"Hmph." Ryoko's shoulders shifted as she let out a stifled chuckle. The more time she spent with Salforge the more off cuff he seemed to become. "You throw a rock in any direction and you will find a willing rat, greed is a tenet shared by far too many." Ryoko mused. She was prepared to leave, but stopped as Salforge placed a hand over his chest. A small hexagonal object came out of his chest, he called it his heart. She took hold of Salforge's hand, and brought it closer to her eyes. "CI?" She read what was engraved into the steel heart. She had no idea why he was showing something like this to her, as far as she knew the two of them weren't very close. Perhaps he wished to become better acquainted with her, why was beyond her, she wasn't the easiest person to get along with. She let go of his hand. "So, you really do have a heart of steel, I was not aware such a thing was even possible." She was curious as to how he ended up with such a body, but she hardly felt the desire to pry further into his personal life, even if he wanted her to. "Come, we have an informant to meet." She said, walking to the door. "And don't go showing such a thing to just anyone, alright?"

She didn't think it possible, but the slums of Agrabah were even more unsightly than the ghettos of Hollow Bastion. People wore tattered clothing, and there were many homeless living in the streets. "Now this is pathetic..." Ryoko mumbled to herself as she walked over to a vegetable stand. One of the palace soldiers was harassing the woman attending the stand. "What are you doing?" She asked the soldier. He turned to face her, and his aggressive expression turned to that of a puppy being ridiculed for peeing on the carpet. 

"T-this cretin mam, she-" Ryoko didn't bother hearing what he had to say, and slapped the man across his face.

"Rhetorical question you imbecile. I ordered you all to search the city, not waste time harassing citizens. Get out of my sight and make yourself useful, now." Ryoko said, her tone remaining calm and cold. The man stammered an apology, and ran off. In contrast, the young woman behind the stand thanked her. Ryoko glanced at the woman, and then to the vegetables. "Uh huh... try to store this stuff better, don't you know what this heat does to produce?" She shook her head, and went on her way.

As she made her way down the sandy street, she noticed something odd, a majestic horse in the middle of the road. The sight of a horse wasn't that rare, however, this animal was leagues above the other horses seen in the slums. She figured it must have been from a well groomed pedigree, and as she looked up at the man riding it, she felt the same about him. Not only was he handsome, but she could tell just by looking at him that he was strong. She walked up to the horse, and made eye contact with the man riding it. "That's a beautiful creature you have there." She said, placing a hand on the horses head. She tried to pet it, but the animal didn't seem to react to her presence. Ryoko grimaced, disappointed, but looked back up at the man with a smile. "So, what is someone like you doing here in the slums?"

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"Right..." Ace said with a chuckle. Rika didn't seem to respond to his gratitude, but she was quick to express how bad his choices were, and how lucky he was to have her on their side. "Where we're headed there should be more than enough supplies for all of us, and it's in a safe location." Ace said, letting out a yawn. "I could use some rest too..." He stopped at the corner of the alley, as he heard heavy footsteps marching in tandem. He backed up, and hid behind a large pot. As he suspected, a patrol of soldiers passed by. 

"Damn, I thought we'd have a bit more time before they started hunting us down, I hope the others can make it back alright." He said, standing up once the men were out of sight. "The hideout is right across the street inside that tavern, let's go." Peeking out into the street to make sure the coast was clear, he moved across the dirt road and entered the building. The tavern only had a few patrons, locals that one could tell nearly lived at the place. The barkeep noticed him, and nodded towards a door to the back of the building. Ace sat down at the bar, and let out another yawn, he felt like he could fall asleep at any moment. "We'll head inside once the others get here, you want a drink?" He asked Rika, motioning for her to take a seat beside him. 

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Shizuka grinned at Gavin, and lightly patted him on the back. "It's nice to meet you, Gavin. If my bestest buddy Lin says you're a good guy, then I'll believe her." She said, all too welcome to have another person she could call a friend. They made their way towards the tavern, taking a longer route than Ace and Rika to avoid suspicion. "Don't worry Gavin, you'll be in safe hands with us, I mean, we did kind of screw up in the factory, but that was an exception." Shizuka said, walking beside the red haired boy.

"I do hope we can find the girl that was in the pod, I feel like it's my fault she ended up like that." She said, turning to Lin. "She should be alright, shouldn't she? We would have heard something by now if she went berserk here." Shizuka asked, though she was only hoping to make herself feel less guilty than she already did. She had acted rashly by opening the pod without knowing what the consequences were. 

Minutes later they reached the tavern and rejoined Ace and Rika. Ace opened the back door and waited for them to go through. The back room was a simple space, that appeared to be a storage area for the taverns goods. on the side of one of the walls, Ace pushed a shelf to the side, revealing a staircase to a basement. "By the way." He said, speaking to Shizuka. "Did you see any patrols on your way here?" He asked. Shizuka shook her head. "That's fortunate, but we should be careful, there's no telling how desperate they are." 

They went down into the basement, and Ace moved the shelf back into place. It was dim on the stairs, but by the time they reached the basement light spilled in from windows just above street level. From one of the rooms, a dark skinned teenage girl came to greet them. She had short black hair, and wore a grey cloak. "Acesto, Shizuka, welcome." She said. 

"Osa!" Shizuka ran up to the girl and gave her a hug. Osa patted Shizuka on the head.

"Still as affectionate as a puppy I see." She said. "So, would I be correct in assuming your arrival is the cause of the disturbance in the city?" 

"Yeah." Ace said. "We've run into some trouble and need to lay low while we make a plan."

"I thought as much. Make yourself at home, that's what we're here for, after all."

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Asahina shifted, but did not back away as the man approached her. She did not sense any ill intent from him, for the moment, she believed he had no interest in harming her. He wrapped the cloak around her, which she assumed was another show of good will. His face was close to her own now, and she could see his features in full. Now that she got a good look at him, she realized he was quite good looking. She averted her gaze, and looked to the ground. She had no idea what her own face looked like at the moment, but if the claws on her hands were any indication, she looked frightening. 

"Worth? Not sure." She mumbled. She understood that he was trying to be cordial, but he did not know her, far as long as she could remember she had not considered herself worth anything. The most she had been good for was the pawn of a mad man and a battery for his disgusting machine. Before she questioned her worth, she still needed to know if it was even worth living. She watched him back from her, his hands up in a show of non aggression. He told her the cloak was a sign of trust, but he had another. He pulled out a dagger, revealing that he had been armed this whole time, however, that did not alarm her. She understood how powerful she was at the moment, but beyond that, she knew she could trust this man. 

He then told her that he would leave to find her clothes, she did not understand what he meant at first, but then she thought about it. "Nude?..." She looked down at her body behind the cloak, the darkness that covered her body made it feel as though she had a layer of clothing on, so the thought that the features of her body were obvious to anyone else had not crossed her mind. She shivered and quickly knelled down to the ground, wrapping her arms around her chest. "Quickly. Go!" She screamed, hoping he would take less than a few minutes to return with clothing.