Serious: Crescendo Pirates: Growing Pains

North Blue
Memoria Island




Standing atop a crate behind the wheel, Koto looked onwards checking the compass every couple of seconds to keep an eye on their position. They'd been at sea for four days now and as tiresome as it had grown to be at sea, they were making good time towards Memoria Island. Smiling as he had proven to know his stuff when it came to navigation, Koto stood like a feared pirate watching as the island grew bigger before him.




Shoveling the coal continuously into the chamber, Lister stood topless and dripping with sweat. It was proving a good work out and if he were to live the life of a pirate, that would be just what he would need. One after another load after load he could feel his body aching all over and the flames growing bigger as they reached out to encompass the coal. Wiping the sweat from his brow he turned away to stretch. It had been four days of sailing and he'd grown bored. They eaten through all the supplies that had been stored aboard the ship and need some more food now. He was a little surprised that no bounty had been issued for him yet, but when he thought back he realized that no one had been left alive to pin the destruction of the Head Quarters on him. Shrugging his shoulders he threw down the shovel and headed out the door. With a smog covered face and fatigued body head made his way up top. Climbing atop the ship and joining Koto, Lister saluted to him.

"Don't take the piss!"

Slinging an arm around Koto Lister questioned.

"Calm down kid."

"I'M NOT A KID!"

Elbowing Lister in the chest he backed away grinning.

"That the next island?"

Koto nodded grunting out of frustration out of being called a kid.

"Great we need some more food."

"What? We out?"

"Yea Saizou's been cutting it all up."




Stood in the training room with his blade drawn in his right hand, Saizou took a deep breath. Drawing his blade horizontally he quickly managed to slash through 3 water melons with ease and watched as they fell apart before him. He knew that this wasn't much of a test for his strength but after dislocating his shoulder he wanted to make sure he was still in good shape. Performing a few more simple techniques he finally finished when he stepped back to see his handiwork. He'd managed to slice the water melons up into tiny pieces.

Grinning he could see his precision was still as good as it had ever been. He'd been looking forward to sparring against Arthur since meeting him, he'd seemed interesting and his choice to take the sword instead of return it rose questions as to why he wanted to keep it. But he didn't much care. He had his own problems to deal with and a blade to reap fame with. Leaving the training space he headed towards the room that Arthur had taken and knocked on the door with a hand still resting over his blade's hilt like always, he was never seen without a hand over his blade. Always ready for action at a moments notice cause anyone could turn on you at any given time. Already feeling the sting of betrayal once was more than enough, now resting a hand over the blade was like second nature to him. he barely had to think about it as it was just a memory of his hand now.

"Hey Arty, you in there? Its Saizou, if your up for it, I feel that I'm ready for sparring. Sorry its been a few days but I wasn't sure if I was ready or not after the dislocation. But I feel I'm on the mend and ready for proper combat now."

Scarlett strolled through the town, Amber trotting dutifully at her side. She looked at each building, ignoring the odd stares she and Amber got. Nobody would ever get used to the girl's loyal wolf, of course, she'd only been there a few days. She noticed a small shop that seemed quieter than the others, and decided to take a look. She walked inside silently, her combat boots barely making a sound against the wood floor. Her eyes swept the room, studying the people and objects and memorizing as much as she could, in case of emergency. She sat down in one of the chairs, kicking her legs up onto the table and tilting back.

She let her black hair fall over the back of the chair, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, thinking of her journey out of the Grand Line. She had left through the Calm Belt with a marine ship that she had stolen. Luckily, she had been able to obtain a paddle-powered one with a sea stone bottom. Somehow, she had found her way to Memoria Island. And that was the story.

"Oi, bartender. Get me something to drink please." she asked politely from her position, taking out a small sack of money and dropping it on the table. The attendant nodded, setting down a glass he finished cleaning. He filled up a glass with dark red liquid and handed it to Scarlett, taking the bag of coins and returning to the counter. Scarlett picked up the glass, swirling the wine before taking a sip. She smirked, setting it down on the table again.

"Can I have a bowl filled with water too?" she asked, and the bartender complied. Scarlett set the bowl on the ground and Amber began lapping it up. She finished and laid down, resting her head on her paws. Scarlett laughed, patting the wolf's head before returning to her own drink. She quickly drank the rest.

"Some sake please?" she requested, taking the glass gratefully. She sipped it lightly, letting the alcohol drip down her throat and satiate her thirst. She grinned, "Thank you."

Standing up, she searched the room for the gambling table she had seen earlier. She fell into the seat and pulled out another sack of coins,

"Hey boys. Mind if I join?" she smirked, glaring each of the men in the eyes. They nodded, chuckling.



Cassie peeked her head up above the rolling waves. A boat sat before her, heading for an island. She had been following this ship for 3 days, but wasn't sure if there any bounties on board, though it was obvious that it was a pirate ship. She ducked below the surface again, swimming beneath the hull of the ship. She studied the strength of the material, deciding it was too strong to be broken. Which was just an excuse, next to nothing was immune to her attacks. In truth she was curious of the ship's crew. So far, she hadn't really come across any pirates without a bounty. The ones she followed were usually wanted, so she would kill them and take the money. There was really no point in harming unwanted people. Though, she probably would as she despised every last pirate.

She dove down, swimming as fast as she could straight down. It was important that no one saw her face, then her cover would be blown. Though she herself had no bounty, she was becoming known as The Shark. The nickname was mostly due to her showing her dark blue dorsal fin when following a ship. Most pirates who saw the shark were terrified, because it meant the bounty hunter was after them. And so far, none who had been chosen by Cassie had gotten away. She paused as she neared a rock formation, looking up at the bottom of the ship through the clear water. Light flowed down around it, leaving a spot of darkness.

She returned to the formation, her eyes searching for something. Finding it, Cassie picked up a dark colored starfish from the rock, and swam back up to the surface. She stuck to the side, ready to duck below the surface. Carefully, she placed the starfish on the side of the boat, and it stuck there. She stroked its arms, whispering instructions to it.

Arthur sat in the small cot in his room. It had been days since the crew set sail and yet he still couldn't find out this odd blade's abilities. He was told it had a special power of a devil fruit, but Arthur had no idea on how to unleash. Arthur looked up from the blade on his lap. He chuckled at the sight of the wall in his small room. It had over one hundred large gashes on the thick wooden frame of it, because Arthur kept on slashing at the wall to test the ability.

At one point, Arthur even went to the deck of the boat and tied a rope to the railing and himself. He then dipped the blade into seawater to see if that had any effect. He had heard seawater had some special power over devil fruits, but he never fully understood it. That was something he could learn from his new captain, Lister.

