AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
{This is a onexone with me (AwkwardSilence) and KayWyn}
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Fandom {We Are!! One Piece 1x1}
- Thread starter AwkwardSilence
- Start date
{This is a onexone with me (AwkwardSilence) and KayWyn}
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
"You know what? I thought today was going to be a good day. Guess I was wrong."
Cynil stared up at the collapsed building, knowing full well that Serogi would have quite a few words for them all. She punched Shri - a seven foot fish woman who she was fairly certain worked out by lifting the ships in the dock - on the shoulder. Said woman glanced down, her razor-sharp teeth shown in a wide smile. It was infectious, and Cynil could feel herself smiling back.
"He deserved it, Cyn," Shri said, giving a shrug. "He thought he could get away with robbing the audience while they were distracted. What kinda guard would I be if I just let that happen?" Her grin widened as he placed a hand on her hip in pride and adjusted the absurdly large hammer so it balanced comfortably on her shoulder. It seemed that someone - Cynil hadn't gotten a good look at him - had decided to pilfer the pockets of the unassuming while they were enraptured by Teret's music. Shri deemed it appropriate to take matters into her own hands; her hands were none-too-gentle.
"So you gave him the most unholy beating of his life?" Teret couldn't help but chuckle as he shook his head at her. He pushed off, grabbing the guitar propped against it as he did. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he motioned them along. "Let's get a move on, Markeer will take care of things while Serogi and Lucian talk to the people."
At this, Teret started making his way off. With little else to do - and none too interested in the lecture that she'd inevitably get dragged into - Cynil trailed after Teret with Shri in tow. Maybe they'd run into the others while they were out; then they could be quicker about getting off of this island. After the show, there wasn't much else for them here. It was time to move on, find the next place. Serogi was talking about going back to the Grand Line. While he claimed it was for the show, that they'd get better-paying audience members there, she knew it was because he was helping her; not to mention Teret seemed to be looking forward to it as well. Though, she remembered hearing him drop the word "family" a few times, so she could imagine why.
As the three wandered the city, Cynil finally spoke up. "Where are we going?" She questioned, arching an eyebrow at Teret.
"Well, Serogi caught word that someone here may have seen someone that could lead us to that brother of yours." He answered. "But the guy in question swears it was a monster, so we're not too sure this individual will do much "leading" you - more killing."
*~*~*
Zoro was, without a doubt, lost. Damn it all. At least he managed to get away from the marine base - he had no interest in going back there. Besides, he didn't want to look at the girl in her glasses any longer than he had to; it was pushing it way too far for him. Once he was found out, he left. Got out of there as fast as he could.
With a low grumble of annoyance, he glanced down the splitting paths. After looking down where each led, he took a gamble and picked one at random. Making a turn left, he kept walking. Where was he going? He didn't have the damndest clue. He was certain he'd find the others somehow, and then they'd be ready to leave for the Grand Line. Maybe if he found the Going Merry, then he could just go to sleep and wait for them to get back. That would be the best outcome, but, from what he could see around him, that wasn't going to happen any time soon.
So he was stuck with continued his aimless trek around.
"Was it left or right?" He mumbled under his breath, finding himself at yet another crossroads. This place had far too many turns, and it was frankly annoying. Everything looked the same! Well, it didn't really look the same, he could see variation, but he didn't care enough to actually pay attention to it. Not worth the effort. If he made enough left turns, then he'd have to wind up somewhere, right? Or maybe he'd end up in a circle.
Damn it.
Cynil stared up at the collapsed building, knowing full well that Serogi would have quite a few words for them all. She punched Shri - a seven foot fish woman who she was fairly certain worked out by lifting the ships in the dock - on the shoulder. Said woman glanced down, her razor-sharp teeth shown in a wide smile. It was infectious, and Cynil could feel herself smiling back.
"He deserved it, Cyn," Shri said, giving a shrug. "He thought he could get away with robbing the audience while they were distracted. What kinda guard would I be if I just let that happen?" Her grin widened as he placed a hand on her hip in pride and adjusted the absurdly large hammer so it balanced comfortably on her shoulder. It seemed that someone - Cynil hadn't gotten a good look at him - had decided to pilfer the pockets of the unassuming while they were enraptured by Teret's music. Shri deemed it appropriate to take matters into her own hands; her hands were none-too-gentle.
"So you gave him the most unholy beating of his life?" Teret couldn't help but chuckle as he shook his head at her. He pushed off, grabbing the guitar propped against it as he did. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he motioned them along. "Let's get a move on, Markeer will take care of things while Serogi and Lucian talk to the people."
At this, Teret started making his way off. With little else to do - and none too interested in the lecture that she'd inevitably get dragged into - Cynil trailed after Teret with Shri in tow. Maybe they'd run into the others while they were out; then they could be quicker about getting off of this island. After the show, there wasn't much else for them here. It was time to move on, find the next place. Serogi was talking about going back to the Grand Line. While he claimed it was for the show, that they'd get better-paying audience members there, she knew it was because he was helping her; not to mention Teret seemed to be looking forward to it as well. Though, she remembered hearing him drop the word "family" a few times, so she could imagine why.
As the three wandered the city, Cynil finally spoke up. "Where are we going?" She questioned, arching an eyebrow at Teret.
"Well, Serogi caught word that someone here may have seen someone that could lead us to that brother of yours." He answered. "But the guy in question swears it was a monster, so we're not too sure this individual will do much "leading" you - more killing."
*~*~*
Zoro was, without a doubt, lost. Damn it all. At least he managed to get away from the marine base - he had no interest in going back there. Besides, he didn't want to look at the girl in her glasses any longer than he had to; it was pushing it way too far for him. Once he was found out, he left. Got out of there as fast as he could.
With a low grumble of annoyance, he glanced down the splitting paths. After looking down where each led, he took a gamble and picked one at random. Making a turn left, he kept walking. Where was he going? He didn't have the damndest clue. He was certain he'd find the others somehow, and then they'd be ready to leave for the Grand Line. Maybe if he found the Going Merry, then he could just go to sleep and wait for them to get back. That would be the best outcome, but, from what he could see around him, that wasn't going to happen any time soon.
So he was stuck with continued his aimless trek around.
"Was it left or right?" He mumbled under his breath, finding himself at yet another crossroads. This place had far too many turns, and it was frankly annoying. Everything looked the same! Well, it didn't really look the same, he could see variation, but he didn't care enough to actually pay attention to it. Not worth the effort. If he made enough left turns, then he'd have to wind up somewhere, right? Or maybe he'd end up in a circle.
Damn it.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
Sanji could have sworn he saw a breathtaking beauty. Earlier, there had been a tall woman with curly black hair and deep brown, almost black eyes, and now... Now there was the short woman with straight black hair, and the most alluring purple eyes he had ever seen. Granted, he was kind of a womanizer, and everything he did, if not cooking or fighting, surrounded impressing said ladies. Normally, he might have completely freaked out and dropped the fish he and Usopp were currently carrying in favor of going after whoever it was that he saw, but... those purple eyes... the cigarette he had currently been smoking fell from his lips in shock, and he was frozen in place. The long nosed companion, outfitted in his weird new goggles, looked to their ship's cook in slight confusion.
"Hey, Sanji. Sanji? Snap out of it!" The blonde shook his head in response, feeling like he had come out of a trance. He... he had to chase after that woman! Granted, he recognized the fishman woman who was next to her merely because he was getting flashbacks of Arlong, but he felt that he would never be able to travel the Grand Line if he never got to see those eyes again. "Are you okay? Why did you pause like that? You dropped your cigarette. Hey--are you even listening to me?"
"Sorry Usopp, can you bring the fish back to the ship for me? I need to do something real quick!" It wasn't like Sanji was lying--he legitimately had to see that woman again! He was caught in her enchantment and he was going to find her and get her name, even if it killed him!
"Sanji! D-Don't leave me! I CAN'T CARRY THIS MONSTER BY MYSELF!!" Usopp's cries fell upon deaf ears as the cook raced off, eyes scanning the crowd in the direction he had seen her disappear from. They weaved through the crowd so quickly, even if her companion was a fishmen, she was hard to spot! Growling to himself, he was about to dejectedly give up, until he spotted their figures turning left just past a large group of people. Shouting apologies as he ran, Sanji followed after them, pushing past people as he fought towards his goal.
As he raced up behind them, he eyed the fishman (fishwoman?) warily, before tapping the short woman's shoulder. When she turned around to face him, he felt his breath hitch in his throat. Those eyes... were so stunning. "M-Miss?" Curse that damn stutter! He really couldn't help it, he was trapped. "I-I'm sorry, but I saw you across the way... I-I just... I need to know your name!"
A rather imposing-looking Marine had just ran into a little girl, and Julia held her collar up over her face so he couldn't see her face. She may have only just joined the Strawhat pirates, but even before meeting him she had already made a name for herself and a 25,000,000 bounty as a Pirate Captain before Nobutenga committed mutiny against her. She waited for some fireworks, but her eyes widened upon seeing his solution to the crying girl. Crouching next to her, the white haired Marine Captain placed a hand on her head (although Julia was almost positive that smoking so close to her face--two cigars no less--was probably not doing the kid any favors), "I'm sorry my pants seem to have eaten your ice cream." He gave her some Belli and Julia's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Go get yourself a five scoop next time."
"Thanks mister!" The father and child were quick to walk off, and Julia watched them go before turning around, quickly overtaking the white haired marine and only speaking once she had walked past him.
"You're an honorable man, Captain. Not all Marines can say the same, unfortunately," she smirked, feeling his eyes upon her until she disappeared into the crowded street ahead of them. She had no quarrel with a man who apologized for a little kid spilling ice cream on his uniform. Could he have been the man she had heard about? The famous Captain Smoker? He smoked enough to seemingly have gotten that title. Now... where would she go? Julia didn't see much value in shopping, unlike a lot of the other Strawhats. Nami had said stick together, but she was still new and although Sanji might have appreciated her presence, she was much more comfortable walking by herself. Instead of going towards the center of town, Julia turned heel and walked towards the outskirts, hands in her pants' pockets as she chose to observe Loguetown in its purest form. They seemed quite happy for people who might have to constantly fear Pirates traveling to the Grand Line. She could only assume that was because of the Marine Captain she had just come across.
While on her walk, she spotted a certain head of green hair, and she smirked to herself. This could prove to be interesting. "What's a potted plant doing all the way out here?" Her voice rang out as she called to him, swiftly walking up to the infamous swordsman. "Don't tell me you got lost--Sanji told me that happens quite a bit." A smirk played on the brunette's feature, unable to keep the grin off her face as she teased him. Zoro, considering his typically serious demeanor, was one of the more interesting Strawhats, and she was certain he didn't quite trust her yet. He just seemed to be that kind of individual, which was good because it contrasted Luffy's naturally-trusting nature. "So, you need help getting back to town center?"
"Hey, Sanji. Sanji? Snap out of it!" The blonde shook his head in response, feeling like he had come out of a trance. He... he had to chase after that woman! Granted, he recognized the fishman woman who was next to her merely because he was getting flashbacks of Arlong, but he felt that he would never be able to travel the Grand Line if he never got to see those eyes again. "Are you okay? Why did you pause like that? You dropped your cigarette. Hey--are you even listening to me?"
"Sorry Usopp, can you bring the fish back to the ship for me? I need to do something real quick!" It wasn't like Sanji was lying--he legitimately had to see that woman again! He was caught in her enchantment and he was going to find her and get her name, even if it killed him!
"Sanji! D-Don't leave me! I CAN'T CARRY THIS MONSTER BY MYSELF!!" Usopp's cries fell upon deaf ears as the cook raced off, eyes scanning the crowd in the direction he had seen her disappear from. They weaved through the crowd so quickly, even if her companion was a fishmen, she was hard to spot! Growling to himself, he was about to dejectedly give up, until he spotted their figures turning left just past a large group of people. Shouting apologies as he ran, Sanji followed after them, pushing past people as he fought towards his goal.
As he raced up behind them, he eyed the fishman (fishwoman?) warily, before tapping the short woman's shoulder. When she turned around to face him, he felt his breath hitch in his throat. Those eyes... were so stunning. "M-Miss?" Curse that damn stutter! He really couldn't help it, he was trapped. "I-I'm sorry, but I saw you across the way... I-I just... I need to know your name!"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
A rather imposing-looking Marine had just ran into a little girl, and Julia held her collar up over her face so he couldn't see her face. She may have only just joined the Strawhat pirates, but even before meeting him she had already made a name for herself and a 25,000,000 bounty as a Pirate Captain before Nobutenga committed mutiny against her. She waited for some fireworks, but her eyes widened upon seeing his solution to the crying girl. Crouching next to her, the white haired Marine Captain placed a hand on her head (although Julia was almost positive that smoking so close to her face--two cigars no less--was probably not doing the kid any favors), "I'm sorry my pants seem to have eaten your ice cream." He gave her some Belli and Julia's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Go get yourself a five scoop next time."
"Thanks mister!" The father and child were quick to walk off, and Julia watched them go before turning around, quickly overtaking the white haired marine and only speaking once she had walked past him.
"You're an honorable man, Captain. Not all Marines can say the same, unfortunately," she smirked, feeling his eyes upon her until she disappeared into the crowded street ahead of them. She had no quarrel with a man who apologized for a little kid spilling ice cream on his uniform. Could he have been the man she had heard about? The famous Captain Smoker? He smoked enough to seemingly have gotten that title. Now... where would she go? Julia didn't see much value in shopping, unlike a lot of the other Strawhats. Nami had said stick together, but she was still new and although Sanji might have appreciated her presence, she was much more comfortable walking by herself. Instead of going towards the center of town, Julia turned heel and walked towards the outskirts, hands in her pants' pockets as she chose to observe Loguetown in its purest form. They seemed quite happy for people who might have to constantly fear Pirates traveling to the Grand Line. She could only assume that was because of the Marine Captain she had just come across.
While on her walk, she spotted a certain head of green hair, and she smirked to herself. This could prove to be interesting. "What's a potted plant doing all the way out here?" Her voice rang out as she called to him, swiftly walking up to the infamous swordsman. "Don't tell me you got lost--Sanji told me that happens quite a bit." A smirk played on the brunette's feature, unable to keep the grin off her face as she teased him. Zoro, considering his typically serious demeanor, was one of the more interesting Strawhats, and she was certain he didn't quite trust her yet. He just seemed to be that kind of individual, which was good because it contrasted Luffy's naturally-trusting nature. "So, you need help getting back to town center?"
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil tensed at the tap on her shoulder out of the blue. She turned around, eyeing the man that stood behind her with suspicion. It soon dissipated as she relaxed - he didn't seem like much of a threat. She noticed Shri square her shoulders with a frown; her usual response when someone stepped up to them. It was instinct for her to be wary of strangers who felt it necessary to talk to them. Probably because it usually ended pretty badly, considering how they've all pissed someone off before. While Teret also sported a strange look, he seemed far more calm about it compared to Shri. More curiosity in his eye than anything else.
"Uh..." She blinked, somewhat taken aback by him. He what? He just saw her and wanted to know who she was? Well, that didn't make much sense. "I'm Cynil?" She didn't mean for it to come out in a question, but she wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Um, and you are...?"
She cast a glance to Teret who gave her a subtle shrug in response. While she was used to people wanting to know who she was, that was always after they saw her performance. She couldn't recognize him at all, so he was probably being quite literal when he said: "I saw you across the way."
"Alright," Shri cut in, lifting a hand up. "Let's just have full transparency here - no lies. You don't plan on selling out, stealing from, or harming in any way, shape, or form, any of the members of the troupe we travel with." She got down to the matter that had been bugging her immediately, her face stern. She was in charge of keeping all of them safe, and she didn't skimp out on her job. Unless she was doing the harming. Then she kinda ignored that part of the description. A lot.
She was better at it than Krenn, that was for sure.
Teret straightened at this, deciding to finally step it. "I'm sure it's not like that, Shri, no need to jump anyone. Again."
"C'mon, people don't just approach others because they just want to know their names and for no other reason," Shri replied, rolling her eyes.
*~*~*
Zoro froze at the voice, giving a sigh. He pivoted on his heel to face her, frown in place. Well, it seemed he guessed one thing correct: one of the other crew members did find him after all. He was used to it by now. He could feel a twitch of annoyance pass through him as he crossed his arms over his chest - he wasn't all that fond of her name for him.
"And what makes you think I don't want to be here?" He questioned, though it was more to just be difficult than actually trying to defend himself. He knew he had a terrible sense of direction. "But yeah, let's get going."
During the trek, Zoro elected to remain silent for the most part. His hand was placed over his sword - now three, and the newest two shouldn't break - out of habit as he kept going. He cast glances around, taking in the surroundings. He could recognize some things he had passed by, which irked him slightly. Knowing that he was going in the absolute opposite direction was slightly frustrating to him, though he pushed it aside. Getting all mad now wouldn't do anything about it.
"What have the others been up to?" He finally spoke, giving her a glance out of the corner of his eye.
He imagined Luffy was probably neck-deep in trouble, Nami was robbing some poor, unsuspecting store (or just annoying them), and Sanji...well, he didn't really care much for what he was doing. As for Usopp, well, he could never really guess what he was getting up to. It was mostly getting dragged into one of the others' messes. How often that happened was something that the swordsman found rather amusing - especially with how adamant the long-nosed sniper was about not doing so.
Then again, the entire crew was often dragged into all of Luffy's messes.
"Uh..." She blinked, somewhat taken aback by him. He what? He just saw her and wanted to know who she was? Well, that didn't make much sense. "I'm Cynil?" She didn't mean for it to come out in a question, but she wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Um, and you are...?"
She cast a glance to Teret who gave her a subtle shrug in response. While she was used to people wanting to know who she was, that was always after they saw her performance. She couldn't recognize him at all, so he was probably being quite literal when he said: "I saw you across the way."
"Alright," Shri cut in, lifting a hand up. "Let's just have full transparency here - no lies. You don't plan on selling out, stealing from, or harming in any way, shape, or form, any of the members of the troupe we travel with." She got down to the matter that had been bugging her immediately, her face stern. She was in charge of keeping all of them safe, and she didn't skimp out on her job. Unless she was doing the harming. Then she kinda ignored that part of the description. A lot.
She was better at it than Krenn, that was for sure.
Teret straightened at this, deciding to finally step it. "I'm sure it's not like that, Shri, no need to jump anyone. Again."
"C'mon, people don't just approach others because they just want to know their names and for no other reason," Shri replied, rolling her eyes.
*~*~*
Zoro froze at the voice, giving a sigh. He pivoted on his heel to face her, frown in place. Well, it seemed he guessed one thing correct: one of the other crew members did find him after all. He was used to it by now. He could feel a twitch of annoyance pass through him as he crossed his arms over his chest - he wasn't all that fond of her name for him.
"And what makes you think I don't want to be here?" He questioned, though it was more to just be difficult than actually trying to defend himself. He knew he had a terrible sense of direction. "But yeah, let's get going."
During the trek, Zoro elected to remain silent for the most part. His hand was placed over his sword - now three, and the newest two shouldn't break - out of habit as he kept going. He cast glances around, taking in the surroundings. He could recognize some things he had passed by, which irked him slightly. Knowing that he was going in the absolute opposite direction was slightly frustrating to him, though he pushed it aside. Getting all mad now wouldn't do anything about it.
"What have the others been up to?" He finally spoke, giving her a glance out of the corner of his eye.
He imagined Luffy was probably neck-deep in trouble, Nami was robbing some poor, unsuspecting store (or just annoying them), and Sanji...well, he didn't really care much for what he was doing. As for Usopp, well, he could never really guess what he was getting up to. It was mostly getting dragged into one of the others' messes. How often that happened was something that the swordsman found rather amusing - especially with how adamant the long-nosed sniper was about not doing so.
Then again, the entire crew was often dragged into all of Luffy's messes.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
Sanji looked to the three of them, and realized all of a sudden that he had indeed missed the third person originally. Maybe he was so focused on the black-haired-beauty that he hadn't really seen them? Or maybe they had just met up around the corner that they had come to. He couldn't really tell what was going on with himself anymore. It was weird, but he was oddly calm despite being in the presence of a young lady. "I-I would never dream of harming any of you, I just... I saw Cynil from across the way, and merely couldn't help myself knowing that I was in the presence of a beautiful young woman. What can I say, I'm a hopeless romantic~" he sighed, laughing at himself as he pulled a cigarette out of his jacket pocket, looking between them. "Anyone have a light?"
A passerby managed to hear his request, and with a flick of a lighter and a quick 'thank you' from the blonde cook, he turned back to them. "My apologies, I was just with my crewmate and I managed to see you from across the way. I knew I couldn't let you get away without at least knowing your name. It gives a guy hope, right?" Smiling, he made sure to exhale away from them, turning his head so as to not blow smoke in their direction. "I'm a chef on a boat headed for the Grand Line, sorry to bother you, but you said you're part of a traveling troupe? Like... Circus Troupe?" He was curious, and honestly he wasn't about to let Cynil (what a gorgeous name!) get away with stealing his heart~.
Sanji smiled at the group, looking between the three. He realized he probably seemed a bit creepy and he blushed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He looked back the way he had come, not seeing Usopp. Hopefully he had left and headed back to the ship with that fish. "I probably need to find my idiot Captain... tell me, are you heading to the center plaza? I kind of need directions there!" He probably could have found it himself, but it was much easier asking these people who seemed to know where they were going.
He had already lost so much in his life, and after the death of her mother to a fever that they didn't have the cure to, Julia had tried to be there for her father as much as possible. She knew that choosing her as his heir had been a tough choice, because it meant that she was to travel the sea for ten years, only coming back every once and awhile, and mainly staying out at sea. If he had struggled letting her go, Julia couldn't imagine how he might feel if Nobutenga were to tell him that his only daughter and last remaining family had passed away at sea... well, she wanted revenge and that was the end of it.
Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Zoro actually decided to speak and start some small form of conversation, and she turned her deep blue orbs to him as she managed to retain her facade of mirth despite thinking of such deep matters. Nothing could get past the swordsman, she was more than well aware of that fact. However, a part of her hoped that he hadn't noticed the vacant look that frequented her gaze. She was a strong warrior--a Fire Ogre! She would not allow herself to be seen through so easily. She would continue to serve under Luffy for his hope of becoming the pirate king beyond getting her revenge, but that didn't stop her from thinking about her home. She had already been gone for about a year and a half. Answering Zoro, she shrugged. "Nami, as expected, went to go clothes shopping after you borrowed some money from her and disappeared. I'm surprised you managed to actually get swords, much less find the shop they were in~" She would never miss a chance for a subtle jab at the green haired male. What? He was just fun to annoy. "Usopp bought some weird goggles, and Sanji bought a fish that looked like an Elephant! Luffy ran off towards the center of town, and me? Well," she smiled at him. "I went for a walk and found you! I don't really have anything I wanted to buy." As if she had forgotten about it, she gasped, placing her fist in her hand with a grin. "I also saw a Marine! His name was... Smoker? I remember it fit because he had two huge cigars shoved in his mouth--I really think he has a problem."
A passerby managed to hear his request, and with a flick of a lighter and a quick 'thank you' from the blonde cook, he turned back to them. "My apologies, I was just with my crewmate and I managed to see you from across the way. I knew I couldn't let you get away without at least knowing your name. It gives a guy hope, right?" Smiling, he made sure to exhale away from them, turning his head so as to not blow smoke in their direction. "I'm a chef on a boat headed for the Grand Line, sorry to bother you, but you said you're part of a traveling troupe? Like... Circus Troupe?" He was curious, and honestly he wasn't about to let Cynil (what a gorgeous name!) get away with stealing his heart~.
Sanji smiled at the group, looking between the three. He realized he probably seemed a bit creepy and he blushed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He looked back the way he had come, not seeing Usopp. Hopefully he had left and headed back to the ship with that fish. "I probably need to find my idiot Captain... tell me, are you heading to the center plaza? I kind of need directions there!" He probably could have found it himself, but it was much easier asking these people who seemed to know where they were going.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Julia couldn't fight the smirk off of her face. This was indeed an amusing situation to find herself in, after all, Zoro and her seemed to naturally just... clash a bit. However, considering he was rational, the brunette was glad he realized that he would only get further lost if he didn't go with her. Once he had decided he was ready to leave, she began leading back towards the center of town, where it was no doubt that the execution platform, and Luffy, were to be found. She thought on the rather casual way that her Captain had saved her life, and it brought a genuine smile to her face. She had been left to die, stranded on a tiny sandbar, and Luffy had been so quick to rescue her. He gave her a purpose--to exact her revenge upon Nobutenga and take back her tribe. Certainly Chiachi wouldn't believe Nobutenga's lies, but her father, on the other hand...
