[i]Firecrotch?[/i] Gabe had no idea what this guy was getting at but he let it slide for now. He was glad Sebastian had refused Annabelle's company for a drink. While the Illuminavit had his high-tech blasphemy to supply him, the rest of them were going to have to take a more old fashioned approach. To take the old fashioned approach one needed money. Gabe scratched his chin coming up with a few ideas as he watched the girl walking away from them. She had slipped off the dragon as soon as they landed and stomped off without even listening to the conversation. Looking between the two of them the mercenary could almost taste the tension. Soon he was heading into Yolduga as well. "Just where are you going?" Annabelle followed him. He tapped the pommel of the long sword strapped to his back, "This isn't going to cut it. Need proper weapons if we're gonna frolic through IVT territory... So I need to find someone who's got heavy money bags and who's lookin' for a fight. Wouldn't mind if you wanna lend a hand." --- Yolduga was as happy a little town as there ever was with birds singing overhead, ducklings and their mothers paddling all in a row through the canals, people laughing, talking, and going about their business, the sun shining down to illuminate the colors of the buildings, clothing and boats on the water, and the bouquet of scents that wafted through the air. Brooklyn sulked through it. To her relief she didn't stand out too much. Many of the people wore clothing similar to what she had picked up but most of them were cleaner and more luxurious. The only reason she would stick out was from looking ragged and dirty. She sighed. She didn't know what she was doing. A lone pebble called to her from the edge of the walk and of course she stopped to kick it into the canal. Then her stomach growled. Though she didn't know what to do or where to go she knew she wasn't ready to die just yet especially not from starvation. In order to live she needed to take care of her basic needs first then she could start focusing on the more complex issues. Work from the ground up. However she wasn't sure how she was going to do even that. Frustrated and discouraged she leaned against a wall and slid to the ground putting her hands on either side of her head. Think, think, think. She could feel the cold steel of the gun still shoved down the back of her pants and wondered how much she could sell that for. Maybe a little if nobody around here knew what a piece of crap it was. She scratched her scalp. Maybe the sword? She didn't know much about these old style blades but it seemed to be in decent condition. If nothing else it could at least buy her a meal or two. A gold coin landed between her feet bounced and rolled to a stop. Brooklyn looked up to see where it had come from and saw a well-dressed man walking away. Had he just dropped this for her? But, no she wasn't some washed up beggar. No! "Hey! I'm not--" she was cut off by an identical coin being dropped in front of her this time by a woman with a bag of groceries. She growled. "I don't need your--" This time another coin, smaller and silver. [i]Cheapskate[/i], she thought. What was she doing!? She was absolutely mortified! Taking these people's money like some filthy vagabond. She was no beggar, dammit! Back at the station she created weapons of war that could mow down armies and wipe small cities off the map! She and the rest of her development team had built things that could obliterate these people walking around like they were so far above her with the flip of a switch! Her stomach growled again and this time it was painful. Brooklyn frowned and her temper cooled. She couldn't obliterate anything if she was starving and she had to admit this was working. She had at least a little something now. "Oh, you poor dear," an old woman stooped to look her in the face and smiled. She took one of Brooklyn's hands in her bony fingers and shoved a couple notes into it. "Here, I hope this helps. Pretty little things like you shouldn't be out on the street." [i]Yeah tell me about it,[/i] the girl thought, but instead she decided to go with a polite, "Thank you." Once she felt like she had enough to work with Brooklyn wandered from her spot, letting her sense of smell guide her toward food, until she came up on what looked like a market district. For some reason, perhaps it was the money in her pockets regardless of how she had gotten it, she was able to hold her head a little higher than when she first arrived in Yolduga. Already she was on her way back up. [i]It'll be okay. I can get through this,[/i] she reassured herself. Almost immediately she parted with one of her gold coins in exchange for a dumpling the better part of which ended up on her face as she tore into it like a ravenous dog. "No, no! I'm sorry! Your mother is a saint! You win! I'm sorry!" a screaming man stumbled out into the street and tripped. His face was bruised and bloodied. On his back he tried to scramble away, offering money and apologies. After him stomped the Tenau brute she was-- had been traveling with. He grabbed the man by the front of the shirt and delivered one final punch to the man's face. He sagged. Gabe reached down, snatched up the man's wallet and dropped him where he curled up and sobbed. People in the square were silent and stared as he examined the wallet's contents and pocketed the money. Gabe simply glared up at all of them and frowned. "You heard 'im. He deserved it," he growled. The people went back to what they were doing, many of them muttering about what had just happened. Brook tried to disappear into the crowds but it was too late. Gabe locked eyes with her and started coming after her. She struggled to get away but the busy market goers blocked her path and only moments later she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Gabe whipped her around effortlessly and loomed over her. "What are you doing?" he asked. "I- I'm- ... Mind your own business!" she shouted back. "Right now [i]this is[/i] my business. What happened between you and...?" Gabe trailed off. "Sebastian?" Brook hissed. "Yeah, whatever, that guy," he waved a hand dismissively. She glared at the pavement and ground her teeth together, "I'm not going to lower myself to hang around with some ass who constantly throws me into terrible situations and treats me like I'm a joke. I'm better than that and can take care of myself." "Fine. I'm still askin' ya to come back though." "No! Did you hear any of what I just said!?" "Did ya hear any of what was written in that book?" Brooklyn was silent. "I dunno 'bout you but I heard somethin' about [i]four[/i] people, not three and that hunk of movin' scrap that guy's got with 'im doesn't count." "Does it even matter?" she rolled her eyes, "It's just a stupid old book with some stupid nonsense magical mumbo-jumbo scrawled in it. We don't know who wrote it or where he got it." "Best remember where you are," he whispered. She looked around and noted that she had gotten a few suspicious glances. "Look," he continued, "I don't care if you don't believe in this stuff, but where the well-being of your whole world is concerned ya should be. Even if it's fake nobody should be takin' that risk. The rest of us see that. Even what's-her-face." "Annabelle." Brook mumbled. At this rate he probably didn't know her name either. "Whatever. Point is yer actin' like a stupid child." "Excuse me!?" Brook exclaimed. "Yer sitting here telling me about how yer sick of being treated and how you hate so-and-so and about how yer better than this, but you refuse to look at the big picture. You only think about what [i]you[/i] want, what makes [i]you[/i] happy. Guess what? If the whole world goes to shit you ain't gonna be happy and you'll have to carry around way more guilt than any one person can live with. Ya talk about lowerin' yourself but I know you didn't have any money when we got here so where did you get that?" he pointed to the partial dumpling she was still working on, "You either stole it or begged for it or whored yourself out for it. I'd say yer pretty low already." Brooklyn didn't respond nor could she bring herself to look him in the eye. "It doesn't matter if you don't like any of us because this ain't about [i]you[/i]. Come back and do something with your life. Or just stay out here and whore around because you're better than us, right?" Gabe finally released her and started to walk. Brooklyn furiously stuffed the rest of her lunch in her face and fumed over what he had just said to her. --- Several minutes later he heard the tapping of boots on the stones behind him. The little blond bounced up beside him and kept pace. They walked in silence for a little longer but a knowing smirk spread across his face. "I'll come back," she finally said, "I won't be of much use. I don't know how to fight. But I'll come back." "That'll change," he said, "But we're not done here. If you don't mind a little more dirty work we might be able to get you some decent gear by tonight." She pouted, "What do I have to do?" "Break a few hearts. Not much," he grinned.