Three Hill's Very Own Robin Hood

Posted on Mon Aug 29th, 2022 @ 4:59pm by Alden Loxley & Drake Loxley & Cooper O'Reilly & Tristan & Daiyu & Jonas Bailey & Zhang Quing & Whit & Kinmont Armstrong

Mission: Home Sweet Wonderful Home
Location: Three Hills Drake's Estate - Fortune's Echo
Timeline: November 15 Early Evening

Usually dinner for the Echo contingent was everybody wrapped around the big farm kitchen style table in the galley, but Drake could smell the woodsmoke and charcoal long before he led his new 'friend' through the gates to his estate and past the landing bays on its outskirts. The evening was warm, definitely shorts and short sleeves weather, so of course Alden had taken it upon himself to light the big free-standing barbecue and invite everyone into Drake's personal garden proper.

At the back of the huge, modern-styled, stone-built sprawl of a house, the younger Loxley could hear mixed voices around the outdoor heated pool and as he rounded the corner he grinned at the sight. Yup, looked like everyone was here. Perfect. A silent private moment stolen to send a text message to one of his men, and Drake bit back a grimace and switched instantly to 'life of the party' as he guided Zhang Quing into the fray.

Quing followed Drake as he guided her, taking in the estate and the flow of the place. It was a pleasant space, but tense with hidden subterfuge. She walked silently, breathing in the scent of the garden flowers and leaves before the pungent smell of grilling meat hit her nostrils.

"I see you found the meat locker okay," Drake noted, though this was far from the first time Alden had raised his kitchen and larder. "All debts paid for now then, huh?"

"For now," Alden called back, but his attention was on the sleight young bald woman at his brother's side.

"Zhang Quing," Drake said, simply, leading her across the well-manicured grass lawn to the poolside part of the expansive grounds. "This is my older brother, Alden Loxley."

Quing paused looking into Alden's eyes. He seemed the opposing force to his younger brother, he was raw where Drake portrayed refinement. She accepted this balance in the brothers. She bowed to Alden, her hands extended in a formal gesture touching the Zi and Wu spots of her own palms. "Wu liang shou fu." she stated in an serene soft voice. The blessing of eternal happiness and longevity was customary but felt appropriate to a man that exuded the Ying of his brother's Yang.

Alden allowed and reciprocated the direct eye contact, silently allowing this new person to take their time in greeting. While he didn't bow, the elder Loxley did the Anjali Mudra (pressed his palms together in front of his chest) and nodded his head. "Welcome," Alden said, simply and smiled.

-----

Jonas may have been dressed relaxed-like, but he rarely ever let his guard completely down. Which is why even right now he had his Desert Eagle Mark VII strapped to his side while wearing a pair of brown, knee-length cargo shorts and a yellow tee-shirt with a pistol printed on it and the Chinese characters for 'troublemaker.' He hadn't worn the Eagle since he'd first sauntered up to the Firefly after refusing to finish the hit. He habitually patted the handle before reaching for the glass of lemonade on the table next to his chair. He looked up when Drake and Alden started talking, but went right back to enjoying the smells of the barbeque and real meat cooking.

Pausing her reverie, for she had seemed occupied even while doing nothing, Daiyu's head snapped to study Qing with all the demeanor of bird of prey or scavenger. Her dark eyes locked onto Qing's face as if remembering her but not knowing from where.

From the lawn chair he'd appropriated and strategically relocated under the shade of a patio umbrella, Kinmont sipped a cold citrus beverage and projected his Willie Armstrong casual friendliness, hidden from the sun and surveillance. He'd changed into weather appropriate and Willie-consistent clothing – a pink golf shirt and pastel-plaid baggy shorts – also effective for concealing his favorite revolver and knife. Kinmont had just been wondering how the woman with scars and childlike mannerisms fit into the Fortune's Echo's crew, when the captain's brother reappeared with an interestingly notable person. He'd heard of Ms. Zhang, she was well known on Three Hills, but what was she doing here?

-----

"Will you share our meal with us?" Alden asked Zhang Quing directly, while Drake hovered nearby.

