Pirates de les Cirque On San Faldo Island

(Oh that I didn't realize because sorry ^^' I had to address other things so I think it just got lost in the fray)

Jay Turned to the ringmaster and smiled.
"I heard you I'm not a mindless animal. Either way that was impressive Ringmaster." Jay said standing near the cat man still. He knew what he had to do the man had already seemed to take in the woman but now all he needed was for the man to allow Jay and probably the cat man in with her that way Jay doesn't feel bad for abandoning him.
"Are you a captain?" he added.

(Mkay, I'm all set to start posting again. I'll wait until I get an approval from Zoros_babe for Jackson to wake up, since he's under the influence of her character's devil fruit and I don't know how long the effect lasts. No rush on my end, so I'm fine with it lasting as long as need be.

... And I didn't even realize that three of them had names that started with J. I'm just that observant.)

Jean grinned and patted the bird-man on the back. Did he always start conversations that way? There wasn't even a thank you for the fact he just saved all of their lives. Crouching down, Jean rolled the cat-man over and checked his pulse and snickered. He was asleep, but not in a deep sleep. He could be easily wakened at any moment. Standing up, he regarded the other man with a nod.

"I am indeed a pirate captain my friend." he said, removing his top-hat and sweeping into a low bow, "Captain Jean "The Ringmaster" Lafayette at your service. Who might you be?"

After being shaken and rolled without giving much of a reaction, Jackson eventually awoke. Groggy to say the least, he sat upright with difficulty as his hand gingerly rubbed his temples. Confused to why he ended up collapsed on the ground on the first place, he looked around in alarm to find what became of the dragons that threatened them moments before. To his horror, the creatures were now lying unconscious on the ground. Jackson concluded that the Ringmaster was the only one capable of doing such a feat, and took a sigh of relief upon realizing that the battle was over and he could relax for the present.

"Jason Miki it's a pleasure to meet you. You can call me Jay." Jay said sweeping himself into a bow returning Jean's favor. Jay noticed the cat-man sit up and rubbed his forehead as he did so.
"Thank you for the help today I think we might have died otherwise." Jay added. He needed to be on this man's good side.

Meanwhile, Ziv had started searching the whole alley for the loot and was now sure that it wasn't there.
Confused, she slowly walked towards the others again. Seemed like the third man had waken up, too.
She would have gotten away from them again already, but it seemed to be dangerous here. If there was one skilled marine around, there could always be more.

"You and I both know that I was as helpful as a sack of potatoes, Jay, but I appreciate your attempt at flattery," Jackson replied, a slight smirk appearing on his face. "Why might you be trying to gain my favor? Do you happen to enjoy my company?" He contained a chortle with difficulty, and covered his mouth with a fist. His aquaitence's odd comment caught Jackson offguard, and he cleared his throat blatantly.

Ziv was now standing right beside Jean again. Not like she really wnated to be that close to him, it was just that he seemed to be the strongest one around.
She watched the cat mans behaviour with an awkward look on her face. What was that man doing?
He seemed to be a weird person. And scary. Now she knew it was because he was a cat, but she couldn't just turn her instincts off.
And those instincts were telling her that he was highly suspicious. She examined him closely. It was just a faint feeling, but couldn't he have something to do with her loot disappearing?
What about the other two? She didn't have an eye on them the whole time, every one of them could have done it. Still, that one... She just couldn't get herself to like a cat...

"Well I tried besides you provided a nice distraction." Jay responded and then turned back to Jean. "and a good thanks to you Ringmaster. Had you not shown up those dragons would have destroyed us surely." Jay said to Jean as kindly as he could and then noticed the young woman eerily looking at the cat man. Considering what the man had said earlier someone tat associates her self with rats is not immediately going to be a huge fan of someone associated with cats. Jay moved his goggles up on his head and smiled offering the cat-man his hand.

While not particularly pleased by the blunt statement Jay had responded with, Jackson gladly accepted the outreached hand and used it to pull himself until he stood upright. He smiled slightly upon hearing the lark thank the Ringmaster, finding Jay's intentions quite obvious. It appeared to Jackson that Jay seemed to be adamantly attempting to join the strange man's crew, since there wasn't any other reason to be overly pleasant to such a person.

