Arrival in Arañilla, the city on the sea

The warm sea breeze that washed over the Bravos' faces as they stepped out of their mechanical caravan was a wonderful change of pace from each of them after their time spend in the Frozen North. Smiles came to many of their faces, despite the days of rushed and stressful travel it had taken to get here. With their transport stowed and hidden behind a series of small hills, it was time for the Bravos to make their way to the city.

Arañilla could be heard as soon as it could be seen, a constant uproar of yelling and arguing, tough men and women brawling it out in the streets, and poor slaves bawling at the unfairness of life. It was a concoction of chaos, made even the more colorful and hectic by the rich scents that wafted through the air. The smell of the sea mixed with the richest of hot island spices and mixed again with the smell of corruption and rot that was near unavoidable with so many people packed into such a dense space.

"Reminds me of home" Liv said bitterly. Fuu just nodded silently, eyes wide. She had seen cities before but this... this was something else.

"Ohhh this is going to be so much fun!" Emmaline ran forward, feet clacking down the cobblestone streets, with Robin close on her tail. They ran like school children finally released from the doldrums of daily classes to explore the fantastical world at their whim.

"I've never been to the beach before!" Robin said, her excitement at least equal to Emmaline's. Even Skye was enamored with the surroundings. She stuck near Fuu, but held her book and quill in her hands quickly jotting down notes about everything that caught her eyes, throwing in a quick sketch of a woman's strange and exotic garb, before scribbling down more notes.

The only two who weren't taken in by the city seemed to be Becky and Kiera.

"We're here on a mission, remember?" Becky spoke quietly to Fuu, counting on the other woman to make her case to the rest of the group. Her voice seemed to snap Fuu out of her state of awe, and she spoke up, catching the attention of the rest of the women.

"Listen up!" Emmaline and Robin stopped, turning around. "We're here to get that book back, okay? Our number one priority is to figure out who took it and to track them down. Try..." Fuu turned to Becky with an apologetic smile. "Try not to get too distracted, okay?"

That seemed to be the cue that they were to do as they wanted, at least according to the cheer that Robin and Emmaline let out before running off.

Becky sighed. A town full of pirates was no place to be splitting up, but it looked like there was nothing for it. She just hoped they could find that book quickly and get out of here.

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This chapter was a collaboration with gamer.1171(https://chyoa.com/user/gamer.1171) please check out her other writing!