It was a stiflingly hot day in York Shin. The clamour of the docks and thick engine smog hung heavy in the summer air. The expedition was scheduled to leave from this sky dock in York Shin, today, in precisely twenty minutes and thirty-seven seconds. Lev always kept a close eye on the time. The hustle and bustle of York Shin all year round made it the perfect place to launch the expedition from. The members were meant to meet here in front of their airship, and the heady heights were only serving to exacerbate Lev's usually excitable state of mind. He had already examined, and sketched, every detail of this airship. It was a recent model, but not so new as to draw attention. The Undercarriage was a sturdy silver construct riddled with windows. The large balloon which it was affixed to displayed a the distinctive patterning and wide tooth-filled mouth of a Killer whale. There was no weaponry visible from the outside, after all it wasn't a military vehicle, however the balloon did have slabs of metal affixed to it by thick wires.

Lev would be easy to find if you were looking for him, and would probably be conspicuous if he where anywhere else but York Shin. Among the exotic people and products changing hands up here the tall, muscular man, with what looked like white surgeons scrubs clinging to his form barely drew a glance. Even up here, towering far above the crowded streets, money was changing hands, people were trying to make money. It was incessant, why did everyone associate money with happiness? Lev did not have too much time to get philosophical as the en he had been keeping up had finally picked something significant up. Ascending the long spiralling stair case, walking along the wide cat walks came one of the members. As she came into eyesight Lev immediately recognised her. She was small with dark skin and black hair, which cascaded from underneath a tightly tied bandana. Despite the hot weather she was clad ina dark grey bomber jacket, covered in a bewildering variety of patches, seemingly from every corner of the continent, over a denim boiler suit. Her expression melted into a beaming smile when she noticed Lev.

"Hi, my name's Laura Vanetti, I'm the pilot. You must be Lev right? And this must be my new ship, the a.s. Blackfish." Her sing song voice seemed to climb with excitement, Lev could have sworn that she hit a perfect high c when she said blackfish.
"Yes, I'm Lev, nice to meet you." Lev had been here for at least an hour, he hoped the others arrived soon. "Why don't you wait with me out here, the other's should be showing up now." Lev's voice trailed off at the end as he once again expanded his en, wider than before, excitedly searching.

A questionably-well-dressed man offering candy to small children would have raised eyebrows, even in York Shin, had not everybody been busy buying and selling in the crowded marketplace. As it was, something as small and insignificant as taking her eyes off her father for an instant meant she had been swallowed up by the crowd completely. With no one and nothing familiar in sight, a questionably-well-dressed man stopping to ask if she was all right was all it took.

Mars walked down the long dock to where he was supposed to meet the others with the hand of his new acquaintance in his.

“Mister, are you taking me home now?”

“Yes child, I just have a short errand I have to take care of on the way. It shouldn’t take long, and when it’s done, I’ll bring you directly to your home. Honestly, you’re lucky I’m the one who ran into you. This city is no place for a child to be alone. There are bad people who could snatch you right up!”

As he said it, Mars grabbed the girl and threw her into the air above his head, catching her under the arms as she fell and tickling her into laughter.

“Yeah, daddy told me that it’s dangerous to be alone and not to talk to strangers.”

“He sounds very smart.”

“Uh huh, he is!”

Uncertain of the exact airship he was looking for, Mars pulled out his phone to confirmed the location. The girl looked up at it and asked if he could call her parents.

“I would child, but I don’t know their number. If you do, I can call them right here and now.”

The child bit her lip and pouted. She obviously hadn’t memorized her parent’s number. No surprise, very few children her age did.

“No matter, so long as the address you told me is right, I should be able to get you home without any problem.” At this his companion brightened again. Adorable, how easily their minds worked. So adorable. Mars allowed a grin to stretch across his face.

Mars finally found his airship, right where it was supposed to be. How odd, that. What would something be doing being where it was supposed to be? How odd. The man’s grin broke into joyous laughter, startling his companion and earning him a confused look.

