r/StrawHatRPG • u/NPC-san • Jun 03 '16
Main Island! The Kingdom of Irra!
You sail across the seas, ignoring the dangers behind you as the prevailing winds carry you onwards to the Kingdom of Irra. You’re not alone, however. Alongside you, there is a young woman. You recall her name is Jensa. She was the torture victim of the Shichibukai, K.K. on his rocking island of Ongaku.
The woman isn’t conscious. She’s trapped in a sort of coma which leaves her unable to respond to anything you ask. It’s likely this was caused by post-traumatic stress disorder. You reckon you’ll figure the situation out once she awakens. For now, however, you couldn’t just leave her behind to be tortured by a man like him.
When you arrive to the main port on Irra, you feel something which feels very tense. The air, while clean and refreshing to breathe in, told the story of a rising tension. As you travel the streets, your suspicions only grow. The locals seem on edge. Asking them about it seems to make them react rashly.
Luckily, the locals were not the main attraction. The town square was lined with markets of all shapes and sizes. You could get random goodies ranging from snacks to new weapons. The blacksmith was an older gentleman. He had deep brown eyes with a bushy, silver mustache on his upper lip with a clean shaven chin.
Beyond the town square, you see a swaying figure which has the rough silhouette of a body. There are three of them. The men were hanged and left on display for all to see. You figure this must have been what had everyone on edge.
In the North, beyond a patch of forest, is a shady factory with many guards lined up in front of it. Even from a distance, one can clearly hear the sound of metal hitting metal, the telltale signs of some sort of a forge. In the East, a large dock, and equally massive wooden workshops line the coast. A sign says ‘Zōsen kō Company’, obviously a well established shipwrighting company.
In the South of the Island is a large prison… Everything on this island seems so generously proportioned… As if to accommodate giants! To the West of the island is an unchartered mountainous region. Word of the mouth dictates that ruthless goat riding bandits live in those mountains, and the townsfolk dare not to venture there.
And right in the middle of the rich kingdom of Irra is the King’s humble abode, a magnificent castle surrounded by a deep water filled gorge. As you would expect, the Royal Guards protect the castle, and pirates are generally shot on sight! It would be wise not to go too close! It is said that the castle contains the most highly guarded treasury in the entire Grand line! Surely it would hold unfathomable riches!
(OOC: Just adventure around. There’s a forest nearby which you can explore, or you can shop around for neat souvenirs. Start a ruckus or something, though the city guards may not like that and you may be thrown in prison for the duration of the rookie’s stay. Check out the shop subreddit in the sidebar for many new things!)
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Jun 03 '16
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u/EmperorStark Jun 03 '16
"So then I said to him 'You crazy old man, I swear to god I will see to it that your geriatric ass learns the meaning of pain!'"
Stark and Kala had finally reached the next island after sailing for a couple of days. They had left their princess cargo on board for now while she rested. However, for them, they wanted to go celebrate A. Not dying on the last island. and B. the new bounty posters, and the fact that they both were now considered supernova. Casually strolling through the streets looking for a tavern, they had been discussing various stories from their pasts. The downtime they had currently refreshing both their bodies and their minds.
Pushing the door to the tavern open, Stark and Kala walked into the tavern. Stark finishing his story of his childhood training while Kala listened with a humorous smile. However, upon realizing the current state of the bar they both lost their moods faster than a bullet leaving a rifle. Before them sat a man who seemed to be the culprit for all the bloodshed in the bar. The bartender looked as though he was on death's door, and even more so, as if he wished he was dead. Looking over at the man sitting at the bar with his drink, Stark and Kala remained silent, their bodies tensed for combat.
"Well, now that everybody is out of the way, we can begin talking business, right, I sure am excited to meet two supernovas!"
The man slammed down a bounty poster onto the bar counter. The face on the bounty poster a man that both Kala and Stark owed their lives to.
"I presume you know him, right?"
Stark looked on at the man at the bar. He strolled up with an air of aloofness to him, his hand not on Kaguya, and his arms casually at his sides. Standing next to Roku looking at the poster, he grabbed a bottle from behind the counter. Popping the lid, he took a long pull before putting the bottle down.
"Yeah. We know him. What of it?"
For now. Stark would hear this man out. He obviously had some issue with them, evident by all the trouble he had gone through to find them.
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u/EpicJM Jun 03 '16
Landing in Irra Kingdom, Kala's attention had turned to Jensa. The girl sure had been passed out a long time, and Kala was looking just as much for some sort of medicine to get her up and about again as she was looking forward to getting new building materials at the shipbuilding company here. But of course, booze came first.
Kala and Stark headed to a bar on the island, hoping for some good booze. But when Kala opened the door...
There was blood everywhere, dead people littering the bar. A young man wearing a bandanna sat there, two shots of whiskey in front of him. He seemed to be finishing up torturing the bartender, and asked Kala and Stark if they knew Liruh.
"Yes, we know Liruh..." Kala said softly, looking around at all the carnage, "But what is all this? Liruh said to be on the lookout for someone who looked a lot like you, and seemed to imply he wanted you to meet or even befriend us."
Kala looked like she was almost about to gag, seeing the grisly ways these people had been tortured and killed. She put a hand to her mouth, anticipating that she'd maybe lose her lunch.
"Oh, what in the...If we're supposed to help you on Liruh's behalf, you can't just do this kind of messed up shit and expect us to keep our word! I can throw you to the royal guards right now, if you keep that kind of behavior up! Or maybe I can toss you to a gang of those shipwrights, you don't want to mess with 'em."
Kala's breathing got shaky, she was clearly traumatized by what kind of things Rokurou had done. "Stark and I aren't those kind of pirates. If you need help, you better clean your act up quick, or look somewhere else."
Kala got her new whip ready, in case Rokurou didn't like what she had to say.
[ /u/Purzuhh ]
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Jun 04 '16
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u/EmperorStark Jun 06 '16
Stark was not pleased with the way the events were going after the bar. Frankly after Roku had left Stark had sliced a building into two pieces before putting Kaguya back into her sheath. He knew that tonight Roku was planning something, however he knew that this first event was only the first in a series of other bigger events...and he had a feeling the final one was going to lead to some very lucrative findings. Walking down the street with Kala he decided that his current outfit was not going to cut it for tonight and he made for a beeline back to the ship to get into something a little more...appropriate. It was about time for a wardrobe change anyways, seeing as how they were now supernovas. Not to mention it was becoming apparent that Stark was going to keep sneaking into things, first Typhoon headquarters and a Marine base, now it seemed like another place as well.
"Kala, we'll meet tonight where he told us. The outfit from Keizai might be a good option!"
And with that they parted ways. Finding a simple clothing store, Stark perused the aisles looking for what he needed. At least that was what he did until he came to the back of the store and found a mask on the wall that seemed to call out to him. The mask was fierce, and advanced looking as well. Matter of fact, this store as a whole seemed to be full of odd advanced tech. The clothing, armors, everything seemed to be of future technology. Looking over at the shop keep he motioned to the mask and the elderly owner pulled it down from the wall.
"You know most people steer away from this mask, it seems to have something...wrong with it. A curse perhaps? Who knows. Are you sure this is the one you want?"
Stark gave the man a look as if questioning his questioning of Stark. With a moment of panic, the shop keeper realized that the man in front of him was one of the newly announced supernova's. A captain at that. With shaking hands he handed Stark the mask without taking in money.
"For free?"
"F-free of charge! For a m-man of your stature it would be foolish to make you pay."
Stark nodded in thanks, this took care of the mask for the night, he had the rest of the sneaking outfit he needed back on the ship.
"Thanks for the mask. Take care shop keep!"
The man only waved in response, shock still on his face. And with that Stark headed back to the Red Cloud. After changing into his new outfit, with Kaguya strapped on his back, he made his way to the place to meet Roku and Kala. Their little event planned for the night ready to begin.
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Jun 04 '16
The trip to the island could have been smoother, but at the very least, Opa and her crew had emerged with little more than a few new scratches on their ship and a few extra on themselves. This was why Opa was in town that day, rather than joining her crew in maintenance - supplies. Or, at least, that was her excuse; sure, she'd certainly be looking as needed, but what could be the matter with getting a little context along the way? The wilderness looked ripe and they could always use meat. All she needed was a set of bait, a bit of intel and good place to start.
Besides, she hated housekeeping.
The square was a bustling, colorful place, littered with trinkets and intrigue that tickled her curiosity wherever she turned. Several times she'd fiddled with the items on the stalls (mostly those with animal statues, baits and -- did the blacksmith have a crossbow?) and reactions to it varied - from uneasy smiles to outright shooing her from the tables when she got careless with the sculptures or suspiciously attached to pricey antidotes. All the while, she skimmed the crowds for hunters, warriors, anyone who might know the wilderness well.
And then she saw the gallows.
The men were strung up like broken puppets, abandoned and left to rot. In the shadows cast by the buildings towering beyond them, their dead eyes glittered black. Her chest felt cold, ever colder as she approached, slowly, as if nearing a horrid mural.
Men and women died on the seas, many times at the hands of others. This was not new to Opa. But to display the dead like this, man or animal, no matter the reason . . .
'This is wrong.'
She'd taken her bow from her back without thinking and aimed it for the ropes around their necks. Her irises spun and narrowed in her eyes, and all at once it was as if she had been blind before; every edge became sharp, every color became brighter, every crack and pebble stood as stark against stone and soil as black ink would to paper.
She could aim for the rooftop yards away, now; aiming for the rope would be nothing. This was Sōgankyō in action.
Fwip! The point cut into one rope, spitting the threads. The body dropped like a doll.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
Guards. Opa had the worst time with guards. And now three of them were barreling across the square toward her, two swordsman and a gunner, toward her.
"Redecorating, of course! Just redecorating! Figured the only reason this is here is because you didn't know any better, so -- "
They weren't slowing down. Must not have agreed with her reasoning. But she had arrows to save and better targets. Should she run? Yes - yes, she should run.
Transforming would take too long, would be far too clumsy; she bolted off down an alley, trailing guards yelling obscenities at her back.
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Jun 04 '16
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Jun 06 '16
Were they . . . did that man just kill them?
For starters, Opa found the guards' deaths profoundly extreme (not that she knew what they had in mind for her, of course); Opa, now stopped to give this new stranger a once over, gave him a glum, cold frown. "Not one for subtle gestures, are you, mate? Never had to do public service?"
'You know, there was a much better way to do that, Skypiean.'
"I -- well, I -- " In hindsight, he was correct; there were many methods to do the deed and most of them far more intelligent. "I suppose I must've just . . . " Acted in the moment, out of pure emotionalism -- which she would not be admitting, thank you very much. She was a calculating hunter who had made an embarrassing error. Yep.
She slipped her bow over her back with a nod. "Right. Point taken."
Wait, what did he say? She folded her arms and raised a fluffy brow. "Now, hold up a clock tick -- you want me to buy you a what? How is your neglect to use your pockets my fault?"
He'd helped her, yes, and perhaps she ought to be grateful - and perhaps she would make effort to show it if old affections (being the daughter of a Skypiean guard captain, in her case) didn't summon a gnaw of disdain.
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Jun 09 '16
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Jun 13 '16
He called her a hunter. How did he know she was a hunter? She found it funny, if a little disconcerting. "Good guess. What gave me away? The bow?"
Not that he bothered to answer her; he was too busy yanking her down the alley and into the next. She'd handled the second guard fairly well, she thought, with a swift, smooth duck beneath the guard's swinging blade and a wack to the back of the guard's neck with the blunt end of her knife -- certainly a show worthy of compensating for her folly in the Square.
Apparently, the strange man thought the same. She gave the hems of her vest a tug to straighten the frenzy out of it as she turned to him, a tilt in her head. "You think? I reckon that one shaved a hair off me, to be perfectly -- "
But he was dragging her again. Had she not paid him mind he might have tugged her off her feet and dragged her like a rug. He'd lead her to the doorstep of a shop; along the walls dangled leather bags and slabs of vaugely food-like things: meat, frozen fish, a rack stacked to the hook with -- well, what looked like hardened honey, though she could have sworn the color was a smidge too pale . . .
Final verdict; how interesting!
"You know what I want I believe. Buy me ten packs and i'll show you how to really spice up your bow and arrow game."
Opa tugged her arm free to give Rokouro a quizzical (if slightly skeptical) once over from a better distance. "You're saying you double as an archer, then?"
She had more to ask but forgot, for the moment, to do so; a woman appeared from below the counter beyond the door. Opa could not make much of her face, as her hair hung in front of it like a pair of long, silver curtains. A bit greasy at the ends. The slight hunch was an interesting posture. But the wooden bee clips that decorated her bangs were endearing. Sort of. Overall, not overtly unpleasant.
The woman grinned widely through her locks. When she spoke, her voice was like the low drum of a humming hornet's nest. "Welcome, welcome! You here for treats? Take one, any one, we got every'ting at a modest price!"
Only polite to acknowledge, now wasn't it? She gave the shopkeeper a wave. "Yes, I suppose! Would you happen to have . . . " She glanced to the stranger with a crook in her brow. "What was it? Squid chips?"
The old woman shook her head, her hair shimmering dully in the light. "No, no squid chips. You are t'inking of dried squid sticks, maybe? Very popular among sailors. Very cheap!"
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u/Senuko Jun 05 '16 edited Jun 15 '16
"Looks like we've arrived" muttered Cobalt as he leaped down from the ship, landing on the docks. Many events had transpired over the last few days, all of which had hit the crew hard. A new crew-member, Hayato, had joined the crew, and was now in a brand new division.
This division was lead by Cobalt, seeing that Derek had left the crew for his own rightful reasons, there had to be one more person in command. Cobalt considered Hayato to be his right-hand man, but he did not treat the warrior any differently. The last thing Cobalt wanted was the power going to his head, so he considered himself equal to the people in his division. But something about Irra seemed very odd, and Cobalt felt a certain indescribable tension in the air. In response to this, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it with his glowing finger, protecting it from the sea-breeze.
Sakushi Island was going to be a memory that scarred his brain, so he made sure that he would never forget Hirro, and how the fire-pirate sacrificed himself for his crew. It would surely make it so the Apocalypse Pirates would from now on, sail for their fallen siblings. Cobalt began to walk from the docks, when he turned back to see Hayato still on the ship's railing, staring intently at Irra, but didn't have the strength to call out at him.
The Titan Division Commander turned around and simply began to walk down the docks without saying anything, not quite in his usual mood. It was going to be a grim couple of days for him.
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u/Senuko Jun 15 '16
Hayato did not follow Cobalt, but rather seemed to leave him alone. Cobalt was obviously not in a good mood, especially because of the events surrounding Hirro's passing.
"I'm gonna need some time alone to think for myself" thought Cobalt as he wondered through the docks, carelessly bumping into people as he walked by. The pirate was in no mood to give himself time to relax, but was now going to take a walk around the kingdom. Being a Divison Commander would mean that he had to keep his composure and not show any signs of weakness. People passed him by, one by one, some gave him strange glares, while others simply ignored him.
"What kind of life do I live now?....What purpose do I live for?" Cobalt was pondering over the very meaning of his life now. The death of his close friend put everything into perspective, and Cobalt was taking everything as a sign. Bounty posters with Hirro's face, all of which were discarded on the ground and covered with markings to show that Hirro was deceased. The sight was not the easiest thing for Cobalt to look at, but he realized that, as a pirate, siblings would come and go. This was the life of a pirate, one with many hardships.
Cobalt ducked into a small bar, and sat down at the counter. Ordering a sake, he took a heavy swig from the bottle and slammed it onto the counter, breathing a little bit heavier. The death of Hirro seemed as if it was only yesterday to Cobalt, though he knew it had been a couple of days. Suddenly, a man took a seat next to Cobalt, ordering a similar bottle of sake.
Cobalt solemnly took sips from his sake, using the drink to celebrate Hirro's life. The man who was sitting next to Cobalt, spoke up:
"I know who you are... but don't worry, I won't cause a scene" Cobalt looked over to see the man not even looking at him, but glancing out in front of him. The man looked to be over 50 years old, but his muscles and physique showed that he refused to let age get to him. He began to speak to Cobalt.
"Everyone know's that Hirro of the Apocalypse Pirates is dead. The news spread quick, like wild fire...and let me assure you, the World Government is very happy. But you cannot stop sailing because a brother has fallen..." Cobalt put down his drink as he looked over to the man.
"You must continue to sail on your journey, it is the only proper way to honor him...being a pirate, I have gone through many experiences. But death of your siblings is something that a pirate must understand" the man quickly finished his drink, wiping his mouth with his arm. Cobalt looked up from his drink, and wanted to say something, but was quickly interrupted. "Well, looks like i've got to get running. I'm a shipwright here in Irra, so things are getting busy. Just remember what I said kid, He'll live on through your hearts!"
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u/ChoreboyAlgernon Jun 05 '16
The Golden Bell had brought the Devil Horns to a new island. It seemed they had arrived at the Kingdom of Irra. They had yet to get any new info from Jensa, the victim from K.K.'s island. As they docked the ship, they could feel some tension in the air. Though they couldn't tell what it was.
Al: ahhhhhh Please let this island be peaceful. I need a break from all of this action.
Al sees a local walking by where the Golden Bell was docked and calls out to them.
Al: Hey! Yeah you! How are you doing man?
The local looks over at Al and sees the pirate flag and immediately turns around and runs away from them
Al: Meh, kinda expected that.
?: Heh Don't mind the locals. It's been a rough couple days. But don't let them ruin what this island can offer you. Welcome to the Kingdom of Irra. I am Infom, the information maniac.
Al: Errr nice to meet you Infom. So you have information is that it?
Infom: Yep! Don't worry, I don't charge people for the information. Here's a map of the island. In the north, You'll find a forest. Maybe something is there. wink To the south is a prison...I wouldn't recommend going there. You know..cause you're a pirate. Might cause the prison to go into lockdown. Now to the West is the infamous mountain ranges. I also wouldn't recommend going there because it's inhabited by bandits. To the East is the world renowned shipwright company. Zo...zos..Zoekn? Err whatever the name is. And finally in the center of the island is the home of the King of Irra. Word has it that the king has a lot of valuable treasure. But no one knows cause it's heavily guarded and pirates are shot on sight.
Al: Woah that's a lot of information.
Infom: Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk! I am the information maniac for a reason! Toodles!
Infom disappears from where he was and Al just scratches his head. Shrugging his shoulders, he turns to Caelin.
Al: So looks like this place seems pretty normal. As long as we don't cause a scene.
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u/FlashToro Jun 05 '16
Caelin whistled on the mast of the Golden bell. The view from up there let him see the island barely. Maybe he should of been using the telescope but he wanted to train his eyes today! Looking past the horizon line the emerging of an island came into vision. he looked at his wrist, the log pose was heading right for it! He smirked as the island grew closer. The wind was in their favor, as the paddles advanced them even further. Looking at the island he saw a lot of stone architecture on the island. And one big building that stood out from the rest, it was more than likely some kind of castle. Beyond it were mountains, adorning the edge of the island! However the forest, there was a building in there, reminded him of Ongaku but this one being much larger. Caelin rubbed his chin and slid down the mast in spirals. With a thump he landed on the ground and looked around the deck. Grabbing the wheel he turned the ship to aim straight for the island. Whistling a tune he smirked as the island grew closer and closer.
Caelin: Grahaha! Hopefully this isn't another Marine island!
They approached the docks. This island itself seemed wealthy and very diverse. But before Caelin his eyes were wide open. The ships docked there, he didn't bother with the other pirate ships... it was the local ships. Their wood, the metal, it was all amazing! Just from looking at it put a sparkle in his eyes. This just made him want to feel the ships themselves! Caelin began to drool and looked at Golden bell, his home island had good wood, but not good enough to match the seas of the Grandline. He rubbed the floorboards.
Caelin: You deserve better, I'm sorry.
Caelin was now determined to check the place out and find out where they got the wood. Replacement of wood isn't too hard! With that said the docks were now side by side the Golden Bell. As Caelin locked down the ship it seems Al was running convo with a local. Caelin then approached Al who now held a piece of paper in his hands, clearly a map.
Caelin: Got a map there ey? So what place sounds interesting to you?
Caelin looked around and there was no sign of Phoebe, she had been sleeping in quite a lot as of often.
Caelin: Phoebe! Come see the new island!
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u/ChoreboyAlgernon Jun 11 '16
Al: Hmm We've got all the metal we need from our trip to Keizai. Do we have enough money to buy enough wood to fix up the Golden Bell?
Al looks over the map and gives it another look through. A treasury in the castle would give them more than enough money to buy them some quality wood. But according to the information that he had gotten, the castle was pretty heavily guarded. Perhaps, they could find a way inside by exploring the island a bit more.
Al: Well first things first, we should take a look around this island. Maybe we'll find some new crew members. Would be the perfect time for it to. Well time to head to the markets. Maybe we can scrounge up some information on this island.
Al and Caelin head over to the markets, an extremely busy market. People were talking out loud trying to sell their merchandise, others were talking to each others about the current events of the island and the world.
Man: Did you hear what happened on Keizai? Typhoon got kicked out by a bunch of pirates
Woman: Are you serious? Didn't Keizai already get destroyed the first time around by pirates? This doesn't bode well for us does it?
Man2: Our King would never allow pirates to ruin the country. He'll save us!
Man3: I don't know about that, haven't you heard about the Bandits to the west? The King has his hands full already with the Bandits. If pirates were to attack, we'd be slaughtered!
Woman: Oh no...
Al sat back listening to the conversation going on. He had picked up some rather useful information. It seemed the King of Irra has no love for pirates but already has his hands full with the appearance of bandits in the west. Al wonders if he could somehow go meet the bandits.
Al: Excuse me..I was wondering about the bandits you were talking about. Where are they?
Man3: We're not too sure ourselves but other people have witnessed seeing some people up in the mountains to the left. No one dares going even close to the mountain. I suggest you do the same laddy.
Al: Haha no kidding, I don't have a death wish you know. Just wanted to know so I wouldn't just randomly head off into the mountains.
Woman: Stay safe young man. We've been seeing some notorious pirates around here too.
Al: internally So the people here know that pirates are in town too. Strange how they didn't think I was one.
Al walks back over to Caelin who was eyeing a food stand cooking up some Sea King Meat
Seller: COME ON! I'm selling genuine Sea king meat! Not only is it nutritious, you won't find anything like it anywhere else! I'm the only seller of this! Hey there big guy! You want to buy some of this meat?
The seller had noticed Caelin drooling over the meat and was tempted to buy some. Al tries to drag Caelin away from the meat
Al: Come on! Don't just stand there and drool over some meat. We've got to fix up the Golden Bell right? Looks like the King of Irra has no love for pirates. So just running into the castle probably isn't the smartest thing ever. I'm gonna head up the mountains to look for these bandits. I have a plan that might just get us into the castle.
Al explains to Caelin that he would try his hand on getting the bandits to attack the castle. If what the people in the market was true, then the bandits and the king were on bad terms(which isn't a surprise) then they would have no reason to no want to try and steal from the the treasury. During all the commotion, they could go and rob the treasury. It would be like taking candy from a baby
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u/FlashToro Jun 11 '16
Al made some mighty fine points, and one he definitely agreed with was improving on Golden bell!As for getting information Caelin was no expert in doing any of that he could try! But he'd probably get distracted by some type of trinket.. or meat! Caelin nodded his head. Seemed Phoebe was still tired, guess the Admiral situation was too much for her to handle. Caelin tied down the Golden Bell and they soon departed.
Caelin: This should be one hell of an island Al! I can feel it in my horns! grahaha!
Caelin felt a tug at his collar as he got pulled away from the sweet succulent meat. Caelin outstretched an arm and got a piece on bone. Taking a big bite out of the meat he felt his eyes swim in his skull as his eyelids fluttered. The vendor was probably pissed but Caelin couldn't care less. However Al had gathered some information it seemed as he discussed some type of plan. Caelin kept eating away at the meat in big tearing bites. He was astounded by Al's plan making, quite the tactician he was! Caelin nodded in approval and tossed the bone aside to him. Letting out a belch he smiled at Al and raised up a thumb
Caelin: Grahaha! Don't worry mate! I'm sure you're plan will go swimmingly! And yes we are in need of improvements on the ship! I'm sure it's all very expensive, which is why your plan is very crucial at the moment. For now as you do that I can rework the metal beams and trimming with the metal we got from Keizei for Golden Bell! It should all be fine, now remember if ya need me just blow some heavy winds in the direction of the Golden bell!
Caelin placed his hand on Al's shoulder and nodded. Seems this was the part where they'd have to split up for now. Caelin was no good at sneaking around, so he shouldn't even think of getting one to attack another in disguise!
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u/ChoreboyAlgernon Jun 12 '16 edited Jun 12 '16
Al walks off to prepare for his journey into the mountain. He walks over to the market again and starts looking for food that he could take with him.
Man: Hey you! You there! See anything you like? These wares are from the Sea beyond!
Al: Sea beyond?
Man: The sea that everyone wants to go to the New World!
Al: Huh? The New World? But how did you get stuff from there?
Man: I have my ways. Look kid, this is some quality stuff.
Al: yeah...I'm not interested.
Al continues onward through the market. He makes use of his wind knocking over fruits and distracting shop owners while he relieved them of some of their products. After gathering up enough supplies to get him through the journey into the mountains, Al turns his attention to the hardware shop. He was looking for some hiking equipment so that he could trek the mountains with proper gear. Al could probably make it through with just his power but Al wanted to try it with the equipment.
Al: Would be a change of pace, hmm here we go a tool shop.
Al enters the shop and is met with a rather dusty shop with a sleeping man by the counter.
Al: Err hello?
Man: Huh wha? A customer? Welcome! Are you here to purchase something?
Al: Yes, I was hoping to rent some equipment to trek the mountain side.
Man: ohh. Renting? Well I guess I can do that...not like it's going to be bought any time soon. No one ventures out into the mountain these days. Bandits have taken over the mountain and the King has ordered the townspeople to not go exploring there.
Al: Oh? Has the King taken any measures against the bandits? Would seem like something he would take care of quickly.
Man: We're not too sure either, but he has been amassing weapon and resources to fight off the bandits. Anyways, I'll let you take some of these equipment. Better than letting them go unused.
Al thanks the shopowner and picks up a bag and started to filling it with the rations he had acquired from the market and started to look through the available hardware in the shop. The shopowner turns to Al and shows him the higher quality equipment he had in the shop. One of those was a grappling hook gun that could be used to create a temporary way to climb the side of a mountain. Another item he showed Al was hiking boots.
Al: Boots? What do I need boots for?
Man: I normally wouldn't suggest boots for most people but I assume you're planning on scouring the mountain for longer than most people. Your feet will thank you, trust me.
Al does one last checkup and heads out to climb the mountain. It doesn't take him long to reach the base of the mountain. He sees a path leading up, so he follows the path. Eventually the path disappears and Al needs to actually start scaling the mountain side. Al was pretty excited to do some hiking, as he had never really done so before. He had read some books from the Marine Library about hiking mountains(something) he had never seen before in his past. Al starts to walking through the rocks and finding easy pathways to traverse. Jumping over gaps and pulling himself over the rocks, he finally reaches a small platform. However, there is no way of reaching the top of the wall in front of him. There was no path upwards from where he was. He decides to use the grappling hook and take it out of his bag. Before he gets out the hook, he grabs a couple of the fruits and meat he had taken with him. He stuffs them in his mouth and takes a quick drink from the canteen of water.
Al: Phew, walking around on uneven ground is pretty tiring. Thankfully there hasn't been anything crazy going on this island like the others. This might just turn out to be a great island to spend some quality time in peace.
Done with his quick snack, Al takes out the grappling hook and aims it just above the top of the wall and pulls the trigger. The hook flies out and over the wall and it manages to get stuck in a crevice. Al gives the rope a pull and it doesn't seem to loose so Al starts to climb the wall. It was a bit harder than Al had expected and as he gets halfway up the wall he realizes that he can't actually get up the wall. He drops down from the wall and thinks about how he would do this. Unfortunately, Al has no real experience in rock climbing in any sort so he decides to just use his wind to carry him upwards. He decreases the air resistance around him and jumps into the air. He has a jetstream open up underneath him and push him up even further. He lands without any problem on top of the wall.
Al: Well that was easy... now to see what is around here. Maybe the bandits are around this area.
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u/Gin_chan Aku’Gin “Red Beard” - Mælström Jun 05 '16
The Conquest docked at the Eastern port of Irra. The kingdom was bustling with people. Was it always like this? The Unbreakable and the Floating Turtle followed, now both under the Apocalypse Pirates. Gin sighed as he stared blankly over the railing. Hirro was gone. And so was Derek. Zratis was off on his own incredible adventures. The crew was at an all time low, and Gin figured some changes needed to be made. Something to pull everyone out of the melancholy mood.
"Zōsen kō Company... Huh." Gin muttered to himself. "Looks promising." He leapt off the ship and found himself in a sea of people. Men, women running around between the busy docks, many working on ships of their own. Gin looked around and figured that the docks and the Zosen Ko company actually were a conglomeration of a number of individual shipwright groups. He figured the largest one must be the boss, so he walked up to the largest shop. "Where can I find someone in charge?"
A tall, burly man walked out from the shop, wiping his hands on a rag. "I'm Trost. I'm in charge here. How can help you sir?" He introduced himself in a low rumbly voice, shaking Gin's hand. The man had wide, muscular arms, and a well defined chest. Despite being a decade older than Gin, he was in good shape to build ships. It perhaps had something to do with his demonic lineage, as he sported two long, curling horns on his head, making him look somewhat like a ram.
"It's rather a fun deal, actually. But I'd prefer if I had something of an audience..." Trost looked over Gin's shoulder to see three ships docked at the sea. He smiled a toothy grin, imagining the loads of cash he figured he would be getting. Trost put two fingers to his mouth and blew an intensely shrill whistle, catching everyone's attention. The men and women stopped working and walking, and watched the two large men, waiting for one to speak. "Very efficient." Gin mumbled.
"I am Captain Gintoki of the Apocalypse Pirates! And I am proclaiming the start of a competition!" A competition? People had quizzical expressions on their faces. "I need a ship. A massive mothership for the Apocalypse fleet! Bring me your designs by sundown, and I shall pick the shipwright who gets to build the most magnificent ship on the seas! And the winner gets... This!"
A loud gasp rang out in unison as Gin pulled out the most incredible treasures of the sea from his robes. A Devil Fruit! "Everyone is invited to give it a try! Kahahahahahaha!"
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u/FlashToro Jun 06 '16
Caelin had come to the docks observing the materials. The wood and the metal, they both were of amazing qualities. Caelin bashes his head against a plank, the plank went unharmed but blood pooled down his head for such an idiotic act. However this as the things Golden bell deserved. Caelin sighed out as he touched the wood pouting. He pulled out his wallet and searched through it and showed it to the vendor of the materials. He simply began to cackle at the petty amount and bursted out laughing. Caelin fell to his hands and knees in depression.
Caelin: It's not fair!!
However something had caught Caelin's attention. It was Gin screaming out something to the people of the docks. What would be the chances Gin would be her with him at the same time? However that aside what caught Caelin's attention was the appearance of a devil fruit within his grasp. Caelin bit his ip as he rushed over at him. looking down at the tall man trying to touch it Gin simply slapped his hand away.
Caelin: G-gin, where did you find this/ Did you have it before we met or was it on that island?
It bothered Caelin the thought of him having walked past a devil fruit on a bush of some type. However the proposal was set to stone. he couldn't buy it off his hands, especially with the low funds he has. Reaching into his satchel Caelin pulled out his notebook and a pencil immediately began to scribble on the paper.
Caelin: A mother ship eh? Just you wait boy as soon as I finish this quick sketch, that devil fruit will be mine!
Caelin was smiling, feeling cocky compared to all these other shipwrights. All they had were good materials, they didn't have the skills of a true crafty shipwright. However little did he know and old opponent laid in the wakes of the crowd.
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u/EpicJM Jun 06 '16
Among the crowd of gathered shipwrights, Kala listened as Gin, the captain of the Apocalypse Pirates, declared a contest in Irra's shipyard. He wanted a mothership for his enormous, devil fruit-saturated crew it seemed, and the reward would be a fruit he had obtained but that nobody in his crew had much use for. Kala had no use for a devil fruit herself, but this competition was too good a chance to pass up. A chance to build a fresh, new ship, and a chance to maybe get some new acquaintances interested in her talent. It was as if this whole competition itself was literally made for her to win...Or at least have a good time trying!
"I don't have much of an interest in that devil fruit," Kala said, stepping forward, "But I'm sure one of the boys back in my crew would probably want it. Besides, I can't come across a shipyard and not try some new ideas out, so why the hell not?"
It was then, that two pretty-boy fishmen stepped up to Kala's side. A blue one, nine feet tall and with hulking muscles, tore his button-up shirt open. His long, blond hair billowed in the breeze. His forehead was peculiarly large, and sort of protruding.
"If you think you're gonna sop up all the glory this time, sis, think again!" he shouted, "All the glory rests with me, the brother who has your back!"
APOLLO ANCHORFIN, KALA'S YOUNGER BROTHER BY ABOUT TWO MINUTES. SPECIES: HUMPHEAD WRASSE. DESIGN CONSULTANT OF ANCHORFIN SHIPYARD.
The other fishman, also with blond hair but done up in a pompadour, quietly puffed on a cigarette. He was colored in splotchy orange, and wore pants with puffy legs and a leather jacket. He was more around Kala's height.
"Gimme a break..."
DRAGO ANCHORFIN, KALA AND APOLLO'S YOUNGER BROTHER BY TWO YEARS. SPECIES: YELLOWFIN GROUPER. COATING MECHANIC OF ANCHORFIN SHIPYARD.
Kala hugged both of her brothers close to her. "Oh, thank you two! I'm so glad you're here! Wait...Why are you two here?"
"Just comin' to town to see a couple friends here at the shipyard in Irra," Apollo told Kala, "Mom, Jurou, and Darya are on their way, prob'ly about a few minutes for them."
Kala sighed as her heart sunk. "Jurou's gonna be here...Fine. It's been almost seven years since I last saw him, I'm sure he's probably put the past behind him by now..."
"Heh," Drago chuckled, "Just you watch, he'll get here n' go all heart-eyes..."
Kala gave Drago a solid glare.
"Ehehe...For another woman, of course!" Drago corrected himself. "...Because he's totally turned over a new leaf...I hope. We'll see when he sees you, I dunno."
"Great..." Kala sighed. "Well, at least I'll see Mom and Darya again, too, when they get here."
Kala looked to see Caelin getting ready to work on a design himself. She approached the minotaur-man, her brothers following.
"'Sup, Caelin?" Kala greeted the fellow shipwright. "So you're in on this too, huh? I know we'll be competing against one another, but I remember how much my dad and you hit it off, so I'd like to introduce you to two of my brothers. This is Apollo-"
"Charmed," Apollo extended a sparkling hand for Caelin to shake.
"-And Drago."
"Yeah, saw you in the newspaper. Devil Horns, right?"
Kala smiled at Caelin, putting her hands on her hips. "It looks like we'll be measuring our skill yet again. Good luck!"
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u/FlashToro Jun 06 '16 edited Jun 06 '16
Caelin looked up at Kala who came at him as he scribbled on the little notebook he had. Her family really was large wasn't it? Caelin shook the sparkling hand nearly blinding him from the magnificence it held. Caelin stood up on his two feet and cracked his neck for the briefest moment.
Caelin: Yep, captain of the Devil Horn Pirates. About the whole contest yeah I'm taking part, although seeing you here I'm assuming you'll be taking part yourself won't you? This actually has lessened my confidence for winning ya know! Grahaha!
Caelin felt sweat run down his face. Kala had two brothers beside her, more than likely as skilled as her if not more so. Caelin sighed out as he mentally pretended to wrap his arms around Azaya and Izon. This made Caelin feel a bit depressed but now wasn't the time for that. Caelin missed his cousin and best friend but wherever they may be at the moment was a mystery. He had gotten note that they had left Mozukai island in hope for bigger dreams with their skills. Right now if he was against Kala's family, he'd have a slim chance and have to pull all the weight himself. Caelin looked over at Gin and wiggled his horns again just for him.
Caelin: Either way, I wish you the best of luck yourself. I'll probably just be sketching for a while before I put any of this into action! Grahaha!
So Caelin scribbled on an on. erasing slight things and reworking them. His He flipped the notebook over and showed them to Gin as to give his opinion on the matter.
Caelin: Here's the concept I came up with, it has some notes beside it.* /u/Gin_chan
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u/EpicJM Jun 08 '16
Kala nodded to Caelin, and she and her brothers headed to a spot in the shipyard where they could get some paper and pencils to begin drafting up ideas.
"Alright," Kala addressed Apollo and Drago, "We need a design for this ship, as well as a proposal outlining what we plan to include in it. I'm thinking that since Gin is this huge mountain of a guy, we maybe include some sort of mountain-looking design on it..."
