The Fox and The Bird: A Crewmate is Found in the Grand Line.

A shadow moved across the ocean floor, moving up towards the ceiling of the bottom sea. A dark room could be seen, little light was used to light up the room. Within moments the submarine moved upwards, reaching the light that was the sun. Inside the craft was a man with silver hair and a black coat, his white skin could be seen reflected the small amount of light in the room. His left cheek had a scar, which had three marks on them resembling a scratch. Once the submarine touched the open water, an island could be seen a few miles away, but only a small bit of it.

The man in the black coat walked out of the submarine, putting his hand on some papers he had in his coat, information on it had rumors of a talking fox inside a town, one that had the power to turn into people.. however, he had no idea the whereabouts of this impressive creature inside the island, only that he was in it. Karasu had to somehow find him, knowing fully well that the odds of finding him quickly were very slim, he had no time to spare. Karasu had his vulture stick to his back and fly towards the island, looking around to land on the small forest located in a part of the island nobody seemed to be living in.

Karasu landed on the forest, his guns already put in case the fox creature had another secondary power the documents didn't describe, after all the documents were never filled with enough information to give Karasu more then info on reaching the targets, rarely they showed more then a few powers and information. He started walking towards the village, eventually getting out of the forest and reaching the small village. He looked around at the plain view of the village, the townsfolk seemed to live peaveful lives, yet there was little to no hint of there being a disturbance.. Karasu was starting to think the reports were wrong, and that the creature might have been nothing more then a town legend.

"Great.. Guess that means this is another waste of time, might as well ask people about the Fox while I'm here.."

The fox was walking in the form of anna, a young girl at the age of 8, in this form his fox ears and tails where visible, but it didnt seem to really look strange on the girl. she walked trough the small town to see who she could rob, or what information could be sold, he had to be carefull though there were quite a lot of marines in the town looking to hunt him down, most of the people thought he was a legend a not existing mythical beast that was just seen by pepole as an ilusion, it sounded strange but he knew how he couldnt be seen all the time, and could just appear once in a while, people even got scared of him, usually he wouldnt hurt people but in a chase a long time ago, he shot fire to keep people away, he was glad he didnt killed the person but it didnt feel right to hurt them.

In the form of anna he was walking around the town buying an apple from a fruit vendor the man behind the counter asking ''anna are you doing cosplay again, you look like a cute fox'' he smiled the man didn't notice anything happily eating the apple he walked trough the town, seeing if there was anything to do that day

Karasu moved through the town, talking to random people of the legendary fox beast. At first, he only heard of the rumor behind the fox, how at first it was a man, and the gods gifted the fox with a better godly form, another cut girl with blue hair stated she once saw the fox.. but was called crazy by other town villagers. The funniest story to Karasu, was one person that claimed he was married to the fox.. the wife was right next to him as he explained his story.

Karasu continued to move through the town, meeting stranger and stranger people the further inside the town he went. Finally He found someone that looked like a fox expert.. since.. well, she had the costume for it, maybe she was a fan of the beast, or a story teller of the actual rumor. All Karasu could think about was getting some actual information on the subject he was looking for, the Fox Beast could be real.. although the odds of that was pretty slim.

Karasu stood next to the girl, uppon a closer look she seemed to be young.. too young to know anything of the fox. Karasu was about to turn back to the crowd, but not before he realized that kids could have just as much information as adults, after all they did wander around in villages most times, they might be more likely to have seen the Fox. He turned around again, scratching the back of his head as he asked the little girl.

"Excuse me, but do you know anything of the Legendary Fox around the village?" Karasu put a smile for her, letting her know that he was not a scary stranger out to hurt her, this was his usual approach to all kids.

