LeBlanc’s long tail coiled into a nearby box and retrieved a bottle of water that he offered to Calvin. “Yeah, well, I figure you would like to know that, stud. The problem is that we don’t know.” He explained before smirking slightly “Well, yet anyway. I think we’re on the right track.”

Taka turned around and brushed away some of the clutter on the table, revealing his current work: spread across the table was a map of intricate detail, with sketches of each described landmark at street level corresponding with the labels on the map. It was also massive, the draft desk it was on was covered edge to edge, a square something like ten feet on each size. On the northern and eastern edges of the map, the city was flanked by trees; the island was dominated by unexplored, mountainous forest. The city itself took up barely a tenth of the island. To the west, there were cliffs that edged up to the ocean, and to the south was the bay and harbor, devoid of all but one ship, a cargo vessel listed on the map and sketched with the name The Phoenix painted along its bow. Underneath the picture was the simple warning “Do not explore alone or after dark.”

LeBlanc had grabbed a well-worn journal off another table and held it up. “This is what I woke up with; it’s written in my handwriting.” He explained. He paced up to Calvin and flipped the notebook open; it was lined with margin-to-margin formulas and notes and diagrams, dense but neat. The problem, however, was apparent; it was all gibberish. “Even if I wrote this, it’s written in a cypher. I can’t understand it. Well, most of it.” He continued. “The whole thing isn’t in the same cypher. It changes periodically at random, but it comes to me in waves. Sometimes I just look at it and I can read a new section now, plain as day. I gotta say, stud, it’s some good stuff. I’m a goddamn genius.”

“LeBlanc’s a paragon of modesty.” Taka piped up softly, earning a chuckle from the dragon. “But he’s right. I can get by with a fantastic memory, but some of what he’s figured out absolutely daunts me. He thinks we’re here for a reason.”

“Probably. I also think our missing memories aren’t gone permanently. Time will reveal to us what we’ve forgotten, but I think finding certain things might trigger it easier; something familiar and so on.” LeBlanc explained. “There’s a door under the lighthouse, airtight, probably weighs in the ballpark of twenty tons, easy. It’s locked. I think we ought to open it.”

“And I agree.” Taka responded. “But not until we’ve got more of us here. There are other people on the island that aren’t as safe as we are here. For whatever reason, the bosses don’t like to come out here very often.”

LeBlanc laughed “Oh yes, the bosses, your girlfriend’s term, yes? I imagine she’s plenty safe at the Laurels, Taka. You said they never go there either.”

“Yeah, but she goes looking for people. She’s got plenty of information; we should try to get a message to her, try and planning some actual action beyond ‘open the door and hope what we find inside doesn’t try to kill us,’ LeBlanc.” Taka asserted, though still with some timidness.

“You could just say you missed your girlfriend, birdbrain. I’d help you.” LeBlanc teased, earning a flustered puffing up of Taka’s feathers. “But you’re probably right. Strength in numbers and whatever. We should probably see if we can send messages that far into the city; I haven’t cracked the island-wide security network yet, but I’ve not really focused.” He reasoned. “You have any other questions, Cal? Otherwise I can show you what I’ve been working on, maybe get you to help call Taka’s girlfriend.”

~~

Roxxie was not the sort of girl who liked to be taken by surprise. Well, she might have been before all this, but too many times turning a corner to Clockwork flaying the skin of some poor shmuck, or running for her life when Bleachbones showed up had taken the surprise right out of her. She was tired, dedicated and resolute, but tired. So when someone tackled her to the ground to gain the upper hand, she was not quite prepared to freeze up and take whatever this psychopath was going to do to her.

So, she brought her knee up into his crotch and informed him, physically, of just how appreciative of his surprise she was. Her shotgun might have been knocked free of her hands, but sometimes a knee to the ground and a solid head-butt, which she quickly followed with, were enough to get your point across.

“Get off me you dumb motherfucker.” She practically roared, “Or I swear to God I’m going to shoot your ****ing face off.”

~~

“Well, I think it’s safer to assume that there are going to be more people here that can cause us harm. I mean, we haven’t intended harm towards one another, so not everyone will be. I mean, if we find your sister there should be no reason to expect her to shoot at us or anything.” Maccus replied “Right?” he added with a chuckle. “Still, we should be on our guard; I can’t shake the feeling we’re being watched. We have to be here for a reason.” He continued, seemingly convinced.

