SERIOUS: Reconnaisance Unit, Chapter 2: Broken Bonds and the Mysterious Predator of the Valens Mountain Range (OPEN to Shad0w and Cryptic Terror)

The cool crisp breeze was a refreshing change from the arid climate that typically plagued the beleaguered group of pirates. The mountain range had been visible for more than a day now and only looked more monstrous now that they had arrived. There was a cold and eerie silence that hung about the landscape and made every stray sound as startling as a clap of thunder. The slight breeze carried the alpine air, dry and cool enough to cut through fabric, chilling flesh to the bone as it carries the arctic winds from the mountain.
The base of the mountains had pockets of snow where the sun never shone among vibrant grass. It was uncomfortably chilly but the climate at the base of the mountain was nothing compared to the hard and unforgiving climate of the towering geography that the island chain possessed. Despite the fairly pleasant climate of the valley's with their rich grass and vegetation, the land seemed to be barren of any life that wasn't a pant, making the land seem even more frightful and unnatural.

The change in temperature and pressure stirred Jade from unrestful slumbers that were peppered with dreams of the magician, teasing and haunting her. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness for the entire week it took them to arrive here. Maybe it was fatigue catching up with her, but more than likely, she was being sedated since every time she would start to awaken, sleep would hit her hard and fast and last for another day. When she had awoken, she found herself on her own ship, in her old captain's quarters. They must have picked her ship up while she slept to appease her - it was even repaired and upgraded. This alone made her feel suspicious something was wrong and she was being placated.

She was now clad in pale purple pajamas and carefully tucked into her bed. She knew Hawks must have dressed her because there was no way Ginji's giant hands could have navigated those tiny buttons on the shirt she wore. Before, this would have made her blush - she may not have been able to look at or speak to him again ... but now he had seen and ... touched quite enough - and shortly before he accused her of violating him. Sure - she teased him frequently - but he must have missed the discomfort in her eyes to think she was capable of that. The bloody nerve. It was after she woke up that they told here what really happened that night and why. She had fallen silent for a long while, her quiet fury only detectable through the glint in her eyes. The magician had been drugged by the idiot and she had too. Even after living with that mad scientist from hell, the first conclusion Hawks came up with after the drug wore off was that she must have "lured" him there to take advantage of him ...

The harsh words she next had with her crew mates when they told her what happened still hung fresh in her mind. Ginji was unforgivable ... and, while Hawks seemed mostly innocent, he did accuse her of something awful - it would take her anger some time to subside. After she heard the story, she had stood quietly and then made a plea, "If I am injured, let me die; if I am in trouble, leave me to my fate; if you must go quickly, leave me behind - You people ... are not my nakama. I have promised to complete this series of missions, and so I shall - but after this is done, I will go. This is no trust here.." She narrows her eyes at Ginji, "There is no place in my life for lies and sabotage ..." her cold and unfeeling gaze moves to Hawks "... nor your baseless accusations ..." Her ominous mood was not aided by her methodical polishing of her blades. "I have enough enemies. Doctor. If you come near me with a needle again, I will kill you ... or die trying. I am not your lab rat." ... without looking up from her blade cleaning, her cold words continue, "and, as for you, magician - if you touch me again, I will eat you. Fortunately, you apparently have to be drugged for that to ever occur. Conveniently, this will give you incentive to keep an eye on the malpractice of your partner there."

Her head was throbbing - it hurt so much to treat them this way - she was fond of them but her trust was broken. Perhaps they really did mean to drive her away - it certainly worked. Ginji probably meant well but he went too far ... and the magician had himself placed on a self-made pedestal of honor which caused him to dismiss the possibility that he was even capable of the things he had done - and instead blamed her for everything initially. What happened was never unpleasant nor was she guiltless in kind of enjoying it, but it was just that the entire event was an illusion, wrapped in a lie and coated with a chemical concoction that made it so awful. She had been baited, toyed with, and harassed for no reason - lead to believe the unthinkable as a playful jest? She now felt a coldness toward them that matched the air. After that, she was content to remain in her sphinx form. No one would touch, annoy, or harm her in that state. Unfortunately, her Sphinx form was too large for her blanket. She slipped back into her human skin, and covered her scant clothing with her blanket, finding a secluded spot on her massive ship where she could keep an eye on those two as the shore fast approached.

Things between the team these days have been quite cold. About as cold as the climate on this part of the world. Actually, forget that, the climate would be considered tropical compared to how things where between those three. While Hawks was trying to be as polite and understanding as possible, it was obvious that Jade was not going to just let whatever had happened that day, which he didn't even had any recollection of to begin with, slip by so easily. She even told them the other day, that she's going to leave after they are done with this mission. Despite trying to reason her, nothing would pay off. And he had a hunch that she was trying really hard not to eat him when he was being pushy about trying to get her to go back to her old self regarding them.

Ginji on the other hand, seemed as flamboyant and oblivious to the changes, as it was expected really. That weird combination of a complete troll and annoyance, dubious doctor that seemed to be more into conducting lecherous experiments rather than heal wounds, and still focused man in his missions and capable at all sorts of things, from fighting to sheering the ship, was just so unreal, it felt like it was some sort of a over-exaggeration of a writer's novel. A novel speaking of a weirdo.
Either way, the days had passed, the ship was switched to Jade's original ship, sent from some goons of their crew that were apparently specifically ordered to remain close to the Red Line to deliver the ship to it's original own, and was now maneuver into the vast and cold ocean that was the Frozen Continent region.

