Serious; Chapter Two: Justice of the Jungle; Open to the crew currently called Unnamed Pirates

At Patch's words, Takao's eyes widened in shock. "You're right! I could have seriously injured him!" Takao turned his back on the doctor and the man they had rescued and he sat down, wrapped his arms around his legs, and stared off across the ocean. "I'm a terrible captain," he muttered, as a depressed aura descended around him.

The man sat up, pressing a hand against his wound. "I'm…hurt?" he asked out loud. "How did that happen…" He frowned, looking confused. "Strange. I can't…"

At precisely that moment, they reached the island. The man jumped in surprise as the raft bumped gently against the shoreline. He stared off into the island's jungle, still looking confused. Then, without another word he stood and leaped onto the shore.

"This place looks familiar," he commented. "I think I've been here before." He glanced back at Patch and smiled. "Thank you for helping me. I think I'll be okay now."

As if on cue, a large beast sprang out the woods. It was enormous, with orange fur and black stripes like a tiger. However, wrapped around its throat and head was a mane like a lion's.

The giant liger was going towards the man, its claws scything towards his throat.
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"Why do I have to go with you, violent woman?"

The Marine woman ground her teeth together, but kept on walking through the treetop city, not looking back at Tristan.

"That's Lieutenant Myers to you," she growled back at her insolent subordinate. "As for why the Commodore thinks it's a good idea for us to work together, I have no idea. But if you question his orders one more time…"

"I know, I know," Tristan replied, brushing off the comment. "You'll probably turn my face inside out or something like that. Good times." He sighed dramatically. "Still, I would much rather be with Com-boss or the loser captain. At least they are funny."
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At that time, the 'Com-boss' and 'loser captain' were also walking through the treetops, albeit at a much slower pace. The Commodore was enjoying being back on land for the first time in a long while and the Captain wasn't going to argue with him on that point. Still, they couldn't spend all their time enjoying the scenery, the Captain reasoned.

"So, Commodore," the Captain said slowly. "What exactly are we looking for again? A pirate?"

"We've been over this before," the Commodore replied, sounding a little irritated. For a moment he was quiet, but then he continued, "But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to remind you one more time. This mission is really weird. We are looking for a pirate, but he's an unusual one. Sources say that he has only recently declared himself a pirate and that he doesn't even have a bounty yet." The Commodore paused for a moment to examine a stores wares. As he perused the inventory he added in a low voice, "The source who gave us this information was anonymous, which I find particularly troubling. It could be someone just pulling our leg…but the channel it came through…" He frowned, glancing back at the Captain. "Something doesn't sit right with me about this whole mission. Keep your eyes open and watch for anything strange."
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The woman had reached her hotel and was loading up with equipment. She was now wearing a backpack that was full of survival supplies. She had changed from her shorts into a pair of dark jeans that was encircled by a large belt. On her hands she wore a pair of fingerless gloves.

Spoiler:

Slipping back out of her room, the woman made her way back along the pathways towards her point of descent. From there she would enter the forest. And, hopefully, she would find the one she was looking for. In all likelihood, even if he was down there, he would be alright. He wasn't one to give up without a fight, even if the odds were stacked against him. However, she didn't want to take the risk that he would get lost and leave her behind.

Terror fell upon Nathanial like as if a worm could notice an owl above. Walking past him unexpectedly was two marines, a man and a lady chatting. Normally it wasn't all that odd to see marines going about their business but Nathanial had picked this island specifically because of the low presence they had here. Tilting his hat casually across his eyes the outlaw attempted to remain unnoticed, his stomach growling fiercely in the meantime. Being a Marine in the past himself Nathan knew they're would be more where these two came from, and the thought perturbed him.

'Shhhh stomach, I promise 600 bowls of noodles just shut up' his thoughts went unheard as his stomach continued to growl. Nothing suspicious about a cowboy with a coffin, nope nothing at all.

If he made it out of their sight Nathan completely planned on gunning it for the shoreline, maybe a boat was leaving this place sooner than he originally planned.

Patch sighed on how his captain just noticed. However he felt pretty sorry on how he was disappointed with himself, Patch opened his mouth to say something however was interrupted by the man. He listened to the man and saw how the man could not remember getting hurt. Was it amnesia? Patch continued to think on all the possible ways this man could've lost part of his memory. After a few seconds Patch's raft hit the shore.

