West Blue Arc: The Hallows

Pequeno Burraidh · Mar 29, 2017

Hollis had, for most of the exchange done his best to reel in his quickly growing temper. Still, he hadn't remained quiet through their exchange, though if they had caught any of his words he'd have been surprised. He had said nothing to them after all. No, there were words had, but they were simple and direct.

"Soldier, that is a Mink, a child by the looks of it, Draven be damned, I hear your rifle retort, I will personally see myself reinstated and execute you for murder, and I don't necessarily mean in that order. Now go check on the child."

Being honest, he didn't often find himself wanting to hurt anyone, but these two men both angered him so god damned much. One, a pirate, trying to carry himself as a prim and proper Marine minded man, and the other, a rather despicable man hidden behind the morally right sided moniker of Marine. His ears garnered none of their conversation, just as they hadn't heard his orders to the Marine sent after the Mink. He didn't want to hear any of it any way, the games these people played with other's lives.

Still, his eyes didn't leave Jasper.

Draven, he didn't like Draven one bit, but Jasper... he was the Marine that got away. The Marine that showed all the other Marines that they could do it too. As far as he was concerned, if it weren't for his blatant display of open defiance against the capabilities of the Marines, Ferra wouldn't have followed suite. She would have known to take the higher road, the safer road, like he and his mentor had.

Blood draining from his hands, whitening his knuckles as he gripped his sword tighter and tighter, Hollis suddenly let out an uncharacteristically loud roar of rage as she ran forward, sword upraised. He wasn't going to kill Jasper though. No, he was certain the man would be able to help him find Ferra. But still, any unruly object, treated with the right amount of percussive maintenance...

"Face me Jasper, you traitorous son of a whore!"

AllHailDago

shadowdude505 · Apr 3, 2017

Cletus T. Bass, Ed Pepelu Tivruski, & Wantanabe Hotaka Wasabi
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Cletus stopped walking when he heard the flute music and smoked his cigarette as he thought about what it meant. Obviously someone was playing music out in the forest, but the question was who. Whoever it was probably didn't know what was going on in the village, or didn't care. The music could be originating from a villager that had decided to walk through the woods before the pirate hunt began, or it could be one of his crewmates showing a talent Cletus didn't know he or she had. Unless it was really an elaborate trap set up to make the Red Ribbon Pirates head toward the innocent sounding music.

Cletus wanted to voice his opinion about the music, but Scarlet ran off before he could. Leaving the shipwright with the only option of running after her, hoping for the best, while preparing for the worst.

Ed had known that there was someone ahead of them for some time, however, she didn't do anything about it until Scarlet started running after the music. She could tell that Cletus was about to follow her, so she slung down from the tree she was in so as not to get left behind. Plopping onto his shoulders, she giggled, pointing forward and calling out, "Mush!"

Cletus grunted as the hyperactive girl landed on his shoulders. She wasn't that heavy, but he hadn't been expecting it either. "Get off me, kid," he grumbled at Ed, exhaling smoke from his cigarette as he talked. He would have tried to shake her off his back, but didn't want to slow down or fall over. If Scarlet was running toward trouble, she'd need him.

"Who are you callin' kid?!" she exclaimed as she pointed forward, "Focus on the task at hand, soldier! I won't have none of that sissy talk 'round here, you got me?" As opposed to Ed going on with her spiel, Wasabi had seemed to completely disappear. When it came to combat, he tried to make a habit of striking first.

"I'm gettin' to old for this...," Cletus grumbled to himself. He continued to run until he caught up with Scarlet. He spotted Arlen and Nerrisa, which was good because it meant that they hadn't been captured...yet. The other woman there seamed intent on dragging their hides back to the village. Cletus didn't want that to happen, but he had his own problems to deal with first.

"OK. We're here," he grumpily said to Ed. "Now get off."

Ed climbed off of Cletus, crawling down like some sort of lizard before hopping to the ground. Then she continued to crawl on the ground, sniffing as she came up next to Scarlet. Turning her gaze toward the newcomers, she asked, "Do you know these people?"

"Those two are our crewmates," Cletus replied, pointing at Arlen and Nerrisa. "She, on the other hand, is from the village."

Cletus took a drag on his cigarette before addressing Aiada directly. "I take it you aren't accustomed to things being stolen. It would have been a lot easier if you if the villagers hadn't turned this into a witch hunt. A skilled thief can easily use chaos to help him escape. He's probably long gone by now."

"Or maybe not," he added. "Though the longer you stand around here, the more likely it is that you'll lose whatever you're all in a tizzy over. I get it if you don't trust us, I didn't live this long by bein' gullible, but stop and use your head for a minute. If you seriously want to start a fight now, well...the odds aren't in your favor, missy. Unless you have some men hiding around us."

Cletus took a quick glance around him at the woods as he smoked. After not spotting any villagers, he looked back at Aiada. "We've tried to avoid violence. You see, we're not the kind of pirates that enjoy senseless bloodshed, but we do care about our crew. If you mess with them, you'll be lucky if the captain even decides to help you find some trinket. But that's enough of an old man barkin', what'll it be missy?" he asked in in his usual grumpy tone.

Ed stood up and placed her hands on her hips as she nodded, "Yeah, we're not the... wait, we're pirates? Cool! We're not about violence, ya hear that? So what's it gonna be? Ain't no thieves 'round here. Although... you might run into some people that would call me a thief, but they've got it all wrong. I haven't even been here long enough to steal the... wait, what did I steal?"

Lady Warlock · Apr 7, 2017

Dale Vroegan, Darren Fallk and Addy

Dale wanted to be completely ok with marine presence because in truth, he knew that they would be highly valuable in their search for the escaped pirates. However, it was hard for him because he knew that they would also not be overly friendly if they found the artifact that his people valued so highly because it was something the marine organization believed had been destroyed so long ago now. If any one of them recognized it for what it really was, Dale feared the marines could become an even greater threat than the pirates themselves. It wasn’t a pleasant situation overall.

“We will do what we can to make sure you are informed on the whereabouts of the ones we do manage to catch,” was the only agreement he could comfortably let slide from his lips in the moments before the situation shifted to something potentially more dangerous.

Seeing the woman attack the bird, he had to blink a few times in surprise at what was possible with a few swings of a weapon. However, he wasn’t at liberty to remain dumbstruck for too long because he soon realized that Addy hadn’t gotten herself too far away from the situation before it had turned violent and more magical than Dale wanted to believe. With a quick wave of his hand, he called her over and herded the little girl away from the violence of the situation as it escalated.

Addy listened simply because you didn’t not listen to Dale when you lived in The Hallows. “I’m sorry,” she quickly started apologizing. “I messed up and… and… I did awful.”

Dale just kept nudging the girl behind him, not really concerned with anything other than the situation unfolding in front of him at the moment. “You don’t have to worry about it now, ok Addy?” She nodded hesitantly and watched just like he was.

Meanwhile, Darren would’ve been just as concerned about getting the little girl out of the way, but if he had allowed himself to act on that instinct, then he wouldn’t have been able to get out of the way of the incoming attacks. It was a matter of what he valued most and he had to prioritize himself in his current situation because he was the only one who could get Elisa off the island now and he still had to find her. That was his motivation for everything.

Of course, he didn’t stop when Pyrrha told him to. Halting would have been the equivalent of allowing himself to fall from the sky and even if he did want to surrender - which he didn’t - falling only to land and break a limb didn’t seem like a wise way to go about it. Wings still flapping, he found himself swerving left and right. Dodging one. Dodging two. Dod… nope. One air slash clipped at his wing and he curled it into his body almost like he was cradling an arm. Even while a bird, his mannerisms were still very recognizable as human and Darren still felt and thought human.

His whole body was thrown off balance and he turned to fly away, Unfortunately, to get anything done, he had to extend that wing and it was highly intolerable. Two fierce flaps helped him to reach the trees and then he could be seen sinking into the canopy, unable to actually sustain his flight. No doubt he would start running the moment he hit the ground, though…

“He’s going to get away!” One of the townspeople screamed and without even thinking about it, that person ran into the trees. For good or for bad, they completely forgot that it had been their job to restrain Limstella.

Misuteeku

Elisa Pentana

Once again, Elisa was alone. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but at least now she had a plan. Or… a piece of a plan. The situation she could see unfolding through the trees wasn’t exactly the most reassuring thing in the world; she saw the slash clip Darren’s wing and she struggled not to call out to him. If he knew where she was, that would just make everything so much easier, but if all the villagers and their marine friend found her, she didn’t imagine her plan would play out well. She still had to keep the true artifact safe.

Instead of making a scene, which she very easily could have, Elisa slipped the real diadem back into her bag and held the replica in her hand. She actually wanted someone to see it, to try to get it back. They would find that she was entirely willing to return it, actually.

Then she started running. She started running because she’d seen where Darren had flown off to and she knew that she needed to get to him so that they could both get away. In fact, if she got to him fast enough, the replica might not even be needed after all.

Both Elisa and Darren were running now, though, which certainly didn’t bode well for her actually catching him too quickly.

Misuteeku · Apr 7, 2017

Limstella

Seeing herself free, Limstella silently cheered for herself. Taking a good look around her surroundings she noticed that Tamashi wasn't near her. Oh well she can take care of herself. Limstella silently walked off without her noticing her. Priorities right now was to either find Scarlet, or find a good place to hide.

Taking no mind on what was going around her, she crept away to find somewhere safe. Thankfully they didn't search for any weapons while apprehending her, and didn't bother to search through her sleeves, so she still had a metal fan so that was a plus. Beside the fact that they were chasing bird brain she might as well run away.

Sprinting away from the situation, she tried to locate were Scarlet was. No luck was acquired however when she couldn't even find a single trace of Scarlet. "No no no no, this will not do" This was getting rather frustrating. If she didn't find anyone or find a good hiding place to hide then she might as well be a goner.

QuirkyAngel · Apr 8, 2017

Draven, Jasper, and Hollis
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AllHailDago and

Pequeno Burraidh

A thin, finely shaped eyebrow arched as Draven watched Hollis attack Jasper. It was an…unexpected…turn of events. Given that Hollis hadn’t seemed to care too much about Tucker, or aiding the villagers in their hunt for pirates, Draven figured the Ex-commander would have no reason to assist in the capture of Jasper Pharos. Hollis had made it abundantly clear at the shore that he was not a marine and no longer had the obligations of one. Yet here he was charging at the enemy before them like an undisciplined plebeian.

