West Blue Arc: The Hallows

[QuirkyAngel]

Ken Tanaka, Arlen Hakhassi & Nerissa Orta 
​

 


When Nerssia spoke his name, Ken couldn't help but raise a brow.  After all he had no memory of actually ever meeting this woman before, so the fact she knew his name.  Well that lead to one rather obvious conculsion.  Looking up just at the right moment, he pulled his hand away just as the blade came down to slice his hand off.  A light sigh escaped him as he made eye contact with Arlen, a small smirk playing on his lips.  'Focus, focus, you are here for something other than entertainment this time around, so focus.'  


 


When he was told to back away, Ken simply tilted his head to the side as he ever so slightly tightened his grip.  'Wanted to avoid it, but I guess I hav-'  His thought couldn't finish before the woman, Nerissa her name seemed to be spoke up.  Hearing she would perfer to talk rather than attack him out right stayed his hand for the moment.  Lossening his grip, he relaxed his stance as he remained completely silent for the time. 


 


It was evident she had quite a bit to say, but despite this he didn't stop her and actually listened.  However not becuase he was being nice, rather, she completely peaked his interest.  His eyes didn't wander like they averagely would, and his blade slipped back into his pocket as he continued to pay attention. 


 


When she was done he didn't say a thing for a moment as his eyes looked up at the sky.  "Its getting late."  He stated once again.  "On average, I hate people talking on and on trying to bater with me.  Its annoying, I love hearing my voice and batering with people.  However people who aren't me should normally take thier ear destroying voice elsewhere."   A smug smile went on his face as he looked right back at Nerissia. 


 


"You however, caught my attention."  


 


With that he took a step closer to Nerissa, outright ignoring Arlen.  "I'm going to do something I hate doing, and that's speaking a bit of the turth, not too much of course.  Can't let you know everything about me just yet~ I will however tell you this for a fact.  I have zero interest in anyone's bounty, and in starting a fight.  I want to see that scroll, I want to take a look at that temple, and most importantly, the item that's here.  I must make sure no one that doesn't desereve to hold it...well has it~"  he hummed as he stopped merely an inch from Arlen's blade. 


 


"That being said, helping a group of pirates isn't on the things I want or even must do." 


 


Nerissa studied Ken for a moment before nodding, rolling up the scroll, then slipping it in her satchel. Certainly, it was Ken's choice whether he helped them or not. She wasn't even certain what the approaching danger was...at least not until she consulted with Aquarius. Nerissa had her suspicions. But they were only that. Suspicions. "That item must be very important to you,"


 


Returning her gaze towards the shifty marine, Nerissa continued gently. "It's not that I don't want to show you the scroll. It's just a matter of trust. I believe her to be a good person, whether I know her name or not, and I don't want to see her hurt. But she might get hurt if I show it to you...which is something I also do not want.  That's the basics of compromise, you know. Both of  us doing what we don't want in order to gain what we want more."


 


Ah, but Nerissa did want to show him the contents of the scroll.She wanted to have faith in people. Knowledge ought be shared. That was something she always believed in. However, her expirience with marines outside of Mirage Island have shown her that their loyalty to the World Government were greater than their desires to learn the truth. Nerissa sighed.However, the priestess of water didn't let herself dwell negative thoughs for long. She had things to do, friends to help, and Aquarius's will to follow. Clapping her hand once, as if to clear the air of pessimism, Nerissa smiled. 


 


"Well, regardless of whether I show you the scroll or not, would you like to accompany Arlen and I to the Temple of Pyrus? Our interests seem to align in that regard...and there's no definitive proof that the valued item both she and you want to protect are the same."      


 


Ken stood there and started to lightly snicker as he shook his head.  "Ah by the gods I need to stop wasting time."  He said as he looked at Nerssia.  "I must say I am hurt~Very much so in fact, I believe myself to be a trust worthy individual."  He hummed out before looking at Arlen.  "I'm a person of my word most of the time, why if anything you are proof of that~Unless of course that kick to the head was harder than I thought it was~" 


 


Turning his gaze back to Nerissa he smirked "You see, I'm not someone thats blinded by orders and I don't want to get your blood on my clothes either.  Honestly, all I want is to see the contents of the scroll and be on my way.  As for you offer to accompany you...."  He looked at Arlen and smirked.  "I doubt that you want to be in my company any longer than absolutely necessary~" 


 


"I don't," Arlen replied immediately. 


 


"But I don''t mind," Nerissa said afterwards, the smile never leaving her face. "I'd like a chance to get to know you better. Regardless, the terms have been laid. And going back against my word isn't something Aquarius would approve of."


 


Ken closed his eyes once again as he tilted his head to the side, obviously considering the terms.  "Have you gotten any stronger since we last danced?  And you, Nerissa was it?  Are you stronger than this guy?"  


 


Arlen didn't respond. Nerissa's response was as calm as always. "Strength has nothing to do with it. It's simply something that must be done. If I can't trust you not to hurt my friends then I'll rip the map so at least she can escape. If it's Aquarius's will that I see her again, then we shall. And if it's Aquarius's will that you and I fight, then we shall."


 


"No, you're running," Arlen said firmly to Nerissa. "I'll hold him off while you escape."


 


Nerissa shook her head.


 


"I admit, you've done a great job stalling me, and honestly I don't want to kill someone that seems to have knowledge I want to aquire." Ken stated his eyes still closed as he remained completely calm.  "That being said, I feel like you underestimate me and in not so much of the truth that hurts my feelings~"  


 


"Not at all. I've seen what you are capable of...the monsters you are able to create. It's a power not unlike what Aquarius is capable of. Truly it's something I've never seen before. But," Nerissa's voice was unwavering. "If I didn't have the resolve to risk my life for what I believe in, then I wouldn't have left Mirage Island in the first place."


 


Tilting his head to the other side as he still listen he let out a low hum. "That resolve you have, its....its something, I can't deny that."  he stated before slowly opening his eyes and looking at Nerissa.  There was a deafening silence for a time, that is until he spoke again.  "Shave."  In a blink of an eye Ken had gone right by Arlen and was less than five inches from Nerissa.  


 


"However, they are just words.  You say you will rip it before I can get to it, but in the end I am faster, stronger, and have far more bite then you~ The moment you open that bag the scroll can ever so easily be in my hands~"  He hummed out as he took one more step to Nerissa.  Taking a hand out of his pocket and bringing it to his head to push some hair out of the way he smirked.  "You said I need your trust to get the scroll, but....I don't think I do.  I just need to overpower the two of you~........................But...."  He stopped smirking and looked off in the distance.  "I would really hate to lose such a fountain of information~The way you speak of Aquarius, it means you must have a lot of knowledge on something I want, unless of course, you are faking it." 


 


Nerissa instinctively took a step back, the grip on her satchel tightening. However, she kept her eyes locked on the marine in front of her. "I've no reason to lie. It would shame Aquarius to do such a thing." 


 


From corner of her eye, she could see Arlen had moved as well, swiftly turning and stepping forward so that the sword was pointed at Ken head's. Though,  the question of whether Arlen could stab Ken before he could kill Nerissa was another matter all together.


 


 Arlen hissed. This was why he didn't want to encounter Ken with Nerissa around. Fighting Ken was something he wanted to do...just because it was him. But, having to protect the Priestess while do so would be....very, very difficult. 


 


"I told you to keep your distance from her."


 


"And I elected to ignore you~"  Ken hummed as he looked at Arlen for a moment before looking at Nerissa. "Let me give you some advice, if you ever meet someone who is like me but isn't me, you should run, don't banter, don't talk or try to use reason, just run and pray to Aquarius.  Because, unlike me, the others in my group are far less............ kind/understanding~"  He hummed out as he smiled a bit a light snicker leaving him.  Once more he held out his open hand. 


 


"There has been this ever so interesting order going about the marines, not for my group but for those that actually comand a ship.  An order to check every island thrice for pirates, especially islands that are close to the Grand Line.  Now this could be just an itty bitty coincidence, but this island happens to be just before the Grand Line~"  He hummed as he kept his eyes on Nerissa.  "If you catch my drift~" 


 


"Are you saying the marines are after her?" Nerissa ignored the open hand. "And that she's wanted enough that--,"


 


"I'm not saying her, and I'm not saying any more until you show me that scroll~"


 


Nerissa huffed. "Alright,"


 


Arlen watched the priestess reach into her satchel. It really was the best way to get Nerissa to agree to something--dangling information she wanted to know in front of her. Really, he couldn't understand why she didn't just show the spy the scroll from the start. She'd barely talked to Silvery-ish hair. He had no idea why she'd risk her life for someone suspicious like that in the first place...even if it was to the benefit of a shady marine like Ken. 


 


"But I'm not giving it to you," Unfurling it, Nerissa held the scroll out so they could both view it. Providing information was helping the crew in a sense. And now she was certain that the marines are coming...and that the Red Ribbons needed to get off the island as soon as possible. Therefore it was her to uphold the end of her bargain. "Do you know what time the marines will be arriving? What they're after?"


 


"Fine."  Ken stated simply as he didn't need to have the scroll in his hands, he just needed to see it.  When it was shown to him his eyes scanned the entire thing swiftly, so it took less then a moment before they landed on the insginia that was present on the map.  "......" Seeing this the smirk on his face seemed grow a bit as he pulled out his book and pen.  Looking down at that he started to swiftly draw what he saw on teh scroll so he couldn't possibly forget it.   "So many questions~"  He hummed out as he continued what he was doing. "But alas, you only have one scroll~Meaning any question I answer now would be out of the kindness of my empty heart~"   


 


Moving back a bit ashe no longer had his attention on the scroll he started to head to the woods, at a slow pace since he was still drawing.  "Since I am such a selfless person, I think I will tell you..............................absoutely nothing~"  he hummed as he shut his journal and placed it back in his coat pocket.  "Unless of course, you have something you think is worth the information~" 


 


Nerissa opened her mouth to respond, but Arlen promptly covered it before she could go on with the many things she was willing to share. He watched the spy walking away, the desire beat the man still strong. However, fighting him now would only lead to another loss. Probably. It hadn't been that long since they left Mirestone.


 


As Ken walked he came to a sudden stop and glanced over his shoulder.  "I do have one thing to say, since I can't have you ruin something.  That scroll you have there, under no circumstance should you show it to any marine, no matter how kind they may seem.  I don't know why that woman gave you that, but assuming it has honest information on it, a marine can not learn about it."  His tone was serious, something he had not displayed once in their conversation until now.  


 


"If anything you should burn that location into your memory, and hide the scroll."  After saying this he smiled once again and waved them off.  "Thats all for now~ Just know, next time we meet, if we do that is, don't try to strike a conversation~I'll likely be after your bounty~"  With that, he once again went on his way, heading to the temple......or in the direction of it, he still wasn't exactly sure where it was.


 


"The next time we meet,  I'll be much stronger than I am now!" Arlen called after the marine, not quite sure if the marine heard him. It mattered not if he did. Arlen was determined to not let the Priestess of Mirage Island get into such a situation where her life was in danger  again. Sharing a glance with the Priestess of Water, Arlen sheathed his scimitar and tossed the switchblade back on the tree he picked it from. Together, the two made their way down the path pointed by Elisa. "What do you think?"


 


"He's a tricky man, but one who deals with information, so negotiable...and not prone to violence."


 


Arlen raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't count on that. If you want to talk to him again, I'd suggest at least carrying a weapon next time..."


 


"He also likes to hold his cards to his chest and is the distrustful sort. A little like you in that regard."


 


"Really? I think he's more like you, Priestess. You both like to talk a lot." Looking away from Nerissa, Arlen glanced ahead. "Which way now?"


 


"I need to consult with Aquarius...to confirm some things. Afterwards, we'll need to get back to the crew as quickly possible. There are many things to prepare for." 


 


(Collab with @Peaceswore)


 


 

 

[Lady Warlock]

Captain Scarlet Johanna Indigrid, Cletus T. Bass and Wantanabe Hotaka Wasabi


Weaving through and around and among buildings, Scarlet found that she was always looking behind her, not because she feared that Cletus might not be coming, but because she wanted to make sure that no one else was following them. If there was one thing she did understand well enough, it was that being captured by the villagers messed with too many things for her to want to let it happen. Then again, she also knew that it was quite possible some of their crew had already been taken and there was nothing she could do about it. The best possible outcome, though, would not involve her allowing herself to get caught.


As much as she was watching behind her, she was watching ahead of her as well. Scarlet could see the treeline and she knew that once they got there, the chances of them getting caught would go down quite a lot. At least, that was her hope. "We're almost there," she called back to Cletus, hoping that she wasn't moving too slow or too quickly.


For an older man, Cletus managed to keep up pretty well with Scarlet. He also occasionally looked back to see if he had to stall any pursuers with a flashbang. For the moment it didn't look like they were being chased.


Scarlet did notice one thing. The more that they moved, the quieter the sounds of the villagers got and that meant that they were going in a safe direction. And as the forest of the village's surroundings came into sight, the pirate captain ran into the green and moved a bit deeper in. Finally, when she could turn around and not get a clear view of the village, Scarlet stopped moving so that they could figure out exactly what came next. "I wonder if there's anyone who's already been caught," she wondered out loud, more to herself than to anyone else.


Cletus followed after his captain. Once she stopped running, he stopped too and began to catch his breath. "Hard to say, but they might have rounded up one or two of our crewmates by now," he replied pessimistically. "Though we should be worryin' about ourselves right now. If we get caught, there goes two potential rescuers. We may have escaped from the villagers, but there's a possibility that they already have some men searchin' the forest."


The captain nodded, realizing he was right. "Well then, we best not dilly dally here. Let's start our own search." And with that being said, Scarlet stood to her feet again and started walking deeper into the trees.


Cletus followed close behind his captain with his hand resting on one of the flashbangs on his belt, just in case.


As the two pirates began their trek into the forest, one of the nearby trees began to move with them. Or rather, it was Wasabi, who had come to see the cause of the ruckus.


Scarlet's head turned at the sound, half expecting to see some kind of animal and half expecting that they were going to have to fight after all. At this point, she knew she would rather fight than get caught if it came down to it. A sigh of massive relief escaped her, though, when she saw the tall hat that Wasabi always wore and a smile decorated her expression. "Wasabi!! We were wondering if we'd find you. Thank goodness you didn't get caught."


Cletus was relieved that the first person they came across in the forest was a friend, though the Red Ribbon's cook almost got a flash of light in his face (though he was wearing that hat of his.) "It was only a matter of time, but the manhunt finally started. Somethin' about an artifact bein' stolen," he informed Wasabi. "What has your investigatin' turned up?"


"Our speculations were correct. After searching the coast, I found a rather large vessel moored just offshore. The crew seemed rather busy as well. What they're doing here, I'm not sure. There seem to be multiple uninvited guests roaming the island today," responded Wasabi.


"Multiples?" Scarlet inquired. "Did you meet any? Maybe if we find the real thief, then we'll just be free to go. That seems like it would make sense, right?" There was a question in her tone, as though she was uncertain, but she felt like it was a reasonable idea.


"Unless they find out we're pirates," Cleturs muttered under his breath.


Wasabi nodded in agreement with Cletus' comment, saying, "I think it would be best if we focus our attention on finding the rest of our crew first. If we get caught in a fractured state like this, it is not likely we'll get out of this whole. If we happen to find the thief along the way, that would just make things better. Once we're organized, then we can afford to take action if we so choose."


Sighing, Scarlet had to admit that there was no easy way to deal with their current situation. "I wouldn't be surprised if not everyone made it out of town before they started hunting us, though, and I'd also rather not fight them if we can avoid it." She thought that finding the thief would allow them to get out of fighting because Scarlet herself had never come to associate the act of being a pirate as something people would attack over. That was part of her own naivety, though.


"And where do you expect to find this thief?" asked Wasabi. "The more time we waste trudging through the forest, the more likely it is that one of our crew will stumble into trouble."


"Ok. Then how are we going to get our crew members who might already be captured?" She didn't ask it in a mean way even though the words themselves could have quite easily been sharp had she wanted them to be. Instead it was asked as an honest question that Scarlet didn't know the answer to. She didn't want to hurt any of the village people, but they needed to make sure they had everyone before leaving would ever be an option.


"We gather as much of our crew as we can and mount some kind of rescue mission if it comes to that," Cletus replied. "Let's just focus on findin' who we can for now. The forest makes a good hidin' spot, so maybe we'll get lucky. If the temple is around here somewhere, maybe Arlen and Nerissa aren't too far away. Once we find them maybe Nerissa could ask Aquarius for some kind of plan." He didn't really sound sincere about his Aquarius line, but looking for their crewmates would be better than standing around.


Nodding, Wasabi added, "If any have been captured, they won't be hard to find. We'll likely find all of them neetly gathered in the same area."


It seemed like they had a reasonable plan, at least. Scarlet could not deny that and suddenly, she was very glad to have some of her crewmates by her side when the chaos settled in. "Alright. I guess that leaves us... well, wandering through the woods, I guess?" That was phrased as a question because she wasn't sure that was the plan, but it certainly seemed like it.


"When you put it that way it sounds like we're gonna get lost...," Cletus replied, grumpily throwing in a little humor. "Either way we should stick together, just in case there are any surprises..."


Collab with: @CelticHero37 and @shadowdude505

 

[Lady Warlock]

Limstella, Tamashi, Darren, and the People of The Hallows


"Tamashi we're almost there!" Limstella yelled as they dashed towards the ship. She hoped Cygnus was there and if he wasn't... she was going to strangle him viciously. Spotting the ship she noticed the Charybdis's flag raising up.