"Huh? Here already?" he thought to himself as he got off the raft and dusted himself off. Looking around, the island looked like a tropical one. Suddenly, a giant beast leaped out of the bushes. Pacth's eyes widened, it looked like a combination of both the animals, lion and tiger. What was with this island? Patch knew he had to do something.

Activating his fruit abilities, he soaked his hand in poison and saw as the poison slowly formed into a boxing glove. However he remembered this man's comment on how he could take care of himself..... Patch made up his mind quickly and jumped in the way of the attack. He couldn't let this beast harm his patients. He whipped his fist over at the beats claw.

"Poison Boxing:Cannon!"

Genshi would reach deeper into his bag, searching for something to help emphasize the fish's flavor, rather than cover it up. Unfortunately, his bag of goods was now empty, save for an empty jar, and that signified that the cook could do little more, rather than present it nicely. Slapping the pre-applied spices onto the fish once more, Genshi grabbed the fish by the head and tail and raised it to chest level, turning around to show his crew, and apparent guest.

"Any of you have a knife to cut this fish? If not, then I'll half to rip it with my hands, and the portions may not be as delectable as you'd expect." He said, standing at the bow of his rowboat, it slowly bumping into it.

Genshi felt helpless when the big cat monster suddenly appeared, he wanted to fight but the fish in his hands made that a little difficult. He jumped onto Takao's boat and began to think of an attack, when the crew's doctor lept into action, using his devil fruit powers no less. Genshi felt proud and began to cheer for his crewmate.

"Go Doctor Patch, show this cat what pirates are made of!" He cheered, raising the fish and being careful not to rock the boat.

Crona continued to walk until she reached one of the Harbors. She scanned the area, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary besides a few boats and some fishermen. She frowned "Maybe the marines aren't coming, and I just fell for some city gossip?" Crona knew she couldn't just walk away though, she began to approach two fishermen who were preparing their boat for sea.

"Excuse me!" Crona waved her hand at them as she walked closer, they took notice of her and came off their ship. They both were wearing ragged clothing and it looked as if they hadn't been washed for weeks. Crona stopped waving her hand at them in regret "Ugh, I should have asked for someone else's help." she thought to herself. It was too late though they were already walking towards her.

As they came closer Crona examined them. One was short, round, with black hair that was full of grime. The other had revolting brown teeth, probably from years of smoking, and was so skinny and frail it was surprising he was able to walk!

Crona took a large gulp and forced herself not to gag from their stench. She began to start their conversation.

"Hello there, I was just wondering if--"

The fat sailor interrupted her, "Well EXCUSE me miss, but it's rude to call US down from OUR ship and not even introduce yourself!" he spat as he yelled.

"Oh, um, excuse me" Crona said shocked and angry at his outburst. "My name is Crona, I was wondering if you--"

The fat sailor interrupted her again, "Nice to meet you Crona! I'm Chuck, and this is my friend Lenard" he said pointy his thumb at the second sailor.

Crona: "Well that's very nice, now you see I was wondering if you two had any information about--"

Chuck: "How rude miss! Of course we know, we know a LOT more than you could ever know about anything!"

Crona: "I didn't even finish my question yet, Chuck." this was getting very annoying.

Chuck: "And another thing! When talking to your elders you should always refer them as SIR not their first names!"

Crona: She bit her lip, forcing down her rage. "I'm sorry sir, but I would REALLY appreciate it if you could give me some information about the Navy. I heard they were docking this island today."

Lenard: ".....the Navy?" Lenard repeated. Up until now he was standing next to Chuck motionless.

Crona was relieved to hear a different voice beside's Chuck "Yes, There was rumors about it in town."

Lenard: "Those weren't rumors miss. They did dock here, a while ago in fact. But they docked on the opposite end of the island. This is the east port, so you should head west." he replied pointing.

Crona: "Thank you, that's a HUGE help!" joy took over her, and before she knew it she was shaking Lenard'd hand out of gratitude. Sure it was gross, but she wanted to thank Lenard not Chuck. Chuck gave a snotty look and began to ignore them. "Oh, one more question please. Do you know why they came here?"

