Marauders in Mirstone

[Pequeno Burraidh]

The animal that had griped Ferra's mind heeded very little as the chaos ensued. It did not heed the man as he went limp, nor when a tooth, and then another, and another were knocked free. The animal that took hold of the woman cared little as blood began to coat her gauntlets and spatter and fleck across her front and face. The animal sought only safety, the only way it knew how. Yet faintly, as if through water, the beast heard it's name called, and Ferra's vision quickly began to acclimate to a none fuzzy and far more acute picture of the wreck of a man that lay under her. His face was ruined, his skin torn and in tatters. Even though unconscious his breathing was coming in morbid gurgles and rattles that told her all too well that doctor or not, he wasn't long for this world.


Eyes still wide and wild as she tried to quickly take in her surroundings, the woman realised that not too far from her stood the woman that had been in the crow's nest, Rena if she'd caught her name right. The poor lady looked flighty and terrified. And it was directed at her. Her mind vaguely recollected the words the woman had shouted at her, and looking down at herself, then at the mortally beaten man, and then back at the terrified woman Ferra only just managed to repress a shudder as she realised what she had done. Shaking her head jerkily, the woman nodded in acknowledgement as well as secret thanks to the crew member.


"I would look away if I were you."


Giving only a handful of seconds, Ferra reached down and grasped the unconscious man's head firmly before twisting it sideways and up at a harsh angle, causing a jarring, yet muted, snap to occur. Letting the man's head down slowly, and closing the terrified eyes that reflected her own haunted look, Ferra rose and rearmed herself, walking away from the body and up to Rena. She lifted a hand to pat the girl on the shoulders, but stopped short when she noticed the blood coating her hands and arms. Hesitating for a moment the former captain recovered quickly as she spoke.


"I'm... Going to have to recommend you get back on the ship, likely below deck. It's far from safe out here right now, and if you look as flighty as you do now I can promise you it only gets worse." Ferra stated numbly, turning to watch the dock for other troublemakers as she waited for the woman to get back on the craft, aiming to follow after she was safely away, "And on the rare chance we're ever captured by Marines, and so long that you don't have a bounty, remember that I'm the Feral Captain and I took you prisoner. Likely to eat you, they say I do that these days apparently. It's safer for you that way."





@vergil

 

[vergil]

@vergil[/URL]

Rena did not look away, for many reasons, mostly out of shock. She didn't think that this woman that she had observed last night would be capable of such a deed. With not even a shed of regret or the man's neck snapped in a sickening crunch and it was all Rena could do to stay standing.


Ferra then approached her with her blood soaked hand and a squeak escaped Rena's mouth. It must have reached her ears as she pulled back. In a voice that was in complete opposition to the deed that she had committed, Ferra suggested on how Rena should should the marines come.


"That man may have had kids....a wife waiting for him. What...what right have you to take his life?"


Through her terror she wanted to know. She just witnessed a murder. The man was helpless and she had killed him in cold blood. What kind of person does that? As flighty as she looked she would stand and ask the questions the public would ask if they saw what she had witnessed.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Rena did not look away, for many reasons, mostly out of shock. She didn't think that this woman that she had observed last night would be capable of such a deed. With not even a shed of regret or the man's neck snapped in a sickening crunch and it was all Rena could do to stay standing.
Ferra then approached her with her blood soaked hand and a squeak escaped Rena's mouth. It must have reached her ears as she pulled back. In a voice that was in complete opposition to the deed that she had committed, Ferra suggested on how Rena should should the marines come.


"That man may have had kids....a wife waiting for him. What...what right have you to take his life?"


Through her terror she wanted to know. She just witnessed a murder. The man was helpless and she had killed him in cold blood. What kind of person does that? As flighty as she looked she would stand and ask the questions the public would ask if they saw what she had witnessed.

Ferra sighed as Rena spoke. In a way, had it been anyone else the girl very well could have been right. It's why she didn't spend a lot of time around people anyhow. Firstly she didn't trust them, and secondly because they shouldn't, and couldn't, always trust her. Thing was, however, this girl simply seemed to not understand the way the world worked. What kind of question was it to ask what right one had to ease suffering? Or was it simply because she had attacked him to begin with? If that was the case what right did he have to put a gun against her skull.


"If he had a wife or kid, he was abandoning them to try to force me to take him aboard and cast off. Does that make him worse, or better in your eyes?" Ferra retorted, though with a relatively flat voice her disgust for the man shone through, "It would do you well to step back and let those of us used to these actions occurring to take lead. You're going to find out fairly quickly that no one out here is innocent. That being said, while none of us are angels, you'll still manage to find a favoured few of us that stand on the righteous side of hell. It's best to understand that we will protect you, and we will regret killings that deserve to be regretted. That man however, deserved only less of a beating, but he was going to die regardless. Now if you're finished discussing the ethics and morals of someone you know nothing about, perhaps you should take heed and find yourself somewhere to keep your head down."


Stepping past the woman to leave her on the dock, Ferra boarded the Sea Dragon quickly dropped her whips to the ground before pulling off her blood coated coat, setting it aside and rearming herself with her whips. She then started climbing the ratlines with intent on getting a good vantage point to look over what all was happening right now.


"Oh, and Rena," she called back as she climbed further upward, "You should get back on the ship and pull the gangplank until Kenji arrives. There's bound to be another odd pirate or two that are going to think they can scare us into giving them our ship."

 

[Lady Warlock]

Scarlet Johanna Indigrid and Jasper Pharos

Despite her crewmates gradually spilling up onto the deck from the barracks below, Scarlet continued her climb up to the crow's nest and did not stop to address them until she'd made it all the way to the highest point she could possibly stand upon within the confines of her ship. From her newfound vantage point, she did have a better view of everything clearly, but she couldn't seem to make out any more details about the expansive vessel.


Her head turned down to address Cletus when she heard him. She heard Narivena as well, but the question seemed rhetorical to Scarlet's ears. "The marines? What makes you think that?" Scarlet wondered out loud for a moment before she glanced back at the ship, trying to figure out if she could see whatever it was that Cletus seemed to be seeing. She couldn't.


Listening to all of Cletus's suggestions, her eyes lit up. "You don't think we could do it?" she sounded disappointed as she said it. "We've gotta act like pirates sooner or later or no one will believe we are pirates..."


Before she could continue on that line of thought, though, Scarlet found herself distracted by further suggestions of what they could do. Nerissa seemed opposed to the idea of fighting and Arlen... well, Scarlet still wasn't sure if the Leviathan really wanted to be on board Charybdis in the first place, despite his offered thanks, to which she nodded curtly, accepting it but offering no reply. She had other things to worry about at that moment. She was actually being quite reasonable, listening to what everyone was saying before she made any brash decisions, and that included considering Skorrig's next thoughts.


She couldn't maintain the aura of seriousness, though. One thing Skorrig said caught her attention and that was suddenly all she could think about. "I look 'piratey', don't I?" She was serious about it, too. "We're a pirate crew. Shouldn't we all look piratey?"


It didn't really matter that she got distracted because they didn't have a merchant flag in the first place. The option existed to steal one, but Scarlet wasn't thinking enough to point that out.


Jasper suddenly appeared on deck with a solid thud and a few raspy inhalatuons. "Lady Scarlet. Marines have begun an invasion of Mirstone. I suggest we leave as quickly as possible. Is there anything we must do before setting off?" Jasper was visibly unsettled, which was unusual for one normallly so composed.


Scarlet's eyes quickly turned to her first mate as he 'poofed' on deck and she was legitimately surprised to realize that he hadn't been there for all of the suggestions the others had made. She simply wasn't used to him not being there and the realization that he hadn't been seemed to startle her for a moment. She looked at the large ship again, noting that it was now flanked by two more. "The marines are invading Mirstone..." she echoed Jasper's words.


"But... but... we still don't have the map yet," she whined like a child for a moment at the thought. It was readily apparent that she didn't want to leave the island and just run. That didn't feel right to her.


Jasper blinked in surprise that the map was still on her mind. Although..... it was not all that surprising coming from Lady Scarlet now that he thinks about it. "Apologies Lady Scarlet, but before I came back here I came across a man who said his ship was stolen with the map on it. The ship he spoke of is the one the Marines made drift wood of."


He looked out at the ship that had been joined by three others. That was not good. If those were the ships they could see, there had to be even more they could not in the distance. "Lady Scarlet, if there is anything else we need to do we need to make haste. I believe they will target any ship they suspect to be a pirates or harboring them."


Scarlet bit her lip. So the map was gone... buried in the water. The captain glanced back towards the rubble, half expecting to see someone trying to dive down and get it. Of course, the massive ship right there probably scared anyone away from trying. Not to mention, the map would be ash by now anyway.


Sighing, Scarlet's mind slowly drifted away from thoughts on the map as she nodded. "I guess there's nothing else..." she mumbled, double checking her thoughts as she tried to confirm that fact. Suddenly, though, there was something else. Scarlet scurried about, hurriedly climbing down from the crow's nest as she kept that single thought in her head. The map was gone. That was important.


"No, we can't leave yet. Jasper, there's someone I met yesterday... someone who I told could join if they found the map and now the map no longer exists and we can't just leave her here if the marines are coming and... and..." Scarlet paused, catching her breath though she tried to continue her brief rant. "I really did mean to let her join us."


A potential member offered a position by Lady Scarlet. That posed an issue. Jasper could not sully his Lady's reputation by making her into a liar. He did not want her to leave the ship in case they had to leave suddenly, but she would be the only one capable of guiding him to this person. "Okay then, would you be able to find this person if I guarded you along the way?"


"I don't know where she went, but I'd know her if I saw her," Scarlet replied swiftly.


Her head turned as she looked at the rest of her crew, determining the best course of action. While she was happy with the group she'd assembled so far and she didn't imagine either Kenji or Sora had managed to gather as many as she had, Scarlet still felt she could do better and even if better was just one person, she knew it would be worth it. "Cletus, you're in charge," she told her shipwright, guessing that he would know best how to not get her ship destroyed.


Looking back to Jasper, she nodded once and said, "Let's go."


Jasper nodded and stepped a little behind and to the right of Lady Scarlet. Setting each hand on a weapon in case he needed to draw quickly. There would be blood and corpses before someone lays a hand on Lady Scarlet with Jasper around. "After you Lady Scarlet."


And so the two of them headed off into Mirstone on a hunt for the woman Scarlet hadn't even gotten the name of simply because Scarlet felt she had a promise to maintain, a bargain to keep. She would not falter in that, not if she could help it.

@Veirrianna Valentine @QuirkyAngel @shadowdude505 @BlueUnicorn @Jekyll

 

[Jekyll]

Kaito


Kaito had been asleep on the deck of the Charybdis for the night, enjoying the nice cold air over the warmth of a bed. He had also served as a kind of guard dog in the matter, hoping that no one would attack the ship. When he first heard the explosion his hands where down on his pistols faster than his eyes were open. He stood up and began to observe the events.


Kaito watched as the ship sunk and another began to break the fog. Soon three more joined. He looked down over the side of the ship to see his captain run off. The ships were obviously marine ships, he would never forget the sound of those canons as they cracked when the marines invaded his home town. He decided to go for a little walk while his captain was gone so he jumped off over the side of the ship and walked down the shore.


Kaito jumped aboard a merchant ship. He pulled out his guns. "Everyone off" He said as they ran for their lives. He Searched below the decks and found all their cargo which mainly consisted of gun powder. He slowly brought it all above deck and covered it all up. He set the ship to half sail and aimed it towards the marine ships coming into port. Since there wasn't much wind the fire ship he had made should go straight towards the Marine vessel. Then one shot whether from a canon on the Marine ship or from a canon on the Charybdis should make it go boom.


@Veirrianna Valentine @QuirkyAngel @AllHailDago @DaughterofAthena @shadowdude505 @BlueUnicorn


William


William woke up on deck, he had passed out right in the middle of the deck the night before from drinking too much rum. As he woke he looked around and lifted his glass and turned it upside down. "Whys all the rum gone?" he said as he got up and began to stumble around a little bit. He made his way to the bow of the ship and looked off with a spyglass. He looked at the ship as it came into view. Marines no doubt.


