Rose was at peace. Taking in the brisk sea air being let in through the porthole, she concentrated on putting various paints on the canvas in front of her. The easel was secured to the floor as the half-elf diligently worked on her latest masterpiece. After having taken a stroll in morning, she had a vision of the perfect sunrise over the sea from the grove next to Brynnlaw. Now, she was drawing the spectacle again from memory, complete with embellishments where necessary. From the perspective of the viewer, it seemed like the orange sun was reborn from the very ocean, covering the grove with radiant joy. Plants swayed in the wind as the sunlight reflected off water and rocks alike, while birds and fish were also main stars of the painting.

It had taken her two days of almost non-stop painting to get this far, and now her hard work was finally almost done. She only had to work on some of the details before she would sign the painting with a flourish and put it in a safe place for it to dry.

Biting her tongue, Rose carefully, very carefully moved a tiny brush of gold paint over some of the rocks in the picture to enhance their glow in the sunlight. She knew she had to be careful, as too much paint would ruin the effect. Her body tensed as the brush almost reached the canvas, and at this point, she might have been oblivious to just about anything. Now, there was only her, the brush, and the canvas.

Rose suddenly yelped as two strong arms wrapped around her waste and two warm, soft lips encircled her left earlobe. Suddenly becoming aware of her surrounding, Rose was startled... and the brush flew across the canvas, leaving a thin, gold stripe across her masterpiece.

Laska was surprised to say the least. The elf was bored out her wits and was desperate for company now that Mook had gone out to meet her contacts and had asked all of her friends to stay on board to keep them from complicating a delicate situation.

Laska was not happy with being confined to one place, especially when there was an option of being somewhere else, but did not want to ruin her chances to get back Imoen's soul either. So, she spent most of her time sulking, drinking or spending time with Rose. Sadly for Laska, Rose had been involved with that infernal painting, though.

As her lover twisted around in her arms, Laska gulped for a moment when she saw the fury in her green eyes. "I," Rose spoke in a low voice, "told you never to startle me when I am painting."

"But, I only..." Laska started.

"SHUT UP!" Rose snarled. "Look what you made me DO!"

"I was only..."

"Out!" Rose pushed Laska towards the door. "I've got to fix this!"

"But..." Laska tried.

Instead, the poor elf was treated to a shoving-offensive from the half-elf. Hell hath no fury like an artist scorned. "OUT! OUT! OUT!"

The flabbergasted elf suddenly found herself staring at a door that was slammed in her face. "Rose?" Laska tried. "Honey? I only popped in for a cuddle. I came to tell you I love you!"

"TOUGH!" sounded Rose's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

'Sheeesh', Laska muttered as she slowly turned around and headed towards the deck.

"AND YOU ARE SO NOT GETTING ANY TONIGHT!" sounded from Rose as Laska almost reached the staircase.

'Crap,' Laska sighed and left the hallway in a slightly depressed state.

"Hey, Vico," Laska said after finding the deck empty, except for Viconia who was lounging about the entrance to the captain's quarter... her quarters which she called first fair and square. "Out for a stroll."

"No," Viconia grinned. "Out for a short break."

"Ahhhh," Laska nodded empathically. "Been seeing a lot of Limryu, have you?"

"Hmm, yes," Viconia said. "I have a lot of catching up to do. I hadn't had sex since part 13, after all."

"Part 13?" Laska blinked.

Viconia glowered at Laska in response "If a certain elf had bothered at least ONCE to take a look at the painstakingly maintained journal I am keeping for my party, you should have known that I divide it into parts, Laska."

"Sorry," Laska gulped.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the two elves for a moment, until Laska finally spoke up. "So, Vic... Why'd we never hit the sack? I mean, we both had plenty of opportunity..."

"Trouble with Rose again?" Viconia smirked.

"Ey?" Laska blinked. "How'd you guess?"

"Because you always ask the same question when you've had a bit of a tiff with Rose," Viconia said.

"So," Laska muttered. "Why'd we never..."

"We did," Viconia interrupted.

"EY?!" Laska shouted out loud, "but you're supposed to say what you always say : 'No, now go away!'"

"Sorry," Viconia said. "It happened in Beregost. You were drunk off your ass, I was a little tipsy myself. We were both in the mood and I helped you to your room. One thing led to another."

