Iale DuPont sat on the balcony of the Widow's Walk restaurant, stirring her rum with her little finger and sighing wistfully.

As usual, she had been attracting some stares. At a height of three feet and a pinch, she was hardly the terrifying sight most people had come to expect through her reputation. But a few rounds of explosive bullets ripping through the night sky had cleared the balcony of unwanted onlookers, and now she had the Walk all to herself.

Now that her boss and her ship were gone, she had no purpose in life. Briny Joe Billows had been like a brother to her, albeit a much older, much smellier brother than she would have chosen. The Precipice had been her home, the place where she had forged her reputation as a fearsome fighter and a steadtfast first mate. And now it was in the hands of the Bad Brothers, probably being scraped in the shallows or used to keelhaul unfortunate debtors...

The sky was a breathtaking crimson and gold as the sun set, but Iale simply could not appreciate its beauty tonight.

Calli was feeling strange. A moment before she'd been walking through a crowd of people but now she was alone. She looked around, trying to see where everyone had gone.

Well, it was a bad time for performing anyway.

Calli stood in the quiet patch she was in and looked around. There was an empty restaurant, an empty side street, a vertically challenged woman on a balcony.

Calli perked, she liked to meet other physically weird people. People treated her normally until they saw her put her feet on her head, after that things were never the same.

"Hi." Calli called up at the woman, "Where did everybody go?"

Boot heels clicked ominously across the floors of Widow's Walk. People cowered around, looking with strange amusement at the small woman sitting on the balcony. However, even the nosiest had to turn head to look at Angel's imposing figure as she stalked toward the balcony.

Roughly she pushed the doors open and without hesitation continued to walk toward the smaller woman. "Iale DuPont. I..." She hated herself for doing this, "am in need of your assistance." Her information told her that the two were like family, DuPont and Billows. If she wanted to find the man, she at least needed to talk to the diminutive woman.

Iale looked down at the woman shouting from below. She could barely hear her, and felt a bit annoyed at how cheery she was. The girl ought to be miserable, like she was.



"I ate them all!" Iale shrieked in reply, cackling for a moment.



That was something new. Someone needed her for something? After all she had been through, chucked out of the Precipice by some burly man in a thug's finest, into the roiling water near the docks? What was she good for, without a ship to her name?

The small woman turned, eyeing Angel with surprise. A golly. That was definitely new. Her handcrafted monoscope, which covered her left eye, zoomed in and out, taking in Angel's appearance and storing it in her memory banks for later use.

"Aye?" she said, her tiny voice nevertheless strong and commanding. "Whatever for?"

Guiding the wounded Laced Lady into Old Rose Harbor, Lacey Lovell was in a sour mood. She loved her ship, and the holes that had been blasted in the side of her steel hull were almost as painful as if they had been blasted in her own skin. Throwing the moor line out, hooking it over the big squat lump of metal, she tugged on it to ensure the loop pulled tightly shut. Dropping the anchor and pulling the lever that shut off the engine, the battered ship was silent. Throwing down a pair of leather gloves she had been wearing to protect her hands, the blonde pirate walked to the starboard side and turned a steel wheel built into the side. From just over the edge, a retractable gangplank extended out, its metal making a slight skreee noise as it moved. Thungk!, the end rested heavily on the wooden pier. Grabbing the edge of the ship, Lacey launched herself over the side onto the gangplank. Her boots thudded all the way down, and when she was at the bottom an automatic timer made of various cogs and springs clicked over and the gangplank pulled itself back in.

Standing with hands on hips, the woman looked at Old Rose, lit up like some sort of warped fairytale in the orange sunlight. It was beautiful. Sighing, she strode into the town, looking around. She saw a young girl standing under a balcony, looking up at someone. Putting on her most charming of smiles, she walked towards her. Then, she heard voices above.



Shaking her head in disbelief, Lacey stepped back to take a better look at the people above.

"Indeed, whate'r for?" She said in a rich voice, tainted by a rough seabound accent.

"Iale DuPont, whare's yer precious Cap'in then?" Her tone was snide.