"Who in their right mind would raise up the flag now?" Limstella muttered to herself rather angrily.


The answer to her question would not come easy, though. Although Limstella and Tamashi were approaching the ship, they weren't quite close enough for the people around Charybdis to actually hear Limstella's muttering or respond to it. Limstella and Tamashi would see, though, that there was a single man standing on the deck of Charybdis and that there were two other individuals standing by the gangplank yelling at the one on the deck. 


Also in the distance, if Limstella and Tamashi thought to look, they would see that two marine ships were approaching. They were already close enough that they would have seen the pirate flag without a doubt. 


Being the 'lookout' of a pirate crew had some benefits at most. She could spot the ships in the distance but couldn't distinguish what kind of ships they would be.


"Ships on the horizon," Limstella stated. Why did trouble seem attract her at the worst times?


Tamashi was a bit confused as well. She had to agree with Limstella. 'What idiot raises a pirate flag like that?' Seeing the man on the deck of the ship, Tamashi nudged Limstella with her elbow. "Oi, that guy over there. Is he part of the crew?" If so, he was a grade A idiot most certainly. He was dumber than anybody she'd met before, and that was saying a lot. 


"Definitely not a person on Scarlet's crew," Limstella said as she walked to the guards that were near the gangplank.


"Hey you two!" Limstella said as she rushed towards the soldiers. "Why aren't you doing anything!?"


The watchers turned their attention to Limstella as soon as she started approaching and they took note of the woman behind her as well. One of them held up their hands as a sign that Limstella should stop and he stepped forward to block her path onto the ship. "No, no, no!" he yelled. "It's our job to make sure people stay OFF the ship. There's no way we're letting another person on."


Then the other one added, "We were already struggling enough to deal with this one. Don't even know how he got there in the first place." By then, the man on the ship - Darren was his name - was watching as the conversation unfolded, but he didn't really seem to intend on intervening anytime soon. 


"Not a part of the crew?" Tamashi looked at the man again, and now she was thinking. Following after Limstella she kept her eyes on the man.She leaned over to whisper into Limstella's ear, "He might be a thief."


Limstella was in another world while Tamashi was telling her things. "Then stop shouting as if saying, 'Oh please, get off the ship' and do something already!"


A snicker could be heard coming from the deck of the ship and Darren was chuckling. "There's a girl who knows what's what," he remarked, finally jumping into the conversation. "Unfortunately for you, girl," the only reason why he called her girl was because he didn't know her name; he wasn't trying to be mean, "they're watchers. They don't really know how to act. That's how The Hallows runs. They don't have many fighters that I know of." 


One of the watchers turned to face Darren and his mouth was agape. "H-how do you know that?" 


Now that he was talking, Tamashi didn't like the guy. He seemed like the observant type, in fact, and he knew more than she did. To her, it was strange considering she had been on the island for some time now, and to her knowledge this was her first time seeing him. All this made her want answers and fast. "Oi you just who are you?" She aimed her question at the man.


"Well, you can call me Darren although I'm guessing you want more than a name. I don't have time to give you more than that, though."


Limstella was about to retort until she noticed the ships in the distance again. They were blue, and had a flag that said-. "Tamashi we have no time for this; we need to defeat this guy right now!" Limstella screeched as she found out what the flag said.


"Defeat me? Why? I haven't done anything wrong. I'm actually leaving now. No more trouble." 


Tamashi followed Limstella's gaze to spot the very ship she was in a rush about. 'Marines!? Damn it just my luck! If those guys capture this ship and it's crew, my free ticket off this rock is gone!' Tamashi brought her hand to her side as if preparing to draw a sword from its sheath.


And before either Tamashi or Limstella had a chance to actually try to attack him, Darren had transformed into the majestic eagle that he was when he arrived on the ship and he flew off into the sky in a direction opposite of the marine ship and back towards the island. He still had a person to find. 


Limstella shoved the two guards into the shallow water and quickly boarded the ship. She then rolled down the flag. "I wish I could actually drive the ship but given that I don't know how a ship works. Which means we have to go find Scarlet," Limstella yelled as she got off the ship. She then began to run back towards the town in order to find Scarlet.


Tamashi quickly turned to chase after Limstella. "Hey wait up!" She called as she ran to keep up. "We should hurry I doubt those guys are happy about being pushing into the water. They already don't like visitors." She then smirked thinking up a joke. "You could say they're all real shallow! Get it!?" She began giggling to herself finding her joke funnier than it ever could hope to be. 


"You can go dig your own shallow grave when we're done with this," Limstella yelled as she ran to the direction of the town.


Running in the direction of the town wouldn't exactly help them too much, though. The closer they got, the more they would hear the footsteps of scurrying townspeople as they continued their hunt for the thief who had stolen Pyrus's crown. 


Limstella suddenly had a great idea in her mind. "Everyone we found the culprit!" Limstella yelled out to the scurrying townspeople. "The culprit is a blonde male, tall male that can turn into an eagle!"


Limstella's yelling drew a group of five villagers towards her and one of them recognized her right away. "She was one of the ones staying at the inn last night! With the pirates!" All of their faces immediately turned hostile and they surrounded both Limstella and Tamashi. 


"You said there's another one running around?" one of them sought to clarify. "We have to take in everyone, but the sooner we find the real one, the sooner you'll be free if you're not really the thief." It was a woman who said it and there was an evident amount of logic to the way that she spoke. 


"Then ask me this, why would we try to take some unknown treasure we didn't even know exist?" Limstella asked as she took a good look at the woman. "For all you know this island is known for really bad weather, and also on a side note your island is going to get invaded by marines today."


"The marines?"


"What?"


Quiet whispers spread throughout the five surrounding them and they all seemed to suddenly become even more concerned than they had been initially. Then the woman who had spoken initially stepped forward again. "You know what? They're here because of you! They're here because of the pirates! All the more reason to catch all of them. We can hand them over and then the marines will leave us alone." A subtle nod spread through the crowd as everyone started to agree with her. 


"Still doesn't help with your artifact problem does it?" Limstella said with a frown. "What's so precious about that artifact anyway?"


This time a male stepped forward and reached out, grabbing Limstella's arm while another started grabbing Tamashi. "Once we have all of you, we'll have the thief and we'll get the artifact back before the marines take you. Dale will make everything right." They seemed absolutely certain of it and within a moment or two, both Tamashi and Limstella had been restrained by two citizens a piece. 


"Yea yea as if you can make sense to a marine, and how is your problem going to help when bird brain is going to get shot and your little artifact sent to the bottom of the ocean," Limstella said trying to buy herself and Tamashi time. It was worthless trying to argue with these people and it didn't help that they were playing rough.


And by that point, none of them were listening anymore. They just escorted Tamashi and Limstella back towards the village square where Dale would be ensuring that all of them had been rounded up. 


"Also can someone give us some soup before our inevitable doom?" Limstella randomly asked with a smirk.


Collab With: @TheForgottenDoll and @Nenma Takashi

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Marine Ship #1: Pyrrha and Draven


On one of the Marine ships heading to the Hollows, Captain Pyrrha Atlas sat at her desk in the captain's quarters. The peaceful sound of the ocean waves barely registered in her mind, her senses were too busy processing the texture of paper and what the documents had written on them. She was hard at work studying the pirate wanted posters of presumed Mirestone escapees. She also read over the Marine-written crew memos concerning rookie pirate groups that haven't had time to do anything illegal other than being pirates. 


Pyrrha focused intently on the documents. She didn't want to miss any details she could use to identify pirate groups while sweeping the West Blue; it would only hurt her family honor as an Atlas if she let a pirate slip out from under her nose. The first island she had scoured with her assigned Marine group didn't have any pirates hiding on it, which was good for the locals. Though she didn't want to return to the Grand Line empty handed. As an Atlas she had a reputation to live up to. She hoped sweeping the next island, the Hollows, would result in something that would help her live up to her family's legacy.


Pyrrha forced herself to ignore her job performance doubts by focusing on the documents in front of her. The soft sound of paper rustling continued to be heard in the captain's quarters, but the sound didn't disturb Pyrrha's yellow transponder snail. The snail with a fiery design on its shell slept soundly, waiting to be aroused by a call for Captain Pyrrha. However, interrupting the lulling peacefulness of the Captain's quarters  wouldn't be a call from the den den mushi, but three crisp knocks against the cabin doors. 


"May I come in, Captain?" A voice drawled from the other side.  "I've got some interesting news to report."


The sound of knocking caused Pyrrha to turn her attention away from the documents and to the door. "Permission granted," she replied. She waited for the man to walk inside and recognized him as one of the men transferred to her ship for this mission. "Lieutenant Commander Draven, right? What do you have to report?" she asked with a serious expression on her face.


Upon entering the captain's quarters, Draven glanced around the room, seeming to observe his surroundings thoughtfully before his gaze landed on Captain Pyrrha Atlas. He didn't know much about the woman, but her family was well known. The Atlas family...a prominent one amonst the marines. It was a polar opposite to his own sordid background.  Seeing her serious expression, the black jacket marine smiled, a sweeping bow to confirm his identity. Amusement laced his velvety tone.


"A pirate flag with a ribbon on it has been spotted by one of our men. It may be a trap as I doubt even pirates would be willing to display their symbol so brazenly but...," Draven shrugged, keeping his hands behind his back. "Your orders?"


"Make sure that the crew is divided up into platoons and ready to search for pirates. Make sure that they are prepared to fight. Send a couple platoons to investigate the pirate ship and tell the rest to sweep the island. You can command and assist whatever platoon you want. That will be all for now," Pyrrha replied. She didn't wait for a repsonse from Draven and reached for her Transponder Snail. The snail woke up as she dialed Captain Axel's Transponder Snail.


Nodding succinctly, since a response didn't seem to be necessary, Lieutenant Commander Draven swept out the room in a semi-dramatic fashion. He had his orders. And now it was his duty to fulfill them in an efficient and timely manner. Once on land, the pirate hunt would begin.  "I do hope this island proves to be more interesting than the last one,"


Well, given that a pirate flag was spotted right off the bat...very likely. 

Marine Ship #2: Axel and Hollis
​

 
​

Meanwhile, Axel was on the other ship, behaving as usual: making paper planes and launching them as he looked at the sky, acting completely uninterested and unaware of the situation he was in. One would think he was a complete idiot, but that was exactly what he wanted others to believe.


"Still pretending to dream of faeries there, Captain?" Hollis chuckled as he walked up behind the man standing at the rail, "You know that I know you better than that."


It may not have been the most proper of greetings, but given that Hollis needed to start trying to work the whole 'retirement' gig, it was a step in the right direction from a salute and proper greeting complete with the time of day. 


Striding up to the side of the man, the former Commander sighed wistfully at memories of his time still as a Marine when he'd walked the decks before. To think he was throwing it all to the side for a single purpose... Though it was a solid purpose, and if his suspicions were correct it was a purpose that may very well change the nature of his beloved Marines for time to come.


"So tell me, Captain Axel, what are you thinking about right now?"


 


Hollis indeed knew Axel's true nature, but the other Marines on board didn't. Therefore he'd still keep up his act. "I was thinking about how fluffy the clouds are, and how I'd like to eat some cotton candy while diving into the sea," he said with a big, bright (and fake) smile. "Faries are wierd," he started suddenly "They are cute, but are they really true to themselves and to others? They are sweet, but they can eat your sugar. I'd dislike getting my sugar eaten. If I can't be their friend, and if they eat my sugar, I'd be so sad that I'd go on a hunt" it all sounded like nonsense, but if one managed to read between the lines they'd realize it wasn't. It was a serious answer to a serious question, but Axel made sure to mask it. He believed Hollis would understand him.


Not able to keep a broad smile from forming on his face, the man shook his head as he listened to Axel prattle on. For all his gibberish, Hollis ever wondered if the captain realised he could be confused for some ancient scholar, speaking in riddles and tongues.


"Yes, faeries can be quite a frustrating adversary. Flitting about as they do, never staying in one place. Actually, it is reminiscent, almost, of Marines, though we carry more order than faeries, am I not wrong?" 


Leaning over the rail as he looked out at the island they were nearing, a thought came to mind.


"So if you ever retired, decided to stop being a faerie chasing nastier faeries, what would you do with yourself? It's been a question on my mind since you let me accompany you on this voyage."


"But...but...faries can't only be Marines! They can also be pudding, or a cup of tea, or a loincloth...or cotton candy!" as if he suddenly came to a realization, Axel looked up at the sky yet again, with a saddened expression. "That would mean that cloud is a lie as well. Clouds are just white cotton candy after all. I guess...I'll just let the birds eat it," he shifted his attention back at Hollis "I am not a fairy, I am Axel. But if I ever put all the nasty fairies in a pond of red water, I'd jump into the sky, bypass the white cotton candy barrier, bask into the sunlight and ride the wind towards ...love." he said full of...joy.


"Love?" asked Hollis, almost surprised by the answer. Still, was it not a familial love that set him on this path to leave the Marines and find his sister? That was, very much, exactly what was happening. "I suppose that is a fair enough goal to search for. I believe I do have family that would enjoy to see me again one day, should I find them that is."


Letting a steady silence settle for a few moments, Hollis' gaze stretched over the waves and to the island that they drew nearer to. It was almost too quiet, no fishermen out, just the wind, waves and a silent city.


"I suppose I will have to resume my search soon, but I imagine that this island will have us busier than we may like. Hah! To think I worried that not re-enlisting may lead me to hang up my sword too."


Axel didn't reply to Hollis's last comment, but he looked him in the eye and smiled. Then he continued with his airhead routine: making papaer air planes, looking at the sky, and acting as if he wasn't really in touch with reality.


Suddenly his Transponder Snail started to ring. The man took the transmission device attached to it and started to speak: "Axel here. What can I help you with, Captain Pyrrha?" the young Captain asked, calmly, as he completely changed his attitude and showed his true self. The air head aura completely vanished. He was concentrated on the communication device and had an intense stare.








Pyrrha and Axel Conversation.


"I've been informed that a pirate flag has been spotted at our destination," Pyrrha told Axel with the help of the Transponder Snails. "My men are gearing up and forming search platoons as we speak. I was wondering how you wanted to coordinate our men and our personal sweeps of the island." 


"Letting a part of them surround the island and stay hidden, as I stealthily search for the pirate ship and attempt to burn or destroy it by other means. A small group led by Draven would actually infiltrate the center and cause a ruckus as they search for the pirates. They'd be the decoy. You could watch things from afar together with the rest of the men and await the right moment to attack. That was my idea. Waiting for feedback." said Axel on a neutral tone.


"I like the stealth, but if you want the pirate ship to be burned maybe I should handle it. Although I think we should find out what kind of situation is going on first, I don't want any civilain casualties.” Pyrrha replied, she didn't have the moniker "Inferno Sword" for nothing. "I've informed my men to form platoons and want a couple to watch the ship, I did want the rest to search the island, but some could be decoys like you suggested. As much as I'd like to plan ahead, we'll know a lot more once we land. We can talk more about a plan then." Captain Pyrrha was ready to sign off, but politely waited for Axel's response.


"Naturally, I do not wish to bring harm to innocent civilians through our actions. I do not necessarily believe our presence will stress the pirates, or cause them fear. But they will know we are there. And if they lack insight, they will become more relaxed knowing the number of Marines that came after them was low. They'd think they were underestimated, and they'd let their guard down. Attacking in waves, not making unnecessary movements, wearing them down slowly, then going in for the kill with a strong attack. It also works as a means of testing their strength. If they were stronger than expected, we'd need to regroup and rethink our strategy and positioning. Even if we arrive, I doubt my ideas regarding this strategy would change much,"Axel said on a calm tone. He'd already studied the maps regarding the island and knew what he needed to know about the terrain.


Axel paused for a few seconds. "In theory it is a good idea for you to attempt to burn the ship. In practice, not so much. You know my way of doing things, and you know our subordinates would not take me seriously unless I revealed my true nature." he sighed.


"Understood. I'll inform the men. Phyrra out." she replied, before hanging up.

 
​

Back on Marine Ship #1...
​

Phyrra walked out from the captain's quarters and in one fluent motion light his cigarette with her lighter. "Alright men, change of plans," she barked, emboldened by her smoking habit. "I want all platoons ready for action, but only a handful will be leaving at first. The rest will hide below deck and wait to be called on. We're going to surprise the pirates by making it seem like we didn't come well prepared."


Phyrra exhaled smoke as she turned her attention to Draven. "Lieutenant Commander Draven, I'd like you to keep an eye on our civilian friend," she added, referring to Hollis. "Even if he is a former Marine, we can't allow him to interfere with justice. Make it look like you're coincidentally sweeping the ground he treads if you have to."


Captain Phyrra turned her attention back to the rest of the crew and began to address them as a group. "Those are your orders. Now let's catch some pirates."


Draven watched as the marines aboard the navy ship stand in attention as soon as the Captain appeared, saluted at her orders,  then--at the last comment--errupted into a rousing cheer.  The Lieutenant commander raised an eyebrow. Glancing at the female Captain of the ship, he spoke in an almost fascinated manner.  "You believe Hollis will interfere with our work, Captain?"


"I personally hope not," Captain Pyrrha replied after another drag on her cigarette. "But now that he's a civilian, he's a wild card."


Nodding once, Draven followed with a formal bow, his scraggly hair falling over his shoulders "As you wish,"


Captain Pyrrha seemed to Draven like a cautious and well structured individual. Why such a woman would need the advice of a disorderly captain like what he'd seen of Captain Axel was a mystery to him. But then, Draven liked mysteries. Turning to the crew, Draven spoke calmly after several claps to get the attention of the seamen. "Now, now. You all heard the Captain. Let's do this in an orderly fashion befitting of marines." His cool eyes flickered to the supposed pirate ship that was drawing closer. "The few chosen platoons will ready the ship for landing. Everyone else, please head bellow deck as per our Captain's commands."