"Wow," Laska muttered, being careful to avoid Viconia's eyes.

"Hmmm."

Another silence fell. "I was good, wasn't I?" Laska smirked at last.

"Very good..."

"It's also a complete lie, isn't it?"

"Who's to tell," Viconia nodded and flashed the elf one of her patented mysterious smirks.

"That smirk on your face is tell-tale," Laska grinned. "We never did anything!"

"Oh?" Viconia said. "Well, maybe I know you know what my smirk means, so I'm faking one to cover up the truth... whichever that may be. So maybe yes or no, but more like no than yes. Or maybe that's just what I want to hear and swapped the meanings around to fool you."

"AAH!" Laska shouted out. "Quiet screwing with my head!"

"Then stop asking me stupid questions!" Viconia sighed. "And don't go up against the mistress of headgames. We've never even shared a bed, elf, and 'WHERE ARE YOU GOING, MALE?!" Viconia snarled as she caught the half-naked Limryu trying to sneak out of the room. The male sighed and came to a halt. The moon-elf looked a bit tired and haggard, and seemed to have aged a couple of decades over the last two weeks since they had been sailing. Sighing heavily, the male turned around and entered the cabin again.

"Hmm, I must be slipping, he almost got away," Viconia winked and followed him into the cabin, leaving Laska to chuckle as she turned towards the deck.

Korgan's axe slammed into Laska's crossed blades, sending sparks flying through the air. Laska's thin, yet strong arms trembled as the strength within them easily absorbed the raw power in Korgan's blow. Elf and dwarf often sparred in the hold... and they didn't hold back, treating it as a real fight. Immediately, Korgan came back with a startling slice at Laska's legs, which the elf only barely defended against in time. Again, Korgan came back and took a powerful swing at Laska's left side. Again, the elf defended, jumping to the side to avoid the blow while blocking the blow with one of her blade.

"Dammit, elf!" Korgan roared as he slammed down his axe. "Either ye be fightin' at yer best or ye be fightin' nay at all! Yer doin' it all half-assed because of yer girlie, no?"

The dwarf suddenly saw a foot headed straight towards this face. With a yelp, Korgan flew backwards like a missile and crashed into a few sacks of grain. "Aye, aye," he groaned. "That be more like it."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Imoen shouted from the side of the makeshift arena. "Don't destroy the place, okay? I might still have to sleep here tonight."

"Vico ain't lettin' ye in anymore, ey?" Korgan grinned.

"Yeah," Imoen sulked. "Ever since she has that stupid boy-toy, she won't let me sleep in her bed anymore. I'm the one with angst here, dammit, and she just drops me for the first virile elf she spots." Then, Imoen made a sound as close to a 'Hmpf' as she could produce.

"Jealous?" Laska smirked.

"Of HIM?!" Imoen said. "Hardly. That little pointy-eared pimple on the butt of society is just a... OH, CRAP! I need to buy some more arrows if I want to practise my bowcraft..."

"Imoen has a short attention-span, hasn't she?" Laska muttered to Korgan, who nodded in response.

"Oy, ain't ye be 'avin' one o'those magic bows which be making arrows itself?"

"Yes, but they're burning arrows," Imoen said. "I'm pretty sure Viconia will yell at me if I fire burning arrows into the hull... just like last time."

"Okay, since neither of us have something to do," Laska spoke, "why don't we hit the town for a bit?"

"Gee, are you sure?" Imoen asked. "I mean, Mook asked us not to start any trouble."

"Och, what can be 'appenin' ta us anyway?"

"This is a lovely town," Imoen said as the three of them walked over the docks of Brynnlaw. "If only the pirates were a bit nicer," she added as she noticed a couple of pirates were mugging a third pirate.

"Och, this be a fine place. Plenty o' booze, 'arlots an' kippers. HAR!"

"You'd better not be having unions with those," Laska said, "or I'll swear I'll kick your ass."

"HAR! Not bloody likely."

"Hey, hey, don't fight," Imoen said. "I mean, in-fighting shouldn't be..." Suddenly Imoen's eyes grew wide as she stared into the distance. "OHHHH! ICE CREAM-MAN! ICE CREAM!!!!"

