Just outside the city harbor, a small woman stood on top of the mast of her ship, majestic as a captain should be. She had a stern expression on her face as she gazed into the distance. The loose wraps from her bandana gracefully ride the wind and her short hair flowed like a bronze waterfall over the side of her face, her deep piercing purple eye shining from under them and the black flag with a skull and crossbones carelessly flapping behind her. She openly wore her weapons and showed no fear as she entered the port… on a half sunken rowing boat with a mast…. Gradually the poor boat began sinking faster the closer she got to the port and when she was close enough to enter the port, the boat was mostly underwater with only the mast sticking out of the water at the same height of the port. Casually stepping forward and letting her boat sink all the way to the bottom of the shallow water she looked around over the port. She wandered forward and searched for a ship she could steal later, for now she needed a drink and a rest, fortunatly for her there was no real proof of her being a pirate other than the flag that was now underwater and with her looking quite dangerous none of the port guards bothered to go after her. She wandered through the streets for a while, picking up a leather jacket to wear over her corset that made her look more like a hooker than anything. With the jacket though, it was all better. With her looking much more intimidating now, especially with the weapons she carried she headed over to the apparently biggest inn named the winking mermaid wich just happened to be at the most backwater, cutthroat neighboorhood this town had.


Upon entering she immediatly ducked to dodge a chair flying at her head, there was a bar brawl going on, none of her concern but they always threw things and she wasnt in the mood for taking a chair to the face. There were dancers who always got her attention and the cheerfull music made the bar brawl a rather charming addition to the rotten wood and the smell of liquor. She headed to the bar and ordered a bottle, not a glass but a whole bottle of rum while paying close attention to any shifts in sound that would have to prompt her to dodge again. Sure, soon enough she had to duck again as a bottle narrowly flew past her head into the face of the barkeep wich prompted him to join the fight. But she stopped the man. "I need a crew. Know of anyone that is looking to steal a ship and help me take back my warship?" But the barkeeper didnt pay her much mind and ran off anyway. Soon Kat sidestepped to allow the barkeep to fly over the the bar without having to hit her, what she didnt dodge was the mug of beer he carried wich flew straight into her hair. The beer and the impact in general ruined her hairdo and despite being a pirate Kat was never amused when people messed with her apearance. "MY HAIRDO!" She grabbed the barman by his shirt and pulled him down onto the counter angrily. "I want a complimentaty room or your guts for this. The choice is yours." "Have room 8!" "Thank you…" She said with a cheerfull tone as if nothing happened. She wanted to head to her room but soon she heard something that got her bad attention. "You fight like a knife ear!" She heard the comment in the brawl and looked in the direction she heard it from. It was a drunken buff human brawling with a drunken orc. "Do you idiots want to know how a knife ear fights?" She angrily stepped to the two while cracking her knuckles and neck. The two obviously larger men looked down at her and almost laughed but they were soon met with the way 'a knife ear fights' when Kat punched the orc right in the stomach wich bent him down and lifted her kneww into his face. She then raised her fists and yelled into the bar. "FIRST ONE TO EVEN HIT ME GET'S 20 SILVERLINGS!" And then all hell broke loose, alot of the drunken criminals got up from their seats and challenged the small woman but with her oddly great amount of strength combined with her quick attacks she could fend them off easily. Soon she had about 7 men knocked out on the ground before the assault ceased. She stood there casually with her boot on the orc that made the comment. "And THATS how a knife ear fights!" She brushed her hair before getting off the orc and wandering to her inn room, but before heading up she leaned down from the stairs. "Two things: Barkeep! Give these guys a free drink on the costs of the loser orc! ALSO! IM recruiting a crew! Meet me at the bar tomorow for details! Rewards? A treasure im going after!"

Sane was extreamly bored. Work had been coming in as usual but it was unfortunately the same old espianage from the same old clients, who couldn't get enough of the thoughts of their rivals. So on this fine morning he had told thier representitives they could all stuff it. No price would be high enough this month. He was going to do something else. He didn't know what yet and he had told them as much, uncareing how red their faces turned. It was not like they could lift a finger against him.