Lenard: "I don't have the full details on that, but I heard they're here to capture a pirate."

Crona: "Pirate? Do you know who?"

Lenard: "Nope, not a clue. I don't think anyone here would know that. You could try the west port though, they should know more than we do."

Crona made a slight frown, "Alright, thank you for your help." she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag of beli. "It isn't much, but take it please." Chuck swiped the bag in a heartbeat. "Your very welcome miss!" Crona didn't hold back her anger this time, she smacked Chuck's face to the ground, leaving him with a huge red mark on his cheek. Then walked off stomping.

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Noir was walking slowly now, he couldn't sniff out his master since the smell of food filled air. He was becoming frustrated with himself, he should have never left his master's side. He looked around, eager to find any familiar face.

Noir's ears perked up, he heard something growling loudly. He turned his head in the direction of it and saw two important looking figures walking by. Behind them was the same man who left his cash on the table! Why was he wearing his hat so low though, and was that a coffin next to him? Noir didn't care, he was just happy that he found someone! He barked out of joy and began to run towards the man.

The man only looked surprised as Patch punched over his head. The poison covered hand struck the liger in the face, sending the unfortunate beast tumbling onto its back in defeat.

The man looked around at the liger, a confused expression crossing his features. He crouched, looking at the beast closer.

"I feel like I've seen this sort of thing before…" the man commented. He looked at the surrounding landscape and his eyes widened in recognition. "Oh yeah! I was here before. Although I don't think I stayed in the forest for very long."

While all of this was going on, Takao remained where he was, sitting on Patch's raft, staring out over the ocean, depressed.
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The Marine Lieutenant passed Nathanial without a word, but barely a moment later, she came to a stop. Tristan pretended not to notice and kept on walking, passing her up. He was almost a full ten steps ahead when he sighed and looked back at her.

"Well, since you're not saying anything I guess you want me to ask what you are up to," he commented dryly. "Not that I care, but-"

"Shut up," the Lieutenant snapped back. "I think I just saw a familiar face."

She turned towards Nathanial just as Noir barked and charged towards the man. For a moment, the Lieutenant's eyes left Nathanial's retreating back and she tensed as she glanced down at the dog, wondering what it was going to do.
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The lone woman had finally descended into the area below the trees and already she was under attack. She ran, ducked, jumped, and twirled as she made her way through the forest, landing heavy kicks and punches on a variety of the forest's most dangerous creatures. Surprisingly, her powerful blows were leaving the massive creatures either unconscious or stunned.

Her latest opponent, a huge boar with a scorpion tail, launched itself at her, intending to impale her on its tusks. The woman sprang to the side and then hurled herself back, just in time to avoid a follow-up tail strike. She quickly sprang towards her opponent's side as the boar passed, landing a kick on the boar's side and sending it flying away into a large tree.

Panting slightly, the woman brushed herself off and continued on her way through the jungle.

Nathanial couldn't believe his rotten luck, the same dog that ate his lunch was about to give him away to the Marines! Trying to come up with a plan quickly he knelt down, lowering the coffin onto the ground. He called to the beast as it came towards him, "Hey pup! Where have you been!? I've been looking everywhere for you!" his arms opened in an inviting manner, the marines just might think he's some local if he's got this little bugger alongside him.

While getting into this position Nathanial was very careful to unlock the metal bit on his coffin that kept it sealed, if he had to fight he would be able to grab some of his gear rather quickly from this position. It wasn't a perfect strategy but it was better then nothing at all. His best bet was for this dog to be friendly and not bite him or something.

Obvious questions like 'why is this dog running around following me hadn't had time to formulate in his mind yet.

Patch began to pant slightly as the monster was sent stumbling on it's back. The poison slowly sunk back into Patch's skin. Placing his hands in his pockets he began to think on what had just happened. It was quite a unique creature... a mixture of both lion and tiger. What exactly was this island? Looking back at the man he listened to his comment. So he was starting to get his memory back. It looked like he wasn't really suffering from any thing really serious. Patch then turned to look at the forest ahead with a plan yet serious look on his face.