He pointed at the ship and explained, “The ship, it’s also a whale. Does that mean it swims as well as flies?” She was thoroughly confused at this point, not only at her savior’s mannerisms, but also at his destination. He noticed this. “Don’t worry my dear; the business I have to take care of involves the ship." He noticed two individuals standing a short distance away. "And it appears it will be taking place on the dock, so no worries." He smiled down at her in reassurance.

He walked over two the two people who were talking, but the girl's hand slipped from his grasp. "What is it? Shy? I'll be right over there talking to those people, so if you want to you can stay right here. Don't worry, no one will harm you, not with me around." He grinned at her uncertainty. Adorable.

“U-um, I’ll stay with you.”

Mars grinned. “Very well, I prefer it that way too.” He turned back towards the pair, and right into a wave of En, causing his good-natured grin to slip and fall upside-down for an instant. But then the good-natured grin was back in place, and he was introducing himself two the two.

"Hello, my name is Mars Mondelez." His smile appeared genuine, but for an instant his eyes met the good doctor's, and what they said then would have seemed to contradict the smile. "And this is Kati," he said with an even wider smile as he lifted up the young girl. "I would like to know the ship's policy on pets."

York Shin. A city where money flows like blood within one's body. A city where great auctions are held. A city where the black market thrives. A city where money Iis both easily gained and easily lost. Some would think that one such as Zephyr would appreciate a place like this, but no. He hated this type of place. A place where prices change in a blink of an eye. A place where people are robbed or rewarded not because of what they had done, but what they had happened to have.

Zephyr walked through the crowds of people, following the directions he was given. His first objective was meet with other Hunters in front of an airship that had a ballon designed to look like a killer whale. His real mission is to travel into the dark continent with the other Hunters and record what will found. Given that the place in question was wholly mysterious, and his life would most likely be placed in danger immediately on several occasions, his price was rather large to say the least. Regardless, his price was promised and he was assured that it would be met.

The time to meet is drawing closer. Around twenty minutes from now. Zephyr could see the ship. It looked decent enough to be usable, and did not stick out among the others. He could see four people on the dock near it. Three adults, one child. He walked over to them, not introducing himself, for they seemed to be conversing with each other. There were still others. He had been informed more would arrive soon enough.

Walking toward air ship was a grumpy looking young woman, a scowl hardening her face as she stride forward with anger in her steps. She was plainly dressed, a black tank top and loose, military style pants that look a bit worse for wear honestly, but a deal of the damaged appeared to be recent given the blood stains. A belt about waist had various pouches on it, as well as an assortment of 5 knives of various sizes. A few cuts were visible and still bleeding on her body, a notable long one on her face, just under he left eye, one that was likely bad enough to leave a lasting scar. over one shoulder she carried a bag with her belongings and in her other hand she held what appeared to be a still bleeding human forearm. Following close behind her was a large man in suite and sunglasses.

Anyone would know right away that he was Mafia. A common sight here, many gangs and families held a constant presence here given the plentiful markets they could exploit and enjoy.

"Miss Ivy, If you could just take a mo-

"Stop with the Miss bullshit Styles, I aint nothing more than another girl on the streets as far as the family is concerned."

"Your father just wants an hour of your time. You two haven't spoken in years."

The girl whipped around and threw the severed arm at the man, who was startled by managed to capture it out of reflex.

"MAY BE IF SOMEONE DIDN'T LEAD A GOD DAMNDED ASSASSIN TO ME WHILE I WAS HAVING A PREFLIGHT DRINK WE'D HAVE AN HOUR TO GIVE TO THE OLD MAN." She spat a bit of blood from a wound that had re-opened on her lip after her yelling "Old fool, why didn't he send someone who knows how to keep a low profile to find me."

"Cause you'd have probable killed them on sight." The large man named styles replied, this actually got the woman to smile. "Again, I'm sorry about that mess, I'll handle the bar damages."