Arthur heard a knock on his door and Saizou call for him. Arthur opened the door to greet him. "It would be my pleasure to train with you." Arthur said to Saizou. Arthur stepped out into the hall with his new blade in hand. "I've really been wanting to test out all the features of this sword. You've obviously have been spending most of the time in the training room, so why don't you lead the way. We shall spar there." Arthur added, as he looked at Saizou's sweat drenched body. This would be a great fight for Arthur. Arthur has come to learn that Saizou is quite the talented swordsman like himself.

Drawing closer to the island Lister and Koto smiled, Lister cause he was getting closer to land and could sink his teeth into some food whilst Koto was just proud he'd managed to lead the crew to an island with his amazing navigational skills that he clearly possessed.

"Whys the butt munch been cutting all our food up?"

"Something about training, I think hes been working on his arm since he dislocated it."

"From what I heard you dislocated it."

"Small price to pay for saving someone's life."

Shrugging his shoulders Koto nodded towards the island up ahead.

"Shouldn't be long now captain, got any plans?"

Placing a hand on his chin and attempting to think up a plan Lister's brain began to work away quickly trying to find the right thing to do once arriving as he reached a thought he looked at Koto with a grin.

"Stock up on food & collect some more crew mates?"

"Can we please pick up some women?"

Nodding Lister agreed with him on that. Some women would be a welcome addition. Someone to spend time staring at in the hot sun and fumbling with in his room.

"He he ladies just you wait, we're coming."




As the young man walked out with his new blade Saizou smiled. It was good to see him and he was looking forward to seeing his swordsmanship, but it seemed his room had been the first to witness it. As Arthur talked about wanting to test out the new sword Saizou understood his excitement, although he himself had never fallen prey to it.

"The blade has a devil fruit in it right?" he asked looking at it. He'd heard of blades concealing devil fruit powers before but never witnessed on. As Saizou looked at it he could feel as if someone was staring back at him. Leading the way as Arthur had asked Saizou hatched an idea.

"I think your blade might have consumed an animal devil fruit, call me crazy but something about it gives me the feeling it is staring at me. Here let me try this."

Removing his blade from his own sheath and offering it towards the blade he watched, thinking the scent of fruits he'd been cutting up might attract the creature out Saizou waited patiently.

The blade in fact did have a devil fruit imbued but not the animal Saizou had expected which was that of a snake. With razor sharp fangs & the ability to produce venom from its teeth, the blade was indeed horrendously dangerous, with the ability to act like a whip & a blade with douses of poison the user of this blade could become a deadly opponent as well as the ability to sprout fangs and even glance around corners whilst in different forms.

Scarlett didn't pay much attention to the game, but somehow ended up winning. She grinned as she pulled the bets towards her. While she was stuffing the money in her backpack, Amber suddenly stood up. Her nose pointed towards the door and her ears were laid back against her head, her lips pulled up in a growl.

"What is it girl?" Scarlett asked, scratching the wolf behind the ears. She whined, staring out the door. Scarlett looked back at the gamblers, then back to Amber. With a sigh, she followed the wolf out of the building.




Cassie gasped, "No. I've been stalling too long! she gritted her teeth angrily as they approached an island, "Stupid stupid stupid!" she cried to herself before diving into the water again. "Well I don't think they had bounties anyway. I'll just find another pirate crew here." she decided, swimming around the edge of the island before finding a small, hidden dock. She dragged herself ashore, and, after setting up, pulled herself into her wheelchair and headed towards the town, but not before putting a skirt on over her tail.

((OOC: Due to new rules implemented upon the crew sheet, skipping The Red and continuing.))

 


Drawing the ship into the docks and dropping the anchor with a quick flick of a level by the helm, Koto smirked and looked up at Lister. His steering hadn't been the best and had jolted the ship a little, but Koto clinging on to the helm hadn't much noticed as much as Lister had who lay against the railings having slammed into it.

"Watch what you're doing Koto." Lister blurted out as he delivered a quick slap around the back of Koto's head before leaping down to the lower deck over the railings.

"HEY! DON'T YOU HIT ME! I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR THAT" Koto shouted angrily as he attempted to chase Lister down to the deck via the same route. As he leapt over and landed on his feet, his grip was less than great as he slipped down the ship's sides to the deck and finally winding up at Lister's feet.

"Look after yourself before coming after me Koto, seriously."

Hopping over the small gap between ship & harbor he paused remembering Saizou and turned to Koto.

"Oh and let Saizou know we've arrived won't ya?"

With all said and done he started his journey inland, they would need some food, cause thanks to Saizou they were now out. Heading towards a series of stalls, Lister was side tracked when a slip of paper glided his way slapping him in the face. Pulling it free and glancing over it his face turned to a smile.

"Well, well well. What do we have here?"

Getting to his feet and dusting himself down, Koto nodded. He was to warn Saizou of their arrival.



Feeling the ship shake, Saizou's alarm bells quickly began to ring in his head. Against the wall with a hand no where in contact with his blade, he panicked. Quickly grabbing a hold and charging to the deck with blade in hand and ready to hack 'n' slash whatever needed he bounded out the door. Noticing Koto dusting himself off and the island beside them he raised an eyebrow.

"Koto, what're you doing on the floor?"

"Nothing, nothing. Look we're here alright. This is Memoria Island if I'm right. So I guess someone should probably stay aboard the ship whilst the rest head into town. Lister's gone off for some supplies, since you cut up all our food, so I'll head in to find some crew mates." Koto said to himself chuckling as he thought about nothing but breasts. The only thing on a woman that mattered. Their torso bums.

Rolling his eyes Saizou released the tension from his body and sighed.

"I'll stay here. You go Koto, see if you can get a few den den mushis whilst your out there. They would aid us in keeping in contact with one another."

"Den Den Mushi's. Pfft! I could make them in mah sleep. Nah I could make something better than then. Just you wait and see I'll make something amazing for us to use."

Nodding with no form of expression on his face at all, Saizou just simply replied.

"Just get it done."

Heading out on to the sun smothered decking, he smiled taking in the sunlight. Disrobing leaving himself in just his bandages and pants he wore below the robes he rested them on the ship's railings. Turning he could see Koto was already off chasing after Lister into the town.

Positioning himself in a push up position, Saizou placed one hand behind him and began to exercise. One armed push ups would be perfect to keep himself strong. Much better than regular push ups.


 


A woman with a wolf was a strange thing to see, upon first glance the young gentleman covered in tattoos from head to toe with bandaged knuckles looked at her and took a few steps towards her a he tossed the cigarette from his lips to the ground and stomped on it.