He had already lost so much in his life, and after the death of her mother to a fever that they didn't have the cure to, Julia had tried to be there for her father as much as possible. She knew that choosing her as his heir had been a tough choice, because it meant that she was to travel the sea for ten years, only coming back every once and awhile, and mainly staying out at sea. If he had struggled letting her go, Julia couldn't imagine how he might feel if Nobutenga were to tell him that his only daughter and last remaining family had passed away at sea... well, she wanted revenge and that was the end of it.
Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Zoro actually decided to speak and start some small form of conversation, and she turned her deep blue orbs to him as she managed to retain her facade of mirth despite thinking of such deep matters. Nothing could get past the swordsman, she was more than well aware of that fact. However, a part of her hoped that he hadn't noticed the vacant look that frequented her gaze. She was a strong warrior--a Fire Ogre! She would not allow herself to be seen through so easily. She would continue to serve under Luffy for his hope of becoming the pirate king beyond getting her revenge, but that didn't stop her from thinking about her home. She had already been gone for about a year and a half. Answering Zoro, she shrugged. "Nami, as expected, went to go clothes shopping after you borrowed some money from her and disappeared. I'm surprised you managed to actually get swords, much less find the shop they were in~" She would never miss a chance for a subtle jab at the green haired male. What? He was just fun to annoy. "Usopp bought some weird goggles, and Sanji bought a fish that looked like an Elephant! Luffy ran off towards the center of town, and me? Well," she smiled at him. "I went for a walk and found you! I don't really have anything I wanted to buy." As if she had forgotten about it, she gasped, placing her fist in her hand with a grin. "I also saw a Marine! His name was... Smoker? I remember it fit because he had two huge cigars shoved in his mouth--I really think he has a problem."
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
The trio glanced to each other as they listened. Well, he was certainly....forward. At least he was honest? She couldn't really tell which would be better in this scenario. As long as he wasn't going to go overboard with it, she wouldn't be bothered.
"Sorta like a circus? I'm not sure, there's not that many of us," Cynil answered with a shrug, glancing over at Teret. He'd been with Serogi the longest, but, gauging from his expression, even he didn't seem so sure what to classify them. "But it's a good enough description, so it'll do. Besides, who really cares about what we're called, all that matters is if we can keep their attention or not." And they did. Mainly through the use of the three devil fruit users that Serogi picked up along the way: Teret, Allen, and Ryker. Teret was a one-man-band, so to say, as he could create sounds from almost thin air; she didn't really know how it worked, but it did. Allen was an illusionist, often times creating the fantastical things the people saw, though he was also a bit of a con artist and would scam people with his "fortune telling" job. Then there was Ryker, their blind swordsman - he could manipulate electricity to some extent, though mainly used it through his twin blades; he didn't use it as often as the others, and spent most of his time messing around with chemicals. He had been a genius chemist before he somehow messed up his sight, which led him to Serogi.
"Yeah, we're heading to the center of town." Teret gave a nod. "You guys good with him tagging along?"
"I don't see a problem," Shri answered while Cynil just gave another shrug.
With that, they were off. She didn't quite have much of a clue where they were going, the two trailing behind Teret as he led them to some informant that didn't seem to be all that reliable from what she picked up on. It didn't matter, something was better than the nothing she had. Even if it was a stretch. "So, Teret," Cynil spoke up, catching the ginger's attention. "Just who is this guy?"
"Some marine who went AWOL a month back - they've not been able to find him, but Serogi did. It's not too much farther." Ah, Serogi. The ex-spymaster still had a knack for these things, it seemed. That was good for her.
"Oh, well I'm sure he's going to be pleasant." Cynil's voice was laced with sarcasm.
"I'm pretty sure he's crazy."
*~*~*
Zoro's eyes squinted in suspicion as he gave Julia a strange look. There was something about her that seemed off for a moment, something that didn't seem to follow along with how she normally behaved. However, it was gone soon, and it was replaced with her usual expression. He was almost tempted to bring it up, but ultimately decided against it - if she wanted to talk about it, then she would start the conversation.
He tensed at the mention of Nami. Oh, right - he completely forgot about that. Damn woman had gone and put her absurd interest rate on the money he borrowed; the memory put him in a sour mood as he dwelled on it. He'd have to just deal with that at a later date. Or maybe she'd forget? Probably not, there was precious little that got by her when money was involved. "Guess I'm just lucky." He couldn't bite back the smug tone as he remembered the shop. A cursed blade, one that wound up with the wielder dying, and he managed to overcome such a thing. That proved that his luck wasn't terrible - quite the opposite, in fact.
Though, he still couldn't tell if it was bad luck or not that he ran into Luffy -
"Wait, a fish that looked like an elephant?" He stopped in place, face scrunching up as he imagined that. Would it have legs? No, fish didn't have legs....did they? He swore fish didn't have legs, but he wasn't an expert on fish or anything. Maybe it had the long trunk, kind of like a swordfish? But, the more he pictured that, the creepier it looked. Did it have the giant ears? ....He never saw a fish with ears before. He wasn't sure if he wanted to. He'd rather stop dwelling on it because every visual his mind concocted was worse than the one before.
Shaking his head, he started walking again. Yeah, that was something he really didn't want to think about. He'd just figure it out when he got back. "Smoker, huh? What was he doing?" Probably after some pirate foolish enough to make themselves known here, or just doing rounds around the town. Since their crew was so small, it was much easier to blend in with crowds and draw less attention than others.
"Sorta like a circus? I'm not sure, there's not that many of us," Cynil answered with a shrug, glancing over at Teret. He'd been with Serogi the longest, but, gauging from his expression, even he didn't seem so sure what to classify them. "But it's a good enough description, so it'll do. Besides, who really cares about what we're called, all that matters is if we can keep their attention or not." And they did. Mainly through the use of the three devil fruit users that Serogi picked up along the way: Teret, Allen, and Ryker. Teret was a one-man-band, so to say, as he could create sounds from almost thin air; she didn't really know how it worked, but it did. Allen was an illusionist, often times creating the fantastical things the people saw, though he was also a bit of a con artist and would scam people with his "fortune telling" job. Then there was Ryker, their blind swordsman - he could manipulate electricity to some extent, though mainly used it through his twin blades; he didn't use it as often as the others, and spent most of his time messing around with chemicals. He had been a genius chemist before he somehow messed up his sight, which led him to Serogi.
"Yeah, we're heading to the center of town." Teret gave a nod. "You guys good with him tagging along?"
"I don't see a problem," Shri answered while Cynil just gave another shrug.
With that, they were off. She didn't quite have much of a clue where they were going, the two trailing behind Teret as he led them to some informant that didn't seem to be all that reliable from what she picked up on. It didn't matter, something was better than the nothing she had. Even if it was a stretch. "So, Teret," Cynil spoke up, catching the ginger's attention. "Just who is this guy?"
"Some marine who went AWOL a month back - they've not been able to find him, but Serogi did. It's not too much farther." Ah, Serogi. The ex-spymaster still had a knack for these things, it seemed. That was good for her.
"Oh, well I'm sure he's going to be pleasant." Cynil's voice was laced with sarcasm.
"I'm pretty sure he's crazy."
*~*~*
Zoro's eyes squinted in suspicion as he gave Julia a strange look. There was something about her that seemed off for a moment, something that didn't seem to follow along with how she normally behaved. However, it was gone soon, and it was replaced with her usual expression. He was almost tempted to bring it up, but ultimately decided against it - if she wanted to talk about it, then she would start the conversation.
He tensed at the mention of Nami. Oh, right - he completely forgot about that. Damn woman had gone and put her absurd interest rate on the money he borrowed; the memory put him in a sour mood as he dwelled on it. He'd have to just deal with that at a later date. Or maybe she'd forget? Probably not, there was precious little that got by her when money was involved. "Guess I'm just lucky." He couldn't bite back the smug tone as he remembered the shop. A cursed blade, one that wound up with the wielder dying, and he managed to overcome such a thing. That proved that his luck wasn't terrible - quite the opposite, in fact.
Though, he still couldn't tell if it was bad luck or not that he ran into Luffy -
"Wait, a fish that looked like an elephant?" He stopped in place, face scrunching up as he imagined that. Would it have legs? No, fish didn't have legs....did they? He swore fish didn't have legs, but he wasn't an expert on fish or anything. Maybe it had the long trunk, kind of like a swordfish? But, the more he pictured that, the creepier it looked. Did it have the giant ears? ....He never saw a fish with ears before. He wasn't sure if he wanted to. He'd rather stop dwelling on it because every visual his mind concocted was worse than the one before.
Shaking his head, he started walking again. Yeah, that was something he really didn't want to think about. He'd just figure it out when he got back. "Smoker, huh? What was he doing?" Probably after some pirate foolish enough to make themselves known here, or just doing rounds around the town. Since their crew was so small, it was much easier to blend in with crowds and draw less attention than others.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
Sanji was, if nothing else, an honest man with simple needs. Good food, and good company: in his eyes, those were the only two things a man needed to survive in this world. He listened to Cynil's speech, intently focused as he smoked casually, nodding along with her words to show he was keeping up. As they discussed whether or not he was able to come with, he was very glad that they had come to the conclusion that he could. Not only would he get more time to hang around the black haired beauty. "Right, thank you. I appreciate it." He took a deep breath of smoke, inhaling slowly and calming down slightly, before he exhaled back out his mouth, turning his head away from them once again. Some people were more accepting of smoking, and others weren't, so he figured that he would just be courteous.
As they made there way back to the center plaza, Sanji couldn't help but listen in to their conversation, the cook shoving his hands in his pockets as they strolled along. He noticed how they ignored the stairs of the villagers. Shri was probably not the only fishman that the villagers had seen, but they probably didn't see their kind very often. Hearing the sarcasm in Cynil's voice, he blinked a few times, wondering whether or not he should bother asking. Deciding that he actually didn't have a lot to lose, the blonde hummed a note before speaking up. "Forgive me for being nosey, but who is this ex-marine you're speaking of?" Sanji wanted to know, mainly if there was someone whom he and his crewmates should avoid. After all, they were wanted men (and women). Luffy's bounty was already 30,000,000 million belli, and that was before he defeated Arlong.
As they neared the center plaza, he began to hear more of a commotion rising up from the people. Pausing in their walking, Sanji looked around, his curly eyebrows furrowing as he looked to the people who were running to the plaza, talking amongst themselves. "I wonder what's got everyone so worked up?" Looking to a nearby runner, Sanji called out to him. "Hey, do you know what's going on?"
The man gulped and nodded, "Yeah, apparently the Pirates Alvida and Buggy are going to execute Strawhat Luffy on the execution platform!"
Well. Whaddya know? His captain was being executed. It took a moment to sink in. "W-WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT LUFFY?!" Just his luck--as soon as he had found the most gorgeous girl on the face of the earth, his captain went and got himself captured. The man repeated what he had said, before leaving them to go see for himself. Knowing he didn't have much time to act, Sanji growled, putting out his cigarette and quickly throwing it away. "Forgive me ladies, but it sounds like my Captain is about to get himself murdered, so I need to go save him!"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
The brunette avoided Zoro's gaze as she normalized her emotions once more. Hopefully he would just... let it go if he did notice anything. Smiling at him, she nodded and noticed his concerned face when she had mentioned Nami. That navigator of theirs... when it concerned money, or her own safety, Nami could be the real demon, not Julia. Feeling a bit of pity for the swordsman, Julia turned to face him as they walked, walking sideways. She looked a little stupid, but well... that had never stopped her before! "Look... you pay Nami back the 100,000 belli she loaned you, and I'll pay whatever crazy interest she made you agree to." Of course, nothing was ever free. A snicker on her lips, she eyed him carefully, before adding her hitch. "If~" she was such a threat. "You promise to do me a few favors every now and again." She held up her hand. "Only 5, and I never ask for more! Nami's interest rates go up the longer you take to pay her back, I hear."
When they were pondering the elephant fish, she couldn't help but laugh at Zoro's concerned/confused face. "N-Not like that... I'm sure whatever you're imagining is all wrong!" After all, it was... kind of a hard fish to describe. Julia was from the grand line, and even she could attest that the fish was weird.
As he mentioned Smoker, she shrugged again, kicking up some dirt. She hadn't been paying attention before, but she couldn't help but notice that it got louder the closer they got to the central plaza. At first she had merely thought that this was because of the natural open market area that was closer, but it was a little... too quiet in the outskirts. Where had everyone gone. "Oh, I heard this blue haired girl with glasses mention the central plaza-" She froze in her speech and her step. Crap! How hadn't she noticed earlier?! "Shit! Luffy! I'm such an idiot!" Growling to herself, she didn't bother to check to see if Zoro was following--if that bad feeling in her gut was anything to go off of, she knew that she would only be able to help their captain if they hurried now.
"Hurry! I heard Buggy the Clown is going to execute Strawhat Luffy!"
Well, that wasn't good.
They arrived at the edge of the crowd, looking up on top of the execution platform, and sure enough, there was a woman with long black hair, a clown with blue hair, and Luffy up on the execution platform, looking oblivious as always. As Julia tried to figure out what to do, a voice from the left of her caught her attention. "Zoro, Usopp, Julia!" Nami walked up, holding a large bag of what the brunette assumed to be clothes, and her eyes bulged out of her head as she looked up at the platform. "BUGGY? And... LUFFY?! THAT IDIOT!" Calming herself down, she took a deep breath in and turned to the others. "Regardless, we need to leave now! There's a storm coming in soon and if we don't go, we'll get stuck here!"
"I see Captain Smoker and the Marines, this isn't good," Julia frowned, looking out amongst the crowds as chaos threatened to break out.
"Sanji left me with all the food, chasing after some woman he saw," Usopp complained, whining. At the mention of the storm, he practically shrieked. "Th-then we need to go! Clearly we can't wait around here for everyone else!"
"Usopp and I will head back to the ship and get it ready to weigh anchor! You guys save Luffy and get him out of here!" Nami called, and the two readied to leave.
"I guess it's time for my debut..." Julia murmured, and if it were any other situation, she might have smirked. Closing her eyes, a flame started at her feet before it engulfed her body--once it was gone her skin was a bright ruby red, and she had removed the cloak/jacket that usually hung around her shoulders to make room for two bat-like wings that sprouted from her back. The whites of her eyes were black, and two crooked horns had now situated from the top of her head. "Nami, hold my jacket."
"R-Right...!" It took a second for the orange haired female's shock to subside, before she took the article of clothing from her.
"D-... Demon!" Usopp gargled on his own spit in worry.
"You guys go, Zoro and I have got this," Julia yelled, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the two. Nami quickly gulped and tugged on Usopp's arm until they were both heading down toward the docks. The brunette turned her narrowed gaze to Zoro. "Plan of attack?"
As they made there way back to the center plaza, Sanji couldn't help but listen in to their conversation, the cook shoving his hands in his pockets as they strolled along. He noticed how they ignored the stairs of the villagers. Shri was probably not the only fishman that the villagers had seen, but they probably didn't see their kind very often. Hearing the sarcasm in Cynil's voice, he blinked a few times, wondering whether or not he should bother asking. Deciding that he actually didn't have a lot to lose, the blonde hummed a note before speaking up. "Forgive me for being nosey, but who is this ex-marine you're speaking of?" Sanji wanted to know, mainly if there was someone whom he and his crewmates should avoid. After all, they were wanted men (and women). Luffy's bounty was already 30,000,000 million belli, and that was before he defeated Arlong.
As they neared the center plaza, he began to hear more of a commotion rising up from the people. Pausing in their walking, Sanji looked around, his curly eyebrows furrowing as he looked to the people who were running to the plaza, talking amongst themselves. "I wonder what's got everyone so worked up?" Looking to a nearby runner, Sanji called out to him. "Hey, do you know what's going on?"
The man gulped and nodded, "Yeah, apparently the Pirates Alvida and Buggy are going to execute Strawhat Luffy on the execution platform!"
Well. Whaddya know? His captain was being executed. It took a moment to sink in. "W-WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT LUFFY?!" Just his luck--as soon as he had found the most gorgeous girl on the face of the earth, his captain went and got himself captured. The man repeated what he had said, before leaving them to go see for himself. Knowing he didn't have much time to act, Sanji growled, putting out his cigarette and quickly throwing it away. "Forgive me ladies, but it sounds like my Captain is about to get himself murdered, so I need to go save him!"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
The brunette avoided Zoro's gaze as she normalized her emotions once more. Hopefully he would just... let it go if he did notice anything. Smiling at him, she nodded and noticed his concerned face when she had mentioned Nami. That navigator of theirs... when it concerned money, or her own safety, Nami could be the real demon, not Julia. Feeling a bit of pity for the swordsman, Julia turned to face him as they walked, walking sideways. She looked a little stupid, but well... that had never stopped her before! "Look... you pay Nami back the 100,000 belli she loaned you, and I'll pay whatever crazy interest she made you agree to." Of course, nothing was ever free. A snicker on her lips, she eyed him carefully, before adding her hitch. "If~" she was such a threat. "You promise to do me a few favors every now and again." She held up her hand. "Only 5, and I never ask for more! Nami's interest rates go up the longer you take to pay her back, I hear."
When they were pondering the elephant fish, she couldn't help but laugh at Zoro's concerned/confused face. "N-Not like that... I'm sure whatever you're imagining is all wrong!" After all, it was... kind of a hard fish to describe. Julia was from the grand line, and even she could attest that the fish was weird.
As he mentioned Smoker, she shrugged again, kicking up some dirt. She hadn't been paying attention before, but she couldn't help but notice that it got louder the closer they got to the central plaza. At first she had merely thought that this was because of the natural open market area that was closer, but it was a little... too quiet in the outskirts. Where had everyone gone. "Oh, I heard this blue haired girl with glasses mention the central plaza-" She froze in her speech and her step. Crap! How hadn't she noticed earlier?! "Shit! Luffy! I'm such an idiot!" Growling to herself, she didn't bother to check to see if Zoro was following--if that bad feeling in her gut was anything to go off of, she knew that she would only be able to help their captain if they hurried now.
"Hurry! I heard Buggy the Clown is going to execute Strawhat Luffy!"
Well, that wasn't good.
They arrived at the edge of the crowd, looking up on top of the execution platform, and sure enough, there was a woman with long black hair, a clown with blue hair, and Luffy up on the execution platform, looking oblivious as always. As Julia tried to figure out what to do, a voice from the left of her caught her attention. "Zoro, Usopp, Julia!" Nami walked up, holding a large bag of what the brunette assumed to be clothes, and her eyes bulged out of her head as she looked up at the platform. "BUGGY? And... LUFFY?! THAT IDIOT!" Calming herself down, she took a deep breath in and turned to the others. "Regardless, we need to leave now! There's a storm coming in soon and if we don't go, we'll get stuck here!"
"I see Captain Smoker and the Marines, this isn't good," Julia frowned, looking out amongst the crowds as chaos threatened to break out.
"Sanji left me with all the food, chasing after some woman he saw," Usopp complained, whining. At the mention of the storm, he practically shrieked. "Th-then we need to go! Clearly we can't wait around here for everyone else!"
"Usopp and I will head back to the ship and get it ready to weigh anchor! You guys save Luffy and get him out of here!" Nami called, and the two readied to leave.
"I guess it's time for my debut..." Julia murmured, and if it were any other situation, she might have smirked. Closing her eyes, a flame started at her feet before it engulfed her body--once it was gone her skin was a bright ruby red, and she had removed the cloak/jacket that usually hung around her shoulders to make room for two bat-like wings that sprouted from her back. The whites of her eyes were black, and two crooked horns had now situated from the top of her head. "Nami, hold my jacket."
"R-Right...!" It took a second for the orange haired female's shock to subside, before she took the article of clothing from her.
"D-... Demon!" Usopp gargled on his own spit in worry.
"You guys go, Zoro and I have got this," Julia yelled, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the two. Nami quickly gulped and tugged on Usopp's arm until they were both heading down toward the docks. The brunette turned her narrowed gaze to Zoro. "Plan of attack?"
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil waved dismissively, motioning to Teret. "He's got all the information on the guy, I'm just a follower." Really, she was. She always had trouble leading - she wasn't utterly terrible, but it never felt right; was too nervewracking, and she'd rather take orders than give them. Thankfully she wasn't thrown into many situations where she needed to start telling people what to do, so that was nice. It also gave her joy to do the literal opposite of what people told her, just to bug them.
She blinked, looking over curiously as she heard the news. Someone was getting themselves executed? And that "someone" seemed to be this guy's captain. Well, that was certainly an interesting turn of events. She nodded absentmindedly as he took off. Hearing that someone you were in a crew with was about to get killed had a tendency to get people moving; she knew that well.
"Maybe we should go there?" Teret spoke up after a moment. "Think the commotion would've got our guy's attention. This is what he looks like." He pulled a picture out of his pocket, revealing a man in a marine's uniform. His head was shaved, slight beard coming in. She imagined that he looked a bit differently now, but that was better than having no clue. "Also, Serogi wanted me to give you this." He grabbed a leatherbound book from his jacket pocket, pushing it into her hands. "Said he had a hunch that you better hold on to it."
"Serogi doesn't really do hunches, Teret, so what's going on?" Cynil frowned as she looked up to the red head. They turned a corner as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"Says that you shouldn't come back. He thinks that you won't be able to catch up with this guy, and I believe him; we don't move all that fast since we stay in the same place for a week before leaving. From what I've heard from Serogi, this guy stays for a day or even less." He grimaced as he spoke.
Cynil stopped, blinking as she froze in place. "Wait, you don't mean to say..." Her words trailed off as Teret cast her a sympathetic look. "No, no, no - he can't just fire me like that!" She exclaimed. "What the hell am I going to do? Just hitch a ride in hopes that someone will take me to where I want to go?!" She threw her arms up in exasperation. She was more annoyed in general than actually mad; she knew they were doing what they thought was best, but damn did it sting.
"Well, here's the thing..." Shri said, scratching her cheek and glancing away. "That's kinda where we're going."
"You knew, too?" Cynil stared with astonishment. "Does everyone? Everyone but me?" The sheepish nods she got caused her to roll her eyes and groan. Of course. "So, what do you mean 'that's where we're going'?" She mocked Shri's voice, earning a small laugh from the woman.
"The marine isn't telling us anything new - well, telling us anything new, it'll probably be something you've not heard - he's agreed to take you to the Grand Line, which is -" Teret motioned towards the book in her hands. "-where we think this guy - this 'Phantom' - is. If Pritcher, that's the marine, by the way, stays true to his word, he'll see you there safely. Honestly, I don't think he'll stick to it, but we can postpone things if that happens."
Well, this was all news to her. Turns out all these people she's worked with and grew to enjoy the company of had been planning on sticking her on a ship to the Grand Line. She appreciated the gesture, she really did, but they could've at least told her beforehand. Right now she really wanted to smack them all, even if they were just trying to help.
"Let's just get going," Cynil gave an exasperated sigh, shaking her head. "Let's not waste this chance you got me." She gave a small smile, one that showed she harbored no resentment or ill will towards them. Her two escorts released the breaths she hadn't realized they'd been holding and continued leading her on.
*~*~*
Zoro had little time to react, doing his best to stay behind Julia as she navigated the streets. They wove through crowds of people, and, for some brief moments, he almost lost track of the brunette leading the charge; thankfully he was able to pick out the back of her head and continue on. Getting lost at a time like this would've been bad, real bad. Not to mention that, if Luffy were in trouble with those pirates, he was probably in trouble with the marines. If he got separated from the others, then he'd probably wind up getting caught by either of them and, while he was confident in his skills as a swordsman, it would be almost impossible to take down so many people.
As the two approached the scene, his suspicions were proven to be true: both pirates and marines seemed to want their captain's head. Except one was closer to getting it, that the other it seemed. He felt a sense of dread in his stomach as he looked on. They wouldn't be able to reach him in time. It was too far, too high up - he could move fast, but not that fast.
"Damn it, Luffy!" He growled, unsheathing his blades after tying the bandana quickly. He bit down on the hilt of the third, glancing around. Pirates and marines; not to mention the large group of onlookers. He knew they got themselves out of a lot of messes, but he couldn't see how Luffy would luck out of this one. Nothing short of a miracle could save him now.
And miracles didn't come just because you wanted them.
