As the smoke cleared, Handel could be seen crouching next to a small blast crater, with his hands covering his head, his dolly and trunk laying to his side. Handel was visibly shaken, having never been on the receiving end of a lightning bolt. He realized, much to his fortune, that he wasn't dead, and this meant that Ricden didn't want him dead either. This was in Handel's favor because he was, in essence, his own hostage, and if they wanted him alive, he could hold his own life for ransom if it came down to it.

The two that had been conversing at the ship stopped talking and headed towards Handel. He recognized the red-haired man from posters but due to Handel's close call, he was unable to place the man at the moment, but Handel knew now that this was no ordinary fruit merchant. The man seemed to be offering sanctuary while giving orders at the same time. Handel knew what to do. He couldn't confront Ricden in a fair face-to-face fight as this man was about to do. The large woman followed the red-haired man, thundering past Handel, who looked on after them, wondering how they could possibly be prepared to fight a man with such a destructive ability. In following them with his eyes, he noticed Lucky behind him, reminding him that he still held the boy's map. [i]"Good,"[/i] Handel thought to himself, [i]"Someone to manipulate."[/i]

"You want this map?" Handel asked rhetorically, "Then you're coming with me, [i]cabin boy![/i]" Handel then grabbed his dolly and pulled it up after himself as he ran up the ramp onto the ship. Prepping the ship for sail would go exponentially faster with a helper. Shortening this time would allow Handel to perhaps have time to setup his own combat equipment and aid his mysterious protectors in their fight against Ricden and the Marine reinforcements he had undoubtedly called as part of standard procedure.