"Hello there young lady, not allot of people dare tame a wolf, but yours seems to be quite the tame one. Whats her name?"

Smiling back at the woman the man tried to give her the impression his intentions weren't of a rotten nature, at least not as rotten as he most likely looked.




With the sun pounding down over Cassie who had begun her journey inland via the means of a wheelchair which had mysterious come from somewhere. Along her journey a paper flew from the town scuttling along. As the wind hoisted it from the ground it fluttered in the breeze before the wind ceased beneath it and dropped it to her lap.

The paper was an advertisement for Pirates.

Jack woke-up in the middle of a bar; he was knocked out for several hours it seemed. His dark brown hair and black goatee were the most noticeable things about him. His eyes were dark brown, and his hair reached the bottom of his jaw. Jack's arms had bandages surrounding them, and his hands had black gloves that looked like they were made of leather. His skin was almost olive colored, but a little more light. Jack's arms didn't look very strong, in fact they looked average, but his legs looked well developed (if he were to lift up his currently baggy dark brown pants). Jack's shoes had an unnoticeable metal plate in the bottom that made no immediately distinguishable noise when he walked on wood.

Jack wasn't wearing his usual clothes, he wanted to look different so the casinos would have a harder time finding him. Jack is a hated man in casinos and anywhere that has gambling, mostly because he owes them a lot of money. Jack hasn't received a bounty because he's never fought them, he's only run away, so they imagine Jack as a weak man with gambling problems. His nickname is now 'The Gambler'.

He stood up, with an empty bottle in his hand, and threw up inside a trash bin. The bartender was surprised, and his face showed exactly that expression. Throwing up in a bar is always surprising. The bartender was going to say something, but stopped when he remembered that this man was probably homeless. Jack was, and still is, hung over after the round of drinking from the night prior to this one. Jack made a little bit of money and wasted it all on alcohol. He passed out in the bar, and woke-up with a headache. After throwing up most of the alcohol in his system left, which made him feel less light headed and more in control of himself. Jack walked out of the bar, ignoring the men that were talking to a woman about her wolf, and found a poster on the ground. Jack picked it up and attempted to focus on the words with the headache that was throbbing in his head.

"Blue beard pirates? Ugh, it's worth a look. I might get some money out of it for some drinks", Jack thought to himself.

Scarlett's eyes glanced up, a man with dark brown hair had thrown up. She rolled her eyes, returning to the game at hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed he was looking at a piece of paper. Ignoring this, she displayed her cards. The men threw their hands up in anger and shock, Scarlett smirked as she pulled the bets towards her and tucked them into her bag.

"Well that's it for me. Thanks boys." she said with a wink as she strolled out the door, Amber trotting dutifully at her heels.



Cassie looked down at the paper, her hands on the wheels mid-turn. [i]Bluebeard pirates? How ridiculous.[/i] She ripped the poster up and dropped the pieces on the ground. She continued on towards the town. Once she entered it, heads turned to stare at her. [i]Guess there aren't that many wheelchairs around here...[/i] she thought, biting her lip. [i]Then again, bounties.[/i] she stopped the chair, thinking to herself. [i]It didn't have a place or time....so, where can I find them?[/i]

((OOC: Sorry for not posting. School started and I had stuff to take care of.))

Arthur saw Koto come crashing down into the room. Apparently the crew had made it to land. It seemed there was a town nearby. "Well If you're still up for it I would love to spar with you." Arthur said, as he stomped on the tail of the serpent. "This truly is an odd sword, but I'd like to learn to use it." Arthur added. The black mamba started hissing at Arthur and prepared to strike. Arthur, just when the snake was attempting to bite him, grabbed it head and held it shut. Arthur squeezed it jaw closed. The snake all of a sudden turned back into a blade. "So, you want to take me up on the offer, Saizou?" Arthur asked, as he continued to do his push-ups.

With the paper in hand Lister read over the mention of these Bluebeard pirates and how they were seeking a crew to come and join them, smirking to himself Lister formulated a plan. They were seeking a crew, well so was he. Even though he didn't have a bounty, it didn't mean he couldn't turn up and steal a few members or even give a few of the failed applicants a home in his own crew right?

Quickly reading it a second time for a location he found one at the bottom in small print.

MEETING AT THE MANGROVE STONE CHURCH

2:00PM

What a weird name, but none the less an interesting place to meet. Sticking the paper in his pocket, Lister figured he better find his way there without knowledge from any of the citizens and especially not the marines, he wanted to become a notorious pirate, but not before he formed a crew. They came first, notoriety came later. Walking into the alleyway between a few buildings he looked around to see if anyone was a round.

"Lucifer's Fang"

Propelling himself into the air as a cylinder of earth rose beneath his feet, Lister flew into and landed on the roof of a tavern. Crouching as he landed, Lister figured finding the church from higher ground would be much easier. Running to the edge and leaping from rooftop to rooftop he started his journey as citizens watched him free run over the rooftops.




Chasing after Lister, Koto hadn't realized he'd ran the wrong way. Tripping over as his ran, Koto let out a string of curses whilst he rolled down the cobbled street and straight in through the doors of a bar known as the "Royal Blue Bloods"

Landing face first on the wooden paneling, Koto received the eyes of blue blood's gazing over him and his bruised body.

"F***************kking 'ell!"

"'Ey watch your language!"

Standing up and rubbing off the dust and his hands over the little scrapes over his arms & face, Koto took a look for the source of the voice to see a few clean cut friendly looking men.

"Why should I?"

"Cause you don't swear in front of the ladies!" the man said to Koto as he stood up throwing his cards down on the table.

Looking up at the imposing figure with a strong square jaw and shaven head with an X shaped scar over the back, Koto felt a little angry not at his words but more his height and that fact that he had to look up to him. "Bloody Genes" he muttered to himself under his breath.

"You look a bit cut up, come here and we'll clean you up."

Turning to see the source of this voice, Koto found a young woman in a white chef's uniform with short brown hair, fairly large breasts which stopped her from doing the top up properly and blue & white checkered trousers. Gazing into her large green eyes Koto was caught like a crab in a trap.

Dazed and nodding he followed her into the kitchen.

"Ssssure lets go"





Picking himself up after the ninth press up Saizou heard footsteps and the voice of Arthur speaking about training and paused in the press up position.

"If your still up for it, then so am I. But are you sure you don't want to head into town. I don't mind staying here."

Standing up and stretching, Saizou lifted his blade showing he was eager to continue with his training with his sword, but didn't mind if Art wished to head off on his own into town. Slashing through the air in a figure 8 before finishing with the blade held down at his side, Saizou looked on wards at Art smiling.