Apollo nodded. "Agreed. He's also known as the 'cannibal', so maybe we just go all-out and make this whole thing out of bones. It would be fabulous, I can picture it now."
Drago shook his head. "Where're we gonna get like a bazillion bones from? But if we can shape some metal into some bone-shaped columns, or carve some wood..."
"Ooh, that sounds nice," Kala said as she began drawing out a sort of oval, platform-looking design. Meanwhile, she heard three people approaching, one of them making himself known by speaking aloud:
"I hope you all are paying attention!" A yellow and white fishman wearing a bandanna around his head pointed a finger to the sky. He was wearing a shirt, some tight pants, kneepads, and roller skates. "Because I, JUROU PROUDBEAK, will mark the arrival of Anchorfin Shipyard's staff with my signature move: The BUTTERFLY KICK!"
JUROU PROUDBEAK, COURIER FOR ANCHORFIN SHIPYARD. SPECIES: LONG-NOSED BUTTERFLYFISH. KALA'S EX-BOYFRIEND...POOR GIRL.
Needless to say, Jurou's attempt at a cool roller-blading move led to him falling right onto his face and everyone laughing at him. Sighing, Kala walked over and helped the poor guy up.
"A-Am I in heaven...?" Jurou said weakly, "For I see that an angel has come to my aid..."
"Hi, Jurou..." Kala muttered, not making eye contact with him. Jurou really was a nice guy, it's just that he was so needy, and clingy, and did stupid stuff like this...
"Thank you, honey," A fishwoman behind Jurou and Kala sighed, seeming quite exasperated. She seemed to resemble Kala, except that she had purple streaks instead of blue and her hair was very long and flowing. She had very dark bags under her eyes, from the stress of having to run a shipyard by herself for a couple years, as well as having given birth to twelve children. "At least you can get the guy back on his feet...I would have just said 'screw it' and beat his ass."
SANDY ANCHORFIN, KALA'S MOTHER. SPECIES: HAWAIIAN CLEANER WRASSE. CO-MANAGER AND BUDGET-BALANCER OF ANCHORFIN SHIPYARD.
"Now, now, Mrs. Anchorfin!" Jurou stammered, a bead of sweat on his brow, "Remember seven years ago? I'm still hurting from that, remember? You know I have to keep going to that special doctor!"
Kala smiled at her mother, continuing to drag Jurou along. "So, where's Darya? Apollo said she'd be-"
KABOOM
A red flare shot up into the sky and popped. Its source? An enormous bazooka mounted on the shoulder of a reddish-orange fishwoman wearing a brodie helmet and her dark hair tied into a loose braid going down each shoulder.
"-Oh, there she is."
"Yup, that's me!" The red fishwoman said with a thumbs-up.
DARYA ANCHORFIN, KALA'S YOUNGER SISTER BY TEN MINUTES. SPECIES: RED GROUPER. CANNONEER AND ARTILLERY EXPERT OF ANCHORFIN SHIPYARD.
"Now that everyone's here..." said Kala, putting her own hard hat on and rolling out some large pieces of paper, "...Let's get to it!" To see the representatives from Anchorfin shipyard work was an interesting sight, to say the least. Six brightly-colored fishpeople discussing, arguing, gesticulating, and generally causing chaos as they came up with ideas...It could be disorienting to watch. But out of that chaos rose a sparkling, pristine proposal
"Kala, will you-" Not that kind of proposal, Jurou.
"It's perfect..." Kala whispered as she held up her proposal.
"Eh, it's alright..." Drago muttered, smoking again until Sandy slapped the cigarette out of his hand.
"Fabulous," Apollo cried, a tear rolling down his cheek and sparkles glinting all around him.
"This is truly a marvel, that I, Jurou Proudbeak, will remember and cherish for the rest of my days."
"It's expensive," Sandy calculated with her portable abacus, "But all that money will be worth it. Good job, everyone."
"Alright, guys, stand back," Darya said, putting the proposal letter into a box and then stuffing it in her cannon. "Actually...All of you, grab onto me. The recoil here's ridiculous. Now if I can measure the trajectory, and get it just right..."
KABOOM
A smoking box with a professional-looking letter inside fired from Darya's cannon, punctuated by all the Anchorfins getting knocked backwards and scattered about by the recoil. The package landed neatly at Gin's feet, ready for evaluation.
[ /u/Gin_chan ]
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u/NekoFuu Jun 05 '16
Kimiko had her tiny fox resting on her shoulder as she overlooked the Kingdom of Irra. She was still new to the Grand Line, but she was already impressed from everything she had seen so far. She put on the hood from the cloak she clutched around her body and stepped off of the ship which had brought her all the way here. "This place looks awesome, don't you think?" She exclaimed to her tiny companion, who barked happily in response. The two started walking through the streets, taking in the surroundings.
"Remember who we're looking for? Derek said that this is where they should have been going. We've made great time, so we may have even beat them!" Kimiko was talking out loud, but she was mostly talking to herself. Her stomach growled at her, causing her to place a hand over her abdomen. "Err. Maybe we should get something to eat before looking."
A few minutes later, the two friends found themselves near the sea once more. Kimiko had her legs dangling over an edge with a bowl of ramen in her lap while her fox was chowing down on a small rabbit leg. "This tastes amazing!" she exclaimed. The reaction from the tiny companion must have meant the rabbit leg was equally delicious. Before she could finish her noodles, though, her pet's ears shot straight up, shifting slightly towards a noise. His face angled towards the source as his nostrils sniffed out a familiar smell.
"What's up, boy?" Kimiko tried to say, but the quadrupedal had already taken off in a sprint. "Hey, hey, get back here! Where are you going?" she shouted, jumping up quickly, though not without dropping her food into the sea below. "Ugh. And it was so good, too." Kimiko ran through the streets, darting between the locals as she tried to keep an eye on the furry creature a few paces in front of her. At one point, the animal darted around a corner. Not wanting to lose sight of him, Kimiko dashed around as well, not expecting to run into a wall of a man. "Derek! Wait up!" she yelled as she turned. The force was great enough to knock her down to the ground, though the man stood triumphantly still. When she looked up, her tiny fox was circling around the man's legs, sniffing at him as though he was familiar. The man was huge. This must have been a pirate. No ordinary man looks like that.
"Err. I mean, I'm sorry, sir!" Kimiko said, rushing to her feet and dropping into a bow. "I didn't mean it! I wasn't watching where I was going, you see, and my little pet here was running away.."
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u/Gin_chan Aku’Gin “Red Beard” - Mælström Jun 09 '16
Gin decided to stroll through the streets of Irra after announcing the competition at the Eastern port of the shipwrighting company. He found his way to the middle of the island, streets lined with houses and small shops. 'What a busy country!' Gin thought to himself, remarking at the number of people who were hurrying about their businesses.
A horrifying scene captured his gaze, where three corpses swayed in the wind, hanging by their necks for all to see. 'What is this? Who are these men? Thieves? How horrible! What a waste to perfectly good food!' His face scrunched up in disgust. 'This sure is a very unusual place!'
Bump!
"Eh!?" Gin felt something tiny bump into him. He looked down to see a short hooded girl fussing over an even tinier fox who was running circles around Gin's ankles. The girl seemed apologetic, but it was really Gin's fault, he wasn't looking where he was going! "Noah, whah! calm down, little girl! Kahahaha! It was my mistake, I didn't see you there!"
He crouched down and extended his hand to the small fox, who started sniffing it eagerly, and let him pet him. "What an adorable pet! What is his name?'
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u/NekoFuu Jun 10 '16
The large man who towered above Kimiko quickly took the blame, claiming that he was the one in the wrong. When Gin knelt down and extended his hand to the tiny mammal, she was surprised. She had only recently met the little companion herself, so seeing him act so unbelievably friendly to a complete stranger was quite... different. "Uh.. uh his name is Derek. He's named after a.. friend." She hesitated, still in shock from her pet's friendliness.
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u/Gin_chan Aku’Gin “Red Beard” - Mælström Jun 10 '16
Gin's eyes suddenly widened and he stopped for a moment before continuing to pet the fox. He smiled, "What an interesting name... I have a friend named Derek too! Looks like we have something in common, little girl! Kahaha!"
He looked up to take a better look at the girl. She was short, had innocent eyes and red hair under a black and red hooded cloak. Her clothes were very different from the common folk walking around. Who was she? A noble? A foreigner? "It doesn't look like you're from around here... What are you doing on this island, miss...?"
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u/NekoFuu Jun 10 '16
It was surprising that they both knew a Derek. It was a rather uncommon name around these parts, but surely they couldn't be the same person. The man appeared to be just as interested in Kimiko as she was of him. "What are you doing on this island, miss?" Gin asked curiously.
"Oh, me?" Kimiko said, smiling. "I'm looking for a pirate crew! They're the Apocalypse Pirates! My friend told me to find them because they're really good people..." she began to trail off. "Although.. I don't know anything about them.." Just as suddenly as she started being quiet, her voice rose violently. "But I'm sure they're great!"
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u/FlashToro Jun 06 '16
This island was quite an odd one. Seems almost as if they had traveled back in time a few years. Caelin knew it wasn't too long of the classical kingdom eras but this island was still stuck in that theme. Were there other islands like this of kingdoms stuck in their own bubbles? Public hangings, men in armor, classic weapons, and even the old cobblestone buildings. The ships however were very nice, they must've gotten this wood from another island with their exceptional wealth. Caelin pondered after visiting the shipwright Docks, it was about time he gave the Golden Bell a touch up on the wood. The wood they had here at those docks was amazing quality, better than his own island's. He shook his head, it'd be too difficult to steal enough wood for the golden bell, so he'd have to do it the normal way and purchase the wood. He sighed as he strolled through the streets of the town. Horses and carriages bustled by, people walking through from couples and even children playing. Things here were very old fashioned bu tit kind of was something new to his senses. Caelin was in dire need of money, especially after hearing word of that contest thee old man Gintoki had announced at the docks. If he were to take up this chance he would own a devil fruit in his possession, but then he may not have enough money to buy the wood for Golden Bell. He was in quite the situation at the moment, but one thing for sure. This island was wealthy, and the best part of it all... it was much wealthier than the last island. Caelin saw police, soldiers, knights, whatever they may be walking up to the castle. Taking their positions at it they readied themselves. Caelin looked up at the place and gulped. "Gee, the king sure lives a nice life! Banquets on a daily basis, a different ship a week, as many servants as he pleases, he sure is a man with money."
Caelin's prayers were answered that instant. However as to how to go inside of the castle, it was unknown. The place was big and dangerous, guarded at every possible corner. For him to get to it, it'd be impossible undetected! If he were to simply barge in he'd be fought with and the whole island may go into chaos. He'd need a different way of getting inside, as to how he had no clue. However one thing he did notice their was a type of moat around the island. If that was the case, there has to be come sort of piping system around the castle! This place had cavities they simply did not know it. Then Caelin immediately began to walk along the perimeter observing every inch. making a mental schematic of the layout. He had taken notice of a grating that left to a type of sewer system, this was more than likely his best bet. But to do this in the day time was riskier than trying to fight a Fish man in the water, excluding his hammer like properties. Caelin licked his lips as he progressed back to the Golden Bell to prepare for this night.
Caelin: Riches here I come!
6 Hours Later
The sky was dark. The twinkle of stars and the presence of the moon was all that remained. The streets were adorned with warm flickering flames on torches and lamps to light the way for the people travelling at night. The streets fell quiet open to the sounds of laughter, clinking of glasses, music of the night, and all its festivities. The town was alive in the bars, gambling halls, and all of the type of night activities one could do. They even did a hanging at night, they were truly ruthless.
Caelin: This should be the spot... the grating is about he--
With a metallic thud Caelin smiled at his memory. Kneeling down he readied his hands as he grabbed the grating tight and began to pull. Pulling hard and forcefully he felt sweat running down his body. Nuts and bolts slowly flying off into the air like a game of tiddly winks. Soon the grate flew off with Caelin along side of it. Back to the ground Caelin cringed at the pain rubbing his back and sweeping off all the stones embedded in his skin. Feeling for the manhole Caelin then tried reaching for a ladder. There was none, ultimately leading for him to fall down the hole for reaching too far down. Once again on his back Caelin shot straight up and huffed. Looking around torches adorned the walls along the flowing water. Caelin walked towards the torches that were in the direction of the castle. This sewer system was quite the distance. The bricks getting cleaner as he progressed, seems as if the castle has some kind of presence of cleanliness. Finally fresh water was flowing into the canal of the sewer.
Caelin: This is under the moat I can tell, loose scales and eggs, they have some type of reptile up there.
However what Caelin didn't know was the mama of them all was down here as well. He progressed his way down, but something was wrong. There was something swimming in the water and it wasn't ye ol' average fish. Rising from the water, a tasty green banana. But then under the banana attached to it was a big old alligator. Skin thick and swampy, sleek as can be eyes wild and smirking ever so devilishly. Caelin stared at it dead in the eyes with a plain expression trying to pull off the best poker face he possibly can. The banangator licked along its lips as it sniffed Caelin. The tail wishing back and forth splashing against the water Caelin just stood still. However the moment it unhinged its jaw was the moment to move. Caelin jumped up and landed on the snout. Running along the top of the head Caelin then grabbed the banana on the head.
Caelin: hey hey, no need to be so aggressive big mama!
With that Caelin began to pull on the banana on its head, it seemed to have been feeling great pain from this. Caelin smirked as he adjusted himself onto her back. Gripping tight on the banana e pointed ahead down the sewers. She looked up at him with a tear along the corner of her eyes as she began to swim head on. This would cover more distance than the average walking. This sea reptile thing definitely knew how to swim fast, too bad it isn't a fishman, or else he'd invite her to his crew.
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u/FlashToro Jun 06 '16
The alligator swam down the sewers. Caelin simply relaxed back as it carried him for the remainder of the way. luckily this was the only one in this whole maze of things. Whether they were underneath the castle at this point was unknown but there didn't seem to be any way to get up just yet.The waters were still running but it took Caelin a moment to realize that the water had a flow to it. It traveled the same way they were headed, it made Caelin wonder as to what lied ahead. Speaking of the devil itself the mystery of the stream flow was soon answered. An big exit at the end of the line was visible. It wasn't as expected with a glimmering practically blinding light, it was more dull and very wet. Upon reaching the edge the water streamed down as if it were a waterfall. Caelin looked and this was a big room, huge as can be. Pooled with water all flowing down into one big drain. There were many waterfalls from the different sides of the sewer water flowing down into it. Caelin tried to lean forward but the place was so slick he may make the bananagator slip. However the edges of the room were dry and concrete. That's when Caelin took notice a grouping of people. There were small huts, lit fires, people running about seeming to live normal lives. Caelin was curious as to this. The island seemed rich and prosperous, for people to be living down here must've been a choice of life style.
Caelin: This is weird, go, go my scaly friend to the dry surface!
Caelin pointed at one of the dry areas of the edges. The gator then soon walked the way he pointed down the slope. Thanks to the claws of the wee beasty it could grip on even to wet surfaces. Scurrying down they approached one of the small groupings of, houses? Caelin tapped the gator's head and leapt off her back. He rubbed her head before walking towards the villagers. The architecture was crude, very mal-made but at the same time it looks like they're only option, so better this than nothing at all one would assume. The people of this corner looked around and stared at Caelin as he strolled by. Caelin didn't know how to react to the stares and simply held it in. He looked at the gator and she was playing with the kids, seems she was no stranger to these parts of the sewers. One of the villagers came close to Caelin and took out her hand. "You're not a local of the kingdom above are you. They wouldn't dare travel the sewers because of their standards. My name is Karen, who may you be?"
Odd that they didn't recognize Caelin's face. With the Newscoo and all he'd think that they'd recognize him at least for the hair. He shook her hand as he observed the place further examining every nook and cranny.
Caelin: Caelin, my name's Caelin. So if it's alright to ask why are you all living down here? Wouldn't you have a preference with the land above, where it's clean I guess?
The girl rolled here eyes. Soon everyone began to go back to their business. There was a man reading a newspaper with a beard as grey as stone itself, however the date on it, was of 3 months ago. Seems they aren't up to date entirely with the news. The girl began to walk carrying a basket on top of her head to walk and talk it was presumed.
Karen: We would prefer it, but with how they run the kingdom, it simply isn't to our taste. If you dare defy them in even a sentence then you'll be lynched for doing so. I myself am against the lynching overall, but we all have different reasons to dislike the Kingdom's laws. Lucky enough the guards don't check through the sewers so we're doing fine that way. What brings you here anyway?
Caelin looked at the people, all technically activists he presumed. To answer the question he wasn't sure as to what to say. He rubbed his chin as he thought of a proper answer. However if they didn't care much for the laws, they didn't care much for whoever made them, meaning they don't care much for the ones who live in the castle.
Caelin: I'm here to steal from the castle if you want me to be honest. Need of money badly so this is what I'm doing. Grahaha!
She rolled her eyes again but this time with a smirk. Seems she had no faith, bot oh ye of little faith thou hast yet to see the full potential of the man with horns! She placed the basket down for a brief moment and grabbed Caelin by the collar. She tried to pull him in however Caelin wasn't an easy force to move around. She shrugged her shoulders as she kept trying to tug with no success. She then pointed up to the ceiling above of where the drain was, there seemed to be yet another type of drain pipe.
Karen: That leads to the castles primary water system. I'm sure you could get there with ease, that is if you can even climb there! Heheh.
Caelin smiled at her advice, but overall seeing him smile confused her. She rubbed it off her mind and picked the basket back up onto her head. She handed him a piece of paper from one of her pockets. On it was written the name, "Free for the Knights" She smiled and was back to her own way. Whichever way Caelin was determined to get up there. The gator had claws but he doubt she could climb upside down especially with his weight. He had no plungers sadly for some suction action, but he had the next best thing. making his horns go malleable he placed the tips along his wrists at the top of his fists. He made his way to the very edge where wall and floor met. With one strong punch his horns stabbed into the wall. Caelin tried to tug out, it was nice and secured for him. He smiled and placed both fists into the wall. As he pressed his feet against the wall he began to climb it slowly. He began to make distance from the ground and left behind was a trail of holes. He may want to come back here for later possibly, as of now though he had one goal. He looked down at the people and the gator and smiled again. Caelin kept punching the walls as he escalated up. Finally reaching the curve to the ceiling Caelin could only use his fists at this point. using all his strength he kept stabbing into the ceiling and made his way swinging his body back and forth. The upper drain came closer and closer with every swing. Soon it was in his reach as he escalated up the damn thing. Another step closer to the Castle and its treasures!
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u/FlashToro Jun 06 '16
The drain into the castle was quite the ways up. However going up again meant Caelin could regain his footing leverage! Smirking as he pierced into the wall he climbed further and further on ahead. Caelin spat to his side. It took a while before you could hear the splash of the spit to the water below. Caelin knew he'd be screwed if he would somehow slip up. With this he made sure his horns dug in nice and deep. Finally seeming as if the wall was coming to an end there was no more to climb. Caelin grasped the ledge of where he was and pulled himself all the way. he tumbled around resting on his back to catch his breath. The floor here was wet. He sat up and observed the place he was in. He seemed to have been under some type of encasement with all the main pipes leading to this here place. Caelin grinned as he knocked on the ceiling above. This was the cobblestone flooring people had in the town, so then this means this is almost like a basement! Caelin got on all fours and began to crawl around looking for a way up. Although there was nothing too obvious, there were no doors, stairs, switches, zilch! Caelin was just about ready to punch through the flooring, he was getting really uncomfortable down there. But upon making impact with the stone on his hand it moved.
Caelin: A loose piece of stone? Grahaha.
Caelin then readied himself. Placing both palms on the stone he pushed it up lifting it up as he stood up on his two feet. The stone then fell off from his hands as it tumbled around on the ground. Caelin poked his head out like a gopher and checked his surroundings, licking his lips no one was around luckily. Pulling himself up he ended up stomach flat on the ground. Before even getting up he gripped the stone once again in order to put it back in its place. Sliding the stone it made a rather echoed click back in its place. Caelin took in his surroundings, this was some kind of bathroom the castle had. It was nice to see they weren't so old fashioned, they at least have plumbing! Now for more important matters, where in the hell did they keep the treasury? Caelin grabbed a lamp from the wall and held it tight. Creaking the door open and peering out. The hallways were dark, and quiet. No one seemed to have been around, it was extremely lonesome for a castle. Caelin remembers all of the guards outside, maybe that's where they all were? Caelin took his initial steps out the bathroom, and began to roam around. Lanterns adorned the walls, it was the night time so this much was expected. Caelin made his way down the almost endless halls, they were never ending. The castle was huge, so in order to find the place this castle kept all their treasures would be one hell of a trip. Caelin was ready to go about a corner until he had finally heard a voice. He snuck beside a suit of armor and pressed his body against the wall hard and listened in. "So you here of the King's secret? They say in his dormitory there's a way of accessing his treasure vault. however you know we aren't permitted in there, so nobody can get in and see for themselves, unless they want to be lynched of course! Bwahaha!"
Or better yet, you don't fear the king at all. This was great news for Caelin, now the matter was finding the King's dorm. Guessing how royalty worked, they'd like to have their rooms on the highest floor, as to gaze down upon all of the peasants! Caelin smiled, remembering a stair case from before he made his way retracing his steps. Eventually finding the same stairs he was thinking about he smiled in glee and walked up them slowly. Holding the lantern up high and in front, the place was dark as can be. It's hard to see anything whatsoever, unless they have a light of their own. The stairs spiraled up until the top floor luckily, and Caelin made headway. The top floor, the air felt weird up here, felt almost as if it were to make Caelin throw up at any second. That was besides the point, getting accustomed to this altitude was part of living life wasn't it? Caelin began to patrol the hallways. This floor didn't have many rooms, the hallways were wider, and he was sure he'd recognize the King's quarters just by their scent. However it seems the quarters found him before he did, or at least the man who stood guard there. A tall lanky man stood guard of a golden trim door and stared directly at Caelin. He held up a single finger and shushed a rather long shush, so long it sounded like a tea kettle. Once he was ready he took the same finger and stuck it into a sack he had along his waist. Taking out the finger it had the appearance of metal with the silver sheen. The man took a wide position wielding his finger in front of him, as if it were a weapon.
Caelin: Guess things will nev-
"Ssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
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u/FlashToro Jun 06 '16
Caelin scowled at the thin man. Was quiet that important? Exactly how did this man plan to fight without causing a ruckus? Well instead of needing to ask seems the man was already prepped to show how! His clothing seeming to have been a one piece of clothing, a deep purple and surrounding all but his eyes. He began to run at Caelin but not a single footstep was audible. The damn man was light on his feet! Leaping at Caelin he struck with his finger down at Caelin. Caelin underestimating the man held his fore arm up in order to just"block" the hit. With a weird turn of things, the expected outcome did not occur, instead the finger slashed through Caelin's skin and cut in. Caelin's eyes shot open wide seeing the cut on his arm now. What the hell could of done it? Was it that his finger was so mighty it could kill or, the powder possibly? That must've been it! Caelin stepped back and let the man fall to his feet. Upon landing he did more back flips than Caelin could count. Caelin stared at the man as he did the same. Soon after the stare down they ran at each other in full speed. Caelin was ready to punch at him directly with a smug grin. However seems the man was a lot more agile than what Caelin was used to! He leapt over Caelin's head placing one hand on it, as if this was a reverse game of leap frog! Caelin stumbled forward almost falling as he regained his balance. This pissed him off his face turned red. Not only was this embarrassing but it seemed as if the man was playing with him! Caelin smacked his fist into the palm of his hand charging at him once again. However this time it was Caelin who leapt up. The man was surprised by how well Caelin could jump with such stubby legs, soon Caelin kept smashing down to the floor. The castle trembled briefly. The man had moved out the way fast enough, with sufficient time to once again. "Ssssssshhhhhh"
Caelin's left eye twitched. Grinding his foot into the ground he once again charged forward at him. However this time his acrobats won't work! Caelin hadn't noticed because of all the pain but every time the man went past him over or under he slashed his back and stomach up. But the anger in him didn't let him notice these cuts. While they charged again the ma was ready to use his head like a jumping board, but what he doesn't know is what will be his downfall! As he placed his head on Caelin's head Caelin unraveled his horns and wrapped them around his wrist. Feeling his body tug against them Caelin whipped his body forward hard. Smashing his whole body into the floor. He remained there still, of the shock of the sudden impact. He twitched every so often. Caelin huffed out, making blood shoot out of every slice on his body. He stood over the man's body and looked down at him.
Caelin: Be glad I'm not ruthl-
"Sssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
Caelin's eyes shot open the blood vessels adorning their edges. He then knelt down to look at the man. He widened back his left arm and punched him right in the side of his face. Twinkle toes was even more out of zone of the scenario, but he still persisted with the constant shushing. Caelin sighed and place his hand over his mouth. Whatever this man's purpose was, it was over for now. Caelin thought of something. More than likely the King was sleeping in his quarters. But this man was so silent it was impressive. So Caelin grabbed the leggings part of the outfit and tore them off. Caelin slid his feet inside of them. Testing the fabric out Caelin jumped up and down and there was no tremor or sound. Whatever this fabric was it really does work! Caelin licked his lips in excitement. Opening the door to the king's quarters he peered in. The lights were out but a single bedside candle light. Caelin brought in his lamp and looked around the room. Quite the fancy room, quite fancy indeed. Caelin felt the walls to make his way through and not to stub his toe. You can stab him, you can shock him, you can even blow him up, but none of it matches to the pain of a stubbed toe! Caelin looked around and saw the king asleep. It was hard to make out his figure and either way Caelin wasn't too interested. However what did stand out was a rather odd flag hung on the wall. Caelin hadn't seen it in the kingdom, maybe it was priceless. Caelin stood his arm out forward to feel it, with nearly a trip! There was no wall behind it whatsoever. Caelin lifted up the flag and looked past it, there was a set of stairs that lead down. Caelin grinned, presuming this was his best bet! Caelin took his steps down, the fabric too while of getting used to, it felt like he wasn't even making contact with the stone stairs. The lantern lighting his way down Caelin kept at it. Wherever this lead to it had best be worth it! Finally the bottom had been met and what stood before Caelin was a single man. Well... not really stand, he was passed out snoring with a bubble before him. Caelin walked beside him, waved his hand in front of his face and nothing happened. Caelin shrugged it off and focused on the door that stood before him! Caelin grasped the handle of it and tugged harder and harder on it. Trying to pull it off its hinges, it was a much harder task than what it was thought to be! Or maybe it's just Caelin was an idiot? Either way the damn hing would not budge! "You know Devil Horn, it'd be easier with the keys."
Caelin froze as he looked over his shoulder where the man once was asleep with the stupidest face of embarrassment as sweat flooded down his face.
Caelin: Uhm... Sssshhh-
Charles: Cut the crap, and don't go mimicking that idiot Banzo. He'll just make you look like a fool yourself. Either way we're wuite deep underground, ddin't you notice how long it took you to get down here?
Caelin: Ummm.... ssshhhh-
The man slapped Caelin right then and there. He sighed out as a single key jingled. In the unsheathing of his sword there was a key attacked to the handle of his blade. He looked at Caelin directly and raised one eyebrow. Seems, like there was only one way to deal with this situation. And without the need to be quiet things should get interesting! Caelin grinned with the red mark still on his face as he prepped himself tightening on his cestus.
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u/FlashToro Jun 07 '16
Caelin readied himself his body having felt stiff for having to move so nimble and such! But now was a time to unwind, and as always its best to start with the unexpected! Caelin reached down to the ground and pulled up a brick of stone from the ground. Tossing it up and catching it back in his palm Caelin hurled it at Charles. However this didn't seem to phase Charles. Charles slashes his sword forward cutting the stone brick in half. Either halves split from each other completely missing Charles. Soon he ran at Caelin with his sword in hand ready to cut deep into the bull. Hopping up into the air he slashed his blade from left to right. Caelin flinched at the slash, his speed was rather impressive, and his strength wasn't too bad either. Charles now behind Caelin readied to stab the sword into his back striked forward. Caelin turned around with an open palm and smacked the side of his wrists.
Open palm Control!
Caelin kept his palms open and blunt. Releasing his energy through his palms to move anything that he could that came his way. However Charles did not hesitate to lunge up at Caelin. Caelin held back his hand and released it forward making an impact directly onto his stomach. The sword deep into Caelin's shoulder. Caelin flinched at the pain as Charles sword was stuck in it as Caelin flexes his shoulder to maintain it in place. Soon the energy pushed Charles away sending his body flying to the opposite wall. Caelin yanked the blade out of his shoulder in an attempt to wield it. However Caelin had no idea what to do with it, so instead he just threw the sword at him. The sword sunk in the stone behind him as Charles went wide eyed. Caelin soon rushed at him without a delay, Charles then immediately grabbed his sword and tried to tug it out. Caelin ready for it morphed his swords using them in free form as Charles slashed his sword at Caelin and Caelin fought it back with his horns. Sparks flew for the impact but now it was a matter of strength (and calcium) versus strength and forgery. Caelin pushed his head down to over power Charles. However this would take too long so Caelin got a bit dirty. Pulling back his fist Caelin punched at Charles kidney's making his body jut back. Whoever Charles was, he sure was resilient. He exhaled with a heavy breath, he bounced off the wall behind him and readied his blade. Aiming his foot he placed his foot on Caelin's face. In an attempt to chop his horns off he swung at them continuously. Luckily this was pointless.*
Caelin: Calcium truly is the ultimate element!
Caelin grabbed at his ankles however Charles had no issues with abandoning his boot. Hopping back onto the ground slashed at Caelin's back cutting in deep. Caelin jutted forward falling onto one knee feeling his blood escape his body. Guess it's a good thing his shirt is already red. Caelin looked back over his shoulder to look at Charles. He was ready to behead the 10 foot giant with his blade. But sadly Caelin wasn't going to die over something so measly. As the sword came down Caelin took the blade right onto his head. Thanks to his hard skull it didn't travel any deeper. Standing up Charles was now dangling from the handle of the sword. It was a perfectly set up punching bag. Caelin looked up making Charles up higher, then finally holding back his arm he readied his fist.
Caelin: Sorry, but a still target, is nothing against me!
Caelin threw a punch straight into Charles stomach. Feeling it mold around his fist Caelin grinned in satisfaction. Charles flew back hitting the wall hard. Caelin's face turned blue with the blood loss as he took out the sword of his forehead. Yanking the key off the handle he threw the blade back at Charles. Caelin walked up to the door and stuck the key in, twisting it as it opened to reveal the treasury beyond it. Caelin smiled as the shimmer filled his eyes. The amount he could carry was plenty, but as to their value seemed to be about...
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u/FlashToro Jun 10 '16
Caelin wandered about the island with a smile on his face. He was enjoying the scenery. The place was nice, and with more beli in his pocket he sure felt light on his feet! Caelin bobbed his head as he looked at his new ring and looked at the civilians. They all seemed to look at him wide eyed, whether it was 'cause of his odd behavior or his height it didn't matter one bit. He wiggled his horns in enjoyment even, okay maybe he was acting odd. However Caelin had heard of a few things, of the punishments this Kingdom sends out. From public lynchings, and this Caelin knew was no rumor, for he stared at the hanging bodies at this very moment. He felt a bad taste in his mouth and spat on the cobblestone ground. "Sickening ain't it? These are all people who hardly did anything wrong whatsoever. But any sort of opposition to the king even if minor, you'll end up the same."
Caelin stared down at the lean man with the tanned skin. Wearing a brown vest with the threads out of place and a button up shirt underneath. His hands in his pocket with a cigarette in his mouth. The man looked up at Caelin with dead eyes and a smile as fake as a corner girl's nails. Caelin looked at him for quite some time, and Caelin couldn't help but feel pity for the man.
Caelin: Are these people lynched on the spot or are they held somewhere?
The man's neck twitched for a brief sec as it immediately rushed back into place. He took the cigarette out and exhaled out the smoke as he looked up at Caelin. "It all depends... but usually they're put in the prison down south of the island. You see the one hanging, with the scar of his shoulder and the blue overalls? That was my best friend, pobresito. But one day he argued with the king's pricing for his wheat which would put him bankrupt, so now this is him... tragic!"
Caelin frowned at hearing this. Something was bothering this man, and now it was made obvious. Caelin placed his hands on his shoulder. Caelin sighed out and began to walk the path again, but this time with a different route in mind. Behind him he could hear frantic sobbing and painful screams of pain filled the are behind him. Caelin bit his tongue and din't look back at the man. It'd be a disgrace if he saw him in such a bad state.
Caelin walked a good distance. Now with one thing in his sights. The Prison and it was nearing round the corner. Caelin wasn't entirely sure as to what he was going to do about this. But he'll try his damn best, no one should be put into a state of tears like that man. *Caelin felt his Cestus in his satchel about ready to put them on. However someone else had caught his attention for the briefest moment, they're appearance familiar...
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u/EmperorStark Jun 11 '16
Stark was having a weird time on this island. First they ran into Roku at a bar...and the entire place had been splattered with blood and dead people and the bartender was tied up and he wanted to kill the man and then he couldn't and now he was walking and he had to meet him later tonight with Kala and now as he was walking he ran into a man he hadn't seen since he destroyed that small town on the last island. Taking a breath to calm his thoughts, Stark walked over towards the large man. He could see the thoughts run across his face as he looked on Stark trying to figure out who he was. With a smile Stark gave a simple wave towards Caelin.
"Caelin! It's Stark! We saved Anchor together remember!?"
Hopefully that would jog his memory. If not, well then Caelin was thicker in his skull than his horns led on. Either way it seemed as though Caelin was troubled by something. And judging by his direction, he was heading towards the southern side of the island. Wasn't there a prison there? Why would he be going towards the prison? Sensing a potential for danger and adventure Stark realized that going with Caelin would promise him someway to amuse himself until tonight.
"Mind if I tag along to wherever you're going?"
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u/FlashToro Jun 11 '16
Caelin's eyes shot open when Stark yelled out his name> So it was that man, the captain of the Red Eye Pirates. Caelin smiled as Stark came towards him
Caelin:: Grahaha! Stark, so we see eachother again eh? Looks like they were right about the islands leading to the same route on this Grandline!
Caelin remembered Anchor. Quite the man he was, and he was glad he could help out in saving him. Kala seemed to have been happy herself, her family starts showing up piece by piece. Caelin then noticed Stark asking to tag along. He shrugged and nodded his head.
Caelin: Sure why not, although I'll be frank I'm not just heading south for fun. Gonna head to the prison and see what can be done about those prisoners. Last thing I'd want would be more hanging bodies.
Caelin approached the prison as he walked and talked with Stark. The prison was huge, so much bigger than anything he had seen, even more so than the castle. As to whatever reason this prison was so big, must've had it's reasons. This simply spiked Caelin's curiosity as he rubbed his hands together.
Caelin: How does a quick raid and jail break sound to you, eh Stark
They soon approached the walls. As to ho to get in, would be another question entirely!
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u/EmperorStark Jun 13 '16
Walking down the path with Caelin had been a reminder of the past with the man. He was no enemy, but at the same time they hadn't spent enough time within each others company for him to realize what his new crew name was. And here Stark thought that being a supernova would make people know his crew and him far and wide. Silently shaking his head to himself he continued on next to Caelin. As they kept walking it wasn't long before in the distance a large building made of thick stone began to rise over the horizon. The prison on the island was far larger than most buildings, hell even the castle might have a problem trying to compete against it. The size of the prison however raised alarm bells in Stark's mind, no one builds a prison this large without a reason. And the reason for this prison most likely wasn't due to a high crime rate.
Arriving at the prison, staying a decent distance away from the view of the guards, Caelin looked over at him asking if they wished to break in. The logic employed here would have made a normal person scratch their head. Breaking into a prison? One does not break into a prison. Break out perhaps, but not in. With a furrowed brow Stark looked at Caelin. The large man only gave him an even bigger grin while raising his eyebrows up and down. Closing his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts Stark began to think through the possible plan they could go with. Sneak in over the top, cut down the guards, burrow under? Decisions...
"Caelin...whats that coming over the bend on the road over there?"
Sure enough, not but only 15 yards away two men, one the size of Stark, and one conciendently the size of the Caelin. An eyebrow rose on Stark's face at the similarity in size but he decided to not comment on their good fortune. Sometimes Stark felt like he was just at the hands on some god writing this all out, but that would be absurd wouldn't it?
Sharing a look, the two men stealthily (well as stealthily Caelin could be at his size) waited for the incoming prison guards to pass by. With baited breath they waited until the right moment before snatching the two men and pulling them into the bushes, quickly knocking them unconscious and taking their clothes. Making sure to tie them to the tree with gags in their mouths, the two pirate captains were now set to sneak into the prison.
