<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/2yxkRCf.jpg)<br/><div align="center"><em>Akira Musashi</em></div></div><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;">The boat creaked. A shadow passed overhead, belonging to a bridge connected to The Octant. A distant, authoritative voice shouted:<br/><br/><em>Listen ‘ear! The Maelstrom and otha’ Grand Companies be lookin’ fer some strong adventurers willin’ t’brave the Dravanian Forelands. Ye’ll be riskin’ yer life, which is why Admiral Bloefhiswyn don’t want any yellow bellies on ‘er crew!</em><br/><br/><em>Or Yellow Jackets!</em> came a spectator.<br/><br/>The crowd roared with scoffing laughter before the Yellow Jacket roared: <em>Shut it! This is serious business! Ye be protectin’ all ov’ Hydaelyn!</em><br/><br/>Dark brows knitted once the shadow passed, dumping the morning sunlight back onto the man’s face. His eyes cracked open and peering up at the towering rock structure, which held The Octant.<br/><br/><em>Holy shit…I’m still alive?</em> the Hyur mused.<br/><br/>There was a headache sitting on his forehead and his insides were bloated with last night’s festivities. Last night had been a night to remember. His fishing had paid off and he had been able to spend his gil dining at The Bismarck. He had eaten so much megalocrab that he thought he would burst and drank the sea in booze. How he had managed to return to his boat? He had no idea. He didn’t remember a damn thing.<br/><br/>“Ugh…” the fisherman groaned as he sluggishly started to turn over onto his side. Resting his hands upon the belly of the boat, he started to sit up and the pinched pressure between his lower ribs and hip bone had hit the right spot. All the pent up pressure was released in a hard and long flatulence that had been so relieving that it made him forget all about his headache. Fanning his behind, Akira grinned pleasantly as he thought aloud to himself, “Fuck that was horrible. Lucky nobody was here to hear-”<br/><br/>He paused in his fanning when his little row boat happened to drift by a Lalafell standing on a dock. Her mouth was hanging open before a green scoop of seaweed and sea salt ice cream. She was staring at Akira in horror, and the fisherman shamelessly turned the other cheek. “You act like you’ve never seen someone fart before.”<br/><br/>He blinked when the Lalafell suddenly ran away and he scowled. <em>She better not be running to tell the Yellow Jackets.</em><br/><br/>As far as he knew there wasn’t a law about farting in public—not that he cared. Akira sat up in his boat and crossed his arms behind his head. He stretched his limbs until they popped and then uncrossed his arms, tilting his head left and right. Sighing, he glanced around his boat for his water jug and popped the cork on it to take a few swills. The alcohol had dried his throat and that hadn’t been the only thing it did.<br/><br/>Three Yellow Jackets actually did show up to the dock, searching the water for a fisherman and a boat. He was a few meters down the river by the time they noticed him and they quickly ran along the road to catch up to him.<br/><br/>“Hey!” one of the Jackets yelled.<br/><br/>Akira glanced up at the three Yellow Jackets who were following him on land. <em>You got to be kidding me.</em><br/><br/>“Are ye the bloke who sexually accosted thar’ Lalafell woman?” they asked.<br/><br/>Akira arched a brow. “Sexually? Look, pal, I’m not into what she’s into, but she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”<br/><br/>One of the Yellow Jackets muttered, “He nae be from around these parts.”<br/><br/>“A foreigner?”<br/><br/>The Yellow Jacket that addressed Akira blinked in confusion when he noticed him sitting kind of funny at the edge of his boat. He couldn’t quite figure it out.<br/><br/>“What…are ye doin’?”<br/><br/>Akira had his forearms resting comfortably on his knees, and his pants were oddly baggy about the calves. He replied plainly, “Returning the megalocrab to the sea.”<br/><br/>The Yellow Jackets stared blankly at him as he drifted further and further away. The one Jacket finally then realized what he was doing.