Personal vendetta then. Just like Pharos.

“How unfortunate, Mister Pharos” Draven sighed. Smoothly drawing his rapier, the scraggly-haired blonde stood like a fencer—one arm behind his back, torso straight, and a thin blade trained towards this prey. His black, fur-trimmed marine jacket billowed. “That you would believe vengeance to be a sign of loyalty.”

Listening to Jasper’s response had allowed him to conclude several interesting facts. The first was that the pirate crew involved in Selene Burgess’s death was protected by the marines—likely one of the Warlords—which would certainly cause political squabble. The second was that Pharos’s current master, and the probable Captain of the pirate crew infesting the island, was female.

The third is that petty lies won't work on this man.

Raising a black-gloved hand, to keep the other remaining recruits from following Hollis’s example, Draven made a simple whirling motion with a single finger—ordering the World Government’s law enforcers to surround Jasper and Hollis, while at the same time giving the two a bit of space. Five in total, not counting the one he’d sent to capture the cat. There were also watchers present in the forest. For now, the Lieutenant commander decided that watching and waiting for an opening to strike was best. A fight between two former marine commanders, both with bearing some sort of personal grudge, was oddly beautiful in his eyes. Still, that didn't Draven planned on keeping silent. Once trained on a prey, Draven wasn't the type to let go easily.

“Coined a different way, a master-less servant can be considered a free man, no?” Cool, glacial eyes glinted, emitting a transient spark of something akin to emotion as that line was spoken. Draven smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “In your case, though, you seem to be juggling between two masters. A pity. You’ll only fail again. After all, a man whose loyalty is so shamelessly divided can’t possibly protect what’s important to him.”

Jasper quizzially eyed a tanned, dark haired man with a tattoo over his brow who had burst out in some sort of rage at him. With a simple back stepping Kamisori, Jasper landed on a tree branch out of reach but in plain view. "Traitorous son of a whore? Perhaps you are right, I do not know my parents so that could be accurate. Though i hardly see the relevance. Was that supposed to goad me? Surely you have better quips than that!" He turned his eyes, but not his body, to the other man.

"You seem to like shooting your mouth off, do you not?" He smirked in a manner that did not convey actual mirth, but rather disdain. "Vengeance, loyalty, division. My ideals are no more divided than they have ever been. I can serve my current Lady just fine until such time as I can kill that crew. Then I will return to serving her just as I have. I doubt she would very well mind if I did away with the crew after all. They are a despicable sort and would only hinder her progress to the One Piece in any case."

He thought to himself for a moment and said with a small bubble of laughter in his tone. "Besides, they're known to kill civilian merchants. Of which some are assuredly tailors and those that work in fashion. She might want to kill a few herself in that case!" After a moment or two of chuckling over that his gaze turned stony and his mouth a firm line once more. "Now, enough chatter. You wish to kill or capture me? Try or move from my path." With nigh silence he used Kamisori to return to the ground. Equally between the two men intent on engaging him.

He shifted, putting one hand forward, thumb inward, palm out. Lowering his center of gravity and shifting slightly forward as he did. Unarmed combat was not his favorite style, but he was more than well trained in it as prerequisite to his ex-Mistresses' service. His eyes seemed to lose focus as he stopped focusing solely on what was in front of him, and instead paid attention to all in his field of vision. There was no mistaking the look. He was ready to fight and kill.

Watching as his target disappeared from in front of him, Hollis didn't even stop his sword from biting deeply into the ground. Listening to his words as he spoke from above, Hollis only turned to face him again when he took position on the ground once more. It was only now that he noticed something interesting.

"Traitor, you have no weapon on you?"

Jasper took note of the other Marines surrounding him with minimal note. They were hardly a threat comparatively, but he noted their position in case. Jasper responded to the tattooed man without looking directly at him. "I had no desire to spook the townsfolk. We have as little intention of hurting them as you do." He stopped for a beat, casting a glance on Draven before returning to keeping his attention on everyone. "Adendum. Less intention than you do."

"Is that so?" Draven said casually as he watched Jasper reappear on the ground, taking note of the former marine's speed. His weapon followed Jasper's movements so that it continued to point at the pirate, but otherwise the lieutenant commander remained perfectly still. "We haven't even made it to town yet so don't you think you're getting a little too ahead of yourself there, Mr. Pharos? Hurt the citizens of the Hallows? We've no such intentions." Draven shook his head mournfully. " You savants of the sea, on the other hand, seem to have riled up the townsfolk a tad"

"Bah." Hollis spat out, wrenching his sword from its hewn slot in the ground before slamming it back down into a more solid 'sheath' in the ground, "Enough of this talk, t-"

In response one of the Marines nodded and began raising his rifle back up to train it on Jasper. Hollis' eyes narrowed as he reached out and shoved the Marine aside simply and easily, toppling the smaller man with but a push.

"No, you stay out of this. Draven, it would be best for you to go and find your friends. They could help us now. This traitor, however, answers to me first and foremost."

Leaving his sword in the ground Hollis stepped forward towards Jasper, raising his fists in a brawling position as he readied himself for the fight. He knew it was likely a mistake as well. He'd seen this man, as well as his sister far back on that day the pair had destroyed a whole pirate crew on their own, but it didn't matter.

Jasper was his key to the door.

Lunging forward, Hollis threw a light, left jab out at the well dressed pirate, intent on garnering knowledge on the capabilities of who he was dealing with.

Jasper was rather taken aback by the man pushing over the lower ranked Marine. Were they not allies? He turned his attention to his halfhearted jab. He blocked it with the back of his right hand, palm in, deflecting it away from him equally halfheartedly. Such a gauging blow did not deserve an actual attempt to block it.

Draven's eyes narrowed. Not a very well thought out plan coming from the former commander. Foolhardy, really. He was about to respond negatively, but the sound of an attack coming from town drew Draven's gaze to the sky where one of Pyrhha's energy slashes hit...a bird.

Is the Captain hunting...?

No. From what he'd witnessed of Pyrrha, the woman wasn't the type to indulge in such frivolities. Something was clearly going on in town. Still...his orders had been to keep an eye on Hollis. And leaving a wanted criminal like Jasper out of his sights wasn't something he'd normally do...much less let a civilian fight a pirate alone.

Under normal circumstances that is.

Letting out sigh, Draven sheathed his rapier.

"Very well," Draven looked between Hollis and Jasper, his lips curling up in amusement before his gaze landed on the toppled marine. Walking over, Draven helped his subordinate to his feet--much to the man's fearful surprise. "If that's your wish, we'll go ahead to town and inform Captain Pyrrha. Do your best to hold him off, former Commander Hollis."

Protests from the lower ranked marines were silenced with a glare from Draven. None of the lower ranks really stood a chance individually against Pharos anyway. He didn't expect Hollis to make good use of them even if they did remain behind. Draven also deemed whatever was going on in the village to be much more important than the capture of a single pirate. Cool blue eyes settled on Jasper.

"I'd bid you farewell, but as I told you before, Pharos, the chance of you and your friends escaping this island is minimal at best. Your ship's been captured. And, unless you can pull off a miracle, the rest of your crew mates will follow--including your new mistress."

Turning in a fairly dramatic fashion, his black jacket billowing in the wind, Draven dashed towards town. The five marines followed at a slower pace--their backs to Draven and their guns out in case the pirate managed to break through Hollis.

(Mentioned:

shadowdude505 ,

Lady Warlock )

shadowdude505 · Apr 10, 2017

Pyrrha Atlas

Pyrrha sheathed her sword after her attack clipped Darren's wings. She took a drag on her cigarette as she watched the Bird Bird Fruit user fall. She maternally glanced back at Addy; the action would inevitably give Darren more time to escape, but she had to make sure that the girl was OK. Seeing Dale looking after the girl put her worries at ease.

The marine captain's attention shot back to the forest after a villager shouted about Darren getting away. She bolted into the forest and outran the villager. When she arrived at the scene, Darren was already gone, but he left some tracks. The marine captain spotted a woman running in the same direction as Darren's foot prints. Her gut told her that the other woman wasn't a villager; she was either a pirate trying to escape the village or a friend of the thief's. Pyrrha began to chase after Elisa. She pulled out her transponder snail and began to make a report. "This is Captain Pyrrha Atlas. I'm in pursuit of the thief, Darren Fallk, and another suspect, a woman, in the forest near the village. I need a small platoon at my location, that's an order."

Pyrrha hung up the receiver and placed the snail back in her pocket. She didn't doubt that she'd be unable to deal with Darren and his friend alone, she had called for backup to increase her odds of catching the thief and, by the looks of things, his partner. The only problem was that the marine captain's backup wouldn't know her exact position, but she had a way to fix that. Pyrrha drew her sword and used her Blade Storm technique to create an arrow made out of three slash marks. The slash arrow flew up into the sky and pointed in the direction of the thieves.

Pyrrha began to focus more on the thieves ahead of her. She noticed something in the woman's hand, but was too far away to make it out properly. Whatever it was, it was shaped like a crown. "That stolen item you're looking for..." Pyrrha started to address the villager behind her while still looking ahead of her; she didn't want to lose sight of the people she was pursuing (or get hit by a rogue tree branch if she looked behind her.) "Is that it?" she asked, pointing at the thing in Elisa's hand.

Lady Warlock · Apr 11, 2017

Scarlet Johanna Indigrid and Aiada Leanne

Scarlet and Aiada both listened to Arlen and Nerissa as they explained what they saw within the situation that they were still trying to figure out. Everyone seemed to have different ideas about how the situation should progress and about how it should resolve itself as well so listening wasn’t really a bad thing. However, there were a few points that led to Aiada having very evident reactions. First was mention of the marines; she herself hadn’t been aware of their presence because she had left town before they arrived. Aiada wasn’t afraid of them and she wasn’t concerned. If anything, she was excited about that part. There was something else that affected her more, though. She took a few steps back and her expression became more shocked when Nerissa mentioned Aquarius in more detail. Perhaps it was something about his association with water or perhaps it was just a random memory timing thing that brought the realization dawning to her mind, but it came then at those words.

It was that realization that prevented her from caring one little bit about what Cletus said when he stumbled in with another comrade beside him and a child on his back. Normally, those words might have drawn upon the more logical side of her mind. An association was already made, though, that meant she had to bring them in whether or not they were actually the thieves. That and the verbal confirmation that they actually were pirates activated another sense of obligation within her, one far older and one that she hadn’t actually drawn upon in quite a while. That didn’t mean it had completely vanished, though.

