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Description
Chapter 4

Angry black clouds floated gracefully across the crimson sky, lightly dousing the world below in a steady curtain of rain. Drops of water gently brushed against Zachs skin like a cool breeze, soothing his aching body. His robotic arm hung limp at his side, hidden under a sleek coat of oil. He could hear the crows caw in discontent, their wings ruffling as they desperately searched for a resting place among the nonexistent foliage in the towering trees above.
Elle walked with Kazis hand lovingly, protectivly, resting on her shoulder, her soaked hair hid the blank expression on her face. Some would have mistaken the drops of rain dripping off her chin as tears, but she proved to be stronger then most gave her credit for. The members of the “Kazis Crew Mercenaries” had comforted her and reassured her for half an hour when they realized that she seemed not to need it. Now she just walked with that weird look on her face, looking forward, not blinking, as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened, a distant yet horrible dream.
After a long, silent trek the crew came upon the clearing where they had landed the Gibralator Storm. Tiny spheres of polluted liquid pinged off the rusted shafts of metal and plummeted into the nearby river of sludge.
Kazi walked to the underbelly of the ship and punched a series of numbers into the keypad. Then, with a hiss and a puff of steam, the ships loading ramp lowered itself to the ground.
When the crew boarded their ship they found themselves in a narrow hallway lined with the mercenaries separate rooms and a cell for captives. One side of the hallway led to the helm; which was used as a makeshift kitchen and living space, the other side led to Jebediahs workshop and the loading dock.
Seth, who had been made Baldwins official handler, led him to the cell. Kazi, and Elle headed towards the helm. And Zach headed towards the workshop with Jeb to get his arm fixed up.
Like the rest of the ship, the workshops walls, floor and roof were made entirely of steel. An old table, against the wall farthest from the door, supported piles of spare parts, and boxes of bolts and screws. Zach moved towards an operation table in the centre of the room, as he sat down on it chunks of foam spewed out of tears in the side. Jeb slid on some gloves and hauled a box of spare parts and a tin case of tools off the table.
The masters plastic coated fingers, covered in black oily sludge, gently prodded Zecherias hard metallic arm. Once he had assessed what was wrong he went searching through his toolkit and came up with a drill. Then he began the process of removing, replacing and repairing pieces of the limb.
Over the deafening noise of the drill Jeb yelled, “So are you all right?”
Struggling to throw his voice over the screaming of the drill Zach replied “ Ya, it was nasty though. Of course I’m more worried about Elle” then Zach paused and asked “ Why do you ask? Is something wrong?”
Jeb looked hurt “ What do you mean? Your sister almost died out there, I’m allowed to be concerened”
“ Oh sorry. That’s nice of you anyway” secretly Zach still thought it was strange for Jeb to try to be comforting.
“ What happened to your arm out there anyway? It’s really banged up”
Zach looked down at his arm. Slick oil slid down twisted scraps of metal which protruded out of a tangled heap of blackened steel.
“ I fell”
“ That must’ve been quite the fall”
The lie worked, Zach knew that the story probably wouldn’t have worked on an average three year old but it normally wasn’t very hard to fool Jebediah.
Zach closed his eyes. Something was tugging at him, some tiny detail in the back of his mind that demanded attention.
“ Um Jeb”
“ Yes?”
“ I know this sounds strange but during the mission I was offered a job”
“ Really? That is weird. What is it?”
“ I dunno he just told me to meet him at the Mill Pond Inn”
Zach refrained from giving the mysterious details, the black cloak, the so-called Mother, the secrecy and above all, the occultism. He hadn’t told anyone about his battle in the forest, or his last minute savior, he kept it inside like he did everything else.
For some reason he did not understand, Zach actually found himself wanting to go to the Millpond, if it even existed, to find out more about his rescuer.
“ Maybe we should check it out,” he suggested.
“ Well we don’t even know were it is” reminded Jeb, and reveled in his smart moment.
“ We could find it on the PC” countered Zach “ its probably in Baldaria anyway, why would someone come to another country just to contact us. And it’s a small country, so it can’t be to far away”
“ Well if you want to go so badly tell Kazi, she’s never been one to turn down a job.
Now lay back, I’m gonna work on the root of the limb, where it connects with the rest of the body, you won’t want to be awake for this”
Within seconds everything was black.

. . .

