Serious: The Aurora Pirates Part 3: The Calm Before the Storm

(Right. Sorry about that. I edited it out. Somehow I thought I'd seen that he had a hood.)

James dropped all of his stuff on the ground and shook the other man's hand. "Nice to meet you...Kaori, right?" James said. "Do you know Jake from somewhere?"

"I just met him. I'm looking for a crew, since Cosak, my old captain, kicked the bucket. I'd be willing to join your motley band for now." Kaori says. "I'm not really risk free though. There are marines tracking me."

"Well, you're welcome to join this motley band if you really want to!" James said, laughing. Then his face became hard. "As for the marines, we can deal with anything that comes our way." Then he grinned. "So we're all okay with you here!" James turned to Jake. "By the way, I picked up another crew member at a restaurant. I was having some trouble with a couple of the local idiots, but he took them out real fast."

"Awesome, captain! I saw said idiots on my way here!"
Jake gave him a big grin and a thumbs up. It was nice to see the two got along.
"So that means there's, uhm..."
Then he counted on his fingers with an intense look on his face.
"Five of us now, right? Great stuff!"
He got a little closer to James, almost whispering now.
"Say, does the one you met happen to be a kid, by any chance?"
He really, really needed something small to take care of these days.

"This is one of those smaller crews then?" Kaori asks. "Well, it's a change from Cosak's armada."

"Sorry Jake," James said. "He was about the same age as I am, so no," Then he turned to Kaori. "Yeah...we're real small right now, but I plan to pick up only strong people for this crew so we won't have to worry about the size of an enemy crew."

Kagirinai noticed Jake and James along with someone else as he headed back to the ship. he slowly approached them from behind his steps silent as he walked up his breathing silent with his steps as he crept right up behind james and spoke, 'I am guessing that you have found yourself a new crew member captain." The iron user towered over his captain as he stared at the new comer.

(Frog Dragon, if you want to do a plot hook then this could be a good time to do it with most of us here.)

"Hey Kagi," James said. "Yep. Two new crew members actually. The other is coming down to the ship later."

Kaori looked behind James. "Oh crap. That guy." There was a rather thick looking fellow some distance behind them, wearing marine clothing (somewhat similar to Garp). "I'm going to get going. That guy is after me, and he's no piece of cake." Kaori started walking for shore, but turned out to be.. out of luck. "AHHA! Finally, I have got you, Kaori!" The marine broke into a full run, much faster than Kaori himself.

Kagirinai stared at Kaori then looked as he noticed the large thick fellow some distance behind them. His eyes narrowed as Kaori quickly took off he watched everything carefully as the large man ran up to Kaori. The marine easily catching up. Kagirinai reached inside his cloak and vanished appearing between them. His tonfa drawn and held up in a defensive stance.

Kaori suddenly turned around as the marine barreled past the rest of the group, dodging Kagirinai and drawing a sword. The marine closed in, aiming for a diagonal cut with the sword. "Stay!" Kaori shouted as the marine struck. The marine hit, but was struck back and almost spinned around in reverse to the direction he hit at. Kaori was impossibly still, his robe not making a single movement. There was no damage.

James walked over to Kagirinai. "Don't attack," he ordered. "I want to see how this guy fights. We'll help him out if he gets into trouble." Then James looked thoughtful. "Better yet, take a look around. There may be some more marines around here."

"I know about your ability, pirate." The marine says, words full of spite, gathering power for a katana strike. Kaori pulls a spear and as the marine strikes, he angles it to protect his head and loses his grip of it. "Stay!" The spear stays in the air as the marine strikes, hitting the spear and having the strike turned to the side. Kaori aims a punch at the marine's stomach, getting blocked as the marine takes a sidestep to get around the spear.
The marine strikes again with the katana, but Kaori grabs the hilt. "Stay!" The marine tries to pull the katana back, but simply can't. Kaori throws a kick at the marine and grabs the katana with his right hand and the spear with his left. He slashes at the marine, who dodges to the side, kicking Kaori in the gut. Kaori gasps, dropping the katana, but managing to keep hold of the spear. "Stay!" The marine kicks again, but is propelled back as he kicks the immovable robe. He picks up the katana again.
The alleyways reveal more marines, likely called in as reinforcements. People have vacated the premises.

"Looks like we got company," James said, seeing the approaching marines. He turned to face one group of them and drew both of his swords. "Two Sword Style: Gale Force!" By combining a soru with a double sword slash, James shot past four marines, cutting them as he went. The marines in front of James did not slow down even after seeing this, but it did not matter. A gust of wind, summoned up by Kazeshini, struck the marines and threw them backwards.

"Oh my, we get attention wherever we go!"
Jake laughed so loudly that most of the marine soldiers who weren't on the ground by now turned their heads to him. Their expressions ranged from "That ruined the drama!"-annoyed to "Oh god what a freak!"-scared.
Jake covered his mouth quickly.
"Ah, sorry... Looks like I hog all the attention for myself here..."
Some marines, interestingly mostly the ones who had looked scared a second before, slowly came towards him, swords drawn.
Jake waved his hands.
"H-hey, hey, no need to get aggressive. I'm not even the captain here!"
He jumped back to dodge the first hit, only to jump forward gain a second later and send the marine flying with a punch to the gut.
"Jeez, okay! I'll fight you guys!"

James ducked under a couple of sword swings and came up behind two marines who had been in front of him. He cut them across their backs and swung his sword back, letting it hang over his shoulder. He had done this just in time to stop a sword which would have pierced into his back. James spun catching his opponent's blade in between his two swords and he twisted his blades disarming his opponent. He thrust Crimson Rain into the marine's chest and blood ran down the blade. He pulled the sword back out and stared out it thoughtfully as the marine collapsed next to him.