“If you haven’t been here long, then I definitely don’t recommend associating with this group,” Aiada jumped in at the end of Ed’s words. It was evident to her that the child couldn’t have stolen anything; she didn’t seem to have the first clue about what was going on which made her a very unlikely thief in the first place. “Their pirates and their going to be handed over to the marines - the lot of them. I’d be surprised if the rest of their crew hasn’t already been taken captive. And this one,” she pointed to Nerissa, “has even more to answer for if she claims to speak for Aquarius. Someone claiming the exact same thing attempted to assault our priestess before flying away on us.”

“No, Ed, you wanna stay with us because we’re going to the Grand Line and we’re going to find the One Piece!” Scarlet declared with certainty. “We aren’t about to get stuck here now and no single woman is going to stop us. Cletus is right; she’s outnumbered and we’ve got this!”

In truth, Scarlet didn’t want to get tied down in a fight with this woman; she wanted to find her crew and get off the island. That was her primary objective and she wanted to stick to it. This woman was determined, though.

Then something clicked in her mind and she suddenly appeared rather confused. “Wait a second… did you say someone flew away!? There’s a flying guy here who knows about Aquarius?? Did you know about that, Nerissa?” Scarlet sounded intrigued now and she seemed to completely forget that they had a threat right in front of them. For the smallest moment, their captain was completely distracted.

And then in an instant, Aiada was leaping forwards for the one thing that was a potential problem for her in the fight that would ensue next. Her sword was drawn and she slashed out at Cletus’s weapon as her body came to place itself between Scarlet and Cletus, between the Captain and the marksman, between the one who - by title - seemed to be the biggest threat and the one who was the biggest threat to her. “Kid, go back to where you came from. Or become a pirate like them and face the fate of one same as they will.” Aiada truly did not believe Ed would be guilty and as such, her words were in attempt to get her to run. She knew that the rest would fight. They seemed like the had no other choice in their minds so continuing words wasn’t worth it now.

shadowdude505 · Apr 12, 2017

Chase Andis, Pyrrha Atlas, and Elisa Pentana

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Stormborn Targaryen

Chase returned to his shop after he had visited the inn. As he went inside, he noticed that Cygnus was no longer present. He breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Finally. He’s out of my hair. Maybe I can actually figure out what’s going on without concern that I’m going to get caught with a wanted man.’ Chase first went behind his counter. He had left the back open, just in case Cygnus didn’t want to sit in the entrance. Nothing appeared to be out of place.

He grabbed his key, and unlocked the door to the right of his counter. This door led into a small closet, where Chase kept his “travel gear,” as he often liked to tell visitors if they inquired. He grabbed his hooded cloak and put it on, leaving his hood up. If he wanted information, Chase knew he’d best be served in hiding. It was how he was taught. There were several other cloaks for more, official business inside, as well as some more knives, similar to the one he always carried on him, but sharper, and more meant to kill if he had to. He also had a pair of blades, meant to be mounted on the bottom of one’s arms, hidden in his sleeves. The assassin’s hidden blades. If he was just going to search for information, he figured he did not need them. He did take two more knives. Once he had everything, he relocked the closet, and went out the door, locking his shop up before he left. He went towards the town square, listening for anything of note.

Arriving at the center of town and the point of commerce in normal times, Chase noticed that it had been turned into a central hub of sorts. People were coming and going and reporting off and leaving again. It was almost like an intelligence center, but stepped down to a small village format of such a thing. Actually, though, that was what it had been up until a few moments after it creeped into his sight. What he saw after that realization could more adequately be described as chaos. There was a slash of air shot into the air, aimed at a… bird?... which really didn’t seem to fit the scene and then there were people running into the trees in the same direction that the bird had flown off. It was a chase and now the question was… would Chase join the chase?

Chase started after the people who were running towards the trees. He wasn’t particularly rushed, he just figured a group of people who appeared to be fleeing must have good reason. He needed to find out more.

And as Chase ran after the people, he would find himself running right in front of Dale Vroegan - leader of The Hallows and someone very acutely aware of the current situation. And as he watched Pyrrha, the marine woman, dart into the trees, something felt unusually irksome in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t like the marines running around on their own even if it was to catch the same people he himself wanted to catch. His eyes lit up when he saw Chase, though. “Chase!” he proclaimed rather exuberantly. “There’s a man who turned into a bird and who flew off. He… he probably knows where the pirates went because he was with… well... “ It really was a long story for him to go into the details of and the longer he spoke, the further away people got. “Could you try and catch him!? She might not be able to catch him on her own.”

Dale, of course, didn’t know that Pyrrha had just called for back-up and he also didn’t really care. He still wanted someone he trusted more than a marine in pursuit.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get to the bottom of this.” Chase responded. With that, Chase took off.

It was at this moment that Chase’s training began to kick in. Though an assassin preferred to stalk his foe, when need arose, they could pursue a target with all speed. Chase climbed into the trees, knowing that the advantage lied in being above your target. He jumped from branch to branch, swinging on vines to increase his speed, stabilizing himself at each tree he came across with his hand on the trees.

Just as Chase sprung into the trees, he would hear the civilian’s answer to Pyrrha’s question although he likely hadn’t been able to hear the actual question itself. “I… I’m not sure ma’am. M-m-my vision… it’s a bit blurry, ma’am.” The civilian hadn’t made it very far before they had to stop and catch their breath, removing themself from the chase.

Pyrrha took a drag on her cigarette as she continued running. The villager’s answer to her question wasn’t really much of an answer at all. The villager clearly had a sense of duty, but didn’t seem like the right person for this job. If she wanted to learn anything about what was in the other woman’s hand, it looked like she’d have to ask her directly.

“Hey you! What’s that in your hand?!”

Panicked now, Elisa could hear the sounds of people running behind her and she allowed herself a single glance over her shoulder. The marine woman was there. Instead of answering, she shook her head and then, if anything changed at all, it was that she was now running faster.

Chase landed in front of the woman, and shot her a quick glance. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got this.” Without waiting for a response, he took to the trees once more, as he could not let his target get away. She appeared to be moving faster now, so she clearly had something to hide. He continued to jump between the trees, keeping a very stable balance as he moved.

Pyrrha was surprised when ninja-man appeared. She swore to herself about having her guard down. Observational Haki would have been useful a second ago, especially if the man had tried to land a hit on her. He hadn’t though, but she had to make sure that he was a friendly. “Did Dale send you?” she asked Chase.

Chase was already moving after his target, not willing to let her get away when he heard the women speak to him. He was far enough away to the point where he couldn’t quite make out what she had asked. He managed to hear Dale’s name, and merely shot her a glance and nodded. He didn’t have time to start much of a conversation.

Pyrrha nodded back, She continued to chase after Elisa with her sword drawn, but it didn’t look like she’s reach the other woman first.

Chase continued after his target, and she came into clear view. It was another woman, continuing to run away. He wasn’t sure if she was fully aware of her pursuer, but he continued forward. When he was in range, he took a leap, looking to land on top of her.

Moving at the speed that she was, Elisa wasn’t exactly an easy target for anyone to try and hit. She looked over her shoulder one more time before she realized that she was being targeted and she took a large leap forward. It didn’t get her completely clear, unfortunately. Instead, Chase’s landing hit her legs and she fell forward. In that fall, Elisa almost lost hold of the artifact. Her hand gripped it deathly tight to keep that from actually happening.

Pyrrha took a quick peek at the artifact as she speed past Chase and Elisa. As her eyes went wide in shock, she wished she hadn’t. As a marine captain she knew a little about what the crown meant, but she didn’t slow down. Darren was still a ways ahead of her. She wouldn’t let a wanted man escape justice.

As Chase landed, he made sure get a hand on the woman, and he recovered quickly. He then moved to restrain the woman so she wouldn’t run off again.

However, Chase wouldn’t find that restraining her was an easy task. Once she realized she was on the ground, rather than trying to get to her feet - because she knew that would be futile - she reached into a pouch on the back of her pants and pulled out a shining chakram disk, gripping it firmly. The minute she felt hands trying to grab her, Elisa was swinging that arm wildly and the edge was sharp.

Chase had expected a struggle, they always do. However, with his training, he was able to take the slashes, and still position his hand to a point where he could hold her down. He then pulled on of his knives he had taken from his closet, and held it to the back of her neck. “Stop struggling. This doesn’t have to end badly if you cooperate. I need answers. Why are you fleeing from the village? And what is that you are holding so tightly there?”

“And I’m not giving answers to a marine,” Elisa snarled back at him, no restraint in her tone at all. She hadn’t gotten much of a glimpse of him before he’d landed on her so she could only presume he was with the marine she had seen. She did manage to move a bit, too. She pulled the crown closer to her core, concealing it beneath her body.

“Who said I was a marine? I told you I merely want answers, and I’m willing to let you go if I get them. Until then, I’m going to hold you here, and I can and WILL hurt you if I need to. However, I think we can both agree that we don’t want it to come to that.”

“Well are you?!” Elisa snapped. He hadn’t exactly clarified whether or not he was a marine. He’d merely commented that he hadn’t actually said that he was one.
“I’m not. Though I don’t expect you to take my word for it. You can ask the villagers if you want. I’m merely aware that something was stolen from the village, and that you were fleeing Leader Dale. I chased you to get answers. I’ve been in the dark for too long on whatever is going on here.”

Her body relaxed a bit because what she knew about marines was that they tended to be prideful about being marines and he didn’t fit that bill. “If you know Dale, you should take this to him,” she said as she pulled the artifact back out and let it shimmer in what little sunlight peered through the trees. “The marines can’t have it. Some of them won’t recognize it, but some of them will. It’s one of the last artifacts left from the void century. I was… no, am… trying to protect it.” Whether or not he believed her was up to him, but she was offering it freely.

Chase grabbed the artifact she held out for him. “I’m assuming this is the alleged stolen artifact if Dale wants it back. This would mean that you are the alleged thief.” He shook his head. “Not that it matters to me. It merely means that I cannot be seen as guilty of stealing it myself.” He clutched the artifact and turned to her. He took his hand off of her, and stood up. “I don’t exactly have a clean track myself. And I’m not going to pretend I know much about the whole scheme of things. You have returned what was stolen and I can return it and ensure I am in the clear. That’s good enough for me.” He waved his hand in a dismissing way. “Go on. I’m finished with you.”