The light - like a fire suddenly erupting at his side - caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He looked over, bewildered. What the - wait, what? He would've rubbed his eyes if it weren't for the fact they were holding two swords. After a moment, he decided that what he was seeing must've been true - there was no other way around it. Guess you learned something new about people every day. And they called him a demon.
"The plan is attack." Zoro's words were muffled due to his third blade, but still audible. She had wings - maybe she could reach Luffy? Unless she could fly faster than the eye could follow, he didn't really see a way that would save Luffy. Buggy would see her coming - his vantage point gave him sight of the entire field - and he'd probably have him killed already. Damn, he just couldn't see this ending well. Every scenario he played out in his head would ultimately end with Luffy losing his head, whether the swordsman tried his best or not.
This was just looking more and more grim by the minute. They just had to hope for the best and act; hesitating and doubting would get them no where.
She blinked, looking over curiously as she heard the news. Someone was getting themselves executed? And that "someone" seemed to be this guy's captain. Well, that was certainly an interesting turn of events. She nodded absentmindedly as he took off. Hearing that someone you were in a crew with was about to get killed had a tendency to get people moving; she knew that well.
"Maybe we should go there?" Teret spoke up after a moment. "Think the commotion would've got our guy's attention. This is what he looks like." He pulled a picture out of his pocket, revealing a man in a marine's uniform. His head was shaved, slight beard coming in. She imagined that he looked a bit differently now, but that was better than having no clue. "Also, Serogi wanted me to give you this." He grabbed a leatherbound book from his jacket pocket, pushing it into her hands. "Said he had a hunch that you better hold on to it."
"Serogi doesn't really do hunches, Teret, so what's going on?" Cynil frowned as she looked up to the red head. They turned a corner as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"Says that you shouldn't come back. He thinks that you won't be able to catch up with this guy, and I believe him; we don't move all that fast since we stay in the same place for a week before leaving. From what I've heard from Serogi, this guy stays for a day or even less." He grimaced as he spoke.
Cynil stopped, blinking as she froze in place. "Wait, you don't mean to say..." Her words trailed off as Teret cast her a sympathetic look. "No, no, no - he can't just fire me like that!" She exclaimed. "What the hell am I going to do? Just hitch a ride in hopes that someone will take me to where I want to go?!" She threw her arms up in exasperation. She was more annoyed in general than actually mad; she knew they were doing what they thought was best, but damn did it sting.
"Well, here's the thing..." Shri said, scratching her cheek and glancing away. "That's kinda where we're going."
"You knew, too?" Cynil stared with astonishment. "Does everyone? Everyone but me?" The sheepish nods she got caused her to roll her eyes and groan. Of course. "So, what do you mean 'that's where we're going'?" She mocked Shri's voice, earning a small laugh from the woman.
"The marine isn't telling us anything new - well, telling us anything new, it'll probably be something you've not heard - he's agreed to take you to the Grand Line, which is -" Teret motioned towards the book in her hands. "-where we think this guy - this 'Phantom' - is. If Pritcher, that's the marine, by the way, stays true to his word, he'll see you there safely. Honestly, I don't think he'll stick to it, but we can postpone things if that happens."
Well, this was all news to her. Turns out all these people she's worked with and grew to enjoy the company of had been planning on sticking her on a ship to the Grand Line. She appreciated the gesture, she really did, but they could've at least told her beforehand. Right now she really wanted to smack them all, even if they were just trying to help.
"Let's just get going," Cynil gave an exasperated sigh, shaking her head. "Let's not waste this chance you got me." She gave a small smile, one that showed she harbored no resentment or ill will towards them. Her two escorts released the breaths she hadn't realized they'd been holding and continued leading her on.
*~*~*
Zoro had little time to react, doing his best to stay behind Julia as she navigated the streets. They wove through crowds of people, and, for some brief moments, he almost lost track of the brunette leading the charge; thankfully he was able to pick out the back of her head and continue on. Getting lost at a time like this would've been bad, real bad. Not to mention that, if Luffy were in trouble with those pirates, he was probably in trouble with the marines. If he got separated from the others, then he'd probably wind up getting caught by either of them and, while he was confident in his skills as a swordsman, it would be almost impossible to take down so many people.
As the two approached the scene, his suspicions were proven to be true: both pirates and marines seemed to want their captain's head. Except one was closer to getting it, that the other it seemed. He felt a sense of dread in his stomach as he looked on. They wouldn't be able to reach him in time. It was too far, too high up - he could move fast, but not that fast.
"Damn it, Luffy!" He growled, unsheathing his blades after tying the bandana quickly. He bit down on the hilt of the third, glancing around. Pirates and marines; not to mention the large group of onlookers. He knew they got themselves out of a lot of messes, but he couldn't see how Luffy would luck out of this one. Nothing short of a miracle could save him now.
And miracles didn't come just because you wanted them.
The light - like a fire suddenly erupting at his side - caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He looked over, bewildered. What the - wait, what? He would've rubbed his eyes if it weren't for the fact they were holding two swords. After a moment, he decided that what he was seeing must've been true - there was no other way around it. Guess you learned something new about people every day. And they called him a demon.
"The plan is attack." Zoro's words were muffled due to his third blade, but still audible. She had wings - maybe she could reach Luffy? Unless she could fly faster than the eye could follow, he didn't really see a way that would save Luffy. Buggy would see her coming - his vantage point gave him sight of the entire field - and he'd probably have him killed already. Damn, he just couldn't see this ending well. Every scenario he played out in his head would ultimately end with Luffy losing his head, whether the swordsman tried his best or not.
This was just looking more and more grim by the minute. They just had to hope for the best and act; hesitating and doubting would get them no where.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
Sanji was barely paying attention--he really couldn't help it, after all, at the moment, he was more concerned about Luffy dying than he was Cynil's problems, unfortunately. He did, however, manage to catch that she might need a ride. Turning and looking to her, he grinned, "hey, if you help me save our captain, you can catch a ride and we'll even help you find that guy you've been looking for!" He knew he really couldn't make such promises, but Luffy was easy going, and he was also easily likeable and liked others back just as easy. Surely Luffy would be willing to take on one more person.
It was hard for him to focus on more than one thing at a time when everything around him was going to shit. As they finally reached the center platform, he couldn't help but curse under his breath, seeing his captain trapped up top with a woman--whom he had caught a glimpse of earlier--and Buggy, whom he had heard stories from Nami, Luffy, and Zoro. The cook growled, seeing the knife pointed at his captain's neck, and even from their current position, they could hear Luffy's loudass voice.
"Hey, guys! This isn't a reinactment, can you get me down from here?!" Luffy sounded a little concerned, which was a huge change from the usual happy-go lucky captain.
"Hey, could you guys make sure the civilians don't get harmed? I'm going to go save my captain," Sanji asked the troupe--certainly they couldn't say no to helping the civilians and making sure that they escape safely. He only hoped that this makeshift plan of his could somehow turn out alright. Nodding to the group, Sanji ran forward, using his powerful legs in order to run up quickly and strike the platform. It wasn't enough to knock it over, but it did knock Alvida off and made Buggy drop his sword. The pirates surrounding the platform shouted, racing forward to intercept the blonde cook. The marines on site were helping escort the civilians out of the plaza. They couldn't open fire with civilians in the way.
Sanji growled, spinning and attacking as many people as he could, but he was being quickly overwhelmed. Were both Alvida and Buggy pirate captains with full crews? This could be annoying... As he continued to spin and fight, the blonde couldn't help but start to sweat. This looked bad! However, just when he was about to think that Buggy would really succeed in killing their Captain, he saw a red streak above him. He didn't have too much time to look, but whatever it was had knocked Buggy off the platform. Biting an unlit cigarette, Sanji spun to face the pirate who couldn't be cut. This was bad--kicks against someone nearly invisible? This was a bad match up to be sure.
"Haha! You can't defeat me! I will kill that Strawhat brat, and I'll kill you too!" Sanji had been fighting some other guys as Buggy picked up his dropped weapon, and Sanji's eyes widened as he rushed forward, the sharpened blade aimed straight for his head.
"Shit!"
With a large gust of air, she took to the skies. If the people weren't panicking before, they certainly were now, with all the commotion and what they could only describe as a red-humanoid bat swooping above them. Julia propelled herself forward, and her target was dead on sight--Buggy. He used his limb to try to grab for the weapon that he had lost when Sanji unbalanced the platform. Her eyes narrowed--good, he wasn't paying attention. Folding her wings back for the best aerodynamics, the brunette felt the wind whipping at her face as she took a nosedive forward. The red-nosed menace noticed her only too late--she was already in his face by the time he bothered to look up. With a shriek of fear, she shoved him off the tower.
"W-Woah, who are you?" Luffy asked, eyes wide. "Be my nakama!"
"Luffy, I'm already a member of your crew!" Clearly, he was about as dense as they came; even if he was a good person.
"Oh, Julia? Cool! I didn't know this is what demons looked like... Now, get me out of here, shishishi." As he laughed, she felt the undeniable need to groan in contempt for allowing herself to follow an idiot. But, she had promised to be a crewmember, and she didn't take promises lightly.
"Not all demons look alike, I'm an Oni," she growled, and flattened her wings behind her back. It was practically useless trying to explain it to him, but she would try hoping that something might stick someday. "And that's exactly what I came to do. Now stay still!" Her claws were as tough as nails, and she brought them down on the lock that kept him trapped in the stock. "You're not reliving Roger's death, I promise!" The lock snapped and fell to the floor of the platform, and Luffy sprang free, laughing gleefily.
"Great! Now, fly us to the Merry!"
"I-I can't, my wings aren't strong enough to hand both of us. I can barely control myself in the air!" Their best bet was to make a run for it. Looking down, Julia called out to the green haired male who fought below them. "Zoro, give us an opening!" The sound of 'fire!' caught her ears, and Julia swore, having forgotten about the marines. Luffy used his 'Gomu Gomu no Balloon' to catch most of them and bounce them back, but a few still tore threw the gentle webbing of Julia's wings. Hissing loudly, she de-transformed, fire engulfing her once more. Her back was bleeding, but at least she couldn't tear her wings more while in human form.
It was hard for him to focus on more than one thing at a time when everything around him was going to shit. As they finally reached the center platform, he couldn't help but curse under his breath, seeing his captain trapped up top with a woman--whom he had caught a glimpse of earlier--and Buggy, whom he had heard stories from Nami, Luffy, and Zoro. The cook growled, seeing the knife pointed at his captain's neck, and even from their current position, they could hear Luffy's loudass voice.
"Hey, guys! This isn't a reinactment, can you get me down from here?!" Luffy sounded a little concerned, which was a huge change from the usual happy-go lucky captain.
"Hey, could you guys make sure the civilians don't get harmed? I'm going to go save my captain," Sanji asked the troupe--certainly they couldn't say no to helping the civilians and making sure that they escape safely. He only hoped that this makeshift plan of his could somehow turn out alright. Nodding to the group, Sanji ran forward, using his powerful legs in order to run up quickly and strike the platform. It wasn't enough to knock it over, but it did knock Alvida off and made Buggy drop his sword. The pirates surrounding the platform shouted, racing forward to intercept the blonde cook. The marines on site were helping escort the civilians out of the plaza. They couldn't open fire with civilians in the way.
Sanji growled, spinning and attacking as many people as he could, but he was being quickly overwhelmed. Were both Alvida and Buggy pirate captains with full crews? This could be annoying... As he continued to spin and fight, the blonde couldn't help but start to sweat. This looked bad! However, just when he was about to think that Buggy would really succeed in killing their Captain, he saw a red streak above him. He didn't have too much time to look, but whatever it was had knocked Buggy off the platform. Biting an unlit cigarette, Sanji spun to face the pirate who couldn't be cut. This was bad--kicks against someone nearly invisible? This was a bad match up to be sure.
"Haha! You can't defeat me! I will kill that Strawhat brat, and I'll kill you too!" Sanji had been fighting some other guys as Buggy picked up his dropped weapon, and Sanji's eyes widened as he rushed forward, the sharpened blade aimed straight for his head.
"Shit!"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
She avoided their stares, she was quite used to them. The brunette's now-dark eyes narrowed as she bit her lip, large canines just barely peeking out from underneath her lip. A head of blonde racing for the front of the crowd caught her eye, and they widened slightly. "That's Sanji! He's our cue to move--I'll get Luffy, you go after that crazy lady and her crew!" She was used to giving orders, but Julia felt like this was more of a joint venture. After all, he had suggested that originally they just attack--at least this way their blundering could at least be a little bit organized. Growling, her wings extended to their full wingspan--a shocking 10 feet, and she took to the sky just as soon as Sanji's leg connected with the platform.
With a large gust of air, she took to the skies. If the people weren't panicking before, they certainly were now, with all the commotion and what they could only describe as a red-humanoid bat swooping above them. Julia propelled herself forward, and her target was dead on sight--Buggy. He used his limb to try to grab for the weapon that he had lost when Sanji unbalanced the platform. Her eyes narrowed--good, he wasn't paying attention. Folding her wings back for the best aerodynamics, the brunette felt the wind whipping at her face as she took a nosedive forward. The red-nosed menace noticed her only too late--she was already in his face by the time he bothered to look up. With a shriek of fear, she shoved him off the tower.
"W-Woah, who are you?" Luffy asked, eyes wide. "Be my nakama!"
"Luffy, I'm already a member of your crew!" Clearly, he was about as dense as they came; even if he was a good person.
"Oh, Julia? Cool! I didn't know this is what demons looked like... Now, get me out of here, shishishi." As he laughed, she felt the undeniable need to groan in contempt for allowing herself to follow an idiot. But, she had promised to be a crewmember, and she didn't take promises lightly.
"Not all demons look alike, I'm an Oni," she growled, and flattened her wings behind her back. It was practically useless trying to explain it to him, but she would try hoping that something might stick someday. "And that's exactly what I came to do. Now stay still!" Her claws were as tough as nails, and she brought them down on the lock that kept him trapped in the stock. "You're not reliving Roger's death, I promise!" The lock snapped and fell to the floor of the platform, and Luffy sprang free, laughing gleefily.
"Great! Now, fly us to the Merry!"
"I-I can't, my wings aren't strong enough to hand both of us. I can barely control myself in the air!" Their best bet was to make a run for it. Looking down, Julia called out to the green haired male who fought below them. "Zoro, give us an opening!" The sound of 'fire!' caught her ears, and Julia swore, having forgotten about the marines. Luffy used his 'Gomu Gomu no Balloon' to catch most of them and bounce them back, but a few still tore threw the gentle webbing of Julia's wings. Hissing loudly, she de-transformed, fire engulfing her once more. Her back was bleeding, but at least she couldn't tear her wings more while in human form.
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil couldn't help but grimace at the scene playing out. Well, this didn't look good - it didn't look good at all. She gave a nod, hardly listening to the blonde as she made her way to do just that. How the hell were you supposed to corral a bunch of people and then get them moving? Not to mention they didn't even seem to notice her; she didn't really blame them, her size made her easily missed. Thankfully she had Shri and Teret. She just needed to make sure none of them got shot on their way out. Or stabbed. Or anything, for that matter. She just needed to make sure they had a safe exit out. That wasn't hard.
"Alright, this way, come on," Teret ordered, his voice losing its friendly tone. He was a nice guy, really was, but, when it came down to these situations, he could be downright scary when it came to authority. "Anyone who drags their feet will be shot, and that's not me threatening you - it's just a fact." This seemed to cause people to pick up the pace, realization of just the gravity of things hitting them. She couldn't make out the face of the marine who they had hired to help her out. So he did flake after all.
She couldn't help but chuckle as pirates seemed to delude themselves with thinking they could take Shri in a fight. She was an indomitable force, even when she was outnumbered. She held one of them up by his head, the poor guy scratching at her wrist to get her to release him. His yells and curses were muffled by her palm, but they only seemed to cause her to tighten her grip. Yeah, Shri was pretty intimidating as well.
Cynil caught a faint glint of metal out of the corner of her eye, glancing over her shoulder curiously as she felt something yank her back by her hair. Great. She was taken hostage. Again. She just wondered how this would turn out. A gun was put to the side of her head, the pirate in question glaring fiercely over at Shri. The fishwoman in question noticed immediately and didn't look too happy at all to see the shorter girl be thrown in such a situation. She released the pirate, letting him fall onto the floor as she turned to face Cynil's current captor. She rolled her shoulder, holding her hammer out to point at him.
"Why did you pick her?" The words were venomous. She knew this was a touchy subject for Shri - not seeing Cynil herself being threatened, but seeing anyone who appeared more on the helpless side being threatened. The man seemed taken aback by her question, only sputtering words. "You did it because she's small - defenseless. You know, I was once small, so seeing bastards like you think you can exploit that really pisses me off. Go ahead, shoot her; see what happens."
As if realizing his mistake, she felt the grip on her shoulder loosen a touch. It was enough for her to shove off, twisting around. His instincts kicked in, moving in what she assumed was a practiced motion. Hold the gun out, fire. The bullet tore through her chest, followed by a second. There was a sting, but, other than that, adrenaline kept her from feeling pain and shock caused her body to freeze up. She stumbled, body moving on its own as it let itself collapse onto her back. Everything seemed to blur together for a moment, her ears ringing - she could hardly feel her chest heave. She could hear the steps of Shri thump beside her, stepping over her body, as she made her way over to the sorry pirate.
It took only a few moments until Cynil was sitting back up and dusting herself off. She was thankful the bullets got her in the stomach or else she'd have to replace this shirt, and she really did like this one. She caught sight of Shri mercilessly slamming said pirate's face into the ground before throwing him with all her might into the distance. She turned, laughing as she made her way over and clapped Cynil on the shoulder. "You should've seen his face when you got up!" She barked laughter, grin wide and revealing her razor-sharp teeth.
Cynil was still dazed, blinking as she brought a hand up to her head. Her ears were still ringing as she stood there dumbly. It was hard to focus, and she felt a headache coming on - probably from stress or something like that. The healing process tended to be a bit taxing. Looking down to her stomach, she saw the blood and wiped it away; two bruises were in place of the bullet holes, small purple marks. One was just under her rib cage while the other was under it. Nice, those looked like they'd be painful later.
*~*~*
Zoro cut down pirate after pirate of Buggy's crew. It was easy, they were rather unskilled and just cannon fodder to be thrown at them. However, even the weakest of opponents could wear you down, and, if this kept up, that's exactly what would've happened. He needed to make all his movements precise - unnecessary motions would only make him tire quicker, and then he was in trouble. Easily sidestepping out of the way of some sorry excuse of a swordsman, it only took a slight jerk of his head to the side to embed his blade into his side and cut through with ease. He spun around, holding his two other swords parallel to each other as he twisted and delivered a finishing move that sent the man sprawling onto the concrete.
He caught a glimpse of the idiot cook, growling to himself. "About time you got here!" He snapped, glaring over at him. He was probably off with some girl (did Usopp say that earlier? He couldn't remember if he had or not) and that's why it took so long. He shook his head, blocking out anything he had to say as he carried on with his own, multiple fights at once. He needed to focus -
...
...
Did he just see some girl get shot but get right back up like nothing happened?
Zoro shook his head, turning his attention back to the task at hand. Probably not, but, even if it did, it didn't involve him. Unless she was out to get them as well (she didn't look like one of Buggy's or a marine), then he'd probably have to deal with her. Shouldn't be too hard.
Julia's words caught his attention, lifting his head a bit to listen. An opening? Yeah, he could do that - and then they could make a break for it back to the ship. He darted forward, using his Oni Giri technique to cut down multiple pirates in one fell swoop. He glanced over his shoulder, not standing on the other side of the collapsed bodies. "Come on!" He called, urgency in his voices. It was now or never; if they hesitated another moment.
With full confidence that they'd make it out, he charged forward, cutting down any that stepped in the way. He knew that Luffy would be able to shake off his near-execution with ease and double-time it to catch up. He hadn't checked Julia, though - she was fine, right? He knew they shot at her, but it wasn't bad - it couldn't be, or else Luffy would be freaking out. He shook his head; no time for those thoughts now, he had to make sure the path was clear. He made a sharp turn, glancing side to side to make sure that they didn't try to come from one of the other paths to cut them off or divide them. Now he was only really thinking that the marines would stop them; Buggy would have to contend with Smoker, and he didn't imagine the clown could do it.
"Alright, this way, come on," Teret ordered, his voice losing its friendly tone. He was a nice guy, really was, but, when it came down to these situations, he could be downright scary when it came to authority. "Anyone who drags their feet will be shot, and that's not me threatening you - it's just a fact." This seemed to cause people to pick up the pace, realization of just the gravity of things hitting them. She couldn't make out the face of the marine who they had hired to help her out. So he did flake after all.
She couldn't help but chuckle as pirates seemed to delude themselves with thinking they could take Shri in a fight. She was an indomitable force, even when she was outnumbered. She held one of them up by his head, the poor guy scratching at her wrist to get her to release him. His yells and curses were muffled by her palm, but they only seemed to cause her to tighten her grip. Yeah, Shri was pretty intimidating as well.
Cynil caught a faint glint of metal out of the corner of her eye, glancing over her shoulder curiously as she felt something yank her back by her hair. Great. She was taken hostage. Again. She just wondered how this would turn out. A gun was put to the side of her head, the pirate in question glaring fiercely over at Shri. The fishwoman in question noticed immediately and didn't look too happy at all to see the shorter girl be thrown in such a situation. She released the pirate, letting him fall onto the floor as she turned to face Cynil's current captor. She rolled her shoulder, holding her hammer out to point at him.
"Why did you pick her?" The words were venomous. She knew this was a touchy subject for Shri - not seeing Cynil herself being threatened, but seeing anyone who appeared more on the helpless side being threatened. The man seemed taken aback by her question, only sputtering words. "You did it because she's small - defenseless. You know, I was once small, so seeing bastards like you think you can exploit that really pisses me off. Go ahead, shoot her; see what happens."
As if realizing his mistake, she felt the grip on her shoulder loosen a touch. It was enough for her to shove off, twisting around. His instincts kicked in, moving in what she assumed was a practiced motion. Hold the gun out, fire. The bullet tore through her chest, followed by a second. There was a sting, but, other than that, adrenaline kept her from feeling pain and shock caused her body to freeze up. She stumbled, body moving on its own as it let itself collapse onto her back. Everything seemed to blur together for a moment, her ears ringing - she could hardly feel her chest heave. She could hear the steps of Shri thump beside her, stepping over her body, as she made her way over to the sorry pirate.
It took only a few moments until Cynil was sitting back up and dusting herself off. She was thankful the bullets got her in the stomach or else she'd have to replace this shirt, and she really did like this one. She caught sight of Shri mercilessly slamming said pirate's face into the ground before throwing him with all her might into the distance. She turned, laughing as she made her way over and clapped Cynil on the shoulder. "You should've seen his face when you got up!" She barked laughter, grin wide and revealing her razor-sharp teeth.
Cynil was still dazed, blinking as she brought a hand up to her head. Her ears were still ringing as she stood there dumbly. It was hard to focus, and she felt a headache coming on - probably from stress or something like that. The healing process tended to be a bit taxing. Looking down to her stomach, she saw the blood and wiped it away; two bruises were in place of the bullet holes, small purple marks. One was just under her rib cage while the other was under it. Nice, those looked like they'd be painful later.
*~*~*
Zoro cut down pirate after pirate of Buggy's crew. It was easy, they were rather unskilled and just cannon fodder to be thrown at them. However, even the weakest of opponents could wear you down, and, if this kept up, that's exactly what would've happened. He needed to make all his movements precise - unnecessary motions would only make him tire quicker, and then he was in trouble. Easily sidestepping out of the way of some sorry excuse of a swordsman, it only took a slight jerk of his head to the side to embed his blade into his side and cut through with ease. He spun around, holding his two other swords parallel to each other as he twisted and delivered a finishing move that sent the man sprawling onto the concrete.
He caught a glimpse of the idiot cook, growling to himself. "About time you got here!" He snapped, glaring over at him. He was probably off with some girl (did Usopp say that earlier? He couldn't remember if he had or not) and that's why it took so long. He shook his head, blocking out anything he had to say as he carried on with his own, multiple fights at once. He needed to focus -
...
...
Did he just see some girl get shot but get right back up like nothing happened?
Zoro shook his head, turning his attention back to the task at hand. Probably not, but, even if it did, it didn't involve him. Unless she was out to get them as well (she didn't look like one of Buggy's or a marine), then he'd probably have to deal with her. Shouldn't be too hard.
