Burning Skies Saloon

[Yiski]

--Over the Skies of Yannock--

Despite the new estimates, the group somehow managed to arrive at Yannock only two hours behind their initial arrival time. Taking in a deep breath, one could taste the saltiness of the Chill Sea. Many of the crewmen still had the heavy clothes they wore during the sandstorm to now combat the cold air brushing against the ships.

Off in the distance, the group could see three ships off near the Chill Sea coast. Yiski used his scope and identified the Yeshan pyramidion and galleon. Yiski's jaw seemed to dropped when he got a good look at the third ship the Tengshe. Yiski went up to the helm to get Zill's opinion. On the way up, Yiski thought to himself.

"Those Yeshans sure know how to make fancy ships."

Arriving at the helm, Lauren also shared in Yiski's initial reaction to seeing the Tengshe.

"Is that where we're holding the wedding?!"

"Yup."

"Roland really hit the jackpot with her huh?"

"In more ways than one."

Lauren gave a small laugh as Yiski went to the radio. Before he could call over to Zill.

"Yiski! You see that ship off in the distance? Flak. You could probably host multiple weddings on it."

Lauren saw a glimpse of a sly grin coming across his face.

"Well, if you feel that way, how about you and Jun make it a double wedding?"

"CAN WE ADMIRAL!!! PLEASE?!!!"

"Flak Yiski. You see what you've caused now?"

"I know exactly what I did. Enjoy."

Yiski then switched frequencies to match up with Shen and Liu's.

"Yiski to Shen. We're in sight."

"Shen to Yiski. We see you. Good to see you made it. A bit late though."

"Funny you should say that. Once we get on board, we'll talk about it."

"Understood."

[Captain Lockheart]

Lockheart and Cecelia wake up aboard the Commodore Beckett Lockheart runs up to the deck to see what happened, he looked at the flare and didn't think too heavily of it. He went back to his quarters, gave Cecelia a quick kiss, before falling asleep again.

[Yiski]

--On Board Tengshe--

After boarding from their respective ships, the group finds themselves in awe of the Tengshe up close. The cruise ship was the most decorated and ornate ship anyone had ever seen. Sure there were events in Anvala where there were parades, but most of the time it involved putting some shiny trim along the ships railing. Tengshe in comparison made Shen and Liu's mansion look like a wooden shack.

[BdrLineAzn]

--Tengshe--

After docking the vessels inside the built-in dock, everyone from the different ships met on the platform. Liu spots her children and rushes towards them and embraced both of them in a hug.

"Its good to finally see you guys again"

"Mother, it been only two weeks"

"I know, but still"

Shen and Huan reaches them.

"Come on dear, i think you are choking them."

"Sorry, just excited."

Liu breaks from her hug giving Ny-Lee and BdrLine some air. After a breather, BdrLine turns to his parents.

"So the rest of the family on board?"

"Some are when the Tengshe left port, but everyone else should arrive later this evening"

A cruise coordinator then goes up to the group.

"Councilman Zhao."

"Yes."

"If you and your group please follow me to the main lobby, we can check you in and lead you to your rooms."

"Very well, and our luggage?"

"We will transport them to your rooms, if you may."

The coordinator then leads everyone to the main lobby. On the way, he tells everyone what is on the gigantic cruise ship and the schedule.  Moment later they are in the main lobby.

"Alright, this will take a few minutes... ...and done. Here are your keys."

He hands everyone their room keys.

BdrLine
"Finally a room for myself, first class too."

Shen
"Actually son, you'll be sharing one with your brother."

"Really"
"Really"

Both Shen and Liu laugh at their sons reactions. Eventually, everyone is escorted to their rooms as Shink and Paradox have their own single rooms, Zill and Jun'ko have a room to themselves, Roland and Ny-Lee obviously have a room to themselves as well, Shen and Liu also, but when the coordinator leads Yiski and Lauren to a room, he turns to them.

"I'm sorry, we didnt expect more guests. So you two will be sharing this one. Oh we will be serving dinner for the whole party out in the first-class dining hall."