And Elisa scrambled to her feet and scurried off, the real artifact still concealed in her bag. Hopefully having a fake in place would make escape possible. She still had to find Darren first, though.

MeanwhileNow a long ways away from Chase and Elisa, Pyrrha continued to run after Darren. She had a determined look on her face, but it had nothing to do with her current chase. She had come to the Hollows to deal with pirates and that’s how she was going to leave it. Assuming the ninja brought the artifact back to the village, maybe all she’d need to do was leave some friendly advice. If a pair of thieves knew the artifact was here, more could too.

Pyrrha tightly gripped her sword and made another slash arrow marker in the sky. Her backup was still on its way and she had to make sure that they didn’t stumble upon the artifact themselves. There was no way she could turn a blind eye if her men noticed it, not if she wanted to still be considered an Atlas.

CelticHero37 · Apr 12, 2017

Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV
Watanabe Hotaka Wasabi
Aiada Leanne

Ed teetered from foot to foot as she paced about while stroking her chin as she weighed the options. She had just started humming -- a strange habit that telegraphed she was pondering something -- when Aiada amended the options on the table by telling Ed to go back where she had come from. Ed’s innocent look scrunched into a feral snarl. She hated being told where to go. Of course, she had never committed to any sort of crew before; let alone a pirate crew. However, these people seemed nice. They hadn’t called her anything nasty, they hadn’t told her to bug off, they weren’t trying to chase her to take something away, the only strike they really had was treating her a bit like a kid -- which she was willing to let go since she was indeed a kid. Overall, for once in her life, Ed had found people that weren’t trying to run her life. In fact, they had invited -- not told -- her to come with them on an adventure. Ed had heard about this One Piece before, but had never really payed much attention to it before. The funny thing was, her skills would likely be perfect for helping to find it.

So, as Aiada lunged forward, Ed rolled on the ground and sprawled in front of the girl’s feet as she called up to Scarlet about the one last concern she had, “Hey, Miss Captain Lady. If Ed joins the pirates, where doth Ed score food? Hmm?”

Ed’s question was punctuated by the sound of a bird flapping around. Suddenly Wasabi’s hunting boomerang tore through a few leaves and closed in, heading straight for Aiada’s temple. This was followed by the caw of a bird as Wasabi appeared with his little bird companion perched on his shoulder. It cocked it’s head to look at Ed with one of its eyes before twitching up to look at Scarlet and let out two more caws. The only response Wasabi gave was, “I cook.”

Ed’s eyes hohned in on the bird as she licked her lips. That is until she felt a strange chill down her spine as she noticed a deathly glare coming from the cook. She couldn’t even see his face, just the glint of his eyes, but that was the strange thing, it seemed to be all he needed to convey a message. She could tell she wasn’t going to get away with much at his expense.

Much annoyed by the kid’s inability to listen, Aiada quickly realized she wasn’t in the mood to play games. Swinging her sword back up from it’s slash at Cletus’s weapon, whether she hit or not, she then proceeded to drive her sword straight down.

At that moment, Ein the Mongoose appeared out of nowhere, hopping off of Ed to land on Aiada’s hand. This caught Ed’s attention just in time for her to roll sideways, out of the way of the sword. She looked up to Aiada with an astonished look -- purposefully making a sad baby face as she said, “Y-you tried to stab me?”

QuirkyAngel · Apr 15, 2017

Arlen HakhassiStanding near Scarlet, Arlen silently watched events that transpired—a raised eyebrow at the scruffy-looking kid called Ed. Their new crewmate apparently. The dark-skinned fighter heaved a long, annoyed, sigh, twirling his scimitar around one hand while his other rested on his hip. His weapon had been drawn the moment Aiada moved, but Arlen didn’t do much more than position himself protectively in front of Captain Scarlet and Priestess Nerissa. Lifting his silver head, the teenager peered lazily at the opponent in front of him…or rather at the mongoose on her hand.

Fighting with that thing there would probably be a bit troublesome. For her that is.

Including all the animals and non-combatants, it was 8 versus 1. Hardly a fight worth bragging about considering the odds stacked against her. He performed a series of leg stretches. “Sorry, Nameless Lady. Bringing us back to town is one thing, but turning us into the marines is a definite no-no.”

Normally, Arlen would’ve been excited to be in a fight. And he had been—right before playing his flute in the forest. It probably had more to do with his mother’s song, and his memory of her, than the instrument itself. Regardless, the aggression had been knocked out of him. He’d been prepared to take Nerissa’s non-violent approach…at least until Aiada’s words and actions made it clear that such an option was no longer a possibility.

So now it’s back to fighting, Arlen thought amusedly. Aquarius is toying with me.

“You alright there, Cletus?” Arlen called as he straightened, the scimitar still spinning smoothly around his hands as he worked his wrist. "She seems to have some skill. More than the others at the Hallows at any rate."

He’d never seen the shipwirght’s close ranged combat skills, so he had no clue how Cletus would fair against Aiada in that regard. Could the old man even fight? Either way, Arlen figured was probably better that he stepped forward before the woman targeted someone else unsuited for such fighting. Like Scarlet. Or worse…Nerissa. Fortunately the priestess didn’t plan to stick around. If the debacle with Ken indicated anything, it was the fighting freely was much more difficult when one had someone to protect.

Catching the handle of the scimitar in his palm, Arlen’s grip tightened and he ducked forward seeming to aim a thrust at Aiada. “The Kid’s not the one you should be looking at!” However, at the last second—just before reaching his opponent—Arlen dropped low, free hand against the ground and twisting into a sweep kick as Wasabi’s boomerang sailed towards the woman’s temple.

CelticHero37
Nerissa Orta“No...I didn't. I’ve never seen a flying man, much less one that claims to speaks for Aquarius. Someone who speaks for Aquarius wouldn't assault another priestess. That makes no sense to me.”

That was Nerissa’s response to Scarlet’s inquiry. However, just like her idea about letting Aquarius find the thief, it most likely went ignored. Unable to help herself, the normally tranquil Priestess of Water let out an annoyed huff at the way the situation was turning out. She had thought it would be possible to reason with Aiada. However, the woman’s dislike of pirates seemed too great.

Nerissa instinctively stepped back when Aiada cut herself between Scarlet and Cletus. At the same moment, Arlen stepped forward, drawing his sword and spinning it around his hand as if prepping himself for a fight. Nerissa was almost surprised that Arlen hadn’t leapt forward to attack the swordswoman straight away, but she wasn’t…because she’d been with him long enough to know little things about. The youngest Leviathan in Mirage Island’s history was impulsive at times, but he wasn’t brash. Rather dutiful, all things considered. He knew his role and responsibilities as the Leviathan. Watching the swordswoman try to reason with Ed, a thought passed Nerissa, and the priestess didn’t stop herself from voicing it.

“I’ve noticed that the townsfolk all of titles befitting the role they have in the Hallows. I’m curious what yours is,”

A simple statement, nothing more, nothing less. Nerrisa didn’t even expect an answer from the woman who refused their help and intended to turn them into the marines. Sharing a glance with Arlen, Nerissa then faced Scarlet—her friend and the Captain of the Red Ribbons.“Forgive me, Miss Scarlet, but there’s something I must confirm before we leave this island.”

And that was all Nerissa had the time to say. As soon as Arlen charged at Aiada, the Priestess of Water clutched her satchel and ran the opposite direction—down the path where a vague outline of the Temple of Pyrus could be seen. This wasn’t how Nerissa wanted to enter the temple. She wanted to go with her friends. She wanted the permission of the people of the Hallows and she’d been willing to negotiate with the Leader Dale, or perhaps the mentioned seer, if necessary. To do things the proper way—as she was raised at the Temple of Water. However, it was clear from the sword woman’s words and actions that nothing said would change her mind. And, regardless of whether it was Aquarius’s will or not, whether people listened to her or not, Nerissa knew what she wanted to do.

In front of the Temple of Pyrus
Kneeling at the edge of the large of a pool in front of the temple, hands clasped in prayer, and eyes closed, Nerissa forced her mind to clear and become like water. To become one with Aquarius. At least, that was how it was explained to her when she underwent her training to become the Priestess of Water. The jewel hanging on her forehead glowed bright crimson. In response, the large pool in front of her stilled, seeming to radiate and reflect like a mirror the answers she sought—the whereabouts of her friends, the marines, the mysterious thief, the on-goings of the island. Images and events reflected like pieces of of a jigsaw puzzle, some clearer than others. Eyes opened, Nerissa took in all the information provided to her. Deciphering them was the priestess’s duty, and while Nerissa didn’t completely understand everything she saw, there were some things she was now certain of:

First, the marines had already arrived and were currently guarding the Charbydis...which looked like it's been trashed.

Second, Cygnus had been captured by the marines.

Third, the forest-traveller who helped her find the temple really did steal the Crown of Pyrus.

Taking a deep breath, Nerissa willed herself to calmness lest she lose connection with the Water Gem. It took a lot of mental energy and concentration to draw on Aquarius’s powers. But of course it did. Nerissa was only human. And, if she dove too deep, she would only lose herself. Growing up, she’d heard horror stories of the Priestesses of Water who went too far—who tried to take on too take on too much—and were punished by Aquarius as a result. But Nerissa had also read valiant tales of women who commanded whirlpools and could create mirages using water to protect their island—which was what had given Mirage Island’s its name.

Parting her hands, the shallow water in front of her spit apart, creating a path to walk. Nerissa got to her feet, pausing for one moment to glance behind her. Scarlet probably would’ve loved to see the temple. Arlen and the rest of the crew as well. Probably. Facing forward, Nerissa strolled towards the entrance of the temple. No matter. Whatever she discovered, if she discovered anything at all, Nerissa would share with the rest of the Red Ribbons. She was no longer alone, like she was in the past. She had friends. And she couldn’t have made to Pyrus’s temple without them. As soon as she finished checking the temple, they would all leave the island together just as they came. She would make sure of it.

