[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/211207/773787a4921e74bbb158a1779471847a.png[/img] [/center] [hr] While the initial talk Catherine had with Almira and her crew was definitely productive, giving her quite a few notes for her to study about, the conversation soon died down, mainly still due to distrust between both sides. Without much to talk about, Catherine, Srikandi, Dumas and Anki were soon offered to stay for the night which they agreed under the condition that they kept their weapons. While many people who were more accustomed with the luxurious life of nobility and royalty would find the rooms they were offered to spend the night to be incredibly simple, Catherine couldn't help but appreciate how 'efficient' they were. There were no unnecessary decorations and no space lost, it seemed to be designed to offer strictly what it needed to offer. Enough comfort for the crew to sleep and rest. Another thing that immediately drew Catherine's attention was how soft the beds and the clothes they were provided were. The only times where Catherine had ever experienced something that soft was when the Gremarre Royalty requested her presence on the palace and even then, it still wasn't as soft as that particular bed that apparently, all crew members on Almira's ship were provided. Despite the fact that Almira was 'kind' enough to offer them somewhere to sleep, it wasn't enough to dismiss Catherine's distrust, especially since she was going to be very vulnerable, sleeping, inside Almira's ship. Surrounded by her subordinates. Due to that, in order to give herself a bit more comfort and 'privacy', Catherine made sure to coat the entrance to her room with a potent paralyzing potion. Just in case someone tried anything funny... [color=ed1c24]"Just in case... It never hurts to be careful. Don't worry. It's just a paralyzing agent. I'll clean it up tomorrow."[/color] Catherine said after she finishing coating the door handle and a few of the objects and walls near the entrance. [color=ed1c24]"Oho~ I might get used to this very quickly!"[/color] Catherine said to herself, chuckling as when she laid down to sleep. The feeling of the incredibly soft fabric of her 'sleeping clothes' coupled with the soft bed made her fall asleep incredibly quickly. [hr] The next morning, the party gathered again, but this time to take Almira to Cendana, together with a few members of her crew. The first part of the trip was made on the strange 'rover' Almira and her crew had, at least until they left Dragonspine. After that, they were met by a ship from Cendana, apparently someone Srikandi knew. While the trip itself was rather uneventful, Catherine did raise her eyebrow, curious when Srikandi chose to remain the fact that they had indeed found 'something' on their little reconnaissance mission and the fact that she had brought that very 'something' back with her to Cendana. [color=ed1c24]"Curious..."[/color] Catherine said to herself with a smirk, taking a quick glance towards Srikandi and then to Almira. It took only a moment until the Shipwright went to do his own tasks, after believing the lies Srikandi fed him, for both Srikandi and Anki start commenting about the reasons for her choice. [color=ed1c24]"You know... The Gremarre Royal family would definitely be interested in meeting them as well... They will definitely be happy to know my trip was successful... Happy enough to turn a blind eye to some of my more... dangerous researches..."[/color] Catherine said, clearly thinking more about the rewards she would receive after that than anything else, such as nearly unlimited funds for her experiences and researches and maybe even permission to conduct some... morally ambiguous and definitely dangerous research without having to risk becoming a fugitive... After a short trip on board of the ship, they had finally arrived on Cendana, bringing some rather... 'exotic' guests with them. Unfortunately, since it was Srikandi's first time in Cendana and being the one that was leading the entire group, she admitted after a short while that she had lost her way, which was honestly quite obvious, seeing the alleyways they had stopped at. Just the moment Srikandi mentioned that though, they were approached by a gang of thugs, harassing the female members of the group. Upon hearing their words, Catherine couldn't help but laugh. Loudly and making no effort to hide how ridiculous she thought that situation was. Fortunately, Srikandi didn't seem to want to try any diplomatic approach to solve that situation as well, otherwise it would be definitely ruined by Catherine's laughter. [color=ed1c24] "I could burn you all to a crisp, suffocate you in a cloud of toxic or corrosive gas... Maybe even a nervous agent...? Unfortunately, as amusing as those might sound to me, you are definitely not worth the rare ingredients and reagents I spent in these mixtures... So I will just beat you half to death, okay? I hope you all don't mind."[/color] Catherine said as she gently put down her bag, replete with dragon blood, organs and many other potions while the rest of the group members had already began to fight and looked at some of the thugs, who were slowly approaching her, probably thinking she was an easier target than the other two, who were clearly fighters. Those who had not seen Catherine fight hand to hand before instead of using her potions would definitely be taken aback by the explosive acceleration Catherine had when dashing towards the thug and the sheer force and impact of the kick she landed on him, sending him flying towards the wall, his body hitting it with a very audible and very unpleasant sound. After a single attack, it became evident for both Almira and the rest of the group that there was definitely something else going on with Catherine. With his friend now unconscious, probably with several broken bones, the second thug, despite being taken by surprise by Catherine's violent strike to his friend, rushed towards Catherine trying to stab her with his knife. Unfortunately for him, Catherine was quickly able to dodge his adrenaline-fueled, clumsy and awkward strike, grabbing his wrist and twisting it behind his back, making him drop his weapon and immobilizing the thug, who seemed to be several times bigger than Catherine herself was. [color=ed1c24]"Do you know why I, an alchemist, wear a red overcoat instead of a white one?"[/color] Catherine said, with an amused smile as she grabbed the immobilized thug by the back of his neck. Planting her feet on the ground, Catherine tightened her grasp around the thug's neck, lifting him from the ground by a brief moment before slamming him down, face first into the cobblestone ground with as much force as she could muster, making blood splatter everywhere, including on her already red overcoat. The sickening cracking sound was audible from a distance, leaving no doubt that if that particular thug didn't die due to the extreme impact, he was definitely on his last moments. [color=ed1c24]"Oh shit..."[/color] Catherine said with a heavy sigh, before lifting the thug in the air and quickly inspecting his state. The thug who now had a completely broken, almost unrecognizable face, was clearly already on his last moments,gasping for air, unable to breathe. "[color=ed1c24]So... Srikandi... Is it a problem if one of them dies...?"[/color] Catherine asked, lightly shaking the thug almost as if one does with a rag doll when showing it to someone else. After hearing Srikandi's energetic reply, saying that it would [i]DEFINITELY[/i] be a problem if someone died, Catherine let out a heavy sigh. [color=ed1c24]"...Fuck!"[/color] Catherine said as she begrudgingly took a small vial with a vibrant, red liquid from inside her coat. [color=ed1c24]"You know that these healing potions are really annoying to make, right...?"[/color] Catherine said, grumbling as she literally smashed the vial on the face of the dying thug, breaking it in a thousand pieces as the vibrant red liquid splashed on the thug's face, before she unceremoniously let go of the thug, dropping it on the ground with a thud. Just a second after hitting the ground, the potion started acting, making the broken bones snap into place by themselves, as the tore muscles fibers started moving by themselves, connecting with each other and quickly regenerating. After a few seconds, the bandit's face was spotless, without a single wound, despite still being covered with blood.