<br/><br/>“Ye shyttin’ in the river?!”<br/><br/>“What did you think I was saying? Besides, I haven’t seen any toilets in this country since I’ve been here—<em>at least none I didn’t have to pay for.</em>”<br/><br/>“Ye cannae do that! It be a 3,000 gil fine!”<br/><br/>Akira reached into his pants pocket, removed the only piece of gil he had since he had blown his entire coin pouch last night and flicked it over to the Yellow Jacket. The Yellow Jacket snatched the coin out of the air and opened his hand to gaze stupidly at it.<br/><br/>“1 measily gil!?”<br/><br/>“It’s all I got.”<br/><br/>“Next time ye come on land we’re arrestin’ ye!”<br/><br/>Akira crossed his arms before his chest and nodded. “<em>Hai. Wakatta.</em> Until next time.”<br/><br/>“Bastard!” the Roegadyn roared.<br/><br/>“We could jus’ swim out there and get’im,” said one of the Jackets.<br/><br/>“I ain’t swimmin’ in that cesspool!”<br/><br/>Akira smirked as he left the Yellow Jackets bickering on land. He had to admit that he was in a mild predicament with being broke and having an arrest warrant on him. He could remain at sea fishing, but eventually he would have to return to land to sell the fish. The fisherman then recalled the voices he heard about The Octant. The Maelstrom were looking for adventurers. The service couldn’t have been free if it was extremely dangerous.<br/><br/>“Hmm…” Akira mused. He smelled an opportunity to make lots of gil, and it didn’t smell like poo!<br/><br/>With an ingenious disguise, the mask of a Chocobo Porter (http://i.imgur.com/CDXzSsS.jpg), Akira stood among a crowd of pirates, bandits, adventurers, and other scumbags. There were three red Maelstrom Officers silently standing among two Yellow Jackets who were exclaiming a little bit about the details of the mission, but still didn’t go into further detail. Of course. They were only trying to bait them. Instead, they received only scoffs:<br/><br/>“You want me to risk me life when the odds ov’ survival are already against me upon joinin’. Whatta’ load ov’ tosh!”<br/><br/>“Even if we did join, ye’d put us in jail afterwards!” a pirate shouted.<br/><br/>There was much shouting and roaring until slowly the crowd started to disperse, leaving behind a fisherman wearing a Chocobo mask, and a Elezen girl. The Elezen girl looked around surprised that everyone left. The mission did sound dangerous, but she knew that if she wanted to grow stronger as a Scholar that she needed to take such a risk. Astrelle stepped forward and with her hands clenched into determined fists, she told the red soldiers:<br/><br/><strong>“I’ll do it.”</strong><br/><br/>One of the Maelstrom soldiers asked: “Name?”<br/><br/><strong>“Astrelle Liehogins.”</strong><br/><br/>“Liehogins? Like, Professor Liehogins?” one of the soldiers recognized.<br/><br/>Astrelle blushed a little. <strong>“Um…which one?”</strong><br/><br/>“My mate was taught by Professor Esionelle Liehogins.”<br/><br/><strong>“She’s my mother.”</strong><br/><br/>“Oh! You look just like her too.”<br/><br/>Astrelle bowed her head in embarrassment. She couldn’t believe that she was compared to her. Her mother was…well..that was a whole another story.<br/><br/>“Stop embarrassing her,” said the other officer. “Bein’ the daughter of one of high repute, ye skills must be unmatched.”<br/><br/>The one officer narrowed his eyes at the other officer. <em>I thought you said don’t embarrass her.</em><br/><br/>Astrelle nodded and explained sheepishly, <strong>“Well, I do study hard…”</strong><br/><br/>Eos appeared twirling into the air. <strong>“She’s the top of her class!”</strong><br/><br/><strong>“The best!”</strong> Selene also cheered.<br/><br/>The Maelstrom officers noted the two fairies and nodded their heads in approval.<br/><br/>“Welcome aboard Miss Liehogins. The Maelstrom will be more than ‘onored t‘ave ye.”<br/><br/><strong>“Thank you!”</strong> Astrelle said with a delighted smile.<br/><br/>“This way, m’lady.”<br/><br/>As the Elezen girl was escorted off. The Maelstrom officers looked back at the lone Chocobo Porter? Or was he a fisherman?