"A sword?" Vivi asked again. "You lost a sword?"

The aging pirate, Balthazar she believed he said, nodded his head with a grunt. He didn't seem to pleased that he was having to clarify the situation again. "Yes, it was stolen from me. You seem like you have the talent for doing work that may involve some broken bones, namely for the person who took it from me. It was a cutlass. Fashioned from fine steel and with a pommel of silver. It's a very precious thing, a captain's sword, so I need it back"

Vivi crossed her arms. This seemed like it was going to be trickier than the captain supposed. A stolen item was already hard to track down given that the person who stole it typically does not want it found. Under these conditions, however, the situation was even worse for her. She didn't even know where she was going to start looking for a sword in a city with more sailors and adventurers than she could shake a stick at.

"Where did you last leave it?" She asked Balthazar.

"The Ruby Rat," He told her. "Just along the wharf. You can't miss it and some of my crew are still there, no doubt boozing and carousing before we set off again. But I need this done quick as you can. We're setting sail soon and I don't want to lose out on fine profits just because of a sword, no matter how important it may be."

A deadline. That would make things even harder. Vivi knew that a job like this would be time consuming, now she had to worry about managing every minute that she spent looking for the damn thing. She gave the captain a resigned nod. She would take the job. It might be the last one she ever did in Hargeon given the state of things at the time, but she would make sure it worked out in the end. After all, amassing a bit more to her fortune would prove beneficial in the long run and she certainly could use the time to work on her people skills. Negotiations...that could be an interesting talking point to pick up while she still has need of it.

Of course, it was going to take time. She didn't have any to waste. She left the captain at the docks while she moved up to the wharf. The dockside spaces were nothing more than hives filled with the chattering of sailors, pirates, brigands, and other sorts of seafaring folk. Vivi didn't understand their line of work very well. Staying on land always suited her. The most water she ever needed was a bath or a dip in a river. Going out on the open sea just seemed like it was asking for trouble. Where would you happen to go if something happened to the ship anyhow? At least on land she could run in any direction that would help her to escape.

The Ruby Rat was a pretty obvious institution of drunkenness too. While it blended in with much of the surrounding buildings, she recognized the sign from a mile away. Someone took a great deal of care in ensuring that it was polished and well hung too. At least there's someone in this dingy district who has a bit of class about them rather than being so drunk that climbing a ladder would most certainly lead to a snapped neck. Hell, that may very well be the most common cause of death in a place like this.

She didn't so much sneak into the bar as she did avoid as much attention as she could. Not easy with how large she was, she always tended to stand out. But putting her head down and sticking to the corners usually worked for her. Spotting Balthazar's crew was about as easy as she could ask for too, they wore clothes which seemed to have the same insignia as his flag. But she could tell they were in a different sort of state than she would have liked. One was passed out, two more were singing, and three were clearly laughing loud enough that it was obvious they were drunk. Still, she steeled her patience and walked up to the table.

"Hey," She said, cutting into the conversation. "Your captain sent me. Any of you seen his sword lying around here?"

One of the men looked at her with such a dumbfounded look that Vivi was surprised his brain was still functioning at all. The three men who were laughing though seemed a bit more responsive. For around five seconds, during which she really only got a few noncommittal and confused noises before they went right back to laughing. Vivi rolled her eyes and stepped away from the table. Those louts wouldn't be any help. When in doubt though, it was always best to inquire with the one person in the bar who may have their eyes on everything going on. She marched over to the bar and grabbed a seat. It took a few seconds for the barkeep, a man with a salt and pepper beard who smelled a bit too much like lime for her, to stop by.

"Need something, missy?" He asked her.

"I'm on a job from Captain Balthazar," She explained. "He's missing his sword. Heard anything about that?"

"His sword, huh?" The bartender shook his head. "Can't say I have. But I did hear one of his crew members, the middle one in that chortling trio, saying some nasty things about old Balthazar. Maybe he has something to do with it."

Vivi turned around in her seat to look at the offending crew member. She stood up from her stool after a moment and walked back over towards the table. Shoving the two chuckling crew members off their friend, she grabbed the man by his collar and yanked him back over his chair. He screamed in shock as he hit the ground hard, and Vivi stood over him, cocking back her fist.

"Where's the sword?" She asked him. The man remained silent in shock, and so Vivi clocked him across the face. That was going to bruise up within the hour. His crewmates seemed stunned as well. One of them broke out of that reverie and tried to intervene, but Vivi just kicked him back with one leg. She punched the man she had on the ground again, bloodying his lip. "Where's the captain's sword?" She asked again, more urgently.

"I sold it!" The man blubbered in his drunken stupor. "I sold it at the market! I needed the jewels! The guy said he was...he was gonna take it to Crocus or something!"

Vivi groaned and punched him again so his head bounced off the floor. Dropping him, she stood up and dusted off her knuckles. "Always making things more complicated."

She left the men at the table, and a few others besides, stunned in silence as she left the Ruby Rat. There was nothing else for her to do, she couldn't go by that description. Returning to the dockside, she waved to Balthazar as she approached him. Explaining the situation, she tried her best to give what details she could come up with on the merchant, but it wasn't much. All the same, Balthazar seemed to understand. He handed her a pouch of jewels with a nod of his head.

"Thanks for doing what you did," He said. "Keep an ear out, I may need someone like you again."

Vivi, never one to spurn repeat customers, nodded her head as she took the pouch. A man without qualms like Balthazar may be someone she could work with a second time.

[1312/1000]