Julia's words caught his attention, lifting his head a bit to listen. An opening? Yeah, he could do that - and then they could make a break for it back to the ship. He darted forward, using his Oni Giri technique to cut down multiple pirates in one fell swoop. He glanced over his shoulder, not standing on the other side of the collapsed bodies. "Come on!" He called, urgency in his voices. It was now or never; if they hesitated another moment.
With full confidence that they'd make it out, he charged forward, cutting down any that stepped in the way. He knew that Luffy would be able to shake off his near-execution with ease and double-time it to catch up. He hadn't checked Julia, though - she was fine, right? He knew they shot at her, but it wasn't bad - it couldn't be, or else Luffy would be freaking out. He shook his head; no time for those thoughts now, he had to make sure the path was clear. He made a sharp turn, glancing side to side to make sure that they didn't try to come from one of the other paths to cut them off or divide them. Now he was only really thinking that the marines would stop them; Buggy would have to contend with Smoker, and he didn't imagine the clown could do it.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
Sanji ducked, barely dogding the blue-haired clown as he swung at him. In retaliation, he swung his left leg up and out, and had they been on top of the executioner's block, he would have full out 'this is sparta'-kicking him off the platform. Instead, Buggy when flying back into a building, crashing through the bricks and resting under the rubble in the setting dust. At least the people seemed to be running in the right direction: away from the fight, that is. The last thing the blonde haired cook wanted was for anyone to get hurt in all this mess, simply because Luffy was too oblivious and gullible not to get captured by Buggy and Alvida. Sighing, the cook continued to fight his way through growling pirates, his eyes narrowing as he got increasingly bored with seemingly the same gross mugs rising up to challenge them.
As he was fighting, he met in the middle with Zoro, and at his words, Sanji only became more annoyed. "Shut up, ya damn Marimo! I've been here, where have you been?!" He really couldn't see what Zoro's problem was. Why did he always pick a fight with him? Of course, the blonde refused to see that he was an instigator more than half the time, as Zoro was often merely calling out his bullshit. They fought side-by-side, defending each other and taking out enemy pirates left and right. It was only when the sound of gunfire aimed at the platform above their heads did he pause to look up, practically shrieking as he saw Julia leaning down , asking Zoro for an opening so they could escape. "JULIA-SWAN, YOU'RE BLEEDING!"
She ignored him, like usual, but that meant that she was probably okay. It was then that his blood turned cold. He had turned around only to see the lovely women who had captured his attention mere minutes before shot point blank. The cry left his lips before he even knew what happened. Sanji saw red--he hadn't been with the group for longer than five minutes, but he would be damned if he let anything happen to her. Even though it already seemed like he was already too late...
He had to fight through groups of pirates to get there, as the incident had occurred a lot farther away from his initial position when Cynil had been shot, and he hadn't seen what had happened between the time that she fell over, to when he actually arrived where it had happened. His mouth gaped open as he saw the black haired female, standing and seeming perfectly fine. "Cy-Cynil! I thought... did you not get shot?!" He looked over to where Shri had bashed the guy into the floor repeatedly, and he was internally grateful that he had not received the same treatment when he had first approached their little group. He looked around, trying to see the man that the others had described Cynil to be looking for, but he couldn't see anyone with that description.
"Are you still looking for that guy or did he ditch you?" The look on her face told him everything, and Sanji growled in annoyance, bending over and picking up a downed-man's lighter, using it to light his cigarette before giving it back--really he probably should have just taken it, but then again, even though he was a pirate, he tried not to steal too often. He didn't want it becoming a habit or even worse, just an instinct. "Douchebag... well, if you're still looking for a ship, we need to make it to the docks, right now before the marines catch on to our trail!" He hadn't mentioned the fact that they were pirates, but that clearly wouldn't matter to her... right? A smirk appeared on his lips as he pointed the direction of where he knew the ship awaited. "I can make some killer snacks once we get there, considering out goal is to cross Reverse Mountain and go to the Grand Line. The real question is, are you coming with?"
"Hold on tightly!" His words startled her.
"Wait, wh-?!" Her voice was cut off before she could fully question what he was doing. Despite his small, stick-like figure, Luffy easily picked her up, the sound of him getting ready for some kind of attack startling the female. "N-no, Luffy wait!"
"Gomu Gomu no...!"
"You can put me down!! I can walk!!" But she should have known that he wouldn't listen. It was honestly like talking to a brick wall. "Zoro, help!" The shriek barely left her lips before he had the dashing through the opening that the green haired swordsman had created, zipping past everyone.
"ROCKET!" As they sprang forward, her hair whipped around her face, and Julia felt like she might be sick. Her stomach lurched as Luffy stumbled on the cobblestone street, before setting her down and running ahead towards the docks. "Come on everyone, we gotta hurry!"
Julia had to pause to catch her breath, placing a hand on her heart. "I thought I was going to die..." she gasped to herself, eyebrows furrowed in concern for her own wellbeing as she caught her breath. Hearing footsteps, she figured it was Zoro who had caught up, and she began jogging, and the running in order to run alongside the green haired male. "Alright, just one more right turn, and then the docks-!" However, it appeared as though whatever luck they had seemed to run out. As they turned the corner, the way to the docks was seen between the looming buildings, but in between them and their freedom was Smoker and his marines.
Luffy stood in front, smirking at the Marine captain. "Alright, you guys go ahead to the Merry--I'll meet you there," he said confidently, and although Julia was slightly worried about him, she knew that there was really nothing she could do to dissuade him from fighting.
"Alright--you better hurry!" She turned to take the alley that also lead to the docks, but upon noticing that Zoro hadn't immediately followed her, the brunette snagged his arm. "Come on, let's go!" They didn't have much time, so Julia used her inhuman strength to pull him along.
As he was fighting, he met in the middle with Zoro, and at his words, Sanji only became more annoyed. "Shut up, ya damn Marimo! I've been here, where have you been?!" He really couldn't see what Zoro's problem was. Why did he always pick a fight with him? Of course, the blonde refused to see that he was an instigator more than half the time, as Zoro was often merely calling out his bullshit. They fought side-by-side, defending each other and taking out enemy pirates left and right. It was only when the sound of gunfire aimed at the platform above their heads did he pause to look up, practically shrieking as he saw Julia leaning down , asking Zoro for an opening so they could escape. "JULIA-SWAN, YOU'RE BLEEDING!"
She ignored him, like usual, but that meant that she was probably okay. It was then that his blood turned cold. He had turned around only to see the lovely women who had captured his attention mere minutes before shot point blank. The cry left his lips before he even knew what happened. Sanji saw red--he hadn't been with the group for longer than five minutes, but he would be damned if he let anything happen to her. Even though it already seemed like he was already too late...
He had to fight through groups of pirates to get there, as the incident had occurred a lot farther away from his initial position when Cynil had been shot, and he hadn't seen what had happened between the time that she fell over, to when he actually arrived where it had happened. His mouth gaped open as he saw the black haired female, standing and seeming perfectly fine. "Cy-Cynil! I thought... did you not get shot?!" He looked over to where Shri had bashed the guy into the floor repeatedly, and he was internally grateful that he had not received the same treatment when he had first approached their little group. He looked around, trying to see the man that the others had described Cynil to be looking for, but he couldn't see anyone with that description.
"Are you still looking for that guy or did he ditch you?" The look on her face told him everything, and Sanji growled in annoyance, bending over and picking up a downed-man's lighter, using it to light his cigarette before giving it back--really he probably should have just taken it, but then again, even though he was a pirate, he tried not to steal too often. He didn't want it becoming a habit or even worse, just an instinct. "Douchebag... well, if you're still looking for a ship, we need to make it to the docks, right now before the marines catch on to our trail!" He hadn't mentioned the fact that they were pirates, but that clearly wouldn't matter to her... right? A smirk appeared on his lips as he pointed the direction of where he knew the ship awaited. "I can make some killer snacks once we get there, considering out goal is to cross Reverse Mountain and go to the Grand Line. The real question is, are you coming with?"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Julia groaned, feeling the sticky wet and warm feeling of blood drip down her shoulder, and she knew that it would only continue to bleed until she stiched up her wings. At least back in her usual human form, she couldn't tear the filiment any more than they were already torn. She was also fairly sure that one of the holes was particularly bad, but nothing that wouldn't heal eventually. As Zoro acknowledged her, she heard Sanji call up to her, but she ignored his concern, feeling that they might have time to address it later. She felt Luffy grab her shoulders, and she looked up to his bright smile, a curious look on the brunette's features. She hadn't been with the crew that long, but at least it was long enough to recognize that look. It was when their weird rubber captain was planning something.
"Hold on tightly!" His words startled her.
"Wait, wh-?!" Her voice was cut off before she could fully question what he was doing. Despite his small, stick-like figure, Luffy easily picked her up, the sound of him getting ready for some kind of attack startling the female. "N-no, Luffy wait!"
"Gomu Gomu no...!"
"You can put me down!! I can walk!!" But she should have known that he wouldn't listen. It was honestly like talking to a brick wall. "Zoro, help!" The shriek barely left her lips before he had the dashing through the opening that the green haired swordsman had created, zipping past everyone.
"ROCKET!" As they sprang forward, her hair whipped around her face, and Julia felt like she might be sick. Her stomach lurched as Luffy stumbled on the cobblestone street, before setting her down and running ahead towards the docks. "Come on everyone, we gotta hurry!"
Julia had to pause to catch her breath, placing a hand on her heart. "I thought I was going to die..." she gasped to herself, eyebrows furrowed in concern for her own wellbeing as she caught her breath. Hearing footsteps, she figured it was Zoro who had caught up, and she began jogging, and the running in order to run alongside the green haired male. "Alright, just one more right turn, and then the docks-!" However, it appeared as though whatever luck they had seemed to run out. As they turned the corner, the way to the docks was seen between the looming buildings, but in between them and their freedom was Smoker and his marines.
Luffy stood in front, smirking at the Marine captain. "Alright, you guys go ahead to the Merry--I'll meet you there," he said confidently, and although Julia was slightly worried about him, she knew that there was really nothing she could do to dissuade him from fighting.
"Alright--you better hurry!" She turned to take the alley that also lead to the docks, but upon noticing that Zoro hadn't immediately followed her, the brunette snagged his arm. "Come on, let's go!" They didn't have much time, so Julia used her inhuman strength to pull him along.
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil lifted her hand, raking her fingers through her hair as she exhaled. Alright, she needed to get it together, a battle was no place for getting all disoriented. That usually ended with you getting killed (or, in her case, all bruised up). She was pulled out of her scrambled thoughts when a voice caught her attention.
"Wha-" It was kind of hard to hear what had been said because it was overpowered by the sound of her heart pumping in her ears. It was something about "Grand Line" and "snack"? The questioning look on his face put her on the spot, and, instead of owning up to the fact that she hadn't heard a thing he said, she slowly nodded. "Suuuure." Cynil spoke, hoping that would be the 'right' answer. What did he ask? He had pointed off in some direction, and she could only assume he meant for her to go there. Or not, and that it would lead to her downfall; she wasn't sure.
Might as well find out, right?
Shri seemed to recognize the confusion Cynil masked and nudged her with her foot. "Get moving, don't have all day." She looked over the fight. "I think I'm going to bail - would rather not give the marines a reason to try and drag me off. Again." She rolled her eyes at the memory, backing up. "We'll probably run into each other in the Grand Line, so keep an eye out. I'll tell the others about the change in plans."
Cynil just stared for a moment before putting it together. Oh. She was going with this guy? She shrugged and turned to face him. "Yeah, I'll just follow you," She clicked her tongue. "Can't really say which ship is which, right? Never saw it before." She gave a dismissive wave. "So go on, right behind you."
There was a part of her that felt almost bad for so easily walking away from her troupe, and not fighting Serogi on the matter. Then again, as Shri had said, she'd run into them at the Grand Line. Then she could have her say in the matter, and leave whoever she was with at the time and back to them; she doubted she'd be stuck with the same people for very long.
*~*~*
Zoro froze when that woman - the one who had the face of his old friend - blocked his path. He glanced to the sides, looking for some alleyway where he could go around - there were none. While he was contemplating just trying to scale the side of the buildings to get away from her, she spoke. Oh, come on.
He couldn't bear to look at her for long, only seeing Kuina in her face. Of all the...She just had to look like her. It was like some cruel joke, really. And whatever made it had no sense of humor at all. "Will you just put that face away?!" He yelled, glaring through the cracks between his fingers with his face twisting into a sneer. It came out more insulting than he really intended, but he honestly didn't care. She could take it however she wanted.
Right, a fight. He needed to just fight her, and then he could get out of here. There'd be an opening, and then he'd take it. Tashigi was skilled, but not enough. He deflected her attacks, still doing his best to direct his eyes anywhere but her face - it was distracting. He could hardly focus properly, but he was going to give her the fight she wanted. He never turned a duel down before, and he wasn't about to start now.
A sense of how much time had passed washed over him, and he realized he needed to get moving. He turned and ran, carrying him as fast as his feet could toward the docks. He didn't doubt Nami would leave without them, whether Ussop agreed with her or not. Maybe he'd catch up just in time and be able to board, he didn't care if he had to swim a bit to get there. Anything was better than being on this island with her.
Besides, it'd be pretty difficult to become the world's greatest swordsman from inside a cell.
"Come on, let's go!" He returned to running, taking place back with Julia. The short separation was one he'd rather not repeat - he'd take Julia over dealing with Tashigi. Not because the girl was insufferable, but because of who she reminded him of. "Which way was it again?!" He asked, upon the realization that he had absolutely no clue where they were going. Why did they have to build the docks so far away?! He knew the reason, but, at this moment, he really didn't care.
"Wha-" It was kind of hard to hear what had been said because it was overpowered by the sound of her heart pumping in her ears. It was something about "Grand Line" and "snack"? The questioning look on his face put her on the spot, and, instead of owning up to the fact that she hadn't heard a thing he said, she slowly nodded. "Suuuure." Cynil spoke, hoping that would be the 'right' answer. What did he ask? He had pointed off in some direction, and she could only assume he meant for her to go there. Or not, and that it would lead to her downfall; she wasn't sure.
Might as well find out, right?
Shri seemed to recognize the confusion Cynil masked and nudged her with her foot. "Get moving, don't have all day." She looked over the fight. "I think I'm going to bail - would rather not give the marines a reason to try and drag me off. Again." She rolled her eyes at the memory, backing up. "We'll probably run into each other in the Grand Line, so keep an eye out. I'll tell the others about the change in plans."
Cynil just stared for a moment before putting it together. Oh. She was going with this guy? She shrugged and turned to face him. "Yeah, I'll just follow you," She clicked her tongue. "Can't really say which ship is which, right? Never saw it before." She gave a dismissive wave. "So go on, right behind you."
There was a part of her that felt almost bad for so easily walking away from her troupe, and not fighting Serogi on the matter. Then again, as Shri had said, she'd run into them at the Grand Line. Then she could have her say in the matter, and leave whoever she was with at the time and back to them; she doubted she'd be stuck with the same people for very long.
*~*~*
Zoro froze when that woman - the one who had the face of his old friend - blocked his path. He glanced to the sides, looking for some alleyway where he could go around - there were none. While he was contemplating just trying to scale the side of the buildings to get away from her, she spoke. Oh, come on.
He couldn't bear to look at her for long, only seeing Kuina in her face. Of all the...She just had to look like her. It was like some cruel joke, really. And whatever made it had no sense of humor at all. "Will you just put that face away?!" He yelled, glaring through the cracks between his fingers with his face twisting into a sneer. It came out more insulting than he really intended, but he honestly didn't care. She could take it however she wanted.
Right, a fight. He needed to just fight her, and then he could get out of here. There'd be an opening, and then he'd take it. Tashigi was skilled, but not enough. He deflected her attacks, still doing his best to direct his eyes anywhere but her face - it was distracting. He could hardly focus properly, but he was going to give her the fight she wanted. He never turned a duel down before, and he wasn't about to start now.
A sense of how much time had passed washed over him, and he realized he needed to get moving. He turned and ran, carrying him as fast as his feet could toward the docks. He didn't doubt Nami would leave without them, whether Ussop agreed with her or not. Maybe he'd catch up just in time and be able to board, he didn't care if he had to swim a bit to get there. Anything was better than being on this island with her.
Besides, it'd be pretty difficult to become the world's greatest swordsman from inside a cell.
"Come on, let's go!" He returned to running, taking place back with Julia. The short separation was one he'd rather not repeat - he'd take Julia over dealing with Tashigi. Not because the girl was insufferable, but because of who she reminded him of. "Which way was it again?!" He asked, upon the realization that he had absolutely no clue where they were going. Why did they have to build the docks so far away?! He knew the reason, but, at this moment, he really didn't care.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
Sanji almost mentioned something about the lost look on Cynil's face--had she really not heard what he had said?--but was immediately silenced when her companions basically reaffirmed and told her what she was doing. Luckily he didn't have to repeat himself. Although, the blonde cook did have to refrain himself from swooning: her face had looked so cute when she was confused! Unfortunately, they had a lot of other, bigger problems to worry about than just standing around and shooting the breeze. Sanji watched as his captain, holding Julia (the bastard received a glare from him for that, because he couldn't pick one pretty lady and stick to her), flew down off the platform and started running. As Cynil mentioned how she wasn't exactly sure which boat was theirs, he grinned.
"It's pretty easy to find, considering how odd it looks. It's got a ram for a figurehead, but the Going Merry is a good ship," he said, beginning to jog after Luffy and the others as he made sure Cynil was following. He took a brief moment to wave to her now-former crew members, before he motioned for the black haired beauty to run with him. "Unfortunately, the Marines seem hellbent on capturing our captain! I suppose I might have to go help bail him out, but let's get to the ship first!"
He was quick to lead her away from where the Marines had gathered, figuring that his captain was probably standing and fighting them there where they were armed to the teeth. He didn't want to drag Cynil into it, freaky powers or no. Once they were on the docks, Sanji was able to see the Merry, Nami and Usopp already on board. Seeing him, they both waved, Nami's shout carrying over to them. "Sanji, hurry! There's a storm on the way!" His dark brown eyes immediately looked up to the sky, and, sure enough, dark clouds were gathering. The wind had even started to pick up a little bit, and he blinked, his eyes widening slightly. That meant they didn't have that much time. As they stood on the docks beside the ship, Sanji looked to Cynil.
"You get on the Merry, I'll go make sure Luffy doesn't do something he might regret!" He didn't have much time to speak, however, before a group of Marine reinforcements started to surround them. "Well..." he mumbled, his eyes narrowing as he looked around them. "Too late for that plan, I suppose."
"On your knees, or we'll shoot!"
"How rude--you can't just yell something like that at a lady, ya pervert." Sanji was quick to step in front of Cynil, a dark glare on his features as he doused the cigarette on the ground and placed his hands in his pockets. "How about you try it and see what hospital that puts you in."
At his words she groaned, but couldn't keep the smirk off of her features. "It's this way, c'mon! We really need to work on the whole 'directions' thing, huh?" Even when she was stressed about the impending storm and all the marines prowling about, she couldn't help but tease him. It was just... in her nature. As she lead him back to the Merry, she saw a bunch of Marines surrounding the ship. Sanji stood in front of it, a woman with black hair and purple eyes standing behind him as they face off against them bravely. "Damn... we really don't have time for this!" A growl built in her throat as her bright blue eyes narrowed. Taking up a fighting stance, she let the flames of her transformation engulf her once more, and she nodded to Zoro. "Let's plow a path, shall we?"
The brunette tore through the marines from the back end, their shouts of exclamation and surprise filling her ears as she did little things like set their clothes on fire and push them off the dock and into the churning ocean, as well as go after them with her knife-like claws. She had no time to check for Zoro to see what he was doing, but she was more than aware of how powerful he was--he hardly needed any help. Her gaze scanned the sea of marines for their captain, but she came up empty handed. Unfortunately, in her moment of distraction, a Marine crept up behind her and swung his sword at her. Barely having any time to react, she used her wings to block the blow: big mistake. A sharp cry of pain left her lips as it snagged one of the previously-made bullet holes, tearing her thin muscle filament all the way down her wing. Her back burned in pain as she kicked the offender, jumping back and clutching her shoulder as she winced--she thought this might happen, but that didn't mean it hurt any less!
"It's pretty easy to find, considering how odd it looks. It's got a ram for a figurehead, but the Going Merry is a good ship," he said, beginning to jog after Luffy and the others as he made sure Cynil was following. He took a brief moment to wave to her now-former crew members, before he motioned for the black haired beauty to run with him. "Unfortunately, the Marines seem hellbent on capturing our captain! I suppose I might have to go help bail him out, but let's get to the ship first!"
He was quick to lead her away from where the Marines had gathered, figuring that his captain was probably standing and fighting them there where they were armed to the teeth. He didn't want to drag Cynil into it, freaky powers or no. Once they were on the docks, Sanji was able to see the Merry, Nami and Usopp already on board. Seeing him, they both waved, Nami's shout carrying over to them. "Sanji, hurry! There's a storm on the way!" His dark brown eyes immediately looked up to the sky, and, sure enough, dark clouds were gathering. The wind had even started to pick up a little bit, and he blinked, his eyes widening slightly. That meant they didn't have that much time. As they stood on the docks beside the ship, Sanji looked to Cynil.
"You get on the Merry, I'll go make sure Luffy doesn't do something he might regret!" He didn't have much time to speak, however, before a group of Marine reinforcements started to surround them. "Well..." he mumbled, his eyes narrowing as he looked around them. "Too late for that plan, I suppose."
"On your knees, or we'll shoot!"
"How rude--you can't just yell something like that at a lady, ya pervert." Sanji was quick to step in front of Cynil, a dark glare on his features as he doused the cigarette on the ground and placed his hands in his pockets. "How about you try it and see what hospital that puts you in."
________________________________________________________________________________________
Julia had been halfway to the Merry when she realized that she had actually lost Zoro. Oh no! She couldn't have possibly been getting as worse as him! She turned back around, doing her best to make it back as quickly as possible. Luckily, they managed to run into each other. "There you are! I continued on, and one minute you were there, and the next you were gone. What happened?!" She could only assume he had gotten lost again.
At his words she groaned, but couldn't keep the smirk off of her features. "It's this way, c'mon! We really need to work on the whole 'directions' thing, huh?" Even when she was stressed about the impending storm and all the marines prowling about, she couldn't help but tease him. It was just... in her nature. As she lead him back to the Merry, she saw a bunch of Marines surrounding the ship. Sanji stood in front of it, a woman with black hair and purple eyes standing behind him as they face off against them bravely. "Damn... we really don't have time for this!" A growl built in her throat as her bright blue eyes narrowed. Taking up a fighting stance, she let the flames of her transformation engulf her once more, and she nodded to Zoro. "Let's plow a path, shall we?"
The brunette tore through the marines from the back end, their shouts of exclamation and surprise filling her ears as she did little things like set their clothes on fire and push them off the dock and into the churning ocean, as well as go after them with her knife-like claws. She had no time to check for Zoro to see what he was doing, but she was more than aware of how powerful he was--he hardly needed any help. Her gaze scanned the sea of marines for their captain, but she came up empty handed. Unfortunately, in her moment of distraction, a Marine crept up behind her and swung his sword at her. Barely having any time to react, she used her wings to block the blow: big mistake. A sharp cry of pain left her lips as it snagged one of the previously-made bullet holes, tearing her thin muscle filament all the way down her wing. Her back burned in pain as she kicked the offender, jumping back and clutching her shoulder as she winced--she thought this might happen, but that didn't mean it hurt any less!
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil glanced between all the figures before her. She caught the jolly roger their ship sported as they approached, and it gave away why they had the desperate need to get off the island as quickly as possible. Pirates hardly ever step foot on this island, and, to have a fight break out like this between two different crews? Well, the marines on the island wouldn't be happy, so the reaction was kind of understandable. Didn't mean she would treat them "fairly" though - she wanted off of this island, and these people were her ticket. Her one-way ticket.
"I've had people yell worse at me," Cynil mused aloud. Things more along the lines of "I'll kill you" than anything else; she was used to those threats. So much so that they didn't quite feel too much like threats anymore, just poorly executed jokes. Jokes that they didn't really get since they probably didn't know about her little trick yet. She glanced over at the blonde, eyebrows raising. Damn, now that was a threat. Though, it would be pretty embarrassing if he couldn't back it up.