Now...to choose among the many men from Captain Pyrrha's crew that would go with me.


A smirk of amusement danced across Draven's face as he noticed several marines in the line glance away from his roaming eyes. Preferably the ones not afraid of vampires.


No. Those are  probably the best ones. 


Some moments later, the Marines reached the island's port.


Collab with: @shadowdude505, @Azure Sky, @Pequeno Burraidh

 

[AllHailDago]

Jasper Pharos


Jasper had not expected to trudge up so much information so easily by sneaking around, but he was not one to argue with results. He had been outside the shop before the men went inside, and simply followed them in as quietly as he could. He was surprised to find the men talking to Cygnus when he entered. Jasper, from the angle they were standing compared to the door realized Cygnus would have seen him but they likely had not. He simply put a finger to his lips, though from Cygnus' blank expression he could not gauge if he understood. 


Jasper hid silently behind shelving bearing varying kinds of thread and cloth. It muffled the voices slighlty, but not enough to keep him from listening in. A man he did not know, who apparently owned the shop, came out from a back room. He redirected the men outside for a short time, Jasper sneaking near the corner nearest the shops door to overhear. It appeared the men on the island were searching for a thief of some kind. Someone stole a rather important religious artifact it sounded like. They were rounding up all the newcomers to the island, and they wanted Cygnus to come with them.


Jasper slowly touched his hands to where his swords would normally be, only to remember he left them on the ship to remain inconspicuous. He cursed the need to be unnoticed and unarmed as he prepared to defend Cygnus using unarmed combat. Not his strongest suit, but it would have to do. However, it appeared his newfound friend was intent on protecting Cygnus. For now at least. As he came back and inside, and before he shut the door, Jasper used shave to move from his hiding place to outside. Not stopping longer than a moment to reorient and shave in a different direction, towards the ship, when he got outside.


 It was possible that Chase felt his passing, if he had not seen an undetermined blur come out from behind his shelf of sewing products. Heck, it was highly likley the two outside had seen him for a brief half second as he reappeared to reorient himself. However he was gone before either could have gotten a word out to anyone else. He hated this sneaky stuff, preferring direct dealing with problems regardless if it was verbal or otherwise. But if what they said was true it was important he returned to the ship. It was likely they would try seizing it, and he was not sure if Shae or other crew members were still aboard. He would head there first, retrieve his weapons, and make sure those gathered were safe, and that their ship and only way of escape off the island was secure.


@Felix @DaughterofAthena @Pequeno Burraidh

 

[Lady Warlock]

Rustling leaves echoed through the forest as Aiada continued her travels and as she wondered whether or not she would actually find something or someone of interest at all. They really had no timeframe for when the diadem was stolen so the thief could really have vanished into the crowds by now, but that did not mean she would stop looking; she was loyal to The Hallows and she would do what she had been asked because it was a wonderful home. They had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go and when she didn’t want to deal with the rest of the world anymore. She felt she owed them at least enough loyalty to honestly search the woods for long enough.


The question then became, “How long is long enough?”


It wasn’t a question she could answer, but she soon learned that she wouldn’t have to because she heard someone coming towards her. Moving off to the side a bit, she managed to hide herself for long enough to get a glimpse of the two people walking. One of them was male and one of them was female and neither one of them were familiar to her at all. That suggested that they were suspects, but her mind wandered to the fact that a thief should be running rather than heading back towards the temple. It didn’t make sense, but she knew that the islanders wouldn’t care that much.


Despite her knowledge that simply watching would probably teach her some more information, she knew that she couldn’t. Stepping out from behind some brush, she was visible to them and the temple was actually not too far behind her, though it’s outline was barely visible at all.


“You don’t look like people from the island,” she commented, drawing their attention to her. A hand on her hip revealed a single sword and her posture was such that she was prepared to draw it. “Strangers are not supposed to be in these parts of the woods. This space is reserved for the Seer and for people she deems can understand it’s vast wonder. Not to mention it's under investigation.. What are your intentions here?”


@QuirkyAngel

Standing in the center of town, coordinating all the searches was actually requiring an extensive amount of effort on Dale’s shoulders because many people sought more organization and everyone was looking to him for leadership. However, he could only keep track of so many things at one time and he could also only talk to so many people at once. The whole town seemed to be very upset and flustered and while he was trying to help, not much seemed to actually be working. His own position was becoming more and more complicated.


“Everybody, please calm down. Once we gather up the pirates, I’m certain we’ll find that one of them is the thief. No one is leaving the island and that means we have no need to panic. We’re well in control of the situation.” It wasn’t often that his own people seemed to lack faith in him and it certainly had the leader frustrated. He truly did feel that they would resolve the situation but no one seemed to share that belief.


“Dale!” The voice of a woman called out to him and when his head perked up, he saw Helda and her small search party and they were dragging back two individuals - one of them he recognized as a girl from the pirate crew and another who had actually been a visitor on the island for a while now. “We found these two. They looked like they were running around the pirate ship. I know that one,” she gestured towards Tamashi, “has been around for a while, but she was hangin’ around with this ‘un here so I didn’t think that would be any good. We brought ‘em both back to ya.”


A small smile spread across Dale’s face because they already were making progress and he hadn’t expected that so soon.


“That’s wonderful,” Dale remarked. “Now, would either of you like to fess up to the theft now or shall we wait until we have everyone here?”


The crowd that had gathered and that was questioning Dale quickly turned all of their attention towards Limstella and Tamashi, angry eyes greeting them.


“Thieves!”


“Bloody pirates!”


“We don’t want your kind here!”


They actually got food thrown at them along with piles of scrap debris that had been gathered in the morning clean-up when everyone had been focused on correcting the damage done by the storm.


“Dale, if they’re right, though, we have a problem. Apparently marines are en route.” Helda brought that extra fact to the leader’s attention.


His eyes went wide and he turned to regard a few different people for a moment. Finally his eyes settled on Tucker because the man hadn’t been able to find the pirates who had apparently been in a shop earlier. “Tucker, can you try to catch them on shore? Tell them we’re aware of the pirates and that we’re scouting the forests because they’re not in town. See if you can get them to help with that but make sure that if they find anyone, they are brought here FIRST! We don’t want Pyrus’s Crown falling into their hands.” The marines didn’t have the same respect for history that The Hallows did and the islanders knew that the marines couldn’t know about their faith. It was forbidden.


It would seem that wasn't even all the problems they had either.


"Dale, we have another problem. We found one of them, but we can't grab 'im. He ain't goin' nowhere, but..." The man trailed off, very confused about how to handle the situation. 


"Jeez... I'll be right there." It was the only response Dale could give when everything seemed to be creating more problems. 


@TheForgottenDoll @Nenma Takashi @Peaceswore @Pequeno Burraidh

Not only were they completely soaked, but things were slowly progressing from bad to worse. Marines were coming, had come and had landed - which was bad in general. People of The Hallows took active precautious to avoid such visits.


Two ships were hard to stop, though.


The two of them, still drenched in sea water, made their way over to the two ships that had landed, each taking a position in front of a ship and when someone walked off, they would each give a very similar, although not identical, spiel.


“If you could please wait here, we would much appreciate it. I’m sure our Leader Dale will be sending someone to greet you and with more information. Our island is in a bit of chaos at the moment.”


Both of the watchers made similar mistakes too. They didn’t make eye contact and their entire postures seemed nervous. They were supposed to just be watching but this seemed far more important.


@QuirkyAngel @Pequeno Burraidh @shadowdude505 @Azure Sky 

 

[CelticHero37]

Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV


----------------------and the White Angel------------------------


 


The ship waiting just off the shore of the west side of the island was called the White Angel, and it had been sitting there for about a day by the time everything started to settle. Elisa had gone onto the island right away because this was her quest, her mission and her decision to be there in the first place. Everyone else was just company... basically. Darren didn't see it that way and that was why he'd flown off, concerned for her well being. The rest of the ship's crew wasn't the most equipped to do anything other than what they were already doing - waiting for Darren and Elisa to come back. 


 


However, that did not mean they didn't have their own complications that they had to deal with. In fact, it just so happened that only a few minutes after Darren flew off the deck of the ship, one crew member discovered a stowaway sneaking around below deck, and that started the chase that could potentially get quite chaotic. 


 


This stowaway was a rather poor looking young kid, who's gender was hard to decipher by looks alone. The crew member likely first noticed the kid's presence from her musical humming. She was hunched over, plunging her mits into an open barrel as if reaching for the last piece of candy in a halloween basket. After a bit of searching, her face lit up and she let out a delighted, "Oooh!," as she yanked out a stick of jerky and began to gnaw on the end.


 


The man who discovered her was a bigger guy; actually, that puts it lightly. He was quite a massive man but everyone on the deck knew that he couldn't hurt a fly, much less another human being. His head turned at the sounds of soft... music?... yes, that was a good word for it and then his eyes widened when he caught glimpse of a person who didn't belong there. 


 


"Hmm?" he mumbled to himself before he walked right up to her, a singular massive hand reaching out and grabbing the collar of her shirt as though he meant to actually lift her up by it. "What are you doing here?" he asked. The question was more confused than upset. 


 


The kid's vision snapped to the man's arm as her freedom of mobility was restricted. Putting on an inquisitive expression, she began maneuvering her fingers around the man's arm as if she were using a forceps to measure different points of the appendage. With the jerky hanging out of one side of her mouth, she spoke out of the other side, "Well, what does it look like I'm doing? This is the food storage, isn't it? So what else would I be doing in here, hmm?"


 


At that answer, the bear of a man's fingers closed around the shirt he had hold of and he actually picked her up off of her own two feet and started carrying her by her shirt - granted she didn't fall out of it. "That's not your food. Ms. Elisa and Mr. Darren need to eat when they get back."


 


As the girl was hoisted off the ground and her feet began to dangle like noodles, her face contorted and she hacked out a hiss before chomping down on the man's arm. This wasn't just a 'let go of me' chomp. Rather, it was a 'I'm hungry for anything' sort of bite. The kid was completely mad.


 


"Ahh!" The man cried out as her teeth closed on his skin. He dropped her almost instantly but he was now between her and the food she had been digging into. Not only that, but his cry was followed closely by the sounds of scurrying feet on deck as more crew members made their way down in order to figure out what the problem was. 


 


"That... isn't ours is it?" By that, he meant the girl, but he wasn't sure that she was a girl. 


 


"No. No it's not," another voice answered. 


 


That began the chase. A whole crew running wild to try and grab her would create for an interesting scene. 


 


As the other crewmembers gathered around, the kid turned to them, put on a wide grin, and called out, "Hiiiii!!" She was about to say more, but then she could see that the crew wasn't in a mood to chit-chat. Her eyes widening, she said, "Wait... I think I heard Marines outside! Hurry! Get ready to fight!"


 


"Silly girl," one man remarked, now knowing that she was a girl after hearing her voice. Although the crew seemed to hear her words, none of them really seemed all that concerned and it wasn't due to a lack of belief in what she said. The marines very well could be right outside but that wouldn't have bothered them. They weren't enemies of the marines. So instead of worrying about her words, the crew continued trying to grab at her though she was a slippery little thing.


 


At the crew's response, the girl's head drooped. The corners of her mouth began to quiver as she wined, "I-I don't like this game, you guys are mean." Upon saying this, she sniffled and her eyes began to water. Although she had been caught snooping around, she was just a little girl. With another sniff, she added, "All I wanted was something to eat, b-but there were rats. Scary rats everywhere."


 


The girl held back the urge to snicker and continued the act, waiting for the right moment. She knew rats being in a ships food supply was bad news. Any seasoned sailor would know the dangerous implications of such a claim. She knew they wouldn't be able to ignore it completely.


 


Irving Willkins was the ship's cook and he knew quite well what kinds of creatures roamed the ship. Most of them had two legs, two arms and wore clothes comparable to his own... ergo, most of them were human and very much so. Occasionally there were flies, but those couldn't exactly be gotten rid of easily and there weren't any nests; they died shortly after finding a home in the kitchen because he made sure of it. And he knew quite well that if there were rats, he would have seen them. They would not have been able to resist all the fresh cooked delights that he prepared for the crew. 


 


"No, no, no. Now you're just plain lying. You think rats would have the brains to ignore the smell of the fresh cooked meal I just made a few hours ago? Last I checked, they weren't that smart," he sneered at her, finding it quite insulting that she would try to imply that they were that kind of filth. 


 


Then he did something rather silly himself. Irving dived for her, forfeiting his gap in the circle around her and reaching out with his hand for her ankle. He wanted to get rid of anything that tried to make him look like a filthy sea rat himself.


 


The girl sneered. The crew was continuing to surprise her. This feeling was heightened further as the man who had responded lunged forward. She stumbled for a moment before hopping into the air and calling out, "EIN, NOW!"


 


As the girl flipped in the air, a sound skittered out of an open barrel. It was quite an odd chatter that bounced halfway between the sound a rattlesnake's tail makes and the cackling of a hyena. Whatever produced the racket began to scurry and bounce in the barrel, knocking it over and causing a domino effect with many of the other barrels.


 


The natural pitch of the ship in response to the waves sent an avalanche of barrels toward the crew mobbing around the girl. As she finished her twirl, her feet connected with the open, rolling barrel. Her feet began to pedal as she teetered on the edge of falling toward the room's exit.


 


The crew scurried in the chaos of the situation as it began to unfold and although some of the crew members tried to pursue her, they all wound up stumbling in some form or another, ultimately toppling around and occasionally landing on top of one another. 


 


"GET OFF OUR SHIP!" One of them simply screamed at her after he groaned upon landing on his head. "OR I'M GONNA MAKE YOU CLEAN UP THIS WHOLE MESS!!" It was a grumpy older guy.


 


"Oh, that's no good," mused the girl as her barrel clonked into a stepladder and she scrambled up toward the deck. The mysterious culprit of the barrel avalanche swooped up after the girl, barely more than a passing squiggle amidst the chaos.


 


Emerging from belowdecks, the girl clambered on all fours, sniffing the ground as she edged toward the side of the ship. In doing so, she accidentally got tangled in some of the rigging for a moment, messing up the current set up. Although the ship wasn't moving, it would make more work before it could get going again.


 


When she finally reached the railing of the ship, she peered over the edge with a smile, noticing a small landing boat slung over the side. "Heehee!" she laughed, hurdling over the railing with her little friend. However, when they were safely in the landing boat, she realized that she couldn't get it to go down. So she began to rock the boat violently, scratching up against the siding of the larger ship until the ropes gave way, destroying a bit of the railing in the process.


 


Collab with: @DaughterofAthena

 

[Lady Warlock]

Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV


and Elisa Pentana and The Watchers


 

"Weeeee!!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up as the boat plummeted into the water below. As the splash waves cleared, she began to paddle with her hands, flailing so fast that the boat actually moved at a decent speed toward the shore.


Meanwhile, on shore, there were three different pairs of eyes who watched the small boat approaching with some small amount of shock and bewilderment. Two of those pairs of eyes were readily visible and then another pair was concealed further back, in the trees. 


The two watchers instantly moved to stand at the point where they would intercept the craft. 


After smiling back to the ship and giggling, the girl directed her attention back to the shore. "Huh?" she said to herself as she noticed two people standing on the shore as if waiting for her. It was exciting to think that someone was expecting her. She couldn't figure how they knew her, but that didn't matter.


As her landing boat plunged into the sandbar, the girl hopped out, letting the momentum carry her onto the shore. She touched down with her hands and did a summersault up to the people, cocking her head at them, "Hi!"


"What are you doing here?" one of them asked, not quite loudly, but definitely with a seriousness to his tone. 


Meanwhile, in the background of the whole scene, Elisa was wondering if this might be an opportunity she could use. With quiet steps, she started moving towards the little rowboat that the two watchers had been guarding, hoping that she could manage such a task unnoticed while they dealt with the island's newest arrival. 


Hopping up and striking a pose with her hands on her hips, the girl spoke with an aloof tone, "I am here on important business, sir. I must get to the city right away. What are you doing here? Hmm?"


Once she asked this, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye and looked over to Elisa with a confused look. The girl was being quite suspicious. Turning to the other two, she said, "Hmm, would you excuse me, please?"


"No, miss, we cannot," the one who spoke before spoke again. "There is no one coming on important business or we would have been informed of such and the town is a mess. It would not due for us to allow another stranger to waltz right into our town and mess with it even more." He was assertive in his words, but he also seemed quite distressed by it.


Frowning, the girl looked to them and stated, "Who do you think is here to clean up that mess, hmm? I'll have you know that I am Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski the Fourth. Now if you would please step aside."


"We clean up our own messes, ma'am. No. You should get back in your little boat and go back. There is nothing interesting here." This time the second watcher had stepped up and spoke. 


However, as the two of them were doing everything they could think of to keep Ed from venturing further onto the island, they heard the jostle of a different little boat. It was the little boat they were supposed to be watching and one of them turned their head in order to see that a woman was getting into the boat. 


"No! Ma'am! No one is leaving this island!" He insisted, contradicting himself with what he had been saying to Ed. One turned and scrambled towards the boat that Elisa was trying to take off in and managed to catch it, too, pulling it back towards shore. 


"Idiot!" Elisa yelled quite loudly. "I'm trying to help!" How wasn't clear, though. When the watcher tried to go a step further and actually grab Elisa, the woman reached back and grabbed something shiny and sharp from a pouch. It was like a chakram but not quite, and she sliced at the man, grazing metal against his arm. 