"Damn straight you are. And return the leftovers..." she said gesturing at the arm "...to the Jackal family, Given the J on the arm, I'm fairly sure it's one of their boys. Also tell him and the rest of the families to stop wasting their time and money on me. I'm going to be...out of town for a while so no one they'd hire would be able to find me anyhow."

The man raised an eyebrow "Out of town?"

"Hunter Business, Can't tell anyone. Not even you Styles, or even my father for that matter."

The man sighed "He won't be happy with that."

She rolled her eyes "He's never happy. Tell him I love him and that I'll be sure to visit when I get back."

"Best keep that promise girl, or it'll be my head they take."

She rolled her eyes "Dad wouldn't kill you. And if he did I'd bring him and the whole Chimera down in flames."

"You see, this is why they send assassins."

she gave the thug a punch in the arm. "Get out of here, can't well have you seeing where I'm going. And you have a mess to clean up."

The man bowed "Farewell Miss Ivy." And quickly turned and made his way off. The girl scratched her head and sighed

"Just Ivy you moron." she said with more affection than malice. She turned about, seeing the ship and the small group of people gathered before it. And a child? As she walked up to the group she began to protest loudly.

"Oh, hell no! I don't deal with children. I thought this was a professional operation!"

Think of the devil and he will come would be a more apt expression for this sequence of events. Three hunters had just turned up in quick succession, Lev didn't even know who to start with. First come first serve would surely be appropriate Lev thought, his mind already whirling with questions. Lev slid his sketchbook away quickly, and not knowing who to extend a hand to, instead raised his hand at them. Dr. Lev's brain almost worked on it's own, he had the words out of his mouth before he knew that he had thought them. Lev noticed a subtle shift in Mars's face but it wasn't enough to make a logical judgement on so he did his best to push it to back of his mind.

"Mars, we don't need canon fodder, unless that child is in some way useful, in any way except bait or entertainment, please return it to where you found it, or find someone to look after it, people here will do anything for the right price right?" Lev spoke quickly and in a soft, low monotone. And then he turned almost mechanically to Zephyr, he recognised all the hunters from there dossiers.

"Zephyr, nice to meet you, I'm Dr. Lev, this is our pilot Laura." Laura seemed to glow visibly brighter at the promise of being included in the conversation.

"I'm not just any pilot, I'm a hunter pilot, best pilot in the world in my own totally objective opinion." Her voice was modulated, rising and falling. Her confidence doesn't seem false, somehow her voice is reassuring.

"Ivy, right, I can take a look at your wounds if you want, my first aid skills aren't half bad. And you won't find a more professional operation out there. People who don't treat it as such may end up on the other side much earlier than I would like to see them there. If you have any questions about that operation you can ask away as soon as Mars has found a way to get rid of his pet." Lev couldn't help but let slip a smirk, breaking the rattle of his low voice, a stark contrast to Laura's.

Just a few more thought Lev, once again he cast out his nen, like a fisher casting his net. The excitement was palpable now, Lev could feel it.

Looking at everyone who was present so far, everyone was diverse. This was something not uncommon among hunters. It seems that Dr. Lev was the first one to arrive, seeing that he was the first one to greet everyone and introduce the pilot of the airship. If Zephyr were to call him strange, then he would be ognorant of his surroundings. He wasn't really strange in comparison to everythong else he's seen.

He same could be said about the well-dressed man, Mars. Although there was an awkward feeling about him, it was nothing new. He seems to have a liking for children. Why he broight one with him is a mystery, though. The child will most definitely die in the dark continent, unless he intends to watch over her, slowing progress and hindering the group.

Finally, Laura, the pilot of the air ship, seemed to have a bright personality. It might be uplifting, considering the danger.

"So you'll be taking us to the Dark Continent? You're confidence is reassuring. The travel there might be dangerous itself."

Marko was tired. He had just been up till 7 in the morning getting some last minute work done, but this was usual for him the, the problem came when he had to wake up just a couple hours later to meet up with his new employer. Luckily he had a safe house in York Shin, close to the docks, or he would have been very late to the meet up. After getting dressed and drinking coffee, he head out into the streets, the noise of the city was at full pitch, but he was used to live in Meteor City and the noise there was ten times what it is in most cities.