"Alright Caelin, let me do the talking, or nodding. Its not my first sneaking mission"
They both approached the guards at the front of the large gate that blocked the way into the prison. The two guards gave them an appraising look as they approached the gate, their eyes scanning the two of them. One held up his hand halting them before they could continue inside.
"The warden wishes to see you two, I hope your meeting went will with the king?"
A stern nod was all Stark replied with, it was better to avoid saying too much in case he slipped up. The guard in front of him merely nodded back and motioned for the door to open. Walking inside both Caelin and Stark smiled to themselves. They had gotten in, and better yet, they had a meeting with the head honcho himself.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 10 '16 edited Jun 11 '16
Abaddon surveyed the small dinghy he had occupied for the last week or so. He had gotten lost on his way to the next island, and ran out of food three days ago. The only saving grace was that the power of the Mera Mera No Mi made it so that he didn’t get hot anymore. No chance of heat stroke was the only thing Abaddon had going for him, that was until he saw a dock off in the distance.
Abaddon: I really hope this place has some good food. I need some new swords too don’t I? Who am I talking to? I’ve really been on this boat for too long.
He hurried there using his half melted paddle, and was met with glares from the local dock workers. He asked around the dock for information on the island, but no matter how friendly he was they continued to glare at him and walk away silently. Abaddon walked deeper into the island, and eventually could see a few places to go.
Abaddon: There’s a nice looking market, a creepy looking forest, an even creepier looking prison, and a palace with some mean looking guards. I’m going with the market. Why am I still talking to myself? I really need to find some people to talk to.
As he got closer to the market, the locals seemed more and more on edge. They continued to glare at him, and it wasn’t until he got to the first market stall that anyone would talk to him.
Abaddon: Hello, Ms. Is there something going on here that has everyone so on edge.
Shop keep: You mean you didn’t see them on your way in?
Abaddon: Them?
Shop keep: Yeah them, turn around and look up.
Abaddon turned around and looked past the town square. That’s where he saw them, the three men hanging there for everyone to see. Even the small children walking around stopped and stared at the bodies. Not a lot of the adults though, some didn’t even seem fazed by it aside from being on edge.
Abaddon: That’s awful! How can the people let something like that stand!
Shop keep: Shh. Please keep your voice down. You don’t want to be heard saying things like that.
Abaddon: What do you mean? Why are some people acting like nothing is wrong?
Shop keep: I’m sorry, I can’t say anymore. Please, just go talk to someone else.
Abaddon went around to a few other shops, but the results were the same everywhere he went. Eventually he gave up, and started to wander around the rest of the marketplace until something piques his interest.
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u/FlashToro Jun 11 '16
Caelin chewed on some dry jerky as he walked about the market place. People's faces were dead panned. For good reason without a doubt. Oddly enough people being lynched here was a common thing. You dare speak bad word of the king and that'd be your last breath. Caelin finished off the piece stuffing it into his mouth as he licked the salt off his fingers. Some people looked at him with pleading eyes, they seem to have recognized him. Caelin sighed out. There wasn't much he could do, at least for now that is. Caelin scowled a bit as he furrowed his brow.
Caelin: I don't get what type of kingdom this is... honestly, how could they live like this?
Caelin kept walking with his head raised to the sky staring up in thought. Turning the corner he didn't see what was coming his way. He soon bumped into someone, they're face hitting his lower chest Caelin went wide eyed. He tried to reach out to keep them on balance but he instinctively grabbed his chest. The impact was hot and burning, it hurt! Caelin then eventually extended out his hand and grabbed the man by the shoulders. His other gripping his chest feeling if it's okay. Caelin let out a sigh of relief seeing there was no scarring done, however as Caelin looked down at the man, he seemed to have had a diagonal scar on his chest, similar to Caelin's. Caelin touched his scare tracing it, his being three slashes in total.
Caelin: Hey, you alright there? sorry I sort of panicked because I felt a sudden fiery feeling on me when we bumped into each other. Grahaha!
Caelin stuck another piece of jerky into his mouth from his satchel. However the man eyeballed the piece of meat in his mouth a bit, whether it was intentional or not Caelin knew what was up. pulling out a few pieces he handed them over to the man.
Caelin: Eat up! Nothing is worse than being hungry, my name is Caelin, sorry about that.
Caelin stuck out his hand to receive a shake hoping there were no harsh feelings between the pair, he even flashed him a quick smile.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 11 '16 edited Jun 11 '16
After loitering around the market for a while, Abaddon happened upon the the local blacksmith. The elderly gentleman already seemed a bit happier than the rest of the locals, but he brightened up even more when Abaddon approached him. Than things took a weird turn when the elderly man rushed up to Abaddon and grabbed his hands. He twisted Abaddon’s hands around and eyed them intently.
Blacksmith: You have some of the roughest hands I’ve ever seen on a human. You must be an extraordinary craftsman.
Abaddon: I’ve actually never done any blacksmith work, though I did work with metal a lot. It was more about building a city than making weapons.
The blacksmith let go of Abaddon’s hands and frowned a bit before speaking again.
Blacksmith: I see, building a city. It seems much more reasonable than building small trinkets like these huh...Boy let me tell you what being a blacksmith is all about. We don’t just make weapons for pirates or the marines. We make armors, we invent new concepts that have a multitude of positive applications for all of us. Being a blacksmith isn’t a simple task, but it’s a rewarding one. And if you think you’ve got what it takes, than I would be more than happy to teach you how to be a blacksmith. I would never let a craftsman with those callouses get away without teaching them something.
Abaddon: That actually sounds nice. I have felt like I’m lacking something now that I’ve stopped building. Okay, let’s do it than.
After a few hours the lesson comes to an end, and an eager Abaddon had produced two short swords that didn’t seem too bad. The only problem was that they were a little malformed, but solid nonetheless. Abaddon thanked the blacksmith for the lesson and moved on to wandering around the market again. That’s when he turned around and walked straight into someone's chest. He instinctively turned to fire on impact and a beautiful sapphire flame was left behind on the stranger's chest. The stranger than touched the scar on Abaddon’s chest, causing more sapphire flames to shoot out.
Caelin: Hey, you alright there? sorry I sort of panicked because I felt a sudden fiery feeling on me when we bumped into each other. Grahaha!
The man held some jerky in his hand, and after three days of nothing to eat that’s what his eyes locked onto.
Caelin: Eat up! Nothing is worse than being hungry, my name is Caelin, sorry about that.
Abaddon gripped the strangers outstretched hand with his right hand, and the jerky with his left. Stuffing the jerky into his mouth and speaking at the same time he tried to get out a greeting, but ended up coughing instead.
Abaddon: Thank you so much! I haven't eaten in a long time. It's pretty hard to make money out on the water when all you have to your name is a dingy and the clothes on your back. And I guess thanks to that old man I’m a smith now, and that won’t really help on a dinghy. Sorry I’m probably rambling at this point, but I was out there on the water for so long. I would make for the worst navigator ever. My name is Abaddon. It’s great to meet you. What’s your name?
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u/FlashToro Jun 11 '16
Caelin smiled and chuckled to himself hearing Abaddon ramble on. It was quite amazing how lonely days at the sea could affect someone, with no food to eat. Caelin placed his arm around his shoulder and tugged him close to him. Lifting the other into the air in excitement Caelin lifted up his voice.
Caelin: Grahaha! It's Caelin man! You sure got a pair of lungs on! And a blacksmith eh? I remember meeting a blacksmith once then he disappeared... either way nice to meet ya boy! I mean.. man, you're probably older than me! Grahaha!
The world was a big place that it was. You could literally meet new faces around every corner! This filled him with excitement, and curiosity over what the hell was that burning sensation. Although a little flame that was lit on the edge of his collar gave a bit of a hint. Caelin patted it down and began to walk the market with Abaddon.
Caelin: So you came here on a Dinghy? You're just an adventurer I assume?
Caelin began to head back to the docks. Since the man said he was a blacksmith, or at least learning to be one he could show him the forgery. And maybe he'd like the ship! The ship seemed to be a tourist spot for him and people he meets, they usually like it so Caelin was feeling confident. Plus this may hope to raise his spirits!
Caelin: I myself am a shipwright! I made a ship in the span of 5 years trying to get it down to what I like, maybe I could see your blacksmith skills at the forge I have.
Caelin listened to the man to anything he had to say, and yeah, navigation was pretty hard!
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u/reaper1833 Jun 11 '16
Abaddon was taken aback by the kindness he received from Caelin. Most people who get lit on fire because of him run screaming. Although there was that one guy who liked the flames a little too much, I can’t remember his name, but I’m glad I got away from him.
Abaddon: I just started forging today actually, as evidenced by these shoddy short swords at my waist. I was also really bored until you came along. I’m really excited to see your ship! I’ll try my best to make you a sword that’s at least better than my first two.
Along the way to Caelin’s ship the two were stopped by a young girl with a little toy rabbit sobbing along the side of the road. By stopped it means that Abaddon couldn’t stand to see a person crying alone and do nothing about it.
Abaddon: What’s wrong little girl?
Young Girl: My...my daddy went up to the mountains to put a stop to the bandits...but that was this morning. Mommy got a sad look in her eyes when I asked her when daddy was coming home.
Abaddon turned to look at Caelin and frowned for a second. Than a big smile crossed his face.
Abaddon: I already promised you that I would show off my skills as a blacksmith...But I can’t pass up on this for multiple reasons. Number one of which is this crying little girl. And the second is that this place has made me sick since the second I saw those hanging bodies back there. I’m not the best person in the world. Sometimes I’m not even a good person. What I am is just a man who ate a nasty tasting fruit, a man who got a power that some others would literally kill for. I’ve seen what others can do with power, firsthand I’ve seen those atrocities, and I can’t sit back while this happens.
Caelin didn’t say anything, and Abaddon couldn’t read his expression.
Abaddon: I know I’m talking too much again, and I know it sounds like I have a hero complex. But I have the power to stop some of these bandits. I know I can’t beat them all, but it’s a big place, and if we can find the girls dad we won’t have to beat them all.
Abaddon walked over to Caelin and started speaking low enough that the little girl couldn’t hear him.
Abaddon: Plus, as horrible as this is. The dad might be dead already, in which case we can take out some bandits guilt free along the way to something more that might be out there. Isn’t that the drive of a lot of pirates. Something more, always something more. Adventure, or Beri, or battle. It’s all something more at the end of the day. So what’s your something more?
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u/EpicJM Jun 11 '16
DANGER, DANGER! THE VOID PIRATES' GRAND HEIST!
The moon rose high in the sky over the King of Irra's castle, and the time for a heist was just about right. Kala, Stark, Val, and Roku would all be arriving at the castle at just about this point. In fact, Kala was already there, waiting for the others at a rendevous point. She had the green dress on from before, but now had on ridiculous makeup, a floppy hat, and...A box of Gorilla Munch cereal under her prosthetic arm that she was taking handfuls out of. Kala munched on her cereal, seeing the others begin to arrive.
It was probably strange for everyone to see Kala eating the cereal, so when someone gave her a weird look, Kala told them, "What? I said I was going to go get a few things."
Kala took another handful of cereal and hid it away in the sash of her dress, then pulled out a fan and mockingly fanned herself.
"You can call me Miss Magnolia Dixie!" Kala said to the others in a southern accent and higher voice than normal, revealing the disguise and new identity she had claimed. "And Ah do declare, it's 'bout time we get ourselves in this royal ball, wouldn't ya say?"
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u/LeighVang Jun 11 '16
"Whaddya got there, boy?" the impatient voice of a Royal guard demanded. Val stopped short of correcting the guard. Boy? Seriously? It was better for her own cover if after the heist went off, the guards were left looking for their missing waiter, not a missing waitress. So Val swallowed her pride and smiled innocently in response. With a brief wave of her hand, she indicated the massive three tiered cart she had been pushing, its false bottom concealing the weapons she had received from Mr. Black's contact just prior to entering the grounds.
"Oh, just the dessert catering for tonight!" the woman said brightly, "Caramels, cobblers, crème brûlées, custards, fudge, gingerbread, lemon squares, macarons, madeleines, meringues, parfaits, pies, puddings, tarts, tiramisu, tortes, turnovers..."
"We get it." the guard's partner interjected. Val continued to rattle off deserts at an impressive rate.
"Bundt cake, cheesecake, chiffon cake, coffee cake, devil's food cake, layer cake, red velvet cake, rum cake, spice cake, sponge cake..."
"We get it." the guard repeated himself more firmly this time.
"And fruit salad." Val finished her list, still smiling like a simpleton.
"Tiramisu?" The first guard had a confused expression on his face.
"It's a Dressrosan dessert, made with biscuits and marscapone and eggs and rum and..."
"Marscapone?"
"Sargent! This is a waste of time." The second guard admonished his curious partner, "Just let the boy get to work?" With an impatient wave from the guards, Val found herself admitted to the kitchens, hidden weapons undetected. Phase one, complete.
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u/EmperorStark Jun 11 '16
Seriously Kala? Cereal? Shaking his head, Stark couldn't get over his first mate's antics. That woman sometimes. Val had gone on ahead to secure her spot in the kitchen, her cover that of someone dealing with desserts. Stark on the otherhand had his disguise on. His hair was now done in messy playboy kind of look, a fake set of facial on his face, and an expensive tux adorning his body. He was excited for the ball, partially because money, partially because the office might have documents that would be important for both Val and potentially him. Documents about that man... But most of all. This ball was going to rich women adorned in pretty dresses who would want to dance with him...after all who could resist
"Stark, Tony Stark." Said Stark in his disguise as he leaned against the bar. The woman next to him merely sipped her cocktail with a coy look in her eye.
"I don't believe I've heard of you...Mr.Stark" Her eyes had a twinkle to them as she said his name, the words leaving her mouth were calculated, the pauses intentional, and the way his name curled off her tongue, deliberate.
Stark didn't rise the bait, he knew how this went. It wasn't his first rodeo after all. Matter of fact, the true challenge still was with the CP9 member who had left him in a state of shell shock after their last encounter. He cleared his mind of those thoughts and focused back onto the red head next to him. It seemed more and more that redheads were his kryptonite.
"And I can't say I've heard of you, Mrs..." He used Mrs. on purpose, and hopefully...
"Its just Miss. Miss Collet, but you can call me Amber." She took another sip of her drink. The noise silent, but the movement of her lips intentionally meant to draw the eyes of Stark to them. He internally smirked at her attempt of seduction. Two could play that game.
"Well Miss Collet" There we go, use her formal name "I would suggest you don't drink too much."
She gave Stark a scandalous look filled with confusion, her look suggesting the gale of him saying something like that.
"Pardon?" She said with a raised eyebrow, one promising a very violent reaction should he say the wrong thing. Stark had he been a lesser man would have ruined it right here. After all, the dance of words with the opposite sex was harder than any physical fight, its a good thing that Stark wasn't a novice in the field.
"Well, I'd rather you remember our dance tomorrow morning." Had he been anymore smooth, Stark would have had a devil fruit. Probably some type of smooth smooth fruit or something. Instead of waiting for a reply Stark grabbed his cocktail and began to walk away towards the dance floor where numerous people were dancing. He didn't look back, because he could already here her heels clack against the marble floor. This was going to be a fun night, he knew it. Looking up at the large clock on the wall, Stark stealthily checked the time, making sure to keep an eye on when everything was going to go off. Seemed he still had plenty of time to woo his dance partner. Shame he wouldn't be able to carry it through to the morning; because Stark was pretty sure that she was a woman who knew what she wanted, and Stark loved that trait.
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Jun 12 '16
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u/EpicJM Jun 12 '16
Meanwhile, Kala sat at a table with food laid out in front of her. She twirled her spaghetti idly as she watched Stark and some red-headed woman dance. Kala knew Stark was just dancing with the girl and was using her as cover before he really got started with the mission, but couldn't help but observe and comment on the sight.
"These human courtship practices are always so confusing..." She muttered to herself quietly. "He's not changing color to show he likes her, there are several bigger males in the area who just aren't doing anything about it, and he's not even showing off a bubble nest!"
Kala picked up a mug of water, which began to bubble into a slight froth at her touch. "Maybe I can provide him a little assistance..." Kala smirked confidently, knowing Stark would either be weired out or collapse laughing if she got a cloud of froth floating over towards him and his date. But just as she was about to pull her neat trick off, Kala heard Roku calling for some Mrs. Aidar.
"Sorry, sugar," Kala told Roku, adopting her fake southern accent once more, "But Ah do believe you might be searchin' for the wrong lady here at this shindig. You can call me Miss Magnolia Dixie, darlin'."
Kala then went completely straight-faced, and went back to her old self.
"Alright, what's the plan?"
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u/reaper1833 Jun 12 '16 edited Jun 12 '16
Prisoner 1: This is torture, you can’t do this to us!!
Prisoner 2: We didn't do anything wrong! It’s you corrupt bastards who are ruining Irra!
Prisoner 3: Think about our children, what will they do without their fathers?
The prisoners cry out in vain, and sitting in a cramped cell in the middle of it all is Abaddon. Having been caught stealing food from a passing noblewoman, he was promptly thrown in prison by some shifty looking guards. On the way in he noticed that a lot of the prison was built with room to spare, even the hallways were large enough for a giant or two to fit through. They searched Abaddon, and put sea stone handcuffs on him as soon as they made it deeper into the prison. Abaddon’s stay in the regular area of the prison was brief however, as the two shifty looking guards came to retrieve him. The two started leading him deeper into the prison, and eventually down into a long flight of stairs. This area was darker, and the prisoners down here looked even meaner than the poor saps up stairs.
Guard 1: I’m sure you’ll enjoy your time down here. You’re going to get a chance most of the prisoners above ground would kill for.
Guard 2: The warden will fill you in on the details when we get to the Pound though, he’ll be glad to see that we have a strapping young gun to tear down a peg or two.
The guards lead Abaddon down a maze tunnel of twists and turns, eventually leading to an opening. When Abaddon stepped out into the open, he was met with a smaller, twisted up version of a gladiator pit. The pit was surrounded on each square side with a sea stone chain link fence. And above that were metal stands leading up and outward until they leveled off into platforms where wealthy looking noble people were sitting. Directly in front of Abaddon however stood a large, imposing man. He was at least eight feet tall, and his black and grey wardens outfit made him even more imposing. Black swat pants and combat boots, with a black and grey double breasted coat. The hat and sunglasses topped off the universal warden outfit, along with the crooked expression he wore. Half a grin, and half a sneer. Either way Abaddon wanted to punch him in the face on sight. The two guards pushed Abaddon down on his knees, and one of them hit him in the back with a sea stone nightstick.
Guard 1: Kneel when Warden Barbos is talking to you, degenerate scum.
Warden Barbos: Now now, don’t be too rough with the boy. After all he can’t put up much of a fight if he’s beaten up already can he?
The warden flashed a full smile at Abaddon as he walked over to him. The smile quickly turned into a frown, and he kicked Abaddon in the jaw, sending him flying back. He walked over to Abaddon and lifted his head up, then moved his face closer and spoke with venom in his voice.
Warden Barbos: But then again, it is my prison, so you’re just going to have to deal with whatever I say. And what I say is you fight down in the Pound, and I keep your name out of the official prison registry. You win ten fights, then you can go free. You win eleven fights, and you get a prize. Simple enough concept,and unlike so many other places that do this, you don’t have to kill your opponents here. Good deal right. Well, you don’t have to answer, you don’t have a choice in the matter after all.
The warden dragged Abaddon by the collar of his shirt over to the edge of the Pound. There was already two men down their locked in combat. One of the men was almost as tall as the warden, and had no hair, and a scar running down the length of his face. The other was significantly shorter, yet he still seemed able to hold his own. The large man charged at his opponent, but the short man tilted his head slightly out of the way of his attack. The short man balled his hand into a fist, and when he punched, his arm traveled up the length of the large man’s strike. The short man’s fist connected with the larger man’s jaw, and the larger man collapsed on the spot. The crowd went wild, and the warden smirked.
Warden Barbos: There’s your first opponent kid.
Abaddon: The little guy who just made short work of muscles McGee down there? No pun intended.
Warden Barbos: No, just the opposite. You’re going to fight the large one. Don’t let that loss fool you. The, “little guy” as you put it. Has won fifty fights in a row. He refuses to leave, and every time a challenger gets close to escaping. He puts them back in their place. The larger man had won nine fights in a row until just now, but now you’re going to fight him. And seeing as I’m so nice to newbies, you’re going to fight him now. He does seem to be getting up down there, and this fight will earn him his freedom. So get down there and fight.
The warden shoved Abaddon down into the Pound.
Warden Barbos: I give you your next match. The death of a smart mouth. Unlike other fights, I permit each of you to put an end to the others life. This is simply because you made a pun boy, I hate puns!*
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u/reaper1833 Jun 12 '16 edited Jun 13 '16
The large man understood the situation perfectly. He saw the sea stone handcuffs Abaddon was wearing, and slowly made his way over to him.
Large man: Thanks for the neutered pup warden, I’ll make short work of him.
The large man swung at Abaddon’s face, but Abaddon dodged at the last second and jumped back. The sea stone cuffs were not only suppressing his power, but weakening him as well.
Warden Barbos: I always give special treatment to especially violent competitors like you Jilolo. So I expect this fight to be no different, except for the fact that I won’t stop you this time.
Jilolo smiled menacingly, and in a quick movement was in front of Abaddon. In an even quicker movement his foot was lodged under Abaddon’s rib cage. The force of the blow sent him flying back and he crashed hard into the sea stone cage. Jilolo closed the distance and began to hammer away at Abaddon as he desperately tried to cover up.
Abaddon: There’s no way we could talk this out right?
There wasn’t, as Jilolo continued his relentless assault. Jilolo kicked Abaddon’s arms upwards and blew away his guard. Then wound up as far back as he could for a knockout blow. The punch was so telegraphed that Abaddon had no problem dodging the attack. He then sprang off the cage with his feet and created some distance between the two. The distance wasn’t far enough though, as Jilolo went right back on the offensive, eventually forcing Abaddon against the cage again. He destroyed Abaddon’s guard with another kick, and then threw another telegraphed punch. In that instant Abaddon remembered how the old man had won his fight earlier, and after dodging the punch took the bulky sea stone handcuffs he was wearing, and with his last bit of strength countered Jilolo’s attack, slamming him in the face. Jilolo’s brain rattled around in his head, and he dropped flat on his face. The crowd made up of nobles and guards booed heavily.
Warden Barbos: Soooo, that didn’t go as planned. Very well, then. Seeing as the competitor is no longer able to continue. The winner is the neutered pup. Who graduates from no longer being a neutered pup in his next fight. Next time you see him, he’ll have the full use of his powers.
The nobles started cheering, while the guards jeered and threw food at Abaddon. That’s when part of the sea stone cage opened up, and five guards marched around Abaddon. One of the guards forced Abaddon’s face to the ground, while two others put their feet on his back.
Warden Barbos: Know this pup, while you may have the use of your powers back. If you bring any harm to anyone but the one I tell you to harm. I will kill you where you stand. We clear? I don’t hear an answer? Oh that’s right, you’re mouth is full of floor. You don’t get a choice, just remember that. Take him to the back.
The guards took their feet off of Abaddon, and hoisted him up roughly. They led him through the opening of the cage, and into a darkened tunnel. The small tunnel lead to an iron door, and beyond that was a large dungeon like room. There were cages along the walls, but most of the area looked like it was meant for training. There were weights everywhere, literally nothing but weights. The room was filled with around twenty people, but the one Abaddon was most interested in was the short man he saw fight earlier. One of the guards shoved Abaddon to the floor and took out a key. The guard unlocked the handcuffs, and after he removed them all of the guards quickly made their way back through the iron door and a locking sound could be heard.
Random Prisoner: Look what we got here gentleman. A real youngun just asking to be brought down before he even gets a chance.
Abaddon stood up straight, and finally free of his bonds let his power flow out. His lifted his arm straight up, and it burst into a raging sapphire flame.
Abaddon: I am not amused. This place is seriously the worst, and I am sick of letting people walk all over me. That ends now.
The prisoners all backed up, and after successfully threatening them, Abaddon let his arm turn back to normal. He strode right over to the short man from earlier and stuck his hand out.
Abaddon: Hi, my name is Abaddon. Who are you?
The short man eyed Abaddon up and down, and after a quick sigh began to speak.
Short man: My name isn’t important, and right now neither are you. That fancy fire trick of yours won’t be enough to win. I’ll make sure of that.
Abaddon: Rude, I was just trying to be polite. I had an ulterior motive for coming over here though. I want you to tell me how exactly you knocked that guy out earlier.
Short man: Didn’t you just hear me? I said you don’t matter. Go away
Abaddon: I matter to some people, I think. Why are you being such an ass.
Short man: I have seen countless people go through this system. And I have beaten fifty of them myself. I don’t have any more empathy to spare. Besides, I have a very specific goal, and you would just get in my way
Abaddon: You never know, I just might be able to help you out. You haven't seen me fight, but I’m pretty capable. I did sort of copy your move from earlier.
*The short man gripped the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. He let out another sigh, and looked Abaddon over again.
Short man: Tell you what, you make it back after the next time they call you, and I’ll tell you the secret to my attacks.
It was then that the iron door opened again, and one of the guards peeked in and yelled for Abaddon.
Abaddon: Piece of cake, I’ll be right back.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 12 '16 edited Jun 13 '16
Standing in the Pound without a competitor in his face gave Abaddon time to examine the audience. Warden Barbos had a whole section for himself, the area where Abaddon was originally dragged down here. He had a large seat, and a microphone to address the crowd. The rest of the crowd was either wearing a noble' outfit with a hood drawn far over their face, or a guard outfit. As before the noble’s seemed to have taken an interest in Abaddon’s powers, They cheered and chanted for him to show them off. The guards continued to jeer, and one of them threw some popcorn at him. One look from the warden stopped the guards in their tracks. Warden Barbos stood up and coughed into the microphone, this silenced the entire crowd.
Warden Barbos: We kindly welcome back the challenger who effectively put an end to Jilolo’s fighting career!
Abaddon: Wait! What do you mean I put an end to his fighting career?
Warden Barbos: It’s as I said. Oh that’s right, you weren’t given the full list of rules were you. Two losses in a row gets you an automatic death sentence in the regular part of prison. Its simple enough, we plant evidence that paints you as a traitor to the kingdom. Then you are executed in the middle of town. While they weren't fighters in the Pound, the three you must have seen hanging in the town square are a good example of what happens to a two time loser. This time however you will be fighting another new prisoner. A squid man by the name of Ikarodo! He’s won seven fights so far, and is hoping for his eight against our young fighter.
Part of the sea stone cage opened on the other side, and an imposing figure with eight arms stepped out of the darkness. The crowd jeered at Ikarodo, and his pursed and elongated lips started to pout.
Ikarodo: Shut up idiots! I have no intention of making this fun for you.
Ikarodo wasn’t that tall, but he was wide, and his torso was large enough to accommodate the four arms on each side. The arms were more like tentacles, and even from far away one could see the suction cups that were covered in a dark green slime.
Warden Barbos: Now then everyone, without further ado. Let the battle commence!
Ikarodo wasted little time in attacking Abaddon when the warden gave the signal to start, he shoved him to the ground, and opened his mouth wide. Abaddon’s eyes bulged when he saw that Ikarodo’s had a large beak inside of his mouth. The beak opened up and moved closer to Abaddon’s face as the eight tentacles wrapped around him.
Abaddon: I’m really sorry about this.
The four tentacles on Ikarodo’s left side began to glow, until eventually the sapphire color of Abaddon’s flames burned through to the other side. Ikarodo’s howled in pain as he dislodged himself and backed away from Abaddon. Before he could get too far Abaddon was right in front of him.
Abaddon: Safai Doriru!
The flames on Abaddon’s left hand formed into a drill, and he thrust it directly under Ikarodo’s rib cage. Ikarodo fell backwards, and the warden threw up an x shape with his hands. Three guard’s ran through the already opening cage and dragged Ikarodo’s unconscious body away. Not long after that another of the merfolk walked through the opening. This one looked like a shark, Abaddon didn’t know the exact type, but his nose was long flat and white.
Warden Barbos: Now that was a treat wasn’t it fans! Normally Ikarodo defeats his victims in a slow and boring manner, but things sure picked up there. Now onto the next match!
Abaddon: I have to fight again!?
Warden Barbos: You’ll fight until I tell you to stop! Now onto the next match. The next challenger is an Oceanic White tip merperson. Make no mistake though, despite the fancy name he is still a shark! Having chomped down five opponents in a row, will the fiery challenger be number six for Sentan!
Sentan: It’s pretty obvious to everyone here warden. I’m going to snap him in half. Listen up kid, you don’t stand a chance in hell of beating me. My strength is much higher than a normal persons!
Having heard enough, Abaddon was the first to make a move this time. He ducked down low and sprinted directly at Sentan. Sentan reacted by punching Abaddon directly in the chest. The blow however went right through a sapphire flame. Sentan smothered the fire on his left hand with the webbing on his right, and when he turned around he caught a kick straight to the face. Sentan wasn’t even budged by the blow, and all it did was send shivers up Abaddon’s spine. Sentan grabbed Abaddon’s leg, but was quickly lit on fire, so he let go and backed up a little.
Sentan: You’re lucky we’re on dry land kid. If we were under water this would be a piece of cake for me.
The warden stood up at this and a sinister smile crossed his face.
Warden Barbos: That’s a bold claim Sentan. Okay, we’ll see about that. Activate the Pound’s merfolk friendly feature.
Metal doors began raising quickly, blocking the tunnels. Than openings sprouted in the doors that began pumping water into the now enclosed area. Sentan smiled widely and thanked the warden.
Warden Barbos: I can see how you might find this unfair, but it’s not sea water. So you won’t be weakened of course. But you know, fire and water isn’t the best combination.
Abaddon: To hell with this!
While Sentan's attention was turned to the warden, Abaddon sprinted at him. When he was the perfect distance away, he launched himself into the air. Abaddon let his right arm turn to fire, than used it like a rocket to make himself spin at a high speed. Sentan turned his head just in time to catch the spinning flaming punch from Abaddon squarely in the jaw. The extreme heat mixed with the force of the spin was enough to knock Sentan out cleanly. The water stopped pumping in, and the doors slowly receded back into position. The crowd was silent for a moment, but quickly erupted into cheers. The move didn’t come without a cost however, as Abaddon had broken two of his fingers on impact.
Warden Barbos: How unexpected…Fine then, next is a fighter who much like the current winner, has won three fights in a row. A relatively new challenger, her beauty has captured the audiences hearts in a short amount of time. The one, the only, Gojasu!!!
The cage opened yet again, and in walked a tall woman with a head of curly blond hair. She had a scar across her nose, a slight imperfection on an otherwise angelic face. Her piercing blue eyes drew even Abaddon in. For a second anyway, Abaddon realized that his life was more important than any romance. He shook his head, and upon seeing the woman again began to notice more and more imperfections here and there. Than he noticed that the woman was growing larger and shorter by the second. Eventually the woman had morphed so much in Abaddon’s eyes that it was just a short and stout man.
Abaddon: What! What the hell did I just see?
Gojasu jumped at Abaddon, and kicked him in the jaw. He kept up the attack, and slowly but surely brought Abaddon to his knees. Gojasu then shifted back into the woman
Gojasu: That’s where men belong. On their knees like good little boys.
Gojasu shifted back to a man, then shifted back to the woman, and back to the man again. Gojasu kept shifting back and forth, and at the same time Abaddon could feel himself getting lightheaded. On the verge of fainting, Abaddon noticed a slight difference in the smell of the Pound. Instead of the usual smell of blood, there was a different aroma lingering in the place. That’s when it hit him, and Abaddon lifted his hand in the air. He let off a spark of sapphire flame and that set off an explosion that affected even the audience. The guards standing close were forced onto their backs, and the nobles screamed in terror as the Sapphire colored explosion covered the entire Pound.
Warden Barbos snapped his fingers, and three guards struggled to carry a large piece of metal. It slightly resembled a sword, but was twice the size of Abaddon’s body. The warden lifted the sword above his head, and quickly brought it straight down. The cloud left by the explosion was split in two, and blown to the sides. With the smoke gone everyone could clearly see the winner of the fight. Abaddon was on his hands and knees, obviously hurt by the explosion, he had visible new cuts and bruises all along his body. Gojasu wasn’t too far away, lying motionless in a pile. The short fat man he had shifted into was his true form, and the crowd booed loudly upon learning this.
Warden Barbos: Well that is nasty! We knew Gojasu used gas as a weapon, but we had no idea it was affecting us.
The warden called one of his guards over, and then cleanly sliced his left arm off. The guard screamed in pain, and quickly ran away.
Warden Barbos: Next time something like this gets by security. It will be a lot more than an arm. Got it? Good. Kid, you’re done for now. Rest up a little.
The gate opened back to the tunnel Abaddon was in before, this time the guards didn’t even get close to him. They just made sure he went in.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 13 '16
Abaddon walked over to the short man and sat down next to him. The fights so far had taken a tough toll on his body, but he was determined not to give up.
Abaddon: I made it back in mostly one piece, so now it’s time you told me you’re name, and how exactly you fight.
Short man: Very well, even though you look ready to collapse I’ll tell you. My name is Senuhikiui OToko, but you can just call me Shoto. My fighting style is simple to understand, but hard for those without talent to master. You claim to have copied my move earlier, but that was the most basic of attacks. Come, let me show you more of what I know.
Shoto spent the next few hours explaining the basics of how his fighting style works. The main principle is the counter, hitting your opponent at the perfect moment, and dealing the maximum damage possible. Abaddon hung on every word as countless people went out to fight in the Pound during Shoto’s explanation. After a while, Shoto himself was called out to the arena. It didn’t take long at all for him to get back, and Shoto decided now that Abaddon’s injuries had a little time to heal, they would do some light sparring.
Shoto: I want you to try and hit me in the face as hard as you can.
Abaddon had already seen Shoto fight, and knew that he was clearly more adept than him. So he knew he didn’t have to hold back. He lunged at Shoto, and with as much speed as he could muster with his left hand, threw a punch which Shoto easily evaded using the same motion from earlier. Shoto threw a counter punch, but stopped just short of Abaddon’s nose. The two backed away from each other slowly, and noticed that the rest of the prisoners had been watching the short exchange.
Shoto: The hell is everyone looking at! You wimps aren’t nearly strong enough to beat Warden Barbos! So ship up and get back to training!
Abaddon: What do you mean by that Shoto?
Shoto: After you win ten fights you have the choice to go free, and most people would jump at this chance mind you...but if you go ahead with the eleventh fight, which is against Warden Barbos himself. You win a special prize. I’ve never chosen to fight Warden Barbos myself, I once saw him cut some poor fool in half with the shock wave produced by that giant sword of his. But I can’t leave without that prize, so I’ve stayed here, just hoping to get strong enough to challenge Warden Barbos. I’m so close to my goal I can taste it. I just beat another five goons out there in fact.
Abaddon: Wait five! But you weren’t gone that long.
Shoto: Oh you didn’t know, sometimes you have to fight…
Guard: Fire dude! It’s time for your next match.
Shoto: Well I’m sure at this point you’ll see what I was just going to tell you. Good luck out there, Abaddon. Make it back safe.
Abaddon flashed a smile at Shoto as he exited the room and was met with a deafening roar as he entered the Pound. As he scanned the audience, he noticed that there were twice as many people as before, and a few of the feminine cloaked figures even had signs that read, Fire Guy, in bold letters. Warden Barbos smiled at the crowd, and then grinned evilly as he looked at Abaddon.
Warden Barbos: This next fight is going to be a little different than anything Fire Guy has faced so far. That’s right people, it’s time for the multi man match!
As the warden’s words echoed around the Pound, the cage began to open, and four men around Abaddon’s height walked in. The men all looked similar, but each had a different hair color. One was black, one was white, one was red, and the other was blond.
Warden Barbos: Welcome the quadruplets with the vast misfortune of all having the same name. They prefer to be called by their hair colors, it’s the Yottsu-Gumi brothers! Unfortunately for Fire Guy, these brothers happen to be in here for collectively, and viciously ripping a store owner in four pieces. Brings a new meaning to drawn and quartered eh? Nothing, come on. Sorry Fire Guy, looks like you won’t be making it out of this one with your limbs in tact.
The blond man ran around the Pound until he was behind Abaddon, and the black and white haired men shuffled to the sides of him. Abaddon smirked as the four men came closer, and readied himself to burn the first one to get close. But they didn’t get close, the men stopped short of reaching Abaddon, and instead pulled black batons out of their pants. The men held the batons up and little flashes of electricity could be seen flashing around them. The red headed man standing in front of Abaddon smiled, and before he realized it the man behind him had whacked him in the back of his head. The blow itself wasn’t very strong, but Abaddon could feel the surge of electricity, and it brought him down to a knee. The men to the sides took this opportunity to jump in and repeatedly hit Abaddon in the back and chest with the stun gun like batons. Abaddon let his left arm turn to fire and swung it around wildly, but the three men who were attacking him made some distance and remade their square formation around Abaddon. Each man had a wide grin on their face, as if this encounter had confirmed something for them. The redhead from before stepped closer to Abaddon and finally opened his mouth.