<br/><br/>“What do ye want?” one of the officers asked coldly.<br/><br/>Akira just about froze over from it. Recovering, he explained, “I heard you were looking for adventurers.”<br/><br/>The officers stared at him.<br/><br/>“……I’m here to…help the cause?” Akira clarified.<br/><br/>The officers snickered before erupting with laughter. Astrelle stopped to gaze back at the gaggle of officers who were laughing at the man. She didn’t really blame them. He did look silly with that Chocobo mask, but it was still disrespectful of them.<br/><br/>“What are ye supposed t’be any way?” one of the officers asked.<br/><br/>“I’m a fisherman. I’m pretty good with a sword though,” Akira replied.<br/><br/>“’Ow good is pretty good?”<br/><br/>The Chocobo Porter (or whoever the hell he was) reached behind his back to grasp the fishing rod that had been slung behind him. He brought the rod before the three officers, gripping it two-handed like he would a sword. The officers snickered, covering their mouths with their hands to try and keep from ruining his concentration. The next action happened so quick that the officers only felt a small breeze. They watched the Chocobo Fisherman return the rod behind him unsure what happened.<br/><br/>“…was that it?” one of the officers asked.<br/><br/>The Yellow Jackets and The Maelstrom officers grasped their sides as they threw their heads back in laughter. Amidst their mirth, the pants of the three officers dropped heavily to the floor, instantly changing their laughter with shouts of embarrassment and fright. As the officers scrambled to pick up their pants, the Yellow Jackets stared speechlessly at the Chocobo Warrior.<br/><br/>“He just cut their pants off wit’ a fishin’ rod,” one of the Yellow Jackets muttered in awe.<br/><br/>Even Astrelle was staring in awe, while Eos and Selene were rolling through the air in laughter.<br/><br/>Blushing in anger and embarrassment one of the officers growled, “There’s no way we’re hirin’ that bastard! Go back to chocobo breedin’ or fishin’ or whatever it is the 'ell you do!”<br/><br/><strong>“Wait a second!”</strong> Astrelle yelled as she stormed over. <strong>“What has this man done but prove to you his skill? He did it with but a fishing rod. Imagine if he had an actual blade? I think his skills would be invaluable to The Maelstrom and Admiral Bloefhiswyn.”</strong><br/><br/>Akira looked over at the Elezen. He found it odd that she would bother with a stranger. Suddenly a fairy was before his face, cheesing at him.<br/><br/><strong>“That was great!”</strong> Selene praised. She then held up her tiny hand in a high five.<br/><br/>Akira slowly held up his hand as Selene clapped her tiny hand against his palm. That was the first time he had ever high-fived a fairy. Eos then flew over to grab Selene by the wrist and dragged her back over to Astrelle.<br/><br/><strong>“Sorry if she bothered you,”</strong> the fairy apologized.<br/><br/>The officers were clearly unhappy as they crossed their arms before their chests and frowned. There was a moment of silence before one of the officers demanded:<br/><br/>“Let me see your face.”<br/><br/>Akira frowned a little behind his mask, but then he figured his misdeed couldn’t have passed around that fast. Opening the mouth of the mask so they could at least see that he was Hyur, he waited for them to get a satisfying glance before closing the mouth.<br/><br/>“State your name.”<br/><br/>“Musashi Akira.”<br/><br/>One of the officers arched a brow. “Hingashi…Ye be from there?”<br/><br/>“I was born there.”<br/><br/>“He’ll do.”<br/><br/>Astrelle smiled. Happy that the ordeal was settled peacefully.<br/><br/><strong>“Yay!”</strong> Selene celebrated.<br/><br/><strong>“Why are you happy?”</strong> Eos asked.<br/><br/>Selene grinned. <strong>“He’s gonna be funny. I like funny folk!”</strong><br/><br/>Astrelle turned back to the officer who had been escorting her. Akira sighed in relief. Now he could escape this place. He followed after the Elezen female and the officer.</span>