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[ Billy ; Seymour : Angel Grove : Outside the Red Rose ]

As everyone dispelled their weapons, the Power Suits disappeared, revealing their normal selves.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help," Billy said, deciding it was safe to come out of his suit. There was a brief flash, and suddenly he'd revealed himself... he looked no older than an ordinary high-school teenager. Most of these people were adults. Adult Rangers...?

"So, who are you? We didn't even know there were other rangers," he asked, looking to the others. "Especially with such amazing abilities. Tommy, you think Zordon's been holding out on us?"

[ Mercer : Port Royal : Prison ]

"Not yet," the man said, a hint of ambiguity in his voice as he sneered, kicking aside the daggers and unlocking the gate. The moment it was open, one of the guards (without a pistol) took out a pair of shackles, attempting to attach them around the young man's wrists. They were closely linked, allowing little to no separation. As if on cue, the six guards with pistols pulled back the hammers, each waiting for Jacob to make a foolish step.

Jacob ║ Port Royal ║ Prison

"What? Y'don't trust me?" Jacob said with a sigh. He stepped out of the cell with his hands freshly shackled. "Would you fine gentlemen mind escorting me to my almost certain demise? I wouldn't want to get lost, now would I?" Jacob sneered. He turned to face Quistis, the young, sharply dressed woman in the cell next to him. "You've been such wonderful company and everything, but I think I'm going to take a walk with these fine gentlemen. Thanks anyway."

[Kyla: Hawaii/Angel Grove: Outside Red Rose > ???]
Sketches
Cue: Yori
There was nothing for it. She couldn't have reacted faster, and Carbuncle couldn't shield quickly enough. Both the earthling and summon were cut off the moment the strike hit landed.
All Kyla could do was feel the sensation of wind rushing out from her body, shock then falling lax into something blue and blurry, someone who swung them up like a potato sack.
The sky rolled back to hard packed earth, as the sound of shouting and muffled words fell away into blackness.

The last thing going through her mind was;

'...minna?(everyone: みな?)...what happened?'

She could hear her summon's distant cries, but she felt so far away. They all did. And in a moment of weakness... she felt afraid of what was going to happen next.

...no..I don't want this...I don't want this!

Sayrike: razz ort Royale::Forest by the Clearing

A scream pierced the heavens, shattering the tranquil drone of the forest.

Sayrike nearly fell from her branch for the second time that morning, startled from her sleep by the unholy cry of surprise and fear. Her arms and legs pinwheeled as she tried to keep herself alit on the precarious perch, but she righted herself in a moment, which just left the matter of her racing heart as a concern. She hastily looked out from the leaves of the tree, scanning the path some distance away, squinting to see if the source of the commotion had come from there. But the path appeared the same as it had yesterday night, free from recent human disturbance. Well, from what Sayrike could tell, the path hadn't always been so clear; after inspecting the clearing nearby and the remains of long-gone campfires, it seemed that this forest used to house a number of shady activities conducted by the locals--and pirates. They would have at least attempted to mar and cover the path a little, if only to make things harder for wandering officials routinely checking the area. But, it seemed as if a crackdown had taken place, what with the way the local people cowered before those in uniform and power. There were the defiant few who still fought back, their inner fire not quite stamped out of them yet, meaning the oppression hadn't been going on for a very long time. Still, the forest would have been the first place cleared of ruffians, and the path now looked a little more well-beaten and visible than it probably was before due to officials tramping up and down it all the time. However, Sayrike could only guess. She had merely taken advantage of the emptied forest, inhabited by small animals and the lone few vagabonds like herself who had crept back into the forest like mold in a well-used shower.

Not for the first time, Sayrike had a sad epiphany. She wasn't going to have to scrub her shower again any time soon.

And, on that note, she probably wasn't going to have a nice, hot shower any time soon, either. She had always dreamed of going on an adventure, a fantasy where she could face an unknown and exciting world, but she knew that the one thing she would miss was hot, running water. Well, there was one more thing she'd miss, but it wasn't very lady-like to think of that at the moment. Besides, the issue hadn't cropped up yet, so maybe it wouldn't be a problem...? They never mentioned how females dealt with that monthly trouble. Instead, all she had was an icy stream about a half a mile away in which she could rinse herself and her dirty clothes she had stolen out of a laundry basket full of unwashed garments while the maid went to go fetch the doorbell Sayrike had pulled seconds earlier. She felt absolutely horrible stealing, but the act had been made a little easier knowing the maid had been a total snit when Sayrike had asked her for information earlier. They were the maid's clothes, anyhow--a rough, white linen smock and a grey apron, complete with strings for the ruffs and a fillet for her hair. Sayrike had no idea where the idea for a "sexy maid outfit" originated from, because it certainly would have not been this. She had decided to skip the petticoats, finding the blue jeans she had arrived in puffy enough. She only kept the nicked goods for the instances she snuck into town during the past two days after she first crash landed by the stream. Otherwise, she preferred to be in her other clothes. Her other, very conspicuous clothes. (There was no woman in her right mind around here that would be caught wearing pants and the revealing red t-shirt she wore.) But, the one piece of clothing she really cherished was her cloak, taken from her previous captor. She had always wanted one but never expected to end up with something as fine as this...

Sayrike caught herself rubbing the hem of her cloak fondly, lost in thought, wrapped up in its warmth that helped her during the chilly night. Tch, she mentally scoffed at herself. That's right--the scream. She carefully twisted herself on the branch so that instead of her back lying against the main trunk, it was her stomach, so she could peer out in the other direction toward the clearing. The clearing was a fair distance away from her tree, since Sayrike didn't want to venture too close to such an open area where she might be spotted more easily or get caught in whatever shenanigans that might go on over there, but she was still close enough to make out the basics of whoever or whatever was there. Careful not to disturb the tree too much, she peered through the foliage.