“We’ll just stick to trying to find your sister. We ought to either find a high-point in the city to look for her, or maybe if that doesn’t help we’ll head for the harbor. If we could find a map, we could see if there’s an airport or something. Well, we could fly up and check, but I don’t want to attract too much attention; we should stay low when moving.” He offered. “Sound good?”

~~

Buyou shook his head lightly “No Miss Maria, I don’t remember that much.” He explained. “I sort of remember something… a fight. I like to fight, usually, but this time was bad. I was angry, da?” he looked a little distant, his brow furrowing in frustration. “I don’t like being angry.”

Buyou sat up a bit more and hung his feet of the bed, swinging his legs slightly. “I just feel like… stuffed up, da? Not have to sneeze, just whole body feels like it was empty, and it’s dried out.” He tried to explain. “Da, I could probably say better in Russian. I know Spanish, but is worse than my English, da?” he offered.

“Miss Roxxie’s been gone a while. What did she go looking for?”

Yosarin grunted in pain when she kneed him in the crotch and then delivered quite the headbutt to his forehead. She had knocked him off for a moment, but he pinned her down again. Had he been in a different situation, he probably would have taken the threat a little more seriously. Looking into her eyes, she wasn’t at all what he had expected to be waiting for him. Or rather, he wasn’t expecting a female to be lurking around… And that being said it wasn’t that he didn’t believe she would shoot him but her shotgun was just barely out of her reach and he wouldn’t let her get to it. So in a sense, the threat could be made idle; he had the upper hand so he would make sure he remained safe.

“My, what a temper you have! I like my women violent…” He chuckled through clenched teeth as he shook his head. He was still recovering from the minor beating she had given him. He also noticed that the pain in his chest was back again, which was not fun. “You want me to let you up? Unfortunately I can’t do that, miss.” He held his dagger closer to her throat, tilting it so she could see the words written carefully upon the blade in blood. “You see, I woke up in a dirty ass room and my head’s still pounding.” In this situation, Yosarin didn’t care that he probably seemed like some psycho, he just wanted answers and had a feeling she could give him what he wanted. One way or another. He wasn’t one for forcing anything out of someone, he didn’t have it in him for cruel interrogation, but like her he wasn’t in the mood for ****ing around. “So if you’ll be so kind, miss, I’d like to know exactly how I got here. No bullshit, either, understand?”

Surely she was working for someone; he wondered if she was some grunt told to keep watch over him and make sure he didn’t leave that room. A horrible feeling rose in his gut just then. He wasn’t sure why that feeling hit him, but he suddenly felt the sudden urge to vomit, partially from nerves. This was a stressful situation and he was confused as all hell. And he would be lying if he said it took no effort to jump out at her, it was actually a bit of a test of courage on his part. Nevertheless, Yosarin remained strong, “Or I could just kill you here and now and find answers some other way, but that might be a bad idea considering you’re my only lead right now.”

He tried to sound as intimidating as he possibly could, but the confusion and the fact he was scared was much too great to hold back even for a second. If anything he felt like he sounded like some sort of joke. A petty thug looking to get in her pants even, someone not to be taken seriously, even if he was being as serious as he could. Yup, this looked like a place such a pest would loiter, lurking, waiting for the right moment to strike. On the other hand, he was just relieved to find a sign of life. A small part of him did feel bad for starling her like that, but it was better that he did lest he end up having his face blown off either way. Then again if she did blast his face off then he wouldn’t have to be here anymore now would he…

No. He wouldn’t think like that, he knew better. Tossing that thought aside, Yosarin hoped he would find out what the hell was going on here.

_________________

Carlos rubbed his shoulder as he listened to the dragon's speech. "Uh-huh." he murmured with another small nod. He blinked a couple times, looking around curiously as to where he had landed. They seemed to be in a small park-like area, which explained the trees and bushes where that mouse had most likely run off towards. Carlos ran his fingers through his hair and glanced over his shoulder know, towards the streets and buildings.
"This place seems so empty though." Carlos mused. "I know we can't be the only ones...but if we aren't...where are the others?" Carlos asked curiously, as he stood up. "How can I be sure that my sister is even here?" he asked, aloud but more to himself as his hand crept towards the pocket with his wallet. If she even was his sister...A small throb worked it's way into his mind and Carlos growled lightly. It was annoying him that he couldn't remember anything; especially something as important as a sister.

