SRS: A Rising Stargazer - Volume I: Twilight in the South Blue [OPEN]

Jhonen studied the figure before him, admittedly somewhat surprised.

Another fishman? Two in one day? Dear god, life on the ocean is not going to be smooth sailing... he sighed mentally.

The figure was tall, but lean and whip-like, completely different from the hulking form that Jaw possessed. A silvery-blue color, the Fishman looked awkwardly out of place sprawled on the deck of the ship.

"Take it easy Bryce," he ordered, motioning for Bryce to lower the gun. "A single Fishman who doesn't even have his sea legs is no threat to us," he concluded. Jhonen gingerly poked the slumped man with the tip of his anchor.

"Hey, you! Get up. You got a lot to explain."

Jaw was carefully listening to what Jhonen was saying while stealing a few glances from time to time monitoring Bryce's weird movements. Something was going on, the strong fishman could smell a bit of tension rising in the air. Bryce's body language could tell Jaw that he was going to do something reckless. The big sharkman quickly prepared his guard but still not changing even the slightest in his usual facial expression as nothing was happening when a cup fell down...but it was not only that a sound of bullet was covered beneath the sound of the breaking cup. Bryce had shot.

It wasn't Jhonen who was shot but rather the door making a small hole there. Jaw figured out he had seen something unordinary. Was that human really had that sharp vision. Jaw stood up and followed the man out on the deck as small sun rays had now pierced the dark clouds that was the storm that had passed sooner than anyone could think. The big fishman had to bend his knees so he can pass the small door and even before his crewmates, due to his height, he was able to make out a body in the middle of the deck.
Jaw did not react emotionally when he saw another fishman on board. He configured his battle stance just in any case if his fellow brother was going to go on the rampage. Something that happened always when fishmen were cornered by humans.
The shark man decided to remain silent.

They weren't Marines, Kujira had figured that much out. They weren't slavers either, which was proven by the shark fishman's presence. He decided to continue with his theory that they were pirates. Kujira considered trying to make a run for it over the side, but he was somewhat discouraged from that idea by the gun barrel that was aimed at him. However, he was 'ordered' to get up. Now Kujira wanted to tear out that man's throat for such insolence! Who did he think he was, ordering anther sentient being around like that! Then Kujira reminded himself that he had sneaked onto the man's ship in the first place, which sort of did give him the right to be bossy. Reluctantly, Kujira stood up and faced his...foes?... acquaintances?...he wasn't sure what to call them.

"So...what do you want to know?" Kujira asked with a cocky grin, leaning casually back against the rail. Inwardly, his stomach churned.

What do I want to know? Jhonen thought sarcastically. Oh, I wonder what I could possibly want to know.

"How about who you are, why you're on my ship, and why you were listening in on a private conversation?" Jhonen snapped sternly. He was tired, it had been a long day, and he was most annoyed at the idea of someone listening in on his conversations. No manners whatsoever.

"Let's see..." Kujira cocked his head to one side. "My name is Kujira, not that you would know who I am. I came on board because I thought this was a Marine vessel, I was planning to kill all the Marines. And I was listening at the door because I wanted to know if you were really Marines or not. I would guess...not." He looked around the small group again and chuckled.

The pirate captain's eyebrow twitched very slightly.

"Why on earth would you want to kill Marines?" he suddenly asked, his voice icy. "And why, more importantly, would you want to kill in an unprovoked attack people who've done nothing to wrong you at all?"

His grip tightened on the anchor, his knuckles whitening. Unprovoked murder was not the sort of thing he agreed with, at all. It flew in the face of all common sense and moral behaviour.

He thought momentarily of Bryce shooting down two Marines, and he could only assume they were dead, but that was different. He personally disliked the lethal force Bryce had taken, but it had been an entirely different situation.

"I kill Marines because they are the worst kind of justice this world has to offer," Kujira said. "How anyone could allow slavery or give limitless power to those fools, the World Nobles. They sicken me and I will fight them everything I've got."

"You're going about it the wrong way. Most of the men in the World Government and in the Marines are normal men, like you and I, who simply dislike the idea of criminals running rampant. I have no objection to this, and if you do then you're a deluded psychopath," Jhonen spat. He'd fled the Marines, fearing what they would do with the research he had developed, but the majority of the men were just regular people following orders.

"The problem with the World Government is the head, not the toes." Jhonen turned away from the Fishman, shunning him for his blindly destructive ideas.

"I'm no fan of the World Government, but if you want to fight it, join the Revolutionary Army. Do it properly, don't go about killing regular men and women and using the fact that they serve the World Government as justification for your bloodshed."