The blond's head appears coming off the waters, as he takes a gasp of air. Doing the similar trick than when he saved Jade's life some time ago, right after he basically put her life into a depressive circle of sorts that was, the man gets on board the ship. He is topless, and quickly takes a towel he left nearby, and begins to rub his body. Sasori, in his scorpion form, was apparently fishing, well, there was a line attached to it's tail, and the creature seemed focused on the waters.
"Ginji, there are no fishes around here. We are almost out of food supplies." He says. So, those two where fishing huh? That was a weird way to try to catch some fish!

Jade had kept her distance from those two - no matter how much she wanted things to go back to how they used to be, she couldn't really shake off what happened.  She spent most of her time alone, frequently slipping away to devour seals she could pick off from the air, so she would not eat either of those two idiots. Whenever Hawks spoke to her she would only look away towards the sea, letting the sea breeze drown out his words.  She wanted to forgive him but now wasn't the time so it was best to not listen to him. Ginji seemed content to act like nothing ever happened, though the entire event was of his making.  The only one she wasn't annoyed with was Sasori, who had actually poisoned her before - she'd rather be poisoned than tricked.

That brisk morning she had taken to the air to hunt seal, depositing one such specimen upon the deck before landing. She was angry with her crew but would not allow them to starve. She then spotted the scorpion fishing?! Why was everyone on this boat so strange? Scorpions don't fish! They could actually slow their metabolism enough to live on one meal per year so they wouldn't have to learn to fish. She was fond of the creature and would frequently bring him insects. Today she brought a few crickets since his fishing attempts seemed less than successful.

Just then she notices Hawks climbing back onto the ship, dripping wet and shirtless. Her current thoughts were lost, replaced with less than innocent memories. She tried to just focus on the water droplet - but since they only gos lost in muscular contours, it only made things worse. She hoped he wouldn't try to reason with her now - it would be too difficult to say no. She tried to recall her anger, hoping it would blind her to this. She chewed at her lower lip and tried to back away before he noticed her, as he was busy with a towel.  She had forgotten to leave her handful of bugs with the scorpion who was not likely to forget that she still had his treats.

"Hm?" Hearing a tap on the wooden floor, Hawks turns towards the direction where the sound came, to spot a fleeing Jade, well, her "flee" manuever wasn't exactly a successful one, as she was apparently walking backwards. Well, to him, it just looked like she must have seen something over the horizon, something so grand, that even she was left in awe, and backed away, admiring the sight. Yes, apparently, his inability to understand the real intention of her actions was apparently becoming a sort of running gap of his part.

Meanwhile, Sasori, lured by the delicious treats Jade was holding, turns towards her, and, in a really not so fitting, for an enormous arthropod with potential to either slay a man, or merely toxic him to a slow painful death, way, it jumps towards her, it's cutesy eyes close in happiness, as it attempts to embrace Jade into a hug, not a good idea, considering most of his body was pretty sharp due to the fact that he was in reality a dagger, while simultaneously it's deadly tail, which was a step beyond an ordinary scorpion's tail, as it was an over-sized dagger, was waving around, trying to actually pick off the incests off her hand, something that, obviously, if successfully attempted, would leave the female with a lot of pain .. and an awful lot of poison spreading throught her blood stream. Well, Sasori was apparently not very smart, but he was really a loving creature, well, way too loving and open a creature of it's kind *cough* dagger-scorpion-thing.  

"What did you saw?" Hawks says, looking towards the horizon, while placing his palm over his eyes, to try and see more clearly, while at the same time, from behind, a massive scorpion was being way too cuddly. Another -almost- usual day!

It was almost too late when Jade noticed the arachnid's tail. She quickly closed her hands around the treats as her other hand brought up the flat of her katana blade to intercept the creature's tail without harming it.  She was not, however, fast enough to avoid the bizarrely affectionate creature's embrace.  She did not escape the experience unscathed.  Several parallel oblique gashes wept blood when she came away. It could have been worse - at least she would have a good story and interesting scars.  
The desert-dwelling Spinxoid was never clever enough to wear proper clothing - namely because she didn't have any, having always lived in desert climate, her clothing was minimal, at best.  As least now, she wore pants, for once ... paired with a white button-down shirt she had stolen from the magician. She decided she liked his shirts during their ... most unfortunate encounter. She hadn't expected him to return so soon - she tried to make sure he wasn't around when she wore them - he had no idea she would play in his shirts while he was away.  She never had the patience to button them and wore them open as if they were jackets - but with nothing under them, narrowly covering the important bits, but at least she had sleeves for once.
After a moment she realized the magician had no idea how frightened she was of him now - always afraid he would go into the creepy trance that he would never remember the following day. She had kept her distance every day - her personality was completely different. To make things worse she had just been caught in one of his shirts and since there was nothing under it, she couldn't take it off and hide it. Hopefully it wouldn't trigger any memories. She gave him a last panicked look which may have lingered too long.  She wanted to give him the shirt she had on so her eyes would behave themselves better ... but that would only make things worse.
Apparently assuming she was looking right through his apparently transparent self, he turns around to see what has caught her eye. Oblivious idiot.  It was kind of a relief though.  She turns her attention back to the scorpion and sheaths her blade.  She couldn't possibly be angry with those sparking eyes. "So impatient ... if you sting me again I'll eat you, you silly, over-sized land-lobster." She opens her hand and sets the insects in front of the creature, giving him a fond wink.
She leaves the adorable arachnid to his treats, noting the wind blowing colder.  That idiot magician - it was entirely too cold to be playing in the water.  Unlike his pet, he was warm blooded and lacked an exoskeleton. Was that idiot trying to get hypothermia? Momentarily overcoming her fear to be practical, she collects a blanket from the deck's storage container and puts it over his shoulders while his back is turned. It was partially to avoid hypothermia and partially a ploy to make him cover himself which, confusingly, seemed like a good and horrible idea at the same time. With any luck he would never turn around ... would never notice her and she could escape this awkward situation -- but with this crew, were there any other kind?