There could be more of those creatures lurking around, they had to be really careful while on this island. You never know what might happen next in this crazy era.

Genshi cheered, jumping up and down in an act of pride towards his crewmate. He single handedly took down a dangerous beast that could've done some serious damage. The cook gently placed the fish on the deck and hopped onto the island, trying to readjust to being on land rather than a boat in the case of another beast rearing it's ugly head.

"Oi, captain. What's our plan of attack? That is to say, should we stick together, or split up and regroup to cover more ground?" Genshi asked, bubbling with excitement for the events that may unfold, his tone not even attempting to cover it up.

Noir licked Nathanial's face, overjoyed at his presence. Maybe if Noir stuck with him he would be able to find his master sooner. Noir stopped licking the man and sat on the ground beside him. He didn't want to cause any more trouble than he already had.

It wasn't until now that Noir began to notice the two important looking figures next to them. He recognized their uniforms and remembered that these people can be friend or foe depending on the situation. He glared at the women, he sensed something threatening about her.

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Crona continued to walk towards the west port, she shivered. "I wonder if Noir headed home already" she thought to herself.

The Marine Lieutenant's eyes roamed over the dog and moved over to Nathanial. They narrowed as she stared at the man's back. Slowly, her mouth started to open as she prepared to speak.

"HEY! VIOLENT WOMAN!"

The Marine Lieutenant whipped around, her eyes blazing as she came face-to-face with Tristan. "I told you NOT to call me that, soldier!"

Tristan was examining his nails, as if he was only half-listening to the woman's words. "Yeah, yeah, Lieutenant," he replied. "But seriously, what's the hold-up? We have a job to do, don't we? If you see the guy we're looking for, then let's grab him already. But if not, we have got to get a move on. No time to be staring at the locals. Or did you see an ex-boyfriend of yours or something?"

Lieutenant Myers was absolutely fuming at this point, her hands shaking as they curled into fists. "What…did…you…just…say?" she asked, her voice literally shaking with anger.

Tristan didn't seem to notice the warning signs. He simply grinned, thinking he had gained the advantage, and continued saying, "Ya know? You're right. What was I thinking? I doubt you've ever had a boyfriend in your life. Who would ever be able to stand someone like y-"

His last words were interrupted by a fist crashing into his face. Tristan slammed into a distant wall and then slumped to momentarily down for the count.

Lieutenant Myers stormed off on her own. For a moment it seemed like she had forgotten all about Nathanial. However, as soon as she was out of earshot of him, she pulled out a Den Den Mushi and put in a call to her ship.

"I think I saw someone familiar on the island," she reported to the man who answered her call. "Look into our files for a man by the name of Nathanial Colt. Once you've found his photo make copies of it and distribute them to five squads of soldiers. I want one of those squads at each of the five harbors around the island. We do not want him getting off the island under any circumstances."
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Tristan pulled himself to his feet mere moments after the Lieutenant began to walk away. He sighed and brushed himself off, apparently unhurt in spite of the power of the blow.

"What's her problem?" he muttered as he began stretching, trying to work the kinks out of his limbs. (And make sure that his limbs were still working.)

Tristan's eyes landed on Nathanial's back. He might have acted like he was a fool when he was teasing the Lieutenant, but in truth, he had taken the time to follow her line of sight and he had seen who had caught the Lieutenant's attention. He wondered what the man had done that made the Lieutenant watch him so intently. A part of him even wondered if his joke about her having a boyfriend had been right on the money, though he quickly dismissed the notion.

"Who would ever want to date that witch?" he grumbled.
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Takao didn't answer Genshi's question, but continued to stare forlornly out over the ocean.

The man, however, turned towards Genshi and smiled broadly. "Plan of attack? Come now, this isn't too dangerous of a place if you know where to go." His grin widened even further and he pounded a fist into the palm of his other hand. "Oh! How about this: I'll get you all out of the jungle and I can treat you to some food and drink. It'll be my way of saying thank you for all that you've done for me."
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In the bushes around Patch, Genshi, and the man, several large creatures lay hidden. They noticed the defeated liger and quickly slunk away. They would not dare to attack people that strong. Not without some sort of advantage, in any case.
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Not far ahead of Crona was the Marine Commodore and his Captain companion. The two of them were making their way along at an amiable pace, stopping for a moment here and there to talk to various passerby. When they spotted Crona, the Commodore raised his hand in greeting and called out, "Hello! Could I bother you with a few questions?"