[Yiski]

--Tengshe--

Yiski and Lauren both glared at the coordinator causing him to clear his throat and immediately flee. Yiski gave a long sigh.

"Well, we might as well see what we've got."

Lauren nods and Yiski opens the door to their room. Like many of the other rooms, it's first class. The hard interior looked to be marble. The ceiling had a jade and gold chandelier. The room's bathroom was also large and spacious. It contained both a tub and shower which seemed to be able to hold six people. The room was immaculate and stunning. Everything seemed to be in order.

"Um... Yiski? We might have a slight problem."

"Aside from us sharing a room?"

"Yeah."

Yiski turned to face Lauren and saw her pointing over to the bed. That's right bed, singular. There sat a single king-sized bed which could definitely hold at least four people, but the problem was still there was only one.

Yiski scans the room for a second time and notices there isn't a couch. Yiski curses to himself and scratches the back of his head.

"Well, we can deal with this later. I'm gonna head down to the dinnin' hall. You comin'?"

"Not quite. I'm going to take a shower. I still feel like I have sand in places where it shouldn't be."

Her last statement brought a mental image to Yiski's mind which he quickly dispelled. Too bad Lauren noticed some of Yiski's expression and decided to tease him more.

"You know. You could join me and help me get the sand out."

Yiski walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. He started walking down the hall before stopping a moment.

"Skies... the hell am I doin'?"

Meanwhile, Roland is in dinning room along with Ny-Lee and her parents. The two have settled into a table. Along with those four are a few other individuals which Roland could already tell were high-ranking officials of some sort. Even more so, he noticed a couple of them shooting him glares. Given his lack of experience with them, he became slightly unnerved and anxious.

Ny-Lee noticing Roland's anxiety scans the room to see what's causing it and notices those giving Roland hateful and threatening glares. Instead of confronting them, she quickly gives Roland a surprise hug and kiss on the lips. This surprises her parents who for the first time witnessing a PDA moment from the couple.

[BdrLineAzn]

--Tengshe--

Back in the two brothers room things are going 'smoothly' as they get ready for dinner.

*knock**knock**knock*

"Huan! You almost done in there? I still need to shower."

In the shower, Huan yells back.

"Azn hold on, it not like you flew through a sandstorm or something."

"Actually I did, and was shot at during the process."

*squeak*

Huan opens the door and steam comes out.

"Alright here, just be done in thirty minutes, they are serving dinner."

15 minutes later, BdrLine has taken a shower and changed into dinner clothes.

"Ok let's go"

The two of them leaves the room and heads down the hallway, 5 minutes later they are still in a hallway.

"Um... Huan, you know where the dining hall is?"

"I have no idea big brother"

Back at the dining hall, Liu looks around for her sons.

"Shen dear, have you seen the boys?"

"Not since we got on the ship why?"

*sigh*"Looks like they are lost, again. I don't know how with the two of them together they lose the sense of direction so quickly"

"They find this place eventually, like they always do. Oh look it's your parents and sister."

Liu looks towards the direction of the door and does sees her parents and her twin sister Luli with her husband, Hao, and daughter. Liu stands and turns to Ny-Lee.

"Ny look who's here."

Liu goes over and hugs her family while Ny-Lee turns to see who is here. Recognising who they where, she as well gets ups to the, as well.

"Ahh grandmama, grandpapa, glad you guys can make it. You too Aunt Luli and Uncle Hao. And Mei long time no see, how are you doing cousin?"

Hugs were exchange as Liu's part of the family chat with each other until they takes their seats at the table where they were introduced to Roland.

Back to the brothers, they are still lost as they manage to find themselves at the ship's theatre.

"Azn can you ask someone. We'll be late if we keep this up"

BdrLine looks around and sees a worker.

"Ok ok, ummm miss, you know where the first class dining room is?"

"Why yes, you take......"

She gives them directions back to the room. After a bit of memorizing, they thank her and follow the directions to the dining room. After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived where their father sees them and points to two open seats at their table. They follow and takes their seats.