He was wondering what to say, if he said he didn't know anything it might be suspicious but what should he answer then he was thikning about it staring blindly in front of him the man didn't seem like a bad man, but he had to act like a young girl, that be the best ''The legenary fox?'' she said enthousiastic with a girly voice ''most people say he doesn't exist, or is evil '' I think he is a hero, but I haven't seen him in a while'' she said with her thumb in her mouth there was a big chance that the man couldnt hear her correcly but was sure he could make up something of it

''Do you like foxes too mr'' she aksed looking at the man, actually he became nervous normally he was good in hiding his real appearence but that man was looking for him, he hoped that he didnt know that he was talking to the same fox he was searching for he was also interested in what the man wanted with him ''you're not hurting foxy are you, he is not a bad fox'' he said waiting for the mans response

Karasu looked at the younger girl. Karasu thought of this girl as innocent, and overall had no bad vibes to her. She talked with her thumb in her mouth, which was adorable to most people, but Karasu merely looked at it as a sign of how pure she was of all evil. She was an innocent girl in his eyes. She provided him with some information, at least a little more then the others. He also detected something in her sentence which gave Karasu some worry, and even a little burst of energy. She said, 'I haven't seen him in awhile' which meant she had seen him before, it was mumbled.. but it was definitely recognizable.

She asked Karasu if he was going to hurt the fox, from which he had to tell her the truth, after all she was a potential person to help him find the fox, since she had seen him before.

"I am not here to hurt the fox little one, I'm here to ask him to join me on my travels, and I need your help to find him." Karasu sighed, knowing how weird this must all sound to grown-ups, but to a child it would sound completely normal. Karasu looked around, making sure nobody was hearing the conversation. he then returned his gaze at the girl, holding the genuine smile for her.

"Don't worry young one, I'm not here to hurt him, only ask him something." She had already mentioned he wasn't evil from her point of view, so he had no reason to doubt her.

the girl moved her hair out of the face and looked at the man, the man didn't seem evil, but there was something about him why would h come all the way here to get him join his travels it was very strange it was best to get a little bit of information from him before doing stupid things it might be a marine and that would be a strange ocasion, he couldnt use his this form anymore then nd he would bring the girl that has the original form in trouble which he didnt wanted because it was cute, it was just a good form to walk around in and to have fun in he started at the man for a bit longer.

''you might say that but, how do I know for sure you won't hurt my friend foxy'' she said with a somewhat sad look on her face, ''I know that foxy would like traveling but, he doesnt know you, how comes you know him thats strange'' she said the man would be thinking now what a smart girl she would be

''but mister, If I will lead you to foxy how can I be sure ure not hurting mr foxy, There are alot of people wanting to hurt him so Its better I dont tell'' she said, he would probably still believe the girl, he had hoped to find out more information about the man, so he could decide what to do, just to be sure he slipped a little stone out of the pocket the girl had in her dress, the stone fell on the mans shoe ''oh pardon me sir'' she was scared the man would hurt her but this would be the best way to be safe for the future if the man actualy was about to hurt him

Karasu wondered why the girl seemed to be so protective over the fox, she might have been a very close friend to him.. or simply a friend of the foxes, he had to find out why.. but at the same time, he had to answer her question truthfully. She is, after all, a very valuable person for information on the fox.

"You can trust me, I'm not the type to hurt potential crew mates, you're probably too young to know what that means, but it's not a person I would hurt."
Karasu then heard his other statement, how Karasu knew him.. I guess it would seem strange that he would be looking for the fox, but how would a young girl know how to ask such a question? It was hard to believe an eight year old could have put two and two together to come up with such a smart question, nevertheless Karasu tried to answer.

"I know about him from rumors, there's a lot of rumors on the open sea." Karasu technically told the truth, since he didn't want to go into details of his guild giving him the information he needed. Karasu heard the child refuse to give him information, but Karasu had to at least help her understand.

"Your friend wont be hurt, I'll make sure that doesn't happen"

Karasu took out his hand, putting it on her forehead to show her he wasn't the evil type. He tapped her head, smiling at her.

"You can trust me."

''but im not sure, I dont want him hurt''she said in a sad tone her thumb still in her mouth she looked at karasu and smiled a lilttle bit '' I think you are not a bad man, maybe foxy will like to meet you'' she said it didn't seem like a good idea, but he wanted to see the reaction of the man if he himself would stand before him''okay I trust you'' she said on a chilidhs voice removing the thumb from her mouth nd letting the stone slide into her pocket.