The Winking Mermaid was a tavern he seldom visited - a little too rough for his liking - but today he was in the mood for rough. He wanted to shake up the monotomous routine he had allowed himself to fall into lately. He had walked in and fetched himself a drink, closing his eyes to hide the faint glow as he casually planted a distraction into the mind of the bartender so he wouldn't look over at the young man. He'd poured himself a non-alcoholic beveridge, seeing as he didn't want to adle his minds like the thugs currently tusstling at the other end of the room.

So then he sat quietly and nursed his drink, begining to scan the thoughs of those around the room for anything interesting. Most of the men were thinking very violent thoughts, with a few exceptions, which made Sane chuckle darkly to himself. People were so predictable. There were also quite a few people eyeing each other up now that the alcohol had reduced their inhibitions. He wasn't interested in that sort of thing right now. There were a lot less women in this establishment. One was dotingly cheering for her partner involved in the fight, another was thinking scornfully how she could deck all the men in here and a third really did catch his attention. Her mind was kind of clouded to him. He could only catch fragmented thoughts and feeling from her. This limitation intruigued him more than anything else at the time, though that would likely change as time went on. From what she could gather, she was thinking about the sea, a treasure, a boat which sunk in the nearby port. He concentrated harder on her and may have aquired more information if all hell hadn't broken lose.

First she was screaching about her hairdo as beer was spilt all over it and her mind was filled with only rage and revenge. She quickly used this to her advantage and terrifyed the barkeeper into giving her a room. She was just leaving when some threats led to an even bigger brawl than before, this time with a tiny woman at the centre of it. She was an epic fighter, there was no denying it. As the fight progressed, he may or may not have intervined a couple of times, to help her when it looked like she was about to get hit and to help her adversaries when it looked like she was getting the upper hand and it was becoming too easy. A twing of pain here, a bout of condusion there; it made all the difference. He loved messing with people. But then, all too quickly, she was leaving. He had been thoroughly enjoying himself and hated for it all to end. When she began yelling about recruiting and treasure, he became even more intrigued.

So, after a couple of seconds of thought, he stood and made to follow her. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. It wouldn't take her to notice him either and then he would invite himself into her room if he felt like it.

Kat sensed something during the fight, a shift in her patterns so to say. Yet she still prevailed, the curse Davey Jones put on her made it hard to remotely alter her, even through magic. She knew where the remote invader was coming from and simply glared in his direction for a brief second, doing little more than angrily looking him in the eyes for just to allow Sane to notice her unusually bright purple eyecolor that showed off that she knew… She didnt want to show off her psychic abilities too much, especially in districts with a crimerate such as this one, burning people on the stake for witchcraft was still a thing. Not that they could ever get her, as she has just demonstrated. Following her up the stairs revealed many things about her other than curves. Notably her giant crossbow that notably didnt hold regular bolts but something that leaned more to a bullet. The projectiles were made out of solid metal rather than a mixture of wood and a metal tip. The crossbow itself too was peculiar, it had multiple metal strings and a glowing area across the length of the crossbow. If Sane knew anything about enchantments he would know that this would speed up movement to drastically increase the range of this crossbow. On top of that, the crossbow seemed to be made mostly out of metal, with only the stock being made out of wood. It looked incredibly heavy as well and was extremely long to finalize it. Even when she wore it high on her back it almost touched the ground… She seemed to wait for Sane halfway the stairs and as soon as Sane came into her view, she looked over her shoulder and winked for more reasons then to just let him know that she acknowledged his presence…