"Do you have a problem with me?" he asked the dancer, mildly defensive. Jackson cautiously stuck a hand in his pocket, fingering what loot he had stolen from the mice earlier. It would create unnecessary trouble if she began to think that he was the one that scattered her pet rats and took some of her money; particularly if she befriended someone that could make him fall asleep in an instant. He hastily took a step back, feeling somewhat threatened by the situation, and prepared to flee or respond with violence if required.

"Now, now you three, there's no need for any of that." Jean said, in a surprisingly soothing, low voice. It seemed like the three of them were already starting to drive each other off, but he just wouldn't have any of that. He needed them for his crew even more than anybody would ever know and he would use any means to keep them together. The two men seemed to have an interesting chemistry on the battle field, and altogether, the odd trio had abilities that could prove very useful in the future.

Resting one of his long, lanky arms around the Dancer's shoulder, he acknowledged the passed out marine and dragons with a jerk of his head. Sure they were sawing logs now, but he wasn't sure how decent of a night's sleep they had last night. That always proved a problem to his ability.

"Listen chaps, I'd love to stick around and finish this cute 'get-to-know-you' thing, but I'm not sure how soon these guys are gonna wake-up." he said, changing from that softer tone, to a more serious one. "So I don't know about you, but I'm heading back to my ship and sailing far away before they do. You're all welcome to come with me if you'd like. I don't really see any better option at the moment though." His lips curled back into another impish grin.

Jackson grit his teeth as he listened to the Ringmaster's argument. As much as he loathed admitting it, the man had a point. The dragons and their owner looked quite unconscious at the moment, but it probably wasn't long until they awake. Being in the remote area of a marine that recently lost his target didn't appeal to Jackson, and that sounded much more life threatening than taking refuge on a delusional pirate's vessel. While he was slightly apprehensive about the entire situation, he'd rather be live to see the next day without having to worry about becoming dragon chow.

"Okay, I'm convinced for the present," he proclaimed, raising a hand hesitantly. "I'd rather not be anywhere near where that marine wakes up."

It had already been clear to Ziv what she had to do when she had started running.
She nodded and finally took her eyes off the cat man to show him it was okay for now. It hurt her a little, she, too, had her pride. But she'd just have to continue her dislike towards him after they were all safe.
The most important thing was to get away from here soon.
She thoughtfully streaked Abos fur.
It wasn't like she particulary enjoyed those strange peoples company. Maybe the bird boy was a little better, but the other two were highly suspicious to her. And she really wished the ringmaster would keep his hands to himself.
But then again, she was the one who had gotten them in this situation. She had to accept the consequences.

"I agree. Sticking together is the best option for now." Jay smiled triumphantly. Finally! Work other than making deliveries! Jay repeated in his head. He'd been doing nothing but delivering love letters for so long he was sick of it.
"So Ringmaster it's your lead." Jay responded trying to move away from this area as quickly as possible.

Giving a curt nod, he whirled around with the dancer in the crook of his arm, and marched off towards his ship, Le Mystère, stepping over the marine officer and sleeping dragons along the way. Today had proved to be a fruitful one. Now, he had three new crew-members with exceptional skills. At this rate, he was sure he'd have a full crew by the end of the month. Oh the trouble that he would cause then. In spite of himself, he laughed gleefully and picked up the pace towards his ship.

Le Mystère was an average sized brigantine, with large white sails. It was nothing too impressive. There was no figurehead to speak of and the Jolly Roger wasn't even flying, so it couldn't be recognized as a pirate ship in the least. It wasn't much, but it was home to Jean and it would serve as a passport to freedom to those who boarded it.

"Welcome aboard Le Mystère gentlemen-- and lady." he added with a smile, "Now let's shove off. I assume you all know how to sail a ship, right?"

Ziv didn't even care anymore, she simply let him drag her along.
Not for one second was she worried that the rats weren't following her, and soon, she was proved right by one of them sitting on a barrel, looking after them as they passed.
They had reached a ship. It wasn't nearly as impressive or eccentric as the man leading it was. But it would do even better because of that.
She looked up to the white sails and smiled slightly. Finally, a real ship again. She had gotten a little tired of having to travel by foot or in small boats.
Wait...
She looked at Jean.
Had he said she was supposed to sail? A dancer? How would she know how to sail?
Never the less, she had to get away from here. Maybe she could learn it later?
She gave him a heartrending, almost begging look. He couldn't leave her here just because of something so trivial, right?
...Then again, it wasn't like she was of any other use.