Feeling the blanket draping over his shoulders, Hawks turns and looks at Jade. "Oh, hey .. thanks." He responds to her, with a polite tone, usual of himself. Apparently, he too was feeling uneasy and wasn't able to act normally. Normally in this situation would probably be himself overreacting, most likely, but either way, at least there was no sighs of the perverted version of himself from some days ago, and he was even able to at least converse with her without flipping out for no reason. To a stranger, it would seem as if those two were actually in a position where they were finally acting normally to each other, but this really wasn't the case.

"How are you feeling today?" He adds up to his gratitude about the blanket, useful considering the temperature. He noticed her attire, which was actually rather teasing, well, the average guy would probably blush at that sight, as that shirt, opened up, was barely covering the most important parts, leaving most of her cleavage exposed nonetheless. He thought about asking her to button up, since it would be good for her, considering the cold climate of this region, but didn't said a thing, fearing that she could misunderstood and be offended. All in all, they were extremely careful in their behavior towards one another, as if each one was trying not to set the other one off, be in the creeping way or just the anger/vengeance type. He also failed to notice that this was actually one of his own shirts. Not very sharp now, eh?

Jade's frame was lean and athletic and she was of above average height so the shirt looked less awkward on her but was still visibly over-sized here and there - making it obvious it wasn't her shirt. The cool breeze caused slight tensing of her visible abdominal muscles as the blanket no longer shielded them. She froze as er worst fear came true - he turned around! - Frozen with her hands in the air at the height of his shoulders, like the pose of a very awkward dinosaur, she blinked and remained silent.

She swallows hard and backs away, hands still awkwardly posed. It was easy for her to be cold and guarded from a distance but he was too close to her and her composure went to pieces no matter how much she wanted to be mean. "I um ... welcome - you're welcome.  It is cold.  You need a shirt ... Your shirt! -- I'm sorry.  I-I like it ... it smells like you ... I mean - that's not why I like it! ... I - I'm sorry. I hate buttons." She quickly ties the bottom ends of the shirt in a careless knot above her navel so it wouldn't blow all the way open ... but never bothers to button it.

Her green eyes peer at him from under the heavy fringe of her hair as though frightened of being scolded.  "Hawks, do ... do you mind?" She chewed on her lower lip, seemingly on the verge of pouting while tugging emphatically at the shirt, only inadvertently causing it to come untied again. She shuffles to cross her arms over her chest to pin it in place since the breeze was picking up. What had become of the fearsome sphinx?! - once she was a carnivorous ball of vicious rage and now she was a frightened puddle of awkwardness. She was more awkward that than magician ever though about being ... and the fact that he seemed so normal now- neither creepy nor over-reactive- was confusing and disarming . She didn't know what to do except, apparently, to fill the deficit of awkwardness with her own. She turns her face toward the breeze before things got worse.  "Feel?  I feel ... broken." She greatly resented not being able to be angry with him.

Hawks watches her awkwardly, one of his eyes slightly narrowing while the other is open wide, his mouth open but unable to let any words out, a bit of sweat running down his cheek (consider it the comedic-type), as her voice keeps on stumbling, and her speech barely making sense, her words being "chewed" again and again to come out. Not to mention she just basically admitted that she took one of his shirts. As well as other things regarding that piece of garnet.

Then she turns away, and says something else, but this time without any stuttering or a tone of weirdness, that sounded sad. "I feel broken" was what she said, after all. Those days have been more or less a bit more loud than this, loud in the "don't come near me, you savages!" kind of way, but still, this one was different, as those words, with that tone, had a larger impact to the man's emotions. She really was miserable with him around, wasn't she? Not sure of what to say, he reaches for her, and his right hand takes a firm hold on her arm, just above her wrist, which might have not be the best idea, but he didn't actually thought much about it, or the possibility of her snapping. "Jade I..." he begins to say, his eyes looking down and to the left, apparently unable to look back into her own eyes. But, this moment is about to be cut short abruptly, as suddenly, something slams onto the deck, close to them, and from the small "boom", a hole, a "crater" is left. Was this an attack from an unknown enemy?! Why no, an arm appears, and pulls the rest of the body off the hole. Not an enemy, just a "friendly attack", but Ginji.

"W-what are you doing, Ginji? Y-you opened up a hole on the ship-AGAIN!" Hawks calls, letting go of Jade's arm, and raising his hands to his face's height, shaking them in irritation at the bizarre man's really stupid way of always appearing by falling from above. For a response, the blond man gets a very intense glare, enough to make him feel uncomfortable, before Ginji finally throws a small scope their way. "Look, we have lovely arrived, the shore's lovely close! MAAAHA~!!"

You had to actually check from high up with the scope to see clearly but, not too far away, and beyond a chilly, crystal-like mist, a large, icy, massive landscape begins to become visible. Tall frozen mountains seem to surround the land, actually as far as the eye can see, there are mountains that seem to create a saw-like blockage of the landscape surrounding the shore, and the in-lands. They had arrived, to the Arctic, the frozen continent. Also known as "Fernir's Mouth"!

Jades eyes widen as her wrist was captured.  It could not help but trigger a memory - the last time that occurred was after she's been such a cruel tease to him ... she thought he was sick and was about to throw her overboard -- but something else happened - something he'd never recall. Almost fearful she looks up and to her confusion, she notes that he can't even look at her.  Did he really remember or was it something else? When he starts to speak, something about his voice made her trust him - if only for a moment.  She relaxes and does not struggle against the grip on her arm. She steps closer to get out of the cool breeze so the shirt doesn't flutter open.  "Yes?"