"Short attention-span," Laska muttered again as Imoen ran off. When it came to ice cream, Imoen's eyes were sharper than Laska's.

"Aye," Korgan said. "Then I be goin' with 'er ta the blacksmith ta check out 'is axes."

"Sure, sure," Laska mocked, "leave little old me alone and..." she opened her eyes and noticed both her friends had already taken off. "Bastards..."

"Hey, don't be so rude!" Imoen shouted at the annoying blacksmith as he was busy shoving her and Korgan out of the door.

"Look, I don't serve tourists," the blacksmith, who was a surprisingly snooty man considering he lived on an island filled to the brim with filthy pirates. "And neither girls or dwarves are welcome here!"

"Look, we have money to spend!" Imoen said, hoping to connect to the man's business-sense.

"I do not care," he said as he rudely shoved the two friends out the door, causing Imoen to yelp as she fell flat on her back. "And stop dripping ice cream all over my floor!" With his chin raised into the air, the snooty blacksmith locked the door behind him, and strolled off into the distance.

"OY!" Korgan shouted. "Next time I be seein' ye, ye'll be feelin' me axe in yer arse, ye daft pansy!" Then, Korgan turned around, only to see Imoen at the brink of tears... holding the remains of her ice cream-cone. One the floor, melting in the sun, lay the remains of Imoen's delicious 20 GP jumbo strawberry surprise.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Imoen sank to her knees in front of the deceased ice cream and cried her denial to the heavens. "Oh, no gods, please, no! WHY?! Oh, why! It was so good and now it's all gone!"

"Ey," Korgan said. "Ye be overreactin' a bit..."

"Alright, you stupid blacksmith," Imoen said with an uncharacteristic malice in her voice. "It's payback time... and this time, it's personal."

"Aye, avengin' yer ice cream, now?" Korgan rolled his eyes. "Ain't that a tad... immature?"

"And this from a guy who names his beard-hairs," Imoen grinned evilly. "Say, didn't you notice the scratch marks next to his anvil?"

"What?!" Korgan snorted. "What good be that?"

"Come on, Korg," Imoen said. "It's a well-known fact that blacksmiths hide huge crops of cash under the loose floorboards under their anvils. Let's go rob that bastard blind and spend all the cash on ice cream."

Laska was spending her time slowly strolling across the broad sandy streets of Brynnlaw, not particularly doing anything. She did enjoy the admiring looks the lonely sailors often gave her, moreso because she knew they didn't stand a chance with her.

"See ya later, Chremry," her sensitive ears picked up, causing the elf to look to the side... and what she saw made her heart stop. A filthy pirate gave a man named Chremry some coins and walked off, but it was Chremry that gathered Laska's attention.

A few weeks ago, she had had a vision where she was shown how important events in her life would have run their course if she would not have existed. In one of those visions, her lover Rose was killed by one of her customers when he shoved his knife between Rose's ribs. And now, that man was standing right next to her, a few yards away.

Infernal rage boiled to the surface as Laska regarded the man. Pure hate exploded through her brain, making it obvious that the blood of Bhaal was running through her veins. She wondered how many women he had used, killed... or worse. Quickly, she realized that she had not brought her swords, seeing she was in her casual wear. But, she did have a full set of throwing daggers under her belt which would do the trick. Chremry didn't look too powerful, so she figured she could easily take him.

With grim determination, Laska began calculating her approach. Today, she would be judge, jury and executioner... but mostly executioner.

"I'll put some more oil on it," Imoen said while the dwarf had positioned himself between wall and anvil, trying to push it away with his legs. So far, he wasn't having much luck.

The lock on the door had been childishly easy to pick, especially considering there were mostly thieves living on this island.

"It ain't bloody workin'!" Korgan snarled, turning red in the face.

"Come on, big strong dwarf like you," Imoen said. "Okay, better idea. I put more oil around the edges and then you'll push."

Imoen smiled and tried to put some more oil at the side of the anvil. Sadly, the top of Imoen's bottle of oil suddenly fell off, causing every single drop of the slick liquid to pour our. "Oh, crap out a brick!" Imoen cursed, before realizing that was actually the signal that Korgan had told her to give him when he should push.