"Hmmm...I think I see your point," Kujira said. "Or not. See ya!" He flipped over the rail and hit the water with a splash. As he floated downward he did consider what that man had told him. Perhaps he was right in his accusations. In any case, Kujira didn't care who those people were. They were all scum in his opinion. Why they would serve such a government was beyond him.

Kujira turned away from the vessel and began to swim deep into the water. He wanted to find a place to sleep and the floor of the ocean was as good as any. Besides, he needed to settle his stomach after that awful ship ride.

Bryce let the fishman go with some feeling of regret. Just letting him flop over the side after such a short, uneventful interview sat wrong with him. He watched him hang there as he fell towards the water, almost in slow motion, carried along not at the breakneck speeds so many people in this world could move but the casual, leisurely stroll which gravity carried a man at. His rifle shifted slightly in his sweaty palms.

It would take him an eighth of a second to sight, less than that to let the twitch reflex that he had to fight, consciously, take over and hit the trigger. Bryce could almost imagine the shocked stares of the other two as the intruder became chum. He'd put on his own look of shock, too; say he had been on edge, think of something...he was a stranger, and a murderous one at that. Maybe he'd get away with it this time...maybe they'd keelhaul him.

The soft splashing sound let Bryce know he had pondered the problem for too long. He slung his rifle over his back and let out a sigh. It wouldn't do him any good to get his crew looking at him now; first the world, then the few men and women who would take him there. His allies had to be the last to recognize him, or he might never reach it.

"Ah, man, there are some really sick guys on the ocean," Bryce complained, his voice taking a slightly higher tone. "Murdering so casually..."

Bryce hung his head, taking off his cap and softly scratching the place where his hair had been pushed down. Throwing the cap back on, he turned around, eyes hidden, big white, slightly mousy smile visible on his lower face.

"No accounting for what others will do, eh Jhonen-nii?" Turning back around, Bryce headed back in to clean up the pots and pans.

Jhonen watched as the fishman dived off the ship and into the water below, unmoved by the strange encounter beyond his feeling of disgust at those who killed the innocent.

Let's hope we never meet him again, Jhonen mused. He turned to watch Bryce trot back inside, then headed up to the wheel of the ship, taking a firm hold of it. He wasn't the best sailor, but it was a good ship and it made up for many of his only-average capabilities. Sailing through a storm would be difficult, but doable.

Grabbing the wheel and slipping the loops of rope over his hands so that no sudden waves would sweep him overboard, Jhonen decided to focus on the dreary task of stormriding.

We don't even have a crew name, he realised suddenly.

[[Unless anyone else has something more to add in this thread, it's probably worth just skipping the night since it's just generic sailing in the storm, and proceeding onto Volume II. If either of you do have anything more you want to follow up in this thread though, keep posting.]]

[[I assume this would be my last post in this topic]]

Jaw continued staying silent not interrupting the dialogue his captain and the fishman had. He just stood on guard and ready to punish just in case. The shark fishman anticipated very well what all this was about, in the end many fishmen were traumatized when they were slaves. This fishman was possibly one of them who liked to kill Marines but it was something that was almost ordinary among fishmen as they were severely discriminated by the World Government.

When the fishman jumped off board Jaw decided it was time to speak.
"It is something seen in common among my brethren." Jaw said in a calm tone. "The lust for kill - a trait of the predator, the lust for revenge - the trait of a traumatized. We fishmen have both that. Well at least some of us are predator fish but all of us were tormented by the Government.
I do not support his point in needless bloodshed though."

Bryce finished washing the pots and pans in fairly short order; among his many overwhelmingly average skills was skulling. Though it didn't take long, however, the boat had already begun rocking, the howling winds of the storm already rattling anything loose. Locking the cabinet tight, Bryce headed out onto the deck and up to the helm.

Sitting back against the rail, Bryce fastened himself to the ship with a nearby string of buoys. He looked up at his new captain, smiling passively. If this man could really surpass Gol D. Roger, there'd be not a man alive who wasn't looking their way. His smile broadened a bit as he considered his possible fortune.

"I know it's a long night ahead for you, nii-san," Bryce offered. "I'll keep you some company, until you're sick of me at least." The young gun offered a soft, endearing kind of chuckle, the sort you lose the ability to give after turning adult.

"Any time you need coffee or tea or anything, let me know," he continued. "As long as you can find us a five minute break in the chop, I'll get it made and up here."

It'd be a long night for him, too, if he stayed up there with the captain. That was alright, though; there was a lot to think about.

((My last post for this thread, I'll move over to the next once I've seen everyone else shove over.))