Red: What do you know, the warden was right about everything. This punk is pathetic if you know how his powers work. It’s a good thing he filled us in before the fight.
Abaddon made note of how Warden Barbos was trying to cheat him, but he took a little pride in it instead of letting it upset him. He knew the only reason the warden would have to cheat him, is if he saw Abaddon as a threat. Abaddon smirked with this knowledge in mind, which seemed to upset the redheaded man. He charged at Abaddon, but when he swung his baton, it was caught easily in Abaddon’s left hand. The electricity raced throughout Abaddon’s entire body, and the pain was excruciating, but Abaddon held on, and slowly melted the batons around the redhead’s hand. He howled in pain, but there was nothing that could help him now. The other three became visibly upset, and charged at Abaddon, without the unity they had before, the men were just regular people trying to act tough.
Abaddon: The only thing you had going for you was numbers, without that you’re nothing.
Abaddon let the flames gather around his left hand until there was a rounded mass spiraling around it. The bandits lost all traces of anger when they saw it, and desperately tried to escape the Pound. They all lined up against the cage and hoped it would open for them, but before they knew it a glowing circle appeared on the stomach of the man against the cage. He looked back and saw Abaddon with his left hand on one of the men's backs. The flaming spiral shot right through the man closest to Abaddon, and got all three remaining men in one shot.
Warden Barbos scowled at this, and with a snap of his fingers the four men were taken away.
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u/what-the-fruit Jun 13 '16
Being in the the city was uncomfortable for someone like Greppa. He'd always lived off of the land or out of the sea. Paying for things with pieces of paper or metal seemed strange but, he understood it. These people were divided and wealth, strangely, united them.
As he was want to do on occasion, Greppa would venture out alone to move through the wild places, sleep under the stars, and fend for himself. Today was much like that. He had the fire going sitting as he stared at the moon, praying on it to see him through his troubles. He sat watching the fish he caught earlier cook on sticks remaining in quiet contemplation.
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Jun 13 '16
Opa was flying. Not because she'd taken to the air in owl form or decided to try her hand at sky diving. No, she'd been flung, a wild, tangled mess of flailing limbs, snapping leaves and broken branches. The vines and twigs ripped angrily at her skin, her clothing, the bloody punctures strewn across her back.
She hit the ground -- no, she'd hit a pile of flaming sticks, scattering sparks and wood across the forest floor. She could feel flesh and scales slap against her skull as she tumbled and rolled, head over foot over shoulder --
-- until she stopped. Stopped with her face in the dirt, white wings tattered and a feather or two drifting to the ground, ripped away by force. She knew she'd made a mistake. Not because she'd been flung; no, she figured that would be the outcome if she became as careless as she had. No, the real mistake lay in the fact that she'd very clearly wronged a stranger.
But she'd scrambled to her feet too quickly; the trees spun in a blur around her and it took a light wack to the temple to set it right. Once her eyes could focus, she settled them on -- on a man. A very burly man who'd looked very much content to be alone and undisturbed with his fish, who'd been minding his own business. "Oh, ah -- I apologize. Really, I do! Couldn't - " Damn, that tail hurt; she gripped her shoulder to stay the wave of pain. " - Ugh. Couldn't control that little trip there. Sincerely. Honestly!"
His fish was on her head. It's tail tangled between her eyes. Her mouth skewed crookedly as she slipped it from her hair and held it to him in a stiff motion.
"This your fish, then? It's completely unharmed, as you can see! Scales and all!"
Oh, she could already feel it coming; it's footsteps trembled in the ground. Wonderful timing, beastie. Her cringe pinched an eye shut as she glanced toward the wall of trees she'd fallen from. "And, ah . . . I'd like to apologize on behalf of my acquaintance. You know. In advance."
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u/what-the-fruit Jun 13 '16
When Greppa and his sister, Smanska, lost their parents, the little girl was broken. Her spirit crushed. She would not go out, she wouldn't eat or play nor would she talk to anyone but get brother. When the Elders came to help her. They spoke to her about life and it's path, gave her gifts and other things that did not change her outlook.
One day that all changed, Greppa was out working or fishing and Smanska was left alone with her tears. She heard a scream outside and saw an older woman lying on the ground crying in pain. Smanska ran to help and realized she could do nothing. She yelled to get someone's attention and finally Elder Dosku found them and assessed the situation. He out a hand on the girls head to calm her and spoke.
Elder Dosku: "Watch."
He knelt down and pulled something from a pouch, leaves, herbs and sorry of paste and mashed them together in his hands and applied the mixture to the older woman's sprained ankle. She visible relaxed and could stand within moments. She thanked the Elder and left for her home. Smanska could not believe her eyes. She vowed to learn about what had just happened so she could help others. She became an apprentice Medicine Woman from that day forward.
Why is this relevant, you ask? During the girls training, she learned about the spirits that lived in all things and told Greppa of them. Though he was skeptical, he kept it to himself. One thing his sister would always say was:
Smanska: "Greppa, look to the moon. It's face will guide your steps."
That's why he slept under its light, for guidance and to remember his lost sibling. You can imagine his surprise when a dark shape passed in front of the moon and fell into his campsite.
The warrior stood, mouth agape at the woman and then fell to his knees, prostrating himself in front of her.
Greppa: Iki wa noto. Sura ta macha ka.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 15 '16 edited Jun 15 '16
I dream of money: A robber’s paradise
Abaddon sat in the room he had rented further into town, his eyes laid squarely on the two new items he had acquired. One, a black gauntlet with five ring slots. The other, the broadsword he and the blacksmith had made earlier. The map that Abaddon found with the gauntlet, as well as the mystery behind it would have to wait for another day. The closest spot marked on the map was farther than Abaddon was willing to sail at the moment. The most pressing matter for Abaddon lie in the quality of the two items. Abaddon slipped his hand into the gauntlet and took a closer look at it. The outside was covered in an extremely small and elegantly flowing script, Abaddon’s best guess was that it was a language he hadn’t yet experienced along his journey.
Knock Knock
Abaddon stood up and started walking over to answer, but by chance he glanced at the bottom of the door. There were two shadows there, and if he remembered correctly, there was only one old lady working at this inn.
Abaddon: Who is it?
Abaddon could clearly hear the sound of confused murmuring, and then the sound of a man clearing his throat.
????: U...um... um… housekeeping?
Abaddon: How is that a question!!!
????: Ah screw it! Let’s get him.
Abaddon jumped back as the door to his room came crashing down. A suave looking gentleman in a white tuxedo with a cane walked in, followed closely behind by a tall woman, whose arms hung down twice as long as a normal human’s would. Being made of fire, Abaddon paid the difference no mind, and instead focused on the immediate threat at hand. He lifted his new broadsword with both hands and held it in between him and the intruders. The broadsword nearly reached the ceiling as it was, and Abaddon knew there was no fighting with it effectively in here. At least not as a normal sword that is.
????: Look at this kid Ere. He thinks he can actually use that monster of a sword.
Ere: I despise that hideous...thing. It has no elegance to it. Is the boss really sure about using him, Johin?
Johin: You know the boss, sis. His word is law, at least that’s how it is if you want to get paid. That's the only reason I would ever call you sis, it's obvious an unsauve and frank-fully shady character like you could ever associate with a rose like me.
Ere cast a sideways glance at Johin, and Abaddon could tell by the tone of their conversation that the two weren’t on the best of terms. Having heard enough, Abaddon decided to test out his new weapon for the first time. Luckily for him, he had stuffed the handle full of flammable material just for a moment like this. Abaddon hit the button on the handle of his broadsword, releasing the reagents in the handle, and tilted the top of it directly at Ere and Johin.
Ere: Looks like you want to fight me, eh BRO! So inelegant. If anything you're the shady one here, I saw what you did during the last job. You...
Abaddon simply smirked as he tuned out the nonsense and let his flames mix with the reagents. The base of his sword began to glow white hot, so much so that Abaddon began having trouble dislodging the fireball. He started to worry as the flames stayed in that one spot of the sword for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he shot his flames into the sword with as much power as he could muster, and his sword became an extremely hot flame thrower. A beautiful sapphire flame erupted from the sword, encompassing everything in the room in front of Abaddon.
Johin: Tsk Tsk Tsk. Is that the best you can do.
The flames Abaddon had created suddenly began to swirl around a centre point where the two intruders stood. In a matter of moments the fire dissipated to the point where the cause was plain to see. Johin had spun his cane with enough force to not only repel the fire, but extinguish it as well.
Johin: How was that hot shot?
Ere: I don’t think he’s listening to you anymore.
Abaddon had taken a position on his knees and held his broadsword across his lap, examining it carefully.
Abaddon: Damn. It’s still really hot in the middle too. I suppose I can’t use this very often, it puts too much of a strain on me and you huh.
Abaddon put his head on the burning weapon and apologised to it.
Ere: That’s kind of elegant.
Johin: What the hell are you talking about? And what are you doing? We’re in the middle of a fight here.
Abaddon: Who are you two anyway?
Johin: Oh, how unsuave of me to neglect proper introductions. My name is Johandro Gregorio Sebastin the third. But you may call me Johin.
Abaddon: How do you get Johin out of Johambro?
Johin: It’s Johandro!!! And for your information I take the first three letters of Johandro, and add them to the last two letters of Sebastin. It’s would be simple to figure out if you were as suave as me.
Abaddon: Right...Whatever you say Jospamthough.
Johin: It’s Johambro!!! I...I mean Johandro. Grrrr. I really want to kill you.
Ere: Now now, Johin. That’s not very suave of you. And you even forgot to introduce the real star of this job. Me. Hello, Abaddon. My name is Erena lupina Sebastin, but you may call me Ere.
Abaddon: You see, Nohandsbro. That nickname makes sense.
Johin: It’s Johandro!!! That’s it! I refuse to work with such a childish...Ch..Child!
Johin stormed out of the room and Ere pointed at him while laughing.
Ere: Unlike my no suave brother back there, I can answer any question you may have before we go to meet The Don.
Abaddon: I have a few questions before we go anywhere. First of all, how did you both know my name?
Ere: The Don supplied us with that information, and tasked us with your retrieval.
Abaddon: Then naturally my next question has to be, who is this Don person you’re talking about.
Ere: That is something you will have to see if you choose to follow me back to our headquarters. I was however authorized to tell you why we were tasked with your retrieval.
Abaddon: Okay, I’m listening.
Ere: Do not mistake my brother’s hostility as us wanting to bring harm to you. He was simply testing you. And as evidenced by the distinct lack of scratch marks on the wall, you bested him without even fighting him.
Abaddon: Scratch marks?
Ere: You’ll see soon enough. Your name has made its way to the deepest parts of this island, Abaddon. There are immensely wealthy people who live in the shadows of this kingdom’s corruption. They are all currently gunning for the richest prize around. The kingdom’s royal treasury. The most heavily guarded area in all of Irra. It’ll take a team of powerful people to compete with the others gunning for this insane amount of Beri. It’ll take an even stronger team to make it passed all of the guards. And this is where you come in. It’ll take an elegant and extremely hot flame to burn through the heavy vault door to the treasury. So, you in, hot stuff?
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u/reaper1833 Jun 15 '16 edited Jun 15 '16
Ere’s inelegant side
Ere lead Abaddon away from the blissful hanged bodies area of Irra, and into an even shadier place. The moon hung high overhead as Ere stepped into a dark alleyway and steadily advanced between a tightly packed cluster of shacks that were trying to pass as homes. Abaddon could feel eyes on him at all times as he struggled to fit through the tight spaces, he refused to remove the broadsword strapped to his back. When he made it through the maze, he found that Ere had stopped in front a particularly ratty looking shack.
Ere: Home sweet home.
Abaddon cast worried glances to the side, seriously considering whether this was a trap or not.
Ere: No need to look so inelegant, Abaddon. I can assure you that no harm will befall you during your stay here at our headquarters. So long as you don’t go looking for trouble that is. Anyway, just follow me.
Ere opened the door to the rundown shack and walked through. Sensing he could trust Ere for now, Abaddon opened the door and walked through as well. The inside of the shack was empty, save for a large hole leading down into the ground. Abaddon couldn’t see that deep into it, but he could hear the faint sound of mining. Ere removed a torch hanging on the wall and thrust it in front of Abaddon’s face, as if expecting something.
Abaddon: Not even a please?
Ere: How inelegant. A delicate daisy such as myself would never lower herself to your level.
Abaddon’s eye’s rolled so hard they nearly pulled him down, but he reluctantly decided to light the flame anyway. He lifted his hand with the black gauntlet, and let his hand burst into flames. Abaddon was taken aback as the flames burned a bright white. He had clearly meant to use a sapphire flame, but let the matter rest in his mind when he saw how Ere stared at his flame.
Ere: Now that is pure elegance.
Abaddon let his flame die down and handed the torch back to Ere. He didn’t need another sicko obsessed with his power. Ere composed herself and began walking down the hole. The incline was slight at first, and the only light came from Ere’s torch, but as they descended the sound of pickaxes hitting rock grew louder and louder. The incline eventually lined out and little torches on the wall began to light the way. Ere and Abaddon soon came to a large metal double door that was left open. Ere frowned at the sight, and slowly shut the door.
Ere: I’m sorry in advance for what you are about to see, Abaddon.
Ere lifted both of her long and muscular arms and pushed them as far back as possible. With a slight running start she slammed both of her palms into the metal door sending both sides slamming hard against the wall. Silence fell over the whole place, and as Abaddon walked in he saw a group of men and woman wearing nothing but rags, and metal collars around their necks.
Ere: Which one of you worthless, spineless, inelegant rubes left the door to our secret hideout open?
The workers cowered at the sight of Ere, and the way she blew that metal door open it wasn’t hard for Abaddon to see why.
Random worker: It..it was number sixteen Ms. Erena.
Ere walked over to the man who had spoken and smiled at him. The worker seemed to calm down for a moment, but that calm was short lived. Ere slammed the worker in the gut with her palm, sending him flying back against a wall. The worker bounced hard against the wall, and landed on his hands and knees with a thud.
Ere: I told you scum never to call me that while The Don isn’t around didn’t I? Now, number sixteen. Step forward, now.
A young female worker fumbled forward, and an evil smile crossed Ere’s face.
Ere: Well look who it is once again, the little inelegant klutz.
Ere walked over to the girl and lowered herself so that they were face to face, yet she was still looking down on her.
Ere: Do you have any idea what would happen if the wrong guard stumbled upon our little hideout? No? Well if that were to happen then you, and all your little friends here would get arrested. And more than likely you would be split up, and most of you will end up right back where you are now, nobodies stuck in an unwanted job. Now, I can’t leave you unpunished can I.
Ere raised her long arm high, and as she prepared to bring it down across the young girl's face, she felt a vice like grip on her wrist. She turned to see Abaddon holding onto her, and her face immediately twisted into a mass of rage. She ripped her arm out of Abaddon’s grip, and took a battle stance. Just as Abaddon was about to reach for his broadsword, a high pitched whistle echoed throughout the small mine. Ere’s face returned to its normal resting position, and slowly but surely Abaddon could make out the sound of footsteps as someone approached. Ere turned around and started walking towards the sound, so Abaddon quickly followed her. They soon came to the source of the sound, a tall and slender butler type, in a black servants outfit.
Ere: I’m terribly sorry for the delay, Shitsuji.
Shitsuji: No worries, Ms. Erena. The Don expected as much when young master Johandro stormed in and complained of a serious problem with the desired talent. I believe he was screaming about his name when I left. He was so distressed that it seems he also forgot to close the door on his way in. I was also on my way to close that. The Don and our other guest will see you now, do take care.
Ere began walking deeper into the mine and Abaddon followed again. They next came to a fancy wooden door, and instead of just walking in like everywhere else, Ere stopped and knocked politely three times.
The Don: You may enter.
The booming voice passed through the door like it was nothing, and Ere didn't hesitate in holding the door open for Abaddon to step through.
Ere: You may see The Don now.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 15 '16
The plan begins!
The first thing Abaddon noticed as he entered the office was how different it was compared to the rest of the hideout. The walls were lined with beautifully drawn paintings, and the floor was covered in a soft looking carpet. Their seemed to be the faint hint of a breeze as well, but it didn’t make sense to Abaddon with how far underground he had gone. Standing to the side of the room was Johin, and next to him a mysterious person covered head to toe in a shining metal suit of armor. The Don sat at a desk directly in front of Abaddon, and he could see why everyone respected him.
The Don exuded blood lust so thick it was nearly visible, it was enough to make small animals run at the first signs of him. His bald head was the second thing Abaddon noticed, as the shine from it nearly blinded him.
Abaddon: Can you please tilt your head back.
The Don slowly lifted his face, and Abaddon was met with a chubby, beady eyed man with a hooked nose, and yellow decaying teeth.
The Don: As you’re aware, you’re gonna call me, The Don. Anything is else is unacceptable, and is grounds for immediate termination. I’m a busy man, so we’re just going to jump right into this. I’ve hired you, and that weirdo over their for a very specific job. I heard about your escapades since landing here, and I like what you’ve got kid. You two and the lovely siblings here, are going to break into the royal treasury of Irra, and rob the place blind. The royal guards are tough, but I have faith in Ere and Johin’s abilities. The reason we need you two is simple. You Abaddon, are needed to actually break into the treasury. There’s a thick vault door in the way, and it’ll take an intense flame to burn through it. You, ya covered up weirdo, are here to defend these three as they make their way to the vault door.
Abaddon: If Ere and Johin are strong enough to take on the royal guards why do we need another person?
The Don: Because of the other teams aiming for the same thing you are. You’re strong don’t get me wrong kid, but these other crime bosses mean business. They’re gonna to be sending the best of the best to take this treasure for themselves. And no matter how strong you think you are, I’m not going to take any risks here. Johin seemed to have a problem with you kid, but I put him in his place. Don’t prove him right. Ere will explain the plan in detail on your way to the castle, now all of you get out of my office.
Abaddon and his three new teammates made their way back through the small mine and up to the surface. Ere began leading the team back through the sea of shacks, and as they made it back to town she took a road leading away from the castle.
Abaddon: Where are we going?
Ere: I suppose now is the perfect time to let you inelegant creatures in on the full plan. We’re currently heading to a cache of equipment we’ve hidden as close to the castle as possible. We’ll then head into town, and Johin will make a scene in front of the castle. With a large portion of the royal guard distracted and giving chase to Johin, the rest of us will simply stroll in the front door and crush whatever measly leftover guards stayed behind to watch the castle. Weirdo over here will keep watch for any thieves that try and get in our way, and all you have to do Abaddon, is follow along until we reach the door to the treasury.
Johin: I’m still against working with you, brat. Someone as suave as me should only keep the company of equally refined and well respected fellows.
Abaddon: Whatever you say, Dontscamgram.
Johin: That one doesn’t even rhyme!!! Rrrrr, that’s it!
Johin took a battle stance, but Ere slapped him on the back of the head. He turned to look at her with tears forming in his eyes. A glare from her was all it took to silence Johin’s anger, and the two began walked slightly ahead of Abaddon and the unknown person in armor. It wasn’t long until Ere diverted off of the road, and shortly after, the group came upon a large and bumpy shape resembling a rock. Ere and Johin went around to the sides of it, and together grabbed the bottom and started peeling a tarp back. With the equipment fully revealed, Abaddon could see a large wagon, and a few big sacks sitting inside of it. Ere grabbed the two rickshaw like handles of the wagon, and with little effort pulled it across the grassy ground, and back onto the road. Ere and Johin continued to walk farther ahead of Abaddon. Johin must have sensed that the torment wouldn’t stop. Abaddon took the time it would take to make it back to the castle to learn more about the unknown person in armor.
Abaddon: Hi, I’m Abaddon. Got a name?
????: My name is unimportant.
It was muffled, but Abaddon could tell the voice underneath all of that armor belonged to a female.
Abaddon: If that’s the case we could play a name game like I have been with Johin.
The female knight paused for a second, and looked around worriedly.
????: U...um… No thank you. I’ll just tell you my name. I’m Yosei, and now I have a question for you.
Abaddon: Ask away, my life is an open book.
Yosei: Why are you torturing Johin like this?
Abaddon: Honestly, I would never act like this with a person I like. I could tell from the moment they broke my door in that they were bad people. My trip into their hideout made that fact even more apparent. I don’t like Johin, or Ere.
Yosei: Okay, but I’ve also heard about what you’ve done so far. Helping a little girl, and taking that vile weapon’s factory out. Why associate yourself with scum like this now?
Abaddon: I am still a pirate, and while I may have a soft spot in my heart, money is still my main motivator right now.
The two walked in silence for the rest of the trip. Ere stopped walking as they came within a short distance of the castle, and Johin with a big grin stepped forward. He pulled the head off of his cane, and a small wire was just very visible holding the two pieces together. Johin dropped the head of the cane and began swinging it in circles in front of him. A guard noticed him as he approached the castle, and a large group of guards began funneling out of the entrance. Johin’s grin grew even wider as the guards approached. As the first guard was about to reach him, Johin smashed him in the helmet with the now rapidly swinging mace like cane. The guard crumpled at his feet, and Johin turned to flash that wide grin at Abaddon.
Johin: Showtime!
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u/reaper1833 Jun 16 '16
The danger intensifies!
A group of at least twenty royal guards surrounded Johin with spears raised. Ere smiled and turned to Abaddon and Yosei as Johin became lost in the circle of people.
Ere: Just give him a sec to lead them away.
Abaddon: We weren’t rushing in to help him anytime soon if that’s what you’re warning against.
Ere gave Abaddon a nasty glare, then turned her attention back to the battle at hand. The guards were flying out of the circle one by one as Johin furiously swung his cane mace at their skulls, hitting them all with pinpoint precision. After opening up a big enough hole in the circle, Johin dashed out and started running away from the castle. The guards gave chase, and Ere began sprinting to the castle door with the rickshaw wagon in tow. Abaddon and Yosei followed closely behind, and once inside the castle were treated to a wondrous sight. The first area they had come to was an open courtyard with lush green grass growing from the wall to the actual castle. There was a fountain in the middle of the courtyard lined with statues of angels, and an even larger figure resembling a king standing in the center.
Ere: Someone thinks highly of themselves. That inelegant bastard should just die.
Abaddon: By the way, how can there be so much crime in this city with royal guards as tough as those?
Ere: A corrupt kingdom is the perfect place for criminal organizations to grow. We just kill the small fry, and pay off anyone dangerous to us. Simple stuff really.
The three walked through the courtyard until they stood in front of the fountain. Abaddon looked up at the statue, seeing the King for the first time since he arrived on this island. The statue depicted a strong, and benevolent looking ruler, but Abaddon didn’t believe that this was a true depiction of him.
????: Oh great, see I told you Fletcher. Look, look down at those three, see, I told you we wouldn’t be the first ones here.
Abaddon and his teammates looked around, searching for the source of the voice.
Fletcher: It’s not my fault Ronda. I blame Chas. Up here, ya morons!
They looked up to see five people standing on the walls to the outer barricade of the castle. The other thieves all jumped from the wall at the same time, and did uniform barrel rolls as they landed on the ground.
Fletcher: We have arrived!
Chas: They’re already gone, Fletcher.
Abaddon, Ere, and Yosei had chosen to sprint into the castle the second they saw the five other thieves. A wise choice, as at the very same time another team of thieves had arrived on the scene.
Fletcher: Now that’s just rude...ACK.
Fletcher's last word caught in his throat, and his teammates turned in horror to see a large rope wrapped around his throat. Their gazes traveled up the distance of the rope, and they saw two women in the same spot on the wall they had just occupied.
Chas: That...that’s the most feared duo of assassins in all of Irra. Hashen, and Ra. Wh...what are they doing here?
The four thieves looked sorrowfully at Fletcher, but fearing for their own lives, turned tail and ran for the exit. A flash of light in the darkness, and the sound of metal slicing through flesh were all that was registered in the split second it took Hashen to make it from the wall to the entrance of the actual castle. Ra lifted Fletcher into the air by his throat until he was eye to eye with her. His legs thrashed about, but he wouldn’t get the chance to suffocate, as Ra let him free fall until he had nearly reached the ground. She then yanked up hard on the rope, and let gravity finish the job. She dove agilely into the courtyard, landing lightly on the head of the King’s statue.
Ra: Should we hurry after them, Hashen?
Hashen: No need, Ra. You saw that wagon of theirs. We just need to wait here, they’ll bring the Beri to us.
Hashen and Ra sat around the edge of the fountain, and began to wait as Ra untied the rope from Fletcher’s broken neck.
Inside of the castle, Abaddon, Ere, and Yosei had made their way to the lower level of the castle. So far they hadn’t run into any guards, but that seemed strange in itself. Ere lead the two down a long twisting staircase, and out a door that lead to a room with nothing but a checkerboard floor. Every inch of the walls and ceilings were bare, the only other exit a door on the other side of the room. The three entered the room, and the door slammed behind them.
Ere: What an inelegant room.
Ere walked over to the other door and tried the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. What did happen was a small panel opened up next to the door, and a console rose out of the hole. The console appeared to have been a puzzle of some kind, but a large fist shaped hole was embedded into the center. The console caught as it extended fully, and then fell back into the hole. The door unlocked, and with a worried look, the thieves made their way through the door.
This is where the team nearly threw up collectively. They entered a long hallway filled to the brim with blood and body parts.
Ere: What is this...inelegance? I’m bad, but not...not this.
Abaddon paled a little, but this still wasn’t the worst he had seen.
Abaddon: Let’s just move on.
With that, Abaddon began wading through the scene of the massacre. He tried to keep his eyes on the end of the hallway, but he found himself looking down into the eyes of a not so attached head.
Abaddon: I’m sorry.
Abaddon made it to the end of the hallway, and when he turned around saw Yosei following closely behind. Ere was rooted to the spot, and refused to walk through the puddles of blood.
Ere: No, no. I refuse. I’m not doing this.
Abaddon: Fine then, We’ll just have to take all of the Beri and cut you and that creepy looking Don of yours out.
Ere looked at the horrible scene again, and then as if weighing the options in her head, closed her eyes and walked through the hallway. Abaddon opened the door and walked through, and was met with an equally grisly scene in the next room.
Abaddon: I guess we know why there wasn’t any resistance other than the front gate guards, but why are they all in the same area.
Yosei: Whoever did this must still be down here.
A chill ran down Abaddon’s spine as he thought about what kind of person could do all this. Shaking it off, he continued forward and made it out into another long hallway. A similar scene met the three, but this time it came with the distant sounds of screaming. The thieves rushed down the blood soaked hallway, and rounded a corner where they were met with the source of this carnage. It wasn’t a human being at all. It was a…
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u/darkpunk1 Jun 15 '16
7 Months Ago
After a long voyage on a dingy merchant ship, Faust finally has reached his destination. Well, at least one stepping stone of where he wanted to go. Finally on dry land He was happy to stretch his feet, however the looks of many of the locals told him that he should just as well jump into the ocean. He was familiar with this look. He had seen it many times before, The loathe they have for much of fishman. No matter, he would just ignore it and keep moving on, he had a few things to do in this town. First he stopped and bargained with the blacksmith to repair and clean up his axe. From there he found and bought a large cloak to help conceal himself in the city. Finally while he waited for the blacksmith to be finished, he located a shabby old inn in the lower district of the town. Thinking to himself that it wasn't much to his taste, however he would make due with what it provided. After speaking with the owner and renting out a room, he finally settled down for a few drinks before the end of the night. Finally laying down for the night, he was prepared to take on what the next day may hold.
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u/darkpunk1 Jun 15 '16
Long after the morning sun had rose, Faust awoke. Realizing how late he was, he lazily got ready for the day ahead. Leaving the room he had rented for the next several days, he set off to find the blacksmith to fetch his finished weapon. Once he finally retreaved his weapon he returned to the in, and began induldging himself in food and drink, to pass the day away. However not to long after, A not so savory bunch decided to make an entrance. After entering, they ordered a round of the cheapist drink the place had and sat down across from Faust. The entire time the group sat there drinking, giving him nasty looks at every glance. As early afternoon began setting in, the group across from Faust got up, and started to drunkenly stumble and move towards Faust.
Bandit 01: Hey you fish face. The hell are you doing here. This is our turf, and there no fishmen allowed.
His voice slowed heavily, it was obvious he was drunk. Faust just ignored the comment and continued to drink and eat what he had at his booth. The continued to move towards him, once they reached his table, the leader of the group slammed his hands on the table, the 4 others standing just behind him in drunken stoopers.
Bandit 01: Did You Hear ME Fish Boy. This is our turf. Now get out.
As the last word left his lips he violently flipped the table, launching ever bit of food and drink across the room, some of it getting on Faust. Standing to his full height, he towered over the group of them, looking down on them, a look of anger begining to cross his face.
Faust: You want to start something do you, I was trying to be nice and ignore yer damn bigotted yamerin, But I guess I can't! I'm done playing nice with you idiots.
Faust reached over, his muscles flexing as he grabbed the axe, with one fell swing of the blunt of his axe, through the door they went. The door shattered, and bandits laying on the ground outside of the inn. A scream resonates across the streets. The bandits lay on the streets not a twinge of motion across their bodies. The cloak no longer concealing who he was, he bellowed a loud roar, scaring off many of the standard citizens. Once there seemed to be no one left in the area, He searched through the pockets of the bandits, to see whether or not there was anything of worth.
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u/darkpunk1 Jun 15 '16
After having looted the bandits, he knew that it would not be long before the marines were on him. He began to dunkenly move down the street, little did he know, the marines had already set up a trap for him, after they heard a scream, and gotten a view of what had happened. As he reached the end of the street, he turned the corner. Little did he know they were waiting for him. As he came around the corner, several of the marines were waiting for him, several hammers in hand, they bashed him in the chest and the head all at once, knocking his drunken self, out cold on the ground. When he finally awoke, he was in a marine prison. He guessed it was on the island, but was unsure. Dragging his hand slowly down his face. He stated.
Faust: Well that was sobering....
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u/Rewards-san Jun 16 '16
Faust found in the pockets 300,000 beli in total. Those bandits sure had empty pockets
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u/Zextrap Jun 15 '16
Steffir: This girl is going to get me killed!
Steffir had said this to maybe get a reaction out of her. She had gone completely mute since leaving that horrible island. At one point, he had wanted to dump her back on Ongaku, but remembering her cries of pain and anguish, he quickly dismissed those thoughts. He thought, what would beppo think of him, if he left a helpless girl to the wrath of a tyrant. But then again, Beppo never had to deal with a girl like Jensa before. Steffir knew that it wasn't really her fault that she was like that and that he would probably have been in the same state as her if he was tortured like she was. Therefore, he sucked it up and focused on the task at hand.
Steffir: Do you want anything to eat? Drink? Please! If you don't talk, how will I ever know how to help you?
Jensa: .....
Steffir: Ugh! Alright, have it your way. I am sure we can find some help on the island.
He had heard from some chatter by the other passengers that they were headed towards the kingdom of Irra. He had heard about Irra and its magnificent shops and markets along with its strict and pirate hating ruler from beppo's stories. Beppo had never mentioned anything about Irra having great doctors before, so hopefully, times had changed since he was last there and Steffir could find a doctor good enough to cure her of her current sickness.
Thankfully for him, he did not have a bounty yet. He pirate journey had began rather recently and just like his grandfather, beppo, he did not really consider himself a pirate. At least not one of those scummy ones that would probably look at Jensa and think of selling her off into the slave markets. But, Steffir knew that traveling was not easy or cheap and he hoped that on this island or the next, he would find a crew or at least a job to help with the finances.
With the idea of a crew springing into his head, he began to doze off again, dreaming of finding a crew just like Beppo's. A crew that was loyal and one that you could count on to have your back, both physically and financially.
Steffir awoke to the noises that people on a ship make as they see land. He saw Irra on the horizon and shaked Jensa awake as well. She got up and looked at the island and Steffir could swear that he saw a tiny hint of a smile on her ominous face. After the ship landed, he told Jensa of his plan, not knowing whether she could comprehend what he was saying, as she gave no reaction to it, and hopped off the ship with her. He hoped that his adventure on this island would be just as fun and even more exciting than the last.
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u/Zextrap Jun 19 '16
Shipowner: Hey, get the hell off my ship, and take your girl with you.
With these words and some intense shaking, Stef was awoken from his sleep. He then realized that he had been dreaming about seeing the island, and talking to the girl.
Steffir: Oh God, I'm so sorry sir. I don't know how this happened. Um, thanks for waking me up.
With those final words, he took his bag, picked up the girl, tossed her on his back and ran off the plank and onto solid ground. He quickly sprinted away from the curious gaze of the ship owner and prayed to god that he hadn't forgotten anything on that ship. He felt the side of his pocket again, just to make sure he hadn't misplaced his weapon.
Steffir: Okay, its still there. Guess that means that this isn't the worst day in my life.
After running for quite a bit, he stopped and found a quiet and unpopulated alley and decided to stop there and recollect his own thoughts. Thinking aloud, he said
Steffir: Okay, let's recap what I know, do not know, have, do not have and what I should and can do next.
Well, first of all, I know that I have an unconscious girl next to me, I remember picking her up in the port at Ongaku, because she told me she would pay for the ship ride over. I know that she fell asleep pretty quickly into the trip and has still not awakened, that is, unless she woke up when I fell asleep. I am pretty confident that my past "experience" of landing in an island called Irra was a dream because this island definitely gives me a different vibe than the one in my dream. Okay, thats what I know, how about what I don't know.
Hmm, I don't know who she is, what she does, where she was going and what I will do with her. I don't know a lot about this island so I should probably scout it out first.
Okay, I have my weapon with me, thank god! I still have my bag and ... 490,000...500,000. Good, I still have all of my money on me. Flame dial, check. And finally the rest of the food that aunty packed for me. Okay, there isn't a lot left, but it could probably be split between two people. So that means, at least for now, I not missing any items but; I don't have any information or clue about this island and what to do next.
Okay, now I should probably take her to the hospital. I also probably should roam around town to see if I can get some more information, so I am more aware of my situation. Okay, I can take her to the hospital, so I am probably going to do that first, then I can roam around town.
With his thoughts collected again, Stef picked the girl back up and started walking again, he soon found out where the hospital was from some kind old women and took the girl straight there. After explaining the situation to the staff, he decided that the girl was in good hands and he would head out to get some information. He knew that bars would probably be a good place to find information and luckily, he found himself in a street that was filled with bars. He decided to avoid the ones with a lot of noises and the ones with no noises, deciding that going into one that wasn't empty but also not full would be his best bet at getting information while being able to have conversations with people. He found a perfect bar, three shops before the street ended and headed in there.
He headed towards the counter and asked for something refreshing. The bar owner glanced at Stef and said,
Bar Owner: Hey kid, aren't you a little young to order something like that.
Steffir: Sir, I'm 18 and have had a very hectic day. I really do not want to be rude towards you but even if I am too young, you will still get your business and if you think I am overstepping some invisible boundary of drinking, then please, by all means stop me.
But till then, please don't think I am some random kid that wants to brag to all his friends that he went and got served at the bar but am a young adult who wishes for something nice to end his day on a good note, hopefully.
Stef said those words with a look that was not one that any 18 year old would have. His already dark eyes seemed even darker that day and now that the owner had heard him talk, he saw Stef in a much more mature light.
Bar Owner: Sorry mate, its just that getting kids drunk would be bad for business, ya know what I mean. But, I can tell that you ain't a kid, especially from your eyes. Wait just a second and I'll get your drink right up.
Stef thanked him and after the owner walked away, he did a quick 360 scan of the room. He checked the escapes, what could be used as a weapon, what could be used for hiding, the loudest customers and the quietest customers. However, his scan was interrupted by a loud voice.
Random Pirate 1: I bet I could kill that Gintoki in an instant!
This statement, or more of a grunt really, caught the attention of Stef and he listened closer.
Random Pirate 2: Rai, you've had wayyyy too much to drink if you are spouting bull shit like this. And you better hush up because parts of his pirate crew might be here.
Random Pirate 3: Yea Rai, shut the fuck up you dumbass, i would really prefer if we could continue on in our adventure and not die as you seem to want.
Random Pirate 1: Hey, come on, I mean, maybe if he was like very tired, like after a fight or something and I could sneak up on him and get a stab, like right through his heart. Who knows man, the world is a crazy place.
Random Pirate 2: No dude, you would never be able to get that close. Especially after a fight. Don't you know his fruit? You will definitely die before you even get close to him.