"Please protect them until then, Lady Aquarius."

shadowdude505 · Apr 15, 2017

Cletus T. Bass

Cletus quick drew his rifle as Aiada charged toward him with her sword. He held his gun with both hands and used it to block her weapon. "Don't worry about me, this ain't my first rodeo," Cletus gruffly replied to Arlen after he had jumped into the combat. In truth he was more of a ranged fighter and Aida's sword would cause some problems for him, especially if she was good enough to deflect bullets. Ricochet bullets were out of the question. He didn't feel like it was a good idea to use them since he wouldn't be able to predict how they'd bounce off the other woman's sword. If one of his his bullets ended up hitting a crewmate, or worse, one of the pirate ladies, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. In his youth he'd been taught not to hurt women, though now as a man with a better view of the world, he'd easily make an exception for the obstacle causing Aiada (that didn't mean he wanted to kill her either though).

Cletus backed away from the fight as Aiada raised her sword to switch targets. With his usual grumpy expression plastered on his face, he took an annoyed drag on his cigarette. He didn't think his gun skills would come in handy in this fight, but with Aiada outnumbered maybe that didn't matter. He swapped his rifle for his pistol just in case; but with crewmates locked in close combat with the villager, Cletus decided to fire only if he had an open shot. In the meantime he stayed out of everyone's way as attacks honed in on the outnumbered villager. The older man continued to smoke as he analyzed the woman's moves. Even though moments before the woman had tried to chase Ed off, judging by the pissed of way she had attacked the kid, it seemed like she was now operating on instinct. He hadn't seen any of the villagers fight, but their opponent definitely had a more competent air to her.

Cletus let out a frustrated growl that was directed at himself. He now regretted blurting out the fact that the Red Ribbons are pirates. The way the woman was acting right now made it seem like she was an ex-bounty hunter, or worse, an ex-marine. Cletus kept his free hand close to one of his flashbangs, they'd need a trump card if the fight turned ugly.

QuirkyAngel · Apr 21, 2017

Hallows, In TownDraven+ Petty Officer
Despite having told Hollis that he would acquire assistance from his ‘friends’ against Jasper Pharos, that that was actually the furthest thing from Draven’s mind at the moment. Rather, the Lieutenant commander’s fascination was drawn to the two halves of a muscled man crying before him. Not that he blamed the man—split bilaterally as he was. None of the people in the area had dared to approach the living abomination that couldn’t quite get back on its feet…none except for Draven who decided to be a good Samaritan and take the two living halves back to his house. The fact that the man was still alive was a miracle in and of itself. That or a devil fruit ability. Lips curling, Draven couldn’t decide if he was simply lucky or if it was some sort of sign. A surgery from the Ultimate Devil fruit was one of the methods he’d considered as a possible cure for his…condition.

To think I’d find evidence of the accursed fruit out here of all places…

The door creaked open, letting a bit of light in. “S-Sir! We’ve checked the area nearby, but no signs of anyone with a bounty or resembling a pirate—let alone anyone with a Devil Fruit ability. It’s likely they’ve escaped into the forest as the blacksmith said. ”

Gaze flitting to the marine that saluted him, Draven nodded and moved to stand from the stool he was on. A pale hand reached for the small transponder snail he’d left lying on a nearby table. “I see. You’ve heard Captain Atlas’s report, I presume? Go gather the other four men and move to assist her in her capture the criminal, Darren Falk.”

“What about J-Jasper Pharos?”

“Leave him to Hollis for now,” Draven slipped the snail into the pocket of his black jacket before refitting his black gloves. “The former commander seemed to have some sort of personal grudge against his fellow Ex-commander. It would be rather...unsightly...of us to interrupt them”

“???”

“Besides, if Pharo’s headed towards his ship, he’ll only encounter the rest of our men. And Axel’s.” The whites of Draven’s teeth shown in the darkness. “Like a weapon-less rat walking straight into a trap.”

“Ummm, Lieutenant Commander, Sir? I-if I may be so bold as to ask…why are all the blinds closed?”

“I think better in the dark. Is there a problem, Officer?” A touch of amusement in Draven’s tone.

“N-no…,”

“Then get go—,” A tug on his jacket drew Draven’s attention to the two living halves strewn on the bed. Formerly two living halves, at least. The two parts had tried to reassemble each other…with somewhat lopsided results. “—ing. After helping this fine gentleman straighten himself out.” Gently, but firmly prying the fingers from his coat, Draven said reassuringly. “Impatience only leads to mistakes. Don’t worry. We’ll catch the one who did this to you. He and his friends can only hide for so long.”

Without waiting to see if his order had been followed, Draven glided outside the house and back to the mass of confusion that the town had become. It wasn’t like him to begin a hunt without first identifying and sizing up his prey. All of them. For now, he’d do as he said he would and sweep the rest of the town for any of the pirate infestation that might have remained.

Jasper Pharos, a cat, a devil fruit user, a female captain…and now Darren Falk and a woman accomplice. Are they all working together? But to what end…?

Silently eyeing the villagers as he passed, sparing not a single nook or ally that a pirate could possibly hide, Draven managed to single out a decidedly risqué and colorfully dressed girl wandering around. Intrigued, he tracked the girl’s movements. She seemed to be running around aimlessly with no clear destination. Or rather, unsure of her destination. After following the girl for bit, Draven closed in with a couple of quick strides—a hand on her shoulder to draw her attention and a harmless smile on his face.

“Are you lost, my Dear?”

Misuteeku

(mentioned:

Felix ,

AllHailDago ,

Pequeno Burraidh ,

shadowdude505 )

Lady Warlock · Apr 27, 2017

Scarlet Johanna Indigrid and Aiada Leanne

Things happened very quickly from the point in which the fight actually started.

Before that, though, Scarlet had been able to bring a question to attention and Nerissa had answered it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an answer that really helped to fill in any gaps in knowledge at all; it actually left more points for confusion than answers. “No flying man? That’s sad,” she remarked, honestly sounding disappointed about that small truth although she did believe Nerissa knew what she was talking about.

After she’d stepped forward and started the whole engagement, Aiada heard Nerissa’s curiosity and it brought a smirk to her lips because it was nice to see someone was catching on to littler details even if they weren’t of any importance anymore. She didn’t actually answer the question because currently she was busy talking to others of the group she was trying to bring in, but she did hear the question and she honestly didn’t care whether or not her smirk was any indication of the answer or not. In reality, Aiada did not have a title. They didn’t need to know that though. It wasn’t important - not anymore.

When she drove her sword into the ground, trying to stab Ed, it had looked like she hadn’t been paying any attention at all to what else was going on around her. That wasn’t true, though. It wasn’t true at all. Aiada was trained and skilled and she knew how to let her senses take everything in. That was why her body curved as she spoke to Ed. “Yes, I tried to stab you, ya little brat,” she snapped, a sign that her patience were at their limit. “You ought to learn that sometimes people are being smart when they make suggestions to you and sometimes it might be worth it to listen.” Her movements had been very subtle, but the curve of her body in a circle around Ed was enough to get her out of the way of the boomerang and let it spiral back around, back to Wasabi.

She also managed to pull her blade out of the ground before sticking it into the ground behind her, intercepting Arlen’s kick as it came in. His feet hit the flat of the blade, though. Whether or not she had meant for them to hit the sharp end remained unseen. “And I don’t know if you will have realized it yet or not, but the fact that you’re not willing to come makes the lot of you seem entirely guilty of something to me. The marines are here. They’ll take you custody and then my home can go back to running smoothly again.” That remark was meant for all of them.

Quick analysis having run through her mind, Aiada knew that if there was anyone present who she had to focus on more than the others, it would be the one with the blade. Scarlet saw that too. Both of them knew that if anyone was going to keep Aiada busy, it was Arlen. That realization clear in her mind, Scarlet started trying to think of how she could help and she found herself running over to Cletus as she was thinking. “Cletus,” she asked, trying to keep her voice down a bit, “do you have anything really really loud? Loud noises tend to distract people. We don’t need to win. Just prevent her from following us as we try to keep moving.”

Meanwhile, Aiada had swept her blade back up into her hands again and she was swinging it experimentally before she made to swing at Arlen with a side-swing.

And Scarlet never even noticed that Nerissa had snuck out of the scene.

At Pyrus’s Temple…

The land around the temple was oddly quaint and quiet despite the fact that the rest of the island was currently rocking with conflict on nearly every edge that touched the shore. It wasn’t meant to be that way, but that was just the way things turned out in the end. It almost seemed that the area around the temple worked to filter out the noise in the area.

There was barely even the sound of shifting grass as the water before the temple parted to create a path for Nerissa to walk through. One could argue that it was very unusual if they wanted to. They wouldn’t be wrong.

However, that wasn’t where or what eyes were watching as Nerissa walked into the temple. That wasn’t what senses were paying attention to. Instead, they all awaited the arrival of a true priestess within one of the temples of the Gods.

The actual interior definitely had an ancient feel to it. There was a single pedestal that had no doubt been there to hold the artifact had it still been there at the time and around the base of the stone creation, there were little stars engraved into it. Odd… considering Pyrus was supposed to be a fire god. The room also had a holy glow about it. There was no source for the light to come from, but there was enough light to see by and the entire interior also had a warm feel to it - not too extreme, but definitely present.

That wasn’t even the most interesting part.

Along the back wall, there was a worn out inscription and most of it couldn’t be read anymore. Time had worn down the carvings. Wind had eaten stone. Water might have washed some away. The remnants of some glyphs remained, but not enough to read the full writing that had been written there. Following those letterings down, though, there was a single line that remained. Poneglyphs definitely weren’t a common language for someone to know, but anyone who could read it would see…

“And so Halos came down upon the earth when the goddess of land became the goddess of the sea.”

Halos… not Pyrus.

A single glyph was slightly worn making the mistranslation of the people something that could be understood.

It was that line that the light of the temple seemed to urge Nerissa’s eyes towards.

shadowdude505 · Apr 29, 2017

Darren Fallk and Pyrrha AtlasCollab:

There were a few things Darren could safely and easily assume as he crashed into the forest floor and there were a few things he remained completely unaware of. He could safely presume that someone was following him; he knew the woman who’d slashed at him had been a marine and those kinds of people didn’t tend to give up very easily. What he didn’t know, though, was who else would be in pursuit of him, if anyone at all. He could guess that it was possible and that was half the reason why he’d started running. Darren’s arm needed a break and he couldn’t fly without giving that some small amount of time to adjust to the more than subtle discomfort.

