((As it has much more than 24 hours since my last post, I am posting again! ))

True Justice

You could see them just above the horizon: white sails, like clouds billowing in the wind at the edge of the water. The day the ships came in was always exciting in Griande. Traders waited at the docks like hawks for the prime merchandise recently fetched from foreign waters. The whole town waited for news of the world. Griande was small, but the wealth and knowledge brought in by the ships more than made up for that.

Closer, closer...there! The first ship cast anchor into the blue waters of the harbor. If you looked at her side, you could see her name: The San Peregrino. Handsome lad of a ship, that was. The boats from the ship were launched and slowly made their way into the harbor, excited to be the first ashore, to feel the land again and to be the popular ones about town because of their news.

But no one was at the dock. Stragglers wandered here and there, yes. But the crowd? Nowhere to be found.

A dark haired bo'sun named Adrian made the jump from the ship to the crags around the dock and dragged her to good mooring with a strong rope. Though busy with his duties, he couldn't help looking around a bit. This was strange. Where was everyone?

The other three sailors clambered out of the ship and made her fast. Adrian could hear them expressing his exact thoughts. "This is a washout, mates," He said, looking about as if the whole town must be hiding behind a rock, like they absolutely had to be there somewhere.

The navigator, Josan, stepped over next to Adrian. "Aye. Where could they be, do you think? We fired the cannon thrice, just like at every coming. They couldn't have missed it."

Adrian moved to intercept a passerby, a young girl of about twelve who seemed in a hurry to get somewhere. "Excuse me. D'you have any idea where everyone is?"

The girl tittered and turned pink.

"It's just that there's usually a crowd here to meet us." Adrian said.

"You're just in from the sea then?" The girl asked.

Adrian wanted to roll his eyes, but didn't. Some landsfolk just didn't notice what was right in front of them. For example, an entire ship and threeshot from a cannon. "Yes, we are at that."

"People aren't here because a traitor was just arrested. They've just taken her away." A smile lit up her face. "You might be able to catch the last bits of fun, if you hurry! I'd better go." With that, she scampered off.

Adrian frowned. A traitor in Griande? Who?

Josan had followed Adrian and listened in on the whole thing. "Seems we'd do well to figure out what's passed since we've been gone, eh?"

"Yes. Yes, we would." said Adrian. They explained to the other sailors and the four were on their way to the center of town.

True Justice

The day was extremely hot, so much so that Shay O'Teale slipped out of her jacket. The heat was making her unusually cranky, not to mention the crowds of people that were crammed into every street. She grunted in frustration as she squeezed between all the people, trying to get past. Apparently, a traitor had been arrested. Shay didn't care about a traitor, whoever it might be. Not today.

She finally made it to the street she called home for portions of the year when she wasn't traveling. The shop was small and quaint, with two rooms above it. Shay rented one of the rooms to live in when the shop owner had work for her to do at his store. When he didn't, she went elsewhere. She was a professional wanderer, going from town to town to try to find odd jobs to make a living. It didn't give her much money, but at least it kept her alive.

"Riley." She nodded to the shop owner as soon as she entered. The man was young, having taken over the shop when his father died.

"Shay. Good to see you."

Shay didn't have time for small-talk. "I need to know if you'll have work for me to do. Otherwise, I need to start packing."

"I don't think I can give you work this month. I'm sorry. Business has been so slow..."

Shay nodded. "I understand."

"Maybe you could try the capital? I understand they have many jobs to do there."

"Yeah, maybe." Shay shrugged. "Thanks."

She climbed the stairs up to her room to start packing.

True Justice

Gracilee Johnson crouched down farther in the corner of her father's cell, squinched her eyes shut and tried not to breathe. The prison guard was doing his rounds again. Grace, as she was called, knew that it was best if the man didn't see you. If he didn't see you, he couldn't yell at you or hit you. If he didn't see you, you would be alright for another day. If he did see you, you could end up spending the rest of the week lying on your back in your cell.

"It's okay, Grace." her father murmured to her from his position in the other corner of their cell. But Grace knew that it was not okay; she knew, her father knew, and she knew that her father knew. In this place, he could not protect her.

Fortunately for them, the guard passed them without a word. As the distance between the guard and herself increased, Grace ventured to open her eyes and peek at him. He was awfully quiet today; so far he had not yelled at one prisoner. Grace wondered at this. He seemed preoccupied, too. Something must be going on in The World Outside, as Grace called free life. Yet again, she could not know. Yet again, she could not be a part of what took place outside of her 12' by 12' cell. Yet again, she felt so alone. She began to cry and her father came over to her. The doors on the other end of the hall slammed shut and Grace's father breathed more easily; the guard was gone, he would not come back until tomorrow. But Grace sobbed and held tight to her father as he cradled her in his weak arms, arms that had used to be so strong, arms that had never killed anybody, had never even hurt anybody, and yet the man who held his ten-year-old daughter was in jail, accused of a murder that he didn't commit. He kissed his only child, his only living relative, on the top of her dirty-blond hair and sighed. She was all that he had left, and he could do nothing to ensure her safety, to make sure he could keep even her. He was helpless.