Shen to them
"Had an adventure I see" *smirks*

"My defence... It was Azn's fault. He made the first wrong turn."

"Hey!"

"Hey you two don't start bickering now, we have guest and family here, and more importantly do it for your sister."

"Yes father"
"Yes father"

"Good, now where are the others?"

[Yiski]

--Tengshe--

After an hour since leaving his room, Yiski arrived at the dinning hall. Yiski got lost on the large cruise ship. If not for a worker he spotted, Yiski probably would have starved on the ship. Zill spots Yiski and hails him over.

"Flak Yiski. I thought you left or something."

"No... I was just... walkin' around.. thinkin."

"You got lost."

"No. I said I was thinkin'."

Jun'ko approached Zill from behind and hugged him from behind. Jun'ko's head stuck over Zill's shoulder.

_Jun'ko
"Thinking about what."

_Yiski
"The past."

_Zill
"The past between you and Lauren?"

_Yiski
"Partly."

_Zill
"I have no clue what you saw in her then. She's reckless, brash, and impulsive."

_Jun'ko
"Sounds like a certain Admiral if you ask me."

_Zill
"At least I'm right most of the time. Anyways, what are you going to do about her?"

_Yiski
"No clue."

_Jun'ko
"You two should get back together. I think you're good for each other."

_Zill
"Has your mind been filled with tar Jun? The woman up and left Yiski eight years ago without so much a word, is presumed dead, and out of nowhere pops back into his life."

When Zill finished his mini-rant, he looked to Yiski to affirmed his statements, instead of a sure expression, Zill sees a doubtful expression.

_Zill
"Flak. You're not actually entertaining Jun's idea?"

_Yiski
"As I said before, I've got no clue, but right now isn't the time to deal with this. We have a bigger concern of seein' this is the best bloody weddin' Roland and Ny have."

Zill and Jun'ko nod in agreement. Whatever issues Yiski has will have to be put on hold until after the wedding.

[BdrLineAzn]

--Narrator--

A few moments later the rest of the guest and family members arrived to the dining room. From Shen's parents and his side of the family to the rest of Liu's family, plus close family friends. Before the start of the dinner, people are about mingling with each other. Mostly Ny-Lee introducing Roland to the rest of her big family.

As she goes around with Roland, BdrLine and Huan goes over to their cousins. In their small group is Mei from their mother's side, Chang, Feng, and Ping from their father side. Mei is the only child of Luli and Hao and is the same age as Ny-Lee. Chang is 20 years old and is the son of Shen's brother, Shui. While Feng and Ping are brother and sister respectively, where Feng is the same age as Huan and Ping is 21, and are the children to Shen's sister, Mulan.

Ping
"I can't believe Ny-Lee is getting married? Azn I thought you will be the first one since you are the eldest"

Huan
*laughs*" Ny-Lee and I joke about this to him. The funny thing is, he is still single"

BdrLine
"Oh very funny, as you all can see, I am still happy being single"

Mei
"Yeah we can all see that" rolls her eyes

The rest of the group laughs. Then a host goes up and announce to everyone.

"Hello all, if you can take your seats, dinner then be searved."

Everyone complies and goes back to their tables, before the first course comes out, Lauren comes in and spots Yiski and the others at a table and sits next to Jun'ko. Dinner is then served as waiters comes out and lays the first course down. People chat amounts themselves at their tables as different courses were brought out.

At the main table, once everything settles down, Liu is talking with one of the ships associates about the wedding tomorrow.

"So everything is set I presume?"

"Yes, it will be held in the chapel and the reception will be in one of the ballrooms. And it will start at three in the afternoon"

"Thank you."

Eventually all the plates were taken and the host comes back again.