"HEY! VIOLENT WOMAN!"

The urge to turn his head and explore the mingling of the soldiers was a great one. Nathanial resisted a moment, and turned his neck to witness the soldiers discussing amongst themselves.

"I told you NOT to call me that, soldier!" Timing it would seem, had presented itself to Nathanial. He inspected the soldiers uniforms for a few seconds, before the attack landed on the poor man. Nathan couldn't help but wonder about the fiery nature of the woman, so familiar but he couldn't place it. As the woman took off Nathan clasped his case back together and stood up, giving the dog another scratch by the neck; he moved slow hoping the man wouldn't take anymore notice of him, and turned his head away as the marine got up. There was an increasing concern in Nathan that his cover on this island might not prove effective if military personal wandered so freely, he could only hope that this wasn't a common occurrence.

With a brisk pace Nathan led the dog away from the direction the woman had gone, something still strangely familiar about her, if only he had a better look at her face. When he was far enough along to be considered out of sight Nathan slipped into the shadows of a tree to sleeve his arm, having to leave the horns in his case Nathan hoped his duster would conceal it enough to avoid questions. Though he would certainly have to be a bit more sneaky about it.

Hopefully he could find this dogs owner and conceal himself for the upcoming evening, it would be difficult to avoid detection all day.
Setting off for the docks Nathan let his hat hang on his back, if they knew he was here he wanted to see the reaction on the army's faces.

Patch listened to the man's words. He said that he would aim to get Patch and the others out of the forest and treat them to some food as a way to thank them. Patch shrugged before fixing his glasses.

"I don't mind."

"I think we'll take you up on that old man. Something to drink sounds refreshing after some time at sea." Genshi said, grabbing the fish from the deck.

"Provide a good oven and some cutlery and we'll supply the meat." he added, looking over to the lion-tiger. If more big cats appeared in this jungle, the fish may not last to long. Genshi simply needed to guard this fish with his life, and make sure that his crew mates and their new friend got a proper meal.

Crona turned pale at the sight of the man, "Oh crap oh crap, I didn't want to run into the marines already" she thought to herself. Crona let out a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, she made a fake smile and walked as casually as possible toward the man. "Maybe I can work this towards my advantage." she thought, trying to look at the positive side of things.

"What's up?" she replied, trying to sound like just another citizen.
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Noir followed the man's lead happily, however something bothered him. He heard the lady speaking into her snail phone. He wasn't completely sure what the lady was saying, but if Crona had taught him anything it was that marines are most likely never on your side.

Noir gave a low grumble and looked up at the cowboy, he knew there was going to be trouble soon.

(My apologies for the late post. As captain, I should have gotten this up much earlier. But I didn't. My own fault entirely. I shall try to do better.)

At the dock where the Marine ship had landed, a small group of Marines now stood on the dock itself. They were assembled in a long line directly in front of their vessel, with about five feet of empty space between one soldier and the next. Each of the soldiers were openly armed with guns and/or swords. They were all standing at attention, their eyes facing forward as they watched and waited.

From where they were positioned, the Marines could pretty much keep an eye on all of the activity on the dock. There really was not much to see. The few townspeople who came that way were giving the Marines a wide berth and only a bare minimum of fisherman were coming in or going out. The only mildly interesting thing that had happened so far was that a single merchant ship had landed about twenty minutes before and was now unloading supplies to sell in the market.

Several of the more experienced Marines in the group were relieved that this was all that had happened. They knew how dangerous the West Blue could be and the fact that they were keeping an eye out for a man who had a bounty on his head, albeit a small bounty, made them nervous. On the other hand, the newer, and mostly younger, recruits were bored out of their minds and a few of them even had a glazed, unfocused look in their eyes.