There wasn't too much she could really do in the situation; unarmed, she was rather useless. Hell, even armed - well, she wasn't terrible, but she was nowhere near the best fighter around. She always had better luck talking her way out of situations like these, but the time for that was long gone, it seemed. If she wanted to get away unscathed, that is.
"Alright, so, how about we make a compromise," She clasped her hands together in front of us. "You just let us go on our merry way and I'll owe you all later - and I always repay my debts." She flashed a grin. She was answered with a raised gun and a glare. "Right, no sense of negotiation; ought to leave that to your boss, I'm sure that's why you lot are still nameless foot soldiers." She grumbled under her breath, giving them an unimpressed look. Really, they didn't think for themselves. It was a good deal! They probably didn't realize it or thought she'd skip out, but she always kept good on her word. Though, trusting random strangers could be difficult.
Cynil made a quarter turn to the side, just in time for the bullet to fly by her body and off into the distance. That was close - she was already dealing with the two bruises on her stomach, and she really didn't want to add any more at the moment. Going to sleep would be a pain, and that would be all she'd want to do. Thankfully, she was always a quick one; sidestepping and dodging attacks was something she prided herself on. Her tactic was usually to wear down her opponent and make smaller attacks. But, again, she was unarmed. Nice.
*~*~*
Zoro gave an annoyed huff as Julia ran alongside him. "Quit talking and go!" He snapped, much more interested in getting the hell off the island than being nagged about his directional skills (or lack thereof) while they ran down paths. She was nowhere near as bad as Nami's nagging, but still. Even if she was probably right. She usually had a sense of humor about it, where their navigator didn't.
"There's not really another choice, is there?" He unsheathed his blades, sinking his teeth into the hilt of the third. It was just like back at the center of town; just needed to take enough out so they could get through, there was no need to waste time on them all. If they did, they'd probably be caught and then what? He was used to the work out the whole day gave them, so he was hardly tired. Okay, so he was slightly tired, but that was more because he existed in a state of always being ready to go to sleep - that didn't matter at the moment.
Zoro cut down two, giving them non-lethal strikes. The third was taken out by the hilt of his sword colliding with the side of his head, knocking the man out cold. He heard Julia cry out, turning to see the sword slashing at her wings. "Damn," He growled, ready to dart forward an pull the attacker away. She was quicker to it, sending the man into the ocean below. Well, it took care of him.
"You good?" He asked, his voice slightly muffled from the sword between his teeth. He faced the other marines, eyes darting to each, ready for when they advanced. A few more, and then they were good; they'd be able to tear through as safely as they possibly could (which wasn't too safe, but it was better than their odds before) and reach the Going Merry. After that, they'd just need to set sail and get the hell out. Except....why did he feel like he was forgetting something? No, not something - someone.
Luffy.
Damn it, of course, their captain was absent at the time. What was he doing? He hadn't been paying attention, all he remembered was Luffy was there and then not. He didn't worry too much, he was sure that their captain was fine and would meet up with them soon, but it was still something that added to his annoyance for this whole day. He really couldn't wait until they left this island behind.
"See a way out?" Zoro asked Julia. If she saw something better than he did, then he would happily go with it instead. So far, all he could see was barreling straight through.
"I've had people yell worse at me," Cynil mused aloud. Things more along the lines of "I'll kill you" than anything else; she was used to those threats. So much so that they didn't quite feel too much like threats anymore, just poorly executed jokes. Jokes that they didn't really get since they probably didn't know about her little trick yet. She glanced over at the blonde, eyebrows raising. Damn, now that was a threat. Though, it would be pretty embarrassing if he couldn't back it up.
There wasn't too much she could really do in the situation; unarmed, she was rather useless. Hell, even armed - well, she wasn't terrible, but she was nowhere near the best fighter around. She always had better luck talking her way out of situations like these, but the time for that was long gone, it seemed. If she wanted to get away unscathed, that is.
"Alright, so, how about we make a compromise," She clasped her hands together in front of us. "You just let us go on our merry way and I'll owe you all later - and I always repay my debts." She flashed a grin. She was answered with a raised gun and a glare. "Right, no sense of negotiation; ought to leave that to your boss, I'm sure that's why you lot are still nameless foot soldiers." She grumbled under her breath, giving them an unimpressed look. Really, they didn't think for themselves. It was a good deal! They probably didn't realize it or thought she'd skip out, but she always kept good on her word. Though, trusting random strangers could be difficult.
Cynil made a quarter turn to the side, just in time for the bullet to fly by her body and off into the distance. That was close - she was already dealing with the two bruises on her stomach, and she really didn't want to add any more at the moment. Going to sleep would be a pain, and that would be all she'd want to do. Thankfully, she was always a quick one; sidestepping and dodging attacks was something she prided herself on. Her tactic was usually to wear down her opponent and make smaller attacks. But, again, she was unarmed. Nice.
*~*~*
Zoro gave an annoyed huff as Julia ran alongside him. "Quit talking and go!" He snapped, much more interested in getting the hell off the island than being nagged about his directional skills (or lack thereof) while they ran down paths. She was nowhere near as bad as Nami's nagging, but still. Even if she was probably right. She usually had a sense of humor about it, where their navigator didn't.
"There's not really another choice, is there?" He unsheathed his blades, sinking his teeth into the hilt of the third. It was just like back at the center of town; just needed to take enough out so they could get through, there was no need to waste time on them all. If they did, they'd probably be caught and then what? He was used to the work out the whole day gave them, so he was hardly tired. Okay, so he was slightly tired, but that was more because he existed in a state of always being ready to go to sleep - that didn't matter at the moment.
Zoro cut down two, giving them non-lethal strikes. The third was taken out by the hilt of his sword colliding with the side of his head, knocking the man out cold. He heard Julia cry out, turning to see the sword slashing at her wings. "Damn," He growled, ready to dart forward an pull the attacker away. She was quicker to it, sending the man into the ocean below. Well, it took care of him.
"You good?" He asked, his voice slightly muffled from the sword between his teeth. He faced the other marines, eyes darting to each, ready for when they advanced. A few more, and then they were good; they'd be able to tear through as safely as they possibly could (which wasn't too safe, but it was better than their odds before) and reach the Going Merry. After that, they'd just need to set sail and get the hell out. Except....why did he feel like he was forgetting something? No, not something - someone.
Luffy.
Damn it, of course, their captain was absent at the time. What was he doing? He hadn't been paying attention, all he remembered was Luffy was there and then not. He didn't worry too much, he was sure that their captain was fine and would meet up with them soon, but it was still something that added to his annoyance for this whole day. He really couldn't wait until they left this island behind.
"See a way out?" Zoro asked Julia. If she saw something better than he did, then he would happily go with it instead. So far, all he could see was barreling straight through.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
After the one marine attempted to shoot the black haired woman, Sanji was quick to disarm him in the blink of an eye, the others hardly having time to react. "How dare you point such dangerous weapons at a lady? I'm ashamed of all of you." Sanji growled at the Marine's choice of words--how unsavory. His eyes narrowed as he noticed Zoro and Julia arrive out of his peripheral vision, and that frown that was on his face transformed into a smirk. "I may be a pirate, but I'm also a chef," he said cooly, winding up his leg as the marines shuffled nervously. "And that means that I know just exactly how to serve your ass on a silver platter--well done!" So maybe he was trying to impress the lady? Sanji really couldn't help himself. Sometimes it was rare for the cook to act all calm, cool, and collected, but for Cynil, surely he could pull himself together for a few witty one-liners and an impressive display of his skills.
He was quick to use his well-timed leg sweeps to disarm the nearest marines to them, the others struggling to respond as Zoro and Julia began to push through them from the other side. Sanji's skills, as he thought, were indeed impressive. His footwork was a flurry of blurred lines that disarmed and pushed away any opponent who tried to get close to him and the black haired performer. In fact, Sanji looked as though he was performing a dance himself, twirling on his hands and fighting those around him, looking effortless as he did so. The only time he got distracted was when he heard a pained cry from over where Julia and Zoro were fighting, and his eyes widened in concern as he could see the fiery transformation of Julia's disappear from a distance. He wouldn't leave Cynil's side, of course, but he promised himself that he would seriously injure Zoro should he have gotten the young brunette hurt.
A streak of tan, blue. and red bowled over most of the marines in front of them, clearing them an easy path to the Going Merry, as Luffy shouted loudly upon his arrival. As it began to pour, the storm already upon them, Sanji quickly motioned for Cynil to go to the ladder that was attached to the side of the ship. "Hurry, I'll cover for you!" The marines seemed to be a little discombobulated after Luffy had shattered their ranks, and so dealing with them was much easier as Sanji covered the dancer's escape. Once she was up, the blonde was quick to follow, climbing aboard with minor difficulty due to the weather conditions. Once on the deck, he found Luffy staring down at Cynil, his arms crossed with an interesting expression on his face.
"Who're you?" Straight, blunt, and to the point. Just like their captain.
"She's a traveling performer and needs a ride to the Grand Line! I figured you wouldn't mind too terribly if she tagged along?" Sanji walked over, and Luffy gave him a look, studying his cook's face, before an easy grin broke out upon his features.
"Sure, why not? Welcome aboard!"
"SHOULDN'T YOU THINK THAT THROUGH MORE, MORON?!" Both Nami and Usopp seemed to yell in unison, but they were far too busy preparing for their departure in the only worsening conditions. Sanji grinned at Cynil, happy that Luffy was so quick to accept her tagging along with them. He wasn't sure what the blackette's end-goal was, but with any luck, she would be traveling with them for awhile. Luffy grinned as well, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Welcome to the Strawhat Crew, shishishi!"
"HANDS OFF, LUFFY!" So, maybe Sanji was a bit protective?
Her back was bleeding and it was definitely worse than it had been before. The entirety of her shoulder blades felt like they were on fire, but she would power through until they were done and back on the Going Merry. After all, she would be some kind of a hypocrite if she allowed something like this to incapacitate her. The female looked to Zoro as he questioned her, and she nodded, fearing that her voice might betray her own pain. She didn't need her akuma transformation in order to fight, but it sure was helpful--especially when dealing with a lot of enemies like the marines that were set out before her.
"Zoro, Julia! Hurry and get on the boat, we're going to weigh anchor!" Nami's voice could be heard from above the noise and hubbub, and the brunette raised her head to see Nami waving her arms furiously at them, a frantic expression on her face. "If we don't leave now, we'll be stuck in Loguetown with the Marines!" And they most certainly couldn't have that. As decent of a person as Smoker appeared to be, Julia wasn't about to stick around to see what his personal opinions were on pirates.
Hearing Zoro speak beside her, she frowned, biting her lip to focus the feeling into a different part of her body. "Uh, n-not exactly. Damn it..."
"Incoming!!" A loud shout caught her attention, and her eyes widened in surprise as she saw a familiar straw hat'ted pirate blast through the group of Marines like bowling pins. Her bright blue eyes blinked in surprise as a large gust of wind followed him, and as if to answer the change in air pressure, the heavens opened up, pouring torrential rains down upon them. Gasping, a hiss escaped her lips, wincing at the feeling of the wetness falling down upon them. Luffy latched onto the ship, laughing excitedly, "c'mon everyone! We need to hurry to the Grand Line! Let's go!"
Julia took the opportunity to run to the Merry, grabbing onto the ladder, however she slipped in the process. As a fire oni, she was particularly weak when wet, so the rain wasn't about to help her recovery anytime soon. She panted as though she was out of breath, struggling to pull herself on the ship as Nami and Usopp ran around on deck, preparing to set sail as Luffy had instructed. She cursed under her breath at her own weakness--the woman promised herself that as soon as there was an opportunity to do so, she would try to train under intense conditions like this so she wouldn't be a liability to the crew.
He was quick to use his well-timed leg sweeps to disarm the nearest marines to them, the others struggling to respond as Zoro and Julia began to push through them from the other side. Sanji's skills, as he thought, were indeed impressive. His footwork was a flurry of blurred lines that disarmed and pushed away any opponent who tried to get close to him and the black haired performer. In fact, Sanji looked as though he was performing a dance himself, twirling on his hands and fighting those around him, looking effortless as he did so. The only time he got distracted was when he heard a pained cry from over where Julia and Zoro were fighting, and his eyes widened in concern as he could see the fiery transformation of Julia's disappear from a distance. He wouldn't leave Cynil's side, of course, but he promised himself that he would seriously injure Zoro should he have gotten the young brunette hurt.
A streak of tan, blue. and red bowled over most of the marines in front of them, clearing them an easy path to the Going Merry, as Luffy shouted loudly upon his arrival. As it began to pour, the storm already upon them, Sanji quickly motioned for Cynil to go to the ladder that was attached to the side of the ship. "Hurry, I'll cover for you!" The marines seemed to be a little discombobulated after Luffy had shattered their ranks, and so dealing with them was much easier as Sanji covered the dancer's escape. Once she was up, the blonde was quick to follow, climbing aboard with minor difficulty due to the weather conditions. Once on the deck, he found Luffy staring down at Cynil, his arms crossed with an interesting expression on his face.
"Who're you?" Straight, blunt, and to the point. Just like their captain.
"She's a traveling performer and needs a ride to the Grand Line! I figured you wouldn't mind too terribly if she tagged along?" Sanji walked over, and Luffy gave him a look, studying his cook's face, before an easy grin broke out upon his features.
"Sure, why not? Welcome aboard!"
"SHOULDN'T YOU THINK THAT THROUGH MORE, MORON?!" Both Nami and Usopp seemed to yell in unison, but they were far too busy preparing for their departure in the only worsening conditions. Sanji grinned at Cynil, happy that Luffy was so quick to accept her tagging along with them. He wasn't sure what the blackette's end-goal was, but with any luck, she would be traveling with them for awhile. Luffy grinned as well, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Welcome to the Strawhat Crew, shishishi!"
"HANDS OFF, LUFFY!" So, maybe Sanji was a bit protective?
_________________________________________________________________________________
Her back was bleeding and it was definitely worse than it had been before. The entirety of her shoulder blades felt like they were on fire, but she would power through until they were done and back on the Going Merry. After all, she would be some kind of a hypocrite if she allowed something like this to incapacitate her. The female looked to Zoro as he questioned her, and she nodded, fearing that her voice might betray her own pain. She didn't need her akuma transformation in order to fight, but it sure was helpful--especially when dealing with a lot of enemies like the marines that were set out before her.
"Zoro, Julia! Hurry and get on the boat, we're going to weigh anchor!" Nami's voice could be heard from above the noise and hubbub, and the brunette raised her head to see Nami waving her arms furiously at them, a frantic expression on her face. "If we don't leave now, we'll be stuck in Loguetown with the Marines!" And they most certainly couldn't have that. As decent of a person as Smoker appeared to be, Julia wasn't about to stick around to see what his personal opinions were on pirates.
Hearing Zoro speak beside her, she frowned, biting her lip to focus the feeling into a different part of her body. "Uh, n-not exactly. Damn it..."
"Incoming!!" A loud shout caught her attention, and her eyes widened in surprise as she saw a familiar straw hat'ted pirate blast through the group of Marines like bowling pins. Her bright blue eyes blinked in surprise as a large gust of wind followed him, and as if to answer the change in air pressure, the heavens opened up, pouring torrential rains down upon them. Gasping, a hiss escaped her lips, wincing at the feeling of the wetness falling down upon them. Luffy latched onto the ship, laughing excitedly, "c'mon everyone! We need to hurry to the Grand Line! Let's go!"
Julia took the opportunity to run to the Merry, grabbing onto the ladder, however she slipped in the process. As a fire oni, she was particularly weak when wet, so the rain wasn't about to help her recovery anytime soon. She panted as though she was out of breath, struggling to pull herself on the ship as Nami and Usopp ran around on deck, preparing to set sail as Luffy had instructed. She cursed under her breath at her own weakness--the woman promised herself that as soon as there was an opportunity to do so, she would try to train under intense conditions like this so she wouldn't be a liability to the crew.
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil flashed a grin at the boy - the captain. He was pretty young, probably the last one that she'd consider being the captain of a pirate's crew. But she didn't know him, so maybe there was something else to it. There was something about him that she couldn't quite place, though; something that just seemed so trustworthy and honest. It was a nice change of pace to the usual band of ex-con artists and cutthroats she used to travel with. They were good people, they really were, but...well, old habits, she supposed. Thankfully, they never got anyone hurt. Well, anyone who didn't deserve it; not all that long ago Shri had given a man the most unholy beating of his life, probably.
"Happy to be around, even if my stay is only temporary," Cynil said - it seemed like the best way to let him know she wasn't actually planning on joining his crew. "Got things to do after all." She leaned against a barrel, using it as a seat.
"What do you gotta do?" The boy - Luffy, he seemed to be referred to as - asked, face scrunching up.
She gave a shrug and a dismissive wave. "I'm on my way to prove people wrong, that's all." It was a vague answer, but you didn't just spill that you were looking for your brother, who you were told died as a marine, to people you just met. Especially pirates, since their relationship with marines weren't the greatest. Thankfully, their captain didn't seem all that interested in the first place, only asking out of a passing curiosity. He seemed content enough with her not-so answer and moved on. She was going to get along wonderfully with him if he kept it up like this. No prying, just left to her own devices.
Speaking of devices...Cynil's thumb ran across the spine of the leather-bound book still clutched in her hand. She wasn't sure how useful this thing would be, but she knew that Serogi was good at finding people and he probably would've left her leads to follow. A little book filled with everything he found that could potentially tell her where Sol was; it was perfect. She hoped, anyway, because she didn't remember Serogi telling her much before due to him having a hard time finding anything. That alone led to a few small arguments between her and the troupe.
"Anything you want me to do?" She asked, glancing around. "Might as well lend a hand while I'm here."
*~*~*
At first sight of an opening, Zoro took it, though it seemed Julia was quicker. He deflected a bullet with his swords with ease, sliding to a stop in front of the ladder. He blinked when he realized it had begun raining - he hardly noticed. What else he noticed was that his blue-eyed crewmate was also having trouble pulling herself up. He made a face, wondering just why the rain made things so difficult but decided to shake it off.
He sheathed his blades and grabbed onto the ladder behind her, easily hoisting the girl over his shoulder in the process. It'd be easier to just carry her up; faster, too. They didn't have time to wait around, and he wasn't too keen on being thrown in a cell. He pushed her up onto the ship before climbing up himself. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the marines all shocked about the sudden change in weather. Well, it seemed they were lucky because he wasn't sure everyone would have made it out of here without someone taking a bullet in the process of sailing out.
"What's taking so long-" Zoro was about to snap, wondering just why they weren't moving just yet. However, he froze when he noticed a new face, eyes narrowing as he stared. Maybe it was just a figment of his imagination? Weirder things have happened.
...
Nope, it just waved at him.
"Who's that?" He asked, eyes flicking between the only two of his crew present and could explain - the idiot cook and his idiot captain. Great. However, it seemed like he wasn't getting an answer. Instead of pressing the matter (he could always ask again later), he looked down to Julia. "Right, so you think you can live through that?" He pointed to the wounds on her, unsure of how to ask so he just went with the blunt option. He wasn't too sure on how to treat wounds of any kind, often leaving that to someone else. What was he supposed to do if it was fatal? There wasn't a person on board that was a doctor - he imagined Nami had some sort of an idea, but, other than that, they would just be screwed.
"Happy to be around, even if my stay is only temporary," Cynil said - it seemed like the best way to let him know she wasn't actually planning on joining his crew. "Got things to do after all." She leaned against a barrel, using it as a seat.
"What do you gotta do?" The boy - Luffy, he seemed to be referred to as - asked, face scrunching up.
She gave a shrug and a dismissive wave. "I'm on my way to prove people wrong, that's all." It was a vague answer, but you didn't just spill that you were looking for your brother, who you were told died as a marine, to people you just met. Especially pirates, since their relationship with marines weren't the greatest. Thankfully, their captain didn't seem all that interested in the first place, only asking out of a passing curiosity. He seemed content enough with her not-so answer and moved on. She was going to get along wonderfully with him if he kept it up like this. No prying, just left to her own devices.
Speaking of devices...Cynil's thumb ran across the spine of the leather-bound book still clutched in her hand. She wasn't sure how useful this thing would be, but she knew that Serogi was good at finding people and he probably would've left her leads to follow. A little book filled with everything he found that could potentially tell her where Sol was; it was perfect. She hoped, anyway, because she didn't remember Serogi telling her much before due to him having a hard time finding anything. That alone led to a few small arguments between her and the troupe.
"Anything you want me to do?" She asked, glancing around. "Might as well lend a hand while I'm here."
*~*~*
At first sight of an opening, Zoro took it, though it seemed Julia was quicker. He deflected a bullet with his swords with ease, sliding to a stop in front of the ladder. He blinked when he realized it had begun raining - he hardly noticed. What else he noticed was that his blue-eyed crewmate was also having trouble pulling herself up. He made a face, wondering just why the rain made things so difficult but decided to shake it off.
He sheathed his blades and grabbed onto the ladder behind her, easily hoisting the girl over his shoulder in the process. It'd be easier to just carry her up; faster, too. They didn't have time to wait around, and he wasn't too keen on being thrown in a cell. He pushed her up onto the ship before climbing up himself. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the marines all shocked about the sudden change in weather. Well, it seemed they were lucky because he wasn't sure everyone would have made it out of here without someone taking a bullet in the process of sailing out.
"What's taking so long-" Zoro was about to snap, wondering just why they weren't moving just yet. However, he froze when he noticed a new face, eyes narrowing as he stared. Maybe it was just a figment of his imagination? Weirder things have happened.
...
Nope, it just waved at him.
"Who's that?" He asked, eyes flicking between the only two of his crew present and could explain - the idiot cook and his idiot captain. Great. However, it seemed like he wasn't getting an answer. Instead of pressing the matter (he could always ask again later), he looked down to Julia. "Right, so you think you can live through that?" He pointed to the wounds on her, unsure of how to ask so he just went with the blunt option. He wasn't too sure on how to treat wounds of any kind, often leaving that to someone else. What was he supposed to do if it was fatal? There wasn't a person on board that was a doctor - he imagined Nami had some sort of an idea, but, other than that, they would just be screwed.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
Luffy was about as honest and as real as a person could be. That was probably why he was able to gain the trust of these people so quickly. Even those he met--if they were at first put off by his pirate status, it didn't take much to turn around their opinions of him. All it took was a few interactions, or even just a little bit of time spent with the future pirate king, and it was easy to understand that he was a genuine individual despite his apparent light heartedness and lacksadaisical nature.
Sanji merely listened as Cynil talked with his captain, making sure to watch Lufy so that he didn't do something... less respectful to a lady of her personage. The blonde was all about being a gentleman--something Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp didn't seem to understand. That was fine by him (as long as they didn't do a lady wrong), and he was more than happy and able to fill the role of the "heartthrob of the Strawhat Pirates" (as if that role even existed in the first place). He nodded at her words when she spoke of defying expectations and proving people wrong. He could understand what it meant to feel underestimated and underappreciated, although probably not on the same level or degree as far Cynil's experiences were concerned. Luffy seemed to take this as an acceptable answer, however, and left Cynil relatively alone in favor of running around the ship after Usopp as they pulled away from Loguetown, hopefully leaving the Marines behind for a decent amount of time.
Hearing the black haired young woman speak, the cook turned and smiled at her. "You don't have to worry about anything! As our guest, you should just sit back and let us all just do our thing--" as he was speaking, he motioned to the deck, giving a bit of an exasperated chuckle at the chaos playing out in front of him. Usopp was trying to tell their captain to secure the sails as he steered the rudder, Luffy was laughing like a maniac as Nami barked orders and Zoro and Julia were... tending to her wounds? A tick mark appeared on his forehead as he took note of this. "You damn marimo, you had one job!" He rushed over, hovering over the brunette like a worried mother hen. "Julia, darling, are you alright? This big oaf can't hurt you anymore!" Sanji growled at Zoro as he looked over Julia's bleeding shoulders.
"Sanji, you and the new girl need to check on my orange trees! If one limb is broken, I'll make you pay for it!" Nami's voice rose over the commotion, and Sanji immediately snapped to attention.
"Sure thing, Nami-swan!! Cynil, come with me!" He offered her his arm like an escort (there was always time to be a gentleman) and brought her to the top deck of the Going Merry, a bright grin on his face despite the impending doom of the storm, or the idea of Reverse Mountain and the Grand Line. Maybe it was because his attention was otherwise preocupied? As they made sure all of Nami's orange trees were secure, Sanji vaguely heard Nami, Luffy, and Usopp talk about how to approach the strange mountain entrance to the Grand Line, but he turned back to Cynil with a grin, the rain pelting them plastering his blonde hair against his face. "I'm so glad you decided to come with us! I might have mentioned it before, but I'm the chef of this crew. Once we're on the Grand Line I promise I'll make something especially delicious to commemorate our meeting!"