Marko was nearing the docks, and as he spotted a group of people in front of the ship he was told to meet at, he veered course and headed towards them. As he neared he conversation about the dark continent and knew he was at the right location, slowing his pace he approached the group.

With two very large strolley bags trailing behind her, Nera finally arrived at York Shin. She had purposely chosen to walk all the way to the city instead of employing a vehicle because she figured she could save money and get a decent warm-up out of it, but the climate was making her regret her decision. The heat was making her sweat and the dust blown from the road clung to her moist skin. It felt incredibly pleasant to her and she wanted nothing more than to take a nice cool shower to clean herself off. Of course, there was the option of using her nen to get it done faster but…

She could feel that she had entered someone’s range of en. It was likely one of her future teammates for the expedition, but for now the person was still a complete stranger and she had no desire to show off her abilities for someone she hadn’t even met yet. Seeing the airship and the group of people in front of it, she knew she was in the right place. Her brow went up slightly at the sight of a small child and she immediately asked, “Who’s the girl?” The young girl didn’t even look 12, meaning she was far too young to be a fellow Hunter for the expedition.

Remembering that it was probably good to greet everyone too she smiled, “Hey~! I’m Nera. Very nice to meet you all.” Letting go of the black strolley bags that were a little over half her height, she gave them a friendly wave with both her hands.

Next thing everyone knew, she was firing off one question after another. “So are we still waiting for people? Do we have any idea where we’re headed exactly or are we just going to wander around until we find land in the Dark Continent? You must all be pretty strong right? I’d love to have a spar or two with someone if we have room up there. Speaking of which, what are all of your names? Oh! But maybe we should wait until everyone’s here for introductions so we don’t need to repeat ourselves.” Nera was talking quite fast but didn’t seem to have any trouble getting all her words out in one breath. “Aaaand, finally. Please tell me we have a shower in there I can use?”

Hm, it appeared as though he was the first to arrive. And here he had been worried about being late. To think that he could have spent more time playing. He gritted his teeth silently in annoyance beneath a closed smile. “Brrrr, so cold,” he shivered out merrily. “Must you freeze the air so on such a fine sunny day?”

Avoiding opportunity to answer, Mars turned to the next hunter who had arrived. His eyes passed right over the boring man who had actually arrived after him. Boring people didn’t exist in Mars’ eyes, and therefore Zephyr did not exist. His eyes instead found a beautiful flower. No doubt equally thorned, he thought to himself. He wanted to feel them.

“You, look like hell,” he said addressing Ivy. Mars leaned in closer, so that only she would hear. “Are those rope burns I see?” He danced away again. “Was it enjoyable?” His grin stretched even wider.

Two more arrived, and with each new face Mars’ smile grew. Oh yes, he could see himself enjoying playing with such a cast. Some appeared boring, but he would break that shell eventually. Fun, fun, fun. It would be fun. The second of the two new faces asked, and Mars was happy to explain again. “Hello! I am Mars, and this it Kati!” He spun the girl around again, only to find that the woman who had asked had paid him no attention, instead bombarding the others with various questions. That was no good.

Mars walked away from the group without a word, returning shortly after carrying a bucket, in addition to the child he wore like a designer purse. Where he had found the bucket, and the child for that matter, was anyone’s guess. Walking right into the middle of the conversing group quite obtrusively, Mars lifted the bucket and touched it to the good doctor’s forehead. “Cooling, cooling, cooling…” He mumbled the same thing absently for a short while as he held the bucket stubbornly against Lev’s head against all attempts of removal.

Mars then removed the bucket from the good doctor’s head and put his finger inside. “Yes, that should be cold enough I think,” he said. With that, Mars dumped the entire bucketful of water over the newest arrival’s head. He cleared his throat before she could react. “Hello! I am Mars, and this is Kati!” He spun the girl around, smiling innocently all the while.