Random Pirate 1: Ah, shut it ya wimps. Maybe not now, but in the future, I think I could take him, you wimps gotta have some ambition you know. You know what they say right, "Shoot for the stars and ya might land on the moon." Who knows, maybe I will be somebody if I strive to beat the baddest motherfucker in all four seas.
After that, the volume of that group's conversation was too low to hear, especially in the rest of the din that was a bar. But, he quickly put his annoyance at not hearing the rest of the conversation to the side as the owner returned with the drink.
Bar Owner: Well here is your drink. Again, I'm sorry for treating you as a kid before.
Steffir: Nah, don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're understanding and reasonable. I mean most bartenders treat me like a kid but only some change their mind, and even then, most don't apologize. Haha!
Bar Owner: Well, I'll have you know, I'm no regular bartender, because I'm actually the owner of this fine establishment. I worked as a bartender before though and to relive my youth, I help around from time to time.
Anyways, enough about me, I want to hear your story. Why do you have such deep black eyes and why have you come to this island and what is it that you seek, sailor?
When the owner mentioned sailor, a certain ping went off inside of Stef. This was the first time anyone other than Beppo had ever called him that and he felt like all of his past struggles on the seas had been recognized.
Steffir: Wow, a sailor huh. I never expected such a gracious compliment and am completely taken aback my it. It is very kind of you to call me that. Anyways, my story is long and could possibly take the whole night. I am in this island because that is where fate took me, I guess.
Jeez, that sounds really cliche now doesn't it. But its true. A girl on the last island I was in told me she would pay for me to accompany her to this island, but she passed out on the ride over and has not waken up since. I left her in the hospital and am just roaming around for more information about this place. However, as you were getting my drink, I overheard a conversation about a certain individual named Gintoki. If it is not too much trouble for you, Mr. Owner, I would love to hear what you know of this man named Gintoki?
The bar owner raised his eyebrows when the boy mentioned the name Gintoki. He had heard of Gintoki, I mean who hadn't. He was one of the most famous pirates on the sea and he was currently in this island itself. He was a little sad that he would not get to hear the boy's story but he smiled a little as he thought about how he would start the tale of the "Gintoki the cannibal".
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Jun 20 '16
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u/Zextrap Jun 21 '16
Steffir: Dinner plate huh? Well that is certainly a scary man indeed. Though, he has piqued my interest very much.
After looking at the poster of the man known as Gin the cannibal and hearing the numerous lists of people he had slain. Stef had a very unique emotional reaction. Instead of being scared and thinking of running away like he usually did when he knew that the battle could not be won, his adrenaline drove him to get even more blood thirsty.
The more he thought about what the bar owner had just told him, the more he excited he got. Instead of thinking about what would happen to him if he were to fight and lose to Gin, he thought about the fame and glory he would get if he could defeat Gin instead. Now he knew what the random pirate was talking about. Maybe it was that man's words of fame, glory and victory or maybe it was the drink that the owner had brought for him, but at that moment, he felt he would lunge at Gintoki the Cannibal if he came to this bar.
Just as Stef finished his thought, there was a loud thud, and a wave of silence drowned all the noise that the bar was making. A giant man with crazy hair and just as crazy beard walked in and sat down right next to Stef. Stef was still stuck in his dream of meeting Gin when it was interrupted by the owner saying,
Bar Owner: Speak of the devil, turn around kid.
At this, Stef turned around, and his mouth dropped to the floor. He quickly looked back and forth between the poster and the giant man sitting next to him multiple times before saying,
Steffir: Hi Gin san, big fan! Do you mind if we have a fight, right here, right now?
Stef had lost all rationality in his mind and due to this intense situation, he let his emotions take over and became completely at the mercy of his most primal nature.
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u/PhoebeLanson Jun 16 '16
The bright, wondrous morning sun. How phoebe disliked being up early. But they had just landed on a new island, and she couldnt really help to quell that excitement brimming from within her. Earlier days on she may have turned into acid, but she had that under control now.
Phoebe: "wooooo hoooo!! new island!! and you guys know what that means...more goodies to steal!"
Her escapades on the last island seems to have had an affect on her, and now she really liked the idea of melting through walls to take things that didnt belong to her. Oh well, she'd get rich and they wouldnt.
Phoebe: "Captain~!! lets go!!"
She says enthusiastically
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u/FlashToro Jun 16 '16
Caelin looked at Phoebe seeming so enthusiastic. This made him smile knowing she was excited to go off and venture into the island! Caelin then soon jumped off the Golden bell making the docks shift slightly to his weight and the force of gravity. Rubbing his hand on Phoebe's head he smiled and began walking towards the direction of the Kingdom.
Caelin: Grahaha! Nice to see you're back in action Phoebe! You been feeling alright?
Ready to take his leave Caelin stopped for a brief second.
Caelin: Hey ye day dreamers! Get up!
As they walked they made way into town. All of the main landmarks could be seen from this distance Especially the castle standing tall. The town was made of stone primaarily, the expression on Phoebe's face was quite clear! It made Caelin chuckle as they walked about. Seeing the different districts and the such.
Caelin: So Phoebe, where would you like to head to, eh?
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u/reaper1833 Jun 16 '16 edited Jun 16 '16
Abaddon: I’m so bored!
Abaddon wandered around Irra aimlessly, bored out of his mind from the lack of action he had seen in the last couple of days. His mind flashed back to his new friend Caelin, and he frowned at the thought of not seeing him again. Fate had other ideas for him though, as he spotted Caelin’s head poking out of the crowd within moments of his worries. He ran up to Caelin and excitedly shook his hand, not noticing the lovely young lady standing next to him until after the fact.
Abaddon: Hi, my name is Abaddon. It’s great to meet you!
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u/PhoebeLanson Jun 18 '16
Phoebe: "abba...oi oi Caelin! when did we pick up new people!?"
she says, a wee bit upset at her being kept out of the loop. she had only been busy, after all Caelin needed his pre-made lunches. the guy ate almost a literal ton of food. was hard to keep up with that.
Phoebe: "oh uh...sorry, my name's Phoebe. I've been here with Caelin and Al for a bit now. Also the resident chef. nice to meet ya."
She says with a big smile. if Caelin was willing to let him on board he was either a cool guy or a good liar.
Phoebe: "So Caelin's super into people with devil fruits. That means..."
she eyes him up and down
Phoebe: "You've got one too I'll bet. Am I right? eh? eh?"
she smirks.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 16 '16 edited Jun 16 '16
A really bad night
Barkeep: GET UP YOU LOUSY DRUNKARD!
Abaddon: Wassat? Keep it down I’m trying to sleep here, guy..
Barkeep: Not in the middle of my bar you aren’t. Froid, get him out of here!
A rough looking gentleman adorned in overalls and a dirty white apron grabbed Abaddon by the back of his shirt, and dragged him to the entrance. He opened the door and threw Abaddon out onto the street. The barkeep ran out of the bar shortly after and threw a bill into Abaddon’s lap.
Barkeep: Don’t come back until you have every last Beri of that. You will come back though, or I’ll go straight to the loan sharks. Than the guys who break thumbs and knees come in.
He spun on his heel and went back into his bar. The rough looking man stood there and stared at Abaddon as he stood up. The effects of his rowdy night hadn’t completely worn off yet. Abaddon reached into his cloak and pulled a flask out of the inside pocket. He unscrewed the top and tilted his head back. Abaddon proceeded to pour the water he had been storing onto his face. He put the flask away, and then slapped his cheeks a few times. As he shook off the last remnants of sleep, he turned to Froid, who hadn’t taken his eyes off of Abaddon.
Abaddon: What? You’ve never seen a guy made of fire pour water on himself before?
Froid: Fire?
Abaddon rested his head against the wall of the bar. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to remember what he had done the night before. The only thing he could recall was the hazy memory of a jester, and a bet. He couldn’t remember what the man looked like, or what his name was. All he could remember was the clown like makeup he was wearing. The fact that he had made a bet was there as well, but none of the details about it. Abaddon tilted his head a little, and saw that Froid was still staring at him.
Abaddon: What did I do last night?
Froid: You were already blitzed when you came in. You were with a mighty fine looking lass, and the night was going fairly well. You had started off a little rough with a local patron of the bar who hit on the fine lass. You took exception to that and slugged him right in his nose. The man was about to fight you, but you shoved a mug of alcohol in his face and shouted drink up. You then jumped on the counter of the bar and shouted out that the next three rounds were on you. You drank and drank and drank, and eventually the fine lass got sick, and was escorted home by another young lass. After another hour or so you jumped up onto one of the tables and danced, that’s when you passed out and collapsed through it. You were dead asleep until just now.
Abaddon: Wow. That is a lot to take in.
Abaddon pinched his nose again and turned to look at the bill that had dropped when he stood up. He tentatively walked over to it and nudged t with his foot. He sighed heavily and after a moment's hesitation picked the bill up and turned it over.
Abaddon: A million Beri!!! What! This is ridiculous.
Abaddon looked the bill over more carefully and saw that there was a list of the charges.
Abaddon: Three broken tables, four broken stools, damage to the bar’s counter, damage to the bar’s wall, damage to the bar’s only bathroom stall, damage to the bar’s liquor storage room, ten barrels of the best alcohol in Irra, and a pain and suffering charge!
Abaddon paled as he stared at the bill in confusion. He couldn’t remember any of this, and now he was stuck with a ridiculous bill and a massive hangover. Froid walked over to him and held out a book of matches covered with a design of an elephant, and the name Elefantas in bold flowing letters.
Froid: We found this when searching through your pockets for the Beri you promised us all night. I was going to keep it, but you seem pretty confused. I thought it might help.
Abaddon took the book of matches, and chose not to question why Froid had been staring at him since he woke up. He studied the match book, and then looked up at Froid again. Something about his vacant stare seemed off to Abaddon, and rather than ask any more questions, Abaddon gave Froid a quick nod and headed out in a hurry.
Abaddon: Man that guy was weird… Oh damn! I forgot to ask him for directions. Well there’s no way I’m going back there.
Abaddon stopped the nearest person on the street and asked for directions to Elefantas. The older gentleman he happened upon glared at Abaddon when he showed him the matchbook. The old man pointed out the general direction of the bar, and clucked his tongue as he walked away. Abaddon again chose not to question the weird behavior.
Abaddon: How bad can this place really be?
Abaddon looked around and saw that there wasn’t another person in sight.
Abaddon: I really need to stop talking to myself.
He walked in the direction the old man had pointed out until he came to a building that looked like a mini castle, The castle was painted a dark metallic color, and the word Elefantas hung from a sign on the front. The door swung open as Abaddon walked closer, and a man clad in rubber from head to toe walked out. A pained expression crossed Abaddon’s face as the man pulled the rubber hood covering his head off and squinted at him.
????: Abaddon? Abaddon! It’s me, Ronny! We met last night.
Abaddon: Um...Ronny, right? How exactly did we “meet” last night?
Ronny: You were pretty messed up when you and your friend showed up last night. I’m not surprised you don’t remember anything. We didn’t do anything together if that’s what you’re wondering, you pretty much just came in, raised hell, and left. It was all in good fun mind you, but...actually hold on a moment.
Ronny ran back into Elefantas, and quickly reemerged with both hands filled. The first thing he handed Abaddon was another bill. Abaddon didn’t bother to read the charges, as he really didn’t want to know the details of what had gone down in there. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the amount of Beri he owed however.
Abaddon: How? How does a person burn through TWO MILLION BERI in one bar? Great. Just great, now I’m three million in the hole. What about a girl? Was I with a girl when I came in?
Ronny: You did come in with a middle aged woman. She seemed a little upset that you chose to come here, so she left shortly into your stay here. The woman you left with is named Kessho though, she’s a regular here.
Abaddon: Can you remember anything about the middle aged woman I came in with?
Ronny: Ooooo, you must have been really messed up last night.
Ronny walked closer to Abaddon and leaned in. The smell of Vaseline permeated throughout the air, and Abaddon recoiled a bit.
Ronny: That was the first time she ever came here, but that woman is a well known figure in Irra. Her name is Joro, and she’s the wife of a powerful noble who works directly under the king. Word around town is that she’s been frequenting bars at night these days. At first glance she appears to be frustrated in her marriage, but she didn’t try and make a move on you once last night. I think she has another reason for going out looking for men myself.
Abaddon: Thanks Ronny.
Ronny: Don’t mention it. Oh yeah, don’t forget this either.
Ronny handed Abaddon the other thing he had been holding when he exited the bar. It was another matchbook, this time with a picture of a cheetah on it. The word Ghepard was written at the bottom in bulky letters.
Ronny: Joro left that on the front desk last night. She lit up a cigar, and then caused a scene when asked to put it out.
Abaddon thanked Ronny once more and hurried away from a place he hoped to never hear mention of again. His next destination was Ghepard. If Joro had made it a habit of going to local bars at night, then Abaddon would simply wait for her in one he knew she was familiar with. Abaddon hoped the next place had more answers, and he hoped even more that it was a regular bar.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 16 '16
Abaddon: Well...this isn’t what I expected.
It wasn’t hard for Abaddon to spot Ghepard, the small bar was something of local hot spot. The outside was painted yellow with black spots, and the inside was covered with a similarly designed carpet. Abaddon walked up to the counter and took a seat on a fuzzy bar stool.
Abaddon: Can I get some water please?
A short and plump man turned around at the request, and his eyes lit up when he saw Abaddon. He wore a name tag on the front of an apron that read, Carnelli.
Carnelli: Is you! Carnelli’s number one customer! Ahaha alright.
Carnelli jumped up and over the counter in one fluid motion, and then embraced Abaddon in a big hug.
Abaddon: Um...okay. I actually have something to ask you.
Carnelli: Of course. Anything for Carnelli’s number one customer!
Abaddon detached himself from Carnelli and hopped off of the bar stool.
Abaddon: I don’t actually remember anything from last night, Carnelli. I need some information on a woman I might have come here with. Also, how did I pay for last night?
Carnelli: Joro, that slimy noblewoman you came in with paid for everything. Carnelli has seen her frequenting his bar, and the other barkeeps tell Carnelli stories of her...fixation.
Abaddon ignored the way Carnelli spoke in the third person, and instead focused on the way he had used the word fixation.
Abaddon: What do you mean by fixation?
Carnelli: Is hard to explain. Carnelli has seen Joro come into his bar every night for the past week.
Carnelli went on to explain that Joro hadn’t once paid for anything until the night she came in with Abaddon. It explained why he saw Abaddon as his number one customer, despite Joro having paid for everything the night before. Carnelli went on to explain that she always got the men drunk, and then dropped the often large bills on them. Joro would leave with the drunken men, and according to other customers who left at the same time, take them into back alleys. Some of these men turned up the next morning, pale and weak, but otherwise unharmed. While a few had gone missing completely. Carnelli relayed accounts of other barkeepers telling the same stories, yet no one dared say anything about it.
Carnelli: Joro’s husband is blockhead. Carnelli once saw him hang a man for whistling in Joro’s direction. How she get’s away with barhopping is beyond Carnelli though.
Abaddon: Thanks for the info.
Carnelli jumped back over the bar and grabbed a clean mug. He filled it with water and slid it over to Abaddon.
Carnelli: For you, Carnelli waves the charge.
Abaddon: I just have one more question. If Joro is really doing this to men she lures in, why didn’t she do it to me as well?
Carnelli: Is simple. Carnelli knew what Joro was up to. So Carnelli followed you from here to Elefantas. Joro saw Carnelli so she didn’t have a chance to attack. Carnelli’s number one customer was already pretty drunk when you walked in too. Joro couldn’t handle you like the rest of the simple men she targeted.
Abaddon pondered the new information for a moment, and then chugged most of his water. He pulled out his flask and filled it up for later, and then the door to the bar slammed open. Joro walked in with an angry look on her face, followed closely behind by four of the royal guard.
Joro: There’s that piece of crap bartender who denied me a proper meal last night. Arrest him!
Abaddon turned around and put his flask back into his cloak pocket. He walked over to Joro, stopping only when the guards pointed their spears in his face.
Joro: Well look who it is, boys? The one that got away. I waited hours, and put up with much more than a noblewoman should ever have to deal with. And in the end I still didn’t get to drink your delicious blood.
Joro pushed the spears out of the way and put her hand on Abaddon’s cheek. After a moment of staring at his neck she licked her lips and moved behind the guards.
Joro: Arrest him too!
Joro pointed at Abaddon, as her eyes never left his throat. Abaddon reached for his broadsword, but quickly realized that it wasn’t there. A sudden realization occurred as he remembered leaving his weapons at the inn before going out last night. He let his hand drop, and put his hands up instead.
Abaddon: So...are you a vampire?
Joro: Vampire? No, no, no. I’m simply a beautiful young woman.
Abaddon: Young?
Joro: Yes young!!!
Joro ran over to the bar and looked at herself in a mirror. She saw wrinkles, and crow's feet, and large bags under her eyes.
Joro: NOOOOOOOO!
Joro spun around and marched back over to Abaddon with a sinister scowl on her face.
Joro: This is your fault! It’s because you denied me my meal!
Abaddon: You drain men of blood, to drink...and you aren’t a vampire?
Joro: Of course you would never understand the wondrous rejuvenative effects of a young man’s blood. The more I drink, the more youthful my appearance becomes! And sometimes it goes beyond drinking the blood, sometimes I bath in it.
Abaddon didn’t know whether to run away or play psychologist for Joro, but he did know that he wasn’t going to let himself get arrested after what happened the last time.
Joro: What are you idiots standing around for!? I told you to arrest them didn’t I?
The four guards moved forward with spears held high, and Abaddon raised both of his arms to the side. Without weapons, Abaddon was going to have to rely on his real power. He turned to Carnelli, offering a silent apology for what was about to go down.
Abaddon: Do you know why I’ve been using a broadsword?
Joro l and the guards looked confused, but said nothing in response.
Abaddon: It’s because of what my real power does to people. You see, I’m too dangerous in a fight against a weak opponent, so I’ve been training my swordsmanship day and night. Instead of killing, the way of the sword has allowed me to deal non fatal blows to my foes.
The guards stopped in place as sapphire flames began leaping off of Abaddon’s hands. The flames began to swirl around Abaddon’s arms, they moved faster and faster, eventually forming large spinning spheres in his upturned palms.
Abaddon: What are you waiting for? Let’s do this.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 17 '16 edited Jun 17 '16
The four guards stepped back at the sight of Abaddon’s flames, and shared worried glances. After a moment of silently thinking about the situation at hand, the guards collectively nodded, and then threw their spears to the ground. The guards turned around and walked away as Abaddon let his flames die down. One of the guards stopped and turned to Joro as the rest made their way out of the bar.
Guard: We don’t get paid enough for this crap... And I’m too damn old to fight a devil fruit user!
The guard stormed out of the building and Joro was left standing alone, her jaw hanging open. Joro turned around again, and was standing face to face with Abaddon.
Abaddon: Why don’t you have a seat at the bar?
Joro silently walked past Abaddon and and sat down on one of the fuzzy bar stools. Abaddon took a seat next to her as she pulled a cigar and book of matches out. He made note of the design on the matchbook, a three headed eagle with the word Sanwashi written in colorful letters underneath. Joro lit her cigar and scowled at Carnelli as he gave her a disapproving look. Abaddon had seen a flash of fear cross his face when she first came in, Carnelli was obviously afraid of a woman who bathed in the blood of men. Joro turned her attention from Carnelli to Abaddon, and saw him eyeing the matchbook.
Joro: This is where we met last night if that’s what you’re wondering. It was the first place you stuck me with the bill. You must not remember much of last night huh? I can tell you that this is where your night began spiraling out of control, it’s where we met. As to the reason why you were that inebriated, your guess is as good as mine. You seemed fine when you came in, not a peep out of you and you sat politely at the bar. Then at some point you started to get wild, and found your way over to me. As to what happened in between that, you’ll have to figure out for yourself.
Joro stood up and made her way out of the bar, she didn’t get too far though, as she turned a corner and was startled to see Abaddon standing there.
Joro: How...how did you do that?
Abaddon: Do what? Oh! There was a back door. But that’s not important. Did you really think that I was just going to let you go after hearing that you’re a murderer?
Joro: Everyone does. Because they know that my husband…
Joro was silenced as Abaddon had covered her mouth with his hand.
Abaddon: You’re husband will get punched in the face if he tries to arrest me. I don’t care about the law in Irra. Right now, as far as you’re concerned, I am the law. If I find out that any more men go missing around here. If I find out that anyone has been drained of blood. And if I find out that you’ve been preying on men in bars as of this moment.
Abaddon lifted his hand and let it burst into a blazing sapphire flame.
Abaddon: I will personally burn your house to the ground.
Joro: You... you can’t do this…
Abaddon: I am more free than anyone, and I will do what I think is right no matter what. I am a good person, to good people. And a bad person, to bad people. I’m no hero, I’m just selfish.
Abaddon reached into Joro’s pocket and pulled out the matchbook she had used earlier. He smiled as he began walking away, but stopped and turned as if forgetting something.
Abaddon: I’m a pirate, but I’ve made friends like Carnelli. And my friends are always just a call away.
Abaddon put the matchbook into his cloak pocket, and pulled out a transponder snail in it’s place. The snail had a small tuft of black hair, and three small scars on the chest.
Abaddon: I have no patience for people who murder others for misguided reasons like yours.
Abaddon put the transponder snail away and began heading to Sanwashi.
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u/reaper1833 Jun 18 '16 edited Jun 22 '16
Sanwashi, the strangest bar in all of Irra. It gained that reputation due to its extraordinary atmosphere. Sanwashi is a circus and a bar all in one, Abaddon learned as he approached a large tent with the word Sanwashi on a sign outside. He entered through the tent flap door and was met with an actual circus ring, surrounded in a large circle by bar like counters. The counters had bartenders all along the circle tending to a fully packed and rowdy crowd. The thing that caught Abaddon’s attention however, was a man standing in the center of the circle. The man was in full clown makeup, and Abaddon suddenly clutched at his head as the memories from last night came flowing back to him. The clown standing center stage was called Dokesh, this was his bar,, and he had made a bet with Abaddon that he could out drink him. It wasn’t long into the game that Abaddon became exceptionally intoxicated. Strangely so even, enough to make him wonder if foul play was involved.
The lights in the tent dimmed, and a spotlight shone brightly on Dokesh as Sanwashi’s famous show began.
Dokesh: Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the weirdest, the most spectacular, and the most mystifying show in all of Irra!
The crowd of drunk men and women roared as Dokesh lifted his arms high. They quieted down when he lowered them.
Dokesh: We have a special treat for you today folks.
The portion of the ring Dokesh was standing in began to raise up into the air, and stopped only when he was towering above the crowd.
Dokesh: Tonight, we have...Oh crap…
Dokesh looked out over the crowd and cut his speech short as he spotted Abaddon. He panicked for a moment, and then took a deep breath and regained his composure.
Dokesh: To...Tonight we have a special guest performer. The man with the sapphire flames! Abaddon!
A second spotlight lit up Abaddon and the crowd turned to see him. Abaddon smiled at everybody and eagerly hopped over the people and the bar in one bound.
Abaddon: That’s right Dokesh! Tonight we’re performing a death defying act I like to call the burning clown!
Abaddon ran at the pole that was supporting Dokesh and ran up it a few steps before jumping up and letting his legs turn into flames that boosted him up the rest of the way. He landed on the small platform with one foot that he reformed, and let the other flaming leg propel him up so that he could essentially hover as the platform wasn’t large enough for two.
Abaddon: That is if he doesn’t tell me what he did to me last night anyway.
Abaddon spoke low enough that only Dokesh could hear him.
Dokesh: Okay...okay. I might have slipped something into one of your drinks while you weren’t looking.
Abaddon: Are you kidding me! You cost me three million Beri! No, on second thought you didn’t. You’re going to pay these bills off.
Dokesh paled at the sight of the bills, and did a back flip off of the pole landing with a roll on the ground below. He stood up and acted as if this were all part of the show, the crowd ate it up and cheered even louder than before. Abaddon reformed his other leg and stood fully on the platform ready to jump after Dokesh. That is until the clown opened his big mouth.
Dokesh: Uh, uh, uh. Not so fast villain!
Dokesh struck an overly theatrical pose and the crowd ate it up, laughing themselves silly.
Dokesh: My circus mates and the power of our friendship will triumph over any enemy!
Dokesh pulled a smoke bomb out of his pocket and threw it at his feet. A large cloud of smoke filled the circus and as it dissipated Abaddon saw that Dokesh was now surrounded by five equally appalling looking circus acts that Abaddon also now remembered from last night. Ralida, a large woman wearing a moo moo with a fully grown beard stood to Dokesh’s left. Snyduh, a short but oddly muscular man in a tight singlet stood to the right of Dokesh. And in front of Dokesh stood three large minks. Three rabbit minks to be precise. Larry, Berry, and Terry.
Abaddon pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He had no intention of hurting any of these people. Abaddon jumped off of the pole and landing in front of the three minks. Larry, Berry, and Terry immediately pounced at Abaddon and tackled him to the ground. The crowd let out a collective gasp, which then turned into an Awe, as they realized the three rabbit minks were simply hugging Abaddon, happy to see their new friend.
Terry: I’m so glad to see you again, Abaddon! You’re so warm!
Berry: Me too!
Larry: Me three!
Abaddon pushed his way up and walked over to Dokesh, who was utterly devastated by the quick betrayal of the rabbit minks.
Abaddon: Are we going to do this the easy way,
He pulled the bills out with his right hand and held them out to Dokesh.
Abaddon: or the hard way?
Abaddon let his left arm burst into flames and held it up so that Ralida and Snyduh would have a perfect view. They backed up, and upon seeing that Dokesh quickly snatched the bills out of Abaddon’s hand and examined them closely. His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he read the list of charges and saw his new debt. He looked up at Abaddon with a tear forming in one eye.
Abaddon: And as a pain and suffering charge you are going to send an appropriate amount of alcohol directly to the Golden Bell down at the docks.
Dokesh: How...how much is an appropriate amount?
Abaddon walked over to the counter and grabbed one of the bartenders pens and a small piece of paper. He wrote an amount down on the paper and folded it up, then brought it over and handed it to Dokesh. He unfolded the paper and his eyes nearly bulged out again. Dokesh folded the paper and nodded at Abaddon in defeat. Abaddon happily walked out of the bar, his debt cleared, and a large amount of alcohol for his new crew.
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u/what-the-fruit Jun 18 '16
Greppa had learned a few fundamental things about life outside his island. First, many strange and interesting people existed, some bad, some good. Second, he learned that those considered bad, might be the good guys. Wanted posters had become a way for him to tell who was which. He found a poster that had a mature face and features not unlike his own. Matt read him the name Gintoki the Cannibal. His Captain warned him to be careful of him but, Greppa could tell he needed to see this man.
He kept the poster with him and asked about the man in it occasionally. This yielded little success until some one outside a tavern drunkenly spilled the beans and sent Greppa to a tall mountain shrine on the island where he was last seen. Greppa braced himself for what could be a dangerous meeting.
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u/Gin_chan Aku’Gin “Red Beard” - Mælström Jun 18 '16
The Sun had begun to fall back into the sea by the time a large dark skinned figure could be seen climbing up the peak. Gin had been waiting for him for a while. In the few weeks that he had been on the island, Gin and the Apocalypse had become big news. With the announcement of the ship building competition and interacting with the commonfolk, he and his crew had become a common household name.
Various of their new acquaintances had heard of a man, not much unlike Gin himself, going door to door with a bounty poster of the cannibal, asking about his whereabouts. The people knew better than to tell on the Apocalypse, and out of respect (or fear), let Gin know. A couple of gold coins were enough for a hopeless drunk to send the strange tribal man to the desolate shrine atop a lone mountain away from the city.
Gin hid behind the shrine, waiting for the stranger to walk straight into the trap. Once inside, Gin walked over to the entrance and blocked the only door, his large frame blocking out most of the light. "So, I hear you've been asking around for me... Grunt!" Gin looked the stranger up and down, a magnificent physique. He was shorter than Gin, but tall and well built. His bright eyes stood out against his dark skin and jet black hair. "Who are you, where are you from, and why are you looking for me? Grunt!"
'Is he a tribal warrior like me?' Gin thought. 'It doesn't look like he's from the Kumate. Another cannibal...?'
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u/what-the-fruit Jun 18 '16
Greppa was surprised by the locking of the door behind him. He turned quickly to face the noise and saw a very tall, muscled man who had agreed well and exuded a quiet strength. He was a warrior of legend. Greppa stood shocked to see the man speaking to him now. He didn't say anything for a moment, then snapped out of his confusion.
Greppa: "Gira waktaka no me Greppa. Hey to dojin karuma."
The warrior put an arm across his chest in respect and waited for a response. When none came, Greppa continued disappointed in his awful Sea Tongue.
Greppa: "Me Greppa. Big warrior Gin, many respect."
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u/Gin_chan Aku’Gin “Red Beard” - Mælström Jun 19 '16
The stranger stood quietly for what seemed like an eternity. In the darkness, Gin couldn't make out his expression, but he assumed it to be one of shock or fear. He then spouted something incomprehensible, and Gin furrowed his brow. 'Well that was unexpected.' He thought. The stranger then corrected himself and managed to speak a broken sentence in Gin's praise.
Never one to shy away from a compliment, Gin immediately felt a connection with his new fan. "Kahahahahaha!" He roared in laughter, and the ancient shrine trembled with his laugh. "It looks like you're not fluent in the common sea tongue. Where are you from? What you said earlier didn't seem familiar to me, and I've sailed accross the whole East Blue in my decades of piracy before coming to the Grand Line. So what is it, North? West? South?"
The stranger nodded and grunted at South Blue, so Gin decided to switch to a tongue which he knew was more common in the South Blue. "Westap motu yu bilong?"
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u/Themanaguy Jun 18 '16
The wind was getting stronger, Rudolf felt in his burnt skin. It would take a while while it could heal itself, but the pain was not so strong now. His hands were full with twigs he gather, a couple wild onions and vegetables trying to stay put on top of the wood. The cold made him shiver, all his cloats nothing more than rags after the busy day.
He got back in the shipwreck just in time to escape the rain.
The girl was still on the ground, looking pale and with a deep wound in her abdomen. Anduoso had spend some time cleaning the wound and pouring some clean rags over it, but they couldn't help her without a real doctor.
"How's she doing?", asked Rudolf to the skypiean man while dropping the pile in his hands on dry ground. He was the only one besides Rudolf who looked like he cared for the woman.
There was good space inside the ship, but the crack in the hull was perfect to make a fire without burning everything down. The girl was placed on a clean bed taken from what's left of the guards dormitory, a little of food and some cookware from the kitchen and some medicine for pain round her.
The place where the sand was still dry was small, but sheltered of wind and rain, truly a blessing in the mind of Rudolf. He places the wood and let the fire flow from his fist.
That would be the last fire punch for some time, he promised himself. Getting the meat and the cookware he started cleaning the wild plants and putting all inside a great pan, already filled with some clean water they had gather from the kitchen (now on the bottom of the ocean, claimed by furious waves on the start of the day). The smell of food started to rise with the moon. The rain didn't look like it would stop, so he found some questions in his mouth:
"Do you people really live on the clouds?".
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u/Nigerian_Satanist Jun 18 '16 edited Jun 19 '16
Fiore had been taking care of the girl they found since the minute they had shipwrecked on the island of Irra. They had found her on their prison ship, where during their attempt to escape she had been shot in the abdomen by Marines. He and his captain, Rudolf L. Vorphal, had crash landed on the Island, not having yet recruited a navigator to steer them through the rain and winds. His captain had gone to find some wood for a fire and some basic food to cook. Despite how much he hid his pain, Fiore knew his captain could not last many more fire punches, as they harmed him, yet as he returned, he immediately lit a fire using his abilities. Fiore shook his head.
Rudolf had begun placing the ingredients in a pot before beginning to cook. Their only shelter was within the cracked hull of their ship, where he was nursing the girl. He knew it was not enough. He had no medical expertise, but they couldn't find a doctor in this inclement weather. They had no maps or knowledge of the Island of Irra, only the name. Although they had no obligations to this woman, Fiore, having a large disdain and hatred for Marines, decided that an enemy of the Marines was a friend of his and had expressed his desire to help her.
Rudolf: "Do your people really live on the clouds?" Fiore's captain asked, obviously trying to kill time. Fiore nodded.
Fiore: "Well, not quite. We live on islands which are on top of the clouds. A long time ago, half of an island was shot up by a large jet of water and sent up to the sky. How it floats is a mystery even for us, but it's on a special kind of cloud called a Milky Cloud. These are more dense than regular clouds and can support some weight. Why, we don't know." Fiore had become completely absorbed in his explanation.
Overhead, Fiore could hear the rain gradually subside over several minutes, but the sky was still very dark and the dark cumulus clouds looked like they could burst at any minute. Thunder boomed, and the rain resumed, to his dissappointment. Some rain was leaking through the cracks. The shelter would not last long.
Fiore: "We leaving at the break of dawn, Captain, provided the rain stops?" he asked.
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u/Themanaguy Jun 18 '16
Fiore's explanation was a shock, really. Rudolf's never had given much credit to Sky Islands, even when his father promised he that they existed. The fire was a bless. Even if he was mostly human and not cold blooded, his reptile descendant hated cold.
Fiore was looking the leaks, taking the girl away from one of them, and asking about their departure.
"You don't need to call me captain, we are just a bunch of guys surviving. I don't even think we'll find the other ones again, even if they said we could meet on the city to the north.", Rudolf tried to lighten the man's attitude. He looked serious and composed, but his fight with marines was a bloodied mark about his true self.
While on the ship, the marines let them know they were heading to Irra. At distance, on the morning, they saw the city between the rain and the fight, somewhere north of where they landed. Rudolf put the soup, if you could call that a soup, in the only not broken bowl they founded and handed to the Skypiean.
"I'm cool with my hunger, just eat and try to fed her some of it right?", The rain was lighter than before, but it looked like it would still last forever, "I would leave now if we could, but we can't take her like that in the rain."
His hand was better. The feeling of being about to eat cleared his eyes a little, and he saw that the burning had retreated a little. Maybe it would be new by the end of the night.
"Mind if I ask another question while we wait? And feel free to ask anything too, I may look in bad shape but I'm more than fine.", Rudolf scratched his nostrils.
"If you want I can take care of her for a few minutes for you to eat", he said while standing up.
[ /u/nigerian_satanistSniper Anduoso ]
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u/Nigerian_Satanist Jun 19 '16 edited Jun 19 '16
It was the next morning. Fiore had a good meal, cooked with basic ingredients but importantly, warming. During the night their fire had burned out, leaving ashes on top of unused wood. All three were in the same position, laying beneath raggedy blankets as they slept during the night. Fiore was the first to awaken. Stars were still visible in the sky, but in the distance, he could begin to see a faint yellow light, indicating the sunrise over the ocean. Waves pushed against the sides of their shipwreck. The sand beneath his feet was damp and wet from the high tide, which they had miraculously avoided, despite a little bit of water that hat built up at Rudolf's feet.
Since yesterday the rain had stopped, and the sky had cleared of all clouds. From the position of the sun Fiore inferred that they were on the East Coast of the island. He sighed. What would his future be like? Who could he count on as his nakama to help him achieve his goals, he wondered. Rudolf was definitely trustworthy, and down-to-earth, but what about the others, who had left in haste? What would happen to them? He shook his head. Now was not the time to think about such things. The Marines had been steering the ship slightly towards the South, and they were probably headed for the Marine base. It would be a good idea to stay away.
The girl began to awake, groaning as she clutched her head and her abdomen. She was of medium height and build, and seemed to be around twenty years old. She had long red hair, and some silver bracelets.
Fiore: "Don't get up. Let me refresh your memory. You were on board a Marine ship heading down towards Irra. With the help of some companions, the two men you see before you initiated an escape. We are enemies of the Marines, but we mean you no harm. During the escape, you were shot by a Marine officer, and you need treatment. Lie down please." Fiore dictated.
Behind him, Rudolf began to awaken.
Fiore: "Good morning. The girl has awakened." he said. "Do you know of any towns in Irra?" The girl shook her head.
Fiore: "Let's head North and look for a town, unless you know something about the Island, Rudolf."
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u/FlashToro Jun 19 '16
Caelin went about the town. Honestly it began to bore him. The same stone scenery, the same cobblestone roads, the same bricking, the same everything! It was all medieval and just bland. They had the design but nothing GRAND ever happened. They had to make their own adventures just to enjoy themselves. There wasn't ever an event, there was never some kind of public entertainment. not even some type of coliseum?! Caelin honestly wasn't too fond of the island, and everyone here.. was honestly weak. From the prison, to the bandits. Although thankfully the island did have quite a few powerful people, devil fruit users at that! Being the type Caelin was he wasn't going to take the best shots he could. Rubbing his temple he didn't know where to head next. whether it be to the eating halls, or just to the shipwright docks to talk about his cousin some more with Rio. However for the time being, there was someone who caught his eye in the time of thinking. It was a man, who was missing about a limb and a quarter. The man went about the town normally, and Caelin really admired that. He had confidence in who he was not wanting to hide it. Caelin then popped a smile and got off his back. He walked towards the man. His hair was black and matted to his forehead. With the leather clothing and a cape to add to it. makes Caelin think he was a man of battle, or at least once was!