"Nurgh!" sounded from Korgan, just as he sent the anvil on a merry race due to the slick oil. The two flabbergasted friends watched as the anvil crashed through the door, reducing it to splinters with a deafening rock. The screeching sound of metal on rock sounded from outside as the anvil continued its adventure.

"You think anyone noticed?" Imoen gulped.

"Cheese it!" Korgan roared. Quickly, he grabbed a bag of gold that was now revealed to be inside a hole in the floor that was indeed under the anvil.

"WAIT!" Imoen shouted as she took a huge armful of arrows from the barrels in the back. Spilling arrows, she ran outside right behind Korgan.

In the meantime, Laska was getting ready to strike. Having taken out her most cruel dagger, the thin serrated stiletto, she now held the small weapon in her hands as she snuck through an alley. Peering around the corner, she grinned as she noticed she was now almost directly behind Chremry. Her plan was to jump him from behind and would slice the stiletto into his armpit. His lungs would then fill with his own blood, causing a slow and very painful lingering death. She would enjoy watching him gurgle blood from his dying lips... She would enjoy standing over his fear-filled dying corpse... She would enjoy watching him suffer... like he had made Rose suffer in her vision.

But just as she was about to jump, something very odd happened. She heard a loud crash over her head, and, to her surprise, she saw a flying anvil crash through the wall of one of the houses on an upper level and heading downwards through the alley.

Turning around, she noticed Chremry had seen the flying hunk of metal as well, but failed to notice he was directly in its path.

Chremry shouted in pain as the sharp end of the anvil cut him in the gut. He shouted for help from his blood-stained lips as the anvil dragged him along over the street, heading towards the docks.

Blinking, Laska watched for a moment, before going into pursuit. She arrived in the docks just in time to watch the anvil slide over the wooden pier and landed itself, and the impaled Chremry, into the water with a splash.

Laska rushed to the edge, and watched with grim satisfaction as the anvil was lying on top of the flailing Chremry under water, cutting off any possible escape of certain death. And, indeed, one of the last things Chremry would ever see as his lungs burst for air, was Laska standing on the pier, smiling cruelly as she waved a final goodbye to Chremry.

Behind her, she suddenly heard her friends approaching. Korgan ran right past her with a bag of gold in his hands, and was headed towards the ship. "Hi, sis! Bye, sis!" Imoen shouted at Laska while running to the boat while carrying hundreds of obviously stolen arrows.

"Yep, just a normal day for us all," Laska shook her head.

Then, the elf noticed a glint in the sand. Further investigation revealed it to be a lovely golden medallion, twisted in an odd but not unappealing symbol, which used to belong to Chremry. She pocketed it, considering Chremry really wouldn't need it anymore. But, she had a pretty good idea of another person who might like the golden trinket.

"It's lovely, Laska," Rose smiled as she held up her new locket. Laska smiled in return, not explaining that she only had bought the chain and had Chremry's trinket slightly modified by a jeweler. Together, the two lovers stood on deck of the Swiftwind watching the night-sky.

"Picked it up just for you," Laska smiled and wrapped her arm around Rose's waist as they stood at the railing. Rose welcomed the show of affection and laid her head on Laska's shoulder.

"Sorry for yelling at you," Rose said a little remorseful.

"Hey, you told me dozens of times not to disturb you while you were painting and it's just in one ear and out the other with me. It was my own bloody fault. I just hope your painting could be fixed," Laska said truthfully.

"Don't worry," Rose smiled. "I could still wipe a lot away and paint over the rest. No one will ever notice. Will you put my locket on?"

Grinning, Laska complied. Rose turned around and allowed Laska to put the jewel around her neck. Before Rose knew what had happened, she felt Laska's strong elven hands massaging her shoulders while softly kissing her neck, feeling Laska's long soft hair spilling over her back and chest. Rose always loved it when Laska let her long hair hang loose, but...

"You still aren't getting any, Las," Rose grinned evilly.

"Ey?" Laska blinked. "But... I thought we'd worked out that little tiff."

"Yes, but I want to stay here for a moment," Rose smiled and flew back into Laska's embrace. "And watch the sky."

"How about a small kiss, then," Laska said as she hugged Rose from behind and slowly craned her lover's neck backward to let her lips brush hers.

"Kissing is always fine," Rose smiled. Together they watched the stars.