"You new blade does seem interesting and could possibly be quite the deadly thing with that snake in it. You could probably poison someone with it if the snake is poisonous or maybe even strangle someone, mean while I've just got this regular katana."

When Art asked if he wanted to take him up on his offer, Saizou nodded.

"Sure lets spar."

Taking up a position with his right side forward and left to the back, Saizou took a deep breath preparing himself.






((OOC: Raven your posts didn't really make sense since you said that both Amber & Raven left the bar so I sent a guy to talk to you and your next post says your still playing cards whilst no man is talking to your characters. I'll carry on just disregarding that but please pay more attention to the posts it in the future.))


Watching as the woman walked from the table with her wolf, one of the men at the table was rather unhappy and unwilling to accept defeat. Standing up and watching her leaves he followed her as he whipped out a knife which he twirled in his hands.

"Hey lady, theres no way I'm letting you get out of here with my money. I want it back! Now you either give me back my money or I take it back and leave you a bloody mess on the floor, your choice."

Looking at the wolf beside her the man barred his teeth at her trying to get the thing to step down, he didn't want to fight the wolf, nor the woman. Just get his hands back on his hard earned money.

Watching the man who threw up made the barkeep roll his eyes. Stepping from behind the bar as the poker game had ended and the participants left with anger raging through their bodies as their greed hadn't been fulfilled. Dropping a bucket beside the man filled with water and a cloth he pointed to the puke.

"Clean that up. I'm fine with you making a mess in here as long as you clean it all up." Turning back from the man he could hear a voice just outside speaking of money and poked his head out. Seeing Toothless Jack threatening the woman who'd just cleaned him out of his money he rolled his eyes.

"Jack leave it alone, she won fair and square."

"Shut it old man! You told me to deal with my problems I have in my life so I'm doing just that! So you deal with your life & problems, and I'll deal with mine!"




As a woman in a wheel chair wheeled herself into the town, the citizens couldn't help but find something strange about her. Not because she was in a wheelchair though, something about her general physique. Questioning why she came from the shore and she'd never been seen  before in the town the citizens tried to ignore her but as they walked past kept continuously, looking back over her.

Noticing just how awkwardly she must've felt being a mermaid on land especially in the North Blue a large tall but thin man approached her. With pale green shaven head and a long dark purple coat with a dark golden pattern down it and grey fur insides the man stopped beside her. Looking down into her eyes he spoke.

"Hello young miss, don't worry about these people, they've just never seen a mermaid before, I have though, quite a few times and I wouldn't mind being your guide around here, if you like."

Smiling sweetly providing her with a sweet smile full of pearly whites the man offered a hand as he introduced himself.

"Names Reath, Guillotine Reath" Hoping she'd take his kind offer, Reath looked into the sky checking the sun's position.

(OOC: Whoops, guess I wasn't paying attention when I wrote that. I was probably just super tired or something, sorry >.<
oh and btw, Karasu, I post after Snatch and TheRed usually posts after me, so you would have had to wait your turn)

Scarlett looked the man up and down, noting how unprofessionally he held the knife. "You've drawn a knife, so are you prepared to fight then?" she tilted her head, giving him a rather cute and innocent look. Amber glared at the man, a growl building in her throat. Scarlett dropped her act, swiftly hitting the man's hand-forcing him to drop the knife-and kicking him somewhere men should not be kicked. Amber quickly picked up the dropped knife in her mouth, nudging Scarlett, who took it and pressed it against the man's throat.

"This is what happens when you try to hurt a lady." she sneered, allowing the knife draw a little blood. She stood, letting the blade fall. "Come on Amber, time to go." she walked out of the bar without glancing back.

(OOC: oh and btw, she keeps a foldable wheelchair and skirt in her backpack....)

Cassie looked up at the man, her eyes wide with fear. She wanted to ask him how he knew she was a mermaid, her skirt was covering her tail completely. She pointed to her throat, shaking her head to indicate that she 'couldn't' talk. Though, she could and just didn't want to. Cassie ignored his raised hand, still distrustful of humans, instead, she folded her arms pointedly.

Jack heard the bartender while he was leaving. He turned around and saw the area where he threw up; Jack didn't want to clean his own puke, but he didn't have a choice. The man said the truth, after all; Jack made a mess which meant he had to clean it up, or did he? Jack looked at the poster in his hand, then looked back at the bartender, whom was looking at the man outside. He held one hand around his temples, his headache refused to go away. Jack dumped the water on the puke and left it there to linger. Jack had a hangover, he wasn't going to waste his time cleaning up a mess the janitor is supposed to take care off. He then attempted to walk out of the front door, past the bartender and the man that was defeated by the woman, and into the city. His only goal right now was to find the blue beard pirates, it meant money. Jack could spend the money on gambling, or drinks. Besides, Jack wasn't in a mood to clean up a mess, with the water around the vomit it could at least look semi clean from a distance. Jack just hoped the bartender didn't get close enough to smell and see the leftovers still on the ground while Jack was close to the bar.

"If I ignore him he might go away." Jack thought to himself, if he was allowed to leave, or isn't stopped, he'd be able to see the woman with a white wolf/dog in the distance. Jack wasn't going to say hi to her, but after he saw the man on the ground with blood around his neck Jack could guess that it was her doing. He heard the man yelling at the bartender about settling the score with the woman. Unless someone else took care of the situation, it was her that did it (or the wolf).

((OOC: Ok so I got tired of waiting for TheRed so I removed him from the crew and thus we will carry on as normal and I know a few others don't like to be kept wait and would much rather move along quickly as possible. So sorry TheRed if you're reading this but the activity wasn't good enough.))



Pausing at the sight of a large steeple sticking out of a woodland up ahead, Lister grinned. It was a short walk through the trees, for most normal people that was, for Lister it'd be a quicker few leaps from cylinder of earth to cylinder of earth. Taking a few steps back he prepared himself. Running towards the edge and pouncing off he raised his fingers in quicky succession on either side of him. landing on cylinder and leaping to the next as he returned the previous one to the ground, he quickly managed to propel himself over the trees and into the clearing.

As he crashed into the ground and rolled over on to his back he looked up towards the clouds. Sitting up and dusting himself off, he could see a stage was already set up and a few of the Bluebeard pirates, or at least that was who he assumed they were, slumped around against barrels of grog & the occasional gun shot in the distance. Probably practicing their accuracy. Standing up Lister dusted himself off. He had no idea of the time and wondered over to one of the drunks who sat against the barrel.

"This is where the Bluebeard's recruitment drive is right?"

Nodding the pirate drooled a little before wiping it away and returning a drunken gaze with a lazy eye.