` The helm of the Gibralator Storm was a large semi- circular room. In the centre of the room was Kazis treasured steering wheel, a large wooden antique salvaged from an old wooden ship. Several pegs were missing and the ancient coating of light blue paint had slowly chipped away over the ages, yet it boldly loomed over the entire room. Zach had often thought that the weary shafts of decaying cedar had become wise with age.
Positioned proudly behind this centrepiece was the captain of the Gibralator Storm, Kazi Moriarty, comfortably sinking into her large, red armchair. Her head warily swiveling back and forth, her narrow misty gray eyes portrayed authority, pride and cool, calm control.
Along the back wall, near the entrance, was a poorly stalked fridge, though the crew accustomed to eating outside over an open fire. Throughout the space lay several chairs and torn up couches. Elle and Seth sat in one such couch. Elle was smiling, laughing and talking; but the chiseled cup of hot chocolate that she firmly clasped in both hands shook vehemently.
Jeb sat in a corner, as far away from Kazi as he could. He wasn’t sure if she was still mad at him or not. He knew it would pass in time, anger was her nature but she was never one to hold a grudge.
Zach sat beside one of the large windows that made up the outer perimeter of the helm, dressed, as usual, in his armour, mesmerized by the grey drops of rain pelting off the wide glass panes and hopelessly withering down the clear surface towards their doom.
His newly repaired arm slouched over the back of his chair. He mulled over in his mind what to say to Kazi. He knew he wanted to go, for whatever reason, and was beating himself up inside for desiring to pursue such nonsense.
“ Kazi” he piped up “ I have a question”
“ Yea?” she shot back nonchalantly, rolling her head sideways to look at him.
“ What would you say if I told you I was offered a job during the battle?”
“ Well that’d be ridiculous. Were you?”
Now everyone in the room was staring at him with intrigue.
“ Yes I was,” he said, starting to feel like a fool.
“ Well what is his name? What’s he want us to do? What’s the reward?”
“ He didn’t tell me anything, he just told me to meet him at the Millpond Inn”
He threw her the worn out business card.
“ Sounds suspicious to me,” said Seth scornfully.
Kazi lounged in her chair considering her options.
“ Well I don’t normally turn down any jobs. Seth, go see if you can find anything called the Mill Pond Inn on the PC”
With an exasperated sigh and a roll of the eyes, Seth lifted himself off the couch and slouched over to the computer built into the back wall. As Seth searched for the mysterious Inn, Zach nervously fiddled with his repaired arm.
“ Found it, its right near Platslvill” exclaimed Seth finally.
“ Excellent. That’s right where we need to drop off our good friend Andrew Baldwin”
Kazis eyes burned passionately with a lust for adventure and the unknown. Those eyes were the eyes of a pirate and where now the eyes of a leader of a band of mercenaries. Those stormy gray eyes have traveled all over the world, seen many things, and yearned for more. She leaned forward; her hands lovingly caressed the supple wood of her precious wheel, and confidently gripped the pegs.
“ We head for the Mill Pond Inn,” she pronounced with a dangerous tilted grin, it struck Zach just how much Kazis smile looked like his old tilted grin. Why couldnt he be as happy as her?
Within minutes the Gibralator Storm had lifted off the ground and was soaring straight into the heart of the storm, were no crow dared venture. Zachs anxiety building with every passing moment.

Description
Chapter 4

Angry black clouds floated gracefully across the crimson sky, lightly dousing the world below in a steady curtain of rain. Drops of water gently brushed against Zachs skin like a cool breeze, soothing his aching body. His robotic arm hung limp at his side, hidden under a sleek coat of oil. He could hear the crows caw in discontent, their wings ruffling as they desperately searched for a resting place among the nonexistent foliage in the towering trees above.
Elle walked with Kazis hand lovingly, protectivly, resting on her shoulder, her soaked hair hid the blank expression on her face. Some would have mistaken the drops of rain dripping off her chin as tears, but she proved to be stronger then most gave her credit for. The members of the “Kazis Crew Mercenaries” had comforted her and reassured her for half an hour when they realized that she seemed not to need it. Now she just walked with that weird look on her face, looking forward, not blinking, as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened, a distant yet horrible dream.
After a long, silent trek the crew came upon the clearing where they had landed the Gibralator Storm. Tiny spheres of polluted liquid pinged off the rusted shafts of metal and plummeted into the nearby river of sludge.
Kazi walked to the underbelly of the ship and punched a series of numbers into the keypad. Then, with a hiss and a puff of steam, the ships loading ramp lowered itself to the ground.
When the crew boarded their ship they found themselves in a narrow hallway lined with the mercenaries separate rooms and a cell for captives. One side of the hallway led to the helm; which was used as a makeshift kitchen and living space, the other side led to Jebediahs workshop and the loading dock.
Seth, who had been made Baldwins official handler, led him to the cell. Kazi, and Elle headed towards the helm. And Zach headed towards the workshop with Jeb to get his arm fixed up.
Like the rest of the ship, the workshops walls, floor and roof were made entirely of steel. An old table, against the wall farthest from the door, supported piles of spare parts, and boxes of bolts and screws. Zach moved towards an operation table in the centre of the room, as he sat down on it chunks of foam spewed out of tears in the side. Jeb slid on some gloves and hauled a box of spare parts and a tin case of tools off the table.
The masters plastic coated fingers, covered in black oily sludge, gently prodded Zecherias hard metallic arm. Once he had assessed what was wrong he went searching through his toolkit and came up with a drill. Then he began the process of removing, replacing and repairing pieces of the limb.
Over the deafening noise of the drill Jeb yelled, “So are you all right?”
Struggling to throw his voice over the screaming of the drill Zach replied “ Ya, it was nasty though. Of course I’m more worried about Elle” then Zach paused and asked “ Why do you ask? Is something wrong?”
Jeb looked hurt “ What do you mean? Your sister almost died out there, I’m allowed to be concerened”
“ Oh sorry. That’s nice of you anyway” secretly Zach still thought it was strange for Jeb to try to be comforting.
“ What happened to your arm out there anyway? It’s really banged up”
Zach looked down at his arm. Slick oil slid down twisted scraps of metal which protruded out of a tangled heap of blackened steel.
“ I fell”
“ That must’ve been quite the fall”
The lie worked, Zach knew that the story probably wouldn’t have worked on an average three year old but it normally wasn’t very hard to fool Jebediah.
Zach closed his eyes. Something was tugging at him, some tiny detail in the back of his mind that demanded attention.
“ Um Jeb”
“ Yes?”
“ I know this sounds strange but during the mission I was offered a job”
“ Really? That is weird. What is it?”
“ I dunno he just told me to meet him at the Mill Pond Inn”
Zach refrained from giving the mysterious details, the black cloak, the so-called Mother, the secrecy and above all, the occultism. He hadn’t told anyone about his battle in the forest, or his last minute savior, he kept it inside like he did everything else.
For some reason he did not understand, Zach actually found himself wanting to go to the Millpond, if it even existed, to find out more about his rescuer.
“ Maybe we should check it out,” he suggested.
“ Well we don’t even know were it is” reminded Jeb, and reveled in his smart moment.
“ We could find it on the PC” countered Zach “ its probably in Baldaria anyway, why would someone come to another country just to contact us. And it’s a small country, so it can’t be to far away”
“ Well if you want to go so badly tell Kazi, she’s never been one to turn down a job.
Now lay back, I’m gonna work on the root of the limb, where it connects with the rest of the body, you won’t want to be awake for this”
Within seconds everything was black.