Lev hadn't resisted the bucket. It wasn't directly unpleasant, and he didn't sense malicious intent behind it. He had considered that it may be seen as a social faux-pas but he was too intrigued with what Mars's intentions were that he didn't want to interrupt him. As long as he didn't attempt to pour the water onto him. Lev had very thoroughly cleaned his surgical tools and if they were contaminated so soon by something in the water he would find it hard to restrain himself. Besides Mars seemed to be ready to resist any attempts at moving the bucket, so trying to push away would hardly have been productive.

Lev looked on with amusement and interest as Mars proceeded to deposit the content over Nera, who had just arrived. Not exactly the best way to make first impressions. He really hoped that they would be able to reach the dark continent without a fight breaking out among the team. It was nice to have someone like Mars, someone more unpredictable, but he hoped for the team's sake that Nera was more mature than him. It was then that it occurred to Lev that everyone had arrived.

"OK everyone's here now, so listen up." Lev barked, his voice rising for the first time. "We're going to board the ship now, so get rid of the child Mars, before I have to." Lev's voice lowered to an amplitude he was sure only the gathered party members would hear.

"When we reach the Dark continent we'll be split into two teams. Take some time to get to know one another. Getting to know each other's abilities wouldn't be a bad idea either. Remember I'll be around if you have any questions about our mission. Without further ado here are the teams:
Team 1: Me (Dr. Lev Oborin), Mars Mondelez, Ivy K Raven
Team 2: Marko, Zaphyr Nowack, Nera Thyne
Let's get going people." Lev's voice was filling with excitement as he spoke, speeding up as adrenaline pumped around his body.
"Oh and Nera, each room has it's own shower, feel free to make use of it whenever." Lev added absent-mindedly.

((Nera’s opinions, by no means, represents the opinions of Theobromine. In fact, I rather enjoyed IVIasterJay’s post and would gladly accept more opportunities for a comic moment. xDD))

Noticing Mars suddenly stick a bucket against a man’s (Lev) head, she eyed him with curiosity wondering what he was hoping to achieve with his actions. Judging from his mumbles he seemed to be ‘cooling’ the water inside but… Why?

Her silent question was answered soon enough when the entire bucket was suddenly dumped over her head. She stood a bit dazed for a moment as she tried to comprehend what had just happened, but she snapped out of it when the man (Lev) Mars had cooled the water on finished speaking.

“HEY!!” Soaked now from head to toe, she glared at him and stamped her foot into the ground. “I asked if we HAD a shower, not FOR one!!!” For some reason, she focused on a completely different issue at hand and threw a mini-tantrum over it. “Most people want time to take their clothes off first, geeze!!!” She waved her fists rather comically over her head as she stomped a few more times on the spot, clearly not enjoying the situation. Nera shook her head fiercely, spraying water out from her soaked hair and basically wetting anyone that was unfortunate enough to still be nearby.

Remembering the repeated greeting she was given, she stuck her tongue out at the white-haired man (Mars). She looked at Kati with a smile and said, “Nice to meet you Kati~! You probably heard my name just now, but I’m Nera.” Then reaching down to gather the hem of her black dress, Nera squeezed out some of the water and told Mars, “I don’t like you, so I’m going to pretend I don’t know your name.” To reiterate her point, she stuck her tongue out at him again. At least she wasn’t on the same team as him.

The time has come to board the ship and head for the dark continent. Dr. Lev had also given some more information on what's to come. The remaining members of the group certainly were...bright, and the events that proceeded after their arrival seemed to emphasize one particular girl's enthusiasm. Lev announced the teams that they would split into once they reach their destination. Zephyr was to be partnered with the last two to arrive. Marko and Nera. He'd have to speak with them later.

The child was still here. She cannot come along. Her presence would cause concern, and add to the responsibilities of the group that must watch over her. It was clear that Mars was ignoring Dr. Lev. Seeing this, Zephyr took out his cell phone and said,

"The child will be a problem if she come with us. I have an acquaintance who will search for her family. She can watch over the girl until then. Whether that is satisfactory to you or not is none of my concern. She is lost, and you have to leave soon."

