• It was noon and everyone woke up groaning, clutching their head. Fen and Keller felt the worst because they were drunk wrestling last night. Bruises and bumps formed on their bodies. Rey and Ayn felt bad, too, because they drank ten times more than anyone else. Roe and Non were okay but not the best. And then there was Maruru, the brightest of the group.
    “Lazy bums!” Maruru shouts. “Deal your wimpy hangover like a man!”
    “I’m not…a man!” Keller grumbles.
    Maruru laughs. “By ‘man’ I meant strong or something like that” she skips by everyone and stops in front of an Aier to pick it up. “How do you ride an Aier, anyway?”
    “Hey…!” Rey tries to get up but fails miserably. “That’s mine, don’t touch it”
    “Uh huh, whatever you say” she gets on it and stares off into the distance.
    “Don’t you…even dare!” he growls.
    “Ah, I think I should. I’ll never get a chance like this anyway. Come at me if you want to stop me” she sneers.
    “Nnnn…stop” Non grumbles. “You don’t know how to ride one”
    “Just let her” Keller argues.
    “Yeah, listen to her for once!” Maruru says.
    “She might die that way” Keller grins.
    Maruru gapes. “I should’ve known you’d say something like that!” she crosses her arms. “But I want to ride one! Teach me, will you? And can I get my own Aier? I want it to look cool! Maybe it could be blue and white! Oh, and the design should be a wave. That’d be so awesome, yeah. Could I do tricks on it too?”
    “Oh just stop her already!” Roe moans. “Just teach her to ride an Aier and give her one, too”
    “I refuse” Fen says. “Aiers cost a fortune”
    “What?!” Maruru barks. “You’ve got tons of treasures!”
    “And I don’t intend on wasting them for someone that’s done nothing to help us” his words stung.
    “Then let me help you”
    “With what?”
    “With your stealing and stuff! You guys are sky thieves, right?”
    He laughs, they all do. “You want us to let you join Fallen Star?”
    “Yes” she was serious.
    Fen shakes his head and doesn’t answer because it wasn’t his right to decide new members, it was the leader.
    “Can you fight?” Ayn asks, taking control of the conversation.
    Maruru hesitates before answering. “No”
    “Have you stolen anything? Not Aiers but diamonds and gold”
    “…no”
    “Ever traveled?”
    “No”
    “Then what good are you to us?”
    “But I just—”
    “Listen to him” Keller interrupts. “You’re dead weight to us, just a burden and nothing more”
    “Then what can you guys do?!” Maruru didn’t mean to say that but it just happened. Oh well, she can’t take it back now.
    “Keller—” Ayn replies. “—fights with a knife but her main weapon is a tommy gun. Roe uses a rocket launcher and specializes in explosives. Fen’s a swordsman and he does stealth. Non’s a fighter and he’s the fastest Aier user. I decide on our tactics, where we go, and what we steal. I fight with my fists”
    Maruru’s fingers start to quiver. She knew she shouldn’t argue with them because they’ll win. It was obvious to her that she wouldn’t get accepted because she was weak and doesn’t know how to do anything. Apart of her wanted to go back home, back to the palace, but she overlooked that half of her. “I don’t care. Let me join and I’ll do whatever you tell me to do without hesitation. And once I’m better, I want you all to treat me as an equal”
    A short silence, then laughter. “Okay, you’re in” Ayn bellows.
    Maruru gapes. “W-what?”
    “That was just a test” Roe says.
    “No way!” she shouts.
    “Most people that want to join either begs with their tails between their legs or just body building show-offs that think we need them for protection”
    “So…so I’m in? No tricks or anything?”
    “No tricks” Ayn grins. “You’re in” he turns to Rey, “You, too”
    “Really? Sweet” Rey leans back against the mast, completely carefree.
    “Hey!” Maruru hissed. “How come he didn’t get the test?”
    “Cause I had no doubts about him” Ayn says and the others nodded in agreement.
    Maruru mumbled to herself angrily then asked, “So is that all? I don’t have to sign anything like a contract?”
    “Contract?” Keller cackles. “We’re thieves, law breakers! We don’t do contracts. Instead, we have these” she turns and points to the back of her neck where the red tattooed star was.
    “Then I want mine here!” Maruru points to the center where her two collar bones meet.
    “I guess I’ll just get mine here” Rey taps the skin above his hip, next to the bottom of his abs.
    “Alright” Ayn says. “But to get the tattoos, we have to go to Post Ten”
    “Huh? What’s Post Ten?” Maruru asks.
    “It’s a place where law doesn’t apply. Like a town for criminals”
    “Where is it?”
    “Inside a mountain”

    to be continued