As he was running, he did hear things behind him though they were far enough off for him to not be overly concerned about them. He could guess that more than one person was involved, though. Eventually, some of those sounds faded and that put Darren off a bit. He knew he wasn’t fast enough to outrun many so something else had to have happened. That wasn’t enough for him to know what had happened, though, and he glanced over his shoulder to see what he could see.

Unfortunately, Darren still had one pursuer and she was getting closer now that time was turning against him. He knew he wouldn’t reach the water before she got there. ‘Well, then… I guess it doesn’t do much to keep running too much more.’ He knew he would be better off if he made sure she caught up to him when he wanted her to. Pushing his feet against the ground hard, Darren flew himself up and swung onto the lowest tree branch nearby. It bent under his weight, but it held. Even without his wings, he liked the high ground.

“I thought you were here with bigger things to worry about? Why pursue me of all people?” Darren asked, quite sure she was close enough to hear him.

Pyrrha stopped running after Darren had turned around to speak to her. She didn’t know if he had decided to stop running because she was going to catch up to him or if he had a trap a few feet away. Either way she needed to buy time for her backup to arrive.

“You’re a criminal that’s escaping justice. That’s more than enough of a reason,” she solemnly replied. She took a quick drag on her cigarette before speaking again. “I’m also not the only marine here. The pirates will be brought to justice soon enough. Right now I’m more concerned about you and your friend.” She pointed her sword tip toward Darren. “Why are you after that artifact?” she asked with an authoritative voice.

“Friend!?” Darren was surprised by that part because he still hadn’t found her yet. The fact that she was even mentioned had to mean that this woman had seen her somewhere and that was either a good thing or a bad thing; it wasn’t going to be easy to figure out which it was. “Anyway, the fact that you don’t know why we’re after it shows one thing for sure. The marines don’t trust even their own with such information. Pity.” He was very clearly mocking the organization with that statement.

“I know it’s dangerous. Should I assume that you were trying to use its power?” Pyrrha snapped back. “That would make you even more of a criminal, not that it changes your circumstance much.” The marine woman took another drag to take a bit of her edge off; she began to talk a bit calmer after that. “A villager stopped your friend and is retrieving the crown. As we speak it’s on its way to being returned where it belongs.”

Darren simply smirked and shook his head. He was close to laughter, but he wasn’t quite silly enough to start laughing at a marine’s response and complete lack of knowledge. He did, however, make a rather rude suggestion. “Maybe you should just stick to doing the job that you came here to do and drop trying to jump into situations you can’t possibly understand.” He got those words out just before Pyrrha spoke of his friend and that was a part that certainly interested him more than anything else.

His demeanor changed because if Elisa was in trouble, then he had to go back and get her. She could hold her own, sure, but that didn’t mean he wanted to leave her to fight alone when he knew he could try to get back to her. “On that note, then, it would seem that you are now between me and where I need to be.” he commented simply. That was a problem he intended to try and resolve. A transformation washed through him - not quite a full transformation, but one that was able to make him stronger, at least. His wings didn’t return because wings were an easy target; arms were a bit harder to hit and one was already injured. Jumping down, gravity gave him extra momentum as he attacked with a single goal… to disarm her for long enough to head back in the opposite direction.

With a fight now on her hands, Pyrrha triggered her flame dial, lighting her sword into a small blaze of flame. She held the blade out in front of her, intending to parry Darren’s quick attack.

Sight of fire was not something Darren had expected and it actually caused him to pull back his full attack. Nimble on his feet, Darren stopped and stepped back, holding off and eyeing the flames with intrigue. It was clear that he hadn’t expected anything like that to happen.

Taking advantage of catching her opponent off guard, “Inferno Sword” Pyrrha dashed at Darren; she turned up the heat as she did so, utilizing her Phoenix Dash technique and creating a small flame trail in the air behind her.

Seeing the fire weave with her movements, Darren started to formulate a plan. It wasn’t one he was overly fond of, but it was the best he thought he could manage given the circumstances. However, before he could put that into play, he had to dodge this next attack and he knew that wasn’t an easy thing to assume he could do. His balance was a bit off because he’d changed directions so suddenly, but he gathered enough of his whereabouts to jump with force, pushing himself off to the side and away from her swing.

Pausing then, he said, “Look around you, marine.” His voice snapped quite forcefully. “You claim to fight for justice. What justice does it do The Hallows if you set their forest on fire and force them from their homes!?” In quick movements, Darren allowed one of his wings to shift from his arm and he swing it downwards creating a gust towards her blade. Wind could feed fire in certain circumstances and this was one of them. Sparks blew from the blade, flying to and glowing upon the grass beneath their feets.

Darren had a point about the fire thing, but she had trained for years to ensure that she could control her flames. Of course that didn’t stop others from trying to exploit it. As Darren’s wind began to blow her flames, Pyrrha shut off her flame dial before too much damage could be done. Putting the safety of the villagers before her own, she began to stomp out the embers that managed to light the grass on fire, giving Darren an opportunity to escape, unless he wanted to push his luck in a fight.

“Hmm… seems you do actually care,” he remarked. Darren didn’t seem particularly surprised, but it also didn’t seem like he had expected her reaction to be as it had been. In truth, he’d been prepared for either possibility. He also noted the opening and for the time being, he was content to take it. Darren started running right past her.

“Stop!” Pyrrha called out to Darren. “Why are you after the crown? Power, or something else?”

He did stop and he wasn’t quite sure why. All he did before he kept on moving was answer in a simple manner, though. “It’s not power; this is about truth. If I wanted power, you’d be dead and I’d already be gone.” And that was all he intended to give her. Darren wasn’t really sure if he could’ve killed her; there had definitely been an opening he could’ve exploited, but the result wasn’t something he knew for certain. Still, it seemed an important aspect to who he was. If he wanted power, he would’ve taken more use of that opening.

Pyrrha maintained a serious look on her face. It was clear to her that Darren was speaking truthfully. If he had wanted power he would have tried to kill her. As much as it pained her to let the criminal go, she had wasted time that could have been spent on pirate hunting, which was what she was actually there to do.

Pyrrha pulled out her transponder snail and began to speak to the other marines. “The criminal, Darren Fallk has escaped, but justice has been served. The personal belongings of The Hollows residents are being returned. Continue the pirate hunt. I could still use the backup I requested to scan the forest.” she reported.

Pyrrha turned and left Darren to do whatever it was he was going to do. She made a new sword slash arrow in the air (without flames) to mark her new heading. It was time to catch some pirates.

Moments Later
“Darren! Let’s go!”

Before he even ran very far, he saw her coming from the other direction - Elisa. She had a smile on her face as though she’d actually succeeded in something, but Darren could get those details later. All he knew now was that they had to get away. He allowed a full transformation to wash over him despite the pain of his wing. He flew in and grabbed her, and then they headed up and towards the water. Their ship would still be waiting right where they left it.

89/100 current Flame Dial charges left

Flame Dial Charge

QuirkyAngel · Apr 30, 2017

Nerissa Orta

The temple really was beautiful…in an archaic sort of way. Nerissa took note of the stars on the pedestal— which should’ve held an important item from the looks of it.

Undoubtedly the stolen artifact that the people of the Hallows were so desperate to find.

Nerissa sighed. It hadn’t come to her as a surprise that the girl she’d met at the forest had been the thief. Seeing the diadem in the girl’s hands, Nerissa had known instantly that it was the item everyone wanted. There was something…holy…about it. Like her Water Gem, yet different.

A diadem belonging to a god.

The Poneglyph in her home island only described the life and teachings of Aquarius after she became the goddess of the sea. There was no mention of other gods. Only one line suggested it such a possibility—that there was more to Aquarius’s story—and the meaning of that one line was largely open to interpretation . Still. It was that one line that lead Nerissa to leave Mirage Island and begin looking for answers.

“Yet the more I learn, the more questions I have,” Nerissa murmured, moving from the pedestal to the back wall where the light of the temple seemed to urge her towards. She traced the Poneglyphs. It was such a pity that the words were no longer readable. Only one line remained.

“And so Halos came down to the earth when the Goddess of Land became the Goddess of the Sea.” Nerissa read out loud. It was the confirmation she’d been looking for. Nerissa looked around in silent awe. This wasn’t the Temple of Pyrus. This was the Temple of Halos. The people of the Hallows had been praising the wrong god.

No. Right god, wrong name.

Did that matter though? It was still the same god. The name might have been misinterpreted, but the faith and the feelings of worship were still present in the people of the Hallows—to such an extent that there was an island-wide search for the crown of Halos. Perhaps it was even done purposefully. A false name to disguise existence of the temple from those who would destroy it. However, Nerissa’s main focus wasn’t on Halos. It was on Aquarius. She was the Priestess of Aquarius…and the poneglyph in front of her had confirmed what she’d long suspected. Aquarius wasn’t always the goddess of the sea, like many of her people believed. Her beloved goddess used to rule the land.

But what happened that caused her to run into the sea? War? Halos? How was it connected to the void century?

There was one more god involved in the story. One more temple. Possibly even one more artifact. Pulling her a notebook out of her satchel, Nerissa began to quickly copy down whatever Poneglyphs she could see—whatever was left. The crown was gone, but Nerissa was more interested in the words. In the temple itself. She could only imagine what would happen if the order to sweep the island thrice was carried out. If the temple were to be found.

“Is that why we’re here Lady Aquarius? Lord Halos?”

Nerissa didn’t wait for response. As soon as she finished, Nerissa exited the temple just in time to see a large bird fly overhead, carrying girl she distinctly recognized. A smile graced her features.

“Not a flying man, but a flying girl.”

Aquarius really did work in mysterious ways.

Lady Warlock

Arlen Hakhassi

Kicking off against the flat of the blade, and with a push of a single palm, Arlen flipped backwards to both feet. His sword arm moved, maneuvering his weapon to block the side-swing.

Clang!

“Ah, yeah. You were definitely trained—not by the people of the Hallows either.” Unlike Nerissa, Arlen had noticed the smirk. What it meant? Who could say? Arlen had seen many smirks in his life. The smirks of his opponents in a fighting competition. Tanaka’s ever so annoying smirk right before kicking him in the back of his head. The swordswoman’s smirk wasn’t the kind that pissed him off. "I can just tell by looking at them. Not too many great fighters in your home…except for maybe the tailor.”

Right before leaving into the woods, they’d gone to pick up Arlen’s jacket, which Nerissa thankfully gave up on repairing herself. He’d caught sight of the tailor and….well, call it instinct if you will, he’d known there was more to the unassuming seamster than meets the eye. Of course, Arlen hadn’t made a big deal out of it as he was only there for his jacket.