A slight yelp of surprise left Julia's lips as she felt Zoro pick her up on his way up the ladder. In any other situation, she might have yelled at him for picking her up (after all, Julia's was an independent woman who ain't need no man) but due to her current state of being, she thought it would be better if she just accepted her fate. The ship shifted as he carried her up, and the brunette had to admit, although it was rather frustrating being carried over the swordsman's shoulder like a useless sack of potatoes, it did give her ample amount of opportunity to admire Zoro's crazy strength... if she were into that kind of thing or something. She wasn't. She also cursed the natural embarrassed red blush that caused her cheeks to flush, and she turned her head away from his direction, not wanting to be seen in such a state.
She hissed slightly as he set her down on deck before he climbed up after her, red staining the back of her tied top as she felt the ship lurch. At least they were away from Loguetown. The crazy winds seemed to push them away from the town, and in turn, away from the marines as well. At least with this crazy weather only picking up, Captain Smoker wouldn't be able to follow them toward the Grand Line until after things settled down. A head start was always beneficial in a game of Cat and Mouse, after all...
Julia couldn't care too much about the newest member, grateful that at least the rain seemed to wash away the blood as fast as it started pooling on her back. Hearing Zoro's awkward, semi-concerned voice, she winced slightly. "I'm not going to die, no. Though the concern is appreciated." In the same amount of fury as the storm that hung over their person's on the sea, Sanji stormed over to yell at the green haired male, only to be called away by Nami. Julia blinked a few moments before sighing to herself, knowing that she would probably never get used to Sanji.
Looking around, the brunette knew what she had to do but she really didn't want to. Sighing once more, she let the flames engulf her form once more, but luckily they never harmed what she was standing on when she reverted to her true Oni form, but due to the rain, the flames themselves were nowhere near as brilliant and bright as before. The female folded her wings in a way so that the damaged and torn pieces were in front of her. "I won't be of any help until I sew these up. Could you, ah, get me a needle and thread from inside the ship's first aid kit?" Waiting for Zoro to return, she watched blood drip from her wings, and then get washed away by the rain on the deck. When he returned, she nodded to him in thanks before threading the needle and premptively wincing. "A-alright, here goes nothing...!" It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, but stitching herself up was... a difficult task. Her work was crude, and nowhere near perfect, but it would have to do. Slowly standing up, she took her human form once more, looking to Zoro. "You should make sure the ropes on deck are secure." She nodded to him, her way of thanking him for all his help.
As she turned toward the rigging, she took in a deep breath of air, before climbing up the mast. Her body ached in protest, but she refused to let that stop her. "There it is! The water... is actually flowing up the mountain! Reverse Mountain is right there!" Nami's shout carried over the sound of the wind and rain, and as Julia tied down ropes, she couldn't help but turn her gaze up to indeed see the water flowing up and defying the laws of gravity.
Sanji merely listened as Cynil talked with his captain, making sure to watch Lufy so that he didn't do something... less respectful to a lady of her personage. The blonde was all about being a gentleman--something Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp didn't seem to understand. That was fine by him (as long as they didn't do a lady wrong), and he was more than happy and able to fill the role of the "heartthrob of the Strawhat Pirates" (as if that role even existed in the first place). He nodded at her words when she spoke of defying expectations and proving people wrong. He could understand what it meant to feel underestimated and underappreciated, although probably not on the same level or degree as far Cynil's experiences were concerned. Luffy seemed to take this as an acceptable answer, however, and left Cynil relatively alone in favor of running around the ship after Usopp as they pulled away from Loguetown, hopefully leaving the Marines behind for a decent amount of time.
Hearing the black haired young woman speak, the cook turned and smiled at her. "You don't have to worry about anything! As our guest, you should just sit back and let us all just do our thing--" as he was speaking, he motioned to the deck, giving a bit of an exasperated chuckle at the chaos playing out in front of him. Usopp was trying to tell their captain to secure the sails as he steered the rudder, Luffy was laughing like a maniac as Nami barked orders and Zoro and Julia were... tending to her wounds? A tick mark appeared on his forehead as he took note of this. "You damn marimo, you had one job!" He rushed over, hovering over the brunette like a worried mother hen. "Julia, darling, are you alright? This big oaf can't hurt you anymore!" Sanji growled at Zoro as he looked over Julia's bleeding shoulders.
"Sanji, you and the new girl need to check on my orange trees! If one limb is broken, I'll make you pay for it!" Nami's voice rose over the commotion, and Sanji immediately snapped to attention.
"Sure thing, Nami-swan!! Cynil, come with me!" He offered her his arm like an escort (there was always time to be a gentleman) and brought her to the top deck of the Going Merry, a bright grin on his face despite the impending doom of the storm, or the idea of Reverse Mountain and the Grand Line. Maybe it was because his attention was otherwise preocupied? As they made sure all of Nami's orange trees were secure, Sanji vaguely heard Nami, Luffy, and Usopp talk about how to approach the strange mountain entrance to the Grand Line, but he turned back to Cynil with a grin, the rain pelting them plastering his blonde hair against his face. "I'm so glad you decided to come with us! I might have mentioned it before, but I'm the chef of this crew. Once we're on the Grand Line I promise I'll make something especially delicious to commemorate our meeting!"
_________________________________________________________________________
A slight yelp of surprise left Julia's lips as she felt Zoro pick her up on his way up the ladder. In any other situation, she might have yelled at him for picking her up (after all, Julia's was an independent woman who ain't need no man) but due to her current state of being, she thought it would be better if she just accepted her fate. The ship shifted as he carried her up, and the brunette had to admit, although it was rather frustrating being carried over the swordsman's shoulder like a useless sack of potatoes, it did give her ample amount of opportunity to admire Zoro's crazy strength... if she were into that kind of thing or something. She wasn't. She also cursed the natural embarrassed red blush that caused her cheeks to flush, and she turned her head away from his direction, not wanting to be seen in such a state.
She hissed slightly as he set her down on deck before he climbed up after her, red staining the back of her tied top as she felt the ship lurch. At least they were away from Loguetown. The crazy winds seemed to push them away from the town, and in turn, away from the marines as well. At least with this crazy weather only picking up, Captain Smoker wouldn't be able to follow them toward the Grand Line until after things settled down. A head start was always beneficial in a game of Cat and Mouse, after all...
Julia couldn't care too much about the newest member, grateful that at least the rain seemed to wash away the blood as fast as it started pooling on her back. Hearing Zoro's awkward, semi-concerned voice, she winced slightly. "I'm not going to die, no. Though the concern is appreciated." In the same amount of fury as the storm that hung over their person's on the sea, Sanji stormed over to yell at the green haired male, only to be called away by Nami. Julia blinked a few moments before sighing to herself, knowing that she would probably never get used to Sanji.
Looking around, the brunette knew what she had to do but she really didn't want to. Sighing once more, she let the flames engulf her form once more, but luckily they never harmed what she was standing on when she reverted to her true Oni form, but due to the rain, the flames themselves were nowhere near as brilliant and bright as before. The female folded her wings in a way so that the damaged and torn pieces were in front of her. "I won't be of any help until I sew these up. Could you, ah, get me a needle and thread from inside the ship's first aid kit?" Waiting for Zoro to return, she watched blood drip from her wings, and then get washed away by the rain on the deck. When he returned, she nodded to him in thanks before threading the needle and premptively wincing. "A-alright, here goes nothing...!" It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, but stitching herself up was... a difficult task. Her work was crude, and nowhere near perfect, but it would have to do. Slowly standing up, she took her human form once more, looking to Zoro. "You should make sure the ropes on deck are secure." She nodded to him, her way of thanking him for all his help.
As she turned toward the rigging, she took in a deep breath of air, before climbing up the mast. Her body ached in protest, but she refused to let that stop her. "There it is! The water... is actually flowing up the mountain! Reverse Mountain is right there!" Nami's shout carried over the sound of the wind and rain, and as Julia tied down ropes, she couldn't help but turn her gaze up to indeed see the water flowing up and defying the laws of gravity.
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil raised an eyebrow at the arm extended for her before reluctantly taking it. Well, no harm, right? Though, she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at the girl with...Oh, she had wings. Didn't she see her with them before? However, that wasn't what had her attention. It was more the fact that she was going to stitch up said wings. She opened her mouth to say something - offer to help (since she was rather skilled with a needle - both in cloth and in skin). She decided against it, though. She probably knew what she was doing. Apparently, though, she was to check some tree.
How you grew a tree on a ship, she had no idea, but who was she to question things? It was probably like taking care of a potted plant. A really, really big one at that. She couldn't help but admire it, really - she couldn't think of a single other ship that had a tree on it. She eyed the orange pieces of fruit growing from it, glancing from branch to branch. It seemed fine, but she never really went about securing trees. Though, it seemed like her companion knew what he was doing, so she just watched for the most part.
Cynil glanced over her shoulder and back towards the girl who had wings. Had she finished stitching herself up - ... She forced herself to face forwards and cringed internally. It was a ... okay, she didn't want to say bad, she was at a distance and maybe that was skewing her view, but it looked a bit rough. Maybe she should've stopped and offered to do it? It was too late now.
"Hm?" She was pulled back when the guy - Sanji, he said his name was? - spoke. "Oh, that sounds nice." She couldn't help but think back at the man responsible for food with her old little gang. "Back at the troupe, our cook was a blind guy who was originally a chemist." She mused out loud, chuckling at how outlandish it sounded. "He preferred his acids, though - pretty sure that's what he said took his sight? Ni-something." She shrugged. Ryker had only really spoken of it once before - the only time anyone actually asked him about it - and he explained in great detail. Down to the point where he described how the acid burned across his eyes, the pain being near unbearable. Never said how the acid wound up on his face, though.
He also told them about how the doctors told him he'd need help for the rest of his life. His response was to retrain himself to use a blade (somehow, it seemed, his sightlessness made him more dangerous) and carried on with his chemicals. Though, he did get himself an assistant of sorts for that last bit. Ryker was, without a doubt, a bad ass.
Cynil glanced ahead of the ship, feeling the side of her mouth quirk upwards. Yeah, it sucked leaving behind the troupe, but there was something about seeing that stream heading straight up and knowing where it led that put a feeling of some kind of giddiness inside her. The Grand Line. She had crossed it but once as a child, and, even then, she was below deck, sick. She heard tales about it, all the wonderful and terrifying things that could happen.
It also meant a step closer to finding her brother.
*~*~*
Zoro gave a nod, turning and making his way inside. Find the first aid kit. That should be easy! He scanned the room, looking for the little box, scratching his cheek. Well, it wasn't where they last had it. Wait - where did they last have it? He never really kept track of the thing, believing he'd never have any use of it. Though, now that he thought of it, maybe he should've paid more attention. Not knowing where something like that is? He'd have to remember for later.
Thankfully, the search of his didn't take long. It seemed he was right about its general location, only it had fallen over during their bumpy escape from Lougetown, it seemed. He grabbed it, quickly turning and making his way back outside. He held his hand out, letting Julia take it from him. He didn't offer to help her with the stitchwork, knowing well that she would probably be far better than him at it. So, he took to silently waiting for her to finish.
Except it seemed that someone decided to ruin said relative silence. "Someone" being some idiot, curly-brow cook.
"Oh, shut it, you moron." Zoro couldn't help but roll his eyes at the outright ridiculous behavior. Really, Luffy was easier to deal with than him. "Wha - Hey, I didn't do this!" He snapped, glare fully taking over his features. What the hell?! Why would he go and attack someone on his side?! If anyone, he'd have raised a sword at Sanji (maybe Luffy), but the others hardly gave him a reason to!
His glare followed as the cook ran off. One of these days he was going to kick his ass. When he looked back to Julia, she seemed to have finished stitching her wound and seemed to be doing relatively okay. He nodded back before turning and getting to work. He was quick about securing the ropes on the ship, knowing that he didn't really have time to take things slow. Reverse Mountain was only a few ways away, and they couldn't afford mistakes of any kind. One miscalculation on their end, and then they'd be sent crashing into the mountainside and their death would be certain.
He wouldn't have it any other way, really. Nothing got the blood pumping quite like the threat of death.
Their mark was hit, though. The feeling that they were going up was a strange one. He gave a small chuckle, making his way forward to get a better view of their ascension. It was almost surreal, but that was the Grand Line, wasn't it? They would have to expect more things like this there - possibly even stranger. Danger around every corner, some new sight to see - the "danger" part was what truly intrigued him, though.
How you grew a tree on a ship, she had no idea, but who was she to question things? It was probably like taking care of a potted plant. A really, really big one at that. She couldn't help but admire it, really - she couldn't think of a single other ship that had a tree on it. She eyed the orange pieces of fruit growing from it, glancing from branch to branch. It seemed fine, but she never really went about securing trees. Though, it seemed like her companion knew what he was doing, so she just watched for the most part.
Cynil glanced over her shoulder and back towards the girl who had wings. Had she finished stitching herself up - ... She forced herself to face forwards and cringed internally. It was a ... okay, she didn't want to say bad, she was at a distance and maybe that was skewing her view, but it looked a bit rough. Maybe she should've stopped and offered to do it? It was too late now.
"Hm?" She was pulled back when the guy - Sanji, he said his name was? - spoke. "Oh, that sounds nice." She couldn't help but think back at the man responsible for food with her old little gang. "Back at the troupe, our cook was a blind guy who was originally a chemist." She mused out loud, chuckling at how outlandish it sounded. "He preferred his acids, though - pretty sure that's what he said took his sight? Ni-something." She shrugged. Ryker had only really spoken of it once before - the only time anyone actually asked him about it - and he explained in great detail. Down to the point where he described how the acid burned across his eyes, the pain being near unbearable. Never said how the acid wound up on his face, though.
He also told them about how the doctors told him he'd need help for the rest of his life. His response was to retrain himself to use a blade (somehow, it seemed, his sightlessness made him more dangerous) and carried on with his chemicals. Though, he did get himself an assistant of sorts for that last bit. Ryker was, without a doubt, a bad ass.
Cynil glanced ahead of the ship, feeling the side of her mouth quirk upwards. Yeah, it sucked leaving behind the troupe, but there was something about seeing that stream heading straight up and knowing where it led that put a feeling of some kind of giddiness inside her. The Grand Line. She had crossed it but once as a child, and, even then, she was below deck, sick. She heard tales about it, all the wonderful and terrifying things that could happen.
It also meant a step closer to finding her brother.
*~*~*
Zoro gave a nod, turning and making his way inside. Find the first aid kit. That should be easy! He scanned the room, looking for the little box, scratching his cheek. Well, it wasn't where they last had it. Wait - where did they last have it? He never really kept track of the thing, believing he'd never have any use of it. Though, now that he thought of it, maybe he should've paid more attention. Not knowing where something like that is? He'd have to remember for later.
Thankfully, the search of his didn't take long. It seemed he was right about its general location, only it had fallen over during their bumpy escape from Lougetown, it seemed. He grabbed it, quickly turning and making his way back outside. He held his hand out, letting Julia take it from him. He didn't offer to help her with the stitchwork, knowing well that she would probably be far better than him at it. So, he took to silently waiting for her to finish.
Except it seemed that someone decided to ruin said relative silence. "Someone" being some idiot, curly-brow cook.
"Oh, shut it, you moron." Zoro couldn't help but roll his eyes at the outright ridiculous behavior. Really, Luffy was easier to deal with than him. "Wha - Hey, I didn't do this!" He snapped, glare fully taking over his features. What the hell?! Why would he go and attack someone on his side?! If anyone, he'd have raised a sword at Sanji (maybe Luffy), but the others hardly gave him a reason to!
His glare followed as the cook ran off. One of these days he was going to kick his ass. When he looked back to Julia, she seemed to have finished stitching her wound and seemed to be doing relatively okay. He nodded back before turning and getting to work. He was quick about securing the ropes on the ship, knowing that he didn't really have time to take things slow. Reverse Mountain was only a few ways away, and they couldn't afford mistakes of any kind. One miscalculation on their end, and then they'd be sent crashing into the mountainside and their death would be certain.
He wouldn't have it any other way, really. Nothing got the blood pumping quite like the threat of death.
Their mark was hit, though. The feeling that they were going up was a strange one. He gave a small chuckle, making his way forward to get a better view of their ascension. It was almost surreal, but that was the Grand Line, wasn't it? They would have to expect more things like this there - possibly even stranger. Danger around every corner, some new sight to see - the "danger" part was what truly intrigued him, though.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
Sanji was blissfully unaware of Cynil’s abilities when it came to doing at least minor first aid things. Instead of seeing her concerned gaze that passed over Julia’s form, he took the black haired young woman by the arm, leading her up the steps to the upper deck. There, Nami’s trees were in bloom and producing fruit, but their branches shook and quaked at the unstable rocking of the boat, the storm and churning waters not doing the plants any favors. He liked the orange trees—the natural sugars that could be extracted from the oranges made for the perfect ingredients in most meals, and they also made a great cure for any form of scurvy due to the acidity. It kept everyone on deck healthy, which as the cook, he was definitely grateful for that, not to mention the constant resources.
Sanji pulled out some rope from a nearby barrel, handing some to Cynil as he silently showed her how to tie it gently around the trunks of the orange trees, making sure not to hurt any blossoms or growing fruit as he did so. He took care of these trees very carefully, as he respected what Nami had gone through to get them. The defeat of Arlong was still fresh in their minds, and he often (when they were sailing) found his eyes being drawn to the freshly healed orange tattoo that covered the scar from when she had stabbed out her Arlong tattoo. Of course he had been upset that she had felt the need to literally cut the pigment off of her skin, but he was glad that she was able to turn the image into something beautiful that reminded her of her past, and these trees were a part of it. "These are from Nami's home town, Cocoyasi. Her mother used to grow these trees, and her sister was kind enough to give us these when we passed through." He felt like they needed a little bit of explanation, after all, it was indeed odd to have orange trees on a ship when most, if not all ships, didn’t have any kind of plant life (save for algae) on them at all.
As they continued to work together to make sure the trees wouldn’t go sliding around on deck, Sanji listened to the young woman talk of her troupe. He wasn’t an idiot (all the time)—he could tell that she was already beginning to miss them. He could understand. After all, not a day went by where he didn’t think of Zeff and all his other friends on the Baratie. He could only wish the best for them, and hope to write them something just to tell them that he hadn’t joined the great soup kitchen in the Sky yet. He nodded along with her words to show he was listening and interested in what she was saying. "Acids are good on occasion—of course I think it’s best to have balanced flavors instead of going for one thing all the time." A calm smile appeared on his face as he talked about food—it really was his passion after all. Something about cuisine made him that much calmer, and it was odd how he was much more calm around Cynil in general. Usually he went crazy over any and every female, but something about her calm demeanor made him experience the same tranquility(or maybe it was just bad writing and OOC Sanji?).
"Sounds to me like he kept you pretty far away from scurvy, though. Which is always a good thing!" The blonde turned to her with a smile, his grin enough to brighten up a room despite the rain and storm. He was almost lost in the moment the shared, but his attention was brought back to the chaos that was happening below when someone shouted for them to look to the mountain. "Y-you might want to hold onto something, Cynil!" His words were almost lost in the storm, but as he grabbed onto the railing, the ship lurched and was carried literally up the mountain. Sanji had heard of reverse mountain, but of course it was hard to believe. Of course, they weren’t in the clear yet.
"Shit, we're going to crash if we don’t do something!" He gritted his teeth as he moved to make his way down the steps, but luckily Luffy was on it already, blowing up to his balloon form in order to help them make the bank they needed in order to find themselves on the right path. He cheered with the rest of the crew, turning to look up the second half of the mountain that they were then climbing up. It had stopped raining somewhere along the way, and he was just beginning to see sunlight peer through the clouds up above them as they rose to the peak of the mountain. Looking to Cynil, he smiled again. "All of us on this crew... we're all connected by dreams. Luffy's going to become the Pirate King, and I... I am going to find the chef's wonderland, the All Blue!" That was his dream, and he didn’t care how many people told him it didn’t exist. He was going to find it and become the greatest chef in the world.
It had taken Zoro long enough! The brunette had just began to wonder if she was going to have to help him find that too, or if he had somehow managed to get lost on their tiny ship, but luckily it didn’t seem like that was an issue, as he came back with the necessary supplies. Julia couldn’t help but snicker as Zoro and Sanji argued. No matter how brief, those two always managed to find something to butt heads about. It was endearing, and sometimes it was annoying, but she supposed she would have to live with it. It, after all, really wasn’t that different from when she and Zoro argued. They all had strong values, opinions, and personalities, and they were bound to have a few disagreements here and there. Just... Sanji and Zoro happened to argue the most.
She had finished relatively quickly—Julia knew her job was really poor and lackluster, but at least it would stop the bleeding and actually heal now that the wound had been closed. Sighing, she let the flames engulf her once more, reverting back to her human form. She also appeared to be the first to notice that the rain had stopped, as she slowly seemed to gain her energy back. She looked dead, however, dark circles under hear eyes, and she was grateful when Nami walked over in between guiding the others to reverse mountain in order to drape her cloak over her shoulders, warming her up a little bit. The two females smiled widely at each other, their excitement shared. The mountain was amazing—of course Julia had been over it once or twice, but never quite to this extent. These people had never seen the grand line... she was eager to show them her side of the oceans. Her home, too, lay on this side. She couldn’t wait to show them the glory of the Oni Tribes! And... for her dream to become a reality... to avenge her pride and reclaim her position as next Tribe Chieftess.
When it came time to make the hard turn that would make or break their journey to the Grand Line (quite literally, too), Julia watched as Luffy inflated himself to protect the ship from crashing, and she was quick do dash to the railing, despite how exhausted she may or may not have been feeling, and grabbed onto him by his vest, yanking him back on board. She sighed in relief as the rest of the crew cheered, Luffy merely laughing as she shot him a tired glare, although she couldn't help but let a smirk play on her lips. There was something about everyone's energy that was particularly contagious, and she was only finding more time to enjoy herself the longer she called herself a part of the Strawhat crew. Her dreams would become a reality... she would make sure of that!
As the Going Merry began to ascend towards the white clouds, Julia stumbled backward, leaning against the railing of the ship as a black cloud surrounded the outlines of her vision. Trying to blink away the haze, she heard Luffy call out to her in curiosity rather than concern. "Hey, Julia... you okay?"
A chuckle left her lips as she nodded. "Yeah, I just need a nap. Lost some blood, plus I don't do so hot in the rain, being a Fire Oni and all. It's kind of... debhilitating? Is that the word? Yeah... I'm fine though!" Wow, that was rather unarticulate for her--she must have been really out of it.
Getting a great idea after explaining his dreams to Cynil, Sanji grinned, motionioning for the black haired woman to follow him back down onto the main deck. The Going Merry climbed ever higher, and he was determined to share Cynil with everyone before they reached the peak. "Everyone, this is Cynil! She's going to be joining us--at least for a little bit. But right now, I feel like we all need to gather together! This is a momentous occasion, after all!" He seemed rather excitable as he brought forth an empty barrel, setting it down in front of everyone. Placing his foot on top to hold the barrel in place, Sanji grinned. "I'm going to find the All Blue!"
Luffy seemed to catch on rather quickly, and he brought his foot up to set it on top of the barrel. "Shishishi, of course! I'm going to become the King of the Pirates!"
Nami nodded, adding her foot to the barrel as well. "I'm going to make a map of all of the islands in the world, and chart all the seas!"
Usopp next, "I'm going to be a brave warrior of the sea."
Julia was still a little tired. "I don't think there's enough room on this barrel." She almost immediately received a few glares and the brunette put her hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright! I'll put my foot on the damn barrel." As she did so, she thought carefully about what she wanted to say. Even though it was mere seconds, she felt as though she took forever. She was new, yes. She had just joined the crew right after they had come from Baratie, but she had been too weak (ironically enough) to help with the fight against Arlong. She had told Luffy that she wants revenge against Nobutenga, and he didn't have a problem with that, but she knew others aboard (specifically a certain green haired swordsman) didn't care for the whole 'revenge' thing, so she thought carefully until she decided upon a satisfactory answer for herself. "I'm going to reclaim my honor, and my tribe!"
