"They've been gone for hours. Where could they be?" Tezaro marched in angry strides across the alley of a floating city block. The fact that it gingerly swayed with the water current, didn't deter his steps or momentum.

Crown Guard was split into land and sea quarters. Homes, livestock, and smithies hugged the mountainside near the cascading falls and castle complex, while all other business ventures from the docks, taverns, and the markets drifted on the bay. 

Starlight glinted off the water in hundreds of sparkles and salt clung in the crisp air. Not that Tezaro noticed as he stomped from plank to plank, with one task in mind.

It was well into the night, and the last that had been seen of Eri and Aurora was hours before the markets closed. Master Owen, not wearing his usual mage robes as he found them likely to snag in wayward planks, but olive pants and a long linen tunic to ward off the moisture in the air, followed Tezaro closely behind. Unlike Tezaro, who wore travel leathers and didn't seem to mind the chill in the air against his exposed arms, Master Owen gathered his cloak around him.

They made their way from one floating block to another across the maze of gang planks. Deeper into the heart of the city they went, to the parts frequented not by reputable folk, but a rougher crowd. He kept walking with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Begrudgingly, he admitted, there was a minor comfort in knowing that Aurora had agreed to Eri as her guard. He would have considered them having gotten lost, except Eri knew Crown Guard well. All too well if he remembered. Which was precisely why he was worried.

Master Owen continued to trail behind him, "They are somewhere in this part of the quarter. I can sense it."

Tezaro's outstretched arm stopped Owen mid step. "Shhh. Listen." Loud ruckus chanting drifted through the muggy night air. The voices were sluggish and muddled. Master Owen nodded and they continued to walk down the empty 'streets.' The shouting increased as they got closer to its source.

It was the 'Three Ships' tavern, a popular destination for merchants, swindlers, thieves, and sailors. The tavern boasted of twenty-six different ales which provided the explanation why its clientele didn't mind the lack of a fireplace or clean tables.

"Do you suppose Eri brought her here, of all places?"

"Have you met my sister?" Master Owen deadpanned.

They entered the tavern brimming with drunken patrons. They'd frequented taverns often enough in their younger years to know what to expect. However, the scene before them shocked in place.

It wasn't the loud mouth singing of rowdy drunkards spilling half their drink or the stench of unwashed bodies that slowly reached the eyes and stung. It wasn't even the fact that the whole room was for some inexplicable reason spelling out bananas.

It was Aurora standing on a make shift stage. There were what he would loosely call musicians with two skin drums, a lute and a contrabassoon. Aurora, whose brown and golden hair hung loosely in slight disarray, was leading the crowd singing while Eri held a pint of ale in each hand, egging her on.

"One more time! It's bananas!" And the crowd followed her lead. "B-A-N..." In their excitement someone bumped into Tezaro's back and leaned on his shoulder for support. And without missing a beat the portly drunkard shouted, "-A-N-A-S!"

That finally brought Tezaro and Master Owen out of their immobile state of shock and rushed over to Eri. "What is going on!?" Tezaro demanded as he pulled Eri to the side while Aurora continued to caterwaul.

"Brodder! Tezaro! Whatta yur doin' here?"

"Answer the question Eri." Her brother ordered.

"A'ight fine. What was the question?" She leaned in conspiratorially.

"What is going on?" Tezaro's face formed a grim line.

"Oh! That's easy." She smiled at the simplicity of the request. "Apparently this ish some ri-ritualish-tic ceremony called karaoke. It requires audience participation." Eri smiled then stepped around them lifting her mugs and enthusiastically shouted, "It's bananas!"

Owen pulled her back. "This isn't safe. These men are drunk."

Eri blinked. "Whatta you mean it isn't safe? I've got my blades," she wiggled her hips to show them hanging off her belt. "Besides, we've been here the past thr-three nights and ev-every thing's been fi-fine." She sloppily patted Owen's face with assurance.

"What?!" Both Tezaro and Owen bellowed.

Owen took a step back and shook his head. "Why am I even surprised." He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Well, it started off as a little distraction for Aurora to practice with a friendly, very friendly, game of disk throwing against some of these boys." Eri shrugged her shoulders, "and a side wager."

"You swindled them." Her brother concluded.

"And you sound just like Tenzi, but I introduced him to these," she swayed her blades, "and all was forgodden. We're good friends now." Eri rocked on her heels and turned back to Aurora, seeing that all was well she faced her brother again.

"C'mon brodder. Have a liddle drink with us. Even your precious mage sen-sensibilities can handle one, aye?" Owen turned and grimaced from his sister's breath. This was not the first time they had witnessed Eri being drunk. Although she was acting differently.

"I'm putting a stop to this." Tezaro made to grab Aurora who was still oblivious to his presence. In the blink of an eye Eri sobered, and shoved him back with her mugs sloshing against his chest.

"Owen keep an eye on her." Eri ordered her brother.

"You're not drunk." Tezaro observed as he let her led him away.

"Of course not. I'm keeping an eye on her. But seeing me drunk relaxes her. Anyway, it takes more than a few drinks to get me sloshed." She took a long swig of her ale.

"How many have you had?"

"Not enough." She took another long gulp. "She cannot sing, can she?"

Tezaro crossed his arms and did not answer. "How many has she had?"

Eri scrunched her face trying to recall. "No more than a few pints. She tends to spill. Maybe three ...or eight." She could tell he was about to explode. "Listen. The girl is wound up tighter than you. And that's saying a lot. She needs to let off some steam. Right now, you do not get to be her judge."

"I was not—"

"Liar. It's not like you found us at the 'Once A Maiden'." She shifted the mugs to one hand and punched his arm playfully.

"Eri," if his tone didn't convey his displeasure, his cold stare did, "that is a brothel."

Nonetheless, it held no effect on Eri. "Exactly." She moved on to her point. "Her whole world had tilted on its axis. She's trying to make sense of it all. She's frightened and lost."

"She's confided in you, too." Tezaro didn't try to hide his frustration at being left out.

"No. She has not said anything to me. What has she told you?" She'd assumed he knew.

"She's not confided me."

"Then who?" Eri's brows furrowed taken aback.

He jutted his chin at her dearest brother and his oldest friend.

She turned to her brother then back at Tezaro and smirked. "Are you jealous?" Eri cackled, "Ha! Ha! Ha! You idiot. You just have to look at her to know. Really look at her. She is not in need of a judgmental prick. What she needs is a friend."

"What she needs is to be back at the palace where it's safe. Eri, if the people knew who she is—'

"They'd love her more for it. Tezaro, be her friend not her protector." Her voice, for once, was gentle.

He sighed and Eri knew he had given in. "What should I do?"

"Be there for her. In whatever way that means."

A/N: Hi all! I decided to divide this scene in two chapters after all.  Chapter 10 will be up later this weekend so you won't suffer long. Yay! 

Anyone excited to see the gang all together? 

Did anyone figure out what song Aurora was belting out?

More to come in the next chapter!  Please vote or comment as a sign of your support.