Search for a Riotus Ruby! An Unlikely Alliance In the Sands!

“Hey Kay” Kayen slowly opened her eyes and turned her head, her eyes showing clear displeasure in the nickname that Castor had started using for her, in spite of her occasional threats and glares however he mostly persisted with it unless the situation required a certain amount of seriousness on his part “I really SHOULD start stabbing you every time you use that name” Kayen muttered, she had taken up one of the booths at the quieter end of the bar tonight. It was growing certain for her that Namek was where she needed to go and it frustrated her how much time she had wasted here on Earth.

“Yeah yeah, I got something for you” he said a small smirk tugging at his lips, Kayen gave little reaction other than a ‘ok, get on with it’ look directed his way “So I know you’ve been a bit pissed about the whole Vocado thing, but I’ve got some news that might make it so your trip here wasn’t all in vain” Castor continued on, Kayen remained silent but made an effort to show a bit more interest to keep him talking because she really WAS interested. She’d learned that Castor had some connections, a byproduct of running a dingy bar frequented by people who did less than savory things at times, it was entirely possible he DID have news worth her time.

“Word has it that there’s a cave in the Diablo Desert with a trove of Blood Rubies” he waited just a moment for Kayen’s expression to make it clear she did not have the first clue what a Blood Ruby even was “There are a ton of legends surrounding them, but the general idea is they magnify a warrior’s power” “Alright, you’ve got my attention” Kayen finally spoke up again even going so far as to shift her position to properly face Castor.

“The guy I got the information from was passing some of the possible locations on to some other interested party, I figured though I’d give them to you first, give you a head start” he said placing a piece of paper on the table, Kayen picked it up giving it a quick once-over before turning back to Castor “This could be a decent game changer if it pans out, thanks Castor” Kayen said, it was rare she dealt with someone offering something this good with seemingly no benefit to themselves, sure she was funding the place now but still.

The caves were located in Earth’s largest desert, getting there had been easy enough, just a matter of flying until the world suddenly dissolved into sand and blistering sunlight. The main problem, however, was figuring out where these caves actually WERE, Kayen was entirely unfamiliar with the desert just like the rest of the planet and while the information she had was fairly detailed it was intended for someone with likely at least a map.

Kayen spent a few minutes flying until she spotted a caravan down below “Hello… let's see if there's anyone useful down there” Kayen focused her senses on the caravan and found it mostly devoid of relevant energy signatures, but did find a strong one lingering a bit behind.

Kayen made a sharp turn in the air diving down to the signature “Oi, you got any experience with this place. I need someone who’s got at least half a brain and knows the desert”

Kayen rolled her eyes as the woman asked a quick series of questions, even questioning if Kayen was a ‘baddie’ as if anyone who identified as such would admit such a thing. She supposed though that she technically WAS at least based on most people's views on things. Piracy was by its nature not exactly a haven for those upon the moral high ground. Still though Kayen was a reasonable person… at least USUALLY she was, and was certain she could avoid doing anything that would so completely offend her that she would refuse to work together.

It even appeared that she was actively hunting a ‘treasure’ that definitely fit the description that Castor had given her about the Blood Rubies, and apparently considered such a thing her profession meaning that she at least believed she was good at hunting down these sorts of things, very ideal as Kayen’s skills tended to lay more in the realm of murder and hunting PEOPLE.

If the Rubies were with the caravan, for instance, she could easily have found it out in the desert without even the air of knowledge of the area, it was just a matter of finding from overhead the areas most likely to function as rest stops for it, and then, of course, murdering everyone until they gave her the prize.

Well the last part was probably not strictly necessary, but it usually was the fastest way to get people to give you their stuff. Kayen took the woman's hand and gave her a firm handshake “I’m Kayen, and it sounds a lot like you and I are on the same hunt. If you’re willing to work with me and don’t do anything stupid like trying to screw me out of what I’m looking for I won't have any reason to put Fateburn through you. I may not know this area well, but any shit we DO happen on I can take down and I have some extra information to point us in the right direction” Kayen said pulling the paper out from her armor and holding it up between her index and middle fingers.

“So what do you think, work together to get what we’re looking for faster?”

Kayen’s eyes narrowed when the Human equated her to a Hunter “I aint a fuckin Bounty Hunter, those fucks can fuck right off” Kayen said crossing her arms over her chest, she could, however, get what the girl was saying, she’d found her passion and it just made sense for her even if others did not quite get it the same way she did. Kayen had been much the same way back before she had left home, granted her passion was something QUITE different from the Humans.

