[Flame]

The ocean was a beautiful place. Something about the sound and smell of the sand and surf made it soothing even to the most tumultuous of hearts, and the sheer vastness of the endless expanse of rippling water made even the largest of creatures feel insignificant. The mournful cries of circling gulls echoed across the shore, speaking of distant, unseen lands across the waters (although most were likely complaining about the lack of unwitting tourists at this hour – the easy meals would have to come later in the day). The day was still young yet; nevertheless, the beach was still relatively sparsely populated for being midmorning, but this sort of quiet would be hard to come by later in the day when all of the beach-goers came out en masse.

These moments of peace were hard to come by, at least for some. That was particularly true for one of the few people who had braved the early morning hours in search of solitude. The young woman sat on one of the benches just above the sandy shore of the beach, atop a pier which jutted out a good 20 feet over the shallows below. It was a lovely vantage point from which to admire the ocean, and where her only companions were the few fishermen who turned out early like they did every day to try their luck on the dock or over open waters farther out. Watching what they hauled in fascinated her to no end – for one who travelled as much as she did, she didn’t actually get much opportunity to take in the world around her. Now that she had the time to though, she stole every chance she got to explore the little inconsequential things in life. At least, when she remembered to.

Her appearance was altogether quite forgettable – which was, incidentally, the effect she was going for. Dressed in khaki slacks, a short-sleeved v-neck blouse, and a somewhat floppy sunhat which conveniently shaded her face from all but the most scrutinizing eyes, she could have been anyone ranging from a tourist to a businesswoman. Her posture was casual as she leaned back in her seat, her legs loosely crossed as her gaze wandered out over the ocean. She’d been out here since before dawn to see the sunrise; it wasn’t so much that she’d made a point of beginning her excursion early to catch it, but rather because it was ingrained in her system to be awake before daybreak. Might as well make the best of it, right? Since then, she’d basically whiled away the hours stationed exactly where she was right now (aside from one brief break to visit a nearby café which was just opening up for the day).

For the most part, she’d kept to herself, although every once in a while, one of the weathered fishermen would chat with her – small talk about the weather and how the catches had been for the morning. She’d had more different fish and other sea creatures than she could name presented to her in the past few hours by the passing anglers, ranging from fish of all hues of the rainbow to alien crossbreeds of squid and octopus. Now though, she was left with some peace and quiet, the boats having gone out for the day and most of the fishermen on the pier having packed up their gear for the time being. Still she sat, content to bask in the morning sun with the sound of the ocean around her, the warmth from her cardboard cup of fresh, steaming coffee seeping into her hands as the smell of the exquisite roast mingled with the salty brine of sea spray. For once, life was peaceful, and however long it was going to last, she planned on making the most that she could out of that time.

[Indigo]

Under the pier, a pair of heads surfaced.

"You know," Markos said, water running from his eyeholes, "if you really wanted to avoid being arrested, you could try not carrying three guns at once through the middle of town."

"Running seemed to do the trick this time." Law turned and squinted, trying to get a view of the beach without revealing himself. He was not generally a fan of beaches; they were too exposed, which was a little uncomfortable even when it didn't make his job more difficult, and the sand got everywhere. And he did mean everywhere. Normally he would have stayed far, far away from anything resembling a coastal town, but all the leads had seemed to point to this place, and he had figured they’d be able to stay away from the ocean itself. Which had worked fine, until the police showed up.

“It does tend to draw attention—”

He rolled his eyes, and straightened up—the water wasn’t deep enough to inconvenience him much, just here—and headed towards the beach, where he tipped the water out of his rifle. Already he was attracting a few stares, which Markos’s wet-carpet-scented arrival next to him did nothing to alleviate; while he dressed fairly inconspicuously on the job, he was still unusually tall and, of course, completely drenched. Fortunately most people looked away when he made eye contact.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“It doesn’t seem exactly...reasonable? Or fair, or—”

“Yes, I get it.”

“To blame the weaponry for our being noticed. You see plenty of people wandering around with all manner of knives and swords and...strange, dangerous-looking things in general, not to mention claws and teeth and spikes and all that. Given those, it’s not at all surprising to see someone carrying...guns...”

Markos tilted his head. “I think it’s to do with the way you walk, as well. You just look threatening, and it might help a little to tone down the guns a little bit, you see? They bump you up from ‘vaguely menacing’ to ‘dangerous luna—’”

“Shut up.” Law placed a hand over roughly where he figured Markos’s mouth would be (if he even had one; it was hard to tell) and pointed to the pier. “See that?” he hissed. “That’s our target.”

“You’re sure?” The voice wasn’t even muffled.

“Whatever you may think of my...skills? I do know how to tell when someone’s trying to hide, at the very least. And there’s only one other person in this town who’d have any reason to hide.” It would be unwise to shoot; their current employer wanted the target brought in alive. The guns were just for his own security, really. Equally unwise to get closer to the pier. They were already getting enough attention. No, the best course of action was to get the seawater out of his weapons and wait.