Without Mars' consent or opinion on Zephyr's proposal on the matter, Zephyr called his friend and told her of the situation.

Marko had watched the other hunters with a scientific eye, analyzing the actions and words of each one, the subtle movements of each hunter was fascinating. When Lev told them about the groups, he gave a small sigh of relief that he wasn't on Mars' team, Marko knew that Mars would be a headache ready to happen. He guessed that each one of these members was deadly in their own right, so he decided to take it easy and observe each one. He had seen the on the girl, Ivy, and had a feeling that she fought a lot, and this gave him hope, besides just going to the dark continent, he wanted to gather fighting techniques, and doing so bolster his own power.

Marko quickly boarded the ship after being told they could. He found somewhere to sit, and pulled out his thin laptop, he was dedicated to keeping profiles on everyone he met, and proceeded to make 6 new pages, and recording the teams and even the child's name and description, linking her to Mars, just in case it came in handy later.

As Mars asked his question Ivy's face went red and she inhaled sharply with rage, her Aura flaring up in response to her emotional outrage at such a question. So much so that a the pitch black form of a large raven formed on her shoulder and cawed sharply in Mar's direction, her eyes narrowing tightly at him she growled through gritted teeth as the dark-nen-bird flapped it's wings in a threatening display "Watch your tongue, or you'll lose it." While the she was a bruiser for a living and was never much of a 'classy lady' even when she had been living as her rich fathers little girl, she did not like such distasteful questions or conduct to be directed at her. Perhaps it was her personal sense of honor, perhaps it was growing up in a situation where is someone asked her that kind of thing they'd have their eyes, tongue, and ears removed as well as their knee caps broken, then left in an ally way so others would know not to make the same dumb mistake. His question spoke of disrespect, and had embarrassed her none the less. She was already quite sure she wasn't going to get along with this hat wearing weirdo all that well. She then responded to the Doctor who offered to address her wounds. She turned her head to respond to him, but her raven kept its eyes on Mars "There nothing serious, provide me a few bandages and some disinfectant and I'll be fine by morning."

Before she could continue any thoughts, threats or even dispel her Raven, more hunters arrived. Non she really knew of, but she could feel a powerful aura from each of them, even that giggling hat head was no slouch. She was sure there was no fight here that would be easy to win. It made her a little more reassured that this trip wasn't a suicide mission. Though the display made by Nera and Mars made her glance back at the Lev with a rather questioning glance and saying "Yeah, this is just the picture of professionalism."

Ivy didn't show any real reaction to the announcements of the teams but when it was revealed that her and Mars were to be paired together her Raven cawed loudly as if angered. -Well, better me and his team than someone else.- she thought -Probable best to have a raven out often to keep an eye on him.- She took a moment to gesture to all who had arrived and stated. "Nice to meet ya'll, most of ya'll at least" the raven, still facing Mars, cawed "I'm Ivy K Raven."

Lev approached Laura, up at the control panel. It consisted of a metal board covered in a multitude of switches, buttons and dials, with a large steering wheel protruding from the centre. Laura's calm expression seemed in stark contrast to her hands which skated frantically over the panels, her fingers moving seemingly autonomously. Lev had to admit he was impressed. He would have to make notes on how to fly this aircraft just in case though. Getting stranded would be, on the whole not a good experience.

"We need to leave as soon as possible, we don't have the luxury of time to waste. Everything will start moving very fast, very soon and I want to be out of here before the commotion starts."

"God you're as cryptic as the invitation." Laughed Laura, her hands moving just as quickly as before. "I've been working on it since we got on, we'll be taking off in no time, don't worry."

"I'm not worried." Smiled Lev, with not a hint of amusement. "That's good to hear though, I'm going to go and take some medical supplies to our fighting friend Ivy. Remember to lock the door after me, I don't want Mars getting curious around here."