He hissed and jumped back, giving Elisa time to make a break for the trees. She really could not risk getting caught. 


"Uh-oh," mumbled the girl as she watched the scene unfold. Her first instinct was to sneak away while she had the chance. However, she couldn't simply leave Elisa there. They were in a similar position. Waltzing up to the man, she stated, "Stop this at once! That is my assistant. If you do not desist from this behavior, I shall have the Marines come down on your little village. Is that understood?"


Elisa was already running back into the trees and at the mention of marines, she started running even faster. Her head tossed back for a moment, glancing at Ed if only just to confirm that the girl wasn't with a whole squadron of marines. She was fairly sure she would have noticed had that been the case, but Elisa also knew that her time was running out. 


The watcher who had been slashed at held his bleeding arm close. It wasn't a deep wound, but the pain was real. 


And the watcher who had been dealing with Ed spun on his feet and started chasing after Elisa, quite literally shoving past Ed in the process. 


Ed snarled and flexed her fingers as the man pushed past her. "Come on Ein!" she barked, leaping onto the man's back. She weaseled her feet around his waist and her hands clamped down on his hair, yanking angrily at the man's scalp. "MEANIE!"


At her added weight, the man tumbled backwards, landing on his back while she was still there - unless she got off in time, that is.


Ed let the grip of one leg slip off so that she could swing out of the way. Rather than acting as most people would in that situation, she performed a maneuver that concluded in her landing on top of the man as he crashed into the ground.


As soon as she could, Ed rolled backward, and split for the forest. Although Ed could take care of herself, she wasn't stupid. Trying to take that guy on would not have been a smart move. Besides, there was no point in staying longer than necessary. As she raced for the treeline, her squiggle friend, Ein, zooped over the top of the fallen man as well and after the girl. Ed hoped she could catch up with the other girl and figure out what was wrong. She couldn't help but sympathize with Elisa because of what happened.


Collabed With: @CelticHero37

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Arlen Hakhassi and Nerissa Orta
Arlen was contemplating many things as he and Nerissa walked down the path the suspicious girl pointed. At the forefront of his mind was how easily Ken had gotten pass his sword—moving faster than he thought humanly possible. Shave. That was what Tanaka had called it. Some sort of high speed movement technique no doubt. If Ken had used such a technique at the start of their scuffle in Mirestone, would he have stood a chance? Was it normal for the people outside of Mirage Island to display such abilities? People beyond the Grand Line? Did all higher ranked marines have such skill? It was a debilitating thought.

“I’ve heard stories of it,” Arlen spoke musingly, his arms folding across his chest and head cocking to the side as he strolled. “Gossip of Outsiders with god-like powers beyond normal human feats, but I’d never really believed it."

Until meeting Tanaka.

“Are you referring to the Devil Fruits?”

Suddenly realizing what he’d said, Arlen glanced worriedly at Nerissa. He hadn’t meant to talk about such things to a devout person of their island—especially not the Priestess of Water. Those who decided to partake in the forbidden fruit were cursed by Aquarius after. Every toddler on Mirage Island knew that. He half expected her to react like any other apostle at the Temple of Aquarius. However, her expression was as tranquil as always. She ducked a low branch before continuing.

“They are real. As real as Aquarius,” There was no sarcasm in her tone. Then again, he[/SIZE][SIZE=12.5pt]’[/SIZE][SIZE=12.5pt]d never once heard Nerissa speak sarcastically.

The sky would probably fall down if she did.

Mentally sniggering, since sniggering aloud would be unwise, Arlen’s hands found themselves behind his head as he considered her response. He hadn’t expected his trip with the priestess of water to be very exciting when he’d started out. It had simply been the duty handed to him by the Chieftans. The snake, that had hidden beneath Arlen’s clothes during their encounter with Ken, popped its head out the hood of his red jacket. Arlen didn’t pay it any mind. “Do you think Tanaka’s a Devil Fruit user?”

“Possibly,” Nerissa replied airily, not seeming to care one way or another. She was focused on the path ahead. “It would explain his abilities. Though if you’re curious about him, I’d suggest asking Mr. Jasper.”

“Why Scarlet's butler?” Though, he did know Jasper to be a decent fighter from the way he carried himself. And the older guy always seemed to know what he was doing… with everything. Thoughts of their First Mate reminded him of the present danger the Red Ribbons were in. Arlen knew what consulting Aquarius meant. They were looking for water. That was where Nerissa’s true powers lay. Though why Nerissa believed there would be water where that stranger pointed them was a complete mystery to him.

Then again, that’s nothing new.

“Because he’s—,”

Arlen held his arm out, interrupting Nerrisa before she could finish. His other hand went into the pocket of his red jacket “Someone’s here.”

He could hear the rustling of leaves. Verdant eyes narrowed as a woman emerged from the side, having hidden in the foliage. Her words didn’t make their situation any better. The marines were coming. Tanaka was wandering the island looking for some mystery item within Pyrus’s Temple. The marine spy threatened Nerissa due to scroll given her by a suspicious individual who happens to know the way to Pyrus’s Temple. Said girl seemed very eager to get off the island, feared marines, and mentions the protecting of a valuable item belonging to the island. Arlen wouldn’t exactly call himself one of the brightest minds out there, but even he could see a connection. Nerissa probably did as well.

Arlen sighed. Complicated. He hated dealing with complicated things. Why couldn’t life be simple?


“You don’t sound like you’re from this island either,” Arlen pointed out irritably. Their encounter with Ken hadn’t exactly left him in a good mood. Nerissa’s life had already been threatened once. He wasn’t going to let it happen again. Arlen had kept relatively quiet, hadn’t risen to any baits, and refrained from attacking Ken because Nerissa had been negotiating. And he respected the priestess enough to let her do her thing. However, it also left Arlen with a bit of an itch that needed scratching.

Nerissa must have sensed his thoughts because she placed a gentle hand on his arm, lowering it.

“We’ve heard that Pyrus’s Temple is truly beautiful and we wanted to see it for ourselves. I’m Nerissa,” Nerissa curtsied. Then she patted the arm her hand touhed. “This is Arlen. We’d only hoped to pay our respects to the deity who protects this island.” She tilted her head. “I didn’t know about this area being under investigation. How curious…”

Studying the swordswoman who seemed to want them out of the woods, Nerissa nodded . The woman blocking her path was probably another test from Lady Aquarius. Or someone Aquarius wanted her to meet. Lifting her eyes from the weapon at her hip to meet the woman’s gaze, a gentle smile adorned her features.

“Would you mind terribly if we helped with the investigation of this area? The people of the Hallows have been very kind to let us stay and I want to help them any way I can.”

It wasn’t a lie exactly. The people of the Hallows reminded her of her own people in Mirage Island. She certainly did want to help them. But she wanted to help her crew as well. And the woman who’d given her the map. The fact that her forest traveling, fidgety, friend might be the thief wasn’t lost to her. However, Nerissa would not consider anyone guilty until she saw—through Aquarius’s eyes—the truth using the gem passed down from her predecessors. She could see Arlen rolling his eyes at her suggestion.

“I don’t care whether you let us help or not. But keep in mind, Lady, that if you draw your sword in the presence of the Priestess of Water, you’ll be facing her protector—the Leviathan of Mirage Island.” Arlen cracked his knuckles, a grin forming on his face. “And I never turn down a challenge.”

Lady Warlock

 

[Peaceswore]

Tucker
​

Hectic, that word would put the whole situation of this island far too lightly.  After failing to capture the pirates that were supposedly at a shop Tucker barely had a moment to report before he was given something else to do.  Now he had to meet the marines that were coming onto their island.  "Lovely, maybe the next group that can visit will be some slavers. "  He grumbled under his breath irked by the fact not only pirates chose to visit the normally peaceful island but marines as well.  Looking up at the sky he took a deep breath before nodding.  "I'll get right on it Dale, lets sorts all of this out before the worst comes to pass."  He stated before he ran off to go meet the marines that were already coming to land.    


As he ran he had to hope from the bottom of his heart that these marines were the reasonable sort.  The last thing he wanted was for the village to get caught in-between a battle with the pirates and the marines.  Not to mention he truly didn't want these marines to be meddling in the affairs of the village.  For if a single one of them even thought about taking the island's treasure... He had to shake his head at the thought of this.  After all he couldn't lose his focus (he almost did which made him have to back track a bit as he missed the turn to the docks).   It only took him a few minutes to actually arrive at the docks, and by then some marines were getting off the ship. 


Catching his breath due to all the running he had just did he stopped just before the dock and did a small stretch.  "For Pyrus sake be reasonable."   Heading to the dock he walked on a bit his eyes looked over the pirate ship for a moment only to shake his head.  He didn't have time to think or deal with the pirates, as per usual he would leave that for Dale to deal with.  He had his job and he had to get to it.  


He had arrived just in time to see some marines disembarking from there ship.   "Nice to meet you, I'm Tucker, the blacksmith of the sole village on this island."  He stated giving a quick introduction before skipping right to business.  "As you can tell we have pirates on this island, our leaders are aware of this and are currently searching for them.  They aren't in the village as of this moment.  We have men searching the forest at this second, your help would be greatly appreciated. We of course will help you and coordinate whatever.  However anyone we or you find must be brought to our leader first before they can go into your custody as we do have business with them. "  Tucker stated.  He knew he was rushing what he was saying and just dumping quite a bit on the marines that just arrived.  However just like the marines he had thinks to do and people to catch so he truly didn't have time for pleasantries.   


@shadowdude505 @Azure Sky @QuirkyAngel @Pequeno Burraidh

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

At the shore where the two marine ships were docked on either side of the Charybdis, Lieutenant Commander Draven conversed with the islanders that had come to greet them--having been one of the first off the ship. The unnaturally immaculate man studied the watchers, raising an eyebrow at their drenched state.

"My, my. Did the pirates do that to you two?" Shaking his head, Draven nodded towards the Charybdis, which was being guarded by several lower ranking marines standing in attention. "Rest assured, we saw the pirate flag even if it's no longer there. If there is chaos on the island then it's our job to rectify that. Order is a beautiful thing that needs to be preserved. Wouldn't you agree Hollis?"

The Lieutenant Commander's gaze flitted towards the man Captain Pyrrha had ordered him to keep an eye on. Losing sight of the former marine-turned-civillian wouldn't do at all.

"Generally, Draven, though I dare say it depends on who is in command of the order that is expected." Hollis responded honestly, "Though I would wager if the worse thing we've found these pirates doing is leaving a couple of people looking like waterlogged rats, then mayhaps we aren't needing to worry ourselves with the idea of a true fight, but instead rebellious children in need of setting straight."

Stepping further towards the land from the dock, Hollis turned back around to overlook the three craft. Two marines, and one pirate. It was interesting too, that the pirates flew their flag so brazenly when the need for caution was so high after Mirstone. It seemed to him that they were either unaware of Mirstone, or proud fools.Still, if they were proud fools, maybe they could direct him to the proud fool that wore a captain's coat yet claimed herself an enemy of the pirates. That was his goal after all.

Snorting gruffly Hollis started his way down the path towards the village as he called back to those at the dock, "You two may want to dry off and take a break. I'm going to the local tavern, haven't had a good drink in a fair while now."

However, much to Hollis' displeasure he found himself stopped and addressed by a man from the village. After listening to his explanation of the situation with a good show of patience, he rolled his eyes and approached him, patting him on the shoulder in a friendly manner as he spoke.

"Tucker, you said your name was? Well, a true shame you are experiencing such problems, but, having said that, I am no longer a Marine. And with that having been said, they have not allowed me a single drink since I boarded their infernal ships. Sticks in the mud, the lot of them. Anyhow, they're your problem now, but I'm going to your tavern. Nice meeting you, goodbye." Hollis addressed hurriedly, trying to put space between himself and the Marines so he could go about his true business.

Such a hasty man, Draven noted as he watched Hollis depart from the dock without a care for the two islanders who wanted them to wait...or even the blacksmith Tucker. Still, even Draven thought it suspicious that they wanted the marines to wait at the beach for their leader...especially when a pirate flag had been spotted. Where they hiding pirates? It was too soon to come to that conclusion, especially after Tucker's words, though it was clear to Draven that they were hiding something. Tucker implied that the people of the island were searching for the pirates in the forest, but that didn't explain why they wanted all the pirates brought to their leader.

Draven smiled blandly at Tucker and the watchers."We would be happy to assist you and your people in the hunt for pirates. Unfortunately, whether or not the pirates will be turned into your leader is up to our Captains...so I'll defer you to them. Please keep in mind that pirates are dangerous and coordinating with the marines would be best. Anything we do on this island, like doubling checking the town for pirates, is for the safety of you and your people." Turning to his superior officers, Draven nodded once to Captain Pyrhha--as if sharing a secret--before speaking to his two superior officers calmly. "I cannot, in good conscience, let a civilian like Hollis enter a chaotic town alone even if he were a former commander. No. Especially because he is a former commander. Pirates are a vengeful lot after all...and there's no guarantee that the entire town has been swept clean of pirates. I'll take a couple of our men to double check the town. In the meantime, working with the people of the island would probably be best...since our men aren't familiar with the island's terrain."

Biding the Captains farewell after leaving a simple advice--which they were free to follow or not since they were his superiors-- Draven made quick strides to follow after Hollis...along with a couple of the reluctant men he'd chosen.

To Hollis, Draven spoke simply. "Mind if we accompany you?"

Withholding anything to betray his true feelings as to the idea of Draven asking if he minded, Hollis instead gauged everything he'd heard as he continued to put space between the dock and himself. Mentally, he checked over his inventory for good measure, remembering where he kept his coin, his water skein and unconsciously gripping his longsword tighter in his left hand.

"I would imagine, Draven, that if you are going to be checking the village for any pirates hiding from the townfolk amongst their buildings, then accompanying me to town would indeed be the best course of action."

He didn't trust it. Soaked watchers at worst, the idea of pirates going after a lone swordsman when they were apparently all in the forest. That said, he knew his sudden retirement would have come with suspicion, and perhaps he was simply paranoid given his intent and the reason he knew for why he did in fact retire.

As he noted that they had easily cleared audible distance from the dock, Hollis continued, "So, Draven, what do you imagine we're dealing with here on the island? What is your first assessment of the pirates you think we may be facing?"

"They've antagonised the people to such an extent that there's a island-wide search for them. They raised their pirate flag briefly only to take it down again...an act which still baffles me. The towns people are searching for them without fear in the forest, which suggests they are the non-combative types and inexperienced in the ways of pirating." Finishing his analysis, Draven concluded. "I believe we will have no difficulty apprehending them for their crimes."

"Mmhmm," mused the former Commander. So Draven agreed with him, the pirates likely weren't a threat, assumptions were solid and true by the sounds of things If anything, even if one of the pirates could serve a viable threat, they didn't seem the malicious types to allow themselves to be run about an island by civilians. "Draven, do you know, perchance, how long I served in our Marines?

"I don't."

"Seventeen years, yet I never once progressed past Commander despite a spotless record. I always preferred to be a boots in the battlefield type after all. Which begs the question," Hollis stopped suddenly, everything seeming to freeze around him as he turned to stare down Draven, "What is it that has made me a threat to the Marines now, and were you sent to make sure I was taken care of?"

Draven stopped when Hollis did, tilting his head to meet the the Ex-Commander's gaze curiously. The man was younger than Draven, but had clearly served the Marines for much longer. "Why would you think that?" The Lieutenant commander's gaze briefly flickered the lower ranked marines that were trailing behind, the ones he'd taken with him to sweep the town, before returning to Hollis. They didn't seem to be paying any attention to the two men walking ahead of them...as they were keeping their eye out for pirates. Or whoever else may be watching them.

"Because, we both agree that the pirates here are not a threat. And yet you're continuing on to keep an eye for anyone that may threaten a seventeen year, seasoned former commander. I will hazard the assumption that this either pertains to my mentor, or to my mentor's wayward child prodigy, the Feral One." Hollis claimed forwardly, "And I do not appreciate my service taken so lightly that, should my assumptions prove correct, anyone thinks I would turn traitor."

"I am simply doing my duty as a marine wanting to be promoted, Former commander Hollis. Nothing more, nothing less." Draven responded easily. Though he did find it interesting that Hollis suspected he would be considered a traitor. Those that did so often ended up becoming traitors themselves. Not to say that Hollis's suspicions were completely unfounded, given Pyrrha's order.

Narrowing his eyes now that his understanding of the situation were somewhat more clear, Hollis continued walking, though his grip on his sword did not loosen. Continuing on towards the town, his words did likewaise towards the man Draven.

"There are many terrible things that have been done in the name of a promotion, Draven, and in all light, you are not the most well reputed of Marines, are you, Bloodsucker? The truth of the matter is that I have long avoided retirement due to the want to distance myself from the reputation of the Feral One, and yet every time I mentioned retirement eyes fell upon me, piercing and searching. Are you so surprised that when a Marine with your reputation insists on following me, that I would question it?"

Draven couldn't help it. He chuckled at the mention of his reputation, a sound which made the men following him glance warily their way. One even made a sign of the cross.

"Bloodsucker...yes. I suppose I am one." Draven licked his lips playfully as he continued to follow Hollis. "I will do whatever it takes to get what I want in life, even if it means turning a friendly acquaintance I've enjoyed talking with to the gallows. Therefore, I hope for your sake, Hollis, that all the suspicions around you are entirely unfounded." Draven paused for a moment, seeming to consider something, before he continued. "I can understand your wariness. Questions are good. They keep you alive. But too many questions and you're liable to get killed. It's better to do as you're told."