"Who're you?"

"I'm Lister Cartwright and I'm a pirate."

"Oh good, we're having a recrui -hic- recruit hic - recruitment drive here later."

Rolling his eyes Lister muttered as he turned from the drunk.

"Clearly the brains of the operation." He needed to figure out the time, and more so, he needed to figure out a way to get people to join him instead of this lazy ass sell out who'd been cruising the North Blue for the last 35 years and had nothing to show for it but a measly bounty for attempted island take overs.





With the rubbing alcohol burning his small scratches & cuts, Koto ignored the pain.

"I thought you'd be in much more pain than this." the woman said as she quickly dabbed at the scratch over his cheek.

"Well I'm 'ard"

"Well certainly much tougher than most children I treat here." she smiled as she returned for more alcohol.

"Wait a minute! Did you say kid?!"

Nodding as she came back the woman was curious as to why his face had grown a deep red and teeth were gritted. She watched as Koto hoped down from the kitchen counter with what seemed to be fury in his eyes.

"I'M NOT A BLOODY KID! I'M TWENTY BLOODY NINE YEARS OLD!"

With her jaw dropping and eyes widening the woman paused looking at Koto in shock, shaking the shock lose she placed a hand on Koto's cheek as she continued to reply.

"Well aren't you a cute thing?"

"CUTE?! LITTLE?!" Koto screamed loud enough to warrant the arrival of a Blue Blood from the bar beyond the kitchen door.




The sound of seagulls in the air caught Saizou's attention. Turning to see them he smiled. With his free hand he reached into his pocket for money, removing a few beli he signaled the newsku who glided down towards and took up position on the Miss Fortune's railings. Showing the coins to the Newsku and removing a paper as they were snatched up hastily, Saizou unfolded the paper and began to read through it as he laid it over his knees.

On the front page a few crimes from bigger criminals for their actions against the World Government and on the inside page 3 to be precise an article and pictures detailing the remains of the Marine Head Quarters of the island he'd nearly lost his sword at. Shaking his head at the words finalizing the article he thought about how Lister had crushed the place with such ease. He was certainly in for some interesting times with the gentleman. Placing the paper aside and folding it up, Saizou returned to his exercises and continued his one arm press ups.

Hoisting himself up and lowering down felt good with the single right arm, but next up was his clearly weaker left. First 100 on each arm then 100 sit ups and that should complete the warm up. He thought to himself as he lowered on the fifth press up.


 
 


((OOC: Raven first off I posted rules on the crew sheet stating that there is no order because quite frankly I don't care as long as everyone posts within each round. Secondly, please don't control my npcs, I use them to push the story along and will use them to make battles more interesting otherwise the thread ends up boring when all npcs are just beaten so easily because and pose no real threat Please treat them like PCs. I will roll with it for now, but please don't do it again in the future. Also please keep in mind where your character is and what they're doing cause your posts keep seeming to be confusing since you say you leave the bar in previous posts then your back in the bar the next post whilst my previous post talks about you outside.))

Watching as the man threw water over the puke the barkeep chased Jack from the bar to see the patron on the floor with blood pooling around his neck and gulped. This was not where he wanted to be right now. With a dead man on his doorstep. Stepping back and into the bar he quickly got mopping up the puke himself.

Watching from across the street sat against the pillar holding up the porch of a corner store, a young man sat with a white cowboy hat and bushy brown beard. He'd seen the woman place the knife against the other man's neck and chuckled to himself. Raising his hat with the knife in hand he popped a slice of the apple he'd just cut into his mouth and called out to the girl.

"Y'know girl. You've got some skills with that knife. Maybe you should check out the Bluebeard Pirates, they're looking for some crew mates. I think they'd like you mighty fine. You and your wolf there."

Spotting the older man exit the bar and look at the body he gestured towards the woman hinting she was the one to do it. He figured the woman may want to join a pirate crew, but if not then she'd probably just go her own way instead of joining any pirate crews at all. But if there was a crew here that was worth joining it was the Bluebeard Pirates, they were well known and in need of some strong members.




Rolling his eyes Reath placed a hand over his eye in a circular manor then rubbed at his face. Kneeling down beside her he whispered quietly.

"Look, I'm only trying to be nice here, but perhaps I should let you in on something. You can't hide anything from me, I know anything & everything you know darlin'. So do you want to keep up that rouse about not being able to talk despite the fact that you actually can. I know your a 24 year old, Mako shark mermaid, who knows fishman karate, you're a bounty hunter & your name is Cassie. Now stop me if I'm wrong."

Standing back up and stretching he made a quick movement in front of his face glaring at Cassie and grinned. She had no way of lying to Reath and wouldn't ever have any way of lying to him either. He was different, very different to most people.




Waking up in the church's bedroom Quicke sat up quickly from her nightmare doused in a cold sweat. Slithering to her side Mojo he large polka dot snake coiled beside her flickering his tongue. Patting him on the head as she got to her feet, Quicke smiled. Rubbing herself down of the sweat on the sheets she looked onwards to the door which was wide open. She could see the other crew members carrying crates back and forth. Getting to her feet, she stretched and patted on her side for Mojo to climb over her body of which he did. Clambering up and over her shoulders and wrapping around her waist and left leg, Quicke smiled as she exited the room and headed to the kitchen.

Tying her hair up in a pony tail and opening the pantry she quickly got to work cooking some pancakes. It was about time she made some breakfast for her crew. The Bluebeard Pirates weren't all that great at cooking themselves, well except for her of course.

"Mojo pass me the flour would you please?" nodding and reaching over with his tail Mojo complied. Taking the bag and measuring it out, Quickie stroked Mojo. Turning around to the other tables and throwing in a few more things, she was nearly done. A proper cook didn't waste long hours in the kitchen when her friends were hungry and looking forward to a good meal.

(OOC: Sorry, I'm used to having a posting order. And I realize that I made a mistake, I apologized. You don't need to keep bringing it up. And I didn't know I wasn't allowed to control the guy, but all I really did was threaten him. I didn't make him say anything, I was simply saying what Scarlett did.)

Scarlett looked the man up and down, placing a hand on her hip. "Pirates?" she questioned innocently, "Sounds interesting. Care to lead the way?" she smirked. Amber's tongue hung out of the side of her mouth, and her yellow eyes intrigued.



Cassie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, "How the hell do you know that?" she hissed, glaring at the man after composing herself. She crossed her arms angrily, a frown forming on her lips.