Unfortunately for those Marines, it did not matter one way or the other how focused they were. Out from behind one of the larger crates being unloaded by the merchants came a man dressed in black. He shot forward, moving at an almost unbelievable speed. As soon as he reached the Marines, his arms blurred and he passed by each of them, striking at them with a pair of what looked like sticks as he went by. When he came to a stop on the other end of the line of Marines, all twenty of the Marines fell to the ground in one smooth motion. Not a single one of the Marines was dead, but each had been rendered unconscious by a well-aimed blow from the man’s weapons. Now that he had slowed down, those weapons were revealed to be a pair of well-used, yet carefully preserved drumsticks, each of which had a small chain attached to the back of it which was wound around the man’s hands.

The man then approached the Marine ship and sprang on board, his footsteps and even his jump making no sound as he went. As soon as the man landed on the side of the ship, he slipped into the shadows behind a nearby cannon, his body folding itself into such a small position that only someone looking in exactly the right space could have seen him and even then, they could have easily mistaken him as part of the cannon’s shadow. There the man waited and watched and listened.
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Tristan continued to watch Nathanial for several more seconds. Then his nose twitched once, twice, three times before he suddenly let out a loud and violent sneeze that nearly doubled him over. His eyes turned towards the dog and as he sniffed he grumbled under his breath, “Stupid allergies.”

With that, he turned away and left Nathanial behind as he ran after the woman. He might not like her much, but he wasn’t going to disobey the Com-boss’s orders and just abandon her. Besides, being the gentlemen he was, Tristan knew he couldn’t leave a fair lady on her own for long, even if she was incredibly annoying.
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The man smiled at Patch and Genshi’s words. “In that case, I guess I’ll just lead the way!” He started to turn away from them, but then froze, and spun back around. “Oh, but I guess I forgot to introduce myself.” He laughed, not looking embarrassed in the slightest as he admitted, “That happens to me sometimes. It gets so hard to remember things nowadays. Age does that to a man...and I’m getting off track.” He took a moment to compose himself and then said, “My name is Velrith Garner, also known as Velrith the Tracker. I’m a bounty hunter by trade and I’m kind of a big name...I guess, though that is mostly over in the North Blue. So I suppose you boys may never have heard of me.”

Even at the words ‘bounty hunter’, Takao did not seem to be paying attention to the conversation. He did, however, stand up halfway through Velrith’s speech, looking around as if he had heard something and could not decipher its location.
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The Marine Commodore smiled at Crona when he saw her paled features. “There’s no need to look so nervous, young lady,” he said in an attempt to sound calming. “You’re not in any trouble. I just have a quick question for you.” He held up a picture. It was a photograph of Takao. He looked younger in the photo than he did currently, but not by much. In the picture, Takao was laughing as he crossed a street with a few friends around him. His wings were not hidden, but were fully visible, especially since he was actually flaring them slightly in the photograph. “Have you seen this man here on this island?” the Commodore asked, placing a finger under Takao’s face. “We have reason to believe that he has recently become a pirate captain,” the Commodore continued as he waited from Crona’s answer. “And we also have learned that he is on his way to this island, if he is not here already. We would like to pick him up before he becomes a threat to the world. Do you have any idea at all who he is or where he might be?”

Nathans arrival at the dock was much less focused on him than originally thought out. Worried his bounty in West Blue would get the better of him Nathan had been sticking to the shadier parts of the pathways but when not a soul bothered to second guess his presence he let his shoulders slump and continued to walk casually.

'Let's see what do we have here, a couple of merchants that's normal, a big ass navy ship yep that was expected and the guar...' Nathan cut his whispers short, finding it hard to believe that he was staring at about 20 unconscious soldiers, and the fact that he appeared to be the first one to notice them. A quick shake of his head and a gander at his surroundings removed the disbelief from Nathanial's mind, something had just happened here.

And now he was incredibly curious.

A tracker...? Hm, it seems this guys could be very useful. Smirking, Patch let put his hand for a shake.

"Patch. A doctor."

He waited for the man's reply.. however something from that forest seemed odd, that animal from earlier was far from normal... there could be more of those beasts. He then looked back at Velrith awaiting a reply from the bounty hunter/tracker.

Genshi placed his hands up the fish's gills, an ideal way to carry it around, rather than using bother arms. Now he had an arm free to defend against anything that dared to step forward. And seeing that a large jungle cat was the first too make aa move, Genshi found it safe to assume that more big cats would follow. But surely they could handle it. The doctor Patch had managed all by himself, and this time around, he had allies to back him up in case the situation got hairy.