Clang!

His attack was blocked. However, that didn’t slow Arlen down one bit. He only continued his assaults, not giving Aiada much chance to focus on anyone else…like Scarlet who was running to talk to Cletus.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Mmhm. I’m guilty of many things. Wasn’t a very good kid in my childhood years either.”

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

“I don’t think I’ll ever grow out it. Though, you’re the one that’s being silly if you think everything will return to running smoothly once we’re taken into custody. You like things simple don’t you?”

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

“So do I,” Drawing back, Arlen saw, from the corner of his eyes, Nerissa hiding within the trees. It seemed that she was finally finished with…whatever it was that she wanted to do. Arlen rolled his eyes when he saw she pointed straight down the path that she and Arlen had just come from to get to the temple. “Unfortunately, my looong 17-years of experience tells me that life’s never, ever, straightforwardly simple the way we want it to be. Sucks to be us.”

Grinning, Arlen cracked his shoulder, winding his sword arm in preparation for another bout.

QuirkyAngel · May 2, 2017

Draven and Limstella
A collab with:

Misuteeku

Limstella immediately stiffened as someone called her out and touched her shoulder. Turning around slowly she saw who was touching her. A marine of all people and someone of high ranking due to the tone of voice and uniform. She quickly recovered her composure and looked at him straight at the eye.

"Yes, I quite am," This was the truth mainly because she didn't know where anyone was and what section she was in the town. "I'm looking for my friend and I need to find her quickly."

Draven blinked, surprised that the girl would reply with such a strong affirmative. However, surprise soon turned into amusement and a light chuckle escaped Draven's throat. Releasing his hold her shoulder, the Lieutenant Commander entered into a seamless bow while keeping his eyes on the girl before him.

"In that case, please allow me to assist you," Straightening, his expression turned serious. "It's not safe to wander this town alone while pirate and thieves are on the loose."

Draven's gaze swept the area before returning to Limstella. "If you can give me a name, and a physical description, I'll be more than happy to help you find your friend."

"Well her name is, Anna, she's around 4'7 feet tall, has long brown hair, and she is slightly fat," Feeding the captain false information was the best option as of right now. Getting recaptured again was not her goal.

"So if you see her, can you tell me where she is or bring her to me?" Limstella said with a hopeful tone. The only honest detail she gave to the marine was that her 'friend' was a 4'7 tall girl.

Draven nodded, giving Limstella a reassuring smile. "Of course. I give you my word." He paused, a hand on his chin and his glacial eyes roaming the girl curiously, as if observing a fascinating speciman, before continuing. "Might I know your name, Miss?"

"The name's Magilou," Limstella lied again. She was testing her luck if she could at least pull off more information. The last thing she needed was this weird creep to chase her down.

"Magilou..." Draven repeated thoughtfully. Whether he believed her or not was unclear, but the lieutenant commander didn't seemed displeased or upset. Rather, his expression was friendly. "Well then, Miss Magilou, I have a good idea. How about you and I search for Miss Anna together? Two pair of eyes looking are indeed better than one and this island seems a little too...hectic...for a lady to be traveling alone without her friend."

"I see, I guess it is best," Now the guy was stuck onto her like glue Limstella thought. The chances of Scarlet revealing her name were sky high, but her luck seemed to be decent for now. "Anyway what is your objective as a marine right now?" That would be the best question since she wanted to pretend that she was a citizen. Another brief thought what was if Wasabi or whatever was with Scarlet, but she had a good conclusion on what to do if he were there.

"Shouldn't that be obvious, Miss Magilou?" Draven asked as he walked side by side with Limstella in search of 'Anna'. He couldn't help but notice that she seemed to want to avoid the people in town, keeping to places with a low populace, despite claiming to look for her friend. The Hallows, from what Draven had seen so far, was a close knit village--where everyone seemed to know everyone and everyone there had a role to fulfill. Strangers stood out like a sore thumb, just like he and Limstella did. It was apparent in the suspicious gazes and whispers of any villager they came across that neither Draven nor Limstella belonged in the Hallows...especially when something precious to the people appeared to be stolen. "There are pirates roaming this island. It is a marine's job to follow the orders of the World Government and apprehend them."

He was about to say more, but then sound of Pryhha's voice leaked from the pocket his black marine jacket. Draven pulled out a small transponder snail, letting it sit in he palm of his black glove.

“The criminal, Darren Fallk has escaped, but justice has been served. The personal belongings of The Hollows residents are being returned. Continue the pirate hunt. I could still use the backup I requested to scan the forest.”

"Hmmm. Hopefully the people of the Hallows will be less wary of strangers now that their stolen item has been retrieved," Draven commented idly. He was doubtful though. Tucking the baby transponder snail back into the comfort of his black jacket, Draven decided he would make his report once all the pieces of the puzzle were put together. Once all the prey before him has been identified. There was little point in chasing when one didn't know what they were looking for. For now, he had a Miss Magilou to attend to. "I don't see anyone resembling Miss Anna in town, My Dear. Perhaps we should question the villagers? Or the leader of this village--to see if they've seen Miss Anna. If your friend's gone into the forest where the majority of the pirates seem to hiding..." Draven frowned, shaking his head slightly before giving the girl a sympathetic pat on her shoulder. "Rest assured, there are many marines searching in the forest. I will also do my utmost to help find her before the pirates do."

"I see, I'd prefer if we didn't go to the villagers since we're not that good in terms. It's due a major event today that got me into some major trouble. That aside I think I can find Anna by myself," Nervousness crept out a little but nonetheless she maintained her posture.

"Beside finding Anna, who are the pirates are you searching for anyway?" Limstella asked. Her mind was elsewhere currently. The chances of fighting were like the chances of finding a devil fruit. The chances of capture by this creep were like the death of her parents. The few options she had left was trying to pursue info.

"Nonsense," Draven said firmly. "If a girl is lost in a forest that could be full of pirates, it is just as much a marine's duty to help find her." He paused a bit in thought before replying to her second question. It probably wasn't a good idea to reveal to reveal to a civilian his suspicions. "We don't know yet. All we know is that a Jolly Rodger was briefly raised and there are pirates on this island. Tucker, the town's blacksmith, confirmed it...as well as all all the villagers searching the forest for pirates."

"I'm able to handle myself, I promise," Limstella said, sounding reassuring. Glad by the fact he hasn't caught on she was lying yet. Even though this guy is a creep, he was somewhat of a gentlemen at least. "So what makes you special, from the rest to be of that rank anyway?"

Draven studied the girl silently for a moment before giving a final nod. "Alright...if you insist. I hope you find your friend" Turning around, Draven began to walk away, but not before answering Magilou's question with one of his own. "What makes you think I'm special, My Dear? I'm just another marine working to climb the ranks...and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. What you see of me right now isn't anywhere close to where I want to be."

"I see, but in this case I must hurry to find my friend, Goobye!" Limstella said in a hurry, as she ran off to find her 'friend'. She had no time left as she ran off. "Goddamit why me of all people," Limstella muttered as she tried to not break out of character.

Draven watched her run off. Unbeknownst to Limstella, as soon as she and Draven were a far enough distance, single order was given to the lower ranked marines searching in the forest--to keep an eye out for a girl of Limstella's description and to secretly tail her if she was spotted. Holding the small transponder snail in his hands, Draven sighed, a smile curving itself on his features. Pirates really were amusing sometimes.

Lady Warlock · May 16, 2017

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

Collab with:

shadowdude505 and

Aiada’s blade clashed with Arlen’s as the two of them engaged without much attention to the others around them. For the time being, the others seemed content to let the combat continue and that was fine as far as Aiada was concerned. That did not mean that she paid the others no attention at all, though. A small collection of her thoughts was paying attention to the others because should all the others try to run, continuing the fight with Arlen would be pointless. Another thing she had noticed, though, was that they didn’t seem to be the kind of group who would resort to splitting up. Whether that was a good thing for them or a bad thing for them didn’t matter. All that it meant to Aiada was that continuing to focus on the clash of blades at hand was a reasonable enough plan of action.

“Being trained by someone else doesn’t mean this isn’t my home,” she commented in response to Arlen’s remark. “Home is where you find comfort in living. A place you learn to fight is very rarely that.” If there was anything clear about the way that she spoke, it was that Aiada firmly believed what she said.

“You’re right on one thing, though. I do like things simple. And they’re much simpler here than they were where I came from.” Despite their disagreements on multiple things, with each clash of blades, Aiada found that she was enjoying the fight more and more. She wasn’t quite giving it all that she could, but that was because to do so would consume all of her attention when there were other things she had to watch. It had been quite a while since she’d been able to engage in a fight at all, regardless of circumstances and she was stretching muscles that hadn’t reached far in years. It was refreshing to say the least.

Just because her attention was divided, though, didn’t mean she could actually overhear the conversations that the others were having. That would’ve taken too much attention off of the fight and then she would’ve been endangering herself in the process.

Cletus smoked as he watched the duel between Aiada and Arlen. So far it seemed evenly matched, which meant the fight could last awhile. Unfortunately the Red Ribbons didn’t have a lot of time to spare if they wanted to regroup before the marines became more of a problem.

The shipwright snapped his attention to his captain as she started to speak to him. “Guns are loud and can be definin’ when point blank to the ear. (I’m lucky they’ve only made my ears ring so far); but with the way she’s swinging her sword around, I don’t think I could easily get close enough for that,” he gruffly replied. “I do have my flashbangs though. They’re loud when they go off, but their main purpose is blindin’.”

Scarlet’s lips tingled together as she thought through the options that they had. It really wasn’t an ideal situation, but if there was anything she was going to be known for, it was odd ideas. The thing that she had liked about a loud noise was that it would not only potentially get them out of their current situation, but that it would also alert their other crewmates on the island to their whereabouts and hopefully get everyone else moving in the right direction. Her initial thought was that a bright light could do that too if they managed to get it to go off in an area where it could be seen across the island. Getting it somewhere like that would require some innovation though.

“Hmm…” she mumbled. “Well, we need a way to get her attention heading in the direction of the light then. If we can blind her, that serves the same purpose and gives us a chance to run away. We need a way to get her attention while not also getting Arlen’s attention.” It seemed like an odd goal to Scarlet when she first spoke the words, but it truly was the goal that they needed, if such a thing was possible.