Just as she felt a bit better and less afraid, the moment was shattered and so was her ship?! a crash is heard.  An attack?! Her eyes widen as she see's the splinters fly in slow motion and a familiar figure emerges. In an instant the fear and uncertainly wash from her eyes and turn to rage.  Her pupils disappear and her eyes glow white... she leaps forward - only she forgets Hawks still has her arm, causing her to crash into him.  She falls backwards and crawls away awkwardly away before fore crawling toward Ginji.
"WHY... just WHY.  WHAT in HELL could you be doing to cause THIS KIND OF DAMAGE TO MY SHIP?!  Are you on a MISSION to DESTROY my ship?! I WILL put your ass OFF and watch you SINK!  This VESSEL IS NOT YOUR DEMOLITION GROUND! You see land?  GOOD!  GO ... GET OFF MY SHIP!!!!" All of this would have had significantly more effect if she were not still on her hands and knees.

"Jade, you should relax, it's .." Hawks says, raising his hand, trying to prevent her from going off at the man, but ends up just staying there, almost in between of those two. One was outraged, obviously ready to kick the other's ass, while at the same time in her fours, while the other was solemnly watching towards the direction where he spotted land, smiling defiantly, not even giving a damn about what's happening around, probably he doesn't care. Actually, Hawks thinks that it could even be possible that he didn't even noticed to begin with. *.. no use wasting your saliva on this guy...* he finishes his sentence in his mind, while a large sweat drop forms to the back of his head, a trent that is mysteriously followed by Sasori, who, having finished eating his snacks, came closer to see what was the reason Jade was screaming.

After she was done, Ginji slowly turns his head towards them again, and a bright smile is seen formed on his lips. He looks like a total moron, he really didn't even noticed, after all! Looking down at Jade, the man thumbs up at her. "This is lovely great, I didn't expect we'd reach that lovely soon! This is where we are to lovely find the ancient artifacts .. ehem, lovely treasures, from the map Hawk's was lovely given, maaha~!" He claps, full of joy, not even bothering to say an apology for the damage dealt to the ship's deck. In fact, as he notices Jade more carefully, he rubs his cheek, before he laughs loudly. "Ohohoho, you're are also happy! You even lovely fell on your lovely knees! Excellent, we are all a lovely cheerful company! Maaaha~ .. and by the way.." his voice changes to a more serious, but still goofy, tone, it seems as if he's going to say something confidential. "The way you bended like that, your lovely cleavage is too exposed. And also, Hawks can see your lovely butt. Good, he liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes you~" he just says, actually purring on the "like" word, and then, before the probably embarrassed Jade, the just now blushed Hawks, the just awkward Sasori, he just casually jumps into the air, and lands on top of one of the masts, just holding onto the ropes, and checking the horizon.

Jade climbs to her feet, feeling outnumbered by idiots. "Really, Hawks? RELAX?! Unlike you, I RECALL what happened the last time you told me to relax ... and where your hands were at the time ... among other things..." She could still recall the burning feeling of lips against her skin - while he recalls nothing.  If she wasn't so traumatized, she might have been offended - was she really that damn forgettable?
"And you..." She twitches a bit ... her demeanor now subdued and terrifying, like the electric quiet before a violent storm. She stalks toward Ginji with the essence of fire in her eyes.  "so... happy... I'll show you happy..." ... Her teeth and claws grow as her size increases - murder was in her eyes as she prepared to slaughter the obnoxious creature.  Just then he pointed out her state of undress, Hawk's.. unfortunate perspective on the rounded curvature of her posterior ... but it was that last comment and the purr at the end that got her.  She shrunk back to Jade-size and turned away to hide her blushing cheeks.  "Shut up, you!  ...and GET OFF MY SHIP! It can't suffer or survive your presence any longer!" She wanted to steal the blanket from Hawks and hide under it but she would not dare touch him ... so she kind of awkwardly shuffled behind him instead.  What a terrible hiding place.
She turns to watch Sasori.  He always seemed so happy and full of excitement.  Despite his general surprising adorableness, he was unfailingly loyal.  When she first met the creature, he may have killed her since he thought she was a threat to Hawks ... even recently he stung her on command without question.  That was how this mess all started.  Despite the smooth trip, she still felt so tired.  She was unconscious for most of it but drugged sleeps are never restful.  Now she just felt weak because of the lack of activity which can be more tiring that excessive activity. She couldn't trust her crew at this point which caused constant stress. Of late, she had taken to napping with Sasori, the only one she didn't feel betrayed by.

"But I .. uhhh .. fighting will help no one!" Hawks desperately says, trying to, admittedly really ineffectively, defuse the tension formed on .. Jade's side, as he didn't really had to worry about Ginji, for all he knew, he probably didn't noticed her rage just now again. Meanwhile, Ginji, actually watching the whole thing happening, and not even moving a finger, even when she became a sphinx for a moment there, just sighs and closes his eyes, before he reopens them and grins widely. "Indeed, being happy is not a lovely destination, but .. a lovely way of thinking!" Well there, here it was, this weirdo just said a very sophisticated and wise thing! It was mostly giving off a feel of trolling, tho.

