but the only other people here were the fisherman and the lady still reading her deck of cards. He stood up and walked over to the girl and asked her, “Do you know when the next ship to the other side of the world leaves?”

@Sorana