The Shopkeeper's Daughter: Act 1

[desertbloomed]

Characters: Ashelia, and other Heroes that answered her call
Where: Her house, B-05
When: 09/10
Summary: Ashelia has an interesting proposal: that the Heroes of Light start acting like them.
Format: Prose or action is fine
Warnings: none!

Everything was set up perfectly. The table was laid out with a bowl of (non-spiked) punch and some sugar biscuits. Chairs were arranged into a circle. Ashelia paced around the living room anxiously. We haven't the time for this. That little girl was dying, and here she was, holding a meeting to propose a plan of action on what to do about it. That's what Queen Ashelia would do - that's all a queen could do. But I am no queen here. She should be out there, finding the seeds herself. The battle with the Chocobo Eater continued to gnaw at her, though. She'd gotten out of it relatively unscathed, but only because there were people more able to take the hits. She needed the other Heroes for this. As much time as she felt she was wasting with this meeting, she couldn't be in two places at once.

Comments

[umslay]

"Thanks for that comment," Ales said in a less animated tone than before. "A musician might not be the ideal candidate for this task."

He then turned to Sparks, resting an arm on the chair back. "The thing is," he spoke each syllable carefully to get his full attention, "I'm more willing to go on the expedition than talk to that Gerad fellow. I'm interested in finding out more about the seed, but the library sounds like a safer place for a Teensie than the middle of the wilderness."

Hope this is okay

[thegreatninja]

Yuffie over heard the conversation and ran over punching Luffy in his enthusiastic face. "I thought I was in this crew of yours! How dare you forget your greatest member!"

She rested her hands on her hips and turned to face the other two. "Hey! Oh! Spuds here too!" She smiles down at her short friend. "How ya doin'?"

[umslay]

Ales held onto his seat as a figure ran over to his side of the discussion and hit Luffy. The moment it spoke, he recognized the voice as one belonging to the thief girl.

And there was that nickname again.

"Pleasure to meet you too, but hitting him wasn't really necessary." He leaned over to see how the boy was recovering, but he didn't appear to be hurt at all. "And I'd prefer if you called me something else, or at least by my name," he said as he placed his hands on his hips as well. "It's Ales."

"Speaking of names, I don't thin I got yours."

1 of 2

[gomu_ningen]

Luffy turns pale for a moment, looking at Yuffie in some semblance of horror as his mind comes to the most dreadful of realizations..

2 of 2

[gomu_ningen]

His face returns to it's normal, thoughtless gaze, looking the ninja over without so much as a recollection of just who she was.

"Who are you, again?"

[thegreatninja]

She was prepared to hit him again but instead her lips stretched into a wide grin as she faced the small ground. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie! The champion of the earth and the sky. I am the conqueror of evil. The single white rose of Wutai."

Yuffie posed with one hand on her hip and another up above her head. She loved to introduce herself using her array of titles and her cocky smile showed it.

[gomu_ningen]

A bright smile comes to Luffy's lips as he puts a fist into his open palm at the realization.

"Ah! Now I rememeber! The white hose of Goodbye!"

Had Luffy the senses to do so, his brain would have grabbed it's hat and suitcase and hit the road.. if it hadn't some time ago, of course.

[red_planet_blues]

The marshal looked over everyone with a flat expression. "Oh my god. Look, y'all're just adorable, but we got a mission to plan here. It's gonna take a few days so we should probably get a move on this."

Someone had to take responsibility. It's a surprise that it would be Sparks.

[umslay]

Ales turned to Sparks, ignored by the ninja girl who still wouldn't give him her name and probably didn't hear his.

"I sincerely hope you're coming along with us. We need this scouting mission to be successful]"

[thegreatninja]

Yuffie turned on Luffy with an angry scowl. "It's the white rose of Wutai! If your not going to say if right don't say it at all!"

He had her full attention as she prepared to attack him again.

/sliiiiiding in here

[desertbloomed]

"Enough!" It wasn't a shout, but it might as well have been one. Ashelia inserted herself into the group, having just left a very interesting and, more importantly, relevant conversation. She was not pleased. "If you will not conduct yourselves as proper men and women worthy of the title you have been bestowed, I shall see you out of my house this instant. This is a meeting to discuss a matter of grave concern, and I'll not have the importance of our mission tarnished by some tomfoolery!" She fixed both Luffy and Yuffie in her gaze, cold as ice. "Understood?"

Re: /sliiiiiding in here

[gomu_ningen]

His brows lower for a moment, having caught one of the hands Yuffie had swung at him before it could connect once more with his skull.