He walked back down deck and jumped over the railing and landed on the docks by Rena. "Oh gods, what happened here?" looking down on the mess. He looked over to Rena after hearing her conversation with Ferra before she left, and gave her a quick smirk and walked over to her. "You seemed stressed out about this marine dilemma" he said putting a arm around Rena. "You know the Problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude towards the problem. Do you understand?" he said with grin. "Well the captain is out right now, so we cant do much can we. The best thing I can think of doing is going in the town and buying supplies for our journey because we ran out of a lot last night, mainly rum, so I'm going to do that. Savvy?" he said as he walked off towards town, As he walked he sang "yo ho ho, Its a pirates life for me".


@vergil @BlacklegSanji @Red Thunder @Peaceswore

 

[shadowdude505]

Cletus T. Bass

​

Cletus was about to give Captain Scarlet his two cents after she defended the idea of attacking the Marines by stating that the Charbdis crew had to act like pirates sooner or later. Luckily Jasper and the others managed to change her train of thought. The news about the map being destroyed was surprising, but that was probably a blessing in disguise; now the Charybdis crew didn't have to worry about other pirates harassing them for the map to the One Piece. What was more surprising to Cletus was that he was put in charge of the crew while Captain Scarlet and Jasper searched for a potential crew mate.


Cletus began to formulate a plan to keep the Charybdis and crew safe. He figured that trying to flee would look suspicious, not to mention more complicated since they'd have to retrieve the Captain and those with her. Fighting back, or at least making the first move, was out of the question for Cletus. He didn't know what his crewmates were capable of and, on top of that, they were outgunned and outnumbered. Cletus was in the middle of forming a plan when he smelled smoke. He noticed Kaito aiming a flaming merchant boat at the large ship.


"What the hell do ya think you're doing!? We may be pirates, but we're going to be dead ones if we don't act carefully," he yelled angrily at Kaito as he started a plan of his own without getting everyone's input. "Someone grab some rope below deck and tie us to the mast. If the Marines think that there are civilian hostages, they won't try to blow up the ship until we're off of it. Make sure the knots look tight, but are also loose enough to escape from if needed," he ordered gruffly before beginning to address everyone currently on the Charybdis. "The Marines may try to board the ship and 'free' us. If that happens then we'll be forced to fight back. If this plan works out as I'm hoping, we'd at least buy some time for the Captain. Maybe if we're lucky one of the smaller ships will notice us..."


@Veirrianna Valentine @BlueUnicorn @QuirkyAngel @Jekyll

 

[Axion]

KYOKO RINNE

​

The day before was certainly a day where Kyoko needed a really good nights rest -having finished the meal for Abby and cooking Will's curry suddenly dozing off when he was talking to her, then some random person asking whether or not she's seen this person with a ludicrous drawing of whoever they looking for, then seemingly finds whoever he was looking for. That day was hectic as it could ever be. Kyo couldn't really tell if she spent her day off "well-spent" having to go through what seemed to be the scariest moments in her life, confronting, bluffing, caring, buying(again), cooking, it all looked like it would last forever but to her surprise, it had actually past by pretty fast. Maybe Kyo had different thoughts about her day- well, she did make a friend by fate she supposed?


In that night, Kyoko carried the old man to his apartment above the shop. He snored along the way as Kyo grabbed a blanket and gave it to Abigail to keep her warm at night as she grabbed a chair and a stool, putting the chair up to the wall and placing the stool to set aside her feet on. She told Abby whether or not if she wanted to sleep or leave, pointing to the back of the shop a spare bed and from there Kyo just started to doze off and soon slept throughout the night. What seemed to be only for a second, Kyoko opened her eyes to see that dawn was rising- the sunrise light casting down the alleyway, "Is it already morning?" She quietly yawned, stretching her limbs out, maybe sleeping in a position in which it's probably bad for your back wasn't such a great idea but she could live with it, she stood up slowly- not wanting her vision to go crazy- and looked outside the alleyway. Peaceful. Calming even. No one seemed to be up yet, other than seagulls and herself, she looked back at the kitchen and remembered she packed herself some food for work. There seemed to be nothing else to do but Kyo walked a few paces forward to a little cubby hold and sat down with her legs crossed with as she sat there silently to herself. She didn't like the idea of sitting still but it helped her think in moments like these.


A large boom suddenly blew away her concentration and Kyoko opened her eyes in spite, "What the hell! What's happening now!?" she said to herself as she got up walking rapidly out of the alleyway to see what the commotion was. She stood on the edge of the marketplace, having a view of the area when something outside the harbor was in fact, burning and slowly sinking into the abyss. Kyo didn't know what to expect, did someone blew themselves up or something? She couldn't really see out far on the sea nor anyone on land from this distance but before she turned back Kyoko noticed a few ships ascending out of the fog, she still couldn't make it out what it was but questioned later as she ran back to the restaurant.


@DaughterofAthena

 

[ChimpMan]

For all of its wildness, the jungle could be peaceful. Unlike the city, there was no hustle and bustle. Nothing but a nice gentle breeze with the sounds of soothing waves and rustling leaves. Wil had even been careful to pick the most comfortable of trees to sleep for the night. The branch he lay on provided shade from the sun above and even had an arch that fit his back perfectly when laying down. Yes, all was calm, all was quite and all was peaceful - at least, it was. Wil picked up the booming roar in the distance subconsciously in his sleep, his ear twitching as he heard it. A skill he learned in the jungle, after all, you had to remain alert even when asleep. From the sound he could it was off in the distance so he remained asleep. Then came the panicked birds flying out of nearby trees, disturbing his blanket of peaceful sleep. Groaning sleepishly, he shifted left and right but then settled back, refusing to open his eyes and embrace the new day. Just as he began to settle once more a little capuchin monkey leapt from the tree above landing straight on his groin before using it to leap off. One of his jungle-rivals whom he had argued with the night before about whose tree it was. Wil groaned again, this time in pain and self-pity following a plummet, slapping the unforgiving dirt beneath the tree.





Then he opened his eyes with a look of lazy defeat. "Fine, I'm awake!" He admitted grumpily to fate. Getting up he did a bad job of brushing leaves out of his hair and wiping some dirt off his face before looking around sheepishly. 'Hmm may as well see what's with all the commotion.' he decided. He headed back toward the town, doing his morning stretches and yawning as he did. Eventually he reached a nice vantage point above a hill which looked over the Mirstone and its docks. From here could just about see a snaky tendril of black smoke rising from embers and debris above the water, followed by.. two- no three ships. Judging from the sounds in the town, everyone was now on high alert and moving about frantically.





He rubbed his eyes and decided to head into Mirstone.

 

[Felix]

Keya Fenris and Sétanta Igramo'El


Lighting up the night sky


@Mitchs98 and @Felix


Luckily Seth had managed to help the both of them escape, she was honestly kind of embarrassed that her plan didn't work. And if she were honest she was a bit depressed her attack hadn't worked. Nevertheless they soon made their way to his hotel room and grabbed the supplies they needed. After barely escaping a painful death she was really excited for this. Blowing up stuff was fun, as long as it didn't kill anyone. Unless they were bad guys, in that case kill away! Soon enough they were near the Tower, said Tower towering above them a little ways off. "Awesome! Finally here. So. What now?" She asked. "We gunna just, go right up and kill it? Or gunna go all sneaky and stuff?"


"Kill it with fire!" Seth shouted as he ran around the corner onto the tower square. He immediately stopped in his tracks and looked around the square. There was quite an audience for their spectacle, but something did not feel right. A lot of tension was hanging in the air. A diversity of nasty looking people, probably pirates were suspiciously eyeing each other. He wouldn't need any of his poison to get a fight started here. "Upon closer inspection ... We might need a more thorough plan this time. What do you think? Should we start another fight to confuse everybody? Maybe another awesome diversion? Or we could take them all out before we enter the building? You think we can handle that? Ooh, ooh, we summon the great Panda-sensei, slayer of dragons, to kick ass while we get to blow up the tower for an awesome slow motion explosion shot with the 3 of us jumping away in time and then-"


"Yeah!" Keya cheered excitedly in reply, speeding off after Seth. She barely managed to stop before she smacked into him as he abruptly stopped, of course being so small she had little clue of what was going on. Though she could see some of the pirates gathered around outside, or at-least they LOOKED like pirates, looking like some kinda fight was about to break out. Regardless one thing was clear; they were totally in the way of their awesome explosions! Seth was the first to start formulating a plan, or rather speaking really, really fast and giving several ideas, few of which made sense. Eventually she cut him off, "Hold on! Jeez. Stop talking so fast." She shouted, somewhat annoyed. "Why don't we sneak around them through the back, set up the stuff there, and get out before it explodes in front of them leaving them all like 'WOAH WHAT THE HELL?!'? Sound good?" She asked. Less crazy, more success, and right to the explosion. In her opinion, anyway.


"Fine!" Seth said in his best mopey kid impression. It was probably the most sensible thing to do and a surprise attack was always fun. "So what are we waiting for then?" He started running again. It wasn't exactly what one would call Stealth Mode, but the pirate groups were too busy with their staring contest to notice a small 'boy' running around the square. He followed the houses at the outer ring to get to his goal: the side entrance of the tower. Why didn't he get to be as small as Keya? She could easily cross the square without being seen. His brain was constantly urging him to go straight to the fun part, but the mean-looking pirates were just a little too intimidating. All he could give his brain were predictions of the chaos that would commence after the explosion. It seemed like ages before he got to the door "So ... what's next?" He asked as eager as a child that is about to get his birthday present.


Keya only rolled her eyes at Seths' response. While, she would normally be all for causing as much destruction and chaos as feasibly possible while trying to blow the thing up, her near brush with death led her to be more subtle for the time being. Which, in all honesty, would probably wear of by tomorrow. Nevertheless she stealthily followed behind Seth, pretty much spotted by nothing. If she was spotted whoever saw her would only blink in confusion as she'd be gone a split second later. Oh the joys of being a dwarf. Though, she wished she was taller. She was kind of jealous of Seth. Of course being small had its advantages, plus she was really strong and fast so meh. Soon they reached the side entrance, which prompted Seth to ask her what to do next.


Did he really think she had some kind of master plan? Her plan was literally sneak in, plant bombs, and leave while blowing shit up. Nothing exactly complex or anything, just simple get in, boom, get out. "Uhhh..Boost me up to the keyhole and I can try to squeeze through and open it. Failing that..I dunno we break the door?" She replied questioningly before shrugging. Keya was very much a point in the direction of what you want destroyed not a 'think of a plan' person.


“Why try open it first?” Seth asked. “Resistance is futile! Let‘s bring the knocker down!” before Keya could say anything he already took a few steps back and charged. This was going to hurt. A lot. Seth wasn’t really build for this kind of physical labor. Why didn’t he ask Keya to do it again? She would- To his surprise the door gave in. It was way too easy, someone must have already opened it. When his eyes had adjusted to the dark he saw four faces that were even more flabbergasted than his. It took a short moment to let the situation sink in. Of course it would have been too easy if the place had been empty. Someone must have wanted to test them. Seth was the first to recollect himself. “Hi, sorry to barge in like that, but I would like to tell you about Albi, our lady and savior. May her fur be forever white.” Somehow he didn’t think they would buy it.


Keya's eyes widened, was he really going to just break the door? What happened to stealth! If she had of known this she would of just ripped the door off its hinges and went about her business. "Seth no wai-!" She began, but of course he'd already broken the door off its hinges. Which honestly surprised her, she had no idea he could even do such a thing with his small frame. But eh, she was like, a hundred times smaller than him and she could do it so..meh. Nevertheless she had little time to do anything before it became apparent they had company, or rather, they'd given the people on the other side some company. She immediately gave Seth a 'wtf' look at his very poorly crafted lie to make them not try to murder them.


Could he of seriously thought of something better? Guess not. Oh well. Nevertheless they didn't believe him either, in fact one immediately stepped forwards with the same 'wtf' look Keya had. "What did you just say?" He asked, he didn't believe them, but he was also pondering if Seth was mental. Of course, Seth didn't have much time to answer at all. Directly after the man spoke Keya whacked him in the leg with a plank from the door. "There's only four of 'em, lets get 'em!" She shouted. Of course with that the other three charged at them, swords brandished and ready to kick ass.