True Justice

Cold, damp darkness. The floor was hard and wet. The air was like poison, and stung when breathed into the lungs. Nothing could be seen in the pitch blackness. Suddenly there was seen a small flicker appearing in the center of the room. A candle, blowing in the breeze that came in through the barred window, fought to stay lit.

"Come to me, Daia," said the woman holding the candle - a young woman, but one who looked much older than her true age. Her face was wrinkled from worry and fear. Much of her hair was missing. Her skin was covered in scars and bruises.

At her beckon, young Daia came forth. She was a very small, thin girl, with light blond hair, and beautiful but fearful blue eyes. She also had many bruises, scars, and even cuts. Being only twelve, Daia had not gotten as many beatings as some of the other servants at the prison. At least not yet.

"Yes, Aia?"

Aia placed the candle-holder on a small wooden table nearby. "One of the servants was killed last night. He was murdered by a guard."

Daia nodded. "I saw it. I was hiding behind the corner wall and they didn't know I could hear them." She added quickly - They didn't catch me!"

"Good," Aia answered, eyeing her suspiciously. Ever since Daia's mother - a prisoner - had died, leaving little Daia to die alone in the cell, Aia had taken her in as her own daughter. The guards hadn't known. And though it was against the rules, the servant-woman could not be so cruel as to leave the baby to starve. She could not be as cruel as the jailkeepers. So Aia was Daia's "pretend mother". But a very stern mother. Not all of Daia's scars and brusies were from the jailer's mistreatment.

"That servant was the one I had assigned to care for Gracilee - the young one. You must take her place." She thrusted an old piece of moldy bread into Daia's hands. "I stole this from Brinca when she was asleep. Hurry. Go to the girl and give this to her. It's likely the only meal she's going to get. Perhaps with your kindness will be a light to her, when all else is darkness."

Daia nodded and ran off.

~Riella

True Justice

Shay's room was unbearably hot, and the fact that she was working hard to pack made it worse. Not that she had much to pack anyway, but the heat seemed to smother her, making the job twice as difficult. Halfway through, Shay gave up and headed downstairs. The reason? Her stomach was complaining. Loudly.

"You don't happen to have anything to eat, do you?" She asked Riley, nodding to the crowd of people outside. "I'd rather not risk my neck if I can help it."

"Um, yeah. I do have something to eat. This is a mercantile after all." Riley looked amused.

"Of course. I knew that." Shay was mildly irritated. "So, can I buy something?"

"If you have money, you can. But as a matter of fact, I'm closing up shop."

"Why?!"

"Take a look outside, Shay. There's not going to be any business today."

Shay grabbed a bag of beef jerky. "Please, Riley. I'll just purchase this and we'll be done with it."

Riley took another anxious glance outside. "Okay, but hurry. I want to see who the traitor is."

Shay handed him a coin, placing the beef jerky on the counter. "Traitor? There have been so many of them these days. I'm starting to lose interest."

"Still. It might be worth it. It might be someone you know."

Shay considered this. She was sort of curious... but as far as knowing the said traitor? She doubted it.

"That's true," she finally decided to say. Riley handed her a pile of coins as her change, as well as the jerky. "Thanks."

"No problem. Now, this shop is closed."

"You forget I live here."

"Maybe so, but if you had any compassion at all you'd be out there too, trying to figure out who the traitor is."

"Compassion? It's a traitor to the government. I highly doubt that whoever it is needs compassion."

"Whoever it is, Shay, it's a human being. That deserves compassion in and of itself."

Shay shrugged and picked up her beef jerky. "I guess so."

"Now, I need to close up. You can stay in your room if you like, but not down here."

Shay grimaced. Her room was way too hot for that.

"You obviously have no compassion either. It's sweltering hot!" she protested.

"Well, what better reason to go out and feel the sweet sea air on your cheeks?" Riley grinned maddeningly, and Shay scowled.

"Fine, if you insist." Shay took the burlap bag of jerky and whisked out of the shop.