Now that Sane was a bit closer to her, her openly carried weapons could be examined better. The large crossbow was not her only ranged weapon, she carried two smaller ones as well as a bunch of throwing knives strapped to her hip. She didnt lack in the meelee weaponry though, she had a large scimitar right under her crossbow and a dagger hanging on her thigh. But these high quality weapons were completely trash compared to the rapier she carried on her hip. The rapier had ribbons hanging from the underside of the handle wich seemed to be unstuck in time. If she moved, they moved along with her but after a delayed period, as if they were underwater. The metal had a ghostly glow to it as well, almost shining white with the color from the moon. In the shade of the hallway, her hispanic skin tone seemed normal but with the hot sun still out on this pretty evening, it had an effect on her cursed body. Her hand briefly went through an area covered by sunlight and just like the perpetual glow the metal had, her hand briefly turned into a ghostly pale color. As soon as she felt they were alone she stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around, sickly moving her head around. She had a sly grin on her face, the hair covering her face but yet the fact her eyes lit up brightly made her a somewhat spooky presence. For a few seconds she said nothing, she just analyzed the man, calculating what he would be like, how strong he would be both mentally and physically and more importantly… How much he could help him get her ship back and lift her curse…

Before speaking to him, she drastically changed her posture, suddenly she leaned mostly on one leg and she had a hand in her hip. She apeared more friendly and it seems that her spooky behaviour was mostly just to test to see if he could handle a bit of paranormal activity. "So then, young man… How can i help you…?"

Sane was certainly surprised to learn of the woman's psychic abilities, though he did nothing more than raise his brows at her while she fought. Then, as they accended the stairs, he was able to sense her awareness of him. They were clearly both trying to figure each other out and the Psionic Master found that strangely humourous. She truly was continuing to entertain him. He analysed her weaponry next. Such things certainly weren't his expertise but he was able to gather that they were varied, high quality and deadly tools littering her person. It was evident she was a fighter, in one sense or another, and he was now sure pirate was her proffesion. She had spoken of a crew and thought extensively about the sea, after all. Finally, it had not escaped his notice how the sun and the shade affected her skin. He noted down all these details in his mind. A mystery was forming. For now it was welcome. Soon it would probably frustrate.

When the woman turned and threw him a wink, he easily caught onto her slightly more suggestive meaning. He could read it in her emotions, despite the fuzziness. He winked back without missing a beat, though more for fun and to test how quickly she could react to him than anything else. She wasn't unattractive but that wasn't the reason he had followed her today.

As the woman turned to face him properly, he smirked at her display of supernatural qualities. She was testing him, he was fairly sure. If he wasn't reading people, Sane was guessing them. He was good at it and rightfully so, seeing as every minute of every day he was studying the inner workings of sentient beings and what made them tick. Now that she was close, he took the opportunity to perform a deep scan on her mind. He was pleased to quickly discover her name was Kaptain Kat Kheylana. He got the feeling that she would prefer her full title because she seemed a proud woman. It was precisely for this reason that he decided to think of her as just Kat. After all, she may be a captain but he was a master and therefore didn't owe her any respect… except maybe that which she earned from being a skilled fighter, a decent psychic and confident, independant individual. He brushed away the thought. She was owed some dues, he supposed, but it was fine for him to have a bit of fun.

As if to confirm his standpoint, she refered to him as 'young man'. A little disrespectful, he thought, but he couldn't blame her because she had no idea who he was. He was careful like that, making sure as few people as possible knew who he was and what he was capable of. That way it meant he could do his thing while people were unguarded, which made everything so much more easy and fun. But this was a little different. They already seemed to be clued into his abilities. She was arrogant enough so there was no need to play down his own abilities at this time.

So just as she had tested him, he decided to perform another little experiment on her. He sent her a telepathic message. Most creatures were able to recieve them, even if they were often confused by them. He was curious to see how she would react. If she didn't get the message it would appear as though he was just staring at her, perhaps even eyeing her up. That is a very interesting question.You can help me by telling me a little about yourself, young miss. He goaded. He didn't care if he was younger than her. He was eaily as mature as her, seeing as he was in the minds of people of all ages all the time. He had seen much through others eyes. Additionally, he had developed mentally perhaps a tad faster than ususal because of the constant exersice his psionic training provided for his mind.