Angel growled and stalked over to the side of the balcony. Looking down she frowned at Lacey. "It seems, I am not the only one with an agenda today." Her eyes softening, she turned to Iale. "I need to know why Billows went into hiding."

Things were quickly flying off the handle. This new interloper was going to cause problems, the woman could sense it. She didn't like the tone of her voice, it was too sickly sweet.

Calli threw her head back a little and laughed.



Calli looked up at the two ladies on the balcony, then the woman beside her.

"Oh." She thought, "Pirates. Duh."

Calli felt a thrill of excitement and trepidation run through her. Unfortunately excitement often made her want to start performing but she knew now wasn't the time.

Didn't stop her wanting to.

She started planning how she'd climb up to the balcony to say hello to the tiny, man-eating pirate.

((by the way guys, this balcony is WAY up. if you wanna keep talking you might wanna come inside. ))

Momentarily ignoring Angel, Iale's face was taken over by a sly smile as Lacey's voice reached her ears. Swinging herself over the side of her chair, she landed with a small thud and leaned over the railing to look at her.

"Ahoy, there, Lacebottom," she cried, thinking that perhaps this evening wasn't going too horribly after all. "Did you just crank your way into town? I thought I smelled grease!"

Turning back to Angel with a grin on her face, she heard her say:



Iale's face turned stormy faster than a hurricane hitting a coastline.

"Who wants to know?" she demanded, glaring up at Angel. Her tone implied both "back off," and "what's in it for me?" - a typical piratical paradox.

"Eh? You get straight to the point. No dancing around the subject. I like that!." Angel grinned despite the small woman's fury. "Angel Firehair the one and only." Striding away several steps, she turned and looked at Iale evenly. "Now name your price. I have need of Billows, and I can't dally here any longer than I must..."

Her tone was at once urgent and passionate. Her off-color eyes displayed that she was earnest and would not easily drop the subject. The fact that Iale seemed at least familiar with the blonde woman down below indicated that she needed to get done with her business as quickly as possible. If things turned sour, she doubted this "Lacey" would sit things out. Iale was to important to kill, but in a two versus one match, Angel wasn't sure she could guarantee the strange pirate's safety.

(( Hrm... between Lacey, Iale, and Angel this could get interesting... ))

Lacey decided this conversation was too good to just stand and yell about. She looked down and found the entrance on the ground floor of the establishment, and took to it at a run. Once inside, she saw the ladder and climbed up, and up, and up. There was a makeshift wood bridge which she walked quickly across, followed by another ladder and bridge. Finally she was at the top.

Striding over to the other two woman, one appeared to be a fellow pirate, but she didn't quite fit the appearance. There was something decidedly, airy, about her. And then there was the field. Ah, a golly. Meh, she thought. Iale and the golly were in the middle of something important it seemed, judging by Iale's shrewd look.

"Who's a purdy wee pirate then?" She coo'ed at the short red head, hand resting on the butt of her revolver.

"Wha's all this about then, eh? Ye got no Cap'in t'be seen, an' whare is that boat y'call a ship?" Lacey gave Angel a quick glance.

"Cap'in Lacey Lovell, pleased t'make yer acquaintance lass." She said with a flourished bow.

Calli climbed silently up after Lacey, slipping past her so she could see inside the tavern. She sidled over to Iale while Lacey was introducing herself to Angel.

"Psst," She whispered, "Where did you get your tattoo done?"

Calli thought about what Lacey had said for a moment, then continued very quietly.

"If you're not a pirate any more, do you want to join a circus? I just did and it seems like it'd be a little like pirating only with more costumes and less ravishing things. They're going to let me jump off things for money!"

She said it as though jumping off things was something everyone wanted to do for free.

Iale kept her mad grin as Lacey spoke to her. Comments about her size never phased her much; it wasn't a drawback in the least, as Lacey no doubt recalled from their previous encounters. Being near shin-height had enormous advantages in a fight, and she was a sure shot as any.

She gave Lacey a lazy salute. "The Brothers gutted the Precipice, the scurvy cats," Iale replied, trying not to let the sting of the memory show on her face. One golden tooth glinted in the sun. "No great loss. I'm in the market. Got me a pile of pretty ging buried somewhere nice and safe..." Her grin widened.