The younger Loxley grabbed a couple of sealed glass bottles of chilled water from a nearby cooler, handed one to his new guest and cracked the seal on the second for himself. Those dark brown eyes scoured Kinmont with a wary displeasure for the unknown factor of a stranger in his territory, took in Jonas' position and armament, scoped around the rest of the gathering from engineer to new doctor, Shepherds and misfit goth and then returned to the old man.

Whit sat quietly with a friendly smirk plastered on his face. His keen eyes, though, were roving between Qing and Drake in automatic suspicion of anyone the latter would bring forward.

"Xie xie." Quing said thanking her host as she accepted the bottle of water. She opened the bottle, briefly sniffing the top for any signs of tampering with the beverage. While suspicion was not her nature, nor was she accustom to suddenly joining this pool party of strangers. Her eyes shifted to the others in the area taking note of their body language, stances and potential hidden armaments. Most were armed. Not a great concern, most people traveling near the port were, and she gauged she could best most of them without much effort, at least one at a time. What would be would be, she reminded herself. She was here, in this place, as she was supposed to be. "I would be honored to share your meal with you and your... friends," she responded to the elder Loxley.

"Excellent, welcome to the party then," said Alden with a warm smile. He indicated the grill and offered a shrug accompanied question. "Anything you don't wish to eat?" He asked Quing, unsure of her personal preferences.

Quing bowed courteously to the host. "I am certain I will find much I wish at your bountiful feast." the small shaven woman stated. She looked around at those surrounding her. It was not her place to take food before others. She wandered around the tables of food and people finding a warm space in the sun. Her eyes closed as she breathed in the air from the many garden plants surrounding them. She relished the moment.

-----

Suddenly appearing in the vicinity, Tristan's mouth began to water at the smell in the air. Food was an interesting situation aboard the Fortune's Echo, as they didn't always have access to fresh ingredients like he was used to. But that suddenly changed today as he saw the spread before him. He walked to the table, taking a seat with barely a hello to anyway.

Handing off the first of clearly many large plate of meats to Cooper, for the big fella to transport, Alden hefted the veggies from the other side of the barbeque into two wide, long bowls and transported them to the table himself. As he stepped level with Tristan, he rested a heavy hand on the boy's shoulder and grunted a query. "Stayed out of trouble?"

Tristan just nodded to Alden as a he felt a pang in his stomach. Alden clearly still struggled trusting him, and with good reason. Though he still wasn't sure what to do about it.

Drake meanwhile wandered over to stand behind Jonas' chair and surveyed the gathering with a smirk. He lifted a sausage directly from his own grill with the use of a long fork and blew on the heated delicacy, before taking a bite. Once the heated juice had been wiped from his chin, the owner of all the land they were currently occupying let his gaze rest upon first Daiyu and then Alden.

"I assume you're recruiting for a security position?" Drake asked his brother outright, to which Alden rolled his eyes. "I didn't say, pilot," the younger Loxley countered, not even a little defensively. "But Mr Bailey here can't fight all the bad guys on his lonesome, and you're real good at attracting trouble." He watched Zhang Quing now, intrigued by the woman's peaceful presence. "Especially given the news coming out from Li Shen's."

"Leave it alone," warned Alden, but his gaze tracked to Whit.

"What news?" Tristan asked, his ears perking up. He was still doing his best to stay out of the way and out of trouble, but the echoes of Ghost still clung to his memories and the mysterious transponder was at the forefront of his mind.

"Depends who you talk to," Drake pushed, ignoring his brother's returning glare while implying his connections were solid outwards into the wider Verse. "Some sorta 'Holy War' unfolding?" He threw out there inquisitively, hoping to catch a nice fish.

"Are you a God-fearing man?" Daiyu's voice was soft, but her stare went straight through Drake into the demons beyond him only she could see. "Only God-fearing men talk about holy things."

Drake rolled his eyes, but didn't speak the first words that came into his head as Whit's response was quicker. The younger Loxley found that interesting, but his whole plan revolved around getting Quing involved with what he liked to see as the 'Daiyu Situation' so Drake was content to keep his silence and let these two speak.

