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Luna wandered with no clear destination in mind, simply wanting to get a closer look at the state of the island. She walked through the town, silver eyes taking in shuttered windows, cracked walls, and overgrown walkways while her ears twitched under her hood as she listened to hushed whispers, as if everyone was afraid of being caught saying the wrong thing. [color=lightblue][i]Just how much of a tyrant is this Clay guy, anyway?[/i][/color] she thought.

Before she realized it, she had left the town limits and found herself walking along the fence to a vineyard. She looked past and saw wilted grape vines on rotting wooden trellises, the field having obviously not been cared for in some time. She looked around, partly to get her bearings, but also to see if she could get an idea of the state of the nearby vineyards. There was one in a similar state, though the field was blackened, having obviously been put to the torch. From what she could see, there was only one vineyard that was still in operation. There were several people working the fields, seemingly under guard. It was a ways away, but Luna could pick out the glint of weapons glimmering in the sunlight, as well as a couple of large shapes the color of earth.

A thought suddenly occurred to her as she began walking toward the vineyard. Rufus had mentioned someone from their crew had returned to Bacchus when he heard that pirates had invaded. If that was the case, then where was he and why wasn’t he doing anything to help?

Luna was pulled from her thoughts when, now close enough for her to make out details on the people in the field, she saw someone stumble and fall. One of the armed people approached the prone figure and crouched next to them. “Aw, what’s the matter? Need a break?” she heard him ask. Before the fallen person could respond, the figure, whom Luna now realized was one of Sam Clay’s pirates, stabbed his sword into the ground in front of their face. “You know the rules. One five minute break for every four hours of work, and you’ve already had yours,” the pirate said. With a glee that made Luna’s blood boil, he then asked, “Unless you’d prefer to take a permanent one?”

“P-please, no! I-I-I’ll get back to work, I just tripped!” came the meek voice from the fallen villager. The villager attempted to stand, only to fall back down, his arms and legs too weak from overwork.

“Too late, time’s up,” the pirate said as he stood up. He brandished his sword, a wide cutlass, over his head and started to bring it down, only to suddenly stop. He tried again to bring his sword down, but found himself somehow stuck in midair. Or so he thought, until he looked back and saw a hooded woman gripping the back of the cutlass’ blade.

[color=lightblue]”Couple of big men, picking on someone that can’t even fight back,”[/color] Luna asked, glaring at the pirate from underneath her hood as she gave him a challenging grin.

“The hell?!” the pirate exclaimed as he tugged on his sword again, surprised by this stranger’s grip strength. Luna let go of the blade as he pulled, putting him off balance. She looked down at the villager and simply jerked her head to the side. The man got the hint and scrambled up to his tired feet before hurrying off.

The two pirates, the second drawing his own cutlass, closed in on Luna. “You rather we ‘ave some fun wi’ you, instead, sweet’eart?” the second asked with a smirk. His eyes moved up and down her body as he added, “Can’t ‘ardly see much with that cloak in the way, but I do like–”

The rest of his comment was lost as he suddenly received firsthand knowledge of the taste of Luna’s steel-plated glove. Her fist crashed into his mouth mid-sentence, knocking out a few teeth as he flew back, landing in a crumpled heap. His friend didn’t move for a moment, stunned by Luna’s sudden display of violence, until he finally snapped out of it. “You bitch!” he yelled as he swung his sword toward her stomach.

Luna turned toward him and caught his sword between her elbow and knee. [color=lightblue]”Bullies and creeps, huh?”[/color] she sighed as the pirate tried to free his weapon. [color=lightblue]”Just once, I’d like to fight someone with some manners.”[/color]

She brought her fist down on the pirate’s sword, snapping it in two. He stumbled backward, staring at his broken weapon in disbelief, then turned his attention back toward Luna just in time to catch her fist with his chin. He felt his jaw clamp shut, teeth cracking, as he was lifted off of his feet. He landed heavily on his back, knocked clean out, while Luna stood above him. She started to turn in the direction the worker ran when she heard a strange sound, like someone trekking through mud. She turned just in time to see the earthen lumps she mistook for some kind of storage buildings rise to their misshapen feet.

[color=lightblue]”That's...not good...”[/color]