''Then I'll go get mr foxy please wait here'' she said on a somewhat bossy tone, the little girl dissapeared in the allyeway, and then turned into the fox form, he thought this might be fun and had a sinister smile on his fox face, he then with his paws grabbed the sone he just dropped on karasu and put hit on his head, he now exactly looked like karasu, he even managed to hide his tails ''yay'' he let out a small cheer in karasus voice but no one was able to hear it

He then walked back and reappeared before karasu with a smile on his face he said ''yo, you were looking for me'' he wasn't sure how the man would react but he loved doing pranks like this the look on the faces of people he did things like this with were just worth so much

Karasu was oddly surprised, the vulture more so then him. Steel, Karasus vulture, had its jaw wide open when he transformed into Karasu.. however, Karasu was more impressed then surprised. The creature had a very clever way of blending into society, and he could now tell the fox was the playful type. With these two things alone Karasu could see that he was more pure then evil. Karasu was not the type for humor, but he saw that the fox was not trying anything against him, only turning into him. There were a few questions on Karasus head.

"So, I take it you are the fox then? Tell me, do you want to use your powers for good? Or would you rather stay in this island, without contributing to the world?"

While Karasu maintained his composure, and smiling at the fox, the vulture's eyes were completely white, and its mouth completely open. It almost lost its grip when the fox turned into Karasu. It's face turned almost completely pale, while Karasu ignored the vultures reactions. His proposal was usually meant for the people with pure hearts, depending on his answer Karasu would know what type of person the fox was. If he was neutral, evil, or good.

'' pure or evil is just an opinion. I wouldnt use my powers to survive, that might be bad, that might be good that is yours to say'' he said with a smile on his face ''what I am trying to say is that I don't have bad intentions, but well bad things might be done to be able to survive, and well people see me as a legend so most of the time are just hunting me'' he stated, he didnt more anymore if his intentions were good or bad he just watned to survive and for him it was good, for some people it would be bad since he used their apples. and well most of the people had nothing against him but were scared of him so he didnt really know what he was

The man then turned back to his original form , the form of a red fox, his two tails stood out and he sared at the man and at the vulture, he was waiting for their reaction, if they would try anything bad he would just turn invisible and leave the place where he was atm

Karasu nodded to the mans response, in his mind he had just found out that the man was not an enemy, instead he was a man trying to survive.. from what he understood. He didn't seem like he would cross a line to get his way, he just wanted to live.. but the question Karasu asked was not completely answered. He needed to know if he wanted to contribute for the greater good, and apparently there was only a few ways he could answer. Either the fox would tell Karasu, or he would show him. Obviously the rate things were going the fox would stay being neutral, so Karasu had to improvise.

Karasu whistled loudly, it's vulture responding by flying into the sky and disappearing from sight. The vulture then swooped down and grabbed a fishman from the shoreline and flew back to Karasu, dropping the man next to him. Karasu put his left arm around his neck, and pointed a gun to his temple. He glared back at the fox, this time he needed the answer he was looking for.

"Who deserves to die more, this man.. or his family?" Karasu didn't know how the fox would react, would he not care? Or would he try to stop Karasu? If the fox was neutral, or trying to survive, he would probably try to run away. If he had the kind of good Karasu needed, he would try to stop him from pulling the trigger. Of course, Karasu wasn't going to actually pull the trigger.

Karasus vulture landed on the nearby house, the wood that was sticking out of the ceiling made for great front row seats to this drama.

''no one needs to die, he didn't do anything wrong, I am disapointed that you wish to kill someone who didn't do anything wrong'' he sad from his fox form the man before him would probably be suprised that he was talking, he normally refrained from talking in fox form but he couldnt this time. someone might get killed just for no reason it made him mad, he was quite angry but knew he needed to control his anger.