"What titles? You aren't talking about that awful word the Moogles keep using, right?" His gaze narrows as lips curl into a displeased pout. "I'm set to go find the seeds with my crew. So whoever is coming with me, let's get moving! You said she doesn't have much time, right?"

Letting go of Yuffie's hand, Luffy brushes himself off with a grunt, snorting air through his nostrils before turning towards the door to make his way away from the group.

[red_planet_blues]

Ergh. Sparks stands up, grabbing his hat as if he was about to leave as well. He turned to Ashelia, trying to look at least a bit sympathetic, muttering quietly. "They're kids. Excitable. Dumb. I guess we're just gonna have to keep a close eye on 'em."

He then looked to Ales. "Maybe we oughta plan for an extra day on the road, just in case. And of course this'll be a success. I'm comin' along." Sparks was never short on confidence, at least.

As for you, Luffy, you'll have a marshal on your heels. "Slow down, kid. We're a group, so we're gonna go as one." He gave the others a nod towards the door to follow.

[thegreatninja]

Yuffie took a step back from her attack and stood with her hands behind her back, looking more innocent that she should have been able too. "Understood." She had to much she wanted to do to get in trouble this early.

Her eyes looked over at her spud friend with a smile. "Hey Ales." She mostly wanted to prove that she had been listening while not getting yelled at again by the angry woman.

[umslay]

Ales watched Luffy head towards the door, waving at Sparks Nevada s he followed the body. "Let's get together to plan this all out later!" Good thing Ashe finally talked some sense into the two teenagers.

Speaking of the ninja girl, it turned out that she heard him. "Thanks for helping me out when we woke up, Yuffie. I think your skills will be very useful in this mission." And since he decided he would be coming along too, they could be more productive if they teamed up like before.

[gomu_ningen]

Luffy stops in his tracks as the older gentleman calls out to him. Turning on his sandals, he spins about and flicks the brim of his hat upwards as the rest of the posse comes walking up.

"Right. We'll need supplies. Lots of food, some bedding, and where we're gonna' find those seeds. Where should we start?"

When Sparks finally gets closer, Luffy begins to recognize the kind fighter who'd pushed him from the maw of the troublesome Chocobo Eater. "Ah! You're that guy from the fight the other day! You really stuck your neck out for me back there! I owe you one!" A lanky hand comes out, holding open to welcome the gentleman into his crew. "Name's Luffy!"

[red_planet_blues]

Sparks holds up the map he had been studying with Ashelia, and addresses everyone that's heading out. "'Bout three days worth of supplies, I reckon. Everyone can get their stuff and then meet at the chocobo stables tomorrow morning. We'll head out from there."

Ah, that's right. Sparks didn't think of it much more than his duty as a marshal, and now a paladin, to jump in the way of danger. Luffy gets a firm handshake in return.

"Just doin' my job. Sparks Nevada, marshal on Ma-- Er, previously the marshal on Mars."

[thegreatninja]

She smiles at Ales before turning towards Sparks.

"...Marshal?"

Yuffie eyes him a moment before walking over to Ashelia.

"Just let me know what to do to help?"

Her smile was wide like she had done nothing wrong.

[umslay]

He silently prayed that smile meant she wasn't going to continue using that nickname.

"Thank you for inviting us, Lady Ashelia," he said before he jumped off the chair, heading towards the door as well.

"Sparks!" Ales ran up to him. "You've gone out on a quest before, I've heard. What sort of supplies should I bring? All I have are some books and small tools." As a blacksmith, he thought that he would be a disgrace to his Job if he didn't carry some common tools with him and bought them with the coins that he and Yuffie "found" a few days ago.

[gomu_ningen]

"..Marshal?" Seems he and Yuffie are more alike than he thought. His head tilts to the side, blinking a few times before giving the side of his cheek a few scratches as he ponders.

"Hmmnn- What do Marshals do? Does that mean you're like a Sheriff?"

He turns to look at Ales as he speaks, reaching out and putting a hand to his crew-mate's shoulder. "First, we gotta' worry about food! Once we've got enough food, then we can worry about tools and sleeping stuff."

[red_planet_blues]

Sparks's eyed up Luffy and Yuffie for a moment. "Yeah, marshal. Higher ranking than sheriff. You'd like bein' the only lawman on Mars would be good enough to join up with the law here, but Biggs seems to think differently." That was neither here nor there at the moment, but that fact had been bothering him lately. He rarely passes up a chance to grumble about things.

"As far as supplies go, we need more than food. Bring whatever tools ya think yer gonna need for identifying and collectin' these seeds, and somethin' to sleep in. Reckon that we won't need tents, since the weather's been good. It's a short trip, so no need to pack heavy."