She saw the shift in his face and snickered, she didnt think twice when she called him a young man, mostly just refering to his apparent age. Her adjusted pose gave off a 'pretty' vibe, especially when she used a fan (of war) to cool herself off, more for cosmetic purposes than anything as it made her look just a bit more apealing when she held it in front of the lower part of her face. Most of what was visible of her face were her bright eyes, but her eyes spoke more than her mouth. They had a playfull, cheerfull if challenging and oddly inviting vibe to them, there was more life in her eyes then in the inn itself, even if it held a large number of men cheerfully drinking their sailors pay away and the fact that Kat could technically be considered undead seeing how she died before and is currently kept alive through a curse. It was this curse that she wanted gone so she could regain her life again… She recieved the telepathic message but didnt respond through mind, she was not a full psychic after all… "You know… It's rude to speak to someone in a language they dont know…" When she said language, she was refering to the fact she didnt know how to reply in telepathy. She stored away the fan again and wandered to her room, leaving the door open wich most likely ment that she invited him to enter the inn room.

If Sane did follow her into the room, he would see Kat laying on her bed with her leather jacket hanging over a chair that was right next to her, she wore a corset and a blouse over it, though the blouse seemed to be just a bit too large for her. She was still wearing her bandana and blades on her hip but the crossbows (even the small ones) were put on a small desk near her bed. It was wuite warm in the room seeing how the inn below was primarily lit by torches. She once again had her fan in hand abscenntmindedly waving air to her face and neck. She had a boroed expression on her face until Sane came in, then she got a more sly smile. "You want to know more about me..? Have you never heard the ghost stories of the drosden dread…? The legendary pirate ship sailed by me…? Seeing how you can read my mind you must know that i am Kapitan Kat Kheylana, the one woman who sailors fear? The woman who doesnt bring bad luck but is bad luck on the ocean? I used to be very feared… That was until i was destroyed and i was forced to make a pact with Davey Jones…"

When Kat snickered at him, Sane felt the most minute spike of annoyance, though he didn't show it. He wasn't sure what she found so funny; the fact that he had wrinkled his brow when she called him 'young man' didn't really strike him as that humorous. But nonetheless, the feeling quickly passed and he continued smiling cockily as though nothing had happened.

He tilted his head and continued to analyse her as she began fanning herself and subtly posing with it in front of her face. Her eyes really were a bright, striking purple and conveyed plenty of spirit. He wondered what colour his own eyes were at the moment. He dipped into her mind again, having to concentrate far more than usual to access a vague image of what she was seeing. He closed his own eyes as he did this in order to hide the faint light they would be emitting as a result of his mental actions - not that she would have any idea what the glow meant. He quickly discerned that before he had closed his eyes, they had been an olive green. As soon as he found this out, he lost interest and began focusing on the pirate again.

She replied then, chiding him for speaking to her telepathically. So she was able to receive such messages but not send them, he concluded. However, there seemed little real anger in what she said, not that Sane would have cared.

"Well, I apologise, my dear. I'd hate to be rude to someone as dainty and high-class as yourself," He mocked playfully, "But then maybe I'm just too much for someone like you to deal with."

He followed her up the stairs when she moved off and casually strolled to her room, stopping to lean on the doorframe. She had stripped off her jacket and a lot of her weapons and lounged on the bed with her fan again. Sane chuckled internally. She seemed to be trying to seduce him with her posture and mannerisms. After all, there was no one else around for her to try and impress. Even if she thought she wasn't serious, he could sense she was subconsciously drawn to him, as many people were. He wasn't surprised at all. He knew he was charismatic and that often found people thinking how attractive he was.

The male was preening to himself when she began to speak. He broke from his thoughts to listen and found himself pleased. She may act a bit of a rebel but she did as she was asked without getting all silly and suspicious. Quite the contrary, she seemed happy to talk about herself without  all the usual paranoia he witnessed when he asked questions.

He had indeed heard of the rumours he spoke of. He would be worried if he hadn't. Even her name had come up a couple of times, he was sure. He recognised it from somewhere anyway. He nodded lazily as he listened. She seemed quite proud of this reputation she had built and even more keen to get it back. This must be why she was trying to raise another crew.