Lev left the room, his steps were almost silent. He moved quickly to his room, collecting the supplies for Ivy. He decided to stay in his room for a short while, in case anyone needed him for any reason. Boredom quickly taking over, Lev fished out his sketchbook and began making a diagram of the controls from memory. He could recall about 95% of it he estimated. It was then that a huge noise, the noise of a combustion, erupted through the ship, followed by a deep, thick rumble. This was accompanied by the unique sensation of the ship rising into the air and starting to move. Laura was a fast worker.

Mars stood at the end of the dock as the ship prepared to leave. Blatantly ignoring the person Zephyr had called to take Kati away, the questionably-well-dressed man waved down a long limousine, practically sparkling with how clean its white paint was. As the limo rolled to a stop, the back door burst open and a rugged man with a graying beard jumped out.

"Daddy!" The girl in Mars' arms struggled to the ground and ran at the man. It was a heartwarming reunion of father and daughter. Mars just smiled his thin smile and turned to catch his ship.

"Sir!"

Mars turned back to look at the man. "Watch her now, this city is a dangerous place."

The man nodded at his daughter's odd acquaintance. "Yes, and thank you for keeping her safe. I was so worried when I couldn’t find her. Thank god for you finding her before anything happened."

Mars waved away the compliments with a gloved hand. "The car will take you both home, or to wherever you wish it to take you. The driver has something for you as well." Mars glanced at the darkened window. His man would hand over the gift because his man knew what happened to those who didn't do exactly as they were told. It would be enough to fund many more future trips to the market.

Mars waved at the father and his daughter as he walked away. "Goodbye Kati, it was fun." He had a plane to catch. Mars heard what he thought was the girl yelling goodbye, but he was too close to the ship to catch the words entirely. Oh well, it didn't matter. He could always find the two again if he chose to. Not all chance encounters in the big city had to be by chance. His meeting with Kati certainly hadn't been.

Mars Mondelez pulled himself inside just as the ship left the ground. He rubbed his gloved hands together. Time to see what fun things there were to do inside a flying whale. That reminded him, he wanted to see if it could swim. But the trip would be a while, so he first set out to find if he got his own cabin inside the whale's bowels. Maybe he could find Ivy and invite her into his room for some fun. Mars' grin grew wider and thinner. He'd lucked out on his teammates. Frozone and S&M and himself, fun for all ages. Mars slipped into Hatsu and began his exploring.

-snip-
(Ignore. Site crashed and for some reason double posted.)

Seeing as te problem managed to be handled before Zephyr's acquaintance could even hang up, Zephyr cancelled the request. The acqauintance agreed to cancel the request, although she was left confused on why Zephyr had called at all. Hanging up the phone, Zephyr watched as the others made their way onto the ship. He went to join them. Several people had already split to tend to their own agendas. Zephyr decided to take a look around. See what this ship had.

There was a room with a pool table and televisions. No doubt a relaxation area. There was also a gym with paraphernalia. These rooms were fine, but Zephyr would find little use for them himself. Maybe if people were to spar with him, then the gym would be useful, but the relaxatiom area was not something he would use. As he entered the kitchen, Zephyr paused a moment and looked around. Nothing too extravagant, but the kitchen tools were usable. The knives were not dull, wooden spoons were not rotting or splintered, ladels and pots and pans did not have any grime or dents, etc.

Zephyr pivked up one of the knives and inspected it. Memories began to rise about the time before his days as a Hunter and before his days of suffering on the streets. He had worked several different jobs before, one of which was a chef. Although he was clumsy when he began, he learned how to handle some dishes, and how to cook a few of them too. He played around with the knife, tossing it into the air, catching it by the blade, and twirling it around with his fingers. He was out of practice and dropped the knife, which embedded itself into the counter.

I wonder... thought Zephyr.