Both of his tails moved up a bit, the white tip of the tails were aimed at karasus gun, he used the right tail and aimed it better, he then shot a small burst of fire at the gun, not hurting anyone but he would remove the gun from karasus arm,

''No one is gonna die here'' he didn't do anything wrong he is just a random target of you, dont you have no feelings'' he then started wondering why the man was looking for him he might be out to really kill him but just wanted to hunt him out ''then why are you looking for me. do you wanna bring bigger hatred on me, by saying I killed the fishmen'' he said being confused

Karasu smiled, the fox did the right thing. Instead of Karasu trying to dodge the flame, he shot a special bullet at it, spinning in extreme speeds, and penetrated the fire having it lose its flame appearance and allowing a gust of wind to take its place. It was one of Karasus special attack, and ability to repel gas sent towards him, however.. the bullet that is fired is relatively harmless to anyone it touches, no matter how fragile the person.

Karasu put the man away, and looked at the fox with a smile. He crossed his arms, putting his pistols away. The man that saw the brief clash ran away screaming, drawing a small bit of attention from the few people close by.

"Then you are a good person, I am not here to hunt you down nor am I here to kill anyone." Karasu sat down, getting to his height to allow eye contact to be direct.

"You seem like a dependable addition to the crew I have, I'd like to personaly invite you.. Mythical Fox. Can I have your name?"

the fox looked a bit strange at the man so it had been a test, why should somoene come here all the way to test him, he maybe should just join the men he could always flee, he had enough ways to fllee and it seemed like fun, but what would his life be like when he would join the man, he wondered for a seccond

He had decided he would follow hte man for a while it might bring him something good he wasnt sure and he was happy that the man tried to be on eye height with him

''I have many names but none, one of my curses is that when I lost my body I lost my name, many people call me the kitsune, the multiple faced fox, fox, demon fox, spirit fox. or known as huli jing'' he said then took some air ''how about you give me a name then mr uhm whats ure name'' he said wondering

Karasu took a moment to think. The fox had asked his name, which he usually never gave to people unless he was considering killing them, however this was a crewmate.. or a potential one. Karasu put on hand on his chin, giving the hint that he was seriously considering telling him his identity. Since he was a crewmate though, in Karasus head, that gave him the right to know in the end.

"You may call me Karasu Ammo, the rarely known Warlord of the Sea.. I'm currently working on having my name known."

It was true that rarely anyone knew about him, and it was only recently that he made his first step to getting recognized by name, but not by face. He captreud an entire rookie crew on his own, putting them all behind bars so he could have some brownie points on Admiral Nishki. Personally, he didn't care much for the ranks of marines.. but he knew that if he needed something, it would be easier to get it from someone without much of a hustle, or suspicion.

Karasu greeted the fox, taking out his palm face up so the fox could put his paw on top of his palm.

"Great to meet you, Huli Jing, I'd like you to come with me.. I might need someone with your specialties in the near future."

the fox stared at the man and looked a bit strange thinking about what a warlord of the sea was doing here and why would he want him in a crew it sounded strange but it got him very excited it felt good thatt someone was looking for him interested in his talents, it made him happy and put a smile on his face, his tails were moving up and down slowly and he had sparkles in his eyes. he couldnt hide the fact he was enjoyed and excited.

''I'd like to join you under two conditions,'' the fox said strictly, he didnt want to be used just for things and put a side after and he wanted apples lots of them ''the first thing is, well I don't wanna just be used when you need me and cast aside after that, if you want me to join me then dont drop me off after a 'bit'' he said with a serious face '' and the 2nd things is even more important I am not a difficult person or fox, I just want my apples times'' he said smiling

Karasu couldn't help but laugh, it was funny to Karasu that a fox would be in love with apples just like Karasu only has taste buds for Flan. This was a very intriguing moment for Karasu. He looked at the fox, a smile creeping up on his face, he wasn't completely happy (he never is), but he was glad that he found someone that would join his crew.. someone that would become an excellent asset for something other then fighting. For once, he could kill without the need for others getting alarmed.. and even better still, he could have the fox seek intel he might need in the future. Karasu was lucky to have someone like him, it seemed like the fox even had a good will towards people.. even if he doesn't admit it.

Karasu put his hand on the fox's head as he started talking to him, his face still continuing the blank smile.

"I'm glad I have company in my ship, I'll need you for something else as well.. your first mission will be with me, I guess you can say we'll be visiting my old captain.."