Not saying anything in return to Draven's last statement, as he'd already made mention of his belief on order and orders, Hollis continued on as he made tracks towards the town, but now with a better understanding of his surroundings. It would seem, as it stood, that he wasn't walking into as much of a threat as much as a threat wanted to walk behind him, and he wasn't meaning Draven alone.

Still, the Bloodsucker was right in hoping that the pair wouldn't come to odds, Hollis had never particularly liked his specific methods...

QuirkyAngel Lady Warlock P Peaceswore shadowdude505 Azure Sky

 

[shadowdude505]

Scarlet Johanna Indigrid, Wantanabe Hotaka Wasabi, Cletus T. Bass and Ed Pepelu Tivruski

Collab Involving: shadowdude505 CelticHero37 and Lady Warlock ​

Running through the forest, Elisa wasn't really paying attention to where she was going. All she knew for certain was that there were people behind her, that she was being pursued, that there was a young girl trying to help her and that she could not risk getting caught or everything could be ruined. Unfortunately, with all that panic running through her head, the woman was watching behind her more than she was looking ahead of her and that was going to be what got her caught in the end. Well, she was kind of caught, but she could have been found by people more apt to harm her than the ones she eventually ran into.

Or rather, the one she ran into.

The woman she ran into was walking with a group of two other individuals and her name was Captain Scarlet Johanna Indigrid. The brunette saw her coming, too. Scarlet's arms were wide upon to absorb the shock of the running woman and she bounced back just a bit, stumbling into Cletus as she did.

"What are you running from?" Scarlet dared to ask.

Elisa's eyes went wide as she pulled back and finally saw the woman who had caught her and not fallen over because of it. While that alone was surprising, her eyes paid more attention to the two men at Scarlet's sides and she uttered, "Oh gods... this can't be good."

Wasabi could hear the girl before he saw her. By the time she appeared, there wasn't enough time for Wasabi to react in any useful way. Either way, it didn't matter, as no real harm came of the situation. However, he continued to hear noises in the forest once the girl had been halted. Stepping closer to Scarlet, he noted in a monotone voice, "Something is pursuing her. It will be upon us soon."

Cletus turned to look at Scarlet after she had bumped into him. He saw the other woman and didn't look happy about her presence, especially after what Wasabi said. "Sounds like you're not a local, missy," Cletus said to Elisa. "You can either come with us or run off elsewhere alone. Make you're choice fast though."

Cletus tapped a finger against one of his flashbags as he turned his attention to the cook. "Which direction are the pursuers comin' from?" he asked.

The razor edge of the cook's rice hat raised up as he tuned in to the ambience of the forest. Sighing, he responded, "I can sense two approaching from the same direction she came. Although... there might be a third... no, there's some sort of creature with them, though. A dog, perhaps."

Hearing the men speaking to her and to each other, Elisa's hand swung around, reaching for the pouch on her back pocket in case she needed it again, although for some odd reason or another, she didn't get the feeling that they had ill intentions towards her. At least, they didn't have any yet that she could sense. Granted, Elisa also wasn't about to claim to be an expert when it came to reading people .

Scarlet, seeing the woman reach back, instinctively grabbed Elisa's wrist and held it from reaching for whatever she had been after. Then she slowly shook her head. "Who are you running from?"

"There were watchers on the beach..."

When the girl mentioned watchers on the beach, he figured it was likely to be the same people that had been hunting Scarlet's crew. Thus he took to a ready stance, unbuttoning a strap holding one of his boomerangs securely in their holster. Then he continued to listen. To his surprise, the creature he had heard was quite a bit ahead of the other two. He wondered if it had been sent to chase down the girl. That certainly wasn't going to happen.

The only problem was, the creature suddenly became silent. That was likely to be a bad sign. It had found the prey and was waiting for the right moment to pounce. Following a tense moment, a pounce was exactly what happened.

A srappy looking short-haired redhead burst out of the bushes and latched on to Scarlet in a big hug as she called out, "It's MOMMA!!! Heehee!" Wasabi relaxed slightly, although he was quite confused at this situation.

Cletus unclipped one of his flashbangs and readied himself to throw it once the watchers appeared. However it looked like someone else had appeared first. At first he looked surprised as a red blur pounced and hugged Scarlet. Once his brain processed what was going on, the look of surprise returned to his usual scowl.

"Great...another tag along...." Cletus muttered. It wouldn't be easy for a three man group to avoid being spotted, but the odds shifted even more out of their favor as their numbers increased. Right now he wanted to pull out one of his cigarettes and begin to smoke, but didn't because it would be an inconvienience to put his flashbang away. He didn't know how far away the other watchers were.

"You alright, Captain?" Cletus asked gruffly as he gazed into the forest. She seemed to be OK, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Yeah, I'm alright," the captain mumbled in quick reply to Cletus before her attention turned to the new person clinging to her rather tightly. "I'm not your mother, though. Do you think I look like that could even be possible!?" She almost sounded a bit offended by the implication that would stand if Ed truly believed she was a mother.

Elisa, meanwhile, was still looking behind them because she knew that there had been two watchers on the beach and she also knew that at least one of them would be coming for them. It wasn't something she was comfortable forgetting about and she found herself uttering, "There's still more coming. I have to run." Without further delay, Elisa ran around Scarlet and kept on running. Well, she made it clear that that was her intention.

Unbeknownst to her, one of the two watchers had already caught up and was hiding in the trees, watching. He knew better than to try grabbing five of them all by himself, but to know where they were going would be good. When he saw Elisa shift and start to run off on her own again, he made to veer around the whole group and pursue her alone, but as a watcher, he wasn't exactly the quietest about the whole process.

Ed responded to Scarlet's question by exclaiming, "MOMMA!!!" However, she loosened her grip on the pirate when she heard Elisa start running again. "Awe, but Ed was gonna help her."

Wasabi wanted to stop the girl, but was in no position to do so without chasing after her himself. So he simply watched until something caught his ear. As if on cue, something had begun chasing after the girl again. In a flash, the cook had suddenly thrown something from one of his pockets. The wind whistled at odd intervals as his blunt, heavily weighted hunting boomerang rocketed toward the unknown pursuer.

CLUNK.

Both Elisa and her pursuer froze in mid stride, her head turning to look back at the watcher as he collapsed onto the ground after being hit in the head. Although still breathing, he wasn't about to be getting up and chasing anyone anytime soon. The silver haired girl allowed her gaze to bounce between Wasabi and the watcher before she asked, "Why would you help me?"

"I can't speak for Wasabi, but as pirates we do as we please," Cletus replied. With one of the two pursuers down for the count, the older man reattached his flashbang back onto his belt; he didn't want to waste it on a single opponent. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "We don't need a reason," he added, before exhailing smoke.

While the second persuer hadn't made his presence known, Cletus looked over at Scarlet and Ed. "We need to get movin'," he informed his Captain. "That goes for you too, kid," he added grumpily, taking another drag on his cigarette. As much as he thought he'd end up regretting it, he questioned how long the kid would last by themselves unsupervised, especially if they confused Captain Scarlet with their mom.

"You're probably right." Scarlet had to agree with Cletus. Knowing that, Scarlet put her arms around Ed, forcibly removed her, and set her on the ground on her own two feet. "Did you say your name was Ed?" she asked. Then Scarlet glanced back to Elisa who still looked unsure of where to go next. "That you were going to help her?" Scarlet didn't even mention that Ed was a funny name for a girl... Scarlet could tell. She'd worked with people, with clothes and with hair enough to know.

The lenky girl didn't fuss when Scarlet pried her off. After all, her reason for acting so strangely was not in the picture for the moment. Instead, she walked past the pirate captain to inspect the strange dress of the giant behind her. As she did so, she responded, "Yup! Ed is short for Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski the fourth. Ed made it up, you know. Hmm," Ed scratched her chin and waddled over to Cletus to see what sort of person he was as she continued, "Ed wanted to come on the island to find some food, but they were bein' mean, so Ed was gonna stop 'em!"

As she explained, Ed summersaulted over to the watcher that was on the ground, picking up the hunting boomerand and sniffing it for a moment before using the round end to scratch her armpit. Wasabi was quick to snatch the weapon away from her, rubbing it against his pant leg before slipping it back into the holster.

"Alright. Well, we should get moving." Scarlet had so many questions that she thought would help them in the end, but for now she knew that Cletus was right. Moving was the best option. "Let's go." She still didn't know where they were going, and she didn't even consider that it might be rude to assume Ed would come with them. It was just an assumption she made anyway.

However, before they could walk off, Elisa called out. "Thank you again. You guys should really try to get off the island. It's... its not safe for pirates." She didn't stick around to explain more. Elisa resumed her running then.

"We've noticed...," Cletus grumbled as Elisa ran off. Without saying anything else, Cletus turned and began to slowly walk in the direction they had been going, leaving a faint smoke trail behind him; he didn't want to get to far ahead of the others.

"Pirates? I was planning on giving the stuff back," commented Ed. As Elisa left, Ed through her hand in the air and called out, "BAAAIII!!!!"

Wasabi hesitated for a moment, wondering what should be done about the strange thing he still considered to be a creature. Finally, he decided to leave her be. The last thing they needed was to drag along a crazy kid. However, as he followed the others, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Once he looked, he noticed the girl was following them through the trees; jumping and swinging her way after them in surprising silence.

 

[Azure Sky]

Captain Axel Wolfheim​

Axel actually listened to what the Watchers and Tucker had to say but he pretended that he didn't. He kept making origami figures and paper airplanes, one of which actually landed on the pirate ship, while occasionally looking at the sky. After a few minutes he stopped doing it, and simply went back to his cabin. He quickly returned with a cardbox of matches, and jumped on the pirate ship even quicker. Almost no one would have been able to see the moment when he did so, because he performed Kamisori.

He jumped around using Geppo, ripped apart all the sails, and took the pirate flag while doing so. Afterwards he used Rankyaku to damage the topmasts of the ship. It didn't take long for all of them to fall. Axel then proceeded with writing a letter using the paper sheet he threw on deck previously (in the form of a paper airplane) . After the Marine Captain was done with all that, he lit one of the matches and attempted to burn the pirate flag. He only burnt it slightly, then he stopped. He folded it, put his letter on top of it, and then a cannonball on top of both, to assure they wouldn't get blown away by the wind.

Axel then returned to the ship, and went inside his cabin yet again, only to return moments later with a small table and chair. He jumped off the ship and used Geppo, to get to the shore without getting wet, and without having to resume to a small boat. Once he found a good enough place, he put the table and chair down, took a seat, and brought out some paper sheets he had folded in his pocket. Axel restarted making origami figures, as if nothing happened, as if no one was there, as if he was on his free time.

He could have damaged the ship more, but decided against it. He merely did what was necessary to stop the pirates from leaving immediately, if they somehow managed to escape the Marines. Axel knew a good ship when he saw one and considered that the ship could be recycled as a Marine one after they would have captured the pirates.

The Letter...

Dear pirates,

The current situation is self-explanatory.

Yours sincerely,
Liutenant Commander Draven

P.S. Your Jolly Roger looks cuter now that it is burnt.

shadowdude505 QuirkyAngel Pequeno Burraidh Lady Warlock AllHailDago P Peaceswore

 

[Lady Warlock]

Aiada Leanne
The woman Arlen and Nerissa had encountered definitely looked taken aback by Arlen’s first statement because it was not quite inaccurate, but it still hurt to hear nonetheless. She had lived there for a few years, now, and she definitely considered The Hallows to be her home. She wouldn’t have wanted any other home, actually. Aiada had been nearly lost on a personal and mental level before she’d found this place and once she had arrived, she had known instantly that it was the only place she would ever want to stay. She wasn’t quite sure what it was about the people or the land, but she would defend it with her life.

“Pyrus’s Temple is truly beautiful, but I’m afraid I have orders, Miss, and I’m afraid I have to follow them.” There was a bit more to it than that, but that explanation seemed simple enough to verbalize. In truth, Aiada didn’t have to do anything, but she wanted to work with the people who shared her home because she respected them and helping them in the small ways that she could was a demonstration of that respect. It was an odd way to think about it, but Aiada’s mind worked on loyalty and respect and it wasn’t about to change.

Her gaze turned to Arlen, then, because it was he who it seemed appropriate to address next. “I have no intention of drawing my sword unless I have to to complete my orders,” she said to him simply. Her hand was still on her sword because there was still a chance that she might need it, but she hadn’t allowed her grip to flinch an inch. The weapon was still fully sheathed. “Those orders are to escort any strangers I find to town, to meet with Leader Dale, and to ensure that no potential thief escapes this island.” Aiada paused to let that settle for a moment because it was important to her that they understand what she had to do.

“I will fight you if you are intent on doing so, but if you will come with me and allow me to escort you back to town, then there is no need.” Whether or not the situation escalated was now in the hands of Arlen and Nerissa.

QuirkyAngel


Elisa Pentana and Dale Vroegan
Elisa was still moving rather quickly through the forest and although she had no idea what she was going to do to get off the island, she still found that she was now moving with a smile on her face because for some reason or another, she imagined that having met Ed would be the highlight of her stay in The Hallows. Then again, she also knew that nothing could compare to the beauty Jada had shared with her before she had become enemy number one on the island as far as it’s people were concerned.

However, even Elisa eventually had to slow down because she knew that she was once again nearing the town and that really should have been the last place on the island she wanted to be. She wasn’t sure where else to go, though. It seemed logical that there would be more people searching the edges than there were searching within and that made staying on the edges seem like a somewhat safe plan.

Peering through the forest brush, she could see the bustle ensuing in town and some of it was actually quite amusing. One thing she noticed was that there was a small group of townspeople who were all gathered around a lamp post and Elisa wondered what could be going on that she wasn’t seeing. Her gaze shifted and she could see that the town’s leader was actually approaching the scene. From where she was hiding, she could hear what he said and it drew her attention even more. She also couldn’t stop her mind from wandering back to the various people she’d already met; she knew there was another group on the island visiting and she was only just starting to realize how much of an impact that her presence and her actions were having on them.

“Does anyone care to fill me in on what exactly the problem is?” Dale’s voice was commanding and it drew the attention of everyone gathered around the lamp post.

Heads turned and one person was facing Dale as they answered, “We can’t get it to come down and none of us knows what it is exactly,” someone who was actually a bit younger answered him and then gestured up to Shae who was still attached to the lamp post. “And it’s not from here.”

Although Elisa couldn’t exactly see what was going on, she was curious about the way that someone was constantly being described as ‘it’ rather than something more specific. It made her want to see, but she knew that stepping out right now was a dangerous decision she couldn’t risk making. Instead, she was stuck just hearing what she could hear and letting her imagination fill in the rest. That was definitely entertaining and she couldn’t deny that.

“Well, has anyone paid any attention elsewhere?” Dale inquired as his eyes fell to the man that Shae had been tending to before he scrambled up the nearest heights he had been able to reach. “Someone find a medic and bring them here, please. Keep an eye on the lamp, but as long as they don’t go anywhere, we have more important things to worry about than getting him down.” From his words and his tone, it was clear that the priority was more keeping people on the island so that the artifact didn’t leave the island rather than capturing them all. Capturing them was something that could be done later. Meanwhile, Shae’s former patient was going to take priority.

Pequeno Burraidh

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Much of the noise and attention was really starting to wear on Shannon, eroding his emotional stability as if waves smashing across a small stone in the ocean. Thankfully, however, as it stood for most storms, there seemed to be an eye, a calm in the centre, that arrived in the form of a man that began to immediately quell the crowds, causing them to disperse slightly and easing the strain on the Mink's ears.

It also made it easier for him to hear about the wounded man, and that his work was still as of yet unfinished. He'd never left his work unfinished, it was bad for people to do that! Moving quickly, the Mink struggled with his robe, leaving the scarf around his neck. Once he had his robe off he tied the sleeves together just right to form a bit of a hammock that could fit a small item. From there he pulled his pad and quill out and scrawled out his message before placing the pad in the 'hammock'. Steadying his heartbeat a bit, the Mink let himself slide down the pole enough that he could hang the pad at head's height for the man below.

~My name is Shannon, I was treating this man before being interrupted.~

And sure enough, all Dale had to to was look over at the man, wound half stitched perfectly, to get confirmation that the young Mink was telling the truth. He was just trying to help people.

Lady Warlock

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Nerissa Orta and Arlen Hakhassi​

Nerissa studied the swordswoman’s reactions, noting her expression when Arlen mentioned at she didn’t sound like she was from the island. It was probably instinct on his part that led him to that conclusion. Though, Nerissa could detect the slight difference in their accents. That…and the fact that she hadn’t referred to the people of the island as her people when she’d appeared before them.

Still, nothing was proven until her reaction.

Meeting the swordswoman’s gaze, Nerissa stared into the pools before her as if to assess the woman’s honesty and resolution. Such was a test from Lady Aquarius—firm and unrelenting. But then, what should her answer be? Which was the answer that would please Aquarius? For the first time, Nerissa found herself doubting…wondering whether the path she was walking was one being lead by Aquarius. Was Aquarius not a goddess who preached harmony? Water was not unbending. It flowed forward, certainly, but it wasn’t hard or unyielding the same way stone was.

“Orders, huh?” Arlen stepped forward, only to be stopped by Nerissa. The silver haired teenager shot his blue haired companion a quizzical glance. It was obvious, to him at least, that they were being suspected of thievery and the woman before them didn’t intend to let them forward…or even leave the island until everything was resolved.

Nerissa sighed. “Nerissa,” she corrected the swordswoman tranquilly.“I gave you my name, so you should use it.”