"Did it meself, with a rusty needle and a dead man's blood!" Iale seemed deadly serious as she flexed her muscular little arm, which was adorned with a twisting tattoo of thorns and a single red rose.



Lightning fast, Iale pulled out her revolver and pointed it straight at Callie's heart. There was a soft click.

"Not a pirate?" she said, her voice suddenly low and dangerous. "Join a circus? You got a death wish or somethin', chippie? I'm always happy to fulfill those wishes, to be sure."

Calli blinked.

"That's a lie, isn't it?" She asked, obviously unsure.



Calli's hand flipped and spun for a moment before pushing the gun slightly away from where she was.

"Not really." She said, fairly unconcerned, people seemed to threaten her on a semi-regular basis and she knew in her heart she warranted it, "I'm faster than you. You'd need an open space to get the drop on me, in places with buildings I'm too hard to hit. Unless I'm against someone who knows the terrain much, much better and you're a pirate, not a townie."

"What's wrong with the circus?" She asked, a brand of youthful hurt sinking into her voice.

Lacey nodded, sucking on her teeth. She felt a little remorse for the short woman, no pirate should loose their ship like that. But then there was gold, and Lacey's brain shut out the slight moment of pity. She grinned, gold was just lovely.

"Aye, I bet ye do Iale." She said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.



Lacey shook her head slowly at the young girl. She didn't seem like she had meant anything by the remark, but it had to be one of the more foolish things she'd heard. The circus comment though, was one Lacey would store away for later use.



"Arr, ye ne'er met a pirate before have you lassie? Once a pirate, always a pirate. I wouldn't make any bet's on that thare pirate missing ye. She might not kill ye, but by Alioe, I can guarentee ye won't be flippity floppin' around quite so easily." She grinned at Calli, pulling her dress to one side, revealing a scar in her shoulder from her last encounter with Iale. The small woman was fast with that pistol.

"Leave it be DuPont. She ent nothin' more than a babe, an' ye know what they are like. Hearts full o' luv, mouths full o' foot." She didn't want Iale to kill the young girl just yet. Calli might have some information of who Lacey should see about the Lady.

"No but I did meet a bountyhunter once." Calli paused and thought about what Lacey had said, "Yeah, she might be able to hit me."

She thought about the foot comment.

"I wonder if I can do that..." She said quietly.

Calli walked a few steps away and contorted her body into a knot, with her foot in front of her face.

"Wouldn't fit." She said after a pause, and untwisted until she was standing normally.

Iale glowered at Callie as she slipped her gun back into its holster. "Arrh, y'ain't worth the bullet." She muttered under her breath as she turned to sit back down in her chair - or rather climb back into it. She did look impressed, however, at Callie's contortions.

"That's dead useful in the sack, I'd wager," she said, grinning. "You're wastin' yer talent doin' penny dances on the street, kid! Go talk to that landlubber Cook, see if he can't get ye a fine old career!" She cackled wickedly.

Turning back to Angel, her smile never faded, though she became more serious.



"Angel, eh? One an' only? I don't reckon they'd make more than one o' ye, that's for damn sure." She looked the redhead over from head to toe. "I can't help ye out, Angel, seein' as we're wonderin' the same thing, me n' you. Joe always let me in on 'is little plans, before. This time, I ain't got a clockin' clue. With 'arf of Old Rose lookin' for his sorry erse..."

She gazed down at her boots, a small pang in her heart as she thought about her captain. "I've 'arf a mind to scalp the bugger for leavin' me in the lurch like this...when I see that bloody face again I'll..."

Iale made a halfhearted punching gesture in the air.

Calli muttered to herself as Iale turned away.

"I'm useless in a sack. There's no room to manoeuvre."

"Gods curse it all!" Angel frowned and looked skyward. Another dead end, or so it seemed. Slapping her forehead she fell back into a chair and sighed heavily. "Ah... and ye were meh last hope at finding Billows." Rubbing her brow she continued, "The man 's harder t' find than a invisible wick in a mirror store."