Completely ignoring the fact that she literally just demanded that he leaves her own ship we were talking about, he just notices rage in her voice. The rest of her actions or movements didn't gave away any sort of anger for him, apparently. Scratching his chin, he thinks, and, as soon as she hides behind Hawks, who nearly falls down as she just quickly came behind him, accidentally bumping onto his lower back, Ginji sighs again.
"I see .. she's still angry about .. Hawks, was you really that lovely bad in bed? Maaaha~"
This time it's the magician that awkwardly shakes his hands around, before he moves them to the front, as if trying to shield himself from Ginji's stupidity that was echoing into the cosmos. And this time, white eyes and sharp teeth were present in his face instead of Jade's.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! I mean .. maybe some things, I don't remember tho ... BUT NO, WE HAD NO INTERCOURSE! YOU JERK!"
"Ohooooooooooooooo? How do you even know? I lovely say you did~"
"I DIDN'T!!!"
"Fine, you lovely didn't, I am just teasing you but .. maybe you lovely wanted to, or want to~"
"SHUT UP! WHAT KIND OF A DIALOGUE IS THIS?!" The really red blush comes alongside the previously mentioned characteristics of Hawks's rage.

Every time Jade started to speak, she stopped.  the conversation was only getting worse and she felt that sickness overcome her again.  That same feeling that caused her to toss herself into the sea not so long ago ... and like a horrible nightmare, her death-tumble didn't take. She fluttered in and out of a drug-induced haze for longer than she dare ask.
She was lost again, her rage had crumbled, only leaving sickness and memories in its wake. Her eyes were closed and when she opened them again the world was black ... and soft ... She turned around in a panic, clawing at the dark webbing all around her until she finally understood where she was.  During the conversation of those two, her desire to disappear had translated into actually hiding under the blanked Hawks had around him.  
Her desire to escape became more urgent... she flailed until she tripped over her own foot and came spilling out from under the blanket, onto the deck.  She looks up at the magician who had currently had cheeks as red as her own.  she shuffles away, crawling backwards until she smacks into the mast and freezes. Broken. That was an understatement for the traumatized Sphinx's condition. She stood and flailed a bit, barking at Ginji again.  "THAT IS NOT WHY I'M ANGRY, YOU BUMBLING, IDIOT!  You SHATTERED my ship AGAIN!  FOR NO REASON!  What in HELL were you doing to cause that?!  You did not have to break my ship to announce LANDFALL. The island wasn't going to disappear if you left my ship intact!"
The anger rolls over her body again as she approaches Ginji, "NOTHING happened. There were some wardrobe... malfunctions and tripping and falling and landing on... mouths?  but ... this was ALL your fault... but despite your best efforts, NOTHING happened.  Leave him alone!  He wasn't bad at anything... well, that is... anything that...   Never... actually happened.--- NEVERMIND.  NOTHING happened!"  She was unknowing inching back toward Hawks, seeking the refuge of her cloak of embarrassment - but this time she caught herself before she could burrow into the blanket again.

Ginji seems to be skeptical, rubbing his cheek, and looking down, apparently in the middle of thinking something. Could this be, he actually paid attention to her yelling? Shaking his head negatively, he looks towards Jade, who seemingly was fooling around, being close to Hawks and his blanket thing, for some reason he couldn't explain, aside the "she digs him" way. But, instead, he actually speaks about the ship this time.
"The ship's in it-lovely-self is badly created and put together. If my lovely fall can damage it, then it's obviously a -lovely- mass of rotting wood and metals strapped around to form this lovely floating shipwreck. Be lovely grateful that I lovely checked it just now. We should get a lovely new ship! MAAAHA!!"

Well, alright, apparently he didn't quite got what had happened, or rather, he had his own logic to back up, and in his mind, this was making sense. If the ship can't handle an idiot falling on it as if a small meteorite, then, for him, it's just a shipwreck. Way to becalm Jade, really. Indeed, as soon as Ginji finishes, with his bizarre "Maaaha", he turns towards Jade, a large droplet of sweat forming on the back of his head, yet again, as he prepares to hold her down, expecting her to erupt in anger. Accidentally, as he didn't knew she was that close, not like he has eyes on his back, his mouth, his lips, end up touching against Jade's forehead. A moment of silence, before his forehead turns into so red, one would probably suggest that the man suffers from a horrible fever.
"Aaaauw, a lovely kiss on the forehead~ how pure, love!! MAAAHA!!" And, before any of the rest reacts, the man just casually jumps above, and lands in front of the mast, and, he swiftly moves it, making the ship take a sharp turn to the left, a turn that was sudden enough to make the baffled and abstracted Hawks, who had just pulled away, shaking his hands in apology, to trip, and fall forward, his hands, which were between their chest, shaking around frantically as the man was showing off just how much of a shy fool he was, end up on .... well .. let's just say, a place he didn't got to touch that time where the creepy side of the team had been released. A place that is composed of two body parts. And there were two hands. Handy.
... Oh my!

Her blood turns to ice as Ginji speaks.  Her ship was a perfect replica restoration of an ancient model from a ship she found when researching with her late after and sister.  The ship that made everything worth it and the treasure at the end of a journey for her family.  It meant more than everything to her. She had seventeen shipwrights examine it and reinforce it with the latest technology of strength as well as adding a forge for the blacksmith who was once on her crew. There was no way there was rotting - she saw to that.  He must have done something else to cause further damage.  If there was one thing she saw to, it was making sure her ship was well taken care of because it a legacy ... an ancient piece of triumph still living today.  
Nakama or not, she would kill Ginji where he stood for that.  The glow of her eyes blazed with fire and steel.  She was poised, ready to attack when the unexpected occurred. The magician, suddenly turns - she freezes as his lips brush against her forehead.  She is seized with shivers, resenting he has this effect on her.  Speechless, the anger flees her - the magician just saved that idiot's life.  She blinks rapidly in confusion, leaning against the deck's bow with an hand over her chest to conceal the rapid heartbeat she irrationally suspected may be visible. "Hawks ... " She moves her hand, as Hawks tumbles forward, accidentally knocking his hand out of the way, only succeeding in making him fall against her to pin her against the bow, one had going to the side and the other landing in a most unfortunate location. Her eyes then widen in terror as their faces collide, trapped, with nothing to stop the momentum.  She shivers hard against him, horrified but had a special place in hell for Ginji in the back of her mind... if he drugged Hawks again, she only had another excuse to kill him and eat him.  Soon.  Today. Had that idiot learned nothing? He reflex to hide, which only seemed to occur in reference to the magician was back. She tried to tug the blanket over her head but forgot it was around him too ... She tries to speak but nothing comes out - she tries to move but is frozen in place. How did she always manage to get herself into such trouble?