“What does that matter? She doesn’t intend to let any potential thieves leave the island.” Arlen’s tone was matter-of-fact rather than aggressive, but it also held a note of displeasure at her choice of words. He was used to people jumping to such conclusions about him. It was a part o f his childhood. Didn’t mean he liked it. “If Tanaka wasn’t lying, the time it takes to talk things out is time for the hounds of the world government to surround this island. Might be faster to fight our way through…assuming you want to see the temple before we leave that is.” Arlen folded his arms across his chest. “And, whether this thief is found or not, we have to leave—unless we want a repeat of Mirestone…” The last part was muttered under his breath.


“It matters,” Nerissa replied firmly, not looking away from the woman before them though she addressed Arlen. “It’s the proper thing to do. Similarly, achieving our goals means nothing if we turn away from Aquarius to do so.” Nerissa paused for a moment before continuing. This time though, she addressed the swordswoman. “It is an honorable person that completes the duties given to them, but righteous person that remains true to themselves. True loyalty goes beyond just following orders. It’s what’s in your heart that matters,” Nerissa smiled kindly at the swords woman. “And I hope it doesn’t ever waver or lose faith.”

Nerissa’s aquamarine gaze flitted over Aiada’s shoulder towards the trees before flitting back to the obstacle in their path. Her expression was serene as she gave her answer. “Very well. I’d been meaning to speak with the Leader of the Hallows….and we’d planned to head back to town after visiting Pyrus’s Temple anyway. Going to town first doesn’t really change anything. I was honest about wanting to help...and I’d rather not make an unnecessary enemy.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Seeing the temple was something I wanted to do, but it’s not necessarily Aquarius’s desire. Just a selfish wish on my part. I left the crew early morning, dragging you with me, because I wanted to sate my curiosity regarding Pyrus. I thought it was my duty as Aquarius’s daughter. But I didn't intend to cause any trouble or force myself through. As Aquarius's daughter, I cannot fall to the temptations of another God. Besides,” Nerissa’s eyes twinkled slightly. “Now that I think about it again, a temple visit would be more fun if Scarlet and the others are with us.”

Arlen chuckled. “Another selfish wish on your part?”

“Are you agitated?”

“A little. We spent hours trying to find this supposed temple, heard several people tell us how beautiful it is, only to stop and turn around because a girl we don’t know has orders that she needs to follow. Can’t she just ‘escort’ us to the temple and then ‘escort’ us to town afterwards? We don’t plan to steal anything and we don’t have anything to hide. She can just watch us while we don’t take anything. Better yet we can just fight. That's how the people in my village settled it when people had opposing desires. You don't think I'd lose do you?"

“Arlen…” Nerissa pointed to a nearby tree. “Go over there and play your flute.”

“…Say what now?”

“Music calms the spirit, soothes the savage beast, and helps lost wanderers find their way. It’s an excellent form of expression. More importantly it’ll help you relax. Why don’t you take a moment to relax before we make our way back to town.”

“I only know one song…and I’m not even that good.”

“One song is all you need.”

Sighing, Arlen made his way to the tree—which wasn’t too far from them—and sat down, crossing his legs. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out a wooden and brought it to his lips. It was true that there was a lot weighing on his mind. The marines, Tanaka, Nerissa’s suspicious Silvery-hair friend who was most likely the thief, the map given to Nerissa, the approaching Grand Line…he wondered what Nerissa thought of the situation and how she planned to resolve it. Did she truly believe she could help everyone? Especially when the thief was most likely the suspicious individual she seemed to have befriended? It felt to him like the priestess was making things unnecessarily complicated.

Closing his eyes, Arlen began to play, the sound of his instrument floating through the forest.



Lady Warlock

 

[shadowdude505]

Marine Captain Pyrrha Atlas & Tucker​

Pyrrha had allowed Draven to disembark first before making her way down the gangplank. She began to think of her next move and decided to go into the village to explain the situation. Luckily for her, a villager had appeared shortly after her feet touched land. She halted the remaining marines under her command and calmly smoked her cigarette as she listened to Tucker the blacksmith. She wasn't that surprised that the villagers had a beef with the pirates, but it seamed like the villagers didn't trust the marines too much either. Pyrrha exhaled smoked as she sighed, but didn't allow their distrust to weaken her marine pride.

Her orders were to capture pirates. She was free to do whatever she liked beyond that. Luckily for the villagers, she had her own sense of justice and it wasn't as narrow as some other Marines.

"Understood," she replied with a serious look on her face. "Though I'd like to be nearby when the pirates are interrogated. I'm Captain Pyrrha Atlas. As a marine, it's my duty to keep criminals from escaping their crimes. Even if you don't get satisfactory justice here, I'm still ordered to haul the pirates away so that they can pay for their crimes as a whole."

Tucker wasn't very pleased when two marines that seemed to be of a greater rank walked right by him. He didn't want them to simply walk around the island as if they owned the place. However he knew he couldn't go with them either, as he had to speak with the actual marine in charge. So rather than him go he silently nodded and two of the watchers ran off to make sure the marines didn't cause any trouble, they had enough to last the year.

Once they were gone he turned his attention back to the marines before him. He watched as one marine destroyed the pirate ship, doing nothing to stop it, though namely because he saw no problems with this. When Pyrrha spoke, he of course listened and gave a small nod. "I'm not the leader of the village, so I can't make any promises. You will have to speak to Dale about that." He stated, personally relieved the marine wasn't being unreasonable.

"My people are currently searching the village for any sign of pirates, but we think they are mainly hiding in the forest of our island. Standing here won't do us much good, I'll show you to the village if you will come with me."

Pyrrha nodded after hearing Tucker's reply. She turned to her current marine squad and ordered them to start searching the forest. "Take any captured pirate into the village," she ordered, before repeating her orders into her transponder snail for the squads currently hiding below the decks of the marine ships.

After passing her orders along, Pyrrha turned her attention back to the blacksmith. "Lead on," she replied in a dignified manor.

With that Tucker walked toward the village. "We are a small island, with only one village. There isn't an abundance of us, however we make due." Tucker stated giving a swift summary of the land. "We have forests all around us, its a rather nice site all in all, though now its likely best place for a pirate to hide." He stated as he walked on. "Our leader is Dale as I mentioned before, any agreement about what happens with the pirate needs to be run by him. I'm just the main blacksmith here."

Pyrrha nodded after listening to Tucker. She appreciated how blunt he was, even though he had already made it abundantly clear that he wasn't the leader. She glanced over at the forest and took a drag on her cigarette. The Marine Captain was confident that it wouldn't be a good hiding spot for long.

Collab P Peaceswore

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Jasper Pharos, Dale Vrogen, and Shannon Laurel

In the middle of approaching the injured man with an honest intent to make sure that the townsman was alright, Dale was interrupted with a notepad in his face, and he had to step back a bit in order to read it in full. There was no denying he found it odd to have a notepad in his face and that was written on his expression.

"And now we're calling the town medic to finish that job. If you could please come down from there, we have an item of high value that was stolen from our village and we're trying to find it. You being up there is highly distracting to people who could be out trying to find the thief." There was no sympathy in his voice and neither was there empathy. It was all simple fact and he was making it as plain as he possibly could.

Shannon's ears flattened in irritation at the idea of a different medic coming and finishing what he started and half of him was ready to come down and finish it regardless, but there was something that kept him from following through.

The mention of the other townspeople however, kept him on guard, and he quickly pulled his pad back up to him as he climbed back up to the top of the light. Scribbling down his reply quickly, Shannon crawled halfway down and lowered his notebook down with a response.

~The people tried to hurt me.~

At that, Dale could only nod. "I don't imagine they were friendly. We've recently learned that one of our two visiting ships contains pirates and that one of the visitors has stolen something precious from us. I honestly cannot blame them when you could very well be a pirate, a thief or both." Once again, his voice was nearly emotionless.

Dale clearly had no expectations of his people to be friendly to guests when guests were continually proving to not be friendly to them.

Hearing the man's response, coupled with th fact that he was neither telling Shannon he'd be safe amongst the townsfolk, nor promising that the people wouldn't simply try to grab him again as soon as he climbed down, the Mink climbed back up to the top of the light post. Pulling his pad back to his hand-paws, Shannon wrote down a simply response before tearing the sheet off the pad and dropping it.

The sheet fluttered down much like a leaf before alighting it's way to the ground at Dale's feet.

~I'll just stay up here, out of the way. I promise.~

Well, Dale quickly realized that Shannon staying up on the lamppost didn't actually solve anything. There was still a crowd, there was still a thief somewhere, and he still had an injured townsman in need of more complete treatment. That seemed like a pertinent first priority and the turned to the crowds to find that Vaiya was on the edge of the crowds and he sent the man who was half stitched up over to her so that she could finish his care.

One aspect resolved, Dale turned to the crowds, his eyes slightly livid because there were so many still standing there watching. "Well, having you all watching doesn't get us closer to catching the others now, does it?" That seemed to be enough to snap most of them out of whatever trance was running through their heads and most scurried off to resume their searching. A few remained and one young woman walked up and asked, "What will happen to that thing up there?"

"If you'd be willing, I'd leave you to keep an eye on it," Dale proposed to her. "As long as it doesn't run, we shouldn't need to worry too much. And if it runs, come find me."

The woman nodded in agreement and it seemed like a reasonable plan was in place.

Listening to Dale ask a younger girl to watch him as the rest of the angry crowds left did much to ease most of the tension left in the Mink. Writing down a quick greeting, the Mink climbed down far enough touse his robe to dangle the note just within her reach. On it read the words: ~Hello, I'm Shannon.~

Dale made sure that she knew what she was doing and then he headed off to see what else was causing chaos throughout his home. That left the young girl to look to Shae with curious eyes before seeing the note. "I'm Addy." she replied. "You're not going to run, are you? He might not be happy if I had to tell him you ran."

Smiling, the young Shannon shook his head, sliding down the rest of the lightpost. Putting his robe down on the ground, Shannon made to respond as he looked around somewhat nervously to make sure no one else was going to come running out of the blue and attack him.

Satisfied, he handed the girl a note he'd quickly penned out while he'd been looking around.

~No, I'm just trying to help people that are hurt or practise my new flute.~

Addy took the note that Shae held out and she read it over quickly before looking back at the mink. "Vaiya helps people who are hurt. She helped me last year when I fell out of the tree. I don't think I'd be brave enough to climb a lamp, though. Isn't it slippery?"

Jasper had stopped his mad dash for the ship when he heard a rather large gathered crowd. Watching from a patch of shadows across the street, he viewed the events as they unfolded. It seemed poor Shannon had become entangled in a mess after trying to help someone. Rather reprehensible behaviour for the townsfolk, stolen object or no. Jasper recognized the man he spoke to earlier. Eyeing the situation with distaste he waited for a short time as the man disperse a majority of the crowd until it was just a lone girl. Apparently he did not think Shannon merited much of a guard from the looks of things.

Though Jasper could be mistaken, and she could possibly be older and more powerful than she looks. Though he had high doubts that was the case here. She held herself far too much like a unsure young teenager for that. He decided if any time was right it would be now. He tensed his muscles and took several breathes.Then disappeared with hardly a puff of air to mark his motion. He used Kamisori, a mixture of Moonwalk and Shave, to move directly to the lamp post at surprising speed. He stood even with Shannon, though clearly standing in mid air. He had decided speed was more important than tact at this point.

"Mr. Shannon, if you would so please. Come with me to the ship, we must leave this place. We are unjustly accused of stealing, though I suppose that is sensible as pirates. We must leave before someone more threatening than these villagers arrives." He held his arms out to Shannon, more than sure he could carry the tiny crewmate without much difficulty.

Shannon prepared to explain that he was just really good at climbing things because his claws were good at catching in the wood and helping him hold on tight when ascending objects. Trying to write quickly, the Mink gave a start and stumbled back, almost landing on his behind as he fell towards the ground at the sudden appearance of Jasper.

Jasper disappeared and reappeared suddenly below, catching Shannon before he hit the ground.

~But Jasper, the mad people are gone. They're just looking for a thief now.~ Shannon reasoned in the note he jotted out to respond to the man. It didn't make sense to run away just when the problem was beginning to be resolved. Wouldn't that just make them look like bad guys?

Jasper read as quickly as he could, shaking his head at Shannon as he finished. "If the real thieves made it off the island they set us up to take the fall. If somehow it is one of our crew we definitely need to be going. Either way Marine's have a good chance to show up even without being asked. Probably looking for escapees from Mirstone. It would be best we put as much distance between ourselves and Mirstone, heck the West Blue, while we can. No need to deal with needless trouble like this."

The young girl who had been speaking still stood there, watching in complete confusion. 'Was that a magic trick?' she wondered in her head because a man had just appeared from nowhere and then she could swear he was standing on... well, nothing, which was even more magical. She did hear, though, that they were leaving and her arms flailed out wildly as though saying stop. "You said you weren't going to run, though," Addy said, speaking mostly to Shannon. "He's probably going to be very grumpy if you run and then.. and then..." Although she didn't say it, Addy was afraid that she would get in trouble.

Struggling somewhat Shannon rolled himself out from Jasper's grip and landed neatly on the ground before giving Jasper a somewhat defiant look. Well, as defiant as he could muster. It was more of an apologetic I told you so face. Penning a note out, Shannon handed it to Jasper.

~I told you I said I couldn't run, and I won't let Addy get into trouble because I did something wrong. I thought Miss Scarlet didn't make others get into trouble when I did things wrong, and I don't want it to start now.~

Stepping back, in line with Addy, Shannon tried to look tough but instead nervously fidgeted and scuffed the ground with his foot as he waited for Jasper's more than likely angry response.

Jasper was actually rather shocked Shannon chose to, what must be in his view, stand up to him. Putting a thumb to his lips in thought he nodded once. "If you really so choose to stay, so be it. But do try not to get arrested for something you did not do, alright?"

"Shannon's just going to stay with me!" Addy declared a bit defensively although it came out much more sweet than intended. "I'm going to do my job and watch and Shannon won't run and then everything will be ok." Addy seemed unusually certain of that too, which was what made it awesome.

Dumbstruck and ultimately confused, Shannon wasn't exactly certain of where to go from where he was. Any other time from his past someone would threaten to hit him, change their mind and back away grumbling angrily about how the were going to beat someone later. Instead he got exactly where he intended this time, and the lost expression said all it needed to.

Handing a note to Jasper, the Mink waited to figure out what he was to do next.

~What am I supposed to do Mr. Jasper? I thought you were going to make me go, not let me stay.~

Jasper lowered himself to the ground to expedite the notes from Shannon. He read over it with a raised eyebrow. "What are you supposed to do? Supposed to is a rather fluid term. What you should do is decide what it is you want to do more. Stay, or come with me to the ship. We are crewmates Mr. Shannon. I can attempt to order you to do as I say, i could force you to do it if i was inclined to be physical, but i desire neither. Lady Scarlet is the only one who deserves to be making orders in my opinion, and while I am the First Mate, I will not order you to do anything against your judgement unless the Captain says so."

~I don't want anyone to get into trouble because of me, like Addy, but I don't want to get anyone else into trouble. This is hard, why can't it be simple like it used to be?~ Shannon wrote with a some trouble, as his hands were shaking somewhat as he struggled with the sudden weight of responsibility and independence.

Seeing that Shannon was shaking, Addy didn't go so far as to read what was written down, but she did something else, something that could quite possibly help more or make things worse. Addy reached out and simply took hold of Shannon's hand-paw, holding it softly.

Jasper eyed Shannon and the girl with equal parts conviction and hidden worry. "Well then Mr. Shannon, I will be going. Without me here your decisions should be much easier to make on your own merits. It also seems you have rather easily made an acquaintance of the girl there. I am going ahead to make sure the ship is ready to go and defended. If anyone else on the crew crosses your path please inform them as much. See you on the ship." Without another word he used Kamisori again, and as quickly as he appeared he was gone. A bare trace of wind blew past Shannon and the girl in the wake of his passing.

Watching Jasper seemingly just vanish, Shannon began to struggle over what he was supposed to do. He had two sides, Addy's and the crew's, who both desperately needed to stay out of trouble. But staying in town might get the crew in more trouble, and if he left Addy would get into trouble.

Unless...

~Addy, do you want to see a really big boat? As long as you keep your eyes on me, you won't be in trouble, correct? I can help Jasper and keep you out of trouble that way. I believe so. Does that make sense to you too?~


Lady Warlock
AllHailDago

 

[Lady Warlock]

Addy and Shannon Laurel

Collab With: Pequeno Burraidh​

Addy had no objections at all to shall to Shannon's written proposal, and in fact, she seemed rather excited about it once the possibility was mentioned. All her thoughts of potentially getting into trouble vanished completely and instead she grabbed Shannon's hand with eager excitement and started pulling the mink along as though she knew where she was going. After about two steps, though, Addy realized she honestly had no clue where to go and so she stopped and turned to look at Shannon.

"Maybe you should lead the way," she suggested with a small smile.

Nodding enthusiastically now that he'd seemingly found the answer to all his problems, almost all by himself at that, Shannon was actually fairly proud of his accomplishment. Usually when it came to decision making it was a straightforward answer built on practised fact. And it involved healing people. He didn't usually make personal decisions, and while he seemed that at first his choice to come to town had been disastrous, he did heal a numbr of people and get a flute, and Addy was nice and not crazy so that was cool too.

~I know exactly how to get back actually.~ he penned with a smile as as he led Addy down the road on a path to his current home, ~What do you usually do around town?~

It was a bit odd for Addy to be walking with Shannon because she had to peek over the mink's shoulder every once in a while in order to read what the mink was saying. It felt like she was intruding on something every time she tried to read what he was writing. However, she did it anyway.

