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The demon woman had given Aylin a lot to think about. Someone else was looking for information on the missing ships. Did that mean there were more than the four from Porta Denia that were gone? Were the demons also missing their own ships to the mysteries of Devil's Run? And, what did the Zurg living on Gaia want to know about the missing ships? Since when did they become involved in the airship game? They had their own little saucer ships as far as Aylin recalled. Aylin had a lot of questions to answer.

"Please, tell us just what is going on here," the waitress then pleaded with a bit of sad desperation in her voice, "You owe us that much as this is happening to our town."

"Yeah lady tell us," a burly man chimed in.

"Lin's right you can't come in here and hint that the head of the family that helped change Denia for the better has anything to do with this without some kind of explanation," a tall stocky man in a simple white apron and paper hat added.

Aylin sighed knowing the cook and the waitress were right. The people in the diner did deserve some kind of an explanation. And, if it wasn't for them then it was for the fact that the Zurg had threatened to sing to them. Aylin had heard a Zurg try and sing Xmas carols a few years back to the shopkeepers in Durem for Xmas baubles and it wasn't very pretty.

"You people deserve to know the truth. You deserve to know as much as I know at this point," Aylin began as she softened her gaze a bit and removed her hand from her sword, "This stays between us right now. The military under the Casimir Alliance has reason to believe Peter Hastings is intentionally giving his own ships short safe routes and contracting out independent ships to retrieve cargo from the other side of Devil's Run. Some say the ships go missing because it holds the worst weather on Gaia. Some say there's monsters involved. Some claim it's pirates. That's just speculation and rumor. However, that speculation and rumor has the military sending me here to investigate Hastings because now rumors amongst the military air captains has Hastings in league with pirates to do away with the independent cargo ships. That was rumor enough to get me here."

Aylin had rambled on but it was needed to inform the diner goers what was going on. Would they be able to keep what she said to them private? That Aylin did not know but she hoped they would. And at that moment the cook, the waitress named Lin, and the man with the mustache stood there shaking their heads trying to take in what she had told them.

"And I'd love to, but alas... if I don't eat something I'm afraid I may fall into fatigue." She patted her stomach again; it let out a low, assuring rumble. "Ships disappearing, captains possibly bordering on treason... how about, just for now, we ignore this? I mean, we are here to eat, right?"

It was almost selfish at this point to say such a thing. People may panic, but... it's nothing new, right? Human nature bursting into a panicking frenzy out of fear for something, humans betraying other humans for their own reasons...

(We need more Chon Wang here with a little bit to Sinario and Penn at the end)

What a day it had been for Chon Wang. It started out like any other day, getting yelled at by Uncle Li. Chon had to admit the random finger in the pickled cabbage was an oversight on his part that did deserve him the yelling he got. That would turn out to be the highlight of his day as things wore on. The Zurg coming into the diner was normal as she always stopped by when she was in town. The blue skinned man and the demon woman were new ones on him if the man wasn't a dark elf. The clothes coming off the blue man didn't phase Chon one bit.

It was the girl turned woman that brought down the day for Chon turning his low light into the highlight of his day. She brought with her the sad news that another ship had gone missing. And it wasn't just any ship but it was Captain Donovan the man Uncle Li spent many a day discussing and debating with. When Denwale came in and confirmed what the shorter woman with the wings, yes the wings did shock Chon a bit, had told them the diner went silent and Lin began crying into Denwale's shirt.

That brought Chon to where he was at the moment. His uncle was in shock, his cousin was crying and shaking her head, the thought that the head of the Hastings family was sending men to their doom intentionally weighed heavy on his mind, and there were still hungry customers to feed. Turning to the nearest waitress, Amy, Chon addressed her feeling it best to start getting things back to normal.

"Amy I don't think that half dressed blue guy and the demon woman got the chance to get food yet we better get back to work before Uncle snaps out of his stunned silence," Chon said directing the woman to help the customers.

Chon watched as Amy walked over to the table she was supposed to be working anyhow and addressed the hungry customers, "I'm sorry about all of this. We'll try and get the kitchen up and running again soon. If you want noodles you'll have to wait as Mr. Fong is the one who makes them. Anything else on the menu Chon can put together for you."

Aylin sighed softly. She knew this was coming. She knew someone would question why the military was targeting Hastings in their investigation. The Hastings family was revered in Porta Denia since the early days after the Uprising. Aylin knew all too well what Hastings Air Cargo meant to the town and its people. She knew they would try and defend Peter Hastings and the good name of their beloved hero John Hastings. What she had not seen coming was the drunk man being the one to do all the asking.

"Look I know how much this town loves the Hastings family. I saw that when I first came to this town fifty-eight years ago. The thing is, Peter Hastings is not his great grandfather John nor is he his grandfather Samuel," Aylin began intentionally buying time to carefully word her thoughts, "Think about it, how many times has Hastings Air contracted independently owned cargo ships lately? Four ships from one port hired by one company in one month all gone missing. And now when one of your own decides to prove the run can be conquered he and his crew are lost. Something is going on with the Devil's Run that's more than just a narrow twisting canyon and bad weather. We don't know if Hastings is just being greedy and refusing to deal with the compensation for lost air crews or if he's trying to monopolize by looking like the hero with the only cargo fleet left."

Penn looked at Sinsario and said, "Hopefully not too long. But yes, we should go look. Perhaps I could ask someone there if they know anything." And in a low murmur, she added, "You know what I'm talking about... right?" She heard the waitress mentioned that it'll take a bit for the kitchen to get its gears running again, but in the meantime there were other things that could be asked for. So she did what, in her mind, was simple enough:

"Yeah, uh, I heard there was an... uh, an estranged finger somewhere in your food, and my friend happens to like long pork, so perhaps you could toss that to us or something? As for me, if you could make some hard-boiled eggs, that would be great."

So the Devil's Run was a canyon, hm? And bad weather, too. Next thing you know people'll be mentioning dragons and ancient tribal curses! Maybe once Sinsario leaves her "crew" she'll take the run for herself. If she didn't come back, well... demons who die usually go back home, so to speak.

Penn looked at Sinsario and asked, "Should I tell them? I mean, they might freak out if... y'know."

She heard rather well that the cook mentioned why anyone would want that finger (as it was sick and wrong). Well, there are now four non-humans in your restaurant; one is a regular (and a Zurg), the other is a pixie. And if the man with the blue skin isn't a dark elf, well... Penn waited for the man to connect the dots rather than spoil the secret (with or without Sin's permission).

(Back to Chon again)

Chon sighed as he pulled out two hard boiled eggs from the bam full of cold water and placed them on a small salad plate. He had tried to keep the finger from the diner patrons but somehow the odd dark elf looking man and the demon woman heard about it. Chon wasn't about to touch the severed finger and used a pair of long thin tongs to pull it out of the ruined pickled cabbage.

The smell of the pickled finger was enough to make Chon gag slightly. The cook wasn't about just toss the finger on a plate and have Amy take it to the table. Gross or not he still believed in presentation when he plated something. Chon pulled out a bit of greens to rest the finger on and then sprinkled the plate with a bit of chopped parsley and red pepper flakes. He then put a cover on the plate so no one would bee able to see what Amy was about to bring to the table.

"Order up Amy," Chon called out as he rang the bell by the window.

It didn't take long for Amy to come to the window to claim the bizarre order. "Thanks Chon," Amy replied as she picked up the two plates.

The moment Amy took the two plates away from the window Chon ran out the back door of the kitchen to spend a few moments getting rid of his last meal over the side of the airship.

"Here's your order," Amy said to the table as she placed the covered plate in front of the man and the eggs in front of the woman.