"I guess this is why you received your name," he said. James looked up and searched the battlefield trying to see what his partners were up too.

"Hahahaha!"
Jake laughed almost a little like a maniac while delivering a clothesline that took down three marines at once.
"Not my usual style, but funnnn!"
"Prepare to die, freak!"
Jake turned around and punched the marine who had tried to stab him in the back. He watched him fly. Nope, that guy wouldn't stand up too soon.
"See, kids? That's why you don't shout during a surprise attack!"
Now they were definitely scared of him. Some backed away.
"What? You picked this fight, so you'll have to go through it till the end!"
He jumped right in the middle, and started attacking anyone close by like a berserk.
He grinned. This was fun! And as long as he didn't kill them, it was totally okay!

Kaori was still fighting the commanding marine. They we're largely in a stalemate. Kaori blocked the katana strike of the marine shouting "Stay" to make the strike ping off the spear. Since Kaori was not in Invincible Armor, the marine struck the katana at his side again, but Kaori was ready. "Stay" And the katana pinged off. The marine was getting angry. "Just DIE already!" The marine raised the sword above his head, and leaped at Kaori with a downward slash at the head. Kaori jumped up, and started a backflip, but yelled "Stay" his boot stopping in the path of the blade. The marine was propelled back slightly and Kaori released the boot, dropping back down as the marine was stunned as he hit the ground, almost falling. The marine commander regained his composure and looked at Kaori, ready to strike, but got headshotted by the blunt end of a spear. The marine fell to the ground. Kaori had finally gotten the upper hand.

Jake was intimidating the majority of the marines and Kaori seemed to be winning. "Clean up time," James muttered. He half-heartedly stopped a marine's sword thrust. Now that they knew they were going to lose they had lost any of the confidence they might have had. "Just get out of here," James ordered the marine next to him. The man turned and ran away. James let him go and turned to watch Kaori's battle again.

Since nothing else seemed to be going on, James walked over to Jake. "Need any help?" he asked the fishman.

"Hahahaa... oh, hello captain."
Fro one second to the next, Jakes expression changed completely.
He had been the stuff nightmares were made out of a second ago, but now his expression was so friendly it was heartbreaking.
Probably not so much for the marine soldier he was holding up though.
"Hmmm, if you ask me, those people already lost their will to fight. I mean, look at them..."
He brought the marine closer to James. The poor guy only stuttered things like "help" and "Safe me". Jake got him away from James again.
"Poor guys are only following their orders. But as long as those orders include killing us, I disapprove."
He took a deep breath.
"Long story short: Go ahead, I don't mind!"

"Alright," James stepped past Jake. "Single Sword: Bolt!" James rushed forward in a zig-zag pattern slashing enemies on both sides. The remaining marines turned on their heels and retreated. "That was a too easy," James muttered. He turned around to Kaori's fight.

Jake, too turned to see the newbie fight.
On his side, he heard someone whimper. He looked down and noticed he was still holding the marine.
"Aaaw, I'm sorry! You're such a leightweight, I forgot you were..:"
The soldier whimpered and curled up like a scared kitten. He might have lost his mind. Jake raised himup and took a closer look at him.
"Poor thing's scared out of his mind... Hey captain!"
He had taken him up in his arms. The man didn't even try to defend himself, he was too afraid.
"Can I keep him? Pleeease?"
... He was treating him like a stray cat...

James took one look at the marine and shrugged. "Whatever. It doesn't matter to me. Just make sure you take care of him yourself."

OOC: Pyriss Enters

Months and months passed by, the small ship in which Pyriss owned is completely in a mess. The strong currents tore her ship apart throughout the months. Her ship was barely able to sail, and without a flag, how would the ship gather wind? Formerly, the ship had the ability to sail, through the powerful engine behind it, but that engine was now deconstructed. All thanks to a carpenter on the last island, who screwed Pyriss out of her pay, by stealing her engine. The rotten thief was just as rotten as Pyriss herself. The last island, contained something that was quite the spectacle. Pyriss smuggled a devil fruit, Paramecium and probably rare. The devil fruit could probably earn her 3,000,000 beri, which could last her for years! Ahead of her, Pyriss looked in the direction of her ship's sailing direction. The ship was heading for a very industrialized island, most definitely something to steal there.

The ship suddenly crashed into the shore, destroying the cellar below. Pyriss's face automatically turned into a face of silent anger and frustration. Pyriss ran down to the cellar, slowly submerging into a tomb of water. Pyriss gathered books, food, and anything else she can grab, as she hurriedly ran back upstairs. She jumped off the small, sinking ship. The items in her hand started to vanish as she flew in the air, landing on the sentimental rocks of the island's shore. Sand attacking to her skin like leaches tempted her to drop her belongings and recomposed herself. Her legs were semi-injured due to the gravity of falling on the ground, from a 20 ft ship. What was left in her hand, was her book and her compass. Her book was a diary of experiences, that she wrote down after she landed on a new island. This island was for sure new to her.

Pyriss grabbed for a pen in her pocket, and she wrote down a few key actions that just expired. A little frustrated that the paper was wet. Pyriss hesitated to get up, her legs were a little sore. Pyriss eventually, managed to get up, wandering around towards civilization. This was not difficult at all. Pyriss was quite skilled in navigation and direction, as she walked to areas of nostalgia to others. Eventually hearing a large ruckus ahead of her. She suddenly hid under a rock a long distance away, as she seen an armada of Marines fighting against a small amount of what seemed to be pirates. It could only be pirates who would fight against the marines. Pyriss still possessed her claw and devil fruit in her backpack behind her. With her compass and book in hand.