Grace closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Her father's even breathing could already be heard on the other side of the cell, but she could not allow herself to drift off into slumber. Usually she could sleep. The more she slept, the less she had to feel. The less she felt, the less hurt she experienced from being locked up, beaten, yelled at, spat at and half-starved. Her stomach growled and she sighed, knowing that no one would come by to feed her. She had been one of the prisoners who had eaten that morning. Tonight, some prisoners would eat- the ones who hadn't eaten this morning. They would eat tomorrow morning, and it would be her turn to eat again tomorrow night. One day she ate in the morning, the next at night. Unless the guard was feeling especially mean and decided he didn't want to bother feeding the prisoners that day. Grace had learned that it was best to save food when you got to eat in the morning. After all, you had just gotten to eat the night before, and then you would have to wait for over twenty-four hours until your next meal. She usually thought ahead and had something left to eat at night; a tiny chunk of bread perhaps, or half a small potato. But that morning's meal had been particularly small and Grace had eaten every crumb of it. Of course, she had still felt starved when she was done. But that was no different than usual. The only thing different was that she did not have a crumb to eat tonight, and so now it would be harder to sleep. She desperately wished for sleep so that hunger pain would go away, at least for a little while. Tomorrow would be hard. But night would be glorious, for then she would eat again, and sleep again. For at least a moment, she would not be starved and exhausted. And maybe they wouldn't beat her tomorrow. She could only hope.

Curling up into a tight ball, Grace sighed again and closed her eyes. If sleep would not come, it would not come. But she hoped it would come, and the only way to help sleep along was to be still, close her eyes. So she did.

True Justice

'Twas a beautiful day, just like it had been many times before in Griande. The summer sun was hot, and though unbearable in confined spots, it was lovely outside among the scented breezes of the port city. The dock wasn't bustling as it usually was...the residents attentions were all wrapped up in the shocking events of the day. Normally there were expectant crowds about to greet the sea-weary sailors, and ask them with earnest about the supplies and goods they had bought. But not today. The festivities were centered around the topic of betrayal, and the people were all down at another mooring staring out to sea at a ship, sailing away, that bore the emblem of Tierra.

Upon the ship, within the stifling confines of the holding cells in the belly of the vessel, Aeryn Rivera stood, staring out the small round window, carved into the ship. She saw the beautiful sails of a ship, coming into dock, and sighed, closing her eyes. " The San Peregrino" she whispered, leaning her head against the wood. "Adrian will be there...waiting for me." she swallowed, and clenched one hand into a sweaty fist.

She was the traitor the citizens of Griande had been talking of. She was the person who had committed the ghastly betrayal, in which she had been arrested for. But she had done nothing wrong....at least in her eyes. What crime was there in protecting your family? She knew not. Taking a breath, she gazed back out the port hole, watching the crew of the Peregrino go to shore. I'm here Adrian... she thought, pinching her eyes shut and sinking down to the floor.

Return of the Fountain Fellowship

Grace was hiding.

She would not admit it to herself, but she had run away and tucked herself into the smallest, most out of the way open room that she could find and was in there, trembling.

She'd been in there for hours, ever since she ran away from Ace. She was afraid because she didn't know what had happened to her. Earlier, while with Nix, she'd found him extremely attractive. She'd found it hard to talk, hard not to focus on Nix's face and how he looked in his labcoat. She'd found it impossible that he could do wrong.

Now she didn't know what to think. He was still attractive in her memory. The memory of him was wonderful and almost intoxicating, but ever since she had run away from that lab, her mind had cleared and she could think again, and she was left with a question: why had she reacted that way to Nix, and why had she found it so easy to trust him completely?

She hadn't talked with him about his personal life at all, but she had felt sure that he was perfect in every way and so had rebelled against Ace telling her that Nix had done something wrong. Why was that? Beyond that, she thought that she had lost the chance of a potential friend in yelling at Ace like that. She wouldn't usually have done anything of the sort. She was rational, she was...

Grace shivered, huddling next to the wall in the darkened office. She was afraid. She felt as though she had lost reason and rational thought when around Nix, and she didn't know why. Was this falling in love? If it was, she didn't like it.

---------

David began to check a row of offices all lined up along one of the hallways. They were empty for now and unlocked. They were even next to the science wing, so Grace could have hidden here. He tried not to get worried.

Ace moved along with David, checking the opposite side of the hallway they were walking down. These offices were temporary, used only when visiting officials or doctors needed somewhere to do work, or in the case that one of the other offices was unusable.

He punched the open buttons on each one as he passed, and glanced around the inside, then closed it again. As he moved to the next on his side, he thought he heard a noise from inside and thumbed the control switch. As soon as he glanced inside he saw her in the corner. She looked... frightened. "Dave... she's in here..." he said, waving his best friend over and stepping inside.

True Justice

The crowds thickened as Adrian got closer to the docks on the other side of town. Griande was a peninsula, surrounding on three sides by water, and she had four different harbors. It was just his luck that the San Peregrino's dock was just opposite to the one where all of the people were gathered.

"Excuse me, excuse me, make way, coming through!" called Adrian as he shouldered his way through the crowd, feeling a sense of something like urgency. For some reason, this capture of a traitor did not seem like the others. People around were whispering the latest gossip, but they would clap their mouths shut whenever he got near. They were shaking their heads and saying that it was such a shame, and she so young...but who? Sure, it was a shock that the traitor was a woman, but who? Someone related to him? A friend?