Oh great, now what was that? He somehow ended up both holding her, as well as squeezing one of her breasts. What was going on here, that was too weird! His face quickly changes to a red so deep, it looked like he'd explode any second now. Paralyzed, he's unable to move, react, say anything at the very least. He's so shocked, he's just left there, with his hand still holding that soft body part. It seems that he feel into some sort of hypnosis, or he was just knocked out cold, and his body just froze in that location.

His mind, blank for a few moments, begins to work again, he can't see, hear, do anything, he's really that shocked. After all, not remembering what happened before wasn't helping either, this must be quite the shock for someone that was not bold enough to even touch her hand, let alone hold her by the waist and .. bun. Then, he regains his sense of touch. Something soft was in his hand, something soft and warm, really soft really, and apparently large enough to fill his hand. What was this? Wait, there it goes, he can hear the sea's breeze, and now he can see a female starring at him in utter horror.

"....OH MY GOD, WHAT IN THE WORLD, I AM SO SORRY!" Pulling his hands away, Hawks trips and falls down on his posterior, then begins to crawl backwards, his face now deep purple, he looks like he's dying!
"Ah, sorry for that sudden lovely turn, had to so we reach that harbor like lovely spot I located a lovely while ago~ ya guys should go get some lovely food to eat, it will take us a lovely hour or so to arrive." So, Ginji actually didn't did that one on purpose, he was just trying to reach land. Well, ironic how much of a troll he could be even when not actually trying!

Jade was too shocked and horrified to be angry for the moment. She stayed there, eyes wide - he wasn't moving either.  Had he returned to the horrifying amorous creature he had been not so long ago?  He didn't even go this far then ... were things going to be even worse if this was where he chose to begin the siege? Slowly she looks down, just to be sure what she felt on her chest was accurate.  ... and there it was the hand of the magician with every finger closed around the roundness found beneath, some touching exposed skin, the others on the parts the shirt was covering.  She could understand breaking his fall .. but this gripping was not necessary ... and WHY was he holding her?  Ero-Hawks was definitely back.  The sound of Ginji's voice reminded her what anger felt like - Her hair rippled back and her eyes began to glow white, rimmed with demonic green as the rage filled her. She knew he was behind this.  This time she wasn't going to be the one that went overboard in the aftermath of creepiness. Someone was about to die ... probably more than one someones.

She paused - was he apologizing?! She would have been more open to the idea of forgiving him if his hand were not still ... there. She seized Hawk's hand roughly and held it out to the side as death reflected in her glare.  She would not be victimize - never again. Just then he trips. He was still wrapped in the blanket she'd given him earlier - her first mistake of the day- but since she'd managed to get tangled in it as well, this second mistake caused her to follow his trajectory to the ground. She lands roughly on top of him, her chest tightly pressed against - which was good because the open shirt she was wearing fluttered open completely when she fell.  Not noticing this wardrobe malfunction, she pushes herself up slightly and gazes down at him, effectively giving him an eye-full if he let his eyes wander that way. Her hand was still holding the wrist of his wandering hand from before, pinning it to the ground as she glared down at him, her hair fell around her shoulders neck and back, cloaking their flanks in bluish green.

Something seemed wrong, her eyes were calm now - a tranquil green like a calm emerald sea. She just noticed his face had gone purple and she was afraid he was choking - he must be choking! Her eyes fill with panic and sadness - no matter what he had done, it didn't matter - she would not let him die.  Seconds ago, she was ready to kill him - so she thought - but now, this "near death" experience cause her to forgive him of everything.  She had to save him. She lifted his chin to be sure his airway wasn't blocked.  She whispered softly as a tear ran down her face and landed on his cheek... "Hawks ... my Hawks ... please don't die ..." Another tear fell from her face to his before she pressed her mouth to his, fully prepared to administer the breath of life to save him. For his sake he better play along - because if she is given reason to suspect this was all a trap, she'll choke him herself.

It wasn't possible for someone to go through such bizarre and awkward situations like that all the time, it just wasn't possible! .. Unless if your name was Nemuri Hawks, then it was sort of a normal, routine thing. And, this time, it was topping most other occasions where he was put in an odd situation. To be precise, this time, he got to see something he hasn't seen before -or at least wasn't aware that he's actually faced with before-. And that was, the entirety of Jade's bosom, bouncing around dangerously close, right in front of him.

Well, he couldn't quite help it. He tripped, and fell down on his butt, but, for some weird reason, Jade also followed up, or rather, down, and fell on top of him. And then, she just lifted her body up, with her clothes, more precisely, that shirt that originally belonged to him, completely away from her most critical parts, actually, it wasn't covering anything at all anymore, he was literally getting a full view of those soft things that, not too long ago, had accidentally got to feel how the felt like on contact. The purple color goes even deeper, to the point that someone would consider that Hawks is dead, and his body's taken that color because of some sort of decay taking place .. only on his face! "Aa-aaaah!!! Wait, y-your breasts are busting out in th-" his desperate attempt to speak up is swiftly cut short, by lips pressing against his own. What was this now?! Was she actually into him, and wouldn't keep it in her anymore? But then again, why in the open, and why like this? And more importantly, that was too much! He grunts in shock, before his eyes roll up, and then he just loses consciousness. Obviously, not a man to handle situations involving lip contact!