Jay followed the Ringmaster who had the Dancer in his arms. He started to wonder if the girl had given up on getting away from the Jean. Do we even know her name? Jay suddenly realized.
After arriving at the ship and deciding to shove off right away the woman started to freak out a little bit at the mention of sailing. I guess she doesn't know how. We can't just leave her here though and I think that Jean knows it. Jay walked over and put his hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Don't worry we'll teach you how to sail it isn't difficult." Jay offered trying to calm her down.

Jackson followed in the rear without a word of complaint until a sudden burst of movement caught his attention. His eyes darting to the source, he saw a rat watching them intently.

"... Don't tell me we're actually being followed by rats," Jackson mumbled to no one in particular. He grimaced at the aspect of them actually accompanying the woman wherever she may go, particularly since they were going to be confined in a vessel for a while until they reach their unknown destination. Just the idea of the creatures' little claws scraping on the wood of the ship as they scurried around relentlessly made his spine tingle. Jackson had little time to imagine such things, as before he knew it, they made it to the ship that would allow for their escape.

The boat itself wasn't out of the ordinary, and Jackson was expecting it to be something more eccentric in order to suit its captain. It disturbed him how empty it was, though. Jean had claimed to be a captain, yet that sort of position would require a crew to be under him. There could be people hiding below deck, but the lack of a jolly roger left Jackson unconvinced of such a possibility. Mildly uncomfortable about the suspicious situation, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Would you mind explaining the obvious lack of crew, self-proclaimed 'captain'?" he began, "I was hoping that we'd be simply enjoying the ride and not sailing the vessel on our own."

(Hey I'm going to Kentucky for a week and won't have any internet access so feel free to do what you like with Jay until I get back )

(okay, he'll just tag along, I guess. Have fun!)

Jean's lower eyelid twitched ever so slightly at the mention of his lack of crewmen. It was a question he knew that he'd have to answer at some point, but as always, he wasn't prepared. He hadn't even given it a second thought as to how he'd explain it really. He did have a few crew members left, but they all seemed to be busy below deck, or doing something out of their visual range. Sighing, he turned around to face Jackson and raised a brow.

"Would you like to get off of this island or not?" he snapped, "If you really want to leave so badly, you're not really in any position to question me, now are you? I promise you'll meet the others later, but now is not the time for that. Now let's get a move on and get this creaky tub moving." Giving the dancer a sideways glance, he realized that he didn't even know her name yet. Releasing her from his hold, he dashed to his quarters, and began tearing the room apart looking for pen and paper. Finding both pen and a pad of paper, he returned to her side.

"I assume you can write, yes?"

Writing?
She should have known that would come in handy someday...
And now she was in this emberassing situation.
She looked down. She just couldn't bring herself to look at him, maybe out of fear, maybe out of shame, which made her cheeks go red a little now.
Then, slowly and carefully, she shook her head.
What did he want her to write, anyway?

"Fine, fine. You don't need to get offensive over being asked a valid question." Jackson held his arms up to the sky in defeat, signifying that he wouldn't ask anymore. While the Ringmaster's irritated response only sparked his interest in the subject, Jackson decided it wouldn't be a good time to press the matter further. It was curiosity that killed the cat, after all.

Not long after he responded to Jackson, the Ringmaster left somewhere abruptly and returned moments later with a pad of paper and a pen in hand. At that moment, it dawned inside of Jackson while the dancer could not speak, she might be able to communicate by writing. It became apparent that it was Jean's intention from the start, and the woman acknowledged that she was able to.

"Why not start with something simple, like your name?" he suggested to the flustered dancer. "You do have one, right?" While Jackson didn't care much for such formalities, it would definitely make it easier to refer to her in the future during the voyage.

Ziv shook her head even more violently. No. No writing!
Then she remembered. Her name? She did have a way to tell them!
She turned to the man who had asked her and pointed to her neck.
At least it must look like she was. Actually, she was pointing at the collar she was wearing. It had "Ziv Regina Almas" engraved in it, written in pretty letters.
And even though the thought of any of those men coming near her neck made her shiver, she simply didn't have any other way to tell them.

(I'm Back )
"You don't know how to write either?" Jay asked looking at the woman's collar quizzically. "Ziv? Your name is Ziv?" Jay asked looking at her. this woman's only way of communicating is to gesture? How strange for a mute to never learn to write. Jay thought to himself as he waited for the woman's response.