. . .

` The helm of the Gibralator Storm was a large semi- circular room. In the centre of the room was Kazis treasured steering wheel, a large wooden antique salvaged from an old wooden ship. Several pegs were missing and the ancient coating of light blue paint had slowly chipped away over the ages, yet it boldly loomed over the entire room. Zach had often thought that the weary shafts of decaying cedar had become wise with age.
Positioned proudly behind this centrepiece was the captain of the Gibralator Storm, Kazi Moriarty, comfortably sinking into her large, red armchair. Her head warily swiveling back and forth, her narrow misty gray eyes portrayed authority, pride and cool, calm control.
Along the back wall, near the entrance, was a poorly stalked fridge, though the crew accustomed to eating outside over an open fire. Throughout the space lay several chairs and torn up couches. Elle and Seth sat in one such couch. Elle was smiling, laughing and talking; but the chiseled cup of hot chocolate that she firmly clasped in both hands shook vehemently.
Jeb sat in a corner, as far away from Kazi as he could. He wasn’t sure if she was still mad at him or not. He knew it would pass in time, anger was her nature but she was never one to hold a grudge.
Zach sat beside one of the large windows that made up the outer perimeter of the helm, dressed, as usual, in his armour, mesmerized by the grey drops of rain pelting off the wide glass panes and hopelessly withering down the clear surface towards their doom.
His newly repaired arm slouched over the back of his chair. He mulled over in his mind what to say to Kazi. He knew he wanted to go, for whatever reason, and was beating himself up inside for desiring to pursue such nonsense.
“ Kazi” he piped up “ I have a question”
“ Yea?” she shot back nonchalantly, rolling her head sideways to look at him.
“ What would you say if I told you I was offered a job during the battle?”
“ Well that’d be ridiculous. Were you?”
Now everyone in the room was staring at him with intrigue.
“ Yes I was,” he said, starting to feel like a fool.
“ Well what is his name? What’s he want us to do? What’s the reward?”
“ He didn’t tell me anything, he just told me to meet him at the Millpond Inn”
He threw her the worn out business card.
“ Sounds suspicious to me,” said Seth scornfully.
Kazi lounged in her chair considering her options.
“ Well I don’t normally turn down any jobs. Seth, go see if you can find anything called the Mill Pond Inn on the PC”
With an exasperated sigh and a roll of the eyes, Seth lifted himself off the couch and slouched over to the computer built into the back wall. As Seth searched for the mysterious Inn, Zach nervously fiddled with his repaired arm.
“ Found it, its right near Platslvill” exclaimed Seth finally.
“ Excellent. That’s right where we need to drop off our good friend Andrew Baldwin”
Kazis eyes burned passionately with a lust for adventure and the unknown. Those eyes were the eyes of a pirate and where now the eyes of a leader of a band of mercenaries. Those stormy gray eyes have traveled all over the world, seen many things, and yearned for more. She leaned forward; her hands lovingly caressed the supple wood of her precious wheel, and confidently gripped the pegs.
“ We head for the Mill Pond Inn,” she pronounced with a dangerous tilted grin, it struck Zach just how much Kazis smile looked like his old tilted grin. Why couldnt he be as happy as her?
Within minutes the Gibralator Storm had lifted off the ground and was soaring straight into the heart of the storm, were no crow dared venture. Zachs anxiety building with every passing moment.