Then a thought occurred to him and his thoughts stopped dead in horror. What if it was...what if...

A great ship, a mercenary ship employed by the navy and flying Tierran colors, was on its way out of the harbor. She was in deep water now, too far to swim. Adrian looked around for Josan, but he'd lost his shipmate somewhere. How could he find out the traitor's identity if no one was willing to tell him? How could he know for sure?

"A right shame, that was. I heard she was from one of the oldest families in town." It was as if heaven had heard him. An old man who looked like he was in town for market was talking to him.

Adrian swallowed and managed to speak, "I've been at sea these past seven months. Who was it?"

"Why, the girl in the Rivera family. Aeryn." The man looked at Adrian's face, and what he saw there must have given him cause for concern. "Good Heavens, man. You look awful. Need some wine?" He held up a flask for Adrian to take.

Adrian waved it away. "No, no. I'm fine. Fine..."

Then he was stumbling, running far from those docks like a landsman on a ship for the first time.

True Justice

Terence wiped the sawdust from his rolled-up pants and exhaled. He dipped his hands into a bucket of water and began to whistle a random tune. Turning, he studied his handiwork on the ornate ship wheel, tilting his head this way and that. With a satisfied nod, he walked out of the shipyard and headed down the docks.

The smell of saltwater filled his nostrils. He liked the smell and look of the sea, but the though of the rocky motion made him grimace. Terence directed his path toward the mercantile. There were a few things he needed to purchase before he headed back to work.

News and gossip of the traitor reached his ears as he walked toward the center of town. Despite his curiosity, he didn't stop. He was on a tight schedule and he would hear about every detail some other time.

He reached for the door handle of the mercantile just as it opened and a pretty blonde woman quickly stepped out, colliding with him.

With an 'oof', he took a step back and reached out to steady her. "If only the ships I build would sail as fast as you do..."

((OOC: By the way, I'm talking about Shay. ))

True Justice

Shay reeled back in surprise as she collided with someone, a man she had never seen before in her life. She scowled up at him as he steadied her and made some remark about fast-sailing ships.

Her expression relaxed a little, but it was nowhere close to a smile. "Sorry about that, but first of all, I'm not a ship. And yes, I'm sailing fast. Doesn't everyone these days?" she quipped, wriggling out of his grasp.

True Justice

Terence shook his head, letting his hands fall to his side. "No, not everyone is." He pointed to the left at a young couple sitting on the wall of a fountain, each involved in each other and no one else. "They're not. And he's not." He pointed in the opposite direction at a large dog laying by the mercantile door.

"The question that remains now, is whether or not Riley is in a hurry?" Terence rubbed a hand across his stubbled jaw. He didn't block her path completely, but he didn't move aside to give her more space to walk past.

Grace opened her eyes and propped herself up on one elbow. She has been asleep. So it was possible to fall asleep on an empty stomach, after all. She sat up and yawned as she looked about the cell. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, bothering her...she looked around again and it hit her full in the face.

"Daddy? Daddy, where are you??"

He was gone. Elias Mitchel Johnson was gone. Grace stood up and pressed her face between the bars of the cell, her mind whirling to find some answers.

Her father being out of their cell was not good. They lived in their cell, leaving only twice a day to shuffle down a dark, dank hallway to a filthy bathroom. They are in their cell, drank in their cell, slept in their cell. There was no opportunity for exercise, even if their weak, starving bodies could have handled moving around more than was strictly necessary. The only time a prisoner left their cell was when they were going to be beaten, or-

"No!!" Grace held onto the bars and let her body slide down onto the cell floor. "No, no, no-no!!" It couldn't be. He was only being beaten. He would be back soon. He would be hurt, but soon he'd get better. He could not be gone for the other reason...

Execution. No, not her father. Not executed, not when they couldn't prove his guilt. He was innocent, innocent...

"No!!" Grace began to sob. She curled back up in her corner and wished again for the sleep that was her only refuge.

True Justice

Shay huffed impatiently. "Well, they might not be, but maybe I am. Maybe that's the way I like it." She folded her arms. "And yes, Riley's in a hurry. He wants to go see who the traitor is. The shop is already closed. It was all I could do to get a hold of this beef jerky." She waved the bag in his face. "So I doubt you'll be shopping there today. What do you need to buy anyway?"

There was a pause. She sighed as he realized he wasn't going to let her past.

True Justice

"What is all this fuss about a traitor? You meet them every day on the street. Why is this one any different?" Terence grabbed for the bag of beef jerky and held it in his strong hands. "Smells good. Maybe I'll grab a bag when I purchase my tools and other things today. Riley won't make a fuss about keeping the shop open a few minutes longer for an old friend. He only complains about blonde snippets like you."