Whit covered his mouth in a mock attempt to stifle his chuckling. "Everybody fears God one way or 'nother," he mused aloud. "Just some of us see Him in different things. Vessels of honor and dishonor, as the Good Book says." He looked at Drake. "We all know the cloth our good captain is cut from, so I'm sure his kin ain't far from it either."

It was the closest thing to a lie that Whit had ever said in Daiyu's presence, and she did not miss it.

"I thought Shepherds weren't supposed to lie," she said plainly.

"No, we ain't," Whit agreed, chuckling at Daiyu's candor that had proven to be a beautiful deflection. "No, we ain't. But if the Good Book says the Man Upstairs can call what is not as though it is, then who am I to say different?" He favored Drake with a smarmy smile beneath his appraising stare.

-----

Kinmont had been listening to the conversations around him, but the subject of Li Shen's caught his particular attention. He'd seen the security footage, seen Alden leaving the scene of the medical center massacre with an unconscious young woman in his arms, a woman Kinmont knew well. It suddenly occurred to him that the reason Alison was not on Fortune's Echo, the reason the crew didn't speak of her, could be that she had died. That realization shook him to the core and his chest ached with emotions he could not release here and now.

As the guests had begun finding their fill of the foods around the table, Quing feeling a slight pang of hunger opened her eyes and slowly walked forward. She took a small bowl and thoughtfully made a selection of the many vegetables that were both raw and prepared. Taking a pair of chopsticks, she gently cleaned them of slivers and began to eat from her meal. At the lifting of her chopsticks her eyes went to Drake to gauge his reaction to her openly handling a weapon he knew she could use lethally at will. She had kept to herself, but so as not to be rude she approached one of the banquet tables occupied by a man in pink.

Both Loxley brothers watched Zhang Quing as the sleight woman moved with her guarded, easy grace. Drake raised an eyebrow and involuntarily tensed his shoulders even as Alden offered their latest guest a warm smile, but neither acted physically to intervene. Drake moved closer to Daiyu and Whit, while Alden held the middle ground amongst the gathered souls, taking random pickings from the bountiful table as he looked around to ensure everyone was accounted for.

Condensation gathered around the cold glass of lemonade in his hand and dripped down onto Kinmont's pink polo shirt. He drank it down to sooth his dry throat, both wishing he had something stronger and glad he didn't. He listened with half-closed eyes, feigning merely polite interest in what the fake shepherd said, and didn't say. It would seem that Fortune's Echo attracted old men with counterfeit cover stories like flies. What was the saying? Old age and treachery beat youth and skill. As long as Whit and his sidekick Cooper weren't a threat to Kindra, he didn't care. But the addition of Zhang Quing to the crew's security would be a fortuitous boon to the ship's security, and Kindra's safety.

"Miss Zhang, you have quite a reputation here on Three Hills," said Kinmont, smiling. He put down his empty glass, got to his feet, and bowed. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance," he said with heartfelt sincerity. "I'm only a passenger on the Fortune's Echo. The name is Armstrong. Willie Armstrong."

She bowed her head toward Kinmont in response. "Much is said that is infrequently the truth." she said with a smile. "I am honored to partake in this celebration today for whatever it is that we are celebrating." she stated not really knowing why Drake had invited her, but her mind was assessing the situation for anything disharmonious with the scene.

"Not so much a celebration," Alden chimed in, shifting his attention from his brother and the two Shepherds to Kinmont and Quing. "As just a kinda 'happy to still be breathing in and out' sorta deal," he added. "It's been a long few days out in the Black, and we're just all-fired jubilant to be down here on solid ground breathing free air and soaking up sunlight." He looked to Drake as he continued. "My little brother insisted on treating us all to this particular feast..." Alden had been about to say something coloured with gratitude when another voice cut loudly across him.

"I'd be less worried about what God may or may not do," noted Drake with a beautific smile aimed back at Whit. "Present company's more than enough trouble, wouldn't you say?" He counted himself in there too, if anyone was keeping score, but really the more he could get Daiyu to interact right now, the better for his current cause.

"Easy, fella," muttered Cooper, mostly to himself, but loud enough for those close by to hear.