Jack overheard their conversation. The cowboy with a dark beard was talking to the girl that defeated the man earlier. Jack wasn't usually the type to care about the conversations of other people, but when someone mentions the very crew he is searching for then it's only second nature to overhear the two. The cowboy asked the woman if she wanted to join the bluebeard pirates, she thought it was interesting and decided to follow them. Jack walked into a dark valley and placed his back against the wall. He took out a trash bin he found on the floor and made it stand out a little from the side of the wall. The reflection showed the cowboy and the girl. Now Jack could follow them without being detected, or he could at least know the direction they are going. If the cowboy and the girl make a turn, out of vision, Jack could lay on the other wall where they turned, with the trash bin, and continue the process.

"This girl is my key to finding the pirates. It would look suspicious if I asked the people around this island for directions to the area they know the pirates are recruiting. If I would have gone to church I'd know where these blue beards are hiding." Jack then rubbed his temples with his free hand. The sunlight wasn't helping his headache. The worst thing about this was the craving for MORE alcohol. The second he finished off all of these pirates he was going to cash in their bounties and grab himself the biggest barrel of alcohol he could afford. He might even make a boat out of the barrel with liquor in it.. of course this would be AFTER he gambled away at least half of his belli.

Turning from the drunken pirate Lister shook his head. He needed to make some plans. Heading from the open space and the courtyard of the church he hid among the trees. Lucifer's Fang lifting himself into the air atop a thin cylinder of earth he crouched down among the trees and climbed on to one of the near by trees. Lowering the cylinder and watching over the earth around him he started to formulate a plan. Watching as the stage rose a little due to his powers he lowered it slowly and started planning his entrance.

Sliding down the tree he planted himself on the ground and drew a finger down along with the earth around himself. He knew just how to sabotage this recruitment drive and make it one for himself instead of these Bluebeards as they called themselves. It was time to get some crew mates and sail the seven seas as the true terror he really was.




Stepping in to catch sight of Koto screaming about being Cute & Little the man shook his head and grabbed Koto by the ear.

"OW! LET GO YER BASTARD!"

A punch was landed upon Koto's torso which hurt but energized him a little from the Blue Blood who raised him from the ground shouting at him in a deep sultry tone.

"Watch your language in front of the ladies!"

Dropping him down, the woman smiled shaking her head.

"Perhaps you should take him with you to show him your work and get him disciplined." she said giggling as she pictured Koto in the Blue Blood's uniform.

"That might be a good idea."

"I've already got a job though! I don't need to work along side you guys!"

"Such a shame, we'd love to have you with us."

Looking at the beautiful face & curvaceous body of the lady, Koto grinned feeling limp and spineless.

"Well I suppose I could do it for you." he replied smiling love struck.

Tossing a uniform his way, Koto was drenched in a large stack of white clothing. Pulling it from his face and glaring at it his eyes fell prey to something he hadn't expected. Looking over the uniform and its insignia his jaw dropped.

"And where are we headed to.....discipline me exactly?" he questioned looking at the woman & Blue Blood through different eyes.




Raising himself up after his 67th press up, Saizou could feel sweat forming and dripping from his brow. His first set of 100 had been the worst, but now here he was on the second set. The sound of footsteps boarding the ship were heard and alerted him in a matter of seconds. Hearing the wooden clanking against the deck he quickly made haste gripping his sword and turned to see shadows of two men either side of the deck just beyond his sight.

Unsheathing his blade he could feel the build up of lactic acid in his muscles.

"Don't bother hiding, I know your there. Just come out and face me already! Fight me with honor rather than fear." he shouted to the shadows. Stepping out were two Marines Ensigns.

"Your one of the men who destroyed the Dowsing Brooke Isle Marine Head Quarters" spoke one of the Marines with a blade in hand whilst the other directed his sword directly at Saizou's chest.

Ensign Merlock & Ensign Stag

"Actually I believe you'll find out that was my captain who did such a thing. But yes, I was one of the men who was there and who pulled the place apart picking off your men who stood in our way."

"Then its time you die!" shouted Stag as he charged towards Saizou quickly with little regard for much else. Charging head on Saizou quickly threw himself into a side step followed by Tiger Claw spinning around once he dealt out a quick slash through Stag's spinal chord rendering him useless on the floor. Halting the spin of his technique Saizou waited as Stag collapsed slamming into the ground behind him and his eyes lowered on to Merlock.

"Care to take your chances?" Saizou asked grinning to himself. Merlock glanced at Saizou then towards the town. Deal with Saizou and possibly get cut down or aid in the ambush.

His superior had received the video footage from the HQ Lister had leveled and Saizou had appeared proving to be a dead swordsman, just he didn't expect this level of fear to envelop him.


 
 


Nodding as the woman asked him to lead the way the man got to his feet, approaching her he passed a glance towards the man.

"Sir you seem a bit lost, anything I can help you with before I lead this woman?" Offering a slice of the apple he was eating to the wolf the man with the cowboy hat awaited the gentleman's answer. If he gave none then he would return to the woman & her wolf and lead the two of them to the Bluebeard's recruitment drive. They needed a crew and this woman & her wolf seemed to fit the bill for what they were looking for.

This other gent looked very much so the opposite though, he looked a mess, maybe he'd make good cannon fodder though, but who knew. The Bluebeard Pirates weren't looking for cannon fodder though and that was for sure, so he didn't have to worry about bringing this man along to the drive and being laughed at. He had one simple job and that was to bring people to the drive so they could form a crew, not useless people.




Whilst the mermaid sat in shock, Reath as growing tired of her questions and replied. "Lets just say I've got a knack for it, so care to join me in a little stroll and possibly a business venture? Don't worry, I'm not a pirate, I'm a bounty hunter too. I just figure since your a mermaid you could aid me in my captures, of course for the right pay that is. You see, we can track down various pirates if I've got you on my side. I can read minds to see if they're lying and you can track them at sea. So hows it sound? If not feel free to traverse the town on your own, but it'll be a struggle when they find out what you are."

Reath knew this town better than anyone. Mainly cause he was raised here, but he wasn't an asshole, just an opportunist, even if they were the same thing, he preferred the word opportunist.




Finishing with the pancakes and carrying them into the dining room of the old church, Quicke slung down the plates of pancakes and watched as her fellow crew mates began to chow down. Smiling at their appetites she heard a few muffled compliments which put a smile on her face. As she headed back to the kitchen to enjoy her own breakfast, something not so fattening and still tasty a hand met her buttocks.

Pausing she turned to see whose hand and in a matter of moments Mojo was on him. Wrapping around the pirate's neck and arms squeezing tighter & tighter he turned to look at the pirate who squirmed in pain whilst the rest continued to eat ignoring his squeals of pain.

"Don't touch what you can't afford sweetie."