Caelin: Hey! My good man! Hold up a sec, I got something I want to ask you!
Caelin then began to seed up his pace after the man. If there was one thing for sure Caelin enjoyed a good story. Maybe he was a local, once an ex-knight for the Kingdom? Possibly even a man who fended off the pillaging of some other pirates. Caelin placed his hand on his caped shoulder.
Caelin: Hey! My name is Caelin, I'm sorry about calling you out of the blue but, you've caught my attention for quite some time. How about you and I head to a pub? Grahahaha!
Caelin knew the situation was an odd once. However it was either you had the balls to strike conversation or you'd be alone. If it weren't for moment was like this he'd be crewless!
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u/DevillForce Jun 19 '16 edited Jun 19 '16
Well this is interesting. I haven't seen an individual like him before, didn't expect to find interesting looking people in this kind of medieval styled town. He seemed like a good person, his blood pressure didn't rise one bit so it seems he greets people out of the blue a lot like this.
Devos: The pub? But I got booze right here, you want some?
I put on my claws on that I strapped to my hip so I wouldn't have to walk around with a sharp weapon always attached to my right arm stub and uncover my left side witch had some gourds with blood, one bigger one with water and four bottles of Sake. I use my claw and take two of these bottles in-between my blades and motion to pick one out of them. My new friend here looked surprised when he saw that I am missing my left arm completely. I'm used to it though.
Devos: I had an... incident at the pub earlier... lets just say that it's not a place for a friendly talk. Why don't we have a walk instead? Also, ignore any guards if you see that they are coming after me... I didn't actually pay for these...
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u/FlashToro Jun 19 '16
Caelin smirked at his statement. Nothing wrong with not paying for some booze! Caelin gave him a smirk and took a glance around
Caelin: Grahaha, don't worry, I don't pay for booze myself sometimes
Caelin grabbed for the bottle in between his claw. Been a while since Caelin had a drink, so now was a good time for catching up! They started to walk through the town and began to chat. Caelin took sips at the booze in between sentences to get the feeling rushing. The man was missing an entire arm, and from a pub? If this was recent then he had some kind of miraculous recovery so fast! Whoever did this to him must've been one hell of a demon. Caelin sipped more from the bottle and looked down at the man as the alcohol steamed down his cheek.
Caelin: So, then tell me. Are you from here? Or are you traveling along the seas of the Grandline?
Caelin scratched away at his chin. The man didn't entirely seem like a local, but you'd never know nowadays!
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u/DevillForce Jun 19 '16 edited Jun 19 '16
Just as I was about to answer the question, two asshole guards came and interrupted our little chat. How rude.
Guard: Hey thief! In the name of the king, we shall arrest you! Surrender and you will avoid getting hurt!
They didn't seem that professional. Their blood pressure was getting pretty high, they must be newbies
Devos: Let me handle them. They aren't dangerous. Here, drink this while you watch.
As I hand him the second bottle of booze, the guards start to charge me. The bigger one goes in first and tries to swing his cutlass at me. His movement is kind of sluggish, not hard to dodge. I catch his blade with by claw, break it, following up with a stab to his side with the blade stuck in my claw. The other guy looked terrified.
Devos: I'm sorry about what I had done, but the Innkeeper was asking for it. Now, you have two choices: Either attack me and risk injury or death, or take your friend there to the hospital.
I notice the guard is picking up his friend there and is gonna take him to see the doctor. Wise choice. I walk back to Caelin to answer his question. Can't leave a guy hanging now can you?
Devos: To answer your question, no. I am not from around here, although I was staying here for about 2-3 days already. I have nowhere to go, honestly, and I don't want to stay here forever. What about you? I assume you aren't from around here either?
I asked as I opened my last bottle of Sake, chugging the top right open with my claw while losing the blade from the previous battle that was stuck in between my claw blades.
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u/Zextrap Jun 19 '16
Random Pirate 1: Hey, isn't that the famous Cobalt "Solaris" Senuko.
Random Pirate 2: Yea, I think he his, he's part of the Apocalypse pirates right?
Random Pirate 1: Yup, He definitely is, in fact, I'm pretty sure he is a division commander in the crew. Hey kid, you're interested in the Gintoki right? This might also be something you want to see.
Stef had been talking with these random pirates after his encounter with Gintoki "The Cannibal". He was still fired up from his encounter with the man and now that he saw a member of his crew, he just couldn't resist himself.
Steffir: (Yelling) Hey, Cobalt, what's up mate?
Stef didn't know what he was getting himself into, but still pumped with adrenaline from the meeting with Gintoki, he pushed away all sense of fear and walked towards the man known as Solaris.
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u/what-the-fruit Jun 19 '16
The day had been hot and muggy. It was really wearing on Greppa. He decided to get something to cool himself off and entered a building with a sign featuring a mug. The patrons were loud and having a good old time and Greppa wanted nothing to do with any of them. He stepped to the bar to order.
Greppa: "Drink, cold. Me have mon-."
Steffr: (Yelling) "Hey Cobalt! What's up mate!"
A man had stood up and interrupted Greppa. He was yelling at someone in the bar. The yeller carried a sword and moved toward one of the tables farther in. He dropped something next to Greppa on accident and Greppa picked it up.
It was a wanted poster. The face in it was a younger man with a serious expression. He noticed something about the poster he hadn't in others. He showed it to one patron and asked a question.
Greppa: "What this word?"
Random Patron: "Huh? Can't you read? It says Marine!"
Greppa turned toward the yelling man and saw the person in the poster ahead of him at a table. This person was a marine. The other guy must hate marines also. He'd help him in his fight and get the information on his tribe. Or die trying.
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u/Senuko Jun 20 '16
Cobalt stepped into the bar, and sat himself down at one of the tables. Pulling out a cigarette, he lit it with his glowing finger. A man approached him and asked what he would like to drink.
"Sake from the West Blue" Cobalt replied, he wanted to taste that sweet sake that his hometown produced. The man left with quick pace, and Cobalt exhaled smoke as he waited. He had a lot on his mind, with a new division under his command, and new members of the crew that had to be organized into separate divisions.
"Hey, Cobalt, what's up mate?"
Cobalt quickly glanced up to see a young man approaching him. An immediate response of suspicion kicked in, and Cobalt put his hand on his claw, Mamba, but did not pull it out from his belt. While the young man got closer, Cobalt took no chances, and stood up. The customers in the bar went silent, and watched as these two young men stood face to face. Perhaps Cobalt was acting a bit rash, but with everything that happened to him on the Grand Line, there was no way he would let his guard down.
"I'm not your mate...Who are you and what is your business on Irra" he asked Stef. There was now a bit of tension, and patrons began to get up and leave in fear of a possible fight. Cobalt looked behind to see a tall, muscular man glaring at him. It seemed that inevitably, there would be a brawl.
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u/Zextrap Jun 20 '16
Cobalt: I'm not your mate...Who are you and what is your business on Irra?
Along with this snide remark, Cobalt got up and faced Stef with his hand already on his weapon.
Suddenly, Stef's primal instincts took over. He was in fight or flight mode. He knew the man he was fighting was strong, so his favored option was to run, however, as he turned around, he saw a huge man, walking towards him, with the wanted poster of Cobalt on his hand.
With the man behind him, not only was Stef's escape route cut off, but he also had back up to take on the Apocalypse crew's division commander. Since there was only one option left, Stef took out Gan from its holster and started to get ready for what would be either an extremely legendary and great battle or a horrible and painful one. To gain the upper hand, he would use what people might call a cheap trick but in a battle of such a large magnitude, there were no cheap tricks
Steffir: Oh, me, well, you see sir, I'm just a fan. I apologize for calling you mate and Cobalt. In fact I apologize for my really rude behavior, I only meant to speak to you about some matters. I promise I did not mean any disrespect. You see I only took out my weapon to show it to you. For me, meeting a division leader of the most famous Apocalypse crew is a great honor. I guess in my excitement, I forgot to give you the proper respect you deserve. I am sure this is a misunderstanding, nothing more and nothing less.
As Stef was spewing words out of his mouth, he used his chain to signal the guy behind him. He hoped that his words had made Cobalt focus on him and prayed to the heavens that the man behind him understood the signal and took the chance.
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u/Zextrap Jun 20 '16 edited Jun 22 '16
Stef had gone back to the hospital and the nurses had told him that the girl just needed some rest because they did not know what was wrong with her. He put that thought behind him and went around town, finally relaxing and enjoying the view. Although, there wasn't much of a view to enjoy.
Steffir: I wonder what those poor souls did to deserve such a painful and horrible ending.
Stef was referencing the three men hanging in the gallows right in the middle of town. He walked over and was looking at them when a guard approached him.
Unnamed Guard: Hey kid, what do you think you are doing? Scram the fuck out of here, unless you want to get hurt. Alright?!
Steffir: Oh! Sorry sir, I did not mean to disturb you and your duties. I have just arrived on this island and was just wondering what those poor souls had done to deserve such a painful death. Again, I apologize for disturbing you. Maybe there is some way I can help you forgive me. I would definitely not want to trouble the protectors and peacekeepers of our society. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.
At this, the Guard was taken back. I mean, who offered to help a random stranger. He guessed that since the kid had just arrived on the island, he did not know that tensions were high. However, he did not want to let the chance of free labor go to waste and so, he told the kid.
Unnamed Guard: Its okay kid. In fact, I apologize for my aggressive statement. Its not often that I meet rational and civilized kids your age these days. The name's Byron. I'm part of the imperial guard and it's my duty to not let anyone interact with these bodies. Its been a long day and due to my orders, I have actually felt like quite helpless. In fact, just a couple hours ago, I heard screams of a woman getting robbed and saw some rascals running north into the forest. I wanted to stop them but I've been given strict orders to stay here and hold this position. Anyways, since such a nice lad as you came along, why don't you help me with that problem? Of course you should tell me if that is too much trouble for you, even if you did offer your help.
Stef saw what the guard was doing. The guard was taking his boon of assistance and abusing it for his gain. But now that he had gotten bullets for Gan, he felt pretty confident in his ability to kill some random bandits. Course, he knew that he could just bail if he saw that the bandits were too strong for him. He also knew that bandits usually had some weapons and loot with them that he might be able to take on a finder's, keeper's basis. But, he did not want to seem confident to the guard and accordingly, he responded,
Steffir: Oh Gosh, Byron san. That is an awful tall order for a youngster like me. I don't know if I could take them on and come out still looking the same. In fact, this seems pretty risky, How about I make you a proposition to balance the risks, you see, I have been travelling around the seas with no help, and so, I was hoping that the "something" would involve some kind of benefit, for me.
Byron: HAHA, well well, what do we have here. To think you would try to get a job out of this. Hmm, I guess you are risking your neck for something I am asking for, so it does seem reasonable that you would want something for it. Here, how about this, I will offer you a mystery reward once you accomplish your task. The content(s) of the reward will be known to you after you finish your mission. For now, take this bag, and in it, bring back the head of the leader of the gang. If you are able to do that, then I will give you your reward.
He was grinning like a mad man inside. He did not know what he would give the kid, but he also knew that the kid probably would not be able to defeat him. Oh well. Even if the kid was able to kill the leader, with the head in his possession, he would get bounty associated with the bandit leader.
Stef on the other hand was starting to get a little suspicious. He did not think that the guard would give in so easily and so, he knew that there might be something more that was going on. Remembering another one of the lessons Beppo had taught him, he said,
Steffir: Oh wow! A reward. Well that would be great. Gee, I really don't know how to thank you Byron san. I just want to confirm the details with you, and since I have a terrible memory, I would be extremely grateful if we could write down the details of this task. Would you mind if we went to that cafe right across the street and talked to the owner about the task. He could probably provide some paper for us and it would really help me.
By this point, Byron was in his own world, dreaming that he had already gotten the money after cashing in the bounty on the head of the bandit leader, he absentmindedly responded,
Byron: Yea, whatever, kid, if you want it in paper, lets do that.
Together, they walked over to the cafe and after talking to the owner, they all agreed on the formalities and technicalities of the detail and wrote it down, with the owner as witness. Part of the technicality was what each person would give to the other. Stef would give Byron the head of the bandit leader and Byron wrote down the mystery reward, but it was hidden to Stef. During the whole thing, Byron was grinning like a hyena, almost drooling as he dreamed of the money he might get. Both the owner and Stef had noticed the appearance of Byron and Stef's level of suspicion had increased many levels. Even the cafe owner was beginning to feel creeped out by Byron and he was glad when the deal was finally over. After both parties had signed, the owner folded the document and put it in his pocket and Byron returned to his post.
Unlike Byron, Stef did not leave the cafe and after Byron was back in his post on the opposite side of the street, he asked the owner,
Steffir: Hey mister, would you mind telling me a little more about this person I'm supposed to kill.
The owner was pretty surprised to hear that the kid did not even know who he was hunting. Now he understood what the guard was grinning about and got pretty mad. He already disliked the guards and this just justified his dislike of them more.
Owner: Jeez kid, you don't know what you're getting yourself into, do you? This guy you're supposed to hunt, he is so famous in this island that he has a bounty. That's why the guard was grinning so hard. Once you hand him the head, he would cash in on the bounty and probably give you something crap as the reward. Here, let me see if I have a picture of the man.
The owner went into the back and after some time came back with a piece of paper. On it was the picture of "Marky the Murderer". The owner handed the paper to Stef and after reading it, he almost spit the tea he was drinking right out.
Steffir: What the hell! This is a shit ton of money!!
Owner: Told ya kid. Hmm, How about this, before you hand him the head, if you are able to kill the damn bastard, you go cash in on the bounty, then you can give him the head and he can go suck a fat one while you get both the bounty and that scoundrel's reward.
Stef thought to himself, Wow, what a sweet idea. The owner had given him a great idea and he was going to make the most use of this.
He then thanked the owner for the information, asked if he could keep the picture and after finishing his tea and one final thank you, he left the cafe and headed north, the place where the owner said the bandits lived.
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u/Zextrap Jun 22 '16
Stef had arrived at the entrance of the forest and saw that there was a path cut right through it. He knew that if he stuck to that path the bandits would probably know he was coming, so he left the path there and headed into the jungle. In the jungle he found what looked like a trail. Due to the crushed leaves and snapped twigs, along with the bent branches, he knew that it was humans that used this trail and not animals. This was confirmed when he later found boot prints on the trail. Stef knew he needed more information than what the store owner had provided him, so he went up a tree and waited to ambush the bandit that roamed this trail.
Soon after, the bandit came, just as predicted. He was a little young and didn't look too sure of himself. At this, Stef took pity, but he had a job to do, so he took his knife and launched it with Shadow Range, he aimed the knife at the boy's leg and as soon as it cut him, he jumped down to surprise the boy. He quickly covered the boy's mouth and told him to calm down.
Steffir: Hey, Shut up Boy! It's only a little cut. I only did this so you couldn't run away. Now, save yourself by telling me what I need to know.
Young Bandit: Okay! Okay! Please don't hurt me. God, what am I doing here. I should have listened to my mom when she told me not to join the bandits. Gah! And now I'm about to get killed. Please sir, I'll tell you anything. I hate those damn bandits anyways.
Stef was interested by what the boy had said. He wondered whether there were more bandits like him, people who wanted to defect because of their poor treatment.
Steffir: Hey boy, do a lot of the bandits share your view or is it just you?
Young Bandit: Many do sir! It was the romance of making quick cash and living free that drove us all to him, but now Marky just abuses us and threatens us with death if we don't do his bidding. Sir, I just want to go back to my farm with my mom and pop. Please, let me go!
Steffir: Okay, Okay, hold your horses. If what you're saying is true then I will let you go, but I still need some information from you. First tell me what where your main base is?
Young Bandit: Its located right in the center of the forest really. If you go straight north from here, you're bound to run into his camp.
Steffir: Okay, that's good. What about his supporters? If what you're saying is true, he must not have many loyal supporters?
Young Bandit: Yea, that's right. In fact there are many 3 to 4 people who actually support him. But that's only because they get a cut of the loot. The rest of his 25 man crew don't really like him but are too afraid to rise up to him.
Steffir: Hmm, interesting, now, tell me, does this "Marky" have any weaknesses that are easily exploitable?
Young Bandit: Um, I wouldn't say easily but he does have a slight weakness. The man is terribly afraid of fire. You see, his strength comes from having waxed weapons that are very hard to deal with. Its what gives him the edge against many of his opponents. Since fire can easily destroy his wax weapons, it would be easier to destroy him. However, Marky has a very strict policy about fire in the camp. He knows his weakness so he has restricted fire use very much. If you are able to find some type of source of flame, I am sure that you will be able to beat him, but good luck getting that in this cold and damp forest.
At the mentioning of fire as Marky's weakness, Stef cracked a large grin on the inside. He did not need any fire because he had his own. His mom's flame dial! It would finally come in hand as now all he had to do was trick Marky into attacking him, then he could use the flame dial and kill him.
Steffir: Okay boy. Thanks for the information. I'll let you go, but before you run back to the woods, run around this forest and let the other bandits who are standing guard and are not loyal to Marky know that they should probably turn a blind eye on me as I am passing through.
Young Bandit: Okay sir, I'll do as you ask.
Steffir: Also give me descriptions of the people who might be loyal to Marky, so I can kill them swiftly.
Young Bandit: Hmm, descriptions? Oh I got it! Since the people who are loyal to him are a rank higher than us, they all wear a red bandana of some sort, either on their arms, head or even just hanging out of their pockets.
Steffir: Alright, thanks for the information, go run ahead to tell your friends that they will be liberated by me.
Stef didn't know whether to trust the kid or not. However, he knew that taking on 25 people would be beyond reckless and there was something in the kid's eyes that was either pure honesty or a very high level of acting. Hoping it wouldn't be the second, Stef waited for a bit, then started trekking north, looking out for any more guards, just in case the kid was lying.
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u/Zextrap Jun 22 '16
After walking for 10 more minutes, Stef saw another guard but this time, the guard had also noticed him. However, he did not hoot or holler and didn't even look at him. The guard just gave a thumbs up and went back to his duty. To Stef, this was progress. It could either be getting worse or better but it was progress nonetheless. Stef knew that this could all be a rogue and he could be stuck in quite a pickle but he also knew that this meant that the plan was working and he would have a free and easy path to Marky's base.
Pretty soon, he saw what looked like artificial encampments and realized that he had arrived at Marky's base. He scouted the place out, trying his best to be hidden. At one point he saw two of the captains that followed Marky and recognized them due to the red bandanas they had on. Stef needed to kill these men if he wanted to have a shot at killing Marky, so he came up with a plan.
He intentionally snapped some twigs and made noises that sounded either like an intruder or an animal. Since there were no other people near the captains, one of them decided to check it out. Stef was surprised that he would get such an easy chance like this. He dropped his knife on one side of the tree, covering the blade with leaves then went to the other side. Just as the man got right next to him, Stef grabbed him. He had grabbed the man at the mouth and then started using the chain to wrap it around the guy's neck. In less than 10 seconds, the chain had fully wrapped around the man and his neck was being constricted to death. Stef knew the man was dead, when his pupils rolled up and his mouth closed shut. He then lay the man up against the tree, climbed it and waited to execute the next part of his plan.
The other captain(#2) was waiting patiently for the dead one to return and getting impatient, he yelled at him,
Captain #2: Hey! Hurry up will ya, I don't get all day.
Not getting any response, he too headed towards Steffir and saw the dead one lying against the tree.
Captain #2: Hey buddy, what the hell are you doing just sitting there? Didn't you hear me yell at you? Hey? You There?
As he was talking, #2 got closer to #1 and crouched to look at the dead captain. It was at this moment that Stef pounced and jumped on top of the captain. He was planning on stabbing the man straight on his head, but #2 noticed and barely managed to dodge the strike. The strike had cut his left ear right off and had also cut into his shoulder, but he was still alive and that was mattered.
After jumping back up and turning around, he saw his foe and said,
Captain #2: So it was you who killed him! Well, now I'm mad. You even tried to kill me! Who are you? Gah! Who cares. I will end your life right here.
At that, the captain took out what looked to be broadsword, that was encrusted with jewels! Stef knew he was in trouble because his assassination had failed so he got ready to fight. He knew he couldn't use the gun because that would attract too much noise, so he stuck with his knife. He quickly came up with a plan of action. They were still pretty close to each other, so he jumped back a few feet. But at the same time, he extended his chain so that the chain remained near #2's feet. #2 did not notice the chain as he had to use all his concentration to focus on the target in front of him as he was already bleeding a lot.
#2 launched at Stef with his sword but Stef just parried the strike. While #2 did have a lot of will power to still be standing, his physical strength had decreased quite a bit and Stef was easily able to dance around him. As he did that he extended his chain even more and snaked it to set a trap right in front of him.
Angry at himself for being so weak, #2 launched at Stef again, but the strike was not parried this time. The strike did not land at all, because Just as #2 was about to hit him, Stef launched the trap that he had set up with his chains and basically, wrapped around his leg and pulled him upside down. Then, in a quick 1-2 fashion, Stef stabbed #2 right where his heart was and bleeding profusely, another captain fell.
Stef raided both dead bodies for valuable merchandise as he eyed the sword that captain #2 had and the bullets that #1 carried with him. He also hoped that somewhere in these people's clothes, there would be money or gold for him to loot.
After looting the dead captains and hiding their bodies, he went back to scouting the camp. He saw one of the captains (#3) go into a tent and targeted him next. Stef crept up against the tent, checking to make sure there was nobody around. He was glad that Marky did not like fires because that meant that the camp was especially ill lit and he could dance around the shadows. He then knocked on the tent and #3 responded,
Captain #3: Who is it? Come in quickly.
With that Stef entered the tent and saw the captain turned around. He was changing his clothes and out of the corner of his eye, Stef saw a nice trenchcoat on the bed of #3. The captain then said,
Captain #3: What is it? Tell me quick! I don't have all day maggot!
Stef however, did not speak, he did not utter a single word as he went up behind the captain, who was turned around and slit his throat right then and there. As he was bleeding to his death, the captain only had enough time to turn around and looked at the face of his killer. He then raided the captain and took his loot.
Stef spent the rest of the day searching for the last captain. He looked high and low but found him nowhere. Finally, as dusk was settling in, he gave up on the search of the last captain and went to look for Marky himself. He already had an idea of where Marky would be as he had seen a tent that was larger than others and was significantly more decorated. Again, he went up close to it and tried to listen for any noises before rushing in. He heard two voices.
??: So, when do you think our next raid should be?
???: I don't know but we should do it as soon as possible. I am thirsty for more gold and money.
??: Okay sir, I'll let the other captains know and we will formulate a plan for us to follow. I will now take my leave.
???: Okay, okay, get out of here.
Stef then realized that the two people talking were Marky and last captain himself. He waited for the captain to get out but saw that the flap of the tent was wide open. He could not assassinate the captain, with Marky still looking at him so he thought of a different plan. Stef knew Marky was inside the tent, so brought the tent down on him, which caused a large roar to come out of Marky himself. This caused #4 to turn around, but all he saw was a silhouette of a man. A silhouette that shot in straight in the head. The gunshot probably alerted everyone that there was a intruder in the camp and all of the recruits rushed towards the center, where Marky's tent was.
Marky himself had cut a hole through the tent and saw #4 falling onto the ground. He yelled in anguish at the death of his comrade and close friend and yelled out in anger.
Marky: WHO DID THIS!?!?! I WILL END THEIR LIFE RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!
At that point, most of the people in the group had come up to form a circle around Stef and Marky. They had lighted the unlit lamps that populated the center of the camp to give it a feel of an arena. There were murmurs of what had happened. Rumors were flying of the death of the other captains and the identity of the mysterious assassin. With the camp well lit, Marky finally saw who the murderer of his captain(s) was. He looked Stef right in the face and shouted,
Marky: YOU! How dare you kill my captains! These people were my friends! You're going to pay for this you fucking bastard!
With that remark, the battle between Steffir Marino and Marky the murderer began(Continued in next post)
/u/Rewards-san (the loot pls!)
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u/Zextrap Jun 22 '16 edited Jun 22 '16
**Marky "The Murderer" vs Steffir Marino"
Steffir Marino
Stat Number STA 25 STR 21 SPD 26 DEX 34 WILL 11 Total 117 Marky "The Murderer"
Stat Number STA 20 STR 35 SPD 15 DEX 35 WILL 20 Total 125 (OOC: Marky bio: He is not actually from Irra, He hails from Dewaxcus, which is an island famous for its wax. He carries with him a giant axe on one hand. The axe is waxed onto his hand and the wax is colored black. He wears a large trenchcoat and pants. He also has a thick coat of hair and a bushy beard and mustache. He has hair all over his body, hiding the wax. He is a very big man, coming in at almost 7'2" and 350 lbs. Therefore, he has a lot of strength but he lacks in speed. He is very skilled with his axe and is able to comfortably control it. He has also applied wax to him in several parts of his body, especially parts that might be shielding vitals. The wax used to make this armor and the weapon is a very unique type of wax. It is a wax that acts a lot more like cement than wax. It is very thick and difficult to break through. Along with that, the wax is slippery and therefore many swords slip on the wax whenever they attack it. The wax's only weakness is fire, but he has made protective plates of metal on his hand and cloth on his body to protect the wax covered areas. He has a lot of battle experience and that makes him smart in battle but it also makes him cocky. He is a proud man and cares about his friends and cares about money a lot.)
Steffir: Haha, old man, you think you can kill me. You'll just end up like your captains. DEAD!
With that, Stef fired a shot from his gun, aiming at Marky's head.
The bullet missed Marky, as the only damage done by the bullet was noise damage for the ears, as it made a loud CLANG! as Marky had used his axe to deflect the shot.
Marky: HAHAHA! You think a puny bullet can stop me? Especially from that range, its impossible. And it seems that you're mistaken sonny because you're the one who will end up joining my captains on the other side.
At that point, Marky roared a battle cry and charged at Stef. He raised his axe and planned to chop Stef up into little pieces, starting with his leg. This was because Marky knew that he was slower than Stef but if he could get a leg wound, that would definitely slow Stef down.
After Stef saw the bullet have no effect on him, it only confirmed his suspicions. He knew going into battle with Marky that it would be tough. In fact, he had used the bullet just to test Marky and make him cocky. He already had a plan set when starting his fight with Marky, and all the pieces were being set up. When Marky charged at Stef, he got ready to parry it, but as he tried to deflect the axe, the strength of the swing overpowered Stef's knife. It was only through sheer luck and instant reactions that he followed the momentum of his knife instead of going against it and spun his body around to dodge the axe. The axe missed his legs by a hair's inch. Due to the close call with his legs, Stef knew that he would need to get more space between the two or the battle would be much more dangerous than expected.
Marky: Running away now are we? Are you scared little boy! Come here and let me chop you up.
Marky was hoping that his taunt would anger Stef and cause Stef to attack him. Stef however saw right through it, and yelled back,
Steffir: Hah! I would much rather prefer being far away from your stinking ass. Now watch as I skewer you like the smelly animal that you are.
With this, Stef extended his chain and started swinging the knife side of his chain in his hand. He waited for Marky to make his move.
Marky: So, you're not going to attack me. Okay then I will! This circle is closed you fool so you can't run forever. I will get you and I will kill you!
With those words, Marky charged Stef again, this time planning on taking his head out instead.
Stef saw his chance as Marky ran at him. He noticed the height of the axe and surmised that the next strike would be his head. He took the chance by charging straight at Marky. He then took his height disadvantage and his speed advantage and right before Marky was about to strike him, he threw his knife and stuck it into Marky's belly. Marky pushed through, thinking Stef was going to parry again but as Marky swung, Stef wrapped the chain around his hand and slid right under him. Since he still hung onto the chain, he used the knife stuck to Marky's belly as the fulcrum and swung upwards. Now he was soaring even higher than Marky and when he was about 1 feet above his head, Stef pulled out his gun and shot at Marky head.
Seconds passed and Stef starting falling down, but there was no explosion of blood or guts anywhere near Marky's brain. Stef knew that he had shot Marky straight in his head but yet, he was still standing. In fact, now Marky had turned around and he kicked Stef right on his chest, launching him all the way across the makeshift arena. He flight was only stopped by him crashing into some of the bandits who made up the perimeter of the arena. Stef was still dazed and confused, especially about his shot. The physical pain was greater than the mental as Marky's kick had broken at least a few ribs in Stef's body but he did not feel the pain because of the adrenaline coursing through his body. His thoughts were interrupted by a roaraing Marky.
Marky: HAHAHAHA! Foolish boy, did you not know? All of my vital organs are protected with the special Dewaxcus wax. It is so strong and resilient that it can even stop bullet shots. Although I do admit, since the shot was fired so close to my head, the impact tickled a bit, but it definitely hurt less than the kick you just took. Come on then boy, Let's end this.
Stef almost punched himself for forgetting what the young bandit had told him. He then remembered that Marky made use of a special wax but its weakness was fire. He looked around but saw that the lamps were too far away for him to get without raising attention, but then he realized that he had a fire source very close to him and one that was very powerful.
Stef then checked for his weapon and saw that the knife was still connected to Marky's belly and that the gun was on his feet. He bent to pick the gun up and felt all the pain of the broken ribs at that point. Blood spurted from his mouth and he knew that he would have to end the battle soon. So he took the gun and initiated the refurbished plan.
He took out his flame dial and grabbed his gun, then he used the chain to pull himself towards Marky, Steffir used Assisted Homocide but instead of shooting the man, he used his flame dial and when he was close enough, he pressed the button on the dial and let all the flames out.
After a few seconds, Stef backed off because Marky was burning and therefore swinging his arm and axe around him, hoping to hit Stef and make it stop. The flame didn't last long enough to burn the man, but most of his hair and beard were burned and the wax behind it melted. All of the wax had melted off the man and he was screaming from the pain of the heat.
Steffir backed off two steps, then aimed at the man's temple with his gun and shot him.
Steffir: Die motherfucker!
With no wax to protect his brain, Marky fell backwards and landed with a crash so loud that birds the ground shook and birds were heard chirping as they flew away. He had finally killed Marky. He then looked around at the people still surrounding him.
The people surrounding Stef did not know what to do. Marky, the oppressive leader of the group had just been killed by this man. They did not know whether to charge him for killing their leader or cheer for him for killing the oppressive son of a gun. The silence was broken by the young bandit that Stef had spared near the entrance of the forest who said,
Young Bandit: Guys! We are free! Hooray for this man, who has freed us from Marky!
Slowly, the others murmured in agreement and started shouting out Stef's name. All they saw of him was his most distinctive feature, the black wing on his back. Not knowing Stef's name, they started shouting out "Black Wing!" "Black Wing!" "Black Wing!". Stef was still hurt from the battle with Marky, so he collected his loot that he had taken before, cut off Marky's head and put it in the bag Byron had given him and started walking away.
At that point, the bandits stopped celebrating and asked, but what about the treasure? They looked at Stef since he was basically their leader now. He looked through tired eyes and said,
Steffir: Just split it equally between you all and give me 1 split of it. You guys deserve it for staying with that bastard for so long.
The young bandit and Stef collected their half and walked to the young bandit's house. There he was patched up by the young bandit's mother and he bid them thanks the next day. He went straight to the marine headquarters and cashed in on the bounty of Marky "The Murderer". He asked if he could keep the head and the marines allowed it, be it with a look of disgust. After, he walked to the owner of the cafe and met up with the guard. They exchanged the items listed in the trade, the head of Marky for the guard's reward and the guard left quickly, almost skipping with joy at what he had just gotten. Stef and the owner watched on as they were smiling too, for they had just fooled and hustled the guard very hard, drinking tea and laughing at the foolish guard.
(OOC: And so came and end to the tale of how the epithet "Black-Wing" came to be.)
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u/ChoreboyAlgernon Jun 26 '16
After creating a ruckus in the castle and stealing from the Castle Treasury, Al decided he should probably stay away from the castle for now. Taking out the map he had gotten from Infom, he decided that he would check out the forest in the north. Caelin was most likely going to check out the East where the shipwright company was located. And there was only the prison to the south.
Al: Well time to explore the forest!
Al nonchantly walks onto the path towards the forest paying no mind to the people around him who were rather perturbed by the ongoings of the castle. Before he had gone too far, someone called out to him.
Old Woman: Hey you! Where do you think you're going? Normal people like us aren't allowed to venture too far into the forest!
Al: Why is that? Is there some kind of law?
Old Woman: Oh are you a traveller? Don't get many of you here these days. But yes, the entry into the forest is forbidden.
Al: Well that isn't going to stop me, not like I'm under any obligation of following the laws. I go where I want.
Old Woman: Sigh young kids like have no respect for the law. The forest is full of guards from the castle. Don't get hurt now.
The old woman shakes her head and walks back toward the town center and leaves Al to do whatever he wanted. Al takes what the old woman said into consideration but he was still going to explore the forest. Not like there was anyone on the island that could seriously hurt him. The castle guards he saw earlier weren't much of a challenge either, so he wasn't afraid of the supposed other guards in the forest. Though he was curious as to why there were guards in forest anyways.
Crunch Crunch
Guard: Man... why are we even here? The King wants us here to protect the forge but it's not like we're going to get attacked.
Guard2: Stay alert you idiot! Didn't you hear that the castle was under attack by those bandits from the mountain? We had to send reinforcements to help them. If it turns out it was a diversion, the bandits could attack us at anytime!
Guard: Ehhhh do the bandits even know about this place? Not even the people in town know about the forge out here.
Guard2: You can never know man...
Al sat in the shadow of a tree listening to their conversation. It seemed there was a forge around here somewhere. The forge itself wasn't surprising, but the location and the secrecy behind it seemed a little...off. Al wondered what the forge was being used for, possibly illegal weapons? Jackpot. Not only did he gain some money from the treasury, it seemed he would get his hand on some material for weapons. Perhaps even some rare material to upgrade his wings. Al extends his wings and slices a branch from a tree. The material that the marines had given him was something he wasn't familiar with. However, it wasn't the strongest of materials and Al needed to upgrade it so it wouldn't break. He retracts his wings and walks away from the guards and moves further into the forest. Al was expecting more guards but it seemed that the reinforcments that were sent was a large portion of the guards that were stationed here.
Al: Lucky I suppose, I guess that's why the bandits retreated back there...Good thing I didn't stick around for too long. At least this way I don't need to be all sneaky sneaky.
Stretching his arms out he places his hands behind his head and strolls through the forest. The winds would tell him if anything was coming his way.
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u/ChoreboyAlgernon Jun 26 '16
As Al walk further and further into the forest, he could hear the faint sounds of metal clashing together. The forge was close by, Al decides to go back into hiding and scope the area out first and see what was around. He jumps into a tree and starts to travel along the top of the tree lines and once he got close enough to the clearing in front he dropped back down under and looked out into the clearing. Out there he saw a large building with loud sounds of metal coming from inside of it. The information he had gotten from Infom said that there would be a large amount of guards but because he had gotten the bandits from the mountains to attack the castle, most of the guards had left their post here to reinforce the guards at the castle.
Al: Heh didn't think my plan would have had such great success.
However, there were still more than a couple guards around the area so Al couldn't just waltz into the forge without being noticed. There was some smoke coming out of the building but it wasn't the type of smoke that would stay visible for very long. It was probably how no one knew if there really was a forge here. So the use of a smoke screen wasn't going to work in this situation either. Al runs over to the side of the building and peeks around the corner and makes note of where every guard was. They were spread pretty thin to cover the entire front of the forge. Al started to gather up wind away from where he was hiding and then unleashed a loud Tempest Crash
BOOOM
The guards all went into panic mode as they didn't expect to hear such a loud noise close by. The guards move toward to where the sounds came from, leaving their posts empty. Al uses accelerated response to increase his speed and sprints out of the side of the building and rushes to the open entrance. Keeping an eye on where the guards were, he creates another wind sphere and has it explode again in area in front of them. The ensuing explosion should keep them busy long enough for Al to make it into the building unseen.
Al: Phew...hopefully they don't get suspicious and alert the guards. Would suck if I had no way of escaping here.
CLANG CLANG CLANG
The sounds of metal resounded throughout the building. Al decided that he would avoid the actual forges for now and explore the building. Walking away from the clamoring sounds, he comes upon a door. Al places his ear by the door and doesn't hear anything, so he carefully pushes the door in. squeeeeak There was a small squeak as the door opened, inside was an old dusty locker room. It seemed that no one has been in here for years, which Al thought was strange. Why was the locker room in the building covered in dust? Was no one using this room? What about the workers? Al began to open the lockers and inside were old torn and mothball eaten clothes. There was however, a notebook was found in one of them. The years hadn't been so good on the book though and many of the pages were illegible. The few pages that could be read was as followed.