"Well, usually I'm in school right now, but everyone had to help clean up after the storm last night and then everything got crazy so I guess I don't have school today." Addy explained. "Sometimes I get to help watch over the younger kids too. We play hide and seek and they love it. And I like to paint too, but I'm not allowed to have that out when the little kids are around."

Tilting his head sideways, one ear low the other perked in the air, Shannon gave Addy a quizzical look that betrayed the confusion he held we she mentioned the word school. Of course he had heard the phrase before, but never as something you attended or anything. He didn’t know what hide and seek was either at that, but Addy seemed nice enough that she would elaborate should he ask.

Penning out a quick conjunction of words, Shannon wrote his questions about the attending of school and what hide and seek was supposed to be. Mostly because he was genuinely curious, as he had never had a chance to learn about any normal kid things whilst aboard the slaver ship attending to the slaves and crew. Not that Addy needed to be told about any of that.

Once again, Addy found herself glancing over the mink’s shoulder to read the questions that Shannon was writing out. She really wasn’t sure how to explain what school was.

It also turned out, though, that she didn’t have to. Well, she simply never got an opportunity to.

All of a sudden there was a bird swooping down near the two of them and feet wrapped beneath Addy’s shoulders before the girl was lifted up and off of the ground, letting out a scream as her feet immediately started flailing around. She didn’t know what was happening to her. “Shannon!” Addy yelled as she was pulled higher and higher into the air. Eventually, both her arms and her legs were flailing out and about and the bird didn’t stop moving forward either.

Soon the eagle and the girl were completely out of sight entirely.

Shocked when a massive bird swooped down and disappeared with the girl he’d just been talking to, Shannon was lost as to what he should do. His first instinct to run, or hide, of course, but instead he froze as he struggled with what someone should do as opposed to what he wanted to do. And what he should do was help.

Of course he couldn’t help by himself, so taking off full tilt for the path to the ship, Shannon started sprinting along, intending on finding someone from the ship that could help him go save Addy.


Aiada Leanne and Scarlet Johanna Indigrid
Unsure of how to intervene and get things moving, Aiada the swordswoman decided that it was likely better to let Arlen and Nerissa’s conversation play out than it would be to try to interrupt it at any single point in the middle of it. Regardless of what she did, she knew things could end poorly. However, she could also sense that interrupting might make things worse than they already were because it seemed that the girl - Nerissa - was actually trying to prevent her companion from acting violently. Aiada was smart enough to realize that someone he was familiar with would be better at keeping him from fighting than she herself would ever manage to be.

She couldn’t keep a sense of annoyance from flooding her face when it turned into a music session, though, and she sighed quite dramatically. This wasn’t how she had anticipated that their conversation would end up going or she might have actually tried to stop it sooner.

Now there didn’t seem to be much point to it and waiting was certainly the wiser option than attacking would be.

Unfortunately, Arlen’s music was reaching through the trees of the forest and there were more than a few people not too far away who would definitely be able to hear the sound. One of them happened to be a brunette woman with a red ribbon in her hair and three companions who were following her blind lead through the forest. Her whole body seemed to perk up at the sound of the music and her head whipped around to glance at the other three.

“Do you guys hear that? I hear music! I’m not crazy, right? I do hear music!” For some reason or another, Captain Scarlet was so excitable at that moment that she didn’t even wait for her companions to answer her. Instead, she just set to running towards the sound, something that really probably wasn’t the best idea at all, but nothing was going to stop her and one could only hope her crewmates - and Ed - would follow simply to keep her company and to keep her safe.

Stumbling through the growth of bushes, trees and weeds, eventually the captain very nearly face-planted right in front of the tree Arlen was sitting by. She managed to regain her footing, but only just and she smiled when she saw Arlen and Nerissa. Turning back to the trees, she called out, “Hey guys! I found Arlen and Nerissa and… and friend!” Then her attention turned back to Arlen and Nerissa themselves. “What have you guys been up to?”

Aiada wasn’t about to give the pair a chance to answer. “They’re being brought back to town as are you. There’s too many strangers wandering around on the island and we have to get to the bottom of things.”

Shaking her head, Scarlet responded, “No. We need to find our crew and then figure out what to do next.” She seemed very firm in that decision if nothing else.

shadowdude505 CelticHero37 QuirkyAngel


Addy and Darren Fallk
It really didn’t take Darren too long after he had picked up the woman he could’ve sworn looked exactly like Elisa before he realized that it hadn’t been Elisa at all that he’d grabbed. Elisa would’ve known who he was the moment he touched her and the person he currently carried very clearly didn’t know who he was at all. Unfortunately, even though he realized it quickly, he still covered a fair bit of distance before he could actually put her back down and by the time he had her back on her feet, he had realized another problem.

She was young, too young to leave on her own.

“Well, that could’ve gone better,” he mumbled to himself as he shifted from the form of the bird into a human figure and turned to face Addy who was staring dumbstruck.

“You… you… you’re magic too?” Addy was seeing many magic tricks today and she wasn’t quite sure what to think of it.

Darren sighed and wondered what else she had encountered. It seemed silly to ask about it, though. “I’m sorry I picked you up. I thought you were someone else. I will walk you back to town and help you find your family.”

The young girl blinked, surprised at the apparent normalcy of hsi offer. It was the most normal thing that anyone had suggested all day. Completely forgetting about what she was supposed to be doing - because shock could very easily do that to a person - Addy nodded and they started walking back in the direction they had come from.

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Arlen Hakhassi and Nerrisa Orta
Eyes closed, Arlen let the music work its magic, his fingers nimbly dancing through the patterns to produce a tune that was oh so familiar to him. It was a song his mother often sung for him when he was child—either when he was feeling upset or when he refused to sleep. He heard it less as he grew older, needing less of her comfort as he paved his success as the Leviathan, but his recent loss at Mirestone had sparked the memory. Certainly, if he were back on Mirage Island, his mother would be the first to be by his side if he lost a fighting competition...and her voice would be the first thing he’d hear.

She always did love music.

Smiling, Arlen finished the song, pocketed his wooden flute, and moved to stand—ready to once again follow the Priestess of Water to wherever she wanted— when a figure burst through the trees towards him. He recognized her red ribbon instantly. Green eyes widening as Scarlet didn’t seem to be stopping, Arlen retreated a step only to find his back to a tree. He could side-step…but then her face might plant itself into the tree…and Arlen wasn’t that mean. He was prepared to catch the stumbling Captain. Fortunately, she’d managed to stop herself just in time. Arching an eyebrow as if to question why Scarlet seemed to be in such a hurry, Arlen’s expression nevertheless reflected his amusement as he watched her call back to the others that were with her—most likely the rest of the crew.

I knew we were taking too long.

His eyes rolled when the swordswoman was the first to answer Scarlet’s question…though it had clearly been directed him and Nerissa. “What she said—minus the part about taking you back with us. At least, that was the original plan.” The Captain of the Charybdis seemed to be giving them new orders. “We thought you and the others would be in town. We have things to tell you all too...” Verdant eyes assessed Scarlet. The fact that she said they had to figure out what to do next implied that something troubling was already going on. Was it the investigation? Had the marines Tanaka spoke of already arrived? Arlen’s gaze flickered briefly to Aiada and he sighed before continuing. “There’s been a marine order to sweep this island thrice for pirates. ”

“To tell a proper story you should start from the beginning, Arlen,” Nerissa said, not sounding hurried in the least despite Aiada’s anxious behavior. It wasn’t as if hurrying to town was going to find the ‘thief’ any faster. She smiled at the Captain of the Red Ribbon Pirates. “Hello, Miss Scarlet. I’m glad to see you’re as energetic as always despite last night’s storm.” Greetings were important to Nerissa. Whether a new face or an old one she always believed a proper introduction was the best way to start a proper conversation. “I apologize if we worried you all. A note was left at the inn…but you must not have seen it. Arlen and I were on our way to visit Pyrus’s Temple, following Aquarius’s path t—,”

“We got lost,” Arlen clarified, quickly stopping Nerissa before she could go on and on about Aquarius. He pointed straight down the path they’d been going before being stopped by the swordswoman from the Hallows. “Fortunately, we met a person who knew the way and pointed us there. Unfortunately, we were stopped by this lady,” the pointer finger shifted to Aiada. “who tells us we can’t go to the temple and that she needs to take us back to town because of an investigation.”

“It’s rude to point at people, Arlen.”

Arlen shrugged. “She didn’t give us her name. Anyway…we’ve got more important matters to deal with. Along the way we coincidentally ran into a monster-making, dagger-throwing, marine you might remember from Mirestone. He’s the one who gave us the information about the sweeping of the Hallows that’s going to occur…” Arlen’s eyes narrowed as he heard a shifting of the leaves and he reached for the scimitar at his side…just in case it was a marine. With his luck, he wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to somehow summon one with his mind. It had happened with Tanaka after all. “…personally, I don’t know what’s so great about this item everyone wants is, but I don’t think it’s worth sticking around and risking our lives over.”

“And that’s why I need to speak to Dale and ask him to halt the investigation while I consult with Aquarius. Her vision is all-encompassing. Aquarius knows where the thief is. Aquarius knows where our friends are.” Nerissa looked from Scarlet to Aiada, willing them to believe her. “I just need to find a body of water and I will show you all the great powers of my goddess.”

Lady Warlock
CelticHero37 (?)
shadowdude505 (?)

 

[Peaceswore]

Ken Tanaka

Silence and swiftness, two things that Ken excelled at....though when he starts talking that is a completely other matter. For the time being, no words were needed, all he had to do was move as swiftly as he could to his destination. He was on a time limit after all, be it the possible marine threat, or the pirate threat that could endanger his goal. Unlike the two from mirage island, he didn't run into any obstacles thanks to the path he picked to take. Where is it? He grumbled under his breath as ended up running right in a shallow yet rather large pond.

Immediately he jumped out of the water and onto some near by dry land, as he silently cussed himself out. "Damn it, I loved these shoes, now they are going to smell like a damned swamp." He grumbled hating the feeling of his shoes being wet. Sighing he looked around to see if there was anything of interest around him. "At least its no-" Before he finished his sentence his eyes landed right at the other end of the pond. "Finally." He whispered as a smirk decorated his face.

Without skipping a beat, as he didn't want to be interrupted before he could finish what he wished to accomplish. Jumping over the pond (couldn't get his shoes even more wet now could he?) he landed right at the entrance of the temple. "I've been looking for you for a while now. Went through a storm and a few conversation to get here~" He hummed softly as he placed his hand on the door, simply admiring the work before him. Taking in a deep breath he opened the door and entered the temple, letting the doors close behind him.

"Okay, it should be in plain sight..." Strolling as he took out a pen and his book he started to look around. Due to the time limit he couldn't fully enjoy the sight and had to rush in order to find what he was looking for. "Where is it??" His eyes shifting everywhere in a rush he started to notice that something from this place was missing. "You got to be kidding me!" At the end of the hall, he saw a very empty pedestals, one that indicated something important was once resting there.

Rushing over to it he stood in front of it and inspected it. "It was just here! Damn it!" He shouted in anger as he had noticed that the pedestal, at least the area were the artifact had been was dust free, it had been recently disturbed. Meaning the artifact couldn't have been gone for long.

Gritting his teeth and balling up his fist (threatening to break the pen in his hand) he had to take several deep breaths. Walking over to a wall he leaned against it before sitting down and closing his eyes, taking a moment to think things over. "Who took it? The villagers? Pirates? A Marine that wants to destroy history or...." A smirk went on his face when the realization of another potential candidate for taking the artifact came to his mind. "That woman the Aquarius lady was talking to, she was from that organization.... She has the highest chance of being the one that took the item, that or someone with her did. Standing up he put his pen and journal back into his pocket before pulling out his switchblade, which he started to flick open and close. "If she didn't, I will rip this island apart in search of it."

Sprinting out of the temple (though running normally rather than using any ability) he zoned almost everything out around him as he tried to figure out where/how he could meet the person that hopefully had the artifact. For the time being, he sprinted off in the direction he had seen the woman run off to, in hopes that he would run into her.

Lady Warlock

 

[Stormborn Targaryen]

Chase Andis
Some time had passed since Chase went in to finish working on the cloak that had been commissioned. It had now reached a point where the cloak was at a satisfactory point for Chase to called it finished, especially given that this man, Cygnus, had kind of put a bit of a rush on him. He got up from his chair and grabbed the cloak. He unlocked the door and opened it, returning to the entrance hall where he still saw Cygnus standing in the middle of the room, from their previous encounter with the two townsfolk. Chase sighed, disappointed that this headache hadn’t been cleared yet. He placed the cloak on the counter.

[color-green]“Here. This cloak is what you are going to get. It’s not my best work, I’ll admit it. However, given the situation, and given that you are a wanted man, I cannot afford to take my time on your project. Now, you are still welcome to stay in here until someone comes for you, and you are still welcome to sit up in my room, provided you do not touch anything other than the bed up there.”[/color] He pointed towards the door on the left that he had opened for Cygnus before he went in to do the job, as to remind him of where he was referencing.

Chase continued, “I have to go back to the inn. I accepted another job earlier from the innkeep, and I need to get the specifications for it. Don’t mess anything up. I really don’t want to take you to Dale, but I will if you cause me any more of a problem. And if any more townsfolk come for you, I’m not stopping them from taking you. I’ll be back later.”

Before Chase left, he turned back and made sure his workshop and his closet were locked. He left the door that led to his bedroom open for Cygnus, and hung up his away sign in the door to his shop, and went outside.

As Chase moved towards the inn, he noticed that there were two people being peppered with tomatoes from the townsfolk. He guessed it likely had something to do with the recent thievery of the relic. Chase silently moved on, deciding not to get himself involved in any deeper trouble than he already was.

When Chase reached the inn, he noticed that innkeeper had a sign showing that he was not present at the moment. Chase rolled his eyes. Nothing for it, I guess. Chase turned back to his shop, and stood outside the shop, resting, feeling slightly grateful that the innkeeper wasn’t there. It gave him a chance to take a break, and perhaps see if anyone would come to fetch this man that was inside his shop. He leaned against a nearby building, eyes wandering around, looking for anything that might catch his eye.

Felix

 

[Felix]

All sense of time passing by had faded away. If it had ever been there in the first place. Cygnus had come to terms with his predicament. He couldn’t cry anymore as his eyes were completely dry. His head was lying on the brim of the small rowboat. He had draped his cloak over his head in away that he was shaded from the sun, but could still see the horizon. Not that he could see much with his soaring eyes. Apparently, not all hope had left him. Somehow, somewhere in his body there was a little light. A little will to live. He clung onto it with all he had. Despair tried to pull him down, while it was also the main reason to hang on. All was focused on the horizon. On that one hazy point in the far distance. Many ships had already passed, but this one was different. For some reason Cygnus felt like this ship was his salvation. It was slow though. The waters were so calm that they mirrored the sky. There was no wind either. But that point, that ship, was surely getting nearer. Cygnus would just have to believe in it.

In the meantime Cygnus’ body was still breathing. Maybe it was the exact same spark that made it move. That same will to live, manifested in a soul. If you could even classify it as one. It registered the environment for stimuli. Fight or flight? Whatever it took to survive.

“Here,” a man was talking to It. “This cloak is what you are going to get. It’s not my best work, I’ll admit it. However, given the situation, and given that you are a wanted man, I cannot afford to take my time on your project. Now, you are still welcome to stay in here until someone comes for you, and you are still welcome to sit up in my room, provided you do not touch anything other than the bed up there.” The words had very little meaning to It. The man kept on talking, but It was not listening anymore. It had his cloak back again. It was time to move again.

The other man walked out of the shop. Cygnus slowly got up. Slowly, but determined. It paid no attention to the drapes that fell to the ground. The being picked up the cloak from the table and put it on in a single steady movement. With short, yet surefooted strides he walked over to the door. He pushed open the door without walking through. It allowed his eyes to adjust to the sunlight, before rushing into potentially dangerous environments. It put the hood of his cape over his head and assured that his entire torso and arms were concealed. Then It put his foot outside. And then the other. Back to the first one. Fully synchronized, the steps took him further. “Ship” It murmured.

Cygnus sat straight up. He saw something moving under the water. The surface was still smooth as a mirror, but underneath whisps of light were slowly passing by. Some were brighter than others. Some were alone and some together. Cygnus tried to focus on one of them, but he couldn’t discern any features. There were two whisps that were brighter than the others. They looked almost humanoid. One of them wore a marine jacket it seemed. But they too passed by the small boat Cygnus was on. They were all moving away from the ship, each at their own speed. The ship too was certainly moving. The dot on the horizon had grown in size. It was certainly coming closer. Cygnus felt relieved. His rescue was near.

It was walking through the streets. His feet moving one by one in a continuous loop. It paid no attention to the other people in the street. Some didn’t give It any attention either. Others were suspiciously eying the stranger. However, none dared to interfere. The air around the hooded man had a dangerous and primal taste. No one wanted to come between a bull and its target, out of fear for becoming the target. There were pirates and powerful marines on the island, you know? Now was not the time to be all heroic. Unless you were a fool.