-----

Holding up his hands in mock surrender, Drake looked from one Shepherd to the other and shook his head. "Just figured some extra security would be welcome," he noted, impishly. "On account of the bloodshed and all."

Daiyu had been studying the horizon in a vacant stare, but suddenly her gaze snapped to Drake. Her dark eyes became turgid with every sort of emotion.

"P'raps we could make with more genteel subject matter around the lady folk," Whit suggested.

Kinmont resumed sitting in his chair, frowning at Whit's sexist comment. When it seemed none of the other men would speak up, he said, "Perhaps we could instead treat our female company like adults, equals, and with the dignity and respect they deserve, and include everyone in any discussion about security." Whatever was going on with that Daiyu woman, it seemed that the crew treated her like she might detonate. "This young woman here, Miss Zhang, is a security expert. Isn't that right, Mr. Loxley?" Kinmont gestured to Drake to be clear about which Loxley brother he was speaking to.

"Yup, that's right," the younger Loxley confirmed. "Zhang Quing here is a renowned and very respected solver of difficult situations."

A soft chuckle emanated from Drake as he tried (barely) and failed (miserably) to hide his amusement with regards to this clear misunderstanding between the two elder gents. Kinmont's slant on the matter was as noble as Whit's, they just were coming at this from entirely different directions. Both protecting women in their own dogged way. Women who, Drake considered, didn't need such words raised in a defence they were each more than capable of providing on their own. And besides that, Drake was catching on...

"If we're treating folks as equals," Alden pointed out, simply and without malice. "Then everyone can speak up for themselves. But," he added swiftly before either his brother or their paying passenger could interrupt. "In this case, Whit's making an importantly pointed request." The 'b' word wasn't a good one to use around Daiyu. "And I'm guessing Drake," he glared at his brother. "Is playing games with us." He turned his attention then to the infamous lady in their presence.

"As I understand it though, Ms Quing, you choose your own work?" Alden asked. "Perhaps we might have a private conversation, if you're interested in whatever my brother has suggested, that is?" He worked around mentioning specifics for reasons he hoped would at least be obvious to Drake and Zhang and in thinking to protect Daiyu while the matter remained undecided.

The tiny bald woman calmly placed her plate down on the table, holding on to her chopsticks, "Xiānshēng Locksley, the Verse determines where I may or may not use my training for the good of others. I have not yet be offered any position of any type, I was asked to merely come and observe." she said bowing her head at the end. "Thus far I have seen a generous bounty of food, in a beautifully manicured garden with many present I have no direct knowledge of aside from their being welcome at the same table as myself." Her eyes indeed observed more interplay than she discussed, but the stage was still being set to what the Verse was requesting.

Alden opened his mouth to respond to that, but was rudely interrupted by Drake, who pushed yet again at that thin veneer of calm normality.

"You're right," Drake noted. "It's way quieter than usual. Usually when my big bro's on a planet for more than a few minutes, someone gets shot, stabbed, arrested or given a bloody nose at the very least." He smiled and bowed his head politely towards Zhang. "And thank you, you're very kind. I humbly appreciate the fine compliments with regards the sustenance and my garden."

-----

Sitting back with arms folded, Whit smirked at the various brands of heathen shitheads as they bantered about the vigilante in hopes of striking a deal. His smirk hid a tumult of consideration over the nascent development unfolding before him. It was another complication he could do without, but as it stood there was not much he could do. He had paid Alden, but it appeared so had this Kinmont fella, and it seemed the money was burning a hole in Alden's pocket to the tune of hiring on another crewmember to replace Alison.

"Three Hills is no stranger to unsavory folk and their deeds," Whit finally put in. "Hard to imagine a savvy businessman passing up the employ of such a fine security expert such as the lil' miss here." He dipped his head at Quing respectfully. "Seems to me there is no end to the younger Loxley's charity... for us and for whoever might be spared the rod with one less do-gooder around."

With a heavy sigh, Alden let them both talk - Drake and Whit - and then took his turn in the aftermath of their words. Honestly, for once it seemed that Drake was onto something here, but replacing Alison wasn't an easy step to take. That didn't make it any less necessary, however, and Whit was right, he ought to be jumping at the chance for someone of this calibre. Even if the fact that Drake had brought her into the mix made him a little uneasy.