Clicking her fingers, Mojo joined her releasing the pirate as the two entered the kitchen once more.

Standing up relieved and angry that no one had chosen to help him the victim shouted.

"Well thanks for your help!"

Of which the crew replied.

"You know what shes like, so don't blame us cause of your ignorance." grunting as he looked towards the kitchen he started to plan, he had plans for Quicke, the stuck up cow!

Jack threw away the top of the tin can he had on his hands. He guessed this made things easier. He stepped out from behind the wall and looked at the cowboy and the woman. He was waiting for an answer, but what can Jack tell them? He DID look like a pirate, kind off, which meant he could 'sell' an act where he wants to join them. That'll have to do. Jack sighed, while still running his temples from the headache that refused to go away, "I want to join your crew." Very straight forward and to the point.

If someone looked closely at Jack's wrists they could see bandages wrapped around that area. The bandages move upwards and cover his entire arms. The cowboy and girl wouldn't know that much, of course. Jack positioned himself to follow the man. Jack had to grab his old clothes from his home later on. These clothes effectively made Jack blend into a crowd, since everyone ignored him, but when he decides to leave the island because of his debts (like usual) he'll need his clothes back so he can change his looks. For now though, he'll have to keep these clothes.. but after today/tonight he'll leave the island. He has no intentions on staying in an island where he caused trouble with pirates, and after the bounties of the pirates include themselves in his wallet he'll probably grow even MORE in debt (gambling it away). He'll have to construct a boat tonight, he realized. Too bad, he was liking this island too.

Amber glared at the man offering her a slice of apple, a growl rising in her throat.

"Now now girl." Scarlett said in a silky voice, "Play nice." she patted her head, waiting for the cowboy to lead her away. [i]This sounds like fun. Join a crew, play pirate for a bit, kill them all. Such fun.[/i] she smirked, looking the man with dark brown hair up and down. [i]He looks fairly normal, easy to blend into a crowd. Bandages on his wrists, probably going up his arms. A fight perhaps? Something happened. Damn I like being observant.[/i]




"A mind reading bounty hunter huh?" Cassie frowned, staring at the man angrily. [i]Definitely a Devil's Fruit eater.[/i] "Thanks but no thanks." she replied with a steely glare, [i]"Don't trust them, none of them"[/i] her father's words returned to her, and so she wouldn't. [i]A man claiming to be a bounty hunter and work with a mermaid? I would be the bait most certainly, and he's definitely not trustworthy. [/i]

((OOC: Sorry took so long to get this post up, I wrote it up yesterday but I lost the entire bloody thing and couldn't be arsed to write it again. So yea, took me a while but here it is.))




Looking towards Koto the man grinned.

"We're heading to Mangrove Stone Church. Theres a big recruitment drive for pirates going on up there."

"Right, right, sounds like a good place to start."

"Start what?"

"My training fuckwit, you're training me to join your Blue Bastard thingy aren't ya?"

Seconds later a fist met Koto's head and he was on the floor in pain clutching at his head and the bump which was already expanding in size.

"Watch your language in front of the ladies!"

"Its ok honey, you know I don't mind." the woman said as she hugged the Blue Blood's muscular arm. Sitting up nursing his bump, Koto realized the two must be engaged when he saw the rings and them Eskimo kissing. His hopes and dreams shattered. He wanted to make them pay.

"Now come on you! We've got a journey ahead of us and when we get to the church we've got a fight on our hands with other Blue Bloods."

Realizing that this man was taking them to a place of pirates, Koto decided he would attack him later when among the pirates where he stood a better chance than here where it was one on one. He reckoned he could take him, but just wanted to sure, safety in numbers and all that. Nodding he followed the man out the door.




Looking at Saizou, Merlock gulped. He was feeling more terrified of this man than he'd thought possible. He'd been sent from the Dowsing Brooke Island Marine group along with a large group of fellow soldiers. They'd just come back from one war and been dragged into ambushing the Bluebeards, but as they had caught sight of the ship which leveled their HQ they'd followed it and now here he was, standing aboard the ship which had the man who levelled the ship. This swordsman before him had been seen in the footage slaughtering Marines and now he was panicking. Could he take him down?

Raising his blade Merlock quickly started to attack. Jabbing towards Saizou's chest he missed when Saizou stepped to the left and slammed his blade down on Merlock's. Running towards Merlcok dragging his blade up the corse of Merlock's Saizou attempted to hack through his neck but missed when Merlock leant backwards allowing himself to fall over and swung for Saizou's legs. Clipping his right foot, Saizou grunted as he dipped his head and looked towards the man who had done it.

Before Merlock could strike again from the opposite direction to deal out more damage Saizou threw himself into his Wasp Sting stance.

Wasp Sting

Sinking its tip into the marine's neck Saizou watched as his eyes widened and blood leaked from his neck. Retrieving his sword Saizou sheathed it and knealt down before the marine, placing his hand over the wound to try and stop the bleeding Saizou spoke to him.

"Now tell me, are there any more of you here? And if so where? Tell me and I'll deliver you to them so you can be patched up."

Looking at Saizou as the blood stopped, Merlock realized he was telling the truth or at least trying to stop him form dying, he appreciated it and wanted dearly to remain alive. Looking him in the eye he grabbed hold of Saizou's arm and replied.

"Mangrove Stone Church. Theres a Pirate recruitment drive on."

Smiling Saizou removed his hands pulling them free of Merlock's grip. Longing for a savior Merlock struggled to reach out for him as Saizou wiped his hands on his robes. The den den mushi on Merlock's belt began to ring, lift it up Saizou answered the call.


 
 


Smiling as the man mentioned he wished to join his crew, the man in the cowboy hat nodded.

"Right you are sir, its not my crew, but I'll be more than happy to lead the way to the Bluebeard's they're looking for some strong fighters and if you think your up to it, I'm sure they'd be happy to take you on board. Follow me to the church. We should be able to see the steeple by the time we reach the end of the street."

Walking down the dusty street there were sounds of swords clashing far far off in the distance and the man leading the way raised his head hearing the sounds, he figured Blue Bloods were coming to stop the crew's recruitment drive and smirked, a good battle always was a way to tell the men from the boys.

Turning to the group following him he continued to speak.

"be prepared to fight, cause theres most likely one coming up when you get there."

Reaching the end of the street he looked up towards the woodland and pointed to the steeple.

"Thats it there. That church steeple. Its just a straight walk from here down to the woodland then its pretty simple, just follow the steeple through the trees, you can't miss it. There should be a big banner up with the Bluebeard flag on it, you won't be able to miss it. There a big skull with a blue beard & two guns crossing over behind the skull. "




Sighing and shaking his head, Reath turned away from her after rubbing his eyes. Walking into the town he replied.