“Hey, you there,” Like this guy for instance. A muscular guy walked over to the hooded man, who did not stop in his tread. The stranger did not show any sign of response. “Hey, I‘m talking to you! Are you deaf?” Still the stranger did not respond and continued to move on. “Stop right there! I’m taking you to Dale. You must be one of those filthy pirates.” The hooded man did not stop. Several other people in the street did. They murmured amongst themselves. “Didn’t you hear me?! I told you to stop!” Then he made a mistake. He stepped right in front of the It and pushed against the shoulder. It could have done many things. Many cruel things. But It had a mission. This man was simply in the way. “Amputate” It said monotonous while he made a vertical line with his wing underneath the hood. The hand on its shoulder let loose in surprise. It simply stepped forward. As he came in contact with the muscular body it parted for him liked a door. “What the-?” Two halves of a man fell beside It. One on each side of It. The crowd looked at the scene with open mouths. They could not apprehend what had happened. Neither could the two halves of a man, that were somehow still alive. It took a fool minute before the silence was broken. A small kid started crying. Just like that the mob came back to reality. A woman screamed. Some men shouted in angry frustration, still not able to put it in words. They wanted to go after the man and confront him, but their instincts told them to run. They couldn’t handle this monster. At least not on their own. As a collective mind moved them they started running away and shouting for helping. The hooded creature had already moved on. Now running towards his goal:

The ship, it was coming closer much faster now. The sea was also not as silent anymore. Ever since that first whisp had attacked the boat it was in turmoil. Behind the boat a flock of whisps had started to speed up and cause big waves. The other whisps had also started transforming. They had moved through the surface and started looking more like afterimages. They were also clearly humanoid know. As the ship came closer Cygnus could recognize some characteristics, but they were too fast to be sure. There was a mother with child. A group of soldiers. An old man. Cygnus even thought that he saw a bright silhouette shaped like Jasper, but that couldn’t be. Jasper certainly was not a ghost, right?

It didn’t care. It knew his host had some kind of attachment with the lump of flesh he had just passed, but for It the lump was nothing more than that. It turned around the corner and finally found what he was looking for.

Bonk! The small rowboat came to a halt against the gang plank of the ship. Cygnus was in tears. This was not what he had hoped for. The ship that had come to his rescue was completely in ruins. He wouldn’t be able to sail out with this. It appeared to be empty at that. The only consoling factor was that it looked very familiar. The hull had fairly the same shape as the Charybdis. For some reason, he did not need the consolation. His tears were not tears of fear or sadness. They were of bitter anger. Why he felt angry Cygnus did not know.

“RRRAAAHHH!” It let out a roar. Who had laid waste on his goal? Who had gotten here before he had? That person would pay dearly. It calmed himself down. It was so unlike him to be so emotional. There was only one way to survive, assess the situation and find a way out. Cygnus entered the boat. He looked around. His eye immediately fell on a cannon ball. Underneath a folded piece of black cloth and a piece of paper. He rolled the ball over and picked up the paper.


Dear pirates,

The current situation is self-explanatory.

Yours sincerely,
Liutenant Commander Draven

P.S. Your Jolly Roger looks cuter now that it is burnt.


It ripped apart the letter. He needed it. Or so he told himself. Part of him felt good about destroying the letter of the destroyer. The wind unfolded the piece of cloth underneath to reveal a slightly charred pink ribbon. That’s why it felt so familiar. This actually was The Charybdis. But where was everyone? Had they survived? It frantically looked around. It only saw the stumps of the mast scattered among the remains of the sails. “ROOM!” A big bubble expanded around him. The air almost felt electric, like the smell of ozone before a storm. With a firm slash of his wings Cygnus severed the splintered part of the masts from the solid part. What was the purpose? Was it just to let loose of some feelings that were building inside? With another slash he did the same for the rest of the masts that lay fallen on the deck.

It felt that he was losing grip. He would have to do it right now. There was a sense of poetry in using the destroyers not to repair the ship. Though he could not remember when he had started to care about such things. He placed a piece of paper on each cleaned stump. Now he had to concentrate. “Shambles!” Cygnus shouted. For a moment the surroundings had flickered. He was not at an open sea anymore, but at a port of a small village. He had to concentrate to get back. The fatigue made it very hard to do so. It saw that it worked. One of the masts was reattached. It was not perfect though. The railing on which it had fallen was still smashed to bits and the mast was certainly shorter than before. The sail was still ripped as well, but at least it would be able to catch some wings. It had taken its toll on Its stamina. Yet another month of life had been waisted on repairing a ship. It was not entirely wasted though. It was a necessity to survive he just had to pull through to do the other one. He took and almost fell to the floor. Black spots crossed his vision. He used his arm to pull himself up on the railing. “SHAMBLES!” Cygnus heard himself say. Then he turned around and fell to the deck. The last thing he saw before completely blacking out was too masts standing tormented, but proud. And then … there was nothing once more, but this time it was really nothing.


Mentioned: Stormborn Targaryen AllHailDago Pequeno Burraidh Lady Warlock

 

[Lady Warlock]

Dale Vroegan
Fairly certain that that situation was well handled, Dale made his way back to the center of the city where he honestly expected a few people to have been brought back into town by now. They had two of them already, but the island wasn’t actually that big so it didn’t seem to him like it should take very long at all to gather more people so he could get the inquiries done faster and more efficiently. Unfortunately, as he returned to the center situation, he didn’t see any more potential thieves having been gathered.

It was still just Limstella and Tamashi.

Dale simply sighed and watched as more people came in, reported and tagged out again. At least there was some searching getting done. “What have we searched so far?” Dale asked a man who was marking off spots on a map.

“We’re actually making significant progress as far as ground is covered, but we haven’t found anything. Either they’re all on the move and moving quickly or we will find them soon. Which it will be, I can’t really say.”

“Hmm.” Only time would tell and time was passing more and more now.

However, something did seem to be going according to plan. It wasn’t a long trek at all before Tucker returned bearing a single marine and Dale smiled as he saw them approach. “Welcome to The Hallows!” he greeted Pyrrha promptly. “I must say that it is infrequent that we get marine visitors in our home. I am Dale, the leader of this little land and as I’m sure you’ve already realized, we are in a bit of trouble. There are pirates on our island and another guest as well and they’ve stolen something of ours. It would be absolutely wonderful if you could help us retrieve it before taking the pirates as prisoners. It is quite valuable to us.”

For now, Dale was content with only that small amount of detail on the situation because he wasn’t quite sure how much Tucker had filled in and he was also certain that if she had questions, Pyrrha would ask.

“We do have two already although I haven’t gotten a chance to search them just yet,” he added, gesturing towards Limstella and Tamashi.


Addy and Darren Fallk
Darren had been politely walking the little girl he’d accidentally grabbed back into town and he was quick to realize once he got back into town that town itself was rather empty. It was odd and he found himself wondering why the little girl had been all alone in town in the first place. Then he remembered that she hadn’t been alone. There had been another but they seemed to be gone now. ‘That’s unfortunate,’ he realized. His gaze turned to look down at her and he asked, “Is there anywhere you’d like me to bring you to?”

“I had a friend before,” Addy said to him.

“I know, but they don’t seem to be here anymore. Do you have family I might be able to bring you back to?” He thought that was a reasonable expectation for him to have and he thought it would be the easiest solution to their problem as well.

She nodded. “Yes. This way.” Now Addy was leading the way and she was leading him towards the center of town now. The little girl didn’t know that going that way could get Darren into trouble and Darren wasn’t really worried enough about any particular situation to care that much about where she was leading him. However, when someone called out to him, he had to snap to attention.

“Hey! You! You’re not from here!!”

Dale’s head turned to see that Addy was returning accompanied by a stranger and he immediately started running towards him.

“Uh oh.” It was merely a mumble before Dale released Addy’s hand and allowed himself to transform. It was slow because he didn’t want random wings to accidentally hit Addy and his feet kicked up off the ground to take flight just before Dale reached him. Up where he was, they couldn’t really do anything and he remained there to get a better look of the scene.

Unable to catch him, Dale was left looking rather silly, but he could also point the eagle out to the marine who was now with them. “That one… he wasn’t with the pirates before, but he definitely doesn’t belong here.”

And it was quite possible that Pyrrha would recognize Darren, too, although it was just as possible that she didn’t. Darren had recently been seen sneaking into a forbidden library heavily guarded by marines. They still hadn’t tallied what had been taken yet, but the marines were sure something must have been. His face was known for that. He’d had a companion with him too although that one wasn’t quite identified. Regardless, it brought to question what he was doing there on The Hallows.

Nenma Takashi @TheForgottenDoll shadowdude505 P Peaceswore

 

[Peaceswore]

Elisa Pentana and Ken Tanaka

For the longest time, it seemed that Elisa had resigned herself to watching in hopes that she would pick up on any little detail at all that might help her get back to her ship because nothing else was working. She had seen when Dale had dispersed the crowds around the light post and the creature that had crawled up it and then she had to move just a bit because many of those people then took to the trees to search for more prisoners. Had she stayed where she was, she would’ve been caught for sure.

Where she wound up moving to only helped her to continue observing, though. It wasn’t by intention, but rather, by luck, that she followed to a place where she could still see Dale and her eyes rose wide when she saw that the marines really had arrived. That only complicated the situation and Elisa was aware of that. Watching was still her best option, though, and she remained where she was. That lasted until she saw Darren walk in. Him she recognized. Him she knew because he was her crewmate and he wasn’t supposed to be there… not one little bit. “What are you doing, idiot?” she mumbled to herself under her breath because if Darren got caught, then she knew her own situation would become ten times more difficult.

Without so much as thinking about it, Elisa stood up as though to run at him. If she could get to him first, then he could get her off the island. She knew that much. However, she wasn’t considering that she couldn’t actually get to him first.

After Elisa took a single step, a hand went over her mouth before another went around her waist, only for her to be pulled back into the bushes and a bit further. “Don’t do anything stupid.” Ken whispered, his hood now up, covering a good deal of his face. “And don’t scream, I really hate it when people scream.” Yes, Ken was just the best when it came to not scaring someone he snuck up on. “Believe it or not, I’m here to help you. I’m going to move my hand, seriously don’t scream or we are both screwed.” After saying this he slowly moved his hand from her mouth.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she realized she couldn’t quite get out words that she had originally been intending to call to her crewmate. Then her body completely froze because she wasn’t sure who she had been grabbed by but she could only think of people she didn’t want to be grabbed by at that exact moment. Though there wasn’t much she could do, Elisa didn’t scream and she didn’t struggle because she was curious more than anything else. And she had heard the voice before. She had overheard it briefly when she had left Arlen and Nerissa. Elisa hadn’t quite decided whether that was a good thing or a bad thing yet, though.

“Why would you be here to help?” she asked. “I don’t think there’s anyone on this island with any reason to help me.” Except Darren, who wasn’t supposed to be on the island, but she didn’t need to mention that.

Seeing she didn’t scream took a weight off his shoulders as he also let go of her waist, not placing his hands in his pockets. “I may be the only person here that actually wants to help and has the means to do so.” Ken hummed as he smirke. “However that completely depends on one thing. The artifact from the temple, do you have it?” He asked before looking away from her, as he looked around the area to make sure no one was near.

The moment she was able to do so, Elisa turned around so that she could face him completely just because that tended to make interactions go a lot more smoothly. “What happens if you find it?” she countered. “Sometimes a lot of damage comes disguised as ‘help’.” One thing was clear. Elisa wasn’t about to trust anyone with the information he was seeking without good reason to do so.

“Just as much damage will happen if the average marine gets their hand on the artifact, assuming you have it.” Ken stated simply. “Something we both want to avoid, that is if you care about a certain history they are trying to snuff out.”

It was clear on her face that Elisa still didn’t like the situation. She wasn’t used to trusting random strangers and she wasn’t use to people trying to talk in riddles either. Yes, she knew the answers to them, but that didn’t change the fact that very few others would understand. “Do you mean to take it?” All Elisa was looking for was a straightforward answer to something but she also knew that her consistent inquiries likely made it more clear that she did actually have it.

“I saw the scroll you gave that other woman, you’re part of Guardiani.” Ken stated before sighing as he adjusted his hood some. “And as much as it pains me to say it, that artifact will be far safer in your care then mine, due to my… situation.”

It seemed they were in agreement on one thing and that was enough. “I need to get it off the island but there are watchers by the boat and marines on the island.” She sounded slightly defeated even though she clearly wasn’t finished yet. “You know that the marines would confiscate it and destroy it eventually; that’s why it can’t stay here.” She didn’t even want to think of what they would melt it down and turn it into. All of its historical value would be lost not to mention any power that it still had would be destroyed.

Ken gave a simple nod as he put his hand back in his pocket, as he now flicked his switchblade open and close. “Let me see the artifact.” He said as he pulled out a journal with the other hand. “I can do something that will make the villagers calm down for a bit. Sadly I can’t and won’t do anything to directly fight the marines.”

The flicking of a switchblade made her nervous. Elisa wasn’t much of a fighter and she was starting to fear that maybe she had put her trust in the wrong person, but she couldn’t really take anything back anymore. Slowly she reached into a bag she had slung over her shoulder and she pulled out a diadem. Unlike one would expect of an artifact of a fire god, it glowed with white pearls embedded in the crown. Her grip on it was tight, too. Elisa’s knuckles were nearly white because of it. “This doesn’t leave my sight.” she declared firmly.

“It doesn’t even have to leave your hand.” Ken stated easily seeing the other’s nervousness. Something he would adore messing with, however now wasn’t the time for his entertainment. Putting away the switchblade he looked at the artifact and smiled softly. “Beautiful, why those meat heads want to destroy this….” Sighing he shook his head as he opened the book he was holding before pulling out a pen. On one page he already had a rough draft in of the diadem in it, though a decent amount of detail was missing. “Hold it out so I can see everything about it. I need to draw it as thoroughly as possible.”

Although she didn’t quite understand what he was doing, there was nothing else she could have been doing at that moment. Elisa’s head turned in every direction to make sure that there was no one watching them and then she held it in both hands, turning it occasionally to let him see all the angles. There was nothing wrong with artwork representing something so valuable; it would be confiscated right away if any marine ever saw it, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be made so she simply allowed it without comment.

Ken drew with great precision, any mistake he made was quickly rectified before he continued on. “This is going to be a simple thing, you give the fake to the leaders, or have someone give it to him. That should make the villagers calm down, and the watchers will leave your ship alone. If they don’t I can do something else about them. Luckily for you the only marine ships are at the docks, you should be long gone before they have a chance to even consider you a threat. Though seeing as you are a pirate, I doubt they will even bat an eye at you.”

Understanding dawned in Elisa’s eyes as she realized what he was attempting to do. “You’re going to make a replica? How?” She really hadn’t encountered many of the abilities of the world aside from Darren’s so now an honest curiosity seeped into her voice.

Ken smirked a bit as he continued what he was doing. “Magic~” He hummed before stopping his hand as he looked over the drawing. He then showed it to her. “Those this look like the real deal to you?” He asked, as she showed her the picture which had a great deal of detail despite the short amount of time he had. A professional work of art if he did say so himself.

“Magic…” Elisa repeated with some very evident doubt. She wasn’t going to stop him, though. Then as he showed her the drawing, she could only nod. Never before had she seen someone produce something so beautiful so quickly and it actually made her a bit saddened to realize how easy it seemed. She liked to think that if something truly had value, it really wouldn’t have been that easy, but there was a lot Elisa didn’t know about many ways of the world just yet. “Yes. Yes it does. It’s just a picture, though…” she added, letting her confusion speak for itself.

“Yes, just a picture, until~” Ken looked at the photo and snapped his fingers once. “Appear.” With that there was a small poof and in a blink of an eye the picture became 3D. Picking it up he inspected it a bit and gave a nod of personal approval. “And now it's not. Though it's not the real thing either, just the best replica you are going to get in such short notice.” He stated as he looked at her before handing it to her. She would see it had the same feel as the genuine one, despite it not being it.

Taking what he handed her, there was no small amount of awe on her expression as she took in what he had just created and Elisa knew that if she wasn't careful, it was quite possible that she would mix them up herself. “It’s perfect,” she muttered. “I’m almost afraid to ask what you want in return…”

“Its close to perfect, not perfect.” Ken said with a light sigh as he looked at the fake. “It will pass for the time being, but it won’t last forever, since it's small it should stay around for several days. After that it turns back to a drawing. More importantly, you can’t get it wet. The moment it gets wet it becomes 2D again.” He warned as he looked toward the town. “They are still going to lose their artifact, but you will be gone before they know. Now as for what I want in return~” Looking up at the sky as he let out a hum as he seemed to think about what he wanted. “How about this, don’t get caught okay? It will be a pain for me to try and steal the artifact from the government, so don’t make me have to be in such pain~” A snicker leaving him he started to move towards the woods. “I’m not leaving till I know the artifact is safe. I will be nearby though you probably won’t see me. If something goes wrong or you need my help to escape, welp I’m just a blink away~”

She wasn’t inclined to trust his answer… that he didn’t want anything at all in exchange aside from her actually managing to get the artifact off the island safely. In fact, Elisa knew that since he had seen the map, he could likely find her whenever he wanted and get something later. She wasn’t fond of the idea, but she really hadn’t done enough to try and argue with him either. “Thank you,” she did say because he had definitely earned that much. “I guess my next task is to find someone to deliver it.” She wasn’t about to parade into town herself because if they knew she had it in the first place, that might give them reason to arrest her… not to mention, there was a marine there and she didn’t trust them.

Of course, she had just trusted one without knowing it, but that was besides the point.

Ken blinked a bit when he was thanked and smirked. “You are ever so welcome~ Though I think thanks should be saved once you actually get off the island.” He hummed before doing a small stretch. With that he turned on his heel and started to walk off. “Good luck with that, if worst comes to worst, just wear a disguise, take the fake and place it in an obvious spot with a note on it or something. Though that would raise flags, it should lower several more.” Giving her a small wave he continued to walk off without so much as a bye or without even bothering to learn her name.