"There's absolutely nothing you can tell me? I need to talk to him!" This was her last chance, this girl had to be worth something.

"Why do ye need to find him so bad, lassie?" Iale said, cocking an eyebrow. "I assume ye ain't foolish enough to be lookin' for a petty bounty. What would a golly want with a big bag o' birds?" She put her tiny feet up on the table, picking her teeth with a small dagger.

Calli watched Iale and Angel, back and forth.

"You know, if I was a pirate that decided to bugger off somewhere, I'd go to a somewhere with lots of whores. Fat whores." Calli said a little too loudly. "My cousin Eddy is a whore, a really good one."

"n' I bet I'd be pants at keeping away from the sea. Because I can't stay away from things to jump off n' I bet it's the same"

Calli paused.

"What do whores do? I know everyone likes them but no one's ever let me into a tumblehouse to see it. Do they do card tricks?"

Angel unconsciously flinched at the tiny girl's racial comment. What was wrong with people? This was Old Rose! In this town race had nothing to do with anything other than who could fling fire and who couldn't. She was always tired of it coming back to that. "I have no need for money, but I do need Billows. I need his assistance and his ship. Once I find Billows, I'll buy his help by getting his ship back."

The curious thing was: even Angel wasn't sure if this was a lie or not. She was just making this whole thing up as she goes. Hawke or Billows, it didn't matter who helped her back up to becoming Pirate Queen once again, so long as it happened. From what she learned, Billows was a powerful entity in the Islands--akin to Silas here in Old Rose. Though she would put her money on Silas and his cronies any day, Billows was an excellent pirate--one she could definitely use. And, on the off chance she could use both men and their resources, all the better.

Angel crossed her arms and cocked her head at Iale. "I'm sure you want to find him too, eh? Helping me will be helping yerself. I have ways of getting what I want." She crossed her feet and tapped the balcony with her heel. "If'n we both want Billows, then we could work together. Two fighting a storm is better than one in a sinking ship."

Lacey listened to the interaction between the two pirates carefully, taking note of what the younger girl on the balcony had pointed out. Hooking her thumbs in her belt, she cocked her head.

"Seem's t' me ye ain't listenin'. This lass here, she's got the right idea. I know where I'd be headin' if I were Billows. Who am I kidding, even I was considering goin' thare." She shifted her gaze to Iale.

"What ye reckon DuPint? Old Joe up fo' a bit of the dancin' ladies an' thare promiscuous partners?"

Iale was without many prejudices; being discriminated against tends to do that to a person. She generally had many reasons to distrust the galdori. But she was fairly certain that Angel wasn't lying. Her eagle eyes traced over the galdor's face, attempting to find something untruthful about her words, but was unable to find anything.

"All right, then," she said, frowning and sticking out her small hand to shake. "Another pair o' eyes never hurt nothin'. I got a plan to find him, mark me. An' it won't have anythin' to do with tumbles," she added, smirking at Lacey. "Sorry to disappoint."

Joe's personal preferences were top secret, and the man had done a lot to see that no rumors ever arose, even taking to the shore every month to make the rounds among the brothels. Iale knew he had never loved a woman. But the fact that he seemed to have disappeared off the face of Vita didn't change anything. She would take his secret to the grave.

Angel grinned at the woman's frown and shook her hand across the table. Perfect, with Iale's help, she was certain finding Billows would be easy as taking candy from a babe. "To clear skies and strong winds," she quoted a sky pirate mantra. The deal was set, and things would certainly be picking up from here, the fiery woman was certain.

However, there was one loose thread still. Shifting her eyes she looked at Lacey inquisitively. "I s'pose Blondie'll be wanting in? What say yeh? Coming along for the ride?"

Iale smirked. Angel here had the air of one of those sky pirates, not a proper sea-loving pirate like herself, but she knew a fellow spirit when she saw one.

She was almost certain she would regret it, but right now she needed powerful friends. Old Rose didn't care much that she'd lost her captain, but they would certainly remember her name when it came time to collect for Joe's incredible debts.