"I'll tell you what." Seth replied as he tackled the first bandit who charged with his Jo. "You will probably not hear my explanation since you're sort of out cold, but whatever. It's all about battle tactics. When in doubt, increase the doubt. Who of you wants first?" He asked the other two. They looked at each other quizzically. The only certainty was that the guy clearly was a nut-job. Seth grabbed both of their heads and smashed them against each other. They both fell to the ground. "Thank you for illustrating my point. Any questions?" The guy that had been tackled was trying to get up. "What the-?" He was silenced by Seth's Jo smashing his jaw. "No questions? Good! Let's continue then, shall we?"


Keya only grinned and continued to render the guy she'd whacked with the plank unconscious as Seth seemed to agree with her plan. None of what he was saying made sense, but she picked up that's what he intended. And that was to confuse the hell out of them to open them up to attacks better in the process. As Seth felled them Keya walked by and delivered a firm blow to the head with her plank of wood, just to be safe and make sure they were knocked out. She giggled at his excitement to continue onward before nodding, though she kept the plank in hand. "After you buddy!" She replied excitedly.


Seth was about to sprint to the stairs when his eye fell on barrel lying between the bodies. "Ooh! Would you look at that! What's in it? Do you think it's treasure?" He picked it up and shook it. It made no sound. "No, that's not it. Or is it? Maybe it is explosives? Or nasty glitter? Rrrraaahhh, I can't stand mysteries!" He shouted while trying to open it. Crack! The lid flew a meter in the air and the barrel fell to the ground. It seemed to be empty. What a disappointment! Seth had hoped for something flashy.


He already got his attention on the stairs again when his wish came true. A bright pink flame burst into existence. It made no sound at all, but made that up in the amount of black smoke it produced. It was quickly filling the room and spilling on the square. "Ooh! Flashy," was all Seth could say. Outside some voices were starting to shout, alarmed by the pitch black veil. "I think we should get going. Don't breathe any of this stuff." He told Keya as he bolted for the stairs.


She followed after him as stealthily as board moving seemingly by itself could. That was up until the point he stopped to inspect a barrel. "Maybe you shoul-" She began to attempt to warn him to not pry the lid off, but of course he did anyway. Luckily nothing exploded or anything negative happened. This guy was reckless, maybe even moreso than she was. Soon enough the barrel emitted a purple flame and smoke started filling the room, causing Keya's eyes to go wide. "See! I knew that was a bad idea!" She whined, already hearing footsteps of some of the bandits from outside entering the tower.


Seth had already started running for the stairs by the time she started to say anything else. "Hey wait for me!" She cried out, tossing her plank to the side and speeding off after him. "So what now? Where are we gunna put the explosives and stuff?" She asked. She kind of wondered why they didn't put any on the floor they were on, but, eh. Oh well. Regardless they needed to act fast or their plans might be stopped by the group that was currently storming their way inside.


The lovely sound of chaos reached Seth's ear. A fight had started at the entrance of the Bell tower. He didn't know what caused it, but he guessed they were all accusing each other of the smoke screen. Seth had no idea who could have done that. He smiled to himself. The building shook as someone had been thrown against a supporting beam. "I think our friends behind us will take care of the first floor. Given that they are not knocked out by the gas". He shouted to Keya over the battle noises. The smoke was also still following them, but it didn't proceed as fast as first. "Let's plant our toys on the second floor and higher. The whole building has to be destroyed for the highest entertainment value. We do not want to disappoint our audience, now do we?"


A few seconds before on the second floor: "The signal has been lit!" A scrawny kid yelled to the other two. "Have you gon' Bonkers?!" Said the second one while he hit the crawny kid on his head. "It's way too early, ya nitpicker!" "No, I swear, I saw it with my own eyes. The black smoke is covering the whole square below" "Stop lyin', you bloody wanker! I only trust me own eyes" The two were fighting over the single archer's hole in the wall. The third, who had been silent up until now, sighed and got up. "Stop bickering already! The boss' orders were clear: if the smoke gets on the square we have to light the fuse and get out of here." He pushed the others aside and looked through the whole. It was already starting to get dark, but he could still see what happened on the square. It had turned into a battlefield. The crews were fighting each other, and not in the noble way most people would fight. Hairs were pulled, allies were shot in the back. He even thought he saw someone being tickled, the horror. He also saw clearly that the black smoke was on the square. It had already surrounded the base of the tower and was rolling over the square. The fighters were just as busy running from the smoke as they were fighting each other. "OK, fire in the hole!"


68 ... 69 ... 70 ... Seth and Keya were running on the stairs. Seth was huffing a lot. It was not that he didn't have the energy, but his legs were starting to get sour. ... 82 ... 83 ... He didn't want to ask Keya for a break though. The pride of his tribe was at stake here. ... 88 ... 89 ... Boats were just not that well-suited for cardio training. So he just counted. ... 93 ... 94 ... 95 ... Almost there ... 98 ... 99 ... And they were finally at the top. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about." He looked down over de railing. The smoke was almost at the base of the stairwell. The people looking for a fight were not. "I kicked the last bandits ass," he said while puffing over the railing. "You can clear out the next room. I'll be right behind you."


Keya to heard the sounds of fighting below them and grinned, nodding when he said those below would likely take care of the first floor for them. From the sound of it he was definitely right. Besides, once they bombed the upstairs it'd all crash down onto the first floor anyways. When he answered her question on where to place their explosives she nodded. "Sounds good to me so long as the place blows up!" She cheered in response. So far, she was honestly have a lot of fun. Even if she had almost got crushed to death the excitement greatly outweighed it, and by now she honestly wasn't even dwelling on that moment. Right now, right now she was gonna blow shit up and have fun doing it. She was tempted to run ahead of Seth, but that wouldn't be fair. Then she noticed him seeming to get tired. Well, he had been doing most of the fighting up until now. It was obvious he'd be at least somewhat tired, she imagined.


She was tempted to tease him about it but decided against it. Soon enough they reached the top of the stairs and she also moved to see if they were being followed. Luckily they weren't, likely knocked out by the smoke. She pouted slightly when he told her to take care of the next room by herself. "Fine, just don't pass out out here. I don't wanna have to carry you around." She replied. With that she ran up to the door, jumped, and kicked it down in one swift motion. Everyone in the room immediately stopped what they were doing, one of them getting a door to the everywhere and effectively instantly taking them out. "I'm down here! Hi!" She shouted, waving enthusiastically. The kid was the first one to look down, immediately followed by the rest. "A dwarf! Lets get her and sell her!" the kid immediately suggested, to which Keya's eyes widened. Nope. Not gonna happen. "Sorry kid, but I refuse to be a slave again!" She replied. With that she ran up to them, which ended up in her trying to be grabbed, which ended up with the kid punching the man due to the simple fact she moved to fast for any of them to hope to catch with their bare hands.


"Why you little!" The man roared, punching the kid before he even had a chance to react. She sat back as the man and kid fought, the kid ending up on the floor unconscious. Which led him to focus on her. "Now, as for yo-" He began as her turned to face her, only to get a plank of wood to the face. Keya simply giggled and whacked him again when he was on the floor to make sure he was unconscious. "Hey Seth! Room is clear!" She called out. Little did she know they had a lit a bomb in the room with her before she was able to knock them out.


Seth was almost back to normal when Keya called. He had one last look downstairs. The smoke was already creeping up the stairs,but luckily for Keya and Seth, there were no angry people coming. Although, he couldn't be sure with the black veil of smoke. He hurried to Keya and examined here work. She was standing between three guys laying on the floor with a proud look on her face. "Nice work! High five!" He said holding his hand in the air. "Oh ... wait ... nevermind. You did great though ... " There was an awkward silence. "So ... Shall we place our bombs then?" Before Keya could reply on his rhetorical question one of the guys started to get up. "Don't bother ... ugh ... Ye fools! hnnng ... You'll never get out ali-" Seth hit him hard in the head with his Jo. This time he stayed down.


"Yeah, whatever." Seth replied. "We'll just ... " His voice trailed of. A spark had caught his eye. His eye followed the fuse which the spark followed. He started to understand why the man had said they wouldn't survive. "Eh ... Keya, please tell me you already planted that bomb. Did you? What should we do? How do we survive? You don't have something sharp with you, or do you? Do you think we can break it?" He tried. And failed. "We don't have water either, do we? How do we escape? Is it even possible to escape in time? We can't go down, that's for sure. Too many angry pirates and a scary black smoke screen. Giving up is also no option. Where is the fun in that? Do you think there is something to escape at the top of the building? Or should we just jump out a window? Or- "


Keya blinked as Seth walked into the room and offered to high five her. Was he serious? Rather than get mad or anything she only laughed at his moment of awkwardness. He'd be surprised how many times that happened to her, and how often. When he asked about placing the bombs she nodded, but halted before she could say anything when one of the guys started getting up. She was a bit confused, but, eh. Then she looked over when Seth trailed off to see an already lit bomb. Her eyes widened at the sight.


What the hell! When did they light that? Why did they light it? They would of blown themselves up too! It made no sense! These guys were idiots! What were they going to do?! Well. More so Seth. She could jump out and survive with minimal injury, but she wasn't leaving Seth behind! She shook her head when asked if she planted it, only continuing to look at the bomb with a look of pure fear on her face. This was significantly worse than when she was nearly crushed. This 100% spelled death for her. If they didn't make it out, they were both likely dead. She listened to his suggestions as he spoke, trying to think of something herself. She could always jump out of the window with him in tow, or toss the bomb out. Though..that would likely kill a lot of people. She was a trouble-maker, not a murderer.


Eventually she cut Seth off. "Let's try to look upstairs for a ladder or some rope! It's our only other option! If we don't find any I can pick you up and we can jump out. I should be fine. I've never done it before..BUT..yeah." she told him quickly. "Come on lets go!" She insisted before dashing out of the room and starting to ascend the stairs. There had to be a way out of this mess! In her haste and confusion she didn't even think about cutting the fuse with her axe, far to frantic to think of such a simple solution.


Seth followed Keya out of the room and froze. He looked up. Another set of stairs, even longer than the last one. Just jumping out on Keya's shoulders started to sound a lot more appealing. No! He handled much longer tracks. The sea just wasn't really cut out for cardio. He was about to give up and ask Keya to jump with him when he saw his salvation. from the ceiling a few ropes dangled down. He could just climb a rope, which could be called Seth's 'natural habitat', but why would he when he could use them as what they were made for?


On the roof of the second floor the rope was attached to a crate. much higher on the other end of the rope was a heavy weight. Normally a person would have to pull as well to get the cargo to the top, but this was perfect for what Seth had in mind.


His legs were tired, but his arms could still do quite a bit of work. Handily he climbed up the crate. "Keya, you can run ahead! I'll fly past you in a moment." He started climbing the rope. Unfortunately, it didn't go as fast as he would normally go, because his legs were trembling a bit from exhaustion. It was still pretty fast though. He didn't have to go all the way to the ceiling. Seth estimated that he would need to go about one third of the way. Otherwise he would not go fast enough and he would plummet to his death. He arrived where he wanted to be and went a few meters higher, just to be sure. Then it struck him: the reason that they were in this precarious situation was because he didn't have anything sharp to cut a rope.


Why does this always have to happen to me? He looked down. He probably wouldn't survive it if he fell down. Swinging to the sides was no option either since the cord was strained from the crate and the counterweight. A crazy idea started to form in his head. Not that it was something special, all his ideas were crazy, but this one was in particular. He slid his tong over his teeth. They were strong enough. The point was he had to bite the rope in half below him otherwise he would still fall to his death. So, he had to improvise. He grabbed the rope tight with two hands and pushed himself perpendicular to the rope. His arms started to ache as well, but if this would work he wouldn't need their strength much longer. He swung his leg to the rope above his arms and hooked on. The blood started to flow to his head, coloring his face to match his hair. He started gnawing the rope. His teeth weren't as sharp as he had thought, but they did the job. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was hanging completely upside down.