However, he could admit that he didn't know the ins and outs of how these rumours went and he wasn't entirely sure what her curse involved. Something to do with death, he was fairly certain.

"Well, Kat my lass, this is all very interesting. Perhaps you would be so kind as to rekindle my memory of these stories and elaborate on the nature of your curse. I sense that you wish to lift it and I would be interested to know how you plan to go about that, also." He paused, his face suddenly breaking into the most arrogant smirk possible, "But first… do you mind telling me what's up with the fan? It's definitely not hot in here. So am I really that terrifying that you think you need it to defend yourself and make yourself feel safe? Or am I really that beautiful that you you've become that hot and flustered?"

She looked at Sane with a mild smile on her face, no one ever expressed an interest in her curse now that she wasnt a threat anymore people tended to not care for her alot anymore. She enjoyed the attention she was suddenly getting from the man. "Surely you have heard of Davey Jones? As in the evil deity that reigns over the ocean…? The Kapitan of the infamous ghost ship named the flying dutchman…? They're ghost stories older than my own legacy. Well, long ago… Back when just speaking the name of the drosden dread incited fear in the hearths of even the brawniest sailor… Well, the law was tired of me and they had sent spies on my crew… One of my first mates was one of them and i shouldnt have trusted him…" She gave an angry glare at Sane as soon as she mentioned this first mate. He probaply did not need to know that she shared a tight romance with this first mate for a long time, that it was he who betrayed her and tied her to the mast of the ship before sinking her ship nor also did he need to know how much Sane looked like him wich could explain her interest in Sane. "They sunk my ship in a cove, it was not shallow enough to drown me, but shallow enough to fill my lungs up with water… The cold was not enough to end me but yet it was freezing. I could not get the chains loose and i would have given everything to get myself out of that miserable situation. As if by fortune, one night by full moon, the water came up high enough to finally kill me… I went where every sailor goes when they dont die on dryland… I stood face to face with Davey Jones and made a pact with him… I would send him the soul of my first mate, his family, his crew and the thing that had him most interested: The king that ordered my death…"

She sighed and continued fanning, sweat was on her chest and forehead wich showed that she really was affected by the heat. "He offered me a second chance… I was given a few powers to aid me in this search, but Davy Jones is a tricky man, he didnt not mention that these powers were side effects from the many weaknesses the curse have given me… Such as a weakness to heat, direct exposure to the sun and much more… I can buy back my own life by catching the one that sold mine…" She said bitterly. She kept fanning faster and faster until she heard the question from Sane…She smirked and pressed a small button that let a number of sharp blades pop out of the fan turning the mundane accesory that was popular among hookers into a fast, deadly close range swinging weapon. "Neither, it's a fashion statement…"

The legend she began to explain certainly was something Sane had heard a while back, though the reminder certainly was helpful. However, he was far more interested in analysing Kat than he was in analysing the story. As the woman began to talk more earnestly without all the sass, it became apparant that she was actually a bit more modest than she let on. He got the impression that his attention was a novelty to her and this was why she was cooperating with him so splendidly. She was enjoying herself. That was nice. He saw no reason to deny her that for now and remained quiet as she spoke, scanning her gently as he did so.

Sane was able to read her emotions much easier than her thoughts and was able to gather much as explained some things to him. Clearly, this was a distressing tale for her. Further, at mention of her first mate, the bitterness she felt was quite extreme. Intrigued, he closed his eyes to hide any glow they might produce and ploughed hard through the fog that was her mind. Images of an intense romance flickered. Then a side by side comarison between him and her first mate lingered a little linger before moving on. He nodded absently as the pieces fell into place and opened his eyes again. That was a pretty interesting discovery actually.

However, he kept these findings to himself. He had come to appreciated her new show of humility and the break in competition between the two of them. It was both amusing and trying when people tried to compete with him. Likewise, it was always a lot easier if they just accepted that he was obviously supirior. At this time, he had had his fill of amusement and didn't want to provoke her again. Thusly, she would most likely appreciate the illusion of privacy and secrets so he made no move to shatter it.

