It was late, and Seth was worn out, but he'd managed to get to Old Rose by following the river. He needed to find Rita, then scrounge up enough money to get back to Vienda. He sighed, looking around. The place before him was anything but high class, though it did have it's charm about it. I need a drink... Who knew, maybe his ale-loving cat would appear in one of the local taverns? If nothing else, he could ask around about her. He hoped dearly that she had gotten off when the ship made port. Well, I'll get nowhere just standing around... And with that he set off to explore the city.

It seemed that every pub and tavern was having issues with rowdy patrons. As Seth walked the streets men were getting thrown out on their ears before they hopped up and staggered off to the next bar, or took a swing at the nearest passer-by. Seth nearly got his teeth knocked out once when a ratty-bearded man charged headlong into him. But as it was, he was having little luck in town.

"Aww, puppy," came a sultry voice nearby. A woman like a reed was standing in a doorway, clothed in very little, and all of it a violent purple, made all the more violent by the red lights inside. "You look lost, there, puppy. Maybe you should come inside and let me give you some... direction." She did a body roll that went from her shoulders to her pelvis, which she popped out at the last word.

Seth blinked. Too much makeup, too skinny, and doubtless full of countless diseases- she was altogether quite scary. Seth held back a shudder of disgust- even if she were attractive, he could not push himself to seek such pleasures with a woman he did not know, much less love. He cleared his throat, holding his hands up, palms-out, as if in defense, "Sorry miss, I must be on my way..." He took a step back, "B-but, perhaps you could tell me where the best tavern is?"

A little "tsk" left her too-red lips, and he could faintly hear her murmuring something about a "little boy." But she did him the courtesy of answering, at any rate, "You'll want the Dove or the Queen," she pointed one direction, then directly opposite at each name.

"From here the Queen's a bit closer," she smacked her lips unpleasantly before giving him a dismissive look.

She turned to another man coming down the street, "Hey, there, big dog. Why don't you come in and let me see if I can relax some o' those big muscles o'yours?"

Seth nodded, glad she didn't press the matter any further, and more than happy to be rid of her unwanted attention. The Queen it is ,then. He took off in the second direction she'd pointed, and hoped sorely that he wouldn't run into any more of her kind along the way.

Sadly, there were more propositions in his direction (one even grabbed his arm and wouldn't let go until a lanky man laid claim on the wench). But he made it to the Mad Queen unharmed.

Seth tilted his head back to take in the Mad Queen, smiling faintly in appreciation for the unique design, and entered. Striding up to the bar and sitting down, he cleared his throat to get the grumpy-looking barman's attention, "I'll have a Dirty Chan, please."

The bartender gave Seth the once over he gave all unfamiliar customers-- gauging how much to charge them. He didn't seem much of a troublemaker, so he told him, "One hat."

A ruckus arose in the back of the tavern, with shouts of "Oi! It's him!" and "Gut the bastard!"

Before Seth knew it, he was being carried across the room by a handful of sailors.

"On second thought, it'll be a tally," the bartender called after him.

When he was righted, it was in front of the captain of the ship upon which he had found himself so horridly trapped. To his surprise, he had Rita in his arm, petting her contentedly. The cat started wriggling at the sight of Seth, but the Captain held her firm under his arm, his thick sleeves protecting him from her claws. "Well, if it isn't our little stowaway."

"Uuuuuuhhh..." Seth blinked, fighting the urge to lunge foreward and take his cat into a warm embrace. He looked a might pitiful as he cleared his throat nervously, "I am terribly sorry about that," he started, "It was... an accident?" He coud feel many eyes boring into him, and it made him feel very small- which was a bad thing, as he was already quite small enough in comparison to the sailors.

"Oh, I'm sure it was," the Captain answered in faux-sympathy. "But you see, we now have a little problem on our hands. You owe me for passage to Old Rose."

The rest of the crew cracked their collective knuckles, while daggers and pistols made their way casually out of pockets, sheaths, and holsters.