Hawks tried to say something before she tried to inflate his failing lungs. His colour was worse and his eyes were rolled back - he was clearly dying.  She tied the shirt at her waist and pulled her hair back because it was in the way. She lifted his chin to check again for something caught in his throat.  Seeing nothing, she compresses his chest with her hands and breathes into his mouth. He was purple so it could not possibly be hypothermia. Could he be poisoned?! She slowly and experimentally licked his lips to see if was anything her healing could neutralize.  Tasting nothing, she tried to inflate his lunges again.  After a bit of panic, she notices he is breathing - just unconscious.  
Her face was now wet from streaming tears of panic - her eyes, a puffy read, encircling the glowing green of her irises. Her breath was ragged as she sat next to him and pulled him partially onto her lap, cradling his head against he chest.  Her voice was little more that a ragged whisper now.  "Please wake up ... don't die ..." She gently presses her lips to the top of his head - something she would never do if he were conscious. Unable to help or bring his back and completely in pieces, she looks around for anyone, but unwilling to leave that place, she quietly whispers ... "He's dying... please help..."

Ginji, hearing all that noise and ruckus happening, tilts his head, and turns it towards the direction of all this commotion, to see the back of Hawks's head pressing up against Jade's breasts, as she is looking down at the, oddly for him, purple and hardly conscious, magician, with tears rolling down her cheeks. Upon hearing her whisper such words, the tall weirdo sighs and shakes his head, unable to believe what he just saw. He shakes that head of his several more times, before he begins to speak.

"Oh lovely dear, you really are too guilible and clueless, are you not, lovely Jade? First of all, he is not dying; he is merely a lovely shy, really lovely shy little boy that has a hard time to function when a lovely beautiful woman is close by. Considering your lovely attire, and the way your naked breast's skin is now pressing on his lovely skull, surely he earlier on saw said breasts, with his own eyes. Unable to lovely take this, and, considering your lovely way of acting, you surely lovely tried to perform the kiss of lovely life, the poor shy boy was not lovely able to take it. Worry not, lovely, for he shall be fine, you should however lovely take those things away from him, lovely PRONTO~ MAAAHA~~!!! We will be there shortly, get lovely dressed well, both of ya!"

Well ... he sure did gave a lot of detail for an explanation, he actually used "logic", after all! And as he was done, Hawks makes a grunting sound, apparently his body was giving out a message. "Take me away from those balls, I cannot take it!". Well ... at least, that was a compliment, she was at least found beautiful by both, right. That was something .. right?!

The unfortunate thing about Jade was she was pretty clueless. She had always been content to ignore being female since it wasn't really anything useful. She was a tropical thing, rarely wearing much clothing at any point for the sake of comfort. She was also a bit clueless about what constituted an attractive female and therefore had little concept of what she really did to the magician. She picked up on his reactions when she tortured him but was never sure why he turned into a nonfunctional puddle.
As Ginji spoke, Jade was a mixed bag of horror and rage - beauty was not useful in battle and therefore, it was worthless to her and she did not acknowledge it. She was worth more than the traits she was born with - she trained her for prowess in battle, read for cleverness, and hunted for killer instinct ... These things that she earned were valuable to her, nothing else. She quickly stood up, brushing Hawks away like he was a contaminated thing harboring an infectious disease, causing him to unceremoniously crash to the floor. She backed away from both of them with disgust. His reaction to her anatomy was his problem, not hers. Barbarians.
She felt sick again. With a deep and brooding shroud of rage, she descended the forge of her old blacksmith. When she emerged, she was unrecognizable. She was clad in head to toe black plate armor - under it she wore trousers, her typical swim top, and the stolen shirt she was so fond of. This had been made for her by her blacksmith long ago but it was always too hot and ridiculous to be useful. Her blacksmith overreacted to Jade's sister's death and subsequently treated her like a glass doll, which only made her more reckless. It was a bit absurd that she had full plate armor on the ship but no warm clothing.
Heavy metallic clangs were heard as she made her way on deck. She held her helmet under her arm while looking out to sea. The wind tugged the tangles from her hair as well as the black, wing-like cloak affixed to her shoulder armor (pauldron) as she went out of her way to ignore her crew mates, who were probably very confused at best. She had to get away from those two.

Some time had past since that new occurrence of awkwardness had happened, and in the meanwhile, Hawks and Ginji had also changed their attires. Now boasting a whitish, fur coat that would go all the way to just above his knees, black gloves and a red sash that he seemed to be using as a sort of makeshift hanger of sorts, into which he placed his swords and carried them on his back, Hawks face was still a bit red, as he was puffing out air, with a somewhat annoyed, but nervous expression. Sasori was nowhere to be seen, but he was probably someone on Hawks's body. Ginji was wearing a massive, also fur, pinkish and white coat that had an absurd amount of actual feathers creating a plumage over his shoulders, and with a now black and white, and extremely shiny costume, being visible as the weirdo didn't completely placed all the buttons, thus the coat was half open. Also, oddly enough, Ginji was also quite shorter now; in fact, he was just 2 heads taller than Hawks, who was a regular-sized human. Well, he had the ability to play around with a human's body, so that was probably not very weird, considering it was him.
In contrast to Hawks, Ginji had a casual, carefree and jolly expression, obviously ready to have an adventure.