"Thank you all for coming tonight, and I hope you enjoyed your dinner. But as all of you are aware, tomorrow is a big day for a certain couple and I like to congratulate them. And iLife to announce that the wedding will be held tomorrow 3 in the afternoon. Hope you enjoy your stay and welcome to the Tengshe"

With that most of the guest stands and goes to talk with one another. As for the cousins, they go around and explore the gigantic ship. Zill, Yiski, and the others call it a night and goes back to their respective rooms. Shen and Liu spends their time talking with the rest of their families. As for our couple, they head back in to get a good rest for the big day tomorrow.

--End Narration--

End of Day 98

[Yiski]

--START OF DAY 99--

--NARRATOR--

Yiski and Lauren spent the night sharing their king-size bed. Though it was slightly awkward, there was enough room for the two of them to keep to their own side with plenty of room in the middle. The two kept their backs facing inward. Or at least, that's what Yiski thought.

When he woke, he stretched his arms by extending them above his chest and let them slowly lower them out to his side. When he lowered his right arm, he noticed a warm, soft body next to him. He quickly turned his head to see Lauren only a handful of inches away from him. He facepalmed with his left hand.

"Why does this seems familiar."

Yiski tried to get up, but Lauren, still asleep, grabbed onto his right arm and held it tightly. He noticed then Lauren started to cry and mumbling something.

_{"I'm sorry... Please.... don't... go... I'm.... sorry... Yiski..."}

The doubt Yiski had yesterday grew tenfold now. He knew Lauren had been trying to fix their destroyed relationship. She had succeed in some way, but not nearly to what the two once had. Seeing Lauren the way she is now, Yiski sighed.

"I guess I don't need to get up just yet."

A few minutes pass by before Lauren wakes up. When she opened her eyes, she immediately notices Yiski's arm locked in by her, his face, and can feel she was crying.

_Yiski
"Mornin'. Think I can have my arm back now?"

Lauren sits up quickly, releasing Yiski's arm. She wipes away the tears and is blushing heavily.

_Lauren
"Sorry... I..."

_Yiski
"Don't worry about it. You didn't have me pinned for too long."

Lauren notices Yiski shifting himself to get off the bed. On impulse, she gives a full embrace to Yiski from behind. Yiski is caught off-guard and didn't know how to react or what to say.

_Lauren
"Did.. I say anything weird... sleeping?"

_Yiski
...

_Lauren
"Please... please... don't hate me anymore than you do."

Something about her words triggered something inside him. Did he really want to have a relationship like this? Did he really not want to try again? Yiski responded in a way he thought would be most effective. He swung around to face Lauren. Now it her turn to be surprised.

_Lauren
"Yiski...!!!"

Lauren was shocked when Yiski leaned in and gave her a kiss on the lips, but her heart went wild. This wasn't just a quick peck, but a deep, sensual kiss which quickly evolved into a vigorous make-out session. The two went at it for a solid ten minutes before Lauren pulled away. She had tears in her eyes again, but this time they were tears of joy and happiness. Yiski smiles and wipes them away.

_Lauren
"Does... does this mean..."

_Yiski
"Yup."

The two were going to escalate their make-out into something more, something the two had waited nearly eight years to do again. But...

*KNOCK**KNOCK*

This had gotten two's attention and they snapped back from each other. While Lauren was fine, Yiski was at the edge of the bed and his pull back caused him to fall off, garnering a laugh from Lauren. Soon a voice came through the door.

_Coordinator
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but breakfast is ready in the dinning hall."

Yiski scratches the back of his head and looks to Lauren.

_Lauren
"Shall we eat?"

_Yiski
"Sounds good."

The two gave a smile and soon enough they left the room, each with a heavy burden lifted.

--NARRATOR END--

[Captain Lockheart]

Lockheart and Cecelia woke up to a clear sunrise in Anvala, which they watched together from the bow of the Commodore Beckett. They did the acustomary things, had breakfast, got dressed before having a bit more of a slightly un-customary event, they engaged in a shooting contest.

Lockheart
"This is what you get for stealing my breakfast you flying rat!"

*Fires his bolt action at the bird and it misses*

Lockheart
"Get back here"

*Fires antoher 5 shots in quick succession, all of which missing*

Cecelia
"Calm down Julius, you'll never hit like that.."