Min lead the way well enough with Kayen paying relatively little attention to the actual way they were taking, to her it was no real risk to let herself be distracted, Min posed no actual threat to her and if the Human tried some sort of trickery to trap her somewhere Kayen could very easily destroy anything used to contain her, getting lost was no issue when she could then just blast into the sky and figure out her way back to the bar.

All she really needed to do was keep her senses open to incoming signatures, anyone other than Min was a potential threat and someone she’d have to make sure was simply passing by rather than seeking them or the path they were on. Eventually after a bit of travel Min found what she believed to be the way in, the only problem being a massive boulder that she needed Kayen to remove.

Kayen raised an eyebrow looking from Min to the boulder, the Human was by no means weak, was she really not able to do this herself? Walking up to it Kayen tapped the stone a few times even giving it a stiff punch to test it’s overall durability and found the boulder surprisingly resilient.

“Lucky us I’m not bad with precision” Kayen said as she turned to see how far Min had backed off, she was smart enough to have put plenty of distance but it was unlikely to be necessary as Kayen drew Fateburn from her back she took a few practice swings with the massive blade before taking hold of the hilt with both hands, better to have complete control for a job like this.

“REBELLION STAR!” Kayen roared as her power flared around her she made five incredibly fast swings with the blade forming the outline of a star on the stone’s surface as the energy coating the blast cut into and then completely through it, for a moment the rock would remain standing simply displaying the star pattern until it fell to pieces revealing the mouth of the entrance and the next leg of their journey.

“I’m surprised you didn’t give it a go, if you got going I’m sure all that power you’ve got would be enough to at least move the thing if not destroy it” Kayen commented as she returned Fateburn to its place on her back.

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Kayen rolled her eyes at the Human though while she was clearly trying to give the impression she was unamused by her words inwardly Kayen DID find it perhaps a bit amusing, she had an amusingly pragmatic way of handling the situation that Kayen could respect, why do something potentially dangerous when you had someone else willing to do the job for you? If Kayen had not been in her shoes she likely would have done the exact same thing.

“You’re lucky it was not some sort of curse, I can only imagine how poorly it would have gone for you if destroying that rock unleashed some curse that drove me mad” Kayen flashed Min a toothy grin before she took the lead heading down into the cave first in what seemed to be a sort of means of making amends for her actions.

Kayen followed quickly after and while the stairwell was incredibly uncomfortable forcing her to stoop down a bit to avoid her head scraping against the roof at its lower points Kayen still managed a grin at Min’s question “Oh nothing to worry, if I do it certainly won't be to scare you” the Human WAS rather pretty, Kayen certainly wouldn't be adverse to the idea though this was perhaps not the most ideal place for such things.

Kayen paid little mind to the cave itself simply allowing Min to lead the way, she was or at least claimed to be the expert when it came to these things, were Kayen left to figure it out herself it was far more likely her solution would have just been to smash her way through everything until she reached the prize.

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Kayen raised an eyebrow as they entered the large hall, there were no obvious signs of where to proceed but that didn’t quite mean that there WASN'T anywhere to go, just that it would probably take some doing to figure out the path, maybe a bit more cleaving through stone? It felt reasonably likely that they would have to keep going down so perhaps just cutting through the flo-

Kayens thought process was cut off as the silence that had overtaken the room after Min had finished speaking was suddenly filled with the grinding sound of stone on stone as the once inanimate statue began to move stepping forward with more ease than something so bulky should have been capable of and wielding a massive stone blade that dragged across the floor as it approached.

“Doesn’t matter much what triggered it, it’s active and pissy. I’ll keep it’s attention, you try doing something sneaky while it’s focused on me" Kayen said rushing forward into the space where Min had dodged from to meet the giant stone blade with her own, and to Kayen’s surprise when Fateburn and the stone blade clashed she was forced to put actual effort into pushing back against the blade.

“And be careful, this thing’s tough, if it hits you you’ll probably be squashed” Kayen said shoving back against the stone knights blade and finally forcing it to stagger back though it required no small effort on Kayen’s part, while she stepped forward to keep the Knight engaged with her and the focus off of Min she took in more of the Knight trying to figure out some weak point on the thing.

The only thing that really stood out on the thing was the stone around it’s neck shimmering with a strange light, it almost felt like it was calling to her in a wierd way, similar to the need she had felt when she first saw Fateburn.

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