Sanji pulled out some rope from a nearby barrel, handing some to Cynil as he silently showed her how to tie it gently around the trunks of the orange trees, making sure not to hurt any blossoms or growing fruit as he did so. He took care of these trees very carefully, as he respected what Nami had gone through to get them. The defeat of Arlong was still fresh in their minds, and he often (when they were sailing) found his eyes being drawn to the freshly healed orange tattoo that covered the scar from when she had stabbed out her Arlong tattoo. Of course he had been upset that she had felt the need to literally cut the pigment off of her skin, but he was glad that she was able to turn the image into something beautiful that reminded her of her past, and these trees were a part of it. "These are from Nami's home town, Cocoyasi. Her mother used to grow these trees, and her sister was kind enough to give us these when we passed through." He felt like they needed a little bit of explanation, after all, it was indeed odd to have orange trees on a ship when most, if not all ships, didn’t have any kind of plant life (save for algae) on them at all.
As they continued to work together to make sure the trees wouldn’t go sliding around on deck, Sanji listened to the young woman talk of her troupe. He wasn’t an idiot (all the time)—he could tell that she was already beginning to miss them. He could understand. After all, not a day went by where he didn’t think of Zeff and all his other friends on the Baratie. He could only wish the best for them, and hope to write them something just to tell them that he hadn’t joined the great soup kitchen in the Sky yet. He nodded along with her words to show he was listening and interested in what she was saying. "Acids are good on occasion—of course I think it’s best to have balanced flavors instead of going for one thing all the time." A calm smile appeared on his face as he talked about food—it really was his passion after all. Something about cuisine made him that much calmer, and it was odd how he was much more calm around Cynil in general. Usually he went crazy over any and every female, but something about her calm demeanor made him experience the same tranquility
"Sounds to me like he kept you pretty far away from scurvy, though. Which is always a good thing!" The blonde turned to her with a smile, his grin enough to brighten up a room despite the rain and storm. He was almost lost in the moment the shared, but his attention was brought back to the chaos that was happening below when someone shouted for them to look to the mountain. "Y-you might want to hold onto something, Cynil!" His words were almost lost in the storm, but as he grabbed onto the railing, the ship lurched and was carried literally up the mountain. Sanji had heard of reverse mountain, but of course it was hard to believe. Of course, they weren’t in the clear yet.
"Shit, we're going to crash if we don’t do something!" He gritted his teeth as he moved to make his way down the steps, but luckily Luffy was on it already, blowing up to his balloon form in order to help them make the bank they needed in order to find themselves on the right path. He cheered with the rest of the crew, turning to look up the second half of the mountain that they were then climbing up. It had stopped raining somewhere along the way, and he was just beginning to see sunlight peer through the clouds up above them as they rose to the peak of the mountain. Looking to Cynil, he smiled again. "All of us on this crew... we're all connected by dreams. Luffy's going to become the Pirate King, and I... I am going to find the chef's wonderland, the All Blue!" That was his dream, and he didn’t care how many people told him it didn’t exist. He was going to find it and become the greatest chef in the world.
________________________________________________________________
It had taken Zoro long enough! The brunette had just began to wonder if she was going to have to help him find that too, or if he had somehow managed to get lost on their tiny ship, but luckily it didn’t seem like that was an issue, as he came back with the necessary supplies. Julia couldn’t help but snicker as Zoro and Sanji argued. No matter how brief, those two always managed to find something to butt heads about. It was endearing, and sometimes it was annoying, but she supposed she would have to live with it. It, after all, really wasn’t that different from when she and Zoro argued. They all had strong values, opinions, and personalities, and they were bound to have a few disagreements here and there. Just... Sanji and Zoro happened to argue the most.
She had finished relatively quickly—Julia knew her job was really poor and lackluster, but at least it would stop the bleeding and actually heal now that the wound had been closed. Sighing, she let the flames engulf her once more, reverting back to her human form. She also appeared to be the first to notice that the rain had stopped, as she slowly seemed to gain her energy back. She looked dead, however, dark circles under hear eyes, and she was grateful when Nami walked over in between guiding the others to reverse mountain in order to drape her cloak over her shoulders, warming her up a little bit. The two females smiled widely at each other, their excitement shared. The mountain was amazing—of course Julia had been over it once or twice, but never quite to this extent. These people had never seen the grand line... she was eager to show them her side of the oceans. Her home, too, lay on this side. She couldn’t wait to show them the glory of the Oni Tribes! And... for her dream to become a reality... to avenge her pride and reclaim her position as next Tribe Chieftess.
When it came time to make the hard turn that would make or break their journey to the Grand Line (quite literally, too), Julia watched as Luffy inflated himself to protect the ship from crashing, and she was quick do dash to the railing, despite how exhausted she may or may not have been feeling, and grabbed onto him by his vest, yanking him back on board. She sighed in relief as the rest of the crew cheered, Luffy merely laughing as she shot him a tired glare, although she couldn't help but let a smirk play on her lips. There was something about everyone's energy that was particularly contagious, and she was only finding more time to enjoy herself the longer she called herself a part of the Strawhat crew. Her dreams would become a reality... she would make sure of that!
As the Going Merry began to ascend towards the white clouds, Julia stumbled backward, leaning against the railing of the ship as a black cloud surrounded the outlines of her vision. Trying to blink away the haze, she heard Luffy call out to her in curiosity rather than concern. "Hey, Julia... you okay?"
A chuckle left her lips as she nodded. "Yeah, I just need a nap. Lost some blood, plus I don't do so hot in the rain, being a Fire Oni and all. It's kind of... debhilitating? Is that the word? Yeah... I'm fine though!" Wow, that was rather unarticulate for her--she must have been really out of it.
(this next little paragraph or so is for both Sanji and Julia, just to let you know!)
Getting a great idea after explaining his dreams to Cynil, Sanji grinned, motionioning for the black haired woman to follow him back down onto the main deck. The Going Merry climbed ever higher, and he was determined to share Cynil with everyone before they reached the peak. "Everyone, this is Cynil! She's going to be joining us--at least for a little bit. But right now, I feel like we all need to gather together! This is a momentous occasion, after all!" He seemed rather excitable as he brought forth an empty barrel, setting it down in front of everyone. Placing his foot on top to hold the barrel in place, Sanji grinned. "I'm going to find the All Blue!"
Luffy seemed to catch on rather quickly, and he brought his foot up to set it on top of the barrel. "Shishishi, of course! I'm going to become the King of the Pirates!"
Nami nodded, adding her foot to the barrel as well. "I'm going to make a map of all of the islands in the world, and chart all the seas!"
Usopp next, "I'm going to be a brave warrior of the sea."
Julia was still a little tired. "I don't think there's enough room on this barrel." She almost immediately received a few glares and the brunette put her hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright! I'll put my foot on the damn barrel." As she did so, she thought carefully about what she wanted to say. Even though it was mere seconds, she felt as though she took forever. She was new, yes. She had just joined the crew right after they had come from Baratie, but she had been too weak (ironically enough) to help with the fight against Arlong. She had told Luffy that she wants revenge against Nobutenga, and he didn't have a problem with that, but she knew others aboard (specifically a certain green haired swordsman) didn't care for the whole 'revenge' thing, so she thought carefully until she decided upon a satisfactory answer for herself. "I'm going to reclaim my honor, and my tribe!"
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil raised her eyebrows. He thought she was talking about acids in food? No, no, she was talking about the acids no one but a trained professional should use - the "melt your face off" kind. She didn't say anything, though; not like knowing the specifics of her old group would change anything here. Instead, she just moved on. "The All Blue? I hear that it's supposed to be one of the most beautiful places around," She grinned. "When you find it, you should tell me where it is." She highly doubted she'd still be around when he did, but that didn't mean she couldn't visit on her own. Hopefully, she'd have a tagalong at that point.
She allowed herself to be pulled down to the others, trailing after. She flashed a smile, giving a nod in greeting. "Hey, thanks for letting me stay with you," She said to the others. Always thank your hosts, it was only the polite thing to do.
When everyone began putting their foot down on the barrel and proclaiming their dreams, she faltered. One by one, the individual's dearest goal and life called out for all to hear, and all she could think was: what had been her dream? She remembered talking about it with Sol, something about...about seeing the world, but that wasn't it? Damn, it's been so long since she's thought about it that she didn't even remember it anymore. Well, she probably wasn't expected to join in, being that she just joined them and all - wait, why were they looking at her?
"Your turn!" The long-nosed fella declared broad grin on his face - the hopeful brave warrior of the sea.
Cynil continued to smile as she mimicked the motion all the others had done. What the hell was she going to say? "Yeah, I had a dream at one point but I don't really anymore?" No, she couldn't say that! However, she decided to pull at her goal at the moment; it wasn't quite a dream, but it was a goal she'd die before failing at. "I'm going to find someone I lost a while ago." She still didn't believe they were ready for the whole "people tell me he's dead" part.
And she wasn't sure if she was ready to go spilling it with strangers.
They always got this look on their face - the one that was so filled with pity, and she could hardly stand it. They saw her as some delusional girl, hoping beyond hope that her brother was alive, but couldn't face the reality of his death. They'd give her words of false encouragement and hope - "If he's out there, you'll find him!" but she saw the doubt on their faces. People she didn't even know seemed so certain of his death, sometimes even going as far as to tell her she needed to learn to move on. Like hell.
*~*~*
Zoro felt a slight grin tug at the corner of his mouth, watching Luffy jump into action. It was just like him, to throw himself in the way of danger of any kind. Though, this particular "danger" was nothing compared to what they've dealt with before. gave a nod when the new girl was pulled down. Well, if Luffy said she was with them, then she was - Captain's decision after all. He couldn't really be bothered to think anything more of her; as long as she wasn't a nuisance, he'd be fine with her.
"I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman." He declared, slamming his foot down on the barrel. He grinned, a flare of determination in his eyes at his words; it was bound to happen, he knew it was. There would be nothing that kept him from his goal.
He lifted his head, staring up at the clouds that seemed to be getting closer and closer as they continued to ascend up the mountain. Just over that peak, and then they'd finally be there - they'd have reached the Grand Line. Of course, then their little adventure would have just begun; it was making their way through the Grand Line that had his attention. Curious on what they'd face, on just how true the rumors were. But thinking about it was pointless. They'd cross those bridges when it came to it, no need to waste time coming up with theories when they didn't even know the half of it.
Soon, vision was obscured by...fog? No, not fog. They were almost like clouds; had they reached the top? About time. Though, it was almost impossible to hear over the wind whipping by their heads and the sound of rushing water. Zoro leaned against the railing of the ship, staring out ahead while Luffy took his place on top of the ship's figurehead. At least he seemed okay with the possibility of slipping off and falling into the water. Then again, he probably wasn't even thinking that could happen to him - that was Luffy for you.
"Hm?" Zoro paused, straining to listen. Ther was a sound - almost like a...groaning of some kind? "Anyone else hear that?"
"What'd you say?" Nami asked, trying to speak over all the noise. Guess they didn't - maybe he was just imagining it? Wait, no - there it was again. It was definitely some kind of groaning, though he couldn't really describe it. It could just barely be heard over everything, but he swore he did...right?
She allowed herself to be pulled down to the others, trailing after. She flashed a smile, giving a nod in greeting. "Hey, thanks for letting me stay with you," She said to the others. Always thank your hosts, it was only the polite thing to do.
When everyone began putting their foot down on the barrel and proclaiming their dreams, she faltered. One by one, the individual's dearest goal and life called out for all to hear, and all she could think was: what had been her dream? She remembered talking about it with Sol, something about...about seeing the world, but that wasn't it? Damn, it's been so long since she's thought about it that she didn't even remember it anymore. Well, she probably wasn't expected to join in, being that she just joined them and all - wait, why were they looking at her?
"Your turn!" The long-nosed fella declared broad grin on his face - the hopeful brave warrior of the sea.
Cynil continued to smile as she mimicked the motion all the others had done. What the hell was she going to say? "Yeah, I had a dream at one point but I don't really anymore?" No, she couldn't say that! However, she decided to pull at her goal at the moment; it wasn't quite a dream, but it was a goal she'd die before failing at. "I'm going to find someone I lost a while ago." She still didn't believe they were ready for the whole "people tell me he's dead" part.
And she wasn't sure if she was ready to go spilling it with strangers.
They always got this look on their face - the one that was so filled with pity, and she could hardly stand it. They saw her as some delusional girl, hoping beyond hope that her brother was alive, but couldn't face the reality of his death. They'd give her words of false encouragement and hope - "If he's out there, you'll find him!" but she saw the doubt on their faces. People she didn't even know seemed so certain of his death, sometimes even going as far as to tell her she needed to learn to move on. Like hell.
*~*~*
Zoro felt a slight grin tug at the corner of his mouth, watching Luffy jump into action. It was just like him, to throw himself in the way of danger of any kind. Though, this particular "danger" was nothing compared to what they've dealt with before. gave a nod when the new girl was pulled down. Well, if Luffy said she was with them, then she was - Captain's decision after all. He couldn't really be bothered to think anything more of her; as long as she wasn't a nuisance, he'd be fine with her.
"I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman." He declared, slamming his foot down on the barrel. He grinned, a flare of determination in his eyes at his words; it was bound to happen, he knew it was. There would be nothing that kept him from his goal.
He lifted his head, staring up at the clouds that seemed to be getting closer and closer as they continued to ascend up the mountain. Just over that peak, and then they'd finally be there - they'd have reached the Grand Line. Of course, then their little adventure would have just begun; it was making their way through the Grand Line that had his attention. Curious on what they'd face, on just how true the rumors were. But thinking about it was pointless. They'd cross those bridges when it came to it, no need to waste time coming up with theories when they didn't even know the half of it.
Soon, vision was obscured by...fog? No, not fog. They were almost like clouds; had they reached the top? About time. Though, it was almost impossible to hear over the wind whipping by their heads and the sound of rushing water. Zoro leaned against the railing of the ship, staring out ahead while Luffy took his place on top of the ship's figurehead. At least he seemed okay with the possibility of slipping off and falling into the water. Then again, he probably wasn't even thinking that could happen to him - that was Luffy for you.
"Hm?" Zoro paused, straining to listen. Ther was a sound - almost like a...groaning of some kind? "Anyone else hear that?"
"What'd you say?" Nami asked, trying to speak over all the noise. Guess they didn't - maybe he was just imagining it? Wait, no - there it was again. It was definitely some kind of groaning, though he couldn't really describe it. It could just barely be heard over everything, but he swore he did...right?
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
So, the Grand Line had GIANT Sea Kings. Well, actually it was just a giant whale with a man living inside of it (known as an 'Island Whale' from the West Blue, after she had actually been told). Laboon, although originally thought to be something far more dangerous (and Luffy getting mad at the beast for it's unintentional destruction of his 'special seat') than it was, was actually a fairly nice whale with an old man who was nice enough himself to explain the dangers of the Grand Line, as well as how to navigate it. That was defintely good for the Strawhat pirates, as they had been rather unprepared to go into something as dangerous as the Grand Line. Of course, Julia could have told them that much, but...
She had slept through the majority of all of it.
The brunette couldn't help herself! She was exhausted after their escape from Loguetown, and she needed to rest in order to get her strength back. It didn't help that her energy usually got zapped when her body was trying to heal itself. After they had gotten swallowed by Laboon, she had gone inside the cabin to change into an extra top and wash the other one that had blood on it, and as soon as she had hung up the piece to dry, she had sat on the ground inside the cabin and fallen fast asleep. It was almost completely Zoro-worthy a feat, too.
Stepping out of the cabin, Julia yawned, a tear forming in the corner of her eye per-usual anime trope. Looking at the crew and the rather... shoddy repair job on the Going Merry, the brunette tilted her head to the side. "Hey guys, what happened to the whale?"
Nami was the first person to react, her shrieks being loud enough to wake the dead. "DON'T TELL ME YOU SLEPT THROUGH ALL OF THAT?!" At Julia's perfectly blank stare, the orange haired woman sighed, giving up on arguing and proceeding to fill the brunette in with everything she needed to know.
Sanji had been taking his time, staring off into the sea in the direction Ms. Wednesday had swam off in with Mr. Nine, wondering exactly who she was and what an enigmatic beauty someone with the name 'Ms. Wednesday' possessed. Of course, all per usual Sanji fashion, he grinned, turning around and smiling at the three women on board the Going Merry. "Cynil-san, Nami-swan, Julia dear! I'll have lunch made up in just a moment! Just you ladies wait!"
"I'm hungry too!" Luffy was always quick to put his two cents in, and the blonde glared at him.
"You'll get your food after the ladies eat--learn some respect, Luffy!" But the that seemed to go in one ear and out the other for their rubber captain (or it went over his head entirely). Luffy was definitely the hardest obsticle in Sanji's duties. He was the entire reason he had to keep locks everywhere that food was stored, and in the same manner, locks remained on the liquor cabinet because of Zoro's drinking habits. Turning to Cynil, he smiled. "Don't mind our captain, I promise he may be a little thick headed, but he is a good person."
"Thanks Sanji!"
Usopp sighed, shaking his head, "talk about a back-handed compliment." At least there was never a dull moment on the Going Merry.
Julia, upon seeing the black haired beauty once more, remembered that she hadn't introduced herself. Walking over with a smile, she offered her hand to the blackette, nodding politely. "My name is Julia--I'm the ship's Rigger." It was nice to have another female onboard, though if she remembered properly from earlier, it seemed as though she wasn't planning on staying with them long.
"Cynil-swan~? I could use some help in the kitchen, if you don't mind?" Sanji's voice rang out, and he popped his head out of the galley, a smile on his features.
"I'll let you get to it," the brunette smiled, nodding in her direction again. "I've got to check the sails." With that, she turned away and promptly began climbing the mast, where she began to (properly) retie the ropes and rigging so that their sail would lay properly. Her brow furrowed as she looked at the mess that had been made of the Merry's rigging, and her eyes narrowed as she looked down on the crew members who were still on the deck. "Hey! Who did this crap?! If I hadn't caught this, our sail could get ripped off of the ship!"
Usopp shrieked, fearful of the oni's wrath, especially after seeing her demon form for the first time. "I-It was Zoro!" His cries were loud as he pushed the green haired swordsman in between him and Julia's path, eager to escape her piercing when the crappy job was, in fact, his fault. How was he supposed to know how it went? She was asleep after all, he wasn't about to wake her up to ask her how to do it!
She had slept through the majority of all of it.
The brunette couldn't help herself! She was exhausted after their escape from Loguetown, and she needed to rest in order to get her strength back. It didn't help that her energy usually got zapped when her body was trying to heal itself. After they had gotten swallowed by Laboon, she had gone inside the cabin to change into an extra top and wash the other one that had blood on it, and as soon as she had hung up the piece to dry, she had sat on the ground inside the cabin and fallen fast asleep. It was almost completely Zoro-worthy a feat, too.
Stepping out of the cabin, Julia yawned, a tear forming in the corner of her eye per-usual anime trope. Looking at the crew and the rather... shoddy repair job on the Going Merry, the brunette tilted her head to the side. "Hey guys, what happened to the whale?"
Nami was the first person to react, her shrieks being loud enough to wake the dead. "DON'T TELL ME YOU SLEPT THROUGH ALL OF THAT?!" At Julia's perfectly blank stare, the orange haired woman sighed, giving up on arguing and proceeding to fill the brunette in with everything she needed to know.
Sanji had been taking his time, staring off into the sea in the direction Ms. Wednesday had swam off in with Mr. Nine, wondering exactly who she was and what an enigmatic beauty someone with the name 'Ms. Wednesday' possessed. Of course, all per usual Sanji fashion, he grinned, turning around and smiling at the three women on board the Going Merry. "Cynil-san, Nami-swan, Julia dear! I'll have lunch made up in just a moment! Just you ladies wait!"
"I'm hungry too!" Luffy was always quick to put his two cents in, and the blonde glared at him.
"You'll get your food after the ladies eat--learn some respect, Luffy!" But the that seemed to go in one ear and out the other for their rubber captain (or it went over his head entirely). Luffy was definitely the hardest obsticle in Sanji's duties. He was the entire reason he had to keep locks everywhere that food was stored, and in the same manner, locks remained on the liquor cabinet because of Zoro's drinking habits. Turning to Cynil, he smiled. "Don't mind our captain, I promise he may be a little thick headed, but he is a good person."
"Thanks Sanji!"
Usopp sighed, shaking his head, "talk about a back-handed compliment." At least there was never a dull moment on the Going Merry.
Julia, upon seeing the black haired beauty once more, remembered that she hadn't introduced herself. Walking over with a smile, she offered her hand to the blackette, nodding politely. "My name is Julia--I'm the ship's Rigger." It was nice to have another female onboard, though if she remembered properly from earlier, it seemed as though she wasn't planning on staying with them long.
"Cynil-swan~? I could use some help in the kitchen, if you don't mind?" Sanji's voice rang out, and he popped his head out of the galley, a smile on his features.
"I'll let you get to it," the brunette smiled, nodding in her direction again. "I've got to check the sails." With that, she turned away and promptly began climbing the mast, where she began to (properly) retie the ropes and rigging so that their sail would lay properly. Her brow furrowed as she looked at the mess that had been made of the Merry's rigging, and her eyes narrowed as she looked down on the crew members who were still on the deck. "Hey! Who did this crap?! If I hadn't caught this, our sail could get ripped off of the ship!"
Usopp shrieked, fearful of the oni's wrath, especially after seeing her demon form for the first time. "I-It was Zoro!" His cries were loud as he pushed the green haired swordsman in between him and Julia's path, eager to escape her piercing when the crappy job was, in fact, his fault. How was he supposed to know how it went? She was asleep after all, he wasn't about to wake her up to ask her how to do it!
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil, for the most part, pulled herself towards the sidelines of all the action and watched. It was an interesting encounter, to say the least, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't at all partially frightened of it. Though, it was made even more interesting upon the introduction of two new characters. Well, one was a character - the woman. She knew an act when she saw one. At least, she hoped she could tell; all her years of reading people both in and out of performances (and Serogi's constant nagging that reading body language was the second best way of finding someone's secrets) better amount to something or she'd be rather peeved at all the time wasted.
As everything calmed down, Cynil leaned herself against the railing of the ship (they called it the Going Merry, it seemed) and eyed the crew going about their business. A lively bunch, no doubt about it. Hell, she wouldn't have minded sticking around if she wasn't hellbent on finding that twin of hers.
"Hm?" He head turned, meeting the gaze of the girl who once had wings. "Oh, I'm Cynil - a pleasure." She grinned. She paused upon being called to...to help in the kitchen. Oh, that was... well, it wasn't that she was terrible - she was capable of the basics of cooking - but it wasn't her forte. "Uh, later." She gave a wave as she made her way to the galley. Wait, did he just say 'swan'? Oof, he was more of a character than she originally thought.
Cynil eyed the room as she stepped in, arms crossed as she shifted her weight from foot to foot a tad bit awkwardly. As awkward as one would be when they're a guest in a new place and had no clue what to do with themselves. She'd get over it in time. Hopefully. She could only make herself look so busy with - right, the book. She kept forgetting about that. Where did she set it? Somewhere outside. She could grab it later.
"So, not entirely sure what I could really help with." She chuckled, glancing to the side as she rubbed the back of her neck. It couldn't be anything major, could it? Menial tasks - Ryker had her doing those from time to time, but, ultimately, didn't trust another soul to not move things around. "Not that I'm trying to weasel my way out of doing anything, just...well, my skills lie more in the performing and needle-based arts."
*~*~*
The entire situation had caught Zoro off guard. What the hell? Though, it was a stroke of luck that there was more to them being eaten by an oversized whale than...being eaten by an oversized whale? A man lived inside the thing, which was something that seemed utterly impossible to him. Yet, here it was. It was the Grand Line - he imagined this was just a taste of what was to come. Though, he'd rather whatever situation they found themselves in next didn't involve going through the mouth of a giant beast. He was content with this being a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
As everything calmed, everyone had moved on to their tasks at hand, whatever they deemed those to be. Personally, he was going to lie back and go to sleep; after everything, he was tired. Though, it seemed that wouldn't be the case when Usopp had shoved him ahead. He took a moment to look between both Usopp and Julia, surveying the situation. It took him only a moment to come to a conclusion:
He didn't have the damdest clue what was going on.
"Wha- hey, what's going on?" He asked eyes narrowed as he tried to piece together what he possibly could've done. "The hell did I do?!" He demanded, annoyed and confused. He glared at the long-nosed sniper of theirs before looking to Julia.
"See!" Usopp pointed an accusing finger at the swordsman's chest as if to reveal the obvious. "He's just trying to deflect suspicion onto others! It's what a liar would do!"