"Oh, right, right! Well, uh, how much do I owe?" Seth pulled at his sack of coins, not wanting any trouble with hese thugs- hopefully he would have enough on him, but he doubted it, as he wasn't able to pick many pockets the previous morning, and the citizens of Old Rose weren't exactly rich, from what he could see, and he didn't like taking from the poor- that was the gollies' job. Though he could get a temporary- and honorable- job somewhere, that would likely take too long to owe these sailors their due.

"Well let's see here," the Captain mused, scratching his stubbled chin, "full passenger price is a concord. But you only made it halfway, so I don't suppose we can rightly charge you full price..."

The crew took on a disappointed demeanor. What was the fun of stowaways if you couldn't charge them outrageously and poke them full of holes when they couldn't pay?

He lowered his hand to Rita's head, "But little FlufferNutter here made it the full trip. Looks like you owe us a concord and a half, son."

The crew perked up, and they began making menacing noises. One even made a lovely squelching noise as he mimicked gutting a body.

"A Concord and a half?!" Seth sputtered, that was rediculous! Since when did they charge that much for small pets, anyway? Wait a minute... why the hell am I taking this? I more than paid my due on the trip here! "I think you should take that up with your cabin boy," Seth said slowly, calming a little- he normally wouldn't rat out one who had kept his secret, but ol' Bill hadn't been all that nice to him in the first place, "I've been doing half his work on the trip here, afterall. Mending the sails, repairing nets, and polishing your silver. I think I've paid quite a bit of that off on the ride. Ask him yourself, if you need to."

"Is that so?" The captain turned slightly and poked an elbow into the man behind him, "What do you say to that, Punko?"

The currently rather red-faced cabin boy flinched at the address. He rose slightly from his drink, "Wull, *hic* cap'n. I wudn'ver do summat like that."

Apparently he had put his wages to work on a bar tab.

The Captain waved his hand in front of his face- apparently Bill's breath was reflective of his drinking habits- before grabbing the front of his shirt and giving him a shake, "Bill! Pay attention and tell me straight. Did you set the stowaway to work without telling me? It wouldn't be the first time you'd tried to swindle me!"

The captain looked quite angry, though still well composed. Bill, however, broke down a little, "B-b-but I'd ne'er do 'at, cap'n," he said tearfully, "It were an assiden'. 'E made me 'ide 'im." He slurred over himself.

The Captain let him go with a push and nodded over at one of the more burly crewmen, who searched Punko Bill and drew out his bag of wages. The captain gave it a shake, relieved it of a great deal of weight, and threw the rest of it in Bill's lap. "You're fired. You'll never work on any of my ships again."

The crewman who had searched Bill lifted him up out of his seat and dragged him outside.

The Captain counted out the money in his palm and pocketed it. "Now then, you've paid that much. You still owe me a concord," he cocked an eyebrow at Seth expectantly.

Seth watched the scene with a little smirk, though behind that smirk he could feel his insides twisting in a sickening manner- guilt. But there was no time for regrets right now, as he fingered through the money in his pouch, then, shakily, placed the entire thing on the table. "That's 6 shills and 3 tallies," He murmured. He had a sinking feeling they wouldn't accept that- not with his luck. He wondered if they would accept something else, but waited as the captain began to speak.

"Well, it looks like you still owe me a shill and two tallies," the crew growled, pleased to have an excuse to gut the little bugger. They quieted, though, when the Captain raised a hand, "you'll work in the galley until we leave the harbor again."

The crew let out a decidedly disappointed noise. The captain selected one of the men to haul Seth back to the ship. One of the angry crew members gave Seth a rough punch in his shoulder, re-opening his wound and sending a shot of pain through his arm. As the big man pulled Seth up under one arm like a sack of grain, he could see Rita trying to go after him, though the captain retained a firm grip on the feline.

Seth let out a startled cry of pain as the wound re-opened, and held back the strong urge to struggle free of the man's grip- he knew it would only make things worse. He looked pathetically back at his furry companion, only able to watch as she struggled uselessly to get to him.