His head was aching and his eyesight started to become unclear. Just four more big fibers to go. three! two! one! He didn't even have to bite the last one, it snapped from the force of the weight. How luck- He didn't have time to think more as he was sky rocketed. "Whooooohoooo!" He shouted as he shot through the air. Seth knew he would have to let go soon. Normal people would be afraid of letting go, or at least hesitate a bit. Not Seth, for he was a maniac. He loosened his grip and flew further. He could almost touch the ceiling now. CRACK! The weight fell through the wooden ceiling of the second floor and then through it's floor. CRACK! Ooh, spectacular! If I ever have pesky underneighb- Focus! Not a minute too late he came to his senses. He was only one meter below the ceiling. He felt himself become weightless. No! I'm not high enough! He reached as high with his arms as he could and shut his eyes. If this was the pathetic end of Seth Igramo'el, then he didn't want to see it. He would rather blow up and get it over with, but no, he had to do with a measly fall of 20 meters. Wait a minute, why am I not falling? He opened his eyes and saw that he was still at the ceiling. He looked up. His hood had caught onto the pulley. He knew the thing would one day save his life. He reached his hands and clinged on the pulley by himself. He still had to move to the side, where the stairs were, but that was quite easy. He swung to the pulley of the counter weight and used the momentum to swing to the stairs. What a little knowledge of physics could do.


When Seth told her to run on ahead of him she needed no other cue than that before zooming up the stairs towards the top floor. Time was of the essence at this point and they really didn't have much of it. She couldn't help but glance back and forth at Seth and his crazy scheme he was planning to ascend himself to the top floor. She wasn't sure what he was doing at all, not in the slightest, but whatever it did it better work or he'd likely be blown up. She'd try to rescue him, but in all honesty he was nothing more than a cool friend she just met...she wasn't sure he was worth risking her life over or not. Though, she did kind of encourage them blowing this place up...so she guessed she should since she got them both into this mess. Soon Seths' plan was thrown into motion and he zipped up past her to the top floor, ultimately getting caught on the pulley before he failed and plummeted to his death. "Nice job Seth!" She shouted up to him, speeding up to catch up to him.


Eventually she reached the top floor and as she did before kicked the door off the hinges seeing as she had no time to waste. Though, once again, the room was occupied. Though not by a group of pirates, rather by a singular mean looking man that was obviously the leader glaring down at her with his arms crossed against his chest. "Uhhh..Hi! Ok so...This place is gunna explode and your buddies are kinda knocked out by the bomb! We should just uh..go and..yeah!" She told him nervously, trying to convince him fighting her was a waste of time and they really needed to go before the place exploded. She could tell the Captain was unconvinced though, as expressed by the extremely angry scowl on his face. "I have a better idea. How about, I kill ye, and ye friend, and then I escape?" He bellowed before drawing his sword and taking a swipe at her, only having the sword get stuck in an empty space where she once was.


"SEEETH! HELLP!" She cried as she ran from the guy, though he couldn't match her speed, he was definitely determined. They needed to knock him out, or kill him, or something! She was 90% sure that the guy would get himself killed in the process of trying to stop them from escaping as revenge for his mates. She could respect that, but she really didn't want to die. She had an idea, the idea being simple of Seth distracting the guy long enough for her to push him over the guard rail and to the first floor of the lighthouse below. But for that to work she needed Seth and to evade capture until then. It SHOULD work though, she hoped it would anyway.


Seth ran into the room just when Keya shouted for help. He quickly analyzed the situation. Panicky running Keya? Check! The ugliest and maybe also angriest pirate captain in the world with his sword drawn? Check! Window with zipline? Che- Wait what? Zipline? Awesome, they would have succeeded if it wasn't for that pesky angry captain. They had to clear him out of the way and fast or they would all be incinerated by the bomb. He only needed one look at Keya to know what her plan was. They only met a few hours ago, but he already felt like they were lifelong friends, or a married couple. There is just a thin line between the two. Friends were usually not that ni- Focus! Oh, right ... Captain Buttface was in need of some distraction.


Keya continued to run in circles around the room to avoid getting cut in half by the pirate captain behind her. She heard that wasn't exactly a fun thing to have happen to you, and she was determined not to find that out! VERY determined! Of course he had tried his damnedest and continued to have tunnel vision to murder her the entire time even when Seth initially came up to distract him he still came after her. "ANYTIME NOW SETH!" She shouted as she barely avoided another strike. She knew he was trying hard to get the man to notice him, but it wasn't his life that could be instantly ended by one slice of a sword.


It was much more difficult than Seth had anticipated. He tried his weird faces and failed. He did a full salto, but did not get his get attention. He tried to be his natural self, but even that didn't work. His eyes were still fixated on Keya. Oh, what a man had to do for some attention ... He hit the poor man hard in his crotch. The man roared in pain and changed his focus on Seth. Seth panicked. Why did he get to be the target? How to dodge a crazy guy? The Corrida Coloseum in Dressrosa was build over a thousand years ago. Shut up brain! Why did his brain always spout useless facts in these kind of life-or-death situations. Useless? No! It gave Seth a crazy idea. They had already dealt with a gorilla today, now he would get to perform with a bull. The resemblance was uncanny. An ugly bold animal charging blindly at his target. Seth was basically one big red flag. He just had to make sure he would step away in time. Easy, right?


The captain charged at him. Seth waited. Just a little closer. At the last moment he jumped to the side. It worked! The captain couldn't change course and got his sword stuck in a sack of sand. A little dropped on the floor, followed by a whole lot more as the pirate janked his sword out. So... it was not something definitive. "Keya!" He warned. "I can't keep this up forever." The captain charged again. Wait for it ... Not just yet ... Just a second later ... NOW! He jumped again, but slightly too late. The sword made a small cut in his calf. Fortunately his sword was also stuck in a much sturdier crate this time. "Keya, do it now!"


Just as she was about to tire out completely from running the big guy finally started targeting Seth. At this point all she had to do was sit, rest, and wait for the perfect opportunity to jump up and kick the guy over the rails to his death. But first came rest, because honestly she was extremely tired. She watched anxiously as Seth dodged around the man rather expertly. She'd long recovered, at this point it was waiting for Seth to lead him near the rails. She winced as he was cut, though this time he also got his sword stuck very firmly in a crate. Now was the perfect time! She ran around behind the Captain as he as trying to wrench his sword free, jumped, and kicked him squarely in the back effectively causing him to topple and break through the rails, roaring angrily as he fell to the bottom of the tower with a thud. "WOO! Good work Seth! NOW LETS DITCH!" She shouted, quickly congratulating him and making her way over to the zipline. The zipline was too high to reach. Nice. "Ummm...pick me up and then lets ditch!" She insisted, quickly gesturing to the zipline.


"That was not very nice, young lady!" Seth said. "It was AMAZING! Such a shame that we have to go no, but we wouldn't want to get victims of our own spectacle, now would we." He hobbled over to the zipline and picked Keya up. "Sorry, I'm not as fast as I used to be back in the old days." There was no time to treat his wound on his calf. That didn't keep it from hurting a lot. He saw a few leather belts lying close to the line and grabbed one. He swung it over the line and stepped in the window. Beneath him he heard the sound of chaos and war. Thugs were fighting with swords, guns and weird other objects. He also heard annoyed shouts of confused people. Seth would also be pretty confused if he couldn't see a thing. The fighting people were either really skilled or mad, even more than Seth was. They probably would hit their best- Oh right, zipline and a shortage of time. "Keya hold on taaaaaaaaaaaa!" he shouted as he jumped into the black abyss.


Seth shouted along the way down. It was not a shout of fear. Fortunately, he wasn't afraid of heights. It was the sound of pure joy. Adrenaline was flowing through Seth's body and it felt great. In hindsight it might have been better to make silent and swift escape. Who cares? Well ... Maybe some angry mob on the square might. For a moment the square was silent. Everybody looked up. The smoke was not that high so they could see a contour of a young boy sliding down a line. Then someone broke the silence: "He did this! Let's get him!" The whole square roared. Those who were once enemies, say 5 minutes ago, were now united against one target, a little rascal who was pranking them. They started moving towards the end of the zipline, the roof of a large house on the edge of the square. "Oops".


That was the last thing Seth managed to say. As luck would have it the bomb had chosen that exact moment to explode. BOOM! A flash. Cracks ran over the whole tower and tore it apart. A shockwave blew all the pieces away. "Yeeeeha!" Seth and keya were just a few meters before their end of the line. Luckily it was the end of the zipline and not some other lifeline or something. Though the angry mob could have made that happen as well. However, the start of the line at the tower was utterly destroyed. For a moment Seth and Keya felt weightless clamping for any hold they could find. Then they fell. Seth didn't have time to scream. He had to come up with the best last words. His life was flashing before his eyes. Well universe, the jokes on you. Yes, perfect. Tsjak!


Amazing how much luck two people could have on one day. The joke was definitely on the universe. The end of the zipline tensed and became a sling. Their fall was diverted into speed. Seth couldn't help himself, he had to do a Tarzan imitation. "AAAAAAAIYAIYAIYA!" The sling was just short enough that they wouldn't hit the ground. Seth stopped his animalistic behavior. "Keya, we have to jump in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... NOW!" He let go. They had way too much speed. Seth landed on his feet and tried to run. He almost immediately fell because of the wound. He produced another animalistic roar as he tumbled down. He rolled over many times and couldn't see where he was heading. Then he heard the sound of a pumpkin being smashed. Just when he had stopped rolling. And then he blacked out.


@Mitchs98

 

[Peaceswore]

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"Hm? Tsk tsk what do we have here?" The man who had called himself Ryuu earlier asked as he stood on top of a building over looking the ocean. "A merchant ship heading to the vessels that are about to start the party? Now what crew would have the idiotic gull to do that?" Pulling a pair of small binoculars out of his pocket the black haired man looked through them as he watched the ship sail on. Seeing only one person, and that one person roll barrel after barrel onto the ship certainly made 'Ryuu' suspicious of his activity. "Must be a suicidal person, welp can't let him take the others to the sea because of his own wishes for death."


Letting a dry laugh leave him as he shook his head he pulled up his hood over his head and rolled his neck. "Now lets see if I can get any fun out of this~" Placing his hands in his pockets he bent down a bit before sudden jumping off the roof getting pretty high up in the air. "Moonwalk." He whispered under his breath as he said this he hit the air with his leg only propelling him further into the air. Moving at incredible speeds which made anyone on the ground miss him if they so much as blinked he headed right for the ship. Despite the distance between the two he didn't seem to mind it at least as he now ran via air over the water and too the ship.


Mere minutes he arrived there and when he did he soundlessly landed on the crows nest. When he did he walked over to the edge and crossed his arms before leaning down on it and just watching the other move about. After about three minutes he looked up and decided he should go ahead and stop this silly man. "Do tell, what was your great plan? Get close to those ships and go boom? Or are you hoping a pirate ship would blow you up?" Ryuu asked as he jumped down from the crow's nest and landing right in front fo the ships wheel. "Did you plan at all for this? I don't think you did, you really should though. After all what happens if...someone such as my self... Did this."


Even with his hood still on it was easy to see the man's smirk as he grabbed the wheel and made it do a very hard turn starboard and away from the oncoming ships. The sudden turn made anything that wasn't tied down move to the side, a few loose things actually went overboard. "I'm curious, what will you ever do~?"


@Jekyll

 

[Lady Warlock]

Yumi Tahiro

NPC Notes


Location: On a Building


Age: Late teens / early 20s


Gender: Female
​

She had been unable to procure the child who’d escaped. Searching after night fell was just pointless; she could walk right past her and completely miss her. For that reason, Yumi settled herself at an inn for the evening. She knew better than to return to Captain Shade empty handed so going back to the ship was a more dangerous option; it was the same as returning empty handed. It wasn’t really a problem. She had a few beli on her and Yumi had no reason not to spend it.

In the morning, she woke fairly early on with very little thought as to what the day would hold. She still had to find the little brat, after all. There wasn’t much else to plan.