Zoro stood there, blinking with an incredulous expression on his face. He was silent before exclaiming. "Why would I do something like that?!" He swatted the hand away, Usopp jerking back as if he had just been bitten. "Besides, you're the one that's trying to get her mad at me for something!" Sometimes he wanted nothing more than to kick his ass. Though, it was only really when he was dragged into his shenanigans; otherwise, he couldn't be bothered to waste the time.
"What's even the problem?" Sick of being in the dark, he finally asked (again). He didn't care much for taking the blame of something he didn't do - least of all when he didn't even know what he was being blamed for.
As everything calmed down, Cynil leaned herself against the railing of the ship (they called it the Going Merry, it seemed) and eyed the crew going about their business. A lively bunch, no doubt about it. Hell, she wouldn't have minded sticking around if she wasn't hellbent on finding that twin of hers.
"Hm?" He head turned, meeting the gaze of the girl who once had wings. "Oh, I'm Cynil - a pleasure." She grinned. She paused upon being called to...to help in the kitchen. Oh, that was... well, it wasn't that she was terrible - she was capable of the basics of cooking - but it wasn't her forte. "Uh, later." She gave a wave as she made her way to the galley. Wait, did he just say 'swan'? Oof, he was more of a character than she originally thought.
Cynil eyed the room as she stepped in, arms crossed as she shifted her weight from foot to foot a tad bit awkwardly. As awkward as one would be when they're a guest in a new place and had no clue what to do with themselves. She'd get over it in time. Hopefully. She could only make herself look so busy with - right, the book. She kept forgetting about that. Where did she set it? Somewhere outside. She could grab it later.
"So, not entirely sure what I could really help with." She chuckled, glancing to the side as she rubbed the back of her neck. It couldn't be anything major, could it? Menial tasks - Ryker had her doing those from time to time, but, ultimately, didn't trust another soul to not move things around. "Not that I'm trying to weasel my way out of doing anything, just...well, my skills lie more in the performing and needle-based arts."
*~*~*
The entire situation had caught Zoro off guard. What the hell? Though, it was a stroke of luck that there was more to them being eaten by an oversized whale than...being eaten by an oversized whale? A man lived inside the thing, which was something that seemed utterly impossible to him. Yet, here it was. It was the Grand Line - he imagined this was just a taste of what was to come. Though, he'd rather whatever situation they found themselves in next didn't involve going through the mouth of a giant beast. He was content with this being a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
As everything calmed, everyone had moved on to their tasks at hand, whatever they deemed those to be. Personally, he was going to lie back and go to sleep; after everything, he was tired. Though, it seemed that wouldn't be the case when Usopp had shoved him ahead. He took a moment to look between both Usopp and Julia, surveying the situation. It took him only a moment to come to a conclusion:
He didn't have the damdest clue what was going on.
"Wha- hey, what's going on?" He asked eyes narrowed as he tried to piece together what he possibly could've done. "The hell did I do?!" He demanded, annoyed and confused. He glared at the long-nosed sniper of theirs before looking to Julia.
"See!" Usopp pointed an accusing finger at the swordsman's chest as if to reveal the obvious. "He's just trying to deflect suspicion onto others! It's what a liar would do!"
Zoro stood there, blinking with an incredulous expression on his face. He was silent before exclaiming. "Why would I do something like that?!" He swatted the hand away, Usopp jerking back as if he had just been bitten. "Besides, you're the one that's trying to get her mad at me for something!" Sometimes he wanted nothing more than to kick his ass. Though, it was only really when he was dragged into his shenanigans; otherwise, he couldn't be bothered to waste the time.
"What's even the problem?" Sick of being in the dark, he finally asked (again). He didn't care much for taking the blame of something he didn't do - least of all when he didn't even know what he was being blamed for.
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
The crew had seemed to quickly accept the fact that Cynil would be joining them and moved along with their lives. Sanji was greatful for this fact, although he had little doubts that everyone would be against it in the first place. Sure, Nami and Usopp would have complained at first (and they did), but Nami would quickly come around to welcome another female to help her balance out the crew memebers that they had, as before Julia came aboard, Nami was poorly outnumbered. But now with Cynil, Sanji was happy to welcome and continue to praise the Strawhats now-three crewmembers. He remembered her words about not staying with them permanently, but shoved the thought to the back of his mind. After all, he wasn't about to think of that when she had just joined. Surely their time together wouldn't be that short... right?
As she walked into the galley, Sanji sent her a wide smile, eager to have her in the kitchen with him (and away from the others, but that was beside the point). "Oh, don't worry about it too much, I've got all the cooking expertise we'll need right here," he grinned, pointing to his head as he turned to gather the ingredients they would need. "I'm just going to make a soup--that way it makes for great and easy leftovers on the sea. I suppose you could even consider it a white chilli, but as it simmers I was hoping to make you ladies some fresh poke as an appetizer since I bought some fresh fish in Loguetown." The blonde handed her some greens, taking a few strands of everything together as he showed her on the cutting board how to properly cut it. "Just like that--we'll use all of that since poke is a kind of raw fish salad."
He turned his back on her so he could work, quickly chopping some carrots and celery and putting it into the boiling broth that he had on the stove. He quite liked the kitchen of the Going Merry. It was small and quaint, and although he was used to something much larger, such as on the Baratie, he was more than fine with making do with what they had. It was just a little shocking for some to see how many locks he needed to keep on everything just to keep Luffy out of all of the food. Sighing, he took the rest of a bird that they had eaten most of on their way to Loguetown, shredding the cooked meat as he put it into the pot. "Thank you for helping me. Sometimes it's a lot nicer to have more than one person working in here, and I can't trust many of those idiots out there" he motioned to the deck, "in order to do a good job. And Nami and Julia are usually busy, so I leave them be."
Realizing that he had spoken a lot about himself as of late, Sanji turned to smile at her. "So, sorry for talking your ears off! This has gotta be a little weird, traveling with us out of the blue. What did you used to do for that traveling troupe that you were a part of?" He was curious, considering everyone seemed fairly diverse in their group. He hadn't wanted to bring up any touchy subjects, but considering he had actually met some of her former crewmates, he felt the topic was a rather safe one to bring up. Or at least... he hoped it was.
As Usopp was a little too quick to put all the blame on Zoro, Julia turned to the male, her blue eyes narrowing as she looked to him with a dark look. Her eyebrows furrowed, and he yelped, further trying to hide behind the muscled swordsman in attempted help from the brunette's wrath. "Zoro at least knows not to mess with my shit, Usopp!" She had a bit of a mouth, but that simply couldn't be helped. Hearing Zoro's question, she turned to him, her eyes wide as she blinked. Had he not even been paying attention? Geez Usopp, next time pick someone who looked a little more guilty. Shaking her head, the brunette continued to glare at their long-nosed sniper. "He tied all the ropes wrong! Why didn't you wake me up?"
Jumping down from her perch, the female stalked closer to Usopp. He thought he was safe behind Zoro, but she was about to tell him how sorely mistaken he was. Gently pushing Zoro one way so Usopp couldn't escape, the Oni Demoness was quick to pick him up by the overalls, dragging him over to the mast with her immense strength. "If that happens again, the main sail could be tugged off in the wind. Geez, I only have one task on this boat, the least you can do is tell me to do it!" She sighed, setting Usopp down once they reached the roping that lead up to the mast. "Here, since you did such a poor job, you're going to help me fix it, and as a bonus I'll teach you how to do it right!"
"H-h-how very generous of y-you!" Usopp's shriek gave away how terrified he was of the brunette and she was quick to chase him up and into the rigging. It was maybe another 15 minutes to fix all the mistakes Usopp had done, but thanks to Julia's innate ability to run along the thin ropes and jump from line to line helped things get done relatively quickly. Usopp's legs were shaky by the time he finally reached the ship's deck once again, having slid down the main mast and hugging it for his dear life, mumbling nonesense about never wanting to leave the ground again.
Julia followed after, simply jumping from above and directly onto the deck, dusting off her hands and admiring their good work. "See? That's what it's supposed to look like. Not a jumbled mess of knots." Turning to look to Zoro, she thought for a moment. "Oh whoops, sorry. Did you want to learn too?" Her tone was a little condescending as she teased him, a smirk upon her features. "Of course, I had meant to tell you earlier before I uh... fell asleep. My offer to pay your interest from borrowing Nami's money still stands. All it'll cost you is the 100000 belli you borrowed and five teeny tiny favors from me from time to time. That's it~."
As she walked into the galley, Sanji sent her a wide smile, eager to have her in the kitchen with him (and away from the others, but that was beside the point). "Oh, don't worry about it too much, I've got all the cooking expertise we'll need right here," he grinned, pointing to his head as he turned to gather the ingredients they would need. "I'm just going to make a soup--that way it makes for great and easy leftovers on the sea. I suppose you could even consider it a white chilli, but as it simmers I was hoping to make you ladies some fresh poke as an appetizer since I bought some fresh fish in Loguetown." The blonde handed her some greens, taking a few strands of everything together as he showed her on the cutting board how to properly cut it. "Just like that--we'll use all of that since poke is a kind of raw fish salad."
He turned his back on her so he could work, quickly chopping some carrots and celery and putting it into the boiling broth that he had on the stove. He quite liked the kitchen of the Going Merry. It was small and quaint, and although he was used to something much larger, such as on the Baratie, he was more than fine with making do with what they had. It was just a little shocking for some to see how many locks he needed to keep on everything just to keep Luffy out of all of the food. Sighing, he took the rest of a bird that they had eaten most of on their way to Loguetown, shredding the cooked meat as he put it into the pot. "Thank you for helping me. Sometimes it's a lot nicer to have more than one person working in here, and I can't trust many of those idiots out there" he motioned to the deck, "in order to do a good job. And Nami and Julia are usually busy, so I leave them be."
Realizing that he had spoken a lot about himself as of late, Sanji turned to smile at her. "So, sorry for talking your ears off! This has gotta be a little weird, traveling with us out of the blue. What did you used to do for that traveling troupe that you were a part of?" He was curious, considering everyone seemed fairly diverse in their group. He hadn't wanted to bring up any touchy subjects, but considering he had actually met some of her former crewmates, he felt the topic was a rather safe one to bring up. Or at least... he hoped it was.
__________________________________
As Usopp was a little too quick to put all the blame on Zoro, Julia turned to the male, her blue eyes narrowing as she looked to him with a dark look. Her eyebrows furrowed, and he yelped, further trying to hide behind the muscled swordsman in attempted help from the brunette's wrath. "Zoro at least knows not to mess with my shit, Usopp!" She had a bit of a mouth, but that simply couldn't be helped. Hearing Zoro's question, she turned to him, her eyes wide as she blinked. Had he not even been paying attention? Geez Usopp, next time pick someone who looked a little more guilty. Shaking her head, the brunette continued to glare at their long-nosed sniper. "He tied all the ropes wrong! Why didn't you wake me up?"
Jumping down from her perch, the female stalked closer to Usopp. He thought he was safe behind Zoro, but she was about to tell him how sorely mistaken he was. Gently pushing Zoro one way so Usopp couldn't escape, the Oni Demoness was quick to pick him up by the overalls, dragging him over to the mast with her immense strength. "If that happens again, the main sail could be tugged off in the wind. Geez, I only have one task on this boat, the least you can do is tell me to do it!" She sighed, setting Usopp down once they reached the roping that lead up to the mast. "Here, since you did such a poor job, you're going to help me fix it, and as a bonus I'll teach you how to do it right!"
"H-h-how very generous of y-you!" Usopp's shriek gave away how terrified he was of the brunette and she was quick to chase him up and into the rigging. It was maybe another 15 minutes to fix all the mistakes Usopp had done, but thanks to Julia's innate ability to run along the thin ropes and jump from line to line helped things get done relatively quickly. Usopp's legs were shaky by the time he finally reached the ship's deck once again, having slid down the main mast and hugging it for his dear life, mumbling nonesense about never wanting to leave the ground again.
Julia followed after, simply jumping from above and directly onto the deck, dusting off her hands and admiring their good work. "See? That's what it's supposed to look like. Not a jumbled mess of knots." Turning to look to Zoro, she thought for a moment. "Oh whoops, sorry. Did you want to learn too?" Her tone was a little condescending as she teased him, a smirk upon her features. "Of course, I had meant to tell you earlier before I uh... fell asleep. My offer to pay your interest from borrowing Nami's money still stands. All it'll cost you is the 100000 belli you borrowed and five teeny tiny favors from me from time to time. That's it~."
KayWyn
The Almighty Panda Eyes
Cynil nodded along, stepping to the side and observing. She'd always had an easier time following people's directions than making them herself. "Oh, I knew a few people you didn't let handle anything that required a gentler touch. Last time Krenn helped with setting up a stage light busted in the middle of a show." The damage wasn't obvious to the crowd - to them it looked like some shiny special effects - but, to her, she'd been dancing across small shards of broken glass. Not the best night for her feet, but she made do.
"I didn't do all that much," She shrugged, as she focused on the task at hand. "I was the one who fixed up clothes and was also a dancer. One obvious good thing to come from me tagging along is I don't have to dance again," She chuckled. "I didn't hate it, it just got boring after awhile, and I've got things I need to do - can't really do both."
So "boring" wasn't really the right word. She enjoyed learning the routine, mastering the steps each dance took, but, with a routine learned - that was it. Routine learned. She would occasionally throw in a few spur of the moment additions, just to make each night unique, but there wasn't too much she could do. Not to mention the thrill of performing on stage seemed to have faded over time; it was a nice distraction while it lasted, but it couldn't last forever. It only took a few months and she set back into (as her troupe would say) obsessing over the past. Though, the things she learned there were invaluable.
"What about you? Unless you killed someone, then I don't really want to know - three can keep a secret if two are dead an all," She said. "Can't go about dying just yet, doesn't fit in the schedule."
And that schedule wasn't changing for anything. Come hell or high water, she would attend every single "event" she had planned. First being to find whoever could lead her to her brother, second to find Sol himself. After that, it was making up for lost time and letting him know that she didn't actually hate him despite it all. He always had a real bad habit of letting things slowly add up until he reached a breaking point - and then it became hard to get through to him.
*~*~*
Zoro glanced at the two of them. "Right," He said before staring Usopp down. "Next time don't drag me into your story or I'll be throwing you off the side of the ship." He jabbed his thumb behind him as he spoke.
"Right! Never again!" Usopp agreed immediately. He knew that was another one of his long-nosed companion's many lies.
Zoro had leaned back, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the two climb up and get to work. He wasn't paying much attention to what they were doing - was only paying attention to their general shapes, waiting for one to come tumbling down. Someone had to catch them, right? Though he doubted Julia would be the one to fall, she'd yet to at all. While it was more likely for Usopp to take the plunge, he was still prepared for either. Didn't hurt being cautious, right?
As they came back down, he held back a smirk at the vast difference of what it looked like before and how it looked now. Much better. Hell, he was almost about to mention she was damn good at her job. He was. Until he heard the tone of voice, and then that slipped his mind almost immediately.
"Like hell!" He felt that tick of annoyance again, though it was more exasperation than actual frustration. "I don't have any money to pay you! What, you think I'm just going to switch from being in debt to Nami to being in debt to you!?" Though the more he thought about it, he honestly believed it'd probably be better for hisnon-existent wallet if it was Julia. Nami would probably keep adding her interest rates or doing something so there was always more for him to pay off. Like hell he'd get stuck in that trap. At least Julia would probably only make him pay her off once and call it off there - no, Nami would never let someone go that easy.
"I didn't do all that much," She shrugged, as she focused on the task at hand. "I was the one who fixed up clothes and was also a dancer. One obvious good thing to come from me tagging along is I don't have to dance again," She chuckled. "I didn't hate it, it just got boring after awhile, and I've got things I need to do - can't really do both."
So "boring" wasn't really the right word. She enjoyed learning the routine, mastering the steps each dance took, but, with a routine learned - that was it. Routine learned. She would occasionally throw in a few spur of the moment additions, just to make each night unique, but there wasn't too much she could do. Not to mention the thrill of performing on stage seemed to have faded over time; it was a nice distraction while it lasted, but it couldn't last forever. It only took a few months and she set back into (as her troupe would say) obsessing over the past. Though, the things she learned there were invaluable.
"What about you? Unless you killed someone, then I don't really want to know - three can keep a secret if two are dead an all," She said. "Can't go about dying just yet, doesn't fit in the schedule."
And that schedule wasn't changing for anything. Come hell or high water, she would attend every single "event" she had planned. First being to find whoever could lead her to her brother, second to find Sol himself. After that, it was making up for lost time and letting him know that she didn't actually hate him despite it all. He always had a real bad habit of letting things slowly add up until he reached a breaking point - and then it became hard to get through to him.
*~*~*
Zoro glanced at the two of them. "Right," He said before staring Usopp down. "Next time don't drag me into your story or I'll be throwing you off the side of the ship." He jabbed his thumb behind him as he spoke.
"Right! Never again!" Usopp agreed immediately. He knew that was another one of his long-nosed companion's many lies.
Zoro had leaned back, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the two climb up and get to work. He wasn't paying much attention to what they were doing - was only paying attention to their general shapes, waiting for one to come tumbling down. Someone had to catch them, right? Though he doubted Julia would be the one to fall, she'd yet to at all. While it was more likely for Usopp to take the plunge, he was still prepared for either. Didn't hurt being cautious, right?
As they came back down, he held back a smirk at the vast difference of what it looked like before and how it looked now. Much better. Hell, he was almost about to mention she was damn good at her job. He was. Until he heard the tone of voice, and then that slipped his mind almost immediately.
"Like hell!" He felt that tick of annoyance again, though it was more exasperation than actual frustration. "I don't have any money to pay you! What, you think I'm just going to switch from being in debt to Nami to being in debt to you!?" Though the more he thought about it, he honestly believed it'd probably be better for his
AwkwardSilence
Unofficial Member of the Ginyu Force
"It still sounds like you and your troupe had a good turnout wherever you went," he said, smiling as he continued to cook. Sanji would always consider himself more of an optimist than anything. "Fixed up clothes, though, huh? I'm sure Luffy's got a few things you could sew--all the same outfit, I'm afraid, but he tends to out more holes in his clothes than the rest of us. Maybe Zoro too..." his gaze narrowed at the thought of the swordsman. They got along and they shared common goals, but he also tended to get on Sanji's nerves with his bullheaded tendencies. Sometimes their personalities just... clashed. And that was the end of it.
Sanji didn't think that anything Cynil could do would be boring, but he did understand the part about becoming bored with the same routine. Even if she was switching up her dances, he could easily see the young women getting bored of doing relatively the same thing over and over again, just for different people. After all, there were only so many combinations one could come up with on their own before they all started to look the same. "Well, all the same, it's wonderful to have a dancer on the ship! Maybe you could teach Julia and Nami, and the three of you could have your own little dance troupe!" If Cynil commented on it, Sanji didn't hear her--he had already drifted off into his dream world, where he was receiving a private showing of the three beauty's dance routine~ (no not private like that, he wasn't that perverted!).
He nodded along with her words. "Well sorry to disappoint you, but I haven't exactly killed anyone--just kicked some marine's asses when they were a little too high and mighty. I used to work at the Baratie--a floating restaurant--before coming to joining our knuckleheaded captain and this crew. They needed a chef, and I already told you I'm in search of the All Blue." A small smile was on his features as he looked down to the stew he was stirring. "I don't usually believe in things like destiny, but somehow I feel that anyone who steps on this boat is meant to be here for a definitive reason. You might not think the same right away, but I've found it to be true so far." The blonde cook turned his smile to direct it in Cynil's direction. "Now, could you please dump those carrots into the pot? Careful not to let it splash you, it is boiling."
Usopp was incredibly quick to scramble away, and Julia snorted in amusement watching him do so. After all, it seemed as though he was scared of just about anything, both Julia and Zoro's wrath being at the top of that list. Though they couldn't always count on Usopp for telling the truth, the brunette did know that he would always be there for them in a pinch with a crazy scheme.
At Zoro's annoyance, Julia couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe? Not payment, silly~ favors! Just five!" She walked up to him, her hands on her hips. "I don't have much use for wealth or material things. I don't even know exactly what I want yet, just that five's a good number. I probably wouldn't even start cashing in until I knew what all I wanted. But, if you'd like to be indebted to Nami for the rest of your life, that's your decision." The brunette couldn't help but smirk, looking to the green haired swordsman out of the corner of her eye as she shrugged. Nami was an incredibly hard person to trick, much less weasel out of something in.
Walking back to the mast, Julia chose to go to her favorite spot on the ship. It was kind of like how Luffy had his "special seat," Julia, as a rigger, had hers in the crow's nest. She had fondly nicknamed it, "the upstairs." Even thought there were no stairs involved, and it was rather odd phrasing. Looking back at Zoro over her shoulder, the female continued to grin. "Well, if you do end up changing your mind, I'll be in the upstairs. Just, come let me know!" As she had thought earlier, if he had really wanted to be indebt to someone, it was better Julia than Nami. Turning back to face the mast, she nimbly shimmied up the pole, ignoring using the ropes as she climbed into the crows nest. Sighing, she sat down in the surprisingly large space, putting her legs up on the edge and crossing them in a relaxed position with her eyes trained on the horizon line. He would come to her sooner or later, it just depended upon when his interest grew too high for him to manage... or he got sick of Nami. Despite loving to argue with him, Julia hoped that he might learn to rely on her sooner...
Sanji didn't think that anything Cynil could do would be boring, but he did understand the part about becoming bored with the same routine. Even if she was switching up her dances, he could easily see the young women getting bored of doing relatively the same thing over and over again, just for different people. After all, there were only so many combinations one could come up with on their own before they all started to look the same. "Well, all the same, it's wonderful to have a dancer on the ship! Maybe you could teach Julia and Nami, and the three of you could have your own little dance troupe!" If Cynil commented on it, Sanji didn't hear her--he had already drifted off into his dream world, where he was receiving a private showing of the three beauty's dance routine~ (no not private like that, he wasn't that perverted!).
He nodded along with her words. "Well sorry to disappoint you, but I haven't exactly killed anyone--just kicked some marine's asses when they were a little too high and mighty. I used to work at the Baratie--a floating restaurant--before coming to joining our knuckleheaded captain and this crew. They needed a chef, and I already told you I'm in search of the All Blue." A small smile was on his features as he looked down to the stew he was stirring. "I don't usually believe in things like destiny, but somehow I feel that anyone who steps on this boat is meant to be here for a definitive reason. You might not think the same right away, but I've found it to be true so far." The blonde cook turned his smile to direct it in Cynil's direction. "Now, could you please dump those carrots into the pot? Careful not to let it splash you, it is boiling."
_________________________________________
Usopp was incredibly quick to scramble away, and Julia snorted in amusement watching him do so. After all, it seemed as though he was scared of just about anything, both Julia and Zoro's wrath being at the top of that list. Though they couldn't always count on Usopp for telling the truth, the brunette did know that he would always be there for them in a pinch with a crazy scheme.
At Zoro's annoyance, Julia couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe? Not payment, silly~ favors! Just five!" She walked up to him, her hands on her hips. "I don't have much use for wealth or material things. I don't even know exactly what I want yet, just that five's a good number. I probably wouldn't even start cashing in until I knew what all I wanted. But, if you'd like to be indebted to Nami for the rest of your life, that's your decision." The brunette couldn't help but smirk, looking to the green haired swordsman out of the corner of her eye as she shrugged. Nami was an incredibly hard person to trick, much less weasel out of something in.
Walking back to the mast, Julia chose to go to her favorite spot on the ship. It was kind of like how Luffy had his "special seat," Julia, as a rigger, had hers in the crow's nest. She had fondly nicknamed it, "the upstairs." Even thought there were no stairs involved, and it was rather odd phrasing. Looking back at Zoro over her shoulder, the female continued to grin. "Well, if you do end up changing your mind, I'll be in the upstairs. Just, come let me know!" As she had thought earlier, if he had really wanted to be indebt to someone, it was better Julia than Nami. Turning back to face the mast, she nimbly shimmied up the pole, ignoring using the ropes as she climbed into the crows nest. Sighing, she sat down in the surprisingly large space, putting her legs up on the edge and crossing them in a relaxed position with her eyes trained on the horizon line. He would come to her sooner or later, it just depended upon when his interest grew too high for him to manage... or he got sick of Nami. Despite loving to argue with him, Julia hoped that he might learn to rely on her sooner...
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