Heavy footsteps make both turn their heads towards the source of this sound. Upon seeing her, heavily armored as if she's about to take part into a Colosseum battle royale or something, Hawks jaw drops, a large sweat-drop forming on the back of his head. Ginji on the other hand, he just shakes his head, with eyes narrowed, and returns to steering the ship. They were almost there.

She ignored them both, putting her helmet on. Jades body twisted and grew, claws growing and teeth sharpening until she was in full Sphinx form with the extra touch of triangular cat ears on the top of her head. Now the true potential of the armor could be seen - the blacksmith had been a true master of movemant and transformation. It had been slid and jointed to come apart upon transformation. The cloak covered her wings in plated, black, impossibly thin metal alloy that still allowed freedom of movement - the greaves and gauntlets had shifted into domed pawcuffs - her breastplate folded and fanned into a bladed shield-shape across her lion chest while the back of it stretched it's layers to create an armored row of spikes down her back, black with red undersides. Last of all her helmet shifted into a black, armored head dress with and emerald at the center.
She looked like a lion wrapped in a dragon, straight out of hell. Unable to suffer the company of the perverts she called crew mates any longer, she took to the sky. They were almost at landfall anyway but at least she would get a small head start. Her paws touched the soft, cold earth. At last she was in a place of no perverts! Purring, she began a jaunty trot toward the distant mountain range - it felt so nice to finally be in a rape-free zone.

Meanwhile, on the ship, the others are left speechless, with Hawks having his right arm raised, and his palm extended as if he was trying to perform a "stop" sigh, but he was left frozen and awkward, as Jade just silently left off on her own. Was she mad again? Oh brother, this time he didn't did anything at all, why was he to be blamed again?!
"Hmmm, she's quite the lovely hot-headed one, huh?" Ginji says, making with his tongue what actually sounded like a fart sound, following his remark about Jade.
"And you are the one to talk about other people's habits.. anyway, let's get going. I'm leaving Sasori here to protect the ship." Saying that, both men jump off the ship, and land on the frozen, snowy terrain, a small cliff-like, steep coast.



Chilly winds were licking the landscape, forming small clouds of fresh snow being picked off from the surface of the "ground", or rather, the older snow that was hardened and crystallized. There didn't seemed to be any life around, at all. Everything was just frozen, with small exceptions where the whiteness was broken by small spots of dark brown, and equally cold, rocky material. In Jade's path, soon there was actually a crossroad, there were two routes that could be picked on foot, and there was even a sign in the middle, but, the letters had faded away, the wood had been frozen to the point of feeling as if it had become ice itself.

Meanwhile, atop of a steep hill's top, a figure is seen, with a rich plumage of feathers flowing around, along with the chilly winds of this arid land. And that figure had a .. beak!

[RECON UNIT]

Free of the ship, and her obnoxious nakama, she leaps into the air, aloft on her wings, to examine the odd, split paths ahead.  One lead directly to their goal but that one was obviously a trap. It would probably be a terrible idea for them to separate because being lost in such dangerous temperatures could be deadly - but she leaves it in their hands.  Her body shifts and shrinks into her human form.  The armor moves with her, covering her body fully as before.  
She looks over her shoulder at the other two disembarking the ship. Her lips part in slight worry for a moment as she looks back - but noting their warmer attire, she feels a bit better.  She notices Hawk's red sash - all the better to find him if he became lost in the snow - very clever. Ginji, on the other hand could dress in actual snow and still be impossible to miss - but since he was, for some reason, half dressed like a bird, being lost was even less of a threat for that weirdo. Looking past them toward the ship, she notices Sasori.  She takes a moth from her gauntlet and blows it in his direction.  From far enough away it may have looked like a blown kiss and she was unsure if the moth would even make it that far.
She takes a small black scarf - another thing she relieved from the magician- to loosely tie her hair back before she put her helmet back on.  Since she was quite tall and had a lean, muscular build, she looked rather like a random guy wandering the island, in a full suit of armor, sword in hand - for no apparent reason. So much for this recon team blending in.  It was an abandoned waste land, so there was no need for stealth.

[Chimera]

Stiff ices crunches under heavy footfalls of ... paw pads.  The elegant body of a muscular lion moves effortlessly though the snow without a sound.  Golden eyes narrow against the horizon before the ethereal creature disappears from the precipice with the same abruptness that it arrived. A voice of majesty and wisdom rumbles from the beastly feline "Dark waters have brought the ill tidings of an ancient boat - not seen for thousands of years - has just passed the island like a wandering spirit in search of retribution and rest, possibly landing somewhere on this island.  The master must be informed immediately." Pleased with his narrative, he quickens his pace, tail high and proud.
A loud crunching is heard, shattering the silence and the ominous words of the elegant beast.  Out of his back, and directly behind the shoulders, protrudes a goat's head - which is currently chewing on a bird. "I love when the blue ones are in season ... delicious! They taste like rabbit feet and strong cheese!"
The lion closed his eyes, in mourning and disbelief of what his life had become - with an idiot living in his back - at such an unfortunate angle that he could not reach him to kill him.
"COULD YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE DANGER HERE?!  ...stop crunching ... and HOW IN HELL DID YOU CATCH THAT BIRD?!  YOU DON'T HAVE HANDS OR PAWS!!"
The goat continues to crunch in response and the creature's tail snaps back and forth with ferocity.  At the end of said tail, a snakes head emerges.  "Maybe the ship crashed and they all died.  Maybe the master fell into the sea and drowned.  We'll all die one day - probably violently.  Are there any more birds? I love the blue ones ..."
A tear slips down the lion's face as his dramatic discovery of an invading ship is ruined by his entourage of morons, from which he will never escape.