However, soon an explosion seemed to rock the entire island and she could hear it through the open window in the room she’d paid for but would not deign to call her own. Peering outside, she could just barely make out the approaching marine ship and her eyes narrowed. “Just great,” she mumbled to herself. That was the last thing she

needed right now; however, she was not surprised by it in the slightest. ‘This might be helpful, though. If everyone’s running towards the docks to try and get away, I’ll just have to watch and she should come straight to me.’ It wasn’t a bad plan.


Packing up her small bag quickly, Yumi headed out and made her way towards the docks, hoping to avoid the sight of Captain Shade until she had the escapee between her hands.

Abigail Livingston

NPC Notes


Location: Market


Age: 12


Gender: Female
​

Abigail had graciously accepted the blanket Kyoko had offered her and she’d promptly made her way over to the bed her companion had pointed out. She didn’t know why Kyoko kept offering for her to leave if she wanted; then again, Abigail knew she hadn’t really told the woman much about herself so she supposed it made some kind of sense even if she didn’t think it was reasonable. Kyoko didn’t know that Abigail hadn’t slept in a bed for longer than she could remember so Abigail couldn’t blame her for suspecting that she might prefer to leave.

The bed had been like a cloud to Abigail. Needless to say she slept really well.


A sound like thunder jerked her awake, her hands gripping the edges of the blanket tightly as she tried to collect herself. Every muscle and bone in her body was prepared to flee from whatever had caused it; Abigail was used to running. It had become her life and she was prepared to continue. However, there was no threat readily apparent. It confused her.


In being as flustered as she was, Abigail hadn’t noticed Kyoko had left the upstairs of the apartment and instead, she was clinging to the blanket tightly as she stood up and looked around. It was then that she realized Kyoko was no longer there and it was also then that she started to panic. Glancing out the window, Abigail could see that people were running towards the docks. Her eyes trailed to what she could see of the sea and she gasped at the sight of

large ships coming towards the island that currently harbored so many pirates.


“Crap! I didn’t warn them… I ran away and then… then I completely forgot!” the realization seemed to hit her head on. Without further thought, Abigail took off running down the steps and through the kitchen. She didn’t know if she would run into Kyoko although she hoped she would. She didn’t want her new friend to get hurt. Abigail was intent on warning anyone she could that this wasn’t even the worst of it.


@UdonIrvine47

Roy Volantis

NPC Notes


Location: The Meeting


Age: 26


Gender: Male
​

“Captain, we should get moving,” Roy called across the deck of The Montreal towards another man on the deck of the ship. “I’m not confident that the map exists and I do think avoiding the rush to escape is better than taking our chances.” Roy was not at all shy about voicing his opinion and the mere tone of his voice suggested that he expected to be listened to.


“I guess you’re probably right,” the captain sighed, sounding rather defeated. “I suppose the grand line might be rather empty now, huh?”


“No. I don’t think so. There’s plenty of pirates who were too busy to make it here and even more, I imagine, who either didn’t believe in it or simply don’t care enough,” Roy replied with a shrug as their flag was lowered and the rope untied from the dock. Their ship was the first ship to make it out of the port.


“I know you never believed in it, Roy,” the captain commented.


“I believe in what I see, Captain,” Roy answered bluntly. “During my time here, I saw no one with a map and I saw no map so it simply isn’t something I need to believe in. I believe in you, Captain, and that’s enough.” His words received a subtle nod from his Captain and then The Montreal swerved out of the way of a ship that seemed to be heading in entirely the wrong direction although their ship simply kept moving.

 

[Felix]

Cygnus Albireo


Boom! Cygnus shot up. “Auch!” He hit his head against something hard. What a way to be woken up. Cygnus was confused, he didn’t remember falling asleep with something above his head. It was still dark. Who would fire a cannon at this time of night? His heart was still pounding. The explosion was pretty far away, but still … you never knew when people would get to you. His whole body ached. He was sitting squat, not the most comfortable way to sleep, but you had to learn quickly when you lived on the street. Both his knees were touching some kind of barrier. Wherever he was, the exit had to be in front of him. Still dazed he reached to the front. Another wall. Cygnus panicked. Did they finally catch him? Were they going to sell him to the marines? His chest was going up and down really fast. He could hear his own blood pumping in his ears. Calm down and think this through. After a while his eyes adjusted to the dark. His breathing slowed down as the memories of last night came back to him.


After parting ways with the sword lady he looked for the red haired girl for a while. He truly wanted to help the sword lady if only to avoid her wrath. Finding the girl and escaping with her was still tempting as well. Captain logs were a rare treat and almost always a read. It would be a goldmine for story inspiration. However, he didn’t have much luck finding her or the book. A red haired girl who was running was simply not specific enough. Cygnus had seen several and he even might have missed a few too. When the streets became crowded again he had to get down from the roofs to look. On the streets with his cloak were not the ideal circumstances to spot a certain person, but he couldn’t risk being discovered. Soon he spotted the first running red head girl. Cygnus considered how to start the conversation. Should he say something very aggressive like: “Thieving is not nice, young lady. If you work with me we can lower your punishment”? Or maybe he should come to the point immediately: “My lady, you are in grave danger, come with me if you want to live. By the way, I heard you have a nice Captain’s journal, can I have it?” Both sounded weird and creepy. As he was thinking of something better to say, he saw the girl hit another girl. “You’re it!” They were just playing a game of tag. Cygnus felt embarrassed, how could he have mistaken such innocent children for criminals. Or they had to be crazy masterminds under cover, but that couldn’t be it, now could it?


Cygnus saw many more playing red haired girls on his way to the harbor. He even halted a girl running errands for her grandmother. Cygnus Albireo, your people skills are pathetic. Why? I thought she looked suspicious. That’s exactly what I meant. He also saw a red haired girl carrying a lot of bags and boxes for a nice lady, but the description stated that the thief had to be running. Moreover, a thief wouldn’t do honest work like that, now would they? He searched for about 2 hours until it was interrupted by a big explosion. The big tower of the city was destroyed in a flash of light. The fire lit up the sky. That was it the last straw. Cygnus had had it with this scary city on this scary island in a scary ocean. He wanted to go home. Or rather find I serene place and hide again. Maybe he would finally get some rest. Could they at least leave him alone for a few years? He wanted to go straight to the harbor and get a boat of this island.


Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to go in a straight line. Then he would have to cross the Bell Tower and Cygnus really didn’t want to go there. The place was probably chaos at the moment. All those fires and battles were not welcoming either. He planned his rout carefully, the shortest route to the port with the biggest distance to the Bell Tower. By the time Cygnus reached the luggage depot the city was almost peaceful again, as far as that was possible with all these criminals and outlaws. He walked to the counter. A lady was working on the administration with her back towards Cygnus. “Ahem” He tried. No reaction. He raised his voice. “Excuse me, my lady!” She was startled and looked behind her. “S-sorry sir. I didn’t see you there. How can I help you?” She said. “I would like to get my stuff from locker 14.” Cygnus didn’t have money for a hotel room, but he did have enough for a locker to store his prize possessions. “Of course, sir.” She handed him the key. “The lockers are behind that door. Number 14 is on the left.” She pointed towards a door. Apparently Cygnus had to get his own stuff. If he had known the security was this bad, he wouldn’t have deposited his stuff here. Not that he could afford more, but still….


He went through the door and found his own locker. The key clicked. The locker was quite empty. Cygnus didn’t have much prize possessions as you might have guessed. In fact, there was only one bag in it. Cygnus reached for the bag and opened it. His lyre! It was still intact. “I came back for you, my love,” He said dramatically while he almost hugged the thing. He struck a chord. It was still perfect. “God, I missed such a wonderful sound.” He walked back to the counter. The receptionist was on the phone. “… Yes, I’m sure it’s him. I have to hang up now.” She put the phone down. “Sir, someone dropped of a package for you. If you would please follow me.” She lead Cygnus to another door behind the counter. He was wondering who would send him a present. He didn’t have any friends or family, but hey …


“Here it is.” She opened a safe with a number code. “It is a present from an admirer. Didn’t want to give a name.” Alarm bells should have gone off in Cygnus head. A voice in the back of his head told him that a loser like him couldn’t have admirers. The rest of his head was too drunk of praise to care. The safe opened. Cygnus couldn’t see very well what was in it. He grabbed inside and felt his hands close around something long. He took it out. It was an elegant Chinese finger trap with dragons on both end. The dragon heads were gilded and shone in the lamp light. It was beautiful. Cygnus was very happy with the present. He tried it out and put his fingers in the dragon beaks.


He immediately felt all his energy draining from his body. “Sea stuh…” He fell to the floor he felt completely drained and couldn’t concentrate on his surroundings. A big shadow came into the room and loomed over his limp body. “Finally” he said. He grabbed something from his jacket and talked to it. Cygnus could barely hear it. He was queasy all over. “… understood. … help us … not fail this time, father.” Cygnus was alarmed now. The old man and his son had finally managed to capture him. The lady was shouting something to Fai. He thrower her a pouch. Probably money for the job. Cygnus couldn’t do a thing as Fai picked him up, hung him over his shoulder and carried him out of there. Cygnus was not really aware of his surroundings while Fai walked towards the docks. In his head one sentence kept repeating itself: I’m screwed.


Suddenly Cygnus head started to clear up. He was still being carried towards the docks. They were almost there. He was confused. How could this have happened? He watched his hands, the cuffs were gone. He Fai had swayed a bit while he walked which had pushed Cygnus’s fingers further in, which weirdly enough was the solution to Chinese handcuffs. Cygnus almost laughed about the luck he had had, but managed not to. He was still in danger. Fai was probably carrying him to his father right now. Cygnus had to make sure Fai suspected nothing. He felt his powers coming back, but it was not enough for an attack. He tried his best to keep his body limp and waited for the right moment.


Fai stopped in his tracks. Cygnus tried not to shriek. He wasn’t onto him, was he? “Father, I’m here.” Shit. He could handle the stupid Fai, but if his cunning father was there too it would complicate matters. “Father?” Phew. His old man was not here yet. He looked around. There was nothing he could use to teleport with. He had to be more creative than that. Cygnus hated what he was about to do. He weaved his wing to create a room. “What is happening?” Fai was shocked and almost dropped Cygnus. “You’re supposed to be powerless and weak.” He looked quizzical, too confused to do anything. “I’m terribly sorry ... Amputate!” he gestured with his wing again. It cleaved through Fai’s shoulder as if it was butter. Fai fell to the ground in to pieces, each with one arm and one leg. Fai cried in pain, then he looked even more surprised than before. There was no pain. No blood either. “Sorry again” Cygnus said as he landed on the ground. He looked at Fai and almost threw up. It was a nasty view, a cross section of a human. He had done it before, but he still gagged every time he did it. “I have to go, now. Sor-”


“Fai is that you?” The old man ran to them as fast as he could, which was not very fast. “You Imbecile! You had one job! One job! I can’t trust you with anything.” He turned towards Cygnus. “And you! How did you do that?! This planned was fool proof, even for Fai! Don’t think you can get out of here.” He picked a sling from his pocket. “Kairouseiki, My favorite.” He grinned. Cygnus panicked. He could only hope the man’s aim was terrible, but he saw in his eyes that that was not the case. He could do nothing, or could he? He remembered one way out. It was very dangerous especially with low power levels. Under normal circumstances it would be the worst option as he would create one very strong enemy, but now… He might have a shot. He raised his wing and other hand. And crossed them. “Personality Transplant.”


“Nice try!” said the old man. “But it won’t save you from my sling.” He tried rotating his arm with the sling, but discovered that it was severed from his shoulder. “What the- ?” Now that he was looking at it, it also was much bigger and more muscular than his own. He looked at his own body, 5 meters away and saw how he, his body was also looking at his limbs with a blank face. The quick witted man knew what had happened. “Fai … Fai!” He shouted towards his son, who was currently in his body. Fai didn’t reply, still dumbstruck by what happened. “Damn you, Cygnus Albireo!” Cygnus had fallen to the ground again. He was feeling a little light headed, but he knew that he had to go away before they could recollect themselves. He tried to get up. “Fai, he is trying to get away!” Finally Fai awakened from his confusion. Cygnus was dragging himself away. “Use the sling you dolt!” Fai looked at it. As Cygnus expected the boy, or old man (gah, it was confusing, even for him) wasn’t as good with the sling. Cygnus was already able to jog again and tried to ran away. It wasn’t fast, but faster than the old man’s body could go. He managed to get away while the Old man in Fai’s body roared in anger and disappointment.