Lockheart
 "And i suppose you can do better?"

Cecelia
"10 brass says i can hit it in one shot."

*Cecelia offered her hand out to Lockheart, which he then shook*
*Cecelia grabbed the rifle, loaded a bullet, looked down the sight and shot the bird that was now a long distance away. It hits*

"10 Brass if you would"

Lockheart
"Maybe there could be some other form of payment?"

*he kisses Cecelia on the lips*

Cecelia
"oh,no i want that money, i saw a nice hat i could buy for myself"

*Lockheart handed out the money*
*Cecelia was a good shot, but nothing compared to a casual marksman in Anvala, and practically non-existent against the repertoire of Yiski*

*They both head out to the saloon*

--Saloon--

*Lockheart and Cecelia walk in to the bare saloon*

Lockheart
"Hello, anyone home?, Yiski?"

*Cecelia whispers*
"so... this is the Amazing Saloon you were talking about

*Lockheart walked forward, to see Captain Coldcurse sitting in a chair with a Tri-corne hat over his face*

Lockheart:
"Coldcurse?, what are you doing here?"

*the initial response was some slurring from Coldcurse but he woke up, saw Lockheart and Cecelia and fell out of the chair*

[Coldcurse]

--salloon--
Captain Coldcurse:
"WAOH! WHO'S THERE!?"

Captain Coldcurse falls out of his chair and struggles a bit to get up, he looks at the person and rekognises lockheart.

Captain Coldcurse:
"lockheart, is that you?"

Captain coldcurse notices the fine lady behind lockheart and instantly smiles.

Captain Coldcurse:
"i see you have been hunting lockheart, nice catch you have there"

Captain Coldcurse gets behind the bar and grabs a bottle of port and moonshine.

Captain Coldcurse:
"can i offer you guys a drink?"

Coldcurse grabs 3 glasses and places them on the bar.

[Honeybadger]

--Anvala Docks Near Saloon--

Honeybadger: "Where the hell is everyone? Dylan, tell me if you see anyone you recognize." I've been so busy trying to catch this guy I didn't realize that I was this sober...

Dylan: "What about the Saloon?"

Honeybadger: "It's probably closed, and I don't want Yiski yelling at me for beating on the door again..."

The two walk along the docks talking

Dylan: "So who's the guy we need to get?"

Honeybadger: "His street name is the 'Red Flame' but his real name is Daniel."

Dylan: "So what did you find out about him?"

Honeybadger: "He's planning to rob a ship and attempt to set it ablaze."

Dylan: "We know which?"

Honeybadger ponders this question

Honeybadger: A ship with a lot of rich things and rich people, a vault, and a long destination...
"Dylan, find out if any big passanger ships left recently. It could be a lead."

Dylan nods and heads to the nearest dock master.

Honeybadger: I think I'll beat down the doors of the saloon while I'm here.

[Captain Lockheart]

*Cecelia skrinks behind lockheart*

Lockheart
"errr... No thanks..., i dont think you should be taking Yiski's stock??..."

*Sits on a bar stool, Cecelia takes a seat next to him*

Lockheart
"so what brings you here?"

*Lockheart scratches his head in confusion, then pulls out his pipe but realizes he isn't allowed*

Coldcurse
" Suit yourself"

*Coldcurse downs 3 glasses of port in succession*

[Coldcurse]

Captain Coldcurse:
"yiski aint here, im here to keep things clean."

captain coldcurse grabs an almost empty  bottle of moonshine and takes a sip as he looks at lockheart.

Captain Coldcurse:
"you really dont want something to drink?"

captain coldcurse looks at the lady and smiles.

Captain Coldcurse:
"are you with him?"

[Honeybadger]

Honeybadger goes shoulder first into the closed but open door of the saloon, instead of cracking, the door merely opens causing Honeybadger to fly forward onto the ground

Honeybadger looks up from the floor at the three people now looking at him.

Honeybadger: "Scotch please..."