Karasu walked, hoping the fox would follow. Distant from the rather poor, yet peaceful, town was Karasus submarine. He kneeled down, hoping the fox would jump on his back. Once he jumped on his back, he would run across the ocean using Soru, and arriving on his submarine within seconds. From there, they would wait for the vulture to make it to the submarine, and head towards the New World.. Karasu would have to ask for some reinforcements, in case something would go wrong. In this moment, Karasu was waiting for the fox to jump on his back, so the voyage to the New World could begin.

the fox was confused the fox was way faster then normal humans and this sounded strange but well he wanted to see how fast the man could walk but it be strange to see a fox on someones back, he would bring the man in trouble, so his paw dissapeared in the satchel till he came out with the correct stone, and put it over his head, then turning into anna, the girl from before '' I am ready mr karasu'' he said in the voice of a young girl and jumped on the mans back

Moving his two tails that way it would also hold her skirt down, even though it wasnt his own form he was very protective of it and decded it be better not to show stuff, when he climbed on karasus back and hold his arm around karasus neck he always saw his little sister and brother on his parents neck like this it felt stange but good. he wondered if he ever could go back to his old form, being a fox was fun at times but he hoped to just have a peacefull life in his own body again,

Karasu picked up the.. young girl? He could feel the tail moving about, so he guessed the fox had transformed into the younger girl again. That took him into a momentary state of surprise, but he quickly adjusted himself as he positioned the girl in a way where he would not lose grip of her, leaning a bit forward so the air would not knock her off. He felt her arms wrap around his neck, this meant the fox was with enough support.. but a good feeling ran around Karasu.

He used Soru, running through the waters at high speeds and appearing on the submarine within seconds, the winds of the running were usually enough to push someone out of Karasu, but in this case proper preparations were made so that the person would stay on Karasus back. once he stopped right on the edge of the ship, he put the little fox girl down to the ground, Karasus pet vulture flying shortly after in their direction.

Karasu opened the door to the submarine, showing the entire 23m in the inside, having six rooms across the hall, and the kitchen on the edge of the submarine. Of course, the kitchen only had edible things like fruits, and normal cooked food that hadn't tasted good but would last awhile. Most of the fruits were in sacs, as well as the food. The hall of course, was made of black metal. Each of the rooms inside the submarine were pretty big, with only a bed in the middle and a table with a den den mushi.

"Alright, Kitsune, make yourself at home.. I believe I have a few apples in one of the sacs in the kitchen, I'll be steering for awhile till we arrive to a brief destination before the New World."

the fox returned into his own form when reaching the boat, he never been under the sea before and he was somewaht scared he knew he would be fine so he knew he shouldnt tell it. ''wow, a underseaship, never seen one this is awesome'' he said with sparkles in his fox eyes he was also suprised at the speed he moved on, he then duck in the kitchen of the submarine and found a few apples he decided to eat one and leave the rest for later

he moved to where karasu was ''so captain'' he said smiling, and teasingly, he didnt know if he wanted to be named captain so he would know after this ''where are we going now, does your crew have other members'' he was curious

Karasu opened one of the many doors, watching the fox as he looked around the ship.. he didn't know how old the fox was, but he guessed he was young when he ate it, since he was behaving like an innocent child. Karasu couldn't help but smile, taking out his hand and grabbing the controls to the submarine while the vulture flew inside the ship, closing the door behind it.

In the front of the ship the ocean could be seen from underneath the waves, the darkness mixed in with the lights of the skies. Fishes and sharks could be seen swimming around the area, Karasu decided to finally answer the question the fox had let out.

"The crew members aren't exactly the fun loving type, but i bet after seeing you they might change a bit.. especially since we'll be hanging together for a bit."

Karasu started the ship, and moved further down the ocean. He couldn't help but smile as he now knew that the new crew member would be a very delightful addition to the crew he had, he'd be one very important key in the future.. and he knew his powers would be useful for intelligence gathering.. which he will be needing to find information without the needed consent of the marines.

((Red, you want to end the thread here?))

((that be fine))