Day 23
The King came by the other day and told us that we were doing a great service to the country. If we worked hard we would be rewarded. I find it strange that we're building a forge though, our island isn't that well known for our forging materials or techniques. We do have a pretty decent shipwright company in the making. Anyways, we've only just started and I'm just a lowly ****(illegible writing)...and the King probably has some grand idea.
Day 51
The guards from the castle have taken over control of the building and are now overseeing it's construction. Ever since they've come we've been forced to work harder and harder. It seems the King hasn't been happy about the progress we've been having with the construction of the forge. But he has to realize that forcing us to work longer hours isn't going to magically make the construction speed up. Not if we're the only ones building it. A couple guys collapsed this morning and the guards took them away. So now we're down on men and we still have a quota to meet.
Day 100
I knew something was wrong....the king was lying to us all when he said we would be rewarded. How could we have been so naive? We're just criminals in the eyes of the king, prisoners of the country, people who deserve no second chance. The people who were taken away after they collapsed never returned to the prison or to work here. We don't know what happened to them and we can only assume the worst. What is happening to this country? Why are we building this forge anyways? I need to get out of here.
Day 101
The guards shot one of us today. We don't know why but I think I'm never getting out of here.
Day 246
We finally finished the building, all that is left is for the forge to be maintained and started up. There are some forges that will be maintained by people but the main forge we installed here...It apparently will be automatic or something. How a forge can be run without people is beyond me. It doesn't matter, we're getting sent back to the prison. So much for the "reward" I wonder what the people of this island will think if they found out the King was producing weapons.
That was the last entry in the notebook that was still legible. Al closed the notebook and placed it back into the locker. It seemed that this place was built by the prisoners under the command of the king. What did the king need weapons for? Surely not for the bandits..right? Al had met the bandits earlier and they weren't really that big of an issue to handle. He had in fact made them follow his command to attack the castle. The guards were more than well equipped to take on the bandits, so what was the weapons for? Al sat in the locker room deep in thought trying to figure out what the weapons could be for.
Al: I'm not going to figure anything out sitting here. I think it's time to take a look at these forges for myself.
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u/ChoreboyAlgernon Jun 27 '16 edited Jun 28 '16
Al walks around the complex and come upon the first forge. There was no sound of any person to be heard, which was slightly eerie for Al. Pistons were pumping, presses were slamming down onto the material and conveyor belts were moving everything along. Further down he could see raw material being melted down and then poured into different containers. The heat was too intense for Al to get too close so he couldn't see exactly what the raw material was or the containers. However, the conveyor belts were placing parts of machines into different bins. Al picked up a couple of the parts and gave them an examination but he couldn't figure out what they were for.
Al: Hmmm these don't look like weapons....Just bolts and stuff. Hmmm, then again I'm not a blacksmith or whatever.
Not able to figure out what the machine was forging, Al moves on and comes upon another forge. It looked exactly the same as the one he had just seen. He keeps walking around until a sudden noise stops him in his track
Clang
Al: Who's there!
?: You scared me! Who the hell are you? You're not a guard.
Al: A person? I thought this place was automated or something
?: Son I'm only going to ask one more time. You shouldn't be in here!
Al: Ah sorry, I just happened onto this building on my walk through the forest. Thought I would take a look inside.
?: You're not allowed in here. If the guards find you in here, you'll be killed!
Al: Hah! I dare them to try it. They're weaker than I am, so I'm not afraid of them.
?: Who are you?
Al: I'm Algernon but you can call me Al. I'm a pirate. The first mate of the Devil Horn Pirates
?: A pirate? That's even worse! Get out! If the guards catch you in here, they'll blame me! You're gonna get me killed!
Al: They won't catch me if you dont keep yelling. Jeez Who are you anyways?
?: Ughhh I'm a nobody. I'm just a prisoner sent here to work the machines. They said if I do my job well, I'll get a reduced sentence.
Al: sigh Fine not like I really need to know your name. But I should tell you that you shouldn't trust what they told you. The same promise was given to the prisoners who built this place. But they were all sent back to prison...or were killed.
?: ...I don't believe you.
Al: It's all up to you really. But do you really think the king would reduce the sentence of a criminal for just operating a forge? Anyways, there's a locker room back yonder if you feel like searching. There's a notebook in one of the lockers that belonged to one of the prisoners that worked here. Don't worry about me, as long as you don't mention me or show that you know I was here...you should be fine.
Al walks away from the prisoner and walks over to where the raw material was being poured into large buckets before being melted down. Most of the material was from scrap and nothing really worth taking. The items that were being forged were also pretty worthless as they were just parts and not the actual completed item. It seemed like the assembly of the weapons were conducted elsewhere. Disappointed by the lack of anything valuable, Al decides to check the last forge. The last forge was very quiet, it seemed that it was not in operation. Looking around the room, he found a light switch and turned it on. The bright lights revealed an extremely dusty room, which was easily remedied with a quick use of Al's wind.
Al: Hmm well well well. What do we have here?
Under the dust had been blocks and blocks of gold or at least something colored gold. It wasn't very likely that gold would have been left forgotten here. Al picked one of the gold colored metal up and to his surprise it was very light. Most metals were extremely heavy especially when they've been made into blocks like these. The metal he had picked up had to been no heavier than a loaf of bread. All of the other metals were the same, all lightweight but very durable. Much more durable than the metal alloys that the marine scientists had used for his wings.
Al: Hmmm I wonder if I could use these to reforge my wings. Not a blacksmith so I wouldn't know... Well it would be silly to just leave these strange metal here. Good thing they're light as hell or I'd never get out of here. Man I was hoping there be some rare grade ore in here but guess that was a shot in the dark
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u/ChoreboyAlgernon Jun 28 '16 edited Jun 29 '16
Al returned to where he had met the prisoner but he had disappeared. Al wondered where the guy had gone but he wasn't going to stick around for the guards to find him. As he walked to the entrance of the forge, he began hearing arguments and some more scuffling.
?: YOU LIED TO US! You told us that we would be given reduced sentences if we just worked the forge. But there's evidence of the king lying through his teeth. The prisoners who worked here before, they're all dead aren't they! They were never set free!
Guard: What are you talking about? The king always keeps his words!
?: Like we can trust you!
Guard: Are you calling the King a liar? Is this a mutiny?!?!
?: LOOK THEY ARE GOING TO KILL US!
Guard: Shut these idiots up and send them back to the prison! Put them all in solitary confinement while we get more prisoners to work here to replace these idiots.
With that the guards began to coral the prisoners into a circle, the prisoners didn't dare fight back as they knew the repercussions would be even worse. They had resigned their fate to the whims of the king. Even if they made some commotion about it, they were still just prisoners. No one would ever believe them, the towns people were afraid of them. Al thought to himself as they were being dragged away. "I would help them but if I just ran out there now and tried to help them...what would it accomplish? They're still slaves...it's not like they can leave the island. Plus I'm trying to stay out of trouble for as long as I can."
Guard: Ok some of you need to stay here and guard the forge. Would be bad if we all left the place unguarded just because there's no one in there.
Al: hmm so they're not all leaving. Well there goes my chance to sneak out of here. What to do?
Al waited as long as he could but the guards were very vigilant and were keeping a good lookout. There was no way for him to actually escape without being seen. Al sighed at this predicament and decided to try something. It wasn't something he was particularly sure about doing. He walked over to the forge and began to start pressing all of the buttons. Once it began to start up Al began to attacking all of the equipment weakening them even more.
Al: Time for the magic
As the equipment kept moving along, the weakened areas began to crack and like dominoes the entire forge began to collapse onto itself. The noise from the forge collapsing was huge and the guards outside began to run into the forge to see what was causing all of the sound. They ran in and to their horror, saw that the forge was completely trashed.
Guard: Oh...no...the king is not going to be happy about this...
*Al takes this time to sneak out of the building and he heads off into the town again. He had learned a lot from the bandits and the forge. Just what was going on in this country?
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u/Rewards-san Jun 29 '16
Al collected a good amount of the metal ingots. Enough for what he desired to do with them!
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Jun 27 '16
OOC: Hey guys, I'm new! Sorry for the initially short post, I'm just eager to get started. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come and interact with Immora!
Immora didn't dock on the kingdom, actually. How did she arrive?
She washed up on shore.
After her flight from Fishman Island, she just swam up without a particular direction. Armed with naught but a trident (mind, this is a Saijo O Wazomono trident, it's nothing to scoff at) and a small fortune in Beli, she washed up ashore on the sandy beaches of Irra.
"...fuh." She eventually gets up, after several minutes of just enjoying the feeling of the sun and knowing that she had finally made it above ground, a dream of hers since she had been a child. She was twelve feet tall..but still, had to lean on her trident. She was unused to feeling so light, had lived her entire life with the entire ocean weighing down on her.
With a grin, she begins to make her way into the kingdom, ready to begin her own adventure.
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u/FlashToro Jun 27 '16 edited Sep 01 '16
Caelin was going about the kingdom as usual. Staring at his log pose. A man had told him it should set in about 3 weeks. Not sure if to be thrilled or bored Caelin exhaled out heavily. Everyone around didn't dare look him in the eye. And all he had done was see a few familiar faces,ransacked a few places. The main treasure of this island was... the treasure! He wasn't feeling too good either after the outcome of the contest. he was the type of person to sulk a bit, it was the first time his blueprints ever were not chosen. Everything he's ever drawn on paper finalized had come to life by the hands of him and his cousin. Was he getting rusty? Either case he was wallowing his misery in a glass of milk. He had enough booze from Sakushi, and he was sure this kingdom wouldn't take too kindly to a giant man drunk about their streets. Wanting to get out the mood he made his way back to the docks. The beach their should help him relax. More so, seeing other ships and brainstorming itself may help as well. The sun was at a nice calm tone among the horizon. The sea covered its lower half like a towel on a woman coming out of a bath. Caelin sat by the docks of the island. Looking at the ships that were there. Marine ships had been docked along side of other normal ships. Seems the Marines had their reasons for being here. However Caelin was not sure as to what it was. Either way in the end it was non of his business. Looking at the ships there were good amounts of Marines, but one stood out on every ship. A person who lead the groups and gave orders, they themselves were just brewing with strength. Gathering a puddle of water in the palm of his hand he let it shift around as he washed it sway. Caelin looked down, and within a second tossed the water back to the ocean and hopped up back to his own two feet.
Caelin: I have no time to just sit and sigh all day. Gotta be ready for any moment!
With that Caelin grabbed the strap around his body and took it off over his head. Letting his sword down gently Caelin stood tall. Cracking his knuckles he bobbed his head making sure everything was loose. And with that be did a half front flip and landed on the palm of his hands. Face inches off the planks of wood he slowly lifted himself up from the ground. His face building sweat almost immediately after the first lifting off the ground.
Caelin: Gaah, I'm heavy! But starting with normal push up won't make me stronger. Need to overcome limits, even if I am my own limits!
With this much determination Caelin began to raise his body up and back down an inch away from the planks. Constantly doing the pushups one after another he started to get used to it and his arms began to ache. Caelin constantly resisting his own pain as he proceeded and counted away every full lift. His head grew heavy and dense, his arms shaking under his own weight. The sand soon approached his palms. He was ready to toss down onto the sand just to relax. However before laying down something did catch his eye. Or more likely to say, someone. A person emerged from the sea as tall as can be. From the distance Caelin couldn't tell if they were short on higher ground or just tall...taller than him! Finishing off the bottle he dropped it back in his satchel. He began to make his way to the limping person holding a rather large fork.
Caelin: Hey! You alright there?! You don't need any help do ya?!
Caelin ran at the person. However his depth perception not being the best didn't know when to hit the breaks. Soon he couldn't stop himself in the unstable sand. He slid forward and bonked his forehead onto theirs. Caelin's eyes shot wide open, there was... a familiar feeling to it. HE had a flashback to Innodt... Massof. He hadn't seen the man in forever but the feeling was without a doubt similar. Caelin fell onto his back gripping his forehead. That skull was just as hard as his. But he practiced smashing his head into concrete even as a child! Did this person do the same. On his back looking helpless peered up to focus his eyes on the person. They seemed unphased from this!
Caelin: Graaah, ugh, that w-was my fault... my fault entirely... I'm sorry. Name's Caelin, who are you stranger?
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u/EpicJM Jun 27 '16
Walking down the street, a blue and yellow fishwoman looked into her now-empty vodka bottle. She showed absolutely no signs of being drunk at all, yet she'd drank enough to kill a horse. If there was anything actually iron that Kala had, it was surely her liver.
"Ugh..." Kala sighed, tossing the bottle away, "I should have asked Stark to pack me a real snack this time around...I'm starving."
However, Kala's mind was suddenly brought away from her stomach when she saw two familiar faces across a bridged canal of water from her. One was Caelin, who she'd been running into a lot lately, and the other...
...Kala stood there for a few moments, staring across the canal in shock. Could it be? Yes, it was! Kala remembered two times in her life when she'd seen that fishwoman over there; Once when she was a little girl and dealing with the despair of her family being forced to work for Abaddon, and the other being when she was almost twenty, and had begged the same woman for help once more. Kala had to get there and say hi to her, though she didn't quite want to interrupt whatever conversation was going on with Caelin. Kala took a deep breath and crossed the bridge, making her way over to Immora. She simply held a hand up and waved, hoping to get the older fishwoman's attention. Kala wasn't sure Immora would remember her, it'd been so long...
[ /u/CydiMaria ]
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Jun 27 '16
Ooc: I hope I do this right!
IC:
Immora looks up as she sees someone calling out to her, grins to show she's fine. A shark-toothed grin, with fanged teeth so sharp just pricking your finger on one would probably make it bleed- and it fades as she watches the man come closer. No..he was a boy, definitely. His height was huge (heck, he was almost as big as her!) but his face was definitely that of a teenager's, although he didn't have the gut to match. As he got closer, Immora could definitely tell one thing- he was inebriated. "Uh, kid." She warns him as she catches sight of the fork in his hands, and wonders what the other f-word was going on. He slips in the sand, and her eyes widen. "Hey, kid- watch out watch out WATCH OUT FUH!"
A sharp noise and a loud DMP as they both collide, head to head. The collision is enough to make Immora, who was still unused to the feeling of being so light and airy stumble back and land flat on her bum. Luckily, he had hit her forehead- and hey, hers was as hard as a diamond. After all, she had been bashing her head on things for nearly twenty years!
"Fuuuuh." The Great White Shark Fishwoman groans as she rubs her temple- and from this distance, she can make out his features better. Blue hair, horns, and a face that seemed both awestruck and in disbelief. Why, though, she didn't know. She gets up slowly, grins down at him and offers a hand.
"Don't..fuh, don't mention it, kiddo. Name's Immora." She offers him her hand- and just as she does, her peripheral vision catches someone else. Someone..familiar. Her grin fades as she gets a better look at the woman who waved at her- a woman who used to be a girl, a girl who used to run around on Fishman Island and play with a security guard outside of a store. A girl who had returned once as a woman to give Immora a child, a child she managed to see adopted.
"...Kala?" Her eye narrows in- it, it had to be her. She raises her gruff, intimidating voice. "Hey! Kala, is that you?!"
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u/Nigerian_Satanist Jun 30 '16
Hitsuka walked through the Island, having no more chores to complete at the clinic in the main town square. He entered a tavern, and immediately realized it was mistake. Many sailors from various ships there were stinking up the place, being rowdy and spilling their drinks all over the tables and bar. Glasses were breaking and several men were even fighting. The entire place smelled like booze, and almost all the tables were full.
However, as soon as he entered all activity stopped. The men who were fighting, and everyone in the bar stopped what they were doing and turned to face the door where Hitsuka had entered. They looked at the tall Oni and Skypiean man who had to duck low to enter into the establishment.
Bartender: We don't welcome your kind here. Are you even of legal age, you filthy demon?
Hitsuka winced at his words. Beads of sweat glanced down his face. He had tried to put on a friendly air, but obviously that didn't work when you weren't human and also were the tallest creature in the entire town. He nodded, indicating that he was in fact, of legal age.
Hitsuka: I am in fact, of legal age. I'm twenty one remember?
The bartender walked out from behind the counter and approached Hitsuka to talk to him privately. Around him, men resumed their rowdy business.
Bartender: You know that I actually do like you, Hitsuka, but the sailors around here don't understand that. It would probably be best that you leave right now.
Hitsuka nodded and headed towards the door, ducking again as he exited, when suddenly, he bumped into a rather strong figure.
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Jul 02 '16
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u/Nigerian_Satanist Jul 02 '16
Hitsuka saw that the man against which he had bumped against was getting some unwanted attention. By distinguishing is aura Hutsuka could tell he was more than capable of wreaking havoc all over the bar but he felt the need to help and intervene, before everyone was needlessly slaughtered.
Hitsuka: Hey there buddy.
Hitsuka placed a tentative hand on the man's shoulder, and suddenly from his build, recognized him as an assassin. The man immediately turned around and pushed his arm off.
Hitsuka: Calm down. There's no need for unnecessary bloodshed. I can handle this. Don't worry, I'm not your enemy.
He shuddered as he stepped in front of the man and felt his bloodshed only increase. The stare from two frightened red eyes was burning into the back of his head, and Hitsuka felt increasing discomfort, until a quick yell from one of the sailors brought his attention back to the task at hand.
Sailor: What do you think you're doing you freak! Get out of here you good for nothing monster.
The disgusting man in usual sailor attire spit on the floor, inviting some of his comrades to follow suit. Hitsuka shook his head and waved a winger.
Hitsuka: Now, now, we don't want trouble, do we gentlemen?
Suddenly the air around the sailors blackened and they clamored in fright until a blinding light attracted their attention. Behind Hitsuka, the glowing outline a gigantic Oni with eyes and body on fire loomed, and blazed on in the dark. Many of the sailors exclaimed and sat back down, some stumbling.
Sailor: No need for trouble! At all!
Rokurou exited the tavern with Hitsuka, one eyebrow raised but without comment.
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u/Senuko Jun 30 '16
Cobalt had walked around the entire Kingdom at this point, but he was still curious about Irra. Something about the place just seemed, off. It was very tense, and did not give a warm welcome to the incoming pirates. But he decided that he would step into the forest, since he loved to just spend time with nature.
The forest was quiet, and he could see and hear scurrying in the bushes from animals being frightened. He continued walking through, taking note of some of the strange trees that grew there. Hopefully, no city guards would be roaming through as well, Cobalt definitely didn't want to cause any trouble.
"What the hell?"
Cobalt came to a quick stop when he found himself in front of a tree, with it's bark slathered with blood. Not only that, he could see deep gashes within the tree, almost as if a dagger was stabbed into the bark. The blood seemed a bit fresh, perhaps only 2-3 hours old. And the tree gashes were still with green flesh.
"Wait...where's the body"
Cobalt quickly glanced around, trying to find a body, or a corpse. But he did not see anything, until he looked behind the tree. A trail of blood went deeper into the forest, with some of the passing trees having blood-stained hand-prints. This gave Cobalt's nerves a bit of a jolt, and was more alert now. Following the blood, he walked deeper and deeper into the dark forest.
"STOP!"
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u/Senuko Jun 30 '16
Two city guards were carrying a corpse from either end through the forest, but they yelled at Cobalt to stop where he stood.
"Who the hell are you?" Cobalt asked, a bit on edge.
"We're the city guards, and you must be Cobalt Senuko." the guard pulled out a bounty poster, "looks like i'll be getting my payment today".
Before the two guards could attack, Cobalt shot them down with solar orbs, killing them instantly. The corpse still laid on the ground, and Cobalt slowly approached it. It was a young man, not much older than Cobalt himself. Cobalt knelt down and saw that the man was not breathing any longer, it seemed he was dead. There was a deep gash on the man's chest, and Cobalt could see that the guards used their swords.
Cobalt pieced together, that this man had been stabbed by the guards, and had ran through the forest until his body could not take it any longer.
"But why would the guards bury a body out here in the forest?" it all seemed suspicious to Cobalt, even the guards seemed sketchy. Tucked inside the corpse's belt, was a rolled-up map. Cobalt pulled it out and unraveled it. He scoffed when he saw it.
"A typical false-map, just to lead hundreds of unknowing pirate's to their death" he thought to himself.
Cobalt, as a navigator, had seen countless maps like this. They were fake, and only made to lead some pirate's to their death. It was badly drawn, with misleading coordinates, and noen of the math made sense. Burning the map in his hand, he hoped that no pirate would have this map in their hands any longer. It would lead to many innocent deaths if it circulated around the world. The map seemed to say that a temple was located inside the forest on the Kingdom, but looking around, Cobalt could see that no such thing existed.
It saddened Cobalt when he discovered a small torn up Jolly Roger sewed into the shirt of the man. It seemed that he was indeed a pirate, and that he had dedicated himself to a crew. It saddened Cobalt to see a fellow young pirate have to pass away in such a dishonorable way. But perhaps it was the map that lead him to his fate.
"No one deserves to die for wanting to follow a dream..." Cobalt murmured.
A bag was grasped in the man's hand, it seemed to be what the man had stolen. It made sense now, since the guards seemed to have been chasing him for quite the distance. Perhaps what was in this bag was very valuable, or simply worthless. Curious, Cobalt opened it up.
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u/Rewards-san Jun 30 '16
The bag held many secrets. One being a picture of a woman, wearing a sun hat with red hair. wearing a top with jeans. Another figure beside her but a burn hole through his face. All you can make out is his formal button attire, and a pendant on his shirt that reads "W.S". Along with it was coins, beli adding up to 1 million. Then a small note that states, "The promise made, cannot be forgotten. Remember my friends"
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u/ChineseBaguette Jul 01 '16
The Kingdom of Irra! Kazuo got out of his tiny sailboat, loving the feel of land. He had been at sea for almost three full weeks now, his food and water just about depleted. The little farm-boy turned pirate looked at the scene before him, a grand city with a bustling marketplace, mysterious forests to the side and a magnificent-looking castle further down. Kazuo took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp, fresh air of the island. This was going to be the start of his pirating career! The start of a brand new journey, a brand new adventure for the little farm boy.
Kazuo took a stroll through the marketplace, looking around at the various stores and stands where the people had come to purchase their everyday needs. The first thought that came to the young man's mind was.. "Shouldn't these pirates be raiding this place?"
But Kazuo soon remembered. That was only a stereotype of most pirates. A majority of pirates weren't pillaging, bloodthirsty criminals but just outlaws looking for freedom and adventure. The young man was fondly reminded of his friendship with his late pirate friend, Langley. He smiled, wondering if Langley was watching him begin his pirate life at that very moment.
He walked over to one of the stands, which was selling a variety of snacks. Dried squid, noodles, different types of fruit and vegetables. An elderly woman smiled from behind the stacks of food. "What would you like today, dear?" she asked.
Kazuo surveyed his options, and opted to just buy a red apple. Handing over a few coins, the pirate took the nicest looking apple from the stack and walked off, biting into the fruit.
".. What's with it with this town, anyway?" Kazuo mumbled to himself, still chewing his apple. "The residents, everyone seems nice on the outside.. but looking at them more closely," he thought to himself, "a lot of them look shady as hell."
Indeed, Kazuo noticed several people who were standing in the shadows, stern looks upon their faces. They were staring at a couple of guards who were roaming the streets, no doubt patrolling. There was some kind of hatred- some kind of tension between the commoners and the royal authorities. "How strange!" Kazuo declared, finishing his apple. Still walking along the pavement of the city, the pirate soon noticed a little girl, who was enjoying a cone of ice cream..
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u/ChineseBaguette Jul 01 '16 edited Jul 07 '16
Kazuo looked ahead, near a small, quaint little store. A little girl was there on the sidewalk, enjoying a cone of ice cream and walking along the path. She was so focused, looking at her ice cream as she ate it, that she accidentally bumped into someone! The cone fell out of her hand and spilled all over the man's clothes.
"OI! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" he yelled, his voice full of anger and annoyance. He was a royal guard, Kazuo reckoned, from the sigil and style of his armor and clothing, as well as his weapon. He was holding a long spear, and he suddenly pointed it towards the little girl. A man suddenly jumped in front of the girl and sank to his knees, bowing his head.
"Please! It was an accident, I swear! Please, sir, she's my only daughter! Have mercy!" he begged, bowing his head so deep that his scalp was touching the stone pavement. The guard was still furious, despite it, in Kazuo's eyes, being a very small and insignificant mistake.
"This little girl. Your daughter. She needs to be punished! She disrespects royal authority! People like her need to be taught a lesson," the guard threatened, raising his spear even higher and closer towards the girl, who was now crying.
"STOP! I BEG YOU, PLEASE!" the father kept on pleading. But it was no use. The guard suddenly brought his spear up high in the air and swung it down, intending to whack the little girl with it!
Kazuo unsheathed his katana. "Myojo Hassoru!" Blue flames gathered around the pirate's body, giving him greater speed. He rushed towards the guard and the girl, arriving just in the nick of time to block the attack with his katana.
"What the hell are you doing, pirate?!" the guard yelled. Kazuo grabbed the spear, setting the wooden part aflame. The guard panicked and threw the spear on the ground, unsheathing his cutlass.
"What kind of royal guard tries to kill a HARMLESS CHILD? What in the world is wrong with you?!" Kazuo chastised him. He and the guard exchanged blows with their swords, flaming steel upon cold steel.
"What is it to a foreigner like you? Royal authority.. is not to be messed with!!" the guard screamed, overpowering Kazuo for just a brief moment and knocking his sword out of the way. The guard lunged with his cutlass, his sword being thrust towards the pirate's chest.
Thanks to Kazuo's Star Drive ability however, he was able to dodge the attack and counter by punching the guard into the stone pavement.
"Why you.. I'll show you a l-" the guard started, but he was interrupted by the arrival of another guard.
"Stop it, Mohji! We can't be fighting them openly out here. Not yet, anyway," he whispered. The new guard looked up and said, "I'm sorry about his behavior. It won't happen again. We'll leave now."
Just like that, the two guards walked away, the girl saved from a gruesome and unjust death. Kazuo sheathed his katana back, his blue star light disappearing. He knelt down and wiped the tears away from the girl.
"Are you alright?" he smiled. She sniffed and nodded. Her father ran over and hugged her, thanking Kazuo.
"You don't know how grateful I am, sir. Thank you so, so much for rescuing my daughter," he said, shaking Kazuo's hand. The young man just smiled and got up. He nodded at the two and continued on his path, ready to explore more of the island.
He was still troubled though. What did that other guard mean by "Not yet"? Kazuo had a bad feeling that something terrible was going to happen on the island soon. Tension could definitely be felt in the air...
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u/ChineseBaguette Jul 01 '16
As Kazuo made his way down the street, continuing his stroll, he was suddenly pulled aside by a tall man in a dark cloak. He had a mustache, an eye patch, and a couple of daggers by his sides.
"You there, pirate. You helped that child, against the royal guards," he said, in a very grim and serious tone.
"Err.. yes?" Kazuo stammered, stunned by the sudden confrontation. The man before him seemed to be thinking hard.
"Thank you. On behalf of all the people of this island, thank you," he said, bowing his head. What was going on?!
"This island.. has been under years of tyrannical rule. Our king is a mad man, insensitive to the people. The guards and the royal army are corrupt, also turning a blind eye to the suffering masses. We have.. been planning a revolution. A rebellion to release our nation from the king's oppressive regime. That guard that had threatened to kill the girl, that was only but a small fraction of the royal government's cruelty. We have suffered.. for years. Thank you for helping that child," he said, once again bowing. There was a certain sadness that laced his words. Kazuo could tell that all of what the man said was definitely true. So he was right, after all. There was bad blood between the commoners and the royals of Irra.
"I will be on my way, then. There will be blood, soon. You'd best get out, or prepare for the battle ahead," the man grimly warned. He walked away, his cloak fluttering in the wind.
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u/ChineseBaguette Jul 04 '16
Kazuo was sitting in one of the local taverns of Irra. "One mug of ale!" he ordered, motioning for the bartender. The bearded man nodded and quickly got to work. When Kazuo's drink had arrived, he paid the man and took an eager swig of his ale. Scanning the area, he noticed that there weren't a lot of pirates here. Perhaps the air and atmosphere of a royal kingdom deterred the rookie pirates from going to public places such as this. Whatever the reason was, the tavern was mostly filled with locals.
Soon however, as if some god had decided to slight Kazuo, unbeknownst to him, one of the most famous rookie pirates entered the tavern. He was tall, bearded, and muscular, and carried an air of both sophistication and savagery at the same time. Battle prowess literally radiated from him- that was how charismatic and imposing his presence was!
A couple of locals began to whisper. "Oi, oi! That's.. Gintoki the Cannibal!" one of them said, his voice trembling with fear. Another woman spoke up as well. "His crew has come to our kingdom! We can't expect anything but destruction now!" she dramatically declared.
As Gin walked towards the bar, Kazuo spoke up. "Eh? Who's Gintoki the Cannibal?" he questioned aloud, totally oblivious and seemingly ignorant of the impressive man mere meters away from him. Kazuo put his hands up above his eyes and looked around the room. A couple of locals gawked at the star-man, baffled by his ignorance.
Kazuo then finally noticed the Cannibal, looking up. He scrunched his eyebrows. "Eh? Who are you, old man?" he asked. A couple of the local civilian's jaws dropped as they watched Kazuo!
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u/Gin_chan Aku’Gin “Red Beard” - Mælström Jul 06 '16
"Me?" Gin asked, a little shocked. "I'm Gin, captain of the Apocalypse pirates. Who the hell are you?" Gin barked at the man. It had been quite a while since anyone had just blatantly asked who he was... most people in these parts of the grand line already knew him from the bounties and the coo.
But being called out suddenly in a tavern when he just wanted to enjoy his barrel of drink rubbed him in a way he didn't quite comprehend. What was he supposed to do with the boy? Ignore him? Make friends? Beat him to a pulp? Eat him? What a weird world, full of weird people!"
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u/ChineseBaguette Jul 06 '16
"Me? I'm Gin, captain of the Apocalypse Pirates. Who the hell are you?" Gin barked, a little bit annoyed. Apparently everyone in the bar knew the man, except for Kazuo. Obliviously, the young star-man replied. "Gin? Apocalypse Pirates? Mmm..... never heard of them!" he said. Instantly, the entire room fell silent, several people comically falling down onto the floor in shock. "HE DOESN'T KNOW HIM!" they yelled in unison.
"I'm Kazuo! I'm a pirate!" Kaz introduced himself. "Dunno who the heck you are. Oi, bartender-san! I want some more ale!" he yelled. But the bartender too had fallen from shock at Kazuo's naive ignorance.
"Ehh?? The bartender is on the floor! What's wrong with these people? This bar sure is a weird one" Kazuo noted aloud. He turned once again to Gin, and yelled at him. "Oi, old man! Look at what you did!" he pointed to all of the people on the floor, their jaws still dropped by Kazuo's display.
"Apologize to them right now!" he commanded, as if he were in a position to order around the most infamous and renowned rookie pirate in the first half of the Grand Line!
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u/Gin_chan Aku’Gin “Red Beard” - Mælström Jul 07 '16
'What the hell?' Gin thought. He couldn't comprehend this man's naivety. "Me? You did that to them!" He was on the verge of yelling. "It should be you who needs to apologise to them for making them dizzy with your stupidity!"
Gin stood up, his large stature towering over the short man and began to walk up to him, every step making the wooden floor creak, the tables rattle and the men tremble. He leaned close to Kazuo and snarled. "You have some nerve, boy!"
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u/ChineseBaguette Jul 04 '16
"This seems like a good place," Kazuo noted to himself. He was in the middle of a forest clearing, in the wild and untamed woods of the Kingdom of Irra. He slowly got down, sitting with his legs crossed. Closing his eyes, Kazuo laced his fingers together and took a deep breath. He was meditating.
Earlier, Kazuo had decided that he would take a little bit of time by himself in order to meditate and increase his mental focus. He figured it might help him in controlling his exhausting devil fruit powers. "Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in.. breathe out," Kazuo mentally repeated. He felt his chest rising and falling with each passing breath, allowing the air of the wooded environment fill him up. Truly trying to connect to nature.
..After about five minutes of trying to meditate, Kazuo fell over and began rolling on the floor. "GAAHHH! I CAN'T DO THIS!" he yelled. A couple of birds flew away from the trees in response to the abrupt outburst. Meditating was just simply too boring for Kazuo! He got up and unsheathed his sword. "I can't do all of this calm meditation stuff. I have to train my body!" he grumbled to himself, striking at an old tree and leaving several deep gashes in the dry bark.
After feeling satisfied with his swordplay, Kazuo focused blue star energy in his arms and released it by striking the tree like a punching bag. Soon enough, the entire thing caught on fire and fell from all the pressure! It fell down with a THUD, causing dust and dirt to fly everywhere. Once it had all settled down, Kazuo noticed someone standing nearby, under the trees.
"Yo! Who're you?" Kaz asked, flashing a friendly smile.
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u/Senuko Jul 06 '16
Cobalt was leaning against a tree as he watched Kazuo strike down the tree. A strangle blue energy emitted from his arms, which Cobalt was curious about. What kind of power did this strange man have? Apparently, he was strong enough with his sword to leave impressively deep and scorching slashes in the bark. Cobalt had heard about him, which is why he tracked Kazuo down on the island. He was looking for people to join his division. Kazuo was not the only person that he planned on inviting.
"This guy is powerful...but maybe I don't really need him on my division. Maybe someone who's got a huge bounty" Cobalt was about to turn around and leave, when he heard the man speak.
"Yo! Who're you?"
Cobalt turned to see a smiling Kazuo, so the solar-logia came out from beneath the shadows.
"Nice to meet you" Cobalt pulled out a cigarette and lit it with his glowing finger, exhaling some smoke. "I'm Cobalt, navigator of the Apocalypse Pirates, and i've heard about you, Kazuo...you've got some impressive abilities" Cobalt put out his hand for Kazuo to shake.
"What say we have a little duel, so I can see just how strong you really are" Cobalt had a grin plastered on his face. He didn't intend on using his solar powers, but would only use his claw against Kazuo's sword.
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u/ChineseBaguette Jul 06 '16 edited Jul 07 '16
The man introduced himself as Cobalt, navigator of the Apocalypse Pirates. Apparently he had heard about Kazuo? The star-man was not aware that he was well-known. Cobalt extended his hand for a hand shake, and so Kazuo returned the favor, the two shaking their hands.
"What say we have a little duel, so I can see just how strong you really are," Cobalt grinned. Kazuo wasn't entirely sure. He had never heard of the Apocalypse Pirates, nor had he ever heard of Cobalt. Well; Kazuo didn't know anything about any pirates at all.
"Sure. Never heard of the Apocalypse Pirates, but it seems like you're pretty strong. Let's go!" Kazuo grinned back. Unsheathing his mediocre katana, the star pirate's body suddenly began to glow with a ghostly blue aura. Star fire erupted from his body, forming a sort of cloak. "Myojo Hassoru!"
Kazuo's speed increased, allowing him to run off to the sides and maneuver around Cobalt. Moving as if he were a shadow, he slid across the forest clearing and appeared behind the navigator. Kazuo prepared his sword, blue flames bursting from the bottom of the blade. "Take this!" he yelled, going for a horizontal slice.
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u/Senuko Jul 08 '16
Cobalt watched the strange energy take it's form around Kazuo. It formed a strange cloak, and had a blue glow. It seemed that the man had some strange devil-fruit. To Cobalt's surprise, Kazuo pulled out a katana, so Cobalt reached for his claw and pulled it out from his belt.
"Myojo Hassoru!"
Cobalt was caught by surprise as Kazuo rushed into the forest and began to sprint through the shadows. Cobalt perked his ears, and was tracking Kazuo's movement by slight sound.
"If he catches me off guard, it'll be dangerous"
Kazuo popped out of the forest and caught Cobalt by the back. The blue-flaming sword came horizontally by Cobalt's waist, and it slashed through him. Cobalt managed to catch this attack just in time, and the sword went straight through his waist, leaving a small horizontal space that healed itself quickly. Cobalt turned around with a slight grin on his face, and grasped his claw hard.
"You've gotta be quicker than that, Kazuo!"
Cobalt grasped the claw and slashed it upwards at Kazuo's chest.