"If they catch wind of the fish, they'll be on us like shine on a diamond." he thought, extending his free hand for a handshake.

"I'm Genshi, the crew's head and only chef." he said with a smile.

Crona let out a sigh of relief, not a noticeable one though. She took the picture from the man's hand and observed it. "So this is who they're looking for?" she thought, and gave the picture back to the marine "No, I don't remember seeing him anywhere. Sorry I can't help you out."

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Noir noticed the look on the Nathan's face and turned to look at the sleeping soldiers. He didn't understand what was going on, but if they didn't do something soon there would be trouble.

(Final exams are OVER! Yay! That’s it for me for now. I will not be taking classes over the summer so more time to do stuff and things.)

Another guard, one who was marching along the edge of the ship, glanced down at the guards on the dock. For a moment, he just kept on walking. Then he did a doubletake, staring down at the unconscious guards in disbelief before running off. Less than a minute later, a new man came to the edge of the vessel. He was dressed in a Marine officer’s coat, but wore it without putting his arms through the sleeves. He was of a medium build with auburn hair, strikingly blue eyes, and a stern expression.

“Ensign Goldberry, sir!” the Marine who had been patrolling the edge of the ship had returned and was saluting the Ensign. “See sir? It’s as I told you. The guards are injured, but I assure you, they were fine just a few moments ago when I passed this way before.”

The Ensign narrowed his eyes, glaring down at the guards. His hand tightened around the length of metal pipe he was carrying.

“Why do these things happen on my watch?” he muttered. “It wasn’t even my fault this time.”

The Marine who had reported the incident to the Ensign looked confused and he started to say, “Uh...what do you mean by tha-”

Almost immediately, the Marine was set upon by a few of his fellows, who had wandered over to see what was going on. They clapped their hands over the Marine’s mouth, silencing the question.

“Don’t ask him that, idiot!” one of them hissed in the hapless Marine’s ear. “Haven’t you heard of him? Back at HQ they call him Goldberry the Brawler! It doesn’t take much more than a few words to set him off!”

Goldberry noticed the sudden quiet and looked over at the other Marines. He caught sight of the unfortunate Marine steadily turning blue. It wasn’t just his mouth that had been covered. The other Marines had accidentally covered his nose as well and he was quickly running out of air.

“Hey, what are you doing to him?” Goldberry asked. “If he passes out and the Commodore hears of it, I’ll be in real trouble. And it wouldn’t even be my fault this time.”
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For a moment, Velrith only looked down at Patch and Genshi’s hands. Then, with a shrug and a smile, he reached out and took both of their hands at the same time and shook them.

“Nice to meet you both,” Velrith replied.

Takao finally left his former position. He spread his wings, launching himself into the air, and flying over his two friends and Velrith. He landed in a tree nearby for a brief moment and told his friends, “You guys go on without me. I need to check something out.” With that, he took to the skies once more and flew on into the forest.

“What an odd man,” Velrith commented as he watched Takao leave. “I wonder what came over him? Ah well. That’s his business. Though perhaps you two can enlighten me on your group’s reason for coming here. That might even shed some light on your friend’s situation. But where are my manners? I have wasted enough of your time already. Let us walk as we talk and if you have any questions of your own, do not hesitate to ask.”
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The Commodore took the picture back with a look of disappointment on his features. “Then our search must go on. But please, if you do see this man, would you report it to me or one of the other Marines on the island? Your assistance would be greatly appreciated in this matter. And you may even help save the island. If our source is to be believed, this man holds the potential to be a highly dangerous criminal and we would like to deal with him as quickly as possible.”

The Captain moved on while the Commodore was still speaking. The Captain headed over to another person to ask them the same question that had been asked of Crona. The Commodore, however, remained near Crona, waiting for her answer. He was wearing an expression of concern, but underneath that mask he was watching Crona very intently, waiting to see if he could detect any deceit in her answer. He was fully aware of how the people of the island often lied to Marines in an attempt to hide the presence of pirates who were, to the islanders, a possible source of revenue.