"You can think what you want, but your dads wrong about me. I don't wish to do you harm nor would I use you ass bait, bait is always an obvious trap for smart pirates and all the big bounty pirates are smart enough not to fall for bait, its all about ambushing them because then they think they have control and before they know it, they don't."

Pausing for a second Reath allowed his face to meet palm as he facepalmed himself realizing he'd forgotten part of his ability thanks to the devil fruit. Returning to the woman he crouched before her.

"Maybe this will convince you. I ate the Giro Giro no Mi 12 years ago when I was a boy, the devil fruit allows me to see through anything, lies, people and more, but it also allows me to let others see through me. So here. I'll place my hand like this in front of your eyes and you'll be able to read my mind and see through any lies I tell you and more."

Placing a hand in front of her eyes, Reath spoke saying the honest truth.

"I promise I will never use you as bait and work alongside you like a partner. We will split the money up 50/50 and use each other's natrual skills to aid in the capture of criminals."

This was the truth and thanks to his power of which he was allowing her to use to see through his lies, she would have to believe him now, not all people in the world were trying to backs tab you, some actually generally wanted to help and Reath was one of them.




Finishing her breakfast, Quicke headed out of the church and down to the courtyard, looking up to the stage she could see a crowd had already began to form and grinned. Soon she'd be meeting new crew mates and cooking for them too. Mojo tightened his grip around her, clearly protective of his mother and nervous of new faces, stroking him she managed to calm him down and loosen the grip.

Quickie felt a slight rumble beneath her feet and it seemed the other pirates who'd arrived did so too. She recognized a few of the faces whom seemed to pay the slight tremor no mind.

Before her there were the Gear Hear Pirates and their Captain 'Gear Head' McGee with a bounty of 12,000,000 to his right there was the solo pirate terrorist Alias with his trademark mask and arsenal of weaponry all over his body along side the white printed dragon on his black tie with a bounty of 18,000,800 behind him sat the Hoodlum Family, a group of all shapes and sizes with a series of weaponry and very little clothing which left little to the imagination. With a combined bounty of 48,000,000 but considering there were 11 of them it was a less impressive feat. Turning her head to see the others she realized some people who were completely unknown were here too. Shrugging she headed over the the drunk and removed the bottle from his hand, casting it aside she helped him up and carried him inside.

Taking him to the Captain's Quarters she laid him on the bed and then slapped him a couple of times. Waking up the man leapt up into action.

"Come on Captain, time you got up."

Jack listened to the cowboy. The blue bears weren't his crew.. obviously, the man didn't have a blue beard. There was a universal rule about pirate crews, they couldn't BS their name's. A kicking crew wouldn't normally call themselves the 'Swordsmen Crew' just like a group of people led by a man with a brown beard wouldn't call themselves the 'Blue Beards'. Jack didn't say anything, but he felt more like himself the longer he stayed sober. The headache was still lingering but Jack ignored it to continue in the walk. Eventually they reached an area where they could hear swords clashing. The cowboy told Jack and the girl to walk towards the steeple that was straight through their current place. He sighed and continued walking. Eventually he made it through the steeple, and the forest, and saw the blue beard's flag. Jack smiled, but cringed when he felt an overwhelming headache. He put his hands on his temple and tried to massage the pain.
 
He was finally in an area where bounties were easy to grab. The only problem with grabbing the pirates with bounties is the sheer number of them. There were a decent amount of pirates in this area, it wasn't likely he could beat them all. Jack will have to formulate a plan to grab a handful of them with decent bounties and pull them to the side where he could kill them and sent their corpses to the marines. The pirates might just end up being knocked out. At the moment, however, Jack didn't have a plan. All he knew was that he needed medicine for this hangover. Jack continued to massage his temples and a few minutes later walked to the kitchen, without permission, and grabbed an old blend of hangover killers that involved an Ostrich egg, ketchup and a mix of other chemicals that shouldn't be Legal to mix together. When Jack finished making the deathly concoction he gulped it down while holding his nose; the pirates that watched were both shocked and amazed that a man walked into the kitchen without permission from... her, and that he was able to gulp down something that looked like it was meant as a biochemical weapon from the marines.

When Jack finished he looked in the same area for a bottle of liquor and found a bottle. He held it up and started to gulp it down. It will take about a barrel full to get Jack tipsy, so a little bottle wasn't going to do anything to his reflexes. What Jack didn't know, however, was that a woman with pink hair ruled this kitchen.

"That's it there. That church steeple. Its just a straight walk from here down to the woodland then its pretty simple, just follow the steeple through the trees, you can't miss it. There should be a big banner up with the Bluebeard flag on it, you won't be able to miss it. There a big skull with a blue beard & two guns crossing over behind the skull. " explained the cowboy. Scarlett nodded, a bright grin on her face.

"Thank you sir!" she called to the man as she headed into the trees, Amber trotting next to her. "Come on girl. We can get there faster if we fly." she smirked, pulling the goggles that rested on the wolf's head down over her eyes. She then sat lightly on her back. Amber unfolded her white feather-y wings and leaped into the sky, Scarlett sitting side-saddle on her back. They slowly gained height, reaching just above the tree line before leveling out. Amber's wings beat against the air, a slight wind aiding in flying the direction of the steeple.

"Alright Ambs, descend." Scarlett ordered, and the wolf turned her nose downwards. As they neared the ground Scarlett pushed off from Amber, landing in a crouched position before straightening. Amber panted next to the woman, tired from the exerciser. "Hm, where do we sign up?" she asked herself, looking up at the steeple. Surrounding them were perhaps a hundred men, many of them with high bounties. "wonderful." Scarlett thought with a sly smile.


"Dammit." Cassie whispered, forgetting he was a mind reader for a moment. She was grateful as he began to walk away, but he turned around again. "God what does he want." she thought, mentally rolling her eyes. She watched him cautiously as he crouched in front of her, but listened to what he said.

"Maybe this will convince you. I ate the Giro Giro no Mi 12 years ago when I was a boy, the devil fruit allows me to see through anything, lies, people and more, but it also allows me to let others see through me. So here. I'll place my hand like this in front of your eyes and you'll be able to read my mind and see through any lies I tell you and more." he said, placing his hand in front of her eyes. Cassie nearly jerked back, but managed to keep her head still.

She listened carefully to his promise, trying not to let his power affect her. But it was strong, "He's telling the truth." she told herself, not wanting it to be true.

"Just let me ask you one question." she demanded, watching him with distrustful eyes, still "Why do you want to work with me anyways? Don't most bounty hunters work alone?"