"Y'know, you're right, Shepherd Whit," said Alden, an amused shake of his head accompanying his decision. "It would be churlish of us - well, me - to not avail myself of this fine opportunity." Since Ali was gone and Jonas was his second, it was an easy enough decision to make. So he stood before their most recent guest and offered up a confident stance, a serious tone and a friendly smile that backlit in his eyes.

"If you're here with a position in mind, and the observation of us hasn't soured that consideration any," Alden said, his entire focus on Zhang now. "I'd like to offer up one. Security Expert - pay to be negotiated privately - is a fine job, free travel around the Verse and you'd be saving all of us, likely in more ways than one and on a regular basis."

Quing's eyes fixed on the man's eyes. He was truthfully offering her a position. An action that seemed to have ulterior purposes to most individuals gathered in the immediate surroundings. This was an off turn of the Verse. She had just been looking for a bowl of soup this morning and here she was being asked by curious band of strangers to save their lives in unknown reaches of the Black. Honestly she didn't know if any of their lives were worth saving, or if it was their own folly that brought them into ongoing danger. That was none of her business, but taking a contract bound her to act at times in ways not conducive to her own search for peace. Yet, the Verse called for whatever mysterious reason it kept to itself. Who was she to fight the flow of the Verse? She nodded to Alden. "Very well, I shall do my best to protect your associates from whatever the Verse may throw our way. XieXie." she stated with a vow. The spontaneous nature of the Verse was at one moment terrifying and exhilarating.

-----

He'd waited patiently, in no particular rush for his answer, but Alden offered up a friendly smile and an extended hand to be shaken as Quing accepted his offer. Well, that was easier than he'd expected. Hopefully that was a good sign, and one that his luck was shifting back in a good direction. "Excellent," Alden said. "We'll talk more in private later, but for now enjoy the food and drink..." He'd been about to say more, when a clear voice cut across him.

"Have you killed anyone?" Daiyu asked without blinking. Good people did not kill. But Whit and Cooper killed. They seemed good. Alden had not killed anyone in front of her but Daiyu believed he would not hesitate if threatened. Quing's answer would hold great significance.

"Daiyu, that's an inappropriate question," said the Echo's captain with a softly stern tone. "Ms Quing, you don't have to answer that," Alden offered Quing an easy out that he suspected she wouldn't take.

For a moment, Daiyu looked at Alden with an expressionless face, but she quickly looked back at Qing with expectation.

Quing held up a finger to pause Alden, looking at him briefly before shifting her gaze back to the younger woman. She calmly stood and walked over to her, sitting down at the table by her side. She smiled kindly. "When your will is subordinate to the will of the Verse, you may find yourself acting as an agent of Karma. Those who are not in harmony with the Verse will pull negative Karma to themselves, and by their own efforts lower their potential for their next incarnation. I have had to release some individuals from their poverty of spirit to not continue to devolve in to less than they are. It is a solemn responsibility that brings no joy, but is necessary in some circumstance." she said compassionately.

The answer made Daiyu's eyes grow wide. "I want to hear more about Karma," she said abruptly. "Later. In private, maybe." If it was possible to kill and not be evil, then maybe she did not deserve... No, she could not think about that now. Not when other people were around to watch her cry and give her strange looks.

Alden smiled softly as he watched the two young women interact, but it was Cooper who spoke up first. His tone was gentle, big brotherly and kind as he rested a paw of a hand on Daiyu's shoulder and intoned his words.

"Sounds like a real fine idea," Cooper said and his gaze sought Quing's own. "Lot to be learned from a soul at peace with the Verse, Miss Daiyu. Mebbe I can chaperone," he suggested, offering his protection if they wished it. Either way, the Shepherd planned to keep close at hand and definitely within shouting distance if not closer.

"Zhang Quing," said Alden after a couple of breaths had followed Cooper's words. "Perhaps we could avail you of your services from tomorrow morning? Give you a chance to put any affairs and such in order? Or if you prefer, start tonight..."

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