He took off the robes on his upper body, there was nothing but a normal, plain shirt underneath. He kept his headpiece on to serve as a sort of hairnet. Surely no one would mind if he made use of the kitchen himself for a bit. After washing his hands he took up the knife again, and searched for a few ingredients. After a while, the kitchen began to smell of pork and ginger and rice. The canned Pork was nothing special, but it was literally the meat of the dish. By the time Zephyr had finished, he had already created several plates of Pork-ginger roasted curry using the Iingredients and process in tandem with his memory and nostalgia. One could see a hint of a grin on his face.

Still living out his nostalgia, he continued to create a soufflé, gathering the ingredients and allowing the curry to cool and release its appetizing scent throughout the ship.

Ivy gathered the medical supplies she required from Lev and found her room. After treating herself she began unpacking her things and make her room her own. As she did, slowly, one by one, each of her ravens manifested themselves from her right arm and took a place perched somewhere about the room. By the time she had finished all 8 of the ravens of her Bitter Unkindness had materialized, and she turned to address them. "All right Girls..." she pointed at a pair of them who had landed on her bed. "Guard the room. If someone comes in without permission, one of you engage them, no spending yourself, just fight to stall them, the other come to find me." The pair of birds nodded their heads.

"The rest of you spread out and explore the layout, come back once your done and map out the area on pen and paper, ya'll know where it is." She said as she opened the door to her room, the other 6 crows each lifted off ground and flew the door and grouped into a tight circle as she stepped out in the middle of the swirling birds. "Oh, and if you see that hat wearing dude, feel free to give him a peck before moving on, Got it?" The ravens begin to caw in response, their low guttural cries echoing a bit through the hall. "Good, now get to it ladies." she commanded with a wave of her arm at which point they dispersed in all directions.

She took a long sigh as each of the ravens darted out of sight, she rolled her neck and stretched her arms, adjusting some of the bandages she had warped around her minor wounds. "Well, guess I'll look for the kitchen and pray there is something to drink." she mumbled to herself as she shoved hands into her pockets and walked down a hall.

Mars was completely and totally lost, and he was perfectly fine with that. He whistled to himself as he turned down yet another hallway. Somehow he’d managed to get himself so completely lost that he didn’t even know that he’d already been down the hall he now followed twice already. Mars shook a gumball into his hand and bounced it off the metal ceiling into his mouth, at which point he was forced to give up whistling.

Upon coming to a junction of four identical ways, Mars took a coin out. He couldn’t truly get any more lost, so why not leave how lost he was up to chance? As his eyes followed the coin’s arc, they spotted something fun. A black bird was flying from the leftmost hall towards him. The flipped coin was caught and put away, its result forever unknown. “I knew it, she couldn’t resist me,” Mars boasted aloud. The black bird pecked him not-so-gently on the head and flew off down the hall opposite the one it had come from.

Mars rubbed his head, a thin grin plastered across his pale face. “That wasn’t nice,” he said. Though the raven had gone some way from the hat-wearing man, he was suddenly standing right there. A loop of wire closed around the bird's neck, reinforced by Mars' nen. "You and I are going to be very good friends," he giggled menacingly at the nen-raven.

He walked in circles for another ten minutes, the raven obviously ignoring Mars' repeated instructions to: "Take me to your leader." He ended up giving up on having the bird lead him to Ivy and instead dragged the bird above and behind him like a balloon specifically made to piss off animal rights activists. The smell of delicious food drew him slowly but steadily towards the kitchen, but on his way in that general direction Mars passed by what must be the rec room. As he peered in and saw the pool table, a brilliant plan popped into his head. “Fantastic, now I just need to find the VIP,” he said, pulling the bird down to talk to. Unsurprisingly, it offered no intelligible conversation in return.

A few doors down he found the kitchen, and in it someone he was surprised to see. “Zephyr!” he said it as if calling out an old friend he hadn’t seen in a while. He tied his balloon to the door lest it float away and strolled around the room. “My my, how domestic you are,” he chided the mercenary, walking his fingers across the counter. His fingers kicked over a salt shaker, causing a tiny white dune to form. “Oops,” he giggled, “my bad.” Mars stuck his finger in the salt and licked it, making a face. “Nasty stuff. Is there any sugar around?”