He made it! He was exhausted and hungry, but at least he was a free man once more! He even managed to get his lyre with him. After the euphoric feelings were gone he became aware of reality again. He didn’t want to spend another day in this dangerous town. He wanted to board a ship and get out of here. The only problem was that 200 beli was not enough to buy a seat. He wasn’t suited for physical jobs and storytelling might blow his cover. That’s because your useless. It hurt, but deep in his heart he knew that it was true. He had to become a stowaway. He walked between the rows of ships. He wanted to board a nice merchant ship, but almost all ships here had jolly rogers, so he didn’t have much choice. It would be dangerous to hide between pirates. After searching for two hours he found the perfect ship. It was not nice or big. It was still a pirate ship. The only reason to choose this one was the name that charmed him. It reminded him of an ancient story. He hoped the crew wouldn’t be like the monster in the story, which was named after her: The Charybdis.


Silently he climbed the side until he sat on the railing. He looked over the deck. He almost fell of the railing when his eye caught a man. He tried to slow down his breathing again. The man was sleeping, two big pistols next to him. Cygnus didn’t want to find out how well the guard could handle them. He wanted to turn his back on the ship when he saw his salvation. Some cargo was still on deck. A few barrels and crates. Cygnus guessed the big barrels were filled with water. He swung his wing. Not making any sound with his voice. That’s how he ended up in the dark confinement he was in now.


The boat tilted, a drop of sunlight went through a hole in the barrel. Cygnus looked through it and saw the bustle that was going on. All pirates had come to the deck and were discussing what to do. Cygnus could only hear a few of the voices. He heard the word Marines. His face turned white. Marines? So it was a trap after all. They had finally caught up to him and now they would take him away. A woman ran away. Another guy jumped from the railing. Were they abandoning ship? Cygnus hoped they wouldn’t. He wanted to get away as soon as possible. An older man suggested a plan with pretending to be hostages. Cygnus almost volunteered to be there hostage. Just in time he remembered that he was a fugitive too, officially criminal according to the marines. The only thing he could do was stay hidden and wait to see how their plans turned out.


@Everyone at the Charybdis, but don’t interact before the 1st of august (or you have o wait a while for my reply)

 

[Exanis]

Syrin Insinu

Honestly, Syrin thought that maybe for once his life wouldn't be a hectic terrible mess of random events compiled upon each other to form a heaping mass of complete and utter garbage that it usually was. He met a fairly nice girl that didn't make him want to tie a noose and hang her and then himself out of the sheer idiocy that have that induce such a desire. On top of that, she introduced him to a fairly interesting fellow that was tolerable to say the least. He had gotten a decent enough sleep, though he woke up early to spend some time in the bar, as he really didn't trust anyone around him, barring Stacy and, to a degree, Wasabi. Everything considered, Syrin would be willing to state, albeit fairly hesitantly, that he was, for once, in a pretty decent mood.


So, when he's sitting in a dark corner stall apathetically waiting for his companions with a drink in hand, he would readily state he was NOT ready for the resounding explosion in the distance. His mind racing, he worked to come to a conclusion on what exactly was happening, and everything he could think of was not good in one way or the other. On one hand, some idiot could have blown up a keg or five hundred by the sound of that explosion and wiped out a few boats, possibly ruining his ride out of this cesspool. On the other hand some hotshot pirate crew thought they could establish their place in the world by attacking some of the bigger names that gathered on this island. And yet, the one thing he dreaded the most, would be Marines attacking the island for whatever reason they had. Well, he could guess their reason. The map, the pirates, the citizens, pure spite. It could be any number of things really. All he knew that a change of plan was to be implemented. Downing his drink, he stood and prepared to depart the inn and find a boat to travel on. Yet, as he made to move, he hesitated, glancing around for Stacy. Frowning he tried to motivate himself to leave, egging himself on with promises that she would be fine without him, that Wasabi was more than enough to keep her safe. That only caused his frown to deepen. "Damn it." With an aggravated sigh, he leaned against the table, pulling out his flask and taking a drink in agitation.


Scowl firmly in place, he rolled up his right sleeve to show the full length of his chained arm. Pulling out his dagger from the sheath that was firmly rested in between the chains of his triceps, he let it drop into the palm of his hand and pulled the sleeve back down, glancing around warily then attaching the end of the chain to his dagger. As he finished, he allowed himself to relax ever so slightly, confident that if any danger showed up he wouldn't get caught with his figurative pants down. Still, with ever increasing restlessness he awaited for Stacy and Wasabi to show up.


@CelticHero37


@DaughterofAthena

 

[BlueUnicorn]

Narivena Veulence

​

The chaos that ensued after Scarlet and Jasper's leave almost made Narivena chuckle in amusement. With Cletus in charge, they would be well safe - but she felt her fingers itch to do something about the situation. Marines in Mirstone? Now she actually had a way off this place and she would be damned if she didn't do her job right to actually get them off the island on the Charybdis. While in thought, her fingers ran over the daggers on her hips. Cletus loud voice dragged her out of her planning. Slowly but surely she understood the situation and her eyes went from Cletus to Kaito, then back to Cletus again. Well, shit.





" I am not being tied to any pole or mast on this ship. No, sir. Besides, how would they know it's sent from one of ours? There are tons of pirates here!" she waved her hands in front of her to put more weight to her words of resistance. Not that it would be any trouble getting out of the ropes, but without mentioning it, she thought it would make them look more suspicious.





" Look. I say we get the ship ready to sail while we wait for the others to return. If we're casual about it, we shouldn't draw much attention to ourselves, right?"


Once again, Narivena gestured with her hands towards the sail and the ropes tied to the sides of the ship. Her eyes fell to Cletus as he was the one named in charge in Scarlet's absence. " Unless you all have better ideas, that is." she added with a murmur and scratched the back of her head in a slightly awkward manner.





@All aboard the Charybdis

 

[AllHailDago]

Scarlet Johanna Indigrid and Jasper Pharos

As Scarlet led the way off of Charybdis, she had a finger to her lips while contemplating where to look first. "Well, I told her that if she found the map, she could join our crew so I guess she'd be looking for the map," she said more to herself than to her first mate who accompanied her. "That doesn't really give us much to work with, does it?"


Scarlet glanced at Jasper curiously although she had already decided she was correct in her statement. It wasn't meant to need an answer. Rather, her eyes glanced up and down the line of ships and started walking in a random direction along the shore. It was as good a place to start as any other that she could think of. Even as she walked, though, her eyes didn't stay focused on any one thing. They kept flickering back to her ship and to the three looming ships gradually growing closer and closer to shore.


"Do you think we have a good crew put together, Jasper?" she almost sounded nervous as she asked it. Perhaps it was because she'd never intended to sail to the grand line until she'd heard of the map and now she once again had no map, and still had told them that was where they were going. Perhaps she hadn't been prepared to lose the map that was supposed to guide them.


Jasper gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Yes, I believe you have put together an excellent crew. Even should this other girl not join us I believe we have a solid chance when we enter the Grand Line. Do you doubt yourself Lady Scarlet?"


Scarlet promptly shook her head. "Not at all," she replied. "Spades would've told me I could do it and he's never been wrong before... well, except..." Her voice trailed off for a moment as her eyes scanned the shore to look for anything interesting, including the woman who she'd told to find the map. It seemed she more or less forgot that she'd been saying something in the first place.


Jasper scratched at his wrist in nervousness for a moment. A bad habit he picked up in the Marines. "Lady Scarlet there is... something I have been meaning to tell you. I think it is best I get it out of the way now, especially as it is just you and I. I have yet to gauge the others to see how they might respond to what I need to say." He tried to look directly at Lady Scarlet but found he could not. He had withheld information from his Lady and the guilt had been tough to deal with.


Hearing the nervousness in Jasper's voice caught her entirely by surprise. It was to such a degree that the Captain actually stopped walking despite her determination to quickly find the woman she hoped would become their final crew member. She looked up at Jasper's eyes and nodded. "Okay," she spoke, allowing her confusion to slip into her tone. "I'm listening."


He inhaled deeply as he prepared to speak. Guilt and nervousness were a rare experience for him and dealing with them was.... unpleasant. "I am an ex-Marine. My prior Mistress who raised me brought me up in the Marines. But when we were attacked she.... was killled in a battle with pirates in the Grand Line. I defected as I had no ties holding me there and grief overcame me. I was in the midst of being promoted to Captain when I left. I likely have a moderately high bounty." He exhaled after having spoke these words in a rush. Honesty was a great relief he had to admit.


Puzzle pieces started to fit together in Scarlet's head. It explained why he had known the ships were marine ships and it also explained how he knew so many other things about sailing, things that Spades had taught her although she was lucky to have retained half of them. She didn't know why he chose to tell her now of all times, when they were on a time crunch, but Scarlet didn't really mind it all that much either.


Offering him a smile, she simply said, "Well, I'm really glad I stopped you from calling me 'Mistress' then. I don't want to be compared to someone else. I want to just be me." She seemed content as she said it; Jasper's story had surprised her a little bit, but she also really didn't have a reason to be upset over it. She'd been around secrets before. Her former captain had certainly possessed plenty of them.


Jasper breathed a sigh of relief that her first response was humor. That generally meant a lack of anger and was reassuring. "Apologies for springing this on you now. I was simply having issues holding it in, and did not think we would have a private moment again once back aboard our ship. Let us get moving again, we have a girl to find."


One firm nod of her head was all Scarlet offered before she started walking again, agreeing with Jasper's final statement wholeheartedly. Her pace had quickened, too.


Glancing along the docks, she saw a woman who almost seemed to be stomping onto the deck of a ship and for a moment, Scarlet was tempted to make a comment about her to Jasper although her eyes found something that made that idea slip her mind completely. It was the woman. Scarlet's jaw dropped as though she was about to scream to her when suddenly the captain realized she didn't know the woman's name. Her jaw closed again and her brow furrowed in frustration for a moment before she started running forward towards her.


"Hey!" she called out, not adding a name because she simply didn't know it.


Jasper blinked a couple times at Lady Scarlet's reaction. As he looked over to where she was looking he saw a girl. It... it could not be that easy. But sure enough Lady Scarlet ran after her, yelling along the way. "Here we go," he said as he ran after her.


@DaughterofAthena @vergil

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Once she'd found her perch at the crow's nest and settled herself, Ferra had began surveying the area around their craft. Between the chaos as pirates scrambled for their crafts and Marines seemed to be coming in. There was going to be trouble no doubt, and getting out of this mess wasn't going to be easy. Still, it was going to have to be done if she wanted to survive, but they weren't going anywhere on the Sea Dragon until Kenji returned.


Shifting slightly as a breeze found it's way through the space in her bracers and rippled across the skin under her vest top, the woman realised it had been a very long time since she had last been without her coat on. She could have put it back on too, if she wanted, but the blood coated garment needed to air off, and she was happy for the liquid retardant resin that she had worked into her clothes and over her armour.


Closing her eyes for a moment, she revelled in the sensation, giving herself a singular chance to truly enjoy how she felt so far up the mast, away from all the chaos and noise below. Above it all and left to enjoy the little things in life. Well, until a particular voice started barking out closer to her ship than others had been. Opening her eyes into slits Ferra turned and gazed down the scope of her rifle until she saw who it was. A man and woman running towards the girl from moment ago, Rena.


She wasn't crew though, so it wasn't her issue.


Taking one last look at the pair Ferra turned away, though her eyes glazed over and the smell of blood found itself fresh on her mind, and clashing of steel and the screams of the dead. White hair facing her behind the flash of steel moments before Marines leapt upon the pair of them.


She knew that man.


She never forgot an equal that she had crossed blades with.


Turning back to face the pair Ferra took careful aim and fired a shot only but just a metre before the pair, aiming to draw their attention. Right after pulling the trigger the former captain was already slinging the rifle over her shoulder and letting her Blackheart's Recompense fall to her grip, immediately throwing the end of one into the wood at her feet. Leaping off the nest, Ferra swung around before slinging the other end into the mast a ways down and wrenched the first end free from the nest. Seconds later she touched down on the ship's railing her letting her momentum carry a second leap across and onto the dock, eyeing the pair even though there was still a fair distance between them.