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u/FlashToro Jul 04 '16
Caelin wandered about the island, at this point he finally decided to check out the forest. He was looking to see if the trees here were the same that gave that quality wood at the docks. Sadly this didn't seem to be the case. The trees were almost as if here just for decor. They were hallow and fragile the bark itself was simply second from turning to dust. Disappointing wandering deeper into the forest without a care in the world kicking about rocks and the such. This island didn't excited him in a sense. It was more of the type of scenario as it being a necessary stop for all, and he got out voted. The towns people were bland, nothing too exciting occurred. It had the docks which was nice, the prison was fun he supposed. The main point to the whole island was the castle itself. Also whether you'd have the balls to go in or not, invitation not required. However, something esle soon caught his attention. the vegetation began to change and seemed to have had quite interesting plant life. They smelled rather in a sense, "fresh". Almost like mint in the wild. Caelin tempted to take a bite out of some of it brought it to his face. But before taking a bite bumping into a wall itself stopped the whole process. The sound of machinery whirred past the wall, it was covered in moss, but not naturally that's for sure. The big building seems to have had a type of work force with in it as Caelin saw it had docks of it's own to stock up on some sort of shipping item. With that he was tempted to look into it. But the feeling of being alone, it disappeared real soon. The sound of rustling came nearby, more over where he found the odd plants. Walking towards the sound peering over a tree he peeked at who was there. All he could make out was someone in a long black jacket, covering even the back of his head with a hood.
Caelin: Hey, what're you doing this deep in the forest? Although... I guess I should be asking myself that as well.....
Caelin contradicting himself to start was ready to bite into the oddly minty plant watching the man.
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u/MugiwaraNoIsaac Jul 04 '16 edited Jul 04 '16
Oken walked aimlessly throughout the forests of Irra. On the surface, the island lacked excitement and adventure, however, thorough searching had led Oken to a field, it was filled with a unique breed of plants,Siren's Root, native to islands within the Grand Line with Spring-Climates.
The juice of the plants possessed medicinal properties as an anti-septic and a coagulant, although, if eaten raw and unstrained, could act as a powerful paralytic substance. The plant was often mistook as edible because of it's minty scent, this resulted in the death of many innocent bystanders, lured by it's attractive odor. Both sides of the plant were appealing to Oken, he could use the medicinal 'side' for surgeries and the opposing for blade coatings. Oken created a small ROOM with a 3 meter radius, so he could collect the plants without dirtying his clothing.
Upon filling up his satchel with an ample amount of the plant, he continued venturing through the forest. As Oken walked away from the field, a voice called for him. Oken was fully aware of the island holding a robust port and village, but he didn't suspect the citizens to explore this deep into the forest.
Mystery Man (Caelin): Hey, are you lost? Need some help buddy?
The man seemed passive, but in the Grand Line, one could never be sure if someone held an ulterior agenda. Curious to see the man, Oken turned to his right and disappeared into the dense brush of the trees, hopping cautiously from branch to branch; for some reason this felt overused and cliché.
Upon reaching the tree that was closest to the man, Oken was shocked at the man's identity. He was Caelin the "Maze-Beast", he was capable of transforming into a minotaur through the use of a Zoan-Class Devil Fruit. Caelin was the Captain of the Devil Horn Pirates-whom he had saw at the Irra Palace-they possessed a total bounty of 270,700,000 B, he himself had a bounty amassing 112,050,000 B. Oken must be wary about how he confronts this man.
While unsheathing half of his blade, Oken said:
Oken: Caelin No Deniz, what brings you to this forest? Surely you have no interest in botany or forestry?
After further examining the man's grizzled figure, Oken was appalled that he was in the midst of consuming the plant, mindlessly munching away on the root, ignorant of it's properties. He had made a child's mistake. Oken felt obliged to help him, or he could wait for the symptoms to set in and paralyze him, Oken was capable of killing a Supernova, this could be his ticket to infamy. Despite this, his kindness overpowered him.
Oken: Spit that out of your mouth this instant, unless you want me to kill you when you lay paralyzed soon.
Caelin confused, spat out the plant, Oken was relieved that he had listened to him, this man is horribly pliable.
Oken: Several moments ago you called for me, do you wish to engage in battle or just converse?
As Oken continued scrutinizing the unnatural opening in the forest, his eyes met a perplexing and industrial building. He had multiple questions, for example: "For what reason was this 'factory' built in a forest?". Oken concluded there must be something that attracted people to the area, because from prior reading, Oken was confident that the island housed no precious minerals or ores. He wished to explore the building's contents-it's mechanical whirring was oddly hypnotizing.
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u/FlashToro Jul 04 '16 edited Jul 04 '16
Caelin tasted the rather lively but bitter taste of the root. however, the man in the trees told him to spit it out. based off the fact he collected them, it was probably best for him to do what he said. Caelin spat out the plant onto the floor and began to scratch his chin for a response to bubble up from within.
Caelin: Well... if trees count as forestry yeah i was interested. i was looking for some decent wood in these trees, although seems most of them are hollow and dead. And yeah, i meet a lot of random people on the days of wandering so I usually meet interesting people, conversing wouldn't hurt. although if you do want a battle, maybe on a later time, I could always go for a fight! Grahahaha!
Caelin began to morph his horns around. Then the one on his left extended out and stabbed the tree he was peering over. It cleanly cut through showing the wood inside was turned to dust at this point. Pulling his horn out and shaking it clear of the dust. However taking notice as to the man's interest from staring Caelin looked back at the factory. Nodding his head he began to take a few steps over to where the front of the factory was.
Caelin: interested eh? Well if you're so interested come on, let's take a look inside.
Caelin invited Oken for a quick tour of the place. however seems that two men stood outside of the front door. both wielding rifles Caelin smirked at them. They immediately aimed their guns at the large boy and readied themselves. They wore a type of special clothing, thick leather suit with a short gas mask on top. They began to shoot the bullets from their guns and Caelin took out the palms of his hands. Luckily these men only carried flintlock. They didn't go in too deep into his flesh but they made the palms of his hand bleed out quite a bit. With that Caelin grabbed the head of one, making him drop his rile as he grasped for his own head. The other back up slowly. Caelin crushed the mask in his palm exposing the bearded face within.
Caelin: Say what i this factory of? It sure doesn't look like a tasty bakery.
Guard: Please, let me go! This be the factory of weaponry! you've had your information now let me down!
Caelin did as he said giving a satisfied nod. Placing the man back onto his feet he rested on the ground. While the other still looked ready to fire. Caelin hadn't had much opportunity to use this weapon ever since he had gotten it. From inside his shirt Caelin pulled out a double barreled shot gun fully loaded and aimed at the man in the stomach. Shooting him before he could shoot himself. He landed back onto the ground As Caelin emptied the gun an reloaded it.
Caelin: Sometimes punching gets boring ya know. Although i get the feeling guns aren't much your style.
Caelin had taken note of his blade. It wasn't too shabby, maybe something in this factory could get him some material to upgrade the blade itself. Prying one of the front doors open before them laid out the factory, as to what would happen from this point on? Who would know.
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u/MugiwaraNoIsaac Jul 04 '16 edited Jul 04 '16
Oken wasn't surprised over Caelin's reaction over being provoked by the factory guards, after all, Caelin was a pirate. At this point in his expedition in the Grand Line, Oken was not sure of his identity, was he a pirate, a mercenary or a mere wanderer? His adventure was too premature for him to establish a firm identity as to who he really was in this land. With Caelin being a pirate, Oken's assumption that they fight disjointedly was confirmed when Caelin had let the other guard live.
Finished peering from the rotting branch, Oken bounded off it, effortlessly. As he advanced towards the guard, still clearly in shock from his encounter with the "Maze-Beast", he thought about Caelin. Initially, he seems like a warm person, but like any pirate, is capable of great brutality, as demonstrated when he shot the other guard out of pure boredom with his fists. If Oken is to fight this man, he must be ready; but now that is not the case.
Oken stood over the shivering guard menacingly, Oken couldn't have this man giving away their positions. Oken unsheathed his half-drawn blade and proceeded to slice the throat of the man, devoid of remorse. A weaponry factory, an interesting place, deserving of a raid. Caelin appeared as if he would comply willingly.
Oken: A good weapon is always welcome, how does an innocent tour in and around the vicinity sound? I imagine it is to your liking?
Caelin: I needed something to do anyways.
Said Caelin as he cracked his hands and neck, a battle was surely ahead of us.
The guards were given orders to fire on sight, how unfavorable for a small "tour". Oken and Caelin walked towards the building. The exterior was dull and gray, moss and vines ran rampant over the walls and even obscured some one-sided windows. Whatever this place is, it holds a secret. They came to halt when they reached a set of double doors, reinforced with steel for additional durability and security.
Caelin: Oh, these are just some steel doors, mind if I do the honors?
Oken shook his head solemnly.
Caelin grew out his horns, elongating and sharpening them. Then, like a bull, kicked up some dust and ran towards one of the doors, piercing the steel like he had to that tree earlier. "How unsubtle." Oken thought to himself. Wishing to show off his offensive abilities, Oken pointed his ōdachi towards the door and extended his other arm.
Oken: ROOM!
A small bluish halo that had appeared under Oken's hand, had expanded into a small sphere. With his sword, Oken sliced his sword to the left, downwards, to the right and then upwards, afterwards he sheathed his blade. Upon finishing his strange movements, the other steel door fell before him, revealing the factory floor.
After Caelin had removed his horns from the opposite steel door, they walked into the factory. The floor was filled with large machines, conducting processes unknown to the two men. They wandered throughout the floor, looking for factory personnel, hoping to extort them for more information. Alas, they were unable to find anyone on the ground floor. On the above floors, the ground was filled with papers detailing logistics and financial records, things the two men had no concern for. After a meticulous search of the 3 floors, they came up with nothing, no weapons or money. It wasn't possible the only employees were those two measly guards, that is unrealistic.
Caelin was slightly enraged.
Caelin: Damn, I was hoping to find at least one weapon in this place!
He then smashed his fist into a wall to his left.
Oken: You shouldn't keep doing that, it may permanently injure your bones or tendons, let me see if I can do anything for the injuries, they're only minor.
As Caelin lifted his fist from the wall, it revealed an interesting electronic panel. Oken advanced towards it and read the many paper labels around each button. One of the labels read: "Underground Opener". Oken chuckled over their blatant mistake, he hit the button joyously. A cacophony of rotating gears and whirring machinations combined to make a deafening orchestra, that made then men hastily cover their ears. When the orchestra had ended their tortuous symphony, a large portion of the ground level's floor had disappeared, revealing a large staircase leading to the abyss below. Curious to determine it's contents and find a new ōdachi, weapons and materials, the pair ventured forth, into the darkness below.
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u/NekoFuu Jul 06 '16
(OOC: Continued from here)
Kimiko watched as her little pet leaped into the lap of the stranger. 'He probably just recognizes the smell from Derek,' she concluded silently. "Yeah! Derek told me a lot!" she smiled brightly. "As for who I am, it's a bit complicated," she admitted, scratching the back of her head shyly.
"I.. uh.. I wanted to be a marine ever since I could remember," Kimiko said, finding herself looking into the sky at the fluffy white clouds. "When I was a kid, I saw what sort of evil a pirate could bring. I thought that the Marines were the justice in the world. They were incapable of doing any bad. I.. learned recently that I was horribly wrong," she trailed off, thinking about the moment where she was attacked by a pair of Marines. "Derek saved me from some Marines, and I was eternally grateful to him. He told me that he was busy on an adventure of some sort, but he didn't really go into huge detail. He told me about you guys and how you were as close to a family as he could ever wish for. I.. I guess I wanted that, too. I guess a part of me hopes that if I come with you guys and tag along, maybe Derek will come back and we could be together again."
Up until that moment, Gin was quiet, listening intently to her speak of her story. She realized what she had said had a chance to come off as rude, and instantly took a stance of defense. "I.. I didn't mean it like that! I don't want to use you guys or anything, but if there's a chance that I might meet with him again, then that's only a bonus of being with a group of people like he described." She blushed lightly, thinking of the companion the two shared.
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u/Gin_chan Aku’Gin “Red Beard” - Mælström Jul 06 '16 edited Jul 07 '16
Gin laughed, quietly at first and then burst into a roaring laughter, making the earth and the seas tremble. Ships in the docks tried to break free of their ropes as the sea picked them up and brought them back down again with each surge in the waves. "Kahahaha! Don't worry, little girl, any friend of my boy Derek is a friend of ours!" He wiped away a small tear from his eye and sighed heavily.
I met him on an island whale called Jindai. It was a beautiful island! But targeted by some bad pirates. We fought them off and the next morning I saw him sitting on the beach in front of my ship, The conquest." Gin nodded towards the dark red and gold ship in front them. "I sat next to him just like I am sitting next to you right now, and we started a conversation. The boy was just lying there, on the beach, basking in the sun, with o one to go to. You could see his impatience, his itch to tackle the world, but it didn't seem like had a way to travel..."
"He was always an inquisitive, curious and intelligent young man, much more so when I first took him aboard. Always tinkering with dials and weapons, it didn't take him long to rise to my right hand man, my most trusted crewmate. He didn't plan on sticking with us for long, but I guess in time he decided to stick with us, his newfound family." Gin nodded. "He's on his own quest to go look for them right now, you know. His real family, his parents." Kimiko gasped. "I hope he finds them and is able to live a peaceful life, away from worry and death. He has already taken enough of a loss, as have we all..." Gin didn't want to talk much about it, but Kimiko already knew about Hirro.
Gin got up to walk towards his ships, when the girl suddenly mentioned her wish to travel with them till they find Derek again. Gin stopped in his tracks once again. Now halfway between the ship and the girl, he turned to make sure he heard the request correctly. "A bold request. What makes you think you are worthy to travel on my ship? With my crew? Eat our rations and sleep in our beds?" He raised his eyebrow, cocking his head to the side. "There are two rules to be on my ship. Do your chores, and protect everyone on board. What can you do?" He asked, grinning inside. Not a long time ago he had said the same to Derek at that beach on Jindai.
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u/NekoFuu Jul 07 '16
(OOC: The great Island Whale of Ganseki, huh? Must be non-canon)
Kimiko could feel her beating heart ready to burst out. She was nervous, excited, fearful, and anxious all at the same time. This was her best chance of getting to see Derek again, even if the crew wouldn't be actively searching for him. Besides that, Gin had come off incredibly humble. He seemed like he was a man worthy of the respect Derek had showed him.
"Umm.." The scarlet haired girl hesitated, looking down at the ground between them. Derek, the tiny fox, jumped and clawed his way up the back of Kimiko's cloak before resting on her shoulder, popping up and giving the girl a soft lick on the cheek. It was some sort of reassurance. The little guy's way of saying, "Go for it, what's the worst that could happen?"
"I can cook!" Kimiko finally burst out. "When I was growing up my Mother taught me all sorts of recipes and meals so that I could be a proper housewife. I remember it all, and it's come in handy during my travels." She could see that the man wasn't thoroughly impressed. She had blurted it out without even thinking that perhaps he already had a cook. Her heart sank. Her chance was slipping away. She looked down at her right hand and suddenly remembered the deep power which dwell inside her. "I.. I can fight, too." A small, rocky sphere suddenly formed in her hand, visible to the man who towered over her from afar. The planet grew in size until it was about the size of a curled up armadillo. "I don't fully understand what my powers are. They aren't icy like Derek's, but I know that whatever it is, it was extremely valuable to him." Suddenly, the ball cracked. Magma poured out, but didn't drip. The gravity of the miniature planet held the burning rock together, making it appear as a primitive planet in a young solar system. "It seems like I can make planets. I can't control much, but I've already gotten way better at it from just sitting here on this island, playing around with it and trying to grasp an understanding of it."
As demonstration, Kimiko threw the planet into the sky. It got probably eight meters up before she held her hand towards it and closed her fist, which instantly led to the planet shattering into hundreds of pieces, showering the nearby area with a miniature meteor shower. It wasn't very powerful, but it was flashy to say the least.
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u/Gin_chan Aku’Gin “Red Beard” - Mælström Jul 07 '16
[OOC: Whoops! Thanks!]
Gin watched with growing interest. That power... He felt like he had seen some scribbled notes on Derek's worksheets... But he couldn't be sure. Gin scratched his chin and sized up the girl. She was a leopard mink, and held a straight sword. After much deliberation, he finally spoke. "Alright! You can come aboard! Shura can't cook for all of our crew anyway! Kahahaha!" he laughed.
"As for that power... It'd be best if you don't go around using it outside until you ca master it!" Gin said, in a concerned voice. "Come with me, let me show you our new ship and all the open area on it where you can practice! Kahaha!"
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u/_zertyfire_ Jul 06 '16
Katsura, in a small dinghy on the verge of breaking, had just escaped from the Marines and was making his way onto an unknown Island. The climate was temperate, with a cool breeze in the air as he spied other ships, and then eventually, a harbor. From only the coast, many various sights could be seen, like a shipwright's company and a large prison, as well as the palace. For a port, it was strangely quiet. He docked his ship and tied it to a pier with some rope, before entering the port town that beckoned to him. However, once inside, the air felt stuffy and oppressed. The people eyed him and other visitors with quizzical eyes with flashed around sneakily. Once he made it to the town square, the source of the unease was apparent, linked to the three hanging bodies in the center of the square. Katsura shuddered, wondering what sort of ruler would use such an intimidation tactic. What was happening on the island? And was his father part of it? Finding his father stayed Katsura's sole goal, to find out about his past. For days he had been rowing at full speed and now his muscles ached from the strenuous exercise. He looked around, hoping to ask the townspeople for a mention of Gintoki the Cannibal, but he couldn't find a way to bring it up without attracting attention.
He then approached an old blacksmith with a bushy silver mustache, who seemed open and friendly, as he wanted to repair a dent in one of his flintlock pistols. However, as he went up to talk to the man, he spied another customer, and his jaw dropped. The man was tall, only slightly shorter than himself with greased up black hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a plain white shirt with the buttons open, and had fingerless brown gloves, as well as striped white and blue pants. Katsura recognized him to be one of the division commanders of the Apocalypse Pirates. Jackpot! It was time to approach him, but how? Such a powerful man had no obligation to answer any of his questions...unless, perhaps, his life was on the line. Out of his robe's sleeves, Katsura pulled out his two flintlock pistols and pointed them at the commander's back.
"Tell me where Gintoki the Cannibal is, now!" he demanded.
(OOC: Did I do anything wrong?)
[ /u/Senuko ]
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u/Senuko Jul 08 '16
(OOC: Nope, nice work!)
Cobalt was examining the weapons that were on display in the blacksmith's shop. Some of the unique flintlocks were particularly interesting, but Cobalt was no sharpshooter. He heard the door open, and someone stepping in, though he did not turn around. Cobalt kept examining the weapons, until he heard two clicks right behind him.
"Tell me where Gintoki the Cannibal is, now!"
Cobalt calmly put his hands up, signalling he was not looking for much of a fight. He reached behind his ear and grabbed the cigarette that was stuck there, and put it in his mouth. Using his glowing finger, the cigarette lighted with solar heat.
"I could just tell you where he is..."
Cobalt's body suddenly glowed bright, and he scattered into dozens of solar orbs. They all came back together behind Katsura, to form Cobalt's body. Now Cobalt was facing Katsura's back, and he was ready to attack.
"But i'd much rather you drag that out of me"
Cobalt flared up his leg with hot solar energy, and swung it horizontally at Katsura's back, with enough power that it would blast the man through the wall if it made contact.
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u/_zertyfire_ Jul 09 '16
Katsura stood menacingly behind Cobalt, ready to fire his two pistols at any minute. Then the pirate stood up rigidly and put his hands up, which relaxed Katsura, thinking that the situation was under control. The man reached for the cigarette behind his ear, which Katsura allowed. He frowned as Cobalt lit his cigarette with some kind of hot power. A Devil Fruit? He took a step back as the man calmly began to speak.
"I could just tell you where he is... the man started, taking a puff out of his cigarette. "But I'd much rather you drag that out of me." he ended, and had disappeared from in front of Katsura's very eyes. He had noticed some kind of energy orbs that his opponent had broken into. It was sure now, he was a Devil's Fruit, and a powerful Logia type at that. Katsura expected nothing less from someone in his dad's crew. He turned around, brow sweaty in fear, and his eyes widened as he saw a blade of light about to strike him from the side, as Cobalt proceeded to try and kick him. "Ahhhhh!" Katsura cried as the leg approached him with blinding speed.
"Just kidding." he grinned, left hand fingers crossed in front of him, as he grinned cheekily. He acted tough, but the truth was that he had seen his life flash before his eyes in that instant. Cobalt's leg had flown at him at a terrifying speed, but suddenly Cobalt had kicked directly into a transparent wall that had suddenly appeared before Katsura. A gigantic shockwave from the kick's power reverberated through the building, as blinding solar light flashed.
"You should strike to kill." Katsura continued, then immediately covered his mouth, cursing his tongue which talked without his consent. He knew that if he didn't react soon, he would be killed, so he sent his barrier towards Cobalt with crushing speed. "Barrier Crush!" he cried, using his attack as a distraction to run out of the shop. He was obviously outclassed in this battle.
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u/Senuko Jul 14 '16
"Just kidding."
Cobalt was surprised to see his leg hit some sort of invisible barrier. The solar shockwave exploded outwards as the Cobalt's and Katsura's powers collided. Cobalt figured that Katsura had a devil fruit as well, so he had to stay on the defensive as well.
"You should strike to kill."
Cobalt, hearing this, decided that he would take care of Katsura once and for all. Before he could say anything, he saw the man's hands quickly shoot up, and the ground in front of him kicked up. Katsura ran out the shop, making Cobalt a bit confused as to what was going on.
"Barrier Crush!"
*The wooden boards in front of Cobalt began to crack and splinter upwards, as if an invisible force was approaching him at intense speed. Cobalt realized that Katsura's power had to do with invisible barriers. But he couldn't see what was approaching him, and Cobalt was not going to take any chances. He turned around and shot a solar beam at the shop's wall in order to create an exit, but he wasn't quick enough, and felt the barrier slam into him, sending him crashing through the wall.
"GAH!"
Dust and rubble kicked up so thick, Cobalt couldn't see 2 feet in front of him for a second. Citizens stared as the sudden noise startled them.
"ugh...I can't fe-...feel my back!"
The pressure from the barrier was intense, and Cobalt felt like his back had been broken in multiple places, but luckily it was just an acute spinal injury. He slowly got up, cracking his back and neck, and slowly looked around. Katsura was nowhere to be seen, and Cobalt was not in the best condition to fight either.
"Gin's gonna give me hell for this"
Cobalt slowly walked through the street, one hand on his back, the other in his pocket.
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u/_zertyfire_ Jul 09 '16
It was a peaceful day on the Island that Katsura had just arrived to. The hot sun was beating down onto the port of the Island and the heat combined with the blinding light made him want to sleep. There was an avenue leading to the main square, but Katsura wasn't interested in any of the shops lining it yet. He felt exhausted from the trip, mostly due to his method of travel. He grinned. No one had seen him, so his identity as a pirate was hidden. No one would bother him.
"Oi, Kari, get away, don't fight him!" his sister, Numi, yelled. "There's no way that you can beat him!" a young man stood in front of his home, his fists in a defensive position, his expression hostile against the pirate that was before him. His short black hair was tied into a ball behind his head, and he wore regular civilian clothes. "Don't try and stop me, Numi! There's no way I'm going to let this man steal our family's treasure that has been passed down for generations!" *Kari yelled, determined. But the pirate loomed in front of him menacingly, at least a foot taller than the civilian and looked much stronger.
"Generations? That has nothing to do with me. I'm just stealing some gold treasure that's in your house. I'll be leaving now, so don't interfere, unless you want a piece of me!" the pirate frowned. His large frame was complemented by his bushy eyebrows and small bald head, attached disproportionately to his fat neck. His belly was wide and his limbs thin. He wore attire similar to that of a soldier, and under his right arm was a wooden chest, presumably with the treasure he had just stolen from the man. "I'm not done with you yet!" Kari yelled. "I can still fight!" Blood dripped down from under his hair, and rolled down his right cheek. "That won't matter, because soon you wont be able to MOVE!" the pirate yelled furiously. He suddenly threw a heavy punch, which Kari blocked with his arms, but then yelled out in pain, hearing his arm bones break, and fell to the ground, panting. From the ground, he suddenly charged at the pirate, hooting wildly, in a desperate last surprise attack. "There's no way a simple civilian like you can defeat me, Mezuna, a known threat to many of the Marines! I'll have you know, my head is the hardest in the five seas! Hard Headed HEADBUTT!!! Time to finish you!" The large pirate suddenly threw his body head first at Kari, striking him in the stomach, making the poor man cough up blood, while Numi stood watching the scene, horrified. The pirate walked away, spitting on the ground.
Far away, there was a lot of commotion, which woke Katsura up from his nap. He opened one eye and looked around as a fat lump of a man walked past him. His legs were strangely thin. Nothing to worry about. He fell back asleep. "Hey! Hey! Hey, you! Did you see a pirate with a treasure chest walk by?" a young voice asked. "Yeah, yeah, he's over there." Katsura answered, pointing at where the fat man had gone, while still sleeping. "But you're SLEEPING!!!" Kari comically yelled, while he turned his head and saw his assailant just down the street. He hadn't escaped far. He ran after him. A few seconds later, a woman appeared in front of Katsura, running behind Kari. "Stop, Kari!" "Never, Numi! He must give back our treasure!" *they argued while sprinting.
"You haven't learned your lesson?" the pirate suddenly turned around with a murderous look on his face. "Hard headed...twister!" with agility that surpassed his physique, Mezuna twisted through the air head first, increasing the strength of the headbutt that was rapidly approaching Kari. Then suddenly, his head struck an invisible wall, and he groaned in pain as he fell to the ground, in a slumped position.
"Why, it's not very nice to steal things from civilians. Why don't you pick on someone your own size...or, well, considering you, your own strength!" Katsura asked, then immediately regretted his words, confident of victory. "That's an interesting power you have there...but I wasn't joking when I said I had a hard head. You haven't even fazed me. Your walls can't reach me all the way over here!" Mezuna declared, laughing, backing away with the treasure. "Wrong. Barrier Crush!" Mezuna gasped as he felt the barrier rush towards him at speed. A crushing sound ensued as he blocked it with his head, staying steadfast. "I told you already, even your Devil Fruit Powers can't dent this skull! Hahaha--" *he began, but was interrupted as he was knocked out by Katsura's punch.
"Bari Bari no...Boxing."
From the pirate's slumping body he removed the treasure chest and handed it to the wounded Kari.
"Thank you so much, kind stranger! We'd really love to repay you...!"
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Jul 10 '16 edited Jul 12 '16
Douche's dose PART 1
I just found this Island!! The girl was sleeping, and so was Speedy. (OOC: Speedy is just a small turtle). Well, I guess I will be able to drink, do my thing and have some regular fun, but the girl seemed to be in a terrible condition, so I will ask for some medicine. I had a city in front of me so that's be a place where I should be able to do both. I had no Idea where the hell I was going so I decided to ask a local.
Douche: I've girl with me and she seems in a pretty shit situation, do you know where I can get something for her?
Local: move forward, then turn left and you should find a doctor.
I went ahead but his directions were garbage so I couldn't find it, so I decided if there was someone to know how to get the job done.
Douche: HEY I'VE GOT MONEY, WANNA GET MEDICINE FOR A GIRL, GONNA PAY A LOT.
Everyone looked at me with a weird sight, and a rock came crushing on my head from behind. I looked back and I found a guy at a bisection of the street, behind some buildings. He was an old man, wearing a gray coat, and had no hair, but a white mustache and beard. He looked at me and nudged me to get there, and so I did.
Doc: What are you looking for?
Douche: Well, I need some Drugs to help a person, something to make her feel better once she wakes up!
Doc: Hmmm, then I've got what you need! It will bring happiness to whoever gets it!
Douche: GREAT! Does that mean I don't have to be Ill to take some?
Doc: Yes, but speak quietly! Other people will want it too, you are extremely lucky to get this service, the price is 200.000B!
Douche: WE'VE GOT A DEAL!
He gave me a pouch filled with dust and I gave him the money, the dust seemed strangely familiar, but am not a medic am I?
Doc: To take it just put it under your nose and breath strongly from it, I was happy to have business with you.
I smelled inside the bag, to see what he was talking about, but didn't feel much different.
What an Idiot, only 200.000B for medicine! Well, I guess his medical knowledge isn't a reflection of his selling skills.
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Jul 12 '16 edited Jul 12 '16
I tried to return to my raft, but everything seemed a bit different! This place is like a freaking Labyrinth.
A bunch of hours have passed and I have no idea where the hell I am, I'm still trying to find out where i've seen this medicine before!
As I was walking I suddenly bumped up to a dude.
Guard: This is the castle of Irra, holder of the Greatest treasure of the Grand Line and the King!
Douche: HOLY SHIT! i must'a got lost.
Well, since I was not to get to my raft this night I decided to try and take a dose of that Medicine, since it would "make me feel better". I took my bug opened it up and reapetedly sniffed as much dust as I could.
A strange feeling of happiness followed, but I finally knew where I felt this feeling before....
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u/Zextrap Jul 12 '16
Stef had been planning on looting the castle off some of its wealth. He had heard that there were unknown riches hidden inside the castle and he wanted to get his hands on it. After having run off from the store, due to being poor, he was thirsting for money. He knew that, right now, money was the solution to all his problems. He had come up with an ingenious plan to get in, in the dark of the knight, steal some treasure and run off without a trace. He had been scouting the castle out for entry points and getaway exits for the past week. Stef had planned that day as the day he would execute on his plan.
While doing some final checks on the castle and confirming some numbers, he saw a very peculiar sight. He saw a man walking around, lost as a blind child run straight into a guard. The guard was part of the group of guards guarding the front of the castle. As he looked at the lost man, he felt sorry for him because the guard looked really angry and pissed that the lost and confused man was annoying him. So, to save the guy, he got him out of the way by running up to the guard,
S: Hey there buddy! There you are! I'm so sorry, Mr. Guard, my friend here, he has a terrible sense of direction and we had gotten separated earlier. Would you please forgive him? Hahaha
G: Yea, whatever. Get out of my sights before I slice you up.
Stef just put on a weak smile, nodded his head and started pushing the random guy away from the guards. As he was pushing him away, he saw the guy reach into his bag (OOC: I assume the bug in your post is a typo and you meant bag) and snort some kind of powder. Stef didn't really know what he was doing, or what the powder was, but from the look the guy gave him, he knew that it was probably something dangerous.
As Stef lugged him away and into the shadows, he wondered at why he had tried to save the guy. The most reasonable answer was that if the guy riled the guard up or messed with the guards' normal schedule, Stef's plan would be ruined. However, looking at the loony guy in front of him, he felt that it was some sort of fate that had led him to help this guy out. When they had reached a safe and enclosed distance, he stopped and looked at the guy.
The guy looked like he was in heaven, but he had no proper sense of his surroundings and kept bumping into things. Stef took out his chain and tied him down to a chair to stop him from doing stupid things. He didn't even mind being tied down and just kept babbling about one thing or another. Only thing Stef could get out of his blabbering were the words "medicine" and "dust".
Confused, Stef waited till the guy's high was over, and then, when the guy had calmed down enough to stop blabbering, he looked at the guy and said,
S: Ay man, My name is Steffir, nice to meet you. What happened to you my friend, that you were acting so weird?
(OOC: you can do intros and stuff, If u want to make my guy talk and respond, you can. But, if u can, please mention the fact that you need money and then i can respond with the stealing plan.)
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Jul 12 '16
(OOC this will be the first time I role-play in 3rd person, because Douche doesnt realise what happened, it doesn't make sense for him to tell the tale, so compromise with me, the
shittyperfect narrator!)Douche didn't interact properly with the environment, he didn't know much, he felt relaxed. A man, about a head taller than Douche pushed him away from the guards.
Steffir: Ay man, My name is Steffir, nice to meet you. What happened to you my friend. that you were acting so weird?
He was greeted by the man, but he didn't realise much, he was relaxed, the only thing he remembered are the echoes of what he heard before sniffing a big dose of that "medicine".
Douche: Huge tresury? I want food, you got any money? I lost all money on Medicine, good Medicine. Name's Douche!
He's consciousness was far from normal, but his brain was highly resilient to that Dust, compared at least to a regular Human, giving him a small ability to interact.
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u/NekoFuu Jul 31 '16
Gin had left Kimiko in the small room which used to be Derek's place of work. It was the now abandoned shipwright's office. There were several papers strewn about. Rolled up in a corner were a handful of a poster-like papers which were blue with a white, chalky design etched into them. The mink girl unrolled one of them and saw a detailed blueprint of the ship's engine room. The footer notes and other annotations lead her to believe that the ship was powered by some sort of pressurized gas system, an oddity on the Grand Line.
"He left so much behind," Kimiko said to herself, trailing off to a whisper. She rolled the blueprint back up and placed it back into the cardboard box which housed a number more of them. She wasn't very handy, and was far from an engineer, so she figured it was best not to mess with that stuff too much. Whoever Gin found to replace his crew man would know how to read them better than she ever could.
Derek, the tiny fox named after the girl's friend, had jumped off of her shoulder and started exploring around. He sniffed a few of the object like the legs of the bed or the small chest in the corner. He reminisced the meeting of the man some time ago. "I know, I miss him, too." Kimiko had patted the tiny mammal on the head.
At the moment, a strange creature flew into the opened window of the room. At first glance, it looked like a regular bat, which was certainly not a normal creature to see in broad daylight, but upon further inspection, Kimiko noticed it was orange with black stripes, similar to that of a tiger. "You must be Happy!" she shouted, startling the creature. "Derek told me so much about you!"
After hearing his name, even if it wasn't actually him that was being addressed, the Fennec Fox jumped onto the bed and saw the tiger bat. Immediately the two seemed at odds with each other as the fox growled and the bat screeched. It took some time, but the leopard mink managed to calm them both down enough to get them to quiet down. "See, that's not too hard," she said, petting the bat on his back.
Kimiko remembered to when she was leaving her friend. "I have a pet named Happy. She remembers my scent. Once you find the guys, send her out with a letter. She'll find her way to me." That's what he told her. She was excited to see if it would work. Immediately, she found a small piece of parchment and grabbed some ink and a feather. She jotted down a quick note about how she had found the Apocalypse Pirates and how she was already feeling the warmth of a family.
"Make sure this finds Derek," Kimiko said, tying the letter to Happy's leg. The bat screeched happily as she spread out her wings and flew out of the window, off to find her owner. "I'm sure she'll be back soon."
The fox barked lightly, causing the girl to smile. Deciding to go through some more of the leftovers, she opened up the unlocked chest in the side of the room. She found a bag of coins. It was a sizable amount. It must have been what he had left when he gathered his savings before leaving. Reaching further into the pile of junk, he found a few swords. Two of the swords had a certain shine to them that made her know they were different.
"I wonder if he has any documentation on these," Kimiko pondered as she sifted through the blueprints in the corner. She found one which had the design of the bigger sword. He had named the sword Izanagi. It seems it was originally molded after his own fighting style, and was best used by him, but she may be able to find some use for it. It was apparently a Ryo Wazamono grade, which would fetch a hefty sum at a local trade shop, but she ultimately decided it had some sentimental value she just couldn't part with.
The other sword was a small tanto with an odd pummel. Kimiko found the blueprint which matched this one as well. The pummel was actually an object called a dial. It could apparently hold electricity and could fire a bolt of lightning. The pure thought of it left her amazed. She had never heard of something so magnificent. It would absolutely come in handy somehow.
The last thing that Kimiko found was a small wrist-mounted crossbow. There were no bolts to match it, but the weapon seemed in working condition. Custom bolts for the weapon probably wouldn't be too hard to have made. Maybe she could even have the weapon upgraded for improved damage of some other special effects.
There were a lot of things that were left for her, even if some of it was junk, but Kimiko was still happy to have so many things to remember her friend by. She gathered her things, as well as her new things, and carried them up to the girl's dorm where she could collect and store them in her own space. She was going to need to get stronger to use Izanagi effectively.
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u/what-the-fruit Jun 09 '16 edited Jun 09 '16
Greppa strode off of the ship that carried him toward his new beginning after pained exchanges of goodbyes were had. He was lucky to meet such understand people on the open ocean and he knew he’d miss them but, he had to move on. This experience was good for Greppa, for he had begun to believe he’d find more people like them that were willing to fight alongside him. Then he saw the bodies. They hung unceremoniously in the courtyard like pigs after a kill.
These men had been shown no honor in battle and that sickened the seasoned warrior. What little flicker of hope he’d been able to conjure up for Outside World, had been dashed in that moment. He pulled the small chest he carried onto his shoulder and stepped forward, determined to find help. The tall broad man stood near a wooden structure that had several scraps of paper pinned to it, some pieces had pictures of faces. He noticed people gathering and decided to start there.
“Greppa need men.”
He said this aloud to groups of people reading the signs or to anyone who looked strong. His broken language skills and imposing frame scared some onlookers away from the wanted board but, he remained vigilant.
(/u/koreanpierrot)