Sayrike almost fell out of her tree a third time.

Clearly, the sound was from there. But, it wasn't more pirates she spied (and of whose company she had begun to grow weary of); it was people. Clean people. People around her age. People in crazy cosplay-like clothes. People with a dog or a wolf or something. People with a giant TRAIN.

Well. So much for the I'm-dead-and-the-afterlife-is-a-high-seas-pirate-adventure-spanning-time theory. It still didn't mean that she wasn't dead, it just meant that at least there were other things out there besides pirates. That was a relief. She wasn't one to take sides in the Pirates vs. Ninjas debate, but after her recent ordeals she was more inclined to hang around feudal Japan at this point. Screw the language barrier. Maybe she'd end up like that guy in Clavell's Shogun. Or The Last Samurai. If cleanliness was next to godliness, then Sayrike wouldn't mind being deified. Pirates and Olde England smelled to high heaven.

Right. Back to the new arrivals. Well, they didn't seem to be doing much, just talking. No sign of the screamer, but...there did seem to be a person everyone was crowding around. She couldn't make out the details. Unless, it was the train itself that screamed. Who knows, maybe that's its whistle? Sayrike would wait and see where they went, and if they were of the nice sort or not. If they wanted to go to town, they would probably take the path not too far from her, and if they got to that point, she might be able to overhear their conversation. Sayrike took that moment to unwrap her cloak and turn it inside out, leaving the black underside facing outward so as to hide the dark blue and gold pattern underneath, and wrapped herself in it, blending into the dense shadows of the forest. She pulled on her hood so as to leave as little of her light skin exposed to an observer as possible. Scrunching down, she waited, keeping her head at a slight angle so as to keep the edge of the clearing in her periphery and the path in her main sight.

Settling into the position, she began to think about the dream the had this morning, which had caused the initial near-falling experience. She shuddered, still remembering the tangible emotion and energy she felt. No, think about it later, after this danger has passed. No need to dwell on the negative at this moment. Hmm, that's right, think about something happy. Ah, like the joy at escaping the air pirates, or the wind in her hair as she rode the solar surfer away to her freedom...

Erk. She had forgotten--turning her head slightly toward the clearing, she eyed the spot where she had laid her poor, broken mechanical savior, hidden in a bush. She almost started punching her fist in the air out of anger. It was right there! Right behind the group, just on the other side of the train, hidden in a bush in which Sayrike had placed extra leaves and branches! It was too far away for Sayrike to see it at all, but she could see one thing--a faint and tiny metallic shimmer in the morning light. Some stupid animal must have rustled the bush, jarring a piece of the surfer loose. She hoped no one in the group would notice it. Sayrike was at a high angle where the sun was hitting it at just the right angle for the light to hit her eyes, but she couldn't tell if the others were also able to see it. Maybe they might think it was just a glimmer of the light off the train. She hoped that at the very worst, they'd see it, realize it was technology not of this area, and then proceed into town to find out who the owner was, leaving the solar surfer be. That's what she'd do, because, being cautious, she'd think that the heap of charred metal might be dangerous. Better to let its owner handle the obviously broken object. Sayrike wished with all her heart that the newcomers wouldn't see it, and if they did, then they'd leave it and head into town. Leave, leave, please leave...she chanted inside her head like a mantra.

[ Mercer : Port Royal : Prison ]

"Oh, don't you worry about the lass- she'll be joinin' ya," Mercer said, and at that point, the other guards made their way to Quistis' cell; three of the gun-toting guards went to her cell, while another went in to place the shackles on her. "Let's head off, then- time to put on a show for the crowd."


[ Guards : Port Royal : Approaching the Clearing ]

"Are you sure you heard roight?"

"Aye, that I did! Said some strange woman was sneaking around outside the city- and then there was that scream! Obviously this way!"

"I wonder if we'll have enough rope for the nooses..."

Sayrike would have heard the men behind her, slowly getting closer. There was some loud rustling, and before she would have had any chance to go anywhere-

"Look! There she is!" a man shouted, pointing directly at Sayrike, his voice loud enough to carry through to the clearing just beyond Sayrike, alerting the others.

"Quick! We'll have a third for the hangman!" the second shouted. Both of them drew their blades and ran forward, hoping to get to her before she could run away.

[Jenny :: Port Royal :: Clearing]

Jenny immediately stiffened as James spoke, she looked up at his face and followed his faze into the forest. She couldn't quite hear the voices the corsair was talking about, not clearly at least, so instead she sunk into her mind. There were dozens of reverberating threads in her mind, much like a loose harp, each string playing an individual's heartsong. Jenny pushed the closest songs aside, looking farther, beyond the clearing.

Her eyes snapped open as she summoned her flute. "There's more than two, I sense three..." the time mage murmured warily, sure all of them could take on three civilians but it was the matter of whether they'd alert the entire town, somehow.

[Cory .:. Hook's Ship .:. Cory's Quarters]

"You sound scared. Weren't we only fighting side by side yesterday? Hell, we fought Saix side by side... remember that?" Cory dismissed the Revblade in a sudden burst of blue and black fire, hunching forward in his seat, still smiling.

"Sorry about the punch, but there wasn't any other way to make sure you didn't retaliate. In addition to that, conversation surrounded by the other Earthlings would have been impossible. The moment I approached you, I would have been met with animosity and violence. And, y'see, I needed to have a chat with you. So you can stop acting like I'm going to skewer you."