Expertly wrapping the Recompense around her torso with a couple deft swings she spoke, "I don't know your name, Marine, but I remember you well."


And she did. It had been a long time ago, but Ferra wasn't about to forget the man she'd both fought with, then shortly against, in the battle that earned her the promotion that made her captain. It had been them alone, clearing out an overcrewed pirate ship. Both wild and merciless, beast on the prowl. And even when they'd finished all the pirates it hadn't been over. They'd spent minutes eyeing each other up, waiting for the other to make their move as they both tried to assert their claim to the territory, asserting that they weren't to be fucked with.


In her haze of memories she couldn't remember who had moved first, but she remembered the battle, and it had been one for the annals of history.


"I am former Captain Ferra McKlinnen," she spoke authoritatively, clearing half the space between her and the white haired man, extending a very rare and very respective offer to shake her hand in greeting, "It has been a long time, and I would like to know the name of my equal. I would also know your intentions for the woman behind me."





As she tacked on the final sentence as an after thought her left hand settled softly on her hilt, ready for trouble should the question bring it to bear.


@vergil @AllHailDago @DaughterofAthena

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Arlen Hakhassi

“A Captain who keeps her promises,” Nerissa said serenely as soon as Scarlet left. “Truly one worthy of Aquarius’s blessing.”


Arlen didn’t respond. The Priestess’s comment reminded him of a promise he’d failed to keep. He told Ferra that he’d meet with her at the docks once he found Nerissa. It wasn’t a promise exactly, but it was something he’d say he would do yet didn’t. Circumstances changed. He hadn’t expected Nerissa to have already joined a pirate crew.


Arlen said, nothing simply watching while the members of the Red Ribbon Pirates discussed what to do. Skorrigg, suggested a peaceful plan—hoist a neutral flag and hope the marines don’t attack. Cletus, the man Captain Scarlet left in charge in her absence, suggested that they all pretended to be hostages. The plan was refuted by the redhead who didn’t want to be tied up. All the while, the crazy one of the crew who hijacked a merchant vessel was charging his boat towards the three ‘marine’ ships.


Arelen’s eyes flickered towards the merchant vessel that suddenly turned its direction. Walking over the edge of the Charybdis, Arlen leaned over the rail and shaded his eyes. Someone else had boarded the merchant vessel and was now taking control of the ship.


“Shouldn’t we help him? He’s a member of this crew isn’t he?”


A completely disorganized crew in Arlen’s mind. The Captain just left her ship to hunt for someone whom she made a promise to, leaving her crew members stranded until she got back. Not only that, but the crew seemed divided on what to do. Peaceful approach or violent approach? Arlen hummed while he thought. His morning tiredness had dissipated the moment crazy, trench coat-wearing crew member stole a merchant vessel. One thing was clear. Besides the butler, who was seemed loyal to the Captain, and the Captain, who appeared to be an honest and simple person, the small crew wasn’t very close. Then again, Nerissa had said the crew was newly formed.


Whichever the case, Arlen didn’t actually care what the final decision was so long as it didn’t endanger himself or Priestess Nerissa. He’d leave it to the brains of the ship to decide what to do. Arlen would simple ride whatever wave came by.


“Whatever we decide to do, let’s hurry before the marine ships dock.”




Nerissa Orta

Nerissa settled daintily on a barrel as the other members of the Red Ribbons spoke. She was slightly upset to learn that the map was gone. Sunk to the bottom sea. Gaze fluttered to the pieces of driftwood that Jasper mentioned.


“It’s in the hands of Aquarius now.”


Silently, with her hands clasped together, Nerissa uttered a prayer for the dead. For the people that might die should a fight break out between the marines and the pirates. For the people that have died in Mirestone, victim of another’s hatred or greed. Finally, she prayed for the crew of the Charbydis—that they may escape the eventual mayhem unscathed and find what they are looking for.


Once she finished, Nerissa opened her eyes and looked at her new crewmates. “Arlen is right. Time is of the essence. We need to buy time until Captain Scarlet returns.”


Nerissa smiled at Skorrig. “I’ll head below deck and see if I can find the flag of a trader’s guild lying around somewhere.”She glanced at Cletus. “Some rope as well. If we are going to act, we should do it convincingly. I’ll play the role of the civilian hostage.”


“Priestess—,”


“I’ll be the daughter of a rich merchant of Mirestone who lost his ship to pirates. Meanwhile, everyone else can get the ship ready to sail once Captain Scarlet and Jasper return. We need pirate actors as well. Someone who can play the part of an evil pirate. Make demands. Threaten my life. Press a blade to my throat. If they are good people they would concede to the demands…at least within reasonable boundaries. If not, we still stall time for time until the Captain returns. We could give time for other pirates to escape as well.”


“I don’t like this plan. What if they recognize you?”


“A disguise,”Nerissa said dismissively. “It’s not as if I’m such a well known fugitive that a marine can recognize me on sight.”


“It’s too risky.”


“It’s inevitable. The marines will check this ship even if we wait and do nothing. At least this way we'll have a leverage. And we can’t leave until Captain Scarlet and Jasper returns.” The last line was said with the utmost conviction. “If Captain Scarlet wants us to be pirates, then let’s do our best to look pirate-y as possible.”


Nerissa met eyes with Arlen. “Also…I don’t know why Kaito was so hasty, but I want to help him. Can you do that Arlen?”


“Me? What do you expect me to do?”


“I’ll leave that up to you,” Nerissa said before disappearing bellow deck to do exactly as she said she would, regardless if anyone else agreed.


Arlen groaned. He couldn't explain why, but he had feeling Nerissa was enjoying this.


@Veirrianna Valentine

 

[AllHailDago]

Jasper Pharos


Jasper stopped upon the woman's appearance. He did not readily remember her until she spoke of a past fight. The chain weapon rang a bell when thinking back to a fight of equals. If he recalled correctly it was one of the few missions he worked on without his Mistress' authority over him. As one would expect he ended up being far more bloodthirsty and violent them usual. This woman was cut of similar cloth from what he remembers.


He kept his left hand on his weapon, an inch or so of the black falchion drawn out of caution. "Well met Miss McKlinnen. I am former Commander Jasper Pharos. My promotion was in the process when I defected, so Captain did not come to pass before I left." He stepped forward and shook her hand warily, peripheral vision watching her hands and the surroundings.


He had an uncanny feeling that he was being watched. The sensation was not exactly hostile, but he still sensed danger from it. He set the worry to the back of his mind. An unknown but as yet unaggressive factor was less dangerous than a known equal in battle.


"We seek only to talk to her. My Captain here told her she was welcome aboard her ship. She wanted to make sure she was able to take up the offer or if she found another. Time presses as I am quite sure you know." He tilted his head in a small n9d towards the incoming ships. "I am willing to bet you are as unenthused by their presence as I, no?"


@Veirrianna Valentine @DaughterofAthena


@vergil

 

[Peaceswore]

Sora, Cait and Ren

Collab with

@shadowdude505 and @BlacklegSanji
​

Sora remained on the crows nest as he narrowed his eyes trying to get a better look at the ship out in the distance, however without a spyglass or anything he couldn't see the ship well enough. At least not well enough to identify it, however the way it was ominously sailing out of the smoke was just giving him bad vibes. Something he knew he shouldn't ignore.


Before he could get fully absorbed into his thoughts he heard someone ask for orders. Looking down he saw his musician and was quiet for a moment. Closing his eyes a smirk danced on his lips as he jumped down from the crows nest, landing right in front of her in a crouching position. "I think we better get ready for some fun." He siad as he stood up and did a great stretch before he sighed and looked at the town. "Watching these men work isn't going to speed them up by much..... Lets do something productive." Now looking at Cait out of the corner of his eyes his smirk changed to a small grin. "Lets get last minute shopping done before someone else decides to 'accidently' shoot my ship again."


"Shopping?" Cait asked sounding confused. She figured protecting the ship would be top priority, especially since she was still being repaired. It was out of her control now; the Lucky Nova was in the hands of her crewmates now. "Aye aye, Captain. Lead the way."


Sora nodded at this as he approached the side of the ship. "That cannon ball took out a few barrels of water, damn brat. Should make him do all the shopping, to bad i didn't think about it then.... Anyway we need water and some more food just incase. We still don't have a navigator so the chances of us being at sea longer than I would like are.... Yeah. Let's get going." Sora siad as he jumped off the Lucky Nova and onto the pier.


Ren walked up from below deck. She was wearing a pair of jogging pants and a tank top, different from her normal battle attire, as she and just woke up and hadn't gotten the chance to wash her normal attire yet. Her hair wasn't done up in a pony tail so it fell to her waist. Her scythe was still strapped around her back.


"Did I hear the word shopping?" She said looking towards Sora and Cait. "I had a chance to check your food supplies last night and I'd like to stock up and a little more stuff, especially spices and seasonings" She said already thinking of what meals she could cook. "So in any case, I'd like to accompany you" She said.


Looking over at Ren he thought about it a bit and then nodded. "Sure, we need to do these fast. Whoever that is that blew that ship to smithereens means business and as much as I enjoy conducting some business. We have places to go, people to see, and the one piece to find." He said with a light chuckle.


Now walking off the pier he came to a halt rather suddenly. 'It's going to be really hard to sail a ship with a hole in it.' Thinking about it for a moment he craned his head and looked at the workers. "Oi! If you finish repairs by the time I get back. And they aren't shoddy, I will double your original pay." He knew full well money could almost always make a poor man work wonders and it seemed it would do just that. When the men heard this they looked at one another and grinned before they started to work faster than they had since they got there. "Ahh... I'm going to be so broke." Sora muttered mainly to himself with a light laugh as he then started to walk once more just assuming the other two would follow.


Cait started to follow Sora and stopped as he stopped to look at Ren. She flashed a warm smile at her crewmate before Sora started to head into town. She closely followed her captain and was close enough to hear his broke comment. Cait could hear the faint sound of beli coins rattling coming from inside her guitar case. "Don't worry about money, Captain. We can easily make more," she said encouragingly. "Besides, we're pirates. We can just steal more if we hav' ta," she added in a more joking minor. Honestly she wasn't too excited about stealing.


"True enough, though I'm not planning to be that type of pirate. Seeing villages burn because of me doesn't suit my taste." Sora said as he stepped off the pier and headed to the town. As he walked on Albi who was resting around his neck suddenly looked up and started to sniff the air. "Something up?"


The mink didn't give any response as her front paws now were on top of Sora's head making him raise a brow. The small mink sniffed the air a few more times before she clambered down his jacket and pants and ran off. Blinking a few times Sora of course pursued the furry creature as she ran in and out of peoples legs and down an alley. "Where are you going now??" Sora called out as he kept giving chase to the small creature.


"I wonder what got into her...," Cait said after Albi ran off. She started to chase after the mink to try to help her Captain catch her. The coins in her guitar case rattled even more as her case bobbed on her back due to running.


Ren looked at the mink as it began to run off. She continued to walk at a slow pace until her captain was out of sight. Then she began to pick up the pace a little bit, following behind Cait. "Damn mink, when I catch it I'm going to skin it and cook it up, We really need supplies and that damn mink is wasting our time" she said, only joking about skinning the mink though. She ran past a couple shops that lined then road, only taking a second to look back to see if they had anything they needed to make their trip worth while.


The mink continued to scamper off and sora almost grabbed her however she came to a very sudden stop. Right in front of a nice yet small and run down looking noddle shop. Due to the sudden halt Sora had no time to stop and ended up tripping over the mink and after a few tumbles he crashed into a group of men that were standing around talking to themselves in a hushed tone. Though that hushed tone turned into a string of loud cuss when Sora tumbled into to them.


"Damn it Albi..." The maroon haired captain muttered as he rubbed his head and sat up a bit. "I've told you about stopping suddenly when I'm chasing you." Now getting up he didn't show any signs of caring about the fact he not only ran into a person but he made that said person spill their ale all over his shirt.