The looming cook in his rice hat retrieved the boomerang he had thrown before coming up silently behind Scarlet and Cletus. As his shadow creeped over the two, Wasabi’s presence was announced by the bird on his shoulder. Once the bird had finished with its input, Wasabi suggested, ”One could also endeavor to bring two separate distractions to draw their attention in opposite directions.”

The list could go on and on in regards to how many ways they could approach the situation, but Scarlet knew immediately that that wouldn’t help them actually figure out what one would actually get them moving again. “It’ll only be temporarily blinding, right?” she asked Cletus because that was an important factor in where her instincts were leading her.

“Ya. Worst case scenario we’d have to pull Arlen out, but he’d regain his sight. It’s like lookin’ into the sun,” Cletus replied after Wasabi’s entrance nearly gave him a heart attack. “What are ya thinkin’?”

Her answer came on instinct because she was honest to a fault in situations like this. “I’m not.” Her next actions were too quick and disjointed for anyone to really try to stop her although her crew members were more than welcome to try and see what happened. She had a plan in a sense, but it wasn’t one she would ever voice out loud because even she knew it wasn’t a good one. The captain’s hand shot out and snatched one of the flashbangs off of Cletus’s belt and threw it straight towards the fighting between Arlen and Aiada.

“Look away,” she said although she didn’t yell it loudly. If Aiada was warned about what was coming, then the impact of it would be lost.

That alone wasn’t the end of her plan, though. A single ring like thunder echoed as the flash-bang went off and a bright light flooded the forest corner of the island. Scarlet was busy grabbing another one, though, and with an under-handed throw, she tossed it straight up. “Wasabi,” she yelled for the cook’s attention, hoping he would realize she was asking him to set it off in the sky although whether or not that was clear would depend on him.

Wasabi tilted his head slightly, allowing his rice hat to shield him from most of the light. As he looked up, the second flashbang caught his attention. He had caught on to the plan by the time Scarlet called his name and he instantly sent a boomerang flying toward the flashbang. This one was sleek, unlike the hunting boomerang. One designed for speed and a precision arc.

With barely a sound, the boomerang sliced through the air and whipped the airborne flashbang, generating another explosion of light. The boomerang was temporarily swallowed by the light until it came whirling back due to the pressure of the blast. Wasabi threw his hand out in front of Scarlet and caught it before it could hit her. His special gloves were designed for catching the boomerangs without injury.

Because she knew there was going to be another bright flash, Scarlet didn’t actually look up to see the results of it. She knew that if it was successful, she would hear it, and she did hear it so she knew it had worked. The light would flash high and anyone on the island probably saw it to some degree or another. Instead of stopping to smile, she grabbed both Cletus and Wasabi and pulled them forward towards where Arlen and Aiada had been fighting. “Cletus, grab Arlen!” she snapped, not even realizing that she was actually being captainly and ordering people around.

Cletus used the brim of his hat to shield his eyes from the flashes. He looked a little extra grumpy as his flashbangs went off and tightly gripped the last remaining flashbang on his belt. “Aye, aye Captain,” he gruffly remarked. “Next time I’m throwin’ my flashbangs; these things aren’t toys,” he grumpily added as he retrieved Arlen, if he’d been unlucky enough to look into the flashes.

And as they ran by, there was one final aspect to Scarlet’s plan that she put into play. The captain carried a single dagger in her boot which she was always thinking about ways to use. Unfortunately, she would lose it here, but it was for their benefit so she didn’t really care much. She pulled it out and tossed it, watching the blade catch Aiada’s shirt and watching it pin the woman to the ground. If there was one thing that Scarlet was thinking about even though no one else likely was, it was that escaping that blade would mean she lost her shirt and any reasonable woman wasn’t going to pursue them shirtless. (Scarlet logic…)

All in all, the plan had them free of Aiada, moving with the rest of the island alerted to their movements. Scarlet was fairly certain they were heading towards the ship, too. She could only hope everyone else headed that way too.

CelticHero37 · May 17, 2017

Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski the IV

Ed sneered at Aiada; not pleased with being brushed off. Ed scraped her foot across the ground like a bull about to charge, but then her eyes widened and she froze. After staring for a moment, her head snapped to where Nerissa had been. The girl was gone, but Ed squinted; thinking she saw movement in the distance. Scratching her chin, Ed hummed, "Hmm."

Rolling into a bush, she vanished from the scene as well. Ed made her way through the forest; barely making a sound as she tracked Nerissa. Occasionally, her head would pop out of a bush and she sniffed around before disappearing again. Ed managed to track the girl all the way to a strange building. Ed's eyes scanned the building as she let out an, "Oooooh." Then she noticed the girl she had been tracking rise and seemingly part the water in front of her.

The corner of Ed's lip twitched as she growled to herself. This girl was being mysterious; she was trying to hide something. Once the girl disappeared into the building, Ed dashed out of the bush and across the path through the water, plastering herself against the outer wall like a chameleon. Ein the Mongoose scurried after Ed; barely making it to the other side as the water crashed back down. Ed tentatively popped her head around the corner to peek into the building. Ein scuttled up Ed's leg and around her back to perch on her head; poking his own head out to see as well.

The girl seemed to be taking notes; a perfectly harmless venture. The thing Ed couldn't understand was why this girl was being so mysterious. She seemed to be trying to hide something and Ed didn't like it. As Ed pondered this, the girl finished what she had come for and turned to leave. Ed's eyes widened and she yanked her head back behind the wall. Clenching her fist, Ed whispered, "Alright, Ein. Let's do this."

Ed awaited her prey; becoming so silent that the jungle around her felt her energy and seemed to go silent. As the girl exited the building, Ed put her hands on her hips and cleared her throat. Then, she asked in an innocent voice, "Watcha doin'?"

QuirkyAngel · May 24, 2017

Nerissa Orta

“Visiting the temple of Halos,” Nerissa replied simply, surprised by the sudden question coming from her left. She didn’t expect to greeted upon exiting the temple and feared the marines had found their way to Halo’s shirine. Fortunately her worries were unfounded. Catching sight of the one who’d spoken to her, Nerrisa offered the child a friendly, benign smile. “Ed, right? It’s nice to meet you. I apologize if our first meeting was a little…chaotic. I’d tell you more, but our crew is in a bit of a hurry, you see. One of our friends has been captured by the marines.”

She studied Ed curiously. Given that Scarlet had tried to recruit Ed into their crew, Nerrisa naturally considered the girl a friend…and Nerissa could understand wanting to travel with friends. The animal on top of Ed’s head was also cute. Very cute. Nerrisa wanted to touch it. Yet she resisted the impulse, since such an action would be considered rude.

“We’re going to go save him and get off this island,” Nerrisa continued plainly—not going into details. “And we’d very much appreciate your assistance in that matter…only if you want to of course.”

That was all Nerissa would say on the matter. Whether Ed assisted—or even joined the Red Ribbons—was up to Ed. Nerissa had no intention of forcing the issuse. After all, she was the one asking for the favor. There was also reason with Aiada’s words. Getting involved with a crew of pirates was getting involved in trouble. Constantly being chased by marines. Risk of being sent to the gallows. Those who chose the life of piracy needed nerves of steel and a heart that craved freedom. Nerissa knew it was irresponsible of her to ask such a thing of a child. However, she also knew that help wouldn’t come to those that didn’t ask. And, given their current situation, the Red Ribbons could use all the help they could get. She smiled kindly at Ed.

“Regardless, I’m glad to have met you. I believe all meetings, no matter how unexpected, are a blessing from Lady Aquarius.”

Once more approaching the pond, Nerrissa knelt, pulled out an empty canteen from her satchel, and began to fill it with water. When she was done, Nerrissa slipped the canteen back in her satchel, nodded towards Ed, then left across the pond the way she’d come. Naturally she choose to remain hidden in the trees rather than make her appearance known to the fighters. She tried to signal to Arlen. Tried being the key word.

CelticHero37
(mentioned:

Felix )

Try and fail
Arlen Hakhassi

“Look away,”

Swords crossed with Aiada’s, Arlen blinked when a grenade-like object came between him and his opponent. The silver-haired teen instinctively leapt back, sensing danger. However, the Mirage Islander did not look away, having never seen such a curious object before and not knowing what to expect. A mistake on his part. It was only for a split second, but bright light flooded his verdant eyes, causing him to shield them with his free arm.

“What the hell, Scarlet???” Arlen growled as his feet touched the ground. Landing in a crouch, he rubbed his eyes with his forearm. “At least give me a clearer signal before throwing something like t—,”

“Cletus, grab Arlen!”

And just like that, Arlen found himself dragged by the collar, headed to…who knows where. With his eyes momentarily blinded it was hard for him to say. However, even without his eyes The rustle of leaves told him that they were running through the forest. Even more worrying were the sounds of heavy footsteps following them. Three? No four? The numbers were steadily increasing.

“There they are! The pirates! I think that’s Trick-shot Cletus!”

“After them!”

“Oi! There’s a woman pinned on the ground. I think she’s a civilian…”

“Someone inform Captain Pyrrha! Or Axel!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Hearing the sound of gunshots, Arlen stiffened. Verdant eyes reluctantly opened to catch sight of the marines chasing them. He wanted to shut his lids again. “Scarlet’s crazy isn’t she?” The white haired teenager deadpanned as another lead bullet sailed by, skimming against the flat of his scimitar and just barely missing his face. While he was experienced with using a sword, deflecting a bullet with a sword was skill he’d ever really tried mastering. It wasn’t as if the people of Mirage Island even had guns. “Thanks, Man. My eyes are fine now.”

In fact, one might even catch the exhilaration in Arlen’s green orbs as he spoke. Wresting free of Cletus’s grip, Arlen began to run on his own two feet so that they both could move faster. A frown appeared when he noticed that Nerissa was nowhere in sight . However, given that they were being chased by marines, that was probably a good thing. Maybe. Arlen sighed. If he returned to Mirage Island with news of Nerissa’s death, he’d be screwed.

"Where are we going?” Arlen questioned the Captain, though he had feeling she wouldn't know the answer to that question. Call it a hunch if you will. Arlen grip tightened around his weapon when he saw a figure up ahead. It was still too far to see clearly...or perhaps his eyes still hadn't completely readjusted from their previous exposure, but the figure looked a bit familiar...and so he posed a different question to the group. "Hey...is that Limstella.?"