Sane thought about everything she had said carefully in a brief spell of silence. Pirating was likely to prove very profitable, especially if he was helping. And more importantly, it would make a lively change, somthing he was in dire need of. So he could do probably with some sleep if he had an early start tomorrow at the bar to sign up. When she activated the spikes on her fan, he nodded his aproval. It was a very nice accessory, he had to admit. So in light of this, he decided to let her obvious attraction for him slide. Teasing her would only make her defensive or inspire her to try and get a verbal one-up on him again.

"Well, I'm think I would be interested in helping you for a time. It's not like I've got anything better to do." He pondered whether to leave now and turn in for the night or to stay a bit longer. His curiosity was mostly sated now… "So your plan is to track down and sacrifice your first mate, his family, his friends and his king in return for your life back? That certainly is a tall order." Luckily, Sane enjoyed a challange every now and then.

She looked at him. Despite his youthfull apearance Sane turned out to be much smarter than she originally anticipated, not only because he caught on to her plan almost immediatly… But first, she was just happy to have Sane help her out… Perhaps working with Sane could put her mind at rest too, as she still hasnt really gotten over the betrayal of her first mate and first lover as well… This would be an interesting trip for her… She just wanted to show off one last psychic ability of hers and refered to his name… "Thank you, Sane… I apreciate your help… And yes, that is my plan, It is the only way i can lift the curse on myself. I was thinking of keeping the king for last as that would certainly be the hardest. Before the king i will go after bekken, my first mate. But first i want him to know what's coming his way… So first on my hitlist is his family and crew, he does nothave children but i do know his wife who was in on the betrayal… Sane, if you are truly willing to help me, meet me at the bar tomorow…"

Sane smiled at the positive emotions he could feel flowing from Kat. It was nice to know that she was warming to him without his having to decieve her, charm her or otherwise force her into responding positivly to him. However, he could sense that this was perhaps being ruined by the sun shining in the window and adversly affecting the cursed pirate. He made his way over to the curtains and pulled them closed as she spoke in a random act of kindness, an unusual event for him to be sure.

He was surprised when she said his name, but luckily he was facing the other way at the time so she wouldn't know. So she was a little telepath in the making, apparently. He should have guessed when she had detected his influence during her bar fight, however he had been thrown off the scent when she had revealed herself to be unable to communicate mentally. Well, he wouldn't be so careless with her again. His first instict at this revalation was to built a fiftey foot wall around his mind to keep her out. He liked being the one with the psionic advantage, not the other way around. He wanted to know all about others while they knew nothing about him. However, in the interests of propagating the amiability between them he resisted the urge. She probably wasn't expirienced enough to read much else and closing himself off to her might offend her or cause her to try and do the same to him.

"Well well well," He said lightly, turning back around, "A little telepath are we? Make sure you realise how lucky you are. We telepaths are the best people there are and you are blessed to be one of us." He made his way back towards the door. He stopped in the doorway but didn't turn around as he bade her farewell, "I must turn in for the night then. I shall see you tomorrow at the bar. Don't leave without me."

And with that he was gone, making his way through the now lamplit streets to his residence in Adeluna City. The moderate sized house was in a respectable neighbourhood and looked welcoming enough. He probably wouldn't be sleeping here again for a little while. Letting himself inside, he was quickly greeted by Sweetness, his wingles pixie. She waves at him from where she was on the little wooden coffee table. She waved and then jumped to grab ahold of his tunic. She then scrambled up onto his shoulder and perched there.

Hi Sane! I missed you! Where'd you go? She asked telepathically while chittering happily.

I went to find something interesting for us to do. We're gonna go and be pirates for a bit tomorrow. I met a very interesting pirate woman called Kat and we're gonna help her saccrifice people. He explained, casually.

Sounds fun! She chirruped.

Now, I'm gonna make tea and get a few things done ready for tomorrow. You can scan my memories for the details in the meantime. He made his way into the kitchen and began to potter around while musing. He would need to get someone to take care of his horse for a while but that shouldn't be problem with all the money he had. There was bound to be a respectable stables somewhere in the city.