"Traveling the streets might be safer." Carlos agreed. "If anything, I can scout ahead. I'll make a smaller flying target at any rate. If someone is watching us though, I hope it's not that Horseman again. I'd rather not have another run-in with him any time soon." Carlos said, shaking his head. He glanced around curiously then, and seeing lights off in the distance, figured that might be a more populated part of the city. "If there's a harbor, it'll be at one end of a city no?" Carlos said, pointing over to the lights and building not too far off.


-----------

Maria smiled politely at Buyou. "I know how you feel. Can't remember much either." she said with a nod.
"Roxxie said that's normal though. For us to not remember." She said before glancing over her shoulder, as if hearing something. Maria tilted her head curiously. The soft tilt triggered a muscle memory, and Maria suddenly heard many things much more clearly. She held up a hand softly to ask Buyou to be quiet.
"She went upstairs a moment." Maria murmured, though it was more of a whisper. The noises from upstairs stopped. But now, Maria could hear muffled voices, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. A weird feeling in her gut was telling her to go check it out, see if Roxxie was alright.
"I'll be right back." Maria murmured, somewhat distantly as she left the kitchen. Her hurried strides lightened, and Maria found herself back in her small bird form. She flew up the stairs easily. She couldn't see that well, but her hearing was spot on. She heard a threat, but it wasn't Roxxie's voice.

Being small, Maria could keep to the shadows, and she landed on a doorway to keep quiet when she spotted the guy talking, pinning Roxxie down. Was that a knife? Where was Roxxie's gun? Hadn't she come up with one? Spotting it, Maria dived for it, changing forms in the process. She rolled, picking it up and kneeling to face the duo. She was only half surprised to find that she knew exactly how to wield the shot gun, and she coked it back quickly.

"Move slowly off her, and I won't bast your brains out. Comprende?" Maria said, her voice as steady as the gun in her hands. "And keep the knife where I can see it." Maria added, eyeing the blade for a moment before looking back at the creep on top of Roxxie.

_________________

γνῶθι σεαυτόν.

Edward casually walked down the empty street, hands in his pockets and in no rush. His mind, however, was spinning like a steroid pumping hamster on a wheel, as he tried to make sense of his current dilemna.
"Have a great night, and welcome, again, to Ivy City." that damn voice recited.
"Oh yeah, great night." Edward said sarcastically to no one in particular. "Moon's out, there's a calm breeze wafting the gentle aroma of rust and asphalt, and I have no ****ing idea where I am!" He threw a wild kick at a nearby dumpster, denting it's side, and jamming his foot. He angrily yanked his foot free, taking a moment to curse out the dumpster until he was sure it had a thorough understanding of how he felt. Turning back towards the street, he continued his walk, the throbbing pain in his shin numbed by stubborn, bitter rage.
"Why do I always end up knee deep in some deep ****?" he lamented. "I mean, it' not as if-"
He stopped suddenly, hearing a distant, muffled collection of sounds. Shutting his eyes, he listened intently. It could be... something. Anything. But a noise was more than he'd heard since he'd woken. He opened his eyes and turned in the general direction of the source. Just another line of storefronts. Hold on, a large marquee in front of one stood out in the dark, empty city. The Fort. It looked like a bar. Edward turned and headed down the street towards the sign. Maybe there was someone there who had more than the vague understanding of this place he had. If not, he might be lucky enough to find a nice lager to lighten the mood.
As Edward walked over to the entrance and reached for the knob, his mind suddenly locked, his thought processes coming to a screeching halt. Suddenly he couldn't even approach the mere thought of opening that door, let alone stepping inside.
"****." he muttered, stepping away and letting the feeling flush out of him. This was someone's home. He turned and leaned his ear flat against the wall, covering his other ear, and giving the wall a solid knock. The sound sent a wave running across the side of the building and into it's depths. In his mind's eye, Edward could see the front of the bar in varying detail. He could see there was a faint heartbeat in an area that could have been a kitchen or a pantry, three heartbeats and an angry voice above, and the sound of a gun being cocked. Edward frowned with concentration but couldn't make out what was being said. He turned with a sigh and leaned against the wall.
"I hate waiting." he said contemptuously. But, there was nothing to be done. It was either wait or wander, and quite frankly, Edward couldn't decide which he hated more.