Just as he was about to take a step to his companion to see if she was hurt, the front of his shirt was suddenly grabbed. He was then pulled over to the man he ran into and brought face to face with him. The other man, a blond was actually taller than Sora by quite a bit, so for him to be face to face the other had to lift sora till he was on his toes. "This is a new shirt. I don't like the idea of it being stretched out." Sora said in a nonchalant tone, his hands in his pants pockets as he looked up at the guy.

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"So was this!" The man shouted at him as he pointed at his dark purple shirt with an angered look.


"Okay and?"


"You are the one that ran into me and ruined it!!"


"I didn't have any ale on me, not my fault you were the one walking around with a mug of that stuff and no top. It was bound to happen sooner or later." Sora stated as he looked to the side where is eyes were greeted with a small crowd gathering to see what all the commotion was about. At this he blinked several times before he slowly turned his head back to the man who was furious with him while attempting to ignore the crowd.


"You better have enough on you to pay for a new damned shirt and a drink!" The blond shouted in anger as he tightened his grip on Sora's shirt.


Cait arrived on the scene as the angry individual, presumably a pirate, started to manhandle her captain. Her eyes burned with anger at the sight, but what made things worse was that they were running on a short timetable before the expensive ship did whatever it was going to do. The Red Wave Pirates couldn't afford to waste time on the angry blond "Stay behind me," she told Ren. Cait ran over to her Captain's side and positioned herself so that she was slightly in front of him. Without a word of warning she blasted the angry pirate and the men behind him with a sonic scream in an attempt to force the man to drop her Captain.


The man dropped Sora and stumbled back as he let out a roar of anger and pain. "You brat!!"


Sora easily landed on his feet and looked at Cait. "You can do that? Impressive." He said with a grin as he walked over to the noddle shop while the goons checked their captain. "We really don't have time do we? Damn..." Pulling out his bag of coins he took several out and placed it on the counter of the shop. After he did this he grabbed a bowl of noodles that was meant for another customer. "Thanks for the meal." Before anyone could complain he picked Albi up with his free hand and started to walk backwards as he looked at Cait. "Lets get going before blondie here starts a tantrum about his earache."


"You freaken brats! Get your punk ass back here! I'm going to make you pay for this!!" The man shouted as he started to the chase the two along with several of his men.


Chuckling a bit as they were chased Sora took a back alley and pulled Cait into it since he went in it at the last second. Moments after the two were there the group of pirates ran right by them. Once they did Sora let out a sigh. "Well now that's over with, lets get to some shopping, yeah?"


Ren smiled as Cait used a sonic scream to make the man drop her captain. "Hmm, You never even gave me a chance to get some hits in on this weak ass blondie" she said as she walked up by her captain. "Well I have lots of money on me from winning a cooking contest, so I suppose I could spend some on the stuff I need to get for our journey" she said, calculating costs and what she needed in her head.


Sora looked at Ren and nodded. "That would be good." He said as he started to eat from the bowl of noodles he had. "I think you should get the food and spices since you know what's best. Cait can get more water. And I.... I think I'm going to search for a navigator. We will meet back at the Lucky Nova later, if things start to go down head there right away." He said before walking off, still eating his those noodles. 'Damn these are good.'

 

[Axion]

KYOKO RINNE

​

The situation that occurred seemed to have risen before Kyoko could notice what was truly happening. As she was sprinting back to the restaurant a few people were exiting houses, one seemed to be running out of the house while trying to put on his clothes as he bumped into Kyo but kept his pace, "Out of my way civi!" Rudely shouting at her but Kyo still confused and now serious, attempted to ask the man what the hell was going, "No time to chat missy! I didn't come here so that I could arrested again!" Finally, as he was struggling to put his boot on, he b-lined towards the dock with a face of fear, "Get arrested? Again?" Kyoko deduced the conversation- the guy was definitely a pirate, no doubt about it and it seemed he was arrested before, so then those ships that came about from the sea, they have to be Navy ships for all this to be connected. Well that was one problem solved but what to do now was the next thing on the list.


Kyoko quickly returning to the restaurant when Abigail ran out the shop in surprise, "Abby!" she grinded to halt in front of her as she was breathing heavily than usual but soon normalized after a few seconds, "You also heard that explosion as well? I think its a Navy raid, so we should be fine as long as we don't get in their way. But to be honest, I needed an excuse to get out of this place." Kyo wanting to dismiss anymore unnecessary chatting but looked to see Abigail more perturbed herself, "Hey, you alright? You look like you've seen ghost or something. If you got something to say, spit it out now while I wake the old man up."





@DaughterofAthena

 

[vergil]

Rena watched the ensuing chaos around her - mostly terror and rage as the hardened men turned to their instincts. There was little more she could do aside from wait for the captain to come back, though truth be told she wanted to run to the centre of town and pretend she was a tourist. It was an entirely plausible excuse and one she could take right now.; just go back to her little island and write the stories about the 1000 islanders that inhabit it. Make a decent living and shut off the outside world.


But she knew. She knew, every time that newspaper dropped from the sky with all those questions that no-one was asking, let alone answering, that it would haunt her. This was her line to cross. Depending on her move now - she was either a pirate or a law abiding citizen.


The Red haired Captain that she had met earlier was approaching her with a member of her crew. The long and short of it was that they were wondering if she was going to join their crew after her initial interest.


"You tasked me with finding the map and...uh...I haven't found it yet. And I don't think I can find it. I have information about the Grand line and what type of compass I'm looking for, but no map." she said apologetically. "I don't think I can join your crew after my first mission was a failure."


"Besides, I'm comfortable...ish...with this crew." Rena remembers the freaks on the ship last night and shook her head and glances at Ferra, still unable to shake what she had done previously "very-ish"


"At any rate, perhaps if time permits and we don't have all hell breaking loose around us you would allow me to interview you. You seem much more...poised than the others around here." she said remembering just how many naked butts she saw last night.


@Veirrianna Valentine

 

[Lady Warlock]

Stacy Beauregard

The night before had quickly turned into one where she’d been more than comfortable drinking her fill; in the end, it hadn’t been quite enough to completely waste her for the night, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t enjoyed it in the slightest. Stacy had at minimum been wobbly as she’d made her way up the stairs to her room at the inn. Being a girl, she’d acquired her own room and let the two guys decide whether or not they were going to share. What they did with their evening for sleep didn’t matter to her in any regard. She would meet up with them in the morning.


With the previous evening considered fully enough, it was no surprise that she slept late the following morning… well, it had been late for her. Stacy was usually an early bird; she was usually ready to get up and get to work right away. There was no better way to spend the day than by getting things done as far as she was concerned. Sleeping in on this particular morning didn’t really bother her, though, because she had no work to do.


It wasn’t sleeping in that concerned her when she woke up. Rather, Stacy was perturbed by the sound that had woken her up. The sound was one of an explosion and it jolted her upright fast and swift. Her head turned towards the window while her body was leaping out of bed. While she searched for any explanation at all, Stacy was also slipping back into the clothes she’d worn the day before. She hadn’t been in Mirstone for more than two days so she didn’t really have any reason to have purchased more just yet. As she looked out the window, she saw the remains of a ship along with other ships drawing closer.


‘Either pirates are getting anxious or we have some uninvited company,’ she surmised as she finally stepped into her shoes and made her way out of the room. In that moment, she almost was certain she wouldn’t be returning to it.


Down the stairs she went where she saw Syrin waiting. Almost immediately, she offered him a subtle smile. “You heard it too, huh?” Her head turned back towards the stairs as she wondered where their other comrade had gotten himself stuck. “Have you seen Wasabi yet?” she dared to ask as she was still watching for the man in the straw hat.


When she finally turned her gaze back to Syrin, she noticed that he had a knife in his hand and her eyes narrowed a bit for a moment. He knew that the sound meant trouble. That was good. On instinct, her hand slipped along her hip as she unveiled one of the two pistols she was currently carrying. Though he hadn’t seen her fight at all, she wanted it to be clear that she was prepared.


@Veirrianna Valentine @vergil

 

[vergil]

Rena thought about her decision. She'd decided to become a pirate but it was clear that she had to choose what kind she wanted to be - and that would be shaped by her company. Undeniably she felt more comfortable with Scarlett as her captain than a man (no matter how hot he was). Chronicling a woman's journey in an markedly man's world, as a pirate no less, would be interesting and it tugged at her a little. Kenji's crew had a murderer, a multiple personality disorder suffering psycho, a devil fruit user (who was actually a nice guy) and a happy go lucky captain.


Contrastingly, Jasper seemed pleasant and Scarlett was kind enough not to mention her throwing up in front of her at their first meeting, as well as her having a certain...charm to her. Rena had no idea how the others in the crew were but if she trusted the Captain and one other then she felt a little better (trust being a word she used fairly loosely)


Rena didn't like walking away from the others but she had to go where she felt safer. She stepped away from Ferra and moved towards the other two. "I'll happily join your crew Captain. I'm glad you didn't think of my first mission as a failure - I'll do better on the next one." she smiled sheepishly. "Uh....take care Ferra....if you could tell your Captain that I'm sorry but I decided to join another crew."


She hated awkward goodbyes.


@Veirrianna Valentine @AllHailDago @DaughterofAthena

 

[shadowdude505]

Cletus T. Bass

​

"The Marines may not know who stole a merchant ship and is sending it their way, presumably rigged to explode, but with all the pirate ships here they'll be highly suspicious either way," Cletus argued with Narivena. "Sometimes acting casual makes ya guilty." He continued to smoke one of his cigarettes as he turned his attention to Arlen and Nerissa. Arlen suggested trying to help Kaito. Looking at the merchant ship, he could tell that something unexpected happened. Kaito's ship had been sent spinning by someone with strange skills. Cletus contemplated helping, but all he could come up with was trying to shoot the stranger off. He didn't like that plan for two reasons: he'd either cause the ship to explode or get the Marines' attention.


"We're going with Nerissa's plan, but I'm takin' the lead role so that you whippersnappers don't get killed," Cletus gruffly ordered. "You want an evil pirate? I'll be the coldest bastard that ever sailed the seas. Be prepared for that," he told Nerissa before she went below deck. "Arlen, figure out a way to rescue Kaito like Nerissa ordered. The rest of you get ready to sail, but keep an eye on the Marines. We don't want to be caught off guard."


After barking orders, Cletus stood outside of the captain's quarters and began to think up a backstory for his ruthless pirate role. Noticing how girly the room looked, Cletus figured that he'd have to come up with many fibs to come across as the Captain of the Charybdis. If Nerissa's plan did garner the attention of the Marines, he'd probably get a wanted poster afterward. Cletus started to think up a moniker that sounded more threatening than "Trickshot". "Deadeye has a nice ring to it, don't ya think Wild Bill?"





@Veirrianna Valentine @QuirkyAngel

 

[Mitchs98]

@Peaceswore @Azure Sky


Keya Fenris

Keya had had one hell of a night, really. After they had escaped from and exploded the Bell Tower Seth had hit his head and rendered himself unconscious. Now see, if she wasn't as kind as she was she could of just left his ass on the ground and left him be trampled, captured, killed, or any or number of things. But he had become a great friend for her and saved her more than once, so she was inclined to do the same for him. PLUS! If she delivered his unconscious form to the ship he was supposed to be joining the crew of she would have an excuse to join up to. It was a win/win for her really. Nevertheless she had carried Seth to his hotel room and decided to share it, it was the least he could do for her lugging his ass around all night! Plus it was either that or they both slept in an alleyway. Of course it was an extremely odd sight. A little dwarf woman dragging around a full grown human. No one seemed to question it, however they did give the scene odd looks.


When the next day came Keya had gotten herself some breakfast, took a bath, and changed before dragging Seth down to the docks. "Hello! Anyone here? I got a guy that might belong to you! Name is Seth? Might be joining a crew? I dunno!" She called out, holding him up as high as her stubby little arms could.


If she had no luck in finding literally anyone she guessed she'd make a sign with his name on it and say he was lost or something. She'd wait a little while though, after all she really wanted to mooch off of him joining a crew to join one herself. Sure she could probably find a crew on her own, but why do that when you have someone that can do it for you?